The Things We Do

Chapter XII: Sibling Mashup

Aurora and Tage took Perdido to the hospital not long after the funeral. Chloe was being discharged today, as her wound was nearly healed. When they walked in, Charlotte immediately recognised her son. She ran up and hugged him, and when they went into Chloe's room she did the same thing. It was a nice break from the seriousness and grief that had recently occurred, and for a moment it seemed to Aurora that everything else just went away. They told Charlotte and Chloe of their plan, and Chloe offered to join. "I know I didn't hold my own last time, but I'll be prepared now. You can't go running off on family adventures without me, you know." she bantered towards Tage. "Family adventures?" Perdido asked. Chloe held up her hand to show him the ring, and Perdido was shocked, though he was happy for them. They left the hospital, saying goodbye to Charlotte, Tage and Chloe left for his and Aurora's childhood home. Aurora, the new Queen of Iphica, had to stay and Perdido offered to stay and protect her.
"How are we to tell them all of this? Arlie is back, Anastasia's dead, we sent a group to get revenge, you're back, I'm Queen! They know some of these things but not all of them. I need to come up with a good way to tell them." Aurora paced around the room. Perdido sat on the bed and motioned for her to sit. She sat next to him, then immediately let herself fall on his shoulder. "We'll figure it out, I'm sure. We all just need to take some time to process everything." He responded, always being the voice of reason. "Yes, but-" she was cut off. "But you need to take some time first. The words will come to you, I know they will. For now, process everything else. You can talk to me." So she did. For the next few hours Aurora told him everything that had happened in the past ten years, especially the past ten days. She spoke of the aftermath of his disappearance, he spoke about how the woman he had seen in the forest was without a doubt Arlie, and they talked about what was to happen now. "I know it's been a while, but we had all these plans before I left, and we've seen to pick back up where we left off. Do you still want me to be your King?" he asked, shocking her. "More than anything, love. More than anything."

They quickly came to the bridge, when they saw a small pink figure sitting in the middle of it. She was looking down into the river, kicking her feet as she watched the stream go by. "Foja?" Arlie asked. Recognising the voice, Foja turned her head and flew over. "Arlie! How, when, no. What are you doing here?" she asked as she sat in Arlie's outstretched hand. "Xayah found a way to bring me back. Now we're going to Miriejar to get revenge on those who killed Anastasia." Foja looked shocked. "Anastasia's dead! I heard she went mad again, but now she's dead? Who did this?" she stood up angrily, clenching her small fists. "Luna, Soleil, Scheven and Soren." Xayah answered for her. Foja shook her head, then reached into her pouch. "I wish you all the best of luck. Here's a little something for your journey." she dumped the glitter all over each of them, somberly singing "Glitter is good, glitter is great, glitter is good."
Tage helped his wife onto the small cart then hopped on himself. He, Beau and Perdido took the first shift of pushing the cart. They traveled for a while, changing shifts whenever it got to be too much for those currently pushing. At long last they finally stopped for sleep. Tage laid down next to Chloe as they snuggled up for warmth. The full moon shone down directly on them, making it easy to see. Arlie and Xayah were close like Tage and Chloe, but Beau laid on the other corner, rubbing his hands together for warmth. The night went on, and Tage thought of the upcoming battle. He thought that he could take Luna and Soleil, knew he could take Scheven, but feared a fight between him and Soren. They were both large and muscular, and well trained. Luna and Anastasia had been some of the best fighters in their prime, and both men had been their apprentices. Though Tage knew he'd have to help, this long dreaded fight had loomed before Tage for years now, and it seemed to be bubbling up to fruition.
In the morning they waited around for a bit, eating breakfast at a leisurely pace before they finally came to the village. Arlie, Beau and Xayah looked around, reminiscing. "I remember running around here with Ideus, Luna and Ryaxleb. It's strange to think that two of them are gone." Xayah said as she looked around. "I remember how scared Anastasia was to be back after Luna held her captive. She held onto my hand and squeezed it tight as we walked in. But she's gone now." he said, looking down at his hands. "Me and Soleil came here together to rescue her the first time. If Soleil hadn't traded herself for Anastasia the world would be so different." Arlie said, looking at her sword. They all pulled their hoods over their heads, thought for a moment, then Beau spoke. "Let's go."
They walked through the town in their dark cloaks, civilians knowing what was to happen. They saw fear in their eyes, but did not stop. They reached the gate, drew their weapons, and demanded that they be let in. They followed the orders of Beau, not knowing that he was no longer a King. They entered the courtyard where Arlie, Xayah and Beau took in the familiar grounds.

Selene sat next to her husband, pressed up against him in the small carriage. At long last they had finally reached Faormen. She was happy to be back, but not happy to have a King above her. Luna had ordered that he be supreme ruler instead of Selene, who now felt useless. She found herself wandering the halls, when she came upon a set of double doors that were bound together by a heavy chain. Bored and curious, Selene began to try and unwrap the chain. She had explored the small odd tower in Imperial Castle, why not this one? She unwrapped for a while before finally coming to the handle. She pulled the heavy door, pushing the heavy chain before finally being able to slip in after grabbing a torch off the wall. The room was filled with paintings, all over the walls, and one at the end of the room. It was so big it took up one wall by itself. She walked over to the portrait and examined it. In the center stood a young elf woman, her hands on the outer shoulder of two young elf kids, a boy and a girl. On the elf woman's left stood an old elf couple, he had his arms around her waist and on the other side of Xayah stood an elf man with his hands around a human woman, who looked familiar. After looking at the human for a few minutes Selene quickly realized the human woman was her mother.
She stood in her full youthful glory, her hair a deep drown and her green eyes piercing. Time had murder had made her a bitter woman, who didn't put effort into how she was perceived in any regard other than her title. Seeing her like this was interesting for Selene. She realized who the other people were. The old couple was the former King and Queen of Faormen, who had ruled for many many years before retiring and living out the rest of their lives in a cabin by the river. The young elf woman was Lost Lover, who had fled shortly after Lost Queen was killed. The young elves were Anthony and Anabelle, who lived as citizens in Faormen and didn't want anything to do with royalty anymore. Holding on to her mother was King Ideus, who had married her in the midst of the Shiv War. He had died on their honeymoon, and everyone was skeptical that she had murdered him. The one thing that kept them from thinking that was the fact that she didn't seem capable of murder, but she proved that wrong when she killed Lost Queen. Some say Selene's father was her motivation for both, but they can only prove he was in Lost Queen's murder. Selene didn't know what to think, all she knew is that she was glad to be born to her father and not Ideus.
She left the hall where she ran into Sorren, not realizing he was there. "Sorry, I was thinking and didn't see you." she said, still not paying much attention. "It's alright. Where've you been?" he asked, following her now. "Just looking around. This place has a labyrinth of hallways, I have to remember how to get around." he laughed at her words. "I'm starting to think that this maze can only be followed by elves." they laughed, but Selene stopped suddenly. Her father loved a murderer, who only killed for him and her kingdom and they turned out fine. Soren's intentions were in the interest of Iphica. He believed her mother to be a tyrant and wanted to free Iphica from her rule, all while protecting Scheven and his parents specifically. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Nothing. Nothing at all."