Chapter two
It took a few days before the party of four could start their quest. Cairn and Cephas told Micah and Astral to pack but didn’t contact them until a few days later. The only excuse they had to that was that they couldn’t find a quest they liked. Those two were just picking and choosing like it was candy from a candy shop. Astral had imagined it being more important and mind occupying. There were just so many things to consider when one goes on a journey. What quest is at the right level for us? Or perhaps what is suitable for four people? Also the reward for doing the quest or what equipment we had should affect the quest too. It seemed like the two only choose one because they simply “liked” it.
“So what are we supposed to do again?” Micah questioned the two experienced combat mages on their quest. The four of them were already outside the city walls and ready to depart. Astral had her sword with her and a few hidden daggers. Micah brought a pouch with some food in case they needed it. They twins didn’t seem to have much on them. They looked as they had a few days ago in the market place.
“Listen, alright? It’s amazing. We managed to snag a quest involving the Fairy of Fullmoon Forest!” Cephas presented proudly with one arm draped over his brother’s shoulders.
“Ah, yes! I’ve always wanted to meet her. I wonder what she’s like. I heard she’s dreadfully rude and nasty to anyone who enters her forest but she’s a real hot babe!” Cairn explained excitedly. His face turning strawberry colored as his excitement rose.
“I heard she’s more powerful than Merlin, the one and only magician in the world who was born with multiple powers!”
“How is that possible?! She’s only human like us!” Cairn turned and faced his brother who was equally getting as excited as they exchanged gossip.
“They don’t call her a fairy for nothing, Cairn! She has the power of spells and enchantments! It’s incredibly rare and it’s basically an indestructible power!” Micah and Astral only watched as the two fawned over the “Fairy”.
“Are you sure we should still be traveling with them? We’re new to all this and they’ve picked an incredibly hard quest it seems,” Micah whispered to Astral who stood there getting increasingly nervous the more she hears about the quest.
“I can’t believe we get to break into her house and steal her legendary glass crystal ball!” Cephas hugged his brother and the two started jumping up and down.
“Micah. I’m scared,” Astral commented as she hid behind Micah, refusing to take her eyes off the ecstatic twins. Seeing Astral scared to death made Micah’s heart drop. He hugged her tight and whispered in her ear, “we’ll just leave them and go find out own quest okay?” Astral only nodded. The two started slowing backing up back into the city but before they could get far, they backed into something grainy and soft. Turing around revealed it to be a wall of sand at least thirty feet high. The sand engulfed them and hardened, leaving Astral and Micah in a large boulder with their heads sticking out.
“That’s funny, I could have sworn you guys were going to accompany us,” Cephas smiled, his eyes glaring daggers of blood red death at them.
“We can’t allow you two to leave, this mission was decided just because we now have you,” Cairn’s smile was softer but something in his voice indicated that he was far more deadly than his brother. Micah had decided at that instant that these two guys are nut jobs, very powerful nut jobs.
“Whoa, wait. We are joining your party. We just, you know, wanted to give you some space,” Micah lied in the most convincing voice he could manage with the happiest smile he could form. The rock softened and melted away in the form of sand, “well in that case, let’s get going why don’t we?” Cephas said cheerfully and started walking off towards the woods. Just beyond those woods lie Fullmoon Forest where the Fairy is supposed to exist. There are typical rumors that if one enters the forest, they’ll never find their way out. Once trapped in there, they’ll lose track of the time of day since it’s always a fullmoon there. This was said to be a trick of the Fairy to keep trespassers away.
“Why did you guys pick such a crazy quest for us? We’re beginners!” Astral complained as she followed behind Cephas. Micah followed her and Cairn was in the back of the group.
“Didn’t Cairn tell you? We choose this mission because we can finally do it now that we have you two! I’m so damn excited!” The smile was heard in his voice even though Cephas walked in the front and the only thing that could be seen was the back of his robe.
“Yes. And there’s nothing to worry about as long as you have us here with you,” Cairn assured them. There was no point in trying to push for answers anymore. The two mages had logic that was incomprehensible by Astral and Micah.
As the crew made their way deeper the sky noticeably got dark which was rather strange since it was only morning time. The trees also seemed to droop more and more as well. At some point in their journey, strange plants and animals appeared. That was expected though. Many of the inhabitants of the forest are solely moonlight creatures so anywhere there was sunlight they didn’t appear. The temperature started to rise as well. Instead of getting colder the darker it got, the air around them thickened and heated up.
“Alright we’re almost there. I need you to clear up the air, Micah,” Cephas stopped and pulled off his hood. His golden hair was just short all around and choppy like a toddler went scissor happy but never got to finish the job. His face was pink and dotted with sweat. Cairn took off his hood as well. Instead of short choppy hair, his was neatly groomed into a long braid. It was getting hot like a sauna and the air was stale and moist making it harder to breath. Micah raised an eye brow at Cephas.
“What do you mean? Like, make it cooler? I can’t do that. I’m not a weather mage or an ice mage,” he objected. Cephas patted him on the shoulder. The pat was hard though and it felt like his bone would break if the combat mage did it any harder.
“Silly boy, all you have to do is take the water out of the air and it’ll be fine again. If we try to go any further in this heat, we’ll be a cooked dinner for the fairy,” he explained. It seemed like a rather stupid idea as taking the moisture out of the air would just make it hot and dry which would cook them even more. Micah complied anyway since he wasn’t sure just what Cephas would do to him if he didn’t. He formed a fist with his hand and placed it up to his mouth like he was holding a giant straw and sucked on it. A small ball of water started forming in his hand and it got larger the more he sucked. The air around them started to noticeably get cooler. When he was done he had a hot water ball about the size of a large chicken.
“How…?” He questioned, amazed that Cephas’s plan worked.
“Ha, you are so typical newbie. The air is only hot because it’s a spell. Normally hot air could be wet or dry but this spell makes it so that the air is filled with hot water droplets. It’s basically like we’re in a giant cooking pot. Taking out the water will turn the air back to normal.” Cephas’s explanation seemed to make sense but it only made Micah question magic even further.
The group continued to travel deeper and when it got too dark to see, Astral lit herself up like a lamp. Her whole body glowed making her look like a goddess who came down to earth from heaven.
“Cephas, I don’t think I can make it anymore,” Cairn sighed to his brother, “my feet are killing me and I’m afraid I’ll be too out of energy for any fighting if needed.” He brought up exactly what was in everyone’s mind. All the walking was getting exhausting and not only that but at the end of the journey when they found the fairy, there would have to be some fighting at some point. They’re on a mission to steal something from her and the rumors described her as powerful. They would all need their strength if they wanted to survive.
“We’re almost there. I promise and when we get there, we’ll just sneak in, take the crystal ball, and leave.” Cephas’s willpower to do the quest was the only thing dragging everyone on. Everybody wanted to take a break but no one wanted to oppose the crazy mage.
Cephas was right though. Only a few more minutes of walking had to be done before they noticed another light in the distance between the shadows of the trees. There were also sounds of birds chirping and smooth piano music playing faintly. Being cautious, the group slowly approached the light. They soon found themselves staring into a secret garden full of beautiful flowers of all colors and variety. There were birds playing in the small pond and butterflies fooling around in the air. A little cottage made of brick with a straw roof was nested in the corner of the small opening. There seemed to be a small garden hidden behind it. The sun shined brightly in the clear blue sky with some small clouds drifting around. At the center of the garden was a delicate looking table made of metal and glass. On the table a nice selection of pastries were laid out along with a flowery teapot and five small teacups. Around it seated five chairs also made of the same material. One of the seats was being occupied by a man dressed in an elegant white suit with gold linings. He also had clean white gloves on that suggested him to be a gentleman. Short, neatly-trimmed, straight hair the color of pink cotton candy covered his face as he was looking downwards at a book in his lap. His square glasses with round edges and a thin frame were still noticeable though. The wing shaped earrings in his ears dangled at an odd angle as well.
“That is this? Some kind of Alice in Wonderland shit?” Cephas whispered, clearly not amused. The man looked up instantly and smiled widely at them, his sky blue eyes sparking. He placed the book down on the table with the pages still opened and stood up. He had clearly spotted them and started making his way over.
“I was waiting for the lot of you to come! I hardly ever get visitors around here. It often gets quite lonely. Come! Come in to the sunlight and enjoy some tea with me!” he greeted, his accent reminiscent of an Englishman. He grabbed Cairn’s arm gently and pulled him into the light, leading him over to the setup of tea and cakes. Cairn was too shocked to let words come out of his mouth or even thought process in his mind.
“Who are you?” Cephas questioned following his brother. He wasn’t very shocked but he was rather curious as to why there was a man living in the Fairy’s forest. Micah and Astral didn’t care who he was, they were both only relieved that there was finally light and a place to rest. They both quickly took a seat next to each other and sighed at the comfort of the chairs. Their legs felt like jello finally getting a chance to rest. Everyone sat down but Cephas. He only stood with his arms crossed next to his baffled brother.
“My name is Nicolas Bumble. Welcome to my Fullmoon Forest,” he politely introduced as he started pouring tea for everyone, even Cephas who was still on edge.
“Wait, I thought the Fullmoon forest belonged to the Fairy,” Cephas interrogated, his mind not being able to wrap itself around the fact that Nicolas is the so-called “Fairy”.
“I guess that would be what outsiders refer to me as,” Nicolas replied, biting his bottom lip.
“Oh darn, I was hoping the fairy would be a beautiful maiden of whom I could seduce,” Cairn sighed sadly. He picked up a cup of tea and took a sip.
“I’m sorry for disappointing you. Like I was saying I hardly get visitors here! I’m extremely pleased you mages showed up!” Nicolas smiled brightly and clapped his hands together in excitement.
“Gee, I wonder why you never get visitors,” Cephas muttered sarcastically. Nicolas turned to Astral and Micah and asked for their names. The two introduced themselves very vaguely but Nicolas still had a thing or two to say about their names. He chattered on happily in a one-sided conversation as the two only sat there quietly sipping tea.
Cephas leaned down to his brother and whispered in his ear, “I thought you said the fairy was supposed to be nasty and mean. This bloke is nothing but pleasant, perhaps too pleasant.”
“How am I supposed to know those were just false rumors?! How do you think I feel, expecting a scorching hot chick and getting this flamboyant stick of butter?” Cairn whispered back. Cephas frowned at him.
“Is that all you can think of?! There are more important things on our hands like weather or not he still has a crystal ball.”
“I guess we’ll just have to distract him and take a look around.” Cairn suggested. His suggestion to distract didn’t even have to be planned. Nicolas was already distracting himself with the company.
“Hey, as long as you fellows are here why not help me out a bit. I was going to go tidy up my garden and feed the animals.” Nicolas stood up and grabbed Micah with him. Everyone turned their gaze to Cephas as if waiting for permission or asking for help. In Micah’s case, his eyes were pleading so hard it felt like they were going to pop out of his head if he tried any harder. Cephas only smiled back at him, “oh no! You guys go have fun! My darling brother is too exhausted so I have to take care of him.” He then proceeded to glare instructions at Astral. She knew exactly what was on his mind from the scary look he was giving her.
“Animals! I would love too!” Astral said excitedly as she jumped up off her seat. The three of them then headed off to the back of the house. Once being sure that they were alone, the twins dashed for the little cottage.
Looking in the first window displayed a single roomed area and a set of stairs. The room had a clean sink in the back with counters that were full of jars sitting atop them. The contents of the jars were unidentifiable though. There were also shelves upon shelves of more jars and in the middle of the room was a small table with a tiny cauldron set in the middle. Papers were scattered all around the table and on top of it making the room look like a mess.
“Definitely a house of a spellmaster,” Cairn commented.
“Yeah but I don’t see the crystal ball. We’ll have to go inside and check out the counters and upstairs,” Cephas reached for the door expecting it to be locked. Instead it opened quietly and obediently. The opened door revealed something far different than what they saw through the window. Beyond the door was a magnificent foyer with two grand staircases leading up to the second floor which had one set of doors in the middle where the stairs meet. On the first floor in the middle between the stairs was also another room.
“Holy mother of god, this guy is just full of deception,” Cephas said in awe.
“Let’s split up. We’ll find it faster. My poor Astral is out there with that creeper,” Cairn suggested. Cephas hesitated before agreeing. He knew that once apart, they were weak. They depended on each other’s power to function but Nicolas wasn’t around so it should be okay.
Out in the garden Micah was reduced to pulling weeds and using his water magic to water the plants while Astral and Nicolas fed the woodland animals who came for a meal.
“How come you live here alone?” Astral inquired. All her life, she was basically alone. She had no friends but Micah but she didn’t even meet him until she was at least sixteen. It was hard for her to imagine why anyone would seclude themselves, especially someone as talkative as Nicolas.
Nicolas hesitated, his mood darkening a bit as he pondered whether or not he should share his story with someone he just met. Astral seemed like a nice enough girl though. Her innocent face made her seem trusty and her soft light aura made him feel like he could fly away with her.
“I live here because I have to if I want to see the person I love,” Nicolas’s mouth bringing to light a tiny smile that he mustered up. Thinking about love only made his heart feel heavy though. It was a task all in itself just to smile all the while thinking about such a thing.
“What do you mean? Is she scared of people or something? I don’t get it.” Astral felt like the answer was so plainly in front of her but she didn’t know what it was. She felt completely clueless. Nicolas made it seem like it was obvious why he lived in a forest no one could get to normally. Astral’s eyes focused intensely on the man, anxiously waiting for an answer. Nicolas’s lips started to shake so he bit them to make them stop. It was not something he told anyone. His story was a secret he’s never told yet at the same time, he yearned to tell someone. His mind was split in two. It was a hard decision to make because telling this secret could ruin everything but at the same time, it hurts that no one knew.
Astral caressed Nicolas’s pink hair and rubbed his back to comfort him. Somehow her touch was warm and fulfilling. He sighed and threw the rest of the animal feed on the ground. Nicolas then proceeded to sit down as well with his legs crossed. He didn’t care if his fancy clothes got dirty at this point. Astral sat down beside him and smiled warmly, her smile lighting up her beautiful face. Nicolas turned away from her and focused his eyes on the animals chowing down on food in front of him.
“The reason why I live here is because the person I love is a man. I want people in the outside world to think of me as a woman so that the man I love won’t be disgraced. The only way to do that is to hide myself. He and I are pretty famous due to the powers that we were born with. Rumors are always floating around everywhere about us. I don’t want to burden him and I know that people frown upon love like ours. I don’t want people to think bad of him so I hide myself here. Lots of people always try to come and find me but the spell I put on the forest will only let them find me if I want them to,” Nicolas explained his story, his mood getting more depressing the further he explained. He neglected to mention who his lover was though.
“Why did you let us in then?” Astral pressed for answers.
“Because when I spotted the group of you in my glass ball, I felt a connection. An intuition of sorts. It felt like I had to meet you. Something just told me I should let you in. It was just you though. Those fellas you are traveling with, I’m not so sure about. Part of me felt so lonely here by myself as well. I wanted someone to talk to very badly. My lover only comes once in a while. He’s always busy with this and that being a famous magician.”
“I’m sorry,” Astral replied for lack of things to say. This poor guy was stuck in a bind to seclude himself and pretend to be a woman just for someone he loved. Astral wasn’t even all too sure if his lover loved him back or not. For all she knew, Nicolas’s significant other could just be using him. Even though she couldn’t say anything, her heart ached for him. She felt she was in the position herself being able to relate to being alone and not accepted for who she was. Since Nicolas shared his story, she wanted to tell him hers too but before she could say anything, Cairn and Cephas appeared. “We should get going. It’s getting late and I’m sure your parents are concerned, Astral.” Cephas interrupted.
“Yes, thank you for your kindness, Nicolas,” Cairn smiled as he pulled Astral up to her feet and dusted her off as if he was her mother.
“It’s too bad. I was getting quite used to your company. Indeed I gave you kindness but you abused it. Please return my crystal ball to me before you take your leave,” the seriousness in Nicolas’s voice was stern. He seemed like a completely different person than the one they first met. The once beautiful sky slowed darkened with Nicolas’s expression.
“How can you be so sure that I we have it?” Cephas defied him. Nicolas only grew angrier with that statement.
“This is my forest. This is my home. Do you understand? My domain! I know everything that’s happening in my forest! To think that you are insolent enough to steal from me is quite baffling!” without even letting anyone have a chance to give him his ball back, Nicolas pulled out a plain wooden wand from his suit and muttered some words in another language. He waved the wand at Cephas but the already alerted twin blocked the incoming magic attack with a thick wall of sand which absorbed it. He produced a small clear crystal ball the size of a fist from his robe and tossed it at Cairn who caught it clumsily, almost dropping it. Cephas stuck his right arm out and drooped his hand over as if reaching for something on the floor and pulled upward. Sand seeped out of the ground underneath where Nicolas was standing and grabbed at his legs. In that time, Cairn gently handed the ball to Astral. Once his brother had hold of the enemy, Cairn started throwing punches at the air, making rocks form out of the ground and tossed in Nicolas’s direction. The fairy slashed his wand downwards, his mouth constantly moving from the casting of spells. The rocks that were once flying at him were now all split in two down the middle and lying on the ground. He waved his wand at his feet and the sand turned to water washing off his feet.
Micah whom everyone seemed to have forgotten about took this chance to attack as well. He held his left elbow outwards as if offering his arm to a young maiden and slapped the top of his left hand with his right. The water on the ground around Nicolas quickly seeped into the ground until it found a larger source of water. As soon as it did, all the water sprung upwards like a geyser erupting. Nicolas managed to jump out of the way before the water hit though. He landed on a cloud that he fabricated with his wand. A wall of sand then reached up to him attempting to engulf him but the cloud carried him higher. Micah used the technique he used earlier to take moisture out of the air and sucked up the cloud causing Nicolas to start falling back down. With more waves of his wand, a small weed started growing into a giant plant until one of its leaves were big enough to catch him. In the process, it also sucked all of the water out of the ground. Cairn clapped his hands together multiple times until the ground was solid as a rock, killing the plant. As it fell over like a giant tree, Nicolas jumped off. He grabbed one of the birds flying frantically in the air and used his wand on it. The tiny delicate thing evolved into a giant flying monster with sharp claws and ferocious teeth that were too big to fit in its beak. He hoisted himself on top of it and directed it to attack Cephas and Cairn. The bird monster opened its wings and swooped over to them, it’s beak snapping, trying to get a bit.
As the fighting went on, Astral only sat in the corner too scared to fight. She didn’t want to hurt Nicolas. It wasn’t like he was the bad guy here. She didn’t want to hurt her friends either. Even if she participated in this magical mess, she wouldn’t be able to do much. Her physical fighting would be stopped by the powerful magic Nicolas had. He could easily due away with her weapon by turning it into something else. If she were to fight Cairn, Cephas, and Micah, they would just rip her weapon from her with sand or water.
“Astral, I trusted you to understand me and now you will!” Nicolas’s voice thundered as he rode the beast. He chanted a spell and pointed his wand at her. Her three other friends were all caught in a bind and no one could save her. Micah had no water to save her with except for the droplet he gathered from the cloud earlier. Cairn and Cephas were both too busy trying to avoid the bird all the while trying to stop it with their own magic. Their attacks were weak against a flying creature though because it can easily avoid the ground.
“Astral!” Micah screamed. Seeing the girl he loved in danger sent a rage through him that made his whole body shake. Quickly he dipped his pointer finger in the water droplet and held his hand like a gun. In the small window of time he had, he pointed it at Nicolas and made a motion like he shot a real gun. The droplet of water went flying like a bullet, hitting Nicolas in the chest as his own spell made its contact at its target, throwing her back and knocking her out. The crystal ball rolled out of her grip and across the ground. Nicolas had let his guard down from Micah, assuming that he had no more water to use therefor rendering him useless.
Being wounded, Nicolas fell off the monster, distracting from its battle. Cairn took this chance to drive a giant pointed rock into it, pinning it to the ground, killing it instantly. Micah dashed his way over to Astral who slowly came back to consciousness. When she realized what was happening, she quickly stood up and ran over to Nicolas, ignoring Micah. The twins were busy making sure the bird monster was definitely dead before they met up with Micah.
“Where’s Astral!” Cairn huffed worriedly. Micah pointed at the girl running over to their attacker and then proceeded to run after her.
Once the light mage reached Nicolas, she plopped on the floor scooped him up in an embrace. His blood was now seeping everywhere, spoiling his perfect white and gold suit. A dribble of blood was also spilling out of his mouth. His calm sky blue eyes drooped, trying hard to stay open. They attached themselves to the figure holding their retainer.
“Nicolas! No!” Astral exclaimed, her voice sounding odd to herself. She ignored it though.
“Tell…him…love him,” was all that escaped Nicolas’s lips before his eyes closed and his body limped. Astral hugged the now dead body tighter. Her long hair draped over her shoulders and covered half her face as she lowered her head. Nicolas’s blood caught itself on to her clothes as well. Her friends had caught up to her and now were standing silently watching. Micah got down on one knee next to her and hugged her shoulders. He parted her hair and cupped it behind her ear, revealing her teary golden eyes. When he leaned in to kiss her cheek, Micah froze. Astral wasn’t the girl he knew anymore. In place of his love was now a young feminine looking boy who resembled Astral.
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