Chapter 27

Adelina woke with a slight groan. Her body ached something awful. It reminded her of the times when Logan would lead the workouts when she was younger, which were good ways to learn of all the muscles that were in your body. Her eyes blinked open blearily, wondering why she was staring at a well plastered ceiling that was painted a soft beige color.

Why did the room seem so spacious? It definitely didn't look like that before.

It was only when Adelina turned her head to see that the room was almost twice as big as the one back at the boarding house. The bed she was sleeping on was a queen-sized bed covered in a heavy comforter tucked all the way up to her chin. She groaned, turning her head once again, blinking heavily and furrowing her brow when she saw that Nami was in the same room with her, but on a different bed, the same size as the one she was sleeping on now. The Queen was still asleep, but she looked more relaxed and at peace now. Adelina sighed heavily in relief as she watched the girl's blanket moved up and down in time with her breathing. Adelina tried to move, tried to sit up so that she could see more about the room, but her muscles wouldn't respond. It was as though they were pulled so tightly that she felt that she was made up of strings on an instrument that were tuned so tightly a single pluck would break the string.

She groaned and took a breath.

The door opened. Adelina slammed her eyes shut and went still, hoping to fool whoever was in the room that she was still asleep. There were soft footsteps that approached, slowly and steadily. Adelina kept her breathing steady as something metal was gently sat down on the bedside table and then whoever was in the room quickly retreated. Adelina cracked opened her eyes at the sound of the door closing.

Someone had left a tray of food for the two of them. And to be far, her stomach growled angrily at the sight and smell of sustenance laying just inches away. How long had she been asleep?

Adelina tried to get up, but her body wouldn't respond. It would twitch but that was it. A sob escaped her lips.

"Ade….."

The young girl jerked her head to the side, a whine of relief escaping her lips as she saw that Nami was coming to consciousness. Although it looked like her return to the land of the living was a lot slower than hers was.

"Nami….." Adelina choked out; her voice hoarse from disuse. "Are….you 'kay?"

The Queen scrunched up her face as she turned away, almost as though the light was giving her a headache. It wouldn't surprise Adelina, seeing how she had her own pounding in her head caused by the daylight creeping through the window.

"Nami."

"Hurts…" Nami answered softly. She groaned as her eyes cracked open only a sliver. Her brow furrowed. "Where…..?"

"I wanna say a mansion." Adelina glanced back to the food. She licked her lips. "I can't move. But I need to….get food."

"Me too." Nami's body spasmed a little before she relaxed. "Can't bend. Too sore to concentrate. Oooooh Malana my head!"

"Haven't heard you say anything blasphemous before." Adelina muttered. Nami chuckled airily.

"Well, Malana is going to be needed here."

Suddenly, Adelina's entire body erupted in tingles and she could move only slightly. But it was enough for her to sit upward and slowly (and painfully) move a little bit towards the tray. Her movements were comically sluggish and slow but she managed to grab a few pieces of biscuits, slathering them with as much jelly as she could. Adelina's stomach announced its emptiness as she shoved the biscuit into her mouth, her body melting down a bit at the buttery, fluffy texture of the food. Her tongue came alive at the flavor of the jelly, something like that a rarity in the apocalyptic future that the two came from.

"Mmmmm, Nami you have to try this." Adelina said, though through her full mouth it sounded more like "Nama mnam manaf ta tri disf."

Nami groaned a little, still not moving from where she was tucked underneath the covers. Her dull, tired eyes flickered over to the blond, and Adelina's smile died down. The young Queen looked so old, and so tired. It didn't have anything to do with the fatigue of fighting Phobos. Adelina swallowed down the mouthful of biscuit before moving down to kneel next to Nami. The young woman didn't even look her way, instead staring off into the distance as Adelina gripped her shoulder.

"Nami…what did you see?"

Adelina only had a vague recollection of what went on in Nami's mind during the conflict. Nami's eyes started to water at the question, glistening a grey-blue as she turned away.

"I….I don't want to say." Nami muttered, sounding a bit shameful. Adelina gave the queen's shoulder another squeeze, but instead of asking another question, she silently reached over and grabbed a biscuit. The winged girl handed the food to her friend, who took it with a small smile on her face. "Thanks."

"No problem."

"Help me sit up, please."

Adelina nodded, slipping her hand behind the girl's back and helping her upward. Nami gave a groan as her muscles probably yelled at her but she managed to sit straight up.

"I'm really hungry." Nami said as she stuffed some of the biscuit into her mouth. Her eyes went wide. Adelina nodded knowingly as Nami swallowed. "Wow. Holy cow! That's….."

"Good." Adelina finished as Nami excitedly shoved the rest of the biscuit into her mouth.

The two girls sat there, talking about what was going on and where they were when the door opened. Nami, whose strength had somewhat returned, staggered to her feet, with Adelina placing herself protectively in front of the Queen. Both girls narrowed their eyes as a young man walked in, and Adelina perked up at the sight of a very young Scott Summers walking in. He froze, Adelina's wings flaring up a bit before relaxing. Though it was strange to see her friend's mentor looking so carefree and, in that moment, a bit shocked.

"Oh, uh, hi there." He gave a little wave. The two girls tensed up, Adelina once again shifting so that she was protecting her queen, even though she knew for a fact that the man in front of her was a friend. Scott seemed to sense the fear and uncertainty in their stances, and held his hands up. "Hey. Relax. I'm not gonna hurtcha."

"We know." Adelina heard Nami whisper behind her.

"Uh. Cool." Scott messed with his hands, looking a bit awkward. "So, uh, what can I get you? Can I get you anything?"

Adelina opened her mouth to say something, but she felt Nami grab her wrist from behind. The winged girl glanced behind her and saw Nami shaking her head subtly. Adelina nodded back, stepping aside for Nami. Though she stayed close by, allowing Nami to use her to stand up. The other girl was a bit unsteady on her feet, her legs visibly shaking but Adelina held her steady. But it didn't last too much longer.

Her body decided that she had already expended too much energy keeping herself up. The winged girl's legs folded inward, and she fell forward with a grunt. Nami followed her not a second later, the two girls holding on to the bed for what stability they had left while they sat on their knees. Adelina leaned her head forward, closing her eyes as her heart pounded rapidly.

She was so tired suddenly.

It was like all of the energy that she regained from her sleep had seeped out of her body in moments. Just by standing up. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Scott approach her and Nami.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay? What can I get for you? Do I need to get Doctor McCoy?"

Adelina coughed, allowing a groan to escape with it. She leaned away from the boy, her breath picking up a bit as the room spun. She was vaguely aware of Scott helping the two of them back into their respective beds and placing a cold washcloth on her forehead. She cracked open her eyes once more, only to sob a little at the pain that racked through her head. The young girl tried to reach out for Nami, trying to protect her queen but exhaustion snatched hold of her and pulled back into the peaceful inky darkness.

AN: Hi guys! I'm sorry it's been a hot minute since I last updated. I've been going through one hell of a writer's block. But I should be back on track! Updates will be a little sporadic until I can get back into my groove thang but I'm back baby!