The Will of a Pendragon

Rose

    "You can't kill me, Arthur. I die and Alyssa gets all the information I hold. Option B is letting me go, but your little princess still gets outed," Guinevere taunted my dad. 

    "Is there anything we can do to help her?" he asked me. 

    "I don't know her original coding. Best I can do is wipe everything she's been through since she left until now," 

    "You do that and I will kill you, you little b***h," she tried to spit at me. 

    "We need the intel," my mom sighed. 

    "I'm not talking," she scoffed. "Enchant my tongue and I'll swallow it,"

    "I can just give you another one, stupid," I laughed. My parents chuckled at her reaction. 

    "Didn't I tell you to be careful? How did she find out?" my mom began to scold. 

    "I actually didn't do anything. Gray made a box and I covered it in my barrier. She's just assuming," 

    "Gray didn't make the box," my dad sighed.  

    "No, he didn't," I smirked. My mom smacked me on the back of my head. 

    "We have an option C. So even if she escapes, they won't be able to get anything from me," I shrugged. 

    "This was predestined. You remember the woman in Malique?" she asked my dad. "She said we'd birth destruction," 

    "We didn't birth anything," I've never heard my dad use that tone before. "The only reason you're alive is because of Lance who for some f****d up reason is still in love with you. We've been through hell to try and get him sober. Killing you would destroy all the progress we have made with him. Lucille wants you dead and the girl has more than earned her place at the table. Her say means something to all of us," 

    "You really think you're the good guy here. You're the problem, Arthur. You, your daughters, anyone who holds the name Pendragon close to their hearts are the f*****g problem. Without you, none of this would have happened to any of us. With you out of the picture, we'd all lead healthy happy lives. f**k you," 

    "Let's get Merlin down here. The faster we get what we need, the sooner we can get rid of her," my mother dismissed her. 

    "You know I'm right, Amaryllis. You were supposed to kill him, not fall in love with him. The moment you came into contact with him, your life was never your own again. That's how it works. You're drawn in by the spell in their eyes. Do yourself a favor and kill the three of them. They're the only ones le-" 

    I hit her. The crunching sound of her teeth breaking echoed along the walls of this cell shutting her the hell up. She fell on her ass as I approached her and lifted her up to her feet. The hatred in her eyes is real. There is no trace of anything other than her hatred in her voice. 

    "Has anyone ever told you that you talk too f*****g much?" I asked her as she tried to back away from me. 

    "Alyssa tells her all the time," Will laughed from the other cell. My father closed the barred door behind me as I moved around to face him. "You used to be a lot nicer. I guess I can take partial blame for that," 

    "What is wrong with you? Why did you become this? Jealousy? You want what I have?" I asked. He looked over at me with a glare. "Why would want any of this? Having this power is a burden. Not a gift. Even if I manage to kill the red mages and Alyssa, someone is always going to want it. I am never going to live without having to look over my shoulder. Why the f**k would you want that?" 

    "You complain a lot. You've always complained. Since you were a kid. Why don't I have parents? Why can't I have better clothes? Why can't people be nicer?" he scoffed. "Why can't you be happy with what you have? It's never enough for you. You have the universe laid at your feet and you still ask why. The most ungrateful people always get what they don't deserve," 

    "You had all of that here and you left. Traded it in for a new personality. You ask, why her? Why couldn't that have been me? That's a lot worse than being dealt a shitty hand. You are missing out on what's in front of you because you're too busy looking at what's in front of me. I stopped asking myself why a while back. This is my life and I love it. 

    "You got new powers, you got your mom back, and you still want what I have. You're never going to get it. No matter what you wish. You'll never be satisfied. I was overwhelmed I admit, but I am content with what I have. So much, that I am willing to kill for it. To die for it. Can you say that about what you want? You just sacrificed all of your men, and for what? To try and take me?" 

    "You think it's about you?" he stood up coming over to the bars. He pressed his forehead against them with a gross smile on his face. "You have really pretty eyes, Lilianna. I have to admit that I was mesmerized by them from the moment I saw you. It's sick, considering how closely related we are. But it's not your eyes she's after. You can see everything with those eyes, but you can't see into the future," 

I stepped away from him. 

    "I will kill everyone if anything happens to her. Everyone. I don't care who they are," 

    "I know," he nodded. "I'm counting on that," 

    I turned away from him and headed up into the castle. Rose is playing with Merry. As soon as her eyes landed on me she smiled and stopped what she was doing. My parents began to give orders as I held on to her tightly. 

    "You can see," she whispered into my ears. "That's not good," 

    "What?" I asked pulling away. She placed her hand over my mouth. My little sister's body dematerialized and Aria stood in front of me. 

    "I'm taking them," she announced. I pushed her back taking my dagger out. 

    "Lily," my dad called out from behind me. 

    I stabbed my left eye first as she came at me. My mother intercepted her as I pulled the dagger out with a loud cry. The pain has taken over my senses, but I can't hesitate. I pushed the dagger into my right eye, falling to my knees, all there is left is pain and darkness. My ears are ringing, the smell of my own blood is churning my stomach, but there is a sense of liberty. Relief from the crushing weight of this ability weighing over me from the moment I found out it was there. 

    "Lily," Rose called out. My armor wrapped itself around me and Durendal took the lead. I cut down the foreign auras to get to her. "No, no. Your eyes," Rose cried out. I pushed her behind me as two more appeared. I know these. Will and the stronger one is her. Alyssa. "Go away. Badman," 

    "What have you done to yourself," Alyssa shouted. "All of this and you do that to your eyes?" 

    "You can't have her," I stood my ground. 

    "I can and I will, Liliann. You both need to come with me. I can help you restore your vision as it was before. We can help each other. You know me. Everything I've done is to make you better," 

    "I am better, but it's not because of you. Rose?" 

    "Okay," she whispered. 

    She held her hand up for me and I placed my hand over hers. Excalibur moved through my armor and wrapped himself around her. I was hoping it would never come to this. Especially right now at the age of nine. Rose is exceptionally gifted. She sees and knows things a little girl her age shouldn't and we had to teach her things a little girl her age shouldn't know. 

    "You think you can take me in your state? There is blood running down your face. I can sense the instability that comes with the pain you're suffering. You can't win,"

    "I don't have to win. All I have to do is make sure she gets away," 

    The mana in her surged like nothing I've felt before. I blocked her attack with Durendal. The power released from our sword clashing pushed us away from one another. I reached for Rose, the connection between Excalibur and I pulled her to me. She climbed onto my back the instant she was within reach and my armor secured her onto me. 

    "You are as clever as I remember," Alyssa shouted. I placed my hand on the wall backtracking towards my grandfather's study. I had left small unnoticeable scratches on the walls months ago and memorized them.

    "Left," Rose whispered in my ear. I stood up straight and began to walk faster. "Right," 

    "I want you to climb onto the dragon and stay up there until this is over. Yeah?" 

    "Okay," she agreed. 

    As soon as we were through the door, my armor released her and I tossed her onto the dragon. I opened up a portal and pushed a stack of books into it. The sound of their footsteps echoed by the door and I shut the portal. I turned to face them. 

    "Where is she, Liliann?" Alyssa demanded. 

    "You'll never find her," I lifted my sword up protectively. I can feel the anger in me doubling now that I have my full attention on her. 

    "Okay," she sighed heavily. She's annoyed. "You're going to come with me and eventually, you're going to tell me where she is," 

    "No," I shook my head.

    "She's trained blind," a third voice joined theirs. Guinevere. "She's been preparing for this. You were right. Her powers accommodate your Necromancy. She can perfectly copy anything, even a person. You can put the soul back inside of it,"

    "Lily, you and I were meant to be together," Alyssa cooed. She's moving closer to me. I can hear her moving even as she tries to step down as carefully as she can.

    "No thanks. I have a boyfriend and he's a little overprotective," I scoffed. "If you paid attention to your surroundings, you'd know he's standing right behind you," 

    There was a shuffling sound. Young and Will's swords clashed. Lucille and my mother followed behind him. Alyssa's steps came towards me. Using what little mana I have left from it trying to heal my eyes, I pushed forward. She was cast out of the room. 

    This is nothing like I imagined. Closing my eyes and wearing a blindfold didn't prepare me for this feeling. I can feel my other senses sharpening. The light is completely gone. All there is left is darkness. Opening my eyes doesn't change a thing anymore. My mana tried to rebuild my eyes as best it could but without me guiding it, the best it did was ensure that there was something there and that my sockets weren't empty.

    "Lily, Lily look at me," I turned my head in Young's direction as he rushed over to me. "No," 

    "It's okay. I'm okay," I reassured him, reaching for the warmth coming off of his body. He instantly held his arm up for me to take.

    "They got away," my dad informed us. "Where is Rose?" 

    "Up here, daddy," Rose called from the top of the dragon. She jumped down on the desk I'm leaning on. "Lily protected me," 

    "We have to get to that cup," I helped her get down. "She wants to use Rose to help her find it. If we can tune Rose's mana to the cup's she can predict where it will show up next before they can track it down," 

    "You are not going anywhere," my dad shouted making us all flinch from the force of his anger. "Look at you," 

    "Insensitive, dad," I smirked. Young and Lucille tried to hide their laughter with a cough. 

    "Are you f*****g kidding me right now, Lilianna?" he's angry. "You gouged your eyes out. She knows. Everyone knows now," 

    "It doesn't matter. It's gone," I argued. 

    "You sound almost relieved," my mom finally spoke up. "Arthur, you need to calm down," 

    "Calm down?" he asked her. "My daughter gauged her eyes out and you want me to calm down? I couldn't protect her. You want me to keep calm knowing that she had to resort to this. To lying to everyone because she knows that we can't protect her," 

    "Dad," I tried to reach for him and stumbled on the books I knocked over when I opened the portal. He steadied me. I can feel the anger and sadness in him as his skin met my own. This is new. "You can't fight them all alone. All we can do right now is get to that cup before she does. You can come with me. With us. I'm not weaker because I can't see anymore. You have to trust me," 

    "The way you trusted me?" he asked tightly. The sadness in his overwhelmed the anger. I never intended to hurt him, but I have every right to be skeptical of all of this.

    "There are cameras all over the palace and they follow me. Do you really think that's trust?" I asked him.

    "Those are for protection," 

    "Protection? From me?" 

    "No, for you," 

    "That's not what that feels like. You have no idea what it feels like to have someone watching over your shoulder all the time. How is this different from when Alyssa enslaved an entire town of people and placed shifters in their place to f**k up my life since I was a little girl? Did you ever once hear me complain?" 

    "I-I didn't realize," he emotions stilled as guilt flooded through him.

    "No, you didn't because you never bothered to ask. You wanted me to come here and acknowledge you as my father but you've not once acted like one. You want to teach me things and you set everything else aside for it. I respect you as my mentor and I acknowledge that you are my father. You need to know that, I am your heir and that there are times when you need to treat me as such. But I'm also your daughter. Up until right now, you've acted like the king, and now that you see that I am outgrowing you, you want to put your foot down because it's getting dangerous. News flash, dad. You don't train your kid how to kill someone and how to defend your people just for shits and giggles," 

    "She wants Rose," Young reminded them. "She's not going to be safe here. We have to keep them both moving. You should stay here to reassure the people and we'll continue looking for the grail," 

    "I'm coming with you," my dad declared. "We talked about this already and Ami decided that she needs to stay here in case Aria or Mordred attack. She and Pandora will hold the fort," 

    "We're okay with that," Young agreed. 

    "I wasn't asking for permission," my dad scoffed. 

    "Not yet," my mom whispered. My dad didn't hear and neither did Young but I did. I turned my head to her and smiled. "You heard that huh?" 

    "Yeah," 

    "Troublesome. Come on. Let me help you get cleaned up. Rose will be staying with you tonight," she took my arm and began to lead me towards my room. "Do you really not trust us to protect you?" 

    "It's not me I'm worried about. I didn't want to tell anyone because the fewer people that knew the better. Everyone knowing puts everyone in danger. Not just from her but from those in other realms. I trust both of you now. I trust you to protect Rose. You're my parents and we've come along way," 

    "Yeah, a whole planet," Rose added. We laughed. "They destroyed the front door but Merry fixed it. Nothing else was hurt and the only ones that got away were Guinevere and William. I can see her now," 

    "Guinevere?" I asked. She nodded.

    "She's going to die soon. I can see him going for her," 

    "Him?" mom asked. 

    "Mr. Lancelot. They go away together," 

    My stomach flipped when Lucille, Talia, and Gabrielle rushed into the room. The three of them come over to me and knelt in front of my bed where my mom had me sit down.

    "Li," Gab sighed. "We take our eyes off you for five minutes," 

    "I think it's time to tell everyone what's happening," Lucille spoke up. "They have to know why," 

    "We'll all talk about this in the morning. We have to get Rose out of here first. We can't let that b***h get her hand on my sister," 

    "Aye," the three of them agreed. 

    "Not gonna lie. That visor thing you had on is pretty cool," Talia sat down on the bed next to me. I laughed when she took my hand and held onto it tightly. 

    "Young made it for me," I admitted. 

    "I'm going to kick his ass for hiding it so well from us," Gab sat to my left. 

    "We're staying," Talia declared. 

    "Yay, sleepover," Rose jumped onto Gab's lap. 

    "I'm going home. I want to stay but my dad is being released today and I don't want him to be alone," 

    "Okay," I nodded. As she walked away I followed and stopped her right before we got to the staircase. 

    "I know," she whispered. "I heard her," 

    "Luc-" 

    "There is really no other way for their story to end, Li. We all end like that. It's what we are. Besides, it's not like I'm going to be alone," 

    "Right, you have all of us. You're our family," 

    "Thanks," she smiled wrapping her arms around me. "I wish I could have done more to prevent this," she placed her hand over my eyes tenderly. She means every word. "I suck as the Knight of One," 

    "In your defense, Young made me a visor so he didn't have to see it," we both giggled. 

    "He's an i***t," 

    "Yeah," I agreed. "Be careful. Make the most of the time you have left with him," 

    "Okay," she whispered. She placed a kiss on my forehead and walked away crying. 

    "I hate seeing her like that," Young sighed. He's coming from my dad's study. 

    "Me too. I don't know what to do to make this better," I held my hand out to him and he took it. 

    "She'll be fine. I'm going home tonight. I need to talk to my parents about Gavin. There are water beings in those oceans. Beings in serious need of help. Your dad wants me to send my mom and dad to negotiate a treaty," 

    "Okay," I nodded. "Take Andre with you. I don't want you to be out there alone with him so close," 

    "I'm sorry," he whispered pushing my hair back. "I'm going to kill her, Li. Even if you hate me for the rest of our lives. She's not going to live. No one has a say in it. No one," 

    He kissed me and walked away. His anger is something I'm never going to get used to. I can feel it on the surface of my skin like ice. Dry ice sticking to the surface layers of my skin threatening to rip it off if I hold it for too long. 

    His anger is something I don't need to be worried about right now. I need to protect Rose. Nothing and no one else matters. The last thing she needs is for that b***h to ruin her the way she did me. I'd let this entire planet crumble before I let them get their hands on Rose.