Azalea

I watched Kelcie carefully as I spoke about my fears and my worries. Of how I thought that this world might not be real, that there was a possibility that it was only a very sophisticated video game. After all, the game that I had pre-ordered to play had been touted as the most realistic virtual reality game ever, so real, in fact, that it was nearly indistinguishable from reality. I had spent thousands of dollars on the best setup to play the game when it came out and had been lucky enough to gain a limited edition account that included a special class of my choice. An account that I gave to Sarah when it was all but certain that I was dying. An account that she had clearly accepted as she had had the special class when I saw her.

There had been too many things happening at once for me to fully appreciate the oddity at the time, but after I had thought about it, it had hit me fully. How was Sarah here? Did this mean that this was a game, and that I was somehow inside of it? Did I not die when I thought I had, that perhaps my body was being kept alive and that hooking me up to the game kept me alive somehow? If so, then why all of the secrecy? Why all of this odd behaviour from Adam? What did some supposedly all powerful being want with me? There were way too many questions, and not enough answers from the people who had them.

Sighing, I shook my head at my second oldest friend. She had always been like that. Being intentionally vague about something, just to tease someone. When we were kids, Sarah was the first one to learn that Santa Claus wasn’t real, and she’d teased her brother and I mercilessly. 

Warmth engulfed me as Kelcie held me in a tight embrace. Sobs racked my chest as I released all of the tension and fear I had been holding on for longer than I had thought. In the back of my mind – since I had gotten my prior life’s memories – I had always feared that this wasn’t real, that I had died and gone to heaven or hell – despite not believing in either – or a delusion brought on by the strong pain medication I had been on.

Kelcie looked down at me while I practically sat on her lap. “Does it matter at the end of the day? I feel real, you feel real, as does the world around us. Even with all of the pain that life has thrown at us, we still both have love, still have each other. This connection between us? The love and warmth I feel through our bond is worth everything to me, and even if the world wasn’t real somehow, I would still want it, still choose you.” She leaned down, pulling me closer so she could murmur into my ear. “I’m here, Azz, with you, and I’ll never leave.”

As I poured my hurt, and my heart out, I felt my tears dampen Kelcie’s collar, where I was snuggled up into her neck. Love and compassion flowed into me through our bond, clear and warm, now that I had let it open fully. I had been foolish to try and hide my emotions from my love, even if I hadn’t known straight away that that was what I was doing. It had taken me some time to recognise the sensations of her emotions nestled within my mind, having been overwhelmed with my own.

Laying in Kelcie’s arms, I felt lighter somehow, as if the slightest breeze would blow me away. If I hadn’t been so emotionally drained, I probably would have giggled at that, and considering my size that could certainly happen anyway.

I could tell that Kelcie felt better after our talk as well. Her emotions flowed through and around me, hugging me and brushing up against me like a curious and loving kitten. 

“Can we stay like this for a little longer?” I asked, leaning back against Kelcie’s front as I sat on her lap fully now, relaxing. 

Kelcie kissed the top of my head, making me grin happily. “We can stay here for as long as you want, or until my transformation wears off and I’m suddenly stuck inside the wall.”

Giggling at the mental image of Kelcie’s legs dangling randomly out of the wall, I turned and kissed her cheek, before sighing and nuzzling into her neck. “We’ve got to go back soon, don’t we? I have to deal with my family.”

“We do have to deal with your family. I’m with you, though, all the way, no matter what happens,” Kelcie replied, encircling my fingers with her own and hugging my back. My wings got squished a little bit, but luckily they’re malleable enough that they didn’t hurt, and just felt weird, like I was laying on my arm wrong. 

“Have I told you how much I love you lately?”

I felt Kelcie smile as she rested her chin on the top of my head. “Yep, but I never tire of hearing it anyway.”

“I love you, Kelcie.”

“You too, Azz.”

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

“Have you looked at the note that Sarah left you yet?” Kelcie asked eventually. 

Shaking my head, I opened my inventory and pulled it out, and proceeded to read it out loud. 

“Congratulations, Azalea, on your ascension to Demon Lord status. While it may not seem as respectable as being one of those blowhard gods, being a demon lord has some excellent perks, but also responsibilities. The first responsibility of a demon lord is to present themselves so the Council of Demon Lords may-” I stopped reading momentarily to snort as I read the next part. “It continues with ‘meet the newest demon lord’, but someone has crossed that out and written ‘measure your worth as a rival or pawn, so be careful’. That’s definitely Sarah’s doing.

“It goes on to state that I am to appear for the council meeting on the winter solstice, out past somewhere called the Green Ocean? Wherever that is. While it’s all above board and friendly, there’s subtle warnings and hints of them not appreciating any defiance in rejecting their ‘invitation’, so I guess we’re going to a fancy demon lord meeting, right?”

I felt Kelcie nod where she had her chin laying on my head. “I’ll be right there with you. It’ll take some time to get there, though, and the Winter Solstice is only about three weeks away, so we can’t delay for too long.”

That was uncomfortably close, especially if anything went wrong, but at least that gave us an immediate objective.

We stayed like that for another twenty minutes, alternating sitting in silence, and discussing our near future plans, before I decided that I had hidden long enough. Leaving the hole, Kelcie and I flew back together, holding hands – which was exactly as awkward as you would imagine with our wings, but neither one of us wanted to let the other go.

As we flew up to where my family were, Rose raised her voice, clearly having an argument with our mother. “I won’t! This time, I will tell her anything she asks about, she has the right to know!”

“No! You can’t! What if she-” Willow replied, stopping abruptly when she spotted Kelcie and I.

“What if she what?” I asked, glaring at my mother. I sighed and let out a breath I hadn’t even realised I had been holding when Kelcie squeezed my hand gently. 

I had just turned to Rose when a bird flew over our heads, landing on Enoc’s shoulder. Metallic silver glinted in the light as the bird settled and a musical note sounded from a beak that didn’t move.

As Enoc whistled back, the bird seemed to relax slightly, before it began to speak what sounded like a recording. “Greetings, Prince Enoc, this is Lieutenant Durral. I hope you are in a safe place as I give my report, and I apologise for the slower communication. I had no other choice as our command tent was overrun, our crycom gone with it. The front is lost, the dragons are pushing deep into alliance territory, with our forces scrambling to stop the advance.”

“Messenger Bird, pause recording,” the prince ordered, a frown creasing his face.

The messenger immediately stopped narrating with a chirrup of acknowledgement. 

Tyral gave the prince a concerned look. “That doesn’t sound good. Should we head that way? See if we could make a difference?”

With a small shrug to Tyral, Enoc turned to Kelcie and I and then nodded slightly. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to take this somewhere more-” Enoc abruptly stopped talking this time, as something flashed blue on his wrist. It reminded me eerily of a wrist watch, but I couldn’t tell if it was or not. Perhaps it was a magical equivalent?

Looking surprised at his wrist for a moment, the prince nodded towards my family, before excusing himself to go below the deck with Tyral following close behind him. 

“That doesn’t sound good. I wonder when that happened? Let’s hope they can regain their defensive lines,” Kelcie said, shuddering as she held me tightly. 

My mother shrugged. “The outside world and its affairs matter not to fairies. So, are you ready to come home, Azalea?”

I sighed again. “No, not anytime soon. I have some things that I have to do first,” I answered, trying to relax my clenched jaw.

“What can be more important than family?”

Smirking, I waved my demon lord summons in the air. “Demon Lord business, of course, you wouldn’t understand.”

Before I could continue and anyone else in my family could respond, Kelcie moved forward slightly. “Have you considered that the reason that Azalea is always trying to get away from you is because you actively lie to her and keep her in the dark? She didn’t even know about the Old Empire’s invasions of Fairy until she read it in a skill she got.”

My mother paused with her mouth open, before she closed it with a snap. “What do you mean, old empire?”

“I mean exactly that. The old empire that invaded Fairy four times doesn’t exist anymore. After the last invasion, which consisted of nearly a million soldiers who vanished with only a few survivors making it back, the empire was weakened too much and succumbed to infighting and the external threats from the other races that they had been trying to subjugate. You’ll find the outside world a lot different to what it used to be.”

I nodded my head. “That’s true. Sure, I might not know anything about this history like Kelcie does, but I’ve not gotten much in the way of discrimination or anyone wanting to kill me for who I am. I’ve met far more friends.” I glanced at Kelcie fondly. “And a wife.”

“A wife who is worried that her wife’s family is going to alienate Azalea and make her hate them, never to see them ever again, I might add,” Kelcie said, giving my mother a disgusted look.

The auburn haired fairy glared at Kelcie. “What would you know? Who are you to lecture me on how I raise my child?”

Kelcie sighed, shaking her head before she squeezed my hand. “I’ve gotten plenty of experience with a bad parent to give me a lot of knowledge on the subject.” Kelcie glanced at my sister. “Rose, how could you go along with this for so long? You know as well as I do that keeping her out will not end well.”

Willow was suddenly right in front of us both, anger and fear warring on her face. “And telling her anything might not end well either.”

I gasped. “What does that mean?”

“Nothing!” Mother replied instantly. 

Sighing, I looked at my older sister imploringly. “Please, Rose.”

Rose shifted slightly, looking uncomfortable, but defiant when she looked at our mother. “If you don’t tell her, I will.”

“What does that mean?” I repeated, firmer, feeling more confident as Kelcie’s pride and love flowed through our bond. 

My mother glanced around at the few adventurers still watching us curiously. “Now is not the time nor the place to discuss this, Azalea. Now come home, and we can talk about it then.”

I shook my head. “No more stalling. Tell me now,” I replied firmly, squeezing Kelcie’s hand rather strongly. 

“It means that I don’t want you to turn out to be like your father!” Mother snapped after I turned to Rose again when it appeared she wasn’t going to answer. “There! Are you happy now?”

Kelcie frowned and looked at me. “What did she say? I couldn’t quite understand it.”

Glancing between Willow and Kelcie, I wondered why she hadn’t understood, before I realised that my mother had fallen back to speaking Fairy in her outburst. I sighed before repeating what mother had said.

“What does your father, whoever he is, have to do with you?” Kelcie asked.

“No idea,” I replied with a shrug, looking at the auburn haired fairy as Thornwood held her. She wasn’t crying, but I could see that the admission had tired her out, making her look her age, despite the agelessness of fairies. Come to think about it, I had no idea just how old my mother really was, she had to be pretty old, although whether that’s by fairy standards or not, I had no idea.

“Please, Azalea, I can’t talk about it. The memories are too painful,” Mother begged, looking at me past Thornwood’s shoulders.

Rose hesitantly moved forward, followed by Holly who hadn’t said much since arriving. “Grams and Gramps would be the best ones to answer your questions about your father, Azalea,” my sister said with a glance at our mother.

I frowned as I noticed what Rose said and how she said it. “My father? Not our father?”

Shaking her head, Rose sighed. “No. My father died during the third human invasion of Fairy. I was still young when I lost him.” Tears glinted in her eyes as Holly hugged her side.

“Why didn’t any of you tell me any of this?”

“Because we were afraid that you would turn out like your father did. He led a rebellion that ended up killing more fairies than all of the human invasions combined. And because Mother insisted upon it, and in Fairy, the mother’s decision on how children are raised is sacrosanct,” Rose replied, a regretful look on her face.

I felt like I needed to sit down all of a sudden, I was feeling light-headed as everything seemed to spin. Kelcie was there, catching me in her arms as she dropped to her feet, transforming back to her human form. “There, there. I have you, Azalea. Just relax. Breathe deeply and slowly for me,” Kelcie murmured in my ear quietly, holding me tight. 

The comfort and warmth I felt from my wife helped ease the shock from hearing about what my father had done. Eventually I had gotten my breathing and my heart rate back down to a reasonable level, enough for me to sit up in Kelcie’s arms. “I need to talk to Grams and Gramps. Then we will head off for the visit to the Demon Lords council.”

A nagging question finally broke through my shocked thoughts. “Why did you think that I would turn out like my father did?”

There wasn’t any chance for a reply, a commotion in the form of Raya and Callie, followed by Tyral and Enoc coming back up from below, stopping any further discussion. 

“Change of plans, Azalea, Kelcie. We’re going to the eastern continent to help Enoc,” Callie announced.

Kelcie and I glanced at each other, before I turned to look back at the newcomers. “Unfortunately we won’t be able to go. I have summons from the demon lord’s council that I probably shouldn’t blow off. I also want to get some answers from Sarah, and that is the best place I know where she will be.”

Raya’s ears and tail dropped slightly as she heard this, while Callie just nodded before sighing. “That makes sense, they need to meet you, make sure that you won’t go rogue like the last one did. That reflects poorly on them.” She shook her head and smiled at Kelcie and I. “I guess that this will be goodbye for now, I hope that we meet up again soon. It’s been fun.”

I looked around at everyone present. “I suppose there is no time like the present to depart for Fairy, since we aren’t too far away. Has anyone seen Ryel?”

A random adventurer who had been listening in frowned, looking confused. “Fairy is close by? I thought fairies lived far up north?”

“Why does everyone keep asking that?” I complained, before a chill ran down my spine.

Something in my expression must have given me away, because Rose frowned and looked concerned at me. “Azalea? Is everything alright?”

I shook my head as everything fell into place. “No, it’s not. The undead invasion that we destroyed? That had been intended for Fairy.” I fluttered out of Kelcie’s arms, feeling a sudden need to hurry to warn Grams and Gramps of the danger the fairies were in. “We need to collect Ryel and head to Fairy straight away.”

Thornwood shook his head, speaking up for the first time in awhile. “What is this about an undead invasion intended for Fairy? And I’m sorry, Azalea, but Kelcie and, Ryel, is it? Can’t enter Fairy.”

I glared at the older fairy. “The hell they can’t. Kelcie is my wife, and Ryel is like our daughter. Don’t make me force the issue,” I warned.

“Oh! More fairies! Hi there!” Ryel exclaimed as she excitedly bounded up the steps and on to the top deck with the rest of us.

“Excellent!” I replied. “Just in time, we were about to depart for Fairy.”

Ryel’s eyes went wide with excitement, and she beamed. “Perfect! I get to test my new rocket boots!” She said, showing us that she was wearing strange looking devices over her shoes.

Rad appeared from behind Ryel, a proud smile on her face. “Like her rocket boots? I helped her make them.”

“Yeah… that isn’t going to end badly at all,” Callie sarcastically muttered as Kelcie slapped her hand to her forehead and sighed while Ryel grinned, her eyes shining with a crazed look.