Deceiver: MaggyFinallyWrites mentioned how instead of Martha, Elvis is pushed off the cliff, so Adelle saves him. Bonus on a kiss.

Asked permission to write and decided to deliver!

Edit01: Maggy finished her version! The story is different, and it's in Elvis' POV! Go check it out whenever you can! (link on this fic in Ao3)

Edit02: There were a few errors. Fixed and took the chance to add tiny scene to flow better.

Enjoy!

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Risking It All To Save You

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No one could stop the gang when they barged into the Place of Judgement through its grand doors. Adelle refused to spare the guards and priests present a single glance as they rushed towards where Martha's execution was to be held. They already failed to stop this so-called judgement on Rhydion's daughter; they couldn't fail Martha too.

Together, Seth and Elvis barged through the last doors in their way, with Adelle and Gloria hot on their heels as they rushed outside and back into the cold blizzard of Rimedhal. A large crowd was already present to witness Martha's judgement, with Domenic leading the proceedings. However, when the gang got closer, everyone and all the guards immediately recognised the outsiders and stopped their meddling attempt.

"Dammit!" Seth tried to breakthrough, but the crowd refused to budge. Adelle shoved against the mindlessly religious followers, but it was no use. They had her and her friends barred from going any further. Martha was already guided to the edge of the cliff when Domenic turned to look back at the four present. "No! Get out of the way!"

"Martha!"

"Oh?" the young woman looked back, her eyes wide, yet just as bright and shining despite the predicament she was in. "Oh! Hello, you lot," she smiled. "It's very nice of you to come."

"This has to stop!" Adelle shouted over the crowd, still trying to break free.

"This whole judgement is nothing but a bogus lie!" Elvis joined in, struggling just as hard. The crowd was in an uproar, but he just shouted above the noise. "You're doing nothing but shoving innocent people to their deaths!"

"What blasphemy!"

"How dare you doubt Our Lord and His Archbishop's words!?"

"No one ever survived from any of these 'judgements'!" Adelle's voice also rose above the crowd's, getting more frustrated by the second. "I mean, c'mon!" She turned to lock eyes with every single person here. "Has anyone ever been judged actually came back and proved their innocence!? All those pushed off here are dead because they were never fairies to begin with!"

A flicker of doubt flashed on the crowd's faces, some of them glancing at each other with unease. There had to be suspicions that these acts of judgements were false all along. That is was always nothing but senseless murder, which their beloved Lord of Dragons never wished for.

Domenic, however, remained unfazed. He calmly turned to them fully, his gaze steady on the four before him as he spoke. "So, you too believe the Lord of Dragons' words to me are false?"

A shiver colder than the freezing snow of Rimedhal ran down the gang's spine. "W-Wait…" Seth began. "What we meant was…"

"To doubt Our Lord's words – his judgement, is to go against the belief all us people of Rimedhal hold," the Archbishop went on. Even though his voice was soft within the billowing windy snow falling around them, everyone heard it loud and clear. Yet, it was chilling, so much so that they remained silent. "Our Lord wishes for us to purge the wicked fairies among us, so then we may continue to live in peace and prosperity. We have done so much to rid them from our humble town. Done so much for our beloved to be clear of all suspicions." A shadow loomed over him as his gaze bore deeper into the four before him. "Are you saying that everything we have done was proven to for naught? For a false cause?"

No one dared to speak, nor dared to move. It was as if Domenic's words easily froze everyone into place. However, despite all this, the gang felt an uneasy buzz within the crowd still holding them back. The unease from the doubt on their Lord's judgement earlier had changed into something else entirely. And it was directed at them.

"These four are infidels for acting as agents of the fairies," Domenic finally spoke. "They are to be thrown into the Jaws of Judgement to prove their innocence to our Lord."

"What!?"

"Have you all gone mad!?" Gloria's indignant cry was drowned out entirely as the crowd suddenly going into a crazed frenzy. The loud buzz they heard earlier turned into frantic chants – Lord of Dragons, watch over us all! The gang tried to get away, but they were captured by the guards within seconds. Martha was dragged to the side, completely ignored. The crowd favoured throwing the outsiders into the Jaws of Judgement first.

Seth, Gloria, Elvis and Adelle were all held down; the guards had their arms gripped behind their backs as the entire crowd continue to chant in their blind beliefs. Looming over them, Domenic eyed them one by one, silent and judging, before he stopped on Adelle.

Before she could say anything, Elvis struggled next to her. "Don't you dare!"

Domenic locked his gaze onto him instead. "Very well. Start with the man who first spoke ill of Our Lord's judgment."

A gasp was heard, and Adelle struggled against her captives as the guards began dragging Elvis away. The man tried to backpedal and talk his way out, with Seth and Gloria begging them to stop this insanity. But no one listened. The crowd's chants grew louder, refusing to ever doubt their beliefs again, believing it would bring ruin to them all if they do.

"Elvis!"

Elvis looked back just as the guards finished patting him down for any possible wings. His eyes met Adelle's, both wide and frantic at what was to come next. But the fear on Elvis' face made Adelle struggle harder than earlier. Before they could say anything, the guards shoved the scholar closer to the edge of the cliff.

The chant now thundered in their ears. Within the hallowing cold wind, the town's prayers for their Lord's mercy now sounded more like jeers for their death. However, against all the noise, Adelle heard it. She saw the smirk growing on Domenic as he watched Elvis getting prepared to be pushed into the Jaws of Judgement below.

"And with this, the last of those who stand against me falls. My power is made absolute," the Archbishop lifted his hands in praise as he hollered with everyone. "Lord of Dragons, watch over us all!"

And with that last shout, Elvis was pushed off. Everything just went blank in Adelle's mind, but with one final struggle, she slammed her heel into one of the guard's foot, effectively making him let go as she broke away from the other guard with ease. Ignoring Seth and Gloria calling out to her, Adelle wasted no time before dashing towards the cliff to take the leap herself. The cold gusts of wind rushing past her felt like knives cutting into Adelle's skin. Still, all she could do was focus on Elvis, falling and watching her with wide eyes as his body was battered about by the strong wind. He was shouting at her, possibly thinking she's crazy to jump in after him.

Well, as the mighty Elvis always said: Don't sweat the details.

A flash of bright light engulfed her entire body, allowing Adelle to reveal her true form as her long, silver hair broke free from her braids, with her sparkling blue wings unfurling behind her back. Her body felt lighter, and without wasting a second, Adelle flapped her wings to gain speed, leaving a trail of sparkling blue dust behind before reaching out and grabbed at Elvis' outstretched hand, abruptly stopping their fast descent at once.

"Hold tight!" Adelle adjusted her hold on the man, making sure she had him secured in her arms before she flapped her wings again. "Going up!"

"Wha…!?" Elvis could only gawk, looking between Adelle's new form and the Jaws of Judgement below. "Huh…!?"

"Don't talk," Adelle kept her eyes upwards, her grip on him tightened. "You'll bite your tongue."

And he did just that. Elvis fell silent and opted to hold onto Adelle just as tight. She didn't dare to take a glance at him as she continued to fly up to safety. She never thought she had to reveal herself like this, but what was she supposed to do? Many innocent humans died from being falsely accused already, but they even dared to execute her friends. To execute Elvis.

Adelle refused to let that happen. No matter what the others might think of her now.

Flying high above the Place of Judgement, Adelle looked down. All the people of Rimedhal were already in a state of complete panic, running away and screaming in fear at the sight of an actual fairy appearing before them. Domenic was already gone, leaving only her friends and Martha left unharmed as they looked up at her in awe.

Slowly coming down for a landing, Adelle let Elvis on the ground first, keeping his feet steady as she landed next to him. His legs were wobbling, but he managed with a bit of support. Making sure he was okay, Adelle turned to their friends as they came running towards the two, eyes still just as wide.

"A-Adelle!" Seth gaped, trying to process all this. "Y-You're a…!"

"You're a fairy!?" Gloria finished for him with a gasp. All Adelle could do was offer a sheepish smile as she shrugged. It's not like she could deny it now with her still sporting a large pair of her fairy wings on her back.

All Seth and Gloria could do was still stare and gap. And it made Adelle feel really self-conscious with how no one dared to say anything else. Before she could break the silence, though, Martha beat her to it by squealing in delight before hopping over to give her the biggest hug.

"You're a fairy!" she gushed before pulling back, giving Adelle a good look over. "My goodness! You're so…I can't believe how beautiful you are, Adelle!"

"Ah…yeah." Honestly, Adelle didn't expect that…but then again, this was Martha. Her words were always gooey when she's excited. Before she could say anything else, though, they were interrupted when screams of panic now echoed around the entire town.

They shouldn't stay here much longer.

"We can use the confusion to make our escape," Adelle finally said before stepping out of Martha's hold to turn back into her human form. After another flash of light, she was wingless once more, with her hair done up and looking pretty much the same as she always been.

"Y-Yeah…Good idea," Seth turned on his heels. And together with Gloria and Martha, they made a run for it. Adelle followed after them, only to stop and turn back when Elvis didn't follow suit. The poor man was still standing there, still as a statue and his eyes still wide from shock.

"Elvis!" she rushed back to him, grabbing at his hand and gave it a tug. "Elvis! Snap out of it, or we're leaving you behind!"

There was a slight twitch of his hand, and pretty soon, clarity finally returned to Elvis as he shook his head slightly, grumbling under his breath before looking down at his partner. Seeing he's aware now, Adelle gave out a sigh, already pulling her hand away, but Elvis held onto it securely with his.

"You're…." he finally spoke, eyes shut for a second as he tried to articulate his thoughts into words properly. "You're…a fairy?"

If it was any other time, Adelle would have rolled her eyes for him to just notice the obvious now. But instead, she winced at how he said it. "Yeah…"

"You're a fairy all along."

"Yes, Elvis!" Groaning in frustration, Adelle tugged at his hand harder to make him get over it. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but I promise there's a good reason for it!" He still wouldn't budge. "I'll tell you about it later, but we really have to go now!"

Elvis still didn't show any sign of moving. And seeing how he still refused to let go of her hand as well, Adelle's patience ran thin. Before she could tell him off though, her hand was finally freed, but instead, she was grabbed at by the shoulders and given a sudden, rough shake.

"What were you thinking, Adelle!?"

Adelle had to blink a few times to make sure what she saw and heard was right. One second ago, Elvis had the stupidest dumbfounded look she had ever seen on his face. But now that was completely gone. Instead, he was glaring at her, eyes narrowed and frowning at her in uncharacteristic rage.

Elvis was rarely the one to be mad at something, much less at Adelle.

"W-What…?"

"Did you have any idea how dangerous that was!? Revealing yourself like to the entire Rimedhal!?"

Adelle gave him the most incredulous look ever. "You were thrown off the cliff!"

"Aye, but they're trying to kill fairies here!"

"Well, I couldn't just stand around and do nothing!" she snapped, reaching up to grip at his wrists as she glared back at him. "I'm not letting anyone else die because of these dumb lunatics thinking they're doing the right thing! Especially when they tried to kill you off just then!"

There was a groan. "Adelle…"

"You know I'm right, Elvis! If I didn't save your butt back there, you would have…" she paused, words stuck in her throat. Adelle tried to force them out, but couldn't, much to her frustration.

Seeing Elvis quirk a brow up, waiting, Adelle ducked her head down to glare at their feet instead. She didn't understand why she couldn't say it. Elvis would have died if she didn't save him. That was a fact. Anyone of her friends could have died. That was also another fact. Yet, the knowledge of that almost happening to Elvis slowly crept into Adelle's mind and sank further inside her, reaching her heart and chilling her body more than Rimedhal's freezing snow.

She didn't notice it before when she was frantic about saving Elvis, but now that she was standing here with him, Adelle was really terrified of losing him. She didn't want that to happen, even risked revealing her identity to him and everyone present.

Even risking Elvis being mad at her for hiding something so big from him.

"Oi, Adelle…?"

The fairy jolted under Elvis grip, just noticing how her breathing had gone rapid, with her grip on him had her nails dig into the fabric of his sleeves. Her eyes were now blurred, hot and wet from tears that were threatening to spill. But Adelle refused to respond. No way. She didn't understand why this sudden torrent of emotions just came crashing down on her now, and no way was she letting Elvis see all that.

There was a sigh, and Elvis' grip on her came loose. He didn't let go though. Instead, Adelle was suddenly pulled in. The sudden movement caused her to let go of Elvis' wrists as he gave her a bone-crushing hug. Adelle could only blink, some stray tears spilling when she glanced up as Elvis rubbed her back in comfort.

"Sorry," he finally whispered, pressing his face against the top of her head as he held her closer. "Shouldn't have gone off on you like that after saving me and everything…" he paused for a moment, and all Adelle could do was listen to him as she slowly relaxed against him, starting to calm down. Seeing she didn't say anything though, he just went on. "I am alright now, though. Thanks for saving me back there."

Letting out a huff, Adelle buried her face against his chest. "You better be."

"I am. But," another sigh, "that was a dangerous thing for you to do, Adelle. You know that, right?" Adelle didn't answer him, but he gave her a slight squeeze. "Now with the whole Rimedhal knowing you're a fairy, I'm worried they're gonna come at you with pitchforks since you can fly out of any pit they're gonna throw you in." There was a pause. "Then again, you might just fly away before they can get you."

That got her to laugh. "Yeah, they're gonna have to catch me first."

"Right," and with one more hug, Elvis began to let go. However, Adelle's arms came up to keep him in place. She was calmer now, even daring to look up at the perplexed look on Elvis' face.

"So…you're not mad?" she asked. All Elvis did was stare at her in confusion, so she tried again. "How I'm a fairy…and never told you?"

"Huh? Ah…" he gave it a thought over. Adelle waited for his answer, getting a bit anxious. "Mmmm…Nah, not mad. Just surprised. You did just say there's good reason for not telling me to begin with, after all." He looked back down at her, giving off that same infuriatingly smug, yet reassuring grin of his. "That and how can I be mad when you risked revealing yourself like that to save me? Other than being worried, I'm thankful you're a fairy!"

Those simple words were enough to lift Adelle's spirit, so much so that after she wiped away her remaining tears, she got on her toes to plant her lips on his for a quick kiss. Elvis blinked in surprise when she pulled back, Adelle not noticing what she just did until she saw how red his face was turning.

That sudden, spur of a moment thing was not planned, and Adelle's face went just as red as she spluttering out words to explain herself. Without saying anything, Elvis placed a hand on her cheek to pull her in for another, and more proper, kiss. Adelle stopped her rambling, couldn't help herself but sink into it.

It was a brief kiss still, and once they pulled back, Elvis was smacking his lips as Adelle placed a hand on hers. "So…" he began, lost for words again, but just quickly settled with "Thanks again."

She nodded. "A-Anytime."

Someone was calling out for them. And realising they were supposed to be running away with their friends now, both Elvis and Adelle quickly took off before anyone else could see what they were just doing. Without another word, they set off.

Adelle was now sure she needed to explain why she hid the fact she was a fairy from Elvis and her friends later. But with how her partner instinctively took her hand as they ran, she was sure she needed to also have a further talk with Elvis on that moment they shared much later.