Why would anyone want to stay in the real world when the land of make believe is so much better?
Nero often thought this when drawing one of his monster friends. Of them all – Luka, Haku, and Kaito, to name a few – Miku was his favorite to depict. He loved sketching her hair as it fell over her ram horns, and her lion's tail never hid what she was feeling. Miku was a challenge to illustrate, but Nero still managed to capture her as if she was real.
As Nero began adding texture to Miku's hair, he more carefully looked up at the teacher to convince him that Nero was paying attention and taking notes. Not that Nero wasn't paying attention since he had a talent for multi-tasking, but he felt restless without a pencil in his hand. Too restless. The last time he got in trouble with Mr. Hiyama for drawing in class, he tried to convince his teacher how it was better for Nero academically to draw over take notes.
That conversation did not go over well.
When the bell signaled the end of the school day, Nero snapped his sketchbook shut and shoved it away. Used to Nero's bolting after every final bell, the other students stood out of the way as Nero shot out into the hall like a Fourth of July rocket. He walked as fast as he could without running to get outside, but he stopped when he noticed something in his peripheral.
One of the older students, Gakupo Kamui, had both hands resting on the wall, a blonde head between them. He leaned forward to whisper to the girl he had trapped. Nero didn't miss Gakupo licking his lips before getting his face closer to the girl.
Against his will, Nero's fingers curled into a fist. Gakupo had no right to treat this girl in such a way. Apparently, she agreed.
Quicker than Nero could blink, the girl grabbed Gakupo by the arm, ducked under him, and twisted the arm she held so that it was locked behind Gakupo's back. She pushed him into the wall and twisted his arm again. Gakupo cried out in pain. Smirking, the girl twisted even harder.
"Don't underestimate me," she said quietly, but Nero still heard. "I'm not afraid to go back to jail."
Without waiting for Gakupo to respond, she released her grip and pushed him to the ground. She spat on him and walked away. For a short, petite girl only in middle school, she had a strength to rival most grown men.
Rin Kagamine, the spawn of a demon. Or so the whole school thought of her. Nero held a much different opinion.
"Out of the way, loser," she snarled as she walked past Nero, slamming into him so hard his backpack fell off his shoulders and spilled out its contents.
Nero quickly gathered his textbooks, pencils, and loose papers. The last thing he retrieved was his sketchbook, opened to a page depicting a blonde knight. First Nero watched Rin's retreating figure, then he looked at his illustrated knight.
Some months ago, he drew Rin wearing knight's armor and carrying a big sword. A girl as aggressive as she could lead an army into battle, Nero had thought. Since the real Rin was too scary to approach, he used his make-believe version of her as a channel for his admiration.
Probably unhealthy, but at least knight Rin wouldn't pummel his bones to dust.
Fleeing from the campus, Nero rushed off into the woods. He had a little-known path one hundred yards from the duck pond he went to every day after school. As with every other day, Nero would walk down the path until his school uniform transformed into battle gear, his backpack became his weapons, and he himself became a hero.
"There you are," Miku greeted when he emerged from the bushes. She twirled her long turquoise hair with a single finger. "Must you really keep me waiting?"
"I got here as soon as I could," Nero replied, a grin across his face. "Any beasts to slay today? Or any monsters who need my help? Or maybe a simple fetch quest? You know, it's been ages since we went on one of those."
"Eager, as always." Miku smiled, rolling her eyes. She was about sixteen in human years, making her three years Nero's senior. In a lot of ways she was like his older sister, but half the time she could be as childish as he.
"Well," Nero said when Miku still didn't answer his question, "what's today's objective?"
"Had you been earlier, you would have known Rin has already received and begun said objective," Miku replied.
"She started without me?"
"You know how she is when there are beasts that need slaying."
"So we are slaying a beast today?" Nero grinned as he bounced on the balls of his feet. "What kind of beast?"
"A new kind. We don't know a lot about it, but it's been causing mayhem in the Fairy Village. Merli requests that we find and destroy this beast immediately."
"You don't need to tell me twice!" With that, Nero broke off into a run. He didn't stop as he turned his head over his shoulder and shouted, "Hurry up, Miku!"
Miku watched as Nero disappeared over the hill. Sighing, she muttered to herself, "He's still too young to understand." She shook her head and ran after Nero, catching up too quickly for a human.
When they arrived at the Fairy Village, Rin stood at the entrance. Her eyes were narrowed, and her arms were crossed. Merli the fairy sat on her right shoulder, looking downcast.
"Took you long enough," Rin growled when Nero and Miku stood before her. Like in Nero's sketch, she wore knight's armor and carried a big sword. The only difference between this Rin and the drawing was the Rin before him wore her short hair in pigtails similar to Miku's instead of wearing it down like Nero drew.
"I got here as soon as I could," Nero repeated to Rin. This time he added, "Had a run in the school hallway."
Rin rose an eyebrow then shook her head. "Never mind that. That beast-"
"Has taken my sister!" Merli exclaimed, flying off of Rin's shoulder and hovering inches from Nero's face. "It took her last night, after I sent the request to Miku. I tried to stop it, but it was too strong for me and my warriors! Now I don't know what it's done with Lapis. I don't even know if she's still alive!" Merli covered her face with her hands and cried into her palms. It seemed she tried to say more, but she couldn't get the words out over her hiccups.
"There, there," Miku soothed. She held out her hand, and Merli rested on Miku's palm. "I'm sure Lapis is fine."
"Probably traumatized, but fine," Rin muttered, leading Nero to hiss, "Rin!"
"Anyway," Miku said after looking away from the teens, "tell us where the beast went, and we'll go after it and get your sister back."
After Merli pointed them in the direction, the trio set off to find and slay the beast. Miku rotated her wrists to loosen them and make using her magic easier. Rin swung her sword around in practice, Nero and Miku wisely keeping their distance from the careless blonde. On the other hand, Nero felt no need to warm up. Not because he was so cocky to think he didn't need to, but because something didn't make sense.
"Why would a beast take Lapis?" he asked as they walked across the bridge over the Murky River. "Beasts may torment monsters, but they don't outright kidnap them. It's not like beasts eat monsters."
"But they eat their fear," Rin pointed out, stopping her sword swinging. "Isn't too much a reach to think a beast took a scaredy cat like Lapis so it won't have to go out every time it's hungry, is it?"
"Actually, it is," Miku mused. "Beasts aren't exactly that smart."
"So why take Lapis?" Nero questioned.
"Who cares?" Rin grinned wickedly. "As long as I get to kill something, I don't care what it did."
They found the beast in the Cave of Darkness, exactly where Merli suspected. Miku used a cloaking spell so that the three of them could enter undetected. Once inside, they searched for any sign of the beast or Lapis.
"There!" Nero pointed out, whispering loudly.
Lapis was neither caged nor chained nor restrained in any way. Instead she lied on a ledge on the wall, seemingly fast asleep. No fear was etched into her features.
"You take her and run," Rin said. "I'll take care of the beast."
"You mean the beast we don't see?" Nero shook his head and asked Miku to release her cloaking spell. When they became visible to the outside world again, Nero walked up to Lapis and gently used his finger to nudge the tiny fairy. "Lapis? Lapis, it's me, Nero."
"Huh?" Lapis slowly opened her eyes and looked at the boy. "What are you doing here?" she asked, sounding half asleep.
"We're going to get you out of here," Nero said.
Lapis opened her mouth to respond, but she was cut off before she began when a fierce voice shouted from deeper within the cave.
"Who dares trespass into my lair?!"
"Finally!" Rin drew her sword and taunted, "Come and get me, ugly!"
The beast screamed so loudly the cave shook. Out of the darkness stepped a tall, scaly beast. It was humanoid in the way it walked on two legs and held its arms at its sides, but it had a dragon's tail, gorilla arms and legs, a tiger's face, and bat wings.
"I will rip you apart for saying that!" the beast growled before it held up its twin blades and charged at Rin.
Deflecting the blows, Rin ordered, "Take Lapis and get out of here now!"
"We should listen," Miku told Nero when he hesitated to react. Rin and the beast fought, attacking and blocking as they circled around the cave. It was almost like a dance, in a way.
"Stop," Lapis whimpered before she shouted louder, "Stop!"
"No time. We need to go." Nero scooped up Lapis – completely forgetting how rude it is to pick up a fairy without getting her consent first – and began to run out of the cave. Miku followed behind but stopped when she heard Rin scream.
Both turned around to find their blonde comrade bleeding. The beast struck her arm. The cut was shallow, but the way Rin grimaced displayed how painful it was.
"You go," Miku said. "If the blade is poisoned, I need to help Rin slay the beast so I may have the time to heal her sooner. You take Lapis back to her family." Miku didn't wait for a response before she rushed into battle. Hands alight with fire, Miku jumped in. Now two against one, there was no way the beast stood a chance.
"You have to help her!" Lapis shouted, her small voice heard only by Nero.
"She'll be fine," Nero insisted, knowing he needed to get away but unable to move his heavy feet. "Rin's already a good fighter, and with Miku as backup, there's no reason to worry about her."
Lapis shook her head. "Not Rin."
Before Nero could ask what Lapis meant, the beast screamed. Nero and Lapis turned their attention to the beast to see that Miku burned half of its face. It turned to run, but in its confusion, it went in the wrong direction.
"Nowhere to run now," Rin said as she and Miku stalked towards the cornered beast. It hissed at them, but there was no real threat behind it. The beast knew it was done for.
"No!" Lapis cried again.
Thinking fast, Nero set the fairy down and retrieved his sketchbook, the only thing from the real world the didn't change when he entered the land of make believe. He flipped to a blank page and picked up his pencil. Nero drew quickly.
When he was finished, the cage he drew manifested into reality. Nero collapsed soon after, striving to hold onto consciousness. Only he could create reality in this world, but that power came at a cost. The bigger the picture, the more energy it took from him.
"What the- Nero! Why did you put us in the cage?!"
Pushing himself to his feet, Nero told Rin, "To stop you and Miku from hurting her further."
"But it's a beast!" Rin argued. "It's our job to slay them, remember?"
Nero ignored Rin as he approached the beast. Lapis flew close behind.
"What are you doing?!" Miku exclaimed, but Nero ignored her too.
When Nero was in front of the cowering monster, he asked, "What's your name?"
It was with bared teeth she answered, "Cul."
"And what happened to you, Cul?"
"A witch." Cul spat on the ground. "She cursed me, changing me into a beast, but not. I'm still me, but why would anyone believe that when I look like this?"
"Cul came to the Fairy Village because she thought I would know of a way to undo the curse," Lapis said, resting on Cul's shoulder. Their comfort with each other gave Nero the impression they had been friends long before Cul was cursed. "I was scared at first," Lapis continued, "but once I knew it was Cul, we worked together to think of a way to reverse the spell. But alas, nothing we thought of was either likely or plausible."
"So I fear I may have to spend the rest of my life in this form," Cul finished bitterly. "A monster in the body of a beast. Even if you don't slay me today, it will only be a matter of time before someone else decides to attack first and ask questions later."
"Well, you did attack us first," Rin pointed out, earning a hiss from Cul.
"If you were cursed," Miku began, "then why not seek audience with the king and queen? Certainly they would have the power to restore you."
"Not entirely an option when odds are no guards will let me near them in the first place," Cul replied. "After all, I am ugly." Her anger in that word was no doubt directed towards Rin.
"Not unless we can make the guards think you don't look like a beast," Nero thought aloud before he turned to Miku. "Can you make a cloaking spell that changes what a person looks like?"
"You mean a disguise?" Miku thought it over, humming as she tapped her chin. "It would be extremely difficult, but not impossible."
"If that's the case," Nero said, "then you can disguise Cul long enough for her to see the king and queen. They know you wouldn't lead a beast to their chambers, so they would trust you enough to listen to Cul before they make any decisions."
"I don't see why it wouldn't work." Miku turned to Cul. "I should not have acted without thinking. Would you please accept my apology?"
"Help me turn back to normal, and I'll forgive you." Cul looked to Rin. "You, on the other hand . . ."
"Don't say anything," Nero warned Rin before she could open her mouth. In response, the blonde pouted. To Miku, "When do you think we can take Cul to the king and queen?"
Author's Note: Sorry the story drops off right here! This started off as a concept to play with, and naturally I didn't have much of a plan in mind of where the plot was going to go. I do want to revisit this world again one day because I see so much potential here, but I don't know when. Maybe if enough of you ask for a continuation, I'll actually consider turning this into a multi-chapter fic! Until then, I hope you had as much fun reading this as I did writing it. :)
Thank you for reading! Love you!
- Fantastical