Grrrr fanfic was acting up. I think some reviews for ch. 20 popped up as 19, because I wasn't able to view that chapter for a while too. Anyways, here are the review responses.
AREYOUBLEEPINGME: OH MY GAWD SILVERCARSTAIRS. YOU LITERALLY GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK! You little sneak! But an ingenious sneak with pure talent that is ;). You sure are clever, my friend. I was ready to type up another review response and express my heart, but then I read the rest of your review and PHEW. What a relief. That aside, thank you! As always, my friend! No more cliffies, I promise! Or do I? ;)
Vialovesbooks: Sorry! I just love them so much! Thank you :) I didn't really notice the HP thing until I read the reviews. Which is funny bc I just finished rereading #6 now.
The-Finale-Hope: Hahaha I love fangirl panic attacks! They're the best to read. Just continue to do it and make me happy :D
Slytherinavenger: Thank you! I love cliffies too :D Ahhhh our dashing hero must always come to the rescue. Distract yourself from math though! Enjoy this chappie :D
SilverJem5: Thank you so much! I'm glad you like this story so far. More twists and turns for fun! Hmmm, maybe I'll add a bit about Jem's past...
The most Awesome of all: No worries! I'll include their journey, but idk when. Enjoy this one!
Personorwhatever: Yeah, I didn't want to make it too long otherwise it would be pointless rambling. This one is the same way, though. But nevertheless, thank you! I just love dem twists, and you know that by now. Awww no! But cute guys are always a plus, especially one that you like. Something to look forward to :D Eep good luck with your next game then!
The Iron Sister: Clara, you're seriously one of the sweetest people ever. And quit apologizing for not reviewing! I'm just happy that you're reading this story, and that's all that counts :D. Anyways, I love just messing with people with the titles of chapters. It's fun. I'm glad you pay attention to the chapter titles though, haha. But yes, Nate and Mortmain can gladly rot away in Edom. Not Gabriel so much, though earlier, I would have been glad to dump him there with you. Good to know! About fillers. They're always not the best to write, but they're necessary for plot, development, blah blah blah. So yeah. Jessamine will probably surprise you, but she is good in this story. I decided to mix it up with her in the end. But def more Wessa to come! How could there not? Wessa is like my OTP and I would die without them. I mean it xD. So enjoy you're holiday! I hope you find wi-fi because idk what to do without it D: And nice use of your friend. You're mine too :)
Don't Touch My Books: Here's the next update! Thank you for your kind words! It means a lot :)
The elf from Alagesia: This is a long one, my friend! That's the point with Jessie, though. She ends up being a good character in the end of TID, so I wanted to bring out her best qualities. Yes, Elizabeth is her name! I'm not gonna do the Adele stuff because it's too complicated and I used that in my last story. As for Mortmain, it's all explained in this chapter. You're right though, it's more than just immortality and you'll find out soon. Idk if I'll put the origins of Sophie's scar in though... maybe I can squeeze it in later. But your advice definitely helped!
Mortmain stood there, frozen in his spot, the knife still pressed against Tessa's throat. She could feel the cool metal kissing her neck, itching to move across it. But Mortmain dared not to do so. She could feel his hand shaking, almost imperceptively. He certainly did not expect Will to come.
"Put the sword down Magister," Will said slowly. "Or should I say, Mortmain?"
With great reluctance, Mortmain lowered his sword, much to Tessa's surprise. He even loosened his grip on Tessa, and she let out a big exhale in slight relief.
"So Heron the Great finally decided to show up," Mortmain said. "What changed your mind? Was it the deal after all? I guess you're just the greedy bastard I expected you to be."
Will laughed. "Quite the opposite actually, Mortmain."
"Well, you don't know a damn this Gray girl is worth," Mortmain spat.
"Tessa is worth a lot more to me and the rest of the crew than she does to you," Will said, looking directly at Tessa. His dark blue eyes were filled with nothing but kindness and tenderness. Tessa wanted to do nothing more than to run over and embrace Will, but she couldn't under Mortmain's tight reign.
"Says who?" Mortmain roared. "You and you're puny army. Well take a look at mine."
There was a rustle, followed by a pattering of footsteps behind Tessa. She glanced over her shoulder to see ten… twenty… at least thirty men making their way through the shadows. She had never even noticed them there, and by judging by everyone else's expression, neither had them.
"I came prepared, I always do," Mortmain smiled evilly, turning back to Will and the others.
"There was supposed to be no fight in this," Will said. "And we were supposed to be alone."
"You brought your crew, and so did I," Mortmain said.
"My crew was part of the deal, and you know that," Will almost shouted. "Don't go back on your promise."
"And did you know that promise came at the price at her death?" Mortmain said, shaking Tessa violently.
"Stop," Will said, a deadly edge to his voice. "You never said that you were going to sacrifice Tessa as part of the promise."
"And what difference would that have made?" Mortmain scoffed at Will.
"All the difference in the world," Will said with so much emotion. "You told me to bring Tessa to you, and nothing else after that."
"I left it ambiguous for a reason," Mortmain sneered. "It proves that even the powerful Heron the Great is vulnerable. And for what? A petty girl who is worth more to me than to you."
"You don't know any of it," Will muttered, more to himself than anything.
"I don't care," Mortmain said. "And you don't even know my story. None of you know my story."
"Then enlighten us," Will said. Really Will? Tessa thought to herself. Was this really the time to waste? Though, she was curious herself…
"Once upon a time, fifty years ago, my father was one of the most notorious pirates in the lands and seas, even more than you, Heron the Great," Mortmain said. "He was known as the Hand of Death."
"Mortmain," Jem remarked. Tessa nearly forgot he was standing right there, beside Will. "It makes sense."
"Shut up, will you? This is my story," Mortmain barked. "Anyway, he did his duty as being the worst pirate. Killing, looting, raping, doing all the awful things to build his horrible reputation. But nevertheless, he was strong and powerful and many respected him for that. And naturally, he made enemies along the way. One of his worst adversaries was Aloysius Starkweather."
"My great grandfather," Tessa breathed. She had known, of course, that her great grandfather despised the Hand of Death, but never knew the actual reasons behind it.
"Precisely," Mortmain grinned. "One day, the two crossed paths and engaged in a quarrel of some sorts. This argument turned into something more, and soon, my father was left dying and everything he had earned over the years was completely destroyed. This single man ruined my father and wished him dead.
"But, by some miracle, my father did not die. He went into hiding, found a wife, had me, and started his own company, Mortmain and Company. But never once did he forget about Aloysius Starkweather and how he had ruined my father. So my father paid vengeance. He died before he could act upon it, but I was fully cognizant of what needed to be completed.
"And timing was perfect. The Starkweathers were rather a weakening family, but Aloysius married his granddaughter, Elizabeth, to Richard Gray of the very powerful Gray family. The alliance strengthened both families and called for the opportune moment to plan my revenge.
"It took me over twenty years, but it has been twenty hard and long years. And it has certainly paid off now. In that time, I posed myself as a strong ally to the Grays and forged a network of building my company stronger, becoming the Gray's most powerful trader. At the time I received inside secrets. That Nate was not really Richard and Elizabeth's child, but rather Tessa was. That was the most important one. And I knew I needed her to complete this ritual.
"Together, with Miss Gray, this stone basin in Cadair Idris, and the Gray family treasure, everything is complete. All I have to do is sacrifice Miss Gray before the basin, and then I, and only I, will become immortal. Once that is complete, I will be invincible and I will fully take revenge and bring down the Gray family, killing all in my wake. I can take over their kingdom, and everything will be mine."
"You're crazy," Will said. "That will never happen."
"Oh yeah?" Mortmain yelled. "And who's going to stop me?"
Unexpectedly, there was a scream of pain and one of Mortmain's men slid down to his knees, crumpling to his death. There was a sword wedged squarely in his chest. Tessa glanced around to see who had done it.
Gabriel Lightwood stood there, his stance ready to strike again. "I will," he said. "And so will everyone else. Go!"
And then, pure chaos erupted.
Gabriel, Gideon, Charlotte, Henry, and the rest of the crew ran towards Mortmain's men, swords at the ready. Mortmain started shouting out orders to his men, forgetting that Tessa was there. Tessa took advantage of this and begun to back away. She was so focused on Mortmain that she rammed into someone.
"Ah!" Tessa said, and someone put a hand over her mouth. She spun around to see she was staring right into dark blue eyes.
"Tess, shhhh," Will said.
"Will!" Tessa exclaimed, and threw her arms around him. "How did you find us so fast?"
"It's a long story that we shall save for later," Will said hurriedly. "Here's your sword." He handed her Needle. He must have retrieved it among all this fighting. "Do you remember all the moves that I taught you?"
"How could I forget?" Tessa smiled.
"That's my Tess," Will quickly kissed her temple. "Now, let's go."
He ran off into the brawl, where it was a hodgepodge of his and Mortmain's people fighting intensely. Tessa sighed and went after them. She had almost reached the fighting when someone yanked her roughly by the shoulder, sending her to the ground.
"You stupid bitch," Nate growled, and kicked Tessa in the ribs. Tessa let out a yelp of pain. "You can't fight, so I'll just leave you here for Mortmain to finish."
"You can't kill me," Tessa choked, scrambling to get up. "Mortmain wants me alive."
"Alive doesn't mean uninjured," Nate said, mania flickering in his light blue eyes.
Tessa yelled and struck out to him. Nate's reflexes were too slow, and Tessa left a deep gash on his upper right arm.
"How dare you," Nate said, horror-struck.
"How could you, Nate?" Tessa said, her eyes brimming with tears. "I loved you, and I trusted you. My mother and father treated you like a child of their own."
"Child of their own," Nate retorted in disgust. "You were never there when they showed their true colors, Tessie. You were always their favorite and I was just a mere ward they were desperate to get rid of. They could never love me."
"You're wrong," Tessa shook her head. "And you're delusional. Maybe mother and father were right about you sometimes."
"They hated me, see," Nate snarled. "And you're a stupid girl, as always."
Tessa charged at him, and punched him hard. Nate countered, and kicked her down again, throwing more punches. Tessa was quick enough to evade these, and each punch met with a crushing blow to the rocks for Nate.
"You're better than I thought, Tessie," Nate said, rubbing his sore knuckles. "But you're no match for me." He suddenly grabbed her legs and slammed her against the hard rocks. Tessa's body erupted with pain in every inch.
"Now, prepare to die," Nate said, drawing out his own sword.
Before Tessa could protest this and tell him to save her for Mortmain, the cave shook. Tessa thought it was a figment of her imagination, but Nate looked along in alarm. Tessa propped herself on her elbows to see what was going on.
"Tessa!" Will shouted, breaking away from the fight. "Duck!"
Tessa didn't understand what he meant by this. Will ran to her and pulled her to the ground, his body over hers. The cave continued to shake, and bits of rock went flying anywhere. Will and Tessa were huddled to the side, and Will shielded her from most of the quake. When it was over, Will collapsed beside her, breathing heavily.
"Are you okay?" he asked between ragged breaths.
"I'm fine," Tessa said. There was not a scratch on her. "Will you be alright, Will?"
"Nothing will damage this beautiful face," Will smirked, and Tessa knew he would be fine.
She looked away from him to where she and Nate were fighting. A lot of Mortmain's men lay dying beneath the loose rocks that had fallen. Cecily, Gabriel, Gideon, Charlotte, Henry, Jessamine, Magnus, and Jem arose from their spots with little or no injuries. Naturally, Mortmain was fine, but was in a daze.
Then, a few feet from where she was fighting lay Nate, spread-eagle. Tessa scrambled to her feet and limped to where Nate lay down. As she approached, she could see that his breathing had slowed and was shallow and ragged.
"Nate?" she said gently.
"Tessie," Nate croaked.
"Nate," she rushed over and propped him up, placing his head on her lap."
"Tessie, I'm so sorry," Nate mumbled.
"Shhh, save your strength," Tessa said quietly.
"This cave wasn't meant to hold so many people," Nate said. "I deserve this. Better me than you. This was meant for me, not you."
"Nate, don't say those things," Tessa chided him softly.
"You know it's true, Tessie," Nate said. "And what an awful brother I was. I mean it, Tessie. I was family to you, and I betrayed you. I guess this is vengeance to myself."
"Nate please don't," Tessa said.
"I must," Nate said. "Tell mother and father that I've always loved you. Goodbye, Tessie."
And with that, Nate went slack in her arms and he died.
Tessa held back the tears that were threatening to spill out. He had been her brother after all, but did he really mean for things to go out of hand? Daring not to think too much into it, Tessa turned and glanced around her. Those that survived were emerging from the rubble. None of them, though, noticed what had happened between her and Nate.
And then she saw Mortmain. In all that occurred, he was unscathed, evidently not participating in battle. The moonlight from above illuminated him, making him appear more ancient than he actually was.
Tessa rose from her spot, gently setting Nate's still body down. She was ready. Now was the time to face Mortmain fair and square and put an end to this madness.
Didn't see that coming, did you? I thought Mortmain deserved more of a back story. He is the primary villain, after all, an they all must have their motives. So there you have it.
So be prepared for more action in the next chapter! School is starting next week, so I'm hoping to finish this story by then. If not, then expect infrequent updates. So yeah.
Review, favorite, follow, and all that!
Later peeps!
~The Pale Red Queen