This chapter is the first that is REALLY action based. Obviously there is plenty of character development, and it makes it pretty clear where everybody stands in their journeys, but it's the first big battle coming up, so tell me how you like it!
Healing
The rest of the journey to Ironmount Point was mostly quiet, each adventurer lost in his or her own mind, eyes focussing on the mountain looming up ahead of them as the snow melted away to barren red clay beneath their feet.
Their destination was not Ironmount Point itself; it was the large tower that had been built at its base in order to keep Marley from any civilization. The air got hotter and hotter as they walked, in a different way than the Redrock Desert. This wasn't the same dry, crackling heat. This heat was given off by the magma that shot beneath their feet to the volcano behind the tower.
Tina watched Santana nap on Brittney's shoulder as she carried her forwards, both of them still drenched in sweat from the almost liquid heat in the air. Santana's leg was still bent at a horrible angle, and every time Tina looked at it, it gave her chills...but...
"There it is..." Rachel said, looking up at the tower.
Looking at Rachel, Brittney found herself inspired. After Sam's inspirational speech to her, it seemed like she'd managed to make everything fall into place. She was stronger than ever before! Brittney had no doubt that if it came to a fight, she, of everybody, would make it out alive, and she'd save as many people as she could along the way.
Brittney had a hunch that it would come to a fight.
"Do we just go in?" Brittney asked, pausing and setting Santana down behind a large boulder, fifty feet or so from the entrance, which was being guarded by a lone soldier. Looking around they could see other soldiers patrolling the mountains around them, but nobody seemed to have spotted them yet.
"No." Santana opened her eyes, frowning. "I'll slow you down, she's obviously at the top of that tower, and I don't think I can do stairs."
Sam frowned, but had to agree. Santana would slow them down, and if they had to fight their way in or out, he wasn't sure just how much help she would be.
"You can't just stay out here though..." Rachel pointed out. "They'll notice you, and they'll come and kill you." She pointed out at some of the soldiers.
"I'll stay with her!" Tina said immediately, ignoring the questioning looks, she went on. "I can fight off people that come at us!" Tina added, revealing her dagger to them.
Brittney, Sam and Rachel looked at one another, frowning, but nobody could deny that that truly seemed like the best course of action. Only Tina knew that she had an ulterior motive to staying with Santana, one that she didn't yet want to reveal.
"Alright..." Sam said hesitantly. "Stay low, and if you get in over your head, yell."
"You too." Tina nodded to him and he gave her a quick hug before turning and throwing his sword at the soldier by the door. The blade struck true and stabbed into the wall behind him as he fell to the ground.
Hurriedly, Rachel, Brittney and Sam ran for the door, crossing the fifty feet in seconds and pulling his sword from the wall. Before long, they had vanished inside of the building.
As soon as they were out of sight, Tina turned towards Santana, hands up.
"Okay, so I've been experimenting with magic." She said bluntly.
"Magic?" Santana asked, sitting up a little straighter. "Like when you killed the Witch?"
"Well...not necessarily. I have this book!" She opened her satchel and drew out the book that the old woman had given to her, the White Magic book from Starryville.
"White Magic?" Santana asked.
"It's magic that doesn't do harm. I can grow things, and summon rain and...I think I can maybe heal." She said.
Immediately, both Santana and Tina looked to her broken leg.
"Why didn't you say so earlier?"
"I didn't want to get anybody's hopes up and then have it not work!" Tina mumbled uncomfortably.
"Well we can try!" Santana nodded to her leg and Tina took a deep breath, shivering again at the ugly look of it. The bleeding had stopped long ago, but it looked infected, which could explain Santana's recent fainting.
Tina placed her hands on Santana's leg and a jolt of pain shot through her. She'd anticipated this, she'd healed little scrapes that she'd gotten herself and it had hurt her then too, but not this great. It felt like her bones were being broken and she found herself screaming as Santana's bones moved under her skin.
"Tina!" Santana shoved the other girl away and Tina took a deep breath, but opened her eyes.
"No! It's almost healed! I can do it!"
"Not if you kill yourself!"
"The pain goes away, I can do this!" She reached out again, grabbed the leg and focused even harder.
Santana couldn't feel her bones moving back into place. She couldn't feel the infection seeping out of her body. She could only watch as the cross around Tina's neck lit up pink around her, like her powers were being channelled through it.
Tina felt the pain slowly begin to decrease as Santana's skin began to pull back together. Minutes later, there was no more pain, and she risked taking her hands off.
"There..." Tina panted, feeling light-headed and dizzy. It had taken a lot out of her to heal such a major injury, but she'd done it! "I think I feel all of the pain the injury has brought you when I heal it. All magic comes with a price, and that's its."
Santana gingerly bent her knee and then extended the leg again. There was no pain, it was a little stiff from lack of use, but no pain. She didn't feel faint anymore either, it was like she was a whole new person.
Mustering up her courage, Santana crawled onto one knee and then planted the previously broken foot down on the ground in front of her. She took a deep breath, and stood up!
"It worked!" Santana cheered, slowly walking in a circle. "You did it!"
Tina clapped her hands together and Santana jumped up and down before wrapping her friend in a hug.
"I really didn't know if it was going to work." Tina laughed. "All I had to go on was my faith."
"Well I owe you my life. Twice now."
"Oh anytime."
"What's that sound?" Rachel asked as the three of them crept across the large cavern that served as a bottom floor of the tower. A heavy thumping noise, almost like thunder, or a series of mini-earthquakes.
Brittney frowned and turned around, searching the room for the potential source. She stopped suddenly and frowned, nodding.
"Well...this sucks." She said. It was the most logical way to express her feelings as she stared up at the massive troll that was stomping out of a large shadowed corner of the room. Its head brushed the ceiling of the fifteen foot room. The club hanging at its side was longer than Brittney was! "We should probably run..." Brittney said seriously.
"Yeah..." Rachel nodded slowly. "Probably a good idea."
The three of them bolted from their spots immediately, Rachel in the lead as she raced for the stairs, Brittney right behind her and Sam ushering them forwards from the back.
The troll roared loudly and threw its club through the air. Rachel screamed and ducked as it sailed over her head and smashed into the ground in front of her. She pivoted around it and Brittney ducked the other way, but Sam wasn't paying attention and smacked into it, stumbling in a daze backwards.
"Oops..." He mumbled, holding his head.
The troll stomped down in front of him and he looked up, frowning as it picked up the club again.
"Shit." Sam said.
The troll drilled the club down at him, but Brittney dove out of nowhere and took Sam to the ground, the both of them rolling to the side as the club split the ground where Sam had been standing only moments before.
Rachel was poised on the bottom step of the tower, looking uncertainly over at them.
"Go!" Brittney waved her onwards.
"Get Marley!" Sam yelled as the two of them jumped to their feet.
Rachel nodded and ran up the stairs two at a time. The troll saw her going and bellowed loud enough to shake the walls of the castle, throwing its club at her. She jumped forwards out of the weapon's path, landing roughly on the stairs and scrambling to her feet again as the club destroyed the steps behind her.
She took off back up the stairs and almost leapt onto the second floor, which was another large expansive room. It was less tall, however, and one wall was made of coloured glass. She paused as three soldiers stepped out of the shadows, a swordsman, an archer and an unarmed man who Rachel guessed was a magic user.
"Hello..." She gave them an awkward wave as they drew together, clumping in front of her before the stairs that would provide an escape. "How are you?" She asked.
The archer drew his arrow and shot it at her.
She awkwardly stepped out of the way and put her hands on her hips.
"Fine then, be that way." She said, drawing her sword.
Sam and Brittney were literally running in circles around the troll. It smashed its club into the ground behind them as they ran, over and over again, creating little craters that they would have to pick their way through on their next circuit.
"How are we going to kill it?" Sam asked as they ducked some more flying debris.
Brittney shrugged.
"Maybe it'll get tired?" She suggested.
The troll roared loudly and Sam tripped, falling into a crater.
"Sam!" Brittney turned to grab his hand, pulling him to his feet. They both looked up as the club came hurtling down towards their heads. "Oh no…"
Rachel smirked as she sheathed her sword again. The three lone soldiers had been fairly easy for her to incapacitate. She was really quite pleased with herself, especially as she reflected on her battle with the soldier's of her father that had almost gotten her killed!
She heard the troll roar again from below her and frowned, torn between continuing onwards and going back for the others. Her heart won out and she moved quickly back down the stairs.
As the first room came back into view she saw the club speeding down towards Brittney and Sam as they stood, stunned, in the middle of a crater.
The club stopped suddenly, staying suspended in midair, even as the troll's fist kept going and smashing into the ground ahead of the two.
"Bad troll!" Tina scolded as she walked into the room, turning the club around and smacking it against the beast's thick skull. "Murder is bad!"
"You know that kind of makes us hypocrites right?" Santana asked, strolling in next to her.
"...Shut up." Tina laughed and smacked the troll again as it stumbled backwards, looking stunned as it stared at its own club, floating in the air in front of it. "We're not murderers, we're rebels." She said.
Santana looked at her.
"Don't give me that look! If we didn't do it than we'd be dead, and then so would like, everybody else in this Kingdom!" Tina said, swinging the club around to uppercut the troll's jaw with the club.
It staggered backwards and sat down hard on its butt, looking up in a daze as Tina smacked him one last time and he blacked out against the wall.
"Okay, you win." Santana said and Tina nodded as she dropped the club to the ground and wiped her hands as if she'd actually been holding it.
"You saved us!" Brittney grinned as she and Sam crawled out of the shallow crater.
"Yeah, no big deal." Santana brushed imaginary dirt off of her shoulder. "We're badass bitches, you can worship us later."
"Come on!" Rachel laughed and they looked up at her. "We have to hurry, it's not like we made a very sneaky entrance!"
The other four hurried up to her, awkwardly manoeuvring over the ruined stairs as they made their way up to the next room. The other floors seemed relatively deserted, like they hadn't expected them to get past the troll at all, let alone the soldiers on the second floor.
They stepped out onto the top floor and found it just as empty as the other rooms. This room was circular, and totally abandoned, save for a glowing yellow orb that hung in the center, lighting up the walls around them.
"I thought Marley was supposed to be here?" Brittney said, looking around and stepping forwards.
"She is." Tina walked past him towards the orb.
Sam blinked at the floating sphere.
"She looks different in person..."
"She's not the orb!" Tina laughed. "She's inside of it!"
Tina reached out and shut her hand over the orb.
A bright flash filled the room and they all shielded their eyes.
When it was safe to open them again, they found themselves in a brilliant golden meadow.
"You made it!"
Sam looked up as Marley practically leapt at him, wrapping her arms around him.
"I was watching you all, and I really wasn't sure a few times if you'd make it through." She said seriously.
It was weird for Sam to hear her voice out loud, as opposed to in his head.
"Oh we were always gonna make it." Tina smiled. "Do you know how the other group is doing?"
"Yep!" Marley nodded. "They're almost done actually, it's awesome! But...they are about to come across something pretty big...I've tried to see out the other end, I mean, sometimes I can! But I can't tell you how it's gonna turn out."
"What about this war?" Brittney asked. "Can you see how it will end?"
"No." Marley shook her head. "There are too many variables."
She looked at Sam and frowned. Actually, there was really only one variable. The fate of the entire Kingdom rested in Sam's hands.
"So you'll help us?" Sam smiled hopefully at Marley.
"Yes." She said. "This world is a dream, that world is a nightmare. I want something in between...I want a life that means something!" She said. "They've held me captive here for way too long. I could never get out on my own, but you're here now! It's time to make my life worthwhile!"
"That's why you've been helping us..." Sam realized and stepped forwards, looking at Marley in a new light.
She nodded sadly.
"You want to be remembered..." Rachel said slowly, looking from Sam to Santana, Brittney and Tina. "We all want something, and that's yours."
"Why us? Why did you decide that we were worth helping?" Santana asked.
"Because you love one another." Marley said.
She waved her hand and shimmering images of all of their friends appeared in the air around them. She pointed to an image of Kurt atop the gate of Starryville.
"Kurt wanted equality." Marley said, waving her hand and an image of Mercedes and Kurt hugging atop a large roof appeared instead. "Mercedes helped him feel equal, and now, Kurt's destiny is unparalleled."
She waved her hand and the image vanished as Tina's slipped into its place.
"Tina wanted-"
"-to believe on my own..." Tina finished, staring up at the image of her sitting against the alter. "Sam helped me believe." She said. On cue, the image changed to Sam smiling and talking to Tina in the church.
"Puck just wanted to have a family again..." Marley continued, looking up at the image of Puck sitting on a rock in the cave, looking tired. The image faded away to one of Rachel singing to him as he cried into her shoulder. "Thanks to Rachel, he realized that he has one...even if he lost his sister."
She waved her hand and Tina and Puck's images faded away. The moving pictures spun around until an image of Quinn standing dejectedly in front of her shop in Ostvale, looking after a teenage couple filtered into the slot.
"Quinn wanted to be hot." Marley laughed. She flicked her hand and the image of Blaine crying over her as she told him she loved him appeared. "Blaine taught her that she was beautiful, inside and out, and that that was a far greater achievement."
"I wanted to belong." Santana said, eyes on her own moving picture, where she yelled at her father in the hallway of their house. The image changed to Blaine and Santana in the farm, and then Sam and Santana sitting in the front of the church. "They taught me that I did."
"And Blaine wanted to be loved." Marley said, showing Blaine burying his face in his hands as he leaned against a tree. The image faded and was replaced by Sam teaching him how to fight, and then Quinn kissing him as light whipped around them. "Quinn and Sam showed him that he was."
"I wanted to be strong..." Rachel looked up at herself as she punched a wall repeatedly. The image changed to Sam holding her tightly. "Sam saved me from mentally destroying myself."
"What about me?" Brittney asked, looking around.
There were a few pictures that still existed as those three faded away; Mercedes, Brittney, and Sam.
-Musical Cue-
-Beyonce: I Was Here-
"Your stories haven't reached their ends yet." Marley said. "Neither has mine."
"What's your story?" Rachel asked.
Marley frowned and looked down. The wind began to pick up, blowing softly, just enough to carry a few stray leaves through the air.
"What is it that you want?"
"I wanna leave my footprints...on the sands of time." Marley sang, looking at the golden grass at her feet. "Know there was something that, and something that, I left behind!"
She looked up at the others.
"When I leave this world, I'll leave no regrets." She shook her head. "Leave something to remember, so they won't forget."
She closed her eyes and sighed.
"I was here. I lived, I loved... I was here. I did, I've done everything that I wanted and it was more than I thought it would be." She opened her eyes and nodded at Rachel. "I will leave my mark so everyone will know, I was here!"
Marley took a step forwards, cutting between Rachel and Sam, and Santana, Brittney and Tina as the wind picked up slightly. Rachel pressed a hand to her heart and rested her head against Sam's arm, singing the backing harmony for Marley.
"I want to say, I lived each day, until I die. And know that I meant something in, somebody's life!" Marley turned back to face Sam as Rachel fell away. "The hearts I have touched, will be the proof that I leave. That I made a difference, and this world will see!"
She turned back to the horizon and waved a hand, creating a small portal to the top room in the castle at Ironmount Point. The real world.
"I was here..." She sang slowly. "I lived, I loved. I was here, I did, I've done everything that I wanted and it was more than I thought it would be..."
She turned back to the others and smiled sadly, imagining Finn in her head. He'd died for her cause...
"I will leave my mark so everyone will know, I was here!" Marley belted. "I lived! I loved! I was here! I did! I've done everything that I wanted and it was more than I thought it would be!" She took a deep breath and shook her head, silently apologizing to Finn. "I will leave my mark so everyone will know! I was here!"
Marley smiled up at the girls who were softly backing her up.
"I just want them to know..." She sang honestly. "That I gave my all, did my best! Brought someone some happiness...left this world a little better, just because." She shrugged. "I was here."
Tina nodded and stepped up, hugging her tightly and then stepping through the portal to the other world.
"I was here!" Marley belted as she watched her go. Brittney stepped to her, smiling. "I lived, I loved!"
She hugged her tightly and Marley held her back, surprised by their kindness.
"I was here! I did, I've done-" She looked up as Santana walked forwards and wrapped her arms around her. "-everything that I wanted and it was more than I thought it would be!"
Santana detached and stepped past her.
"I wanna leave my mark so everyone will know, I was here!" She sang as the others sang backup from both worlds. "I lived! I was here!"
Sam and Rachel stepped up to opposite sides of Marley and took her hands.
"I did! I was here!" She riffed as they stepped a foot through the barrier into the real world. "I lived! I loved! Was here!"
They stepped the other foot through and Marley turned to watch the portal close.
"I did! I've done!" She turned slowly to face the staircase. "I was here."
The Battle For Love
"Down there!" The yellow dragon called out.
Quinn peered over the neck of the dragon that she was riding, looking down at the smoking volcano beneath them.
"Why do you all like to live in the harshest environments?" Quinn asked.
"Really though!" Kurt agreed, pulling up beside her on a dark blue dragon.
After the initial battle in the Icegate Crags, the Ice Dragon had led them to a large ocean just off the coast of Fayhaven. They'd been forced to leave their guardian behind as they swam as deep as they could, but the large underwater grotto that housed the Sea Dragon had been magnificent. She was a kinder, gentler beast than her brother, and the hypnotism of the Queen had broken with Kurt's tale of the people of Starryville. Apparently, the people of the sea had been equally as oppressed, and their guardian dragon didn't take kindly to it.
Thankfully, the Sea Dragon knew exactly where the Earth Dragon was hiding, and she'd led them to a hidden glade deep in the farthest reaches of Whitemist Forest. Here, a large gentile green giant had recognized Puck's story. Apparently, his worry and love for his sister had been so great when he first traversed the forest to escape the King, it had imprinted on the Earth Dragon's mind. That imprint set him free.
From there they'd moved on to a static cave in the depths of the Redrock Caverns where a joyful young dragon had agreed that he would help them after Quinn pleaded their case. He had remembered the unsettling darkness that had descended upon the desert after Quinn's death, and talked about how Blaine's mournful music had pulled him from his slumber. When they found him, he was shocked by their kindness and said that it had been a long time since he'd gotten to see happiness, and that was what had set him free.
Now they were approaching a large volcano in the North-North-Western part of the Kingdom. With the Thunder Dragon leading them, they'd made good time, and it wasn't long before they touched down on the lip of a long, wide open passageway.
"You're on your own from here on." The Sea Dragon said as Kurt slipped off of her.
"Thank you!" Kurt nodded.
"He's a little fierier than the rest of us, be careful." The Earth Dragon told Puck as he and Mercedes jumped off. He nodded.
"Yeah, we will be."
Blaine slipped off of the Ice Dragon and waved to him as Quinn joined them, sliding down the Thunder Dragon's tail.
The five of them turned and slowly began to pick their way along the path. It was relatively well worn, which told them that the Fire Dragon was very likely frequented by the soldiers of the King, and this put Kurt on edge. He fully anticipated a fight, but even the soldier inside of him was surprised when they stepped into the heart of the volcano.
"Hello Mercedes."
Mercedes was not afraid of Coal. She stared at him with hard, unfeeling eyes. She'd already made her case, she'd given him the chance to leave her, she'd told him that she was stronger now, and she was.
No, what frightened Mercedes, was that Coal was straddling the neck of a very unfriendly looking red dragon, and there were at least twenty soldiers accompanying them, all armed, all dangerous.
"What are you doing here Coal?" She asked.
"You rejected me." Coal spat. "Shot me down. Me! Nobody shoots me down! I'm the most handsome man in the entire fucking kingdom!" He yelled crazily. Her eyes widened. She'd known that he was hurt when she left him behind that night, known that he didn't know how to deal with that kind of rejection, but she hadn't meant to make him crazy.
She took a moment to consider Savannah; his sister. She was crazy as well, perhaps...perhaps Coal only hid his insanity under a mask of arrogance, and she'd taken his mask and snapped it in two.
She felt an odd swell of pride.
"So?" She asked. She caught Kurt's eye and he gave her an encouraging smile. "You hurt me Coal, a lot, and I don't deserve that." She said. Puck's eyes twinkled with pride. Mercedes looked beside him at Blaine, who was smiling and nodding for her to continue.
"I left you Mercedes, you don't get to say no to me!" He said. The dragon beneath him roared and Puck and Kurt drew their weapons. The soldiers mirrored them. This was definitely going to come to a fight.
"Then why did you come back Coal?" She asked, fed up. "Why did you hunt me down in Starryville, alone? So you could string me along again, right? Well guess what! I don't deserve that! Nobody does, and I wasn't going to stand for it. I'm stronger than you ever gave me credit for, and that, Coal, is why I get to say no to you! Because I am stronger than you'll ever be!"
That was it.
Coal roared with rage, the dragon roared beneath him, opened its mouth, and let loose a torrent of flames.
"I'll help you." Marley said, looking at the staircase leading back down the tower.
The glowing orb was gone now, just like Marley's Golden Meadow was gone; she didn't need to hide anymore.
Sam grinned. They'd done it; they'd recruited the strongest sorceress in the land.
"You'd better prepare to fight your way out. The guards aren't going to let me go that easily." She smiled guiltily. "And you kind of made a scene on your way in here, so getting out will be even harder."
"I'm tired of running anyways." Tina said.
"Yeah!" Santana nodded, waving away Marley's concern. "We're set, I mean, how many of them can there be?"
"Why would you say that?" Brittney asked, shaking her head. "Now there's going to be like, a thousand of them!"
"Sorry..." Santana frowned.
"The longer we wait the more soldiers will be waiting for us." Rachel reasoned. "Come on!"
She drew her sword and kicked the door open.
"You know that swings right?" Tina asked. Rachel turned and nodded before charging down the stairwell with an exaggerated battle cry. Brittney drew her sword and chased after her, and Sam wasn't far behind. Marley and Tina were next, drawing their sleeves, hands at the ready, and Santana grinned, giving chase.
"What do we do?" Kurt yelled over the rush of fire. He and Blaine were pinned behind a large boulder as flames jutted past them. "We can't get close to it!" His hand hurt as it dug into the hilt of his sword, and there was a thin coating of sweat already covering his pale skin.
"We need to draw it out into the open. We can't take down a dragon like this alone, we need the other dragons." Blaine said, he blinked hard, the heat was so intense, and the light from the fire so bright that his eyes were sore.
"But what about the soldiers?" Kurt asked, shifting his body weight to the other foot as he peered over the edge of the boulder.
"Somebody needs to stay and fight them, keep them away from the battle in the skies." Blaine said. He crouched low, clutching his bow as tightly as he could, lest it slip from his grasp.
"You and Quinn are our only ranged warriors." Kurt reasoned. "You need to be in the skies."
"But how do we get him to chase us?" Blaine asked. He wiped sweat from his brow and peered over the top of the rock again. The soldiers were all poised, waiting for an opportunity to present itself as the dragon edged closer and closer to their hiding spots.
They both turned as the fire stopped, staring over at where Mercedes and Puck were crouched behind another boulder. Simultaneously, Blaine and Kurt knew what had to be done.
"He only really wants one of us." Kurt said.
"Mercedes needs to be bait..." Blaine realized.
Kurt nodded.
"Puck and I will fight the soldiers, the rest of you need to hurry though. The dragon's getting closer." He said through gritted teeth. He peered out around the rock again as the dragon-fire faded away.
"Are you sure? That's ten soldiers each."
"We're fighters. We can do this!"
Blaine nodded and leapt out into the open. The fire started up again and he dove to the ground and shoulder-rolled, making it behind Puck and Mercedes's rock seconds before the fire shot past them.
They both turned to him, concern in their eyes, but determination shining just as brightly. They were fighters, and they weren't going to lose now when they'd come so far.
"Kurt is going to take on the soldiers; we need you to come with us." He said. "We have to lure the dragon away, or we'll all end up dead. Puck, can you help Kurt?" He asked.
Puck frowned, looking over at the other guy.
Kurt smiled determinedly back at him.
"I'm bait?" Mercedes asked. "Damn it..."
"We need Quinn though, where is she?" He asked.
"Over there." Mercedes pointed further up the slope. Quinn was hiding behind a protrusion in the wall of the cavern, hands scratched from when she'd been forced against it after the first burst of flame.
She made eye-contact with Blaine and he pointed towards the opening, then at the three of them; Quinn, Blaine and Mercedes. Quinn nodded.
The fire began to die down and Blaine held up his fingers.
"Wait." Puck yelled. "I want to go to the dragons."
Three.
"What?" Blaine cried out.
Two.
"I have a bow!" He said, whipping it out. Blaine nodded and prepared to fight the soldiers instead.
One.
"Go!" Blaine yelled, and Mercedes took off first, Puck right behind her.
With a cry of outrage, Coal took the bait.
The dragon spread its wings and leapt into the air, flying past Blaine and Kurt's hiding spots as they pivoted out and armed themselves against the soldiers.
Quinn bolted out and started booking it, but the dragon's wings were getting closer.
She turned, running backwards, and fired off an arrow at the approaching beast. The arrow went wide, but the dragon roared and fell back slightly.
The light from the lip of the cavern was growing brighter as they got closer to the surface. Their lungs were on fire from the uphill climb and their muscles were screaming at them.
"Dragons!" Quinn yelled.
They weren't at the entrance.
"What do we do?" Mercedes screamed, peering over her shoulder. The dragon let loose a huge burst of fire that began to swell until it filled the entire cavern. It was gaining on them.
"Jump!" Puck yelled.
They reached the edge of the cavern, and leapt into mid-air.
Santana stopped as they hit the middle ground plateau of the tower. The room was full of soldiers, all waiting for them. Brittney, Sam, Tina, Rachel and Marley were already waiting in a fighting position.
"We show no mercy to pathetic people like you." An effeminate voice called out. The soldiers parted as a black haired teenager walked down the middle.
"Hi Ree!" Brittney said, recognizing her.
"You! Do you know how much shit I got into because of your escape?" Ree shrieked.
"Oops!" Brittney shrugged. Ree scoffed in disgust.
"You call yourselves brave. Fighters even." She looked at them, repulsed. "I call you pathetic. I-"
"Yeah, we know, you already said that." Santana rolled her eyes. This bitch was seriously cray. Santana was not a fan of the crazy bitches. Santana was not afraid to let the crazy bitches know this either.
Ree's eyes widened murderously and she reached for one of the two daggers on her belt.
"I was talking." She snapped.
"Yeah, well, it got boring fast." Santana deadpanned.
"Maybe you'd prefer to get right to the fight then!" Ree screamed and whipped one of her daggers through the air. Santana gasped as it sped towards her face, and she cringed closing her eyes.
Brittney leapt in the way, sword at the ready, deflecting the dagger and sending it skittering along the ground. Ree drew her other weapon and flitted her eyes back and forth from Brittney to the dagger on the ground.
"Don't hurt my girlfriend." She snapped.
Santana opened her eyes, breaking out into an awestruck grin. Brittney had just saved her life.
"Brit!" She laughed.
Brittney turned and nodded.
That was all the time it took.
Ree cart wheeled forwards, grabbing her dagger and pivoting into a handspring. She turned in mid-air and kicked Brittney in the chest, sending her skidding backwards. Ree ran after her, daggers held high as Brittney jumped to her feet, sword at the ready.
"Brittney!" Santana darted forwards, but the fight had begun, and the fifty odd soldiers that filled the room surged forwards as one, cutting the other five fighters off from Brittney and Ree. "Alright, fuck off!" She swore.
Swords at the ready, she spun around, dodging a lunge by one of the soldiers and stabbing him through the back.
The battle had begun.
Falling was an interesting sensation. It almost felt like you were suspended in midair, and the rest of the world was just rushing past you. As Quinn looked up and the fire nearly singed her hair as she plummeted towards the ground far below, she wasn't sure whether she'd rather be burned or flattened to death.
Thankfully, she never had to find out.
With a thud she landed on the neck of the Thunder Dragon.
"Sorry, we thought we'd stretch our wings for a bit." He said.
Quinn turned and found Puck standing on one of the claws of the Ice Dragon, one hand on his leg, and Mercedes standing and holding tightly to the neck of the Earth Dragon.
"That's alright!" Quinn nodded. "You're here now!"
"Quinn!" Mercedes yelled. Quinn turned and narrowly managed to yank the Thunder Dragon into a barrel roll as a jet of fire sped past them, the Fire Dragon just behind it. It raked its claws against the Thunder Dragon's underbelly and he screamed and doubled back, clamping onto the Fire Dragon's tail.
Quinn and Coal held on tightly as their dragons spun through the air, almost somersaulting over one another. Eventually the Earth Dragon rammed into the Fire Dragon's side, dislodging it from its Thunder counterpart.
Coal pulled back and the Fire Dragon faced off against the Earth Dragon as the other three hovered in the air behind it.
"You can't win Coal." Mercedes said.
"All I need to do is kill you." Coal snapped.
Tina whipped around and shot a ball of energy from her hand into the face of an approaching soldier, turning and kicking another soldier approaching from the other side. She pivoted away and shot off two more balls of energy at another soldier.
"Tina!" Marley yelled as a soldier lunged at the other girl from the side.
Marley summoned a ball of fire and shot it forwards, nailing him in the head before he could make contact. She smiled and turned away, only to scream and drop to the ground, narrowly avoiding the swipe of an enemy sword.
She extended her leg to trip him and rose, pointing her hand at his head. He growled and rolled out of the way, and she looked up just in time to avoid a second soldier's lunge. She leapt backwards and turned, running down the staircase past where Rachel was fighting three guards at once.
"Sam!" Rachel yelled out as she did a cartwheel and drove her sword through one of the soldier's stomachs. She drew it and kicked a second approaching soldier in the face, pivoting and bashing him upside the head with the hilt of her weapon.
"What?" He yelled, parrying away the weapons of the six soldiers who had placed him as one of the greatest threats. He'd been backed into the upwards staircase, so they were forced to attack in a single file.
"I'm going after Marley!" She yelled.
She ducked a sword swipe from overhead and proceeded to drive her sword into the attacking soldier's gut.
"Alright!" He yelled, kicking a soldier in the face and knocking him into the blade of another. The second soldier screamed in rage and leapt at Sam, who jumped, landed on his back and used him to leap through the air, landing on the other side of the other four soldiers in front of him.
He spun around and stabbed one, but was immediately forced backwards again as the other soldiers lunged at him. He backed up and yelled in shock as he bumped into somebody.
"Just me." Santana yelled, linking arms with him and then flipping over his back as he bent forwards, ducking low and swiping her swords like scissors at the three soldier's, taking out two of them, the third getting away. "Got him!" She yelled.
Santana ran after the other soldier, ducking as a ball of Tina's energy nailed a soldier on the other side of her. She glanced to the side and spotted Ree and Brittney locked in their battle near the large stained glass windows on the front of the building.
Ree rushed at Brittney with her sword but the blonde girl pivoted around her, swinging at her neck. Ree ducked and jabbed the hilt of her sword into Brittney's gut. She gasped and doubled over, but managed to swing back up to avoid a knee to the face.
While she was bent backwards, Brittney kicked her foot out, nailing Ree in the chest and sending her stumbling backwards. Brittney recovered and lunged at her but Ree curved away to the side and swung back at her.
Brittney parried the blow, but Ree immediately shot another one her way, and then another and another. Brittney blocked the stabs as quickly as she could, taking several faltering steps backwards until she could feel the glass against her back.
Ree smirked and stabbed at her wrist, flicking Brittney's weapon and sending her sword clattering to the ground. Brittney gasped and watched it clatter away. That was all the time it took for Ree to leap into the air and drive both of her feet into Brittney's chest.
"Brittney!" Santana screamed as the other girl was thrown through the glass. Santana ran forwards trying to catch her, but it was too late. Brittney plummeted to the ground far below, hitting it with a sickening crack. "Brittney!"
"Stop!" Mercedes snapped and Coal paused.
"Excuse me?"
"Stop with the killing me obsession. You're not helping anybody! I'm sorry I hurt you Coal, but you hurt me first, and now you're leading your soldiers to death. I guarantee that Blaine and Kurt are in there incapacitating your entire little army." Mercedes snapped and Coal smiled sickeningly.
"I guarantee that your friends have been chopped to bits by my soldiers." He said.
Mercedes winced and Puck saw a glint in Coal's eyes. He'd found the way to hurt her again.
"And the others? Your friends that aren't with you, they're all dead."
"You...you don't know that!" Mercedes tried to keep her bravado.
"Don't I? I have this whole Kingdom bugged. Riker knew where that brat sister was at all times, who's to say I can't track your friends too?" Coal snickered. "They're dead Mercedes, all of them, but don't worry, I'll be merciful to those two." He gestured to the cave.
Puck gritted his teeth as he watched Mercedes's eyes water.
"Stop it." She said.
"I'll burn them so they're nothing but ash. Won't that be nice of me? If I torch them, just like I torched your parents?"
There was dead silence. Quinn and Puck stared at Mercedes, so shocked that even the rhythmic flapping of the dragons' wings didn't register. Mercedes's parents? Neither of them had ever thought to ask her about them. It hadn't even occurred to them! She'd run away from home and away from Coal, what had happened to her parents?
"...That was you?" Mercedes whispered.
"Of course it was me! Who else would have done it! They were the ones who told you I was a bad influence, not to let me play with your head! So while we were on a date one day, I had my soldiers torch your house. Then I held you while you cried." Coal cackled insanely. "How does that make you feel Mercedes? Knowing you held the man who killed your parents? How does that make you fe-"
"Shut up!" Puck jumped to his feet atop the Ice Dragon and leapt through the air towards Coal, who turned, frightened as Puck smashed into him, tackling him through the air and off of his dragon.
"Puck!" Mercedes screamed as they freefell.
"You fucking bitch!" Santana screamed, whipping around and slicing blindly with one of her swords.
Ree gasped as the blade nicked her face and her cheek began to bleed. She looked at Santana, every muscle tense in the other girl's body, eyes looking furious and filled with more hate than Ree had ever seen in a person's eyes, and that included Riker.
Ree lunged forwards with her sword but Santana blocked it with both of hers and swung her leg out, kicking Ree in the gut and then kneeing her in the face so hard that Ree's nose broke when she bent down.
"Fuck." Ree sword, swinging her sword at Santana's knees, but Santana jumped it and landed on the blade, lifting one of her feet and kicking Ree in the face hard enough that she rolled backwards away from her weapon.
Ree shoulder rolled to her feet, but Santana wasn't done yet.
Santana lunged at her with both swords, but Ree pivoted out of the way and cartwheeled towards her weapon, picking it up as she passed and turning to block another attack of Santana's, parrying the blow.
Santana pivoted away and sliced her sword against Ree's abdomen, cutting her narrowly.
Ree gasped and smashed her hilt into Santana's wrist, causing her to drop one of her weapons.
Santana didn't care as she swept her sword at Ree again. This bitch had just killed her first and only love! This bitch who had never had to fight for anything in her life! Santana was seeing red, she couldn't help it.
She swept at Ree again as hard as she could, and when Ree parried the blow, her sword flew away across the room.
"Shit! Shit, shit!" Ree swore, ducking another sweep of Santana's blade. The evil girl reached up and twisted Santana's arm until she dropped her other sword, but Santana kicked her in the gut and she was forced away.
Santana stepped forwards, grabbing the other girl's shoulders and drilling her knee into Ree's face. Santana then lifted Ree up and spun around, hands clamped on her shoulders until she let go, literally throwing her across the room, watching as she slid across the cement.
"Soldiers!" Ree yelled as she crawled to her knees.
Santana reached her and roundhouse kicked her in the side of the head, sending her to the ground again.
Two soldiers stepped in between them and Santana cried out as Ree scrambled to her feet and ran down the stairs.
"Get back here bitch!"
Santana ducked one of the soldier's sweeps and grabbed his arm, thrusting with his sword until it stabbed through his partner. She then kicked that soldier off the blade and took a page from Ree's book, cartwheeling to take the now fallen soldier's sword and righting herself just in time to parry a blow.
She made quick work of the other soldier and then tore off down the stairs after Ree. She wasn't in the bottom floor, so Santana sprinted out the door, past where Marley and Rachel were fighting off a few remaining guards.
Instinct took over as Santana leapt out the door of the castle and she bent backwards into a bridge as Ree jumped out at her from the side, sweeping a new sword over her. Santana kicked her feet up into handspring position and kicked Ree in the face, sending her stumbling backwards while Santana righted herself.
"You are so dead." Santana said coldly and Ree awkwardly stumbled backwards.
"You can't kill me!" Ree said. "You haven't got the heart for it!"
Santana looked over Ree's shoulder where she could see Brittney's broken, mangled, bleeding body.
Ree glanced to see what Santana was looking at and faltered, laughing without humour.
"If you kill me...my family will kill you!"
Santana rolled her eyes.
Both girls stopped as a groan filled the air. Santana's head shot towards Brittney and she ran past Ree, stopping short several feet away, almost not willing to believe she'd heard it correctly.
"Brittney?" She whispered.
She groaned again and Santana smiled.
Santana heard the whistle of a sword through the air and ducked, pivoting at the same time and drilling her sword into Ree as the other girl tried to ambush her.
"You were wrong, by the way." Santana said. "Thanks to Brittney...I've got just enough heart."
Puck was falling, falling to his death, Mercedes thought, but Puck had a plan.
He angled both himself and Coal towards the opening in the mountain and braced himself as they hit the ground and rolled.
Almost as soon as they'd hit the earth, Coal had leapt to his feet and turned on Puck, arms spread wide as they both slowly circled one another.
"Stay out of this!" Coal yelled. "It's none of your business!"
"It is if I love her!" Puck snarled.
Coal took a step back, as if he'd been punched.
"Love?" Coal asked, and then he cackled. "You love her?"
"Fucking right I do." Puck said.
"Then you must be the reason she said no to me!" Coal unsheathed his sword and ran towards Puck.
Puck was ready and ducked under his weapon, kicking him backwards so that he rolled across the ground, losing his sword in the process.
"She didn't even know me at that point." Puck said as he drew his bow and fired an arrow at Coal that he rolled away from. "She said no because you're a fucking prick."
Coal growled a strangled yell of rage and leapt at Puck, tackling him to the ground and smacking his head against the rock beneath him. Puck felt his vision begin to swim as he floundered around, reaching for something to fight with.
He grabbed an arrow.
"You don't know shit." Coal spat. "You're nothing but a peasant fugitive! Know your place bitch! Know your pl-"
Puck raked the pointed edge of the arrow across Coal's face.
Coal screamed, falling backwards and clamping both hands over his face.
"My face! My face!" He howled, and then lowered his hands to reveal that Puck's attack had gone from his left eyebrow, all the way down to the right side of his jaw, cutting across his nose and lips. "You ruined me! I'm going to kill you for that!"
"Oh because that wasn't your intention all along?" Puck asked sarcastically, and Coal sprinted towards him.
Puck shot an arrow at him that stabbed into his shoulder, but Coal kept moving forwards until he'd backed Puck into a wall, grabbing him by the collar and smacking his head against the wall.
This time spots erupted in front of Puck's eyes and he cringed as Coal smacked him against it again.
"Say goodbye bitch."
"Goodbye bitch." Mercedes said, coming up behind him and swinging a rock at the side of Coal's head. It hit him hard, busting an eardrum and sending him staggeringr towards the edge of the cliff. "I'm done with you." Mercedes said, walking forwards.
"You'll never be do-"
"Shut up." Puck said, and kicked him over the edge. He turned to find Mercedes smiling at him through her tears.
She walked over to him and he held her tightly as she cried.
"You saved me..." She whispered.
"I had to." He smiled.
"I love you too."
Santana knelt down to the ground beside Brittney, smiling through her tears.
"You're okay?" She whispered and Brittney looked at her, nodding and smiling, unable to keep from crying. "Tina!" Santana yelled and they both turned their heads as Rachel and Marley ran towards them. One look at Brittney's condition and Rachel was racing back into the castle to fetch the healer.
"I'm okay." Brittney smiled. "It was only a one story drop." She waved it off like it was nothing.
"I thought I'd lost you." Santana whispered.
"You saved me." Brittney realized.
"I had to." Santana shrugged, sitting back as Tina raced up, Sam and Rachel in tow.
"I love you." Brittney said as Tina grabbed her hand and began to heal her.
Santana let out a sob.
"I love you too."
Mercedes looked at Puck, really looked at him. She looked at him so hard, that she didn't notice Kurt and Blaine staggering up the slope, blood covered, but alive. She didn't notice Quinn dropping to the ground nearby. She just looked at him; she had found somebody to love her. Somebody who she loved in return, who deserved the kind of compassion that she could give.
This was what she'd wanted, what she'd needed even! Ever since Coal entered her life, she'd been broken, and alone, and miserable. Puck had fixed her! Maybe he'd meant to, maybe he hadn't, but he'd done it!
She felt like she could do anything, just as long as he was at her side.
Brittney sat up straight as the last of her bones moved back into place, and Santana helped her stand. She smiled at the latina and Santana smiled back. That was when Brittney realized it. She'd spent her entire journey searching for a home.
She'd been forced away from hers, and with the death of her father, she knew she could never go back to it. She'd thought she might find a home in Mercedes's tree house, but that had been a stupid idea. Every place they'd stopped, Brittney had wondered where home would be.
-Musical Cue-
-Switchfoot: This Is Home-
Now...now she realized that home wasn't a place.
Home was wherever Santana was.
As long as she held on to her...she would always be home.
"I've got my memories..." She sang slowly and Santana looked up in surprise. "They're always inside of me...but I can't go back...back to how it was."
Brittney took her hand and started walking back towards the entrance of the building.
"I believe you now..." She sang, as Santana looked up into her eyes. "I've come too far."
Santana nodded and Brittney smiled over at her.
"No I can't go back, back to how it was."
They stepped inside and scaled the stairs quickly.
"Created for a place I've never known!" Brittney sang.
She pulled her to the broken window and they looked out at the sunset.
"This is home!" She belted. "Now I'm finally where I belong! Where I belong."
Brittney pulled Santana tightly to her, smiling into her hair.
"Yeah this is home! I've been searching for a place of my own, now I've found it maybe this is home!" She sang. "Yeah, this is home..."
Mercedes looked up at Puck, smiling.
"Belief over misery..." She sang, looking over towards where Coal had fallen. "I've seen the enemy."
He squeezed her hand tightly and she nodded to herself.
"And I won't go back...back to how it was." She looked up at him, eyes sparkling happily. "And I got my heart set on what happens next! I got my eyes wide, it's not over yet! We are miracles..."
She pulled him to the edge of the cliff and looked out at the view.
"And we're not alone..."
She nodded, smiling so widely she thought she might break her face.
"Yeah this is home!" She sang, grabbing his hands and spinning in a quick circle and then curling in against him. "Now I'm finally where I belong! Where I belong! Yeah, this is home! I've been searching for a place of my own, now I've found it maybe this is home!"
"This is home..." Puck sang softly, agreeing.
"Yeah this is home!" Mercedes wailed.
"And now!" Puck sang, turning to Mercedes and grinning broadly. "After all my searching...after all my questions...I'm gonna call it home!"
"I got a brand new mindset!" Santana sang. "I can finally see the sunset!"
She turned to Brittney.
"I'm gonna call it home..."
She smiled at Brittney. Brittney smiled at her.
Puck smiled at Mercedes. Mercedes smiled at him.
Simultaneously the four of them opened their mouths and belted.
"Oh! This is home!" They wailed. "Now I'm finally where I belong!"
"Where I belong!" Puck nodded.
"Yeah this is home!" They all grinned. "I've been searching for a place of my own!"
"Now I've found it." Santana sang. "Maybe this is home!"
"This is home." The others sang behind her.
"This is home..." Brittney sang softly.
"Now I know!" Mercedes belted and Brittney joined her. "Yeah this is home!"
"I've come to far..." Brittney sang softly, leaning into Santana.
"And I won't go back..." Mercedes shook her head. Brittney joined her. "Yeah this is home..."
The Endgame
"We are the champions!" Sam belted, loudly and off key as the six of them re-entered the fishing village. "My friends!"
"Not yet!" Marley laughed, and he snickered. "But this is the endgame right here! We're almost there!" She cheered.
"Yeah we are!" Somebody called and they all turned to find Blaine, Quinn, Puck, Mercedes and Kurt standing in a clump in front of the inn.
Somewhere in the middle of the excited reunion that followed, Mercedes decided to take charge and organize their chaos.
"Guys!" She yelled, stepping forwards and holding up her hands. "I think we need to party. Hard."
"Hells yeah!" Santana cheered. "Let's party! We've fuckin' earned it!"
"And then Puck stabs him in the face with an arrow!" Mercedes exclaimed loudly. "An arrow!"
"Wait, wait, wait? Where were you?" Brittney shook her head and pointed to Blaine and Kurt. "Weren't you still in the cave?"
"Yeah, but we were fighting a ton of soldiers down by the fucking lava!" Blaine laughed.
"How did you win?" Rachel asked.
"We got back to back and kicked some ass." He said.
"A lot of them actually fell into the lava." Kurt said. "Just because they were off balance or something."
"Yeah!" Blaine nodded. "Quinn, tell them how the fire dragon got won over!"
"Oh my God!" Quinn set her drink down and raised her hands. "I didn't even do anything! It felt Mercedes and Puck's love and that set it free! Isn't that the cutest story you've ever heard?"
Several of their troops audibly awed and Puck nodded while Mercedes smiled bashfully.
"Attention everybody!" Sam yelled out, standing up and clinking his glass. "I'd like to do something!"
Everybody turned to him and he looked at Rachel, grinning sinisterly.
"Since I haven't actually done this yet." He paused and took her hand, picking her up off the bench. She looked at the others with confusion as he led her forwards. "I want to ask you, Rachel, to go out with me." He smiled bashfully and everybody awed again.
She laughed and smacked him, then hugged him, then kissed him.
"Of course!" She grinned.
Then she kissed him again.
And again.
Rachel smiled shyly at Sam, whose grin looked like it was about to break his face. She glanced over his shoulder at the other members of their army. Most of them looked thrilled for them, but it wasn't until her eyes rested on Brittney and Santana that she realized something was wrong.
"I think you'd better leave." Brittney snapped suddenly.
"We didn't mess with you the first time, but the odds are in our favour now." Santana added.
Rachel caught sight of her brother. His eyes held betrayal and hurt.
"Mom?" He whispered.
Slowly, Rachel turned around. Sam held her close as she took in a sight that chilled her to the bone. Her mother stood near the bar with two guards flanking her. The woman looked repulsed as she took in their vast number.
Marley stood farthest away, standing beside a table where Puck sat, glaring over his shoulder at the woman. Kurt leaned against another table, just across from Tina who sat backwards on a third bench. Santana and Brittney stood just behind Mercedes, and Quinn and Blaine were standing on the other side of another table nearby.
It seemed that, though the guards looked hesitant against their large number, their mother had no such trepidations.
"Oh don't call me that, if I'd wanted you to call me that I wouldn't have tried to feed you to the dragons." She sneered. Blaine looked at the floor, but looked up again as Quinn stepped in front of him, face set angrily. "Oh? Who's this? Well you don't look very intimidating at all now do you?"
"Listen you crazy old bitch." Quinn started. "If you try to hurt them anymore than you already have, I'll kick your ass, and believe me, I can."
Sam blinked. Quinn had never been the type to curse so freely, but she was getting fired up! He was pretty pissed off too if he was being honest. The woman looked at him and he nodded fiercely, pushing Rachel behind him and placing a hand on the hilt of his sword.
"Oh..." She smiled cruelly. "You found love did you?" She cackled.
"Would you shut up? I mean really? Who has an evil cackle these days?" Santana put a hand on her hip and their mother shut up, shock evident in her eyes.
"You're the disrespectful little brat from last time... I'd kill you myself if I didn't think touching the working class would give me any number of diseases." Her lip curled and Santana blinked at her.
"Really? You wanna start something?" She took a step forwards threateningly. Brittney stood strong next to her.
"Start something?" The woman laughed. "With you?"
She looked out at the small army and pursed her lips.
"You are the most disgusting, incompetent little army I have ever had the displeasure of meeting."
"Oh, I'll show you incompetent." Puck sassed, slamming his drink down and starting forwards, but Kurt hastily pushed him back.
"It's not our fight... Not yet." He said.
"You are the most ragtag group of pathetic weaklings I've ever seen! I mean, look at you! Black people? Working class? Fugitives? It's pathetic." She pointed first to Mercedes, then Tina, Santana, Kurt, Sam and Puck in turn. They all stood stubbornly. "But you know the worst part of your team?" She looked directly at Quinn, and then turned to Sam.
"That you chose to ally yourselves with these two pathetic spawns." She pointed at her children, both of whom shrank back. Sam and Quinn both held their significant others close, but Brittney could see that it wasn't doing anything. "You're all stupid! Good is weak! It's evil that holds true power!" She smirked.
"Hey! Crazy bitch lady!" Brittney snapped, stepping past Sam and Rachel to get in her face. "Hold up! Just to be clear, you don't have to be bad, to be badass."
She blinked in confusion.
"What are you talking about peasant?"
"I'm saying, that if you want a fight." Brittney reached out her hands and shoved her lightly. "You've got one." She grinned.
Santana stepped up next to her, lips pursed, signature bitch-glare plastered to her face. "I think it's time for us minorities to put you in your place."
"Put me in my place?" She backed up hesitantly and her guards backed away with her. The other members of the army slowly stood up and walked forwards until they were all standing in a line behind Brittney.
"Rachel, Blaine, you guys are my friends." Brittney said. "And just because some dumb lady thought giving you up was a good idea, doesn't mean you aren't amazing people. Look at it this way, if they'd never given you up, you never would've found our amazing fluffy family!" Brittney grinned.
-Musical Cue-
-Michael Jackson: Bad-
"You're right." Rachel nodded, smiling slightly.
"Yeah, I'm tired of feeling sorry for myself." Blaine nodded.
"Lady, you're right you aren't our mom." Rachel looked coldly at their mother.
"Let's jam, Brittney, this is all you." Blaine grinned.
"Yeah it is!" She grinned and then turned back to the woman before her, opening her mouth to sing. "Your butt is mine! Gonna take you right."
She buried her fist in her other palm and glared at the woman intimidating.
"Just show your face, in broad daylight." She looked over her shoulder at Blaine and Rachel and began to walk a slow personal circle, shaking one hand. "I'm telling you, on how I feel. Gonna hurt your mind, don't shoot to kill. Come on."
Brittney pressed both fists against her temples and then body rolled towards the vile woman.
"Come on, come on, lay it on me...all right." She lunged forwards and laughed as Fiona flinched backwards into the soldiers arms. Brittney grinned, walking backwards towards the others. Santana strutted forwards past her, lips pursed and eyebrows raised.
"I'm giving you, on count of three." Santana pointed at her and then snapped her finger back beside her head and flipped her hair. "To show your stuff, or let it be..."
She strutted forwards towards the woman, stepping past the soldiers who watched her with a bewildered expression. She leaned over Rachel and Blaine's mother, causing her to lean backwards.
"I'm telling you, just watch your mouth. I know your game, what you're about." Santana snapped back up and turned away, slapping Tina's hand as the biracial girl stepped forwards.
"Well they say the sky's the limit, and to me that's really true." Tina sang, crumping. "But my friend you have seen nothing, just wait 'til I get through- " She did a pirouette, landed in the splits and bounced back up as Mercedes and Marley simultaneously jumped onto the tables.
"Because I'm bad! I'm bad-" They sang.
"I'm bad!" The others stood at the ends of the table backing up the other two girls. "Really really bad!"
"You know I'm bad! I'm bad, you know it!" Marley and Mercedes leapt across the gap between the two tables, clasping hands and pivoting as they did. "You know I'm bad, I'm bad, come on, you know."
"And the whole world has to answer right now just to tell you once again!" They all sang together. Tina grinned at the vile woman, finishing the line.
"Who's bad?"
The group of them cut through the middle of the evil trio, separating them from one another. Quinn, Marley, Tina, and Puck circled one guard, while Sam, Kurt and Mercedes circled the other one. Brittney and Santana led Blaine and Rachel in circling their mother.
"The word is out..." Puck sang, taking a threatening step towards a guard. "You're doing wrong."
"Gonna lock you up!" Quinn snapped, tossing her hair. "Before too long."
"Your lyin' eyes." Sam growled, punching his hand. "Gonna take you right."
"So listen up." Kurt widened his eyes. "Don't make a fight."
"Your talk is cheap." Marley sang, twirling her hair. "You're not a man."
"You're throwin' stones, to hide your hands." Mercedes finished.
"But they say the sky's the limit. And to me that's really true..." Brittney sang, glaring at the woman. She passed behind their mother and Santana picked up.
"And my friends you have seen nothin', just wait 'til I get through!" She sang.
"Because I'm bad! I'm bad!" Rachel shoved her mother roughly from behind. She turned around, glaring. "Come on!"
"You know I'm bad!" Blaine picked up, as the others backed them up, shoving her back towards his sister. "I'm bad, you know it!"
Rachel stepped around her, with Brittney and Santana behind them and they stalked towards her mother.
"You know I'm bad, I'm bad, you know it, you know!" They both sang, backing her into one of the benches. She sat down hard, something like fear in her eyes.
"And the whole world has to answer right now, just to tell you once again!" They all sang.
"Who's bad?" Santana and Brittney nodded.
Sam and Puck grabbed their guards under the arms and, Tina and Marley grabbed their feet respectively. The other groups marched them outside and tossed them face-first into the snow.
Blaine and Rachel grabbed their mother and lifted her on top of the table, glaring at her and circling her slowly. The others approached, surrounding the table threateningly. Suddenly, Fiona was clearly less confident in her odds.
"We can change the world tomorrow." Blaine sang. "This could be a better place!"
"If you don't like what I'm sayin', then won't you slap my face?" Rachel snapped.
Their mother jumped off the table and tried to run away but Marley stepped in her way.
"Because I'm bad! I'm bad! Come on." Marley sang. The woman turned away, only to find Puck blocking her path.
"You know I'm bad, I'm bad- you know it!" He sang and she scrambled backwards only for Tina and Kurt to box her in.
"You know I'm bad, I'm bad, you know it! You know!" Tina sang. "Woo! Woo! Woo!"
"And the whole world has to answer right now just to tell you once again!" The others sang, approaching menacingly.
"You know I'm bad, I'm bad! Come on" Kurt sang. The woman managed to break through between them but Mercedes caught her under the arms.
"You know I'm bad! I'm bad! You know it, you know it!" She sang. She spun out of her arms and turned to run the other way, but Sam strutted towards her, backing her up.
"You know! You know! You know! Come on." Sam sang and the woman tripped, falling backwards and staring up as the group of teenagers closed in.
"And the whole world has to answer right now, just to tell you once again!" They all sang.
The woman backed into the bar and jumped up onto it, running along it trying to escape, but Quinn was quick to jump in her way.
"You know I'm smooth!" She sang, backing her up. "I'm bad! You know it!"
"You know I'm bad, I'm bad, baby!" Brittney crooned, whipping her around and forcing her to back the other way. The woman hastily jumped off of the bar, directly into Santana's path.
"You know, you know, you know it! Come on!" She sang, backing her once again into the bar.
"And the whole world has to answer right now, just to tell you once again." They all sang.
Sam raised his hand to help Blaine down off of the table top, as Blaine sang.
"You know I'm bad, I'm bad, you know it!" He grinned. Quinn grabbed Rachel's hand and guided her down as the others began to part a path towards their mother.
"You know I'm bad! You know! Hoo!" Rachel sang.
"You know I'm bad! I'm bad!" Blaine grinned, grabbing one of his mother's arms.
"You know it! You know!" Rachel grabbed the other, and together they marched her towards the door.
"And the whole world has to answer right now, just to tell you once again."
"Who's bad?" Blaine and Rachel tossed their mother face first out the door and into the snow.
The celebration went on well into the night, until a dragon poked its head in the door-nearly giving the poor innkeeper a heart attack-and told them that they would be heading out the next morning.
Everybody seemed ready for the final battle, Sam deduced as he looked around at them. The only person that he wasn't sure about, was himself.
Hard as Sam tried, he found it difficult to believe that he would be able to win this battle. This was why, before bed that night, he read, and re-read his parent's note until sleep finally claimed him.
"I'm going back to Starryville." Kurt said as they landed in front of the Vertglass Mines the next afternoon.
"What?" Everybody called out simultaneously.
"Not permanently!" She hastily reassured them. "But...we could use the citizens, don't you think? We could recruit them all! They've been hurt by the King, most of them would be happy to help us!"
"Well by those standards so would the rest of the Kingdom." Marley said.
"That's right..." Tina said. "Puck, the people of Fayhaven might help too! Especially when they find out about Finn and Kitty!"
"Maybe." Puck agreed.
"Ostvale would help too." Brittney said.
"We might be able to get the wolves in on it too actually." Santana said.
"Whoa! We can't just change our destination now!" Rachel held up her hands.
"We won't." Puck shook his head. "If you guys go ahead to the Blackapple Woods and stake out a campsite, maybe make a game plan, and we take the dragons and go around collecting soldiers, I mean, it wouldn't take more than a week."
And a week it took.
The most stressful week of the entire journey.
I really liked that chapter. The Brittana in it made my life.
The small army appears to be pulling ahead! With Ree dead, thanks to Santana's love for Brittney, and Coal plummeting off the face of a mountain, the enemy is weakening. In the next chapter, the original four cope with being separated from the others, and Sam finally, after months of journeying, snaps, and Quinn is left to pick up the pieces. When the rest of the army returns, for better or for worse, many of the team reflect on all that they've lost before the final battle, and they wonder whether their lost loved ones would still be proud of them.
Please review! It's almost the very end! Like, two more chapters left, and the more reviews I get, the more I'll make this a priority instead of waiting until after exams! :D