Chapter 2: A Town Called Fairy Park
It had only been about thirty minutes before a police cruiser pulled up to the crashed vehicle. The car pulled over and a man with nearly black hair stepped out of the driver side door while a woman with greyish pink hair stepped out of the passenger side. Both looked down at the crashed car and cringed at the wreckage.
The police station had gotten a call about a crashed vehicle just within the town's borders and the sheriff immediately called the town's head (and only qualified) doctor. The pair then headed straight for the crash site.
Once they recovered from their immediate reactions, they both headed down the incline to check on the driver and any possible passengers. When they reached the car, they found a blonde teen sitting in the driver's seat, while a black haired one was huddled onto the passenger seat. Both girls were unconscious, and the sheriff did his best to get them out of the car without causing any more possible injuries. He laid them on the grass beside the wreck and allowed the doctor to get to work while he attempted to call the local service station, knowing he'd get the voicemail.
The physician had assumed the worst after seeing the wreck, but after just a quick glance, she could see that both girls were breathing and completely fine. The worst injury she could see was an open gash on the blonde's forehead, which she assumed was received by hitting her head on the steering wheel. She reached into her medical bag and grabbed gauze, bandages, and antibacterial ointment in order to treat the wound.
While she worked, the blonde woke up and nearly screamed at the doctor. The doctor hushed her and quickly explained what was going on. "You were in an accident. You're completely fine from my quick appraisal, except for a wound on your forehead. You are going to be taken into town and checked over thoroughly once I allow you to move, then the sheriff will take you to the local inn."
Nashi quickly calmed down at the stern words from the medic, only to stress out again as she had a thought. "How's Emily?"
"The other girl is fine. Still asleep, but fine. Luckily, her airbag didn't seem to be faulty, unlike yours, so she was cushioned from any blows she would have taken. She'll just be sore once she wakes up."
Nashi finally calmed all the way down at knowing her friend was all right. She allowed the doctor to finish treating her wound before she had another question. "So, where are we?"
She had expected the doctor to respond but was surprised when a masculine voice answered her question. "You're just within the borders of Fairy Park, Missouri." he answered her question as he walked towards her from the wrecked vehicle. "We'll have you in town soon enough, but first I'd like to ask you some questions." He sat down on the grass next to the girl and sighed heavily. "First question, can I see your license?"
Nashi quickly fumbled in her pockets, trying to find the piece of plastic she had placed in there for exactly a moment like this. She eventually found it and handed it to the sheriff.
"So, a relatively new driver," he said before handing it back to her. "Second question. How'd you crash?"
Nashi tensed up at the question, not thinking the sheriff would believe her if she said she saw a child in the road and attempted to swerve to avoid hitting her. She braced herself for humiliation as she told the officer exactly what she saw, even though she thought she was crazy.
"Hmmm. How long have you been driving today?" he asked, seeming sure he knew the answer.
"Well, I started this morning around seven and made the drive from Chicago to St. Louis with only one short rest. I then drove us around the city for sightseeing for probably another nine hours, but we were stopping a lot, so I don't know how much of that was driving and how much of that was eating. Lastly, I've been driving from St. Louis since about 9:30. I didn't see the time when I went into the ditch, but I assume it had at least been another couple hours."
"The sheriff sighed and addressed the teen, "Welp, I think that's an easy diagnosis, don't you think doc?" The physician only scoffed at the sheriff and continued to examine the dark haired girl. "It appears to me that you were driving under the influence."
Nashi looked at the man in shock. Of course she had had alcohol before, but she would never do something as reckless as drive drunk, especially with her best friend in the passenger seat.
The sheriff saw the girl look at him like he was the crazy one and decided to clarify his previous statement. "I don't mean under the influence of alcohol or drugs, I mean under the influence of sleep, or lack thereof. You drive differently under any influence and it shouldn't be done." With those words the blonde's face reverted back to a slight frown at her mistake, but was no longer in any state of shock. "Because you're such a new driver, and because you were just tired, nothing bad's going to happen to you. I think the damage to your vehicle is enough punishment."
Nashi looked at the vehicle and cringed. The front end was horribly mangled from hitting the other end of the ditch. She knew that if the car wasn't totaled, it would definitely be unusable for the time being.
The sheriff continued his rant as Nashi assessed the damage herself. "I just left a message at the local service shop, and I'm sure they'll send out a tow truck early in the morning to grab your vehicle. I've never seen a car that shop couldn't fix, so I'm pretty sure they'll have it in working order in no time." The sheriff helped the blonde up and asked the doctor to finally wake up her other patient.
Emily finally woke up with a jolt and looked around as confused as Nashi had. The doctor gave her the same spiel as Nashi, and Emily started to calm down as she looked over at Nashi and her bandaged head.
The sheriff now spoke to both of the girls. "Now, let's get you into town so that we can get you checked out in a more thorough way and get you a room to stay the night." The girls followed him back to his cruiser and shimmied into the backseat. The pink haired woman got back into the passenger seat and they finally started their drive into town.
Nashi then had a sudden realization. She spoke to the sheriff as he began to take off down the highway. "While I must thank you for finding us, I don't believe we've been fully acquainted and I'd like to know the name of the person who saved us. I'm Nashi and this sleepy one over here is Emily."
The sheriff looked at them through his rearview mirror and sighed. He hadn't introduced himself, had he? He sighed once again for good measure and responded to the girls. "I'm Sheriff Mount. I don't believe anyone has ever asked me my name before. We don't get many people who pass through here."
With that, the roughly twenty minute drive into town was silent, with the exception of Emily's snoring and sheriff Mount's sighs as he figured he wouldn't be getting much more sleep tonight.
As sheriff Mount pulled up to the local hospital, he decided to finally break the silence to the girls. "I'll be waiting for you when the old lady's done with you. I'm going to call ahead to the inn and make sure they know you're coming." Next he turned to the doctor. "Please, Leigh, don't keep me out here too long. I'd like to at least get a few hours of sleep before I have to deal with the drunks in the morning."
Leigh only stared at him with a look that said 'just deal with it, it's your job' as she motioned for the girls to follow her into the building.
Overall, Leigh found that nothing was seriously wrong with the girls. The worst injury had indeed been the wound to Nashi's forehead. Other than that, just a few bumps and bruises. What interested her most of all was some other markings she saw on the girls shoulders.
The marking was rather odd in shape and size, but was definitely no bruise. The marks light brown color almost insinuated they were birthmarks. Normally, she would just ignore the abnormal colored skin, and she did when she checked over Nashi. She only became more concerned as she saw an extremely similar marking on Emily as well. Both marks were on the girl's shoulders, but different ones. Nashi had her's on the right, while Emily's was on the left.
After telling Emily she was fine, she asked her to bring Nashi back into the room. Once both girls were seated, she began an interrogation of sorts. "So, want to explain the marks on your shoulders? I know neither of you are old enough for tattoos, and, while one of you sure looks the part, I don't think either of you are really the type."
The girls slowly looked at each other, until Nashi finally decided to break the silence. "They're birthmarks. They were one of the first things we bonded over. We know how impossibly small the chances were that we would have nearly identical birthmarks, but at the time we really couldn't care." Nashi continued, reminiscing on the time they spent together as children. "Eventually, we didn't even think about them anymore. They just became a part of how we became friends."
Leigh looked at the girls with surprise, but couldn't think of anything to say. Eventually, she decided it would just be best to dismiss the girls and tell the sheriff they were good to go. She walked the girls back to the police cruiser and addressed the sheriff. "They're good to go, Aster. Nothing worse than the blonde one's head. Now leave before I call the cops." She added that last bit onto the end as she was beginning to get tired of this night.
Aster chuckled at the old woman's words. "What good would calling the cops do? All you'd get was me on the line sassing you back." With that he motioned for the girls to get back into the car and drove off back into the heart of town.
The car pulled up to an old looking building at about 1:30 in the morning. The girls looked at the building and sighed in relief. It didn't look like much from the outside, but at least it would be a place to finally get some sleep that wasn't induced via whiplash and near-concussions.
The duo stepped out of the backseat, finally able to see the sign plastered just above the old wooden door. It read, "7 Dragon's Inn." Nashi looked puzzled at the name, wondering what it could mean while Emily just continued sleepily walking into the inn.
Once inside, sheriff Mount rang the bell on the counter and an old man could be seen walking down the steps that assumedly led to the rooms. The man continued his descent until he stood behind the counter. He then hopped up onto a stool and looked at the group in front of him.
Nashi could barely believe her eyes as she looked at him. The man had to be over ninety years old just judging off his face alone. She was also amazed by the height of the man. She of course had heard of people who never grew, but she had never met someone with her own eyes who had to be shorter than four feet. Other than his height and age, nothing seemed all too spectacular about the man.
After both groups were done appraising the others, sheriff Mount finally cut in. "Hey, Gramps, these are the girls I called about," he said. "I was hoping you could at least put them up for the night so that they don't have to share a cell with our blue haired friend."
Before the old man could answer the sheriff, another man came bounding down the stairs. "Come on old man, I thought I told you to stop working the graveyard shift and let me handle anyone who comes in here overnight."
Nashi was again surprised at their visitor. While the old man had surprised her due to his short stature, this man was the complete opposite. He stood at least over twice the old man's height, and Nashi thought that was an underestimate. The newcomer also seemed to be ripped. Even through his oversized pajama shirt, Nashi could see how his muscles bulged all over his body. Her appraisal of the man was cut short, however, as the old man began to speak.
"Quiet now, Ramiel. I may be old, but I still have enough energy in me for a late night emergency call." the old man said to the behemoth. He then continued to talk, saying something that finally did Nashi's brain in for the night. "My grandson, it's not that I don't trust you with our inn, I just feel as though a late night call from Aster here requires me to deal with it."
Nashi nearly fainted at hearing that the two men were related. She wasn't sure whether the old man had just significantly shrank with age, or if he had married an Amazon, but whatever it was, Nashi did not have the mental capacity to fully process it right now.
The old man's grandson sighed and simply waved him off as he went through a side door. He seemed to grumble something resembling, 'Well, if I'm up, might as well raid Titania's kitchen for some food.' The giant then disappeared behind the door.
"Now then," the old man said to the girls, "I believe you two need a place to sleep for the night." They both gave him a rather tired nod, hoping that he would let them. "Well, you've come to the right place. Granted there really is no other place in town, but the right place still. I already have a room waiting for you two. So head on up there and get some good sleep."
Nashi reached for the key, but then had a thought. "What about payment?"
The old man chuckled as he shook his head at her. "That talk isn't for tonight. This night is free anyways for two good reasons. First is that Aster here called for you. I owe him too many favors and one of them is finally fulfilled. The second is that it is so late, that charging you wouldn't seem like the right thing to do at all." He finally forced the key into Nashi's hand and finished his speech. "Depending on the condition of your car, we can talk about payments for extra days, but for now, I can tell that you both really need some sleep."
The girls nodded at the old man and slowly started walking up the stairs. They opened the door to their room and both immediately went to bed. They were both out within seconds as the warm, fluffy sheets welcomed them to a deep slumber.
Both girls were asleep so fast, neither of them noticed the earthquake that shook the entire town. It was the strongest quake to hit the town in years, but both girls slept through it like it was nothing.
Nashi was, of course, the first of them to awaken, feeling more refreshed than she had in a while. She thought of waking Emily, but decided against it as she walked to the bathroom to help fully wake herself up.
She had only been in there about five minutes before she heard her friend start to roll out of bed. Normally Nashi was the one struggling to wake up her friend, but she remembered the amount of sleep the girl had gotten yesterday and attributed it to that.
It only took both of them each twenty minutes to get ready for the day, and they decided to head out to inquire about their car. It wasn't until they reached the bottom of the stairs that they realised they didn't really know where it was. Nashi started to panic, but was instantly calmed by the old man behind the counter.
"Aster told me last night he forgot to tell you where the station was." said the old man rather groggily. "It's just down the road a couple blocks, you can't miss it. If you somehow can't find it, just ask anyone if they could guide you to the Redfox service station." The old man then raised an eyebrow as he heard the shorter girl's stomach growl. "However, before you even think about going out, I'd suggest getting something to eat. Just head through that side door and I'm sure you'll be treated well.
Nashi looked at the door she had seen Ramiel trudge through last night and wondered what could be behind it. She and Emily braced themselves for the unknown as the door revealed a bustling diner filled to near capacity with a variety of customers. The girls were nearly taken aback with how packed the place seemed to be.
They continued their shell-shocked looks until a woman with deep red hair addressed them. "Sorry for the wait. That door is rarely used." She then seemed to glare at it with disdain. "The only one who uses it is that brute who steals my food after hours. I'd say something, but his grandfather owns the building and I feel it's one of the best ways to repay him."
The words Ramiel had grumbled last night had finally clicked. So there was a diner attached to the inn? 'I guess that makes sense,'she thought. 'With income coming from both the food and the inn, they could combine their profits and make a killing.' Nashi's thoughts continued to wander about the pros and cons of combining businesses as the red head looked at the duo expectantly.
After Nashi didn't seem to be very responsive, Emily finally spoke up and said, "Table for two, I guess." She said nothing else as she nudged Nashi out of her thought-filled trance with her elbow.
The redhead led them to a corner booth and handed them both a menu. She walked away to deal with other customers as the girls looked over the menu. It was a rather expansive list of food, containing just about anything you could think of. They both pondered over their choices as their waitress brought them glasses of water.
The waitress then decided it was time for the girls to order. "So, what'll it be?" she asked almost forcibly.
The girls nearly jumped out of their seats and basically blurted out whatever food item was on their minds at the time. Nashi had said an omelet a la oui (whatever that was?), while Emily had ordered the largest breakfast item she could find. The waitress took down their orders, looking rather satisfied with herself, and she turned to leave.
As she turned though, Nashi pondered a very personal question about the waitress, but couldn't stop herself from asking it. "Your hair's very beautiful. Did you dye.."
Before Nashi could even finish the question the redhead in question looked back at her with an intense stare. "No, it is natural. If the color of my hair makes you think I dyed it, then you are not prepared for many of the other citizens in this town." She walked away from the table and went back into the kitchen to begin preparing their food.
Nashi didn't quite understand what the redhead had meant until she took a good look around the diner. Many people had natural colors of hair, but there were also those she saw that had vibrant blues, pinks, greens, and purples. She had no idea how they weren't dyed, but decided it'd be better to fix her way of thinking instead of questioning their intimidating waitress.
While she looked around at the sea of people, she took notice of many interesting looking ones. She saw sheriff Mount sitting by himself near a window drinking what looked to be an iced coffee. She'd have to remember to thank him again before they left. She also saw a young looking man in another corner booth dressed all in black reading the newspaper. Another man with a black theme had just entered through the main door who had extremely short black hair and seemed to be covered head to toe in grime and soot. The last person that really caught her eye was a man at the counter, who looked even taller and more muscular than the man she had met last night. However, before she could ponder how that man even functioned, their waitress was back with their food.
"Here you both are." she said almost dramatically. "This food has the Carmine quality guarantee, so if you don't like it, there's something wrong with your palate."
The waitress sauntered away as Nashi wondered what the Carmine quality guarantee was, but she refrained from asking the question based on the last one she attempted to ask. However, the waitress turned back to them, as if reading Nashi's mind.
"That reminds me," she said, almost apologetically, "Where are my manners? My name is Matilda Carmine. It's nice to make your acquaintance." She bowed to the table as if she had done them a grave disservice by not introducing herself. Nashi introduced herself and Emily to Matilda and the woman was off again, now attending to the literal giant at her counter.
Nashi finally was able to taste the food, and she almost exploded from how good it tasted. Matilda wasn't wrong when she said their palates would be broken if they didn't like it. With a fervor she didn't know she had, she began to scarf down the omelet in front of her. Turned out that a la oui had just meant it was a French style omelet with the portion control of your average American diner. Looking over at Emily's plate, she saw a heaping pile of different breakfast meats. Bacon, sausage, ham, and more sausage towered on the plate, and Emily looked like she was in heaven. Both girls looked at each other, before diving back into their monster sized breakfast.
Once they had stuffed themselves thoroughly, Matilda came back to their table with a check. Nashi grabbed it, expecting it to be a pretty sizable bill due to the size of their meal, but was surprised to see the number zero at the bottom of the slip of paper. She looked towards the waitress in confusion, and she only returned it with a soft chuckle.
"I heard what happened to you both last night. I feel that it's the least I could do to help raise your spirits." the redhead said sweetly. "Now, I expect you to eat here as much as possible during your stay. It's not too often we have guests in town, and I'd rather you not waste your time and taste buds on any of the other tripe served around here." Her tone had become intimidating again as the two girls nodded at her.
After digesting their meals for a bit, they decided it was time to finally go check on the car. They thanked the sheriff again and apologized to a well dressed blonde woman who they bumped into on the way out. Now they only had to follow the street to find the Redfox service station.
It was only a ten minute walk from the diner, which they realized was named Titania's after they went out the main door, to reach the service station. It really was just a straight shot as the old man had said. The downtown area seemed to be made of many perpendicular streets that emerged from the main one they were currently on, and at the corner about six blocks down, they saw the small service station with a sign almost larger than it reading 'Redfox Service Station.'
When they arrived, they expected to see the same nearly totaled vehicle from the previous night, but they were surprised to see that it looked almost brand new. How this was possible, they had no idea, however, the thought of continuing their road trip as soon as possible really piqued their interests.
That's when the girls noticed two men walking out from the garage the car was in. One was tall and slender with bright orange hair, while the other was rotund with deep black hair and a strand or two that seemed to stand on end. The two were bickering with each other as they left the garage, but stopped long enough to notice their new visitors.
The thin one was the first to make contact. "Hello there, ladies. I assume you're the ones from last night's wreck?" he asked with very little sentiment to what happened the night prior. Both Emily and Nashi nodded in agreement with him. "Man, that thing was a wreck. Good thing you happened upon the best mechanics this side of the Mississippi. I can't imagine anyone else being able to fix that thing." he finished, looking ever so proud of himself.
Nashi just continued to stare at the car, a question arising. "Quick question, but how did you actually fix it so quickly?" she queried, surprised when the large, rotund man stepped forward in front of his friend who now seemed to be shying away from the subject.
"Well, about that, it's not actually fixed yet. The only thing that's fixed is the body. Sherwin here," he pointed to his friend, "doesn't like to sit around and wait, says he gets jittery, so he went and fixed it first thing this morning. The body was the least of your problems though." he sighed as he was about to give them the bad news. "The worst of it was the engine. It was completely shot so I had to remove it. The battery was also busted, and there were a bunch of bent pipes and rods. While we can fix most of that here within a day or so, the engine's the real problem. We don't have any replacements handy, and the scrap yard doesn't have any of your make and model. We've already ordered it but," he paused long enough to give himself the courage to say the worst news of all. "It won't be here for a week or two. I don't know what to say. We're known for our fast work, but this is just something we can't expedite."
"So, what are you trying to say?" Emily asked the profusely sweating man.
"What Alder is trying to say," piped up the other mechanic, "is that we recommend hunkering down somewhere and waiting for your car. However, I'll try to be the bearer of good news when I say that due to the long wait not normally associated with our shop, I'd be willing to heavily discount the repairs. Sound fair?
Both Emily and Nashi looked at each other, and both sighed as they mentally agreed with each other. Nashi, being more confident, spoke up. "I guess that's fine. Please just give us any updates you can."
"Can do." both mechanics said and then looked at each other annoyed.
After exchanging contact information, removing their belongings from the car, and placing them back at the inn, Nashi decided it'd be good for them if they got to learn the town a bit if they were going to be staying there for a while. Emily agreed to this, even though she still didn't like the idea of spending weeks here instead of the planned one night.
So they left the inn and decided to meander around town for a while, trying to catch anything interesting. While much of the town seemed normal enough, a few places did catch their attention. First of which was an ice cream parlor where they could see many patrons storming out. While they'd think it may have just been a bad business, the most peculiar part about this scenario was that every single person who left the establishment was drenched.
Not being able to ponder on the sight for too long, they next spotted a weirdly shaped neon sign that looked like a heart which encapsulated a small creature. This sign was most assuredly attached to a bar, as they could see a brown haired woman, smelling of alcohol even ten feet away, passed out of the front steps, while a white haired woman seemed to try and move her, with little success.
No other commotions or scenes could be seen on the streets, but a few shop names caught their eyes. Mr. White's Magic Shop didn't appear to dabble in so-called 'white' magic, they thought as they passed by the occult looking items in the window. A closer inspection of the bar once the drunkard was finally removed revealed it to be called Fairy's Heart, meaning the creature within the heart shape was most likely meant to be fae in nature. One other shop that caught their eye happened to be Pegasus Pawn Shop where a ragged looking man with sandy brown hair seemed to be sweeping up nothing on the sidewalk, but leaving a trail of dust in his wake.
Many other interesting people could be seen walking around town, interacting and commuting as though nothing was amiss. There really wasn't anything wrong with how the townspeople were acting, it just unnerved the duo for some reason. It was almost as if they were just going through their daily motions, but had huge fake smiles plastered on their faces. To be completely honest, they were both creeped out by the smiles. They were just glad that those they had already interacted with didn't have them.
The last place Nashi insisted they visit was a park she had seen on a town map. The park was appropriately named Fairy Park, assumedly where the town got its name. While the park didn't seem big in comparison to the rest of town, what could be noted was the number and variety of trees found there. It seemed that every direction you looked, there was a different variety available to the eyes. Not only was the variety intense, but so was the number, as it almost felt like an isolated forest. Trekking through it, however, would lead you to a clearing where one tree stood, towering above all the rest. The tree was surrounded by a circle of park benches and the girls decided to take a break from their 'adventure.'
To the girls, the town itself didn't seem so bad, and many of the people they had actually met seemed extremely friendly and helpful, almost to a fault. It made them cheer up at the thought, knowing they were at least stranded in a place with such nice denizens.
After about a twenty minute break, Nashi stood up. "Well, it's probably about time we head back and deal with our actual problems. We need to figure out if we can stay at the inn first of all." Emily silently agreed and they started their trek back to the inn.
It was only a short walk between the park and the inn, but to Emily's shorter than average legs, the whole day of walking had really done her in. It may have also been due to her sedentary lifestyle and lack of exercise, but she preferred to blame her height. The worst of it was actually trying to keep up with Nashi, who had naturally long legs which made her stride that much longer than Emily's. She did the last push forward as she saw Nashi opening the door to the inn ahead of her.
Once they were inside, she was reminded about something she found off in this town. While at school, there were many people of different heights, but as she looked around town today, she noticed that the height ranges here were just that much more dramatic. The giant man in front of her was an example of this, as well as his petite grandfather who was walking up the stairs.
As said giant heard the door close, he looked at them and smirked. "So, what'll it be? Heard through the grapevine that your car was pretty banged up. Those fools may look like nothing, but they are actually top notch mechanics when they aren't bickering like an old married couple." He spouted the last part with a hint of disdain. "However, I know they can't fix everything and based on what I heard, that vehicle's going to need more than just a new coat of paint."
Emily looked to Nashi, hoping she would have a better strategy for dealing with this seemingly mocking man. Luckily for her, Nashi spoke up just before Ramiel was about to pose his question again.
"If you're asking whether we will be staying here, the answer is yes. However, we do not have a great time frame at the moment, as the mechanics said they had to get some parts shipped and that shipping was at least a few weeks." Emily was glad that Nashi decided to step up and explain their situation. Not only did she not feel she was qualified to be in any social situation, she didn't think she could muster the willpower to do it. These emotions never showed on her face though. That was one thing she had made sure of since her early days at the orphanage.
"Well, now that I know you're serious, let's get down to business." His entire disposition changed, as if he was a completely different person. His almost condescending attitude was replaced by a very professional aura. This role reversal almost caused Emily to believe the man had multiple personalities. "The going rate for our rooms a night is $100. I'm sure you were able to see the scant other establishments on your walk around town, and I can assure you that we are the cheapest."
Emily looked towards Nashi as if she couldn't believe her ears, however when she saw Nashi, she didn't seem to be terrified by the price, but taken aback by something else. Emily couldn't exactly put her finger on what Nashi could be so taken aback by, but before she was able to ask, Nashi asked the man, "Could you give us a couple minutes to think this over? I feel as though I need to discuss our financial situation with my friend here."
With that, Nashi rushed to pull Emily out of the room, but heard Ramiel yell as they ran out, "Take all the time you need. I'll even offer you one more night on the house if you stay with us." What they didn't hear him say after that was, 'It's always good to try and create frequent customers, even if you start out in the red to acquire them.'
As Nashi rushed out of the inn, her brain was running a mile a minute. 'What should I do? I know we have the money to stay here, but I'd rather not spend my savings on an inn. I planned on using it to start our lives over. I also can't let Emily find out about it yet. Not until we've figured out where we want to go, what we want to do, and who we want to be.'
As soon as she stepped foot outside the inn, she noticed the building across the street and darted for it, knowing it would be a quiet place to compose herself and talk to Emily. Without hesitating, she plowed full steam ahead into the library.
The first thing that confronted Nashi as soon as she opened the doors was the sheer quantity of books. She had expected a vast amount of literature since this was a library after all, but the fact that the walls themselves were lined from floor to ceiling with shelves made her mouth fall open. She had always been a fan of the written word, and the thought of all these books made her head spin. She also noticed that, even away from the shelves, the books seemed to just pile up on the floor, as if they hadn't been put away in a long time. There were stacks on the floor, on the stairs, on top of the mid-floor shelves, and even lining the edge of the receptionist desk. They were so tall in fact that she didn't even notice the woman who was sorting through books behind said stacks.
As they walked through the stacks of books, the girls were almost knocked over by a stack of falling books coming from the reception desk. Both girls had barely dodged the book landslide when they heard a voice come from the desk. "Damn it! Now I have to go through that stack again. This is the third time today that…" She finally noticed the girls. "Hello there, I guess I didn't hear you come in. Welcome to the Fairy Park library." The woman beamed at the duo. Neither were listening to her though, as they noticed one characteristic that they couldn't ignore. Just how short she was.
Nashi's thoughts were ablaze again. She had always used Emily as a height comparison when it came to those who were short. She called Emily short, but she was really 5'1, which only made her three inches shorter than the average. This woman in front of them was at most 5'0, and that was being generous. She also appeared to be in her mid to late twenties, which meant no more possible growth spurts for her. To Nashi, the thought of seeing someone in the prime of their life shorter than Emily was shocking, but she really needed to put that shock away in order to focus on the more pressing matters.
She looked at the woman, noticing her stunning, shoulder length blue hair, and tried to cut into her seemingly endless rant. "I'm sorry, we're only here to have a quiet conversation. Would that be alright?"
The woman looked at her, a bit saddened they weren't there to read, but pointed them to a partially clean table near the back. The girls followed her direction and moved to the table as the librarian went back to sorting through the fallen pile of literature.
Now at the table, Nashi began to panic again. She really didn't want to lie about her savings to Emily, but she thought that if her friend knew about the money and what she'd sacrificed to earn it, she'd become depressed at knowing Nashi was putting others' happiness before her own again. Nashi loved her friend so much, but she knew that today she was going to have to lie about this, so that their futures could be that much brighter.
"So, we both know that I basically have no cash. I probably have enough for my own meals, but that's not going to be fair to you." Emily started off the conversation, which surprised Nashi. She thought that this might actually make her situation a little easier. "How much do you have? It may be able to get us through the coming weeks, and then we can just figure out the rest when the time comes."
Nashi prepared herself for the first lie she had ever told her friend. "Of course I saved up for this trip, but I never thought we'd be staying in one place more than a night, so I didn't factor in that much regarding hotels and such. I assume we can part with about three nights for now." She then finally decided how they were going to get out of this mess. "Alright, here's the plan. While we're stuck here, we should both try to pick up some work to help pay for living expenses. I'll find a job first since I have more work experience, and we can try and ease you into the working world if we must."
"Are you sure about this Nashi?" Emily asked, a bit surprised by the vigor in her friend's words. "I mean, we could always cut our trip short and spend as much as we want on the hotel. You don't have to get a job if you don't want to" Emily started to shrink into her chair as she felt Nashi glare at her for that remark.
"We are not cutting this trip short. We've been planning this for four years now, and I know how much it means to you that we see the country." She then forced something into Emily's hand. "Now go give this to that freak of nature who is now our landlord and start to unpack. Might as well be comfy while we're stuck in the middle of nowhere." Emily looked down into her hands to see three crisp $100 dollar bills which Nashi seemed to pull out of thin air. She then looked up questioningly to her friend, with a face asking why she was doing it. "While you do that, I plan on learning a bit about this town from the library. I'm sure they at least have a few books on it. Now hop to it, we don't want him taking away our free night.
With that Emily sprinted out of the library as Nashi went to peruse the shelves for any book which may give her the knowledge she sought.
Emily only stopped running once she was across the street and away from the library. She knew her friend extremely well, but even she had rarely seen her forceful and scary side. It always seemed that conversations about money led to those reactions, which was why Emily always tried to stray away from that subject. It couldn't be helped now though. She knew that Nashi was probably right, but didn't like the idea of her friend having to work in order to make their trip a reality, especially when they were only doing it for her. She decided it would be best to try and not think about it, so she caught her breath and walked into the inn.
Ramiel hadn't moved from his spot from behind the counter. He gave Emily a stare as he started to spout a similar spiel to what she had heard only twenty minutes ago. She returned his stare, showing no emotion, but freaking out internally as she tried to process what she needed to say. She knew what it was, but listening to the maddening man in front of her made it hard to concentrate.
She eventually strung the words together and interrupted him in a soft, low voice. "We can pay for three nights up front. Nashi is going to try and get a job within the next couple of days and then we can pay what we owe for the rest of our time then. Will that be alright?" Emily was internally screaming at herself for not speaking louder, but the man in front of her took it as an attempt to intimidate him. Lucky for him, there were people in this town much scarier than the shorty in front of him.
"Okay then, I'll tell the old man about our deal and we'll give you the best service possible." Emily was again surprised at his change in demeanor. The delinquent was gone and again replaced by the cool and cunning business man. The change freaked her out as much as it had previously, but she decided to ignore it to the best of her abilities and simply went upstairs to unpack.
For Emily, unpacking was easy. She had only brought the bare minimum, having decided that bringing anything extra would only make their trip harder. This light packing job by her meant it only took at most half an hour for her to finish. She then decided to relax outside on a bench in front of the inn.
She only sat there for a minute before she saw something she really didn't expect to see wandering the streets of a town so far from Chicago. Walking down the street, she saw a strikingly familiar dark brown cat. As she got up to investigate, it only became clearer to her that it was indeed Lily, the cat she had been raising with Nashi since she could remember.
She started to follow him, calling out his name every now and then, but everytime she did, he only started moving away faster. However, he never sped up to a caliber that Emily couldn't easily keep up with him, so she decided to just keep up the 'chase' until he finally decided to stop for her.
Lily didn't stop until they were well out of the main town. She had followed him down the main street, around a turn that led to a dirt road, and down said road for at least an hour. The trip had given Emily a much better idea of how big Fairy Park was. It wasn't anywhere near Chicago in size, but without a car or other mode of transportation, navigating and commuting would be a pain. She groaned, knowing the fact that their car was undrivable would just make this new problem worse. It was then that Lily finally turned around and jumped into her arms.
"So, want to explain why you led me all the way out here?" she questioned the cat, knowing the only response she'd receive was a low meow. "I guess there's no use complaining about it now. Might as well just start the trek back to the room, and then I'm putting you on a leash." The feline made a noise that almost sounded like a laugh as Emily started down the dirt road.
She started to walk, but only took a couple steps before she heard a truck driving up behind her. She stepped out of the way, hoping not to get hit, but the truck only pulled up beside her. The driver side window rolled down and she could see a man with short black hair who she recognized from the diner this morning.
Emily didn't say a word, so the man interrupted her thoughts. "You lost shorty?" He said it in an almost concerned tone. Based on what she had seen this morning, she didn't take him to be the caring type, but she guessed it'd be better to not judge people by their appearances since people did the same to her all the time. Emily slowly nodded her head to the man, which prompted him to ask his next question. "You need a lift back into town?"
Emily weighed her options in her head. Either she walked back to town, taking who knows how long, or she got into the car with a strange man and risked whatever that entails. She continued her thought process for a while longer, but was cut off by Lily jumping into the truck and laying on the lap of said strange man.
He said, "Well, looks like your cat has decided, now am I leaving you here, or are you going to accept the ride with the cat?" She finally gave up on thinking and hopped into the passenger seat, hoping nothing bad would come of this.
Nashi browsed the various shelves that seemed to cover every square inch the library had to offer. She was searching for anything that would give her the history of this town. She had already picked up a couple about the political history of the town and a couple old newspapers she found, but she couldn't find everything she was looking for. That mainly included the founding of the town. She had done a brief skimming of her political books, and none of the tables of contents went past 1950.
She was ruminating on this thought, when she heard a scream from the front desk. She rushed to see what was wrong, only to find the librarian covered in books. Nashi helped her up, finding that the woman was surprisingly light. She gave her a concerned look, noticing a couple bumps and bruises that couldn't have just been formed. Eventually, she spoke. "Are you alright? That seems like it happens to you a lot."
The blue haired librarian only sighed, looking at the pile of now unorganized books. After a minute of just staring she finally found herself speaking. "Physically, I'm fine. I can take whatever these books can throw at me. However, running the library by yourself can be extremely stressful, especially when the few customers you have can read half the library a week."
Nashi couldn't help the words that came out of her mouth, she just felt so bad for the woman in front of her. "I could help you put these books away." The woman, who had continued her ramblings, looked to Nashi with a look of confusion, which turned to the brightest smile she had seen, the librarian having now processed what Nashi had said.
"I'd love the help. Heck, I have extra money in the budget, so why don't you start working for me." The woman continued proudly explaining the job position as Nashi was taken aback by her enthusiasm, as well as how easy a job seemed to fall into her lap. She had planned to go door to door the next day to ask any business she could if they needed help, but it didn't look like that would be needed now.
Nashi eventually found a time to cut into the woman's endless flow of words and spoke. "I'd love to work here. My friend and I were actually discussing getting jobs to pay for our stay here, but I didn't expect it to basically fall into my lap like this." Nashi rubbed the back of her neck, a bit nervous in front of the rather forceful woman.
The woman only looked at her, like she had said something wrong. "It didn't fall into your lap. First, you came to check on me. Second, you actually showed an interest in helping me. And third, I can tell by the look in your eye that you would rather be holed up in this library than working anywhere else around here. So, whaddya say? Start work early tomorrow morning"
Nashi was again shocked, but eventually composed herself and answered the woman, more sure of herself this time. "That sounds great. My name is Nashi Astrea, and I would love to work under you at this fine book reading establishment." She said the last part with the same enthusiasm the small librarian seemed to always have.
"I'm glad to have you. I suppose it would do you well to know the name of your boss, huh? Phoebe Gardener, head, and only, librarian of the Fairy Park library."
With the new job acquired, Nashi decided she would take the rest of the day off in order to read and learn. Phoebe reminded her she wasn't technically working yet, but Nashi brushed it off. She looked for a quiet corner to read her stack of books in and found one near the back of the room, hearing Phoebe mumble, 'Finally someone who can reach the top shelves,' just out of ear shot.
In her quiet corner of the world, Nashi began to dive into her tall stack of books, promising Phoebe she'd put them away herself. The first one on her list was about the recent politics of Fairy Park. She began reading, not expecting the book to be as interesting as it was. She became so engrossed in her new tome, that she didn't notice a man walking past her, dressed all in black, who added a new book to the top of her stack.
The car ride with the mysterious man had started out rather awkward. Neither said a word, opting for an awkward silence. Emily took that time to fully realize just how far she'd followed Lily. They had been driving for at least twenty minutes, and they were still on the same dirt road he had picked her up on. A small strip of paved road could be seen in the distance, but it didn't seem to be getting closer anytime soon.
Eventually, the large man broke the silence. "So, what's your name shorty?"
Emily just glared at him a moment, not too fond of the nickname. She eventually relented and spoke. "Emily, and you?"
"Levi." the man said with little emotion shown on his face. The truck was silent again before Levi began to try and break it. "Where you from, squirt?"
Emily glared at him again, which caused him to grin in satisfaction. It seemed as though he was trying to annoy her. "I'm from Chicago." she finally answered, not looking to continue the conversation.
Levi didn't let up with the questions though. "What're you doing here?"
"A friend and I had a car accident." she responded, giving up any hope that this ride could remain silent.
"Not what I meant." he responded, confusing her a bit. "Word travels fast around town, so I'm sure just about everyone knows about you and your friend's nasty wreck. I mean what're you doing out here, so far away from town?"
"I was following him." She pointed to Lily, who was curled up on the middle console, likely tired from the long wild goose chase.
"Was the cat really that important?" he asked back, causing said cat to hiss, almost in annoyance at the remark. Levi ignored it and just looked to Emily for the answer.
She frowned at the thought. Of course Lily was important enough, she just didn't want to tell him why. With more resolve than she could normally muster, she decided she needed to confront the truth. "Yes he's that important. He's one of my best friends." Emily purposely left out the fact he was one of her two friends. It would have been too embarrassing to admit she only had two and that one of them wasn't even human.
"Well, to each their own I guess." With that, Levi went back to driving, apparently thinking the conversation was over. And it would have been, if Emily didn't feel as though he had mentally attacked her by forcing her to think about her lack of friends.
With a slight tinge of anger, she started her own impromptu interrogation. "Hey, what were you doing out here? I don't suppose you just happened upon me."
"I work out here." Emily only looked confused at his answer. There didn't seem to even be a farm in the nearby vicinity, so she wasn't keen to believe him. He decided to clarify his answer, seeing her skepticism. "There's a mine farther down the road. I basically run the place, but that's not really important, is it?"
Emily was satisfied with the answer now, but that didn't stop her from continuing the interrogation. "How long have you been a resident of Fairy Park?"
"My whole life."
"Why do you have metal studs in your arm?"
"Is that really important kid?"
That last comment made her ask something that had been bothering her since he had first addressed her. "Are all the short comments and nicknames really necessary? You asked my name, so why don't you use it?"
"I just call 'em and I see 'em, and nicknames are easier to remember than names."
After that remark, the conversation went quiet again, and stayed that way for the rest of the forty five minute drive back into town.
Once he dropped her off at the inn, she thanked him for the ride, and he responded with a wave from his window. She then sat back on the bench outside the inn and decided to relax with the setting sun after having such an awkward ride back. She was none the wiser to the girl staring at her from across the street.
Only an hour into her investigation, Nashi was already one book down. She surprised herself with the speed, already expecting to be on book three. The problem was just how dense the book had been. It may have only covered the last twenty years or so, but damn was there a lot that happened between then and now.
She placed the book on the floor, creating a finished stack as she reached for her next book. What she saw as she brought the book to her face was not anything she was expecting. It was a thick leather bound book, seeming to disintegrate with how old it was. The corners of the cover were nearly worn away, and the binding almost seemed to be held together by nothing, feeling as though it could fall apart any second. Nashi stared at the cover intently, reading the gold colored title, 'A Fairy's Tail.' She found herself amused by the choice of words used, trying to find the significance of it.
Eventually, she snapped out of her thoughts and decided to open the book. This only sent her soaring back into a thinking fervor as she saw an illustration on the opening page. There, right in front of her eyes, was a complete outline of her birthmark. The resemblance was uncanny, and Nashi could barely process the new information.
In order to keep herself composed, she flipped to the next page, hoping the book wouldn't continue to set her off so easily. Luckily, what she found next was just a simple note from the author.
I write this book with the hope that these stories will not be lost. They may seem strange and abnormal, but these are the tales I grew up being told and was never able to find physical copies of them. This book contains countless tales of heroism, love, defeat, and overcoming great odds. I would also like to add that these stories are all connected. They all happened in the same world, but they are written in a way that takes them out of their timeline. Stories which contained the same set of characters have been sectioned off into their own chapters, allowing for one to read someone's entire story before moving on to the next. And while many characters cross over into many different chapters, the sections that focus on them contain the real meat to their stories. To all those who read this book, I thank you and hope you find these tales as magical as I did
-Mavis Vermillion
Nashi read through the note again and was immediately intrigued. This hadn't been the reason she originally decided to stay at the library, but decided that she now had a book to read while she was stranded here. She placed it in it's own pile, planning to take it back to the inn, and got back to the large pile she still needed to read.
The sun was beginning to set as she finally finished her academic reading. She stood up from her new favorite reading spot and began to put all she had read away. Since everything had come from the same section, the task was simple and she found herself bounding towards the front doors until she remembered the other book.
She took said book to the front counter, where Phoebe seemed to be making a decent headway on the monumental stacks. She had Phoebe check the book out for her, being given no date of return due to the book's lack of popularity. Before she knew it, she was out the library's large wooden doors and met with a scene she couldn't fathom,
She witnessed Emily step out of a large gray truck, seemingly talking to the man as he drove off with a wave out his window. She then stared at Emily for a minute, trying to discern how her friend had ended up in a stranger's pick-up when she saw what Emily was holding. She could only internally laugh at herself, seeing the cat. She thought, 'I can't believe I forgot about Lily again.'
After a perfect dinner at Titania's, although they were basically dragged into the diner by Matilda, the girls walked back up to their room, talking about the day. Nashi decided to keep pushing a question she had been asking since they reunited. "Are you sure nothing was going on with that truck? It's not like you to hop into a vehicle with some stranger, so come on. Tell me what happened."
"Fine." Emily finally relented. "I was following Lily, and eventually we were pretty far out of town. Once I finally got him, I started the walk back, but a truck pulled up beside me. He asked if I wanted a ride, and before I could give my answer, Lily just hopped into the truck like it was a settled deal. I just decided to go with the flow at that point, and I'm kinda glad I did since I didn't realize just how far out I had walked" Emily just looked at the floor, a bit embarrassed at the situation.
"So, what was he like?" Nashi gave Emily what could only be described as a shit eating grin as she poked at her friend's situation. She did feel for her friend a little, but having seen Emily with that shy, embarrassed look on her face, she just couldn't help it.
Emily sighed at her friend, seeing the smile and knowing exactly what she was doing. "If you must know, he was a large, scary man. You might have recognized him, he was at the diner this morning."
"You got into the car with a man you personally describe as scary?" Nashi rebutted, finally showing concern for her friend again. "Lily be damned, you should have run away."
"He wasn't actually that scary." Emily said, trying to assuage her friend's worry. "He actually reminded me of myself. You know, looking scary but wishing you didn't?" Emily finally thought of a way to change the path of conversation. "So, what were you able to learn today?"
Nashi's response was not what she was expecting. From what she described, it sounded like the same man, Jason Bomris, had been running the town for the past nearly thirty years. Apparently he had always been an uncontested mayor, and no one had enough courage to run against him. Another shocking fact was that a plague had run rampant in the town long ago, and killed off hundreds. Nashi had deduced this was probably around when the innkeeper, who's name they learned was Howard, was in his prime. This meant they wouldn't be running into too many elderly, and the ones they had already had the pleasure of meeting were just a fluke. The last important tidbit of information that Nashi had was that the town was owned by a man named Zachary White.
Emily thought Nashi was done expositing the history of the town, when she finally decided to drop the big bomb of information. "Okay, Emily, I'm going to need you not to freak out here, okay?" Emily just looked at her in confusion, but nodded anyway. "Well, don't say I didn't warn you." With that final attempt to prepare her friend, she pulled out the old leather bound book, and turned it to Emily. She opened it to the first page, and Emily was shocked into silence. Nashi saw this and decided she needed to help. "Uncanny, isn't it? I was just as surprised as you when I saw this symbol. However, I don't think there's anything we can do about it at the moment, so it's best to just put a pin in it for later."
Emily finally looked up to her friend and nodded her confirmation. The room was silent for a long while, until Emily broke the silence. "Well, I think I'm going to bed. It's been a long day, and we apparently need to go job hunting tomorrow."
That reminded Nashi, "That's right. I forgot to mention, but I already acquired one." This only caused Emily to raise her eyebrow in confusion, so Nashi thought it would be better to explain. "I sort of fell into one at the library, so I'll be starting there tomorrow morning. I'll try my best not to wake you up. I know how much you enjoy sleeping in." Nashi finally concluded with, "I'll probably be going to sleep soon myself, but this book I picked up from the library interests me so much that I think I'll stay up just a bit longer."
With that, Emily went to her bed and fell asleep rather quickly while Nashi positioned herself close to a lamp, trying to keep the light away from Emily. Nashi turned to the page after the author's note and finally found the table of contents. She was surprised to see the massive amount of chapters that were contained in this book. She was also surprised by their names, ranging from something as random as Blue, White, and Black, to something as straightforward as The Drunkard. However, nothing was going to stop Nashi from investigating this book. She decided to get comfortable and started on the first chapter, titled: The Black Wizard.
She took notes on the whole chapter, finding both the writing style and content to be very intriguing. The most vexing part was the fact that no character seemed to be named, only going by vague descriptions. She compiled her notes, and decided she would fully write down any passage she found truly intriguing. These passages were:
The Black Wizard never truly wanted to go against the world. All he wanted was to see his little brother one more time, but the world would not allow it. The world decided that he would be punished for his actions which threatened the laws of nature, for trying to bring his long lost brother back to the world of the living.
The Black Wizard was frozen in time. He never aged. His punishment was that of being immortal and watching everything he loved perish. The more he loved life, the more his presence killed it. However, the less he thought of life, the less life that he would involuntarily snuff out. This became his curse, his burden to bear for the rest of his immortal life.
There was only one who was able to show him compassion and love during his time walking the earth. The Fairy Girl was able to conjure life that he could touch, and was able to show him life that wouldn't die due to his presence. This was one of the few times he could remember when he was happy.
The Fairy Girl grew to love the Black Wizard, but this would lead to both of their downfalls. He loved her too, but his curse overpowered hers, forcing the girl into a comatose and lifeless state. The Black Wizard brought the girl back to her friends and left the world of the living once more.
Life grew meaningless for the Black Wizard, and all he yearned for was death. He had learned through his journey that no normal thing could kill him, so he decided to create creatures that could. His demons were given powers stronger than any magic in the world, but still, he couldn't be killed. These demons were eventually turned into books, becoming known to humanity as the demons of the book of the Black Wizard, the greatest threats to humanity's survival.
Nashi finally finished her notes and looked at her phone. She paled as she noticed the time; midnight. She had spent much longer than planned reading. She set the book on a nightstand and turned off the lamp. She went to sleep that night pondering about the tragic wizard and the cruel world that forced him into villainy.
Somewhere near the center of the town, a man sat calmly at his desk. The man had dark skin and even darker hair that cascaded down his back. He wore a dark blue suit, nearly cloaking himself in the dark room. Here he sat, pondering the events of the previous night.
An earthquake had shaken the very foundations of Fairy Park. This wasn't all that uncommon, but for one to shake every inch of the town was unheard of. He knew that quake had to mean something, but he couldn't quite put a finger on it. He finally decided it would be better if he went home and thought about it there. Finally, he stood up from his desk and began to pack up his belongings.
He was interrupted by a man bolting into his office, seemingly out of breath by his speed. "I'm sorry for my late intrusion sir, but I finally found some information you might find important." The man in charge only looked at his subordinate, waiting for him to continue. "It would seem, sir, that we have a couple of new residents here in town. Again, I'm so sorry this is coming to you so late, but I was just able to wrangle some security tapes away from Aster." he handed the tapes to the man and bowed as he saw himself out.
"Why is the mayor always last to find out?" he grumbled as his assistant left. He decided it'd be best to just watch them here so that no evidence would be found at his home. As he began to watch the first tape, he was surprised to see two young women, no older than eighteen, walking out of the hospital. What surprised him was that one of them was the mirror image of someone he had faced in the past, only with a bit more pink in the hair.
He finally understood what the earthquake had been about. He grinned devilishly as he finally exited his office, saying to himself, "So it's time for the final showdown, huh?"