Carolyn's Comments:
Mood: Bored
Cedric didn't know what to say. Cronos had so much inner turmoil, just like him. Earlier, he'd barely known Cronos; he hadn't known what to think of him. But now Cronos had bared his soul to him, and Cedric felt like he could understand what he was going through.
"After Fiona was cremated, Selene did what she had asked and scattered the jewel fragments. I left Faerie City and went on a journey. For 200 hundred years I wandered, searching for the one that Fiona was reborn into. I never got any older, but my soul turned to ice. Only the memory of Fiona kept me going. Finally, I found her. Finally, I found Carolyn."
"Carolyn's a reincarnated Faerie Queen?" Cedric asked thunderstruck.
"How else do you explain her ability to use the Omega Arrow?" Cronos asked, "When I first found her, Carolyn had already found the jewel fragments and restored it to its original form. At first I was overjoyed. I thought she would be like Fiona in every single way. I thought it would be just like Fiona had come back to life. But it wasn't. Carolyn had no memories of her past life. And her eye and hair color is different than Fiona's, but they still look very similar. And while Fiona was extremely mature and elegant, Carolyn was...well...a little childish in comparison. I suppose I resented her for not being exactly like Fiona. I was very cold to Carolyn at first. She tried to become friends with me, she tried to act like she could understand me. And I hated her for that. I kept my curse a secret from her as long as I could, but she found out about it eventually. But instead of shunning me like I thought she would, she did something I never expected."
"What was that?"
"She accepted me. She didn't pity me, but she treated me as an equal. Like Fiona had. That's when I saw the similarities between them. Carolyn is her own person. Fiona is gone forever, I finally came to terms with that. But I felt like I could maybe get a little close to Carolyn. And I think that's why I fell in love with her. I fell in love with Carolyn because she's CAROLYN not because she used to be Fiona. She has Fiona's soul, but they're two different people. I've accepted that, and I'm happy. Carolyn used the jewel to break my curse, so I'm aging at a regular rate again. Even though I'm half-faerie, I feel like a normal teenager. All her other guardians are my friends, and I finally got the nerve to tell Carolyn how I felt, and it turned out she felt the same. That's my life. Complicated, huh?"
"Very," Cedric said nodding, "But what does this have to do with me?"
"No matter how awful your life gets," Cronos said flatly, "No matter how terrible and hopeless everything may seem, there is always someone with problems worse than yours. Always. And if you just try to fight the pain, you can find the light at the end of the tunnel. And don't try to tell me there isn't one, because there is. I found my light, her name is Carolyn, and you'll find yours if you just keep trying."
"But..." Cedric sputtered. "What do I do about Mia?"
"Apologize to her," Cronos said calmly, "Accept the fact that she can never be yours. She's already found the person she wants to spend her life with. But that's no reason you can't care about her. Be a friend to her. Help her when she needs it, but you need to learn to let go. And that's all I'm saying." He stood up and sighed. "I sure do ramble when I'm around you people. I don't get all emotional like this often, but when I do, sometimes good advice comes out. And now if you'll excuse me, my throat hurts." He turned and left.
Cedric was silent. He sat there for a few minutes, pondering these words. Cronos had suffered much more and much longer than he had. And yet, Cronos had still found happiness. So Cedric could assume that he knew what he was talking about.
As Cedric got up, he found he felt considerably better.
