Chapter 13 – Darklight

Seth stared around at everyone who was surrounding him. They were all eager to get started with their so-called testing. Seth knew exactly what the problem was, but he didn't want to go about explaining it, lest they sniff out Zavarok and go about destroying him. There had to be a better way, right? Maybe they would understand? Unfortunately, coming clean would be the only way for Seth to find out, and if he didn't like the answer, he would be at a loss.

"All right then, boys," said Bright, please follow Clover and myself."

Bright and Clover walked over to the center of the yard, prompting Seth, Lance and David to follow them. Lance and David appeared to be relatively calm, as far as Seth could tell. However, they knew nothing of Zavarok's presence like Seth did.

"Raxtus," shouted Clover, facing another direction. "Please come here!"

Raxtus responded not by speaking, but by simply walking over from the small, nearby cave where his family was staying for the duration of their visit. He seemed to be in better spirits than he had been the previous night.

"It's very simple," said Bright. "Who wants to go first?"

"Me," said Raxtus. "After what I went through yesterday, I feel kinda disoriented."

"Very well," said Bright. "Please stand directly still while we inspect you. Don't worry, it won't hurt."

Bright stepped several feet before Raxtus, while Clover stood behind him. "Ready, Clover?"

"Ready."

Bright held out her hands, and a rainbow spouted out from her palms. It arced itself right over Raxtus' head, and down into Clover's cupped hands.

"A rainbow?" asked David. "What is the point of this?"

"We're going to pass our rainbow through Raxtus," said Clover. "It'll detect whether Raxtus has any traces of unwanted darkness within him."

The rainbow's arc lowered down into Raxtus' body, passing through him like a ghost. It stayed in the center of the his body for several seconds, then disappeared.

"He's clean," said Clover.

"That's it?" asked Raxtus, looking somewhat dumbfounded.

"How can you tell?" asked Lance.

"Simple," said Bright. "My rainbow channeled pure fairy essence through to Clover. Had Raxtus had some negative force lurking within him, Clover's half of the rainbow wouldn't have come out properly."

"Who's next?" asked Clover.

"Hold on!" exclaimed Seth. "I'm a shadow charmer! Of course you're gonna detect darkness within me! It can't be helped! You know that. Aww, this isn't fair!"

"I'll go next," said Lance, moving over to where Raxtus had stood previously. "This is safe, right?"

"Even to a creature of darkness," said Bright assuredly, as she conjured up a rainbow up over Lance and down towards Clover. The rainbow then lowered downwards, until it passed through Lance's head and through his midsection.

"How does it feel, anyway?" asked Seth.

"I can't feel a thing," said Lance, admiring the rainbow that was poking itself through his stomach.

"No problems with Lance," said Clover, pointing out that her side of the rainbow was still natural.

"Who wants to go next?" asked Bright, as she dispelled the rainbow from her hands, causing it to vanish entirely.

"I guess I..." began David.

"Let's just get this over with," interrupted Seth. "We all know it's me. I'll go."

Seth stepped up to where Lance and Raxtus had both stood, then crossed his arms. "Will just being a shadow charmer give the rainbow a bad signal?"

"The rainbow's intended to seek out a hidden aura of darkness, which is what we believe caused the other fairies to grow weak," replied Bright. "As a shadow charmer, you don't normally give off a dark aura on your own."

"Okay," said Seth nervously. "Do that rainbow thing then."

Bright nodded and arced another rainbow over to Clover. The rainbow then lowered itself into and through Seth's body. The sensation of having a rainbow pass through his body was completely unnoticeable and painless. To Seth, the rainbow felt no different than standing in a spotlight. The only difference, was that it was actually passing through his body and out the other side, which seemed rather bizarre. Seth turned his head back to try and get a glimpse at the backside of the rainbow.

"Seth's fine too," said Clover, signalling for Bright to to cease the flow of her rainbow. Seth felt relieved. Was the fairies' magic even working properly? Or was there an even more deceitful, undetectable form of dark magic lurking within him?

"That just leaves you, David," said Bright.

David took in a deep breath. "It figures. But I shouldn't have any darkness within me. When I freed Hespera, I was under the impression that Zavarok would have to be properly removed from my body in order for the witch's magic to work right."

"Better safe than sorry," said Bright. "Besides, it may not even be anybody's fault. However, we're not going to learn anything by not searching for clues."

Bright then proceeded to create a fourth rainbow, which she arced over David to Clover. The rainbow passed down into David's body, phasing through him as it did to the other three. A moment later, the group all noticed something awry. The back half of the rainbow, the half that was flowing away from David and into Clover, was completely black.

Clover shrieked in horror, then backed away, allowing the dark rainbow to flow down into the ground. "Bright! Cut the rainbow!"

Bright nodded, and the rainbow immediately disappeared. However, where it had hit the ground, the grass and soil appeared to be all darkened and destroyed, leaving nothing but what resembled burn marks.

"What happened?" asked Grandma, looking down at the destroyed indentation.

"There's some dark essence within David," said Clover. "The rainbow is what flushed it out."

"You mean Zavarok might still be in me?" asked David fearfully. "But... how?"

"We don't know if that's the case," said Bright. "It may just be a residual effect of hosting a demon in your body. Or something else entirely. We aren't too sure, beyond the fact that it exists."

"What's gonna happen to me?" asked David.

"There's a very high likelihood that you're the reason the fairies have grown weak," said Bright. "Even if it was inadvertent."

Seth thought to himself. He knew that Zavarok was still floating about. But why did the rainbow detect darkness within David if the demon had been released from him? Did Zavarok even stay in the dungeon as Seth had requested? Something was up.

"I think we need to send David to the Fairy Kingdom to cleanse him from that darkness."

"The Fairy Kingdom?" asked Grandpa. "You want to bring someone obviously contaminated with darkness into your realm?"

Seth squirmed, not knowing how to go about explaining Zavarok to the others. "That sounds a bit extreme. Can't you fairies just perform your little Care Bear stare on David again? Just force out the darkness that's still there?"

"It's not safe to attempt it here," said Bright. "That dark essence that trickled out of David through our rainbow... that could only be the tip of the iceberg. And if this is Zavarok we're talking about, it could cause some severe damage if we try to flush it all out without taking the right precautions."

"Whereas back in the Fairy Kingdom, we can designate a special area for this very purpose," said Clover. "And if anything goes wrong, we'll have our most powerful fairies on standby."

"Is this... safe?" asked Kendra. "Bringing a contaminated soul like David's into the Fairy Kingdom? What if you can't contain it?"

"It's worth the risk," said Bright. "If us two fairy angels can withstand him, a group of us shouldn't have any problem."

Although he kept his feelings to himself, Seth was outraged. What was going on with Zavarok? Not only had he claimed that he was unable to stray from Seth, but now they were finding his residual essence within David! What was going on?

"How's this whole procedure going to happen?" asked David.

"We're going to schedule an appointment for you right away," said Clover. "It shouldn't take long. We'll be back shortly."

Everyone watched as Bright and Clover flew up into the air and off in the direction of the naiad's pond.

"Now what?" asked Kendra.

"Normally, I'd suggest we'd simply wait," answered Grandpa. "However, we still have the matter of Hespera to deal with as well. While we wait for the fairies to return, I propose that we all head back inside and discuss the situation further."

The group all headed back into the house, and made their way into the living room, where everyone discovered a seat.

"Not you, Seth," said Grandpa, pointing at his grandson who had seated himself. "You're not off the hook for what you did yesterday! Back to your room!"

"But, I want to help!"

"If you hadn't helped out in the first place, we wouldn't be in this mess, now would we?" asked Grandpa. "The fairies would've reacted to David soon enough, and we would've found out the truth some way! And we wouldn't have Hespera to deal with, either!"

"That tears it," said Mr. Sorenson. "Seth, go to your room. Now!"

"Look... I..."

"NOW!"

"Fine!" shouted Seth, as he ran out of the living room and bolted up the stairs. He dashed into his bedroom and slammed the door, before plopping himself onto his bed and covering his head with his hands.

"Zavarok!" cried Seth. "Why? Why did you do this to me?"

"Seth?" asked Zavarok, whose voice Seth could sense rising up through the floor. "Did you want to talk?"

"Zavarok, what's going on?"

"I was in the dungeon the whole time."

"No, I mean, with David. The fairies found your essence within him. Are you still with him or not?"

"Of course not. It's you who I'm seemingly tethered to."

"This is all your fault!" exclaimed Seth. "Why'd you have to drag us humans into this! Look, I'm sorry that you and Navarog hate each other! And I'm sorry that he killed you! But did you really have to possess an innocent boy and thrust your problem on us Knights of the Dawn? Was it really worth it?"

"I'm sorry," said Zavarok. "It's not my fault. It wasn't my decision to be born a demon dragon. Think I've had a fun life? Shunned from by own kin just because I didn't fit in with them. I was a freak. I despised their malevolent ideals. And the beings I actually wanted to befriend, they saw me as a terrifying demonic dragon. I was an outcast. And after my own brother killed me in my human form, I had no choice but to remain in limbo alone, or possess a body and seek assistance. Sorry about David, but it's not like I had any friends back when I was alive."

"Zavarok," said Seth. "I'm sorry. It's just that I'm in a lot of trouble because of all of this. I... wanted to help you, but I got carried away, because I didn't think that the others would understand."

"I forgive you," said Zavarok. "I know that I'm at the root of the problem, but believe me, it wasn't on purpose. I'm just in a very difficult situation."

Seth took in a deep breath. "Listen, Zavarok. "I know you're against the whole idea, but I really feel that I should tell everyone about you."

"But, what if they end up destroying me?"

"I've done everything I can to help you," said Seth. "It might be best to just admit defeat. I know you may suffer, but as it stands right now, your existence poses a hazard to the fairies here. And since you can't leave my presence, the only other option would be for me to leave Fablehaven indefinitely."

"I understand. Perhaps maybe, if you were to leave Fablehaven again, we could find a solution?"

"We already tried that," noted Seth. "And look where that led us. Look, I... I... can't keep you a secret forever and ever. Hiding the truth like this is only going to make things worse and worse. Those fairies who were weakened last night... they survived. But this could very well happen again and get worse."

"I don't see what other choice we have," said Zavarok. "It's all right. Tell the others about me. I've caused enough trouble already."

"You do realize they may eradicate you," said Seth. "That is what happens to dead demons, right?"

"Not exactly," said Zavarok. "Demons cannot truly die. It is why Navarog and I still exist to this day."

"Hold on," said Seth. "I thought that was because it was merely your human forms that were destroyed. Your spirits still exist, given that we're having this conversation right now. And you know that Navarog is only a dragon again due to the effects of the Omega Star."

"Yes, but to even vanquish our true spirits would not end our existence fully. For you see, should Navarog or I have been slain in our true dragon forms, our spirits would not have lingered on in this world like they did. They would've instead found their way into the Netherworld."

"The Netherworld?" asked Seth. "You mean, like... Hell?"

"Not the kind of place you're probably thinking of," said Zavarok. "The Netherworld is a realm reserved for deceased monsters of darkness. No humans, of course."

"That doesn't sound so bad," said Seth. "I mean, you are a demon dragon. And you are dead. Sort of. All things considered, ending up in the Netherworld... it's not so bad."

"It is so bad," exclaimed Zavarok. "Despite my qualities, I'm not a bad soul. I've told you this before."

"True," said Seth."I know that the Singing Sisters deemed you a good being."

"My point exactly," said Zavarok. "And good being or not, I'm still a demon. And I'd be spending the rest of eternity surrounded by the souls of monsters that really are evil. Does that sound fair?"

"Well, no," said Seth. "But neither do any of the other options which involve me not telling the others about you."

Zavarok sighed. "I guess we have no choice. Tell them. Maybe I can fake my identity in the Netherworld. Few beings even know I exist, even when I was alive, and as long as Navarog is a prisoner in the knapsack for eternity, it's not like he'll show up in the Netherworld any time soon."

"Okay," said Seth. "I'll explain all this to them as best I can. Maybe we'll even get lucky, and they'll find a solution which doesn't wind up sending you to the Netherworld."

"I don't see what other choice I have," said Zavarok. "Being born a demonic dragon with a heart, I'm used to not belonging anywhere."

"Zavarok," said Seth. "I need to know. If you're a demon, then just how can you be, well... good?"

Zavarok sighed. "It's a mystery, I suppose. Demons are naturally malevolent beings. I just... never possessed that same evil desire that other demons do. It disgusts me."

"Maybe it's some sort of mental anomaly you have," said Seth. "Most humans are relatively good, but some of them are undoubtedly... evil. They're in the minority, though. But maybe, it's possible for demons to be good?"

"I feel that way," said Zavarok, "but I'm the only one I'm aware of."

"True," said Seth. "But... the demon population is drastically lower than that of humans, right? Given the rareness of demons, it's no wonder that another good demon has yet to be discovered."

"You have a point," said Zavarok. "Us demons are an endangered species compared to you humans. Not that I have a problem with that. I never liked those other demons anyway. If the entire demon race died out completely, I wouldn't be too upset. Even if I had to go with them."

"But why?" asked Seth.

"Demons may be rare, but they're also, for the most part, despicable. "I can't stand being a demon, knowing that all others of my kind are horrendous. And as long as I'm a demon, I'll always cause trouble for those who don't deserve it, whether I want to or not. Like the fairies."

"Is there any way to remove your demonic traits? Then you'd just be a normal dragon, right?"

"Wrong. Attempting to alter a demon's essence is impossible. I'd be eradicated before being cured."

"Right," said Seth. "We considered wishing for Navarog to be good before banishing him, but the Omega Star was unable to grant that wish, since it would've destroyed his demonic soul. It's because the Omega Star has a fail-safe that prevents it from harming anyone with its power. Even a demon. It's also why Tritanoss was banished in the first place."

"So they've banished demons with the Omega Star, since they can't be destroyed," noted Zavarok. "I never realized just how severe my demon qualities really are. But, I must ask, why haven't the fairies used the Omega Star to banish all known demons?"

"My only guess is that they don't use the Omega Star to fulfill their every whim, except as a last resort. Since no demons are actively threatening their kind, there hasn't been any need to retaliate."

"But, I just caused some of the fairies here to pass out. You'd think they would get back at me if they have the Omega Star to do so with."

"I'm not sure why they've yet to do anything," said Seth. "Maybe the thought never crossed their minds?

"And what about Hespera? Surely they could use the Omega Star to at least banish her."

"That is strange," said Seth. "I'll have to ask what's going on with the fairies to try and learn something about all this. But, at the same time, I don't want to give them any ideas that would result in you being banished somewhere for the rest of eternity."