Chapter 33

It was early in the evening and the gang had been dismissed from further discussions between the queen and Ignatius regarding Ash, who remained to partake in the talks while the others were free to go home and rest. Pyro opted not to stay, angry at the fact that he was never told of Ash's true talent, and was still ready to hurt Ignatius.

Most of the group went to their respective homes, however Pyro had decided to fly for a while, searching for a way to calm his mind. He eventually found himself at the cove where he decided to sit and watch the sunset, the bottom of the sun just touching the ocean right where it meets the sky.

He was tired, sick of flying and even though he had grown accustomed to living in the wilds of Neverland, homesick. He thought about his early departure from Pixie Hollow and how he and lost those relationships with everyone, and how he had built a strong bond with Ash. He couldn't help but wonder why he was never in the know about his abilities and how long he's been able to use them. What else could Ash be capable of?

He could hear the flutter of a pair of wings in the distance, approaching him in fact, and despite wanting to be alone, decided to allow them to come to him. He felt a strange and small feeling of joy when Silvermist sat next him and joined him in watching the sunset. The next few moments were silent, and neither fairy needed to brake that silence. They both felt calm, relaxed and peaceful. Right now, was the moment they had both been waiting for ever since Pyro found himself back in Pixie Hollow. A moment to themselves. Without making eye contact Pyro decided to speak up first.

"How are you feeling?" He asked. Silvermist placed her head on his right shoulder and let out a sigh.

"Exhausted", was her reply. "We were gone a pretty long time you know. I've never flown for so long before, I think it's way past my bed time", she giggled.

"You have a bed time?" Pyro asked as he turned to look at her.

"No silly!" She said with a laugh. "I'm just saying that we need to rest."

"Then why are you here then?" Pyro asked. "Shouldn't you be resting?"

"See I said we all need to rest. That means you too." She said with a smile. That smile changed to a look of concern however. "You're not resting. I can tell somethings on your mind and it's bothering you". She raised her head and looked into his eyes. "I want to make sure you're okay. Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine". Pyro's reply was almost a little flustered. "At least I think I am".

Silvermist's concern grew upon hearing that. She took one of his hands and placed it in hers. "You're not one to think about your feelings, you've always been honest with them. If you think you're okay, then you're not okay!" Her tone was a little stern.

"We've been apart for five years!" Pyro said as he stood up and took a few aggressive steps towards the ocean. "You don't know me now, and you didn't know everything about me before I left!" He said with a hint of anger.

"I learned enough about you back then!" She said back to him as she also stood up. "I understood you".

"Well you don't now!" He said turning towards her. "I've changed. I'm not the same as back then. My feelings have changed."

There was a moment of silence between them. The only sounds coming from the waves as they crashed on the shore. The sun had now disappeared below the ocean and the moonlight began to gleam off of the water.

"Well what are your feelings now Pyro?" She took a step towards him. "What were they all those years ago, and how have they changed?"

"I don't know what they are now!" He said. "I've never felt this before and I don't know what to do with it".

"Then let me help." Sil' beckoned. "Let me try and understand you again."

"Why do you still want to understand me?" He asked, confused with her. Unsure why she still wants to know him, to understand him despite everything that has happened and how much he has changed.

"Because I love you!" She said. "And you love me, or at least you did before you left, I could tell. I was certain you'd still love when you got back".

"Of course I do!" He said to her, taking a step towards her. "All my years gone and I thought about you nearly every day. But now I've got Ash to lookout for and now after three years with him, I find out he's been keeping a pretty damn big secret from me."

"I'm sure Ash and Ignatius had a good reason for keeping it from you". She tried to reassure him.

"That's the thing! I can't figure out why they'd keep it from me". He said with a shrug. His temper had passed. "What could Ignatius have to gain?"

"Is he that evil?" Sil' asked.

"You've got no idea what that man is capable of". He said back.

"Well I have an idea of what you're capable of Pyro". She took his hands again and looked him in the eye. "You might have always had lots of energy, but no one functions well when it's all gone. C'mon, let's get you home so you can rest and think about this some more".

Pyro nodded with a sigh and joined her for the short flight back to the Spring Valley.

"Take it, and focus on what you want to do with it".

"Wait, what do I want to do with it exactly?"

Ignatius sighed. "Turn the blue dust into regular pixie dust". He said to Ash with a hint of annoyance.

"Are we sure that's such a good idea?" Ash asked while looking at Queen Clarion. "What if I accidently turn it into ash?"

"That's what we came here to find out. Just what you can do to blue pixie dust". Ignatius responded. He turned to Clarion and reassured here by saying "If it turns to ash then all we need to do is make sure he doesn't touch it again. Same if he turns it to regular dust, he won't replace the moonstone".

"Making use of the harvest moon is tradition". Clarion added.

"Right!" Ignatius looked to Ash and gestures to begin.

Ash's body tenses and he focuses on the single grain on blue pixie dust in his hand. The dust starts to glow brighter than normal and Ash can sense it changing. To his surprise however, it does not turn orange like he expected, nor to ash like Ignatius expected, but it turned white.

All colour was removed from the dust and its glow had almost completely faded. This unsettled everyone in the room, they had never seen anything like it.

Ash felt strange, the dust was doing something to him, it made him feel weak, like he was losing his strength to the dust.

"Drop it!" Ignatius yelled to Ash, "Drop it now!"

Ash regained his focus and did as he was told. The white dust dropped to the floor and sat there, almost menacingly.

"What happened?" Quinn Clarion asked.

"Yeah!" Followed Ash, "What just happened to me?"