t h e   s o r c e r e s s

she has to THINK, unconsciously gripping the pretty lady’s ( assie’s !! ) hand a bit more tightly, not too eager to let go. there’s the CELL numbers && then there’s the HOME number. but which should they call ?? probably home, since mummy is home !! so she tells the lady her home phone number carefully, but pauses.

that IS her phone, right ??

“ i think that’s what it is, ” lucy mumbles, thoughts jumbled up— it’s too many numbers !! but yes, she’s fairly sure that’s what it is.

“ you think so. wonderful. ”   it’s a struggle to keep the sarcasm in her town down to a level low enough that the girl won’t pick up on it. she dials the number anyway, bracing herself for a voicemail or a wrong number. either one will probably lead to her TRAIPSING OFF with the kid to find the damn park and, or possibly or, her parents.

&& missing her bus && being late, more importantly. she’s almost tempted to just LEAVE, && probably she would if the girl weren’t so small and, well, more than a little reminiscent of DG.

asskuhdella !! that’s a very long name ( && lucy thinks long names are pretty— like WILHELMINA && ASSKUHDELLA, but short names—- L-U-C-Y are easier !! ). she’s in awe as she looks up at the pretty lady.

“ yes, ” she announces proudly, as her parents had made her memorize both phone numbers from an early age, in case she ever got lost. now would come the time to show off how much she knew !! yes, good, nice !! “ yes. i learned it all. in case of an emergency !! ”

she squeezes assie’s hand && steps closer. “ this is an emergency, ” she whispers in explanation.

she hesitates for a moment, waiting for the girl to actually offer the requested information before realizing it won’t be delivered without further prompting.    ( she’s always wondered what it is about children’s brains that makes them all so obliviously RECALCITRANT. )

she bites her tongue, the tiny thing sticking slightly out between her lips as she looks down, somewhat guiltily. YES, she should be with mummy && daddy, but they’d trusted her to not get lost && stay by the park. but she’d seen a gorgeous brown puppy run across the street && she’d chased after it without a thought !!

“ yes. yes, i should be, ” lucy admits, looking up at the lady. without asking, she grabs the lady’s hand, not breaking eye contact. the pretty lady is the Adult around here. “ but i was chasing a cute puppy !! it was small && brown && had floppy ears— did YOU see it ?? ”

azkadellia’s startled when the little girl takes her hand   ( and aren’t children taught NOT to do that sort of thing nowadays ??   stranger-danger and everything ?? )   but she manages not to flinch.

( the last time she held anyone’s hand, her SISTER was still alive. )

“ i—- ”   no, she hasn’t seen any dogs, or any parks, and her bus is supposed to be here in two minutes. not a lot of TIME to go hunting for some girl’s parents.

✖️: @stillnessbetween

she’s terribly lost && frightened, but the excitement of the place mostly puts her thoughts at ease !! she doesn’t know how she quite ended up— well, wherever she is, but she wants to know !!

“ excuse me, miss, ” lucy politely says, voice a bit softer than usual, shaky from the uncertainty, “ i think i got lost. do you know where the park is ?? i don’t mean to bother you. ”

“ wherever it is, it isn’t here. ”   there’s   p r o b a b l y   a park in the neighborhood. somewhere. azkadellia’s pretty sure she’s glimpsed a lawn once or twice, at least.

She thought about it, searching her memory for some recollection. The name sounded vaguely familiar, perhaps she heard the name when the trial was announced, but she couldn’t place a face to it.

“What about him?”

“he’s to be executed. for treason and war crimes.” that horner had been nothing but loyal to azkadellia’s regime seemed to matter very little. the former rebels seemed determine to treat the entire fifteen annuals as nothing but a tiny blip on the otherwise unbroken span of her mother’s reign.

it rankled, although not so much as the immenent death of her soldiers.

She tilts her head curiously at the tentative question. It isn’t like her sister to be shy, but then, they’re still relearning how they fit together after all these years, so maybe it’s only natural that there’s still some lingering awkwardness.

She nods in answer, then pauses. “Everything okay?”

azkadellia takes a moment to weigh her thoughts before she answers, half wishing that DG would’ve brushed her off for once. 

“DG?” 

she’s not prone to fidgeting and it feels awkward, like being fifteen again, but at the same time she can’t summon enough composure to stand still. nerves, azkadellia thinks, do not suit her.

DG shakes her head. “No bears, I promise.” She frowns. “Well, there weren’t any earlier, so there probably aren’t any now.” She grabs her sister by the hand and takes off, tugging impatiently when Az doesn’t move fast enough for her. At long last she stops near a hole in the ground and peers inside, and sure enough, the baby bunnies she found earlier are still nestled inside. Still not seeing any sign of the mother, DG looked up at her sister, her eyes shining hopefully.

“Do you think we can keep them?”

“oh, well, that’s comforting,” azkadellia says dryly. “at least we probably won’t get eaten by any bears today.” 

it’s a moment’s work to get her feet in order so she can keep pace with DG—-how DG manages to leap from standstill to sprint without any intervening steps has always been a mystery to azkadellia, and it’s been the cause of more stumbles on her part than any other tripping hazard combined-—but once she settles into things, she finds she’s enjoying herself. she usually does on DG’s adventures, however reluctant she is to get roped into them in the first place.

she crouches over the rabbit’s little burrow, head bent so she’s bumping against DG to be able to see inside. 

@stillnessbetween​

             She narrowed her eyes at the stranger, wondering what              exactly the stranger expected from colliding into her. Did              she believe that fae were nice? They weren’t evil, but               Marianne was no stranger to getting cruel when it came              to humans.           ❝ You know, faeries aren’t genies — sticking around doesn’t                                         mean you’ll get a wish. ❞

          Azkadellia simply returned the faery’s irritated           stare with one of her own. The sensible thing to           do would involve apologizing and hurrying away           before the more powerful being decided to take           retribution for the crime of being in the faery’s           way, but she had rather too much pride for that.

         ❝ I don’t believe in wishing. And I know better than             to ask, even if you were a genie. ❞

     ❝ no, PLEASE. ❞

the hatter gathers herself, taking a moment to let it SINK IN that she needs to be LIKED if she’s going to get herself out of this one. 

     so she smiles CHARMINGLY      after a moment, straightening      herself up and turning towards      the      tiny       THREAT.

❝ i’m SORRY. 

it was quite inconvenient of me to fall out of your mirror. my name is the mad hatter and i come from a WONDERLAND. ❞

❝ mad hatter is not a NAME. ❞ 

although the other information is elucidating, she supposes.

WONDERLAND... it’s one of many smaller realms to which the OTHER SIDE plays host, and one liable to turn men mad if they stay too long. that’s about the extent of her knowledge of the place, really.

      her eyes narrow.

“I know.” Her shoulders slump ever so slightly, but it’s impossible for her mood to stay down for long, and she brightens a moment later, eyes sparkling in excitement. She might as well mention what it was she was running to tell her sister. “I found something in the woods, Az! You have to see!” She tugs at her sister’s arm impatiently.