Black. That was all I saw when I woke up, eyelids still like paperweights on my retinas. My body was weak, and purple bruises likely blossomed across my pale skin judging by the pain I felt when I dragged my arm across the soft grass. Everything hurt and badly so. I remained idle, thinking back to images of explosions. There were bursts of fire—of darkness and shadows—surrounding me before I blacked out, but I still couldn't fathom where I might have ended up. Perhaps I was a prisoner of war, or maybe it was all a wicked dream of sorts.
At that point, I was tired, but I couldn't sleep. The moist dirt served as padding but had a disgusting texture on my back, lumps of it grasping like leeches for dear life. Maybe I was even covered in larvae and worms but couldn't feel them beyond the pain in my body.
Not much later, I finally opened my eyes. However, I immediately closed them under the burning and radiant sunlight, which stung more than all my bruises. I mustn't have been awake for several hours or maybe days, I supposed. Mustering what strength I had, I moved my arm over them so that I could crack them open and examine my surroundings.
The scenery around me was ethereal—foreign to my imagination: Blue and pink flowers in varieties straight from the mind of a twisted playwright grew over six feet tall. Their blossoms were larger than my torso, and they were in the shape of stars. Galaxy patterns dotted them, making them glimmer in the morning dew like fabled nebulae. I shifted my gaze downwards. I resided in a single patch of dirt among the forest of flowers.
This was nothing like the war-ridden town I was in before. Just where was I?
It seemed as if no other people were nearby, and if the fantastical flowers were anything to judge by, the area seemed calming and safe like a peculiar sort of haven. For a moment, I laid there, no thoughts in particular running through my mind besides the implied curiosity ushered in by the new environment.
It wasn't too much later I noticed a few flowers shift in my peripheral vision. I turned my head quickly, and my neck popped. I cradled it, muttering a curse word or two, and I inspected the motion. While looking away, I felt a tap on my foot and jumped up.
"Don't touch me!" I screamed, startled by the action.
I swivelled my head once more, meeting eyes with a boy with brown skin. He appeared young, with all the boyish features to match. His silver eyes were large and mystical as they peered right into mine, literal galaxies dotting them in the same manner as the flowers. His appearance was like one of them became human.
The next thing I observed about him was that he had a pair of glittery wings—one black and one white. They flapped behind him like a dog wagging its tail. I never saw a being like him before, and frankly, that scared me. Yet despite how intimidated I was, he smiled fondly to soothe me.
"I see you're awake, Ophelia?" he asked, voice calm and sweet like a parent. "Pardon me for scaring you like that." He reached out a hand to grab my wrist, but I pulled it away.
"Who are you?" I asked with brisk words. Glaring at him, I added, "I'm not too fond of strangers touching me."
His wings drooped slightly, and he frowned, resting a nearly vertical palm against his cheek.
"Sorry. That was kind of rude of me. I'm Leo, the Galaxy Fairy. You may have heard of me before? I'm quite popular with the civilians if I do say so myself." The boy, Leo, grinned once more, this time a bit cheekily. It was irritating.
I stared blankly at him. "You're kidding, right? Fairies are just myths like unicorns." I chuckled before getting serious again. "Now, tell me who you really are, kid."
Leo's face went blank as he raised an arm. Unfortunately, I was raised with it, yet he wasn't touching a single part of my body. That terrified me, and I couldn't find a way to ground myself. I flailed in the air, swinging my limbs wildly while trying to get down. He spun his finger in circles, and I did somersaults in the air to a stuttering rhythm.
"Hey! Stop that!" I yelled, feeling dizzy and a little sick.
He stopped rotating his finger but kept me suspended. "Do you have any more questions for me, or can I let you down? And for the record, unicorns do exist, but only those who feel the purest of love in their hearts can see them without my help." Grimacing, he tilted his head in a sassy way like he was a celebrity.
I heard the clattering of hooves in the distance but saw nothing to accompany them. I glanced back at Leo, conflicted but having made my mind up.
*This is going to be a long day…*
"I think I'm good. Now, please put me down and maybe hand me some stomach tablets if you're so magical."
Leo lowered his arm to place me back on the ground. He then flapped his wings harshly, fanning me with the fairy dust that made them shimmer. Immediately, my sickness disappeared like salt in water. I then looked at my arms, which had purple bruises as I expected. Under my gaze, the marks faded like ink being washed from skin. Seeing that, my eyes widened in shock.
Perhaps he wasn't lying at all about the whole… *fairy*… thing.
"Hey, why'd I wake up with bruises if you could just… *magic* them away like that?" I asked with renewed vigor since I wasn't in any pain. I was ready to teach him a lesson, but I restrained myself.
Leo shrugged and displayed his annoying grin again.
*If you weren't so threatening, I'd smack you upside the head!*
"I figured you would run away and that I'd have to find you if I healed you earlier. Judging by your attitude, I think my guess would have been correct, though there's nowhere to escape from the Galaxy Meadow." As if to taunt me, he chuckled. "I would find you eventually."
Sighing, I asked, "You like getting on people's nerves, don't you?"
"I prefer calling it a mark of youthfulness, but if that's what you wish to think of me, go ahead."
I rubbed my temple with my left hand, already about to develop a headache. "Anyway, why am I here? Why am I not in the Galaxy Kingdom?"
"If you hadn't put up such a fuss, maybe you would know by now." Leo huffed, puffing out his cheeks. "You just won the roulette of doing my bidding!" He clapped sarcastically while spreading his hands out.
I blinked. "Continue?"
"Ah, yes. I found you in Mirai passed out and on the brink of death." He snickered. "You should have seen yourself. You were—"
"Leo."
"Fine." He still giggled under his breath while placing a hand on his hip. "You're not fun. I should have saved someone else instead, but this is all I've got right now. Anyways, I presume you knew about the war between King Hikaru and King Inei, correct?"
"Duh. I tried to escape from their fighting when they came to Mirai," I said, rolling my eyes at him.
*You're taking forever to get to the point.*
"Ah, they're the opposites that attract, aren't they?" he commented while vaguely swooning. "Such a lovely couple, yes, but their little fight separated the Galaxy Kingdom. King Hikaru rules the Sun Kingdom, and King Inei rules the Moon Kingdom. They split the land down the center and each took one child with them. Princess Koharu went with the Sun King, and Prince Akiyoshi went with the Moon King. There's an ugly divide in the family now like the trench between the two lands."
*No shit on that last part.*
"And what does this have to do with me? Wouldn't I only care to know what happened to Mirai and be on my way?" I was getting sick of this story, weary of meaningless conversation.
"Mirai?" He put a finger to his cheek. "Ah, Mirai was split down the middle. Your residence is in the Moon Kingdom, though, if you must know."
As he waved his arms and head to dismiss his statement, I flinched.
"That's irrelevant to this. You were in line to become an advisor, correct? Your father resigned recently. Advisor Heide, if my memory doesn't fail me?"
I was shocked Leo knew of my father, but—if Leo was a good representative—I supposed fairies were nosy.
"Yes, I am. If this… dispute hadn't happened, I would already have the position."
"Well, with two castles, another advisor is needed, anyway. But King Inei intends to put you in the position upon your return."
"Why is that of concern to you—stating the obvious?"
"I'm sorry." He pouted rudely. "Were you not curious at all?"
I didn't bother to reply to the sarcastic question.
Leo sighed. "I should explain my request now."
"Finally. You've been dragging out your dramatic backstory for the past ten minutes."
Leo flicked his wrist, and I felt a pain on my forehead as his lip remained curved upward.
"Ouch!"
"Quiet, please," he said in a sing-song manner. "I can usually console the two kings and prevent this from happening, but this time they're being denser than a pile of rocks and won't listen to a thing I say."
"I wonder why."
Leo ignored me and continued. "I figure I need someone in a position of power to help me, and as a future advisor, you're perfect to knock some sense into them." Leo groaned and floated, crossing his arms. "I'm sick of being their relationship counselor all the time. I want to spend more time with Froggie."
I furrowed my brow at him, more confounded than irritated. "Who, now?"
"Froggie. My pet unicorn." He acted like that was the most obvious thing in the world.
*Interesting name, I guess.*
"As I said,"—he returned to his main point—"I need you to help reunite the kingdom by any means possible."
"And what incentive do I have to do as you tell me?"
Afloat, Leo laid on his side and placed a finger under his chin in deep thought. "Well, I'm magical, so… Oo, I have it!" The finger moved to point upwards beside his head. "I'll give you a wish! You can ask for anything tangible but not love or hatred or whatever. So if you're trying to go after one of those royal children,"—he wiggled his eyebrows as I felt inclined to slap him—"you can't. Bummer. Sorry. I can give you a dragon, magic, or whatever else you want, though! I do warn you: Dragons are a hassle to take care of. Someone I once knew had one."
I sighed. Diplomacy was in the job description as it was, and as a potential advisor, I figured it was something I would need to handle sometime, anyway. The chat already spanned longer than it needed to, and I just wanted to see what became of my hometown.
"Fine," I drawled with forced patriotism. "I'll do it for the good of the Galaxy Kingdom and that alone."
Leo cheered, soaring up and clapping his hands.
"Wonderful! I'll release you shortly, but you must know something: The two kings are magical, so of course, they intend to play some tricks on the mind."
The suspicious twirling of his pinkies made me cautious.
I stopped myself from moving away when he said that. "What do you mean?"
It took him a moment to think of how he wanted to convey his next words, but they then streamed from his mouth with the certainty of a blizzard. "Well, they put a spell on the consciousness. When a resident of the Sun Kingdom is awake, they remain in the Sun Kingdom. However, when they are asleep, they reside in the Moon Kingdom. The opposite is true for you in that your waking hours will be spent in the Moon Kingdom. Obviously, this doesn't apply to the members of the royal family, and King Inei can summon you from the Sun Kingdom at his own discretion, so be wary of that."
"And King Hikaru?"
"Yeah, he can summon you as well, but I don't know why he'd do that when he already has another scholar as an advisor. You never know with those two kings, though." Leo shrugged.
"I shall be on my way then, I suppose…?" I asked, dreading the upcoming months during which I would have to settle out the royal family's… personal affairs, but I also wanted to get away from the pesky fairy who now sat atop a flower with his legs crossed like it was his throne.
"Yes! I shall accompany you, too, in order to guide you and provide insight."
*Uh…*
"I don't think that will be needed but thank you." I tried to stop myself from visibly groaning at the thought of spending more time with such a childish entity, deflecting his offers like lights against a mirror.
"Oh, but I do, lest you think you can get down from this meadow yourself by plunging down the height of twenty castles to your death. It seems like an obvious decision and reasonable trade-off to me." He stuck his tongue out. "Shall we head off, then?"
He had a point, I thought, but I wouldn't admit that aloud. I gulped as I glanced over the edge.
"…Lead the way."
"No need."
Leo flapped his wings and spread dust on me once more. I coughed. The stuff was like inhaling smog, and it irritated my lungs as if sand rubbed on the insides of them. Tears fell from my eyes as if they were slashed by shards of glass.
When I focused my vision again, though, no starry flowers blossomed from the ground—only paltry weeds. No unicorns danced through the transparent sky, and no fairy snickered to my face. I thought my suspicions of the whole meadow being a fever dream or a product of alcohol were confirmed until something soft and feathery light tapped my back gently like small gusts of wind. A black feather fell from the air into my view, and steam tried to burst from my ears.
I knew no easy task lied ahead of me as the gray-haired fairy smiled behind my back with whatever dubious intentions he had in mind.