Tim woke up feeling as though the world was lying to him. He still had a hard time believing he was in Illusia. He of course, still wondered where Curly was, hoping he was at least in Illusia too. He had to be! Illusia had been his dream since he was young, surely Curly was pure enough to enter. He sighed and woke up, smiling a bit as he saw Darry had left him new clothes for today. They were far fancier than the ones he wore yesterday. 'Right, the council.' He thought.
He sat up and put on the clothes and ran a hand through his messy blonde hair. He felt much better than normal, more strong, and not starving for once. He studied himself in the mirror. He wasn't much different in appearance, but he felt loads better than he had since mother had died.
He rolled his neck and came down the stairs, frowning as he didn't see the brothers. "Guys?" He called out curiously, looking for the elves. He noticed the front door was open and went to go investigate, finding the three elves outside. "There you are."
Darry nodded. "Morning, the meeting will be here soon. The council is on their way."
"So what exactly is this again?" Tim asked.
"Politics, discussing what to do with you." Darry shrugged. "Plus you will get to see all the species."
"Aww man, does this mean assholes 1 and 2 will show up?" Soda whined.
"Unfortunately." a voice purred from behind.
Tim turned around to see two more elves, only they were different. These elves had purple skin and eyes that were as dark as the night, with long dark nails, and were slightly shorter than their light counterparts.
The one on the left had loose black hair framing his face and trailing down his neck in loose waves. His skin was a lighter purple and seemed to almost glow. He had a light stubble on his jaw. He wore a dark blue tunic with black embroidery that seemed to follow a series of stars. He wore dark pants with black leather boots that reached his knees. Above it all, he wore a long back cloak.
The one on the right had curly red hair that seemed out of place compared to the rest of him. His purple was much darker but also seemed to glow. He was tall and muscular, and much like all elves, insanely attractive. He wore a deep maroon shirt that had long puffy sleeves. He wore dark pants and boots like the other dark elf. On his right hand, he had a small collection of jewels that had a suspicious crimson ring around the edges.
"Hello Robert, Randy," Darry said, nodding to them both.
"Hello Darrel, miss us?" Randy smirked, revealing his fangs.
"We could never miss you." Soda said with a glare.
"Aww. Damn." Robert said.
"Let's try and keep this cordial in front of the human." Pony said.
Randy turned to Tim and circled him. "So, this is the human. I'm sure Dally will love to see you."
"Dally?" Tim arched a brow at Darry.
"The prince of fairies. Well, technically he would be king, but there's some family history there we probably shouldn't tell." Soda said.
"What? Is there like an evil king in the family?" Tim grinned.
"Actually yes." Soda responded.
Tim saw a large shadow fly overhead as it landed. He felt his heart catch in his throat.
It was a giant red dragon, larger than most of the buildings in the village. The beast had a large mouth with a few teeth showing. It had a long body with a long tail, spines trailing down the body. It had long claws on all four of its limbs and a brilliant pair of dark wings. The beast's appearance faded to reveal a man. The man was tall and had patches of scales on various parts of his body. He had mischievous yellow eyes and a pointed nose. The man had curly brown hair he kept styled in slick curls. He had long dark nails with a pair of horns that curled at the ends atop his head.
"Are you a dragon?" Tim asked dumbly.
The man grinned and took a breath before opening his mouth and releasing a small bit of fire. "Sure am. Names Two-bit."
Next, Tim heard splashing and saw a male swim through the river, coming up to land by Soda. He was tall and slender and looked mostly human. He had curly dark hair and pale skin. He had a pointed nose and fins where a human's ears would be. He had gills along his neck that didn't appear to be moving. He had webbed hands and had clothes that seemed to be made of scales, or perhaps they were just scales. He smelled of salt.
Soda beamed seeing him. "Steve!" Soda wrapped his arms around the Fishman.
Steve chuckled and hugged him back. "Miss me?"
"Of course!" Soda grinned.
Next, Tim heard a gentle gallop and saw a centaur looking woman, only instead of a horse, it was a deer. She had soft red hair that had small braids in the front. She had golden bands across her bicep on the left. She had deer ears where a humans would be. She wore no top, which made Tim slightly avert his eyes. She had soft brown eyes and pleasant features. Like apparently everything here, she was stunning.
On her back, was a small woman. About half the size of Tim and had heavily pointed ears and slightly tanned skin. She had neat brown hair in a bob and gray eyes. She wore a dress made from leaves and vines. She was beautiful but too bizarre for Tim's tastes. He wasn't sure what she was, and it felt rude to ask.
A shadow passed overhead and Tim looked up to see a humanoid figure pass over. The figure landed, revealing two of the most beautiful beings Tim had seen thus far. The smaller one hopped off the tallers back.
The small one had darkly tanned skin, like the color of lightly roasted coffee or milk chocolate. He had black hair that had a gentle curl in the front. He had gently pointed ears that looked human minus a little point at the tip. He had dark brown eyes and a small physique. He had beautiful wings that had the shape of a butterfly's, only it had a more stained glass appearance, they were beautiful, but one was far too small to be of any use. He was shirtless but wore soft pants and no shoes.
The taller one, however, was a sight to behold. He had skin that was the color of coffee when milk was added to it. He had white dots across his face that seemed to be freckles. He had messy brown hair that looked forever windswept with gently pointed ears. Atop his head, he had a small pair of deer antlers like the ones Tim would see on young bucks. He had a sharp, pointed face that seemed both delicate and yet strong. He had a pointed nose. He was about as tall as Tim. He had a large pair of brown owl-like wings (barn owl, specifically). He was shirtless but had various vines that wrapped around his arms that had small leaves attached to them and seemed to shift as if they had a mind of their own. His right bicep had a beautiful blue flower on it wrapped with the vines. He wore a wrap around his waist that was held up by another vine. He was shoeless but had another vine wrapped around his ankles, one for each. On his head, he wore a crown that was made from vines and had small wildflowers laced throughout as well as feathers and small jewels. He wore a choker made from a vine that held a sky blue pendant that matched his eyes. He seemed both ancient and young all at once.
"What? See something you like?" The fairy grinned.
"Uh..."
"Dal, cut it out. It's his first time seeing any of us ever." Cherry said. She fixed her gentle gaze onto Tim. "So you are the human Pony spoke of."
Tim nodded, tearing his gaze away from the fairy. He felt out of place amongst these beautiful beings. He was just a boring little human.
"I should take him. My great-great-grandfather was the one to send humans away. It's only fair I should take him. He is my responsibility. If my grandfather could do it, I'm sure I can find a way to send him back." Dallas said, turning to Tim.
"Wait...have you seen my brother?" Tim asked. "He looks like me, just smaller."
Dallas shook his head. "If he is here, the world would have already made a fuss. Or he is in no-mans land."
"No-mans land?"
"The place the exiled go," Dallas said. "I can't carry both of you, which means the human gets to be carried by the ankle for the next 3 hours!" He grinned viciously at Tim and then fondly at the smaller Fairy.
Tim was already afraid.
Tim let Dallas get his friend onto his back and rise into the air before relaxing.
Dallas grabbed Tim harshly by the ankle and took off into the sky.
Tim felt every flap of the wings above him as he saw the familiar place become smaller and smaller, before it was gone, replaced by sprawling forest. Had he not been presently upside down and terrified, it would have been beautiful.
Tim decided being upside down sucked after the first hour.
After they reached what Tim had called 'fairyland', which took slightly longer since Tim needed to stop every once in a while to soothe the migraine that was forming.
Fairyland was a beautiful forest inside of a cliff that had a large waterfall that lead to a stream flowing through it. Beautiful small cottages were lining the cliff and sometimes sitting in a tree. There were small flower buds that held a gentle light that floated around the place, providing lighting. Connecting the two sides of the cliff, or rather ravine, were lovely wooden bridges.
Dallas flew down to an enclave tucked behind the waterfall which held a large sprawling place that had been carved into the cliffs.
It was almost all an indoor garden with vines snaking up the walls of the cave. There was a large central room filled with a long table and branched off. Behind the largest chair was a large tapestry that depicted the entire royal family tree.
Dallas dropped Tim and let Johnny down gently.
"Welcome to Lorule," Dallas said.
He grabbed Tim again and brought him down to the dungeons and chained him up. "Just in case. Sleep well, human."
Tim watched Dallas leave, then his shadow, and finally the door closed, encasing Tim in darkness.
