Unexpected and unusual things never happen on a day full of unexpected and unusual things, otherwise they wouldn’t be known as such. No, instead these things happen on days that seem perfectly ordinary, like March 14, 2013 in the city of New York in a small insignificant orphanage. Or maybe it isn’t as insignificant as one would think.
She wondered why no one else seemed to notice the tall man with very colorful wings that looked strikingly like a dragonfly’s. He just stood there in the corner of the room, staring long and hard at each orphan in turn. One would think that at least one other person would notice the winged pervert. But no, only little Perdita saw him. She continued to stare at him with mild curiosity until his eyes, his golden and silvery eyes, locked upon hers, and he left his corner. A small peep of fright escaped her lips, but no one took notice. The strange man crouched down beside her desk as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Why should I tell you?” Perdita whispered.
The man smiled, then held out his hand.
“My name is Lore.”
Hesitantly, she took his hand and shook it.
“Perdita,” she said. “Why am I the only one who can see you?”
“So you caught on to that? You’re a smart girl. Only you can see me because you are the only one that I want to see me.”
Perdita’s eyebrows knit themselves into a line, but before she could ask another question, Lore did.
“Are you lonely here?”
She nodded.
“Would you like to go somewhere people will love and respect you?”
Again she nodded, but this time more fervently. Lore smiled.
“Come with me, then,” he said.
The bell rang almost like Lore’s words triggered the sound. Perdita immediately scooped up her bag and books, ready to follow Lore wherever. He stood to his full height and began making his way out of the door, the small thirteen year old in his wake. Obviously no one noticed just what was happening before their blind eyes. First of all, people thought nothing of Perdita walking off all alone, and second no one saw Lore. They all just went about their business, ignoring the girl with perfect chocolate ringlets and sparkling blue eyes. The strange duo left the orphanage and stepped out onto the New York streets. Lore turned left down the sidewalk with Perdita continuing to follow. It wasn’t until they had walked a block and a half that she piped up.
“Where are we going?” she asked over the honks and yelled curses of the taxi drivers.
“A council meeting,” was Lore’s uninformative reply.
“A council meeting for what?’
“The elders of my world.”
“Your world? What do you mean?”
“There are many more people like me. We live with the humans, but most can’t see us. We’ve got many communities scattered about, but our main community where our elders are and where our king and queen should be is here in New York.”
“Why aren’t your king and queen here?”
“You listen and analyze every word you hear, don’t you? Our king and queen were murdered, and their only child lost. That is why they aren’t here.”
“Oh . . .”
They continued on in silence until Lore stopped in front of a rundown and crumbling building. The roof was half caved in, the front door was hanging off its hinges, and paint had come off in large clusters of plaster. Perdita stared at it, wondering about the structural safety of the two-story building. 
“We’re going in there?” she asked skeptically.
“Not everything is as seems, Perdita,” Lore calmly replied before walking through the falling threshold.
Perdita stood for a second more before warily following. The inside hall was worse off than the outside. Columns on either side were either half-fallen or nonexistent; the wood-paneled floor was littered with holes that led to the basement from which the smell of death and decay rose. Perdita’s nose wrinkled in disgust.
“Lore?” she called out.
There was a rustling noise, and Lore appeared near the end of the hall. His dragonfly wings were fluttering in a blur of rainbow colors, his shoes a foot and a half above the dilapidated floorboards.
“Are you coming?” he asked. 
“How am I supposed to? I can’t fly.”
His brow furrowed as if her words upset him.
“Of course you can’t,” he said.
Lore leaned forward, and, with another rustle of his wings, he flew down the hall to Perdita. He wrapped an arm around her waist, and she wrapped an arm around his shoulders. They flew down the foul-smelling corridor until they reached a dead end. A shaft, however, led straight up into the darkness.
“Why have I got the feeling that’s higher than two stories?” Perdita asked.
A smile spread across Lore’s face. “Because it is.”
And up they went, seemingly forever, until they emerged in a room that held no resemblance to the building that housed it. The room was brightly lit with sky blue walls and purple-heart wood floors. In the very centre of the room was a large heather-grey marble table with ornately carved wooden chairs placed at intervals around it.
“Woah,” Perdita breathed.
“I figured you would say something along those lines,” Lore laughed. “Here, let’s go over to the corner and wait for the council to arrive.”
Lore placed his hands on Perdita’s shoulders and guided her towards one of the corners of the room. A few minutes later, people started arriving all with their own sets of wings. Some were like Lore’s; some were translucent with only enough color to know they were there; some were shaped like a dragonfly’s and others like a butterfly’s. Most of the elders came in pairs. A few of them would notice Lore in the corner, nod their head to them, then resume their conversation.
“Now that everyone is here,” one of the elders announced over the whispered talk. “Do we all know why we’ve been assembled here?”
There were a few yes’s, but most were no’s.
“Lore, if you will please explain.”
Lore left Perdita standing in the corner and placed himself in front of the council table.
“All of you know, I presume, what my mission has been these past twelve years, and I do believe I have accomplished my mission.” He looked to Perdita and motioned her over. She went to stand beside him. “I have found the lost princess, Perdita.”
Silence rang through the room deafeningly loud. All of the elders knew how wise Lore was, but the girl before them didn’t look like a faerie.
“If she is our princess, where are her wings?” one of the elders asked.
“My assumption is that whoever killed our king and queen turned the princess human in looks. If we all agree, we can use the stones to restore her wings, and we shall finally have our royal family in power again.”
The elders whispered among themselves before coming to their decision. The lead elder spoke up for all.
“Since you have been away from our meetings for so long, Lore, I do not expect you to have any prior knowledge. We have scattered the stones in the place the humans call Central Park and placed guardians before two of the three. If this girl is truly our princess, then she will be able to retrieve these stones, and we shall restore her wings and crown her queen. This is our decision.”
And with those words, the elders all disappeared in puffs of colorful mist. Lore stood dumbfounded before turning to Perdita.
“I will help you as much as I can and give you as much advice as is allowed, but you’re on your own otherwise. I wish it wasn’t like this, but I know you can do it. My first piece of advice is this: Jump down the tunnel we came from; you’ll be okay.”
Then he, too, was gone. Perdita wanted to cry and give up, but she knew she couldn’t give up this chance. She turned towards the tunnel, ready to jump.
“Wait, don’t!” someone yelled.
A hand wrapped around Perdita’s arm and pulled her backwards. Perdita fell to the ground, a faerie girl standing over her. The girl’s hair was straight and black, her eyes a pale, sickly blue color. Her skin was sallow, and her wings were ragged-looking.
“Are you trying to kill yourself?” she demanded.
“No, Lore just told me to jump, so-,” Perdita started.
“Lore?” the girl scoffed. “You shouldn’t listen to him, especially if he tells you to kill yourself. Here, I’ll help you down.”
She bent down and pick Perdita up with unusual strength, then they plunged down the tunnel, towards Central Park.
“What’s your name?” Perdita asked.
“Tarra. Yours?” the girl replied.
“Perdita.”
“Do you know where the first guardian is?”
“No. Do you?”
“Yup. Good thing I found you, huh?”
“Yeah, but I’m sure Lore would’ve told me.”
Tarra laughed. “You can’t trust him. Anyway, here we are.”
Tarra set Perdita down and dropped to her feet. “Follow me,” she said.
They walked towards a bridge that seemed strangely abandoned. As they got closer, Perdita noticed a very tall and lanky man leaning against the inside tunnel of the bridge, staring at the two of them.
“That’s the first guardian,” Tarra whispered. “He’s going to give you some hints, and then you’ve got to guess which vial holds the stone. Good luck.”
Perdita walked closer to the faerie, for she could see that he was one. The only thing was that his wings looked to have been torn off, and a chain was hugging one of his ankles.
“It’s not polite to stare,” he said when she was close enough to hear. “I’ve got no wings, if you must know, because I’m a criminal. My punishment is to guard this stupid stone of theirs. You’re here for it, aren’t you?”
“Yes. What’re my hints?”
“You like to jump the gun, girl. Here’s the table.”
The faerie moved aside to reveal a table with five vials, each a different size and color.
“You must choose one. Here are your hints: start in the middle, that one is very nice. The one to the right is not the one you seek, but the second to the left is a better choice. Go to the right once more, then two lefts. There is your answer. You may not touch them until you answer.”
Perdita thought for a moment, making the movements of the hints with her eyes. “It’s the farthest one on the left,” she finally answered.
The faerie smiled broadly. “You’re also very smart. Take the stone, girl, and find the other guardian.”
Perdita rushed forward and scooped up the short blue vial. After slipping it in her pocket, she turned around and ran over to Tarra.
“I got the stone!” she exclaimed. “Do you know where to go next?”
“Of course,” Tarra replied. “I’d be a terrible friend if I didn’t.”
Good job, Perdita. Lore whispered into her mind. You didn’t even need my help on this one. But don’t trust Tarra. Please.
“You coming, Perdita?” Tarra asked already walking away from the bridge.
“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m coming,” Perdita replied.
She ran over to Tarra and the two of them made their way to a small empty clearing surrounded by trees. Another faerie was standing in the middle of the clearing, but this one was short and still had his wings. He smiled when he saw Perdita.
“You may be smart, but I doubt you’ll be able to get this next stone,” he said.
He motioned behind himself and stepped aside to reveal a small pedestal upon which a yellow stone sat.
“Well?” the faerie asked. “Are you going to go get it?”
It’s a trick, Perdita. Lore said. You have to navigate the clearing’s traps and obstacles to get to the stone. I’ll help. Go forward a few steps, then to the right.
Perdita started forward until she heard Lore tell her to go right. She turned.
“Perdita, no!” Tarra shouted.
Tarra ran forward and yanked Perdita away just as a column of fire erupted from the ground.
“Did Lore tell you to do that?” she asked with a sort of resentment in her voice.
“Y-Yeah. How’d you know?”
“Because you almost died. Follow me.”
Tarra pulled Perdita up from the ground and led her to the left. Suddenly, Tarra forced them to stop just as wooden spikes burst out of the forest floor right where they would have been standing. 
DON’T MOVE! Lore yelled.
But Tarra shoved the two of them to the ground as a loud whoosh sailed over their heads.
“Crawl to the stone, Perdita!” Tarra shouted.
Don’t listen to her!
But Perdita did anyway and crawled as fast as her legs could as different traps were set off in a whirl of noises just after Perdita got past them. Some of the fires singed her jeans, and some of the spikes tore her shirt. A knife cut her shoulder just as she reached the pedestal and scooped up the yellow stone. All of the traps immediately stopped.
“Very good, young girl,” the faerie said. “Now leave me and go fetch that other stone your elders are so fond of.”
“C’mon, Perdita,” Tarra said rather harshly grabbing her injured arm and dragging her away.
“Ow, ow, ow! Tarra, could you please let go?” Perdita pleaded.
“Oh, sure.”
She released Perdita’s arm but continued walking.
“There’s the last stone,” she finally said.
And there, sitting beneath a tree, was a red stone. Perdita stared wide-eyed at it.
“Is it really that easy?” she whispered.
“No,” Tarra hissed.
Perdita spun around just in time to grab Tarra’s wrist to stop her from putting a knife in Perdita’s back. Tarra kicked her in the stomach and sent her sprawling to the ground. The knife sliced through the air and almost bit into Perdita’s stomach with its hungry tooth, but Perdita punched Tarra in the nose. Tarra reeled back but recovered quickly. She ran at Perdita and shoved her against the tree. Her knife was inches from Perdita’s face, held back only by Perdita’s weak grip.
“Why are you doing this?” Perdita choked out.
“You’re such an idiot, girl!” Tarra yelled. “And naive, too. I am so very glad I didn’t kill you when I  killed your parents. Otherwise I would never had been able to get these oh so lovely stones.”
Perdita kneed Tarra in the gut, sending the elder faerie tumbling backwards. Perdita ran in a sorry attempt to get away. Tarra ran after her and tackled her. She sat atop the young girl, knife pressing close to her bare neck.
“I trusted you, Tarra,” Perdita whispered.
“Of course you did, girl. I did everything to ensure that. Couldn’t have you trusting Lore with all your heart, now could I? You would have been perfectly fine jumping down that tunnel, and had I not changed the traps as Lore told you where to step, you would have been fine there as well.” Tarra smiled maliciously. “You trusted me, and now I’ll send you to your parents.”
Tarra raised her knife, and Perdita acted. She punched Tarra in the nose again, then went for her throat. Tarra gagged, and Perdita punched her in the eye. She threw the faerie off of her, and the knife went sailing. Tarra scrambled for the knife, but Perdita was faster. She scooped up the knife, kicked Tarra in the stomach, and planted her foot on the faerie’s sternum. Tarra spit blood at Perdita’s feet.
“You going to kill me now?” she demanded.
Perdita shook her head and did her best to call Lore the same way he had spoken to her. In the same second, Lore appeared in front of the two girls in a puff of colorful mist. He stared down at Tarra, then looked up at Perdita and held his hand out for the knife. Perdita handed it over. Lore yanked Tarra to her feet, then roughly tore her ragged wings off. She screamed and crumpled to the ground in a heap. Lore looked up at Perdita again.
“She’s now a criminal who will be sent to our prisons,” he said, then he smiled warmly. “May I have the stones?”
“The -- Oh, yeah,” she stuttered.
Perdita took the blue and yellow stones from her pocket, then bent down and picked up the red stone. She handed them over to Lore, and he gingerly took them from her. He pushed them together, and the three stones melded into a single stone with a swirling rainbow of colors inside. Lore handed the stone over to Perdita. She took it and began glowing. Sparkling, colorful wings akin to a butterfly’s grew from her back. Lore knelt down before her.
“You truly are our lost princess, and now our queen, Your Majesty,” he said.