The Woman in the Woods (Saul Silva x OC)

Chapter 10: Whiskey

Saul pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "That's exactly what Rosalind wants. Why would you want to do that?"

They were standing in the kitchen, him and Sasha near the backdoor, Sky and Madden by the sink. Only Bloom was sitting down. Apparently, Sasha tried to talk some sense into the girl while they were alone in room, but she couldn't do it on her own so she moved the conversation back to the kitchen. Saul should be used to kids being stubborn but Bloom was on a whole new level of her own.

"Even if we do decide to do it—" Sasha said.

"—which we aren't," Saul added.

"—even if we do, it's not possible. Lifting a timebound spell is just as hard as putting in a great spell. It's not just a reversal. You're breaking something that's been established."

"But," Bloom pushed her chair so she could look at her properly, "you've always planned to lift the spell before, right? The sealing spell you weren't able to do?"

"Yeah, but that's because we thought we had access to the Stone Circle. We definitely don't have access to that now. So, unless anyone here would like to be a sacrifice, I don't see how."

"Then we break into Alfea. What choice do we have?"

"How about we don't give Rosalind what she wants," Saul tried to come up with other ideas but all he had were half-baked. "We find Farah. We get Ben. We get other fairies who could help—"

"—or we just get me."

The conversation went on for ages, them going through different arguments on why doing this was such a bad idea. It was exhausting for everyone there, particularly him who hadn't had a good sleep for the last two weeks. Even with the two boys jumping in, Madden citing the same arguments as Saul while Sky appealed to her sense of self-preservation, Bloom stood her ground. Her reason came down to one thing: time. As she put it, "If I was able to sprout fairy wings once, how long before I actually break through the spell on my own? Would there be enough time for you to find fairies or Ms. Dowling? And how long before you guys get caught?"

This was true enough. The odds of failure, despite having a good plan, skyrocketed when time was put in consideration. So, they could either have a terrible plan that would meet the tight window they were working on, or have a great plan that would be too late to execute. But he still couldn't see Bloom battling Rosalind.

"No, that's not the question you should be asking," Saul said. "If you're seriously considering this, you should ask yourself: how far are you willing to go to defeat Rosalind? She's not a burned one. She's not a mindless creature. She's a fairy, just like you. What do you think will happen if you come face to face with her? Are you willing to kill her? Because she will kill you if you give her the chance."

The girl fell quiet at that. Finally, Saul thought.

"Mr. Silva," Bloom said.

He sighed. He just knew it wasn't over.

"I can't go back there knowing what I know." Her voice was low when she spoke, as though this was something she didn't want to admit. "I can't continue being mentored by her when I know that she killed my sister and that she's only doing it so she can get my powers. And even if I could, if I continue as if I don't know anything, I'm only giving her what she wants. The better I become, the closer she is to getting it. In the meantime, she has people coming after her," she raised a palm toward Sasha, "and I'm just letting it all happen."

He didn't know what to say to that. All he knew was that it still wasn't a good enough reason.

"Saul?" Sasha said. He turned his head to her, curious as to what she had to say. But she only asked, "Can we have a minute?"