Throne of Glass and ACOTAR Crossover (complete)

Chapter 48 - Feyre

The whole world has turned white.

That's the first thing I notice. From the darkness and flickering candlelight of Hybern's hall, to this. To bright shining white.

The next thing I notice is that I'm alone. Rhys isn't there. Neither is Aelin, or Rowan. Or Hybern for that matter. They're all gone. It's just me now.

Until suddenly it isn't. One moment there's nothing but white, then suddenly he's there, a spot of black against the white. A man, but not really. He has a man's form, but there's something off about him. Something ... wrong.

He's close enough to me that I can see his smile, a cruel devilish thing. Not like Aelin, that wicked smile hiding a loving heart and dreamer's soul. This smile is without feeling, without love or hate or mirth. It's a smile without life.

His voice, when he speaks, is the same.

"Hello Liar."

I jump, the now familiar nickname startling me, coming from such an unfamiliar mouth.

I'm silent for a long moment, just staring at the impassive face before me. I want to ask it where we are, I want to ask it how I get back. I want to ask what it is. That's not part of the plan though. The plan was to throw the book into the cauldron, then just say yes. Am I supposed to wait for a question? I don't know.

Quietly, my voice echoing strangely, I say "What do you want from me."

The creature's smile widens. "Everything"

I shudder at the finality of the statement. No room for negotiations. Everything.

Then he continues, "But only if you are willing to give it."

I'm taken aback. After all this, this is my choice? Or is it. Maybe this is just another trick. An offer of hope that inevitably leads to the same conclusion.

Balancing my options, I finally say "How will I know if I am willing? I don't even know what you want me to do."

The thing makes a sound, like a metallic sigh. "True. Fine then, sit, and let me tell you a story."

A story?

The creature is facing me, looking at me through sightless eyes. "I told you to sit."

I'm about to snap back that there isn't anything for me to sit on, but then I notice the chair directly behind me. It wasn't there a moment ago, I know it wasn't. But it's there now.

I settle onto it, but keeping myself balanced enough to leap to my feet and bolt at a moment's notice. I don't know where I would run, I just know that I don't want to be trapped if I have to. I think the creature notices my efforts, because it lets out a breathy chuckle.

"Where do I begin my story, child? Perhaps I should start at the beginning, yes I think that would be best. Then you can get an idea of the whole picture."

I don't say anything.

"There was a time, millenia ago, when the world was a happy place. It's funny thinking back to it now. Smiles, laughter, man helping man. There were fae and humans, but nobody thought to separate one from the other. It wasn't perfect, but it was paradise. I was the protector of that world. Nobody ever saw me of course, but I kept them all safe. Made sure that it stayed paradise."

An image springs to my mind of Velaris, its joy and laughter, with Rhys the silent protector. Perhaps the being before me can read my thoughts because it says "You're right liar, it was very much like Rhysand's town, but larger, and better."

"I loved that world. But there were those, as there always are, who threatened it. They wanted to control the people, wanted power. Usually they came, and I struck them down. But there was one, a Fae male, who was better than the rest. He didn't come with a sword, he came with words. He was so quiet when he started, whispering in the ears of those around him. Telling them that they, the fae, deserved better. Why should they be equal with the puny humans, when evolution had given them such a clear advantage? For the longest time he was brushed off with barely a thought spared to his proposal, but years went by, and the talk began seeping into people's minds. People started believing him. It was slow, so slow, but it worked. Fae began flocking to him, wanting him to lead them to power and 'greatness'. By the time I realized the danger, there were too many. If I had dispatched with him, as I had done so many times before, there would have been a thousand more to take his place. So instead I turned to those who resisted his claims, and asked them to join me and fight. It broke my heart, to ask those I protected to put themselves in danger, but I thought the cause was just."

The creature stops for a moment, and for the first time there is something in his voice, like the memory of emotion. Then he continues.

"There were so many who came when I called, so many who believed in the world that I protected. Among them were seven individuals, as strong and fierce as any I have ever witnessed. I was glad to have them fight beside me, my loyal warriors. Together we fought, and together we won. We beat the usurper and his followers to dust. It broke me to see my peaceful world covered in blood, but we had won. Freedom and equality had won.

"I thought it was over then. I thought that life would go back to normal. What a fool I was. There was no normal after that. My seven warriors, so true and so pure, had been to hell and back. Along the way, they discovered that they liked the view. I was so pleased by our victory, I didn't see the danger. I didn't understand until the moment when they used their combined power to sap my strength. They couldn't kill me, they knew it, so instead they forced me to change shape, to break into multiple parts. Half of me became a cauldron, half of me a book. Then, using my stolen power, they built themselves a new world. They split up my land into 7 parts, each of them getting control of one. They rewrote history, until I had only ever been some pieces of metal. They drove wedges between the Fae and the humans, between the 'High Fae' and the lesser. They named themselves High Lords.

"After their success, lands around what they had decided to call 'Prythian' followed their example. I had to sit by and watch as the beautiful world that I had protected so devotedly shattered, leaving nothing good alive. Those seven, they cursed me, and they cursed the whole world."

I reach up to brush my hair out of my face, only to find it wet with tears. The story has the sound of an experience, lived and relived a thousand times. The creature before me, the cauldron, the book, the protector, has spent every day since this happened thinking about it.

"Where do I come into this?" my voice sounds thin and feeble compared to the story.

The protector stares at me. "Isn't it obvious? You are Feyre Cursebreaker. You are to right the ancient wrong."

"How?" I have a horrible thought, an idea of what it is the protector wants. But I can't. I can't. I -

"Kill them. Kill the High Lords and the Courts will fall to nothing. Kill the King and his followers, so that they cannot spread their bile. The world can be rebuilt."

The words shatter something inside of me. The worst part about it is that it makes sense. Prythian is as corrupt as Hybern. The world would be better without the courts, without the High Lords.

But even as I think it I can see a pair of violet eyes, the sweeping skies of Velaris, a set of wings wrapped around me. I can hear his laugh, the velvet smoothness of his voice. I can feel his hands wrapped around mine, his lips crushed against me.

The protector speaks, and I swear I can hear sympathy in his voice. "I told you it would cost everything. I told you it would hurt. But it will save everyone else, it will save the innocents. It will build them a better world.

I can't. I can't do this. I can't. The tears running down my face have intensified, leaving me gasping for breath.

"Now you know the reward. And the cost." The protectors voice doesn't waver. "What do you choose."

The cost. My life, his life, the lives of all the others. Thousands of sparks, thousands of people. The reward, peace. A chance at something better.

An image flashes across my vision, unbidden. Elain and Nesta, smiles glowing on their faces. Cassian with his arm firmly wrapped around my sister's shoulder. Mor bouncing a baby on her knee.

My heart is screaming, tears ripping themselves from my eyes. The silence in this white place is absolute, so when I whisper, my voice carries.

One word. My salvation, my damnation.

One word.

"Yes."

Hey all. Because I'm not a complete monster the next chapter will be posted within like 2 minutes of this one.

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