Chapter Text
Once upon a time, magical beings were not considered a fantasy. There was a time when humans, the most unmagical of them all, lived among them and next there was a time when they lived among humans. As the world turned into a universe unaware of its change, magic faded from Earth and found a home in another plane, and with it, those who possessed it.
But for generations, some stayed, hidden or camouflaged, and lived alongside those who had begun to call their history fairy tales.
Wish Fairies had nurtured and guided humans since they began to walk upright. Although humanity was slowly growing out of its kid shoes, many of the fairy folk lingered, refusing to give up what they knew. But once they had become legends, glimpses at their existence turned them into a novelty, and whenever the exposed fell in the hands of human greed, there wasn’t a happy end.
Yet, the folk of the wronged and slaughtered didn’t blame many for the sins of few and forgave.
They learned how to disguise as humans once they were old enough to wield magic. From that day on, they lived normal, happy lives among them. Learned and taught their skills, sang their songs, danced their dances. Cooked and ate their food, bought their good, and sold their crafts to them. And a human earned their trust and they formed a firm bond of friendship, a fairy might decide to bless their children.
So it came that despite living in an area of ignorance, there were still humans who knew - a fairy’s closest human friend and their godchild. And if the bond of trust was undeniably strong, a fairy might even choose to introduce their own child to the family and foster a rare, young friendship. Sometimes, if it isn’t the own offspring, it might be the grandchild in their care.
-
“Kei! Have you been hiding up there all day? Why?!” Keiji, a small, black-haired boy called. With his hands on his hips, he stood under the old oak tree in the middle of the garden.
A small head popped through a curtain of thick leaves. His pale blond hair seemed to glow in the light of the afternoon. His hand shielded his golden eyes from the sun but the annoyed frown was still all too visible on a face that looked young even for a nine-year-old.
“I can’t stand your obnoxious aunt and her brats.” The boy wrinkled his nose as if he smelled rotten milk. “I decided to wait until they’re gone.” Keiji rolled his eyes.
“It’s not like they can see you anyway if you don’t want them to.” Keiji sighed while his friend climbed down the tree.
“But I can see them and I’d rather not.” Kei jumped down the last part, his bare feet landing on the soft grass. Standing up to his full size, he was almost a head taller than Keji despite being a year younger. Everything about him looked delicate, from the tips of his long fingers, his limbs, to his fragile wings that stretched with a flutter after being squeezed away for most of the afternoon. His long, pointy ears made his white face look even slimmer than it was. His legs were sticking out from under a green tunic that covered most of his knee-long, grey tights. It was held in shape by a leather belt around his waist. It fell loosely over his back, leaving it uncovered for the wings.
Keiji waited while the fairy child stretched his back. He liked his friend much more than his cousins but Kei could be a brat in his own right. Sometimes, Keiji got almost fed up with his snarky attitude. But he never got tired of looking at his wings. White like lace finer than a spider’s web on a cloudy day, they changed into a firework of silver, blue and purples where they were touched by the sun. But then, he caught another sparkle from the corner of his eye.
“Huh? What’s that?” He pointed at Kei’s left hand.
“Oh, that.” Kei shrugged, his voice a little sigh that couldn’t care less but his pouty face lit up and he couldn’t hide his pleased smile. He lifted his hand to pull off his ring. He held it between them, turning it slightly to make sure it reflected as many sun rays as possible.
“It’s pretty,” Keiji whispered in awe.
“I know, right?” A little smug, he put the ring back on and stretched out his hand. The wide band sat loosely around his finger and was made of silver and polished so thoroughly, it was like a mirror forged from the tiniest flower vines. A flat stone sparkled in the middle. It looked odd, with an uneven surface, as if it had been put together of many smaller parts that now changed colours from purple to green to blue, pink in between, depending on the angle Kei’s hand turned.
“Did your grandmother gave it to you?” Keiji asked. He was one of the lucky children who was blessed with a fairy godmother and Kei was her only grandchild. She was kind and generous and it’d be just like her to make such an amazing gift, although it would be the first time she’d jewellery give to any of them.
“More or less.” Kei lowered his hand and fidgeted with the ring.
“Keiiii.” Keiji crossed his arms and mimicked the look of disapproval he had seen his dad make behind his aunt’s back.
“She hasn’t given it to me yet but it’s meant for me!” Kei was back to pouting. “It’s a tradition. Every fairy receives one on their twelfth birthday. Next time grandmother visits you, look at her left hand. Her scales are more red and orange, though.” He showed Keiji the ring again, who saw through his friend’s attempt to change the topic from the fact that he wasn’t supposed to have this ring for another couple of years. But he was too intrigued.
“Scales? That’s not a stone?”
“Of course not!” Kei smirked and Keji had to pull himself together not to push him. He’d turn today, after all, that was way too old to go around and push people, even when they deserved it.
“It’s mermaid scales,” Kei finally explained, still sounding like he couldn’t believe not everyone knew this. Keiji frowned sceptically, unsure if he was also too old to still believe in mermaids. On the other hand, few people believed in fairies. Even less had one as their best friend.
“Where did you, I mean, your grandmother get a ring with mermaid scales?” Keiji asked, hoping he wasn’t falling for a prank.
“From our mermaid godmothers, of course. Every fairy has one. Mine happened to be in the area and wasn’t sure when she’ll be again, so she gave grandma my ring yesterday.”
“Okay.” This answered one question and opened a dozen more. Where were all these mermaids, then? And did they get a something godmother gift, too? A curl from their unicorn godmother’s mane, or a tooth of a harpy godmother? He wasn’t convinced yet that this wasn’t a joke and if he kept drilling, he’d give Kei the last laugh.
“Anyway, it’s my birthday today.” He decided to change the topic. Despite his curiosity, he wasn’t in the mood for a “GOTCHA!” from Kei. “And you promised to hang out with me.”
“I know, I know. And I’m here. So. What do you want to do?”
A light smile appeared on Keiji’s face.
“I’ll give you three guesses!”
-
“That was close! You almost got us caught!” Keiji hissed as he pulled Kei over a low, neatly trimmed hedge that posed as a wall for a decorative labyrinth in the garden of the royal palace.
“I got us in here, as promised!” Kei snapped back, lowering his head as they hid behind a rose bush while looking around to make sure the coast was clear. “And as you wished as your birthday gift,” Kei added while they sprinted over to a brick wall that was about as high as Kei.
“Yes, but I had hoped you’d have learned some magic by now. If the guards had seen you throwing the rocks-”
“It’s not like anyone can see me anyway.” Kei mimicked Keji’s tone from earlier before he continued in his normal voice, “And you know that I can’t work any magic yet so I really don’t know what you wanted me to do.”
Keiji rolled his eyes again. He did know that fairies didn’t develop their magical abilities before their teenage years but it was easier to feign ignorance than to ask Kei outright to find a way into the palace grounds. Something that could get him into serious trouble if caught. It was annoying sometimes to have a friend who preferred to be invisible to everyone but him and his parents but in moments like this, it was just unfair.
But that didn’t matter now. They had made it inside and to the secluded area, as he wanted to. They quickly found a spot that was overgrown by a splendid elder bush. They sneaked under the leafage, past the old, heavy roots and trunk, and squeezed branches out of their way until they could climb the wall just enough to look over it. Kei’s toes almost touched the ground while Keji’s feet dangled in the air and he was relieved when he found a stray branch that supported his weight for balance.
In front of them stretched a shortly trimmed lawn that narrowed into a path leading right back to the palace. Gnarly apple trees grew here and in one corner, four white painted chairs and a table ready for a teatime that could easily feed six waited quite forgotten.
Keiji also didn’t pay any attention to it. He had had a good tea and cake at home but most importantly, he focused on the targets placed at the opposite end of the garden, and the two backs turned to him and Kei.
“I really don’t know what’s so interesting about this place. We should have gone to the river instead. Or into town. I could have sneaked you into the library,” Kei lamented and gave a long yawn.
“Are you kidding me?” Keiji whispered back. “We’re in the royal garden, watching the prince himself training with his crossbow.”
“Two princes, last time I checked.” Kei demonstratively closed his eyes and put his head on the wall, as if he was about to fall asleep. “One apparently more boring than the other, if you only noticed one.”
“Shush now.”