Half and Half
Florin Black

Dawn gulped, staring at Florin. He looked so scary, and all she felt like doing was sitting down and sobbing. But she held her guard, stood up straight, and looked at Florin in the eye.

"Let us go," she said firmly. He burst out laughing.

“And why would I do that?” He said, wiping his eyes.

Just then the girl that Dawn had seen outside burst into the room.

“Let her go, Father!” she exclaimed. Florin frowned.

“You have no right to tell me what to do,” he said, crossing his arms. The girl sighed and bowed her head.

“Bad things are coming to you, Dawn Runebloom,” Florin whispered harshly. He waved his hand at the other men.

“Lock them up,” he said. “And put the fat woman in a separate cell.” The men bowed slightly and dragged Dawn and Fairy Godmother down a hallway. Then a trapdoor was opened and Dawn was locked inside a small cage-like cell, with Fairy Godmother locked up far away from her.

Dawn struggled and tried to untie her hands, but it was no use. She sat in a corner and thought of Alinar, and wondered what he was doing. Was he alright? She hoped he would replace his sister. The cell Dawn was in was small and cramped, and a thick layer of spider webs coated the ceiling.

After a while Dawn heard footsteps. The girl had come down and was holding a small bowl of fruit.

“Hi,” she whispered. “My name is Mei. I’m a human, but I mean you no harm.” She slipped the bowl of fruit through the bars.

“Hold out your hands,” she whispered. Dawn held them out through the bars and Mei took a knife out of her pocket and cut through the ropes that bound Dawn’s hands.

“Thank you!” Dawn whispered. She rubbed her numb wrists and took a bite of some apple, remembering how hungry she was.

“Are you really a fairy?” Mei asked.

“I’m half fairy and half pixie,” Dawn answered. “But that’s not important right now. Can you help me get out?” Mei hesitated.

“I’m not sure...” she said. “I would get into a lot of trouble if I do. And I don't know if I can. I don't know where the key is," Mei said, fingering the heavy lock on Dawn's cell. Dawn sighed.

"What did you do to get locked up?" Mei asked. Dawn groaned. She didn't quite know how to answer that.

"Your father wants to bring me to your world," Dawn said finally. Mei frowned.

"But you are in our world," Mei said. "Welcome to Earth--although I don't think you feel very welcome," she added with a giggle. Dawn's eyes widened.

"What do you mean I'm in your world?" Dawn asked hurriedly.

"Well, my father explained it to me briefly," Mei said. "Apparently there's this stone. If you touch it, the world changes. My father says that our worlds are parallel to each other. I'm sort of confused by it..." Mei's voice trailed off.

"Just do the best you can," Dawn said.

"Well, my father told me that the worlds were in the exact same place, and that the one stone was the only thing that existed in both worlds at the same time--for instance, a school building in this world does not exist in your world. But this certain stone does. If you touch it, you switch worlds," Mei explained. Dawn slumped back against the wall. She was in a different world, with no chance of replaceing her father, getting back to Fanfire, or helping Alinar replace his sister.

Suddenly a small face peeped out of Mei's shirt pocket. It was an Elf.

Dawn sat up, her heart lurching. Did Mei have Alinar? But no. It wasn't Alinar. The little Elf hopped out of Mei's pocket and landed on her knees. It was a small Elf, and it was a girl. She had thick, auburn hair in two bunches, and her eyes were a blazing, bright blue. Her nose and the rest of her face were eerily similar to Alinar's, and she wore a small pink dress and little black shoes.

Dawn gulped. "Who is that?" She said. Mei picked up the little Elf.

"This is Penelope. She wants to replace her brother, and I'm trying to help her get back to her world. I think she came from your world," Mei said. Penelope was so small she could slip through the bars on Dawn's cell.

"You know where Alinar?" Penelope asked shyly.

"Yes," Dawn whispered. "He's in Pixie Grove--or, he was, the last time I saw him. He's looking for you." Penelope smiled and clapped her little hands together.

"But if we have any chance of replaceing him, I need to help you. Can you get me out of here?" Dawn asked. Penelope nodded. She took out a small pin from her pocket, hopped off Mei's lap, and tried to reach the lock. When she failed, Mei slowly lifted her. Then Mei stuck the pin inside, wriggled it a bit, and then it fell down with a loud "thunk!" Dawn peeked out of the door, hoping none of the guards heard it.

"Thanks!" Dawn smiled at Penelope. The little Elf smiled back and climbed back into Mei's shirt pocket.

Dawn looked around. They were in the house's basement, And it was dark. The only light was a small candle in the centre of the room, and it cast eery shadows on the walls. There were other cells, too, and Dawn saw various pixies and fairies inside them. She walked over to the cells, and saw a fairy man, with silver hair, and a woman pixie with blonde curls.

"Get us out!" The woman whispered. Dawn went to get Penelope, who picked the locks and released the pixie and fairy. Then they all ran to replace Fairy Godmother.

But they could not replace her anywhere.

"Where is she?" Dawn whispered to the man.

"I have no idea," he whispered back. "But I know that the humans will not hurt her. She's more valuable alive." Dawn knew he was right.

Just then they heard footsteps climbing down into the basement.

"...can't believe you lost her at Pixie Grove," a woman's voice said. But not just any voice--Dawn knew it was the Queen's voice.

Dawn shrank back into the shadows, praying that the Queen would not see her. The silver-haired man tiptoed to the candle and put it out with one blow. The Queen looked sharply to the middle of the room. It was now pitch black.

"Who's there?" she said sharply. She moved into the room, her arms straight out in front of her.

And then something terrible happened. Dawn sneezed.