Swept away, I'm stolen. Let the sky fall. When it crumbles we will stand tall. Face it all together.

-Adele

 -ˋˏ ༻ʚ𓆣ɞ༺ ˎˊ-

The knocking on the front door grows louder as the unexpected visitor gets increasingly impatient. Cosette shoots Orion a troubled look before excusing herself from the table. Before she leaves to answer the door, she asks her friend, Eloria, if she has invited anyone else. Eloria's face goes blank before her green skin wrinkles with trouble.

"Well," Eloria draws out, "I had informed Councilman Dyer that I needed to be excused from today's meeting to be here with you. Those firm knocks banging on your door are likely from him." The plant woman gives an apologetic look before getting up to answer the door alongside Cosette.

At this same time, the two twin sheep boys come running down the stairs with toys in their hands. They wave them around playfully while running through the kitchen. They were instructed to stay upstairs, but it seems like they no longer care about that rule. Orion immediately jumps up from his seat to gather his kids. Conway manages to dodge his father's grip and dive underneath the table Evie and Theo sit at.

Orion can hear the new guest being invited into the home. Nervous sweat starts to form at his temples while wrangling his children back upstairs. He leaves Conway under the table to find where Dozier has gone. The little kid was in no way in sight until a houseplant in the corner started to giggle. Orion quickly strides over to his kid, but the kid then turns into his small sheep form. Small horns start to stab Orion's shins playfully. After Orion's long experience of being a parent with his twins, he has become immune to the shin kicks.

The Fae swipes off his sheep son and guides him back upstairs. Then, Orion catches Conway from under the table off guard and marches him upstairs as well. This leaves Evie and Theo alone in the kitchen. They hear Cosette in an intense conversation with whoever is at the door. Whatever they are talking about, it doesn't sound good.

"Is it a good idea to run now? Theo asks. His eyes never leave the door to the kitchen. Prepared in case anyone dangerous comes running into the room. His body is stiff. The fake ears attached to his head start to add to his headache as well.

Evie draws out a large huff. She's not sure what to do anymore. Confusion is all that she feels as she is currently dressed in a sheep costume while sitting in the kitchen of an actual sheep-woman and a Faerie. Plus, she had just met a woman who is part plant. If this is what this world consists of, she doesn't think she could handle being in it alone.

Evie gives Theo a quick shake of her head, but he doesn't see it because everyone comes back into the kitchen. This time, everyone looks more stressed.

The first face Evie sees is Cosette's. She looks more troubled than ever. Her friend, Eloria, grips onto her arm in worry. That's when Evie finally sees the newest guest. For a moment Evie thought she could grasp the fact that people aren't normal looking in this world, but she wasn't expecting a bird. Well, technically a bird-man. The man's blond buzz cut might have been the most striking feature about him if he didn't have wings attached to his arms. He was a thin, taller figure, and he almost looked like a normal person if it weren't for the feathers scattered across his human arms and the wings attached to his forearms.

"Are these the humans?" The bird-man spins harshly while sticking a feathered finger at Evie and Theo. The light blue feathers on his body gently ruffle as he turns around to where Eloria and Cosette stand. Cosette's face is calm, but on the inside, she knows she's in trouble. Eloria doesn't wait to explain what is happening, but her long, leafy air curls around her body for slight comfort.

"Yes, they are, Dyer. Don't think for a moment that we aren't going to help them get back to their world," Eloria's back straightens when talking to the other council member. His eyes go wild while looking between the humans and Eloria. He waves his hands dismissively while Eloria tries to reason with him.

Evie's stomach clenches as she watches the strange people argue about whether to help her and Theo or not. Cosette must have sensed her strong anxiety because she left the council members to stand behind her and Theo. She places her warm hands on the human's shoulder defensively.

Dyer aggressively slams his hand against the wall while continuing to shriek at Eloria. She doesn't shy away from angered gestures. "We can't have humans walking around!" Dyer growls at the word 'humans', "You and I both know that they need to be executed or else they will cause so much trouble."

Theo had taken a sip from his glass to calm himself from the conflict happening in the kitchen. Right as Dyer, the not-so-friendly guest, mentioned execution, Theo had choked. All the liquid in his mouth gets stuck in his throat, leading to taking spit take on the table decorations. Evie jumps away from being in the splash zone, while Cosette rushes away from them to grab something to clean with.

Theo stares in horror at the distribution he has just made. His cheeks grow hot as he realizes the whole room has gone silent to stare at him. Theo's head slowly lifts to meet the birdman's black eyes. Cosette swoops in and cleans her table, while pleading that everything is alright.

Dyer stomps his foot at the hardwood floor. "Everything is not alright. Can't you all see that? Some humans can't even sit at a table without ruining everything around them. They need to go right at this moment." Dyer storms towards Evie and Theo. He startles them in the process.

Evie jumps up from her chair but ends up getting twisted by Theo, who is also trying to put space between him and the angry man. Evie's foot gets hooked onto Theo's leg and they go tumbling to the floor. Theo grunts while trying to scramble to his feet, but Dyer has gripped Theo's arm with a firm, feathered grip.

"Let him go, Dyer. We can work this out like civil people," Eloria demands while prying at Dyer's elbow. He only pushes her off harshly, then he pushes up his shirt sleeves. Cosette yells in the mix, but her voice isn't heard. Orion comes running down the stairs at the same time, with a crying Conway in his arms.

In the midst of panic yelling, tears, and screams, Dyer lets go of Theo, but only to take the purple band off his arm. The item that originally looked like a hairband stretches in his fingers. Eloria attempts to grab the purple band out of Dyer's hands, but it's no use. Cosette yells for Dyer to stop from where she is standing with his distressed child in her husband's arms, but the bird-man ignores her.

In one quick, solid motion, the rubber band goes flying towards the corner where Evie and Theo coward. The band moves through the air until it hooks onto both of the human wrists. It handcuffs their hands to each other's making it so they can't scatter from each other. Dyer then reaches into his pocket to pull out a small mirror and a round crystal.

Evie pulls at the purple bands tugging her and Theo together, but it doesn't budge. She looks up to see a mirror in Dyer's hand and a green crystal in another. Before she could fight back, Dyer hooks one of his arms around Evie's untied arm. While holding onto the human with his arm, he presses the crystal in his left hand to the mirror in his right. A bright light goes across the room.

The screams and protests fade to silence.

-ˋˏ ༻ʚ𓆣ɞ༺ ˎˊ-

The sudden scenery change catches Theo off guard. After teleporting, Theo loses his balance and collapses onto the brick floor. Evie, being bound to Theo, goes tumbling down with him. Theo gives himself a moment to recover from his sudden sickness, while Evie raises her voice.

"I demand you take this...," She tries to find the right word to call the trap on his wrist, "This thing off of me." She pushes herself to her feet but has to keep her hand low since Theo continues to stay seated on the ground. Dyer, who was previously waving people over to the scene, lowers his tall body down to Evie's eye level.

She stares into his soulless, black eyes, refusing to look away and show has scared she is. Being this close to her, he might be able to hear Evie's heart pounding in her chest. Or even the sweat dripping down her forehead.

"You two are in a lot of trouble," Dyer talks to the humans like they are children who can't understand complex ideas. Evie tries to resist the urge to punch him with her free hand. She's never punched anyone before, let only want to punch someone.

Dyer stands up and backs away from Evie's face. Theo also decides he wants to stand now. They both work together around their handcuff to get him to his feet. They still have to stand incredibly close to each other, however. After not having a weird bird in her face, and Theo tugging her down, Evie realizes her new surroundings.

She and Theo had been teleported using a crystal and mirror once again. This time, they have been led to a completely different scenery. Instead of the forest they had first landed in, they are now in a type of courtyard. The warm outside arm tickles Evie's fake sheep ears. A large fountain sits nearby and while looking to see where Dyer had gone, she almost missed the building hovering over her.

A breathtaking building that closely represents a castle stretches across the land. The tall building stretches to points at multiple points, along with large, glass windows and doors decorating the outside. The design of the building is out of this world to Evie, literally. She has never seen anything as beautiful. Decorating trees and water fountains in places within the large place gives it a magical touch that keeps it connected to nature. Evie realizes the other buildings close by and the lack of forestry, so she realizes she must be in some sort of city. But that still doesn't explain why she has been led to an open courtyard instead of anywhere dangerous or threatening.

Besides her, Theo gasps out loud as he then sees the castle too. She rolls her eyes to herself. Theo is always telling her she isn't observant, but look who was late to spot the giant building now. While Theo rambles about how great the architecture is, Evie looks around to see where Dyer went and if she and Theo could make a run for it.

On all edges of the beautiful space they are standing in, there are armored people standing guard. No armor is alike like you would see knights in a fairy tale book on Earth, but instead, all pieces are different to match their different features. Evie thought wings and horns were weird, but she is slowly discovering more interesting types of people as she looks at all the guards.

Talking to a group of these guards is Dyer. He waves his hands around aggressively like he's giving orders. It looks like he most likely is. The guard keeps a straight face while listening to him. Evie notices that all the guards, who aren't speaking to the councilman, are looking at her and Theo. Evie taps Theo's shoulder with her free hand. His head snaps down from staring up at the castle to look at her.

"What do you think he's saying?" Evie asks him quietly while nudging her head in the direction of where Dyer stands. Theo shakes his head while looking at the group. He doesn't say anything, but instead looks away from them and goes to try to pick off the band on their wrists. Evie sighs in annoyance, "It can't be taken off. That bird jerk over there must be magical or something because it won't loosen."

"It'll come off," Theo finally responds while picking at the purple handcuff.

"It's not looking too successful now, Is it?"

"Evie, what is wrong with you?" Theo's head lifts to hers. His head was close to hers. "Since when are you so negative?"

Evie scoffs and looks away from him. How could he not understand that she has every right to be negative? She's not at home with her family because she has gotten herself stuck in a magical world with strange people and no hope to get her out of this situation. And as of right now, she's being held hostage by a crooked councilman who is a hideous version of a bird. How could Theo be so ignorant?

Dyer interrupts Evie's explosive thoughts by storming back over to the humans with several guards at his side. Hands go around Evie and Theo's limbs, and they are being dragged forward.

Dyer walks backward while talking to them, "After some talking, we will be sending you to the castle prison until I can figure out our situation with the other members of the council."

-ˋˏ ༻ʚ𓆣ɞ༺ ˎˊ-

2233 words

Posted 4/12/2024

Have you ever been in prison? I hope you haven't because I've heard that is a brutal place.

Thank you so much for reading! Don't be afraid to give a vote. usually I see all who vote and sometimes even check out their profile. Also, if you're ever interested in a r4r, just lmk!