The Snapdragon

Wilting

Please heed the trigger warnings for the second section and keep yourselves safe.

Trigger Warnings: Descriptions of past torture, Major Character Injury, Semi-Graphic Descriptions of wounds

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Third Person's P.O.V.

"So, what we've learned from all this discussion is that Scott could basically be anywhere."

None of the gathered rulers made a sound following Katherine's statement. What could they even say in response to that? It was true. Almost two weeks have passed since the chosen group exposed Xornoth and they've made no progress in locating Scott. It was even harder to find him because Xornoth offered no clues before they fled.

"This is infuriating!" Pearl said, frustration clear as day in her voice.

"You're telling me," Joel added, his shoulders slumped slightly.

Another lapse of silence fell over the emperors. No one knew what to say next. If one of them suggested an area to search it could very well lead them back here. The eight of them, now that Sausage has joined the cause and Jimmy is still on bed rest for his injuries, sitting around Lizzie's meeting room table in frustration as yet another search was fruitless. They couldn't continue on blindly like this. They needed a solid way to locate Scott sooner rather than later. The longer he's trapped out there, the worse condition he will undoubtedly be once they do rescue him. 

A knock on the double doors drew everyone's attention. The eight rulers turned their heads almost in tandem to glance towards the disturbance before returning to their previous position. Joel turned to look up at his wife and gestured with his head to the door. Lizzie squinted at the door as she thought of who could be on the other side when she specifically asked for them not to be disturbed. She soon cleared her throat and granted them permission to enter. The creaking of the door echoed in the large space as it was pushed open.

"Jimmy?"

At the mention of his name, everyone turned their attention to the Codfather as he stood in the doorway. The frustration on their faces being replaced with worry and slight fear for the outburst that was bound to happen.

"You should be resting," Lizzie said as she stood up, her sisterly instincts rushing to the forefront of her mind, "Healing potions can only do so much."

"It's been almost two weeks."

"Yet your chest still aches."

"A little chest pain isn't going to stop me from helping to search for Scott," Jimmy said defiantly as he dodged his seabling's attempt to scoop him up into her arms and went further into the meeting room.

"Jimmy be reasonable," Joel said he too stood up.

"Don't talk to me about being reasonable!" Jimmy snapped, "I wasn't the one denying Xornoth's existence despite all of the obvious damage they were causing our empires until two weeks ago."

"Jimmy!" Lizzie gasped.

"Don't Jimmy me," Jimmy practically spat, his pent up frustration and annoyance evident in his voice, "Scott has been captured for nearly two months now. Two months! You've all been strategizing and searching for him to no avail while I've been cooped up in bed doing nothing."

"You haven't been doing nothing," Shrub spoke up, her voice somewhat small as she didn't want to agitate the Codfather further, "You've been healing. Xornoth did more than give you a concussion and bruised ribs that a potion can instantly fix. They-"

"I don't need it to be explained to me again," Jimmy interrupted, "I know that they left some dark magic in my chest."

"Which is why you should still be resting," Pearl said, stressing the last word.