AVALLO, THE TRAVELING BAR : DEAR THINGS
Extra - A Fairy's Story
ABOUT 3,000 YEARS AGO, SOMETIME AFTER THE HOLY WAR
Fairy King Dahlia did not fail anyone's expectations. With the raise of one finger, armies of savage humans were expelled from the forest. With a flick of his wrist, none were able to pass through his territory without the fear of losing their measly little lives. Expanding his wings, the king stretched out his arms and watched over the borderless view of green known as the Fairy King's Forest.
His forest, his kingdom.
His home.
"... It's boring," he commented casually. Soon after, he hopped off the tree branch, magic flowing as it carry him into the air. Wind breezed past his face as he shot through the skies, plants and animals turning smaller and smaller and he soon enough was at a bird's eye view of the world.
When you were stronger than most of the population (considering that it was also a time of peace, at least for the Fairy Clan), things couldn't help but feel a bit mundane.
So yes, it was boring.
So when he stumbled upon that human (at least, he assumed so) wandering at the outskirts of his forest, Dahlia couldn't help but be curious.
The beings that would sneak around his territory usually would have this agenda. They wanted harm for the forest- as the Fairy King, Dahlia could practically feel their malice radiating from miles away.
… Okay, that was an exaggeration. But still.
The thing was- most beings would have a voice. The sound coming from their hearts. Dahlia never met an existence whose heart he could not read.
Yet that human? When Dahlia was just checking out some odd-looking thing left by some other humans?
"... Carriage," an awfully soft voice said beside him. Dahlia was crouching near this thing near a human constructed road. The fairy glanced up, and he was met with green eyes.
The human was young- at least he looked young- and he wore a ragged hood over his head, cloaked and everything. Dahlia wasn't able to see much of the human's features, but it was the least of his concern.
"... Carriage," Dahlia said after him, a bit awestruck (neither terrified nor shocked) at the newcomer's presence. He should be concerned- really, he totally should. But he wasn't. Maybe he should be concerned at himself that he wasn't.
Dahlia did not feel the man's approach. He did not know that he was right beside him until he opened his mouth and spoke.
And, the thing was, he was not able to read the voice of the human's heart.
(It should be worrisome- extremely worrisome- but rather than sensing the need to get rid of a potentially dangerous threat, Dahlia just wanted to sit back and stare. Like, what the heck.)
And so he did.
Even though he couldn't read his heart, he liked to believe that he was good at reading facial expressions. But then again… The human's face was slack from any obvious emotion, not to mention his eyes… They were almost unblinking and still.
Carriage. The green-eyed was probably referring to that weird structure the fairy was prodding with a stick at. Dahlia stared at the human.
He stared at the human, and the human, after one full minute, decided to turn away and continue on his way.
Dahlia followed him.
(He didn't have much to do either way.)
-.-.-
No matter how many times he asked (more like pestered), the human wouldn't give him a name. Dahlia even gracefully offered to introduce himself- how rude! Didn't humans have this thing called manners? The gossips his fairy friends had in regards of the humans were completely wrong.
So because of the fact that the human wouldn't give him a name, the Fairy King decided to settle with calling him green-eyes. Better than nothing.
"So that carriage, what's that used for?"
Green-eyes continued to walk forward. It was as if he didn't even hear his voice. Dahlia pouted.
"Hey~ Oi~ Hear me? Oi~"
Green-eyes wouldn't turn back.
Dahlia pouted harder.
Hovering around his new human companion (he never had human companions before, fairies had loathed humans with a burning passion for obvious reasons, but hey- this one was interesting!), Dahlia stared up to the skies as it slowly dyed with purple and orange. The air was much cooler than before, and the fairy felt himself relaxing with the evening's serene song.
Nature never felt closer than before, he realized.
Eyeing Green-eyes, he grinned and pulled back a finger. Green-eyes' hood immediately tugged off, leaving the human stopping with a start, finally looking back over his shoulders-
Blonde, flowy hair that looked so messy at first glance. He looked practically like a child.
(But he wasn't a child, Dahlia could tell. Green-eyes was a full grown man who wasn't able to grow any further.)
(Like a dead, standing sapling, unable to grow due to the lack of nutrients the land could ever offer.)
For a while, Green-eyes stared at him blankly. His face was still slack from any emotion.
But then- there was a small twinkle in those green eyes. A spark, and for some reason, Dahlia found himself holding his breath.
Green-eyes later pulled back his hood, turned back and continued to walk ahead. After a short pause, the fairy followed after.
He liked to call that a win.
-.-.-
A couple days passed- days were considered short for fairies with long lives. It wasn't unusual for someone to go off for a month and return- no one would notice your absence at all. Unless you'd left for a hundred years or more, that was. Human calendars were funny that way.
Dahlia doesn't exactly voice that, however. Many still had a hatred towards humanity- given from what happened during the War, after all. Humans were betrayers. That was what had happened to Lord Gloxinia and Lady Gerheade and many, many friends, long ago. They trusted the humans, they befriended then, but in return, the humans played foul. They never had good intentions. Only ill.
Humans stole, stole, and stole. Now they wanted the Fountain of Youth, which Dahlia found so stupid and idiotic. Come on now, why tread into his territory when they knew he could just swip-swap-swup them away without raising a single finger? Oh, maybe they didn't know. There was no one left to tell the tale.
But then the younger generation and then the next seemed to have forgotten about that pain. Dahlia understood the dark shadows that would lurk in Gerheade's eyes whenever one would mention a word about the humans, but then again, Dahlia was still kind of part of that younger generation.
The Sacred Tree does not tell between what was right and wrong. The concept of right and wrong was nonexistent in the face of the tree. Fairy King Dahlia, chosen by the great tree, doesn't have that concept as well.
He treated everything with neutrality. Get rid of the invaders when they invade, protect the tree when danger was at bay. He performed his responsibilities dutifully, and as it got peaceful nowadays, he allowed himself to have some fun as well.
Maybe it was some sort of trend for Fairy Kings- specifically Fairy Kings. Lord Gloxinia was extremely interested in human culture and festivals, after all, but that was history.
But he supposed- perhaps it was because of his admiration for the former king that he couldn't help but be curious about the humans as well. Despite everything, that was.
Though, he ought to stay neutral.
Green-eyes was sitting against the trunk of a tree, his eyes closed and deep asleep. Dahlia, on the branch above the human's head, counted the leaves that hung hovering above his brows. They were at the side of some human constructed road. Stretching out his senses, there were not many near the vicinity. Dahlia let himself close his eyes.
He heard the voices of nature, the hearts of living beings growing all around them. He heard all of that, but never did he heard the voice from Green-eyes'.
Somberly to himself, Dahlia wondered why.
Something was tugging on one of the sleeves of his pants. Tired eyes blinking open, the Fairy King looked down and spotted the green-eyed human, whose hand was definitely tugging on one of the sleeves of Dahlia's pants, staring right back at him.
Judging from the placement of the sun's warmth, it was a few hours before noon. When Green-eyes recognized that Dahlia was awake, he promptly let go and grabbed his belongings, slinging his bag over one of his shoulders. Turning away, he began making his way down the dirt road.
Dahlia stared for an extremely long time before he quickly chased after the human.
-.-.-
"What was that- my goodness- what was that," eyes blown wide, the fairy jabbed the other's shoulder with a finger multiple, multiple times. "You were- what were you- my goodness."
Green-eyes did not bother responding to his jabs. Soon enough, Dahlia gave up and hovered beside him, eyes still wide and staring.
"Geez, you keep walking down this road. Not sure where you're headed either way, though…" He paused and glided to the other side of the human. "I've seen you tinkering with these little pieces of metal," he gestured to his bag, "what's that all about?"
It came to his realization, that little by little, the spark in Green-eyes' eyes showed itself a little more by each passing night. To actually notice it, you had to pay the closest attention with extreme care. Being the King of the Fairies, however, it was only natural for him to pay such attention.
The next day and the one after, despite being unable to read the human's heart, Dahlia got to know Green-eyes more and more. He wouldn't have it any other way, though.
Green-eyes was building something. They were tiny machines, built onto each other one by one and Dahlia couldn't bother to ask how it worked. But he still watched. He watched, observed, and wondered. He wondered a lot.
Careful, callused hands fixing another two pieces of metal together, Green-eyes showed the fairy the outcome of his project as it was as of now. It looked super strange, Dahlia could only tilt his head in confusion.
The blonde, in turn, pushed something at the end of the thing, and it moved. It freaking moved, curling into itself, and the fairy stared at it with pure amazement.
"... What the heck was that?!" He squawked, because as the Fairy King, he could totally squak, and blinking twice, he saw a (small, so terribly small) smile perked on Green-eyes' lips. Over the days, Dahlia learned that Green-eyes wasn't a person of expressions and gestures. He only ever stared, and sometimes, the fairy wondered if it was because he couldn't make expressions, not wouldn't.
But there was a hint of a smile, and Dahlia held back a delighted squeal.
Soon after, the hint quickly went away and Green-eyes put the machine away back into his bag. They continued on their journey, Dahlia deciding to walk beside him rather to fly.
Green-eyes was trying to build something. Dahlia wanted to help.
It was an unlikely friendship between a human and a fairy, but Dahlia wanted to believe that it was, indeed, a friendship.
Wouldn't it be nice?
He smiled to himself and breathed in the good day's cool air. It would definitely be nice.
While Green-eyes wouldn't talk to him much, Dahlia took it to himself to speak enough for the both of them. (And using a bit of his magic, he found materials that could probably be used for his companion's little or big project.)
It was about a half a human calendar's year later when Dahlia felt something so utterly, chokingly heinous.
The day was definitely pretty, the skies clear and no sign of storms, but when the two stumbled upon an abandoned human village, the Fairy King definitely felt it.
A shiver was sent down his spine, and-
"Why," he whispered, horrified as the temperature plummeted down to his feet. "Why was there still-?!"
A demon. It looked as he remembered, blubbering and clawed and salivating. One of the middle class demons, he recognized, not too dangerous but still a threat.
A demon.
Quickly raising his hand, he summoned his Spirit Spear and gripped, mustering Disaster to its fullest. The entirety of the demons were supposed to be all sealed away into the Coffin forged by Dabuzu of the Giant Clan. Not to mention the fact that the goddesses themselves had to sacrifice their form to make the sealing even possible- how was it that one of them was still here in this realm?
How?!
The thought of separate seals crossed his mind.
It wasn't uncommon for beings to be sealed away during the Holy War and even before then. Could it be that this demon in particular was sealed sometime before the Coffin of Eternal Darkness? But then-
Then how many?
There were too many sides in a war, whether you knew all of them or not. The Vampire Clan was imprisoned by the Executioner of the Demon Clan at some point of time. It wasn't like all seals were like the Coffin as well- most should be weaker.
Then how many.
His sister and best friend had both fallen in the hands of the demons, this was no longer the question on neutrality.
(What a hypocritical Fairy King he was.)
Twisting his hand, before the demon could take another step forward, Dahlia stopped breathing when Green-eyes suddenly tugged on the end of his pants. Dahlia was hovering in the air. He looked down and was met with eyes that were wide and screaming silence.
Green-eyes, whose lips were pressed into a thin line, looked absolutely terrified.
Dahlia couldn't read (or understand) the emotion behind those bright and clear green eyes.
Suddenly, a blast of Purgatory flame burst with flickering black, the Fairy King quickly skidding back with the harshness of a wince-
Green-eyes. Dahlia realized his fatal mistake. Green-eyes was still there, up ahead. Green-eyes was a normal human being whose heart he could not read and presence he could not sense nor see. Dahlia saw his sister's back overlap with the human's, and Dahlia nearly screamed-
The human bent down and picked up a stray twig.
He picked up the twig, got back up, and before the flames could touch him, he swung.
The twig was immediately burnt into ashes. The instant it did, the blast suddenly changed directions. Two times its original power, it was returned to the demon, hitting it square into its midsection. The smell of rotting and burning flesh was pungent. Purgatory flames were still burning all around them.
… There was a gaping hole left in the demon's torso. The demon fell backwards, a heavy thump hitting the ground and audible to the Fairy King's ears.
Dahlia stared ahead.
Green-eyes' eyes were still so wide. He looked as if he'd murdered innocents, sweat running down the back of his head and eyes utterly so wide.
"Ah…" His voice. It was extremely soft, cracked and hushed from underuse. The flames were still strong, burning and burning and burning, and Dahlia tried to gather himself together. He tried to push away the silhouette of his little sister, and at last, he had himself close his eyes.
Raising his hand again and biting the inside of his cheek, he summoned rain from the air and plants alike.
It was extremely difficult trying to smother the fire and flames of Purgatory itself. He still tried, however. He kept trying. Eventually, it burned out. It smelled of ashes.
(The ambush took them all completely off guard. His sister fell with her wings scorched and hair singed, something like blood spilling from her waist. She stared up at him with such a terrified look in her eyes, Dahlia wanted to hug her and never let her go.
But the Commandment was still there. He was still there, sneering down at her writhing form as Dahlia grew outraged. When he saw how the Commandment almost stepped on her body, almost crushing her left arm as if she was just some 'lowly insect,' the Fairy King threatened to draw all his power to vaporize that very demon that instance, the demon who murdered his family, not only his sister, but his brethren and comrades as well.
But this was war. This was war, and Dahlia respected all lives no matter what side they were on, no matter if they were a demon or a fairy or a human or a giant or anyone. Because life was unfair. Life was never fair. Confusion, conflicts; disaster, despair... Yet all equally struggle and strive- they all fought for the sake of protecting, for their own side, their own brethren, but this demon-
He killed for game.
The murderer of his sister and best friend.
Dahlia, as well, almost died that day. He would never forget the moment Estarossa of the Ten Commandments was finally sealed away.)
-.-.-
Green-eyes was still squatting there, on the ground and in front of the demon's corpse. He looked as if curled into a ball, and Dahlia wasn't sure how to make of it. Green-eyes' behavior.
Swallowing, the fairy realized how dry his throat was. Standing up and slowly walking over to the other, he purposefully averted his eyes from the demon's breathless form.
"... Hey?"
The human was hugging his legs, blonde hair messy and all over the place. Frowning, Dahlia, with a gentle hand, touched the other's shoulder.
"Hey."
Soot was over their faces. Ash was on the ground. It was a good thing that this place was abandoned, but Dahlia… He was feeling a bit numb.
Shakened.
(So much for a Fairy King. So much for the King of the Fairies.)
(Could he ever be as great as Lord Gloxinia was?)
Dahlia broke into small tears.
He broke into small tears, and he bent down and shook the other by the shoulder just slightly, not too harshly.
"Hey, please. Answer me."
He felt a slight tremble. More tears fell and Dahlia heard a whine.
It was a small sound, stretched and strained, and it was coming from Green-eyes. The sound was so sad, and the fairy couldn't help but crumble down as well.
They stayed there for a long time. Dahlia made the flowers grow, properly covering the nameless demon with thrifts, mallows, and cranesbills alike. He helped Green-eyes make a grave for this unknown individual, and he understood (at least he believed he does) why Green-eyes seemed so sad.
Because, yes, he took the life of someone innocent. Someone who they did not know, someone who they did not get to know of.
It was no longer the time of war, yet a life was still taken right in front of them.
Plants grew by his feet. He offered Green-eyes a fruit. Green-eyes barely ate- at the thought that, Dahlia wondered what his companion did to get food before they met. Did he hunt? Did he gathered for edibles? All of a sudden, an older brother's worry came to Dahlia and he shuddered.
But then again, from what happened the day (and the day) before, without doubt, Green-eyes was strong. Incredibly so.
… Mustering out a carefree smile, he pushed the fruit into the other's palms. "Here!"
Green-eyes stared at the fruit for a few seconds. He looked back to meet Dahlia's eyes. Dahlia laughed.
"Come on, now," he sat down beside him and began eating. "Aren't you hungry? It's not poisonous. Promise."
Green-eyes began nibbling on the fruit, bright, green eyes still staring at the fairy. (Because while Green-eyes' eyes were so clear and bright, it still seemed so faded at the same time.)
"You know," Dahlia began, "you're…"
He paused, and then he let go of a laugh.
In the end, he still wanted to ask.
"My name is Dahlia. What's yours?"
Green-eyes stopped nibbling, lowering the fruit to his lap and the two child-formed beings staring at each other. Tilting his head forward, blonde hair fell in front of emerald orbs and Green-eyes opened his mouth.
He closed it, and then he opened it again.
He gave Dahlia no words, only a sad, confused face.
(And because Dahlia could not read his heart, he could not understand.)
Swallowing, Dahlia tried again. It wouldn't hurt- they had all the time they needed either way. So he tried, he tried to guess. He tried to figure out what the look behind Green-eyes' face. Green-eyes was giving him more expressions now- that was a good thing. Dahlia could help him.
"... You don't know your name?"
No response.
"You don't know what your name is?"
Still no response.
"... You're not sure what you're called? You don't know how you should be called?"
On the fourth try, the look on his companion's face visibly turned more miserable, and Dahlia had this feeling that he got it. He stared at Green-eyes for a long time.
"... What the heck," he settled with saying. Grinning, he made a light laughter. "That's nothing to be ashamed about! Listen up, you see… Even though I was chosen by the Sacred Tree to be the next Fairy King…"
-.-.-
Green-eyes became the first human in centuries to be welcomed into the Fairy King's Forest. As the human had been wandering around aimlessly with no solid destination, Dahlia decided to bring him over. The blonde meeting Oslo was probably the best thing ever, because the moment the two met, the blackhound immediately jumped onto the other, licking his cheek again and again and Green-eyes could only stare ahead with such surprise.
Afterwards, the sight was just adorable. Green-eyes wouldn't let go of the dog in his arms, hugging Oslo so snuggly and all. Oslo didn't mind, he only continued to lick his face.
Because Green-eyes was brought in by the Fairy King himself, no one had an opposition regarding the human's presence. The other fairies were quite shy around him, though, but they quickly warmed up at the sight of Oslo's enthusiasm. All trusted Oslo's instincts, and they were truly curious as well. Who was this human? Why was Fairy King Dahlia so friendly with him?
If King Dahlia was friendly with him, does that mean that the others could as well?
Green-eyes showed more expressions. He still didn't talk much, but they were getting to it, because each step made was a baby step, and Dahlia couldn't help but be so proud.
Gerheade… His advisor was another story, however.
Because at Green-eyes' appearance, she could only stare at him, wide eyed, Oslo still licking the blonde's face.
Her one eye narrowing, she furrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head- just the slightest of the bit. She did so, and Dahlia blinked curiously at her, wondering what was the matter.
He asked. When his advisor hesitated, Dahlia understood her reluctance to answer. She hated humans the most, after all, and there wasn't much he could do about that. But then, to his surprise, Gerheade ended up relenting, turning away with this odd look on her face.
"Since I trust your judgement, and Olso trusts him. The forest doesn't seem to have a problem with the human as well," she reasoned. Dahlia smiled.
When she sighed, and the odd look on her face grew into one of worry, Dahlia wondered if it was because she noticed it- that reading the blonde's heart was impossible (if the Fairy King couldn't, then no other fairy possibly could). But judging from the way the fairy carried herself, Dahlia couldn't help but feel that it wasn't the case. Something else was in Gerheade's mind, something not about the unreadable heart.
"Gerheade?"
She shook her head. Dahlia decided to leave it like that.
That, and Green-eyes was beginning to talk more. He began to smile more, and each smile became brighter at every passing day. The fairy friends encouraged him through fun and games- he looked happy, actually happy. He got annoyed or upset, too. It was physically visible.
And because they never had a calendar in the first place, Dahlia never realized that a century had long passed since they first met. He never noticed how the human he called Green-eyes never aged, watching him so carefully build the castle known as Avallo.
And Avallo, the endorsement of their feelings and everything combined, was finally complete. It was hidden within the forest growth, a little homey house on the top, and Dahlia could gaze at it forever.
It was beautiful.
The fairies cheered in delight. Dahlia joined in as well, together with a reluctant Gerheade. Green-eyes laughed.
"It's thanks to you guys," he said with a smile, his cheeks flushed with a tint of pink. "Thank you so much, Dahlia. Everyone."
He was gifted with the forest's berries, his castle well stocked and furnished (though, mainly filled with the random collectibles the fairies gathered over time- picture frames, weird artifacts and the like). Their human friend was an exceptional tea maker. Dahlia was going to miss the tea that his friend made with his forest's dried berries and leaves.
Green-eyes beamed at them, and ruffling up the fur around Oslo's head, he finally waved goodbye.
Dahlia stared ahead.
The castle's silhouette was beginning to recede. So with a smile, Dahlia raised a hand and waved.
He awaits for the moment they would one day meet again.
Thank you for reading, new readers and old! It is the first anniversary of AVALLO, I hope you all enjoyed this fiction! This story is written on the idea of "what would happen if Meliodas (oneshot) and Meliodas (canon) meet." Please have a good day, and have a happy new year! -ko.