Chapter 30

The 'fight' has by now been going on for 4 days. Lot's of to-ing and fro-ing, but our team has managed to use their magic to stop the invaders from the 8th realm from actually invading, limiting them to a small area in the woods, in the farm on the outskirts of Runesvale.

Most of the fighting happens during the day, with very minor skirmishes at night. 

A large marquee has been (magically, of course) set up, with suitable stocks of beer etc, for the members of the 7 realms to meet in and relax in as and when. It is lunchtime, and Serena is sitting talking with a couple of the cyclops, talking about what has been going on during the day, when Elida, Poppy and Annabelle arrive.

They all sat and chatted for a while, then decided it was time for some food: with lots of magical creatures around from the seven realms, a couple of large tables were magicked up, and covered with a variety of food from the seven realms. It may sound a bit over-the-top, but it is often said that an army marches on it's stomach: they variety of powerful creatures had spent the morning stopping the invaders from making any progress, they just needed to do a bit more, to actually quench the invasion, and close the rift between the realms.

Of course, you might be asking why our guys hadn't tried to attack and go across into the 8th realm, but the invaders were guarding the rift very carefully.

"I'm getting fed up of this!" said Serena to her team. "I'm sure there must be SOMETHING we can do, there must be some sort of dark magic I can use to permanently close down that rift between us and the 8th realm. I mean, it was clearly created by magic, so magic ought to be able to shut it down! You know, there's one place I've not really looked, and that's the books in the study over at The Coven of the Unseen Moon, maybe there's something there? I mean, mwe found some VERY useful books there that first time we visited!"

"No harm in checking it out" suggested Sarah.

"Hey, Poppy..."

"Yeah?"

"Elida says you have special skills with books.... does that include our sort of books?"

"As in Human books? No idea, I've only worked with fairy books, but no reason I couldn't give it a try.."

"You busy this evening?"

"Nope, but sounds like I'm gonna come with you and do some book searching... Could be interesting!"

"Ok, so when we've finished here, lets go over there."


-------


Serena called Mr Simpkin, one of the elders of The Coven of the Unseen Moon: it was his house that she had gone to, and discovered the amazingly useful (and very cleverly hidden) set of books that had been specially written for them. He said that she was very welcome to come over to look at the other old books in their study.

"Ok, Poppy, ready to go?"

"Yes, where we going, and I'll just run up my magic?" replied Poppy. Yes, not only had Poppy managed to learn how to teleport - just like Elida could - she had also worked out the extra spells needed to allow them to get into places like the offices and the palace, where there were magic-dampening spells.

"It's ok, just take my hand, I'll give you a lift there..." said Serena.


Unlike the library at Mrs Johnson's house, which was very much a traditional library, with many shelves of books, and plenty of space for several people to sit, the books at the Simpkin's house were in a study, a much smaller room: one wall was covered in shelves, with many of the books there. Others were piled on the floor.

"So, Poppy, do have a look around, see if you can talk to the books..."

"Ok, no promises though..."

"Don't worry, I'm not expecting miracles, but anything you can do is better then me just searching the books by myself." Serena sat down in the chair at the desk, and concentrated on the many books: she had done this several times with the books at Mrs Johnson's.

"Hmm, don't seem to be able to actually 'talk' to the books, but I'm getting some sort of 'vibes' from them. So what we looking for?"

"To be honest, I have no idea. Old magic? Dark Magic? Very strong magic? Something that's not quite as 'mainstream'?"

While Serena had closed her eyes and was using her skills to scan the books, Poppy was flying along the shelves, touching the books one by one, to see what feelings she was getting. Serena had spotted that Poppy had started at the top shelf, so she specifically started at the bottom. By the time she got up to the middle shelf (which was most of an hour later), she could feel that a small number of the books had been pulled out from the shelf a little - she guessed that Poppy had done this, to highlight them - which was something Serena had done to a couple of the books she had found. One of the books highlighted by Poppy felt to be noticeably older than the others.

Finally, Serena opened her eyes: Poppy was lying on the desk, and had apparently fallen asleep. Serena used summoning spells to bring the highlighted books over to the desk, putting them down quietly so as not to wake Poppy. Serena looked at the first of the books: whilst it had some interesting magic ideas in it, there was nothing of real interest. As she put it back down on the table, Poppy woke up.

"Hey there!" said Serena softly, "feeling better for the quick nap?". Poppy knew that this wasn't a dig from Serena, just a simple question.

"Yeah, give me a moment will you, but sometimes just a few minutes is enough to reset your brain. So, looked at the books yet?"

"Just this one, and nothing there."

"Oh, ok... hey, looks like YOU could do with a break too, fancy a cuppa?"

"Oh, yes please. But no cakes, although a couple of ginger biscuits would be nice. And do have one yourself!"

Serena took a sip from her tea cup... oh yes, that was nice! She leant over, and pulled the older book from the pile, and opened it. Poppy flew up onto Serena's shoulder, so she could read it too: she loved old books. "I see you spotted this book too," said Serena, "any particular reason?"

"Not really, I just love old books, and sometimes old books have information in that you least expect...".

The sat there, drinking their teas, eating the rather tangy ginger biscuits, and slowly looking through the old book. The book was full of old stories, better described as 'historical stories', and Serena knew that sometimes these old stories were very much based on real history.

"What you giggling at?" asked Serena.

"Oh, that bit at the bottom of the right hand page...."

"Not got there yet." She quickly read ahead to the bit Poppy had meant. "A Stone of all Magic? Yeah, could do with one of those right now!" The story was about a magic stone, which contained all of the magic from all of the realms, and how it was lost. Then found by a nasty wizard, who used it to do bad things, but was finally thwarted by a witch and a fairy working together. "Hey, Wanda, this ringing any bells with you?"

"Good evening, mistress! Oh, yes, THAT old story, I remember hearing that story when I was a young wand. Definitely what you could do with right now!"

"Think there's any basis for it being real?"

"It's so hard to tell. If it is, then what happened to it? I mean, magic seems to have been working ok for as long as I can remember."

"Ahem!" said a voice behind them. They all turned to see an elf standing by the door. "I'm sorry for interrupting, my name is Davros, I'm rather hoping that you are the mighty Serena?"

"I am....". Serena was getting used to such descriptions, especially from the creatures from the other realms.

"I'm one of the elves who has been searching our old libraries for you, and I found something. It seems very minor, but for some reason it just strangely felt like it's something I should tell you straight away. I don't suppose you read elvish do you?"

"No, I don't. Poppy?"

"No, me neither..."

"Ok, let me try and translate it for you. This is one of those 'historical story books', where the stories are supposed to be based on actual history, but you do sometimes wonder. It's a story about an elf who found a strange looking stone. He showed to his master, who realised that it was a magical stone, and while he used it initially to do good things, he started doing bad things, in order to become richer and more powerful. The elf met a fairy one day, and together they managed to steal the stone from the nasty elf master."

"You are KIDDING me?" said Serena. "We've just been reading an amazingly similar story here. I don't suppose your story tells what happened to the stone, does it?"

"Yes, it says that the elf and the fairy hid the stone in plain sight for all to see, but for no one to realise quite how important it was."

It was then that yet another creature magically appeared in the room, a cyclops. Now, we might think of cyclops as being quite tall, maybe 6 or 7 feet tall, but this guy was about 4 feet tall!

"Mistress Serena?" he asked.

"Yes...."

The cyclops went down on one knee. "It is my honour to meet you! My name is Titan: I have been searching our libraries for information that might help our combined armies beat this invasion from the eighth realm. Tonight I came across something that seems to be so inconsequential, yet I felt utterly compelled to come here to tell you about it."

"Ok. I don't suppose it's a story about a witch and a fairy, or maybe an elf and a fairy, who find some sort of magical stone?"

"Well... in a way... yes....."

"In that case, do tell us more, it sounds like it could be vaguely relevant..."

"So, this is supposedly a true story about a young girl cyclops, who finds a stone. When she picks it up, it starts to glow gently, and she finds that the stone allows her to do magic. But she becomes greedy, and a good fairy spots her using the stone, and realises that this magic stone is far too powerful for any single cyclop to use, so smashes it, splitting it into 4 pieces, which stops it being magical any more."

"Thank you, Titan. Davos here has also been searching the elven libraries, and was compelled to come here with an amazingly similar story, and just before he arrived, Poppy and I found a book, also with a similar story, about a magical stone."

"Did someone say magical stone?" said a beautiful Irish voice. They all looked over to the desk, where a Leprechaun was standing not that far from Poppy... in fact, he was only an inch or two taller than Poppy.

"Hello there, do introduce yourself!" invited Serena.

"My name is Wee Willy, and I'm very much hoping I'm in the right place, and that one of you is Serena." he said in his lovely Irish lilt.

"That's me! Welcome, Wee Willy, what can I do for you?"

"I think it's more what I can do for you. I've been searching our libraries for any leprechaun magic that might be able to help you and the armies fight and defeat the current invasion in your realm, and I came across something: it's nothing more than a children's story, but something strange told me that this was more important that it seemed, and that I should come and find you, to tell you."

"Something tells me that what you are about to say will involve a magic stone, and a nasty leprechaun who uses the stone to do bad things?"

"Not really. This is a historical story, supposedly true, but who really knows? It is a story of four young leprechaun friends. During their school holidays, they go on an adventure, to try and find that pot of gold, you know, the one at the end of the rainbow. Needless to say, they don't find it, but on the way, each of them finds a plain, yet still pretty, stone. When they stop, they are all surprised that each of them had picked up a small yet pretty stone. They think nothing of it, and throw the stones back on the ground: as the 4 stones get close to each other, they start glowing, and turn into a pot of gold!"

"I'm getting the feeling that these stories are, somehow, all related to each other, as well as relevant to me, and what I am trying to do."

Everyone in the room was currently looking at the desk, where Wee Willy and Poppy were. "Serena, I think you need to turn around and look behind you...." said Poppy.



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Chapter 32

"Ok, so we're looking for 4 small stones, all hidden in plain sight?" asked Harper.

"Yep. So, Sarah, I see you wearing that brooch quite a lot, where did it come from? I mean, it must mean something special if you like wearing it?"

"My grandma gave it to me, before she died. It's simple, but I like it".

"Can you remove it, and put it onto the table please. Harper, do tell me about your ring..."

"Yes, it was given to me by my lovely grandma, it's been in the family for years.... On the table?"

"Please. Samantha, your bracelet?"

"It's nice, isn't it? It too is a family heirloom..." She removed it, and put it onto the table.

"Grandma gave me this when I was little," said Serena, holding her locket. "She made me promise to wear it, but also look after it, as if my life depended on it. I don't think she quite realised how true that was!" Serena removed her locket, holding it in her hand, and picking up the other 3 items. Yes, the shapes on the stones looked like they MIGHT match.

"Four plain stones, hidden in plain sight for generations, and somehow they got to us four. Here. Tonight. And seven stories about the four stones. Here. Tonight. The universe has clearly done a LOT of work to make this happen!" A shiver went down Serena's spine as she held the four items of jewellery in her hands. She held them closely together: nothing happened. She tried holding them next to the indentation in the sword: still nothing happened. She put all them back down on the table again.

"Ok, Wanda, how do we combine them again?"

"Well, they ARE magic stones, so you probably need to use some magic."

"Got anything specific in mind? I don't remember any 'combine 4 stones into one again' spells."

"What about the power of four? That's pretty strong magic, and I'm sure it will work out what needs to be done!"

"Ok, ladies, wands out!"

"Oh, hello Wanda... hello Ethel!"

"Hey, Madge, Yin and Yan!"

"Ok, ladies... yes, you four, please quieten down, you can catch up later, we have important work to do here." The other three wands spotted the four bits of jewellery.

"It's something to do with those, isn't it?"

"Yes, " replied Serena, "we need to remove the stones from the 4 bits of jewellery, recombine them into a single stone, and put it into my sword... any suggestions?" The 4 wands talked magic for about 30 seconds.

"The consensus is that we each need to pick up the stone related to us, then use the power of all 4 of us to recombine it and drop it into the sword." explained Wanda. When she put her mind to it, Wanda could be quite amazing. "So, point us to our bits of jewellery, and put your other hands together... ". With spectacular sparks, and zig-zags of electricity flowing in the air (and that was just between the 4 witches!), the wands removed the stones from the jewellery. Then they moved their wands together: more sparks, and bright lights, and a huge amount from the special effects budget just blown away, and the stone once again became one.

"Over to my sword..." said Serena. They moved their wands in unison, and placed the stone into the sword. As it embedded itself into the slight recess, the sword glowed very brightly, then dimmed down (but still remained gently glowing). The job all done, all the sparks and so on coming from the wands stopped.

"I believe our job is done," said Wanda.

"I think you need to pick up the sword, Serena!" said Elida.

"That's easy for you to say, you're not the one picking it up!"

"Half a second... Samantha... calming spell?". Samantha went over to Serena again, and cast a calming spell. "That feel better? You ready now?"

"Yes, thanks for that.... here goes!" Serena reached out, and nervously put her hand on the sword. As she touched its handle, it started to pulsate, and Serena herself was momentarily encased in a strange purple glow.

"Oh my goodness!!!! I can feel the magic... all the magic of all the realms!!! It's strangely amazing, yet it feels good, it feels.... RIGHT! And now I understand WHY they are trying to invade from the eighth realm: they want this stone!!!! Well they CAN'T HAVE IT!!! It belongs here, in our seven realms. Hey, Wanda, you ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Hey, touch me onto the sword, let me have a word with that GORGEOUS hulk....". As Wanda touched the sword, there was a very pretty light dance between them.

"Hello, Serena, my name is 'Glimmer', I have waited a long time for this day!" said a very sexy male voice, coming from the sword. "I believe you need my help? I now contain 'The Stone of all Magic', the sum total of all the magic of the ten realms, which you may use for the purposes of good - which includes the defeat of evil. But I warn you, use me for anything evil, then that evil will come back at you ten-fold or more."

"Hello Glimmer, it's nice to meet you! Erm, did you just say TEN realms?"

"Yes! How many did you think there were?"

"Well, our 7 realms, plus the eighth that we're fighting... You're telling me that there's actually another TWO?"

"As I said, my stone contains the magic of all ten realms, and I can also be used to move easily and quickly between the realms..."

"I have a feeling that might be rather helpful... So, if we're trying to sort out an invasion from what we call the eighth realm, I'll now be able to use their own magic against them?"

"Indeed you will!"

"Ok... and, umm, is it just me that can use you?"

"Until now, in someone else's hands, I have been just an ordinary sword, but you have been able to allow them to use my abilities. With the 'Stone of all Magic', it's pretty much the same: if you allow someone to use me, then they can also access the  magic within me.... as long as they also have a pure mind and good intent. But heaven help anyone who is NOT of pure mind or has bad intentions that tries to use me!".

"Thank you Glimmer! You seem to have arrived at just the right time. Are you going to be safe in my scabbard?"

"Sounds like a pretty normal, safe and comfortable place for a sword to be..."

Now, normally Serena would use a tiny bit of simple magic, so that she could kinda throw her sword up in the air, and it would nicely drop into her scabbard, which she kept comfortably strapped to her back. So that's what she did tonight: however, it seems that Glimmer can be a bit of a show-off at times: a double loop and a triple spin later, and Glimmer landed perfectly into the scabbard!


The group talked together for some time: they were all happy to have contributed to something so amazing, and there was no doubt that tonight would be a night talked about for a long time. And so would tomorrow.

"I think we all need to rest, then early tomorrow, we'll finish this invasion, once and for all!" said Serena.


------------------------


About 7am the next day Serena  turned up at the 'operations' tent. Whilst a certain amount of fighting had already started again outside, the 'generals' of the 7 realms were in the 'operations' tent planning what they could try next.

"Good morning everyone! I'm sure by now you may have heard the news: it looks like my sword has become super-charged with the magic of the ten realms..."

"TEN realms did you say?"

"Yes, Glimmer was quite clear about that! So, I'll be honest, I didn't ACTUALLY get a lot of sleep last night, I was 'playing with my new toy', finding out what magic I can do with him, plus reading a few books. I can confidently say that that I'm going to sort things out today, once and for all!. My plan, if you all agree, is to use my 'team', plus Elida and Poppy, I want to be ready for pretty much anything..."

"Serena," said one of the 'generals', "we have absolute trust in you: the prophecy says that it is YOU that will sort this out. Go with our blessing, and do what you believe needs to be done!"

"Thank you! I need to talk with the fairy team, and my team, but the rest of you probably want to listen in too.... I don't suppose there's any coffee left is there?"

One of the generals brought Serena a coffee, and the fairies and witches all sat down: the only 'person' missing was Poppy. Around them were people like Captain Hughes, and the senior members from the other 5 realms.

"So, let me introduce Glimmer to you:" She held out her hand, and cast a simple spell. Glimmer rose out of Serena's scabbard, gently came over her head, and landed softly in her hands, at which point it started to glow once more. "Glimmer, good morning!"

"Good morning, Mighty Serena!"

"And I think we 4 should all have our wands visibly out, they may need to get involved with what we do today, so need to know what's going on. So, good morning Wanda!".

Wanda appeared, and yawned loudly. "Oh, it's FAR to early to start work! Just dip me in your coffee for a moment, will you?"

"So, I'm planning on shutting down that rift, and stopping those invaders once and for all. My plan is simple, but I believe it's going to need a combination of magic from Glimmer along with some dark witch magic, which I hope Glimmer is ok with me using?"

"Oh, you're ok if you use your OWN dark magic, just not anyone else's, unless you want it coming back at you!" replied Glimmer.

"Excellent. So I'm seeing two things that *I* need to do, and one that's going to be up to the fairy team. What I do is likely to hit me hard, so Lilly, I need you to find your best couple of fairies who can do recuperation spells, and get them here to help - I may need them later."

"No problems!" said Lilly.

"And Samantha, can you ask your mum to join you as well? I have a feeling I'm gonna need a lot of help."

"Ok..." replied Samantha.

"So, you said TWO things you need to do, you've only mentioned one so far." said Harper.

"Yes. So, before I actually close the rift, I'm going to give the invaders a few minutes warning to get back to their own realm: not only is that the decent thing to do, but we don't REALLY want to have to deal with a load of them stuck in our realms as prisoners. But THAT doesn't REALLY fix the problem. The eighth realm will STILL be wanting to attack us! Now, if they are anything like most of the other realms, they will have a king - or someone similar - who calls the shots. And history shows that whilst kings get power hungry, there's also a load of people, some very close to the king, who actually oppose what they are doing. I'm going to make their king wish that he'd never met me. I'm going to humiliate him so much that he'll be scared to return to his realm! Oh, I'll be letting them all hear what I do as well, give them all some encouragement to 'do what is right'!"

"Sounds like you're planning on using some nasty magic there..." said Samantha.

"Well, yes.... and I'm going to need a 'tablet-assist'.. in fact, I was planning on taking a couple of tablets, make sure I REALLY have the POWER I need. Now, Tats, you need to get Sebby, and take her to see the old palace, it's going to be her last chance..."

"What do you mean?" asked Tats.

"Well, we all thought that it was sheer coincidence that the invasion happened here, but it turns out that your old Fairy Palace has been some sort of beacon that the invaders have used, plus it created a bit of a 'weak spot' between realms. So I'm afraid that your old Palace needs to be destroyed. Flattened. Blasted out of existence, and stripped of all its magic: Elida, I'm hoping that you and Poppy will be able to do that?"

"Give us an hour to check up on the magic we'll need, I'm sure it can't be THAT hard. Where IS Poppy by the way?"

"I told her to get some rest after last night, so she's fresh and can help you. As for the rest of you, you guys all need to keep these invaders occupied, but don't let them know that something is going on. I need to go out and do a bit of a recce, work out where to do the magic from: Captain Hughes, I'd appreciate your thoughts on that."

"Are we going to need the 'power of four' for this?" asked Harper?

"I'm thinking not, but it would be good to have you nearby, just in case we need to."

"You sure you're going to be safe doing this? I mean, I don't want you.... killing yourself..." said Sarah, sounding slightly worried.

"Sarah, have faith in the prophecy: it hasn't been wrong so far! It clearly says I'm gonna defeat these creatures, and if this doesn't work, then I'm clearly going to need to remain alive to try something else!"

They discussed a few more details.

"Ok" said Serena looking at her watch. "Elida, go get Poppy and start working out the magic you'll need to pulverise your old palace - you know, I'm so sorry you're gonna have to do that, I know it will hit Sebby hard. Tats, sounds like you have about an hour or so to spend with Sebby and the Palace. How about we all meet back here at.. 09:00? That ok for everyone?"

As with any sort of counter-offensive, making sure everything is in place is essential, which is why Serena wasn't rushing into things too quickly. Samantha came and had a chat with Serena.

"Two ecstasy tabs? You sure you can cope?"

"I hope so. I spoke with Wanda, and my braces, and we all came to the same conclusion: the magic I'm going to be doing simply HAS to work. Wanda has seen me a few times now when I've done magic with just one tablet, and we both think I should do the two, just to be on the safe side. That's why I need you and your mum, and the fairies there: I don't expect to be in a very good state afterwards, I'm probably gonna need help from the lot of you!"
 

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Chapter 34

Finally Serena opened her eyes: she'd been 'out' for about 30 minutes. From Serena's perspective, wherever she was, it was slightly spinning and slightly floating. After a minute or two, she managed to sit up with a little help.

"Your Majesty! How are you feeling?" It was Wanda, who had just popped up in her hand.

"I've felt better!" replied Serena. She looked around her. She was in a tent, surrounded by members of the seven realms.

Captain Hughes came over to her, with his troop of 16 SAS members: they all went down on one knee in front of her. "Your Majesty, we unconditionally pledge our allegiance to you! Long Live Queen Serena!" he said.

"Long Live Queen Serena!" echoed everyone else there.

"Hey, Serena..." asked Wanda. "You gonna be ok with being Queen of all witches?"

Serena smiled. "Yeah, I think I am."

Next to come over to her were Elida and Poppy. "Well, Serena, that was some impressive magic you did earlier on! Nice one! And the king DID end up looking rather cute!". That made Serena smile: yes, the King did look rather 'bright and colourful' when she had sent him back!

"The Old Fairy Palace?" asked Serena.

"Completely destroyed!" replied Poppy.

"Well, done! Any survivors from the other realm?" asked Serena of noone in particular.

"There's just one," replied Harper. "he's being looked after by the centaurs right now, and is being surprisingly cooperative: I think you need to talk to him when you've sorted yourself out."

Once again, Samantha and her mum put their hands on Serena, and did their own special healing magic, which helped her feel a lot better.

"So, it's finally all over then?" said Serena, starting to smile. "I actually managed to fulfil the prophecy!"

"Yes, it is, and yes, you have!" said Elida. "And I have someone here who wants to meet you again..."

Serena, turned and smiled. "Your majesty!" she said.

"Your majesty!" said Queen Tinkerbell (she's queen of the fairies!). "Don't worry, you'll soon get used to it! But I think we all need a little celebration: Elida, Poppy, girls: you know what to do!".

Moments later, tables were appearing, on which there was tea. And sandwiches. And disgustingly nice but fattening cream cakes. And jam doughnuts. Not to forget the fairy cakes!

Chapter 36


It was the 'day after'. The day after the invasion was stopped. The day after a lot of beer and ale was drunk. And the day after Serena became Queen of all the Witches. Before, she'd felt she wasn't really worthy of becoming a queen, but she had grown so much, had so much more faith in herself, and she now actually felt quite ok with being Queen of all the Witches of Britain. Well, almost....

Serena's team had assembled. 4 witches: Serena, Sarah, Samantha and Harper. 2 fairies: Elida and Poppy. And one werewolf: Eric. Of the team, there was no doubt that after Serena, Elida and Poppy were the most powerful and capable, magically. Eric had promised that he would be no threat to the team, so no longer had any anti-magic devices attached to him. Besides, he knew full well that Serena could probably just kill him with a wave of a little finger if she wanted to. And he wanted to know what was going on in his realm as much as anyone else.

"So, going over to the 8th realm it seems isn't actually all that hard, no harder than going to the other 7 realms. Just different words in the spells, that's all. We all ready? If so, then hold onto me....". With Glimmer in her hand, and all looking smart and 'meaning business' in their lightweight leather armour (had to make sure they sent out the right message to everyone they met!), Serena cast the spell.

One problem is knowing where you will 'land' when you go to another realm. In the 7 known realms, there were 'standard places' where you would go between the realms, meaning you knew where you would land, and people in the other realms would expect to see strange looking creatures arriving there. Plus, the mappring between realms wasn't always 'linear': in some places, if you were just 10 metres from where you should be, you could end up MILES away over on the other realm.

Serena had specifically chosen to NOT go to the location of the rift, but was quite a distance from there: she didn't REALLY want to bump into any of the werewolf soldiers, in case they were still around. Today, when they landed in the eighth realm, they landed in a grassy clearing, in some woods.

"Any idea where we are?" Serena asked Eric.

"Sorry, no idea...."

"Hey Glimmer, going to need to use some 8th realm magic today, so can you point me to some 'probing' spells, so I can 'feel' what's around?". Serena spent a few minutes probing the area. "Ok, I can feel a few small 'villages' around, the closest is a couple of miles THAT way. Hmmm... Wanda, am I going to be able to teleport here?"

"No use asking me, I'm new here too..."

"Ok. Glimmer?"

"Much of your magic will work here, although you probably want to keep to the 'light' magic..."

"Fair comment. Ok, all hold hands... Elida, Poppy, feel free to sit on my shoulders if you prefer!". Serena concentrated, and they landed in a quiet part close to the middle of the village. The village looked very much like a small village might in any of the other 7 realms: houses, streets and so on.

Again Serena probed. "I'm seeing a load of people not far away, in that direction. Eric, maybe you can lead us?"

"Sure..." he replied. They walked for a couple of minutes, ended up going down an alley, and into what seemed to be a 'market square', with a small number of stalls, and a few shops. And quite a few werewolves going about their daily lives.

"We'll do some 'feelgood' spells, so they don't panic when they see us" suggested Elida.

"Good idea, I can do that too" said Samantha.

Eric went over to one of the stalls, and spoke to the owner, then went back to them. "So, I don't have a lot of detail but: I know where we are now; the old king is dead; but I'm not sure who's in charge now. This wolf tells me that there seems to be a general feeling of calm though, which sounds hopeful."

"So, maybe we just need to go to the palace, see what's going on, go and say 'hello' to the new King? Is the palace far?"

"Yes, I think you're probably right. It's about 25 clicks away, are we going to be able to teleport that far in one go?"

Wanda popped up again. "You could try your 'power of four, that should make it pretty easy...".

With everyone holding on once more, the four of them used their wands together: moments later they were just outside the main gate of the King's Palace.

"You guys wait here, I'll go and have a word with the guards, see what's going on..." suggested Eric. All of Serena's feelings about Eric seems to have been spot on: he was very much a team player, and he was currently part of Serena's team.

"Hey, Eric, mate! Never expected to see you again, word was that you'd been captured just before that powerful witch woman closed the rift!" said one of the guards.

"Hey, Jimmy! Nice to see you too. So what's been going on? Who's in charge now? I hear the old man is dead..."

"Yeah, it seems when he got sent back he felt a bit of a... well, I guess the word 'dickhead' is probably as good a word as anything, and apparently he took his own life. Princes Tarquin and Alfonce didn't know quite what to do, so Prince Richard and a few friends threw them both into the cells, and he's running the place for now. Boy, is he going to be surprised to see you!"

"What happened to the army?" asked Eric.

"Well, it seems that they were unable to open that rift thing again, so they've all gone back to barracks. Besides, without the king's direction, they've really got nothing to do. So who's this lot you're with then? They don't seem to be very hairy, so I'm guessing they must be from that other realm?"

"Yeah, that's right. I'm not really quite sure how to describe them. The one in the middle is Serena, she's now the Queen of the Witches of the realm we invaded, she's the one that made King Conri look like a 'dickhead', you don't want to mess with her! Mind you, having said that, she's a very fair person. The others are her 'team'."

"Who's those tiny ones, with wings?"

"Apparently they are 'fairies', come from yet another realm.

"How many bloomin' realms ARE there?"

"Ten apparently! Anyway, we've all come to find out what's going on here... I'm rather hoping we'll be ok to go meet the new king, I wouldn't want to see Serena having to force her way in!"

"Nah, go on in, we all know who you are...."

"Thanks, Jimmy!". Eric went back to the others. "Very good news, it seems that the best option happened, and Prince Richard is currently in charge of things. Let's go on in."

As they walked further in to the palace, the wolves seemed to recognise Eric, and with some simple magical help from her team, they seemed inclined to let them continue without any questions.

"Ok, guys, this is the throne room, not entirely sure what we'll find in here, but there's only one way to find out. I suggest you might like to go in first, Serena, what with being queen and all that..."

Eric opened the door for her, and with her head held high, Serena walked into the room. It was quite a big and fancy room, as ypu might expect in a palace. At the far end was a pair of fancy looking thrones, both empty at the moment. There was a group of about a dozen wolves talking to the side. As she walked in, all eyes turned to Serena.

"Good morning, I am Serena, from the human realm, where I am Queen of the Witches," she said proudly. "As I promised yesterday after I made a fool of your king, King Conri, I have come to see for myself what is happening in your realm!"

One of the wolves left the group, came over to Serena, and went down on his knee in front of her. "Queen Serena! I am Prince Richard, I am forever indebted to you for what you did yesterday. I can but only apologise for my father's stupidity!" As he was speaking, Eric came over to him.

"Hey, Richard, it's ok, you can get up....". The Prince looked over at Eric.

"Eric!! This is amazing, you are alive! I assumed that when you didn't make it back that they would have killed you?"

"Just the opposite: whilst Queen Serena is very capable and powerful, she is also very wise, and not at all evil... more than I could ever say about Conri. She not only treated me with respect, and shared ale with me last night, but she has asked me to be an ambassador for our realm. So what's happened here?"

"Please come on in, and let me tell you....".

After Eric had introduced Serena's 'team', Prince Richard explained that Serena's voice had been clearly heard across their whole realm yesterday: "That was some very powerful magic you did there!". 

So, yesterday, the King had been close to the rift (on the 8th realm side) in a sort-of tent, talking with a large group of wolf soldiers, preparing to possibly go through the rift, when he suddently disappeared, summoned by Serena. When she returned him a few minutes later, the group that was in the tent saw him, and simply started laughing at the king, shouting and jeering at him. The king had got up, taken a short sword from one of the wolves in the room, and had taken his own life.

News quickly got back to the palace, and when Richard's two brothers had returned, some of Richard's close friends simply took the two brothers down to the cells and locked them up... and when he, Richard, had come in, they asked him to take charge.

"I mean, I'm the third son, I never thought I'd have to do this. I'm out of my depth, WAAAAY out of my depth!"

"Know the feeling, Richard, been there, done that! Got the matching t-shirt too!" said Serena. "But I can tell you that that probably makes you the best person to become the new king of this realm! I hope you're a quick learner?"

"Umm, well....."

"Good, you'll be ok! So, I assume your brothers are still in the cells then? Have you spoken to them yet?" asked Serena.

"Yes, they are, and no I haven't..."

"Hmmm, you stay here, Richard, can you get someone to take me and Sarah here down to see your brothers?"

---

"So, you are Tarquin and Alfonce? I am Serena, Queen of the Witches, of the human realm your father tried to invade..." The two of them looked a bit apprehensive.

"I... I... I recognise your voice, you're the one that humiliated my father in front of his army, and the one who closed the magic rift! How on earth did you do that?"

"Mainly with good magic and a clean heart.. and a bit of dark magic thrown in for good measure! You father was after THIS, I believe?" Serena summoned Glimmer into her hand, and she showed them the stone. "This is my sword, and it is currently the resting place for the 'Stone of all Magic'. This is what your father invaded my realm for. I'm sorry, but NOBODY invades MY realm! It was a waste of time as it turned out: the problem is that, to be able to use the magic in this stone, you must have a good heart, and good intentions, and you father had neither.... I actually gave it to your father, but he didn't seem to get on quite so well with it! Think either of you could cope with it? You're very welcome to give it a try!". Neither of the two accepted Serena's offer, quite sensibly.

As Serena spoke with them, the two princes became more and more in awe of Serena: she spoke a lot of sense.

"So, what are you going to do with us all now then?" asked Tarquin.

"A lot depends on you two, I guess. For a start, there's no way I can let either of you rule this realm... So that leaves your brother Richard. He has little idea what to do, but I suspect he will make a far better King than either of you could EVER do. But I think he needs your help. Are you two willing to accept your younger brother as your king? And work with him as his advisors - although I'd strongly suggest that any advice you give him should NOT include invading other realms again! So?"
   
The two princes hung their heads in shame. "Yes, I understand... and yes, I can accept him as my king." replied Alphonce.

"So can I..." replied Tarquin.

"Ok, in that case... Wanda?".

"Your Majesty?"

"Can I have those two wristbands please?". Two thin but sturdy metal wristbands appeared in Serena's hands, and she clipped them onto the wolves. "You, and any other wolves, will be unable to remove these: they will prevent you both from doing any magic." Next Serena cast a spell to open the cell doors.

"Are you willing to come with me, and pledge yourselves to your brother? And ask him to be your king?". They nodded. "Ok then, let's go!".

Now, you're probably thinking 'Hey, what about the guards? Why don't they stop her?'. The answer is simple: one of the many 8th-realm spells she remembered putting onto one of those many yellow stickies in her mind, was a 'you can trust me' sort of spell, which she had cast when she had first walked in.

----
 
"Your two brothers have something to say to you, Richard..." said Serena as they returned to the throne room. The two brothers went on their knees in front of their younger brother.

"Richard, we both renounce any claims that we may have to the throne, and we feel that YOU should be our king. We both pledge to support you in any way that we can. And we are very sorry for what we have done, helping our father to dirty the reputation of this realm...."

"They are both wearing wristbands that prevent them from doing any magic, so you don't need to worry about that." explained Serena. "I have no doubt you can do this: if I did it, so can you! Samantha, a few words from you maybe?".

"Good morning, your majesty, I am Samantha, and I'm the inter-realm ambassador from the human realm. With you as the king of this realm, I would like to invite you, with Eric as your ambassador, to join our seven realms to meet in a spirit of friendship and co-operation. I hope you can accept this offer."

"So, up to you, Richard... What do the rest of you say?" asked Eric. There was a cheer from the group of other wolves.

"I say: may King Richard be our new king, and may we all prosper under his new rule!!" shouted one of the other wolves.

"So?" asked Serena.

"I guess I don't REALLY have much of a choice, do I?"

"Probably not!". Serena went in front of the new king, and kneeled. "Your majesty, King Richard, it a pleasure to meet you!". All the wolves in the room also kneeled: "Long live King Richard!"

Eric stood up again, and went over to the new king. "Congratulations, mate, we couldn't have a better king. I'm here if you need me. I hope you're ok with me being our ambassador"

"Couldn't want for anyone better! Thank you, Eric. And thank you Serena, and the rest of you. The next time we come to your realm, we promise to come in peace.



(3444)

Chapter 38

Serena received a call from Captain Hughes.

"You remember you said it would be interesting to meet HRH himself, our new King? Well, it seems that he has been informed about what happened, and wants to meet you. So expect a phone call...."

"Hmm, you know, if I'm going to see the King, then I think I should be taking the Kings and whoever from the other seven realms, King Richard from the 8th realm included. I think that would send a much better message, in both directions." said Serena.

"Yes, I can see where you're coming from, and that makes a LOT of sense. However, I think you should just meet him by yourself the first time around. Help him understand the realities of magic and the ten realms: to be honest, I suspect he might be more open to such ideas than his predecessor! If you can do that, I have a feeling he might be quite willing to meet the others."

-----

Serena met with Captain Hughes a short distance from the palace. For a variety of reasons, it was felt that his being with Serena might add an extra level of 'credibility' to her meeting with the King and Queen.

Captain hughes was dressed in his formal military uniform, and Serena was dressed in a new uniform that Poppy and Elida had 'magiced up': based very much on the 'magic armour' that Serena had worn in battle, but far more graceful. This was a tight-fitting black 'cat suit', actually made from something as strong as a combination of kevlar and carbon fibre, yet as elegant and comfortable as cotton or silk. Like her 'battle suit', it had areas of padding and so on, that made it look quite impressive - and very suitable for the Queen of the Witches to wear.  It went from her neck to her feet and wrists. On the front they had embroidered a pair of roses, one red, one white. On her back was, of course, Glimmer, in his scabbard.

"Serena, while I appreciate how important Glimmer is, I don't think you're going to get in to the palace, even less get anywhere near the King with him on your back..."

"Good point. Glimmer, I hope you understand, but please, can you go find somewhere to wait quietly for me: I'm sure there must be plenty of places over at the palace that you can hide. I will summon you when I need you." Glimmer gently disappeared from view, clearly finding somewhere to wait: this was something that he had done on many occasions before. "So, you say you've met him before?"

"Yeah, a few years ago, he presented me with some of these.." he said, pointing the the medals he wore proudly on his chest. Not sure if he'll remember though. So, how you feeling?"

"Strangely nervous, I mean, it's not every day you get to meet a King!"

"What are you talking about? You met King Richard, King of the Werewolf real, and then there's King Ruven, king of the Elves... not to mention...."

"Yeah, yeah, but they aren't MY King. I'm about to meet the King of the Human Realm, the King of England... well, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland too, I guess. But i's a kinda big thing!"

"Don't worry... keep remembering that you're a Queen now, and you'll be ok."

"About that... I confess that I still feel like a bit of a fraud..."

"You are Queen of the Witches, as defined not only by prophecy, but also by your actions, and the support of all the other witches. Have faith in yourself!". Despite all that had gone on, she still found it very hard to accept that she, little and insignificant Serena Muffin, was actually now a Queen. "The best leaders are often those who do not consider themselves to be worthy: sound like anyone you know?". That comment made Serena smile. "Come on, time to go."

The two of them walked together to the palace, where they presented their IDs, and their letter of invitation, and after a LOT of security checks, they were taken through to a small, but very ornate, room. They had been given their instructions: bow or curtsy to their majesties; first time, call them 'Your Majesty', after that, use 'sir'.. or 'ma'am' for the Queen; do not interrupt them; and that sort of thing...

While they waited, Serena silently summoned Glimmer, who quietly re-appeared in his scabbard, on Serena's back. The 'security person' in the room with them thought he saw something out the corner of his eye, but didn't see anything obvious.

"Relax!" said the captain, noticing that Serena still seemed to be rather tense.

Several minutes later, the King and Queen entered the room, followed by some sort of assistant: the 'security person' left.

"Good morning!" said the King.

Serena briefly went down on one knee, and bowed. "Your Majesties!" she said, then stood up again. The captain had just stood at attention, and saluted, as you might expect of a serving military officer.

"Good morning sir, ma'am. I'm Captain Hughes, Special Services, this is Serena Muffin, Queen of all Witches of Britain." The King smiled, came forward, and shook both of their hands, as did the Queen.

"I have heard a strange and interesting story about you, Miss Muffin. The story is, and that seems to be backed up by what the Captain just said, that you are a witch, and a powerful one at that, and that you can do actual magic. I am finding it hard to believe, it goes against everything I have ever been taught."

"And I can understand that, sir, most non-witches find it is a big step to accept that magic exists. I believe that maybe a demonstration is in order?"

"Please, go ahead."

"First of all, it is quite important that we are not disturbed for the next few minutes, so I will be placing what is probably best described as a 'protection field' around this room." She turned to the 'assistant': "Your phone and any other radio devices will continue to work, but noone will be able to enter or leave this room." Serena summoned Wanda, asking her to make herself visible to the five of them. In itself, that got the King's attention. She used Wanda to create the protection field. 

"You will notice that, on my back, I have a sword: I'm sure you appreciate that I wouldn't have been allowed in this room if I had a sword on my back. That is because I didn't have the sword on me when I arrived, I summoned him when we got here."

"Him?"

"Yes sir. His name is Glimmer, and I know that he would like to talk to you. I know that you know how to receive a sword, so please hold your hands out ready....". The King held his hands out, palm up, and well apart. "Glimmer, when you're ready...". Serena specifically kept her hands to her sides as Glimmer rose slowly and gracefully out of the scabbard on Serena's back, did a gentle flip, and slowly landed in the King's hands. As he landed, he glowed.

"Your majesty, it is an honour to meet you! I am Glimmer, the sword that holds all the magic of the ten realms. I can sense that you are honourable, trustworthy, and have good intentions, so please take me by my handle." As requested, the King closed his hand around Glimmer's handle, and as he did so, Glimmer's glow extended briefly around the King. If the King had been surprised by what he had just seen, then it was nothing compared to the strangely long, yet also instantaneous and silent conversation he then had with Glimmer.

"I see! Things make a lot more sense now, Glimmer... oh, it feels so strange talking to a sword. Glimmer, may I pass you to the Queen, so she may also learn what you told me?"

"If she is aso a person of honour, trust and good intentions, then certainly you may!". He passed Glimmer to the Queen, who took him, and experienced what the King had, then Glimmer gently returned to his scabbard.

"So, in the briefing I was given, I was told that you are the person named in a very old prophecy, one that said that you would be a very skilled young witch, and I'm starting to see that now. Please, tell us more about this prophecy, and your part in it."

Serena explained about her pledging to the light grey. About her braces, her magic braces, her sentient magic braces - which have now become another part of her - that protect her from the effects of any dark magic she needs to use. That she has the ability to use both light and dark magic. And how she met Glimmer, her trusted sword.

"Three other very capable witches are also part of my team: Sarah and Harper fought alongside me, the third, Samantha, is a great healer." explained Serena. "The 'attack of the darkness' was an attempted invasion from the 8th realm, and that's how I met Captain Hughes: his SAS team are also witches, and they helped to train us, in preparation for that invasion."

"And you did defeat that invasion, I believe?"

"We did, yes..."

"Serena plays her role down rather a lot" interjected Captain Hughes. "She not only single-handedly sent the invaders back into their own ream, sealing the 'rift' behind them, she also managed to completely humiliate the King of that realm, who had dared to invade us: he took his own life as a result."

The King briefly looked rather uncomfortable.

"And the prophecy declared that you would therefore become Queen of all witches?"

"Yes, sir, it does, and that sentiment is supported by all of the witches in Britain. However, Serena still finds it  very hard to accept that she is worthy of that role."

The King went over to Serena, and took her hands in his. "Serena, I fully understand that becoming a King or Queen is a big step - I know that feeling all too well myself - but it sounds to me that you are very worthy of that role, so you should embrace it, accept it. If I had a crown here, I would crown you as Queen of the witches myself!"

"Would you really, sir?" asked Serena.

"I would indeed..." he replied.

"Maybe we could borrow one of your crowns, sir?"

"I would like nothing better, but it's not something I could arrange in 5 minutes!"

"Yes, but would you let ME get it for you?" asked Serena.

"Trust me," said the captain, "she can...."

"May I have your permission? Please? It'll only be for a few minutes, and I'll leave them a note telling them where it is....".

The King smiled, and then laughed. "Well, at the end of the day, it IS MY crown, so why not....".

Serena used Wanda to locate and then summon the St Edward Crown from the Tower of London (https://dereferer.me/?https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Edward%27s_Crown). In it's place, she left a note:

'I hope you don't mind me borrowing this, I promise to return it in no more than 10 minutes. Love Serena. PS: I'm with the King at the Palace!'

(It goes without saying that all hell broke loose at the Tower when the sensors detected that the crown had gone. Several rather dumbfounded guards saw the note, but didn't quite understand it: the Tower went into instant lockdown, and onto red alert!)

"Oh, my goodness!" exclaimed Serena, who was now holding the crown - the very crown that had recently been used for the King's coronation - in her hands. it was both very beautiful, and yet surprisingly heavy! "I bet Poppy and Elida would LOVE to see this..."

Two small fairies suddenly appeared, and realising where they were, and who was there, instantly ran a 'make me visible' spell. They both went to the King, and curtsied. "Your majesty, how nice to see you again - although you never actually saw us last time. I am Elida, this is Poppy, we are two 'protector fairies', and we bring you greetings from the Fairy Realm!". They then flew over to the crown. "Oh, my, isn't it so beautiful: we were there, in the Abbey, when you were being crowned, and it looked even better then!"

"You were at the Abbey?" asked Serena.

"Of course. Look, there was just SO MANY lovely shiny things there, how could we NOT be there!!! So, Serena, why DO you have this rather important crown in your hands? They're going to miss it you know!"

"Oh, it's ok, I left them a note...."

"Yeah, as if THAT'S going to help. So?"

"The King has offered to crown me as Queen of the witches."

"But we already did that, didn't we?" asked Poppy

"Sort of. But not with a proper crown!".

"Excuse me, ladies. Perhaps I might take the crown?..." suggested the King. "Come over here, Serena, and sit down."

For a change, Serena did exactly as she was told, and sat down. The Queen came over, and stood next to the King, while their 'assistant' looked on, feeling very perplexed at everything that had happened in the last few minutes.

As Captain Hughes, Poppy and Elida watched, the King put the crown onto Serena's head. "As King and Queen of Great Britain - and a few other places too - we declare that Serena Muffin shall henceforth be known as 'Queen Serena of the Witches of Britain'"

Serena smiled, and a great calmness came over her. "The crown... it's a bit big for me, maybe I can make it a bit smaller, so it fits me better?" she suggested.

"Don't even THINK of doing anything to that crown!" said the captain, "apart from putting it back where it belongs!"

----------

With the nice crown back where it belonged, at the Tower of London, the guards there seemed to calm down. As promised, it had been returned within 10 minutes, along with a second note, that simply said:

"I'm sorry if I caused you any problems, but it IS a lovely crown, isn't it? Love Serena xxx PS: I'm still with the King!"

A very much calmer Serena spoke to the King. She, along with Elida and Poppy, had just explained to the King and Queen about the multiple realms.

"We were hoping that you might be willing to hold some sort of reception for all of the Kings and so on from the other 7 realms. Whilst they have all met many witches now, they haven't properly met any non-witches, so humans like you. The eight realms have got a lot closer as a result of all needing to work together recently, but I think an invitation from you would go a long way to .. how do I put it? To 'solidify' that closeness?"

"Yes, I understand, and yes, I think you are right. Clearly there will be some practical issues to address, like how everyone gets here, and the security and all that. I don't think the world out there is really ready to learn about Elves and so on: they will probably struggle with the concept of witches!"

"That need not be a problem, sir. They will not need to appear to anyone other than the small number of staff needed within the room. I will be responsible - with a little help from the captain and his small team - for the security and safety of not only you, but all the other guests. And the catering will be carried out by the fairies."

"Yes, your majesties, our catering team will be delighted to help out!" said Elida.

"And I will personally make sure that the guests all arrive safely, but without being seen by any of the palace staff."

The King looked over at Captain Hughes. "Don't worry sir, Serena can do everything she promises!"

"In that case, all we need is a suitable room, and a time and date: leave that with me!" replied the King.

They talked a bit more, and the King looked as if he was about ready to leave.

"Sir, before you go, one more thing..." said Serena.

"Yes, Serena, what's that?" replied the King.

"Well, I'm not quite sure how to say it, without possibly offending you..."

The King took a deep breath, then exhaled. "Something tells me that you'll say it, however I feel... so go on...."

"Well, sir, your teeth..."

"My teeth?"

"Yes, sir, your teeth. Whilst your top teeth don't look quite so bad, your bottom teeth, well, they ARE a bit of a mess. And the only reason I mention this is that Elida here, well, she's a tooth fairy, and I'm thinking that she would be very willing to help you with your problem..."


(3525)

Chapter 40

A month or so later....


"Holy Sh*t, what was THAT?" asked Serena as she and her team landed back in the human realm, a mere minute or two after arriving in the 9th realm.

"I don't know," said Harper, "but I'm rather glad we didn't stay any longer to find out!"

Something had clearly happened over in the 9th realm... and something that sounds like it was not quite what they expected....

----

So, what IS it that they saw over in the 9th realm that's so scary? And what waits for them in the 10th realm?

To find out THAT, you'll have to wait for the next 2 stories about Serena and her team, visiting the other 2 realms.





(3547)

Chapter 41

So, the stories about their visits to the 9th and 10th realms will probably never be written, but I did write the following, to 'wrap up' this story. It happens a little while after the story above......

----

"Oh, I wish that Poppy and Elida could drop by. A cuppa would also be nice, and how about some of those jammy cream biscuits to go with it?"

"Hey, Serena, nice to see you again. Call for anything in particular, or just want a natter?"

"Both actually. The work bit is that I need your help: I need you to find me 4 capable but very junior fairies to do something for me, individually. I don't want them to know each other, even better if they don't know too much about me, apart from that I'm a witch. So you probably want to choose them from your different offices: I can go to them to tell them what I need: have wand, will travel."

"I'm sure we can do that for you: you sure a junior fairy will be able to do what you want?". Poppy and Elida both knew Serena well enough to not even ask what it was she needed doing.

"I'm certain of it: I already checked out your fairy magic, it's pretty straight-forward stuff."

"In that case, consider it done. Nice choice of biscuits by the way...."

----

"I wish to meet a young fairy to do a simple job for me...." said Serena. Poppy had already set up the system so that Serena's wishes would be allocated to the chosen fairies. The database also popped up a note for the chosen fairy: 'take a cup of white tea, no sugar, and your choice of fresh cream cake. Take some for yourself too!'.

Thus, moments later, a fresh hot cup of tea and a plate with a lovely bit of creamy chocolate cream cake appeared on the picnic bench where Serena was sitting. Serena was at the other end of the country, well away from home, and sitting alone in a park.

"Ah, thank you..." said Serena, casting the 'show all fairies' spell. "So, I'm Serena, what's your name? By the way, I like the shoes...."

"You can see me?"

"Of course. Don't panic, I'm a witch, and know the relevant spells to let me see you."

"Ummm, right, ok." said the young and rather nervous young fairy. "Oh, I'm Joy by the way."

"Well, hello there, Joy..." Serena made Wanda appear, and make herself visible to the young fairy, and waved her: a small, fairy-sized table and chair appeared. Joy put her cake and cup of tea on it.

"Excuse me for asking, but..... your teeth. Are those some sort of strange braces?" asked Joy.

Serena smiled. "Sounds like you are a tooth fairy..."

"Yes, I am, I love teeth and think braces are amazing, but I do loads of other stuff too!"

"Well, yes, these are braces, but very special braces. Made by a very capable witch, from a very special metal. They help to protect me from the effects of doing dark magic."

"Y... Y.... You're a dark witch?" asked Joy rather nervously.

"No, not at all. For reasons that are far too complicated to explain, whilst I didn't actually pledge to the light, I pledged to 'the light grey', meaning that I can use dark magic for good purposes. Would you like to say hello to my braces?"

"Say hello to them?

"Yes, they are sentient." Joy looked to be very unconvinced.

"Just fly over here, and touch them.... don't worry, I'm not wanting to hurt you."

A rather nervous fairy flew over to Serena's mouth. Serena smiled, letting Joy take a closer look. "Wow, there's a LOT of shiny metal in your mouth... not just on your teeth, but in the top, and down the bottom too. And you have herbsts and lip-bumpers! How on earth do do manage to talk with all THAT lot in your mouth? And without a lisp too?"

"As I said, these are very special braces. Go on, touch them, say hello to them...". Joy reached out her hand, and touched her braces.

"Hello there, Joy, it'th nithe to meet you!".

"Oh, my, they ARE talking to me. Erm, hello there braces! You look lovely and shiny!"

"Thank you, it'th tho nithe to be paid thuch a compliment, ethpecially from a tooth fairy!"

Joy was smiling: she'd never heard anything about sentient braces before, but these braces were so cute, and spoke... and even more than that, they spoke with a lisp! "So, how come you have a lisp?" she asked them.

"It'th all to do with our magic, and taking away Therena's lithp. It'th tho much more important that Therena can talk clearly, tho we take on her lithp!"

"I bet a few of my 'customers' wish THEIR braces could take away their lisps too! Well, it's so nice to meet you guys!"

"And it'th nithe to meet you too, Joy. Tho, we believe that Therena has a thpecial job for you to do.... pleathe lithten to Therena very carefully, and do as she athkth."

"I will...." replied Joy, taking her hand from Serena's mouth, then flying back to where she was before. "Those are cool braces you have there...."

"So yes, I have a special job for you to do, but you must promise - and I'll make it part of my wish - that you must NEVER tell anyone, including me, the details of what you do. Do you understand?"

"Yes... it sounds like you want me to do something a bit difficult?"

"No, it's actually very simple: First of all, let me give you this...". She passed a small piece of stone over to Joy - it was one of the four parts of the 'Stone of all Magic'. "It's neither plain nor over-fancy, and is just the right sort of thing to go into a piece of jewellery. I want you to make a very elegant and pretty piece of jewellery for this stone, the sort of thing that someone would want to treasure, and pass on to their children or grand-children."

"What sort of jewellery should I make?"

"Your choice: for example, it could be a locket, a brooch, a ring or maybe even a bracelet, but it could easily be something else. As I said, your choice, and I don't want to know what you do."

"Ok, so what do I do when I've made it? I mean, making it should be pretty simple for even me to do."

"I want you to travel to ANY of the known realms - again, completely your choice - and give the item of jewellery to a new-born child. You should leave a note, saying that it's a gift from the fairies, and that they should treasure it for their whole life, passing it on to their children or grand-children, and it will bring them luck. You'd better also make it clear that if they sell it or give it away outside of their family, then it will bring them very bad luck: it really needs to be kept within that family."

"And you're sure you don't want to know the details of what I do?"

"100% sure. Plus you must never tell anyone else either - I guess one possibility would be to cast a fairy 'forget' spell on yourself."

"I can do that?"

"Yes, you can... I'm sure you'll find it if you look in your library, it's not a difficult spell to learn. So, you understand what you need to do?"

"I need to make a lovely bit of jewellery with this stone in it, and give it to a new born in any realm, not forgetting to leave a note. And not tell anyone what I've done."

"That's right, and that last bit is VERY important! So, let's drink our tea shall we? Nice cake, by the way, thank you!"

-----

Serena repeated this with 3 other fairies, in other parts of the country, explaining what they needed to do, and making them promise to keep what they did a secret.

Serena knew that it was FAR too dangerous to keep the 'Stone of all Magic' alive and in one piece. It had served its purpose, and she KNEW that wherever the 4 pieces of stone ended up, if the universe ever needed it to be used again, then the universe would make the 4 people, or their descendants, somehow meet together to use it.

After all, that's what had happened a few months ago. Or was it about 21 years ago?

-----------------

THE END


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