Once upon a time, there was a brilliant castle hidden between dimensions, high among the stars.
Within its shining halls, the four Great Sororities of Fairies came to congregate, gathering at the center of the castle, each fairy a radiant ball of light, floating to take her rightful place among her sisters. The sororities divided themselves across the star-shaped courtroom, each taking a court wing and reserving the fifth and last court wing—at the head of the star—for the queen.
She entered then, a giantess surrounded by dozens of tiny fairy maidens, carrying herself with poise, grace, and majesty. Her silver crown shone as bright as a star, her skin was pure and white as the moon, and her ever-changing irises held all the shades of the sky. A grimace contorted her beautiful face, and thundering storms clouded her eyes as they narrowed on the accused—a lone fairy floating in the middle of the room.
"Sister Vira," she began, her voice fierce and demanding, "you stand accused of crimes most heinous. What have you to say in your defense?"
"It's not right, Your Majesty," the lone fairy cried. "After working so hard for so long, I deserve—we all deserve—"
"Do not finish that sentence, sister!" Aqwyn, the queen's headmistress, crossed her arms over her violet dress. "I will not tolerate heresy in these sacred halls."
"Have you no shame?" Carina, Headmistress of the Sorority of Chastity, asked angrily, fists balled at her hips. "No remorse for what you have done?"
"I… I only wanted to…"
"You still insist on coming up with excuses?" Oriana, Headmistress of the Sorority of Charm, shook her head. "Disgraceful!"
"I… I…" Vira turned around, searching for support from her own headmistress, but Delphina, of the Sorority of Chivalry, lowered her head, refusing to meet her gaze.
Even my own sisters shun me. Vira's shoulders slumped, her wings slowed their flapping, and her light dimmed. She floated gently to the floor, her eyes watering and her lips quivering.
"Have mercy, sisters," pleaded Erida, Headmistress of the Sorority of Charity. "Show me a single fairy who has never doubted our sacred mission, and I'll show you a liar."
"To doubt is one thing," Aqwyn said. "To act on it is another."
"And to such an extent!" Carina agreed. "It is unforgivable, irredeemable! In the name of Chastity, I demand that Sister Vira be condemned to Oblivion!"
A murmur of outrage passed through the courtroom, and Vira fell to her knees, her clenched fists wrinkling her crimson dress. Tears streamed down her cheeks. This is it, she thought, her shoulders jerking. I am doomed.
"I object!" A roar pierced through the ruckus, and Vira recognized the voice of her headmistress. She looked up, a glimmer of hope shining in her tears. "Vira made a mistake. A horrible, terrible mistake," Delphina sneered. "And we are all repulsed by her actions." Vira lowered her head; her hope dimmed. "But she deserves a second chance, a chance to redeem herself!"
Queen Titania raised her hand. "I've heard you," she said, then turned her eyes—now clear as a sunny day—on Vira. "But I've yet to hear your defense, Sister. Speak."
Vira rose to her feet, wiping tears from her eyes and swallowing the lump in her throat. She knew what she had to say, even if she didn't fully believe it. She had no choice; it was either this, or Oblivion. "I have no defense, Your Majesty. I failed to resist temptation, I did things I knew were wrong, and I acted in ways that do not befit a fairy godmother." Vira looked up at her queen and put her hand over the bejeweled star amulet that rested on her chest. It was a gift given to each fairy from the queen herself and was the source of their magical powers. "For these crimes, for these sins, I seek to repent," Vira continued, her light returning to its full shine. "If you give me the chance, Your Majesty, I swear I will do whatever it takes to make up for my wrongdoings."
Titania closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She knew that there was still doubt in Vira's heart and that there was only one way to ensure the fairy truly learned her lesson. "A test," she said, and spun her magic with a wave of her hand.
The pentagrammic courtroom darkened, and every mirror within its halls became a window into another dimension, all depicting the same thing. Each fairy turned her attention to the mirror nearest to her; for Vira, that mirror was the very floor beneath her feet.
A collective, disgusted gasp passed through the room.
"What is that… thing?" Oriana asked.
"Ugh, it's hideous," added Carina.
"A troll of some kind, must be," Delphina narrowed her eyes. As the Headmistress of Chivalry, she had led many heroes to battle against monstrous foes in their quest to rescue damsels, yet she had never seen a creature quite like this.
"This… 'creature' is only one but many of its kind that now infest the planet Earth, and their numbers are ever-growing," Aqwyn explained.
"What… are they?" Vira asked.
"They have many names, but in my research into Earth over the past decades, I've taken to calling them 'the Oathless,'" Aqwyn said.
"Oathless?" Delphina asked, her brow rising and her wings fluttering with the eagerness to learn more about this new type of monster.
Aqwyn nodded. "You see, like monks and priests, they live a life of relative poverty and absolute celibacy. However, unlike monks and priests, they are devoid of any monastic or priestly oaths."
"They are celibate?" Carina, Headmistress of Chastity, considered. "Maybe these creatures are not so reprehensible after all."
"Oh, believe me, Sister, they are as depraved and lustful as you can imagine," Aqwyn said.
"I don't understand," said Erida, Headmistress of Charity. "If they are lustful and they have taken no oath of celibacy, why are they celibate?"
Aqwyn sighed. "To put it simply… no one wants them."
A collective 'Ooh!' of understanding passed through the room.
Vira looked down at the image beneath her feet. The creature in the dimension-mirror was fat and bulbous, with greasy hair and a stained shirt. His dim lair was filled with waste and refuse and was lit only by what seemed to be a rectangular magic mirror, on which his beady, bespectacled eyes were focused.
She inhaled sharply, standing tall and spreading her wings in determination. She was a Sister of Chivalry. She knew what she had to do.
"I'll do it, Your Majesty. Show me to my godchild, and I shall lead him on a heroic quest to slay these foul creatures to the last, eradicating them from the face of the Earth once and for all!"
A cheer came from every fairy in the courtroom; even Carina, who would have condemned Vira to Oblivion, seemed to support this course of action. Only Aqwyn remained quiet, for she knew what was to come next.
Queen Titania scanned the room, twilight dancing in her amused eyes, and raised her hand, causing them all to fall silent.
"Ah, dear Sister, I admire your courage," she said. "But I fear you are mistaken. This… 'creature,' as you call it, is your new godchild."
Vira blinked twice, sure she must have misheard, but then came the gasps of surprise from her sisters, and she realized she had heard correctly. Her eyes went wide with horror, and she looked down at the mirror beneath.
The Oathless shoved a fat finger up his nose, digging out a booger and flinging it across the room, then returned to hunch over his desk.
"No…" Vira said. "It can't be."
"Oblivion suddenly doesn't seem so bad," Oriana, Headmistress of Charm, said in jest. "I'd take the dark, lonely nothingness over this." Her sisters nodded in agreement.
"This is too cruel, Your Majesty," Erida said. "Even for a crime such as Vira's."
The queen scowled at them, her eyes burning with the blaze of dawn. "You disappoint me, Headmistress of Charity. From you, of all fairies, I expected a more compassionate response." She walked through the room, casting her anger on each of the sisterly orders in turn. "Have you no sympathy? No shred of kindness in your hearts? Maybe you have all grown complacent; maybe you have forgotten that our sacred mission is to lead humans—all humans—toward Happily Ever After." She stopped before Erida and glared. "Even the downtrodden, and the ugly."
Erida lowered her head, ashamed and remorseful.
"Or do you think only the beautiful deserve happiness?"
"No, Your Majesty, of course not. I pray your forgiveness."
All fairies seemed to share the sentiment, and Titania was satisfied that she had made her point. She kept walking among them for a few long moments, giving them time to reflect, her folded fairy wings trailing behind her like the train of a dress. Then, she returned to stand at the head of the star and looked to Vira.
"A test," she said. "Help this Oathless find true love and his Happily Ever After, and you'll regain your place among us—your crimes forgiven."
Vira glanced at the Oathless, who had dispelled his magic mirror and crawled into a sheetless bed, clinging to a long pillow the size of his body. An image was imprinted upon the pillowcase: that of a girl with cat-like ears and a tail.
No godchild was perfect—that was why they needed the guidance of a fairy godmother in the first place—but in the past, Vira could see something in them from the very start: a hidden talent, a saving grace. This time, she could see nothing.
"And if I fail?" she asked, feeling hopeless.
The queen smiled. "Do not despair, Sister of Chivalry. You won't be alone in this task. Headmistress Aqwyn knows much about Earth, and you can rely on her help when you need it."
Vira searched for support from her own headmistress, and Delphina gave it unhesitatingly with a reaffirming nod. She took that in, feeling not only her headmistress's and Sorority's support but also that of the other Sororities. Whatever circumstances had led her here, she was about to undertake a task none of them envied, and they all wished her success. This was it. Her path to redemption was through the Oathless.
She took in a long breath, stood tall, and spread her wings confidently, her light flaring. "Alright," she said. "I'll do it!"
Titania, the Queen of Fairies, smiled widely and began spinning her spell.
"Go forth, Sister of Chivalry," she said as her magic swirled around the fairy godmother and drew her into the mirror, transporting her to Earth.
"Good luck…"
Vira felt her stomach turning with both excitement and anxiety as her body sank into the mirror. She closed her eyes as her chin went under. Have courage, she told herself.
"And godspeed," Titania said, and Vira was gone.