The small town, Free Town, quietly settled into night as the battle against Sandra had ended. At the mountain cave, Jim and Abby were settling into what would be their new home and in a secluded spot in the woods to the west on a different peak, Junn and Bechana had returned to their nest and their eggs. They would be fully settling into their lives and just trying to survive in a world where they were very different and on some levels hard to hide what they were. In a lone oak tree that had been planted in a city park, though, there was a rather different air of potential concern.
Just like Amethyst, once Mara had had fairy magic filling every cell of her body, she'd forgotten ever being human, getting the box of vials at the start of a weekend. She forgot her use of the vials that had changed her body, just as the vials had changed anyone who had come across the box. Though not that she didn't know of the box's existence or the potential problems that had come about because people using the vials for bad reasons. It was simply that she, like Amethyst, had forgot that she had ever had or used the vials.
After they had become fairy "sisters" and Junn and Bechana had accepted and settled into their role as griffons, Mara and Amethyst had sought out their own place to live and have fun. That carefree spirit to enjoy life ultimately took them back to Free Town and the city's main park, ironically not far from where Mara had lived as Mary. Through their magic, they had hollowed out a set of apartments out the tree for the two of them, complete with furniture and other furnishings, all powered by their magic. It allowed them to see Free Town's children as they went to school or played in the park, and both Mara and Amethyst used that to make friends.
It had also ultimately benefited Junn and Bechana as the arrangement had allowed Mara and Amethyst to largely pacify human hunters that might go after the two griffons. It was largely a basic enchantment over the town that when the griffons were spoken of, that people would think of it more as either legend or just some random animal that wasn't worth raising an army about. It generally protected the griffons from facing trouble and kept those that might have been irritated by the griffons from actually doing what humanity had done to every predator or other animal that had got in humanity's way. However, it did more to keep Junn and Bechana thought as nothing more than myths or something more mundane. It wouldn't stop anyone if the people of Free Town decided go out in force.
And it was Sandra's actions as the "dragon in the mountain" had helped threaten the sort of peace that Mara and Amethyst's enchantments had allowed for. Periodically raiding her former farm and razing it to the ground and actively hunting and eating people had raised issues. Mara even remembered on afternoon when she watched two fighter jets attack Sandra as she flew to attack someone or something. Someone had reported Sandra's actions to the military or someone, and they sent jets to deal with her. Even though Sandra was no longer a dragon or a dragon/hydra hybrid, but was human again, the consequences of her actions wouldn't go away anytime soon. Mara new that she and Amy would likely have a lot of work to strengthen their enchantments to the point where Abby and Jim wouldn't be facing constant attacks.
It was that that Mara thought of as she returned to the home that she and Amethyst had made out of the tree out of the park. They could manage it, but things would be in a rather fragile place for awhile, and Mara wanted to talk it over with Amethyst after they left the battlefield where Sandra had met her defeat. However, she'd made it halfway to Free Town from what was now Jim and Abby's cave to notice that Amethyst wasn't there, which left her pacing. Though after awhile, Mara was alerted to her fellow fairy's return.
"I'm back," Amethyst announced as she appeared in a flash of light inside their tree apartment.
Mara turned to see her and was quick to get her hands on Amethyst's shoulders.
"Where did you go?" Mara asked, "I got about half way home and you were gone!"
"I went back to give Abby and Jim a bit of help, as if they wanted to use the vials to make themselves small enough to fit into Sandra's old cave... they'd need my help," Amethyst answered.
"You went near their mouths?" Mara said with wide eyes as shock hit her system.
"I kinda had to to feed them the shrinking vial," Amethyst answered, "and neither Jim nor Abby are like Sandra..."
Mara only responded by pulling Amethyst into a firm hug.
"Sandra nearly killed you, sis, do you think I'd want you in a position where I might lose you?" Mara pointed out.
Amethyst returned the hug and patted Mara's shoulders. Mara watched as the other fairy gave a very understanding smile to her. Amethyst knew that Mara was worried about her and wanted her to be okay. She felt the same way about Mara.
"But they wouldn't eat me and you know that I wouldn't want to lose you either," Amethyst assured her, "besides, they did need my help with the vials."
Mara sighed and then nodded, "Well... I'm glad you're here. We have a lot to talk about... namely the results of Sandra's actions on our enchantment to protect Junn and Bechana... and likely Jim and Abby."
"We can always strengthen them on our own," Amethyst commented, "or maybe see if we could ask a child to place individual items we've strengthened to strengthen the enchantment that way..."
"Parents may not accept that," Mara commented, "even if they see the actions themselves as harmless... they may not want kids going to the areas we'd need to place those items in order to strengthen our enchantment. And even if we get the children to ask they're parents to do it... because they can't see us and we can't talk to them directly, they will put it aside as soon as the kid can't see it and forget about it."
"We may have to do that ourselves then," Amethyst sighed, "Junn and Bechana aren't likely to do anything to challenge the enchantments we've cast and neither will Abby or Jim."
The two fairies broke their hug for a moment while Amethyst then continued.
"The only other way would be to give someone the fairy vial or some other magical creature... like a unicorn to strengthen the enchantment," Amethyst finished, "but we'd need to find someone who would agree to give up their humanity and that we can trust that person to do the right thing with what they become."
Mara only sighed, as that didn't make things easier. Maybe they could work something together in order get that, but they'd have to go through children in order to do it, and that wouldn't be easy. In that sense, they didn't have much option but to strengthen their enchantments on their own.
"And in the meantime... there might be some things we can do for Sandra," Amethyst commented.
Mare blinked and then shook her head heavily.
"Do something FOR Sandra? After all the trouble that human caused?!" Mara gasped, "she tried to eat Junn and Bechana. She did eat several humans for no reason other than that they were close enough for her to eat. She attacked the town to the point that she was weakening our enchantments, and defeating her cost Jim and Abby pretty much everything! Why should we do anything for her?"
"She was angry at the loss of her son, but we couldn't appear to her and say anything about it," Amethyst answered, "she didn't see us until the dark dragon vial broke on her. By then it was too late."
Mara sighed and nodded. Amethyst had felt a great deal of responsibility for not being able to tell Sandra about John becoming Junn to be with Bechana. There was very little that Mara had been able to do get Amethyst to accept that Sandra's absorbing the dark dragon vial wasn't Amethyst's fault. However, Sandra's actions remained enough that Mara had potentially feared what would happen if anyone else took the dragon vial. It was only after Jim had taken the dragon vial and hydra vial at the same time that Mara had noticed that the vial was actually from the different from the one that Sandra had used.
Sandra had absorbed the dark dragon vial, told by her dark scales and why her attitude and negative emotions became so strong and dominating. In pure theory, Sandra could have fought it, but the human woman had made it clear that she wouldn't, and that let her become the monster that she became, typifying many of the darker and negative qualities that people had of dragons. Abby when Jim gave her the dragon vial and when Jim took the dragon and hydra vials, Jim had used the noble dragon vial. The powers were essentially the same, but typified the more positive qualities that humans had also attributed to dragons.
"That doesn't change what she did," Mara told her, "it also doesn't change what she wanted to do, even after turned her back into a human."
"I know," Amethyst answered, "and I'd support letting Jim and Abby defend the box from her or destroy it if they wish... but Jim did have an idea on how to let Sandra know that her son is safe and happy. She might not see us as a human, but we could write an answer down. Maybe when she knows that John is happy as Junn and with his mate she'll change her opinion and her behavior."
"Maybe," Mara answered, knowing that Amethyst's optimism was still in tact after everything, "if you think it'll work, than we can try it... but we'd need to wait for her to show up in town again in order to do it."
"Yeah," Amethyst agreed, "but it'd be our responsibility to do so when she does... and if she doesn't return to Free Town, hopefully she goes far away and never comes back."