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The people of Aria seemed to come alive with the return of spring. Aero spent every free moment of time out in the town. Despite her attempts to grow closer with her people they kept their distance. Her pure white wings seemed to act as a social shield. Only nobles and servants who waited on her could speak with her naturally.

As Aero walked through the courtyard of the palace she knew that the day would be no different than normal. As soon as the gate opened the lively market became orderly and quiet. She took a seat at the edge of the pool feeling the light spray of the aqueduct. Suddenly a metallic tune sounded behind her. A colorful booth stood across the pool became the center of attention as children flocked over to it. Aero walked over as well curious about the strange song. A man in brightly colored clothes stood cranking the handle of a painted box. Through an opening in the front a metal cylinder spun. Protruding dots pushed against slips of stiff metal. When they passed each strip would produce a single tone of a certain pitch. As the cylinder continued to spin each tone fit into a cheerful song. A few of the children sang along with the tune.

“Look at the crowd that has gathered!” the man exclaimed grinning down at the excited faces of the children.

“Tell us a story, tell us a story!” they demanded jumping wildly.

“Is that how you ask?” He feigned a stern face for a moment while they responded.

“Please, Livre?” The regular listeners pouted with their hands clasped.

“How can I say no to faces like that?” Livre cheered as the children crowded closer.

Aero watched the amusing scene from the side. She was able to slip into the crowd of parents who were too distracted by watching over their children.

Livre slipped behind the booth and pulled a bright yellow rope to open the deep red curtains of the tiny stage set in the front of the booth.

“Today I will show you the story of The Friend and The Fiend.”

The children sat eagerly before the booth as a small doll held by thin strings dropped onto the stage. She wore a little white dress with chereb-like wings. She had little brown string hair that moved as she curtsied. She had a little round wooden face with a sweet expression.

“There once was a little girl that lived in a small village by the sea. She was loved by all of her fellow villagers.”

The little girl left the stage and was replaced by another doll that wore all black. A large toothy grin stretched across his face in a sinister way. Large black wings spread from his back seeming to loom over his body. The children booed as Livre made the marionette bow.

“There was a man in the village who was different from the others. He was corrupted and cruel.” He cleared the stage of the puppets and lowered a forest backdrop onto the stage. “One day, the young girl was playing in the forest when the man approached her.”

“‘Why hello there, little girl,’ the man said.” The doll knelt down before the sitting girl who looked up. “‘Why are you sitting all alone in the woods. You should be playing with your friends.’”

Livre raised his voice like a girl’s as he continued, “‘I don’t have any friends my age so I have to play by myself.’”

“‘Then allow me to be your friend.’ The man and the child met in the forest many days but the other villagers soon discovered the meetings and worried about the child.” The scene changed to a town and many marionettes dressed as townspeople entered the scene.

“What should we do? We must protect the girl from that man!” Livre moved a woman marionette as he spoke.

“I will capture him and make him confess to his crimes!” a man puppet announced heroically as the children cheered.

“Sebastian?” Aero questioned quietly as she looked at the similarity of the puppet.

“All of the men of the town went to capture the man,” Livre continued in him normal voice as he moved the dolls, “They brought him to the market square where the rest of the townspeople were gathered. The young girl stood among the towns women as the men tried to pull a confession from the dangerous man.”

“‘Wait, please he hasn’t done anything wrong!’” Livre waved the small girl doll’s arms.

“‘That’s right!’” The doll of the man broke away from the villagers that held him. “‘Come to me, child.’”

Livre dropped a small smoke screen pellet into the scene. The black smoke seeped across the scene and down the front of the booth. The villager dolls backed away from the scene leaving the girl and the man in center stage.

“‘Wh-what is this?’” the girl doll egded away.

The doll of the man reached out his arm. “‘Come with me dear. I will be your friend.’” The doll’s smile was eerily bright against the smoke.

“‘No. I don’t want to go with you you’re being scary.’”

The smoke blew high concealing the scene from the crowd. The children sat up on their knees trying to get a better look of the stage. They whispered to each other in the confusion as they tried to see what was happening. When the smoke cleared the girl was beside the man.

The children cried out at the scene. “Save her, save her!”

The marionettes rushed forward to center stage but another pellet was dropped enveloping the scene once more. Aero watched unsure what to make of the performance. She couldn’t decide whether to laugh or be angry. The truth had been so distorted that it was almost amusing.

The stage was cleared as the smoke receded leaving only one man marionette on the stage. Livre’s voice rose once more from behind the curtain as he moved the doll. “Be wary, children. The young girl vanished that day and was lost from us. We have not seen that dangerous man since, but you must remain cautious. Don’t go anywhere alone or let your friends go off alone. As long as you stay together you will be safe.”

Aero stifled her laughter with her hand. Tornado, you’ve become a lesson not to go with strangers.

The idea was too ridiculous for anger. She knew that the performer wasn’t the one to blame for the story. She waited until a more cheery performance was over to approach. Livre was taking down the booth as Aero was over to approach.

“Excuse me,” she called as he worked.

“Yes- Princess!” His bright green eyes widened and he bowed quickly pulling off his hat. His russet wings seemed dull against his jester-like outfit. “Were you watching my show?”

“Yes, I’m curious about the first one. Where did you hear of it?” she asked smiling as kindly as she could manage.

“The town members told me of it not long after you vanished, your highness. Though there were many different versions out there,” he told her nervously clutching his hat even after he stood up again.

“Oh?” she asked amused, “What were some of the other ones like?”

“There was an older lady that told me a version about two children. It was almost like a forbidden lover, but at the last minute the boy was commanded by the Dark Lord to kidnap the girl.”

“Well, at least she got the ages right,” Aero told him, “but the ending is still wrong. I doubt anyone actually gave the true story.”

“What really happened that day, princess?” Livre asked, “That is if you are willing to tell. I don’t like spreading lies. I only chose that story because I didn’t want to tell the children a story where they were betrayed by their friend.”

“Thank you for that,” Aero told him. “May I see your doll of me?”

“Of course!” He opened a cabinet in the bottom of the booth revealing rows of dolls. “Here we are.”

Aero held the doll examining the delicate wooden joints. She held the complicated wooden handle trying to figure out how it moved. “The boy’s name was Torando,” Aero began suddenly, “We only knew each other for a few years growing up but we were best friends. There weren’t many children our age in the village.”

“What did he look like?” Livre asked taking out a small blank wooden doll.

“He had black hair and wings, like the other doll, but he was a normal kid.”

Livre nodded taking out the other doll and dismantling it to take the wings.

“When the villagers found out we were friends they were angry and tried to separate us. They kidnapped him one day as he was leaving to meet me.”

“How much danger did they think a child posed?” Livre asked confused.

“I don’t believe that they actually felt he was dangerous. They only hated him because he was a Dark Ethereal. It was his guardian who kidnapped him. Sebastian claimed that Tornado was a spy for the Dark Lord even though he raised him.”

“His own guardian?” Livre asked through his teeth that held the string he was using to tie the wings onto the dolls body.

“Yes, he looked very much like the main villager doll. He very well may have been the one to tell you the story.”

“I see. What happened to the boy after he was captured?”

“They tried to send him to the Dark Realm,” she explained.

“What? Send the spy back to his Lord? Are they idiots?”

“They just wanted him as far away as possible. Tornado was terrified. He was born in the Light Realm so you can imagine how scary that portal must have seemed to him. He didn’t know life outside of the village.”

“You were there, right? How did you react?”

“I tried to stop them. Tornado was my friend so when he told me he wasn’t a spy I believed him. I didn’t want my friend taken from me so when they threw him into the darkness I jumped in after him.”

Livre looked up from his work shocked. “What drove you to do that, your highness. You said yourself that the darkness was terrifying.”

“I didn’t want my friend to be stuck in there alone. I thought I’d be able to save him.”

“So you both got sent to the Dark Realm? How did you get back?”

“They changed the portal as soon as I ran in. We were sent to the Faery Realm but we were separated even there. Our memories were erased by a woman who we had never seen before. Even now I can’t remember clearly was happened that day. I grew up with the current princess in a small village. It was many years before I was able to remember anything about Tornado or even myself.”

“Where is the boy now?”

“He was taken to the Dark Realm. Not long after he found me there was an attack sent by the Dark Lord. He agreed to go with them in exchange for my safety. It’ll be two years this summer.” She stopped playing with the doll and noticed Livre trying the other doll to a wooden handle. It had thick black hair and wore the baggy clothing of the old doll. Livre pulled out an ink well and thin brush from the cabinet.
“What should his expression be?” he asked making the little Tornado bow.

“He always seemed worried, but it would be nice if he could smile.”

Live pained a slight smile on the little face before completing the rest. “There we go. I will have to fix up his clothing and his wings, but it’s a start.”

“You’re going to show this story now?” Aero asked handing back her doll.

“I would like to, that is, if you don’t mind.”

“Won’t people get angry at you for showing a Dark Ethereal as good?”

“Probably,” he laughed nervously, “I’ll have to be careful of my audience, but I don’t like telling lies even if it’s what people want to hear. I told the other story because it was a good lesson, but this one is too and people need to realize that.” He bowed putting his hat back on. “I have to leave if I want to make it to the next town by nightfall. Thank you for your story, milady. I hope you meet with your friend again soon.”

“I do, too. Thank you for listening to me.” Watching happily as he placed the dolls together in the cabinet.

“There,” Livre stood to continue dismantling his booth. “I’ll make sure your dolls are always together.”