Adira was a proud person. She did not admit that she made mistakes. However, with Quirin's harsh words and Varian's raw fury, Adira was starting to see that things had gotten a little out of hand.
She had never meant for things to get so bad. She had just wanted to save her brother from himself.
Hector was stubborn and prideful, and Adira had admired that about him, but she could see that it was killing him. Hector was devoted to his job, but he was lonely and tired, and she could tell that he was losing his will to do anything but devote himself to the moonstone. She had always used to tease him when they were younger that his devotion was going to get him killed one day, but it had stopped being funny when she realized how real the possibility was.
Adira had thought that Hector would get sloppy and throw himself at a fight that he couldn't win. That had been his style as a child, and she didn't think anything had changed. The more Adira visited her brother, just to make sure he was still alive and relatively safe, the more she wondered if his death would end up being by his own hand.
She saw the way he looked over the ledge of the Great Tree, with the curiosity of somebody who wondered if one more intense pain, giving in to nothingness, would be worth it to get rid of the pain that just came with living from day to day. Adira had seen people like that during her travels. Some of them, to her knowledge, were still alive. Some of them were not.
She didn't want her brother to walk that same road, but he had always been fairly reckless and impulsive when there wasn't someone else there to pull him back. He needed someone to ground and support him. Someone who could keep him from doing something he might regret, and someone to make him feel like he was loved and appreciated, so he didn't even consider something so horrible.
What Hector needed was his family.
Adira had always known that she wouldn't be good enough. She and Hector always butted heads, and they would probably end up killing each other if there wasn't a third party to keep things under control. Edmund had sent them away, and Adira hadn't been able to trust him to not do the same thing again. So she'd gone to Quirin.
He'd been hesitant. Quirin cared about Hector, of course, but he had his own life now. A son who needed him. He couldn't drop everything to live in the Great Tree with Hector. And Quirin knew that Hector wouldn't leave the Great Tree unless it was for the sake of the moonstone and the Dark Kingdom. That was when Adira had come up with her plan.
It was genius. Hector wouldn't take care of himself, but he'd take care of the moonstone, and he would take care of his family. If Adira could just get him away from the tree, then they could save him from himself.
Let Varian call her a liar. Let Quirin say that she was manipulative and deceitful. Hector was alive, and he was there. That meant that her plan had worked, and all of this had been worth it. Adira kept telling herself that, because if it wasn't true then the past ten years would have been for nothing, and she might have broken her brother more than she already had.
Adira only allowed herself to think that she might have messed up when she went back inside the house during the storm, only to find Hector standing in the kitchen, just where they had left him. He hadn't moved. Adira was just out of his sight, but she wasn't sure if Hector would notice her if she was standing right in front of him.
The look in his eyes made her feel sick. It was the same look he'd had that day in the Great Tree when he'd dragged him out of there before that place became his tomb. Adira had seen more life in the eyes of actual corpses. Her brother should never look like this. Especially not after all she'd done to keep that look out of his eyes.
He was supposed to be doing better. Yes, he still had his bad days, and Adira didn't think that would ever change, but their family helped. They were managing, even if they weren't quite doing well. But even on his worst days he'd never looked quite so drained and hopeless.
Adira felt like she needed to do something, but she wasn't good with comforting Hector. Quirin or Varian were much better suited for it. She would have given it a try, but she heard the door open. Someone was coming in. Adira backed off and left Hector to be comforted by whoever was here.
Adira went outside, hiding out on the roof to watch as Varian led Hector down to his lab. She felt at ease at the sight. Hector would be comforted by Varian, and the boy's anger would be soothed by his uncle. That was how it went with the two of them. They both knew that they needed each other, and they thrived when they were in a position to take care of someone else. Things would get better.
Adira closed her eyes and tried to find some peace in meditation. It was hard to focus in the snow and cold, but the extra challenge was something she embraced. It forced her to actually concentrate and not let her mind stray. She had almost found a rhythm when she heard the slamming of a door and Varian's desperate screams for her. Something was wrong.
Adira jumped down from the roof, landing just in front of Varian. He yelped, startled at her sudden appearance, but he quickly got over his shock.
"Aunt Adira!" Varian ran to her, embracing her around the middle. Adira instinctively stiffened at the sudden touch, but she didn't push the boy away. Instead she put her arm around him, holding him tight. He was so upset. She wasn't heartless enough to push him away.
"Varian, what's wrong?" Adira asked.
"Uncle Hector, he…something happened with the black rocks." Varian said desperately. "H-he told me to get you. He said you could help him. You need to get him out." He spoke so quickly that it was almost impossible to understand him.
Varian, Varian, slow down." Adira put her hands on his shoulder, pulling him away from her body and making him look at her. He was practically hysterical.
"Dad told me not to mess with the black rocks." Varian was hyperventilating. "I didn't listen. I should have listened. And then Hector thought I could do something to them. He thought I could make them go away, but I couldn't, and now he's stuck."
Adira wanted to comfort him, but Varian was panicking faster than she could even process what was wrong.
"I tried." Varian looked like he was about to faint. "I tried, but I couldn't do it. I'm sorry. I couldn't do it. I couldn't…I couldn't…"
Adira felt a rush of fear that had nothing to do with the fact that Hector was somehow stuck. However he was trapped, she could free him effortlessly with her sword. He'd be just fine. What Adira was worried about was what Varian had said. She knew there were ways that the moonstone could control the black rocks. If Hector had tried to get Varian to use the incantation, and he saw that it hadn't worked, he would suspect the truth.
If he knew now, just minutes after she'd seen him looking so soulless, she would lose him. She knew it.
Adira pulled away from Varian. "I'll talk to Hector. Go find your father." She went down into the lab and found Hector sitting on the ground, his leg in an awkward position. He looked neither furious nor half-dead. She could deal with him being trapped as long as he was in a decent state of mind.
"Brother." Adira said.
"Sister." Hector said. "Can I borrow your sword?"
Normally she would refuse him, or playfully ask for him to repeat the question, but she could see that the odd amber was slowly expanding. She didn't hesitate to pull her sword out, though she didn't give it to him immediately. Since he was stuck sitting awkwardly on the ground, it would be hard for him to cut through anything.
"Just tell me what to do." Adira wielded her sword confidently and stepped closer. Hector just raised an eyebrow at her.
"I really don't think you want to." Hector said. "Unless you're volunteering to cut my leg off."
Adira was more confused than concerned or angry at his words. "What are you talking about?"
Hector gestured to the amber. "That stuff is some weird, mutated version of the black rocks. If it's half as unbreakable as the black rocks are, I won't be able to just pull my leg out. If I don't want to get stuck completely, I need to free the rest of me from the part that is trapped." She hated how casually he was suggesting cutting off his own leg. She wasn't surprised though. He'd always been ruthless when it came to doing horrible things for what he thought was the greater good.
She supposed they had that much in common.
She didn't like it, but she could understand where he was coming from, and she knew they didn't really have time to find an alternative. She reluctantly held out the sword. He was right. She couldn't bring herself to be directly responsible for his pain.
For a short moment Hector wielded the weapon like a true warrior. Even when he was on the ground he had the air of someone who held a blade like it was an extension of themselves. He adjusted the sword and held it over his leg, just below his knee. Adira had to turn away. She didn't want to watch it.
She grew tense as she closed her eyes tight and waited for his scream of agony, because no matter how tough he was he was still just human, and losing a limb was agony. Several moments passed and nothing happened. Adira opened her eyes and hesitantly looked towards Hector. He was just staring at her sword, that dreaded dead look in his eyes.
"Hector?" Adira stepped towards him.
"...Varian said he wasn't the moonstone." Hector said quietly. He sounded far too calm. Almost emotionless. Warning bells were going off in Adira's head and she regretted giving her brother her sword. "He couldn't use the incantation."
"Hector, this is not the time to discuss this." Adira said sternly. Hector's body stiffened.
"You're right. It's not." His voice was still emotionless. He turned and glared at her, but even with the fury in his eyes they still looked defeated and hopeless. Why did they have to look like that?
"Any time in the last ten years would have been a good time to talk about this." Hector growled. She knew that tone of voice. He was trying to be angry to hide the fact that he was about to lose his composure. "Why did Varian say he wasn't the moonstone?"
"Hector, free yourself!" Adira snapped. Quirin had said this discussion would come sooner rather than later, but it couldn't be here. Not when there was a slow threat creeping up Hector's leg even as they spoke.
"Not until you tell me what's going on!" Hector screamed. He sounded angry, but he looked so scared.
"Hector!" If he wasn't going to free himself, she would push past her own hesitations and do it herself. She stepped towards him, but Hector growled and pointed the sword at her. She didn't let that stop her. She knew he wouldn't hesitate to hurt her, but he wouldn't kill her, and she could handle a little pain if it meant he got away from this.
Hector scowled as she continued to approach. He looked at the sword, chuckled bitterly, and shifted it. Adira froze when she saw him holding the large blade awkwardly against his own neck.
"Answer me, Adira." Hector said. She hesitated. He scowled and applied just the smallest amount of pressure to his neck. With her black rock sword, it was enough. Adira felt an unbearable pain and fear when she saw a line of blood appear on his neck.
"Do not test me, sister." Hector said evenly, as though he wasn't one flinch away from slitting his own throat. "Tell me you didn't lie to me about the moonstone." Adira said nothing. Hector's eyes widened, and he looked even more desperate than Varian had outside. "Tell me I didn't drag Varian into trouble and put impossible expectations on him because of a lie. Tell me that a lie isn't the only reason why our family is together. Tell me!"
She wished she could. She was desperate to tell him what he wanted to hear, but he knew the truth now. He would know if she told him anything less.
"...I can't." Adira said almost inaudibly. Hector paled and lowered the sword, but Adira couldn't bring herself to be relieved. He looked completely destroyed. She had done this to her brother.
He wasn't looking at her anymore. He was looking numbly towards the amber, and Adira felt like she couldn't breath when she saw that his eyes had that same curiosity she'd seen that say at the Great Tree, but it was deeper this time. There was a longing there.
"Ten years." Hector said quietly to himself. "It all meant nothing."
"It's not nothing!" Adira said. He didn't even look towards her. "Hector, your relationship to Varian isn't nothing." If anything could knock Hector out of this, it was the kid.
"I wouldn't have even talked to him if I didn't think he had the powers of the moon." Hector said. Adira wished he had more faith in himself. But she also wished that he wasn't completely right. "My duty was more important to me than my nephew."
"It's not that way anymore." Adira said. "You've changed!" He was far more than just a blind slave to the Moon.
"I don't think I have." Hector just sounded lost and numb. Adira had never heard him like this before, even on the worst of his bad days.
"Brother, this is my fault, not yours." Adira said. She hoped that would be enough to knock him out of it. At the very least it should have stunned him into listening to her for five seconds. She was Adira. She never admitted when she was wrong. "Blame me. Yell at me. Hate me for the rest of our lives, just…just give me back my sword so I can free you." She didn't trust him with it.
Adira held a hand out to Hector, mentally pleading him to take it. She was too scared to try to take the sword herself, because while Hector wasn't holding it against his neck he still had a grip on it, and She knew that he could hurt himself far faster than she could prevent it.
Hector lifted the blade a little, staring at it thoughtfully. He didn't respond to her. He was lost in his own mind, and Adira didn't know how to bring him out. He took a deep breath and raised the blade bringing it near his trapped leg. Adira felt a rush of hope. He was going to free himself.
Hector smirked painfully to himself, and Adira realized that the angle of the sword was all wrong. He was still holding it, but he clearly had no intentions of using it the way he had to.
"Brother, what are you doing?" Adira asked fearfully. Hector laughed bitterly and pushed both of his hands against the expanding amber just as it bubbled and expanded, trapping his hands as much as his foot was. And because he was still holding the sword, Adira's blade was trapped as well. She couldn't reclaim it to free Hector.
"No!" Adira screamed. "Hector!" He didn't look at her. He still continued to laugh painfully as tears fell down his face. He was destroyed, and he didn't look like he cared at all that the amber was trapping him. If anything, he embraced it.
"Hector, please!" Adira's own eyes were wet with tears. She didn't know what she was pleading for. There was nothing else she could do but watch as her brother leaned closer to the amber so it would engulf him faster. He had given up.
"Brother!" Adira screamed. She lurched towards Hector to try to pull him out. She knew it wouldn't work, but she needed to try. She needed to save him. There was a strong grip on her arm pulling her back and away from the still growing amber. She struggled against the grip, but it was like iron.
"Adira, stop." Quirin's voice came through, but she ignored it. Her eyes were just on Hector as he curled towards the amber. "You're going to get caught as well."
"I don't care!" Adira snapped. What did it matter if she got trapped? She needed to save her brother. She tried to pull away from Quirin, but he yanked her back.
"Enough." Quirin said. "You can't do anything. You can't."
"You can't." Hector repeated with another small laugh. It sounded like a taunt to Adira's ears, and she fell apart.
"No!" Adira's legs shook so much that Quirin's firm grip around her was the only thing that kept her on her feet. He held her, embracing her tightly as she screamed and cried. She was helpless to do anything but watch as the amber took her brother from her. She had lost him, and it was all her fault.