Note:hey all, I just wanted to apologize if this chapter is very dialogue heavy, but I promise, this is the last chapter like this. Again, it's to set up the world and other details. After this, things pick up :)
The sound of footsteps alerted Feliks to the fact that something was amiss, and he immediately awoke, his head swiveling to the side just as a figure entered the room. The brunette jumped, clearly startled, and it gave Feliks the slightest bit of satisfaction. If this human was scared of him, it would only be that much easier to escape. However, as he looked down, he realized he wasn't bound to anything but was rather laid down on what appeared to be a bed, his chest bare save for some bandages wrapped around his lower half.
He frowned, momentarily confused as to how he was injured until he suddenly recalled the past events. Right. This human "saved" him after he fought off the group of knights. But was he really just trying to help him, or did he have other motives?
Feliks glanced toward the human, eyes narrowed in suspicion as the boy hesitantly approached his side with a small smile.
"You're awake already," the human commented, sounding surprised.
Feliks didn't respond immediately, choosing to observe the human instead. His voice was seemingly innocent enough, and his expression indicated he wasn't trying to hide anything. It was obvious from his posture and body language that the human was nervous as well - he was slouched ever so slightly, and he had played with his choppy brown hair at least three times since entering the room. It was clear to Feliks that whoever this human was, he wasn't a threat. And even if he did have ulterior motives, Feliks knew he wouldn't be able to act on them.
The human glanced away, seemingly uncomfortable by Feliks' stare. He frowned, surprised by the human's behaviors.
"What is your name?" Feliks asked, keeping his voice neutral as he carefully propped himself up against the headboard of the bed.
The human glanced back at him, surprised by the question. "Uh, T-Toris," he stuttered, his nerves clearly exposed. "And what is yours?" he asked hesitantly, taking a step closer so he was next to the bed.
Feliks hesitated before responding. "Feliks," he replied.
Toris nodded. "How are you feeling, Feliks?"
The blonde frowned, thrown off by the question. This human had a magical creature in his home, and he was asking how he felt?
"I'm just fine," he said carefully, unsure of what else to say.
Toris nodded once again, the small smile returning to his face. "Good," he said earnestly. "The wound should be fine, but you'll have to rest here a few days to make sure it heals properly.
Feliks just stared at him, a brow raised in disbelief. A few days?
The human must have interpreted the look fairly quickly, because he rushed on. "Normally, I would tell someone to give it at least a week," he said, playing with his hair again absentmindedly, "but seeing as you're already awake, and uh...well, I think you may heal a bit more quickly from this," he finished lamely.
Feliks' brow didn't lower. Toris clearly knew he wasn't human, yet he seemed so nervous about the idea that he didn't even know what to say. He kept skirting around the subject, and if Feliks was being honest, it was actually quite entertaining.
"Toris," he said suddenly, causing the human to look at him with hesitation. "It's obvious you know I'm not human, so why don't you just ask what's on your mind already?"
The human's face flushed red from embarrassment, and he looked away again. He opened his mouth, looking like he was about to respond before he closed it again. Feliks frowned, unsure why he was so nervous about it. However, he waited patiently, deciding the human was nice enough to warrant his patience.
Finally, Toris looked back to the blonde, unease clear in his eyes. "Uh," he started, biting his lip before continuing. "Are you, um, a faery?"
Ah, finally, he said it, a question that took merely seconds to ask. Was it really that hard?
The blonde nodded in response to the question. "That would be correct."
Toris nodded, opening his mouth once again, words not coming out until moments later. "Okay," he replied meekly.
Feliks stared at the human once again before rolling his eyes. "You just met one of the fae, and that's all you have to say?"
Toris' eyes widened. "Ah, no!" he got out quickly. "I, well, can I ask you a few questions?"
Feliks made sure to conceal his continued surprise at the human's behavior. Having observed the humans in all his years of life, he always noted most of them to be brash, demanding whatever they wished. But this human was clearly different - he was asking a faery if he could ask him questions? Even though Feliks was, more or less, at his mercy, and the human was still trying to be polite? It confused him, but not entirely in an unpleasant way. It moreso intrigued him - not that he would admit it, but it made him interested in this human.
"You can ask as many as you want," Feliks finally responded with a shrug.
Feliks didn't think it was possible, but Toris' eyes widened even more, making him look as though the entire world was just handed to him on a silver platter. Oddly enough, it made Feliks smile inwardly, glad that a human wanted to know more about the fae, more than the lies they were told by the elder humans.
"Ah, okay," Toris said, his voice more eager now than shy. He paused to think before going on. "How old are you?"
Feliks fought the urge to laugh, not surprised at all by this question. "I'm nineteen of your human years," he responded easily, earning an astonished look from Toris.
He let out a small laugh. "Not all fae are immortal," he said, knowing this to be the reason for the brunette's confusion. "Some are, but the majority in my kingdom merely live an extended human life, maybe around 200 to 300 years?"
The amazement didn't leave the human's eyes, and Feliks couldn't help but notice how adorable the look was.
"Right," Toris said in response, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear. "I guess it's just weird to me that a faery is the same age as me."
Feliks shrugged, but before he could respond, Toris already had another question coming out of his mouth, all traces of unease gone.
"What were you doing out of your kingdom?" he rushed out, eyes sparkling. "Is it far from here? And how many faeries are there?"
Feliks blinked, digesting the onslaught of questions before answering. "I can't say exactly where my kingdom is, only that it isn't far away. As for the how many there are…" Feliks paused again, thinking it over. It was kind of hard to figure that one out, considering the kingdom was rather expansive, and they weren't like humans who kept track of the amount of people in one area. That, and Feliks wasn't good at figuring out amounts of things.
"How many people are in your village?" he asked Toris, figuring it would help give him a good gauge.
Toris frowned, thinking a moment. "Well, considering King Antonio's palace is in the center, we have a pretty large population. Maybe ten thousand?"
Feliks eyes widened ever so slightly. Wow, okay, that seemed like a very large number. It didn't seem possible, but then again, his part of the kingdom was larger than Toris' village, so it had to be possible.
"Well, I guess in my kingdom, there's more than in your village," Feliks responded, knowing it wasn't much of an answer. "I doubt it's many more, but the kingdom is pretty expansive."
"Are there multiple faery kingdoms?" Toris asked, cutting Feliks off before he could finish answering the human's last question.
The blonde frowned, trying to think of a good way to explain it. "Technically, all of the fae live in the same land," he started, feeling as though this wasn't going to make sense, "but it is divided into two kingdoms, the summer court and the winter court. I am from the summer, although there aren't many differences between the two kingdoms. Other than those in the winter are known to be more cruel, and the weather obviously. But we coexist peacefully, but we tend to leave each other alone."
Toris nodded. "I understand," he said, much to Feliks' surprise. "It's the same way here, where we may have multiple kingdoms existing on one piece of land. But anyways, so why were you out of your kingdom? Is it typical for faeries to leave?"
Damn, the questions just kept coming. This human was leaving him with very little room to breathe. Although he wasn't complaining. Yet.
"It's pretty common for us to leave, although we don't linger in the human world. We come for brief periods, less than a day, before returning. We mainly come to interact with your nature, making sure everything is in check and well. As for me, I left to do this, because you humans tend to destroy nature very easily."
Toris flushed at the comment but continued on regardless. "So do you all have powers that let you interact with nature?"
Feliks shrugged. "It's sort of complicated," he began. "Most of us have...powers, as you call it… but they differ from faery to faery. Not all of us have powers that help rebuild and strengthen the nature around us, but even those that don't are still close to nature and interact with it regardless."
Toris nodded. "So what's your power?"
Feliks raised a brow, very amused by the human referring to it as "power". He opened his mouth to respond but soon shut it, thinking before responding. "Perhaps I will show you when you deem me well enough to get out of bed," he said, digging at the human's insistence for his rest.
However, it seemed to go right over Toris' head as his eyes lit up in excitement. "Okay!" he responded eagerly, flashing Feliks his first large smile.
However, it didn't last very long, and the human ran his fingers through his hair again. Feliks frowned, associating this with his nerves again. Putting the pieces together, he figured the human wanted to ask another question that he felt uncomfortable doing so.
"Ah, Feliks, can I ask you one more question?" he asked, his voice as quiet as it was before his bombardment of questions.
"Toris, like I said before," Feliks responded, still frowning, "you may ask of me anything you wish."
The brunette nodded, waiting a moment before asking. "Why were the knights after you?"
Feliks stiffened on instinct, although he didn't think it was noticeable to the human. The question was fairly easy to answer, but Feliks knew he had to be careful with what he said. There were some things this human could know, but others were meant to stay with Feliks.
"You live in this world," the blonde said with a shrug, keeping his voice neutral. "You know any fae caught in the human world are to be brought to your king without question so he can, ah, what is it he tells you?" Feliks snapped his fingers before continuing, as if quickly remembering. "To protect you, that's what I was thinking of. He wants all fae captured to protect you humans," Feliks finished, fighting off an amused smile from how idiotic it sounded.
It still amazed Feliks how easily humans were fooled, and how blindly they followed those in power. It had been so easy for the human kings to convince their people of the danger that came from the fae, all because they felt their own power was threatened. But, at least those kings in the past left the fae alone, not bothering with trying to capture them. But this king…
"You don't seem very dangerous," Toris said quietly, removing Feliks from his thoughts. He looked to the human, seeing what appeared to be a skeptic expression on his face. The faery knew he shouldn't have been surprised considering his inquisitive nature, but he still couldn't help being amazed at this human.
Feliks kept his expression guarded. "I can be dangerous," he started, raising a brow, "just like you humans can. But I, as well as the rest of the fae, choose to remain away from humans because we have nothing to gain from harming you."
Toris nodded, silent. It was clear he was thinking very hard, and the blonde couldn't entirely blame him.
"Out of curiosity," he said, "what exactly does your king say about the fae, and why they're so dangerous?"
The human shrugged. "He says in the past, the fae broke the peace by deceiving and manipulating the humans, taking advantage of them, and that's the reason we no longer coexist together. And he wants any information on faeries near the village so no one can be manipulated into doing something terrible."
It was quiet for several moments before Feliks raised a brow, shaking his head in disbelief. He probably shouldn't have found it humorous, but he had a weak spot for human lies. They could make up the most ridiculous things, but others would believe them so easily. It really was too funny.
"But I don't think I believe that," Toris added, interrupting the faeries thoughts once again.
Feliks turned to him, a brow raised. However, he wasn't surprised this time - if the human did believe his king, he wouldn't be asking so many questions. If he believed in the king, Feliks would have been at the feet of the king by this point.
He watched the human with his own mild curiosity for several moments, noting how, despite how confused he appeared to be, there was a hint of fierceness behind his eyes, giving Feliks the indication he wanted to know the truth and didn't want to remain ignorant. The faery fought back a smile, more pleased with this human than he cared to admit.
"I figured as much," he finally responded, earning a shocked look from Toris. "You're asking plenty of questions, meaning you're interested in hearing another side. If you firmly believed in your king, you wouldn't be so inquisitive. Anyways," he said with a shrug, "it's not as though your king told you complete lies - he just told it in reverse. We existed peacefully until the humans tried to use us for our magic, and as more and more began to abuse the power of our names simply for personal gain, the previous two kings of the summer and winter courts decided it was time to seal off the entrances to the kingdom and to break ties with the humans.
"So, that's why the guards were fighting me," Feliks finished. "They were just following orders blindly.
He left out the more important part, knowing the human didn't need to know that much. This explanation was simple enough, and it wasn't as though he was lying - he was simply omitting a minor, personal detail. It was fine, though, because he knew he had to in order to protect himself and his kingdom. Although, as he thought about it, he was probably protecting the human as well.
"What do you mean, names?" Toris asked, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion.
Feliks, too, was momentarily confused. He thought the humans knew about the power a faerie's true name held, unless the knowledge ceased to be passed down, instead only confined to those in power?
"I said my name is Feliks, right?" he started, earning a nod from Toris. "Well, that's not my true name," he continued, already seeing Toris' confusion growing. "The name the fae use to communicate is simply a way to distinguish one another. But we also have our true name which is known only to the faery himself, unless he chooses to tell a loved one or someone he trusts. Because when another knows your true name, it can be used to command or control that faery. So, it's something you don't want others to know about because if in the wrong hands, it can easily be used for the wrong reasons."
And it wasn't an exageration - you literally could command one of the fae to do anything if you knew his true name. Darkness truly took over the human world when they began using their names for personal gain, and even with the separation of kingdoms, the darkness still thrived in the human world.
However, the human's behavior not only affected their own world, but it changed the fae as well, making them much more guarded and distrustful. While Feliks wasn't alive when all of this happened, he knew what it must have been like for the fae who had been betrayed by humans they had come to love. Despite the lack of contact between humans and the fae, there were still some that developed relationships with humans. One of his own friends in the summer court did that, and Feliks and the others all thought the relationship was beautiful, truly genuine.
But, after quite some time, it turned out they were all wrong, and to this day, Feliks had never seen someone look as broken as that faery did when he returned that day. Giving one's name required unprecedented trust, and to have that completely shattered by a human, well, Feliks could only imagine it was like this with all the other fae all those years ago.
"Does anyone know your name?" Toris asked tentatively, distracting the blonde from his thoughts.
Feliks shook his head. "For the most part, we only tell the one we are destined to be with for the rest of our lives," he explained. "There's no point in telling anyone else, really."
Toris frowned. "But what about your parents? Wouldn't they know considering they're the ones who give you a name?"
He paused, momentarily confused until he recalled this sort of thing was very different between the two worlds. "In my kingdom, we aren't raised by who gives birth to us. We're born, and whatever our name is, well…" he hesitated, trying to figure out how to explain it. "We kind of just… know it, I guess, like an instinct. It's not given to you by another faery, but it's, inbred, into your mind. Then, we just choose our own name to use in daily conversations."
Toris nodded, but Feliks could tell the idea didn't really make sense. He couldn't blame the human - it was a rather abstract idea, hard to understand unless you actually experienced it.
Feliks looked at the human, his own curiosity making him want to be the one asking questions about Toris. From their history with the humans to his own friend's occurrence with a human, the blonde had developed a rather negative image of all humans. However, this one was quickly changing that, making him think maybe not all humans were bad. He wanted to know more about this one, about what it was that made him different from the others, why he was so inquisitive when the majority weren't.
However, one look at Toris' face made Feliks realize he was exhausted, looking like it was taking all his energy just to remain on his feet. Feliks remembered it was late in the afternoon when he had been caught by the knights, and some time must have passed while he was unconscious. So, it could very well be later at night.
"I think that's plenty of questions for right now," Feliks said with a small huff, looking to Toris with a raised brow. "I'm pretty sure you humans need a lot of rest, so why don't you go sleep, and we can pick this up tomorrow."
Toris looked to him, wide eyed yet again. "Really?" he asked, and Feliks wasn't sure why he was still so surprised. "Yes, I would like that."
Feliks nodded, not admitting he would like that too. Toris, taking that as his cue to leave, took a step back.
"Goodnight, Feliks," he said with a small smile. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to come get me or call for me. I'll be in the room next door."
Feliks rolled his eyes. "I will be fine, Toris," he said, frowning at the human. "You're the one who needs rest."
Toris let out the smallest laugh, the sound more beautiful than anything Feliks had ever heard in nature. "I guess you're right," he admitted before turning around. "Goodnight," he said once more, exiting the room and leaving the faery by himself.
Feliks frowned, a sudden wave of exhaustion hitting him as well. His curiosity was still peaked - part of him wanted to get out of the bed and explore whatever dwelling he was in, but he also knew if he was to leave here as soon as possible, it would be best to rest.
Slowly, he lowered himself so he was laying on his back, the thought of the human was still on his mind. Despite the part of his mind telling him to proceed with caution, he wanted to know as much about this human as possible. He truly felt that this one was good and would never cause him harm, but that other part of his brain made him question if this is what the other fae felt with the humans they disclosed their names to. Was Feliks foolish for coming to trust this human so quickly?
He closed his eyes, willing the thoughts away. It wasn't like he was going to tell the human his name anyways, so it didn't really matter what he did. No, he thought, feeling unconsciousness creeping closer, he would be fine, especially because he would be there for no more than four days.
What's the worst that could happen, he thought, leaving the question unanswered as he slowly drifted off to sleep.
~~()~~
King Antonio sat on the edge of Lovino's bed, staring at the sketch of the faery his knights had ran into.
"Lovino," he said without turning his head, addressing the faery next to him, "is this the one from your vision from several years back?"
Lovino's eyes sparked with recognition, but he kept his mouth closed, unwilling to answer.
Noticing his silence, Antonio turned to the faery. "Loviniran," the king murmured, "tell me - is this the faery from your vision?"
Immediately upon hearing his name, the faery stiffened, an uncomfortable feeling settling inside his body, more uncomfortable than the feeling he constantly had due to the iron bounds around his wrists. Unable to control it, he felt his mouth opening despite wanting with all his heart to keep his mouth shut.
"Yes," he forced out, a mixture of guilt and hatred pooling in his stomach, all directed at himself.
Antonio, however, didn't seem to take notice. A smile formed on his face, and he leaned over to press a soft kiss onto Lovino's forehead, causing the faery to shift uncomfortably.
"Thank you," he murmured again before standing up, heading out the door without a second glance back. Lovino watched the king open the door, closing it just as quickly as he began to speak to the guards outside as if to prevent the faery from hearing their conversation. However, Antonio seemed to forget that faeries level of hearing was better than that of a human, and he caught on to what the king said quite easily.
"Send out as many knights as you can," Antonio instructed, sending a wave of nausea through Lovino. "I want that faery caught as soon as possible."