𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐄 -- 𝐀 𝐌𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐌𝐘𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐋𝐘𝐅𝐈𝐂

⸻ 𝐘𝐈𝐍, 𝐘𝐀𝐍𝐆, 𝐘𝐔𝐋𝐄

⋯

 Winter has kissed the earth of Cork, Ireland. Flurries of snow drift from the skies, it had started this morning, unrelenting as it blanketed the frozen landscape. It looked peaceful, too peaceful for the stakes that had settled deep in the stomach of the students. For many, yes, the promise of finals beat their optimism, keeping peace at bay, but at least the sight of snow was pretty as Yule crept closer, inching towards those last days when school would at last retreat for a couple of weeks. Tomorrow is the first day of Yule, the 21st of December. Exams were still scheduled, at least for a couple, but peace had been reached for many of the students as they packed their belongings, anxious for the arrival of home-baked goods, and lively traditions

Not for Sulli Chevalier, though.

They had much more anxiety-inducing things than simply their exams.

Sulli tied the bow on the last of the presents that had been stacked on the small table in the now abandoned Lore club room. It was eerily silent down here, darts of cold seeping through the fabric of their shirt, crawling up their spine. Erlik was no longer beside them, having been left with Líadan. They felt bad for lying to her, but they hadn't had much of a choice.

I'm going back home for break.

The lie had left a bad taste in their mouth, but Lía had seemed ecstatic at the idea that she had a dog to keep her company on her trip back home. She didn't live very far, but after confirmation from her parents that Erlik could stay, their friend hadn't given much thought at all to the little lie Sulli had spilled out to them.

It was lonely, without Erlik there, and Sulli felt a little more on edge than before now that they were alone again. Still, it was safer this way. They didn't want Erlik getting caught in the crosshairs yet again. And they couldn't very well bring him to the feywild. That felt like a dangerous idea at best.

Sulli sighed, setting the present aside on the table, beside the six other stacks that accompanied it, atop with hand-written letters. Club Lore deserved Yule presents, even if they weren't here to receive them. And just in case, for some of the other birthdays that Sulli might miss in the future, there were presents for those days too for the ones who hadn't received a birthday present from them yet.

It's not like Sulli knew if they were coming back anyway.

They pressed their palms to the edge of the table, pushing themselves up with a heavy sigh. The sound echoed, and Sulli grimaced. It was too quiet in here, much too quiet for them to linger a lot longer. Tonight was the first night after all they'd be camping out near that empty patch, close to the fae circle, to wait for someone to stumble through. They're not sure how long they'll need to wait, Arden wasn't exactly specific on the details before he vanished into the void of the forest. It could be days before someone comes through - Sulli hopes not, they don't exactly have a ton of time to get to the Feywild, find their friends, murder someone, and then get back out of there before the portal closed. They were sorta on a tight schedule, so hopefully, someone would come through tonight, and Sulli could figure out the logistics of it all later.

It was not the preferred method of traveling into an unknown realm, but it was all they had for the time being.

Is there any real preferred method of traveling into an unknown realm?

Sulli doubts it.

Darkness has begun to settle across the covered landscape, casting sunset shadows against undisturbed snow. Sulli watches from a window, content for only a second inside the warmth of the quiet building, before they press on the door and step into the December air.