The Crown's Entrapment

[Tenth night inside the Element Forest]

Xenia took a deep breath as she meditated on top of a small rock. She was currently doing everything she could to try and control her wings, and apparently, meditating was the first thing she had to do before she could even try to do just that.

So meditate, she did. With nighttime falling over the forest, the cold winds lapped up against her exposed skin, making it harder for her to focus and keep her eyes closed. It was just so cold, but she couldn’t stop trying, lest she would fall behind on her training and fail to properly use her new abilities once the time for them came. Still…

“Is there a faster way to do this?” Xenia couldn’t help but complain, her patience running thin despite keeping her eyes closed. “I don’t feel like I’m making much progress.”

“Unfortunately, there’s no faster way for you to learn how to focus on your center, Xenia,” Helena advised, the Fairy Queen’s visage hovering over her as she felt the moonlight hit her skin. “That is the only way that you’ll be able to even begin to try and harness your newfound limbs. Once you can do that without focusing, only then will you be able to earnestly start controlling your wings.”

Xenia grumbled as she did her best not to grit her teeth. She was pretty sure that she was already doing the best that she could, and yet here she was still sitting on top of a cold stone doing absolutely nothing beyond taking deep breaths and hoping that it would help.

“Enough,” Helena sighed. “Clearly, this isn’t working for you at the moment.”

Opening her eyes, Xenia couldn’t help but feel bad upon seeing the disappointed visage on the Fairy Queen’s face. She was really trying her best here, and she just couldn’t help but feel like she was only wasting time.

Still, it felt like she had failed. “I’m sorry if I’m not good enough for this.”

“It’s fine,” Helena shook her head. “It was clear that I should’ve stopped this exercise hours ago. Your patience right now is as thin as a candlewick. It’s no wonder that mediation wouldn’t work for you at the moment.”

Hearing those words only made the princess sink into her self-disappointment. And here she thought that she was doing, if not decently, then at least passing enough that she would make progress.

“It’s just… I need to get out of this place as soon as possible,” Xenia apologetically mumbled as she stood up. “Sitting still like this only makes that feeling grow stronger, unfortunately.”

“Exactly,” the Fairy Queen nodded. “The fault is mine. I shall try and adjust our approach on how to tame your wings. You should rest in the meantime. I’m sure that you’re tired.”

“Thank you…”

Nodding to the Fairy Queen, Xenia made her way back to the place that she woke up in back when she first came to this place. The Fairy Queen’s territory felt whimsical compared to the other parts of the Elemental Forest, with fairies of various shapes and sizes flitting about between the trees as they played with both the wildlife and amongst themselves.

“How’s your training, Princess?”

Xenia sighed as she sat on her bed. In front of her, Devas was eagerly looking at her as if doing so would make her speak her mind. And sure, while he was indeed handsome, he was nothing compared to her Darius.

“Well enough,” she grumbled as she laid down.

“From your tone, it doesn’t sound like it’s going ‘well enough,'” Devas pointed out with a small chuckle. “Come on. What seems to be the problem?”

Rolling her eyes, Xenia turned her head to the guardian in question. “It’s nothing. It just feels like I’m not making much progress with these wings of mine.”

It was a trying time having to deal with two new limbs. Before, she could barely even move without her wings trying to butt in on her business. With every move, her wings would be a hindrance, blocking her from doing some of the most basic stuff like lying down and actually eating. Thankfully, she managed to stow them away into her back after a thorough hour of cursing and flexing her back muscles like they were going to pop out. She didn’t know how she would sleep or eat properly if she hadn’t managed to do that.

Unfortunately, her newfound ability to stow her new wings away didn’t come with a manual to tell her how to call them back to her. Try as she might, the damn things just wouldn’t come out. She could feel them snuggly stored away on her back, but even repeating what she did to keep them at bay didn’t seem to work.

“Still no luck in calling them back out then,” Devas showed her a pitying smile as he comforted her. “Well, at least you already know how to hide them.”

“But it’s already been a day,” Xenia whined. “I’m burning daylight just trying to make these damn things work. Shouldn’t it be second nature to me anyway, seeing as they’re literally attached to my body?”

Devas shook his head as he chuckled. “Xenia, it’s literally only been this morning since you woke up. It’s already an achievement that you managed to stow them away with the brief time you’ve earnestly had them.”

pan,d a-n0vel “And yet that still counts as a day to me,” Xenia grumbled as she sat back up. Flexing her back one more time, she sighed as nothing came springing out of her shoulder blades. “Ugh… Maybe I should just come back like this. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt…”

Before Xenia could lie back down, Helena announced her return by quietly shuffling herself to the princess’s bedside. Looking at her, the Fairy Queen seemed to have something on her mind as she gave her a pensive smile.

Xenia already knew what she was going to hear. “You heard me ranting, didn’t you…”

Helena simply smiled as she replied, “Xenia, you have to give yourself some credit. It’s barely been hours since you started trying to control your wings. Not everybody is born with wings, and even humans need some time before they can start using their legs.”