24. Fairy Dust

The group followed Lord Puck up the winding staircase within the trunk of the large redwood tree. The other lords and ladies retired back to their quarters, and the guards took Dave down to their prison for the duration of the crew's stay on the island.

Eventually, they found themselves in a laboratory, a surprisingly modern-looking laboratory when compared to the rest of the treehouse, which was lit by candlelight and had no other signs of modern technology.

Fairy Land was renowned for its advances in healing magic; therefore, its laboratory would have top priority when it came to technology. Its shelves were adorned with glass beakers, medical equipment, flasks, vials, and various other pieces of modern equipment. It had a distinctive hospital smell to it, like antiseptic cream.

In the middle of the room, a creature no bigger than a fairy was found strapped down to a medical table. Its eyes shone blood red, and dark, decaying blood oozed out from various cuts around its face and body.

Its nails were long, black, and claw-like. The sparkle within the fairy had gone, and in its place was a rabid pixie with foam spitting out of its mouth and wings infected with dark veins. The pixie shook violently against the table, pulling against the straps restraining it.

"Lord Decker?" Oberon breathed in sharply through his nose. What had happened to his right-hand lord, his friend and protector?

"Decker was infected during a patrol. We tried our best to keep him as a fairy but then something triggered it. The last people he saw before he turned were his wife and Prince Luke," Puck explained. "We believe Luke had a part in creating the pixie virus under King Mordred's orders. Decker must have found out, and Luke silenced him by having him turned into a pixie."

"That is speculation!" Oberon growled. "How dare you accuse without proof?"

"He confessed to his actions during a court hearing and escaped prison before his execution." Lord Puck stood his ground. "It has been Luke from the beginning. I know it's hard to believe because he is your son, but it's true. I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but your son is working for the enemy and could possibly be the sin of pride, the sin associated with the slave trade."

Oberon stared into the distance. Could his son possibly be Pride? He never did truly find out what his son was doing during his time sneaking around Meridian Island. Could he have made a deal with Mordred? He wasn't exactly a popular fairy within the kingdom because of the colour of his wings. Could it have caused him to seek out ways of being respected, and now this was his revenge? Tommy's mother was the sin of envy, so there was a possibility someone of blood relation to him could be a sin too. He wouldn't hold it past him.

"I know that look." Titania grabbed Oberon's cheeks and looked him dead in the eye. "Luke isn't capable of this. He isn't. I know I was taken by the slave trade, but Luke was nowhere in sight."

Oberon didn't know what to think anymore.

"My friend's mother is the sin of envy, and he believed the same thing until he witnessed the destruction of his city by her hands. It's happening again but this time with our son." Oberon's eyes lined with tears.

Titania's eyes narrowed, and her forehead rippled into a deep frown. How dare he so easily turn against his son?

"Luke..." Jessica softly smiled and giggled.

Everyone stared at her like she had soiled over a sacred grave. FJ frowned. Why had she said the name like that, with an affectionate laugh to top it off? Oberon did not appreciate her laughter at such a time and scowled at her rude behaviour.

"Don't mind Jess. She doesn't understand what you're saying." FJ grabbed Jessica by the hand and pulled her away from the pixie. "Sit there, don't say a word, and don't move," he instructed.

Jessica pouted, not understanding what she had done wrong.

"Luke amica," she tried to explain.

FJ stared at her for some time, wondering if he had gotten her translation wrong. He shook his head.

"What's she saying?" Logan asked.

"Nothing... let's examine this pixie and figure out what is going on." FJ grabbed a syringe from the metal tray.

He plunged the needle into the pixie's arm and took a blood sample. The sample was a dark red, almost black-looking substance, and it was thicker than what was normal. He placed a small droplet onto a clear pallet and placed it under the microscope. FJ pulled back his white hood and inspected the sample. Oberon shifted his head to the side, noticing a scar on the side of FJ's cheek. It looked like it had been a deep gash at one point in time, possibly from a whip strike.

"This is interesting." FJ lifted his head away from the lenses of the microscope, and a playful smirk landed on his lips. "It's not a virus. The blood has been contaminated with a magical property, which means whatever is causing it can be stopped. We just have to find the source of the magic."

Before Puck could incriminate Luke once again, a loud screech echoed from the village below. FJ scrambled to his feet and leaned out of the window, an excited gleam in his round eyes. He did love drama and watched closely as the chaos unfolded before his eyes. A fairy was transforming into a pixie outside of the local tavern.

"I do love a good mystery." He vanished from the laboratory.

Seconds later, he appeared outside the tavern. He watched closely as the once male fairy rolled around in the ground screaming in pain as he turned into a pixie. His bones cracked as he became disfigured, and his translucent wings blackened. FJ started to understand why the council was blaming the Black Fairy. Maybe the prince was turning everyone else into pixies out of revenge so they knew what it felt like to be discriminated against.

The fairy's nails sharpened to claws, and foam soon started to seep from his mouth. Once his transformation had completed, he stood hunched over, drooling blood and growling in a strange language. Out of nowhere, with speed FJ had never seen before, it targeted a female fairy standing outside the tavern. The girl screeched, her eyes wide in horror, but in the nick of time, FJ stood between them and deflected the pixie's attack with a ball of fire.

The pixie hissed and scurried off into the dark forest, never to be seen again. At least FJ came across one weakness: they didn't like heat.

"Let me guess." FJ faced the others, who had eventually caught up with him. "They don't like the sunlight."

Puck nodded. "They never come out during the day and hate the sight of fire. We've had the entire village surrounded with torches at night. It's the only way we can protect ourselves."

"Yet one transformed into a pixie right in the centre of the village." FJ tapped his bottom lip in deep thought. "Interesting. Maybe you're all infected."

"Preposterous!" Puck exclaimed, shaking his head in anger. "If that's true, then why haven't we all turned yet?"

"Like I said, your lordship." FJ approached the girl who had been screaming. "This pixie curse was created by magic. So something had to trigger it. You there..." FJ pointed to the girl, who jumped back in fear from the approaching human and turned into a fairy, prepared to defend herself. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to know what happened."

The fairy had short, orange hair and neon pink eyes that glowed like fluorescent lights. She cried and fell against the mud track, dirtying her pristine, white feather dress.

"What's your name?" FJ kneeled down and picked her up into his hands.

"My name is Rhy." She curled into a ball and sobbed against his warm hands. "He was my husband. We had a heated argument, and suddenly turned into the pixie. I had no idea he was infected."

Maybe anger was the cause of turning into a pixie, but FJ had to be sure. "What were you arguing about?"

"I went to the tavern by myself, and he followed me and saw me talking with a man. He was angry and thought I was cheating on him, but I was only catching up with my cousin, who I haven't seen in years. He wouldn't let me explain what was happening, and turned into that monster. Now I've lost him forever."

So it was anger which triggered it. FJ let the fairy go, and she fluttered away to her cousin and embraced him in a hug, crying her eyes out.

"Rage triggers it," FJ explained to Oberon. "But since Lord Puck seems to always be angry, my guess is that you have to be infected and on the verge of exploding with anger for it to trigger."

Oberon's complexion turned ghostly white, and he clutched his arm where Dr Killian had infected him with the pixie blood, an act which didn't go unnoticed by his wife. He had to watch his anger; he'd already had one outburst during the council meeting. He couldn't let it happen again.

"What are you thinking?" FJ nudged Jessica.

Jessica nervously bit down on her polished nails. She had heard what the pixie had growled. Forgive me, he had said. But she didn't understand what he meant by it. Jessica shook her head. FJ wouldn't believe she had heard the creature anyway. Nobody else seemed to be able to understand what the pixie had said. She read the name of the tavern, Fairy Dust, and a slow smirk fell upon her lips when a memory came back to her.

"When I get you out of here. I'm going to take you to my favourite place, Fairy Dust..."

"Luke." Her heart beat furiously, annoyed that she could not remember him. At least she knew this tavern had something to do with him and hopefully, that would give her some answers to her broken mind.

She pushed back from FJ and ran into the tavern. Despite the commotion outside, the bar was alive with folk music, fairies dancing and clapping along to a bountiful tune. Their glasses raised high in the air as they cheered and sang. Jessica smiled when another memory returned to her of a man with short red hair and amber eyes. She remembered drinking with him at a bar just like this one and being the best of friends as they talked and joked about going on an adventure together. She trailed her hand across the sticky bar and frowned. She couldn't for the life her remember his name but knew he was someone important to her.

"What can I get for you, lass?" The barman approached her. The fairy was tall with neon green hair and blue eyes and wore a shirt and pants made from purple leaves. He leaned against the bar cleaning a glass while chewing on a toothpick.

Jessica frowned, not understanding a word he had said. "Luke?"

"Luke?" He placed the clean glass onto the shelf.

"Luke!" Jessica smiled and nodded her head.

"He's a local. Used to come here every night until the magic council outcasted him for treason." The barman leaned over the counter. "Between you and me, he was a bit of a strange fellow. When he left for Meridian Island and returned, he wasn't the same. His personality changed and he always shadowed his face with a hood."

"Non intellego." Jessica shrugged at the barman. He gave her a perplexed look, not understanding a word she was saying.

Jessica sighed and pointed to a bottle on the shelf behind the fairy. He understood and poured her a drink.

"Jess." FJ pulled her to the side. "What are you doing? You can't wander off like that."

She shook her head and took the drink in thanks. FJ looked at the barman and paid for her drink. He turned back to face Oberon, who came flying in with Titania. The bar fell silent at the Fairy King's appearance; it had been over a year since the King left in search of his wife.

"Drinks on the house! The King has returned!" the barman cheered.

Everyone cheered at once. The music started playing again, and drinks were passed around. Oberon was lifted up into the air, and everyone celebrated. Oberon attempted to free himself from the crowd, which kept patting him on the back and dragging him towards the dance floor. He managed to scramble his way through the crowd but bumped into the last person he wanted to see: Astra.

"Hello, Obi." She stepped in his way before he could reach the bar, where his wife was sitting next to FJ and Logan.

"Leave me alone, Astra," Oberon huffed in annoyance.

"What happened to you?" Astra traced her finger up the seam of his jacket. "There was a time when you once loved me."

"But you never loved me." Oberon narrowed his eyes. "All you cared about was becoming the Queen. Luckily, I saw through your act and met Titania, and I can never love someone more than I love her."

"I don't know what you see in that commoner," Astra spat. "Clearly, the black fairy comes from her lineage." Astra flicked her purple hair over her shoulder and shifted her head to one side. "She will break your heart, Obi. Look at her with this... FJ person. Who knows what happened between them when he saved her from the slave trade? They seem too close to one another," she suggested.

Oberon looked over Astra's shoulder and spotted Titania laughing away with Logan and Jess, but her hand was placed over the back of FJ's shoulders.

"They're good friends." Oberon's heart pounded unpleasantly. "He saved her life."

"Exactly," Astra cooed into Oberon's ear. "He saved her life. He's a hero to her. She feels indebted to him."

Oberon couldn't stop staring at his wife laughing with FJ. They seemed too close, and he didn't like it. In that second, he felt his arm throb with pain, and he hissed, clutching his inner elbow.

"You know where to find me," Astra whispered, leaving Oberon with his thoughts.

"Fairies know how to party." Logan grinned as he accepted a colourful fluorescent shot glass handed to him by a cute-looking fairy who had been flirting with him.

"Don't drink that fairy bomb." FJ attempted to stop Logan, but the glass was already next to his lips and he flung his head back, downing the drink.

"I feel fine..." slam! Logan passed out against the counter.

FJ dragged a hand down his face, and Titania giggled. "Do you remember the first time I served you a fairy bomb? You passed out ten minutes after taking it."

"I remember the horrible hangover the next morning." He turned back around to warn Jessica, but she had disappeared. "Jess!"

While FJ and Logan had been distracted, Jessica had snuck out of the overcrowded bar and found herself wandering through the streets of the Enchanted Forest. The glowing leaves shimmered in the night. She smiled at the passing fairies flying by, and every so often, she asked them, "Luke?"

She received the same response from everyone she greeted: a shake of the head. Nobody wanted to be associated with him, and she didn't understand why. She felt lost. Why was he the only person she remembered, other than that giant sea serpent? She sighed and was sitting down on a glowing pink bench when she overheard a conversation from high above in the trees. Intrigued, Jessica climbed up the tree, using her strength to haul herself up until she reached the rope bridge high above the village. Jessica recognised the two fairies: the councilman from earlier with the bright orange hair and the woman with the long purple hair who had flirted with FJ. They conspired together for some time, unaware that a third party was listening in on them. Jessica couldn't understand a word they were saying, but it seemed important. A hand covered her mouth, and she squirmed in fright but calmed down seeing it was FJ. Their squabble alerted Puck and Astra of their presence, and the two lurking fairies fluttered away.

"What are you doing?" FJ scowled at her.

"Looking for Luke?" She innocently smiled.

"How do you even know him?" FJ queried, sitting down next to her on the branch.

Jessica shrugged. "I don't know. I just remember that he's a friend."

FJ grabbed ahold of her hand and squeezed it gently. "I don't know how long ago it was when you first met Luke, but a lot of things have happened since then, and there is a possibility he has sided with King Mordred and is now the sin of Pride."

"I don't know what that means." She shifted her head to the side an act FJ found ever so cute.

"It means he's a bad person, and you shouldn't go looking for him." The girl was full of innocence, untainted and beautiful. Still, he wished she had her memories back. Her being this child-like made it feel inappropriate to him to even talk with her, let alone hold her hand.

"But why would he turn bad?" she pouted.

"Who knows?" FJ shrugged and pushed a strand of her red hair behind her ear.

He cupped her face and stroked his thumb against her bronze skin, speaking in Aquarian so she couldn't understand his confession.

"We've met before. The first time I met you was two years ago, during the great fire. I should explain to you what happened that day. Levi and I planned to go on an adventure, an adventure to defeat the evil tyrant, King Mordred. What we never expected was for Mordred to come to us. He didn't actually come for us, he came for someone called Sasha Pendragon, whose body is locked away in a stone tomb within the monastery. Mordred came to the island to make sure Sasha truly was dead. There had been speculation Sasha had awoken from the dead; there seemed to be movement of late within the monastery.

"Levi was adamant in defending the monastery from Mordred's men, so I helped him, and while we defended the ruins of the castle, Mordred had his favourite sin, Sloth, coat the entire city in kerosene. Don't let the name deceive you. She may be lazy and sleep all the time, but when ordered to do something, she's faster than the speed of sound and is the most deadly sin after Wrath. She's the King's personal assassin, his little pet feline, Misty, and is always by his side, lurking in the shadows."

"Misty!" Jessica happily smiled, understanding and remembering that name.

"That's right. Misty was your kitten, the one who was supposed to grow up alongside you and be your guardian. Unfortunately, during the takeover of Hive Island, she was turned into Sloth." FJ breathed in steadily and wiped the tear from his eyes. "My original cursed soul is the ability to generate heat and produce fire." He lifted his hand, and a ball of fire lit from the palm of his hand. Jessica gasped.

"Levi disappeared on me during the battle, and I was confronted by King Mordred himself. He made me angry, being foul-mouthed about my deceased mother, and I used the technique I call my arena to trap him, not knowing about the kerosene. Within a second, the entire city went up in flames." More tears flowed from his eyes. "I tried to stop it, but whatever I touched combusted into flames and turned into ash. I couldn't control my power, and I panicked, which made it worse. Then I heard your screams..."

FJ looked her dead in the eye. She looked sad and confused from his state, and she reached out and wiped his tears away from his face. He caught her hand before he took it away and leaned into her soft, affectionate touch. He had never acted so vulnerable in his life, but he would for her, the girl that grounded him and brought him back to his senses.

"Your cries for help calmed me down, and I managed to control my power and stop the fire." FJ smirked and wiped his face of tears. "Do you forgive me?"

Jessica's head flopped to one side like a pet dog pricking its ears when hearing an unusual sound. It made him chuckle. He was glad to get it off his chest, even if she couldn't understand a word he said.

"You're cute, Jess. I have a weak spot for the cute and cuddly." He stroked her hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead. "You never deserved what King Mordred did to you."

Unbeknownst to the pair, within the shadows of the tall trees, a man in a black hood lurked in the dark. He breathed in shallowly through a long-snouted gas mask and stared at the girl with the long red hair. He attached his machete to his back and swung down from the branches, landing with a thud outside the entrance to the tavern, mud splattering up against his heavy-duty boots. He marched towards Rhy. The young female fairy hugged her cousin as she cried. In a speedy blur, the man in the gas mask knocked out the cousin, grabbed the girl from around the waist, and before she could scream for help, he plunged a needle into her neck and sedated her. He hauled the fairy onto his shoulders and whisked her away into the dark forest, heading in the direction of the Swamplands.

Next Chapter: 25. The Black Fairy

☠️ What do you think of FJ's confession to Jess?

☠️ Who was the man at the end who sedated the fairy, and why would he kidnap her?

☠️What's causing the Pixie Virus?

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~ Robin Xxx
~ Edited by fluffycat0607