Monsters Within

Chapter 4

"Are you ready, Felix-chan?" Gravis, the rapier, teased the guy for the nth time that day. Even though he could not see its face, he could feel that it was smirking at him right now. And that was what’s making him more furious.

A vein popped at Jaxus' temple. "Call me Jaxus, Rapier.” He sighed, calming himself. “I am ready for whatever comes."

"You should be. Let us go!" it beamed; excitement was visible in its voice.

For Jaxus, nothing was exciting about all these. Living in the Faerie Kingdom was not a luxury for him; it was a nightmare. Now that he was going to another kingdom that he was unfamiliar with, he felt nervous and scared for himself and the others.

The rapier glistened before it melted and hid in his arm. Now it looked like a black sword tattoo painted on his long and tan left arm. With this, the rapier could come with him without anyone knowing about its existence; hopefully, the fairies wouldn’t too.

They went out of the room to be greeted by a dwarf. He looked severe, and he refused to look at Jaxus' eyes. He did not want anything to do with him, but he was forced to because it was his job. If given the opportunity, he would instead switch with someone else no matter how difficult the job was, as long as it had nothing to do with this monster or any monster alive in this world... if there’s any.

They went out of the building they were in to get to the Passage.

It was a new invention from the dwarf race that lets them teleport from one place to another. Only the consequence was that whoever rode the Passage would get snatched with a small amount of their power and energy.

They had a small white container that extended for at least five feet. The light that it gave inside would transfer anyone containing it to a particular place. The only limitation was that there’s no specific place. If someone wanted to go to a specific kingdom, no one knew where exactly on that kingdom they would land.

The Passage would let Jaxus go to the Faerie Kingdom, which according to Sacho Elfred, was the race that would help him control his power and the monster inside him.

"Get ready. The operator is already inside," the dwarf said, still wearing his serious face. His voice was low. It was so cold that it sent a shiver down his spine.

Jaxus was aware that the dwarf was angry at him, mad even. After what happened, they refused to say any word at him to prevent any danger or any argument that might put everyone at risk again.

They all had something to say sorry for, but they could not say it right now. They could not say it because the incident was still freshly wounding them all.

If my life here in the new kingdom will be worth it, I will do my best to control this monster. If something good is waiting for me out there, I will gladly do what they ask of me. I just wish everything would be okay.

Jaxus started walking inside the Passage. No one spoke to him on his way. They just continued staring at him, giving him both relief and angry glances. Some are relieved that he was going far away from them, and some were still angry with what happened.

Even the operators did not give him a single glance.

Jaxus could only sigh before entering the machine. His chest felt heavy as if a heavyweight was weighing on his chest. It was hard when they threw hurtful words at him, but he didn't know it was more painful to get ignored again. Maybe he needed to get used to it by now.

He adjusted his position inside when the lights went on. He closed his eyes and slowly opened them due to the blinding light. And before he could even breathe, a vast force sent him on his knee. He gritted his teeth, for it felt like hours, then the pressure came to a sudden halt.

Jaxus coughed as he rested his head on the wall. He was breathing hard while his eyes were closed. It was like he ran miles away for hours when in reality, it took only seconds.

He was catching his breath when he stood. "Tsk. I should have used the cab instead of riding this," he whispered to himself, grunting.

This time, when he opened his eyes, his mouth flew open. The cool breeze brushed his face, and the autumn leaves started to fall.

The flowers, the trees, and the grass swayed with the blowing wind like dancing ballets. The swirling thing on his stomach was gone because of the sight in front of him. He forgot what he went through when his eyes landed on the surroundings.

Jaxus stood up from the grass; the Passage was now gone, and he roamed around the place. He could not take away his gaze from the beautiful scenery. But what surprised and amazed him more was the creatures flying not far away from him.

"What the..." he silently exclaimed.

He narrowed his eyes to see them clearly, and he didn't know if his eyes were deceiving him. They all had thin wings attached to their backs. It was bigger than their upper bodies, with different colors matching their fitted outfits. What mesmerized him more was the pixie dust from their wings that looked like falling stars.

He put his hood on and hid his face a little. For sure, they would be curious about who he was because of his unusual clothing. It wouldn’t be hard for people to notice him, so he needed to hide as soon as possible. Sacho Elfred didn’t warn him about what he should wear in that place, so he thought that it’s only natural for him to discover it himself.

He was about to take a step forward when a hard and cold object hit him at the back of his head. He immediately glared at the thing that hit him and saw a snowball as big as his fist.

His eyebrows immediately furrowed. "A snowball?" Then he looked at the bright sun glaring at him. "Great," he whispered.

"I am sooo sorry!" A fairy flew near him with apologetic eyes. "I didn't mean to hit you. We were just playing and..." She did not finish her sentence when he saw the guy she hit. "Are you new here? That's rare. Well, I'm Ivy Frostine, by the way. You are?" she asked with a huge smile on her face.

Ivy waited for his reply, but Jaxus just hid his face more under his hood and walked away. He wanted to go as far away as he could, away from her, away from anyone.

Socializing with anyone was the last thing he wanted. He didn't want any connection to any of them. He didn't want anyone to know about his identity either. And the fewer people who knew about him, the better. He was fed up with all of those words as well... all those hurtful words.

When he thought he lost the fairy, he suddenly found himself in a crowded place. There were vendors selling fruits, vegetables, and meats everywhere.

His face turned pink, and his heartbeat started beating fast. He stood in a corner and tried blending into the shadows. Good thing it was not as bright as the place he saw a while ago.

Tall stone houses covered the rays of the sun, giving him a place to hide. The main street was narrow, but the alleyways were narrower where only a single person can walk to.

The fairies were all busy buying and selling goods, and fairies flew from one place to another. It fascinated him when fairies flew in the air like it was a regular thing. There were no flying dwarves where he lived, and he never knew if there were monsters who could.

He looked around and saw the tallest building he could see– the castle of the King of the Fairies, King Leprechaun VII. He was believed to be a small man with wings bigger than his whole body. He was the fastest of all, the strongest, and the wisest fairy ever existed. Jaxus wanted to see him in person when he first knew of his existence, and he could only hope.

A huge flag was on top of a triangular castle where everyone could see it. It was a green silhouette of a male fairy flying in a circular motion. The fairy was holding a long wand in his right hand where green dust comes out.

"I need to do this," he convinced himself before walking in the direction of the castle.

He needed to meet King Leprechaun VII. He had to enroll in this school to help him control his power and the monster inside him.

He needed to go to Lightford Academy.