Crisanta Knight: Inherent Fate

CHAPTER 2: MY FAIRY GODMOTHER TEACHES ME HOW TO ACCESSORIZE-1

hen I opened my eyes I discovered that the tacky décor of the genie lamp lounge was gone. Our new setting was a sparkly punch in the face.

We must be at Fairy Godmother Headquarters. What other place would have so much glitter?

Shimmering swirls decorated the walls. Crystal light fixtures in the shape of erupting fireworks hung from above. The carpet was white and matched the desk and filing cabinets; it also seemed to sparkle, like the dust trapped within the fibers was enchanted.

Everything glistened except a black orb protruding from the wall in the upper left-hand corner of the room. It was about the size of a cereal bowl and reminded me of the lone eye of a Cyclops, complete with a tiny red pupil blinking at me in the center.

“It worked!” Daniel’s voice was high in amazement.

It hit me. My face broke into a grin. We were out of the genie lamp. We were free and as far away from Arian and Nadia’s reach as possible.

I let go of the envelope (still wriggling in my hand) and excitedly whirled around to face him. “We did it!” I exclaimed. I literally jumped with joy and hugged Daniel.

Hold on a sec.

Am I hugging Daniel?

Abort! Abort!

Daniel noticed the mistake at the same time and the two of us quickly pulled apart.

“Uh, good work, Knight,” Daniel said gruffly as he extended his hand.

“Uh, yeah. You too,” I replied self-consciously while I shook it.

“Crisa?” squeaked a timid, high-pitched voice.

I spun around. The envelope had floated into a silver tray on the desk across the room. Next to the tray was a nameplate that read: Debbie Nightengale—Trainee. Behind the tray I spotted red hair and big blue eyes peeking out from behind the desk.

“Debbie?”

“Crisa!” Debbie popped up from her hiding place like a piece of toast from a toaster, the confusion in her eyes replaced with delight. Her bright red ponytail bounced around her shoulders, sparkly hairpins catching the light.

The last time I’d seen my Fairy Godmother she’d been wearing a dress that looked like it was made of lightning strikes. Today her gown emulated a tsunami. It was floor-length, each ruffled layer a different shade of dark blue or gray that appeared to be rippling. The colors crashed against each other, producing fabric creases that were sparkly white and reminded me of sea foam. Watching it made me dizzy, as did the tackle hug that Debbie gave me in the next instant.

“Oh my gosh! What are you doing here?” she exclaimed. “It’s so amazing to see you! Sorry about hiding.” She waved at her desk. “The bright red flash freaked me out. But thanks for finally filling out the survey!” Debbie smiled as she gestured to the envelope in her inbox. When she pivoted back around she finally noticed Daniel. “Who’s this?”

“Oh sorry, Debbie. This is Daniel my, uh, friend?”

I glanced at Daniel for affirmation and he shrugged his approval.

All right, I guess that’s a thing.

Debbie looked Daniel up and down and scrunched her nose. “You’re tall.”

“Um, thank you,” he replied.

“Anywho,” Debbie said as she stepped back and tilted her head at me with an appraising look. “You know I’m always happy to see one of my Godkids, Crisa. But, um, regular people are kind of forbidden from setting foot on official Godmother premises. I got in major trouble six weeks ago for inadvertently contributing to you breaking in here. Like, seriously. I lost my wand privileges for a week and had to clean Pegasus stables by hand as punishment.” I cringed. “Oh, I’m sorry, Debbie. I didn’t think they’d actually—”

“Relax,” Debbie interrupted, her mood swinging back unexpectedly. “I’m totally over it. I’m more interested in what you’re doing here now. That survey didn’t exactly require hand delivery, so I assume the reason you followed it was worth risking another round of the Godmother Supreme’s wrath.”

Daniel shrugged. “Long story short: we were trapped in Aladdin’s genie lamp.”

Debbie shivered like a child thinking about getting a shot or eating broccoli without butter. “Oh, that is so not awesome. I hate those tricky, icky things. Smart thinking using the letter to escape. External magic cancelling out internal magic—classic fairytale loophole.”

“Yeah, it was pretty lucky that Knight shoved your survey into that old bag that never leaves her side,” Daniel added. He paused and looked over at me. “Until now that is.”

“Hold on. What?”

I checked myself and discovered Daniel was right. I had forgotten to grab my satchel before signing the survey. My wand was in my boot, but its trusty carrying case was trapped somewhere far away within the lamp.

“I can’t believe I left it! Now what am I supposed to carry my wand around in? The thing’s barely been in my boot five minutes and I already feel a dent in my calf.”

I sighed and pulled my wand from my boot. There was nothing else of particular value in the bag, but I’d had it for an eternity. It’s what I’d been storing my wand in for years.

Debbie’s mouth hung agape. “You have a wand,” she gasped. She flicked her eyes to the black orb in the corner of the room for a moment with a touch of panic in her expression.

“Yeah, about that . . .” I responded. “It’s also kind of a long story.”

“And I’m also kind of intrigued,” Debbie said. “Tell. Me. Everything.”

“Deb, I don’t know if I—”

“Come on,” she insisted. “You’ve already shown it to me. You can’t change that. And I promise that anything you say will stay between us; it’s the Fairy Godmother–Fairy Godkid code of silence. Plus, you did trick me last time we met so you could get up here. Wouldn’t you say you at least owe me this in return for all the heat I took on your behalf?”

“I thought you were totally over that?”

“I am, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be able to cash it in as a solid you-owe-me.” Debbie smiled sweetly.

Feeling unsure, I looked to Daniel. He nodded, giving me the go-ahead to do whatever I thought best. I conceded to going along with Debbie’s request and telling her what she wanted to know. After all, I was giving the whole “being completely honest and trusting people” thing a shot, wasn’t I?

For the next few minutes I explained to Debbie the details about our visit to Emma, her gift of my wand and the resulting mysterious magical power that accompanied it, and even the painful hand-burning episodes I suffered from when I went too long without expelling magic (i.e. Magic Build-Up).

When I finished, Debbie bit her lip.

“Hold on,” she said slowly. “There’s one thing I need to clarify.”

“Okay, shoot.”

“Are you telling me—in all seriousness—that the reason you’d been carrying around that disgusting satchel was so you could have a convenient way to transport your wand?”

“It wasn’t disgusting,” I muttered.

“Honey, do you see what I’ve got on?” Debbie pointed to her flowing, majestic dress. “Trust me, I know the difference between cute and gross. I saw that bag when the Godmother Supreme was doing her weekly briefings and she showed us images of you, and I know it was not cute.”

“Hold up.” I waved my arms dramatically. “What do you mean she showed you images of me? Has she been spying on me?”

“Sort of,” Debbie replied like it was no big deal. “She’s been looking for you ever since she found out you and your friends ditched Lady Agnue’s. A princess escapes protagonist school weeks after breaking into Fairy Godmother Headquarters and you think our realm’s most powerful Fairy Godmother isn’t going to want to have a conversation with her?”

I opened my mouth to speak, but Debbie cut me off again. “But that’s not important,” she said. “What is important is the matter of that gross satchel.”

Daniel shook his head. “Really? The girl just told you she has magic powers and you wanna talk about purses?”

“Ignore him.” Debbie waved her hand dismissively. “This is as important as it gets. Explain yourself, Crisa. How could a princess allow herself to carry around such a hobo-esque handbag?”

“Well, it’s not as though I can make my wand appear out of thin air like you can,” I protested.

“I don’t make my wand appear out of thin air,” Debbie clarified. “I transform it from one shape to another. Look.”

Debbie pulled one of the crystal hairpins from her red mane. A second later it morphed into her wand, just like I’d seen it do when we first met.

“There’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to do the same,” Debbie continued. “All Fairy Godmother-issue wands are designed for this type of shape-shifting—that way we don’t have to worry about carrying them around all the time. Here, watch. Hold up your wand.”

I obeyed.

“Now concentrate on it and say Lapellium,” Debbie instructed.

“Lapellium,” I repeated.

My wand shrunk to the size of a sewing needle—that sparkled. It had turned into a delicate hairpin. My mouth hung open in shock.

“How did . . .”

Debbie shrugged. “Like I said, every wand is enchanted to change into an accessory—rings, bracelets, hairpins. Coco, our receptionist, even figured out a way to morph hers into acrylic nails. They look super uncomfortable, but to each her own. The bottom line is that it makes life easier for us, just as I’m sure it will make life easier for you. All you have to do is touch the wand, concentrate on it, and say Lapellium. You don’t even have to say it out loud; just think it. And to change it back, focus your magic on the original shape of the wand and the word Lapellius and voilà, it’ll return to normal.”

I held the slender accessory in the palm of my hand, took a deep breath—imagining the shape of my wand—then thought, Lapellius.

Sure enough, the little piece of silver expanded in my hand until it returned to its wand state. Fascinated, I tried a second time.

Lapellium.

Once more I watched my wand shrink back to the form of a tiny hairpin. I marveled at it like a kid who’d just discovered candy.

Coolest. Thing. Ever.

I began fastening the pin in my hair above my ear where Debbie kept hers but quickly reconsidered. I didn’t usually wear my hair back, and my wand felt vulnerable and out of place there. I got into so many action-packed shenanigans I figured it was a bad idea to leave it where it could fall out while I was running or something. Additionally, I didn’t want anyone to identify my sparkly hair accessory for what it was. The odds of someone knowing it was a disguised wand were slim, but I wasn’t willing to take the chance. I settled for clipping the wandpin to my left bra strap.

Not a very ladylike move to keep a weapon strapped to one’s underwear, I know. But a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.

“Thanks for the tip, Deb,” I commented after securing the pin. “Who knew hairpins could be so multifunctional?”

Daniel—losing patience—punched me in the arm. “Knight, focus. We’re losing time here. We should be concentrating on a way to find our friends or getting to the Valley of Strife to look for the next item on Emma’s list. We need to go.”

“I’m afraid you guys can’t leave,” Debbie responded, biting her lip. “At least not yet.”

I felt a shiver in my spine and took a slight step back. “Why?”

“Like I said, the Godmother Supreme wants to have a conversation with you. And she already knows you’re here.” Debbie pointed at the black orb with the red blinking light in the corner of the room. “How familiar are you with the concept of security cameras?”

I thought back. Security cameras were not something I’d ever seen in our realm, but I did know what they were. When we went to Earth to find the Little Mermaid’s daughter Ashlyn, we’d learned a lot about otherworldly creations from watching TV and movies.