Alex had known that there had been a possibility that the Masked Man had a dragon, but she'd really been hoping that it wasn't true.
It's very true, unfortunately. Very, very, very true.
Alex stares at the beast, its glowing, acid yellow eyes boring into her soul. She doesn't miss the fear etched on the others' faces, they way they tense.
Her breath hitches, and she tightens her grip on her wand, until she feels her fingernails press into her palm.
"Kill them," the Masked Man says, raising a piece of the dragon's egg shell. His eyes seem to glow with something like malice.
Bo Peep suddenly dashes out from the garden and in front of him, putting herself between the dragon and the palace. Her face is full of pleading and heartache.
Alex watches as she begs for him to change his mind, how the loving, caring man she had fallen in love with was still there, buried under his mask, somewhere. She watches as Bo clasps her hands together, tears beginning to well up in her eyes and spill down her cheeks. Watches as she begs for him to show them the man she loved, so that they could live together. Have a happy ending together.
The people hold their breath, waiting.
The Masked Man's eyes waver with doubt as he contemplates her words. And then his gaze hardens, shadows creeping into his face as he looks up, and holds the eggshell high.
"Kill them all."
Bo Peep clutches her chest, gazing at the Masked Man with a dazed, broken-hearted expression. She sways in her feet for a moment, and then suddenly keels over. Xanthous and Lampton dash forward and, hurriedly, carry her over to the steps of the Fairy Palace, gently lay her down, and step back as Conner frantically checks her pulse.
"She's dead," he gasps, voice quiet and cracking. He stands back up and stumbles backwards, as if she had warded him off somehow. Alex hurries over, and pulls out the necklace with the stone heart.
There is a hairline-thin crack in it.
She's died, Alex realizes, of heartbreak.
Alex turns and watches as some cover their mouths, as some take off their hats and hold them to their chest in respect, each of their eyes cast either to the ground or the corpse of Bo Peep.
Alex tears her gaze away, as the dragon slowly stomps towards the Fairy Palace.
She grips her wand tighter. Her gaze hardens with determination.
She takes a step forward.
"Alex?" Conner's voice shakes as he calls her name. "What are you doing?"
"Fighting."
"You can't!" He stands rapidly, stepping towards her. "You'll be killed!"
"I know," Alex tells him. Her eyes briefly flick to her brother's face, and then back to the dragon. She finds the look of desperation and anguish on his face to be unbearable.
She'd only taken another step forward when the portal had opened, right on the bottom step of the palace.
The Masked Man lowers the eggshell a bit, taken off-guard, and the dragon stops. It gazes at the portal, seemingly interested. It hovers just above the ground, glowing and swirling a bright blue, humming and whirring softly.
It's a few minutes, give or take, before a man tumbles out of it. He leaps to his feet almost immediately, and Alex can't help but think that there is something strangely familiar about him.
The man, who is rather thin, has bandages and cloth wrapped up and around his arms and legs. His clothes--which Alex is sure had once been formal and clean--are tattered, covered in dirt and ash. His crimson red eyes are wide, and are crazed, almost, underneath stray strands of dirtied hair. A small stream of blood trickles from his mouth, and stains his bandages and fabric of his outfit. Shiny, half-healed burns cover his face and skin. Some sort of makeshift weapon is clenched tightly in his hand.
He whirls, back and forth, between the Armée and the citizens of the fairytale world. Alex blinks, noticing that his eyes are shining. (Shining with tears? she wonders. But why?)
He turns and stares Alex in the eye. "Go talk to your grandmother."
"Why?"
"Just do it!" He very nearly yells it, and his tone is desperate. His voice cracks near the ends, and Alex decides that he is indeed close to tears.
"Hey, woah!" Goldilocks glowers at the newcomer. "We don't even know you!"
The man's breath hitches, and he glances between Goldilocks and Alex.
"Just do it." His tone is softer, though Alex does not miss the note of urgency in his voice.
Alex glances behind him--
Her heart catches in her throat as the Masked Man takes advantage of the current distraction, raising the eggshell once again.
"Hurry!" the man says, alarmed, as he too takes a glance behind him. "We--You don't have much time!"
"I can't." Alex shakes her head, stepping back. She swallows, and says, "Not until you tell me why."
"Stop being so difficult!"
"'Difficult?" Conner yells at him, casting a withering glare at him. The man doesn't flinch. "You're the one who's not telling us anything!"
"IT'S A LIFE OR DEATH MATTER, CONNER! FOR YOUR LIVES!"
And suddenly flames burst to life all along his body, rising on his head and shoulders and climbing down his arms, stopping at his clenched hands. Small embers begin to spark out of the corner of his eyes, and he breathes heavily.
And then Alex realizes just why this strange man is so familiar.
No.
It can't be.
"Xanthous?" Emerelda breathes, apparently coming to the same conclusion as Alex. Her voice quivers, thick with emotion.
"Please." Xanthous—the one from the portal, face softens, anger leaving him, and a pained and a sort of grief-stricken expression is etched onto his face. His voice is soft, and it cracks as he says, "Don't make me watch you all die." Not again, is left unsaid.
Alex frantically glances between him and the dragon, which slowly begins to crawl towards the fairy palace once again.
She has a choice to make.
And she's running out of time.
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Ight I feel like Im obligated to explain some things
Okay so this is an au where everyone dies
Xanthous is the only survivor bc it is a personal head canon of mine that he is more resistant to flames that he didn't make than the average human. That's why he's the sole survivor of the dragon's attack
He's an outlaw bc the Masked Man took over
I think that's it??
Also I asked this back in This Coffee is Magical (But Wait it Actually is) but I thought I'd ask it here too
like would u be interested in having the canon AU meet this AU
Idk I think it's a neat concept but I want to know if y'all would be interested in it
