As Mikayla and Fred expected, the beginning of breakfast was incredibly awkward. First Úna refused to allow Mikayla and Fred set the table, claiming the pair had done enough for the couple already. Next they had to sit through a five minute pre-rehearsed apology speech from Cairo that Úna insisted he give even though Mikayla had already forgiven him. Lastly, Cairo ended up spilling his coffee everywhere during his speech, scalding both Mikayla and Fred. That added another minute to his lengthy apology speech and a scolding from Úna for his clumsiness.
Mikayla magicked away the scalding substance, and took a sip of CC to treat the burns she received while insisting that there was no harm down. She snuck some drops into Fred's tea to treat his minor burns when Cairo left to make himself another cup of coffee. Mikayla placed her left hand on Fred's thigh under the table, gently moving her thumb back and forth to help him relax more. He hadn't completely forgiven Cairo for what he did to Mikayla, she could see that in his tense shoulders and how he watch the man's every movement. After all, Fred was the one that had to heal all the damage Cairo had done to Mikayla's back last night.
Eventually the food finished and the two couples retire to the living room to talk through last night's events. It started with Úna returning Mikayla's necklace, the Phoenix pendant had broken in half from the blast of the Killing Curse. Úna was incredibly apologetic about the broken jewellery, offering to replace the piece, but Mikayla turned the offer down. Cairo asked her about the necklace, the details behind it's ability to block a single killing curse. "The how is a Carra family secret, I'm afraid, but I can give you a summary." Cairo accepted the offer for a glossed over summary of what went into making the temporary life saving charm.
Mikayla told him that she put part of her magic, specifically her Aevus abilities, into the necklace. She didn't explain how she did it, or how easy it actually was for her to do. She explained that the amount of magic she put in it was strong enough to combat a single killing curse, and how once it was used that her powers would return to her. That the method of how it is done has been passed down through the women of the Carra family for many generations, and named Charity as the inventor of the practice.
As family became the main topic of conversation, Úna got really quiet for a few moments before excusing herself to do the dishes. Mikayla stayed engaged in conversation with Cairo for another few minutes, but soon slipped away to check in on Úna. She found Úna silently crying over the sink, roughly scrubbing the grease from her frying pan, as her body shook in grief. Mikayla knew why, she knew what the Reynolds lost last night and she felt guilty for not figuring out a way to save their unborn child.
Mikayla made a choice, an innocent was bound to die no matter what she did, but she believed that she still made the right choice. Both Úna and Cairo surviving gives them opportunity to have more kids in the future and raise their kids together. Cairo dying left Úna alone to raise a child shortly after losing her husband or with the emotional stress she would've been under, there was a risk she'd lose the child either way, and that would've destroy her. This information didn't make the choice any easier, the Reynolds still lost a child, but they gained a future, one that is happy, with a strong, loving family.
Mikayla stepped towards the weeping woman, placing a hand on her back that she moved up and down to soothe a bit of the ache Úna felt. "I- I, how?" Úna stuttered out, and Mikayla looked to the floor as she tried to formulate a response. "I, um, I can see the future. Last night was a split in the timeline, I was given the impossible choice of who in your family would die." Úna rounded on Mikayla, pushing her away from her as a look of disgust painted itself on her face. "And you chose our unborn child?!" Mikayla flinched at the woman's shouting, instinctively moving her hands out in front of her as some sort of shield.
"I did. It was either you lost your husband, or your child, or Cairo lost you both." Mikayla answered with a wobble in her voice, as her whole body shook in fear. "What's going on here?" Cairo voice from the door where he and Fred just appeared. "I was pregnant, but she decided that our child would die." Úna pointed at Mikayla, who had backed herself towards the wall. "What, is that true?" Cairo questioned Mikayla, drawing his wand. "Yes, I chose to save both you and your wife at the price of your child's life. My only other options were that you either lost them both, or you died and risk Úna losing the baby from the stress and grief of your death."
Fred quickly moved to his trembling girlfriend, standing in front of her, acting as a shield while pointing his wand at the wrathful couple. "I suggest you lower your wand, Reynolds." Fred warned, his free hand grabbing Mikayla's to anchor her from a second Anxietas attack. Úna grabbed the wand from her husband, his knuckles white from how tight he was holding it, "what's wrong with her?" Úna asked a flash of concern in her eyes as she stares at Mikayla, who was gripping her own chest while trying to catch her breath. "She's having a panic attack." Fred responds, summoning Cairo's wand so he can turn his back on the couple and calm Mikayla down.
"I'm f-fine, we should g-go." Mikayla gasped out as her head began to swim, "hey, hey, look at me." Mikayla's eyes shot up and locked on Fred's, "we'll go, but first you need to beat this. So..." Fred pulled Mikayla into a hug, placing the side of her head against his chest. She could feel his calm heartbeat echo through her spiralling mind, and feel his chest expand with every inhale and deflate with each exhale, "breathe with me." Mikayla closed her eyes, to focus on following the pattern of Fred's breaths. Her arms wrapping themselves around his back and holding on for dear life as her legs felt like jelly.
Cairo rushed to his wife's side as she started to cry again, she hadn't planned to push her saviour into a panic attack. She was angry, upset and mourning the death of her unborn child, a child she only found out about from her grandmother during her crossing experience, and took it out on a girl that risk everything for her to live. That same girl did chose for her child to die, but they way she voiced her options, made it seemed that no matter what happened, their baby was going die. If Mikayla let Úna die, the baby would die with her, and if she chose Cairo, there was a high possibility that Úna would lose the child due to emotional distress.
"I- I didn't mean to- I just angry and I-" Cairo cut off his sobbing wife, shushing her and promising her that everything was going to okay and reassuring her that she did nothing wrong. Realistically, all she did was raise her voice at the blonde, she wasn't threatening her or weaponising her words. "I-I know she d-d-did the r-right thing, I do, but she sh-should've n-never had t-to make that choice. Why h-h-her? She's just a g-girl, a c-child." Cairo held onto his wife as tight as he could, casting a silencing charm on the pair.
"Because the first casualty of war is a child's innocence. Mikayla was deemed the 'Great Protector' by a seer's prophecy before she was even born, from that day on, she has been tried and tested to make that title true. She became her own hero by conquering all the pain and suffering life threw her way, but it was her egalitarian attitude that made her into the hero she was always expected to become. You can see it in her eyes and the way that she fights that she made herself strong, that she is a warrior and no one expects any less from her."
Úna was felt speechless, she looked over at the young girl who seemed much more relax, but kept her face buried in her boyfriend's chest. The young couple were whispering quietly to each other, Úna could see their lips moving but no sound reached her ears. "But she's so fragile, she kind of reminds me of a buttercup. How can she be expected to protect anyone?" Úna questions as she watched Mikayla trying to hide from their view to collect herself after her panic attack. Cairo quoted May Sarton to his wife, a poet they both loved, how it is sometimes the most fragile things that have the power to endure and become sources of strength. "Besides, Mikayla is not fragile like a flower, she's fragile like a bomb, ready to destroy anyone stupid enough to believe they can break her."
An hour later the two couples found themselves back in the sitting room. Cairo asked both Mikayla and Fred to stay after a lot of reassurance that they weren't really angry at Mikayla, just the circumstance in general. "My mum used to say that there is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you. And I'm sorry for the part I played in your suffering." Mikayla apologised to the couple, which they thank her for but claimed that she had nothing to be sorry about, that it was out of her control either way.
"There is something else I wanted to ask you about, something my granny mentioned when I was in limbo, that has been driving me crazy. Does the name Griffiths mean anything to you?" Mikayla tensed at the mention of the family, which the Reynolds immediately caught on. "Yes, they were a family originally from Kerry, but were attacked in their safe house in Firies on the 16th of last month." Úna's got up and moved her way over to the clock, where there was a calendar hanging on the beneath it. "What happened?" Cairo questioned Mikayla, trying to let his wife's actions go unnoticed, he was too late but Mikayla decided to follow the distraction.
"They were ambushed by some bad werewolves, teared the parents apart, and bit the two youngest kids." Mikayla informed him vaguely, she didn't want to put the Griffiths kids in danger or out the two young lycanthropes. "What happened to their other kids?" Mikayla explained that the older kids were safely tucked away at Hogwarts when the attack happened. "That explains why granny called them Faoladh Coileán." Mikayla hummed at Úna's words, Fred turned to his girlfriend to elaborate what the older meant, "an Irish werewolf cub/puppy." Mikayla whispers to him, but Fred just looks even more confused.
"In Irish Mythology, werewolves were considered guardian spirits who protected children, wounded men, and the lost. Creating a cub through a bite would kill the soul of the transformed human because it was crime against nature. They would live on as a wolf forever, and never return to their families, while the cub would be brought to a Philosopher, who was expected to raise the cub and teach it the laws of nature." Úna offered Fred more background information on Faoladh.
Cairo decided to add on to what his wife said, both of them clearly passionate about the subject, "when we were invaded by the English, people started to bring cubs to English Pureblood Philosophers, because they were perceived as strong and knowledgable." Mikayla pitched in to say that the cubs were almost always killed during their first full moon in the English Philosopher's care. "Really? That's terrible. How come you never told me about all of this?" Fred questioned his girlfriend that seemed to light up at the idea of someone sharing her interest in Irish magical creatures.
"Honestly? I just assumed you wouldn't be interested in this kind of stuff. Stupid of me, really, considering that you've listened to me rant many times about how stingy Kreacher is with chocolate chips when we're making cookies." Fred huffs out a breath of amusement as his girlfriend takes his hand, "I've got some books for you to read about this kind of stuff, if you want to borrow them." Mikayla offers in a whisper which Fred gladly accepts. "But how would your granny know anything about that? And why say anything to you?" Cairo asked his wife, he felt like he was lost in the conversation. He knew what a Faoladh was, but not what it meant for him.
"The Griffith children are the cubs, love." Úna began, placing a hand on her stomach with a sad expression. "Technically only the youngest two." Fred interjected, "and I'm not letting anyone split those kids up." Mikayla chips in, knowing where Úna was going. "Split them up, what do you-" Úna cut her husband off, "love, my granny mentioned the Faoladhs to me because... we're the Philosophers."
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