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Farah nervously ran her hands up and down her pant covered legs. The fairy and her Specialist were on their way to the Solarian Palace to meet with their friend, Queen Luna. They needed to explain everything that had transpired in Aster Dell, including the fate of their leader, Rosalind.
“I’m not too sure I can do this, Saul.” She whispered.
“I believe in you Farah. You’ll be a great leader at Alfea.” Saul reached over and stopped the fairy’s hands from wearing a hole on her pants. “And the Queen is our friend. She’ll understand once we explain to her what happened. She won’t fault you for trying to stop Rosalind from committing even more war crimes.”
“It’s not just that. What if we see her ?”
Saul fell quiet. The Specialist did not know what to say to his partner. He had wanted to see their daughter and see how she was doing, but will it make the ache in his chest feel even worse? When they had given her up to their friend, there was no pain like it. They both vowed that they would never want to feel pain like that ever again and they never wanted to replace her after the war had ended, it just felt wrong after they had willingly given her up.
“It’s a big palace, Farah. The chances of her even being on the same wing or floor as us is slim.”
Farah didn’t reply and gripped the fabric of her pants tighter as Saul rounded their car to park in front of the golden doors. As soon as the car stopped, a Solarian guard was opening the passenger door and was holding a hand out to Farah. She stepped out and waited for her partner to join her side before continuing up the steps together. They made their way through the maze of halls until they reached a room at the very back of the palace. The fairy pushed the door open and was surprised to find their friend already there, studying a map of their realm.
Queen Luna looked up when she heard the door open and smiled at her old friends warmly. “Welcome. Please, take a seat.”
The two new heads of Alfea walked further into the room and pulled seats on either side of the sovereign.
“From what my general tells me, this is all of Aster Dell,” she pointed to a particular area on the map. “It will be easy to cover it up with my magic, but I would like to hear the whole story from both of you. Don’t spare me any details because I would like to know what I’m getting myself into, lest I get caught in a lie by the public.”
Saul started with his side of the story, including the part where Andreas had known of Rosalind’s plan. He tried to run in the direction of the fairies in order to stop them from destroying the village. Andreas made the mistake of threatening his fairy’s safety and attacking him, which left Saul no choice but to defend himself and resulted in his friend’s death. The other specialist’s body was brought to Eraklyon to be buried by Saul himself and told the people that he had died a hero.
“You did the right thing, Saul. You will not be punished for his death. Whilst I know you were close friends, Rosalind has brainwashed him to the cause until he was blind to everything else. He left you no choice.” Luna uncharacteristically leaned over and patted his hand comfortingly.
Although their whole situation was somber, a small smile tugged at Farah’s lips. The mind fairy and the light fairy were best friends and roommates during their school days at Alfea. The two fairies did everything together until Saul and Farah started dating. The Specialist and light fairy clashed about anything and everything, always disagreeing over the smallest of things and calling each other names. But whenever Farah levels them with her patented glare, they both quickly quiet down and become amicable until the moment she leaves the room. Now, years later, the two were somewhat friends. At least, friendly enough that her old roommate is covering up what their battalion had done in order to protect them from the people’s wrath.
Farah continued with her side of her story next. She told her friend that Rosalind informed her after they had already destroyed the village that it was not evacuated. The mind fairy surveyed the damage they had caused and ascertained that no one could have survived the explosion they had brought down and the subsequent fire. Rosalind’s laugh echoed around her, carried by the wind. In her rage, she channeled all her power and aimed it at her mentor, knocking her out and imprisoning the older woman in her own mind. They chose to hide her underneath the school in order to set wards that will alert them if she were to try to escape.
“Are you sure you don’t want my guards to transport her here? What of the students if she were to escape?”
The mind fairy shook her head, “No. I put enough wards in the undercroft that’ll inform me if there was a slight change. I’ll be ready for her when the day comes. She’s done so many unspeakable things, but I couldn’t bring myself to end it.”
“That’s because you are nothing like her, and thank god for that. I don’t think I can handle a Rosalind 2.0.” The Queen laughed and proceeded to put away the items that littered the table in front of her. “Right, now all we have left is for you two to take an oath to make being heads of Alfea official and you can be on your way back to the school. I assume you both will be very busy rearranging many things.”
The two nodded and waited for their friend’s directions. Before the Queen was able to start, a loud knock echoed in the room and a head poked in.
“I apologize for bothering you, your majesty.”
“It’s alright. What is it?”
“The babe,” A loud wail carried into the room and the three occupants sat with baited breath. “She wouldn’t stop crying. I believe she just wants you.”
Queen Luna eyed her two friends apologetically, “I’m sorry. She’s at the clingy stage and while Stella is her daddy’s girl, Selina has become... Well…”
“She’s a mummy’s girl.” Farah nodded understandingly, albeit sadly. “It’s alright. We can wait until she calms down.”
The Queen waved the royal nanny in and the woman hurried over with a fussing baby, a tiny fist peeking out from the yellow blanket she was swaddled in. The nanny carefully placed the screaming child in her mother’s arms before bowing and exiting the room quickly. The baby immediately calmed down upon recognizing the familiar blue eyes gazing at her amusingly.
“What?” Queen Luna playfully booped her nose and the baby squealed in excitement. “You just wanted to give your nanny a difficult time so she’ll bring you to me.”
Saul looked on as the baby, his baby, babbled to her new mother. From the corner of his eye, the Specialist could see that his fairy was watching with a blank expression, but he could feel everything through their bond. She was feeling a mix of longing, fondness, and sadness. His own emotions filtering through probably didn’t help her either.
“She’s gotten so big.” Farah’s shaky voice reached the Queen and their friend looked up with remorse in her eyes.
“I’m sorry. I know this must be difficult for you. It’s usually her nap time. I’m not sure why she’s suddenly so fussy.” The Queen looked at her friend. “Would you like to hold her?”
Before Farah realized what she was doing, she was already nodding her head and Queen Luna was rising from her seat with the baby. She carefully handed the babbling child to her friend and stepped back. The baby fell quiet and looked at Farah with wide gray eyes. The mind fairy held her breath, anticipating for the young girl to cry, but she merely gave a toothless smile and continued babbling.
“She’s a talkative one.” Saul laughed, looking at his girls lovingly.
Queen Luna raised her eyebrows, “Reminds me of a certain Specialist I went to school with. I never got a moment of peace until I graduated.”
The three friends shared a laugh and Farah looked over to her partner and beckoned him over.
“You should hold her.” She offered.
Her partner nodded eagerly and Farah carefully handed the child over. The Queen slowly backed out of the room to give her friends a moment alone with the child they had given up and closed the door quietly. The Specialist leaned against the table and rocked the cooing baby in his arms. Farah wrapped her hand around his back and held a finger out for the baby to grab. The small family enjoyed the fleeting peace this moment gave them and the two heads of Alfea took advantage of the moment that may never come again.
“Sometimes… I still think about whether we made the right choice or not.” Farah whispered, rubbing her thumb back and forth on the small hand gripping her finger. “But then I see the way Luna is with her and I know that she’s loved.”
Saul caressed the baby’s soft cheek. The child had quieted down and her eyes had started to drift close with the two adult’s ministrations. Once Selina was asleep, Farah leaned her head on her Specialist’s shoulder and continued gazing at the baby, content with the unexpected solace they had found within the palace.
Releasing a content sigh, Saul pressed his lips on the crown of Farah’s head. “I love you, always.”
Farah looked him in the eyes and smiled, before returning the sentiment. “I love you too.”
What had started out as a day full of anxiety was slowly coming to a close with newfound peace in their hearts from this very moment. They knew they still had many challenges that lay ahead of them. They were now in charge of a school and they have young students that will look at them for leadership and guidance. Nevertheless, at this moment in time, nothing and no one else existed but their little family.