SEASON TWO: EPISODE FIVE
*PROMISE*
"Now I get it why two of my best students are in their worst form in years" says the man at the door. Silva walks into the room, where the princess sits. "What are you doing here, Aurora?"
"My aunt is making me look through every single document, that we have on Blood Witches and Scrapers. Some dumb adviser told her, that maybe a sentence could trigger me, and my magic would come back as a trauma response. Bullshit, if you ask me" she says, pushing the large book away from herself. She turns toward the man, who she hasn't seen or talked to since she left the school. She has turned off her phone too, after that one voicemail from Riven, around two and a half weeks ago. It has been 18 days, without hearing his voice, but she acts like she is not counting.
"I've heard you left without a word. Only left a letter" he says, sitting down at the opposite side of the table, looking at her. She looks down at the table, and starts fidgeting with her bracelet.
"Actually, it was three letters. I wrote them different ones" she whispers, and the man lets out a sigh.
"I know. I've read all three, they all came to me. ^i love you, my star. i'm at home now, but you'll see me soon. i promise. - aurora^, and ^don't worry, i'm safe. take care of youself, sky-cloud. we'll talk soon - rora^, and my personal favourite, ^you are my everything - princess^. Riven trashed my room for that one, thanks a lot" Silva says. The girl looks up at him, and opens her mouth to talk. And then closes it. Then opens it again.
"If I've looked at them, I could not have walked away. Saul, I have no magic. Nothing. How would they feel, if they knew?" she asks, tears falling from her eyes. She had a choice. Leave, or stay. It's not her fault, that she thought that this was the easier choice to live with. "They would all blame themselves, like you do it yourself."
"Of course I blame myself! If I'd stayed, you would still have your magic" he says angrily.
"Yes, and the boys would be dead. I choose this. I knew the consequences of my actions, and I made my decision according to my knowledge. You cannot blame me, for trying to avoid the worst case scenerio" she answers, with anger in her voice. "I made a plan, it didn't work out like I wanted it to, but it's still not over and this... this is not the worst that could've happened, and you know that too."
"We are soldiers, Aurora. We do not plan the future" he answers, his voice filled with sorry and regret. He did not want this for Aurora, the child of his childhood mate.
"But I wanted to, Saul. I did. I've planned, and I've hurt the people who are important to me. Typical of me, making mistakes" she says, then leans her head on her hands.
"Your aunt has asked me to bring you back to the school" the man blurts out, after minutes of silence. The young girl widens her eyes at him, then start laughing. "I wasn't joking. She says that your mood is depressing, and that Stella won't leave her alone. So you are coming back, Aurora, no matter if you want to or not" he continues. The smile freezes off of her face.
"I left the school 22 days ago. I haven't talked with Stella, nor Sky, nor Riven. I cannot look into their eyes, Silva" she says, but the man only shrugs and stands up from the table.
"We leave in two hours" are his last words to her.
Three people stand at the main enterance, when the car rolls into the schoolgrounds. Stella's phone signals, that they are bringing Aurora towards the specalists' garages, so the trio starts walking towards the building in a fast pace. They reach the area, just as the blonde girl is getting out of the car, in a burgundy skirt and braided hair. Aurora closes her eyes, expecting screams and yells, but she gets pulled into a warm hug.
"Where have you been?" asks Stella, as she pulls away from her cousin, letting Sky and Riven do the same. Aurora's shoulder drop at the blunt question.
"I was at home, Stell" she says with a deep sigh, then grabs her suitcase from the backseat.
"What the fuck, Aurora?!" she's been waiting for Riven's outburst, but she wasn't ready for it. She starts walking towards the school, dragging her trunk behind, comletely ignoring her friends and her cousin. "Don't just walk away! You left without saying anything! The least you can do is give us the reason you left us all hanging" he shouts after her.
"I have no magic, guys" she says quietly, stopping and turning around. The other three halt to their stops, the shock evident on their faces. "The scrapers stole it. I went back home, because of that" she says, but none of the three answer her, so she continues: "The Queen offered it to me, but it was my decision to go. I didn't say goodbye, because if I did, I would've stayed, and I wanted to get away from here. Coming back was indeed not my decision, rather Rosalind's and the Queen's, but it doesn't matter. I am here now, and that's everything you need to know" she says, and turns around again, leaving the three there, not being able to move.
"Silva said, that you needed a friend" says the girl, as she sits down on the bench. Aurora holds out a flask towards Sky, who gladly accepts it. The wind calms, and students start to whisper around them, but they don't acknowledge them.
"Of course he sent you. The only person who is completely and utterly loyal to him" he says with a scoff, then drinks from the metallic bottle. The girl grabs it out of his hands, and washes her throat with the burning liquid.
"You see, that's where you are wrong, Sky-Cloud. I am loyal to me, Solaria and Stella. Nobody else" she says, and gives the bottle back to the boy.
"Those three are the same thing."
"If you are just going to be a dick, I'll leave you to it. I'm not in the mood for that, thanks" she scoffs, and stands up from her seat, starting to walk away.
"I've killed Andreas" he blurts. She halts in her steps, then turns around and sits back down, next to Sky. She pulls him into a warm hug, and he starts to mumble into her shoulder. "I had no choice, Rora. He was going to kill Silva, I had no other choice" he cries. She starts rubbing his back, rocking him back and forth, trying to calm him down. Minutes pass by, until Sky pulls away from her, and wipes under his eyes, removing the tears from his face. Comfortable silence falls on them.
"I've killed my father too, you know" she says, after a big sigh. She shades her eyes from the sun with her hands. Normally, she would use a smaller cloud or maybe bend the photons, but since her magic is nowhere to be found, she has to use the old-school methods.
"What?"
"I've never told this to anyone before, so you have to keep it between us" Sky looks at her knowingly, and with an another sigh, she adds: "Alright, I might have told Riven. But noone else. When we were younger, there was still war between the Solarians and the sea-people. Stella's father lead the army, and they were planning some big final battle. My father... I made him go. Technically, duty made him, but it was me. I made him promise, to bring back Radius. Both of them died. We didn't even get their bodies, because it was an explosion or something."
"That's shit" says the boy, bringing his arm around her, pulling her close to him.
"It was. But I got through it, and so will you, Sky. Look, I almost blinded myself, when they told me. I made half of Solaria dark for two hours, until my aunt could figure out how to reverse my magic" she says with a sad laugh, remembering that day. It was one of the worst day of her life.
"That was you?" Sky asks with a gasp. He can still feel Silva's worry, when all of a sudden they couldn't se anything. The man got the news later that day, when Queen Luna made an official announcement.
"Yeah, it was me" she laughs, but their laughs slowly die out. This silence is not comfortable, so Sky breaks it with his words.
"Well, I plunged a knife into my father, so it was a bit more literal killing my father" he says, holding out his right hand towards the girl. Hesitantly, he starts talking: "When... you get your magic back... can you like... block the memory out?"
"You want me to mess with your brain?" she asks, worry in her voice, as she leans her head onto his shoulder. Anyone would question their platonic relationship, if it weren't for Bloom (and Riven).
"Yeah, I think" he says, a little unsure about what he said. They sit in silence for a minute, but it doesn't bother them, as they are used to it. Between them, it was never much to say, they despised each other only a year ago, so their friendship still has a lot of space where it can grow. "So what's up with you and Riven?"
"Nothing" says Aurora, pulling away from the boy, straightening her posture. Sky only raises his eyebrow at her, and with a sigh, she starts talking: "I've seen him sitting on the track, laughing with Musa. I've heard they spend a lot of time together. Awfully lot. I could say that it doesn't bother me, but you know me well enough, to know it does. What can I say, I'm used to this kind of pain. I think he might actually be the love of my life, but we are maybe just aren't meant to be" she answers, then quickly turns to the blonde next to her: "Don't tell him that" she added.
"I won't. But you should" says Sky with a deep sigh, then stands up from the bench and walks away from the blonde princess, leaving her alone with her thoughts.
The room starts to lighten up, as the hologram of the Queen starts to form her body. The girls around Aurora start to tense up, only the girl is calm. She and the Queen had a call not so long ago, discussing the plans for the future. The Queen swore her into silence, so she couldn't even help to calm Bloom. The girls all gasp, when the woman in burgundy mentions the Blood Witches, and stare ahead in silence, after the anouncement is over.
"You knew, didn't you?" asks Stella, turning towards the calm girl.
"Yes" she says, and angry mumbles are heard from all around the room. "Before any of you say a word: first of all, this is how politics work. Second of all, I am the one, who carries this country on her beck, Stella. Don't make me regret it. Third of all, and this goes for everyone in this room: Rosalind Hale was brutally murdured by Blood Witches this evening. Nobody can know, what has happened, do you understand?" asks Aurora in tone, that was unknown from her, until now. It's commanding authority. After everybody nods or says a quiet 'yes', the girl turns around, and leaves for her room.
A knock breaks the silence. Aurora gets up from her bed, and walks over to her door, opening it with a soft motion, knowing who is behind it.
"Can I sleep here?" he asks, and the girl only steps away, letting him into her dorm with a soft smile. He steps out of his pants, and pulls his shirt over his head. Within a few seconds, he is already under her sheets, motioning for her to do the same. She pulls the duvet over their bodies, and finally, after many days and weeks, Aurora falls asleep between Riven's arms.