𝐄𝐋𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐀𝐍 ━━━ ✧ ⋆ （ acotar ）

✧ ˚ 𝐱𝐯𝐢. 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧

✧ ˚ 𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐀 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅 𝐈𝐍 𝐀 𝐅𝐈𝐄𝐋𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐃 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐒𝐒, a gentle wind from the South causing each blade to lean forward and brush each other like a lover's kiss. As she gazed at her surroundings, she quickly realized the scenery was familiar to her.

The Spring Court, though she did not know where in it.

Another breeze caught the skirt of her dress, causing the young girl to look down. The dress, at first, seemed clearly Spring Court fashion, pale pink chiffon making up the outermost layer of it, flowers and vines embroidering its entirety. But as she looked closer, the image seemed to shift into one dark as night, and yet filled with stars all the same.

Movement at the corner of her vision caught her attention before she could ponder on it any longer, and when she turned to it, she was met with the sight of a feminine figure kneeling in the grass.

"Who are you?" Asteria questioned, her voice softly carried by the breeze. "What is this place?"

The figure turned to her, a familiar, gentle smile she grew up finding comfort in placed on her lips.

"I believe you have already figured out the answer to both questions, dear sister." Elain laughed, the sound like bell chimes in her ears. In her hand was a small bundle of flowers sporting pointed pink petals, the color fading to white the further it receded into the ovary. "It is almost time."

"I don't understand," Asteria uttered, taking a step forward to grasp her free hand in hers, inspecting it as though to make sure she was real. The softness to her hands certainly felt real, but the memories of entering Amarantha's court ate away at her mind. "How are you here? Where are Feyre and Rhys?"

Elain's smile faded slightly as she removed her hand from the youngest Archeron's grasp and looked down at the strange flowers in her arms. "Do you know what the Lotus flower represents, Asteria?"

Asteria shook her head in confusion. They'd never had the money for something as exotic as a Lotus flower for Elain to plant, so neither had she ever been taught the meaning of it.

The wind shifted, this time coming from the West. No longer was it a welcomed, comforting warmth, for this time it carried a deeply unsettling cold. A cold that seeped into her skin and brought about shivers, a cold that terrified her worse than anything the Bogge had ever wroughtㅡa cold that felt like death.

Far in the distance, there was a horrid shrieking, and the sound of leathery wings flapping closer.

Elain's image flickered like the dress she was wearing, only this time, it settled on a different image altogether... herself. It was like Asteria was staring into a mirror, her doppelganger's eyes glowing an unnatural blue, a crown of pure starlight adorning the pale tresses of her hair.