"Once Upon a Wing"

Chapter 21

"Mistress Sallie!?" A tiny little voice tugs at both the subconscious and human form of the powerful Nymph of the Warm Waters, who had never quite before felt as completly powerless as she was now. She looked into the child fairy's frightened eyes.

"What is it, child?" Sallie's voice carries with it an inner strength she had found herself drawing from, out of a lost reverie, seeking out within the maelstrom of everything that had happened.

"Aunt Cathrine is still trying - but her healing powers don't seem to be working on these people here! They just won't wake up!" Marimaia exclaimed in a hushed whisper, her little mind not knowing what to make of it all.

When they had first stepped foot ( or wing) on the shores of this pretty land of Aissur, after that kind human had brought her tiny fairy self across to his kingdom's protection from the danger without, there were so many people all around!

Mariemaia, in all her young sheltered life in Eixip, had never seen so many beings in one place all at once, never so many guards and maids and serfs and... humans... so full of the same fears and hopes as she --- those hopes that rested on their King and Prince's valor to defeat the attacking enemy survivors to send them far, far away this peaceful land of beautiful Pegasus.

And Mariemaia had watched with wide fearful eyes as her new heroes disappeared from the hill on the other side, vanishing in a blinding flash of light. All those who stood against the evil villain were gone without a trace, leaving them standing trembling at the mouth of the palace's perimeter, alone and at the mercy of the evil ones about to overtake them. On top of that, the protective barrier shielding them was also coming down a layer at a time....

The brave palace guards could put up a return offensive attack upon the wicked Sorcerer they were cursing for stealing their beloved rulers from their homeland, but.....

She was there.

Even through the shield, her eyes could penetrate, her eyes that could hypnotize, her eyes that could freeze one's soul with one glancing blow....

One by one the guards fell hypnotized by Sorceress Anne's mesmerizing gaze, as Lord Dermail's powerful blasts over and over finally cause the barrier to shatter and fall. Every guard inside as well were defeated.

Blow upon blow from Sorceress Anne's evilly glowing eyes, it seemed nothing could stand in their way. This evil Lord Dermail would soon rule over all. He could see it clearly in his crystal ball's mists--for capturing the sacred Pegasus was the second piece to his magical greedy hunger. The third and final puzzle piece to total world domination was only to be revealed when one sprinkled the sacred fairy dust high aloft the wings of the Pegasus. There was only one man in legend allowed to cross over into the land of Mythica...where the unicorn's golden horn was the key to giving this Sorcerer ultimate, unbeatable power to rule the world, no, the universe. He would find this man and make him do his bidding. Dermail cackles aloud as he stomps his foot upon the now unprotected home of the winged pegasi....

Nothing could stand in his way now---no mere water nymph, elf or fairy girl could stop him seizing the Pegasus above. That is no one, but one mere human Princess - and oh yes, the golden giant falcon that was at her command.

Squawk!!

"Come on girls! All aboard! There's no time to waste!" Princess Dorothy comes soaring in on " her" trusty falcon, its honey golden wings opening up wide as Dorothy pulls Mariemaia and Sallie (along with Cathrine) aboard Valkyrie's back.

What kind of name is that for such a noble beast? Well, we're just going to have to change that, won't we?!

Sorceress Anne's evil eyes were about to pull her evil shade of unconciousness over this weakWater Nyymph and her precious fairy pixies, but she was too late.

"Hey wait for me!" Hilde's nimble elf legs give her the extra hup as she leaps up, grabing hold of the fanlike tail of feathers and hanging on for dear life as the golden brown falcon, with Dorothy at the helm, takes off for the sky, up, up---straight up-- straight to the castle's tall peaks to the last sanctuary this castle possessed. The one final force shield erected in a crystallized dome was over where the Pegasus were stabled, where they nested and lived, in the roof, as the last gleaming of the sunlight's rays stray on the dome that opens up to accept one of its only three masters in.

Princess Dorothy in the back of her mind prays that she wasn't the only master left. Her two royal cousins who shared her allegiance to the Pegasus, had been stolen away from the land in a puff of light before her shocked and disbelieving eyes.

"Seal! Seal! Seal! Come on! I command you! " Dorothy jumps off the bird's back as she lands on the lofty green tiers where the Pegasi roamed, her long nailed fingers squeeze the jeweled necklace containing her third of the gem that allowed her unlimited access into her beloved world of winged horses---and the ability to shut all unwanted visitors out. The ones hot on their trail would certainly fall under the realm of the unwanted."

"Stop right there, foolish Princess! " Lord Dermail levitates up at a blinding speed. She wasn't able to get the dome to seal out the image of Dermail's fouly bearded face, crashing into its last obstacle on his road to power and glory. A road that he was confident he would overcome with smashing results-- given the time.

And time was something he was sure he had multitudes of. For he was in his evil glory, absolute that the so-called " heroes" of this fabled tale would never return again. He had sent them to certain doom of evil proportions.

"You may think you're safe in there for now, ladies. But not for long. No.....hahahaha, not for very long at all.. hahahaha..."

Princess Dorothy looks to the other four females surrounding her. She saw their fear and hoped indeed that this shelter shield would hold against this evil wizard long enough for their heroes to return and rescue their damsels in distress. And if one golden haired boy to whom this falcon belonged didn't come soon, this damsel in distress may just have to take matters into her own capable and steady white hands as she pets the pegasus nuzzling at her in her slinky aqua and lace gown. The animals were blithely unaware of the danger hovering over them and Dorothy cast her worries into the rembrance of the sea of HIS blue, blue ocean eyes .....

......He was somewhere out there...... Somewhere......

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Flutter, flutter

Those eyes open.

The two suns that shone upon this world were expectedly hot on the boy laying motionless on the sands. The humid deserts were in the southernmost parts of the unexplored territories. None but the brave, bold and sucidal dared venture out into these forbidding clusters of desolate land.

The land was desolate for a reason, not a single human type of creature existed in these "death" islands. For even the most daring adventurer or nobleman never returned from his bold quest to explore these mysterious islands of the South.

And no one knew exactly why. Still to this day no one who kept their safe distance from these forbidden lands ever could explain how heroes and brave adventures would board a sea vessel across the seemingly calm and peaceful seas to arrive at the Southern Island so-named Sitnalta.

And never be seen alive again.

After several more centuries had passed ,the quests had finally come to a stop. Whatever evil that existed here could remain here. The defeated world outside had decided, and left the islands alone dormant, in its realm of dark secrets, all by itself.....

Until today.......

"Where... where am I?" Prince Quatre's big cerulean eyes flutter open, his questioning gaze was answered by no one, for not another soul was on this island-----at least not souls of the living type.

"Wa-wahh!" The blonde boy lets out a yelp, as his eyes in the sun come into focus, and now find themselves face to face-- with a human.

That is the skull of one.

"Who?----Where?----VALKYRIE!"

Jumping to his stocking feet, Quatre scurries back away from the dead remains laying in scattered pieces on the hot rough sand of the land he had been washed upon. He calls for his faithful sidekick to swoop in and take him away for this horrid nightmare, to awaken his peaceful heart from this dream and together fly away on golden wings to the clear blue skies where he had first encountered HER.....again...

But his cries do not fall upon his beloved falcon's deft hearing range. The island of Sitnalta was too distant for even Valkyrie to hear his master's call. That evil Sorcerer had sent this golden Prince of Noxas to a wicked island filled land of torture. The heat from the blazing suns was nothing compared to what fire burned deeper within this volcanic isle. It was a fire that was both amazing and deadly.

But in his innocence Quatre was unaware of the no longer slumbering danger. He was only in search of aid and transport back to the Aissur palace where she needed to be rescued---where she needed to be helped. The fair Princess Dorothy needed to be rescued from the wicked ones attacking her castle. After all, not only was she beautiful, delicate, and gentle-spirited, but the alluring Princess was also the one betrothed to be his bride on the morrow...

But Quatre had not yet revealed that to her since his courage had failed him in the sea of her misty blue eyes. He considers this as he could do nothing but venture further into the damning sands on this wasted island.

Burning red eyes suddenly blaze open, sensing his imminent approach.....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It's been too long. Knowing the way my sister rides, we should have caught up with her by now." Millardo's voice was becoming edgier with every mile. His horse loses no time in galloping spiritedly at his master's beckon.

There comes no reply from the rider of the horse beside him. The two steeds ride neck and neck on the search for the missing Princess Relena who had only a few miles lead on them at most. The man known to Milliardo only as "Heero" seems to ignore the King of Sanc. His entire focused eyes were glued to the dark road before them. His gaze was intent and pentrating, looking for the Princess who had been left in his care and he himself had let go off on her own.

Her eyes had pleaded with his to allow her to stay and help her brother. Yet he had strayed from his job --- his mission --- and done what she had requested - because, because - he wasn't excatly sure what those crystal eyes of hers did to his driven soul.

I won't let that happen again. I won't ever let my guard down again. When I find her, I'll.......

Even to his own mind, Heero shuts off all emotion or thought ---- all but his new mission --- to find his Princess and keep her safe. That's all.

Mission accepted.

"We have to stop her before she gets too far..." Lucrezia, once the formidable and fiery Fire Nymph, finds herself breaking off sentences, weak against this King Millardo's perfect eyes and the stony set of his jaw. Her own wounded body was weak but she was gaining strength with each passing moment. His purity filling blood continued to mix with her cold emptiness.

He had insisted on carrying her the entire way, with the strength of his arms all about her. She wanted to be honest with him now, but with all her evilness in the past how could she fully face his goodness eye to eye?

"What is it you fear in Aissur, Lucrezia? You can tell me, you can tell me anything." His set jaw softens into a handsome smile, and Lucrezia falters under his gaze. She almost smiled back when-----

"So there you are, Fire Nymph." a woman's deep voice--one familiar to Lucrezia--shatters through the dark forest. The birds and woodland creatures scurry away from such a hateful, distasteful soul.

" Master Dermail was sure YOU of all his servants, with all your deep hatred and deadly desires, would not fail him in this simplest of tasks." Sorceress Anne phrases in her burgundy gown glowing in the still darkness. The spooked horses rear up and back away, for all beasts of nature recognize evil and danger.

"Oh, well," Anne sighs with a soft evil chuckle, "I guess its true, good help is so hard to find these days." Her laugh sends chills through their spines.

"I suppose though," her beglassed eyes give Milliardo a good look up and down, "some human males do have their useful purposes, so I can't blame you that much," the Sorceress laughs her wicked female wiles as she floats all the closer to where Lucrezia was wrapped in Milliardo's arms.

"What do you want, Sorceress? Dermail did not send me on a "task" here. I came of my own desire and will. And now I have decided that I desire something more fulfilling than revenge. I owe nothing more to one who doles out evil and preys on my desire for revenge. Nothing."

Though her powers as the once fierce Fire Nymph were now dampened by a human heart, Lucrezia could feel the fire rising in her blood still. It was reflected in her eyes, as they blazed out at Dermail's little waif sorceress, who had come to collect on a debt that Lucrezia had decided had already been settled.

"I said, I can't blame you." Anne's own eyes grow angered with a dull, sullen gaze. The perpetual smirk never leaves her unsightly face. "Now that you're part human though, I didn't say I can't kill you. But first---" Sorceress Anne was no fool. Her evil spectacles reflected out of the corner a bothersome foreigner's attempt to stop her with a petty little instrument that looked more like a child's toy than any tool her uncle had warned had existed beyond their reach.

So, she would just have to put both the man and his toy somewhere where they would never bother her again.

"Say goodbye to your lover, Nymph." Anne smiles at the torture she was wielding as she clutches a jewelled medallion in her long nailed hands.

Milliardo though, thinking the attack was on Lucrezia, covers her with his body as he steers the horse to run away. But, as this all happens in a split second, Lucrezia realizes the attack was not for her---but for him.

"I'll find her! I'll protect your sister with my life! I swear it on my love for you!" Lucrezia cries out in a desperate whisper, as, just as she predicted, Anne uses her space warping jewel to whisk both Milliardo and Heero away before a shot could be fired. It was just as her uncle had done before. She zapped them away to a place where evil creatures would surely destroy them. It left Lucrezia all alone with the Sorceress, with the pledged promise of love still on her lips....

"Sister? Does your lover have a sister?" Anne taunts with a sneer on her face that sets Lucrezia's teeth on edge. But what the Sorceress does next was far, far worse.

"Does she look anything like this - by chance?" A snap of the magic fingers and one fair haired blue garbed Princess Relena appears, floating in midair, right beside Anne. She was unconscious, obviously a victim of Sorceress Anne's evil eye.

"Let her go--! " Lucrezia finds the fire left remaining in her about to explode itself at the evil sorceress in anger but---

"Oh?" Anne lets the unconscious Relena fall, then stop short just enough to make the former Fire Nymph hold her fury in place.

"You hold her life in your hands, Nymph. Challenge me with your puny powers---and she dies. It's that simple." Anne knew she held a winning card here. Something in the once soulless, vengeful eyes of the Fire Nymph caused Anne to wonder suddenly what that mere human man could have done to cause such a change. But then again King Milliardo was not exactly a mere human man, was he?

____________________________________

That was why she was here after all, Nymphs were expendable--- however--- this Princess of the North was yet one more ingredient in their wicked magical brew.....

Right again, Sorceress Anne congratulates her own sneaky mind, as the fire building in Lucrezia's fists fizzle dow. She hangs her head weakly in dejection and defeat.

"Correct choice," Sorceress Anne hums aloud, just as easily as she sent Heero and Milliardo away to who knows where just moments before, now she, along with Relena and Lucrezia disappear into the thick, dark air of night....

"Mistress Sallie!?" A tiny little voice tugs at both subconscious and human form of , the powerful Nymph of the Warm Waters never quite before feeling as completely powerless as she was now, looking into the child fairy before her frighten eyes.
" What is it child?" Sallie's voice carries with it a inner strength she had found herself drawing out of a lost revenue, seeking out with in the maelstrom of this
" Aunt Cathrine is still trying - but her healing powers don't seem to be working on these people here! They just won't wake up!" Marimaia exclaimed in a hushed whisper, her little mind knowing what to make of all the
When they had first stepped foot ( or wing) on the shores of this pretty land of Aissun, after that kind human had passed her tiny fairy self across to his kingdom's protection from the danger without, there were so many people all around!
Marimaia, in all her young sheltered life in Eixip, had never seen so many beings in one place all at once, never so many guards and maids and serfs and... humans... so full of the same fears and hapes as she - those hopes
on their King and their Prince's valr to defeat the attacking enemy survivors to send them far far away this peaceful land of beautiful Pegasus.
And Marimaia had watched with wide fearful eyes, her new heros disappear from the hill on the other side, vanish in a blinding flash of light all of those who stood against the evil villain gone without a trace, leaving them standing trembling at the mouth of the palace's perimeter, alone and at the mercy of the evil ones about to over take them, the protective barrier shielding them coming down a layer at a time....
____ palace guards could put up their return offensive attack upon the wicked Sorcerer they were cursing for stealing their beloved rulers from their homeland, she was there. Even through the shield, her eyes could penetrate, her eyes that could hypnotize, her eyes that could freeze one's soul with one glancing blow....
One by one the guards fell hypnotized by Sorceress Anne's mesmerizing gaze, as Lord Dermail's powerful blasts over and over finally cause the barrier to shatter and fall to___, every guard inside too __, before his weapon could ___ ~ blow upon Sorcess Anne's evil glowing eyes. Nothing could stand in their way it seemed, this evil Lord Dermail would soon rule over all he could see it clear in his crystal ball's mists, for capturing the sacred Pegasus the second piece of his magic greedy hunger, the third and final puzzle piece to total world domination only to be revealed to one sprinkled with holy fairy dust high aloft the sacred wings of the Pegasus, the only man it is written allowed to cross over into the legendary land of Mythica...where the unicorn's golden horns were the key to giving this Sorcerer ultimate unbeatable power to rule the world..no.. the universe... Dermail cackles aloud as he stomps foot on the now unprotected home of the winged ___ Pegasus....
Nothing could stand in his way now no mere water nymph, elf or fairy girl could stop him seizing the Pegasus above the___. One Princess - and oh yes, one golden ____ giant falcon at her command. Squawk!!
" Come on girls! All aboard! There's_____ Princess Dorothy comes soaring in on " her" trusty falcon, its honey golden wings opening up wide as____ Dorothy pulls Marimaia and Sally ( along with Cathrine) aboard " Valkyris" back ( What kind of name is that for such a noble beast?) even as Sorceress Anne's evil eyes were about to pull her evil shade of unconsciousness over this weakly Water Nymph and her precious fairy pixies.
" Hey wait for me!" Hilde's nimble elf legs gives her the extra hop as she leaps up, grabbing hold of the fanlike tail of feathers and hanging on for dear life as the golden brown falcon, with Dorothy at the helm, takes off for the sky, up, up, ___ straight up, straight to the castle's tall peaks to the last sanctuary this castle possessed,- one final force shield erected in a crystallized dome over were the Pegasus were stabled, where they nested and lived,____ in the roof__ last gleaming of the sunlight's ____ stray on the,____ dome that accepts one of its only three masters in.
Princess Dorothy in the back of her mind prays that she wasn't the single one left, ___ two royal cousins who shared her gifts for the Pegasus, stolen away from the land of the Pegasus in a puff of light before her shocked and disbelieving eyes.
" Seal! Seal! Seal! Come on! I command you! " Dorothy jumps off the bird's back as she lands on the Pegasus's lofty green tiers, her long nailed fingers squeeze the jeweled necklace containing her third of the gem that allowed her unlimited access into her beloved world of winged horses--- and the ability to shut all unwanted visitors out. And the people hot on their trail would certainly fall under the realm of the ' unwanted."
" Stop! Right there foolish Princess! " Lord Dermal levitates up at a blinding speed____ able to get the dome to seal out Dermail's foully bearded face crashing into it's last obstacle on his road to power and glory. A road that he was confident he would overcome with smashing results-- given the time.
And time was something he was sure he had multuides of. For he was in his evil ____, absolute that ___ so-called " heroes" of this fabled tale would ever return again, he having sent them to certain doom of___ evil proportions.
" You may think you're safe in there for now; ladies. But not for long. No..... hahahaha, not for very long at all.. hahahaha..."
Princess Dorothy looks to the other four females surrounding her one of them mending her boy indeed this shelter shield would hold against this evil wizard hoping against hope ___ be long enough for their heroes to return to rescue their damsels in distress. And if one yellow haired boy to whom this falcon belonged didn't come soon, this damsel in distress may just have to take matters into her own capable and steady white hands as she pets the pegasus nuzzling at her in her slinky aqua and____ gown, blightly unaware of the danger hovering over them, Dorothy losing her worries into the sea of his blue, blue inner ocean eyes ...... Somewhere out there...... Somewhere......
Flutter, flutter those eyes open. The two suns that shone upon this world were expectedly hot on the boy_______ The humid ___ southern parts of the unexplored territories. None but the brave, bold and suicidal dared venture out into these forbidding clusters of desolate land.
The land was desolate for a reason, not a single human type creature existed in these death types of islands ________ became inhumans to be. For even the most daring adventurer or noble___ ever returned from his bold quest___ explore the mysterious islands of the South.
And no one knew exactly why. Still to this day no one who kept their safe distance from these forbidden lands ever could explain how heroes and brave adventures would board a sea vessel across the seemingly calm and peaceful seas arrive at the Southern Island so-named___________________________
And never be seen alive again.
After several more centuries had passed the quests had finally come to a stop, whatever evil that existed on ________ by the defeated world outside, alone dormant in its realm of dark secrets, all by itself.....
Until today.......
" Where... where am I?" Prince Quatre's big cerulean eyes flutter open, his questioning gaze no one answered, for not another soul was on this island's ____ ___ and ___ lands___ - at least not souls of the living type.
" Wa-wahh!" The blonde boy lets out a yelp in the sun eyes focus under his slashed head, his seeing eyes now finding themselves face to face-- with a human.
That is the skull of one.
" Who?- Where?- VALKYRIE!"
Jumping to his stocking feet, Quatre scurries back away from the dead remains lying in scattered pieces on the hot __ sand of the land he had washed upon. He calls for his faithful sidekick to swoop in and take him away for this horrid nightmare. Awake his peaceful heart from this dream, fly away on golden wings to the __ blue skies where he had first encountered her __ again...
But his cries do not fall upon his beloved falcon's deft hearing range, the island of Sitmalter too distant for even Valkyrie to hear his master's call, that evil Sorcerer's sending this golden Prince of Noxas to a wicked ___ sand filled land of torture, the heat of the blazing suns _______________ of what fire burned deeper within this volcanic isle a fire that was both ___ and deadly.
But in his innocence ( Can't read the rest that well have to ask Chloechan)


"It's been too long. Knowing the way my sister rides, we should have caught up with her by now," Millardo's voice was becoming edgier with every mile his horse loses no time in galloping spiritedly over. There comes no reply from the rider of the horse besides him, the two steeds riding neck and neck on the search for the missing Princess Relena who had only a few miles lead on them at most. The man known to Milliardo only as " Heero" seems to ignore the King of Sanc, his entire focused eye glued to the dark road before them, his gaze intent and penetrating looking for the Princess left in his care that he himself had let go off on her own.______ Her eyes had pleaded with his to stay and help her brother and he had strayed from his job --- his mission --- and done what she had requested - because, because - he wasn't exactly sure what those crystal eyes did to his driven soul. I won't let that happen again. I won't ever let my guard down again. When I find her, I'll- even to his own mind, Heero shuts off all emotion or ___ thought ---- all but his new mission--- to find his Princess and keep her safe. That's all.
Mission accepted.
" We have to stop her before she gets to far..." Lucretzia , once the formidable and fiery fire Nymph, finds herself breaking off sentences, weak against this King Millardo's perfect eyes and the stony set of his jaw. Her own wounded body was weak but she was gaining strength with each passing moment his purity filling blood continued to mix with her cold emptiness.
He had insisted on carrying her the entire way, the strength of his arms all about her. She wanted to be honest with him now, but with all her evilness in the past how would she fully face his goodness eye to eye? ______________________ but- " What is it you fear in Aissan, Lucretzia? You can tell me, ___ ____ now his set jaw softens into a handsome smile, Lucretzia faltering under his gaze, she almost smiled back when-----
" So there you are, Fire Nymph," a woman's deep voice one familiar to Lucretzia shatters the dark forest, birds and woodland creatures scurry away from such a hateful, distasteful soul.
" MAster Dermail was sure, you of all his servants, with all your deep hatred and deadly desires, would not fail him in this simplest of tasks." Sorceress Anne phases in her burgundy gown glowing in the still darkness ___ the spooked horses rearing up and backing away. For all beasts of nature recognize evil and danger.
" Oh, well," Anne sighs with a soft evil chuckle, " I guess its true, -- good help is hard to find these days," her laugh _________________ " I suppose though, her be glassed eyes give Milliardo a good look up and down, ______ human males do have their useful purposes, so I can't blame you that much," the Sorceress laughs her wicked female wiles as she floats all the closer to where Lucretzia was wrapped in Milliardo's arms.
" What do you want Sorceress? Dermail did not send me on a " task" here. I came of my own desires and will. And now I have decided that I desire something more fulfilling than revenge. I own nothing more to one who doles out evil and ____ ____ of my revenge. Nothing."

Can't read the rest of this paragraph. Need Chloechan's help.
" Sister? Does your lover have a sister?" Anne taunts with a sneer on her face that sets Lucretzia's teeth on edge. What the Sorceress does next ____ ____ worse.
" Does she look anything like this - by chance?" A snap of the magic f