~Third Person~

All three were still asleep, deep in nightmares. Ben watched as they tossed and turned, crying out and breaking into sweats. Clover pattered about the priestess's chamber in the temple, where they had relocated for immediate attention. Every time Annabel began to cry, the pup would whine and bark, begging for the princess to wake up. Still she slept.

Ben sat down next to Emily, gently taking her hand in his. Softly he stroked his thumb over her knuckles. Priestess Mara walked in with Kalin, their hands filled with towels and water. "We must get them to drink," said the Priestess, who had dropped the towels and was now closing the curtains.

Kalin handed a bowel of water and handed a towel to Ben. "Try to get Emily to drink this, it is healing," she said, smiling kindly before walking over to Annabel and giving her some water and drying the sweat from her head. Priestess Mara did the same with Walter, but she began to mumble an odd language Ben had never heard before under her breath.

Ben began to feed the water to Emily, trying to get most of it in her mouth and not down her chin. She swallowed the water, and Ben dabbed her face with the towel, where some drops had run loose.

He sat, holding her hand and watching her sleep, wondering why he had never noticed how breathtakingly beautiful she looked when sleeping. The way her hair fell across the cushion, the way her lips were ever so parted open, the way she turned and curled into him, and called his name very quietly. He almost laughed at himself, thinking about what the younger him would say about him now. Probably something about him going all soft and losing his manliness.

But he didn't care. All that mattered to him… was her waking up.

"Do you think they'll make it?" whispered Ben to Kalin, fearing the answer.

Kalin gestured at Annabel. "This one is a hero, and she is strong. The other two we cannot tell. Souls rarely wake up from the Crawlers nightmares." She stood up, picking up an empty water bowl. "I must go attend to the city, but I will return." And so she left.

Ben squeezed Emily's hand. "It's okay love," he said, "You've been in worse scrapes than this, you'll get through this- I promise."

A while later, Annabel began to move, waking up from her deep slumber. She groaned as her bones clicked into place and her eyes began to flutter open, adjusting to her new surroundings. She looked years older than when they had set out; there were heavy bags underneath her eyes, and her skin was frightfully grey-looking. Her gaze finally landed on Ben. "Ben!" She cried out, "You're alive!" Shakily she tried to stand up, but fell back down on the collection of blankets layed out.

Ben let go of Emily's hand and moved over to Annabel and offered her more water. She greedily gulped it down, before relaxing. "How are the others?" she asked, unaware of the two people lying beside her. She must have still been very out of it.

"Erm, still sleeping princess, but I'm sure they'll wake up soon."

Clover, who had been sitting patiently, was now jumping on top on Annabel, desperate for attention. She was gently stroking his fur back and forth.

"So what happened out there?" Ben asked.

She was quiet for a moment, just lying down and rhythmically moving her hand back and forth across Clover's stomach. "We ended up on a beach, where the only way around was through a cave. But… something was waiting for us there."

"The Crawler?"

She nodded, biting her lip. "It was like I was never going to be happy again… like a voice was inside my head, telling me everything I didn't want to hear." A single tear rolled down her cheek.

"Princess Annabel, I see you have awakened." In the doorway was Kalin. "Are you strong enough to speak with me privately?"

With a little help from Ben, Annabel made her way to a room filled with books and maps and sat down in one of the chairs. Ben then promptly left, leaving Annabel and Kalin alone. "Hello princess, my name is Kalin, and I am the leader of Aurora. I have heard of your revolution, and so I have designed a business proposition which I believe you will find beneficial."

Annabel, still groggy from her long sleep, struggled to keep her eyelids open and listen. "What is your offer?"

"I know that you have encountered the Crawler, and you know first-hand the damage it can cause. Protect our people from the monster, and we will provide fighters and ships to use for your war."

She mulled it over. It seemed like a good deal- she'd need ships to take out some of the heavy fire, and more fighters was always good. Using all her strength, she stood up, and walked over to Kalin, who was standing next to a well-used map. She shook her hand. "Deal," she said.

"Good. Then let us go to war."

~Normal~

I felt like there was an enormous rock on my head by the time I woke up. My body was hot, my head was pounding and I could barely breathe. The amount of effort it took to open my eyes astounded me. But when I did, everything was alright.

Because Ben was the first person I saw when I woke up.

He looked just like how I'd last seen him, only a lot less soaked in sea water. His eyes still sparkled bright blue, and he was wearing his regular uniform, which seemed to have been cleaned up a bit. I still wasn't really with it, made apparent when I looked into his eyes and said "That's a nice view to wake up to."

He laughed, before offering me some water, which I slowly drank from. "Thank you," I said, "How are Annabel and Walter?"

"Annabel is fine; she woke up a little bit before you. But Walter…" He tilted his head to across the room, where Walter lied, still sleeping. I could feel the lump in my throat grow larger as helplessly I heard Walter cry and whimper in his sleep. It was the first time I'd seen him so… vulnerable.

"Oh," was the only word I could think of to say at that point.

"But it's okay," Ben assured me, "He's a tough old nut, he'll pull through. He just needs more time, that's all."

I began to sit up, feeling the need to stretch my legs. I didn't know how long I was asleep, but it felt like a while. As I got my muscles used to moving, I talked to Ben. "Where are we then?"

"Lucky for us, this is Aurora. It's not exactly the army we set out for, but it's something at least. The city was attacked by the Crawler. It's truly an awful sight." His expression was deep, like he was recalling an awful memory.

"I want to see it. The city, I mean."

He seemed surprised. "Are you sure you're well enough? You've only just woken up."

I laughed. "My head feels like its two steps away from exploding, but maybe some fresh air will make it better. I'm curious too, to see the extent of the Crawler's damage."

And so, he took my hand and I leaned some of my weight into him, and we slowly made our way out of what Ben told me was the temple of Aurora. Everywhere had incense burning, and there were a few oddly dressed people praying at a shrine of some sorts.

A guard opened the door to let us leave the temple, and that's when I saw the real amount of damage that the Crawler had done. Half the houses were in ruins, and fires were dotted about, with people trying as hard as they could to put them out. It seemed like the few people putting out the fires were the only people daring to go outside. As we walked down the steps, a person rushed passed us, carrying a dead body with a sheet on top of it.

It was awful. To see so many lives destroyed by one thing was something I couldn't get over. We walked around the city in silence, reading the memorials as we went. They were heart-breaking. After a little while, we bumped into Annabel.

She gave me a hug. "I'm so glad you woke up, I was so worried! I'm sorry I wasn't there, Kalin and I were doing business."

"Who's Kalin?" I asked.

"She's the leader of Aurora," Ben explained, and turned to Annabel, "I'm guessing she told you about Logan?"

Annabel nodded. "I was shocked, but it made sense. It was after that trip that he started acting… not himself. So Kalin and I made an agreement, and she's joined the revolution."

"That's great news!" I exclaimed.

"Now we just have to wait for Walter to wake up and then we can set sail for Bowerstone. Once we're there, we'll assemble our allies- and the revolution begins."

My heart was thumping faster and faster as Annabel talked. The revolution was about to begin. People were going to die. And Logan was going to be kicked off the throne. It seemed weird, we'd been planning for so long, but now it felt real. The fight for Albion was going to be the greatest thing to happen- I just had to make sure I survived it.

The three of us made our way to the temple in silence, the only sounds being distant cries of men still taking out the fires. Ben took my hand in his and gently squeezed, as another body was dragged past us, with a woman sobbing into the arms of what looked be her husband. I looked closer at the body hidden under a sheet, and almost cried out in horror- the body was that of a child. I looked at the grieving mother, and our eyes connected for just a brief second. Her eyes were devoid of happiness and hope.

We got back to the temple and sat by Walter's side, praying for him to wake up. Ben and I kept our distance whilst Annabel sat next to him, pleading for him to wake up.

"Please Walter... we need you. You're the best soldier we'll have in this war," she said to him.

"Yeah Wally, and you wouldn't want the title of best soldier to be passed down onto me, would you?" Ben joked, and I could see Annabel's lips twitch into a smile.

Kalin entered the room. "It is very late," she said as she began to light the candles, "So I have arranged space for you in the sleeping quarters."

"Would it be okay if I stayed here? With W-Walter?" Annabel's voiced faltered and sounded small, like a child.

Kalin smiled kindly. "Of course, I shall bring you some sheets to sleep on. Emily and Captain Finn, follow me please."

I gave Annabel a pat on the shoulder and said goodnight to Walter, before following Kalin out of the room into a chamber with lots of different doors. We walked quietly, passing no one and stopped at the last two doors at the end of the chamber.

"Emily, your room is on the right and Captain Finn, your room is on the left I wish you a good night's rest." Kalin left the chamber, leaving Ben and I alone.

I smiled at him, but said nothing. There really wasn't much to say- the revolution was about to begin, and one of our dearest friends was in a sleeping death. Things seemed to be turning dark everywhere we went. I could still feel the Crawler's power on me, his voice echoing through my mind. A part of me wanted to duck for cover and wait for the whole thing to be over, and another part of me wanted to fight for everything I believed in.

I could see Ben's mind spinning in thoughts, and we said nothing, even as we turned away from each other and went into our respective rooms. We didn't need to say anything- we already knew what was on each other's minds.

My thoughts were still reeling in my mind as I changed into some beautiful bed clothes that had been provided for me. I looked at them, and distracted myself with the intricate swirling pattern and bright colours. I fell into the bed and curled up, closing my eyes tight and waiting for sleep to take me over...

Yet no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't fall asleep. I couldn't tell what was keeping me up; it may have been for a number of reasons. The bereaved mother in the city, the Crawler, Walter... everything was in my mind, jumbled in my mind. After an hour of shuffling and fidgeting in the bed, I got up and went to Ben's door.

I tentatively knocked on his door a couple of times, before a heard a voice say "Come in" from inside. I pushed the door and came in, to see Ben lying on his bed, shirtless. I could feel my cheeks tinge an unhealthy-looking shade of red.

"Couldn't sleep either?" He asked and I nodded, sitting down next to him on his bed.

"So much has been happening recently, I feel like everything is spinning wildly out of control," I said quietly, looking at his gunshot on his shoulder.

I subconsciously began to trace the scar with my hand, feeling his breath on my neck. I didn't know what I was doing, until I snaked my arms around his neck and gently brushed my lips onto his. He placed his hand to the small of my back and kissed me back, slowly at first, and then more passionate with hunger. I held on tighter, almost laughing in glee as he traced kisses down to my collarbone. He tugged at my clothes and I pulled at his and for the first time since we crashed onto this cursed land... I felt safe.

I woke with the feeling of sun unhappily waking me up, and I groaned as I pushed myself into a sitting position. Then... I realised where I was. I was in Ben's room, but there was no sign of the man himself. Instead there was a little note on the pillow. I picked it up and began to read:

'Sleepyhead, I've gone to a meeting with Kalin and I didn't want to wake you. I'll meet you in Wally's room later. Ben'

I pulled myself out of the bed, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes when I noticed my oversized soldier's uniform sitting neatly to the side of the bed, freshly cleaned and repaired. I frowned, but shrugged it off and quickly changed into them, praying that I would have time to bathe later.

I made my way down to Walter's room, but I stopped when I heard voices, whispering throughout the corridor. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and the voices became louder and sharper.

"Fool, do you really think that if you win the revolution, it will change anything? You are filled with jealousy, I can see it..."

The Crawler- it had to be him, swirling in my thoughts. My head was piercing with pain and I fell to the ground clutching it in my hands.

"Everyone in this war will be branded heroes, and you will only be a lowly maid..."

The words span in my mind, taunting me and laughing, until eventually... it stopped, and the only thing left was silence. I sat still for a moment, and waited for my heartbeat and breathing to resume to a normal rate. I wiped the sweat of my forehead. I guessed the darkness was still lingering in my mind, and if it was, it must have still been in Annabel's too. "Well... fuck," I said to myself, mildly laughing and standing up to go over to Walter's room. When I walked in, I saw Annabel and an old, important-looking woman leaning over Walter. The woman was murmuring in a language I didn't recognise. Annabel heard me walk in, and turned to look at me.

"Hi," Annabel whispered, "This is Priestess Mara; she's trying to wake Walter up."

I went and knelt by Annabel. "How's he doing?" I asked quietly.

"He's been crying out less in his sleep, so I suppose he's doing better, it's hard to tell," she sighed, giving Walter some more water.

Ben entered the room behind us, with Kalin. "Hey," he said, sitting beside me, "I see that Priestess Mara is working her magic on our Wally, here,"

"What language is that?" I asked Kalin.

"It's a very old Auroran language. Although we now speak Albionite, there are still a few of us who remember the language of the Ancient Ones. It contains chants and prayers that comfort the sick, bring good fortune on the poor- and wake people from the sleeping death. It is very powerful, and only trusted to our leaders, including myself and Priestess Mara."

It was fascinating to hear about another culture, but I didn't want to put my trust into chants and prayers for Walter to wake up. I wouldn't be surprised if Page was at Bowerstone, having an aneurysm over the time we had spent up being in Aurora.

"Please wake up Walter!" I pleaded quietly, hoping I wasn't disturbing the priestess.

"We really need you," Added Annabel.

"Yeah, lazing in bed all day really isn't your style," joked Ben.

Slowly, very gently, Walter's eyelids began to twitch and flutter. Next were his fingers, slightly moving up and down. Then, rather suddenly, he coughed and sputtered, opening his eyes and putting his hand to his mouth. "Oh, balls to you all," he said sitting up, "you're not getting rid of me just yet."

We all breathed a heavy sigh of relief. There was Walter, sitting up and lightly coughing acting like he hadn't been brutally attacked by a grotesque creature just a little while before. Although there were still dark rings around his eyes, he was smiling and eating the food that Kalin offered him.

"Walter, we did it. We've got the army we needed to overthrow Logan," Annabel said, grinning but looking close to tears.

"As soon as you are better Sir Walter, we shall arrange for ships to take you to Albion," Kalin pitched in.

"My work is done," said Priestess Mara, standing up and walking to the door before turning back to us. "I must warn you however. You may have awoken from the darkness, but it is still deep inside the three of you. It will change your choices, haunt your soul and exhaust you. Be prepared to fight, in order to save your freedom." And then she left.

We sat in silence, letting Priestess Mara's foreboding words sink in. "We'll be alright," said Walter suddenly, "I'll make sure that we find a way to take the darkness out of us, no matter how long it takes. I won't rest."

"However for now, you are ordered to rest, whilst we prepare to leave. Kalin, can you assemble your army?" asked Annabel.

Kalin assured us that the ships and the army would be ready to go in an hour, and then we could journey back to Bowerstone where no doubt the rest of the revolution would be waiting for us to come back. Waiting for us to fight.

"Land sighted ahead!" an Auroran man cried.

We had spent the whole of the day sat on a ship, planning the fight ahead of us and quite frankly I was anxious as hell. As the boat rocked back and forth, all I could think of was how sooner tonight, I would be plunging my sword into someone's back to take the throne from Logan. I just hoped we all made it out alive.

"I talked to Jasper, and he said that the leaders are waiting in a boat," said Annabel, pointing to a part of the map, a little offshore to Bowerstone Old Town., "This is where we'll meet them."

As soon as we were close to shore, Page, Sabine, Kidd and Jack boarded, and so began the discussion the plan with the rest of us- Annabel, Walter, Kalin, Ben and myself. We stood facing a map table with some small flags pinned onto it.

"Page, it's good to see you," said Annabel as she shook Page's hand.

"I'm glad to see that no one was killed on your journey."

"We were close, but fortune was on our side. So- what's the plan?"

Page then began to explain her intricate and well thought out plan. "There will be four different groups- ships, diversion, infiltration and leading. The ships will take out the town's main defences, making access easier."

"I will captain the ships, and my people will man the cannons," Said Kalin.

Page continued on. "The diversion group consists of the Dwellers, who will go to the east gate and draw out Logan's soldiers and keep them busy."

"Aye, that won't be a problem; we Dwellers are good with explosives!" Sabine was bouncing with glee.

"The infiltration group- Kidd, Jack, Emily and Ben- will go to the west, along Bowerstone industrial and go to the sewage system. You will go through the sewers and get into the castle and open up the gates for the leading group."

The four of us nodded in agreement. Although I wasn't too happy about the sewers- I was certain that I had spent far too much time in sewers than is normal.

"Finally, the leading group. We will be doing most of the fighting, through Old Town and Market until the castle gates are open. The most important thing is that Annabel stays alive- without her, there is no revolution," and with that Page finished, looking very pleased with herself.

"Why don't we just blast everything? It'd be so much quicker," Ben replied.

I could see a vein on Page's neck begin to twitch in annoyance. "Because we'd rather not have to pay for the damage later, and I have spent ages on this plan," Page said with gritted teeth and wild eyes. It looked like she hadn't slept for days.

"So long as I'm in the thick of the fire and the smoke, I will be fighting for our queen!" Sabine was jumping up and down excitedly, speaking with a strong northern accent. He was a very short man, but a high jumper.

"Princess?" Walter turned to Annabel. "It's time to make your speech."

Annabel nodded, and put her hand out. "For Albion."

We all put our hands in, and copied her. "For Albion."

We disembarked onto the beach. The city looked prepared for war, with explosions and sandbags neatly piled around. The revolutionists were waiting for us, as sea of people. I could see the Dwellers, the Aurorans, Swift's Brigade, Bowerstone revolutionists and even Saker and his mercenaries. I stared in awe at the massive amount of people, prepared to die to save the crown from the clutches of King Logan. They clapped and cheered when they saw Princess Annabel ascend a podium. She smiled.

"You all know why you are here. And I cannot thank you enough. We have been preparing for this for a long time and we are finally ready.

"When I was a child, my mentor Sir Walter told me stories of my father- the Hero of Bowerstone. And every time he did, I would tell him, 'teach me to be a Hero'. I am ready to be that Hero. I am ready to fight. I am ready to risk my life, to do the right thing.

"We are here today, to honour those we have cruelly lost, and to prevent the loss of so many more in the future. I am not going to lie to you- we will lose good people today. But for every man or woman we lose tonight, they will save a thousand more people."

Annabel raised her sword above her head. "For Albion!" she screamed.

"For Albion!" Everyone screamed back.

A large explosion was heard in the distance as the sun set in the sky, and we knew what that meant.

The revolution had begun.

~Author's note~

Hello! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, things got super busy and then my computer died so I had to replace some parts. But I hope you enjoyed it, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter so I'm praying it shows.

Exactly one year ago I started this story, and I'm so happy with how it's going! I thought it seemed right, that it had been one year and that the fight for the throne has begun. I want to say thank you to everyone that has been patient with me from the start, including my fabulous proof reader Robyn.

Exams are starting next week, so I don't know when the next chapter will be, but hopefully not too soon. Thanks for reading, hoped you liked it!

MM.