The view out of the window seat in L's room was beautiful, with the patchwork of fields and towns below and the dark, grey clouds passing above the floating house. L was enjoying the moment of peace before she returned to her training.
It had been a few months since they'd liberated Lymasia, which had been totally destroyed. They were now in the midst of building somewhere new to base themselves, a Lymasia upgrade. The house wasn't sustainable as a permanent base since it required too many abilities to stay up. Their new place would be somewhere remote, with rolling security that changed often- L had made sure of that.
She wanted to be involved in the development as much as possible. She needed their home to be secure this time. There wouldn't be any instances for someone to be used to gain access.
In between that business and receiving training from every entity she could call upon, she was also consulting with the Council and helping whoever came to call. She'd made herself very busy, and in general, it had been helping her to cope with her grief. She didn't have time to dwell since she was either busy or sleeping, and it was working for her. But, after a heavy hearted request from Mrs Worcester that she look after herself, she took a rare moment to sit and do nothing.
She retrieved the letter and photo from her bag and sat back by the window. She stared down at her parent's faces and Bryce's handwriting with a mixture of feelings. Thanks to Mr and Mrs Worcester, who had been able to save hers and Robbies' belongings before the attack, she still had everything that held sentimental value to her.
She smiled sadly to herself when she thought of them talking to each other if they were there. How her dad would be lecturing Bryce, while her mum would be asking questions and teasing L about him. She thought back to that time in the cavern, when they were all last together, and her sadness deepened.
She began to pull out of the memory when something suddenly reached out to her. It was a file she hadn't seen before, and without warning, it jumped to the forefront of her mind. She blinked away the overload of information to find a shimmering image of her parents standing before her eyes. She almost fell to the floor in astonishment and confusion.
"Hello, L. You seeing us now means you escaped Paguea, thank goodness." Her mum smiled softly.
"But it also means that you must be feeling all kinds of things. Which led you to search your mind for us, and you've stumbled upon our little gift."
L shook her head and tried to comprehend what was going on. She knew they weren't real. It was an image almost like a hologram, but she could sense magic rather than technology.
She waved a hand at the image and it passed straight through.
"What is this?"
"We knew you'd be wary. Let me explain." Her dad began, pushing his glasses up his nose. "We had a lot of time to think while in Paguea. We knew we wouldn't be able to come back with you."
He stopped, and it seemed hard for him to keep going. L's mum hugged his arm and continued.
"We tried to think of some way we could help and be with you, even when it wasn't physically possible. So we made you this. An interactive parent file. We used every ounce of magic and creativity we could spare. We envisioned any scenario you might need our advice or support, or even a scolding, and programmed it in."
Her mum grinned and winked at her. L laughed despite the tears that were rolling down her cheeks.
"It means we'll always be with you, no matter where you are or what happens. Even if we're not physically there, our thoughts, feelings, and reactions will be."
L pushed down a sob. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Is this actually real?"
"Of course it is. You didn't think we'd leave our precious girl a second time, did you?"
L choked out a sob when her mum answered her. She heard footsteps from somewhere behind but ignored them. She only had eyes for her parents. She remembered now how something had passed between them when they last hugged, but she'd forgotten all about it.
"Think of it as an advanced Duplicate spell. It's not limitless so I'm sorry if we don't always have the answer, but we can recognise hundreds of phrases and situations... and respond accordingly."
"We'll be there whenever you need us."
They both smiled, and L really wished she could hug them.
"We can sense how sad you are, sweetheart. It's natural, and we know you'll get through it, but you just have to give yourself some time."
L choked back another sob and sat down on the floor, watching them both sit down with her.
"How long will it last?" L asked cautiously.
"We'll always be in your head like this, but each interaction will only last while you're focused on us. The moment you need to do something else, we will be stored back inside the program."
L was utterly amazed by the ingenuity of her parents.
"Fascinating!"
Someone exclaimed, and L unwittingly turned around to find Edra, Robbie, and both of his parents standing in the doorway to her room. The image of her parents had instantly disappeared, as they said it would, and L sighed heavily. She stood up and wiped her tears before the others walked in.
"L, was that your parents, dear?" Mrs Worcester asked attentively, and she came to stand beside L.
She reached out an arm, and L leaned into her hug.
"Yes, it was. Apparently, they wanted to leave me with a gift."
"My goodness, that was some gift." Mr Worcester stated with a scratch of his stubbly chin.
"You look like your mum, L." Mrs Worcester smiled widely at her.
L was grateful for her saying that.
"That is an ingenious piece of magic, I've never seen anything like it."
Edra was shaking her head in astonishment, and her golden curls were flying everywhere. She and L had long since made up, after several slices of banana bread and a public apology from Edra. She explained that she thought L would respond better to some tough love but hadn't expected L to jump out of the window to avoid it. They'd talked it out and cleared the air, and since then, Edra's bodily transformations had been a lot brighter.
Her twenty year old self looked thoroughly impressed by L's parents.
"So does that mean you can see them whenever you want?" Robbie asked.
He didn't seem to understand it, but he looked happy for her.
"Yeah, pretty much. And I can ask for help or advice from them too."
L found that particularly comforting, even if she hadn't been able to see them, having their guidance was invaluable.
"That's amazing. Now I don't have to be the only one telling you off." Robbie grinned when L tried to aim a kick at him.
"Alright, you two, don't we all have things to be getting on with." Mr Worcester remarked, heading for the door.
L smirked at Robbie and followed everyone out. They each split up to go about their business, and L found herself daydreaming as she headed back to training. Her thoughts were filled with the possibilities of when she might need her parents and how they might respond. She smiled at the number of scenarios and counted herself lucky for the first time that she had parents like them.
They'd thought of nothing except her during all the years they'd been apart. How could she be anything but grateful? Her earlier sadness was still present, but now it held a silver lining. She would have her parents by her side at all times, Andrei didn't take that away. And when she did eventually find him, she'd inform him of that fact before obliterating him.
"L, there you are." Edra suddenly arrived, interrupting L's daze.
She lowered the axe she'd been training with and crossed the room.
"What is it?"
L was used to these disruptions now and wondered who could need her help this time.
"You have a visitor who refuses to speak to anyone except the Keeper." Edra rolled her eyes. "They must think you're at their every beck and call."
L smiled, wiped her sweat away with a towel and took a quick swig of water.
"It's alright. I did tell everyone that I was free to help wherever and whenever they needed. I'll see them in the usual place."
Edra nodded, "That's what I thought you'd say. They're in there now."
L followed Edra out, and they made their way to the meeting room L had picked out. She'd purposely made sure it was the closest to the front door, should their visitor need to be escorted out in a hurry. L wasn't taking any chances.
She followed Edra through the door and greeted the older man who seemed to be impatiently waiting for her. He was wearing a red silk suit and held a red bowler hat in his meaty hands. He was a portly man, and his red hair was all but gone except for the tufts around his ears. He smiled and bowed politely to L.
"Afternoon, Keeper. My name is Michael, I'm sorry to disturb you, now." It took L a second to get through his thick accent.
"How can I help you?"
"Ah, you see now, it's not me that needs your help. I'm here as a favour, from Sullivan. He's the one in need of your assistance."
L blinked through her confusion, and it still took a moment for her brain to catch up.
"Oh, Sully? What's the matter with him?"
Michael rubbed at his wrinkled forehead, "He's in a bit o' bother. Broke some rules and is up in court for it. He's asking for the Keeper to clear his name, called in a favour from you like he's a King, you see."
He sounded like he couldn't believe what he was saying. Like it would be blasphemy for Sully to ask for her.
"Alright, where is he?"
Michael looked shocked, and he gestured around.
"He's in our homeland, of course. But are you really going to help him?"
L frowned and placed her towel around her neck. "Yes, why wouldn't I?"
"Well, he's just a Leprechaun, and he committed a crime."
L shrugged, "There's no such thing as just anyone to me. If he wants my help to clear his name, then I'll try and do that. Can I do this over the phone, or does it still have to be in person? And what did he do anyway?"
L found herself making preparations to help Sully, unsure how she would play into all of this. Michael seemed a little stressed now, as if he hadn't expected her to agree to Sully's request.
"You'll have to go with me to our homeland and testify for him. As for his crime, he let a bunch o' humans use the rainbow bridge."
L stopped in her tracks and felt her blood run cold. The knowledge of said crime and its consequence stared her in the face. If a Leprechaun showed their magic to humans, they were given a trial and, when found guilty, put to death. It was the most serious of all their rules, and if Sully broke it, she wasn't sure how much she could intervene.
She turned on Michael, who saw the understanding in her face and nodded.
"Why would he do that?"
Michael shrugged and placed his hat back on his head.
"He's lost his mind, I tell you. He was telling all kinds of tall tales to save his neck. Always been a loose cannon that one."
L couldn't understand why Sully would do it, not when he knew the consequences.
"So what does he think I can do?"
Michael retrieved a walking stick that was resting against the doorframe and gave her an incredulous look.
"He claims you can prove his innocence. Tried to convince the Elders that they weren't humans at all that he let over the bridge."
"What did he say they were?"
L couldn't understand why they wouldn't believe that he was helping other Supernatural creatures. But the words he spoke next had all the understanding she needed.
"He tried to claim they were all Dragon shifters, like anyone would believe such nonsense. Crazy eejit."