Sky

"Mãe." I greet Irene, bringing her into a crushing hug.

Something eases in my chest at the sight of her motherly figure. She smells of fresh grass and something uniquely her that reminded me of days spent in the Silva cottage growing up. Pulling away from her, I looked down at her small frame. Suddenly It finally dawns on me that I'm taller than her. When I first left for Alfea I was just level with her and she was away most of this summer on missions, much to Silva and I's disappointment, that I didn't notice. I feel myself begin to choke up a little. Have I really changed that much?

"When did you get so small." I croak.

Mãe bursts into laughter and I hear Silva chuckle away too. She swats my arm and I cringe in fake hurt, grinning the whole time at the ease in our movements. I watch as Mãe looks over my shoulder, eyes bright as a small smile graces her face in greeting.

"Riv." She coos. Letting go of my arms to brush past me. I look up to see Silva watching Irene with soft adoration, his stance loose and relaxed. He looks like the man who raised me, the Silva who taught me how to ride a bike and taught me to read. It's been a while since I've seen him like this, he's spent so long in the headmaster and soldier role that I sometimes forget what he was like as I was growing up.

"How have you been Mrs Silva?" Riven asks politely as he bends down to hug the older woman.

"How many times have I told you to call me Irene." Mãe grins widely as Riv chuckles nervously as he looks at a stern Silva whose face has lost most of the previous softness in favour of a protective look. I cough to hide my chuckle at Silva's "Don't you dare" face. He never let disrespect stand in training and he certainly doesn't allow any towards his Mate.

"And I've told you how scary your mate and son can be Mrs S." Riven whispers conspiratorially with a grin as he glances between Silva and I. I guess I can be a little overprotective of her as well but- wait, son? I tense in irritation. How many times do I have to tell him to stop with the family jokes? I know they raised me and I'm so grateful to them but they don't want kids. The only reason Silva took me in was because of my father, and poor Irene took me on when she mated and married Silva. Not that we haven't had fun but I'm aware it must be uncomfortable for them to be playing family with someone who isn't blood.

"Riv," I warn, seeing the way Mãe tense and glances sadly in my direction.

My chest crushes at the look. Just because I feel bad that I derailed their lives doesn't mean I don't wish desperately for her approval and love. She's so kind that you can't help it. Irene grins at me warmly but there's something sad in her smile.

Mãe loops her arm through Rivs and walks back towards our small group. Looking around I pause as I finally notice Terra and a pale and distant looking Tavi.

"Have you been eating?" Irene demands, looking riven up and down as she holds him by the arms. "You're far too pale to be healthy and you're a growing boy riven- you need food, especially if you're training with these two." She sends a scathing look at Silva who has come to stand by my side. I duck my head down in amusement at both Riv's blushing face and Silva's indignant one.

"Don't you try and hide from me, meu filho." She snaps

"Sorry, Mãe." I reply feeling like the 10 year old boy being scolded for trying to steal a cookie.

She hums in amusement at my tone, giggles escaping her and I can't help but grin back. Seeing Silva smile lovingly at her as he glances between the two of us.

"Pixie?" Riv asks in confusion.

The four of us turn to face Terra and Tavi who are standing rather awkwardly to the side. Not that you would be able to tell with Tavi, she was holding herself with a practiced grace that clearly came from her upbringing in the royal household. Tavi, despite the fact she's looking at us and smiling politely, there's a detached look about her that I only notice thanks to our morning runs. It's the look she gets when she's talking with the shadows or when she's concentrating really hard on building a strong shield.

Hi," Terra says nervously, "we were hoping to-"

As Terra continues to ramble and explain I feel worry flicker through me, Tavi's not normally so obvious about it; she would never risk being so exposed in public. She's very good at being controlled and hiding her emotions, especially when using her magic. I know she hates showing weakness when she's using a skill that is useful in battle.

Something is bothering her then, something big. I stiffen up slightly, mind darting between possibilities. Everything ranging from girl drama to assassination attempt on the crown. Why must the Siatra twins always come with royal worst case scenarios? They're always so much more worse than normal ones.

"Sky and Riven will help you." Irene declares grinning at us before looking expectantly at Silva, who sighs and rubs between his eyes in exhaustion before waving us both off towards the fairies. Riv chuckles at his reaction but smartly doesn't dare say anything. I grin at the mated pair as Irene loops her arm with Silva and leads him back to the training ground. She smiles at me in goodbye and I quickly grin at her look, warmth flooding me at her comforting look. 

Wait. We're doing what now?

I look at Tavi in confusion but she's looking towards Alfea, face tight and the shadows that hide in her hair by her shoulders are swirling in agitation.

The four of us begin to walk in awkward silence towards the greenhouse, Terra in the lead as she rambles to a disassociated Tavi about some kind of decorations.

"Oh give it a rest Terra." Riv complains as he strolls forward to walk between the two girls, casually draping an arm over Tavi's shoulder. "Pixie here, looks like she's about to rip her hair out from frustration."

"Riv." I snap. "Quit being a dick."

"It's fine." Terra interrupts, glancing between Riv and I. "We're here anyway."

Terra's about to turn into the greenhouse but pauses when she looks at Octavia.

"Octavia?" She questions awkwardly.

Riv too turns his attention to the shadow fairy whose focus is on the black cars in front of Alfea. The shadows from the greenhouse seem to grow darker and longer as Tavi stares at the cars. If I can focus enough I can just see small shadows swirling around the back of her ear in agitation. They're not normally so small.

I frown. "Tavi?"

I gently touch her shoulder, quickly snatching my hand back as she flinches. Tavi turns to me eyes wide with fear and my stomach lurches in response. Stepping towards her, heart racing as my eyes dart across her face. I lift my hands up to grip her arms but she pulls back and my heart clenches at her stepping away from me.

"Pix?" Riv mumbles, stepping up next to Tavi.

She looks at the three of us before turning to glance at the black cars. Stella is standing by the cars and I watch her greet whoever steps out, their form is blocked by the car. Someone's scared her, whoever just arrived has sent her into a panic.

Octavia

I look up at Sky, his eyes are filled with concern and his jaw clenches when he glances behind me. Shit. Riv beside me has taken to glaring at Terra until she looks away from the three of us. That's not very nice.

He's just looking out for you, in his own way. Darkling whispers

I swallow thickly before looking over at a confused Terra. She looks small and her eyes are filled with water. Helios, Riv can really be a dick sometimes. Then again, Terra needs to become more confident if she wants to survive.

I clear my throat. "C'mon, let's get these crates to the dinner room."

I stride off towards the greenhouse, desperately ignoring the sound of hurried footsteps behind me. What am I supposed to tell them, how am I supposed to explain my reaction? She's my mother, families are supposed to be close, and Terra. Terra sounded so starstruck by the idea of the queen. She wouldn't understand.

"Where are we taking these?" Riv asks in irritation as he hefts one of the crates into his arms. Sky glances at me in worry as he picks up the other crate, I ignore him and pick up the other crate. I glance at Terra, who carries a smaller crate filled with gardening equipment and what appears to be potions.

"We're taking them to the glass courtyard. In the East wing." I answered confidently. C'mo Tavi, pull yourself together. Focus on the arrangements and then deal with mother dearest.

Scratch that, Tavi. Darkling mutters. No time, mother dearest has already sent for you.

"Princess Octavia?" A voice calls.

The four of us pause and I slowly put down the crate in my arms at the sight of one of the Royal attendants. He looks to be in his late 40s, dark skinned and with jet black hair braided close to his scalp and clearly trained as a soldier from his physique and brown eyes that hold that look soldiers get after ten too many battles.

Vespertine, Azazel supplies. He's worked for your mother since Lýkos started training people from all backgrounds and races. Applied two times before that to the royal guard under the old general.

"Yes?" I answer, staring challengingly at the man. I want to see if he submits, are you the crown's puppet or my mothers.

Why was he so dedicated to gaining a role in the royal guard?

He stares at me unflinchingly. "Queen Luna has requested your attendance at the Kástano ball tonight."

Power, mistress.

My mother's pet then.

"Rather late notice, Vespertine." I comment, his eyes widen a fraction but that's all the shock he showed.

"The Queen has selected a dress for you that has been sent to your room. Princess Stella is on her way there now to prepare."

I raise a brow. "Will I need to bring a date?"

"The Queen has taken care of that as well. The ball is to make political alliances and she believes someone of your choosing may endanger that."

Vespertine glances rudely at Sky and Riven who have been standing silently on either side of me, from the corner of my eye I see they both put down their crates too. Except they both have a handle on some form of knife by their side. Well at least they're smart enough to register Vespertine as a threat. I maintain my cold glare on the attendant, choosing to leave him waiting- a wonderful trick I learnt from my mother.

"We leave in an hour." He states before nodding slightly in respect to me and walking away.

"What was that?" Terra asks with a confused smile.

"That was an intentional oversight from my mother."

I glance to my right. Looking between Terra and Riven.

"I almost forgot you had airy fairy princess duties to attend to." Riv drawls as he looks down at me with humour. "How hard it must be for you to drink fancy wine and socialising all evening."

Behind him I see Terra's face drop with hurt, she really gets upset when Riv behaves like this.

"Shall I smuggle out some champagne for you?" I mock, using the banter as an easy distraction. He rolls his eyes at me before stepping away toward the crates.

"And here I was thinking you posh fucks would have some decent drinks."

"Of course, I forgot you were of a different calibre to us." I grin, "Shall I smuggle you out a keg of watered down beer."

Riv barks out a laugh, pointing at me as he says, "better that the posh bubbles."

I grin and look towards Sky on my left. He's still staring at the door as if he was going to hunt Vespertine down. My heart clenches at the thought, at the care he displays so easily.

"We should take these up." Terra says with a nervous smile as she picks up her supplies. "And you should go get ready for the ball."

She smiles hesitantly at me, worrying her lip. I smile politely back, smoothing out imaginary wrinkles on the sides of my top.

"Quite right, Terra." I smile at the three of them, nodding to Sky who has finally zone back into the conversation as he picks up his crate. He looks worried but smiles nonetheless.

"Don't have too much fun, Tavi." He forces a grin. "And steal some decent whiskey for me."

I glance back at Riv with an easy smile, pointing at Sky as I say.

"That's a man with class Riven, you should try it sometime."

He rolls his eyes at me. "Yeah yeah."

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

"This is ridiculous." Stella stresses as she paces around my room, her dressing gown flowing with the movement. The light orbs floating around the room to help with makeup lighting begin to flicker with her agitation.

"Why would she do this?" She demands in frustration. "No, I know why she did this. She didn't want us to find a way out of it. She wanted us on the back foot for whatever scheme she has come up with for political gain."

She didn't want to give you a chance to go through the guest list and have us gain information on them.  Belial snarls, clearly agitated by the lack of preparation we've done.

I look at Stella through the mirror I'm using to apply my makeup, watching as she picks up one of the dresses laid out on my bed. It's a stunning piece, reminiscent of the Victorian era balls held in the first world. The outfits are the only plus to this whole trip.

"And what does she mean by she has sorted 'companions' for us?" Stella steps into the pink ballroom gown. The flowy material sighing in movement. "If this is some crack hell hole scheme to get us engaged to political dignitaries-"

"Lámpsi." I interrupt, smiling gently at my scared sister as I stand. "Calm down, darling. You're working yourself up."

She nods silently at me, pursing her lips as she fights back tears of frustration. Stella takes a steadying breathe and clicks her fingers to shut of the light orbs.

"Why must she do this to us?" she whispers brokenly. "What have we done to warrant such control?"

I gently brush Stella's hair out of her face as I press on her shoulders to turn her around.

"We cannot control the Queen, nor will we ever fully understand her actions." I murmur, beginning to lace up the back of her dress. "We must make the best of what we have and one day, she will be gone and it will be our turn to live without fear."

Stella's shoulders sag as I finish lacing the dress and turn her back around to look at her. Her eyes are filled with such anguish that I feel my heartbreak. I gently grip her arms, seeking to bring her some comfort.

"Forget about her. This is our day, remember?" I smile at her, feeling my eyes burn with frustration. Why must Queen Luna do this? "We're going to a ball, Little Lámpsi. What better girls night than this? Hmm?"

Stel chokes a laugh at me. Nodding her head in agreement.

"It won't be if you don't get ready." I grin back at her, happy to see her smiling again.

I sit back down at the vanity and continue with my makeup, smiling at Stel through the mirror as she begins to fix her hair.

There's some kind of magical disturbance outside the barrier. Belial interrupt.

What? I snap in alarm.

It's not an immediate threat. I've sent out some shadows to find out what happened. The whispers on the wind claim it was two fairies. One lost control.

I look back at Stella, hoping she didn't pick up on my silent alarm. Mercifully she's fully engrossed in perfecting her hair. Fuck, what if it's an attack on the crown. I have no weapons stocked in the room and the royal guards have put my entire corridor and the leading hallways to it on lock down. They're only guarding the entrances to said lock down, there are no guards posted. 

Bloom and Aisha. Belial's voice comes through confident and I relax slightly at the names.

Not an outside threat then?

No, Bloom got frustrated and lost control after failing in class. Aisha seemingly followed her earlier after the lesson they had together.

Fucking first years causing me problems and stress. I'm going to have to step in with bloom. This is getting out of hand. I finish my make up and quickly move onto my hair, 20 minutes left. Brush and curl then.

I hum as I work and begin to think of a plan.

What to do with Bloom. She needs control, and soon. I was too harsh earlier and I was far too presumptuous about Bloom when she asked me to train. I should have known it would take her longer to accept what's going on. I took a long time to get over the loss of my magic, why should gaining magic be any different?

I stand up and stride over to my bed, reaching for the black lace dress laid upon it. Picking it up gently I move towards the full length mirror in the corner of the room. Stella grins as she steps back behind me so she can look over my shoulder at the dress against my body. I gently hold a lace sleeve out with my hand. Full coverage I see. Mother never could stand to see my scars on show but unlike Stella's she didn't see fit to place a permanent glamour on them.

"You look stunning." Stel declares with a real smile as she rest her chin on my shoulder.

I hum noncommittally as I stare at the figure in the mirror. The dress is beautiful, magnificent even... but all the strings and rule that come with it. I frown, feeling my eyes water.

"Hey," Stel whispers as she turns me around to face her, staring into my eyes. "Our day, remember. Forget about the consequences, the chess game being played and just enjoy it."

It's my turn to nod hesitantly and hold back tears. I clear my throat and take off my robe to begin to pull on the dress. Stella helps me get in on delicately lacing the back for me, it's far more complex than the dress Stella is wearing. They feel like rope binding me into the Queen's grip. For a second, just a second, I am envious of my older sister and the freedom firstborn status allows her. Guilt crashes through me, that's not fair. Not fair to Stel at all. Not with all the pressure and expectations she faces.

It's okay to want freedom, Tavi. Fenriz whispers. It's okay to be afraid.

I nod silently in my head, knowing they would understand. A buzz sounds from the vanity and Stella picks up her phone, face tightening at whatever she sees.

"That's Sky," She supplies picking up her heels from the bottom of the bed. "He's coming to escort us to the car on Silva's request."

She pauses to put on the shoes and I quickly do the same.

"On the Queen's request you mean." I comment bitterly.

Of course she wouldn't miss an opportunity to poke at Stella, to bait her. Dangling her ex in front of her though, that's low.

And weak. Belial comments. It's only effective if she still cares. I wonder what the queen really wants to know from Stella's response.

I'm not sure I want to find out. I murmur, standing up and reaching for my clutch and phone.

You should always want to know Tavi. Always gather as much information as you can. It's one of the oldest forms of currency.

There's a knock at the door and Stella looks at me in trepid anticipation as we walk towards Sky.

"Are you ready for this?" Stella asks as she smooths out her dress.

"Ready as I'll ever be." I answer with a hesitant smile.

I quickly smooth my face into an unfeeling mask, for all we spoke about having fun we still play the part. It's easier if you pretend to be someone else. It's not you then, not you being hurt, not you being cruel and not you being used. It's the other person. The one you're pretending to be.

Stella opens the door.