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"No great wisdom can be reached withoutsacrifice." - C.S. Lewis, The Magician'sNephew
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The face of an angel untouched by time appeared before their eyes in a sudden motion. They were fated to be caught—the twins knew that much. But had Onyx found them so quickly? Were they already dead by her hand?

The ethereal beauty had honey blonde locks messily drawn up into a high ponytail, accentuating her pronounced cheekbones. Her body was adorned in leathery black garments, with a fur-collared coat draped over her shoulders. There was chinked armor covering her chest and shoulders, providing a layer of protection from weaponry. The twins took her in, realizing their angel was more of a warrior.

The woman's hazel eyes met Carolyn's and in an instant, she dropped her sword.

Pictures from worn, paperboard scrapbooks flashed through the girl's mind. A newspaper clipping of a fiery car crash, detailed watercolor paintings, a smiling husband and wife—all shot through Carolyn's brain in a moment of recognition.

"Queen Felicity?" Bailey asked weakly as she examined the woman.

Aura's breath hitched in her throat at the name. In the weeks past, they had heard rumors of her mother still being on the run. Fairytales and fables had been revealed to her as real, and yet that was more believable than the idea of her mother's survival being more than just a myth.

"Aura? Carolyn?" Felicity asked in a sweet melody. Her voice was coated in heartache but was gentle, nonetheless. "Is it really you?"

Carolyn took a step back, certain that she was having another dream. She had waited her whole life for the woman before her, but now daring to believe Felicity was real was a vulnerable leap she wouldn't dare to take. I've finally lost it, haven't I?

Aura took a small step toward Felicity, her entire body shaking as a river of tears threatened to cascade down her dirt-covered cheeks.

Felicity let out a soft sob as Aura continued to step closer to her until they were only a few inches apart. She slowly lifted her arms and cupped Aura's face in her hands.

Without a second thought, Aura wrapped her arms around Felicity, relishing in a moment she thought she could only ever experience in her dreams.

Carolyn cautiously stepped forward, eyeing her friends for confirmation before embracing her mother. She breathed in deeply for the first time in hours, inhaling the smell of hazelnut and honey that Felicity's skin emitted. Was this home at long last? In her mother's tender grasp, Carolyn decided she would welcome the flood of happiness rushing towards her. Just this once.

Felicity smiled warmly through her tears. "Finally," she whispered. The three embraced for a few more moments before she reluctantly pulled away. "Here, let's get you cleaned up," she said, nodding to the scrapes and bruises that littered their skin. The queen led them through the dilapidated corridors, stepping over piles of shattered glass or dodging rotting wood beams.

They entered a dimly lit room with bottles of herbs and tonics scattered across shelves attached to the stone walls. Some of the supports had collapsed, therefore blocking entry to the second half of the room yet the walls still held.

Felicity gestured for the four to sit before she grabbed clean strips of cloth from a small trunk and doused them in fragrant oils. She repeatedly stole loving glances at her daughters before tending to their wounds.

"I don't understand," Robin started. "I saw you as a child, but not since then. How have you survived for so long?"

"Robin Hood of Locksley," Felicity began with a radiant smile. "I'm sure you know plenty about staying alive." She paused, handing him a rag doused in lavender oil. "Besides, the Villains didn't rob people of their good hearts—I've survived only with the help of others."

"But how," Carolyn rushed out, her mind still swirling as she examined Felicity.

The queen sighed, her smile faltering as she put down the cloth in her hands. "It hasn't been easy being without you two—" she hesitated as she looked between her daughters, wracking her brain for the right words "—you were only on this planet a month before I had to help you escape from it. Ever since then, I've been holding onto the hope that I would see my babies again. It's that love that kept me running for sixteen years."

"I mean this with the utmost respect," Bailey said. "But how are you still so young? You look no older than you did in paintings when Aura and Carolyn left Fabula."

"When the Villains took over, they repeatedly pulled the other Heroines and Heroes back into their stories, keeping them at the same age for the past sixteen years. Unbeknownst to us, Onyx cast a spell on Anthony and me as we escaped the Crystian palace to keep us at thirty-eight for as long as she's alive.

"She wanted us to watch as our beloved land was torn apart at the seams, to see our people cry out for mercy." Felicity fought back tears that threatened to fall, causing Aura to give her a comforting embrace.

"Why didn't you leave Fabula with us?" Aura asked weakly, her heart racing in anticipation as she waited for an answer.

"I wish I hadn't had to, but your father, Anthony, and I—" Felicity frowned at the memory of her husband "—we had heard about Earth, and we knew it was safe, but if there was any magic there, we wouldn't be able to protect you. We knew Silvia would be able to, though."

"You had to stay and help Fabulans," Bailey realized. "So that you could protect them."

"Wait—" Carolyn paused "—you don't have magic?"

"The vast majority of people don't. I only have a small amount, not nearly enough to protect you both." Anthony's face rose to the forefront of Felicity's brain once more. "And your father doesn't have any magic."

"What happened to him?" Aura squeaked out, her curiosity getting the best of her.

Her mother's face twisted into a sullen expression; her eyebrows laced together. The painful memory replayed in her mind as it had every day for the past sixteen years. "He didn't make it. He's in the Crystian dungeon from what I've heard."

Carolyn slowly nodded in understanding, letting out a deep breath. "Onyx has him."

"Yes," Felicity stated with a frown.

"Why did you come back here?" Bailey gestured to the destroyed castle around them.

The queen smiled to herself. "My other daughter has never thought of me to be strong. I figured my old home, the kingdom I was forced to leave, would be the last place she'd think to look for me."

"So, where exactly is here?" Carolyn asked.

"Qiani," her mother replied. "When I went through the Portal, this kingdom was created for your father and me to reside in. The villain of my story was a pyromancer, so when she was able to sneak past the soldiers guarding the Dark Forest..."

"She came and set it aflame," Robin finished, recalling the story he had heard as a child.

"So, the Fairy Godmother and Merlin, with the power of the Story Almanac, cast a spell on the forest, locking the Villains in there for good. Onyx, Anthony, and I returned to Crystia, and I replaced my parents and became the new queen," Felicity explained. "But every spell has a loophole. Onyx used the very thing that trapped the Villains to set them free again.

"The pyromancer that burnt Qiani to the ground was killed in the flames, and without a villain, I couldn't be brought back into my story. So, I escaped."

Silence fell over the group as Felicity resumed caring for their wounds. She grabbed a small roll of gauze and a bottle filled with light brown liquid. When she pulled the cork out, the strong smell of bourbon wafted through the room.

"I hope you know that I'm still too young to drink," Carolyn said. She winced when her mother's hands gingerly slid her dress's sleeve down to reveal the gash Robin had given her in the Dark Forest.

He frowned at her pain, a twinge of guilt tugging at his heart.

"This is going to sting," Felicity warned, soaking a piece of gauze before placing it directly onto her daughter's cut.

Carolyn's eyes shut as she hissed in pain, but instantly relaxed when her mother's hand wrapped around her own.

Her mother continued to dab her injury lightly, carefully cleaning it. She lightly rubbed a soft green gel onto the cut before wrapping it tightly with the rest of the gauze. "That'll stop any risk of infection or scarring."

She grabbed more cloth from the trunk, turning to a small cut on Bailey's forehead. "I recognize you." Felicity closely inspected the girl's face. "You're Lewis Pic's girl, aren't you? You look just like him."

"Yes, Your Grace," Bailey stated politely, smiling as she thought of her father.

m"Felicity," the queen corrected her. "How do you know my daughters?"

Bailey explained the events that led up to that moment, depicting her escape from Fabula as a child and how she befriended the twins. She told Felicity about Carolyn's accidental discovery of Fabula and then glossed over their journey since then.

A warm smile returned to Felicity's face, her heart swelling. "You four are very brave, I hope you know that."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Bailey said before smiling. "Felicity."

"If there is anything I can do to aid you, please let me know," the queen said as she began to clean up the bottles of remedies.

Robin perked up. "Actually, you might be able to." He reached into Bailey's satchel and pulled out the list of items. "Since you've been all around Fabula all of these years, do you know of anything by the name of the Letters of Destiny?"

Felicity paused. "Is that what people are calling them now?" she questioned through a light laugh.

"You know what they are?" Aura asked, her stomach flipping in excitement.

"I'm very familiar, actually." Felicity took a seat on a small stool. "Your father and I met long before I was chosen to go through the Portal. He was the son of a lord, and we quite literally ran into one another in the woods around the Crystian palace. I guess you could say it was love at first sight."

Memories of her youth flooded to the forefront of Felicity's mind. "We used to write to one another every day, and we saved every single letter. My mother used to say that our love was so strong that the Portal couldn't break us apart, that we were destined to be with one another. She jokingly called our messages 'the Lover's Letters' and it caught on." She waved her hand. "Of course, over time names and meanings change and simple stories morph into tall tales."

"Wow," Aura said, completely enthralled by her mother's tale, her head dreamily resting on her hands.

"You wouldn't happen to have these love letters on you, would you?" Carolyn asked, slowly rising to her feet.

Felicity's reminiscent smile dropped. "I'm afraid not. And I'm afraid you aren't going to be too thrilled as to where they are."

Carolyn's heart dropped. Oh no.

Her mother took a deep breath. "Your father and I placed them in your nursery for safekeeping. We thought we would've had the opportunity to read them to you when you would inevitably ask how we met."

"You mean they're in the Crystian palace?" Aura squeaked out, her fingers tugging at her ear.

Felicity gave her daughter a pained smile before her face suddenly grew serious. "Someone's coming."

Robin suddenly hopped down from the tabletop he was seated upon and scooped up his bow and arrow. "I hear them too." He and Felicity quickly led the three girls back through the castle. When they passed by one of the only windows still intact, they caught sight of a sea of men on horseback advancing toward the palace, with Onyx leading the pack.

The group quickened their pace to where they had kept their steeds.

Bailey's hands fiddled with the horses' reins as she hastily tried to untie them from the leafless brown tree.

Gruff shouts echoed through the air, growing louder as the army approached.

Bailey offered her hand to Felicity to mount the horse, but the queen curtly shook her head in refusal. "You four go. I'll stay here and buy you some time."

"What?" Carolyn blurted out in shock. "You can't just leave us again—we've spent our whole lives praying to someone, anyone for you to be alive."

"Cora..." Robin trailed off.

"No," Carolyn protested, more tears sliding down her cheeks. She reached for her sword. "If you're staying to fight then I am, too."

Felicity took her daughter's face in her hands, both their hazel eyes teary and said, "Listen to me, you're going to leave here and not worry about me. You and your sister and friends are going to fix everything and be free. No matter what happens to me, I want you to use your fire to fight for what's right." She pulled a small, silver charm from her pocket before giving it to her daughter. An intricate feather was attached to an inkwell that shimmered in the sunlight.

Carolyn's eyebrows laced together as she looked at her mother curiously, tears steadily flowing from her hazel green eyes. "Is this your charm?"

Felicity nodded and flashed a small smile, tracing the edge of Aura's face with her finger. "So you know that I'll always be with you." The queen quickly pulled her children into a tight embrace, her mind overcome by memories of their last encounter, their last goodbye...

The young mother held the baby in her arms closer to her chest, looking at her husband who stared into the hazel eyes of a second, swaddled newborn encased in his own warm embrace.

The man placed a gentle kiss on the baby's forehead. "Until we meet again, my love."

Tears fell from Felicity's eyes as she pulled away from her daughters once more, remembering the day she placed them in a basket to start a new life.

Queen Felicity looked up at the twins' friends who were already on horseback. "Keep them safe," she choked out as she had said to Silvia all those years ago.

"I love you," she whispered to Aura and Carolyn before helping them onto their horses and sending them off. Aura buried her face in Bailey's shoulder as they rode away, not able to look her mother in the eye as she lost her for a second time.

With her arms wrapped around Robin's waist, Carolyn looked back at Felicity solemnly. She could only hope her mother would be lucky enough to escape once again. Robin urged the steed to gallop faster as they fled from Qiani and towards the great forest that lied beyond.

In the last moments before Onyx's soldiers were upon her, Felicity thought of her husband, of the last words he spoke before hiding her from certain capture. "One of us needs to be free when they return." He placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "I love you..."

"I love you, too," she whispered before drawing her sword and preparing to fight.

Hello lovelies!

BOOM! Two chapters in a row with big reveals? Man we're on a roll!

Felicity is alive and well (although nothing is promised after the fight she's about to have with her oldest 🤭

Until next chapter!
♡ Melody & Rebekah ♡