The first thing Tim Shepard remembered when he woke up was the feeling of a comfortable bed beneath him.'Maybe it was all just a dream and I'll wake up at home...'He thought, but then felt more of the bed. It was far too soft to be his. He shifted around and felt his ears pick up three voices in the same room. He sat up, alarmed, only to see three men in the room.
He saw the one he had seen before he fainted, and by the looks of it, he was the oldest. They seemed far too fancy to be simple peasants, and they probably just had funny looking ears. Yeah, that was it.
"He's awake." the one in the middle said, tapping the tallest on the shoulder.
The tallest one turned to him and sat in their nearby chair and put a cool hand to Tim's forehead. "No fever." He hummed. "Are you alright?"
Tim shrugged. "I guess. Where am I?"
"You are in Azer of course." The youngest said.
"Azer?" Tim arched a brow. Where the hell...?
"Illusia." The youngest said.
Tim felt his heart stop. "Wait, what? No. I can't be! This place is a myth! You're not real!" He backed away into the corner of his bed until his back pressed against the wall. His heartbeat had returned, although it was now racing.
"You never heard of Illusia?" The eldest asked.
"No...I have. Just only in myth. In stories my mother would tell me..." Tim said slowly.
"You look weird. What are you?" the middle asked.
"Soda..." The eldest turned to him.
"What? He does look weird! You can't deny that, Darry." Soda responded.
"That may be true, but it's still rude to point it out. Honestly, you're 17. You should at least have some decency." Darry scolded.
Tim was certain these three had to be brothers. Not only did they look the same, but Soda and Darry had a conversation very similar to the ones he would have with Curly.
"Excuse my brother. He apparently forgot his manners. I am Darry, and these are my brothers Sodapop and Ponyboy." Darry said, fixing his gaze on Tim.
Sodapop had wild Strawberry Blonde hair that seemed as though he had never run a brush through it in his life. He had playful aqua eyes. He had pale skin that was gently sun-kissed. He was tall, although not quite as tall as his brother. He too had long pointed ears, but he had piercings along the lobes, three if Tim could count. He had long slender fingers with the nails painted a nice burgundy. He seemed inhumanly perfect, which made sense since Tim was pretty sure they weren't human, in fact, he was sure they were elves. They reminded him a lot of how mother described them.
Ponyboy seemed to be the youngest, perhaps as old as Curly. He had long strawberry hair like his brother that he kept tied back in a loose ponytail, and had hazel eyes. He was small but seemed intelligent beyond his years. He had some hints of muscle beyond his gangly teenage form. He was certain he'd be as handsome as his brothers once he matured.
Tim looked between the brothers. "My name is Tim..."
Darry nodded and sat up. He threw a pile of clothes on the bed beside Tim. "Get dressed. Your clothes are heinous." He pulled his brothers out of the room, giving time room to think.
So he was in Illusia. Where was Curly then if not here? Or if he was here, where did he go?
Tim sighed and undressed, running his hands along the soft cotton clothes Darry had given him. He sighed as caught a glimpse of himself in a mirror, running his hands along his sides where he could almost count his ribs. He really did look rough, didn't he? He put on the dark blue tunic first, noting it was quite comfortable and soft, with long sleeves and plenty of room to breathe. It was also a few sizes too big, but clothes were clothes. He then got into the brown trousers, finding them also to be pleasantly comfortable. He got up and walked around slowly, scanning the room.
It reminded him of his cabin quite a lot. Wooden walls, wooden furniture. On the wall beside his bed there was a nice tapestry that seemed to depict a war scene and to the far end of the room was a window blocked by beige curtains. There was a tall wardrobe with a mirror beside it. A rug filled out the center of the floor leading up to his bed, which held a now messy quilt. He made the bed before heading down the stairs to see the brothers.
The brothers were gathered around a small circular table, talking and eating breakfast.
"Welcome back. Come sit, we have breakfast for you." Ponyboy said.
Tim sat down with the brothers as Darry handed him a plate of.. something thin and circular. "What is it?" He asked before taking a bite. It was delicious and filled with creamed cheese, sweet, but no so sweet it made Tim's teeth ache.
"Crepes." Soda said, looking proud of himself.
"Well, they are delicious," Tim said. "Are you guys elves?"
"Light Elves," Ponyboy said.
"Is there a difference?" Tim asked.
"Only a huge one! Dark elves are mindless brutes who slaughter families and tear the rest apart!" Soda yelled a bit, making Tim flinch. Sore subject clearly.
"Soda, quiet," Darry said.
Soda crossed his arms and grumbled angrily in a language Tim couldn't identify.
"Yes. There is a difference. More so in how we act versus how we look, although I do suppose there are a few small differences there too." Pony said.
Tim could understand. It was like humans, small differences depending on where one is from, but the same basic form.
"So...are fairies and dragons real too?" He asked.
"Yeah," Darry said. He pointed to an odd black spot on a wall. "That was left by a dragon."
"How did you fit a dragon in here? Aren't they huge?" Tim asked, feeling boyish excitement fill him.
"Yes." That was all Darry said before sipping a drink that smelled quite bitter.
"How do you know English?" Tim asked.
"We call it common speak. No one is really sure how it came here. But the theory is that humans brought it to us a millennia ago." Ponyboy said.
"Are there more humans here?" Tim asked curiously.
"Used to be," Darry said.
"What happened?" Tim asked.
"Greed." Pony said, pursing his lips.
Tim decided it was best not to ask any more questions.
After a moment, Darry looked at Tim. "Tomorrow we have a meeting with the council."
"Council?"
"Once a month a few representatives of each species meet up and discuss politics. I want you to come with, given you are major news." Darry said.
"Why am I news?" Tim asked.
"You're the first human here in thousands of years.' Ponyboy said.
After breakfast, the brothers split off. Darry went to go do some masonry, Sodapop said something about Magic, and Pony had left to the library.
Tim decided to go out and check out the town. He found it to be quite pretty. Wooden buildings surrounded a river in a valley surrounded by tall mountains. All the elves here seemed beautiful, too beautiful to be real. Even the children seemed perfect. There was a large town square that branched out into a series of cobbled paths that lead to various shops and houses. There were various wealth classes, but they seemed far more cordial and kind to each other as if money was nothing. Tim began to understand why Illusia was described as a place of harmony. Because it was. The only thing that would make it better was if Curly was here. He'd love it here, so would Angela. They could ditch their father and just come here, maybe make amends for what his ancestors had done.
Tim decided to head to the Library and found a book that seemed to detail the history of Illusia. Most of it bore him until he found the page on humans.
"Illusia and Humans once traded quite often. Humans would bring riches from their land in exchange for what Illusia had. The richest human often made their fortune selling Illusian jewelry made by elves...One day the humans seemed to change their mind about sharing their riches and began the 2000 year war. Many thousands were slaughtered from every race...In the 2000th year, king Hyburn of the fairies pushed the humans away with a great bout of magic, pushing them away, ruining their city, and locking them forever away from Illusia, but left a way for the humans who were pure of heart to enter. Alas, there have been no records of a human ever entering Illusia."
Tim leaned back and took a breath. Humans sure were messed up...
