So this is the chapter where several things come to a head, but that's all I'll say about it. Enjoy!
Repentance
"Did I do that?" A deep, mournful voice filled the room.
Sam looked up to find the Ice Dragon standing up again. Sam felt tears of hopelessness stinging his nose, but the dragon shook its head.
"I was under a spell, I'm not anymore..." It paused, now dark eyes still transfixed on Finn. "Did I do that? To him? Did I kill that boy?"
"Yes." Puck said bitterly.
"The King's right hand woman has the dragons under magical control...I couldn't help it!" The dragon frowned, anxious for them to believe him.
Rachel and Blaine exchanged a look. Their mother was responsible for Finn's death, and the deaths of so many other children all over the Kingdom.
"I must redeem myself." The dragon said. "I ask that you accompany me, to free my siblings."
Sam snapped. He was frustrated, he was angry, he was pissed at the entire fucking world. He didn't want to add more to their journey, he just wanted it to be over. He wanted the threat of death to stop hanging over his head like a storm cloud at every turn. He hadn't asked for this! His only wish had been to know more about his father, but if this was the price he paid for the little knowledge he'd gained, then he'd rather live ignorantly.
"No!" Sam snapped. "You know what, we don't have time!"
"What?" Blaine looked confused. "Sam, this is huge! If we get the dragons on our side, we stand a way better chance!"
"The army must suspect a resistance is being put together! They'll be putting more and more guards on Marley. If we wait any longer, we're not going to be able to get to her." Sam said.
"But Sam-" Quinn started.
"Finn said to get Marley!" Sam snapped, almost to the point of hysterics.
"This is not the place for this." The Ice Dragon roared and they all fell silent. "Follow me, I'll lead you from my cave."
The eleven of them fell silent as they followed the large predator from his domain. Sam refused to set Finn down until they were outside, where he set him on a snow bank surrounded by tall pine trees that lined the cave.
The dragon continued to lead them until they reached a large clearing, before he turned back around.
"Now, this is not my plan to make. Do you want my services or not?"
"Yes." Blaine said, at the same time as Sam said no. Blaine turned to him, exasperated. "Sam, we need as much help as we can get! I'm sure Marley's great, but she's not as powerful as five dragons!"
"He killed Finn!" Sam spat, pointing at the dragon. "Who says the other dragons won't kill us if we try to get them? Finn was the only one who stood a chance against this one, who will save us when we're fighting another flesh-hungry dragon."
"He was under a spell." Quinn stepped in, trying to smooth the situation.
"They'll all be under a spell!" Sam snapped again.
"We have a dragon on our side! What better to fix other dragons, than a dragon!" Blaine growled.
"It's a stupid plan!" Sam snapped.
Blaine narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to respond, thought better of it, and turned to storm away through the snow. Rachel let out a growl of irritation and jogged off after him.
"Blaine!" Rachel yelled as her brother slowed to lean against a tree.
He looked up at her, almost in relief that it was she who had followed him.
"Can you believe him?" Blaine asked, gesturing back in the direction of the others.
"Yes." Rachel said flatly, shrugging. "I'm sorry, but you're being unnecessarily controversial. We don't need this kind of tension right now."
Blaine's jaw dropped and he narrowed his eyes.
"Are you serious? I'm being controversial? He's the one who's jumping down my throat!"
"He's grieving." Rachel said.
"We're all grieving." Blaine said. "He's supposed to be leading us Rachel, I know it's sad that Finn died, but we still have to focus on the big picture. Five dragons would be a greater force to reckon with than one girl."
Rachel shook her head.
"We still promised Finn we'd find her. And she's the one that kept Quinn as alive as she was, without her, Quinn would be dead."
"I appreciate that!" Blaine said. "But that doesn't change the fact that-"
"Sam's right!" Rachel cut him off. "Get over it!"
Blaine paused and blinked, stepping back.
"You don't believe that..." He said slowly. "You're siding with Sam because you love him, not because you think he's right."
Rachel blushed.
"I-"
"I'm your brother Rachel!" Blaine snapped, even though, in some small part of his brain he knew that that was an unfair thing to say. He'd told her to go after Sam in the first place, after all.
She took a deep, furious breath and glared at him.
"You know that's unfair."
"Well maybe Sam's not the only one who should be looking at this objectively."
"You don't think Quinn's going to side with you?" Rachel accused him.
"Quinn can think for herself!" Blaine snapped. "Go back to Sam."
"Fine!" Rachel yelled.
"Fine!" Blaine yelled back.
"That's simply-" She started.
"Fine!" He finished and they turned away from each other, storming off in different directions.
Rachel was so infuriated that she wasn't paying attention to where she was going until she ran into Puck head on. They both pressed their hands to their heads and backed up to look where they were going.
Brittney looked up from where she was standing with Tina and Santana nearby. Somebody had retrieved a large stick for Santana to use as a crutch and they watched the two curiously.
"Maybe you should take a breath..." Puck suggested, reaching out and steadying Rachel.
She shook him off and glared at him.
"Oh do you? Lots of people telling me what to do lately, aren't there?" She snapped unfairly.
Puck stepped back and narrowed his eyes.
"I was just trying to be objective, but if you want to talk about it then let's talk about it." He said. "You're wrong."
"Excuse me?"
"You're wrong!" Puck said. "And even if you're right, why would you willingly walk away from your own sibling? I lost my si-"
"Your sister, yeah, we know. It's all very tragic. You just keep using that as an excuse." Rachel practically mumbled before turning and walking past him. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to a halt.
"An excuse?" He growled dangerously. "What's that supposed to mean."
"We get that your story is sad." Rachel said. "We all have sad stories!"
"Yeah, and you know what kept you from killing yourself in your story? You still had your family with you." Puck snapped and turned away.
"Well why should I have to change my mind than?" Rachel yelled after him. "Why shouldn't he?"
"Because you're leaving him for another person! You're deliberately choosing somebody else, over him! That'd be like me letting Kitty die because I wanted to chill with Mercedes!" Puck snapped over his shoulder, storming past Brittney as Rachel ran in the other direction.
"I don't understand..." Brittney mumbled under her breath. "It's none of his business…"
"Was I talking to you?" Puck asked, turning around and flexing his fists.
"No." Brittney said simply. "But you were yelling loudly enough that any soldiers nearby are definitely on their way here. Good job."
"Are you serious? You're gonna sit there and judge me?" Puck asked.
"Yes."
"Man, fuck you." Puck shook his head with disgust and walked away.
"Brittney..." Tina started. "Puck understands how important sibling love is...he's not wrong."
"You're against Sam too?" Brittney asked dejectedly. "Oh..."
"I'm just playing Devil's advocate!" Tina said. "He's right that when family has gone through that much together, they shouldn't just decide that somebody else is important."
"How would you know?" Brittney asked. "You left your family. Isn't that hypocritical of what you just said? You left your family to come with us."
Tina gasped and recoiled as if she'd hit her.
"It's not like I ran away, my Dad knows where I am! Besides, you left your family too!"
"Not by choice! Nobody left their families by choice except for you and Santana, and your family, from what I hear, wasn't that bad!"
"You didn't live with them!" Tina said, getting riled up. "You ran away from your father because he wanted you to work regular hours! My family made me work two jobs, and still expected the world from me! At least you had friends!"
"Well I can see why you didn't!" Brittney snapped, not because she believed it, because she was stressed out. That didn't stop Tina from slapping her across the face.
"How dare you?" Tina spat and turned away.
She gasped as Santana slapped her back.
"Don't touch my girlfriend again." Santana snapped coldly.
Tina gasped, rubbing her face. She turned and ran off into the snow and Brittney looked at Santana curiously.
"Girlfriend?"
"Can we not talk about this right now? I'm not really in a loving mood."
Rachel was still grumbling when she found herself by a campfire that had been created by Sam and Quinn.
"I'm so furious." She said, growling and sitting down next to him. "I told him that he was wrong, and then got into a fight with Puck who was being dumb, then I heard Tina sticking her nose into it when Brittney tried to defend me and- agh!"
Sam didn't move from where he was looking into the fire.
"You're just stirring up trouble." He said quietly.
Rachel slowly turned her head until she was staring straight at him.
"Excuse me?"
"You're stirring up trouble."
"I'm defending you!"
"I can defend myself."
"Oh yeah, I can tell." Rachel stood up. "I'm stirring up trouble? You started this whole argument, now most of your team is off bickering with one another and you're just sitting there passing judgement like some sort of God. Good leadership Sam, good leadership."
She turned and walked away, practically steaming with anger.
Quinn frowned and looked at Sam, waiting to see what he would do.
Sam reached into his pocket as tears began to fall down his face again, and pulled out his father's note, reading it over and over again until the words became blurs behind the tears in his eyes.
Kitty couldn't take this. It was like everything she had said in that cave had been balled up and thrown away. Nobody cared that they were forming rifts between themselves. If they couldn't trust one another to watch their backs, then who could they trust?
Finn's death was sad, but nobody was reacting in the right way! Nobody had suggested a funeral! Nobody had suggested sitting down and splitting their forces to try and achieve both goals! Everybody just insisted that they were right, and then brought personal issues into it.
Kitty dropped her bag on the ground and knelt down against a tree on the edge of the forest. She heard it clunk against a root and paused, looking at it. Slowly, she picked it up and dug down deep into the bottom.
-Musical Cue-
-Kerrie Roberts: Rescue Me-
Her hand closed around the locket, and she drew it out, looking at it.
Rachel dropped to her knees and stared down at her reflection in the frozen over river that she'd happened upon. She looked at her crying eyes, and saw ghostly images of all of her friends standing behind her.
"This waking nightmare lingers...when will the mirror stop telling lies?" One by one, the figures in the ice turned and walked away. "I don't know where I've been...or where I'm going. But I can't do it alone..."
Rachel pulled back, curling in on herself and crying.
"I'm reaching out..."
Sam jumped to his feet, staring up at the sky, note in hand.
"Rescue me!" He felt tears streaming down his face. "Show me who I am!"
He raised his arms, note still firmly held in one hand.
"Cause I can't believe, this is how the story ends!"
"Fight for me!" Blaine growled as he stormed through the open expanse of snow in a vain attempt to run away from his problems, if only for a little while. "If it's not too late! Help me breath again!"
He turned and looked back towards the campfire.
"No this can't be how the story ends!"
He closed his eyes as a tear leaked from his eyes.
Brittney sighed and leaned her head back against a tree, closing her eyes.
"I'm locked up and waiting for you...I've lost so much more than, I'll ever know..."
Mercedes knelt on the ground, crying into her knees. Finn was gone, and their family was falling apart.
"Love has the truth forgotten, find me now..." She paused and across the forest, Brittney joined her. "Before I lose it all...I'm crying out!"
"Rescue me!" Tina stared up into the sky, hand clutching her cross. "Show me who I am! Cause I can't believe, this is how the story ends!"
"Fight for me!" Santana yelled, punching a tree to diffuse her anger. "If it's not too late! Help me breath again!"
She dropped to his knees and leant against the tree, sighing.
"No this can't be how the story ends..."
Quinn looked up at Sam, softly singing the bridge as she did. He was so strong, and so broken all at the same time. The problem was that she didn't know how to fix him...did anybody? She had a hunch that it had something to do with the siblings, maybe Santana too, but that was out of her hands...and that scared her.
"Rescue me!" Puck wailed, stomping the ground as he stormed through the trees. "Show me who I am! Cause I can't believe!"
"I can't believe!" Kurt sang, leaning against the Ice Dragon's paw.
"This is how the story ends!" Puck finished.
"Fight for me!" Kitty sang, raising the locket to eye level. "If it's not too late."
"Not too late." Kurt sighed.
"Help me breath again..." Kitty sang and took a deep breath. "No this can't be how the story ends."
She flicked it open.
"Hello Kitty..."
Puck was pissed, pissed that everything was falling apart, but at the same time, he wondered if it was only natural. They were very similar people, that was true, but they were all also different. Maybe it didn't matter who was right and who was wrong, just that there were two sides.
Yes...he realized. There were always two sides to a story, and it was a matter of perspective which was good and which was bad. Even their journey had two sides, the soldiers of the King and the soldiers of Sam. Those who thrived under the King probably saw themselves as good citizens being savagely attacked by people trying to disrupt the balance of things.
Puck wasn't condoning their actions, just realizing that there were two sides, just like now. Shocked, he realized all of a sudden that it didn't matter! Sure, people fought sometimes, but that didn't change all of the good that they'd done.
He smiled and broke into a jog, eager to share his realization with somebody.
Rachel, meanwhile, was realizing something very similar.
She sat back and she decided to that she had a few apologies to make. Everybody had been stressed because of Finn, and she hadn't done anything to help that. Nobody else had either, but that wasn't anybody's fault. It was hard to think straight when a bond that was keeping you together was broken.
They just had to form new bonds and move forwards, instead of arguing about what was the right move, maybe they should try both!
She loved her brother, and she loved Sam, and she knew that she would follow Sam because Blaine was happier mentally than Sam was. That was what a teammate did. That was what anybody did for somebody they loved, and just as surely as Rachel knew this, she knew that Blaine and Sam would both accept that.
She hopped to her feet and moved off to find her friends.
Unfortunately, neither Puck, nor Rachel, got to share their revelations that night. Instead, they both came upon the same event; Kitty, closing her locket, just after Riker's shimmering face informed her that he was already almost there.
"Kitty!" They both yelled, coming out of the trees on either side of her.
She jumped and stood up, looking from one to the other, terror in her eyes.
"What have you done?" Puck asked.
"I- He said we'd be safe if I just helped him!"
"What about the rest of us?" Rachel asked, less angry at Kitty than afraid for the others.
"I didn't think about that! I just had to make sure Puck and I were going to be okay, and everybody was yelling and I-I didn't think!" She cried.
"Finn wouldn't have wanted that." Puck said. "I don't want that! We're still a family, not just you and I, but all of us! You have to fix this! Family members fight sometimes, but they're still family!"
"Well..." Rachel started.
"Your case is special." Puck said. "Your only true family is Blaine, family doesn't mean by blood."
"Right." Rachel said. "Hurry, we have to warn everybody!"
Kitty swallowed hard and nodded, head swimming with self-doubt as she turned and rocketed out of the woods. What had she been thinking? She'd let her heart make a snap decision and now everybody was in danger!
"Everybody!" She yelled as she ran, she saw flashes of other people as she ran, but she didn't pause to see who they were. "Riker is on his way here! Everybody! Hide! Hide!" She yelled, but it was too late.
She looked up into the sky as a pitch black dragon descended from it right in front of the campfire. Sam grabbed Quinn and pulled her backwards as Kitty raced in between them, blocking them off.
"I was wrong! Leave! I don't need you!" Kitty yelled and Riker laughed as he slid off of the dragon. Kitty could practically feel the others slowly assembling behind her.
"You're stupid." He laughed and Kitty took a step back.
"Wh-what?"
"You're stupid! So stupid for having trusted me! Me!" He laughed as if this were the most hilarious thing in the world. "And for what? Because I gave you a locket?" He laughed and pointed at the locket that she'd hung back around her neck.
"I...what do you mean?" Kitty whispered.
"I was always going to kill you! All of you! Especially that brother of yours!" Riker tilted his chin in Puck's direction. "You never had a say! You were a tool that I was using to get to them! A tool, that's all you are! A tool!"
Kitty screamed angrily and whipped forwards with her dagger. He brought his sword up and clashed it against her weapon. Riker pulled back and ran at her, swinging his sword but she ducked under it and tripped him, swinging her dagger down at him.
He somersaulted to his feet and swung at her but she pivoted around and elbowed him in the face before turning again and swiping her dagger at his head.
Riker managed to duck the attack narrowly, before sweeping his sword in a large arc at her leg, but she countered the blow with her dagger and pressed against his blade, causing him to spin around and lock blades with her again.
Kitty lifted one leg and kicked him backwards and he stumbled but recovered when she tried to make another sweep at his head, and lunged with his sword, slicing shallowly across her collarbone.
"Kitty!" Puck yelled, stepping forwards, but Riker's dragon stepped in the way and roared at him, pushing them all back.
"Dragon! Do something!" Sam yelled and the Ice Dragon started forwards, but stopped short at an invisible barrier pushing him back.
"What?" He cried out and Riker laughed as Kitty fell back, one hand pressed to her wound.
"The King's magic reaches as far as he wants! I'm not the only one watching this fight!" Riker yelled out.
"That's not fair!" Quinn yelled.
"Life's not fair!" Riker called back as Kitty lunged at him.
He side stepped but she was ready for it, and pivoted, sliding her dagger across his chest.
Riker cried out in pain and glared at her with fury in her eyes.
"You bitch!" He yelled, leaping forwards and grabbing her shoulder.
They both thrust their blades at the same time, but Kitty's fell short.
Nobody could breath as they stared at the sight before them. The hilt of Riker's sword was pressed firmly into Kitty's abdomen. The blade stuck out her back. The silence was so thick that it felt like ringing in their ears.
Kitty gasped, tasting blood in her mouth as she looked over Riker's shoulder, making eye contact with first Rachel, and then her brother.
She smiled.
"Kitty!" Puck yelled, rushing forwards, but she didn't listen. She forced Riker backwards, lunging towards the Ice Dragon and grabbing onto his foot, curling around Riker like a monkey.
"Fly!" She croaked to the Ice Dragon, making eye contact with him.
He nodded.
"Kitty!" Puck screamed so loudly and brokenheartedly that his throat was raw. "No!"
"Don't!" Kitty yelled down as the Ice Dragon took off. "Don't let this stop you. My story ends here, but you've still got a long ways to go! Believe that! I'll always be with you Puck, even if I'm not."
"I can't-" He cried out, sobbing.
"No!" Kitty cut him off and shaking her head. "You can do anything! I know you can!"
She paused and smiled almost shyly.
"You're my big brother."
"...Why?" Puck whispered, falling to his knees and staring up at her.
"Because I've got a lot of repenting to do." She laughed. "Go out there and win this okay? For me. I know you can do this, all of you, as long as you stick together! You've got a new family now Puck, take care of them okay?"
He didn't respond as she got smaller and smaller.
"Okay?" She yelled. "Promise me!"
"I promise..." He mouthed up to her, eyes red with tears then he leapt to his feet as the Ice Dragon started to disappear over the mountain. He ran after her, yelling as loudly as he could. "I promise!"
Kitty smiled down at her brother as he ran after them, but soon he was out of sight. She could feel her vision begin to tunnel as the Icegate Caverns passed below them, but before she knew it, she was on the other side, flying over the Wintersea.
"What are you doing?" Riker yelled to her.
She smiled down at him.
"Repenting." She said as they reached the middle of the ocean.
She let go of the dragon.
The water hit her this time, but it didn't feel cold. It didn't feel anything, actually. She let go of Riker, but did not watch for him as he pulled his sword out and she turned to sink headfirst into the ocean, dying the water around her red.
She watched as the locket floated from over her head and fell past her to the bottom of the sea.
Kitty smiled.
Puck could barely see straight. She was gone. He was stunned, broken, tears leaking from his eyes and melting the snow that he collapsed in as Kitty vanished from sight.
"This isn't fair..." He whispered.
"I know." Mercedes said sympathetically, hugging him tightly from the side.
"I should have stopped him... I should have protected her...I should have done... something."
"Don't." Rachel said, and Puck and Mercedes both turned to look at her. Her face was hard but tears still streamed down her face. "Don't start that. There was nothing any of us could have done for her. The only thing we can do is keep fighting...for her sake. She wouldn't want us to get hung up on this, she said so herself!"
"I told her I'd protect her." Puck said, still crouched on the ground. "I told myself I'd protect her."
"You tried." Rachel said, approaching him and kneeling on his other side. "She's gone in this world, but that doesn't mean she didn't matter. She's helped us here, and now we have to go on without her. But she'll always be with us! You have to believe that."
"I'm not as strong as you Rachel. It's not that easy..." Puck whispered.
Musical Cue: Little Women-Days Of Plenty
"Don't make so much of me Puck..." Rachel said. "I never dreamed of this sorrow..."
Puck looked up at her as she began to sing.
"I never thought I'd have reason to lament..." She swallowed sadly, not making eye contact with him. "I hoped I'd never know heartbreak...how I wish I could change the way things went."
Rachel looked up and out towards the ocean that had become Kitty's final resting place.
"I wanted nothing but goodness...I wanted reason to prevail!" She blinked hard trying to stop her tears and looked back at the ground, watching the snow melt as her tears landed. "Not this bare emptiness..."
She took a deep breath.
"I wanted days of plenty..." She sighed.
Rachel turned and looked at Mercedes who stared back at her, nodding and absorbing her words.
"But I refuse to feel tragic. I am aching for more than pain and grief!" She sang, nodding and trying not to cry. "There has got to be meaning! Most of all when a life has been so brief, I have got to learn something! How can I give her any less?"
Rachel turned to look back towards Puck.
"I want life to go on... I want days of plenty."
She grabbed Puck's face gently, tilting his chin up.
"You have to believe there is reason for hope!" She sang, locking eyes with him. "You have to believe that the answers will come! You can't let this defeat you! I won't let this defeat you! You must fight to keep her there, within you!"
She grabbed his hand and slowly pulled him to his feet.
"So believe that she mattered!" Rachel sang, nodding to him and then turning to lock eyes with Sam. "And believe that she always will!"
She hugged Puck tightly and Mercedes stepped slowly away to give them their space.
"She will always be with you!" Rachel sang into his shoulder as they both sobbed. "She'll be part of the days you've yet to fill!"
Rachel pulled away, both hands on Puck's shoulders, taking deep, rattling breaths.
"She will live in your bounty! She will live as you carry on your life!" She belted, squeezing her hands as tightly as she could and ignoring the tears that spilled down her cheeks. "So carry on! Full of hope! She'll be there..."
Rachel pulled him into another tight hug.
"For all your days..." She sang softly. "Of plenty..."
Mercedes approached Puck, wrapping both of them up in a hug.
"Puck..." She whispered, choked up from the tears that spilled down her face.
"Yeah?" He asked as Quinn and Blaine joined their group hug.
"Sometimes..." Mercedes sniffled. "Sometimes when the thing you care about most leaves you, you're forced to keep going anyways. It doesn't mean you have to like it, it just means that you have to accept it."
She fell silent then for a moment, and allowed those words to sink in as Kurt, Santana and Tina joined them.
"But sometimes..." She sniffled again. "Sometimes life takes a turn you don't expect...and that'sthe reason you go on living."
Puck nodded into her shoulder, soaking her shirt with his tears.
"She may be gone, but you'll never be without her. You just have to keep fighting, alright? With me." Mercedes whispered. "I believe in you."
As Finn and Kitty both fell to the soldiers of the King, the other fugitives were forced to move on, never again forgetting how important it was be sincere and to be wise like their now dead friends had always been.
They would always be with them, in every battle they waged and every friend they met, and thanks to Rachel and Mercedes, they were strong enough to move on. They never forgot them, and whenever they were sad, they would think of them, and they would give them the strength to keep fighting.
If not for Kitty, they all might've been apprehended at the festival in Fayhaven. She'd saved them then, and many times since. When they were attacked in the Vertglass Mines, she had been one of the few who had managed to tough it out, staying conscious until the very end.
Kitty had been imprisoned inside of herself. When her brother and friend had been ripped away from her, she'd faded away from the fog-blanketed society of Fayhaven, and stuck to the shadows of her barn. They'd first met her with a serious look and a blade to Santana's throat, but after a while...after a while she could laugh, and smile. She became a new person, a happier person, with friends and a family of her own.
Finn had done a lot for their group, more than he might be credited for. Yes, he'd hid them when they were chased out of Ostvale Forest, and yes he'd given them a destination when they were looking for recruits, and yes again, if he weren't in the mines, Sam and Blaine would probably have died, but it was what he did behind the scenes that made him the most inspiring.
They'd gone through a lot, as a group. Finn had been one of the first to join them, and they'd gone through hell together. All the training, and the fighting, the gloom and depression and living off of the land. Finn had always been there to keep spirits up. He was one of the main reasons nobody had developed depression. Finn had made it easier to laugh when they were surrounded by nothing but darkness.
Now, with both of them gone, the others were coming into the endgame. This was no longer a game of hide and seek, it was a race, it was a war. A war that nobody intended to lose. A war for the living, and the dead. This was it, the time to prove themselves was drawing near, and as they stood and faced the rising sun, they knew that they were ready.
For Strength
The next morning, nobody had broken camp. They all sat numbly around the campfire, the Ice Dragon resting in the background, snoring loudly. Nobody said a word, nobody foraged for food, nobody scouted for potential soldiers; everybody just sat in quiet reflectance.
Nobody was crying, not anymore. People just reflected, on Kitty, on Finn, and on what they'd learned from each of them. Even Puck had managed to slow the flow of tears. He, if anything, was suddenly more determined than everybody else. He was now fighting for two people.
He'd promised Kitty that he would win this for her! He'd promised her that he would take care of these people. These were the thoughts running through his head as he surveyed the others, staring off into space in a moment of silent mourning that had spanned the entire morning.
"Alright." He said, standing up.
The others all turned to look at him, seemingly surprised. Sam, particularly, looked unsure of how to take somebody else taking charge. Not that it was unwelcome, just that it was...different.
"We're still in the middle of a war. Kitty would want us to keep fighting now. I promised her, so we have to keep moving!" He said seriously.
"Moving where?" Sam asked, casting an unreadable glance towards Blaine, who looked back guiltily.
"Both ways." Rachel said, standing up next to Puck.
"Right." Puck nodded. "We'll split up."
"Are you sure?" Kurt asked.
"Yes." Puck nodded. "It's the only way to get both things."
"Okay, so we get the dragons and Marley." Blaine said, and then sighed. "Why didn't we think of that at the start? It would've saved a lot of drama..."
"It's fine, you were upset and didn't have anywhere to channel your emotions." Rachel said.
"I shouldn't have been so overdramatic." Blaine sighed, sitting back on his palms.
"Me neither." Brittney opted.
"None of us should have." Rachel said. "We were all upset and scared and feeling like our lives were these fragile little things, and you know what? They are, but that doesn't mean we curl up in a ball and cry. It means we fight."
"And we look out for one another." Puck said, nodding and trying not to let his jaw quiver. "Because we're a family." He whispered, and his voice broke, but he managed to gather himself quickly enough.
"Right." Mercedes nodded, reaching up and holding his hand.
She stood up and looked around.
"I want to go after the dragons. I just believe that's the way I should head. I have a feeling." She said.
"I'll go with you." Kurt said.
"Me too." Puck nodded.
"I've already stated my opinion." Blaine said, almost embarrassed.
"I'll go too." Quinn said. "Not to follow Blaine, just because I really do think that we'll need as many people on the dragons as possible."
The others all nodded. Tina watched Santana, lost in her own mind.
"I'll go after Marley. I don't know if my leg can handle flight." She sighed, looking down at it. "It's good to free the dragons first anyways, because that means that they won't be able to use them in the final battle. I'd only slow you down."
"I'll go too." Tina said immediately. "I...I just have a feeling that I might be of better use in Santana's group."
Nobody mentioned that she'd said Santana's group instead of Sam's.
"Yeah, me too." Brittney nodded. She'd leapt into the sea to save Santana, and she'd called her her girlfriend. Sure it had been in a fit of rage, but it still counted in Brittney's books! She was curious to pursue this endeavour.
"Well, you know my vote too..." Rachel said shyly and Sam nodded.
"So it's settled; Sam, Rachel, Santana, Brittney and Tina will go to free Marley. Blaine, Quinn, Mercedes, Tina and I will go to find the other dragons." Puck summarized.
They all nodded.
"Alright...We should get going than."
Quinn was carrying a bag to tie to the back of the Ice Dragon as the other four busied themselves around it. She passed by Rachel who was looking curiously at Blaine.
"Go, apologize if you have to. He feels like he should apologize too." Quinn said and then sighed. "There are a lot of people with some serious apologizing to do."
Rachel nodded, thanked her friend and walked over to her brother.
"Hey..." She said slowly as she walked up.
He turned around and smiled guiltily.
"I'm sorry." They both said simultaneously. "It's okay." They both continued, before laughing at themselves.
"I really am sorry, you know I love you, you're my brother, and you always will be."
"I know that." Blaine shook his head. "I shouldn't have stooped that low, I know I'm not the only person in your life, and you're not the only person in mine. It's unfair of me to expect any different, and I don't." He clarified.
"Thank you."
"You deserve to have somebody love you like Sam does. Go, give him a chance. The next time I see you, you'd better be official." Blaine laughed and hugged his sister tightly. "I love you big sister..." He murmured.
"I love you too little brother."
Puck smiled as he watched the siblings reconnect. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to find Brittney grinning at him.
"Hey Puck, what's up?"
"Not much..." Puck said slowly, unsure. "What's up with you?"
"Just came to say I'm sorry. It wasn't any of my business even more than it wasn't any of yours. If that makes any sense." Brittney shrugged. "I shouldn't have been a meany like that."
"It's cool." Puck smiled. "I kinda lost my cool too. Don't worry about it."
"No hard feelings?" Brittney asked, holding up her arms.
Puck leaned in, accepting the hug.
"No hard feelings." Puck confirmed as they disconnected. "Have fun figuring out your Santana thing."
"Have fun figuring out your Mercedes thing!" Brittney grinned.
"You know about that?"
"You confessed to loving her in a heated rage last night. Pretty much everybody knows. She wasn't there though, you're still covert." Brittney said. "But you saved her life twice, so she kind of owes you at this point."
Puck laughed and shook his head as he mounted the Ice Dragon.
"All aboard!" The dragon called and Mercedes climbed on behind Puck. Blaine, Quinn and Kurt were quick to follow, and as the dragon's wings began to flap and they all rose into the air, they waved goodbye to their other friends and hoped that they would see them again.
The going was slow in Sam's group, thanks to Santana's leg. Tina continued to stare at it contemplatively, but she did nothing more.
Santana was a trooper, that much was clear. She pushed herself until she was gritting her teeth and sweating from the pain. When she reached that point, Brittney would carry her until her arms got tired and Sam would take over. Even Rachel and Tina took turns carrying their crippled teammate.
"We need to get you to a hospital." Rachel said one evening but Tina shook her head.
"Hospitals are run by the King's Court, and Santana's face is wanted. They'd hold us all there until the King came and arrested us himself. We just got cut in half so we have to be more careful."
"So we need some kind of voodoo medicine man!" Brittney said with far too much excitement.
"There's a fishing village up ahead." Tina said. "I doubt they'll have a medicine man, but they should have a bed."
"A bed!" Rachel sighed dreamily and laid back in the snow, thinking back to the soft comforter of the beds in Kurt's home. Oh how she missed the little things; washing and sleeping and-
Her stomach growled.
Eating. Definitely eating.
"Do you think they'll have food?"
"They have to eat somehow." Santana said sarcastically.
"Then let's get going!" Rachel jumped to her feet and set off.
The fishing village was quaint. Village was a strong term. There was an inn, a jail, and a dozen odd igloos off to the side, plus an ice fishing shack. Other than that, and a store that looked like it had seen better days, the village was almost totally empty.
"There, an inn." Sam pointed and Rachel nodded.
Santana was panting strongly, and her brow was slick with sweat. Brittney moved to lift her up but she waved him off.
"I can do this." She said as she led the way to the building. She needed to remind herself that even if she was hindered, she could still persevere. Santana was a tough ass bitch when she wanted to be, and she couldn't ditch that attitude because of a little shattered bone...
She cringed at her mental phrasing.
When she reached the door, taking far longer than they would've if she'd let Brittney carry her, Santana collapsed to her knees and cried out as shooting pain rocketed up her leg.
"Santana!" Brittney cried out, kneeling down and draping her arm over her shoulders, pulling her inside. The innkeeper looked up, surprised at their entrance, and rushed forwards.
"Hello!" He said in a thick accent that Rachel couldn't place.
"Hi." She said, looking around.
The front room was almost a cafeteria, with more tables than such a small village could ever need, but it provided plenty of benches for the weary adventurers to rest on while Rachel made rooming arrangements.
Since there weren't many people staying at the fishing village, they had their pick of rooms. As they attempted to go check them out, Santana stood, and promptly fell back down again.
"Ah!" She yelled and Brittney and Rachel both knelt on either side of her. She waved off their concern and Rachel looked up at Sam and Tina.
"Go find rooms, we'll wait until Santana's ready and meet you, okay?" She smiled and they nodded and left. "Here, I'll get you some water alright?" Rachel smiled at Santana who nodded.
When she was gone, Brittney frowned at her sort-of-girlfriend.
"So..." She started.
"I don't know." Santana said.
"What?"
"I know, I called you my girlfriend." She said, turning to look at her. "But I've never been in love. Hell, in my life, I've only met thirteen people, not counting my Dad. I know I like you, a lot! But I don't know what love is."
Brittney considered this for a moment, sitting on the bench beside her.
"Well, maybe you'll find it with me!" She smiled at her hopefully and Santana paused, mulling that over. It was such a simple statement, and she couldn't really find a way to argue with it. Brittney wasn't done, however. "I think, if you love someone, the thought of losing them practically kills you inside. I know I loved my Dad, and it killed me to lose him, but you helped me!" Brittney nodded, blissful and innocent as ever.
Santana was just about to respond when they heard the door to the inn open again. Seconds later there was the sound of shattered glass and they both whipped around to find Rachel standing open-mouthed, staring at the doorway where a bitchy looking dark haired woman was dusting snow off of her cloak. The glass of water lay in pieces at Rachel's feet.
"Are you alright?" Brittney jumped up and went to Rachel's side, looking from her to the woman in the doorway.
The bitchy woman in the doorway scoffed as she looked Rachel up and down judgmentally, essentially dismissing her as she turned to face the bartender.
"Kids these days are so pathetic." She drawled to him, turning her back on the teenagers. "That's why I got rid of mine."
Rachel's mind was swimming. It felt like somebody had stuck a funnel in her ear and filled her with fog. She saw flashes of that same woman barging into her nursery years earlier, commanding their execution. The woman laughing as she discussed her children's murders at the King's Court's table, like it was proper dinner conversation.
Rachel hated her father with a passion, but it was her mother that she truly despised. At least her father had the decency to act like they never existed.
Unable to stop herself, Rachel leapt towards her mother, hands outstretched, fully prepared to squeeze her neck and never let go.
"Hey! Whoa!" Brittney grabbed her around the waist, yanking her out of the air, and whipping her around so that Brittney stood behind them, her feet firmly planted on the ground.
Fiona, her mother, turned around with a sneer on her face, having missed the attack completely.
"You're polluting my air. Don't you have better things to do, like removing the cripple from my sight?" She asked coldly.
"This cripple could kick your ass, even if I do only have one leg you old hag." Santana snapped, using her cane to rise to her one foot, attempting to look intimidating. "You don't get to come in and judge us just because we didn't wear our finest clothes to a fishing village in the middle of nowhere!" She turned to the bartender. "No offense."
"None taken."
"Don't test me child." The woman snarled, voice so chilling that it practically dripped poison.
"What are you gonna do about it?" Santana asked. Something about the woman rubbed her the wrong way. "Turn me into a toad like the Wicked Bitch of the West that you are?"
"I am the king's right hand woman, Fiona. I am the strongest sorceress in the Kingdom. You would do well to watch yourself when speaking to those who are better than you." Fiona said coldly. "The only reason I haven't killed you yet is because I'm on a mission, searching, for a boy. I have yet to find him, now unless you know of his whereabouts, I suggest you remove yourself from my sights!"
Santana and Brittney both froze, turning slowly to look at Rachel, who was still red-faced and panting. Images of her mother hurting Blaine, the Nurse, Rachel herself even, still stuck in her head.
So that was why Rachel was so furious.
"Oh I..." Santana paused. For all her bravado, she only had one leg, and Rachel was not mentally stable enough yet to battle her mother. "I'm sorry ma'am."
"What?" Rachel snarled.
"Come on!" Brittney grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the stairs as Santana hobbled after them.
Sam and Tina were sitting in the room when Rachel burst in and punched the wall as hard as she could. Brittney and Santana arrived moments later, looking at her sadly. Shaking her head, Rachel hauled off and punched the wall again.
This time, she couldn't help it. Her fist slid down the wall as she collapsed to her knees and began to shake. She was cold, she was broken, and all she could feel were the scars that she'd kept hidden for so long.
That feeling, that feeling of being so unloved, so unwanted, had caused something to shatter inside of Rachel. She'd been broken, just going through the day, like a clock that had lost its ability to chime.
For a long time, Rachel had managed to pretend to herself that she was fine, that as long as she had her brother, she would be fine, and maybe, to an extent, that had been true. Maybe because of him, they as a pair had been fine. But she was still broken; she was still weak in her own mind.
Not good enough Rachel.
Not strong enough Rachel.
Not brave enough Rachel!
She pounded her fist against the wall again, and again, and again. She knew her knuckles were bleeding, but she couldn't feel it. She tried to punch again, but Sam caught her fist and she crumpled into his arms, shaking and wrapping her arms around herself. She could hear him making noise, but couldn't comprehend the words.
She had ran from her Nurse, in the old woman's dying hour, she had taken her brother and ran, after everything the kind mother-figure had done for them, after all of the times she'd stood strong for them, after she'd risked her life for them, Rachel had taken off, with barely a second thought.
It was only after the Nurse lay dead on the ground that Rachel began to have second thoughts...and third thoughts...and fourth, and fifth. In fact, it was a thought that rarely left Rachel's mind.
Maybe if she were a little stronger! A little braver! She could've done something! She could've saved her brother in their nursery, she could've kept their Nurse from dying, she could've stood up to her father, she could've kept Quinn from dying, she could've defeated the Witch in the Whitemist Forest, she could've saved Mercedes, she could've defeated the sea monster, she could've kept her friends from almost drowning, she could've stopped Finn from making the sacrifice he made, she could've defeated Riker instead of causing the mental break that brought about Kitty's death, she-
"Rachel, I love you!" Sam screamed at her and she blinked, zipping backwards through her memories, watching them whip past on her way back to the present as Sam drew her out of the liquid vat of pain that she was living in.
She looked around.
She was sitting, crumpled on the floor, Sam's arms held protectively around her while Santana knelt on her other side. Brittney was crouching right in front of her, and Tina was back another step, almost crying with concern. There was a horrible sound filling the room.
It was only then that she realized that the horrible sounds were her sobs of pain. She slowly tapered off, but the tears would not slow, no matter how much Rachel tried to bury the pain again. Seeing her mother again, after so long, had opened a floodgate within her, and hard as she tried, she couldn't close it again.
"What did you say?" She whispered brokenly to Sam.
"I love you Rachel Berry!" He said. "I love you, I honestly love you! I know I wasn't sure before, but I am now! I know you don't want to have to worry about me in battle, and I don't want to worry about you either, but I can't help it! I fear for your life more than I fear for my own, even now, seeing you like this breaks my heart!"
"When we told Sam what happened, he tried to break down the door to get your mother and kill her..." Santana smiled softly. "We care about you Rachel, you're such a strong person, it hurts us to see you this broken."
"I'm not!" Rachel snapped. "I'm not a strong person!" She tapered off into a sob and buried her face in her hands. "I'm n-not! I c-can't be! I j-j-just want to b-be brave! For once! But I c-can't! Because I don't want to d-die!"
She sniffed loudly and turned her head away from Sam, unable to look at him.
"If I weren't such a c-coward, m-maybe Finn and K-k-k-"
"Stop it." Sam said, grabbing her head and turning it towards him. "You think being brave means you aren't afraid to die?" He asked, smiling like he knew some wise secret that she hadn't been let in on.
She nodded and tried to slow her tears, but again she failed.
"If I w-wasn't so afraid, then-"
"Finn and Kitty weren't your fault. They made their choices, and they got themselves killed. For us. So that we could keep fighting. For them." Sam said. "Yeah, that is being strong, but you know what's even stronger?"
"What?" Rachel whispered.
"Fighting even though you're scared. Walking into battle and knowing you probably won't come back out. Not knowing, but trusting your instincts anyways." He said. "You're so wrong if you think you're weak Rachel. You are the strongest member of our team, because strength comes from love, and you are love."
Rachel barked a laugh.
"You are!" Sam said, almost angrily. "You love everybody so much, that you blame yourself whenever anything goes wrong, because you don't have the heart to blame them! You get so emotional, because you feel so strongly that sometimes you don't know what to do with yourself! You work so hard to help everybody else that you forget about helping yourself! That is what makes a person strong, and brave Rachel. That!"
Rachel looked up at him, and he wiped a stray tear from her face. With a start, she realized that she'd stopped crying.
"Your mother? I can guarantee you she isn't afraid to die, but that doesn't make her brave. That makes her stupid." Sam said. "I'm afraid to die. Everybody in this army is afraid to die, but I can guarantee you, that everybody in this army, would sacrifice themselves, just so the others could keep on living. I know I would."
"Me too..." Santana nodded, rubbing her hand against Rachel's arm.
"Me too." Brittney nodded.
"And me." Tina agreed.
"More than all of that though..." Sam smiled at her. "I know that you would."
Rachel shook her head.
"How can you know that?" She whispered.
He leaned in and grabbed her chin, turning her face back towards him.
"Because my instincts tell me so. And I'm brave enough to trust them." He smiled. "Just like I trust you, one hundred percent. You're my rock Rachel, without you, we never would've made it this far, and without you, we'll never make it any farther. I love you Rachel Berry, so I'm going to follow my instincts one more time, and I'm going to kiss you."
And he did.
Sam was surprised when he woke up in the stormy meadow. He'd almost forgotten about it. He allowed himself to flashback on the conversation he'd had with Rachel. They'd fallen asleep in one another's arms, but if he was here now, did that mean-
"You did it." Marley said, reaching over and taking his hand, pulling him to his feet.
"I...I did it?" He asked.
She nodded.
"You showed Santana that she belonged. You showed Blaine that he was loved. Now, you showed Rachel...well, see for yourself." Marley gestured with one arm and he looked to the edge of the meadow where Rachel was crying on the ground and the shadowy dopplegangers of Sam, Blaine, Santana, Finn and Quinn were walking away.
"Wait!" Rachel yelled, standing up and wiping the tears from her face. "You're not real!"
The five of them turned around, looking suddenly uneasy.
"What makes you say that?" Finn asked.
"You're not real..." Rachel repeated to herself. "You're my fear, but I'm not afraid of you anymore!"
"You're not afraid of losing your friends anymore?" Santana asked. "Wow Rachel, that's low."
"No." Rachel smiled and looked up at the sky. Slowly, the grey clouds began to drift away. "I'm not afraid of messing up. I'm not afraid of not being strong enough. I am! I'm strong enough to fight for what is right, even if I die! Even if you die, I know I can find some way to keep on trying, because you'll never really leave me!"
"Stop being touching!" Blaine mumbled uncomfortably but Rachel shook her head.
"I am strong. I am brave. I am good. I am everything I never thought I'd ever be! I just needed the right person to show me that." She turned and looked over her shoulder at the real Sam, reaching out for his hand.
He walked over, smiling at her, and took it.
"Show yourself." Rachel said, and the five of them cried out as they were pulled into one entity; a shadowy version of Rachel. "I don't need you anymore. You can't hold me back!"
A bolt of red light shot from her chest, mixing with Sam's white light and smashing the evil clone into the sphere of lights that had whipped up around her. Sam looked around, nodding.
He'd done it. He'd saved them all.
He turned and hugged Rachel tightly as she faded from view again, and then turned to direct his attention towards Marley, who was smiling and glowing yellow.
"Now what?" He asked her.
"Now you take the things you've learned, and you keep going. Just know that when the time comes, to make the hard decisions, what you decide, and you alone, will decide this war. No pressure." Marley smiled at him and looked up as the sun began to shine.
"Wait! No tips? No tricks? Puck, Tina and Mercedes all gave me tips."
"Sometimes your journey really is yours to take. Sometimes you have to write your own story. Good luck Sam, I'll see you soon." Marley smiled and waved at him and he frowned.
"Wait!" He hissed, trying to sit up.
Sam was immediately pulled back down again, as his arm was firmly beneath Rachel. He looked down at her, smiling peacefully in a nightmare free sleep, and he couldn't help but believe that everything would be alright.
"This is my mother's bag." Santana told Brittney as the moonlight filtered in through the window of their room. She ran her hands over the worn leather, smiling. "She had this dream, where the two of us would take off together, leave my father and his farm behind and just go!"
Brittney smiled softly and sat down on the bed next to her, leaning on her own arm and angling herself towards the other girl.
"She was a dreamer, my mother was, and that was her biggest dream; to take me on an adventure. Just the two of us! But..." Santana paused and shrugged, swallowing deeply. "Obviously, that never happened."
Brittney scooted closer to her and wrapped her arm around her, rubbing Santana's arm consolingly.
"But!" Santana cleared her throat and shook her head, smiling. "But, I like to think that...having her bag here with me, somehow means that we're still together. I don't know, does that sound stupid?"
"Not at all." Brittney shook her head.
Santana gave her a soft half-smile and looked down at the bag, rubbing her thumbs over the worn edges. "Good..." She murmured softly.
The two of them sat in silence for a while, just staring out at the moon.
"I think your mother would be proud of you." Brittney said, not taking her eyes off of the window.
"Thank you..." Santana whispered, and she meant it. "I think your father would be proud of you too..."
"Yeah..." Brittney nodded. "I think he would."
"We'll come out of this war alive Brittney." Santana said. "For them."
"Okay." She nodded.
"Promise?"
"I promise." She whispered. "For them. For you. I promise."
"Good..."
So Kitty sacrificed herself to fix her own wrongs, and inspired the group to come back together and surge towards their goal. Rachel finally believes in herself, and the secret love between Sam and her is no longer a secret, and Brittney and Santana...well, they're still confused, but whatever they are, they are that together. In the next chapter, Tina steps into the spotlight to save everyone, and when Marley and the gang finally meet face to face, she lets them know that everybody really does have a story, and each person you meet carries with them something that you can learn. Escaping the prison proves to be far more trying than getting in when they attempt to break free, and the other group runs into trouble when an old foe reappears. Finally, sudden death brings out an animal in Santana when one of Sam's nightmares comes true, and love blossoms when Mercedes almost loses everything.