Chapter Text
Although Damon considered himself to know Wolfgang a considerable amount, at least enough that he needed to know, he hadn’t met the other members of the Fairy Council. His first introduction to them being in a courtroom wasn’t the best.
The members were wearing their robes as if it were a real trial. It hid their entire body and their faces, making it hard to say who was who. Ulysses sat by himself, recording everything that happened, just like a real trial as well, although Damon was unsure if a real trial involved Ulysses making it clear he was avoiding looking at them. However, there was no real trial. The only ones in the large room were the Fairy Council, Ulysses, Damon, and, of course, Kai.
The Fairy Council spoke quietly to themselves. Damon, who had cleaned himself up before coming here, felt too uncomfortable to sit, so he stood. Kai sat on the chair closest to him. Kai was quiet, staring at the floor with a tired expression. The only sign of movement was his fingers playing with his rings. He accepted his fate so easily.
Not a word had been shared with Damon since he was told to come to the courtroom. Even so, Damon was certain of what the Fairy Council was thinking. Kai flooded Atlantis, and he was going to get in trouble. Even though Damon was there, he would get a free pass. He didn’t do anything wrong in their eyes. He was just an innocent bystander. The worst-case scenario would be him getting a bit more training, but he wouldn’t be fired or anything of the sort.
Damon was innocent, and Kai was not. That was what the Council undoubtedly agreed upon. If he wanted to stay out of trouble, he needed to keep his mouth shut and let the Council declare Kai’s fate. Then, there was a high chance that the two of them wouldn’t be godparents anymore. He just needed to be a godparent in the first place, and he was certain that he could be a godparent by himself. Since he wouldn’t see Kai again, any guilt he might feel wouldn’t escalate. He just needed to stay quiet.
And yet, he couldn’t help but wonder if all this was his fault.
Obviously, he knew that he didn’t do most of this. He was a child when Kai first showed signs of his unnatural magic potential, after all. Yet, like his father said, it was him that helped Kai become a godparent, and it was him who became close to Kai. That made it his fault, but it wasn’t as if anyone was blaming him for it. At least to everyone else, he was fully in the right.
Even so, the quietness of the room broke when Damon said, “No one in Atlantis got permanently injured. All the residents of Atlantis were turned into creatures who can survive life in the water.”
One member of the Council said condescendingly, “Their anatomy was adjusted without their consent. Thousands of creatures are no longer humans.”
“At least they’re still alive. If it bothers you so much, erase their memories of ever being human. For all they know, they have always been like this.”
“You do realize the ethical issues that come with this?” another member said, their voice more condescending than the last.
“Do you really care about ethical issues?” Damon gestured to Kai, ignoring his stare. “It’s not ethical to force a fairy to live a life constricting his every move, yet that is what you have forced Kai to go through.”
“This event is proof that is necessary,” a member said.
“I don’t think so. If any of you actually thought about it, it would make sense for Kai to have less control of his magic if he’s been restricted on how much he can use it. It’s arguable an event like this was meant to happen. From what I see, this Council worries about ethical issues when those facing the issues are not people you dislike.”
Damon was making things up as he kept on. He should have stayed silent, but it was too late. He almost wished he still did debate, just to not feel so rusted.
“Damon,” said one of the members, “we understand you might be a bit attached to Kai, but he must face punishment.”
“I agree,” he said. “However, I know the punishment you expect to give him is too extreme. You knew Kai had too much magic for anyone to have, yet you gave him no help. I assume you plan to keep him where you can see him and monitor him. I can agree to that, but”—a vague memory came to his mind—“I’m sure there used to be a plan to have Desmond Hall privately teach Kai when Kai was at Fairy Academy.”
“That plan was thrown away.”
“Why is that? Desmond is a good trainer. Even though you failed to help Kai, Desmond could help him.” He continued before they could argue against his flawed statement. “I think that time should be spent training him on how to use his magic appropriately. The time Kai spent at Fairy Academy wasn’t spent designed for him, was it? Making sure he can use his magic is the only way to try to prevent another event like this from happening again.”
One member looked ready to argue but was interrupted by another. “I agree.”
Damon recognized that voice. It was Wolfgang.
“He makes a fair point,” continued Wolfgang. “Perhaps we have been the reason for Kai’s downfall. Our goal is to make our people happy and thrive. Kai is a challenge, yes, but he is still one of us. We need to make an effort for him as well.”
“Have you?” another member asked him. “You’re in charge of watching over Kai.”
“I am,” said Wolfgang calmly, “but what I can do relies on what we all agree on. That limits everything I can do.”
“So you want changes?”
“I do. Mister Maitsu’s idea sounds reasonable to me.”
Damon tried not to frown at the last name.
“Mister Hall should be willing,” he continued. “Kai should have no objections either.”
“What about those in Atlantis?” one of them asked. “What are we doing about them?”
“Is it not a must to get rid of evidence of fairies?”
“Yes, but—”
“Then we can also follow Mister Maitsu’s suggestion and get rid of their memories. We can have them think the Earth naturally warmed up to get to this point, causing their city to drown.”
“We are not doing that,” another member objected.
Damon went forgotten as the members of the Fairy Council began a debate among themselves. He had made his opinions clear, though, and if Wolfgang agreed with him, he should get most of what he wanted.
Damon turned to Kai and met his gaze. With his eyes wide and his lips slightly parted, Damon didn’t know if Kai had something to say or nothing to say at all. Personally, Damon had nothing to tell him, so he was the one to break eye contact.
Damon still felt Kai’s eyes on him.
. . .
The decision had been made: Kai would be placed under heavy supervision. The only time he would be allowed to use his magic was during private training sessions. Damon hated that if Desmond didn’t agree to teach Kai, the Fairy Council would force him to, but he had to take what he could.
The part that stuck out to him was that Damon was given no punishment and was allowed to take as many godchildren as he wanted to while Kai did his training. He would have to do them by himself, but Wolfgang would help him have a godchild he could justifiably handle alone. If any issues arose, Wolfgang would help solve it. The Fairy Council gave Damon the opportunity to finally leave Kai.
Still, Damon went with Kai to Fairy Falls before Kai legally had to be followed by at least three bodyguards.
He went with him a little after they were dismissed from the courtroom. Kai hadn’t told him he wanted to come here, but he took them here anyway. He was going to ask Kai when he was going to talk, but Kai asked first, “Why would you do that?”
“You need to face some consequences,” he explained. “You can’t flood a city—”
“Not that. Why did...” His gaze fell to his rings. “Why did you defend me?”
His immediate answer was feeling like this was his fault. The second answer was simpler yet was the one he felt comfortable answering with. “I pity you. I pity your sad life, filled with rules that only exist because you were born with something you couldn’t control, and I pity how you don’t have anyone to talk to but me. It causes too many problems, so you need to control yourself.”
“But you said you were going to leave—”
“I said I was going to spend time away from you so you would shut up. See, this works because you’re being forced to interact with Desmond. Start expanding your social circle so I’m not the only one dealing with you.”
His gaze went back to him. “Will you have any more godchildren? While I’m gone?”
“Maybe.” If Nevaeh wasn’t a human anymore, then he wouldn’t be allowed to continue watching over her. He didn’t feel like having anyone else as his godchild right now.
Kai slowly nodded. He glanced towards the falls. “Will this count?”
“Towards what?”
“Towards the 5,000 years. You said you would stay with me for that long before you left. We have about 4,100 years left together. Does this count?”
“Yes.”
Whatever question Damon expected Kai to ask next, it wasn’t anything close to, “Are you scared of me?”
“No,” he answered, a bit confused.
He pressed on. “Are you sure? I saw how you reacted earlier. You were so angry at me for drowning Atlantis, and you were panicked, but you were also scared. I thought you were scared of what was happening in Atlantis, but...”
“But?”
Kai looked him in the eyes when he said, “I would never hurt you, Damon. Not on purpose.”
Damon looked away. Fairy Falls was the only other thing he could focus on, but its beauty was wearing off. “Did it have to be me? You couldn’t have picked anyone else to grow attached to?”
“Why would it be anyone else?” Kai asked.
“Never mind...”
Although he was getting used to Fairy Falls, Damon tried to let the sounds take over his thoughts before the sound of water reminded him of Atlantis. Then, he tried to ignore the sounds. The only good thing that happened today was a potential way out of whatever this situation was, but even that wasn’t so good. At least for a few minutes, he would like to forget about everything that happened today.