Fading Fairy Light

The silly little fairy was fleeing my reach fast, heading straight for a forest not too far away behind the big garden. What a quick little scamp!

But little did she know, I could fly too!

My wings materialized and sent out a gust, scattering colourful flower petals out in every direction. I leapt up into the air and flew after the fairy as fast as I could!

“Give that back!” I shouted.

The fairy turned around, mischievously snickering at her clear lead, only to realize that I could fly and was catching up to her very quickly.

With a gasp of realization, the tiny fae girl skedaddled through the air, hopelessly trying to get away from me.

“I have you know!” I said, reaching my arms out to grab either her or the flower.

“Naaa!” she announced, diving down back to the flowers.

She went under the fluttering sea of colour, seconds later she emerged back up and landed on one of the flowers. She bounced as her feet touched a petal like it was a rubbery surface. With each touch also came a change in the hue of the flower.

Using these bouncy flowers, she began to jump around and evade any sort of grab I made for her. Before I knew it, all the plants she’d touched turned completely orange.

“She’s changing the flower colours,” I realized. “But, how is that possible?”

Little dust particles were falling off of her wings as she jumped. Those particles seemed to be getting absorbed into the flowers and turning them a new colour. I realized some of them weren't just orange. They had tiny swirls of green in them.

That still didn’t explain how it was possible, but at least I could tell what was happening. Could it be that this fairy had something to do with the different colours these flowers turned? If that was the case, maybe I could get her help to make us more pink flowers.

While bouncing around, she made a taunting expression at me by sticking out her tongue.

You know what? Instead of asking for her help, I could catch her and shake her like a salt dispenser!

I gave chase all the way into the forest line. Once she made it there, she found a lot of cover in the brush. She probably assumed I'd lose her, but this little pursuit wasn't over.

My map was easily able to keep track of her as she scampered across the forest floor. The only obstacle while flying in here was low bearing branches and big shrubs, but I did my best to avoid them.

I attempted to be sneaky and careful, making sure she'd think I was off her tail.

“Hee hee hee…” I snickered, seeing her walk right out into a clearing and wipe some sweat from her brow, clueless of my sneak attack.

I was just about ready to grab the flower, but she turned with wide eyes, like a mouse staring at a prowling cat.

She flew backwards, causing me to faceplant into the ground.

“Dang it!”

Our chase continued, but she got a good lead and dove into a cave.

Wait…that cave…it wasn't naturally formed at all. Just past the initial rock opening was a flight of stairs made out of smooth stone. the walls of a strange marble, lined with gold and obsidian.

Curiosity drove me to take a few more steps in, eventually pulling me far enough down to discover a chamber surrounding a small lake of magma.

At the center of this magma room was a tree. It didn’t look so good though. Its leaves were all crinckled and withered. Its bark was brittle and dark, with some sort of volcanic looking ash pluming out of its cracks. Worst of all, its branches were warped and bent like creepy arms reaching out in every direction.

Above it was a halo, but of black and ash. Letters would appear every so often, but in a language I couldn’t read. This was an all too familiar sight.

There was no denying that this tree was the polar opposite of the Boni tree I met in Elysium. She was was a telepathic tree that grew inside a mana cave and was nice enough to let me eat some of her fruit, even grow a few seedlings too.

This grim looking thing was nothing like her, besides some vague resemblance and the halo, but even that was different. Maybe it was a Boni tree that got sick or something.

There was a rumble in my head, causing me to get dizzy for a moment. I had to cling to the wall to prevent falling over. It was like something was invading my mind, trying to intrude on a place it shouldn't.

If last year had anything to say about it, I think that this tree was telepathic too.

The fairy was just as apprehensive about this room as I was, especially that tree, but her objective with the flower was clear once I noticed what was sitting up in the tree.

Another fairy sat high up in the tree, but this one was a boy. He had straight hair combed over red eyes, and grey skin, as opposed to the healthy peach colour of the girl fairy. His wings also looked a bit worse for wear with tiny tears in them.

He was munching on a piece of fruit that he’d clearly pulled from a branch, although it was a tiny piece that hadn’t grown fully in size.

The girl fairy cautiously approached, holding a smile with a hint of concern in her eyes. The male fairy didn’t give her much attention, rather turned away to avoid looking at her.

“Ahha…Appa Cansu ah ya?” The girl fairy spoke some gibberish. “Appa na ma na ya!” She held out the flower, then her smile brightened a bit more. “Flawa, ya ha? Ma ha? Wa ha!”

Her language was very cute, but it didn’t seem to change the male fairies mood.

The girl fairy was getting upset, making grunting sounds and tearing up.

“Ahha…wah na la ma?”

“Beh geh ne,” He said.

“Wa na la na?” she repeated.

“Meh se geh ne!” He swung out his hand and slapped her in the face! She hurtled all the way down, but I caught her before she touched the magma.

“Hey, you big jerk!” I yelled at the male fairy. “She was trying to be nice to you!”

The male fairy had a look of shock and disgust, turning down to his hands and shaking his head in disbelief. Clearly his actions caused him to feel conflicted.

“Beh, meh ne de eh!” he shouted. “Meh ceh! Meh weh!”

He clung to his head and began to toss around in distress. Energy started to spiral around him and he hovered into the air.

-WARNING! DARKNESS LEVELS RISING-

With that message appearing, I understood the problem. Darkness had corrupted that fairy, and it was now my job to get it out of him.

“I promise, little fairy girl, I'll fix your lover for you,” I said, setting her down on the stairs, making sure she hugged the flower tightly for safety.

“Pwa Ma, Yaya,” the fairy girl said as she passed out.

Did she try to say my name? I don't remember telling her it. Regardless, no time to worry about that, because I had a job to do. It was time to light things up!