An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 13/?
Fandom: Elsewhere University (Webcomic)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Feathers, Cat Eyes - Character, Not-Jenna, Thirteen
Additional Tags: the Fair Folk, The Fae, Fairies, Folklore, Names, True Names, Crows, Deals, POV Second Person, the librarians are a host unto themselves
Series: Part 1 of Tales from the Else
Chapter 13!! Finally!! I hope y’all are as excited to read this as I was to write it!!
The story goes a little rushed here, haha- I tried to keep it from being too long! Sorry, hope you still enjoy!!
——————————–
I started getting gifts on my windowsill. They were small things, at first. A small earring. A discarded bracelet. Little things.
I was not naive. I knew they were from the crows. I would see them in the trees not far from my dorm, a small flock of them. I did not touch them or take them, no matter what. Soon enough, there were gifts there every morning. After a few weeks, they became increasingly more precious- it was always jewelry, and often golden. Stunning pearl necklaces, golden rings and bracelets, inlaid with small stones. It was tempting, but I let them be.
And as I did, the flock of crows outside my window grew larger every week.
——
They were following me, now. They were bolder. They would perch in the trees on my route home. They would sit and watch me as I ate outside with Vector. During the mornings, they would fly outside my window and nearly scream until I awoke. They would squawk and shrill to get my attention, would fly near me and sometimes dive at my head as I walked to class. After a while, it became tedious- not yet terrifying.
“What’s up with these crows?” I asked Azriel, coming in from classes.
She looked up at me, suddenly serious. “What do you mean?”
“The crows- they’re acting super weird. They like, watch me, or something. They follow me home and to classes. They leave me things on the windowsill. Sometimes they dive at my head as I’m passing by.”
“Have you taken anything they’ve given you?”
“No.”
“Have you ever fed them?”
“No, I would never.”
“Have you insulted them?”
“No- definitely not. I try my best to ignore them, but they’re not making it easy.” I sat on my bed. “Are they Other?”
She considered the question. “No- well, not completely. They’re not like the other Gentry. They’re not a part of Elsewhere, but the crows at EU are not normal crows. Whatever draws the Gentry here affects them too. They’re very dangerous Áurea. I don’t know much about them, but I do know that.”
“Since at least the first week of school. It was casual at first, but they’ve become increasingly more annoying.”
She stopped. “What?”
“Yeah. The first week, three of them followed me for a few days. It’s like a mafia or something.”
Her eyes snapped away for a moment. “You-you need to go see Cat Eyes. As soon as possible.”
I furrowed my brows. “Cat Eyes? She’s-it’s real? Why?”
“Yes, she’s real. But she might be able to help. You can find her somewhere around dorm three. Don’t look for her, she’ll find you. Stand next to the tree with 3 claw marks in it.”
“Is this whole crow thing that big of a deal?”
“Nobody knows the crows,” Azriel said. “Not even the Gentry. They operate by their own design. If this has been going on since you got here- you might need bigger help than just avoiding them.”
——
“I don’t take actual money for Seeing glasses, just so you know,” a voice said from behind me. “Trade or bust. Call me traditional, but I find that when anything deals with Them, it’s best to play with home court’s rules.”
I turned around, pushing off of the tree I was leaning against. A girl walked up to me slowly. She was a short girl, auburn hair shaped in a smart pixie cut. Black glasses framed green eyes.
“Cat-eyes?” I asked.
“The one and only,” She said, taking a quick but dramatic bow. I saw her eyes dart around me. “So, what have you come to trade?”
“Uh-I, uh, I don’t want Seeing glasses.” I whispered, keeping my head low. She chuckled.
“You’re new to this! Look, whispering is fine when dealing with the failing senses of the human kind, but if something Else wants to hear what we’re saying, there’s not much we can do about it, save some very powerful and dangerous spells. So, don’t bother keeping your voice down. There’s no one around anyway.”
I nodded. “Okay then, I uh, I need to talk to you about the crows.”
Her eyes immediately widened and she began to shush me, turning on a dime and heading back to her dorm, making a subtle sign for me to follow. Despite my attempts, she didn’t speak until we were inside, the door locked behind us.
“I knew it. They were everywhere- the trees, the lawn, the power lines. They never come near dorm three.” She looked at me. “What have you done?”
“Nothing! Nothing- I promise. Look, they’ve been following me since I started here. They’ve started leaving me gifts- that I haven’t taken- they watch me everywhere, they’re dive bombing me as I go places, they sit outside my window day and night. It’s like they want my attention- I was told to come to you.”
She shook her head. “I can’t do anything. There’s not much anyone can do against the crows, Gentry or otherwise.”
She sighed and waved for me to follow her. “Look, I was serious when I told you there’s nothing you can do. But maybe you can find out what they want- if they really are watching you- and go from there.”
“What could they possibly want?”
She looked at me with her green eyes, a serious look on her face. “Let’s both hope it’s not you.”
——-
I was attacked the next day.
I had been so close to my dorm- but the crows were everywhere now. The flock was everywhere around me. They had begun diving at me- like I was a toy and they were playing around, lobbing their feathery forms at my head. I dodged them well enough until one actually hit me. It hurt- it’s claws had been sharp. I let out a sharp gasp and froze in place until another one hit me again.
I began to run then. They all started calling at once, several of them took into the skies and plenty of others began to fly after me, throwing their bodies at mine. They hit the back of my legs, my arms, my shoulders, squawking whenever they got close enough to my ears. I felt them pick at my hair as they flew and I ran and ran, and it seemed like nobody else had been on campus at all that day. It was a little after noon, full daylight and the middle of the week- but as I ran there was no soul to be found as they hounded me. I didn’t dare look behind, but as I approached my dorm I fell hard against, having tripped in my haste.
They didn’t waste time descending on me. In a moment I felt myself covered by them, I heard their shrills and the flap of their wings around me and I screamed, batting at them as they tried to land on my. They were pecking through my clothes, scratching at me with claws that tore skin. I had never felt fear like that before, as I writhed on the ground, trying to get away from them. These strange creatures- who I had never offended, wanted something from me. And they were relentless in their desire. I had turned on my back, but they blessedly stayed away from my face. They started to pick and pry at my hand with their beaks and claws, and I could hear nothing but the beat of my own heart, my screams, and their own sharp calls to each other.
My hand was bloody by now, but eventually they managed to force me to open one of them completely. When I did, they stopped. They stopped calling to each other, stopped dashing at me and picking at my skin. I was left in a state of shock, breathing hard and watching as this murder of crows surrounded me on the ground, in the trees, in the sky. Then, one of them flew down and landed on my chest. It held something in it’s beak, shiny and golden. It hopped up my arm and placed it in my opened, bloody hand. It turned and locked eyes with me afterwards, watching me with intent. I had never met a gaze so malicious, so searching. No human monster could compare. It let out several loud shrieks in a row, right next to my ear and I closed my eyes as it screamed because more than anything I was afraid in that moment. I just wanted them to leave.
With a final shrill it chirped and flew off. Almost immediately, the rest of the flock followed suit, and I watched as, with the beat of their wings, they covered the sky in darkness. They left me on the ground, bloody and frightened. Shaking, I sat myself up and brought the golden trinket to my eyes. I recognized it- it was a bracelet. One of the gifts they had given me. One of the gifts I had ignored. I stayed seated on the ground for a few more moments, letting the weight of this fall on my shoulders. I was not naive. I took the message for what it was.
A warning.
——–
A few days after that I was still shaken, crying more often than not. Azriel had been in the room when I had entered that day, bloody and afraid. She said she hadn’t heard anything. Hadn’t seen any crows around the dorm at all. The crows were still everywhere- but they stopped attacking. They still watched though. They would always watch. I wouldn’t wear the bracelet, but I held it with me in my backpack. They must have known- and for then, it must have been enough.
What were they doing to me?
My mother called and I pulled myself together for it. I couldn’t tell her. They wouldn’t understand. Even if- it seemed impossible. Attacked by a flock of crows? Afraid for my life because of a few birds? It was laughable to anyone that wasn’t Involved- and I hadn’t wanted to be in the first place.
My mom told me that my eldest sister had just had a baby-Alonzo, they would call him. I was happy for her- they had been waiting for a while now for a kid. How sweet that was. I called my sister and congratulated her.
If I had known how cruel I would be to little Alonzo, I would have apologized in advance. Not that sorry would ever be have been enough.
——-
When they started leaving gifts for me again, I was too afraid to not take them. Cat-Eyes had given me the name of someone who could possibly help. So one day, I skipped my classes and wrapped myself in a hoodie to hide the marks from their attack. I waited until dusk, and I searched the campus for building A15E. It was a small thing, a single story building made of rather standard brick- apparently used for administrative purposes at some point. But now, it just stood there. The front door had been open, and I slipped into a building with a hallway where most of the lights were out except a few. I did as was instructed, and I did not speak. I looked straight ahead and avoided the curiosity to peak behind the glass panes into the abandoned rooms. I didn’t follow the slight ringing noise that was coming from a hallway to me left. I ignored the scraping along the walls. I kept my eyes on a fixed point and took exactly 27 steps and turned to the right, where I was faced with a wooden door that held a plaque that said “Filing Room.” I reached out and knocked four times. Then twice. Then nine. I put my hand to the handle and counted five breaths before turning it and stepping inside in a single movement.
The room was dark, very dark. Very dark, and empty, save for a few things strewn across the floor. The windows were boarded, but there were candles on the floor letting off a warm glow. In the center of the room a girl sat on a stool, legs crossed. She was very young, 13 at most, but she had straight long blonde hair that hit the floor and spread out behind her.
“You come for the truth,” She stated.
“Truth is feeble.”
I saw her smile by the candlelight. “Come. And what have you brought for such frailty?”
I walked forward a bit and took of my backpack so I could rummage around in it. Slowly, I pulled out a small piece of paper. She held out her hand.
“This seems…insubstantial.” She said, frowning as she read what was written.
“It’s a recipe.” I stated. “For Lavender Cake.”
“So you know my preference?” She seemed impressed. Apparently, Cat-Eyes had good information. “But you would have me make it myself? This, child, is not enough.”
“Of course not. That’s why I’ve already commissioned one to be baked for you- brought by my own money. It will arrive, fresh, to the doorstep of this building in two hours.”
“So why give me this nonsense?” She asked, waving the piece of paper.
“The cake will last for a moment, but the recipe will keep. As long as you hold that piece of paper, your treats are never far away. You have your ways about this campus, I know. There are students in the culinary department in need of your assistance. I know a few of their names. Not true names, mind you. A few simple trades, and you’ll have as many as you want.”
She looked at me with narrowed eyes. “You will stay until the cake arrives and deliver it to me personally. With that, a deal is made.”
“Agreed.”
She nodded, and let the piece of paper fall to the ground. “And what would you have of me?”
“A reading, please. A real one.”
She waved me closer and ordered me to hold on my hand. I did so, slowly, first offering the uninjured hand. She looked at me with knowing eyes. I offered her the scarred one.
She took it in her hands, which were surprisingly smooth, and looked over it with a cursory glance. “The crows are after you. Why?”
“That’s what I’m here to find out.”
“Hm. Then let us begin.”
The candles all went out in a moment, and I was left in a dark room. Slowly, voices that neither belonged to me or the girl in front of me began to filter in. None of them were languages I recognized, but all seemed only a step away, whispering into my ears. Then, each of the candles began to flicker back to life. The girl’s eyes were gone, she held a stare at the ceiling, head drooping back from the weight of her own hair.
Then, she began to speak.
“Black feathers, blood and bone in your soul. Treacherous desire. Scintillating, shiny, brown hair and eyes. Ours. Mine. Blood, blood, golden blood and bone. Favor. Gilded, bloody favor. Brown hair and a wit to match our own. Take, fear and desperation.” She had begun slowly, but her words were coming faster now, her grip on my wrist much tighter than before. “Our midnight will sprout from her back and she will fly with us- a Gift. A treasure. Favor, gilded, golden favor. Blood will run, hers and ours. A gift from us. A gift for us. A gift. A gift. A gift, a gift, a gift, a gift- a gift of bone and gold. Midnight black blood, golden tears. A gift. A gift for all.” She was screaming now, jerking my hand as she yelled. “Cherish. Kill. Take and have, protect. Ruin. Traitorous worship-a gift of blood. A favor of gold. Awash in favor, golden and glorious and shiny, bright in midnight blood. A gift. A gift. A gift. A gift.”
With that last word the candles went out again and the voices left. It was completely silent, and she was still gripping my arm with such ferocity that it hurt. Suddenly, she jerked back up with a gasp and the light from the candles rekindled. She pushed my hands away and looked at me with watering eyes.
“Leave. You must be gone.”
“What- wait, why?”
“Leave from here!” She screamed. “I should never have allowed you to step foot in this place. Go!”
“What did you mean? I don’t understand- all of that made no sense.”
“You are ruined!” She screamed. “Favored by the crows- a demise worse than death. Your poor wretched soul- leave this place before you drag me to hell along with you.”
I was starting to cry now. I was so confused, so lost and hurt. “What do I do- I don’t understand, please, please help me, I didn’t do anything-”
“This is not of your doing, child.” She said, not screaming, but still charged. “You have fallen into what the fates have designed for you. Now step away from this place.”
“But- your cake-”
“You think I care about a treat in the face of the evil that shadows you? Now leave! The only advice I can give is to remember that omens come in threes!”
“Wait…what?”
“GO!” With that, the candles went dark again and the voices appeared, angry and seething, and they chased me from the room and into the hallway. The door slammed shut behind me, and with a fear that I was becoming all too familiar with, I ran from the building and into the sunlight. It was darker now, dark enough to not be safe. I wasn’t safe anyway, so it didn’t matter much.
I ran home again, and the crows were there, as always. They didn’t fly after me, but they shrilled as I ran past and I watched them, their black eyes beading in the light of the rising moon. Their calls sounded like laughter, cruel and unending.
Azriel was sitting on her bed when I got in, covered in tears and crying in hysterics. I collapsed on my bed and she offered my water, which I refused. I didn’t want water. I wanted help. What the hell was that? Favor? A gift? Blood? What was happening to me? Couldn’t these damn crows just leave me alone- all of this was so terrible and unrealistic. Monsters on campus. Palm readers. Animals with monstrous intelligence. I had stepped into an unrealistic but dangerous dark fantasy, and all I wanted to do was be safe. But safety was just a dream.
When I had calmed down a little, I sat up and looked at Azriel with red eyes.
“You’re not human, are you?” I asked quietly.
She watched me and slowly, she shook her head. “I’m so sorry, Áurea. If it makes you feel better, you should know that there’s nothing you could have done to prevent this. The crows are…different. Indifferent to most, but not all. Love and hate is a very blurry line for them.”
“Am I…am I going to die?” I asked.
“No.”
Somehow, they answer didn’t make me feel any better.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 8/?
Fandom: Elsewhere University (Webcomic)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Feathers, Cat Eyes - Character, Not-Jenna, Thirteen
Additional Tags: the Fair Folk, The Fae, Fairies, Folklore, Names, True Names, Crows, Deals, POV Second Person, the librarians are a host unto themselves
Series: Part 1 of Tales from the Else
Summary:
Your first day enrolled at Elsewhere was a Tuesday. It was nearly five o'clock, the sun was just going down, and you could hear things. You'd turned, wide-eyed, pale-faced, to your RA, Jenna, who had rolled her too-bright eyes and said ‘It's Tuesday,’ and was so entirely unconcerned you had had to believe there was nothing to be concerned about.
Spoiler: there are lots of things to be concerned about at Elsewhere U.
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