Unknown L (Book 1)

~~~ The Keeper ~~~

L couldn't stop staring at the bracelet, "How can something so tiny save a life?"

"I could ask you the same question," Hallie stared meaningfully at L and she moved back up to sit on L's shoulder. The bracelet was once again hidden by L's sleeve. "It is a gift from the Fairies to the Keeper, treasure it always and remember our friendship. But be careful, it will not be able to perform quite the spectacular save it did again."

L nodded slowly, "I understand, and I will never forget our friendship, ever... thank you."

Hallie smiled widely, "Of course, I told Queen Elisie you would say that," and she flew off before L could exclaim her surprise.

"Queen Elisie?" L asked of Bryce and he grinned, levitating to sit with her in the hammock.

"Yes, did I forget to mention that part?"

L scowled lightly at him, "Yes you did." L pulled at her sleeve to reveal the bracelet. She didn't think she'd forget about it again. "So I met a queen? But why would the Queen of Fairies travel on a bus? Doesn't she have a carriage or something?"

Bryce shrugged, "Maybe she likes the company," L rolled her eyes at him and he chuckled. "Well, you can ask her next time you meet her."

"Why would I meet her again?"

"In your new role, I'm pretty sure you'll meet a lot of creatures in need of your help, the Fairies being one of them."

L hadn't thought about that. She had a role to play now and it required her to help others, in whatever way they may need it. She made a promise to herself to keep some free time open for her own needs. Knowledge streamed into her mind of her duties and responsibilities but she pushed them away. She was planning to take as much time as she needed to recover. She had things to sort out and a life to get used to, now that she wasn't under threat.

It didn't take much longer for them to reach Lymasia. A shout rippled down the procession and they were prepped to go in. L didn't know what was coming but Bryce stayed with her while they entered. They were given instructions to stay entirely still and suddenly a strange force passed over them; L could feel the pressure closing in on them and a second later it was gone.

"L," Bryce began and he was getting down from the hammock. "You have to walk for this part, do you think you can manage?"

L frowned and she tried to get up. It took some effort but she pushed herself and managed to get up, with some help from Bryce.

"Why do I have to walk?" L asked.

She wasn't complaining, she knew each of the bases had different ways to enter. She was glad that Bryce knew her enough to understand the question as one of curiosity. He reached to pull her arm over his shoulder so he could help her to walk.

"Because that thing you just felt was more than just a barrier, it was a scanner too; I got the idea from Norm TV while I was following you that first week. It will detect which species it is that wants to enter and report it back to the Council. It should put a stop to any unwanted guests."

L was impressed and Bryce chuckled when she told him so. Each of the bases surprised L in some way. Yet she always missed certain parts of the ones they'd left. She still hoped to go back to the first base one day. It had an entire room devoted to Keepers that she needed to study. She also wanted to liberate the base itself from the Demons, who were likely to have taken over by now.

Her focus was pulled back to the present when she had to concentrate on not collapsing while they walked. The barrier scanner passed again and this time it lingered a second longer than it had the first time. A moment later there was a flash of coloured light and suddenly they were standing on the edge of a wondrous scene. L could have sworn it had just jumped out of the wildest of imaginations. It couldn't have been real and yet the rest of their group were making their way through it.