Chapter 3: Casting a Shadow

For the next several hours, Seth remained in his room, feeling miserable. He didn't make any attempt to go to sleep, for he was not the least bit tired. However, Seth did nothing extraordinary to keep himself occupied or to pass the time. Instead, he passed the time by either sitting on his bed, mulling over his current situation, or pacing back and forth across his room.

Every time Seth looked out the window, he could see that it was raining heavily outside. Seth couldn't put his finger on why, but he got the impression that somehow the darkness within him that the fairies were rioting about was what had been triggering the recent storms.

Not only that, but Seth was feeling ashamed of himself. Three new fairies had been introduced to him, and right off the bat, he had to get embarrassed not only in front of them, but his entire immediate family.

The mutant walrus incident was one thing. He had captured a fairy and held her captive inside overnight. Even though Seth didn't know the consequence of keeping a fairy indoors all night, at least the fairies had a justifiable reason to be targeting him. But this time, Seth had done absolutely nothing to upset them.

Normally, Seth would just leave the fairies to their own devices, while they mostly just chose to stay out of his way. He figured that this was only fair, due to him being a shadow charmer. Why would the ever fairies flock to someone like him, especially when they had their special handmaiden Kendra?

For that matter, even a normal human like his parents or grandparents got more appreciation than him. Warren had been close to the fairies even before he had been altered by their magic. And Dale had been giving them magical milk for years, no surprise they admired him, too. But for Seth, sometimes it felt like he and the fairies had been mortal enemies since the day he and Kendra came to Fablehaven for the very first time.

Eventually, Seth's solitude of silence was broken when he heard a knock coming from the other side of his door. "Seth," came Grandma's voice. "May I come in?"

Seth sighed. "I guess."

Grandma opened the door and entered Seth's bedroom. "We feel very bad over what happened earlier. As a result, we've decided to ban the fairies from the yard."

"What?" asked Seth, who had suddenly been struck with a feeling of guilt. "Look... I know I'm not exactly numero uno with the fairies, but I've got no personal vendetta against them."

"We did this for your own security," said Grandma. "If you and the fairies are unable to live together in harmony, it might be better if you don't live together at all."

"That's... not fair! I didn't do this on purpose!"

"Until we can get this whole situation figured out, it seems like the most viable option. If the fairies are unable to enter the yard, they won't be able to mess with you."

"But..." said Seth, "can't we just look into whatever's causing all of this to happen, and stop it at the source?"

"We'd like to," said Grandma, as she walked back through the door. "But we're not sure how safe it is. If the darkness within you is in fact increasing, it may pose a risk to anyone who looks into it."

"Wait," said Seth, as he followed his grandmother out of his bedroom and down the stairs into the entry hall.

Grandma then opened up the front door and went out onto the porch, where everyone else was standing. As it was still raining outside, the roof of the porch was shielding everybody from getting soaked. Seth stepped out onto the porch, following his grandmother.

Standing before everyone in front of the steps were Bright and Clover, both of whom looked saddened. Behind them, a large court of fairies were buzzing about in the rain. As Seth and Kendra both knew, rain didn't bother fairies all that much like as it did with humans.

"Are you sure that the fairies need to relocate?" asked Bright, speaking in a sympathetic tone of voice.

"For the time being, yes," replied Grandpa. "It's not safe for Seth if's he a hazard to them, even if it's unintentional."

"But the fairies love the garden," said Clover. "They prefer it to the shrine, which is in the naiad's territory."

"I don't want to get rid of the fairies. Not in the least. But I can't allow them to fly around and put Seth at risk like they just did."

"Look, I like you fairies!" said Seth. "At least when you're not attacking me. I don't think it's right that you're being asked to move."

"This is for your own good, Seth," said Grandma. "And the fairies'."

"Well, come on," said Bright to all of the small fairies. "The pond is a nice place. And the naiads won't bother you. As long as you don't fly too close to the water."

Bright proceeded to fly off in the direction of the pond, prompting all of the smaller fairies to follow her lead.

"Goodbye, fairies!" said Kendra, waving her arms in the air. "I'll be sure to visit you every day!"

"I'll go with them for now," said Clover, as she proceeded to fly off. "The fairies of this preserve are my responsibility as well, wherever they are. Warren, I'll be back later."

"As for you, Seth," said Grandpa, "I think that we need to discuss the matter the matter of... well... you."

The group then headed back inside, where Grandpa gestured for Seth to come with him. Hoping that he hadn't gotten himself into even more trouble, Seth followed Grandpa through the first floor of the house and into his study.

"Take a seat," said Grandpa, sitting down at the seat behind his desk. Seth nodded, then sat down in one of the chairs across from his grandfather.

"Look," said Seth. "Diverting the fairies from the garden to the pond was not my idea! In fact, none of this is my doing! But I'm the one at fault."

"I don't like this any better than you do," said Grandpa. "While you were up in your room, I suggested using the Omega Star to restore you to normal. But Bright reminded me, as you may remember, that the Omega Star is incapable of eliminating evil."

"Right. That's why it could only banish demons like Navarog and Tritanoss, not destroy them."

"This may take some more looking into, however. One suggestion Bright made was to give you an examination, and if necessary, an exorcism, similar to what went on with David and Zavarok."

"Yeah, but at least we were aware of Zavarok's presence. I can't feel as though I'm sharing my body with another soul, or that I've been possessed, like when I had been by Navarog."

"Yes," said Grandpa. "When you were possessed by Navarog, until we learned of the truth, your behavior had been fairy crude. Lately, you've been behaving rather normally. Except for fretting over having to visit the Singing Sisters. Which brings me to my next concern; your return visit to them."

"Great..." said Seth unpleasantly.

"Everything that's been going on seems to have reached a head lately. Not only is your darkness increasing, but your time to visit the Singing Sisters again is drawing nearer. On top of that, we don't have an immediate solution to your situation."

"What are you getting at? Can't the fairies just counter the excessive darkness in me that they're complaining about?"

"The problem is that we don't know what's the matter with you, nor do the fairies have an appropriate solution for helping you. Rather than wait around, I thought it might be best if you simply stopped procrastinating."

"Procrastinating?" asked Seth.

"I think you might just want to nip this whole thing in the bud. Instead of waiting any longer, just go out and pay your dues to the Singing Sisters right away."

"What?"

"I've discussed this matter with your grandmother and your parents. We all think it would be best for you. Rather than lying around the house for another week acting all melancholy."

Seth stopped to think about what was being asked of him. If he were to go visit the Singing Sisters, and they asked of him to fulfill an impossible task, he'd be out of luck. Up the creek without a paddle. And by going a bit earlier, it would accomplish nothing. Except perhaps by cutting his life even shorter than it was already destined to be. Of course, there was always the chance that the Singing Sisters would instead ask of him for a manageable favor that he could handle. But still, Grandpa's suggestion did not come off as seeming all that undesirable. At this point, Seth didn't feel as though he had a lot to lose. Besides, if the adults had all agreed on something, Seth knew that the chances they were good were probably right.

However, even if the favor could be completed, he'd still have the pressing matter of the fairies to contend with. Coupled with his obligation to the Singing Sisters, the ordeal going on between him and the fairies needed to be settled as well. What if, for some reason, the commotion he had inadvertently been causing for the fairies would hamper his ability to complete his task for the Singing Sisters?

Seth took a deep breath. "Okay. I'll do it. I'll visit the Singing Sisters before my time expires. On one condition."

Grandpa nodded. "What's that?"

"I want the fairies to look into my situation further. Before I do anything regarding the Singing Sisters. If I'm going to get sent on another mission, I want to make sure that I'm in peak condition."

"I understand," said Grandpa. "I'll see what we can do about that. But bear in mind that I can't promise that they'll be able to help you."


Roughly half an hour had passed since Seth had spoken to Grandpa. He had since announced the situation to everybody in the house, and that word had been sent to the Fairy Kingdom of Seth's request via Bright.

Since then the rain had lightened up, but it was still fairy damp and muddy outside the house, so the family had chosen to remain indoors. Seth was sitting around in an armchair, in the parlor, arms crossed, keeping to himself. Kendra and Warren were sitting across from each other at a small table in the corner, currently engaged in a game of gin rummy.

The doorbell rang, drawing the attention of everybody in the house. Seth had been feeling a bit better over the extenuating circumstances, but was still feeling wary. A moment later, Grandpa had entered the parlor, bringing with him Bracken, Bright, Clover and all five keepers of the instruments of eternal power.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Seth, holding out his palms. "What is going on here?"

"We've got some of the Fairy Kingdom's finest women here to help you," said Bracken. "You should be thankful."

"We're only trying to help you," said Bright.

"Sorry, but the last time I got confronted by fairies... I became some messed-up Dr. Moreau experiment."

"We're unfamiliar with this Dr. Moreau," said Brillia, "But Seth, the reason we're all here, is so that we can try to get a feel on your situation."

"What does Seth have to do?" asked Kendra,

"Absolutely nothing," said Opal, as she and the other fairies all gathered around the seat that Seth was on.

"This better not be some stupid trick," said Seth.

"Would you relax?" asked Bracken, as he and all the fairies, who had now gathered around Seth in a circle proceeded to hold hands. "We promise no transmogrification."

"Okay," said Brillia. "We're going to channel our energy between us. It will be invisible, so while nobody will be able to see anything, Seth may experience a tingling feeling of some sort."

"Are you sure?" asked Seth.

"Don't ask us," said Tiara. "Without shadow powers, none of us have been able to experience this sort of thing first hand."

"Ready?" asked Bright.

"Well, uh..." said Seth, as the fairies all closed their eyes.

For the first moment, Seth felt absolutely nothing. Suddenly, he felt completely mesmerized. He appeared to be floating in a strange dark void. Unable to control himself or react to the situation in any way, his body began to feel all numb. Flashes of light appeared momentarily, only to vanish instantly.

What was going on? Seth felt like he was being attacked, only there was not a thing that he could do about it. Every time a light flashed, Seth could feel as though different sections of his body were being prodded. He wanted to cry for help, but he couldn't so much as produce a single squeak from his mouth.

What were the fairies doing to him? They had claimed they were going to help! But now it seemed as though they were trying to eradicate him by overwhelming his body with light energy! But why? This wasn't fair!

The pain only grew more and more intense with each flash of light, while his body kept taking more and more pressure. He wanted to yell "stop", but he couldn't!

"Stop!" blurted Seth, finally able to somehow muster up the energy to speak.

Seth opened his eyes. Kneeling on the floor, he was sweating, his heart beating heavily, and taking deep, long breaths.

"Seth!" cried Kendra, holding one of his wrists in his hands.

Having regained full consciousness, Seth could see that everybody in the room was hovering over him.

"That was weird," said Seth. "What were you doing to me all this time?"

"We only used our power for maybe ten seconds!" exclaimed Clover.

"Ten seconds? That felt like it kept going on and on!"

"You must've really been out of it," said Warren. "You seemed perfectly mellow until the fairies stopped, at which point you flipped out and started sweating."

"You need to tell us," said Bravia, "what did you experience?"

Seth recapped his experience to the others, only to receive looks of discern from the fairies.

"So, what does all of this mean?" asked Kendra, once Seth had finished speaking.

"Well," said Brook, "we've got good news and bad news."

"Good news first, please," said Seth. "I could really use some right about now."

"Well," said Brook, "the good news is that you are not being possessed or under any sort of of external control. You are the one and only Seth Sorenson."

"Oh great," said Seth. "I did not need a team of fairy experts to do all that they did just to tell me that."

"Well, as long as the fairies are aware of this, they might able to use this knowledge to help you."

"And... that's where the bad news comes into play," said Tiara. "The problem is that the darkness within you has been increasing, seemingly all on its own. It's greater than it ever has been before."

"And by increasing," said Opal, "it's been irritating the environment around you. Namely the minor fairies living at Fablehaven. Bright and Clover haven't noticed it, because fairy angels such as us are much more resilient."

"That's why the fairies attacked you, Seth," said Bright. "Your darkness was getting stronger and stronger, to the point where they could no longer tolerate it."

"But I wear a bracelet from the Fairy Queen which restrains my power," said Seth, indicating the silver bracelet that he always wore on his right wrist.

"Please let me see that," said Brillia, extending her hand down before Seth. Seth nodded, then removed the special bracelet.

Brillia clenched the bracelet in her hands and gave it a stern look. "There appears to be a magical fracture in the bracelet's energy field. "'ll fix it,"

Brillia closed her eyes and the bracelet briefly emitted a flash of white light. She then handed it back to Seth, who slipped it back on his arm.

"Am I better now?" asked Seth.

The fairies all shook their heads. "The bracelet may have been fixed," said Opal, "but the damage is already done."

"What do you mean?"

"Something must've happened to your bracelet," said Bravia. I know that our mother created the bracelet with you in mind, but it almost seems like it was used to suppress a force of darkness far greater than your own."

"Oblivion," said Seth. "Back when we defeated her as a dragon several months ago. Kendra placed my bracelet on the tip of one of Oblivion's horns in order to weaken her power."

"That's right," said Warren. "Even though it worked, we never though of the consequences it could've had on Seth's bracelet.

"Well, since Brillia fixed the bracelet, problem solved, right?" asked Seth.

"Wrong," said Tiara. "Since you're in the midst of growing up, the darkness within you has been increasing gradually. But, because you've normally worn your bracelet since you first got it, it's kept your darkness in line. But, ever since the ordeal with Oblivion damaged it, it's failed to do it's job, allowing all the pent up darkness within you to continuously get stronger."

"So, am I going to get better, now that the bracelet is working again?"

"If by better you mean less dark, then no." replied Bravia.

"Can't you fix him?" asked Kendra.

"Our magic would only harm him," replied Opal. "Seth and his darkness are one in the same. It's the same reason why the Omega Star is unable to make a dark creature turn good. Its darkness is part of its soul, and the change would destroy that. Using light magic to restore you could potentially kill you."

"But why?" asked Seth.

"Seth, remember when we went fairyprime with Kendra to fight that volgor?" asked Bracken.

Seth thought back to the incident at Dynabridge, and recalled lending his power to Kendra so that she could defeat the serpentine monster.

"Well, because it was a creature of darkness, Kendra's light energy overwhelmed it, to the point where it had been banished from this world."

"So, if the fairies used their magic on you," said Warren, "what happened to that volgor would happen to you."

"You mean, there's nothing you fairies can do to reduce my darkness?"

"Well, we can always ask our mother for advice," said Brook, "but I don't believe that there's much she could do."

"I hate to say this to you, Seth" said Bright with a saddened frown on her face, "but the darkness within you, from what we understand, won't go away on its own. It's only going to get worse and worse."