Chapter Three - Curiosity Broke The Wing

The next night, the two fairies emerged from their respective sides. Although it was dark, and they were under the cover of night, they wanted to take extra precaution that they weren't seen, so Clarion hid herself under an autumn leaf, while Milori hid himself under a snowflake. They both fell from the sky and landed at the same time, to which they then looked up at each other, each one bursting with excitement.

"You ready?" asked Milori, offering his arm.

"It's you who should have to be ready, you great big snowman!" giggled Clarion, accepting his gesture. Milori smiled.

Since the night was brisk and cold, Clarion had adorned a yellow sweater to match her skirt to keep out the chill, reassuring one another that any danger would be minimal.

The two lovers crossed into autumn.

Clarion started the evening with a tour of the autumn forest, and Milori flew up to admire the colours and patterns of the warmer seasons. Although a bit overcome by the sudden heat that was cool for a warm fairy but quite strange and warm to a winter, he ignored himself and pressed on, wanting to please Clarion.

They flew through spring but stayed clear of summer, as even at night, summer was too hot for a winter fairy. Milori began to feel a little bit too warm for comfort but carried on. He wanted to see all that there was to see, although he wiped his brow as small beads of sweat began to form. Clarion showed Milori butterflies, flowers, dewdrops and leaves, and Milori thought it was all beautiful.

"But nowhere near as beautiful as you," he said to Clarion, and they kissed again.

Meanwhile, Hyacinth, who had been watching from afar, used his magic as a light fairy to change the temperature of the Spring Valley. With a flick of pixie-dust, he raised the temperature bit by bit. He hovered nearby, staying out of sight...

Back on the tour, Milori was starting to properly overheat now. Even Clarion said, "It's a lot warmer than I though it'd be, I think we should get you back to winter." Milori nodded. But they had ventured so far into the warm seasons, it was nearly half a mile to the border.

They started heading back at a brisk pace, but after so much time, Milori could take it no longer. "Clarion," he began, "I'm so sorry to cut our time short, but, I have to get back to winter… NOW!"

Clarion gasped as she realised that he had been over here for nearly an hour, and it was unusually warm tonight. She wondered why. The two began to race back to the border, gold and silver trails of pixie dust trailing behind them as they flew, neither one of them noticing the wilted state of Milori's wings...

Meanwhile, Hyacinth continued to raise the temperature, until Milori felt himself growing too heavy for his weakened wings to lift him, and he fell to the ground in a heap, dirt flying everywhere. Behind him, the silver light that usually emitted from his wings began to flicker.

"Oh my goodness!" Clarion exclaimed. What have I done?! Rushing to Milori's side, she tried with all of her might to lift him, but he was a much larger build than her. Still, through bitter determination, she fluttered her huge, golden wings with all her might.

"My wings…" said Milori through batted breath, "I can't feel them… "

Hyacinth smiled evilly from afar.

A small tear escaped the Queen's eyes as she saw the completely wilted look of her beloved's wings. She eventually managed to get Milori to stand, and the two began racing with all their might on foot, the winter fairy barely conscious.

"We're almost there!" Clarion cried as they ran back through the autumn woods, "We're almost…" she managed to practically throw Milori back over to winter, and both of them collapsed in the snow. But Clarion shook herself off, knowing that her beloved was top priority, and rushed over to him. "Oh my god, oh my god, Milori! I am so sorry! This was a terrible idea! What have I done?! This is all my fault! Milori? Can you hear me?!"

But the sparrowman could only mumble, "Cl-clarion, get back t-to, the warm side, before-" but he couldn't finish his sentence, as an unbearable pain shot through his back and down his right wing, his eyes clamped shut and his head reeled back.

Clarion screamed. "Milori! NO!" she cried over the horrible sound of a wing breaking.

It was the same sound as any bone breaking or fracturing, a sharp crack, but it came from something so delicate and beautiful that it sounded unnatural. She looked down at his now shredded wing. The heat had been too much. Milori's right wing had completely ripped in half, leaving a horrid jagged edge along the part still connected to his back. Where once Milori had feared that Clarion would be the next Ayaz Aquilo, it was he who had ended up being the one to carry on his legacy.

He managed to regain some consciousness, and clutched his shoulder in pain, "No…" he breathed as he felt his missing wing, "no..." he buried his face in his hand, using the other to support himself.

"Milori…" Clarion reached out a hand, but he just shrugged it off.

"Not now, Clarion!" he snapped.

The Queen was taken aback. "Milori, I'm so sorry, I-"

"JUST GO!" he exclaimed, and the Queen buried her face in her hands and flew away at high speed, while Milori then collapsed in the snow, overcome with pain and exhaustion.

Hyacinth fluttered down to the border and gazed at the pathetic sight in front of him. "She'll never want you now, you disgusting winter fairy," he spat, "Who could ever love a cripple? Who could ever love a fairy that cannot fly?" he cackled horribly as he flew away.

His plan had worked perfectly.

When Milori awoke, he was lying on a block of ice in a healing talent fairies examination room, with an aching pain in his back. Dewey was right next to him. A healing talent fairy explained the whole story, about how Dewey had found him unconscious in the snow only a few hours ago.

"Can anything be done?" he asked the keeper.

Dewey opened his mouth to speak, but right at that moment, a healing talent fairy entered the room, "My Lord," she began, "I'm afraid I have some bad news..."

On that fateful night, Queen Clarion had retreated to her home in silent shock. She went to her bedroom within the pixie-dust tree, ignoring the glances she received from the ministers as she flew through the hall.

She pushed open her door and sat down on the bed. She just sat there for what seemed like hours, which was only 10 minutes in reality. When all of a sudden she broke down in a fit of tears and buried her face in her many pillows. Eventually, Redleaf knocked on her door and fluttered over.

Although Clarion was 18, the Minister of Autumn could only see a distraught little girl in front of him, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Ree?" he began, speaking to her as if she were his own daughter, "What happened, dear?" he asked.

But he was not given an answer. He would never be given the answer. Instead, Clarion stood up and called in the ministers, not caring that they were in her private bedroom. She decided that she should make her first official proclamation as queen.

That evening, after many hours of nagging, debating, and pushing, she had made it illegal for any fairy to ever cross into the winter season, and passed the 'Great Divide Bill', stating that any warm fairy discovered in the winter woods shall be taken to her immediately, and if a winter fairy is found on the warm side they were to be sent to lord Milori to be dealt with. Before, entering the different seasons was strongly unadvised for the fairies own safety, but it was never formally announced as a crime. But after tonight, it was. This was Clarion's way of apologising to her now flightless beloved, by making sure that no one will suffer the same way he had suffered ever again.

The following week however, when all had settled, the two fairies had subconsciously known that they would both be at the border that night, as if a spiritual connection had told them as they lay awake in bed, and they took their final look at each other when they met at midnight. Clarion flew closer, her hand against the soft white wall of falling snow that separated autumn from winter.

Milori took her hand in his, "I'm sorry." he began, not even able to meet her gaze.

"No, Milori," began the Queen, "I'm sorry," she said.

Milori turned to look at her. "I heard about the new law. I've agreed to sign it," he said as he retrieved some parchment from within his cape, which he now always wore to hide his mutation, to hide his shame. "I received the draft you sent me. My name is on it."

But Clarion wasn't listening. With one quick move, she threw her arms around the winter fairy and kissed him hard.

Milori deepened the kiss and wrapped his arms around her tiny waist. "We have to say goodbye," he said, and Clarion nodded through tears. When one rolled down her cheek, Milori touched it, and turned her teardrop into a tiny, beautiful snowflake. He placed it on her palm and closed her fingers over it.

All Clarion could do was keep looking at the flake, and didn't even notice that her love had disappeared into the night.

"Goodbye, Milori…" she whispered.

She started heading back to the pixie-dust tree, but stopped almost immediately. It suddenly dawned on her. Some silly law wasn't going to stop other fairies like her from venturing into the great unknown. There was more she needed to do. Turning back to face the wall of snow that had once called her into it, that had once inspired her to venture further, now stood ghostly and dormant, a fiend waiting to strike.

Pushing back her tears, Clarion flew into the air and spread her arms to the side, focusing all of her energy into this one act of magic. Shutting her eyes tight with concentration, the ground beneath her began to break away, and the brown earth of the autumn wood and the solid ice ground of winter began to break away with a deafening rumble as earth and stone were moved. A lake protruded from the base of the warm-side earth as it split apart, although wherever the ice fjord touched the water on the other side, it quickly froze over, the lake dividing itself down the middle.

As the earth moved and shifted, an autumn tree began to quake and fell forward, making a natural bridge between the two sides. Clarion collapsed to the ground, exhausted and tears refusing to yield. She brought her knees into her chest, knowing that she had done the right thing but it felt so painful to do so. She would never see Milori again. Her best friend. Her one true love. Her snowman.

Over the years, Milori acquired a beautiful snowy owl named Avalanche, who would serve as his wings. The Lord of Winter often retreated to conceal himself inside the walls of his ice palace when he was finished with his duties. He now always wore a long feather cape to hide the horror situated on his back. He was ashamed. Ashamed of himself for not listening. Ashamed to be a fairy who would never fly again. Due to this, he sank into a quiet but great depression, and his smile became rarer and rarer. Although he always tried to smile for his people.

The monarchs of Pixie Hollow lived far longer lives than regular fairies, and in fact lived to be hundreds of years old, although never resembled their ages. As one whole century passed, the two lovers never once saw each other face to face, but never lost their love. Not once.

The two were still thinking about one another one particular night, even after so much time had passed, and had never considered ever letting go of the past. But their reveries were interrupted however, when a guard informed both the Queen of the warm-side and the Lord of Winter of a new arrival alert.

When Milori came to the winter pixie-dust tree where all of the winter-side populace was gathered, he knelt down to greet the small fairy with platinum white hair that had sprouted from a dandelion. He greeted her with a warm smile and held out his hand, and she took it and stood up.

"Winter fairies," he turned to address the crowd, "Please welcome the newest member of our family; Periwnkle."

On the warm side, Clarion gently placed her hands on the little golden-haired fairy's shoulders, only just born of laughter moments ago and clothed in the happiness that had brought her here, "Come forward, Tinker fairies," she addressed the crowd with her queenly grace and warm smile, the tiny new-born clutching a hammer with both hands, "And welcome the newest member of your talent guild; Tinkerbell."