"There are far better things that await us ahead better than any we leave have behind, all we need is courage." -Nightshade

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I saw her getting more and more nervous by the second. She stepped back and asked,

“W-what do you mean, our relationship?” I sat on the bed and told her to sit beside me.

“I… I want you to know that I really care about you, Nightshade.”

“Ok…”

“And I need you to know that I would sacrifice myself for you anytime, in fact, I wouldn’t for anybody else but you.”

“Where are you going with this?” She asked with a worried expression. Damn it, it breaks my heart seeing her this worried already.

“I think we should keep our relationship as very close friends that treat each other like siblings, it’s really cute and I enjoy it.”

“Ah…” She said after looking down at the floor. I couldn’t see her expression since her hair was covering her face from my viewpoint. I kneeled on the floor, softly grabbed her arm and said while gazing straight into her eyes,

“Don’t get me wrong, I still love you a lot, but… no in that kind of way, Nightshade. I have the desire to protect you and see you happy, not… to be married.” She looked at me with tears in her eyes, her cheeks and nose were getting red as she showed a sorrowful expression, I feel… so guilty. She slowly got up and started walking away. “H-hey, where are you going this late?”

“I’m not going anywhere… I’ll sleep on the couch today…” She was crying, but she wasn’t sobbing or showing it too much. Her tone of voice was depressed, without energy.

“Don’t be like that, you can still sleep with me.”

“No, I’m fine.”

“You know damn well you can’t sleep alone.”

“I’ll find a way.” I wasn’t going to let her suffer like that, but people sometimes do need some alone time… but at the same time most girls when they get angry, they mean the opposite of what they say. I started following her, but she turned back and said,

“Please…” She had tears running down her cheeks like a waterfall, “Leave me alone, Rukito.” At least I didn’t let this get worse… if this would of have kept going it was going to be even worse.

“Alright… I’m going to Jinn’s room to have a short chat about the reward we are supposed to get.”

“…” She remained silent and laid down on the couch. I walked out of our room and headed towards Jinn’s room. I knocked on the door and opened it.

“Hey, Jinn!” Vincenzo was on the couch sleeping, he opened his eyes and said,

“He’s showering.” I sat beside him and said,

“I’ll just wait for him here then.”

“How was your visit to the hospital?”

“It actually went better than I thought, I got a useful connection with the princess of Greenterra.”

“Wow talk about lucky. You definitely would have won the casino in hell in no time.”

“You think so? How’s hell anyway?”

“It’s horrible… honestly, I don’t even want to talk about it.”

“That’s fine.”

“Why don’t we talk about that pixie that I saw in your room?”

“Hm? Nightshade?”

“Yeah, when Jinn and I arrived here we passed by her room to check on her, and I was surprised that such an evil person like you was able to turn a pixie into a good person.”

“Evil? What do you mean?”

“You wanted to sell me on the black market!”

“Oh, that’s right! Thanks for reminding me.” I pulled out my smartphone and checked on the bidding that I was hosting online. “Oh! There’s an offer for 4000 Crystalis!

“What?! I thought smartphones were banned!” I locked the phone and said,

“I have a special someone that helps me with technology,” I said while winking.

“Ugh, whatever. Anyways, what’s your relation to that pixie?”

“Oh, we… we are siblings.”

“Siblings? Impossible, a half devil and a pixie can’t be siblings.”

“How do you know I’m a half devil?”

“Trust me, I know when I see a devil.”

“Anyways, she is my sister believe it or not. She had nowhere to go since she was a child and I took her in.”

“That’s not being siblings tough…”

“It’s the same thing! We’re just not blood-related.”

“Uh… so she likes you.”

“How do you know?!”

“It’s obvious! She used that as an excuse to get close to you.”

“Hmm… you think so?” I suddenly got a flashback of Jinn saying,

“Before we encountered you… well, you encountered us, Nightshade and I were adventuring together for a week or so. She wouldn’t stop talking about you and how big you managed to change her life even if it was only for a couple of weeks.” Did I do the wrong thing?... Should I have tried being with her?

“She never had any friends, Kaiser. She has always been an outcast for being too good compared to the other pixies, and I can relate to that a lot… I’m sure you also can. But that girl’s whole life has been changed by you, and honestly, all I want to see is her happy and genuine smile that she has when she is with you.” Damn… maybe I did the wrong thing. But… I looked at my necklace locket and saw the picture of that girl with red hair again… there’s something telling me that I’m forgetting something very important.

Doesn’t matter, important or not, I can’t bear seeing Nightshade crying, I’m sure she has done that way more than enough at a young age, she doesn’t deserve this at all, she did nothing wrong.

“Thanks, Vincenzo.”

“Huh? For what?”

“I know what to do now, I can’t leave her alone more than she already has been.”

“What are you talking about?” Jinn got out of the shower with a towel around him, looked at me and said,

“Oh, you’re back.”

“Jinn, we’ll talk tomorrow, I’m going to sleep.”

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Uhm, alright.” I walked out of the room.

“What’s up with him?” Asked Jinn.

“No idea. He’s crazy.” Before opening the door to the room, I eavesdrop to hear if she was still crying to herself and she was. She was quietly sobbing. I opened the door and she instantly stopped. I sat at the end of the couch and said,

“Are you sure you don’t want to sleep with me, Nightshade?”

“I said no.” I smiled, and softly laid down beside her, while gently hugging her.

“I’ll sleep with you then.” She was shaking. She suddenly started to softly push me away.

“L-let me go.”

“I have some trouble sleeping too at night, you know. I get these weird and terrifying nightmares that just won’t stop happening.”

“Leave me alone.”

“Do you also get these nightmares?”

“I… leave, please.”

“It’s ok, Nightshade. You will never be alone ever again, I’ll always be here, for you, even if we are not in a relationship.” She suddenly started crying and sobbing.”

“D-do you mean that?”

“Of course not!” I said while chuckling. She lightly pushed me again and said,’

“S-stop joking around! This couch is too small to fit the both of us!”

“What are you talking about? The closer we are, the better.”

“…” She blushed, buried her head into my chest and said, “You promise?” I smiled and said,

“I promise. Even if I get married someday, I’ll never abandon you. I can’t imagine how lonely your life must have been.”

“This means a lot to me, Rukito… thanks for existing.”

“That’s going too far, I’m just helping my little sister like a good elder brother.”

“Yeah, thank you, big brother.” Love is so complicated… but thankfully I stopped her getting more and more in love with me in that way, who knows what she would have done later in the future if she saw me with another girl. Thankfully I learned since Sachi, I knew she was in love with me, but I didn’t have the courage to tell her that I found someone else. Wait… what? Who’s Sachi? I just… need some rest, my head hurts.

“Hey, Nightshade.”

“Yes?”

“Can you sing a lullaby? I want to fall asleep faster.”

“Uhh, sure, which one?”

“The best one you got.”

“Alright, this is my own lullaby.”

“You made it?”

“Yeah, the beginning I heard somewhere else, but since I don’t remember how it ends, I finished it myself.”

“Can’t wait to hear it now.”

“It’s filled with love and hope.” She started humming a nice and sweet song while singing in some parts, and I quickly dozed off.

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In my dreams, I kept seeing a pixie getting bullied and excluded from having an exceptionally good singularity. At playing games with her sisters, at any normal conversation people would ignore her, and when she brought up a good idea for the whole kingdom, they laughed at her and ignored it as if she was stupid. It got to a point where she got framed for hurting her own tree.

“It was her! Nightshade hurt the black ash tree with her evil songs!”

“W-what? No! I didn’t do anything!” The maiden pixie looked at her and said,

“Why did you do so, Nightshade?”

“I didn’t do anything!”

“She is lying! She doesn’t even want to trick humans with us! How can we trust her?!”

“Throw her out!”

“Maiden! Please! Don’t throw me outside with those evil humans! Please!” The maiden Pixie looked around and said,

“Alright, everyone, leave. I will have a final discussion with Nightshade myself.”

“Yes, maiden.” Everyone flew away, and only Nightshade and the maiden remained.”

“Maiden Juliet! Please! Don’t do this to me!” She said while crying.

“Nightshade, stop crying.”

“Huh?” The maiden looked around, got closer to her and said,

“I’m so proud of you, my daughter.”

“W-what?”

“I knew you were also going to break the cycle, Nightshade.”

“W-what do you mean?”

“Most Pixies are… pure evil, Nightshade. Only a few like yourself break that cycle and become benevolent.”

“What are you talking about? I don’t understand.”

“Pixies are not ‘mischievous’ being. They were created by the goddess of comets and stars, Suisei for the sole purpose to help humans to the right path, but a long time ago some evil angels with indigo hair tricked us to believe the opposite.” The maiden Pixie was very tall compared to the other pixies, she looked like an actual woman, but just a tiny bit shorter than the average height for a woman. She had the same hair color as Nightshade.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I was also like you once… naïve and oblivious of the world, believing everything one told me, but I never really understood the hate for humans. I went outside the village and then got caught. I got taken back and then got exiled. They ripped my wings off and sent me to the human world.”

“T-that’s horrible!”

“No, it’s not as bad as you think, Nightshade… that’s where I met my love.”

“Your love? What’s that?”

“Yeah, love… It’s complicated, but you will find it one day.”

“Does it have a name?”

“Yes, his name was Romeo. What a sweetheart…” Said the maiden while blushing. She giggled and said, “His friends always made fun of him because they thought I was a child at first.”

“What happened to him?” Asked Nightshade.

“He is no longer with us. You see, humans don’t live as long as we do, Nightshade.”

“Oh…”

“And, you’re the precious daughter that I had with him.”

“Daughter? That you had with him?” The maiden instantly blushed and said,

“I-it’s hard to explain, you will know when you’re old enough. I just… want to apologize for not being there for you, Nightshade. If the other pixies knew that I was once exiled and that I had a daughter, they would have not chosen me as the maiden of the black ash tree.”

“You are an exiled pixie… wow, that’s crazy!”

“Yeah… now you will be one too Nightshade.”

“W-what?! No! I don’t want to go! I don’t want to lose my wings!”

“A pixie’s body grows older depending on also their mental maturity, Nightshade. That’s why most pixies stay tiny for a long time, and others like me can fully evolve and grow faster.”

“I can grow mature here!”

“No, Nightshade, that’s almost impossible. I don’t have much time left in this world, even if I might look young, I’m hundreds and hundreds of years old, and I might die in a year or less.”

“S-so you want me to be the next maiden?”

“No, even better…”

“Huh?”

“Please, free these pixies from this lie… I wasn’t courageous enough to do it myself after Romeo passed away, so please, can you do it for me?” She said while bowing.

“N-no maiden Juliet! Don’t bow to me!”

“P-please… Nightshade. As my daughter… do it for me, and your father.”

“I don’t know what those words mean, maiden… but…”

“But?”

“If it will help everyone and make everyone happy then… I’ll do it!” Juliet suddenly hugged Nightshade and said,

“Thank you, thank you so much, my sweet winter daughter.”

“Uhm… what are you doing?” Asked Nightshade not knowing what a hug was. “I-it feels nice and warm though.” Juliet stepped back, and said,

“The singularity that you have has been passed down by me, Nightshade.”

“Really?!”

“Yes, I was the one who developed it to the point that it’s at, then I had you and passed it down to you. Remember, only pixies can pass down singularities.”

“That’s why it’s so amazing!”

“Yes, and I need you to develop it to become even better. Play every instrument in the world with passion, sing every song ever sung with love, dance the most beautiful dances ever seen with grace, but most importantly… live, and be free.” She got closer to Nightshade’s wings.

“M-maiden, are you sure about this? I don’t think I’m good enough…”

“You’re perfect, Nightshade. Once you step out of this forest, your memories might be fuzzy of this moment, since pixies have trouble if they are too far from their trees. But that’s until you find love.” Juliet suddenly started crying while looking at Nightshade one last time.

“O-ok! Maiden!”

“Please… can you call me mom before you go?”

“M-mom? What does that mean?” Juliet smiled and hugged Nightshade one last time.

“I love you, my sweet winter daughter. A lonely road awaits you, but not for long.”

“I-I think I’ll be fine, Ma- mom!”

“Remember, you need to free all pixies from the lie that the evil angel once made us believe, don’t ever forget that.”

“Yes, mom!”

“Now… close your eyes, this might hurt a bit.”

“Huh?” The maiden quickly ripped her wings off. Nightshade yelled from the pain and the whole forest got agitated.

“I’m sorry, my daughter. Find Di’Ophion, he will help you heal your wounds if you’re kind enough.” Nightshade was on the ground crying from the pain.

“Y-y-yes.”

“The fate of this house is on your hand, Nightshade. But don’t stop just on this house, help everyone else, help all the pixies. I know this might be so sudden, but we don’t have much time left… I feel like humans are up to something evil.” Nightshade got up and said,

“Ok, mom,” Juliet called some other pixies to throw Nightshade out. On the entrance of the forest, Nightshade got dropped on the ground by the pixies.

“You weirdo, this is what you deserve for being such a smartass.”

“Yeah, I hope a human finds you and kills you.” Nightshade slowly got up, turned back and said,

“I-I promise, I’ll save all of you.” The pixies looked at Nightshade weird and then started laughing.

“What?! You’re crazy, get out of here already.” Nightshade turned back and started walking away. The other pixies started throwing rocks at her as she was leaving.

“And never come back!”

“Hey! That’s not nice!” Yelled Nightshade.

“Bye-bye!”

“Whatever… I’ll come back; I promise.” Thought Nightshade. Months passed, and Nightshade wasn’t able to get on Di’Ophion’s good side, so she decided to wait outside of the tree and wait for someone to eat the fruit so she could go and absorb this person’s energy for herself.

One day, two travelers with red hair and golden eyes deviated from the path and walked in the woods, there we saw a fairy playing the harp, sitting on top of a stump with many different animals surrounding her to hear her song. She was beautiful and tiny; she was around 3 feet tall with long purple hair and a gorgeous black dress. She opened her eyes, and we noticed that they were a calming ocean blue color. What struck the travelers was that she had no wings whatsoever. It was Nightshade.

“Good evening, travelers.”

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I was fast asleep soon after she sang the lullaby, but I got all those flashbacks of her memories myself.

“Are you asleep? Rukito?” I heard in my subconscious. It must be Nightshade talking to me while my mind is asleep. “I really love you too… even if we treat each other as siblings, as long as I get to hug you, I don’t mind.” My mind was completely asleep, all I could do is hear her sweet and calming voice. “You know, I never knew where I learned that lullaby from… I always heard it in my head when I was a child, almost as if someone else was singing it to me.”