~The Whimsical Adventures of Princess Heart!~
Episode 21: Farewell, Princess Heart!
"This is balls," Henry said, watching Heather fly off into the dark tumult raging above their heads. "When is this fucking story going to end? Seriously."
"Have a little faith, would ya', Henry?" Eileen said, a sly smile crossing her face. "No reason to get so antsy about it."
"I'm not antsy," he said. "I'm just tired of being dragged around by the balls. Enough with the bullshit. You know?"
She squeezed his cheeks, her own red, her eyes large and clear. "You're so cute when you're flustered!" she squealed. "I could just eat you up!"
"Fuckin' get off!" Henry cried, wrestling her arms away. He turned to James in desperation. "Help me, man! She's going to rape me!"
"There are more important things to worry about, Henry," James replied coolly, looking up. "You may not live long enough to be raped."
"No," said Selina, floating in front of him. "The princess can do it—Heather can do it! She can't lose, not when she has the power of Princess Heart!"
"I guess that's true enough," Alex said behind them. "All we can do is put our faith in her now."
The sky was black, a whirlwind of chaos, and within Heather shined brightly, confronting the great, horrific demon. "Claudia," she said, floating above her, staff in hand, "can you hear me? I know you're in there. I can feel you!"
The god lashed out at her with an arm, and Heather barely had time to erect a barrier around herself. The attack smashed her away, and she went spinning out of control. The beast gave chase, roaring. "HEATHER!" it bellowed, reaching out for her.
The girl regained control, catching sight of the monster closing the distance between them. "I don't want to hurt you, Claudia," she said, rearing back, holding the staff like a bat, "but you're not really cooperating!" She swung, the end of the staff glowing white, and slammed it into the demon's head. It flopped about in the air before its wings gave a gigantic flap, and it straightened out, shrieking. The dark clouds surrounding them burned with red light, and suddenly bolts of lightning shot out at Heather from all sides and angles.
"New dog," she grunted, flipping and flying through the assault, "same tricks!" She spun the staff around, deflecting the bolts away, before holding it over her head. The heart-shaped jewel at its end radiated with light. "How about I give it a shot?" She brought the staff down, unleashing a barrage of pink blasts that spiraled out for the god. "Super sexy beam!" the girl cried.
The monster roared, a dark shield of its own forming. The blasts collided with the shield, struggling for a moment against its power before fizzling out. "Well, that's lame," Heather said, preparing for another attack, when the demon suddenly flew up to her, its huge wings blowing gusts her way, the visage of Heather's face opening up in a vicious snarl.
"HEATHER!" It struck out, claws extended. Heather slashed at one of the arms with her staff, a crescent of light following and lopping off the hand. The god unleashed a horrible, pained scream and retaliated with a sudden swipe.
"Claudia, I'm sor—" The hit batted Heather away like a fly. She stopped and balanced herself, and before her the demon's arm regenerated, flesh and bone growing from the bleeding stump. "This isn't working," she muttered to herself, holding up the staff. "She'll kill me at this rate!"
With another roar, the god charged, its mouth opening, revealing a vast array of fangs. "Claudia—" Flames suddenly sprouted from its maw, lighting up the sky. Heather erected another barrier, the flames parting and coiling around her, but in the meantime, the great beast had descended upon her, another wave of fire shooting between its fangs. Heather darted away and then swung back around, her eyes charged with yellow light.
"Take this!" she yelled. "Mega Heather beam!"
Two massive beams of energy shot forth and pierced the flames surrounding the god, and a violet explosion quickly followed. "That should've been enough to weaken her," Heather said, but to her dismay, the god emerged from the smoke and darkness unscathed.
Down below, Eileen watched the battle, her teeth ground, fists clenched. "Come on, Heather," she muttered, "why aren't you fighting back?"
"You can see that shit?" Henry asked, and she nodded.
"Yeah. Heather's not fighting it at full power. She must be holding back 'cause of Claudia!"
"Great," Henry said. "So we're fucked."
"No!" Eileen cried. "I can get through to her—I can snap her out of it!" She drew a breath and then closed her eyes, concentrating, focusing on the battle above them. In her mind's eye, she saw Heather embroiled in battle, flying away from the god, retreating from its frenzied, brutal attacks.
Heather, she thought intensely, Heather, can you hear me?
Fending off another attack, Heather winced. Eileen? What the fuck?
Yeah, bitch, Eileen replied, we're telepathing now.
This is weird.
It's just like talking! We should do this more often!
Listen, Eileen, I'm kind of busy. Heather broke away from the god and created some distance. You know, in the middle of saving the world.
Back down on the ground, Eileen grimaced. You're not going to save it like this, she thought. You've got to stop her. You've got to fight!
I can't do that, Heather responded, watching the monster rage and flail in fury. Claudia—she's still in there, Eileen. I can feel it.
Claudia ate that thing on her own, Heather, Eileen retorted. She turned her back on us—she killed your father! We can't put her before the whole freakin' world!
I know how it looks, Heather thought back. But this is my mess, Eileen. I'm responsible! I can't let Claudia go down 'cause of something I did! That's why I got to save her. It's the only way!
Heather—
You have to help me, Eileen. I know you can feel it, too—she's still in there! She's not gone! So, please. The god lunged at Heather again, and she raised her staff. Please, Eileen! I'm begging you! Help me get inside!
Eileen paused, sighing. She rubbed her eyes.
Heather faced the god again, desperate. Eileen—
Alright, alright! I'll help you. Just tell me what I got to do.
Just focus, Heather thought. Get me into Claudia's head—into her heart. I can't do it alone.
Okay, Eileen thought. But you've got to weaken her first—calm her down. Otherwise we're screwed.
I'm on it. Heather raised the staff once more, white and pink swirls of light surrounding it. "Alright, Claudia, I hope you're ready! I'm bringing you out of there!" She spun the staff around and then swung, blasting a huge golden heart out, its radiance dispelling the black furor of clouds around them. "Claudia, I'm bringing you out of hell!"
The god roared defiantly, enveloped by the heart, and then all was silent. The darkness dissipated, leaving only an endless, sprawling light. Heather floated in it, weightless, shielding her eyes from the brightness.
Heather? Eileen wondered. Heather, what happened?
I don't know, the girl thought back. Everything just—disappeared.
Where's Claudia?
I'm looking for her, but—but—
The light faded, and Heather found herself floating over the wreckage of Ashfield High School, the night of prom. She saw Claudia alone, her dress torn and tattered, crying before the rubble. She saw Claudia approached by Dahlia—she saw Claudia kill her father.
"What's going on?" she asked aloud. "Are these—Claudia's memories?"
She saw Claudia with her and Eileen at lunch, calmly explaining a math problem. She saw her laughing at one of Eileen's stupid jokes. She saw her friend.
"Claudia." Heather floated down, her uniform vanishing, and reached out—but the image dispersed. Instead she touched down before a giant red door, its metal warped and covered with coursing black vines. "Claudia?" Heather said quietly, hesitantly. "You in there?"
She pushed the doors open, revealing a large room saturated with red and crawling with black, pulsing vines. Heather slowly entered, her sneakers slipping amongst the vines, and stopped; huddled in the center of the room was Claudia, desperately hugging her knees to her chest. Heather ran over to her, stumbling. "Claudia!"
Immediately the vines reacted. They snapped at her, others wrapping around Claudia defensively. "What the hell?" Heather gasped. "Claudia! It's me! It's Heather!" The vines lashed out like whips, driving her back. "What's wrong?" asked Heather. "Why are you trying to push me away?"
She paused, watching the vines grow longer, the red tint of the room grow darker, more intense. Heather stared at the girl's small form, entrapped and practically entombed. "I know—I know you don't hate me," she said slowly. "I know you don't. And I know you don't buy into Dahlia's BS. So why? What's so bad about coming back? What is it, Claudia?"
Heather reached out, and the vines once again responded, more violent than ever. She retreated, gritting her teeth. "What the fuck, Claudia, I'm trying—" She stopped, seeing the glimmering tears staining the girl's cheeks. Claudia was crying. Her shoulders quivered and shook. Her sobs and whimpers filled the room.
"Oh." Heather lowered her gaze, finally understanding. "You're—guilty. Aren't you, Claudia?" She gave no reply, but the vines did stop shifting and moving. Heather took a trepid step forward. "Listen to me, Claudia—I don't care that you killed my dad. Well, I mean, I do care, but—I'm over it. I forgive you. So there's no reason to beat yourself up over it."
She backed away nervously, folding her arms. "Okay, yeah, I guess it's not the same as stealing a CD, and maybe I'm not totally over it—hell, how can I be? He was my dad. I loved him. He was pretty much all I had, just like you. But I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at Dahlia. She was the one who really did all this. Maybe you were stupid and you listened to her, but, you know, I probably would've done the same thing. I was really angry, too—pissed off. I didn't listen to Alessa or Selina. All I wanted was to give that bitch what she deserved.
"The thing is, Claudia, Dahlia's gone now. It's over. And even if you were the one to pull the trigger, I know your heart wasn't in it. I know you're hurting. I know deep down you realize that my dad wasn't like yours. I know you know it was wrong. That's why I'm willing to forgive you—'cause, more than anything, you're my friend. I mean, it wasn't so long ago that you and me and Eileen were dicking around. Nothing really changed."
Heather let out a small laugh and smiled. "I should've told you about this whole Princess Heart thing a long time ago, too, and I'm sorry about that. I was trying to keep you safe, and I guess it kind of blew up in my face." She approached Claudia, the vines around her retracting. "I don't want to fight anymore, okay? I want to go home. I want it to be like it was before, with Eileen and you. Is that too much to ask? Is it wrong for me to want things to be cool?"
She took Claudia by the shoulders. "I'm not forcing you to come back—that's up to you. If you really want to stay here, fine, so be it, but I have to destroy this thing. Just know that I want you to come back. And don't worry about Eileen—she wants the same thing, too. I can tell. She's just on her period right now, or something."
Gradually, light filled the room; the vines withered and disintegrated. Heather grabbed Claudia's hand and wiped away her tears with the other. "Come on," Heather said. "It's okay. No one's going to throw pitchforks at you."
Claudia's limp hand grew firm, and her fingers entwined with Heather's. She looked up. "Heather," she said, her glassy eyes brightening with resolve. "I'm—I'm ready. To go back."
"Just what I wanted to hear." Heather pulled her up to her feet, her uniform reappearing around her, bathing them both in gold radiance. "Time to blow this joint! You ready?"
Claudia timidly nodded, wrapping her arms around Heather's waist in an embrace. Heather raised a hand, and her staff materialized. "Let's go, Claudia! We're going home!" The heart at the staff's end glowed and spun around. "I'm sending this abortion back to where it belongs! By the power of the heart and true love's light, we're sending this motherfucker back to hell—together!"
She brought the staff down, exploding a heart at their feet, and then the room was filled with light, vaporizing, vanishing, taking them with it.
3 3 3
Henry, Eileen, and the others watched as the black storm clouds parted, a golden, shimmering figure floating down to them. The clouds broke, rays of light piercing them, the entire sky radiating. Heather stepped down before the group, Claudia in her arms, her uniform and bright wings disappearing.
"Well, I'll be damned," Henry said. "She really did bring the chick back."
"Of course she did," Eileen said. "I helped her!"
Heather looked down at Claudia's unconscious face and sighed. "I guess that's it. She needs to rest."
"Hold on," Alex said, looking around, "I think there's something else coming."
Around them, the tower and the entire town trembled, and then it happened—swarms among swarms of small orbs of light flew up from the town, gathering in the air. "What's that?" James cried, and Selina and Arthur flew up in excitement.
"It's all the other fairies!" Selina exclaimed. "They're free! They're free!"
The masses of fairies congregated, and from the sky, a bright, golden light emerged. The teenagers watched on in awe as the light took the form of a woman, long blonde hair shimmering and verdant dress flowing, a pair of huge, beautiful wings sprouting behind her. Another figure appeared beside her, dressed in a long gown of white, hair black and long. Heather's eyes widened. "Alessa?"
Alessa simply smiled. The regal woman before them drew a breath. "My dear daughter," she said, "you have done well. We fairies have been saved, and the balance to the worlds has been restored."
"I—uh—well—" Heather stammered. Eileen cleared her throat.
"No problem, ma'am!" she proclaimed, saluting. "Just doing our duty!"
The woman giggled. "Yes—you have done very well, too, Eileen. You are not my daughter, and yet you have our blood running through your veins."
Eileen furrowed her brow. "Wait—you're the Fairy Queen? So then how am I a fairy princess if I'm not your daughter?"
"I once had an older, much wiser sister," the Queen replied. "I have not seen her in many, many years, but it is possible that you are her descendant. If so, you are, in truth, the inheritor of my throne."
Eileen nearly fainted.
The Queen laughed. "Worry not, my dear, you have nothing to fear. You have no obligation to us fairies. You may live your life in happiness and peace, and upon your human death, you can choose to come to us as a fairy or join your departed friends and family in the afterlife."
"Is it the same for me?" Heather asked, and the Queen nodded.
"Yes. It is up to you."
Heather turned to Alessa. "How is it, Sis? Free back rubs?"
"Well, it's my destiny," Alessa said. "I have no connection to the human world, Heather, and you no longer need my protection. So I'll stay here with the fairies and fulfill my duty." She smiled. "Don't worry about me. I'm content. I have no regrets."
"Right." Heather turned back to the Queen. "Okay, then. I'll leave the rest to you guys."
"Worry not," the Queen said. "You deserve your rest." She turned her eyes to the others and smiled. "And I must also thank you brave children—and, of course, my dear Selina and Arthur. You all have done well."
"Thank you, Your Highness," Selina said, bowing; Arthur grunted.
"We did what we had to do," he said. "That's all."
"I second that," Henry said, nodding. "I would've done everything the same, no matter what you fairies were doing."
"Yes," the Queen said, "I realize it was not for our sake that you acted, Henry. But I still admire your selflessness and courage. You all sacrificed your own safety so that others could be protected, and there is no greater act of heroism. Thus, if it is in my power, I would like to grant you all one wish, a token of my gratitude."
"A wish?" Henry repeated, looking back at Alex and Elle. "Well, that's pretty easy, don't you guys think?"
"Yeah," Alex said. "It's probably too much to ask for world peace, anyway."
"So we'll take something a little closer to home," Elle said.
Henry patted James on the back. "Remember that promise I made you, Jamesy? You're living a long life with Mary, thanks to Mrs. Fairy here." James looked at him, stunned, and Henry raised his gaze to the Queen. "You heard it, lady. Make Mary Shepherd healthy. Save her life."
The Queen nodded. "So be it. I will honor your request." She flourished a hand, and in her palm formed a small dark ball. "Here is what eats away at the girl's life," she said, crushing it, "and now it is gone. Your friend will live."
A smile broke out over James' face, and he bowed. "Thank you," he said, but the Queen only shook her head.
"You owe me nothing, not even a bow. It is I who owe all of you, and I only wish I could do more."
She turned towards the great, golden light behind her. "It is time we departed. We will return to our world and work on repairing the damage done." She gave the group a soft smile. "But if there is ever a time when you require our help, you need only call."
"Wait!" Heather yelled, and she held up the pocket mirror. "This—this thing—it's better off with you. I mean, I don't have a use for it anymore."
"No," the Queen replied. "Keep it. The Seal of Metatron is a mystical item, a mirror for the one whose power it reflects. In righteous hands, it can be a shield to protect the just—and in the possession of the wicked, it can be a sword to carve and destroy. You may need it in the future, and it will serve you well, just as it has."
Heather looked down at the pocket mirror and tightened her grip around it. "Alright," she said quietly. The Queen smiled and addressed the many fairies surrounding her. "It is now time that we return home. Let us go." She gave a curt bow to the teenagers. "And farewell, my daughter, my friends. It is an honor."
She turned and disappeared into the light, followed by the masses of fairies. Heather watched them go, Claudia still sleeping in her arms. She opened her mouth to speak but quickly closed it.
Alessa turned back and floated down to her. "This time it really is goodbye," she said, smiling.
"Alessa—"
"It's all right. What's important is that you, your friends, and all of humanity are safe. I can go on happily knowing that." She looked beyond Heather's head. "But there are two others who must make a choice."
Selina and Arthur floated up to them, and the latter grinned. "You already know what I'm going to do," he said giddily. "Alessa! You're actually going to be our princess now!"
"Yes," Alessa said. "Thank you, Arthur, for helping Heather."
"It's not like I had much of a choice. We'd be dead otherwise." He cleared his throat. "Anyway. It was decently fun working with you, Heather, but I've been stuck in this human world for way too long. I'll see you around."
He flew off, joining the other fairies, and Heather turned to Selina. "Well," she said, "I guess that means you have to go, too, huh?"
Selina nodded. "Yes," she responded. "But, I—well I don't—"
"Shut the fuck up," Heather said with a smile. "You belong over there, Selina. We both know it. But, hey, it was a lot of fun hanging out with you, and you really helped me out."
"Princess."
"It's okay." Heather reaffirmed her smile despite her tears. "I don't know how I'll get on without your nagging, but I'll manage. You go back and make sure everything works out on your side. Okay, partner?"
"Right," Selina said. "Thank you, Heather—for everything."
"So, I guess this is goodbye." Eileen walked up beside Heather and sighed. "Well, it was nice fighting with you, Selina."
"You, too, Eileen. Thank you, as well." The fairy turned to Alessa. "Alright. I'm ready."
"Then we must go." Alessa touched Heather's arm gently, smiling. "Goodbye, Heather. I'm glad that we could meet, even under these circumstances."
"Yeah," Heather said. "See you around."
Alessa and Selina both rose up and then went off into the great light with the last of the fairies. The portal quickly closed, and the golden hue of the sky faded with it, leaving only white and gray. Heather sighed; Eileen placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Well, it's over," she said. "You okay? What happened to Claudia?"
"She's just asleep," Heather said, looking down at her friend. "Now we're both orphans. I don't know what we're going to do."
"Crash at my place, of course," Eileen said. "We'll work out the details later."
Behind them, Henry cleared his throat loudly. "Hey, ladies, now that all the mushy stuff is taken care of, can we get the fuck out of here?"
"Would it kill you to be a little patient, Townshend?" Heather demanded, and immediately the two were embroiled in another fierce stare-off.
"That's enough, you two," Eileen sighed, getting between them. "Can we just all chill a little? We all want to get home, you know."
"Yeah, fine," Heather grumbled. "Just as long as I don't have to look at his ugly mug on the way back!"
"Blow me, Mason," Henry said. "I just don't want to listen to your whining. I forgot what it was like when you were being used as god fertilizer."
"Well, it's good to see things are back to normal," Alex said, and he and Elle laughed. James sighed.
3 3 3
"I can't believe it!" Frank hollered, beaming. "The whole gang's here! But where's Henry?"
"He's meeting up with us later," Alex said. "Is James here, Mr. Sunderland?"
"Of course he is! Let me get him." Frank returned inside, and Alex and Elle exchanged glances on the porch.
"It's great to see the sun again, isn't it?" Elle asked, looking up to the blue sky. "Everything feels like a dream."
Alex nodded. "That's for sure, but it's over now. We made it."
"Were your parents angry?"
"A bit," he laughed. "We didn't talk about it, though, and Josh didn't ask me a thing. I think we just—understood. What about you?"
"As usual, my mom was cool as ice," Elle said. "But I was glad she was okay, and Nora, too."
The door opened, and they turned to find James standing before them. "Isn't it a little early?" he asked. "The party's not for another hour."
"Yeah," Alex said, "but we figured we'd get there a little earlier. Remember, it's a surprise party."
"That's true," James said. "You guys sure went to a lot of trouble."
"It was Henry's idea, ironically," Elle said. "But hey, we also wanted to let you know about Mary. The doctors are giving her a clean bill of health. They're letting her out in a couple of days."
Alex shrugged. "If you ask me, it was a little much to keep her there as long as they did, but all's well that ends well. The Fairy Queen really did save her."
James smiled quietly. "That's great," he said. "I guess we really were rewarded." He looked up, eyes narrowed. "Hey. Where is Henry, anyway?"
"He said he'd meet up with us later," Alex replied. "He must be taking care of something important."
3 3 3
Henry raised his camera, snapping another photograph. From his porch, he had a perfect view of the butterflies hovering over the trees across the street, the whole mass of them moving and swarming, yellow, red, and blue flying around. He watched them, relaxed, the clear sky and singsong of the birds putting him at ease. He closed his eyes, peaceful, serene.
"Boo!"
He nearly jumped up, startled, and Eileen stumbled onto him, laughing. "Got you!" she exclaimed, hugging his arm, and he grimaced.
"Great," he groaned. "I was just getting ready to doze off. You know the last time I took a decent nap?"
"Nope," she said, grinning. "What're you up to? Taking pictures?"
He glanced down at his camera and shrugged. "Something like that." He sat back down and sighed. "Back to the grind," he said.
"Are you sad about that?" Eileen asked, smoothing out her denim skirt. "Don't tell me you're getting bored."
"Nah," he said, "'course not. I don't care about any of that." He looked back up at the butterflies. "I just want my time—before the rest of the world catches up. College, work, all that bullshit—I don't want to deal with it yet."
"I know what you mean," she said, taking his hand in her lap and playing with his fingers. "I kind of want what's going on now to go on forever. That'd be nice."
Henry watched her silently before looking out at the grass. She smiled and caressed his cheek. "At least you shaved."
"I needed it."
"Now we just need to get you a haircut—and maybe some new clothes—maybe a nice suit!"
"Don't tell me you've planned it all out," Henry said quietly. "Our whole life together."
Eileen giggled. "Oh. No, I only got up to us getting married in about four years." She laughed and patted his arm. "Hey. What's wrong, Henry?"
"Nothing," he said. "I'm just thinking."
"It's going to be okay," Eileen said. "Whatever happens, we'll figure it out."
"Yeah. Yeah, you're right."
"Of course I'm right!"
He chuckled. "Thanks, Eileen. You're really—really something, you know that?"
"I know." She smiled, leaning against him. "But I owe a lot to you and Heather for making me this way. I never knew courage. I never knew what it meant to be a hero."
At this Henry laughed. "We're not heroes, Eileen—just dipshit teens. Now, let's go. It's almost time for the party."
3 3 3
A soft breeze passed them by, rustling the trees. The cemetery was quiet, quaint. Heather knelt before the headstone, tracing the lettering with her fingers. "Hey, Dad," she whispered. "It's my birthday today. The big one-eight. Looks like I'm all grown up now."
She smiled. "Anyway, Claudia's with me today. She wanted to talk to you, too."
Beside her, Claudia sniffled and adjusted her glasses. "Hello, Mr. Mason," she said slowly. "I—I wanted to apologize for everything. I realize that no amount of apologies or crying can make up for what I did, so I'm going to start doing what I can to atone. I'm going to make it up to you—I swear. No matter what happens, I'm going to change things. I'm going to fix the world around me. I promise you."
She reached out and placed a bouquet of flowers in front of the headstone before standing up. "Do you think he heard me?" she asked, and Heather nodded.
"Yeah. Definitely." She faced Claudia and took her hand. "I'll help you, Claudia. We'll do it together."
The other girl nodded solemnly, and Heather turned and started walking away. "Heather," Claudia said, and she looked back. "I think Eileen wanted to get together at Good Ol' Days. What do you think?"
"I think that sounds good," Heather replied. "I'm up for some more normalcy."
They went by subway, and when they walked inside, Heather was surprised by the darkness. "What's going on?" she wondered aloud, entering with Claudia, and then the lights shot on.
"Happy birthday!" cried Eileen, Alex, Elle, James, and many others, streamers flying around, confetti falling. Heather looked on, shocked, as Eileen hugged her.
"What do you think, bitch?" she asked. "Your own personal surprise party. And guess whose idea it was?"
"Whose?"
"Henry's!"
Henry stood off in the back, grumbling.
Heather smirked and shrugged. "I guess the goon's not so bad."
"I'm carrying his baby, slut. Of course he's not."
"Shut the fuck up."
"Well, yeah, I'm joking, but still."
Claudia smiled, looking between them. "I missed you guys," she said, smiling.
The party went on. Henry, James, and Alex regarded the scene from the back, toting their slices of cake on small paper plates. "This is pretty good shit, Alex," Henry said, plopping some in his mouth.
"Thank Elle and the girls," Alex said. "Got the gift of divine baking."
"You can say that again." Henry licked some frosting off his fork. "Where is Elle, anyway?"
"I'm right here." The boys turned and found Elle standing before them, tying her hair back. "Just got here," she said. "So you guys like it?"
"It's scrumptious," Alex said, giving her a little kiss. "So, did everything go okay?"
"Yeah," she said. "She was pretty excited."
"Bring a friend?" Henry asked, and she nodded.
"Yeah." She stepped aside, and there was Mary, walking up to them. James went slack.
"Hey," she greeted, waving, looking at James. "Hey, James."
"Mary," he said. "Is it all right for you to be here? Out of the hospital?"
"Sure," she replied. "I'm perfectly fine. And—Alex and Elle told me everything. I know all about what you guys have been up to."
Henry turned to his friends, brow furrowed, and they shrugged. Mary touched James' arm and sighed. "Just—if you go off and save the world again, let me know, okay?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Don't worry."
They smiled. Henry grimaced and continued munching on his cake. Well, he thought, at least the cake's good. Just sorry you couldn't get some, Velasquez. But I won't let you or the others go on in vain. His eyes hardened. We're going to be okay. I've got Eileen and James and they've got Mary and Mason. And if something happens, well—I'll just beat the shit out of them.
Or leave it to Princess Heart.
END EPISODE 21
DISCLAIMER: Silent Hill and all related material are the property of their respective copyright holders