The Aluna Village sprites took Makenna, Tracey, Gina, and Ash through Coutarine Island's jungle. Makenna and Tracey flew side-by-side while Ash, who still spoke with Crusader, followed. The fairy sprites escorted them to a waterfall and soared over the top of it.
One of them lifted her hand and said, "Welcome to Aluna."
"Whoa!" Makenna's jaw dropped. Aluna was behind the waterfall. It looked like a Fijian village, just much smaller. Palm trees hovered over it, as well as the jungle's trees.
Aluna was split up into two sections. The first section was the living section—the section behind the waterfall where the sprites lived and also where festivals were held—and the second section was the village section that contained shops, libraries, etc.
In the living section, where the sprites took Makenna, Tracey, Ash, and Gina, the sprites' houses changed from tiki huts to tree stump mansions, and even mushroom houses. At its heart sat a sprite-sized, wooden stage.
Makenna had stumbled into a lost fairy Wonderland. The sprites escorted her and her friends to the stage, and Makenna landed gently. She looked down and noticed that an engraving of Ethelinda, Coutarine Island's Guardian, rested in the center of it. Aside from the roaring waterfall, Makenna also heard the ocean. She stepped out of the way as Gina landed on the stage next—she almost was too big for it—and slid Tracey off her.
He, however, rolled and hit the stage with a thump.
Tracey!" Makenna gasped. She quickly reached down and grabbed him. "Come on, up you go," she said, pulling him to his feet. "There you go."
Ash settled on the stage last, while the sprites hovered, and he smiled. Lifting his gloved hand, he rubbed Gina's wing and told her, "You were a big help, Gina. Thank you."
Gina glanced at him and nodded. She tickled Tracey's neck with her beak and opened her wings. The three fairies watched as she lifted into the sky and landed on the tree branch over them to get out of the way.
Makenna lowered her head and crossed the stage over and over again.
Tracey and Ash watched her.
"This is so beautiful!" Makenna excitedly announced. She sniffed and rubbed her eye. "I think I'm going to cry. I feel like I'm in Fiji! Yahoo!" The young fairy leaped into the sky and lifted her hand, but ended up falling off the stage.
Ash and Tracey rushed in the direction of where she had fallen.
Suddenly, Makenna soared by their heads and yelled, "This is so awesome!"
The sprites and her friends observed as she excitedly flew all over Aluna's first section.
Makenna soared around different houses and called, "I have never seen mushroom houses before!" She circled one of the mushroom houses and glanced into the windows on both the fat stem and the mushroom cap. Turning, she pointed at one of the tree stump mansions and asked, "What's that?"
Makenna caused quite a racket in peaceful Aluna. The sprites weren't used to a lot of noise, except for when there were festivals.
Makenna soared to a tree stump mansion. During the process, she passed Ash and Tracey, who still stood on the stage.
Tracey called, "Makenna!" but Makenna didn't hear him, nor would she have listened if she did—she was just too excited.
Ash took Merlin's apprentice's shoulder and told him, "Tracey, you have to calm her down. She's only soaring further away from passing my trial."
Tracey nodded and hopped off the stage. He stumbled toward Makenna, who was now getting yelled at by other fairy sprites, and grabbed her before she could take off again. "Makenna!" Tracey gripped her other arm and pulled her close so that their eyes met. "Makenna." He tightly grasped her arm. "You have to calm down."
"I can't!" Makenna shouted. "Please, Tracey! I have never been to a fairy sprite village before! I want to check out everything!" She tried to release her arms. "Let me go!"
"Makenna, stop!" Ash suddenly shouted.
Now, Makenna stopped thrashing when he yelled.
Ash appeared beside Tracey and held his hand out to her. "Stop. Breathe. Calm down." Ash slowly lowered his hand. "You see, the sprites aren't used to overexcited fairies soaring around their village. They don't like a lot of noise. They merely like to sit back and listen to nature."
"Oh, okay." Makenna lowered her voice. For a minute or two, there was silence between her, Tracey, Ash, and the sprites, but then she broke it. "But I can't calm down!" Makenna ripped her arms free from Tracey and leaped into the sky again.
Ash and Tracey groaned and placed their palms to their faces.
Tracey soon lowered his hands and sighed.
Ash patted his shoulder and nodded.
Makenna now flew toward the beach and Aluna's village section, and she, Tracey, and Ash returned to their normal heights.
***
Once big again, Tracey glanced at Makenna's flight path and turned on a stern face. He then marched after her.
Ash examined him and gripped Crusader tightly. He put her up and tiptoed after Tracey.
Makenna soared through the jungle, barely seeing the beach through the trees and ferns. She smiled and flew faster.
Behind, Tracey stopped marching and plopped down on a rock. Makenna was heading toward the sea, his arch enemy.
Tracey was nervous. He didn't know if he could do this without getting drawn to the ocean. He put his feet on the rock and pulled his knees close. Tracey lowered his head and sighed.
Ash hid behind a tree, watching from afar.
Tracey closed his eyes and shook out his head. He could do this. He told himself he would march to the beach after Makenna to Aluna's village section without being dragged into the sea. After all, he was Tracey.
While Tracey rarely did so in public, he thought a small song would boost his confidence. He nodded and decided to give it a try. After all, Tracey loved to sing.
He slowly lifted his head, and his golden-brown eyes landed on the tropical jungle and Makenna's flight path again. He inhaled and checked to make sure no one was watching.
Ash hid himself better when his eyes rolled toward where he was. "Tracey?" he whispered, but Tracey didn't hear.
Once he ensured he was a freebie, he hopped off his rock and jogged toward the beach where Makenna had vanished. It wasn't long until he made it.
Ash stayed hot on Tracey's tail.
Tracey pulled some ferns apart, and his eyes landed on the ocean calling his name. He tried his best to fight the spell, though. He knew he could. He just had to keep telling himself that he was Tracey, the Tracey who survived broken wings the year before.
Just like any other beach on Coutarine Island, the one he, Ash, and Makenna stumbled onto was beautiful. However, resting on it near the water was a wooden raft with a sail and a paddle. A raft! What was a raft doing there? Did it belong to someone on the island, or did it just wash up onto shore?
At the sight of it, Tracey got an idea. Who said Makenna had to fight against the Octopus Man? It was he who was spelled, not her. This was not Makenna's fight, but Tracey's. Therefore, he gave it a go.
Tracey stepped onto the beach and gestured at the ocean with his palm. "Last year, things were much different," he sang. "We were ready to say goodbye." Tracey jogged toward the raft. "But now, everything has changed, and we know how to live our lives." During the first verse, he ran to the raft, ignoring Makenna, who was searching for Aluna's village section, and picked up the wooden paddle. Tracey believed that the raft was there for a reason. It was for him.
Gina soon appeared from the forest after he sang the first verse and hurried to him.
Ash emerged from the jungle, too, and fell onto the sand with a spider web on his face.
Tracey tightened his grip on the paddle and hopped onto the raft. While staring out at the reef, he sang, "Last year, none of this was here. This year, we are soaring!"
Gina landed on the raft and folded her wings, curiously peering up at her friend.
"Soar!" he continued, starting to make his way toward the raft's sail. "Throughout the ocean and sky! Soar! Don't look behind, just ahead!" Tracey dropped to his knees and immediately began working on the sail. "If nothing lives to your potential, soar and keep on soaring forward!" He tightened the sail's rope and leaped off the raft.
Gina tried to stop him, but Tracey didn't listen.
He approached the raft from behind and pushed it into the ocean. Tracey jumped onto it, grabbed the paddle, and started paddling out to sea.
Makenna and Ash noticed that and gasped together. "Tracey!" Ash yelled.
Makenna exclaimed, "Tracey! No! Stop!"
Tracey ignored them. He was desperate to stop the Octopus Man. He didn't need any help. This was his fight, not Makenna's, and not even Ash's.
Gina leaped into the air and tried urging him to turn back around to the island, but Tracey swatted her with his hand, causing her to fly back. Gina screeched and closed her eyes, shaking her head.
"Soar!" Tracey set the paddle down again and grabbed the line for the raft's sail. The entire time he did, he fought Poseidon's spell. "Don't let anybody control you. It's all right. Stand up for your rights and fight."
Ash and Makenna couldn't believe what they were seeing. Not only could Tracey sing, but he could also sail?
Makenna tried calling him back to get answers, but Tracey kept heading out toward the sea.
He tugged on the line and started to lift the sail, carrying on with his song.
Seagulls soared overhead and around him while Tracey prepared to open the sail. He tightened his grip on the rope and bravely looked out at the deep water. He sang the next "Soar!" verse as a long note. When he finished, he flicked the sail's rope, and it opened.
Suddenly, though, a gush of wind blasted the sail with such force that his hand slipped, and he flipped off the raft. The raft did, too, and both it and Tracey splashed into the Atlantic Ocean.
From the beach, Makenna gasped. "Tracey!" She started toward the wrecked raft, but Ash stopped her and shook his head.
Gina flapped her wings and flew to the location where the raft flipped. She flew in circles above it, calling for Makenna and Ash.
Ash started toward the water, but Makenna shook her head, looking jealous. Clenching her fist, she punched him and knocked him to the ground.
Ash landed on his side with a groan.
Makenna shook out her hand and flapped her crystal wings, flying toward the flipped raft and Gina.
Behind, Ash sat and rubbed his sand-covered cheek, yelling, "Makenna! What's wrong with you?"
Makenna ignored him and joined Gina on the raft. She examined the clear, Fiji-like water and saw Tracey's silhouette. He was stuck in the reef. Without a word, Makenna dove and landed with a splash.
She saw Tracey! The force of the crash had thrown him to the bottom of the reef, and his foot had become caught in between hard, rock-like coral.
He reached for it and yelled for help underwater. Immediately, the current and waves picked up.
Makenna fought the current and swam down to her friend. Her wings flapped slowly behind her as she did.
Once Makenna reached Tracey, she grabbed his wrist, and he felt her.
Lifting his head, Tracey's eyes caught her, and he mouthed, "Makenna!" underwater.
Makenna clutched his other hand and started to pull. She flapped her wings as hard as she could, and just like that, she pulled Tracey's foot out of the coral. Makenna wrapped her arms around him and dragged him toward the surface.
Large waves slammed down on the reef, and the raft Tracey took was in the middle of the chaos, too. Every time a wave crashed, it was pushed underwater.
As they headed for the surface, Tracey saw the raft and quickly grabbed Makenna, pulling her out of the way. A ball of green magic appeared in his right hand, and he shot it at the water. It hit it, and, crying out, the water pushed the raft right side up again on the surface.
That gave the two fairies time. They burst their heads out of the water and hurriedly swam to the raft.
Tracey climbed on first and snatched Makenna's hand. The current pushed them all over, but Tracey did not give up. He dragged Makenna onto the raft and told her to sit still. While she coughed water out of her lungs, he hurried to the sail's rope and picked it up.
Tracey opened the sail again and caught the wind. Clenching his teeth, he turned the raft back toward Aluna's village section and started to steer. Tracey was actually very good at sailing, but right before he and Makenna reached the beach, an enormous, twenty-foot-tall wave crept up on them from behind.
Seeing it, Makenna gasped and pointed at it. "Uh, Tracey! Tracey!"
Tracey peeped over his shoulder and also gasped at the sight of the wave. He and Makenna's entire faces turned blue, and they together yelled.
Gina moved out of the way and watched the whole scene.
Makenna dropped her wings behind her and protected them.
On the beach, Ash sat cross-legged with his back facing the waves, brushing sand out of his hair. "Look at what that Makenna Delling did to my beautiful hair!" he complained. "It's like she wants me to get slammed by a huge, twenty-foot-tall wave!"
Suddenly, he heard Makenna behind him. "Ash! Look out!"
Ash groaned. "Oh, great! Now what?" He turned, and his bright, blue eyes landed on the enormous wave that picked up the raft Tracey steered. Mouth gaping, Ash quickly held his arms before him for protection.
Within seconds, the wave crashed into the beach and threw Ash back!
Makenna fell onto the sand, and Tracey fell with the raft. Both it and he crashed into a log propped up on a ledge, and the raft snapped in two. The wave was so powerful that sand was ripped from the beach, and a few animals that lived in the jungle were pulled from their homes.
The wave slid back out to sea. While it calmed down, the beach was trashed with exposed shells, broken tree limbs, leaves, and frightened animals that ran wildly around it.
Makenna struggled to her hands and knees and coughed. She was soaking wet. Her entire body shook with fear. She peered back at her wings and sighed when she saw they were okay. Her eyes then landed on the busted raft at the log, and she yelled, "Tracey!"
Makenna leaped to her feet and sprinted to the raft. The sail hung from the log and got in her face, but she pushed it aside.
Falling to her knees, Makenna started to pull the wood away and felt around for Tracey's hand. She found him and pulled him from the wreckage.
Tracey had a few scratches on his face—and his hair was messy—but other than that, he was okay.
Gina soared to the two friends and landed on the torn-up sail.
Makenna, relieved, again yelled, "Tracey!" and pulled him into a tight hug.
Tracey coughed up a storm. Lifting his hand, he covered his mouth.
When Makenna let go, she grabbed his shoulders and shook them, asking, "Are you okay? Why did you do that, Tracey? Why?" She rested her hands on his cheeks.
"I don't know!" Tracey answered in a choked voice. "I thought I could fight the Octopus Man alone, Makenna! After all, I'm the one who was too weak to stop him from cursing me! I'm falling to pieces!"
Makenna hugged him again and rubbed his back. "Shh, shh, don't worry. I'm not mad at you. I'm just glad that you're okay. I'm sure Ash feels the same." Suddenly, her jaw dropped, "Ash!" and Makenna released Tracey.
He remained on the ground and massaged his foot that had been caught in the coral.
Makenna stood and frantically searched the empty, trashed beach for Ash. "Ash! Ash!"
Before long, she heard Ash's voice. "Whoo! That was awesome!"
Makenna turned her head, and her eyes landed on the top of one of the jungle's trees. Ash hugged the branches and leaves and lifted his fist.
Makenna cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, "Are you okay?" at Ash.
Ash was a bit scratched up, too, but it didn't look like he cared. He misunderstood Makenna's question, though. He lowered his fist and wrapped that arm around the tree's tippy top while his other one let go. Ash gripped his sideburns and replied, "Don't worry! The sideburns live!"
Makenna did a face palm and shook her head. "I wasn't talking about your hair. I was asking if you were all right!"
"I'm terrific!" Ash answered. "That was so much fun! Let's do that again!"
"Well, I'm glad you liked it," Makenna snootily spoke, "but do you think you can forget about the stupid wave and help Tracey and me find Evelyn?"
Behind her, Tracey rose to his knees and tilted his head. He patted sand out of his ear, and it created a small sandcastle beside his ankle. He peered down at it, and then his eyes rolled over to the busted raft.
Tracey gulped and pointed at it. "Um," he asked Makenna, "that raft doesn't belong to anybody, right?"
Makenna glanced over her shoulder at him and sighed.
From the tree he hung out in, Ash called down to her. "Um, Makenna, I'd love to help you find Evelyn, but I've got a slight problem."
"And what is that?" Makenna asked. She focused on Ash and crossed her arms.
"I'm kind of stuck," he answered.
Makenna groaned and did another face palm. "Oh, Ash." Finally, she decided to help him. Before lifting into the sky, she turned to Tracey and told him, "Tracey, I'm going to help him. Stay away from the water. Hide under the sail or something." She narrowed her eyes and gestured at him. "I mean it."
"Aye, aye, captain!" Tracey saluted and jumped to his feet.
Makenna soon turned back around and flapped her wings. They took her into the sky.
Once airborne, Makenna flew to the top of the tree Ash was stuck in. She hovered before him and placed her hands on her hips. Ash looked quite comfortable in the tree.
He lifted his left hand and waved, asking, "What's up?"
"You are impossible," Makenna admitted. Her eyes landed on his scratched-up face, and she gasped, adding, "Ash! Your face!" She placed the palm of her hand to her own face.
"Hey, don't worry," Ash said. "I've gotten scratched up plenty of times. This is nothing new."
Makenna lowered her hand and admitted, "I guess. After all, you are a Wizard Fairy. I don't think they get hurt often. Let me help you out, though." She offered Ash her hand, and he examined it.
After a bit, he smiled and took it. Immediately after he did, his entire body was outlined in blue.
Makenna slowly began pulling him out of the tree. However, before she could get him off the branch, something sounded below, and she turned her head, examining Tracey.
Again, Makenna gasped. "Tracey!"
Tracey could not listen. Poseidon's spell was too great.
He marched toward the ocean in a trance-like state and reached for it. "I'm coming, Octopus Man."
"Tracey, no!" Makenna yelled. Just like that, she released Ash and soared down toward him.
Ash ended up crashing through each of the tree's branches, yelling. When he hit the last branch, he flipped and flopped out of the tree, doing a face plant on the sand.
He, Makenna, and Tracey didn't see them, but behind them appeared a mysterious horde of sparkles, and they slowly started to approach them.
Makenna landed on the sand and hurried to Tracey, grabbing his arm. She pulled him away from the water and back in the direction of the busted raft.
Ash soon lifted his head, and a fish flopped off it. He looked up, and his blue eyes landed on the approaching sparkles. They widened, and he yelped, "The sprites!"
Sure enough, the horde of sparkles belonged to more fairy sprites.
Ash jumped up and hurried to the raft. He stood before it to hide it.
Makenna snapped her fingers before Tracey, and he woke up from his trance. However, a searing headache engulfed his mind as the Octopus Man kept trying to get him to come to the Bermuda Triangle.
Tracey reached for it, yelling.
"Tracey!" Makenna shouted, helping him onto the sand.
Gina landed on Merlin's apprentice's shoulder and rubbed against his cheek.
Argh, Tracey hated being cursed! Why was the Octopus Man only coming after him?
Makenna patted his shoulder and turned her head to examine the ocean. Wind blasted her blue-tinged, brown hair, and she sighed.
Where Ash stood, he tried his best to act as casual as possible as the sprites approached. He whistled and rested his elbow on the raft's hanging sail. The sail slipped immediately at his touch, and both it and he fell to the ground. The sail then floated down and landed on top of Ash.
Slightly yelling, he grabbed it and hid under its cloth.
The sprites stopped before him, and all of them crossed their arms.
A female one floated before the group and sighed, saying, "Well, look who it is."
"Ronda!" Ash yelled. He threw the sail off and jumped to his feet. "It's you! I haven't seen you since uh, the last time something broke. How long ago was that again? It couldn't have been too long. It was—"
Ronda cut him off. "Five days ago, Ashy boy, when you broke my heart by breaking one of my most prized possessions!"
Makenna and Tracey stared at their friend and the sprites together.
Makenna soon nudged Tracey and leaned into his ear, whispering, "I don't think Ash gets along too well with the sprites."
Ash threw his hands and argued, "It was an acorn! I mean, I needed something to annoy Merlin!"
"Merlin?" Makenna and Tracey inquired.
Ronda annoyingly snapped at Ash, "So, you took my acorn and put it in your stupid slingshot! Then you launched it like a cannonball at Merlin's head! When it hit the ground, he stepped on it and crushed it with those big feet of his! And now look at what you've broken next!" She motioned at the raft. "You've broken my raft!"
Ash started to stutter. "Well, I-uh-well-I mean-no!" He gestured at Tracey. "It was him! He's the one who took the raft into the reef and crushed it!"
"Me?" Tracey pointed at himself and prepared for an argument, but Makenna covered his mouth with her hand.
"Besides," Ash added, "I needed something to grab Merlin's attention and also something to fuel Shot One here." At that sentence, he reached into his pocket and drew a wooden slingshot. Its rubber was white, and it was a perfect size for him.
Ash reached down and picked up a stone on the ground. "Not to mention," he continued, "even though Merlin is adorable in so many different ways, he is quite dorky, so I knew he wouldn't notice the acorn."
That sentence made Tracey mad. How dare Ash call Merlin dorky! He lost his calmness.
Ripping Makenna's hand away from his mouth, he leaped to his feet, yelling, "Dorky?" and hurried toward Ash and the sprites.
Makenna groaned and did another face palm.
The sprites heard Tracey and turned toward him, even Ronda and Ash.
As soon as Tracey reached them, he grabbed Ash's shirt collar and pulled his face close to his. "No one calls Merlin dorky around me! He happens to be my Sensei, Ash, and if you don't like him, well, then suck it up! There are some people here who do!"
"Tracey!" Makenna snapped. She hurried to the two boys and tried to break them up. "Please break it up! Why don't we all sit back, take a deep breath, and watch a movie? I know a great movie! It's called Finding Evelyn of Aluna Village! Tracey, why don't you sing another song to calm you down? Please, guys!"
Ash lifted his slingshot and pointed at Tracey with his free hand, saying, "This boy happens to be Merlin's apprentice. He's quite feisty, isn't he?"
The sprites gasped and together asked, "Merlin's apprentice?"
To get Tracey off him, Ash placed the stone he'd found in his slingshot. He pulled back and released it.
The stone smacked Tracey on the bridge of his nose, and he yelped, "Ow!" letting go.
Ash next pointed at Makenna and explained to the sprites, "And this is Makenna Delling."
At the sight of the sprites, Makenna immediately smiled. "More sprites!" she yelled, throwing her hands into the sky. "Yay!"
Tracey again got smacked in the nose, but by her hand. "Ow!" he yelled again, falling onto his front on the sand.
When Ash spoke Makenna's name, all of the sprites cheered and yelled, "Yahoo! The Hero has finally made it to Coutarine Island!"
"Hero?" Makenna asked. "What on earth are you talking about?"
The sprites hurried to her and pulled on her hair, wings, and Crystal Metamorphic Fairy transformation. "Come, Miss Delling! We have to take you to the village section of Aluna!"
Makenna immediately gave in, "Sure!" and hooked hands with Ash. They shrank down again.
Now hovering, Ash and Makenna let go, and Makenna examined her hands, asking the sprites, "Does this mean we'll finally meet Evelyn?"
The sprites nodded, and the Metamorphic Fairy and Ash cheered.
"Well, then, lead the way!" continued Makenna. She flapped her wings while Ash used magic to fly, and they flew after the sprites further down the beach.
Tracey was left behind.