Culmination | A Tinkerbell Fanfiction

Chapter 17: The Point of No Return

The fire raged across the hillside, devouring everything in its path and kicking ashes high into the heavens. The meadow burned to ruin on all sides of him. It was scarcely recognizable as Summer through the smoke and withering to chards. The sky was redder than blood and trees of all sizes and colors vanished beneath the ocean of flames, blowing high and circling the field tauntingly.

He'd been here before.

He recognized this dream. He'd seen it before.

But this shouldn't have been possible! He had the bracelets now! Shade couldn't destroy the Hollow without them! This was only a nightmare! That was all it could be! Shade didn't have the power to do all of this! It was impossible!

But Shade isn't the only one with power over fire, an unrecognizable sneer drifted over the shrieks and pleas of fairies he could not see. Everyone can be convinced to use their powers for evil—even you.

No! he cried, struggling away from the voice and spinning on his heels to flee in the opposite direction. The fog was circling him now, forcing him further and further into his dream, relentlessly pressing him into the unknown. This isn't me! I can't do this!

Someone screamed and he recoiled, aware of the fire building in his hands. He yelped, desperately fighting to shake it out, only to send more sparks skittering amongst the ruin and setting even more of the meadow ablaze.

No, no, no! Stop! 

You can't stop it, Phineas. The voice now sounded...familiar...but not Scarab's or even Scorpion's. Someone else's. Someone whom he had forgotten. You were never the hero of this story. You are here for...something else. 

What are you talking about? he cried, ducking back as the fire lurched for him, and nearly ending up on his back. He realized at that moment that his jacket was gone, his wings fully exposed to the heat. I'm the Protector! I'm supposed to save the Hollow! 

It was never about you, Bobble. You are only a part of the real plan. You were necessary to progress the tale and you have done very well, but now it is time to let the real hero step into the light. 

I...I don't understand! There...there's someone else? Another Protector? Who? He knew that couldn't be right! He had both Life and Death! He'd been the anomaly, the first Protector in history to be alone. Scarab and Shade, Scorpion and Asha, Willow and Falcon, Clarion and Spurn...but he'd been alone. The only one without a counter-Protector (as Vidia liked to call them).

So, what had changed? 

Who had been chosen in his place? Why was he being replaced right now, like this? Wasn't he good enough? Had he truly failed so miserably that there was no coming back from this? Was it because of Scarab? It had to be because of Scarab. He hadn't been good enough to save her and that mistake was going to cost him everything.

There was always going to be someone else, came the cool reply. You just weren't ready to know who. Besides, weren't you the one who said you weren't sure you wanted to be a hero? 

He stubbornly chose not to answer the condescending question.

Well, the voice went on dryly. This is the chance you've been waiting for, then.

The fire circled behind him, the heat enveloped his wings, and then the world faded to black. 

"YARGH!" he screamed, sitting up so quickly that any ordinary fairy would have thought all the forces of the heavens had just descended and struck him dead-on. The solid stone of the cave floor grounded him and he drew a few sharp breaths, rooting himself in the loud huffs of the dragon sound asleep behind him and the gentle flicker of the campfire dancing across the stormy night.