"I'm Baxtor, where are you from?" Brooklyn skipped over to his little brother to help with the tea. Baxtor took a few steps closer to Farah, his hooves click on the tile floors. Covered in flour and glitter, his golden eyes meeting her gaze with warmth.
Farah took a quick step back as he approached, but she didn't move further away beyond that. "I'm from the Otherworld," she murmured. "I've never seen a creature by the likes of you before… where are you from?"
Baxtor chuckled at the question. "I'm from the Dark Isle. Never seen a halflin, huh?" He smiled as he let his lock down from his man bun. "I know a witch that can help you get back home." He stayed quite to see if there would be a reaction to the term "witch" since most, at least not from here, tend to be afraid and not so kind to witches. The two children started talking to each other to ease som of the tension in the room.
A halflin… "What is a halflin?" Farah asked, tilting her head slightly. At the mention of witches, she stiffened a bit, but she seemed open to the idea. "They're not a blood witch, are they?" she asked, arching her eyebrows. Blood witches and fairies in the Otherworld were just as bad of enemies as fairies and Burned Ones.
"Walk and Talk with me." He said as he walked out the kitchen. "A halflin is basically a half elf half whatever, in my case a ram. As for my witch friend, she practices blood and flora witchcraft. " Baxtor went under the stairway to open a door to a witches brewing room. "So you're from Alfea? I've wonder what that school is like. Fairies and witches are such beautiful creatures, don't you think?" He said as he started walking through the room.
Farah hurried to keep up with him at first, but she matched his stride easily. "Ah," she sighed in understanding. The fairy tensed at the mention of a blood witch, but she grew even more suspicious when he brought up her schooling. "I never mentioned I attended Alfea," Farah said sharply, stopping dead in her tracks.
"Oh, I know." Baxtor said so calm with no hesitations. He walked up to a cauldron filled will moon water, clear and sparkly. He started muttering to himself and grabbed some flowers to sprinkle in. "I do say, a mind fairy seems to be quite powerful. I've only seen a few fairies like you, but that was years ago." He add more ingredients to the cauldron and stirred with a large board to change the color of the water. "My friend name is Emerisa, well she's my husbands friend, they're a sweetheart. They can probably open up a portal back home for you."
(So do you wanna add one of her friends in this part? I was thinking that Sal can arrive in Hexa where Emerisa lives just to add so extra spice)
Farah stiffened quickly. "Don't talk about my power," she demanded shortly. Her mind was still reeling from Aster Dell, but she seemed a be a bit interested in his comment about other mind fairies. Had Rosalind come here? Probably not. "Your husband? Was that the other being in the kitchen?" she asked, her tone not holding any hostility to the idea.
(Oooh, sure! So how should he come in?)
Baxtor snorted at the comment and started laugh. "No, that's my son!" After a moment he was able to call down. "My husband, Nova, they are lets just say on vacation." The cauldron glow a bright orange. "We need to wait a moment." A strange detail, on Baxtor's puffy sleeve were flags and symbols of a variety of countries and kingdoms. Most notable is the flag of Solaria, A kingdom he visited ages ago when they first meet Nova.
(Emerisa will mention him when Baxtor gets into connect with them and say he washed up on shore and is resting in a Medical tent.)
Farah flushed at the misunderstanding. "S-Sorry…" She slowly came closer to the cauldron. "What's that, exactly?" she asked, glancing in at the contents. As Baxtor shifted, she finally noticed the Solarian flag stitched into his sleeve, and her eyes widened. "You've been to the Otherworld?" she asked incredulously. "To Solaria? Is that how you know about Alfea? Then you must know fairies and blood witches quarrel… only fairies can be legitimate users of magic in the Otherworld."
(Gotcha, sounds good!)
Baxtor looked at his sleeve. "Oh, yes! Many years ago Nova took me there, they knew someone named Luna and we had a tour. Such a beautiful place. And yes, I know." Baxtor spin his dress to show flags, some from the Otherworld, most were from unknown worlds. The cauldron bubbled and started flashing to a young woman's voice.
"Baxtor? What are you call me for?"
"Hello Emerisa, I have someone here who needs to get back home. To Alfea?"
Farah's eyes widened yet again. "Luna? How do you know Luna?" she demanded. Farah noted the flags with amazement, recognizing the flags of Eraklyon and Linphea among them as well. How many of the Otherworld's realms did he know about?
She jumped at the sound of the voice coming from the cauldron. "How are you doing that?" she hissed.
Baxtor briefly looked at Farah "Oh Nova knew them, some thing about some old alliances between them, but I don't remember." He turned back to the pot. "We had a new arrive, a fairy from Alfea, that wishes to get home."
"You too, huh? We got some kid name Sal, washed up on shore a few hours ago. Keep talking about someone named Farah, freaked out that I was a blood witch and fell unconscious. He's sleeping in the med tent."
Farah straightened instantly at the news. "Saul?!" she cried, gripping the edge of the cauldron urgently. "I'm Farah. Where is he? I have to get to him." Her heart was racing at the news. If Saul was here now too, what about Ben? And… Rosalind? Farah stiffened at just the thought of the name.
"Hey! Let go of the brim!" Baxtor got defensive. He's never raised his voice to anyone before, but seeing someone touch a possession of Nova made him so angry. He contain his anger to refrain from pulling Farah off and walked to the over other side of the cauldron. "We'll be there in a minutes, can we use this?"
"Whoa! I never meant anyone who made Baxtor yell. Give me five minutes and you can hop to cauldron. Farah, you'll see your friend soon, don't worry."
Farah's hands quickly released the cauldron. "Sorry!" she apologized hastily, her gaze following him before looking down at the cauldron's glowing contents. "What exactly is 'hop to cauldron'? Is Saul alright? Please tell me he's okay." Farah hugged herself tightly, desperate for any more news about Saul and his condition.
You can here a sigh in Emerisa's voice "He's fine kiddo, not serious injuries. Just knocked out cold. I gotta go, see you a few!" The contents on the cauldron turned into smoke. Baxtor dusted off his dress and started walking out of the room.
"Come on, I need to tell everyone I'm heading out and I need to grab a few things. Sorry for yelling, that cauldron…..means a lot to me." He pause for a moment before looking at Farah in distress and concerned. "Luna and Nova were really good friends….. Nova was part of a high council, but was kicked off for reject a ridiculous arranged marriage. Luna did everything in her power to help them but nothing work. Nova took matters into their own hands and started a war…Luna helped out…."
Farah sighed in relief. Saul was alright, at least mostly. And she'd get to see him soon. Thank gods. She jumped back as the cauldron turned to smoke. Witches…
She quickly followed Baxtor out, not wanting to get lost. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize," she murmured a brief apology. "And I never knew Luna had known anyone named Nova… I'll have to ask her about them when I get back to the Otherworld."
Baxtor fiddle with is wedding ring, sadden by his husband's…aftermath. A cold wind blew by Farah followed by a whisper, "Who are you?". A little boy in a long indigo sweater appear behind Farah, he was see through and looked to have pitch black legs and pale purple skin. He had fluffy brown hair and blank white eyes, as if he was always sad. With a weak smile he stared at Farah out of curiosity. "What were you doing in Mx.Nova's room?"
Farah flinched in surprise, and she turned to see the see-through boy. She backed away quickly from the entity in shock. Surely, she might've hoped to have gotten used to the number of new people and species she was seeing, but it was still overwhelming. "I'm Farah. Who are you?"
Baxor turned around and sighed. "Rain, remeber what I said about sneaking up on people?" Rain looked at Baxtor with the same sad eyes.
"Sorry Dad…" They looked back Farah. "I'm Rain, its nice to meet you." Rain floated towards Baxtor. "Brooklyn and Yumi made cookies!" He egar wanted Baxtor to follow him to them into the kitchen, so Baxtor did. THe was a huge batch of shortbread cookies on the contour with a glass rose tea set displayed. Yumi and Brooklyn were still there, but with two more people. A pale skin shapeshifter in a somewhat human form with long brown to purple hair sipping tea with Yumi, and a short white hair girl in all black drinking Monster Energy with Brooklyn. Again, a homey vibe with a bunch of teens…well being teens. They have music playing, the kind where you disconnect from the world and just be.
Farah nodded a greeting. "Hello, Rain," she murmured, slowly growing accustomed to the new beings she was encountering. Brooklyn… That was the potion girl in her room from earlier. Finally, she heard a familiar name. "Who is Yumi?" she questioned, stepping into the kitchen and inhaling the scent readily. "It smells like Alfea's kitchen…"
"Well, since everyone is here. Farah these are my kids. Brooklyn, Yumi, Mukoro, Tiara, Rain, and… where is Isabella and Diamond?" Each child wave at their name being called. Brooklyn point up to the ceiling to show two girls, one with black hair and blonde strips and the other half black half blue, stuck on the ceiling upside down. They both looked nervously at Baxtor.
"Hola, tio…" Isabella said with a nervous smile, looking at Diamond for help. Baxtor smiled and chuckled.
"Not gonna ask, just get down before you get hurt."
"Hello," Farah greeted them all at once when Baxtor was introducing them. "These are all your children?" When Brooklyn pointed up, Farah's gaze followed, and her eyes widened. "Oh… hello girls," she greeted quietly, immediately taking a liking to their adventurousness. It reminded Farah of herself when she was younger – before she'd attended Alfea. "I can use my magic to help them down, if you like," she offered quietly.
"Oh no, Diamond can do it on her own." Like clockwork, Diamond took Isabella's hand ant flip themselves around and safely landed on the ground. Baxtor grabbed a cookie and offered one to Farah. "And they aren't my biological children, they're all runaways. We take in kids from terrible lives and they live carefree here, plus we help with their PTSD and trauma." Brooklyn smiled at Baxtor's words and hug Isabella. "Some decide to stay, others choose to move out. Speaking of, guys I'm heading to Hexa to see Emerisa. Be safe and stay out of trouble. That means you two." He looked dead straight at Isabella and Diamond. Diamond huffed and crossed her arms, Isabella snicker.
"Si Tio Baxtor, we'll stay out of trouble." Isabella smiled so innocently. Diamond rolled her eyes and agreed.
Farah listened curiously. Some of the things she'd experienced under Rosalind definitely have led to trauma and PSTD – not that Farah knew it or would acknowledge it. She'd been tricked by her ex-headmistress one too many times, and as she began to experience the happiness of the others while also knowing Saul was now here too, she wasn't quite sure if she wanted to leave anymore… It would be a conversation she had to have with her Specialist when she saw him, which from the way it sounded would be soon. "It was lovely to meet you all," she said kindly.
Baxtor grabbed his tote bag already pack, until he heard a creaking sound. He turned to see Isabella and Diamond gone along with a plate of cookies and an open vent on the ceiling. Tiara and Brooklyn start laughing and Baxtor looked up. "Get down here up two!" Tiara called down for a moment and sighed.
"I'll get 'em. Nice meeting you." They said as they ran past them to go upstairs. Brooklyn slid a small box towards Farah on the table along with a can of Monster. Inside was a spiked bracelet made of Monster cans in Black and Green with lace and chains. As a parting gift.
Farah watched them go with amusement, and she slowly took the gift. She laughed quietly and slipped the bracelet on her wrist with a "Thank you!" called to Brooklyn's back as she left.
With that, Farah turned to Baxtor with a determined expression. "Take me to Saul, please."
Baxtor nodded at lead them back to the cauldron room. The past moon water was back in the cauldron, but there was a opening inside showing an enchanted forest. Baxtor stepped up on the edge of the cauldron and went inside, landing feet first on the ground "Hop in!" He shouted at Farah as he stepped a few paces back to give her room to jump.
Farah's eyes widened at the sight and that Baxtor knew so easily what to do. She hadn't figured this would be his first time "hopping the cauldron" as Emerisa had stated it. She repeated Baxtor's movements and shrieked as she fell, using her magic to guide her down slowly so she landed on her feet as well.