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When Felix was eleven, and old storyteller was invited to his classroom to regale legends and myths from different cultures around the world. Yet Felix found himself the most fascinated by the folklore of the ancient faeries of Britain and Ireland. Felix had hung off every word the storyteller spoke, but to this day he distinctly remembered the instructions for how to be invited to the faeries' dancing circle.
"Go to the motionless water, and swim only under the full moon's light. If the Fae deem you worthy to enter their lands, you will be swept away for the night, and recall the experience for all eternity."
Felix had begun his search for such a body of water that very afternoon, but after many unfruitful attempts, he admitted defeat at thirteen. Yet completely by accident, five years after giving up, Felix stumbled upon an alcove close to his childhood home. Recalling the storyteller and their legend of the cave, Felix quickly grew curious of what may lie inside. Concealed by an overhanging of ivy and many other dangling plants, Felix pushed them aside and entered. His life pivoted onto a completely different path from that point.
***
On the night of the full moon, Felix walked to the cave, filled with a lagoon and only one source of light coming from the top-center of the cave. This cave had to be it, he thought. The moon was his only source of light once it could be seen from the hole in the cave, and there was no wind that could possibly enter the cave, for the entrance was sealed with plants thick enough to prevent any breeze from entering. This lake completed all the criteria from the storyteller’s instructions, and Felix was anxious to see if the myths were true.
As the full moon began to peak into the hole at the top of the cave, Felix lowered himself into the lagoon, and swam until the moon had filled the space inside the opening at the top of the cave. The light had eventually become bright enough to illuminate the entire cave, and Felix swam around in a slow circle until he noticed the shadowed figure standing at the land’s edge of the lake.
“Greetings, little human,” the shadow announced. “I am Changbin, of the Stray Court. Would you like to come dance with us on this night? I give you my word that you will re-enter your world once your night with us is over.” The faerie stepped into the light after he said this.
A Fae. Felix was staring at a faerie. And the faerie was a beautiful faerie, draped in fine clothing and with a hairstyle so pristine it was unfair, with pointed ears and slightly fanged canines that could be seen when he smiled. Felix had indeed found the entrance to the Fae lands. Were all faeries this beautiful? Felix had to wonder.
“I would love to come with you and dance the night away,” replied Felix once he got over his shock. “You promise that I will be returned to this world once the night had ended?”
A faerie’s promise was a life-bound oath. If Changbin agreed to bring Felix back to the human world when the night was over, then he would be killed by his own magic if he attempted not to do so. But Changbin agreed regardless and took Felix's hand. The two species were swept away by the light of the Moon, and through the portal to enter to the Fae world.
“Welcome, little human, to the Stray Court.”
Felix looked around. Every detail of the world was enhanced by something that just made it seem so much more fantastical than the realm of humans. The trees were arranged in a perfect circle, and each contained little flowers that had an internal light, which caused the tree to seem to be lit from the inside with sparkling dust surrounding it. And in the center of the grove of trees, was a circle of faeries. Some were dancing, some were eating and drinking, and two males were walking toward Felix and Changbin, most likely to pull them into the circle for the night.
“Changbin, dwaekki, who is this gorgeous creature?” the male asked, looking straight at Felix. He decided to answer the question himself, rather than get called a little human again, and because he was so eager to finally be there, to have finally found the Fae.
“I am Lee Felix, of the human world. Changbin invited me to your realm simply for one night of interacting in your Fae circles. Who are you?” While Felix had tried to make himself sound and appear more formal, his excitement ultimately shone through and the three Fae snickered silently at him. He didn’t notice, for he was looking back at the circle with anticipation.
“Felix, luck and happiness. An apt name, for someone who shines so brightly. I am Lee Minho of the Stray Court. My companion is Han Jisung, and we would both like to accompany you to the table of food and drink. Would you accept?”
Felix agreed after checking with Changbin, the first Fae he met, that he could. The two Fae and the human were at the food and drinks no less than a minute later, where Minho fed him and Jisung held a goblet of Fae wine to his mouth. Instantly, he began to feel lighter, happier, and almost floaty. Felix had begun to sway to the music in the background, and he suddenly felt the greatest urge to join the dancing in the center of the circle.
“Hello, little human.” There was a new Fae suddenly next to Felix, and he smiled brightly and giggled. The faerie was even more beautiful than Changbin, Jisung, and Minho combined! “My name is Hyunjin. Would you be so kind as to entertain me with a dance?” The Fae held out his arm for Felix to take, and he was whisked into the dancing circle.
The night’s events became even more blurred after that. Felix danced with countless males, females, humans, and many other Fae, each more and more beautiful than the last. His latest partner of five dances was a male by the name of Yang Jeongin. However, when the current song ended, another male approached Felix and Jeongin.
“Greetings, lovely human.” He said to Felix. “I am Kim Seungmin, a messenger for our leader of the Stray Court, Bang Chan. He has sent me to gather you and requests a dance with simply you and him in the circle. Apologies, Innie.” Seungmin had finally looked over to Felix's current partner, but Felix didn't notice in his shock. The leader of the faerie court wished to dance with him! Of course, he said yes, and was then brought to Bang Chan, who then held his hand out to Felix and led the two onto the now empty dance floor. He signaled the musicians to resume playing, and Felix lost himself once again in the music, dance, and Fae world around him.
The dance with Bang Chan, like all the others, passed by in a blur to Felix. He only noticed that the dance was over when Changbin suddenly reappeared beside him and Bang Chan.
“Sorry, Chan-hyung, but I had Promised to this young human to bring him back to his home world by the end of the night. If he wishes to go back to the humans, I must abide this and bring him back.” Chan frowned at this, yet he stepped back to allow Changbin to take a hold of Felix, who also frowned at the thought of his night with the Fae being over. “However, if our little sunshine wishes to stay in the Fae realm,” Changbin had now turned to address Felix. “He may. But if you choose this, you must know that you can never enter the realm of humans again, and you will be placed inside our circle for all eternity.”
And Felix knew, that as much as he wanted to stay in this world, dancing endlessly for all time, he must return to the human world and resume his life there. But he had to wonder, “Is it possible for me to re-enter your realm and dance with you again at the next full moon? Or, should I go back, will I never gain the chance to come here again?”
It was upon learning that he could visit the faerie realm again that he decided to go back to the humans. Changbin transported the two of them through the worlds’ portal, at which point Felix re-entered his world just as the full moon’s light completely left the cave. Reminiscing about her eventful night, she started her journey back to her home. The Fae bade Felix good-bye and disappeared, leaving Felix alone for another month in the human world.
***
The human realm had lost its luster and wonder, Felix had realized, after being in a land so much more wonderful than the one he lived in. The food and drink tasted like ash and poison in his mouth, he didn’t find joy in dancing to human music, and the entire world became dull compared to the Fae realm. Felix had begun to feel empty whenever he was in the world of humans. Every month, when the full moon occurred, he would excitedly go to the cave and dance, eat, and drink with the Fae for a night before returning. Over time, he grew close with his seven most frequent dance partners - learning that Minho-hyung and Hyunjinnie-hyung had been the ones to create the circle dances; that Sungie, Binnie-hyung, and Channie-hyung had created the music of the circle; that Seungminnie and Innie were the faint voices he always heard singing throughout the night. Yet still, as much as Felix longed to stay, he kept returning himself to the mortal world.
The boy walked between the two lands for three years, his human body becoming more thin, hollow, and worn out, while the body he possessed on the faerie world stayed like that of a young man's and was endlessly energetic, vibrant, and beautiful. By the time Felix was twenty-one the only thing he lived for were the nights of the full moon, when he could dance with the Fae in their perfect world. He stopped caring about the human world and every day in it, yet he still returned home in hopes of the human world becoming more appealing to him again. Yet as he turned twenty-two, Felix realized that the human world was no longer his home, and he never wanted to return to it again.
In the month after this realization, waiting for his last full moon in the human world, Felix's human body grew very sick, and he found himself on his deathbed on the day of the full moon. He begged his family and caretakers, “I must go to the cave. I must dance with them again, please let me dance with the Fae again.”
His family and human friends honored this request and took Felix to his cave on the night of the full moon. And as he lowered himself into the water and swam, he was swept away one last time by Hyunjin-hyung, who had become a dear friend to Felix.
This time, by the end of his night in the Stray Court, Felix was asked yet again by Channie-hyung if he wished to stay or depart. Felix finally chose to stay in the circle, and leave the human world behind. Chan then officially welcomed Felix into the Stray Court, becoming a ray of sunshine within the circle. With the Fae, he became eternally young, dancing and eating and drinking at the faerie’s wishes, never leaving the circle.
***
The night he last left for the faerie realm, his human body grew cold in front of his human family and friends. They watched in shock as Felix's corpse sunk under the waters of the lagoon and down to the bottom, where seven other, unrecognizable, bodies lay in their own watery graves. One each of Felix's new family had left behind, trading one night, for all eternity.