Chapter 4
Elida's phone rang: it was two days later, and it was the boss calling her.
"Elida, are you free?"
"Yes, I am..."
"In that case, go grab a coffee, and come to my office, will you? I think I might have some interesting news for you about what we talked about the other day"
"Oh, great, give me a couple of minutes...". Elida finished what she was doing, and got herself a coffee (if she had been outside, she would probably just have magicked one up, but she was inside, where there were magic dampening spells.... not that THAT would actually stop her, she had already shown that there were (magic) ways around it).
As Elida entered her boss' office, she saw an older lady also sitting there. "Come on in, take a seat. This is Lady Zia; she is a lecturer at Fairy University".
"Hello Elida, it's nice to meet you, I've heard many good things about you. Oh, and just call me Zia" she said in a very gentle voice.
"Hello... Zia... it's nice to meet you!". Elida looked at Zia. An old lady, probably as old as Flora, but didn't quite look as 'rough'... no doubt the difference between working as a fairy out in the field, as opposed to being someone who worked at the university.
"So, Posy here told me that you had some problems casting some 'naughty magic' the other day: I think I might be able to explain things a bit, so how about we go and have a chat...."
Elida, first of all, smiled to discover that her boss was called 'Posy'. A very pretty name, but it felt odd, as it was the first time anyone had ever called her that. She was also very pleased to hear that someone might be able to help with her 'problem'.
"Ok, I'm sure one of the meeting rooms is free...."
"I think it needs to be a rather more confidential chat, just you and me, so why don't we go down into the Dark Archive?".
"You know about.... the Dark Archive?".
"Oh, yes, indeed. I've spent many hours down there, reading those lovely books, although most of it WAS a few years ago. Posy tells me that you have become its librarian, and to be honest, that doesn't surprise me. Come on....".
Zia led Elida down to the Archive. "Would you mind if I went in first?" Zia asked as they stood in front of the door to the 'Dark Magic' books. She opened the door, walked in, and looked around. "Hello books, it's been a while!". As soon as Zia said that, the books started jiggling around excitedly. "Come on in, Elida, sit down".
"So, you guys know Zia?" Elida asked the books. The fact that these many books, full of dark magic seemed to have a respect for Zia actually relaxed Elida. She sat down, putting her cup of coffee down on the table.
"Now, Posy said you were having problems doing some magic the other day - tell me about it"
Elida explained what had happened.
"So, when you say you 'couldn't cast the spell', what exactly do you mean?"
"Well....it's like if you have a pen, but it's run out of ink: you try to write something, you move the pen as you would normally over the paper, but... well nothing happens. So, I prepared the spells like I would do any other spell, but when I tried to actually cast the spell, it just didn't happen. Does that make sense?"
"Oh, yes, perfect sense. Ok, let's find out a bit more about you... let me see... I hear that you seem to 'understand' magic, able to combine multiple magic spells with little thought?"
"Yes, I can, it's not hard to do...."
"Not hard for you maybe, but most fairies don't find it quite so easy. And I hear you can work with Dark Magic with little problem. These books of Dark Magic not only don't worry you, but it's also very clear that they respect you, as they respect me."
"Yes, I had to use some dark magic spells to help remove the braces that The Dark Fairy put on some people. Plus, I used another dark spell to help find her." She omitted to mention the use of the chains on Lilly a few days before. "As for the books - I find it odd that other fairies have such a problem with them, they've always behaved perfectly when I'm looking for something, even sometimes helping me."
"Also, Posy tells me that you can get around magic dampening spells".
"Yes, although it wasn't that big a space I created...."
"Don't worry, you'll get better with practice. And from what I hear, you get on well with other fairies. But now it seems that you can't do any sort of 'negative magic'. Does all that sound like a reasonable summary?"
"Yes. I guess it is. Is there something wrong with me?".
Zia smiled at Elida. "Definitely not, in fact, it's the opposite. Everything I just said about you applies to me too, and I can promise you that there's nothing wrong with me!". Zia paused a few seconds. "You and I are both 'once in a generation' fairies"
"'Once in a generation' fairies? Is that... good?"
"Oh yes, absolutely! I... well, I guess it's 'we' now.... we are essential to the peace of fairy-kind. In fact, you and I are probably the two most powerful fairies in England, even though you don't realise it yet!"
Elida just sat there, not believing what she had just heard. 'Most powerful fairies?' she thought. She, who was unable to cast a spell on a brat of a kid the other day? How is THAT powerful? Elida felt Zia put her hand on hers, and felt some magic come from Zia. Calming magic. Trusting magic. (And all in a place where you shouldn't be able to do any magic!)
"I think I need to explain to you who I really am: there aren't many fairies who know who I really am, even Posy thinks I just work at the university. I believe that you have met Lilly's boss, Sir Donald?"
"Yes, I have, I met him when Lilly and Tats showed me around FI5... he's a nice man..."
"Well, Sir Donald is one of three fairies who run FI5, and thus are pretty much in charge of what happens to all fairies here in England."
"Three? Lilly said there were two"
"And as far as Lilly is concerned, that's what she needed to know. On a day-to-day basis, Sir Donald and Lady Charlotte run FI5. But with such power becomes a problem: what if they were to 'overstep the mark' and do something that was bad for fairykind? I am the third fairy of the team, and I make sure that Donald and Charlotte never go rogue - and from what happened recently with Princess Sebille, I think you understand what I mean".
"Yes, but what happens if YOU went rogue? Of if they did, and you couldn't stop them?"
"That's the point: I can't go rogue, I'm like you, I can't do any magic that the universe deems to be 'bad'. As for stopping Donald and Charlotte, I am far more powerful than both of them put together, and they KNOW it! Whilst I can't actually ATTACK them, I can easily DEFEND us all against them, or any other similar dark threats. For example, the other week, when Lilly went in to meet The Dark Fairy, with Sparkle and Magic, I was also there - I was part of the FAS backup team: if anything had gone wrong, I would have been the first one in to help them. That's what I do. And so will you, once you understand how... But before we get there, I need to be absolutely certain that you are the one that I seek..."
It was a LOT for Elida to take in. Sat next to her was a most gentle old lady, who claimed to be the most powerful fairy in the country. And who claimed that she, Elida, was just the same.
"And how do we do that?" asked Elida.
"Well, that's partly the reason for coming down here, into the Dark Archive. There's a book in the library here, and I need you to find it. It is a very old book, one that belongs to me... well, I guess it does still belong to me, but soon, if you are the right person, it will belong to you."
"And we'll know that.... how?"
"Oh, don't worry, the book will know, and will let you know too. So, you ready to find it?"
"Yeah, so what do I need to search for?"
"That's part of the test... you need to work it out for yourself". Elida stopped, and thought for a moment.
"Ok, books, you heard the lady... which of you am I looking for?". The books remained silent and unmoving. "Ok, fair enough, I guess I didn't *really* expect that to work! So, I'm looking for a book.... an old book I'm guessing... a very important book by the sound of it. I guess you have belonged to many fairies over the years, so maybe you don't actually belong down here?". Still nothing. Zia also remained silent.
"Ok.... so, Zia thinks I'm to become a powerful fairy, so maybe you contain magic that is relevant to me, and only me, to help me become a protector.... a powerful protector". One of the books moved out a little bit.
"Hello there!" said Elida more softly, "if you're the book I'm looking for, please come out and say hello...". The book came out of the shelf, and flew gently over towards Elida. It was a large book, a quite impressive book, with a very ornate leather binding and covers. It was also VERY well worn. As the book hovered in front of her, she reached out, and touched it: she got very good feelings from the book.
"Yes, that's the one, said Zia.
"Ok, beautiful... do come onto the table," said Elida to the book.
"Hello again," said Zia to the book, "It's been a while. You have helped me a lot over the years, but now it seems you need to belong to Elida. I think maybe you'd better open yourself up, and show her your front page." The book opened, showing a very simple, yet also very ornate, front page to the right, but to the left was a long list of names. At the top, it simply said 'This book belongs to...'. At the bottom of the long list of names, it had Zia's name.
Zia put her hand onto the book. "Put your hand onto the book too....". As Elida also touched the book, she saw her own name, 'Elida', being added magically to the bottom of the long list of names.
"Well, the book seems to agree with me: it belongs to you now. And it also means that you are definitely the fairy that I hoped you were. This lovely book contains a lot of magic that will be essential for you." Elida gently turned the pages, to see a beautifully written book of spells, with all sorts of illustrations. She spent several minutes looking through it, reading some of the spells, and admiring its sheer beauty.
"This book has been added to by its owners over the years. Look, there's one I did": Zia pointed to a drawing of a pretty flower. "It's yours, until you too pass it on. Add your own experiences and knowledge to it." Elida noticed there were still several empty pages at the back, and before that were several hand-written pages. Ok, so the whole book had been hand-written, but these were notes added by later fairies.
"What if someone else finds the book, and reads it? I saw some pretty powerful spells there, and I'm sure some could be turned to be dark spells quite easily."
"Don't worry, it's a very safe book. It now knows you, so will only ever open for you. So, take it with you, you will both be quite safe!"
"But I'm guessing this isn't everything I need to know?"
"Oh, no, you'll also need to read a lot of these other books too!" said Zia, pointing around the bookshelves. Don't worry, they will help you find what you need. They have already accepted you as their Librarian, they now also accept you as their Protector, as they did me."
"But Lilly and her mum, the boss, said I can't just read the books as I want..."
"... in case you go rogue? But the last thing that can happen is you going rogue - the universe simply won't let it happen! You and I are the two fairies who not only CAN, but NEED to, understand all this dark magic, so we can protect AGAINST this magic. You can safely read any and all of these books"
"They also said I might not be safe down here alone, with all these dark magic books."
"Don't worry, you are their Protector, they would never hurt you... or me, for that matter.". Zia stood up, and ran her hand across the spines of the books, then motioned to Elida to do the same. As Elida touched the books, she got a variety of sensations. Some were pleasant, but some indicated darkness, but none of them felt at all threatening.
"As you touch them, they try and talk to you... it can be a great way to find something... ask for what you want, and you can feel if the books can help you... And it's not just the books in here, the more normal books next door are the same"
"Yeah, why ARE there two rooms? It seems to me that they should all be together. It would make it a lot easier to find things."
"Yes, I've wondered the same in the past. I suspect that they simply ran out of room, so arbitrarily split the books into two. Of course, now that you are their librarian, maybe you can do something about it"
"Can I?"
"Why not? You're the Librarian now"
"But how?"
"Well, you've already shown you can do magic in places where it's not allowed"
"Yeah, but that was tiny..."
"So... practise!". Zia created a small sparkling 'bubble', just like Elida had done.
"Yeah, mine was that small too..."
"So, you make it bigger..." Zia motioned with her hands, and the 'bubble' grew larger... and larger... so that it included both of them inside it. Then she expanded it even further, to pretty much fill the room. "So, what magic do you need to do?" asked Zia with a big smile. "Hey, magic me a coffee, will you?".
Elida ran a couple of simple spells, one for a cup of coffee, another for some biscuits! It was about now that Elida realised how powerful Zia must actually be.
"Thank you! So, just take what you already know, read your new book, and combine spells..." said Zia, letting go of the 'bubble'.
"Ok, so how many spells did you actually use there then?"
"In total, by the end, I guess 5 or 6...". Elida was suitably impressed. "You just need to keep practising, till it all becomes second nature. It's actually an important thing to be able to do: you need to be able to protect others even in magical places, where magic is normally not possible, so places like the office, or even at the Palace. By the way, I'd suggest you learn a couple of the 'door locking' spells sooner rather than later, so you can have a bit of privacy in the practice rooms, you don't really want other fairies wondering what you're doing!". Elida nodded in understanding.
"So, back to the library - I guess I'll need a big enough 'bubble' so I can use magic to adjust the walls and add doors and stuff. Sounds like I need to practice a bit!"
"Yes, and don't be scared to try things. Yes, you'll make mistakes, but that's how we learn. But when you are ready to make changes to the library, let me know, I'd love to help!"
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Zia and Elida stayed for a while in the Dark Archive, talking. Elida had many more questions, which Zia answered, keeping no secrets from Elida. Zia also had a few questions for Elida, which she answered.
"It's a lot to take in, I know! I felt exactly the same when I found out, although it was a few years ago."
"Hey, you said we're 'once in a generation' fairies, but there's actually another generation between us..."
"Yes, there is, but we never found anyone in that generation. Maybe one wasn't born, or maybe they simply have no idea of their potential. But it doesn't matter, you're here now."
"So, from a practical perspective, what now?" Elida asked Zia.
"Well, in the short term, don't let anything change: I understand that you do Tooth Fairy duties with Flora - lovely lady, isn't she? So, continue with doing that. You can still come down here and learn when you want - don't worry, I'll let Posy know that it's all ok. Oh, we'd better swap phone numbers: I'm sure you'll have more questions, plus it will make it easier if I need to get in touch.
Elida was actually feeling very good about what she had been told - there wasn't actually anything wrong with her at all, as she had originally feared. Although all that stuff about being a very powerful fairy was, in itself, a little scary. She also realised that her life was about to change, in a very big way.
"So, is all this something that I should keep quiet about for the moment?"
"That would probably be a good idea. You don't really want to attract attention to yourself..."
