𝔸 ℂ𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝔽𝕝𝕒𝕞𝕖 (ACOTAR FANFIC)

Twenty-Four

I woke up the next day with an unusual sense of purpose. It was... odd to say the least. I should have been in my usual dark space I went to when I had seen something traumatic or completed another mission. And then I would have gone through my usual shame spiral over the course of a few days before I gathered the energy to push away my emotions once more.

    But that didn't happen?

    I felt oddly... inspired?

    After I saw that faerie die. After I buried that faerie. It made me realize, I wanted to live. I didn't want to die or just survive.

    I realized I wanted to live. Even if it was a wretched existence and I hated myself the whole step of the way. I wouldn't give up.

    Looking at it then, it didn't seem like the best idea I'd ever had. But it kept me alive, therefore it worked.

    But it made sense to me, and I suppose that's what mattered.

    It was then that I realized I was probably going down some new depressive spiral—the Prythian limited edition. I knew that I would probably hit a new low in about twelve hours that would take days— possibly months— maybe forever to crawl out of.

Oh, well. Might as well make the best of it while it lasted.

    I walked downstairs and towards the dining room where Sereh informed me breakfast was currently going on without me—usually, I would be thankful that I didn't have to spend another second looking at two of the people I hated most in the world. But now I welcome that day I get to throw insults at them and just be better than them in general.

    I walked into the very ill-decorated dining room with a smile. I didn't pay any mind to the skeptical looks I was getting from everyone in the room.

    "Hello, people I loathe with my entire being, and my lovely sister." I sat down at my designated seat and began piling food onto my plate.

    Feyre cleared her throat, "You seem..." She paused, "happy?"

    I looked over to my sister with a smile, "Well, yes. Obviously." I took a drink of the tea that had been set out for me, "I believe that I'm going through a new sense of denial about my life problems. Therefore, I feel an immense amount of joy that I believe will soon sputter out." I shrugged irreverently as I sipped my tea again. "So, what are you all doing today?"

    Lucien was just staring at me—Tamlin too. Maybe I was freaking them out.

    "H-how are you doing Danika?" Tamlin asked, "I wanted to ask you some questions about last night."

    "What happened last night?" Feyre asked as she ate a piece of meat from her plate.

    I looked at Feyre, "Oh! I had just had one of my nightmares, you know—the bad ones— they started again. Didn't want to tell you. I came downstairs and there were this faerie whose wings had been cut off; brutal really. Long story short, the faerie ended up dying in my arms. No biggie. I just think it sent me into a little stage of happy-denial. I'll be back to normal...soon."

    Feyre nodded slowly a look of concern crossing her features, "Okay." she drawled slowly, "Maybe you should go lay down."

    I stood from my seat, "No can do, sister. I've got much to do, so little time. See you all later. If I'm not back by tonight, I'll be back tomorrow." That was oddly poetic.

    I practically skipped out of the dining room and out the front doors. I had purposefully worn tough clothes. This new spike of happiness made me realize I should probably confront the problem I had been trying to ignore since I found out. I thought it might have been a better idea to go in the daytime today.

I traveled quickly. Following that familiar pull in the Western woods. I just wandered that time, instead of worrying about the threats that could be stalking me, I just walked.

    When I came to the now-familiar wall of branches. And this time I didn't hesitate to touch it. I watched as the branches thinned; revealing the famous wooden door.

    Maybe I was drunk. Or maybe my mind had been severely clouded by a fog of happiness. I didn't really give a fuck.

    I walked through the door and through the dark hallway, now illuminated at the end of the day. I waltzed through the small hallway. I knew that probable danger lurked on the other end.

    But I just didn't care.

    I came to the other door on the end. Pushing on the door until it opened revealing one of the most dangerous creatures on the planet.

    Their heads turned to me— maybe they were surprised I came back. Maybe they were mad at me for it.

    I smiled at the danger, "Hello, friends."

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

A/N: Not gonna lie it hurt to write Dani like this even if it was a bit ironic. But I needed her to have some motivation, even if it stemmed from the wrong place.