♛Shadows Lurk♛ Darkiplier x Reader

« ♡ » Chapter 27 - The New Reign

(Y/n) ran through the halls of the castle as quickly as her legs could carry her, down the flights of stairs and towards the main entrance. There was no need for her to return to her room first, there was nothing for her to collect as the Charta Visus had never left her pocket since she put it there that same morning.

Every step she took (Y/n) wondered when the punchline to the joke would arrive, when guards would suddenly leap out from the rooms branching off the hallways to stop her. This had to be a trick.

Racing out of the castle and into the courtyard, (Y/n) spared no time as she spun a corner and made her way towards the rebellion's 'emergency exit'. And, sure enough, it was still there. (Y/n) hurried through the small hole and out into the fresh air.

She could only soak it in for a moment before she began running again, not about to bet her newly regained freedom on lollygagging.

The race back to the rebellion felt like mere moments as (Y/n) thought about all of her friends- finally, she would see them again. She felt tears sting her eyes as the reality soaked in; she was finally free again. Free to do whatever she wanted. To go wherever she wanted. But right now she just wanted to go home to her friends.

Suddenly (Y/n) saw the camp up ahead, now painfully aware of how every limb ached and begged for her to stop moving; she must have been running on pure adrenaline up until this point. But she couldn't stop; not now. Not until she was really there. Until she could really see them.

Sprinting past the confused watch guards, past the various rebels shouting and calling excitedly to her, (Y/n) ran towards the barracks to where she'd hopefully find her friends.

Just when the building came into sight (Y/n) ran into someone, not realising they were there until they both collided and fell to the ground.

"Hey-! What the hell do you-?" the voice paused, becoming stunned. "Flare?"

(Y/n) stopped rubbing her head and looked over, immediately recognising them.

"Reef?"

"Flare?" She looked up and saw Marcie standing close by.

"Flare?" Trevor was standing close beside her.

"Flare!" Almost as soon as (Y/n) had begun to pick herself up Brandy bowled her over again in a huge embrace.

"Brandy! Trevor, Marcie- Reef! You're all here! I'm so glad to see you guys again!" Almost immediately (Y/n) became overrun with emotions, tears pouring down her face in a mixture of sore limbs, relief and happiness.

"Flare, I can't believe it's really you," Brandy began to cry as well, still embracing her. It didn't take long before Marcie and Reef joined in as well.

Trevor stood off to the side, looking happy for them but still out of place. Without a word Reef and Marcie each grabbed one of his arms and dragged him into the massive group hug of reunited friends.

"I missed you guys so much," (Y/n) held back another sob, sniffing her runny nose instead. "I'm so glad to be back."

"Were any of you going to come get me or was I just supposed to find out that our favourite commander had made it back safe and sound?" James' voice came suddenly, and the group turned to look at him. Everyone slowly broke away from Flare and she made her way over to him.

"James," (Y/n) embraced the old man tightly.

"Welcome back, Commander. I'm sorry I couldn't have brought you back myself." James sounded genuine in his softly spoken words, but (Y/n) shook her head.

"It wasn't your fault James, none of this was," she whispered back to him.

"What happened?" An indistinct voice chimed in. (Y/n) realised that a crowd had begun to form at her arrival, and the voice came from somewhere within it.