"You said that I will have a daughter," Tella said.
"Your daughter will be born with a very powerful gift. But this child will have one fatal weakness."
-Finale by Stephanie Garber
This is a fanfiction! Please read both the Caraval trilogy and the O...
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Eli appears right in front of me. "That's because he wasn't real in the first place."
I feel like breaking down. Someone please tell me what is going on. "What do you mean he wasn't real? He was chasing me. You said so yourself! That he was trying to feed on me and-"
"Castor wasn't actually chasing you."
"I- what?"
"Gosh, you always make me repeat things. I'm trying to say that it looked like he was chasing you, when him and Jacks are probably looking for you right now, at this moment. They have no idea where you are. I was trying to get you away-"
He stops when he sees tears running down my face.
"What does that even mean?" I whimper, as I bury my face into my hands. "What do you mean he wasn't chasing me- do you even know how scared I was? And why did you just shove me into another room earlier? All you do is threaten me and then act nice two minutes later. What do you want from me?"
A part of me wishes he would wipe my tears from my face. He pauses for a moment before replying softly, "I'm sorry you were scared. I pushed you in there because I heard father and Castor outside. They were looking for you. I tried to get them away, but that didn't work. So when they got you out and started to try and talk to you- I made you disappear. I know that sounds stupid but- I couldn't have them talking to you. You can't believe the things they told you."
I take a moment and let that process. I don't say anything.
He takes my hand and gently places a forget-me-not flower in it. It glows radiantly in the night sky and when I try to touch it, the flower turns to a golden mist before disappearing.
"I'm half Fate, in a way," he says. "I can make illusions. Castor chasing you was an illusion. It wasn't real. Jacks disappeared because I was casting an illusion. I was only trying to get you away from them," he explains. I can see the frustration on his face.
I'm suddenly angry. "You want me away from them because what they were telling me is true! You're up to no good and you just want to use me and-"
"I do want to use you. I won't deny that. But it's not for what you think it is," he says with a bored facial expression.
"Tell me what you want, Eli. Why do you want to play Caraval? Is it really the wish you want?"
