Part 2: Fairy Frenzy

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Claudia was fascinated by the small, frozen creature. "Dude!" she chortled, "That's awesome! Do you mean that this dude has fairies? How wicked is that!" She peered closer at it.

Artie seemed hesitant and confused at the sight of an actual being rather than an object, in addition to the fact that it was not an artifact. But if the fairy wasn't an artifact, how did it surface in the real world? He pointed at Pete and Myka.

"All right, you two, come with me. This fairy's from a fantasy world, maybe we can find out more about it through fantasy-related artifacts."

"Oh, can I help?" Claudia volunteered.

Pete and Myka saw the old caretaker wince at the suggestion. Something about Claudia's personality never ceased to tick Artie off. "No, Claudia, you stay here in the office. Pete and Myka can help me. It will only be a short trip." He paused at his computer and entered in some reference terms. "Okay, the largest number of fantasy-related artifacts is concentrated in section L, Row 43. Ooh, I think we even have something of Barrie's down there. That's where we're headed." Pete and Myka nodded and prepared to follow Artie out.

The caretaker paused, holding the door for his younger co-workers. He turned briefly back to Claudia.

"Do me a favor: don't touch anything while I'm gone."

"Right, whatever!" the girl shot back, "It's not like I haven't been doing that all morning!" She slumped in an old armchair with her arms crossed.

"Thank you," Artie responded shortly, "we'll be back. Holler if you get yourself into trouble." He closed the door behind him.

"Fat chance!" Claudia called after him. "I can take care of myself," she reassured nobody in particular.

To pass the time, she pulled out a large magnifying glass and examined the fairy. Aside from being six inches long--quite large, as far as popular expectations of fairies went-the creature on the card was very much what one would expect a fairy to look like: glossy-white skin, pointed ears (Claudia noticed that the lobes were also pointed, giving the ears almost an elliptical shape), sleek blonde hair pulled back in a curly ponytail, a filmy purple dress, delicate feet, and of course, wings. Claudia studied the wings closely; they almost looked like they were made of feathers, more like bird wings than insect wings. The pin holding the fairy to the card ran through them; Claudia, peering through the strongest magnifying glass she could find, tried moving the pin to see if the wings would tear (like an insect's), or if the small sections were made of follicles, which meant they wouldn't. The pin came completely out, and the wing appeared intact.

"Like birds," Claudia whispered to herself.

Quite unexpectedly, the wing twitched beneath the magnifying glass, causing Claudia to jump back as the light movement appeared huge because of the magnification. She quickly shoved the magnifying glass aside.

"What the-"

It moved! The fairy opened its eyes and blinked! Claudia leaped back with a shriek. It was alive!

The fairy twitched its wings a couple times, and a bright light flickered, seeming to emanate from the movement of the wings. Glowing brightly, the fairy speedily shot up into the air, emitting a noise like an alarm, though only about the volume of a cell phone.

"Ahh! I didn't mean to--" Claudia gasped, ducking as the fairy flew toward her, still tinkling madly.

The fairy appeared momentarily distracted by the various other items in the office, and Claudia could only watch in terrified fascination at the small, bright orb zipping hither and thither around the room. "Oh, I am so screwed!" she breathed to herself as the fairy knocked over a few items Artie had so carefully set up on display. The inquisitive creature began dipping into Artie's file drawers, which the curator had left open.

"Hey!" Claudia yelled, and immediately regretted it as the fairy returned to dive-bombing her head.

Claudia screamed and covered her head. "Help me!" she hollered.

Down on the warehouse floor, Artie, Pete, and Myka heard Claudia's screams. "What-wh-what'd she do now?" Artie demanded in consternation.

Pete, up on the ladder, could see the office, and he saw a bright light flashing around the office.

"I think it's the fairy! It looks like it's alive!" he called, climbing down.

"What?" Artie gasped. He scanned the shelves until he came to a small silver canister, "We might take this along, then."

"What's that?" Myka asked as they climbed onto the cart and Artie took off through the aisles as fast as he dared.

"It's fairy dust!" Artie answered.

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