Violet was clenched tightly in the red giant's fist. It seemed they were about to begin their journey. The giant moved with purpose, as if carrying urgent news to his king—or perhaps he was?
As Violet gazed ahead, she could see a city in the distance, one that she could only describe as beautiful. The contrast between this city and the hellish landscape they had just passed through was striking. It seemed to be the same city she had spotted from afar upon her first arrival here.
Now that she was close enough to see, Violet was in awe of the city's vastness and beauty. How did they manage to obtain such precious metals to create towering walls and magnificent architecture? The brass-coated walls, stretching endlessly, were stunning. The gate in the center of the wall was an intricate work of art, a masterpiece of craftsmanship that could only be described as the pinnacle of skill.
The giant moved quickly through the city gates, and Violet took in her surroundings. Beings of all shapes and sizes bustled about, but there was one trait they all shared—their skin was all some shade of red.
The giant continued on through what Violet assumed was the district for giants, as everything around them, from the people to the buildings, was enormous. They passed through several layers of walls before finally arriving at a majestic castle.
"I request an audience with His Majesty."
"For what purpose? You do know His Majesty is a busy king?"
"I know, but this is urgent. I've captured an outsider..."
"We get those all the time. The elemental planes are connected through the shadow plane, so visitors from other elemental planes are common."
"I'm not talking about visitors from the other planes. I'm talking about one from our original realm—the Material Realm."
"You do realize that's impossible, right?"
"Then where does this one come from, if not the Material Plane?"
"Wait, is that thing the so-called elf?"
Violet bristled at being referred to as a "thing." She was a living, breathing being, after all. They were aware that she could understand them, weren't they?
"Allow me to inform the king of this matter and request an audience for you."
"Thank you," the giant said before the guard entered the castle.
After some time, the guard returned and informed the giant that the king had agreed to meet with him.
They entered the castle, and to Violet's surprise, the giant began to shrink. By the time they reached the throne room, he was the average height of an adult human male. Despite his size having changed, his strength was still evident.
The castle's interior was just as magnificent as the exterior. It was clear that it was made with precious metals and the work of skilled craftsmen.
When they reached the throne room, Violet's eyes were drawn to the far end of the room, where the king sat on his throne—a being seemingly made entirely of fire. Flames engulfed the throne, and the heat emanating from it was palpable.
"Bow, intruder. You are in the presence of our king."
Before Violet could react, an invisible force pushed her down into a bowing position. The king spoke again, his voice commanding. "Raise your head... It is impressive that you've survived the waves of my flames. Better yet, how have you been able to walk through our plane of existence without perishing? Tell me, intruder, what is your purpose here?"
"I was simply trying to learn my abilities..."
"Abilities? Now that you mention it, you do seem to have some control over the flames. Tell me, how did you come to enter our plane? People from the material realm should not be able to access other realms."
"I'm not sure... It just happened."
The king leaned forward. "Ah, now that I see you more closely, I notice your pointed ears. Are you an elf?"
"Yes, I am."
"That explains it. You must be a 'high elf,' as your people call them."
"Yes, how did you know?"
"Only elves blessed by the fae—what you call high elves—can access other realms."
"Wait... Did you say fae? As in fairies?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I said."
"Do you mean to say that fairies exist in this world?"
"Of course they do. Seriously, are you this uninformed about your own people?... Did you come here through Yggdrasil, The connection to the fae realm?"
"No, it wasn't through Yggdrasil. It was through Qliphoth."
"Qliphoth? I see. Queen Lucifer's connection to the demon realm."
"Who is Queen Lucifer?"
"Don't worry about that... Now, tell me—do you know about the Celestials?"
"Celestials? No, I've never heard of them."
"Then what type of avatar are you? The fae realm really needs to do better when choosing their avatars. Have you ever summoned an elemental fairy?"
"Summon a fairy? Can I do that?"
"Wow, you really don't know much about your abilities, do you?"
"Let me tell you a story, then, since you are so ignorant of your purpose in this world.
"Let me tell you a story. Since you're so ignorant about your purpose. Long ago, this world had only one plane of existence—what is now called the Material Plane. All races lived there until invaders arrived from another world. Their powers were beyond comprehension, and they easily overran us. Using their magic items, they displaced us into other planes of existence, leaving the original inhabitants of the Material Plane scattered.
The invaders' forces gave rise to new races and, eventually, the most powerful of them ascended to another realm, slowly growing more powerful and crippling the other realms.
In an attempt to control our magic, they created spirits—beings who could harness it. The most powerful of these spirits were the fairies. But when the invaders realized how powerful fairies could become, they enslaved them and banished them to the fae realm.
The fae have been trying to return ever since, to overthrow the Celestials' tyrannical rule, but they've had to rely on the most magically gifted of material races, like the elves. The fae always choose an avatar to help them with this task."
"So I'm their chosen avatar?"
"Most likely."
"And the Qliphoth chose me too?"
"I don't know much about that, so I can't give you an answer."
"I'll figure it out soon enough."
"Since you're a powerful high elf, you can be my anchor in the Material Plane."
"Anchor?"
"Yes, my anchor. We cannot sustain our existence here without one."
"I don't know how to do that. I'm only just learning to control my powers."
"Don't worry, you'll learn. Looks like your time here is up. Wait, I didn't catch your name. What was it again?"
"I'm Violet."
"Ah, I see. Violet, I'm Ignus. I'll see you next time you come here."
As the flames swirled around her, Violet was transported back to where she had been before. So, she was an avatar of the fae realm? This was new information to her.
"My queen, have you grasped your powers yet?"
"Though traveling to other planes of existence is still a foreign concept to me, I am now one with the flames. My fear of them has been vanquished. I am ready to master them."