23. The Fairy Council

By the time the Little Daisy docked up upon the shores of Fairy Land, night had fallen, and the full moon cast down upon the magical glowing forest. The large canopy of leaves high above them shone in bright neon hues of pink, green, orange, and blue like flashing lights on a city strip. FJ could not believe his eyes when he saw toadstool mushrooms as tall as the thatched cottages as they reached the outskirts of the village known as the Enchanted Forest.

The fairies still continued to busy themselves in the early evening, buzzing around the small market stalls as they made their way back home. The majority of them were in their human form, and not many were flying around as fairies, a fact that seemed odd to FJ; he had expected them to be flying around constantly. He noticed that Oberon and Titania were in their humans forms as well but had their hoods pulled up, shadowing their faces.

The group stuck out like a sore thumb. It was clear to the people of the island that they weren't all fairies. They were dressed differently. The fairies seemed to wear outfits made from dyed feathers or leaves woven together to create beautiful garments.

"This way." Oberon pointed towards the base of an enormous tree that towered up into the night sky.

FJ spotted twinkling lights coming from an gigantic treehouse that most kids would dream of building. It resembled a castle, so big that it extended out to the neighbouring trees and connected the separate buildings together with rope bridges.

"The Royal Sanctuary," Oberon explained. "My home. It's been a year since I've stepped foot in it."

"How fitting for the royal family to live high up in the trees and look down upon their common subjects," Dave sneered.

"At least Oberon doesn't oppress his people like King Mordred does," FJ commented back. "Now shut up. You're our prisoner. You don't get to speak."

"Why did we bring him again?" Logan looked at Dave with disgust.

"I can't trust him by himself on the Little Daisy." FJ tied a gag around Dave's mouth.

"This place is beautiful." Jessica looked around her surroundings with a soft smile. The bright neon plants made her feel safe on such a dark cloudy night.

"Very beautiful." FJ admired her innocent face.

Her head craned back to stare up at the Enchanted Forest with her big round eyes. Her radiant smile gave him hope of a better tomorrow for such a bleak world. He feared her smile would disappear when he would have to tell her the truth about the great fire he had started. What would she think of him then?

Oberon reached out to open the door carved into the base of an enormous redwood with a trunk wider than a small cottage. Heavy footsteps came running up behind them, followed by loud shouts and metal clanging against metal. They were surrounded by the fairy council guard. A royal crest that resembled a pair of fairy wings was imprinted onto their armour, and they pulled out their sharp longswords, pointing them towards the group.

"Outsiders are not permitted within the Enchanted Forest. Return to your vessel immediately or be cast out to the Swamplands with the pixies." The man in charge of the unit stepped forward, his thin nose wrinkling at the sight of them.

His hair shone a startling neon orange, and he stood tall with a slight, weak frame. He didn't dress like the other guards in armour, but wore a fine, expensively-tailored suit only a person of high authority within the fairy kingdom could afford.

FJ raised his fists ready to attack, but Oberon placed a hand on his arm and stepped forward.

"It's in your best interests, Lord Puck, if you let me pass." Oberon folded his strong arms across his chest and stood his ground.

Lord Puck's thin nose shrivelled up even more from the mention of his name and cast his neon blue eyes down upon Oberon. "And what interests would those be?"

Oberon reached his hands up and pulled back his evergreen hood. Gasps echoed throughout the market, and the guards fell down to their knees out of respect. This was exactly what Oberon was trying to avoid by covering his face with his hood. He hated the formalities and being treated differently from the rest of his people. It was why he had fallen in love with Titania. She'd never treated him like royalty, and it had been a breath of fresh air compared to all the other pompous ladies of the court that Oberon couldn't stand. It was also why he loved the Levon Pirates so much. They treated him equally, especially Baden, whom he told all of his secrets to. He would miss his best friend the most out of the crew.

"Welcome home, Your Majesty." Lord Puck bowed his head but did not seem pleased to see him; the snarky tone in his voice said it all. "And you have found our Queen. The fairy council will be ever so pleased to hear you're back."

"Enough with the formalities, Puck. Take me to the council, and I want to see Luke." Oberon wasn't surprised by the not-so-warm welcome. The fairy council didn't like him, and they didn't like the idea of leaving Luke in charge when he went in search of Titania.

"Of course." Puck nervously smiled, his blue eyes maliciously scanning over Titania.

Oberon could tell something was amiss. His wife gripped onto his arm, and he could feel her body tremble against his. He placed his arm around her waist and glared towards Puck.

FJ also noticed Titania's sudden change of state. It reminded him of the day he had saved her from the slave trade at Halfway Point. He started to wonder how she ended up with the slave trade in the first place.

Before FJ could intervene, the group was escorted up to the palace-sized treehouse, winding their way up a staircase built within the trunk of the redwood. FJ gawped at the size of the treehouse when they entered the grand hall. It looked ten times bigger on the inside than on the outside. The architecture was amazing in the way the structure was built within and around the tree with an arched roof and branches weaving in and out of the wooden panels. FJ smirked at Logan's wide eyes; the Nomad was in his element.

"Do you remember the day you got your cursed soul?" FJ shifted his head to the side to inspect Logan.

"Yeah," Logan chuckled from the memory. "It was ten years ago, and I was playing hide and seek with Lana and Levi. I loved climbing trees, so I climbed the big oak tree hidden within the ruins of the old castle. I slipped and fell, and the next thing I knew, a branch curled around my waist and caught me before I hit the ground."

Logan closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, feeling the pulsing energy of the plants throughout treehouse. He curled his fist, and the leaves started to grow bigger and glow more vibrantly than ever before, as though they could sense Logan's presence.

"Hmm," FJ hummed to himself. He remembered the memory differently.

He remembered Logan being deliberately pushed out of the tree as part of an experiment in finding out how people gained cursed souls. Morgana must have tampered with his memories more than once. Logan didn't even seem to remember that FJ had been playing hide and seek with them that day.

"Sit... eat. You must be famished from your long journey." Lord Puck took FJ out of his deep thoughts and directed them all towards the grand oak table, where servants had already gathered with food and drink. "The council will be with you shortly. I've organised an emergency meeting, Your Majesty."

Puck scurried off out the back entrance to the hall. Everyone sat down and started to eat, leaving Oberon sat at the head of the table. He reverted back to his fairy form. Something felt off; he could feel it in his wings. Titania gave him an odd glance. She, too, reverted back to her fairy form with pink translucent wings fluttering against her back and leaving behind a trail of green dust. She sat down next to him.

"Why have you turned back into your fairy form? We're home now. You don't need to be on the defence." She stroked her hand through his green locks.

"Because it doesn't feel right." His face scrunched up. "Look around you. I don't recognise any of the servants or the guards."

Titania gazed around the room. Her husband was right: she didn't recognise any of the servants, not a single one.

"Excuse me," she called over a servant girl. "Where is Mistress Peaseblossom? She's still in charge of the servants, correct?"

The servant girl's neon pink eyes cascaded to the floor. "Mistress Peaseblossom fell ill with the pixie virus and was outcasted to the Swamplands. The epidemic got worse after you both left. The surrounding villages to the west of the Enchanted Forest have all fallen to the pixie virus and have been quarantined. It's spreading like wildfire. The only safe place is here."

Oberon flinched where he sat, his muscles becoming stiff until they became one. His jaw clenched as he recalled the memory from Monster Island. Just after the ghost, Vladimir, took him captive and brought him to his master, Dr Killian immediately injected Oberon with pixie blood to numb his senses and to prevent him from retaliating back with his stingers. It made him weak for days after, which was why he didn't go down to Atlantis. He fortunately recovered and hadn't been transformed into a pixie like Dr Killian had expected to happen, but if anybody knew he had been infected with pixie blood, he would be outcasted to the Swamplands, whether he was the King or not. The only person that knew was Baden, and he was not here to help him.

"Pixie virus?" FJ muffled, his cheeks bulging with food. Jessica sat next to him, affectionately giggling at his behaviour.

"I've never heard of such an illness." Logan swallowed his mouthful.

"It's an epidemic we are suffering at the moment. It started over a year ago, weeks before Titania was kidnapped." Lord Puck returned with the lords and ladies of the council.

Oberon returned to his human form. The guests gathered at once around their King and congratulated him for his safe return and for bringing back Queen Titania. He hated the pats on the back, the cheers, claps and the shaking of his hand. He hadn't done anything. He had searched for Titania - that was the deal he had made with Levi when joining the crew: he would search for her at every island they docked at - but no matter where they went, he could never find her. It had been FJ who had saved his wife from the slave trade and kept her safe, not he. He just happened to come upon her by passing through the golden arch in the Spirit Realm.

"It wasn't I who found Titania. The credit goes to FJ." Oberon pointed towards FJ, who choked on his food.

He froze, his crystal blue eyes darting from either side of him, at all the lords and ladies staring at him. He was FJ the Menace; he didn't allow anyone to see his face, and his hood wasn't pulled up. He felt like cursing for forgetting to pull his hood back up and quickly did so before anyone took a picture or engrained his features into their memories for them to draw later. There was a reason he kept his face from public display: he didn't want his portrait plastered across a wanted poster. That would make it easier for King Mordred to find him.

"FJ, as in the infamous pirate, FJHD the Menace?" a lady inquired as she walked into the room swinging her hips from side to side, showing off her beautiful curves in the tight green feather dress she wore. "King Mordred's number one enemy?"

FJ glanced sharply with a clenched jaw towards Oberon as a signal to not say another word and to keep his mouth shut as he rectified the situation. Luckily, FJ was prepared for such a situation.

"You have mistaken me for someone else. Although we have the same first two initials in our name. I'm Freddie Junior, private investigator, whom his majesty hired to find Queen Titania." He pulled out a business card from his pocket. "Say my name if you should ever need any assistance, and I will be there, within the second." He winked.

"I think I will." The lady graciously took the card out from his hand and tucked it between her breasts.

Jessica frowned at FJ's behaviour, and although she couldn't understand a word of what he had said, she could tell he had flirted with the woman. She elbowed him hard in the side, and a sharp breath escaped from his lungs.

"What?" He shrugged innocently. Jessica shook her head at him, rolling her eyes.

Eventually, the Lords and Ladies sat down amongst themselves, believing the lie. FJ let out a sigh of relief that the rest of group had played along with his act. However, Dave sat laughing in the corner, his gag preventing him from revealing the truth.

"Obi." The Lady in the tight green dress twirled her finger through her long neon purple hair and fluttered her long dark eyelashes towards him. "It's been a while." She sat down next to him. "We should catch up sometime."

"Lady Astra." Oberon glared, taking a tight hold of Titania's hand. "You refer to me as Your Majesty, not Oberon, and certainly not Obi. Understood?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Astra turned her purple eyes towards Titania and tensed her lips. "My Queen, glad to see that you are well."

Titania sharpened her pink eyes towards Astra with a look that could kill. Silence fell upon the room as the tension built up around them. Even Logan had paused his eating.

"Shall we talk about what has happened during your absence, Your Majesty?" Puck cleared his throat. "There are some matters you should..."

"Where is Luke?" Titania scanned the room for her son.

Again, silence fell upon the room, and the lords and ladies coughed awkwardly, not daring to look the King in the eye.

"Where is my son?" Oberon stood up and clenched his fists against the oak table when nobody answered him. "I left this kingdom in good order and in more than capable hands. Even the pixie epidemic was under control. I demand to know where my son is, and what is going on with my kingdom!"

Logan's jaw flew wide open. He had never seen Oberon talk with such authority. It seemed to have the lords and ladies cowering in their seats. What happened to the cute little fairy who liked to play volleyball with Levi and speak with a squeaky voice? Logan had no words for what he was witnessing.

"Prince Luke Obison was outcasted from Fairy Land..." Puck swallowed nervously. "He was found guilty of treason. He confessed to having Queen Titania kidnapped by the slave trade, working alongside King Mordred, and had an assassination attempt planned for your return."

Titania gasped, covering her mouth, and Oberon fell back against his chair. His lips parted open in disbelief, and he shook his head. His son would never do that.

"You're lying." Oberon slammed his fist against the table.

"That doesn't sound like Luke," Titiana trembled. "He would never..."

"If I recall," Puck interjected with the rise of his hand. "Didn't the Prince sneak off to Meridian Island a couple of years back and was seen at one of King Mordred's balls disguised as a servant boy?"

"That was in the past," Oberon said defensively.

"We still have no idea why he went to Meridian Island that day," Puck said, reminding his King of his son's shady past.

"He was a young rebellious teen who ran away from home after an argument with me about one of his silly conspiracy theories. He went to Meridian Island to prove to me about something he found out, but he returned empty handed," Oberon explained.

"He never did seem quite the same after Meridian Island. Like something or someone changed him. Like King Mordred got into his head," Puck argued back.

Oberon hated how stubborn the council could be. The whole table seemed pleased to be rid of his son, and he couldn't help but think they had framed him. He knew they had it in them. They couldn't bear to see his son sitting on the throne because of the colour of his wings.

Oberon couldn't help but be suspicious of the details. His son liked to go to the tavern and he liked researching conspiracy theories and getting up to no good. He never liked the idea of wanting to be the next king; it was a role he'd always hated. Oberon had to force Luke to sit in his place on the throne while he searched for Titania. Luke had locked himself away in his bedroom for days when he found out his mother had been taken. He would never commit treason. It was out of character for him.

"What did you expect from him?" Lady Astra snarled. "He's a black fairy!"

Oberon flinched. He knew they would bring up the colour of Luke's wings. Fairies were usually bright neon colours that glowed. But occasionally, a colourless fairy was born, otherwise known as a black fairy. No one knew why, but their healing magic and stingers were much more powerful. They could fly for longer distances without tiring themselves out, but what made them stand out from the rest of the fairies was their ability to use their wings in their human form. They were known for being dangerous, getting out of hand, and causing mayhem, and never had a black fairy sat on the throne. Luke would be the first.

"There is nothing wrong with being a black fairy!" Titania seethed back at Astra.

"Black fairies are dangerous," Astra scoffed. "They let their power get to their heads. They were killed off in the past for a reason. They're born with magic that is too powerful, and fairies shouldn't have their wings in their human form. It's not right..."

Oberon stood up, his chair falling over behind with a bang and silencing the room.

"I will hear no more about my son. I'll speak with him myself and learn the truth. He is innocent in my eyes until proven guilty. A confession could have been forced out of him." Oberon sat back down when everyone agreed with him. "Now, tell me what is happening with the pixie situation since I've been gone?"

Puck wiped a droplet of sweat from his forehead and licked his parched lips. "The pixies seem to be growing in number, and the village to the east has been overridden with the virus. There was not a single survivor; they were all turned. We believe the virus is spread through transmission of their DNA into the blood. If bitten or scratched by a pixie, and blood is drawn, you become contaminated with the virus..."

"How long before a fairy turns into a pixie?" Oberon breathed in deeply. He was infected. How was he supposed to explain that to Titania?

"It's hard to tell. Some fairies turn straight away while others never turn at all. We don't know the grounds for what sets off the virus once a fairy is infected."

Oberon clenched his fists. He was a ticking time bomb that could go off at any moment. He needed to find a cure before he too turned into a savage pixie.

FJ eyed the Fairy King suspiciously. Oberon had been acting oddly, his face turned pale, and a line of sweat could be seen dripping down the side of his face.

"What's so bad about these pixies?" Logan interrupted, earning himself glares from the surrounding lords and ladies.

"Pixies were once fairies," Oberon explained. "They were infected by a virus which makes them turn rabid, go berserk, and attack other fairies. The virus is fairly new, and we have no idea how to cure it, so anyone infected with pixie blood is immediately outcasted to the Swamplands to prevent it from spreading further. Hopefully, there will one day be a cure."

Oberon couldn't get the memory of the doctor cackling away as he stabbed his arm with a syringe and pumped the pixie blood into his veins out of his head. He remembered that feline cat having witnessed it. He wondered if Paddy ever told anyone. Had he told Jude?

"Maybe I can help in finding a cure." FJ stood up. "I have some background knowledge of medicine and how antibodies work to kill off viruses."

"Since when...?" Stomp! "Ow son of a..."

FJ had crushed Logan's foot with his boot and seethed at him to be quiet.

"As I was saying, I have medical experience. By any chance do you have a pixie in your custody that I could examine?"

The lords and ladies mumbled to each other until they eventually agreed on their discussion.

Lord Puck stood up, nodding. "Come this way."

Next Chapter: 24. Fairy Dust

☠️ What do you think of Lord Puck

☠️ What are your opinions about this Luke person?

☠️What's causing the Pixie Virus?

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~ Robin Xxx
~ Edited by @fluffycat0607

Also I read your opinions regarding wattpad's new update. The majority of you don't like the idea because you can't afford it, which is fair enough. Therefore, if the new update rolls out to all users, I won't make you pay for anything, until I publish my own paperback version if I ever do.

However, I'm guessing only Wattpad Stars will be able to make their readers to pay for their work. So I wouldn't worry too much about if it does roll out. There aren't that many Wattpad Stars.

How about payment in votes instead... say 100 votes and I update early? 🤷‍♀️😅

I'm legit being serious about the 100 votes otherwise its Wednesday until the next update, can you wait that long knowing I have the next five chapters ready 😜.