Scarlet (An SGE Fanfic)

Not so Black and White

Hester

Now, we had a goal in mind. I didn't look at the bodies as we splashed through the halls of the ruined school, hardly heard the screams of battle all around us. I was focused, focused on helping the girl climbing the silver tower. I knew that her mission, whatever it may be, was crucial, and as much as I hated helping a princess, we couldn't let the witch emerge victorious.

"Anadil! Hester!"

I skidded to a stop as we nearly slammed into Dot. Her face was streaked with mud, the bottom of her pink dress shredded. She followed our anxious gaze to the tower, where Agatha had slipped down once again, the brick surface slick in the pouring rain.

"Switching sides?" said Dot with a grin.

"There's not really sides in this..." Anadil pointed out.

"But yes," I put in. "What I did, what I've done was—stupid, and I've admitted my mistake." I looked Dot in the eye. "And I'm sorry."

She tackled me in a hug. "So Big Bad Hester has learned her manners, huh?"

I growled, shoving her away, but there was a smile on my face. "Not if you talk like that."

After a moment, Dot's grin faded, her expression growing serious. We all looked at the tower, then back toward each other with a grim nod.

A familiar cupid swooped out of the fog, nearly knocking Agatha from the silver bricks. This was our change. My finger glowed scarlet, brighter than it ever had before as, for the first time in my life, I acknowledged my regret, my guilt, my fear... everything that I had been told to suppress. Power gathered in my core, then exploded out through my fingertip, slamming into Grimm just as he pulled an arrow into his bow. He stiffened, falling silently through the fog. And just like that, the obnoxious little cupid was gone.

Agatha looked down at the fading red light, her lips curving in a grateful smile. I smiled back, hoping she would see my regret for aiding in the incitement of this war, and my determination to finish it. Agatha looked back up, trying to pull herself up with a single arrow shaft, quickly splintering under her grip. Just as it snapped, Anadil's finger flashed green, catching Agatha's fall. Catching her covenmates' eyes, Dot grinned, her finger glowing blue as she began to concentrate, and before long, various bricks of the silver tower began to darken. Agatha began to move up the tower with increased resolve, soon vanishing into the open window.

I looked at Anadil, her face illuminated by the green flash of her magic, which was beginning to fade away. I could see her determination shining in the red of her eyes, determination to end this pointless war. She caught my eye, and as she gave me a rare smile, this determination never fading.

Soon, the light faded entirely, and I was brought back to the reality of clashing swords and earsplitting yells. Simultaneously, we turned toward the battle. Most of the fighting figures were shrouded in darkness, but at times the moonlight would illuminate one of the faces, crazed and enraged, or one of the bodies strewn across the crowd, of which I wasn't sure who was alive or dead. The light caught on one of these bodies, their neck twisted at a strange angle, their eyes blank and staring at nothing.

"Stop!" Dot began to run down the hill, desperation in her voice. "Stop, please!"

Her voice was swallowed by the roar of the battle. I'm unsure whether anyone heard her. She fell to her knees in the grass beside the moat, staring out at the scene in front of her.

"They're killing each other," she whispered when we reached her. "And they're fighting for what?"

"Manipulation, adrenaline, and stupidity," I muttered. "I'm quite sure they have no idea what they're doing. Just as I did." My voice cracked hopelessly at the last bit, my previous guilt washing over me once again.