Hati Life's
Fourteen-year-old Hati has spent their whole life on the outside looking in—the half-fey child of a human father and a fairy mother, whispered about by villagers and never once invited to play. With both parents gone, all that's left of them are a worn dagger, a silver pendant set with a blue stone, and a loneliness that aches louder every night.
But on Hati's fourteenth birthday, at their mother's grave, the pendant awakens. A thread of light beckons into the Verdian Great Forest—
Hati life's - Bottomless Cave
The area in front of the healing chamber was quiet.
No—it was too quiet.
Near the base of the Central Tree, at the heart of Luminas Village. The fairies' healing chamber was a small, cave-like hollow formed by the tangled roots of an ancient tree. Luminous moss grew thick across its entrance, and normally you'd hear the faint voices of injured fairies or ailing children drifting out.
But not now.
Hati stood about ten paces from the healing chamber's entrance, stiff as a post. His white pixie-cut hair didn't stir, though there was no wind. His blue eyes were so unfocused and dark you couldn't tell if they were open or closed.
His right hand was clenched around the pendant at his chest.
His mother's keepsake. The blue stone. The stone that had first blazed with light in the forest that night.
(Milfy...)
Just the name, spinning round and round in his head.
Milfy was in the back of the healing chamber right now. Knocked flying by Garg's blow, still unconscious. Her wings were broken, her body covered in cuts. The fairy healers were doing everything they could, but she still hadn't woken up.
"It's your fault."
A voice.
Hati slowly raised his head.
Two fairies had come out of the healing chamber. Adults. About eighteen centimeters tall. Their wings trembled with rage. Their faces were fixed on Hati in a glare.
Rip's parents.
Rip—the fairy boy who'd been caught in Hati's runaway power during yesterday's battle and badly hurt. He was sleeping in the healing chamber now.
"Because of you, Rip is... Rip still hasn't woken up!"
The father's voice tore through the village's stillness.
"I— I'm—"
"Shut up!"
The mother screamed, hysterical. Tears spilled from her eyes.
"Ever since you came, this village has been a disaster! The barrier got broken, Garg showed up, and Rip— Rip is—!"
Mid-sentence, her voice collapsed into sobs.
Hati couldn't say anything.
His throat clamped shut. There should have been so much he wanted to say. I'm sorry. It's my fault. But no sound came out.
"It's because a half-breed like you is living here!"
The father's words stabbed into his chest like a blade.
"Half-breed."
A word he'd heard over and over since coming to the village. A half-fey with human blood mixed in—that's what the fairies called him.
"Because of you, my son— if my son dies, I'll never forgive you!"
Hati bit his lip. He tasted blood.
That was when it happened.
Smack.
A small stone struck his cheek.
"Ah—"
He turned. The village children were standing there. Five or six fairy children. All of them glaring at Hati.
"Dangerous freak! Get out!"
"You're just a half-breed, and you hurt Rip!"
Smack. Smack.
Stones flew at him, one after another. Small stones. Thrown by fairies fifteen centimeters tall, they couldn't do much damage to Hati's body. But they hurt. Deep down, they hurt terribly.
"Stop it..."
His voice trembled.
"Just disappear from this village!"
"Big Sis Milfy got hurt because of you too!"
Those words cut the deepest.
Milfy.
That smile. Warm as a patch of sunlight.
"I won't let you be alone, you know."
She'd said that to him.
And now that same Milfy was lying in the healing chamber. Because of him.
Hati couldn't take it anymore.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry...!"
He shouted it and broke into a run.
Stones kept flying after him. The children's jeers chased him down.
"He ran away!"
"Just a half-breed!"
Hati didn't look back.
He just ran.
To the edge of the village. To a place where no one was.
* * *
The cave was on the west side of the village, just inside the Mist Veil.
A natural cave formed by great boulders piled atop one another. The entrance was narrow—an adult human would have to stoop to get in. It ran about ten meters deep, and at the very back was a space just big enough for one person to sit.
Hati sat there, hugging his knees.
The air inside was cool. Almost no outside light reached in; a faint trickle of sunset stained the rock walls orange. The air was damp, smelling of earth and moss.
(Because I'm here, everyone gets hurt.)
Hati clutched the pendant.
The blue stone wasn't glowing now. Whenever he tried to recall that night, a dull ache throbbed at the back of his skull.
The Star-Eater's power.
The fairy blood he'd inherited from his mother. When it awakened, his body gave off a pale, galaxy-like radiance. A mysterious power that nullified physical attacks.
But he couldn't control it.
In yesterday's battle, Hati's power had run wild. The light he'd aimed at Garg had struck Rip, who'd come to help. He'd tried to protect Milfy, and failed. Worse than failed—he'd hurt her more.
"Because I'm here... everyone gets hurt."
He murmured it aloud.
The voice echoed off the cave walls and died.
His hands were shaking.
Fear of the Star-Eater's power. What if it ran wild again? What if he hurt someone again? What if this time it was even worse?
(I don't want to use that power ever again.)
(I just have to not use it.)
(I just have to not be here.)
Hati buried his face in his knees.
"I won't let you be alone, you know."
Milfy's voice echoed in his head.
The words she'd said to him in the cave that day.
"We promised, remember?"
With that smile.
But now even that voice couldn't reach him.
Milfy was asleep.
Because of him.
"Milfy... I'm sorry..."
Tears soaked into his knees.
* * *
How long had he stayed like that?
The cave entrance grew faintly brighter.
Someone was coming.
Hati raised his head.
Standing in the entrance was Fiona.
The fairy who governed the laws of Luminas Village. The one with the cold eyes who'd told him about the Three Trials on his first day in the village. Her wings were pale blue, her long black hair tied back. About sixteen centimeters tall.
Fiona didn't come inside. She hovered at the entrance and looked down at Hati.
"Hati Life's."
Her voice was cold.
"...Yes."
Hati answered in a small voice.
"I bring the decision of Elder Morgana and the Council of Elders."
There was no emotion in Fiona's voice.
"Hati Life's. You are to leave Luminas Village by tomorrow morning."
Hati's chest tightened.
He'd known. He'd known, but hearing it spoken aloud felt like the ground crumbling beneath his feet.
"You understand the reason. Your power is beyond control. In yesterday's battle, the village barrier was greatly weakened, and Rip was gravely injured. We cannot keep you in this village any longer."
"...Yes."
"Elder Morgana has approved this as well. It is the result of prioritizing the village's safety above all. Do you object?"
Object.
Of course he did.
He hadn't done anything yet. The trials had ended halfway. He hadn't even said goodbye to Milfy.
But he couldn't say it.
"...No."
His voice came out hoarse.
"I see. Then leave the village by sunrise tomorrow morning. This is a formal exile under the law. If you defy it, you will be removed by force."
With that, Fiona turned her back.
"Wait."
The word slipped out of Hati's mouth.
Fiona turned around.
"...Milfy— is Milfy all right?"
Fiona studied Hati for a moment.
"...She hasn't woken yet. But her life isn't in danger. Her wing wounds should heal with time."
"I see... that's good."
Hati let out a small breath.
Fiona opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but in the end said nothing and flew away.
Silence returned to the cave.
For a while, Hati couldn't move.
(Leave the village by tomorrow morning.)
(I can't stay here anymore.)
(I won't see Milfy.)
(I can't even apologize to Rip.)
(I'm alone again.)
Hati slowly stood up.
Then he clenched the pendant at his chest.
His mother's keepsake.
This stone had led him all the way here.
But no more.
"Why..."
His voice shook.
"Why did someone like me have to get a power like this...?!"
Hati slammed the pendant against the ground.
Clang.
The hard sound echoed through the cave.
The blue stone fell to the ground and rolled.
"I just... I just wanted to live a normal life."
Tears spilled over.
"Mom... what am I supposed to do...?"
Hati crumpled to the ground.
He dropped to his knees and covered his face with both hands.
His sobs echoed through the cave.
Sobs that reached no one.
* * *
Night came.
Outside the cave, it was pitch dark.
Even the moonlight was hidden behind thick clouds.
Hati sat at the back of the cave, leaning against the wall.
The tears had stopped.
His eyes were swollen, his head hazy.
He picked up the pendant and put it in his pocket.
(Leave here tomorrow morning.)
(Where will I go?)
(Out of the forest, back to the village?)
(But the villagers called me "the fairy child" too.)
(There's nowhere I belong.)
Hati closed his eyes.
That was when it happened.
Rustle.
Outside the cave, the sound of bushes stirring.
Hati's body jerked.
(...The wind?)
No. Not that.
Rustle. Rustle.
Footsteps.
Multiple footsteps.
Hati held his breath.
His heart pounded like a hammer.
(Someone's coming.)
(At this hour, to the edge of the village?)
Hati pressed himself deeper into the cave.
A shadow fell across the entrance.
A night without moonlight. But Hati's eyes had adjusted, and he could tell the shadow had the shape of a human.
Big.
Two of them.
"...Here it is. The brat's hideout."
A low, male voice.
A chill ran down Hati's spine.
(The Black Iron Fang's wingmen...!)
He had to run.
He thought it, but his body wouldn't move.
Fear nailed his feet to the ground.
No—that wasn't it.
(It doesn't matter anymore.)
(No matter where I run, it's the same.)
(I can't go anywhere.)
Hati didn't move.
The shadows entered the cave.
Two men. Black leather armor. Short swords at their hips. One of them carried rope.
"Hey, there he is. The half-fey brat."
One of the men grinned.
"Don't resist. Unless you want to get hurt."
Hati stayed against the wall and looked up at the men.
He had no will left to run, and none to resist.
(It's fine.)
(Whatever happens to me.)
The men grabbed Hati's arms.
Roughly, they wrenched them behind his back.
The rope bit into his wrists.
"Ah—"
A small sound escaped him at the pain.
"Stay still."
The man grabbed Hati's hair and yanked his head up.
"Huh. So this is the brat with the Star-Eater's power. Looks like just a scrawny kid."
The man's face loomed close.
He smelled of liquor and sweat.
"Lord Garg's taken an interest. In that power of yours."
"Power..."
Hati murmured in a hoarse voice.
"That's right. The Star-Eater's power. That light. Show us. Do it, and we won't hurt you."
The man slapped Hati across the cheek.
A flat, dry crack.
Hati's head snapped sideways.
"Come on, show us. That light."
"...I don't need power anymore."
Hati said it quietly.
"Huh?"
"I can't... protect anything anymore. There's nothing left to protect."
His voice trembled.
"So I don't need... power."
The men exchanged glances.
"Ha, he's broken."
"What a pain. For now, we take him to Lord Garg. We'll teach him how to use his power there, nice and slow."
The man yanked Hati's arm.
Hati let himself be pulled.
His feet dragged across the ground.
(It's fine.)
(Whatever happens.)
(I can't do anything.)
(I can't protect anyone.)
(I'm alone.)
Tears spilled from Hati's eyes.
The men stepped out of the cave.
The night forest was dark and cold.
"Walk, brat."
The man kicked Hati in the back.
Hati fell to the ground.
"Get up. If you can't walk, we'll drag you."
The man pulled the rope.
The rope bit into his wrists.
It hurt.
But he couldn't even cry out.
"Hey, are you listening?"
The man crouched in front of Hati.
"You were close with that fairy, Milfy, weren't you? The poster girl at the honey tea shop."
Hati's body twitched.
"She's sleeping in the healing chamber now, I hear. Poor thing. Word is her wings are broken—she might never fly again."
The man smirked.
"It's your fault, isn't it? You let that power run wild."
Hati's chest constricted.
"That's not... I—"
"Don't give me that. If you hadn't stood up to Lord Garg, that
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