All is fair in the game of hearts. -part 1

"Dude you're the best mother fucking fairy in this place" Remington rolled his eyes at his best friend Daniel. He was always called a fairy because of his feminine like features, but he was an elf. Yet, even the fairies called him one, not out of spite, Remington had become a celebrity among the fairies, he didn't even know why. Fairies were wild.

The thing about fairies and elves was that Elves were male and fairies were female. It wasn't a strict system, you could switch between the two if you felt that way, or you could be in the middle. So, unlike what the media portrayed about these species, there wasn't male and female of each, the species was kind of like gender. But elves and Fairies were the same, except fairies could fly and control air, whilst elves could control water.

Daniel had had one too many drinks and was currently making a fool out of himself, Remington and the wolf that possessed him. Daniel was a Liberwolf, meaning free wolf. He was possessed by a wolf. He had been a human once, but the possession was something that happened when the person dies in a wolf burial ground. Not werewolf, but actual wolves, werewolves were a rare breed, and could only be bred through specific and difficult circumstances.

Daniel had died when he was seven, 300 years ago. He lived eternally as a 24-year-old; he did not enjoy his immortality for the first 250 years until he met Remington. He was not immortal, but elves aged at a ridiculously slow rate. An elf year was 100 human years, well after the first 21 years. Both he and his brothers were born within 2 years of each other.

He had two brothers. Emerson, his youngest, although, unlike Remington and his older brother Sebastian, Emerson was not just an Elf. He was a Vesteral. Which was an elf who has a connection to the spiritual realm, they can often summon spirits and let them inhabit their bodies. As well as that, if a Vesteral is taken over by a specific species that had powers, they can have and use their powers.

They can sense evil thus, they are unable to be possessed by an evil being, they are viewed as 'honests' which are the species that can never be corrupted. Liberwolves are also viewed as a type of honest, meaning they cannot be corrupted once their wolf is in them, however, there has been some wolves who had been corrupted before they inhabit a vessel, meaning the vessel is corrupted.

Vesterals are visually different from all other species, though they are elves, they do not share the telling sign. Whereas Elves often have a spec of green in their eyes or a green scar on their hairline. Vesterals have wings, which are non-corporeal and flow from the tip of the elf ears (the only thing Hollywood got correct about elves) to their knees. Along with the wings, they also have one other distinct feature: they have white eyes.

Currently, Remington and Daniel were located in a Fairy hangout, because of Remington's popularity among the fairies and the fact his brother was a Vesteral, meant he was one of the only non-fairy, to be allowed (Besides the elves who switched to fairy and the fairies that had switched to elves who were still allowed) in a fairy place. So, wherever Remington went, Daniel did, Daniel was also allowed in the hangout.

Remington stared at his friend; it was no surprise they were friends. They were both wild and out there, they also were very protective of anyone. They would stand up to anyone. Daniel shrugged his shoulders and kissed Remington on his cheek, whispering an 'I love you' in his ear. They weren't together like that; they were both as the humans would call 'straight', but they really didn't give a shit about anything anyone else thought.

The elf chuckled and whispered an 'I love you' back to his best friend. His eyes were scanning the room when it happened. A loud bang reverberated around the walls of the building. All music and chatter stopped, and everyone stood guard. Remington caught the bartenders' eye and signalled for him to turn on the water faucet, once the deed was done, Remington and Daniel moved to the front line ready to tear the oncoming threat apart.

Besides the initial bang, the room was quiet, no sound from inside or outside; then it happened. The door flung off its hinges and in came a crowd of scared creatures. Remington recognised his brother Emerson among the lot, herding scared children to the back of the room, where they would be safe.

Once the children were at the back of the room, Emerson joined his brother at the front lines. Just as Remington was about to ask what was going on, Emerson's face went blank, and Remington knew he was contacting the spiritual realm to ask for help. He stood in a fighting stance ahead of Emerson, who was in his most vulnerable state right now.

Life came back to his eyes as the chaos began and screams of all species echoed around the room. A look to his left showed Daniel with his claws out, well it wasn't exactly Daniel, there currently was no Daniel. Just the wolf. Remington ran headfirst into the chaos, He didn't even know what he was fighting, he was just hitting anything that wasn't behind him. It was when the creature retreated that Remington got a look at it.

It was an army; the first line of defence was nightmares which were little shadows that took on the form of a dark thought from a nearby consciousness. Behind the nightmares, were dark Librewolves, claws out and raring to go. As the lines of defence went back, the more dangerous and eviller they got. At the very back was the living nightmare himself: L. U. Cifer. He was the creator of the nightmare folk.

In their past lives, nightmares had been fairies (just as Cifer had been), however, a poison created by Cifer was released in Enselgort village and all the fairies in the village were turned into this nightmarish creature. The Nightmares terrorised the surrounding villages and any of the fairies killed by a nightmare was subsequently turned into a nightmare.

Cifer locked eyes with Remington who stood at the forefront of the scared masses, and then his eyes fell to Emerson. Due to their honest nature, Vesterals were a rare breed and would only come once in  the bloodline and was only born once in a 1000 years, limiting the number of Vesterals to a very minute amount compared to the fair folk, and so due to this, they were very highly demanded by evil.

They could never be possessed by an evil spirit but there were loopholes. If taken into captivity, the Vesteral's natural survival plan is to enter the spiritual realm and not return unless the body is safe again, during this time the evil spirits can speak through him, not possess him. Remington knew that Cifer's plans were changed now, whatever he had hoped to achieve before was long gone and he would stop at nothing to get Emerson.

He took an even more protective stance in front of Emerson. Even though he didn't know why Daniel also joined Remington at the front of the group, he wasn't going to let his best friend die tonight; also, the wolf inside him was itching to hit something.

A low growl erupted from inside Daniel, and Remington whose attention had flickered from Cifer to his brother for a moment, turned back to find Cifer walking towards him, well Emerson. "Give me the Vesteral, and I will graciously allow everyone here to live, as a sign of-" before he could finish his sentence, Remington had begun shooting daggers of water towards him, well not towards him, towards the Nightmares.

Nightmares had been fairies in their past lives thus they had the same weakness as fairies: water. A barrage of water daggers, gusts of winds, sparks of light, and earthquakes hit the army. "You're not getting him, even if I have to die protecting him" Remington was now covering Emerson, who had apparently found this particular moment to be perfect to take a trip to the spirit world, from being seen by the psychotic madman who wanted to abduct and use him.

Suddenly, Cifer stopped walking, and looked at Remington, then to Emerson and then back to Remington. His eyes widened as a bright light emitted from Emerson, who had now returned, or so Remington thought. His brother's eyes were a dull brown, contrasting against his usual green, and so he knew this wasn't his brother, it was someone or something else. A small smile played on his brother's face, but it wasn't his brother's.

"My sweet love-" Remington's eyes widened, flittering back and forth between Emerson and Cifer, realising who was now in control of Emerson- why must you bring these people such sorrows and hardships? They are my creatures, why must you do this" Airhya's light and airy voice travelled across the air, bouncing around on each of the nightmares heads until it finally reached Cifer's ears.

Airhya was the mother of fairies, she created them from her own hair, and blessed them with a piece of her own heart. She and Cifer were lovers, however when he realised, she could not love him as she loved her creations, he promised that she would have nothing else to love, and he would kill them all or turn them to his creatures. He had been like this since then.

Cifer's face morphed into a one of rage as he realised what the Vesteral had done, whilst he had been distracted with Remington, the Vesteral had travelled to the spiritual realm to search for a weapon to use against Cifer. He had found one, but one thing he didn't calculate was how Airhya was going to fight Cifer, she loved him, not like she loved her creatures, but the way a person deserved to be loved.

"You! You stupid creature! I'm going to kill everyone you love for this and I'm going to make you watch, how dare you!" Cifer was now stood in front of Remington, who kept him back with a wall of water and daggers. His finger was pointed accusingly at Emerson's body which now stood a little smaller and looked as if it was floating. His hands also glowed as the power of Airhya flowed through him.

Remington was struggling to grasp the concept that the entire spirit of the mother of fairies had taken over his brother's body completely, usually when he had been possessed the spirit just watched from the backseat guiding him and letting him use his powers. Now though, she had completely taken over, Emerson's body had changed. The way his eyes were shaped was now more feminine and the green eyes Remington had grown up with were now brown. Also, the way he smiled was different, Emerson's smile was kind of like a smirk, but Airhya's smile was that of a goddess, it was pure and even sort of made Remington believe they could win this; also, the smile was that of someone who had no evil intentions.

"Are you ready?" the question threw Remington off guard as if wasn't directed at him, the armies or Cifer. It was like she was asking it to herself. The small smirk and shake of her head told Remington, that she was talking to his brother, they had a plan. His hopes rose. They had a plan. They were going to win. His brother had planned with the only person who had the ability to actually defeat Cifer.

"My sweet love, I adore you and wish you the best, but you cannot have the Vesteral. Your intentions are blurred and I'm afraid I must stop you. How can you wish to hurt my greatest creation? I picked each one with care" Her words were shot with a level of hurt, that it rolled off her in waves. Yet despite this, Remington didn't care, they were going to win. The plan was made, what else horrible could happen. Cifer couldn't win now.

A dagger of light protruded from Emerson's hand and Remington could barely contain himself. He released the wall of water keeping Cifer away, allowing him to get close enough so that Emerson and Airhya could strike the winning move. Falling right into Remington's trap, Cifer quickly and swiftly crossed the ground between him and the Vesteral. Just as his hand moved to grab him by the throat, the hand that didn't contain a dagger squeezed shut and Cifer collapsed to the floor clutching his throat. Now was the time. Remington mentally screamed at his brother to strike, kill Cifer!

"I'm sorry dear Remington, we cannot win this today, we can only prolong his desire" Brown eyes turned to green and Remington knew that Emerson was back in control. He still held Cifer under his hand and held a light dagger, so Remington knew that Airhya still held some control. "I'm a sorry brother, remember I love you" Remington's eyes widened in fear, and he knew what Airhya's words meant now. Remington ran for his brother, yearning to protect him. However just as he reached him, the dagger went straight into his heart and he collapsed to the floor, the lightness of his vesteral nature fading away into black as the life drained from his soul.

Remington caught his brother's falling body just as he hit the ground, cradling his younger brothers head into his chest as he cried into his black hair. His brother was dead. The pain was worse than anything imaginable. He felt as though his heart had been ripped from his chest by Cifer himself and his body trembled in anger, sadness and grief. He raised his head from his brother's hair to look at his brother one last time, His pale skin which glowed, was now a dull ashy grey, and his wings which he was ever so proud of had turned to a pile of ash in Remington's hands. All that he loved had drifted through his fingers. His brother didn't deserve this, he deserved to live a long life full of happiness.

He deserved everything more than what he had gotten.

Remington released his brother's body from his hands and placed him on the ground as gently as he could. After wiping his eyes, to remove any tears that remained, he stood, his body still trembling. Not through sadness anymore, he was full of rage, and all the creatures nearby could tell. The ground shook with Remington's body, and he turned his attention to Cifer who still was clutching his throat trying to regain his breath.

Just as quickly as he had gained his breath back, Remington's hand was wrapped around his throat. "This is your fault, call off your army or I will kill you right here and now, your army included. You made the mistake of targetting my brother. He is- was a vesteral for a reason. He was pure and he would never allow himself to be used by such a creature as yourself. Don't think I have the capability of killing everyone in your army in a single second? Because I do, anger is a powerful motivator in a war" His eyes had turned a poisonous black, as the rage controlled him. Just as his hand tightened around Cifer's throat, he released. This would only lead to more problems. Cifer's army would attack the minute he killed him. He needed to get Cifer alone, without his army.

Remington pulled his hand away, glaring at Cifer as he did so. Cifer, the man who was considered the living nightmare didn't know what to do, he was tempted to kill the elf in front of him, but he believed keeping him alive would serve a greater purpose for him in the future. Just as quickly as he had appeared, he disappeared in a cloud of black smoke and Remington was left to rebuild himself and deal with the chaos.

Daniel had returned from his wolf form and collapsed in pain at the sight of Emerson. During his time as Remington's best friend, it was obvious that he grew close to Remington's siblings as well, he saw Emerson as a younger brother, and the sight of his faded corpse tore his heart from his chest. It was only when he saw Remington staring at the ground nearly ten feet away did he truly feel worse than he believe he could. Remington must have been feeling like the living embodiment of hell right now. As close as Remington was with his older brother and Daniel he was a thousand times closer with Emerson.

Neither one of them could live without the other and their closeness was incompatible with that of anyone else. Even though Emerson preferred to live in the peace of internal solitude, he could never last long without Remington. It seemed a bit harsh to say given that they had another brother and Daniel in their lives, but both of them understood the bond between Remington and Emerson, they were the youngest of three, and both shared so much in common it was an inconceivable thought to believe that they wouldn't be close. Yet here it was, the unimaginable universe where one had to live without the other and be strong as to not tip themselves over the edge.

Daniel slowly stood up and approached Remington, careful as to not spook him, and being wary as to be as gentle as possible, especially considering his partial lifeline had just died in front of him. The sight of Daniel, though, broke Remington, as he only saw his best friend as another possible casualty in the war against Cifer, and he crumbled down to the ground. clutching himself as he sobbed into himself. He didn't even care that all the other fairies, elves and various species of creatures were watching his breakdown. Pride meant nothing to him if his brother wasn't alive.

He looked up at his best friend, hoping that he would tell him that some other event had happened and his brother was still alive. His eyes showed desperation and though he knew that what he wanted wouldn't come true he couldn't help but wish that he had been born the Vesteral, then Cifer would have come after him, he would have sacrificed himself for Emerson because that was his job as his older brother. His older brother! What was he going to tell Sebastian? He and Emerson were all he had left since their mother died.

Daniel picked Remington up from the ground gently and guided him towards his brother's body. He needed time to grieve without worrying whether Cifer would throw something at him in an attempt to kill him. Remington, once again cradled Emerson's head into his arms, just stroking his cheek and silently praying to the spirits to bring his brother back and allow him to live in Remington's body. He would even pass over to the spirit world so that Emerson could continue living in the realm of the living with Sebastian and Daniel. He knew they would both be hurt over his passing but it would go away after time. Just so long as Emerson lived, he would do anything for that.