The Steel Fairy ‖ Fate : The Winx Saga

04 ‖ Rain away

If I jump off the cliff, would my armor break like an eggshell when I hit the rocks?

Under my feet, the stream is flowing to the sea, so fast I'm jealous. I want to get far away from here and never come back. Hide in the First World. But that would be mutiny, and I heard about what happens to the cowards like me: fairies sentenced to wearing Runic Limiters indefinitely and Specialists limping after broken knees... Queen Luna knows how to be obeyed and feared.

Still I wonder... could I kill myself? If not by jumping off that bridge, could I poison myself? I may have to ask to an Air Fairy to struck me by lightning... Marco would be glad to do it, I'm sure. He still despises me for what I did to his boyfriend.

My phone buzzes in the back pocket of my jeans. Grandpa. I answer with a lump in my throat because I might cry just hearing his hoarse voice. "Hey."

"Hi, bug... I heard about your mobilization. I'm sorry."

I'm not surprise the news of the war that Solaria declared to the Blood Witches spread fast across the Otherworld, but details of the army's organization should not reach the court of Eraklyon in a matter of minutes.

"Dowling called you." I bark, putting two and two together. "Is she not busy dealing with the mess of it right now?"

"You know she cares about you, bug." He says softly.

"Enough to let me go to war!" I hiss back.

Farah Dowling was a 'friend' of my mother. They shared a room during their years in Alfea. Even though, I never met my mother, when I started searching for her after my dad died, I met Farah who was able to paint me a picture of my mom. Camille of Adovaria was a savage pirate, captain of the Lady's Chest and a very selfish person. That I've known. She left me as a newborn on the docks of the harbor where she met my dad nine months earlier. My steel skin made it clear who my father was, as he had been the only Steel Fairy known in the Otherworld at this time and he happened to live nearby with his parents, my grandparents, at the court of King Maxam, the then King of Eraklyon.

"They need you, August." Grandpa continues. "You're very special."

"I'm a Fairy! My abilities are not so exceptional when you know what others can do here..."

"You inherited your dad's gift, so you are very special."

A cold wind runs through me. The humidity of the stream bellows my feet bite my skin and I curse myself for forgetting my jacket before running away. I'm always cold and my armor sadly never made me warmer. I bring my knees to my chest and hold them tight with one arm, while still holding the phone to my ear.

"Grandpa... You're not afraid I'm never coming back?"

"You're unstoppable, bug." He says, before adding in a whisper: "Well, mostly..." He thinks about his son too.

My grandfather, Yuri Winterwort, was King Maxam's blacksmith. He never had magic but somehow carried the dormant gene of Steel magic, which his only son, Wim, channeled. My dad had never been able to control steel like I do but his armor was spectacular. He had style compared to me and most importantly, he was able to shield under a similar metallic layer others, something I dread of trying to do, too afraid of turning someone into a statue for eternity. He was a true support in battle, made his parents proud, using his personal gift to serve the kingdom like they did all their lives with their gifts. He was unstoppable and reliable, yet he died when I was nine, struck by a fucking lightning.

And now, if I die, the Steel magic can disappear again, maybe forever.

My phone buzzes and brings me back to reality. A double-call from June.