The last days of the holidays...
"Let me help you!"
Quite a joyful, but still a little sad time
"...I myself..."
Two friends, Lucy and Adrianne, decided to have one last meeting before their separation.
"Give me your hand! You'll hurt yourself!"
"...I'll be fine, don't worry..."
Under a large tree that was the memoir of one of their mothers. It was a frequent place for both of them.
"Do we have to go there?"
"We used to go there almost every day, why are you so upset?"
This was the most important meeting for them.
---
A ginger-haired girl with a bright dress and a blue scarf, Lucy, plopped down under a tree, and next to her sat down carefully a girl with unusual lavender hair and dressed in a blouse and a blue skirt, Adrianne.
- "So, here we are. You seem so... tired and weak today. Did something happen to you, Adri?"
Settling herself more comfortably, Adrianne sighed. She was a rather fragile girl and Lucy knew it, but it was only recently that she noticed that something was wrong with her.
- "Nothing. Nothing happened to me, I just didn't sleep well." - Adrianne said a little cheekily, which made Lucy shudder a little.
- "Adri ..."
- "Sorry."
Silence... Lucy put her hand on Adrianne's shoulder, letting her know that she wasn't offended. Adri looked at her and felt guilty in front of her friend. To shake off these thoughts, Lucy looked at the sky, which was covered with apple tree leaves.
- "It's beautiful, isn't it?"
- "Yes..."
Praeya's village school is under contract - after all, her mother is the ambassador of her country (Surgire), having the title of ENERGY SORCERES; and Lucy's father is the ambassador of that village, whose title is EXECUTIONER OF TIME and LUCK. Ambassadors are noble people in Fabula, and these two are in "friendly" relations. Thanks to the ambassador of Surgire, Praeya is safe from demons: and in return, thanks to the permission of the ambassador of Praeya, Adrianne studies together with people, without fear of violent bursts of magic that are inherent in Surgir .
Adrianne herself - was born almost at death's door, because her body was so weak and weighed like a stack of paper. But then a "miracle" happened - which gave Adrianne enough strength to live and gave her a destructive magic - the FLOW magic (aka ETHEREAL WITCH). As a result, her body is unstable, and any bursts of magical energy or if she's put under so much stress will damage her, and Adrianne herself must constantly release and supress her magic, otherwise she will be overwhelmed with energy and get very badly injured, getting burns and fractures. Fearing for her daughter's health, she hired doctors and scientists from the organization "Hone Research" to monitor Adrianne . They made a verdict that she cannot study with other students because of her destructive nature, so she studied at home. However, those "teachers" from HR were not the nicest people towards Adrianne, treating Adrianne more like a lab rat than a human, let alone a student. Although she did not pay attention to how her daughter was treated; worried that her daughter would grow up to be an asocial deviant, she decided to send her to a private school abroad - and the most affordable option she had was to contact the Ambassador of Praeya.
But the contract only lasts for two years, after which she must return back to her country - and that day is in a week. Adrianne looked at her friend and began to contemplate the whole situation.
In a week it will be the last day.
In a week she will see her friend for the last time.
In a week, she will return to her palace, to that golden cage that she hates so much.
And a week later...
- "Adri?"
Her train of thought was interrupted by Lucy, who was looking at her with a worried expression. Taking a deep breath, she squeezed Lucy's hand slightly and said...
- "I'm scared, Lucy. I don't want to go home..."
Lucy felt pressure from Adrianne. She doesn't know what to say. "But we'll still have to do it in writing!" - her mother is very strict and controlling and looked down on the villagers of Praeya - so it's unlikely her letters will be able to reach her. "But it's not so terrible there!" - that would offend Adrianne even more as Lucy understood she would never fully understand Adrianne's plight.
- "Maybe... You can tell me a story?"
Adrianne looked at Lucy and, taking a breath, she began.
~
Once upon a time, there lived a prince from the surface kingdom and a princess from the sea kingdom. They always met on the shore - where their kingdoms touched - and played together; collecting shells, making sand castles, running along the shoal and sunbathing. They lived happily ever after, the sea princess even spent the night in a nearby village by the beach, enjoying life on the surface. But lately the relations between the kingdoms had deteriorated; and not wanting the heir to the throne to become a commoner, the sea kingdom flooded the village that had accepted the princess as its daughter. This tragedy finally hammered the nail into the coffin and that shore was no more, and unfortunately the prince could not find his princess.
Before the flood, she begged her father to take pity on the residents, but all she got in response was, "When will you grow up?"
The princess, overcome with grief, began to cry bitterly, which sunk the shore where she and the prince played even further; and that further separated the two kingdoms. The prince searched for the princess for a long time, despite everything, in the outskirts, in the forest, in the city; but he did not even suspect that she was on that long-since flooded shore where they used to play. And when the shore became the depths of the sea, the prince forgot about the princess.
And when the sea kingdom sank to the very bottom, the princess only whispered
"Please... Save me..."
~
- "That's... Kind of a sad tale..." Lucy mumbled.
- "S-Sorry... I just really don't feel very well..."
- "I know! My mother loved to tell me a story before bed!" - Lucy jumped up - "She told me about a world somewhere over the rainbow, where everything you dare to wish for will come true!"
- "Is it true...?"
- "Yes! You just have to wish on a falling star, and it will appear in your dreams!"
- "...Oh." - Adrianne sighed.
- "I've honestly never been there, but I think we'll visit there someday! Together!"
Adrianne's eyes slowly lit up and she smiled, "Yes... Together." They swore on their pinkies to each other, promising to meet each other in that world, somewhere over the rainbow...
Lucy was glad that she could make Adrianne smile again. From afar, Adrianne heard her host parents searching for her in the woods, and she shook herself off and ran towards the direction of the voices, saying goodbye to Lucy.
What will await them tomorrow...