Veil of Shadow and Rain ✓ [TSC #1]

Chapter 40 - Doin' a Shitload of Kicking Shit

'So you ran off to Iridia because the Faerie Queen is, was, after this locket thingy called the Soulstone and she wanted it to erase her memory and shape it into a weapon that can kill you, and you ransacked the Palace of Iridia for a mirror that got you to a dragon, the past, the ordinary world and Nicaea's Court and whe you got to Nicaea's Court, you found a schoolgirl was working for her; you dueled her - and you're saying the Faerie Queen gave up on the battle?'

Wren frowned. 'Yeah, I guess that sounds about right.'

Odyssey sunk back into her throne. 'I had a search party search the entire of Argonian for you. I just never thought you would go out of the kingdom.'

Wren gave a sheepish smile apologetically. 'Sorry?'

Odyssey looked like she was still processing the story. 'Okay. This is crazy.'

'Uh, Ladislaya, Jake and I has also agreed on that so we're pretty much all on the same terms.'

Odyssey looked flustered. 'Alright, well ... take a shower or something. Get some rest. School's off tomorrow. You lot were gone for two whole months! And a half to be exact,' she added.

'Ah. We didn't have a watch or anything to check date and time on when we were, you know, doing a shitload of kicking shit.'

Odyssey choked on her tea. 'Do not -'

'You should hear the number of swear words she said that day!' trilled Jake, coming into the Palace hall through the entrance doors. The Palace guards looked quite annoyed at his sudden arrival. 'She even said a swear word that started with mother, but I don't know the rest of it.'

Odyssey turned the deepest red Wren ever knew. Wren glared at Jake and shushed him, shooing him away.

'We'll be in my room!' she called to Odyssey as the two left.

'What did I tell you about getting into trouble with the adults?' Wren hissed once they were out of sight.

'Oh. That's what you meant?'

'Yeah, that's what I meant! Where's Ladislaya?'

'Oh, catching up on the shitload of schoolwork she missed for two months,' Jake grinned. 'See, I used shitload.'

Wren shook her head but couldn't help grinning. 'This is why I'm a bad influence.'

'And you don't mind it, do you?' Jake said, patting her back.

'No, I do not. I do not mind it at all.'

⋆‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙⋆

The sun shone, bright and warm, as if greeting Wren her triumph and comeback to Argonian. She walked around in a cardigan and jeans, parading outside the Palace. Tyler, Matteo, Malina, Corinne all visited her, along with Jake and Ladislaya. The seven of them sat down in the Palace gardens. Tyler, Matteo, Malina and Corinne all listened as the three of them retold the story of their adventure for what felt like a millionth time.

'Badass,' mouthed Tyler.

'Wait, I don't get it.' Corinne was wearing a bright-yellow shirt that had the words "I DON'T GET IT." 'Why didn't you just kill the Faerie Queen, Wren? You had the chance. You could end her, for once and for all. You could put Elryzian at peace.'

Wren stayed silent for a few seconds. Then finally, she said, 'I'm a lot of things, but not a murderer. Figured I could end her some other way without stabbing a dagger through her heart. 'She winced slightly. 'If I did, that would define me. I would either be known as a hero, or a villain.'

'You would be a hero!' cried Tyler enthusiastically. 'Heroine,' he added on an afterthought.

Wren shook her head. 'I would be a hero to people who doesn't know what's going on. But deep down, actually, I would be a villain. Evil, cunning.'

Tyler raised his eyebrows. 'Dang.'

Jake gave her a wry smile. Wren grinned back, twirling a petal of a flower in her hands.

Suddenly, Odyssey pranced out of the Palace doors, pink-faced and sweaty in her crown and royal gown. 'Wren!' she shouted. 'Get back in here, now!'

Wren tilted her head up at the sky and groaned. Giving the others a quick goodbye, she ran off after Odyssey, dashing into the Palace. Odyssey was fixing her hair in front of a hand-mirror a servant was holding for hr.

'Get changed,' Odyssey ordered. 'Wear your best gown, and the make-up artists will be up in your room in a minute. Brush out your hair, tidy yourself.'

'What? Wh - What's the occasion, why?'

Odyssey turned forty-five degrees to face her sister. 'The High King of Elryzian is coming.'