Ever After

☾Chapter Thirteen☽

"Ever? Ever?" She heard an echoey voice call out to her, but it seemed so distant.

"Ev!" Her vision washed away from complete darkness to a burning sky. She smelt smoke and felt a heat rise around her.

"Evie! Wake up!" Someone pulled her up from her blanket of rubble. "We have to leave now!" Ever looked down to see that her leg was cut open, the large gash spilling sticky red blood. Ever felt smaller, younger. "Was this real?" She questioned. It felt like a memory to her. Which couldn't be right.

"Hello, Ever." The scene around her changed to blinding white. Standing in front of her was a sharp dressed man. His face was clear, but the rest of his body was opaque and see through, like a shadow.

"Can I help you?"

"We've met before." The man tapped his finger against his head. "But I will reintroduce myself-"

"Hex." Ever snapped cutting the man off.

"Ah, so you do remember me. I'm so sorry my dear that it's been a while. I've been so... quiet lately, I think it's all the time I've had to think." He grinned, his teeth a perfect pearly white against his grey and black body.

"About what?" Ever asked. She hadn't noticed before, but Hex was leaning on a silver cane.

"Many things, but I'm afraid I don't have time to divulge at the moment. You have much more... important things to attend to." With one last grin, Hex disappeared, and Ever's vision went back to black before she woke up.

"Thank the gods you're alright!" Haven exclaimed, and Wyll let out a breath of relief.

"What happened?" Wyll asked. Ever realized that her head was laying on top of Wyll's lap, and Haven leaned over her.

Ever blinked against the light overhead before pulling herself into a sitting position.

"I don't know-"

"She fainted." Haven interrupted.

"Over what?" Wyll questioned.

"Am I dreaming?" Ever asked.

Wyll pinched her arm before replying, "No."

Ever glared at him.

"Why do you think you're dreaming?" Haven inquired.

"I..." Ever folded her hands in her lap. "Because," She sighed, "You're the same age as me, you have the same birthday, the same cupcake preference even!" Ever exclaimed. "Who are you?!"

"I'm sorry Ever, but I can't tell you." Haven sighed getting up from her spot on the floor. She turned toward the orb and rubbed her forehead. "I don't want to put you in danger, but... I already have anyways."

"What do you mean, put her in danger?" Wyll demanded.

"I... I can't tell you, but you can fix it. We just need to find the last artifact. That's all."

Ever shook her head and stood up.

"I can't. I can't do this anymore." Ever paced towards the door.

"Ever!" Wyll called after her. He turned to look at Haven's broken face before running after Ever.

He stopped her in the hallway.

"Ever, wait!" He grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him. "What are you doing?"

He could see tears welding up in her eyes and slipping down her cheek.

"I can't do this anymore. I want my life back. I just want to be back in my coven, practicing magic in the woods. I want to be back to the state where everyone feared me. And... and I didn't care about the rest of the world." She sniffled. Wyll cupped her head in his hand and brought her face up to look at him.

"Without you, there would be no one to save the rest of the world. They don't know it yet, but I know you wouldn't be doing this if you didn't care. Ever, I... I know very little about how you lived or what it was like, but I want to know. Every time you wring your hands together because you're nervous about something, I want to know why. When you look down at the floor in thought, I want to know what you're thinking. When I first met you, I instantly wanted to know every little detail about you. The girl so stubborn, she wouldn't give up until she got what she wanted. That's why I let you in, that's why I brought you to the Oracle, and let you lead the way to saving this world. Because I knew you wouldn't give up."

Ever wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

"So, don't tell me you're giving up now." Wyll smiled warmly. Ever blinked away the remaining tears and took a deep breath in. She graced Wyll's cheek with her hand before bringing his head downwards to meet hers. Their lips met, and for a moment time seemed to stop around them. There was no monster, no impending doom.

Just a prince and a witch.

After a couple minutes, they pulled away from each other, and Wyll rested his forehead against hers as they both smiled. Ever wanted to stay like this forever, but she knew she couldn't. She closed her eyes for a second, before pushing away to look at Wyll's green eyes.

"Don't you have a ball to be hosting?" Ever laughed.

"Only if you come back in there with me." Wyll grinned, planting another kiss on her head. Ever nodded giddily and looked behind him at the door to the Oracle's room. Wyll was right, she was never one to give up. She would do whatever it takes to save everyone. She was determined to.