#warning drake is in this but don't worry he will eventually die in the full version

[belabellissima]

AU a day - 4. Fairytale

Fairy tales tell, as their labels imply

Stories of magic, of creatures that fly,

With giants and dragons and ogres and elves

And inanimate objects that speak for themselves.

There's romance and danger and plotting of schemes

There's good guys and bad guys and some guys in-between.

A fairy tale also reveals some sort of truth,

The perils of choices we make in our youth.

But our story today is different in theme,

For our hero had no choice or so it would seem.

It starts with a fairy bestowing a spell.

This one's for a baby named Andrew of Frell

For as long as Andrew can remember, he’s been cursed.

His earliest memory, from when he was five and in school, had been of another child throwing taunts at a girl. The girl was staying quiet, retrained and pacifying, so Andrew walked up and pushed the other boy away. The boy immediately turned the scowl on Andrew and told him to bite him. Without hesitation, Andrew had reached out and grabbed the boy’s arm, obliging the command.

When the boy had run off screaming, Andrew had turned to leave, but the girl had stopped him. “Thank you,” she said. “I’m Renee.”

“Andrew.”

And from then on, they were friends. Andrew didn’t know yet why he had bit the other child, but as more and more occurrences happened like it, such as when he was unable to speak for a week because of someone yelling at him to shut up, or when his newest foster family gave him back to the orphanage after he had been told to steal from them by another child, or even worse, when Drake found out that he couldn’t say no, not if he phrased it a certain way, Andrew found himself almost clinging to Renee, to the one person who had never made him do anything.

Even Kevin, the household fairy who’d been with Andrew at every house, claiming that he served Andrew and Andrew’s blood only, had accidentally ordered him to do things throughout the years. He was the only person Andrew didn’t hate for doing it, because he stuck with Andrew no matter the consequences to himself.

Apparently, when Andrew was too young to remember, before he even was given his curse of obedience, an ogre looking for an easy meal had tried to eat Andrew, but Kevin had intervened, at great cost to himself. Kevin’s hand had been shattered by the ogre’s club in the fight, and ever since, he hadn’t been able to do magic with as much accuracy or skill as before.

And then, when Andrew didn’t think any of it could get worse, Cass remarried, bringing a new “father” into the picture, along with a new “sibling.” Andrew wondered if the new people would be just as bad as everyone else, or if, Fairies forbid, they would somehow be worse.

They pulled up in a yellow carriage, horses in front gleaming with sweat from the journey. The father stepped out first, tall and imposing as he took in the small house they lived in. Andrew thought it strange that he was moving here, rather than Cass, Drake, and him moving there, but he didn’t dare speak his curiosities aloud. Drake thankfully wasn’t there, was off fighting in the ogre wars, so Andrew didn’t have to worry about him while the new people moved in.

Behind the father, a woman only a year or two older than Andrew stepped out. Blonde as he was, they could’ve passed for blood siblings if it weren’t for how tall she was, especially in her highly impractical heels.

“Sir Reynolds,” Cass said, stepping forward with open arms, kissing her new husband once on each cheek before turning to the daughter. “And you must be Allison.” She hugged the girl briefly, then gestured an arm back at Andrew. “This is Andrew. I took him in when the orphanage wouldn’t take him back again, he’s quite sweet. My son is away however, off fighting those terrible ogres.”

Sir Reynolds nodded with an easy smile, then strode right by Andrew as if he didn’t exist. Which was fine, really. If Andrew couldn’t even be noticed, it was all the better for him.

Inside, things changed. While Sir Reynolds went off to talk with Cass, the previously quiet Allison took off like a whirlwind, throwing up posters and picking up every little trinket around to look at it closely, only to put them down in a random place, uncaring of the mess she was making.

“Is this hutch meant to be a closet?” she finally asked, turning to Andrew with an incredulous look. Without waiting for a response, she continued, “It’s pathetic. My clothes need more room than this.”

She looked around for a moment, then, with her gaze landing on Andrew, declared. “I’ll have to use yours.”

Andrew didn’t deign her outburst with a response.

Allison clearly wasn’t having it though. “Well come on,” she said. “Show it to me.”

Instantly, Andrew was turning and heading for his room, leaving a stunned Allision behind as he dutifully carried out her command. He ground his teeth together as he opened the closet door, eyes narrowed as she stepped into the room. She was watching him closely, a curious gleam in her eyes, before she looked away.

“It’s so… quaint.” She looked around the room one last time. “On second thought, I think I’ll make my own space work. Show me to my room.”

Andrew hated the expectant look she tossed his way. From just one action, she already suspected. Andrew didn’t want to listen, didn’t want her anywhere near him, especially once she found out that he couldn’t say no. He wanted to fight her, to fight the command. With all his being, he tried.

“Well, hurry up,” Allison said.

Andrew went.

#bela writes #andrew minyard #allison reynolds #aftg fic #no profreading we die like mne #AU a day #day 4 #AKA THE ELLA ENCHANTED AU THATS BEEN ON MY MIND FOR WEEKS #warning drake is in this but don't worry he will eventually die in the full version #FUCKING FINALLY IVE BEEN WANTING TO WRITE THIS FOR SO LONG AND ITS FINALLY HERE JUST A LITTLE #I CANT WAIT TO FINISH WRITING THIS WHOLE THING OH MY GOD