Oh, hello again Winx Club end of fanfiction! Fancy seeing you again in such a short space of time, although I did plan for it, actually. So, if you've already read the first bit, 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 Each story is related by being in the same headcanon, occasionally they overlap and are more than likely to not be published in chronological order at all.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 Nabu story for this series too, so if you like this one I highly recommend you read that one. :D
If you've already read that one, then at this point you've probably realised that I've largely copy-pasted the A/N from that one over to this one.
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).
Brandon and Sky
It was already dark but the royal palace of Eraklyon still had some of its windows glowing brightly. One such window was the bedroom of two boys – best friends who had grown up like brothers. They were both still young, on the cusp of their teenage years but not too old to restrain their childish dispositions.
This led to the current situation: Queen Samara was being led to the boys' bedroom by a frazzled-looking nursemaid with a sucker dart stuck to her forehead. Honestly, the queen was a busy woman during the day and shouldn't have to put up with such nonsense at night time. She didn't even wait for her employee to open the door for her. She grumpily threw the doors open herself. She was about to say something but words momentarily escaped her at the sight that met her eyes.
"Sky! Brandon!" she yelled angrily, making the two boys stop what they were doing.
The room was simply a mess. The walls and ceiling were covered in foam darts and sucker arrows, the floor was strewn with blocks, balls and anything else that would fit inside Brandon's makeshift trebuchet while Sky's catapult had flung some more irregular objects (like stuffed toys and stationery) to the other side of the room. The toy chests had been upturned and had been used as cover by the two boys who had now abandoned their projectile warfare and were jumping on Brandon's bed having a pillow fight. There were feathers everywhere.
"Do you have any idea how late it is?" Samara scolded. "Go to bed this instant!"
"But we're training!" Sky argued.
"Yeah! Janice told us the story of the Company of Light so me and Sky are training to be heroes like them," Brandon added.
"The Company of Light disbanded years ago and if all is right in the Magix Dimension it will stay that way," Queen Samara snapped, striding through the room, kicking toys out of her way. She yanked Sky off Brandon's bed and dragged him over to his own. "If you're really so keen on training to be heroes then I would suggest discussing a possible regime with your swordcraft instructor in the morning. Right now, little heroes in training need to rest."
"But we're not tired!" Sky protested, crossing his arms huffily as his mother plonked him down on his own bed. However, Brandon betrayed him by yawning loudly and flopping onto his bed while Janice brushed away some of the feathers littering it.
"You say that now but heroes need to understand the importance of getting the right balance of rest and action," Samara told him, taking his pillow and placing it at the head of his bed.
"But if we don't train how are we going to awaken our magic powers?" Sky asked.
"Magic powers?"
"Like the Company of Light," Brandon supplied. "They were all fairies or witches or wizards but we don't have any magic powers."
"Yeah, when do we get to learn magic?" Sky said. "Even our schoolteachers say we're not ready."
"You'll both be ready for magic one day," Samara assured them. "But for now it's bedtime."
She kissed her son on the forehead, satisfied that he'd calmed down even a little bit, and left the room with the nursemaid. The lights finally went off and the room fell to darkness, save for the moonlight streaming in through the windows.
Despite Sky's earlier protest, both boys had fallen asleep easily enough. The whole palace was now dark and quiet and the boys slept peacefully. However, that peace was shattered by the sound of breaking glass and a loud bang as a smoke bomb went off in the boys' room. Brandon and Sky both jolted awake and sat up immediately.
"What happened?" Sky gasped. "Brandon, are you okay?"
He swung out of bed and started making his way across to Brandon's side of the room. He wasn't prepared to be bowled over by a ninja swinging in through the window, breaking more of the glass. Brandon hopped out of bed immediately and searched under his mattress for the green phantoblade that he'd hidden there. Ever since he was a small child the king and queen had always stressed the importance of his role as squire to Prince Sky. He took that very seriously and figured having a concealed weapon somewhere would be useful in emergencies like this.
The room was too smoky to see much but Brandon did manage to make out a tall, lean figure standing over a smaller heap on the floor. He leaped into the cloud, brandishing his sword.
"Get away from him!"
Brandan swiped at the man in shadows but his image flickered away as if it had never even been there. He dismissed it for now and knelt down to see to Sky. Two more windows broke but the new intruders couldn't be seen.
"Sky! Wake up!" Brandon hissed in his ear, shaking the blond. Sky's eyelids twitched and he mumbled something unintelligible. "Uh oh, he's out of it."
Heavy footsteps could be heard marching towards them from down the hall and Brandon felt his heart lift in relief. The palace guards were coming. The good feeling quickly died away when one of the intruders barked a command at the others:
"Quickly! Grab the prince and get out of here! We don't have time to spare!"
The prince? They were after Sky! With the intruders in the room and the guards still out in the hall, Brandon knew the intruders would be able to make off with Sky and escape, even if it wasn't a clean getaway. He needed a good plan and quickly. He grabbed Sky by the shoulders and started to shake him away more vigorously.
"Brandon!" he shouted at Sky, making the blond snap his eyes open but he still looked completely confused. "You have to get up! You promised to protect me, Prince Sky, as long as you lived, remember?"
"Wh-wha…?" Sky slurred.
"It's your squire's oath to serve the prin—eep!"
Brandon was swiped off his feet as the guards burst in. The intruder carrying him leaped out of one of the busted windows. They were well organised. The other two were always a step or two behind the first, fighting away any threats to their mission while the leader escaped with agile acrobatics that made Brandon feel sick.
Meanwhile in the palace, the guards had secured the boys' bedroom and managed to clear out the smoke with some magic wind. The king and queen marched in, dressed in their nightgowns and swathed in dressing gowns, accompanied by a squad of armed guards. The nearest soldier turned to them and saluted, ready to report or follow orders as necessary.
"What happened?" Erendor demanded.
"Is Sky okay?" Samara added in a panicked voice.
"His royal highness Prince Sky appears to be—oof!" the soldier began but Samara pushed him out of the way and rushed over to Sky's bed where the guards had laid him out.
"Oh, my precious child!" Samara wailed. She clicked her fingers and pointed to another soldier close by. "You! Fetch the physician immediately!"
The guard saluted and marched out of the room to fulfil his orders. Samara lifted Sky to lay him against her while she cooed to him lovingly. The soldier at the door continued his report to the king.
"The intruders put up a fight when we burst in here and they left quickly but not before we were able to determine that they were trained in the ninja arts."
"So they are from the east…" Erendor deduced.
"They are certainly from the east," the guard replied. He showed Erendor to Brandon's bed, where a note had been skewered to the bedpost with a shuriken. "They left this ransom note. It is addressed to your majesty and Queen Samara."
Erendor ripped the note off the bedpost and read through it with narrowed eyes. When he finished he turned to Sky and Samara with a perplexed expression and looked down at the note again. It couldn't possibly be right. Samara asked what was written on the note and he passed it to her. It read:
Dear King Erendor & Queen Samara,
I didn't want things to come to this but you have now left me no choice. I have taken your son and in exchange for his safe return I demand a timely agreement to my terms. Grant me everything in the east from the mountain ranges to the coast as my own personal kingdom and treat me as your equal in royalty. Since I am in a position to be making demands, I also demand an apology fee in the form of a gift of great value from the royal treasury that must be presented to me in person during the exchange for your son.
Respond to this message within three days. We wouldn't pieces of Prince Sky to start going missing, would we?
Signed,
Lord Yoshinoya
"That browbeating bully!" Samara seethed, scrunching up the note in her hands. "If I ever got to see his face why I'd… I'd…"
"I knew that warlord was a power-hungry tyrant but I never thought that he would go to such extremes," Erendor agreed grimly. "However, it seems that he is also a moron. Why would he send a ransom note for a kidnapping that hasn't taken place yet? Surely he realises that we'll be prepared for it."
"There's one more thing, your majesty," the briefing soldier added. "When we arrived we found Sky and he appeared to be alright, save for some minor injuries and a concussion. However, his squire was nowhere to be found. All the evidence suggests that those ninjas came here to carry out a kidnapping but they kidnapped the wrong boy."
"Good heavens!" the queen exclaimed, raising her eyebrows. She and her husband exchanged looks. "What should we do?"
When Sky finally awoke it was already day. The sunlight streaming through the windows was bright but had the mellow touch of morning light. He groaned, feeling an uncomfortable throb in his head and tried to sit up. However, someone pushed him back down onto the pillows. He turned the kindly face of Janice.
"Rest, my prince," she said softly. "You still need more time to fully recover."
"What happened?" Sky asked, looking around. He wasn't in his room. This room was smaller than his bedroom. It was lavish but plainer, as if nobody really even lived in here. In a sudden moment of clarity he realised he must be in one of the guest bedrooms reserved for visiting dignitaries. There was no second bed and not enough room beside him for another person. "Where's Brandon?"
Janice fixed him with an expression of solemn pity. "Don't worry, they'll find him soon."
Before he could inquire as to what that meant – he'd gotten as far as opening his mouth – the doors opened. The king and queen strode in, tailed meekly by a nurse. Samara smiled widely and made a beeline for Sky's bedside, excited to see that he was awake.
"Mom!" Sky exclaimed, confusedly returning the tight hug his mother gave him. "What's going on? Where's Brandon?"
"You do not have to concern yourself with that," Erendor told him, coming stand beside Samara. "We just wanted to see for ourselves that you're well."
"Well I am," Sky replied quickly, wincing at a sharp pain in his head. "Just got a little headache…"
"The doctor said you'll need to stay rested for at least five days," Samara said, "but he wasn't sure when you'd wake up."
"How long have I been asleep?"
"It's been two days."
"Since what? All I remember is that I heard something break the window and then… what happened to Brandon?"
The king and queen exchanged glances, worrying over what to tell him. Eventually Samara supplied: "Brandon was kidnapped."
"What?!" Sky exclaimed quickly, moving to leap out of bed but Samara and Janice held him down. "Why? How?"
"Like I said, you don't need to concern yourself," Erendor explained. "Their intention was to capture you, not Brandon. I'm sure once they realise their folly they'll simply let him go."
"How do you know that?" Sky demanded. "How much time do we have to save him?"
"It doesn't matter! We already have squads searching the east; I'm confident he'll be found before the day is done. You have nothing more to worry about except for staying in bed."
Erendor said that in one of those tones that made it clear the conversation was closed. Sky knew better than to argue back at this point and looked down, disheartened.
In the afternoon Sky convinced Janice to take him into the gardens. She was reluctant until the physician gave permission, advising him to only take a light stroll and not to play while he was outside. The morning's headache had eased somewhat but it returned with a vengeance whenever his anxious mind turned back to thoughts of his squire. Brandon was gone and nobody would tell him how long they had to fulfil the ransom (they hadn't told him of the ransom either but he assumed there was one). It could be by the end of the month, by the end of the week, by the end of the day – heck! They could only have until the end of the hour!
They came to a flower garden used regularly for functions at the castle. Janice took a seat at a bench and began to read a small book that she was carrying with her. In the open area it would be quite easy to keep an eye on Sky. The little boy wandered by the garden beds absentmindedly.
"If nobody is doing anything, surely that means that I have to do something," he thought determinedly. He paused between some beds of evergreen shrubs and short trees. Janice was on the other side of garden, looking up occasionally. Her watchful eyes were as sharp as a hawk's. The breeze blew by strongly, rustling the leaves and fluttering the pages of Janice's book, distracting her. "I bet if it was me it would be different. But since it's 'just' Brandon…"
The breeze kicked up into a gust, furiously swirling around the garden. Janice gasped as all of a sudden she could no longer control the pages of her book or the locks of her hair. She got up, looking around for Sky. If the weather was getting like this all of a sudden then it was certainly time to return indoors. She called out to him and the wind carried it, swirling it around Sky, who was becoming the epicentre of a whirlwind in the middle of the garden. He turned and saw her approaching. The wind around him was so strong it was becoming like a wall. Somehow Janice's voice sounded so close as if she was right next to him. The wind dragged her words closer, telling him that the weather was getting dangerous; it was time to come inside. But Sky was filled with a new purpose. His best friend was in trouble and he couldn't stand by and do nothing while Brandon could be hurt.
The whirlwind grew tighter and lifted him off his feet yet he could control it with mere thoughts. It couldn't blow him away like the leaves and branches it was battering. He didn't have time to dwell on that when all of a sudden there was a cold feeling of wind blowing inside his body, followed quickly by the warmth of light engulfing him from the inside out.
When it was over he felt fresh and new like he had shed an old shell to grow a new one. He looked down at himself in wonder. His comfortable pants and tunic were gone, replaced by a blue outfit that sparkled as if it was made of magic. There was a twinge of an itch on his back and he reached back to rub it. His fingers touched the delicate edge of a pair of wings.
"Whoa… I don't believe it," he breathed as a grin spread over his face. "Am I… a fairy?"
"My goodness! Prince Sky!" Janice gasped. "What in the world…?"
Sky didn't have time to deal with her; he had a squire to save. He got his wings buzzing and took to the sky, ignoring the shouts and pleas from his nursemaid to return. He flew off to the east.
"Don't worry, Brandon, I'm coming to save you!"
Any dungeon was a terrible place for a child to be but Yoshinoya's were certainly the worst. Beneath his white-walled palace were stone chambers barred with rusty iron where little to no light penetrated. The heat was stifling, kudos to a cauldron of molten rock at the very bottom of the prison and the atrium above it allowed the heat to rise. Yoshinoya was by all means a tyrant and districts of the planet that he had captured and controlled were in a dismal state. Rebels and political prisoners found their way into his dungeon and were tasked with tirelessly quarrying stone and stoking the fire for the cauldron, thus expanding the dungeon for more prisoners while contributing to its hellish atmosphere.
The tiny window of natural light was no comfort to Brandon, who had a narrow cell on the top floor of the dungeon. There were chains and shackles hanging from the wall (which his wrists, thankfully, were too small to be locked into) and the walls were slimy. There was a small drainage grate at the back of the cell where dried streaks of something dark had been washed down. He didn't want to think about what that mystery substance could possibly be.
There were footsteps and loud voices coming down the staircase that spiralled down from the palace. Brandon peered out of his cell to see who was coming. It was the dastardly man himself, pompously dressed in his most elegant red robes embroidered in gold, followed by two of his samurai guards. The boy scowled. He had learned of Yoshinoya's history from his squire's lessons with the royal guards. The man had been exiled from Melody. Originally sentenced to the Omega Dimension, he had somehow escaped the prison guards during transit and at some time unknown smuggled himself onto Eraklyon, where he gradually gained wealth by training street urchins and the most destitute in his home world's martial arts and establishing a mercenary business. His burgeoning influence was so subtle that nobody noticed until it was too late and there was now a small part of the world that he had an iron grip on. King Erandor had so far found that ousting this man would be no simple matter. He was a slippery devil and the Security Council was still wracking its think tank to find a way to get rid of him.
The footsteps came closer and it occurred to Brandon that they were probably coming towards his cell. The fat tyrant cackled evilly.
"It will soon be time for the trade. You have told the rest of the guards what to do, yes?"
"The entire force has been notified and a team has already been handpicked by me," one of his samurai replied.
"Good, good. When King Erandor arrives to sign away his land, he'll have no idea that he is actually signing away his entire world… in his blood."
Brandon's eyes widened and he broke out in a cold sweat. He could put the pieces together in his head. If it was a treaty that was the ransom, the king would have to sign it. By protocol, he would have to sign it with a witness and for full verification it would also have to be cross-witnessed by the witnesses brought forward by the other signing parties. Yoshinoya planned to take advantage of this fair protocol to assassinate the king! He gripped the bars tighter. Yoshinoya had another thing coming if he thought that he would get away with that. Even without King Erandor, Queen Samara would never bow down to the likes of him.
"Of course, we will still have to appear sincere right up until the end," Yoshinoya mused, coming up to Brandon's cell. "So we should have the child prepared—what?!"
He gawked at Brandon. The boy sheepishly grinned back. The tyrant's face went purple with rage and contorted into a wrinkled mess. He turned to his samurai. "You fools! What is the meaning of this?! Where is the prince?"
"The squad that took the kidnap mission confirmed that this is Prince Sky," one of the samurai replied.
"Am I surrounded by morons?" Yoshinoya seethed. "How is it that they do not know what the world's crown prince looks like? This is merely the squire boy! I have no use for this trash. Open the gate!"
Brandon backed away as far as he could as other samurai unlocked the cell gate. It swung open with an ominous grinding noise. The armoured, faceless soldier marched into the cramped space and Brandon had nowhere to run. He tried to fight but his smaller muscles and stature didn't compete; the man's body was as solid as his armour. He picked Brandon up by the scruff and dragged him out to stand in front of Yoshinoya. The tyrant lord looked down his nose at Brandon.
"Without the real prince the plan is pointless. The King and Queen won't risk a thing for such disposable spoils."
He snatched the boy from his samurai. Brandon used the opportunity to struggle and landed a kick in Yoshinoya's groin. The fat man grunted in pain but without hesitation he lugged the boy over to the pit and threw him over.
Brandon screamed. Hot air rushed past him and the heat only grew more intense the closer he got to the bottom. His skin was burning all over and it was only a matter of time before he would catch alight from that alone. However, that moment never came. Cool air rushed down and swirled around him. The atrium filled with whirling air currents. When the wind hit the base it blew away the cauldron's fire and knocked down the slaves keeping it alight as well as vicious slave drivers who whipped them. Brandon was lifted back up to the top level on a rising current of air and safely deposited on the floor.
"What the devil?" Yoshinoya exclaimed.
Brandon looked left and right for the source of the power that saved him, until his name was called from above and he looked up. "Sky? What are you doing here?"
The prince came down from where he was hovering in the chimney flue where the steam and smoke eventually escaped the dungeon. He landed beside his squire, who was gawking at the change in him.
"H-how did you get fairy wings?"
"I'll explain later. First we need to get you out of here."
"Why did you come here?!" Brandon snapped, trying to set aside his shock to remind himself why he'd done what he did in the first place. "I was trying to keep you safe by pretending to be you! Now you're not safe!"
"It's the real prince!" Yoshinoya shouted with glee. "Seize him!"
The samurai charged, as did several of the prison guards around the floor. Sky reached deep inside for a burst of energy and summoned a radiating gust powerful enough to knock the prison guards off their feet. However, the samurai were weighted with their armour and better trained in resistance. They only skidded back by a few steps and were able to continue gaining. Sky threw a couple of concentrated whirlwinds at them. The samurai sliced through them, cutting the current and causing them to twist around them harmlessly. They were already upon the boys before Sky could summon his next trick.
"Get down, Sky!" Brandon yelled, pushing himself in front of his prince as a human shield. He held one hand up as if that would stop the samurai, one final instinct of self-preservation. The foremost thing on his mind was defending Sky.
Forks of lightning leaped off his hand and struck the samurai, conducted by their metal armour. Their bodies were wracked by spasms as they sizzled and then collapsed. The lightning surged back, creeping up Brandon's arm and wrapping around his entire body. Yoshinoya drew his own dagger that had been concealed within his robes but before he could get closer the lightning exploded into a great flash of light that subsided slowly. Sky put his arms up to shield his eyes. When the heat from the flash had faded he lowered his arms to see what had happened.
The boy who had been dirtied by days in a prison cell suddenly looked like he was born again in a dark green outfit. The wings on his back flapped experimentally. Brandon could hardly believe his own eyes.
"Brandon, you're a fairy too!" Sky shrieked in delight. "This is the best day ever! I'm a fairy; you're a fairy!"
"Don't think I'll let you escape so quickly," Yoshinoya warned, wobbling to his feet.
"Save it, old geezer!" Brandon retorted, forcing him to stumble back onto his behind with a small shower of lightning bolts aimed at his feet.
Sky took Brandon by the hand and dragged him into the air. "Come on, at least this way it's easy for us to both get out through the chimney and I can make the wind take us back to the palace super fast."
The boys made their getaway as fast as they could, Sky dragging Brandon who was still getting used to having wings. They left the wretched curses of the tyrant lord behind them. There was no clear escape path and they were peppered with arrows and shuriken on the way out. However, with Sky's wind manipulation they were knocked out of the sky almost as quickly as they came. A rain of lightning bolts kept the sentries hopping and dispersed them. Eventually able to reach a point where they were flying free into a clear night sky.
It was very late by the time they made it back to the palace and their eyelids felt heavy. They touched down on one of the roof balconies, yawning and rubbing their eyes. Perhaps if they had been less tired they would have noticed how odd it was for the palace to have so many lights on at this hour.
A pair of guards burst onto the balcony from each side, surrounding them. "Hey! Who goes there?" one of them demanded. His eyes widened and he dropped his weapon in shock. "Prince Sky! Squire!"
The boys grinned sheepishly.
"Ehe," Brandon chuckled nervously. "Nice evening, huh?"
The guards led them respectfully to the throne room. The king and queen were still awake. Erendor paced agitatedly while Samara sat in her throne trying to control her breathing as she fretted. When she caught sight of her son she leaped to her feet and ran over to smother him in a hug.
"Oh, Sky! I was so worried about you," she sobbed. Then she took a step back and put her hands on her hips crossly. "You wicked, wicked little boy! How dare you run off like that and in such a perilous situation too! You have no idea how much trouble you've caused for poor Janice, not to mention all of the men who have been dispatched!"
"We were about to start a war!" Erendor rumbled in agreement.
Victoriousness was forgotten as Brandon and Sky shrank under the ferocious scolding of a pair of angry parents.
"S-sorry, mom, dad," Sky said meekly.
"Forgive me, your majesties," Brandon pleaded, remembering to add a bow due to his lower status than Sky.
"I will have to send word to recall the troops," Erendor said, voice diminishing in volume as a tidal wave of relief flooded over his anger. "At the very least, all has ended well."
"Indeed," Samara nodded. She cupped Sky's cheeks in both hands. "And look at you now. I hardly believed Janice at all, I prepared to fire her. But you really have turned into a fairy. You as well, Brandon."
"We'll be just like the Company of Light now," Sky added, grinning from ear to ear. "We've got magic!"
"Oh, you can be quite sure that there will be no Company of Light adventures for you two in the near future. You're grounded, Sky." The prince grimaced but looked down at the ground in shame, realising that he probably did deserve it. "Brandon, I'm proud of you for taking your duties as squire to my boy so seriously but next time maybe don't be so reckless as to get yourself kidnapped in the process. These past three days have been absolutely the worst!"
Samara sighed, releasing some of the pent up stress in that heavy breath. "In any case, before you go and join your own Company of Light you'll have to train to use your magical abilities properly and effectively."
"Wait," Sky interjected, perking up. "Does that mean…"
"In the morning I will arrange for a tutor of the magic arts to give you lessons. But right now, I want you," she pointed at Sky, "to apologise to Janice immediately and then both of you should go to bed. It's very late."
Sky and Brandon grinned at each other. In a flash they powered down to their purely human forms. Samara shooed them off to do as they were told and they scurried off to first of all find their nursemaid. All is truly well that ends well.
A/N: Okay, another note is warranted down here just to mention that I took a lot of liberties with some stuff, notably the Yoshinoya biznaz. This guy appeared in literally only 1 episode in season 2. If you only watched the Nick version, then I don't think this guy ever appeared at all. The episode itself was kind of weird but I remember there being so many offhand comments about the history between this Yoshinoya dude and the Eraklyon monarchy that were never expanded upon and I was just like "What?! No, tell me more about that more interesting thing that you said before. I don't care about rescuing Diaspro, show us some character development." But they never did and then we never see him again. Such a wasted opportunity.
So, just reminding you again, review! If you liked it or didn't like it, tell me about it. I worked really hard on it.