Part 3, in which this story turned out vastly different from my original intent. *lol* I'm really not that happy with it, but I've been staring at it so long it no longer makes sense. I think I can scratch fluff off my list of fics to write.
~*O*~
Sarah took a deep breath, attempting to calm her fraying nerves, but as she inhaled she caught the scent of something both familiar and evocative. It was a heady scent, reminiscent of an ancient woodland after a fresh spring rain when the earth is damp and loamy and filled with renewed promise. Intermingled with that was a richer scent, a familiar scent, the scent of magic, wild and musky, a scent redolent of her dreams.
"I rather thought humans were fond of the saying 'nothing is impossible,'" the voice replied, the smooth cadence of the syllables washing over her auditory senses like a soothing balm. Sarah intuitively felt him lean closer, the warmth of his body sparking flashes of memory in her mind, of spinning and dancing, held in the circle of his embrace.
Sarah nodded her head slowly. "But humans don't expect to be met with their hallucinations when they say it."
He gave a quiet chuckle, the throaty sound borderline to a purr that caused her belly to flutter. "Open your eyes, Sarah," he said, his warm breath tickling the fine hairs of her neck, sending shivers of sensation skittering up and down her spine and awakening other senses she knew she should not be feeling.
She shook her head. "No. If I open my eyes, then this will all be a dream. You're not real. You can't be."
The sound of creaking leather told her he had shifted closer to her, and her heart began to throb wildly, the strength of the fluttering in her belly almost painful as she wondered what he was doing. Then she felt the weight of his hand slide down the page of her book to briefly cover hers before gently tugging it from her grasp. Folding her now empty hands in her lap, she heard a rustling noise, and imagined he was setting it down beside them. The next thing she felt was his hand caressing down her cheek to cup her jaw, turning her face toward him. The heat radiating from his gloved palm reinforced the yearning she had long kept concealed, and her heart skipped a beat, making her breath catch.
"Open your eyes, Precious," he said again, his voice firm, yet oddly gentle.
The endearment stirred to life a strange feeling within her, a faded memory of a sad song barely heard as she searched frantically for a way to retrieve her brother. Drawing in another breath, Sarah filled her lungs with the scent of him and leaned into his touch. Slowly, she opened her eyes, an ineffable sadness welling up in their verdant depths as she finally brought herself to look upon him. He looked almost exactly as she remembered him. His hair was slightly longer, giving it a more tamed appearance, making him look a little less rockstar and bit more fae, but his face was the same. The upswept brows and lines of shadow clearly defined the duality of his eyes, that peculiar quality that made him seem both ethereal and beautiful. She gave him a sad smile.
"And when I wake up, and the illusion is gone, what am I to do then?"
He stroked his thumb against her face, brushing away the tear that slipped unbidden down her cheek.
"Illusions are merely figments of the imagination. You cannot touch an illusion. Dreams, however," he paused, his hand brushing along her jaw until his fingers curled beneath her chin, tilting her face up so that her eyes looked into his, "dreams are attainable, if you believe in them. Think carefully, Sarah, is this an illusion or a dream?"
She searched his eyes with her own, looking for any hint of the beguilement she remembered him for. She wanted to believe, but she couldn't bear the thought that he might be deceiving her once more, that he might still be the nefarious villain of her fantastical quest. She knew in her heart what she wanted, but the thought that she might be delusional kept her from making a decision. She felt vulnerable.
"I don't know," she replied, her voice betraying the yearning she felt. She thought she heard him growl, but the sound was so low, she couldn't be sure.
"I cannot give you the answer, Sarah. You know in your heart what you wish for. Stop letting your mind cloud your judgment!" His voice was sharp, but not unkind.
Taken aback by the display of frustration he evinced, she studied him for a moment. He met her gaze steadily, waiting, the variation of color between his eyes shifting ever so slightly from blue to amber and back again. She felt like there was some sort of emotion he was holding back, but whether it was exasperation or desperation, she couldn't be sure. She took a deep breath, preparing for a leap of faith not unlike one she had taken in another dream. Goaded by the fear that she might lose this chance, real or imagined though it might be, she drew up her courage and raised herself slightly, shifting on her knees to face him.
Except now, confronted with the full impact of his appearance as he crouched before her, familiar in his asymmetrical jacket and tattered cloak, Sarah swallowed and her gaze wavered. Her lashes brushed her cheeks as she closed her eyes, steeling herself for the disappointment she was sure would follow her declaration. Yet, when she opened them, there was a fierce determination burning in their mossy depths and a quiet resolve written in the set of her shoulders.
"Fine. I wish this was more than illusion, more than dream. I wish this was real. I didn't understand it then, but I needed you. I needed all of you, but it was you I needed most of all."
One side of his mouth tilted up slightly, the elegant arch of his brows relaxing as he reached down and took her hand in one of his. "And now?"
"And now?" she paused, considering her words as she stared at the hand encompassing her own. "Now...I still need you. I never stopped wishing there had been another alternative, a different outcome. But dreams are just dreams, they rarely have basis in reality."
"And that is the illusion that dreams engender."
She frowned, her brows knitting in confusion as she looked back up at him. "What do you mean?"
"All dreams have a basis in reality, Sarah. They are born from your desires, your wishes. It is the strength of your belief that determines their reality."
Sarah flexed the hand he held, her fingers grasping his as if to reassure herself he was really there. If he wasn't, then this was one hell of a hallucination.
"If what you say is true, doesn't that mean you only exist because I dreamed it? Because if that's not completely delusional, I don't know what is," she huffed.
He laughed softly, the irregular points of his teeth visible as he smiled down at her. Her heart gave a curious flutter at the sight. How could someone who looked so deliciously wicked be so impossibly charming at the same time? She wondered briefly if this was the way he had been with Toby.
"No. The existence of fae has never been in question, only the belief. It is belief that dictates the level of our interaction, and you, Sarah, believed so strongly that you lifted the veil between worlds."
Sarah raised herself to her knees then, one hand reaching forward to gently touch his cheek with her fingertips, as if to further reassure herself that by touching him of her own volition, it would validate his existence. He gave her an amused look as she traced the line of his cheekbone, her fingers sliding down to brush tentatively along his jaw. He caught her hand then, turning her wrist upward and placing a gentle kiss against her palm, his lips soft against her skin. Sarah inhaled sharply, and turned her face away.
"I should be ashamed of my wishes, but I... you..." she shook her head, unable to articulate what she was trying to say.
"You dreamed of me, and believed with such conviction that when you made your wish, I came. Not once did you stall in that belief, in spite of your fear. Even now, you fear me, but I wonder..."
With a sudden movement, he pulled her toward him, catching her up in his arms, her gasp of surprise silenced by his lips on hers. Sarah's heart raced, the blood pulsing in her veins dancing a chaotic counterpoint to the rush of magic that suddenly electrified her senses, short circuiting her ability to think of anything but his lips moving against hers; warm, firm, and definitely real. Aware only of her body pressed against his as he held her, she felt his hand slide into her hair, tilting her head as he deepened their kiss, his tongue delving into the hidden recesses of her mouth. The taste of him was intoxicating, like honeyed dew and the tang of something exotic that she couldn't name. Placed in a situation she could never have even fathomed, but desired more than she would have ever admitted, she found herself responding with a fierce intensity that had her digging her nails into the smooth leather covering his shoulders, her tongue warring with his; hers for affirmation, his for her surrender.
The fluttering in her belly blossomed as his other hand slid down her back to cup her rear and pull her closer, lifting her up so that she aligned intimately against him, ensuring she felt the unmistakable response she ignited in him. Petals of heat curled outward, heightening the sensitivity of her skin, the soft peaks of her breasts hardening and pulling tight against her dress as the heated flush of arousal unfurled within her body, causing her to whimper with quiet urgency as it centered itself in a hot pool of liquid desire between her thighs. Never would she have imagined that when she woke up this morning, she would be liplocked with her heart's most ardent wish, the sweet and lustful ache of need thrumming throughout her body in answer to the allure of dark promise in his kiss.
When she felt herself begin to struggle for breath, he broke the kiss, chuckling quietly as he nuzzled her neck, nipping gently at her collarbone as her head fell back in stupefied wonder, his name an inarticulate sigh upon her lips. He smirked down at the dazed expression she knew was in her eyes, her chest heaving against him. It couldn't be helped. By all that was holy, if that was what a single kiss could do to her...
"Perhaps there is hope yet," he said, tracing the edge of her neckline with a gloved finger, blazing a trail of tingling sensation that raised goosebumps in its wake, fueled further by the soft brush of wind that teased between them. "I asked you to love me once, do you know why?"
She lifted her head, attempting to bring herself back to earth with each shallow breath. "Because of 'what no one knew...?'"
He chuckled again, sunlight glinting off the beaten silver of his pendant. Still holding her close, he turned his other hand with a small flourish, a familiar crystalline sphere rolling into his palm. Sarah gave the crystal a wary glance as he held it up to her. "What did I say the first time I made this offer?"
"You said it would show me my dreams."
"And so it would have, but you refused. You didn't need to see what you already knew. However, I believe I told you it was a gift." He let the crystal dance over his hand, once, then twice, before letting it come to rest on his fingertips. "And the second time?"
She looked at the crystal, his words coming to her as clearly as if he'd spoken them again, but this time she heard them with a different connotation. 'Look, Sarah, look what I'm offering you...your dreams.'
Seeing the light of understanding dawning in her eyes, he smirked. "No longer to show you your dreams, but to make them reality. Did it ever occur to you why I would make such an offer?"
Sarah shook her head. "No, not really. The whole thing seemed a bit pervy at the time."
His laughter rang out against the chill of a brisk wind, the breeze laced with magic and the rich scent of autumn. "Things would have followed, in time, had you accepted. It was your strength of belief I sought. To have that kind of power... You were never an ordinary girl, Sarah. Together, we would have been a force to be reckoned with, if only you had let me in."
"But you wanted me to give up my freedom, to give you power over me."
His eyes darkened, and she could feel the thrum of wild magic twining around her. "Think precisely about what I said, Precious."
'Just let me rule you, and you can have everything that you want... Fear me, love me, do as I say, and I will be your slave.'
"Oh..." she whispered. "Well, damn."
"Ah, you see now. I offered to reciprocate everything I begged of you. What is the balance of love, if not to ensure equal footing in a potential liason?"
"Well, it certainly didn't sound that way," she muttered, looking down at the finger she was tracing over his chest.
"I was bound by rules you set in motion on invocation, Sarah. You had expectations I was required to meet while being constrained by your adolescence. I could only work within the limitations you set for me. It was you who had the power all along. It is you who has power over me."
He released her then, pulling her up with him as he stood up. The breeze danced around the hem of her gown and caught at the edges of his cloak, swirling leaves and tiny flecks of glitter around them. She glanced around her, realizing that they were no longer on the little embankment of the creek in the park, but within the forest near the center of the Labyrinth. Startled, she turned around, noting with astonishment that the tree they stood beneath was still her tree, her guardian oak, the doorway between realms. She felt him step up behind her, his arm wrapping around her waist while his other directed her attention through the foliage to see the Castle Beyond the Goblin City, a familiar silhouette against the pale blue cast of the Underground sky.
"Even now, you dream, Precious, and your belief is unprecedented," he murmured, pressing his lips against the juncture of her neck and shoulder, eliciting a trail of shivers that ran down her spine and spread in languid curls low in her belly. She closed her eyes and leaned back against him, his firm presence reassuring in a way she would never have dreamed possible. He grasped her hand, turning it palm up and placing the crystalline sphere within it. "And now, I'm going to make you the same offer once more."
Sarah lifted her hand, tentatively caressing the smooth skin of the sphere. She paused. "But what about my family? My brother? I can't leave him behind, no matter how much I dream of this, or you."
He turned her back around to face him, amusement glittering in his eyes as he stroked her cheek. "I would not ask you to abandon him. The boy is as welcome in this realm as you are. Think, Sarah, have I not done everything you ever wanted, in spite of your defiances?"
"So I wouldn't be bound here? I would be free to come and go?"
"For as long as you wish to do so."
"No illusions? No deceptions?"
"I want you to love me, Sarah, not have reasons to commit regicide."
She smiled at that. "And this?" she hefted the crystal in her hands, the orb radiating a soft golden glow. "Does this seal some sort of pact between us?"
He tilted her face up, leaning down until his lips were mere centimeters from hers as he answered. "No. Any pact you seal with me will be done in more...intimate...ways. Understand that, should you accept, I will not let you go a second time."
Unperturbed by the hint of possessiveness inherent in his tone, Sarah felt her blood grow warm at the faint growl he emitted as she pressed her lips to his, her hands sliding over his shoulders to twine around his neck as she pulled him close. She didn't feel the crystal burst in her hand, her answer writ in the swarm of gold and silver glitter surrounding them, caught by the breeze that swirled up to eddy in lazy spirals on the drifting current, sparkling motes that danced between the autumnal leaves of an ancient oak that bore witness to the union of two lost and lonely souls.
~*O*~
And here ends this saccharine tale of fluffy sweetness. You see, this is the sort of stuff dreams are made of, the seed of truth hidden beneath the layers of illusion in every fairytale. Where anything imagined is possible, the strength of belief is its own magic, and happily ever after is a dream worthy of pursuing.
Because, in truth, happily ever afters are merely dreams of forever...
...And that's not long at all.
Crystalline Dreams,
~*~ Sheyrina, Labyrinthian Dragon
Chapter posted 10/10/17