Fauna's promise

It had been a week since the first power outage. Now, Neera was convinced something was fishy.

“Miss Neera, are you planning to stay open tonight or what?” the café manager, Vikas, asked, peeking into her office.

“Oh! What time is it, Vikas?” Neera snapped out of her spiral and looked up at the giant wall clock hanging on one of the café’s PVC aesthetic walls.

Her eyes widened. “Gosh! It’s 11 PM! I told you to remind me!”

She was sweating, anxious, in a rush. “It’s my grandmother’s birthday! I promised her dinner! These regular blackouts—especially in this area—are making everything worse!”

She dabbed her forehead with the hem of her sleeve. “Something isn’t adding up. Vikas, please look into it. I have to rush... and make sure to switch off the kitchen’s light!”

Neera stormed out of the café, keys jangling, heart pounding. She drove fast, trying to push away the creeping guilt.

Behind her, Vikas locked the main entrance and muttered, “I think Miss Neera has serious short-term memory loss. How can the kitchen light be on… if there’s a power outage?”

***

Her grandmother’s home was dark, lit only by a faint emergency lamp and the warm flicker of a candle.

Neera barged in, voice full of frustration.

“Dadi! Still no light? This whole block has power! What is going on? This blackout thing is driving me insane!”

Dadi sat quietly in her old wooden rocking chair, wrapped in a faded shawl, eyes lost in a distant memory.

But her face tensed at Neera’s tone. Her hands trembled slightly, but she stayed quiet.

Neera noticed and immediately softened. Her voice cracked.

“I’m so sorry, Dadi… I promised I’d be here earlier. Got stuck at the café again... too many things going wrong.”

She knelt beside her, hugging her tightly.

“Ok... forget the blackout for now. We’ll sort it out later, pakka. Let’s cut your cake first! Happy birthday, my favourite human.”

She forced a wide smile. But Dadi didn’t smile back.

She placed a warm, trembling hand on Neera’s.

“Beta... there’s something I must tell you. It can’t wait anymore.”

Neera blinked. “What is it, Dadi?”

Dadi took a deep breath, her eyes heavy.

“You remember the story I used to tell you when you were little? About Fauna—the fairy who guards the invisible veil between their world and ours?”

Neera laughed softly. “Of course. The one with glowing wings and a silver staff. I used to think she was real. You told it so well.”

Dadi didn’t laugh.

“She is real, Neera.”

The air shifted.

“What?”

“She saved your life once. You were just seven. You don’t remember… but you fell seriously ill. Doctors gave up. I was desperate.”

Her voice cracked.

“So... I went to someone. A woman people called a witch. She could summon fairies.”

Neera looked stunned. But Dadi continued.

“She called Fauna. And Fauna agreed to save you. But in return... I had to make a promise.”

The room felt colder suddenly.

“What kind of promise, Dadi?”

“She asked... that one day, you marry her grandchild. Nirvan. A child of fairy and human blood. Raised in your world. Living like one of us.”

Neera stood up, backing away.

“What are you saying? This is a joke, right?”

“She’s turning a hundred soon. Just like me. It’s the time of fulfillment. She caused the blackout—to remind me. To remind you. It was a bond made under magic, Neera. If broken... it could destroy the balance between our world and theirs.”

Neera’s head spun. “This is insane.”

Dadi slowly stood, holding her shoulders. “I never wanted this. But Fauna didn’t leave a choice. If we break the promise now... you could die.”

“What?!”

“I’m sorry, Neera. I love you more than anything. I would trade my life again to keep you safe. But it’s already begun. That’s why the lights go out only around you. It’s her sign.”

Neera ran her hands through her hair, overwhelmed.

And then she whispered, “Nirvan?”

Suddenly, an image flashed in her mind.

A regular café customer. Always calm. Always kind. Always... quietly watching her.

No. It couldn’t be him.

***

She found him sitting in his usual seat the next evening, sipping coffee, waiting.

When she approached, he stood up.

“You know, don’t you?” he said softly.

Neera didn’t answer. She just stared.

“Yes,” Nirvan continued. “My grandmother told me everything. That’s why I came to your café. But I never thought... I’d actually fall for you.”

There was a long silence between them. Tension. Pain.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked.

“Because I didn’t want you to think it was forced. I came to fulfill a promise. But I stayed because... I love you.”

Neera looked down, heart twisting.

“Why is this marriage even necessary?”

Nirvan’s eyes darkened with sorrow.

“To protect our kind. Fauna’s bloodline is one of the last who can walk between worlds. But to remain, we need a human bond. A sire. If we disappear, the balance breaks. Chaos seeps in. Neither world survives.”

Neera’s voice cracked. “So, if I refuse... I die?”

“I won’t let that happen,” he said, almost in a whisper. “But I swear, Neera... I’ll find a way to break this deal one day. I’ll set you free. If then... you want to walk away, I won’t stop you.”

She looked at him.

Really looked.

She saw the boy who smiled at her coffee art. The man who offered her a hand when she dropped her papers. The person who was always... just there.

And suddenly, she remembered her grandmother’s eyes. The tears in them. The love. The sacrifice.

Neera took a deep breath.

“I love her too much. And... maybe I love you too.”

***

They married under the soft glow of twilight.

No fairies. No magic.

Just flickering lights, warm coffee, and two people holding hands as if they’d always belonged there.

And the café?

They ran it together. Every evening.

With lights that never flickered again.

But once a year, on Dadi’s birthday, the café would go dark for exactly one minute.

Neera never feared the blackout again.

She knew it was just Fauna... watching over her promise.

And smiling.