The picture above is of the Black Fairy

25. The Black Fairy

After sitting together in the tree, and looking up at the stars while enjoying each other's company, FJ and Jessica returned to the tavern, sneaking in through the back entrance.

It was the early hours of the morning, and the party was still ongoing. Logan could still be found slumped over the counter passed out. FJ hauled the Pirate Lord over his shoulder and found his way over to Oberon, who was drinking excessively.

What was wrong with him? FJ spotted Titania, and knew something was going on; her nervous looking eyes spoke a thousand words.

"Let's all go to bed," FJ yawned.

Oberon nodded in agreement. FJ was surprised the fairy king wasn't drunk, despite the amount he'd had to drink. Fairies and their ironclad stomachs. FJ shook his head.

They left the tavern. Outside, a crowd had gathered around a male fairy who was acting hysterically. It was Rhy, the female fairy's cousin.

"He took her." He grabbed Oberon's collar. "The Black Fairy took Rhy," he spat at Oberon. "He knocked me out, and when I woke up, she was gone. Your son is a disgrace to our kind!"

Oberon's throat felt dry, and he couldn't say a word. Why was his son doing this? What had they ever done to make him act out like this? Titania called for the guards, who quickly dragged Rhy's cousin away and escorted the group back to the treehouse.

FJ's brows lifted in amazement when directed across a rope bridge. Large wooden pods built around the trees could be found with candlelit entrances and spiralling staircases cascading down to the village below. Between the different pods were more interconnecting bridges and twinkling lights guiding the paths.

"This is where the..." Oberon swallowed shamefully and coughed awkwardly. Time with the Levon Pirates made him see the world from a different perspective from what he had been used to living with. It made him realise what it was like to live without the luxuries he took for granted. "This is where the upper class lives..."

"Far away from the pixies below." FJ sent him and his wife a repulsive side eye.

"It's always been like this. Even before the Pixies," Titania said defensively. "Every society has some form of class. At least we try our hardest to make everyone happy, and they are. Look at the cottages they live in on the ground. They're not small, cold shacks, but large, warm homes, and their clothes are of good quality. They're not living in rags. You were at the tavern partying with them."

"Sorry," FJ sighed and patted Titania on the head. "I've been living the life of a free pirate for so long that I forget kingdoms are hard to run."

"It has been fun living the free life with you," Titania giggled.

"You will stay in this pod." Oberon rudely cut them off, having seen the affectionate actions between them. "If you need us, we will be back in the treehouse, and please don't cause any trouble."

"Don't worry; we'll behave." FJ patted Logan, who was still on his shoulder. "Thanks for letting us stay."

Oberon nodded, bid them good night, and turned on his feet to return to the treehouse with Titania walking by his side. She linked arms with him and rested her head on his shoulder. Her finger trailed up and down the bare skin of his arm. Something had upset her husband during the night, and it wasn't just the fairy's accusing their son of kidnapping Rhy. Something else had him upset. She tried her best to comfort her husband, but he seemed upset with her too.

Her forehead creased when she spotted a tiny puncture wound on the inside of his elbow. It looked like a bad bruise that was slowly infecting his veins. Her heart skipped a beat. He was infected. But how? He'd been off the island for a year. Pixies were only on Fairy Land. She pretended to have not seen it, and if it was what she thought, she would not tell a soul. She didn't want to be separated from Oberon ever again. She held his hand tightly, tears lining her eyes. Oberon buried his face in concentration, and he halted and stared at Luke's chamber door.

"What is on your mind?" Titania squeezed his hand.

"The day I argued with Luke, he disappeared to Meridian Island." Oberon's face tensed. "Maybe if I had listened to him, he wouldn't have gone and he wouldn't..."

The memory came back to him as clear as day. It had been a few years back; he couldn't remember exactly when. Oberon had been late for a council meeting and had been striding down the corridor when his son popped out of his bedroom. His son's black eyes perked up, glad to have caught his father with exciting news. He wanted to talk about one of his conspiracy theories, as Oberon liked to call them. The fairy king found them a waste of time, but at least they kept his son from causing trouble like black fairies were renowned for doing.

As usual, the theory was about Hive Island; Luke was determined to prove that their allied friends had secretly become enslaved by Mordred. Oberon had dismissed his son. They argued some more about it until Luke left, and he was gone later that night. When he eventually returned from Meridian Island, he wasn't the same. He always had his hood pulled up, shadowing his face, and was angry with himself all the time. He didn't care about anything, especially not Fairy Land, and went to the tavern most nights, and day by day, the glimmer of hope faded from his son's eyes, and his black wings were never seen again.

"Stop!" Titania stomped her foot on the ground. "This isn't your fault, and nor is it Luke's. We don't know what happened to our son when he ran away to Meridian Island, and we have no idea who took Rhy. Yes, he came back from Meridian Island changed, like he had seen things he wish he hadn't, but I'm telling you as Luke's mother, I would feel it if he had turned into a sin. A mother always knows."

Oberon reached his hand against his wife's cheek. He loved how optimistic she was; it gave him hope. Why did he allow Astra's words to cloud his judgment? Titania would never betray him for FJ.

"You're right." He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. "Let's go to bed, and you can tell me all about your adventures with FJ."

Titania beamed happily and pulled him to the bedroom with a happy skip to her step.

☠

Oberon woke up the next morning to find his bed empty. He felt cold without his wife's presence, and frowned, wondering where she could have disappeared to this early in the morning. He quickly got out of bed, dressed, and made his way to the dining hall for breakfast. Along his route, a purple-haired fairy approached him.

"What do you want, Astra?" Oberon groaned. He did not want to be dealing with her.

"Good morning to you, too," she scoffed.

"Again, what do you want?" Oberon snapped at her before sitting down at the head of the table, Astra sitting down to his left.

"I thought you should know that I saw Titania entering FJ's pod this morning." Astra whipped her hair behind her shoulder with a sly smile. "And now they are nowhere to be found."

Already sat down was Jessica, helping herself to food, and Logan sat down next to her in a slouch, hungover and drinking black coffee. FJ and Titania were nowhere to be found, which had Oberon creating all sorts of thoughts in his head.

"Do you have anything vegan?" Logan moaned, rubbing the temples of his head. Fried eggs, bacon, sausages, fruit juices, and all sorts of other foods adorned the table, none of which were vegan.

Oberon waved to the servants, and they came minutes later with muesli, fresh fruit, and almond milk for Logan.

"What happened last night? My head is throbbing like a brick smacked me in the face." Logan started to stuff his face.

"You drank a fairy bomb, an extremely strong alcoholic drink which only fairies can tolerate." FJ came pounding through the door laughing with Titania, who sat on his shoulder in her fairy form. The Queen went into a fit of giggles when FJ whispered a joke to her.

"I told you," Astra whispered into Oberon's ear. "They're seeing each other behind your back."

Oberon tightened his hand around his fork, and his infected arm pulsed.

"Good morning, Obi." Titania kissed her husband on the cheek.

"Where were you this morning?" Oberon's expression turned dark when Titania sat down next to him.

"I..." Titania's smile fell, noticing how unwell he looked. He had an extremely pale face, and the natural neon glow in his green hair had faded. "Are you feeling okay?"

Titania placed her palm against Oberon's forehead and felt his temperature. His head boiled like it was on fire, and she immediately pulled her hand back hissing.

"You're burning up..."

"You didn't answer my question," Oberon interrupted. "Where were you this morning?"

Feeling the tension between the married couple, FJ decided to interfere to clear the air. "She was with me. I wanted to explore the village before breakfast and asked Titania..."

"And what were you doing together?" Oberon slammed his fist against the table.

The morning buzz fell silent, and everyone stared at Oberon. Darkness ringed his teal eyes, and his head twitched like a nervous animal. But FJ saw something else: the dark pulsing veins creeping up his neck from his arm.

"What are you implying, Oberon?" Titania's lips tensed, and she glared towards Astra, who was smirking away. This was her doing.

"Have you been sleeping with him behind my back?!" he accused outright.

"Oberon!" Titania screeched in horror. "How dare you?"

"Okay... this escalated rather quickly." FJ stood up to leave, highly annoyed by Oberon's accusations. "I don't know how much you had to drink last night, Oberon, but you have it all wrong. I saved Titania from being sold at the slave trade at Halfway Point while you were gallivanting across Aqua with Levi. We became good friends, nothing more and nothing less. I don't know where you're getting this idea from that I've been sleeping with your wife, but I haven't..."

"Liar!" Oberon seethed, twitching his head. "The way you act around each other..."

"You know what it is, you're jealous," FJ mocked with a sarcastic laugh. "You're jealous that I saved her, and you didn't."

His words stabbed Oberon in the heart. All of a sudden, he felt sick and stumbled back, knocking his chair over. An unknown feeling forced him to turn into his fairy form, and his wings started to stain black and turn bat-like. He hunched over, every bone in his body cracked uncomfortably, and his nails scratched against the surface of the wooden floor, turning into sharp black claws. His teal eyes ringed with darkness, and his mouth foamed with dark red-almost-black blood dripping from his mouth like a hungry wolf.

"Obi!" Titania cried at the sight of him, and the servants screamed in horror.

Titania flew towards her husband, but FJ caught her by the wings mid-flight and restrained her in the palms of his hands.

"Let me go!" she screeched, tears streamed from her eyes. She couldn't believe her beloved Obi had turned into a pixie.

"And get yourself infected at the same time?" FJ kept a firm grasp on her and backed away, while Logan grabbed ahold of Jessica and pulled her away.

Jessica stared at the pixie intently as it growled incoherently. Again, she understood every word he spoke, but it seemed nobody else in the room could. The pixie shifted its head in the direction of Titania, having chosen her as his first target. He darted towards her, his claws out like a rabid beast ready to eat her alive. FJ shot a ball of fire towards him, and he hissed and ran towards the shadows.

Lord Puck came bursting through the door, a sly smile on his face when he saw it was true. The Fairy King was a pixie.

"There is nothing we can do." He covered his sly smile with a look of false horror. "There is no cure for the infected. He must be put out of his misery. It would be what he would want." Puck looked to FJ, having seen his ability to manipulate fire. "Please, use your fire."

"No!" Titania sobbed. "It's still Oberon. Please don't hurt him."

FJ was conflicted about what to do.

"My Queen, there is nothing we can do but put him out of his misery." Puck faced FJ. "Do it!"

The pixie growled towards Puck. To everyone in the room, he sounded like an unintelligent savage who wanted to kill them all, but to Jessica, she could hear him as clear as day.

"Titania, it's me, it's Oberon. Don't listen to him."

Jessica's eyes widened in panic when FJ started to form a ball of fire in his hand. At the last second, she pulled out of Logan's grasp and shoved FJ to the ground. His fireball flew across the room, missing Oberon and hitting the fireplace instead.

"Damn it, Jess! What are you playing at?" FJ shouted at her.

She whimpered, his temper having scared her into stepping back from him. Realising his actions, he went to apologise, only for her to run away towards Oberon. Logan quickly sent a branch shooting towards her and wrapped it around her waist, preventing her from harming herself further. She struggled against the tight hold and gasped when she saw FJ creating another fireball.

"Don't hurt him! Please!" she pleaded with FJ.

FJ paused. He stared at her big, round, innocent eyes and looked away, turning to the floor. "I'm sorry," he muttered

FJ let loose his fireball, and it spun across the room when a black blur sped across the room and deflected the ball of fire with his long-handled machete. The hooded man breathed in through his grey gas mask and spun the blade around, attaching it to his back. Unlike the fairies dressed in cute feather dresses and suits made from leaves, he dressed in an apocalyptic get-up consisting of ripped black jeans, boots, a layered black hoodie, and a torn leather jacket. He had his sleeves rolled up and wore tightly-bound white bandages around his arms and black fingerless gloves to cover his hands.

The masked man captured the Pixie-Oberon in a small fairy cage and hauled him onto his back. He zigzagged his way through the chaotic crowd, aiming towards Jessica.

FJ used his copied cursed soul of super speed, and everything around him blurred into slow motion. He reached the masked man within half a second; his arm raised back and ready to punch him when the unexpected happened. The masked man shifted his head out of the way, dodging FJ's punch, and he spun around and kicked FJ in the ribs, sending him flying across the room and crashing into the table. Wood splintered up into the air.

That was impossible; he shouldn't have been able to see him coming at such a speed. FJ groaned rubbing his back.

Logan aimed his vines towards the intruder. The masked man forward rolled across the floor and effortlessly dodged out of the way of the multiple branches impaling through the ground and ran towards Logan. He jumped up into the air, ducked under a branch, and roundhouse-kicked Logan in the head. He landed perfectly back onto the ground without making a sound. Logan groaned as he smacked into FJ.

"Who the hell is the masked ninja?" FJ groaned.

The masked man spun his machete around in front of him and sliced through the branches holding Jessica captive. He grabbed her by the waist and helped her down.

"Luke!" She stared at him with big round eyes and a delicate smile on her lips.

"Hi, Azie." The man smirked from under his mask. "It's been a while."

"Stay back from Jess!" FJ shouted.

"Who the hell is Jess?" The masked man looked to Jessica. She merely shrugged.

Annoyed by the masked man, FJ took control of Logan's vines and shot them towards the masked man. However, FJ was out of practice when it came to using his copied cursed soul to manipulate plants, and the branch swerved off in the wrong direction, and instead of aiming for the masked man it aimed towards Jessica. The masked man managed to knock her out the way but not fast enough, and the branch impaled her shoulder.

Jessica screeched, a scream which pierced FJ's heart, and he froze in horror from his actions when she passed out from the pain. The masked man hunched over in anger and breathed in angrily through his mask. His dark presence haunting the other fairies in the room, who had all cowered away in the corner where the guards stood and protected their Queen. The masked man's gloved hands curled into fists, and balls of black energy consumed his hands.

"Jess, I'm sorry!" FJ came back to his senses and ran over to her aid.

"Stay away from my best friend!" The masked man raised his arm and shot his black stinger towards FJ's chest, sending him flying back and crashing through the wall.

FJ landed in a crumpled mess and passed out, blood seeping through his pristine white jacket where the stinger had hit him. The masked man cut the branch from Jessica, picked her up into his arms, and carried her limp, bleeding body away with him to the open window.

"Luke!" Titania pleaded with her son. "Why are you doing this?"

Luke stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder to stare at his mother through the haunting, bug-eye lenses of his gas mask.

"I'm just living up to my reputation as the black fairy."

He jumped out of the window.

Next Chapter: 26. Childhood Friends

☠️ Oh no, Oberon turned into a pixie what's going to happen to him?

☠️ Silly Oberon not trusting Titania's fidelity, why did you trust Astra's words over your wife's?

☠️ The Black Fairy aka Luke Obison finally arrives.

☠️ What do you think him?

☠️ Do you like him?

☠️ Do you find him suspicious?

☠️ How does he know Jessica?

☠️More importantly what does he want with Jessica?

Next update Wednesday!

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~ Robin Xxx
~ Edited by fluffycat0607