The fairy looked at him with her big eyes which Ferry was afraid to watch so he wouldn't be charmed.
"To better know who you really are, you have to learn some things about fairies," she almost whispered, as if being afraid not to be heard. Ferry looked around. Were they really alone? Or maybe unseen eyes were watching from the shadows?
"Fairies are whimsical creatures," she continued. "They're not entirely good, nor entirely evil. Like people, for that matter. But there are also fairies with great powers. So big, they could stop armies. Those are the Great Fairies, beings with extraordinary forces who had been existing since the beginning of time. They have created the fairies' magical world. But God forbidden annoying a fairy! They are capable of bad, terrible things if they think you want to trick them or mock them.
"You see, at the beginning of time, people and fairies were one and the same kind. They ruled over the same lands and had the same magical powers. There was a hierarchy, of course, but they were all living under the same laws, owning and sharing everything ─ the land and its riches, the animals, and the plants.
"In the land of fairies, time flows differently ─ it runs slower. We are not immortals, as people have always thought. But since our bodies do not know illness, we can live hundreds, even thousands of years. Because usually, fairies die of old age. There are so many sorts of fairies, some of them known by people, others hidden and hard to understand by a human mind. Fairies are born, they love, give birth, live a long life, and then die. Just like people. If fairies are wounded in fairyland, they can heal themselves and carry on living. But if they are wounded in the world of humans, they may die. Therefore, entering the fairy realm is so dangerous, if not forbidden to people. Yet, people are so fascinating, so beautiful, and strange...
"But it wasn't always like that. A long, long time ago, when people and fairies were alike, some fairies changed. They wanted more. They envied the greater powers of others. For they felt misunderstood. So they schemed their leaders, stole from them, even tried to kill them. That was when the Great Fairies got angry and banished them; but before that, they took all their magical powers away. They exiled them in a savage realm, with dreadful beasts that would tear them apart at any time. And once they lost their magical powers, the rebel fairies became... mortals. They became what today we call humans.
"Banished and without magical powers, the fairies, now humans, had to fight for everything in their new, wild world ─ food, shelter, and their lives. They were fighting diseases that no longer healed. They were doomed to perish. But to the astonishment of those who were once their own kind, people have managed to survive to the most dreadful occurrences. They tamed the beasts and the wildlands. They cultivated the ground and grew plants. They hunted. They built shelters, then huts, and then houses. Then, they built the cities. Great cities which the fairies have never seen before. They invented tools to help them survive through the hardships of their ticklish life. Then, their tools made their life easier. And they did all with no trace of a magical power. But their human nature was to bring them a lot of misfortunes, too.
"The way they invented the good things for humankind, the same way they created the bad ones. And among them, their weapons were the worst. In the beginning, the weapons were used for protection and survival; but the people soon understood that weapons, the more powerful, the greater the damage. This is how wars started. And death. People had come to kill each other. And they still do...
"The fairies watched in terror what people had created, what they had become. And they decided to have as little contact with them as possible; for fear that people might invade and destroy their world. So they created The Book of Fairies, a code of laws which forbade fairies to come into contact with humans, unless absolutely necessary. You see, our world mirrors people's world. When the people destroy a forest, fairies remain without a shelter. Every forest, every hill or mountain, or every sea of this side is inhabited by fairies on the other side.
"In time, meeting people less and less, we were to be forgotten. We became myths and legends. That way, we could carry on living, without being afraid our lands would be invaded and planted with the seeds of hate and destruction. But in this big, wide world, there are still places where the line between people's lands and fairy realm is very thin. Places where, at a certain time, you could easily see the other realm. The land of the Unseen. And many of the people who have entered fairyland, they have remained there forever, whether they wanted or not. Fairies could no longer let them go. They couldn't risk being discovered by the greed, mean people.
"Yet, people remained just as fascinating. Because there is still kindness in their world; there is still generosity. And love. Therefore, some fairies chose to live among humans. I am one of those fairies, hopelessly in love with a human. A man who doesn't even exist anymore. But his memory is still alive, the memory I will always cherish. That is why I still live among people.
"And there are also people replaced with fairies. The changelings. And you, Ferry, are one of them."
Ferry's jaw dropped. What this strange creature was telling seemed so magical, so wonderful. He knew fairies existed. He met them so many times before. But him being a fairy, that was hard to believe.
The fairy took the candlestick from the table and headed towards a shelf which was stretching to all the length of one of the room's walls. The shelf was full of books, flower bowls and small statues of fantastic beasts. After looking for a few minutes among the books with thick, dusty covers, she came back with a book, the thickest Ferry has ever seen. The boy stepped back in front of the cloud of dust coming out of its pages. The book had an odd creature on the cover. It wasn't delicate and full of light like Lavender Sky. She (for she was a female fairy) was actually ugly. Her eyes were unnaturally big, like those of an insect while her arms were thin and pellucid. Her hair was all tangled, and her mouth was small, barely visible. Ferry also read the title of the book─ The World of Fairies.
"Open it!" the fairy urged him.
Ferry opened the old book with a shaky hand. Pages and pages with drawings of fairies were revealing themselves in front of his eyes. Near each depiction, there were the names and descriptions of each fairy handwritten in sharp, pointy writing.
"Ever since I lived among humans, I've tried to make a catalogue of all the fairies I've known," the fairy explained. "James asked me, so he could understand better the world I was coming from. And through it, to understand me better..." she sighed.
The pages were yellow and some drawings were fading. This is how Ferry discovered that the old wailing woman, the omen of death, was called Banshee. That Hoity-Toity, the shoemaker fairy, was a Leprechaun. Others were named Pookas, while others Brownies. There were so many pages, it would have taken him weeks to read them all. There were fairies from all over the world. From mountains to oceans. From oceans to deserts. From rivers to hills.
Ferry skimmed the book, drinking by every word he read. He wished he could take it home to read it in peace. It was, without a doubt, the most wonderful book of them all. One drawing, in particular, caught his eye. On the page, there were depicted strange fairies, part human, and part beasts and birds. Underneath, it was writtenAmalgams. And to his surprise, he recognized their pets. The raven, the dog, the lizard, and the hare. They were all there. He didn't have time to think about that because the fairy interrupted his thoughts.
"We fairies, talk Elvian, the fairy language, which every fairy knows, no matter where they live. But we also talk the language of the people we share our realms with. That is why fairies understand people and the other way around. I've tried to name the fairies the same way people named them, although in fairy language we are called differently. But truth be told, there are hundreds, if not thousands of sorts of fairies. Some of them unknown to humans like the Amalgams. Every region has its own fairies, and even the names are misleading. Yet there is a way people have managed to classify us: trooping and solitary fairies. The trooping fairies live in groups and are often seen at feasts, or dancing, or even at funerals. While the solitary fairies tend to be seen on their own."
Ferry was listening, barely breathing. Yet, one question bothered him, "What about me, Miss Lavender? What kind of fairy am I?"
The fairy wrapped him with her warm glance, "You're already talking about yourself as if you were a fairy. That is all right," she said. "It means that you are beginning to believe..."
The fairy then sat on the divan near the window, looking at her garden. It was night already, and the moonlight was scattered over the sleepy flowers and beyond. In the moonlight, her hair looked even more shimmering.
"In the beginning," she continued, "there were four nations, descendants of the Great Fairies. The first ones were the Sun Fairies, beings of light, living in the warm lands where the sun was kind and generous. They ruled over the plains and meadows, forests and hills; they were beautiful, with soft, golden hair like the sun and clear, blue eyes like the sky. They were good fairies and had healing powers. If they were dancing around the plants in a special day of the year, those plants would gain healing powers. Later, when picked by women who knew their secret, they could heal numerous illnesses. The Sun Fairies lived in enormous trees and their whole life was ruled by the Sun. For the Sun gave them energy and magical powers.
"Then, there were the Moon Fairies. They were majestic beings who lived in the cold lands and built their citadels on the tops of the highest mountains, where humans never step foot. Their castles reached the skies. They were tall and thin, with lucent bodies, paled-skin, and hair of white light. They said they had unlimited powers. They were fairies of peace but became unstoppable when their lands were threatened. They led with wisdom and were fearless warriors. For, quite often, there have been wars in the fairyland, too. Peace is such a frail thing where power is growing...
"The third descendants of the Great Fairies were the Water Fairies. They lived in the seas and oceans, but also in lakes and waterfalls. People called them mermaids or selkies. They had beautiful faces and long hair, the color of alga. Their bodies ended with fishtails, with sparkling scales in the most amazing colors. Their power came from the water. They were rarely coming to the shores, for they were leaving in the depth of the waters. And the poor, unfortunate souls who had the mischance of seeing them, were charmed by their incredible, unearthly voices and allured in the depths of the oceans to never come back. There, in the depths, they lived in coral castles, surrounded by fish and plants and animals of the seas."
The fairy stopped, wringing her hands.
"What about the fourth kind?" asked Ferry. "You said there were four nations descending from the Great Fairies."
"The fourth nation..." she sighed, "the fourth kind were the Hollow Fairies or the Hollowers. They lived in the depths of the earth where they have built great cities resembling the cities of the people. They have even built machines so they could fly to the surface. But their sun is dying. They are intelligent beings, but because they live in the center of the earth, the lack of light has darkened their souls. Their desire for mastery has become stronger. And several times, they have tried to conquer the lands of the fairies at the surface. Some say they had humans as allies. No one knows how they really look for the fairies from above have never descended. And if they did, they would never return. Their appearance is misleading, and sometimes they live even among people, having a human appearance. They are the most dangerous fairies because their desire for power is unstoppable. They never accepted the Book of Fairies and they rule only after their own laws. They are dark beings, as dark as their soul. People who had the bad luck to meet them call them the Shadow People..."
Ferry couldn't stop but thinking.
"That means─"
"... that my James met such a fairy? And that the fairy killed him? I don't know... All I know is that I can't think about something else ever since. But why?"
"What about me?" Ferry insisted. He simply had to know.
The fairy took him by the hand and led him to the divan near the window. From a drawer of the chest, she took out a mirror and gave it to him. It was a silver mirror encrusted with flowers and fantastic beasts on the handle.
"Have you ever seen your face in the mirror in the moonlight, Ferry?" she asked.
With his heart beating to jump out his chest, he looked at his face in the mirror. And then, he knew.
Thank you for reading! This chapter represents my concept of fairies and fairyland based on northern mythology and folklore. I am very anxious to know what you think of it. Thanks!