Aria's Quest - Learning More

Welcome to my story Aria's Quest! It's a serial fiction that I try to post every week. I'll be posting the back story soon to Deviant Art for anyone who wants to catch up :)

Section 4

Searching for Molly

Part 3

Learning More

Aria thought for a little bit, trying to figure out where to guide Joey next, and finally asked, "You said the other day that Molly had been here for a little while before she disappeared right?"

"Yah," Joey responded. "About 6 months. I think I told you that we used to hear from her all the time right?" Aria nodded. "Well at first we'd get calls and she'd tell us all about her classes, some really cool assignments she had, the people she was meeting, what she was eating, I mean we'd talk about everything! Everything was new and exciting for her, and she was determined to tell me all about it since I was going to be 'boring and stay at home' as she put it."

"So what changed?"

"I don't know. After awhile she stopped calling as often. At first I just thought she was busy with her new life ya know? I mean she had a lot of classes, and she was making new friends, so why would she need to share everything with me anymore? It hurt a little, but I figured it was all a part of letting my baby sis grow up.

Then I noticed she wasn't really answering my questions any more. When she did call the conversations only seemed to last as long as she was comfortable talking. If I pressed about something she didn't want to answer, she'd find a reason to leave. So I stopped asking questions and just listened to what she wanted to say for the most part, even if it didn't sound like her."

"What kind of questions was she avoiding? Maybe there's a clue there."

Joey shook his head, "I wish there was, but I've spent hours thinking about it and come up with nothing."

"Well, maybe a fresh pair of ears would help?" Aria suggested.

"I guess you're right, I think I'm just discouraged after all this time. I've been here for over a year, and I haven't found any clues." Joey sighed.

"Well, I didn't promise this would be easy, but you did say you wanted to try, and we both know I look at the world differently. Plus I have connections you never could have had. Did I ever tell you I live with a couple of dwarves? Did you know there's a huge magical community here in town? I may not know that many people yet, but my friend Robyn seems to know everyone! Chances are one of them will be able to pull up some sort of clue you couldn't have found on your own. Besides, if we fail (and I really hope we don't!) you'll know that you tried every avenue you could."

"That's true." Joey gave her a half grin, "Just keep talking me through it ok?" He paused for a moment, "You know it'll be nice to have someone else to talk to about all this. I mean, I call home and give reports, but I don't like stressing them out, so these days especially I talk mostly about my life, because it hurts too much for all of us to talk about Molly. I think they've given up."

"We'll that's what I'm here for! You know I'll listen, and hopefully we'll find her too. Then you can call your grandparents with some good news!"

"Now that would be nice! I don't think they'd believe me if I told them about my new fairy friend though..."

Aria laughed, "That's why you won't say anything until we find something worth reporting! And I don't mind if you never mention me to your grandparents."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Joey said, finally giving Aria a full smile for the first time that day. "If we find her, you're going to love Molly! And she'll love you. We'll just keep the more magical aspects of finding Molly hidden from my Grandparents."

Aria's Quest - Talking to Joey

I've posted this segment of the story previously, but since it's been awhile since I posted regularly I wanted to start at the beginning of the section of the story so that things will be as cohesive as possible. :) Enjoy!

Section 4

Searching for Molly

Part 1

Talking to Joey

Aria had made up her mind to try and help Joey find Molly, but actually bringing the topic up was hard. So, at first, she just listened as he talked about some of his roommate’s crazy antics from the night before. Finally, Joey noticed how quite she was being, and asked, “So what’s going on with you today? You’re not really talking much. Did something happen last night? Did I say something?”

“No, nothing happened last night.” Aria sighed and the quickly continued when she saw that he was worried he’d done something, “And it’s not really anything you did, or rather it is, but it’s not anything bad!”

Now the look on Joey’s face was confusion, “You’re not making much sense. I said or did something that has you upset but it’s not bad?”

“Well, yeah. This is going to be hard to explain, so just be patient with me ok?”

“Ok.” Joey leaned on his broom and gave her his full attention.

Aria took a deep breath and started in on her story, “I never told you why I came to the city. It was more than just wanting to get away from my family, or wanting to see the sites, I’m on a quest. It’s something that every woodland fairy goes through as a rite of passage to becoming recognized as an adult in the community.”

“What type of quest?”

“Well that changes a little for each fairy. Our main goal is we have to find a human in the city, and find a way to improve their life.” Aria paused there, not sure what to say next, how to bring up Molly. Joey was quiet at first too. Finally he asked the obvious question.

“So does that mean you plan on ‘improving’ my life some way?” Joey looked a little bemused.

“Sort of. I want to help you find Molly.”

Joey grew really serious when he heard that. “Do you really think you can?”

“I don’t know for sure.” Aria replied honestly. “But I do know that I have connections that you don’t have, and I want to try! I can’t promise anything though, well, other than that I’ll give it my best effort.”

Joey went back to sweeping with a look of concentration on his face. Aria just watched, knowing he needed time to process, and hoping that she hadn’t alienated him. Finally, when he’d finished cleaning the room he turned back to Aria and said, “Ok, where do we start?”

Aria's Quest - So Tell Me?

Hi! Welcome to my story - Aria's Quest. If your just joining in here's what you need to know:

Aria is a Woodland fairy on a quest in the city. She must find a human and find a way to make their lives better. Aria found a guy named Joey, who she has become friends with, and Joey has a big problem. His sister, Molly, is missing. Right now they are setting the foundation so Aria will know the information she needs to be able to help him find Molly.

If you want to read the back story just follow this link: Aria's Quest

Section 4

Searching for Molly

Part 1

So Tell Me?

“Ok, where do we start?” Joey asked with his bravest look.

“Why don’t you tell me more about Molly.” Aria gently replied.

“Molly was always full of life. You’d really like her. She’s two years younger than me, and we were always really close. She had a vivid imagination, and when we’d play up the woods she’d come up with the craziest stories for us to act out! Sometimes we’d be stranded on a desert island, other times we’d fight goblins, and some times we’d search for buried treasure. Her descriptions were always so real that sometimes she almost had me believing we’d found some treasure!

No matter what we played, I was always the strong one, protecting her. Molly usually chose the more dramatic roles like princess, gypsy, fairy, or anything she thought might be sound exciting. Our play resembled real life in that way. She, the imaginative and exotic; and I the older brother, down to earth but fiercely protective.

Not that Molly really needed that much protecting. We lived a simple life like I said, out on the edge of a small town, and our parents were always good to us. So our home life was good, but sometimes Molly got picked on at school. She was too different, her imagination too big, for our little town. That’s when I’d protect her. Didn’t get in too many fist fights for her, I guess after the first couple I had proved I was willing to stand up for her, and most of the time they didn’t think it was worth the busted lip.” Joey trailed off after that, a little lost in his memories.

Aria let him think for a bit and then prompted him, “Why did Molly come to the city for school?”

“We had a teacher in High School, Mrs. Dutsch, and she always thought Molly had real potential. She encouraged her to explore art and drama more, and then helped her get a scholarship to a university with a good arts program. It was perfect for her!”

“Why didn’t you go to school here too?” Aria asked, not knowing much about human schooling, and very curious.

“Aww…I didn’t really need any of that higher education stuff. There was never anything special about me like there was about Molly. I had myself a good job working at the local mechanic shop, and that was more than enough for me.”

“What’s a mechanic shop?”

“It’s where people take their cars to get fixed.”

“Did you like it?”

“I loved it!”

“Then why don’t you do that here in the city? Why take care of the church?”

“This job gave me more freedom. More time to search for Molly.”

Aria's Quest - Pondering

Hi! Welcome to my story - Aria's Quest. If your just joining in here's what you need to know:

Aria is a Woodland fairy on a quest in the city. She must find a human and find a way to make their lives better. Aria decided this would be easiest if she found a true believer, someone who already believed in fairies that she could easily converse with, and so the first part of her time in the city was taken up searching for one of those. She's finally found a true believer and now she's getting to know him and trying to figure out how she can help him.

If you want to read the back story just follow this link: Aria's Quest

Section 4

Getting to Know Each Other

Part 4

Pondering

Aria was quiet when she got back to the apartment that night. Joey certainly had a big problem, with his sister being missing, and she was sure that finding Molly would improve his life and qualify for her quest, but what if she couldn’t do it? Joey had been in the city for a year now, and he said he’d found no trace of what happened to her. They hadn’t talked about it for very long, but long enough for Aria to know that Joey was at the point of giving up.

For the first time on her quest Aria was truly worried. She had grown fond of Joey quickly, and she would hate to get his hopes up only to have them crushed. On the other hand, how could she not try and help him? Being part of the magical world she doubtlessly had resources that he didn’t have access to. Maybe she’d be able to find leads he never could have stumbled on. Aria was sure that Robin would have contacts that could help.

Aria didn’t sleep well that night. She knew that helping Joey find Molly was the right thing to do, but she was still worried about not succeeding. That next morning she did a flying stumble into the kitchen, much earlier than normal, and collapsed down on the table.

“What’s wrong deary?” Gina asked. “You’re never up this early, and your drooping! Let me get you some coffee.”

“Thanks Gina. I’m just a little overwhelmed and I didn’t sleep well.”

“What’s going on honey? You were really quite last night too.”

“Well, you know my quest? And Joey? I figured out what he needs help with, and I’m a little scared that I won’t be able to do it.” She gave Gina a brief smile as Gina put a steaming cup of coffee down next to her, “Thanks. His sister is missing and has been for about a year. Her name is Molly. I really want to help him find her, but I’m worried that I’ll just get his hopes up and fail. I mean, this is something HUGE. It’s not like I’m helping him learn a new skill or something, this is his family, and if we don’t find her…” Aria trailed off, worry written all over her face.

Gina was quite for a minute. “Well honey, your right, if you don’t succeed it’ll be really hard, but sometimes the things that are the most worth it carry the highest prices for failure.”

“I guess that’s true. I am going to try. I’m just a little overwhelmed. This seems so much bigger than what some of my brothers and sisters had to do on their quests!”

“Don’t compare yourself to them. We each have our own destinies, and it appears that yours is wrapped up with Joey and Molly. Maybe you’ll find it easier than you thought. Or maybe you would have found their tasks harder than they sounded. Either way it doesn’t really matter. You have your task, now it’s time to perform it to the best of your ability.”

Aria gave Gina a smile. “Thanks. That helps a lot.” She took a deep breath, “Can I help you get breakfast ready for Darryl and everyone? It’s still too early for me to go meet Joey and with these butterflies in my stomach I should probably make sure I’ve eaten something first!”

“Of course deary. I’m always glad for the help!”

Aria's Quest - Getting to Know Joey

Hi! Welcome to my story - Aria's Quest. If your just joining in here's what you need to know:

Aria is a Woodland fairy on a quest in the city. She must find a human and find a way to make their lives better. Aria decided this would be easiest if she found a true believer, someone who already believed in fairies that she could easily converse with, and so the first part of her time in the city was taken up searching for one of those. She's finally found a true believer and now she's getting to know him and trying to figure out how she can help him.

If you want to read the back story just follow this link: Aria's Quest

Section 4

Getting to Know Each Other

Part 4

Getting to Know Joey

Taking a deep breath Joey started talking, “Well, I’m not really sure where to start telling you about myself. I work here at the church as a janitor, but you already know that. Um, I share an apartment with two other guys from the church, helps keep the rent down you know? I don’t really know either of them really well. They both grew up together and share the master bedroom. I have the smaller bedroom to myself. We don’t hang out to much. They have their own lives and I have mine. Oh don’t get me wrong, it’s not like we dislike each other, we’re just different.” Joey explained.

“How are you guys different?” Aria asked.

“I guess in some ways it comes down to where we grew up. They are both city boys, and they love going out clubbing and to the movies and stuff. I don’t mind going out once in awhile, especially to the movies, but I’m more the type who likes to do active things. I love to bike and do pretty much anything that gets me out doors. I also don’t mind doing things on my own and they’re the type that craves company.”

“So you’re not from the city?”

“Nope. I’ve only been here for about a year. Grew up on the edge of a small town.”

“Did you grow up on a farm?” Aria had never actually been to a farm, but she was familiar with the concept.

“We had land, but it wasn’t a farm, even though we always had some animals running around. Cats, dogs, and Ma’s chickens mostly. We had a huge backyard that kinda dissolved into the foot of the mountain behind us. We spent hours playing in the woods and exploring around the mountain.”

“Whose ‘we’? Do you have brothers and sisters?”

Joey got really quite for a minute at this question and Aria was afraid for a minute that she’d said something wrong. “I have a sister. Her name is Molly.”

Aria hesitated before she asked any more questions, she wanted to know more about Molly, but with the look on Joey’s face she wasn’t sure if she should ask. Before she made up her mind Joey spoke again. “Sorry, it’s just, well, we don’t know where she is. Molly came to the city to go to school two years ago. At first we heard from her all the time, and then suddenly her phone calls just stopped. She’d only been here for 6 months. Nobody has heard from her since.”

“Is that why you came to the city?”

“Yeah.”

Aria's Quest - Full to Overflowing

Section 4

Getting to Know Each Other

Part 2

Full to Overflowing

Aria ended up spending the rest of that day just following Joey around as he worked and talking with him. He seemed to drink up her stories of fairy life, and she in turn was fascinated by his stories, both about the church and about his own life. She agreed to meet him back at the next day and flew home with a mind that was full to over flowing.

Flying back home, Aria thought over her conversations that day with Joey. She had learned a lot, both about Joey, and about human life in general. Sometimes she learned the most just by the questions he asked her! The things that amazed him seemed common place to her, and she would usually turn the questions around eventually to find out how things worked in his world.

Most of what she had learned so far was surface stuff though. That was frustrating, but building relationships takes time. Aria was a little bit worried that she wouldn’t be able to find any way to help Joey, but she tried to stay confident. After all, don’t most people have at least one thing in their life that they need help with?

When Aria got back to the apartment she had a pleasant surprise, Robyn had come over for dinner! “Robyn, Darryl, Gina! Wait until I tell you what happened today!” Aria said once she got done saying hi to everyone.

“Did you drink more coffee?” Robyn asked, teasing her.

“No silly!” Aria said giving him a little shove, “I finally met a true believer!”

“Congratulations Lassie!” Darryl said with a big grin.

“That’s wonderful Aria!” Gina added, “Now all of you gather round the table before the food grows cold and Aria can tell us all about it.”

Aria had a lot of fun that evening telling her friends about Joey. They were all really excited for her, although she noticed that Robyn got a weird look on his face when she mentioned that she’d met a male human. She didn’t really know what to think about that, so she just shoved it to the back of her mind. She could have probably talked all night, but she said her “good nights” early, she wanted to make sure she had plenty of energy for what ever the next day had in store for her!

Aria's Quest - That First Day

Hi! Welcome to my story - Aria's Quest. If your just joining in here's what you need to know:

Aria is a Woodland fairy on a quest in the city. She must find a human and find a way to make their lives better. Aria decided this would be easiest if she found a true believer, someone who already believed in fairies that she could easily converse with, and so the first part of her time in the city was taken up searching for one of those. She's finally found a true believer and now she's getting to know him and trying to figure out how she can help him.

If you want to read the back story just follow this link: Aria's Quest

Section 3

Getting to Know Each Other

Part 1

That First Day

Aria spent a long time that first day simply listening to Joey talk. They moved from the mural of angels to talking about some of the other fascinating pieces of art in the church. Aria loved to learn, so it was no chore to listen to him talk on and on.

On Joey’s part, he found himself caught between two loves. He loved to tell stories, especially when they were true, and he’d always wanted to talk to the fairies again. After awhile though, he started to feel embarrassed, he’d done all the talking! She seemed interested, but what if he was really boring her to death? They were up in the front of the sanctuary looking at an ornate carving when he finally said, “I’m sorry, your probably getting bored listening to me tell all these stories.”

“Not at all! They are very interesting. I’ve always loved to learn new things. How do you know all these stories anyway?”

“Well, I’m the janitor here, and I listen a lot. Mr. Jacobs, one of the ushers, was here when this church was first built and he loves to tell the stories behind these pieces. He comes in once a week to make sure that the pencils in the pews are sharp. Takes him a few hours because he’s moving really slow these days. I always make sure I have work to do in the sanctuary while he’s here so I can listen to his stories. Plus, well, people tend not to notice the janitor. So I sometimes learn things just as I work.” He blushed a little,” Some of that I don’t really want to know, but some of it can be pretty interesting.”

Aria laughed a little at his embarrassment, but she understood! “Back home I used to spend a lot of time reading, like I said I love to learn, and people would forget I was there because I was being quiet, so sometimes I’d overhear things that I didn’t really want to hear either!”

“So you’re not from the city?” Joey asked, curious about his new friend, although he wasn’t sure if he had the right to call her that yet.

“No, I grew up in the woodlands. I’ve only recently come to the city.”

“What was life like in the woodlands?”

So Aria began to tell him all about her woodland home, and the fairies that lived there.

Aria's Quest - At Last

Welcome to Aria's Quest! If this is your first time here this is what you need to know. Aria is a young woodland fairy on a quest in the big city to find a human she can help. If she's successful she can return to her tribe as a full adult. Aria's chosen to look for a true believer (one who already believes in magic and fairies) because she thinks that will make her quest easier...but finding a true believer may be harder than she thought! Read the rest of the story here.

Section 2

Searching

Part 9

At Last

Aria woke up late the next day, and debated going out at all. She hadn’t really taken a break since she got to the city after all! Of course the night before had been a lot of fun, so she could kinda count that as time off, even though they had been searching while they went pub hoping.

Eventually she decided to drag herself out of bed, comb her hair, raid the kitchen, and finally set off on her day. Even a half day of searching was better than nothing!

Today she decided to explore a church she’d flown by a few times on her trips. She’d avoided it at first, after all she was looking for a believer in fairies not a believer in God, but she decided it might be time to expand her horizons and just try everywhere! Besides, it was a beautiful building and she loved exploring these huge buildings that humans came up with.

The first thing Aria saw when she entered was a gorgeous mural painted to one side of the lobby. She flew over to hover in front of it, staring at the scene that was depicted there. There were human-sized beings, with wings that were covered in white feathers like a bird, and they were laughing and playing instruments. We’re these some kind of fairy that she had never heard of? She was so lost in thought that she never heard the person who walked up behind her.

“Beautiful aren’t they?” Aria gasped and spun around. It was just her and this human in the room, but, but, he couldn’t have been talking to her could he have? She was visible, it had kind of become a habit during the search, but could someone actually be seeing her and talking to her?

“Were you talking to me?” She asked, incredulous.

“Of course. There isn’t anyone else here. Well, unless their in hiding.” The young man ducked his head slightly, looking a bit embarrassed, “I hope you don’t mind me talking to you.”

“No! Not at all! I’m just surprised! So few people can see me! My name is Aria by the way.”

His face lit up as he responded, “I’m Joey! It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten to talk to a fairy!”

“You’ve talked to others?”

“Yeah, not since I was a little boy, but there were a few up at my Grandparents cottage that used to talk to me. My sister never really believed me, so I stopped talking about it, but they were there. I’ve seen a few here in the city, but never really had a chance to talk to any of them.”

Still a little caught off guard Aria searched her head for a way to keep him talking, “So can you tell me about this painting? Are these some kind of fairy?”

“No, those are angels.” He said as he launched in to a long and fascinating explination.

Now how was Aria going to figure out if he needed help with anything?