A/N: And now, Alex will finally get the fluffy chapter she deserves :3 Your brain will probably implode from the sheer awfulness of my attempts at romance, but I did the best I could :P

THIS IS CHAPTER 21.

Chapter 20 is being written by SuperYuuki, who hasn't finished it yet. Because I'm feeling nice today, I am putting up chapter 21 early to save you all from dying of suspense :P Once SuperYuuki finishes with that chapter, I will add it in.

And now, in response to all your lovely reviews … :)

Lewascan2: ...Yep. Pretty much :P

LexiLopezi: xD Very true … and I'm sure everyone will enjoy her random hallucinations :D

BuBuWinter: XD Well, I'm very sorry if I just killed you :P (See, I was nice though! I didn't wait another week, which I was planning on doing! :3)

scarletfireblaze: :O You're back! *Hugs* Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! I missed you! :D I totally understand the school stuff; 'tis a horrible idea, really, giving out homework to us poor, innocent students who have much better things to do :P

Thanks very much to my stupendous beta reader, Rebecca Ripple, who somehow managed to deal with my crappy attempts at romance without her eyeballs exploding ;P

And finally, a little note to SuperYuuki … hurry up! :P (Kidding; can't rush le creative process! xD)

I faded in and out of semi-consciousness over the next period of time- minutes? Days? Weeks? The pain in my midsection was like a hot branding iron, burning deep inside of me. I was pretty sure I screamed- more than once- when Destiny's careful, steady hands pulled out the dagger and ghosted across the wound to heal it. Her Life magic did little to ease the nerve-wrenching pain, and I could faintly hear as her tone became alarmed. Something was wrong; of that much, I was aware. Destiny Greenblossom was one of the most powerful Theurgists in the Spiral. If she had cast a healing spell on me, it should have erased the wound almost completely. Poison, I recalled, digging my fingers into the dirt and biting my tongue to keep from crying out again. The world around me went black once again as someone probed at my wound, resulting in a nearly blinding shockwave of agony.

I weakly lifted my head when I heard a faint, childish laugh.

"Alex! Are you coming to dance with us?" I knew that voice…

"Come on! Come with us!" Another familiar voice called out. I looked to my right and saw two glowing figures in the hazy darkness. One was hopping back and forth, laughing and spinning in a circle. The other smiled happily, watching the dancing girl.

"Brooke? Donna? What-"

"Follow me!" She skipped closer, holding out her brightly glowing hands. "Take my hands and follow me!" I hesitantly reached out to take Donna's hand, but then I carefully withdrew my own hand as I heard someone else calling my name, someone far away.

"No," I choked, trying to scoot backwards. "I won't go with you." Donna's expression became shocked, and then her eyes filled with tears.

"Why not?" She whispered to me. "Why won't you come with me and Brooke?" The Diviner in question came closer, frowning as she saw the look on Donna's face. I noticed that her scar was gone. The enormous burn, which had once covered more than half of Brooke's face, was completely gone.

"It's safe and warm here, Alex. There's no more pain or sorrow, and we're free. Come to us," she pleaded.

"No! I won't die!" I shrieked, desperately retreating away from them. "The quest isn't over yet; I have too much left to do!" I felt a soft, warm feeling settling over me like a blanket, tempting me to give in to the safety that death could offer me. I fought it, though, and I refused to close my eyes. "You can't have me yet," I told the two best friends through gritted teeth. "I love you both like sisters, but I will not go with you." Donna offered me a happy, tearful smile.

"We're proud of you, Alex. Keep fighting," she told me, turning to go. Brooke made as if to follow her, and then glanced over her shoulder at me.

"Tell Cassie that I love her, and that I'm very, very proud of her," she told me in a barely audible tone, fading away even as she ran after Donna. My eyes flew open, and I gasped in pain, pressing a hand over my stomach. I realized that I wasn't lying in the dirt on the Floating Land any longer. I was in a light blue tent, and three people were there with me: Destiny, Mark and Luke. The latter was gripping my hand tightly and staring down at the floor.

"What's going on?" I asked hoarsely. "Where am I?" Destiny beamed at me.

"You're awake! How are you feeling?"

"Like I got run over by a helephant," I grumbled, glaring darkly at her. "Where are we? What happened to Briony?" My best friend's smile faded slightly, but it was Mark who replied.

"You're back in the Celestia Base Camp. We figured that it was best to get you someplace safe, at least after Doctor Greenblossom here decided that you were stable." He nodded towards Destiny. "Briony got away. Luke wanted to go after her, but I convinced him to stay with you."

"I thought you were dying. I thought she killed you," my boyfriend said in a low voice, still staring at the floor. Slowly, he looked up at me, and I saw that his eyes were red- from crying, maybe, or possibly from lack of sleep. Probably both. I grinned weakly.

"Come on, Luke! It takes more than a dagger to kill me!"

"You don't know, do you?" His frown deepened. "That dagger was poisoned, Alex! You were unconscious for almost three weeks, and for five days, Destiny didn't dare move you from the Floating Land because you were in such bad condition!" I stared at him in open-mouthed shock.

"Three weeks?!"

"As of tomorrow," Destiny confirmed. I wasn't able to respond; a fresh wave of pain washed over me, and I winced. "Here. Drink this." The Theurgist handed me a small glass of greenish liquid. I tried to take it, but my hand was shaking so bad that I almost dropped it. Luke quickly took the glass from me and gently helped me to drink it. The medicine (or so I assumed) had a bitter flavor, and I made a face when I'd finished it. "Sorry about the taste; I used the best pain-killing stuff I could find, but it's never good tasting." My best friend shrugged apologetically.

"No, it's fine, as long as it gets rid of this." I gestured at my stomach in irritation. "How soon until I can fight again?" Destiny and Mark exchanged a nervous look, as if they were trying to decide how to tell me bad news.

"We've got no idea. Anywhere from a few days to a few months."

"Months!?" I tried to sit up, but Luke carefully pushed me back down.

"Don't try to move yet, Alex. Your stitches might tear," he warned. I could hear the pain in his voice; this was killing him almost as much as it was killing me.

"Destiny, I can't stay in here for months! This is a war! We're this close-" (I held my hands a short distance apart) "…to finding the entrance to the Trial of the Spheres! If Briony ran, she's probably told Morganthe what we're doing by now; she'll triple her efforts to stop us!"

"I know, Alex. It sucks, and I don't want to make you stay in bed for any longer than I have to. I'll do my best to have you back on your feet in a few days, and if we get lucky, you could be fighting again in a week- but you have to do exactly what you're told. You'll have to take your medicine. You'll have to sleep when I say sleep, and you'll have to move only if I say to move. If you can do that, it won't be as long as it could be." I was surprised by the forcefulness behind Destiny's words- so much so that I nodded.

"Until Destiny lets you out of here, I'll bring you news of everything that happens, and you can still lead us from this tent," Mark informed me. "Do you want us to concentrate on tracking Briony, or on continuing the search?"

"The search," I replied instantly. "Briony's too sly for us to catch her now. She's definitely run back to Morganthe already, and there's no telling what they've got planned already. We've gotta find the Trial of the Spheres before Morganthe comes after us."

"Got it. I'll send out the groups now. Want me to move the people from your group into the other three?"

"Sure. Evan, Lionel and Cassie can join Chase's group, Rebecca and that water-mole can go with you, and Luke can join-"

"I'm staying here," my boyfriend said in a low voice. I stared at him in surprise. "Destiny, you can go join the search, if you want. I'll take care of her." The Theurgist hesitated for a moment, and then slowly nodded.

"I guess that's okay… I mean, if you're sure you can handle taking care of Alex. I just don't want something to happen while I'm not here." She seemed worried at the thought of leaving me alone with a boy she didn't really trust, putting him entirely in charge - since I could barely move without pain shooting through my entire body. There was the slightest hint of relief on her face, though, and I knew that she wanted to be out in the field, helping to stop Morganthe, Briony and Keira.

"I'll make sure she's safe."

"All right. Luke, you know where the pain medication is, right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Alex, you can have two tablespoons of that every four hours. The bandage will need to be changed in a few minutes, and this stuff-" (she tossed Luke a jar) "...needs to completely cover the wound. Can you do that, or do you want me to stay and change them myself?"

"I can do it. Go ahead."

"All right… if you're sure you'll be okay…" She took a few steps towards the tent's door flaps, paused and turned back towards us. "Be safe. You know where to go if anything happens."

"Yep." Destiny stepped outside of the tent, closely followed by Mark. For a while, both Luke and I were silent.

"I don't think I'll ever understand you, Luke," I finally said. My boyfriend looked at me strangely.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that whenever we're out in public- on a date, hanging out with friends, fighting Morganthe, whatever- you seem distant. It's almost like… like you don't really care about me. And then you go and pull something like this, and I'm confused all over a-" I was cut off as Luke kissed me gently on the lips. He touched my face, taking care not to bump my injury.

"Alexandra Firesong… I can't even tell you with words how much I love you. I know I'm not the best at showing emotions usually, but trust me, there is not one person in the entire Spiral that I care about more than you. No one," he whispered, stroking my cheek with his thumb. For the first time since we'd begun dating, I could finally see it. In Luke's velvet brown eyes, I could finally see something other than the cool amusement that he always seemed to wear like a mask. I could see in his eyes how much Luke cared. "I've never- I feel like whenever I try to tell you, I'm going to get it wrong, and you'll start hating me or-"

"Never," I interrupted. "The way you've been acting… it made me question if you loved me, Luke, since you never even said it. Even still, I would never be able to hate you."

"Well, I'm saying it now: Alex, I love you more than anything else in the entire Spiral. I will love you until I die, and when we get to the Titan World, I will still love you, even when we're dead." I smiled. A quiet beeping sound interrupted the silence in the tent, and I looked around for the source. My boyfriend held up a small timer. "I wanted to make sure I wouldn't forget to change your bandage."

"Oh. Right." I shoved the blanket away, noting that I still wore the black tunic and leggings I'd been wearing during the fight against Briony. Someone- I assumed Destiny- had kept my wound uncovered except for a thick white bandage, which had a small blood stain around the edge. When Luke carefully removed the bandage, I saw that the stab wound was still inflamed and an angry red color. A line of black stitches ran along it. "I look like Dr. Von's monster, or something like that," I joked, staring at the stitches.

"That happens to be my favorite spell," Luke replied, grinning as he opened the jar Destiny had given him. I wrinkled my nose as the thick, spicy scent reached me.

"It's not going to feel very good, is it?"

"Probably not, but I'll be careful." My boyfriend was true to his word; although the slippery greenish paste burned when it touched my semi-open wound, he was so gentle that I barely felt his hand when it touched the inflamed patch of skin.

"What- what's this stuff supposed to do?" I asked, squeezing my eyes shut against the pain.

"Destiny said that it'll draw the poison out of your body, and it should help speed up the healing process."

"Gotcha." He swiftly covered the wound with a fresh bandage. "Luke…" He glanced at me.

"Hmm?"

"What happened to you? When you were a kid, I mean." I hesitated. "Evan mentioned that he'd heard about your past, and he said it wasn't good, but I want to hear it from you." My boyfriend closed his eyes and exhaled slowly.

"I'll tell you someday soon, Alex, but for now I can't- I just- with you like this, I don't want to bring up those memories right now. Your friend was right about one thing: It isn't a pretty story, and you've got enough to worry about right now." He brushed the hair out of my face, which he studied intently. "You need to worry about getting better, okay? I'll tell you when you're healed." I nodded slowly.

"Okay. I trust you, so I can wait." Luke gave a small smile.

"Thank you, Alex." He bent down and kissed me a second time, and I smiled against his lips. I reached up to touch the side of his face, touching the small scar that ran from the corner of his eye to his ear. I pushed off his hood and pressed my hand to the back of his neck. The surface of his skin was strangely rough… it felt like there were lines on his neck, lines that felt remarkably similar to the scar on his face. I moved away from my boyfriend, who looked down at me in surprise.

"Luke, why are there scars on your neck?" I asked in a low voice. He frowned slightly.

"They're old." He glanced away from me, and I touched his shoulder.

"I'm sorry. It can wait." Luke visibly relaxed. He didn't say another word, but hugged me as best he could without touching my injured midsection. We were in the midst of a war and were constantly at risk, but for that one little piece of time, I felt completely safe.