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They had just returned to Firene after hearing that it was under fire from Elusia troops, Ivy found it suffocating how eyes would draw her way when Elusian troops were brought up, how far the country that she first swore to protect had fallen, it was disgraceful and one of the main reasons she couldn’t find herself to sleep properly.
She found herself envying the small little ‘rare critter’ as Merin had put it, Sommie. The way it just strolled around with a smile on it’s face all the time, a part of her had been heartbroken to leave it behind in the Sominel as they camped back down in Firene, it had been instrumental some nights when trying to get rid of her insomnia, as it would somehow night and night again find a way into her room and snuggle into her when she stays up looking at a shadow around a corner, or thinks too much about her fathers fate, she finds herself letting out a mournful sigh despite Queen Eve letting them stay in such comfortable quarters after putting in so much effort to defend her people, despite that she still could not sleep.
She groaned audibly and decided with a short walk and some air, maybe. Just maybe she would be able to get to sleep later and look somewhat presentable by the time they get back to the Sominel, she had pulled multiple all-nighters in the courts she was raised in and she would do it again if needed.
She put on a small dressing gown over her night garments and some slip ons and took a step outside into the royal family forest, she had heard about it in Elusia text books and even at night she could tell the forest was extremely well taken care of, it made her sigh of relief. As long as she didn’t veer off the path not usually taken, she would be able to switch off her brain for a few minutes and just, take in the simple breezes that Firene offered her.
She stood by a small lake closed her eyes, before in Elusia when she went outside the cold climate was just too much for her and her wyvern, nights where she just wanted to take it and run away into some forest and meet a friend that understood her for who she was, and not the princess was all to tempting, she admits.
But to ditch Hortensia and leave her in a court of liars would be a fate worse than death, so she stayed, and adapted to that cold.
But a small, silent part of her had been happy this war had started, happy she had gotten to start some path of redemption, happy she had gotten to actually know nobles that wanted to know her outside of court talks and especially happy that the divine dragon accepted her.
She hummed, a gentle smile coming on her face thinking about the dragon that had been persistent on her mind lately, at first she was adamant that they kept a distant relationship as a deity and worshipper, and nothing more. But the more the Divine One spoke to her, ate with her, gave her pretty stones that she wouldn’t personally take a second glance at, had now been scattered around her room and been filled with sentimentality that no gold or jewels a nobleman could give her could match.
Out of the corner of her eye while she was lost in her own thoughts, she saw a bush shake. She felt goosebumps travel up her body as she realised she was no longer alone, fear overtaking her body she stood still, watching bush for any shadows or further movements before letting out a sigh of relief, honestly these days her imagination with ghosts and shadows were getting the best of her, she was the queen of Elusia, she should be-
Ivy turned back and lavender panicked eyes met red and blue irises, staring at her with curiosity and awe,
Ivy feels her life flash before her eyes, immediately darting back and tripping over her own feet, barely avoiding slipping into the lake aside her, a garbled and undignified scream rings out of her ears, she held her hands above her head in defence knowing full well it wouldn’t do much but the stress of the situation getting the better of her.
The creature leans closer despite that and Ivy feel that she can do nothing but close her eyes and hope that it just got bored and ran away
And she waited.
Waited some more.
At some point she grew increasingly confused, before she felt a light, but wet pressure on her lap she noticed that the beast, instead of chomping her face off and laughing maniacally that she had envisioned first, had now lay it’s head on Ivy’s lap and closed its eyes.
Ivy couldn’t tell why she hadn’t immediately tried to pry the beast- no. Whatever it was off herself yet, for some reason she felt a sense of familiarity in the way it conducted itself, it’s white immaculate skin with red and blue indents on the side, her eyebrows raised as she felt her conclusion slip out of her mouth,
“D-Divine One?” Ivy whispered.
The creature stirred a bit before, slowly opening it’s red and blue eyes and looking up at the Elusian princess with an apologetic look, “Please don’t scream…”
Ivy’s fear and uncertainty immediately turned into shame, she had ran away from her deity, who was a dragon, if her hands weren’t currently still frozen with fear they would he hitting herself in embarrassment, she didn’t know how such a fact slipped her mind, while she had known that Alear was a dragon, she did not expect her actual form to be so…
Ivy didn’t know the exact word to describe Alear’s form, she was intimidated but also fascinated, before she could comment on her thoughts the dragon started mumbling into her nightgown, “I’m, sorry if I made you so terrified when you just came out here for a simple walk, I swear it wasn’t on purpose, I know how you are with ghosts and all but…”
Alear felt herself mumbling before continuing on, not wanting this chance to confide in Ivy to go to waste, “When the war gets too stressful I like to take strolls around the scenery, but as you can imagine, the Sominel is a bit cramped for that, So I don’t have many chances to just be myself as you can imagine.”
Ivy’s eyes widened as she noticed the dragon’s once relaxed gaze turned into an apologetic one, as those red and blue irises now refused to meet her own, “I’m also sorry for getting your nightgown wet Ivy, I wanted to calm you down and I wasn’t thinking properly.”
Ivy’s eyebrows raised, “You were swimming in the lake?”
Alear’s eyes quickly raised and then looked away in what seemed to be embarrassment, “I- er. That would seem to be the case, and then I saw a figure and grew terrified of them seeing me so I hid, and then I sensed the presence of pack of bears approaching so I decided to uh, intimidate them away, which is probably why you can’t look me properly in the eyes now?”
If Ivy felt shame before, it was mortification now. This was the second time Alear had been her saviour and now she was apologising for it, apologising for revealing this magnificent form of hers. She breathed a lucky sigh of relief that the moonlight covered her pale tone, which was likely a crimson red by now.
Putting her fears aside she awkwardly put her hands at her side before mustering up the courage to smile, “Thank you Divine One, for saving me once again.” she was silent for a while considering if she really wanted to go through with all of this, before biting the inside of her cheek and throwing caution to the wind, “And I… do not fear you in this form, at least not anymore. I trust you and I always will.”
Alear who had been sheepishly looking at the floor, now had those recognizable eyes that beamed with divinity, Ivy was all too familiar with it, even across forms Ivy could not keep her eyes off her.
“Thanks but, I’m not much of a dragon anyways.” Alear nervously flexed her wings that Ivy did not even notice at first, “I have no clue how to use these stupid appendages and spit fire like the story tales Chloe always speaks of, so.” she chuckles to herself nervously, “Apologies if I’m not like the deity and strength you were looking for.”
Ivy looked up at the wing presented above her, although Alear had seemed to have admonished it, Ivy couldn’t keep her eyes off the span of them, the white, red and blue all contrasting together, Ivy wondered what it would be like under those wings, she had read about dragons and even heard Zephia mouth them off as being ‘beasts’ but the only word that Ivy could find right now was divine.
Before she could properly think through her actions, she thought back to when she first got her wyvern, as a noble she had to ‘excel at combat to instil fear into other nobles at the court’ her mother told her once, she could barely lift a sword let alone an axe, and she was meant to lead a country with magical books? Laughable. Her mother would disown her openly.
Yet, one day her father brought her a specially trained wyvern he said that had, “experience with dealing with users who excel at magic.” She wanted to ask where he had gotten it from but a part of her didn’t want to know the previous owner's fate, especially if the Elusian court had gotten its hands on it.
At first she was terrified, but she reached out her hand slightly, and the wyvern instead of waiting lightly nudged it’s head in her direction, she slightly gasped and pulled her hand back before looking into the wyvern’s eyes, filled with little malicious intent, and she cautiously reached back, putting her hand on the wyvern’s head,
Her father looked at her with such pride that day.
Such a shame it was the last memory she had of him fondly, before he derived solely into muttering about the fell dragon's return, rather than caring for his own daughters.
After losing her father, she began to care more for her wyvern, dutiful pets to teach it to keep up the work she had assigned it had now turned into genuine affection, the wyvern seemed confused at first before growing more fond of the new norm, starting to ask for scratches in between battle rather than being commanded or having them forced upon them.
Perhaps that’s why Ivy found it very simple to lift her hand onto the divine dragons head, admiring the white scales that populated it, as if lost in her own world Ivy began to massage the dragon’s head in affection and if Alear could be asked what heaven was like, she would refer to this moment.
Alear let out a purr, sinking further into the Elusian princesses lap, despite her lack of memories she had confidence that it had been years, no. A millennia since she had felt peace and tranquillity like this, she had always cursed being a dragon and this lousy form that she could never take advantage of due to the fear of scaring her allies and losing all of the comradery she had built up to this moment, but she would force them to accept it if she was treated like this everyday, she thinks.
Alear nervously chucked, looking to the side, ‘Or maybe that’s just the draconic instincts kicking in.’
This motion continued for a few minutes, for Ivy it felt like an eternity. She had been concerned of overstepping from her position but at some point in that hesitation she had heard a noise come from the dragon below her that reminded her of purring, similar to the many housecats she owned back at the castle, it was all the consent she needed to use her other hand to scratch the underneath of her neck, which resulted in a happy growl and a large tail to flap up and down, one she wasn’t even aware Alear had until now, if you asked her a few minutes ago she would have called the dragon in front of her terrifying, now all she could see was a large housecat, and somehow this pleased her more than the divinity that the divine dragon in her mind should have.
From the corner of her eye, Ivy noticed two large sorts of pillars protruding from the red and blue dragons head, she shifted her hand slowly from the head and brought her hand to the bottom of it, she looked down to gauge a reaction from the dragon, who seemed to still be lost in her world without a care in the world, to say that a dragon’s expression would be adorable to her seemed like a leap in logic but now she wonders how Alear could hide such a beautiful sight from the world.
She shifted her hand upwards, running her hand up what she assumed were horns, and from below her she heard a loud squeak which caused her to tense up immediately, the dragon jolting from her position knocking her out of her stupor instantly.
“D-Divine One?”
Ivy immediately retracted her hand, cursing her inability to control herself around the now dragon monarch, she bit her lip at the thought of overstepping like she had all those moons ago where she confessed her feelings and then claimed it to be out of devotion, her stomach still cringes at that memory.
“I’m fine, totally fine I just-” Alear struggled to properly describe what she just felt, all while trying to comfort the smaller princess who was trying her best not to faint at the moment,
“Wasn’t expecting it I just- …I’m sorry if I made you jump, Ivy.”
Ivy had faced shadows and jumped at every corner some nights, and yet being in front of a giant dragon that could probably crush her with little effort had, to be honest. Very little effect on her considering the implications, she supposes it was a mixture of the soothing sound of the Divine One’s voice, and the familiarity of how she would pet her wyvern when nobody was looking.
Alear looks up at her, it reminds Ivy of a small house cat that was begging for attention after being left alone for so long, she found herself smiling a little, “Shall… Shall I continue?” Ivy asked, wanting to make sure she wasn’t overstepping.
Alear’s head went right back down on Ivy’s lap, holding her breath in anticipation; “ Please .” Alear softly begged, the Elusian princesses lap slightly muffling the dragons cries, she could tell in the back of her mind that this was going way beyond a worshipper and deity relationship, but she couldn’t find herself to stop when those red and blue irises looked at her with such care and desire…
Ivy’s hand glided across Alear’s horns once again before she used the back of her hand to lightly slide it against the appendage in question, resulting in a low growl from the dragon that made goosebumps travel up her whole body, although this fear was not like the ones she constantly dealt with when dealing with ghosts, this one felt more primal, more intimate… She bit her cheek, filing away those thoughts for when she could think straight.
Ivy found herself mystified by the sight, such a powerful being laying on her lap, dancing around the palm of her hand, she was terrified of overstepping but that fear was being overwhelmed with the growing realisation that Alear needed this, she saw the way Alear’s eyes failed to meet hers when talking about her draconic form, Alear didn’t think highly of her own image and Ivy knew that feeling all to well.
Ivy concluded that the last person who should feel that way is someone as caring and compassionate as Alear, the horns in her hands was more firm that she expected at first, she was expecting them to be rugged and rough, but gliding her hands around showed that the horns have been well taken care of, like a polished gem. She noticed there were little indents in the horns that grew smaller as the horn went up.
She put the finger behind the horn and thumb on the front, tracing gently up and down. While doing this she noticed that the dragon’s breathing was starting to seem more… unnatural, where before all she could hear was the occasional noise of an owl that made her skin jump, and the gentle purr.
Now it was filled with her deity struggling to stay silent, she was sure she had asked Alear to stop if she was making her uncomfortable and she probably should herself, but the more she looked into those eyes the heavier the grip she had on the horn intensified.
Suddenly she felt her motions stop, now properly looking at the dragon taking breaths for dear life, suddenly realising the implications of what she had been doing, she felt her own breath hasten after she considered the implications of overstepping her relationship with the woman laying in front of her, that put its trust in her hands, and how she crushed it out of simple curiosity and a lack of intimacy of her life.
Alear after spacing out for a bit, after feeling the best that she’s felt in years, opened her eyes to see Ivy, she lifted her head up to properly get a good look and thank her but saw the distressed and panicked look on the lavender princesses face and quickly grew worried.
“Ivy?” No response.
The Elusian princess was looking down awkwardly and in shame, it had been a sight she had seen before after what had happened to her father and it broke her heart to see that she was the cause of it this time,
“I… Overstepped Divine One, your trust in me was mis-placed, I understand if you don’t want to associate with me after I…” Ivy failed to find the proper words of the act she just committed and went back to fiddling with her hands, the only thing keeping her from running away being the judgement that she silently craved from her.
Alear went to go for a hug but quickly realised that she would probably have to pick Ivy up to do that, which was probably the last on her to-do list. And decided to make do with what she had.
Praying that for once these useless appendages would put it some work, she leaned her head back down on the princesses lap and she flexed her wings above her head, Ivy’s breath hitched in her throat before she could speak up again, staying perfectly in place as Alear used the edge of her wing to dry away the tears from the Elusian princesses eyes,
“You did not overstep.” Alear stated, before closing her eyes.
“The benefits of being a dragon must be clear in your eyes, power, popularity, trust. But none of that really matters when you will forever be not like anyone else around you.”
Alear closed her eyes, “I come out here because my instincts can’t hide from being who I am, a feeling of familiarity that just escapes my memory every time I get close to remembering something and I just-” Alear sighs, looking at Ivy’s widened irises before turning her head on the princesses lap to avoid eye contact, as to not give her the idea that she was running off, but also not being able to tear herself away from Ivy at this moment, the last thing she wanted Ivy to think was that she wanted to avoid her.
“I desperately wanted to show you my world, to let you in, even though I know you could never understand it I still wanted to try.” Alear sighed, looking up at the moon which still hung high in the sky indicating the night was far from over, “I see now that I overwhelmed you with my plight with loneliness-” she turned back to look at the smaller lavender princess,
“Please do not blame yourself Ivy, you just wanted to comfort me, and for that I am eternally thankful.”
Despite being worlds apart, Ivy found herself understanding where Alear was coming from, in the courts she had nobody, not a soul. She may have had Hortensia at times but she had to be strong for her despite daggers appearing around every corner,
To be adored by thousands over an entire country, adored even to bring a brighter future, but to have nobody truly love you, is a feeling she is far too familiar with, and it pains her heart to see that Alear has to deal with that pain too when she is surrounded by so many allies who love her for who she is as a person and dragon, Ivy found herself biting her cheek, a part of her prays that Alear would consider her among those lucky few.
With new found conviction and understanding, Ivy mustered what little confidence and dignity she had after tonight, and wrapped her hands around the saddened dragon’s neck, resting her cheek against the dragons head, “I want to see it.”
Ivy saw Alear blink out of the corner of her eye and stare at her with curiosity and a slimmer of hope, a part of her wishes that it could have ended there, but Alear had just emptied her heart to her, the least she could do was return the favor,
“Even if I am in it for just a second, a blink of your lifespan. Even if I cannot understand the depths of a dragons loneliness, I know the feeling of being loved by so many, but liked by nobody truthfully, and I know that you are the last person who should feel that way when you have so many allies who care for you, dragon or not."
She found her grip tightening after baring her soul, some of it coming from what she longed to hear all those years ago and waited for a response.
After a few minutes of a silence that felt like an eternity to them both, Ivy heard a small chuckle from the dragon she had held in her arms before feeling the shape of the dragon shift, the darkness of the light contrasting against the divine dragon’s power was almost too large of a contrast to describe Ivy thought to herself, before long she felt hands wrap around her torso, and the gentle smile of the Divine One staring back at her.
“Thank you, Ivy.” Alear gazed into her eyes, the same ones she had been lost in for the entire night, her form may have changed but she doesn’t think that would ever rid of the beautiful and kind soul that she met through this war.
Ivy hummed, burying herself into Alear’s shoulder, taxing emotions were too much for her, cursing her insomnia and inability to switch off her brain when it wasn’t needed,
“Your other form..” she muttered to herself, not thinking straight, sleepiness clouding her vision.
Alear perked up at the whisper in her ear, the taller princess who she had laid upon earlier, now had reversed their roles,
“Ivy?”
Ivy felt her eyes dropping, “I liked it.” The last thing on her mind was thinking of the lack of cloth around the Divine One, as she wrapped her arms around her and drifted off, the water on the woman in question doing very little to deter her from napping on Alear.
Alear was silent for awhile, holding the wyvern rider before she heard soft snores coming from her, it had been awkward running into, what she had come to a conclusion, was her crush. Alear had met those stares across the Plaza with a smile and seeing Ivy’s surprised, but genuine smile back to her sent butterflies to her stomach too many times to count.
However, what she didn’t expect tonight was trying to take a bath after numerous stuffy meetings with nobles in Firene, and calming down a panicked Ivy, which resulted in a massage that she could only describe as otherworldly.
She really shouldn’t fall asleep here, with Ivy in her arms, she should probably just carry her back to her tent and pretend this was all some dream, Ivy would probably believe that right? She couldn’t see the princesses face which was currently very interested in her shoulder and judging by the soft snores, very tired.
But this had been the first time Ivy had let down that icy exterior of hers and looked at her with genuine excitement and joy, it turned her stomach inside out, a part of her knew that she shouldn’t overstep and ruin the relationship she has as a deity, but the other part. This crippling loneliness that she’s felt that spans over thousands of years that she can’t begin to comprehend, is screaming at her to fall asleep in the Elusian princesses arms.
“Well.” Alear smiled bashfully, “I suppose you are welcomed into my world now, Ivy." she held the princess closer, the light that was coming from the red and blue haired dragon now too familiar to Ivy to wake her up from her slumber.
The army would search around for the two after getting ready to departure Firene in the early morning, after Veyle had found the two and brought them back to camp she commented they had just began marching earlier, which they seemed to accept pretty quickly.
Veyle looked back at the forest. The sight of a human and a dragon wrapped in eachothers arms, despite all their differences, she found a smile grew upon her face, ‘As a dragon this was hope, hope for the future and a promise that they wouldn’t be destined to be alone forever. Like their father had dictated to them, But as a sister though…’
She grew a playful but devious look on her face, looking at her older sister, thinking of many chores she had yet to do around the Sominel, ‘this was prime blackmail material.’