Explaining to Leo everything about the other realm went more smoothly than I thought. Leo doesn't seem surprised or confused by the idea of a supernatural realm beyond the human one, so I assume he has always believed in the existence of such a place.
The only thing that he has questions about is being the other half of Kellar’s soul.
“What’s going to happen to me if I—we—merge our souls?” I can tell that Leo is having a hard time bringing up the question while sitting beside Kellar and trying not to look at him. “Who would…who would be conscious, and who would disappear? Am I making any sense?”
“You are.” Kellar is the one who answers him, looking unbothered all throughout the conversation. “To answer your question, I don’t think that either one of us is going to disappear. It would probably be like merging into one body.”
Leo is silent for a bit, and, for the first time, I worry that this might be too much for him. “And if we don’t go back to one soul, we would both end up dead?”
“Dead and we would have to bury you in two separate caskets.” I elbowed Chace for that comment.
I turn to Leo apologetically after glaring warningly at Chace. “I’m sorry about that, Leo. In this realm, Chace becomes twice the doofus that he is.”
“Oi!”
Leo's worried expression fades, and he breaks out into a broad grin and a chuckle even as I shove Chace away just as he's starting to get on my nerves and begs me to take back my words.
“Thanks, Stella. I think I have gotten a little bit of a sense of the situation now. It’s inevitable, but he and I have to merge if we want to live, right?” He steals a glance at Kellar, who seems to be petting Javi to sleep and not caring that we were talking about him.
“That’s about right.”
“I have another question, if you don’t mind.”
“Sure. Go ahead.”
“It’s been bothering me a lot, but who is that girl sitting behind you?”
“What girl—aaAAAHHHHH!” I felt like my soul left my body the moment I turned to see that I was already face to face with Serena, grinning at me like one of those Japanese horror movie ghosts. “Serena, don’t scare me like that!” I swear, this nymph just loves to pop out of nowhere!
“What?” Serena stops smiling and sits back with one of her brows arched. “It wasn’t my plan. I even smiled so you would not freak out! Should I have frowned instead?”
“No…no, you’re fine. Just don’t sneak up like that.” I try to calm myself from my earlier fright. “Do you need something?”
“I was checking to see if those two were ready to merge.” She points at Kellar and Leo. “You two aren’t exactly out of the woods yet, you know. It will be a matter of time before one of you starts to collapse again. And if I were to guess who, it would be him.” She starts to point at Kellar, who seems to be on the verge of falling on top of Javi. Leo managed to catch and assist him in the process. “There. See?” She points, like it was something normal.
“Kellar!” I cupped his face in my hands. He’s turning cold and pale.
“He’s unconscious.” Leo tells me, placing a hand on my shoulder to calm me down before turning to address Serena. “Do you know how to mend our bond? If you do, do it now.”
“Geez. Kids these days are so bosy.” Serena grumbles, turning to Chace and me. “Stella, I need you with me. Chace, I need you to take those two to the top spring. That’s where the most magic concentration should be.”
While Chace assisted Javi and Custard in taking Kellar and Leo to the spring, Serena dragged me away from the group. With how stern Serena looks, I start to worry.
“Are Leo and Kellar going to be okay?”
“What?” For a moment, she seemed confused until she realized what I was talking about. “Oh, this isn’t about them. This is about you, actually.”
“Me? Shouldn’t we focus more on Kellar and Leo first?”
“Well, this also involves them in a way.” Serena’s forehead creases with worry. “Stella, I don’t think that your magic is that of an ordinary winter fairy.”
“What does that mean?” I’m trying to make sense of what she’s saying. “Are you saying that I am not a winter fairy?”
“You are, you are!” Serena shakes her hands before her, like she is trying to calm me down. “It’s just that you might be something else as well.”
“Like?” I tilt my head to the side, trying to wonder if this conversation is going to help Kellar and Leo’s recovery like she said it would. I am curious as to where the conversation is headed, but couldn’t she have picked a more decent time than this?
“The enchanted forest used to have a guardian among the tamers. It’s not that often, but when the forest is dying, it’s said that a tamer with great magic would be able to revive the forest.” She tells me. “With the forest nearly close to losing its magic, I have kept an eye on three potential tamers. First, your sister, who wields the greatest taming abilities. The second is Kellar, who has a Javi while the third is Klause, Rose’s youngest son.”
“You think Klaus is a tamer?”
“He definitely is.” Serena nods confidently. “But you—I never expected that the guardian would be you.”
“Serena, I am no tamer. I am a winter fairy!”
“But you have the blood of a tamer.” She presses on. “The dominant magic in you is that of a winter fairy. I never took it into account since there has never been a crossbreed of two species before, but I suppose even a speck of a tamer’s blood can make you a guardian. For all I know, maybe I should have considered Arciella as a candidate too since she has Rose’s blood. What I am trying to say is, even if you don’t necessarily use tamer magic, as long as you share their blood, you can be a guardian. Stella, in this generation, you are the enchanted forest’s guardian.”
I don’t believe that the weight of her words meant anything to me at the moment because I don’t fully understand what that would mean for me or to Kellar.
“Will me being a forest guardian help Kellar and Leo?”
“It will. As guardian, you can boost the healing effects of the spring, canceling the damage that the witches made when separating Kellar’s soul.”
“Good.” I shrug. “I’ll take the job then.” I start to head to where the other are when I pause after Serena pulled my arm back.
“Stella, you didn’t let me finish.” Serena looks nervous. “Becoming a guardian has a price!”
I froze before giving her my full attention. “Price? What price?”
“You will have to live here for good.”