"Claire. Princess Fidget's advisor. She asked me to tell you that she is 'so totally tired of waiting around' that I could 'gag her with a spoon.'"
Elliot smiled. "So did you?"
"What?"
"Gag her with a spoon?"
Claire shook her head. "There's a pretty strict no-gagging-the-princess-with-a-spoon rule here. Even when she deserves it."
Elliot glanced behind him where Tubs was sleeping peacefully, his thumb in his mouth.
"What'd you do to him?" Elliot asked.
"Nothing," Claire said. "He just got tired of waiting too. He said his brain hurt from trying to figure everything out." Claire used a tiny hand to push some hair off her forehead, revealing a thin streak of white hair underneath the rest.
"You don't talk like the princess," Elliot said, eyeing the Pixie suspiciously.
"I bet you think all Pixies talk the same," Claire said. "Wanna bet they don't?"
Elliot stared carefully at Claire. "Harold, is that you?"
Harold the Pixie looked around to be sure nobody else was there and then flew in closer to Elliot. "I don't have long, but I wanted to come see you. Because if you really think about it, this could be a little bit my fault."
"A little bit?"
"Okay, a lot. I feel guilty. But I'll try to help you now."
Elliot pushed at the tree root bars of the jail. "Can you get me out of here?"
"I can imitate the Pixie look, but not their magic. Elliot, you have to release Grissel."
"Why does Fidget want Grissel released anyway? Are they friends?"
"As Fidget would say, 'That's so grody.' No, you've heard of the Totally Tubular Turf War, right?"
Elliot shook his head.
Harold folded his short Pixie arms. "I don't mean to lecture, because I'll only sound like my mother, but if you're going to be king of the Brownies, you should at least take ten minutes to learn about the Underworld."
"Sorry," Elliot said. "I've been busy with this science fair project."
Claire--or Harold--continued. "Ever since creatures entered the Underworld, Fairies and Pixies have battled over the land known as the Glimmering Forest. Woodland is hard to find down here, and this is the best in all the Underworld. Streams and rivers flow from beautiful waterfalls. Flowers of every color and variety grow wild. And the trees live forever in the Glimmering Forest."
"Sounds nice," Elliot said.
"Nice? That's like saying turnip juice is only pretty good. The Fairies want Glimmering Forest, and the Pixies want it too, but neither of them will share the land. Grissel promised Fidget that if she gets him free from Brownie prison, he'll blow up all the Fairy settlements that border the Glimmering Forest. Then the Pixies think they can take the rest of the forest for themselves."
"I can't help Fidget get a bunch of Fairies hurt. Do her parents know about this?"
"The king and queen of the Pixies are on vacation. They told Fidget if she solved the Fairy problem before they came back, they'd let her take surfing lessons."
"Mr. Willimaker says that if I don't release Grissel, the Pixies will kill me," Elliot said.
"Probably." Harold fluttered down on a rock and rested his head on his hands. "I love flying, but it's tiring."
"Can we get back to fixing my problem?" Elliot asked.
"Huh? Oh, I can't fix your problem. I'm a Shapeshifter, not a miracle maker. But I can do one thing for you. It'll be morning soon at your house. Until you get this all worked out, I'll go to the surface and pretend to be you."