Hi everyone, SK here.

So... hopefully you're all not still mad at me for last chapter?  What's that, you're still mad?  Eh, I deserve it.  All I can do is tell you not to worry.

Also... this book has already reached 1K reads and has topped 100 votes.  All I can say is wow, thank you all so much!!  (I don't need to tell you the crazy number of comments this book has gotten, y'all can see that.)

Anyway, enough of me talking, and let's finish the twins' meeting with Her Majesty.  I hope you enjoy this chapter~!

Verity

Honestly, I don't really remember much of Her Majesty.  I don't even remember her name- her real name, not the formal title- which is why I'm desperately hoping that she introduces herself to us.

I instantly bow down once I see Heliux and Layra perform a quick bow of their own.  Keeping the bow position, I listen to the Ministers as they reintroduce us to Her Majesty and explain why we're present instead of our parents.  

"You can stop that now," comes the mildly amused voice that must belong to the Queen.  I stand back up straight, my brother following suite, and watch her gently set the giant staff down on the throne.  She descends down the stairs, her sunset-coloured dress swishing lightly from side to side as she moves.  

She holds out her hand to each of us respectively.  I shake it, hoping that she can't tell how clammy my hand is from sheer nervousness.  I don't get nervous very often, because I hate how being nervous makes me feel- it's that sense of powerlessness.

Her Majesty gives us both a calm smile.  "If you don't remember, my name is Alara," she introduces, making me heave an internal sigh of relief.  "It's a pleasure to see you both again, August and Verity," she adds, her smile starting to radiate undertones of cheekiness.  "The last time I saw you both was when you were very young."

"We were twenty," I point out.  "In terms of looks, we haven't changed."  Verity you idiot.  You can't show your usual sass around Her Majesty, it's disrespectful!

Alara shrugs.  "That is true, yes.  Your looks haven't changed, but I can tell that the August and Verity I see before me today have matured a great deal since we've last talked."  She pauses, then continues.  "Come, let's go talk.  I'm sure you have many questions, and we've got lots of catching up to do."  She gestures the four of us and her Spirit Soldiers to follow her.

We all ascend the staircase and pass Her Majesty's throne.  It's a light blue colour, almost like ice, but if you look close enough, there's a warm glow of embers that emits from the depths of its insides.  She stops and picks up the giant staff, which I now see adorned with a pink gem at its top.  I wonder, what kind of jewel is that...? I ask myself before gazing upwards.  Surrounding the throne, hung high up in the air, are nine silver torches.  Each one is adorned with engravings, with trickles of yellow and rose gold swirling upwards throughout the silver like mixed-flavour frozen yogurt.  Every torch has a different coloured gem attached to it, and their flames are coloured correspondingly to their gems.  Within the flames, I spot Elemental Symbols.  Those must be the symbols for the Queen's Elements that Heliux mentioned earlier, I realize with a little awe.

She leads us to another room, the Spirit Soldiers filing between us.  I find it a little odd how a Queen's Spirit Soldiers are all human, and aren't Initiated fairies- but I'm sure it dates back to some dusty ancient tradition that I'm too lazy to look up.  I do a quick double-take as I look at the group of humans, however.  There's only eight.  One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, I think, counting them off in my head as we traverse throughout the castle.  There's eight.  

Didn't the Ministers say that there would be nine of them?

Where is the ninth?

We emerge into the new room, and oh Zagan it's wonderful.  It is a large, open room with high slanted ceilings.  The ceilings themselves are formed by large planks of lightly-stained wood, while the walls are covered in birch bark- all but one.  The last wall is a giant window that faces the sereneness that is the fairies' forest, a large glass panel that extends from the floor to the ceiling without any breaks except for one in the middle- well duh, how else is it supposed to remain stable?  The floors are covered with beautiful smoothe white ceramic tiles that contain the occasional silver swirl.  The wall opposite the window has a large mantel and a fireplace; two trees- yes, two actual growing oak trees- adorn each side of the setup with large grey stones laid in place between them.  There is very simplistic furniture in the room; a few couches, some coffee tables.  The one thing that strikes my eye completely is the piano that sits near the window.  It's made completely of glass- magic must have made that- with its legs containing swirls of blood red pigment.  I can glance a little bit of the keys from here- they're made of black and white crystals.  Oh, did I mention the towering bookshelf crafted from dark walnut that sits opposite to our entrance?  Well, it's there.

Alara smiles at us.  "This room is quite nice, isn't it?" she asks, earning a nod from both me and my brother.  "We can spend our day here- unless you'd prefer to be somewhere else?"

I thought we'd get a tour of the castle but I guess that's for another time.  "Here is fine, Your Majesty," August tells her earnestly.

The Queen sighs at this.  "Calling me Your Majesty all day will become quite the hassle," she says with a huff.  "Just call me Alara."  

Star walks in front of all of us, including Alara.  "Let's sit and chat," she exclaims, sounding a little bored.  "I'm sure the newcomers have questions for us."

I'm a little surprised by this, but go to sit down anyway.  I thought we were the ones who are supposed to be sharing information with Her Majesty?  Maybe it's just because we're new.  Yeah, that must be it.  "Alright," I tell her eagerly, because my legs have apparently just realized they've been walking for a long time and are starting to die.

I walk over to the nearest couch, plopping myself down.  August quickly comes to sit beside me, not surprising.  I'm not objecting to it- I'm just not surprised.  Everyone else takes their seats, while Layra approaches the piano longingly.  "May I?" she asks politely, sitting down at the plush bench.

Alara smiles at her.  "Layra, we've known each other for more than a billion years now, and you still have to ask if you can play?"

The Dark Minister smiles back and touches her fingers to the keys.  She begins to play some calming melodies, melodies that fade into the background.  Heliux watches her, slightly smiling to himself.

"You're probably wondering why we're not fairies like you," Brooklyn jokes from out of nowhere, earning my brother's attention and my own.  "To put it simply, we don't get Initiated like you do-"

"We still have Elements though!" Sylkie interrupts.  "I'm sure Heliux already explained those to you though."

"Wouldn't be Heliux if he didn't," remarks Kya, completely ignoring the fact that the Minister is literally right there.  

I'll admit that I'm particularly curious.  "What Elements do each of you have?"  I want to figure out the missing Soldier.

"Mine is Earth," Kya explains, looking at the rest of her friends to give their answers.

"Air," adds Reza when he receives the look from the Earth Soldier.

Sylkie speaks up next.  "Mine's Life!"

"I've got Warmth," Hiro says a little quietly, while Luna adds that hers is Cold.  Star adds that hers is Lightness, while Mlm says that she's like the counterpart to Star: Darkness.  Brooklyn finishes by saying that her Element is Storm.

Earth, Air, Life, Warmth, Cold, Lightness, Darkness, Storm.

So Time's missing.

"I don't mean to pry, but where's the Time Spirit Soldier?" I ask openly.  I look at Her Majesty, hoping that she'll answer my question honestly.

She returns my gaze with a foggy one of her own.  "My Spirit Soldier of Time is currently on a very important mission," she answers vaguely.  "He has been for almost five centuries now.  He's been doing important work- that's why he's not here to meet you both today."

I can somewhat recall his looks.  I remember that he had pale skin, and maybe droopy hair that covers part of his face?  I don't really remember though, and I shouldn't really trust my memory with these types of things anyway.  I glance back at the Queen.  "What mission is he on?"  I'm asking the questions because August, when faced with new situations, becomes the biggest, shyest introvert ever.

Alara glances at Heliux, who sits beside her, and Layra, who's playing her instrument and not paying attention to us.  "He's on a mission to protect someone important."

I think I know what she means, but I don't think it just in case I get yelled at by Layra if- well, I don't think she's doing her mind-reading thingy, but I'm not going to take any chances.

"Oh," pipes up August.  "It sounds important."

"It is."

"Okay, I have another question," I announce suddenly.  If there's one thing I hate, it's awkward silence.  I'm not about to start that.  "Did you all know each other before Alara became Queen?"

The Soldiers look at each other.  "We did not all know each other, no, but we were all connected to each other in some way," answers Luna.  "Sylkie, Star, and I go way back- though Star and I didn't really know Alara that well until Sylkie came to us to beg us to become her sister's Soldiers with her-"

"You two are sisters?" I ask, looking between Sylkie and Alara.

"Half sisters," Sylkie clarifies.  "Our dad kinda dipped after our moms gave birth to us."

Yikes.  "I'm sorry to hear that," I tell them, trying to express some sympathy.  August murmurs something similar.

Alara shrugs.  "It's all in the past," she says.  "But yes, Luna and Star were both friends of Sylkie's.  I trusted both of them, and I knew that Sylkie wouldn't want to spend eons without them by her side.  Kya, Mlm, and Brooklyn were my best friends.  They agreed to become my Soldiers almost instantly.  Reza over here," she looks at him, "used to work on our family's farm.  We were pretty close, and when I told him about the position he decided to leave his life behind and came with me.  Hiro... you were having a rough time when I met you for the first time.  You came with me pretty much after I offered the position to you."

Hiro nods at this.  "I'm glad you did," he replies a little gruffly.

The Queen tilts her head to the side.  "That just leaves my last Soldier... he has a special place in my heart.  We've been friends since we were babies, but when we turned thirteen his family moved far away.  I knew I couldn't have anyone else as my last Soldier.  With the help of my new-formed magic- and a surprisingly useful library- I found him, and he accepted my position."

August perks up.  "So Queens and Kings choose their Spirit Soldiers?  Like they make them their friends I mean?"

Her Majesty nods.  "We can choose anyone we like- they can even be random truants on the street.  But, we are going to spend a billion- maybe billions, if we're lucky- years together.  It'd be better to know each other, you know?"

My brother nods back, looking more calm as the stress of meeting the Queen dies away for both of us- well at least I'd like to think it's dying.  "Yeah, I understand that," he tells her with a small chuckle.  "Plus, you'd need people who could fit the responsibilities of being a Spirit Soldier."

Alara gazes at him warmly.  "See?  You get it.  Maybe you should be King yourself."

A chorus of laughs echoes around the room, and I'm glad to see the tension in my brother's shoulders fading.  "No thanks, I'm good with being Leader," he replies, sounding a bit flattered even if it was merely a joke.

"You're all granted eternal youth as well, just like fairies?" I ask them curiously, directing the question at Reza.

He nods.  "We age until twenty, just like the rest of the fairies- but unlike you fairies who can only live to be a thousand years old, Alara and the rest of us live forever until a successor comes to take the throne."

"That obviously hasn't happened yet," jokes Brooklyn, "because we're all still alive."

Well duh of course it hasn't.  "I should've guessed that," I say slyly.  "After all, you all don't look like old shriveled dead bodies."

"I like you," Star grins.  I grin back.  Suddenly, the Spirit Soldier turns to the Light Minister, someone who has conveniently been remaining quiet for the past couple minutes.  "You're awfully quiet," she remarks.

Heliux shrugs.  "So?  You all are discussing information that I already know.  I see no need to contribute to this conversation."  In other words: "So?  You're all talking about stuff I don't care about, and I'm not a social person so I'm going to stay out of this."

I'm a master at translating Heliux-speak to regular phrases.  No dear readers, you don't need to applaud me.

"So, how's your daughter-" Star freezes and she looks at both of us, guilt in her eyes.

August looks at her and the now-uncomfortable Heliux.  "We know."

The Light Spirit Soldier visibly sags in relief.  "Thank goodness.  I did not want to be smited today," she jokes while laughing a little, trying to prompt the grumpy fairy to laugh with her.  Naturally, he doesn't laugh.  "So, you gonna tell us how your daughter is doing?"

"She's joined the fairies.  Well, kind of.  She is going to go back into the human world and come back in two years to be Initiated."

"So she's eighteen now?" Kya asks.  "I thought she was older."

"I thought she was younger," Hiro sniffs.

"Those were different instances," Layra calls from the piano.  "Right now, she is about to be eighteen."

"Right now" she's eighteen?  What's that supposed to mean?

Alara looks sympathetically at Heliux.  "I'm sorry to hear that," she tells him, placing a comforting arm on his shoulder.  "I know you didn't want to see her in the fairy's world ever again- after that year anyway.  How did she get here anyway?" Alara asks, sounding curious.  "I thought the Di-Element Clause would have stopped both the Legendaries and Advisors from sensing her Elements."

Heliux sends a stinging look toward August.  "This fairy," he says, pointing at my brother, "befriended her after sneaking out to see her for a straight year.  Her new set of parents- well, at least her new father, I have not heard much news about her mother- are particularly cruel toward her.  They tried to kill her one night which led August to bring her to the world of fairies."

"I had to do it," August says, sounding nervous and guilty for breaking the rules and also causing Valerie's human life to be cut short.  "That guy was going to kill her and I wouldn't want her to die.  You wouldn't want your daughter to die, would you Heliux?" he demands, staring straight into the golden irises of the Light Minister.

Heliux looks away.  "If she would have died that night, she would have had the chance to start anew.  Instead, you've killed her because you are getting her Initiated into the Colony.  You are the one that took away her chances, August.  You ruined everything."

August has a hurt look on his face and I stand up, putting my arms between them.  Layra continues to play, but I see her looking warily at the situation.  "Stop," I tell them commandingly.  "Heliux, I have no idea what the hell you're talking about, but August had Valerie's best interests in mind when he saved your daughter from dying.  So calm down."

Heliux isn't so easily diffused.  

"Alara, what's the Di-Element Clause?" I ask curiously, hoping to change the topic to something more positive and less confrontational.

"It's a hidden spell that ensures no humans with the Elements of Space or Spirits are brought into the Colony to get Initiated."

I stare at Heliux in shock.  "If Valerie's going to get Initiated in two years, what's going to happen?  She'll have either yours or Layra's Elements- maybe even both- and what will happen then?  She can't exactly take your place."

Heliux remains silent, and for once I can tell that he hasn't thought that far ahead.  He, like August that night, was acting in the moment.  He did what he could to keep Valerie safe without thinking of the consequences.

"Don't worry about it," pipes up Brooklyn.  "Star- not you, Star," she adds when Star makes a face, "will have a place with the fairies no matter what."

"Her name is Valerie," Layra says from the piano.  She stops her soothing song and turns to the rest of us.  "Not Star."  I can't be the only one that hears the pain in her voice or sees it in her eyes.

August turns back to the Minister, looking ready for a fight.  "Heliux, I saved your daughter.  I don't know why you're getting upset with me when you and Layra are the ones that abandoned her when she needed you."

Silence ensues as his words make their mark.  Heliux remains stone-faced, though he's getting red from anger and maybe shame too.  "We did not abandon her," he says in a low voice.  I turn to Layra, who watches silently.  "Giving her up was the right thing to do."

"Why is that?" August challenges.  I try to stop them again, not wanting them to fight in front of Her Majesty, but fail.  "Why was abandoning her, taking her from her real family, the best thing for her?"

"Because we gave her the life we never got to live!" Heliux shouts, standing up.  He stands there, his shoulders moving up and down when he takes heavy breaths.  Zagan, he's almost shaking.  He looks so vulnerable, a look I'm not used to seeing on him.  I look toward August, who's taken back by his statement.  

Heliux hangs his head and continues.  "We gave her to the humans all those years ago so that she could live the lives of her dreams.  So that she could fulfill those dreams in whatever life she lived, so that she could grow up and grow old and pass away with her loved ones- and then do it all over again.  We gave her the chance that was taken away from us so long ago.  It was the right thing.  Never knowing us was the right thing for her, no matter what it did to us."  In a flourish, he swiftly leaves the room, almost slamming the door behind him.

Layra starts after him, but Alara stops her.  "Give him a minute," she tells her.  "He needs to cool down first before he sees you."

The Dark Minister nods, sitting down in Heliux's place.  I turn to my brother, who can't even look her in the eye.  "I'm sorry-" he starts, but gets interrupted by her.

"You're right," she admits, her voice cracking.  "We gave her up.  We wanted her to experience life for what it was.  As much as we love the Colony, we did not want her to be confined here forever.  We wanted her to live."

Something about these statements coming together is clicking some puzzle pieces together in my head.  

"You did the right thing," August tells her, trying to be compassionate.  "Valerie turned out great because of it."

"This life could've been better for her," she responds.  "I just hope... ah, nevermind."

No, not nevermind.  "Layra, can I ask you a question?"

She turns to me, looking a bit surprised.  "Sure."

I brace myself.  "How old is Valerie?"

Layra visibly sags in relief.  "Sevente-"

I cut her off.  "No, her real age.  How long ago did you give birth to her?"

The Dark Minister sighs, but she continues.  "You have to promise not to tell her this, alright?  We want to tell her this information ourselves."

I glance sideways at August, and we make eye-contact.  "We promise," we echo in unison.

Layra looks at us warily.  "She's three years younger than you two."

I stare at her blankly, paling slightly even though I expected this.  "That would make her almost five centuries old, like us."

She nods.  "Yes, yes it would."

"I..." August trails off, his speech ending just like his apparent train of thought.

"It was a spell we crafted," Layra tells us both, standing back up again.  "I'll just tell you that it allows her to live her thousand years to the fullest for now.  The real explanation will come in due time," she adds, heading in the direction that Heliux ran off in a few moments ago.  "Now, if you'll all excuse me, I need to find a certain someone.  I need to make sure he's alright."

She leaves, the room she left behind filling up with silence and a sense of awkwardness.

Sylkie is the first to speak.  "Honestly, those two haven't changed a bit since the last time we saw them."  Wait, wasn't the last time they saw the Ministers only six months ago though?

I instantly put an uneasy smile on my face.  I want to put this behind us and carry on with the meeting just like our parents pleased.  Alara wants questions, so she'll get them.  "Um, Alara, can I ask another question?"

"Of course.  What is on your mind?"

I grin.  "I'm curious- how did these meetings work during the War?  I'm pretty sure Light and Dark fairies did not want to come here together."

The Queen lets out a sigh.  "Yes, you're right," she admits.  "Light Leaders and Dark Leaders brought new fairies here when they got them, but they only stayed for a few moments and never really shared any information with me.  Plus, those were the times when the Ministers were forbidden to leave their respective Colonies.  I became Queen during the times of war; the first meeting I'd ever had was with your parents almost five centuries ago.  None of us knew what we were doing.  Those times when Dark and Light fairies hated each other were horrible.  I told both Ministers that if they refused to listen to me, the higher power- because believe me, I tried to stop Drago myself when I figured out his tactics- I said that I was not to be bothered unless it concerned Arceus, even for devastating events like the Balance Rituals.  I was upset.  They had stripped my power from me, metaphorically of course.  If they did not respect me, then they do not get our help.

"Of course, times are much different now thankfully," she adds, putting a clear emphasis on the happy part of herself.  "I'm glad that I can once again offer help to all of you fairies... and I'm glad to not be cooped up in this castle all the time with this lot."  She rolls her eyes when she says it, and I laugh.  This earns her some protests from her friends, but everyone's laughing and having a grand old time.

"You should come by the Colony every so often," August suggests.  "If you'd like to be more involved with us, getting to know everyone is the perfect place to start, right?"

She eyes him.  "I think it's a bit too late for that," she says, chuckling darkly to herself.  I look at August, both of us trying to figure out what she means.  Before we can ask, however, she speaks again.

"Now, let's get this meeting started, shall we?"

~~~~~~~~~~

Heliux

I have recovered from August's words, but some part of me is still wounded- which is ridiculous.  I am immortal.  I should not carry any wounds.

I suppose mental wounds do not injure me.  Perhaps that's why I carry so many.

The four of us are on our way back to the Colony.  We are only a few minutes away.  August has apologized to me a large multitude of times, and I have politely told him that I forgive him.  He is very young, after all, and he lashed out.  It was only natural.

He was not entirely wrong either.

Whether we wanted to or not, we hurt her.  No matter what we did, something would not have clicked into place.  The last piece of the puzzle would always have been altered, so even if it did fit amongst all the other pieces, the picture would not look right.  It would never have looked right, unless the puzzle was scrapped and replaced.

This is what I am looking at now: a demented picture.  The only problem is that this puzzle has over a million pieces, and finding the faulty piece is taking some time.

We approach the Colony, but right away I notice something is wrong.  Tension rises high up in the air like smoke from a fire.  My songbird tenses up, her violet eyes glowing intensely to try and locate the source of the chaos.  I focus my own powers, searching around-

My heart stops when I see something dreaded.

I grab Layra's hand and run, ignoring her protests or the shocked looked from the young Leaders-to-be.  I run across the Colony faster than I have before, desperately praying that the image I'd seen before me was a fake.  But it cannot be a fake.  Your powers are too perfected to allow for mistakes to occur.  For once, I can only believe that my powers have truly been mistaken.

I go to the Medical Lounge, a small but sturdy building in our Colony.  I ignore the fairies milling about, bolting up the stairs to the third floor.  These halls are white- too white.  Everything is white, white white white.

Suddenly, I spot a blossom of red.  A crimson lily, one with a fragment smell...

... a fragment smell of blood.

Layra cries out and I find myself frozen in place at the scene, the scene of my daughter, my baby, my sweet Starshine, laying on a bed covered in her own blood.  Her hair is all matted, and she looks bruised.  I race toward her, crying out her name.  I cup my hands around her face and for once, for once in my life, I cry.  There are only two people who are able to make me cry in this world, and she is one of them.  Dammit all.  She looks... dead.

Only I know which part of her is dead.

The last chance she had at life is dead.  She is to be Initiated now, I already know.

I remove my hands from her face and step back, watching Layra sob over her body.  I think about the terror that she must have felt when that scum of a man did that to her, when he shot her with that weapon.  Of course it must have been her adoptive father, there is no other person who would leave what are clearly gunshot wounds on her.  Lita almighty, she must have thought she was dead.

How do I know she is not dead?

Well, there are a few reasons.  One, she is breathing... barely... barely.  The other is that if she is here, a Legendary or Mythical Pokemon must have deposited her here, and fused her and her Pokemon together.  If that is the case- which it seems it is- she must be alive.

My blood boils as I think of this man.  This man took everything from my daughter... everything.  He ruined her life in multiple ways, and now he's ended it.  He's ended all of her chances, her chances at redemption in a new life.

I clench my fists, my eyes burning from rage.  That man needs- no, deserves- to die.  He deserves to die a slow and cruel death, and to burn in Giratina's Distortion World for eons more.  

Layra's eyes glow, and I think what needs to be said.

That man needs to die.  That man needs to die by our magic, our power, our hand.

She doesn't frown at this at all.  No, it's quite the opposite.  A smile breaks through her depressed features.

"I agree."

Poor Heliux... and Layra too for that matter.  This chapter was info-full so I hope you enjoyed it!  

I also think you know what's coming up shortly, based off of the Ministers' conversation.

We'll continue this story next week.  I wonder, what will happen next?  Stay tuned to find out! :)