Bella Santini in the Land of Everlasting Change

In Jail

Bella awoke with a start; the sound of singing was filtering down from the halls above. Blinking her eyes, she realized that it must still be night time, based on the soft glow of the flickering torches in the hallway. Clearly, this was for real, not a dream. The singing continued, several voices blending into a melodious tune. One voice carried further, or maybe it was simply louder. The voice appeared to be coming closer. The song was light-hearted, and under any other circumstances it would have been a welcome intrusion into the dreary surroundings. Despite hearing the lyrical melody, Bella cowered in the corner, fearful of another confrontation. She has no idea how she had offended these beings, and she did not want to get into any more trouble. The singing grew louder, closer, more lyrical. Trying to be invisible, Bella shrank into herself, face and eyes focused on the hard, cold stone floor.

"Pathetic creature, what ails you?" queried a deep voice. "Sit up and hear me!" he commanded. "Have you lost your magic little fairy? No worries, I can help!"

The fairy, a young male with sandy blond hair and piercing turquoise blue eyes, began to twirl and swoop, uttering nonsense words as he moved. A flash of light, and Bella was looking down on him as she floated in the air. "There, that's better," he laughed, "Now I can see you. And what am I seeing? A human, but one who flies without wings, based on minimal spells. Curious..." Taking two steps back, he said "I am Matteus, initiate level 3, son of Freddie Silvano. Who are you?"

Bella tried not to whimper as she floated above her cell floor. How was this possible? What was his purpose? Was he going to harm her? She had no idea what, or why this was happening.

"My name is Bella. I was arrested and brought here. I didn't do anything!"

"Oh, so you are a prisoner – well, no fraternizing with the enemy, they say; I must be off!" Matteus skittered away, leaving a trail of sapphire blue shimmering fairy dust in his wake.

"Hey – don't leave!", Bella yelled, "For real, how do I get down?" She felt like crying. What had she done to deserve this treatment? Desperate to get down, Bella floated towards the cell bars, hoping for a chance to yell at him again. Seeing the sparkling blue trail of fairy dust, she had an idea – maybe she could use his own fairy dust to reverse his magic! Bella stretched her hand outside of the cell, reaching as far as she could. Then, cupping her hand, she scooped up as much of the dust as possible. Bringing it back inside the cell, Bella closed her eyes and imagined that she was very heavy, while she sprinkled her handful of dust over her head. The sensation of falling overcame her. "Ouch!" she cried as she crashed to the floor.

"I knew it!!" Matteus came flying around the corner at breakneck speed. "You passed my test – you used magic to your benefit. You must have fairy blood in you!" Matteus danced in a circle, strangely proud of this little human/fairy. "You have earned one gift – I will give you a bed, because you need some sleep. Tomorrow the questioning begins." Matteus pointed to the corner of her cell, weaving an eclectic combination of sounds into a beautiful, melodious spell. Dust began swirling, picking up matter as the song continued, so that by the end of the song a comfortable bed occupied the corner. "Off to bed, little fairy wanna-be, I will see you tomorrow." Laughing, Matteus once again flew off.

Darkness descended, and feeling out of sorts, Bella crawled into the magical bed. She wasn't sure how she felt about Matteus, he had been kind of helpful in a devious kind of way. Plus he was one of them. And that Cintarra or whatever her name was, just had them shrink her, bound her, take and arrest her; throwing her in this cell, without even a bed. Is there anyone she can trust in this strange world?

Wrapping herself in the comforter, Bella wished that she had the comfort of having her parents nearby. "Will I ever see them again;" Bella sobbed. Tears freely running down her cheeks, she burrowed into the blankets and cried for her predicament, for missing her parents, for having no one to trust.