Terry felt the tremendous weight of his eyelids, which refused to open. Warm sand pressed against his back, and he wondered how long he had been asleep. For two entire days and nights he had not slept, and it had taken a toll on his mind and body. He recalled nearly collapsing onto the sand by the end of those two days. He still did not wish to wake.
As he stirred, his mind lagged behind his body. His recollection of the previous days was at first cloudy, but the details slowly came back to him. He had spent nearly all that time tending to Claudia, administering more medication as needed and keeping her warm. He could not bring himself to rest while Claudia struggled in in a feverish sleep. But Terry could only force himself awake for so long before his body demanded rest.
When Terry finally pried his eyes open, the morning sun stung and forced him to squint. When his eyes finally adjusted to the light, he found himself eye to eye with Claudia. She was perched atop him, and clenched her staff tightly in her right hand.
"Claudia! Are you okay!?" Terry blurted out.
Claudia did not answer. She carried a tired look in her eyes. More than mere fatigue, she looked worn and withered. Her skin had grown pale, and she was marked with the tell tale sign of Dark Magic use. Her eyes were sunken, and grey blotches surrounded them. The toll of the magic was most obvious in her dishevelled hair. Only a smattering of black now remained, and it hung freely over the right side of her face.
"Claudia, what happened!?" Terry asked, with a concerned in his voice.
Claudia seemed to be searching her thoughts, but did not, or could not, offer a response. Her eyes wavered in thought.
"Claudia, I'm here for you. You can talk to me," Terry insisted. He then reached out to take her hand, but she pulled her hands away. Claudia then locked her pained eyes with Terry's, and Terry froze.
"My mother left me...my brother left me...and now my dad is gone. Everybody leaves," Claudia murmured.
"Claudia you-"
"But you're never going to leave me," she declared.
"Of course not. I'll never leave you," Terry assured.
Claudia lifted her staff, and worry began to overtake Terry. Before Terry could react, Claudia swiftly brought the staff down next to him, driving it into the sand close to his head; too close for Terry to feel safe. With the staff firmly planted into the ground, Claudia pushed herself to a standing position.
"Claudia, don't strain yourself! You need to recover!" Terry pleaded.
"Promise me you'll never leave..." Claudia repeated, as she loomed over him.
"Never," Terry confirmed.
"Never," Claudia insisted.
"I'll stay with you...forever."
Claudia closed her eyes and exhaled. She seemed to find safety in Terry's words. She then lowered herself back onto him. She sat silently, keeping her head down and not making eye contact, but muttering something quietly under her breath. Terry again reached out to take her hands, and Claudia allowed him to do so. He noticed that her skin felt cold; colder than skin should feel.
"Claudia...I found your dad..." Terry stated, hoping the weight of his words would not shatter Claudia's fragile heart.
"...Me too," Claudia whimpered, "...while you were sleeping."
Terry looked past Claudia, and saw messy tracks in the sand. She had followed his footsteps, staggering or pulling herself along. Terry gasped, knowing that it must have been a daunting effort. Her tracks revealed as much. Less footprints than a series of indents in the sand, Terry could see where she had tried to walk with the use of her staff, and where she had stumbled. He could see where she had given up trying to balance herself and resorted to crawling, leaving a long trench that continued until fading from view. Somehow, she had made it there and back again.
Images of what he found flashed in Terry's mind. It was not what he expected. A stone figure. frozen in agony. Deep cracks, etched from head to toe. The promise of the Startouch elf had been fulfilled. Viren was gone.
"I'm sorry Claudia, I'm so sorry," Terry consoled as he squeezed Claudia's hands tighter.
"It's not your fault..."
Terry remained silent, and waited for Claudia to continue.
"I tried to bring him back...but it didn't work," she said as tears formed in the corner of her eyes. "I passed out when I cast the spell, and when I woke up, I was like this," she said as she ran a hand through her hair.
"Claudia, your leg..." Terry said as his attention shifted once more to her injury.
"...I'm okay," she replied. "I don't know how, but it doesn't hurt. Not the way it should. Whatever you did, it worked."
Terry breathed a deep sigh of relief. He had been unsure how effective his treatments would be, and knowing that she was not in constant pain was a blessing.
"I didn't see Sparklepuff," Terry informed.
"...Me either. He wasn't there," Claudia replied.
Terry decided that the whereabouts of the creature was not something he could afford to worry about. He wanted to focus on Claudia, and nothing else.
"Maybe there is a spell that can undue the injury," Terry postured with optimism. "I've seen you do so many incredible things already. I know you can fix this too. If there's any chance..."
Claudia did not respond. She seemed to focus on something over the horizon.
Terry continued his inquiry.
"Claudia? If there is anything out there that can make you whole again, I'll find it. You've just gotta tell me what it is," he soothed.
Claudia averted her gaze to Terry. A cold, empty feeling resided in her eyes, and it filled Terry with unease.
"Anything?" she asked.
"Whatever it takes," Terry confirmed.
"One Moonshadow elf," she announced coldly.
A guilty feeling ran through Terry. He had let the idea of fixing her overtake him. He had neglected to consider what Dark Magic always required. Claudia's spells had called for unsavoury acts, undoubtedly. Some of those acts made his stomach churn. Things he himself had done, his mistakes and regrets, and situations without the possibility of a good outcome weighed heavy on his conscience. These were the realities he somehow had to cope with. But he was certain that to deliberately set out to bring about the death of a person was a bridge too far. Terry was sure that for him, it would always be so.
"Claudia, I...I know that elf really gets under your skin, bu-"
"Under my skin?" she shot back, her icy gaze now expressing anger.
"Under my skin?" she repeated as she drew her face closer to his.
Terry's unease grew and he recoiled.
"She threw my father off the top of a mountain," Claudia hissed, moving closer still.
"She would have cut your throat if I hadn't stopped her," she snarled.
"She mutilated me!" she growled through barred teeth.
"She's a monster, Terry! I hate her! I HATE her!" she fumed with clenched fists and her face nearly pressed against Terry's.
"But we can't just...kill her..." Terry tired to reason.
"...Why not?" she replied callously.
"C-Claudia, this isn't like you. I-I don't like this..." Terry confessed with a quiver in his voice.
Terry's concern seemed to break the raging trance that overtaken Claudia. She exhaled, and then drew in a deep breath.
"I'm sorry. I upset you. I didn't mean to. It's just talk. Just...forget it..." she pleaded, caressing his cheek with her hand in an effort to convince both of them that she had not meant it.
"There is no synonym for cinnamon," Terry stated.
"What?" Claudia questioned.
"Your calming mantra. It might help right now," Terry reminded.
"Terry..."
"Yeah?"
"...shut up."
Claudia crawled off Terry and placed herself next to him, facing in the opposite direction toward the sea. While planted there, she looked at her leg. Thoughts of the uncertain road ahead invaded her mind. The simple would now be difficult, and the difficult perhaps impossible. She placed her hands on her leg, removing any lingering doubts that she had dreamed it all.
She then thought about the dream she had experienced. She remembered that it had been the most lucid dream of her life, but she could not remember what it was about. It was as if a haze had obscured all of the details. While the details had faded, the feelings the dream had stirred in her had not. She had felt love and sadness. She had experienced fear and anger. She'd felt the touch of an enemy, and that of someone else. She did not remember who, but the feeling of their touch remained. The feeling reminded her of Terry's touch; how it felt on her skin, and the way it felt in her heart.
After a long time sitting in solitude, Claudia shook the meandering recollections from her head and turned to face Terry. Her eyes morphed from cold to sunny; the eyes of the carefree girl Terry knew her to truly be.
"I made breakfast," she announced.
Claudia hobbled a few meters down the beach, supporting herself with her staff. She came to the remnants of the fire Terry had started days before, where she had prepared a meagre breakfast for them. She grabbed hold of the pot which still rested over the embers of a fire. From it, she poured a dark drink.
"Hot Brown Morning Potion," she cautioned as she handed a cup to Terry.
Terry sipped from the cup. The drink had cooled considerably while he slept, but he chose not to say anything.
"You know, I think you invented something really amazing. Everyone in Xadia and Katolis would go crazy over Claudia's Hot Brown Morning Potion. I mean, I don't think I could even start my day without it anymore," Terry said, expressing his genuine sentiment.
Claudia feigned a weak smile.
"I made pancakes too," Claudia informed. She then placed a pan brimming with stacked pancakes between them. Plates were a luxury they could not travel with, so they ate directly from the pan.
Terry pondered on her abrupt change of disposition. He knew that the smiling face she now wore was masking what she was really feeling. Terry recognized that a lasting pain had taken root in her heart. However, he saw that she was confronting it in her own way. If putting on a front would help her cope, he resolved to be there to support her in that effort. He would help her overcome the side of herself that she had shown moments before. He did not want to see that side of her again. He wished that she did not have that side.
Claudia, meanwhile, was comforted by the taste of the fresh and fluffy pancakes. She had always loved pancakes, and fondly remembered her mother making them for her whenever she asked. She remembered eating them at the table, surrounded by her family.
Her brother.
Her mother.
Her father.
As she reminisced in these memories, each bite provided momentary solace.
When they were finished, a short silence fell between them. Both remained seated and they stared awkwardly at each other, waiting for something to happen.
"Well..." Terry finale spoke, "...what next? What do we do now?"
"We're going to Del Bar," Claudia stated matter-of-factly.
"Del Bar?"
"Del Bar."
Terry paused for a moment as he considered what he should say. He knew why Claudia would want to go to Del Bar.
"I know I could have gone there anytime since she left," Claudia said, piercing the silence. "I've had my whole life to go there. I thought about going a lot when I was younger, but it made me so mad when I thought about her for too long. And then I'd get sad...and then I wouldn't want to go anymore. And now, I don't know if she would even want to see me. I mean, why would she? It scares me when I think about it. What if she left because she hates me?"
Claudia released a worriful sigh.
"No Claudia, that's not wh-"
"But I don't know where else to go, Terry," she interrupted. "Dad is gone. I'm sure that the dragons are still out there hunting us. That gang of idiots has the prison, along with Aaravos inside it. And I can't do anything about it. I can't even walk anymore. We're not safe on our own. I'm not sure we will be safe in Del Bar, but I know we're not safe here."
"But you do love your mother, don't you?" Terry probed.
Claudia was taken aback by the question. She opened her mouth to tell Terry not to ask weird questions, but she was too flustered to find the words.
"I'm sorry if that's an unfair question, Claudia. But I can see that you're tormented over her. And I understand what that's like. My people, even my parents, don't accept me. Still, even now, I know that I still love them. It took me a long time to come to accept that, but hating them felt like...like a burden I didn't have to carry. So, I think you should know the answer to the question, even if you don't tell me what it is. You should know it for yourself, so you can know what you really want if you do see her again."
After a moment of being further dumbstruck by Terry's inquisition, Claudia finally found her voice.
"I'll tell you the answer when we get there," she declared.
"Alright then, it's decided. Del Bar," Terry agreed.
"Thanks for understanding, sweetie" Claudia answered. She leaned forward and kissed him.
As Terry began collecting their gear, Claudia thought about his question and felt grateful that the long journey ahead would provide her plenty of time to figure out the answer.