A Fairy Mentor Sends Her Apprentice to the Lower World

The newly trained fairy, Saltina Nightingale of Maracynthiavale stood before her strict and frightfully powerful mentor, Eva-Claire Yellowblossom, the most mighty fairy of her time throughout the entire United Provinces of the Higher World.

It was a somewhat emotional moment for the two of them because Saltina was to be sent on her very first errand to the Lower World which was known to have gotten progressively more corrupt as its history progressed. It now had enough wicked influence to corrupt even the exalted fairies themselves who used to visit Earth far more frequently on what were known as Errands of Benevolence.

“Be careful Saltina. I cannot stress it enough. Be careful of men. Be careful of humans in general but especially young men. Fairies have been known to inordinately like the attention they receive from them but you must enter the Lower World strictly for business purposes. Never for idle talk or for pleasure. That is far below your dignity as a member of the Higher World species.”

“I know my Lady. How many times have I heard that caution from your lips? Is there anything else you wish to say before I take my leave?”

Eva-Claire rose to her full height with her head tilted up and slowly walked around her apprentice, who stood modestly and respectfully in silence, with her head bowed down.

“Let me now reiterate your mission Saltina. Go to Raymond Ashford, also commonly known as the Wizard of England. Deliver the ingredients and the instructions to him. With these he will create the sedative that will have enough power to bring the life essence of the wayward princess back here where she belongs. Raymond will give the injection with the correct dosage to Jane, the young stepsister of the princess. It will be Jane who will put Princess Stephanie Goldmaracynthia Bell out of her senses using the injection provided to her by Raymond who will construct what is still lacking. She will do this when the princess is not suspecting it. If you see Stephanie, do not engage with her because it is too dangerous. She is a cunning criminal, a gang leader and very corrupt.”

“Yes my Lady. I know my mission and I am prepared to carry it out.”

“Then go Saltina. Fulfil your mission and return to me as soon as it has been accomplished and I will examine you for any signs of corruption that you may have picked up from the Lower World. I had better not be disappointed and you will be chastised for any blemishes I find in your inner brightness and goodness. But I will also reward you, as will the Queen herself for any good you achieve while you visit the Lower World. Now go.”

Saltina bowed swiftly and strode off, her bright fairy clothing flowing behind her. She wanted to hug her mentor but understood that she was not allowed to do so until she returned. This was all part of disciplining her emotions. She had to be very strong at all times.

She would also have to disguise herself. On Earth, she would pass as a young woman named Justine Kent of British roots, originally from Bulgaria but raised in Britain, the South of London.

She looked back one last time at Eva-Claire before preparing to descend to the Lower World through a high and wonderous process called Recessive Outer Form Transition.

Eva-Claire’s solemn face seemed quite expressionless. Saltina felt a strange fear creeping into her heart. But her mentor spoke one last time. “Delay no further Saltina. I will be here when you return.”

Saltina pushed back a tear, sighed deeply and with a massive flash, vanished from the balcony of the large marble floored upper room where her training took place. Her body receded into her life essence as she shot down to the Lower World from a remote location of the cosmos and at a speed that transcended light and anything else we humans can conceive of.

She had taken one last look at the ornate shoes reserved in a transparent and highly decorated box. If she were successful, those shoes would be hers. While fairies did not need shoes, they were sometimes given as an honorific or reward for noble deeds.

The shoes were just one level down from the top. The top or highest class shoes were put through a lengthy process of enchantment. But the ones reserved for her, although they were not enchanted, were made of Filtered Photon Essence, Luminous Sunder Glass and Sapphire Gemstone Powder. Incredible craftsmanship had to go into the creation of such rare shoes. They were extremely expensive, durable and beautiful.

But it was the people she lived with and knew, including her well-loved mentor whom she would be most eager to return to after her highly important, yet perilous mission to the dark realm of Earth.

Her thoughts of the lofty and mesmerising Higher World grinded to a halt when she was suddenly faced with the Lower World that she entered successfully and without being seen. She was on the outside of an abandoned theme park that was due to be demolished. It looked strange to her. She had never seen anything like it. There was also a lot of litter around which greatly disgusted her.

She quickly got changed into the earthly clothes that had been prepared for her. They felt dull and very different from what she was used to. But it was quite exciting to be just like a human being.

Next, she heard unfamiliar sounds which turned out to be the engines of motor vehicles.

For some time, she simply stood at the edge of the nearby motorway, taking in her new surroundings as cars and lorries darted passed her. She was trying to remember the details of the Higher World and how different it all was in contrast to this world.

It was like trying to get back to a lovely dream or squinting your eyes when the light suddenly flashes on and brings you out of the darkness, quickly dispersing all your sweet and happy visions of the night.

It was a very real world she was in now but she was so distracted that she was still standing very close to the motorway, apparently not wary enough of the dangerous vehicles, when a driver pulled up and got out of her car. She approached, smiled kindly and beckoned to her. “Quickly love. I’ll take you wherever you need to go. You’re making me nervous standing that close to the traffic. I shouldn’t really park here but you seem very lost.”

Saltina turned and saw the human who at first appeared in a blur but then quickly became recognisable. She was a middle-aged lady in a navy coat with blonde hair and a concerned expression.

Another car whipped past and beeped loudly at Saltina who was now on the road, getting in the way of the traffic and thinking that the lines in the middle must be the pedestrian lane. After all, there were no sidewalks and she didn’t understand that roads were only for vehicles.

“Quickly young woman!” shouted the lady, “come here to me! Now! Or you’ll get run over!” Another heavy goods vehicle swerved aside to avoid hitting her while also blaring its horn at her several times.

Saltina shut her eyes tightly with anxiety and exasperating confusion. The woman saw a break in the traffic and dashed over the road. She grabbed the fairy by the hand who gasped in fright.

“No! You mustn’t touch me!”

“I have to! Now come with me and get in the car!”

The frightened fairy complied and let the woman lead her to the parked vehicle. She wasn’t supposed to be associating with humans or using technology.

There was a cage with a cat in the front passenger seat, so she was sent into the back seat.

“Well done mum!” came the voice the woman’s twenty-four-year-old son who was also in the back seat, “I was just about to jump out and grab her myself there.”

He then looked at Saltina who looked away. “Wait. What the heck were you thinking?!” he asked her earnestly and rather angrily.

But she was silent.

“She’s safe now,” said the lady. “You really need to watch the roads you know darling? Hello?”

“Uh, yes, okay. Thank you.”

“Good. Now where shall I take you dear?”

“Well, my destination is Guildhall Library.”

“Okay. I’ll drop Justin home and then take you there afterwards.”

Justin looked again at Saltina. “Yeah, so I’m Justin. And what’s your name anyway? By the way, for goodness’ sake, put your seatbelt on. What’s with you having no sense of danger?”

Saltina fumbled around and managed to fasten her seatbelt. But she felt terrified. She wondered whether to ask to get out of the car but they probably wouldn’t let her since she had just been caught being so reckless on the road. There was a man right next to her in the car. She was already going against all the rules of engagement with humans.

At last, she scrambled together an answer to Justin’s question about what her name was while doing her best to avoid looking him in the eye. “Sal… oh sorry, no, it’s…”

“Haha, what?!”

“I… I’m Justine.”

“Hu. Okay. Nice name. And what’s going on? Why are you going to the city library or whatever?”

But she suddenly started sobbing and covered her face in her hands. She just wanted to get away from them. “I want to go!”

He sidled up to her and gave her a warm hug but was shocked when she pushed him away and then screamed. “No! No Justin!”

His eyes were full of astonishment and he felt hurt. “Wow! I’m sorry!”

“It’s okay. You wouldn’t understand.”

“Just let her be Justin,” said his mum. She then looked in the mirror where she could see Justine in the back and said, “why are you crying love?”

“Um, well I need something to… to…”

“To calm your nerves?” said Justin.

She nodded. “Mm-hmm, yes.”

“Okay, you’re in luck,” he said. “This was left over from last night’s party.” He put on a cheeky grin as he waved a small glass bottle in her face. It was still half full of vodka.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“Seriously? What do you mean, what’s that? Haha. It’s Seminoff Vodka, silly. It’s the medicine you need right now for sure!”

She naïvely believed him and put her hand out. He gave her the bottle.

It tasted terribly bitter and only when she had swallowed most of it did she realise that it was alcoholic. She had occasionally taken some sips of expertly produced wine in the Higher World but had never even set eyes on any form of spirit drink.

“I’m not feeling right,” she told him. He was enjoying the scene and found it all very entertaining. “You really downed it! Fair play! Ah, you’ll be fine Justine.”

She later felt terribly sleepy and began finding it very hard to resist resting her head on his welcoming shoulder. But in the end, she gave in and rested against him just before gently passing into an alcohol induced slumber.

He smiled and held her soft hand as she slept. He asked his mum not to drop him home but to go all the way to Guildhall Library and she agreed, remarking, “a caring man might be all that girl really needs Justin.” He was beginning to love Justine. She seemed sweet, innocent and angelic, quite unlike any other girl he had ever known before.

The next thing Saltina remembered was waking up in a very blank and unpleasant room.

It had to be a prison cell.

She closed her eyes and sighed, trying to think what it was she had done to get there. She heard someone unlocking the heavy metal door. A woman walked inside. She was holding some kind of board with notepaper. Oh! Was it her mentor, Eva-Claire Yellowblossom?! Surely not. There’s no way she would come down to Earth.

She blinked several times and focused as hard as she could. Only then did she realise that it was someone else. Had she seen her before? It was a woman with long curly hair who stopped a few feet away from her and said, “well Silvia? How are you today?”

“What?!”

“How are the illusions coming on? Do you know who you are? Do you recognise me? Do you know this place?”

She stared back at her. “Yes. I know who I am. I’m Justine. I don’t recognise you or this place though.”

“What a shame Silvia. Well, here we go again. Your name is Silvia Kent. I am Claire Evins. And this facility is the South London based, Dale and Parson’s Psychiatric Ward.”

“No. My name is Justine Kent, not Silvia Kent.”

“No Silvia. You have been here for seven and a half years now. Your condition is an advanced version of Schizophrenia and with that comes many serious and elaborate delusions. You are Silvia Kent and your latest fantasy story is that you are a fairy named Saltina Nightingale and you have imagined that I am your fairy mentor. My real name is Claire Evins but you have created a fairy mentor out of me in your mind and called me Eva-Claire Yellowblossom. You think you are being sent on a mission to Earth in disguise and under the code name of Justine Kent. But the reality is that there is no Eva-Claire Yellowblossom. There is only me. And there is no Saltina, there is only Silvia who is the real you. You have created an illusion in your mind and are living in a fantasy world that doesn’t exist. Can you accept this for me? I really want you to make some progress Silvia. I will never give up on you even though your condition is indeed very challenging.”

The poor young woman blinked, spellbound. Panic began to set in.

But all of a sudden, she awoke in the back of the blonde woman’s car where she realised that her head was leaning against Justin and her hand was in his.

It had been a terrible bad dream. Bad dreams never occurred in the Higher World. She was now more alert and quickly realised that she probably was indeed a fairy after all and needed to separate from Justin before they got any closer to each other.

They did eventually arrive at Guildhall Library and Saltina went straight to the underground abode where Raymond dwelt. She had to buy a ticket to go down there where he had a room. She got some money for it from Justin. She passed by all the old books and documents that made up the Higher World Contact Archives.

She wasted no time. Raymond saw her come into the messy room that served as his office. She simply put the package on his table and said, “hello Raymod. This is from the Higher World. I must go now.”

He nodded, understandingly.

She then recollected herself, walked out of his sight and knowing that Justin was wating for her outside, she sighed, realising that she was probably about to leave him for good. She then transitioned once again, back to the Higher World.

Her mission was complete. All that remained now was for Jane to sedate Princess Stephanie and bring her life essence back to the Higher World.

Saltina arrived back to her true home world and entered the same training room once again.

There was Eva-Claire who looked the same as usual and said, “so you have returned Saltina.”

“Yes.”

“Come here and let me examine you.”

Reluctantly, Saltina slowly walked towards her mentor and said, “sorry, I… It was so strange and…”

“Just come here Saltina.”

“I want to explain something my Lady.”

“You may talk to me afterwards. This won’t take long.”

Saltina knew that Eva-Claire would probably discover that she had brought back with her an attachment to Justin but perhaps she could say it was all an accident.

Her mentor said, “it’s not irreparable. But you have been somewhat contaminated by a man it seems. Humm. More worryingly, there is also a scar that you have contracted. One mistake has led to another. The scar is a sense of doubt that you are of the fairy kind. This will not be so easy to remove from you.”

Saltina hung her head. The scar of doubt would indeed follow her for who knew how long? Every now and then she would ask herself, ‘am I really a fairy? Or am I really just Silvia Kent in the Dale and Parson’s Psychiatric Ward?’ She also knew that if Princess Stephanie was real, she may also have lost all belief that she too was indeed a fairy.

Her mentor said, “well done Saltina. But I will need to purify you through the correct form of punishment; but I do it through love as I’m sure you understand. But you have survived your mission to Earth and before long, we may have the princess back here at last. If they assign me to train her, I’m sure I will have a far more difficult time with her than I have ever had with you.”

“Thank you, my Lady.”

She was then allowed to hug her and as they embraced, Saltina said, “I didn’t mean to get close to Justin. I ended up in a car with him. He gave me a drink to calm my nerves. And I must admit I feel bad for just leaving him the way I did without any explanation.”

“You are a fairy Saltina. You should not have engaged with him. You should not have taken the drink. Your overall mission is to help redeem Princess Stephanie, not to start getting attached to the Lower World as she has done and risk becoming like her yourself.”

She then took hold of a golden heart that slowly began to shine. It had a long needle attached to it which gradually became hot. It was whitish yellow at the tip and glowing red further down.

Saltina gasped. “Oh, my Lady, I’m tired now. Can we please do this tomorrow?”

“No. It may fester. It must be done now.”

Saltina continued hugging her tightly and whimpering. But at last loosened her grip and said, “okay, if it must be done my Lady, then I accept. I’m ready.”

“There’s my good and faithful Saltina.”

Her mentor then plunged the needle into her heart. It was so fast that Saltina didn’t even have the time or energy to scream but quickly went numb and fainted. But Eva-Claire caught her and slowly withdrew the needle.

“You have been cured Saltina. And it is now time for your reward from myself and the Queen.”

Her apprentice would need time to rest and recover before being taken by Eva-Claire to the Queen later that day.