"My tardiness was due to the barbaric mass of assassins at the gate of the territory," he grumbled. "Though I deduced you'd come along."
"And why is that?"
"The child with the rainbow hair told me."
They stared blankly at one another before there was a poof right next to me that had made me flinch.
"Mommy!"
I was left dumbfounded as I stared at the girl who’d poofed into existence holding Fuwa and Elsa.
What...is going on here?
The little girl was wearing a navy blue dress with a navy blue jacket with hints of purple. Her hair was silver with multiple colorful highlights that indeed made it seem like she had a rainbow happening in her hair.
Her arrival made glitter rain around us before she looked over to me as Elsa looked my way. "MewMew!"
"Mommy? Are we late?"
Sebastian and I looked at Silver, who sighed and walked over to the girl and knelt down. The way her expression went from serious to motherly left me speechless.
"Nothing is late in the realms of time and magic, Star," she greeted before giving her a scolding look. "Why did you decide to follow Mommy to work?"
She cringed and gave a nervous smile before trying to hide Fuwa and Elsa.
"Um...see...Daddy said I could follow you!"
"As in Dimitri or someone else?" she inquired.
"Hmmm. All the above!" she reasoned. "Daddy was taking me on a walk with the others when Daisy came and said she sent you to help someone and I wanted to help, so Daddy said I could with the others’ support, but then I poofed and found them!" She raised her hands up like Fuwa and Elsa were her prizes.
"Some evil people were trying to hurt them so I zapped them!"
Silver arched an eyebrow at the girl, who I could only presume was her child. It intrigued me just a little bit, even in this intense situation, simply because this woman looked so young to have a child at that age.
"It would make sense if those assassin goons wanted to get rid of Elsa and Fuwa. They most likely made a summoning trap so if they tried to come to warn Brianne and the others of danger, they would be summoned to the trap instead."
"Ya!" Star cheered. "That thingy! It was a ball of black and scary looking. I didn't like it or the people in black. So I zapped them all and saved Elsa and Fuwa. Now we're friends!"
"MewMew," Elsa replied, but she was looking around. "MewMew?"
Star lowered them before she hugged them. "Don't be sad, Elsa! Mommy just said we're not too late!"
Star lifted her gaze to Silver. "Mommy, Elsa and Fuwa are scared their Mistress is gone." The way she pouted her lips made Silver sigh as she reached out to stroke Star's head before she glanced at the two familiars in her possession.
"The darkness of your world did something that was strictly forbidden. Those traps aren't allowed to be used in these realms, which means your enemy is becoming desperate."
She rose up then before her eyes landed on me. I stared at her in disbelief as she merely snapped her fingers, and the world around us turned into a silver room with spinning golden magic circles that shifted to turquoise in a back-and-forth cycle.
"You carry the power of time within you and yet you watched your friends suffer the ultimate price," she acknowledged. "Why?"
"Power of time?" I whispered and instinctively lifted my hands up to stare at the backs of them.
"Seeing as you instinctively stared at your hands, that tells me you have somewhat of an idea of what you possess and yet you aren't willing to acknowledge it yet." She paused as if she were thinking of something. "I guess I can't be too hard on you due to the sensory overload you were experiencing."
"Wait." I lifted my gaze to her. "You saw everything? You were there?"
"I was around," she concluded as Star began to skip around her like she couldn't care less about the conversation.
"T-Then why didn't you help us?" I questioned in disbelief. "Brianne. Jax. Kaito. Finnick. None of them would have died if you stepped in."
"Do you not understand that my role has nothing to do with you or what occurs upon the lands of this universe?" Her voice was stern while those turquoise orbs grew icy. "A leader does not sweep in to be a savior for their team members unless the damage will result in an irreversible ending. In this case, my involvement merely revolves around Brianne."
I swallowed the lump in my throat as she continued. "The only reason why I'm interfering is because of the connection and role I play in this ultimate plan of uniting the five chosen ones. As the eldest and leader, I act upon instinct when it's brought to my attention that one of the four chosen is on death row."
She crossed her arms then as her cape began to float like the vast strands of her hair as magic coursed through her body and raised her aura significantly. I truly hadn't experienced such an immense force of power before.
"Why would I interfere when this should have not lead to the ending it did?" she inquired. "You knew what you were experiencing could potentially cut through your control and disrupt the protective wall you were practically begging Kaito to allow you to uphold. All because you believe within your heart that your role in the group dynamic is to protect them."
The reminder made my heart clench as I avoided her gaze, which made her sigh in pure judgment.
"If I didn’t work in the field of teaching others like you, I'd walk away from this and let you carry the consequences you created with your inability to acknowledge your weakness."
"I thought I could hold it," I tried to argue. She snapped her fingers again, which caught my attention as the four bodies of my friends hovered at each directional plane: Brianne on the north side, Jax on the south, Finnick on the east, and Kaito on the west.
There was no other choice but to look around - to recognize what my stubbornness had caused.
"Your misguided feelings of frustration instead of clarity like your comrade, Kaito, cost the lives of all of them," she stressed as she tilted her head to the side. "If I could predict your personality based on your appearance, I’d say you're the calm and collected one. Harboring the ability to sense the world's emotions means you have to carry a great amount of patience and perseverance to mingle in society with no issues."
She uncrossed her arms while her eyes continued to analyze me like an open book.
"Intriguing how the last time we met, you carried a sense of control and commitment, and you didn't let fear get to your senses, even when your girlfriend was in grave danger. You were better than the swordsman, and yet I've returned to see a complete shift," she revealed. "So let me ask you while the clock continues to tick. What is making you go back when you're mere steps away from triumph?"
I looked into her eyes that were blank of emotion, but I knew what she was trying to do. She was like a professor hoping their student not only realized their current flaws but also how easy it could be to change them.
I lowered my head as I stared at the floor - struggling to reveal the truth of my worries - the truth to my lingering fears that somehow came into reality.
The silence continued, and I wasn't sure if I'd ever gather the courage to say what needed to be said. When big, colorful eyes locked onto my mine, I blinked and realized that Star was crouching down to look up at me. Elsa and Fuwa were now sitting on her shoulders as she continued to stare up at me.