Interlude VII

  ( Cecilia )

  Helping Mama into the carriage was a painful struggle for all involved. Neither its whimsical, pumpkin-like shape nor its plump, pillowed seats were enough to ease her pallid shakes. Only when the colourful glow of Rainbow City loomed overhead did Mama find comfort in distraction.

  "Mister Candy Dandy," started Cecilia, her vision fixed on the vibrant bands high above. "I thought you said only one would be chosen to become a Fairy Princess?"

  "Hoho! That was the Radiant Queen's intent, however... the trial's true victor seems to have declined the offer. Considering your close relation, and Princess Pearlypop's personal recommendation, the Queen has agreed to accept a pair."

  Cecilia, Mero, and even Mama tore their gazes from the dazzling sky, giving Candy Dandy their full attention.

  "Why would anyone reject the prize?" squeaked Mero.

  Iced eyes passed between them. "Hoho... Perhaps it is not my place to inform you of this, but I am of the understanding that Queen Titania has not attempted this procedure before. It's possible the true victor found that fact discouraging."

  "What?" asked Cecilia. "Are you saying there's a chance it won't work?"

  "Hoho! Worry not, you're in good hands." Candy Dandy leaned forward from his seat, and lowered his voice to a crunchy whisper. "Word has it, our monarch has recently received guidance from Useelia. No one understands the metamorphosis better than the Abyssal Queen."

  The gingerbread gent's reassurance did little to ease Cecilia's concerns. She didn't just fear for her own sake. Even if Mama were to be cured, the idea of something going wrong and leaving her all alone was unbearable.

  A frail pinch tugged at her cheek.

  "What's with that frown?" asked Mama. "You've worked so hard for this."

  Cecilia tried to force a smile, though it seemed Mama wasn't buying it.

  "Sweetie, there's something you need to know..." said Mama. "This illness... it took my father. For weeks I watched him wither most miserably, unable to do a thing for his dignity. You understand what I'm saying, right?"

  Cecilia did not. She was too busy worrying over the thought of Mama suffering to make the connection herself.

  "If it's hereditary, then it might come for you too," Mero squeaked softly. "But fairies don't get sick as easily as humans. Candy Dandy, if Cecilia were to undergo metamorphosis, any ailment would likely be cleansed from her body, right?"

  "Ho..." Candy Dandy shifted upon his seat. "I am reluctant to make uncertain promises, and it is not for me to influence this difficult decision, but..." He examined his striped cane, as if consulting it. "In all my years, I have never heard of a fairy falling ill."

  The group remained silent, like they were all waiting for Cecilia to accept there was no other way... but there was. She had just realised something incredible. Something so simple, she felt they were all fools for not thinking of it sooner.

  She and Mero helped Mama up the palace steps as Candy Dandy knocked upon the mighty doors ahead.

  "Hoho! I'm afraid you will have to proceed without me, for I am not permitted to enter."

  Cecilia was just about to ask why, when the doors opened.

  The Queen's Ace greeted them with the widest of grins, her teeth shining bright as she recited her famous catchphrase. "Smile for me!"

  They followed the teal-dressed, pearl-decorated fairy inside.

  As excited as Cecilia was to announce her solution to all their problems, something threatened to dampen said enthusiasm. The Royal Palace was certainly grand in scale, but in desperate need of renovation. Swathes of carpet had been worn away to bare floorboards, whilst wooden handles and railings had been stripped of polish.

  She wasn't sure whether to feel worried or comforted that Titan's rulers were subject to the same poverty as their people.

  Soon enough they arrived at a cinnamon-scented dining room. Five bespoke thrones were situated around one end of a lengthy table. Cecilia couldn't help but wonder what their own chairs would one day look like.

  Seated at the head, upon butterfly-carved oak, was Queen Titania herself. Unlike Princess Pearlypop, no smile graced her lips. Even in restraint, she was just as breathtakingly divine as she'd been the day of that rampaging shroomhide.

  Finally, our troubles are over...

  "Take whichever seats please you," said Queen Titania. "I promise my girls won't mind."

  Cecilia and Mero helped Mama down before sitting either side of her.

  For a moment there were only the pops and snaps of spiced flames. Mero practically vibrated in silent enthusiasm, whilst Cecilia held her tongue and busied herself by twiddling her thumbs. It seemed they shared the assumption that they should only speak when spoken to before a monarch.

  Mama, however, held no such reservations, though her tone was laced with an unfamiliar edge. "How long will the metamorphosis take, exactly?" It was undeniable that her physical state had never been weaker, yet she spoke with greater strength than ever before.

  Queen Titania's arms raised to rest upon the table. The fingers on each hand splayed, before meeting with its mirror. "...I'm afraid it is impossible to say. My own was one of the quickest. It took mere days. Others are not so fortunate. Some of the cocoons within our Nursery have been developing for many centuries."

  Mama's eyes pressed to a slow close. "So I may never see my daughters again..."

  "I take no joy in separating families, but the fact is, our numbers have been steadily depleting," said Queen Titania. "If future generations are to have protectors, then I have no choice but to act now."

  Mero had been unfalteringly eager to begin the process, yet upon hearing this truth, even she took pause. "...What if only I were to undergo the process? That way Cecilia could remain with Mama throughout her treatment."

  "I... I am afraid that will not be possible." Queen Titania's head lowered. "And there is something else I must address... I heard of your mother's affliction during the trials. I happen to know a thing or two of physiology, so I looked into matters." She swallowed, loudly. "My research leads me to believe that her sickness is not a virus that can be purged, nor an infection that may be sterilised, but a genetic flaw. It is as much a part of her as the marrow in her bones. There exists no medicinal remedy for such a thing..."

  The others appeared grief-stricken, yet Cecilia remained strong, for she had a plan. "Queen Titania, me and Mero will accept your offer, and swear to serve loyally... but with one condition."

  All looked to her. Sore eyes. Motherly eyes. Eyes of fire, and eyes of milky pearl.

  "We remain a family, even within yours," said Cecilia. "Our Mama joins us in metamorphosis."

  There's no better cure than becoming a fairy!

  She waited for Queen Titania's response. A second passed. Two. Three... Ten.

  "That's ever so sweet," said Mama. "But I don't think it's that simple."

  Cecilia remained fixated on the monarch. "...What is it, Queen Titania? What's wrong?"

  The silence wasn't broken by a voice, but by the sloshing of liquid. Princess Pearlypop was decanting a green tonic into three glasses. Its pungent herbal scent wrestled with cinnamon for dominance, forming a bitter-sweet blend.

  "I happen to think that's a great idea," said the Ace.

  Hope rushed through Cecilia's body like a wonderful, welcome storm. That was until she noticed Queen Titania's widened gaze slowly panning towards Princess Pearlypop.

  Why doesn't the Queen agree? I don't understand. I know Mama might not make for the strongest fairy, but this way everyone wins...

  "Welcome to the Royal Family, my soon-to-be-sisters! I hope one day we can serve side by side." Princess Pearlypop placed the trio of glasses before Cecilia, Mama, and Mero before dropping a sugar cube into each. "The taste is a little harsh. I'd swallow quickly if I were you."

  "Pearlypop..." said Queen Titania, her voice trembling.

  Mama grasped Mero's wrist before she could rush the beverage to her lips. "...Is everything ok, Queen Titania? I hope this isn't too troublesome. I do not wish to burden you nor my daughters."

  The monarch's lips parted, yet no sound emerged. Steepled fingers withdrew to form gentle fists upon the table, before sliding away and lowering beneath entirely. "...Of course. Forgive me. The arrangement is quite fine," she said quietly, her gaze remaining low.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  ...Why won't she look at us?

  "See!" Princess Pearlypop flashed her pristine whites. "Now drink up. You'll see each other again very soon, I promise."

  Cecilia watched with creased features and butterflies in her stomach as Mero began to gulp.

  She felt a thumb and finger press to her cheek, though they lacked the strength to squeeze.

  "Know this, sweetie," Mama's words were barely a whisper. "Whatever happens, wherever you go, and whoever you become, I will always, always be proud of you."

  Princess Pearlypop stepped forward to help Mama drink. The tipped tonic began to shrink.

  "Wait," whimpered Cecilia as Mama's touch fell. "This isn't it, right? Tell me this isn't it! I'm not ready!"

  "Calm, little one," said the joyous Ace. "You'll have the chance to say goodbye, I swear it."

  But Cecilia wasn't convinced. Queen Titania still wouldn't look in their direction. The monarch's shoulders juddered, and tears fell from her downturned face to form a growing puddle upon the tabletop.

  "No!" cried Cecilia. "I changed my mind! We decline! We're going home!" She tried to fling her drink away, but an unshakable vice caught her arm.

  "Don't be rude." Princess Pearlypop moved to cradle her, but with impossible strength.

  Cecilia's struggles only succeeded in souring her aggressor's expression, like her every failed strain was an insult. She tried to cry out as the glass pressed around her mouth, its rim digging into her flesh. She tried to scream for Candy Dandy, only to spit and splutter the potent green.

  Across the room, a throne screeched back. "That's enough!" shouted Queen Titania. "They're unwilling!"

  Not only did Princess Pearlypop ignore the order, but she also pinched Cecilia's nostrils to a close. "You cannot afford to scare away every candidate, my Queen. Besides..." Milky pearls cast toward Mero's limp form. "We need that one. She's strong."

  Even when Cecilia's lungs felt like they were about to implode, she continued her futile fight. Hands lashed and arms swung, though less and less each time. Extreme bitterness started to flood her tongue. Blurred vision looked to Queen Titania, trying to beg, trying plead as her world darkened.

  "These untruths will tarnish our souls," cried the Radiant Queen. "Forgive us, child. We only do what we must."

  Cecilia's eyes rolled back. Her stuttering, shade-wreathed vision filled with Princess Pearlypop's resentful face.

  Reality became fleeting images.

  They were moved somewhere. Somewhere dark. Somewhere deep. Sharp implements caught the light. Sharp implements stained red.

  Two jars. Twisting lids. Starry squirming.

  Agony. Noise. Those were the two sensations Cecilia became aware of first.

  She clutched at her lower abdomen and wailed. Something bulged and shifted beneath the skin. Blood seeped through a line of stitches, and sickly sounds gurgled from within. She should be nauseous, yet there was only an unfamiliar, itching hunger.

  Dizzy eyes incapable of smooth motions lurched in sockets, jumping from one shadowy corner to the next. At the centre of the stone room was a table she could not see atop from her position on the cold floor. Wall hooks held scalpels, tweezers and other instruments unrecognised. High shelves held lines of jars, each host to a wriggling cosmos. A twinkling, midnight caterpillar.

  Shrill shrieks sounded from across the room. Mero kicked and twisted. Limbs jerked, and broken nails clawed at the harsh floor. Lengths of chain were connected to her wrists and ankles, their links singing with every spasm.

  Cecilia struggled to her knees, and discovered her own limbs were shackled in the same manner. Their length granted limited freedom. Enough to roam half of the room, but not enough to reach one another.

  "Mero!" Cecilia called. "Where is Mama?"

  But Mero was lost to the maddening urge. She pressed the neck of her shirt between her teeth and tore, attempting to consume the tough linen fibres.

  "Mero, stop!" Cecilia pushed to her feet, starvation hindering her every movement. "Just hold on. I'm going to get us -" She choked.

  Mama was in the room. Sleeping atop the table. Thick metal bands pinning her in place.

  Cecilia rushed forward, thankful that her own chains were just long enough to reach Mama's side. She grabbed at the cuffs and pulled with everything she had, yet the table didn't so much as creak. She twisted and strained. She positioned her foot for leverage and angled herself back, heaving with her entire weight, yet still the bands refused to budge.

  Be it from Cecilia's efforts or Mero's frenzied squeals, Mama's eyelids slowly parted, though her waking cries only added to the panic and confusion.

  Mero began to prowl. Chains clanked as she clambered up her side of the table. Drool seeped from shuddering lips and grinding teeth.

  Jaws opened wide. Clamped down. Tore maternal flesh.

  Cecilia screamed for Mero to stop, but she wouldn't.

  Teeth sank into skin again and again. Lips slurped. Tongue lapped. Throat gulped.

  Cecilia cried for mercy. She pulled at the shackles until the metal stripped skin from her fingers. She begged for help, but the milky eyes gazing through the door's peephole refused to so much as blink. When all else failed, she tried to comfort Mama, though even that was futile.

  Eventually, parasitic hunger would claim her too. Alien instinct assumed control, making her a prisoner within her own body. Aware yet helpless.

  Together, the sisters stuffed their guts with steaming, scarlet love, fuelling their forms for the metamorphosis to come.

  Within

  ( Cecilia )

  Sunshine howled as forgotten fragments reassembled to form long-lost truths.

  Golden fire danced across her enraged flesh. Aureate hatred spilled from her soul to spread throughout the horrific room, banishing the four shadowy figures and charring all that offended her.

  It took a mere fraction of her fairy strength to tear the metal bands free from the stained table, and little more to lift the entire atrocious antique. She swung it against the wall, shattering ignited oak to splinters. Surgical tools crashed to the flaming floor. Shelves buckled and broke. Jars smashed. Perverse parasites pulverised to pulp.

  The glittering creatures held the same glow as the auras that emanated from a fairy's depths, for they were the implanted cores that made them what they were. Hosts.

  Her screaming lungs emptied with a dry choke, making way for another's voice.

  Familiar. Flat. Monotonous.

  "Cease and surrender. Immediately." The bloodstained merprincess stood outside, at the foot of the great spiralling staircase. She brandished Loyalty, its gore-drenched prongs ready and ravenous, like gluttonous teeth.

  "...Do you remember?" Sunshine growled, glaring at those pools as she so often had. "Do you remember, Mero?"

  For the first time in a century, Splishsplash's gaze fell away. For the first time in a century, Splishsplash relented. Her index finger lifted from Loyalty's shaft, as if to start tapping, only to tremble in the air.

  "...Why?" Sunshine raked her scalp, ripping clumps of blonde. "Why didn't you tell me what they did to us!?"

  Splishsplash's finger returned to the weapon. Her grip tightened. "You..." A heartbeat of hesitation. "...You would have never accepted it. You're not strong enough." Her eyes closed. "I'm sorr-"

  Sunshine exploded forth, driving Splishsplash to the wall in an instant. Their grips strained upon faesteel. A tidal surge split the merprincess' legs to tentacles, but all too late. Sunshine was already lunging with all the fury she could muster. Foreheads collided.

  CRACK.

  Shards of burned coral tiara scattered. The back of Splishsplash's skull impacted upon unyielding stone. Suctioned coils fell limp. Blood erupted, yet not nearly enough.

  Again and again Sunshine headbutted her false sibling. Her own cranium crunched. Crimson cascaded from her brow. Still she swung.

  Dungeon walls crumbled and rocky shards rained. Still she swung. Still she screamed.

  Only when Splishsplash started to convulse did Sunshine finally stop, allowing the merprincess to smear and slump to the floor.

  The concave mess of Splishsplash's face gushed and sputtered lumpy red. Her throat gurgled for obstructed sips of oxygen. Twitching, over-exposed eyes barely clung to broken sockets. The aura in her stomach was faltering, like a candle flickering in the wind, just as Winterwish's had in those final moments.

  Sunshine had toppled her rival at last. The Ace's life was hers. All she had to do was reach out and take it.

  Molten rain. Resplendent flame.

  The ichor's visions were far more coherent with context. The flyblown freak had claimed she was to become an unstoppable destroyer. A dark goddess even queens would cower before.

  She curled a gilded fist and drew back her arm.

  Talons rending scales...

  "...No." Sunshine locked herself in place. "I'm done being a puppet." She spat the hot scarlet seeping over her lips, then wiped her face upon her sleeve.

  Behind her, the rich conflagration was almost done consuming the operating theatre. After such an outburst, the others would already be on their way. Perhaps Titania too. Even with her newfound power, Sunshine didn't fancy her chances.

  She looked to her immolated hands, pursed her lips and took slow sips until the searing gold calmed. When she was certain her magic was contained, she reclaimed Winterwish's journal.

  Something struggled amongst the fallen ash. A single midnight caterpillar had been lucky enough to escape the blaze.

  Despite the horror, despite the trauma, Sunshine couldn't help but feel a little curious. With one hand upon her stomach, she squatted down and examined the starry larva.

  "What the fuck are you?" she asked. "...What the fuck am I?"

  Even now, after discovering Titania's darkest secret, she still had so many questions, yet not the luxury of contemplation. "I don't know where you came from, or if you can understand me, but I'll tell you one thing. Bite me and you're fucking mush." Cradling the stubby-legged twinkler, Sunshine headed for the surface, searching for someplace safe to stash Winterwish's journal.