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All of this happened way too fast. Faster than Graecie has ever been and she is fast. Her brain has not caught up yet. She feels cold and is that Shan? Huh… She feels fuzzy. What happened again?
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War is always gruesome, so much death and destruction. Graecie never liked war, she never fights to kill unless needed to. She would rather protect than hurt. So when the war between the Red Kingdom and Blue Kingdom started up again she protected those who needed protection.
The peace before war is always best spent with your loved ones and she did just that. Waking in her, their bed is warm, well the person beside her is warm. She clings to that warmth, putting her arms around her loved one. ‘'Good morning'’, says said warmth. ‘'Good morning Shan, have you been awake for long?'’, replies Graecie. ‘'Not really, I just woke up not too long ago too.'’ Greacie feels Shan turn around, wrapping her arms around her. ‘'I like it here, so I didn’t want to get out of bed anyways.’' Greacie smiles into the crook of her neck, leaving a small kiss. ‘'I would rather spend my day with you too.''
They continue laying for more minutes. Graecie breaks the silence: ‘'I hate that we have to get up but our monarch has declared war and what he says go, I still don’t get why Nom would do that. Especially with Katie..’'
‘‘I don’t either.‘’ Shan squeezes her. ‘‘I am sorry you have to go through this again. No one deserves war.’‘
‘‘I am sorry too, I know how you are with, fighting and all. I wish we didn’t have to fight.’‘
Graecie starts moving away getting up. She sighs, missing the warmth. ‘‘I am going to get ready, I’ll see you in a bit?‘’ She smiles warmly. Shan nods and Graecie starts to get ready, putting on her armor and grabbing her spear, going outside. Outside she meets Scott. ‘‘Good morning, Scott.’‘
‘‘Good morning, Graecie. How are you?’‘
‘‘Could be better, you know, with what is going on.’‘ She bobs her head from side to side.
‘‘Yeah, I was going to talk to Nom about that but I don’t think he will budge.’‘ He shakes his head, sighing. ‘‘I really don’t know what made him do that to 4c and then with the war. I don’t get it.’‘
‘‘You want to go on a walk before heading off?’‘
‘‘Sure’‘
Graecie puts her spear away and starts walking, making sure Scott follows behind. They converse while strolling around when they meet Mae. ‘‘Graecie, Scott! Hello! How are you both?’‘
‘‘Good.’‘ answers Scott. ‘‘Good as well, what about you Mae?’‘ Graecie smiles at the energetic girl. She can’t believe how positive she can stay in a situation like this.
‘‘Oh, I am amazing! There is this new build that you have to see!’‘
Mae starts grabbing Graecie, pulling her towards her new building. Graecie sees Owain standing around, seemingly already been pulled there. She looks back to see Scott follow behind. Looking back, she takes in the building. ‘‘It looks amazing Mae. You really outdid yourself again.‘’ Mae’s grin widens. ‘‘Thank you, Graecie!‘’ Graecie continues listening to Mae’s rambling, with Scott and Owain giving some input to the conversation.
Yet all fun gets ruined at some point when they hear the goat horn ring. Everyone stilled. Owain breaks the silence, ‘‘I guess that is our sign for the meeting.’‘ Everyone nods and they start walking to the castle. ‘'I wonder what he wants’', Mae ponders. Scott answers, ‘‘Probably a strategy meeting‘’. Graecie and Owain nod in agreement. They continue walking in silence until they reach their meeting room. Everyone is there and yet there is one spot missing. 4c… Graecie shakes her head. No time to think about that now. She looks around and sees Eloise and Shan sitting. Nom is standing with his chair behind him. He looks exhausted and yet Graecie could not care. He started this, now he has to deal with the consequences. Graecie sits down next to Shan, sending her a smile. Shan responds by giving her a smile back. They then turn their attention to their King.
‘‘We attack today.’‘ Everyone freezes. ‘‘What..?’‘ Mae dares speak up. Nom isn’t looking at anyone. He is looking down, hands holding him above the table. ‘‘We attack today.’‘ He repeats. ‘‘Everyone get ready, you have an hour before we meet at the gates.‘’ With that he stands up and leaves.
Everyone sits there stunned. There was no room for arguments. Graecie looks around, seeing confliction on every face (except Owains, because well, he is wearing his armor). Eloise is the first to run out. Probably to warn Sir Bek, which also includes the Red Kingdom as whole. Owain is the next to get up, to prepare, he says. She can hear Mae stir and turns to look at her. She looks close to crying. ‘‘Everything will be fine Mae, I promise. We will get through this and I will protect you.‘’ She looks at Shan and Scott. ‘‘All of you. I promise nothing will happen to you.’‘
Scott nods. ‘‘I will do my best to assist you as well.‘’ With that he leaves to get his spells changed. Shan moves closer to Mae and Graecie. ‘‘I don’t want to do this.‘’ Mae shakes her head. ‘‘Me neither.‘‘ Graecie pulls them into a hug. ‘‘I mean what I said. I will protect you in any way I can, nothing bad will happen to either of you.‘’ They wrap their hands around Graecie. ‘‘I really hope so.‘‘ And Graecie could also only hope that this doesn’t end with another loss of her loved ones..
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After getting ready, taking her spear and making sure her armor is fully fixed, she goes to meet the rest of the friends at the gate. She is the last to arrive, nodding to Nom. Nom nods back. ‘‘We move now.’‘. He turns and starts walking. Everyone (-Owain) seems hesitant to follow but do so anyway. They cannot defy their Monarch. As they reach the bridge they can see the Red Kingdom members waiting for them. Katie speaks up first.
‘‘Nom. You do not have to do this.’‘
‘‘You and I both know I have to.’‘
‘‘We can do this peacefully, we do not have to fight. Please, Nom.’‘
‘‘Peace never works. We are still at war. Can’t you see how this is the only way to end this dispute? Why won’t you listen to me? You can still come back to Blue. To me. We don’t have to fight each other.’‘
‘‘You really still don’t get it do you Nom, I am the Queen of the Red Kingdom. I will not abandon my people in time of war. I will stand with them and fight. Even if it’s you..’‘
Nom sighs. ‘‘I really wish it didn’t have to end this way but you don’t give me another choice.’‘
With that he swings. Katie backs away. ‘‘I also wish it wouldn’t come to this’‘. She pulls out her sword. ‘‘Everyone get ready, this might get dirty.’‘
Everyone pulls out their weapon. Graecie really doesn’t wanna do this but she has no choice. She picks up her spear as Sausage spawns his undead slaves. She can see Sir Bek come at her and she lunges away as Sir Bek swings her spear. She spears back at Sir Bek and misses as she blocks her attack with her shield. ‘‘We don’t have to fight, Sir Bek.’‘
‘‘But we do. You are Blue and I am Red. This has to end at some point.’‘
‘‘But not in bloodshed. Please list-’‘
Graecie gets cut off by a scream. She knows that voice all too well. A voice stuck in her mind. Shan. She looks back at where Shan is and sees a Zombie with a sword standing above her. Shan must have been caught by surprise if she ended up on the floor. Graecie's blood freezes as the Zombie goes to swing and her mind blanks. Then everything happened so fast. She remembers lunging and then a feeling of coldness. Next thing she knows it that there is a sword in her stomach with her spear in the zombie's head. With her last strength she kicks the zombie back. The sword still stuck in her. She grabs at her stomach trying to stop the bleeding as best as she can. She knows that it’s fatal but she cannot care right now. She turns to Shan, trying to speak. ‘‘Are you- ugh, okay?’‘
‘‘GRAECIE!’‘. Gracie coughs up blood into her hand, falling to her knees. She feels so light headed.
She can hear voices, Mae, she thinks. When has she come so close? Why is she on the floor? There is so much blood.. She turns back to Shan, taking a look at her. ‘‘I am glad that you are okay.‘’ She falls but gets caught before hitting the ground, it’s warm.
‘‘Graecie. oh god. Stay awake, please!‘‘ Shan is panicking. ‘‘You can’t die on me. Please.’‘
Dying? What is she talking about? Graecie is just tired, a nap will help. She starts closing her eyes. ‘‘NO! Graecie. You have to stay awake. Do not close your eyes’‘. Scott? She opens her eyes, everyone stopped fighting, that's nice. At least she does not have to lose someone again. ‘‘But I am so tired.’‘
‘‘I know, I know but you have to stay with us, please I cannot lose you. I don’t want to lose you, Graecie.‘’ Shan is crying. Oh, Mae is too. Graecie raises her hand and puts her hand on Shan’s cheek, wiping her tears. ‘‘Don’t cry, you are too beautiful to cry. You too Mae. It’ll be alright.’‘
They chuckle, crying harder. God everything hurts. It is harder to keep her eyes open.
‘‘On no, Scott do something! She is closing her eyes’‘. That’s Mae, she sounds so sad.
‘‘I am trying! Graecie, keep your eyes open.’‘
‘‘I don’t think I can, it’s so hard. I really love you guys. I’m sorry.’‘
‘‘You have nothing to be sorry about’‘
‘‘But I do Mae, I wish I had done more with you guys. I’m sorry Shan that I have to leave you.’‘
‘‘NO! You are not dying. I need you, Graecie. We were going to figure out what I was together. We still have so much to find out about ourselves!’‘
‘‘Guys, we need to move her. I need to get that sword out of her before she loses more blood!’‘ Scott says alarmingly.
Graecie can’t keep her eyes open. The voices start to fade.
‘‘Graecie!? GRAECIE! NO.’‘
It’s so cold…
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It’s dark. Like when entering the dungeon. But it isn’t cold. Not anymore. She feels warm, well warmer yet still so heavy. Everything hurts. Especially her stomach. Her memories come rushing back. Right. She got stabbed. Where is she?
‘‘You are in your mind’‘
‘‘What? Who are you?’‘
‘‘That is not important. You will awake soon. You were saved once, do not die again or it will be permanent.’‘
‘‘Did you save me?’‘
‘‘You’re mage friend did and I just gave a push to it. Like I said, this was your last one. Do not disappoint.’‘
‘‘I may not know who you are, but I thank you.’‘
‘‘Do not thank me yet.’‘
‘‘What do you mean?’‘
‘‘Farewell’‘
‘‘Wait, no! You can’t say that and not explain.’‘
It goes unanswered as she begins to awake.
The first thing she hears are voices, then the smell of food and then that gentle touch. Shan is holding her hand and she gives it a gentle squeeze. Shan jolts up. ‘‘She squeezed my hand! She must be waking up! Graecie?’‘
Another squeeze.
‘‘Thank god you’re fine’‘
Graecie slowly opens her eyes just to shut them instantly. It’s too bright.
‘‘Right. One moment.’‘ Scott goes and closes the blinds. ‘‘It should be better now.’‘
Graecie tries again, it is better now. The first thing she sees is Shan and Mae hovering over her. ‘‘Good morning, you both.’‘
They rush to hug her. Graecie grunts. ‘‘Glad to see you too.’‘ She wraps her arms around them.
‘‘You scared us so much, don't do that ever again.‘‘ says Mae. Shan nods in agreement.
‘‘I’ll do my best, I’m sorry for scaring you both.’‘
They hug her tighter. Graecie groans.
‘‘Okay you both, don’t kill her after just getting her back.’‘ Scott pulls them back and turns to her. ‘‘I'm so glad you’re okay.’‘ He has that sadness in his eyes. He couldn’t bear losing someone again.
Graecie nods. ‘‘It’s thanks to you, thank you Scott.’‘
He gives a small smile and nods.
She looks around the room, noticing all the Blue members and even some of the Red members in the room. Someone must have informed them that she had awoken. She can’t help but smile. She’s glad they can put their differences aside, even if it’ll go back to war and bloodshed soon. This small time of peace is all she needs to maybe change Nom’s mind about all of this. She won’t give up, not after being given another chance at this.