The view of the lake was one met with wonder by all. The rumors kept slowly spreading about the fairies as the days passed—whispered by children who'd danced with them, shared by adults who'd glimpsed the blue lights. Crowds would form at random every day, outsiders who wished to see the rare sight or visit the shop of the famous alchemist who'd brought them here.
Wolf was annoyed. The rumors had shifted—now people claimed he'd summoned the fairies, that he was trying to spread them to the rest of the world. Technically, if he succeeded in saving them, it would be true. They would spread because of him.
It didn't help that no matter the time or place, if Wolf appeared, every fairy would stop and greet him at least once, letting everyone know he was there—the rumored savior they believed would spread them everywhere.
Today was one of the better days. Arlin was here overseeing things, having a mini-date with Terra. Leena was doing light training while enjoying the view. Beyond them, Teva would check on Wolf periodically, though the fairies tended to avoid her for reasons he couldn't understand. She'd started getting snippier with them in return, avoiding them back.
"Get back here, U little bugger!"
The giant berserker was chasing a laughing fairy as it zipped past Wolf to hide behind him. The size difference was almost comical—Terra's flame-bright eyes locked onto him as if he was all that stood between her and her prize.
"Move, little brother," Terra said coolly, eyeing the prize peeking out from behind his shoulder.
Wolf frowned. He didn't like that Terra still thought of him as a little brother, nor did he like how grabby she was being with the fairies. Before he could speak, Arlin did it for him.
"Calm down, Terra. Get over here and eat. Let the kids play with them—you're scaring them."
Wolf glanced around and saw a few children in the distance, afraid to get close even though he knew they loved coming here for the fairies.
He gathered his courage and nodded at Terra. "I agree with him. Leave them alone for the little kids."
Terra looked like she was about to cry. "I'm not going to hurt them! I just want to touch one..."
"Terra." Leena's voice was cool, controlled. "Give them time. They'll be more friendly with us the more we let them live in peace."
Terra folded her arms, staring Wolf down like a wall, refusing all words as if challenging them to make her budge.
Then a voice—low, but Wolf could swear he heard it clearly: "If you don't come over here, I won't give you a kiss."
In the time it took Wolf to blink and process what he'd heard, Terra was leaning on a blanket near Arlin, practically purring.
"What fairies? I only need U~"
"Thank you, Elder!" The fairy zipped past him and started chasing kids in the distance as things calmed down.
Sights like this were getting more common. Wolf's fear of the crowds ebbed a little more each day that no incident happened and everyone seemed to just want to be part of the miracle of the new fairies.
As those days kept passing, each more peaceful than the last, he almost forgot his failure. The fairies became misguided nuisances that refused to stop calling him Elder.
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That was, until his sister Leena entered the shop looking grim, holding a small book.
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He wanted to ask if she was okay, but her face—cold and ready for war—shifted to warmth the moment she met his eyes. She approached the counter, handed him the book, and stared at him with an intensity that confused him before she spoke.
"No matter what, brother, I believe in you."
Then she kissed his cheek, said she had to go, and left.
Just like that. No explanation. No warning about what was inside.
Just: I believe in you.
Wolf stared at the closed door, then down at the book in his hands. Despite how strange it was, he flipped through it and understood why she'd looked upset. He tried to compose himself and stay neutral, but the words—written with such indifference to the cruelty done—were hard to focus on.
"Is that the key you were missing, dear?" Teva spoke from his side, breaking his thoughts as she tried to read over his shoulder. "Wonder if the little brats will be grateful—HEY! I was reading that."
Wolf closed the book so fast it echoed through the shop, refusing to let her see. "It's nothing," he said flatly. "And it's something for me… Just trust me."
Teva's face shifted from annoyed to concerned. She nodded slightly, and Wolf saw tears forming in her eyes. She knew he was hiding something. But the sadness wasn't from being denied knowledge—it was knowing he felt he needed to protect her. That he was trying to bear it alone.
Again.
"Okay, dear." Her voice was soft. "Let me make us some tea."
Wolf nodded slowly, not trusting his voice.
Around them, random customers had stopped to watch, sensing the shift but unsure how to act. Misty started ushering them away, tutting that if they just wanted to browse they were welcome to do so, but not to stare at the owner when he was busy and didn't need to be heckled.
The people didn't share Misty's bluntness, but they understood they were intruding on something private. They left quietly, respect in their retreat.
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The day passed slowly into night. Teva couldn't break Wolf out of his shell of isolation. She tried not to push, even as she went to bed, hoping his mood would improve with the next day.
For Wolf, it only got worse.
He kept reading the book—not out of desire to consume it, but a need to find answers. To justify the evil he read. To undo it.
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Section 2: Balance Effects
It seems their mana is not any one type. All bear pure mana. It's why it's easy to apply them to any test and see success.
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Wolf shook his head, reading how easily they used them as objects. Section one had been study of fairies' forms and theories on how to use them. Section two was understanding their mana itself.
Dismissive. Clinical. Cold.
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Section 3: Shell Discovery
Found crystalline formations near fairy habitats. Passing them to Herbert for further testing.
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Wolf's hands trembled. Herbert had been kept away from the darker things, but he'd still been part of it. Had still tested the shells. Not that it helped Wolf now, or the fairies then.
Near the ending, theories and a mention of a "second weapon." Who was the first?
It didn't matter. The shells were mentioned briefly a few more times—dismissive, always dismissive—but nothing concrete he could use. Unless he wanted to harvest fairies himself, this book was worthless.
No... it should be burned. Not preserved.
But he reserved that judgment. Perhaps it should be kept as forbidden knowledge, lest others do the same in the name of research.
Wolf closed the book.
Still no answers. Just more horror.
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Wolf awoke from a dreamless sleep, the book still in his hand, sunlight streaming through the window.
How long had he been out? An hour? Two?
He smelled food being made. Teva, trying to care for him even as he shut her out.
The book had given him nothing. No answers. No hope. Just confirmation that the fairies had been seen as resources, not people. That even those who studied them—Herbert included—hadn't understood what they were destroying.
After a brief meal with Teva—her watching his mood, him unable to meet her eyes—he left to visit the fairies.
Maybe they'd have answers the book didn't.
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He picked a secluded corner, as best he could, away from the random crowds that liked to gather. All the cheer and playing from kids—even now a sight that used to amaze him—was just a reminder of how dark things can happen behind closed doors.
"What's wrong, Elder? You look unhappy! We still believe in you, promise we do!"
"It's... not that."
Another fairy came up, overhearing he was upset. "Do you want to play? We will always play with Elder!"
"I'm sorry." Wolf's voice was low, defeated, as a third fairy joined in to dance with the other two.
"Why? Because you didn't play?"
"It's okay, we can play now!"
"Yeah!"
The little voices never lost their joy, assuming he just felt left out. Wolf looked up, confused by his own feelings.
"It was humans that hunted you to near extinction. Even I, at one time, wanted power, though I would never do... this."
"Okay?" A fairy responded, unsure what to feel, watching Wolf lost in his darkness.
"Why don't you care? They were killed. Is it... because you didn't know them?"
The fairies watched him, unsure what the problem was. "Elder, you know we come back, so why be sad?"
"If death of your kind doesn't bother you, why seek me? Why fear dying off?"
"We fear not coming back!"
"We always come back, but now we don't!"
"That's true, Elder! If we can't come back—THAT would be scary! So you help us with that and all will be okay!"
"Yeah~!"
The fairies cheered and danced as they explained their view, yet it wasn't a comfort to Wolf.
So they don't fear death. They need me to help them be reborn. Yeah, easy.
He left back to his shop, even as voices followed him, saying they never doubted him, so don't be sad he hasn't saved them yet.
Yet.
That word echoed in his head long after it was said, and he didn't know how to tell them it could be never.
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Back in his shop, by sheer desperation, he tried to force it again. Tried to will a shell, unbreakable, to save them. He could see the core, feel it, almost touch it—
Before the pain set in.
His magic fought him. He could not break that barrier.
Because no matter how much he saw it, he could not understand what made them.
He felt trapped in a loop that would never end. After all these days, if he couldn't figure it out, and the books gave him nothing, there was nothing left but him.
He stared at the last shell and feared losing even it.
The hours passed slowly as he took random breaks. No one bothered him—they saw the toll it was taking, and it made it worse. He was getting what he wanted:
Space.
And he felt more trapped than ever before.
The setting of the sun brought him no closer. Dinner, while pleasant, offered no peace. As Teva went to bed, he laid with her for a bit before the desire became too much. He didn't want to wait anymore.
He went back to the shop and took the last fairy shell.
A gamble. All or nothing.
And right now, he felt like nothing.
But he remembered when he healed his mom—it wasn't doubt that let him succeed. It was belief. A will so strong it could never break.
But he was missing what made this fragile shell. That truth.
So he did the unthinkable.
Wolf held the last shell, trembling.
And absorbed it within him.
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Wolf closed his eyes and drew the shell's mana into himself—not to destroy it, but to FEEL it. To know it. To become certain of what it was.
The mana flowed into him, and suddenly—
He understood.
Why they called him Elder.
Why they always seemed carefree.
How they misunderstood death as just a new rebirth. And perhaps, for them, it was. Perhaps fairies were the closest to understanding it.
They were balance in its purest form. Healing the land, spreading more mana to make more magic. And when the land was infused with so much, it made the shells. From those shells, they absorbed mana and grew until they were fairies once more.
An endless cycle. Never to be broken.
Their misunderstanding was fearing being hunted and fleeing—never putting more balance into the land, and in doing so, they could not make more to be reborn.
He knew what to do.
He stood and went to the lake to bring back the fairies forevermore, and never let them be broken again.
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The moon was full, its beams dancing along the lake as blue glows swam among the light. Wolf walked to the water's edge as night fell, the last shell's mana still resonating inside him. He could feel it—not just the mana, but the MEANING behind it.
The fairies gathered around him, dancing, glowing blue in the darkness at his feet. They believed in him. Always had. They'd come to him knowing he would save them, not hoping, not asking—KNOWING.
"Elder! Elder! Did you find the way?"
He extended his hand over the water, ignoring their words, fearing anything he said would break his faith. His will to believe was fragile if he questioned what he was doing. So instead, he focused on what he felt most.
He thought of the beauty of the lake—the way moonlight danced on its surface. The life within it—fish, plants, insects, all existing in balance. Even the kids that came to play with the fairies, just wanting to be a part of their lives.
He thought of Teva's eyes—the depth they held, the warmth, the love that didn't demand or control but just... was. The hope she had for another day, just like the blue lights that danced around him, never doubting they'd get to come back if he found a way.
He focused more on the fairies' innocence—wanting only to be free, to be born again and again, to help the world balance itself. And he knew he would make a catalyst that would never fade.
And he BELIEVED.
Not hoped. Not wished.
BELIEVED.
A shell should exist that can never be broken. Never fade. Always give life. An object of love and peace, like the fairies themselves.
Balance mana flared from his hand—not forcing, not controlling—manifesting certainty into reality.
The world agreed.
As Wolf uttered a single word—
"Ever."
****
Quietly, alone, tears fell from Teva's eyes. She was unsure how to help Wolf. She'd felt him leave in the night and knew he was going back to the shop. She tried to pass the time, but not knowing what he was doing was killing her.
So she went to check on him.
Yet when she arose, he was already leaving the shop. She hid nearby in the kitchen, torn between surprising him and waiting till he lay down to sneak back into bed, or explaining she'd just gone to the bathroom and missed him.
But he left outside instead, not even noticing her nearby.
So Teva had followed him.
She knew she shouldn't—he'd been isolating himself, shutting her out, trying to bear this alone like he always did. But she couldn't help it. She was worried.
She hid among the trees near the lake, watching as he stood at the water's edge, fairies swirling around him like living stars.
He raised his hand.
And the world... changed.
She'd seen him use balance magic before—small things, subtle things. with the potions or small items from nothing, manifesting belief into gentle reality.
This was different.
The air itself seemed to hold its breath. The water stilled. Even the fairies stopped dancing, sensing something vast about to happen. As she heard his voice:
"Ever."
Light bloomed from Wolf's hand—not harsh, not burning, but soft. Certain. Like dawn breaking after an endless night.
The mana didn't just flow from him. It SANG. It resonated with the lake, the land, the fairies themselves. Reality bending not because it was forced, but because it AGREED this should exist.
A crystal shell formed in the air above the water—translucent, glowing, perfect. Not fragile like the others. This one pulsed with steady, endless rhythm. Like a heartbeat. Like life itself.
It descended slowly, as if the air was gently setting it down before Wolf. Mana flowed into it—the ambient mana of the world itself. The shell drank it in, balanced it, filtered it, and released it back pure and clean.
A cycle. Self-sustaining. Eternal.
Teva's hand covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face.
He'd done it.
Her love had just bent the world to his will through nothing but absolute certainty and desire.
The fairies erupted in celebration, dancing, singing, calling him Elder with joy that echoed across the lake.
And Wolf—her Wolf—collapsed to his knees, exhausted, shaking, but smiling.
She ran to him.
*****
In a place of nothing—no light, no dark, no time, no space—there was only mana.
Mana waiting to become something once more.
A fairy's essence, scattered long ago, drifting in the void. Not dead. Not alive. Just... waiting among the mana of potential souls.
Then—
A light.
Distant. Warm. Familiar.
The essence of a fairy drifted toward it, drawn not by force but by recognition. This was... home? Purpose? Being?
The light grew brighter, warmer. It felt like dawn. Like waking from a long sleep. Like the world calling them back.
Come back. We need you. The cycle continues. We want to welcome you home.
The essence touched the light—
—and LIVED.
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At the foot of Wolf, near the lake, the crystal shell glowed bright.
A new fairy emerged from its depths, tiny and translucent and perfect, blinking in confusion at the world around them. Slowly becoming more solid with each second that passed.
The other fairies swarmed them, welcoming, celebrating, dancing.
"Welcome back! Welcome back!"
The new fairy looked around—at the lake, at the dancing lights, at the exhausted human kneeling at the water's edge.
"Elder?" they asked, uncertain.
The other fairies laughed. "Yes! Elder saved us! Elder brought you back!"
The new fairy floated closer to Wolf, studying him with ancient, newborn eyes.
"Thank you, Elder. Do... you want to play?"
Wolf looked up, tears streaming down his face, and smiled.
"Maybe later."
****
Wolf opened his eyes—when had he closed them?—and saw fairies dancing, weeping, celebrating around the glowing shell near the water.
"Welcome back! Welcome back!"
"Elder?" A voice drew Wolf's attention. He saw a new little fairy, freshly born from the shell he'd made, watching him uncertainly.
"Thank you, Elder. Do... you want to play?"
Wolf knew he'd done it. Tears streamed down his face as he smiled.
"Maybe later."
He tried to focus beyond that moment, tried to stand. His legs wouldn't hold him.
Then Teva was there, catching him, lowering him gently to the ground. He was mildly stunned—when did she get there?
"You did it," she whispered, tears streaming down her face. "You scared me half to death, but you did it."
"I'm sorry," he managed. "I should have—"
"Shh. We'll talk about that later. For now..." She held him close. "Just rest. You saved them. And none of us ever doubted you."
Wolf looked at the shell glowing steadily by the water, at the new fairy dancing with the others.
"They were always fine," he said quietly. "They just didn't understand how they got here. I just... believed they could, and helped guide them by giving them an easier path."
Teva kissed his forehead. "That's what makes you extraordinary, Wolf. You made a path when no one else could."
He wanted to argue. Wanted to say he'd failed so many times, that he'd almost given up, that he'd tried to do it alone again and almost lost everything—like he did with Nina, pushing her away. Like he was starting to do again with Teva.
But exhaustion pulled him under, and the last thing he heard was fairies singing his name.
“Elder. Elder. Elder.”
A title he now agreed to wear. Not as a burden.
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