Chapter 8
Pov: Elliott
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‘Why did I say that?’ Elliott thought to herself. She hadn’t even noticed she was stumbling over words until—
“내 사랑, 진정해”. Elliott looked up to see Chun-Dae looking down towards her, a small grin forming on his face. Elliott tilted her head a bit, trying to decipher what he said.
She gave up.
She was about to ask when she felt a kiss planted on her forehead. She looked up only to see Chun-dae moving away, acting as if he didn’t do anything. Whatever was said afterward was lost to deaf ears as Elliott’s face exploded into blush. While she was trying to distract herself, she took note that Koray was nowhere to be seen. She glanced around, looking for any signs of her little sibling. Spotting the library sign above a door, Elliott figured that they were there. She’s sure they’ll be fine.
“--liott?” She looked up when she heard her name being called. Chun-Dae motions her to follow. Following him, she stared in awe walking down the corridor. It has changed since she was last here. A lot more windows and crystals. It didn’t seem to be a dark area in sight. She freezes slightly when she sees the guard. She can't help but stare at the jewel that is on their shoulder. The guard notices and beckons her to look ahead. When she does, she just stares at the sight.
Chun-Dae had turned back around to face Elliott, the light from the windows making him look like an angel in her eyes. How his clothes flow around him, as if there was a sudden breeze, the honey toned amber eyes shining, only dimming once his hair recovers his face. The light hits the top of his head, making the blond part of his hair glow, fading into the ivory black of the ends. The silver veil he was once wearing is now in his hands. He looked like he could have been a normal human, if it weren’t for elf-like ears and the soft fur on his face.
An elk-like tail flicks out from behind him as he walks towards her. “Love? Are you always going to gawk everytime you come here?” He jokes. “Yes” Now, what Elliott was not about to do was admit to him how much of an angel he looked like. If she did, Chun-Dae would tease about it relentlessly. Maybe I want him to. She felt something pat her head, feathers puffing out when she noticed that it was him patter her.
“Have you noticed the ice?” She asked, attempting to hide her flusterness. “The Ice?” Chun-dae echoed. “Ah yes. The place covered in snow for six out of the ten months has ice, very weird indeed.” He deadpanned.
More feathers appeared on her face.
“But yes,” His tone becoming more serious. “I have noticed that there is a lot more Perma-Ice.” That peaked her interest. “Perma-Ice?” She echoed. “Permanent ice. My darling, have you hit your head?” Or is it filled with silk? was left unsaid. Elliott avoided his gaze, too embarrassed to meet it.
Elliott met Chun-dae eyes as he turned her head back towards him, gently holding her chin. “Elli’, dear. You look as if you fell out of a tree.” He kissed her before she could complain about the statement, walking ahead as she processed what just happened. “Don’t just stand there with your mouth open as if you were a fish.”
She shakes her head, before moving to keep her pace consistent with his. Elliot keeps track of the clicking noise every time the deer hybrid takes a step. Short and fast, but calculated, seemingly knowing where to go without knowing. She pulls her coat tighter around herself, watching as Chun-dae stops at a table with a map. She takes note that he doesn’t even bat an eye at the freezing temperatures.
“The perma-ice has shown up here, here, and here.” He taps three different parts, deep blue spikes shooting out the light blue map as he does. “There is a possibility that there is more around, but those are what have been reported.” Elliot blinks. “And why are they so bad anyways? It’s been covered in ice for a while, what makes these so dangerous?” Instead of responding, Chun-dae touches the spot in front of her, a spike much smaller comes out toward her. She looks at it idly, before the deer hybrid touches it, swiftly moving away. She lets out a chirp of alarm as the spike shoots out towards her, it branches off in other directions before he reaches out and puts his hand in front of the spike, disappearing before it could hit her.
“It grows when something living touches it.” He walks back to the otherside of the map. “That’s why we don’t want it around. It’s not natural.” She looks at him, before turning around to see who was entering the room. She takes note of Chun-dae flinching when the door opens, looking up to see who entered. She tilts her head, not recognizing the person. “Ewa.” He greets, before looking at the map. ‘Ewa’ holds out their hand to Elliot. “As Yon said, my name is Ewa. No pronouns.” Ewa gives her a smile.
“May I have your name.” The bird hybrid shakes Ewa’s hand. “Oh, my name is E-“ “Ellie.” She looks over at the deer hybrid, who was looking at Ewa with a deadpan expression. “Don’t trick her, she doesn’t know.” She stares at him with a baffled look. “But Yon” Ewa drawls, “That’s the best reason to do so.” Ewa shakes her hand again. “My name is Ewa, and I am fae.”
Oh. Oh. That makes sense. “Um, hi?” She says weakly. “So you’re the other person Yon here has been dating. I’ve been wanting to meet you.” Elliot nodded, letting go of Ewa’s hand in favour of pulling her coat tighter to herself. She hears the click of hooves leave before returning, tossing a fluffy blanket around her. “Next time, just ask for something instead of freezing.” He mumbles into her ear. He rested his head on her head, pressing his face into her hair.
“You have an interesting sibling.” She looks back at Ewa, who was looking at them with mirth in her eyes. “For some reason, I can’t seem to figure out what they look like.” She hums in response. “Their magic is also off. Unstable even.” Confusion flooded her as Ewa mentioned this, but she didn't say anything. “Do you know where they are?” Ewa nods. “With my assistance. They should be out-“
The door behind the three of them opens.
“Now.”