The 2nd Word, revealed.

[kingtycoon]

The King of the Fairies had been given five magic words and his own magic wand to use. Mostly thought he was just a regular guy and didn't like the idea of using the magic wand too much. After he had turned the two businessmen into pigs he felt pretty sure that he shouldn't mess around with his magic wand and five magic words too much. He felt like it'd be pretty easy for him to start abusing that power by turning people who just annoyed him into pigs. Mostly the King of Fairies did not like problems, so when a problem didn't come right up and punch him or the Fairies in the nose, he tried to keep to himself.

Now, he really did feel guilty about turning those men into pigs – he saw on the news how the men's families were looking for them and he felt really terrible that he had turned them into pigs. So he didn't go into the fairy forest by his house too much because he knew he'd end up seeing those pigs. And even though they were pigs in their thoughts and ways – when he did see them sometimes – he just felt guilty. But he also knew that he had a responsibility to the Fairies, so tried to visit them and see if their lives were going right, and to see if they needed him for anything, but the idea of running into those pigs still scared him off.

You've read the other story so you know what happened to the pigs, so you can tell that this story takes place during that one, which after all took a whole year of the King of Fairies life. Well that summer, the summer of the pigs, the King of Fairies tried to keep very busy. He was doing great at his job and he met a nice lady that he went on a lot of dates with, and he went on a vacation to see his parents in a far away part of the state. He had a lot going on and his life was pretty good. Whenever he thought about the Fairies and the pigs and the forest by his house he started thinking more and more that he had been having a dream.

So he wasn't paying that much attention to the Fairies and he only started to think about them when the news stopped talking about the missing men (who he'd turned into pigs) and started talking about the drought. Without the King of Fairies ever even noticing there had been ten straight days without rain that summer, and it seemed like there would by ten more following. Farmers were upset, plants were wilting, and there were even some fires here and there. The King of Fairies woke up one Saturday morning, nice and early. He was fixing himself breakfast and he had the news on and they were talking about the weather and he started to think about a dream he had had, it was about some fairies that lived in the forest by his house. Then he noticed in his silverware drawer that there was his magic wand (he kept it in there) and he realized that it wasn't a dream, but a thing that really happened. He was the King of the Fairies- he suddenly remembered, and he felt proud. And he remembered that he'd turned those men to pigs and he felt ashamed. Then he thought about the drought and he thought about his responsibility to the Fairies and he felt guilty. He drank down his coffee and slipped his shoes on without even changing from his pajamas and went straight into the forest with his wand in hand.

He walked through the wilted brown vines and the brittle branches and fallen leaves. He walked through and saw the pigs running off to hide from him and he found the path toward the middle of the forest where the all the kings of the fairies had their ring. But it was strange. Not just dry, and hot, although it was those, but it was quiet. The birds were silent, woods were still and there was no sign at all of any fairies anywhere – which was strange. He wasn't even sure he'd found the fairies ring when he came upon it in the woods. It didn't look right, just bare stones and no flowers or ivy growing on anything. Even the big trees overhead were loosing their leaves much to early.

“Fairies...” The man just whispered, it was very still in the forest and just whispering seemed like a shout. He whispered again, just a little louder, “Fairies...”

There was a little answer, like dry leaves scraping on the sidewalk. “King, King...” Came the whisper, and the King of Fairies realized it was coming from part of the fairies ring. He knelt down by the stone and dug into the ground around it, where there was still a little moisture, just enough to keep a worm alive, or a single tiny fairy. It was the King of the Grape Vine-Fairies, who you could still recognize because of his beautiful purple cap and bright green eyes, and his clothes made of wound up leaves and spirally vines. The King tried and tried to talk to the Grape Vine Fairy but it didn't work, he was all dried up and withered. Poor thing! Well the King of Fairies felt just terrible!

“It was my job to look out for the fairies and I screwed it up! I was too upset about having to turn those men to pigs! Oh man, what am I gonna do?” The King of Fairies started pacing around, he was trying and trying to think. “What are my magic words? What are my magic words?” You see, the King of Fairies was still pretty sure he'd dreamed the whole thing, even seeing the little Grape-Vine-King seemed like a dream. He couldn't remember his words and it was all his fault. Again. He was getting more and more upset and trying and trying to remember his magic words – to see if there was one that would help him. He felt pretty sure that there had been a word that would help him change the weather, but he couldn't remember for sure. Couldn't remember at all. He was getting more and more upset and he decided to sit down and think more quietly.

Well the forest was still and calm and he could hear the barest little noises, and he heard a noise like the desert wind scraping rocks. It was a loud little sound and he looked around to find where it came from. Well, who should he see but the Kings of the Cactus-Fairies. There had to be a few dozen of them. They were dancing around in a circle on the rock. Their beards were made of spines that grew out long, and their hair was spikes that poked out in every direction. They had green skins that were smooth as glass and their ferocious little eyes darted around even when they laughed. They danced and danced, but their dance was very slow and calm – he would never have seen them except that they were laughing so hard; their little dry dusty laugh.

“Oh my goodness!” Cried the King. It's lucky I've found you Cactus-Fairy Kings! I need to ask you about my magic words! Boy was he relieved.

But not for long. You see the Cactus-Fairy-Kings were not helpful at all! “Oho,” they all sang in their low raspy voices. “Oho, and why should we help you? This is the new age of the cactus and the desert coming. The world will be for us only King of Fairies, then the other fairies and the animals and the people will dry up and go away. Only Cactus Forever.” They laughed their eerie laughs and then danced their slow, slow dance and chanted their song. “Only Cactus Forever.”

This, realized the King of Fairies, would be a problem. The only people who remembered the magic word weren't going to tell him! But there were still people around who knew the word though, he realized, and that meant that they could tell him. So he thought and thought, but not too hard.

“Only Cactus Forever.” He said, and he chanted it along with the Cactus-Fairy-Kings. “Only Cactus Forever.” They chanted together and the Cactus-Kings were very happy.

“You're one of us after all.” They said.

“I always was but I just didn't want to tell the other fairies. I always Choose the Cactus Kings. Desert forever, and ever, Cactus Forever and ever. I pledge to help you Cactus Kings, and make a desert out of the world forever.” And then he laughed along with them and tried to have a low raspy quiet voice like them. And then he went home. You might think that the King of Fairies had gone crazy, but he had a plan.

Every day after that he watched the sky carefully, he was waiting for something important. Every day the sky was wide and blue and the sun beat down hard. But one day he saw what he had been looking for -there was a cloud in the sky! Well the King of Fairies was so happy you might have thought that the he had won a prize. He smiled all the way into the forest and he laid out some food and water for the pigs, who he still felt bad about, but having seen the cloud, he didn't feel quite as bad as he might have. He walked straight to the dry and dusty fairy ring and found the Cactus-Fairy-Kings still doing their dance and chanting their song.

“Cactus Kings! There's trouble!” Said the King of Fairies, he had to try and hide his smile and to talk in a very quiet, serious way. “There's a cloud in the sky, and the news says there will be a storm later!” Really the news had not said that at all.

“Hiss!” Said the Cactus Kings, and it was a long low hiss like the wind whipping through the cracks in a window.

“Quickly, you have to tell me the word so I can change the weather! Otherwise our plan will be ruined!”

The Cactus Kings thought and thought and then they whispered to each other, and then one of them, the Saguaro King, leaned up close to the King's face and whispered a word of the fairy language. And then he said: “Say the word and then command the clouds to go away.”

Well you might think that the King of Fairies would just shout the word and ask for rain, and that's certainly what he would have liked to do – but he was very careful and wise. He knew that fairies might be tricky and so he was ready to trick them right back. He said the magic word and then he said “Clouds go away!”

Well the cloud didn't go away at all. It was just floating up in the sky.

The Cactus Fairies hissed and whistled and the King realized that they were laughing. “The Saguaro King said: “We can see that we can trust you with the real magic word now. We were only testing you.” And this was just the kind of trick that the King of Fairies was watching out for. “Come close and I'll tell you the real magic word.” Which is what happened.

Again, the King of Fairies said the word and then he told the clouds to go away. And this time the cloud dried up and disappeared right away! The Saguaro King had told him the real magic word at last. The King of Fairies looked down at the Cactus Kings and said: “Now, I'll remember the word and watch out for any more clouds. Soon it will be a desert forever.” And then he and the thorny Cactus-Kings all laughed and whistled.

Well can you guess what happened next? The King of the Fairies went straight home and made sure that the Cactus Fairies didn't follow him. He went down in his basement where he was sure no Fairies would follow him and he said the magic word and then he said: “A five day thunderstorm.” Which is what came along right then and there. The rain fell in big fat drops, as big as a knuckle and soon enough all the plants in the world had drunk up their share and more, and all the fairies had come alive and were ready and awake.

After the storm the King of the Fairies went back to the Fairy Circle and saw all the different kings there. They were very happy and excited, all except the Cactus Kings. The King of Fairies went over to where the Cactus Kings were brooding and talked to them. “Why did you trick us!” They said, but their voices weren't as crackly and dry as they had been. They seemed sad.

“I tried saying the word but it didn't work!” The King of Fairies protested. “Listen!” And again and again he pretended to say the word, but each time he said it wrong. The Cactus Fairy Kings tried and tried and tried to teach him how to say it right, but each time he pretended that he couldn't say it right at all. Pretty soon the Cactus Kings decided that the King of Fairies hadn't tricked them, and that instead he was just pretty dumb. But they never said anything to anyone else about it. They didn't want the other fairies to know about their plan and they certainly didn't want anyone to know that the King of the Fairies, even if he was dumb, was secretly on their side.

Comments

[mordicai.livejournal.com]

“Only Cactus Forever.”

[kingtycoon.livejournal.com]

The best part of this one was - we were sitting at the bus stop while I was telling it and I was going on about how it was dry and there were no fairies out except..? And she's all - "The Cactus!?!" And I'm all "Wow, good thinking." And she says: "What about the desert succulents dad?"

[mordicai.livejournal.com]

Ugh my ovaries.

[kingtycoon.livejournal.com]

I am glad to be far from your ovapositor sir.