Curiosity killed the cat. That's what mum often told me. I always believed it to be a lie. Perhaps because she didn't want me to find her hidden stash of cookies? Too bad for her, half of those biscuits are already sleeping soundly in my tummy.

Still, how can being curious be bad? How would Lord Polo have invented wheels if he wasn't even a little curious? I'm sure curiosity is instead an incredible virtue!

Those were my thoughts until that night.

I usually dove straight into my bed, nNo matter how messy it looked. But this time, to celebrate the upcoming special event, I spent half an hour arranging the sheet and my pillow. Especially the pillow.

 That’s where I always hide my treasures. There’s not much tonight since I ate most of them yesterday, but I still have to hide them carefully. Also to sleep well and replenish enough energy to play all day, I needed my pillow. 

I dare say without a pillow I couldn't sleep. And with a well placed pillow, I can sleep as soundly as a log. Mum often nagged me to not do it because I felt like a corpse. At this point, I had doubts believing anything she said. Thank the Stars, she wasn't there today.

I will still see her tomorrow though. It was my birthday after all. A rare day where every member of our family had to be here. 

And bring gifts too. Lots of toys for me to play all day! 

Everything should be perfect for this once of the year event! From me waking up on a perfectly clean bed to… whatever else might happen.

It was thus with a fully excited mind that I laid on my perfectly clean bed. However as I said, once my head hit the pillow I became like a corpse. Almost nothing could wake me up.

Or that's how it should've been. 

A while later I was surprised to find my eyes open and my skin tingling. But it wasn't as surprising as what I saw next. Sitting near my pillow was the figure of a winged girl the same size as my thumb. Looking at her made my mind spin a little.

[Who's that?] I thought, [A fairy?]

I couldn't remember what exactly ‘she’ looked like, maybe a side-effect of her magic, or because I was still a little drowsy. However, one thing that struck my mind was her color. She appeared so vivid that for a moment I thought that she was ablaze. And I nearly sent her flying off my bed in panic.

“Whoa! Calm down boy.” she said while effortlessly avoiding my blow with a twirl of her fly-like wings. Her voice was low but as shrill as a girl's. And it made strange echoes too. She then landed in front of me less than two inches away from my face.

[ WOW! It’s really a fairy! A true living fairy!! I can count on my fingers how many people have talked with one! They all describe them as scary, but this one seems pretty cute. How lucky of me! Does this mean tomorrow is gonna be a wonderful day?] 

“How are you awake?” she asked, while touching my face. Her hands were as tiny as her size suggested. And very soft. But they felt a little cold.

“I dunno ”, I replied.

“Well, that's quite disconcerting. You're not suppo—” The fairy stopped mid-sentence and frowned, “What are you giggling about?”

“Your voice… It’s very funny.”

Her figure froze for a moment. She might have not expected this kind of answer.

“....Wh- wha- what do you mean?” 

“And your eyes… They are so big! Your hands are so tiny too… You’re quite funny, little miss. Funnier than the other kids that I know. Who are you?”

The tiny girl’s shoulder shook for a while. Was she cold? Or mad?

“Y- You playboy! I will not fall for your teasing!”

I could not help but grin at her reply. I did not understand why she reacted like that, but it seemed fun. And at that time it seemed like a great idea to play with her as practice for tomorrow.

So I gave a flick to her side.

“Ow!”

“See? You already fell.”

“That’s not fair! You took me by surprise!” protested the fiery miss as she clutched her side, leaving the other one open.

“Hyaa!!!” she jolted as I gently poked her open side with my index. 

[What a wonderful scream. For once it is not mine.]

She had stopped massaging her other side, letting it open and begging for another “attack”. No need to ask twice. I poked her again. 

“Hyyaaa!!” she screamed once more. “What are y—”, she said as she tried to keep my fingers at bay with her nail-sized hands. "Stop- it tickles! Hey, I sa-"

Not a chance, Miss. It wasn’t everyday I got the chance to play with a fairy.

“Kyahahahahahaha, H-Hey… S-Sto- Yahahaa!!” 

[Wow. What a melodious symphonia. Now I understand why Big Sis loves to bother me so much.]

“ Haha-... Huff-... Please … No more… I beg y- haha..hahaAargh…” 

My fingers suddenly let go of her sides and she fell like a bag of potatoes. Did I finally realize I had gone too far?

No, what stopped me was the sweet alluring scent caressing my nostrils. It smelled like flowers and candies. 

Rmmmblll

My stomach rumbled. Seems like Mum’s cookies weren’t enough. I stared at the fairy, the source of the scent. She was sprawled on my bed, her body drenched in swee—, I mean sweat, and she was huffing louder than a buffalo. She looked like she had a hard time breathing. 

Not like I was concerned. Legendary beings like her could not die of laughter, right? If that was the case, she should be more concerned of what comes next. 

“Are you alright, little miss? Sorry, it was too much fun. I think that I went a little too far.”

“Ugh… Y- you demon! How can you do that to a frail maiden that you ju—” she stopped herself again midway upon noticing my finger near her. But this time it wasn’t to poke her. 

“I heard fairies eat a lot of sweets. Does that mean you’ll taste the same?” 

“...Wha—”

The fairy froze and I took advantage of this opportunity to seize her between my index and my thumb.

“Release me at once, you fiend!”

Instead, I neared my nose and took a whiff. And as big sis would say, [Damn, that’s good].

“You smell like candy, you LOOK like candy. You know what this means?”

“ I don’t! And I don’t care! Put me d—”

However I was no longer listening to her.

“This means it’s time for a midnight snack!”

Just like that I threw the fairy in my mouth as she began screaming.

And god! I had never tasted anything as sweet! It was even better than honey!

Right after though, a rotten-fish-like taste spread into my mouth, violating my taste buds.

I did my best to hold it in. But it wasn’t enough. The potato porridge I had for dinner escaped my throat and fell on the bed.

 [I am so screwed!] , I lamented, [Washing this will not be easy. Even though tomorrow is supposed to be my birthday,I’m sure Mum will have me wash it before playing. What rotten luck! ]

As I was too focused on the disaster that became my bedsheets, I didn't notice the little figure floating in front of my forehead.

"Hey, kiddo."

I snapped my head upward. There stood the fairy. And even though I just puked her, she appeared as clean as glass. Even cleaner than before we began playing.

"Do you understand the meaning of what you've done?"

Oh…I didn't like that. She sounded like mum. With a more tiny voice. And weird echoes.

"Humm… It was fun to play with you…"

"Yes you played me well, are you finished now?"

"Er… Yes, I think that I will go to sleep now. It's my birthday tomorrow. I have to sleep well."

"Oh? So after toying with me you're going to throw me away? Boys are all the same."

Huh? Something was strange. Now she sounded like big sis. My survival instinct kicked in. Yep, something always goes really bad when I hear big sis talking. I grabbed my fortunately clean pillow, and dove in a corner of my bed. Thankfully, it was big enough for me to not swim in my puke. Next, I hit the pillow with my head, ready to flee in my dreams.

“Nice try, but I’m not gonna let you go anywhere …” 

Now her voice seemed more deformed than earlier. It was as if countless people were speaking at the same time. The strange noise made my ears- no, my whole body quiver. When did the room get cold?

“You played with me. Now, it’s my turn to play with you…” 

[Urgh, my head is spinning a bit too fast.]

“Unfortunately I’ve to go home quickly, but at the very least I will tell you my name…”

Ok there, spinning head or not I can no longer let her speak. No one among the people that met the fairies and are still among us had heard a fairy name. While the only message left by one of those who disappeared was a name. A name that no known language in our world could pronounce!

“Wait! Can we talk for a bit? I know that you’re mad but can -”

“You’re wrong. I’m not mad at all~” she cut me with a grin. 

[Ok, now I’m scared. How can a grin look like that?! That’s too many teeth for someone as tiny as th- Ow! my head. WHat’s happening? Why does it hurt so much?]

“In fact I could not be happier! Well then, listen well my dear. I will only tell you this once.” she pursued as I was busy clutching my head in my hands

[Argh! No! I don’t want to hear that!]

“ My name is… &@!#---$**^&!!”

And there it felt as if a hammer struck my skull. Colors exploded in my field of view and I felt the world shake. I tried to stand up to get away from the freak that’s hurting me but my arms felt like noodles.  

Well, not just felt. They looked like noodles too. Colorful noodles. And my head. It felt as if dozens of needles were piercing my skull! So painful!

“udhfrhi….Joijoijo!!” 

Urgh… Seems like she is still talking to me. What is she saying? 

“...Well, then my dear… I will take this as a token of our bond!”

And as she said that, I felt something soft and cold on my cheek. 

This was the last thing I remembered about that night. 

At first, when I woke up in the morning, it felt so surreal I thought it was all a dream.

And then I smelled puke. But this wasn’t enough to convince me. Even though I was no longer in the age to sully my bed, with the grub that big sis made for diner, it would not be surprising that I would puke in my sleep.

What made me realize what happened was no dream was the light coming from my chest.

Legends and songs often told about how heroes gained a gift after an extraordinary encounter with a spirit. All of those stories had one thing in common: soul-glow.

This phenomena was a reaction to a spirit imprint. For a little while, a person's soul would emit a blinding light whose color mirrored the nature of their gift.

Mine too was as luminous as a lighthouse. I would have been happy if not for its color.

The light was red. That was the color of curses.

Do I still believe that curiosity is a virtue? I'm not sure myself.

However there was one thing that I learned for sure that night. 

Tasting a fairy was never a good idea.