#fae queen illya au

[ancientechos]

Bewitch

Emet-Selch/Arianna ♡ 2005 words ♡ Fae Queen Illya AU

Recommended to read “Hex” beforehand as this is a direct sequel.

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Time ticks on, somehow slower than it has ever been before. It feels like far, far too long since he’s laid her to sleep...and he wonders if he should awaken her. But finally --

She stirs, faintly at first. A mere twitching of her fingers, a restless shift of her legs. Then a quiet hum as her eyes dazedly open...

The confusion is slow to settle in. She glances about, doesn’t appear to see him at first -- though once she does, he almost feels bad for finding hilarity in her reaction.

The woman all but flies off the bed, patting at her stomach and side distractedly before realising she lacks her bag.

“You’ll find your things there,” the architect says helpfully, pointing to the bed behind her. Somehow, he manages to keep his mirth in check. The woman casts him a cautious, almost hunted glance, before quickly turning about and confirming his words. She hastily loops the bag over her neck and shoulders. Either she doesn’t notice her sudden good health or is too frightened to give it any mind. Well, that would be understandable, he supposes --

To his dismay, she immediately sets sights for the door, and bolts toward it.

“Wait!” Nearly upturning the chair in his haste to stand, he reaches for her, though he refrains from pursuing her. That would actually frighten her, he thinks. Though --

He doesn’t want her to leave. He --

Blessedly, she stops. The rush of adrenaline has him feeling lightheaded. She halts, fingers gently upon the doorknob, before she hesitantly turns to look at him with a tilted head.

“I-I would refrain from leaving if I were you.” Her confusion is palpable, so he takes a deep heaving breath and speaks again. “For the moment, at least. This -- well, I am sure you have noticed...” He twitches a wing once, for emphasis, watches her watch him. The crease in the woman’s brows deepens. “I am sure you have noticed I am a fairy. I suppose I shall have to explain your being here...”

Slowly, he lowers himself to sit again. Though the woman doesn’t relax, she doesn’t make to leave again, either. For the moment.

The architect hadn’t pilfered through the book in great detail -- but he would like to think this house, with vines and flowers coiling up its walls, bears some modicum of familiarity. He hasn’t bothered to change it from her preferences, after all.

“I found you in the forest, collapsed and ill. Judging by the basket you had with you...you are a healer of some sort? Or simply out collecting herbs? No matter.” He waves a hand idly. The bare flickers in her expression are all the confirmation he needs. He does wish she would speak, yet -- good things come to those who wait. It had been like this before, too. He is patient -- childish apprehension be damned.

“I took you to my home before anyone else might find you. You’ve likely heard the other fairies are not especially forgiving of trespassers, regardless whether it is intentional on your part or not.” Ah...he least of all, though there was not really any need for her to know that. “I took the liberty of curing your ailment, as well. You should find it much easier to breathe now, no?”

It’s as if he’s flicked a switch. He watches the realisation dawn upon her; one hand flies to her collarbone as she takes in a deep breath, uninhibited by any disease. Her mouth opens, and he nearly stops breathing -- but ah, it is only to let out a shaky breath.

To his delight, she returns to sit on the edge of the bed, apparently satisfied by his trustworthiness. The human woman removes the book from her satchel and fishes out a writing instrument.

Thank you.

“Oh, think nothing of it, my dear.” A slip of tongue; he’s over-eager, though the flush that rises to her cheeks is a nice reward. He prays she thinks it merely a verbal tic. “I’ll help you leave once it is...more manageable. The other fae tend to be quite active this time of day...but never mind that.” He waves a hand idly as he continues. “Might I have your name?”

The only sound in the small home is the water of the miniature terrariums and the scratch of her writing on paper, before she finally shows him her response.

My name is Arianna.

“Arianna,” he reads aloud with a quirked brow, leaning forward slightly. “What a charming name.” The red colour to the woman’s cheeks deepens as she once again busies herself with her parchment, pointedly looking away from him.

What is your name? 

He has to resist the urge to laugh at the question. Ah -- he really cannot help himself.

“I think you already know the answer to that,” he says with a sardonic smile. And gives a knowing nod to the very book she holds.

Arianna gives a rather expressive blink in response, before she returns to her book to flick through it in earnestness. She seems to pause on one page in particular, her head tilted slightly to the side in consideration. He wishes he could read it from this angle.

It’s a while before she finally writes to him again, and despite his bristling curiosity, the architect does not ask. He merely waits, fingers steepled.

But these are just stories? How would I know from a story? And how do you know about them?

The fae’s brow creases as he considers his reply, though he finally leans back with a sigh.

“I’ll answer your last question first, since it’s easiest. I’m afraid when I took you here, your book just so happened to fall from your possessions.” The smile comes to him easily. “I know it was terribly rude of me, but I was quite curious and hoped it might give me an inkling of who you were. And, well...the rest can be explained, though I’m afraid it’s a long story.”

She seems, at the very least, content with his response.

I do like stories.

The curve of his mouth is sharp. “Then you’re in luck, for I have quite the interesting one, if you would deign to hear it.” He shifts to sit more properly at the table, gesturing to the other chair across from him. “Would you sit with me?”

She peers at him, and he fears the answer is a resounding no. He dons his easy smile again, prepared to push the matter away, when she stands timidly and then takes the proffered chair, smoothing her robes modestly about her legs. She lays the book flat on the table, before she finally turns her keen gaze to him.

He is close enough to see every fleck of light in her eyes, and they are the very same colour he remembers.

With a shaky exhale he hadn’t realised he’d been holding in, the architect gently tugs the book closer to him.

She does not ask to leave that evening, nor the next, either. And, of course, he would never think to remind her.

________

Arianna is nothing if not intrigued, and he is more than happy to talk at length of their shared past.

They cannot be as close as they were before.

-- Not so soon.

But the first time she speaks to him makes him feel as if the sun has just finally dawned upon him once more. Though she has no wings of her own and seems a touch more fearful than before, she is very much the same. Even despite her being a mortal...she possesses, at the very least, magical aptitude, yet untapped. She need merely will it...

He watches as she sleeps, makes silly or serious conversation when she wakes, and she seems more than happy to whittle away the days ensconced in the warmth of his cottage. Their cottage?

Even when she leaves, it is not especially far. Thank whatever gods are still left --

“H-have you not -- slept? You seem...tired...?”

Her quiet voice breaks through his thoughts. The fae has to bite his lower lip to keep from smiling, though in hindsight he’s not entirely sure why he wants to smile in the first place. Perhaps it’s the lack of sleep getting to him. Truly, when was the last time he’d gone without rest for so long...?

“I will be all right. You needn’t...trouble yourself.”

“A-are you sure...? You should -- you should sleep, if you’re tired...”

“Your concern is admirable, but unnecessary. I assure you, I am fine.”

And that is the end of the conversation. She says nothing more, though he feels her frown without having to look at her. A world-weary sigh heaves through him as his shoulders rise and lower in a vague shrug, perhaps a touch apologetic.

But that is the end of it.

At least until he nearly trips over a godsforsaken chair in his sluggishness. An embarrassment to fae, this -- and he’s almost too drained to feel shame.

“Y-you really should rest, I think -- ” She’s more insistent now, the slightest bit of hesitation before one of her slender hands grasps at one of his wrists. His tongue clicks in annoyance, a grumble rising in his throat.

But truly, he can’t deny her any longer, not when he feels almost lightheaded. The temptation of sleep looms, his eyelids heavy and aching and filled with sand. He feels each and every single one of his years as he finally lugs himself in the direction of the bed he hasn’t used since she arrived.

“I -- I’ll make you some tea,” Arianna says, voice earnest. The proclamation has a surge of energy uncannily close to fear coursing through him -- now it’s his turn to grasp at her wrist, though there’s no force in his grip. He’s too tired to meet her gaze, instead blinking drowsily at where he touches her. She doesn’t attempt to pull away.

“I don’t need tea,” he mutters finally, his shoulders slouched. “Just...you...” He can feel her arm tense beneath his hold. Was it something he said? He doesn’t want to think about it. He feels her pulse beneath his thumb as he absentmindedly strokes her wrist.

“A-are you sure...?” She still doesn’t move away. Good...he doesn’t want her to.

“I am very sure. I...” He pauses. Wonders if he’ll regret asking later. Perhaps. But -- “Will you be here...? When I awaken.” He summons the energy to finally look her in the eye. There’s a charming flush to her expression, albeit fading in lieu of something he thinks is probably bewilderment.

“I-I -- yes...? W-why would I not be...?”

“Ah...” Foolish of him to ask, then. Might not be too late to strategically bury himself in a ditch. “N-no reason, I suppose...I was just...” He trails off, frowns, and throws himself against the bed to bury his face against the pillow. Another mistake. He feels the heat of his flesh all the more and drowns in lavender and chamomile.

When her hand gently pulls from him, he stubbornly shoves both of his beneath the pillow. He expects silence, or perhaps to hear the door closing as she leaves. He’s acting ridiculous.

Instead, he feels her fingers hesitantly stroking through his hair. Almost immediately, he feels all the sickly coiled tension sapping from his limbs.

“I-I will not leave, I -- I promise.” Her voice is soft and gentle and everything he remembers as she continues to gently pet him. It takes all his fraying willpower not to simply turn and pull her into him. He clasps his fingers together. “You should sleep...I will be here.”

He believes her, and when he awakens, he finds her curled up next to him.

[whitherliliesbloom]

The joyous cries of the fae could be heard throughout the Kingdom of Rainbows, as the people tossed popfires and glittering streamers across the sky.

“Hail to the new Queen of Il Mheg!” 

Plentiful offerings had been given to the newly crowned fae that day, gifts of all kinds from both friends and new subjects that sat untouched in the middle of the empty throne room. 

And in the dark of the new Titania’s private chambers, crumpled on the floor, the queen clutched onto the brooch bearing the last king’s insignia and wept by her bedside alone. 

[[ Backstory for Illya, the kingdom of the fae and a bit of lore regarding previous Titanias and Urianger for the fae au! Tagging all the peeps who are involved in the fae au or at least have participated in it once: @ofthesilverlining​, @yumeaino​, @maiden-born-in-snow​, @mintdrop​, @wysteria-ffxiv​,@windupnamazu​, @firstblesssed​, @astralyehga​ ]]

“Am I right to assume that you’ve kept by the queen’s side for long now?” with a clumsy flutter of his glowing blue wings, Alphinaud clutched the stack of books he had graciously offered to sort, flew up and begun sliding them into the gaps in the top row of shelves, spine side out as requested. 

He wasn’t given an answer right away, and he casts a glance backwards towards the elder man, who stood in front of his desk with his arms crossed over his chest. The firefly that buzzed within the confines of the glass lamp did little to light up the room, barely illuminating a circle around the man as he frowned down at the scattered documents on the table. 

When Urianger finally snaps out of his train of thought, he lifts his head to look at Alphinaud, now returned to make another round of gathering up the books that had laid abandoned on the floor and returning them to the shelf they belonged.

“Indeed I have. Moreso, I have served as the advisor for the past many Titanias of Il Mheg.” 

Fae certainly live a long time, but for Urianger to even live long enough to see the coming and going of several generations of rulers, Alphinaud would guess that he is way beyond several times his own age. 

Though Alphinaud has not served for very long for the fae, he has thrown questions about enough to learn a great deal more than he had when he first set foot within the kingdom. 

‘Titania’ is in fact, not the name of the queen, but a title given to the monarch of the fae, whether it be king or queen. The words of Titania hold with absolute authority, and with that authority came an equal status of power to match.  Though time is but a mere concept to the fae, he has been made aware that the Titania of the current is decades younger than those that came before her. For what reason however, he has yet to uncover. 

His knowledge on fae culture, and by extension potential leads regarding the cursed ailment that haunted his kind were gathered by his own merit - a combination of relentless questions directed to the fae, private readings into the scrolls the fae owned, and also a great deal of intuition on his part. His knowledge on the queen however, is limited.. and what little he knows of her has been information so graciously supplied by her very own advisor. 

It would be a lie to say he isn’t even a bit curious about Titania, the faerie he only ever sees fleetingly during respites between both their busy schedules. Titania held a grace and air to her that was befitting of queen, and yet at the very same, her demeanor was not so much different from the fae around her. 

In fact, she was perhaps a tad too gentle. Soft was her voice that she could not even bear to yell when the fuath had flooded the flower beds near Longmirror Lake once again. He saw the way she bit the insides of her cheeks as she overheard the words of a pixie who spoke ill of her efforts to restore the nectarine supplies within the kingdom, and the tragically sad smile she gave him when she caught his gaze trained on her. 

It made him wonder what drove her.. made him wonder what circumstances she’s had to endure prior to his arrival. 

He wondered if he could possibly have the audacity to learn more about her - the girl beneath the shine of her crown and the fluttering of her gown. 

“Then.. Would it be out of line for me to inquire more about Her Majesty?” 

Alphinaud’s words pierce through the silence, and causes Urianger to pause in his moments. His eyes narrow and his gaze slowly trails towards the mortal. And though Urianger had made it a point to sharpen his glare, he could tell by the unflinching stare back from Alphinaud, that the young man had no intentions of taking back his words.. nor did he seem at all unsure about what he was asking for.

“You wish to know about Titania.”

“That I do.. If I may, at least.. I wish to know all about her, and perhaps even what came before her.”

“Pray, why the sudden interest in our history?”

Alphinaud’s chapped lips curl into something of a sheepish smile.

“Is that not what I am here for? To learn? T’would be a waste of her majesty’s blessing if I don’t learn as much as much as I can about the fae.”

With a slump of his shoulders, Uriangers sighs and shakes his head. The curiosity and stubbornness of mortals have always been one of their worst qualities.. And yet, it was through those very qualities that he knew, that he has seen Alphinaud’s sincerity towards their cause.. and the queen. 

How long has it been since he has seen the queen’s eyes glitter as brightly as they do when she lays eyes upon this boy? Or the pride that he senses welling in her bosom when she hears of praises about his kind deeds throughout the kingdom? Even a man, as old as he would not seek to stop the flowers of youth blossoming when he sees one.

Urianger reaches to grab the lamp that sat on the table, and saunters towards the back of the room, where a worn, old flag of the Rainbow Kingdom hung proudly. 

“Thy kind is truly fortunate that the age of our old traditions are far behind us..”

------------------------------------------------------

The fae kingdom was truly beautiful in all its splendor. From the deepest parts of their oceans, to the highest top of their mountain, did the land of the fae prosper in all its glory. All of fae folk lived in harmony, in no small part thanks to Titania, and the Royal Guards who served under them.

And yet, beneath the beauty of the land came a hidden secret.

Their soil was dyed red with the blood of mortals. Mortals who would dare trespass the land of the fae, for whatever reason it may be. They were all to be brought before the king or queen of the fae and executed without delay, and their bodies are to be used as a reminder of the gruesome fate that awaited those who would dare thread upon land that was not theirs.

For many years, did the fae live in isolation, but peace under this undisputable law. 

Urianger has seen many mortals fall before his eyes - head cut from their necks and their remains to be thrown and forgotten.. and he has seen many others more under the care of his shadow. 

He could not count the number of Titanias he has attempted to convince to abolish this law.. for how could he sit idly by while the lives of potentially innocent mortals were lost to ignorance or perhaps even accident? And when yet another king or queen is crowned who is far too stubborn in their ways to change tradition, he would go behind their backs, hiding the mortals away and helping them escape. 

He isn’t always successful, and the lives of those he could not afford to save always did weight heavy on his mind, and served to deepen the creases that would form into his skin as wrinkles of age. 

There would be no such need for such betrayal, such secrets if Titania were one of reason, if he had more power than a mere advisor, who in reality, truly had no real power.

That is.. until the son of King Everard - Lachlan. The next in line out of many kings Urianger would have to serve.. one he was prepared to have to betray the trust of yet again.

To his surprise, and the shock of the entirety of the kingdom however, upon being crowned the new Titania, Lachlan’s very first act was one that broke the long established rule upon the land - the execution of any mortals who came to Il Mheg. 

Under his new rule, all mortals are to be welcome with opened arms. with no exceptions, no trial and no borders. 

To this day, Urianger knew not the reason for Lachlan’s open mindedness towards the mortals.. what he did know however, was the chaos that befell the kingdom following the order of his law. 

A swarm of mortals that immediately came into the kingdom for a myriad of reasons.. Some had nothing but the purest of intentions - children and the innocent who merely wished to learn about the kingdom and people who has kept themselves in isolate for so long. Some wished to open trade with the fae, some wished to study the fae... and a good majority of the others merely wanted to plunder. 

And plunder they did- from the sap of their trees, the water from their lakes, the crystals from their mountains and even the very roofs above their homes. Wherever the humans went, came the desecration of their once beautiful home, left with nothing but rot and emptiness that the fae were left to handle on their own. 

Lachlan’s law had certainly brought about change to the kingdom, one that his subjects all felt, agreed were for the worse. 

By the time his wife, the queen Cocona had thought to bring upon the ban of mortals once more, the damage had already been done beyond repair. Millennia of prosperity and peace had been swiftly undone in less than a single decade. 

With their land polluted, resources depleted, and their faith in the rulers of the kingdom drained, the fae folk did bid in whispered breath for Titania to be dismissed.  

How could they place their trust in the one who had allowed their home to be destroyed so swiftly by outsiders? How could they bear to serve and smile upon the one who had been the direct cause of their suffering? 

Under traditions, Titania would still have many years remaining to sit upon the throne. 

Sensing however, that goodwill and morale had been utterly lost on him, for the first time in the history of the land of the fae, did King Titania willingly give up the crown early and placed it upon his only daughter, before leaving the kingdom with his wife to never return again. 

Many rejoiced upon the King’s leave, praising the new queen who had sworn to serve the remaining years of her service and what her birth guardians had owed to restore the kingdom to its former glory. 

The new Titania’s coronation should have been one filled with great joy and celebration. 

Few in the kingdom truly saw the deep sorrow the queen felt, however.. a relatively youthful fae thrust upon the throne several decades too early, made responsible for the restoration of the kingdom that her father had been said to destroy.. and above all else, the disappearance of her parents, who had left naught for her but a singular brooch behind for her to remember them by. 

That such a huge burden would be placed upon a singular fae was too much. Urianger knew this, and had thus begun taking a far more involved role than he has in generations in ensuring the queen’s welfare. 

He would deliver her her meals when she forgets to have them, write her missives that she could not handle on her own, teach her many, many subjects that a fae of her age wouldn’t usually already know. 

And he’d quietly listen to her sobs from behind closed doors, wondering if he had perhaps been a better advisor to her father, that he would not have deprived a girl of her youth so cruelly. 

------------------------------------------------------------------

“.....For her to bear such burdens alone...” The scowl Alphinaud wore upon his expression was all Urianger needed to see before nodding in agreement.

“And I admit to bearing a part of the blame for her majesty’s plight.. The problems the kingdom faces, even those that were not of her doing, are now placed squarely upon her majesty’s shoulders..”

“Then I would share part of that burden.”  

The elder man is taken aback by the swiftness of Alphinaud’s words, nor did he expect the determined clenching of the boy’s fists.

“You know not what it is you claim. Your lifespan is but a fraction of fae folk.”

“That may be so.. But I can still help her.” His wings carry him towards the door, assured in their movements now than ever before. “For as long as I still have her blessing, I am a fae.. I have every right, and every wish to lighten the burden of my queen.”

The door to Urianger’s cottage opens, letting a flood of moonlight envelope Alphinaud’s form. His wings are glowing brighter than ever, and just before the young man thinks to fully leave, he casts a final glance back towards Urianger.

“If I may trouble you yet another question... What is her name? Her true name.”

It takes a few long moments of silence for Urianger to finally bow his head, lips twitched upwards into a small, barely visible smile.

“The name of Titania, one that has not been spoken to her for years.. is Illya.”

[mintdrop]

I summon forth the wounded night and cast a little magic spell, and just like that, we can fly!

[windup-dragoon]

Okay so the Fae AU 

with Queen of the Stars been given a wish to be free from her duty. The wish, although made in good intentions, has harmful repercussions. With her fae magic now warped and corrupted, the former Fae turns on the Kingdom she feels imprisoned her, her mind not really her own any more.  The human who made the wish is ever at her side, desperately searching for a way to right the wrongs he has done while doing everything in his power to keep her from becoming a monster to her own corruption.  Oh and they fight like Magical Girls. 

thanks brain. 

[firstblesssed]

[A short drabble for @whitherliliesbloom‘s fae au!! Figuring out elle’s place in the world and how she interacts with Alphi :3c]

"Again, Alphi?" Elletha asked as she watched the young mortal stumble his way into her infirmary. "Isn't the Queen herself teaching you how to fly? I thought you'd be good at this by now..." She sighs, setting aside the medicine she was working on and standing up to tend to her patient.

Alphinaud walks over to one of the stools and sits down, holding one arm, "Yes but it's not exactly easy to learn."

"Fae children are able to fly within hours of their creation, yet you've been here over a week and can fly for barely at all." Elletha grabs some supplies and makes her way over to sit in front of him, "Well? What's wrong with you then."

"Ah, I landed strangely on my arm... It was from quite a height." He explained, lifting his sleeve up to allow her to examine it.

"Hmm... I can probably fix that with magic." She smiled at him and fluttered over to her cabinets, looking through them for something.

"Then what are you looking for?" He asked, "Your cane is right there." Alphinaud pointed to the table in the corner, where an ornate cane was propped up against it.

Elletha let out a sigh and continued searching, eventually pulling out some herbs and bandages. "Because, I can only heal it so far. And I think at this rate a little pain will motivate you to learn faster." She set her supplies down beside him and then flew over to grab her cane.

"It's not a lack of motivation though! I want to learn, it's just… very different from walking." Alphinaud pouted at her, which only earned him a sly grin in response.

"My dear, I'm starting to think you just want to spend more time with the Queen at this rate." She laughs at his flustered face before continuing, "I’m merely teasing you, but if that is your true intention, it’s best that you think of another excuse some time soon.” Elletha waves her cane over his arm slowly, muttering a spell beneath her breath, then reaches for some bandages and begins wrapping up the injury.

“What… What do you suggest then?” He asks, sheepishly looking away from the other fairy. “I just want to get to know her better is all, which is hard to do when she’s so busy all the time.” Alphinaud turns back to watch Elletha as she works, “So the only time I can do that is when she’s teaching me to fly.”

“Our Titania is very busy you know, many things to oversee.” She finishes wrapping the bandage with a neat bow and smiles at her work, “The fact that she already takes time out of her busy schedule to teach you anything shows that she has an interest in you. I’m sure you could walk into the court at any time and just simply, talk to her.” Elletha pauses to hand him a pouch of herbs and pastes, “Eat the herbs and apply the paste once a day then come see me again next week, okay?”

He nods but seems reluctant to leave, lingering on the stool for a little longer. “Um…”

“Hm? Is something else the matter?” Elletha asks, fluttering up from her position on the floor.

“Do you think the Queen would appreciate company? Most of the time she seems a little….”

“Lonely?” Elletha finishes his sentence for him, “As I said she has many duties. These keep her away from most fae for a while, expect for that Urianger.” She crosses her arms at the mention of the Queen’s advisor, “I have no qualms with him, save for the fact that he needs to lighten up a little, and while they are close, Titania could do with a few more people in her close circle.”

She turns back to the medicine she was making before and picks up some of the ingredients, thinking about how much of an interest her Majesty had taken in this mortal. A boy who came to their lands and claimed to want to cure a terrible curse. Elletha had been sceptical of his story, seeing the destruction brought to their lands in the past once mortals were allowed in, but upon the Queen giving Alphinaud not only her blessing, but the blood of the fae, she knew something had to be special about him. She may not be as close to the Queen as others, but she’s insightful enough to see something blooming between the pair.

With a soft smile Elletha looks back towards Alphinaud, “Well? Go back out there and show her how ‘motivated’ you are to learn. And perhaps, think of another way to spend your time with her, alright?”

The boy nods, quickly turning and flying out of the room, out of sight beyond the curtain of leaves covering the door.

“I hope it works out for them.” She says to herself, returning to her work. “I must say though, you’ve chosen a strange boy to take an interest in, Illya…”

[windupnamazu]

i dont have time to work on a fic for @whitherliliesbloom​‘s fairy au which means its HEADCANON DUMP TIME

lunya is really young by fae standards! this is because she was originally a mortal, and specifically one of the ones who came to il mheg when lachlan opened the gates to everyone.

but she wasnt there with good intentions. at that point in her life she was part of a ring of plunderers who wanted to take il mhegs resources, after being forcefully recruited to their circle by a woman who kidnapped her from kholusia (assuming this is all in norvrandt, otherwise itd still be la noscea if the source and first are meshed together in the au)

she met illya at some point, maybe at time illya snuck out of the castle? and the two became friends. illya learned that lunya was part of the people hurting il mheg but maybe could tell that lunya didnt really want any part in it, or maybe lunya never said but illya knew anyway and just saw that she was different

when lachlan finally forfeited his claim to the throne, all the mortals were to be sent away. some of them got violent, and lunya was nearly killed at some point in the chaos while she was trying to help the innocents get out. one of illyas first blessings as queen was to save lunyas life and make her a fae! indebted to her friend, lunya would serve her loyally for the years to come. she would become the fae of stars/stardust, and her magic would usher in clear skies for il mheg every night. she feels guilty about the whole mortal ordeal as a whole though and kind of keeps an emotional distance from illya until the New Mortal Wave because lunyas scared of hurting her more :(

lunyas one secret is how much she misses her family, but by the time alphinaud arrives in il mheg she knows theyre long gone and so her only wish is to see her home one more time - except she cant leave il mheg because of the gates being closed on both sides for fae and mortals, and she cant stand the idea of abandoning titania

and... that has to do with her favour from raha in exchange for her stardust >:3c i dont have the specifics down yet but theres definitely a magic mirror involved and a Grand Adventure. its a disney movie. theres singing frogs, someone gets a dramatic villain number, and the romance only becomes canon in the last ten minutes.

depending on where the au goes, lunya mmmmmaaaaybe becomes mortal again? and her hair becomes black again, or raha becomes a fae! also he definitely starts as arr raha and then becomes exarch raha at some point maybe due to Magical Quest Shenanigans and also probably saving lunyas life. either way in the end they get to ride the eternal wind (literally in the case theyre both fae at the end) and travel together, but lunya always comes to visit illya!!

with their powers combined luha outprank half the pixies of il mheg and are generally a very cute menace and urianger is exhausted. they wont let him rest. they get along from the start here too but lunyas a bit more reluctant to share her past with him in this verse because it was mortals that made illyas life what it is now (even though, yknow, she was once a mortal.) also raha maybe encourages lunya to reconnect with illya!!

thats it. thats all i got.

anyway heres a pic of lunya because i feel weird posting text-only posts

[ancientechos]

Hex

Emet-Selch/Arianna ♡ 1632 words ♡ Fae Queen Illya AU

A tale of how the curse began. Discussed with @whitherliliesbloom prior to writing.

Next

Fae live in the present. Such is often said about his kind. The architect, however, prefers to live in the past. It is far more attractive, far more welcoming.

In his dreams, he relives countless hours, countless days, waking only for basic functions before sinking into blessed ignorance once more.

Today, however -- today is different. He is yet to ascertain if this is unfortunate or not.

The old, wizened human’s cane trembles with power. Of course a magician would deign to barge into his humble territory. Perhaps man’s magicks are among the only things capable of fending off most of the fae -- at least insofar as the sentinels go. Unfortunately for the human, the fairy he bothers today simmers with fae magic, and does not particularly care for the rule of bringing trespassers to Titania.

Not a single human who has crossed his path has lived to tell the tale.

Magic or no magic, it will take not even a moment for him to deal with this miserable old sod.

Narrowing pale golden eyes, he lifts one of his hands, about to snap his fingers together --

“Wait.”

The architect bows to no one, least of all one of that despicable, wretched, vile race. It is not the command in his tone that intrigues him, but the desperation.

For the first time, he deigns to look at him properly, taking in the bloodstained robes, that ridiculously oversized crown upon his head, the long beard. The human takes his silence as assent of some kind.

“I need your help,” he utters, his words almost a gasp. Perhaps making his way through the trees, past the nymph and other fae sentries, had been taxing for him. The architect watches as his grip upon his cane tightens for a mere moment. “Please.”

Exhaling loudly through his nose, the fae shrugs.

“So very sorry, but I am not a wish granter nor any sort of djinn. I’d tell you to find someone else, but, well, seeing as you’re going to die -- “

“I want to die.”

-- He’s not sure, truly, what he’s more impressed by: that the mage has the gall to interrupt him...or the drivel that spews from his mouth.

“I want to die, and I want to take the rest of my kind with me. Surely you would have no qualms granting such a wish.”

Something nags at him then, a strange, uncomfortable sensation that has a sneer spreading across his face.

“And what ever makes you think I would agree to grant this desire of yours?” the architect asks. “You know nothing of me.” The wrinkled face lowers in a nod.

“I do not -- but I do know that fae kind have no reason to desire the company of men. The land would be far better off without them.”

“You make the mistake of assuming I care about what my fellow kind want.” His hand lifts again, and he delights in the flash of panic that streaks across the magician’s face.

“Wait, I -- “ He takes a single step forward. “If not for others, then -- why not for yourself?”

His brows furrow. “Myself?”

“Are you saying you have any affection for mortals?”

“I detest humans.” The venom that leaks into his voice surprises even himself -- the mage trembling back at the shadow that mars his face.

“Then, please -- all I ask is that you allow me this one favour. This singular boon. To smite the race you so abhor from this very star...that is all I desire. My people desert me...they spit upon the old traditions and teachings that have taken them so far. They stride down the path of ignorance and idiocy, with nigh a care in the world...and I would have them, every single one of them, put down for their foolishness.”

The human mage stands tall as he finishes his passionate tirade, meeting the architect’s gaze squarely with not even a flinch. His grip upon his cane regal, even kingly as he holds his shoulders back, posture impeccable in spite of his age. A stark contrast to the fae, so many years older and yet resolutely slouched.

Well...if he desires to doom his race so badly, who is he to stop him? In fact, he quite likes this idea. Simply raze them all from the earth, and with little effort on his part...

“Very well.” He waves a hand carelessly, beckoning the human toward him. “I shall assist you in bringing about the end of your species.”

The old man steps forward. The fae does not miss his relieved sigh.

“Might I ask to whom I speak with, O great wish granter of mine?”

The architect snorts.

“No, you may not.” He is not so stupid, and there is only one worthy of uttering that name, and she is long gone. “And you? What is your name, mortal?”

“You may call me...Thordan.”

“Mm. Charmed, I’m sure.” That name, however -- for a moment it sends a prickle through him, something like --

Prince Thordan...

-- Ah, he remembers now. This man is a spawn...

The smirk that twists his mouth is devastatingly sharp as fae magic races down his arm.

“It will be slow, and painful,” he assures. “You will be the first to fall ill, but the last to die, for your death will mean the dissolution of this curse. In that sense, I suppose this will give you -- a temporary immortality. The final stage...is an unforgiving sleep, of which yours will be short.”

Black vines twist from his fingers to touch upon the wizened man’s face. It sinks into his skin like some insidious disease, rendering pale flesh black for an instant before it vanishes into his pores. The magician gasps, stumbling back slightly, before he quickly regains his footing. One of his hands comes up to touch hesitantly at his face.

“What...what must I do...?”

The fae shrugs.

“Nothing at all. Simply being in the presence of your fellow mankind is enough to pass the curse to them...and they in turn will give it to others. Before long, your entire race will fall ill, with nary a cure in sight, no matter how hard they look.” The architect’s smile is cooler than any winter breeze.

________

This cannot be.

That singular thought echoes blankly through his mind, buzzing incessantly like a fly.

This cannot be.

And yet -- 

He remembers his ethereal Persephone, hair of dark curled strands framing eyes greener than any blade of grass. The blood that streaked her face, wings mangled and broken after the humans had been done with her -- her body breaking and dissolving into splashes of light as her soul left his grasp forever.

And yet...the human woman lying, half-fallen over the roots of the trees, is -- the very spitting image of her. If she were only to open her eyes, he is certain he would see that very same hue. And beyond that...the soul that ensconces her form...

The soul that flickers so very weakly with a disease of his own doing.

A discarded basket lies tumbled on the ground near her, herbs and grasses spilling out of it. Perhaps she had been searching for something here -- looking for something to quell the pain that surely wracks her body. Or perhaps, based on the colouration of her robes, she might be a healer looking to provide succor.

It matters not, only that she is here...

Those forest guards must truly be slacking at their jobs if she has managed to wander this far into fairy lands...

With a tiny click of his teeth, he leans down to pick her up, one arm beneath her knees while the other cradles her head.

She is far too light, even for a human.

He’s about to leave when he pauses, thinks better of it, and nods at the basket. It rights itself and floats after him as he flutters away.

________

She does not stir even when he lays her upon his bed, removing her satchel so the strap doesn’t bother her. He places it to the side as he stares down at her -- at that hauntingly familiar face.

Even though he has not seen her in the flesh in so long, he -- remembers so clearly --

Fingers lightly touch upon her cheek. The chillness of her flesh has him clicking his tongue in disapproval. And in the light of his home, she looks far too pale --

His gaze flicks from her to the bag she had carried with her. He is not a snoop, but he peers into it anyway, out of curiosity. If she is his, then it stands to reason what is hers is his as well, no? And what she does not know has no reason to vex her.

Amongst numerous uninteresting baubles is a book. This, he opens, flips through -- the words he reads has his jaw setting, brows furrowing in consternation.

Of course.

Exhaling loudly, he snaps the book shut and returns it to its rightful place.

The architect draws his hands over the sleeping woman, his own magic seeping through her. Withered lungs, unsuitable for drawing proper breath, expand; the shrivelled, weakened muscles restored to their proper strength. Colour returns a faint hue to the woman’s cheeks, and for the first time since he has seen her, she breathes easily, her sleep effortless. The fae pulls one of his blankets around her, satisfied.

With a world-weary sigh, the fae throws himself carelessly into a chair, and smacks the heel of his palm to his forehead as he watches her in slumber, awaiting for her to awaken.

Next

[ancientechos]

This is a fic based on this photoset by @whitherliliesbloom​ !

Alphinaud/Illya ♡ 1163 words ♡ Fae Queen Illya AU

Of Gossamer Wings

One of the first things they would do, the fairy queen informed him, was learn how to fly...

After all, how could Alphinaud hope to be of any help at all if he couldn’t manage such a basic thing for fae? His wings felt clumsy and ungainly on his back, far too heavy to ever manage such elegance as any of the other fairies he had encountered. At least, that was how he felt. Even trying to flap the strange appendages felt hopelessly difficult to him.

Thus it was that the queen had lead him into the gardens, gently hovering above the ground. It seemed as if her feet never touched the earth; she was always in the air, long dress flowing like water about her as she moved.

“I-I’m afraid I’ve never actually taught anyone how to fly,” she admits quietly as she turns to face him in the glow of the afternoon. Though finding anyone who had taught such a thing would be a difficult feat in and of itself...fae have such capabilities innately, an instinctual thing. Mortals who had never had wings, however...

This was different from a blessing of the Crystallite.

Violet eyes narrow as the fae queen alights gently on the ground. Experimentally, she flutters her wings as she walks, attempting to find a way to describe the motions Alphinaud ought to make. She lifts off the ground for only a few moments at a time, a brief trilling hum filling the air as her wings vibrate.

Alphinaud is completely taken in by their sheen. He’d been too, well, terrified to notice in the castle — and perhaps the sun helps now — but her wings look as if they might have gems embedded within them. No wonder some mortals speak of their wings as the source of their magic — he would not doubt it if someone told him they were well made of it.

Though he knows better. There’s clearly some physical component, webbing and structure. And if his back is anything to go by, using those wings to fly is difficult, even if the fairies’ muscles are used to it and find it natural as breathing. It’s not simply magic —

”My apologies,” the queen whispers suddenly. Alphinaud nearly misses her words. “You must prefer someone — someone else to teach you. But, I promise...I won’t...”

It takes a moment for him to realise he’d been so utterly stupefied that he hasn’t even graced her with a response.

”Oh — no — m-my lady...your majesty,” he stutters, completely uncharacteristic of himself. “I was merely thinking — I’m not used to this sort of body, after all, and I was just wondering how I might ever be accustomed to it. There is no need to apologise.”

The more he speaks, the more he’s terribly aware...he can feel eyes upon them.

Of course, he was not so naive as to assume they were alone. He stands in the presence of the fairy queen, and is an outsider at that. No one in their right mind would let them be together alone...

Yet not being able to see their audience makes him far more uneasy than he would like. This is different from the gaze of that nymph in the forest. He’s of no uncertainty that the owner of this gaze would not hesitate to smite him.

And now the air feels far more heavy and cloying than if it were simply weighted with the heady perfume of the flowers that surround them. And Alphinaud isn’t entirely sure if it’s because they are being watched, or because of how utterly sad the queen looks.

”Y-you are not...uneasy?” the queen asks him — rather uneasily herself. “In my presence? Not even after those silly jokes...”

”No, of course not. Those were merely jokes, were they not? And I’m sure there is no one better to teach me of the art of flying than the fairy queen herself!” The young man forces a smile to his face, though perhaps it’s more wan than he would like. Still, this seems to lift the queen’s spirits, even if only a little.

After a moment’s hesitation, she haltingly explains to him the manner in which he must beat his wings to properly achieve flight. She even turns about to show him as she steps off from the ground, hovering in front of him and easily floating around him in a neat circle. It almost looks like she swims in the air around him, suspended so entirely as if...as if...

Well, as if she were a fairy.

He has absolutely no confidence in himself, truly...but seeing her so earnestly showing him, and so sincere about it has him motivated. He’ll at least manage to hop off the ground — with his wings — even if it kills him. At least that’s what his goal is for today.

He would rather not see her looking so despondent again. How could he allow a queen to think so poorly of herself?

In truth, he’s more frustrated with himself than anything. It seems almost impossible to do such a simple task — his wings simply feel as if they don’t have the strength to pull him upward. Seeing how effortlessly the fairy queen floats around him makes him feel...discouraged.

And their secret onlookers make him feel even more useless. Didn’t he say he would be helpful to her, for this one month? And what does this make them think of her? Unable to instruct even a lowly human in the very basics of fae life?

Why, it’s enough to —

”Alphinaud?” Her quiet voice breaks through the his tumultuous thoughts. He blinks, looking down at her.

— Looking down —

“You did it!” Titania beams at him in the growing twilight, her small hands clasped against her chest. It takes the man several more seconds to process that, indeed, he’s — floating. In the air.

The fairy queen flutters to eye-level, gentle smile still neatly in place. “I always thought you would be able to do it.”

Somehow, he can’t bear to look at her, the pure honesty in her voice and face has him shying away. Perhaps he’s simply unprepared for a fae to react to him so warmly. So he turns his gaze away, looking for the first time at the gardens stretching beneath them.

“Oh, it’s...” He’s never before seen the world from this height. Never seen — the flowers and trees from the sky like this. Is the human world this pretty? Or is it just the fairy kingdom that looks so beautiful? So...effervescent? As if merely breathing upon the image before him would make it fracture and break?

It seems as if all the colours in the world stretch out beneath him, spiralling in all sorts of shapes and patterns. What would it be like to fly over those flowerbeds, to simply lay amongst them without a care in the world?

”It’s beautiful,” he murmurs as his gaze slides back to her, utterly glowing in the gentle light. Something about her makes his chest ache. Or maybe it’s...the height. He must be dizzy. He’s never done this before, after all. He...

”Um... — How do I get down?”

[ancientechos]

They say that in the forest surrounding Il Mheg lives a nymph...she keeps the mortals out.

for @whitherliliesbloom fae queen Illya AU

[ancientechos]

Laurelis -- Fae AU Headcanons

Since I haven’t written a proper fic regarding Laurelis yet, headcanons for the fae au under the cut!

Laurelis is a forest nymph. She is a guard living in the forest that surrounds Il Mheg.

As a fae of the forest, she possesses control over the element of earth. She has no physical wings but is capable of small feats of flight, namely, occasional hovering.

That being said in lieu of flight she is very physically fit. Ages of climbing trees and leaping from branches have made her exceptionally acrobatic and steadfast.

She has lived in Il Mheg all her life and is Illya’s closest friend, having met her before she became queen.

Despite living in the forest, she makes regular trips into the kingdom on break, and has daily correspondence with the castle.

Laurelis is not antagonistic or vengeful by nature. Humans are, technically, allowed a certain distance into the forest. However, once they cross into it, Laurelis will do anything she can to dissuade them from going further into it, bar death or serious injury.

Usually, her words or magic are enough to stop mortals from coming in. But some are more stubborn and fight back. Once they cross the border, it is Laurelis’ duty to bring them to Titania.

Laurelis prides herself in her non-judgemental nature. She is perfectly happy to engage humans in conversation, and will do so within the forest. However, she takes her job very seriously. She will not allow mortals into Il Mheg.

She does not believe humans are inherently evil, but too many have wreaked havoc to allow her to be soft.

When Alisaie attempts to enter Il Mheg in search of her brother, Laurelis tries to stop her. However, Alisaie is stubborn, and attempts to brute force her way past.

Laurelis accidentally injures the girl in a scuffle with her magic, causing Alisaie to be incapacitated for a time. Feeling guilty, Laurelis takes Alisaie to her home, where she treats the girl and nurses her back to health.

After Alisaie recovers, Laurelis takes her to Titania’s castle.

I’m going to assume Haurchefant was with Aymeric when he was confronted by Yume, if that’s all right. That way, Aymeric and co. can already be at the castle by the time Alisaie and Laurelis arrive.

Laurelis is skeptical of so many humans being in the kingdom already. However, with these ones wishing to pose no threat, she’s willing to withhold judgement and assist with finding a cure where she can.

As nature of the human threat grows clearer, she works with the others to try to hold the human army off.

Haurchefant is probably injured when protecting Laurelis from other humans; however her healing magic is able to keep him from falling into critical condition.

After driving the human threat off, Haurchefant confesses he’d wish to stay with Laurelis in the kingdom -- and as a fae, given his shorter lifespan. With her tearful blessing, she requests the queen’s permission to turn him into a fae so that he might stay in Il Mheg.

[whitherliliesbloom]

yet with each descent do we rise again

[ ffxivwrite2020 ] ★ [ masterlist ] ★ [ prompt #26 - when pigs fly ]

[ alphinaud/wol ]  ★ [ 2,548 words ]  ★ [ fairy au ]

illya skawi & alphinaud leveilleur. in an au where il mheg is home to a nation of fae folk, all of whom are ruled by titania illya. mentions @ancientechos​‘ laurelis, @firstblesssed​‘s elletha and @windupnamazu​‘s lunya. contains the origins / lore of porxies in this au. i also reveal illya’s fae name for the first time in this fic but who really cares-

if porxies were the manifestation of the impossible being made possible, why did the sight of them bring titania so much grief?

He’s seen no skies clearer than one that hung over Il Mheg, a testament to the majesty that was the fae folk and their magics, no doubt. Despite being told again and again by no few fairies and pixies alike that their kingdom was not how it used to be - her luster tarnished by the leeches that were the mortal race and the marks they’d left upon the land’s beauty - he, in all his ignorant mortal bliss, still believed the kingdom of rainbows to easily be the most beautiful place he’s had the fortune to set foot upon. 

And as he greets the stunning soft gradients of blues and cotton candy white that was the sunny morning sky, looking up and being momentarily blinded by the scorching, yet welcoming sun above, he hears a flutter and a twinkle behind him, the back of his neck tickled by a light gust that urges him to spin around as quickly as his artificial rhotano blue wings would allow him.

“'Q-Quel amrun, Alphinaud!” A voice of exceeding melody, one that rose in the air and echoed in his ears like the gentle rustle of leaves upon the wind greeted him in a language he had not yet mastered, and he finds color rising up his cheeks as he takes far too many seconds to find the words to respond.

“A-and good morning to you, your majesty.”

Evidently pleased at his understanding her verbal fae tongue, the queen smiles wider than he’s accustomed to, and the radiance she exudes as if she were a beam of pure, unfiltered light almost sends him reeling. 

“’Tis good to see fae blood still courses through your veins.”

Alphinaud bites back a chuckle, and he resists the urge to speak as he bows, watching beneath a curtain of thin lashes as the queen turns her head to breath in the scent of morning dew before directing her tender gaze towards the young man.

His gift - and by extension his duty was still something of an awkward point of conversation between him and the ruler of Il Mheg, despite knowing full well that this arrangement, as gloomy as it made him to remember, was only temporary. Once he finds the cure and the source of the curse, and fulfills his responsibilities as far as it pleased Titania, he will surely be made to leave. Il Mheg was no place for mortals, not after what they’ve done to the fae. 

And he was still very much mortal, despite the ring of silver and golden flower embellishments he wore upon his finger, and the gossamer wings that sprouted from his back. 

“What’s on your schedule today? Helping Beq Thon with those awful weeds again?” The queen asks, swinging her dainty little legs as she hovered just several feet above marble. Her crystalline wings flutter gently with uncanny grace like petals, and from their tips fell sparkling dusts like thistledown that swirled and were carried away with the chilly lake breeze. The flap of his wings by comparison were harsh and clumsy, and he’d very understandably been called a disgrace to all fairies by all who saw his poor attempts at flying as they do. 

Thankfully not, he almost answers, but his conscious is immediately assaulted by a pang of guilt as he remembers the grace in which Illya had granted him stay within her kingdom, and the boundless amounts of kindness that not only she, but the other residents of the fae nation has shown him thus far. Instead he manages something of a forced smile before shaking his head. “I came to see if you needed any sort of assistance, your majesty.”

“Me?” The young fae widens her eyes, hand rising up to rest upon her chest. The limpid silken scarf that hung from her hands ripple upon the wind with her movements. “Oh.. No, no.. There’s nothing I need help with.”

“Is that so? Have you some sort of business outside the castle, then? If you do then, surely, there’s some way I can help you.” 

A dust of pink spreads across her pallid cheeks and up to the tips of her pointed ears, but she is quick to hide her blush beneath the light shadows of her pure white bangs

“I-I was... just here to feed the porxies.”

“Porxies?”

As if summoned by the call of their name, a passel of squeaky porxies burst through the bushes, their sizeable ears flapping as they gathered around the queen and oinked in delight. Alphinaud is taken aback for but a moment, mouth agape as he watches Titania toss her pearlescent cane into the air. It sparkles for a moment before it morphs into a hefty palm-sized satchel that lands safely in the queen’s palms. 

“Here you go. There’s enough for everyone, so don’t be greedy!” 

Illya beckons to the porxies with a wave as she opens the sack, and the pungent smell of grime, rotten fruits and crushed flower paste sends him gasping and grimacing, to which the queen could only flash an apologetic wry smile for.

“Ah.. I’m sorry for the smell..  Their diet is rather um.. peculiar. ” 

“N..No! Pray.. forgive me my response.. I was just.... surprised..” Alphinaud pauses, watching as the porxies feasted happily upon their breakfast completely unaware of the stench. “I never would have thought their appetite would be whetted by such... waste.”

With large chomps and nibbles, the porxies begin to disperse in number as they eat their fill from the queen’s gentle palms, the grime of their feed leaving a dirty black stain upon her otherwise supple, clean hands. 

“They say one man’s waste is another’s treasure...” Illya murmurs as the second to last porxie in line flutters away, leaving the last of the pack to eat off the scraps of the scraps slowly, but gratefully. “W-well.. porxies, in this case.. But they help with cleaning up the trash by eating them.”

Despite the familiar euphony of her words, and the kindly gaze she held towards the lone porxie, he sensed a touch of melancholy, of a sadness that he knew she would hate for him to notice. It certainly must not have been the queen’s intentions - he knew it wouldn’t have been given her tendency for hiding any emotions that she deemed to be unqueenly of her. And if the accounts of her friends and advisor were to be trusted, it’s that Titania of all people bottled up a mountains worth of burden and sorrow inside herself - one she refused to show to anyone. 

Alphinaud is silent as he watches her, glowing and mesmerizing in her beauty as she gently strokes the top of the porxies head as it squeals gleefully at her. He can swear the sun’s rays grow twice more incandescent as they shone through her shimmering, glassy wings in pink and purple hues like stained glass, only second to the warm, glittering hues of her eyes that reminded him of a field of lavender and violets. 

She was ever like a beacon of effervescent light - not just to him, but to Il Mheg and her people. And yet she would not allow herself even the luxury of grieving, of showing her sadness to the world for fear of going against her duties. The divine royal sparkles that shone in her eyes were now clouded by the rain, of the hidden words she’s stopped herself from saying for who knows how long now.

And it pained him, enough to drive him to insolence, and he wouldn’t bemoan her if she thought to have him banished on the spot for it. 

“What has you feeling so downcast, your majesty?” 

His question sends panic rippling down her spine, and for a moment the queen gasps as she turns her head up to stare wide eyed at him. She thinks to shake her head furiously before flying away.. but caught in the headlights of his concerned, and frustratingly sincere gaze she gulps, and finally allows herself to frown.

It takes a lengthy silence, one accompanied by chirping and the distant chatters of the pixies, to be true.. but his attention is focused squarely on the lady, who places her palms on either sides of the porxies cheeks and narrows her eyes with a heart wrenching, upsetting look of defeat. And when she finally speaks, her voice no longer held the tone of a celebratory songbird, but like little windchimes, barely louder than a whisper as it rang amidst the drizzle.

“Do you happen to know where porxies came from, Alphinaud?”

The question causes his head to tilt curiously, and he answers with an honest ignorance.

“Are they.. not simply another type of fae?” 

“Well... yes and no. They’re um... like you.” Illya strokes the porxies skin lovingly, as if in apology for speaking of it. But its beady eyes remain bright and naive as it looks up at its queen as if she meant the entire world to it. “They’re not fae born.. They were made into fae by a Titania.” 

The queen closes her eyes, heaving a sigh through barely parted rosy lips.

“There was once a saying.. A figure of speech that I believe is of mortal origin.. but it was spoken by fae folk once too. ‘Iire beag roi’.. Referring to the concept of impossibilities.” Slowly Titania leans her head forward to nudge the porxies snout with her forehead, a sorrowful sign of affection before it sounds out a snort of delight and flutters away. 

“Titania had a son - Ose Iala was his birth name.. But he always preferred the names of mortals far more than one of his fae. And he kept that fascination of mortals and the outside world even as he grew older, old enough to voice out his disdain for our rules against executing mortals who stepped inside Il Mheg soil.

‘The day mortals and fae will ever coexist is the day pigs will fly’, Titania did say with a mocking glare towards Ose Iala.. and the prince, in his fury towards his father’s stubborn intolerance, casted a spell upon a herd of pigs that wandered into Il Mheg from a farm in Lakeland.” 

Alphinaud’s heart sinks into his stomach as he listens, expression awash with pity as he looks upon Titania tilting her head up to the sky, galaxy worn eyes tired and wary. And though he needn’t hear the rest of her words to know what.. or who exactly she was referring to, he allows her to pour what little bits of her caged heart she had the courage to share. 

“My father.. He made the impossible possible, preached that there was no such thing as impossibilities to his people and told me the same when I was but a sprout who barely just learned to fly. And he made the impossibility of fae folk existing with mortals a beautiful, wonderful reality.” 

Il Mheg has changed more within the past 3 generations than it did with the countless millenniums before then, for better or for worse.. The name of the Titania who brought about this tide of change was scorned by most of the fae kingdom and forgotten by the mortals who had seen Il Mheg as nothing but pools of gil and resources they could steal from. 

But that was a cruelty and a despair that has wrongfully be thrust upon the Titania of the present - of the one who bears the heaviest burden of them all. For beneath the opulence of her glamorous, glittering dresses and the pristine gemstones upon her flowery tiara, she was but a young girl - a fae equivalent to a mortal of teenage age, who has lost family and freedom both. And above all else, the lonely little fairy was now shackled with duty, of her obligations to undo the mistakes Ose Iala had done to blemish their kingdom. 

“And yet... despite the miracle I’ve been granted, I’m worthless as queen. I cannot save my people.” Her hands clench into fists, and blood drains from her knuckles and threatens to pour out of the cuts her nails leave as imprints upon her palms. “Forget Feo Sul, I...I’m not worthy of bearing the mortal name Illya either.”

Alphinaud mutters her name beneath his breath, and the sweetness that is left on the tip of his tongue as he does causes his heart to skip a beat. Feo Sul. The flower of treasures. Despite what Titania might say, the young scholar knows better than any other that her name fits perfectly better than any other fae or mortal he might ever meet. 

“But you have saved your people. The fae are able to find hope to renew Il Mheg because of you.” With a furrowed brow, Alphinaud hovers forward, daring himself to lift his hand and rest over clenched fists. 

“Elletha tells me of how much you work to keep the infirmary running, casting your magics so hard that the palms of your hands would start burning and she’d have to stop you. I’ve heard from so many pixies that the fairy that appears at night, Lunya... she was once a mortal that you saved from death despite her being a plunderer.” His words at once cause her eyes to water, but also soothes the tension in her hands, and she finds her fingers relaxing against his reassuring grasp. 

“And Laurelis.. Whenever I speak to her, she wouldn’t stop talking about you! About how you sacrificed some of your own royal blood to feed the soil of Timh Gyeus on the first day after your coronation so that flowers would bloom again.. Or how you dove head first into the longmirror lake to rid the waters of the litter and oil.” 

“A-Alphinaud.. P-please-”

“Or how you caught frost on your wings as you dug through the snowy mountains for a week looking for tsasan setgel.. Or the way you ripped the cursed thorns the Fuath had grown around the pillars of Lyhe Ghiah as a prank with your own bare hands because you could not bear the thought of having anyone else do so! ” 

His hand tightens its hold, fingers laced and intertwined with the gaps of her own as he moves closer and raises his voice. So that she will hear him, so that she will listen, and face the reality of her own kind deeds even if she’d refused to thus far. 

“You’re the miracle Il Mheg needed. The fact that you yet stand, strong and tall as you are despite everything you’ve been through, that is a miracle above all others.”

The tears that trickle down her cheeks and falls off her chin glisten as little gems, reflecting off the rays of the morning sun with a rainbow hue that he feels tempted to catch with his fingers, were they not occupied with holding hers. And the tiny panic he feels in his beating heart dissipates as when she sniffs, and forces a glowing smile upon her face.

“ Iire beag roi.. How silly a notion, I’m nothing of the sort.” 

And Alphinaud smiles back, eyes narrowing as he feels her fingers wrap around his in return. 

“ gu dearbh. Pigs already fly, remember?”

[ancientechos]

stories you want to write -

but haven’t yet for one reason or another

I was tagged by @fistsoflightning and unfortunately they will regret this because

Sadly

It’s 99% Emet/Ari AUs and I’m very very vERy sorry 

Tagging @fheythfully @earthlystar @under-the-blood-moonlight @amiahvalroux-ffxiv & whoever else wants to do this! Tried to tag people who haven’t been tagged yet!

Okay stares blankly at my drafts

1. The eldritch Emet AU I started?? Yes, yes, I’m going to continue it...since everything I write turns to fluffy SoL no matter if it even should be slice of life...it is.......slice of life and probably very boring but it gives me an immense amount of serotonin so That Is What Matters. I think. I actually have a short (?) Halloween fic planned around this AU so I guess I’ll post that some time soon rip.

More under a cut because I kind of rambled.

2. Mmmmm some random fantasy AU where Emet is a powerful wizard/sorcerer, of course, embroiled in a prophecy that some girl is going to put an end to his reign. By some coincidences he comes to the assumption this girl must be Ari, so he locks her in a tower in something that’s vaguely Rapunzel-esque but also not. There’s also a Hythlodaeus cursed to be a shoebill, for some reason. This is one of my most actually plot-filled ideas and I’m kind of surprised tbh.

3. A long...time ago...I had an idea...where Ari was a goddess of wishes/dreams? And Emet (probably called Solus in this AU) summoned. I’m not sure whether it by accident or design -- yet -- but in the end he winds up using her to subtly influence his power and position until he becomes Emperor. Similar to my other Solus AU, there are no Ascians in this AU.

4. Speaking of Solus AUs with no Ascians, I have to finish my revenant AU. The first fic ends off with Solus realising that Arianna is not really what she seems, and despite his better judgement he ends up helping her keep a low profile and avoid detection by the rest of the Garleans who don’t really appreciate her...kind. It grows more into some weird kinda nature conservation-y themes and Hythlodaeus has a pretty big role for once.

5. Amaurot fic Amaurot fic Amaurot fic I need to finish my Hades/Persephone Amaurot longfic...that basically spans their entirely relationship (bar the few shorter standalone fics I’ve written) until the fall of Amaurot. There is vague slowburn, there is fluff, and then there is angst and sadness as befitting of (almost) all Amaurot fics. They were actually Bonded before...things happened and never officially annulled partially because, I don’t think they could have gone through with it, and also because things snowballed way too fast. But that’s another ramble for another day.

6. Are we going back to AUs? Okay lets go. SO consider, Ari actually managed to start publishing some books...but...her literary agent is...Emet... .... Yes that is the extent of the AU, there’s some bits with Emet helping her deal with anxiety in a very Emet way of course, and it’s mainly just? My excuse for? More fluff?

7. Last one for now...similar to the one before...but Emet is a mafia boss....who likes some of Ari’s writing...when he learns that she’s writing a new book that concerns the mafia, he decides, for shits and giggles, to help her do “research”. At first they just have some email correspondence and when they finally meet in person, he doesn’t believe Ari is the actual author of those books. Other Things Happen, some mafia-related things happen, and  it’s not really all rainbows and sunshine but it starts out that way.

Honorary mention goes to my Hades-is-a-WoL AU which is almost done hence why I haven’t dumped it here...and also my Emet/Ari fae queen Illya 3-part fic, because the third part is almost done so...yeah.

Thanks for slogging through that text wall and sorry 

[whitherliliesbloom]

what a queen must be ♔

Like leaves on the boughs, are her subjects to the queen. And like roots to a tree, a queen must be... Words: 6,521 words. This is a long read, grab a drink ;w;

[[ So quick note before starting.. This is obviously a fairy au fanfic, and it has quite a few cameos of other people’s characters who are involved in the fairy kingdom au ;w; I couldn’t quite find a way to fit everyone in though, so please don’t be upset if your oc isn’t included. It’s kind of hard to find ways to squeeze everyone into this. It also contains a lot of lore both from my own fanfics, as well as bits and pieces from other people’s fairy headcanons to make one big story.. 

The fairy au masterlist is here!  It’s highly recommended that you at least read my fanfic about illya’s backstory here first to get the context of this whole fanfic. Other highly recommended reads is @windupnamazu​‘s headcanons for Lunya for section 2, @ofthesilverlining​‘s heaadcanons for Laurelis, @firstblesssed​‘s fanfic for section 3 and sort of @earthlystar​‘s headcanons for Yume regarding the impending war between humans and fae referenced in section 4. Though in general I tried to keep the story and lore here consistent with everyone’s headcanons.. no guarantees, because there may be some contradictions ;w; ]] 

➤ A queen must always be smiling

“’Tis a rare sight to see the palace so crowded.” 

A guard in a fiery red robe paces about the room, eyes scanning the many other dress and suit clad fairies as they made merry conversation with one another. Ambrosia was served - a delicacy even by royalty standards.. and a rare sight especially after the catastrophic age of mortals. And yet she dared not partake in the drink herself - such was Yume’s tendency to take her job overly seriously. 

A hand placed upon her shoulder causes her to flinch for but a moment, but she relaxes upon seeing the smiling face of a forest nymph, her usual brown leather suit traded for a much more fitting leafy green dress. 

“You needn’t pace about so much, Yume! Here, eat!”

A neon pink mini cake covered in sprinkle was thrust forward towards the fire fairy’s lips, who could do naught but sigh and take a bite out of the sweet treat, much to Laurelis’ delight. 

She turns to her side, where the snow fairies were huddled close by, a certain scale covered one in particular with her arms folded over her chest in uncertainty.

“You too, Shuri, Mint! Eat something before you return to the mountains!”

The shorter of the pair was far more eager to accept the cake Laurelis had offered her, her companion merely furrowing her brows and shaking her head.

“I come only at the behest of my new queen.”

“And the queen wouldn’t like for one to mope about during a party now, would she?” With arms crossed, the forest nymph pouts, and the snow mother casts a frown downwards on the floor. 

“I suppose not.”

Delighted to have gotten her way, Laurelis hands the fairy of ice yet another palm sized pastry. 

She wasn’t lying when she said that the queen wouldn’t want for her subjects to be moping or upset during such a celebratory event - a celebration of her coronation, no less. 

Many a fae invited to the palace were more than delighted at the news of the previous Titania’s dismissal - a foolish king who allowed for the desecration of their once thriving kingdom. And while there was no one else but the king’s very own daughter to take up the throne in his stead, the fae were always of the belief that everyone was more than their ancestor’s blood. 

They lived in the here and the now - and in the present they were ready to welcome the newly crowned Titania who shall deliver them from the mistakes of the previous. 

It was nothing if not a joyous occasion. 

And yet the smile Laurelis’ wore upon her face was in itself a huge hypocrisy. 

“Look, there’s Illya!” Mint announces, shortly before the advisor of Titania even does, and all who were present in the room knew to bow upon one knee, looking towards the large pair of doors that opened for the queen’s grand entrance. 

The room is silent, save for the telltale fluttering of large translucent purple wings. Small in stature though she was, the glowing staff that she held in her hand, the crown upon her head and the very glittering, flowing dress she wore was more than enough for all fae folk to set her apart as royalty. 

While most looked in awe upon the queen’s visage as she hovered over the room, Laurelis could not help but feel the corners of her lips threaten to tug downwards into a frown. 

“Welcome, one and all!” Her soft voice calls out, shaking in tone. The bright smile upon her face glows, and she continues to speak against the restraints of her timid vocal cords, natural to all but those who knew the girl beneath the crown well enough. “I bid you welcome, and thank you kindly for your attendance to this banquet. I hope you enjoy the food and beverages we have served here tonight!” 

With a wave of a hand, the queen gestures for all to rise to their feet, smile never once wavering. 

Chatter returns to the room once more, accompanied by Mint’s enthusiastic claps.

“I would have thought she’d be more nervous about speaking in public, but she’s holding herself well!” 

There weren’t too many fae in the kingdom who knew Titania by name, let alone the person who was but a mere princess before her coronation. All who did nodded in agreement, save for the forest nymph whose gaze had not once left the queen.

She held herself too well, Laurelis thought. Mismatched eyes narrowing through the crowd of fluttering wings to gaze at her friend, who has settled on her own lonesome in the corner of the room, neither cake nor ambrosia in hand. 

Laurelis excuses herself, pushing past the giggling and twirling bodies of fairies in the midst of an ambrosia intoxicated dance towards her dearest friend. 

Her hand settles upon the queen’s shoulder, and violet eyes shift upwards to look at Laurelis. Anybody else who would dare approach Titania would have long been stopped by Urianger, who stood guard over the girl a mere few fulms away. And yet their friendship has reached back far enough that the man knew the forest nymph meant the queen no harm. 

Perhaps, Urianger even believed.. that she would be able to help the queen in ways which he cannot. 

“Illya-” Laurelis blurts out, but she catches herself and flashes a sheepish smile down at her smaller friend, “Ah.. I guess I’m supposed to call you ‘your majesty’ now..” 

“Oh...” a soft murmur and a nervous chuckle later, and the queen responds with a widened smile. “Right.. but you needn’t call me so in private..”

“Illya it is then.”

You will always be Illya to me.

Laurelis wished to say. She wished to speak - as she always does in their friendship. She was always the more talkative of the pair after all.. the chatter box who talked so much she’s surprised her friend’s pointed ears hadn’t fallen off.

And yet Illya would listen - she always does. For a princess who sneaked out of the safety of the palace, she was attentive of others - of even the forest that bordered up the kingdom and its tall grand walls. 

Laurelis swears that she’d listen too - if Illya would give her a chance to. It’s the least she could do.. and may perhaps even be the only thing she can do. 

Something inside Laurelis’ heart aches as she watches Illya’s unwavering facade of happiness shine brighter before her, and as if in desperation the forest nymph drops her very own trademark glowing grin to lower her voice.

“Are you okay..?”

A crack forms in Illya’s defenses - a glistening in her eyes that she rapidly blinks away. Her chapped lips tremble, complexion paling and the knuckle that held her staff turns white. It is all Laurelis needed to know the answer.

What hypocrisy is it for her to convince the others to make merry and joy, to smile in ignorance and celebrate to their heart’s content, when she herself would attempt to tear down the walls of her friend’s barricaded feelings? 

The queen is several decades too young for this burden, a fairy who had just barely blossomed past her peak physical maturity. The fae cares not for age, and certainly not for the concept of time. 

But surely there was something so oddly cruel about this - so tragic that a fae so young would be forced to see the disappearance of her parents, and to bear the weight of their sins upon her own two shoulders. 

Illya was no fool, and is far from power hungry. She, of all people, must know her own plight better than anybody else.. and it must be tearing her up inside. 

Please frown. Please cry. Please tell me again about how much you love your parents. Anything, anything but pretend.

And yet Illya never stops smiling, a far more pitiful, lonely cry for help that almost sends Laurelis herself bursting into tears on the spot.

“I’ve never been better.”

Laurelis forces a wide smile past the burning of her eyes as she gazes down at her most cherished friend. The hand upon her shoulder rubs gently in a comforting manner, and her other hand has to clench into a fist to keep herself from doing what she wishes. 

 “Just remember that you can talk to me about whatever you like.” Despite the smile on her visage, her voice is hushed and choked, her own throat threatening to close on her. She has never been as good at masking her feelings as Illya. “After this is over, we should go to your room. I — I...” 

Her voice now is a little stronger as the grin grows less forced. “I found a new hairstyle I think you’ll look beautiful in.”

-----------------------------------------------------------

➤ A queen must be forgiving

“By order of Titania, you are all to leave at once!”

The clouds gather in the night sky, and the voice of the royal guards come to chase the remaining mortals away echo throughout Lydha Lran. 

It had been decreed even before the coronation of the new Titania that the ban upon mortal entrance be enacted once more - an order that came from none other than the mother of the current Titania. 

A law in which mortals are not allowed entry to the rainbow kingdom, and yet the crime of trespassing shall not be met with the punishment of death - but a mere trial in the presence of Titania and her royal guards. 

Mortals present - ill intent or not are to be sent away without exception.. and while the Titania of the present had been lenient in giving those remaining enough time to pack and leave, now came an age for some rapid and drastic changes - as adviced by Urianger himself. Unfortunate, the few who had not left yet are in fact among the most vile of those who had set foot upon their home in the first place.

Plunderers, come to leech off the prosperity of the fae for their own greed. 

The pixies still remembered how vast and wide their forests had been, how tall their glaciers and mountains spanned, and even the vividness of the very flowers that bloomed upon their land.. All tarnished within less than a decade of mortal interference. 

But that wasn’t enough for them. It wasn’t enough to pluck them of their resources. They would burn their very home to the ground if they must, a final act of defiance against the law of the haughty ruler who hid in the safety of her shiny castle. 

“Screw these stupid new laws! And screw the dumb ass new queen of yours! We have a right to stay!” 

The queen had anticipated the plunderers to not want to leave quietly, and so it was perhaps a wise choice to order a small platoon of guards to usher the mortals out of Lydha Lran, the village closest to the gates where mortal world met with the kingdom of fairies. 

With axes once brandished to cut down their enchanted trees, and lances to spear the backs of their porxies they were now turned against the innocent citizens of the village and the royal guards who fought to stop them.

The sea of blooming pink flowers were trampled on, as if they hadn’t been enough already, with the blood of both mortal and fae alike spilling upon the stone pathway that led through the quaint little village. 

Amongst the clashing of steel, the pitter patter of frantic feet carried a girl through the chaos to the center of the village. Her pants grow louder, pleas to stop going unheard. 

At the very front Lyhe Mheg, a burly woman stood, weathered sword raised against a pixie folk who had none save their tiny trembling arms to defend themselves. 

“Stop!” crying out, the dwarf puts herself in between the mortal and pixie, furrowed glare however pointed towards one of her own kind - the very one who had ferried her here in the first place.

“Step outta the way, Lunya.. or I won’t hesitate to cut you down too.”

In the midst of her pounding heart, and every voice in her head yelling, begging for her to obey, her legs stood firm with arms outstretched to either sides of her, a physical shield for the innocent fae behind her.

“This is lunacy! Have you not taken enough from them?!” 

You too, Lunya. You’ve taken from them too. You’ve taken from her.

“Last warning. I’m telling you to get out of the way or die with them.”

The gathered clouds grow darker and block all view of the stars and the moon from view, as if a storm of rain was about to fall upon them. The sky is weeping this needless bloodshed.

Lunya glares, hands tightened into a fist. 

“Over my dead body.”

...

“The queen! She comes!” 

Voices sound muffled, and what little light she can see past half-lidded teary eyes feel like they are a far distance away. Her body feels heavy and light all at the same time, as if she was drifting underwater further and further from view of the surface. It feels cold and so very dark.

She does not register the blood that stained her shirt a bright scarlet red, or the dark grey of the clouds that hung above her head. She does however note a flash of violet and the voice of someone familiar. 

It’s a voice she associates with quiet conversations by the lake under the starry night sky after sneaking away from her bunk, of the one glimmer of happiness in the midst of a sea of guilt and regret. She, who was but a petty thief from the outside, who would spend the night alongside a girl so alike yet so different from herself, counting the stars and drawing constellations with the tip of their fingers.

The princess wondered about all sorts of things - from the stars above them to the flowers that took bloom beneath their feet.. and the world of the mortals that stretches beyond the gates of Il Mheg.

And she would tell her, about the world she was born from.. about the world fae cannot experience. While the princess gave her the company she so desperately needed to keep waking up to tomorrow, company she knew she didn’t deserve. 

Lunya is numb from head to toe, consciousness drifting away in the wind. 

But a bright light glows from her torso, a warmth spreading from where the blade of that woman’s sword had cut her body open. She feels something beginning to protrude from her back, and the roots of her hair bleaching a pale white to match the queen’s. 

Lunya doesn’t quite understand right away what had just transpired - but she knows that she owes her friend a debt yet again, this time one that was the very weight of her life. 

By Illya’s healing touch, she was given the unfortunate gift of remembering her sins, and the tears that had pooled in her eyes begin trickling down her face.

“I’m......sorry.”

But her friend merely shakes her head, hand cradling the back of Lunya’s head gently, petting her hair as it changes their hues - as if in forgiveness for what she had done.

--------------------------------------------

➤ A queen must be hardworking

Juggling his responsibility of helping with the fae’s errands as well as investigating the cause of the dreaded curse that afflicted his kind certainly wasn’t easy, but the boy did begrudgingly admit that the work was..fulfilling. 

Restoring the damage his people had caused to the land of the fae gave him a sense of accomplishment that not even his speedy graduation from the studium had given him - nor the many years he spent pouring over tome after tome in the lonesome of his study. 

Interacting with fae folk was refreshing, as was their culture and their very beliefs. 

He thus has no complaints when he is summoned yet again by the pixies of Lydha Lran, though he’d be lying if he said he were not nervous of what possible pranks they could pull on him yet again.

“Not a moment too late like last time!” a pixie twirls in the air in delight, tiny wings fluttering behind them as Alphinaud greets them with a sincere smile.

“I wouldn’t dare, Beq Thon. Your call made it seem like you urgently needed help.”

“Yes, well..” turning to gaze out onto the field that sat right outside the village, the pixie’s shoulders slump. “I need all the help I can get.”

With a curious tilt of his head, Alphinaud’s eyes turn upwards to look at the field, an almost unending landscape of flowers both withered and newly bloomed, crystals of light embedded along the path that led towards Pla Enni, their glow and hues a tad more dull than they had once been before the era of mortals - as he had been told multiple times.

“What seems to be the problem?”

“The weeds! Oh the dreaded weeds! They seem to keep coming back no matter what I do!” 

The very idea of weeds causes Alphinaud’s heart to sink to the pit of his stomach. Weeds? In Il Mheg? From the sheer size of the kingdom, one would expect such a pest to be nonexistent.. He shudders thus to think of the amount of time one would take to have to rid the ground of them before their flower beds would be infested.

“Forgive me for asking but.. has this always been a problem? If it is, there certainly must be a better way to take care of them rather than pulling them by hand.”

“Always so bright you are, Alphinaud! But so very dim too!” Beq Thon plants their hands upon their hips with a frown, and Alphinaud merely shrugs. 

“Long, long ago, we had dew mosses aplenty. Sure, they weren’t the prettiest flowers around.. a bit stinky, even! But they helped to keep the weeds at bay, and even had some medicinal effects when used in potions!” 

A frown graces upon Alphinaud’s expression. He needn’t hear the rest of Beq Thon’s explanation to know what had happened to those fabled helpful flowers. It was always the same tale,  the same story... recollections of how mortals came upon their land. They plundered, they stole.. all at the expanse of the fae who had prospered in their isolation for so long. 

If there was anything of significance worth even a fraction of a gil, they’d take it for themselves. Such was the nature of some of the more cruel of heart among his kind. 

“Is there no way to grow more of these dew mosses?”

“Oh, we’re not dim like you are, silly! Of course we’ve started growing more of them, courtesy of those Fuath, unfortunately. But it will be another year or two before enough of them blooms to cover the land. So! For now, what say we... and by that, I mean you, get your hands working and pull at those weeds!” 

There wasn’t much Alphinaud could do to protest, not against the earnest urges of Beq Thon and the symbol of loyalty to the queen he wore upon his finger. 

The pixie wasn’t kidding when they said that the entire plot of land had to be weeded.. and while they had been kind enough to offer their own hands to pull one or two stray weeds out, Alphinaud could swear his hands were growing callous from all the pulling he’s doing. 

He worked his way through the field, from the terrains of Timh Gyeus up until the edge of longmirror lake, where he caught a glimpse of a water nymph who poked her head out of the water for but a brief moment before diving back beneath the surface - no doubt curious, but perhaps also uncertain of the motives of his stay. 

And who could blame her - or any fae who has doubts about him? The bright blue wings that fluttered behind his back, still clumsy in their movements.. are but a temporary gift given by Titania to allow him to serve under her. 

He isn’t truly fae.. and perhaps will never fully be welcomed as one either. 

“Alphinaud?”

In his listless and wandering thoughts, blank stare broken at the calling of his name, Alphinaud snaps his head up to look at the fairy who hovered just ilms from the ground in front of him. He can see Urianger standing a little away behind her, eyes locked upon the piece of parchment he held in his hand, but otherwise darting up momentarily to check on the queen. 

“Your majesty!” Alphinaud is quick to straighten himself up, the weeds he’d tugged from the soil dropped to his feet, much to the dismay of Beq Thon who flutters to pick them up.

“S-sorry! I-I didn’t startle you, did I?” As ever, the queen stutters, expression twisting into one of horror as she glances down at the fallen weeds.

“Not at all, your majesty! Forgive me for not noting your approach sooner.”

It takes a moment for Titania to settle down, violet eyes darting back and forth from the pixie to the boy before her hand moves to the front of her heart. 

“Full glad I am to hear that.. And I see that you’re helping Beq Thon again.” 

“As he is, your majesty! Our Alphinaud here has been hard at work, pulling and pulling away at those nasty weeds!”

“O-Oh dear.. Are they back again? Don’t tell me you’ve been pulling weeds out all morning-” 

There was no reason to lie.. no reason at all why he’d have to be dishonest. After all, he’d not too long among planned to retell the ordeal of his backbreaking labor to his sister earlier.. And yet at the sight of her look of guilt, Alphinaud could not help but to wave away her concerns and flash a smile.

“Pray don’t worry yourself over me, your majesty. It isn’t difficult at all. In fact, I should perhaps ask yourself if you had any need of my assistance.”

The fairy’s eyes widen, and she shakes her head frantically.

“Me? Oh, oh no.. I’m just here for inspections.. And to see if anybody needed my help.”

“Help, you say?!” 

If Alphinaud was unwilling to accept the queen’s oh so benevolent offer of help, Beq Thon certainly had no qualms too. With an excited waving of their arms and a twirling of their body, they flew in front of Alphinaud’s rapidly scowling face.

“Y-yes.. I’ll help in whatever way I can. It’s only natural.”

“Well then.. Your majesty.. If I may-”

“Your majesty! Alphi!” 

A voice interrupts, and Beq Thon curses under their breath, sending sharp piercing glares upon the approaching fairy who seemed utterly oblivious to their scorn. 

A woman much taller in stature than they, clad in a purple robe smiled warmly at the pair.. and had she not had her hands full carrying bottles of a certain green potion in her hands, she’d certainly have waved in greeting to them.

“Fancy seeing you two here together! I was just looking for you both!”

“Both of us? Whatever for?” Alphinaud tilts his head.

“Well, different reasons, actually. So first!” Hovering closer, the head of the infirmary pushes the bottles into the boy’s hands, his navy blue eyes staring down at them in confusion until the fairy deigns to explain with a grin. “Potions for energy. You, my dear boy.. work yourself far too much to the bone.”

A panicked glance over to the queen, and Alphinaud gulps as he watches Illya’s eyes widen in shock. 

“You really shouldn’t be doing so much physical labor too when you just recovered from that bruised arm of yours! I shall have to ban you from the infirmary if you come back in asking for-”

“Yes- Thank you, Elletha!” 

His arms raised, a feeble attempt to silence her. But the damage has already been done. He can see the queen’s head bow, long white bangs just barely obscuring the saddened glimmer in her glistening violet eyes.

“I... I didn’t know you were getting injured so much while helping us..”

“I- No- That was when you were teaching me to fly, your majesty.” 

“I-I.. I made you injured?!” Titania gasps, eliciting a panicked shake of his head and a chuckle from Elletha. 

“I jest, your majesty. Alphi is hale and healthy, as much as a mortal with fae blood can be.” 

Elletha was anything but cruel - a woman far too eager to tease him..and to his dismay intuitive enough to catch his growing interest in the queen.. but not cruel.

“I-If you say so..” Titania’s unwillingness to drop the subject shows in her pause, but the girl is quick to shake her head to look back up at the other fairy. “You had business with me too, Elletha?”

The fairy in question grew quiet, her once jovial, almost motherly smile down turned into a seriousness Alphinaud hadn’t quite seen from her before - not even after his multiple trips to the infirmary.

“Ah.. yes. It regards our shortage of calendulas.”

“...Already..?” As if the frown upon Illya’s face hadn’t been deepened enough, Alphinaud could swear his heart was about to shatter from the utterly look of helplessness upon her face.

“I’m afraid we’ll require your magicks again, your majesty.. And even then, I hope you don’t burden yourself with the idea that it’d last us very long.” 

His lack of knowledge about calendulas doesn’t keep him from feeling the gravity of the situation, nor does the lack of protests from Beq Thon as Titania finally nods, and with a forced smile turns to look at the pixie.

“I’m sorry.. I’m afraid my assistance is needed elsewhere.”

“Oh, no no, your majesty! No apologies needed! Do what you have to! Alphinaud and I will be fine!” 

Beq Thon bows, and Alphinaud is quick to mirror the gesture. It was all that he could do as he watched the queen fly away with Elletha, with but a mere apologetic glance back towards him.

Silence was quite uncharacteristic of Beq Thon, and it wasn’t long until they’d let out a yelp and pull on Alphinaud’s ear.

“Chop, chop! We don’t have all day, and the weed won’t pull themselves, you know!” 

He’s left with no complaints now, not even as he bend down on one knee once more, and his hands grasp tightly onto a weed wrapped around a flower. The aching of his body is nothing compared to the aching of his heart, mind fixated upon the image of the queen just as hard at work as he is.

--------------------------------------------

➤ A queen must be selfless

“Forgive mine rude interruption, your majesty.. but this is of great import.”

“I don’t doubt you have reason to call me so suddenly, Urianger.. But why is Alphinaud needed too?” The fairy glances to her side, boy with glowing blue wings hovering beside her looking as equally perplexed.

The throne room is dark, save for the several few lanterns that hung upon the stone white pillars surrounding the interior. The royal guards that would once normally take station around the castle now absent, rallied near the entrance of  Timh Gyeus in response to the growing presence of mortal troops around the forest. 

Word has spread about the curse - and of the nature of said very curse. Enough studies and investigations both on the part of the few mortals who have entered Il Mheg, and of the scholars outside their walls have proven that the dreadful ailment was indeed of fae origin. 

The humans have not invaded - not yet.. but their growing protests and demands by the gates have worried Titania and her advisor alike enough to deem added security near their borders a necessity. 

Illya’s mine briefly slips away to wonder about her friends - particularly the forest nymph whom she has ordered to retreat into the kingdom.. but such distracted thoughts was unbecoming of a queen.

“I thought it best to inform him, as the spokesperson of the mortals.” 

Urianger’s tone is serious, and though one could argue that the man was always so uptight, there was no denying the urgency in his step, and the raising of his voice as he pulls a trinket out of his bag and holds it out for the pair to behold. 

A hand-sized mirror, bordered with what was once unmistakably shining gold, now tainted and rusted beyond reparation. 

“This was found, your majesty.. upon one of the mortal intruders who had been caught by Angelique. The pixies found this upon his persons as they were scavenging his unconscious form and thought it best to deliver it to me personally after seeing the carvings upon its back.”

Urianger turns the mirror to reveal the carvings - letters of the fae spelling out in their tongue the nature of its power. 

“The mirror of lost visions- It disappeared so many years ago during my father’s reign.. That a mortal would have it means that-”

“Indeed.. T’was this mortal, or at least a mortal who has had contact with the one we caught that stole this from us..”

By the blessing of fae blood that Titania had so graciously granted onto him, Alphinaud had been given the benefit of a myriad of things. Of the wings upon his back, protection against the mischief of pixies and Fuath alike, and more than anything else, the ability to read and understand ancient fae writing. It would do his investigation no good after all, if he could not at least read their tomes. 

And yet the description provided by the supposedly enchanted mirror was in itself vague at best.

“By one who seeketh their deepest desires, thou shalt behold the answers?”

“It’s a mirror that allows one to see whatever it is they ask of it. Be it the past or the present.. but not the future.” Titania explains, hands reaching out to take the mirror from Urianger’s grasp gently. Her fingers trail upon the lining of the rusted gold, lips frowning as she notes just how worn out and poorly maintained the metal rim itself is. The mortals certainly did nothing to care for its appearance.. she’d hate to know just how they have abused its powers. 

“An ancient mirror of Voeburtite descent, gifted to Titania of millenias ago. A treasure the fae hath kept locked away, ordered by Titanias of all generations to never be used unless in dire circumstances.. for its magicks are limited with the passing of the last Voeburtite emperor. Although.. T’would seem the mortals hath not the fraction of fae’s restraint in their use of it.”

With a raising of his hand to hold his temple, Urianger scowls. 

“By mine own estimation.. It would seem that the mirror has but only enough energy for one more vision to be projected.”

Silence fills the room, and the bubbling anger from the crimes of his own kind wells up within him again, only restrained by the unreadable expression upon Titania’s face as she stares down at the mirror, taking in Urianger’s words.

“Then... It’s not worth keeping as a treasure anymore..?” 

“I’m afraid so, your majesty.. And thus I call for your judgement. Whatever it is that you decide shall be done with it, I shall stand by your decision, my lady.”

Perhaps it was the glance Urianger gave him, perhaps it was the pitifully sad glimmer in her eyes.. but Alphinaud’s memories are jogged, and he suddenly remembers.. 

Titania was not anything if not a kind, hardworking ruler.. who did all she could to shoulder the burdens of the kingdom that would be left in the wake of the previous King’s dismissal. 

But beneath the bright sparkle of her wide fluttering wings, to the almost magical way her face glows as she smiles upon her subjects was a sorrow that few knew about, and fewer still who cared enough to stay by her side through it all. 

Alphinaud had given it much thought - about what the queen could possibly want. Aside from her responsibilities as the queen, aside from the benevolence she showed her people, there must almost certainly hidden wishes and desires.

And yet no matter how many nights he’d spend tossing and turning in bed, his conclusion only fell to one possibility.. a wish so impossible that he hated to admit he could not grant her. Until now.

“Your majesty.. if I may..” Alphinaud’s hand raises to place in front of his chest, a gentle smile gracing his expression. “You could use the mirror to see where you parents are.”

Violet eyes widen in shock, and the queen glances towards Urianger, who does nothing but bow silently as apology. 

“I... My.. parents...?”

“As I was informed.. the previous king and queen disappeared without a trace from Il Mheg.. and you were their only daughter left to inherit the throne.” despite his best efforts at a gentle, comforting smile, he could see the queen’s hands tremble, head sinking down to cover her eyes with the length of her bangs. “If you wished to see where they were now.. you could find them. You can see them again.”

Her deepest, darkest desires revealed, Titania could only bow her head in shame. She could not even bring her eyes to glance into the mirror, for fear of setting sights upon the selfish, naive girl who the kingdom had the misfortune of being crowned. 

But there was something within her that raced.. the beating of her foolish heart that jumped as she heard his words, the proof of his concern for her. 

That he would care this much for her.. to learn not just of the fae, but of herself, even if it would do nothing to aid in his pursuit of a cure. 

There was nothing left to hide between them, now that he knows the little girl behind Titania’s title.

“I appreciate your thoughtfulness, Alphinaud..”

But there was more to this kingdom than her own selfish desires - more to the world outside and the mortals. 

She remembers his words to her, as they sat side by side and read a tome about the history of Lyhe Ghiah’s architecture.. and the conversation drifted towards the fae curse that was rapidly spreading throughout his people. 

“I feel partly responsible.. That this horrible curse would indeed be of fae origin.. It would make me responsible, as queen of my people.. that one of my own would so horribly doom the lives of many.” she had said to him, her fingers trailing circles around the pages of the book she held, only for the boy to shake his head in response.

“I recall a saying, your majesty.. A saying of the fae.. that one is more than the blood of their ancestors.” Like a light in the dark, like a warmth to her ice cold sorrow, he’d stood by her side and given her words of strength. “Does that not then extend to the blood of our own kind?”

What did she do to deserve such kindness from a man whose people were afflicted by her own..? A kindness from a mortal, people that fae folk had banished from their homeland more than once - punished for the sins of the few minority of thieves.

She had not the power to decide the actions of the fae who aided in the affliction of mortals.. in the same way Alphinaud, and the many kind mortals she has met had no say in the selfishness of their own kin.

A queen is nothing if not benevolent. 

“I believe.. Wishing for the source of the curse.. would be a much better use of the mirror’s powers, would it not?”

Blue eyes widen up at her, his lips agape for a moment. 

“But.. your majesty..”

“You could wish to see who cursed your people.. you could finally find the source and work out the antidote you’ve been working so hard to find.. Perhaps.. perhaps that mortal who came to us with the mirror had taken this to us for that very purpose.”

“Even after... everything we’ve done to you?”

They’ve robbed their kingdom of everything, they’ve robbed the queen of her beloved parents. As polluted as the lands of Il Mheg, were the hearts of those who would misuse the very kindness showed to them by the fae. How could she sacrifice her one chance to meet her parents for a kind that has done nothing but stolen from her?

“We’re more than the blood of our own kind.”

Her voice trembles, yet echoes loudly in his ears, glistening violet eyes gazing into his own. Her hands extend out the mirror for him to take, and Alphinaud has naught the words nor the heart to refuse as she slowly takes it from her.

“Illya.. I...”

Illya’s eyes widen for a moment, before she finally smiles past her tears, a smile that is sincere and true. 

“Please, don’t thank me.. If anyone, it should be me who is thanking you. For.. coming into my life.” 

The drumming of his heart sends blood rushing up to his face, and he finally finds the strength in him to flash a bright smile. 

A knock on the door of the throne room, and before the guard was even invited in, they grant themselves entrance to rush towards the group.

“Your majesty! Please forgive my intrusion!! But the mortals have begun to invade the gates of Timh Gyeus!”

Their heads lift up to look upon the kneeling guard in armor in horror, and Urianger is quick to turn back to the queen.

“Your majesty, thy-”

“Don’t stop me from going out there, Urianger.” Illya’s stern warning causes the man to reel back, and despite much of his wish to protest, she offers a singular bow of obedience. 

Illya’s grip on her staff tightens, and Alphinaud notes the girl stretching her wings, which seemed to begin growing in size behind her back.

“Hurry, Alphinaud.. You have to save your people.” 

With one last gentle smile, Illya nods towards the mirror Alphinaud held in his hands, hovering closer to him to lean her forehead against his chest. Her head’s lowered by habit, hiding the burning of her glowing red cheeks beneath bangs that he has long learned to see through. Sensing her hesitation, his arms wrap around her form, pulling the girl close in a tight embrace for a single fleeting moment.

“Be careful, Illya.”

“I will.”

Titania is many things... to the many people of this kingdom and beyond. But as Alphinaud clutches the mirror close to his chest, and rushes out the throne room after making his wish, he comes to the startling realization that the queen, more than anything, was the woman who has stolen his very heart. 

[whitherliliesbloom]

Fairy AU Masterlist!

With the release of the Mheg Deaca attire, I see many many fairies to emerge in our near future!! So I’m putting together a masterlist of all the fairy au contributions so far, and will be open to adding to this list if anybody wants to make more content for their fairy au or anybody new wants to join!! Of course, you can have your own fairy au without joining this one in particular!! But so many people joined in this au that it could sorta be considered its own little community project thing almost ;w;

Also I’m sorry if I miss out anybody’s post in particular. You’re free to message me so I can add it in!

These will be sorted by location and where each fae are generally residing!

- Lyhe Ghiah (Castle) -

Titania / Illya - Queen of Il Mheg

Gposes: 1 / 2 / 3 Fanfic: Meeting Alphinaud / Meeting G’raha / Lore of Il Mheg (recommended read if you wanna know the backstory of fae relationships with mortals ;w;) / Teaching Alphinaud to fly

Yume - Fae guard of fire ( @earthlystar )

Gposes: 1 Headcanons: General / Development with Aymeric Others: Meeting Aymeric

A’satina - Dryad protector of the castle ( @sati-ffxiv )

Gposes: 1

- Longmirror Lake -

Wysteria - Water Nymph ( @wysteria-ffxiv )

Fanfic: Zenos’ diary

- Snow mountains - 

Shuri - Snow Mother ( @maiden-born-in-snow )

Gposes: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 Headcanons: General  Fanfics: Meeting Estinien

Mint - Guardian of tsasan setgel ( @mintdrop )

Gposes: 1 / 2 Fanfic: Meeting Estinien

- Forest surrounding Il Mheg - 

Laurelis - Forest Nymph Guard ( @ofthesilverlining )

Gposes: 1 Headcanons: 1

- Lhye Mheg - 

Angelique - Fae of Flowers and Harvest ( @candideangel​ )

Gposes: 1 Headcanons: 1

- Others  - 

Lunya - Fae of stardust ( @windupnamazu​ )

Gposes: 1 Headcanons: 1

Akira - Reclusive Cave Fae ( @astralyehga )

Headcanons: 1

Zaya - Lighting Sylph ( @bolt-from-the-cobalt )

Headcanons: 1

Elletha - Fae of the infirmary ( @firstblesssed )

Gposes: 1 Fanfics: Patching Alphinaud up

Niri - The Sproutling ( @astral-ballerina​ )

Gposes: 1 / 2 / 3

Psyche - Fae of prophecy ( @earthlystar​ )

Gposes: 1

[whitherliliesbloom]

Yet another mortal sets foot in the kingdom of faeries, searching for the very same answers as several before him have. Though exasperated by yet another intruder of mortal blood, the specificity of his search has Titania direct him to a specific fae who is said to be more active in the night.

Fairy AU  ☆ Illya, Urianger and G’raha, implied Lunya/G’raha  ☆ for @windupnamazu​ ‘s fae au idea

“How many of thy kind intends on threading upon fae soil?” Urianger’s head is buried in his hand, gaze turned downwards to hide the supposedly stressed furrow of his brows from the queen’s notice. 

It did little to help however, as the deep frown upon Titania’s expression was cast upon the Mystel knelt down before her in the throne room, who could only stare up at her with what she believed to be a pitiable glimmer in his deep red eyes. 

He certainly isn’t the first mortal who has come, claiming to trespass fae territory in the hopes of finding a cure for the rapidly spreading curse among his people. And while the queen and her advisor had been quick to accept that explanation given by Alphinaud, the aforementioned first mortal who had come to learn about fae magics, the increase in mortal presence within their lands, all claiming they came for the sake of solving the curse certainly is concerning.

There was no shred of doubt by now that there is indeed a dreadful spell looming over the mortal land, and that many scholars among them have reason to believe that it is of fae origin.

Nay, the queen’s doubts laid in the sincerity of her visitor’s words, a worry reflected by her advisor, who cautioned her to not grant anymore mortals the same blessing as she did Alphinaud for fear of their abuse. 

Alphinaud has proven himself more than trustworthy, and helpful for the recovery of Il Mheg’s eco-system, no less.. This one hasn’t. 

“As many as it would take.” the Mystel finally responds, still bowed with one knee planted to the ground. G’raha Tia was his name. 

Ruler of the fae she may be, Titania was no expert on the matters of mortal behavior.. and though the man appeared to be just as sincere in his intentions as the men that had come before him, experience warns her that mortals can be just as devilishly manipulative as fae - perhaps even more so. 

Her eyes thus turn to Urianger, who stood beside her still with his hand tapping the side of his temple in thought. 

“Thy claim to seek a specific ingredient necessary for alleviating the pain in those afflicted?” 

“Just so.. It’s far from a perfect cure.. But if I could delay the worsening of the symptoms just a little longer, we may be able to find a cure without having any casualties.”

“And what, pray tell.. is this ingredient why seek that would requireth such arduous travel through our home?”

The Mystel closes his eyes for a moment, before reopening them to look up at the queen.

“I require stardust, a potent dust that is said to contain an immense of energy. If we could harness that energy and combine it with the healing properties of other ingredients.. then..”

“S-Stardust..?” Titania’s violet eyes widen. “That you would require something so specific..”

He’d expected a rejection of his claim, or for the queen to turn him away.. Instead however, a gentle smile forms upon her face, one that filled his chest with a hint of hope and relief.

“But I believe I know where you shall find what you seek.. or more specifically.. who shall be able to grant your request.”

Titania thus satisfied with her own judgement, she turns to Urianger.

“Could you write a missive, Urianger? For Lunya.”

“Certainly, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you..” 

Titania nods, directing her attention back to the Mystel. With a gesture of her left hand, she bids the man stand up.

“The fae whose wings shower stardust upon the land in the dead of night. I believe she’ll know what it is you require to continue your research. I request however, that in return for her aid, you shall offer your service to her as well. We of the fae are not one to share our gifts to outsiders without recompense, after all.”

The fae of stardust, a fae that held the answers he seeks to free his people from pain. Even as the queen spoke of nothing but praises regarding her subjects, there was no helping the uncertainty that filled G’raha’s heart.

As he looked up at the night sky that night however, gazing up at the glowing palace that towered over the lake, with a rolled up missive in his hand, his eyes glimmered when he finally catches a glimpse of movements among the night sky, and bright blue wings that seemed to shine just as brightly as the stars do.