“We must take it back! In that case, we will take the power from her!” Jilly exclaimed.
“When I see Acnepus, I will punch her in her face like this” Lily said, angrily punching her little fists into the air.
***
Night was approaching. Lily and Jilly were tired and sleepy. Princelda was also very tired. She suggested that they’d better have a rest during the night and take on business in the morning.
“When we wake up in the morning, we must make a plan on how to rescue my mother and defeat Acnepus. Only then we can make Buttershine the way it was before. And now goodnight, girls. Tomorrow we shall have a very busy and adventurous day.” Princelda said, as the girls went to sleep.
Chapter 4: The Plan
When the morning came, it was rainy and misty. There was lightning and thunder. The crushing sound of the rain was coming from the outside of the cave. The girls woke up and looked around. Even though their cave was warm and pleasant, they could tell it was cold and moist outside. The butterfly was calmly sitting on the edge of one of the armchairs.
“Good morning, girls,” she said. “Did you sleep well last night?”
“Yes,” the girls said together.
“It was so warm,” Jilly said.
“And the scent of the strawberries was so sweet and pleasant throughout the night!” Lily added.
Princelda smiled. “Have some breakfast, please. We must make up a plan for today. We don’t have much time.”
Lily and Jilly jumped to the table, where a new assortment of sweets and fruits was waiting for them.
“We’re ready! Let’s start making our plan!” Jilly said.
Princelda said: “In order to rescue my world, we must retrieve my mother’s crown and set her free. Only that way we can succeed.”
“I suggest that we travel to Acnepus’ world and search for the crown first.” Jilly said.
“And I suggest that we go and kill Acnepus first!” Lily said angrily. “I can’t wait to punch her in the face!”
“Calm down, Lily!” Jilly said. “We can’t go up to her like that. She will transform you into some sort of animal. She’s a witch. Did you forget that?”
“Jilly’s right, Lily. We must be patient. I know how you hate Acnepus. I share the same feelings. But we must be clever and patient. Jilly, we can’t go to Horriworld, as we don’t know the way.” Princelda sighed.
“But the queen and the crown are there, right?” Jilly asked.
“Yes, they’re there,” Princelda said.
“I have an idea!!!” Lily shouted so loudly, that Jilly jumped up.
“What is it Lily?”
“We must secretly follow Acnepus when she goes to Horriworld!” Lily’s eyes were huge and bright, full of excitement.
Princelda thought for a moment. “I guess that’s the only way we can find the way there. But how can we follow her?”
“I think Acnepus will not go to Horriworld in the near future,” Jilly said sadly.
“Why?” Lily asked.
“Because she has just defeated the queen and has got a new world. She will be busy with Buttershine instead.”
“You’re right, Jilly.” Princelda said. Everybody was silent. In the silence, the thunder and raindrops were not heard any more. Everywhere was silence.
“The rain has stopped. If the sun came out we could see a nice rainbow if we were in our world.” Lily said.
“My mother loves rainbows. Her crown is a nice small rainbow,” Princelda said.
“If only we could get the rainbow from the sky.” Jilly said.
Suddenly Princelda’s face expression changed. “Girls! I think I’ve found a solution!” She flew up and down with excitement, and her wings started shaking vigorously from happiness, resulting in a nice round pink sparkle cloud in the air. Lily and Jilly also got excited and started to jump up and down, too.
When they calmed down and sat into their armchairs, Princelda said: “We must get the rainbow from the sky and deceive Acnepus.”
“Oh, Princelda, how can we get the rainbow from there?” Lily asked, overexcited.
“We’ll go up and get it. And then I will magically shrink it… afterwards we will lie to Acnepus that we have got the real crown…”
“She will believe us and will…” Lily continued.
“And will turn us into some kind of animal.” Jilly finished the sentence, in a not-so-happy voice.
“No, Jilly, we must not just go up to her. She must not catch us.” Princelda said. “What I was saying was – she will be worried that we have got the real crown, and will go to Horriworld to check if the real crown is there or not. And that’s when we shall follow her.”
“But how will we manage to show her the rainbow and not be caught?” Jilly asked.
“Well, that’s something that we must think about.” Princelda said.
“Princelda, but the clouds are so dense and black. Aren’t they dangerous? What if lightning strikes us?” Jilly asked thoughtfully.
“The rain and the lightning have stopped, Jilly. What are you worrying about?” Lily said.
But Princelda was worried. She was silent. Then she said: “Jilly, I guess they may be dangerous for me. They may be magical, as Acnepus has put a spell on our world, and with the thunder and lightning it may have become really dangerous…” She stopped for a moment, and then continued: “When I was little, I hurt my wings while playing with fire. I remember that my mother called the Rainbow Master, who healed my wings. We must find him. I’m more than sure that we will need him.”
“Princelda, what’s a Rainbow Master?” Lily asked.
“How did he heal your wings?” Jilly asked.
“Girls, the Rainbow Master makes medicine from the rainbow and heals people when they are ill.” Princelda said.
“Oh, the doctor!” Lily and Jilly exclaimed together.
“What?”
“In our world the Rainbow Master is called doctor.” Jilly explained to the butterfly. “But how exactly did he heal you?”
“I don’t remember, but I think he made a special medicine from the rainbow. I don’t remember what he did with the rainbow, even though my mother has told me. I only remember that he took some medicine from the top of the rainbow.”
“But where can we find him?” Lily asked.
“You stay here, girls. I will go to find him. I think he can give us good advice.” Princelda said and left the cave hurriedly.
***
Lily and Jilly sat lazily on the soft armchairs, and started to eat ice-cream. Several minutes passed.
“Do you think she will find him quickly?” Lily asked.
“I don’t know. I am afraid that she has encountered some danger. What if Acnepus has found her?”
“I think it would be better if we went with her,” Lily said. “We would protect her if something happened.”
“You never know, Lily. Maybe it will be better that we stay here and wait for her.”
“Jilly, let’s wait five more minutes and go out to find her.”
“Oh, Lily, we don’t know where to find her, how are we going to find her?” Jilly exclaimed.
“Jilly, are you going to sit in this cave forever? What if Princelda never returns? What are we going to do? I will definitely not stay here. I will go and try to find her.”
“Lily, what if she gets killed?”
“Then I’ll do what I’m here for – I will fight Acnepus, get the crown and set the queen free. Afterwards we shall go home.”
“Oh, Lily you are so brave…I hope we don’t have to do it alone, though.” Jilly said, sighing.
At that moment Princelda and a man entered the cave. The girls were so happy to see Princelda, that they jumped up and tried to hug the butterfly.
“Princelda, you came back!” Jilly was shouting.
“We are so happy to see you!” Lily was screaming.
Princelda looked at them with happy eyes and said: “I am also happy, girls. I have found th
e Rainbow Master!”
The sisters looked at the man, who was a short man with a bald head. He had a red hat on. Small wings were visible on his back.
“Hello, I am the Rainbow Master. My name is Medicol.” He said, smiling, and bowed.
“Hi, nice to meet you, Medicol. I’m Lily, and this is my sister, Jilly.”
“So nice, so nice…” Medicol said. His voice was soft and he seemed a bit shy.
“Girls, on the way here I told Medicol about our mission. Medicol, we need some advice.” Princelda said. “Please tell us what we need to know about the rainbow.”
“The clouds now are rather dense and fiery. Acnepus’ spell and the thunder turned the clouds into a very dangerous substance. I’m not sure about the girls, but it can have a bad impact on your wings, Princelda.”
“That’s what I am mostly afraid of.” Princelda said. “Medicol, when I was little, you cured my wings with some rainbow juice. Please tell us about it.”
Medicol sat down, took off his hat and said: “I don’t have much time; otherwise I would come with you. But Acnepus will start looking for me. He has turned me into one of her slaves.” Turning to Lily and Jilly, he continued: “I have a special potion, which, when mixed with the rainbow juice, heals burns.” He took a small glass container out of his pocket. “Please, use this potion carefully. I don’t have much left.” He handed it to Lily, who put it into the pocket of her jacket.
“How can we get the rainbow juice?” Jilly asked.
“Just get up to the rainbow, on top of it you’ll find the juice.”
“Thank you so much, Medicol,” Princelda said. “Are you going to the palace now?”
“Yes, as Acnepus is there and waiting for me. Good luck,” he said and left the cave.
Chapter 5: High in the Sky
Lily and Jilly were ready to eat a nice sparkly cloud of magical dust so Princelda shook her wings. As soon as they took a few mouthfuls of the sweet cotton candy-like sparkle, their feet cut off from the ground and they hang in mid-air. Avoiding the ceiling, Lily and Jilly giggled and maintained a good balance, while Princelda nodded and flew out of the cave. Lily and Jilly carefully followed her. Once they were outside the cave and in the forest, the magical pink sparkly curtains closed the cave entrance behind them, making the cave totally invisible. There was no one in the forest, but still, Princelda looked around worriedly every two seconds.
They took off together, and flew upwards, into the sky. The unpleasant gray sky was waiting for them. Even though the rain had stopped, everywhere was cloudy and cold, and it seemed like there was no sun in this world.
Princelda had told them that the real rainbow was higher in the sky, beyond the clouds, and that they had to fly a very long distance into the gray sky in order to get to the rainbow.
***
Once they were in the clouds, they noticed that the clouds were very dense, like cotton, and they gave some sort of burning sensation. Medicol was right.
“Ouch!” Jilly said, as she was flying through a particularly black and dense cloud. Lily wasn’t bothered by the unpleasant clouds: she was making waves with her hands and soaring through the clouds angrily.
When it started to seem to them that the black and gray vastness was never going to end, a few rays of sun reached them through the holes in the clouds.
“We are near!” Princelda shrieked. She was breathing heavily and shaking uncontrollably.
The girls didn’t say anything. They were tired and breathless, and were sparing the last drops of energy that had remained in their bodies.
At last they got out of the clouds and stopped in the bright sunshine. It nearly blinded them after the black and dark clouds that they were struggling in for about half an hour. But they were happy that at last they got out of them. Too tired to say or do anything, Lily sat down. Underneath them was a thick carpet of black and very dense clouds. Jilly sat down, too. She needed to catch her breath. The clouds continued to give the unpleasant burning sensation, but the sensation was less now compared to when they just started flying in the dark clouds beneath them.
Princelda was crying. “My wings… the clouds burnt them…” Princelda said through the tears. Lily and Jilly looked at her wings – the outer lines of the wings had turned into gray ashes. The wings were wrinkled and had lost sparkle.
“Oh, no!!” Jilly gasped. “Medicol was right.”
“Don’t worry, girls, we can get the rainbow juice and heal my wings. I will be all right. I can still fly slowly. But I’m not sure if I can do magic anymore.”
“Try to emit some magical sparkles, please Princelda,” Jilly asked her.
The butterfly tried, but stopped shortly: “Ouch! It hurts! We must get to the rainbow.”
Only then the girls noticed that a little far from them a colorful and bright rainbow was shining. It seemed close and easy to reach.
Lily tried to fly up, but she couldn’t.
“The magic has worn off Lily… you won’t be able to fly until you eat the magical sparkle again.” Princelda said sadly.
“Let’s go,” Lily said and started walking on the gray cloudy carpet towards the rainbow, and Jilly followed her with the butterfly after her.
Getting closer to the rainbow, they stopped.
“Now what?” Lily asked. The rainbow was very big. It resembled a big bridge. They were standing at the base of one of its ends. It was shining with seven bright colors.
They noticed that it was possible to climb up the rainbow with some difficulty. It was smooth, but the girls managed to climb up, with Princelda calmly sitting on Lily’s shoulder.
***
When they reached the top, it was so high that Jilly held Lily’s hand tighter and looked down into the vast blackness of clouds.
“Lily, be careful not to fall down,” Jilly warned Lily. Lily nodded and looked around. Right beside them, on the top of the rainbow, there was a small gap with a few drops of colorful water inside.
“Jilly, do you think this is the medicine?” Lily asked, examining the fluid. Jilly nodded. Lily lowered Princelda, so that she could also see it.
“Yes, girls, this is it! Lily, please add this to the potion that Medicol gave you. I must drink this now,” Princelda said.
Lily took out the glass container, which contained the potion, opened it, and saw that there was also a spoon there. Smiling, she transferred the rainbow juice into the container. The transparent potion became colorful at once. Princelda gulped down half of the fluid. “We must keep the rest for later. We still have to get down through the clouds.” She said.
After several seconds the sisters noticed that the wings started to shine again.
“It worked, girls, it worked!” Princelda said, shaking her wings, emitting pink sparkle, as Lily and Jilly clapped and hugged each other.
Making a small pink sparkling magical cotton candy, Princelda said: “Help yourselves, so that you will be able to fly again.”
The sisters ate the cotton candy again. Jilly and Princelda started flying down, but Lily stayed on top of the rainbow.
“Aren’t you coming, Lily?” Jilly asked, and she and Princelda stopped in the air.
“I’m coming, but I’d better not fly right now. I want to slide down the rainbow!” Saying this, she sat down and glided downwards; yelling and shouting from happiness, as she slid down the colorful rainbow.
“It’s so much fun! It’s so much fun!” she kept shouting.
Jilly looked at Lily, and took off towards the top of the rainbow. “I also want to slide down the rainbow!” She screamed. Sliding down the rainbow was so much fun, that the girls kept flying up the rainbow and sliding down towards the black cloudy carpet for a few minutes.
Even though Princelda was in a hurry, she didn’t interrupt the girls, as she knew how much trouble and difficulties were waiting for them during their mission.
Chapter 6: Meeting Acnepus
When Lily and Jilly joined Princelda, she was ready to do her magi
c to the rainbow. Shaking her wings vigorously for a couple of minutes, Princelda emitted a huge pink cloud of sparkling dust, which rotated around the rainbow, making it disappear inside the pink cloud. When the sparkle dissolved, they saw a beautiful small rainbow crown on the black cloud carpet. It was sparkling and shining.
The sisters were barely able to breathe – it was so magnificent.
“This is beautiful!” Jilly whispered.
“Oh,” Lily said, taking the crown and putting it on her head. “Do I look nice?”
“Yes!” Princelda said, as Lily giggled happily.
“You look like a princess, Lily!” Jilly said smiling.
“Now we have to get down with the crown. Jilly, you must hold the crown tightly, so that it won’t fall down and break to pieces. It is very fragile.” Princelda warned her.
Lily took it off and gave it to Jilly. She held it tightly with one hand, getting ready to descend through the clouds. “Lily, is the potion container safe?”
“Yes, Jilly, it’s in my pocket.”
“Let’s go !” Princelda said and they took off.
Flying down through the clouds wasn’t as difficult as flying up. The sisters were full of energy and enthusiasm. Soon they reached the ground, and Princelda drank the potion again. Her wings came to life. She emitted some sparkle around them. The entrance to their cave came into view. They quickly got in, and the invisibility curtains closed in again.
Jilly carefully put the rainbow crown onto the armchair, and the sisters attacked the table full of delicious cakes and fruits and didn’t stop until they got tired of eating.
“Ok, girls, now let’s think how we can get to Acnepus,” Princelda said, putting a small strawberry into her mouth. “Medicol said that she’s in the palace.”
“Too bad that she’s turned him into one of her slaves,” Jilly said sadly.
“Where did you find him, Princelda?” Lily asked.
“I found him in the palace. He lied to Acnepus about having to acquire a very important ingredient for her dark potions, and she let him go for a few minutes.” Princelda said.
“Now we must go to the palace,” Lily said.
“We must be careful.” Jilly said and took the crown from the armchair. “I will wrap the crown in a napkin, so that nobody will see it.” She carefully wrapped the crown in a napkin and held it with both hands. The three of them got out of the cave.
***
“I will show you the way, girls,” Princelda said and flew forward. The sisters followed her.