Chapter Text
(As a little note, in this story Alcina never got stabbed with the dagger by Ethan. I only realized after I had written the first chapter and a half that she should have died from the dagger's poison. Anyway, strap in and enjoy)
"HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT SAVING YOUR DAUGHTER WHEN YOU'VE MURDERED MINE!!!" The dragon growled before she lunged at the man who was firing his bullets at her to no avail. Her large claws held him to the ground. Flesh was torn off of his skin as he tried to fight back with his weapons. But he was soon ripped in half and swallowed by the enormous mouth of the dragon.
Alcina thought that would be enough to satisfy her hatred, but it proved to fill nothing - not even her stomach. A loud roar echoed through the skies as she took flight toward the village.
"Bela… Cassandra… Daniela… forgive your foolish mother," she cried, every word putting her into a deeper state of sadness. "If only I had dealt with him from the start, you would all still be by my side…"
The dragon landed in the center of the village, knocking down the statue of a warrior with a sword and shield and causing it to crumble into dust. Lycans took notice of the large beast and became visibly confused, cocking their heads to the side as they aproached swiftly.
Alcina roared once more, her vision filling with red as she began her rampage, slaughtering every beast in sight and destroying the houses until nothing was left standing and snow began to cover the debris.
By the time she was finished, the lords appeared from their territories, all sporting a state of shock.
"Did you finally lose your head, Alci?" Heisenberg shouts, gaining the attention of the dragon that ran towards the man. But before she could get too close, roots grew from the rubble and held the beast down.
"Enough. Do you plan on annihalting the entire world?" Miranda scolds as she appears from the ground and slowly walks over to Alcina.
"This is your fault Heisenberg! If you weren't so adamant on putting on a show, my daughters would still be alive!" The dragon accuses, thrashing in her restraints. But then she felt the gentle touch of Miranda's hands on her hand. No words were said, but Miranda's eyes were loud enough for Alcina to understand - she was sorry, truly sorry for whats happened. Or maybe it was pity, after all she herself was trying to revive her dead daughter. At the very least, there was a shared sense of empathy.
No one spoke of that day since. The village was in utter shambles and no one bothered to fix it.
A day has passed in the matter of a minute for Alcina who wept in her castle, the silence being her greatest enemy. If she listened hard enough, she could hear the sound of her daughters arguing over something trivial and even hear their flies buzzing in annoyance.
"Now now daughters," she found herself muttering before realizing it was all in her head. She curled herself into a fetal position on the floor next to the burnt out fireplace where her daughters always gathered to on cold, bitter days like this one.
~~~~~~
You find yourself lost as you wander through the snow covered forest. The village sounded like a nice place to move to for a quiet, peaceful life. However you weren't expecting to be dropped off from a boat and be greeted with nothing. No one welcomed you, no one asked to carry your small backpack, it was just dead.
But when you came across a large, empty space, you became confused and looked at your map. This should be where the village is, but it's just empty…
'Am I in the wrong area?' you think as you check your phone. No service… Great. You walk further into the open field. A large castle loomed over the vast blanket of snow. 'Better check there first.' To your confusion, you heard your feet crunch into the floor, sounding like metal and glass crunching.
Your fist knocked against the large doors once you passed a drawbridge. But when you hit the door, it creaked open. Raising an eyebrow, you peak your head in, knocking on the door once more to alert anyone of your presence. Your notebook rested in your arm, ready to write something down if a person were to show up.
You were a mute, having gone through a traumatic experience you couldn't remember and your brain has sealed it away for your own safety - that's what people you knew told you anyway. At some point when you were a child, you were unable to form words, your only ways of communication being texts on your phone or writing on pieces of paper.
Making sure your footsteps were loud and heavy, you proceed into the castle, taking a left into a hallway which separated to the right where a bust of a man stood on a small table. You took that right, finding two shut doors. Your steps paused when you heard the sound of someone crying in the next room. You quickly wrote in your notebook before opening a door and examining the large space. A golden chandelier hung in the center with a staircase next to it. But that wasn't what caught your attention first.
A large woman sat next to a fireplace to your right, and she apparently didn't even notice you despite her eyes being open and gazing in your general direction. Make up was smeared all over her face, hair tousled, and clothes torn with several holes.
You knew a broken woman when you saw one.
But she wasn't an ordinary woman, horns were sprouted from her head along with wings and a long tail. And to go with that, white tentacles squirmed from her back as if they had a mind of their own. Her face was half obscured by her arms that were tucking in her legs with her body sitting upright.
You approached her slowly, instantly causing her eyes to glow as they glared at you. Instead of feeling scared, you pressed on and held out your notebook to her.
*Hi, I'm y/n. Sorry for disturbing you, but do you mind if I stay here until I find the village?* Her eyes read over the words before they looked back up at you.
"Leave," she orders bluntly, not moving her face at all, causing her voice to be muffled. You quickly write in your notebook, the words looking a little messy.
*Can you at least point me to where I should go?* She then suddenly begins to laugh before she slowly stands.
"You want to go to the village? There's nothing left! I destroyed everything!" Her loud laughter soon turns to broken sobs as she hides her face behind her hands. "Oh daughters, I'm so sorry…" Tears pricked your eyes, you've always been a person who was easily swayed by emotions. Poking her arm, you gain her attention to read your notebook.
*Can I give you a hug?* Her eyes lingered on the page for a long time, as if her brain wasn't processing the simple request.
"I. Don't. Want. Your sympathy!" She exclaims as she slashed her hand at yours. Her long nails rip through the notebook and graze your fingers, blood leaking from the wounds. You wince in pain and stumble back before tripping over something and landing on your butt. She suddenly appears in front of you and lifts you into the air by your neck. You cough as she swiftly struts through her castle and arrives at the doors you came in through. "Don't come back!"
You're suddenly launched into the air, watching the tall woman get smaller the farther you got. It was hard to see, but you're pretty sure she walked back into her castle.
A peaceful life seemed to be the last thing to be offered here apparently...
Your back suddenly hits something and you thought it was just a wall at first but when it wrapped around your stomach to hold you, you knew better.
"I'm impressed you weren't killed. Exactly what did you say to her?" A woman's voice asks right behind you. Your head whips to the side to see a golden mask right in your face. "Can you not speak?" She asks, her black wings flapping from her back. Do all these women have wings?
You shake your head, causing her to lower you both down to solid ground. You take out your phone and open your notes app before tapping the letters in and showing the phone to the masked woman.
*What happened to her?* She sighs heavily, adjusting the sharp claw rings on her fingers.
"A terrible incident. A man went into her castle and murdered her daughters," she explains. Your heart clenched from her words as you turned toward the castle and began making your way over to it. "Where do you think you're going?" You type as you walk but the woman grabs your shoulder and stops you.
*I need to apologize* Despite reading this, she shakes her head.
"Unless you have a death wish, I advise you to give her some space. You're lucky to get out of there mostly unscathed, however if I weren't here, you'd be a corpse in the snow once you landed. Either you can come with me, or die in that castle." You look between her and the castle behind you before ultimately nodding weakly and going with her.
~~~~~~
Alcina stumbled back toward the fireplace in the main hall, dropping to her knees before she even reached the couch. Falling forward, she barely catches herself in time before her face could smack on the floor. Her vision shifted in haziness - becoming blurry and sharp several times. Heaving, she could feel her tail whip behind her. She ate too much, her body hypersensitive and becoming out of control.
Miranda had warned her to maintain a normal balance of food, or else this would happen.
Eyes focusing on a sheet of white below her, she gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to go on another rampage. With uneasy hands, she picked up a few pieces of papers scattered across the floor. Most of the words written on them were cut off but of course as if she must be reminded of her sadness, one single word was still intact.
*hug?* The paper began to become wet as fresh tears landed on it.
"Imbecile," she mumbles to herself, referring to you. "Kindness and love will only bring sadness and heartbreak at some point. The years I spent raising them are for nothing if they must perish before me…"
Alcina leaned her arms onto the couch and rested her head against them. Exhaustion had finally taken her - she hadn't gotten any sleep since the previous day.
~~~~~~
The masked woman teleports you to a small room with a bed and night stand. Other than that, there was nothing else in the room surrounded by the purple walls.
"I am Mother Miranda - a God among the former villagers. Though I suppose the title is worthless now. Call me Miranda."
You nod your head in agreement, looking around the bland room.
"I'm going to be blunt with you, will you allow me to place the cadou into you? It may turn you into a mindless monster, however since you're the only regular human here, I'm afraid you must be Alcina's food source."
Your eyebrows pinch in confusion. The cadou? Monster? And who's Alcina?
Miranda could apparently read your thoughts, or was an incredibly good guesser because she explained everything she could.
You learned that the cadou will possibly give you powers and regenerative abilities, though at the slight chance of your mental stability being lowered. There was a chance your body wouldn't handle it and you'd turn into a wrinkly creature. And finally you learned that the woman you met before was Alcina Dimitrescu - one of the 4 lords who worked under Miranda.
"Will you accept receiving the cadou? I'll give you time to think it over since I must pay Alcina a quick visit to stabilize her transformation." She turned to leave, but you grabbed the sleeve of her cloak. With nervous hands, you typed on your phone.
*What will happen if I refuse?* The eyes behind her mask looked up at you.
"You will never tell anyone what you saw here. I will send you wherever you wish to go and we'll pretend this interaction never happened." Your gaze lowers to the ground as you nod stiffly. She leaves you in the room where you sat on the bed with a slump.
You couldn't refuse. Or rather, you didn't want to refuse. Alcina's bloodshot eyes would haunt you for the rest of your life. You needed to make sure she would be alright and if getting the cadou would mean helping her, you knew what you must do. You didn't know the first thing about helping an emotional person, but you weren't going to quit here.
…..
Maybe an hour or so passes before Miranda returns, clothing wrinkled as if she wrestled an alligator. Worry reached your face as you showed her your phone.
*Are you okay?*
"I wasn't aware she could fight in her sleep… I had to hold her down myself to inject the needle lest my powers over the roots destroy the castle."
*Will she be alright?* She hums as she adjusts her clothes.
"Physically, yes. Her transformation has reverted and I've put her to bed. She'll wake up famished, however thankfully she has her wine to satiate herself for the time being." She then sits next to you and removes her mask, revealing the tired bags under her eyes that her make-up couldn't hide completely. "I believe I have thought of a better way of making you survive the cadou. Yet that will only be if you are willing to let go of your humanity." She was going to continue talking but went silent when she noticed you typing.
*I'm ready.* Her narrowed eyes study your serious expression before she chuckles, finding your determination amusing.
"Very well… I will bring you to a secret cave I accidentally stumbled upon many years ago."
..
The cave she brought you to was very spacious and yet also very dark. Miranda thankfully brought a torch with her, more for you than her since she could see just fine in the blackness. You held onto her sleeve, heart beginning to race the deeper you went. But wait, why did it sound so loud?
"Just to go over everything swiftly; if you make it out of this alive - which I'm 95 percent sure you will - you will become Alcina's food source. However there's more to it. I want you to live with her, keep her company if and when she desires it. I'm afraid I can't fulfill that role because of our established relationship. You are essentially our only hope to return Alcina from her current state of mind."
You nod your head, silently saying you understand.
It wasn't much further before she stops and rests the torch between a crevice in the rocks, successfully standing it up.
"We've arrived. This is your last chance to turn back," she warns but you don't back down. It's not like you had much of a life outside, so there wasn't going to be many things you would regret.
*Ready* You typed simply and she stared at you for a good ten seconds, perhaps trying to pressure you into reconsidering.
"Very well. When I give the word, I would like you to touch the megamycete. From there I must act swiftly to merge the cadou with you. Then I must give you a bit of Alcina's blood to raise your chances of faster regeneration. I apologize for the pain I will cause to you in advance. Now… take a deep breath…" You follow her orders and inhale until your lungs can't take any more air. "...And release…" She then wraps her arms around you and begins to fly up until landing on a mountain of boulders.
The heartbeat was much louder, making you realize it wasn't yours. And even though the torch lit a good chunk of the cave, you could barely see what Miranda was guiding you towards.
"You're braver than the average human. Anyone else would have hightailed it away from this village. I pray your perseverance won't die in vain." With those not so reassuring words, she brought your hand out until you felt something squishy, cold, and wet reach the pads of your fingers.
Suddenly everything turns white around you, Miranda disappearing in the flash. You glanced around the empty void, noticing several people take form before your eyes. They all looked distressed with translucent bodies. Were you looking at ghosts?
But a certain group soon caught your attention when they suddenly appeared. Three girls were huddled together, shivering despite the temperature being warm.
You pulled out your phone and approached them swiftly, concerned for them. Typing your worried question as you walked, you then freeze when you hear them talk clearly despite all the other voices sounding like a jumbled mess.
"Mom, where are you? Your hug always warmed us up," the red head cried with chattering teeth.
"Mother… I'm sorry. I didn't meet your expectations…" The blonde sulked, barely containing her tears. You quickly delete your message and type something else.
"I want to tear that man apart, damn it. I let him go so easily…" the brunette complains but was the first to look up when you approached them.
*Are you related to Alcina?* Light shined in the brunette's eyes as she audibly gasped.
"You know our mother? Do you know where she is?!" She asks, gaining the immediate attention of the other two.