Chapter 32: Water

Edward stormed across the borders of Wakanda in search of his sister. She would see him coming. Whether she would choose to meet him was another matter. A torrential downpour drenched him from head-to-toe as he ran. Bursts of lightning lit his way and thunder shook the ground around him.

When he reached the last place he had seen Alice, he paused and called out to her.

"Alice, are you here?"

He only heard the pit-pat-pit-pat of the thick raindrops sinking into the grass and bouncing off the nearby boulders. He flung himself onto the nearest rock, slippery from the rain, and crossed his arms across his legs to wait. She would come.

The rain tired and slowed to a mist a few hours past midnight. Edward heard footsteps approach from the distance, but he didn't bother to turn towards the sound. He could already hear Alice's thoughts as she came into range.

"Alice," he said, his voice deceptively calm.

Edward…I know you can't understand now, but…

He cut her off by jumping to his feet and glaring at her.

"You're right. I can't understand. You knew something was going to happen and you hid it from me. Why?"

"To be fair, I can't actually see that man of Bella's so I only found out what happened when I saw I would be meeting you here and you told me everything," Alice responded, out loud this time. She crossed her arms across her chest in defiance and prepared to meet him head on in battle, whether verbal or physical.

"What did you see?" he asked, his anger deflating and dropping his head in his hands.

"I saw that if I didn't meet you when I did, nothing changed. When I made the decision to meet you here, I could suddenly see you and Bella so much clearer and the vision of Volterra returned. I didn't know what would happen in the interim, but I figured it would be worth it in the end," she said with a poor attempt at an impish smile. "Isn't this what you wanted?"

"No, Alice. Not like this. Not him."

"Why not?"

"He's a good man, Alice. And she loves him. And this country needs both of them here."

"Pfftttt. Countries come and go. How many countries didn't even exist when you were born? Don't worry about it. My concern is you. You need your mate. You deserve your happiness. We need you at home," Alice said, tossing one hand carelessly through the air.

Edward's face went still in a barely suppressed rage. Alice feigned nonchalance while still taking a careful step backwards. Her mind filled with multiple ways she would need to move out of his way in case he decided to act on his impulse to charge her.

"You…."

"Edward, calm down. I'm helping you here," she said, meeting his gaze.

"You…You need me at home? Why? So we can repeat high school again and again? Or so we can sit around and play video games all day? So we can go shopping and buy cars we don't need? Tell me, Alice, what is it precisely that I am needed for at home?"

She sniffed and stared at her hands. "Edward, we miss you. You are part of our family and we love you. Nothing has been the same since you have been gone. We all need you to come home."

"You know I love you all and I do value our family greatly… but this isn't right. Bella is devastated. I just can't sacrifice the lives of a whole country for the happiness of our family. They don't deserve this. They put their lives on the line to rescue me, I can't repay them like this."

"I'm sure they will be fine," Alice said, attempting to show him visions in her head. They were, however, more like half-fleeting fragments as opposed to full visions. She was stretching and they both knew it. She couldn't actually see what would happen to all parties involved.

"You don't know that. You can't see what will happen," Edward said.

"I can see your future, and that's enough," Alice said with a shrug.

"I know you mean well, but your end results are not always what you intend and you don't always have the big picture in mind. Do me a favor and stop meddling. Go home and look after the family," Edward replied.

Alice could already see Edward's decision to return, no matter what she said from here. She pretended she didn't mind, but he could see she also was upset. She continued to plot and as visions of Volterra passed through her mind, he grew concerned again.

"I mean it, Alice."

She gave him a small smile and disappeared into the darkness.

Ooooooo

Edward Cullen stayed on his rock till the first strips of dawn peeked across the horizon. He would return to plan and strategize with the General today. He would do whatever it took to make this right, even if it meant he must voluntarily return to Volterra, a fate he had hoped he could avoid for the entirety of his existence. In no realm of thought did he imagine the end result would be positive for him. But if it would help Bella, it would be worth it.

He leapt down from his tree and began to walk back towards the border, his heart heavy with what he would face when he reached his destination. He felt no obligation to rush. As he came to a small pond, he decided to wash the lingering mud off his hands and shoes before continuing to wander. He could still see the dawning sun reflecting off the dark surface of the pond in the warm morning light. He splashed the cool water onto his face and neck, wiping off all evidence of his night spent in the elements.

He turned his back to the pond and the golden rays of sun and wiped the remaining trickles of water from his face with his shirt. He paused when he heard the sound of water rippling. He turned and narrowed his eyes. A dark shape moved in the grey surface of the water. It looked to be too large for a fish or a bird but not large enough for a crocodile or hippopotamus. A head rose from the water. It appeared to be the head of a man but as dark as the night sky and with eyes that glowed as bright as the moon with an unnatural yellow light.

Edward's curiosity warred with a sudden sense of fear. Before he could react, however, he gave a shout of pain as he felt as if he had been pierced through from the inside out with an invisible spear through his heart.

The dripping man rose from the water towards him, revealing his lower limbs to be those of a serpent or a fish and not those of a man. Streams of liquid trailed off his scales and steam rose from his body into the cool morning air. His two muscular, shining arms clawed into the ground at Edward's feet as he hissed and pulled, impervious to Edward's attempts to extricate himself from his grip.

"Zimwi…." The creature gargled and his mouth opened in a deadly grin lined with row upon row of sharply pointed teeth. He gave a final pull and Edward's body fell as limp as a stone in the soft mud of the pond's bank. With another soft splash and flurry of bubbles, Nyelu disappeared into the depths with his prize.

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T'Challa paced the length of his office with his General in a tense discussion in the aftermath of the recent attacks.

"I told him to be ready and when the Dora Milaje arrived, he was not there," his General said with marked irritation in her voice. "Bella has not seen him since last night. He has simply vanished….again. He is dangerous, my King. I do not think we can trust him to work in our favor if we send him on a mission to Volterra. How do we know we will not simply imprison Bella upon arrival and then all our plans are lost."

"But Nakia said…"

"No. Do not tell me Nakia said…," Okoye shouted, banging her hands against a desk. "If Nakia were here and placing her life in danger alongside us, then perhaps I could trust her words."

T'Challa stopped to stare at his General. She dropped her eyes and inhaled deeply, struggling to regather her impassioned words with as much success as herding furious ants back into an anthill.

"I apologize for my outburst."

"You are free to speak your mind, General, and I am free not to like what you say."

She nodded and opened her mouth to speak again when a knock at the door interrupted her.

"Karibu," T'Challa said to the person knocking. The door of T'Challa's office flung open and a King's Guard entered, his heavy breathing giving evidence to the speed with which he came.

"Yes, what is the matter?"

"My King, come at once."

"What is the matter?"

"If you come to the courtyard, you will see."

T'Challa and the General rose and followed the guard through the palace, down the stone steps, and into the garden courtyard of the palace. There a gathering of people surrounded a body covered by a plaid blanket. All feet took a few steps back and allowed the King and the General entry into the center of the circle.

"What is this?" he asked, nodding towards W'Kabi who stood next to the blanketed figure. W'Kabi dismissed the gathering of onlookers, directing them to provide the King with privacy for their discussion.

"A border guard found him across the border during his patrol," W'Kabi said in a grim voice. "He was only a few meters from the entry into Wakanda, but far enough outside the border to be unprotected."

W'Kabi knelt down and folded the blanket down to reveal a pale, white face and black eyes staring lifelessly into nowhere.

"It is the zimwi you brought back from Italy, yes?" he asked, turning to meet his King's gaze.

"It is. But I don't understand…"

"He was found on the bank of a pond, unresponsive as you see him now. The mud on the bank shows claw marks and evidence of a struggle."

The King's eyes snapped up from the corpse-like figure to meet the stoic expression of W'Kabi. "You believe it was Nyelu?"

"Yes, my King. It is the only thing which makes sense."

T'Challa clicked his tongue and folded his hands behind his back as he paced.

"We brought Lieutenant Barnes across the border with us when we fetched his body. She attempted to resuscitate him through the use of her shield but she was unsuccessful. She searched the entirety of the pond and could find no trace of the paths Nyelu travelled to reach the pond or to capture his prey. She did manage to prevent any harm from coming to any of the border guards accompanying us," W'Kabi continued.

"I am glad of it," Okoye said as she met her husband's eyes with an expression that conveyed more than her pursed lips and pointed eyebrows could. He gave a nod in her direction.

"What can be done?" T'Challa said, knowing full-well what their answers would be.

"I do not know," W'Kabi responded.

"There may be hope for him still," Okoye said. "His body will not decay without his soul, unlike Nyelu's human victims. If we can release his soul from Nyelu's calabashes, perhaps he can still live."

"Is it possible?"

"We do not know. Nobody has ever tried."

Ooooooooo