Chapter 29: Here's to You, Queen of All
Note: Same drill as before. If you see this (XXXXXX) you may skip.
Mike's eyes had not even opened yet, but he could tell he was currently lying on a bed. There was a bright light shining down on him, making it difficult to adjust his eyes and get a proper look at his current surroundings. The fact that his head hurt beyond anything else made his progress take much longer than he would have liked.
He groaned as he began to sit up on the bed. A wave of pain went of his spine, but it was brief and did not impede his progress by a large margin. The new position allowed him to look down away from the blinding light, making the process of regaining his eyesight much easier. He tried rub the bridge of his nose but immediately put his arm back down when his metal arm proved to be too cold at the moment to touch his skin.
Once Mike's eyes fully opened and he was able to see his own legs, he raised his head and took a look at his current location.
It was the same prison that had been used to imprison Finn for the past year. The only reason he knew about it was because it was the only reason he had not gone to attack Finn sooner than he initially did. He could see his own reflection in the glass walls, along with the pulsating red light of the camera currently used to monitor his actions. However, the most noteworthy thing in the entire room was Victor sitting outside of the cell's door, and Scrap standing right next to him.
The leader of the Sentinels looked at Mike with no emotion in his eyes. His back was hunched forward as he crossed both of his hands' fingers together while tapping his foot on the floor. Despite his year of absence, Mike could tell not much had changed with the old Sentinel.
"Awake, are we?" Victor asked.
Mike sat with his legs over the side of the bed and responded while looking at the floor.
"How long have I been out?"
"Two days unconscious; an entire year presumed dead."
"You've been waiting on that chair for two days for me to wake up?"
Victor stood up and walked closer to the glass.
"Scrap here has been monitoring you," he explained while gesturing at the robot. "We were certain you would wake up soon. But we're not here to talk about that, are we?"
Mike scoffed and stood up from the bed, walking closer to the glass as well so he was directly facing Victor.
"Victor… I had no choice but to do what I did. Cypher-"
"Has your son, I know. Finn told us quite the story."
"Then you know why you can't keep me locked up in here."
"Actually, it's the entire reason why I can't let you leave that cell, Mike."
Mike narrowed his eyes at Victor, but the leader had no reaction.
"Where is Finn?" he asked in a low growl.
"The whereabouts of the other Sentinels are of no concern to you. As far as they're concerned, you're just a random prisoner who is not to be interacted with for the duration of his sentence."
Mike leaned in and rested both of his arms against the glass.
"And how long is said sentence?"
"As long as it has to be. In your current state you're too much of a danger to anybody."
"Victor… I can't just let Cypher keep my son prisoner…"
"And as long as the only way to get him back is for you to kill more innocents, you stay locked away in here, Mike. As much as it pains me to do so, I can't take any chances."
"He's gonna kill Ethan and you know it!" Mike shouted as he banged one of his fists against the glass, barely making a scratch on the hard material.
Victor remained quiet for a few seconds as Mike calmed down and his fist slid down the glass.
"Tell me, Mike. Knowing Cypher, what makes you so sure that Ethan is even still alive? For all you know, he killed him as soon as he was sure he could keep control over you with such a simple lie."
"No… He's alive and he's waiting every single day for me to get back to him. I know he is!"
"To be precise," Scrap began saying, "the overall chances of the child being alive under the Syndicate's custody is very low."
Tears were dripping down Mike's cheeks, but his expression was still one of anger.
"And what about Finn's friend? The dog, Jake?" Mike asked.
Victor looked back up at the camera then back at Mike.
"It's the same situation with probably the same result," he said. "But at least Finn remains a true soldier."
Victor and Scrap turned and began to walk away, leaving Mike standing against the glass as he watched them leave him by himself in imprisonment.
The security was packed with people looking at the conversation through the camera. Finn, Phoebe, Nora, Christine, Angie, Erik, Sasha, and the twins all looked at the screen giving them a full view of the situation between Victor and Mike.
As the leader and the robot walked out of the room, Mike punched the glass again and screamed in anger, throwing a few more kicks at the bed and breaking the glass of the shower inside. Angie, who was sitting in front of everyone managing the console, turned off the audio and left them only with the images of Mike frustratingly pace around the cell.
Angie turned her chair around to face the rest of the group and sighed.
"Well, I think it's safe to say this situation is rather… interesting."
"I'm not entirely sure 'interesting' is the word I would use right now, Angie," Nora said.
"Of course not, Your Majesty," Angie said as she turned back to the screen. "It's just me rambling…"
"I still can't believe it," Christine said. "Mike…"
"Well, believe it," Erik said. "Because our so called 'friend' is alive and is working with the enemy."
"He's being forced to, Erik," Sasha replied. "It's not his fault. Wouldn't you do the same in his position?"
"It's tragic, I know. But he's putting all of Olympia in danger. Not just his son."
"One thing is for certain," Phoebe said. "Getting Mike back isn't gonna get us any further in getting to Cypher. If what he told Finn is true, we can forget about getting him to tell us his whereabouts."
"What do you think, Finn?" Nora asked.
Finn had remained quiet throughout the entire time they were watching Victor and Mike. He was standing on the far corner of the room, with his pointer finger against his mouth in thought.
"The same situation with the same result," he said, quoting Victor about Jake. "Those were his words. And I hate to admit… he might be right."
"What do you mean?" Sasha asked.
"From what I know of Cypher so far, he likes to toy with people rather than just kill them. If he wanted to keep me and Mike in check, it would make sense that he would keep Jake and Ethan alive in his custody. But now that all he wants is to kill me…"
"He doesn't need Jake anymore," Alan said.
"And he could have killed both him and Ethan by now," Elaine added.
"Exactly," Finn replied.
Before anyone else could continue the conversation, Victor walked into the room with Scrap. He closed the door behind him and sighed as he leaned his back against the same, rubbing the bridge of his nose in the process.
"These past few days have been a nightmare," he said. "Mike being alive. A building destroyed causing a lot of deaths and a lot more to be injured. And to top it all off… there are some in Olympia who blame us for the disaster."
"What?!" Erik asked. "Why would they?! It's Cypher's fault that all this happened, not us!"
"Our involvement was noticed by a lot of people. Everyone is afraid and there's no shortage to the questions being asked to us. Whether we were somehow a part of the attack, or if our involvement triggered it, not many people trust us anymore."
"As long as Christine and I draw breath they have every reason to fully trust us," Nora said. "An attack like this could not have been avoided with or without our involvement. In fact, I think it's safe to say that if we hadn't done something, far worse could have come to pass."
"True," Victor replied. "But it doesn't help that our mission in Ruby District, despite giving us the chance to get Mike, was a failure. We know nothing of the Syndicate's plans nor where they're hiding. We are chasing our own tails in the dark… But there's nothing we can do but wait. In the meantime until we can strike back, I suggest we all prepare. I'll continue to see if I can get any further information out of Mike if he has any."
"Would you require my assistance in this endeavor?" Scrap asked.
"I would very much appreciate it," Victor turned to the rest of the group. "I think we're done here for now."
Everyone nodded and Victor stepped aside for everyone else to leave the room. Finn and Phoebe were the last to leave after Victor did, and Angie decided to stay behind for a bit longer with Scrap. When in the hallway, Finn put both of his hands behind his back and sighed.
He had both of his eyes closed and was slightly startled when he felt Phoebe wrap her arms around him from behind, resting her head on his shoulder.
"You're still worried about what Victor said about Jake, aren't you?"
"Yeah."
Phoebe turned him around so he was facing her and cupped his cheek.
"We'll find him, Finn. I have faith we will."
Finn placed his own hand above hers and looked towards the ground.
"I just hope he's alive when we do."
"He will be. Now come on, let's join the others."
Phoebe began to walk down the hall but stopped when she noticed Finn was not following her. She turned to find out he was looking at the direction that Victor had gone.
"There's something I need to do," he said as he briefly turned to her and began walking in the opposite direction. "I'll join you soon!" he shouted as he disappeared around the corner at the end of the hall before Phoebe could ask any questions.
After taking the same rout he always took, Finn ended up in front of the door to Victor's office. He knocked on the door several times before heading in, only to find Victor staring at the fish in his fish tank.
"What brings you here, Finn?" Victor asked without looking away from his tank. "It's barely five minutes since the meeting ended."
"With all due respect, Victor," Finn said as he closed the door behind him, "was it really necessary to taunt Mike like that?"
Victor looked towards him with a raised eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
"'Finn still remains a true soldier'. It's like you're trying to make him hate me more despite already wanting to kill me. Not to mention bringing my brother into this was uncalled for. I don't think being harsh on Mike is the correct way to go about this."
"Are you gonna lecture me on how to treat traitors?"
"He's not a traitor, sir. He's just-"
"Yeah, yeah, being forced to. I know. Don't misunderstand me, Finn, I know exactly what Mike is going through right now. But killing other people just to save one more is not the answer, no matter how close that person might be. I'll do whatever it takes if it means getting any kind of information out of Mike that'll lead us to Cypher."
"The let me talk to him."
"Out of the question. If what you told us is correct, it'll be hard enough as it is to get Mike to talk about anything. He won't budge as long as he believes his son's life is in danger."
"And if it really is?"
Victor turned his head back to the fish bowl and sighed.
"Then our job becomes that much harder. I hate to say this, I really do, but if Ethan is still alive… we may have lost Mike completely. We can only get him back if we somehow rescue his son… or get proof of his death if it did indeed come."
Finn quickly sat up on his bed as he took a large breath of air into his lungs. His skin was drenched in sweat and it passed onto the bed. His breathing slowed over the course of a few seconds as he looked around the dark room, finding all still intact and nothing changed. He rubbed his eye, only knowing that he had a nightmare, though he failed to remember most of it.
The time on his clock read 8:13 AM, a lot later than he would have liked to get up. Then again, he had been going to bed at a very late hour recently, and it lead to short amounts of rest. Despite still feeling tired, he removed his sheets and stood up from the bed, shivering from the feeling of his feet touching the cold floor.
When he entered the shower in the bathroom, he only rinsed himself with water for a few minutes to refresh himself before stepping back out, not bothering to use any soap. Afterwards, he brushed his teeth and went out of the bathroom to put on his power armor, ready to start yet another day.
The past two weeks after Mike woke up were a mixture of boredom, worry, and frustration all in one. The Syndicate made no other moves on the Sentinels ever since the attack; the queen had been keeping herself preoccupied with the matter of said attack; and questioning Mike about anything proved futile in the endeavor to see if he could provide something of use. Unfortunately, it was always the same answer: he knew absolutely nothing about Cypher's whereabouts or his plans.
Finn would often go into the security room to look at Mike through the cameras since he was not allowed to go inside the room. Mike spent most of his days just pacing back and forth. Every time food was brought to him, he would barely eat any of it. However, he decided it was best to leave Mike be for the day as he made his way to the dining hall.
The only person inside was Phoebe, reading something placed on the table that was out of Finn's view. She turned her head when he heard him come in and smiled, putting away whatever she was reading.
"Hey," she greeted. "Look who's finally up."
"Sorry. I must've overslept a bit."
"You didn't miss much. There's nothing going on, as usual. I was gonna wake you up, but Victor said you would need your rest for tonight."
Finn nodded. Tonight there was going to be a royal ball at the palace, the same Christine had mentioned to Finn once. It was originally supposed to take place the week before, but the events that transpired in Ruby District kept everyone far too busy. Plus, it was thought that having a ball so soon after such an attack would be in poor taste.
"What do you have there?" Finn asked as he sat down next to Phoebe, referring to whatever she had in front of her when he walked in.
Phoebe sighed and passed over what turned out to be a newspaper. The front cover was an article about the disaster at Ruby District, but the newspaper itself was dated for three days after the attack.
"It says there were over seventy-six deaths caused by the building collapsing," Phoebe said.
"Why are you still reading this?"
"It's like Victor once said: there are some people that blame us for it. And maybe they're right."
"It wasn't our fault, Phoebe," Finn said as he leaned closer. "Cypher blew up his own building."
"To try and get us. I know there was no possible way of predicting it, but it could've been avoided if we never got involved. Say what you want, but getting Mike back and taking out just one of the Syndicate's lackeys just doesn't seem worth it to me after how many people paid the price."
"It's been going on like that ever since we started on this course. But it's only gonna get worse if we just sit around doing nothing."
"I know that. But just how many more will die, though?"
Finn pressed his lips together and tapped the table in thought, trying to find a suitable answer.
"I really wanna say that none will. But I don't know," he answered as Phoebe turned her gaze back to the newspaper. He moved his chair closer to hers wrapped his arm around her. "Come on, cheer up. People are just scared. I guarantee that once we bring Cypher down, everyone will be a whole lot better for the two of us."
Phoebe smiled and she leaned up to lovingly kiss him. They stopped after a few seconds and Finn pushed away a strand of hair that had fallen over her face.
"You know, once things calm down a bit. How about I take you on another date? Hopefully one that doesn't end in a fight."
"Fight or not, I would like that," she replied while rubbing his cheek with her hand. "Come on, we should join the others."
Finn nodded and unwrapped his arm from her. Both stood up and went on to wait out until nighttime arrived.
The day went by a lot quicker than Finn was expecting. Guests were already beginning to arrive at the palace and he and the other Sentinels were posted outside of the entrance as the queen greeted them all, with Christine standing by her side as well. Aside from the Sentinels, the palace was also being guarded by a multitude of armed Vanguard soldiers alongside the stone path people used to walk.
Finn had been to the palace on only one occasion, and he had forgotten how enormous and beautiful the structure was. All of the lights illuminating the front courtyard and the front of the palace gave the entire area a unique look. I also helped that the moon was shining above, looking huge since the entire city was flying in the sky.
Angie had assigned Scrap the duty of verifying everyone's invitations as they came through the glass tunnel that led to the palace. While everyone was initially creeped out by the robot when it asked for their invitations, they shrugged it off soon after they were done.
Everyone, except the Sentinels and Vanguard, were wearing fancy clothing as expected. All of the men wore black tuxedos while the women wore dresses of many different colors. The music that was playing inside by a small orchestra group could be heard outside; every violin, every clarinet, and every bass instrument.
Victor and Phoebe stood next to Finn on both sides. Finn leaned in closer to the Sentinel leader, and he leaned in as well to listen.
"Quite the gathering," Finn said.
"Indeed. Though, while it may look like a party, the queen is gonna have her hands full dealing with so many bureaucrats."
"I imagine not many people are too happy to see us here either."
"Probably. But we can hope this night goes by smoothly without any sort of trouble. I have a feeling it'll be a long night for us."
Once all of the guests arrived and Nora finished greeting them all, she breathed a sigh of relief and walked inside of the palace with Christine, prompting all of the Sentinels to follow behind.
Everyone separated and went to different areas of the main room once inside. The small orchestra that Finn heard from outside was playing in front of the throne. The statue of the Ziz Bird stood just as proudly as it ever did, being illuminated by lights pointed up from the ground on both sides of the orchestra's stage. And aside from the music, the room was filled with the sound of people talking to one another.
Finn slightly jumped when Phoebe tapped him on the back, knocking him out of his trance. He turned to face her and found that Angie was with her as well.
"Angie needs me to go help out with a few things," Phoebe said. "Are you going to be alright on your own?"
Finn scoffed.
"Who do you think you're talking to?" Finn asked.
"That's exactly why I ask the question."
"I'll be fine. Don't worry. You go and do whatever it is you have to."
Phoebe smiled and followed Angie as the two women walked off. His eyes were brought to the front of the room towards the orchestra, who had stopped playing their music as Nora stepped up with microphone in her hand, both of her white armored bodyguards standing beside her. Everyone stopped their conversations to listen to the queen as she brought the microphone closer to her mouth.
"I'd like to thank all of you once again for coming," she said. "I know these past few weeks have not been the absolute best. The tragedy in Ruby District was a despicable event, and people from all districts were affected by it. Unfortunately, all we can do now is pray for all those that were lost."
Nora was handed a glass of liquor and she raised it a few inches over her head.
"A toast to Olympia and all the humans who inhabit her. Long may she soar the skies."
Everyone raised their own glasses and drank from them after her speech was over. When Nora stepped off from the stage, the music continued playing and she was beginning to be talked to as soon as she began walking through the crowd.
Finn sighed and simply looked around the room, searching for anything that might prove useful of him during the event.
"And that's how all of his hair was burned clean off his head," Angie ended the story she was telling Phoebe as she worked on one of the broken lights inside the room.
"Wow. I had no idea you were engaged once," Phoebe said.
"He was a sweetheart. But that's what you get when you invite someone over to your work. A lab like mine is a dangerous place to be in. To be honest, him breaking up with me didn't affect me as much as I thought it would. I just kinda… shrugged it off by continuing to work some more. Screwdriver."
Phoebe reached into small toolbox lying next to her and handed Angie the tool she asked for.
"And you never dated anyone else afterwards?" Phoebe asked.
"Nah. I figured after that whole scenario that romance just wasn't for me. Especially when they start talking about having… ugh… kids."
"You don't like kids?"
"I do. But not when they're entrusted to me twenty-four seven. I am not the safest person for a kid to around with. If only Seph was still here, he could tell you."
"What do you mean?"
Angie placed the screwdriver on the ground after she was done with it.
"Seph joined when he was very young, but Cypher was younger. Until he came to the age when he could finally wield a sword, he was left under my charge in my lab. He was real pest, but not as much as he was now. Sadly, Cypher was the closest thing I ever had to an actual son, and looked where it turned out."
"I'm sure you had nothing to do with what happened to him."
"I'm not saying that… well, mostly. My point is, I never saw myself as a motherly figure. And at my current age, I still don't."
The light Angie worked on suddenly burst to life, and it illuminated another part of the room. Angie stood from the ground after she was done and wiped some of the sweat from her brows.
"Hear my advice," Angie said as she placed a hand on Phoebe's shoulder. "If you and Finn ever decide to be parents, don't let your children's hair get burned off."
Phoebe's eyes widened and a fairly noticeable blush came over her cheeks.
"I… I think it's a bit early to talking about that kind of stuff, Angie."
"It's never too early. Always be prepared for the future. Besides, I think you're both old enough to be making your own decisions."
Phoebe gulped and exhaled.
"Are we finished here?" she asked while gesturing to the fixed light.
"Yep. We should probably…"
Ange stopped talking as he eyes trailed behind Phoebe. She was confused about her behavior, and decided to turn around to where she was looking.
"What are you looking at?" Phoebe asked.
"Let's go somewhere else," Angie replied as she grabbed Phoebe by the arm before she could get a good look and began to pull her away.
"Angie?!"
Before Phoebe could ask what was wrong, the female voice that called Angie's name from behind them caused her to stop in her tracks and wince. When the two women turned around, they were met with another woman wearing a black dress; who looked an awful lot like Angie except for having a lighter shade of black hair.
Angie forced a smile on her face.
"Brenda!" Angie asked, pretending to sound excited.
"I should have expected to find you here," Brenda replied. "And of course your hands would be dirty."
Angie looked down at her hands that were still covered with the stains from working with the light. A little girl walked in from the crowd next to Brenda and stood next to her, wearing a smaller version of her dress and keeping the same hairstyle. She looked more or less to be at least nine years old.
"Aunt Angie?!" the girl asked excitedly.
"Hey, Melissa!" Angie greeted. "My, my, you've gotten taller since we last saw each other."
Melissa giggled and started walking towards Angie, but Brenda held her back.
"I see not much has changed with you, however," Brenda said.
"I've been very busy lately," Angie replied. "I don't exactly have the luxury of gaining some manners when I'm helping to protect our queen."
Brenda chuckled.
"We both know you're not an actual Sentinel, Angie," she said. "But we're not here to talk about professions, who is this with you?"
Angie motioned to Phoebe.
"This is Phoebe," Angie said. "A fellow Sentinel. Phoebe, this is Brenda. My sister, in case you couldn't tell by now."
"And the only person on the family that wasn't completely senseless," Brenda said. "Our parents always saw you as a genius, but look at you. Working on repairing lights. Defending our queen, indeed. Oh, what's wrong, dear sister?"
Phoebe looked over to Angie, who was gritting her teeth as one of her eyebrows was twitching.
"Well… I'm… so happy… that you are happy," Angie replied, forcing a smile.
"Hmm. Melissa, say good-bye to your aunt," Brenda told her daughter.
"Bye, Angie," Melissa said sadly as Brenda walked away with her.
Once she was gone, Angie brought both of her hands over her mouth and muffled her loud scream.
"Are you okay?" Phoebe asked.
"I swear, if it wasn't for Melissa, I would've strangled that woman right then and there," Angie replied, still gritting her teeth.
"You two don't see eye-to-eye very often, huh?"
"That obvious? Anyway, I've wasted enough of your time. You may go about your business while I go and punch a wall somewhere."
Phoebe nodded as Angie began to walk away, opening and closing both of her fists. After she was out of sight, Phoebe looked around the crowd to try and find Finn, if she could even get past the numerous amount of people.
XXXXXX
Christine was nervous beyond any measure. She had not seen Nora since she stopped giving her speech in front of everyone, and the thought of her mother seeing her standing next to Sandra scared her a lot more than it should have. The two women were standing in the far side of the room where the crowd was the least dense. Their backs were placed against the wall behind them as both looked around the room at the other guests.
Sandra was drinking a glass of wine while Christine drank a simple glass of water. Despite Sandra offering some of her drink, Christine had never taken a liking to the flavor. However, whatever she was currently drinking was the least of her concerns as she was too busy looking around the room for her mother, taking a few quick drinks of water every few seconds.
Her strange behavior was noticed by Sandra, and the black dress wearing woman tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention.
"Christine, are you feeling okay?" Sandra sked.
"Of course," Christine quickly replied. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"You seem kinda nervous."
"I'm fine, Sandra. Just a little tired, I guess."
"I didn't think the hands of tired people shook so much."
Christine looked down at the hand that held her water glass, noticing the water fidgeting inside. She took a deep breath to calm herself.
"I'm just nervous about you meeting my mother. She's excited but… still."
Sandra took a sip from her wine and exhaled. She placed her hand on Christine shoulder, prompting the princess to look at her.
"Christine…" Sandra said, "The queen doesn't really know about us, does she?"
Christine opened her mouth to speak, but her lips only shook and she bowed her head, not daring to look at her lover in the face.
"I'm sorry, Sandra. I do love you, but I couldn't bring myself to tell her. I don't know how she would possibly react if…"
"Do you really believe she would be opposed? Nora has always seemed like an understanding person."
Christine bit her lip.
"I don't-"
"Christine."
The princess was startled when Nora's voice called out to her as she walked towards her. Some people tried speaking to her but she kindly declined them for the time being as she stood in front of the other two women.
"Mom," Christine said, "I thought you were speaking to the guests."
"I just wanted to make sure my daughter was enjoying herself."
Before Christine could reply, Sandra interrupted her by snatching the glass of water from her hand, holding it beside her own wine glass.
"I'll get us some more drinks," she said while smiling then turned to Nora. "It was nice to see you in person, Your Majesty. My name is Sandra. I'm a friend of Christine."
Christine was afraid if what she meant by "friend" was true or not, but she allowed herself to force a smile.
"Yeah, we've hung out sometimes."
"Would you like to get you a drink as well?"
Nora smiled.
"I'm quite alright. It's nice to meet you as well, Sandra," she said.
Sandra slightly bowed her head before she walked off to get more drinks for them. As much as she hated seeing her go, Christine was also relieved it was just her and her mother for the time being. When the princess turned her attention back to Nora, the queen was speaking with her personal guards.
"I wish to speak to my daughter in private. Would you mind giving us a moment?"
The two soldiers bowed their heads and walked away, standing just far enough to where they could not hear the two women speaking.
"What is it, Mom?" Christine asked, wondering why she had ordered her guards away.
When Nora turned her attention back to Christine, her expression was stern.
"I barely know Sandra, so I don't know what to expect of her. But I never expected my own daughter to be a liar."
Christine was shocked by Nora's words.
"A liar?! What… what do you mean?"
"I have a feeling Sandra is more than just a friend. And don't try to deny it, Christine. Lying to your own mother is not as easy as you might think it is."
Christine was left completely dumbfounded. She had no idea how to respond to her mother about the topic she had brought up. In that moment, Christine knew her life was over.
"I… I didn't… Mom, I'm so…"
She lowered her head and sniffed, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Just before they did, however, Nora raised her head by gently grabbing her chin. And this time, she had smile on her face.
"Oh, sweetie, I think it's wonderful," Nora said.
Christine's watery eyes widened in surprise to her mother's reaction.
"You… you do?"
"Of course. You can love whoever you want, Christine. Even if I would have disapproved, you shouldn't let my opinion get in the way of being with the one you love."
Christine slightly chuckled and wiped away the single tear that managed to escape her eye.
"But how did you even know?" she asked.
"It's the way your eyes look whenever you see her. I've had the same experience in my life, and I can tell when someone is special to you."
"So… Sandra and I can stay together?"
"Of course."
Nora was thrown back a bit when Christine wrapped her arms around her, burying her face in her shoulder.
"Thank you."
Nora smiled and wrapped her own arms around her daughter.
"I love you, Christine. And I only want you to be happy. Always remember that."
The two women separated from the hug and Christine sniffed again.
"Thanks, Mom. I love you too."
"Now, I have to go find your brother. You enjoy the party, sweetie." Christine nodded and Nora began to walk away, but turned her head back to her daughter before she got far. "By the way, you should invite Sandra over for dinner sometime. I would love to get to know her better."
Christine chuckled and Nora walked away, meeting with her personal guards as they waited for her. Only a few seconds after, Sandra arrived once more with refilled glasses of wine and water.
"How did it go?" she asked as she handed the glass of water to Christine.
Christine looked up at her and leaned in to give her a gentle kiss, which Sandra returned.
"It went perfectly."
XXXXXX
After what felt like forever, Phoebe was able to find Finn standing among the crowd of people. She carefully squeezed her way through a few more guests that stood in her way until she managed to get behind him, tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention and making him turn around.
"Ah, there you are," Finn said. "Were you able to help Angie?"
"If you could even call handing her tools to fix a light helping, then yes," Phoebe replied. "What have you been doing?"
"Just making sure no one tries anything funny. But everything seems to be going pretty well so far."
"Do you really think Cypher would try something here? I mean, the place is guarded by Vanguards soldiers everywhere."
"I wouldn't put it past him."
"I guess we're stuck in here for the entire night, then."
Finn smiled and placed his hand on Phoebe's shoulder.
"You know, I haven't checked for anything suspicious outside," he said. "Care to help me out?"
Phoebe smiled as well.
"I think that's a good idea. There's too many people in here for my taste."
Finn grabbed Phoebe's hand and led her across the room and through the crowd. They walked towards the stage where the orchestra was playing and walked around, going through the doors that led deeper inside the palace.
There were several attendants through the hallway as well, trying to get away from the large crowds as well, Finn had no doubt. He had never been too far inside of the palace, so he trusted his gut when trying to figure out which way to go. And Phoebe was completely oblivious as to where exactly the entire time they walked through the halls.
Multiple Vanguard soldiers walked past them along the way, paying the two Sentinels no mind as they went about their duties. It was not long before they reached the doors that led to the outside to the palace's rear exterior. Finn pushed open the doors, and both were mesmerized by the sight before them.
Finn had only seen the palace's enormous backyard once during his initial flight with Victor over Olympia. However, from the ground it looked more like a garden than a backyard. The two of them were currently standing on a stone balcony, which gave them a full view of the area.
All of the trees were neatly trimmed and not a single one stood out from the rest of them. Each tree was decorated with different flowers of a variety of colors. Stone paths were laid out for anyone who wanted to take a walk across the gardens, all leading up to a fountain in the very center. The fountain itself had lights that made the water grow bright in the dark, and was decorated with smaller versions of the Ziz Bird statue in the throne room. And all of it was splendidly illuminated by the large moon in the sky.
"It's beautiful," Phoebe said.
"Yeah, it is," Finn replied.
Finn turned his head so he could see Phoebe's reaction. But upon doing so, he witnessed something that was much more surprising than the gardens. He tapped Phoebe on the shoulder and pointed in the direction, making her look and become just as surprised as he was.
Erik and Sasha were both on the other side of the balcony, Sasha with her back against the wall as she and Erik kissed each other passionately.
Finn cleared his throat loudly so the two of them would know they were there. Sasha was the first to open her eyes, taking a deep breath of surprise through her nose as she pushed Erik away. Erik was confused at first until he also saw the two standing on the balcony watching them. Both of their cheeks were deep red at this point.
"Guys!" Erik said as he rubbed the back of his head. "Hehe. What a surprise."
"I would say," Phoebe said while smirking.
"We were just, umm… making our way back inside," Sasha said as an excuse to leave. "Come on, Erik."
Sasha grabbed Erik's hand and pulled him towards the door leading back inside as the four of them avoided eye contact. Once Erik and Sasha were both gone, Finn and Phoebe looked at each other and began laughing as they walked to the edge of the stone balcony.
"Well, that was certainly shocking," Phoebe said as she leaned her hands on the stone railing.
"I mean, I kinda expected it…" Finn replied as he also leaned against the railing.
Phoebe rested her head on his shoulders while looking at the gardens.
"At least now we have this view all to ourselves," she said.
"Everyone inside is gonna be looking for us soon."
"Let them wait. I'm sure a few minutes out here won't do any harm."
Finn wrapped his arm around Phoebe and pulled her closer, placing a kiss on the top of her head. Apparently, even Olympia had crickets as well because their sounds could be heard through the entire gardens despite them not being visible. The sound of water from the fountain was faint, but it was still present in the air despite the rest of the noise.
The couple remained in each other's arms for a while, neither wanting to step away from the other. They're armor was not exactly the appropriate attire to be wearing for such and occasion, but neither of them minded it in the slightest.
"Finn, remember that second date you told me about earlier?" Phoebe asked.
"What about it?"
Phoebe raised her head from Finn's shoulder so she could see his face.
"I think this works out just fine."
She wrapped her arms around Finn's neck, pulled him closer, and pressed her own lips against his as they closed their eyes. Finn helped deepen the kiss by placing his own hands on her hips. Both of them only had less than a second to catch their breath when their mouths separated before going back to kissing. Despite believing he had full control of his legs, Finn made them take a few steps away from the railing just in case either tripped, which became more of a possibility as Phoebe bent her knee raised one of her legs backwards.
Finn opened his eye every so often and marveled at how beautiful she always looked, especially with the moonlight shining on her face. He raised one of his hands and ran it across her red hair. They were so lost in their trance, they had not even noticed Nora had walked outside into the balcony as well, staring at the two as they continued kissing without end.
"Uh, Finn?" Nora said to get their attention.
Phoebe immediately lowered her leg and allowed the two of them to separate as soon as their eyes opened. Finn coughed a bit and Phoebe rubbed her own arm as both had a deep blush in their cheeks. It only made it worse that both of Nora's guards were with her.
'Now I know how Erik and Sasha felt,' Finn thought. "We were about to head back in, but we sorta…"
"Got busy?" Nora asked jokingly, making them even more embarrassed. "I'm only kidding, you two."
Finn and Phoebe both chuckled quietly.
"What can we do for you?" Phoebe asked.
"If you don't mind, Phoebe, I would like to speak with alone for a while," Nora replied.
"Of course," Phoebe agreed. She turned her attention to Finn. "I guess we'll see each other later."
"Okay then," Finn replied.
Both of them wanted to say "I love you" but were too uncomfortable saying it in front of Nora. However, both already knew that they did; and with that knowledge in mind, Phoebe waved Finn good-bye and walked back inside of the palace. After she did, Nora turned to her guards.
"You two as well," she said. The two guards looked at each other, wondering if they should leave. "I'll only be a while. Besides, I'll have a Sentinel with me the entire time."
The guards looked at each other again but ended up eventually bowing. Both of them marched away far enough so they could not overhear the conversation between Finn and Nora.
"What can I do for you, Your Majesty?" Finn asked.
"You're my son, Finn," Nora replied. "I wish you weren't so formal around me the entire time."
Nora walked over to the railing and leaned her hands against it, taking a deep sigh as she did.
"Tired?" Finn asked.
"You have no idea. And the night is barely over."
"I imagine Phoebe would somehow relate to what you're going through. She did rule a kingdom once."
"When you're someone as innocent as her, it's hard to rule a kingdom. Imagine when it's Christine's turn to rule this one," she said as she gestured all around her. "She's always been a delicate thing."
"Phoebe and Christine are both stronger than they might look. I'm sure Christine will make a great leader. I have no doubt about that."
"I can't really argued with your argument. You've actually had the privilege of exploring the world below Olympia. Me? I've always been a prisoner of my own city."
"I'm sure you'd be able to go down to Earth if you asked. I mean, you are the queen, after all."
"If it were that easy…" Nora stood up straight. "But listen to me ramble. I didn't come out here to talk about me. I came here to talk about you."
Finn stood a bit straighter as well.
"What about me?" he asked.
"As I said earlier, you are my son. But ever since your arrival here in Olympia, we've barely had any time to talk with one another. Something that I deeply regret not doing, especially during the entire year that you were locked away."
"I guess I've also been busy doing other things as well," Finn admitted.
"I noticed. I can fully understand you wanting to be with Phoebe more than anyone else."
"It's not about that at all. I also feel like it's unfair that we've barely talked to each other."
Nora smiled.
"The day that your father was forced to leave the city along with you… That was one of the worst days of my life. I thought I would never be able to see you again. I had only seen you for a few hours after you were born and I already loved you more than anything else in the entire world. But seeing you leave crushed me more than anything else could after that point."
Nora seemed to be on the verge of letting tears fall from her eyes but none ever did. Finn simply remained quiet as he listened to every word she said.
"I still remember that day," Nora continued. "You were so little. I never thought you'd grow as tall as you did. And yet here you are. A fully grown adult and a fully-fledged warrior. I'm so proud of both you and Christine."
Finn chuckled.
"We may not be fully related, but she'll always be my sister," he said. "And you'll always be my mother."
A tear finally escaped from one of Nora's eyes and she pulled Finn into a hug.
"I love you, Finn," she said.
"I love you too… Mom."
The hug ended after a few more seconds and Nora wiped away the tear from her cheek. The two of them turned their heads when a Vanguard soldier walked out into the balcony, standing straight and bowing as he stood in front of them.
"Excuse me, Your Majesty," he said. "I have a message for you."
"From who?" Nora asked.
The soldier then raised one of his arms and removed his helmet; fear and shock spreading through Finn's and Nora's spines when Cypher's smiling face appeared from underneath.
"From the Syndicate," he said.
Finn gritted his teeth and quickly pulled out his sword.
"Cypher!" he shouted as he began charging forward.
Before Finn could get even a few feet within distance of him, Cypher raised his hand and unleashed his signature red bolts, shocking Finn and making him fall to the ground while screaming.
"No!" Nora shouted.
She tried to join Finn by his side but she was also met with the shocking bolts. Her screams also filled the air, and she fell to the ground next to Finn.
Weakened and unable to properly move, Finn was forced to watch as Cypher triumphantly walked towards him, kneeling right in front of his face while taking Seph's sword from the ground. He studied the blade for a while and puffed some air from his mouth.
"Of course they would give you my brother's sword," he said, his voice echoing in Finn's ears. "Ah well. That just makes this a lot easier."
Cypher stood up from his position and walked over to Nora, who was just as weak to move as Finn was. Finn tried with all of his power to try and reach for her, but he was too slow as Cypher wrapped his hand around her neck and pulled her up from the ground, holding Seph's sword in the other.
He looked down at the shining blade, then back at Nora's eyes as she struggled to breathe from how hard he grabbed her neck. He leaned her closer to his face and whispered for her to hear.
"Here's to you, queen of all."
Just as Finn was able to get on his knees on the ground, he managed to look up only to see the horrifying image of Cypher driving the blade into Nora's chest.
All time seemed to slow down for Finn as Cypher released her neck and her body began to fall to the ground as the sword remained impaled in her chest. Using the only amount of strength he had left, Finn lunged himself forward and caught her before she hit the ground. And as soon as he did, his hands became filled with the blood pouring from her wound.
Raspy breaths escaped Nora's mouth, no doubt because her lung was ruptured. Strains of blood poured out of her mouth as she coughed, and it trailed down all the way over her cheeks and towards the back of her neck. All of the happiness she had in her eyes only moments prior was now replaced with utter terror as she clung to dear life for as long as she could. Meanwhile, Cypher walked slowly back as he marveled in his work.
"Oh my," he said, making Finn look up at him. "You've done a very bad thing, Finn. You just killed the queen of Olympia."
Cypher chuckled and put his Vanguard helmet back on, allowing to sneak away from the scene undetected. Finn would have gone after him, but he did not want to leave Nora.
"Okay, just… try not to move and… maybe I can… you…"
Finn could not finish as tears began to fall from his eye. Nora managed to raise one of her hands and rubbed her thumb over Finn's eyeless side of the face.
"Finn… don't let… anything… happen to… Christine…" she said weakly. "Don't let… Olympia… fall…"
With her final words, Nora's eyes began to close slowly; and she was gone.
Finn stayed completely frozen. He had no idea what to do. Not only had he failed to protect the queen, he had failed to protect his own mother.
"No… No, no, no, no. Mom! Wake up!"
Suddenly, the doors leading outside from the palace burst open, and a multitude of Vanguard soldiers ran out to check on the commotion. They all stooped just in front of Finn holding the corpse of his mother in his arms, him jot paying any mind to the soldiers as he focused on her.
"He… he killed the queen," one of the soldiers said.
"He's killed the queen!" another shouted, a woman.
Finn turned to face him, shocked at what they were saying.
"What?" he asked. "No! I…" Before he had a chance to explain, both of Nora's personal guards ran up and tackled him to the ground. "Please listen to me!"
One of the guards brought his fist down on Finn's head, and his vision went black.
mrenteria99: Fun fact- Seph was the one modeled after Raiden. Though I can see where you're coming from.
Fiery Crusader: And another one of those bites the dust.
Ooobserver: Hopefully it'll be a good one to get out of this mess.
