The People We Are

Chapter XXI; Xayah

"Hello, Princess." Arlie said. "Hello, Queen Arlie." Xayah said, so happy to see Arlie again. The two curtsied, staring into each other's eyes. Xayah knew she wouldn't remember, for only she and Ideus did, but Xayah was determined to make things right again. She knew today had been foretold to her, the wedding of her brother to Anastasia, but she couldn't stop it, and neither could Ideus. She hoped that he would only be divorced, not killed. The wedding started and thought it was a beautiful ceremony, Anastasia had hesitated. Xayah and Ideus grew worried, especially since they still remembered the prophecies, but the wedding went off without a hit. Though Anastasia and Ideus had already left for their honeymoon, Faormen continued to celebrate. Xayah got Arlie to teach her the Zellaridian dances they were doing and was so happy to be able to dance with her again. She saw in Arlie's eyes that she did not remember, and it pained Xayah to know that she was the cause of that. She had been forced to do so, and had been successful. Now was her time to make it right.

That was thirty years ago.
But for Xayah, it seemed so much longer.
She and Ideus had been the only ones who remembered any of it.
And now Xayah wondered if now that she was dead, if the spell could be broken.

Ideus came up from the lower deck, an unreadable expression on his face. Xayah was standing next to Arlie and watched as he made his way to them. "Princess Arlie, can my sister and I have a moment?" Ideus asked, and after sharing a silent glance Arlie left. "What do you want?" she asked once they were alone. "You must understand why I did what I did. If it had been Arlie you would have done the same, wouldn't you?" he asked. Xayah slowly nodded her head. "Ideus, you can't-" She started, but was swiftly cut off. "If I can't, neither can you. The voice pointed out Arlie to you and Anastasia to me. That didn't stop you and Arlie, did it? Arlie's more dangerous, might I add. Don't say anything, but the voice told Anastasia Arlie would be her downfall in addition to Scheven. This was said even before we knew who that was and, though hesitant, they've become friends too. Maybe we haven't interpreted the voices right, Xayah. And even if we did, that hasn't stopped you. Now I get that you might be mad at me for what I did, but if that was Arlie who the King nearly killed you know you would've done what I did." Ideus left her with that.
Xayah watched as he made his rounds around the ship explaining himself before going to the lower deck herself. She saw Anastasia asleep, a blanket around her waist. Looking around she could see that it was Ideus' blanket that had been sacrificed to help stop Anastasia's bleeding. Anastasia woke up and looked at her. "Princess Xayah? Oh, thank goodness you're alright." she said sleepily. "I am. We're all alright. We're on our way back to Iphica. Everyone's mad at Ideus, though." Anastasia attempted to sit up, but quickly realized that wasn't a good idea. "Why are they mad at Ideus?" she asked once back to laying down. "No reason, I shouldn't have said anything. He's trying to make up with everyone now. Hey, can I ask you something?" she asked, sitting on the bed next to Anastasia's. "Of course, anything." she responded, rubbing sleep out of her eye. "When Ideus took you out of the battle, what exactly happened?" she asked, curious. "Well, once we were out of the castle he became a horse to get me here faster. I'm sure you heard me screaming at him and at myself for being the cause of it. When we got here he resumed himself and took me down here. He wrapped me up in his blanket and took the fairies from me, putting them under the bowl next to the head he got. I told him to take me back, but he left without a word. I thought about it for a while, since that's unlike him. Eventually I drifted off, and I had a weird dream. I saw all of us, but from his perspective. Everyone was the same, except me. It's hard to explain, I know, but something about it. I woke up just before you came in." she finished explaining. "Why do you ask?"
"Ideus didn't tell me, and I was curious how he got here and back so quickly." Does she know something about him that she's hiding from me? Xayah heard Anastasia think. She did her best to hide the fact that Anastasia had forgotten just what Xayah could do, and she left Anastasia to rest. She made her way back up to the top deck and saw Arlie standing with Luna and Soleil. She rushed to join them and heard their conversation as she approached.