Oh, hello Winx Club end of fanfiction! I don't think I've ever met you before. Allow me to introduce myself: I am C.B. Magique and this is my new project. It's a series of one-shots, all published seperately, that revolve around the question "What if the male main characters in Winx Club were fairies too?"
I think about this a lot, probably a lot more than I should. I've developed an entire headcanon around this idea and part of that is what this series is: how I imagine the moment they first discover that they can do a fairy transformation. Each story is related by being in the same headcanon, occasionally they overlap and are more than likely to not be published in chronological order at all. But they are all self-contained stories.
I've already published a Brandon & Sky story for this series too, so if you like this one I highly recommend you read that one. :D
In any case, I'll publish more stories as I finish them. I've got a start on Helia and Timmy, the only guy I don't have a good idea for is Riven. He's so hard to write for! DX
Anywho, enough of the blather, read on my (new) friends. I welcome your feedback or comment so please review! :3
Disclaimer: I don't own Winx Club and I don't do this so that I can claim to. We all have to thank Iginio Straffi and Rainbow s.r.l. for creating it (sometimes much in the same way that we thank Steven Moffat for writing Doctor Who but hey).
Nabu
The teenage aristocrat wandered the halls of his parents' manor yet again. The sun shone down on the world of Andros and the beach just outside was tantalisingly beautiful. Nabu stopped at a window to look out at the shining sea, the white sand, and a group of boys and girls his age playing some sort of pseudo-volleyball game with a beach ball in the surf. He sighed and kept walking, knowing that he wouldn't be allowed out on his own to join them and if he was accompanied by the guards (as was the protocol laid down by his parents) the other teens would be too intimidated to hang out with him. With his lessons for the day over, Nabu's options were to wander around alone in the manor or wander around the outside world feeling alone.
As he passed through the entrance hall one of the guards called over to him. He looked up, seeing the guards at the front door playing cards instead of being alert. His lips twitched into a wry smile and he ambled over to them.
"My parents will be very disappointed if they see you're playing cards instead of working."
The guard laughed good-naturedly. "Your parents are busy; they won't notice a few old men having some fun for a little while. Why don't you join us, Nabu? You look lonely today."
Nabu laughed ironically. How many times had he heard that from someone? "I'm afraid I'm not one for playing cards, unless I get to do tricks."
"Well come on, then, show us some card tricks."
Nabu grinned but shook his head. He wasn't really in the mood to play. "I haven't learnt any new ones since the last time I showed you my card tricks," he offered as an excuse.
"Then how about we spar?"
"No thanks, I'll leave you to your game," Nabu replied.
He started to back off and was about to turn and leave when one of the guards called out concernedly: "Are you sure about that, Nabu? We'd just like to see you cheer up."
"I understand your concern. Thank-you," Nabu said over his shoulder, "but I'd like to do my own activities today."
He left the entrance hall and eventually ended up in one of the outer gardens. It was surrounded by a large wall that Nabu knew was built close to the edge of a cliff that met the sea. A small gate at the back of the garden opened out to a little balcony and a stairway down to the beach should the nobles of the manor ever wish to privately retreat to the waves. The garden was beautiful but it had been the same for as long as Nabu could remember. He looked down the main boulevard that cut through the garden. His view to the gate was blocked by a fountain.
"I wish I could experience the world differently," he lamented, sauntering down to the fountain's edge. "I know there are so many people who would give anything to live as comfortably as I do but I wonder if they still would if they knew the trappings of my life. I can't choose anything for myself – I can't choose my friends, I can't choose the lessons I take and I can't even choose the girl I'm going to marry someday! Ugh! If only I could just escape somehow…"
Suddenly he felt a pleasant tingling all around and through his body. He gasped. He knew the feeling of magic working and quickly looked over himself to see what had happened, all the while wondering how. His heart sank when he saw immediately what was wrong.
"What happened to my body!?"
His entire body had just disappeared. Although that couldn't be true because if he reached down he could feel that all parts of his body still existed. He leaned over the fountain but there was no reflection in the pool. He stood back and contemplated this curiously. His body had just spontaneously become invisible. He couldn't remember learning an invisibility spell in his lessons. However, a grin spread across his face when it quickly dawned on him that he could use this to his advantage quite well.
He snuck up to the gate, trying to keep his footsteps measured and quiet, despite how excited he was. He flicked the latch and flung the gate open, quickly pressing himself against the wall to be out of the way. The guard standing outside the gate started and turned around.
"Oh!? I didn't think—huh?"
The guard fumbled for a bit. He hadn't known who to expect so he was halfway to a bow or a salute but there was nobody there. He stepped into the garden and looked around with vigilant eyes, even checking behind the gate. It was at that moment that Nabu slipped past him and tiptoed down the stairs to the beach. Once there, he ran around the cliff face until he was out of eyeshot from the balcony. In a wave of elation the invisibility veil dropped. Nabu looked at his own hands excitedly. He didn't know how or why but he'd somehow managed to tap into a latent power he didn't know he had. Invisibility was a pretty good power to have too.
In any case, he was now out of the manor all by himself. For a giddy moment he felt like he could do absolutely anything. The world was his oyster. He scanned the beach and his eyes fell on the group of teens playing in the surf. He remembered watching them from the window. From the ground they seemed closer than they ever had before. Nabu grinned and decided to take his chances.
"Excuse me," he announced, standing on the edge of the surf. "Do you mind if I join you?"
The five teens stopped what they were doing and turned to him, a bit perplexed by the formal tone in which they were being addressed. They looked at each other and shrugged.
"Well, I don't mind," said one of the girls, a tall girl with long braided hair.
One of the boys – the one who had blonde hair with shapes shaved into the back and sides – grinned. "It'll make the teams even."
However, the other boy – a tall, shaggy-haired kid – looked sceptical. "You can't wear that in the surf, though," he said, pointing to the rich purple robes Nabu was wearing.
Nabu just smirked. He had been taught the spell for changing his wardrobe. He engulfed himself in magic, swapping his robes for his swimming trunks. The red-haired girl whistled in awe.
"That's some real fancy magic," she said.
Nabu smiled and waded into the sea to join the group. Not only had he managed to successfully escape the manor, he'd been accepted by a group that he hoped he could be good friends with. This was certainly the best day ever.
"So, how do I play?"
There was a knock on the door of the study but the guard didn't wait for a reply before bursting in. The marquis and marchioness looked up angrily from the documents they were reviewing.
"What is the meaning of this?" the marquis demanded, standing up at his desk.
"My humblest apologies, milord," the guard replied, bowing deeply, "but it is urgent. Your son has gone missing from the manor grounds!"
"Missing?!" the marchioness exclaimed, placing a hand over her heart and fanning herself with the other. She was already feeling a bit faint with worry.
"What's more, a guard minding one of the gates said something suspicious happened. The gate opened as if someone was coming out but there was no one there. He suspects that there may have been some foul play involving magic. Milord, milady, I regret to have to concern you like this but at present our captain believes that Nabu could have been kidnapped."
"Kidnapped!? Oh…" the marchioness slumped in her seat. "My poor boy…"
"Has any ransom been issued?" the marquis growled, growing red faced with anger but not at the guard.
"Nothing has been received as of yet."
"Don't waste time, then! Until a ransom has been issued organise a squad to scour the town. Send word to the King's Guard, I'm sure they will gladly be of assistance."
The guard bowed and nodded before promptly leaving to fulfil his orders.
"I knew a day like this might come," the marchioness moaned, "and we were so careful."
"Don't worry, my dear," her husband replied softly, going over to her side of the desk and taking her hand in both of his, "we will get our boy back. The king will send help without a doubt. After all, he too would be worried about the safety of his daughter's fiancé."
The afternoon had gotten hot quite quickly and Nabu and his new friends decided to quit their game and retreat to the parks and malls of the nearby town. He couldn't help but enjoy everything that they did. Even as the other boys groaned in boredom while the girls tried on clothes and shoes Nabu just politely complimented them on their choices. They spent about an hour playing games in an arcade, most of which was taken up on the dance simulator, where Nabu was declared an unofficial champion. They took a bus down to a skate park where the boys had a ball showing off the tricks they could do on skateboards and bikes. Nabu even tried his hand on a board but didn't fare too well. As the afternoon crawled into evening the group decided to take a break in a park café, where Nabu decided to treat his new friends to ice cream.
"Wow, today was great!" remarked the girl with dreadlocks, some of them coloured light blue. They were all sitting at an outdoor table with an umbrella with their choice of ice cream or milkshake. "We should totally hang out like this again sometime."
"I would love to," Nabu replied brightly but then hung his head sadly. "Unfortunately, I have no idea if I'll be able to do this a second time."
"Is this about your folks being all uptight about your safety?" asked the redhead, taking a spoonful out of a large sundae that looked too enormous for a little girl like her.
"Man, I don't envy you," the shaggy-haired boy said, giving Nabu a friendly nudge. "I mean, it would be nice to have the kind of money you do but not even being allowed to go out and meet people by yourself? I don't think I could handle it."
"Maybe you should just explain that you need time to see friends," the blond boy suggested. "Nothing bad happened today, so maybe your parents will consider that and loosen up a bit."
"I hope so…" Nabu muttered.
"You there!" a booming voice shouted out to them.
The teens all turned to the sudden sound and gasped. There was a squad of soldiers approaching them with their weapons raised. Nabu's heart sank when he realised that three of them were from his parent's personal security and the other bore the more elaborate armour of the King's Guard. The King's Guard soldier pointed at them.
"Return the earl safely and your punishment will be lenient."
"Punishment?" the braided girl squeaked.
"Stop!" Nabu ordered, hoping that his rank would be enough to get the guards to obey. "Leave my friends be, they haven't done anything wrong!"
"We have joint orders from the marquis and the king to arrest those responsible for kidnapping the earl," the king's guardsman explained.
"Are you serious?" Nabu said incredulously, looking back at his friends. "You can't possibly expect that some teenagers are responsible for kidnapping me. Be reasonable! I was the one who ran away from the manor, it's not their fault. Put down your weapons and leave us!"
"I'm afraid our orders come from a higher power," the guardsman replied. "You can beg and plead for your sake in the king's court."
The guards continued their advance. Nabu's chest felt heavy. He turned to the group of teens he'd befriended. They all looked confused and terrified. They could barely comprehend why they were being charged with something so dire. There was also that possibility that Nabu's actions could have possibly landed them with a gaol sentence.
"You guys run for it!" Nabu yelled. "I'll hold the guards back."
The teens didn't need to be told twice and they bolted.
"Hold it!" one of the marquis' guards shouted. The squad took off hot on their heels but Nabu leaped into their path. "Step aside! Our orders are to apprehend those criminals!"
"They did nothing wrong!" Nabu insisted.
The guard stepped forward to push Nabu out of the way. He was thrown onto his back by a counterattack that Nabu had learned from the very guards who were after his new friends. One unthinking guard dared to attack him. Nabu quickly disarmed him, taking a hold of the sword and holding the guard at knifepoint.
"Split up!" the king's guardsman ordered. "Two of you go after the offenders."
The other two guards who were still armed turned and took chase of the group while they were still in eyeshot. Nabu turned and in his moment of distraction the king's guardsman grabbed him, keeping his arms pinned. The marquis' guard picked up the sword Nabu dropped.
"I'm sorry, Nabu," he said sincerely, "but those are our orders."
"No…" Nabu sobbed. "I'll… I'll fight you if I have to! I won't let you hurt them!"
A surge of that latent magic from before appeared once again. This time it made his skin glow brightly like a mini-sun. The guards were blinded by the sudden flash and backed away. The guardsman loosened his grip allowing Nabu to escape but the magic wouldn't recede. There was something more dying to burst forth and Nabu didn't have the control to stop it. There was a brilliant, more colourful flash of light and he found himself transformed. He examined himself in wonder. It wasn't a wardrobe changing spell at all since he didn't have an outfit that looked anything like this. Even his hair had changed into a different style. Something fluttered on his back between his shoulder blades and he looked over his shoulder. They were delicate little wings. His jaw dropped when he figured out what this meant.
"I'm a… a fairy?!"
The guards groaned but they were recovering. Their sight hadn't been restored but they were still advancing on him, holding their arms out to feel their surroundings. Nabu took to the air using his new wings. He searched for the other guards and his group of friends. He hovered over the park and spotted them heading towards a fork in the path. Each road led to a different exit. However, the guards were gaining on them. They turned left. Nabu channelled his newfound power to cast a spell of invisibility over them. The guards faltered in a moment of confusion but they were still certain of the direction the teens took. They were about to head that way until Nabu dropped down in front of them.
"Light screen!"
The spell he cast manifested as a bright light that had the guards seeing spots and left them unprepared when they collided with an invisible barrier. Nabu snickered. That worked quite well for a spell he had literally just made up on the spot. He checked the empty path that his friends hadn't taken. With a hand wave he cast another illusion: an image of his friends running down that path.
Before the guards could recover properly he took wing again. The guards spotted the illusion. They exchanged puzzled glances. They thought the group had headed off in a different direction but it looked like they were mistaken. They charged down the right path, shouting at the illusionary group to stop.
On the other hand, Nabu flew around the town looking for his friends. He could see many other squads of guards on the lookout and that only made him more nervous. He hoped that they hadn't been stopped by one of them.
He'd looped around the town twice and hadn't found his friends. His head was beginning to get dizzy with worry when he suddenly heard something that made his heart leap with hope:
"Nabu! Down here!"
He looked down. The girl with the blue dreads was poking out of a covered laneway, waving at him. He checked the street for any guards before descending to the street and hurrying into the laneway. The rest of the group was waiting there. Nabu swallowed a lump in his throat, instantly feeling guilty. If only hadn't made such a selfish decision to leave the manor.
"Nabu, that was amazing!" the braided girl exclaimed with awe. "You turned into a fairy!"
"And you helped us out," the shaggy-haired boy added. "That was real cool of you."
"You… you're not mad?" Nabu asked, looking at them. "Even though it's my fault that even the king thinks you're guilty of kidnapping me?"
"It ain't your fault," the redhead said sassily, "they just got seriously misinformed."
"Yeah, like you said," the dreadlocked girl interjected, "they were the ones being unreasonable."
"I'm just glad you were able to make it out okay," Nabu admitted.
"We're more than okay," said the blond boy, "and what's more, you were totally awesome out there. Put her there, homie!"
He put his fist out and Nabu flinched, expecting to get hit. "What's the matter? Haven't you ever fist bumped someone before?"
"Oh! Oh, of course," Nabu chuckled sheepishly, forming a fist and hesitantly bumping knuckles.
"We'd totally be cool if you wanted to hang out with us again," the braided girl said.
"I'm glad!" Nabu grinned. His smiled faltered as a more pragmatic thought hit him. "Although I don't know if I'll ever be able to come out like this again."
"I hope you can iron things out with the 'rents," the dreadlocked girl said.
"But keeping in contact can't hurt, right?" the shaggy-haired boy suggested, taking a marker out of his shorts. "Here, I'll give you my contact details. Drop a line when you can."
"I'm sorry, I don't have any paper," Nabu said.
"Don't worry. Give me your arm."
He wrote down his name next to an email address and what appeared to be a mobile phone number. The other four took turns writing the same details down until Nabu's entire arm was covered in contact details. He smiled warmly at them.
"Thank-you so much! I'll be sure to contact you as soon as I can and hopefully we can have another day like this."
"Looking forward to it," the blond boy said.
Nabu took flight again, waving goodbye to his new friends as he left. Despite all that had happened he couldn't help but feel ecstatic about the day's events.
As he expected, his parents had been less than happy when they had an audience with him in his bedroom. In fact, they were livid. Nabu made sure to hide the names and numbers under his sleeve while he explained what he'd done and how everything had been a misunderstanding. Through his parents' fury, however, was an unmasked curiosity that they simply had to act on before they were through with him.
His mother was the one to ask: "You became a fairy?"
"Yes, I do believe I mentioned that," Nabu replied nervously.
His parents exchanged glances.
"That's… interesting," his father said carefully. He looked so deep in thought that it was difficult to tell what other emotions he was feeling. "It's so unusual for a boy to become a fairy. The usual path for a boy with magical talent is to become either a witch or a wizard. My eldest sister became a fairy but even so I never thought… this will have some serious implications for your education from now on, do you realise this?"
"Well, I'd only expect so," Nabu answered, even though he didn't really have much idea about what his father was talking about.
"You've developed a very special power," his mother explained. "You'll have to learn to use it to its full potential and use it appropriately."
"That can wait until later," his father decided. He crossed his arms, looking very stern. "For now, you will be confined to your room until I decide how best to punish you."
"But dinner…?" Nabu began.
"Will be brought up when it's time," his father finished. "Don't expect to be treated well after what you pulled today."
"You had everyone worried sick!" his mother scolded. "Even the king and queen were in a panic. Do you have any idea how embarrassing this is? The royal family – the family of your fiancée – sent out their finest men just because you decided to play a prank!"
Nabu cringed at the mention of his fiancée. "Technically it wasn't a prank…"
"Technically nothing!" his father thundered. He and the marchioness left the room but before he closed the door behind them he warned: "I'll deal with you in the morning."
The door slammed shut and Nabu let out a heavy sigh. He pulled his sleeve up and looked at his arm. He went over to his desk for a piece of paper to magically transfer the details to, lest they be washed away during his bath. Looking down at the handwritten words and numbers he couldn't help but grin.
His room and the halls around it were so silent that Nabu could hear his clock ticking. An idea came to him and he threw himself down into the chair at his computer. He had a spare moment now after all and keeping in contact certainly didn't hurt.
A/N: I don't know what rank Nabu's family holds in the Andros peerage so I just made them marquis/marchioness for argument's sake. If anyone has evidence to suggest otherwise (Winx Club wiki is not evidence) then please let me know because I'd be happy to go through the entire thing and change it if it's justified.
Also reminding you that I'd like a review. I worked really hard on this so... pretty please?