"Well, that dark fairy you have battled, Grace, is bad news." Grace stared at the queen expectedly. The queen pursed her lips, the gears in her head turning. 

"What is it?" Grace asked. 

"I fear.. Grace, a personal attack from an opponent's army means declaration of war." Grace looked at the ground. 

"When?" 

"Queen Helen shall strike us when we are most vulnerable, I believe." Queen Elena seemed more anxious than Grace found her when she had entered. She wondered if that woman had ever smiled in her life, or witnessed a happy moment. Usually, Grace felt delighted in any celebration. 

Do fairies have any celebrations?

"Do fairies.. have any celebrations?" Grace asked, realizing that she had said the question out loud. The queen was caught off-guard by the question and Grace could only think about how childish she sounded. The queen's lips twitched into a sad smile that only lasted for a split second. She turned away. 

"Of course. We like to celebrate any success made by our army, or our guardian." She pointed at Grace with her hand, "We also celebrate our own new year, the day I was crowned as the queen and, Gratitude day." 

"Gratitude day?" Grace asked. Elena nodded. 

"It's when you show gratitude for those you hold dear to your very core. Those who you appreciate their help, or those you remember how they stood by your side." Queen Elena started to go up the spiral stairs beside her throne to reach the balcony. She gestured for Grace behind her back. Grace looked beside her and shrugged. She followed, sprinting until her feet were right behind Queen Elena's long dress. 

"What do you give them? Gifts?" 

"Lanterns. Most people paint on them. Since I am a busy woman with no skill in painting whatsoever, I get them done with my personal artist." Grace smiled. 

"Do you have people you are grateful for?" Grace asked. It was a stupid question, but it was hard to find Queen Elena giving lanterns. Grace imagined her sending them the lanterns with a messenger, then acting coldly when they asked if she had actually given them a gift. 

"Who doesn't have someone they feel gratitude towards, darling?" Queen Elena asked, finally reaching the balcony. With a swipe of her arm, the doors glowed a bright blue and opened on their own. 

Grace was tempted to ask who the queen was thankful for, but she figured it would be a personal question. 

"I do not know how the conversation shifted from talking about an enemy invasion to Gratitude day," Queen Elena said, "Given the fact that gratitude day comes in three human months." She looked at the line where the endless dark blue skies and the small houses of the fairies and wingmarket meet. The night was chilly, sending shivers to Grace's bones. 

"We need to form patrols all around Syndioma and in the human world, near your portal." 

"Why does she want to attack?" 

"Queen Helen wants your pendant. Turns out, one way to open a portal to the void is through your pendant." 

"Then what are we waiting for? We go there first and finish the Murdhellous ordeal before she does!" Queen Elena shook her head, looking down from the balcony at the gates of the castle. 

"I am afraid not, Grace. Queen Helen's core is dark magic based. She is the only dark fairy in existence, besides all of the dark fairy clones she made, like the one you fought, and also Murdhellous, but hopefully after we get rid of him, we won't need to mention his name ever again." 

"His name is actually Murdhellous?" Queen Elena looked at Grace with a look of disdain. A look that screamed: "You have to be joking." Grace gulped and looked away, nodding, "Right, sorry." Her cheeks immediately turned red. Queen Elena didn't comment. 

Silence swam in the atmosphere. It wasn't like the conversation was over. In fact, it was far from over. It was the many questions and prompts and ideas the two had, swarming in their head. 

The silence was like a timeout in a sports match. Both had to gather their thoughts into coherent words before they could speak. 

The two suddenly blurted out: "What would happen if Murdhellous.." and "I have spoken to General Arthur to.." and both stopped speaking at the same time. Grace chuckled. 

"I am sorry, please, do continue.." Queen Elena waved with her hand dismissively. 

"No, no, I mean, your majesty, you go ahead." She went silent for a moment before she obeyed Grace's wishes and continued:

"I have spoken to General Arthur before about the best course of action to take if war had been declared. We both believe we should start the patrols I have told you about as soon as tomorrow." Grace's first train of thoughts stopped in the "I have studying to do" station, but it would be too stupid to bring that up when the fate of Aneroma and her home was discussed. 

"For how long?" 

"Until the problem is resolved." 

"I am sorry, which problem are we talking about?" 

"The war." 

"Right," Grace inhaled sharply, "Am I required to join?" The queen gave a small nod. 

"Indeed. Do you have dinner reservations?" Queen Elena deadpanned.

If I were to be honest, I would have never been able to guess that Queen Elena was capable of sarcasm.

Grace decided not to reply to the question. 

"Would I be able to skip if I had something else to do?" Grace asked. Queen Elena seemed upset at the prompt. Grace quickly added, "I will, with no doubt, join as much as I can." 

"Grace—" Queen Elena bit her lip, "Fine." However, based on her reaction, Grace wasn't sure she wanted to bail at any moment. 

"It's okay, I was just asking so I could take action when I have an emergency. My dad.. he has panic attacks, not sure if you heard that term before." Queen Elena's eyebrows creased sympathetically, though her gaze didn't seem surprised. "He's all good."

"When has this started happening?" 

"A while. Like, a few years ago. Ever since my mom died, I mean." Queen Elena nodded. "He saw something he wouldn't tell me about that night." The queen opened her mouth to speak, but Grace cut her off, "Sorry, I shouldn't have revealed that much." Queen Elena was still focused on their topic. Grace felt like she knew something, but something tied her tongue to her mouth. The queen remained silent then eventually spoke:

"It is okay, Grace. I know—I have a friend of mine. He also experiences panic attacks. You are free to ask for my help in such things." Grace smiled. 

"Hey, isn't it weird? Like sharing things when we haven't known each other except like a week ago?" The Queen cleared her throat. 

"It is customary for the queen to bond with the Guardian. Makes work more convenient." Queen Elena said, "You seem to make it easier. I have never worked with kids." Grace smiled until her smile fell into a pout. 

"A—Hey! That's.. mean, your majesty." Grace rolled her eyes. 

"I must go." Queen Elena said, "Queen duties." 

"I almost forgot, I have studying to do, too." Grace facepalmed. Queen Elena had turned to leave when Grace called for her to stop. 

"What.. What happens if Murdhellous is set loose to Aneroma?" Queen Elena's eyes were suddenly as dark as the cold night skies. 

"Some questions are better left unanswered." And Grace worked out that hers might be one of them. 

A sense of dread followed her on her way home.

***

"What do you mean you might not be able to join the both of us in the 'Rockstars' concert?" Rachael's voice rang in her ear. Daniel seemed mad, but he was so quiet. He leaned against the locker, folding his arms and looking at the ground. 

"I have something.. really important to do." Grace said. Her emphasis gave Rachael a good image of what might be what was holding her back from going. 

"Whatever it is, I am sure you could work it out before the concert." Rachael said. 

"Alright, what is it that you two are hiding?" Daniel huffed. 

"Nothing?" Grace said, biting the inside of her cheek. 

"Look, Grace, let's be honest here, I think you have been dodging me lately a bit too much and it is giving me a bad feeling.." Daniel said.

"No!" 

"No, no, no, no." Grace waved her arms frantically. "No bad feelings or dodging or anything, alright? I am just unbelievably busy. That doesn't mean I don't like you.." Grace's face went blood red, "As friends!"

"As friends!" Daniel repeated immediately with a face redder than Grace. Rachael giggled, but the two paid her no attention. Simply because they didn't know why she was always laughing at them and calling them: "Clueless", which further supported her point. 

"Look, I will try to work it out, but I am not sure I can. If I didn't, just know I tried, okay? I can always compromise it for you in the future." Daniel looked away. The offer was not even remotely satisfactory. 

"I hope whatever you are willing to miss the best concert for is worth it." He said. Grace sighed. 

If only you knew.

"Look what I found!" Daniel pulled out a piece of yellow rolled up paper with almost erased handwriting. The strange-looking paper caught the girls' attention. Their stomachs sank when they saw the red dust sprinkled on it, and what the paper said. 

"Beware, Guardian, for I know.. everything about you." Grace and Rachael looked at each other in fear. Daniel seemed merely annoyed at their expression. 

"What?" 

"That's actually mine." Grace chuckled nervously, trying to take the paper. However, Daniel was unconvinced. 

"How? Are you the 'Guardian' that this paper is talking about or something?" Daniel asked. 

"Daniel, I am sorry, this is serious. This is mine." Grace said. 

"Okay, so here is the deal: Since you want it so bad, go to the concert and I promise I will give it to you." Daniel gave her a cheeky smile. One that even when Grace was annoyed at him, it would always give her an immediate change of heart. Grace pursed her lips. She finally nodded. 

"Fine." 

Grace suddenly got the same sensation she had gotten on her way back home to Rachael. She raked her hair and breathed out shakily. 

"I need to go to the bathroom—" The school bell rang. Grace wanted to scream. 

"Are you sure? It is time for the test." Grace looked behind her, where she felt the supernatural presence. 

"I will be quick." Grace said decisively before she ran outside of the school. 

***

Grace missed the first half of the test, and had to take it in only forty-five minutes, unlike everybody else who had a full one hour and a half to solve the test. 

Normally, the test would have been a piece of chocolate cake with a cherry on top, but she had just gotten out of a fight with three dark fairies and she was unbelievably tired, and staring at the equations and the maths problems only gave her a headache. 

At night, after she studied, snuck behind her sleeping father's back to go to patrol. 

She was assigned to patrol near the portal in the forest with Sam and Alex. 

"Is it a piece of furniture?" Alex asked, sharpening her arrows as she laid with her back supported on a tree. 

"Yeah." Grace replied lazily, throwing a rock at a tree. 

"Is it.. something entertaining?" Sam asked. Grace perked up an eyebrow. 

"Define entertaining." Grace asked. 

"Aren't you supposed to reply with yes or no?" Sam huffed. Grace shrugged. "Then just answer." 

"For me, yes, but I really wouldn't define it as entertaining." 

"Is it comforting?" Grace nodded. 

"Oh, definitely." Grace grinned when Alex gave her a knowing look. 

"Is it a bed?" Grace jumped on her feet. 

"Yes!" Alex squealed, while Sam looked utterly annoyed. 

"This game is idiotic." 

"Ah, stop being a sore loser." Alex rolled her eyes, maintaining a wide grin. Grace chuckled. Finally, Luna and the golden knight came out of the portal. 

"What took you so long?" Sam asked. The golden knight shrugged. 

"Things." He said. 

"I have to go back home. See you, guys, tomorrow!" Grace bounced in the air, her wings flapping rapidly. She finally climbed back into her room. She quickly changed into her pyjamas and went to her father's room to check on him. He wasn't there. 

Grace was too exhausted to worry about his normal disappearance. He was on call so it was with no doubt an emergency at the hospital. 

Sucks to be a nurse.

Grace returned to her room and flopped on the bed, immediately engulfed in a world of darkness. 

For the rest of finals' week, Grace fought dark fairies, went on patrols, lost a significant amount of sleep and missed many classes. She got her very first 'B plus' in a Maths exercise she had to do on patrol, which made her miserable, not only because of her imminent failure, but because of Rebecca's sharp words that hurt her pride on a personal level. 

"So you are both stupid and unstylish, now." 

"I bet your mother is crying in her grave. 'Oh, no! My daughter got a B! I am so glad I died before I could witness her stupidity'."

In case you were wondering, it had been a big fight. Grace had earned herself weekend detention. 

The last day of finals engulfed her in a huge wave of relief. The last bell ringing, announcing Summer break brought happiness to Grace. Most students were happy because they would be able to travel, play video-games till dawn and hang out with their friends. Grace, on the other hand, looked forward to having more time for Aneroma and her new responsibilities. 

Grace, after selling some of her stuff in a garage sale, managed to get enough money to get the band shirts for the concert on the same day. 

She excused herself from the concert to Queen Elena and George, the leader of the patrols. Queen Elena gave her usual looks of disapproval, while George ate her ear out with off-topic stories on his life and his family. 

Grace felt guilty, but Rachael and Daniel had been pressuring her to bail out on whatever she was doing and have fun. Grace had had stress build up all week. She tried to convince herself that she was doing it so she could improve her mental state to become a better fighter, as Sam and Alex told her in efforts to convince her. 

Well, it's not like Queen Helen will destroy Aneroma when I am not there.