Marissa

  When Marissa interacted with [áine], she honestly wasn’t sure what she expected to happen. They were in a nice garden, and she presumed they could make the contract there if that was the deal. On the other hand, it felt somewhat too normal for such a grand event.

  Or at least what Marissa felt like was supposed to be a grand event.

  “Well,” [áine] said as soon as Marissa got things started, “for now, follow me. We should move away from any potential prying eyes before we make any vows.”

  The Queen turned to gently float off toward another of the doors and the party followed.

  “Prying eyes?” Jazz asked. “You think there might be some here?”

  “I don’t think we have nearly enough information about the Fae World to make any sort of assumptions like that.” Firo said.

  “Definitely not,” Kieran agreed. “If nothing else, we know that the Unseelie Court is in direct opposition to áine’s Seelie Court, but they’re both Fae. Maybe she suspects some of the Unseelie members have infiltrated?”

  “Could be.” Marissa said.

  “We really just don’t have much information on how the whole thing works.” Nyx shrugged.

  “To be fair, none of it has mattered yet.” Evan chimed in. “And, unfortunately, I think we’re about to make this new pact and be whisked away to the Human World and Gorias again.”

  “Gonna miss your new Queen, huh?” Evie joked.

  “No shit. I would die for her.” Evan laughed. “But also, the whole Seelie Court thing is a bit more interesting than a huge army of weird beast men things attacking a city.”

  “I suppose that’s fair.” Marissa said.

  The party was led down several hallways, taking various turns, before [áine] finally stopped them in front of a fairly innocuous door. It was smaller than most they had passed, being about the right size for a normal person to walk through, as opposed to the opulent-looking, far-too-large double doors that seemed to be everywhere else.

  However, the door they stood in front of wasn’t plain. It was covered in plants and vines, and looked almost out of place.

  [áine] turned to the party as she stopped in front of the vine-covered door. “This door leads to my personal sanctuary. It is a magically sealed room that will give us the privacy to create the new [Contract].” She paused a moment, looking over the party, before she turned to the door and waved a hand. The door opened at her gesture, and she drifted inside.

  Marissa had been in the lead of the party as they followed, and was the first to step into the room. Like the door, the entire space - floor, walls, and ceiling alike - were completely covered in plants and vines. Despite that, the space was altogether welcoming, though.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  The room was well lit with natural lighting, as if the sun could get inside, despite there being no light sources in the room. And while the walls and ceiling were full of plants and vines that looked like they wouldn’t be comfortable to walk on, the floor was at least mostly grassy with flowers here and there. Matching the rest of the room, there were some logs and stumps scattered about that would function nicely as seats for visitors.

  Once the entire party entered the room, the door closed behind them. A sound like that of clicking locks followed, and the whole room flashed with a natural green aura for a moment before calming again.

  Several “Um”s and “Uh”s came over the chat as everyone was mildly unnerved by the potential of being locked in with magic. [áine], however, didn’t make any threatening moves toward the party. Instead, she floated over to a wall and motioned her staff toward it. The magical weapon floated over to the wall where it was taken by some vines and rested, as if displayed on the wall for show.

  “Now then, let’s get down to it.” [áine] said, as she floated down toward a stump below where she hung her staff. The party spread out among the seats, as [áine] waited quietly with the quest symbol over her head.

  “Once we’re all ready, let me know,” Marissa said, “I suspect this is probably a cutscene.”

  “Yeah, that feels right for this.” Kieran agreed.

  “If we’re actually about to forge a Fae Contract, there’s no way they don’t make it a cutscene.” Firo added.

  “Ok, does anyone need a quick bathroom break or anything?” Marissa asked. When no one said anything about getting up, she asked, “Then we good to go?”

  When the slew of agreements followed, she clicked on [áine] again. As the screen faded into a cutscene, Marissa heard the expected chimes of her friends deafening in the chat to focus on the cutscene.

  “To begin, I should mention that the [Dagda] and I have already come up with what we believe are the best terms to help us skirt the allowances of the original…[Curse].” [áine] laughed, “We’ve actually been working on a plan similar to this for some time. Of course, with things the way they are now, timetables needed to be moved and all that.” She sighed.

  The camera just briefly showed Hibiscus nod in agreement, typical for any MMO player character in a cutscene.

  “So, here’s the deal as is,” [áine] began, “I, [áine], Queen of the [Seelie Court], agree to return the magic of flight to the [Daoine Sídhe] of the [Human World]. We collectively agree that this newly returned power will only apply to the [Daoine Sídhe], and not to the [Aes Sídhe] nor the [Tuatha Dé Danann] by extension.”

  “Further, anyone who thinks of themselves as one of the [Daoine Sídhe] truly, and without malice, will regain their natural ability of flight. Your group, as the first of the [Daoine Sídhe], renounce any and all ties with the [Aes Sídhe] and [Tuath], and vow to forge your own path in the world.” [áine] grinned then, but it wasn’t the scary, unnerving smiles that she had shown in most of their time together. Instead, it was a rather warm and inviting smile.

  In some ways, it actually made Marissa more worried than before.

  “In addition, I will allow you, your group, and other [Daoine Sídhe] I deem worthy, the ability to - with minimal restrictions - travel between the [Human] and [Fae Worlds] once more. Let it also be known that I advise against dealing directly with many of the Fae on this side until you have adapted to customs here. And for any and all to be careful when dealing with those of the [Unseelie Court].”

  There was a moment of silence before [áine] followed up by asking, “Does this all seem fair to you?”

  A prompt showed up on Marissa’s screen for her to make a decision, but she didn’t actually have any real input for the choice. Given the way the story was presumably meant to move forward this way, she figured that not actually having any really meaningful input was fair enough. This was an MMO in the end, and unlocking flight for the game as a whole would obviously need to be done fairly for everyone.

  Marissa clicked on the “I accept these terms. Let us create this [Contract]” option, and the cutscene continued on.

  The camera moved back to focus on [áine] as she nodded resolutely. “Alright then. I will prepare the [Contract], just be prepared for your part.”

  After briefly showing Hibiscus - and the rest of their party’s characters - all nod, the camera shifted back to [áine]. She began weaving a spell together, including all sorts of spell effects including many Marissa hadn’t seen the game use before. Most of the elemental ones weren’t included, but the distinct vibrant green of more default [Nature Magic] was included. The other major forms of magic, [Shadow], [Holy], and [Arcane], were all present, obvious by their more common effects.

  However, [áine’s] silvery-white magic was included as well, which Marissa was beginning to suspect was something like [Fae Magic]. There was also a very distinct effect that looked strange. It was distorted, like the shimmering effect of heat on a hot day that distorted the visuals seen through it. It was nearly invisible, but given what they had learned about the lore from [áine], Marissa suspected that effect was something akin to the world’s magic itself. It was the source of power behind the [Fae Contracts] being so all-consuming.

  Supposedly.

  As [áine] slowly coalesced the disparate magics together, the entire spell slowly condensed into a rotating sphere that hovered about chest height in the air. The colors on it were shifting hues of silver and gold, with clear symbols and runes displayed on bands that encircled the whole thing. [áine] nodded, satisfied with the formation of the magic, and held a hand out just a few inches from touching it, and began to recite her half of the [Contract].

  “I, [Aine], Queen of the Fae, hereby agree to return the magic of flight to the [Daoine Sídhe] of the [Human World]. Anyone that truly considers themselves a part of the [Daoine Sídhe] will be granted the ability of flight, so long as they renounce the [Aes Sídhe] and their fellows.”

  The [Contract] magic pulsed brightly with the vow, the colors surging rapidly for a moment before calming again.

  “Furthermore, anyone I deem worthy will be trusted with the knowledge to travel between the [Human World] and the [Fae World], with few restrictions. Such restrictions, I swear, will be in place only for their own safety, or for the safety of my own people.” [áine] glanced to the side where the party stood, then added, “I also swear that there is no trick, nor hidden objective behind my words in this [Contract].”

  The magic seemed to react to that statement as well, which Marissa felt was a good addition. While she wasn’t really that worried about being duped by the Fae in this moment in a video game like this, she felt if it was a real life scenario, it would have put her somewhat at ease.

  “Now your turn.” [áine] said, stepping back just a single step. The sphere of magic remained hovering in place as it spun in place.

  Hibiscus stepped up to the sphere, placed her hand out toward it, and Marissa was given prompts for what to say. It didn’t really give her much in the way of options to pick, so she simply went down the line.

  “I, as a representative of Clan Nettle Tea, swear that we renounce the [Aes Sídhe], as we are not our ancestors. We, collectively, declare ourselves as [Daoine Sídhe], our own new collective of people. We will abide by this [Contract].”

  Once again, the sphere flashed through its colors before Marissa was given a selection of options once more.

  “Furthermore, we will endeavor to safely spread the word of this [Contract] with the best of intentions.”

  “In addition, we will not abuse the [Fae Queen’s] trust when travelling between the [Worlds].”

  “And finally, we vow, as the newly established [Daoine Sídhe] to find our own way in the world, and forge our own path to a new age.”

  Between each selection Marissa made, the sphere reacted, the swirling colors adding new groups of writing and runes to the magic.

  When she had clicked the final option, the camera moved back to [áine], who nodded and stepped back up to the sphere, joining Hibiscus with her hovering just above it. “We agree to this [Contract]. Let our wills be done.”

  When Marissa clicked her next dialogue option, she was surprised to find the same agreement, “We agree to this [Contract]. Let our wills be done,” was fully voiced for Hibiscus, matching the voice she had chosen for her character at creation. It was the first voice line Hibiscus had, having only ‘spoken’ through grunts and similar noises so far.

  Once the lines were said, the [Contract] magic swirl in a myriad of colors once more, expanded slightly, then condensed further until it was basically no more than a speck on Marissa’s screen.

  Then the sphere exploded. The magic expanded outward from where the sphere had been, traveling in a wave that looked very similar to what Marissa had believed to be the [World's Magic], slightly distorting what Marissa could see on her screen in every direction until it traveled beyond the walls of the room they were in.

  Hibiscus and her party looked around the room with a variety of emotions on each characters’ face before the camera turned back to [áine] again.

  “And so it is done.” She said, her voice carrying a note of finality. “I hope this helps you and the [Human World]. Truly, I do. I also hope that, once this is all said and done, if you find yourselves on the receiving end of some untoward behavior courtesy of some specific parties, that you will call on me for aid. I would gladly give it.”

  [áine] took a deep breath, then settled herself, her eyes closed, as if trying to digest what they had done.

  “And so it begins,” She smiled, her eyes opening and locking onto Hibiscus and the rest of Clan Nettle Tea, “The [Age of the Daoine Sídhe].”

  Sword and Snow as well.