Hi everyone, SK here.

Woah lots of things have been happening, eh?  Well, after this chapter, there are only SIX more chapters left.  I know.  It's so strange that this book is going to be done soon, it feels weird.  Updating has become part of my schedule so it'll definitely be weird when it's all finished XD.

Also, important question for all my readers, if you can just answer in an in-line comment.  There were Extras posted in The Fairy's Cure that give a little bit of insight on other stories that happened in this world.  Now, I had to cut the number of Extras I planned to publish because this book was coming out, but I do have a fair number of Extras that take place in both the past and future.  They would be at varying lengths depending on what's happening.  My question is, would you guys be interested in seeing these Extras, yes or no?  Because looking back at the TFC Extras, 2/3 of them didn't do as well (with the exception of the last one because it had the teaser for this book) as the actual chapters did in terms of reader engagement.  So would any of you actually be interested (yes, this means actually reading them and not just interested in the concept)?  

And nope, I won't be revealing what the Extras are just yet, that'll come in a future update. :P

Anyway.  Apologies for the long beginning A/N, but let's get to it.  As always, I hope you enjoy!  Don't worry, this chapter'll be a shorter one unlike the last two.

Valerie

I hold onto my parents until a sudden thought crosses my mind.  Pulling apart from them, I frantically ask, "Where's August!?"

"He is safe.  He is back with the rest of the fairies," Dad tells me reassuringly.  "No additional harm seems to have come to him."

I let out a sigh, not a frustrated one though.  "Maybe we should head back," I suggest to the both of them.  "It's not safe here, and we need to formulate a plan."

"Are you okay to go back?" Mom presses, her violet eyes digging into my own as she gazes at me with caring concern.  "Because we can stay here as long as you want, as long as you need.  It's not like we're the ones who are Leaders."

The offer, however tempting it may be, I know isn't something I should accept; I shake my head no.  "No, we should go back.  I'm fine," I add, giving both my parents a small smile.  "But thank you, thank you so much... I didn't know how much I needed that."  They probably think I'm talking about the hug and Dad's reassuring words, but I just meant loving parents in general.  Something normal.

"Alright then.  Allow me," Dad says with a wink as he creates the portal that will lead us back to the rest of the fairies.  He steps through first, and Mom pushes me to go through while she follows behind me.  We appear on the edge of the group, so it doesn't take long for them to spot us.  The fairies are standing in small circles reuniting and hugging each other.  

August and Verity appear to be politely arguing, although the former breaks off his statement when he sees my parents and I.  "Is everything alright?" he presses, concern lacing his tone.  His fingers easily find their way to his scarf, his nervous tic. 

I twirl a pointer finger around a strand of my hair.  "Everything's good," I assure him, looking between August and his sister.  "But what were you two talking about?"

"Just... discussing our next course of action," Verity answers with a huff, putting her hands on her hips.  "There seems to be a slight disagreement on the matter."

August looks ready to fire back a reply at her, so I interject before he can start a yelling match with the other Leader.  "Right now, we're too close to the human base to do anything safely.  Let's go back to the castle and-"

"No," interrupts the Light Leader with a shake of his head.  "Lance mentioned that he knew that all of you were staying in the castle, which means Alara told him exactly where it is- or, if she hasn't yet, she easily can.  We need to make our temporary home in the forest somewhere."

"Can't Alara just see the future and tell them where we'll go?" points out Verity, looking a bit skeptical.  "No matter where we run, they'll find us- this is why we shouldn't run in the first place."

Dad now takes on the role of stopping the Light Leader from firing back an argument at the Dark Leader.  "Valerie has taken the first Queen's test and claimed the Queen's Elements, this means Alara's powers have mostly been drained from her.  Yes, she still has basic Time abilities, but she can no longer see a clear future like Valerie now can."  He crosses his arms, his honey-brown hair waving in the breeze as he begins to look deep in thought.  "We cannot move all of the artifacts from the castle, a massive pile of fairy-sized books in the middle of a forest would attract a lot of attention."

"We can take the stronghold boxes with us though," Mom reminds him, which earns her a nod from Dad.  "Those are easily portable and are probably a lot more important than the books."

"So that's the plan then," I announce, shortly after calling all the fairies' attention.  One by one heads turn to the Leaders, my parents, and I.  "Everyone, the castle is no longer safe for us at the moment, however we still have important things that we have left there.  Both of the Ministers will go to the castle and fetch the stronghold boxes as well as anything else they deem important-" I trust them with that, they both know what they're doing, and they won't be alone either. "- and I as well as the Leaders will get us all to an untouched part of the forest.  The Ministers will meet up with us when they've finished with their jobs."  I pause.  "Once we have settled, we can begin to talk about our next course of action when it comes to our fight with the humans."

"There are still some fairies at the castle too," Leaf points out to me.  "As well as the rest of our friends."

I want to slap myself in the face for not noticing that only two of my nine Spirit Soldiers are actually here.  "Mom, Dad, bring everyone with you- but not Alara."  This earns me some whispers- probably from the Mom and Dad thing as well as not wanting to bring Alara with us.

Dad's eyes widen.  "Are you sure?" he checks.  "Alara is the only one who can fully initiate you to be the Queen once you have passed your second test.  She and the Staff will have to remain at the castle-"

"No, I'm sure."  I make sure my voice is extra firm to get my message across as I whip my head around to face him.  "It will work itself out."  I give Dad a little nod, and he seems to get what I mean.  

"Alright."  To the rest of the fairies, he adds, "Layra and I will be back as soon as we can.  Everyone, be on your guard."  His voice is tense, and no one can really blame him.  Layra says something similar, and after that the two of them teleport away.  

There's a small pause before Verity pops me a question.  "Where should we go, Val?"

"Let me check."  Closing my eyes to focus better, I start to feel them burn with raw magical energy.  It's a lot more intense than usual, probably due to my lack of restraint that comes with the Staff, so I need to be quick or else I actually might go blind.  A map of the forest starts to draw itself in my mind, every tree, lake, and blade of grass being visible to me.  

I search around for a moment or two when I spot it.  There.  I open my eyes, the burning sensation fading away as I do.  "There is a far-off place that's quite north of the castle.  There's plenty of trees to protect us from rain, and there's a small river there too."  

"That sounds good," August says, and when he does it almost sounds like he's complimenting my ability to find places- my mind is going in strange directions, apparently.  "Lead us there, O Great Queen."  His sarcasm is obvious as he does a mock bow.  I roll my eyes at him, but make a portal to a spot near the Queen's castle.  Unfortunately that spot is also in the no-portal zone, but we'll make it work.

"Valerie and I will be up front, Verity you stick near the back," August instructs.  I sense what he's doing, Verity senses what he's doing, but she actually doesn't object for once.  The Light Leader and I walk through the white disc first, leading the group of traumatized fairies to a more peaceful place.  

The forest is quiet, only filled with the sounds of an empty breeze as well as the fairies' quiet idle chatter.  The spires of the castle sparkle in the sunlight to our left, but we won't be returning there for a short while.  The greenery around here seems untampered with too, tree branches happily waving to us in the breeze just like normal.  Droplets of colour in the form of flowers cover the dirt along with thousands of blade of grass.  As we go along I feel a sudden sensation brush against my fingers.  Looking down, I see a very familiar hand reaching for my own.  Looking up, a pair of very familiar eyes silently begging me to reciprocate.

I take August's hand, but don't say anything.  Not yet.  It's not time for that.

A breeze blows in my face, carrying a ruby red maple leaf with it.  My eyes gaze toward a now less-cloudy sky as the wind carries the leaf upward toward it, further and further until the red is gone, dissolved with the white.  Then I blink.  

The leaf is still there, attached to a tree branch, begging to break free from its chains of wood.

It's June.  There should be no red leaves.

I smile.  I know what this means.

The leaf is my retribution.

This walk, our travels now, it feels... almost normal.  It's like we're just taking a stroll out in the wood.  It feels like how living felt before I had the Queen's Elements, before I killed all those people, before Time corrupted me, before I fought with the one person I love the most, before that scum murdered me, before I even came to the Colony, before I even met August.  Before.

Before.

It just feels... nice.

Simply nice.

Peaceful even.

I want to laugh.  I've become so numb to the pain of living that I can feel peace again.  Is that a blessing, or is it a curse?

Or is it both?

All I know is that one day, the leaf will finally reach the sky, and when it does, everything will finally be over.  My punishments, all of it, everything, over.

Gone.

Done.

I can see it happening, well, a blurry version of it happening anyway.  Things that happen much farther a long are hard to see, but I can still see it if I try hard enough.

I can even see the end of the world.

Well, what I think is the end of the world anyway.  It's probably something else.  That won't happen for billions of years.

"Hey," comes the soft voice of August from beside me, breaking my twisting trail of thought.  I glance toward him as he continues.  "Can we talk?  Please?"

His "Please?" sounds so desperate it almost hurts.  I don't know why he still loves me, despite everything that happened between us and in general.  

I give him a nod.  "I think that's a good idea."  My pointer finger finds itself twirling a strand of my hair as we continue our path forward with the other fairies in-tow.  I should start.  I was unbelievably cruel that day.  "August, I-"

"No, let me," he insists, giving my hand a little squeeze.  "That day, Mom had... you know what happened to her.  I was really not in the right state to be doing anything, and when I found out that you had tampered with her life it just... it broke me, Valerie.  I was furious at everyone and myself, and I was blinded by grief to the point that I really did want a war at one point.  It still hurts, like it really hurts, but..." he looks downcast.  "I understand that you had a reasoning for what you did, even if Alara caused it somehow.  I still love you, and I'm sorry."  The words come out of him all at once, as if I'm about to go deaf and this is the last chance he'll ever get to speak to me.  

"You're not the one who should be asking or forgiveness," I lament to him.  The feeling of having the soft grass brushing against my toes is really opposite to the conversation we're having.  "It's me.  I've done so much wrong, and not just the things I said to you that day- which weren't civil at all to say, especially since you'd just lost your mom.  I'm so sorry for that, and I'm sorry for being irrational and stubborn because I actually left even though I knew deep down you didn't actually mean it.  The truth is..."  Tears form at the edges of my eyes.  "I'm not okay.  Ever since I've been able to see the future, it's all messing with my head, all of it.  It feels like I have to be the one making everyone's decisions, I need to be the one to steer us in the right direction because if I don't, who will?  It's... it's frustrating.  I just want to be able to live normally, but I'm afraid that..."

"Afraid that what?"

"Afraid that the same part of me that performed that dastardly spell in the first place is going to become all of me.  Or, that it already has."

His eyes are ever-so gentle as he look at me, a tiny smile a part of his features.  "Valerie.  If that part of you really was all of you, would you be crying to me about it right now?"

I hadn't even realized that the tears feel.  Hastily, I rub my hand against my eyes to get rid of them, but August stops me.  "It's okay to cry," he tells me softly.  "Crying helps.  Crying is good."

I remain silent, but I do take my arm down.  

"I don't have Time powers, and I'll never have them either," he begins slowly, his cerulean eyes almost sparkling in the little sunlight we have as he looks down at me.  "But I do know that while you can see the future, it isn't just yours.  It's everyone's.  Everyone has their own future, and while they might not tie into the main future, those paths still exist.  It's up to everyone to decide how their lives will work, not just you.  Do what you can, but sometimes things just happened, right?  Sometimes they just happen.  It'll be okay."

I don't deserve any of this.  

But I do.

This is part of my karma.

Him.

He's part of it, I can see exactly why, and not just for one reason.  This is nice to hear, but it's only breaking my heart more.  It's because he doesn't know, he doesn't know what's going to happen to him.  

Still, I have to act.  I have to act like everything will be okay even though for a little while, it won't be.

To control Time is to let Time control you.  

This is the curse of a Queen.

"What're you thinking about?" he asks, and I'm zapped back to reality when I realize that I've just been lost in thought when he expected me to say something back to him.  "You have that look on your face that just says that you're thinking hard about something."

"I have a look?" I question him, feeling a bit confused.

"You do.  You bite your lip and you look really cute when you think."  His smile, bubbly and precious, brings heat to my cheeks.  

I playfully shove him, although I don't make a big deal out of it because it probably doesn't look good for the fairies to see their Leader actively breaking the rules... wait.

"What about the rules?"  There's a slight tremor in my voice.

His eyebrows are raised when he replies.  "We're in an active conflict with a whole other species, and you're basically the Queen.  You're concerned about rules?"

I'm flustered.  "Well-"

He puts a finger to my lips, shushing me just as we enter under the shade again.  Shadows fall over us, the leaves dappling any light that happens to be able to reach the ground still.  "Remember what we said before this whole debacle, you don't even have a Necklace in the first place which is basically the entire reason why Leaders can't be in a relationship- so we're good.  We are one-hundred-percent good."  He pauses.

"Right?"

The question echoes in my ears, and I know he's not just referring to our relationship's ability to exist.  He's asking me whether it exists, or technically whether it still exists.

I smile at him.  "Right."

August gives me a relieved smile in return, happiness shining through his face despite what situation we're all in.  I want to hug him, kiss him, but this isn't the time; at least, not when everyone else can see us.  Instead, he just wraps his arm around mine, and I don't try to push him away.

"How are you feeling," he asks me suddenly, concern radiating in his tone.  We step out into a less-shaded area, and once again the sunlight lights up all his features.  "I'm so sorry, that should've been the first thing I asked you when I saw you."

He's probably talking about having taken the first Queen's test.  I choose to be honest.  "It hurt a lot at first, but not so much anymore- but I think that's just because my body has numbed itself to it all.  That magic is still there," I give him a tight-lipped smile, "but I'm trying to keep myself in check."

He gives my hand a little squeeze.  "When we get to our destination, you can rest."

I let out a tired sigh.  "I'd like that."

We continue forward, the fairies still following us like they're supposed to.  As we travel, more and more of the clouds begin to disappear.  The blueness of the sky gradually starts to return.  The fairies look up, happily pointing at the sun that's now returning.  They say it's a sign of good fortune, a sign that their cloudy days will soon be over.  

"The sun's too bright," August complains, holding up a hand to shield his face.  "But man does it feel nice."

I look up, but I can't see the sun.  I can see the sky and the few clouds that remain, but I can't see the sun.

That's because it doesn't exist.

Not for me.

~~~~~~~~~~

It's taken a while, but finally, we're here.  Mom and Dad, as well as my other Spirit Soldiers and the rest of the fairies they took from the castle, they're all here as well.

"Let's take a little break," August advises everyone.  "So much has happened to all of us, we all need to sit down for a little and relax before we can start to discuss next steps."  With a glance at my parents, he adds, "We'll be getting shelters together too, although I'd like a few volunteers to go out with Mallow," he nods at the fairies' main chef, "to grab some berries and anything else edible out in our forest.  As much as it is an option, I'm sure none of you want to eat food conjured purely by magic."

Laughter echoes across the crowd like a ripple on a still lake.

A few fairies go and talk to Mallow, and that group leaves shortly after.  Verity walks up to August, looking a bit annoyed.  It's probably because she was all alone in the back, but still, no need to get annoyed Verity.  "We should get sleeping arrangements together," she tells him.

"Layra and I can take care of that," Dad assures her promptly.  "Although, not much needs to be done here.  The trees provide enough shading to protect from the elements- ahem, the weather elements," he adds with a small chuckle.

Mom rolls her eyes at him.  "We'll make sure that everyone's taken care of and accounted for, that's our job anyway.  You two," she adds to August and Verity, "make sure to do some thinking about our next steps- because until Valerie passes her second Queen's test, we've still got a conflict on our hands."

I need to be thinking about that, I realize.  It isn't as simple as looking into the future and seeing what I'll do, it's like the actual Element is preventing me from cheating.  However, I can see hints because of what happens after the blank spot in the timeline.  

I think I know what I have to do... and I could probably do the test right now, if I wanted to.

But I won't.

A), The timing isn't right, B), I don't want to deprive anyone of having big heroic moments, and C)... I'm selfish.

Oh so very selfish.

"What should I be doing?" I ask the four fairies.  "I can h-"

"Rest," say all four of them in perfect unison, which makes everyone, including me, crack up a little.  That timing... 

"Are you sure there isn't anything I should be doing?" I press.  "Because I still want to help."

"Have a small rest first," instructs Dad in a very authoritative voice, "and then depending on how you feel we'll see."

I feel fine, I want to protest, but I know in reality that I am in so much pain and my body is barely holding itself together.  "Alright," I reluctantly agree.  

"Come with me," August says suddenly, grabbing my hand with firm fingers.  "We can go somewhere quiet, away from the others.  It'll help you relax."

Dad clears his throat.  "It would most likely make the other fairies feel safer if their Leader was with them," he points out.  

Still, August stands his ground as I glance back and forth between them.  "It won't be for that long, because I agree with you, Heliux."  He gives me a charming smile followed by a wink.  "Ready?"

My heart flutters, I know what's coming for us soon.  "Yes."

Goddammit I did not expect this chapter to be kinda sad- but uh, I hope you enjoyed it.  Aulerie is back together once more... and we're only six more chapters away from the end.  Holy crap.  I know I said it before but.. *sigh* anyway.

I'll catch you all next week with chapter 41.