Chapter Twelve: Makenna's First Real Flight

Song: "Flight" - Hans Zimmer


        Makenna, Tracey, and Caleb exited the cave and stepped onto the ledge. A zephyr blew through each person's hair. All three of them were facing the jungle and ocean. Makenna was desperate, but at the same time, she was scared. She gulped. Tracey nudged her shoulder and said, "Go on, Makenna, you can do this. Believe that you can do it."
"Right." Makenna said with a nod. She glared and took a step forward.
Behind, Caleb said, "You've got this, Big Sister," and he shuffled over to Tracey. They soon stood side by side, and together, they watched the Metamorphic Fairy.

She stopped at the edge of the ledge and started to sweat. She peered forward to the continuous jungle and ocean and then peered into the sky. Lowering her head, she glanced at her palms. Her necklace pendant started to glow very faintly. Makenna looked into the sky again. Then, bending her knees, she threw back her hands, flapped her wings, and BOOM! She leaped into the sky and started to climb! While she was climbing, she once again held her arm out and clenched her fist and teeth. She was wobbling terribly on midair. However, she was finally starting to get the hang of it! Even though she was wobbling, she was flying a lot straighter now. She grinned as she climbed higher and higher. However, just when she thought she had it, her wings relocated her route and threw her off course.
Makenna yelled as once again, she was thrown all over the place, "AHHH!! HELP! HELP!" She was thrown back down toward Merlindial Falls, and as she fell, she yelled, "Tracey's gonna pay for this!" Suddenly, a protection bubble appeared around her, and she went crashing into the falls's pool.

From the ledge, Caleb and Tracey gasped. Then, Tracey grabbed Caleb's hand and leaped off the ledge.
He flew down toward where Makenna landed and yelled, "Makenna!" Makenna's protection bubble appeared at the surface of the water, and it popped, revealing the young fairy. Quickly, she swam to the surface and leaped out of the pool.
She placed her hands on her knees and groaned, stomping her foot. "No!" she shouted, "Not again!"

Tracey and Caleb soon landed next to her, and letting go of Caleb's hand, Tracey approached her and said,
"You almost had it, Makenna."
"I know I did!" she said. She shut her eyes tighter.
"We can try it again later if you want to." Tracey told her.
"Huh?!" Makenna asked. Her eyes snapped open. "No, Tracey!" she said, "No!" She pushed by Tracey and marched forward, stopping. She peered into the sky again. She was going to give her wings a piece of her mind. She was going to fly, and she was going to fly properly!

Makenna calmed herself down. She relaxed her facial muscles and shut her eyes. Wind whistled through her hair.
In a calm voice, Makenna said, "You can mock me all you want, wings, but I won't let you take over my life. I will keep trying and trying until I can fly properly, and you can't stop me. I'm a Metamorphic Fairy." At that last line, her wings sparkled and stood up straighter on her back. Fairy dust escaped the wings, and Makenna's necklace pendant glowed a little bit brighter. With her eyes still closed, she bent her knees and clenched her fists, placing them on the ground.
"Makenna!" Tracey said to her, "Wait!" Makenna didn't listen to him. She kept her fists on the ground, and very slowly, small stones were picked up, due to Makenna's willpower, and circled each fist.
In a low voice, she said, "I believe I can do it." More stones were picked up, and now, dust surrounded her fists. After a few more seconds, Makenna shot into the sky again, and Tracey and Caleb watched as she climbed. Fairy dust escaped from her wings and created a path. Gina, who had been patiently waiting for their return, soon approached Tracey, and he glanced at her. He nodded. Gina nodded back.
Next, Tracey turned to Caleb and said, "Caleb, I'll be right back. I want to make sure Makenna doesn't hurt herself. Until I return, can you watch Gina for me?"
"Oh no problem, Tracey." Caleb said with a nod, "Don't worry, I'll watch Gina."
"Thank you, Caleb," said Tracey. Gina approached Caleb and landed on his shoulder. He scratched her under the beak. Tracey flapped his wings, and as he lifted into the sky, he peered down to Caleb and asked, "Will you be all right?"
Caleb nodded. "Don't worry, Tracey," he said, "Right now, just help my sister believe that she can fly, all right?"
"All right." Tracey said. He waved, "See you soon, Caleb!" With that line, he too shot into the sky and hurried after Makenna.
Caleb waved, "good luck" to him from down below.

Fourteen-year-old Makenna Delling shot out through the treetops of Merlin's Island's canopy, and she flew forward, trying her best to balance herself out. She was still wobbling like crazy. Tracey soon also escaped the treetops, and he watched the young Metamorphic Fairy. She was pulled to the left, toward the volcano, but quickly, she stationed herself and balanced herself out. Hold on, she was doing it!
From where he hovered, Tracey clenched his fists and said, "That's it, Makenna. That's it." Finally, after what felt like forever, Makenna's wings listened to her! They listened to her! She stopped wobbling in midair and flew as straight as an arrow, completely balanced! Makenna grinned. She couldn't believe it! She was flying! She was really flying! She was flying really fast too! Makenna looked to the right, and finally, she turned correctly! She turned to the right and shot out toward the Atlantic Ocean. Tracey, who was flying after her, sped up his pace, and he yelled at Makenna, "You're doing it, Makenna! You're doing it! Keep it up!" For the first time in her life, Makenna went on her very first flight!

Soon flying over the ocean, she stooped down toward it, with her arm and clenched fist straight out, and flew across the water, cheering. She was zooming across the sky!
Grinning, Makenna said, "I'm flying! I'm really flying!" She flew by some dolphins that were jumping out of the water, and lifting her hand, she rubbed one of the dolphins on the nose. It seemed to smile. After rubbing it, Makenna shot straight up toward the stratosphere and twirled around and around. When she stopped, she stooped back down toward Merlin's Island and zoomed across the jungle.
Tracey soon joined her; he was further up than Makenna, and she glanced up at him. "See?" Tracey asked, "It's all about believing that you can do it! The wings have accepted you as their master, Makenna! This is your first step in becoming a Soon to Be a Crystal Metamorphic Fairy! Congratulations!"
Makenna laughed. "Yahoo!" she shouted. She closed her eyes, "This is so much fun! I can't believe I'm really flying!"
"I knew you'd love it." Tracey told her, "Come on, let's return to Caleb and Gina." He held his arms really close to his wings, stopped flapping his wings, and glided to the left. Makenna mimicked him. She too stopped flapping her wings and held her arms really close to them. Then, she too glided to the left. Once the two fairies made a straight path toward Merlindial Falls, they started flapping their wings again and flew side-by-side, completely synchronized. As they flew, they each acted out their own way of retaining balance. Tracey held his arms out to his sides, like Peter Pan, and Makenna flew like Superman, with both fists clenched, and her right arm and right fist were held straight out. She had never had so much fun in her entire life! Now she knew why Tracey loved flying.

Soon, the two fairies were soaring over Merlindial Falls's pool, and together, they peered down at Caleb who waved at them. Tracey nodded at Makenna. Then, he stooped straight down, curved his body, flew over the pool, and landed next to Caleb. It was a beautiful landing.
Makenna's eyes sparkled. "Wow," she said, "I want to try that too." She too stooped down, toward the pool, like Tracey, but unlike him, she didn't have an as comfortable landing. She tried to turn her body, like Tracey, so she could head toward Caleb and also land next to him, but instead, her foot hit the falls's pool, and she went splash! Right into the pool. Caleb and Tracey gasped and hurried toward it.
Tracey shouted, "Makenna, are you all right?" He was sweating and taking deep breaths.
Caleb hurried in front of him and peered out to the water, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Makenna!" he said, "Are you all right?!"

Behind him, Tracey reached for his left arm, and he closed his eyes as the mark of the Octopus Man's trident reappeared on it. However, like before, just as fast as it appeared, it disappeared. Now, Tracey was holding his arm, totally unaware of what had just appeared on it. Gina hurried to him.
Makenna soon appeared at the surface of the pool, and she lifted her hands, shouting, "Yeah!"
Caleb laughed. "You did it!" he said, "You flew! You really flew, Makenna! However," He chuckled, "you need to work on your landing."

Makenna swam to shore and climbed out of the water, twirling. She approached Caleb and hugged him.
Then, she approached Tracey and said, "Thank you, Tracey! Thanks to you, we can now return to Merlin's Cave and Seabrook Island!"
"Wait, what?" Tracey asked, "Return to Seabrook Island?" Suddenly, out of nowhere, he yelled and closed his eyes, collapsing into Makenna's arms!
She gasped, "Tracey!" she yelled, "Oh no, I forgot!" Tracey's eyes were barely open. He looked very weak.
Caleb hurried to Makenna and asked, "Makenna, what's wrong with him?!"
"I'll explain later!" said Makenna, "but for now, we have to get Tracey back to Merlin's Cave so Merlin can help him!"
"What are you talking about?" Tracey weakly asked, "I feel fine." He got out of Makenna's arms and struggled to his feet.
"Fine?!" Makenna asked him with a slight glare, "You're as white as a ghost! Something definitely happened to you out in the ocean! We have to hurry back to Merlin's Cave!"
"What happened?" asked Caleb. He was very confused.
Tracey's face drooped. "To answer your question, Caleb," Makenna told her brother, "Tracey and I had quite the encounter with a storm out in the Atlantic Ocean not so long ago, and Tracey's pretty wiped out from it."
"Wiped out?" asked Tracey, "I'm fine."
"Fine or not," Makenna said, "we still need to get you back to Merlin's Cave so he can at least look at you." She flapped her wings and carefully lifted into the sky. Then, once lifted, she offered Tracey her hand, and he took it, flapping his own wings. Makenna lifted him into the sky. Whoa, for a seventeen-year-old boy, Tracey was actually fairly light. Makenna asked him, "Tracey, why don't you weigh much?"
"Well," Tracey explained, "you see, Makenna, fairies are supposed to be fairly light so they can fly."
Makenna gulped. "Me too?" she asked.
Tracey nodded. "Yes," he said, "you see, fairies are a lot like birds." Suddenly, he yelled again and closed his eyes.
"Tracey!" Makenna said with a gasp, "Hang in there!" Tracey opened his eyes and focused forward.

The two fairies began to fly away, with Gina at their sides, but then, from down below, they heard Caleb. "Hey!" he shouted, "What about me?!" Makenna peered back and gasped at the sight of him still standing on Merlindial Falls's rocks. Quickly, she hurried back down and grabbed his hand with her free hand. The second she did, like whenever Tracey took her hand, Caleb was outlined by magic, blue magic, and Makenna pulled him into the sky. Then, she and Tracey together flapped their wings and flew out of the jungle. Behind, the spell that Tracey had cast on the waterfall wore off, and it came to life again.


Comment