Dragon Queen: Book One-Scarlet Reign

Chapter Sixteen- A Fairy Named Jane

((This is still a rough edit, and will be altered later))

Kera pounded on the bark door of the strange house. A sing-song "~Coming!" came from within.

Aelwen continued to stare at the world around her, marveling at the tall grass and seemingly giant bugs. A ladybug that fluttered gently by looked as big as her hand.

The door slammed open, causing Aelwen to jump.

"Hiya!" a female fairy cried. Her thin form bounced forward, long strawberry-blonde ponytail bobbing behind her. Her round face was speckled with freckles as her hands brushed oil onto her balloon pants. "The name's Jane Florence! How can I help ya!?" She gave a beaming white smile.

Aelwen blinked in surprise, then glanced at Kera.

"Hey, Jane. We need a Shift necklace for this one." She motioned her head towards Aelwen.

"AHH!" Jane cried, causing Aelwen to wince. The fairy grabbed her two visitor's hands, and dragged them inside the building. They were directed to sit at a pair of stools made of silver coins strapped to twig legs. A coffee table sat before them, which was covered in bits and baubles of all kinds. in the center lay a tray of tiny sweets.

"Go ahead and take one!" Jane motioned to the sweets before flittering over to a drawer and pulling out a notepad, pen, and strange-looking magnifying glass.

Aelwen looked around the living room in awe as she slowly took one of the sweets. The circular floor was carpeted in light purple moss, the metal walls covered almost entirely with blueprints for various wacky contraptions. Sketches, scribbles, and fully fleshed out plans were plastered in irregular fashions, designs with similar ideas grouped together. Several orange and purple glass balls containing lights dangled from the ceiling. Besides the two chairs and table, a spacious drawing desk before a large window sat at the back of the room. Pieces of chalk and graphite were carved into pencil-like shapes, while a cut sliver of wood marked with ink acted as a ruler. These utensils were scattered about the desk haphazardly. A half-finished sketch of what looked like a steam-powered boat lay under a cookie-filled bowl made of half a walnut shell. Bark doors leading to other rooms were closed tightly.

Jane sat at the desk, swiveling her magically floating leaf-chair to face them. She rested her hand on her palm while leaning on the drawing.

"So!" She exclaimed, "I heard you're Princess Aelwen!"

"Yes, I am indeed she," Aelwen gave a small wave, popping the sweet into her mouth.

"And you're on our side now!" Jane gave another wide grin. "Oh wow, this is great! This is amazing! This is perfect! You've been to Ceruby City, right?! Oh, you've got to tell me what it's like there! I've heard so many stories of technological marvels and a place for scientists to freely-"

Kera sighed and raised an eyebrow. "Jane. Focus."

Jane's smile disappeared, and she cleared her throat. "Yes, of course. Sorry!" She flicked her fingers, and the necklace lacing around her throat gently lifted, twirling slowly before Aelwen. "This is a Shift Necklace. It is used by pretty much every creature who desires to transform on a regular and sudden basis. It takes whatever clothes, bags, or jewelry you have on your person, and stores them when you change to another form. That way, they won't be damaged when you change back. It also works vice versa, so anything you had donned as a dragon would be stored while human. It also has a self dressing feature. When you change back to human, it will quickly and almost instantaneously materialize your clothes and bags to where you had them before. The gem in the center of the necklace is almost like a small pocket reality, able to hold a good number of things in the aether of the universe. Very, very handy; definitely a must have for Shifters and fairies." Jane took a sweet of her own and chewed on it. She abruptly slammed her desk, one of the pencils flipping upward into the air and landing directly on her hand. She grinned, twirled it, and then thwacked the tip against a blank notepad in her other hand. "Let's do this!"