A/N - New chapter! We're almost at the end of the story, only two chapters more!
The scream that Cordelia let out as she watched the woman who she considered her true mother die. The woman's eyes, that had been staring at her all the time, quickly lost their usual wise glimmer. Myrtle Snow was gone, forever. Every good memory of Cordelia's childhood, the moments of happiness in her teenage years, they had all been shattered. "Myrtle…" she sobbed, unable to do more than that as she fell down to her knees, the invisible barrier that had separated her from the others disappearing soon. "Myrtle..."
"Her time is up." she heard Fiona said with a satisfied grin, successfully hiding the terror that she felt inside. Fiona of Orleans was terrified, for the first time in her whole life. She had lost the main object of her hate, and at the same time the only friend she had had. She had let the woman spill the only secret she hid, the only secret that could destroy her. "That crazy old hag, unable to say a single word that made sense…" she muttered with disdain before going back to sit on her throne, then looking at her daughter. "Oh, stand up, it's not as if she was too important."
"She was. She really was important." the girl told, tears running down her face. She stood up weakly, shaking. The only mother she had known, the only person she truly cared of, the only one that had taken care of her whenever she needed. "She was so important, you can't even imagine how much." the princess told, hate starting to burn inside of her. She finally looked up to the queen, staring at her with fire burning in her eyes. "Tell me about the prophecy."
In that moment the queen looked at her daughter and grinned. "Well, I am going to kill you sooner or later so I guess there is nothing wrong on telling you. In the past, eighteen years and four moons ago to be exact, an old hag who dared to call herself a seer said a string of idiocies about two witches coming to defeat the devil in this land. Quite flattering, that I am powerful enough to be considered the devil. Of course, that prophecy did not realize that one of these so powerful supernaturals would be the devil's daughter or that she would be powerless." she chuckled, standing up again and then walking towards Cordelia. "My poor, hopeless princess." she told with a grin. "Guards," she added, turning around and walking out of the room. "Kill her."
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"And the third one?" Misty asked, playing with the small puddle that had formed besides her from the water that leaked through the ceiling. They had been silent for a while, none of them knowing what to say as the princess let the information sink in. Cordelia was a witch. But she was a witch she could trust. So benevolent witches existed, after all. And Cordelia was one of the most important, even having a prophecy about her. "Who is the third witch?"
"You, Misty." were her mother's words, making the girl gasp. "Shhh, don't raise your voice." she added, knowing that her daughter would proceed to let out a squeal as she usually did when given this kind of information. The girl stayed silent, wide eyes staring to the cold, dirty water of the puddle and the dim lights that reflected on it. It was not possible, she could not be a witch. She was just Misty of the Southern Swamplands, just a princess. Nothing more.
"But mother, I can't be a witch. Witches can do magic from a very young age, I read it. They are magical from the moment they are born, and I've never... " her words died in her mouth, remembering an event when she was younger. She had been running through the recently burned hill from the swamps, exploring the cremated trees and their rests, the dust that the flowers had been reduced to, until she had felt herself exhausted and lay down under a dead oak, falling asleep almost instantly. When she had woken up, the tree shone in glorious green and hid her in its shade, and she lay in a bed of flowers. The whole hill was flooded by colors once more. "But…"
"Listen to me, darling. When I was young, my mother told me that my grandmother used to perform magic at home when she was alone, but I never believed her. Magic made no sense to me back then, and I easily forgot that fact. But when the seer appeared and we read the manuscripts, I realized. When you were five years old, you brought a bird back to life. At first we thought it simply had been hurt and you had healed it, but we realized we were wrong. We were so wrong." The woman had started crying, the girl could notice. "You are the supernatural of the south, the one that joins Cordelia and fights the devil. It's written in the stars, it's your fate. You have to kill the queen, for good."
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After running out of the room and immediately going to the dungeons, all doors opening and the guards moving at her mercy, she had arrived to the corridor full of jails, the sound of her shoes on the puddles and her dress brushing the floor accompanied by the cries and whimpers of the prisoners. She had never been there, but she knew she had to be there— only to find a familiar face calling her from one of the cells.
"Princess Cordelia!" the woman had gasped out, sticking her hand out between the bars that separated her from the girl and searching her hand. The princess quickly had run towards her and kneeled in front of her, taking her hand. "Princess Cordelia, they've taken Misty. They said she'd suffer, please save my daughter! I believe in you, the prophecy is true."
Cordelia had nodded and walked away, knowing exactly where Misty was. Tears already formed in her eyes as she walked towards a guard that upon seeing her tried to stop her. She closed her eyes, and somehow when she opened them she had left the guard far behind from her, startled and with his sword still on his hand. She grinned, slowly finding new powers that she had recently discovered she had. She soon arrived to a dark, short staircase that gave a slightly open door— and from what she could see, was hell on earth.
Cordelia was petrified, looking at the scene with tears in her eyes and a scream stuck in her throat. Misty was being tortured. There was blood everywhere, the princess' soft skin now being ripped apart painfully slowly. The gruesome sight made Cordelia unable to move, except for the hand that quickly rushed to cover her mouth in a try to contain the scream that finally ended up filling the room. The princess' name was screamed on top of Cordelia's lungs, surprising everyone in the room. Suddenly everything was covered in flames, the torturer's clothes burning his skin in return for the pain he had caused to Misty. "Misty!" the princess screamed once more, running towards her and helping her stand up, trying to avoid the fire that had quickly circled them. "Misty, please stand up, we need to leave." she told, trying to hold the girl's naked body and drag it through the room between the screams of the man. A wooden column in the middle of the room started to crack and lean towards them at a dangerously quick pace. "Misty, please, please walk." she begged the other, starting to drag her towards the door. Misty immediately started screaming, the pain taking over her whole body as she was dragged. She cried out, screamed and sobbed, until Cordelia and her finally got out of that hell and the wooden door closed. "Misty…" Cordelia panted, kneeling next to the almost unconscious girl.
"The prophecy… You…" Misty was getting dizzier second by second, feeling the blood on her lips and her bare back. What had been a simple dress now was just a destroyed piece of ripped fabric, "My mother… save her."
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The three of them had been in silence for what seemed an eternity after Cordelia had made them appear there, in the same spot where two days ago Misty and she had swam together. "Everything will be fine." "H—How…" Misty started, coughing blood almost immediately and staining her mother's dirty dress. "How did you… escape…" she told in a whisper, fading blue eyes looking at Cordelia with genuine curiosity. "Guards… naked..." she squeezed the older princess' hand softly. "Hurt?" When Cordelia realized what Misty was asking, she shook her head and leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss against the girl's bleeding lips.
"They did not hurt me, my love." she whispered, smiling softly. "They brought me to see my mother, and they blamed your father's death on… Do you remember the redhead woman that always walks— walked— next to me?" Misty nodded. "They have blamed her for that, and for your disappearance, your majesty." she explained, looking at the queen.
The sun shone brightly above the calm water of the lake that was in front of them. "I love you, my little girl. Everything will be fine." the queen whispered to her dying daughter as she caressed her hair. No words were needed to be spoken for the queen to understand what had happened. "I am sorry for your loss, princess Cordelia. I am sure that your maid was a really kind woman." she told with sincerity, giving the girl a nod and then pursing her lips. "Your mother… did she do something to you, Cordelia? Did she hurt you?"
"No, she didn't. No more than the many times she has hurt me before, so I guess that today was just wanting to take the last thing I had. A mother… a real mother." she sighed and caressed Misty's knuckles with her thumb and smiling softly before taking the hem of her dress and cleaning the blood from her mouth. "We will be okay… I just need to fight my mother, then everything will be alright..."
"The p— prophecy…" Misty muttered, turning to look at the queen. Cordelia was sure that the blue glimmer of her eyes faded quicklier now, and she hated it. She hated knowing that she was slowly losing Misty with every passing second, she hated being losing the person she loved. "You… tell her… magic..."
"There is no need for that," the princess stopped the queen as soon as she saw her open her mouth, not needing more than what she already knew. Bravery was the kindest word for stupidity after all, and knowledge would only stop her growing courage. "I am a witch, and I am meant to kill my mother. Kill her once, kill her good, kill her dead. Am I right?" The queen nodded. "Well then, I must be going. My mother must be dead by the time the sun sets. Go hide, there is a cave between these trees." she told, pointing in the direction and then leaning forward to kiss Misty's lips one last time. "Hold out, my sweet. We'll see each other again. I promise."
And with that, Cordelia was gone.
Well, hope you liked it! Will be continued, and of course reviews will be very appreciated!