Lolirock: Ephedia - Sequel to Lolirock: A New Beginning

Ephedia: The Experience

Talia's POV 

"Iris! Wait!" Nathaniel protested, trying to get close to her. She thrust her hands down, and a protective layer of crystal thrust out from the ground, and headed towards us. 

"Leave!" she threatened. 

"Stop! Please!" Auriana begged. Iris turned towards her, her eyes lit up in rage and grief, when her eyes settled on Lev. She pointed at him menacingly, and suddenly a layer of crystals wrapped around him, and he shot towards her like the speed of light. 

Her pupils were surrounded in a magenta light, with her hands covered with dark pink energy. 

"I trusted you. You betrayed me!" she shouted at him, when the crystals dissipated and a potion was in his hand. 

"Iris, please,"I begged, as I dodged a spear-like crystal that was thrown at me. Her eyes were filled with tears as she said the last words I'd ever thought I'd here from her. She threw the
still-levitating Lev at us. He collided with Chandler and Dawn, as she cradled his unconsciousness in her arms, while Chandler tried to heal him with light magic. Auriana tried to run for Iris, but she raised her arms and clenched her fists, bringing a bubble of clear crystal down on us. 

Nathaniel ran and pounded on the crystal, desperately trying to reach her. It did no good as she realized what she had done. She landed on the floor and aimed a ring at us. 

"You will ALL feel my pain. The world will suffer, just as I have. Everyone will know the suffering I feel! The rage, the grief!" she proclaimed. 

She turned towards us, still staring us with a strange look in her eyes. I had seen it with Praxina before. 

Pure hatred and grief. 

With a tiny tilt of her head, a large boom shook the trees and the glass container we were held in. Dawn, Chandler, and Nathaniel all screamed. Auriana and Carissa held their heads. Lyna promptly collapsed, while a series of images passed through my head. 

I was suddenly covered in darkness. 

"Iris, my darling girl, I won't get to see you grow up." Queen Aeliana whispered, as she tenderly touched and kissed Baby Iris' forehead. She gave the baby to Aunt Ellen, and they disappeared in a flash of light. 

"Oh Nathaniel," Missy sighed, still flirting with Nathaniel even after he got together with Iris. 

"Graymorr! You won't hurt anyone, anymore!" Iris shouted, as she shot a final crystal through to him. A glimpse of Praxina and Mephisto falling was replayed over and over again. 

Nathaniel and Missy shared a kiss, while silent tears rolled down her face. 

I saw her dive through the portal, while Lev hugged her in comfort. "I didn't mean to make you choose." 

I felt the pain and loneliness she felt while she wasn't with us or Nathaniel.

I saw her fear and anger when she was forced to choose a husband. 

I perceived her side of the story when she saw Nathaniel in the doorway, her confusion and overwhelming feelings collapsing back onto her. 

I experienced her feelings when she saw Dawn and Lev flirting in the hallway. 

I understood her pain, her grief, her rage, when the faces of the ones she loved slowly flew out the window. 

Her struggles were evident in the pieces of her mind that I was receiving. 

Carissa was standing, calling to her from the tower where she usually practiced. She screamed out to Iris, and her struggle not to go back and attack her was clear. 

Borealis was booing, as was Calix, as they lobbed torches at Iris, several burning her. 

Then I saw us, screaming and lying in pain as we experienced the trauma she had went through. 

I heard the sound of footsteps in the darkness as the screaming ceased. 

"Hi Talia." Iris was walking towards me, looking as she always did. I tried to embrace her, letting her know I felt her pain. She stopped me, and stared at me straight in the eyes. 

"You've felt it, right?" she asked, pain woven into her words. 

"Yes."

"The fights, the sound of Praxina and Mephisto's screams as they fell. The fact that I couldn't save them from themselves." she lamented. She fell to the floor, and looked up at me, the menacing look back in her eyes. 

"Now that you know the pain I've felt, the feelings of hatred I have for this feeling, help me serve justice to this feeling." she said, her voice monotonous.

"I-I can't. I have a duty to all the people of Ephedia, not just you."

"Tsk, tsk, Talia." she almost laughed maniacally. 

"Iris, this pain you're feeling is fueling your hatred. Please, let it go." 

"Let it go?!" she screeched. 

"Yes." I meekly mumbled. 

"Dear Talia, if  you even knew HALF this agony I feel, you would understand." she nearly laughed. 

"Iris, please," I begged. I could see a flash of doubt in her eyes, but it quickly lost it's spark like a birthday candle on a windy day. 

"No, sorry,"  she replied with fake sympathy, "I'm done bowing to Ephedia. Now it's going to bow to me." 

The ground shook as she receded into the darkness, and I was left alone, the shaking of the darkness collapsing all around me. 

...

"T-Talia?" Auriana asked, her voice still weak. 

I gasped for breath, and saw that the crystal cage was gone. 

So was Iris. 

"D-Did you-" she nodded her head, bags under her eyes. 

"How long were we out?" my voice shook. 

"About an hour. The sun has barely changed, at least from here." she said. 

I looked around, and Lyna was there, shivering. Nathaniel was shaking his head, as if he couldn't believe the affliction that Iris was receiving. Chandler embraced Dawn, who, after all this, was still cradling the unconscious Lev. Carissa was the only one standing, slightly frazzled, but still rather calm. 

"How did you-" I asked, my shaky legs not wanting to stand up. 

"I was prepared for this, mental, emotional, and physical pain." she replied simply. I shook my head in awe. 

"I never knew this pain she felt. I thought she was fine. I never thought to ask." Lyna lamented. She crawled over to where Dawn was sitting, still mourning Lev, who was not dead, but I didn't think she realized it. 

Lyna poured a clear liquid into his mouth. He sat up and spit it out, but some of the residue stuck to his shirt. 

"It was either that, or in your eye." she explained. 

"Thanks Lyna." Lev thanker her, then looked at Dawn, who's teary eyes were enough to bring anyone down. You don't see her cry a lot. 

"Ephedia is actually where we are now." I shared, shocked at how far we had gone. This was the rural part of Ephedia, without the houses. 

We trudged through to the castle. 

And the pain that Iris was sharing with me was still there, constantly reminding me of what she had been through. Her regret and her sadness. Her loneliness and her grief. 

She had been through enough. 

And I was prepared to help her.