Warning:Trans Vincent
The wind howled through the dense forest, its cold breath carrying the scent of damp leaves and wet earth. Rody Lamoree trudged along the narrow path, his hands trembling with anticipation and fear. His heart thudded loudly in his chest as he neared the small, crooked cottage that lay deep within the woods. The cottage was said to belong to Vanessa, a witch of unimaginable power, a woman whose name was whispered with a mixture of fear and reverence in the village.
But tonight, Rody wasn’t here for superstition. He was here for Manon.
She had been gone too long-days had turned into a week with no word from her, no sign of her laughter or the glimmer of her wings in the moonlight. Manon was everything to him-a delicate forest fairy, her beauty as fleeting as her existence, but it had been enough to ensnare him fully. Rody had fallen for her the moment she had appeared to him by the stream, her radiant presence turning the woods into a sanctuary. He had never felt so alive, so in love.
But now, the world felt cold without her. And with every passing hour, a gnawing fear had taken root in his chest-a fear that she had wandered too far, perhaps to the edge of the forest where people like Vanessa held dominion over the old, dark magics.
He swallowed hard as he approached the cottage, a small, crooked thing draped in creeping vines and half-shrouded by the mist that clung to the trees. The door stood slightly ajar, and from within, the flickering light of a hearth cast eerie shadows through the cracked windows.
Taking a deep breath, Rody stepped inside.
The smell hit him first: a pungent mix of herbs, smoke, and something faintly metallic. The interior of the cottage was cluttered with shelves overflowing with strange trinkets, jars of preserved organs, and vials of potions that shimmered in the dim light. Candles flickered around the room, their flames casting an ominous glow over everything.
And there, standing at the far side of the room, was Vanessa.
She was even more striking than the rumors had led him to believe. Tall and statuesque, with impossibly long black hair cascading down her back like a waterfall of shadows, she moved with an ethereal grace, her presence filling the small space. Her eyes, dark as onyx, glinted in the candlelight as they fixed on Rody, and her lips curved into a slow, deliberate smile. She wore a dark, flowing gown that hugged her figure, accentuating her sharp, delicate features. There was a beauty about her, but it was the kind of beauty that concealed something far more dangerous beneath.
“Rody Lamoree,” Vanessa said, her voice soft but cutting, like a knife wrapped in silk. “What brings a farmer so deep into the forest on a night like this?”
Rody swallowed, his throat dry. “I’m looking for someone. Manon. A fairy. She-she’s been missing.”
Vanessa’s smile widened, though her eyes remained unreadable. “Ah, Manon. The forest fairy you love.” Her words hung in the air, and there was something in her tone that made Rody’s skin prickle with unease. “Yes, I know of her.”
His heart leapt in his chest. “You’ve seen her?”
“I have,” Vanessa replied, stepping closer to him, the light of the candles catching the gleam of something silver resting on a table nearby. It was a vial, and inside, a swirling, iridescent liquid shimmered in the low light. “She came to me of her own accord, you see. Fairies are drawn to magic, Rody. They cannot resist it.”
Rody’s stomach turned. “Where is she?” he demanded, his voice shaking with a mix of fear and desperation. “What did you do to her?”
Vanessa’s dark eyes flickered with amusement, and she slowly approached him, her long hair trailing behind her like a cloak of shadows. “What I had to,” she said, her voice low, almost mournful. “Manon… she was special. But not for the reasons you think. She had magic in her, ancient magic that I needed. Forest fairies are such fascinating creatures. They have so much magic yet such a small lifespan”
Rody’s blood ran cold. “Needed? What for?”
Vanessa’s gaze softened, though her expression remained unreadable. “For myself. You see, Rody, I was born wrong. This body you see, this shape-it was never truly mine. I was born as a man, but I’ve always known that wasn’t who I truly was. I’ve spent my entire life searching for a way to become who I was meant to be. And Manon, with her magic… she was the key.”
Rody’s heart pounded in his chest as her words sank in. “You-killed her?”
Vanessa’s face remained calm, but there was a flicker of something-regret, perhaps?-in her dark eyes. “Not killed. Transformed. Her essence, her magic, is in this potion.” She gestured to the shimmering vial on the table. “When I drink it, I will finally be who I was always meant to be. A real woman.”
Rody stared at her in horror, the weight of her words pressing down on him like a leaden shroud. “You destroyed her for this?” His voice trembled with fury and grief. “For your own selfish desires?”
Vanessa’s gaze hardened. “Selfish? You think you understand, Rody? You, who have only ever known the comfort of being born into the body you belong in?” Her voice grew sharper, more insistent. “I’ve lived my entire life trapped, suffocated by a form that isn’t mine. I couldn’t bear it any longer. Manon was a small price to pay for that freedom.”
Rody’s hands balled into fists, rage boiling inside him. “She wasn’t yours to take!”
“And she wasn’t yours to love!” Vanessa snapped, her voice cutting through the air like a whip. “She would have left you, Rody. She would have faded away, as all forest fairies do. Her time was running out. I simply gave her life a purpose.”
Tears blurred Rody’s vision as he stared at the vial, knowing that inside it was all that was left of the creature he had loved. His heart ached, torn between the loss of Manon and the twisted truth of Vanessa’s words. She had done something unforgivable, and yet… she had done it for herself, to claim a life that had always eluded her.
Vanessa, as if sensing his turmoil, stepped closer, her voice softening again. “You can hate me if you wish, Rody. But know this: Manon’s magic lives on, in me. She gave me the chance to be whole.”
Rody’s eyes, filled with grief and fury, met hers. “You’ll never be whole,” he whispered, his voice thick with pain. “Not if this is what it cost you.”
Vanessa’s expression hardened once more. “Perhaps,” she said coldly. “But at least I’ll be free.”
Without another word, she turned and reached for the vial, bringing it to her lips. The liquid shimmered in the candlelight as she tipped it back, swallowing the essence of the fairy who had once been Rody’s love. Rody watched, frozen, as the transformation began-Vanessa’s form shifting, softening, her features becoming more delicate, more… feminine. She let out a soft sigh, her long hair flowing behind her like a dark river, as her body finally became what she had always longed for.
But to Rody, it was a hollow victory.
He turned and left the cottage, the weight of his loss pressing down on him like a stone. Behind him, the wind carried Vanessa’s soft, satisfied laughter, but to Rody, it sounded like the hollow echo of something broken beyond repair.
Rody’s body trembled as he stepped outside, the night air cold against his skin, but the fire in his chest burned hotter than ever. His mind whirled with confusion, grief, and fury-a storm of emotions he could barely contain. The thought of Manon, her wings delicate and shimmering, now reduced to nothing more than a potion in Vanessa’s veins twisted like a knife in his heart.
Manon was gone-taken from him, her magic ripped away, her life ended because Vanessa wanted to change herself. *For herself.* Rody’s fists clenched, his nails digging into his palms until he felt the sting of blood. She had no right to do this. No right to take Manon for her own desires. Vanessa didn’t understand what she had done, couldn’t understand the depth of Rody’s pain.
His heart hardened, the grief transforming into something darker-something dangerous. A single, burning thought rooted itself in his mind: Vanessa had to pay.
He turned sharply on his heel and stormed back into the cottage, the door slamming against the wall as he entered with a fury that made the air itself seem to shudder. Vanessa, now sitting by the hearth with her newly transformed body, looked up with mild surprise as if she hadn’t expected him to return. Her long black hair cascaded down her shoulders, framing her face in dark waves, and her eyes glinted with an otherworldly beauty, but it only fueled Rody’s rage.
“What are you doing?” Vanessa asked, her voice soft, curious. She seemed genuinely confused by his anger, like a child who didn’t understand why their actions had hurt someone. “I thought you had accepted what’s done.”
Rody’s lips twisted into a snarl. “Accepted? You think I can just accept that you *killed* her? That you took her away for your own selfish needs?”
Vanessa blinked, her expression unchanging. “She wasn’t going to live long anyway,” she said calmly, her voice unnervingly detached. “Fairies are fleeting, Rody. Their lives are brief, a few years at most. Even if she hadn’t come to me, she would have disappeared. What I did was natural.”
“*Natural?*” Rody’s voice rose, shaking with fury. “You’re talking about her like she was nothing! She was everything to me, and you-” He couldn’t even finish his sentence, the rage choking his words. In one swift motion, he grabbed the nearest object, a heavy iron fire poker, and swung it wildly toward her.
Vanessa’s eyes widened slightly, more from curiosity than fear, and with a flick of her wrist, the poker stopped mid-air, suspended by an unseen force. “Why are you doing this?” she asked, her head tilted as if she were studying him, trying to puzzle out the strange behaviors of a creature she didn’t fully understand. “She was just a fairy, Rody. Their kind isn’t meant to last. And now… she’s part of me.”
Rody’s heart pounded in his chest, his vision swimming with red as he wrestled with the magic holding the poker in place. “You think that makes it better? That I should be *grateful* that you’ve become something you wanted at the cost of her life?”
Vanessa stood slowly, the long black gown she wore sweeping the floor as she approached him, her movements graceful, deliberate. Her gaze was calm, unperturbed by Rody’s rage, as though she were watching a pet throw a tantrum.
“I don’t understand,” she said softly, her eyes searching his face for some kind of answer. “Humans hold on to things that don’t last. Fairies live briefly, Rody. Their magic flares brightly and then fades. She would have left you, and you would have felt the same grief. What does it matter if her magic served a greater purpose?”
“A *greater purpose*?” Rody spat, his voice full of venom. He wrenched the poker free from her magic and lunged at her, swinging it with all his might. “She was more than that! She was *alive*! She was *loved!*”
Vanessa sidestepped easily, her body moving like liquid as she evaded his blow, her long hair swirling around her like a dark veil. “Love?” she repeated, her voice soft with confusion. “What does love matter when her time was so short? Why would you fight over something that was destined to end?”
Rody’s fury surged, blinding him to everything but the overwhelming need to make her pay. He swung again, wildly, the force of his blows cracking against the wooden furniture and walls, but Vanessa remained untouched, her movements fluid and graceful as she continued to avoid his attacks.
“You don’t understand anything!” Rody roared, his voice thick with emotion. “Manon was-she was-” His breath caught in his throat, the words failing him, and for a moment, all he could do was stand there, panting, the fire poker hanging limply in his grip. “She was everything to me.”
Vanessa stopped, her expression unreadable as she watched him, her dark eyes filled with something akin to pity. “You’re mourning her,” she said quietly. “I see that now. But Rody, she was never meant to stay.”
Rody glared at her, his chest heaving. “And you were never meant to take her from me.”
Vanessa’s gaze softened slightly, her voice taking on a strange gentleness. “Rody… I’m sorry you feel this way. I didn’t take her from you out of cruelty. I did it because I needed to be whole. I didn’t think… I didn’t think you’d care so much for a creature with such a brief life.”
Rody clenched his jaw, the fire in him burning even hotter. “You don’t get to decide how much someone matters. You don’t get to take life for your own gain.”
Vanessa looked down, her long hair spilling over her shoulders like ink. “Perhaps not. But what’s done cannot be undone. Manon’s magic is a part of me now, and there’s no way to return her to what she was.”
A bitter laugh escaped Rody’s lips. “So, that’s it? You get what you want, and I’m just supposed to live with it?”
Vanessa’s eyes met his, and for the first time, there was a flicker of uncertainty in her gaze. “I didn’t mean for you to suffer,” she murmured. “I thought… she was just a fairy.”
“Just a fairy,” Rody repeated, the words bitter on his tongue. “You’ll never understand, will you?”
Without warning, he lunged again, this time faster, more desperate. The poker struck Vanessa’s arm, and she let out a sharp cry of pain, staggering back as blood seeped through the dark fabric of her gown. Her long hair whipped around her as she regained her balance, her expression one of shock.
Rody’s breath came in ragged gasps, his hands trembling as he stared at the blood staining the iron poker. Vanessa, for the first time, looked vulnerable-her calm demeanor fractured by the sharp reality of pain.
But still, she didn’t fight back.
“Why?” she whispered, her voice barely audible over the crackling of the fire. “Why would you hurt me over this?”
Rody’s grip on the poker tightened, his knuckles white. “Because you took everything from me.”
Vanessa’s dark eyes, wide with confusion and something like hurt, met his once more. “I didn’t know,” she said softly, her voice filled with a strange, childlike sincerity. “I didn’t know you cared so much for her.”
Rody’s chest ached, his vision blurring with tears he didn’t want to acknowledge. “You’ll never understand, Vanessa. You’re not human. You don’t know what it means to love something that much.”
Vanessa looked down, her long hair falling forward to conceal her face. “Perhaps not,” she whispered. “But… I didn’t mean to destroy you in the process.”
The fire poker slipped from Rody’s hands, clattering to the floor with a hollow ring. He turned away, his heart heavy with grief and fury, knowing that no matter what he did, Manon was gone.
And Vanessa… Vanessa was a stranger who would never truly understand the weight of what she had taken from him.
Rody stood in the dimly lit cottage, the weight of his actions and the enormity of his loss crashing down on him like a tidal wave. Vanessa was now seated on the floor, her once proud and regal demeanor now broken by pain and confusion. Her long hair lay splayed around her like a dark halo, and the blood staining her gown painted a stark contrast against the pale skin of her arm.
“I didn’t know,” Vanessa said quietly, her voice trembling slightly. “I didn’t know that… what I did would hurt so deeply. I didn’t know humans get attached to creatures with such short lifespans”
Rody didn’t know what to say. The witch still didn’t see anything wrong with what she did. Did other creatures really think like Vanessa? Did they really not see anything wrong with killing creatures that had shorter lifespans?
Without saying anything,Rody left the cottage.
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