So, who WAS Chris, for real?
The fairies of Fensteria referred to him as a bit of an urban legend ... an elemental wizard that "guarded" their colony. They even believed him to be Christophecles, the great wizard from an old fairy prophesy written long ago. It was once said that when the fairy race were in danger of extinction, a great wizard able to control fire, wind, ice and electricity would save them from great evil and foster peace once more. Would this make his appearance a bad thing? Did his existence, assuming this WAS the grand wizard signal a dark time to come?
For now, Chris was a well meaning, goofy and fledgling 20 year old boy who attended Miniborough University alongside the likes of Lexi, Leah, Josh, Trent and others. He got consistently good grades, played video games on the weekends and when he wasn't doing those things, well he could often be found in the confines of Fenster Forest practicing his magic.
From a young age, Chris noticed he could do certain things most kids his age weren't doing. For example, when receiving a static shock from shuffling on a carpet and touching a doorknob, a normal and mundanely human thing to do, he'd experience something much more significant. It was as if he could control the lightning, as tiny as it was and redirect it. He later discovered a similar talent for fire when trying to start one at a friends bonfire one night.
Knowing something was up, he'd vigorously research the topic and learn about the history and mythology of elemental magic. He dared not tell his parents nor his friends, lest they find him crazy but sure enough through months, almost years of practice he had come to produce some miraculous results, being able to morph water to his will and turn it into icicle style projectiles. He could also redirect fire, electricity and to a degree change weather patterns like wind and rain. Much like other skills and hobbies in his life though, it wasn't perfect. He still struggled from time to time and he cursed himself still for letting the mysterious "dark lady" get away that fateful night after she torched the poor fair colony.
How had young Chris discovered the fairy colony buried deep within the woods?
That event took place about a year ago, after a particularly bad day for Chris. It was just after his high school graduation and he found out his girlfriend Sarah was moving away, effectively ending things for the new couple who had been together only a few months. He took it especially hard and he knew when he became emotional, his magic could cause truly frightening reactions, such as sparks or dangerous embers being drawn to him. Rather than risk his friends or anyone else's safety he sought sanctuary in the woods that had always kept him company on those dark nights.
He'd venture deep into the woods, maybe deeper than he had before, past the familiar trees and paths and even past the sparkling lake where most would stop to fish during the summer. Instead he would keep going to a place with no path but he saw something quite peculiar that night. A field of fireflies. Lots of them. Turning back, he decided maybe he stumbled onto something he wasn't suppose to see.
He instead focused on the empty clearing just beyond that, determined to let off some steam ... literally. His hands sizzled and he steadied himself carefully as he gently lofted a stream of fire from his fingertips. As dangerous as it seemed to most, he found it strangely calming.
Who didn't find it so calming was the fairy colony of Fenstaria who could see the large billowing flame from a distance. It sparkled out as shortly as it had started, so most of them hoped it was just a one time thing. A curious Spark though, had wanted to investigate and she'd end up breaking her own rule that night, flying well outside the colony to get a better look at this fire wielding human.
From behind a collection of long growing stalks, she'd watch as the boy experimented with icicles, lightning, and fire, her eyes wide as she remembered the old stories and history class. Was he ... the grand wizard? No way ... he looked too young, and too reckless. Why would he be simply out in the open firing off magic spells?
Chris, while still emotional wasn't naive to what was going on. The fireflies were suspicious but upon closer inspection he could see the outline of a small city there. Perhaps it was his own possession of magic ability or something else entirely but the colony's cloaking ability didn't seem nearly as effective on his eyes. He paused for a moment from his magical practice to step closer to the small city.
This immediately panicked Spark who had nightmares of humans before and if he was heading that way, he likely saw the colony which means everyone she knew and loved could be in real danger. This instinct brought her out of her comfort zone greatly (and she normally isn't very nervous) and she found herself flying in front of the young wizard before he could take a step further.
So there she floated, clad in red and gold, her body shivering, save for her wings which remained steadfast to keep her afloat as if by instinct. The socially awkward young wizard gazed at her in pure shock to the point where she wasn't sure if she had somehow unintentionally stunned him or what?
"Are you....?" Chris finally spoke, his voice soft and slow
"...a wizard?" Spark finished, not sure why that popped right into her mind. "S-Sorry to interuppt, ... my parents always told me not to interuppt giants..."
"N-No... it's fine" Chris nodded, backing away a bit and being especially cautious with his feet now that he definitely saw a small city down there, "...is that ... your home?"
"If... I say yes..." Spark nodded, "...do you promise not to nuke it?"
"Why would I ever do such a thing?" Chris pouted, seemingly offended at the implication.
"W-Well I just uh ... I don't know ... like ... cuz ... humans ... big ... scary" Spark stammered. She normally had much more confidence than this, at least in the midst of her fairy sized peers but this young male wizard, as awkward as he was had her stymied nonetheless.
"I'm not gonna hurt you" Chris shook his head, "My name's Chris, little princess..."
Spark raised her eyebrow a bit at the title of little princess, not sure if it was an endearing term or something a bit more condescending. Still she'd answer the young wizard, "I'm ... uh ... Spark"
"N-Nice to meet you" Chris smiled sincerely, and out of habit offering a hand to shake before realizing that may be impractical when dealing with a being of her size. He chuckled a bit nervously and instead began wrapping his fingers around her waist.
Spark would instantly yelp and fly out from between the fingers, giving him no such chance.
"S-Sorry ...!!" she'd squeak in fear, "I just ... I don't know you and ... I .. I.. I gotta go!"
With that, the terrified young fairy would whiz away into the near distance, fading into the small fairy itself, sure enough that the wizard wouldn't hurt her or her family but softly crying into her pillow that night at what she had seen. The legends were real? There was an elemental wizard? And he had a normal human name like Chris?
Fast forward to present day and a similarly stunned Leah was standing there dumbfounded along with her new fairy friend Spark as they both stared up at the bewildered Chris, elemental wizard extraordinaire (and level 3 orc in Dungeons and Dragons). Spark took a step forward, almost an imposing one at that. A year had gone by since that fateful night and she had since met Lexi and calmed down a bit more concerning her stance on humans.
"Y-You mean you're real?" Spark squeaked, a strange question to be asking as she gestured towards him with a single upwardly pointed finger.
"Hey I could say the same about you" Chris shrugged, "S-Sorry if the little princess comment was a bit hurtful by the way, I didn't mean anything bad by it"
Spark blushed a bit, surprised he even remembered that. Then again, she had long since thought that night was a strange dream of hallucination.
"Wait ... if you're real ... and you clearly are ... then ... the witch?" Spark asked, to which Leah looked totally lost. "D-Did you see a witch one night? Shooting purple fire?"
"I ... I did..." Chris hung his head in shame to be reminded of the night, "I tried to stop her but..."
"Mark was right..." Spark stammered
"Huh?" Chris asked
"N-Never mind..." Spark shook her head, she'd let out an apologetic sigh, "sorry that I acted so flighty ... some pun intended ... I just ... had never met a human before"
"W-Well that's okay" Chris replied, looking down at her and tiny Leah, "Seems you're getting along with them fine now, but maybe they just needed to be closer to your size"
"Hey, this is a temporary thing" Leah squeaked, seeming a bit defensive
"Chill, chill, I'm sure it is..." Chris nodded, having to admit it was at least a little funny to see the girl he was formerly sitting next to the other day at the comic store now the size of a tiny fairy, and in a Tinkerbell style dress no less.
"Well hey, since he's here now..." Spark shrugged, "maybe he can get the present out of your purse..."
"No!" Leah yelped, seemingly panicked, "I mean ... no thank you ... you can probably fly in there and grab it, right Spark?"
"I could try ..." Spark nodded, "but it may be kinda heavy for me"
"I could get it out, what is it?" Chris offered
"Ummm... nothing important Chris, why don't you uh ... go see if the woods need protecting or ... something?" Leah asked
"That's really all you think I do all night is scour the woods, huh?" Chris asked
"If I say yes, will you go away?" Leah squeaked hopefully
"Oh now I know you're asking for it..." Chris chuckled, reaching down and plucking up the tiny Leah playfully to which she'd squeak and just pout in his palm.
"H-Hey... put her down!" Spark winced, watching the scene and having flashbacks to previous nightmares of her. Except in the nightmares, much worse things happened.
"Hey calm down, fam, we're just talking" Chris pouted, but his and Leah's attention were soon both stolen by the emergence of some colorful streaks through the sky, or at least part of it.
"Oh shoot, the fireworks show, we're missing it..." Spark sighed
"Fireworks?!" Leah squeaked, practically leaping up out of Chris' hand, resembling an excited Tinkerbell herself. "Let's go! Grab the gift and we'll get it to Lexi ... oop"
"Lexi?" Chris asked "the girl from school"
"You... you know Lexi is a common name..." Leah chuckled nervously, "n-now how's about letting me down gently, huh?"
"How's about you telling me more about exactly what's going on, shorty?" Chris would tease. Spark looked up a bit annoyed as she hovered over Leah's purse, observing the situation still from afar.
"Is he giving you problems, hon?" Spark asked, "I can maybe try to stun him while we get away"
"N-No ... he's my friend ... I think..." Leah would utter the last part very annoyed. "also if you're to pick up a tiny lady you at least ask first, everyone knows that!"
Chris would let out a slight chuckle, although to the tiny Leah it wasn't quite so slight, "I'm sorry I don't follow etiquette for handling tiny ladies ... now ... okay, I'll let you down, I just wish you wouldn't be so secretive about all this..."
Leah would give Chris a thankful nod as she was set back down on the grass, but Chris still had one more question to ask
"Does... this mean Lexi is tiny too? Are you both fairies or something?" Chris asked
"Yes, we're fairies..." Leah answered dismissively, rolling her eyes, "now let's get back to the festival, you got the gift, Spark?"
Spark shook her head, a bit annoyed by the whole thing but she'd fly into Leah's purse, careful not to disrupt much while in there, except for the target prize, a shimmering medallion which she would carefully wave her hands over, causing a glow to emerge from the opening in Leah's purse. After some time, the victorious crimson clad fairy would emerge with the medallion, now sized down for her to hold and show Leah before leading her back towards the festival.
Chris, still standing there in his normal sized stupor would simply watch, letting his arms fall to the side.
"Okay thanks... guess I'll just ... stand here and ... do nothing..." he sighed, before briefly catching a glimpse of something floating through the night sky. It wasn't the fireworks and it was much further away but closing in fast. It didn't appear ... natural...
That answers one question, but then who IS Mara?
Mara was the cute, spunky red head who worked alongside Lexi at the Krazy Kookie but she perhaps wasn't entirely truthful. See, she was born an elf. Elves had the remarkable power, besides being adorable, to alter their size (to a degree) as well as some limited magic, including teleportation. For Mara though, she could swear she was blessed with some kind of "luck" power that seemed to allow her to get out of tough situations with ease. How else could one explain her still holding down a job while missing almost half her shifts? Most would just retort that her claim was simply that, a statement based on no evidence other than a plethora of dumb luck.
Maybe it was that same luck that brought her and Lexi to meet once again, except this time, they were no longer co-workers at a small town college pastry shop but somehow fellow tiny ladies at a massive fairy festival that was blasting local fairy music with vibrant colors and sounds all around. It almost made it harder to notice the elves beautiful emerald eyes as she seemed equally in shock to be seeing the brunette from the coffee shop for the first time in Fensteria.
"M-Mara?" Lexi repeated, still a bit stunned to be seeing her coworker the size of a fairy and stunning as ever in her white toga-styled dress, "s-so this is where you go when you miss work?"
"Eh, I'm out and about, what can I say?" Mara giggled, "you should try this stuff they call Fensta ... it's like a whisky sour with a twist of flower pollen ... sounds nasty but it's actually pretty tasty"
"Heh ..." Lexi sighed, scratching the back of her head, not sure what to say at this point but then again, strange occurences like this seemed to be becoming more and more common.
"So ... I have a few questions" Mara would cut in candidly, looking over her friend and coworker with extreme curiosity, "How'd you find the colony? Are you an elf too? Where did you get the dress? It's killer ..."
"Um... w-well ... wait, elf?" Lexi stammered, "N-No ... I'm just ... well ... a Lexi ..."
Mara looked a bit confused, tilting her head
"You mean, you just ... kinda shrank?" Mara asked
"It's a uh ... thing I do ... it's a whole thing ... but wh-what about yourself? You said you're an ... elf?" Lexi asked, "do you make Keebler cookies or something?"
"That's extremely offensive" Mara sneered
"S-Sorry..." Lexi stammered
"I'm just kidding, that's pretty funny" Mara smirked, "it would be funnier if I didn't get that like a million times a week by the fairy folks ... although if you ever bring up Tinkerbell, they get really touchy about it"
"RIGHT?!" Lexi exclaimed, cracking a smile, "It's like ... geez, you'd think they'd be flattered"
Elsewhere, Leah and Spark were working on their own plan, laying the small medallion on a table where Spark would glance down, a goofy grin on her face as she really observed it, the vibrant colors, shape and all.
"H-How did you come up with this?" Spark asked, in a hushed whisper as if somebody was watching, "this is just ... awesome!"
"You think Lexi'll like it?" Leah asked, a bit worried
"I mean, I would ... heck, it doesn't even go with my style and I love it!" Spark replied confidently, "now then ... let me just ... help you out a bit and ..."
With that, Spark would raise her hands up as if about to perform surgery, her fingers gently wriggling about a foot or so above the precious glimmering medallion. Leah would smile sincerely, appreciating the hand from her new fairy friend, quite literally as Spark put her hands on it and endowed it with some powerful cascading sparkles and glitter that seemed to go directly INTO the shape. Not even a moment later the duo would hear a series of loud crackling BOOMS from outside.
"Wow, you are good" Leah nodded, attributing the sudden noise to Spark's magical fingers.
"Leah, that's the fireworks, dear" Spark smiled snarkily, gesturing out a nearby window where the pair could see the purple and pink explosions of light from a distance.
"Oh yeah, right! We gotta get this to Lex before the festival is over" Leah nodded
"We've got plenty of time, but yeah we should head over" Spark smiled, taking the medallion in her hands as they now headed for the door and the mud laden trails of the colony that would eventually lead back to the main square. "You wanna lift or ...?"
"I think I'll just walk" Leah chuckled nervously, "I'm still getting over the windburn from last time..."
"Suit yourself" Spark chuckled, floating alongside her new friend, feet just off the ground as her wings barely moved, only enough to keep her afloat.
"So you uh ... LIKE being a fairy?" Leah asked awkwardly
"You don't do well around tiny beings, do you?" Spark asked
"No, not in the least" Leah sighed.
Meanwhile, Lexi was still getting reacquainted with her friend and coworker who herself was tiny, as the 2 shared a drink at the makeshift Fensteria "magic potions" bar.
"Mmmm, what do they put in these?" Lexi giggled, taking a hearty sip from a crazily shaped straw that ran from her small flower based goblet to her mouth, "Am I going to be able to go to work tomorrow ... or walk straight?"
"Psh, you'll be fine" Mara giggled, taking an even longer sip, her eyes practically rolling to the back of her head as it appeared she almost finished the entire drink in one gulp, "you don't really get hammered off these, at best you get a bit of a fairy buzz..."
"And... what makes a FAIRY buzz different than a human one?" the curious Lexi asked
"Not sure ... it's almost like you think you can fly... but not really" Mara nodded, suddenly taking on a more intellectual tone while smacking her lips, really considering the chemical and scientific implications of her comments on fairy liquor.
"I... don't know if that sounds great" Lexi chuckled, still continuing with her drink while marveling at the fact that the barista from the Krazy Kookie was actually an elf, and a mighty cute one at that. Then again, she made a cute humanoid sized woman, so it was only to be expected that her cuteness would translate to smaller sizes. "Sounds a bit dangerous"
"Psh, you'll be fine..." Mara giggles, "besides, sounds like you've already been in some danger ... I can't imagine being born human and suddenly shrinking ... I mean, it's been a part of elf culture for ... well, ever. I had 3 little brothers growing up"
"Oh younger brothers?" Lexi asked
"Nope, just really tiny" Mara shrugged, "they preferred to stay that way ... I kinda go both ways"
There was a long awkward pause which Lexi broke by spitting out her drink in a snorting motion, thankfully keeping her head tilted away from Mara and her easily stained (and already stained) white toga styled dress
"You know what I mean..." Mara giggled, before leaning in and whispering in Lexi's ears, "but yes, I'm also bisexual"
Lexi's eyes went wide as the joke went from just that to more than a joke. It was now time once again for the purple clad brunette to become flustered but at least this time it wasn't in the face of a scantily clad villainess with no moral compass.
"Oh. Oh nice ... I mean, not nice... not BAD..." Lexi would stammer, constantly correcting herself, "how many of these have I had again?"
"Not even one ..." Mara giggled, "and relax ... like I said, you're adjusting super well to all this ... but if I may ask, if this isn't a magic power type thing, how ARE you able to shrink?"
"I ... I don't really know all the answers myself..." Lexi shrugged, setting her drink back on the bar to take a good long look at her fingertips which upon deep concentration would begin to spark in front of her red-haired cohort who looked on in amazement, "I just ... shrink... and it's actually gotten easier .. for the most part..."
Mara could tell the subject was tying Lexi up into all kinds of knots to talk about and this wasn't a way she'd ever seen the spunky woman behave at work so as the music swelled in the background and the fireworks continued to fly, she decided to stand up from her seat and take Lexi's hand.
"Cmon hon, let's dance" Mara smirked, glancing back with those persuasive green eyes
"Huh? Now? But uh ..." Lexi gulped
"What, you don't wanna?"
"No no, I totally do, I just ..." Lexi blushed, "... haven't paid for the drinks"
"Oh they'll put it on my tab, they know me here, now let's go!" Mara giggled, continuing to drag the starstruck Lexi deeper into the crowd of fairies as they danced. "This song is called Fraktum est Magnificus Spirico!"
"Wh-What does that mean?" Lexi asked, her hips beginning to sway but very halted as if she were a car that hadn't been started up in a while
"Hell if I know, but the beat is catchy as hell, now cmon!" Mara giggled, seizing the moment and grabbing Lexi's hands, moving them back and forth while she lightly thrusted, seemingly much more comfortable with her body and having a genuine sense of rhythm while Lexi attempted her best to keep up.
Lexi would just smirk and slowly get use to the bizarre sounding song, while loosening up and dancing into Mara's arms and eventually around her, some of the fairies turning back and smirking as they watched, not even paying mind to Lexi's lack of wings. After all, Mara lacked them as well so maybe to them Lexi was a kind of elf. Regardless, not much mattered in that moment to the carefree Alexis Cole as she continued the dance to the questionably titled song.
"Mara, you're freakin amazing!" Lexi giggled, falling into her arms again but a lot less clumsily this time around. "It's like when I'm with you, I can see fireworks!"
"That's probably the ones right behind us, luv" Mara giggled
As the dancing intensified, Spark and Leah would gently jostle their way through the thick crowd,
"You see her?" Spark asked Leah loudly, trying to combat the sounds of the music and shouting
"I ... I don't think so ... wait" Leah stuttered, seeing a small opening in the dance floor through which she could see what resembled Lexi (there werent too many attendees wearing purple) and a red haired girl who almost looked like Lexi's coworker Mara.
"Well? Should we give her the ...?" Spark asked, but Leah gently held her back with a hand to the waist
"Let her dance" Leah smiled, crossing her arms with a look of satisfaction, "she's having some fun and she really deserves it"
"Heh, well so do you" Spark grinned, just doing some dance moves around the awkward Leah, "oh cmon, just feel the beat!"
"I don't even know what they're saying!" Leah giggled
"Doesn't matter" Spark shrugged.
----
"Doesn't matter" Mark sighed, taking a deep breath while pacing the perimeter of the party. He could see Dani returning from whereever she was, her gaze focused elsewhere but she looked stunning as always in her knights armor turned formal ball gown. "Doesn't matter ... I can do this ... it's just talking to a girl ... DANI too... who I've known for a while so ... well, actually I don't know if that helps or hurts my chances.. oh just ask her..."
Mark would take several staggered steps towards his hopeful Valentines target, his anxiety beginning to get the best of him as the sounds of laughter, fireworks, music and more surrounded him. It was almost as if the ground was shaking under him. Actually ... that wasn't just him.
Dani would take a stunned look backwards as she felt the tremors as well, as did every fairy in the plaza. It wasn't enough of a shake to send anybody downwards but it was definitely distinct and felt as though it came from underground. Dani would look back at Mark and Mark would begin to open his mouth to say words, not even sure what those words would be, but that's as far as the opportunity went. Dani took off swiftly towards the fairy elders tower and Mark stood there looking flat footed and sad.
"Esmerelda!" Dani shouted, advancing quickly past the confused fairy crowd as the music continued but the dancing seemed to be dying down. Some could tell things were amiss while others were content to simply ignore it. Dani was all too headstrong to take the latter route so she'd be making a beeline for the tower just in case anything bigger were going on. Had the witch perhaps returned?
She'd get into the tower surprisingly easily with no guards greeting her or anything.
"Esmerelda?" she'd ask again, looking around but the tower seemed largely unoccupied. it all felt very eerie.
Even Lexi, who was just a moment ago lost in her dancing jubilee alongside Mara felt troubled by the shaking. Maybe it was her newfound hero senses tingling but something about it reminded her of the incident with Roxie at the carnival although much less intense. Still, something was wrong.
----------
"Something's wrong" a distraught Chris thought to himself, having begun a small trek back through the woods after deciding it was best not to intervene in the fairy festival, even IF at least 2 girls he knew from school were there. But that wasn't the "something" he was referring to. He felt a similar unease in his chest despite not feeling the same tremor but it felt as though something had changed in the air ... something magical almost.
He'd take a stroll back towards where the colony was, having a better time finding it since Leah's purse lay at the outskirts as sort of a landmark. To his surprise he'd SEE the city, but like ALL of it in stunning detail. In the past, he had been able to see it a bit because of nis naturally magical disposition but this time he was seeing it all as if the cloak were down entirely. It was then it clicked with him.
"The cloak is down entirely..." Chris thought to himself, a hand to his face in dismay, "if I can see it ... anyone can see it"
Chris would kneel down, trying not to get too close as he'd imagine the sight of a giant human wouldn't be very reassuring. But then again, the colony was about to have their own problems.
For, at that moment in the central plaza, while Dani looked futilely for Esmerelda and the fairies fireworks slowed down, a stirring noise arose from the otherwise quiet twilight sky. It sounded like a whirring of sorts and got louder and louder as the object drew closer.
The fairies, upon finally making it out better began to go into a panic as they beheld 3 large machines surrounded by sawbladed heading towards them. They'd quickly scattered like moths as the first made touchdown in the center of the square, its rotating fanblades producing a perimeter of wind that would thrust anyone not lucky enough to already be out of the way to do so forcibly.
Lexi held onto Mara tight in her arms while they were thrown to the ground, Lexi gazing at the menacing machine with disdain.
"...just once, can Max not crash the party?" Lexi pouted
Giantess World
