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| - We exited onto a beach, where I saw Hannah and Garth. Hannah grinned widely and waved. The sight was so soothing I almost thought I would lay down on the beach and sleep. These two were the first companions, aside from Theresa and Marten, I had made. Now there was Phoebe, too. 'I'm surrounded by all but several of the people I care about in this hellish world.' I realized, grinning. 'Well, excluding Reaver...' "I was getting worried about you!" She called over, her weight shifted to one foot and hammer over her shoulder as usual. "Hey, you furry little thing!" She bent down to pet my yipping, excited dog. Finally, she looked at me. She really looked at me. "Whoa, Sparrow- what happened to you? You look.." "I know," I grunted. "Back in Bloodstone I was fighting off some Hollow Men and then something came up behind me, I guess. I don't really know what happened. I woke up and I was like this. Strength, skill, and possibly my will, gone. I haven't tested out my will yet." Garth seemed suspicious. "How odd. I've never heard tell of something like this... Perhaps we could look into it-" I put a hand up, silencing him. "No, that won't be necessary... The hardest part of my journey ended when we escaped from the Spire, Garth. I still need to be strong for the remainder, but the need for extreme strength or skill is no longer necessary. I have my knowledge of combat skills, and perhaps my will power. It's all I need." Garth nodded understandingly, but Hannah didn't take my little speech quite so easily. "Sparrow, you could get yourself killed!" I opened my mouth to speak, but she sighed. "I know, I know. You can do it... And hey, who's this?" Hannah gestured to Phoebe, who stood somewhat behind me, Marten next to her. I had forgotten about Phoebe; she had been silent the entire time. "Oh, ah, Hannah, Garth, this is Phoebe. Phoebe, likewise." I introduced them proudly. "These are the other Heroes. Hannah, Strength, and Garth, Will." I looked at her face, and then realized something: I had never explained the whole situation to her. "I will explain to you what is going on. I promise. But until then, I believe we have something to take care of." We all turned to look at Reaver, who was counting down from three. At zero, a strange, buzzing noise came from inside the passage we had just emerged from, and we all switched our attention to it. All of the sudden, the insides of the passage exploded. "There, now if there were any nasties leftover in there, they are no more." He grinned smugly, seeming pleased with himself. "That would be correct," Garth's medium deep voice answered my remark, ignoring Reaver as he turned his back to us. "Now that we have Reaver, we can finally beat Lucien." "I beg your pardon," Reaver interrupted up, holding his head up high. "As much as I would love to be apart of this, I'm afraid I have elsewhere to be. So I'll just be going-" He beamed towards a nearby ship, but his hopes of leaving burst into flames with the ship as it exploded. Marten began to growl, and he hustled up a hill that curved, overlooking the waters. Garth and I followed him, just as an immense Shard came into view. "Oh, hell." This was the biggest Shard I had ever laid eyes on. In desperate hopes, I wished this was the last time I would ever see one. "Phoebe, get ready!" I yelled down. I didn't know if she could use Will or magic of some sort, but she knew how to fight off Lucien's men, if that's what was headed our way. "Protect me until I find the right spell that will harm it," Garth ordered. Nodding, I put my back to him, drawing my sword out. Hannah and Phoebe readied themselves, and for a split moment Reaver stared in horror, but braced himself with his pistol. "Not Blades..." Garth mumbled. He went through a series of spells, until he used Lightning. The Shard flinched. "I've got it! Sparrow, assist me." How I was supposed to do that and fight, I didn't know. I didn't even know if my will power still worked because of the mysterious disappearance of my strength and skill back in Bloodstone... But I took my place beside him, focused, said a quick prayer, and hopefully aimed my hands to shoot lightning at the Shard. With every ounce of hope and luck that I could scrape, I felt a much weaker current, but a current nonetheless, of electricity ripple through my veins and escape from my fingertips. I suppressed the urge to let out a big cheer, and instead began to focus on using one hand for will, and to try wielding my sword with the other. More than once I had to stop to kill Lucien's men, or dodge the Shard. On the last round of men, I heard Hannah cheer aloud as Garth and I charged up together, and then let the Will spell loose at the Shard. It broke into pieces in mid air, and them plummeted down onto the shore and in the water. Garth grinned, which was very rare. Reaver looked exhausted. I scanned to find Phoebe, and when I did, my expression fell. "Phoebe!" Garth and I descended the hill in a sprint, and I practically slid to her side in the sand. This was the second time in a span of several hours that I had seen her unconscious. Her blood spilling everywhere did not make this time any better, but worse. Her breath wasn't shallow, this time it was jagged, like she was fighting to breathe at all. As Hannah helped me tend to Phoebe, Theresa appeared near us, the blue light reflecting across the sand of the darkening beach. "Excellent work, everyone." I looked up Theresa, feeling so childish. From where I was on the ground. I felt the height of a child, and a brief flashback caused me to see her from the angle I had when I had first met her. "And who is this?" "This is my friend, Phoebe... Theresa, help me." I pleaded, the steadiness of my voice failing. "Please." Theresa took a few steps over, and rested forward on both knees. Her hands trailed over the front of Phoebe, never touching, inspecting the wound. It was a long tear, placed diagonally across her stomach. There was something in the lines of her face that seemed different. It was almost unnerving, and it made me wish at times that I could see her eyes and see what she was really feeling. "Is she going to be alright?" My voice came out hoarsely, but I was unable to keep from asking. "I am unsure. She is mortal, after all. She has lost tremendous amounts of blood." Without thinking, I placed a hand to the side of Phoebe's face. "You care for her, do you not?" Theresa questioned me with her eyes, the worst way to do so. I nodded. She made no further comments to me. Rather, she turned to the others and spoke. "All of you, gather. Before we continue, we are going to the Guild Cave." The other Heroes moved in, Reaver's step slowed with reluctance. Teresa became enveloped in the light of a teleport, and then we all vanished. The next we saw was the dimly lit Guild Cave. "I have minimal dressings for a wound. Sparrow, pour this potion into the gash." She handed me the vial. Feeling sick, I obeyed. "Now hold her up while I bandage her." I ended up having Hannah assist me, because I couldn't hold her evenly. Theresa wrapped a piece Phoebe's cloak that she had ripped off tightly around the limp girl, and then motioned for us to lay her down. "Give her a few minutes, please. Sparrow, when you are ready, join us on top of the stone." With barely the hint of a nod, they all left. Except for Hannah. "Hey there... I just want you to know," She knelt down beside me. "I think it's good of you, protecting her like this. I wish I had someone to protect, but..." Pain killed her voice, and the memory of her father being killed blurred my mind. "But I am happy that you do. Everyone needs someone, or something." She placed a hand on my shoulder, and I locked gazes with her, smiling faintly. "Hurry up," She teased lightly. "We'll be waiting for you." With that being said, she jogged to one of the Cullis Gates and disappeared. Once Hannah was gone, I felt the tears burn my eyes. "Why did I let you get dragged into this, Phoebe..." I murmured quietly, holding my friend close. Doing so was the only security I had. I felt awful. This was entirely my fault. Not that the Guard hurt her, but that she was involved in all of this now. "Because I'm stupid," I heard her say quietly. Mortified that I had her so close, and she was awake, I jolted a little. "Don't kick yourself over this. This is my fault." I wanted to ask how, when it was me who had dragged her into all of this. "You aren't stupid, Phoebe. Don't say it." I looked away, though she couldn't see. Her head was still against my chest, and I wondered if she had fallen back to sleep. "So will you tell me what is going on?" She asked. "It's a long, long story..." I breathed. I didn't know where to start, and if we even had time for me to figure that out, let alone really tell the story. So finally, I exhaled slowly, and started at the literal beginning, though it was going to get summarized. "It started before I was born. But, when I was little, only a child, my part came into play. We, my older sister Rose and I, were in Bowerstone, now Old Town, fighting for survival against winter and starvation." The memories played in my mind. "We dreamed of living in Castle Fairfax. And one day, when we worked for five pieces of gold, we bought a music box that would grant us a wish. The music box vanished when we used it. But in the middle of the night, we were awoken by guards looking for us, saying that Lucien wished to meet with us." "We went to the castle, where we saw Garth," I continued. "He had no idea what had happened to us. Or, to my sister, more or less. You see... Lucien discovered what we orphans didn't know; We were Heroes. Or, at least I think we both were. But no matter. He shot us both." Phoebe's weak hand gripped mine, then she let it go, and I attempted to tell the rest. I didn't realize how hard it was going to be to tell everything at once, to relive everything out loud... "My sister died at my side, screaming, and the shot sent me backwards through the window, where I fell to the hard, snowy ground below. I survived, as you can tell. Theresa took me in as her own, caring for me in the Gypsy Camp here in Bower Lake." "And for years she promised me she would help me avenge Rose's death. The day I left the Camp for the Chamber of Fate, I was terrified of what I was going to do to myself. Days, weeks, and months passed after I unlocked my power. Theresa guided me through it all, until I was taken captive." I explained. "Not really taken captive, but I went as an undercover Guard. That's how we have Garth. I was there to rescue him, even though it turned out to happen the other way around." "Then when did Hannah come along?" She quizzed. "Well, she came far before me going into the Spire. In the beginning, not long after I had set out, Theresa had me meet with her father, the Abbot, to take her through Wellspring so that she could collect the water for The Ritual." I elaborated. "In the last room, after the water was blessed, another monk came in, shouting at her to hurry. Hannah left the jug, and pulled a hammer off of what I think was a statue, and took off. I got there too late. Her father had been killed, and she had killed the Guard." "My God." Phoebe whispered, and the way she hid against me reminded me of Elizabeth's quiet and fearful personality. She shook her head, and then shakily, she pulled herself into a stand, wincing. I stood immediately, ready to catch her if she collapsed. "I'm okay. You need to get up there, Sparrow." "Not without you." I offered my hand, watching her face as the pale glow of the Cullis Gate eerily illuminated it. After a hesitant moment, she took it. Firmly gripping her hand, I led her into the Cullis Gate, and we dissipated into its ghostly light.
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