Fairy Doctor! England X Child! Reader Pt.5

Fairy Doctor! England X Child! Reader
The Fairy Doctor’s Apprentice: Chapter five

“So, can you explain it to me again?”
Arthur sighed. “When you opened you second sight you were able to see that woman from last night for what she really was: a monster. I’ve dealt with that kind before, nothing a little salt won’t fix. Oh, that’s another thing; fairies hate iron so it’s best to always keep a little on you. Nothing to big, something like a small key or a bag of salt.”
“Okay, but there’s something else…” (Name) paused, wondering if she should bring up the other Arthur.
“Hmm? What is it?”
Instead of replying, (name) closed her eyes, going into the trance she had all but mastered. That moment before sleep over takes the mind, where the line between fantasy and reality is so blurred it seems like anything can happen. There ‘are’ monsters in the closet, there ‘are’ mermaids living in the lake in the woods, there ‘are’ such things as happy endings.
(Name) jolted herself out of the trance, opening her eyes. The room looks strange, but no stranger than everything else did when she opened her eyes again. There was a golden haze in the air; Arthur had told her it was magic pollution, left over magical energy. There was more in the house than anywhere else (name) had seen. Squinting past the golden fog, (name) saw the other Arthur. He looked like she’d remembered: regal and proud, dressed like a brave king with wonderful wings…
But, there was something different. Now that (name) thought about it, she hadn’t been able to see his wings very clearly that night when she’d been attacked. Now, Arthur had his back to her as he was facing the book shelf. His wings were spread and (name) bit back a gasp. The feathers were matted with blood and falling off in some places. It almost looked like someone had grabbed them and twisted them is several different directions. While (name) couldn’t see any bones protruding, she could still tell they were broken.
“Stop that,” Arthur’s voice cut coldly through the golden haze. (Name) blinked hard and her vision returned to normal.
“Mr. Arthur…?” She asked hesitantly.
“The second sight shows the reality of the world,” Arthur said before (name) could even ask. “It allows you to see the natural magic of the world but also the true nature of people.”
“Oh, so then, what do I look like?”
Arthur paused, looking over his shoulder. (Name) thought of the broken wings and shuttered.
“There are some things better left unknown, (name).” He said. Arthur selected a volume from the shelf and sat it in front of (name), flipping open to a page that had an illustration of a woman in rags washing blood soaked military uniforms in a river.
“Start from the top and read all you can,” Arthur instructed.
“Ah, okay. Umm, “Banshee’s-“
“No, the ‘sh’ make a ‘shhh’ sound.”
“Why?”
“It- It just dose. Now keep going.”
“Banshee’s have-“
“No, you don’t say the ‘e’ at the end of ‘have’.”
“What? Why?”
Arthur sighed pointing to the letters as he explained. “When you have an ‘e’ at the end of the word you look for the two letters in front of it. The letter right before it will be a consonant-“
“What’s a consonant?”
Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose. “A letter that isn’t a vowel.”
“I know those! A, E, I, O, and U, right?”
“Yes, and sometimes Y, now-“
“Why only sometimes? Why can’t Y be a vowel all the time?”
“Because… I’m not sure, actually…”
“Oh. So, you don’t know everything?”
“What? No, no one dose.”
“Hmm, that’s weird.”
“What is?”
“Well, Francis said you were a know-it-all, so I thought that meant you knew everything.”
A very blank expression passed over Arthur’s face. “Francis said that, did he?”
“Umm, yeah, he did.” I’ve done something bad, haven’t I?” (Name) thought.
Arthur sighed, trying (rather unsuccessfully) to collect himself. “(Name), I have a parcel I want you to deliver to the post office in town. Then I want you to fetch some paper and ink from the store, can you do that for me?”
(Name) smiled and gave a mock salute. “You bet, Mr. Arthur!”
He smiled and patted her head before retrieving the parcel from the desk in his room.
“What is it, Mr. Arthur?” (Name) asked.
“A magic powder. I met a captain of a fishing boat few years back. He was having a string of bad luck- none of his boat had caught any fish within the last three weeks. We started talking and struck a deal. I’ve been making this powder that attracts fish ever since.”
“Wow. So, when are you going to teach me magic?”
Arthur bristled. “First you have to learn how to read. Magic is a very delicate thing and spell as very exact. If you get even one syllable wrong the whole thing could back fire.”
(Name) frowned. Seems like the only thing I can do now is run errands… (Name) thought glumly.
“Hurry up,” Arthur coaxed her, pushing her out the door. “If you do a good job, I’ll make meat pie tonight.” (Name) groaned inwardly. “But first I need to find that cat…”
~~~
It was overcast and the temperature was plummeting in accordance with the oncoming fall. (Name) had delivered the parcel and was now wandering the aisles of one of the town stores, searching for just the right ink. Mr. Arthur would give me an earful if I come back with the wrong one… (Name) thought.
“Hey, you!”
(Name) blinked and turned around, coming face to face with a boy with dark tanned skin, dark hazel eyes, and curly brown hair. His face was about an inch away from her own and she squeaked and jumped back.
“H-Hi?” (Name) said.
The boy squinted at her. “You’re the kid that lives that weirdo outside of town, right?”
Weirdo? Does he mean Mr. Arthur? (Name) thought. “Mr. Arthur’s not… THAT weird.” (Name) defended.
“Pfft,” The boy said. “Yes, his is. I saw him talking with that white haired cat once. Anyone who talks to cats is a weirdo!”
“What’s wrong with talking to cats?”
Another boy had come up behind the first one. He had green eyes and shoulder length, wavy brown hair. A cat was wrapped around his shoulders and another one was cradled in his arms.
“No one asked you, feta breath!”
The two boys started yelling at each other, or, rather, the boy with hazel eyes yelled at the boy with the cats and the boy with the cats calmly shot back retorts. Although, the more (name) listened, the more she thought the boy with the cats just couldn’t be bothered to bring his voice above a mummer.
“Hey, you three!” The shop keeper came around the corner, stopping the fight. “I won’t have you kids disrupting my paying customers. Out! All of you!”
“Ah, wait!” (Name) interjected. “I have to-“
“No excuses,” The shop keeper said, pushing the trio out. The door slammed behind them.
“Oh, Mr. Arthur’s gonna be mad…”
“You see what you did, Jerkules?” The hazel eyed boy yelled.
“Wasn’t my fault.” The other stated calmly.
“Ge-Wha? Are you calling me a liar!?”
“Well, you are-“
The boy with the cats didn’t get to finish his sentence because the hazel eyed boy lunged at his throat. The two grappled for a while as (name) contemplated running away or helping.
Well, I have this money, anyway… She thought.
“Hey!” (Name) yelled. The two paused their fight to glance up at her. “You guys want some ice cream?”
~~~
“So then I said, ‘We’re the aristocrats!’” The hazel eyed boy laughed at his own joke, his ice cream threatening to fall from its cone.
(Name) sighed, wondering for the umpteenth time why she had decided to do this. The other boy had barley said a word.
“Oh, right,” The hazel eyed boy said after wolfing down half of his ice cream in one gulp. “I’m Sadiq. That loser over there is Hercules.”
Hercules narrowed his eyes. “Why don’t you leave her alone, you stupid head?”
Sadiq swallowed the rest of his ice cream and stood up, grabbing the collar of Hercules’s shirt. “You want to say that again?”
“Let go, this shirt was expensive.” The two started staring each other down and (name) fidgeted in her seat.
“Look, I got to get home, but it was nice meeting you both… I think.” (Name) tried to escape but was cut off when an arm wrapped around her shoulders.
“Hang on, you still didn’t tell us you name,” Sadiq said pulling her back.
“Oh, I’m (name). Hi.”
“(Name)… It’s pretty.” Hercules said.
“Hey, where do you get off trying to be smooth?” Sadiq yelled.
“So, (name), why don’t we ever see you at school?” Hercules asked while yawning.
“Oh, Mr. Arthur teaches me.”
“So you DO live with the weirdo!” Sadiq interrupted, pushing himself in front of Hercules. “Is it true he has a flying broom stick, and talks with hangs out with the ghouls in the cemetery?”
“W-What? No! And he’s not weird!”
“Come on, you can tell me,” Sadiq flashed a smile. (Name) narrowed her eyes and pushed him away, walking back to the house without another word.
~~~
“Hey, Mr. Arthur?”
“Err, yes? Just a minute, (name),” Arthur said, trying desperately to put out the fire that had formed on the stove top.
“Well, I met some kids from the town today…”
“The ones who got you thrown out of the store before you could get my ink?” Arthur said coldly.
“Y-yeah… Well, I was wondering…”
“Yes?”
“I-I wanted to know if I could start attending the school in town.”
Finally smothering the fire with a heavy rug, Arthur gasped for breath before collapsing in the armchair.
“Why on earth would you want to do that?” He asked.
“Well, that way I’d be out of your hair during most of the day and I could still learn to read and write and stuff. Then, when I got home, you could teach me about fairies and magic. It… It might make things go a lot faster.”
Arthur whipped the soot from his hands onto his pants legs and closed his eyes, leaning back in the chair.
“We’ll see, (name). We’ll see.”
~~~
Evidently, ‘we’ll see’ meant ‘yes’ in this case. Unfortunately, this also meant (name) had to get up even earlier to do her morning chores, as school started at eight, when she and Arthur normally would have breakfast. It was still dark when (name) came back to the house with the bucket of water and the sun was just coming up as she left for school in her new (favorite color) dress, the only one she had.
“Mind if I tag along, mon chaton (1)?” Francis asked, rushing out of the house and into (name)’s arms, panic in his voice.
“Umm, sure. You and Arthur fighting again?”
“Let’s just say zis, if I zay zomthing bad about Arthur, ‘ow about we NOT tell ‘im, oui?”
“Oui.”
~~~
“Zen ze muffin zays, “Mon Dieu! A talking muffin!”
“A-aha, right. Well, we’re here.”
“Aww, already?”
(Name) giggled. “Will you come pick me up after school?”
“Bien sur, mon chaton! (2) Au revoir! (3)”
Francis jumped out of (name)’s arms and she waved as he sauntered off.
“You don’t talk to cats to, do you?”
(Name) turned around to see Sadiq almost glaring at her.
“Francis isn’t really a cat, as such…” (Name) said, wondering how exactly she should put it.
“Whatever, the bells gonna ring soon.”
(Name) blinked before swallowing hard and following him into the wooden building along with the other students. (Name) saw Hercules and waved. He smiled and gave a small wave back.
“(Name)?” (Name) turned around and looked up to meet a woman in a green dress with a white apron tied around her waist. She had long wavy brunette hair held back with a handkerchief and had a warm smile.
“I’m Ms. Hedervary; I’ll be your teacher.” (Name) smiled and did a small curtsey. “How about you come up to the front and introduce yourself?”
Nervously, (name) made her way to the front of the room as the rest of the class gathered in their seats. Ms. Hedervary clapped her hands together to call quiet to the class.
“Everyone, we have a new student. I want you all to be nice and make her feel welcome, alright? Go on, (name).”
(Name) gulped and as she stood in front of the class. “H-hello, I’m (name). It’s nice to meet you all.”
“(Name) what?” Someone near the back of the class yelled.
“Mr. Arthur says I’m not supposed to tell anyone my last name.”
“Arthur? Like, that weird guy who lives at the edge of town?”
(Name) narrowed her eyes. “Mr. Arthur’s not weird.”
“I saw him talk to a cow once!”
“It wasn’t the cow!” (Name) yelled back, remembering the story Arthur had told her about said cow. “There was a fairy living on its horns and making the cow not give milk so Mr. Arthur was trying to get it to leave. And he did, too!”
The class erupted into laughter and (name) felt her face get red.
“Fairies?” (Name) recognized Sadiq’s voice. “Those are just baby stories!”
“No, there not!” (Name) yelled back.
Ms. Hedervary clapped her hands again, trying to get the class back into order. “That’s enough, everyone! (Name) can you go sit in that empty seat over there?”
(Name) nodded. She could feel the tears pressing behind her eyes, but blinked them back.
The morning classes passed without much event. The only thing worth notice was that (name) was slightly slower at reading than her class mates, which brought about another round of teasing laughter.
Lunch herded the students outside. (Name) shuffled to the corner of the school yard. She took out the bag of food Arthur had packed for her, but decided against eating it.
“Meow~”
(Name) turned to see a cat rubbing its head against her knee. She sat down on the grass and scratched the cat behind the ears.
“I see you met my cat,” Hercules said coming up and sitting next to (name)
“He’s cute, does he have a name?”
Hercules paused for a minute before saying, “His name… is Bob.”
“…Did you just make that up?”
“…Maybe.”
“Hey, new kid!” The two looked up to see Sadiq coming over, a smug smirk plastered on his face.
“You know my name…” (Name) muttered.
“Whatever. So, that thing with the fairies, you don’t really believe that, do you?”
“Of course I do! I’m going to become a fairy doctor!”
“A what? You’ve got to be kidding.” Sadiq threw his head back and laughed. (Name) felt anger bubbling up inside. “That’s so stupid, though!”
(Name) stood up. “No it’s not! It’s not my fault your just to blind to be able to see the magic right in front of you!”
“Magic?” Sadiq laughed. “What are you, some kind of witch?”
(Name) felt her breath catch in her throat. She could practically feel the rope tighten around her neck, see her brother and father turning away from her, refusing to help.
Before she realized what she was doing, (name) had launched herself and the hazel eyed boy. He fell onto his back with a loud thump, (name) pinning him down.
“Take it back!” She screamed. “I’m not a witch! Take it back!”
“Let me go!” Sadiq yelled back just as loud. “Witch!”
(Name) took in a sharp intake of breath. Her fist moved on its own, slamming down on the boys face. “Take it back!”
Sadiq yelled out before flipping them over, slamming (name)’s head into the dirt. (Name) wasn’t really sure how long they were like that, flipping each other over and landing punches and kicks. Eventually, (name) felt two pairs of arms pry her off of the other boy.
“(Name)! Dude! Clam down!” (Name) look up through her rage to see Alfred looking back at her with worry clouding his face. Looking over, she saw Matthew holding back a thrashing Sadiq, Ms. Hedervary waving her hands frantically trying to calm both of them down.
(Name) couldn’t hold it back anymore. She turned around, burying her face into Alfred’s shirt and starting to sob.
“I’m not a witch…” She said between sobs. “It’s not my fault, it’s not… I’m not a witch…”
~~~
“So, what happened?” Hercules asked Sadiq as they walked home. Not like he wanted to, of course, but they did live next to each other.
“Ms. Hedervary gave me a letter to give to my parents about disorderly conduct, whatever that means.” Sadiq was clutching his eye which was turning an unsettling shade of purple.
“She really beat you up.” Hercules said smirking.
“She did not!”
“Yes she did.”
“No she didn’t!”
“Yes she did.”
“Not!”
“Just a little bit.”
Sadiq was steaming. He sulked in his own misery until Hercules said, “What do you think she meant?”
Sadiq gave Hercules a sideways look. “What do you mean?”
“She said ‘it’s not my fault’ why farmer Jones pulled you two apart. What do you think she meant?”
“Pfft. I don’t know. I don’t care, either.”
“…Hey, you don’t think she’s been tried as a witch before, do you?”
Sadiq paused. “How should I know?”
“Well, remember how awhile ago a bunch of the men down at the bar wanted to hang that Arthur guy because they thought he was practicing witchcraft?”
“…Yeah.”
“Well, (name) told me she’s his apprentice. So, maybe something like that has happened before and it really hurt her.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Sadiq yelled, getting frustrated.
Hercules shrugged. “Just something to think about.” Was the last thing he said before disappearing in his house.
~~~
It was six in the morning as Arthur came back into the house with the bucket of water from the town well. (Name) was still sitting on the couch, staring at her hands. She had a few scraps but, thanks to Arthur’s knowledge of local plants and their healing properties, where disappearing fast.
“You didn’t have to attack him,” Arthur said, starting to chop carrots.
“I’m sorry…” (Name) said petting Francis who hadn’t left her side since Alfred and Matthew had brought her home.
“It’s not about if you’re sorry or not,” Arthur said. He put the knife down and came over to kneel in front of the young girl.
“I’m just-“(Name)’s voice caught in her throat as she felt tears build up. “I’m not a witch. I didn’t want to lose him, it’s not my fault, it’s not my fault!”
“Shh, shh,” Arthur said, pulling her close. “No more tears. You don’t need to cry anymore, it won’t help anything.”
Francis licked the back of (name)’s hand as she tried to calm herself down. Arthur rubbed her back, humming “Green Grow the Rushes O”.
“Listen to me, (Name)” Arthur said as the sun started to filter through the windows. “Right now, nor ever again, will your past matter. It died when your last name did, and now all that matters is what you’re going to do with what you will learn. You’re going to become a fairy doctor, right?” (Name) nodded meekly. “And you’re going to become the best ever, right?” (Name) nodded more confidently. “Then it doesn’t matter what some idiot in your class says about you, or what your brother said about you. Hey, my older brother is a complete idiot; I can only imagine how incompetent yours is.” (Name) smiled, letting out a giggle through her tears.
“Hey, Mr. Arthur?”
“Hmm?”
“Since I’m going to be the best fairy doctor ever, do you think you can read to me? About fairies, I mean?”
Arthur smiled, an expression (name) loved when she saw it, which was not at all enough, in her opinion. “Of course, (name).”
~~~
Knock, knock, knock.
Arthur and (name) looked up from the large leather bound book illustrating far darrig, silkies, the lianhan shee, and will-o’-the-wisps. Arthur got up from the couch and walked over to the door, opening it only to scowl.
“Can I help you?”
“Yeah, is (name) here?”
That’s Sadiq’s voice! (Name) thought, hiding herself behind the great leather volume.
“(Name)? You have a visitor.”
(Name) slipped off the couch and walked to the door. Stepping outside she closed the more behind her, leaving just a little crack open to curious Englishmen.
“Why are you wearing a mask?” Was the first thing (name) said; because it was the first thing she noticed. A white mask covered his eyes and forehead. He was also wearing a long olive green coat with a hood.
Slowly, Sadiq lifted the mask away to reveal a large purple and yellow bruise around his eye. (Name)’s hand shot up to her mouth as she tried to keep a laugh in.
“It’s not funny!” He snapped.
“Maybe a little bit.”
“Whatever.”
The two were quiet for a moment. “So, why did you come here?” (Name) asked.
“I… I wanted to say I’m sorry.”
“Oh, well, I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have punched you.”
“Yeah, well, it was pretty good. But I still think this whole fairy thing is crazy.”
(Name) glared, but her face couldn’t help but break into a smile.
“You want to walk to school?” Sadiq asked.
“As long as we can get breakfast before.”
“You’re not gonna eat here?”
“No!”

(1) My kitten
(2) Of course, my kitten
(3) Good bye