You Are My Escape (G/T) (Completed)

18

Matt let out a long breath of relief at her acceptance, cracking a small smile. He didn't think that this other fairy would be very interested in talking with how she had looked at him earlier, but it seemed that she was slowly getting over her initial fear to flee- Much like Ezriel had first acted.

He took a closer look at her now, comparing the differences between the two. Their wings were nearly identical, as were their piercing golden eyes, but they certainly didn't dress the same. Instead of fancy clothes and rolled up sleeves the older fairy seemed well covered in what looked like light armor, and he couldn't help but wonder just why she had come. Ezriel had mentioned something about their kingdom, and she had mentioned orders... Were they soldiers of some kind..?

A couple moments passed before he realized he was staring at her, and he was quick to apologize. 

"Sorry, I'm still not used to uh... meeting fairies.." He chuckled awkwardly. Even saying the words out loud felt strange. "It's nice to meet you though, despite the circumstances." 

"I've never met a human myself." Cyrill shifted her weight, keeping a curious eye on Matt. "You're.. very different from what I was expecting."

He really wasn't like the horrors the books made humans out to be. He wasn't some lumbering brutish beast with a crooked smile, hellbent on capturing them and using their magic or selling their body parts for gold. He wasn't cunning or deceitful or unhygienic or mannerless-- In fact he looked and acted just like them, only much bigger. Was this really what they all were like now?

Matt raised an eyebrow. "What were you expecting?" 

The two two fairies shared a look.

"...The records we have on humans are very old." Ezriel explained. "So much time has passed that they're not accurate anymore, but the kingdom is scared of history repeating itself so it remains forbidden for us to interact."

"Oh. What uh… what happened?" The brunet asked cautiously. "To make it forbidden?"

"You really don't know..?" Cyrill asked incredulously. 

He shook his head. "I didn't even believe in fairies until last week." 

"It's… a long story." Ezriel warned, but Matt only shrugged.

"I've got time."

The prince sat down on the edge of the table as he dove into their rocky history, accompanied by a very interested Cyrill. He started with explaining the source of their magical energy, and how the fairies thrived off of its power. He told him of how humans and fairies used to get along, of how they would trade each other gifts and make beneficial deals and respect each others' lives, until the trust was broken and the crystal was stolen.

It was news to Cyrill to learn that it had been shattered too, and she stared in disbelief as things shifted in her mind. Ezriel explained that it affected their magic, and that there had been a whole war over the events. The fae became tricky, trapping humans in twisted promises for revenge or trying to get the pieces back, but humans hunted them back and gave their kids secret names in between their first and last, making it almost impossible to fall under a fairy's command.

The two openly fought each other for a while, but eventually, when it was all over, it seemed that neither side had really won. The humans lost their access to magic and had to create different tools to survive, while the fairies sealed themselves off from humanity to protect what remained. Distrust sat heavy between the two for many years, and the covered up history kept them divided until now. 

"Oh..." Was all Matt said after Ezriel's lengthy explanation of everything. So much more made sense now-- he wouldn't have thought that middle names came into existence because of fairies, or that technology surged because they stopped lending their magic. But both of those had been around for ages now, and Matt had never even heard of this crystal before in his life.

"How long ago did all of this happen..?" He asked curiously.

"A few hundred years ago."

"What?!" Matt exclaimed, his eyes going wide. "But that was generations ago-- things aren't like that anymore, and we have no clue that it even happened!"

"I know." The blonde nodded.

"And you still follow those rules?"

"..It's complicated." 

"It's kept us safe to follow the rules." Cyrill spoke up after being quiet for some time.

Ezriel stood and turned to the other fairy with a determined fire in his eyes. "Yes, but even if they force me to do this, sooner or later more humans will find us again and the public will find out that our magic is too weak to stop them. We have to show them that when that happens there's nothing to fear."

"..Who's making you do this?" Matt asked.

The two fairies answered at the same time

"My mother."

"The Queen."

Matt blinked twice, staring at him in bewilderment.

"You're a prince?! And you never told me?" 

Ezriel winced. Damn it.

"You didn't ask, and it was never relevant..." He shrugged the question off. He didn't want to mention that bit, but he knew it would come out eventually.

Matt stared for a few seconds, but thankfully he didn't make a big deal out of it. If Ezriel was fine with how he'd been treating him this whole time, then that wasn't going to change. But going against the word of a queen was a pretty big deal

"Well, could we talk to her about all of this..?" He asked tentatively. "We can show her that she has the wrong idea of me and maybe she'd change her mind?" He met eyes with the older fairy for a moment, before looking back at Ezriel.

"If she still says no I'll accept that, but we can at least try together."

The prince went silent as he indulged the idea, but Cyrill was quick to stop his train of thought.

"Ezriel no, that is not a good idea.." She shook her head. While she found that she didn't mind Matt's presence, it didn't sit right with her to lead him towards the kingdom.

"But it is!" Ezriel argued, perking back up. "They have to see that humans are different now! That they're not out to get us, and haven't been for a very long time."

"Just because you found one human who's nice, doesn't mean they all are!"

"No, but it means we don't have to live in so much fear of them! Just think about how many people wouldn't be afraid to leave the barrier if they knew that they weren't going to be immediately hunted!" 

Matt nodded. "Yeah I'm pretty sure if someone said they were going 'hunting for fairies', they would just get laughed at. Nobody believes you guys exist anymore." 

"See? We've been hidden for far too long. We shouldn't keep living in the past like this." 

"But it's the law…" Cyrill argued, yet deep down she knew the prince was right. She knew that she had orders to carry out, but she hadn't expected things to go this way-- her heart and her brain told her two different things.

"It shouldn't be.'' Ezriel said firmly, looking back at Matt with a nod.

"You're right. We have to try."

…

Cyrill had agreed, interested to see how things played out. Matt opened the window for the two of them again and met them both outside, where he followed glimpses of their glittering wings in the rising moonlight until they reached the treeline.

But word quickly spread through the scouts and the guards of their approach, all the way to the court where Lady Edena sat.

"Your majesty, I'm sorry to interrupt but there's a human nearing the barrier." One of the messengers alerted her urgently, out of breath from flying.

"So?" The queen replied. This was hardly important news to her. "Lead it away like we always do." 

"We would but he's- he's being led by Prince Ezriel."