I have come to stay

Chapter 5: I've come to stay

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The next morning, the sun broke through Eldergrove's ever-present mist, casting an amber light over the cabin's moss-covered roof. Birds chirped warily from the treetops, but the air carried a tension like the forest itself was holding its breath.

Elsa stood at the window, rocking Aurora gently. Her thoughts were still tangled in Seraphine's words from the day before. She hadn't slept much. Every creak of the floorboards, every rustle outside had made her jump.

Behind her, Lumi poured steaming tea into two wooden cups. Her movements were calm, precise. But her silence said more than her words ever could.

A soft knock broke the stillness.

Three slow taps.

Elsa tensed. Lumi froze.

Then the door creaked open.

There stood Seraphine graceful, smug, and entirely too comfortable. Over one shoulder hung a velvet satchel, embroidered with the same silver runes as her cloak. She gave a mock-curtsy.

"Good morning, dear ones," she said, stepping inside as though she owned the air they breathed. "I've come to stay."

Lumi's expression hardened. "You're not serious."

"Oh, come now. Did you think I'd leave my sweet, humming mystery behind?" Seraphine purred, her eyes locking onto Elsa. "The threads have begun to weave. I want a front-row seat."

Elsa swallowed, shifting Aurora in her arms. "What do you mean by threads?"

Seraphine smiled like a cat who'd found the cream. "You'll see. Sooner than you think."

Lumi moved between them. "This isn't a game, Seraphine. You don't just waltz into our lives like a storm pretending to be a breeze."

"And yet," Seraphine said, brushing past her, "here I am."

She dropped her bag beside the hearth and began inspecting the cabin like a critic in a gallery. "Charming. A bit rustic for my taste. But I suppose I can survive."

Elsa met Lumi's gaze. "Is she staying?"

Lumi didn't answer right away. Her lips pressed into a thin line. Then, finally, she whispered, "yes. It is hard to make her change her mind once she set it to something,but she won't be ststaying her won't you.

Seraphine heard and said" you do know I can hear you and Cm'on what do you mean i can't stay here, it is literally ok for 2 people duh."

Lumi let out a tight sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. "It's not about space, Seraphine. It's about peace. And safety. Two things you tend to chase off like crows from a field."

Seraphine sauntered over to the table, picked up one of the steaming cups, and took a slow, deliberate sip. "Mmm. Still brewing chamomile like a scared herbalist. How quaint."

Elsa watched them, uncertain whether to laugh or run. "Do you two always… talk like this?"

Lumi gave her a flat look. "Only when she's being civil."

Seraphine smirked and twirled a strand of her silver-blonde hair. "You should hear us during a full moon."

Aurora stirred slightly in Elsa's arms, as if reacting to the tension in the room. Elsa rocked her gently, then looked at Lumi with concern.

"Will she be safe? I mean… with Seraphine here?"

Lumi's jaw clenched, but she nodded. "She won't harm the child."

Seraphine raised a brow. "Please. I'm not a monster. Just a little… misunderstood."

"More like misaligned with reality," Lumi muttered.

Seraphine rolled her eyes and walked toward a narrow cot tucked in the far corner of the cabin. "This will do. I'll ward the space myself don't worry, I won't leech off your weak barrier spells."

"That's not the point" Lumi started, but stopped herself, her voice raw with frustration. She turned away and began sweeping imaginary dust off the hearth.

Elsa stepped forward, her voice quiet but firm. "Why are you really here, Seraphine?"

Seraphine turned, her expression unreadable for the first time. The playful smirk faded, replaced by something deeper something older. Her voice softened.

"Because the storm is coming, Elsa. And whether you like it or not, you're standing at its heart."

Elsa seated dumbfounded not knowing what to say.

"Nice baby by the way, she's cute i like her"

Elsa looked down at Aurora, her heartbeat suddenly louder in her chest. The child blinked up at her with wide, innocent eyes, completely unaware of the storm she'd just been linked to.

"You say that like you've seen it," Elsa said, her voice barely a whisper.

Seraphine's gaze didn't flinch. "I have. In dreams, in omens. In the way the crows have gone silent at night."

Lumi turned, eyes narrowing. "You should've told me."

"And ruin the drama?" Seraphine shot back, though the edge in her voice had dulled. "I'm here now, aren't I?"

Elsa sat slowly on the edge of the bed, her mind spinning. "Why me?"

Seraphine studied her for a long beat. "Because you're not who you think you are. And when the truth surfaces, it will burn or bloom. I came to make sure it doesn't burn everything down."

A long silence followed, broken only by the gentle crackle of the hearth.

Then, softly, Elsa asked, "And Aurora?"

Seraphine's voice lowered to a hush. "The child carries light pure, untwisted. She's a lantern in the dark… and lanterns tend to attract shadows."

Elsa's grip around Aurora tightened.

Lumi stepped beside them, her voice firm. "Then we protect her. No matter what."

For once, Seraphine didn't argue. She simply nodded and turned away, her silhouette casting a long shadow on the cabin wall.

After a long stretch of silence, the only sound in the cabin was the quiet crackle of the hearth and Aurora's soft breathing.

Elsa sat on the edge of the wooden bench, fingers twisting in her lap. Her thoughts had churned for too long fears, questions, fragments of dreams that clung like fog to her mind. She couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Seraphine," she said at last, her voice low but steady. "Right? Um… how well do you know this village?"

Seraphine looked up from where she lounged near the window, raising a delicate brow.

"Don't get me wrong," Elsa continued quickly. "The people here… they're kind. Warm, even. Sometimes it feels like I belong here, and other times… like I've stepped into a story that already started without me."

She hesitated, then met Seraphine's gaze, vulnerability flickering in her eyes.

"Just the other day, while I was walking with Aurora, a woman she looked at me and said, 'My queen, we have been awaiting your return.'" Elsa swallowed. "I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what she meant. And I can't stop thinking about it. These dreams I keep having about the earth cracking, voices calling, light inside me what do they mean? Why me?"

Seraphine studied her for a moment, the teasing edge of her usual smirk nowhere in sight. For once, her expression was quiet. Almost reverent.

"You want to know the truth," she said finally, her voice barely above a whisper.

Elsa nodded. "Please. I need to understand. I need… to remember. Can you help me reveal it?"

Seraphine leaned forward, the morning light casting strange runes across her cloak. "Yes," she said. "But understand this: truth is a door. Once opened, it doesn't close. Are you ready to walk through it, even if it breaks what you think you know of yourself?"

Elsa's fingers tightened around the hem of her dress. She thought of Aurora. Of the statue in the village square. Of the way the wind sometimes seemed to whisper her name.

"I'm ready," she whispered.

Seraphine's smile returned, but this time it held no mockery.

"Then let's begin."