"Alright," Lisa said as the meal ended. "Now to test if your abilities came in. Time to fly!"
Shocked, Flora jumped to her feet. "Fly?" Of course, she had known perfectly well that fairies flew and had seen Kai and Lisa fly plenty of times, but the idea of doing it herself still struck her as surreal.
"Eager, I see," Lisa laughed. "Kai, why don't you show her since you have similar wings."
The taller fairy stepped up to Flora and took her hands in her own. "Just do as I do." Slowly, she stretched out her wings, extending them to their full size.
Having seen them plenty of times before, Flora still caught her breath. They looked huge from this close, much wider than she was tall.
Shivering with excitement, Flora lifted her wings as well. Each black surface shimmered in the morning sun, and the large purple eye-spots dominating each wing gave off a slight glow. She noted that her wingspan remained a bit shorter than Kai's, no surprise given their height difference. Then again, fairy wings were not necessarily proportional to their heights and could be gigantic or tiny compared to the rest of their bodies. Lisa's wings for instance hardly even reached her hands when she held her arms outstretched. None of this affected a fairy's ability to fly, however.
"Good. Now for the fun part." Kai started to flap. Her transparent butterfly wings opening and closing like the pages of a giant book. "Just concentrate on lifting off. Your wings should know what to do."
It was an odd way of putting it, but Flora went along. She focused her mind on rising into the air, and sure enough, her wings began to beat. To her fascination, they moved with a more fluid motion than she had seen from the others, the forewings leading the way and the hindwings following after to create a wave-like motion.
"Now, lift-off."
Together, they rose up into the air. Flora's wings pumped twice as fast as Kai's to keep up, but they managed to stay level.
"Good!" Kai smiled and released her hands. Backing off, she positioned herself next to Flora. "Now, let's take a lap around the bed, shall we?"
The two fairies started to move forward. Copying the other, Flora leaned her body into the direction she wanted to go and found herself accelerating. Soon, she was tilted at a forty five degree angle and watching the bed whiz by below her. When she reached the end of the bed, she adjusted her lean to turn, much like riding a motorcycle. A flying motorcycle. At her side, Kai easily kept pace, her great wings cutting the air like a falcon.
Feeling more daring, Flora spiraled higher and increased her lean until she was completely horizontal, zooming headfirst like a superhero. The room became a blur as she raced around the bed in a purple streak, leaving her instructor far behind. Her long hair whipped at her back, and her sharp ears picked up the whistle of passing wind. At such a speed, her path had become a non-stop turn, but her small body handled the maneuver with minimal effect from g-forces. Without thinking, she let out a whoop of pure delight.
Suddenly, she detected a familiar hum next to her before Lisa came into view. Unlike her spouse's slower wing-beats, Lisa's wings were a blur, moving faster than the eye could track. Meeting eyes with Flora, the brown haired fairy gave a mischievous grin. "See if you can keep up."
The hum became a rumble as she pulled out ahead. Flora accepted her challenge, her own wings beating madly as she gave chase. Suddenly, Lisa veered sharply, changing their O-shaped path into a figure-eight. Then the figure-eight became a veritable knot as she zig-zagged and looped erratically. Clearly, she was testing the newbie to her limits.
Flora did her best to follow even though Lisa had a clear advantage in speed and agility. By the time the race ended and the two landed back on the bed, Flora was winded.
"Hoo!" She gasped, caught in a moment of exhausted euphoria. She flew! She could hardly believe it! Spreading her arms, she flopped back onto the bed, laughing giddily.
Working at the call center for monster flu victims, she had witnessed much of the negative sides of the experience. It had really colored her impression of what it must be like to be infected, all bad news, losses, and difficult adjustments, and up till now, all her changes had only confirmed that. But now...maybe, there some perks, too.
Then, Kai's face interrupted her view of the ceiling. "Good job, kid. Looks like everything checks out. You're ready to head to your new home."