The Power in You

Chapter 9

Over the next week, Calliope hid away from Lexie by making her scarce in the library and, occasionally, the music room. It's not that she didn't want to spend time with her, she very much wanted to be by her side but Calliope had a lot to figure out about herself and her feelings for Lexie. Besides, when she said her first words after being completely healed, she wanted to proclaim her love back to Lexie without stuttering or voice cracking.

Lexie was frustrated by the end of the week by not being able to spend time with Calliope except at night when she snuck back into bed and snuggled in after Lexie was supposed to be asleep. Lexie couldn't go hunting her down either, she was resting and recovering, and the Brightmoon guards wouldn't let her out of their sights unless she were in their bedroom. It felt like Calliope was avoiding her on purpose and that hurt Lexie deeply, especially after pouring her heart out and having a very intimate and vulnerable moment with her.

It was by the end of the week that Lexie had had enough of being cooped up in the room and being by herself in an unknown place. She left the room shortly after lunch and made her way down the hallways, scrunching her nose at the guards as she passed by. She wasn't sure where she was going but she needed to find Calliope and hold her. She had made a promise not to let her out of her sight.

She had made it to the end of the hallway when she heard beautiful piano music coming from around the corner. She made it down the new hallway and stopped by the open doorway of the music room, where everyone was gathered, watching Calliope play the piano. Unlike her past melodies, the tunes the past week had been lively and cheerful, conjuring up images of her and Lexie as children, running around the room and laughing.

Lexie was entranced by the image before her. Mostly of Calliope sitting at the piano with her back facing her, wearing a beautiful, white gown that flowed past her feet and her hair curled past the piano bench. She loved how Calliope's slender fingers danced over the keys vigorously, keeping up the lively tune that had the crowd laughing and dancing around as well. It was only when she managed to tear her eyes away from that she noticed the image playing out before her.

She had not experienced much of Calliope's magic yet, so it was fascinating to watch the younger versions of themselves playing around the feet of the princesses. Calliope ended the song and started up a different melody, just as lively as the first and a young couple appeared, waltzing around the piano with a small bundle in between them. If Lexie looked hard enough, she could make out a tiny face nestled between the two beam adults.

Growing slightly impatient, Lexie went forward and wrapped her arms around Calliope from behind, causing the smaller girl to freeze as the music died suddenly and the image of her parents dissipated.

"Sorry," Lexie murmured, kissing the crown of her head. "That was beautiful, where did you learn to play like that? The Horde doesn't have many pianos," she said teasingly, letting go to join Calliope on the bench.

Calliope turned her head away to look at the other princesses who all silently came to the conclusion to vacate the room while the newly found couple discussed some important topics. Lexie raised her eyebrows in confusion as everyone left, Adora giving them one final look of encouragement before closing the door on their way out.

Calliope turned back to her and took her hands in her, rubbing the knuckles with her thumb. "I love you," she said to Lexie, proud that her voice had come out as strong as it did.

Lexie blinked before a large smile graced her face. "You do? Then why have you been avoiding me? You have a lot of explaining to do, princess," she teased again, kissing Calliope's nose gently.

"I wanted my first words to be my love for you before I said anything else. Lexie, I thought I lost you. I went back to the Fright Zone to get you but Terra had told me you had died during the siege and I was overcome with grief for days. I couldn't imagine a life where you weren't in it and I never want to again. Lex, you are the best thing in my life and I love you. I have always loved you and I never want to be separated again," Calliope told her, both girls inching together closer while she spoke until Lexie had pulled Calliope into her lap, wrapping her arms around the slender girl's waist.

Lexie trailed soft kisses along the exposed collarbone that the gown had neglected to cover up, causing a soft moan to leave Calliope's lips. Lexie trailed them up to her neck, taking small nips before running her lips across her jawline and ending with a searing kiss between the two of them.

"I will never let that bitch, Terra, try to separate us again," Lexie mumbled against Calliope's lips. Calliope stiffened, pulling away slightly.

"What do you mean?" She questioned.

"I didn't get hurt during the siege. Terra lured me away from the battle and tried to kill me. Luckily, she was too stupid to make sure I was dead before dragging me into the woods so I was able to hang on until you found me."

"She..." Calliope gasped, clutching onto Lexie's shirt.

"What's wrong, my love? I lived and we never have to see her again," Lexie explained, burying her face into the crook of her neck. Calliope gulped and Lexie could feel her heartbeat quickening.

"Terra kissed me. When I went to the Fright Zone to find you," Calliope said and Lexie stiffened, arms tightening around her.

"I kinda blew up the locker room... I hope it killed her," Calliope told her, making Lexie's head shot up in shock.

"How did you manage that?"

Calliope gestured to the piano. "You saw it. I'm magic. I'm actually the lost princess of the Kingdom of Musica. The Horde laid siege to my kingdom when I was a baby, destroying it and killing everyone but took me in. I'm the last Musician..." Calliope explained, biting her lip.

Lexie started to laugh softly, causing Calliope to huff in anger before sliding off her lap, moving away from her.

"How can you laugh?! My entire family is dead!" Calliope yelled, the glass tinkling softly. Lexie stood up, stopping her laughter and made her way back over to the other girl.

"That's not why I was laughing. That's horrible and I am so sorry. I'm laughing because Shadow Weaver and everyone else was right. You are a princess," Lexie explained, swooping down to take Calliope's hand and kiss it. Calliope blushed softly, pulling her hand away gently in embarrassment.

"The princess of nothing. I no longer have a kingdom or a people. I don't have a family anymore. The Horde took everything from me..." she trailed off, biting her lip.

"They didn't take everything. You still have me. You have this power in you. We can rebuild your kingdom after this war. We can teach the people of Etheria about the Musicians and bring it back to them. The Horde took so much from you but left you with more."

Calliope nodded. "I need to learn more about my kingdom, about my family. My parents..." she reached up to Lexie and touched the necklace sitting at the hollow of her throat.

"Do you want your necklace back? I'm sorry I took it, I needed something of you with me when I left..." Lexie started to untie it before Calliope grabbed her hands to stop her.

"No, I love it on you. It helped me find you, that's handy for the future. Besides, let's say it makes you the first citizen of my new kingdom," Calliope smiled and Lexie picked her up, twirling her around joyously. Calliope laughed, pecking her quickly on the lips.

"Where do we start learning? I'm sure you also need to learn how to use your magic. Where should we start?" Lexie asked, sitting her back down on her feet.

"I want to talk to Queen Angella about it first. She knew my mom, she may be able to tell me more and send me somewhere where I can learn more. I also need to know about a runestone, if my family even has one."

"Well, sounds like a perilous mission to me. Adventure! Excitement! Romance..." Lexie smirked, causing Calliope to giggle and wrap her arms around the taller girl's neck to kiss her.