Once Upon a Tale

Chapter 32: Stars II

"A star falls from the sky and into your hands. Then it seeps through your veins and swims inside your blood and becomes every part of you. And then you have to put it back into the sky. And it's the most painful thing you'll ever have to do and that you've ever done. But what's yours is yours. Whether it's up in the sky or here in your hands. And one day, it'll fall from the sky and hit you in the head real hard and that time, you won't have to put it back in the sky again."
~JoyBell C.~

When I opened my eyes after passing out when Alice attacked us, the sky is already dark, the moonlight prominently showing its beautiful light through the hole in the cave I was sleeping in.

I shifted in my laying position and sat up, realizing that I'm alone, the three men not present in my vicinity.

I began to worry and stood up, getting out of the cave. A glimpse of a light source was present a few feet away from the cave, surrounded with large rocks. Then, I saw the familiar silhouette of the huntsman standing behind one of the rocks.

I approached them and the huntsman was first to take notice of my arrival. He immediately led me to sit behind one of the large rocks right across where the captain is sitting, in between the hatter and him.

Hoseok looked apologetic while he gazed at me, his multicolored eyes dimmed, the colors darker and almost unrecognizable from one another. "Honey, I'm sorry. If I didn't fought with Alice earlier, we could've been out of Evergreen by tonight. I'm sorry for wasting your time. I'm sorry that I was abrupt and not rational enough to think about the consequences." The hatter apologized, biting his lower lip.

I shook my head. "You don't need to apologize, Hoseok. What happened earlier was something we did not expect. We were clueless and you shouldn't be sorry for what you did. You lost a part of you because of Alice and being outrageous for the deed she had done is totally understandable."
I said, trying to comfort the hatter.

"Still, I made our search slow down.I'm injured and—" I cut him off.

"Injured or not, I know that it'd be best for us to rest tonight so we'll have enough energy for tomorrow's journey." I explained and the hatter pursed his lips, nodding at me.

"By the way, what happened to Alice?" I asked looking straight at the captain now. "The last thing I saw before I passed out is you, stabbing her in the eye." I said, making the captain's slouched body straighten, onyx eyes settling on my form.

"It wasn't just Alice or whatever you call her. There are atleast seven witches united in the vessels body. They all died when I stabbed the vessel in the eye, releasing the bounded souls bind by black magic. I think they did a great sacrifice to be able to get more powerful than the hatter residing in Evergreen." The captain explained, his eyes partially sweeping through the hatter before locking once again with mine.

"It's my fault. If I hadn't turned them into witches, they would never have turned against me." Hoseok sighed, closing his eyes.

"Exactly. Who in there right mind would turn innocent women into witches?" The captain mocked and I shot him a glare but he just rolled his eyes, totally unbothered.

"I was never in my right mind, thief." The hatter countered, eyes still closed.

"I think it would be best for all of us to stay here tonight. Hunters could be all around Evergreen as of the moment. We couldn't risk getting caught." I declared.

The huntsman nodded as a sign of approval. The captain shrugged his shoulders while the hatter let out a sigh of defeat.

"I'll keep watch for tonight. Some wild animals or even hunters could come at this part of the forest. We should be vigilant at all times." The captain announced, walking towards the dark path where canopies littered the forest grounds.