It hurt, so much… So much, she couldn't even scream her agony. She could feel tears burning trails down her cheeks and every breath shuddered through her, tearing her insides. She squeezed her eyes more tightly shut and willed, with every little bit of her being for it to end. It didn't, but as it continued she slowly began to get used to it. She had felt pain so many times before in her immortal life and just as before she was mentally accepting the feeling and forcing her way past it. She forced her eyes open, feeling as though thousands of stars were exploding within her head. She slowly became aware of her surroundings.
She was lying in a crumbled heap on the stone floor of her throne room. She wondered, briefly, how she had gotten there before being brutally assaulted by the memories of everything that had happened. How was she still here? She should no longer exist, not after what Merlin and that foul traitorous skite had done to her. She lay there for a while more, staring up at the high ceiling, whether for hours, days, or years she didn't know, before forcing herself up onto her feet, though it felt as if she were being ripped apart.
Slowly, one step after another, she made her way to her seeing crystals. Slumping against the crude pedestal, she reached out a shaking hand, finger tips brushing against one of the amber crystals, bringing it to life. She watched it intently, though the light stabbed into her eyes. The crystal tracked across the realm of man following her mind's directions.
She could find no trace of her sister or the Rock King, even the Lord of Fire seemed to have vanished. She was the last of the elemental rulers… Somehow she had managed to cling to her existence, but her brethren had disappeared. Most of her people seemed had disappeared with them, but a few had managed to survive. It looked like they had hidden in the sacred places of the old ways, barely being sustained by the weakened magic that lingered there. The important thing though was that they lived, that she lived. She had not yet failed them, there was still hope. She had to find a way to fix this. Yet all her plans thus far had failed miserably, she needed a new approach.
First, however, she needed to figure out how she had managed to survive. She turned again to her crystals, with that question firmly in mind, willing them to give her some sort of clue to answer it. Images flashed before her, desecrations of her sacred places, people being burned, staked, crucified alive, talk of witchcraft and satan… The Christians' hatred of her and the old ways had prevented them from being forgotten completely. If the situation were not so dire, she would have laughed at the irony. That also explained the agony she was in, after all if one is only sustain by the hatred of others; their existence could only be filled with pain. But could she work with hatred? How could she possibly hope to bend it round in time?
Surely there were still a few people who still had some sort of positive feelings towards the old ways. She searched for such a person desperately in her crystals and was taken completely by surprise by the person she saw.
"Merlin…" She whispered reactively, her voice even more raspy and quiet than usual as the word tore itself up and out of her throat. She frowned. This made no sense. If he had any sort of good feeling towards her, why had he worked so long and hard to destroy her? She watched him closely. He was much older now, a testament of how long she'd been out of contact with the world, and looked worn and world weary. And, he was telling a story to a group made up of mostly children. She listened closer when she heard him mention the old ways.
… the followers of the old ways cried out in agony. They cried out for the one being that could save them; Queen Mab. She was the very powerful Queen of Magik and the Elemantal Ruler of air and darkness, and she heard their desperate cries for help. She devised a plan to save them and went to her sister for help, for this plan would require a great deal of power and it was very risky to attempt it all by herself. Her sister was the Lady of the Lake and they were complete opposites in many ways. While Mab controlled the air and darkness, her sister had dominion over water and light. They had been at odds with one another for a very long time. I don't know how it started, neither of them ever confided much to me, but the rift was large. Mab hoped that the threat to their very existence would be enough to bridge it, but it was not. Her sister refused to help so Mab was forced to continue alone. She wanted to create a great leader for the people. Some one who was powerful and understood the old ways but was also part human and would be able to relate to her followers. She wasted no time in bringing this person to life, though her right-hand gnome, Frik, advised her to wait and save up her strength. That is how my mother came to bear me.
She slipped to the floor, her legs refusing to hold her up any longer, and the crystal went dark and quiet. She sat there, leaning against the pedestal, letting his words play over in her mind. It wasn't long before she began to pin point things he had left out. She'd nearly destroyed herself impregnating that mortal woman he called his mother. She had barely recovered by the time he had been born. He also apparently still hadn't realized just how much her sister had used and manipulated him. Yet, he had some sort of good feeling towards her, or the crystal wouldn't have shown him to her. For some reason that seemed to be very important…
She sighed, angry with herself for caring what he thought of her, frustrated with being in this horrible situation, and fed-up with the intense still cursing through her body. She closed her eyes, frowning, and tried to form some sort of course of action to take now, but almost as soon as she closed her eyes she blacked out. Her body, now limp, slid the rest of the way down to the floor and off the bottom of the pedestal where she lay as her body, mind, and soul continued to recover from near nonexistence.