FG: The Black Fairy Preview
Excerpt From Chapter 2

"Now, class," instructed Professor Moss to his young fairy students, "today, as you know, is our day to begin our lesson on the magic of..."

"Metamorphosis?" answered Wilkea, a wing-less spritekin, as he raised his hand & sported an eager smile on his cherubic face.

Professor Moss sighed impatiently as he slapped his palm against his face in exasperation.  "No, Wilkea," he groaned.  "For the last time, we'll be going over metamorphosis NEXT week!  THIS week, however," he corrected, "we will be learning about...Hmmm, I suddenly seem to have forgotten the subject of today's lesson..."

Sporting a crafty smile, Professor Moss turned towards his assistant teacher to look at her as he prompted, "Why don't we have our student-teacher tell us what we'll be learning today?"  The fairy, an attractive young girl in her late teens (at least going by human years), did not respond; she appeared to be looking off into space, her back towards everyone else.

Professor Moss attempted to get the attention of his companion.  "Crysta? Crysta!" he called out to her, gently shaking her.  She didn't move or speak, but kept staring with a wistful expression & faraway teal eyes.  Now Professor Moss was beginning to get even more impatient than he was earlier.  "Crysta, for the love of tree frogs, WAKE UP!!!"

Crysta let out a startled gasp as she snapped out of her self-induced trance & turned to face Professor Moss with a panicked look.  "OK, OK, Fern, I'm up!" she blurted, momentarily unaware of where she was or what she'd been doing earlier.  She soon returned to her senses--& felt quite embarrassed--when she heard the sounds of her fellow classmates laughing & giggling at her.

Sighing, Professor Moss faced Crysta with a stern look in his brown eyes, taking a moment to push his hand-crafted spectacles further up the bridge of his nose.  "You've been daydreaming again, haven't you?" he dared to guess.

Crysta cast a shameful glance at the ground as her gauzy, light-blue wings drooped & her pretty face fell, becoming tinted with the bright-scarlet color that was quickly filling her cheeks.  "Ummm....yes," she answered with some hesitation.

The irritated glare in Professor Moss' eyes became less intense, but it was still clear that he was not impressed with Crysta's recent behavior.  "My dear child," he said, "didn't you learn ANYTHING from the events of last year?"

"Yes!" Crysta assured him.  "Yes, I learned so many things, Professor Moss."

"Then why do you keep failing to pay attention?" Professor Moss questioned.

Crysta wasn't sure how to answer that.  "I....I don't know, sir," she replied truthfully.  She paused to sigh, & continued: "I guess you could say I just...do a lot of thinking..."

"About what?" Professor Moss asked, his voice now softer & less harsh.

Tiny tears filled Crysta's eyes, but her voice remained strong & calm as she answered, "About all the responsibilities & duties I have to fulfill now...about what happened last summer...about Magi Lune..."

Professor Moss frowned compassionately when he saw the saddened look on Crysta's face.  "You miss her, don't you?" he asked sympathetically.

Crysta nodded, then sniffled as she wiped her tears away with her forearm.  "Yes," she replied sadly.  "I miss her very much."  Though her dear friend & mentor was not necessarily dead, she had sacrificed herself to save Ferngully by turning into a spirit of the wind.  The only thing that was left of her now was her invisible presence & the sound of her motherly voice resonating in the breeze.

With a forlorn gaze, Crysta turned away from Professor Moss to look up at the patch of blue skies that could be seen through a hole in the canopy of Ferngully.  "Sometimes," she said, "I think I can still hear her voice, calling to me..." Then Crysta shook her head in denial.  "Oh, what am I saying? I must be crazy!"

"You're not crazy, Crysta," Professor Moss assured the young fairy with a gentle smile as he placed a hand on her shoulder.  "Why, just the other day, I heard Magi Lune speaking to me!  She told me..."--he switched into his best high-pitched, female voice--"...'Oh, Professor Moss, you old clump of mulch, pick up your feet when you walk!  For that matter, you should be flying instead of walking!  Sol gave us wings for a purpose, you know!'"

Crysta giggled, amused by her teacher's clever--but heartfelt--attempt to cheer her up.  "So I'm not crazy after all?" she asked.

"Of course not," Professor Moss replied kindly.  "Many of us can still hear Magi's voice beckoning to us...We just don't seem to be fully aware of it."  Crysta smiled; Professor Moss always knew how to help her feel better when she was in a sad mood.  "I can tell, however, that you're still feeling confused & everything over her..."--the teacher paused for what he felt would be the most appropriate words--"...disappearance.  And I completely understand."  He returned Crysta's smile.  "If you'd care to leave for a little while, feel free to.  And I promise I won't be so overbearing on you next time."

Crysta thought for a moment, then nodded her head in affirmation.  "All right," she said as she flew off into the skies.  "But I'll try not to keep you waiting *too* long...Magi always did have a problem with me being late for everything!"

* * *

It wasn't long before Crysta finally left the grounds of the Fairy Academy & she was now zooming through the wilderness of Ferngully, leaving a blue trail of iridescent light behind her as she darted through the trees & dense foliage.  At one point, however, she suddenly stopped as a yellow-eyed fruit bat--her friend Batty Koda--darted in front of her, blocking her path.

"Crysta!" the bat bleeped excitedly, unable to calm down as he flapped his big black wings to keep himself afloat.  "You gotta come see this!  There's something strange going on in the thicket!"  Without saying another word, Batty flew off into the deepest part of Ferngully's rainforests, as Crysta swiftly flew beside him to catch up.

"So, what is this thing, Batty?" Crysta asked curiously, looking down at Batty.

Huffing for breath with each flap of his wings, Batty glanced up at Crysta & said, "No time...to explain...Just follow me!"

Batty & Crysta flew a bit further, & then both finally stopped as they made it into Butterfly Glade.  The place was filled with fluttering butterflies of all shapes, sizes, & colors; some of them had special designs on their backs that looked like monster faces.  "Funny," Batty remarked when he saw these, "I've never seen butterflies with those kinds of wings!"

"The designs on their wings serve as a self-defense mechanism for the butterflies," Crysta explained.  "It helps them scare off bigger animals who want to try & eat them."

"You mean like a movie-monster mask, or something?" Batty asked, recalling something he'd heard from a couple of the humans' discussions during his lengthy imprisonment in the biology laboratories long ago....

Crysta didn't know what a "movie" was, but she nodded anyway & decided not to mention it.  "I guess you could say that," she replied, flying around with Batty as they looked at all the butterflies in the canyon.

Suddenly, both of them screeched to a halt & screamed as they saw one of the butterflies snap open its wings to reveal a very scary face adorned with glaring golden eyes & garish antenna that looked strangely like the blossoms of fuschia flowers.  Crysta & Batty stopped screaming, however, when they heard familiar laughing resonating from underneath the butterfly, followed by the airy notes of a panpipe melody.

As soon as the butterfly flew away to reveal five familiar figures laughing & pointing at Crysta & Batty, the two sported indignant expressions.  "Pips!" Crysta blurted irritatedly, not looking very pleased with her boyfriend's recent antics.

"Come on, Crysta, lighten up!" the red-haired fairy told his girlfriend with a playful smirk as he flew out from his hiding place, the four Beetle Boys following suit after him.  "Is Professor Moss getting to you already?"

"No," Crysta retorted.  "You just scared the living daylights out of me, is all!"

The radar antenna on Batty's head frizzled & sparked (as it always did when he picked up interference from some source or other), & the bat suddenly sported an evil grin as he whooshed his wing in front of him like a black cape & said in a voice similar to that of the actor Vincent Price, "It is as much fun to scare as to be scared!"

"Ain't it the truth, Batty?" Pips said with a laugh, as the Beetle Boys joined in.

"Well, then, Pips," Crysta began to challenge him, "if you think it's so fun to scare people, then why don't you--"  Suddenly, Pips & the Beetle Boys took off into the air & flew away, yelling fearfully.  "Oh, do I scare you now?" Crysta taunted with a derisive grin, her arms akimbo.

"Crysta," Pips warned her as he flew away with his friends for cover, "there's something in the waters above the Blue Grotto nearby!  It could be dangerous!"

"Run for your life!!!" Root, the scrawny leader of the Beetle Boys, yelled to her as he hurried to catch up with Pips & his gang-mates.  Before long, they had completely disappeared from view, the last of their panicked screams echoing in the damp summer breeze.

Crysta looked to her right; a little far off in the distance, she could see the dark surface of the lake above the Blue Grotto.  The waters were rippling ever-so-slightly, a sign that something was disturbing them...moving around in them.  However, it appeared that Pips & the Beetle Boys had just overreacted earlier about the unexpected movement; judging from the small size of the ripples, Crysta believed that there was nothing really dangerous or harmful to worry about.  In fact, she was only *more* curious about what could be trying to float to the surface of the lake.

With an interested gaze, Crysta flew--cautiously--closer to the lake, waiting & watching to see what would happen.  Nothing did, at first...until the surface rippled even more & a strange figure--a fairy, probably around her age--burst out of the lake, gasping for much-needed air as he shook the water off of himself.

The fairy, a peculiar sort indeed, had wild black hair (much like Crysta's) & bright-green eyes, with silvery-gray skin & translucent, light-silver wings that were damp & moist from being soaked in the water for so long; he wore a black tunic (more like what you'd call a toga, actually) & a necklace decorated with what may have been the teeth of sharks (or some other carnivorous animal, though Crysta wasn't sure which kind).  After shaking the last of the water off of himself, the fairy flew down & sat on the shores of the lake, continuing to gasp for air as he tried to get accustomed to his new surroundings & took a look around, trying to figure out where he was amidst the large variety of animals & plants in the area.

Crysta continued to watch the fairy in amazement, for she had never seen anybody like him before--not with his strange appearance & clothing-style.  Unique as he seemed to be, the fairy sported a lean, somewhat-muscular figure & charming, boyish looks.  *He's certainly attractive,* Crysta thought to herself.  *I wonder if one of my older girl-friends would like to date him...*

Suddenly, after staring at the fairy for so long, Crysta nearly jumped back in surprise when she saw his bright-green eyes change into a deep crimson color, before quickly fading back to normal.  *That's strange,* Crysta mused.  *I've never seen a fairy who could change his eyes like that!...Not into that red color...*

For a moment, the fairy did look creepy to Crysta when he sported that red, hellish glare.  It made him look...somewhat evil.  Though for what reason, Crysta was not really sure.  *Oh, well,* she shrugged it off mentally, *it's probably nothing.*

Suddenly, the fairy turned his head to look up at Crysta.  His eyes flashed the deep red color again, before turning back to bright-green; however, in doing so, the fairy scared Crysta just a little.  Crysta was about to make a fly for it, but she suddenly stopped when the fairy halted her with an order to stop.

"Don't be scared," he said in a friendly voice.  "Come back!"  Crysta did so, starting to feel less timid than she was earlier.  "It's OK, I won't hurt you," the fairy continued to assure Crysta, smiling & looking as though he meant no harm.

"I've never seen a fairy like you before," Crysta marveled, upon seeing the visitor up-close for the first time.  "You have such a...."--she tried to think of some of Professor Moss' favorite words to describe him--"...unique & distinguishing appearance."

The fairy blushed just a little.  "Th-Thank you," he said, trying to hide his bashful smile & the rosiness in his cheeks.

Crysta giggled when he saw the fairy's sheepish expression.  "It's no problem," she replied, flying even closer to him.  "My name's Crysta," she introduced herself, extending her hand to shake his.  "And what's your name?"

"Damon," the fairy answered as he shook Crysta's hand & smiled at her.  "Damon The Black Fairy."