Ch. 10 By Your Side
"It's over, Flint!" Lenora dug her claws into Flint's stomach, black blood flooding from the holes in his body. The swashbuckler ignited her claws, cauterizing the wounds. "You're going to spend the rest of your life in a cell. However long that may be." Flint laughed.
"But who will save the Spiral from you?" The dark pirate pushed a button on his wrist and Lenora dropped to her knees. Her veins blackened as dark energy coursed through her body.
"No." Black fire formed at her fingertips. "No!" A burst of dark flames exploded from her body, engulfing the world. "NO!"
"NO!" Lenora's eyes opened as she shot up in her bed. She looked around and noticed that she was in a hospital ward. There was a table by her bed. On it was a vase with flowers. Looks like they were just delivered. It was then that she noticed an unnatural weight on her legs. She looked towards her feet and saw a slumbering Adam lying on her. His chest rose and fell as he breathed in his sleep. Lenora rubbed her eyes to make sure she was definitely awake. When nothing changed, she smiled. It was just a dream. Lenora reached down to ruffle Adam's short, brown hair. "You saved me. Again." A lock of hair moved in front of Lenora's face. She pushed it out of the way as Mary and Jordan entered her room.
"I'm just saying, there's nothing wrong with dating someone from another species. I'm with Bonnie and Blaze is with Gracie. No one would judge you. Besides," Jordan chuckled, "The feel of fur on your bare skin can make the coldest nights hot, if ya know what I mean." The buccaneer lightly nudged Mary in her ribs with her elbow.
"Look, Jordan, as … appealing as that sounds, I'm just not interested in seeing anyone right n- Oh, Lenora, you're finally up!" The swashbuckler gave a small wave before raising her finger to her lips. The witchdoctor and buccaneer looked down and saw that Adam was still sleeping. Mary pulled up a chair and sat by Lenora while Jordan leaned on the bar at the foot of the bed. "He really looks peaceful when he sleeps, doesn't he?"
"Uh huh." Lenora continued to brush Adam's hair. "Thank you, Mary. You saved my life; you and Adam." Mary held Lenora's free hand with her own.
"I just wish I could have done more. We couldn't get all of the dark energy out of your body without harming you. Your body has become addicted to it. I don't think you'll need any more to flow through your system, but what's left will have to remain, even if you can't use its power."
"I'm aware of the circumstances, Mary," the swashbuckler consoled, "I don't like having darkness in me, but I'll gladly take the burden if it means more time with Adam."
"I think I'll leave you two alone," Jordan announced, "Maybe see if Bonnie needs help taking inventory of our weapons and ammo." With that, Jordan left, leaving the witchdoctor, swashbuckler, and sleeping musketeer alone. Mary looked down at Adam.
"I think this is the first time he's slept since we lost you."
"Don't take any offense when I ask you this, but, when I was gone, did you two … you know?" Mary let go of Lenora's hand.
"No. I'd never do that. He's your boyfriend. He never approached me and I never approached him."
"I wouldn't have been mad if you did. He probably could have used the comfort."
"No," Mary insisted, "It wouldn't have been my place. Besides, he loves you too much to cheat on you. Even if only for a moment of comfort. And I would have wanted it to mean something." Adam stirred, lifting his head from Lenora's legs. He stretched his upper body and let out a yawn.
"Hey, Lenora. Hey, Mary. What's up?" Mary got up from her chair.
"We were just catching up, but I think you two need some time to catch up yourselves." Mary left the room. Adam moved up onto the bed and laid down next to Lenora.
"I'm so glad that you're back, girl on fire." He pressed his forehead to hers.
"I'm glad to be back, Golden Archer." Lenora kissed Adam once before beginning her questioning. "So, how many of our own did I kill?" Adam remained silent. "You're going to have to tell me eventually, Adam. You might as well get it out of the way."
"Twenty," Adam sighed.
"Come on, don't sugar coat it; how many did I actually kill?" Adam's answer didn't change.
"Twenty." The musketeer activated Sagittarius. "Sagittarius, start a memory playback. July 8th." Sagittarius shifted to show the shores of Scrimshaw. "We'd just taken Scrimshaw. After the battle was over, I saw a ship leave the docks. It was a black ship with black sails. I called the nearest pirates to me and we boarded the ship. I was already wearing Able when we boarded. Then, I saw you. You were pale, so pale, with your veins blackened. There was nothing but hate in your eyes when you saw me. I knew it wasn't you, but I still couldn't bring myself to lay a finger on you. Then you unleashed a chaotic stream of black fire. Everyone on the ship burned to a crisp except me and Able. I teleported us away." Adam waved Sagittarius away, his golden image shimmering away. "After that, I made sure that there was a permanent watch for your ship. I wasn't going to let you hurt anyone else or let anyone hurt you."
"Even when I was against you, you stood by me," Lenora chuckled.
"I'm always on your side, Lenora. You know that."
"Um, the night before your birthday, you said that there was something I could do that would make that day perfect. What was it?" Adam reached into his pocket at felt the black box that held the ring he'd bought. He palmed it for a second before leaving it in his pocket.
"It can wait. Once this war is over, I'll let you know what it was."
"You'd better." There was a knock at the door and Blaze and Riley walked into Lenora's room.
"Lenora, you're up!" Riley joined Adam and Lenora on the bed, nearly scaring Lenora out of it.
"And here I thought you were trying to be an adult." Lenora grabbed Riley and held her in a tight embrace.
"It's good to see you're finally up," Blaze greeted, "How're you feeling?"
"I can feel the dark energy in my body. Other than that, I feel fine."
"Don't worry, Lenora," Blaze consoled, "If you think Flint can somehow regain control of you, you're wrong. I tampered with the dark energy and golden energy inside of you. Any darkness still in you is blocked off by your own golden energy." Lenora let go of Riley and crawled out of bed.
"Then it's time for us to get back to work. As a team." Blaze smiled.
"Then you'll want these back." Blaze opened the closet by the bed and Lenora saw her classic red pants, overcoat and boots. Someone had added golden trim to the arms of her coat and a dragon's head stitched onto the back.
"How'd you get these back? And who added this stuff to it?"
"We found them at one of Flint's outposts," Adam explained, "And since you've got the Draco personality matrix and golden powers, I figured you'd like the new designs. Ryan is, surprisingly, an excellent tailor." Lenora threw on the overcoat and pulled the pants up her legs, tucking her shirt in. She pulled her boots onto her feet then proceeded to look at herself in the mirror, admiring the new look. "So, what do you think?"
"I love it." Adam and Riley got up from the bed.
"Then it's time to end this."