The Fairy and The Labyrinth
Aug. 10th, 2010 12:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ayascytheAuthor: ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ayascythe
Fandom: Original fic
Characters: Ethan Wood, Alexis, David Court, Andrew Dukes
Rating: PG-13
Language: English
Categories/Warnings: angst, slight hints of Alexis/Ethan (okay, okay, this time it was intention), major "spoilers" for the finale of season 1 (What? *looks around sheepishly*)
(Dis-)Claimer: This is fanfiction for a TV show I made up for the![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
isurrendered meme. To find out more about the basic plot of The Spring Court, read this introduction post. I made up all of this, however, some elements were influenced by White Wolf's Changeling: The Lost which I don't own.
Summary: A contract needs to be fulfilled, a decision is made and a journey begins.
A/N: Actually I just wanted to write this tiny little snippet, but then it turned out to be a ficmonster. (1700 words! For an imaginary TV show! *facepalms*) Not beta-ed, but I will gladly correct anything that is pointed out to me. Title is snagged from the Pan's Labyrinth soundtrack. Also, this is what I listened to on repeat while writing.
The Fairy and The Labyrinth
Alexis picked at his fingernails, looking questioningly over at David and his manager Dukes. This was taking too long. They've had months to take a pick - they always had, Alexis made sure of that - and still they had to postpone it to the very last moment. It didn't need to be this way, really.
"So. Who's it gonna be, lad? The witch?" He nodded out of the window to where Zoe was just laughing at something Rick had said. "One of your daughters? Or maybe your best pal over here? He's too old anyway."
Both David and Andrew threw him a scathing glare.
"What? I'm sure he wouldn't mind."
"Don't get me wrong, David," Andrew said with as much contempt as he could possibly muster. "Not that I wouldn't do this for you and the circus, but the thought of being stuck with this arrogant prick for the rest of my life is somewhat discouraging for martyrdom."
"Oh, but you wouldn't be stuck with me." Alexis smiled frostily. "You'd be stuck with her and she's far worse than I am."
"Look, I know that this is some sort of entertainment for you-," Andrew spat out, but Alexis lost his patience and slammed his fist on David's desk.
"No, it isn't. Believe me, it is everything but. No one wants to live up to their contracts nowadays. Keeps me waiting. Tries to trick me. Fails. And then there's always the crying and begging. I'll tell ye what: his wife, she had style. Went with me with her head held high and didn't say a word the entire time."
David winced, a mixture of longstanding pain, guilt and excruciating hope in his eyes. "Catherine ... How is she?"
"She's doing fine, I guess." As good as one could do being a slave and servant to a madwoman. You had to stand it, somehow, or else you went mad yourself. Being an asshole always helped, but Mrs. Court didn't seem the type for it.
Alexis sighed. "Your family signed this contract over sixty years ago and you cannot break it. It's kept together with magic that is far stronger and older than anything you can imagine. You have to choose or I will take one."
The ringmaster nodded heavily and buried his face in his hands. If he had still known what it felt like, Alexis probably even would have been sorry for him. No matter what choice David Court would make tonight it would be the wrong one and he would have to live with it for the rest of his life. Alexis knew that - had he been allowed to - David would come with him in an instant, but the contract was clear about that: everyone, anyone from the circus except the current ringmaster. Already, Dukes made a move to step forward. It was almost cute, the way everyone was trying to protect this man from making a decision. First the wife, now the best friend. As if that made the guilt any better.
"I will-"
"I'm going."
All of a sudden the trailer went silent. David and Andrew looked up at Alexis - no, not at but right behind him where the voice had come from. Alexis didn't need to look to know who it was or how badly he was trying to keep down the shaking in his voice. The pounding of his heart was like low thunder in Alexis' ears. The debt-collector didn't look surprised when he turned around, but he had to admit that he, indeed, was.
"Stable lad!" He smirked and placed a hand on the arrival's shoulder. Ethan merely winced. "Another volunteer. You are one lucky man, David Court."
David's eyes widened in shock. Ethan, however, only shook his head. "I'm not gonna let him take Mr. Dukes with him. Or anyone else at that."
"Ethan, no. You mustn't."
"Then who's it gonna be? Vicky? Darcie?" Ethan answered sharply. Funny how calm the boy could appear, when Alexis knew that he was screaming inside. His fingers prickled with fear where he touched Ethan. "Mr Court, you were nice to me when no one else was. You gave me a job and a home, although you didn't need to and I am grateful for that. But this is my choice. Let me go."
Alexis watched curiously as they stared at each other and seemed to arrange things silently. David looked as if he was about to say something, anything, to object. Ethan, on the other hand, looked as determined as probably none of those present had ever seen him.
Crazy, Alexis thought, remembering the frightened rabbit Ethan used to be the first time they met. He must be crazy. That, or there's more to him than I thought.
At last, David nodded. It seemed to cost him a lot of energy, that little movement of his head, full of resignation and defeat. Andrew furrowed his eyebrows but said nothing, placing a comforting hand on David's shoulder. Ethan smiled and Alexis could feel the boy's heart shatter.
"Please tell Darcie I'm sorry I didn't say Goodbye."
With that he let Alexis take him away, out of the trailer and away from the circus.
~*~
The path into her realm was a different one each time: a forgotten lake, an empty cave, a maze of hedges and sometimes even an underground tunnel. This time, they were walking through an ancient forest that Alexis was sure hadn't been on this part of the map before. Strange whispers hung in the air and thorns and underwood made it hard to progress, but they would get there eventually. They always did in the end, even if they didn't want to.
"Why?"
Usually, he din't bother talking to the new servants, when he brought them to her. Let them cry, whine and brood all they wanted as long as they didn't try to run away. That was annoying. Ethan, however, hadn't looked at or talked to him the entire time they made their way into the other realm. In many ways, he was very much like Catherine Court, accepting his fate without making a scene. The only difference was that she had been in grief, Ethan was terrified. All the more did he make Alexis wonder how anyone could be so crazy as to walk right back into imprisonment.
"Why?" he repeated. "You know what it's like. Being there." Being a slave.
"Exactly. The rest of them don't. I'd like to keep it that way."
Alexis snorted in disbelief. "Idiot."
At first it seemed the conversation was over. Ethan dodged a low-hanging branch, stepped over a tangled mass of brambles and avoided some thorns that would have torn his shirt. Only after a few moments did he pause. He looked small and lost amidst all the ancient, glooming trees, yet, something in his eyes was unfaltering. "Maybe. But I've had my years in freedom and that's okay. I haven't got much to loose and at least I know how to handle it."
Alexis stopped at this and threw him a sharp look. "Is that so? And how do you do it? Handle?"
"You stand it. Or else you go mad."
Once again that smile. Crazy and accepting and gentle and stubborn in a way he had never seen before. Part of Alexis was curious what the boy might feel, right at this moment, but his powers were weaker here and he didn't feel like touching him to make things clearer. He didn't feel like a response to this either, so he let out a quiet "Tsk" and told him to move on.
The further they went, the closer the trees stood and the obscurer the light became: green, white, blue and then greenish again. After while, the air started to grow cold, but Alexis took hardly any notice of it. It was only a sign that they were almost there, coming nearer to their destination minute by minute. Ethan, however, started to fall back. When Alexis looked behind him to see where he was, he found him leaning against a tree and, although Ethan tried to hide it, his body was trembling.
"What? Have you forgotten about the climate? I thought you could handle it," Alexis drawled, sarcasm dripping in his voice.
"Must've slipped my memory," Ethan grinned mirthlessly, tensing up in an attempt to stop the shivering. It was rather futile. Probably because the cold wasn't the only reason for the shivering.
Still a frightened rabbit, after all.
Alexis growled in annoyance and stepped closer, causing Ethan to flinch - only to be stared at in disbelief as he held a hip flask in Ethan's face.
"It'll stop the shaking. And you won't be having many opportunites to drink where you are going, anyway."
Ethan still looked flabbergasted, his look wandering from Alexis' face to the hip flask and back again. Probably he was considering the possibility of Alexis trying to poison him. Alexis narrowed his eyes impatiently and that seemed to do the trick: Ethan grabbed the flask, unscrew the lid and sniffed cautiously at the liquid in it. He took a small sip, then a deep drag after he realised it was whiskey. Irish, of course, but Ethan wouldn't know that.
"Thanks," he muttered and returned the flask.
"Now move. And get a grip on yourself. Wimps make her angry."
Ethan nodded and started walking again. There was a small smile on his lips, not quite as prominent as before, but still. A smile. Gentle and stubborn and completely out of place in a world like this. Maybe it was the whiskey, maybe he had just gone mad already. Not that Alexis cared either way, it was just ... he just didn't understand this boy. Alexis sighed. It didn't matter. Not where they were going. He dug out an old squatted smoke and lit it, throwing the match somewhere into the bushes. These woods never burned.
"Come," he snarled, the cigarette dangling between his lips. And he led them into the other world.
ayascythe Fandom: Original fic
Characters: Ethan Wood, Alexis, David Court, Andrew Dukes
Rating: PG-13
Language: English
Categories/Warnings: angst, slight hints of Alexis/Ethan (okay, okay, this time it was intention), major "spoilers" for the finale of season 1 (What? *looks around sheepishly*)
(Dis-)Claimer: This is fanfiction for a TV show I made up for the
isurrendered meme. To find out more about the basic plot of The Spring Court, read this introduction post. I made up all of this, however, some elements were influenced by White Wolf's Changeling: The Lost which I don't own.Summary: A contract needs to be fulfilled, a decision is made and a journey begins.
A/N: Actually I just wanted to write this tiny little snippet, but then it turned out to be a ficmonster. (1700 words! For an imaginary TV show! *facepalms*) Not beta-ed, but I will gladly correct anything that is pointed out to me. Title is snagged from the Pan's Labyrinth soundtrack. Also, this is what I listened to on repeat while writing.
The Fairy and The Labyrinth
Alexis picked at his fingernails, looking questioningly over at David and his manager Dukes. This was taking too long. They've had months to take a pick - they always had, Alexis made sure of that - and still they had to postpone it to the very last moment. It didn't need to be this way, really.
"So. Who's it gonna be, lad? The witch?" He nodded out of the window to where Zoe was just laughing at something Rick had said. "One of your daughters? Or maybe your best pal over here? He's too old anyway."
Both David and Andrew threw him a scathing glare.
"What? I'm sure he wouldn't mind."
"Don't get me wrong, David," Andrew said with as much contempt as he could possibly muster. "Not that I wouldn't do this for you and the circus, but the thought of being stuck with this arrogant prick for the rest of my life is somewhat discouraging for martyrdom."
"Oh, but you wouldn't be stuck with me." Alexis smiled frostily. "You'd be stuck with her and she's far worse than I am."
"Look, I know that this is some sort of entertainment for you-," Andrew spat out, but Alexis lost his patience and slammed his fist on David's desk.
"No, it isn't. Believe me, it is everything but. No one wants to live up to their contracts nowadays. Keeps me waiting. Tries to trick me. Fails. And then there's always the crying and begging. I'll tell ye what: his wife, she had style. Went with me with her head held high and didn't say a word the entire time."
David winced, a mixture of longstanding pain, guilt and excruciating hope in his eyes. "Catherine ... How is she?"
"She's doing fine, I guess." As good as one could do being a slave and servant to a madwoman. You had to stand it, somehow, or else you went mad yourself. Being an asshole always helped, but Mrs. Court didn't seem the type for it.
Alexis sighed. "Your family signed this contract over sixty years ago and you cannot break it. It's kept together with magic that is far stronger and older than anything you can imagine. You have to choose or I will take one."
The ringmaster nodded heavily and buried his face in his hands. If he had still known what it felt like, Alexis probably even would have been sorry for him. No matter what choice David Court would make tonight it would be the wrong one and he would have to live with it for the rest of his life. Alexis knew that - had he been allowed to - David would come with him in an instant, but the contract was clear about that: everyone, anyone from the circus except the current ringmaster. Already, Dukes made a move to step forward. It was almost cute, the way everyone was trying to protect this man from making a decision. First the wife, now the best friend. As if that made the guilt any better.
"I will-"
"I'm going."
All of a sudden the trailer went silent. David and Andrew looked up at Alexis - no, not at but right behind him where the voice had come from. Alexis didn't need to look to know who it was or how badly he was trying to keep down the shaking in his voice. The pounding of his heart was like low thunder in Alexis' ears. The debt-collector didn't look surprised when he turned around, but he had to admit that he, indeed, was.
"Stable lad!" He smirked and placed a hand on the arrival's shoulder. Ethan merely winced. "Another volunteer. You are one lucky man, David Court."
David's eyes widened in shock. Ethan, however, only shook his head. "I'm not gonna let him take Mr. Dukes with him. Or anyone else at that."
"Ethan, no. You mustn't."
"Then who's it gonna be? Vicky? Darcie?" Ethan answered sharply. Funny how calm the boy could appear, when Alexis knew that he was screaming inside. His fingers prickled with fear where he touched Ethan. "Mr Court, you were nice to me when no one else was. You gave me a job and a home, although you didn't need to and I am grateful for that. But this is my choice. Let me go."
Alexis watched curiously as they stared at each other and seemed to arrange things silently. David looked as if he was about to say something, anything, to object. Ethan, on the other hand, looked as determined as probably none of those present had ever seen him.
Crazy, Alexis thought, remembering the frightened rabbit Ethan used to be the first time they met. He must be crazy. That, or there's more to him than I thought.
At last, David nodded. It seemed to cost him a lot of energy, that little movement of his head, full of resignation and defeat. Andrew furrowed his eyebrows but said nothing, placing a comforting hand on David's shoulder. Ethan smiled and Alexis could feel the boy's heart shatter.
"Please tell Darcie I'm sorry I didn't say Goodbye."
With that he let Alexis take him away, out of the trailer and away from the circus.
~*~
The path into her realm was a different one each time: a forgotten lake, an empty cave, a maze of hedges and sometimes even an underground tunnel. This time, they were walking through an ancient forest that Alexis was sure hadn't been on this part of the map before. Strange whispers hung in the air and thorns and underwood made it hard to progress, but they would get there eventually. They always did in the end, even if they didn't want to.
"Why?"
Usually, he din't bother talking to the new servants, when he brought them to her. Let them cry, whine and brood all they wanted as long as they didn't try to run away. That was annoying. Ethan, however, hadn't looked at or talked to him the entire time they made their way into the other realm. In many ways, he was very much like Catherine Court, accepting his fate without making a scene. The only difference was that she had been in grief, Ethan was terrified. All the more did he make Alexis wonder how anyone could be so crazy as to walk right back into imprisonment.
"Why?" he repeated. "You know what it's like. Being there." Being a slave.
"Exactly. The rest of them don't. I'd like to keep it that way."
Alexis snorted in disbelief. "Idiot."
At first it seemed the conversation was over. Ethan dodged a low-hanging branch, stepped over a tangled mass of brambles and avoided some thorns that would have torn his shirt. Only after a few moments did he pause. He looked small and lost amidst all the ancient, glooming trees, yet, something in his eyes was unfaltering. "Maybe. But I've had my years in freedom and that's okay. I haven't got much to loose and at least I know how to handle it."
Alexis stopped at this and threw him a sharp look. "Is that so? And how do you do it? Handle?"
"You stand it. Or else you go mad."
Once again that smile. Crazy and accepting and gentle and stubborn in a way he had never seen before. Part of Alexis was curious what the boy might feel, right at this moment, but his powers were weaker here and he didn't feel like touching him to make things clearer. He didn't feel like a response to this either, so he let out a quiet "Tsk" and told him to move on.
The further they went, the closer the trees stood and the obscurer the light became: green, white, blue and then greenish again. After while, the air started to grow cold, but Alexis took hardly any notice of it. It was only a sign that they were almost there, coming nearer to their destination minute by minute. Ethan, however, started to fall back. When Alexis looked behind him to see where he was, he found him leaning against a tree and, although Ethan tried to hide it, his body was trembling.
"What? Have you forgotten about the climate? I thought you could handle it," Alexis drawled, sarcasm dripping in his voice.
"Must've slipped my memory," Ethan grinned mirthlessly, tensing up in an attempt to stop the shivering. It was rather futile. Probably because the cold wasn't the only reason for the shivering.
Still a frightened rabbit, after all.
Alexis growled in annoyance and stepped closer, causing Ethan to flinch - only to be stared at in disbelief as he held a hip flask in Ethan's face.
"It'll stop the shaking. And you won't be having many opportunites to drink where you are going, anyway."
Ethan still looked flabbergasted, his look wandering from Alexis' face to the hip flask and back again. Probably he was considering the possibility of Alexis trying to poison him. Alexis narrowed his eyes impatiently and that seemed to do the trick: Ethan grabbed the flask, unscrew the lid and sniffed cautiously at the liquid in it. He took a small sip, then a deep drag after he realised it was whiskey. Irish, of course, but Ethan wouldn't know that.
"Thanks," he muttered and returned the flask.
"Now move. And get a grip on yourself. Wimps make her angry."
Ethan nodded and started walking again. There was a small smile on his lips, not quite as prominent as before, but still. A smile. Gentle and stubborn and completely out of place in a world like this. Maybe it was the whiskey, maybe he had just gone mad already. Not that Alexis cared either way, it was just ... he just didn't understand this boy. Alexis sighed. It didn't matter. Not where they were going. He dug out an old squatted smoke and lit it, throwing the match somewhere into the bushes. These woods never burned.
"Come," he snarled, the cigarette dangling between his lips. And he led them into the other world.
