Kingdoms

8

{Rose}

"You should let them find you." Peaches says
"I said no." I say
"Why not?" She asks
"Because there's nothing they can do." I say
"So you're just gonna sit up here and let yourself die?" She asks, "What about your kingdom? What about Reni?"
"Shut up." I say
"If you die, I die too." She says
"Then I release you." I say
"I'm not leaving." She says
"Then stop talking." I say
"Renegade." She says, "I know this is bothering you. I know you want to stay with them and be with them."
"Stop it!"
"You want to tell them you really like them and you want to fall asleep holding their hand again." She says, "But you can't if you just sit here."
"Go back to wherever you go." I say
"No." A create a fireball and just let it sit in my hand.
"Fine." She says, "Yeah Ember, I'm here." Reni's familiar appears.
"I'm not going back." My fireball disappears.
"You need to." Peaches says
"No." I get up and start walking away.
"You can't get rid of us, we can teleport." Peaches says
"So can I." I say. I try to teleport but nothing happens.
"Reni, I found her." Ember says. I turn and run. Reni appears in front of me.
"Rose." They say. A fireball forms in my hand then disappears.
"Damn it." My sword appears.
"Rose, put down the sword..." They say
"Leave me alone." I say. I can feel it spread down to my right arm.
"Rose." My vision fades and I stumble back a little.
"Rose!" Everything goes black.

{Perry}

"Happy birthday." Siri sits down next to me.
"Not yet." I say, "Fifty-six minutes."
"Actually, it was an hour ago." I shake my head.
"Time of death, 0650. Tall, brown hair, blue eyes, glasses, male, 47. Multiple stab wounds. Time of death, 0655. Tall, black hair, blue eyes, female, 50. Three stab wounds on the chest. One witness, tall, black hair, brown eyes, female, 15. The female, (mother) is believed to have killed her husband before killing herself." I say
"Perry-"
"They never found Sebastian, he was in the basement." I say, "She was drunk and five in the fucking morning."
"Right, sorry." She says. I dig my nails into my arms and blood spills from them.
"Perry..." She takes my hands and pulls them away from me.
"If she was still alive I'd kill her." I say, my eyes fill with tears, "She took everything from me!" I scratch at my arms. She takes my hands and wraps her arms around me.
"It's alright." She says soothingly. I scream and scratch at her arms.
"Ok, deep breaths." I turn into and cat and slip out of her grasp. She picks me up and puts me on her lap.
"Change back." She says. I sink my teeth into her arm. She starts to pull away then stops.
"Let go." She says. She waits for a second, "You can ask about any of them, just let go." I look up at her and let go.
"Change back." She says. I lick away the blood on her arm.
"C'mon, you do this every year." She says. I change back.
"Every year?" I ask
"And every year you forget." She says.
"I-I forget?" She sighs.
"Every year since we met we would sit together on your birthday and we'd have the same exact conversation." She says, "We do the same thing every year."
"And I forget it every time?" I ask
"Yeah." She says. I stare at her for a second.
"What?" Impulsively, I kiss her.
"I'm not forgetting tonight." I say

{Luna}

Reni appears with Rose in their arms.
"Help!" They say desperately. Greta appears in front of them.
"Uh, point of origin?" She asks
"Her left arm."
"I can take some of it." She looks at Ursa and Chase.
"So can we." Ursa says
"But you guys-"
"Are Phantoms." Ursa says, "Last time I checked that's Phantom too." Greta puts her hand on Roses arm. We wait for a second.
"This is different." Greta says, "This isn't just Phantom, this is also pure darkness."
"How do we stop it?" Reni asks
"I don't know if we can." Greta says.
"Here, put her on the bed." Eli says. C sits down and runs a scan.
"Most of this is just Phantom blood." She says, "The only place where it's the stuff we haven't seen is her arm."
"Healers get your butts over here." C says
"I'm a little busy right now." Shelby says
"Ok, uh, Lauren?"
"Busy." Lauren says.
"Ok, uh, Perry?" There's no response, "Everyone who can, get your asses over here."
"What?" Jesse and Jay say in unison.
"Good to see you guys too." C mutters.
"What's up with Rose?" Jay asks
"Is everyone ok if Clueless and Stupid go back to whatever they were doing?" Everyone nods.
"Ok, bye guys." C says. The two of them disappear.
"So what do we do?" Reni asks
"So we have an origin point and everything that's happening to her is coming from that." C says, "What do you think?"
"Get rid of the origin." Reni says
"Congrats, you're smarter than Jay." C says
"Ok Ce-"
"Shut up!" She yells, "Also, I hope you remember your girlfriend is dying so I won't if I were you."
"Fine." They say
"Healers and charm holders can stay. Everyone else, leave."

"You're not going back to the castle tonight?" Stella pokes her head in.
"No." I say, "Are you?"
"Yeah." She says, "I'll cover for you."
"Don't get in trouble." I say
"Ok." She walks out.
"Ryan?" I say after I know she's gone, "Ryan, are you there?" I wait for a second.
"Ok." Yaunnie appears next to me.
"I don't sense him here." She says
"Damn it Celia!" Someone shouts. Yaunnie and I look at each other.
"That's not good." She says.
"No it is not." I teleport out to the main room.
"C!" I pull her off Reni.
"Reduce lightning powers to five percent." I say. Reni stands up and looks at the scratches on their arms.
"This is your fault too Renegade." I say. C slips out of my arms.
"Oh stop." Ash says. A dome forms around her.
"Luna, deal with Reni." Ari says, "Daisy, talk to C."
"Teleport away, leave yourself open." I say, "I have a feeling C isn't gonna like being trapped." They nod and teleport away.