Draco's Predicament ✔️

Chapter 9 - The "Real" Draco

We landed at the front of our hideout castle. The power Lady Jane lent me has almost exceeded its time limit, causing the army to land on the ground in a giant boom instead of gently lowering them to the ground - only Lady Jane was able to stay afloat.

My muscles were quivering from the strain, and I lay on the ground for a while, panting heavily. I closed my eyes, but they quickly flew open as something sharp poked my side. 

"Get up! Put that nasty thing in pink somewhere where she doesn't burn my eyes." Lady Jane snarled, jabbing a finger at Rainbow, where she was on the ground a few feet away, mouth taped and hands tied by a soldier. 

I looked down at the knife in my hands, watching it evaporate as my borrowed magic disappeared. Immediately, I miss the feeling of being powerful...

I looked up and saw Rainbow staring at me, her eyes round and scared, but also... sympathetic? Pitying? 

I stood up and marched towards her, grabbing her by her shirt collar and roughly pulling her up. She let out a muffled scream and stumbled, falling down on her knees.

"Get up," I said coldly, crossing my arms as I watched her struggle up. Philip walks up behind me and, to my surprise, he pulled Rainbow up to her feet, and not in a harsh way.

"Philip-?" He must've seen the confusion on my face, because he said, "She's not the girl who poisoned you. You don't have to treat her like the enemy."

I blinked, but Philip was right. The witch girl, Lunar, was the only one who'd poisoned me. Gold and Funneh helped, but Rainbow... 

Now that I'm staring at her face for the first time since... well, since Lady Jane found me, I can't imagine her doing something like lying to me. Which made me doubt how much of what Lady Jane told me is true. Could Funneh and Gold be innocent as well...? Is Lunar even a witch? 

I squeezed my eyes shut as a wave of pain washed over my head and I groaned, bending my head down, falling on my knees.

"Is he okay?" A soft voice asked, sending a fresh wave of pain in my head. Once the pain isn't as tormenting, I looked up and saw Rainbow and Philip both staring at me, concerned. Philip must've peeled the tape off Rainbow's mouth, although her hands were still tied. 

"Yeah... I'm fine..." I panted, standing up. "Let's take Rainbow to the dungeon cell."

。。。

Our footsteps echoed loudly down the stairwell as Philip and Rainbow followed me down to the dungeon. 

"Is your headache better?" I asked Philip, unable to stand the silence anymore.

"Sort of. It's better." Philip replied.

"Did you go see Lady Jane?" 

"No."

I turned to look at him in surprise. "You didn't?"

Philip shook his head. In the glow of the dim stairwell lights, his eyes looked less red and more... teal. I felt surprised but also, weirdly, relieved. 

"Do you guys get headaches often?" Rainbow asked quietly from where she was sandwiched between Philip and me. 

I refused to answer, but Philip said, "No, not that often. They just happen whenever we're near any of the princesses."

"Oh... I'm sorry." Rainbow said, her voice guilty and sad.

"For what?" Philip asked.

"For causing headaches for Draco."

I stopped in my tracks so suddenly that Rainbow bumped into me. I wanted to contradict, to say "you're not important enough for me to have memory pains," but I decided against it. Rainbow has no idea what memory pains are, anyway.

I resumed walking and pushed a slightly crooked stone brick on the wall. The wall in front of us slid to reveal a hidden chamber. 

There weren't cages in here, but chains with shackles dangled from various places on the walls. Rainbow and Philip followed me in and I waited for their eyes to adjust to the sudden darkness. 

Rainbow's eyes travelled around the room, then stopped on a huddled figure in the corner of the room. "Is that...?" She whispered, taking a step closer to the figure.

"Rosemary is under a sleeping spell. She'll remain so until we figure out what to do with her." I explained, walking over to a pair of chains beside Rosemary. I grabbed the shackles and clipped them around Rainbow's wrist. To my surprise, she didn't even try to fight back; she just let me tie her. 

"Let's go, Philip. Our work is done." I said, walking out the room.

"What are you going to do with her?" Rainbow asked suddenly, and I stopped.

"With who?"

"Rosemary."

I paused and looked at Philip, but he shrugged. "I'm not sure. We might use her as a bargaining chip. We might let her stay down here forever. Or," I turned to look at her, "we might kill her just for the fun of it."

"This isn't the real you, Draco," Rainbow said, and though her voice quivered, her tone was determined. 

"You don't know what defines me, Rainbow."

"Maybe not, but I know the Draco I loved screams 'ALULULU' at the birds every day. I know that Draco loves to eat Oreos. I know that Draco eats toasts for breakfast, without fail. This Draco that's standing in front of me, this isn't the real you."

The headache was so painful I had to hold onto the wall beside me for support. Images of toasts, expired Oreos, and the sound of laughter flew through my mind, drowning out everything else.

The headache slowly ebbed away, and I looked up at Rainbow, who was watching me. I couldn't see the tear streaks on her cheeks, but I could see the tears glistening in her eyes. 

"I knew it." She said, her voice steady and strong.

"Knew what?" I asked through clenched teeth.

"I knew the real Draco was in you somewhere. I knew there was a chance of saving you."

"We're leaving." I snapped, turning around and dragging a bewildered Philip out with me. I slammed the hidden brick, sliding the door behind us shut.

A silence filled the empty space as I tried to rearrange my thoughts. 

"Do you want me to leave you for a bit-" Philip started, but I cut him off.

"No. Let's go." I said, heading up the stairwells. 

。。。

That night, I lay on my bed in my small, simple bedroom. I stroked my lucky coin as my mind replayed that evening with Rainbow. 

This isn't the real you, Draco.

I wanted to scream in frustration; just let me sleep, god darn it.

I knew Lady Jane didn't fully brainwash you.

What does she mean by that? Isn't it the opposite way around? Didn't they brainwash me?

That's it. 

I got up and slipped on a pair of shoes before quietly opening my door and tiptoeing out. 

I'm going to visit her.