Beneath the Willow Tree

Chapter 1 - The misfit elf

Oftentimes, coexistence between humans and elves relied solely on the concept of humans keeping to themselves while elves graciously wandered about, whimsical blurs of gleaming skin and hair like smoke, free but not interfering enough that mortals would worry for their own safety.

Which is why, to move into the village where her parents had left her an estate to inherit upon their parting, Nico purchased some of the most expensive transfiguration potions in the country, so as to make sure the humans wouldn't be able to recognize her elf blood. The magic dimmed the mystic silvery on her cheekbones, erased some of her eyes' natural sparkle and, admittedly, disturbed her posture more than she'd care to accept. A necessary evil, it was, for her to mingle and not be ultimately feared—and greatly detested—for her heritage.

To Nico's great amazement, humans flocked to her like bees to honey the moment she set foot into her inherited estate's garden, maintaining neutrality at the sight of flowers overblooming at her presence. Many of the village people stood waiting outside her doors while she hauled her bags onto her mother's old dusty mattress and glanced around, biting at her lower lip and attempting to reimagine a place so wide being filled at her whim, while a few days ago she lived constantly between a potion brewer's kitchen, bathroom and boiling room.

It was quite common in Elferi for parents to abandon children to their own devices and yet allow them to inherit. . . well, everything. In Nico's case, that meant she was transferred from cleaning boilers for magicians to 'oh, that's right, she has an ounce of noble blood' when her parents passed. And now all of this was hers, and she could not begin to imagine how to settle.

That first evening, starlit skies bathed the world in a soft glow, and Nico stepped outside after taking a deep breath to greet her new neighbors. Many names were introduced, many professions stated—'Did you know I worked for the Queen a few years back? Before she had the face-altering potion done' to which Nico inwardly said, 'No, I wasn't aware, seeing as we hadn't met until five minutes ago, but that's lovely to know, Mrs. Astoria'—and by the end of it, Nico thanked their warm welcome and explained away her need to go back inside as tiredness from a long day. By the time the door closed behind her, she sunk to the floor, burying her face into her hands.

She hoped none of them had noticed the shimmering in the spell holding her disguise together, itching at the tips of her ears. The last thing she needed was for humans to start wondering why, of all people, their newest neighbor had the strangest ears.

Weeks went by, and Nico was positively surprised to learn that, once her neighbors realized she wouldn't magically transform their lives and distribute wealth in the streets, they mostly left her alone. She would wave to them in the morning while walking to the lake, and they would wave back, sometimes even greet her by saying, 'Have a wonderful day, Nico!' and she would oddly feel comforted by those wishes. As though, even if in passing, she belonged in the quietness of being wished well.

Likewise, she began to form small, considerate habits of her own. Elves were mostly cold creatures, barely sparing each other a glance in moments of distress, not quite their nature as much as a social convention that suited their own selfish interests rather well.

In that sense, Nico was quite defective.

For most of her life, she'd care far too much, a stark contrast to her peers. Her parents had abandoned her at an Elferi fair, disappearing from sight like a glimpse of a dream taken by the wind. Many elfblood children would cry momentarily, then proceed to ask around for shelter until, eventually, a store owner or a wealthy family would pick them up and mold them to their taste. Nico, on the other hand, sobbed and yelled in sadness for hours on end. She was told she'd been abandoned. She was then brought to a healer and was delivered a heavy dosage of a sedative potion. When she woke up, she was already at the potion brewer's home, and her chores were all listed out for her.