A lot of people have been asking about Brandon and Stella scenes hehe and really wanna spillie the beanies but I wanna make it suspenseful mwahaha. Also I can't action for shit, so idk why I bother with an action/angst/romance novel but we keep moving i guess. Ugh I can't wait for more of the angst to start, I love writing angst, being a depresso espresso comes so naturally to me LOLOL.
I don't have an updating schedule, I'm just writing as my brain tells me to. I'll probs start updating weekly instead of daily from Chapter 6 onwards.
HEHEH ANYWAYS no trigger warning for this one it's very vanilla!
Stella woke up with a groan, her face still warm from the way she had slept with her face buried in the pillow. Peeling her eyes open, the first thing she saw was the neatly kept camp room she had slept in when she vividly remembered destroying it that afternoon after the raid.
She sat up and noticed her hand wrapped in a gauze giving her a dull pain to match the slight ache in her temples. Once her vision had fully adjusted to the bedroom, she quickly realised with the minimal things in there – it wasn't her room. It had no dresser, only the built-in wardrobe and the spare combat suit hung beside the door. There was nothing on the desk either, just a single digital frame of a blonde-haired boy grinning as an older woman with brunette hair had her arms wrapped around his shoulder and smiled at the camera.
Pulling the covers off her, Stella walked towards the desk and picked up the photo. There was no need to guess who the boy in the photo was, with a playful grin and a childish dazzle in those blue orbs for eyes.
Noah.
But why was she in his room? Bits and pieces of the moments after they made it back to base camp were evident in her mind. Her own crying and screaming and the sound of Noah's gentle whispers as he calmed her down. She could feel her heartbeat spike at the memory of crying in his arms as he rubbed her back.
She gazed around, noticing the absence of the owner of the room as she gazed down at her bandaged hand. She was still dressed in her combat suit from this morning, covered in blood and smelling worse than a landfill.
The glowing red numbers floating on Noah's bedside table flashed 6 pm before it beeped.
She definitely needed a shower and probably changed those sheets too. Why would he just not leave her in her own shambled room to sleep and bring her here? She made a mental note to grab some spare sheets from the laundry as she pressed the button to split open the doors.
To both her awkwardness and surprise, Noah's room was facing directly into the men's common room. All the male rebellion members in the base camp were seated in the room, watching TV or having dinner as they froze mid-task. Their eyes stared gobsmacked right at their lieutenant standing at the threshold of their captain's bedroom, hair a complete mess and clothes still on from this morning.
"Gentlemen," Stella pursed her lips and nodded in acknowledgement, "As you were," She murmured in feigned confidence before speed walking out of the common room and into the corridor that led into the fresh air.
Shit that was embarrassing.
He just left her in his bedroom with other men outside like it was not a damn issue and he left to do god knows what! Stella stormed down the corridor, making a beeline for the girl's camp common room, but was cut off as she ran straight into Helia.
"Morning Lieutenant," Helia gave her a knowing smirk and a mocking salute, "How was your sleep?"
Stella gave him a deadpan look, one to which Helia chuckled, "Your room is good as new," He didn't let her question it before he added, "Flora fixed it with a spell,"
Despite having a million and one question, Stella blurted out instead, "Flora's here?" She asked eagerly. Flora Meadows was the Rebellion's best healer. She was a fairy of nature, and her abilities to mend wounds, heal the sick and brew medicine far exceeded any healer to ever exist in Magix. It was a defining advantage to have her on their team.
"Yeah, Noah brought her over, we had quite a few injuries this time around, and our healers weren't enough," Helia replied. The only disadvantage was that Flora was a part of the Linphea outpost so she wasn't always at base camp to help.
Noah decided it was best for her to stay at Linphea rather than here. Flora was a valuable asset and base camp was way too dangerous for her to consistently work from. Considering the natural advantage Linphea's terrain had, hiding an outpost was much easier and well guarded by the abundance of magic on the planet.
Stella watched Helia's eyes linger on the floor for a moment as a subconscious smile twitched at his lips. Helia was usually a cool, calm and collected individual, but every man had his weakness, and his was definitely that kind smile of hers. "Have you spoken to her?"
Helia's eyes flickered up and he frowned, "No, she's busy with her work, I didn't want to intrude,"
Stella rolled her eyes and gave him a smug look, "You're so obvious,"
"I don't like Flora like that!" He snapped back, breaking his usual stoic exterior.
"I didn't say what you were obvious about," Stella teased back as her smirk split her lips wider.
"Shit," He grumbled, rubbing his hand over his lower face to hide the embarrassment. It was obvious Helia had a thing for Flora. For someone who doesn't often speak he was always so talkative and attentive whenever she came to base camp.
Noah and Stella had practically set a bet with each other on when he would finally confess. Noah claimed a year and Stella countered with two years. So far it's been 10 months since Flora joined the cause and Helia gets even more obvious each time she's here.
"Where's Noah?" Stella asked, remembering her captain had quite literally left her in the men's dorms without a word.
Now it was Helia's turn to smirk, "Captain is on night patrol,"
"He doesn't have night watch tonight,"
"No, but you do - he's doing your shift," Helia's smug smile split into a grin as Stella rolled her eyes. Helia had become a close friend to her over the last couple of years and her to him, "He's out on the lookout,"
Stella smiled, "I'm going to see Flora first, coming?"
He answered faster than she could even inhale, "Yes,"
Flora was seated beside Mila sleeping soundly in the infirmary bed as Stella walked in with Helia at her flank. Seeing Mila safe and sound back at base camp sent a wave of relief over her.
Flora's grassy green eyes immediately caught sight of her as she stood up in excitement, "Stella!" Flora gasped, wrapping her arms around Stella's shoulder in a tight squeeze before her gaze was directed to Helia standing stiffly beside her, "And Helia, good to see you,"
Stella smirked to herself as Helia gazed nonchalantly down at Flora and gave her an aloof little smile as if he wasn't fangirling inside. Flora's cheeks tinted rosily at the gesture before she forced her attention back to Stella, "I missed you, how are you?"
In contrast to Stella's matted and bloodied appearance, Flora looked like an angel sent from the heavens. Her long, light brown hair flowed like a gentle river in the breeze complimenting the light green dress she wore beneath her white medical coat.
She didn't even let her answer the question before her expert healer eyes analysed Stella's dishevelled appearance. "Oh my did you cut your hand?" She gasped, taking her bandaged hand between her tender fingers.
"It's nothing," Stella waved off but Flora held onto her hand tighter with a frown.
"I can fix it," She insisted, pulling apart the gauze wrapping Noah had messily tied around the wound. The dried blood and vicious cut lay out in the open making Stella cringe at how bad it looked.
Flora's fingers gently brushed over the wound as a soft green aura glimmered around the bloodied cut. Stella watched in awe as the vicious slash began closing, leaving behind just the dried blood.
Flora was exceptional at healing visible wounds. Internal wounds were a bit harder considering her magic relied on her sight to endue, but fixing broken bones and patching internal wounds was something she had learned while serving the rebellion and had become incredible at it.
Bigger wounds were still difficult because aside from sight, her magic comprised entirely of her physical magical capacity. She can only heal as many wounds as her body can generate the magic for at a time.
"There…all…better-" She murmured before stepping back with a stagger. Stella lurched forward, attempting to catch her mid-fall but Helia was incredibly swift. His knee hit the floor as he became a literal cushion for her to land on in his arms.
"Are you okay?" He breathed, holding her against him. Flora nodded absentmindedly, rubbing her forehead tiredly.
"It's okay, I'm fine, I just need to rest," She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as slowly peeled her eyes open half expecting Stella to be the one holding her. To her absolute surprise, Stella was standing in front of her, peering down at her concernedly, "O-Oh my god, I'm so sorry Helia!" She blurted, scrambling off his lap and straightening up beside a smirking Stella.
Helia's lips parted confusedly at what had occurred before settling on Stella's face staring smugly at him. Oh…he didn't even realise he did that. He sprung up onto his feet and stared away awkwardly, trying to avoid the coy look the former princess was sending him.
"You're running out of magic a lot faster," Stella pointed out, turning her attention to a red-faced Flora, "That can't be good,"
Flora shook her head, "My magic capacity has gotten a lot bigger, but there are still so many people to heal,"
Stella offered a concerned smile before placing her hand on Flora's shoulders, "Don't work too hard, Flo, you're irreplaceable to the rebellion as a healer but you're more important to us as a friend," She smiled at Stella's words and let out a melodic chuckle.
"I could say the same to you, Lieutenant," She countered, giving Stella a look, "I heard you held off a Drakari ship on your own,"
Stella let out a scoff, "Please all I did was keep it busy, Helia was the real hero," A devious grin split Stella's lips as she turned to wiggle her eyebrows at a glaring Helia. "Right Helia? Tell her about how you took down that high-powered Drakari ship on your own while I was pinned down," She added, leaning chummily on his shoulder as Helia's glare sharpened. He hated, absolutely despised being the centre of attention, especially in front of Flora.
Flora's eyes sparkled excitedly at the mention of Helia's heroism much to his contrasting embarrassment, "Can you shut up?" He hissed under his breath and Stella grinned even more.
Flora clapped her hands enthusiastically, "That's so exciting, tell me more," Flora rarely took to the field, she loved hearing about heroic acts more than anyone.
Stella leaned closer to Helia, her voice dropping to a low sinister tone, "That's for making fun of me earlier," She whispered back before turning to face Flora again, "Anyways I'm going to go clean up, but Helia would love to fill you in!"
With that, she ran out of the infirmary leaving Helia to fend for himself.
After a long-needed shower, Stella changed into her spare combat suit and grabbed her yellow energy daggers off the fixed dresser that sat in her clean room. There was quite literally nothing magic couldn't fix and Stella felt her heart tighten at the thought of not being able to use a single damn spell.
There was magic in her body, otherwise, the energy blades wouldn't be powered but no matter how hard she tried to cast an incantation, nothing came out.
Making her way out of the camp, Stella stood on top of the mountain that the base camp was hidden under. The only way in and out of the base camp was a hidden door that was cloaked in plain sight by the camouflage spell. A spell that only responded to Rebellion blades to bring into sight and to disappear. The mountain had a single watchtower that soared into the sky around 4 storeys high. Considering the cloaking spell over the base kept it safe, the watch tower acted as an extra precaution to keep an eye out for enemies.
The air was chilly and damp, signalling the rain that was due sometime overnight as she walked up the last stair in the tower. Noah stood leaning on the parapet in his skin-tight combat suit, a navy blue uniform with his withdrawn twin blade attached to the holder on his hip.
"Sleep well?" He asked, with his back still turned to her as he watched the stars blanketing the night sky.
"Could've just left me in my room," Stella grumbled, approaching him over the watchtower's highest base. He turned around, a smile on his handsome face as he leaned his elbows back against the parapet.
"Why? Is my bed not comfortable?" He shot back with a playful grin.
Yes, yes it was so very comfortable.
"No, it's like sleeping on a plate of rocks," She murmured, thankful for how dark it was to cover the rosy tint on her cheeks. She felt like Helia and Flora whenever she was around him.
"Sorry Your Highness, but you destroyed your bedroom so I didn't have much of an option," he teased and Stella's eyes widened at his words. He's never called her that before, even as a joke. She felt odd hearing it out of his mouth.
As she leaned against the parapet with her elbows over the railing, she gazed at Noah. His messily cut sandy blonde hair tousled in the wind and his bright blue eyes continued to glimmer with the reflection of the stars that he was watching.
She wondered what Noah's life was like before her coronation. She never pried into who he was before the rebellion – she didn't even know what planet he was originally from, just that the Drakari killed his mother and took everything from him. What would his life be like if Solaria was never usurped? What would his life goals and dreams be if he wasn't fighting for his life every day?
If she hadn't failed at her job as Solaria's protector, would she ever have gotten the chance to meet him if not for the rebellion?
"What would you be doing if Drakar didn't exist?" She asked absentmindedly, turning around to lean her back against the railing and tilt her head to face him.
"Like right now?" He questioned, pouting his lips adorably as he thought, "Probably down at the pub,"
Stella laughed, "You could be doing anything and you chose the pub? You're such an alcoholic,"
He shrugged with a smile on his lips, "Alright smartass, what would you be doing?"
She tapped her finger playfully on her chin. The Queen of Solaria would be attending court meetings with her officials, writing bills and reviewing court documents. But what would Stella be doing?
"Sketching," She answered simply. Noah raised his eyebrows incredulously at her answer and threw his head back with a contagious laugh, "What? I like to draw!" She gasped with a giggle, smacking him on the bicep.
"Nothing – I just didn't peg you for an artist," He continued his chortle, "What would you draw?"
"Clothes," She shrugged, leaning her head back to stare at the stars as Noah's laugh quietened, "I always like the idea of designing my own dresses," Her coronation dress was a creation of her own, she spent weeks perfecting her magic to run the sewing machine and press the fabric at the same time to put together that dress.
The last dress she ever designed, and it was covered in blood the last time she saw it.
"Fine then I change my answer," Noah grumbled playfully and he turned to face her, a gentle smile on his lips, "I'd be attending your fashion show,"
"You wouldn't even know me," she giggled, "And besides you have your pub,"
He kissed his teeth disapprovingly and shook his head, "I would definitely find you and introduce myself," She doubted that.
"How? I wouldn't be associating with alcoholics," She stuck her nose out and pointed her finger at him teasingly. Noah scrunched his nose up and in a flash, he grabbed her hand that was pointing at him, pulling her closer to him much to her surprise.
"I'd find you in any crowd, Stella," He whispered, his voice dropping to a low husky tone, "You would stand out to me no matter where you are,"
Stella didn't say anything as Noah stood mere inches from her face, she searched his bright eyes that reflected the glowing galaxy in the background. His ocean-coloured eyes flickered to her lips as he subconsciously brushed away her bangs from her face.
Noah had become her person in the last couple of years, there was no doubt she held him in high regard.
Stella's heart pounded in her chest as he moved closer, tilting his head to skim his nose against hers. Her heart was pounding in her chest at the thought of kissing him. She's had a crush on Noah for a while now and considering he was the one leaning in, it may not have been so one-sided after all. She closed her eyes, waiting for his lips to press against her.
Yes, not one-sided like the last one.
Yay, Flora is also here! That's about 4/12 characters revealed, I do have to warn you *lowers voice* I am cranking the angst and violence/death up to the max...
ANYWAYS I wrote bits of the next chappie but my editor hated it...so back to the drawing board.
Lots of love,
Star