• • •

“Tell me, child, why do you cry?” Her voice was almost harsh against the stillness of the night, her presence out of place in this land, but she stepped through the thin curtain regardless, brushing aside the material as she stepped into the room. The child ignored her, (or didn’t hear her - Fiona wasn’t sure which) and her soft cries continued to fill the air, tugging at her very soul. Fiona had been drawn to this place by the heartbreaking cries of the young girl that lay among bundles of blankets, unsure why it had been such a calling when she had ignored the cries of the children in the mines for centuries. The sound of children crying was like white noise to the Black Fairy at this point, except for the cries of her own son and, for some reason she couldn’t work out yet, this child.

Her dark eyes glanced briefly around the room, a frown washing over her face as a sense of familiarity rose within her. Had she been here before? She felt as though she had but it was a memory so far away that she couldn’t bring it to the surface. She wasn’t too surprised and shrugged it off. With over three million years of memories in her head, this happened so frequently that she barely questioned it anymore.

She moved towards the four-poster bed, which seemed far too large for such a small child, and pulled back the pink curtains.
“Why do you cry?” she asked again, her voice somewhat softer this time. A blur of dark hair and the rustling of blankets followed, the child clearly shocked to find that someone had actually responded to her cries. Whoever she was, she had clearly been left alone to cry herself to sleep far too many times before. The child sniffed, rubbing tears from her cheeks before dark eyes looked up at Fiona.

Her eyes.

As their eyes met, Fiona’s memories suddenly flooded back to her like a tidal wave inside her mind, overwhelming her instantly. The room seemed familiar because it was her room, the prison she had grown up in, the stereotypical room of a Princess that she despised. It was just the way it had always been in her youth, full of pinks and whites with the occasional stuffed animal scattered around. The breath left Fiona’s chest, her head feeling a little fuzzy. She had, somehow, fallen back on her own timeline, something that should not be possible.

“Who are you?” Her younger self asked, rubbing her reddened eyes as she pulled herself into a seated position to further examine this new presence in her room.
“I’m..” Fiona paused. She knew that she should leave, turn around and just fly out of the window. Her own timeline was fixed, she couldn't, or certainly shouldn't alter things, but she also couldn't just leave. “I’m the Black Fairy”
Her younger self visibly flinched, pulling away from where she stood and grabbing the stuffed unicorn that rested at her side, clinging to it.
“Are you here to steal me away?” she asked, fear obvious in her voice. Fiona let out a sigh, sitting herself down on the edge of the bed, remembering how much she had feared the Black Fairy in her youth. The Dark Realm existed outside time, the Black Fairy had always existed as far as everyone in this realm knew, and Fiona remembered the stories they told her of her wickedness.

“No dearie. I’m not here to steal you away..” Fiona smiled, hesitantly reaching across to brush a tear from her younger self’s cheek. The young girl flinched as her hand rested against the pale flesh, but she didn’t pull away, allowing Fiona to brush away the dampness.

“Mama sent me to my room..” the Princess finally answered. “I told her that I wanted to stay in her room tonight, because of the shadows, and she got mad.”
The shadows. Fiona remembered the shadows. Creatures of pure darkness that climbed her walls at night, with talons and wings and glowing eyes. They were truly terrifying to her as a child, but in hindsight, she realised that those creatures had come from within her, manifestations of the darkness that was waiting to be awoken.
“The shadows won’t hurt you,” she said softly “They want to be your friends..”
“My friends?” the younger Fiona asked, unconsciously moving closer to the Black Fairy as her fear of her eased. The older fairy nodded, looking towards the young princess with a smile. She wasn’t sure what she was risking by remaining here, whether her very presence would alter the events of her own life, but she remembered the pain and sorrow she had felt in her youth and the unbearable loneliness that had been the story of her life for so long. It was a loneliness that ultimately stemmed from this time in her childhood when her mother cut her off and began her 'new family' with her new husband, leaving Fiona to her own devices. She knew now how it would break this poor child for years and only cause her further damage in the Dark Realm.
“They come to visit because you feel alone, and they want to remind you that you’re not.” The princess gave a slight nod as she contemplated that idea, and seemed to decide that it made enough sense to ease the fear. At least until she was left alone again with only the flickering candle at her bedside to keep the darkness at bay.

“Lie down, Princess.. you should sleep..” Fiona said softly, watching with a smile as the younger fairy listened, snuggling herself down in her blankets and resting her head against the fluffy pillows. She was about to rise from the bed, to head back to the window when the child spoke once more.
“Does mama still love me?” The princess asked with a yawn, tiredness clearly urging her towards sleep.
“No..” Fiona said honestly, and then instantly regretted the bluntness of her answer when the sight of pure heartbreak appeared in the young girl’s eyes. Perhaps her own pain wasn't something that she should be projecting onto a child, even if that child was her. Fiona’s fingers moved to brush through the Princess’ hair, letting the silky curls fall through her digits “Your.. mama..” the word felt strange on her tongue. It had been so long since she had referred to Clarion in that way “has prejudices that are not your fault. But her lack of love doesn’t make you unloveable... One day, you will meet your prince, and he will love you more than anyone has ever loved anyone… and he will love you until the stars fall out of the sky.” Fiona couldn't help but smile at those words. The thought of Aleksander always did bring a smile to her face.

“That long?” The princess smiled, closing her eyes as sleep overcame her. Fiona chuckled softly, watching as the Princess fell into a deep sleep. She didn't envy the child. She had no idea of the pain that was going to come in her life, pain Fiona would never want to live through again, but she also knew that she had a great love who would steal her away from loneliness, never more than the day that he stepped into the Dark Realm when she had been alone for so very long. Fiona watched for a few moments longer, making sure the child was truly asleep before leaning to press her lips to her temple.

“Maybe even longer..”