Chapter 7
A deafening explosion rent the air as the ground shook from a terrific explosion. Jeb's plan had begun to take action, but so, unfortunately, had the Sorceress'.
Quiet and tense, the small group maneuvered their way through the steaming ducts and buzzing machinery of the Witch's labyrinth. Longcoats and scientists hurried about in a chaotic frenzy, ensuring that nothing went awry as their ruler put her fateful plan into action. The strange movements of the woman who called their orders only recently became more erratic as the double eclipse loomed. Increased production of Moritanium deep within the mines in the north, a worthless item to most folk, a sudden urge to visit an empty wooded area along the riverbank, and a withdrawal of troops where there typically would be hordes were a few of her latest unstable proclamations.
Tutor was their main source of information, retracing the path using his memories from when he lived at the palace until the moment of his escape years later. He seemed to show some of his canine attributes, scanning the ground one moment, approaching a left corridor only to turn right at the last minute. Thankfully Cain's heavy arm pulled Glitch away from going the wrong direction in several places.
All too soon, an imposing, heavy doorway met their eyes.
Glitch twitched as they approached the mysterious room. "There's something inside there. Something familiar."
The others looked at one another. It had to be the Sorceress' control room, and the location of the former advisor's brain.
Cain motioned towards the princesses to join him. Maybe they wouldn't have to split up. If they could disconnect Glitch's brain from its setting or disrupt its synapses before the event even started, all of the Queen's plans would be for naught.
They were in the heart of darkness, and as such, fortune was not on their side.
A sudden burst of power rocked the very foundations of the palace, and all struggled to keep their footing. The motley band ran to the nearest window to see what had happened. Did the resistance breach the very walls of the palace itself?
"It's a beam of light!" Tutor exclaimed.
"No," Raw murmured. "Beam of Darkness."
Glitch exclaimed. "It's the sun seeder! It works!"
"It's coming from the main balcony," Cain determined, ignoring the zipperhead's enthusiasm that his invention succeeded.
"Then that's where we're going," DG announced. The girl stood with stubborn eyes. "That's where our Mother is."
Dellia agreed. The source of power must have come from the Queen with the Emerald of the Eclipse in her grasp. She slid her hand into her younger sister's. The comforting sparkles of light brushed against their joined fingers and both drew strength from their shared magic.
Giving one last glance at her unerring father, Dellia determinedly walked down the hallway towards the open balcony. DG met each of her new friends' eyes, giving them a salute with her fingers as she followed the elder sister.
"Good luck," Cain whispered, one last prayer to protect the two (and one Resistance fighter) that he loved most in the world. His body protested, his protective instincts screamed at him to not leave the girls he had sought to shelter for so long.
"Go," the man so affectionately named Toto announced. "I'll watch out for you." He placed himself at the crossroads like an immovable rock facing a mighty wave. His magic may be weak, but his fists were still strong. He could guard the backs of both teams or die trying.
Bursting through the double doors (unlocked, how stupid of the soldiers), Raw, Glitch, and Cain encountered a sight only imagined in tales of horror. There in the middle of the room, a vat of liquid bubbled unsettlingly. Half of a human brain sat floating, wires connected everywhere on the hemisphere, like a demented science project.
"Hey look, Glitch announced. "I'd recognize me anywhere!"
"Glitch, it's time to get reacquainted with yourself'" Cain stated before instructing the Viewer to connect the Advisor to his missing half.
TinManTinManTinManTinManTinMan
DG and Azkadellia silently climbed a ladder right above the scientists' very bald heads and made their way to the grand balcony. It was upon these grey stones that the Royal family could see the entire realm, and presently the Queen stood at its center on a raised dais declaring the most damning announcement of them all.
Darkness would come to the O.Z.
The Queen stood, tall and poised, every inch the beauty that her daughters remembered of her, but instead of an elegant tan colored gown, their mother wore a low cut corset with a dark, restricting skirt. Their kind mother's eyes were that of a dead woman, not the caring lavender that they were familiar with. Who was this stranger?
Azkadellia motioned DG to stay quiet. The girl had been poised to shout at their mother. DG's tendency to barrel into a fight was admirable, but the elder princess favored her dear "brother's" sneak attack mentality. The dark haired girls each raised a hand to remove the focal point of the sun seeder's power. It was an insignificant green crystal, smaller than what Azkadellia expected for something of great destruction.
A held breath and their magic sparked ineffectively against the magical barrier which surrounded their mother, the action only alerting their target to their presence instead. The Sorceress, in a rage, reached out with a magical blow, slamming the girls into the edge of the balcony railings.
The woman's eyes widened in confusion as she perceived the two infiltrators. No one was allowed to be near her as she commanded the suns to her bidding! Strangely, these two adversaries, they were so familiar. Pale skinned and beautiful, one with eyes the color of earth, the other of the sky.
"Mother!" DG shouted as they both stood, their hands still clasped. "There's still time to stop this!"
The Queen's breath caught. No, it was impossible! DG! Then the other must have been Azkadellia. Her eyes swiveled between the two. The royal daughters had never been found after the day of the Witch's escape despite years of searching. She was sure that they had become prey to the wild animals in the forests surrounding Finaqua, yet here they were, to talk her down from the pinnacle of her machinations.
How preposterous!
The witch gave a wicked cackle in the Queen's voice. "Look up. The power of the Emerald is about to lock the eclipse in the sky and bring permanent darkness to the O.Z!" She gave a manic grin towards the girls. "What hope did you have my children? Your Mother is dead."
With a wordless cry of rage, Dellia sent a wave of magic towards the creature who stole her Mother's form. She couldn't believe a word the demon said. DG poured her power to aid her sister, and for a moment the beam of light around the Witch flickered and wavered like a spluttering candle.
Papa! He must be shutting the brain cortex down! Dellia thought and redoubled her efforts reinforcing the attack.
The Emerald's power source faltered again before snapping into a steady glow, as strong and immutable as before.
"No!" DG gasped as the two girls let go of their magical barrage.
The Sorceress raised her eyes upwards at the locked suns in triumph. "It's over! I won!" she whispered in an elated gasp.
Azkadellia struggled to clear her mind from the turmoil around her. Her back stung from the blow against the stone railing. What was she going to do? She was terrified. DG's hand was still within hers, but it was shaking too. It was like a nightmare.
And what calmed her from her nightmares?
A tousled headed boy crawling into her small bed. A soft voice in her ear and a song.
The princess sighed, and Azkadellia drew upon her memories, singing an almost long forgotten tune.
"Two little princesses dancing in a row.
spinning fast and freely on their little toes.
Where the light will take them, no one ever knows.
Two little princesses dancing in a row."
Her soft voice was joined by DG's, the sweet sound permeating through the haze of magical energy that whirled around the Queen.
She… she used to sing that song to her children at night before they slept. A little bit of nonsense rumored to be an ancient prophesy. No one had any idea where the light had taken them, but here her daughters were in the flesh. Their reunion formed at the height of her ambitions.
To ruin her plans! To rule in darkness, adored, and be feared by all those who crossed her path!
"Mother," Azkadellia begged. "Do you know who we are? Do you remember us?"
"Please mama, we need you," DG's voice quailed.
The Queen faltered. Her two babies! But no, not so.
"You don't need me. You're not my children. You're grown now."
Azkadellia took the chance and inched her way closer to the elevated platform. "But we do need you, Mother. The O.Z. needs their Queen, our father needs his wife, and we will always need our mother."
The woman frowned, not believing any of the words from her eldest daughter's lips.
"There's a guy!" DG blurted out.
Azkadellia whipped her head towards her younger sister. What?! What was her sister thinking?
"He's older, and he's grumpy as a bear, and just as stubborn, but I think I'm in love with him!" DG babbled and squeezed her sister's hand in apology at the excessive information she was divulging. It was really a matter to be discussed in private, not amidst a magical maelstrom of doom, but she was desperate to get through to their mother.
Lavender eyes blazed in astonishment as red lips flew open to release a torrent of questions.
"No!" It was as if a puppeteer had jerked on his marionette strings, and the Queen went limp before the witch took over, her form finally seen for the first time in fifteen annuals.
She was an ugly, haggard old thing, her face more full of wrinkles and pock marks than smooth skin.
The Queen's oldest daughter reached out with a strong hand, "Take our hand, Mother. Please, we have so much to tell you. There's…" Azkadellia took a deep breath. "There's someone too who's in my thoughts." Her tongue faltered refusing to say anymore. It was a secret wish so deeply embedded in her heart; she had never voiced it aloud before.
Both her children raised their un-joined hands in supplication. Only the tiniest reach was all the older woman needed to take their grasp. The Queen had been fighting the witch for so long. She had never once succeeded in escaping from her prison.
But she had been alone then. Her daughters, her beautiful and strong daughters were with her now.
And they were asking for her help.
With one final surge magically and physically, the Queen reached through the light barrier and grasped both of their hands with her gloved ones. She was finally with them, body and mind. Forming a circle of protection, the trio stood firmly against the witch while she ranted and raved, but without the power of the Emerald of the Eclipse, all of the evil force's blows were useless against the united power of the Light.
"Don't let go," the Queen commanded in a voice completely her own ever since the nightmare started all of those years ago.
DG and Azkadellia looked joyfully into their wonderful mother's lavender eyes, alert with conviction. "We won't. We're not leaving you."
The trio held firm against the Sorceress' wrath, her form rising like a great, dark shadow of evil, threatening to overwhelm them.
An eternity lingered as they questioned how much longer could they hold their barrier of light, when with a wordless gasp, the witch flailed her arms and shrunk into a sickening pool of pitch, bubbling and noxious in sight.
"She melted." DG spoke in disbelief.
The two girls released their mother's hands, unsure of how the freed woman would react. Was the taint of the witch completely gone?
The normally poised woman glanced over to her daughters, seeing clearly with her bright eyes.
"DG! What in the Zone are you wearing?!" Was her daughter wearing men's pants?
Her youngest rolled her eyes, grousing, "That's the mother I remember." The Queen had often gotten onto her case about her creative fashion attire when she was a child, but nevertheless, DG wrapped her arms around her mother's midsection, tucking her head under the woman's chin.
Reaching out to her other daughter, the Queen folded Azkadellia too into her embrace. The older woman sighed contentedly as she held both of her adored children. All of the time trapped within the witch, she had never thought she would be able to have this moment in her lifetime.
"I'm so glad to be back," the Queen murmured stroking her daughters' hair gently.
DG was the first to pull back. "Where's Father?" she questioned with her wide blue eyes.
The Queen gasped, and breaking their hold, she rushed back through the corridors to a nearby room.
It was an opulent bedroom, probably the Queen, no, the witch's personal bedchambers. A small globe with a hinged cover sat in one corner, an odd piece of furniture in the cold room.
Their mother rushed over and wrested open the lid, revealing what Toto said to be true. A tiny sandbar surrounded by water and on the side of a fallen petrified tree sat an older man with long blonde hair. The Queen muttered an incantation under her breath and clapped her hands, and with a bright flash of magic, their father stood before their astonished eyes.
The woman raised a shaking hand to brush against his cheek, but the man flinched at her touch.
"Ahamo…" she whispered, her voice breaking in despair and sorrow.
His eyes widened. That was not the acid tones of the Witch standing before him.
"Sweetheart? Is it really you?" he gasped.
He couldn't believe it as he heard the sweet voice. It was truly the love of his life that looked upon him now, not the witch that had gloated condescendingly and tempted him throughout the years imprisoned.
The Queen smiled through tear filled eyes. She was still a royal. Tears were not supposed to fall when one was a ruler. "It is. I'm free now."
With that said, her consort kissed her with a passion that was reserved only for the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life.
DG and Azkadellia could only blush and smile at the sight of the rejoined couple. Though it was their true birth parents, the pair was still strangers in the girls' mind.
Nevertheless, together the family hugged joyfully to complete their homecoming, one spent a lifetime in making.
Hurried footsteps towards the immense doors had Ahamo drawing his wife behind him in protection. DG immediately grabbed Azkadellia's hand ready to ward off any evil, when the least likely person for harm came waltzing through the door.
"Glitch!" the youngest princess exclaimed as the befuddled man entered. He was smiling and casually waved to the ruling family.
He settled himself before the Queen giving the woman a courtly bow. "Your majesty."
The Queen breathed a sigh of relief. Those who were most loyal to her still remembered her as she was and not as the face of the Sorceress.
"Ambrose!" she started before the man stopped her.
"My name's Glitch, on account of my synapses not firing right. My name's Glitch on account of my..." He shook himself to rid of the broken record.
Azkadellia smiled fondly. Her mother would get used to the man in time. Maybe there could even be a way to reunite the two halves of his mind together, but still maintain Glitch's relaxed demeanor.
If the headcase was here, where was her papa?
Two men lurched their way through the door, the taller supported by his furrier companion.
"Cain!" DG wailed as she rushed to his side. She tentatively touched a hand against his wounded shoulder.
Ahamo could see his eldest daughter's face pale at the sight of the injured man. Who was he that his daughters reacted so?
Glitch provided the exposition as he so loved to do. "That's Cain. He worked for the Mystic Man and was here on the day when the Queen, well, when she went nutso."
The Queen flinched remembering that terrible day, but her husband's strong arm around her waist gave her strength.
"Cain took DG to Milltown to be raised by robots..."
"By robots!" Ahamo spluttered.
The former advisor shrugged his shoulders. "Actually, parental nurturing units."
"She turned out fine," Azkadellia soothed the older couple reassuringly.
"She's in love with the man!" the Queen hissed.
Ahamo turned sharply to his wife. "What?!"
"DG told me so, out on the platform. It reached through and broke the witch's hold on me."
"But he's so much older than her," Ahamo mused.
Glitch jumped in helpfully, "Yes, but it's not so hard to believe. He's been visiting her since she was a child, checking up on her well-being, when he wasn't raising Azkadee, of course."
Both set of disbelieving eyes turned in the eldest princess' direction.
"That man raised you?" the Queen asked.
Azkadellia of the House of Gale, Dellia Cain, the girl sighed.
"Papa took me in after that horrible day, dried my tears and gave me a home and a family when I had none." She turned dark eyes towards her true mother and father. "He will always be my father and Adora my mother, just like DG has her parents."
The consort and queen shrunk in on themselves, hearing their daughter's plain admission.
True to her good nature, the girl knew just what to say to alleviate their depression. "But both DG and I look forward to getting to know you, and we do need your advice now more than ever."
The Queen beamed and embraced her daughter in a joyous hug.
Azkadellia held her breath. Her true mother had never held her much after DG's birth, her love and affection centered on her favored youngest. The dark haired woman leaned her head against her royal mother's. She may have had some dark, jealous thoughts due to parental favoritism in her youth, but she was older now, and knew love was shown in different ways.
The Cains' love had more than made up for the deficiencies anyways.
Her mother pulled back giving her a sharp look. "You mentioned someone too."
And with that said, a most beloved figure came striding through the doors, his blonde head mussed and face dirty, but his eyes were elated with victory.
"Oh, it's about to get interesting," the Queen overheard her former advisor say under his breath. The sovereign was about to question the half-man further when the sight of her oldest daughter lunging herself at the youthful figure halted her inquiry.
No words were needed between the reunited pair, only relieved looks as they accessed each other's well-being, before ending in a loving embrace.
Jeb could feel Dellia sigh happily, and the press of her forehead against his cheek. He knew she needed reassurance that he was here before her, but loving words could only be said in private and not in front of a roomful of people. The glowering and curious looks from the Consort and Queen certainly ruined the mood. No doubt they were full of questions.
The duo glanced over to where the only other member of their family stood, flanked by DG and Raw. No reassurances or actions were needed. Though he was injured, his children knew the Tin Man didn't need or wished to be coddled. The proud eyes of a father held those of the two whom he had prepared for all of their lives to face the darkness. They had emerged triumphant, and now were free to step into the bright future.
Thanks to the readers for sticking to my story. Tin-a-holic, I reread the last couple of chapters, everything made sense in my head but I'll take into consideration your comments. Everything...everything in this story came from the idea of Jeb striding through the doors and Azkadellia running into his arms to everyone's shock. I'm brainstorming another similar story I have with them communicating in dreams while Azkadellia was the Sorceress. One more chapter to go.
Grignard
