Long ago, when humanity had just emerged, there were many other great races of intelligent beings dwelling on the continent of Helios and its surrounding islands. The wisest and most mighty of these fabled groups were the fairies, a group of small, typically shorter than the knees of a human, beings who were more in touch with nature than anyone else.
The first users of natural magic.
It was said that fairies, in their indeterminate lifespans, could channel the world's innate magic into themselves and grow their own pool of magic limitlessly, unbound by their innate vessels. Such skills were loosely passed down to humans and became most prominent, particularly in the Southlands, though humanity was never able to achieve heights close to the fairies. With power that surpassed spirits and lesser deities, the fairy race could have been rulers of the mortal world, yet they decreed that the world belonged to no one, not even the gods.
And thus, the fairies' rebellion against the heavens began.
Led by the Queen of the Fairies, Titania, the fairies challenged the heavens. In doing so, they united other great races like the elves, who were masters of alchemy and magic archery, the oni, Eastern demon guards of hell, gnomes, the original users of earth magic, titans, the mythological warrior race who could move mountains, and many others, to fight against the ones who ruled existence itself. The newly civilized humanity remained subservient to the gods and took a neutral stance in the war. Being juvenile in their magic abilities, humans would have been insignificant to either side.
The war would last several months as the forces of the earth slowly unraveled the bridges to the heavens and began their attack. This force of mortals was so strong that they could fight creations of the gods, such as the angels and spirits, and even slay them. The gods themselves, however, were a different story. Despite the mortal realm's intense desire for freedom and great strength, not a single god fell on the day the mortals reached heaven.
Once they were faced with true gods, the mortal warriors were defeated in the blink of an eye. Every race that challenged the gods was erased from existence along with their names. The only exception was the fairies. While their lives were expunged alongside their comrades, being the inciters of war, they alone bore the burden of being an example of why the gods should not be challenged. The story of Titania's rebellion persisted through the ages and told of how the fairies defied the gods and became an example of godly strength to the only mortals that remained, the humans.
Though the gods were quite thorough in their genocide, Titania was somehow able to elude them along with a small group of survivors, and while they relentlessly hunted her at first, their pursuit eased over the millennia. Eventually, she was presumed dead, likely having taken her own life in shame from what she had wrought.
But the truth was, she never did die. She, along with her remaining comrades, found a home in the great Westland forest not far from the northern border. It was an untamed wilderness from which explorers solemnly returned and had an abundance of magic within, which hid their magical presence to the point where not even the gods could find them. This dangerous territory made the perfect hiding place to forever hide in shame. While fairies naturally lived eternally like the gods, they were not indestructible, and that showed during the great war when they were almost wiped out.
Never again did Titania dream of going against the gods. She and the survivors would have remained isolated from the world, only surviving through children's stories, had a particular king not stumbled upon her village one fateful day. It was there that the Titania met King Arthur and his knights; a fated encounter that would once again give her purpose.
…
"By the gods, let me out of this cage!" a human man said from the center of the fairy village, a cluster of rustic villas built up atop giant trees. The cage was made of wood, but was not easily broken as it was reinforced with fairy magic. And even though the energetic fellow on the inside didn't appear to be dangerous or particularly powerful, several fairies adorned in leather battle gear stood around the cage watching him intently. The only weapons they held were daggers on their backs, which were more like swords to their small bodies, and slingshots on their sides. They were a warrior race who relied on unexpectedly powerful strikes and nimble agility to fight. At least, that was the case before the war. Now, they merely kept replicas of those weapons and armor as a reminder of their greatest mistake.
"Seriously! I mean you no harm!" the man yelled. "I've been searching for you all my life, and I've finally found you! At least talk to me! Pleaseeeee! There's so much I wish to know."
The fairies stared at him curiously, but continued to stay silent. Even so, he continued to talk endlessly about idiotic subjects and beg them for attention.
As the hours passed, the man thought he was going to die of boredom. That's when two young ladies strolled across the bridge to the center platform where his cage was. He stared at them as they got closer and realized they weren't fairies, but humans just like him. The masked one in white winter clothes was quite short, but still too tall to be a fairy, while the other was even taller than he. Furthermore, she was fashionably dressed in Westland clothes. In his eyes, he saw a Westland citizen, just like him.
"Hey! You two! Help me, please! I'll buy you a drink!" the man yelled. "No alcohol though, that stuff's nasty!"
The two girls exchanged glances before the shorter one in white walked away with a deadpan expression. It appeared she didn't want to deal with such a noisy fellow. The other taller one walked up to the cage.
"You're from the Westlands?" the woman asked. "Who are you?"
"Ah, finally! Someone reasonable," the man said, laughing. "Ahem. My name is Arthur Doyle, though I'd prefer it if you just called me Artie. And who do I have the pleasure of meeting?"
"Red," she said. "The girl who was just with me was Sako."
"Sako? As in the princess?" the man asked, astonished.
"Mm, so you are a Westland citizen after all," Red said, leaning against the cage. "Then you should know that you'll be shot down in an instant if you try anything. Her weapon was crafted by a great scientist named Nikola and isn't known for missing."
"Of course! I never had any ill intentions in the first place!" Artie said.
"Alright, so why are you here then?" Red asked.
"I'm just an adventurer looking for fairies," Artie said. "And I finally found them! After countless dry leads and a lifetime of searching, I've finally found them! My childhood dream is complete!"
"Uh, okay," Red said, growing increasingly uncomfortable. "So, uh, what do you plan on doing now that you've found them?"
"I… well… I'm not quite sure," Artie said sheepishly. "Admittedly, I was having fun with the journey more than anything."
"When you got here, you were shouting about news of the god's defeat," Red said. "What was that about?"
"Well, right before I stumbled upon this village by pure chance, I was at an inn in a town not far from the forest when I read in the paper that some girl had killed a god," Artie said. "I spat out my juice and hit the ground running when I saw that! I knew right there that I had to find the fairies and let them know of this! And what do ya know? After a couple of days of running blindly through these woods, I spotted a little animal I didn't recognize running up a tree. But guess what? It wasn't an animal at all! It was a fairy! At last, after all this time, I'd found what I'd been looking for!"
"Alright. But why did the sudden fall of a god spur you on?" Red asked. "Coincidences happen, but this is a bit suspicious to me."
"They had to know! Aren't they the ones who hated the gods in the stories?" Artie said. "I thought if they were real, they'd like to know that their sworn enemy took a big hit! To be honest, I just got excited and started running through the woods."
"So you're telling me that you coincidentally found them in a few days after failing for years?" Red asked.
"Fate works in mysterious ways!" Artie chortled. "Also, to be honest, this isn't the first time I've gone running through the woods after getting excited. It was bound to happen eventually."
"This forest isn't any forest," Red said. "Do you know how many veteran explorers have died in this place? You don't seem all that strong."
"True, I'm kind of a weakling when it comes to fighting, and I prefer to avoid it, but my magic is pretty crafty," Artie said as his body began to fade and turn completely translucent. Like a chameleon, he'd perfectly blended with the environment, essentially becoming invisible, though it was still obvious he was in the cage.
"You see!" he said, suddenly reappearing. "My magic changes the composition of my body and lets me turn transparent! It's useful for hiding from predators and allows me to sneak into the woman's bathhouse! I have a few other tricks, but this is the best one I've got for remaining unseen. Of course, if you know I'm doing it, it's pretty easy to sense my magic, so it only really works on animals and beasts."
"What city are you from?" Red asked.
"Le Fay!" Artie said. "It's a small town not many know of."
"I have, in fact, heard of that place," Red said. "Le Fay is a medicinal village near the southern border. What are you doing all the way up here?"
"I travel around a lot," Artie said. "I was just in Wunderdum until recently, actually. Judging from your clothes, I betcha you're from Zenith, amiright?"
"No, I'm from Wunderdum," Red said.
"Ah, that's right. You don't have their accent," Artie laughed. "Well, from one Westlander to another, will ya let me go? Pretty please? Pretty, pretty please?"
"You seem… familiar," Red said.
"Hm? Must be your imagination," the man said. "I would have for certain remembered a beauty like yourself."
The man was looking at Red with wide, puppy-like eyes. She saw no charm in him, though she couldn't help but pity him.
"Release him," Red finally said, sighing.
"Are you sure? We haven't found out his ulterior motives yet," one of the fairy guards said.
"I don't think he has any," Red said.
"How can you be sure?" the guard asked.
"Because he's an idiot."
The four guards looked at each other, then at the man in the cage. Artie smiled at them with the grin of a doofus, and they all sighed simultaneously. They waved their hands, and the magic within the wooden cage evaporated into the air, causing it to collapse into a pile of branches and leaves. The man brushed himself off and put his hand out to shake Red's hand.
"Thank you, Miss Red!" Artie said. Red reluctantly reached out and took the average-built man's hand. He had the getup of a stylish explorer, though his clothes were a bit torn and smeared with dirt.
"Just Red will do," Red said. She then turned to the guards. "Keep him in the village for now. I don't think he'll try anything, but we can't let word of your existence get out. Watch him at all times. His magic is tricky, but as long as Sako's around, he won't be able to do anything."
"Oh, how exciting this is!" Artie exclaimed. "You don't have to worry, I promise your secret is safe with me!"
Red leaned into one of the guard's ears.
"You don't have any memory-altering spells, do you?" she whispered.
"Unfortunately, that magic died alongside the elves," the guard said.
Red beckoned the man with her hand. "Come with me."
"Where are we going now?" Artie asked.
"We're going to meet up with Titania and Sako," Red said. "You're gonna tell us what you know while we're at it."