I blinked.

The last thing I remembered was them putting me to sleep so they could give me stitches across my cheek. I took in my surroundings. I was still in the apothecary, and the sun was rising just outside of the window.

Katherine was standing next to the bed they had put Erin, and it seemed she was writing notes. There was another girl that couldn't be older than eighteen, having a conversation with Joel who was laying down on the other end of the room. He had a bulky brace around his ribcage and a cast around his left ankle.

Across the room was three other beds. One was empty, but Shrub was sitting up in one, and Gem was sitting in the one directly across the room from me, reading and wearing a pair of glasses.

I had bandages wrapped around my right arm, underneath I felt a sticky ointment. On my left arm, there was something wrapped around my upper arm, and it ached horribly. I was shirtless and I felt bandages wrapped tightly around my torso, and something on my cheek. I shifted, trying to sit up, but everything hurt.

I heard a shuffle. "No- Scott lie down." Gem said, pulling something soft underneath my head and gently pushing me back down.

"But-" I started. I saw Katherine over me as well.

"Scott, don't you dare start this." She said sternly.

I turned my head to look at Erin who was unconscious to the right of me, before looking back up at Katherine. "How is she?" I asked.

Katherine frowned. Then, "Help me lean him against the bedframe." She said to Gem. They both took my arms and pulled me up, so my back was leaned against the back of the bed.

"What is it?" I asked nervously, worried something happened to her. I felt the frost building up on my chest and the bed, and felt the temperature drop slightly.

"She's going to wake up. I know that much. We just don't know when." Katherine said, but then she bit her lip. "I don't know how she's going to act once she does though. She still seems corrupted. Her blood is laced with black, and her arms are still..."

I could see what she meant from here. "We'll figure it out." I answered, hoping I sounded more confident than I felt. But Katherine's face was still filled with concern. "What else?"

"I ran more tests. Basic ones. Checked her weight, heartbeat, blood flow and cholesterol levels." Katherine continued, opening the small thing of notes again. "I was able to calculate how much she weighed, minus the wings. She's 88 pounds Scott. Which is light even for her size... she's extremely malnourished, not just because of her upbringing. Her heart rate isn't normal either... it seems to be failing. Or it would be failing if it wasn't for her magic keeping it beating. Like what I said before, her body needs the power to survive."

My face fell and I bit the inside of my cheek. "I should never have let her go." I mumbled, rubbing my face with my hands, and wincing slightly at the movement of my arms, feeling the bandage on my cheek.

"Scott, there was nothing you could have done. My brother would have killed her if she had stayed with you." Gem answered. Then she sighed. "I'm trying to get him to lift charges. He's thinking about it, but she'll be restricted, no matter what happens."

I nodded. "I expected that." I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck. "Where is everyone anyways?"

"We moved everyone who didn't need much treatment, to the castle. They'll be staying there until we can sort everyone's minor injuries out." Katherine said, but then she glanced down at my chest. "But we need to talk about this." She said, pressing a finger against a long white scar on my chest that I swear wasn't there before, as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Wha-" I started staring down on it. "How did that happen?" I wondered aloud. Katherine then grabbed the crystal, which was on the nightstand by my bed, holding it against the scar like a comparison. "What are you..." I said, but my voice trailed off as I saw similarities in the golden trail, like similar ridges and similar dips. Then my eyes widened as I realized they were identical.

"Gem told me about the prophecy you found earlier this year." Katherine said, keeping her voice down. Shrub, Joel, and the other woman didn't seem to be paying much attention, that or they couldn't hear us.

"Oh gods..." I muttered. "This is really not good."

"Exactly. You need to keep that safe if you want to stay alive Scott." Katherine said sternly, but I saw the concern past her stony expression.

My jaw clenched, but I nodded. "I didn't exactly believe it till..."

"I was skeptical as well. But you didn't see yourself when your sister cracked the crystal." Gem said, with a grim expression.

I remembered the moment, and my hands clenched around the bedsheet, sending even more frost rippling along the folds of the fabric.

I watched as Katherine's eyes flicked to it for a moment. Then she gave me a look. "Wait...did you say, 'I should never have let her go'?" she asked suspiciously.

"Yea-" I started, but then realized what she was saying. "No- No I didn't say that." I said quickly. Gem had tensed up a little as well, and unfortunately, Katherine noticed.

"What did you two do?" She asked, her eyes narrowing.

"I-" Gem began, then she sighed. "You can't tell anyone. Especially Fwhip." She said with a sharp edge.

"Okay." Katherine agreed, her suspicion turning into curiosity.

"We broke her out." Gem said quickly and just below a whisper to guarantee the others couldn't hear.

Katherine's eyes widened. "Wha- Oh my god." She slapped her forehead. "You two are something else."

"Well- Scott was right, she's just a kid, Katherine." Gem said quietly, and I nodded along.

"Plus, she would have found a way to murder me from the afterlife if I didn't help her." I pointed out.

Katherine gave me a look, but then rolled her eyes. "What's done is done." She said, standing up. "Lavender, how is Joel?"

"I'm good!" Joel called over, lifting up an arm to give a thumbs up, but then wincing and drawing it back. " 'M just a little broken, that's all."

Katherine snickered. "If you say so." She answered, heading back over to Erin's bed, and placing her packet of notes on the table beside her. Again, she felt the back of her head. "I don't think she fractured it again, she just hit it really hard." Katherine said at the look I was giving her.

"Okay." I answered quietly. I still couldn't help being extremely worried about her. She was just a kid.

"I don't mean to bash your sister, Scott, but what did you ever see in her? Doesn't she want you dead?" Gem asked in a timid sort of voice.

"Well," I started, trying to think of a good answer. "Because she didn't leave. I told her to. But she wouldn't."

Gem's face turned slightly puzzled. "Huh."

"Yup, I didn't expect it either." I said, shifting again, and feeling something audibly crunch beneath me. I glanced down and saw my wings right behind me. I sighed, resting the back of my head on the bedframe, and staring at the ceiling.

"About that." Gem said, turning her attention to my wings, before she slapped me across the shoulder. "Why didn't you tell us!?"

I jumped. "What the hell was that for?" I asked. "You know I don't need to tell you everything, right?"

"Yes, you do." Gem said sharply, trying to peek around my back again, but I turned just enough to hide my shoulder blades. "How long have they been like that?"

I bit my lip. "I've been grounded for about a year. Nothing helps."

"What?" Katherine asked, looking up with a slightly horrified look. "A year? Scott I'm so sorry."

I shrugged. "I've gotten used to it." I said, wincing slightly from the movement of my arms. Katherine immediately came over and helped me sit up straighter, looking at my back.

"I didn't want to do much with them...As soon as you heal up, I'll try and help." She said, leaning me back down on the bedframe.

I bit the inside of my cheek, but I nodded along. I wasn't going to get my hopes up.

A few hours later, I was still propped up against the bedframe.

I had tried to move, but it hurt like hell and Katherine scolded me. A lot. So, I gave up trying. Katherine had also gotten me a shirt, I wasn't cold, but she insisted. So now I was wearing a navy blue, knit long sleeved shirt.

I had my arms cross over my stomach because I found that it was the most comfortable sitting position. Shrub and Joel kept trying to start up small talk but failed miserably and just ended up talking amongst each other.

At least Katherine or her sister Lavender were in the room almost at all times. Lavender had barely said a word to me. I think she was scared of me but, what's one more person who is?

Erin didn't move at all. She didn't shift or twitch and her facial expression stayed blank. She was out cold.

I'd assume it was getting close to noon when the door swung open. I expected Lavender, because Katherine was currently testing Joel's reflexes, but five people entered. First, I saw Lizzie step inside, and it was incredibly strange to see her in casual clothing. She went straight past me, and saw down on the bed next to Joel, asking him how he was doing. Next, Gem and Fwhip entered, Gem immediately striking up conversation with Katherine as she left Joel and Lizzie to talk. Then Jimmy entered, and I looked down into my lap as he went over to speak to Joel as well.

Then came a woman who looked vaguely familiar. She had dark hair that was braided and spun into a knot at the top of her head, and she wore an elegant, but simple dress that was a pale purple. "Nice to see your awake, King Scott." She said, giving me a kind, but wary smile.

I pursed my lips. "Sorry, do I know you?" I asked after a few moments of staring at her.

The woman gave a short laugh. "It has been a while. I'm Katherine's mother, Giselle." She said, folding her hands neatly in front of her.

My lips parted slightly as I instantly remembered her from the times I had been here during my teenage years. "Oh. Sorry." I said a bit awkwardly.

Giselle laughed again. "No worries." She answered with what looked like a genuine smile before she crossed the room. "Katherine are you sure you're, okay?" she asked her daughter. "Lavender told me what happened."

"I'm fine, mom." She answered but let her mother check as she pushed up her sleeve, peeking into the fresh bandages wrapped around her shoulder and collarbone where Erin had stabbed. "Lavender did a good job."

Giselle nodded in approval. But I didn't get to finish listening to their conversation.

"So...how are you doing?" I looked up to see Jimmy standing, a few feet away, awkwardly playing with his sleeve.

"Uh-" I answered, caught off guard. "I'm fine."

Jimmy glanced behind him at Erin. "Does Katherine know when-?"

"No." I said, wanting the conversation to be over considering our...history.

Jimmy blinked. "I- uh-" He said. "Well, feel better soon." He ended lamely, forcing a smile, and heading back over to where Joel was, sitting down next to Lizzie. Lizzie looked at me and gave me a sharp glare before starting to talk to Jimmy, but they kept their conversation hushed. So, I immediately assumed it was about me.

I slumped slightly, playing with the chain of the necklace from which Xornoth's crystal was hanging.

"Should he still be allowed to have that?" Fwhip asked Gem, pointing towards me. I instantly wrapped my hand around the crystal, sending him a glare.

Gem sighed, squeezing the bridge of her nose. "Fwhip, he just helped us defeat him. Again. He almost got himself killed. Do you really think he's going to release him?"

"Well..." Fwhip started, and Gem glared up at him.

"Fwhip! It's probably safest with him!" Gem snapped.

"Fine. Whatever." Fwhip grumbled, returning the gaze of fury I was sending him. Gem sent me an apologetic glance, but I ignored it. If I was able to stand, I would have beat the man to a pulp. And he knew it.

I tried to sit up more, but the cut on my torso began to pound, and I wrapped my arms around it tighter, cringing slightly from the pain.

"Scott, I told you to stop doing that." Katherine said with an exasperated sigh, coming to my bedside. But I jerked out of the way as she tried to help, making it feel as if I were being stabbed all over again. Katherine glared at me. "You're going to be here for a while, Scott. Might as well warm up to us helping you."

"Very funny." I spat.

Katherine looked confused for a second before she sighed, rolling her eyes. "Okay, I'm sorry. Bad choice of words. But still."

My eyes narrowed and even more frost spread across the sheets, encasing the pillow my shoulder blades were resting against. "No. I don't think I will. As soon as Erin's up we're heading back to Rivendale so I can be back where its quiet thank you very much."

"I don't think we can allow that-" Fwhip started.

"You better." I growled.

Fwhip actually laughed. "She ran before she lived out her sentence." He said.

"Fwhip we talked about this." Gem said, trying to get her brother's attention. And she did, but Fwhip whipped around to glare at her.

"She was completely in her right mind during the war!" He said angrily. "You saw the look on her face, killing those people! How do we know if she's mentally stable enough to be let in the open? She never received punishment for what she had done. For what they had done!"

"I think being tortured by her own mind in solitude for a year and a half, starving and cold, is enough punishment." I said, my voice low in rage.

Fwhip came even closer, right next to my bed. "She deserves to die."

I smirked. "You're lucky I can't walk because if I could you would be out the window." I threatened, my expression fading as my eyes narrowed. "You're so confident when I'm incapacitated but what happens when I'm not?"

"Okay, guys, break it up." Said Shrub, who I hadn't noticed had gotten up, and was now standing between me and Fwhip. "I'm sure we can work this out without a fight."

"Oh, there's always a fight with this elf." Fwhip spat. Shrub gave him a gentle shove backwards.

"No, he can be reasonable sometimes. Like right now." Shrub turned and gave me a look.

"The gnome is right. There will be no fighting here. We will not tolerate it." Giselle said sternly. "If another argument breaks out, I'll have to ask you, Count Fwhip, to leave."

Fwhip shot me one last glare of hatred before he turned around to go and speak to Joel.

"You've got to calm down." Gem said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"I've got to calm down!? Tell him to calm down!" I snapped.

"Scott." Gem said gently. "I know you haven't been around many people for a while, but you can't just snap every time someone says something."

I rolled my eyes. "It's not that, you all are just infuriating!"

"Yeah. And so are you." Katherine said. "Sometimes you've got to just deal with people instead of arguing every chance you get."

"Yeah, no. He is not getting the last word on this." I said, attempting to cross my arms then immediately regretting it.

Gem sighed. "Whatever. Just get some rest, Scott."

I turned away from looking at her and made eye contact with Jimmy who was staring directly at the three of us. He turned a light shade of pink before looking away. Gem followed my gaze.

"I also think you should talk to him." She said.

"Wha- Why!?" I asked. "He's the one being weird."

"Scott. You two went from dating to you throwing him off a cliff. I think you need to give him some form of apology besides running away from your problems." The wizard said sternly, pushing her glasses up on her nose.

"Ha, no." I said, my eyes narrowing at her. "I am not talking to the fish boy."

"Your decision." Gem sighed, finally giving up. "But again, get some rest." She said, before she stood up and left my bedside.              

***

Sorry the chapter is a bit rushed; I've been trying to get out one. I'll be taking the weekend off from posting, because, you know, CHRISTMAS. But I'll have one up on Monday :) Yay, Christmas break! Anyways, have a great day and Merry Christmas!