DARKER ( Supernatural Beginnings) Book Two

A Fairy Full of Lies

Vincent

High above, perched on a delicate branch, a majestic phoenix gazes down at me with fiery eyes. Its feathers radiated hues of red, orange, and gold, casting a warm glow upon the garden below where I stood. Its presence evokes a sense of renewal and rebirth as if the garden itself is constantly in a state of transformation and growth.

The white wooden door, with its gold vines and edges tipped with leaves threaded through it, stood glowing in wait just a few feet away near a grove of trees. A memory suddenly ran through my mind about this place. Like I never left it, I felt completely whole again. On my right, a small pond shimmered, its surface reflecting the azure sky above.

Underneath a majestic weeping willow tree, its long graceful branches sweeping the ground. The stone bench I often sat on to contemplate my life as a kid, immersing myself in this very enchanted garden's ambiance struck a strong sense of belonging within me.

I was feared as a child, being the firstborn of a fairy and a Seer. The older I grew, the more afraid people would become. From a young age, I always seemed wiser than my years should be. It was the aura of noble blood and that of a Seer. Most times I often find myself in this place alone on that stone bench turning myself to nature.

Now, I understand more that I studied this place. The door before me was a fairy door and somehow it had attached itself to the Lilith Black moon door, but why? I didn’t need a door to enter the fairy realm or any light key door to be exact. My abilities had evolved beyond what I expected, but I wasn’t one to complain about it. The vision that compelled me had brought me back home. Where did it bring Tonya and Drake? Because of that unknown, I became worried.

The Lilith Black moon door wanted to reveal the truth to me. From the knowledge that I learned, this was outside of the door's usual tricky nature. My memory had been blocked in this place. I wondered who could have done it. It seemed that I still had some things to remember the more I traveled deeper into the garden.

The Seelie family was alive, they were not dead as I strongly believed. It took a lot to make me angry. With each memory returned, the rage within me began to build. It started to boil and fester, becoming an indescribable burning burn coursing through my blood, making my skin crawl.

I was only a kid back then, but I was aware of what I saw. Suxhen had come to my home in his original form. A woman was by his side unfamiliar to me, but they carried similar features. They were talking to my dad's childhood best friend and right hand, a woman by the name of Parisa. She was making a deal with those two people, one that would destroy my father’s kingdom.

After seeing and hearing everything that they said, I went to look for my mother , who I retold my discovery word for word. I didn’t go to my dad straight away's. That woman was his long-time friend and had been by his side before my mother and I came into the picture.

Mom had always felt a sense of uneasy being around that woman, from the moment we arrived there. My mother was a human. But she was not ordinary either, she had come from a long line of Seer’s. It was said fairy blood was mixed in somewhere. The day she saved my father’s life in the human world, their fates had twined together as fated mates to everyone’s surprise. He chose to spend time there with her and getting to know the human world. I was conceived there, then it was paramount that I would be brought back here when my powers emerged at birth.

Fairies could be quite narcissistic and conceited, but my dad was raised in a different mold. Like the fairy King who wanted changes, they could not accept a human mate now mixed in. Many were upset about this and wanted him to reject her. He was king and his words were law, but he gave his people time to get to know her as their future queen, and with me in tow, they had no choice but to accept these conditions.

It didn’t take long to win many fairy families over, that was just who my mom was. With her by his side, she even made the kingdom better in a lot of ways, but this made one person in particular very unhappy. Strange incidents began to happen around the kingdom's lands and because of this, my parents' wedding would be delayed. The day before the wedding is when I found out what Parisa had done and when I think back on it now, I can see she had set up everything, even for me to discover them.

My mother had been accused instead of all the dirty deeds that Parisa had done. Though many tried to fight for justice for her, they were deemed traitors and accomplices and banished from the kingdom lands and into the enchanted gardens.

She was his fated mate and she had done so much for him. Something was definitely wrong with my father that day, as he agreed to Parisa’s every word and judgment like a puppet.

Mother was sent to the dungeons, but later I helped her to escape with the help of an elder fairy who used to work for my father’s parents. Together we planned to run away from the human world. We had to find those two people at all costs. Before my parents could finally be happy, this woman had taken away everything, destroying a happy home and kingdom.

We sent the elder fairy away for her protection and went the rest of the trek on our own. We had to use the fairy door in order to return to the mortal world. Who knew that Parisa would be there waiting and she had made another deal, by selling me to Suxhen? Her plans soon backfired, with my mother using the final card she had in her hands. When I woke up, I was in the mortal realm. With no memory of my family and only one thought, that they were all dead.

When a man by the name of Ward arrived a few years later to pick me up, my instincts kept screaming he was fake. Now I understood that my mother was the one to block these memories. Knowing her, she always wanted the best for me. In her way, she thought this would protect me from Parisa. If I was out of sight, I was out of mind, but what happened to my mother? I didn’t know if she had survived. The block was gone now the moment my feet touched this soil. Would my ability be able to track her if I willed it so or did the rules still apply even though I had evolved?

What has happened to the kingdom since then? Did my father really marry Parisa?

The sound of delicate laughter drew my attention back to the grove of trees near the door. A family of fairies was playfully darting through the air, their iridescent wings shimmering like precious gemstones. Walking closer, the door began to glow and my keepers' cloak appeared in response. The staff of dreams manifested in my hand, the ruby-red stone shining brightly amidst the garden. I wonder if there was a connection between the cloak and the Fairy door. I had a feeling that it did because of the cloak's response to it. Nothing was ever just a coincidence. The Fairies all gasped at the sight of me and quickly reverted to their normal size. Some stared at me in surprise and wonder, but there was one that only looked at me in expectancy.

“Well, aren’t you sight for sore eyes? You look just like him, you know.” the woman stood within the cluster of fairies. She seemed much older and wiser than the whole bunch. The woman radiated an aura of wisdom and grace, reflecting her deep connection with the natural world and the magical realm she hails from. Her eyes, a mesmerizing shade of deep emerald green, gleam with otherworldly light reflecting the depth of her wisdom and the kindness that resides in her heart. Tucked within her long white hair fashioned into a braid, are sprigs of tiny blossoms and leaves, the familiarity of this woman was like a breeze in my memory that wouldn’t surface.

“Who are you?”

“Give that old brain of yours time to remember. For now, come with me. It’s not safe for you here, with all that glimmer and more glam you got going on. “ she said, spreading her arm wide to reveal a new path ahead of her.

Leading me beyond the door to meandering paths with twists and turns. It was a safety trick done by fairies to keep intruders away and they would become lost. The sound of thunder echoed through the garden. The beautiful blue sky began to darken, the garden began to change into a sight I knew all too well. The shadow garden I had seen at the base camp.

Stepping through a twisted iron gate, the air was now heavy with a sense of melancholy and decay. The ground beneath our feet cracked and barren, the soil blackened and lifeless. It was a stark contrast to the lushness and vibrancy of the garden we just left minutes ago.

The woman did not seem afraid in the slightest. In fact, she seemed more at home as she walked with pure confidence in her surroundings. We approached a tall charred tree trunk, its twisted branches like eerie sentinels hiding inside a nook. This housed the family of fairies and also gave them protection.

Not once did I feel threatened by her, instead I was compelled to follow her. Something about her felt like home, but she also said I wasn’t safe staying where I was earlier. I wondered why that was so. The rest of the fairies had long since scattered into their rooms, spaces, etc. She turned abruptly to study me, her head c****d to the side as if thinking. Tears shone in her eyes, but she didn’t let them fall. More memories began to fluctuate but all I got was blurry fog. Was she someone my mother knew? This thought became stronger and stronger.

“Here are some. This used to be your favorite. I don’t know if that’s the case now though.” she said, handing me a wooden bowl with some type of liquid in it.

The aroma wafting from the bowl was a sweet symphony of floral and fruity notes, drawing me in with intoxicating allure. Hints of wild berries dance in the air, the fragrance of jasmine blossoms and subtle undertones of citrus zest mixed in.

I took a sip and then downed the whole bowl. She was right, this was my favorite. The slight fog in my mind had suddenly cleared. A lot has changed here. That much was obvious. Had that woman become my stepmother, she would not want me alive knowing I’m still alive. How would she react to finding out that Suxhen hadn’t kept his promise, by not killing me as she had intended? Parisa was a fairy full of lies and I had yet to figure out why I was brought back here. One thing I did know for sure was that the kingdom was slowly dying and I had to find a way to heal it.