Seven thousand years before the present era, fairies reached the heavens, seeking to end the gods' reign in their all-encompassing rebellion.
On that day, the beginning of year zero, Titania and Zeus stood opposed to each other, high in the clouds of the heavenly kingdom presiding over the Westlands. Everything leading to that moment had prepared her to fight the elder god, one of the most prominent deities in all existence, who was rivaled in power only by that of Odin and Sango. Never had she been more determined to succeed.
No longer would they bow to self-appointed kings that arrogantly perched themselves atop existence simply because they had the power to do so. No longer would they have to sacrifice their own to appease them, nor would they be their worthless pawns. No longer would they fight their wars, and no longer would the world's magic belong to them.
They would be free.
The fairy queen clenched her mighty sword forged of fairy steel, glistening with a radiant pink aura as her stanch stare locked onto the Westland god of thunder. She'd burst in through the gates of heaven and flew all the way to the top, not even looking back at what was to become of the allies that had paved her way. Streaks of lightning sprinkled the darkened skies with a dance of electric light and echoed so monstrously that their voices were heard across the world.
Titania took flight first, charging straight at the elder god, but before she knew it, she was already falling. Zeus, now high above, had cast her down in an instant. Too fast for her to process. He hadn't even bothered to slay her.
As she plummeted back down to earth with broken wings, she saw the bodies of her comrades, her people, and all those she had rallied, falling alongside her in a downpour of hundreds of thousands of bloody corpses. They were utterly defeated. When Titania had first slain an angel months prior, it gave them all hope. It made them believe that if their creations could die, then so could the gods.
They couldn't have been further from the truth.
Aside from Titania, not a single one who made it to the heavens survived, and not a single god had died.
The day they were defeated was known as the Day of Red Rain, for on that stormy day, the bodies and blood of the rebellion rained down upon the ground and soaked Helios in a sea of red. Floating atop this bloody ocean was Titania, eyes forlorn in the depths of her own hell. Droplets of warm scarlet liquid slid off her face, and the dead bodies of her friends bobbed around, forever embedding themselves into her soul.
…
Titania's eyes shot open as she winced. Her body shuddered and shook in cold sweat as she sprang up in her leafy bed. She took deep breaths to compose herself, trying to convince her body it was a dream, though it wasn't. It was an exact memory that haunted her in her restless sleep eternally.
"Titania," a voice said from her open doorway. "Red succeeded in retrieving the princess. They're in the village now."
"I'll see to them soon," Titania said, her voice quiet. "What of that man?"
"He appears to be just a regular, albeit noisy, Westland citizen," the fairy attendant said. "Red believes he means no harm, and told us to free him. We're still watching him and won't let him leave the village for now. Do you wish to put him back in the cage?"
"No, I trust Red's judgment. There are a few things I wish to ask him," Titania said. "Let them know I'll be there soon."
The attendant nodded and walked away.
Titania wiped the salty dew from her forehead and took a deep breath. How long had it been? How many thousands of years had passed since that day? They say time heals all, yet in the case of beings with indeterminate lifespans, it can take its cruelest form. Even thousands of years later, she felt the exact same pain she did on that day. The burden she carried was the forsaken souls of millions. Not just of her race, but those of countless others, too, and that was not so easily forgotten. She had so much, and she threw it all away because of a fleeting feeling.
"Oberon…" Titania mumbled.
"Is gone," a voice from the doorway replied. This time, it was Mustardseed, the only one of Titania's four royal retainers to survive the war. She had been on the ground when the invasion started and never made it to the heavens. She had a scar on her closed right eye and an indifferent stare forever plastered on her left.
"Let's go," she said. "If I leave you to your devices, you'll be here for hours. Remember, human time passes much differently than our own. What we perceive as seconds can be an eternity to them."
"Right…"
The village where the fairies resided was far enough from the Northland border to avoid the perpetual snow, but far enough from any Westland city that it avoided attention from humans. It sat atop high trees at the center of the Great Forest, a heavily mythical place among Westland folklore, and wasn't too far from the impassable mountain wall that separated the mysterious Eastlands from the rest of the continent. As such, the area was deemed much too dangerous by explorers because of its mysteriously high fatality rate, and was advised by top guilds to avoid.
It was here that the fairies found a home.
By Titania's decree, the little wooden fairytown would have no name as a place hidden from the world needs not a title. Leaving the Great Forest was forbidden for the fairies, not just for the safety of the individual, but for everyone else, as well.
If Arthur and his companions hadn't stumbled upon them in a twist of fate, they would likely never have seen a human again. That was perhaps for the better, as human knowledge of their existence could prove detrimental to them. As part of a promise, Arthur and his comrades swore to never tell what they saw, and the only other ones who knew of them were Sako and Red, whom Arthur had assigned as their protectors.
In the biggest treehouse, which wasn't much bigger than a standard Westland cabin, Sako and Red had already made themselves comfortable in chairs around a mahogany table set with bread, berry salads, and meat from a deer Sako had shot earlier that day. This building, located on the town's outskirts, was constructed entirely for them, though they seldom used it as they were almost always on missions. They passed through the village often enough, but oddly enough, Sako preferred to sleep in a bushel of leaves atop a thick tree branch and watch over the village. Red, on the other hand, was quite fond of the Westland-style rooms and the comfortable mattress she had brought in from Zenith years prior.
Titania walked into the room with Mustardseed to see Sako dozing off at the table, Red stuffing her face with meat, and the strange Westland man prancing around the abode, inspecting every inch like a curious pup sniffing a new house. None of them seemed to see as they entered.
"Wow! So this is what fairy craftsmanship is like!" Artie said. "It's just like the ones back in the Westlands!"
"That's because this is a Western-style house," Red said, bits of chewed meat falling out of her mouth. "It was built for us since we're stationed here."
Sako blinked several times as she awoke and wiped her weary eyes with her fist. She yawned and gazed at Titania with the eyes of a dead fish.
"Ah, yes, I was curious about you two," Artie said. "What are two human girls like yourselves doing in the fairy village? And the princess no less!"
Titania walked up to the table, prompting their attention. "They're here as part of a promise Arthur and I exchanged many years ago."
"A promise?" Artie asked as he plopped himself down on one of the chairs. He examined the wee creature as she floated up to the table top. She looked human but was the height of a toddler, with skin that glowed far more radiantly than anyone else's. Her gaze was distant, but on her sharp face and lushly tied-up hair, there was the glint of nobility.
"You wouldn't happen to be Titania, Queen of the Fairies, would you?" he asked.
"Titania, sure, but Queen of the Fairies? I couldn't be further from that title now," Titania said.
"You're still the leader of this place," Red said, wiping her mouth.
"A queen has subjects. I have none," Titania said. "This is a village of survivors, not citizens. I am merely one of those survivors. Queen Titania died alongside her people in the war."
"Even so! I can't believe it, you're still alive!" Artie said, leaning in. "Wow, Titania, Queen of the Fairies, right before my very eyes! Just like from the stories! I never would have imagined meeting you, 'tis an honor!"
"Who is this man, Red?" Titania asked.
"He goes by Artie. It seems he's just a buffoon who believed in a childish dream," Red said. "One which brought him here by sheer luck."
"No, it must have been fate!" Artie exclaimed. "Our meeting here was clearly destiny! I've been searching for fairies all my life, and I've finally found them! Ah, I can die happy."
"Then die," Red said, growing increasingly irritated by the man's loud voice. "This place needs to be kept secret anyway. The fewer who know, the better. If you jump from one of the platforms, I'm almost certain that the fall will be enough to kill you. If it doesn't, I can make sure Sako finishes you off so you don't suffer."
"Alright, that's enough now," Titania said, her voice gentle and low. She pivoted her head to Artie. "What will you do now that you've found us?"
"I dunno," Artie said, leaning back in the chair and staring listlessly at the ceiling. "But surely some interesting stuff's going to happen now that I have. Surely, we were fated to meet, yes?"
Titania looked into his eyes and saw nothing but pure innocence and idiocy. She sighed.
"You're not wrong about something happening, but it has nothing to do with you arriving here," she said. "Which reminds me, we should discuss why you were called back here, Sako."
Sako looked at her and nodded.
"In consideration of how you are, I'll be blunt," Titania said. "A god has fallen."
"Oh! I had completely forgotten!" Artie said. "I was incredibly shocked about it myself! To think it was an elder god no less! Sango, I believe, was the Southland god's name."
"After all this time…" Titania started, pondering upon the past which had obliterated the fairies and many other races with nothing to show in turn. Her hands trembled, unable to shake the feeling of dread. The terrible memories that haunted her every move.
She remembered the look Zeus had on his face when she had reached his throne through pure luck. The expression on the looming god of thunder's face was not one of hatred nor determination. It wasn't even contempt– it was boredom. The cause they had given so many lives to fight for, in the end, was worthless. And now, that cause had been further ridiculed by a human, proving what even the combined might of the most powerful mortal races could not.
"I still can't believe it's true," Titania said. "After the Day of Red Rain, I thought that I was in error. That the gods could never fall. Mayhaps my actions were still in error, but I can't believe that it truly wasn't impossible."
"It shocked us all, though, I'm sure you were the most surprised, Titania," Red said. "When we all shared those visions of and heard the swords of that girl, we all thought it an odd dream, but as the news of Sango's defeat spread, it came true."
"It was quite the phenomenon, wasn't it?" Artie asked, amused. "I recall when I first saw it, I was in a market. I thought I was going mad when the scene of a small girl fighting a sky-high giant began to play in my mind, but I quickly found I wasn't alone."
"Not even the mountain fox could have predicted this," Titania said. "I shudder to think what kind of monstrous mortal could achieve such a feat. What they had to sacrifice in addition to their life… the fact that they existed frightens me so."
"But her words and voice sounded so kind," Red said. "They felt warm."
Sako nodded in agreement.
"Hold on," Artie said. "If you weren't sure that the gods could be killed until recently, then why did you start the Great Fairy War? On what basis?"
"A foolish one," Titania said. "One built only on a gut feeling wrought by love and hate. I figured that since the deities, spirits, and angels the gods created could be killed, so could they. Why would they create imperfect reflections of themselves if they were all-powerful? They had to be living, just like us. Indeed, many races of old lived very long, if not eternal, lives, but that was balanced by the idea that they could die. That they would die, eventually. If one creature defied that rule and decided to reign over all others, how could that be considered fair? It couldn't. I just wanted to make things right. To bring balance back to this world."
"Surely you had more to go on than that," Red said.
"My reasons for starting the rebellion were entirely selfish," Titania said. "And it was for that reason that after our defeat, I accepted the gods as eternal. I became the dirt on which they tread, because in my eyes, they were the pinnacle. Wallowing in that fact for thousands of years, I would have succumbed to an eternity of despair had I not met Arthur, a human. He would likely not live more than a century, yet the world was his. I still remember his words from the day we met…"
Arthur stood in a white light within Titania's memory. The king was younger and in his prime during their first meeting. An encounter, despite having memories for tens of thousands of years, she would never forget.
"Why do you fight when your life is so short?" Titania asked.
"Short?" Arthur asked. "Whatever do you mean by that?"
"Well, you'll likely die in only a couple of dozen more years," Titania said. "What can you possibly accomplish in such a short period? What do you hope to gain when, no matter what you do, your name won't be around much longer than a thousand years?"
"I don't know what you mean. I plan to live forever!" Arthur laughed.
"Are you trying to become a god, then? An ascended mortal?" Titania asked. "You should know that they aren't indestructible, but if-"
"That's not what I mean," Arthur said. "This body will certainly die one day, as returning to soil is the destiny of every living thing. My breathing will cease, and my soul will become eternal. It's as you say, my name won't last more than a few centuries, regardless of what I do."
"And you're okay with that?" Titania asked. "Are you not afraid?"
"I am. I'm scared to die just like everyone else, but I've long accepted that fear," Arthur said. "If I can become the dirt that grows the beautiful lily I've planted, then I will gladly give it. Even if the petals wilt into oblivion, a spring breeze will carry its seeds to blossom in the future, eternally."
"I don't get it, I fear," Titania said.
"That's because you're still green, Titania!" Arthur said. "You asked why I fight, right? The answer is simple: I fight because I must."
"But why? Why must you fight and suffer when you get nothing from it?" Titania asked.
"Obligation," Arthur said with a smug smile. "Nothing more, nothing less."
"Haven't you given enough?" Titania asked.
"I wonder that myself," Arthur said, closing his eyes. "All I've ever wanted to do is lie down and doze off under warm sunny skies, free from strife, free from responsibility."
"Then why not rest?" Titania asked.
"Because a building's pillar doesn't get to rest," Arthur said quietly, then he laughed. "Besides, you said it yourself. Human life is short, so I have to make the most of it, right?"
"You think yourself admirable?" Titania asked.
"I do," Arthur said. "And that's because I know the secret to a fulfilling existence."
"And what is that?"
Titania opened her eyes and found herself back in the present.
"'Live a beautiful life and then die,' those are the humble words Arthur spoke unto me," Titania said. "I am ashamed to have forgotten Oberon, to have forgotten my desire to achieve freedom. I'm thousands of years older than that man, yet he'd somehow attained more wisdom in his short lifespan than I ever had. Maybe it's because he didn't waste a single second. The time we're willing to waste is relative to our lifespan. Centuries to him were like seconds to me, and it shows."
"That certainly sounds like the great Chosen One!" Artie said. "I have newfound respect for thy king!"
"He has a way with words, that's for sure," Red said. "It's because of him that you lost faith in the gods once more, then?"
"I never had faith in them in the first place. I'd just grown to fear them more than anything," Titania said. "But upon meeting him, my desire to protect humanity from the fate we endured burned brighter than ever, and when prophecies of the world's end began to arise, I knew it was time to face the music. I had to help save the world my friend treasured. It's not penance for my actions, but I hope I can at least do one thing right in my life. Maybe one day, I can truly understand what he meant."
"So you're planning to fight the gods alongside humans again?" Artie asked.
"Fight the gods? Never again," Titania said. "Our original plan was to run across the sea to the Moonless Terra. Arthur had an idea, and I was willing to put my faith in it."
"So I'm guessing a god dying wasn't on the agenda?" Artie asked.
"How could it be?" Titania asked. "I still cannot fully fathom it. But nonetheless, I wish to hear what you know, Sir Artie. You're the one who first alerted the village of this news, yes? Please, if you will, indulge us."
"Yes, ma'am! I'll recount it as I've heard in the paper and from word of mouth," Artie said, clapping his hands together. "It all happened in Kalahari, a city in the Southlands. The skies upon the world grew dark, and out of nowhere, Sango, elder god of the South, appeared taller than a mountain, with his mighty axe Oche. When his legendary battle axe thunderously fell from the stars to erase the world, humanity lost hope and accepted its end. It seemed a future of eternal darkness was inevitable, but then, one mortal, shining so bright, dared to defy him: the Hero of Joy, they call her! In a ferocious strike that blew down walls and echoed across Helios, they clashed. Of course, Sango's might was overwhelming, and it seemed our savior's struggles were in vain. But! Out of nowhere, they say she became encased in blue flames and shot a beam out of her eyes, blowing the colossal god far away from the city. It was in the center of the desert where their weapons met endlessly, destroying the land and inciting ember rain all around. Apparently, they dug a crevice so deep when they fought that you can't see the bottom. It's also so wide that it would take days to get to the other side. But that's not even the craziest part! When the world's eyes were all on them, in that fateful moment, Sango's axe broke, and the Hero of Joy rose to the sky, cutting away the infinite clouds of darkness. With one final strike, she sliced through his heart and saved humankind, sacrificing her life in the process. It was then that we heard her final words, and she became an overnight legend. Folks dubbed her the Hero of Joy, but her true name was Xinyu Ma!
"We could do without the theatrics," Red said, rolling her eyes. She then peered to her side and saw Sako had fallen asleep once again. Red smacked the backside of her head, jolting the princess awake. "Don't sleep. It's rude."
"Ahaha, I have heard the princess had a reputation for being unconventional," Artie chuckled. "But that's everything I've heard! Crazy stuff. Betcha you and the king are going to have to change your plans."
"This development either changes everything, or nothing at all," Titania said. She turned to Red. "Was Sako able to see where Lionel was headed?"
"No, a blizzard hit at the worst time," Red said. "But on our way back, she took me to Land's End, that little town on the border. The one we'd been watching. It was completely burned down."
"I didn't think they'd make their move so quickly," Titania said, tapping her fingers restlessly on the table. "Were there any survivors?"
"The residents are all okay, thanks to Sako," Red said. "I got the rundown from the patrol that escorted them inland. Apparently, a battalion of Jotnar marched down as a declaration of war. It was lucky that Sako had caught wind of them. No one else would have been able to repel such an attack. We counted 73 bodies. Does that sound right, Sako?"
Sako nodded her head.
"Seriously, I can't believe it," Red said. "I'd hoped that Arthur could contain the rebellion before something like this happened, but it seems he's gone missing recently."
"Is Beowulf making his move so soon that surprising?" Artie asked. "For as long as I can remember, the Northlands have always been at odds with the West, but they never invaded because the chances of winning a war were 50/50. The civil war that began in the capital was just the chance they'd been looking for."
"For someone obsessed with childish things, you sure know a lot about the state of politics," Red said.
"I'd always read the papers in case there was something about fairies," Artie said. "I couldn't care less about politics, but it helps to know what's going on in the world."
"Lionel's crossing into the North was no coincidence, we now know that," Titania said. "Their intentions are vague, but I have a bad feeling that if we don't stop this war, it'll be our end. This isn't the time to be fighting. Not when something worse is approaching."
"What are we to do, then?" Red asked.
"You and Sako will protect the kingdom by staying here. Begin evacuating the towns closest to the border to Zenith. Repel their advances at all costs," Titania said. "In the meantime, I will head southward and attempt to make contact with Arthur in Wunderdum. Once we quell the civil war, we'll send reinforcements and find a way to prevent an all-out war with the North."
"Wait. How are we supposed to repel an entire nation while you're gone?" Red asked. "Sako's strong, but fighting them back by herself might prove too much. Surely we should just give up some of the Westlands territories and make a strategic retreat while we rally our forces?"
"That's too risky," Titania said. "In war, the most obvious solution is almost always the wrong one. With Lionel's betrayal, they will have insights into the kingdom, which gives them a massive advantage. We've got to use our Joker card in the beginning just to stay in the game. They recognize Sako as a threat, but there's a reason she works in the shadows and doesn't partake in glory. It was to keep our greatest weapon a mystery and hide her true strength."
"It sounds like you're sacrificing her to buy time," Red said. "And if not her, then all those soldiers protecting the border might lose their lives."
"This is war we're talking about," Titania said. "Sacrifices are inevitable. Isn't that right, Sako?"
"I won't stand for this," Red protested. "She isn't just some soldier, she's the-"
Sako put her hand on Red's shoulder and shook her head. To her stubbornness, Red could never contest. The Sniper Princess then grabbed her rifle, got up from her chair, and marched outside as she pulled her white mask over her mouth. The day grew cold as the winds of the north blew down, yet that woman didn't shudder in their icy gales. She merely straightened her back and saluted towards her land.
The one her mother entrusted her to protect.