The Dark Realm - Harlequin (King)

Chapter 8

Liana and Tristan had accidentally overheard Sorrel and Lancelot's conversation and were wondering why they would say such things if they were trying to prevent what they were talking about.

"What started such a conversation?" Liana asked, barging in.

"We are theorizing." Lancelot replied calmly.

"It doesn't sound like theorizing. It sounds like assuming." Liana said.

"Theorizing sometimes involves assuming events in the near future." Sorrel chimed. Lancelot nodded his head and muttered something to Sorrel in another language. It was a tongue they had never heard before.

"What language is that?" Liana asked.

"A simple language we created ourselves. We call it the Tongue of Philosophers. It was created by mixing the different sounds of different animals." Sorrel answered. Liana pouted, she liked learning new things especially languages.

"So your hypothesis says that father will become more powerful than the Demon King and Supreme Deity?" Liana clarified. Lancelot and Sorrel nodded.

"But how? The Demon King and Supreme Deity have a combat class of 750,000 or over. That would mean father's combat class would be at least 760,000." Liana asked.

"We have theories. Like maybe the Dark Tree would multiply his power level or that his powers will completely run dry and then the powers of the Fae will take their place and be more powerful, also accounting for the fact that he gets a big boost of power like when he changes between his Original and Full Wings form." Lancelot replied. He and Sorrel worked through enough possibilities to deduce that there are two possible ways Harlequin could get extremely powerful, one his combat class was nearly doubled because he transformed into a Fae or his combat class gets reduced to zero and is then heavily increased by his transformation into a Fae. Both were valid options if Harlequin didn't drink the potion Merlin gave them.

Harlequin had gotten home after reporting to Gerheade who wanted to know what Sorrel and Liana had gone off for. He had told them they had given him something to further help with his sleeping and Gerheade appreciated the help. He uncorked the vial and was ready to swallow the whole vial in one shot, but stopped when he smelled the liquid. They had lied. It wouldn't help with the nightmares, it would stop his transformation into a Fae. When Harlow got home she saw Harlequin fuming over something.

"What's wrong?" Harlow asked.

"I agree, what is wrong?" Diane asked, entering the room.

"Sorrel and Liana decided to betray me." Harlequin answered. He shattered the vial of liquid Merlin gave Sorrel and Liana and turned around to face Harlow and Diane.

"Snap out of it." Diane said.

"I want to know why Sorrel and Liana would lie about the liquid they gave me!" Harlequin shouted.

"Stop it!" Harlow shouted. She needed to stop this fighting before it escalated.

"Let's all have a civilized meal and talk it over." Harlow suggested quite forcefully. Harlequin clenched his fists as if he was going to punch someone. Instead he simply turned his back and flew out in a flurry of wings and anger filled words.

"I'm going after him." Diane decided.

"It's best to leave him alone." Harlow said, placing a caring hand on Seline's shoulder.

Harlequin was sitting under a tree when a bone splitting pain shot up his arm. He screamed and closed his eyes to brace the pain. Soon visions filled his head.

"Why would they do such things? I thought I knew Gloxinia. I thought he could be trusted. The rest of the Fae have fled to the Dark Realm. If we can keep ourselves hidden and concealed here then we have a chance, but Gloxinia is burning every part of the Dark Forest. We have no hope for survival. Our precious tree will be purged from this planet. I have to do something. As Gloxinia appeared before the Dark Tree I made my presence known.

"What do you want?" Gloxinia spat.

"The ability to live in peace." I replied.

"I cannot grant you that wish." Gloxinia hissed.

"No harm will come to the Fairy Clan if you do." I argue.

"No can do." Gloxinia repeated. I have to try to control my actions. If I make a single move against Gloxinia the chances will murder me are high. He is already very mad at my clan for merely existing. I have to be careful with my words and actions. Gloxinia was staring me down like a hound. If I made a sudden movement suddenly he would no doubt launch Spirit Spear Basquias at me. I merely shifted my weight to the right side so I could lean against the Dark Tree and Gloxinia summoned Spirit Spear Basquias.

"I have a different proposal," Gloxinia said, "If you never leave the Dark Realm and harm another soul for one straight year we can negotiate further methods of peace."

"I will ensure my people follow the protocols." I say.

I was pleased Gloxinia found a way to see us as equals if not just lower than that. We had been living in peace in the Dark Realm for nearly six months and we were pleased with our progress. Most Fae were not like the Surface Fairies claimed. Not all of us are crazed and insane or even bloodthirsty for that matter. Most saw reason and worked through problems before resorting to fighting. So of course when the proposal was placed before them they happily accepted. The only problem was a small band of Fae was gathering under Cethin. Cethin was just like the Surface Dwellers claimed and he would not have peace, he wanted the whole of Alloy to become his.

He ordered his Fairies to go forth and sneak attack the Fairy King's Forest in the middle of the night and because of their foolish actions Gloxinia took matters into her own hands and started murdering the Fae clan. I never rested easily, I always looked behind my back in fear of being murdered. When Cethin appeared before me the night of both our downfalls he spoke a few words to me, "You were a weak Fae King, I know the Fae clan will survive, I have plans for a Fae King just like me. I have all the power this time." I knew he would turn the Fae clan from something simply peaceful and misunderstood into the very living version of the fairy tales.

Diane heard the scream and rushed to wherever Harlequin was. When she arrived she saw Harlequin asleep under a tree, but twitching and moving as if he was trying to escape his consciousness. She opened a small vial of pills and popped one into her mouth. The pills were given to her by Merlin and they would allow her to shrink down to the size of a human for a while. She watched over him in case anything happened.

When he woke up he found Diane sleeping next to him.

"What happened? It looked like you were having another nightmare." Diane asked.

"I can't remember what happened. I can never remember what happens in my dreams." Harlequin responded. Diane sighed and looked wiped out.

"Go back and get some sleep." Harlequin suggested. Diane nodded. He got up and stretched. He was getting ready to go retrieve his work for today when Gerheade nearly barreled into him.

"Three of our messengers have returned." Gerheade reported breathlessly.

"Why were you in such a hurry?" Harlequin asked.

"They are in terrible condition." Gerheade responded. He asked Gerheade to take him to them and they instantly shot off in the direction of the northern edge of the Fairy King's Forest. When he arrived he was shocked. The three messengers were Aede, Arelle, and Chrysta. Harlequin used Pollen Garden to heal them and as he used this spell got a headache. He had found this was happening lately, he would get headaches whenever he used his magic and it was bothering him. Once they were healed he asked for the details about what happened. Aede said the humans saw through his disguise and attacked him, Arelle said the humans despised the idea of trading with Fairies because they were lazy and would never uphold their end of the deal, and Chrysta had a similar experience as Arelle did.