When Lizzy woke, she felt cramped and couldn’t help but notice her feet stuck up in the air. Her body felt strange, rather like a newborn deer unused to using its limbs. She cracked open her eyes to darkness and tried to twist herself around in the small tight space.
Realizing just how confined she was, the girl began to panic. She struggled and stretched, and slowly her tiny prison began to give way. A small light appeared below her and she reached her arms out towards it. Slowly a split ran along the wall to her side. She forced it open and fell headfirst into a floor made of vines and leaves.
Lizzy huffed in annoyance, trying to figure out how she has gotten herself into such a ridiculous predicament. She looked around the room. It was covered in tree-like branches and vines full of green leaves. The walls were cracked, paint half-peeled off as the vines curled around them. Through the middle of the room was a large tree that had grown through a hole straight up through the building. A calm light shone down around it and reflected off bright blue bulbs sprouting from its bark.
Had she slept through the apocalypse, she wondered? Lizzy brushed her hands across the bark, only to realize that she had three of them pressed against it. The girl looked down in a gaping stunned bewilderment. She had four arms. Four independently moving arms. She twirled two of them around as she crossed the other two and fiddled with her fingers.
It was… Weird was an understatement.
It was also utterly amazing. She grinned to herself and took a closer look at them. Her skin was smooth and much paler than normal. Strangely, her fingers seemed long and came to sharp points along her nails. What sort of weird albino monster had she become? Lizzy tried to stand and take a step forward but stumbled. What were once normal feet were now slightly stilted with a slight heel and a soft white bug-like exoskeleton. Her joints were strange and abnormal to her. She really was rather like a newborn deer, if deer were more bug-like. Looking back to her arms, she realized that what she had taken for skin was actually just soft exoskeleton as well. It was skin-like enough to be confused at a glance. But the more she looked, the more obvious it became. It reminded her slightly of images of very human-like androids.
What even was she? Her antenna and wings twitched in annoyance. This was too much to deal with all at once. The newly born bug-girl looked up to the green and white pod she had fallen out of. It seemed to be part of the tree, a sort of strange mixture of bulb and threaded cocoon. Unfortunately, she was still struggling to recall how she had come to be inside such a thing.
“Princess! You’re awake!” A small pixie flew in from the hole in the roof.
Right! She’d met some pixies! And then… Well, it was a bit blurry what happened after that. Something about a gift?
“Umm, hello. What -- what happened?” It was as good of a question to start with as any other.
“You’ve finished your transformation! You’re now part of the fae, Princess.”
“Right.” She looked down, twisting her four arms. The fae part made sense. “I still don’t understand how exactly I’m a princess. Don’t I need royal parents or something for that?”
“You were birthed from the core of the late Queen.” Lizzy looked to the large tree that spiraled up through the building. Was that what had happened, she thought? “The others are off with your human friend. It’s safer there; we should go!” The tiny pixie flew up alongside the tree towards the roof as Lizzy stumbled and caught herself along the rough bark.
She looked up. “I don’t know how to fly!” she yelled out. The pixie floated back down, a thoughtful look on their face.
“Don’t worry, I’ll help.”
They reached out their hand and Lizzy gently grasped it in her own much larger one. A small trail of energy ran through her arm and into her body.
“Do you feel that? Channel it into your wings.”
She closed her eyes and concentrated, squinting them harder and harder as she tried her best to move the energy.
The pixie giggled. “You’ve just gotta do it!” they said. “I’ll show you.” With a tug of her hand, the new princess was being pulled into the air. She yelped as her feet left the ground, and they twisted up through the building, around the tree, and high into the sky.
Suddenly the pixie made a sharp turn, and Lizzie screamed as the wind flew past her, blowing and twirling her around.
“Princess!” the pixie yelled out. “What’s your name?”
“It’s Lizzy!” she yelled between screams.
“I’m Pip!”
“It’s nice to meet you!”
Lizzy was happy to know who to blame when they eventually crashed into something and died. They swooped down under a bridge to find a large truck barreling towards them. Lizzy squeaked as Pip jerked them up and over it with a twirl, swinging just under a traffic light. They turned down the alley of two towering buildings as several pedestrians pointed and stared.
Lizzy was just about to start closing her eyes when finally they made it to a small familiar apartment block. Pip glided down to the roof, and Lizzy dropped down to her butt while Pip continued to float.
“Let’s.” She took several deep breaths. “Not do that again.”
“You didn’t have fun?” Pip asked.
She shook her head and Pip frowned sadly. Slowly they made their way down into the building from above. Lizzy stumbled and fell more than she walked, but she managed to arrive at the familiar door to Heather’s apartment in one piece.
The princess made an attempt at straightening her hair and then gave a hesitant knock against the door. What would her friends think of her now? Did she look like a freak, she fretted? The door opened an inch as an eye shadowed in white hair peeked out over the chain lock. It reshut, and Lizzy heard the chain slide off.
Then the door flew back open, and the white-haired figure crashed into her.
“Lizzy! You’re okay!”
Lizzy wrapped her arms around Scarlett, all four of them. “I’m okay.”
The bunny girl pulled away to look her up and down. Her long bunny ears twitched. “You look so different now… Why are you naked?”
Lizzy blinked. “Huh?” She looked down and a blush slowly crawled up her face. “Umm.” How had she not realized she was completely naked?!
Her four arms and wings did their best to wrap around and cover her as Scarlett rushed her inside. The apartment looked much like it had the last time she’d been here. Colorful clothes were cluttering the floor. Several mannequin heads with wigs sat on tables and makeup products were scattered all around. Heather and a cluster of pixies met them in the living room. After more hugs, Lizzy was wrapped in a blanket and sat on the couch.
“How are you feeling?” Heather asked her.
“A bit exhausted and starved.”
“The pixies have been explaining things to us. Are you hungry? I’m not sure what fairies eat.” They looked over to the pixies, who shrugged.
“Pixies don’t eat,” one said.
“Well, what did your last queen eat?”
They paused thoughtfully. “We just had fun!”
Heather let out a sigh. “Well, you look rather moth-like. Perhaps we should try something like vegetables? What do moths eat? Bugs?”
Several hours later and Heather was throwing up her arms in defeat. They’d tried various vegetables, meats, nuts, and fruits, none of which tasted particularly appetizing to Lizzy.
“Oh, I know!” Scarlett said, and began shuffling through one of the spice cabinets. She pulled out a small jar of organic honey and sat it in front of Lizzy. “Try this.”
The girl dipped her fingers into the jar and stuck it in her mouth. It was sweet tasting, much like how fruits and berries used to taste to her. It reminded her of a sweet flavored candy.
“It’s tasty, but something tells me that this isn’t really it, either.” She let out a yawn. “I think I want a nap.”
“Guest room’s available. Scarlett’s been sleeping on the couch,” Heather said.
Lizzy made her way up the stairs, stopping at the large mirror. She should have asked for a mirror earlier, she thought. She’d been wanting to see what she looked like for a while. But she was never good at asking for things. The girl struggled to assert herself, always letting others lead the way forward for her.
The person that stood within the mirror in front of her still had her long black hair and a similar face, yet otherwise looked so different. The first thing that caught her eye was the bright purple and blue wings draped around her pale-skinned form. They were brightly colored like a butterfly’s, but the dark spotted nature of it reminded her of a moth she’d seen once. Two fuzzy black antennae stuck up from the top of her head similar to ferns and she noted that her eyes glowed a cute purple. Her breasts were as small as they always had been, but a certain something that once sat between her legs was no more. And of course, she had the strange four arms now. She wanted to stay and stare at herself for hours. But sleep was calling to her more and more. She pulled herself away from the mirror and slunk away to bed.
“What’s wrong with her?” Heather watched as Lizzy drearily moved through the house. She walked to the cabinet, pulled out a jar of honey, and began to gulp it down. Was eating that amount of honey even healthy, Heather wondered?
Scarlett shrugged her shoulders. “Not sure.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be a scientist of some kind? Can’t you figure something out?” They watched as Lizzy sat at the counter and slumped over back to sleep. The jar of honey tipped to the side, spilling out. For the last couple of days Lizzy had barely left the bed. The few times she had, she’d been mostly unresponsive. At this point, they couldn’t get a word out of her.
Scarlett paused, trying to think of something, anything, that she could create to solve this. Yet no solution was coming to her. “I’m sorry.” She shook her head.
“She needs more fun!” one of the fairies inputted as they flew up.
“I’m sorry, Bloom was it?” Heather said. Bloom gave her a nod. “I’m not sure fun is gonna do it. But we appreciate your input.” She looked back to her sleeping friend. They had to do something, but would she be safe if they took her to a hospital? She’d heard stories of supers disappearing.
Bloom crossed her arms. “No no! She needs fun!” Seeing that the two humans weren’t paying attention to her the pixie gave a shout, “Pixies! Meeting!”
Within a few seconds, pixie after pixie popped into existence around them. “It’s time for a pixie party!” A cheer went through the group of pixies. “Bring out the golden nectar!” Bottles and jars full of yellow syrupy nectar appeared around them. Another cheer was had. One of the pixies pulled Lizzy out of the chair, waking her up. They swung her around as she blinked and stared at everyone. The pixies each filled a cup from Heather's cabinets with nectar and began gulping it down.
“I’m not sure now is the right time for a party,” Heather said as she and Scarlett looked on in confusion.
Bloom flew over to her and offered a cup. “Drink.”
Heather took hold of it and hesitantly brought it to her lips. It tasted sweet and syrupy, with a slightly bitter after-taste. But several seconds after she’d consumed it, her body began to feel light and airy. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.
“Whoa,” she heard Scarlett say. Heather opened her eyes. She looked down to find herself floating upward. The hovering girl let out a yelp and flapped her arms through the air. Her body twisted around and she tried to reach for the nearby chair.
Scarlett burst out laughing and chuckled until a pixie poured the syrupy concoction into her mouth. She swallowed and began coughing. As she bent over, her feet moved into the air behind her while her face pressed into the floor. Heather began to giggle from the image of it.
The pixies began swooping and spinning around the room. Several began to play tag, while two others wrestled. One began casting pixie spells that made small pots and plates float for several seconds before falling to the floor. Another threw one of the wigs in the room at Scarlett. As Lizzy was given a cup, Heather knew it was going to be a long and strange night.
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Faries know how to party! Gotta bring out the good stuff