"Happy birthday!" exclaimed Neri gleefully, pulling the blindfold from Ciela's eyes. Ciela gasped at the happy little cake sitting in front of her.
"Oh, it's beautiful!" Ciela gasped. Leaf puffed out his chest.
"I made it myself," he said. Neri rolled her eyes.
"He made it with my help," she said. "In fact, I think I did most of the actual work."
"Hey!" Leaf said. "I cooked it."
"That you did," Neri said.
"Well thank you both," Ciela said. "Now, let's eat it before any more ocean spray gets into it. We don't want your cooking to be ruined by salt now do we?"
Nodding their agreement, the two other fairies served themselves and Ciela slices.
Once she finished her slice, Neri coughed for attention.
"Now Ciela," Neri said. "Because this is your five hundredth, besides your first birthday back with us, I felt you deserved a little something special."
Neri pulled a small box out of her pocket and handed it to Ciela. Leaf stared at it in confusion.
"Hey, wait a minute," he muttered. Ciela tore open the package and gasped.
"Oh, you didn't!" Ciela said. She held up the stone to her eyes. "Oh, it's so beautiful! Thank you!"
"Hey, wait a minute!" Leaf said. "I didn't know we had to give a gift as well!"
"You didn't have to," Ciela said. "Neri just wanted to because she felt it was appropriate."
"Hey, wait a minute!" Leaf said. "Are you implying I don't want to give you a gift?"
"What?" Ciela said. "No! That's not at all what I-"
But Leaf was already zipping across the sea away from them.
"Oh no," Ciela said. "There we go again."
"Don't worry," Neri said. "He'll come back safe and unharmed. He always does. He's the spirit of power for goodness sakes."
I
'How dare she?!' Leaf thought. 'How dare she imply I don"t care about her! I"ll show her! I"ll get her the biggest, bestest present ever!'
Spotting a cave on the coastline, he nodded to himself.
'A gemstone from in there will be perfect,' he thought. 'And if I can't find a gemstone, I"ll make one myself!'
He zoomed towards the cave, slowing down as he reached the mouth, and ventured inside. He scanned the ground for shiny objects, searching for the perfect gift. All he saw was rock, stone, and pebbles. Finally, his eyes alighted upon something silvery glinting in his faint light.
"Aha!" he said. He swooped down at grabbed at it, trying to pick it up.
"Gotcha," said a deep baritone, as the silver claw Leaf tried to grab curled around him, holding him tightly.
"Hey!" Leaf protested. "Let me go!"
"Or else what?" the voice asked.
"...Or else I'll destroy you," Leaf said.
"Ha!" the voice laughed. "Like hell you will. I don't care what you are. Spirit of power, spirit of patience, spirit of ass. You're all the same to me, pathetic globs of glowing energy-stuff."
Growling, Leaf tried to unleash a blast of energy unto his captor, one strong enough to fell most beasts. But something stifled it; he was weak.
"Please let me go," Leaf said, his voice trembling.
"Yes, but let you go into what?" the voice asked. Another claw reached down from the darkness and grasped at one of Leaf's wings. "How about into the darkness? Into the void?"
Slowly, meticulously, the beast began to separate the wing from Leaf's shoulders. It's claws shredded through the thin skin. Leaf cried out in pain as the claws weaved through the veins, splitting the skin with a burn.
"No!" Leaf cried. "Stop!" He tried another blast of energy, but his captor plunged a claw into him, piercing his glands. He shrieked as spasms wracked him. The creature licked the blood off its claws.
"Hmm," it said. "Tasty."
II
"Leaf!" shouted Ciela. "Leaf!" She stopped at the mouth of the cave.
"Neri, are you sure he came in this direction?" she asked.
"Yes, of course, but what are you so worried about?" Neri asked. "He's the spirit of power, he can handle himse-"
"I can smell blood," Ciela said a few paces into the cave. Neri stopped cold.
"What." Neri said.
"I can smell blood," Ciela said again. "And I think..."
Ciela let out a small shriek. Neri, upon seeing it, vomited a little. There, lying upon the ground of the cave floor, was the body of Leaf, popped and emptied like a fruit.
Something slammed over the mouth of the cave, sealing them inside.
And in the darkness, something grinned a blocky crimson grin.
"Happy birthday," it said, grabbing the fairies. "Make a wish."