On North Beach, at the shipwrecked sailboat, Selene was ready to drag Makenna there. However, just before she performed her teleportation spell, she sensed her.
"There we go," Selene said in a soft voice. She turned to Tracey.
He was a little more awake now, but still pale and weak.
Gina stood beside his head of long, black hair and nudged it, seeming to whimper.
Tracey slowly turned his head and whispered, "Gina, thank you for coming. You're a true friend." His eyes started to droop again.
Gina grabbed his blanket and pulled it up to his neck.
Selene approached Tracey and told him, "Hang on, kid. Makenna is coming." She took his shoulder. "Shh."
Tracey closed his eyes and started to slip into sleep.
Outside the shipwreck, darker storm clouds built up. The wind began to blow, and there was a flash of lightning and a rumble of thunder. The ocean waves grew taller and more powerful.
***
Makenna flew more slowly now. She soon found herself hovering over the Seabrook Island Stables and decided, "Why not?" Makenna landed on the stables' fence and watched one of her favorite horses, a paint named Blue Eyes, graze the field. Makenna sighed and said, "Huh, it must be nice to be a horse."
As if he had heard her, Blue Eyes lifted his head and searched the area.
After a bit, Makenna continued with her flight to North Beach. She lifted into the sky and suddenly returned to her normal height. "Whoa!" said the Metamorphic Fairy. She peered down. "What the—? Why am I suddenly my normal height? I didn't even ask to return to it." She gulped. However, she shook Selene's warning out of her head and flapped her wings, hurrying in the direction of the beach.
Makenna reached North Beach five minutes later and didn't waste any time. She hurried toward the end, with the hope that Selene would give her a little more time, but was forced to stop and climb up and out of sight when she saw that a few people roamed it. It was a family of four: two parents and two little kids.
Makenna held her breath. She waited until the family was out of sight. Then, seeing that the coast was now clear, she dropped toward the ground, but a blast of wind slammed into her and knocked her out of the sky. Makenna landed in a dune, and half her body was buried in it. She quickly pulled herself out before she could suffocate and rolled down the dune, landing at the base on her backside.
In the sky, a flock of pelicans rushed across it and hurried for shelter on Bird Island.
Where Makenna rested, she struggled to her feet and brushed sand off her skirt. She then turned toward the shipwrecked sailboat, in which waves hammered it, and furrowed her brows.
Flapping her wings, Makenna leaped into the sky again. She acted out her flying pose and flew toward the wreck. She soon soared across the channel and fought the wind. She had to get to the shipwreck! Tracey needed her!
Makenna soon found herself hovering over the shipwrecked boat's stern. She dropped out of the sky and landed on the deck with a small thump.
Inside the wreck, Selene heard her, as did Gina, and quickly pulled her hand away from Tracey's shoulder. She and Gina focused their attention on the closed door.
Gina's feathers stuck up like when a cat was agitated.
"What was that?" Selene soon asked. She next heard a wave crash on the outside portion of the boat.
Gina opened her wings and flapped them. She flew to Selene and hovered beside her.
They exchanged glances and asked one another, "Is it an intruder?" although Gina communicated through tern squawks.
Selene soon pulled her behind her arm. "Stay here, Gina, and watch over Tracey. I'm going to investigate. If it's another siren, then we will not let her take him."
Understanding, Gina quickly landed beside Tracey.
Selene headed toward the back door. When she passed the galley, she picked up a cast-iron skillet resting on the stove and held it over her head. She now heard Makenna thumping around on the back deck. "We will protect, Tracey," Selene told herself. "The Octopus Man has done enough to him. He doesn't deserve to be treated the way he's been treated lately."
Selene reached the ladder. Slowly and silently, she climbed it and approached the door. With the skillet still held over her head, Selene hovered before it. "All right," she whispered, cracking her shoulder blades. "Here goes."
Gina gave her a reassuring squawk and cuddled up to Tracey.
Selene took a deep breath. Finally, she threw open the door and leaped onto the top deck, brandishing the skillet forward. "Hands up!"
There was a flash of lightning. During the flash, Makenna, who had her back turned to Selene, whirled around. A bag of chips she found dropped from her hand. She quickly held up both hands and announced, "I surrender!"
"Miss Makenna!" Selene uttered, lowering the skillet. "It's you! You actually came!"
"Duh." Makenna scoffed. "Why wouldn't I? You would've come and got me if I didn't."
"Sam heck yeah I would've!" Selene told her. "I have to clarify a few things with you, Makenna!"
"Oh, please," said Makenna. "Can't I go ahead and take Ninja Boy back to Merlin's Island? Clarifying things is total rubbish."
Selene crossed her arms.
In the lower deck of the shipwreck, Gina recognized Makenna's voice. "No!" she yelled in her language. "Not her! Not her! Why her?" She left Tracey and hurried out of the lower deck, her eyes landing on Makenna.
She zoomed by Selene, who yelled, "Gina, wait!"
Gina threw herself into Makenna's face and knocked her to the ground. While she lay there, she screeched and repeatedly pecked her.
Makenna yelled, "Ow! Ow! Ow!" each time the bird's beak came in contact with her skin. "Gina! You're ruining my tan!"
Gina continued to peck Makenna.
"She's gone savage!" she yelled. "Selene! Selene, please!"
Selene didn't move from where she stood. After what Makenna had done to Tracey, betraying him the way she did, she deserved a good pecking. However, after a bit, she decided that Gina had done enough in terms of giving Makenna a decent punishment.
Selene held up her hand and announced, "Gina! That's enough!"
Gina listened to her. She gave Makenna's cheek one last peck and flew to Selene, landing on her shoulder.
Makenna, beaten up from the pecking, struggled to her hands and knees with her hair in snarls. She spat out feathers, and the wind blew them away. "What was the meaning of that?" she shouted.
Gina huffed, closed her eyes, and turned her backside to her.
"Don't get her wrong, Miss Delling," said Selene, "but she did the right thing. You deserved that."
Jumping to her feet, Makenna argued, "Why?" She freed feathers from her hair. "Look what that stupid bird did to me! She ruined my tan and hair! That's it!" Makenna stamped her foot and turned to fly away. "I'm not taking Ninja Boy back if she's coming with us! This stupid transformation totally ruined my date with Peter Nelson!"
"Yeah, about Peter Nelson," Selene snapped. "Can you please explain to me why he's the one bullying Tracey?"
"Bullying?" Makenna fought. "What do you mean?" She whirled around and faced Selene and Gina again. "Ninja Boy has become nothing but a burden! He's ruined my entire life! If Peter is bullying him, I'm glad he is! I hope he keeps it up!"
She, Selene, and Gina didn't notice it, but Tracey, who was woken up by all the noise, appeared behind them. He had taken off the fairy oxygen mask and hugged his coloring book. Since he was dizzy and couldn't stand very well, he leaned against the doorway of the door that led to the lower deck.
"Makenna," said Selene, who still focused on her, "you've got to calm down. You're just super stressed out."
"Of course, I'm stressed out!" Makenna shouted. "The dance for Spirit Week is on Friday, and it's almost Thursday! If Ninja Boy didn't show up in the first place, none of this would've happened! He's ruined my week, my date, and my life!"
Gina glared at her. Not wanting to listen to her anymore, she turned on Selene's shoulder, but her eyes landed on Tracey, and she seemed to gasp. Through tern squawks, she said, "Uh oh."
Selene and Makenna heard her. Selene, too, turned, and both hers and Makenna's eyes widened at the sight of Merlin's apprentice eavesdropping.
Tracey sobbed. His wings dropped limply behind his back, and his tears fell like a fountain. He brought his coloring book to his cheek and shook his head, telling Makenna, "You're not my friend. You're nothing but a jerk! You're a liar!" Still dizzy, he pushed off the doorway, stumbled past Makenna, Gina, and Selene, and headed for the stern.
"Bu-But, Tracey." Tears appeared in Makenna's own eyes.
Tracey again shook his head. He stopped at the stern of the boat and weakly lifted his pale wings, which gradually grew paler and paler.
"Tracey, wait!" Selene yelled. "You can barely fly! You're going to hurt your wings!"
Still hugging his coloring book, Tracey flapped his wings and lifted into the sky. Then, at a slow pace, he flew away and headed toward the ocean and Merlin's Island.
At the shipwreck, Makenna said, "Ugh!" and fell to her knees.
From Selene's shoulder, Gina screeched and hurried after Tracey. Right when she vanished, there was another flash of lightning and a rumble of thunder.
Makenna clenched her fist and repeatedly banged the deck. "He's right!" she shouted. "I'm a jerk! And it's all because I have a crush on Peter Nelson!"
"You've got to go after him." Selene approached Makenna and grasped her shoulder. "Please, Makenna. Merlin didn't send him back here. He came by himself, even though he was still recovering from that magic coma. He needs you to help him."
"Huh?" asked Makenna. She rubbed her eyes and turned her head, meeting Selene's eyes.
She nodded and explained, "Makenna, he cares about you. I think you fear he doesn't, but he does. The whole reason why he came here was to protect you from Peter Nelson."
"Peter Nelson?" Makenna sobbed. "But that's impossible! Peter can't be a jerk!"
"But he is," Selene explained. "You don't understand, Makenna. Peter Nelson was the reason behind Tracey's arm injury. He told that friend of his, Bruce, to hurt him and threatened that if he didn't, then he would be the one getting punched. You've got to chase after him. Tracey is very weak, and he's only going to get weaker if he doesn't have that mask on."
Suddenly, over the sound of another thunderclap, there was a scream and then a screech.
"Tracey!" Makenna shouted when she recognized the voices. "The Octopus Man!" She leaped to her feet.
"Go, Makenna!" Selene demanded.
"Right." Makenna rubbed her eyes and inhaled. Then, flapping her wings, she lifted into the sky and hurried in the direction Gina and Tracey had flown in.
Soon after she vanished, it began to rain, and it hammered Selene. However, with a wave of her hand, an umbrella appeared from out of nowhere, and she grabbed its handle. She soon stood under the umbrella and glanced at the ocean, saying, "I know that girl can and will become a Crystal Metamorphic Fairy. I know she can help Tracey save Merlin and all the magic in the world. I know she can."
***
Makenna flew her fastest through the storm. "Tracey!" she shouted. "Tracey, where are you?" She stopped and hovered over the ocean, searching the area. How would Makenna find her friend? Simple, she listened to her fairy instincts, which told her to fly forward. Therefore, Makenna did. However, she had trouble flying because the wind was so strong; however, Makenna did not give up. She had to find Tracey, and she did.
Makenna gasped at what she saw.
Further away before her, in a mass of waves, was Tracey. The Octopus Man's familiar, watery ropes were wrapped around him and tried pulling him into the ocean.
Makenna snarled and clenched her fist. "Let him go! He's done nothing wrong! I'm the one you should be pulling in Davy Jones's locker!" She flew toward Tracey, but the wind pushed her back.
Gina pecked at the ropes, but another one shot out of the ocean and smacked her away. Gina screeched and fell toward Makenna. Tracey's coloring book was knocked from his hand, and it splashed into the rough sea.
Makenna saw Gina and yelled, "Gina!" She hurried forward and caught her.
When Gina felt Makenna, she opened her eyes and looked up at her.
Makenna released her and yelled, "Stay here!" Fighting the wind, she soared forward and stretched out her arm. "Release him!" she shouted at the Octopus Man. Unfortunately, the wind blew her back again, and Makenna closed her eyes against it. "No! The wind! It's too powerful!"
Where Tracey was, he opened his golden-brown eyes, and they glowed green. Vine-like whips appeared and smacked and cut the ropes, releasing him. Immediately, he closed his eyes and flew away from them, but he didn't stay in the sky for long.
Before long, he toppled toward the ocean, and Makenna called, "No!" from above. She flapped her wings and dove after Tracey.
Unfortunately, just before Makenna reached him, an enormous wave, released by the Octopus Man, appeared behind him.
"Tracey, watch out!" Makenna screamed, moving out of the wave's way.
Tracey barely managed to catch himself. He feebly opened his eyes, not all the way, and yelled at the sight of the wave. Flapping his large, green and purple wings, he tried dodging but was too weak.
The enormous wave crashed down on Tracey's back. Within seconds, the stormy evening was interrupted by a loud crack.
Makenna gasped when she heard it. "His wings! Not his wings! Not his wings!"
Tracey was jerked underwater, and another wave crashed down on him and his wings. Half his left wing was ripped from his body, and an enormous chunk was torn from his right one.
Back at the surface, Makenna shouted, "No!" Tears appeared in her eyes. "You monster!" She yelled that at the Octopus Man, even though she couldn't see him. Makenna reached for her lips and added, "He loves his wings!" She knew Tracey's wings had broken. She heard it.
From where Gina hovered, she screeched and peered into the sky.
Makenna had to rescue Tracey! She just had to! Where was he, though?
Makenna thought fast. She then yelled, "Find Tracey!" and a ball of light appeared before her. Wait, those two words were a spell?
The ball led Makenna forward, and she followed it. It soon stopped and hovered above the ocean and Tracey's coloring book.
Makenna thanked it. She gripped her necklace pendant and nodded. She could do this. She was brave. Taking a deep breath, Makenna dove into the ocean and grabbed the coloring book in the process.
Makenna saw Tracey.
He floated on his back, unconscious, his hands before him.
Makenna kicked her legs and swam closer to him. She reached forward and tried to swim faster, but it wasn't easy. However, Makenna managed to approach Merlin's apprentice. Glaring, she grabbed his hand and pulled him close to her, beginning to swim back toward the surface.
Behind her appeared the Octopus Man's shadow, and he yelled, "Bring him back! He's mine!"
Makenna refused. No way would the Octopus Man get Tracey. She continued toward the surface.
The Octopus Man yelled and created a great current that pulled Makenna and Tracey toward him.
With all her strength, Makenna barely escaped it and managed to get herself and Tracey to the surface.
The second their heads burst out of the water, both fairies coughed.
"Hang in there, Tracey!" Makenna said. She looked forward, and her eyes landed on the dark figure of an island before them—Merlin's Island. Makenna was almost there. "Merlin's Island!" she yelped. She tried to lift herself out of the ocean, but another wave crashed down on her and Tracey; however, Makenna maintained a tight grip on her friend.
She returned to the surface, but the Octopus Man summoned another, more powerful wave to crash down on them.
Makenna's blue horsehead pendant necklace was ripped from her neck, and the current pulled it away.
Underwater, Makenna saw that and gasped. The necklace! She couldn't lose the necklace! She grabbed the pendant, but Tracey slipped from her other hand and started to sink. Makenna grabbed him as well, but the pendant slipped that time. Makenna groaned.
The necklace sank toward the bottom of the ocean. Makenna reached for it, but then she glanced at injured and ill Tracey. He was more important than the necklace. With that in mind, she clutched him with both hands and headed back toward the surface.
The necklace landed on the sandy seabed, and its glow faded away.
Makenna finally reached the surface, but large waves immediately hammered her and pulled her and Tracey toward Merlin's Island.
Gina, who flew above them, screeched for Makenna to follow her.
Makenna did. The closer she, Gina, and Tracey got to the island, the more the storm started to ease. Very faintly, the rays of the sun shone through the clouds and landed on Makenna, her friend, and the tern. A final wave crashed down on Makenna and jerked her and Tracey underwater.
Makenna went limp. She sleepily said, "Tracey," and closed her eyes, her world fading to black.
While she slept, she again heard the familiar crack of iron and the same voice of the young girl yelling, "Help! Mommy! Daddy!"
Finally, through telepathy, the Octopus Man angrily screamed at Makenna, "I will be back! I will win! Just try to stop me! I can assure you that the boy is mine! I will succeed!"
Everything became still and quiet, leaving Makenna and Tracey floating freely underwater, the next leg of their journey only beginning.
End of Act III: Broken Wings
Current Word Count: 114,181