No Matter What

Chapter XVI

"What? They're standing up to the Green Fairy?"

"Well, yeah. And it's all... kinda thanks to you!" he said, "No time to explain. We need to get to the town center."

***

"Got the plan?" Phoebe asked.

"Yes. How'd you think of it so fast? It's ingenious!" I exclaimed.

"I didn't. Well, I didn't alone. Remember all those things you said about family and how together we are stronger?"

I nodded. She continued,

"Well, I thought about that. A great deal. And when you were taken by the queen I was overcome with anger, and I remembered your words. I realized, we may not have families, fairies, but we can. We can all be a family. So I went to Uranus and asked him to go to your village as fast as he could to deliver a note to Arthur, and he did it with pleasure. The poor thing felt so bad for what had happened... I knew Arthur would be able to help me. He did. He put the whole town together in minutes. Now, are you ready for this or what?"

"Phoebe, I have never been more ready for anything in my life."

We left the town center. All of us. All the hundreds of us. We headed towards the Green Queen's castle knowing exactly what we would do when we got there.

Alone, I abruptly opened the throne room door. The queen turned to me, her eyes glowed with fury,

"What are you doing out of your cell before execution time?"

"I came to tell you what an unfortunate thing it was that long ago your seed didn't dry out in the sun."

"You. Dare. Say such a thing to the most powerful fairy in the realm?! Oh, you truly have a death wish."

My heart pumped adrenaline. Pure adrenaline pulsed in my veins. She was the most unpleasant monstrous creature I had ever had the unluckiness of meeting.

"Well, don't just sit there in your pathetic little chair talking about what you can do. Come to me, show it."

"You imbecile. You have no idea what you've brought upon yourself. What a fool, you don't know about anything."

She rose up from her chair, elevating with the flapping of her wings.

"I guess we're more alike than you thought," I said then opened the gates.

In came a flying mob of hundreds of angry fairies. Hundreds of fairies that were tired of living in constant fear. Hundreds of fairies that despised the queen even more than I did.

The queen tried to fight back, and even managed to kill some fairies. She was powerful. But, like I had said to Phoebe, four arms are stronger than two, two minds are wiser than one, and all our voices are much louder together. The voices of the rebelling fairies roared loudly, shaking the walls of the castle, and a new item was added to that list of benefits of working together: all the magic in Fairyland at once could defeat even the most powerful of the fairies.

The queen wailed as they took away the source of all her power. They tore off her wings.

Instantly, the wings turned to dust. Green fairy dust. Everyone stopped. Phoebe collected the dust in a bag. The queen was on the floor, so weak I could barely recognize her.

Phoebe yelled, loud enough so all could hear,

"Citizens of Fairyland, this is where we stop. We will not kill the queen."

They all whispered between them. She continued,

"We will not kill her because that would make us become her. Fairies, we are not murderers. This woman has treated us unfairly for years, doing to us as she pleased. For that she shall pay, of course. She will be imprisoned in her own dungeon for many years. But we cannot let ourselves be pulled down to her level! No!

"We have fought for our rights, we have won. We have all we need. We stop here. You with me?"

A wave of applause came over the room. The claps echoed against the walls. Somewhere in the audience began a chant. A chant they repeated. It was her name,

"Phoebe! Phoebe! Phoebe!"

I joined the choir,

"Phoebe! Phoebe! Phoebe!"

"Phoebe for queen!" someone yelled.

"Phoebe for queen!" they all chanted.

The smile on her face lifted my heart. She had a family now. She was happy and free, like all the others.

They put the now powerless former queen in the prison she herself had demanded built. She cried and cursed at those who used to be her victims. She would not hurt anyone else ever again.

Phoebe filled half a bag with the green fairy dust and gave it to me. I had collected one more ingredient. Arthur and I hugged her goodbye and thanked her for her kindness.

"No, thank you two. We would have been lost without you," she said.

Arthur and I looked at each other. Inside, I thanked him. If he had not shown up, I would have been here by now. Thank you, Arthur.

Arthur and I left Fairyland filled with determination. I had gotten most of the ingredients. My mother was three items away from being saved. One bite from the mystical mushroom, three drops of moon water, and a crystal jar.

"I know where we can find that last one!" Arthur said, he sounded proud of this knowledge.

"My dad used to buy crystals all the time to incorporate to his creations! The Oracle has them, for sure she'll have a crystal jar!"

"Yes! Of course!" I hugged him. I was happy out of my mind now that he was with me. Like a desert misses water, I had longed for him so.

"How is mom?" I asked. His smile faded.

"Not good," he said, "She is getting much worse, we must hurry."

I sighed, my eyes watered.

"Hey," Arthur said, "I'm here now. We can do this. Together."

"Yeah, I know."

"I know you know."

Another embrace. This time my head received a kiss.

"So, where do we go next?" he asked, "Can I see the list and the map?"

"Sure," I handed them to him.

"Moon water! We can get that! The Moon River is so close, see?" he pointed to the map.

"Yes. Then The Oracle's cabin, right there."

"Then the Enchanted Woods, where I'm sure the mystical mushroom is."

"Sounds like we've got a plan," I said.

"Let's follow it," he answered.

I put my bag over my shoulder and we walked. We walked for a long time. We did not say a word.

I think I know what he was thinking of. I remembered his heartbeat. I remembered his faltering voice saying my name again and again. I remembered his tears falling onto my hair and down my back. We did not make a sound until we got to our destination.

"There it is! Moon River!" he said.

"Yes, that's it!"

The river was wide and went on until we could no longer see it on each side—left and right. Its floor was what gave it its name. White and spongy, full of craters. Around it were many tall trees. Arthur and I got closer, but then a chilling wind made our hairs all stand.