Beneath Our Disguises

Power of a Name(Fae x Reader)

(For rosemarythehedgehog)

Frantically, you wipe away the tears that are trying to fall down your face with every spare moment that you stand there. Your throat, closed tight with misery as you try to keep it together, using the delicate tongs to place the last bit of pastry in the napkin before leaving the buffet line under the awning. 

You grandmother had been adamant about never missing a single day of offerings to the fae, demanding that if it were to happen your entire family would lose favor, resulting in despair and misfortune. While you never believed such silly superstitions like those, your respect for your grandmother had known no bounds and you would at least do her this one last thing in death.

She had passed away only days ago, and since then no one has left an offering in your special place in the woods, partly because no one knew about it, and partly because no one but you cared. You, however, had been fretting about it since you had found out, and with the funeral at her home, it is the perfect time to make a final offering to the spirits she loved and respected so dearly.

Stepping over the fallen log across the forest path, the edge of your dress gets hooked for just a moment, tearing with your impatient tug and nearly sending you to the ground on the fallen leaves. as tears obscure the little vision you have left in the waning light of an already gloomy day.

"Come on (y/n), just keep going, not much farther." You whisper to yourself, carefully cradling the napkin of food in your arm as you struggle to your feet and continue walking down that shadowed path. You swore that the trees were moving with an imaginary wind the path was so sheltered, the shadows following you, creeping from tree to tree and pursuing you relentlessly. Then there was the whistle of the breeze, or as your grandmother would have called it, fae laughter, an ever haunting giggle of a nearby bubbling stream over the smooth rocks. It had you remembering the time you found one so polished there was a hole in the center, just big enough to peer through at the surrounding forest. 

A seeing stone she had called it, just big enough to fit in your palm, now laced with a leather cord and hanging from your neck. Apparently if you peered through it you could see the fae living in the trees. But you had never believed it, seeing nothing but the stupid trees and rocks. Nature was beautiful in its own way, you didn't need to peer through a rock to see that.

Smiling at the memory of finding that rock years ago, a sudden wave of sadness grows in your chest once more, realizing there wouldn't be any more memories like that. Your last memory would be of her in that coffin as it disappears below the ground. 

Trying to shake off that feeling as you square your shoulders, finally entering the circle of ash, walnut and thorn trees, your guys' favorite spot in the entire world. It was always so beautiful, especially in the evenings as the sun shone through the trees just right to highlight every aspect of the ethereal world between them. 

Fixing your eyes on the little temple-like formation the two of you had built on its edge, you ever so carefully walk around the edge of the trees to kneel before it. As always you were careful to avoid the little circle of mushrooms in the middle of that clearing, placing the napkin of food beside you as you begin to clean off the leaves and debris from its surface.

Remembering how your grandmother would scold when you were too careless, you carefully pick off each piece one by one, taking your time to clean it to perfection one last time. Reaching to your side, you pick up the little bundle of sweets and a bunch of grapes you place it on top of the unsteady stone, laying it out just like she would have for the fae to enjoy upon their return at moon rise. 

She had always cautioned to never stay past sunset as then the fae songs would enrapture you, especially if you wandered into the mushroom ring on accident then you might be trapped forever, forced to dance for the rest of time.