. : Laura of Neverland : .

"You told them I had a condition?" 

Laura's voice echoed with rage as she rocked back and forth across the small carriage. Dovey sat across from her, silver hair twisted neatly and tucked under a black hat, a thin pearl netting covering her face. Her cloak was also black and wrapped tightly around her. If Laura looked closely enough, she was reasonably certain she could see silver lines running over the cloak.

Dovey narrowed her eyes and clasped her hands tight on her lap. "What would you have wanted me to do? Tell the son of the people who want to destroy the magic that you are the Fire Sage and that the reason your body was reacting as such was that your partner in cardinal balance, and the Water Sage, died suddenly?"

Laura huffed and crossed her arms over her own black cloak. They had arrived from Merlin earlier in the day, along with the location of the Water Sage. Elsie's family had found her body in bed that morning. She had simply passed in her sleep.

A small sense of relief flooded Laura at the news. Elsie hadn't suffered in her death. She had found a peaceful ending. 

Elsie had been Laura's partner in cardinal balance for over twenty years since Urla was killed. Laura still recalled the hunt to find her and bring her to Neverland. After training, Elsie returned to her kingdom and ruled relatively peacefully until her death. It was rare that the Sages got any peace in their lives, and Laura was happy it was Elsie. 

Whenever one of the Sages passed, the magic that relied on them as a source of balance and stability had nowhere to go. Consequently, that meant the magic rushed to the opposite Sage, who it recognized as familiar. Laura hadn't expected the sudden rush of unfamiliar magic in her body, and like most when their cardinal partner died, she had been unable to handle the magic.

Laura could still feel the chills running through her body. Dovey had been regularly pawning off her own magic to help maintain Laura's fire magic, while the water magic sapped at her life force. She only needed enough to keep herself alive and to help Elsie pass on. It would release the magic from her and onto the next. Then the search would begin for the next Sage.

Laura rested her head on the wall of the carriage, her head bouncing in time with the horses' hooves. They had been travelling for three days, directly north. 

Elsie's kingdom was located far enough north that it almost teetered off the edge of the world. For days now, a chill had settled into the air and even now Laura could see her own breath. Outside of the carriage window, snow was piled high on the ground and crawled up towering pines. In the far distance, Elsie's kingdom came into view. 

A beautiful kingdom of ice and snow, it rose high above the pines and snowy landscape. Towering spires made of shimmering silver and despite the cold, it still seemed to bustle with a sense of life and melancholy after the death of the queen. 

Laura yawned and turned to look back at Dovey. "Is everyone else already here?"

"Yes," Dovey responded. "Merlin sent news earlier that her family wanted to be present when she passed on."

Laura nodded as the carriage jostled onto icy cobblestone pathways, and through narrow streets lined with black mourning flags. At the top of the castle, the kingdom's flag had been lowered to half-mast. 

The carriage twisted up the hill towards the castle and came to a halt outside of the tall doors. Laura could see a few of the other council members-- including Merlin-- waiting for them at the door. They all wore the same long black cloaks that Laura and Clarissa wore.

Clarissa pushed the door open and helped Laura out onto the ice. She could feel the cold seeping in through her shoes, and she curled her toes, sending some warm magic down to her extremities. 

Merlin approached them, his long grey beard tinged with frost. "Clarissa," He pulled the older woman into a hug. "It's wonderful to see you again, even under such horrible circumstances."

Merlin then turned to Laura and pulled her forward. He smelled as if he had been bathing in cinnamon sugar and mothballs. "And Laura, looking as young as always."

Laura snorted, but let the old man pull her into a tight embrace. Merlin had been the Mind Sage longer than Laura had been alive-- since he was a toddler. His skin was well-tanned, but his eyes were piercing blue underneath the cloak he wore.

"Come on, we must make haste," Ophelia-- the Air Sage-- stepped forward. "Even I am beginning to feel the shifted balance."

Laura nodded and followed after the group of Sages as they trekked through the icy castle, directly towards the centre.

The castle was nothing like the home Laura had grown up in. This one, despite the icy exterior, was echoing with warmth. Her home had always had an air of caution and worry about it, one she could never quite escape, even now.

Merlin pushed open the door to a large throne room, and they stepped inside. The rest of the Sages stood inside, along with Elsie's prince consort, and their two sons. They were maybe in their early teens, and no doubt would be off to school for good in a few years.

Laura stepped past the other Sages, a sombre feeling heavy in her chest as she walked to the open coffin sitting on a high table in the centre of the room. Elsie's body lay inside, the same as Laura remembered her, with only a few more wrinkles dashing her face.

Laura looked around the room, well aware of the countless eyes on her. One of the sons, the younger of the two, was tearful but trying to hold it together. His small body quivered, but he kept a straight face. Laura's heart broke for the young boy. He was around the same age as some of the younger boys on Neverland. Too young to have lost his mother.

Laura gently reached her hand into the casket and took Elsie's hand. The water magic had been running around her body, trying to find a place to inhabit while her fire magic hid inside her chest. The water magic perked up once Elsie's hands were in Laura's, recognizing its previous home.

Laura held still, letting the foreign strange water magic thrum up in her hands, and echo in her fingertips. 

Once it had collected, far away from Laura's own magic, she sent the magic flooding back into Elsie's cold body. 

It emptied from Laura's body and opened up to its owner. Laura could sense it curling around Elsie's soul. 

With a breath, Laura pressed a hand to Elsie's chest and sent her own magic flaring up, igniting Elsie's body.

"May you find peace in the next life, my friend," Laura murmured, stepping back from Elsie as the flames roared, her body beginning to crumble away to ash.

The water magic was now freed, and Laura could sense it as it shot upwards from Elsie's body, and vanished into the sky. 

Almost instantly, Laura's own magic sighed in relief, finally free of the heavy feeling of the water magic. Her fire magic soared upwards, replenishing her every vein and leaving her feeling remarkably light.

Elsie's body was long gone, leaving behind a sense of peace.

Laura turned to look back at Clarissa and the rest of the council. "I suppose now we begin the search for the next Water Sage."

There was a pause. All the Sages stood quietly, numbered nine, and about to begin the search for the tenth. A moment of silence for Elsie and her life. She had been a wonderful Water Sage, and even though her and Laura were inherently designed to be opposites, Laura loved her like a sister.

Merlin finally nodded. "Let's begin the search."

~~~

Laura watched Clarissa across the carriage. The fairy godmother was uncharacteristically quiet. 

"You don't think it will be a student, do you?" Laura asked.

Clarissa inhaled slowly, letting the breath sink over her before she responded. "I certainly hope not, not with the way the balance has been shifting right now," She focused her brown eyes on Laura. "With all my heart I hope it is a trained wizard-- like Merlin-- who is well-versed in magic and ready to accept the responsibility that comes with training and being a Sage. Something is telling me that we don't have time to wait for someone unreceptive and entirely new to magic to be trained to the full extent of their power."

Laura nodded across the carriage. "Either way, I will keep an eye out in the School for Good, and with the rest of the Sages searching the continent, and Merlin heading to the eastern kingdoms, I expect we will find them in no time."

Clarissa nodded. "I hope so, we have no time to waste."