One True Queen: A Wings of Fire fanfiction

11.

Content warning: mention of past self-harm and bullying, and a very creepy, manipulative dynamic

Eclipse

I'm sure my mom's office makes perfect sense to her, but to me, it's just chaos. There are papers stacked in heaps and scrolls rolled out on the floor, for some reason a tiara, three empty mugs, plants on every available surface, a sketch of very poorly drawn stick dragons with lines drawn between them, like a family tree but not, and no sign of the tree paperweight she was talking about.

I carefully sift through all the different notes on her desk, trying not to read more than I have to—I'm sure Mom's notes on the future are helpful to her, but without some magic to allow her to map them out easier, they're basically incomprehensible to outside dragons.

I take a deep breath, glancing at the clock. Thirty minutes.

I've got time.

I set aside all the things I'm not looking for—a scroll called I Hate You, Mom: Why Dragonets Lash Out (and How To Help!) another called Failure is Inevitable: Raising Smart, Adaptive Dragonets in a Changing World and finally, Like Mother, Like Daughter: How Intergenerational Trauma Lives On. I sigh. It must be really bad if she's getting back into parenting scrolls again, that hasn't happened since Dad left.

It takes me about five minutes to find the folder entitled Wealth Tax Presentation, which instructs me to find a bunch of big graphs in one of the drawers I'm supposed to hang up for everyone to look at. I only understand half of the numbers, but hopefully if I just follow the script I won't really need to.

A stray piece of parchment on the floor catches my eye, right when I'm about to go. I think it was supposed to be notes on the future, but she cut off halfway through a prophecy and started writing I hate this!!! I hate myself!! in bold, shaky lettering, and scribbled out most of her writing. The paper is wrinkled at the edges, too, like she was crying.

I frown. I know it's probably not relevant to me, but it's hard to resist, and Mom did say I could go through her office....

In the ruins of an empire, moons-cursed lovers take the throne
Poisoned by powers, not their own
They'll fight tooth and claw, but

It's a prophecy—half of the first verse of one, anyway. And she just keeps writing it over and over, until her breakdown a little further along. But that doesn't make sense, normally Mom's visions are way more specific than the standard prophecy, and she never has this much difficulty getting a full one out.

Unless...

I knew Dad's power wasn't working as per normal. And I sort of wondered if Mom's might be all messed up too, but I thought that was just me being paranoid.

Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no—

Mom's power can't be gone. If Mom's power is gone, we're going into the war completely blind! We have no idea what to do!

Why didn't she tell me?

I glare at another stupid parenting scroll. (Lay Your Weapons Down: Coping with Sibling Rivalry.)