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FAREWELL AND REVEAL THE TRUE VILE QUEEN: PART TWO
“Hang in there, Willow.”
I was struggling to figure out who kept encouraging me to hang on as if I was slipping away. It annoyed a part of me because this seemed to be some sort of pattern to be so weak that I had to be carried to wherever we were going.
I guessed some would be fine with it because who didn’t enjoy being carried like a princess while your life hung in the balance of your loyal mates? The only problem, in this case, was that I knew we had to get something done on behalf of someone important, but I could barely keep my eyes open.
Honestly, I really did feel like I was dying.
“Why is she declining so fast?”
“I’m not sure. The moment she arrived in Faerie, she collapsed. We thought it was from the portal sickness, but it's like her body can’t handle this atmosphere.”
“What about Aura?”
“She’s struggling to stay awake, too. Something has to be triggering both of them. We’re almost to the castle. I think we need to reach out to Queen Elphaba.”
“Wait. Wasn’t Willow supposed to inform her that she was coming to Faerie?”
“She had to have forgotten after the ambush.”
“When we get to the castle, contact Roberto and Queen Elphaba.”
“How are we going to reach the Queen?”
“I’ll do it. Secure Willow and Aura in a room big enough where Neo can also set up his station for the ritual.”
“We’re gonna go through it? Sugar looks far too weak to undergo that!”
“Sweets seriously doesn’t look good, Dimitris.”
“We have no choice right now. We all know Willow well enough to know that she’d pick saving Aurelia over us being overprotective. Do I hate the fact she’s in pain right now? Yes. I obviously do, but if we allow Aurelia to be killed, it's going to promote more senseless killings and false accusations that will impact all of us.”
No one seemed to have anything to say to counter his words, so he carried on with, “We need to be swift. Every minute we spend here brings us closer to New Year’s Eve back in NYC. All our alliances and partners are doing their part to secure all of NYC just in case shit hits the fan when we return, so we need to focus on this one task and ensure we have enough to prove Aurelia isn’t the Vile Queen. As a pack, let’s prove to the Coven and the Vile Queen that we won’t be pressured into backing down. They may have alliances in these lands but they wouldn’t be foolish enough to attack us in Aura’s kingdom. We simply have to stay focused. Understood?”
“Got it,” the others replied before things got quiet.
It wasn’t until something cold laid upon my forehead that I briefly woke up to Onyx’s tender voice.
“You’re gonna be okay, Sugar,” Onyx cooed, and it felt like his hand was stroking my head. “We’re gonna go through the ritual and then get you and Auraleia out of here. The healers believe you’ll feel way better back home, so you just have to endure this a little longer.”
I didn’t have the strength to reply, but I mentally nodded in hopes he’d feel my intentions.
He continued to give encouraging words, reminding me of the times when I’d fallen ill and he and the others were there for me in rotations. I felt like around us was rather chaotic; feet shuffled in haste as furniture was moved and other things were put in place.
I dozed in and out, my body alternating in temperature while it felt like my entire body was on the verge of breaking. It had been years since I’d felt like this, and the trauma only reminded me of that life-changing day.
The frigid waters, the sinking sensation, the fear of slipping away.
“Did you let Elphaba know you were entering Faerie?” I didn’t expect to hear Roberto’s voice. It sounded so far away, as if I was on one side of the room and he was on the other.
“We didn’t have time. We were ambushed and Willow was thrown into the portal that entered Faerie. If she hadn’t frozen time before being thrown in, we wouldn’t even have made it here without losing time. Amos managed to retrieve her and he seems to know who it was but was sworn not to speak of it until the new year. We rushed to enter Faerie so we wouldn’t lose more time but Willow collapsed right upon arrival and Amos, who switched to Aura, soon declined after.”
“They’ve been in and out of consciousness the entire time. If we get her checked by the medical healers, we’ll miss the timeline.”
I was struggling to differentiate who was speaking, but Roberto’s voice was clear as day as he sounded like a military sergeant ordering my pack members to do drills.
“Put her and Auraleia next to each other. Let them hold hands. It’ll aid in the memory retrieval. Your best chance of getting a clear memory of her experiences is now while they’re both semiconscious. If they get too deep into sleep, it’ll be a lost cause. Ruby, inform your mother and insist she come here. I don’t give a shit what she’s doing. Say Willow will die if she doesn’t get her ass here. Malachite, go with Onyx and Loki and finish the magic fingerprint retrieval. The lab already has the pistol used at the runway. All they have to do is determine a match. It should finish at similar timing as the memory retrieval so make haste.”
