Wings

Mariposa flew back to her room by herself. Zee wanted to explore a little bit more and promised that she would be back soon. So, Mariposa had time to think over what had happened.

When it came down to it, it was her wings. Mariposa's wings were more massive than the average butterfly fairy thanks to the cave of reflections. And everyone who knew her knew about that and adjusted to it. The crystal fairies weren't. They didn't have large wings themselves, so they weren't used to the idea of wings the size of a fairy.

It also didn't help that Mariposa was pretty clumsy. Carrying books and dresses around was one thing, but moving more delicate items like teapots was another. And on top of that, she had never been to a royal tea before. She was invited, but she almost always turned it down, saying that it wasn't her thing. And, as it turned out, she was right. But, on the bright side, she doesn't think that she'll be invited to any more teas while she's here.

Then, her mind drifted back to Catania, which she had found herself doing more and more often. She thought back to when Catania had called her beautiful, and Mariposa felt herself smiling, almost instinctively. Even if Catania was just being kind to her, it made her day better, even if she kind of, sorta, shut down just a little bit right after it.

Mariposa pushed the doors to her room open and flew in. She had forgotten about the horrible plants in her room. And she only remembered them when she cut her arm on one of those "hidden thorns," Talayla mentioned.

Mariposa cringed and pressed against the cut, quickly making her way over to her bag. She opened it up and grabbed a bandage that she had brought "just in case," wrapping it around her cut tightly.

Once she finished, Mariposa sighed, grabbed a book from her bag, walked over to her bed, and sat down.

Mariposa checked her bandage, then opened up the book she grabbed. It was about crystal fairies and their different customs.

Maybe she should do some more research into the crystal fairies. It couldn't hurt. Right?

Mariposa opened the book and started to read. She was so engrossed in the book; she didn't notice when Zee had come in and gone to sleep on one of the many pillows. She didn't even stop when the sun had gone down, and then she didn't feel tired in the slightest. So, she brought out her flutter flower for light. 

It was a little while after that when Zee woke up again and shot back once she saw one of the wooden creatures that were right next to the bed, she bumped into another figure, and moved away from that, running into a thorn. She eventually ended up staring at Mariposa's flutter flower and made a confused noise. 

Mariposa smiled at Zee. "Can't sleep, Zee?" She asked.

Zee made a few noises in frustration.

"I know I couldn't sleep either!" Mariposa replied, a little breathlessly. "There's just so much more to learn about Shimmervale. I can't have any more tea disasters." 

Zee grumbled and rammed into the wooden figure that scared her first, then laid back down on a pillow.

Mariposa hummed thoughtfully. "It says here that outsiders are forbidden to touch a crystallite! Especially the heartstone, which is the most powerful crystallite in Shimmervale. That's why the King was so upset at tea!"

Zee groaned and put the pillow she was trying to sleep on over her head.

"Sorry, Zee. But I'm not tired." Mariposa laughed. "And this light just makes me feel like I'm at home." She started to go back to reading but jumped in shock once she felt a pillow hit her head.

Zee laughed at Mariposa, a mischievous smile on her face.

"Hey! Why you..." Mariposa grinned and put the book and flutter flower down, grabbing the pillow and tossing it back at Zee, who moved out of the way at the last second.

They continued throwing pillows at each other for most of the night.

Mariposa didn't know when she had fallen asleep, but she woke up suddenly to a scream coming from the front of her room.

She sat up quickly, catching Zee from when she had shot into the air in fright. Mariposa looked over to see who screamed and saw Talayla.

"Ready for your introduction to the people of Shimmervale?" She asked with a bright smile on her face.

Mariposa glanced at Zee, then back at Talayla, still half-asleep. "...Huh?"

Talayla continued like she didn't even hear Mariposa, which she probably didn't. "We don't want to keep the King and Princess waiting.-"

Mariposa felt her heart skip a beat.

"-Not to mention an entire kingdom of crystal faires. I'll never live that down.." Talayla took a breath, then turned and flew out of the room.

"Uh, one minute!" Mariposa called after her, setting down Zee, and dragging her out from under the pillow, she tried to crawl under to go back to sleep. "Come on."

Mariposa followed Talayla to the meeting spot and felt herself smiling again one she saw Catania. Mariposa waved at the Princess, who smiled and waved back.

The King cleared his throat, stepping onto the chariot that had was attached to Sophie. "If everyone is here, shall we get going?"

Catania got on next to her father, and Mariposa tried to hide her disappointment as she flew next to them. It looked like she wouldn't be having a private conversation with her again that day.

They took off a second later, Talayla leading them to where they would address the people of Shimmervale. Zee fell behind, not being able to keep up with them on her little wings, but put on a burst of speed to sit down on one of the metal parts sticking out.

Mariposa looked at the Royal family, or, more specifically, Catania with a smile on her face.

"Mariposa, Before our conversation was interrupted yesterday, you were about to enlighten me as to your weapons training and hand-to-hand combat skills." The King said, tearing her attention away from Catania. 

It took Mariposa a second to process what he had said. "... Combat skills?"

The King nodded. "Yes! The ones you used to fight the skeezites, of course!"

"Oh! Well, it never really came down to battle." Mariposa started to describe what had happened on her trip to find the antidote to Elios. Catania paid close attention with an excited look on her face, while the King just grew more frustrated.

"If you don't want to tell, just say so." He snapped, causing both Catania and Mariposa to flinch.

"I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be evasive." Mariposa replied, a confused look on her face. 

She only seemed to anger the King more, and he turned away from Mariposa sharply. Catania mouthed a "sorry" over his shoulder to Mariposa. That made her feel a little bit better.

"Shimmervale city, your highness," Talayla announced, flying down to a ledge overlooking the city. "Please welcome, Mariposa! Royal Ambassador from Flutterfield!"

Mariposa smiled and flew up slightly to see if she could see anyone, but her smile dropped when she saw that no one was there. 

"Well... I-It looks like everyone is... busy today." Catania said, trying to cheer Mariposa up. 

It worked for a second, then a citizen opened up their window and yelled, "We're not busy!" Then shut their window again.

Mariposa looked back down, dejected. She missed the death glare that Catania threw the citizen who yelled that. If looks could kill...

"Well... Uh... It appears my subjects are... preoccupied." The King said, trying to cheer Mariposa up as well. It didn't work nearly as well.

Another window slammed open. "No, we're not!" A different citizen yelled. Catania gave them a death glare as well.

Mariposa sighed and turned to head back when her wing knocked the crown off of the King's head. She gasped. "Your crown!" She yelled, diving for it. She didn't notice that her bag had hooked around the King's arm, dragging him down with her. 

"She's attacking the King!" A citizen yelled, pointing at Mariposa accusingly. This time, Catania was too worried about her father and Mariposa to glare at them.

Mariposa and the King crashed to the ground. Mariposa landed on her wings, and a familiar pain shot up her spine. They didn't break, but they still hurt. A lot. But she ignored the pain, getting up quickly.

The King growled and stood up, glaring at Mariposa.

"I'm sorry!" Mariposa said, grabbing the crown and holding it out. "Your crown, your majesty."

The King huffed and took his crown. "Perhaps you beat the skeezites by tripping over them!" He snapped. 

This hurt Mariposa, but she sucked it up and followed him back up to the ledge. 

Catania was looking at her wings with a confused and slightly panicked expression but turned to Mariposa as she landed and gave her a sympathetic look. "There'll be more people tomorrow. I'm sure of it." She said, putting a hand on Mariposa's arm in comfort, just under her bandage. 

A window slammed open. "No, there won't!" The window slammed shut.

Mariposa sighed, her shoulders slumping.

Catania gave them one more glare before looking back at Mariposa, her eye catching on the bandage. "Hey, What happened?"

Mariposa looked up at her, confused. "Huh?" She glanced down and saw her bandage. "Oh, that. I accidentally cut myself on those thorns last night. It's no big deal."

But the look Catania's face made it seem like a huge deal. You could almost see the gears turning in her head.

Mariposa was about to ask about it but was cut off by the King calling for Catania.

Catania looked over at her father, then back a Mariposa, a strange expression on her face. "I'll tell you later, okay?"

Mariposa could only nod and watch as Catania took her place by her father on the chariot. She was confused as to what just happened, but she shrugged it off.

The royal family flew off towards the palace, and Mariposa followed far behind them. No one said anything. And Catania was, for the first time since Mariposa met her, not on Mariposa's mind.

She could only think about what had happened a few minutes ago. 

She messed up. Didn't she?