Ivy

Due to Ethan's advanced injuries, it didn't look like he'd be making a return to Chicago anytime soon. How the hell would he tell his boss? Was there still a way to fetch his laptop so he could still write articles outside of the office? His only comfort at the moment was Ivy, and how mystical her village could end up being, Since he was a child he had always wanted to visit where she had grown up, and who the hell knew breaking his arm and having his grandparents' house raided by centaurs and vampires would do that?

Ethan glanced up at her slowly. "Is there any way I could contact him? Or get my laptop back, perhaps?"
"I'll have my brother fetch your things," she responded, before wringing out the rag and placing it back in the basin.
"Thank you," he murmured feebly, trying to adjust his position so it didn't apply pressure to the long gash against his left hip. Ethan supposed he was lucky to be alive, and if he hadn't managed to kill the vampire, there was a good chance he would have been a lifeless corpse by the time Ivy came around in the morning. The thought chilled him, in spite of the warmness of the bed, his eyes closing once more as he let out a soft sigh. "Thanks for everything, Ivy."

His gratitude was strong; after all, she didn't have to care for him. Ethan had left her, breaking a promise, and only returning because of a chore his father had assigned him to do. He still felt absolutely horrible about it, and would continue to until Ivy felt comfortable opening up to him again.

"Rest," she murmured before drawing a finger down his jaw and fluttering from the bed.

Ethan tried to do just that.
 
"He doesn't look weird," Cherry, another one of Ivy's young sisters, said curiously. She had been hovering over the sleeping human since he had closed his eyes, intrigued by his appearance and the world that he was apart of. When it looked like his eyes were fluttering she would grow excited, a flurry of questions racing within her. Like her big sister, Cherry had always been interested in the worlds that laid beyond their own.
"Why won't daddy let us keep him?" she asked innocently, watching as Ivy tended to the gash on his hip, patting at it carefully with a clear salve.
"He's not a pet, Cherry," Ivy laughed lightly, "he's got his own life, like we do here. Plus, daddy would be very mad at me if he knew that I was talking to a human all my life."
"Can't we at least show him around her, and then he can take us into the city?"
Ivy leaned over Ethan's sleeping form and tapped her baby sister on the nose playfully. With a grin, she told him honestly, "our world is no please for a human, sweetie. And his world is no place for us."

~ ~ ~

The night wore on and Ivy continued to tend to Ethan. He only woke up once, groggily asking for a glass of water. And after being given it, he had fallen immediately back into sleep, an array of elvish green and blue eyes staring own at him. Soon, the rest of the family went to sleep - of course, Ivy continued to tend to the human, ensuring his wounds were clean and any blood had been stopped. The stuff had a foul odour to her nose, but she knew he needed to be taken care of.

"Hello there," she smiled softly when late into the night Ethan woke up.
He offered back a sleepy smile, trying to shift only to let out a faint groan in pain and surprise. Apparently, ten hours of sleep had made him forget what he had endured.
"How is your head?" Ivy whispered, touching his temple.
"A little better," he murmured.
"You've been sleeping for a very long time, so I'd like to hope so."
 
There was only so long before Ethan grew restless in the bed. He was the type of guy that enjoyed moving around, finding it excruciating to lay in one spot for long. This was predominantly why he had worked his ass off for a promotion, so that he didn't have to sit in a cubicle all day trying to produce uninspiring articles. Ethan had a goal of eventually becoming an author, of fantasy particularly, and with the money he received from journalism, he hoped his dreams would become a reality. But this was a hell of an advantage for any fantasy writer – actually submerged in magic!

Later that night, Ethan was glad Ivy had come around again and after cleaning all his cuts, he murmured, "Show me around."
"That could be dangerous, Ethan."
"It's late, everyone's sleeping and there's only so much time someone could spend in one place for so long," Ethan protested with a tiny grin. Save for relieving himself or washing up, he had practically moved from the tiny bed.
She shook her head, "always a bad influence."
"And that's why you adore me," he replied, before glancing up at her with the most doeblue eyes he could muster. "Please."

For some reason, perhaps fate, he had landed in her village thirteen years later. Didn't she want to seize the opportunity of bringing the vivid stories of her home to life? Ethan knew he sure did. '

"Fine," she sighed, "but we need to be careful, alright?"
Ethan smirked, before sliding out of bed, his arm still in captured in a sling. "Sweet."


~ ~ ~

By the time they were outside, he glanced at the village (from what he could see) in awe, bulky trees surrounding the area with leaves that literally sparkled fluorescent colors like green and gold. The air was thick, crickets chirping in a soft melody, with a sweetness that resembled honey, the slightly wet grass sounding from beneath the soles of his shoes.

A bunch of wooden houses remained close to each other, all holding a story of its own with rich bark and inviting auras. Ethan couldn't help but wonder his eyes in awe.

"Ivy…" he murmured. "This is incredible."
 
Ivy supposed that the place lost its magic to her simply because she had lived here her entire life. Of course, she knew that her home village was beautiful; the leaves glistened with raindrops days after the downpour had subsided, and everything was always so lush and green. Flowers bloomed to every corner, and as soon as they were picked, they would regrow into another beautiful blossom.

"Come," she smiled, taking his hand, "I will show you the magic of this place."

She knew what she was doing was wrong - showing an outsider the ways of her world - but Ivy knew that Ethan was harmless and that he posed no threat from the inside. It was so exhilerating to show him the world that she had once so fondly spoken of, often her words coming up short. Now, she would no longer have to fight for the right adjectives to explain the village.

Ivy's very favourite part of the village was the garden. When she was just young and her mother was still alive, Ivy would come here with her. And the woman would sing a song in her beautiful, medolic voice, filling every crevice with her song. Sometimes, if Ivy closed her eyes, she could still hear her mother's singing.
The garden of the village was not far off from the homes, but sometimes felt like a whole other world. This was the place where the beauty of the fae world truly came alive. Encased in a circle of overhanging willow trees and lush foliage, it felt surreal. Ivy tried to come as often as she could, and it felt wonderful to be able to share it with someone she felt so fond of.

"This is my favourite place," she nodded into the garden, "since I was just a little girl."

The trees were lush and green as the ones in the inner village, but this time the faint light cast with enough to spark them with flecks of yellow and gold. Small jars holding ever-living fireflies were strung around the area, illuminating an array of beautiful, colourful flowers. Each one was unique, an array of purple and blue and pink covering every inch of the ground. There were small, vine-laden benchs for eating and relaxing, and an area where spring time festivities were always held. It was a small area, but truly beautiful for the young fairy.
 
As expected, the garden was as magnificent as the village, everything having its own ethereal glow at night, Ivy included. If Ethan had a camera he would have captured the scene to keep vivid in his mind forever, but for now he'd have to rely on his memory to save the scene.

"I could stay here forever," he murmured, captured in the magical hold of the garden. With each curling tree, vine-laden bench, and blossoming flower, he found himself enthralled by a beauty humankind couldn't even touch.
They were now on the ground, in a familiar position they had used as kids.
Ivy nodded her head, "me too."
Ethan glanced up at the canopy of leaves, relaxing in the silence for several moments before murmuring, "I don't think our gardens could ever match yours."

Everything here just felt so fresh, and raw, the air completely untouched by pollution or human intervention. Here, they just let things be, allowing nature to thrive without altering it for commercial needs.

"Everything has its own kind of beauty, right?"
Ethan shrugged. "Not like this. Everything here is just so intact. Back home, people meddled with natural beauty too much – cutting down forests to build malls or movie theaters."
"I don't know what that stuff is, silly," she smiled, "but yes, we just added a few things to make it livable."
He snickered. "Oh, right. Well, a mall is where you buy clothes, and a movie theater is where you watch…movies, sort of like everyday life, but recorded, with action, or comedy, or romance thrown in."
 
Now that they were on the ground, Ethan sitting with his legs crossed and Ivy completely laid out, she began to feel the effects of exhaustion set in. Her limbs ached for sleep and her brain screamed for it, the late nights and early mornings taking a toll on her body. The peaceful aura that the garden emitted didn't help much either; the starry night and crickets in the bush were enough to force her eyelids shut.

"Did you ever wonder what it would be like if we lived in the same world?" she asked. It was something quite interesting to contemplate; they had a connection since the beginning, and if they had been of the same species...
"Chaotic," he murmured with a tiny grin.
Her brows furrowed, "why do you say that?"
"Because, like you said, humans and fairies seem so different in nature. I think we're the only exception to that rule, though."
She shrugged, "I mean, what if we were the same? Makes me wonder what our childhood would have been like if we were never seperated." Ethan had brought up ideas of love before, leading the young woman to believe that they could have been so much more. As a child she had been naive to the idea, but now that looked back at it... could it have been anything less than love?
"It'd be different," he murmured. "But I kind of like how different we are. I was falling in love with you for who you were, not your race, or the fact our worlds were completely separate."
His words warmed her more than he probably realized. "I don't know anything about love," she admitted.
 
Ethan was a firm believer in fate, and how it worked. He loved the fact they were different, and how at such a young age, they had managed to see through the other's race, instead of directly at it. Ethan adored Ivy just for being her, regardless of the fact she was a fairy and had wings, or not.

"Me neither," he admitted. "But you made me feel this…tingling sensation inside that I was never able to adequately describe." Of course at his young age, and lack of exposure of it, he had never been able to truly tell if it was love or not, but it had felt like it.
She nodded, "and every time you tried to kiss me, my throat would go in a knot and my heart would beat so loudly I was afraid you would hear it."
Ethan smirked, lowering his body slowly against the grass so their shoulders touched. "I loved when you blushed," he mused, recalling the memories in clarity. The summer he had managed to visit from Utah, he had been around twelve years old, with more hormones and a newfound eye for Ivy's once innocent beauty. They had exchanged a few innocent pecks on the kiss, one time kissing on the lips…Ethan had enjoyed it fervently.

"Do you think we would have…been together if I had stayed?" Ethan questioned. It seemed like they had a good enough chance, even if he would still only be visiting during the summer.
"Been together?" she cocked an eyebrow, "we would have remained friends, surely."
He snickered softly. "I don't know how you guys call it here, but we call it 'dating'. It's basically when you start seeing each other romantically, rather than through friendship."

"Romance doesn't exist here," she explained, "but it sounds like a nice idea, and I'd like to believe it could have happened."
"Yeah," he murmured.
 
Ivy rolled onto her side, propping her head up on one arm and reaching her fingers into the grass with her other hand. She asked him, "what do you think?"

Of course they could play the game of 'what if' and wonder what could have happened if Ethan had continued to visit in the summertime. Ivy wondered what kind of relationship could have bloomed, and what sort of secrets they could have kept for all this time.

"About what?" he murmured.
"Do you think... we could have fallen in love?" she asked, cheeks flushing a dark crimson. There was something so thrilling about the prospect to her - to know that she was so close to having what her parents had.
"Definitely," he responded sincerely.
Ivy flopped back down onto her back, staring up at the starry sky. "It's weird how time can change things, and people, and feelings, so easily."
"Yeah," he agreed, softly. "But there's always the opportunity to revert back to old ways."

Ivy smiled; so they were speaking in riddles, but that was okay with Ivy. She liked to believe that someday they could return to being that close, and considering Ethan was stuck here from the time being, what better time to reconnect? Of course her trust still lingered around him (he had, and could again, leave her after all) she knew that her heart wasn't tentative to care for him again. That meant more to her than any other feeling, too.

"I think we'd have our heads lost in no time." Her father would never approve of her habouring a human, much less having a relationship with him!
Ethan arched an eyebrow. "Heads lost?"
"My father would kill you. And then kill me."
"Oh, wow," he whispered. "I'm guessing he doesn't like humans?"
"Anything that could potentially hurt his family is an enemy to my father," Ivy explained. Then she leaned in a bit closer, "but what he doesn't know won't hurt him, right?"
 
Ethan smirked, "most definitely." He had no idea what her father was like or if he held any similarities with the strict fathers in human society who could easily kick a guy's ass if he didn't think said guy was good for his daughter. Ethan supposed him being a completely different race would take him out of the running completely, but that wouldn't stop him from wanting to try.

They talked for a while more until the night was growing long, sun begin to tinge in explosions of orange and red from the horizon. Ivy managed to sneak him past the early risers, and back into the house, the lights still dimmed. Ethan honestly could have explored more, but at that point he could tell it wasn't his call to make. How did they react to humans? With pitch knives and pitch forks? The way she was sneaking him around, it was only natural for Ethan to believe they weren't the friendliest to his kind.

"Go back to sleep," she murmured, after helping into bed and drawing the covers up. "My family will be awake soon." Ethan opened his mouth to say something, but she pressed her finger to it, emerald eyes glowing in the darkness. "If they hear us, I won't be able to come up with an excuse to why I'm still in here."
He bit the inside of his cheek, although a tiny smirk tinged at his lips. "We used to sneak around all the time, what's the difference now?"
"Well, now we're older we know the consequences. A slap on the wrist won't do it, now," she whispered sheepishly.

Ethan snickered, shrugging slightly. "What's the worst they'll do to us if they figure out you're smuggling a human?"
"I don't even want to know," she shook her head.
"Well I suppose I wouldn't want to get you in trouble now," he murmured teasingly. "But y'know, before you go, I think I won't be able to go to sleep properly without one of your 'good night' kisses…"

He paused, smirking at her shocked expression. "On the cheek, of course."

Ethan had no idea where his forwardness was even coming from, but as long as his intentions were innocent, it shouldn't be too bad.
 
"What makes you think that I still feel like that about you, Ethan?" she cocked a brow playfully.
"Do you?" he questioned with a slight smile.
"I guess I'll leave you wonder then," Ivy grinned, planting the faintest of kisses on his voice before scurrying out of the room.

Ivy had to admit, she still did still have strong feelings for Ethan, feelings that had only blossomed when she had seen him again just days ago. Long since had the childhood crush faded, her memories along with it - now all she saw was a man, muscular but handsome by nature, tall and bursting with all sorts of enthusasism and protectiveness. Of course Ivy still saw bits of the boy she had once been so fond of, but as his person had, her feeling for him had developed greatly.

What a frightening thought though, feeling for a human? Surely they could never be together, and sneaking around (as they had learned as children) got old quickly. But for the sake of her intrigue with him, Ivy was willing to give this a shot even if it did mean disobeying her father and ptoentially hurting them all. For some stupid and crazy reason, it really didn't matter to her - she was wanted to get to the know the grown man Ethan, wanted to let him inside of her world for the first time.

~ ~ ~

For the next several days, Ivy kept Ethan a secret. She only revealed him to the siblings that she knew could keep the secret - and only once did Ruby speak of the human to her tutor, something that Ivy had covered up easily with the excuse of her sister's imagination. All the way Ethan remained stowed in Ivy's bedroom, only venturing to the garden with her at night. Sometimes she was brave enough to take him into the heart of the village where the shops and entertainment was lined, but most of the time they stayed secluded to the garden.
His arm was healing nicely, and with the aid of the salves prepared in the village, he was almost back to normal. Ivy had to admit, she didn't like the progress as much as she should have - the closer he got to being healed, the closer he was to returning to the city and leaving her.
 
Ethan had managed to get out of bed on his own that day, washing himself in the small room that contained a large basin and a pale of fresh water Ivy had set for him the night before. He had gotten used to a daily routine after arriving in her village which involved remaining low-profile, somehow convincing his boss to allow him to work from home, typing up articles on the laptop her brothers had fetched for him, and patiently waiting on any food Ivy brought. It wasn't that terrible – after a while it became a way of life Ethan easily adapted too.

One day, after a Skype session with his father, the door creaked open, Ethan automatically expecting it would be Ivy, just to be surprised by a little girl with the most mischievous of expressions on her face.

"You're the human, right?" she questioned boldly, shutting the door behind her as if her entering his room without supervision was a secret she intended to keep.
Ethan raised his brows, although a friendly smile pulled at his lips. He shut his laptop. "You got the right guy."
"I'm Cornelia," she introduced, sticking out her hand politely."
"Ethan."

Pausing, she trailed around the bed, grabbing the dirty pale of water. "You and my sister have been hanging out a lot."
He shrugged. "She's been very helpful to me recovering."
Cornelia giggled, pure knowing glittering in her blue eyes. "How is sneaking out in the middle of the night helping your arm any?"
Ethan glanced at her in confusion, before scoffing to himself silently. "You're observant."
She shrugged. "Are you two…in love?" The last two words left her tongue as if they were completely alien to her – reasonably so.

Ethan chuckled, glancing over at her in surprise. "I thought love didn't exist here."
"It doesn't," she snapped quickly, before smiling again. "Ivy just tells how us humans are, though. And she said they fall in love."
It was his turn to shrug. "Not everyone falls in love."
"Well you two look at each other differently."
"Again, a very observant child you are."
"Daddy won't be happy if he figures out you exist, though. And he'll be very mad if he figures out you two like each other."
"He doesn't have to know."

Cornelia carried the pale towards the door, rolling her eyes playfully. "I guess I could keep your secret."
"I'm flattered."
 
"Cornelia?" Ivy called, knocking on the door to Ethan's room. When the young girl wasn't huddled into bed with her siblings, Ivy only had one real suspicious to the where the eleven-year-old could be. She had questioning her eldest sister about Ethan for days now, always asking but never really getting a true answer; the considering how mischevious the young girl was, Ivy knew it was only a matter of time before she snuck in to see him.

Sure enough, the young girl was sitting on the floor in front of Ethan's cot, listening to the vivid images he portrayed as he explained his world to her. In a way, Cornelia reminded Ivy much of her childhood self, always so curious about the other worlds - unfortunately, the girl was a little more rebelious than she was. This made her much harder to control, though Ivy never once discouraged her curiousity.

"Lia!" she scoffed, placing her hands on her hips.
Immediately the two of them looked up, looking more like kids stealing cookies from the jar that two people conversing.
Cornelia looked down sheepishly, standing up, "I was just curious, Ivy! And he's interesting."
Ivy shook her head and laughed. She raised her chin to Ethan, "as long as you aren't telling her about guns and drugs and whatever other atrocities you have over there. She's only eleven."
"Me?" he questioned with a gasp before grinning. "'Course not."

Ivy rolled her eyes but took a seat on the edge of the bed anyways, "so what was he telling you about, Lia?"
The little girl grinned widely, her blue eyes sparkling with the new knowledge. She explained, "well, ther are lots of tall buildings made of metal, and they are shiny and the windows sparkle like glass. People work in them, and shop, like we do! And they drive cars, like the ones that Daddy explained to us. But know what the best part is, Ive? The families are like ours! They stay together, well most of the time, and people don't just go and have babies and then leave each other. They do this thing called marry"-she looked at Ethan, as though unsure of the word-"and they stay together for a very long time! It's really neat, and romantic, like Ethan taught me."
 
Ethan snickered. He was basically going off of what he learned from movies as far as romance went, but he thought he did a pretty good job explaining it to Lia. The little girl made him love kids again, with all that curiosity – she somewhat reminded him of himself when he was younger, the questions never seizing to die down about Ivy's hidden world.

""Right!" he exclaimed, grinning at Cornelia.
She giggled, before reaching for that pale of water once more, and hopping off the bed. He assumed it was an obligation to finish chores. "Could I talk to him some more, Ivy? Pretty please? After I'm done with my chores?"
Ivy smiled sheepishly, "only if Ethan's okay with it."
"My door is always open, madame," he responded with a goofy smile before the little girl giggled and rushed out of the door, eager to finish her morning tasks.

Ethan's eyes focused on Ivy though once the door shut, leaving them completely alone. "When's your father returning?" He figured it was safe territory to inquire about – at least he would know when it would become subsequently harder to hide.
"I don't know," she explained, "could be today, or years from now, or... never."
He nodded, placing his laptop on the nightstand and patting the side of bed closest to him. "I think my bedside is getting a little chilly." He tried to stifle another smirk, straightening his body into a better sitting position.

Ethan had no idea what they were at this point; but he wouldn't think about it all too much. Just being around Ivy was enough for him.
 
Ivy smiled softly and shifted closer to Ethan, their shoulders almost touching. Even in her world where everything smelled sweet and floral, his musky scent still penetrated the air, reaching her. She had to admit, his scent was rather intoxicating - a change from the aroma of her world, like taking a breath of a totally new kind of air. It was both exhilerating and frightening for the young woman.

"I know that he would like you," Ivy explained, "but it's the fact that you're human. He thinks humans are barbaric... he's seen it all when he's gone into the city."
Before Ivy had met Ethan, she had thought all humans to be monsters - they were almost always the anatagonist in the stories her father told to her when she was very young. Of course her mind had changed when she had met the human boy that only showed up at summertime, but even then, she was always wary.
"He goes into the city?" he murmured curiously.

Ivy nodded her head, "sometimes someone gets hurt, and we need medicine. So my father is the runner, who goes into it and gages what we need. You people have so much technology it's wonderful. But you use it so... awfully. He always used to bring us home little toys, and I was always amazed by their detail and beauty." She had still kept some the dolls, their eyelashes longer than possible for any species, long limbs made of plastic. He had comically even brought home a doll depicting a fairy, its hair an array of rainbow colours and its wings larger than its entire body.
"Wow," he breathed. "I used to be obsessed with action figures and comic books when I was younger. If the house isn't completely tarnished, I'm sure I still have a chest full of it for the village."
She smiled, "I'm sure everyone would love that. But my father... along with most others in this village... they aren't open much to other species. Even though you have never attacked us, you have so much power... weapons that not even the most skillful of fairies could beat."
Suddenly Ethan was leaning in a bit closer to her, his gaze meeting hers and seeking out what lay beyond. "Well Ivy I promise you with all my heart that I will never, ever hurt you."
Ivy smiled sadly, casting her eyes downward, "thank you, Ethan."
 
Days eventually turned into weeks, weeks dwindling into months, and by the time Thanksgiving was strikingly close, Ethan tucked away in bed after finishing another chat with his father and brother, news buzzed outside of the tiny room, causing him to arch his eyebrows curiously. He was several pages into a creative novel he had been working on between articles – a fantasy adventure he was still carving the concept out of.

'He's here! He's here!' Ethan heard a light voice cry, emotion welling in her musical words.
Who's here?
As if responding, another boy cried out, 'Father's finally home! From the war!'

Ethan's arm was at its final healing stages, and both Ivy and him had been slowly adjusting to the idea of him returning to the city. Surely neither of them wanted it, but she couldn't continue hiding forever, and he couldn't simply disappear. She had given his arm an estimate of a full recovery by the end of the week and Ethan only shrugged it off.

But the sound of her father struck a particular chord for him; he had never in his life met the man, and like Ivy said, he wasn't fond of humans to begin with. Would he inspect the house and find him? There was no way Ethan could be sure of the fact, but he tried to remain as calm as possible, chest heaving lightly as he tried to tune into every bit of the conversation.

'Is he staying for good?'
'I hope so!'

His eyebrows furrowed together when a deeper voice entered the conversation, the squeals of children signifying very clearly who it could be. Ethan expected a warm greeting, but instead the man's voice was strained.

'The village has been barricaded.'
'What?' Ethan was certain the voice belonged to Ivy.
'The city has been barricaded to protect us. We've cast a potion that clouds the entire village with a force field that isn't penetrable. We're doing to protect our people, until we can form the proper means of attack.'

His mouth slightly fell open in surprise.

'What does that mean, father?'
'Just as no one can get in, no one can come out.'
 
Joy immediately flowed from Ivy, leaving her with a sense of dread and worry. Her father had only returned because the village was going to be cut off from all who remained outside of the spell - not because the war had subsided, or because his duty was finished.
Ivy brought her fingers to her lips, still in shock and awe of the entire situation. "It's already done?"
Her father nodded, draping a gentle and comfortable arm around her shoulders. They had always been close, and seeing the pure fear in his daughter's eyes disgruntled the older man greatly.

"For how long?" she asked.
He gulped, "we don't know. Until the Opposition disbands, I suppose. But they're stronger than we have ever seen them... the potions of the witches, the thirst of the vampires and the strength of the werewolves is no match for our magic. So we're closed ourselves off."
Ivy shook her head. Now what was she supposed to do, what was Ethan[ supposed to do? This was her father's house and there no hiding a human from him in it. Her heartache was increasing with each thought, ideas of her father feeding the man to the hungry wolves entering her mind. Of course her father would never do such a thing... not literally, anyways.

"Oh daddy!" Lia cried, tears of happiness springing in her sky blue eyes. "What about Tim, and Ben?"
His eyes suddenly darkened. "Ben will remain on the other side until the clouds are lifted, and I have not heard from Tim in almost a month. But I'm sure he is fine, my child... now come, daddy wants to hear all about your studies while he was gone."

After the family had settled into the main room, Ivy returned to the bedroom Ethan was staying in. After shutting the door behind her, she brought her hands to her face and began to shake her head, tears teeming.
"Oh gosh, he is going to kill me..."
 
Ethan's eyes widened by the time Ivy entered into the room quietly, her eyes teeming with tears. He somewhat assumed it was her father, just to have his thoughts confirmed by her frenzied statement.

"If it's any consolation… he might kill me first."
"Ethan! This isn't funny!" she exclaimed, glancing over her shoulder. "It's only a matter of time before he realizes I've been keeping a human here."
"Worst case scenario – I have to leave. Do you think he'd hurt you?" Ethan didn't want her getting in trouble for his actions, so if he had to find some way through that force field to make sure Ivy was safe, he would willing oblige. Ethan wouldn't be able to live with himself if she got hurt for him.
"That's the thing, Ethan. You can't leave. Not until the spell is lifted around the village."

He paused, sliding off of the bed and walking over to her. Then in one motion, he cupped her jaws, wiping the tears from her cheeks. "We'll figure this out, okay? I don't care if I have to hide in the closest – I'll do anything so you aren't effected by him."
"I'll—I'll try and talk to him, but I don't know what the outcome will be," she murmured against his hands, before glancing up at him. "Just don't do anything stupid for me, Ethan. Promise me that."
He paused, eyes falling to the floor. "But Ivy—"
"Promise me, Ethan!" she exclaimed, hands tracing his jaw to lightly force his eyes to meet hers once again. "I'll take care of this."

He bit his lip, but nodded softly. "Alright, Ivy."
"Thank you," she sighed, backing away from him.
"Where are you going?"
"To talk to my father."
 
Ivy's father, Peter, eyed his older daughter carefully as she requested a private talk with him. The other children protested, as they had missed their father just as much as Ivy had - however, she wanted to get this over this. If he was going to get mad, she wanted it to happen now... while happiness still surrounded him.

Once they settled down onto the back steps of the little house, Peter took his daughter's jaw in between his fingers. They burned with the knowledge that Ethan had just touched here; she wondered if he could sense it. Instead, however, he was more likely to notice the fear and anxiety in her mossy green eyes.
"What's wrong, my sweetheart?" he inquired, searching her face for answers.

Suddenly Ivy had cast her eyes downward, biting at her lip, "I have a secret, dad."
His brow furrowed and his hand dropped. Ivy noticed that his grip tightened a bit, and his hand made a fist. After years of being in the war and losing so much of his life to it, little phased or angered Peter; but if one thing did, it would be the endangerment of his family.
She gulped, "I... I... I... I've done something awful, for a very long time."
Peter nodded his head carefully.

Ivy looked into the backyard, covered in a flora and foliage. Butterflies littered the leaves and bees sucked the sweet nectar, so graceful yet so dangerous.
She closed her eyes, "it's a human, dad."
There was a silence, and then a gasp. Ivy felt her heart pounding madly in her chest, much like it had when she and Ethan had been hiding from the centaurs. For some reason, she felt more fear of her father, though, than the half-man half-human beasts. She knew that he could certainly do more damage to them both.
"What about the humans?" he asked tensely.
Ivy wiped at her eyes, realizing that they had been watering with fear. "I... I met one."
"You met home? How in the world does that come about?"

She looked up at the sky, then back down - anywhere but his eyes. "When we were young, I found his grandparent's cabin. The one at the edge. And we played when we were young."
Peter was clenching his fists, veins pulsating, "and what does he have to do with you, now?"
"I... I... I saved him, dad," she murmured in a small voice, "from the centaurs. But now he's hurt... and... and... I've been... h-hiding him. In one of the bedrooms. And I care a lot about him dad, he's just like us. Harmless, and sweet... and... now he's stuck here."
 
Ethan had barely gotten reaction time before furniture clattered, loud shouts booming from the living room as Ivy's silent sobs were barely heard against the man's yelling. He tensed, fingers knotting against the sheets as he attempted to swing himself out of the bed, just to be stopped short by a door banging open. A tall, stocky man with startling green eyes and blonde hair forced himself into the frame, gaze burning on the human. Ethan remained frozen in place, not sure how to react.

"This is the human?!" he screamed, already starting towards the bed.
"Dad... yes!" Ivy cried, "it's him... please... don't... he-he... he's harmless!"
Ethan held up his hands in defense – in spite of the karate classes his father had forced him to take when he was younger, he doubted that would be of much use to him against a man that no doubt had the advantage of mythical powers.

"How is any human harmless?" he spat. "We can't trust him! And now we can't get rid of him, either!"
Ethan could have intervened, but honestly, his fate was completely out of his hands right now. Judging by how the man felt about his 'race', his right to defend himself was obliterated.
"Please, papa," she sobbed, "I promise-he-he-he's never hurt me. He's fine! Please..."
"Of course he wouldn't hurt you!" the man continued to yell. "You're an attractive woman. But there is no way I can condone this while being such a valuable and trustable member of our society."
Ivy pressed her hands together, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Please…please papa. I'll continue to hide him – no one will know, and then we'll get rid of him. Please." She bit her quivering lip. "He won't exist."

The man's cheeks were still flushed with redness, although he clenched his jaw tightly with the slightest of nods. "I do not want to so much as to see his face around this household. You hear me? You will keep him perfectly concealed until the force field is lifted and we can get him out. I can't believe you, my eldest daughter, have made such a foolish irresponsible decision as to take a human into our own territory."

Ivy was still crying, her eyes downcast at the floor. "I'm so sorry, papa. Never again."

Apparently he wasn't done though, for his eyes locked with Ethan before crossing the room to grip his shirt. "You will not say a word to this about anyone – you will not talk. You will stay in this bed and keep a low profile until we can properly dispose of you. Okay?"

Ethan felt the unfurling urge to grab the man's wrist and break it, but he nodded regardless.
 
Ivy felt so sick, anxiety and fear pulling at her every heartstring. She could see the anger in her father's eyes, a trait of his that never really came out until his children were in danger. And despite the fact that Ivy tried to reassure the man that Ethan was completely harmless, he didn't seem to believe her. Of course he hadn't though; he didn't know Ethan at all, and had a prejudice towards his entire race.

Once he had slammed the door, locking the two of them in the room together, Ivy pressed her palms to her face. "What... what have I-I done?"

Surely she was going to be on her father's bad side, now. She wondered if he would still allow her to take care of the children after blatantly putting them in what he believed was danger. Ivy knew that the young one's wouldn't speak of Ethan's stories or his kind words, knowing that any speak of the man would get them in serious trouble, as it had their sister.

"I'm sorry, Ivy... I didn't mean to cause trouble."
She shook her head, "it's not your fault, it's m-mine! And now you're stuck here, and so is he... who knows what he's going to think a week from now when you're still cooped up in here!" Guilt overwhelmed her, knowing that her selfish actions - her need to have Ethan around - was now negatively affecting a lot of people.
"I don't want to find out," Ethan murmured, although his fingers snaked around hers. "But don't worry about it, Ivy. You'll be fine--we'll be fine."
Ivy looked up at him, hot tears streaming down her face. "He'd never hurt me, and if you mean so much to me, surely he'd never hurt you... but it scares me, to see him that angry with us."
 
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