The Green Guardian

Chapter 46: But isn't that selfishness?

Song: "Tightrope" - Michelle Williams

        "Why can't we go to Embrose's acceptance ceremony?" Mateo had no idea what he was saying, but he did have the urge to have fun–to live like the twenty-one-year-old he was. "I want to have fun." He kicked off his bedsheets and prepared to climb out of bed.

Krysta and Maria caught him before he could. They did not need the break in his shoulder to get worse. Mateo was already suffering too much.

Scared, Maria said, "You can't go, babe. You're too sick."

"I am not sick!" Mateo desperately peered into her eyes. "Maria, I just don't want to lie in bed."

"You need to in order to get better, my son."

The voice scared the living daylights out of Mateo. He shot to a sitting position and pushed Maria and Krysta away from him.

"What is it?" Maria inquired.

"He sees something," Krysta said. However, from what she was looking at, there was nothing in the tent. Were the drugs causing Mateo to hallucinate?

The ring Euphorbia gave him–the one that allowed him to temporarily transform into a fairy–reappeared over his right ring finger. The left was reserved for the wedding ring, whenever the wedding happened.

Confused, Mateo studied the ring.

Krysta gently patted his hand. "It's the Guardian's Ring," she observed, "which means...!"

Maria also studied the piece of jewelry. "What does it mean?"

Mateo stared at Faelyn, who appeared at the tent's entrance. He pointed at him and asked, "Who's that?"

Maria looked in the direction where he pointed. "There's nothing there, babe," she said. "You need to lie back down. You can't stay sitting for long."

Mateo refused to lie down. He was too curious. "But why does he seem so familiar?" His ring flickered a few times.

Nervous, Faelyn gulped. Did his son finally see him? Did he? He rubbed his sweaty hands together. It was incredible how much he and Mateo looked alike.

Inhaling, Faelyn dropped his wings behind him. "Ma-Mateo," he stammered.

Mateo could have sworn he was looking at a direct clone of himself, only this clone was a little older. His head spun, so Maria laid him down on his pillows. She grabbed the rag that fell from his forehead when he sat up and put it back over it.

Faelyn's ghostly presence chilled the tent as he stumbled over to his son. Thank you, Keegan, he said in his head. He was the reason why Mateo could finally see him. Since Maria and Krysta weren't fae, they weren't able to.

Faelyn tucked a strand of Mateo's hair behind his right pointy ear. "I'm here, son," he said in a low voice.

At the sight of an invisible force touching her fiancé, Maria freaked out a little. "Is there a ghost in here?" she asked Krysta.

"It's Mateo's dad," Krysta elucidated. She gestured at the ring. "The Guardian's Ring proves it. It means that Mateo's metamorphosis into a fairy is nearly complete."

Coughing and half asleep, Mateo took Faelyn's hand. "Da-Dad?" he stuttered.

A tear ran down Faelyn's cheek. That was the first time he had ever touched his son, and it felt wonderful. He just wished that Mateo wasn't in such horrible shape–that the circumstances under which he did were different. "Yes," he choked out.