But pleasures are like poppies spread

Chapter One - Lavender

The scream shocked Jungkook so much, the flowers in his hands withered and died.

The nature fairy was carrying out his daily duties, gossamer wings flitting around the Moors as he took in stock of the trees, the animals, the earth. Sunlight streamed down over the ancestral home of the Fey, warming Jungkook's pale skin. The winds had taken him to a wide meadow, and Jungkook relished the feeling of the soft grass underneath his bare feet. He had settled down by a patch of daffodils, pruning the blooms, gathering the stalks ready to be carried away.

And then he heard the noise.

It was a wail of anguish, a guttural sound that carried across the moors. Something so filled with pain that the fairy's heart throbbed, and his empathetic magic robbed the flowers in his hands of all life, overcome with grief. Jungkook caught movement in the corner of his eye, saw a kaleidoscope of butterflies flutter away in distress. He heard the birds squawking in fear, felt the trees stir in discontent. The fairy inhaled sharply, a stray daisy falling from his brown curls as he snapped his head around. His eyes darted, trying to find the source of the noise.

Another cry. A little softer, a little more broken, but no less agonized. Coming from the edge of the Moors.

Jungkook's insect-like wings fluttered, carrying him off of the ground and over the fields of green and brown. His heart also flew, pounding in his chest with nerves and fear. He didn't know what had made that noise, which sounded like it had been ripped from the very core of the poor creature. Jungkook just knew he wanted to help.

His flight led him to a misty pond, where firm dirt had given way to marshy grass and tall cattails. Large drooping trees with thick barks curved around him, blocking out most of the sunlight. The ground was cool behind his feet as he landed. Jungkook titled his head, biting his lip and trying to listen for an aberrant noise among the frogs and the crickets.

He heard a choked noise, and half-sob, half-rasp that came from somewhere behind him. He quickly leaped over damp moss, pushing aside bulrush as he followed the sound.

And then he saw.

A humanoid figure was lying on the ground curled into themselves, head pointed down to the dirt. The figure was wearing a dark robe, limbs shaking as they struggled to maintain the figure's weight. And-

Jungkook froze for a moment, because - the figure didn't have wings. The was a conspicuous lack among the figure's back, visible even in the low light. The lack of limbs could only mean one thing. All fairies had wings, and if a human had managed to enter the Moors...

But then Jungkook paused. Crept closer, footsteps soundless in their lightness. He smelled the rusty pang of blood, and his large brown eyes widened in horror as he realized.

The creature in front of him was a fairy. But where a fairy's wings should have been were two bloody, bleeding lines, angry gashes that spoke to immense loss. The fairy's robe was loose around their waist, and blood trickled down from the gaping wounds in their back, raw and exposed against the cool air. Jungkook's stomach churned at the sight, and thorns of fear grew at his feet.

He managed, somehow, to find his voice. "H-hello?"

The fairy immediately reacted to the sound. He turned around, frantically scrambling away from Jungkook, backing up on his hands and knees. A beam of light fell upon the fairy and his features came into view - violet eyes, dark hair, tanned skin, and two long black horns that rose from the fairy's head. And Jungkook's heart plummeted even further.

Everyone in the Moors knew Taehyung. The fairy was considered near royalty, protecting all of Fey with his powerful magic - far more powerful than any other fairy around. He was brash, bold, soaring over the Moors with his large raven's wings.