It was the first time seeing her hooked up to so many cords and IVs, leaving me feeling a bit guilty for leaving her to chase after Charles. I couldn't necessarily regret it because at least Charles wouldn't be able to venture into another universe from what I gathered with Silver's spell, but it still hurt to see that Bianca was suffering.
Not to forget the past she endured that made her into the strong woman who helped raise me.
Pulling out the card, I stared at its front and thought of how brilliant and happy Bianca was. No matter what she’d endured in the past, she'd pushed it all aside to give me the best remaining childhood years before my teens and now young adulthood.
She was the woman who stepped up to the plate to be my mom. The female who was willing to love two men who were connected to her in many ways. She was willing to teach other students and multitask with various positions through Tracker Hive Academy, all while being an agent and stopping crime that others struggled in halting.
She was a superwoman who was assaulted and left for the world to swallow up in negativity, hate, and doubt. She had to pick up the pieces of her past all on her own and start anew with the idea of what she wanted in life after her previous dreams had clearly been shattered the night of that incident in the alleyway.
I had so much respect for her, as I had prior to this ordeal, but now it only grew because no matter how bad life had gotten for Bianca, she'd strived forward and didn't let the wishes and opinions of those who wished for her life to end to take control of her.
Once again, she was inspiring me to be true to myself and to walk a path of justice instead of falling into the pool of hate and destruction that Charles and others wished for me.
With meeting Silver Spell Solange and getting an ultimate glimpse of one of what had to be many universes in the galaxy, I realized that I was holding myself back out of fear.
The strings of worry and fright took a spot in my heart and mind and tried to cover my dreams and ambitions with cobwebs that would leave them there to rot and die.
Everything that happened in the last forty-eight hours proved that I was someone powerful with the potential of getting rid of the enemy I'd been fighting to capture for years.
All I had to do was believe in my capabilities, like I had before.
"I have a prophecy to fill. No more doubts," I whispered to myself and pressed my lips to the card. It began to glow with pink energy and it floated out of my grasp and hovered to rest on Bianca's chest.
Its glow vanished as it sunk into Bianca's body, and I hope it would do its job in healing her back to good health. I'd done what Silver had asked of me, and I'd have to leave it in Fate's hands to do the rest.
With a nod, I looked at the unicorn in my hand and walked over to leave it next to Tanner's sleeping head.
Hmm?
I noticed the tiny, folded white note that was tucked under Tanner's folded arms. Lightly slipping it out of Tanner's hold, I unfolded it to read what was written in cursive handwriting.
I'm in the office at the academy. - Alaric
"How did Zahir know?" I mumbled to myself but continued to grin at the thought of seeing Alaric. Slipping the note back in its place, I snuck out of the room and decided to take the long route of getting back home.
If my assumptions were right, this would be the Tracker Hive Academy Medical Center's private sector. We tried not to use this part unless things were really bad, and everything done was kept within the confidential files that very few had access to.
I sometimes wondered why we didn't use it more often, but I knew the larger the number of people, the harder it was to preserve confidentiality.
Reaching the stair exit, it wasn't long before a cold breeze hit me in the face, reminding me that we were indeed in winter. It didn't bother me nevertheless, the fresh air absolutely refreshing after the sterile halls of the medical center.
It didn't take me long to reach my destination, and as I reached the very door to my temporary office, I stared at my name engraved into the golden nameplate.
Jade Masters - Headmaster
"I wonder if that made him laugh?" I quietly pondered before reaching out and opening the door.
Walking into the room, my eyes immediately spotted Alaric. He was sitting at the desk, his eyes scanning a paper like this was just another average, overtime stay in his office.
There was only the packaged report in his hand, my desk completely clean and left as I'd kept it after wrapping everything up before the ceremony. The reminder had me looking over to my right, noticing the finalized reports of everything I'd gone through over the semester that Alaric had either been halfway through or hadn’t even touched, which were now complete.
Not to forget the file cabinet full of complete stacks of reports that I'd gone through. To think last semester I'd been the headmaster of the school and somehow managed to survive.
I'd gained so much respect from my peers, and we were able to make progress with putting Ross in his place. I'd kinda miss the authoritative side of things, but definitely would be fine with returning to the life of a student attending school with her boyfriends.
And girlfriend.
Closing the door behind me, I watched as he seemed to blink out of what he was reading and lifted his head to lock his eyes on mine.
The look we shared was filled with emotions; the obvious signs of relief, as well as the bits of sadness, hurt, and pride. It was difficult to take it all in, especially when Alaric tried to keep himself as the reserved, pleased father who liked to pester me to do stuff for my betterment.
He rose up as I walked over to the desk, and all it took was him opening his arms up for me to give a crushing hug.
We didn't exchange words as his arms squeezed me tightly. There was so much to say and yet words didn't seem enough to express the gratefulness I had in my heart for his return.
I hadn't even taken the time to really analyze his physical condition, but it didn't really matter to me. As long as he was alive, that was all that mattered, and I couldn't be happier.
He pulled back to look down at me and his smile was so filled with pride as he bobbed his head.
"Nice to meet the woman running the show around here," he quietly teased, leaving me to laugh and hug him once again.
"Admit it. I did a damn fine job being you, don't you think?"
"Hmmm." He actually had to think about it as we pulled out of the hug and he purposely looked around the office. "I'm impressed with the cleanliness. You keep this office cleaner than your room."
I blushed and pointed at him. "T-That isn't true! My room is clean...well hmm. Which room are we talking about exactly because if we're referring to the penthouse, just blame Zeke for the mess. As for the other room...uh...I'll blame Minx. Oh right! Minx?!"
"Mawe?"
The call of my cat familiar made her appear right on the desk, and I beamed at her healthy appearance before she gave me the cutest look as she stared up at me.
"Mawe!"
"Minx!" I reached down and picked her right up to hug her. "Thank you for protecting me."
She purred happily as she rubbed her head against my cheek. It only took ten seconds of affection for her to be pulling out of my hold and splitting into two.
The black and white cats stretched before they gave Alaric a long look.