Hello everybody! This is a huge Chapter for this story, it's essentially the middle point. From here on in, things are going to snowball. Person after person, problem after problem, battle after battle. The action pretty much starts rising here and it doesn't stop until the end. I love it! So here you go! Hope you enjoy! Read, and review please! It means so much to me!
I don't own Glee!
The Preacher's Child
Marley Rose sighed to herself, looking at Quinn's body, floating in the air in the middle of Marley's own magical world. As surely as she was hanging in midair, Marley knew that Quinn was hanging in the balance between life and death.
The Rose, which was still clasped tightly in her hands, had complicated the process. She had cheated death!
Marley approached the comatose girl and reached out to brush the hair off of her forehead.
She paused.
"Oh...oh no...oh no, oh no..." Marley could see the grass through Quinn's body, which meant one thing; Quinn was fading away!
In order for Quinn to rejoin the land of the living, those who loved her the most, the same love that kept her there now; had to believe that she was still alive! More than that, they had to believe that their love was stronger than death.
"Sam." Marley focused hard, trying to communicate with him.
It didn't work.
Taking Quinn from the Piper's possession had robbed her of most of her energy. She didn't even have the power it took to see into Sam's thoughts! She was helpless until she recuperated.
She blanched as Quinn's pretty pale cheeks got a shade lighter.
Quinn was running out of time.
"We did it!" Santana cheered as they burst through the doors of their hotel.
"Yeah we did!" Blaine high-fived her, beaming. Rachel and Finn ran in after them.
"I am so tired!" Finn laughed, disappearing up the stairs.
"You gonna come in?" Sam smiled, grabbing Tina's arm, but she shook her head.
"I should really be getting back to the church. My parents run it, and they forbade me from going into the woods, but now...I'm sure they'll see that it was worth it!" She smiled hopefully.
"Definitely!" Sam grinned, turning towards the Church, which was now clearly visible on the horizon. "I'll join you!"
Tina laughed.
"You don't have to!"
"It's the least I can do! You made us heroes." He smiled. "You have no idea how much we needed that." The rain had lifted and a bright moon had taken its place, shining down on the two of them as they strolled away from the hotel.
Tina mulled that over as they walked, and as they stepped through the doors of the church, she decided to ask about it.
"What is your story?" She asked.
"What makes you think I have one?" Sam smiled.
The church was empty, still, but it felt warmer to Tina now, like she'd discovered its purpose. She felt closer to God.
"Everybody has a story." Tina said logically. "Why do you need to be heroes?"
Sam sighed.
"You should sit down..."
And he told her.
Sam spilled his story, and Blaine's and Rachel's, and Santana's, and Finn's. He told this girl everything that he had to say, and it felt good to get it all off his chest. She stayed silent the whole time, eyes fogging over at the deaths of Quinn and Bruce, brows furrowing at Mercedes's capture or Santana's father, and gasping at the story of the siblings and their parents.
"So that's it." Sam sighed, sitting back.
Tina was silent for a very long time, thinking about it.
"I want to come with you." She said suddenly, looking down at the ground, nodding seriously to herself. "Yes. I want to help people."
This time it was Sam's turn to fall silent. Did he want to put Tina in that kind of danger? She would be the first person to join them since Quinn had died...but they'd never make it out of this mission alive if they didn't build an army, and she'd handled herself perfectly fine at the Witch's cabin.
"Why?" He asked, eventually.
Tina sighed.
"When I was young, I lived in an orphanage. I prayed and prayed that one day, a good family would adopt me. When the pastor and his wife came and chose me, out of all of the other children, I was so excited! I thought I'd get my chance to help others, and for a while, working here and at the bar, I had a great life...but I realized something..."
"What?"
"It was empty. The people of this church believed because it was convenient. When the world around them began to fall into a state of disarray, when this new King came into power, the church lost its followers. I'd always thought that nothing could get in the way of true devotion, which led me to believe that the people here had never needed religion, not really. It got me wondering...did I? I believed in God, but why? Was I doing it because I needed to, or because it's what I'd been told?"
Sam said nothing, but waiting for her to continue.
"People will come back to this church now, especially since the mist has dispersed, and my father will tend to them wonderfully...but that...this...it isn't for me. I need to help people, like you helped me. With the cow...in the forest...in here, telling me your story. You inspired me Sam, you inspired me to open up my heart. I found God in that forest, and I'm glad I did, because that experience showed me just how much I was capable of. You're right, the King is wrong, and somebody has to right him. I want to help, that's all I've ever wanted."
Sam smiled at her.
"Welcome aboard." He smiled. "Take your time saying your goodbyes...tonight, we deserve a rest." He grinned and jumped to his feet, taking off towards the door to the church. "I'll meet up with you tomorrow!" He yelled back.
Tina laughed and stood up, smiling so broadly that she was afraid her face might break in two.
"Okay!" She smiled and waved, and then turned towards the altar.
"You didn't clean the floors." Her father stood in the shadows of the church.
Tina gasped and took a startled step backwards.
"I'm sorry...but look at the results! It was worth it! Sometimes you have to fight for what's right!" She said earnestly.
"You're telling me that the mist dispersed because you ventured into the woods."
"No...I'm telling you that the mist dispersed because I vanquished the Witch. Me, father. I defeated her, and brought joy to our village!"
Her father took a step into the light, looking down at her with an unreadable expression.
"Your mother will not be pleased." He said.
"I know..." Tina sighed. "I'll clean the floors right now, I promise!" She made to search for her bucket but he stopped her.
"Not that." He said. "She'll be angry if you leave."
Tina froze; eyes wide.
"You heard that?" She asked. He nodded.
"Who was that boy?"
"...A hero, father. A man who would rather die than see the world in such a state of chaos. It's thanks to him and his friends that I made it to the Witch at all. It just takes one person to make a difference, I know, but...with friends by your side...you can make a whole world of difference!"
"What you said to him...is that how you really feel?" Her father asked.
"Yes." She said.
"Than go pack your things." He smiled down at her and kissed her on the forehead. "And may God be with you."
"Really?" Tina gasped, eyes sparkling. "Oh thank you!" She hugged him tightly.
"Be quick, your mother's gone to market, she'll be back before long I'm sure." He smiled at her. "Now hurry, your destiny awaits!"
"I won't let you down." Tina smiled and ran off into the back of the church.
"I believe that." He called after her.
When Sam got back to the hotel, he found Santana sitting outside, waiting for him.
"Hey!" He smiled at her.
"Hi." She smiled.
"What's up?" He asked.
"I'm just thinking." She shrugged.
"What about?" He sat down beside her and looked up at the night sky.
"Us." She said. "You and I, Rachel, Blaine, Finn...Tina. We brought joy to this village. We showed them the stars for the first time in their lives! If we can do that, what can't we do?" She smiled at him.
Sam paused, grinning knowingly.
"We." He said.
"Hmm?"
"You said we."
Santana smiled meaningfully at him.
"We're a team. We belong together, and as long as we have one another, we can take on the world." She stood up and moved towards the door. "We should get some sleep."
"I'll be in in a minute, I just want to look at the stars for a second."
Santana nodded and stepped inside. Moments later she stepped back out.
"Sam?" She asked.
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
Sam smiled and looked over at her. He stood up and pulled her in for a hug.
"Let's get some sleep."
Sam's eyes flickered open and he found himself back in the stormy meadow again. He sighed and let his head fall to the ground, closing his eyes again and willing himself to wake up from his dream.
Somebody cleared their throat and he looked up.
A smooth skinned hand was extended to help him up. He took it, and rose to look into Tina eyes.
"Tina?" He asked.
"Yes?" She smiled.
"I...You're not Puck."
"No, no I am not." She smiled and laughed her light, birdsong laugh.
"Why...not?" Sam asked.
"Puck was here the last time you were here, right?" Tina guessed. Sam nodded. "Well that's because you had something to learn from him, and you've learned it. You value the people that are in your life now, you've stopped passing them by. You're reaching out when people need you to reach out. It's inspiring, really."
She smiled at him.
"I'm not like, a martyr." He said bashfully.
"Oh, but you are." Tina said. "You reached out to me. You saved me, long before we went into the woods. It's not just me either, your friends, you're healing them." She smiled again and reached out to take his hand again. "Come with me."
Sam took her hand and she led him across the meadow to a door, floating in mid-air. She opened it and the wind whipped past him until he'd been pulled inside. When he looked up, Santana was sitting, broken and chained to her chair.
Santana was crying as her father stared down at her.
"Nobody wants you." He was saying. "Nobody!"
And then...just as suddenly as she'd started...Santana stopped crying.
"That's not true." She looked up at him.
She'd broken his chains once, she could do it again.
"Isn't it?" Her father sneered.
"No." She said.
Sam watched as several beams of colourful light shot out of the darkness and into the shackles, unlocking them and sending them plummeting to the floor. She stood up and her father staggered backwards.
Sam looked down and found that one of the beams, a brilliant white one, was coming from his heart.
"No! How?" Her father yelled.
"Because I am not yours to tie down. I am not you! I am them!" She insisted. "And I am me...and that's okay too." She nodded. She felt like crying tears of joy.
Her father growled and turned away into the darkness, but the brightly coloured lights began to spin around them, whipping up a whirlwind that tossed Santana's hair wildly. Sam looked up at Tina who was looking on; genuinely touched. A bright pink light shone from her.
Her father turned back to Santana and hissed, but she stared him down.
"I belong in this world, and you can't hold me back anymore." She said. "Show yourself."
"What?" Her father said.
"Your true self." Santana said coldly.
Her father growled, but began to shimmer and shrink in a dark light. When the transformation was finished, Santana stood glaring eye-to-eye with herself. She smiled at the shadowy doppelganger before her.
"I'm not you anymore." Santana said.
"You can't just throw me away!" Her shadowy self shrieked.
Santana turned her back on the embodiment of her insecurities.
"Yes. Yes I can." She said. A bright silver light shot out of her and rammed into her clone, shoving her backwards. The other lights wrapped around her and dragged her out of the ring of lights.
When Santana turned back around, Sam stood before her.
"I like this dream a lot better than the first one." He said.
"Me too." She nodded. "Thank you."
"Anytime." He wrapped her up in a big bear hug and she smiled.
Soon, however, the lights slowed to a halt and Santana faded out of his arms. He turned back to Tina with a questioning look.
"Where did she go?"
"She's done here now." Tina smiled. "She doesn't need this world anymore. You broke through!"
"I...I saved her?" Sam turned and looked back at the chair.
"People don't understand how powerful kindness is." Tina smiled. "You're a kind person Sam, you just needed to learn when to use it."
"So you're here to show me that I helped Santana?" He smiled hopefully.
"No." Tina shook her head. "I'm here, because there's something you need to learn from me. You opened your eyes to help Santana...now you need to open your heart to help the others. I was blind to the world around me when I lived in the Church. When I opened my heart and allowed what you had to say, to sink in...I was saved. Your journey isn't over yet."
The Followers
Tina gasped as she stepped into the bar.
She'd changed into a straight white dress with a brown belt around her midsection with matching brown boots and a pink necklace draped around her neck. She carried a messenger back, topped up with supplies for the road , a Bible, and some accessories.
The bar was packed with people! More people than she'd ever seen in one place in her sad little town! It seemed like everybody in Fayhaven had arrived to celebrate the good weather. Some of the old maids who had worked in the bar years ago had returned and were covering for Tina, and there wasn't a person in the building without a smile on their face.
"Holy shit!" Santana gawked, stepping in behind her. The others filed in behind her, staring around at the mass of people in shock.
"There are so many people!" Tina squealed. "Look! The band is even back!"
"They're not doing anything." Rachel noted.
Santana looked from the band, to Tina, to the people.
"I think it's time to cut loose." She grabbed Tina's arm and pulled her towards the bar.
"I don't remember how!" Tina protested!
"Then I'll show you! Hit it band!"
-Musical Cue-
-Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody-
Santana strutted into the center of the dance floor, leaving Tina at the bar.
"Uh!" She grinned. "Yeah...Wooh!"
The band picked up and Santana began bobbing to the music.
"Hey yeah, ah! Ooh yeah, uh huh, yeah!" She beamed as the patrons of the bar began to turn and notice her. "I want to dance!" She cheered, looking over at her friends and wiggling her shoulders jokingly.
"Clock strikes upon the hour, and the sun begins to fade!" She sang, standing and bobbing, she broke out into a grin. "Still enough time to figure out, how to chase my blues away!"
She strutted towards the bar, smirking at Tina.
"I've done alright up 'til now! It's the light of day that shows me how. And when the night falls...The loneliness calls."
She grabbed Tina's arm and pulled her into the center, Tina jumping in with harmony.
"Oh I wanna dance with somebody!" They sang, grabbing hands and spinning in a circle. "I wanna feel the heat with somebody!" They pulled in close, turning so they were back to back, but still turning in a circle. "Yeah I wanna dance with somebody! With somebody who loves me."
They broke free and jumped out, facing one another and crossing their ankles to spin in a full circle.
"Oh I wanna dance with somebody! I wanna feel the heat with somebody!" Santana skipped backwards, leaving Tina in the center of the floor. "Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody! With somebody who loves me!"
"I've been in love and lost my senses!" Tina sang, throwing her arms out, spinning in a circle. "Spinning through the town!"
She stopped and turned to face Finn, grinning jokingly.
"Sooner or later, the fever ends and I wind up feeling down!" She skipped towards him and grabbed his arm, pulling him forwards against his protests, laughing. "I need a man who'll take a chance on a love that burns hot enough to last! So when the night falls, my lonely heart calls!"
Santana and Rachel sang the harmony from the side as Tina jumped into the chorus.
"Oh I wanna dance with somebody!" She sang, clapping her hands to the beat and step touching on a diagonal as Finn mirrored her. "I wanna feel the heat with somebody!" He grabbed her hands and spun her out and then in close, stepping out of the way so that she continued spinning onwards. "Yeah I wanna dance with somebody! With somebody who loves me."
Blaine stepped in and grabbed her as she continued singing, dipping her and grinning down at her.
"Oh I wanna dance with somebody! I wanna feel the heat!" Blaine snapped her back to her feet, and she pressed a hand against his chest, strutting forwards and walking him backwards. "Yeah I wanna dance with somebody! With somebody who loves me!"
"Somebody who!" Rachel and Santana found one another and bobbing together, duop-ping. "Somebody who!"
"Somebody who loves me!" Tina wailed, swaying teasingly at Blaine.
"Somebody who! Somebody who!"
"To hold me in his arms, oh!" She turned and her eyes found Sam's who grinned in resignation. "I need a man to take the chance, on a love that burns hot enough to last! So when the night falls, my lonely heart calls!"
She grabbed him and pulled him into the dance floor as Finn and Blaine skipped forwards, meeting Rachel and Santana in the center respectively.
"Oh I wanna dance with somebody!" They grabbed hands and swung them up over their heads, sliding out and then pulling in again. "I wanna feel the heat with somebody!" They wrapped their arms around their partner's midsections and walked in a circle.
Rachel and Santana laughed as they sang the harmony, beaming at their friends as they put on a show.
"Yeah I wanna dance with somebody!" The girls stepped away from their partners and walked a circle around them, tracing their collarbones with their index fingers. "With somebody who loves me!"
Sam shook his head, beaming and laughing down at Tina, who was cutting loose for the first time in a really long time.
"Oh I wanna dance with somebody!" The boys grabbed their partners waists and lifted them up, spinning in a circle as they bent one leg in. "I wanna feel the heat with somebody!" The girls wrapped their arms around their partners necks and dropped into their arms.
"Yeah I wanna dance with somebody!" The girls flipped out of their partners arms and landed on the ground. "With somebody who loves me!"
"Oohoo!" Tina cheered, jumping up and down and beckoning for the crowd to join them on the dance floor.
"Dance!" The boys talk-sang.
"Come on baby!" Santana teased.
"Dance!" The boys continued to repeat their line as the girls fooled around vocally over top of them.
"Woo!" Tina sang.
"Yeah!" Santana cheered.
"Now get with this!" Rachel cheered and then laughed.
"Whoa!" Santana wailed. "Don't you wanna dance? With me baby!"
"Don't you wanna dance? With me boy!" Rachel laughed.
"Hey don't you wanna dance? With me baby!" Santana nodded and Tina joined her. "With somebody who loves me!"
"Don't you wanna dance, say you wanna dance, don't you wanna dance!" The three girls cheered. "Don't you wanna dance, say you wanna dance, don't you wanna dance!"
"Don't you wanna dance, say you wanna dance!" Rachel wailed.
"Uh huh!" Tina sang.
"With somebody who loves me!" They sang as Santana belted over top of them.
The band gradually began to fade out as Tina vocally riffed atop them. When they were finished the audience cheered and the group bowed, first the boys, then Rachel, Santana and finally, Tina.
Tina broke out into a broad grin, fanning her face and laughing as the performance high wore off. She accepted Finn's high five and waved to people who cheered her on.
Santana collapsed in a fit of laughter in Rachel's arms, just revelling in having a good time. They hadn't had many on their journey, and it felt great to just cut loose!
"Hey!" Blaine grinned, leaning against the counter of the bar in a tipsy stupor. He wasn't drunk, but he was definitely feeling the party.
Sam smiled at him, sitting on the stool and laughing as Rachel drunkenly collapsed on the ground. Santana began trying to haul her back to her feet.
"Hey!" Sam said.
"You havin' a good time?" Blaine asked.
"Definitely! This is awesome!" Sam grinned ecstatically, turning to look around the bar.
Blaine sobered up immediately as he realized who was sitting on the other side of Sam. It was the old man who had given him a bad feeling the day before. The party was still going on, but as the old man opened his mouth, Blaine was frozen in place.
Like all good things, apparently the comfortable atmosphere had to come to an end.
"You have your father's smile."
"Fuck." Blaine swore.
"What?" Sam turned to face the withered old man, who stared at him with a strange mixture of longing and bitterness.
"Your father. You have his smile."
"You knew my father?" Sam asked. He knew Blaine was behind him, but all of his senses were on the man before him. The note, still in his pocket, felt heavy as a boulder.
"Greatest swordsman I ever knew, your father." The man drawled. "Then you came along..."
"Sam, maybe we should leave." Blaine grabbed his friend by the arm and tried to pull him away, but Sam wrenched his arm free.
"It was a tragedy when he was killed by the King."
It took a moment for the old man's words to register, but suddenly, Sam's head was spinning. He grabbed at the counter for support, but slipped past it. He felt somebody catch him under the arm, and somebody was yelling beside him, but he couldn't focus on anything. It didn't even register for him to move his legs.
Killed by the King...greatest swordsman...you came along... His father had been a swordsman. A trained swordsman, and a good one. He'd gone up against the King, and lost! And what was that about Sam coming along? Had he had something to do with his father's murder? What was he doing? Challenging the King? He was no soldier! He was a Blacksmith's Apprentice! He couldn't do this! He couldn't do this!
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Blaine was yelling when Sam came to. "He lost his parents a long time ago, he'd come to terms with it and you throw a fucking bomb at him like that! At least he's trying to make something of his life! If he can pick up the pieces after you broke him!" Blaine yelled. "All you do is sit at a bar and drink away your sorrows! Your pathetic, you're no hero, you're an asshole!"
He stumbled as Sam pulled away from him and stared at them both like a wounded puppy.
"Sam, don't dwell on it, come on, you've come so far..."
Sam turned and ran.
"Sam!" Blaine yelled, racing after him, almost running into Kitty in the doorway. He was in such a rush that he didn't notice her frantic demeanor, and when she tried to grab hold of him, he broke free and ran off into the night after his friend.
Tina stepped forwards, looking confused as Kitty appeared.
"Kitty?" She asked, awestruck. "Kitty!" She grabbed the other girl and hugged her tightly.
"Have you seen Finn?" Kitty asked. She was trying very hard to stay calm. Three years cooped up in a barn with little to no social contact did something to a person. She had seen the mist disperse and gone to investigate. She'd been shocked to find the town in greater spirits than ever. Then she'd spotted the Imperial soldiers storming through the gates. That's when she realized just how in danger her friend was.
"Yes, he's over this way, why? Is something wrong?" Tina asked in a panic, looking around.
"Yes!" Kitty ran past her towards where Finn, Rachel and Santana were conversing near the bar.
Tina looked around at the sea of people and froze as her eyes found the woman who had demanded the whereabouts of Sam and his friends the day before. The woman was looking around with a sharp, serious gaze.
"Oh no..." She whispered, running towards the others.
"They're here! A party in your honour? Obviously it's going to draw the soldiers to you! You have to get out of here!"
"We!" Finn said. "I'm not leaving you again."
"Fine." Kitty nodded.
The barn doors opened and Santana swore as several soldiers began to step in.
"Over the bar! Go!" Tina shoved them all through a half-door and pushed them into the backroom and out the backdoor of the bar.
"Blaine and Sam!" Santana said, looking around.
"They ran off!" Tina frowned.
Where could they have gone? She had no idea! Wait...yes she did!
"I'll be back! Go on without me! Escape into the forest, the soldiers won't follow; they don't know it's safe yet!" Tina urged them onwards. "Meet at the remains of the Witch's cottage! Hurry!"
She turned and sprinted off into town again. She'd just made it past the front of the bar when the woman who had confronted her the night before spotted her and took off in pursuit.
Blaine slowed to a stop as he neared the doors of the church, looking in he found Sam sobbing in the back pew, just inside the door. Silently Blaine sat down next to him and resting a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Don't let this get you down Sam. You are stronger than that..."
Sam scoffed.
"You are!"
"Not strong enough!" Sam spat angrily. "If my father, a warrior, couldn't kill the King, how could I have been dumb enough to even entertain the idea?"
"Stop." Blaine turned his friend to face him, despite Sam's resistance and refusal to look him in the eyes. "Sam..."
Blaine took a deep breath and looked around at the church.
"I don't believe in God." He said. Sam looked at him, confused and annoyed. "But I believe in hope, and kindness, and equality, and faith, and...and love! I believe in a lot of the things that He stands for."
"Cool." Sam said bitterly.
"Sam..." Blaine sat back, feeling slightly insulted.
He persevered anyways.
"Hope, kindness, love, faith...those are all things that you have already, inside of you. Those are the things that make you truly strong! It's not how much training you've had, or what weapons you've got. If you've got something worth fighting for, and you do, you can take on an army."
Sam frowned, but some of the anger and bitterness left his eyes.
"You have more to fight for than anybody now. You've got me and Rachel and Finn and Santana and Tina. You've got your mother...You've got the Blacksmith, and Brittney, and Quinn...and now you have your father. We believe in you, all of us, I know it. Now stand up, let's go pack our bags, and you can go prove me right...alright?" He asked.
Sam sniffed silently and stood up. Blaine reached out and hugged him tightly.
"You're stronger than you think you are." He said, and then turned away, just as Tina burst through the door in a crazed panic.
"The Imperial army is here!" She yelled.
Blaine and Sam froze for a split second, and then both dove out the door with Tina in tow.
"Where are the others?" Sam asked.
"They ran ahead, we're supposed to meet them at the Witch's cottage!" She turned them around and shoved them off in the direction of the forest but stopped when somebody yelled from behind her. "Run! I'll hold them off!"
"Tina!" Sam started sternly.
"No! I said I want to help people, and I'm helping you! Go!" She shoved him away and made serious eye contact with Blaine, who nodded and pulled his friend towards the forest.
Tina turned determinedly, noting that her last stand would be this very windy night in front of her own church.
"What is your problem?" The woman yelled approaching her. She had blonde hair and blue eyes that might've been friendly if she weren't glaring at her. A darker skinned woman ran up behind her, panting and confused.
"You're not getting to them." Tina said, glaring at them and preparing for a fight.
"You're not keeping them from us." The girl said, drawing a sword that she recognized as Imperial from the books that she'd read about them.
"I'll fight you." Tina said. "I'm not afraid of you."
"Girl, pretty sure we could take you." The other girl approached. "It's two against one."
"I'm stronger than I look."
"So are we." The blonde glared at her. "You wanna go?"
"Fine." Tina was actually terrified. "I'm not going to step aside and let you kill them. The King deserves what he has coming to him!" She braced herself for the battle to begin.
"Wait what?" The black girl blinked in confusion.
"I don't care if you are Imperial soldiers! I've got magic on my side!" Tina lied.
"...We're not Imperial soldiers..." The blonde said. "My name's Brittney...this is Mercedes. We're just kids..."
"Wait, what? Then why are you chasing Sam? And why do you have an Imperial sword?"
"I stole it." Brittney explained. "And Sam's my friend, I'm trying to help him out!"
"Stop!" Another voice boomed.
"It's Coal!" Mercedes swore and shoved Brittney forwards. "Run!"
Brittney nodded and sprinted forwards, grabbing Tina's arm as she passed. Mercedes was hot on their heels. The three of them had barely escaped into the woods when Coal came to the edge of it, peering inside the brambles trying to find them again.
"Mercedes!" He yelled, but she did not respond.
He swore and turned around as Riker and Savannah approached.
"Find anything?" Savannah asked tiredly.
"Nothing. They're not here. It was a false alarm." Coal said. "Go back to the castle, I've got some business to tend to in town."
"What do you mean this was a false alarm?" Riker asked angrily. "It couldn't have been!"
"The mist went away and the people celebrated. False. Alarm." Coal snapped.
"Why were you running like a lunatic than?"
"I thought I saw somebody. I was wrong. Are you doubting me?" Coal asked, stepping up to Riker and staring him down.
"Maybe I am!" Riker snarled. "Maybe I don't think you're fit to lead this team anymore!" He snapped.
"Boys! Leave the bloodshed for the fugitives." Savannah said, stepping in between them and grabbing Riker's arm. "We'll see you back at the castle." She told her brother and then walked away.
As they walked Riker turned to Savannah.
"They were here...I know it." He growled.
"You'll get another chance. We've still got some tricks up our sleeves."
As they turned a corner, Coal turned to look back at the woods and stepped inside.
"Where are they...?" Rachel mumbled worriedly, pacing back and forth.
The alcohol had worn off in the still moist, cold night air of the Whitemist Forest, and her boots clicked on the hardwood floors that still remained of the Witch's cabin.
"I'm sure they'll be here." Kitty reasoned, attempting to be comforting. "I mean, they all know how to find this place, and without the mist it'll be even easier."
"If they even make it into the forest, yeah! What if they've been captured?" Rachel snapped irritably. She was worried. The two people that she loved most in the world were in danger; her brother and her...well...Sam.
"Rachel!" Blaine yelled out suddenly, and Rachel turned, screaming in surprise as he lifted her into the air and spun her around. She detached and hugged Sam as he approached.
"Where's Tina?" Kitty asked, looking around.
"She stayed behind to hold off the soldiers..." Sam frowned. "I didn't want to let her but..."
"There were soldiers just around the corner! If she hadn't stopped them, they would've caught us!" Blaine frowned. "She saved our lives, all of them."
"It's Mercedes all over again." Sam sighed, turning away and kicking his shoes against the ground.
The others fell silent, looking around with a mixture of fear and irritation.
"Well...we can't stay here." Kitty said, stepping off of the flooring and back into the forest. "Starryville is fairly far away, and we have to go through it to find Puck. Besides, staying in one place means they'll be able to track us easier, we're still too close to the village to make camp."
"She's right." Rachel sighed, running a hand through her hair and stepping off after her. Silently Santana and Blaine followed. Finn offered Sam a sad smile before he moved off after them and Sam groaned, folding his arms and following behind them.
Fifteen minutes later, Tina led Mercedes and Brittney to the ruined building. She frowned and put her hands on her hips, blowing hair out of her face and looking around, flustered.
"They must've kept going..." She sighed.
"Going where?" Mercedes asked.
"Starryville. This forest leads right to the gates, or so I've heard. I've never actually been through it."
"Well let's get going than, the faster we move the sooner we'll catch them." Brittney said, walking past the cottage. She'd lost her friends once, she wasn't about to lose them again, not when she was so close. She'd let them slip away too many times already anyways on her journey, they just didn't know it.
Midnight
Marley snapped upright, immediately searching to make sure that Quinn's body had yet to vanish from sight entirely.
It had not...but she was fainter than ever before. Marley approached and moved to brush her hair out of her face worriedly, but her hand slipped right through her skin.
"Oh no..." Marley mumbled.
She was further gone than she'd thought. At the rate that she was deteriorating, she would be dead by nightfall!
"Sam!" She yelled.
"Sam, Finn, will you two go find some firewood?" Rachel asked. "Blaine, take Kitty and go look for some rocks to put around it so it doesn't spread." She nodded to them both and the four of them set off into the wilderness, leaving her behind with Santana.
She sat down and began routing through her bag. They'd managed to stock up before they left Fayhaven after the mist had dispersed, but they'd been expecting more preparation time. With Kitty joining them, they were rationing even more than usual, and she began to separate dried fruit into six different piles.
When she'd finished, she handed one, with a handful of nuts, to Santana who was sitting down on the opposite side of where the fire would go, against a tree.
"So have you done anything yet?" Santana asked.
"What?"
"Have you made a move on Sam?" She leaned forwards, resting her hands on her knees.
"Let it go!" Rachel cried, standing up and walking away.
"He's a great guy!" Santana yelled, practically leaping after her and grabbing her wrist to stop her. "He showed me that I belong here...in this world...in this group. He deserves somebody to love! Quinn would've wanted it!"
Rachel wrenched her wrist free.
"Quinn is dead, Santana." Rachel whispered. "Love is useless on a journey like this, it'll just get in the way! I can't get involved with that! I can't let it cloud my vision!"
Santana frowned and put her hands on her hips, staring at Rachel seriously.
"It already has." She said.
Rachel scowled and turned away again but Santana grabbed her arm and turned her around again, ignoring Rachel's threatening groan.
"Give love a chance." She said. "If I could, I would!"
"What about Finn? Blaine? They're both cute, you want love so much, you go find it! Heck, you can have Sam if you want him to have somebody that much! I'm not getting mixed up in that."
Santana sighed.
"It's not that easy. They're great, but I don't love them. You love Sam! Why is that so hard for you to accept?"
"Because love would only complicate things. If I have to make a choice between Sam and Blaine, I need to know that I'll stick by my brother's side! We've been together for seventeen years. Sam's a great guy, but I can't risk him throwing a wrench into that. I need to know that I'll be there for Blaine, and that he'll be there for me."
Santana frowned, the moonlight glistening off of her, almost silvery in the night.
"You're afraid that if you let Sam in, you'll lose Blaine?" She asked.
Rachel timidly nodded.
"Do you know how stupid that is? Your brother supports you! He'd have to be blind to miss the chemistry between Sam and you! If he hasn't said anything about it yet, he's not going to!"
Rachel scowled at Santana's condescending tone and turned to storm off into the forest, intent on looking for berries.
"I said no! Stop pressing the issue!" She yelled back.
"So what are you going to do when you see your brother again?" Blaine asked casually, picking up another sharp looking rock from the ground outside of a large cave and slipping it in his bag.
Kitty looked up and tossed him another rock to add to the collection.
She shrugged.
"Honestly, I'm just hoping this whole trip isn't a disappointment." She said.
Blaine frowned, standing up straight.
"It won't be! I'm sure!"
"You know there's a good chance that he's dead right?" Kitty stood up, looking at him. She was being realistic, and that was all there was to it. She wanted nothing more than to believe that he was alive...but he'd been living in the wilderness for three years...he'd had to venture through a forest full of witches and possessed trees. It was likely that he was dead.
"Then at least you'll know." Blaine frowned. "I lost somebody I loved..." He offered.
"I'm sorry." Kitty said honestly.
"Don't be..." He sighed. "She's gone now, and she's not coming back. My sister told me that we had to keep going...I won't ever forget her, but...I have to move on. It's just hard."
"I bet." Kitty sighed. "I'm sure it'll get better. With time, and with friends."
"It already has!" He smiled. "I just need to stop thinking about her so much." He sighed and shook his head. "It hurts too much to think of all that we could've been! I had this fantasy where we'd get married, and Rachel and Sam and the others would all be there! Her mother too, and this friend I had back where I used to live, a deer named Flower. She'd be the flower-girl, and she'd parade a whole bouquet of Cupid's Rose up the path..." He blinked back tears and dropped the rock he'd been holding.
Kitty silently approached him and hugged him.
"It'll get better. We're here for you!"
"And we're here for you too! We will find out what happened to your brother. I promise!" Blaine sniffed and held her tightly. He may have lost his love, but at least he had his friends.
Sam had an armful of firewood and Finn was gleefully piling more and more onto him in an attempt to overburden him.
"Finn!" Sam laughed. "Stop! I'm done!"
"Muahahahah!" Finn cackled and loaded another branch on top of him. "Never!"
Sam rolled his eyes. It was good to know that Finn had not lost his odd sense of humour entirely. It just wasn't a mask anymore. Finn allowed himself to feel sincerely, and sometimes, when that feeling was happy, the old Finn would come out. Sam loved it.
"Sam!"
Marley's voice startled him and was so loud in his head that he jerked backwards and pressed both hands to his skull, dropping the wood to the ground.
"Sam?" Finn asked, approaching him, concerned.
"What?" Sam hissed at Marley, but Finn took it as being directed at him.
"Are you alright?" Finn asked.
"It's Quinn!"
"Quinn?" He asked, looking up.
"She's dying!" Marley said in a panic.
"Quinn's dead, Marley." Sam whispered harshly. "You should know that."
Finn looked at him and pursed his lips. He decided to collect the sticks that he'd dropped, not wanting to get involved. It was unsavory of Marley to bring up Sam's dead best friend. He was surprised at her.
"Not yet!" Marley said urgently. "But she's running out of time!"
"What are you talking about? I saw her die!"
"She didn't die! She just stopped being totally alive..."
"That makes no sense!"
"Listen! The Cupid's Rose, it kept her alive! She's hanging in the balance between the world of the living and the world of dead, but she's fading away!"
"Wh-what?" Sam asked doubtfully.
"Have I steered you wrong yet?" Marley said impatiently. "You have to trust me!" She yelled in his head. "Do you trust me?"
"...Fine." Sam said, half-afraid to truly believe. But...if it was true...if somehow, Quinn had survived the Piper's magic...He had to believe! He had to! "I believe you!"
"Okay!" Marley said. "In order for Quinn to be saved, the person who loves her most has to believe that their love is stronger than death! So believe Sam! She's your best friend! Believe! But hurry, we only have until midnight!"
So Sam closed his eyes, and he believed.
He focused all of his energy on the image of his best friend, laying in the barren desert wasteland. He breathed as deeply as he could and he imagined reaching down and grabbing her hand. In his head, her eyes opened.
It was true. She was one of his best friends. If he could save her...he would.
When he opened his eyes, nothing had changed.
"Marley?" He whispered. "Marley!"
"I don't know!" She yelled. "That should've worked!"
"You said the person who loves her most had to believe! I believed and she's not here!" Finn looked up from the wood he was gathering.
"I didn't lie!" Marley defended herself. "I'm looking right at her, but nothing has changed! She's dying, maybe you didn't believe hard enough!"
"I believed." He said.
"Hey..." Finn stood up, arm full of wood. "I was eavesdropping and...if love is going to bring Quinn back...maybe...what if it isn't supposed to be yours?"
"What are you talking about?" Sam asked, just as Marley asked the same question in Finn's head.
"Maybe you're not the one who loves her the most."
"She's one of my best friends."
"Well...when she was dying...she told Blaine that she loved him. Right?" Finn paused. "He said he loved her back."
Sam froze.
That was right! Quinn and Blaine had been in love! What if he still loved her? She'd been his first friend, his first love, his only love! Of course!
Wordlessly Sam turned and shot off into the forest, running more urgently than he'd ever run before.
Finn bit his lip and turned to move back towards the campsite. Halfway there he ran into a furious Rachel.
"You should probably come back with me." He said. "I have a feeling things are about to get crazy..."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Where's Sam?"
"Hopefully? Saving a life..."
"I can't reach his mind! It's too cluttered! You've got to reach him!" Marley said in Sam's head as he sprinted through the trees. "Hurry! We're losing her! You've got ten minutes, max!"
"Fuck!" Sam swore. "Blaine!" He screamed.
He spotted his friend talking with Kitty through the trees.
Blaine looked up as Sam raced up to him with sweat glinting in the moonlight and crazy, frantic eyes.
"What's wrong?" Blaine asked, stepping forwards anxiously. "Where's Finn?"
"Finn's fine!" Sam said. "It's Quinn! She's alive! All you have to do is love her, and believe that your love is stronger than death! Come on, hurry, we only have ten minutes!"
Blaine blinked at him.
Slowly, he took off his satchel and handed it to Kitty.
"You should go back to camp." He told her softly, before turning and looking at Sam with the coldest, most wounded eyes Sam had ever seen on the younger boy.
His intensity made Sam take a step back.
"What?"
"How fucking dare you?" Blaine snapped. "Do you know how hard it's been for me? Letting her go? I loved her Sam! She was my first love! Maybe you can be an asshole and lead me on like this, because you've had a thousand girlfriends in your comfortable little town, but I only had one and she is dead!"
Blaine sniffed and took a deep calming breath, trying to refrain from punching the taller boy in the face.
"Do you know how many times I've helped you? You were sad, and I helped you because I thought you needed somebody!" Blaine said. "After all of that, you think you can just throw some bullshit lie like that at me? Why would you do that Sam? Why? I help you and you hurt me in return." His voice broke and he turned away, looking up at the moon. Anywhere but at Sam.
"I...what?" Sam furrowed his eyebrows, shocked at Blaine's speech. "I'm not lying!"
"People die Sam. You know that! You love your father, don't you? But that's not going to bring him back." Blaine snapped and turned to storm off through the trees.
Sam raced after him, shocked and enraged that he would bring up such a sensitive topic.
"Quinn's my best friend! Why would I lie about something like this?" He yelled, trying to catch up to Blaine.
"She is not." Blaine snapped. "Making friends is easy for you. I have no idea why you're doing this to me, but drop it. It's not fair."
"Hold up...Do you hear voices?" Mercedes stopped short and Brittney and Tina craned their necks, listening.
"Yeah...that's...that's Sam!" Brittney gasped, taking off at a sprint. Tina and Mercedes broke into a run after him. They were close, they could feel it!
Blaine stepped out into the campsite and Finn, Santana, Rachel and Kitty looked up at him as Sam stormed out after him and whipped him around.
"I thought you loved her!" Sam spat.
So Blaine punched him.
Sam gasped and rubbed his jaw. The other four stood and stared wide-eyed at the two boys. When Blaine spoke again, his voice was shaky and his eyes were teary.
"I do love her." He whispered. "How dare you suggest otherwise?"
"Prove it than!" Sam yelled. "If you really loved her, you'd allow yourself to believe in what love can do!"
"I've been hurt by love too much already Sam." Blaine said, tears leaking down his face.
Rachel felt her heart break for her brother.
"My parents hated me. Everybody in that castle wanted me dead, and the one person who didn't was murdered. If I love my Nurse will she come back to life too?"
"It's not the same! Your love...the Cupid's Rose, its keeping her alive! But we're running out of time!"
"Two minutes!" Marley said in Sam's head.
"If you truly loved somebody, you would go through hell to get them back!"
"Sam...everybody who has ever loved me has been lost. Rachel is the only exception. If I believe you and I close my eyes and wish for her to be back here with us...if she doesn't come back, I will die. I know it. I can't handle that!"
"All you have to do is believe!" Sam said, stepping forwards and putting both hands on Blaine's shoulders. "You can do it, I know you can!"
"How do you know?" Blaine cried, allowing his tears to flow freely.
"Because you've got love in your heart!" Sam said. "I know that, because you're a fighter, and you would die for the people you love!"
Blaine didn't say anything, but sniffed and bit his lip.
"I would trust you with my life, Blaine. All I'm asking is for you to believe."
Blaine looked to the side, at Rachel, who nodded slowly, swallowing nervously.
"Please." Sam whispered.
"One minute!" Marley said.
Blaine closed his eyes.
Blaine looked out at the wedding reception, smiling as Flower paraded down the aisle, a bouquet of Cupid's Rose in her mouth and his feathered cap still atop her head.
The deer passed by Sam and Rachel who were standing on the altar; the best man and maid of honour respectively. Blaine could see Quinn's mother crying in the front row.
He took the bouquet from the deer and slipped a ring off of the stem of one of the flowers, turning to face the beautiful blonde-haired girl just before him.
"Quinn..." He smiled at her and she smiled shyly back. "I love you...I'll never leave you again." He smiled.
"You don't have to." She smiled.
"I believe in you..." He said. "Come back to me?"
She smiled wider than ever and looked at him intensely. Slowly, she nodded.
Brittney stepped into the campsite just as a bright green light lit it up. She, Tina and Mercedes covered their eyes as the boy in the center started to shine, the light twirling around him and pooling directly in front of him, causing his hair to blow in the energy field.
Sam shielded his eyes, taking a half-step back as midnight arrived. Rachel, Santana, Kitty and Finn watched in awe as the circle of energy expanded, and a light blue beam of energy joined the green.
Slowly, the light began to form a figure on the ground in front of Blaine. They grew and shaped themselves until they'd become a short, unmistakably blonde haired shape.
Blaine opened his eyes as the green energy wrapped around his body. The light blue split away and began to orbit around the glowing figure. Slowly the light began to break away, pulling Blaine closer to it.
He reached out a shocked hand as features and clothing began to shape upon the figure. Within minutes, Quinn was standing before him, smiling up at him and crying. She closed the distance between them, pressing her lips to his and the blue and green energy danced around them ecstatically.
Sam burst into ecstatic laughter.
"It worked!" He yelled. "It worked! You did it! We did it!"
"Quinn?" Rachel gasped. "Quinn!"
The light faded away from both of them, and Quinn looked around, staring at her arms and legs as if they were new.
"You saved me..." Quinn whispered, looking up at Blaine and holding him tightly.
"It worked..." Blaine gasped, pulling her close and burying his face in her neck.
"Quinn!" Sam screamed ecstatically, tackling them both and wrapping them up in a hug, all animosity lost in the ecstasy of the situation. Rachel couldn't contain herself, and soon she and Santana had joined the group hug.
Quinn couldn't believe it! She'd been brought back from the brink of death! She remembered dying, and then a magical in-between world. She'd seen everything that had happened, she had watched her friends as they travelled. Just as her vision began to get fuzzy however, a green light had broken into the world and pulled her out.
She opened her eyes, wanting nothing more than to stay in that hug forever. Her gaze caught a movement out of the corner of her eyes and she gasped.
"Brittney?"
Whoa! This chapter was shorter than the others, but the next chapter is the longest one yet, by far. Quinn is alive, and the group has definitely expanded! In the next Chapter, Sam, Rachel, Finn, Blaine, Quinn, Santana, Brittney, Mercedes, Tina and Kitty make their way towards Starryville to track down Kitty's brother, Puck, and along the way they learn just what happened with Brittney and Mercedes. Both Santana and Sam find themselves suddenly coming down with the wonderful disease known as love, and neither know what to do about it, while Finn becomes concerned for Kitty and whatever has been troubling her. When Blaine bares his heart to Sam, Sam risks crushing the younger boys spirit and ruining one third of his journey, unless he can redeem himself, and when Brittney learns of her father's death, she is at risk of losing her mind as well. Another character waits for the team in Starryville, and a face from Mercedes' past attempts to reel her back into his web.
Review!
Also, question, I didn't intend to put Mike Chang in this story, but do you think I should? It might mean longer waits between updates while I figure out where to stick him, but if you feel strongly about it, I will.