Twisted Wonderland - Fairy Gala: Operation Steal the Show

Chapter 13: Easy for You to Say

Soon, everyone walks inside the Botanical Garden and reaches the runway. Some are amazed to see the garden is so decorated, with flowers, shiny objects, and lights.

Kalim is amazed, "Oh, WOW! The botanical garden's got decorative flowers everywhere. And they're all so SHINY."

"It looks so beautiful," Briar says.

Leona however, is annoyed, "Ugh. It's enough to give a guy a headache."

"I think it's rather pretty," Sereia says.

"Now THIS is what I call a fancy shindig," Ruggie says, "All the plants and flowers in the botanical garden are sprinkled with sparkly gold dust... And the tables are piled high with food, food, FOOD!"

"Did you say food? I want some!" Grim happily says.

Then Kalim says, "There's such a huge variety of fae here. I see ones bigger than Leona, and ones smaller than my pinky."

But then Jamil says, "Hey. If you're all done gawking, check out the spot farthest in the back."

"Lemme see..." Grim says, and notices, "Looks like a runway and an extra-fancy chair. A throne, almost."

"That's a reserved seat for the fashion show. It's probably where the queen's gonna be sitting, since she's the one in charge here," Leona says.

"Agreed—which means it's where Ruggie's group will be swapping the tiara," Jamil says.

Grim yelps, "Gah! It's smack-dab in front of the runway! There's gonna be more fairies on both sides of the seat, too. The only place we can hide is behind it."

"You're right. There will be a lot of fairies around," Sereia says.

"If I grabbed the tiara there, we'd be caught by the fairies in no time!" Ruggie says.

"Oh, come on. The subtropical zone is right nearby. Once you've got the goods, you can just hightail it over there. That'll take you straight to the back door," Leona says.

"Easy for you to say. You're not the one doing the swiping!" Ruggie says, annoyed, "If anything goes wrong, it'll be me, Grim, and Sereia that get caught and bound hand and foot!"

"Quit yappin' about what-ifs already," Leona says,"I'm there to keep that from happening, remember?

"Bah. Fine. But you'd better not forget it!" Ruggie says.

"You can count on us for sure," Kalim says.

"It's time we split up, then," Jamil says.

But before they can, they hear a voice, "Briar, is that you?"

Everyone turns their heads to see a familiar fairy flying towards them.

"Trinket?" Briar questions.

"Grim? Sereia? Kalim? Jamil? Leona? And Ruggie? What are you all doing here?" Trinket questions.

"Oh great, it's the little pest," Leona says.

"Hi Trinket," Kalim says.

"Hello everyone, what are you all doing here? This place is for all the fairies and faes? And how come you're able to understand what I'm saying," Trinket asks.

"Well, it's like this..." Briar says.

10 minutes later...

"Oh dear. So the stone is really the magestone for the school? " Trinket asks, surprised.

"Yes. And we need to get the stone back. We were told that it's kind of difficult to talk to them," Briar says.

"Yes. that's true, but you need to switch the tiara the queen is having with another one," Trinket says. Then lowers her head, "Now I feel bad, if I knew what it was, I wouldn't help use the magestone as an accessory."

"You didn't know. What's important is getting it back," Briar says.

Then Trinket says, "I can lead you all to where Ruggie and the others need to go, but they'll need to do the rest on their own. I can't be away from preparations or the show for too long."

"Thanks," Grim says.

"Then let's hurry," Briar says.

With that, everyone splits up, Briar, Kalim, Jamil, and Leona head off to the shoe while Trinket takes Ruggie, Grim, and Sereia where they need to go.

Soon, Ruggie's team arrives at the Subtropical zone.

"This is as far as I can take you. I hope everything goes well," Trinket says.

"Thank you Trinket," Sereia says.

"By the way, what you've been doing here?" Grim asks, "You've been gone for days?"

"Well, I've been helping with the gala and the show, and I've been doing a little special project of mine," Trinket says.

"What kind of project?" Sereia asks.

Trinket giggles, "It's a surprise."

Then says, "I gotta get going, but I'll see you after the show. Goodbye and good luck," And she flies off.

Once Ruggie is gone, he turns to the group, "Okay, Sereia, Grim—here's the deal. Since I've got the most manual dexterity outta the three of us, I'll be the one to swap out the queen's tiara for a fake while she's wearing it. Grim, you're on lookout duty. Your job is to make sure no guards are coming. Sereia, your job is to keep an eye on the show and signal me when it's time to make the swap. Give my phone a one-second call. Here's my number. And don't worry, it's on silent mode. We won't be able to see the show from our spot behind the queen. So it's on you to identify the moment when the queen is the most distracted—when the whole place is swept up in the moment. Remember, Sereia, everything hinges on that single moment. Stay sharp."

Sereia nods, "Right."