Calixa didn’t want her entourage to know she was leaving.

Her five guards were her most trusted friends. The first she met was Kovan; her water guard. They met when they were both teenagers, and Calixa was becoming more rebellious. Her parents had hoped he would become her Spirit guard - his gentle nature would balance her fire - yet he was sometimes too... soft. While he was kind and warm-heareted, he was too afraid of hard truths and very little penchant for politics. In a way, he was maybe a little immature to become her spirit guard. Yet she didn't want to create her circle without him. Every day, Kovan wore his water guard title with pride. However, she knew he felt... useless. Her friend was afraid of death, so lived with a worry about what his role meant, every day.

Then she met Aalma and Elias on the same day. The twins but couldn’t be more different. While one was well-versed in unique magic, the other was more gentle, and preferred the company of plants and animals. They were both wonderful fighters with an eye for detail. There was no doubt in mind - they’d be her Fire and Earth guards. The two fae eventually began showing just how much they fit their respective titles; Aalma using her to make things wither, while Elias used his to make the world bloom, and to heal.

Raine was a human who was going to be judged to become a prisoner. They weren’t fully in control of their abilities, and - more than once - used their chaotic magical nature to their advantage when committing a petty crime. Calixa found them immediately intriguing, and managed to get them out of judgement, once she gained their trust. Raine soon made for the perfect Air guard - quick, silent, and entirely reliable.

The four fighters soon became a found family. The balance in their abilities made them unstoppable together, and they were all different enough from each other for their interactions to be constantly colourful.

But Calixa still hadn’t met her Spirit guard. The one who was meant to always be by her side. The one who... she wasn't sure. Her mother had always told her that the role of the Spirit became more clear with time, and would become evident once she took the throne for herself. That she would know who it was when they met.

Then, someone on her mother’s council had a child, with bright violet eyes and white hair. She never mentioned the father, but Calixa had a sense he was of ill reputation. The child was taken to the human realm in shame, and her mother returned with a son, many years older than her daughter had been, eyes glazed over with magic. Dazed and confused, he was asked to spend time with the princess to get used to life in the feywild quickly. 

"You are not a child," Calixa remarked when she first shook his hand.

"No, I'm Ezra. You're not the queen."

"No... I am Calixa."

He soon stopped talking about his mother, slowly forgetting her name as time passed. Calixa found it heartbreaking, but concealed it. Soon, he didn’t consider himself as any different from people born in the Summer Court. He knew he was human, that he wasn’t fey. He clearly enjoyed Raines' company, though. Having another human to talk to seemed to comfort him. He became comfortable in Astrazalinor, and, more importantly, he became... steady. 

The most steady person in her life. 

When she asked him to be her Spirit guard, years later, he thought she was joking. Yet he accepted. Calixa found that he fit the role perfectly - he was patient, calm and a wonderful fighter. He became her best friend, she knew she could trust him, and something about him was simply easy to be around.

He was the one she felt most guilty about leaving behind. Leaving her Spirit...

She wanted to tell him, but he would follow her, try to stop her, or do something equally stupid. 

Nobody could know. 

The truth was, she didn't know if she would return - if she wanted to return. She didn't know how to tell them that she wanted to leave the feywild, abandon the crown. "My friends, I don't know when I will be back, or if I will be back at all, or where I will go, but I want to hunt down those who want my head, and I want to abandon my place in line for the throne." 

It wasn't something she could just tell them over tea. 

Calixa dressed in her most casual clothes, tied her hair back and wrapped her wrists and knuckles in protective bandages. Her senses sharpened as she slid her regal golden mask over her eyes, a welcome change to her state of blurred understanding of her surroundings. 

With nothing more than a small bag of supplies, she leapt out of her window, the sound of the wind deafening her as she fell. Thankfully, her trainer had taught her how to land without breaking her knees.

She did her best to be quiet as she made her way through the royal gardens. Unable to see any obstacles, she prayed to the stars to keep her concealed.

Nobody could know. 

It didn't take her long to arrive at a fork in her path. One way led to a safe passage to the human realm, where she was certain the Midnight Sun found it's source. 

The other path... It called her soul, quietly, pulling on it with a string towards a darkness she could not comprehend, but that a part of her relished. 

Calixa shuddered, refusing to consider that direction more than she already had. 

And yet, how simple it could be to simply become one of the Forgotten... 

She shook her head, clearing it of a heavy fog that had settled in her mind, and made her way towards the passage towards the human realms. 

It didn't take her long to arrive at a large tree that her ancestors enchanted to be a portal for anyone from the Elliptica line to use in case of emergency. She placed her hand on its warm bark, and listened as it splintered open. Once the sounds subsided, she walked through, met with an immediate sense of cold. 

Ezra had never mentioned his realm was so frigid.