• Lost in the light by Bahamas •

It was the blue hour when Lari was forced to wake up. She woke up like one does from a nightmare, but it seemed as if this one didn't stop with her eyes opening. For her left pinky twitched violently, to the point where it hurt.

"Goodness, stop," she winced and cursed at it, holding it within her other palm. Her words had woken the cats too and they gathered around her, meowing and bumping their heads against her.

"Trouble?" Lari heard Miss Mewton Pie ask.

"It's Jun again," the human answered. "I'm tired of this bullshit. Why did I ever allow him to put a fucking spell on me, Missy?"

"Language," she heard again, and snorted.

Exasperated, the Princess left the mattress to walk up to the nearest window. The blue aura had already seeped through the thin slits of the windows, and she unlatched them to welcome the light with open arms.

A cold breeze walked in alongside, and a shiver kicked her spine. But this was nothing, she had experienced much colder temperatures in Eira. She walked from window to window, pausing at the door as well to open them all up. Breathing in the musty, kind of manure-ish, vegetative smell, she realized she may be gone from here before long. Where to, she had left for Jade to decide.

As long as she was with her, she didn't care where.

But Jun's spell was stronger than the magical feeling that Jade's thoughts had cast upon her. With another twitch of the finger, growls of hunger replaced the butterflies in her stomach.

Lari grabbed a jar of cookies from the kitchen top and a saucepan filled to the brim with water. Munching on one, she watched as Missy leapt onto the counter and they both looked in. Jun was there.

"Did I wake you up, Princess?" He asked in a tone inclining to flirtation. "You look sleepy. Is it morning where you are? Or were you just napping?"

"Can we get this over with quickly?" She replied curtly.

The young soldier had made it a point to pull the strings almost every day in the last two weeks, making the Princess give out a gasp and have to rush to the washroom. Lying to Jade on a regular basis was becoming exhausting lately and she wondered every day when it'd be over with.

She didn't want to lie to Jade anymore, she wanted to disclose this aspect of her daily life to her. But she had no idea how she'd react so she refrained from it.

"Yes, Princess, of course," Jun answered. His voice and image were now much clearer than the first day. Lari could tell that his magic had become stronger and more refined. But what she couldn't tell was what that meant for her.

"How are you today?" He asked. "Is your friend treating you well?"

"Yes, very well. I'm fine. And yes, I just woke up from an afternoon nap," her spine tingled with the lie. "Are we done?"

"Just one more thing. When do you plan on returning, Princess? Haven't you had enough yet?"

Mewton hissed at the water, and Lari would have done the same if she wasn't human. "I'm not sure when I'd return, Jun. But thanks for your concern."

"Your parents are worried, Princess. They're constantly sending letters and soldiers to other realms in search of you. How are you staying out of their reach? I don't know where you are, but you must have noticed all the ruckus about you and your friend."

"We.. umm.." she tried to come up with something, anything. "We mostly stay indoors. Like I said, Jun, I'll return when I want to. You don't have to-"

"Princess?"

Even though Jun was still there when she looked down at the water, it wasn't his voice. It was a different voice - a voice she had grown to adore. And it came from the direction of the open door. When she looked up, her eyes met the confused face of Queen Jade, and behind her was Avento.

"Who are you speaking to?" She asked again, walking up to meet her. "Who's Jun?"

Dazed, she peeked into the water-filled saucepan, and saw the boy. "Oh." She sighed. "Your friend? But, how?" She looked up to her beloved Princess, who looked back with a poker face, trying to gauge her reaction.

"Hello, Queen Jade," she heard Jun say, and a terror struck her. He continued, "it's a pleasure to see you. I've been asking the Princess to introduce me to you, but she kept stalling it. I'm glad to finally speak to you."

"It's... it's a pleasure," the Queen returned, her eyebrows still scrunched over her forest eyes.

When she again turned to her friend, the noirette had shame written all over her face. The latter realized Jun's previous statements about nobody else being able to hear or see him were either false, or his magic had now improved enough to let a third party into the connection.

"For two weeks, I've been trying to have a conversation with you," he added, jovially. "I tell her almost everyday."

"It's a lie," Larimar whispered to Jade.

"I bet she didn't tell you about me either, did she? The Princess can be playful sometimes, wouldn't you agree, Your Highness?"

Jade cleared her throat, piecing her companion's sudden gasps and runs to the washroom and strange one-sided conversations together. "I'll let you two alone," she said, not wanting to meet eyes with the Princess anymore. "I just wanted to get some water."

Larimar sighed, watching her friend walk away from her. "Why the fuck did you lie?" she asked the magician.

"Oh," Jun narrowed his eyes. "Is your friend teaching you how to swear too? The Princess that the whole of Earthside adores knows better than to swear like a pirate."

Lari sighed again, balling her fingers into a fist. "Jun, why did you lie to me? You told me nobody can see you or hear you but me. And you just had a full-on conversation with Jade. What in the Devil's realm was that?"

"I'm just better at my art now, Princess. I can control my magic. That's it. I didn't lie to you two weeks ago, it's just that I've improved. And, as to why I lied to Jade?"

"Queen... Jade."

Jun chuckled. "Yes, Princess, Queen Jade. I just didn't want to be rude. Wouldn't you like it if someone told you they've been wanting to meet you forever?" This made Lari grit her teeth, this wasn't the Jun she had befriended, this was a reflection of his sly, sneaky Arcane patron - Jabir the Magician.

As to why the simple, shy, jubilant boy had turned into the Magician's faithful student, was unknown to her.

"Please don't contact me again." With that, Lari carried the pan to the sink and drained the water, all the while ignoring Jun's beckons.

She smoothed the skirt of her robe and turned towards the door. It was wide open and through it, she could see Jade pacing outside. She didn't have to ask, but she knew her friend was exasperated, and torn. Just like Lari felt herself.

"Talk," her familiar prompted.

So taking a huge breath, Lari proceeded towards the door. She stepped out, and stood a few feet away from Jade, wondering where to start. The redhead was standing still now, facing away from Lari with her hands behind her, dragging her feet on the ground, making shapes with the tip of her shoes.

"Jade," the Princess called out. She waited for a few seconds, but there was no reply so she tried again. "Jade, do you want me to make you some tea?"

"No need," Jade replied curtly and turned to return to the house. Lari took her arm to stop her. When their eyes met, Lari knew that even if she was mad at her, Jade wouldn't tell. So she released the Queen's arm from her grasp, and let her go.

Mewton greeted Jade as soon as she walked in. "Talk," the kitty told her too, and her eyes widened before she knelt down beside her and scratched the calico behind her ear.

She breathed deeply as she heard Lari's footsteps coming back into the house - in the crisp, soundless winter morning, everything was louder than usual. Especially the sound of a heart breaking.

She watched Lari pass by her and towards the kitchen, where she sat a pan on the stove and extended her arm towards the jar of tea leaves. When she exited the area, she came towards Jade with two cups and placed one in front of her. "Thank you." Jade accepted it graciously, but refused to make eye contact.

"Talk," this time, both of them heard Missy.

The tea soothed Jade's mind, and spirit, but her heart was still agile. "I was thinking," she started, clearing her throat. "We could take the cart back to Citra... umm... in Jahima. I have to bring back Avento there too. And... umm... I can arrange for a cart for you to take you.. to Eira. Or, if there's anywhere else you wanna go." She bit her lip and stared into the darkness of the tea, awaiting a reply.

"Why would I want to go back?" Lari asked, clutching her cup.

"I'm-" the Queen gulped thickly. "I'm sure there are people expecting you. Your parents, friends-"

"If I do wish to return, what would you do?" Lari interrupted.

Jade shrugged. "What is there to do?"

"What if I divulge information about where you are? Aren't you worried about that?"

The Queen scoffed.

"I'm not saying I absolutely would," Lari added, pulling her own bottom lip between her teeth.

"Princess, you're free to do whatever you want to do," Jade said, lowering the cup on the floor beside her. "I got myself into this by trusting Sillia, and I'll face the consequences. You don't have to worry about me."

"Why not?" The blue-eyed Princess asked earnestly.

This is what she was afraid of. This was the reason why she kept Jun a secret from Jade. Would it have been different if she had come clean with it on day one - Lari had no way of knowing now. "Why wouldn't I worry about you? You're my friend."

Green eyes looked into blue eyes, and they held their gaze for a moment before both of them sighed and looked away. They knew it was true, they were friends. And friends could have secrets from each other.

Yet, the two women knew they weren't satisfied with being friends with each other. Even with all its platonic hand holding, sparring, or the no-strings-attached cooking for each other in the morning, Jade and Larimar knew there had to be more for them.

"Really?" Jade questioned, bluntly.

"Really," Lari answered.

Jade nodded, with her lips turned out, like she didn't believe a word she said anymore. She downed the rest of her tea in one go and left the floor. "I want to get some sleep, Princess," she said, walking to the kitchen sink. "Be ready by evening, we'll leave as soon as the Moon's up."

She collected a key from beside the wine bottle on top of the cabinet and left the house. "You can sleep here too," Lari rushed to the door and called out. "I'll cook for you, I'm sure you're hungry." Jade only raised a hand and waved without turning back.

"Follow," Lari heard Missy before watching the feline trot out behind her friend. It wasn't a suggestion, but more like a reassurance.

Defeated, and still ashamed, the High Princess returned to Citra's living room. She noticed Avento standing in the narrow passage, with his hands behind his back and eyes fixed on his shoes.

"Do you want me to make you breakfast, Avento?" She asked, sensing his hunger, and at the same time, feeling guilty for snatching Jade's hunger away. The child nodded, and she walked back to the kitchen, drowning in self-pity.

Lari found herself sulking all throughout breakfast, feeling like a teenager. But as soon as the plates were empty, she found herself anxious again. Maybe, she thought, if Jade had expressed her disappointment out loud, she wouldn't have felt so anxious about it.

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