The Day Fairies Existed

Chapter 11

The footman stepped from the coach and helped David Greenway down. Per the latter's instructions, the footman then took Cupid to the side of the mansion. He didn't waste time talking to a slave that most likely couldn't understand him and roughly pushed him into the servants' quarters. The footman told the servants that the fairy was a birthday present for Chloe, and promptly left.

Cupid stared into the silence for a second, before sending out a telekinetic burst. He was in a medium sized room with tables, chairs, and a wooden floor that faintly smelled of alcohol. There were six others in the room.

"Hey!" One of them called out. A male Cupid was immediately wary of. "Didn't you hear just the rule, fairy? No magic!"

Cupid's ears rotated backward in apology, but perked back up quickly. "I can understand you! You speak Fey?"

"No." He scoffed. "It's servants' tongue: a blend of all our languages. Seriously, 'Fey'? How stupid are you?"

The fairy blinked, surprised by his rudeness. "I'm sorry, I-"

"Don't apologize to that idiot." Another voice from the right said. Cupid turned. "Malcom's-" His voice trailed off.

"An antisocial pessimist." Someone, a female, finished. "I'm Mallory, by the way. And that's Isaac."

"Cupid." The fairy replied. "Who's Isaac?"

"Him. The one she's pointing at." Malcom scoffed impatiently. "What are you- blind?!"

Cupid stared at the ground and quietly admitted, "Yes."

Suddenly, angry expressions glared at Malcom. "I didn't know!" He exclaimed defensively, before standing up and leaving.

"Mallory, let's go show Cupid around." Isaac said, taking the fairy's hand. The three walked down a corridor in silence for a while. "Sorry about Malcom. He's- well, an antisocial pessimist like Mal said. I don't like using such terms, but it fits I guess."

Cupid shook his head. "It's fine. I'm used to it, sadly. I keep hearing hooves. Are horses nearby?"

Isaac smiled. "In one sense, you could say one is right next to you. I'm a centaur: horse from the waist down. Mallory over here is a pixie, not to be confused with a fairy."

"I know what a pixie is." Cupid said. Fairies fleeing discovery island-hopped further into the archipelago, bringing different cultures and pixies along until they all convened in the safety of Feylore. Or what was safety. As a result, pixies and fairies both spoke Fey, though, due to sheer size difference, pixies stuck to their own mini towns near the roots of trees.

"And as such," Mallory said proudly. "I can use telepathy. And read minds. For example,-" She paused. Cupid winced, suddenly feeling dizzy as his thoughts were invaded. The frankly overwhelming magic was like being in a pitch dark room and someone shining a spotlight on your face without warning. 'That's interesting.' Mallory's disembodied voice said quietly.

'Get out of my head.' Cupid demanded harshly, trying not to think about all the things he didn't want Mallory to know and consequently showing them to her.

'Your memories don't make sense.' She remarked. 'There's nothing but voices.' Cupid felt her smile. 'Are you schizophrenic?'

'I've been blind since birth!' One of the fairy's earliest memories began to replay. 'My eyes are blind! My mind's eye is blind!' Cupid created another telekinetic burst, giving both him and Mallory migraines as she was forced out of his thoughts.

After he recovered enough to think without getting dizzy, Cupid cast a deadly glare at the pixie. She seemed to shrink. "I'm sorry, Cupid." Mallory squeaked. "I should have asked."

"Do it again and die." He replied darkly.

"Hey, everybody," Isaac started nervously, trying to diffuse the situation. "We were going to show you around, right?"

"What kind of magic can centaurs do?" Cupid asked, as if the last few minutes never happened.

Isaac beamed. "Teleportation!" The fairy focused on a spot down the hall, where magic was faintly pulsing from. Isaac slammed a fist into his open hand and vanished, reappearing where Cupid was already looking. "Down here is where you'll prepare for Chloe. I'll help you."

The fairy sighed. He had honestly forgotten about it. Mallory left to get a drink, so Cupid headed to the room Isaac was in. He just couldn't shake the feelings of dread about the whole thing. Something bad was going to happen, and soon.