Chapter Twelve: Winter Visit
Flora's Point of View
Three months had passed since the meeting in the clearing, and the first breath of December wrapped Montreal in silver frost. The morning air clung to the windows in delicate lacework, turning the glass into a shifting canvas of light as the sun crept higher. From the kitchen, the scent of warm bread drifted through the quiet house, mingling with the faint crackle of the fireplace.
Flora stood at the counter, hands resting against the cool wood, watching steam curl from her teacup. Outside, the street lay hushed beneath a thin quilt of snow, broken only by the crisp prints of early passersby.
She moved closer to the window, fingertips brushing the edge of the frosted glass. Beyond it, the world seemed slower, gentler—like it was holding its breath. The others still lingered in the comfort of their dreams upstairs.
Snow drifted lazily from the sky. Some flakes glittered; others fell dull and silent. Then one caught her eye—its light didn't come from the sun at all, but from somewhere within. It swelled, gleaming brighter with each passing second, until it unraveled into the form of a woman dressed entirely in white. Hair like blue-white ice, skin as pale as snow, and eyes so faint they nearly vanished into their whites.
Though she stood far off, Flora saw her with perfect clarity. To anyone else, she would have been invisible.
The woman smiled, then vanished—only to reappear directly before her.
["Thara, nice to see you again!"]
Her voice carried warmth, but underneath it hummed a resonance that belonged to magic.
She was no human, no East Demon like Flora and Ellan, but one of the Guardians—Seralyth.
"Sera," Flora said evenly. "What are you doing here?"
Seralyth took a seat at the table.
["My previous 'Home' has passed away. I've chosen someone new. That's why I'm here."]
Flora's tone stayed casual. "Who?"
["You'll be shocked." Her lips curved into a small smile. "Your daughter."]
The teacup halted halfway to Flora's lips. The word daughter seemed to echo in the still air.
Ellyn. Her bright, laughing child.
"You mean—"
["Not a vessel,"] Seralyth interrupted gently. ["Like what the previous Nocthara did with you. I'll merge my consciousness with hers. She'll still be herself—just… more."]
Flora's gaze drifted toward the stairs where her family slept, a faint tightening settling in her chest. The thought of Ellyn sharing herself with someone as vast as Seralyth was… unsettling. Yet there was no malice in the Guardian's eyes, only certainty.
"Well," Flora said at last, "I suppose there's no one else close enough to you for this."
["Exactly. And I'll be your daughter now, too."]
Flora managed a polite smile, though her mind still reeled at the thought of balancing motherly love with the awareness of a colleague's presence inside her child.
She set the teacup down. "Tea?" she offered automatically.
["No, thanks. I can't drink in this form."]
Of course. Flora knew that already, but the gesture was instinct. Seralyth's body was nothing more than a finely shaped weave of condensed magic—food and drink would mean nothing to her until she bound to a living body.
Guardians were unlike any other beings. Not gods, not spirits, not even kin to each other. Seralyth, the Guardian of Light, was the very source of light itself—without her, no creature could summon so much as a spark of light magic.
["There's another reason I'm here,"] Seralyth said. ["Tirania called the two of us."]
Flora's eyes sharpened. "All the Guardians?"
["No. Just us."]
Flora's fingers curled slightly around her teacup. When Tirania summoned anyone, the ripples reached far. When she summoned only two… history tended to change.
"When?"
["Anytime you like. But it must be today."]
Flora glanced toward the stairs again, hearing the faint creak of movement above. "After my family wakes. I need to tell them first."
["Then I'll return in two hours. See you then."]
Her form fractured into motes of light, dissolving into the morning sunbeam.
Flora stood in the silence she left behind, the clock ticking steadily on. Two hours. That was all she had before everything shifted.
---
Ellan's Point of View
Riing. Riing.
The small clock on the desk beside my bed rang. I woke up at the same time as Ellyn, but in very different ways. While I was already tidying my bed, Ellyn lay there with her eyes open, still sprawled under the blanket.
"Morning," she mumbled, her voice thick with sleep.
"Let me tidy it up," I said, glancing at her bed—which, somehow, looked even messier than before.
"You know, El, I woke up earlier than you," she replied, snatching her stuffed rabbit from my hand.
I just looked at her.
She smiled faintly. "Mum's friend came earlier. I heard a faint sound of two different voices… and I think I saw something too, through the gap in my curtains. A… glimmer? Like snow that was glowing from the inside."
That last part made me pause. "Did you know what they talked about?"
"No, it was very faint. I barely heard it. The tone was… kind of strange. Like a bell echoing in my head."
I nodded, filing that away. Whoever it was, it wasn't someone who visited often.
"Now, get down from the bed," I said gently.
Although reluctant, she still moved.
We got ready for breakfast together.
While we were still brushing our teeth, our dad, Wilfred, knocked on the door from outside.
"Ellyn, Ellan. Did you two already wake up?"
Ellyn and I looked at each other, speaking with our eyes.
'Who's going to answer it?'
'Let me do it!'
Ellyn moved faster, finished brushing her teeth first, and called out,
"We are in the bathroom!"
"Did you take a bath together?" Father asked—something I would never do.
Take a bath together? Even showing my body to my twin sister was embarrassing enough. I ignored them and kept brushing.
---
All of us were soon sitting around the dining table, eating breakfast. But something about Mum caught my attention.
She was wearing a simple dress—something she almost never did unless the occasion was important. Normally, she preferred comfortable trousers or skirts for daily life.
I opened my mouth to ask, but Dad beat me to it.
"Is there an official event?"
Mum just smiled. "Try to guess it."
"Award ceremony?"
She shook her head.
"It's not related to my job as an actor." She took a bite of her sandwich before answering. "I will meet with Leona. There's something important I want to discuss with her."
"Hmm, it's been a few years since the last time we met them."
"For you, maybe next time. We'll go together then."
"Say hi to them for me, especially to Kelvin."
"Of course," Mum said warmly. "I know you miss him—your longtime friend."
Dad gave a small nod. "Hmm, just a little."
Dad's and Mum's friends… I wondered what they looked like. But the thought kept circling back to Ellyn's earlier words—about that glowing shape in the snow and the strange voice that had filled the house before dawn.