6Author's Rants: I'm writing this out right now before I lose the idea for it. And this is inspired by the Backstreet Boys song 'Incomplete' and my own current romantic situation. It's not a full story, just a really detailed synopsis/plot overview.
Long time ago, there was two ethereal beings—a 'goddess' and an earth-bound spirit/fairy of nature. Both spirits were from different walks of life, and only similar because they were both the strongest of their kind in all respects. Though they never talked socially, they instinctively knew they would always have a rivalry. They knew this about each other, so they stayed their distance.
The goddess was beautiful in all her Grace, with snow white robes adorned with gold and diamonds, porcelain skin, rouged lips, and eyes that always sparkled like stars. The goddess was always flashing a smile that made men's hearts flutter, and a glance that brought them to their knees. She knew the power she had over mortal men, many paid tribute to her, and always sought the one man who would keep her fancy and truly woo her heart. She had had many suitors, but after awhile she would always grow tired of them and she would fly away to the sky, taking the mortal men's hearts with them.
The earth-bound spirit of nature was what her name implied, a force of nature. She reveled in her freedom and the entire world was her playground. She was just as beautiful as the goddess, but instead of beautiful robes, she had incredible gossamer iridescent wings like a butterfly that displayed the many colors of nature in its entire splendor. Her skin wasn't fair like the goddess, but the color of the rich earth dusted with gold. The spirit always knew she had power, but never understood the full magnitude of it when it came to mortal men. She had the ability to ease weary minds and hearts, and set people back on their paths. She never quite understood why men were always drawn to her, or why they enjoyed her company through the forests or walks through the streams, but they would always stop and tell her of their encounters, and she would always repay them with a blessing and a warm smile before parting ways and although she would never see them again, she knew they were on a good path.
One day while waltzing through the trees in one of the many burgs, she came upon a wounded warrior, or though he appeared. He had no visible wounds on his body, but she quickly realized the wound was on his heart. Ever friendly, the fairy beseeched him to tell her of his ailment so she might help him recover and be on his way, possibly have a good story from the warrior. But he didn't tell her what was wrong with his heart right away. Instead, he flashed a smile and told her not to worry, he would be fine.
Stunned that a mortal would decline her aid, she followed him through the forests, walking at his side as he told her stories of his travels and many adventures. And despite hearing so many stories before, his intrigued her like no other. Maybe it was the way he told them, maybe it was the way he smiled and his eyes would sparkle like rich brown onyx when he recounted his tales, she didn't know. But she did know she liked hearing them.
Even after they left the forest and were about to part ways, the warrior surprised her again. He told her he would come back to her tomorrow and tell another tale if she liked. Excited, the fairy agreed; none of the other travelers ever came back after she seen them, but this one wanted to on his own volition.
So it went on for some time—the warrior would come back to the same spot they met and they would spend from the time the sun came up to when the sun came down and he would tell her stories. Eventually, she started telling some of her own adventures from around the many woods she traversed, and he would listen with the same undivided attention she always gave him. She even started to leave the safety of her natural world and come visit him in a guise of a mortal woman, something different yet unique and beautiful every time, and every time he would recognize her, complimenting her on her choice of guise. The fairy found she liked putting on the guises for the warrior; a warrior she later found out was a great lord of a small kingdom.
For the first time in a long time, the fairy loved leaving her comforts of nature to venture into the mortal towns and countries. When the lord ventured away, he always brought her a new tale which he recounted to her, and when she went to take care of her duties, she always came back with a trinket or something interesting from the different regions and a recount of her ventures. Both the lord and the fairy enjoyed each other's company, enjoyed the warmth and the laughter from one another. And even though she was within walls, she enjoyed the sense of freedom he gave her.
One day, the fairy came back from one of her excursions and was dismayed to find the goddess standing by the lord near his throne. The very goddess who's smile wooed so many men, including her lord. She was shocked to find out that the goddess was the one who had wounded his heart so long ago when she first encountered him in the forest. The goddess and the lord had been lovers, and the goddess spurned him when he acted against her wishes and defied her. Even though she had flown away, she recounted that she couldn't get his voice out of her head since she had taken part of his heart and not the entire thing. And upon meeting him again, she seen that he was no worse for wear, even without the missing piece. She had been marveled at the very idea, and came to return the piece to the warrior when she became smitten by him.
The lord then revealed news that rocked her—he was going to make the goddess his bride, thus making himself the next king, and her, queen.
The fairy at first didn't care. She had no ties to mortal men, only to nature, but she couldn't deny the pang of hurt in her heart seeing the beautiful goddess sitting on the gilded throne at his side, regal and lovely as ever with her snow white robes. She told the soon-to-be king that she was happy for them both, but when it came time to part ways and give her blessing, she found herself giving only empty words before flying back to her home. And as she flew through the trees, her wings felt heavy like lead on her back, so heavy she couldn't even fly all the way and wound up walking.
She questioned why her wings, of all the times, would start hurting her so. She went to the Great Mother and asked her why this was happening to her now. The Mother ruefully smiled and caressed her cheek, looking her in the eyes and told her: "You've found something you love more than nature. And your wings burden you because you cannot claim it." Mother told her that her wings would continue to grow heavier as her other love grew and was unclaimed, until it came to the point where her wings would be nothing but dust as they fell off her back. The only way for her wings to rejuvenate was if the love was reciprocated. Since nature always loved her, and she loved nature in return, her wings never were burdened, she was always free. But now that she had a different love, a love that was stronger, her wings—her powers—couldn't function.
Feeling sympathetic to her plight, the Great Mother presented her with a choice. If she could not receive the warrior lord's love in return, she could take the love she had for him and relinquish it into a phial that would be sealed within the deepest part of the earth, effectively saving her wings and giving her powers back, but taking with it her memories of the warrior lord forever. Or, she could keep the love and let her wings become dead weight until all she could do was walk to the very ends of the earth, carrying the dead weight like a penance, carrying the heavy heart filled with an unrequited love for the rest of her immortal life until she could possibly love her own world more than him once again. The Great Mother told her to take three days to think it through before giving her a decision.
The fairy was torn. Never had she been forced to make a choice such as this. All her fellow spirits of the elements bade her to give up her love so she could be free to soar and roam the earth freely. The mortal was insignificant in the greater scheme, and she had met countless before him, and would meet countless after he was nothing but dust. The fairy considered the idea, and seen the logic in her friend's words, but every time she thought about the possibility of not seeing her warrior lord again, not seeing his warm smile and never hearing his stories, her heart ached unbelievably in her chest.
One day had passed while she mulled over her decision, and in the middle of the second day she was surprised to find her lord had came to find her, worried for her. At the first glance of his handsome face, she felt herself become light as air, and was shocked to find herself floating again, wings temporarily unburdened. She was overjoyed that he had come for her, but quickly snubbed out any thoughts and tried to keep herself level.
She asked him what was he doing there and he responded that he came to find her, that he had missed her and wanted to see her again. She was excited to think that he actually wanted to see her again, a small glimmer of hope that he would choose her over the goddess and restore her full power and proclaim his love for her. But she knew he would not when he told her that he wished that the fairy to become friends with the soon-to-be queen so she could have some ties back to her own world so she wouldn't feel as alone in the mortal realm.
The fairy's wings instantly became dead weight again, and if she hadn't been already standing on the ground, the lord would've seen her drop to her knees in despair. The fairy hid her emotions from her lord, telling him that she would see him here in one day's time again, mentioning that she had to take care of her duties. When the lord left her that evening, she rushed back to the Great Mother, traversing over the rough terrain to find her temple, jagged rocks cutting her soles and the great distance making her entire body ache.
The Great Mother was surprised to see her earlier than she expected, but none the less presented her with the same inquiry she did before. The fairy hadn't stop until she was on the front steps of the Great Mother's temple, body worn, and her heart filled with anger, pain, remorse, longing, and wrath. She wanted to curse the warrior lord, wanted to shun him, wishing she never met him. She wouldn't be crying in pain, she would be able to fly and be free…
And as she remembered the smile on his face, that sweet smile she had grown to love, she realized that she wouldn't be as happy. So she told the Great Mother that she wouldn't relinquish her love for the mortal, even though all it would do is bring her more pain for the rest of her days until she could possibly find her love for nature once again. She was angry that the lord would marry the goddess and have her on that gilded throne instead of her, but she didn't care. Her body would be inflicted with pain as she could no longer fly and had to walk the world, but she didn't care. She would be remorseful because she would never again see the full beauty of all her forests, instead she would be limited to the small one where she met the lord, but she didn't mind.
She looked up at the Great Mother with a bittersweet smile, her head held high, embracing the pain in her body as she told Her that she would be okay without her former freedom. Because she wouldn't be happy if she forgot him, she couldn't be happy if she couldn't walk beside him for the rest of his days. The Great Mother asked the fairy what she knew she was giving up, and the fairy—without skipping a beat—said yes. Her powers would be severely limited; she would be earthbound, never to soar again.
But she was okay. She would walk beside the lord, and she didn't want to be anywhere else in the world. Because with him, she was free.
The next day she meet up again with her lord, and he was shocked to see her exhausted, and even more shocked when she revealed that she could no longer fly, that she had been struck with a rare sickness that took her power of flight. He pleaded with her to tell him how he could help her, telling her he would scour the world so he could aid her. She said there was nothing that could be done, as there was no cure for her sickness that the mortal or the spirit world could provide.
Determined, he begged her to tell him what he could at least do for her, not wanting to see her in pain.
She smiled, and caressed his cheek, then told him: "Tell me another story."
So the fairy became an earth-bound spirit, forever to walk beside the new king even though his new queen always sat on a gilded throne beside him. Nobody knew if the goddess/queen ever tired of the mortal and flew away back to the Heavens, or if the king finally reciprocated his own feelings for the fairy. In some tales, it's said that the fairy, not being able to live after her warrior passed, beseeched the Great Mother to dissolve her shell so her body could become part of the earth and her spirit could go to where he was. Some say that the fairy lives on in the wind, letting the currents carry her since her wings cannot, being a sympathetic patron to all mortals who have unrequited love and who are selfless in their plight. They say she is there to give them a gentle hug to ease their weary shoulders and heavy hearts.
Who knows.