Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh GX
Title: Enchantment: Chapter 1: In The Forest
Romance: Yubel x Juudai x Johan
Word Count: chapter: 1,692||story: 1,691
Genre: Romance, SupernaturalRated: PG-13
Challenge: Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, section I, #12, a multichap with exactly 10 chapters; Written for the Valentine's to White Day Advent, day 24, write about a brainwashing/trickery.
Notes: There will be questionable consent in the future of this story. Fae weren't noted for asking politely, after all. I may also upgrade the rating. It depends on how the writing wants to go.
Summary: On Johan's wedding day, he goes for a breath of fresh air in the forest, and encounters a creature he's never seen before. He will still marry this day. But not who he expected. For who would expect to marry the King of the Fae?
Johan opened his eyes at the first kiss of sunlight on his lids and wanted to close them again right away. It's today.
Most people he knew would've leaped out of bed at the thought, eager and willing to get cleaned up and their best outfit on, because it wasn't every day that one turned eighteen and married on the same day. Johan couldn't bring himself to feel that level of excitement and he had no idea of why.
As he had for nearly every day leading up to this day, he turned and stared out the window, watching the birds as they ghosted among the trees. He couldn't remember a morning when he hadn't seen this view, though he knew there had been some.
His family hadn't always lived here. Once they'd lived ... somewhere else, but he couldn't recall it very well. He'd been so young at the time, it wasn't surprising. But something had happened - he didn't remember that, either - and they'd ended up moving here to this little town.
He knew he needed to get up and begin his preparations. His parents would be so disappointed in him if he did what every instinct in his body told him to do, which was slip out the window and flee for the forest, never to be seen again.
That's ridiculous, anyway. Why would I want to do that? He had no idea of how to survive on his own. He'd get eaten by a bear or something before a whole day passed.
It wasn't as if getting married was some kind of a fate worse than death, either. He liked Eileen. She was strong and pretty and tough and more than one person in town had told him that he'd made quite the catch with her.
Yeah, maybe if I'd actually gone looking to catch her, I'd think I had. But their parents had arranged this, before the Andersens had been in town for a full year.
He let out a long breath and unrolled from under the blankets. Sooner or later someone would come knocking on the door and he'd rather already be up and getting ready than have his father or mother nag at him. He was supposed to be a man, a full grown and responsible adult on the verge of becoming a settled member of society.
So why did he want so much to run away?
"They think they can take him from us." Eyes of glistening gold watched the thatched house. "We've waited long enough."
Long talons combed through dark hair. "Will you take him now?"
"No. I want him to come to us." A low, amused chuckle. "I know he wants to. We just have to... encourage him a little."
"What did you have in mind?"
Silence only came for a few moments. "I think I know just the thing."
Again, silence. Then, a low and amused laugh. "No one knows him better than we do, my love."
"I know. And he'll find that out for himself, soon enough."
The wedding was to be held at noon. The whole town would be there, as befit the occasion. The closer noon grew, the more Johan wanted to crawl out of his skin, to go soaring off into the sky or deep into the heart of the woods or the bottom of the ocean, anywhere that wasn't there.
And yet he washed and put on the fine outfit that the tailor had made for him and choked down a few crumbs of breakfast.
"Ah, I remember how it was on my wedding day," his father said, eyeing his mother fondly. "I couldn't have strung two words together myself."
Johan managed a smile, but he didn't think he meant it very much. He loved his parents; he knew this was doing the right thing for them, and yet he couldn't want to do it. He tried. He tried so very much. But the will was not there.
"I'm going for a walk," he declared, pushing himself to his feet. Both of his parents stared at him, eyes wide, and he quickly smiled to reassure theme. "I won't be gone long. Don't worry, I'll be back in time for everything."
He wouldn't let them down. He couldn't.
He didn't give them time to disagree, but hurried out of the house and down the quickest path to the woods. That seemed the best place to work off all of this nervous energy.
What else could he call it, anyway? An absolute fear of getting married?
The closer he drew to the deep, cool woods, the more the tension that prickled across his spine eased. He rubbed his left hand against his shirt absently, staring at the mark on the palm for a moment or two.
No one he knew of had a birthmark like this. It gleamed silver in the sunlight, a clear and defined circle.
For a few moments, he thought it burned against his skin, but that couldn't be right. It was just a birthmark. One that his parents had never liked, true, but nothing more than that.
Before he could dwell on that, Johan caught sight of something moving ahead of him, hidden in the shadows of the woods. Curiosity caught almost at once, he moved that way. The shape reminded him somewhat of a horse, but different in some respects.
The forest cleared ahead of him a little, revealing a broad expanse of grass and flowers, and standing in the center of said meadow was a sight he'd never thought he would see: a glorious white stallion, much taller and stronger than any farm beast he'd ever seen, with -
Johan rubbed at his eyes, half-expecting the creature to vanish when he did, or for him to see that it was just an ordinary plow horse. Instead, the crystal blue horn remained in the center of the beast's forehead, and the wide wings tilted to catch the morning sun.
"An alicorn?" he murmured, vaguely recalling such a creature from books he'd read long ago. That was something else that had changed as he grew older. His parents liked him reading about magical beings less and less.
As if in answer to his words, the winged unicorn nodded, pawing the ground. Johan's breath caught in his throat. "Can you - can you understand me?"
Again the alicorn nodded, and Johan took a step forward, one hand reaching out automatically. "You're beautiful."
He expected the creature to back up, to avoid his touch. But instead, his hand came to rest on a warm neck and the unicorn nuzzled against him. Johan breathed harder, not certain if he somehow still dreamed or not. He brushed his fingers against the enchanted creature again.
"Am I dreaming?" he murmured, more to himself than to his new companion. But once more, the unicorn shook its head, and Johan had to laugh. "How would you know if I'm dreaming or not?"
Firm teeth closed around Johan's sleeve and tugged him closer. Johan took another step, still caressing the unicorn's pale skin. "I can't stay long. I've got to go get married."
If he had a choice between being married and riding this wonderful creature somewhere else, Johan knew exactly what that choice would be. He leaned in closer, breathing in a strange scent that spoke of stardust and feathers. "I wish I didn't have to."
The unicorn stallion turned his head toward Johan, nudging him closer still. Johan sighed, knowing he needed to back away and go home. But his feet refused to take him away and he couldn't make himself do it, no matter how much he knew otherwise. Instead, he rested one hand on the stallion's shoulders.
"Let me guess, you want me to get on so you can take me far away from here and I can have a magical adventure, right?" Johan laughed at the thought. He'd like nothing better.
This time the stallion's nose hooked under his arm, and Johan found himself in the air for a few confused seconds before he landed on the creature's back. Johan squawked, his hands closing automatically on the silken strands of unicorn mane, and had only time enough to realize they were moving before they galloped along the meadow's length.
"What are you - where do you - " Not a single question actually finished escaping Johan's lips before the unicorn spread his wings wide and leaped into the air.
In mere moments they were high enough for him to see the town, and he thought about calling down, wondering if anyone would see him and his beautiful new friend.
But before he could do so, the unicorn's wings beat even faster, and everything around them blurred. Johan shook his head, words of confusion stumbling and tripping on their way out of his tongue, lost to the void that wrapped around them, a void speckled with tiny dots Johan belatedly realized were stars. Night, already? No, how could it be?
He didn't know what to think or do, and even as they coursed through the heavens, he clutched harder to the unicorn's mane and tucked himself down closer, shaking in equal parts fear and disbelief. He didn't know where he was going or why this was happening, but he wanted it to stop, right now!
But it didn't.
When the great creature set hoof to ground once more, Johan peeked up to see they now stood in a courtyard of some kind, with a palace of marble and alabaster, ivory and ebony, rising up only a few paces away.
"Where are we...?" Johan breathed out the question, more to himself than anyone else, as he saw no one there to speak to.
"The palace of Juudai, King of the Fae," came an answer he did not expect, from a place he expected even less. Johan stared down, words once more frozen in his throat as the unicorn tilted his head up to look at him. "And I am Sapphire Pegasus. It's good to finally meet you, Johan. We've waited for you for a very long time."
To Be Continued