Chapter Text
It was a bright, sunny day in New York City, and the last week of summer vacation for every teenager in high school. Every young person was currently trying to make the most of the good weather before they had to go back to school and be cooped up in their classrooms again, including Jack.
He had just left his apartment, and was about to take his dog Shay on a walk to Central Park. This was a frequent destination for them, as they didn't live too far away, and there were lots of nice gardens and trails there that were perfect for dog walking. Jack's parents were both currently out of the house, at work in their florist's as usual. They were his adoptive parents really, but they had always treated Jack as if he was their own son, and so he thought of them as though they were his birth parents.
After a short journey, Jack and Shay eventually arrived at Central Park. They walked first to one of their favourite spots: a vast patch of grass that was surrounded by trees. The perfect place for both of them. Jack sat down in the shade under a tree, and let Shay off her lead. He threw the tennis ball he'd brought with him, and it landed behind some bushes. Shay chased after it, her tail wagging behind her.
Seconds later, Shay came running back. She was barking frantically, and didn't have the tennis ball in her mouth. Something behind those bushes had obviously upset her.
"What's wrong, Shay?" Jack asked, wondering what she had seen.
Shay started pulling on the sleeve of Jack's flannel shirt, in an attempt to get him to stand up and follow her.
"Okay, okay." he said, and let his dog lead him over to the bushes.
And when he got there, he was met with the most extraordinary sight.
Right before his eyes, there were two male fairies fighting against what seemed to be an ogre, and a horde of small red creatures that seemed to be some kind of monsters. The fairies' outfits had different styles, but when Jack looked at their faces he thought to himself that they must be related, brothers perhaps.
One of the fairies had long, dark brown hair with a single braid, which blew around in the breeze as he stood in front of his enemies. His clothes were mostly a shade of dark green, and he was all in flowing silk, with a pair of copper coloured sandals on his feet. His huge wings looked delicate and strong in equal measure, and their colour faded from the copper of his sandals to the green of the rest of him. He was holding a sceptre in his clenched fist, which was bronze and featured a treble clef shape in the head.
The other fairy had soft-looking, lighter brown hair that was slightly curly, and big, round glasses. And despite his gentle appearance and the fact his outfit was less extravagant than his brother's, he still looked powerful. His clothes were bright blue: a short sleeved shirt, shorts and a pair of boots. His wings were white and smaller, and he looked dazzling in the bright sunlight as he sparkled.
Jack watched them, in complete shock.
"Oh my God, Shay." he whispered to her as he stared at the sight in front of him.
The two fairies seemed to be very skilled fighters. The one in the glasses stunned all of the red creatures with what he called 'pause mode', while the long haired one waved his sceptre to cast a spell that made vines appear and wrap tightly around the ogre's body, rendering it unable to move. The two of them thought they had won the battle then, running over to each other and high fiving.
But then suddenly, the ogre broke free of the vines. It roared loudly, and charged towards the two fairies while their guard was down. It snatched the sceptre straight from the hands of the long haired fairy, and let out an evil laugh.
"Not so powerful without this, are you?" the ogre cackled.
"No! My sceptre! Give it back!" the green-clad fairy demanded, but the ogre just kept laughing.
"Bye-bye, fairies!" he said menacingly, as he raised the sceptre, pointing it at them.
They were about to get attacked, and Jack felt as though he had to do something. He couldn't just sit back and let these guys get hurt. It wasn't right.
Jack ran out from behind the bushes, without thinking twice.
"Hey! Leave them alone!" he yelled at the ogre.
The ogre turned, and looked at Jack.
"Wait... What am I going to do?" he wondered aloud.
But it was too late to think of a plan. The ogre was already hurtling towards him. I really should think before I speak, Jack thought to himself. He knew he needed to run, and he desperately wanted to. He was terrified. But it felt as though his feet were glued to the spot.
Then all of a sudden, just as the ogre was about to reach him, a golden forcefield burst from Jack's fingertips. It pushed the ogre backwards with so much force that it crashed into a nearby tree, the impact creating an almighty thud. The green fairy's sceptre fell from his hand, landing silently on the grass.
As the ogre lay against the tree, momentarily stunned, Jack looked down at his hands in disbelief. He was just as shocked as his enemy was.
Did I really just do that? Jack whispered to himself.
He watched as the ogre slowly peeled itself away from the tree, leaving an imprint in its wake that would surely puzzle the people of New York City when they discovered it. The ogre then lunged for Shay, and grabbed hold of her. It looked down at her in its huge fist, which made the Bouvier look tiny. Shay looked over to Jack for help, letting out a panicked yelp.
As soon as Jack saw the ogre grab her, his body flooded with anger and protective instinct. How dare this creature attack his dog?
"Get your hands off Shay!" he yelled at the ogre.
A bright red beam of fire shot out directly from Jack's hands, and it hit the ogre. The creature fell to the ground with a pained sound, and its grip loosened as it did so, setting Shay free.
But a few seconds later, the ogre was back on its feet again. And it definitely looked angry.
"Come here!" it said to Jack through gritted teeth.
This time it rushed towards him, and grabbed him like it had Shay. It held him up, dangling him, but only a few inches off the ground. The spell that the blue fairy had cast on those red monsters to stun them had now worn off, and they ran over to Jack, snapping and snarling at his feet. One of them even managed to jump up high enough to tear off part of the sleeve of his red flannel shirt. Shay ran over to where the two fairies were, afraid of what was happening and seeking safety.
"I've got you now! This is what you get for meddling in my business, kid." the ogre laughed.
"Get off me!" Jack shouted.
As he raised his voice, another fire beam shot out of him. But this one was much more powerful. This one spread from his whole body to where the trees surrounding them were. It knocked out all of the red monsters, and hurt the ogre enough to make it drop Jack, then remain lying on the grass for around thirty seconds. Jack stayed nearby, watching it and wondering if it was going to get up.
Eventually it did, and growled ferociously at Jack before running off into the trees, seemingly defeated. The red monsters scurried away too, following the ogre. As soon as they had left, Jack went and retrieved the sceptre from where the ogre had left it, under the tree. Then he walked over to the two fairies who had been involved in the battle. They were both lying on the ground on their backs, exhausted from the fight. They were no longer in their fairy outfits, and instead were wearing regular civilian clothes: sweaters and jeans and sneakers.
Now, they just looked like two regular guys.
Jack wordlessly laid the sceptre down beside them, returning it. Just then, one of them slowly opened his eyes. Jack realised it was the one who'd had long hair before when he was in his fairy form, but now his hair was much shorter, a similar length to his own. He noticed Jack standing over them.
"Thank you for saving us." he said sincerely.
"No problem." Jack told him.
Although, maybe it could be a problem? He was still extremely confused as to what was actually going on. If he hadn't just witnessed everything that he had just now, he would have thought these two were just normal guys. But he had witnessed something crazy, and he knew that somehow, he was talking to a pair of actual, real life fairies. How had this happened to him, of all people? He was just an ordinary high school guy.
But maybe he wasn't as ordinary as he'd previously thought. He thought about what had just happened. He'd just somehow saved those guys from an ogre by using some kind of magic, so did that mean that... he could have powers too? Jack was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that ogres actually existed.
Then the other fairy, the one with glasses, suddenly sat up and locked eyes with his saviour.
"Jack?" he gasped.
Jack stared at him in shock.
"How do you know my name?" he questioned.
The glasses-wearing fairy turned to look at his brother, and they exchanged a glance. Jack couldn't gauge anything from their expressions, though he tried to.
"Well... Do you have somewhere we can speak in private?" the older looking one asked.
"Sure, we can go to my apartment. My parents will still be at work right now, and they won't be back until later, so we'll have the place to ourselves for a while." Jack told them, though his head was swimming.
Who were these people? What did they want with him? And how did they know his name without him telling them? Jack wondered if he was making a mistake by inviting these total strangers back to his home while his parents were out. But somehow, for some reason, he felt like he could trust these guys. As he looked at them, he suddenly had the strangest feeling that he knew them from somewhere. Just as he was beginning to wonder where from, the older brother spoke again.
"Good. Because this is going to take a lot of explaining."