Starlight Dream

Chapter 22

"Come on, try it again," Himari said, voice encouraging. Her new friend, Seina, nodded and concentrated. Much to both their collective disappointments, the bubble shifted into a single shade of blue. Another failure.

"This isn't working!" Seina appeared on the verge of throwing her wand against the floor in frustration.

"Don't worry. We'll just try again." Himari said, trying to soothe Seina's frayed temper. "You only need more practice!"

Their experiments had had mixed results. When tasked with making an indestructible bubble, the results were incredible! Himari had tried everything, hitting one with enough force to crack a planet. Yet her punch had only bounced off harmlessly.

Other tests, however, had been less successful. When Seina tried conjuring a picture of a tree, the bubble turned green instead. Despite trying for over an hour, Seina's attempts hadn't improved. Not even a splotch of another color had appeared within the conjured image.

It's like she's only capable of the most brute force way possible. When asked to channel fire, her bubble either incinerated whatever it touched or caused a slight scorch mark. Her power wavered between the two extremes. This lack of fine control frustrated Seina to no end.

"Let's take a break," Seina sat on a pile of logs, brooding to herself.

"Sounds good!" Himari joined her, wishing she'd brought snacks.

While their prison looked like a kitchen, it contained nothing approaching edible. The fact a magical girl couldn't starve to death was little comfort, they could still suffer from hunger and this added to the room's general grumpiness. Only Charity seemed upbeat, unbothered by their current predicament.

A sudden question popped into Himari's head, one she'd been meaning to ask for a while. "If you don't mind me asking Charity, why were you imprisoned, anyway?"

"Right!" Seina slapped her forehead. "In the hubbub, I'd forgotten the other reason we came to rescue you. We wanted to ask you about the time before the Devil Princesses!"

"Before the princesses?" Himari stood straighter, surprised.

"No way!" Liam said, eyes wide.

"That is correct. Charity's years are great!" A sly grin appeared on the fairy's face. "Older than most might suspect. I've lived since the universe was very young."

"That old?!" Seina gapped in shock, Himari mirroring the expression.

"How is that possible?" Nier said, incredulous. "Most unpartnered fairies live only to a hundred and fifty!"

"Charity is ancient!" Charity said, not answer the question. "To answer the first question, Himari, the Devil Princess's fear Charity! They fear the dangerous secrets Charity knows. They panicked when they couldn't kill Charity, so they locked her up!"

"Such as?" Nier said, eyes intent.

"But Charity was patient! She knew you'd come! No prison could keep Charity indefinitely!"

"Is there a reason you can't answer my questions?" Nier said, fuming.

Curiosity piqued, Himari asked another burning question. "What was the old queen like?"

She'd heard all the stories. They'd said the Wicked Queen had been cruel, a tyrant beyond all others. Himari, however, hadn't believed a scrap of that nonsense. It seemed unlikely her wickedness could surpass the Devil Princesses.

"Yes, please!" Seina leaned forward on her makeshift chair, eager to soak up everything.

"The Wicked Queen?" Charity gave a wistful smile. "She was a dear, a true friend and partner to Charity. We worked hard to protect the cosmos from every threat imaginable."