Chapter Text
Today has finally been the day.
After so many trials and tribulations, loss and sacrifice, Fath- no. Lord Sombron had been slain, they had rescued Veyle and lived to see a peaceful Elyos.
And now she would rule that Elyos as her mother would…
Well, Alear could hear voices approaching from the hallway, a smile growing on her face ‘maybe not completely as she would.’
“Aha! I knew we would find you in here!” Timerra announced their presence.
Alfred put his hands on his knees to catch his breath, “We must have looked everywhere.”
‘Of course…’ Alear thought ‘No longer did she have to follow in her mothers footsteps, while her mother ruled justly as a monarch for 1000 years, she had done so alone, only confiding in the rings she thought it was her duty to protect
For a long time, she assumed she thought that would be her purpose in this world, to protect Elyos and watch over the rings.
A flash of lavender appeared in the corner of her eye, “The coronation is going to start any minute now.”
She knew her purpose, and she would not follow in her mothers footsteps, not now that she had her treasure.
Ivy spoke up once again, “All right, time to get changed. Unless you’re wearing that.”
Alear quickly put her hand on her head and slightly turned away, to hide the color rising on her face, a comment like that a month ago she would have probably just laughed at agreed at but now… She was getting side-tracked wasn’t she? This was coronation day, not ‘think about how hot your future wife is’ day.
Ivy gave her a knowing smile, ‘Ah, so she is looking alone time before the coronation isn’t she?’
Veyle ran up and grabbed Alear’s hand, “Well hurry up, Come on!” Before Alear could hesitate, Veyle gave me a wink, “You need to get changed soon don’t you? Ivy said she would help you put on your royal garb in your old quarters!”
Alear’s eyebrows raised, “Ah,” so this is what it was like to have a little sister, her fell dragon wingwoman, she would have to thank Veyle for this later, maybe she would introduce her to Hortensia, she could tell they would hit it off instantly.
“I see,” she gave Ivy a shrewd smile, “How courageous of you to volunteer to help me get dressed into my garb, Princess Ivy.”
Ivy’s eyebrows raised in question, before getting the memo and chuckling to herself, “It would be my absolute honor to assist you in your time of need Divine One,” she walked over to the to be coronated dragon and bowed down to hide her growing smile, “May we be on our way? The world is waiting on you after all.”
“Lets.” she turned to speak to the waiting crowd, “Tell Vander that I'll be out soon, I just need to get dressed, I shouldn’t be too long.” ‘Well.’ Alear glanced at Ivy with a knowing glance, Ivy met it for a second before turning away in embarrassment, ‘Ah. The simple pleasures of having an easily flustered partner.’
“Got it!” Veyle, walked off leading the crowd, commenting on how excited she was to be experiencing an event with friends, she couldn’t be happier with the friends that she had made, Alfred, Diamant and Timerra had all been such great friends to her even since she defeated her alter-ego and broke free of her prison that their father had made.
Just like how they had been with her after discovering she had once worked with the fell dragon, they had openly accepted Veyle with little judgment… Veyle showed that Elyos truly had hope for the future between all nations, and she could not be more excited to see it come to fruition.
As the distance grew between the two groups, Alear couldn’t help herself, she took a step towards Ivy and leaned towards her ear, “Get dressed, hm? How eager, Should I be expecting something from you this evening, Princess Ivy?”
Ivy’s face broke into flames, her hands now slightly covering her face “I… What I meant was the ceremony and, erm well. I wouldn’t be against such a thing in the first place but I do think-” Ivy trailed on, taking a small peek beneath her fingers to see Alear with a shit-eating grin, she couldn’t help but smile back. “Charmer.”
“I try.” Alear puffed out her chest in confidence, before taking a closer look at the velvet princess before her, “Also your fascinator… Did you lose it or?”
“That fascinator…” Ivy smiled bitterly, looking down, “I received it from my father, when he wasn’t… obsessed with the fell dragon, he gave it to me so that the icy glares from the court would never truly hurt me, my mother just said to hide my emotions, to steel my heart, but I could never truly achieve it at that age of course, my father quickly took note of this and bought me it, and with it I was able to survive in those courts.”
Ivy giggled to herself looking to the side, “It’s a bitter memory now, but these last few months I’ve seen fewer and fewer reasons to keep wearing it, while I did adore it and arguably was the reason why it is now a fashion statement in Elusia, I am now surrounded by people I adore, people I trust. If I am to become the leader of Elusia I will not look at my people with the intention of them wanting to deceive me, I will look at them with pride.”
Alear gave Ivy a reassuring smile and took both her hands, “And a wonderful leader you will be, I know I’m not a reliable source for this but, I think your father would be proud of you growing past it.”
Ivy smiled looking out the window towards Elusia, “Yes…” and then looked towards Alear with pride and conviction, “As do I.”
Ivy thumped her heels against the bed as she waited for Alear to come out of the closet.
While a part of her hoping to have some time to talk with her before the coronation began, she concluded sadly that today was just too busy to have it, while that feeling stung having to share so eone so dear to her with the world, she supposed she would have to get used to it, especially of she would say here and not come back to Elusia…
‘No.’ Ivy bit her lip, pushing any unnecessary feelings away for now, trying not to think of that possibility on a happy day like this, for now she would be strong.
“I’m always so embarrassed wearing anything other from what I woke up in.” Alear spoke from behind the doors, “While I know that peace is on the horizon and that the people worship me, I still feel that people will mock me for trying too hard to dress like my mother.”
Ivy stood up from the bed and walked closer to the closet, leaning against the frame, “And I’m sure you look perfect Alear, have confidence in yourself. It will just be one day, and then you can just go back to what you wear every other day.”
“C-Can I? Isn’t there like, dragon rules?”
Ivy deadpanned, “You are the only divine dragon, you literally make the rules.”
Alear paused and then chuckled, “I suppose I do, huh.” Alear paused for a while, frustrated groans coming from within the closet, “This, damn zip.”
“It’s alright, we have time. I’ll come in and help you out.” Ivy stepped away from the frame and pushed the handle, the creaking slightly stirring the dragon from her struggle within the closet.
Ivy’s breath hitched in her throat, while she had heard accounts of what Lumera’s regalia looked like, she had never given much of it a second thought, but seeing it on Alear had taken her breath away entirely.
Alear’s garb went down to her feet, with the bottom of her dress to the top turning from a burning orange to a divine white, pink and blue ribbons surrounding the dress. Before her arms had been covered with armor, had now been left bare, leaving the chiseled arms exposed completely, Ever since she and Alear had entered a more… intimate relationship she had more found the topic of worship awkward to bring up, she had started to view her more of a person rather than a deity, so she stopped with it entirely, as she did not need prayers to help her anymore as she had Alear.
But if Alear asked her to get on her knees and worship her, she probably would have with little opposition, Ivy bit her lip. ‘Coronation day’ she repeated in her head again, every repetition convincing her less that it would get the sight of the to be crowned dragon’s muscles out of her head.
Alear sighed, looking to the side awkwardly, “I feel like I can barely move in this thing, horribly optimized for combat.” she fiddled with her hands, the lack of gloves on her hand feeling unnatural to her. “Sorry if I wasn’t everything you imagined I would be.”
Ivy took a step forward, words flooding her mind but none of them really fitting or being worthy of what Alear looked like currently, A few months ago if she saw Alear like this she probably would have just asked to be excused and screamed into a pillow for a few hours like normal, but Alear was looking at her with embarrassment and shame, this would not do.
“Immaculate.” Ivy found the words spilling out of her mouth, calculated words now spilling into what she could think of on the spot, “I… have no words, I am absolutely horrible at this. But you look absolutely divine, take confidence in my lack of ability to conjure up words right now on how sublime you look.”
Alear, still a little unsure on how to feel about herself as of now, gave Ivy a gentle smile. “I’ll take your word for it,” she took a deep breath looking out the window, “I’m still pretty unsure and unprepared, but I think I’ll be okay with you by my side.”
Ivy couldn’t hide the smile that came to her face despite her icy exterior at times, “Likewise, my beloved.”
Alear paused, waiting for Ivy to act, before gesturing to the back of her dress, “Can you..?”
‘Oh. Oh my.’ Ivy could feel whatever composure she had slowly breaking down at this moment, she had been prepared for a moment like this, dreamed of it more than she’d like to say; but to experience it first-hand? She didn’t know how to feel.
She felt her hands move without thinking, “S-Sure.” her mind was screaming to just run out already, but Alear had time and time again won over her heart, and her heart was screaming at her to-
“I-Ivy” Alear’s face broke into flames, feeling the zip behind her back travel down rather than up, “As tempted as I am by you, we are stressed for time aren’t we not ?”
“S-Sorry, I- uh.” Ivy scrambled with the zip, Alear turned her head back and gave her a sympathetic look, turning around to grab the Elusian’s princesses hands, “You can have me all to yourself later, okay?”
Ivy let out a content sigh, she could settle with that.
Alear turnt back around and she proceeded to finally zip it up to near the top, before pausing and giving a small kiss to the nap of her neck before fully zipping the dress up.
“Ivy…” Alear turned around, although they had been officially courting another for a while after the war began, her heart had still melted around Ivy, the war had taken it’s toll of both of them, and there was damage done to all sides that no amount of repairing could fix, but with Ivy with her side she was willing to try and make Elyos the haven that her mother had protected for so long.
Ivy gave Alear a gentle smile before looking out the window, “I am to be returning to Elusia after this coronation to attend my own ascension, to become the ruler of Elusia…” she fiddled with her hands, clasping them together and nervously twiddling her thumbs, “And I know you have a duty to protect the rings, and to your mother but I was wondering…” Ivy took a deep breath and was silent for a moment, before looking Alear in the eyes with determination, not unlike the one she mustered all those nights ago.
She held out a familiar hand gesture, before asking a question like this would be in one of her dreams, a fairy tale of a reality that she would conjure up in the darkest nights in the courts, the dream of being the divine dragon’s bride, the dream of being devoted to somebody who truly wanted her for herself, and not for power, “Will you return to Elusia with me? I would like nothing more than to formally work to repair Elusia with you by my side.”
Alear paused, looking at Ivy’s hand then the lavender princess herself before slightly tilting her head with a smile, “As if you’d have to ask?” she grasped the gloved hand before her, raising the hand to her face and leaning down to give it a kiss, “I am yours, after all.”
Ivy let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding and looked at her unconvincingly, “A-Are you sure, I mean. You do know that Elusia worships the Fell Dragon, correct?”
“If I can win you over, I can win an entire country over.” Alear looked to the side with a small smirk on her face, “Plus I'm like, 50% fell dragon, so I’m winning regardless here no?”
Ivy closed her eyes, her hands curling inward, trying to push down the smile that was appearing on her face, “You’d be away from the rings… Your duty, your friends, as much as I want to spend my life with you, I do not wish to rob you of-!”
Alear puffed out her chest, “Shh. My first policy will be installing certified Divine Dragon lights that never go out in the castle so the ghosts can’t harm my girlfriend.”
“Does that even exis- I’m getting off-track.” Ivy coughed into her fist, trying to ignore the color that had appeared on her face after such a shameless comment, she can’t tell if it’s worse that it’s probably the most romantic proposal she’s heard in her life, including the numerous official court attempts.
To be fair, there was no real way to tell hungry noblemen looking for power that, ‘Oh yeah I worship the divine dragon, Oh I’m also gay. ‘ she laughed inwardly, she’s pretty sure if she told the other nobles in this army they probably would react in support, how lucky she was to find this group of misfits, and someone like Alear in it.
Alear gave Ivy a gentle smile, before taking her other hand in reassurance, “These late few weeks, while trialing, have been the best of my life… I don’t even need my memories to tell you that I’m the happiest I’ve been in a while around you, Know that you…” Alear looked to the side, deep in thought before returning her hands to her side and taking a step back, Ivy silently mourned the loss of warmth.
“I was going to do this at your coronation but, it seems like I need to use my trump card…” Alear bent down and grabbed a small box from the inside of the clothes she left at the dressing table, it had a blue and white design with a golden line around the edges, such a design was familiar to her…
“I want to spend the rest of my life with you, I want to be devoted to you the same way you devote yourself to me,” she got down on one knee, Ivy’s breath hitched.
“I love you Ivy, and I want you to take this ring as a token of my favor.” Alear gently lifted the top of the box to reveal a small blue ring that-
“That!... That’s the Pact Ring!” Ivy felt like her mind was running at a million miles per hour, she knew Alear had become fond of her recently, devoted to her, but to this length? Was she truly deserving of such a gift?
“It’s said that The Divine One only bestows this gift to deepen the most meaningful bond to her- and well we have becomes close recently and well claimed to be devoted to each other multiple times but-” Ivy could feel herself rambling, maybe this was just some joke or a misunderstanding, but somehow all those thoughts vanished as she took a glance at Alear’s face.
“I propose to you and you give me the exact name and purpose of the ring I gave you…” Alear found herself chuckling a little, “As knowledgeable as I expected.”
“So…” Ivy, took a small step forward and found herself inspecting the ring presented to her in disbelief and complete euphoria , “You truly mean it?... You are forthright in spending the rest of your life with me?”
“Yes.” Alear pulled herself up from her previous position and took Ivy’s hand and gently pulled the glove away, before slipping the ring on her finger, “You will always be the one I feel closest with.” Alear continued her confession,
“I wouldn’t be a very good deity if I hid my feelings from someone so devoted to me, No?” she gave Ivy a look of pride and adoration, gone was the icy exterior once again, it was no longer a fantasy, she and Alear were…”
“I… You wish to get engaged to me-?” Ivy started, before immediately feeling her blood awaken, a familiar feeling she had felt on the battlefield, once it had been a sense of duty to experience it but to feel like this now during a moment like this? It was-
“Oh, uh.” Alear looked at her now completely blue hair in the mirror, she wanted to slap herself for somehow not seeing this coming, she had totally screwed this up hadn’t she?
“I’m er, sorry about this… I wanted to surprise you since you know the emblems didn’t exist anymore! and I wasn’t going to use them anymore for the war effort because there’s no war anymore! But…” Alear felt herself rambling, only stopped by the laughs of the woman opposite her.
“H-Hey don’t laugh!” Alear whined.
“I’m, I’m sorry beloved I just.” Ivy covered her mouth, stifling her giggles. She had dreamed of this moment of being proposed to ever since she was a little girl, drowning out the voices of poison from the court. And she doesn’t think a single one of those fantasies could hold a candle to the sheer euphoria she feels currently.
This may go down in history as probably one of the most botched proposals in Elyos, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.
She inspected the ring once more, at first she had immediately identified it as a Pact Ring, but she noticed a few red and blue details on the gem, with a purple outline around the bottom, Ivy smiled to herself, she had went above and beyond for her. Even at such a late stage of their relationship Alear had continued to allude and surprise her.
She took a step forward and gave a gentle smile to the dragon, before capturing her lips once again, ‘It’s happened once or twice before but this time I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of it,’ Ivy wrapped her arms around her waist and kissed her harder, deeper. She’s never felt this urgency and excitement in her life but she’s not one for hesitating, not anymore.
“It was perfect dear, thank you.” Ivy leaned her forehead against the newly appointed dragon monarch, her heart was exploding and she felt faint but those were minor issues at this point compared to the sight of Alear, a sight of blue divinity she would never be able to forget.
Alear could feel her vision getting cloudy, she’s crying, she’s an ancient dragon who had triumphed over a dark god and saved the world, and she was crying infront of her wife.
“I’m glad… You opened your heart to me Ivy,” Alear let down her guard, a stance of shame now filled with anticipation, “It’s only fair I return the favor.”
Ivy nodded, there was a moment of silence, she knew that there was a crowd outside that demanded Alear’s presence but they could wait, for far too long she had waited for someone she could trust in the cutthroat environment that she grew up in, when others had given her trust she found it hard to give it back fearing that it was just a ploy for her favor or just to tease her, she was instructed to hide her emotions from her mother and father to just survive in the courts she was raised in.
But she takes a look at Alear now and knows that if she could survive that and make it here, in a world where she’s now surrounded that people that trust her, and now knows that if she confides her emotions in someone, they will listen. Not out of respect or fear. But out of trust.
Alear taught her that, and she would take that lesson and lead her people to a better future, where nobody has to experience what she did.
“Let’s go out there and take on the world together, Ivy.” Alear took a step back and reached out her arm, gesturing to Ivy to take it.
“As always,” Ivy linked her arm up with the dragons and leaned her head on her shoulder, “You have my endless devotion and adoration.”
Alear giggled, “Your Dragsort?”
Ivy blinked, “You… were still awake?”
Alear said nothing and giggled, leaning her head against Ivy’s “You didn’t hear me refuse the title, did you?”
Ivy’s face, still crimson, let out a sign of contentment, “No.” she whispered into her ear, “I suppose you didn’t.”