Always Forever (Catradora)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Stella kept her eyes trained upon the mother as she held her hands cupped against the side of the child's face. Hailey... that is what the mother had been calling her. It must have been her name...

She knew what losing a child felt like...

In fact... she had already lost two. There was nothing she could do about it... she didn't have the strength... Not after how much the sickness had taken over her life.

The least she could do was make sure the child was safe while her mother passed. To ease the pain... a song was sang to the two of them, the words enveloping them in a sense of comfort and absent ease... a farewell song.

Footsteps sounded, coming near as Stella's eyes flickered. She couldn't be seen here... no... she needed to get back... carefully, she stared at the child, before disappearing into the night.

For a few moments, she made sure to watch the child as a girl raced over to the child, gasping as she noticed the events that had transpired. She quietly hushed the child, telling them it would be okay as she picked them up into her arms. Her tone was soft... so mother-like for how young she seemed to be... Stella couldn't help but trust the girl.

Good.

She could take her leave.

Just as easily as she had done to get to that world, she allowed a portal to fizzle into existence behind her. Slowly chewing away at what used to be in that space as its shape came into view. Carefully, Stella stepped in and returned to the world she called her own.

The one she was supposed to rule.

"Stella..."

Stella's ears flattened against her head. She allowed herself to turn as the male who approached her crossed his arms in an agitated manner. She could feel her tail flicking slightly as the portal that was behind her swirled and swished, giving away the fact that she had used it only seconds ago.

Zell's piercing yellow eyes seared into her, reminding her of her absence of freedom. Of her absence of opinion... "I thought we talked about activating the portals without my okay..." he muttered, the words hardly falling off of his lips as Stella stared at him tiredly.

Usually, she would yell. She would tell him that it was her power to use and not his... that he was taking advantage of her and everything she was...

At the moment, however, she couldn't find the words or energy to do so. Seeing a mother lose her child really took it out of her. She was tired. She was afraid... and she missed her children.

"And I thought we talked about randomly forcing Xeva to do your dirty work," her tone was laced in acid as Zell's eyes narrowed. The poison that coated her words hardly seemed to affect him as he placed one of his clawed hands on his hip. "Then you randomly send him to a world he's never been in with no assistance and expect him to be safe! Not to mention there's a war going on!!"

A silence followed her words as Stella began to fear she had pissed Zell off to the point of shutting down. Did she push him too far? Perhaps she shouldn't have been so cold with her words...

Then, Zell burst out in laughter. "You're so touchy... Xeva's fine. You're overreacting," he chuckled, waving her off before beginning to walk away. "I have a lot of work to do still. Behave and stay here, m'kay?"

Stella's eyes narrowed as she glared after him. A silence began to override her as her emotions dipped in and out of her body. Her eyes were no more than slits as she could feel a sneer begin to lift upon her lips.