Someone was shaking me awake.

I groaned, shifting underneath the blankets as they gently rocked me back and forth to wake me up. "Hey Scott. I know its early, but I need to change your bandages." Came a voice I recognized, but I couldn't match it to a face in my sleepy state.

"Go away." I mumbled, my voice hoarse from sleep.

"Come on, do you want to bleed out?" She asked, and I felt them tug on my upper arm, pulling me up to lean against the bedframe in a semi-sitting position. I sighed, giving up on trying to fall back asleep, and opening my eyes. Katherine was leaned over my bed, beginning to unwrap the bandages on my torso.

As I woke up more, I held my shirt up for her and sat up a little straighter so she could get around my back to take the bandages off. The more she unwound, the pinker they got until they were red with blood that had soaked through. Underneath all the bandages was a patch of gauze that she had stuck over the wound, and she peeled it off, revealing the scar, the smell of iron wafting through the air. The scar was a few inches long, sewn tightly together. The skin there was stained by blood.

I winced as she pulled the gauze off. "Sorry." Katherine cringed, pressing a damp towel to the area around the wound, then drying it off. I clenched my jaw to stop myself from crying out.

She then began to wrap fresh bandages around my torso. I stifled a yawn. "What time is it?" I mumbled.

"It's about eight. Sorry for waking you up. I just didn't want you to bleed through the bandages." Katherine answered, securing the bandages around my waist.

"It's fine..." I said, trailing off slightly, rubbing my face with my hands and wincing again.

"It's not going to feel good for a while." Katherine said in response as I drew back a little. "I need you to stretch out your right arm Scott, I need to make sure the burns aren't infected."

"Gods this is going to hurt." I muttered, straightening out my elbow and screwing my eyes shut from the pain shooting up my nerves. Katherine began to unwind the bandage around my arm as careful as possible. I felt it lift from my skin, and the cool air around my arm settle around the burns.

I sucked air through my teeth, trying to ignore the pain.

"Sorry." Katherine said, and I opened my eyes a sliver. Skin was peeling all down my arm around angry red burns. Katherine let go of my arm, grabbing a small jar of a yellowish ointment, unscrewing the cap, and beginning to dab at my arm with it.

I cried out in pain before I ripped my arm from Katherine's hands, clenching my jaw to stop from screaming again. My eyes stung with tears, but I wouldn't cry. Not here.

"I'm sorry." Katherine said again, drawing back. "I know it hurts, but this'll help, okay? Just take a deep breath-"

"I'm not a kindergartener!" I snapped, before sighing and stretching out my arm again, allowing her access to the burns. She gave me a nod of thanks, before spreading the sticky solution down my arm, and wrapping new bandages around them.

I kept my eyes shut, trying to relax again. But I was awake now.

"There you go. The cut on your left arm should be fine. I'll change the wrappings tomorrow." Katherine said. I glanced at my upper left arm which was also wrapped in the white bandages.

"Alright." I sighed, propping myself up on my arms. I looked around the whitewashed room, which was getting bathed in the morning sunlight streaming through the many windows. I saw Joel, Shrub and of course Erin still sleeping. "Anything change with Erin?"

Katherine shook her head. "No. Ran the tests again this morning before I woke you up. She hasn't deteriorated, but she still shows no sign of waking up soon."

I bit the inside of my cheek but nodded. Then I sat straight up, rolling my shoulders which were sore from the position I had been in most of the past day. I slowly swung my legs over the edge of the bed, my feet pressing against the white-stained wood floor.

"Scott! Be careful!" Katherine said in surprise at my actions, flinching toward me as if to steady me, but drawing back like she decided against it.

"I'm fine." I said, before pushing off the bed and standing up, wrapping one arm around my torso. A muted, aching pain began to pound in my legs, but it wasn't unbearable.

This time, Katherine did grab my arm, to steady me. "Where are you even going?" She asked.

I shrugged. "Just...didn't want to lay down anymore." I said, the aches getting worse the longer a stood.

"Well just sit down then." She said pushing me lightly back down onto the bed. I gave her a half-hearted glare, but I didn't argue. I placed my elbow on my knees and rested my chin in my hands with a sigh. Katherine gave me a pitying look. "Maybe if you're feeling well enough, I can bring you up to the castle for lunch?" she suggested.

I shook my head. "No thanks."

"Why not? You want to get out, don't you?" she asked with a concerned frown, sitting down next to me.

"I want to get out and be alone." I corrected.

"Scott, you can't be alone forever." Katherine said. "You should at least try and talk to people-"

"No."

"Whether you like it or not, I'm bringing you up to the castle for lunch with Joel and Shrub." She replied, her expression becoming sterner.

"But-"

"No buts." She cut off.

"Wha-"

"No what's either." She snapped. "You're coming later and there's nothing you can do about it."

I glared at her. "I can just, you know, not leave the bed." I shot back, my eyes narrowing. "What are you gonna do then?"

"We have our ways." She said, crossing her arms, returning my glare. I felt my eyes glow blue as I clenched my jaw.

"You are so stubborn." We both said in unison. I continued my glare, but Katherine broke into giggles.

"Come on Scott, just this once?" She said, shaking me back and forth.

I groaned. "Fine. Once." I answered sharply.

"Yay!" Katherine said excitedly, clapping her hands together.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever." I muttered under my breath.

"Aw don't pout because I won." Katherine said, playfully punching me in the shoulder.

"Ow..." I mumbled, rubbing the spot. "Stop abusing me."

Katherine rolled her eyes. "You really are a drama queen." Before I could protest, she spoke again. "You want something for breakfast? I've got food and stuff behind the counter."

"No, 'm good." I answered, rubbing my face with my hands.

"Sorry if I made it seem like an offer, what I meant is what do you want for breakfast. I'm not taking no for an answer." She said, standing up and heading for the counter near the door.

"Katherine." I groaned, drawing out her name in exasperation. "I'm not hungry."

"Cereal it is then." She said, completely ignoring me, stepping behind the counter and pulling a bowl from underneath it.

"Katherine, I'm not going to eat it." I said as she poured cereal into the bowl and grabbed a jug of milk from seemingly nowhere. She probably had a mini freezer or something to store food for patients here.

"I will force feed you if I have to." She answered, shooting me a glare. "Have you looked in a mirror recently and seen how skinny you are?"

I grumbled at her remark. "Try living in a freezing kingdom..."

She didn't seem to hear me, but she hummed to herself as she poured the milk into the bowl, grabbed a spoon, and came back over, offering it to me.

I didn't take it, so she forced it into my hands. "Eat."

As soon as my palms hit the bottom of the bowl to hold it, the milk began to freeze over. "Oh, for the love of Aeor..." I muttered, stabbing the spoon angrily into the frozen milk to break it apart.

Katherine pursed her lips, and after a moment, she asked me a question. "What's your deal with Aeor anyways? You said something about it at the annual meeting and..." she trailed off and I knew she was thinking about what Erin had said at the arch.

I bit my lip and immediately tasted blood. Apparently, I had been doing it a lot recently. "It's complicated." I mumbled.

Katherine sat back down next to me as I rested the bowl in my lap. "You can tell me." She said gently. To be honest, I needed to get it off my chest. It had been torturing me for so long...

"He left me. Said I wasn't worthy anymore." I said quietly, staring into the slowly freezing over bowl. "It was before the war as well. Told me I wasn't good enough for him anymore."

"Oh, Scott." Katherine said quietly. "I can't imagine..." she never finished because that's when Shrub stirred.

"No that's my mushroom stew..." she mumbled in her sleep, before rolling over and tumbling off the bed. She sat up on the floor, tangled in blankets, her hands raised as if to defend herself. "Wha- Oh." She said, realizing what had happened.

Katherine giggled. "Good morning silly." She said.

Shrub flushed a shade of pink when she realized we had been watching her. She scrambled to her feet, but immediately tripped over the blanket that had somehow found a way to wrap around he legs.

"Oh, you poor thing." Katherine said, laughing quietly and going over to help her. I put the frozen bowl on my bedside table and pulled my legs onto the bed, so I was sitting cross-legged as I watched Katherine help Shrub untangle herself from the mess of blankets.

Shrub laughed and sat down on her bed with a yawn. She shivered before pulling the same blanket she had gotten tangled in around her shoulders. I bit my cheek. It was probably freezing in here thanks to me.

Katherine left to go behind the apothecary desk again and began to get cereal from Shrub. "How long have you two been up?" Shrub asked, way too cheerfully for have just been woken up.

"Uhh." I glanced up at the clock. "Half an hour. Don't know about Katherine though."

Shrub nodded, cuddling up in her blankets. After a moment, Katherine came back over with a bowl, sitting down next to her and passing the food to Shrub.

Shrub began to rapidly spoon the cereal into her mouth. I had no idea someone so small could eat so fast.

"See, she listens when I tell her to eat breakfast." Katherine said, shooting me a short, playful glare.

I rolled my eyes, but I didn't respond as Shrub giggled. "Come on Scott, have some breakfast! The cereal isn't that stale."

"No." I said through a look of pure annoyance. "I'm good, thanks."

"You haven't eaten in days." Shrub replied. "Katherine is right."

"I'll eat later." I said, resting my chin in my hands.

"We're holding you to that." Shrub answered, pointing her spoon at me for a moment before going for another bite of cereal.

"Yeah, what she said." Katherine said with a small smirk.

I groaned, rubbing my face with my hands. "You two suck." I mumbled between my fingers.

"That's not going to change me dragging you up to lunch later." Katherine shot back.

Instead of answering her I collapsed onto my back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. This was going to be a long day.

At eleven thirty, Katherine came back. She had left earlier in the morning.

"Lunch time!" She said cheerfully, swinging the door open, letting a breeze into the room that quickly became cold as it passed me.

"Thank god, I've been dying to get out." Joel answered from his propped-up position on the bedframe.

I, on the other hand, sighed, rubbed my face with my hands. "Let's get this over with."

Shrub slid off her bed. I was wondering why she was still staying in the hospital, until Katherine had told me about her concussion. The small girl wobbled slightly but smiled brightly at Katherine.

Katherine returned it before going to help Joel. I hadn't seen it when she had come in, but she held a pair of crutches under her arm. She leaned them against the wall, helping Joel sit all the way up and swing his legs over the end of the bed.

I sat up as well, pushing myself off the bed and standing up. It still hurt, but that's what you get when you tangle with two god possessed beings.

After a minute or two, Joel had the crutches underneath his arms, and we were ready to make the short journey to the castle.

It was chilly outside despite it being July. The wind was strong, whipping my hair back out of my face, drying out my already chapped lips and cheeks. Joel shivered slightly as Katherine showed us the path we needed to take to the palace.

I stayed a little behind the three, stuffing my hands in my pockets and staring at the path as we walked, kicking rocks.

"Come on Scott, stop being sad." Katherine said, gesturing for me to walk with them. I rolled my eyes, but I picked up my speed, walking alongside the fairy.

After a moment, I looked to my right. Joel was staring up at me. "Why must you be so unnaturally tall?" he asked after we had made eye contact.

"Why must you be so unnaturally short?" I asked, the corners of my mouth twitching into a smirk. Joel looked incredibly offended.

"I AM AVERAGE HEIGHT!"

"Uh huh...I'll let you believe that." I answered, fighting back a snicker.

"Boys." Katherine scolded, but I could tell she was trying not to laugh as well. Shrub wasn't even trying to hide her giggles.

I heard Joel mutter something under his breath along the lines of, 'You could at least spare me a few inches.'

"You know that's not how it works-" I started.

"Shut up, I know that!" Joel snapped irritably. "I will whack you over the head with my crutches!"

"Just saying." I said quickly, holding up my hands in defense and suppressing a wince.

Joel muttered to himself again, this time I couldn't hear what he was saying. That man is crazy.

Soon, the House Blossom residence came into view. The castle never ceased to amaze, me, made from large white stone bricks and tall shingled spires. It had large ornate windows made from glass colored blues and purples, walkways that seemed to defy gravity stretching from tower to tower and gorgeous balconies with detailed railings.

Katherine led us through the entrance archway, through a door straight across from it. Inside was a long hall, at the center a long marble table almost stretching the entire length of the room. Just by looking at it I guessed it could seat at least 40 people.

Two people were already seated. One I recognized as one of Katherine's mothers, Giselle. The other was a young girl, no older than eight, with the same dark hair as both Katherine and her mother. She had bright blue eyes, pale skin, and wore a simple blue dress that matched perfectly with her blue monarch butterfly wings.

"Good morning, Kathy!" She said, breaking into a grin. I saw she was missing one of her front teeth.

Katherine gave her a smile back. "Morning Lacey. Although, it's not really morning anymore."

"I see you convinced him to join us." Giselle said, giving me a polite nod. I returned it, keeping my expression stony. Then she faced Katherine again. "The others will be joining us shortly."

"Alright then, everyone, pick a seat." Katherine said with a cheerful grin. I chose a seat near the end, next to the head of the table where no one was sitting.

I watched Katherine, from the corner of my eye, sigh before taking a seat next to the girl called Lacey. Shrub sat down next to her, and Joel found a seat on my side of the table, a few seats down.

A few minutes of waiting later, the rest of the rulers began to file in. Lizzie took her seat beside Joel, Jimmy sitting next to her. Fwhip and Sausage sat at the opposite end of the table from me, and Pixl chose a seat next to Katherine. Joey looked around for a moment before sitting next to Sausage.

I was quite grateful no one chose to sit near me. The closest person was Joel, four seats down. The last one standing was Gem. When she saw me, she rolled her eyes. "We brought you here to socialize Scott." She said, choosing the seat right next to me. I groaned, resting my forehead on the table.

I could practically hear Gem roll her eyes. "Come on, lighten up." She said, tugging on my sleeve slightly.

I lifted my head up, glaring at her, but I straightened up, pulling my elbows off the table and trying to remember the proper etiquette for eating with other royals.

Silence followed for a moment, but the people began to serve themselves with the bowls that were lined along the center of the table that had practically materialized in front of us. Salads, platters of sandwiches, fruit, and a charcuterie board.

I stared, as did most of us. I knew that fairies were good with magic, but it still surprised me. No wonder they were allowed to attend the Crystal Cliffs academy along with humans.

I continued to stare at the magically appearing food before Gem elbowed me. "Come on, eat something." She said.

"I'm good." I answered.

"Scott, you promised." Shrub said from across the table, her eyes narrowing at me. "Eat something."

I rolled my eyes at the small girl. But before I could respond, Gem stole my plate and began loading it up with food. "Wha- Hey!"

"Now, you don't get a choice anymore." Gem said, holding the plate out of my reach when I tried to grab it out of her hands. She put a sandwich on it along with the salad and slid it in front of me. I stared down at the food as if it were from an alien planet. "Eat."

"No." I answered without looking up.

"Eat it." She repeated, poking my arm with her index finger.

"I don't want to."

"Scott Gilded Major, eat your food right now and stop acting like a child."

"Scott Gilded Major eat your food right now and stop acting like a child." I repeated under my breath in a mocking voice.

"What was that?" Gem asked with a threatening tone.

"Nothing." I said, taking my fork and stabbing it moodily into the lettuce, shoving it into my mouth. "Happy?" I asked after I had swallowed.

"Yes. Very. Now finish it." She said, beginning to eat her own food.

After a few moments of playing with my food, Fwhip spoke up. "How're you feeling, Joel?" he asked.

"Eh, pretty good despite you know." He gestured dramatically to the brace around his ribcage and chest.

"I'm surprised you haven't been whining about it for the last 24 hours." Lizzie said with an affectionate eye roll. "That's what happened when Xornoth pushed you from the palace."

"Who?" Joel asked, raising an eyebrow.

I glared at him.

"The man that helped do that to you." Jimmy answered, with an exasperated sigh.

"The demon?"

"Yes! His name is Xornoth!" Jimmy said, looking like he wanted to strangle his brother-in-law.

"Uh huh..." Joel said, squinting at Jimmy.

Jimmy groaned and smacked his forehead off the table, twice for good measure.

"Don't keep that up or you'll beat out the last bit of brain you have left." I said before I could stop myself, shoveling more of the salad into my mouth so I wouldn't say anything else.

Jimmy and a few of the others stared at me in shock.

"Scott that was so mean!" Gem said, giving me a sharp glare.

"Uncalled for." Lizzie growled.

"It's true." I shrugged, leaning back in my chair.

I glanced over and saw Jimmy's face, he looked slightly confused and a little upset, but he sat back up, going back to his lunch.

Gem, and Lizzie, were still noticeably glaring at me. "Can't you at least try to be agreeable?" Gem hissed to me.

I leaned closer. "No." I said, before straightening back up.

An hour later, my plate was still practically untouched.

Gem sighed, taking it from me. "Good enough." She said under her breath, handing it to servants who were coming to clean up. It had been almost three years since I've had anyone pick up after me. It was slightly unsettling.

Everyone began to stand up, and after a few moments I followed suit, standing alongside Gem. "Come on, we're going to the living room-" Gem started.

"I'm going back to the apothecary." I cut off, starting to walk towards the door.

"No- Scott come on-" She grabbed onto my wrist, but I ripped my arm out of her grip and stalked out of the dining hall.

I made my way quickly out of the castle and down the winding path down the hill towards the apothecary. A light snowfall had started, the wind swirling the flakes around, the breeze whipping my hair into my face.

I stuffed my hands in my pockets, not looking up from the ground till I made it to the building. It was peaceful in there, empty except for my sleeping sister.

I dragged one of the white, folding plastic chair over to the bed she was laying in and sat down. She seemed peaceful, more peaceful than I had ever seen her, her chest rising and falling with steady even breathes. 

"It'll be okay." I whispered. "You'll wake up and we'll find a way to help you." My gaze ran up her blackened forearms crossed over her stomach, and I had to force the thought of her void black eyes, pushing the whites out of their place, out of my mind.

I pulled my chair closer, sliding my hand into hers. Her palms were calloused, and I felt scars. I had expected nothing less from the girl who had rose to the top in less than a year...

I let go of her hand, pulling the crystal off from around my neck and staring at the side with the golden fissure. Memories from the battle swarmed my mind...especially his lifeless form that had begun to haunt my nightmares, replacing the dead bodies of the late king and queen. But this brought up the question...did he want to? Was he being imprisoned? Unable to escape Exor's grasp? Had he become a mindless servant like Joey or was he willingly letting Exor spread his chaos through him? If not, could he be saved? Did he want to be saved?

But it wasn't like Erin. I wasn't able to break him out. He just stayed wholly Exor's. And then that led me to wondering what it would be like with a brother around. If he had never been corrupted, would I know him? Would he still be living in Mythland, or would he have sought me out? Would Erin still be a stranger? The more answers I found for these questions, the more the questions multiplied into smaller, more confusing ones, so I had to completely block the thoughts from my head.

I slid the chain back over my neck, the crystal bouncing against my chest, and leaned back in the cheap plastic chair, matching my breathes to Erin's and relaxing my body out of its tensed state. Everything would be okay. I convinced myself, repeating the same thoughts over and over in my head. Everything would be okay. Erin would be okay. And then everything would go back to normal, or as normal as possible...

I don't know how long I had sat there, lost in thought my eyes focused on the bedframe of Erin's bed.

I heard the door swing open, but I didn't move from my position, hardly noticing the patter of footsteps enter the room, and the sharp tapping noises of presumably Joel's crutches.

"I was half-worried you wouldn't be here." Came the voice of Gemini behind me, it getting closer at every syllable as I heard her footsteps get closer.

I couldn't be bothered to respond. I had my arms folded in front of my chest, my expression lax and emotionless like I felt. Numb.

"Scott." Gem said, her voice growing sterner like it did before she was about to scold me. "You cannot keep doing this. Every time we start to get along you just block yourself off again- Are you even listening to me-?" I saw from the corner of my eye, her going to poke the side of my head.

My arm shot up and I grabbed her arm, my grip tightening around her wrist right as her fingertips brushed my temple, keeping my focus on the same spot on Erin's bedframe. "Don't." I said, forcefully shoving Gem's hand away from my face.

I again watched from the corner of my eye as her arm went limp by her side. "Fine. Be like that." She snapped.

I heard scuffling behind me, most likely Gem, and Katherine, who I had heard whispering, getting Joel situated. From the sound of it, Shrub hadn't come back with them.

To my left I saw Joel lean up against his own bedframe, his crutches leaned against the nightstand. "Seriously guys, I'm okay. You can go back up to the castle if you want to." He said loud enough for me to hear, the beginnings of their conversation hushed.

"If you're sure..." Came Katherine's concerned voice, trailing off slightly.

"I'm sure." Joel reassured the two.

"We'll be back down to check on you." Gem answered, and I could practically hear the comforting smile she was probably giving him.

No answer from Joel led me to assume he nodded, before I heard their footsteps fade, and the door swing open then shut.

"So..." Joel said awkwardly after a few moments, obviously aimed at me considering I was the only other person in the room.

"What?" I asked snappishly, drawing my eyes away from the bed and instead glaring at the man with the brace.

"Woah, calm down." Joel said, frowning slightly which was an uncommon expression on the mischievous man's face. "If you don't want to talk, we don't need to talk. But I want to ask a question."

My nostrils flared in annoyance as I turned to face him. "Fine." I growled. "One question."

"Why did you say that to Jimmy?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What?" I asked, my ear twitching in agitation.

"You basically called Jimmy an idiot. Only I'm allowed to call Jim an idiot. Why?" Joel asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Because he is." I shot back, my hot anger an annoyance boiling up despite the frost creeping back up my arms, the tips of my fingers numb from cold.

"What the hell happened to you two anyways? Jimmy did nothing to deserve what you've done to him. You know, you broke his heart when you started the war. He wouldn't talk to anyone for days. He couldn't believe you of all people were capable of what you did and to be honest, I couldn't either till I saw the trainwreck in Eastvale. And then, on top of it all, you almost kill him. I watched and I know what you did was no accident. But you don't even deny doing it do you? Is it just me or do you Majors just like to cause pain? Cause that's what it seems like. Just killing, torturing even more mindless killing! Do you even care about people anymore or has your heart become ice too?" Joel finished, angry, his face twinged crimson.

I half wanted to stand up and snap his neck, but the twisted feeling of glee at the thought of the cracking of his bones and spilling of his warm blood made my stomach churn. Why on earth would I do that? And why would it feel good?

I bit back a sharp retort, clenching my jaw to keep all the gruesome thoughts in my head in there, torturing me. "You don't know me. You never will. So, I suggest you stop assuming before I do something I regret." I growled, my voice low and shaking with anger.

Joel turned his face from me, staring straight in front of him, the brunette's head bobbing with a nod, clicking his tongue. "That's what I thought." He said with a bit of a sigh.

My expression of anger intensified as I sent him one last furious glare before I turned my gaze back to Erin's metal-pole headboard. And I stayed there.