Keeping up his facade as a frightening, vengeful lord, he prodded her to speak up...
Never in my life did I ever think I would get to see a scene from one of my fics storyboarded AND voiced, bUT HERE WE ARE!! 🥹💕Thank you so so so much to these SUPER TALENTED ARTISTS who made this all possible!!
@drdepper artist + storyboarding!
@cozymochi directing and music + sfx!
@celesomnis voice of Pip!
and a vengeful lord as the voice of 'the dragon prince'
Scene is taken from chapter 3 of Three Good Fairies on Tumblr and AO3
@oddberryshortcake wanted a prince girl, so a prince girl was made. This is Pip.🐴
Pip is an easygoing girl who lives in Briar Valley amongst the humans, although she spends more time wandering the woods than she should. Her bravery in facing danger head-on leads her into making impulsive decisions on the spot. Pip has terrible aim and can only do so with the little magic she has. Her Signature Spell/Unique magic is “Virtuous Aim” where she can infuse magic into a throwable object and hit a target perfectly in a single shot. Despite her upbringing, Pip tries to keep up with current trends in Twisted Wonderland, though she still falls behind. …Also animals don’t listen to her and steal her stuff a lot.
The one thing sustaining her interest is the random ethereal looking boy that sometimes shows up in her dreams, but she can never seem to catch him before he's already gone.
🍰🍓Synopsis: As Silver and Pip grow closer to each other, Silver's fae family have vastly different opinions on their relationship. This is a collection of three vignettes centered on how Lilia, Sebek, and Malleus come to care for and accept the dream girl courting their Silver.
Words: 2,639
Contains: Silver/Original Character, contains spoilers for Book 7, will likely be edited to adhere to new information we may learn as the game continues/Book 8, Pip is twisted from Prince Phillip from Sleeping Beauty 1959.
Chapter: 3 of 3 Header and Pip's design created by @cozymochi. Chapter 1 Tumblr Link. Chapter 2 Tumblr Link. AO3 Link.
✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯
Malleus was unsure of how he felt about Pip.
When Silver was little, Lilia would talk about how he would be a grown man in no time at all for them. It was hard to picture, having known him since before he could even speak.
Before he knew it, Silver was crawling across the cottage floor, and then crawling turned into running around the forest with a toy sword in hand, declaring himself a knight. His childish dreams then began to take shape, steadily becoming a reality.
The cottage was Malleus’s escape from the stresses of the castle. By night, he performed his role as Crown Prince for His Grandmother, constantly hounded by retainers and castle staff alike. By day, when the little human was awake (for the most part), he would sneak out to watch his treasured friend come up with some new activity for his little boy.
He treasured that picture, and when Sebek was added, the whole scene became more lively.
…But then there was that girl.
A human had discovered this little hidden part of paradise, and it didn’t seem like she was leaving any time soon.
She and Silver had taken a quick liking to each other, as if they had been old friends for a long time. That was false, because Malleus had been there throughout all of Silver’s childhood, and not once did this girl ever dare appear before them until now.
Malleus felt a twinge territorial when Lilia described in detail how Silver had let this girl into their home when alone, and by chance, Lilia was finally there to witness it himself.
They ‘met in a dream,’ supposedly, though Silver retained very few memories of his unconscious spell. Pip could recall the dreams perfectly, and Silver accepted this from her. Lilia told him he just had to accept it too.
As it was, Pip was aware that the Prince of Briar Valley was acquainted with Silver, but it seemed she didn’t understand the depth of their relationship. Even as she was shown the private childhood photos, she naively assumed Malleus’s presence for all of Silver’s birthdays was just some ‘royal visit.’
She also didn’t seem to know much about fae at all, night or diurnal. She knew plenty of humans and had been filling Silver in on the happenings of human towns.
Malleus knew he had suggested Lilia leave Silver with humans years ago; Lilia would remind him of this whenever Malleus found himself rolling his eyes at Lilia’s recollection of interacting with the girl. He didn’t take kindly to reminders of it.
“It’s not a bad thing for Silver to engage in more human things. You yourself said it was good for him and Sebek to make friends at NRC. How is Pip any different?” Lilia asked from his slouched position on his living room couch.
“You know well why she’s different. I suppose holding hands and wanting to take him to the human lands for an entire season sounds like ‘just friends’ to you?” Malleus retorts, arms crossed and against the wall.
“It’s adorable, isn't it?. You know, your parents were friends for hundreds of years until courting each other. Even with their short lives, humans like to take love slow too.” Lilia sighs wistfully.
The little stories Lilia would sprinkle in about his parents often gave Malleus pause, encouraging him to take a leaf out of his father’s book and try to be more understanding and thinking before feeling.
If Silver gaining a partner in life was inevitable and it had to be this girl, Malleus wanted to ensure that she understood two things— That she needed to prove herself worthy and she must understand the mighty power of the night fae.
Though Lilia appeared to have an easier time letting things play out, Malleus was still a Draconia. Even if Silver no longer desired to be a knight, he was the child of Malleus’s friend, whom he reared alongside him. It was not outside of his jurisdiction to decide the worth of any partner Silver would have, as a future King and as Silver’s family.
So while Lilia would chide him over needing to allow Silver to have independence and make his own decisions, Malleus still felt the need to scope the situation out himself. In his mind and large chaotic Draconia feelings, it was his right to.
“You’re certain Silver will be preoccupied by the time she comes here?” Malleus asks.
Lilia waved a flippant hand, “I requested he collect some wild berries, though I’m sure he’ll be in a hurry since he’s anticipating Pip’s visit. Whatever you have planned, we’ll have to do it quickly…What do you have planned?”
“You’ll see,” Malleus replied cheekily, lip curled upward as he envisioned his plan coming to fruition in mere moments, “Just remember to dim the lights, grab her as soon as she enters, and we’ll whisk her away to her trial.”
Lilia did as he was asked, using magic to blow away the tiny flames in the oil lamps that kept the cottage alight in the early evening.
For fae, waiting even a dozen minutes was like seconds melting away. A gentle knock appeared on the cabin door.
“Come in~” Malleus replies in a warm, almost sing-song voice.
As Pip walks inside, Malleus quickly magics the door behind her to shut abruptly. That was Lilia’s cue to quickly grab her, wrapping his arms and legs around her shoulders and waist the way he would during defense training.
Pip did thrash and try to fight him off, but she was far weaker to Lilia’s tight hold than Sebek and Silver were. The moment Malleus brought a single candlelight to her face, she froze.
“Prince Malleus-“ she exclaimed in shock. Clearly, she was impressed by his sudden appearance. It was rare that Malleus conversed with humans other than Silver, Sebek’s father, and his classmates at NRC.
She referred to him as all denizens of Briar Valley were meant to. Both Human and Fae knew of his power.
Malleus shushed her with a finger to his lip, “We’ll talk in a moment.”
With magic, Malleus teleported the three of them to an area in the forest he had constructed ahead of time, made with fallen rocks from Mount Dread, and shaped into a small, dome-like dungeon nestled not too far from the cottage for a quick return.
It resembled the interior of BlackScale Castle enough to trick someone who surely never set foot in fae lands before, but it was a safe, innocent distance away from his Grandmother’s actual dungeon.
Lilia set her down on a lone flat stone that served as a makeshift seat. To seal the deal on their fake dungeon, Malleus conjures up cuffs and chains to keep her tethered in place by her arms. Lilia steps behind Malleus, completely covered by Malleus’s massive stature, especially standing above Pip as she sits, eyes looking up at him in a pitiful way.
Keeping up his facade as a frightening, vengeful lord, he prodded her to speak up.
“Come now, why so melancholy?” He asks, “I merely wish to ask you a few questions. Not as the Prince of Briar Valley, but as myself…What is Silver to you?”
“He’s my…” Pip attempts to answer calmly, but then she questions him, “Where is he? Is he okay?”
Malleus deviously smiled; a new idea dawns on him. Raising his arms, speaking in the most theatrical, fearsome King voice he could summon, he exclaims, “In yonder topmost tower of my castle is where he lies, in ageless sleep. Should you prove yourself worthy of his affection, he will wake…I’m sure even a human such as yourself can make it to him after a hundred years or so in here.”
Malleus had expected one of two possibilities from his small test. Pip would either cower at his magnificence and beg for her freedom and Silver’s, or, if she were truly weak-willed, abandon her pursuit of Silver altogether.
Pip did neither of those things.
Suddenly, Pip stood up from where she sat and lunged at him, only stopped by the length of the chains around her wrist. She writhed and continued to tug at her restraints as if she could break them off and tackle him to the ground, face contorted into a scowl of genuine anger.
Suddenly, a burst of magic blew a hole into the makeshift dungeon, revealing Silver with the remnants of a spell dissipating from his fingertips.
“What are you doing?!” Silver uncharacteristically shouted loudly in anger.
Malleus and Lilia looked at each other guiltily. Malleus could see the look of regret wash over Lilia’s face.
It was rare for Silver to get angry with them. When he was, it meant that Malleus and Lilia had done something truly wrong.
What was amusing for fae did not always translate well to humans.
Silver stormed past them and checked over Pip, who was in disbelief that the supposedly cursed Silver was very much awake and not trapped in some tower.
“Why would you do something like this to her?!” Silver whipped his head back around to them, voice still raised and filled with rage.
“It was a trial,” Malleus explained, as Lilia had fallen completely silent, too afraid of speaking up and making things worse than they already were, “A ruse to test her willpower. She was not in any real danger, we would reveal the truth at the end-”
“Chaining her up like this is NOT okay. Whatever your intentions, you both went way too far with this!” Silver chastised them both, “Dispel the chains right now!”
Malleus did as he was told and freed Pip. Before either of them could speak up and try to calm Silver down, he took Pip firmly by the hand and led her out of the makeshift dungeon, completely ignoring his remorseful Lord and father.
After Silver and Pip disappeared into the woods, Malleus turned to Lilia, who somehow looked even paler than usual.
“We did go too far,” Lilia said quietly, “We should’ve thought more carefully about this and how Silver would feel. Even after all these years, I’m still misunderstanding him…”
“Don’t fret, Silver never stays angry for very long.” Malleus tried to comfort him, but then Lilia got snappy.
“That doesn’t matter, we were still careless, and we still hurt him,” Lilia told him, “Hopefully Pip isn’t frightened of us now.”
Speaking of Pip…
“She lunged at me…Did you see?” Malleus asked.
The image of Pip attempting to fight Malleus on Silver’s behalf was a far more intriguing response than he ever expected to get. Although he felt shame over causing the humans distress, he wasn’t unsatisfied with the results.
Despite his guilt, Lilia briefly smiled at the memory too.
“She’s a mere human. Even unbound, she never would have stood a chance against me. Yet, she still tried to fight me for Silver.” Malleus adds, still intrigued by Pip’s bravery.
“She’s an interesting one, isn't she?” Lilia replied.
The two returned to Lilia’s cottage and found that it still remained empty.
Malleus saw Lilia pace a bit anxiously in the living room while keeping his eyes on the door. Surely this was bringing back memories of when Silver had disappeared into a storm, but both knew well enough that he wasn’t a child who needed to be searched for.
Humans grow up fast; he was almost at the age where he could decide to make another place his home and never return.
Malleus secretly hoped he would always return to this hidden place.
Silver eventually did, alongside Pip, whose hand he still held in his own. Silver bowed his head as soon as the door opened.
“Lord Malleus, Father, I’m sincerely sorry for losing my temper,” he apologized.
“I’m sorry, Silver. We should’ve thought more carefully about what we were doing. I now realize a fae test of strength isn’t something humans are familiar with,” Lilia apologizes right back.
Malleus sees how Silver looks a bit sadder at the differences between him and his father being pointed out. It wasn’t Silver’s fault at all. Lilia could be careless, and Malleus, unfortunately, prioritized his own interests over Silver and Pip’s human sensitivities. As guardians, they should strive to do better. Malleus was ready to do just that.
“No, I was just surprised!” Pip insists, taking both her hands back and waving them in a frantically dismissive manner, looking far more concerned than upset like Silver was, “I also want to apologize. I’m sorry I lashed out, I thought-“
“Now, now. You both have nothing to apologize for; the fault is on Malleus and me, right, Malleus?” Lilia assured them, looking to Malleus to assuage their worries.
“All is fine,” Malleus says, “I’m more than impressed with your bravery, Pip. It’s time you know my position here now that you’ve joined us.”
When Silver first came into his life, he thought there was no way he could ever care about a human. Yet now he was attending a predominantly human school on Sage’s Island, caring for and watching a human grow, and welcoming more change.
There was space for one more.
“You know me as the heir apparent of Briar Valley, and that Silver is one of my vassals, but I am also a close friend of this family.” He gestures to Silver and Lilia, “I have known Silver since he was an infant. Anyone who wishes to be at his side must earn my approval.”
Lilia rolled his eyes. Although not wanting to intrude on Silver’s decisions, he couldn’t help but compete with Malleus a little bit. “It was never your decision. If anything, it’s mine.”
“Do you truly believe I would allow just anyone to court him? Were you not the one to entrust Silver to me when you would suddenly step out? I changed his diapers too-“
“Lord Malleus, please!” Silver meekly spoke up, his face turning pink.
Pip found the scene he painted cute and laughed, placing a hand on Silver’s shoulder, “You really got babysat by the future King of Briar Valley? That’s amazing!” She exclaimed, then turned to Malleus, “Did I earn your approval?”
Malleus smirked, “I believe you have, for now,” he said, “you will never be too far from my watchful eye.”
Pip made a horrified expression, which made Malleus drop the act yet again.
“There’s no need to be scared, I was joking,” he said rather disappointedly.
It reminded him a bit of how the humans at NRC acted around him. Though if Silver could look at him without fear even during infancy, perhaps the two of them growing closer would rub that unique trait of his off on her.
“Please don’t tease, test, or tie her up without her consent again,” Silver politely requested, which both fae took a mental note not to forget. Silver looked to his father and laid down another boundary, “and I’m sword training her, father, not you.”
Lilia laughed as if he had not been worried sick minutes prior and reached up to place a hand on both Silver and Pip’s heads, “I look forward to seeing the results of your teaching. Pip, you keep growing stronger, alright?”
Silver and Pip looked pleased and, just as Malleus expected, the two of them seemed to move on from their previous distress with ease.
With this much company at once before Sebek had made the trip over, the crowded cabin was bound to be louder than when it once housed a crying infant.
Pip was far from the worst addition to this little family Malleus had so diligently looked after.
After all, she had already shown she was ready to duel a dragon for Silver’s sake.
What's this...? Pip's parents have designs now?? 🤭
Once again, character design and illustration is credited to my friend and collaborator @cozymochi 💕 Meet Burtram and Ingrid Ulstead!
Burtram Ulstead is a successful architect in Briar Valley (gotta build those honeymoon cottages) and is twisted from King Hubert from Sleeping Beauty 1959
Ingrid Ulstead is an accomplished academic historian who specializes in ancient weapons and is twisted from Queen Ingrith from Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
They're both very in love with each other and very supportive of the ethereal forest boy their daughter claims she met once upon a dream...His fae family will take some getting used to though, but I'm sure they'll come around.
They say if you dream a thing more than once, It’s sure to come true. And I’ve seen him so many times…
Thank you to my close friend and collaborator @cozymochi for this illustration, Pip's design, and everything you've done to make this character real with me!
Below are links to general info and fics as they release! Feel free to follow #Pip Ulstead too!
