Face Your Fears (Fairy Tail Fanfic)

Queen Of The Dryad

{LEXI'S POV}
Oops. That makes two lacrima that I've destroyed during this one event. At least now I won't have to live and suffer the consequences. And people won't have to watch me die embarrassingly. Win win.

Because I have a theory so crazy it might just be true, and if not then I'm dead. No questions asked.

At least my little hitchhiker is doing okay. In fact the baby dryad seems to be enjoying his bumpy ride, clinging to my leg so tightly I think that his fall might actually have been intentional.

I drop my makeshift whip and the wicker basket of Notch fruit I got from the dryads, then hold my hands up in surrender.

The wolves stop growling. Their ears perk up from flat against their head, signaling interest.

"I wanna make a trade. These fruits smell yummy, right? So take them instead. Let us go. I promised I'd protect this little guy. I want to bring him back to his mother. I want him to live. Take the fruit, please!" I tip the basket and spill my hard-earned Notch fruit all over the ground.

The one I kicked yaps and the wolves dive for them, sniffing intently like dogs. Notch fruit smells like baby dryads and that was enough to distract them. I'm glad they were intelligent enough to listen to me.

I back slowly into the trees, putting distance between us and the wolves. My only problem now is I have no clue where I ran off from. I wasn't exactly paying attention where I was going. How deep in the forest am I? How do I get back to where his mother is?

Only three hours left till noon. I need to hurry, or I won't be able to find his mother in time before I have to be back at the transportation array.

The shadows seem to move on my right. I turn left, not wanting to run into any more wolves or who knows what else it could be.

The shadows move on my left and I veer right, begging Lady Luck to give me a break.

I keep an eye on the sun, inching across the sky overhead. Three hours seems like an eternity, but time is moving way too fast.

I look up and realize I walked right up a castle in the canopy. Don't go too deep into the forest, Lily said. Don't go to the queen's castle, Lily said.

Welp, I'm deep in the forest and there's a castle in the canopy above me. Sorry Lily.

The little dryad babbles excitedly. He clambers down my leg and begins to climb the nearest tree. Remembering his mother, I panic a little.

"Hey, stop! Little guy, I did not just risk my life and fight off a gaggle of wolves all by myself just so you could die from fall damage! Get back here!"

He's already a quarter of the way up, leaving me no choice but to squish rotten Notch fruit and scramble up in the tree after him.

He actually makes it to the top this time, although I think the platforms are lower to accommodate for the castle, which is ginormous.

At least the baby dryad waits for me at the top. He grins and warbles cutely when I make it up. Huffing and puffing, I plop down on my knees next to him. I reach for my little charge, when suddenly there's a spear tip at my throat.

"Who are you, human, and what do you think you're doing with our prince?"

Prince?

Several guards appear out of the woodwork, literally, and within seconds I have several spears pointed at all parts of my body.

"Stand, human."

I stand. The guards begin to march in perfect synchronization without warning, so I start walking with them to avoid being skewered alive.

They lead me to a throne room. There's no other way of putting it. It's a giant room with a throne by the back wall, facing the wide double doors I come in.

A beautiful dryad sits on the throne. She has dark green skin, darker green hair with streaks of brown, and striking pale green eyes that stand out like a beacon. The same pale green eyes as the little one I was running around with.

So this is his mother. And if he's a prince and she's sitting on a throne, that means...

The guards fan out, taking positions along the wall. The looks they give me range from suspicion to hatred. The first thing I do is bow.

"Your Majesty." I say politely. Silence greets me.

I peek up. The queen of the dryad blinks in surprise then smiles at me.

I quickly look back down and clear my throat uncomfortably. "Sorry, I'm not real well-versed in your customs. Was that bad?"

"No no, not at all. Raise your head." Her voice is melodic but deeper than I thought it would be. Rich, like fertile soil.

I straighten up. The queen taps her fingers together. "Tell me, what is your name?"

I'm so confuzzled, I accidentally blurt out my full name. "Alexiane Aella Dreyar."

"Alexiane, I know why you and your friends are here. I am the one who allowed you to come. But why are you with my son? Where is Daisy, his nanny?"

I tell her the whole story, starting with the first time I vomited. The queen listens patiently.

"You've had quite the ordeal."

"Your Majesty, may I speak my mind?" I ask hesitantly. Some guards bristle.

The queen waves them off. "Go ahead."

"Do you dryads store Notch fruit in the nurseries?"

This is clearly not a question the queen expected. "Yes. It is simpler that way, since the young have to be fed so often to grow up healthy."

As I suspected. I steel my nerves. "Your Majesty, I think the bane wolves are gravely misunderstood. Lily-san said that the bane wolves are your sworn enemies. That they attack nurseries and hurt your young. But I don't think that they were aiming for your young at all! That was an unintended result!"

The guards come forward. The queen holds up a hand. She stares at me intently. I swallow hard. Can't stop now. I dove in the deep end with this one.

"I saw the prince's nanny, Daisy-san's teeth when I fed her the Notch fruit to save her life. Dryad canines have holes in them that function like straws to help you suck all the juice out. I confirmed this by looking at the prince's teeth. I originally assumed that bane wolves were carnivores, like regular wolves. But when I was cornered by the bane wolves, I saw one of their snouts up close. Their canines have the same straw-like holes in them that Daisy-san's and the prince's do! When I offered some bane wolves a trade—our lives for a bunch of Notch fruit—they took the food and didn't chase us down, even when they easily could've. I didn't know that he was the prince at the time, but the bane wolves probably did. If they really wanted to cripple the dryads, they never would've let the prince himself escape! Don't you see? It wasn't the dryad babies that the bane wolves were after when they raided your nurseries. It was the stores of Notch fruit! When your babies are mauled, it's because they smell like Notch fruit, like a shark biting a human thinking it's a seal! The wolves are just trying to feed themselves to survive!"

The queen's expression remains impassive. Then her façade cracks and she begins to laugh.