Kellar and Chace seem to be getting along pretty well. They talked all the way back to the spring. Since I did not want to interrupt their brotherly bond, I decided to walk ahead. I already spent time with Kellar while living in the enchanted forest. I think that it is time for Chace to get his chance to have a talk with Kellar.
“We’re almost there.” I turn back to inform them. “I’ll go ahead and meet up with Serena and inform her that Kellar’s coming.”
“Will you be safe on your own?”
“I got my powers back. Right now, I am the strongest one here, so even if the two of you work together, I doubt that you both can take me.” I smile smuggly, placing my hands on my hips. Out of my mouth, a cloud of condensed snow escaped as I exhaled. Kellar and Chace both give me dumbfounded expressions.
“The ice queen is back.”
“And she intends to freeze the enchanted forest.” Kellar adds after Chace’s terrible monologue. He tilts his head when he meets my gaze and gives me a teasing smile. “Oh, wait. You’ve already frozen it.”
“It wasn’t my intention.” I grumble.
“Oh? What was that? Did I just happen to hear you admit that you lost control of your powers?” There are very few people who can get me worked up when getting teased, and Kellar is at the top of my growing list. “Well, princess?” He continues to give me that smile.
I click my tongue in annoyance. “If you ask me, I would say that you are the evil half of your soul.” I say and immediately turn my back to leave. Even as I am walking away, I can hear Kellar and Chace’s chuckles behind me.
Tch! I hope they trip on a rock or something. That would shut them up.
Just like I told them, I made it back to the cave first in order to come and meet up with Serena and Leo. I barely managed to get inside the cave when Serena met me halfway.
“O-Oh, Serena.” I can’t help but avoid her gaze. I feel shameful. After she and the nymphs allowed me to stay in the enchanted forest, I went ahead and froze it. “I’m sorry.” I blurt out immediately.
“Sorry? What are you sorry for?!” Serena looks absolutely horrified when I start to bow repeatedly while apologizing. “Hey, hey, if your sister finds out—”
“I’M SO SORRY FOR FREEZING THE ENCHANTED FOREST!” I take a risk and raise my head to check Serena’s expression. I expected that she'd be wearing a sad and disappointed expression, so imagine my surprise when I saw her crack a smile. Not long after that, she lets out a melodic laugh.
I know that Serena can sometimes be a little broken in the head, but I never expect her to laugh at this sort of situation.
Great. I must have caused such a huge problem for her this time that I finally broke her.
“Stella, you did not harm the forest.” She finally says.
“Umm…Serena? The forest is frozen.” I point outside, where the trees and, well, basically everything around us is covered in ice and snow.
“Indeed it is.” She nods. “But don’t you feel or see what’s happening? Go on. Look again and tell me the difference from when you did not create that massive magic burst.”
I look back once more and try to remember what the enchanted forest looked like before I turned it into a popsicle. I feel like I haven’t stressed this quite enough, but it still baffles me that, in this winter weather, the trees are still keeping their leaves, which all look so white and pristine that they almost glitter under the sun. More than that, everything around us looks more alive. Everything is emanating with magic.
I turn to Serena with a question bubbling at the back of my throat. “Is this…”
“For the longest time, the magic has been dwindling, and most spirits have to go to sleep in order not to exhaust what’s left of their magical essences.” Serena starts to explain. The more she speaks, the more I start to notice that she appears to be glowing, or maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me. “Stella, the enchanted forest managed to revive to its full strength thanks to you. If anything, we should be the ones who should be thanking you. The spring, which has been gradually losing its magic has also been revived and is much more effective than it was before. Which also meant that your friend has woken up after we placed him in the spring.”
“Leo? Leo’s awake!?”
Serena nods. “Yeah. Though I have to warn you, that guy is confused like a little chick that just hatched. We didn’t dare to approach him because we feared that he might faint.” She sighs and jerks her thumb behind her to where the spring is. “You should go and check on your friend.”
“Thank you. Thank you, Serena!” I give her a quick hug and start to run in the direction of the spring until I have to stop. “Oh, Kellar and Chace are on their way. Do you think that the spring can do something about the soul situation?”
Serena just grinned at me. “The spring won’t, but I might.” Right. I guess that she must have recovered some of her magic as well.
I return her smile and hurry back to where the spring is. Everything in the cave is glowing, especially the water coming from the spring. I feel mesmerized just watching over it, and I might have forgotten why I was there in the first place if I did not hear Leo calling for me.
“Stella? Is that you?” I see Leo staying at the edge of one of the springs. Custard is right by his side, guarding him. He’s still in his school uniform, which makes it feel a little nostalgic considering everything that’s going on.
I head over to him quickly, grabbing his shoulders and examining his face. He looks okay, which makes me feel relieved. “You’re good. Thank goodness.”
Leo smiles his typical, unproblematic smile. “It seems like you’re doing well on your end. I’m glad.” His smile soon begins to dwindle when he looks around us, more specifically at Custard, who is just following diligently behind him and wagging his tail for attention. “Um…I kind of remember you telling me to jump through that weird door before I woke up in this… place. It’s strange, but I feel like it’s familiar to me.” He looks back at me with his brows furrowed. “Do you mind giving me an explanation? Also, is that Chace and his friend behind you?”
I look behind me only to find Chace, Kellar, and Javi finally managing to catch up to us. Kellar and Leo locked gazes, and it seems like they only have eyes for each other in that moment—I know I could have phrased this in a non misleading romantic way, but this way is more fun to hear.
I guess explaining things would be a lot easier with them here.
“Alright. I guess I do owe you one. We can start with you meeting Kellar.” I say pointing to where Kellar is still on Javi’s back and looking at Leo with an unreadable expression. “He’s your soulmate.”