blue could have sworn they almost missed it.

thinking it was just another shard or another small one they said they'd look again a minute later, but moving the ashes revealed it to be a much bigger stone than blue had anticipated.

they grinned, gently moving ash away from it, they grinned. they found her.

moving away from the hive, they took all 3 of their chosen finds, and took a deep breath, and then prayed to whatever higher power this worked. atleast one had to work...

Blue took the smallest stone first, gently setting in on the ground in front of them.

they could try again if they had to. not if this one broke, but silently they prayed it worked.

gently placing a hand atop of it, they closed their eyes, and tried to will the magic of life into it..

opening their eyes, almost feeling nothing change, they smiled, breath shaky as they watched magic thrum through the tiny stone.

even if arwen wasn't here, they would ensure that these children never knew how cruel the world could be, for as long as they could help it atleast, they watched it form the first steps to a chrysalis, before turning to the others.

nerves still going haywire, they moved to the second smallest. the middle child, if you will.

still so small... it could break should blue mess up. they hoped they did not fail.

once again, hand gently atop the gem, willing their magic forth...

once again, terrified when they didn't feel anything, they choked back a sob at seeing the magic took. clinging to the ground, it was alive. blue could be content, even if the queen did not work, but it would be nice if that one worked too. they were getting tired..

ok. heres the big moment.

the queen's stone, on the ground beneath them.

if this didn't, they'd be sad, but... they could live with it. not everything had to be some poetic ballad to times gone past.

but still, they were nervous. and they wanted this to work very badly.

hand atop the gem, willing magic forth...

and shatter.

it startled them, the sound. they looked, the queen's gem too fragile and their magic too wild, likely due to nerves. but that was ok. they wiped away some mildly frustrated tears. looking back to the ones that took. this was okay. they had a family.

digging a small hole, they shoved the queen's remains into it, almost as a sign of respect, covering it back up with dirt.

he sat staring at the 2 that lived, and sighed. they were going to be okay.

they sat there, watching.

exit via silence