Chapter Text
Amid the chaos, Brightlight had somehow made his way to an open window where he could catch his breath and attempt to stop panicking. He could’ve sworn he felt fingers brush his face when there was obviously nothing there "You're overreacting, pull yourself together"
"Oh, I don't think you can"
He heard a low pitched, dissonant laugh that made his blood run cold.
An uncomfortable feeling washed over him and instantly his body felt tight in all the wrong places. He would've tried to protest (though it wouldn't have been much help) had he not been completely frozen in fear. He felt like he was suffocating in his own skin. Every few seconds his vision would fade out and his grip on the windowsill tightened as he tried to make sense of what was happening. Suddenly he couldn't feel anything, and
Fiachra took a tentative step forward to test his balance. This felt odd. The body he remembered, however vaguely, was at least a head taller than the current host. The host. Ah.
He found his name relatively easily; one ‘Captain Brightlight’. The poor guy didn't know how to lock his memories out (which he decided could probably come in handy). He did almost pity him; it wasn’t every day that you got possessed.
He tipped his head up to survey the area and couldn’t help but notice a tall sprite that was trying to get his attention. Acknowledging that he’d been spotted, the cornflower blue faerie started making his way over towards the window. He quickly scanned his memory for a name. Charge? Was that it? Probably. He put on an apologetic smile and let his voice be overtaken by Brightlight’s perfect English.
“Cap-”
“Ah, g-good evening!” Fiachra stuttered out almost too precisely
“Hey... Are you ok? You sound as if you’ve seen a ghost” Charge laughed nervously.
“I can assure you, I’m perfectly fine” Fiachra said reassuringly. This? This was going to be fun.
-
Charge knew there was something up. There had to be. He knew nobody actually believed him but there was definitely something wrong with the captain and he was determined to find out what.
He’d managed to catch him on his own as he was walking to (presumably) his office. No idea what he was doing but it at least presented an opportunity to quiz him on his true nature. Charge didn’t do subtle, but he thought this would be easy enough to handle.
“Hey, cap, are you feeling ok?”
“Yes, of course!” The other lampie smiled.
“Well, you’re sounding awfully upbeat and-”
“Would you prefer it if I wasn’t?” Brightlight stopped. His features darkened in a way that Charge had only recognised in himself and others of his kind. As far as he knew, Brightlight was seelie as they came, but this… This was different.
“Well, no I-”
“Then stop asking stupid fucking questions” Fi noticed his accent coming through and quickly corrected himself, and almost failed to notice his unseelie side becoming apparent. Oh well, it was a small loss, seeing as nobody in the post seemed to listen to the other man. “Are we clear… Charge.” His eyes shone a vibrant chartreuse, much brighter than Brightlight’s regular emerald- a dead giveaway that this was not their captain.
“Y-yes sir.”
Brightlight’s - or whoever was possessing him’s - features returned to normal. The cornflower sprite cringed. He’d almost cracked it and still nobody would listen to him. It wasn’t his fault that a potentially harmful spirit was residing inside their commanding officer.
It was only a matter of time before they knew the truth.
In the days that followed, “Brightlight’s” behaviour became increasingly erratic. He was getting more jumpy than usual, but also louder and more, dare he say, confident? Since the Solstice he’d started wearing his wings out, where they’d usually be folded underneath his uniform. They were actually very pretty, despite being on the smaller side. For the first 2 or so days you could tell that they were in a state of disrepair by their lack of iridescence, but the more he wore them out the more they regained their lustre.
He kept doing strange things with his voice, too. Occasional bits of slang he’d never heard before, muttering what sounded like dark sidhe (something he hadn't heard in years).
“There’s something wrong with the captain” Charge said nonchalantly. “Yes, he has horrible anxiety and trust issues, what’s new” Contact threw back. Charge facepalmed halfheartedly “That’s not what I meant” he hissed “Can’t you see how much he’s changed since the solstice celebration? He’s a completely different person”
“If this is your little unseelie theory you can quit it” Charge opened his mouth to protest but got cut short “Don’t think I haven’t heard you talking when you think nobody’s around. Drop it, he’s fine.”
“Fine. Just don’t blame me when something goes wrong.” Charge hung onto the last syllable of his retort and added “and I was right”