Chapter 54: Debates
—Nova's POV—
'At this rate, my plan will fail. I need to let Walter bond with him, but I just can't help myself….!' He thought, wanting to lecture himself about his own behavior, but at the same time, he just couldn't bring himself to do anything aside from fawn over the small baby, a greedy urge inside of him wanted to keep the little tike all to himself.
"Just look at these chubby-wubby wittle cheeks!" He cooed, gently cupping the baby's rosy cheeks in his hands, eliciting a coo from the infantile Timmy. Oh, if only his eyes weren't as foggy as those of the departed; they would likely be so cute. Yet, even with those lifeless eyes, he was incredibly adorable! He had thick hair for his age, delightful dimpled cheeks, and soft, chubby limbs.
"He is most charming to behold," Walter remarked, leaning in with fascination. It wasn't unusual for the Fey to alter the ages of their Kinder, and while he had encountered baby Kinder before, his curiosity had never been piqued quite like this. But then again, comparing a Kinder baby to one that was still human was like comparing bunnies to kittens…both adorable, of course, but decisively different.
"He does indeed possess an undeniable charm and sweetness." He gushed, tickling Timmy's tummy. "You are a cuthe wittle baby, yesh you are, oh yesh you are! Leth'sh geth you intho a cuthe wittle outhfith sho we can go on our walkie."
He placed the baby on his lap, and conjured up an adorable onesie, unable to resist dressing the baby up in the little chipmunk themed pyjamas. True, he could have just magically changed his clothes but, it was easier to form a bond when one took the care to do things by hand, and besides—hewantedto do this. He felt an overpowering need to care for this baby, to monopolize his attention, to have his love directed towards him…
It wasn't even because it was Timmy. Somehow, he got the sense that he'd be feeling this way aboutanyhuman baby. It was startling, and he did not understand it; it felt instinctive.
"Uncle Nova, thou speakest most strangely." Walter quirked his brow, looking puzzled.
"Ah, well, you see, Walter, it's actually a well-documented phenomenon. It's calledinfantile linguistic contagion—a highly contagious condition that affects people when they're in close proximity to human infants." He glanced at the child, feigning seriousness. Walter, a genuine child, looked stunned—this little one, despite centuries of life experience, tended to take things at face value.
He felt the need to tell a joke in order to distract himself from the emotions building up inside of him; he did not understand from what place these emotions were coming from, and failing to understand them he was seized by the conflicting desires to both resist and revel in it.
"I have ne'er heard of such a condition afore; yet, I do confess, I have ne'er beheld a babe that hath not already undergone the transformation into a Kinder. Is this infantile lingu—" Walter scrunched up his nose, unable to pronounce it. "Is this condition grievous?"
"It's averyserious condition. You see, Walter, when an one spends too much time around an infant, their brain can getoverloadedwith certain chemicals likeoxytocinanddopamine."
Walter nodded seriously as he attempted to comprehend his nonsense. It was all he could do to keep a straight face. "S-so, what cometh to pass?"
He leaned in, speaking with exaggerated sincerity. "Well, the chemicals in the brain make it nearly impossible someone in the presence of a baby to talk normally. Instead, they start speaking in... baby talk. It's like a brain malfunction, and it's completely uncontrollable. It's highly contagious, too. That's why I'm doing it now."
Walter's eyes went wide, and he looked troubled. "Art thou saying thou art ill?"
"Not exactly sick, but I'm definitely...infected." He made sure to say this part dramatically, and leaned in even further, gesturing to Timmy who was babbling cheerfully. "You see, human babies are like a little adorable... virus carriers.Infantile linguistic contagionis a highly contagious condition, which very few are immune to and human babies are capable of spreading it to everyone around them. It only takes a little exposure, and then—poof—you're talking in baby-talk."
"Oh, dearest me!" Walter furrowed his brows. "I already speak most oddly. I care not to talk like a babe as well!"
"Well, justtryto resist. But it's hard. It'sveryhard, but on the bright side it wears off, as soon as the baby is out of sight." He looked back down at the giggling baby. He was so adorable—and the overpowering desire he had to claim him as his own, to keep him, was almost maddening. Afraid that it would show too much in his face and voice, he dissolved into baby talk, blowing on little baby Timmy's tummy, making him burst into laughter. "Buth thhey are shuch a cuthe wittle thhingsh thhath you don'th wanth tho be puth thhem outh of shighth becaushe thhey are sho cuthe!"
Walter appeared contemplative, seemingly eager for a chance to hold the baby yet apprehensive about succumbing to 'baby-talk.' Nevertheless, after a few moments he extended his arms in a beseeching manner, his eyes pleading for an opportunity to cradle the infant.
'Get a hold of yourself, Nova.' He chided himself. 'The whole point of this playdate is to have Timmy bond with Walter, to befriend the Kinders, and here you are monopolizing his attention. You have no idea how long he will be Blooming for. You need to make the most of it and have him form a strong bond with Walter….'
As he handed Timmy over to Walter, the playful warmth in his chest shifted into something deeper, more primal. The Fey instinct surged within him—a magnetic pull toward the child that he couldn't fully comprehend and wasn't entirely sure he could trust. It had been ages since a new facet of his Fey nature had emerged, and even longer since one had unsettled him like this. He had seen countless human babies during his time as a fairy, yet never before had he felt this peculiar, almost predatory yearning. It was all he could do to stop himself from snatching the child back into his arms, which he kept crossed tightly across his chest, not trusting himself.
Fey didn't just admire human babies….theycravedthem.
He watched Walter, eyes alight with wonder, as he cradled the child. Timmy's slight form seemed all the more fragile against Walter's sturdy wooden limbs, reminiscent of a newborn in the embrace of a tree. The image of a Kinder holding a human baby was so enchanting that it soothed his heightened emotions.
The trio of tiny Appapuffs hopped around in excitement. Ever since they witnessed Timmy's transformation into an infant, they had been filled with awe, and now, with him safely in-reach while in Walter's hold, they could hardly contain their joy.
"Wow," Walter whispered, adjusting his grip to mimic the careful way he had held Timmy. The baby's soft, chubby limbs poked out from the blanket he had wrapped him in, and his button nose scrunched slightly upon seeing he was in the arms of someone new. He did not cry, though; the baby simply gazed up at Walter curiously with those big, blue eyes—before yawning and stretching his little arms and legs. Walter held him a little tighter, looking nervous as the baby wiggled in his arms.
He chuckled, his tone light. "Careful, Walter. That's not just any baby; it'smybaby god-grandson." He smirked, letting his Fey possessiveness seep into the playful remark.
Walter glanced up, momentarily worried, but he waved off his concern. "Relax. You're holding him right."
Walter visibly relaxed, cradling Timmy closer as the baby reached a hand curiously out towards him, trying to grasp his finger. "He is so small..." he murmured, his voice tinged with wonder.
He smiled at Walter's amazement, but felt a pang of something deeper in his chest—an instinct that went beyond affection. His gaze lingered on Timmy, and the tug he'd felt at the tea party, when Timmy had been a toddler, surged again, stronger and more insistent. It wasn't love, though it mimicked it. It was something older, something primal. He tore his gaze away, fighting the urge to reach out and take the baby back.
He loathed admitting it, but a Fey's flaw was sometimes not discerning the desire to protect a child from the urge to possess it. His clarity of mind was steadfast when Timmy was a child; even as a toddler, he maintained some control over his emotions. But now, with him as a baby, the impulse to claim him was overwhelming.
Even after his transformation into a Fey, he never completely understood the rationale for the Dark Days. It was baffling how the Fey could have so profoundly lost their restraint, leading to the rampant kidnapping of human children, that they had to divide themselves in order to curb the overwhelming urge to take them.
He had never comprehended their lack of restraint that had revealed their existence to the mortals, and had put them at the risk of fairy hunters, but now he understood it all too well. The desire to claim human children, it was as intrinsic to their being, to their needs, as the necessity to eat and drink.
Walter, oblivious to the emotional storm brewing inside of him, cooed softly. "He is so dear! Look at his tiny fingers! I care not even if I catch the pox of babe-tongue."
He turned his back, muffling his laughter. "Oh, Walter, you precious boy, I was just teasing. There is no such thing asinfantile linguistic contagion."
"Ah, but then why wouldst thou speak in such strange manner?"
"We feel compelled to speak to the babies that way because of love."
"Love?"
"It's a natural, often subconscious behavior that helps adults connect with infants in a way that is both emotionally and developmentally beneficial—the mere sight of a baby tends to trigger feelings of affection and care. Babies cannot yet grasp speech, and so, to bond with them, we find ourselves compelled to speak in a way that will convey our love towards them, playfully and tenderly. You can say that we degrade our speech to their level as a way to show our sincere love and wish to bond with them."
"I see!" Walter looked astonished, and looked down at Timmy in wonderment, rocking the baby gently in his arms. "Verily, he is but so small! Little Timmy is most diminutive and sweet, like a wee morsel of sugar…err, that is to say…" Walter cleared his throat and looked around sheepishly. ""Aww, wittle Timmy is wike a wittle pwiece of candy, so pwetty an' cute! Yes, y'are, yes, y'are!"
He clamped a hand over his mouth, unable to prevent himself from laughing whilst Walter's wood-grained cheeks turned amber in hue, and some sap formed in the corner of his eyes. "I wish to show mine love for babe Timmy. I truly do! But—I cannot bring myself to speak in babe's tongue."
"That's alright, little one, not everyone can do it—but there are plenty of ways to convey your affection without the need to baby-babble." He sat back down beside Walter and tickled Timmy under the chin, making him coo. "And yes, he really is small, isn't he? I must thank my dear daughter-in-law most profusely for her thoughtfulness in giving us this unique bonding opportunity."
Undoubtedly, Wanda would be horrified if she knew the kind of feelings his transformation had sparked in him; frankly, even he was unsettled.
"Are all human babes… so small?" Walter inquired, gazing down at Timmy, holding him with all the care in the world. It had been ages since he'd seen Walter so interested in something, not since the tales of Jimmy Neutron. His interest, however, was a normal, curious kind—not at all like the possessive obsession that had overtaken him.
Walter was a Kinder who had been around for more than his own lifetime, witnessing and experiencing so much that scarcely anything could surprise or captivate him. Thankfully his easygoing and cheerful nature shielded him from boredom or despondency due to a dearth of excitement. Yet, when something truly piqued his interest, his enthusiasm matched that of a child on Christmas morning. The three baby Appapuffs were just as interested and were bobbing around the bed, trying to get a clearer view of the infant.
"When they're first born, they're even smaller." He remarked, tickling Timmy's tummy, making him giggle. Even if the child was in Walter's arms, he wanted his attention to be on him, though rationally he knew he ought to refrain from this since he wanted Timmy to bond with Walter. "I'd say Wanda has made him about, 4-6 months—at that age…" He caught Timmy's hand as the baby reached out and grabbed Cinna, and with a laugh freed the little Appapuff. "Babies will put everything they can reach right into their mouth—and…apparently Cinna wants to be nibbled…." He burst into laughter as the baby Appapuff did not take being 'freed' well, and immediately jumped back into the babies hand, and Timmy did as every baby would, put the round, fuzzy Appapuff to his toothless mouth, it must have tickled as Cinna released a noise like laughter and Cream and Miele, overexcited now, began to bounce on top of Timmy's tummy, as if begging for their turn.
"Don't bounce on the baby." He reprimanded them and once more released Cinna. Honestly, when he had observed his daughter-in-law engaged in the 'Baby Game', he had found it peculiar—although her explanation for enjoying this game with her godson seemed logical. He had considered it both melancholic and endearing that she had spent millennia admiring and longing for a baby, using human ones as a reference, only to discover that fairy infants were quite dissimilar. Naturally, his charming daughter-in-law would partake in some role-playing to satisfy that maternal yearning, and Timmy had explained how the baby-game significantly aided his relaxation and provided a respite from his anxieties and stress.
Yet, there was something deeper than that, wasn't there?
The reasons were elusive, but Fey had always been magnetized by human children, especially babies, akin to moths to a flame. They had gone to the extent of dividing themselves to escape this fixation; nevertheless, fairies remained irresistibly attracted to human children.
...And, if going by Wanda's behavior, it seemed that the instinct to covet a human baby was still an intrinsic part of their nature, even if they had separated from their other half.
Despite their efforts to resist, deny, and defy, fairies could never elude their innate longing for human children.
…In such a case, it was best just to accept it, wasn't it?
He gently plucked the overly enthusiastic Appapuffs off of Timmy, carefully placing them back on the bed. "Now, now, you three. Timmy is not a trampoline, as much as you may wish otherwise." He gave each of them a playful wag of his finger, though he couldn't stay stern for long, not when their antics brought such joy to the baby, who watched them with grins and giggles.
Walter chuckled. "I think the Appapuffs are as besotted with Timmy as thou art, Uncle Nova."
Besotted wasn't the word for it, he thought grimly, though he didn't let his inner turmoil show. His emotions were a strange cocktail of pride, protectiveness, and something darker—something he had to consciously rein in. He forced himself to focus on the present, on the warmth of the scene before him: Walter cradling Timmy with tender care, the Appapuffs buzzing with delight, and Timmy's joyful babbles filling the air.
"Timmy has already charmed every one of us, hasn't he? Even the notoriously hard-to-please Cinna." He ran his fingers through his bangs, sighing at his own reflection. He had always seen himself as a protector of children, swearing never to take a Kinder for himself—his duty was to save, not to possess. But that was mere posturing, wasn't it? Like all Fey, he desired—no,needed—a human child.
The aforementioned Appapuff squeaked indignantly, as if protesting that it hadalwaysbeen easy to please, despite being the most spoiled of the three, and jumped up again, nuzzled against Timmy's cheek. The baby giggled, and his heart felt as if it were being squeezed in his chest.
It was almostunbearable. The Fey instinct to claim and keep was roaring within him like a wildfire, making every fiber of his being ache to hold Timmy close and never let go. He could scarcely remember the last time he'd felt anything so strong—and it frightened him. It wasn't just affection. It was something primal, something that whispered of days long past, when Fey didn't ask permission; they simplytook.
"Uncle Nova, art thou well? Thou dost make a most strange visage."
"I'm fine, Walter." He reassured, wondering pensively just what kind of face he was making as he watched the baby; hoping it wasn't the face a lion made when watching a gazelle. "I just must confess that for a Fey, human babies are kind of like catnip…they have an irresistible allure for us. I've…always heard it, but this is my first time experiencing it—I must admit, it's been quite some time since I've had such an iron-clad reminder of how different my nature as a Fey is to how it was when I was still a fairy."
Walter smiled, looking at Timmy, reaching out to touch his little foot. "Thistledust told me that he could not bear to part with me when he found me as a babe, that he would spend long hours simply gazing upon me. And though he was cast out from Queen Aine's court for keeping me, he said that he felt more whole and fulfilled than ever before. Even though he lost all to keep me, he claimed he gained more than the world itself."
"Aw, that's sweet." He smiled, Thistledust could be so stern, but he had a poet's heart, and he felt as if he could understand how he had felt for he too had given up everything for his love for the little helpless human children—to keep them safe from the adult-poison that would either destroy them or rot them from the inside out.
— Wanda's POV—
"I see that Nova is still a troll." The Tooth fairy had finished her conversation with Gizmo and was watching the television, laughing at how he had teased poor Walter about the baby-talk virus. She, of course, had questioned her about why she had turned Timmy into a baby and she had explained about how she had turned Timmy into a toddler earlier to ease his mind when he developed a Stigmata, and figured making him a baby this time would stop Nova from planting any ideas into his head.
Tannfe had accepted this explanation easily and did not seem like she'd be saying anything about it to Jorgen that could cause her problems, but even if she did mention it to him, Jorgen wouldn't see anything too abnormal about it, considering he had already seen the toddler Timmy at the tea party.
"Poor Walter. He is just too adorable." Thistledust was chuckling. She had to admit that ithadbeen adorable, and that Walter's interactions with baby-Timmy were precious, but…
She did not like what she was sensing, not just from Nova, but also from those around her. The Fey had been abnormally interested in watching Timmy's 'playdate', but now that fascination had changed into something far more intense, something darker, almost predatory.
She had felt it from the moment she had turned Timmy into his baby form. The Fey had always been drawn to human children, but now, with Timmy in his most vulnerable state, the attraction seemed to go beyond the usual fascination. It felt like a need, a hunger, and it unsettled her deeply, making her regret her choice.
She watched the television that had the eyes of all the Fey glued to it. Pensively, she watched Nova's face as he took Timmy and Walter out into the garden, and escorted them to a playground that had been setup; one designed for young children and seemed to have been placed within the garden recently, perhaps in response to Nova having learned of her and Timmy's tendency to play the 'baby game'.
It was a darling little place that she would certainly be making use of, but right now she could pay it no mind; she was too focused on watching Nova, worrying about the apparent misstep she had taken in making Timmy a baby, hoping to protect him from being influenced, but, seemingly, had awakened something dangerous in Nova. It was not just her imagination. His expression betrayed something more than affection. There was an almost painful longing in his eyes when he looked at Timmy, a tension in his posture as if holding back an overwhelming urge to claim the child as his own.
And it wasn't just Nova. Even the other Fey, though they tried to hide it, were showing signs of this strange new attraction. Even little Ariafern, who had given her such kind advice earlier, had the same, almost predatory look to her now as she watched the baby Timmy on the screen. She knew the rumors' of the Fey well, their history, their desires, and their obsession with human children, especially infants. Yet, witnessing it firsthand truly drove the reality home.
This was not just an obsession, this was something deeper, more visceral.
TheywantedTimmy. This was not news to her, but for the first time she was getting a hint of just what lengths their desire might drive them to.
She had heard of the way they treated children during the Dark Days, the way they hoarded them and kept them as prized possessions, manipulating their very existence for their own wants and needs. With her own eyes she had seen the Kinders, living pampered coddled lives, with their emotions and wills under the sway of the Fey-parents who had adopted them and a Queen who demanded their affections. And yet, despite her caution, she might have still underestimated their connection to human children—maybe the Fey's longing for them ran deeper than she had ever realized.
….She wrapped her arms around her midsection—and this was the true nature that she and every other fairy had separated themselves from…..that this….hunger…was a part of her and that if she were ever to become a Fey…she too would…
No; not her…she certainly wouldneveract this way…
'Timmy loves be too much to ever be swayed into leaving me….'
She put her head down—this darkness could not be the truth behind their love for human children…it just….couldn't be.
"Are you ok?" Dazzle asked her, and only then had she realized that tears had formed in her eyes.
"O..O-oh, I'm fine…" She mumbled, and tried to play things off, gesturing towards the television screen where Walter was playing with Timmy in the playground, pushing him gently in a swing designed for babies.
Instead of a traditional infant-swing, it was a large, round mushroom cap hung from a sturdy vine of glowing ivy. The mushroom looked soft and bouncy, its underside covered in small, velvety spores, and another vine held him snug and secure. The tree the swing hung from had fine, graceful ivory branches, stretching out like a hundred arms across the sky, and in the places of leaves or flowers, it was covered in decorative baubles, all of which were in shapes pleasing to children, ducks, kittens, goldfish…., the breeze made them chime, producing a gentle music, like a lullaby.
The smile on Timmy's face glowed with so much pure, radiant joy…..
"It's just... it's been ages since I've seen Timmy laugh and play with another child. Ever since the bullying began and his friends abandoned him, he's felt as though he's unworthy of friendship," she sighed. "What's worse, he blames himself for others not liking him. I won't sugarcoat it; Timmycouldbe a little self-centered and negligent in his friendships, but it was never out of malice. Mr. and Mrs. Turner arenotgood role models, their selfish and neglectful and, sadly, Timmy adopted some of that attitude in his friendships from time to time." She admitted, but then added quickly. "However, whenever his friends were in trouble or he saw them in pain, he was there for them." Heck, she added to herself, in the video game wish gone wrong, Timmy had literally sacrificed himself to save them, not knowing he had enough points for an extra life.
"And I bet his friends were the ideal friends who did no wrong?" Glimmer remarked snidely.
"Yeah, like, from the stories Stella wrote us about Timmy, that AJ kid, like, sounded like such a total gloater."
"Really…should you be making that criticism with the way your Bolt acts, darling?"
"Bolt, like, acts that way because he's, like,myprotegee. It's only, like, suitable for him to be boastful." Gizmo declared, as if this gave justification for her Kinder's behavior, or maybe she meant he behaved that way because she had altered his personality to have him act that way…
"Yeah, and that Chester is a jerk." Edmund puffed out his already chubby cheeks. "….The Timmy stories Aunty Stella has written 'bout him lately that included that Chester kid made me think about bad, bad memories...and I had to go get treatment from aunty Piper because of it."
"Edmund, don't work yourself up." Aelar squeezed Edmund closer.
"Kinders all have a core bad-memory that we cannot rid them of, but they can take sick if they dwell on it." Dazzle explained to her. "So we try not to do anything to aggravate it."
"I can't help but get mad when I think of it." Edmund snuggled against Aelar, who was petting his feathery hair. "I never turned my back on my friends. I even kept stealing for them even after I got god parents, 'cause they wouldn't stop even when I used magic to help 'em get food, and the stuff they needed…." The boy bit his lip and looked down. "But then they all let me take the fall, and I got both my hands cut off…and then when I couldn't help them steal anymore, then wouldn't bother with me. Friends that don't stick by you are the worse!"
She put her hands over her mouth, appalled, and Aelar kissed Edmund's head, cuddling him.
"Your god parents saved you by having Nova send you here to us. You don't need to think about those sad things. It's all over. You're far away from the world that hurt you."
"Though I'mstilllosing my hands…." Edmund stuck his tongue out jokingly and Aelar laughed, making her look away from them, disturbed that such a horrible, sad thing could be treated as a…joke.
"Edmund wouldn't have survived left in the human world; not much chances for a peasant boy in the 1890s to live, even as a beggar, without hands." Thistledust whispered to her softly, sitting beside her as they watched Timmy and Walter play together.
Something in both his gaze and voice hinted that he was well aware of her true feelings; and was now challenging her disapproval behind Nova's actions in kidnapping those children—no, not just Nova's actions, but for the reason all Fey stole children. "Or do you perhaps think otherwise?"
"…." Judging from the faint trace of an English accent that the boy still possessed, she assumed he must've hailed originally from Britain. Prosthetic handswereavailable in the 1890s, but they were expensive, especially those with any degree of functionality. While basic hook prosthetics might have been somewhat more affordable, they were still out of reach for most peasants who often lived in poverty.
True, Edmund could have wished his hands back, but when he lost his godparents, all magic, including his restored hands, would leave…and most labor opportunities would be closed to him because of his disability.
Edmund wouldn't even be able to fall back on the workhouses, not that those horrible places provided much help. The brutal, utilitarian approach of Victorian-era workhouses meant that they typically only took in those who could provide labor. A boy with no hands could not break stones, pick oakum or work in laundries. In rare cases, very ill or disabled peoplemightbe given shelter in a workhouse infirmary, but those were minimal, grim accommodations.
Edmund would have ended up homeless if no charity or sympathetic benefactor intervened, and this help was rare and limited. Even if he found it, he would face a harsh, marginal existence.
She hated to admit it, even to herself but….Edmund wouldn't have survived had he not been brought to Fey world and made a Kinder.
She did not want to have to say it, because saying it felt as if she was approving of this act that she found to be abhorrent—the act of ripping a child's humanity and their life away from them but Thistledust was waiting for her response and she would be lying to both herself and to him if she claimed that Edmund could have survived, let alone lived a good life, if left as a human.
No. It would be worse than lying. It would have been making light of the struggles of his life and the lives of those who had been in situations like him.
"….I suppose so. It would have taken nothing less than a miracle for him to live a happy life under such circumstances….and miracles are called such because they do not happen often." She responded weakly, keeping her eyes glued to the television. Timmy was having a hard time now but…he'd survive…he wouldn't be left hopeless or left relying on the hope of a rare miracle to come to his rescue.
She'd see to that.
"At least you don't possess the willful ignorance and condescending arrogance of the Fair-Folk," Thistledust remarked, which was apparently meant to be taken as praise. "They would just claim that 'one never knows what may have happened' and cling to that rare miracle as if it were a certain outcome. The Fair-Folk pretend the human world is like a fairy-tale book, where every deserving child gets a happily ever after, the good people are all rewarded, the evil all punished, and everyone whose suffering eventually finding salvation. They know they're wrong, but they adopt this stance in debates to revel in their perceived moral superiority."
"Thistledust does love his debates," Dazzle laughed brightly, whilst she almost shrunk under his intense gaze.
"Well, you can't be certain that a miracle couldn't have happened, can you?" the tooth fairy contended, receiving a glare from Thistledust that one might reserve for the sight of a dead rat. The other Fey exchanged looks, like excited spectators to a one-sided fight.
"Ok then, allow me to pose a question to you two ladies. When I found Walter, it was during the Dark Days, before our worlds were separated and the Barrier put up. He was born blind and was abandoned just hours after his birth; left in the forest inside of a ring of mushrooms as a sacrifice to us Fey, offering us the baby if we gave a good harvest in return. The parents, a pair of poor farmers, never checked to see if the baby had been taken. He would have been left there to starve or die from the elements if the Fey had not taken him. Do you claim that there was another way for him to survive?"
"That's awful." She answered honestly, but could not say she was too surprised. For subsistence farmers, survival was paramount. If the child was seen as incapable of contributing to the family's work or was a significant burden, abandonment was sadly common…
"Couldn't you have sent him back to the human world after restoring his eyesight?" The Tooth fairy argued.
Rosehip scoffed. "It doesn't work like that, darling. We cannot give blessings without getting something in exchange. Do not misunderstand, It's not because we do notwishto help, but you see, if we try to give blessings without getting something back, something will happen to turn that blessing into a curse, either towards the one receiving it, or towards ourselves. Besides, Queen Aine had considered that so-called offering an insult, so it would be doubly impossible to have done what your suggesting, darling."
"It is true." Thistledust confirmed with a deep sigh. "I was the one who had discovered Walter, and Queen Aine, of whose court I was then a member of, ordered me to poison their lands because offering a blind child was deemed offensive—not so much because he was blind, but the intent behind it—getting rid of something they considered a burden and expecting to be blessed because of it."
"Did you poison their land?"
"I was supposed to. I was to deliver the child back to them, as a sign their offering was rejected. As Fey, we can't give substantial gifts without getting something in exchange, nor can we take without giving back something. I was to return Walter to them, with his eyesight restored—in exchange, the land on their farm would never grow anything again…that was to be the sign of our rejection. "
"So youcouldhave left him to live in the human world." Tannfe frowned, and Thistledust made a face like he had bitten a lemon.
"Do you think his parents would have forgiven him for their lands being poisoned? Nay, do you think he'd survive in the resulting poverty?"
The Tooth Fairy would not be deterred by this argument. "Well, then, couldn't you have placed him in another home, somewhere else? I'm sure a lot of childless couples would have liked a baby…"
"In those days, a baby randomly appearing on a doorstep would have been mistaken for a changeling and killed." Aelar remarked, squeezing Edmund a little tighter, his brows knitting together as his lips turned pale. "The things they did to flush out changelings weren't survivable by normal humans…"
Edmund cooed and nuzzled up to Aelar as if to comfort him as he appeared to go through some kind of traumatic flashback. "Poor daddy Aelar has bad memories too from when he used to live in the human world; this world is so much better."
She frowned—caught between his own unpleasant memories and those of Aelar, who had apparently been a Changeling, Edmund seemed to have utterly renounced his own world.
"Unless Jorgen robbed the cradle, you ought to be old enough to know what things were like in those days." Glimmer laughed at the Tooth Fairy in a way that was not only belittling but cruel. "I mean, if you're anywhere near your husband's age, you ought to have been alive during the Dark Days."
"…I'm actually a lot younger than Jorgen." Tannfe crossed her arms with a sniff. "I went to high school with Nova…."
"Oh, so Jorgenisa cradle robber."
"Ugh! When you're as old as we are, an age gap of a few thousand years doesn't mean anything….!"
"I wasn't around during the Dark Days," she confessed. "However, as a godmother to children from various eras, I understand that babies left on doorsteps were once believed to be cursed, and taking them in was thought to bring bad luck. In other instances, there was a fear that these abandoned infants could carry diseases that would spread to the household, or that the child was the offspring of criminals and could bring dishonor or connect them to a criminal lineage." Her shoulders sagged as she thought back to the many sad things she had witnessed in her long lifetime, as she was forced to admit to a truth she rather wouldn't have.
"What are you trying to say?" Tannfe frowned, looking at her in disapproval, likely having expected her to have been completely on her side.
"Sadly, between resource scarcity, superstitions, fears of smallpox and plague, and the risk of social stigma if the child turned out to be that of a criminal, prostitute or some other outcast….not very many humans of that era would be willing to take in an unknown child just left on their doorstep—it would be a gamble without a high odds of winning." She sighed. She had seen it happen many times when she got assigned to a god kid living in those bygone days. "It's unfortunate, but Walter would have likely face being ignored and left for death, abandoned again, or sent to a monastery rather than being taken in. And even if a family did keep him, he'd probably end up more like a bonded servant, indebted to them for his upbringing, rather than being treated as a true son."
"Wanda, you're not actually agreeing with them having turned that baby into a Kinder without ever giving him a chance to live as a human?" The Tooth fairy looked appalled, but the Fey looked satisfied, even pleased, and that was the important thing.
"My pride makes me want to say otherwise." She answered truthfully. "But, realistically, his odds weren't high…and hoping for miracles is the same thing as washing your hands of a problem."
"Then how about if the child was taken to the future, you know, to a time period where people have more logic and ability to help orphaned and abandoned kids?" Tannfe was not done arguing, but this line of argument had Gizmo laugh aloud.
"Hey, I like, thought you were intelligent, you're, like, good at talking maths but, c'mon! This was like, during the Dark Days, before you put up the barrier and re-started the world—forgive me if I'm wrong, but aren't fairies only able to travel as far into the future as one of your dead-ended worlds have reached?"
Aelar and Ariafern quickly covered Edmund and Lilybeth's ears, their expressions stern as they turned to Gizmo, who hastily clapped a hand over her mouth in apology.
This was a concept far too overwhelming for a human mind to process. She had once mentioned a small part of it to Timmy, but only because she knew he wasn't the type to dwell too deeply on such things. For most humans, though, thinking about it too much could lead to madness.
The idea ofdead-ended worldswas not something to be taken lightly. The multiverse contained countless worlds—many eerily similar to one another. Whenever events in a particular world veered in a direction, the Fairy Council disapproved of, or that they saw no more potential in a world with the path it was on, they would decide that the world had reached its "end." That world would then be "stopped" and labeled a dead-ended world, while a new world was created to replace it. A dead-ended world did not disappear. It ran on an endless loop, re-starting back at the beginning whenever it hit the point that it was stopped at.
Whenever a godchild wished to go to the future, they were instead taken to a future of the dead-ended world closest to the one they were in as it wasn't possible to take them into the future of their own as it hadn't been created yet.
She had seen the world re-set from highly advanced epochs back to the Stone Age numerous times. The Fairy Council would select events and occasionally individuals from various dead-ended worlds to craft a new one. Each time, she wondered why the Fairy Council included events such as the Black Plague and the World Wars in their new creation.
She was clueless about their ultimate objective, which clearly wasn't to establish a utopia. Any Fairy daring to question the Council's motives invariably ended up in fairy prison, making it an unspoken taboo to even broach the subject among themselves—it was a discomforting reality they all shared but felt powerless to change.
Apparently even the Fey seemed to hold the council's actions in disgust—at least that was something she could find common ground with them.
"Well, as I was like, saying…." Gizmo cleared her throat. "Fey nor Fairies can travel to a future that hasn't happened yet, and since the world before the separation was the only world there, like, was—we couldn't go into the future. Seriously, like—-whatever that nasty fairy council is like, up to, just gives like, serious bad vibes."
"It's frightfully unnatural." Rosehip remarked, and she choose to keep quiet about the irony of a Fey being disquieted about the 'unnatural.' "If we weren't all trapped behind this barrier, we'd put a stop to it."
...That would be good, she mused, yet she harbored a suspicion that if the barrier were to fall, the Fey might wreak havoc beyond merely creating and terminating numerous world lines. They behaved as though, indeed, they genuinely believed their actions were rescuing children...
"I hate to admit to it, because I want to think every child can grow up happy and have a chance to live their best life….but, try as I might, I can't think of circumstances that do not involve miracles that could have helped either Edmund or Walter in their circumstances…" She admitted reluctantly…it would be pure stubbornness to pretend that some children hadn't been saved by their actions…
It was said that when Fey spoke lies; they got a literal bad taste in their mouths; how ironic was it that speaking the truth had left a metaphorical one in hers?
Thistledust's usually stern, stony expression softened into a smile, transforming him into a beacon of warmth and gentleness when he cast her an approving look at her response. It seemed as if her response had pleased him greatly, and that was in the important thing, wasn't it? For her to gain the trust of the Fey, to have them think she'd willingly join them so that when she took Timmy and ran, they wouldn't be expecting it—-and she'd even admit to hard truths if she had to do so, in order to win that trust.
However, that gentle look of approval darkened like a sudden cloud passing over the sun as Thistledust turned his gaze from her to the Tooth Fairy, who was looking at her with bitter disappointment.
"Byyourreasoning, however, I ought to have sent little Walter back, with his eyesight restored, to the humans who had left him to die?" His voice dripped with a bitterness that struck with the same force as a physical slap. "To what end? So they could abandon him again the moment he became inconvenient? Use him as a scapegoat for their misfortune? Let him starve along with them when their farm failed? Or perhaps you'd have me pass him on to another human family that may not have accepted him and even if they did, were far more likely to mistreat him, then treat him well? Do you think the human world is kind to children like him?"
Tannfe flinched but stubbornly held her ground. "No, I don't think the world is kind, but taking away his humanity entirely—that's not kindness, either. You didn't save him just to help him; you Fey took him because youwantedhim, because you were drawn to him. Don't try to dress up your child-snatching as something virtuous when your true motivation is simply because you want them for yourselves. Isn'tthatthe truth?"
A tense silence filled the room. Dazzle squeezed her hand and gave her a pensive look that said 'she shouldn't have done that.' Meanwhile, the other Fey averted their eyes from the Tooth Fairy, as though she had voiced an uncomfortable truth they didn't wish to face—no, judging from their expressions, it might have been….disgust? Glimmer muttered something about her being 'Jorgen's wife, after all,' with several of them bobbing their heads in agreement.
The Tooth Fairy could afford to stick her foot in it; to earn the ire of the Fey, but she….she had to keep her opinions quiet and put a lid on her true feelings for now—for Timmy's sake.
Thistledust leaned forward, his light eyes piercing like daggers, as Tannfe did her best not seem intimidated. "Perhaps you're right," he said, his tone deceptively calm. "Perhaps I did take him because Iwantedhim. But does that negate the fact that his life is better here? Look at Walter now." He gestured to the screen, where the boy was laughing as he played with Timmy. "He's cherished, well cared for, and loved. Would you truly claim he would've been better off left in the dirt, abandoned by the very species that birthed him? Left to toil, left to starve, left to be treated like anunwantedburden!?"
She looked towards the television again; Walter was beaming, his face alight with pure joy as he pushed Timmy on the swing, who was giggling with glee. Their laughter blended harmoniously with the musical chimes from the tree, making a sound so lovely it could soothe any soul that listened to it. It was a beautiful scene, one that almost made her forget the darker undertones of their discussion.Almost.
"That doesn't justify the means by which he was brought here." The Tooth Fairy did not budge from her stance. "Stealing children—stripping them of their humanity—it's wrong, no matter the outcome."
"Ah, but isn't it humanity that fails them first?" Thistledust countered sharply. "What you call 'stealing,' we call rescue. We may be flawed, and there are those among the Fey who do take children for selfish reasons, but don't pretend your kind is without sin—you abandon children again and again whenever they break your little rule book. You leave the ones without hope in a world they have no chance of surviving in without any chance for rescue. Once their no longer a god-child, you wash your hands of them, no matter how dismal their lives become! At least what we do allows this children to be happy! To be loved unconditionally! Can you say the same?"
He was locked in an argument with the Tooth Fairy, yet his words cut deep into her heart. She yearned to counter, to expose the Fey's duplicity, but her thoughts kept drifting back to Edmund's tale, to Walter's desertion. To the cascade of human errors that resulted in these children's plight... and then... to the numerous godchildren she had to forsake before truly improving their lives... how many endured bleak existences after she left?
She was aware that Mary-Anne had fallen prey to the war she had unintentionally sparked... and the fate that befell Mr. Crocker...! Did adhering to the rules truly equate to forsaking them...? If she had been permitted to stay, could she have altered their destinies, bettered their lives? Had she, in the name of a rule book, truly condemned the children she was meant to assist to tragic ends?
"I don't disagree that humanitycanbe cruel," Tannfe was still arguing, her voice trembling now. "But the solution isn't to take children away and make them into something they're not. The solution is to fix the systems that fail them in the first place."
Thistledust let out a low, humorless chuckle. "A noble sentiment, but painfully naïve. How do you propose we 'fix' humanity? Will you march into every corrupt institution, every broken family, and demand they do better? Will you stand against centuries of oppression and neglect with nothing but good intentions? Have you fairies ever eventried?"
"Well, um, no, but that's because the Fairy Council doesn't permit-"
"Ha! Your fairy council and rule bookdon't permit it, yet you speak of fixing the systems of the human world as if it were a solution? What good is a solution that you are unable to implement?"
"It's for the human world to take charge of their own destinies." The Tooth Fairy refused to back down. "It will be hard, but someday I am sure mankind will be able to reach a state where everyone can live safe and happy lives; just because the road is difficult doesn't mean that we get to play gods anddecide what's best for others."
Thistledust studied her for a long moment, his expression unreadable. "How many children must endure suffering and how many must perish before humans achieve this unattainable utopia? I can respect holding onto ones ideals,even when the world shows you how fragile they are. However, ideals with no logic behind making them work are nothing more than poetry."
"Look, I was once a fairy myself...so I do understand how your thinking." Dazzle cast an almost sympathetic glance at the Tooth Fairy. "It would nice if what you said would some day happen...but do you honestly think, given human nature, that such a world will ever actually happen? Yes, kindness and love do exist amongst the humans, and people, lots of people can be changed by it. The future may indeed be a better place, but...kindness alone doesn't change the world, only small parts of it. Sometimes, it takes hard choices to protect those who are truly vulnerable, choices that don't always feel right but are necessary."
Tannfe finally had no rebuttal, and she had none to give either, even if she felt it safe to speak freely to the Fey, but she felt like she had to say something—at least one small hint of her true feelings, or else something important to her sense of self would be forever tainted.
"….I wish I could think of a way that could have allowed them to be happy, forallkids in bad situations to be happy, but as of now, I truly can't think of how Walter if he'd stayed in the human world could have survived." Her voice softened as she looked at Edmund, who was snuggled in Aelar's arms. He certainly did look peaceful. "Nor can I think of a way he could have survived, let alone lived a happy life, not in those days….with his hands lost, and given his family's circumstances, but—-I hate how this truth seems to justify what was done to them. It doesn't feel right to take a child's humanity away, no matter the reason. But…I can't deny that, in their cases, it saved their lives."
Tannfe looked visibly upset but didn't press further, though her lips pursed in frustration.
Thistledust nodded approvingly, his tone softer. "We don't expect you to come to see things our way immediately, especially not while you're still a fairy. However, that your willing to give it thought, rather than merely preach to us empty moral ideals shows that your heart holds both compassion and realism—" He glanced at the Tooth Fairy. "—a balance too many lack."
She shook her head, unwilling to see it as praise. "But just because there was no better path doesn't make the one taken good." She straightened, the weariness on her face replaced by resolve. "For Timmy, I'll make sure thereisa better path. He'll never need to rely on a Fey solution—I'll make sure Timmy never has to lose his humanity to survive."
The room was quiet for a moment, save for the soft sounds coming from the television of Timmy and Walter's game.
"Your determination is admirable, godmother." Thistledust remarked in a leveled tone. "I will wish you the best of luck in your noble endeavor, though I do hope you will not be too prideful to fall back on the Kinder option if you fail?"
"….I will see to it that Timmy is happy, no matter what that happiness means." She swore, but she was determined that his happiness would not be found in giving up and becoming a Kinder.
Whatever it took, she would protect Timmy—not just from the dangers of the Fey, but from the inadequacies of the Fairy-world god-parenting system that abandoned children who still needed them over trifling rules and regulations.
No matter how difficult the road ahead might be, she was determined to find a way for Timmy to have a happily ever-after.
— Walter's POV—
"That's it, you're almost out—! That's right—ooh, there you are, peek-a-boo!"
Nova crouched beside a small tunnel crafted from the enormous stem of a flower. Inside, dangling toys and charms glittered like stars, enticing baby Timmy to crawl through. The three baby Appapuffs flitted around him, chirping encouragement and giving gentle nudges to keep him moving.
With a triumphant laugh, Nova scooped the baby up as Timmy wriggled free from the tunnel's end. He held him high, his smile radiant as the sun. Timmy giggled, chubby arms reaching out as if basking in the praise. Then, in a noise both yawn and laugh, the baby snuggled against Nova's chest.
Lying back in the soft grass, Nova conjured a really pretty wooden music box that looked like a peaceful little cabin, sat it near, having it play a piece of classical music as he cradled Timmy close. The baby nestled against him with a contented coo, and for a rare moment, Nova looked utterly at peace. The sight was heartwarming, almost magical.
Nova was well-liked in their Circle, though he carried an air of melancholy. While he always had a warm smile for the Kinders and a knack for grand gestures to entertain them, a quiet detachment lingered in his interactions with other Fey. Friendly, yes, but distant—like someone carrying a weight no one could quite reach.
He'd asked Thistledust about it once. He had explained that being turned Fey against one's will often left lingering scars and adjusting to the changes it brought about mentally and emotionally was very difficult. Nova, in particular, bore a deep ache: the pain of being forced to leave behind his wife and two young sons, one still just a baby.
Watching Nova now, cuddling baby Timmy close, he wondered if having Timmy here helped fill that void. He hoped so. Seeing Nova happy was a rare and cherished sight, especially since Nova had done so much to bring joy into his life.
As the oldest Kinder in Fey World, he had spent centuries without a single playmate. Long ago, when the barrier went up, it became nearly impossible for new Kinders to join their ranks. Although he was cherished and adored by all within the Circle, a sense of loneliness began to envelop him as his friends, one after another, concluded their time as Kinders and transformed into butterflies and fireflies, leaving him alone.
Occasionally, a human child would visit in need of the magic-filter cycle, and if his aunties and uncles succeeded in claiming them, then, for a time, he'd have a new friend. But eventually, they too would have their time as a Kinder run out, leaving him once more the lone Kinder. Everyone marveled at his longevity, treating him like a rare treasure. Only Thistledust knew just how glum it made him to outlive all of his friends, but his Fey-father assured that none of his friends were gone. Even if they couldn't be played with anymore, their souls were always right near….and while he could talk to them…it just….wasn't the same…
However, everything changed when Piper received an extraordinary letter from a mail clerk. It contained a plea for help—a plan to rescue children whose prospects for survival or happiness were bleak. The letter detailed the grim fate of Julian and Julia and criticized the godparenting program as being as being as ineffective as applying a bandage to a bullet wound. The sender sought to save those children who would otherwise grow up 'poisoned' by their circumstances, or who had slim chances of finding happiness...or even making it to adult hood.
Though it seemed implausible, Nova and his cohort of conspirators came through, integrating over two hundred new children into their fold, granting him more friends than he could have ever imagined.
For the first time in ages, he was surrounded by laughter, games, and the simple joy of childhood. He owed that happiness to Nova, whose tireless efforts and sacrifices brought him these wonderful new companions.
Even so, Nova's own heartache persisted. The Fey often urged him to claim a Kinder of his own, believing it might ease his loneliness. But Nova always declined, his reasons known only to him.
Watching Nova now, cuddling baby Timmy close, he felt a warmth bloom in his chest. Nova's smile, so genuine and radiant, lit up the moment like a summer sunrise. For once, the quiet melancholy that usually lingered in his eyes seemed to melt away. He wondered if having Timmy here helped fill the void left by the family Nova had lost. He hoped so. Being a Kinder meant he was forever youthful, yet he had lived several millennia longer than Nova. Despite seeing him as an uncle, much like he regarded the other Fey, he couldn't shake off the feeling of being senior to him and when he saw him feeling really sad, it made him want to do something to make him feel better.
He was sure there was some reason Nova had chosen him to befriend Timmy over any other Kinder, and he hoped he met expectations.
Nova deserved this happiness. After everything he had done to brighten their lives, he deserved the same light to mend his own heart and he wanted to help him. He also wanted to help Timmy too, because those stories about him had been so fun, but those fun stories had become less and less recently and now meeting him, Timmy was such a sad boy….the world was hurting him.
All the Kinders had come here from sad lives, some worse than others, but all of them sad.
Lilybeth had developed a severe facial tumor at six, and while it had been operated off, it left her severely disfigured and her parents, influential politicians, literally adopted a look-a-like to take her place and hid her in the attic. Yes, she had wished her face fixed when she had godparents, but the knowledge that her parents' love depended on her appearance and that once she lost her fairies, she'd go back to how she was, left her severely depressed. She had come to Fey world for the magical filter cycle after a failed suicide attempt….the way Nova had reacted to that, had been chilling, and he had pampered Lilybeth so much that everyone thought he was going to take her as his own Kinder, but he hadn't. Well, she was quite happy with Ariafern who adored her…but wouldn't Nova be happy to have a Kinder of his own? He had so much love to give, and yet no one to give it too…
"Oh, I am hogging his attention, aren't I?" Nova looked over at him with a laugh, patting Timmy on the back. "It's just….he's the age Cosmo was when I was forced to leave him and he looks so much like my son—save for a difference in hair and eye color—I swear, they could be twins!"
"It's fine. I'm so glad that you're having so much fun! I've never seen you look so happy before."
"…You know, I think you're right." Nova looked contemplative. "I really think this has been the happiest I've felt since coming here…."
He smiled. Nova had truly earned this happiness. After all, he had spread happiness among the Fey, rescued children who were suffering, and thanks to him he was now surrounded by new friendships to cherish in his final years before reuniting with those former friends who had already transformed back into their soul forms.
— Wanda's POV—
"Hahaha…!" Nova was laughing on the television as baby Timmy cooed and tugged on one of the mushrooms on Walter's head, making the boy squirm and giggle as he tried to bring it to his mouth. Concerned, she looked over at Thistledust, who was chuckling.
"That doesn't hurt him, does it?"
"Oh no, it doesn't hurt." Thistledust brushed off the concern with a casual wave of his hand, yet he smiled, indicating his appreciation for her worry about Walter.
"Are they actually a part of him, or are they just growing on him?" She asked, curiously. But also, Thistledust appeared to have a high-rank amongst the other Fey in the room, in the way they, aside from Glimmer, carried themselves around him. Furthermore, he was critical and not hesitant to debate his strong opinions. It felt that getting in his good graces would go a long way in convincing Nova that she was 'beginning to 'see things their way', especially since he had a knack for making strong arguments. The Tooth Fairy was currently sitting in the corner of the room, sulking over the aftermath of her debate with him.
"They are a part of his body." Thistledust confirmed. "Same thing is true for any flowers or plants you see growing on any of the Kinders or Companions, at least in our Ring."
"Oh, but, then, with Timmy pulling on them like that, isn't there a risk he might snap one off…?"
"No, no, they might look flimsy, but their firmly attached—think of it as a pinkie finger, it looks small and like it could be easily broken off the end of your hand, but it's not so easy to snap off. Walter has injured himself before, but in that case, the mushroom grows back on its own, and it feels more like a bad pinch than a broken bone or anything too painful."
"Oh, I see….well, that's good then…." She was thankful that there was no risk of baby Timmy causing any severe injury with the way he was tugging on the mushrooms growing from Walter's head, but, she couldn't help but frown worriedly as Nova held Timmy closer, letting him access the colorful mushrooms more easily.
"Don't worry." Thistledust glanced at her. "Animals have nibbled on his mushrooms before, it doesn't hurt, it tickles and the mushrooms repairs themselves after he naps—and his mushrooms aren't like the Fey fruit, so even if Timmy chews on one, it would just be the same as eating a normal mushroom."
"O-ooh…" Her cheeks warmed with a mix of relief and worry. It was comforting to know there wouldn't be any repercussions if he bit one, yet she couldn't shake off the concern that Timmy might put one of those mushrooms into his mouth. The thought of him munching on something that was part of that boy's actual body was downright icky.
"Nova looks so happy though…." Dazzle smiled, putting her hands over her heart, getting teary-eyed. "It was so kind of you to make Timmy a baby for him; it'll help heal the regrets he felt for having to leave Cosmo when he was a baby."
"Yeah, and apparently, like, Timmy looks a lot like Cosmo; so that must be really nice for him."
"Could it be that—-he's a Changeling? Maybe you wanted to have a baby despite the ban and did so anyway and hid him on Earth?" Glimmer teased, and she gritted her teeth—-Cosmo and her…..they couldn't have kids together…..if not for how strong Timmy's love for them was, and the wish he made, the miracle of having a child together would have been forever impossible because of the difference in their power…
...that was why…..that time
'No, don't think about it...'She took a deep breath to steady herself.
"Glimmer…!" Aelar hissed.
"That is such a crass and insensitive thing to say." Rosehip turned up her nose in disgust. "Especially when Jorgen's wife is in the room."
"Don't worry, I know that Cosmo and Wanda wouldn't do something like that." The Tooth Fairy looked over at her and offered a sympathetic smile; she wondered if she, like Jorgen, had just 'figured' that a non-pure blood like her wouldn't be able to have children naturally with a pure-blooded 'green fairy.'
…She turned her eyes onto the television screen, where Timmy was cooing and giggling; a sweet little human baby.
She and Cosmo had wanted a baby together for so long….and having and losing godchildren over and over again had just rubbed salt in the wound….
"You ok?" Dazzle nudged her.
"Yeah…." She replied, not looking away from the screen. "We wanted a child together for so long….we even took time off of god parenting because moving on from human child to human child was starting to really bring home the fact that we'd never have a child of our own to keep…but then, we were asked if we'd like to return to work and shown some photos and there was Timmy; looking so much like Cosmo, and dressed in pink, as if to match me—it felt like a sign."
"Aww, that's sweet!"
"Don't mind Glimmer, darling, she's a pure-blood and a pure-Fey, so she tends to get snooty." Rosehip sniffed; pure-blood meaning no human ancestors, and pure-fey meaning someone who had never separated into fairy and anti-fairy halves. Apparently, those who could boast of these attributes had an elitist attitude.
"I'm a pure-blood and a pure-Fey and, I'm like, not snooty." Gizmo added. "Though Iwasa Changeling."
"Please, with how obsessed you are with human machines, your pure-Fey card ought to be revoked." Glimmer smiled, self satisfied at apparently drawing negative attention to herself. She rolled her eyes inwardly. So she wasthattype of person.
"Oh, please…." Rosehip scoffed. "You're the only one in the Ring who cares about all that snooty pure-blood stuff. Living in the human world helps grow character, something you lack, Darling."
"Our time in the human world does not bring us any shame." Thistledust held his head up proudly. "It has, if anything, given us the ability to make an informed opinion on what do to for children suffering in the human world. As you can see, I do not take my stance against leaving children to suffer in the human world in ignorance." Thistledust glanced in the Tooth Fairies' direction. "I have experienced the pain and hopelessness the human world can burden a child with first hand."
"So, you were a Changeling too?" She asked and then put a hand to her lips, fearing that was a rude question. "Sorry, maybe I shouldn't ask, but Nova had also mentioned that he had been one as well."
It had been such a common practice; but for all the pain it caused, it was good that it had finally been banned….
"No." Thistledust did not look offended, but he sighed. "Changelings are fairies who take the place of a human child that was either stolen by the Fey or who had died at birth. I was born to a human man."
"Oh…" She couldn't hide all of her surprise.
So, Thistledust was like Jorgen….half human.
No wonder he felt entitled to such strong opinions on the subject of human children. She thought he'd stop talking there, but it seemed that he wasn't the secretive type, and continued speaking about his past in an offhanded way.
"No, I was not born from a Bride or Groom, here among the Fey." He answered her unasked question, referring to the practice of how Fey had stolen away adult women and men to use as breeding material. "but to a human man in the mortal world. You see, the handmaidens of Queen Aine had a unique way of amusing themselves. They'd charm a human man, live as his wife for three years and then pretend to die in childbirth."
"Why?" She gasped, but even more alarming was how easily and openly he spoke about this to her, a stranger, and not one he had responded to very favorably because of how she had reacted to Mab's blessing.
"The aim was to create strong half-breeds…we halfling children were raised in the human world with no knowledge of what we were, darling." Rosehip answered, implying she herself had been one as well.
"It's not hard for us to talk about," Aelar remarked, revealing himself as yet another who had been born this way, rather then a Changeling as she had earlier assumed. "…maybe because over half of the Fey living in this Ring are half-human and share similar stories…" Aelar shuddered and cuddled Edmund, who nuzzled against him. "…It is painful for us to recall those human days though…."
"It's hard for me to imagine Aelar as a human!" Edmund put his wings around his Fey-father. "He did not like it, though."
"Did you live as a human, too?" Lilybeth asked Ariafern with big, surprised eyes.
"Silly!" Ariafern scolded. "I was born way after the barrier was set up! Even my parents are too young to be Changeseeds."
"What's a Changeseed?" She asked and then wondered again if maybe she shouldn't pry.
"That's what they like to refer to us half-bred Fey who were born in the human world, Darling." Rosehip said this with a smile. "And do not worry, that term is not considered derogatory, so you can use it without worrying about being offensive."
"The offensive term, if you want to know, would bebloodlings."Glimmer said this with emphases. "You know, because human blood is poisonous, toxic, filthy—disgusting."
The Fey cast her a dirty look, but did not do anything more than that, Dazzle leaned forward and whispered in her ear.
"We'd like to zip her mouth shut, but sadly Glimmer is the second most powerful, magic-wise, in the Ring, so Changeseeds and former Fairies like myself can't do much to stop her when she's being a brat. Gizmo is pure-fey and pure-blood, but she's from a commoner family, while Glimmer is, apparently, from a noble house. Don't take offense to her. We've all learned to put up with her—being an annoying brat is all she does; but don't worry. Her and Bubbles are the only real unpleasant elements in this Ring."
"I see…..out of curiosity, whoisthe most powerful in this Ring?"
Dazzle smiled. "Nova."
"…" She wrapped her arms around her stomach and pensively stared at the television where Nova was playing happily with Timmy. Thistledust, pointedly ignoring Glimmer's interruption, continued with his explanation of Changeseeds.
"We were like seeds planted in the human world, left to grow until we matured enough to be reclaimed. Though, not all of us managed to grow or were considered worthy or being reclaimed. Apparently, my mother had 47 children in the human world, and only claimed two of us back." Thistledust spoke calmly, but his eyes clouded over, speaking volumes about what he felt about his mother. "She said as Queen Aine's High handmaiden that she had to be very selective in which ones to keep. When I disobeyed Queen Aine and kept Walter, she told me that I was the first mistake she ever made in her life."
She covered her mouth with her hands, attempting to conceal her shocked gasp. Thistledust, oblivious, carried on with his story in a disturbingly flippant manner. "As I mentioned earlier, I was supposed to restore his sight and then bring him back to his parents, and poison their land in exchange for returning the eyesight to their son. This was their punishment for trying to 'rid themselves of a burden' by disguising it as an offering; for pawning something they considered unwanted off onto the Fey and expecting to be rewarded for it." Thistledust looked at her, meeting her gaze. "Make no mistake; it was not that Queen Aine herself saw anything inferior about Walter. The reason for her fury was due to his parents' intentions behind the offering. What they did was considered the most offensive act one can make when giving an offering to the Fey. It is considered unforgiveable."
She nodded; as a result of receiving Queen Mab's blessing, Timmy would be needing to make offering to her from now on; she'd make a special note of this so that Timmy never made his fatal mistake.
"I was going to carry out the task given to me," Thistledust confessed. "But when I returned his eyesight…Walter smiled at me. It was….such a pure smile…" His eyes misted over. "I had only recently returned to being a Fey, and my wounds from the human world still fresh and this was my first time ever being on the returning end of a human's smile….it was healing. I….just couldn't…so I accepted the offering and gave them their bounty and tried to keep the child for myself. My own mother was about to carry out my execution at Queen Aine's orders….fortunately, Queen Mab was visiting her at the time and understood my feelings, 'to have a baby's first smile be directed at you, how could you not be moved to love it?', and she told me, still a young lad myself at time, that if my mother did not want me, she'd accept me and pleaded with Queen Aine to spare my life." Thistledust's eyes turned soft and dreamy, his smile tender as he revealed why he had developed such fierce loyalty towards Queen Mab. "She invited me to come stay in her Circle along with my Walter. I gave him a Fey fruit when he was two years old, and he spent a few decades as a Prime Companion, as the forest loved him so, and then the forest returned him to me once I matured enough to raise a child, and he's been with me ever since."
It was such a deeply personal story that she was unsure of what to say, but as everyone was waiting for her to respond, she had to saysomething."So…where did you get the name Walter from?"
Not the best question, but not worse, and it did not seem to carry the risk of causing offense. He story was so dramatic and personal that she feared that questioning any part of it carried the risk of opening up wounds. She despised Queen Mab for what she had done to Timmy….but, at least she wasn't like Queen Aine who'd order a mother to execute her own son for disobeying…though from the sound of it Thistledust's mother hadn't much qualms about such an order.
"That used to be my name; back when I lived as a human." Thistledust laughed, apparently also glad she hadn't asked any probing questions. "It was so awkward to go from 'Walter' to a name as strange and exotic as Thistledust."
"I, on the other hand, reveled in being known by something as enchanting as Rosehip over something as horrendously unfashionable as Doris."
"Or Billy bob…." Aelar grimaced, and Edmund snickered, getting a playing cuffing to his head in return.
"Well, at the time, I really just wanted an excuse to say my human name again," Thistledust said with a good-humored smile, almost as if laughing at his past sentimentality over his human name.
But for her, it was a sad thought. These three Fey—these Changeseeds—had been uprooted from the human lives they had known and thrust into a completely different world, one they hadn't even known existed until now.
In a way, their situation was similar to that of the Kinders, but with one key difference.
The Changeseeds could thrive in this new world. They could grow, adapt, and live lives full of purpose, with their own wills and choices. They had the potential for true growth. But the Kinders were different. They would never grow beyond their current state, like potted plants that never outgrew their containers. And for children like Edmund and Walter, that stunted growth might be the only future they had.
What made it all the more troubling, though, was that the Changeseeds, with their deep connection to the human world—having lived there and being part human themselves—felt as if they had the right to judge the fates of children like the Kinders. They believed they understood, having walked that path before. But their judgment was clouded by a fundamental misunderstanding: while the Changeseeds had been removed from the human world and brought to one where they could flourish, the human children—like the Kinders—were being taken from a place where they could grow freely, and were being forced into a life where they would never truly bloom.
— Nova's POV—
He sighed wistfully as the scent of Timmy's 'perfume' started to die down, meaning that soon his first Blooming would come to an end. The baby had played with and had been cuddled by Walter, though he feared he had monopolized most of the baby's attention during this sensitive and influential time, though not to the degree that the baby had failed to from any bond with Walter; they did play enough together for the Blooming to have caused Timmy to form a friendship that normally would've taken weeks if not months to form naturally. Besides, his Blooming hadn't ended yet, so there was still time to use it to strengthen their friendship, though it would be best to return Timmy to his normal age and give them more time to play together, maybe watch a show together and then end things on a delightful meal?
"He is so sorely wearied, is he not, Uncle Nova?" Walter cooed, looking at the baby sleeping in the grass, arms through over his head, with a contented smile spread across his innocent face.
"He is, and it was quite a lovely experience having him this age, was it not, Walter?"
"It was…." Walter trailed off. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but shyly peeked at the camera and lowered his gaze. Perhaps it was not something he wanted Thistledust to hear…? That was unusual for the boy…
'What is it?' He asked telepathically, but Walter replied aloud.
"'Tis so simple a thing to love a babe, is it not? A human babe is so fair, so helpless, and so small. Ne'er had I pondered it much afore, but… how could mine own parents have abandoned me to the forest thus? I ken I was born blind, yet beholding how frail and defenseless a babe is, methinks such wouldst have stirred mine heart to guard it all the more." Walter pouted a little, looking sulky. "I must've been born to very terrible people…"
He'd have to leave it up to Thistledust on how to respond to this; Fey-parents all had their own ways of maintaining their Kinders and given how long Thistledust had Walter live, his way of doing things was not to be questioned but he felt as if he couldn't just stay silent to the usually docile boy's uncharacteristically gloomy statement.
"The circumstances of those days rendered survival uncertain for people of your parents' status. A single failed harvest could lead to their ruin. It was impossible to maintain a child on the farm who was unable to contribute to its labor, even if there was a desire to do so. The sole alternative to their chosen course of action was to send you to a monastery, a decision that would have resulted in an exceedingly unpleasant life for you. It is conceivable that they felt offering you to the Fey represented your best hope."
Walter smiled. "So thou dost reckon they left me out of love? I know not if thou art right, yet it is a fair comfort to think so. If it be thus, then perchance they were wise, for I have dwelt happily here in the Fey world and cannot fathom how life might have been without Thistledust. Whatever their cause, I do believe their choice was for the best for me…." Walter now grinned at him and laughed. "Moreover, had they kept me, would I not have been bound to the toil of a farmer? Thistledust, in his kindness, let me try my hand at farming for curiosity's sake, and I found it most loathsome—aching limbs, labor from dawn till dusk, and—mark this—farmers must needs slay their beasts as well! I cannot fathom tending a creature, feeding it, grooming it, and then—consuming it!"
He laughed aloud. "Your a sweet boy, Walter, and because your parents did as they did, you got to stay that way. The end result of their decision, regardless of the underlying reasons, was your attainment of the most joyful life imaginable. In my estimation, happiness holds the highest value and is the most crucial aspect of life."
Walter nodded and smiled, turning his gaze to Timmy asleep in his arms. He looked like he wanted to say something, but stole a glance at the camera and refrained from doing so, but glanced at him as a sign he wanted to say something telepathically.
'What is it?' He asked gently.
"Thou must needs consider thine own happiness as well…"
'My apologies. It seems I allowed myself to become overly enthralled with the baby.' He responded sheepishly, glad that Walter had spoken aloud for Wanda to hear. 'I am deeply fulfilled by my role as Timmy's grandfather. Moreover, assuming the role of his Fey-parentwouldaddress a significant void in my life. However, Walter, my greatest source of happiness lies in witnessing the well-being, contentment, and affection within my family. For this reason, I am unable to take Timmy from Wanda while there is still a chance that she might come to agree with our perspective.'
"But Timmy suffereth at the hands of the mortals… he must needs be rescued, else he shall ne'er find joy again."
'Fear not, Walter, my lad. Under no circumstances will I permit Timmy to be subjected to the damaging effects of adult-poison. In the event that Wanda remains unpersuaded, I will have no choice but to take matters into my own hands. While this action may initially cause familial tension, upon her eventual transformation into a Fey, her inherent nature will undergo a change, mirroring my own. This will lead her to a clearer understanding of the world, and I am confident that she will express her sincere appreciation for my proactive measures.'
….It might take a while, but he was sure, eventually Wanda would come to understand that he truly only wanted Timmy to be safe and, most of all, happy.