OTA

[willysilver]

Beltane was fast approaching. Beltane heralded the season of war. But of late Will's skin had begun to crawl. Magic he was familiar with, magic he had not felt for many years, magic strong and dark haunted him. It was not the strange magic of the Trooping fae that Fin possessed. No, this was familiar.

An old foe.

It wasn't simply a matter of the Unseelie whom Will and his brothers would battle and defeat, as was tradition. This was something he'd defeated with great cost long ago.

The Milesian.

He was keen and watchful as he knew they prowled the Earth. Somehow they had come back from banishment. And the strength of them had grown. Will knew the battle this year would be so much more weighty. There would be no need for a mortal on the field against the Milesian. They came from the Land of the Dead and would take as many lives as they could, fae and mortal alike. Today Will had heard tell of several people dead in the tube. Of course the authorities had their theories and suspicions, but Will knew. He just knew and so tonight with the initial investigation wrapped up he gathered his strength and descended into the tube stop. Magic crackled in the air. Dark magic. Dark as could be.

He reached for the neck of his guitar on his back and to those who could see such things his hand closed around the hilt of a broadsword. A few people waited for the train and Willy wasn't about to let them meet the same fate as the earlier travelers. Those hadn't been killed so much as claimed.

The Daoine Sidhe prince wasnt about to let his city fall to the enemy. Not even if he had to defend it all by himself.

Comments

[willysilver]

"It is the fastest way to flee," he replied. "The train will be here soon and someone will question the ash remaining. Come, Sunny."

He offered her his hand.

[akatawitch]

And having only a split second to make up her mind between accepting him and refusing... Sunny took it and went with him.

It was a reflex, built over years as the baby of her group, lagging behind longer and better trained classmates. When someone else's magic was there to rely on, why use her own?

[willysilver]

Willy took her into the restroom and the door whispered shut behind them. Just inside the door was a full length mirror. Willy put his hand on the glass. It rippled and then he pulled her through, stepping into one mirror and out another.

Music played beyond the door of the men's room.

"We are safe here at the Alpha, but if you prefer and with your permission I can take you home," he said.

[akatawitch]

... Cool.

Though the moment she got over the surprise and the curiosity it inspired showed clearly on her face and she eyed him. "You are not getting anywhere near my home."

[willysilver]

"Of course," he replied, closing his eyes and nodding. Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of notes. "I will call you the uber-car to get you home, then. I would see you safely to your pillow if I could. I fear what the Milesian will do when they catch your scent on the platform."

He wasn't worried about himself, only her. He had done battle with them before, but Sunny was innocent in this ancient quarrel.

[akatawitch]

"I'm not helpless," she assured him, bristling.

Sunny really wasn't proud of her reaction, but it was on her before she had much of a chance to hold it back.

Okay. So. School. Figuring out what to do after school. Anael. Faizel. And now she may be a target for eldritch abominations.

Her chin wobbled and she started to cry.

[willysilver]

The fae stood confused for a moment as her lip trembled. But as the first tear slipped down her cheek his heart softened.

"Of course you are not," he said, reaching out to catch the tear. It sat on his fingertip until his magic made it rise and twist and reshape itself into the bell of a morning glory.

"You are the one who dispatched the Milesian. And I have no doubt you will do it again if faced with one. But I pledge to you, Sunny Nwazue, I will do all I can to keep them from you, from humanity, and from this world if I am at all able."

[akatawitch]

The flower was a momentary distraction from her sudden rush of distress, and just like a child Sunny was pulled away from continuing to weep. She scrubbed roughly at her eyes, frustrated with her lack of control. "I have never even liked you," she said. Humanity and the world were something else entirely, but any feeling for her? "Why bother?"

[willysilver]

"Because I like you. And you are dear to Fin," he replied quite honestly.

[akatawitch]

Remembering how her last conversation with Fin had gone down in flames, Sunny snorted. Oh yeah, that was another thing to add to the list.

Her face was redder than she wanted it to be, but she took a deep breath and wiped her eyes and cheeks with her fingers.

[willysilver]

"Cry no more, little one. Seeing it breaks my heart," he said softly. Willy reached up to touch her again, then thought better of it and let his hand fall. "...Perhaps a drink to seady your nerves?"

[akatawitch]

"Call me little one again and I will jack up your 'fro beyond repair," Sunny snapped. She breathed, sniffled (which only made her mad), and... "But I don't think I'd say no to a drink."

She didn't know what made her say yes, other than, perhaps, a perverse need to try to understand something. Or maybe she really just didn't want to go home and be alone yet. Whatever.

[willysilver]

"I am too tall. You cannot reach my 'fro if I stand up tall," he replied with a smile accompanied by merry twinkle in his eye. "Come, come to the bar. Anything you like," he said then, leading her out of the men's room and into the tiny bar.

[akatawitch]

"That doesn't mean much of anything." Sunny was not going to rise to that bait, though. At least not yet. She followed Willy out into the bar. She asked for cider as she sat down; it was like beer's less disgusting cousin.

[willysilver]

Willy asked for the same. The bar wasn't crowded, exactly. Maybe a dozen people. But it was so small that it felt like they were on the verge of being swallowed by the small crowd.

"Dp you carry your knife always?" he asked. "Because you should Especially now."

[akatawitch]

She wondered if he had any idea how to speak to a human without being patronizing. Sunny pushed that feeling away and went after the important thing. "Now that we've got time for you to give me an actual answer, what was that thing?"

[willysilver]

"They were the People Above," Willy said. His drink was placed before him and he took a sip before continuing. "Then, long ago, my kind went to war with them and banished them to the Land of the Dead. It was a long war, with many casualties. But they were gone. Every now and again a faction will rise up looking for battle, but they are much changed. They are Evil. And now, having been so long in the Land of the Dead, they crave life and take it in any way they can. Mortals are easy to kill and they claim many. Some they drag away, some they simply steal the souls and move on..."

[akatawitch]

"Why was there a war in the first place?" Sunny asked, for the moment ignoring her own drink. Not that she couldn't make a few guesses, but given fairies literally had ritual wars for reasons she didn't really understand, she had to ask. Even without that, it seemed like it might be important.

[willysilver]

"Because when they came they banished my kind to the mounds. To live in the dark without sunlight. We retaliated. The war was long. Many died on both sides," he explained. "My mother was quite cross and wanted them all anhialated. But my sister wove the spell to banish them to the Land of the Dead and then the war was over," Will explained.

[akatawitch]

"Okay. So they want revenge for being shoved onto the wrong side of the veil. Which warped them. And now instead of going after who did this to them, they've given up on being discriminating." Sunny took a drink. "Any idea how they've been getting out?"

[willysilver]

"Not the faintest clue," Willy replied. "Which is deeply troubling. I should go speak to my mother, I think."

That was a prospect he did not relish and his entire demeanor made that much clear.

[akatawitch]

Having had discussions with her brothers about which one of them got to break bad news to their parents, Sunny almost felt bad for him. She even winced a little, just because she couldn't imagine the queen was remotely pleasant to talk to.

"Someone might be holding the door open for them, so to speak," she mused. Masquerades, the strongest ones at least, could only come through when summoned.

[willysilver]

"That is a dismal thought. Perhaps the Unseelie are using them. Perhaps they plan for this year's battle to be more than tradition," Willy said, staring into his cider. It was not an idea he wanted to entertain, but now that he thought it it clung to him.

[akatawitch]

"And what would that mean exactly?" Sunny barely understood the ritual wars of Seelie and Unseelie. Given the always political shitstorm and sometimes active warzone that parts of Nigeria were, the idea of regularly scheduled wars was nothing short of madness.

So she didn't know what the consequences of an Unseelie victory were, not exactly.

[willysilver]

"It would mean the world would fall into a malaise and slowly wither," he replied. "My mother's power keeps the world green and growing. If the Unseelie take over there will be drought and famine and death to mortals around the world. All the light will be extinguished."