Road of the Heavenly Light

Final Chapter: Road of the Heavenly Light

It felt strange, really, to be packing up the last few things from the student council office, at least for Elizabeth. For nearly a year, she had presided over the room, giving advice to everyone who needed it and helping out the staff of the school, most of whom had suffered from longer periods of captivity than even the students had. And now that was all over, and within a few weeks, she wouldn't just be Elizabeth anymore; she would be Queen Elizabeth of Theros and carry the burdens that came with it. She was certain that she would be a better queen thanks to her time at Royale High, and so she smiled fondly as she closed the curtains and then locked the door behind her.

In front of the school, Margaret and Bayard were waiting for her. The three of them were going to share a carriage back home while their parents traveled with her mother. She was glad to still have two allies with her. As much as Elizabeth treasured her other friends, they had their own lives to attend to in their own respective home countries, even Levi and Anna. Margaret and Bayard would always be close by. She knew she would need them to help sway the rest of the nobility away from the ideas of her father. She was glad, then, to see their enthusiasm to help her plan her coronation. It was an event that still required a lot of things to be done. Elizabeth feared it would be some time before she could have a vacation.

Locking the front gate of Royale High was something that elicited a lot more emotion than Abigail had expected. Last year, when she had still just been a geography teacher, she had just walked out of the gates and not turned back. She was not just a geography teacher anymore, though. As principal, she had gotten to see the school in a completely different light, and it had become a lot more linked to her. In a way, the school was hers now, even if she owned exactly zero percent of the building or the land. Now, the building would be empty for five weeks and void of students for six, and a part of her would remain inside, waiting for her return.

Instead of heading home, Abigail made her way across Earth towards Divinia Park, where she had agreed to meet with Bianca and Samson. In the distance, she saw Cheston, one of her now former students, walking with what she assumed was his younger brother, a toolkit in their hands. She stood there for a moment, watching the two boys make their way to the docks, where their father was working on some repairs. Life went on for her former students too, she reminded herself. She then made her way to her friends, who were already eagerly waiting for her. She sat down with them and began chatting about a potential vacation with the three of them. As much as she had loved it, the school year had left her exhausted, and she really needed a wild vacation with friends to recuperate.

The journey back home was a nice break for Laura. She shared her carriage with Felix and Alexander, who had unexpectedly not asked to travel with Darren. Instead, it seemed, Alexander really wanted to spend more time with his brother, which Laura gave them space for. Felix would be staying with her for a week, and so she still had more than enough time together ahead of them. Instead, she chose to read a book she had purchased at some point but never got the time to read. She finished it just before they arrived back at the palace, which felt quite fitting.

After arriving, they said their goodbyes to Alexander, who was headed to Darren's estate with him and Eleanor. Laura's parents had already invited the trio over for dinner later that week. This time, dinner was a lot less awkward than the last time Felix had visited her in Falmar, with him slowly growing closer to her parents, something Laura was glad to see. After an evening spent chatting and reading, Laura went to her bedroom. There, her luggage had already been unpacked, with her diploma on her desk. She took it into her hands and hung it on the wall, where it stood as a reminder that she would always try her best without overexerting herself.

Anna knew that she had done the right thing, and yet that didn't stop her from still feeling absolutely terrified. If the summer break was meant for relaxation and calmness, she had failed on day one. She had already decided that she wanted to be more than friends with Reeve, and so when she saw the opportunity to kiss him, she took it, and now she was dating one of her father's footmen in secret. To say that things would get complicated would be an understatement. Her friends had made relationships seem so easy, but they had all chosen suitable people for the world around them. Anna would likely have to fight tooth and nail for the man she had feelings for.