Work Text:
Deep in the Fae woods hid a powerful witch, one with a name and trade that was known far into the reaches of the Western Plains and the North Desert, one whose heart rang true with the purity of skillful practiced magic.
His name was Hector, and the excited dopey grin on his face fogged up the window his nose was squished to as he watched his new neighbor move in the last of their dark oak furniture. Bouncing a little on the balls of his (large, often a little clumsy) feet, Hector spent the next few days sitting at his cedar workstation by the same front window, watching the small sliver of his village he could see from his home. Most of all he was trying to think of the best way to introduce himself to this neighbor. The witch had seen her once or twice, pulling the hood of her dark cape over her head in the rain, or sitting under her front yard tree, reading a thick tome, yellowed with age.
Could she be another witch? She certainly looked like one, tall, dark, held with poise, black hair elegantly cut and framing an unsmiling face. Hector hadn't seen her bring in any cauldrons or cats or herbs or glass vials, but maybe she had those fancy portable supplies that shrank to pocket size with a simple incantation, the ones that cost a pretty penny for their worth? One week after gluing his face to his front window watching her intriguing furniture be moved in, Hector tied up his golden curls with a strip of leftover leather, missing a few bits in the front, and energetically knocked a few times on the next door down with the politely provided door knocker, heavy-looking metal worked into the snarling face of a dog.
After a few pleasant moments in anticipation, the door swung open slowly to reveal the attractive brooding dark-haired woman, who smiled confusedly, presumably not expecting company.
"Hello!" said a grinning Hector. "I'm Hector, I'm your neighbor just down there, I'm-"
"The witch?" The gothic woman asked, unsurprised. "I figured. People here for your magic see me out in the garden and expect me to cure their deepest desires."
She smiled slightly again, more sincerely this time, realizing she hadn't introduced herself.
"I'm Ivy."
"So you're not a witch then," said Hector, proud of himself for catching on. "But you certainly look like one!"
"And you certainly don't," laughed Ivy gently, motioning up and down Hector's form with a pale hand. "You look much more like a warrior or a paladin than a witch far into the Fae woods."
Sheepishly, Hector scratched the back of his head with a large tan hand, apologizing with a bit of a nervous grin.
"I'm sorry about all my clients- I guess I should make my advertising a little more obvious," he offered, shrugging, laughing at himself a little.
Ivy only smiled and asked what kind of magic he offered, anyway? Hector lit up and explained which herbs caused blessings and which ones curses and which ones both, how taking away bad luck was much simpler than giving good luck, the Elder witches that had offered to pay for his ridiculously expensive spellbooks, and went on for so long that Ivy interrupted only to ask if he wanted to go for a walk or come inside to continue. He thanked her gratefully, and the two sat at Ivy's elaborate table for hours that night, Ivy asking and Hector answering, until both of the new neighbors' eyes fell so heavy that Hector began repeating the same sentence for the fourth time, and was lucky to make it to his soft bed after a sleepy sendoff from the woman.
For many moons the cycle continued, most confused clients looking for a spell seeing Ivy out in her garden and instead being directed by her to the golden waving man next door, who would go right to Ivy's to apologize for the mix-up after every session, only to be met with a kind laugh and an "It's okay Hector, please don't worry!" from his friend.
One day, darning his jacket up in his room, he looked through the upper-story window to see a bright young maiden walking toward his door. She looked curious, dark coils of hair adorned with metal and floral accessories following the movement of her head as it looked around at the ever-moving forest. Yawning and stretching, knuckles brushing his low ceiling, Hector trudged downstairs and opened the door with a wide smile, seeing the maiden with her fist held up to knock, sporting a surprised expression that would have been comical on any face but one as beautiful as hers, eyes wide like a doe, and mouth agape.
"Hello!" they both exclaimed, chuckling a little at the mutual interruption, Hector's a warm reverberant sound and the maiden's like silver bells. The maiden shyly extended an elegant hand and Hector graciously took it in his own.
"My name is Maris," the maiden said, adjusting the satchel over her shoulder without taking her attention away from Hector, "And I think I need your help."
With an inviting smile, Hector led her to the couch by the fire to inquire further, taking a kettle off the gently roaring flames and sprinkling some practiced mixture of herbs into the mug he poured for Maris.
"Oh- is this the magic part?"
"Uh- not yet actually!" Hector replied. "Just some calming herbs, I figure you've had a long journey." He sat down opposite her in a worn burgundy leather chair. "So what brings you here?"
A light blush came to Maris' amber cheeks and she watched her gently swirling tea for a moment before speaking tentatively.
"I- I'm not sure if you'll be able to help me..." the young woman adjusted her hands around the cup, tracing the worn patterns of the wood.
"I need to find love. True love."
And this is when Hector thought. Usually, this request was a fairly simple answer of "technically no"; he couldn't create love with magic, only alter some circumstances. But recently, something had changed, hadn't it? Perhaps there was a way he could help someone... without the magic at all?
Ivy awoke to an incessant knocking on her oak door downstairs, uneven raps ringing in her ears as she trudged down the creaking stairs. Hector was usually enthusiastic in his knocking, but this was intense, even for him. The door opened with some concern for her friend's wellbeing, but instead, Ivy found Hector grinning just as widely as ever and presenting on the doorstep a very pretty maiden. She was shorter than Ivy, just slightly so, with more rounded edges in her face and figure. Golden designs on her face glowed against her dark skin and shone in the morning light, matching the elegant bits of decorative metal and decorations in her thick, lustrous hair.
Ivy had to admit, the maiden was very beautiful, a thought further amplified when Ivy heard the maiden's bright voice.
"Hello!" said the voice, with some nervousness but continuing after looking back at a silently encouraging Hector. "My name is Maris- Hector tells me you're Ivy. He speaks very well of you."
"I'm flattered," Ivy monotoned with a small grin to Hector, receiving a thumbs-up in reply from the blond. "Do come in, I've just finished making some stew with all the older vegetables from last year- harvest starts tomorrow, best to get the old ones out of the way."
"Oh my! I just remembered I have to be at home- not this one, my home, with- oh, many spells, and-"
With a poorly executed excuse, Hector shuffled away mumbling the ends of his sentences, looking a little excited, but when did he not? Ivy turned to the maiden- Maris, her name was, how lovely- and waved her in with a welcoming smile. Maris was quieter than Hector was in his and Ivy's first neighborly meeting, but her presence filled the room nonetheless. Neither of the women was sure why Hector had brought over Maris, but neither really cared at the moment, getting along so well. Ivy found herself much calmer in Maris' warm presence, laughing when Maris would attempt to tell a joke but giggle through until it was incomprehensible, resting her head curiously on her hands as Maris explained her recently nomadic lifestyle, and feeling great thanks when Maris jumped up to help with their supper dishes.
"Do you have anywhere to stay?" asked Ivy, rinsing the soap off her hands in the basin before her.
"Technically yes, I was going to stay at the Seaton Inn down in the town" -Maris dried the last spoon with her cloth- "but Hector said it wasn't a very nice place and offered his extra cot."
"Not Seaton!" Ivy laughed, "I'm glad you're taking his advice. I'm surprised it's still standing after that many holes and mold spots keep appearing in the floors, the walls... every surface!"
Maris' laugh was a cheerful, twinkling sound that put Ivy at ease. "Well I'm very appreciative of him for that then, and for you for this dinner! I do take I'll be seeing you tomorrow at some point if you or Hector drop in on each other?"
"Of course." Ivy handed Maris her airy blue robe and waved at the woman out the door long after Maris had turned and walked farther down the path to Hector's.
The next morning, despite her hopes to sleep in past dawn, Ivy got another knocking barrage. She swung open the door, still dressed in her loose sleeping gown, to an ever-buzzing Hector with a flustered Maris just running up behind him, catching up to his powerful strides.
"Ivy! My dear! Get dressed, you're coming to help us with my harvest!" Hector looked very proud of his self-made plan for the morning, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
"I have my own harvest, Hector," Ivy groaned, "and I would like to sleep in a bit more if that-"
"Please, Ivy?" pleaded the man, a twinkle of something deeper in his eye, searching Ivy's face with a promise that this was important, to be explained later.
What more could Ivy do but put trust in her friend then? With a dramatic sigh, shaking her head, Ivy grabbed her cloak and trudged out with the pair, running back in to get changed once she remembered the sleeping gown underneath, yelling that she would catch up to them.
"Maris, go grab some more baskets for us? Right to the left of the door inside, might take you a bit to get them unstuck."
Maris nodded vigorously, hiking her skirt up onto her belt to go follow Hector's request.
"I promise we'll all go help with your harvest after the sun midday, it's just" -Hector turned to an attentive Ivy, leaning on her shovel- "I think it's important we spend some time doing this all together, you see, Maris was implying that" -Hector sniffled- "that she doesn't really have a home or family to go to for the harvest this year."
By this point, Hector was near-bawling at the thought of a lonely celebration for the maiden, and Ivy used his cowl to wipe a few of his tears.
"I'll be here", she smiled at him, head tilted up to meet his tall gaze. "I'll stay here with you all on one condition."
"What's that?" replied Hector, one eyebrow raised.
"Warm up the tools a bit, magic man? It's freezing out here!"
With a chuckle, Hector closed his eyes to recite a simple incantation, feeling the handle of his spade warm comfortably in his hand.
"Better?"
"Very, thank you Hector", Ivy replied with a smile, digging at beetroots as Maris hopped back off the porch with the baskets.
That night as they ate a celebratory harvest feast around the fire, Maris, taking caution not to tilt her head so far that her autumn leaved crown slipped off (Ivy and Hector had unanimously named her Harvest Queen), twiddled her thumbs on the edge of her bowl, taking a few tries to start her sentence and speak up.
"So Ivy", she began, a little nervously, "Are you and Hector... together? Or..."
Hector let out a hearty guffaw and Ivy joined him, both motioning to the confused Maris that they were not laughing at her.
"Ivy's like my sister", Hector explained. "She's the best friend I've ever had!"
"Quite. Why do you ask?" Ivy inquired.
"Just curious", Maris said with a small smile, giving herself a small victory.
Some weeks after harvest, as the three lazed in the towering vines of Ivy's garden, Hector brought up an adventure.
"I'm not sure how long you're planning on staying, Maris- and feel free to stay as long as you'd like, of course-, but I needed to replenish my herbs and the ones at the market are just too expensive for how much I need. I was wondering..." He turned to the women also laying on the grass. "If you'd want to join me? It would be a longer trip, a little less than a week's time until we're back, and there's very little civilization on the way there from what I hear, so we'd have to camp. But wouldn't it be exciting?"
"You haven't taken this route before?" asked Ivy, lazily rolling up onto her side. Hector shook his head, blond waves following the movement.
"Not yet. New herbs. But it's not an untrodden path- it's well-traveled as of late."
"I'm in", Maris yawned, sitting up and picking some stray leaves out of her hair. "I miss being on the road, just for a bit."
"I'm in too", Ivy followed, now on her stomach with her eyes closed, not ready to leave her spot of sun. She grumbled when Hector picked her up and tossed her over her shoulder to carry them out to go get ready, sticking her tongue out at Maris, who was giggling at the sight.
They set off some mornings later, each armed with a camping pack and each with a few extras- an ornate good-luck broach, and a shawl to serve as an extra layer of warmth for Ivy, a gilded pocketwatch and extra honeydew slices carefully wrapped for Maris, and an extra general spellbook and leather hair ties for Hector.
The day and night for the trio went fairly well, although Ivy did have to flip the map so a puzzled Hector could look at it the right way a few times. When the sun set, they made a small fire and set up their single large tent, to conserve warmth, in a grove of oak trees. Exhausted from their first walking day, they gathered some water from the stream nearby and barely spoke until they had all fallen fast asleep, barely getting into their bedrolls before their heads hit the cushion.
The second day was just about as uneventful, with the notable excitement that came from being further from the Fae Woods than they had all been in recent times putting more pep into their hiking. They sang songs that night, folk songs from each of their far-off regions, children's songs that they found were pleasantly similar across the land, ballads and drinking songs (though the only thing they had to drink was a cedar bark tea Ivy had fashioned out of the trees around them, they sang just as rowdily as the sailors).
"Goodnight Ivy! Goodnight Maris!" Hector whispered out as he turned to face the wall of their tent, hugging his cover closer.
"Goodnight Hector!" the women said in unison, giggling at the fact.
"Goodnight, sweet Ivy", Maris whispered just to Ivy herself. Ivy felt flattered by the other woman's tone, unsure why.
"Goodnight", Ivy smiled back, barely whispering at all, letting the words pass her lips in a small puff of air. Maris was close enough to hear her completely clearly.
The next day started off normally, with the three crawling out into the fresh morning air and setting up their small breakfast to have before they broke down this setup and continued on their trek.
Today, however, someone had suggested they take a walk.
The three strolled into the woods away from the path, vowing to clean up their breakfast as soon as they got back, counting their paces in a straight line so they wouldn't get lost. Right as Maris was telling the punchline of an anecdote that had happened in the town the other day, the three looked at each other for a split second in panic as the lack of solid ground where there should be hit them hard. Falling, screaming, the three landed on top of each other in a pile of molding hay in a small stone room with a single door, the leaf-covered net that had obscured the trap tangling them together as they pushed themselves up to observe.
The room was dark, extremely so, and dank and stuffy, with curious mold growing from the walls and a sinister creaking of whatever wood had been used in the imperfect ceiling. Huddled together with his friends, all confused and terrified, Hector conjured a small flame to help them see better.
Or rather, that is what he intended to do. The flame refused to materialize.
"Nononono no no no!"
Ivy watched in distress, shoulder to shoulder with Maris in the corner, as Hector tried in vain to procure any spark, any wind, anything at all from his fingertips, muttering practiced incantation after practiced incantation, with no sign of any yielding anything.
"I know this place", Hector said in a panic. "I didn't think they were real, not anymore, at least."
"Wizard's trap..." Maris whispered, loud enough for Hector to look up at her and nod sadly.
"There was a time where witches were- not very welcome", Maris explained to a distressed Ivy as Hector tried to break his way out by force to no avail. "These traps- I thought they were legend- were meant to capture a witch, to take away their magic and force their mind and body through trials to punish them before they could ever get out."
Hector's shoulders slumped in defeat. The only way out would be through the doorway leading to twisting stairs moving even deeper downward. He took Ivy's hand and made sure she was holding Maris' as they stepped down carefully, unsure of what could possibly come.
He could only hope it wasn't as bad as the legends said. If it was near that level, he wasn't sure if they would all come out the other side in one piece and alive.
Immediately upon reaching the bottom, Hector held out a panicked arm to stop the other two from moving forward into the hall at the bottom of the spiraling stairs. It seemed inconspicuous, made of the same stone as the rest of the underground structure, plain with blinding daylight peeking through an opening at the end. Not in the right mindspace to think about the logistics of natural light below ground level, Hector could only think of the stories he had heard as a child. Maris looked at him knowingly, a determined nod doing little to hide the fear on her face. There was a way to beat this- it just took a lot of arm power and a good deal of chance.
"What's wrong?" Ivy asked, nearly stepping forward before she was pulled back with two pairs of hands by her scruff and arm.
"Look," Hector said, ripping a leather strap off his boot and tossing it as hard as he could down the hall, nearly to the end. Immediately as the strap flew past, what seemed like hundreds of sharp, serrated-tipped arrows flew out of the walls on either side, hitting the opposite wall and clattering to the ground. In just a moment after Hector had thrown the leather, it was just as silent as before, only with the confirmation of sudden death at a wrong move.
"We need to find things to throw", stated Maris, taking charge. "Anything. The arrows here are too much."
The trio scrambled in the small space, picking up anything lose they could find, cursing the fact that their packs were all still up on the ground. Throw after throw into the hallway, breath held with each one as arrows kept shooting with tremendous force and speed, the three used every ounce of strength they could spare. Eventually, the arrows began to slow until barely any shot out each time. While the walls were out of arrows, the group was also fresh out of objects to throw. It could be safe by now, or there could be a few arrows left lurking to kill one of them. Without something to give the illusion of running motion, it was impossible to tell and an impossible risk to take.
"Wait", said Ivy, reaching up to her collar and resentfully unpinning her treasured good-luck broach, the one that she had worn since she was a small girl. Before she could think about it, she hurled it with all her might down the hallway, right to the end with such force it slid out of the doorway at the far end. No arrows shot. The trio turned to each other, holding each other's arms and trying to regulate their breathing that had gone awry.
"We might be safe", breathed Hector.
"But that might be a red herring- the arrows could have a second batch now", added Maris, shaking. "We have no other choice, but I want you both to know I have never been more grateful to know two people."
Holding each other tight, Hector, Ivy, and Maris took a moment of silence to prepare themselves and let the adrenaline numb them.
And then they ran.
They ran with a speed none of them had ever reached before, slipping on the thick floor of the thousands of arrows that had been shot in the last few minutes, panting, never looking back or to the side or down at their feet or anywhere but toward the light, pumping their arms and doing their best not to fall on the guilty sliding arrows under their feet.
At the very end, Hector once again held out his arm to stop the other two from running too far. He remembered this part of the legend too, the endless ledge. Hector had run onto a small platform off an impossibly large open cliff, presumably with a different opening at the very end, but only a small ledge on the outside of the cliff as their pathway there and their way to avoid the rushing white rapids two hundred feet below.
"Bruises? Cuts? Anything? Are you okay?" Ivy paced across the platform, one hand holding the shoulder that had scraped up against the hallway wall and the other checking her friends on the tiny ledge, barely big enough for all of them, that led only onto the smaller overhang, barely a foot wide. As the others confirmed their physical bodies to be alright, Ivy saw the door to the hallway close down like a drawbridge, cutting them off from the only other possible direction. Their only way would be to hold tight and shuffle along the edge to an unseeable end, with the threat on the rapids far beneath at any slip.
With silent eyes meeting both of her companions' pairs, Ivy quietly volunteered herself to go first, Hector's strong hand helping to get her facing the cliff wall and leaning against it as she began to shuffle down the ledge, focussing on her hand placement and just the hope that they would make it. She moved this way, stepping slowly and carefully, for what could have been five minutes or two hours.
The worn leather toe of Ivy's boot slid backward, just catching her weight on the wall as the edge of the overhang crumbled to sand and fell into the swirling torrent below. Focusing on her breathing and not even daring to glance at the maiden behind her on the ledge, Ivy crept forward precariously, feeling the taunting grit under her feet. She could make it to the small landing, only a few meters left, then she could rest. After that, who knows? Though she didn't dare lift her head up far enough to see, the ledge seemed to go on past the horizon. The only thing that mattered was getting Maris and Hector out, Ivy thought. If she could lead them through, even if she didn't make it herself, her fate would be complete.
Her fingernails, the edges jagged from the task, and her hands, white with determined pressure, held on to any spur or cranny in the wall before her and the distance to the landing shrunk, inch by inch, until her weight hesitantly landed on the jutting stone. From her new vantage point, Ivy observed the path ahead with a sinking heart. The ledge really did seem to go on for longer than her eyes could see, and without Hector's magic, there was no way of telling where it ended.
Sliding down the wall to the ground, cloak pooling around her, Ivy felt with more intensity the powerful ache in her shoulders and legs as the numbing adrenaline wore off and her exhaustion hit her like a boulder. Picking at the small pebbles at her feet, Ivy felt Maris' skirt brush her hand and tensed as the overhang moved slightly as Hector set his weight onto it, the two joining her. Ivy didn't dare look up.
They couldn't see her cry, not now.
The escape so far had been perilous, exhausting, and had taken so much from them- and they were barely through. Even if the group did make it beyond the rapids ledge with no end in sight, who knew what other trials would await them? Shoulders sagging, fabric catching on the jagged built-up salt on the wall from the rushing water below, Ivy let out a breath, a breath that may have been one of complete defeat if she didn't feel an equally scrapped but incredibly gentle hand fall on her own.
Maris' other hand reached out, trembling somewhat as the maiden hooked a frazzled strand of Ivy's hair behind her decorated ear, then reaching down to cup her face, thumb absentmindedly brushing away at the tracks of frustrated tears that were collecting on Ivy's cheek.
The crying woman looked up at the woman kneeling in front of her, holding Ivy steady, and noticed, not for the first time, the beauty of Maris' bright brown eyes, the arch of her nose, the dark rose of her cheeks, how she carried herself with an easy grace, and Ivy realized she wanted nothing more than to share all she had with this maiden that had danced with the smile full of the sun into Ivy's life.
The young woman, still sitting against the wall but pushing herself up with some regained spirit, ignored the pain in her cracking knuckles as she used the strength left in her hands to squeeze the hand Maris was using to hold hers and smiled as best she could, hoping the words she could not bear to say got across to the maiden she longed for.
"Ivy-" Maris paused and reformed her words. "My Ivy, I want to- don't cry, dear!- I wanted to tell you something, in case my hope was wrongly invested in our escape."
Maris' usually confident demeanor cracked for a moment as she fumbled for the right words.
"My Ivy, I hope I haven't taken your actions the wrong way, but I would be remiss if I didn't tell you now how much my heart flutters every time you call my name, every time a smile has the honor of gracing your face, every thought of you sends me to a place I never thought I could reach. Your mere existence, though I would hesitate to call it mere in actuality, fills my soul to a brim that never seems to reach its limit when I am around you."
A breathless Ivy saw Hector, sitting by the edge, wipe a single tear from his cheek before it rolled into his smiling beard.
"I- I love you", said Ivy, barely knowing where her sudden confidence came from, "I wouldn't say this if we weren't about to maybe die, but I do. I love your grace and your laugh and your hair and the way you carry your skirt over your arm when you run and the way your one dimple is deeper than your other one and how your voice carries when you sing. I love you, Maris, and I hope with all I have that every last breath in my lungs is dedicated to telling you how I adore you."
Shoulders shaking with joy, Maris brought her right hand to join her other one in cradling Ivy's flushed face.
"Can I kiss you?" Maris asked, timid hope flowing through her veins.
Ivy glanced over at a grinning Hector and nodded with a fervor she didn't know she had in her, eager fingers tangling themselves in her inamorata's tight curls as she tilted up to reach Maris' lips. The kiss was soft, full of passion and hope and every possible emotion in case their journey took a turn for the worse and this embrace would be their last.
Suddenly, Ivy saw a bright flash behind her closed eyelids, illuminating them with oranges and reds. The sudden light and the heat that accompanied it made her go limp, and she through a muffled wall of sound she heard Hector shout out a realization, something about "true love's kiss" and how hadn't he realized sooner? Head reeling and unable to keep her thoughts going any longer, Hector's voice drowning in a new heavy beating sound was the last thing Ivy heard before her the weight of her head went limp in Maris' hands. As she fell unconscious, Ivy could have sworn she felt a gust hit her arms and a soft feather land on her nose.
Ivy woke up a few times, though barely, only enough to notice no solid ground below her. Perhaps she was falling. What she also noticed was the pain radiating through her body, enough to lull her back into unconsciousness every time.
When she did fully awake, it was with Hector's strong build against her back on the ground, sitting up, Maris' soft voice coaxing her back to an attentive state. Ivy, still aching dully but much less than before and definitely at least awake this time, took the time to just bathe in Maris', her love's, voice, the gentle sound like bells and winds in the wildflowers. It was when she fully opened her eyes, however, that Ivy felt more shock than she'd already been in.
Maris knelt over her, hands clasping Ivy's face, that was all normal, but Maris looked abnormally shadowed and badly lit for what appeared to be a bright landscape with sunlight breaking through the forest treetops around them. Hiding the sun from Ivy and Hector behind her were a set of two powerful-looking wings like those of the falcon that flew over Hector and Ivy's houses periodically, what looked like millions of tawny feathers set into the wings that looked much taller than Maris herself. Maris had positioned them to be open and shielding Ivy's just-opening eyes from the bright sun behind her, creating a half-circle enclosing them all.
Ivy couldn't hide her initial shock and fear, pushing herself backward and breathing heavily, feeling Hector's arms come up to her arms to still her gently. What hurt Ivy most was what she could see of Maris' face in the low light, an expression of sadness and acceptance as her hands fell away from Ivy's face and came to rest on Maris' lap.
"I'm sorry if I upset you", Maris started softly, "I realize that maybe I should have told you sooner. And I'm sorry if I hurt you, I didn't expect it to be as powerful as it was, my love."
Before Ivy could ask what "it" was, exactly, Maris drew up the wings behind her and walked away down into the birch trees past the clearing they sat in, head hanging low and obscured by the wings that left a dragging tail on the dirt.
A sense of shame filled Ivy's aching heart as she watched her lover walk away. She had reacted badly, honestly, but badly, and in her state, she couldn't even get up after or call out to Maris, she just had to watch her and the wings on her back walk away. It was at this point that Hector spoke for the first time since Ivy had awoken.
"She's just as sorry as you are, you know." The man lifted Ivy to sit by his side against the tree, no longer needing his direct support. Ivy still leaned her head onto his shoulder, not able to look at him directly.
"I just don't understand. I feel terrible and awful, but I don't", Ivy followed, no malice in her voice.
"I know. That's not your fault... and it's not really hers either. The circumstances are one in a million right now, right?" Hector added, a comforting hand on Ivy's shoulder. "And for the record, she carried you over first even though I was definitely worse at staying still on that ledge."
"Carried?!" Ivy started, wincing as her heart rate rose painfully. That explained the weightlessness she had groggily noticed earlier. Maris must have carried them one by one over here. Surely carrying two people on two separate trips through the air was unbelievably tiring, but Maris still took her time to care for Ivy and make sure she woke up alright, even shielding the sun from her eyes. Ivy felt even guiltier now.
"I think..."
"That you should wait until we're home and talk to her?" Hector offered as Ivy trailed off, and watched her smile a bit and nod.
"I do love her. It would be a bit of a waste to ruin it all now when I was so nervous about it for that long."
Hector laughed, a deep, resonant noise, and Ivy felt at home again. This was the Hector she knew, and it was the Hector she was going to help with every ounce of strength she could muster up.
She'd never had a best friend. It felt very nice.
Sitting against the tree and trying to doze off the last of the ache in her muscles, Ivy heard snippets of Maris and Hector's conversation a dozen feet away or so. The two were formulating a plan to get home, noting that Maris was already exhausted and the journey back to the Fae Woods was much longer than from the rapids to the birch forest they were in temporarily.
Ivy watched with her nerves going wild as Hector readied himself to try his magic. If this didn't work... who knew what could happen to the three? Maris could fly one of them home, but to leave the other here alone was not an option.
Hector's face lit up, quite literally, with absolute glee as the pile of sticks at his feet sparked, not noticeably at first, but roared into a strong fire as his hands moved in the practiced ritual of the spell. Ivy giggled to herself a little as she watched Maris stop an overly delighted Hector from starting a forest fire with the number of little flames he conjured up around them.
When she awoke, she found herself strong enough to pad over to where the other two were arranging a makeshift potion station on a fallen log.
"Can I help?" Ivy asked, clearing her throat and repeating herself when the first try came out as a hoarse whisper.
Maris looked up at her still with a reserved expression. Though she was happy that Ivy felt safe enough to approach her, she was keeping her distance to let Ivy adjust at her own pace. Ivy wished that wasn't necessary, but she appreciated it more than Maris could know. She only needed time.
"Almost done here, actually. We were just about to come to wake you up", Hector replied. "The plan is to take that", Hector pointed to his unraveled scarf sitting on the log, "And tie me to that", Hector finished, pointing in Maris' general direction.
"Hector says he has enough here to make a levitation spell for long enough to reach home", Maris muttered in a soft voice that sounded very unlike her usual peppy and smiling tones. "He'd be tied to me, but it isn't enough for two people. I'd have to carry you." Maris looked up at Ivy, features indicating she expected in some part that Ivy would refuse, but she received a small smile in return.
"Of course", Ivy said gently, and left it at that, turning away to help Hector grind up some roots for the spell.
Within an hour the blond was securing the long piece of fabric around his and Maris' waists, making sure her wings were free and tugging until it was completely tight. As he drank the magic-fuelled potion he had prepared, face bunching up at the taste, Maris turned to Ivy and held out her arms.
Ivy took a moment to stare. Even if she didn't understand Maris' new form, the one that could soar on powerful beating wings, she couldn't deny that they were beautiful, and framed Maris in such a natural way. The wings, speckled brown and tan and gold, commanded presence even when they were closed, rising high above Maris' head. Earlier when Maris had her back turned, Ivy observed Maris' back where the wings were anchored to her form. The back of the maiden's blouse had been torn almost entirely away, leaving behind a wide hole through which Ivy could see where the feathers met her love's brown back, new connections and muscles underneath the skin looking strong, powerful, as they connected Maris and the glory of the wings.
Ivy stepped forward, letting herself be held as Maris hooked an arm under her shoulders and the other under her knees, and Hector let out an amused laugh as he began to float, tethered to Maris' waist.
"Hold on tight, love", Maris said, hesitating on the last word in case it upset Ivy, but felt a tighter embrace in return. With that, her wings began to beat, a steady, powerful sound that blew up dust from the ground below them. Ivy could feel Maris' body, completely in control of these mighty wings, with determination in each movement. Leaning forward and breathing heavily, Maris gave one final push with her legs and rose up out of the gap in the foliage above the clearing, holding Ivy close and taking Hector along with her like it was nothing.
It took some more intense work from Maris to get them high enough in the air, and Ivy struggled to process the fact that Maris, that anyone, had the strength to do this for the third time in a day. With every push the wings completed against the air, Ivy felt her reluctant admiration of them grow. Once they had reached a height suitable for gliding, Maris' wings stretched far to either side as she held Ivy close to her chest, Ivy dared to open her eyes and look down. She held all of her shock inside her, not wanting to make Maris jump or let go or to hinder her concentration on the flight, but went completely still in fear, overpowered by awe, as she watched the world pass below her. Clinging tightly to Maris, Ivy was unable to look away from the far-away greenery below. How many people would ever see the complicated network of rivers and streams, the small groups of smoke mingling in the air above villages, the gradient of the leaves of different trees? Ivy had to remind herself to breathe, too excited and shocked to do so. She calmed down a bit as she saw the familiar boughs of the Fae Woods up a few kilometers ahead.
Ivy's stomach dropped very suddenly as the three approached Hector's open backyard. No matter how much Maris tried to control the drop down and make it as slow as possible, they were moving very quickly downwards from a few hundred feet in the air. Hector held on to the scarf to stop it from pulling too much against his body, and Maris grit her teeth as she beat her wings as hard as she could without rising upward to cushion the landing.
Maris and Hector landed at the same time by Hector's pumpkin patch, legs bending to absorb the shock, and Maris set Ivy gently down before falling to the ground in exhaustion. Without skipping a beat, Hector and Ivy picked her up, being very careful of maneuvering around the wings, and brought her into Hector's familiar cottage.
"You did so well, my love", Ivy whispered into Maris' ear, hoping the woman could hear her. "I'm so proud."
Hector instructed Ivy to heat up some water in the pot above the fireplace as his large form nimbly scurried around the familiar furniture to gather the ingredients for a rejuvenation spell. The two worked silently, glancing every so often at the still-unconscious Maris curled into her wings on Hector's couch. Ivy couldn't help but think of the appreciation she felt at the fact that Hector and Maris were probably just as attentive when it was her who had been unconscious.
The woman stuck to her word about not asking Hector about what exactly had happened, no matter how curious she felt, and stood beside him doing whatever simple tasks she could as he infused the tea she had made with the spell. He left Ivy to coax Maris awake with a gentle hand, giving her the drink as soon as she was awake enough to swallow. Eyes brightening immediately, Maris sat up and adjusted her dress and wings to face Hector, offering him gracious thanks with a smile that lit up the room.
Hector gave his welcome and gave a mumbled explanation that he should check on his garden, winking rather obviously at Ivy on his way out the back door, signature dopey grin on his face as encouragement.
That left a quiet tension between the two left in the room, both feeling guilty and afraid they would no longer be able to call themselves lovers after this.
"I guess I should start."
Maris pulled herself up more, resting her head on her arms across her knees bent in front of her.
"I was always like this before. With the wings and all. I'm- I'm not from around here."
She sighed and Ivy noticed her sniff and try to hide a small tear.
"It's beautiful where I'm from. It's all trees and hardly anyone ever sees the ground. They're all like me, flying wherever we needed to go. One day there was an enchanter and they-"
Maris took a second to compose herself. Her wings folded around her. Ivy assumed it was for comfort.
"They took over the land. All of it. Or they would've." The wings closed around Maris tighter. "Someone they needed someone's power. You see, the land had magic, just like this land, but it manifested itself in everyone who lived there. They wanted to harness it, and someone needed to give it."
Maris lifted her face, steely with concentration but tracked with tears nonetheless.
"I chose myself."
An emotional Maris felt a soft hand reach out, nails polished a chipped black and blue, onto her wings. It wasn't until she felt Ivy's touch on them that she realized how tense and closed off they were. Slowly, with Ivy's gentle encouragement, she calmed her muscles and relaxed her stance.
"So they put a spell on you?"
Ivy asked, speaking for the first time since Maris had begun her reminiscence. Maris nodded.
"How did you break it?"
"I was told I needed true love's kiss", Maris explained, looking down somewhat sheepishly.
Ivy remembered Hector shouting something about that when she'd gone unconscious earlier, when the light blinded her. Maris continued.
"I was lost after that, outcast, and without my wings, I barely knew how to get around. For a few months, I just asked everyone I could about spells and magic to find any sort of love and I was directed to your friend Hector. At first, I was just hoping he could make someone love me and I could try to love them if it meant I got to go back home and get my wings back, but you..."
Maris looked up at Ivy with the deepest admiration that ever swam in the eyes of a lover.
"You changed it all. I would have told you, I really would have, but I found myself with a feeling I've never felt before."
Maris reached up to hold Ivy's face, an action that had become familiar to both of the women.
"I wanted to love you, to fall in love with you, for real. No magic, no ultimatum, no spellbreaking, just you. I would have happily spent the rest of my life trying with you than settling for some false love to give me back my wings. I would spend eternity on solid ground if it meant spending it with you, my Ivy, if you'll have me"
Ivy took Maris' hand it hers and gave her a watery smile. Now, in Hector's little cottage with the fireplace lighting up each feather, big and small, on Maris' wings and making the light reflect and refract off her smooth dark face, Ivy saw nothing but ethereal beauty, wings and all. She saw a woman, impressive and strong and kind, a perfect woman full of magic that loved her deeply. "Maris, I'm sorry for how I reacted", Ivy started, feeling the guilt as a weight in her heart and shoulders.
"But of course, I'll have you. Wings or not, magic or not, sickness or health, old or young, whatever form you take, I love you and nothing, nothing can change that."
Maris let out an elated little cry, laughing as she pulled Ivy close into an embrace that rivaled even the most passionate of kisses that had ever come before. Soft lips met another pair, hands met cheeks and hair and waists and did everything but let go as the wings closed around the lovers, shielding them from the world. They were only cut off by the interruption of Hector stumbling in and immediately turning back out, hand over his eyes and a panicked "I'll go, I'm sorry, I'll go!" echoing until the laughing women called him back, both thanking him deeply for bringing them together.
"See I knew it would work", he said excitedly, "I knew yous two would be perfect!"
In the months that followed, Maris moved into Ivy's home next to Hector and the three grew very close. There were picnics, outings to plays, late nights around a fireplace, Maris pawning off an elaborate gown from her trunk to pay for Hector's herbs without the journey- no matter where they went, it was always together with a bond stronger than any magic Hector could dream of. Every month, spaced out so Maris wouldn't get tired and Hector could gather ingredients for the spell and Ivy could repair her harness she'd made, customized to her and Maris just for these occasions, they would fly. Just like they had when Maris first got her wings back, albeit a bit less crude with Hector and Ivy tethered on with equipment Ivy had designed just for this, but it never lost the feeling of adventure. They flew everywhere, from just above their own village, to the Western Plains to see the rows and rows of crops and animals, to the North Desert over the hot dunes of rolling sand, all the way to Maris' far-off homeland where she reunited excitedly with her family as the population curiously but excitedly welcomed the new wingless visitors. An arrangement was made, that Maris would go south to this home for some months in the winter, a migration that was a long-forgotten but important event in her bloodline, and would stay with Ivy and Hector for the rest of the year, visiting both places as often as she could.
A few years in, when Ivy and Maris had married privately in the back garden (yes, Hector was there and yes, he cried) and held their ceremony in Maris' treetop home with her family, Maris invited Ivy and Hector to travel with her, to migrate in the winter and spend the warmer months in the Fae Woods. Hector looked rather upset as he explained he should stay in the Fae Woods to work, but Ivy agreed in a heartbeat. In the end, it brought them even closer- the time they spent together was even more precious, and the couple made sure to surprise Hector by flying over as often as they could.
All of them had found the truest love of all, and that was more magical than any of them could ever imagine.