Eyes bright and full of delight, Sayael practically ran to the woods to meet up with Marosa. Their parents didn’t really watch after them in the woods, as they were considered a safe haven - that, and Marosa was wild enough to not warrant anyone coming after him for a while. His father just let him be after a bit, considering how many times his scoldings just rolled off the boil’s back.

“Rosa!” Sayael cried, stopping to catch her breath as she whirled around, trying to spot him in the trees.

“Gotcha!” Dropping down from a tree, Marosa made to get the drop on his sister, but landed on the ground as she sidestepped to give him a glare.

“Rosa, you cannae do that anymore!” Dancing out of his reach, Sayael clicked her tongue at him as her branches swayed, fruits beginning to grow on them. Dusting himself off, Marosa’s eyes widened as he stared at them, admiring them with not envy or pride, but sheer curiosity.

“... why are ye staring at me like that?” Sayael muttered, feeling like she was on display.

“Yer just pretty, is all.” He grinned as he hopped closer to her. “Yer gonna break a few hearts someday, aye?”

“No,” She muttered, cheeks pink from embarrassment. “You’re the one that’s going to be the heart breaker.” She could see it - him with his long, wild red hair that curled about itself in a gorgeous manner, and golden eyes that seemed so full of life and innocence.

He barely looked like his father, save for his eyes.

“Oi got you a present.” Pulling her branches forward carefully, almost like she’d been practicing, Sayael felt around her fruits until she found the right one - nestled between branches, not part of the ones she was growing - and pulled it out, holding it in her palms for him.

“... what’s it do?” Marosa reached out and poked it softly, feeling that it was ripe and juicy.

“It’ll give ye wings.” She tilted her head at his confused expression. “Haven’t ye been admiring other faerie’s wings at the places Da drags us to?”

“But ye don’t have wings,” The gancanagh boil pointed out with a pouted lip.

“No, but oi have branches. They’re… kind of like wings? Oi guess?” She raised an eyebrow and held the fruit out for him. “Ye said you wanted tae make more friends, aye?” The sugar faerie had thought long and hard about it, and wanted to help him very badly. He was her brother, after all, and the only friend she really had.

Everyone else stayed away from her. Probably because of her mother.

Probably.

“Will it hurt? Growing wings?” Marosa asked as he took the fruit, more curious than anything. “Will they be permanent or temporary?”

Sayael hadn’t thought that far, and gave a shrug. “Oi dunno.” Her face was hopeful. He shrugged in return and took a bite, eyes widening at the taste.

“Huh.” He took another bite and raised an eyebrow. “It’s a different taste with each bite?” Sayael shrugged again. She wouldn’t know; her fruits weren’t ripe yet, but after asking her mother, her mother had given her one of her own fruits, saying that it was such a delight that she wanted to help her brother out. Saying that she was such a kind dear.

The fruit fell from Marosa’s hand as he doubled over, alarming Sayael as she rushed over to try to help, even if she felt that she could do nothing.

“It hurts…” Came the gancanagh boil’s pained cry, alarming the sugar faerie ghoul even more. She cried out at looking at his back, finding blood soaking his garments. Ripping them off to allow room, she watched as thin, gossamer wings, insect-like in design, slowly grew and expanded from the skin.

“Painful, hurts…”

“No, no no no! It’s not supposed to hurt!” It wasn’t supposed to do anything that resembled pain! Why was this doing this to him? There was no way that her mother would have done something this terrible!

She ran to get her parents, the memory a blur; they retrieved the boy and helped him ease into the transition - it was mostly his father, while her mother stayed a length away from both Da’luagh and Marosa.

It was apparent that Marosa and Sayael did not share the same mother, but it had Sayael upset that her mother didn’t even care for Marosa the same way she cared for her own daughter.

After what seemed like ages, Da’luagh rose and wiped sweat off of his brow, leaving a trail of blood from his weary fingers. The wound had thankfully stopped, but the young gancanagh was still breathing shallow, the wings being a huge change in his bodily form.

“I’ll have to rewrite his memory around this perversion. No thanks to you.” His lips were pressed together in a thin line, disapproval written all over his face as he stared at Sayael and Sayael alone. Da’luagh didn’t bother to spare a glance at her mother, who was examining her nails just a few feet away.

“But… but…” Tears welled up in her eyes as she tried to explain, but no words would come. Da’luagh bent over and picked up the boy with gentle precision, cradling Marosa gently in his arms.

“Gancanagh were never meant to have wings.” Da’luagh expressed as he walked away with Sayael’s brother, not bothering to look back at either one of them.

Sayael glanced at her mother, tears falling down her cheeks. Her mother bent down and wiped away her tears with a soft smile on her face; the young girl didn’t understand back then that the smile was everything but sweet.

“Dear one, don’t cry. You did everything you could… and you did it perfectly well. Oi’m proud of ye, little one.” Patting Sayael’s head gently, her mother rose and left, leaving the young ghoul feeling nothing but confusion and pain.

She hadn’t meant to hurt anyone. Why had this happened…?