Chapter Two: The Ancients
Not many actually enjoyed visiting the Ancients. Having to speak to them generally made most fairies very nervous. But getting to the Great Hall was something that Bea had really enjoyed when the family had gone for her brother's birthday, so she tried to focus on the fun of the trip, rather than the destination.
The Ancients resided in the Great Hall. The Great Hall was not on the same island as the Featherstone's home. Dream fairies lived on cloud-like islands in the sky. An island was circular with a diameter about the length of a football field. It rested upon some cirrus clouds and hovered around in the troposphere with other actual clouds. Most islands remained high enough at the uppermost part of the troposphere to avoid any interference with airplanes below. Being so high in the troposphere meant that the temperatures were incredibly cold and that was why the islands were surrounded by protective bubble-like domes. The cirrus cloud base made the island undetectable from below and the bubble surrounding the island was made from the highest grade fairy dust that reflected light in just the right way so as to make the island appear invisible. The islands were very temperate with perfect weather every day. The only exception was on Christmas when a fake, warm snow fell to help the fairies understand the feeling of excitement that comes with a Christmas snow on earth. A bright sun and a beautiful moon and stars were recreated to mimic the passing of the days below.
Each island could contain no more than 888 fairy inhabitants. The entire community of dream fairies was very well organized. Since making the decision to abandon their lives and homes on earth in 1700 the Ancients had worked hard to recreate life on these islands. A community of islands was composed of 26 islands. This community served a population on earth of about 300,000. The islands separated the population of fairies into groups. There were four government islands, two industry, one training island, 11 islands to house the elder fairies until they passed on at the age of 88, and finally eight family islands. The Featherstone's lived on one of these family islands, along with all of Bea's classmates and their families. Only families with children under 16 could live there. The family island was almost entirely populated by families. Not quite 200 families generally lived there, while the remaining population was made up of the staff at the basic and prep schools and some small shops in town.
There were a few ways to get around. Female fairies can choose to fly at a reasonable speed, as long as the destination was accessible outdoors; it was very rude to fly while inside. But usually female fairies were also traveling with male fairies and, in the interest of keeping a group together, the dream fairies had created an elaborate system of pods that traveled around like a cable car throughout the enclosed island. The system of pods was really something to see and Bea loved it every time she rode in one. There were two lines of wire that created a beautiful spiral just over the community. One line, the gold line, wound around clockwise. The other, the silver line, wound around counter clockwise. The lines of wire hovered above the community high enough so that they did not interfere with the buildings below. No building in the community had more than two stories and the pods just skimmed the rooftops of some of these higher buildings. One could simply choose which line best served their destination. Then one could employ a pod. These pods were bought in town and buying them meant buying the pod and paying your fare. The pods looked like a small bubble that fit in the palm of your hand. However, with a bit more magic fairy dust, when the small pod bubble was tossed into the air, it could expand and grown until it was bigger than a fairy. Two fairies could fit into a pod. Male fairies stepped inside the pod and let it rise and attach itself to the thin wires above. Female fairies could let the pod rise to the line first and then fly up into the pod if they wish.
The Featherstones stepped outside their home and began the short walk to the pod pickup location. Their home was right next to the SW3 station. Bea was so excited; she wanted to use her wings to give her that push up into the pod when it floated up to the line.
"Mom, can I fly into the pod today?" Bea already had her wings out in their full glory.
Her mother smiled as she said, "I hadn't thought of that, but sure, why not. Just be careful not to give yourself too much push. I'll be right behind you."
They would be riding the silver line to the Hall. The pods moved nearly twice as fast as an average dream fairy could fly, which meant that even the longest trip on the island didn't quite take six minutes. Their trip to the Hall would take them past 12 other stops before arriving; the trip would only take three and a half minutes.
"You two take this one," Mr. Featherstone offered as he gently tossed the small bubble into the air. A moment later it had expanded and softly hovered just above the ground. The pod was like a perfect pearl. A nearly invisible door suddenly opened and the pod seemed to patiently wait for passengers to board. Mr. Featherstone reached in and pressed a small button on a panel by the door for the Hall. When no one entered it slowly floated upwards and attached itself to the silver-line. Bea clenched her fists as she concentrated on flying directly into the pod. Just a little push, she thought to herself as she gently willed her wings to move. Bea had closed her eyes in concentration and was surprised when she bumped softly into the other side of the pod. Her mother followed right after her and the door slid down.
"I did it!" Bea exclaimed. She now found herself inside the pod. Though the pods looked solid and white from the outside, once inside you could see out in all directions. It was like riding around in a giant bubble. Bea loved staring down onto things below them. She was tempted to press her body flat onto the floor of the pod so that she could follow the scene below and pretend that she was flying like she had done when she was a small child. But her mother had stopped her from doing that a few years ago and Bea knew that she was not a little kid anymore and needed to behave more adult-like. She smoothed out her brilliant yellow blooming robe and smiled at her mother as they zipped round and round. They flew over houses and more houses and then the small shops that formed a neat circle around the Hall. They approached the stop and Bea readied her wings.
"Don't move them at all, just let your wings help you glide down," her mother advised as the pod door slid open and Bea took a tiny leap out of it and found herself falling much slower than she did before she had wings. Without even trying to be graceful, she fluttered down from the pod with her feet gently touching the ground. Bea turned to look at the pod she had just exited; it had followed her and her mother down to the ground. It gently landed on the grass and waited with the door opened for a brief moment before it popped and disappeared leaving a sprinkling of fairy dust.
Bea and her mother only had to wait a few seconds until the pod carrying her father and her brother arrived. The pod door opened and then the pod snapped off the silver-line and started floating down. As the pod got closer to the ground Steve leapt out and landed with a crash just inches from Bea. He glared at her triumphantly and started walking towards the Hall. Bea wanted to be angry at him but found that her excitement for today was too much for her. She held her mother's hand as they headed off towards the Hall. The pods had been fun to ride, but the next part of today's journey was what Bea had really been waiting for. The Hall was at the center of the island and served many purposes, but today the Featherstones were going to use a stone to get to the Main Island. Today would only be the second time that Bea had used a stone. A stone was a beautiful rock that was created using fairy dust. It was a fairly large stone that was then sliced in half along its outer edge. One half was placed on the ground with the smooth flat surface facing up in the Hall. The other half was then placed on another island in that island's Hall. The two sister pieces of stone create a connection between space, no matter how far apart they were. When a dream fairy stood on one of the two halves of stone, he/she was transported to the other half through the magic of the stone and the fairy dust used to make it. The Hall where the Featherstones lived only had two stones; one for the Main Island and on
e for the Training/Mission Island. Bea and her family walked up the steps to enter the Hall. As they entered she was greeted by cheers from the fairies that worked at the Hall.
"Beatrice Featherstone! Happy Blooming! What beautiful wings!" squealed the fairy working at the welcome desk. She was an older fairy and her hair was starting to look like fluffy clouds were taking over the blue sky it used to be.
"Mrs. Lindstrom! How nice to see you," Mr. Featherstone waved. Mr. Featherstone and mother knew everyone on the island it seemed. Of course it wasn't hard to know nearly everyone, the island was so small. Suddenly a very important looking male fairy entered the greeting area of the Hall from a grand door in the back. It was the governor. He was a round, stout fairy with very short hair that was a deep shade of blue. His face showed some wrinkles that prematurely aged him, especially across his forehead. He walked straight up to Bea and took her hand and started shaking it violently.
"Congratulations Beatrice! Well, looks like we have another great flier here don't we? Those wings look to be bigger than your mother's. Keep up your studies now Beatrice. We would hate to see such wonderful wings go to waste when it comes time to be certified. It is never too early to get ready for your exams!" The governor smiled a forced smile and shook Bea's hand with more gusto with each sentence he finished.
Mr. Featherstone stepped beside her and saved her from the governor's incessant handshaking. "Thank you governor, for your well-wishes. We are on our way to see the Ancients for Bea's wing examination."
"Ah, yes of course, the Ancients . . ." the governor's face twisted up for a moment as he spoke." I imagine they will have good things to predict for you, Beatrice. Please send them my best, Robert. "
"Will do, governor," Mr. Featherstone replied as he slowly guided the family away and across the atrium of the Hall to an arched doorway.
As they stepped through they entered a beautiful garden. There was a short rock wall that encircled the area. There amongst the neatly trimmed grass were two large stones. Their surfaces were smooth, almost marble looking. One was a dark, almost black slate. The other was a pale gray, so pale that it almost looked white. It was flecked with glittering shards of what looked like quartz. In the middle some symbols were etched in an elegant gold writing. Bea couldn't read what it said completely, but she was learning more of the ancient language of the dream fairies at school with each new year. She recognized the symbol for "great" and knew that this was the same stone they had used to get to the Great Hall on her brother's birthday. Bea raced towards the stone and had almost set foot on the edge, when her father took hold of her wrist pulling her back.
"Wait! We all need to step on it together, remember?" Mr. Featherstone's voice was stern but kind.
"Yeah, loser, don't be so impatient!" Steven sneered at Bea and she instinctively hit him hard in the stomach with her free arm. The minute she had done so she regretted it. She could tell from the way her father's posture suddenly stiffened that he was angry.
"Beatrice," her father pulled her closer to him as he knelt down to eye level with her, "you must behave. This is no time to act so childish. You are eight today. You bloomed. We are traveling to see the Ancients and they expect to see you well behaved. Do you understand me?" As he finished this last sentence he stared at Bea and then Steven. The two of them knew better than to argue and instead nodded their heads solemnly.
"OK, then let's do this. Everyone ready?" Mr. Featherstone asked as he led them closer to the stone.
Bea's heart started racing. She didn't care about being mad at her brother or being embarrassed for being reprimanded by her father. All she cared about now was stepping on that stone. Her father stepped first, pulling Bea with him by the hand. Her brother followed shortly after, standing next to his father. Mrs. Featherstone took a little leap onto the stone and stood behind Bea with her hand on her shoulder. Bea stared down at the beautiful gold lettering. It was melting away, slowly disappearing. As the symbols erased Bea readied herself for what would come next. She closed her eyes as her breath was suddenly taken from her with the sensation of falling down. It wasn't a quick feeling either, it continued for what felt like forever. She felt like she was falling, down towards something and yet there was complete stillness all around her. She tried to calm herself and catch her breath. Why had she closed her eyes? She had told herself that she would try to keep them open this time to see what was happening as she felt this strange sensation of falling through nothing. But fear had taken over her at the very last moment and now, no matter how loud the voice inside her head was screaming for her to open her eyes, they remained tightly shut. Then, without warning the sensation was gone. Bea was so disappointed that the ride was over. Despite being scared she had been excited more than anything. Bea knew they must have arrived as she felt herself being pulled forward by her father's hand. She slowly opened her eyes and was nearly blinded by the intense and brilliant light around her.
Bea found herself standing in another garden. But, unlike the Hall with its two stones, this garden had hundreds. Each was a unique and beautiful color. They all had the same ancient symbols engraved across them. Some were smaller and seemed suited for just one fairy to use, while others were large like the one they had just used to get here. The garden that they lay amongst was meticulously kept. Not a bit of grass or debris was allowed to rest on any of the stones. There were a number of other fairies around them going about their business. A couple of very serious looking male fairies had just stepped upon a burnt-orange looking stone and Bea waited anxiously to see what it would look like from the where they were standing. She was positive that the stone must open up and swallow them as they would fall down. But to Bea's surprise after the symbols melted away beneath them they simply disappeared.
"Wow! That was cool!" Bea's brother exclaimed. "Where do all these stones go dad?"
"Well, they go to other islands. Most of our business takes us to those islands that are fairly close. Those two that just left, they headed for a community of islands much like ours but that is further down south," Mr. Featherstone explained as they all slowly left the stone garden and walked out into the atrium of the Great Hall.
The Great Hall was very different from the hall on the Featherstone's island. Dream fairies had, for many years now, enjoyed mimicking the things that they saw on earth. Everything from fashion to language to architecture was borrowed from below. This was all done as part of the study and preparation that was needed to understand those on Earth and to help create the dreams that the fairies would deliver. Dream fairies had this job of delivering dreams for as long as anyone could remember. It was more than a job though; it was what gave the fairies purpose. Because of this, it was taken very seriously. The dreams that were delivered were ones of hope. Understanding what gave humans hope was essential to the creation of dreams and so many things were copied from below. It was always understood that all of this, the entire existence of the fairies, came down to these dreams and their delivery. It had been this way for so long that Bea often forgot that dream fairies had their own ways of life, their own architecture. Bea had been studying the ancient language, like that which was written on the stones. In Bea's history class at school she had also seen images of the ancient style of buildings. On the family island everything was made to look as though it was made from brick and stone, wood and marble. Fairy dust could be employed to create practically anything. However, fairy dust used naturally created a building structure very unique. The Great Hall was the first example of this natural design that Bea had ever seen in person. The images at school had certainly not done this style justice. The building of the Great Hall was made out of pure high grade fairy dust. It was a beautiful iridescent creamy white. The walls were round and smooth and almost amorphous. In fact, at times Bea was positive she had seen the walls shift and move. They seemed to breathe. There were window-like openings here and there, but no glass sealed them off. There was no roof either. Numerous lines of ivy had twisted their
way up some of the walls and traversed the open space to an adjoining mass to create an interlaced kind of canopy over some parts of the building. Other areas were completely open to the sky. Plants and flowers were everywhere. Inside the Great Hall they were used in place of walls to separate sections. Numerous floral scents mingled and as Bea inhaled she felt incredibly relaxed despite her anticipation for the meeting with the Ancients. She loved the Great Hall.
"When the Ancients stare at you they burn a whole into your brain with their eyes!” Bea's silent reverie was interrupted by her brother hissing into her ear as the family walked through the atrium to a giant archway in the back.
"Shut up!” Bea whispered back. She didn't dare raise her voice, knowing that her father had already scolded both of them. She knew that her brother was just trying to tease her before her meeting with the Ancients and that he was telling her lies to make her scared, but with his taunts a tiny bit of doubt had crept into her mind. Was the examination going to hurt? What kind of questions would they ask? Would Bea know the answers? She had watched in awe when her brother had stood before the Ancients on his birthday. She had been rather impressed by his stoic face as he answered the Ancients' inquiries. Bea and her mother and father had stood a bit off from the meeting between Steven and the Ancients and they hadn't been able to really hear the exchange. Bea did see when one of the Ancients had ran his finger down Steven's chest and a small, glistening line of fairy dust had shot out and floated towards a flask in the Ancients' other hand. Her brother's face hadn't changed at all and she was pretty positive that this had not hurt. With the sample of Steven's fairy dust collected, the Ancients had then turned their backs to Steven as they circled together and did something to examine the dust. After a few moments the Ancients had turned around again and asked the family to come forward. They then had announced that Steven's fairy dust was medium-regular grade, just like their father's, and the family had left to celebrate. How was Bea's visit going to go?
The Featherstone's had just crossed under the archway and walked up to a beautiful female fairy who smiled at them as they approached.
"Looks like someone bloomed today," the female fairy gently tugged on Bea's wings as she said this.
Bea wanted to smile, but the moment had suddenly become very real to her as she waited to enter the Ancients' room.
The female fairy bent down and whispered in Bea's ear, "Don't worry, you'll do just fine."
Bea looked anxiously at her mother and father. They both smiled softly and her mother took her by the hand and led her into the room. As they walked forward they passed Bea's brother who said in a barely audible voice, "Yeah, it's not so bad sis."
Bea did a double take. Her brother was never nice to her! This proved to be the encouragement she needed, because with Steven's words she found herself standing a little taller as she walked with her mother towards the Ancients.
The room that the Ancients were in was breathtaking. The same fairy dust used for the rest of the Great Hall was also used here, but the dust grade used was clearly that of the highest possible. The walls were very high but were pocketed with small bubbles. Each bubble seemed to be all the colors of the rainbow, all at once and gave off a shimmering light. The light from these bubbles was so bright, yet the room felt warm and inviting, with just a soft glow. There were many flowers and plants weaving amongst the walls and short pillars. Right in the middle was a slightly raised surface on which stood three chairs. But these chairs were not normal chairs at all. They actually looked like cloud, soft, fluffy, hovering clouds. On each of these clouds sat an Ancient.
The Ancients were three old fairies. Dream fairies can live eternally. Very long ago, when the mission of delivering these dreams of hope to the humans was started, dream fairies had lived to a very old age and very few babies were born. When the fairies began making the dreams they realized that a huge part that they did not understand about human life was that humans were mortal. A decision was made that the dream fairies would commit themselves to a complete cycle of life ending in death. Dream fairies were allowed to live to the age of 88. When they reached this age they gave themselves freely. The dream fairies thought that this would help them better understand humans, having an end to their life waiting for them. It was decided by the three Ancients that they alone would be left to live eternally. There was some argument why those three were to live, but the case had been made that having someone whose knowledge was so plentiful, accurate and firsthand would be key to the success of the dream fairies.
So these three Ancients were truly ancient. There was one female fairy who stood to the left. She had big beautiful wings that seemed to be fading away into nothingness, their colors were so pale. They seemed so old and worn, like fading paper that would just crumble in one's hands. Her wings were like those of a Mangrove Buckeye. The largest eye spots seemed to stare out from behind the fairy. It made Bea feel very uneasy, like some wild animal was watching her all the time. The female fairy's hair was long and there was not even the faintest hint of blue color remaining. It looked more like spider silk, white and wispy. She did not wear normal clothes, but rather a robe that was very similar to the blooming robe that Bea wore. The Ancient's was of the deepest, richest purple she had ever seen. Just like the velvety purple that was at the very center of a pansy. Her face was creased with wrinkle after wrinkle making it hard to find her smile and her eyes, which were hiding behind glasses that sat at the tip of her nose. To the right stood a very round, short male fairy, and he too was very old. His hair had gone completely white and was long and thick. Bea thought it reminded her of the salt-water taffy that she had heard about from earth. It had that same shimmer when the light caught it just right. He had a very long, thick beard. His face was glowing with a smile and his eyes seemed to speak words of reassurance with each glance. His robe was a very deep shade of green, so deep that it appeared black at times. In the middle stood another male fairy and this Ancient was tall and very thin. He had a short haircut that made his hair stand on end. His roots were still blue, but the ends were so pale and white that they seemed to disappear. The fading hair added to the feeling that this fairy was being stretched up until he disappeared. His face was sharp and accented by a very short, neatly trimmed goatee. His eyes were clear and Bea felt very aware when their eyes met that she would not be able to lie to him even if her life depended on it. She tried not to keep eye contact with him any longer than necessary. He wore a dark blue robe that was covered in layers of shimmery silver.
Mrs. Featherstone let go of her hand as she stood next to her in front of the Ancients. Mr. Featherstone had just come forward to stand at Bea's other side. Mrs. Featherstone spoke first breaking the silence.
"Ancients, we praise you and ask that you spare your time to look at our beloved daughter who has bloomed today."
With that both Mr. and Mrs. Featherstone stepped back leaving her exposed to the three Ancients who all stood simultaneously. The round male Ancient addressed Bea in a kind voice that seemed to sing, "Please tell us your name child."
"Beatrice Featherstone, sir," Bea replied with her voice cracking slightly.
"And today you have turned eight?” This time the female Ancient had spoken. Her voice was clear and seemed to ring throughout the room.
Bea nodded and then found her voice to say, "Yes, ma'am."
"We have a child reaching the age of eight years on this, the eighth day of the eighth month?" The thin male Ancient's comment sounded accusatory.
"So, we do. So, we do," smiled the round fairy.
Bea had never thought of this. Her birthday was indeed August eighth. She smiled a little to think of how cool it was to turn eight today. There must be some good luck that would come from that.
The female Ancient now stepped down and without any movement seemed to float effortlessly over to Bea's side. "She is the monarch," the Ancient declared as she began to examine Bea's wings.
"Hmm, yes, and they are of a great size
too." To Bea's surprise this comment came from the round Ancient who had snuck down to her side while she was watching the female Ancient softly touch her wings.
The thin Ancient remained where he stood as he mumbled under his breath, "Today, turning eight, and with the monarch, such a sign."
"Begin the test!" The taller Ancient's voice, so suddenly loud and clear, took Bea by surprise.
"Stand still now my dear and keep your wings out fully. This won't hurt a bit, but we do need you to not move," the female Ancient instructed.
Bea made sure that her wings were out completely as she gave them a small shake. She then put her hands at her side and straightened up as best she could. She stared forward and tried to remain still. The round Ancient had moved directly behind Bea and suddenly Bea felt something very cold being poured over her wings. The sensation started at the very top and trickled down slowly. The round Ancient had directed fairy dust from his extended fingertips down Bea's wings. The fairy dust was very dense and seemed to be made of diamonds, it sparkled so. Bea wanted desperately to be able to see what was going on, but she remembered the warning to stay still and focused her attention on the floor in front of her. The fairy dust was slowly seeping down every bit of her wings, sending shivers down her spine as the cold sensation took over her entire body. The round Ancient held a shallow golden basin beneath the lowest part of her hindwings. Slowly the thick fairy dust dripped off the edges of her wings and into the basin. This was going to drive her insane, having to sit so still while she got drenched in freezing dust. Just as she thought she could not take it a moment longer, the tips of her wings felt warm again and the cold dust dripped down off of her wings. All signs of the cold fairy dust were gone and Bea was almost certain that it would be OK for her to move. She gave her body and wings a little shake that was met with a cold glare from the female Ancient.
"Yes, I suppose you can move now," she said accordingly.
She and the round Ancient now went back to their clouds; however this time they all three turned their backs to the Featherstones as they peered over the basin of fairy dust.
Bea didn't know if it was OK for her to speak or not so she turned around and walked the few paces back to her parents. She grabbed her mother's hands in hers and her mother replied with a gentle squeeze.
"That was so cool! You should have seen it Bea. The dust, it was just dripping down. It was the thickest dust I have ever seen. That dude must be super old," Steven gave a loud whisper as he leaned towards Bea. Both Mr. and Mrs. Featherstone smiled, but then her father's hand firmly grabbed Steven's shoulder and Steven knew it wasn't the time to talk.
It felt like an eternity while the three Ancients mumbled to one another in their huddled mass. Finally, each one of them slowly turned. The female Ancient sat first and the round Ancient followed. But the thin Ancient remained standing and gave a look at Bea that seemed to pull her away from her parents and back to the place she had previously stood. She stared forward, trying to be polite by keeping eye contact with the Ancient as he spoke.
"Those children who are born on the eighth day of the eighth month are said to be blessed with good fortune. It is even more so when the child is a female and she blooms on her eighth birthday. We believe that you, Beatrice Featherstone, will see levels of fortune and prosperity that cannot be compared."
"Your wings are those of the monarch. This is said to be a sign of great travels in your future. After completing our test of your wings we can confirm that you will use your wings more than the average female fairy. They are very strong, and as you know, of a great size. They will give you courage and support in your journeys."
"The monarch is often ignored by predators in its natural habitat because these creatures know that the monarch is poisonous. You may find that confrontation with your enemies will be easier than you expect as they may abandon attack before battle begins. Take this as a gift."
The thin Ancient seemed to be done speaking. He turned to Mr. and Mrs. Featherstone and Bea found that they had stepped forward to be by her side.
"Thank you Ancients for your time, we shall take your words and use them to guide us as our child grows," Mr. Featherstone said. With that the Featherstones turned and left the Ancients.