The Five Realms

It was October 31, Thom’s 15th birthday, and apparently Holloween. Savyn and Mel had taken Thom shopping for his birthday gift, but in reality, it was to get him out of the house so that Lyle, Sven and Jake could prepare for an afternoon birthday party. The guys have been so excited preparing for the celebration that they had nearly given out the secret last night. Thankfully, Nathan had shifted the conversation to other things.

The two blonds beamed at each other as they stood outside the bookshop waiting for Thom to finish his purchase. They watched through the glass window as they spotted their charge skipping happily towards the cashier with the newest bestseller in hand. They couldn’t believe how much Thom had change from the quiet, emotionless boy 9 months ago. Savyn’s talk with Thom seem to have started the transformation and Mel’s constant chatter about books and stories had aroused the teen’s interest, and soon made Thom feel more comfortable with Mel as to finally be able to talk to him in sentences. Thom gradually came to trust Mel and 4 months later was counting him as an older brother, the next most valued person besides his sister. The joy Thom found from learning a bit of magic here and there added to the change, especially when he realized he would be living one of his fantasies. He had a knack for elemental magic, and is on his way to mastering water manipulation. Savyn didn’t dare tell him that he could do all the other elemental magic since he was royalty, for fear of having to disclose his lineage before the right time. But water manipulation was fine since he thought she was his blood sister.

“You know…you have to buy him new clothes. He’s grown taller and his body has filled out a bit, no longer as thin as before.” Mel observed, giving his goatee a twist as he pointed out Thom’s ill fitting clothes.. “He’s become more manly too…That laser treatment for his eyes was godsent. Now that he doesn’t have to wear those glasses, he looks so much better. Our little prince is gonna be one hell of a looker when he grows up, and I’d have him for myself if I was not tied to a relationship right now.”

“You dirty old queer!” Savyn teased, brushing away from her face a lock of blond hair that had excaped the confines of her clip. “Although I agree with you wholeheartedly…if he was a little older and not my brother, I’d go for him too.”

“ Haha…maybe what we need is a good lay. I haven’t had one since this whole fiasco started 13 years ago. I miss my hunny so much…and that boy reminds me of him, a lot.” Mel wistfully said. “I hope dear Nathan gives him my letter when they meet each other in the Mystical Realm.”

“Who’s this man you’re so crazy about? How come you’ve never talked of him since now. Do tell!”

Mel’s eyes were round with surprise. “You mean you don’t know? I thought everyone knew.“

“I was only ten year old when everything happened. So how could I?” Savyn snorted.

O well…I sometimes forget you are so young.” Mel’s eyes shifted to Thom’s figure.” I didn’t want to talk because I would miss him too much. But ever since Thom’s been here, I couldn’t not talk about him. Thom looks a lot like my hunny, only Cinead’s bigger and a lot more masculine.”

This time Savyn was the one surprised. “You mean elder Cinnead, the late Queen’s brother? The one who’s head’s always covered with a cowl? He’s your lover? Ewww…”

“What do you mean, ‘Ewww’!” He doesn’t look older than 25!” was the affronted reply.

“It doesn’t erase the fact that he’s more than a thousand years old. If he’s human, he would be a mummy by now. All shrunken and skeletal. hehehe”

“You’ve spent too much of your life in the human realm if you’re saying that. You shouldn’t discriminate by age, my dear. Nathan’s even older than Cinnead and YOU used to have a crush on him. Rumor has it that he’s one of the first dragonlords.” Mel came closer to Sav as he whispered the last sentence with a glint in his eyes.

“Ha! I didn’t know that! I thought he was less than a century old…” Savyn narrowed her eyes at Mel. “Then how come he’s here and not in his realm? If he was a dragonlord he should be ruling the dragon lands and not here getting involved with Mystic business!”

Mel just gave his friend his very best smile and crossed his arms without replying, but not before Savyn caught that look in his eyes that said he knew more than he was telling. Savyn was about to open her mouth and try to coerce Mel to tell when she was interrupted by Thom’s arrival. She dropped the conversation. They were going home for the party and they could do the schmoozing later.


XX


Thom stared at the view outside. Sav was driving and Mel was chatting away, pointing at the various decors on the houses, shops and buildings. NYC seem to have made a big deal of Halloween. There was going to be a big parade later, beginning in 6th Avenue. Hopefully when he’s older, his sister would allow him to go to one. For now, he was content.

It was almost a year ago when that fatal accident happened. He had thought everything would get worst but his prediction had been turned upside down. It was ironic that he was enjoying life for the first time in his teen age years. He did miss his dead parents, but he knew that where ever they were in the afterlife, they would want him to be happy. There was also no kids to bother him since he was home schooled now, so that was alright with him. The big bonus though was the mini library the warehouse was equipped with. The room was full of old books about the Mystical Realm, and Thom was in heaven for that reason alone. In a way, he had all the fantasy books he could read, and what was even better was that they were all real.

He was overjoyed when Sav taught him water magic. It was so much fun playing with water. Water was so easy to manipulate, and it was so abundant and could be found all around. It had been fun playing pranks on Lyle, Sven and Jake.

Thom liked Mel. Mel was like the twin his sister never had. They were like two pieces in a pod, and both as blond as can be. Things would often go crazy when the two were left alone together. Thankfully, today was not that time. One other thing about Mel that held Thom in fascination was his lineage. Mel was a fairy.

Thom grinned and couldn’t help a small giggle coming out of his mouth when he thought about that fact. Mel was actually twice a fairy, both literally and figuratively because of his lineage and gayness. Thom thought it was really great to have his very own Tinkerbell living with him although he would actually prefer that Mel kept his normal size instead of imitating Tinkerbell’s. He must remember to ask Mel one of this days if he can transform without shrinking just like Julia Roberts did in that Peter Pan Movie. It would look really cool if his wings grew to human size, not that Mel wasn’t cool without his fairy wings. He’s the coolest person Thom has ever met, although there were instances when Thom had the urge to grab a fly swatter and chase Mel out of the building because he was being naughty.

Lyle, Sven and Jake, the other men in the warehouse, had also become his friends. They included Thom in their plans and jokes even though Thom was unresponsive at first. Just like with Mel, when Thom became more familiar with the 3 men, he was able to join the group. They were boisterous people who loved to have fun and their favorite thing to do was play pranks on the unsuspecting people in the warehouse. Thom had grown accustomed to having stuff done to him without a chance for retaliation, but once he knew how to use magic, he was able to pay them back in aces.

The 3-stooges, for that was his pet name for the 3 guys, loved to drink and tell stories about the Realm after supper. Thom would often sit with them and listen while they talk about their life in the Mystical Realm before they came here. Because he was a minor he couldn’t drink with them, especially under the watchful eye of his sister, but they would sometimes sneak him some when his sister was not looking. Their tales had intrigued him and he became curious as too what races they were. He had clues from their stories but he was still unsure. Their glamours were too perfect in masking their real form. They had promise to let Thom see them without their glamours on on his birthday…and that was today! he couldn’t wait and collect that promise!

As for Nathan, Thom was at first hesistant and a bit afraid since he was the boss. But Nathan had killed that fear when he treated Thom like he would a younger brother. He wouldn’t take no for an answer and would force Thom to try new things. Nathan lately made Thom feel funny. He had started teaching Thom basic self defense a few weeks ago and their continuous contact with each other had given Thom weird feelings. His breathing would hitch whenever he saw Nathan without his shirt, and that was so often now since they were working out together too. Thom would also sometimes get a hard on, which he would suppress with thoughts of old grannies in bathing suits. He didn’t think he was gay since he didn’t get that kind of reaction when he looked at the other guys. Even until now, he had no interest in both guys and girls. Thom wrinkled his nose. Maybe Nathan was emitting some strange pheromone. He was after all, not human.

Thom was interrupted out of his musings when the car stopped outside the warehouse.