Amelia
We danced to one more song before I decided to stop since dancing was not for me. And I felt sorry standing on Cassius' feet the whole time. I mean, I'm not heavy but I'm not light as well.
"Close your eyes for me." He said as I stepped down from his feet.
"Hm? What is it?" I asked curious.
"It's a surprise so can you close your eyes please?" He asked politely. I chuckled a little but followed him anyway. While I was closing my eyes, I felt something cold on my neck.
"You can open your eyes now." he whispered in my ear.
I opened my eyes and I was surprised at what I saw. Wrapped around my neck was a very beautiful necklace. The gem was a beautiful darker red. It wasn't like any other or what you call a normal one. If you look at it closely, there are like a thousand glitters swirling.
"C-Cassius, this is extremely beautiful. What is it?" I asked him and looked at it again.
"It's the last tear of the first mermaid queen given to my ancestors before she died. It's one of my family's heirlooms." he said and that made my blood run cold and my legs weaken. I almost fell but Cassius caught me.
"W-w-wait. No! This- you shouldn't give me something super precious. This is like a national treasure and extremely rare since there were only two of its kind. I cannot keep this, no way. I'm-" I was ranting but was stopped by a kiss from Cassius.
"Amelia, my love, you are far more precious to me than anything in the whole world. Even my life." he said it with utmost sincerity.
How can I not fall for this guy?
"Thanks. I'll keep this safe." I said while averting his gaze and rubbing the back of my neck. Everything feels so hot right now. He tilted my head so I was looking straight into his eyes. He's got this cheeky grin like he knew what I'm feeling right now and it's annoying.
"Are you being shy right now, my love?" he asked while smiling brightly and my already red face grew even more brightly.
"T-that! No, I'm not-" I tried to deny it and this guy only laughed. Clearly, he's enjoying my demise.
After he laughed so heartedly, he suddenly became serious. His eyes were clouded, so someone must have contacted him. I waited for him to finish and then he sighed heavily.
"Is there something wrong?" I asked worried. He looked at me while pouting. He then pulled me into a hug and leaned his head on the crook of my neck.
"The Faerie King wants to meet you." he mumbled sounding irritated. My eyes widened at what he said.
"T-the Faerie King? Why would they want to see me?" I asked.
Did I do something wrong?
"I told you remember? Earlier with the sprites. They seem to love you very much. The king was eager to meet you the moment you stumbled upon my territory but I rejected them countless times and now they are threatening me." he said feeling a bit angry.
"I think meeting them won't be that bad. Maybe they're just curious about me." I said and he shook his head.
"They are not just curious, they are obsessed with you. A faerie's mentality is like that of a child. If they find a very interesting toy, they will not stop until they have it. The only one who's mature is the King but is still very much interested in you. If I'm not looking, they might kidnap you and never let you go." He said and I was baffled. So it's that bad.
"I don't understand. Why would they be interested in me?" I asked.
"I don't know. After me, you're the only one they find interesting. They don't usually care about anyone else other than themselves. So we should leave now instead of going to them." He said and was about to carry me when I stopped him.
"Wait. You see Cassius, I'm also a very curious person so, we should definitely go." I said and spread my wings to fly and got out of the lake. I landed on the ground in front of the lake and waved at Cassius.
"Come on Cassius, let's go!" I yelled excitedly. Since Cassius was so fast, he was instantly beside me.
Oh, the speed of a Lycan.
"I can never say no to you." he sighed and we went deep into the woods.
We followed the pathways made by fireflies by lighting up. It wasn't a long walk since the light stopped on a very huge tree. It was massive, the biggest one in the forest, and clearly different. You can tell that it was special since there weren't trees in a twenty-meter radius. The aura it gave off was really ominous.
"Cassius...where are we?" I asked him.
"We are in front of the gate to the faerie world. We can only enter if the King permitted it." He said and pointed out a big hole at the center of the tree. It was big enough for us to go inside individually.
As we entered the tree hallow, it was all dark. Cassius held my hand and we kept on walking. Even with my heightened senses, I cannot see anything. It was pure pitch black and it felt like we were walking in an endless tunnel without lights.
Cassius seemed to notice my discomfort since he rubbed soothing circles on my hand to calm me down. It's amazing how simple gestures can make me feel so relaxed when I'm always on guard all my life. Maybe because it was Cassius and not just anyone.
After the long walk, I finally saw a small light ahead. This time, I feel like I'm starting to have a panic attack. It was okay when it was all pitch black but with that small light, it felt like a very small tunnel. It felt like the one I used to escape the night of the attack in my pack.
"Amelia? Are you okay?" He asked and I shook my head vehemently.
"No." I whispered, almost inaudible but I know he heard it. I was startled when he suddenly lifted me up and carried me in his arms.
"Amelia put your arms around my neck and close your eyes. You can count to a hundred while I walk us there. By the time you finish counting, we'll have arrived at the Faerie kingdom" he said gently and I followed straight away. I started to count as soon as he began to start walking.
As soon as I finished counting, he stopped walking. I took a peek and I was baffled at the sight in front of me. Such a beautiful sight that is out of this world. It looks like a forest with odd colorful trees, flowers, and grasses. The place looks like a candy forest.
Little colorful lights appeared everywhere just like the ones in the lake, floating creatures swimming in the air, tiny children-like creatures playing, and bizarre-looking creatures roaming around the forest.
I'm at a loss for words at the sight that I didn't notice the beautiful girl standing in front of me with big doe pink eyes, slightly pointed ears, and shiny golden hair that floats. The kind where your hair floats when submerged in water. Its body is also human-like on the upper part but a snake on the lower.
Wait, I don't even know if this faerie is a girl. From what I've read from books, they are genderless since they were born from nature itself. Also, they can choose what gender they truly want but it's hard to know based on appearance since some of them look like mixtures of different kinds of animals and humans, or they look very young with feminine features. So I'm gonna refer to this faerie as 'it' for the time being since the way they were made is similar to a flower. It looked at me for a second before it grinned widely and did a curtsy bow.
"Greetings to the Queen, daughter of original fire, and the companion of our savior. My name is Locke" It greeted me with its childlike bubbly voice but the dominant aura says otherwise. I bowed to show some respect too.
"Errmm, greetings...I'm Amelia Cortez." I said and Locke smiled brightly.
"Finally! We kept on bugging Cassius here to let us meet you but he kept on blocking our attempts." Locke complained and I chuckled at how adorable this faerie was. Locke was about to approach me but Cassius stood in front of me, blocking Locke from getting close to me.
"Really now, boy? You wanna fight right now?" Locke challenged.
This time, the cheerful and kid-like appearance disappeared. Its hair turned red and its entire eyes turned pitch black with veins popping at each side. Locke also grew larger. It was angry but Cassius on the other hand, was relaxed and emotionless.
"We both know you can't even put a scratch on me, much less win against me." he snorted.
Isn't this a bit dangerous?
"ENOUGH."