Raiden is probably celebrating the fact that my father is dying. He's probably eagerly awaiting the news of my father's death and then continuing with his plans. Maybe even rub it in my face. That sounds childish for someone as crafty and manipulative as him, especially when he is suspected to be working for the Spirit of Darkness.

I aimlessly wander around the castle, not knowing what to do. I just can't think straight about what I want to do. I eventually give up and go to my room to draw. Yeah I have art stuff. I got some shortly after I came to fae, but I’ve been having artists block so I didn’t really draw for a while.

I draw animals and fish, like I normally do. But I also draw a lot of butterflies for some reason, and I mean a lot, like I got possessed or something. Admittedly it’s somewhat therapeutic and calms me down a bit from my confused state. After about thirty or so minutes of drawing butterflies, I begin drawing Hametsu. I don't know why, I just do. I draw him with tears in his eyes and one rolling down his face. I managed to capture the sadness and the pain in his eyes. Why did I draw him like this? It makes me curious so I decide to ask Lilly about Hametsu.

It took a little while for me to find her, but I eventually found her with Adair, watching over him. Adair is still dead asleep in his coma.

I pull up another chair in his room and sit down with her.

We sit in silence for a few minutes, aside from listening to Aidan and Ryan's laughter in the background. What they’re laughing about will always be a mystery to me.

Adair moans a little bit.

“Did he wake up?” I ask Lilly. She shakes her head.

“He does that sometimes. It doesn't mean he's awake. He's probably not going to wake up for a few weeks, maybe even months.” She says. I sighed. At least Adair has some color in his skin and his lips are no longer as blue as they used to be. But his bruises show little signs of improvement, but some of his smaller cuts are starting to fade.

“His skin color is starting to come back,” I say.

Lilly nods. She's obviously thinking about something, most likely about both her brother and Adair. I know she cares deeply for Hametsu and is understandably worried about him. I’m the same way with Adair. I’m worried sick about him and often pray that he recovers and wakes up before our father passes.

“I have a question about your brother,” I say. I’m genuinely curious about his past. I know he would never tell me. Probably his pride and not wanting to seem vulnerable.

“Yeah?”

“What was he like when he was younger and how did he develop his cruel streak?” I ask.

She sighs.

“Well, he used to harm himself. He used physical pain as a way of escaping his emotional pain and sorrow.” Lilly starts.

I nod, feeling really bad for him now.

“He was always a kind person when we were kids. He loved to collect bugs. He always kept them in jars and treated them like pets until mom told him to release them back into the wild.”

I laugh slightly thinking of a younger Hametsu collecting bugs. Lilly laughs a little too. It must’ve been adorable. Now is really not the time to be laughing though. We both recognise this and stop.

“Then he started to get distant from everyone and started to close people off. He never had any friends as a kid and I think that was a part of his cruelty development. He suddenly started being mean to people by insulting them in hurtful ways. It progressively got worse from there. He went from verbal abuse to mental abuse. Then mental to emotional, then to physical.”

“I see…” I say.

“Anyway, after our mom died, we were taken by the Spirit of Death to be raised. We view him as a sort of older brother figure. Hametsu was trained on combat, death magic, and sleep magic. He was taught how to use a scythe and frequently practiced it on people he hated in the realm we lived in. Then he began to enjoy hearing the screams of pain and terror and the begs for mercy.”

I nodded. Dang he was messed up back then. He still is honestly.

“Then it just turned into a love of death and torture and a hatred for all life. Our caretaker eventually made him go to therapy and he’s getting better. He’s still pessimistic and awkward around new people. So he was probably pretty pessimistic around you.”

“Pessimistic and crazy…” I say, remembering that time.

“I kinda figured,” she says with a nod.

“In other words, he was a sad, lonely boy who used to be very nice and kind and then developed into a deranged little ball of hate and rage, is getting therapy, and is slowly getting better.” I say.

“That's about right,” she starts. “I don’t think his cruel side is ever going to go away. But he is learning how to control it by finding ways to cope with it in a safe manner.”

“Did he ever make any friends?” I asked.

“A few with similar interests. One died in a car accident the other he ditched because he was just very rude and obnoxious. From what I know, he’s matured now, but Hametsu still chooses to avoid him, probably because of mistrust.”

“There are no cars in Fae.” I state, a bit confused.

“We lived in a different world okay? Different from Earth and Fae,” she said, a tad bit annoyed. I haven't heard anyone call the Human Realm “Earth” in a long time.

“I’ll stop talking,” I say. “Thank you for sharing that with me.”

Lilly nods.

“No problem,” she says. She smiles.

I get up and leave.

I have nothing to do, so I wander around the castle for a bit. I wander into the training grounds and watch the soldiers train on various different combat skills.

Then Ryan grabs me from behind and flies me over to the sword fighting area. He is really really fast. Well, he is a wind fairy so that's expected. Speed is one of the things they’re known for.

“Ryan put me down!!” I demand.

“Aidan told me to get you and that's what I'm doing!!” He laughs and puts me down.

I brush myself off, kind of annoyed at Ryan, only to be grabbed and shot up into the air by Aidan. I begin fluttering my wings and catch myself before I land on the ground face first. I knew he was strong but I did NOT expect that. It catches me completely by surprise. By the time I calm my shocked state down, I get annoyed.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“Aidan!!” I shout.

Aidan laughs. He and Ryan fly up to me.

“Today, my dear little brother,” Aidan starts. “You will practice aerial battles. You will most likely have to fight Raiden in the air. So you gotta be prepared.”

Oh goody. Fighting in the air. How fun! NO!! I don't want to practice fighting today. I want to flirt with Roxy. I suddenly get into a very bad mood. They both know it.

“Kallan, turn that frown upside down,” Ryan teases, going upside down. I growl.

I think about what Lilly said about Hametsu. It’s a bit hard to believe that he was once nice and kind, considering how he was when I first met him.

Then I think about Raiden. This evil bastard has been tearing lives apart and trying to fuel the war between Death Fairies and Life Fairies, all so he can free his kind, the Dark Fairies. Not only that but he’s been contacting the Spirit of Darkness. Who knows what they're planning? Sweet Mother Goddess I hope he isn't planning on freeing the Spirit of Darkness, because that would literally be the end of the world.

That thought stopped me short. What if he IS planning that? What would he hope to gain from freeing the source of evil in Fae? If the Spirit of Darkness is free, then we have no hope of defeating him without some major miracle.

I suddenly feel this wave of hopeless dread. There is no way we could win. It wasn't possible. We are doomed to a life as Raiden’s slaves, and we’re pretty sure that he knows too.

“Raiden is probably planning to free the Spirit of Darkness…” I say to them. Their faces quickly go from enthusiastic to sheer and utter horror and terror. They know that this is beyond serious. No words could form in our mouths

“I need to talk to Hametsu,” Ryan says. “I need to n\know if he has more information.

“He may not be awake. If he is, then keep the talking to a minimum. He’s probably not in the mood due to everything that's happened.”

We flew back down. Ryan leaves to talk to Hametsu about it.

After that, Aidan and I were in no mood to practice fighting.

“This is probably what he wants.” I said. I surprised myself by saying that.

“What do you mean?” Aidan asked me.

It feels as if a divine power has taken over my body. I have never felt this way before. I feel like a completely different person, like a true warrior king, Like i’m ready for anything. Why can't I have this feeling normally?

“He wants us to feel hopeless so we wouldn't fight against him. Let's prove him wrong,” I say.

Aidan is surprised at first, but then he nods with a serious look of determination on his face. He knows that it’s now or never. This is the fight of the millenia and we don’t plan on losing. We’re going to give it everything we have to stop Raiden from achieving his goals, even if it costs us our lives. Ryan came back shortly after and said Hametsu is asleep, so he wasn't able to get any information.

We fly up and he starts training me on aerial battles. The training lasts until it gets dark. We pretty much train all day. Kage joins us to spar with me and I have to say, he’s very good. He looks different too. He has horns on his head, dragon wings, and a dragon tail. Both of his eyes are red with slit pupils and he has a noticeable fang when he opens his mouth. He knows a lot of backhanded dirty tactics that he shows me how to avoid. Raiden may try to use them

Over the next few days, Ryan, Aidan, and Kage trained me on various fighting techniques. I quickly went from beginner level to expert with their help. I’m surprised that I’m such a quick learner. Ryan says this normally takes decades to get from beginner to expert; he's shocked that I only take a few days. Kage makes an awesome sparring partner. He is so good. All that’s left was learning about my powers and how to direct and control them, and I don’t even know where to start with that.

Adair is still asleep. But his bruises are fading and more color has returned to him. But I don't know if his wings will grow back or not. I don't even know if fairy wings even grow back. Hametsu is looking a bit better and is able to sit up.

I ask Lilly if wings ever grow back.

“Fairy wings don't grow back. Adair will never fly again…” she says. She starts crying. I also start crying a little bit, but I try to force back my tears and comfort her. My brother is never going to fly again.

“Do you know why Raiden wants the pedant?” I ask her.

She shakes her head.

“I wish I knew,” she says. “It would make things a lot easier. Not even Hametsu knows what he wants with it.”

“The pendant is the Black Death right?” I asked.

“Not exactly. Whoever possesses the pendant can manipulate its power to their will,” Lilly stated. “So whatever he plans on doing with it cannot be good.”

“I see…” I say, processing everything. I still believe he wants to use it to free his people and the Spirit of Darkness. If that’s the case, then we HAVE to keep it out of his hands, no matter what. I don’t say any of this to Lilly, since she’s worried enough with Hametsu and Adair.

I came up with an idea on why Raiden decided to copy Hametsu. He knows about his past, and may have manipulated the events that lead to him becoming the way he is now. This is all definitely part of some sick and twisted plot.

When Hametsu learned about my existence, he must've been excited and wanted to meet me, so he went to the Human Realm and joined my old school to meet me. Some time during his stay, Raiden transformed into Hametsu and took the Death Fairy kingdom and framed him for everything that has happened, when in reality, it was all Raiden. Then he trapped Hametsu in the Human Realm, being unable to escape until his caretaker broke the seal on him, came flying to my rescue during the duel, and was horribly beaten up by Raiden, who was probably hoping to kill him.

That guy is super clever. I’m honestly a little jealous about how smart he is.

“Oh yeah Kal! I have good news!” Lilly said excitedly. She was almost jumping for joy.

“What is it?”

“Ryan asked me out on a date!!!” She was nearly squealing with excitement. I am so glad Hametsu is still asleep. He would’ve flipped out if he heard that.

“That's awesome!!” I said, “when is it?”

“Tonight! He said that he's going to take me out to dinner and on a walk at a really pretty garden and along the riverbank. He also said that he's going to take me to his favorite place.”

Lilly got all flushed just thinking about it. She runs out and runs right into Ryan. I can just imagine the shade of red on his face. Tomato red. I shake my head and smile.

I look back at Adair and grow sad over the fact that he's never going to fly again.

I just keep staring at him, examining his wounds. Tears begin running down my face again. I flew out of the room and headed straight to the temple of the Mother Goddess.

“Please let my brother wake up soon.” I pray while crying uncontrollably. I also pray for him to not drown in despair over everything that has happened. I pray for the victory of the Life Fairies and to discover the full extent of my powers and to control them. I pray for Hametsu and his recovery and for him to be able to help guide us to victory.

I’m nott aware of my surroundings, so I don't hear someone come up to me until they speak.

“Prince,” a calm female voice says. She sounds wise.

I turn around and see three fairies, a guy and two girls. Judging from the robes they wore, they must be very important.

I calm down before I begin to speak.

“Can I ask who you are and why are you here?”

“We are the elemental fairies. The guardians of air, water, earth, and fire,” the guy with aerodynamic light grey wings says. His hair is light grey and he’s wearing breech pants and a white tunic. I suspected that he's the air elemental fairy.

“Speaking of fire, where is he?” The girl with wave-like blue wings says. She must be the water elemental guardian fairy. “He’s never this late.”

The third one shrugs. She has long dark brown hair and pretty green eyes. By long hair, I mean it reaches down to her ankles. Her wings are that of a monarch butterfly. She has a distant look in her eye, like she's very spacey and easily distracted.

“You know he's constantly busy. He probably didn't even get the message,” she says. The water guardian sighs. She looks familiar to me, I don't know why, but she just does. Blonde, wavy hair and turquoise eyes. She's wearing a blue cloak with a gold trim.

The earth elemental guardian has a green cloak with a gold trim.

The wind guardian has a silver cloak with, no surprise, a gold trim.

“We were sent by the Mother Goddess to help you train on your powers,” the earth guardian says.

“Are you going to tell me your names?” I ask.

“Oh yes! I am Enlil, the wind guardian, this is Terra, the earth guardian and this is Lamia, the water guardian,” Enlil says.

Lamia!! She's the elemental guardian of water? I didn’t know that. I wonder who the fire guardian iss.

Well I didn't have to wait very long, because he flies in, grabs Lamia, and kisses her.

My eyes grow wide. I can hardly believe what I'm seeing.

My older brother Aidan is the fire elemental guardian fairy.