~▪︎Fairy of Death▪︎~

~Lovers Mountain~

I soon reach my destination. "Lovers Mountain?" I read off the old map.
I realize this is a good time to use my pretty green wings. I spread them and grab my stuff. Ugh, it's gonna be a pain to fly with this in my hands. I fly towards the mountain and see tons of couples there as soon as I arrive. "Well at least I know why it's called Lovers Mountain.." I say and look at the couples. That's when I don't watch where I'm going and I fly into a tree! "AHH!!! HELP!" I yell, and everyone stares at me. Someone manages to bring a ladder and climb up. He separates my wings and the branches and manages to get me down "You okay, Ms...?" "It's Marzana." I say. "Well, Marzana," The man chuckles, his brown hair and hazel eyes shining in the sunlight. This is a very happy environment compared to what the witches town looked like. "Welcome to Lovers Mountain. How can I help?" he asks. "I went to a witch for help, and she told me to come here. Something about me having supernatural blood in me or evil - something like that -" he shushes me. "Don't say that loudly. Supernatural forces are frowned upon here. But I happen to know who can help you. Did she tell you to see Iris?"

I nod.

He grabs my hand and walks me down a path. The man points to a house. "Right in there is where she lives. Knock on the door and say Robert sent you. Explain the situation. She should help." he whispers. He let's go of my hand, and I stare at him. "How will she help me-" "Go on, go on!" He pushes me forwards and I sigh. I start to walk off. "This is weird... I'm not liking this." I whisper to myself. I reach her house. I give a gentle knock on the door. "Erm... Robert sent me." I say awkwardly. Gosh, why do I find every way to embarrass myself! I hear a soft voice. "...Come in" I open the door, and she looks surprised to see me, a fairy, at her door. "Oh? A fairy?" She looks at my bags. "Want me to take that for you?"

Iris asks "... Yeah, sure." I speak up. She grabs my luggage and pulls out a seat for me. "Take a seat. Explain why Robert sent you- what's your story?" I sit down and begin to explain everything. She gasps and sits across from me. "You're one of them..."
Iris whispers, and her eyes widen even more. "I'm one of what now?" I say.

"You're a fairy of death,"
she says.
"Anyone you love...will die. Unless you obtain a special necklace to suppress that curse."
I'm horrified. I feel my stomach tie into knots as I grow heavy-hearted. "WHAT!?!?" I shout and panic. "Calm down!" She gently slaps me to bring me back to reality. I calm my breath. "...so it's been my fault all along?" I say, my voice growing shaky. "No- it's the curses fault. There's an entity that creates fairies of death. It's basically a curse." She holds onto my shoulders as she says this. It's hard to maintain eye contact as I feel tears falling down my face. "I just wish I would've known this sooner." I say quietly. She gives me a hug. "It's okay. I'm sure your mother is watching over, and she wants you to go get that necklace so you can make friends again, maybe even get in a relationship, yeah?" she says. I nod, and she slowly pulls back. "I assume the witches gave you a map to get here, correct?" I nod. "Show me that map. I'll mark where you need to go." She grabs a quilt pen off her desk and dips it in some ink. I give her the map and she circles a dark forest. It's labeled "Forest of Forever".

I smile up at her. That's the first time I've smiled in a while. "Thank you." I say. She nods. "That's my job as the one and only Iris." she chuckles. I get up. "I should get going now. Could you look after my boat? It has my last name "Sparkes" carved into the back." I ask. "Of course. By the way, what's your name?" She asks. "The name is Marzana." I say. "Oh, and can you hold onto some of the stuff I don't need right now, too? It's a lot." I add on. She nods once again, and I grab a tiny backpack. I make sure it has only the stuff I need. Then, the hunger washes over me. I forgot to get food this whole time! "...could I take some bread with me?" she giggles. "Of course."

She goes to her kitchen and comes back with a small bag full of bread. "Enjoy, Marzana. I wish you the best of luck!" She then hands the bread to me. She waves goodbye as I open the door.
"You too, Iris." I close the door and walk down the pathway. I head towards my new destination.

Here I come, Forest of Forever.