The Spriggan and the Fairy

Summary: They say the greatest romances are either born from or end up in tragedies. From the highborn of Aractacia to the commons of Ishgar, everyone knows a few of these fables; even Alvarez have it's own tale called 'The Spriggan and the Fairy'. Empress!Mavis AU

Warnings: none, it's rated K after all =^.^=

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters. They belong to Hiro Mashima and Kodansha.

~o~

They say the greatest romances are either born from or end up in tragedies. From the ancient legends of Mildian to the most recently published novels of Fiore, many stories follow one of the basic principles: the hero – preferably a dashing prince, a loyal knight or an astute, but poor man – and the heroine – a beautiful and kind princess, a pure maiden or a clever woman – meet, fall in love, overcome hardships and live happily ever after. Or if it's one of the more somber ones, they're starcrossed lovers divided by the laws of nature or man.

From the highborn of Aractacia to the commons of Ishgar, everyone knows a few of these fables; even Alvarez have it's own tale called 'The Spriggan and the Fairy'.

It is an old and well known story; one that found its way into the hearts of the country's citizens and is told just as much fondly before bedtime as when its performed on a stage.

Once upon a time, – this is how the storyteller will always begin – before the First Men walked on this Earthland, before even the Sun, the Moon or the Stars shined on the Sky, all was cold, dreary and an empty, barren land where not even game roused the Old Father from his deep slumber.

Eons passed, but when he finally awoke, mournful in his Heavenly Palace Hall, he, the Lord of All, ancient Old Father, wished to speak.

And so, by scattering his tears on the night sky became the Moon and the Stars and all the Constellations; and from his smile became the Sun, warmth and light on the cold sky.

From the very Rim of the Sky, he broke a piece off and with it shaped his Last Children, feeding them with the fish of the waters, the game of the forests; gifting them with the help of the Stars' light, the warmth of Fire and the First Words, thus they became keeper of the lands.

Nothing disrupted the harmony between the First and the Last Children – even though kingdoms of Men had risen and fallen countless times over thousands of years – that is until the Spriggan met the Fairy.

He was a handsome and young, but a mortal King of Men, who was wiser beyond his age, ruling over a freshly born Kingdom. The Fairy however, was the daughter of the Sun God and the Moon Goddess, who, – as the Goddess of Light – visited Earthland every day.

She skipped and turned barefoot in her long, flowing dress, fresh flowers crowning her long, golden locks; singing the Song of Life, and the land bloomed around her, Spring and Rebirth following every step of her dance across Earthland. She only stopped by a hidden glade in the Magnolia Forest, one that she visited every time when she reached this land during her dance.

However, as she was resting and admiring the Life born from her song and dance, the Spriggan, who was on one of his long travels, happened to stop at the same pond to refresh.

Despite meeting by chance they fell in love with each other, continuing to meet there every day.

But one day the Golden Fairy did not show up at the usual time. She did not came the next day or the days after that; and the land slowly withered and died all around Earthland despite the Sun ruling the Sky for half of every day and the Rain falling regularly.

The Spriggan grew worried and searched for his missing love, asking the Sky and the Gods and Goddesses for guidance.

His plea was finally heard after months of futile search, when the land was already frozen and white with snow, the Sun no longer having the strenght to pierce through the grey clouds, because as he was looking up at the Sky, there came down a Messanger of the Skies.

'You won't find the One you are searching for in this lands.' said the Star, brightest of the Seven Sisters. 'Because she had been bethrothed to Ankseram, the God of Death. On the day after 'morrow, at the first song of the rooster He will come to see Her. At the second song He will ask Her, She will say Her farewells when the third song is heard and by the forth song He will take Her to His Kingdom.'

The Spriggan couldn't bare to part with and forget his love, hated even the thought of her prisoned in the dark and barren land of Death where nothing lived and nothing blossomed, wearing the cold and black iron crown as everything rotted and wasted away around her.

And so, seeking and finding help from the Birds of Sky, who also missed the laugh and song of their cheerful Mistress, he was able to sneak into the Heavenly Palace and stole her away before her ladies in waiting came to prepare her for her wedding.

They didn't had enough time to meet with the birds and escape from the Palace, before they was caught by the Palace Guards and bought before the Sun God and his Court. The Spriggan's insolency in looking at his daughter and the Birds helping him breaking into his Palace enraged Him greatly.

And so as retribution henceforth the Birds could only fly as high as their wings and the Wind would carry them, once in a while even catch a glimpse of the Golden and Marble Halls over the Clouds, but never higher and never close enough to visit the Heavenly Palace again.

'You my daughter, since you love the mortals so much, you will forever be cast out of the Realm of the Gods, to live amongst them for the end of the World or of your days, whichever comes first.'

The harshest punishment however, fell on the Spriggan. 'For stealing from the God of Death and wanting the Ancient with the Song of Life for yourself,' bellowed the God of Sun, his anger only increasing as he set his blazing eyes on the Spriggan. 'be cursed to kill everything you come in contact with, be it the fauna or another human being. The curse shall only be lifted when you kill the Beast at the World's End, but even then you will never see your heart's desired again, as your remaining days will surely be not enough to find her amongst the millions of mortals of the land.'

Upon hearing her husband's verdict, the Goddess of Moon fell into a deep sadness. Every night as it was her time to rule over the Sky, she would look down upon the land, but not with her usual pride. She wasn't the beautiful and haughty Lady of the Night, always beautiful – so white that every mortal woman scowled in envy when they looked at her pale face illuminating the Sky – and so out of reach. Since that fateful dawn she was unconsolable and donned her black veil and mourning clothes.

For weeks she would search Earthland for her daughter and by the time she found her, her tears that fell from her eyes already formed a new Constellation on the Sky that later came to be known throughout the World as the 'Milky Way', but in Alvarez it was only called as 'The Mother's Tears'.

She would secretly visit her, each time her heart breaking when she saw her sadness upon being ripped from the arms of her love and like the Birds that was scattered now all over Earthland, she too was far from the man her heart desired to be with.

Because she loved her only daughter so dearly and could not bare to witness her eventual demise; and while she could not change her husband's heart or undo the curse, she instead granted eternal life to the lovers.

The Spriggan searched and searched for his love without end. Years passed and his soldiers would come back one by one from faraway lands bearing exotic gifts, but none of them could find a clue to the whereabouts of the Golden Fairy.

One night however, as he slept uneasily during his newest exploration, tossing and turning, the covers fell away from his form. The shadow of hopelessness and doubt fell on him the darkest that night and the Moon Goddess visited his dream in disguise.

'Go to where the golden leaves fall eternally from the trees, but Winter never stalks the land. There you will find who you are looking for in the Circle of Elves.'

And thus the black fog of despair lifted from the Spriggan's mind and he could sleep peacefully for the first time since he was separated from his love.

In the morning he resumed his journey and after a year he reached the land that was shown to him in his dream. It was called 'The Garden of Fairies', a beautiful land where the early days of Autumn resided forevermore. The foliage was painted in different shades of gold, red and brown and heavy with the gifts of the land, the waters clear and irridescent in the warm, golden light and full with fish. The wind carried the song and laughter of the Fey all across this hidden land.

However, a great tragedy fell upon the Kingdom of the Fairies. Their Queen, the Golden Fairy, whom the Spriggan was searching for so long was visited by Ankseram daily. Each time He would take one of Her kindred as that was the price for their magic and the wonders and prosperity born from it.

But one day, when it was the time for one of her loyal and beloved Guards to be taken away, She in her despair challenged the God of Death and won.

In his blind rage over being cheated out of His stipend and not forgetting his humiliation before the other Gods and Goddesses when She choose a mortal Man over Him; he cursed the Fairy with the same curse placed upon her beloved and since then the Fair Folk cried for their Queen.

This is how the Spriggan found Her; hidden away in fear of accidetally stealing away one of her kind's life from them. Her jade eyes – previously so full of life and mischief – dulled and even the sunlight seemed to halt its usual dance on her golden locks.

For a long time they did not talk, just looked at each other like on the dawn of their love, seeing only the Dark Spriggan and the Golden Fairy who first met in the hidden glade so long ago.

And when all the sadness and bitterness that filled her heart owerflew and tears ran down her ashen cheeks, the Spriggan gently took her in his arms.

'I've built a country far away from here where the curse no longer have any affect. 'he said as tears wetted his cheeks too. The Spriggan did not feeled ashmed however, and tightened his hold on her. 'Please, come with me my dear Fairy, and forget your grief.'

At long last, the lovers shaired the first of their many kisses and so life came back to the Golden Fairy. She was yet again the beautiful and radiant lady who once upon a time that now felt so long ago, filled the Earthland with her song of happiness and prosperity.

He took Her back to his empire where everyone came to admire the Golden Fairy, who while only wearing the rags her dress have become in her solitude, radiated such elegance and grace as if she wore the most majestic gown and seemed to shine with a golden light of her own.

The hour of their return to Vistarion and the Royal Palace did not even end when the heralds was sent to every part of the empire to announce both highborn and common their Emperor's bethrothal to the Golden Queen of the Fairies.

They married a month later, on the day of the Midsummer, when the Morning's victory over Night is celebrated throughout the continent and daytime is the longest.

A large celebratory crowd gathered in the capitol that day and even weeks before, so much that only a small fraction of it fit into the large Cathedral and the streets were filled with well-wishers.

It was also the day, that the Fairy was crowned as Empress Gloriana. It is an affair that gets mentioned time to time even now, a hundred years later not just because of the beauty of the bride and the lavish feast that followed – the elders who are still alive from those who attended it often says it lasted for a week – but because with breaking the customs it was not her husband, the Emperor who put the crown on her head.

To the shock of those present, the Spriggan took the pillow the crown – remodeled it to be the same size and decorated with the same care – was resting on and presented it to his new wife to crown herself, thus thereby not be subjected to her husband, but boldly declaring her equality for all to see.

And equal she was – and still is – to her husband in every way as she is an important part of both Court and Royal Council be it making laws, discussing trade routes and diplomatics or waging war.

While in other countries her involvement in the 'Business of Men' would've been sneared at and made fun of, but here in Alvarez everyone laughs at their pitiful ignorance.

Empress Gloriana proved countless times throughout their long rule her wit, quick thinking and wast knowledge of a broad line of subjects; Emperor Spriggan himself would seek her counsel before his other advisors'.

No wonder she is the sole holder of the Emperor's heart, for whom he abolished the practice of the Royal Harem – the grand rooms already empty and unused from as early as his ascension – and declared that he only take one wife, sharing one suite instead of having separate rooms as opposed to the royal practice all across Earthland to the envy of many court ladies.

This is how the Spriggan found and lost his love to find it again and how they live happily ever after in peace and prosperity.

~o~

Authoress' Notes: First time writing for this pairing, so I'd like to apologize if I did not do justice for the characters or their dynamics. It's also my first time writing in a fairy tale/fable like style.

I was inspired by two things for this fic: the creatures Mavis conjured in Fairy Tail Zero and that the Goddess card in that game played in Alvarez resembles Mavis greatly. Since then I always envisioned Mavis as a deity associated with giving life in a setting like this. On a sidenote the whole 'Golden Fairy' thing ties in nicely with one of my headcanons about Mavis dressing up as Victorique and Zeref as Kazuya from Gosick for Halloween.

I purposefully messed with certain events in this fic to illustrate how information gets corrupted through time: some things becames forgotten, some embellished further – even exaggerated – while others flat-out gets made up.

Also, the name 'Gloriana' comes from Edmund Spenser's poem the Faerie Queene, where it's the name of the Queen of the Fairies'. And Titania is already taken.

Anyway, thank you for reading! Love it? Hate it? Please share your thoughts with me!

~Natsuhi