See, I told you! Now that I'm finally free from my exams, I'll write more and try to update more quickly 3
I hope you like this chapter, and please forgive me any inaccuracies in the Thai...I tried (google translate did).
This is a slightly longer chapter... I don't now, I was inspired X)
Please don't forget to review!
VII
In the Tooth Fairy palace, everything was a mess. Baby Tooth flied madly back and forth, trying to organize both the collecting and rescue teams.
Some hours ago, Jack was still there with them, every single one of the minifairies blacked out, falling in their stance. Baby Tooth woke up, together with lots of older fairies, a few moments later, avoiding a dangerous fall. What they hadn't noticed was that some of the youngest, the ones that were still too connected to their Queen, hadn't woken up.
So now everyone had to organize and collect both the teeth, and the lost fairies out there. It was a truly hard job. Some of them returned with a fallen comrade in their short arms, others brought back a single rounded feather, together with a recently found tooth.
Every time a new piece of their Queens plumage got into the palace, the Tooth Fairy Army would cast their eyes for a second, and then get back to work, with sorrow in their hearts.
Besides, the job of finding the teeth was now even more difficult. Without Tooth to sense when and where a child had lost their tooth, the minifairies had to go to the places and try to feel were they were. It was very tiring.
Baby Tooth sighed, and looked around to the mess of minifairies dealing with the emergency. At least now they were somewhat organized...
The minifairy was about to smile in relive when her vision was filled with dropping forms of green, falling all around her. Her mind was suddenly light and distant, not a single thought remained. Then everything went black...
...
..
.
The bluish orbs were blinked twice, as if their owner didn't quite believed what they showed. Jack hadn't, in fact, moved a single muscle. He just stood there, frozen, oblivious to anything as trivial as the notion of time and space. Because right now, it seemed like there wasn't anything else in his universe besides that golden feather. The plume stood as still as he did, not a single breeze or slightest air current to disturb its quiet rest.
It was only when dark spots started filling his vision, that the boy noticed the burning in his lungs, the most primal reflex of breathing forgotten. So the Ice Prince took in a shaky breath, blinking his eyes again in the process.
The constant cracking of the fire was still audible, but no warmth thawed his frozen form. It seemed that everything had truly blacked out, and only now were his senses languidly returning.
Jack slowly became aware of a pressure on his legs, and he automatically frowned, as he tried seeking out for answers in his perplexed mind. Then his irises flickered to his lap, and he quietly observed the feathered body still lying there.
Her amethyst gems were still hidden, her natural colors drained out. But now there was no such comfort, like there had been before in knowing that she at least was safe... locked in a smaller body, but still relatively safe.
Now there was nothing... Only an immortal boy, abandoned again, with the cause of his desperations lying lifeless in his hold, and the only hope for her salvation vanished out of thin air, leaving only a golden feather in its place.
- Tooth...? – he croaked, hesitant fingers caressing her forehead. – Come on, this isn't funny!
But there was no curling of her perfect pink lips, there was no stir of her long magenta lashes.
The boy started shaking his head, slowly at first, as if trying to deny her resilience in waking up.
- No, come on, you can't do this... – he whispered between his pearly whites. – Not to the children, not to the world!
Because what beauty would there be in the world, if there was no iridescent Tooth Fairy flying around? What would now the world be, without that bubbly chatter-box, that could also be so caring, so gentle, so loving? What fun was out there for him, if he hadn't a Tooth to share it with?
Incredible as it seems, in those last months, the new Guardian had become so undeniably fond of the fairy, that it was as if he was invisible all over again if she was not there to see him.
Jack didn't sob or choke in his panic, as he expected to. It looked like all his supply of adrenaline had already been totally consumed over the course of the night. Freaking out was too tiring...
So he was left with a serene look on his face, hovering above her lifeless form, bathed by the fire's orange glow. He found his pale fingers caressing her soft cheek, his hand so huge compared to her heart-shaped face, as he cupped it gently in his palm. Jack also stroke the abandoned feather, in gestures so slow and tender that it seemed he was under some kind of numbing spell.
The boy didn't have it in him to blush now, or to feel any kind of embarrassment. In fact, it looked like every single form of emotion was removed completely from his soul, leaving only his broken self, rocking slowly back and forth with the fairy in his lap.
Over the time, he ended up collapsing from exhaustion, both arms loosely circling her feathered form, and his cool forehead resting against her equally cool one.
- What do you want me to do, Tooth? – he mumbled, without even trying to make sense anymore. A little smirk stretched his bluish lips, and his chest shook just the slightest with a brief chuckle. – Will you wake up if I kiss you? Like those princesses do in their fairy-tale kinds of stories? Because you know I will!
Silence was his only answer, but he was pretty much used to those kinds of responses by now, and that never stopped him before. So he proceeded with his incoherent nonsense.
- Would it work with you? You're more of a Queen, not really a princess. Does that even matter?
Silence.
- Would you be mad at me if I kissed you? Would you like it? – a small smile tugged the corners of his lips, and he breathed out the next few words, like a secret. – I would...
There was no answer from the fairy, but that didn't seem to bother the maddening boy, as if he was not even waiting for one.
So he moved away just the slightest, so he could get a better look at her gorgeous features. Her pinkish eyelids and petit nose, and her both petit and pink lips, quietly closed, not even open for a gentle breath. The spirit's smile grew larger, a tender gleam sparkling in his admiring orbs.
- I would certainly like to kiss you, Toothiana...
And then he exhaled slowly, feeling the chilling air leave his lungs. He gradually started descending, closer each moment, the distance between their faces decreasing painfully slow. The icy blue eyes started to close, as he committed her wonderful face to memory.
He could almost feel her, right beneath him, and then... both their noses and foreheads gently touched again. And Jack stayed there, in that almost resting position, breathing quietly.
And suddenly, it was as if it hit him, at last: the overwhelming knowledge that he might never see those star-filled eyes again, or that wonderful smile, or hear her wise comforting words, or enjoy her heartwarming company, or feel his insides clench when that adorable blush blooms in her cheeks, or feel her petit hand in his when they soar through the skies, or listen to her hummingbird heart thumping vividly against her ribcage when they hug each other.
And the notion of that crushing fact, that he might never have the chance of being with the supposedly immortal fairy again, the fact that Toothiana, Queen of the Tooth Fairies Armies, might cease to exist, finally settled down in his messed up mind.
The sudden void of despair that opened in his chest was absolutely devastating, sucking the air out of his lungs, and the shimmers of wonder, hope and dreams out of his joyless heart. Only the memories stayed...
And it was imbibed in that sickening torture that the Winter Spirit was left, the first of many sobs suddenly pouring out of his chest, in earthquake-like waves, making his form tremble so much that Jack thought he would crumble apart.
He tried to shed tears, in the hope that all the despair would drip away with the water. But they would only form tiny snowflakes that immediately landed on Toothiana's cheeks, right below.
- Come on Tooth... come back. Come back to me! What's the fun of it without you? What's the point of it?
...
..
.
There it was again... this void of matter, of existence... of being...
She tried to focus on the paradox, in the hope that it would bring some clarity to her numbed self.
How is there Nothing, and nothing is, if I am here, and I am?
Toothiana slowly gained conscience of herself. She was in that limbo again, in the Nothing Space.
And I tell you, dear reader, the limbo is what makes those travels between bodies so incredibly dangerous: it's a place in which you easily get lost. I'll explain.
It is not that you are trapped there by an exterior force. In fact, that emptiness will disappear the moment you wish it to. The tricky part is that you not always wish it.
Because, you see, the limbo is a place void of emotions, and consequently desires. You are not scared to be there, it doesn't feel cold and empty, and neither does it feel good to stay. It doesn't feel like anything, and that quietness, that peace, takes you the will to decide to exit or not. But you could... if you wanted to.
So Toothiana tries to avoid going into such situations. You never know if you'll be able of coming back.
But this had been an emergency.
Her body was ready, already warmed up, thanks to the blazing flames, but it wouldn't last without a soul for much longer. She urgently needed to get back.
The only way for Tooth to snap out of it, was for her to remember. And finding memories in a place where time doesn't exist is rather hard. But...
I am here, and I am. I am Toothiana...
...
She could feel the warmth of the soil under her bare feet, the hot humidity of dirt and leaves accumulated between her tiny toes. The cries of the tropical birds echoed all around her, and between each joyful laughter, the little girl was able of answering back to each and every one of them. The jungle atmosphere was somehow suffocating with all her tired panting, but she would never notice it, not in the middle of such enthusiasm. She wouldn't stop.
Her short legs kept running, eating the dirt trails with surprising speed for a child. Inside her tiny hand, closed in a safe fist, a precious cargo was carried.
She felt herself climb a small hill, and while on the top, she stared down, breathless, at the slim river. There, bent by the water, a woman washed colorful clothes.
- แม่, แม่! มันออกมาก็ลดลง! (Mamma, mamma! It came out, it fell!) – the girls delighted shrieks travelled through the trees, as she immediately ran down the slope, graciously jumping over roots and rocks on her way. It seemed as if everything around her vibrated and gleamed with the happiness that pulsated in her own core.
At the sound of her voice, the woman turned around to reveal the most beautiful features, eyes shining as they fell upon her daughter. She kneeled again, so she could be at the girl's height, who now panted before her, with her fist held high.
- มาใน. ให้ฉันเห็นมัน. (Come on. Let me see it!) – the woman whispered, looking up to her daughter's gleaming face, with a big smile stretched on her lips.
Slowly, the twelve-year-old opened her closed hand, and there, resting in her tanned palm, a little tooth was laid. Her mother took it with a look of pure adoration, making the girl giggle and beam. Then, after inspecting its entirely clean surface, the woman held the precious treasure for her little Toothiana to see.
- ทำได้ดี! ตอนนี้เราต้องเก็บไว้ที่ปลอดภัย. (Well done! Now we only have to keep it safe.)
And with that said, she putted the tooth in a little pouch and hugged her daughter, with hands wrinkled from washing the clothes for so long.
- คุณมีการเจริญเติบโตขึ้นลูกของฉัน (You are growing up, my dearest girl...) – she whispered into Toothiana's wavy dark hair. Then she moved away, and patted the pouch with a tender smile.
- ทารกฟันครั้งล่าสุดของคุณ ... (Your last baby-tooth.)
...That's why we collect the teeth, Jack...
- Woah...
Toothiana shrieked slightly, when a sudden gust of wind pushed against her recently acquired wings. But a little turn to the left, a slight tilt of her now feathered body, and she was back in the favorable currents.
Her eyes drifted to the deep green of the canopy, and a flock of scarlet birds came flying towards her, in order to join the young lady in her flight, high above the clouds.
Being in her teens, Toothiana was somewhat self-conscious about different body... Half-bird, half-girl, she sometimes felt like the evil spirit that the other grownups kept calling her. But now, flying with the warm wind as her loyal companion, as much as a freak as she might be...
- This is worth it...
...They hold the most important memories of childhood...
- เราจะต้องได้รับไปอย่างใดอย่างหนึ่งเพียงเล็กน้อย ... – We have to get away, Haroom's deep voice stated, holding Toothiana at arms length, with his dark eyes staring deeply into his daughter's amethyst gems.
Rashmi was busy packing all the important things in their little hut. We'll live in the jungle, she whispered over her shoulder, with all the animals and plants.
- ทำไม? – Why?, pouted Toothiana. She had her friends here in the village, other children that played with her. She saw her parents glace at each other, and then her father spoke, as clearly as he could muster.
- มีคนไม่ดีที่คิดว่าคุณจะทำสิ่งที่ไม่ดี – There are bad people, who think you'll do bad things, he murmured, but quickly continued when he saw his daughter orbs wide madly. We know you would never hurt them, but that's because you're good. You have to forgive them because they don't know...
- ฉันและพ่อของคุณมักจะปกป้องคุณ – Me and your father will always protect you, Rashmi added, with a smile, rubbing noses with her daughter. Toothiana giggled when Haroom joined the two, and the family stayed like that, foreheads touching one another.
And you will always protect yourself, our dearest Toothiana...
...My fairies and I watch over them...
Toothiana felt her legs touch the cool marble floor. Her pinkish gaze absorbed her surroundings, and all the enormity of the Punjam Hy Loo palace.
The Sisters of Flight had already disappeared, in a swirling tornado of green feathers and powerful wings, leaving nothing behind but a group of wooden sculptures, as if the entire sisterhood had turned into perfectly carved statues.
The feathered girl, in the end of her teens, clenched strongly the ruby-made box in her lap. Stored inside it, stood the girl's most precious treasure: her memories...
A minifairy came flying towards her, chirping softly, as if trying to comfort her from her grief.
The Monkey King was no more.
The Sisters of Flight were no more.
Her beloved parents were no more...
There was only her... alone in the world...
...and when someone needs to remember what's important...
As her head fell, her watery eyes ended up in the carved box again, were all her baby teeth were kept. Her most important memories, those who always came to her, in times of need, making her remember her hope, her dreams, making her remember what was truly important.
Then, her sparkling irises travelled to the jungle ahead, to the life-filled tree tops, where small villages rested below.
There were other children like her out there, lost in a way or the other that also needed to remember.
She called a group f minifairies telepathically, and then handed her minions the decorated Tooth-Box, which they held with great care.
We have to put it in a safe place... And there will be others, thousands of other boxes, one for each child. And it's our job to guard them.
And the huge silver disc, up in the nightly sky, beamed down to the fairy with its magical glow.
...we help them...
Ok, I promise you, this is almost over, so don't get mad at me for taking so long...
Anyway, please review if you have anything to say! Feedback is sooooo welcomed!
If you wanna check out my ilustrations for this story, you can visit my Tumblr page, or my DA page