Chapter 32: Rose Redemption Part Three

When Rose started waking up, things were groggy and her vision was blurred. But she heard voices. They were muffled at first, but the more she woke up, the more clear she began to hear the words being spoken.

"...longer until she's awake?" A young sounding Dubh asked.

"Oh feck, did they finally come and rescue me?" Rose thought to herself.

"I think she's waking up now," a woman replied, sounding very Australian.

"Who's that?" Rose asked.

"You must've knocked your noggin real loose if you don't know me, Violet," the woman answered.

Rose opened her eyes slowly with a groan, looking at her surroundings. She spotted a blonde woman with black horns, then she saw Dubh. Or a much younger Dubh, rather, but with large dragon horns on his head. And long, curly black hair. What the hell was going on?

"You gave us quite a scare, young lady," the man who looked like Dubh said.

Rose looked at the doctor woman with an arched brow. "What happened?" she asked.

The doctor sighed before shaking her head. "We're not sure. One minute you were badgering Persian, the next minute, you had some sort of seizure."

Rose blinked, wiping her eyes and sitting up slowly. "Okay, but...". The room Rose was in was more like a very elaborate bedroom in shades of purple, violet and black. It was definitely a room fit for royalty, that was for certain. "I'm...sorry, having a hard time remembering what the bloody hell is..."

The bedroom door swung open and a very mean, angry and evil looking dragon woman came storming through with a dark red and black staff in her hand. The angry woman started hissing and screeching but Rose couldn't make much sense of it.

"Mother," the doctor said before bowing her head a little. "So nice of you to join us. Obviously, Violet is fine."

Rose wanted to panic. The darkness radiating off the woman was scary, even for her tastes. Was this the "mother" the voice warned her about?

The fierce lady with skin that resembled stone and a dress so dark, it was almost like the color of the void itself, came up to the bed, staring down at Rose as if to look into the very depths of her soul.

And it was quite frightening.

"You might want to step back, Mother. You know how your suit frightens people," the doctor said.

The queen hissed before looking at the doctor.

"No need to remind your mother, Canary," Dubh warned with a chuckle. "She'll never forget it."

"Suit?" Rose asked herself.

Loud clicks and growls erupted from the queen's throat as she pointed a finger at Dubh. The man huffed with resignation and stood, attempting to embrace the woman but all he got in return was a slap to his face before she began to storm off, but he grabbed her and pulled her back to him.

"Listen to me, you cantankerous old bitch!" he roared loudly. "If you're going to slap me like that, save it for the bedroom!"

The queen screeched with a hiss before Dubh backhanded her. "Violet, I'll be back. I'm going to teach your fucking mother a lesson."

"Enough!" Canary shouted, pointing at the door. "Crimson, so good to see you," the doctor said with a soft smile.

Rose peeked over to see a little boy with strikingly vibrant red hair and eyes walking into the room with a bouquet of what Rose could only assume were flowers. "I...I b-brought you f-f-flowers, V-Violet," the boy stuttered.

Rose blinked. Why did they keep calling her Violet? Rose looked around the room and blinked in shock when she spotted herself in the mirror at the vanity dresser.

She no longer looked like herself, though.

She looked like Violet.

"What the fuck?" she thought with wide eyes. "Hey lady! What the hell is going on?!"

Rose didn't hear a response from the voice that came before. She didn't know what to think of that.

"Violet?" Canary asked with a slightly confused expression. "Are you okay?"

Rose nodded quickly with a grin then looked over at Crimson as he stayed by the door. "Oh...uh...yeah. Sure, bring the flowers over here."

Crimson grinned happily before walking over. Rose began to notice that the queen and the man who had to be Dubh were no longer fighting one another, but they were keeping a good distance from one another.

Something wasn't right about this.

Rose had so many questions.

Crimson placed the flowers in Rose's lap before climbing into the bed. He was wearing a very regal outfit and Rose thought it was the most adorable thing.

"D-Do y-you like th-the f-f-flowers?" the boy asked quietly.

Rose gave a confused look and nodded before looking at the rather dark and deadly looking flora in her hands. "Yes, I do. Thank you, Crimson."

"Are y-y-you gonna be okay?" he asked.

"Yes, she will be fine," Canary answered before eyeing her parents. "If you two have something to discuss, I suggest you do it somewhere else."

The king and queen nodded before leaving the room. Dubh had slammed the door shut and began yelling as soon as it closed. Canary shook her head with a sigh.

"All hail King Mallacht," she said sarcastically before turning back to Rose.

"That's Mallacht? Why does he look like Dubh?!"

"I would like to run a couple tests to make sure you're not damaged in any way."

"Why d-do they a-a-always f-fi...fight, Canary?" Crimson asked sadly.

Canary sighed and sat on the bed before holding out her arms to Crimson. "That's just what parents do, sometimes."

Crimson whimpered and crawled into Canary's arms before bawling loudly. Rose blinked at the two before tilting her head to the side. "Uh...what-"

Suddenly loud horns started blaring from outside the large windows and Canary sighed. "Oh great, now what?" she said before placing Crimson on the bed and running to the window.

"W-What's happening?" Crimson bawled, and Rose instinctively grasped the boy before holding him protectively to her body.

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about," Rose whispered as she stared at Canary.

Canary frowned before crossing her arms. "Well, shit," she huffed. "It's the old Crow."

Rose blinked a few times in confusion. "Sorry?"

Canary looked at Rose questioningly. "Did you lose your memory or something?"

Before Rose could answer, a loud and mighty roar bellowed throughout the land and Rose saw a shadow pass before she got up and rushed to the window with Crimson still in her arms. A crowd had formed just outside what Rose assumed was a castle, and a large black dragon was slamming its claws onto the ground in a fury.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?" the dragon shouted loudly at an old woman in a black, hooded cloak.

"Queen Aynaet sent for me. I am here to provide medical assistance for Princess Violet," the old woman replied calmly, clearly not intimidated by the large and monstrous beast standing before her.

"I know that voice," Rose thought.

That was the voice she heard from before.

"She has everything she needs here, you decrepit witch!" the dragon bellowed. "Get out of my kingdom or I'll-"

"Do you know what is wrong with Violet?" the woman interrupted. "As bright as Doctor Canary is, her medical knowledge is still quite lacking compared to mine. And I do believe you want only the best for your children, do you not?"

Canary shook her head with a sigh. "Normally, I'd be mad, but...she's right. I have no idea what caused your seizure." Rose nodded with a sigh before walking out of the room. "Where are you going?"

"Obviously she can help me better than you can, no offense," Rose replied before exiting the room. "Now, Crimson, how about we play a game?"

"O-Okay," Crimson sniffled. "What g-g-game?"

"It's called "Find the Front Door". Give me directions, lad," she replied.

Crimson, without question, directed Rose to the stairs that led to the first floor. The castle looked immaculate and dark. Gloomy but intimidating at the same time.

Rose loved it.

When Rose reached the front doors, they opened to reveal the queen and the old woman. "Ah, Violet...good to see you up and walking," the old woman said.

Rose blinked, raising an eyebrow. "Uh...wh-"

"Now!" the old lady interrupted with a clap of her hands. "I do believe I can already tell what the problem is."

The queen looked at the older woman with a skeptical eye before nodding. The older woman hobbled in with a toothless grin. "Oh, Crimson, it's good to see you after all this time, my boy."

Rose clung to Crimson tightly and protectively as the old woman approached. "H-Hello, B-Babd," he stuttered.

Rose's eyes went wide as she suddenly recognized the old crone. How the hell did Babd get here?

"Rose, just relax," the old woman said telepathically. "I know what happened. You didn't just kill Violet, you absorbed her. Just act like she would."

Rose narrowed her eyes. "And how the feck am I supposed tah know how she acted?" the prisoner responded in kind.

"Ah, memory blocks. Must be a sort of security protocol," the old crone surmised. "I do believe I can bypass it."

As Babd reached for something in her cloak, the queen eyed Violet with almost a hateful nature and Rose swallowed hard.

"In the meantime, act like you did before you got stuck down here. That will do for now."

Babd pulled out a device of some kind and approached Rose. "I do believe the princess has suffered a lapse in memory, Your Majesty," Babd explained as she turned the device on. "All I'm going to do is jump start the part of her mind that holds the memories."

The queen nodded her approval but Rose backed up. "Excuse me, why the hell should I trust you to do something like that, you crazy ass wench?!"

Babd chuckled with a shake of her head. "That's more like it," she said. "Come come, child. You know me."

"Yeah, you're Babd! You're my enemy!" Rose hissed in her mind, backing up more.

Babd sighed with a shake of her head. "Your Majesty, would you please restrain Violet so I can fix her?"

The queen nodded but Rose immediately went running with Crimson through the castle.

"Where are you going?!"

Rose had to figure out what the hell was going on.