I know that I have frozen most of the enchanted forest, but seeing how it has affected it is ridiculous. I don’t mean it in a bad way. The enchanted forest is already magical as it is, but after my ice magic enveloped them in sheer snow, it just looks brighter and, dare I say it, alive. I am not even exaggerating on that part.
Everything seems to sparkle, thanks to the small coating of ice on the branches. Although I seem to have called forth early winter in this area, the trees still manage to keep their leaves, which all seem to be more alive in this weather.
The spirits seem to be enjoying the weather as well, as I see more and more of them prancing around and playing with the snow.
“Was this on purpose?” Chase asks me, leading the way to where I assume Kellar ought to be.
“You mean freezing everything? Of course not.” I say. “And in case you are referring to the remnant snow, I would have to say no to that as well. I don’t know if you try to believe me, but I can’t thaw out this ice that’s left behind.” I’m pretty certain that I have gotten the grasp of my magic again, so I can say with confidence that there’s something more that’s keeping the ice in this place. “Chace, are you sure that Kellar is here?” I decided to change the subject.
Chace nods. “When you froze the enchanted forest—”
“—not on purpose.” I add.
“Yes, we have established that.” Chace continues. “Your magic unconsciously protected the young prince, encasing him in ice.”
I stopped in my tracks. “Are you telling me that I turned Kellar into an ice popsicle!?”
“No, no. You kind of like…” Chace whirls back, trying his best to think of a better and less offensive word to describe what I have done. To my dismay, it seems like he could not find the right words to say something comforting and naturally gave up. “Yeah, you turn him into a popsicle. But it’s a situation where the rogues could not get to him. I managed to arrive on time thanks to that and capture the rogues.”
“Captured? You did not kill them?”
“No.” He shakes his head. “I know how much you hate killing, so I just turned them into popsicles myself. HA!” He boasts, like he is waiting for me to give him a compliment.
“R-Right. Great job.” I turn back, making sure that Javi is still with us. Custard left a while ago to take Leo to the nymphs so they could take him to the spring. I’m not sure what the processis for joining the two souls together, but I am just hoping that Serena will know. But just in case, I told Custard to go to Fred if we ever need a capable magician. “Won’t you get in trouble with your mother for helping?” My voice turns out to be a little more sour than I intended to. Although I have established that Chace is on my side, it does not mean that I would forgive his mother for siding with the rogues just to get me.
“I’m pretty sure that she’s furious with me, but what is she going to do? Revoke my title as the crown prince?” Chace smirks slyly. Even though he is the crown prince, he is also the youngest and most spoiled of his siblings. Seeing that smirk just reminded me of that. “In any case, I try not to think about that right now. After all, we should tackle one problem at a time, right?”
I smile. “Very well said, your highness. I’m impressed.”
“So does that—”
“I’m still not going to accept your marriage proposal.”
“Damn.”
Chace continues to lead the way. I never imagined that I would ever find myself having a hard time walking on snow, but this snow is something that I have a hard time controlling. It feels like it is trying to fight me.
I start to see something glimmering in the distance. It takes me a while before I finally recognize that it’s a miniature version of my ice prison where I trapped myself in. Only in this mini version of my prison, it’s Kellar who is trapped inside.
I hurriedly head to him, pressing my hands on the ice, and gaze inside to see that Kellar is sleeping inside. Through the ice, I can feel his warmth, which is odd. It might be because I created this ice that I can feel things that it touches.
“Stella.” Chace speaks behind me. “Let’s get him out of there. What do you say?”
I smile at him before returning my focus to Kellar. I diffused the ice, encapsulating him carefully. As the ice starts to thin, Chace hurries to get to Kellar’s side and gently lowers him to the ground. He starts to check his pulse. His sigh of relief allows me to assume that it’s a good sign. “He’s alive, Stella. I’ll carry him to Javi, and then we can go and meet up with Serena.”
The amount of relief that I felt when I heard those words from him was enough that it almost made me want to dance with joy, but for the moment, I made sure to prioritize Kellar’s well-being first.
When we were carrying an unconscious Kellar, it felt like an eternity before we were able to meet up with Serena.
Along the way, Javi starts to slow down and let out a cautious purr, catching mine and Chace’s attention. To our surprise, we see that Kellar is awake and is slowly watching us with his eyes.
“Wow. It feels like it’s been forever, but are we all friends again?” As he makes a feeble attempt to sit up, a slow and reassuring grin spreads across his lips.
Both Chace and I are too stunned to act immediately, so we stand there staring at each other for a moment before rushing forward to embrace Kellar. Of course, we are being careful not to push him off Javi’s back. With the three of us like this, it reminds me of when we were just kids. No responsibilities and no worries about our future. It’s nice.
Unfortunately, our little reunion got interrupted when Kellar started to seem like he had trouble breathing.
“I’m sorry.” Chace suddenly says. His face was full of regret as he utter the words. “If I knew—”
“Stop, Chace.” Kellar interrupts him. “It was my decision. You couldn’t have done something. Whatever is happening to me, it’s all on me.”
“We found the other half of your soul.” I hate to cut off whatever brotherly moment these two were having, but it would seem like I am the only person here who is missing out on a whole bunch of conversation when I was in the human realm. “We can finally cure you, Kellar. Just hang on a little longer, alright?”
The look of confusion on his face is followed by one of defiance. “No. I will not. I rather die than have my soul be whole again.”
“Kellar!” Chace grabs him by the collar of his shirt, looking furious. Javi sets off a warning growl at Chace because of it, but Kellar tapped her neck as a signal for her not to bite. “Don’t say things like that!”
Kellar glares at Chace, trying to shove off his hand, but he is too weak to move his grip away. “You can say that because you…you’re not the son of a murderous tyrant!”
“Why are you saying it like you’re going to end up like your father?”
Kellar's face becomes more and more painful. “That’s because I am.”
“Stop that, Kellar. How can you say that for certain?” I take tentative steps towards him, cautiously placing a hand on his shoulder. “You’re not your father.”
“I killed my brother, Stella.” His voice quivers as if he is recalling a distant, awful memory. He stares at his hands, which are shivering. “My own blood... I decapitated him. If anything, I am worse than my father.” He starts to bury his face in his hands. “I see him. I see his face. My brother…I see him too. Every night.”
I had no idea how severely Kellar was impacted by what happened. Even though it happened so long ago, we had no idea that he still has nightmares about it. I regret so much that I wasn't able to support him during those tough times. I can only imagine how Chace must have felt since he was the one closest to Kellar during those times.
“Is that why you chose to separate your soul? Because you wanted to separate the evil part of your soul? Is that what you were hoping?” Chace crosses his arms, looking at him dubiously.
“Y-Yes.”
“Well, did it work?”
“It did.” He nods confidently. “My mind is at peace. I can no longer see the faces of my brother, whom I murdered. I no longer think about blood.” Kellar seems to have calmed down a bit because when he looks at us, there’s clear opposition in his eyes and a bit of defiance. “Even if I die today, I would rather live with a clean soul and be at peace than be with that evil part of me.”
Evil? Leo is evil?
Chace and I share a look before we both burst out laughing, leaving Kellar looking lost and confused. It seems that we both have the same idea in mind.
“What? What are you two laughing about?”
“Kellar, have you not met the other half of your soul before parting ways?”
“Why would I be interested in meeting whatever kind of monster left my soul?”
“Stella, should you tell him, or can I?” Despite the situation, Chace seems to be enjoying himself.
“I’ll tell him.” I say, shaking my head. “I know that you’re just going to tease him about it.”
“What are you two talking about?” Kellar utterly looks lost as his gaze darts from Chace and then to me. “Stella?”
“I met your other half—or, to be precise, I might consider myself to be close friends with him.” I start, flashing him a faint smile as I continue. “His name is Leonard—Leo for short. He’s the president of the student council at the school that I am attending. Everyone respects him because he is very kind and compassionate to his peers.”
It takes a moment before Kellar finally finds his voice. “Are you serious?” His jaw drops.
“I have been with him in school for years, so I can vouch that he is not a bad person.” I grin at him, especially when Kellar looks dumbfounded. It’s kind of cute. He reminds me of how he looks whenever he finds something interesting.
“L-Lies. You must be lying—”
“Do you really think that Stella would lie? Besides, if she was lying, you would know. After all, she sucks at ly—” I step on Chace’s foot before he can finish what he’s about to say and glower at him to shut his mouth. I return my gaze to Kellar, this time softening my expression.
“Chace has an uncouth mouth, but he’s right. I do have a hard time lying.” I offer my hand to him. “You know that there’s only one way for you to find out the truth, right? Would you like to meet Leo?”