Chapter Text
“Felix, come on, we need to go!”
The tiny sun fairy came running down the stairs at a breakneck speed, jumping off of the last two, sliding to a stop next to his grandfather and grandmother, wings fluttering in anticipation as he bounced on his toes.
Felix had just started learning how to fly, being something of a late bloomer among his year mates, and could just oh so carefully hover a couple feet off of the ground. Being behind didn’t bother him in the slightest (at least not yet. He would have to work hard to catch up to the rest by the end of the year, when real school started, if he wanted to be in the same classes as his friends). Today was a very exciting day because his grandparents had decided to take him out to a very special clearing where he could work on his flying.
His grandmother’s wrinkly, but smooth fingers rubbed his cheeks, almost to the point of hurting, Felix turning his face away, scrunching his nose. “Did you scrub your face when you came in last night?”
The dark tone of her voice went mostly over the child’s head as he nodded vigorously, sitting down so his grandfather could put the small shoes on his feet. “Mama said I had sunspots! They glow when I use my magic, see!”
Felix summoned a small spark into his palm, making the freckles scattered across his face light up and sparkle. Accompanied with his bright smile, the happy child was practically glowing.
Grandmother exchanged a questioning look with Grandfather, who subtly shook his head in disbelief at the child’s enthusiasm over having the wrong markings.
“That’s very…nice, Felix.” His grandfather cleared his throat abruptly as he stood up and collected the bag.
“Come now, we can’t keep the sun waiting, now can we?”
~~~
Felix skipped happily ahead of his grandparents, stopping occasionally to see the interesting bug or creature, oblivious to the whispered conversation going on behind him.
“The attacks have been increasing lately and getting closer. He’ll be gone before the night is ended.”
“We better hope this plan doesn’t kill us, too. You know we are going to have to fake being attacked in order to pull this off.”
“I know, but the code must be followed. He’s not one of us. His markings are all wrong, he should be flying higher heights than he is now, and he’s imperfect. His magic is all wrong. ”
“The child should’ve been dealt with the moment he was born, even if he was capable of healing magic.”
The forest started to turn a darker green the further they walked away from the village, the trail growing rougher and rougher until it became little more than a game trail, nearly invisible to those who didn’t know what to look for. Eventually Felix noticed the change, something akin to fear blooming in the young child’s chest, making him draw closer to his grandmother.
“This is faaaaaaaaaaarrrrr, Grandmother,” Felix finally voiced, childish pride fighting to keep the tremor out of his voice, a little scared at how dark it was in the forest (he is a sun fairy, after all). “Are we almost there?”
“Almost. It won’t be much longer.”
~~~
The dark creature slithered through the bushes, snuffling the forest floor. It raised its head as it caught the scent of the fairies, then seemed to melt into the shadows, stalking its prey as it walked innocently into the depths of the forest.
The tiny one seemed particularly lively, the way it danced and flitted across the forest floor, tiny feet dirtied from their adventures.
The dark creature would enjoy hearing it scream in terror.
~~~
The cruel and twisted plans of Felix’s grandparents ended up going better than they could have ever planned.
A little too good, in fact.
They suddenly came upon a clearing, rimmed with a low stone wall. The forest had reclaimed whatever structures had existed within the circle, the tall pillar in the center remaining as the last thing standing. Felix charged ahead after some encouragement from his grandmother, shouting in excitement, running straight for the pillar to explore around it. His grandmother set down the empty picnic basket she had been carrying by the entrance of where a gate would have once stood and backed away.
“We’re sorry, Felix,” she whispered under her breath. “But the code stands. You cannot live any longer.”
Grandfather looked over his shoulder as they turned and walked away. He caught a small glimpse of the still oblivious child dancing around the clearing, frog-leaping himself across boulders with his barely working wings.
For a second, he felt sorry for what he was doing, but he quickly squashed it.
Fairy rules were strict, unbending. Felix would not be the exception to them.
When he turned back around, he was greeted with the sight of his terrified wife running quickly towards him, a nightmare creature bearing down on her from behind, its dark shadow consuming her before she reached him.
He opened his mouth to shout (for who, he did not know, they were too far from the village for any sound of help to reach it), but it was over before he could make a noise, the last thing he would ever feel being pure terror at what he saw.
~~~
A small child broke through the forest one day, landing in a heap beside the fencing. He was covered in dirt, bruises, and possibly blood. His hair was no discernable color, nor were his wings, and his feet were shredded from his trek. The small fairy trembled against the wood, curling into a ball as it spotted a shadow encroaching on his vision.
“D-don’t hurt me,” he whimpered, starting to cry. “P-please.”
A gentle touch landed on his shoulder and the poor fairy screamed in fright, then passed out, eyes rolling into the back of his head, body going limp.
Two strong, but gentle arms carefully picked up the fairy, their owner turning to scan the woods with a frown, freezing when he saw the deep, dark shadow beside a tree. His footing shifted into a fighting stance when the creature rippled.
“I had no wish to hurt him,” it hissed, voice sounding like it had gargled broken glasses and stones. “In the end, at least. He was too pathetic for my tastes.” It shifted again, before sinking to the floor and vanishing, the cold chill (of both air and fear) it carried lingering behind.
The man shifted his load as he stayed and watched for a minute, making sure the nightmarish creature was gone, before turning around and walking into one of the houses that lined the street, the tiny fairy still passed out in his arms.
What had this child been through?