Chapter Text
Ivory grabbed her basket and her pack. She waved and smiled at the townspeople, but not too much that she seemed dubious. She bought some bread at the local bakery. The baker gave her a weird look, but she decided to act oblivious yet again. She pet one of the cats that she had nicknamed Banshee, as it meowed loudly and hungrily in the night. She signed her name in her finest print and smiled at the man watching the book. At that point, she seemed to be the only one going out.
Once she got far enough away, she dashed as quickly as she could. Once she got to the circle, the fae turned and smiled. Ivory stopped in her tracks. How could this hurt anything? The fae was adorned in flowers, and his smile made Ivory’s insides melt like butter. Ivory couldn’t help herself. She felt happy around the fae. Ivory suddenly remembered what had happened.
“A townsperson died a few days ago. Said they heard a fae singing,” Ivory said. The fae nodded solemnly. “Did you kill them?” she asked. The fae seemed to be taken aback.
“You think I killed someone? When I can’t even get out of this circle?”
“They said they were attacked by a large beast, a fae-sent demon.”
“Like a wolf?” the fae asked. Ivory blinked. A wolf . They were native to the forests but had supposedly died out after a while due to the hunting and limited amount of prey, though it wasn’t uncommon to hear them howl.
“I didn’t even-”
“Think about it? No offense, but you humans are dense. Blaming anything or anyone that isn’t their own stupidity. What were they thinking, hunting so late? So far in the forest, in the rain?”
Ivory stepped into the circle and almost tripped, stuck in her own thoughts. “So, you didn’t attack them?” The fae bit the front of his mouth.
“No. The fae do many things, like… kidnapping children, but we do not attack humans for no reason. At least, not the Seelie Court. If they had attacked us first, it would have been a bit different.” Ivory only nodded, suddenly feeling sick. There was a long period of silence before the fae cleared his throat.
“My name… My name is Sven.”
Ivory turned to the fae. “Sven.” It sounded weird coming out of her mouth.
“If you ever need help, just say it and I'll show up.”
“Why, though…?”
“Because I feel like you need it, and,” he turned to Ivory, his bluish-teal eyes staring into their soul, “‘cause I trust you.”
~
“‘I know a bank where the wild thyme blows, where oxlips and the nodding violet grows, quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine, with sweet musk-roses and with eglantine,’” Ivory read. A Midsummer Night’s Dream was an odd story with convoluted wording, but still enticed her. The presence of faeries led her to decide to read it to the fae- Sven. Sven sat near her, playing with Ivory’s bookmark.
“I know a place that sounds similar to that of which is described.”
“Really? Where?”
“Here, of course!”
“It’s really not that glamorous. I mean, there’s always a constant fear of being found.”
“Well, yes, but Hermia and Lysander have that same fear. The only difference is that we’re much smarter than the two lovestruck fools.” Ivory stifled a laugh.
“I will not let you slander my favorite book like this!”
“Well then you shouldn’t have decided to read it to me!” Ivory laughed loudly. The fae was fond of starting debates and breaking down personalities and choices of characters. Suddenly, there was the loud crunching of shoes. Ivory immediately quieted and Sven looked around suspiciously.
“Did you hear that?” asked a familiar voice.
“Yeah, it was from around here.”
“Do you think it was a fae?”
“Maybe, it sounded like two voices.”
“Should we continue investigating? This is around the place where Robert got attacked.” Asked a new voice.
“No, we need to report this to Collen immediately.” The other men seemed to agree and went off. Ivory counted the minutes in her head. 258, 259, 360. She took a deep breath. The men were walking at a brisk pace. She hoped they were gone now.
“You should get home quickly,” Sven whispered. Ivory only nodded.
“I’ll be back soon, I promise.”
“Don’t make promises to a fae,” Sven said sternly, but with a hint of humor. “Just stay safe, won’t you?” he said, with genuine worry in his voice. Ivory nodded and quietly started making her way back to the town. At one point, she saw the backs of the 3 men. After that, she decided to take a shortcut.
~
Ivory quickly walked into town many hours before curfew and signed her name. She was now extremely anxious. She walked back to her house but stopped at the door. There were people inside. She walked quietly to the back door and opened it. Hopefully, no one would see her.
“Ivory hasn’t done anything wrong,” Snow said. Ivory stopped and crouched behind a bookcase.
“Yet the prophecy is coming true. ‘ A beast will feast on the tears of 3 children’ ?”
“Yes, it seems to be, but you can’t just blame Ivory! She hasn’t done anything wrong. Why was Robert out so late?”
“It’s none of your business, Snow.”
“It is, considering you’re coming here and slandering Ivory’s name with your only excuse being a prophecy!” Snow yelled. The other man, Collen, shushed them. Snow, however, continued. “We don’t even know if the prophecy is bad, how can you say all of this?”
“If you had been there when the changeling started acting up… you’d understand.” He cleared his voice, Ivory almost felt sorry for him. Almost. “One of our best men is now dead and I have multiple men who swear that they heard voices near where Robert died. I want Ivory to stay inside for the next few days.”
“What?!”
“Yes.”
“You can’t just tell her to stay here at the house.”
“Fine then, she’s under house arrest.”
“For what?!”
“Don’t fight back, unless you want your little changeling friend to be burnt at the stake!” Snow stood up quietly.
“She can leave the house after 7 days. This is for the safety of everyone.”
“You won’t get anywhere trying to stop the prophecy. We both know it will happen, whether we like it or not.”
“Don’t go running your mouth. It could get you killed,” Collen said, walking briskly out the door.
Snow’s posture was tense, they then crumbled onto their knees, tears threatening to fall.
Ivory ran out the door.
“Ivory? Ivory?!” Snow yelled after her. Ivory just continued to run. She didn’t care anymore.
~
“You came back!” Sven said, jumping to his feet. Ivory sniffled. She felt weak for crying. Sven soon noticed Ivory crying and came over to hug her.
“Are you alright?” Sven asked. Ivory shook her head and continued to sob. Sven smelled of roses, dew, warm honey, and old books. A beautiful scent but a painful reminder of Snow. Sven laid his back onto the tree, Ivory putting her head on the fae’s shoulder.
“Sven..am I a changeling?” Sven looked slowly back at her, his eyes then looked at the ground, lingering for a second too long. “I don’t know what you are…” “Ivory.” He looked up immediately. “My name is Ivory.” He stared at her, she nodded at him to continue. “Ivory," his voice was tense at her name, "I don’t know what you are. I may have been alive for a while but that doesn’t mean I can just tell when someone’s a changeling...I haven’t been around enough to get that experience. Do you get unreasonably tired? Sick, like you have an iron deficiency?”
“...no.” Sven looked slightly relieved.
“I don’t think you’re a changeling,” He said lightly. “There’s something else though..”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that your vibe, it gives off that aura of importance. Probably why everyone says stuff about you. You aren’t like the rest of them.” Ivory nodded, this news consuming her worry.
Sven sang another sad tune quietly. It was similar to the song he sang the first time he sang around Ivory. She slowly fell asleep while Sven made a flower crown out of the red roses. She cuddled closer to the fae. Sven was extremely warm, contrasting her constant chill. Ivory hoped time would just stop so she could stay here for the rest of her life.
~
Ivory woke up to find a red rose flower crown on her head, noticing the sky was already a bit dark. She was, in all honesty, ravenous. Sven opened his eyes and smiled.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yeah,” Ivory answered. Sven smiled a bit, getting up and grabbing something from the tree above them. Ivory quickly realized it was glowing.
“Glowberries. They’re extremely rare and only grow when magic articulates them too.” He handed a few to Ivory.
“Tha- Uh, I appreciate your gift,” Ivory said. Sven chuckled.
“If you want, you can say thank you. I know you humans are accustomed to it, so I don’t really mind anymore.,” His face changed slightly. “May I ask, though, what was causing you such pain?”
“The uh, prophecy..The man that died, he had three kids and apparently, one of the lines from the prophecy speaks of his death. No one really knows much about it, though. From what I’ve been told, it’s not exactly good or bad. I walked into one of my friends talking with a council member about it. He threatened both our lives. They were going to put me on house arrest for a whole week!”
Sven frowned. “And they just decided that this would be the best decision?”
“Yes.”
Sven started to pace, deep in thought. Ivory ate more of the berries.
“Will you be returning home?” Ivory nodded. “They’ll be worried. It could be risky for my friend’s safety.”
“You really do seem to care for your friend’s safety.”
“They’ve done a lot for me.” Sven nodded.
“Stay here for a bit longer, though. Take a quick mental rest.” Ivory nodded and took out one of her books. The small poetry book. She started reading it silently.
“Can you read it to me?” Ivory looked up to see Sven smiling sheepishly. The fae could read, but he said that Ivory had a relaxing and warm voice. “You don’t have to, but-”
“It’s okay!”
Ivory started reading it. The first one was a macabre, ‘memento mori’ poem. Ivory felt it to be a bit ironic. They got through 5 poems before Sven’s blue eyes reminded her too much of Snow and out of guilt, Ivory decided it was time to go.
Sven smiled and waved as she left. “Good luck, and remember, you are safe here.”
“Thank you, Sven.” Sven stared wide-eyed at Ivory, who only smiled a bit before walking away.
~
Ivory trekked the forest, sweat trickling down her forehead. She didn’t want to leave the safety of the circle but Snow was all she could think of. The town seemed fairly deserted. She quickly ran to the library and slid in through the back door.
“Ivory!” Snow said, surprised. Across from them sat an angry Collen and Katrina. “We were just talking about you. Where were you?”
Ivory attempted to feign stupidity on the subject. “I fell asleep in the forest.”
“But your name was signed in the book.” Ivory tried not to tense up. “I went back out, I forgot Ophelio in the forest.” Snow nodded, “Good that you went back for it, it’s our only copy.” Collen looked annoyed. “And you fell asleep?” “Yes, it was dark by the time I found it and I had been walking for hours with nothing to eat.”
Katrina nodded. “Needed to rest up. It makes sense.” Snow passed them biscuits and an egg.
“Well, I’ll be on my way now.” Katrina nodded to the both of them and walked out. Collen eyed Ivory’s flower crown.
“I’ll be back, don’t move,” he said gruffly.
“What-” Ivory started.
“Don’t. Move. Don’t. Leave.” he interrupted, a bit more aggressively, rushing out the door.
“..I know you overheard our conversation and you ran because of that,” Snow said once they were alone.
“I did.”
“Why did you come back?”
“I was worried you’d get hurt.”
Snow smiled sadly. “You should’ve stayed with your fae friend. I’m worried that my safety isn’t as important now.”
“What do you mean?”
“Ivory, Collen was coming to tell me that they were going to go into the forest to find you. He was close to burning it down.”
Ivory was surprised. “Why? I don’t understand.”
They looked at the flower crown. “There’s a line about red roses, Ivory.” Ivory shivered. Snow got up and grabbed a bag. They started to pack food, clothing, and a few books.
“What are you doing?!”
“Ivory, you don’t understand, they may try to kill you! Collen saw the roses, he’s probably coming here with the rest of the council now.”
“So I’m running? What about you?”
“I’ll be okay, Ivory. I can take care of myself.” Ivory doubted them until they tore open the floorboard and passed her a knife.
“Do you always have weapons under the floorboards?” Snow smiled a bit.
“I’m a librarian, what did you expect?”
There was a knock on the door. “Run through the back door,” Snow whispered. The person knocked again, a bit more violently. “Coming!” Snow nodded to Ivory.
“Godspeed.”
Ivory opened the door quietly and then ran. She didn’t completely understand why the prophecy was so important. She didn’t enjoy being forced to run to one place and then another over and over again. She didn’t enjoy knowing she was a pawn in an omnipotent being’s plan. She didn’t enjoy that she now heard yelling behind her and had to run faster.
She entered the forest and noticed the yelling was now closer to her. She didn’t dare look back. Ivory noticed that it was getting dark strangely quickly, but also still light out at the same time. She looked up to see the moon and a bright ring around it.
An eclipse , she thought.
Ivory heard scuttering behind her and continued to run. She had already tripped multiple times, but she was getting better at navigating the forest’s terrain. She masterfully jumped over a small creek, lavender and blue blurred in her peripheral view before her legs finally gave up and she fell down.
For once, she didn’t know where she was. She doubted anyone from the town would be following her at this point. She had been running for so long, avoiding looking at the sky, as she knew she could lose her vision. She tried to reach her pack but couldn’t, her body was giving up. Her brain was failing. She tried to get up, she tried to will herself to get somewhere safe, she tried to keep moving, but she couldn’t.
Ivory was convinced she was dying.
“They’re over here,” said a rough voice. No, no, no, no, no, wait, please , she thought. Her vision started to falter. The last thing she saw was the silhouette of multiple faces and the red light from the coming eclipse.
~
Ivory wasn’t awake but wasn’t asleep. It was extremely dark, it almost seemed like she was in a dark void.
“What in the-” She was quickly interrupted by a loud clicking sound. It reminded her painfully of a clock. It got louder, and louder and louder, until she couldn’t bear it anymore. She collapsed, tears flowing freely. It felt like she was there for an eternity.
Ivory suddenly woke up in a room she didn’t recognize, in a bed she didn’t know with a vaguely familiar face.
“Where am-”
“Ivory Rosewood, you are under arrest for running from the law, breaking curfew, and communicating with the fae.”
“I- You can’t do this!”
“Yes, we can,” Collen said, smiling darkly. “I will not let you rain hellfire on this world, like the other changeling.”
“What!?”
“Don’t act surprised! We all know you’ve been planning this.” She laughed, but there was no warmth in it.
“I don’t even know what the prophecy is!”
“Don’t lie to me. I’ve been around a lot longer than you have.”
Ivory tried to hold back but it’d been welling up too long. She punched Collen square in the face. Blood spurted out from Collen’s nose. He stiffly wiped it.
“Fine. Be like that.”
He yanked Ivory out of the bed. Bad timing to notice they were in the doctor’s house, causing her half-awake brain to be even more confused. He had pulled her all the way to the town square when Ivory noticed that the eclipse was in full force. Some sort of exhaustion pulled at her.
“Come on, one and all, to see the execution of this traitor, this changeling that would soon let faeries run wild and kill us all!” Collen hissed. Ivory tried to fight back but his grip was surprisingly tight.
“Ivory!” Snow yelled from the crowd, people started showing up in hoards, gasping.
“What do you have to say for yourself, changeling ?” Collen snarled.
Ivory stilled for a moment, then spat on his shoes. She laughed, remembering the power she now held, and said, “You will regret this.”
“So be it.” He kneed Ivory in the stomach. Ivory fell to the ground, already holding back tears. Ivory croaked out something unintelligible to the townsfolk around her.
“What was that, changeling?” He laughed. “Come on, speak up.” No one in the crowd joined in his laughter. Ivory coughed violently, but even through the pain, she smiled. She’d won.
Suddenly, there was a flurry of light. Sven was in front of them, in all his glory.
Somehow, he looked taller and bolder, stronger, a glimmer of light in the dark, like a god. He looked around, surveying the townspeople who were now trembling and on their knees, some of them were praying. Collen looked horrified.
“How dare you attack someone under my protection, our protection? Someone who couldn’t fight back. Someone who you let face prejudice without a mere grain of help, making it worse if anything.”
Collen spluttered. “How was I supposed to know she was under your protection!?” Sven gave him a blood curdling look that made even Ivory, the one being defended (for once), shiver.
“Hours in the forest? Bringing back new specimens so often? Not to mention the flower crowns she wore, laced with clearly rare flowers, that was referenced in the prophecy .” He spoke with no mercy or kindness in his tone. “You knew that a fae gave her a gift, a blessing, and yet went along with your plan? Leading these people with you, to their doom?”
“Please pardon m— us, dear Fae, we didn’t mean to—”
“Your apology means nothing now. The prophecy, which told you of her blessing, has been here for many years. We gave you time,” he turned to the rest of the town, “Let this be a warning to all of you, let it go into your books and epics: Nothing is stronger than a fae’s protection.”
He raised his hand up and a single red rose fell from his hand.
The rose fell to the ground and burst into flames. The newly crackling fire spread around Ivory and Sven, forming a circle about a few feet wide around the two of them. Over the flames, Ivory could see townsfolk fleeing as their screams grew quieter over the roars of the fire. Glancing around, Ivory caught a glimpse of Snow, who watched as Sven helped her up.
“You alright?” Sven asked.
“I’ve been better,” Ivory responded. Sven smiled wearily. The fire crackled loudly.
“Are you planning on destroying the town?” she asked, suddenly worried about the other prophecy that ended in death.
“This isn’t real fire, just an illusion. I wouldn’t do that. Though, it is quite tempting. Nor am I planning to curse the town.”
“What are you going to do, then?” Sven looked at the ground. After a pause, he spoke up again. “Would you like to move to the Fae Realm?”
Ivory was stunned. Living with the fae, being tall, and living long, trick filled lives. “...Is that even possible?”
“I can figure it out.” The fire light made Sven look tired, so human.
“What about my friend?”
Sven frowned. “I don’t know. We could figure it out, all I know is that now it's too dangerous for you to be here.”
“I don’t know, Sven—”
“We’ll figure it out when you get there. I can promise you that.”
“...Okay.”
The faux flames subsided, yet calamity still surrounded them. Sven now looked much more relaxed. “Ivory!” Snow rushed over and pulled Ivory into a tight hug, tears rushing down their face, while Sven stood uncomfortably to the side. Once they let go, they turned their focus to Sven, studying him.
“You guys are leaving.” Ivory was stunned.
“...Yeah. It’s not safe, and—”
“You don’t need to explain. Seriously, you need to get out of this hellish town.” Ivory could tell Snow was trying to smile and act happy for her but there was clearly much more worry from the whole situation than they seemed to be letting off.
“And what about you?” Ivory asked.
They wiped a tear from their cheek. “I’ll be here. Someone has to grow old and tell the future generations of this,” they chuckled. “We can keep in touch, I guess. You have my name and I have yours. There’s the circle as well” Ivory nodded, smiling.
Snow sniffled once more. “I gotta clean this up now, maybe work on getting Collen executed…” This made Ivory chuckle. “Don’t be a stranger.”
“I won’t.” They embraced for what may be the last time.
“Stay safe.”
“I will.” Snow moved onto Sven, shaking his hand—a gesture he clearly didn’t understand too well.
Ivory watched as Snow’s expression hardened. “If you or your faerie friends do anything to her, I will kill you. Faerie or not.” Sven nodded, slightly embarrassed.
~
“You ready?”
Ivory took a deep breath.
“Yeah.”
They’d made their way back to the circle, they now stood in front of the large tree. Even with the extra faerie powers, Ivory’s stomach still ached and she continuously limped. The glowberries lit their way as Sven put a hand to the tree and whispered something in a tongue Ivory couldn’t understand. Her eyes widened in wonder as a shimmering doorway appeared from the bark.
“Ivory. It’s not going to be too easy to adjust, you know. You’ll have to learn new languages, some runes, not to mention the body changes—”
“Like you said, we’ll deal with that when we get there.”
Sven smiled. A heart wrenching reminder that someone else actually cared for her.
“Ladies first.”
She walked into the portal. Into her new life.
~Fin~