The Council

by Phoenix Willow

  “You have my word.” Foster said, placing a fist over his heart as a type of promise.

  “Very well, Sovereign.” Alani said as he ushered Galadriel, Zephyr, Rain, Sage, and Foster away from Jewel. “I can tell that you have a good heart, so let me give you a few instructions to assist you along your journey. The first is that everyone you see, and feel is not real, but make no mistake that it is. The second is that you cannot fail any portion of the three tests that you will face, and you must complete each without the use of almost all your powers. If you use any power other than your empath abilities, you will automatically fail, and if you fail even one of the tests, you fail all. And third, make no mistake that you mustn’t eat or drink anything along the way. The effects of anything you ingest will keep you from being able to return. Do you understand everything that I’ve said?”

  “Uh, no.” Jewel said, her brow furrowed. “Not at all, because those instructions were as clear as mud.”

  Alani threw his head back and laughed. “Oh, I do so hope you make it through the journey. You are quite amusing, Sovereign. I very much enjoy your candor. Well, good luck.” He said, pausing momentarily before adding, “I believe two leaves ought to do the trick. Just make sure that you are sitting when you eat them.” He winked and popped out of sight along with all Jewel’s friends.

  “Great. I’m in the middle of nowhere without my friends, and I’m about to eat leaves off a plant that’s going to make me hallucinate. Yeah, this should go well.” Jewel muttered as she approached the alucinari. “I can’t believe I’m about to do this. It’s either the stupidest thing I’ve ever done or…… nope, it’s definitely just the stupidest. Or at least one of the stupidest.” She said as she broke two bluish-purple leaves off the plant. Taking a sitting position on the dried-up clay ground, Jewel folded her legs and closed her eyes. She had never taken anything that could be considered a controlled substance. Heck, the closest thing she had ever taken to a hallucinogen was headache medicine, the spit-dirt, or marenergen. None of which had effects that were anything like what she was about to experience, of that Jewel was certain.

  “Cheers to getting past whatever tests are along the journey.” Jewel said, lifting the leaves up to the sky before placing them in her mouth and chewing. The leaves softened immediately as she chewed, and had a salty taste to them, but not so salty as to be unpleasant to ingest.

  Jewel sat and waited, not really knowing what it was she was waiting on, until her brain went fuzzy and her body began to feel tingly and light. Jewel opened her eyes and saw that the sky and ground were beginning to swirl, melding together in a very Vincent Van Gogh painting type of way.

  Jewel giggled as the effects of the alucinari plant took hold. She was smiling at nothing and everything all at once. She felt like the entire landscape was shifting and moving and it made her feel like she had been spinning in a circle for hours. Jewel had no idea what it was that she was supposed to be doing, but it was a journey she was supposed to take so maybe she needed to move. She attempted to stand a few times, but it was no use. Her legs weren’t cooperating and at this point, she had no control over her body which was amusing but concerning at the same time.

  “Uh, hello! Hello? Is anyone listening? Is this thing on?” Jewel said, tapping her fist as though it was a microphone. “Not sure what it is I’m supposed to be doing. Can’t move very well.”

  Jewel heard a disembodied round of chuckles, and her eyes darted back and forth wildly to try and see where the sound was coming from.

  “Let’s begin.” One disembodied voice said.

  “Begin what?” Jewel asked.

  No answer was given, but the ground began to shake violently, and then there was no more ground and Jewel was freefalling through space and time, darkness surrounding her with no way to stop it. Jewel had to catch herself from using her powers. It was sort of involuntary at this point, but she remembered what Alani had said, and she at least still had the presence of mind to keep herself from failing that portion of the journey. He had said no magic, so Jewel was going to have to survive whatever she faced the old-fashioned way.

  Jewel fell for what seemed like an eternity until the darkness around her began to fade into a beautiful scene before her and her feet finally hit the ground. Fortunately, they hit in a way that didn’t hurt too bad, but it was a bit jarring, nevertheless. Jewel took in her surroundings and saw a lake that looked like melted crystal, so reflective that it almost looked like a mirror of sorts, and then there were huge mountains that appeared to surround the area around the lake. They were so tall that the clouds themselves formed a sort of concealing blanket over the top of each. Jewel still felt a bit loopy and disoriented and she couldn’t seem to decipher if what she was seeing was real or if everything was just in her mind.

  Jewel walked around for a few moments, breathing in the crisp, fresh air until she happened upon a boulder that had a note sitting on it. She bent over to see what the note said, and immediately knew it was for her as it had a drawing on the front of it that matched the gem-shaped marking under her eye.

  She unfolded it and read the contents aloud. “Truths revealed, a choice to make, forgive one who’s caused you pain, or decide their life you wish to take.”

  Jewel read over the message three more times and on the third go around she saw that what she had originally believed to be a symbol at the bottom of the message was actually writing. She squinted as she tried to see what the paper said.

  “Incipere. Incipere? What does that even mean?” She asked out loud, and while she didn’t get a verbal reply, the serene scene in front of her morphed into one that had her running behind a nearby tree. She knew that she hadn’t used any magic, because she would have felt it, but someone had definitely used theirs.

  Panicked voices were shouting unintelligible orders, and as Jewel waited, a knot formed in her stomach. Whatever was coming, it was coming fast and there was no turning back now. She was on her own, and failure wasn’t an option.

  The alucinari plant was working in a much different way at this point, because Jewel didn’t feel loopy anymore, but her senses were ten times more sensitive. She could feel the vibrations on the ground from footsteps heading her way. She could distinguish between several different voices at this point, and she braced herself for whatever came next.

  But what came next was something that Jewel couldn’t have ever prepared herself for. It was more than shocking and jolted her mind to a point where she thought she might have lost it for a second or two.

  “Holey buckets.” Jewel muttered as she saw a younger version of her Dad come into view. He looked just like he had in the photograph that Jewel had taken from Gertrude, and her immediate reaction was to run out and hug him. Here he was, unfrozen, uninjured, and mere feet away, but Jewel stayed behind the tree. She knew in both her heart and mind that this version of her Dad either wasn’t real or was a memory.

  “Rose! Starr! Hurry up. They’ll figure out where we’ve gone any moment.” Steele called out.

  “Hold your potions, Steele.” A woman said as she hurried to his side. “You know we can’t move too fast with our little Jewel.” She grinned, her raven black locks bouncing as she made her way, and her eyes the darkest shade of green that Jewel had ever seen on someone. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who this woman was, either. She had the same sharp features that Steele had, and looked like a slightly older version of Jewel herself.

  “Yes, well, we are going to have to hope that this idea of yours works, Starr. Because we are out of both time and options.” Steele said, brows furrowing as he ran his hands through his thick, dark hair.

  “It will, my love.” A voice from a nearby treeline said. “This will work. Have faith in your sister.”

  Jewel’s jaw dropped as she saw that it was her Mom that had emerged. Her Mom who was carefully holding a baby as she quickly made her way to Steele. A lump formed in Jewel’s throat. This was her family. Her Dad, her Mom, and her Aunt Starr
. This was the family that she was supposed to have known, the ones who would have loved her, the ones who would have made her life very different than it had been.

  “How is our little Jewel?” Steele asked, his sea green eyes inspecting the baby. “And where are Juniper and Reed? Did they not come with you?”

  “Juniper and Reed are setting a few more traps for our uninvited guests, but they should be here soon. And our little Jewel is strong. And she will be just fine as long as we get this portal open and disappear before anyone else finds us. The glamours I set are good, but so is she.” Rose frowned.

  “Then there’s no time to waste.” Steele nodded. “Starr- time to see what you’ve been practicing.”

  Starr grinned and walked into the lake until the water was right below her knees. She held her arms out and it was when she glanced back at Steele and Rose that Jewel noticed the star shaped marking underneath her eye. It was the marking of an Immune, the marking of someone who fully understood the persecution that Jewel had faced, and the marking of someone who without a doubt was very powerful.

  The glassy surface of the lake began to churn and spin until it formed a whirlpool. Starr turned around to say something but stopped short as she narrowed her dark green eyes and hissed. “They’re coming. We have to go. NOW!”

  Rose shook her head. “We can’t leave Juniper and Reed.”

  “Then I’ll stay behind, but you have to get Jewel to safety. They won’t let her live, Rose. You know this. They’ll kill Starr and Jewel, or they’ll use them because of what they are. I’ll make sure that Juniper and Reed make it.” Steele promised.

  The tension in the air was making Jewel’s skin crawl and she wanted nothing more than to tell her parents to stop talking and start towards the portal, but somehow she knew she was supposed to witness what happened next. Jewel had figured out that this had to have been the day that Gertrude took over the Horde, and she already knew the gist of what was going to happen because it had already come to pass. But knowing it didn’t make it any easier. If anything, knowing what was going to happen and not being able to change it made it that much more difficult.

  “Aw. Look what we have here.” A sinister voice said as a familiar figure appeared. “My, my, if it isn’t the powerful three. Well, three and a half.” Gertrude sneered as she glanced in Rose’s direction. Her gaze stayed there for a moment as she took in the bundle that Rose was clutching close to her body.

  “Rose. Go now.” Steele urged.

  “Oh, she won’t be going anywhere. Not anymore.” Gertrude said as she snapped her fingers and chaos ensued.

  Jewel saw the real Hammond Leaks tackle her Dad to the ground in a surprise attack that no one had seen coming. They fought each other fiercely, shouting spells back and forth. Steele almost got the better of Hammond with one such spell but missed ever so slightly. Hammond turned and ran into the wooded area close to where Jewel was hiding, and Steele began to chase him down.

  Jewel turned her attention back to her Mom and Aunt as she heard a whistling noise. Her Aunt’s eyes widened as she looked down. Someone had thrown a dagger that had imbedded itself right in the middle of her chest. Blood began to blossom through the white tunic she had been wearing, and she dropped to her knees.

  Two unknown individuals rushed out of the forest and to her Aunt’s side, screaming for Rose to run to the portal, but it was too late. Some invisible force had already taken hold of her Mom and the baby version of Jewel had been ripped away from Rose and was now in Gertrude’s arms.

  Tears streamed down Jewel’s face as she looked at the scene and heard the baby cries. Her Dad was nowhere to be seen, her Mom was struggling to be free from whatever or whoever was holding her, screaming in desperation to Gertrude, pleading for her to give her back her child as Gertrude smiled sinisterly, and teleported away. Her Aunt Starr and the two unknown individuals had disappeared into the water that was once again peaceful, and the entire scene began to fade as the one that was holding her Mom came into view. Jewel didn’t get a good look at their face, but the bright green hair was something that she could never forget. The invisible force that had helped take Jewel away from her Mom was none other than Manti Sectin, herself.

  Jewel felt her blood boiling as rage began to overpower her rationale thought, but the scene morphed into another one and Jewel worked extra hard to keep her thoughts clear as Gertrude came into view. Jewel found herself in an alleyway and quickly ducked behind a few trashcans. She peeked around and saw that Gertrude was still holding the baby version of Jewel, and Jewel had to stifle a gasp as she saw Shade pop into the picture.

  Gertrude rushed to his side, but Shade was cold, no feelings showing whatsoever, and Gertrude picked up on it because she took a step back.

  “It’s done, my love. We can be together now.” Gertrude smiled .

  Jewel was taken aback. In all the time she had known Gertrude, she had never seen this genuine smile that she was now giving Shade. Sinister smiles yes, cruel smiles absolutely, but genuine, heartfelt smiles- no.

  Shade chuckled. “Always so eager, Gertie. But first, tell me what happened.”

  Gertrude visibly bristled but she kept her composure. “Steele and Starr have been killed, although no body was found for Starr. And Rose was captured and is, at this very moment, being taken to a place where she will never be found or heard from again.”

  “Is that right? Well, where is this magical place that can hold the likes of Rose Draconis.” Shade asked.

  Gertrude shook her head. “That’s my little secret. Now, how about I stop being yours.”

  “You were never my little secret, Gertie.” Shade said, prompting another genuine smile from Gertrude. “You never meant enough to me to even be that.” He added with a hint of amusement.

  Gertrude’s face fell and she took another step back.

  “Now, give me the baby, Gertie.”

  “You want me to give you the baby? The baby that we were supposed to raise as our own. The baby that was going to make us a family?” Gertrude asked incredulously, tightening her grip on baby Jewel. “You promised me, Shade Sterling. You promised me that we were going to be together. I had other orders, but you orchestrated this whole thing so we could get this baby, so that you could leave your stupid wife, and so we could finally be free of all the ridiculous sneaking around. You promised me.” She hissed.

  Shade narrowed his dark eyes. “I promised you nothing of the sort. I asked if you wanted power. You said yes. I asked if you wanted to help me with my endeavor. You said yes. I asked if you still cared for me. You said yes. I may have been a bit misleading, but how dense can you be? I would never leave my wife. At least not for the likes of you.” He added, his lip curling in disgust. “Now, hand me that baby.”

  Gertrude’s face morphed into an expression that Jewel knew all too well. One that promised cruel and horrible things. Her eyebrow rose and her chin lifted in challenge. “No. I don’t think I will. In fact, you will never see this baby again. And I will never forget what you’ve done today Shade Sterling. I’ll never forget that you are the biggest liar and most evil man that I’ve ever had the misfortune of knowing. I would have loved you. I would have made you happy, but now, now, I’m going to make you suffer. It may take me a lifetime, but you’ll pay for what you did today. Mark my words.”

  And with that, Gertrude disappeared with baby Jewel, leaving Shade in the alleyway looking quite shocked. He muttered something about women before popping out of the alleyway, and the scene shifted again. This time, however, instead of seeing one memory, Jewel saw dozens. Sort of like a compilation of all the abuse she had endured by Gertrude during her time with her. It was like watching a movie, but the movie was of things that had actually happened to Jewel and none of it was good. Jewel relived every punch, every broken bone, every burn, every horrible thing Gertrude had ever said to her. Jewel saw her younger self be treated worse and worse as the years went on, and then the scene shifted again to another bunch of memories. Only this t
ime, the memories weren’t Jewel’s- they were Gertrude’s, and what she saw would have been heartbreaking if not for the fact that Gertrude was such a horrible woman.

  Jewel watched as Gertrude became obsessed with getting even with Shade. She watched Gertrude cry herself to sleep every night over the man that she had hoped to build a family with. She witnessed Gertrude became more deranged and crueler with her treatment of Jewel and everyone else around her. She watched as Gertrude’s aura became more muddied as the years went on until it wasn’t muddied anymore, and instead it was a sickly poop-like brown color that showed just how evil her intentions and behavior had become.

  Jewel continued watching Gertrude’s memories, wondering all the while how it was that she was able to, and who had obtained the memories for Jewel to watch. Jewel knew without a doubt that the memories were real though. There were parts that involved Jewel and those parts were things that Jewel remembered firsthand.

  There was one memory, however, that Jewel witnessed that gave her pause. She had always believed that she had been sneaky with finding the picture of her parents, but she saw that Gertrude had known all along. She watched as Gertrude went through the drawer and muttered to herself about how Jewel could keep the stupid photo and how she didn’t even care anymore, which Jewel found odd. She had always known Gertrude to go out of her way to make sure that Jewel was miserable, finding any and all reason to pick on her, so the fact that she had let that go was perplexing and very out of place.

  Jewel didn’t have time to mull that over, however, because the scene morphed yet again, only this time Jewel wasn’t watching any memories and real events that had happened in the past. Instead, she found herself standing in a very strange room. A third of it was painted gray, another third was painted black, and the remaining third was a bright white color that looked completely untouched. The room itself was completely bare aside from the three long tables that were strategically placed within the three, color zones. Jewel walked over to the table within the white painted section and saw that it was labeled, ‘killed by Gertrude’. Jewel’s heart began to hammer in her chest as she took in the reality that was in front of her. There were at least a hundred names outlining the table, a hundred individuals that had lost their lives because of Gertrude. It really hit home and showed just how depraved Gertrude really was.