Common

It's been two and a half years since Titania last visited the main Island, and if someone had told her the horrors she'd go through in such a short amount of time, she'd never have believed them. She remembers slinking through the trees, emotionally raw and physically exhausted, looking for her little fawn - and having trouble find her instead, first in the form of the painted Lagoon stallion following after her from the Thicket, then in the sudden appearance of Rougaru, jade-eyed creature of her nightmares. There was a grey mare calling from the sidelines, as if the danger to Titania's life was some sort of spectator sport - and then there had been a stormy, tiger-striped Amazon, her savior, throwing enough of a wrench into the chaos for her to make her escape. She'd left the Crossing for Atlantis, running to retrieve Cressida based on the wolf-king's lie, sure she'd be back to the Peak in no more than a few days' time and knowing her daughter would be safe under the unnamed woman's watchful eye.

But that hadn't happened. She'd been a fool, falling into a trap set by the mare for which she'd sacrificed her own first chance at freedom, and in her naivete she thought Vanya would ignore her after throwing her to the wolves. Instead, she used her newfound power to make Titania's life a living hell. She'd taken everything: her independence, her dignity, and most importantly, her son. The fae woman had spent so much of her time in Paradise trying to make sense of it, to understand why Vanya had such a taste for hurting her, and never found the answer. Maybe - and this thought terrified her - there was no answer. Maybe there was no means to this cruel end, no reason for her abuse.

How could someone be so heartless?

Even more confusing, once Titania ventured to Salem, it all just... stopped. Nobody came for her but Drogon, and even then, he didn't stay that long. She'd spent an entire season darting around in the shadows of sand dunes and cacti, looking constantly over her shoulder for Rougaru to come chasing after her, sure that Vanya's brat had gone and ratted her out, but nothing happened. It was so different compared to what she'd been used to, so strange. For as long as she'd been on the Islands, the silver-haired King of Paradise had haunted her, and now it was like he'd vanished into thin air, a figment of her imagination. Make no mistake: Titania relished her newfound freedom, even if she had to go to the ends of the earth to find it. But it was hard to let her hackles down when she had no real answer for where her captors were, and what they might be planning next.

As spring began to fade into summer, though, she knew she had to change her focus. Her children were out there somewhere, and she'd been away from them for far too long. It was time to go and collect them, one by one by one, and bring them back to Salem so they could start their new lives together, as a family, and make up for the time that was stolen from them.

She would start with Faline, the farthest-flung of the three she could be sure were on the Islands, and work her way south. At least, that was her plan - and even now, as she strides boldly across the open space of the Common, secure in the protection offered by her crown and her battle-worn heart, she only has eyes for the Peak, following the distant shape of it looming hazily in the distance. Due north she travels, and with haste... until a voice rings out nearby, a voice that instantly chills her to the bone and sets her blood to boiling. A voice she'd been forced to heed for years, a voice that now plagued her dreams. Too close for comfort, this voice, sending her darting into the trees and changing course to find its painted owner.

When Titania finds her, she almost can't believe it. Vanya dances through the Common, sticking out like a sore thumb, utterly alone. Watching her in the shadows, it doesn't seem real... but if the Queen of Paradise is here, ripe like fruit for the taking, something must really be amiss. Rougaru wouldn't let his prize go free like this, and Vanya was not the type to give up her position of power once she'd claimed it. This turn of events can only mean one thing: the wolf-king has fallen, and his reign on Atlantis is no more.

Just like that, the fae Queen's plans have changed. Her children are still her priority, and she will connect with all of them - but Vanya's lies have played no small part in the loss of them, and if she is to convince Loki of his rightful heritage, she'll need Vanya's help to make him see the truth.

It might take a bit of blood to convince her, of course... but a few drops of the painted bitch's life-force is nothing compared to the rivers spilled in the dominion of her former prisoner. It is the price she has to pay for Titania's ruined life, and the starborne mare has come, at last, to collect.

She can't wait a second longer. Fury urges her forward, drawing her to her quarry like a woman possessed. Titania circles around, sliding to a stop in front of Vanya, blocking her path of escape. Shaking with rage, tears in her black, fathomless eyes, her gaze finds Vanya's own, searing and defiant and righteous with all the years of unspent emotion she'd been forced to hold inside herself. The tables are turned, now, and the roles have switched - and Titania, changed forever into a shadow of herself, a creature formed of trauma and pain and a view of the world as a merciless, unforgiving place, will show her maker exactly the kind of monster she's fashioned out of greed.

"Hello, darling," the mare says softly, her words like daggers cloaked in plush velvet. "Did you miss me?"

Without waiting for an answer, Titania closes the distance between them, drawing Vanya into her embrace with her jaws aimed squarely at her pretty, perfect throat.