Chapter 1

It is said that sometimes you can live a whole life in a single second. That was how it was for Nesta Archeron. That night, after Cassian threw the harsh truth in her face: "Everyone hates you," she had gone to the library looking for something to do, but no matter how hard she worked into the night, nothing could make the pain in her chest subside. If everyone hated her… she hated herself, to be fair. So, when she left the library, she returned to those stairs, desperate for breath, feeling like she was drowning. She started down the stairs without thinking, continued even when her body roared in pain, kept going until her feet gave way, and then she fell… This time, she didn't try to grab onto anything; she even… even felt a certain relief as she closed her eyes. She felt every hit on the stairs, the deep pain was liberating in a way. She felt it, even that hard blow to the back of her head. It was that which led her into darkness, and Nesta Archeron embraced that darkness, accepted it.

"Everyone hates you."

Yes, she knew, she hated herself too, more than anyone could hate her. That was her last thought.

-o-o-o-

Nesta Archeron thought she had died in that fall down the stairs, so she was confused when she saw a white ceiling above her head. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw pink curtains floating with the wind, and when she lifted her head, she saw the sweet smile of a rosy-cheeked girl looking at her with enthusiasm.

—Nesta, Nesta, you promised you'd take me to the park today. Come on, come on —the girl vibrated with excitement.

—Fernanda, don't smother your sister, at least say good morning —a woman's amused voice was heard as a very beautiful woman entered the room. The girl blushed and then kissed her sister's cheek.

—Good morning, Nesta, I love you, big sister. Dad said he'd drive us to the park —she told her smiling.

Nesta was confused, too confused, too out of place in the unfamiliar environment.

-o-o-o-

Nesta was confused for years after that morning in a world she didn't know or understand, with a family that loved her: Elena and Fernanda, her sisters, and parents who adored all three. A world that fairy tales could not even imagine, full of science and math, electricity and freedom.

Nesta had been very aggressive when she arrived, terrified of this place. But her family never lost patience with her. Her family loved her, gave her space but were always there for her. The psychologists helped a lot, these mental healers from this world who never judged her delusions. The medications also helped her stay calm at first. And one day, one day Nesta felt more like herself than ever before. The horrors of Prythian, Hybern, the war, her old family, all of it was left behind. Nesta became convinced that it was all a nightmare. A nightmare that twisted the characters of her sisters Fernanda and Elena. Of her parents. Cassian… never existed, he was just a dark prince like the ones in the Dark Romance books she liked to read… he wasn't real.

As she grew up, she accepted it. When she went to college, she only occasionally and lightly remembered the fantasy world she had invented in her imagination when she was a child, where she was an antihero like Deadpool. She laughed about it and would tell her sisters if she was in the mood.

In college, she decided on a career in medicine. In her free time, she danced and did yoga, which were the things she enjoyed the most. That and her friends and family. Nesta liked her life. Nesta never regretted a single day of those 85 years in which she lived her best life. She never married or had children, but because she never met the right person. It didn't matter to her because even though she never met the love of her life, she had beautiful nephews who considered her the coolest aunt, the rich and fun aunt. And Nesta did well in living up to that title.

Nesta moved to her oldest niece's house at 80, to live with her younger sister Fernanda, who insisted they live together. Elena joined them a year later. Her sweet niece took care of them, and her other nephews always came by the house to help with anything. Old age didn't stop Nesta from having fun, and neither did it for her sisters; they lived their golden years to the fullest.

The night Nesta finally left this world, after a great life, after being the director of Neonatal Surgery at the Central Hospital of Houston, Texas, after traveling, after living to the fullest with no regrets, was at the family Sunday dinner. She was sitting on the porch swing with a book that was hard for her old eyes to read even with her glasses and the large print of the book. She glanced sideways, one of her nephews was manning the grill, another was chasing the kids, her great-nephews. Elena had one of the children on her lap. While Fernanda listened to the story being told by one of her older grandchildren. Her favorite niece looked at Nesta while talking on her phone and blew a kiss to her aunt. Nesta laughed and closed her eyes just to rest her tired eyes for a moment.

She never opened them again… not in this world. No, Nesta opened them again in a world she once considered a creation of her imagination…

-o-o-o-

Nesta felt pain all over her body, she hadn't felt such pain since… never, not even when arthritis tormented her old body. She raised her confused eyes to see a "wooden" ceiling above her and, beside her, a man who looked worried. Nesta looked curiously at the young, incredibly handsome man, so much that he didn't look human, no human could be so beautiful, with powerful black wings and pointed ears.

—Cassian? —she whispered, confused. Yes, it was him, the man from her dreams, her imaginary love from her childhood. Elena and Fernanda would laugh a lot when she told them at her age that she had dreamed again of her imaginary man. Nesta smiled, extending her old, aching hand to touch Cassian, her perfect creation, the creation of her imagination was even better than her old memory remembered. But then she saw her hand, it was no longer old or wrinkled, her fingers were no longer knotted from arthritis. She got up with her muscles groaning in pain.

—Don't move, that was quite a fall. It was crazy, Nesta.

—Shut up —she ordered her imaginary man—. What fall? What are you talking about? —she looked at him puzzled—. Is this death? —she asked curiously—. I don't know, I expected something different from death, not to return to a home and a man I created in my imagination when I was about 11 years old —she commented, looking around—. And why does it hurt? Death shouldn't hurt —she said, so confused. One of her nephews was a deacon and another of her nieces was Wiccan, and everything they said about death was pure nonsense. Now that Nesta was in her own, she could say it with complete certainty.

-o-o-o-

This fanfic will not have any bashing of characters. I just feel that Nesta deserves more, much more, so Nesta will heal on her own terms. Nesta is no longer the girl ripped from humanity and turned into a fae a couple of years ago who doesn't know what she's doing with her life. This Nesta is an old woman who lived a fulfilling life for over 80 years. She is a woman who is a bit grumpy from time to time. Even though, with her 84 human years, she is still younger than the 500+ years of all the fae around her. Let's see what happens.

English is not my first language, so I apologize for any errors in the translation