Blackberry Bun's Journal: Chapter 19

[Blackberry Bun]

Chapter 19: Dark Berry Fairies


Two days have passed since our last visit to the Land of Dreams. During the two days I didn't leave my house because I was busy doing maintenance works on all my devices. Nobody visited me so I didn't know what had happened in Strawberryland. I had finished the works so I decided to go out and see if I could meet someone. My first visit was of course Huck's fort, the one closest from my house. I went there and when I arrived I saw that Apple was there as well.

"Apple Dumplin' is here too huh?" I said.

"Yeah, it looks like Strawberry is busy at her house again," Huck said.

"As always, what's happening this time?" I asked.

"There's an injured fairy at her house and everyone, I mean she, Angel Cake, Orange Blossom, Ginger Snap, and Blueberry Muffin are taking care of her," Huck said.

"Apple Dumplin' too little again," Apple said with upset tone.

"You don't come there?" I asked Huck.

"You should see for yourself. Everyone's serving her like a queen already. No need to add more," he answered.

"By the way, you said ``fairy`` right? What fairy?" I asked.

"Well, I heard that she's a berry fairy," he answered.

"Berry fairy...?" I asked, remembering about my one random thought.

"She said that without her our berries would be green as hard as rocks. At least that's what Strawberry told me," he answered.

Later I went home thinking about what we had talked about. When I received the letter from the dream fairies I had a random thought about the existence of berry fairies, looking at the size of the berries in Strawberryland. However, I had not expected that it would have been true. While walking home I suddenly noticed that all the berries around were in bad condition. They were brown, small, and wrinkled.

"Oh, no. Is this because the berry fairy isn't doing her job?" I said, looking at the dying berries.

I quickly went home and met Raspberry along with Lemon right in front of it. They told me that the berries around their place were also dying and they asked if I could do something about it.

"Probably this is because the berry fairy isn't doing her job," I said.

"You mean, the one in Strawberry's house now?" Raspberry asked.

"Who else? I might be able to do something but I can't promise it," I answered, taking Nature's Blessing from my shelf.

We went to the outfield of Strawberryland, towards one place which I estimated to be the center of the whole region. I then put the device under one bush and turned it on. Because I felt the area it covered by default was not enough, I pressed its overcharge button to significantly increase the coverage. It then let out a green aura and the dying berries around started to recover. However, their color ended up green instead of their usual colors.

"Did we did it?" Lemon asked.

"I think not," Raspberry said.

"Let's see," I said, checking one of the berries. "Green and as hard as rock."

"At least... they don't look dying anymore," Lemon said.

"Yeah... looks like my device is only an emergency stop gap. We still need the berry fairy," I said, taking Nature's Blessing which started to let out black smokes because of the overcharge.

"But look at the time," Lemon said, pointing at the setting sun.

"Yeah, let's go to her tomorrow," Raspberry said.

Each of us then went to each own house. I spent the rest of the day repairing Nature's Blessing, and after I finished I went to sleep. I woke up a little bit late at the next day. I then had my breakfast and went towards Strawberry's house, meeting Raspberry and Lemon on the way.

"You woke up late too?" I asked.

"Yeah... I cannot sleep last night," Raspberry said.

"Me neither," Lemon said.

"How come?" I asked again.

"How could I sleep with the dying berries in my mind?" Raspberry asked back.

"Me too," Lemon added.

However, as we had conversation, I noticed that the berries around were already at their usual color.

"Look, the berries!" I said, running towards one strawberry and checked on it. "Red, and ripe."

"So the fairy is back on the job. I'm glad," Raspberry said.

"Me too," Lemon said.

"I guess there's no need for us to go to Strawberry's place anymore right?" I said.

"Yeah I guess," Raspberry said.

"By the way, want to have a trip again?" I asked, taking Time Remote Mark II from my pocket and showing it to the two girls.

"Great idea! Let's do it!" Raspberry said with excitement.

"I'll go home and change first," Lemon said.

"I'll also go home to change and take my backpack," I said.

"I'll ask if there's anybody else to come along," Raspberry said. "We will meet at your house."

I then went home, changed into my hiking outfit, and took my backpack. Then I waited as told by Raspberry until a few minutes later I heard a doorbell. I opened the door and it turned out that nobody else wanted to come along because the guests were only Raspberry and Lemon.

"Some are busy, some others are tired, some others already had a plan for today," Raspberry said.

"I see. Well, it can actually be good," I said.

"Why is that?" Lemon asked.

"I have been wondering where the dream fairies have taken Ginger's Dream Boat away. If there's nobody else with us we can try looking for it," I said.

"Sounds interesting. Let's do it," Raspberry said.

"Ginger Snap's Dream Boat!" I said to the remote and it made a dimension door where we jumped into.

When we came out, Raspberry noticed that we were in Dream Boat's engine room. We then went to the deck and see if we could look around the boat and find where it was put. Looking at the bright sun above and the scenery around, I could recognize that the boat was put in Strawberryland, but I didn't know which part of Strawberryland.

"This is Strawberryland right?" Raspberry asked.

"I think so," Lemon said.

"Lollipop trees, gumball mountain and all, how could this not be Strawberryland?" I said.

"Then which part of Strawberryland?" Raspberry asked.

"I don't know. I can't recognize this area," I answered, leaning my back on the fence of the edge. "The letter I once got told me that this boat has been entrusted to another group of fairies,"

"That would be us, the berry fairies," a voice said from behind. I looked on the source and saw a fairy with orange hair and green dress.

"And you're...?" Raspberry said.

"Margalo B. Berryglow. F.W.F.P.F.C." the fairy answered.

"F.W... what?" Lemon asked.

"Fairy World Fairy Princess First Class," Margalo answered. "Anyway, you have to get out of here quick!"

"Why is that?" Raspberry asked.

"Just get out of here before..." she answered before there was an interruption.

"Intruders! Get them!" a voice yelled and a group of three fairies dressed in darker outfits came.

"Oh, too late..." Margalo said with a sigh.

"What's happening? Who are they?" Raspberry asked.

"Intruders have no right to speak!" one of the dark fairies said, waving her wand. Suddenly a cloth appeared around Raspberry's mouth and gagged her. At the same time another dark fairy waved her wand and materialized ropes which then tied Raspberry's arms and legs, resulting her fall to the floor.

"Raspberry!" Lemon yelled, running to Raspberry. However, the last dark fairy waved her wand.

I didn't just stand and watch everything happening. I quickly bumped the tip of my right shoe to the floor three times, resulting both of my shoes having bright lights around them. Then with unbelievable speed I ran to Lemon, grabbed her, and jumped out of the Dream Boat. I landed on the ground well but I could feel a lot of pain on my legs. I ignored the pain anyway and continued to run away.

"They got away!" one dark fairy said.

"No worries, Tina," another dark fairy said.

"Why no worries, Rose?" the last dark fairy asked.

"I bet they will come back for their friend, won't they Stephanie?" Rose answered with smile, looking at Raspberry who was looking back at them with anger but couldn't do anything because she couldn't even move her body at all. "And what are you doing here, Margalo?"

"Rose, I... I..." Margalo answered timidly.

"I don't have time to talk with you. Go away," Rose said.

"But Rose... please..." Margalo begged.

"I said... Go away!" Rose answered with high voice, and Margalo unwillingly left the place.

Meanwhile, I was still running carrying Lemon. The last fairy's magic had already taken effect because I noticed Lemon was already bound and gagged. The pain on my legs kept getting worse and I could see black smokes starting to come out from my shoes, so I quickly entered the first forest I could see and kept running until I felt I had entered deep enough. Then I stopped under one of the trees and put Lemon there.

"Give me... my scissor," I said to my backpack and it gave me a scissor. I then used it to free Lemon from her bondage.

"Blackberry, what actually happened? Who were they?" Lemon asked once I removed her gag.

"I'm as clueless... as you are... Lemon," I answered, running out of breath.

"We have to help Raspberry!" she said.

"We will... but first I have to... ugh..." I replied, trying to sit down leaning to the tree. I could see thick black smokes coming out from both of my shoes, which were black from the burn. The pain on them was so bad I felt like I could faint anytime soon.

"Give me... Phoenix Tear..." I said to the backpack and it gave me the metal sphere. I then used it on my legs and then the pain disappeared, although my shoes were still toast and my stamina was still depleted.

"What did you actually do?" Lemon asked.

"My shoes... were actually devices I have made... since long time ago..." I answered. Then with breath running out I slowly told her that my shoes were actually capable of giving me the ability to run as swift as the wind, at the cost of what she had seen. The name of the shoes was Quickflash.

"It's only... for emergency..." I said, then I fainted because of the fatigue. Later when I woke up, I realized that I was still under the same tree but I also noticed that the fairy in green was with us as well.

"Aren't you... Margalo?" I asked. "How did you find us?"

"It was not that hard to follow your trail, you know," Margalo replied, looking at the trail of burnt footprints I had left. "Don't worry. They are not chasing you."

"How long have I been sleeping?" I asked.

"Only one hour," Lemon answered. "Margalo came a few minutes after you fainted."

"I see. Could you explain about what have happened?" I asked Margalo.

"Well... umm..." Margalo said in doubt.

"They got our friend. We need to know who they are and why they did that," I said.

"Alright..." she said, pausing for a moment. "They are dark berry fairies."

"Dark berry fairies?" I asked.

"They are the same as us berry fairies, at least they were, but they cause nothing but trouble," she explained.

"How come they became like that?" Lemon asked.

Then, Margalo told us that originally the dark berry fairies were the same berry fairies like others, but because they had used a forbidden magic as a desperate measure when they were chased by a crow, the negative energy from the magic affected their mind and they became what we had seen. Dream Boat was originally put there without any use, but the Berry Fairy Queen later used it to exile the dark berry fairies until they could find a cure.

"Her Royal Highness' magic was put around it so none of the dark berry fairies can leave the boat," Margalo said. "And no berry fairies can enter too,"

"But we could get out," Lemon said.

"It seems the magic does not affect humans," Margalo replied.

"Can they be cured?" I asked.

"Until now there's no known cure," Margalo said.

"Are those three the only dark berry fairies?" I asked.

"Yes..." she answered.

"May I know who they are?" I asked.

"They are Tina Tulip, Stephanie Starfruit, and... Rose B. Berryglow..." she answered with a deep sigh.

"Wait! The last one... Rose B. Berryglow? And your name is Margalo B. Berryglow..." I noticed the similar names.

"You're right..." she said with tears leaking. "One of them is my sister. It happened to her two days ago when I was away..."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that..." Lemon said.

"I was chased by a crow too yesterday, but I got help. I should have used the magic, so I can be with Rose now..." Margalo said, crying.

"No, you should not," I said.

"Huh?" she asked.

"If you become a dark berry fairy, who will help your sister?" I asked back, which seemed to strike her mind directly. She thought for a while and then I said to her, "Let's go back there to help your sister,"

"But your legs..." Lemon said.

"Only burnt shoes. Phoenix Tear has completely healed the wounds," I replied, removing my shoes, throwing them into my backpack, and standing up. "Let's go."

"Yeah, let's go," Margalo said, seeming to have regained her spirit. All of us then began walking back to the Dream Boat.


Meanwhile, in the engine room of Dream Boat, Raspberry was held captive by the three dark berry fairies. She was sitting on the floor leaning to the wall of the room, still bound and gagged. On her side was Rose floating around with anxiety.

"Ugh... guard duty is so boring!" Rose yelled. "Why I never get lucky in flipping coins?!"

"Mmph..." Raspberry mumbled.

"What is it? You want to say something?" Rose asked.

"Mmph..." Raspberry mumbled again.

"Tsk... fine, go ahead and speak," Rose said, waving her wand and then Raspberry's gag disappeared. The latter then took a deep breath.

"At least give some room to breathe. It was killing me you know," Raspberry said, panting.

"Oh, I thought you would yell ``let me go!`` repeatedly with anger," Rose said, a little bit surprised.

"Hmph, like if you would do that if I did," Raspberry replied.

"Oh... yeah you're right. I won't," Rose said with a giggle.

"See?" Raspberry said and both of them giggled.

"You know, I'm starting to like you. My name is Rose B. Berryglow," Rose said, offering her hand.

"I'm Raspberry Torte. But you see, we can't do a handshake," Raspberry said and both of them giggled again. Then suddenly Raspberry's face expression changed.

"What's wrong?" Rose asked.

"Your name... Rose B. Berryglow? Margalo's surname is the same as yours... that means..." Raspberry said

"Yes, Margalo is my sister," Rose said.

"You have bad relationship with her?" Raspberry asked.

"No, we are inseparable. I mean... we were inseparable" Rose said.

"Then why...?" Raspberry asked before an interruption came.

"What are you doing, Rose?!" Another fairy came in yelling. "Why did you release the hostage's gag?!"

"Guard duty is boring so I decided to talk with her. Do you mind Tina?!" Rose replied.

"Ha! You talk with the hostage? I thought the hostage would just yell ``let me go!`` repeatedly," Tina said.

"Hmph, I'm not that stupid to do such useless thing," Raspberry said, looking away from Tina.

"Rose! You...!" Tina said, and then there was a brief silence. "May I join? It's been so long since the last time I talk with someone other than you and Stephanie."

"Be my guest," Rose said, and a happy conversation continued for a while until the last dark berry fairy entered the scene.

"Well well well, having fun talking with the hostage?" the fairy asked with her hands on her hip and angry face.

"Yeah, so what? Anything wrong with that Stephanie?" Tina asked back.

"Yes, there is something very wrong with that," Stephanie said, and there was a brief silence. "You did not invite me to join! I like having conversations!" She said with a smile, and then she joined the conversation. The conversation continued in a very happy manner, and Raspberry enjoyed the conversation with the dark berry fairies even though the ropes started to hurt her. During all the talks she also learned about the origin of the dark berry fairies and their exile in the Dream Boat. The conversation kept going on for quite a while.

"Now I only hope for my friends to rescue me," Raspberry said, looking upwards.

"You still have faith in your friends?" Stephanie asked.

"Yes of course. I believe in them," Raspberry answered.

"Even after you saw them running away?" Tina asked.

"They will come back for me. I'm sure of it," Raspberry said.

"I wish I could be as faithful as you..." Rose said.

"Oh, you sure can," Raspberry said.

"No, I can't. If any of my friends does something wrong I will lose faith of them, and then the friendship will be ruined," Rose said.

"Anyone can do something wrong sometimes. Even I did," Raspberry said and there was a brief pause. "But my friends never lost faith on me. I should do the same to them."

"But you know... we of course won't let that to happen," Stephanie said.

"Yeah, if they come back we will stop them. We will even try to capture them and put them here with you," Tina said.

"Then what will you do afterwards?" Raspberry asked.

"Well, exchange you all for our freedom I think," Rose said.

"Don't be silly, Rose. You know that the Queen does not care much about outsiders," Stephanie said.

"Then what to do with the hostages once we have them?" Rose asked. Nobody could answer so there was a silence for a few moments.

"You want friends... I can feel that," Raspberry said suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Tina asked.

"She's right..." Rose said. "Deep inside my heart I am desperate for friends..."

"Now that you mention it... you're right... I want friends..." Stephanie said.

"When I was still a berry fairy, nobody wanted to be my friend..." Tina said.

"My attitude was so miserable that nobody was willing to be close to me. Everytime someone see me, they go away," Rose said. "After I became a dark berry fairy, things became even worse."

"Same..." Tina and Stephanie said at the same time.

"Tina... Rose... I think it's time for us to change," Stephanie said.

"Yes. Let's ask for Her Highness' forgiveness and change ourselves towards the better," Tina said.

"I know it will be difficult, but we need to have faith. I know we can do it," Rose said, and the three fairies had a group hug. Suddenly, while they had their tender moments, a bright light covered them. Then black mist came out from their bodies and disappeared to the outside. Their outfit was no longer dark, which meant they were no longer dark berry fairies. They had reverted back into berry fairies.

"Oh! Look, we are back!" Tina said, and the three of them were overjoyed. "Oh, don't worry Raspberry. We didn't forget you," She said, waving her wand. Then Raspberry was released from the ropes.

"So in the end I rescued myself," Raspberry said, getting up into standing position.

"I helped a little. But yeah, you rescued yourself," a voice said, which Raspberry recognized as my voice.

"Blackberry? Where are you?" she asked, looking around.

"I'm right here," I said, taking Blind Spot from my shirt with my left hand so I became visible again. I also had Inner Heart in my right hand. Nobody there realized that I secretly shot all the three fairies with it right after Raspberry had spoken about them having desire for friends.

"You were watching everything?" Rose asked.

"Not really. I came in at the same time Stephanie did. But yeah I watched everything afterwards," I said, throwing the two devices upwards for my backpack to suck them in. "Thanks for your trust on us, Raspberry."

"Hmph!" Raspberry replied, looking away from me. I could notice her blushing.

"Sis!" a voice was heard. I then saw Margalo flying in and quickly hugged Rose.

"I'm sorry, sis. I should have not used that magic," Rose said.

"It's okay. Now that you are here I could care less," Margalo said with tears of joy, still hugging Rose.

"But how...? The barrier..." Tina asked, wondering how Margalo got inside.

"Her Highness told me that the barrier would disappear once all of you were no longer dark berry fairies," Margalo answered.

"Raspberry!" Lemon shouted, running in. Then she hugged Raspberry tight.

"Yeah, I'm fine now. But I won't be fine if you keep hugging me," Raspberry said, running out of breath.

"Oh, sorry. I was so happy to see you well," Lemon said, releasing her hug.

"I know, but don't overdo it," Raspberry said.

Later, the three of us decided to go home and rest because Raspberry's body still felt strange after being tied up for quite a while, and I needed to get new shoes to replace Quickflash which had become a pile of ash. So all of us had the final conversation on Dream Boat's deck. I already had Time Remote Mark II in my hand by that time.

"We will return to Berry Fairy Fields and start over," Tina said.

"We will try to get friends," Stephanie said.

"It will be hard, but we have faith in ourselves," Rose said.

"You know, all of you already look like friends," I remarked, and they looked at each other. There was a brief silence.

"You're right. I didn't realize that..." Stephanie said.

"Me too..." Tina said.

"Same for me..." Rose said.

"Sounds like a good start, right sis?" Margalo said. "Even better, Strawberry Shortcake taught me how to make new friends. We do what she told me and we all will make new friends in no time."

"You said Strawberry Shortcake?" I asked, noticing the name Margalo mentioned.

"Yes, I was in her place and... I did a few mistakes, but in the end she taught me how to make friends," she replied.

"I see. I suppose it's goodbye for now," I said, pressing Time Remote Mark II's repeat button. "I wish you luck for making new friends,"

"Thank you!" All of the fairies replied, and the three of us jumped into the dimension door that had appeared.


--End of Chapter 19--