The Vortex: Rectification

Chapter Twenty-One.

Chapter Sixty-One.

For a while I never thought they would never let us leave, that they would keep us on sight even after we were all cleared to leave and head home. That the decisions we made that led to the end of years of terror and pain would have them yelling in our faces, it's a testament to the way government takes and takes and then makes you a villain in the end.

Not only did we manage to do something that they didn't even care too, but we were also willing to put our lives on the line to get it done. People's sacrifices are unnoticed to them, but it weighs heavily on the rest of us, the one's that had to push their eyes closed and take them away from the harsh rays of light that were cascading down on their bodies.

No one should have died in pursuit of those ideals, but stuff like this never has a calm resolution and the people that push for cruel changes don't just magically realise they're awful. They won't change if you just give them a little slap on the wrist and let them move on with their lives, I always wondered why it took root here more than anywhere else, I hated even thinking that the magical community here was that awful. A lot of trauma has taken root and grown from here, but it's taken a long time to realise that it wasn't something we did wrong.

It was the luck of the draw and decade's worth of brainwashing has left the kind of mark on the community that can't just be wiped off now that we aren't in active war. That statement still doesn't feel real, my head still throbs, and I have tiny purple bruises down my arms from my incessant pinching of my skin. Like it'll wake me up and we will go back to not leaving the house at night and saying goodbye to each other knowing that there's a big chance they won't be walking back through them.

My eyes sting with every blink, eyelids swollen with the evidence of the adrenaline rush that is finally dissipating as the sweet smell of the cookies Liylah had been baking before the alarm went of still sit on the counter half-baked. Despite the reminder of how quickly things imploded, it's a nice wave of familiarity to come home too.

Harry's eyes are peeled wide, deep blue orbs that are flittering around the well-known walls and corners of our house, I never wanted to ever see someone unconscious in this house again but now Alexander is in a medically induced coma and Aleera  still hasn't woken up. The guilt of both of those things won't fade fast, and rationality isn't kind to a broken and exhausted mind that should realise I had nothing to do with the way they fell.

At least while they remain asleep, hopefully having beautiful dreams that keep them smiling while they wait to come back chipper and okay again. It's the only thing that is stopping more tears from falling, the knowledge that they haven't died yet and that we won't let them.

Alexander just needs some time to fully heal from the way Zeus punctured everything inside of him, the details don't feel real but every time I blink the deep gashes along his body and the bruises that cover every inch of him don't let me live in denial. I thought he would need some healing potions and some time, in the heat of the moment I thought he would be okay but it's easy to forget the extreme's those people went too. Liylah's experience with those very same restraints was far less intense and the marks she was left with didn't fade without our intervention, so why would his?

Elizabeth had healed and wrapped my ankle before we left the hospital, but I still lean my bodyweight into the side of Jai's body.

"I should get some-"

"No" Jai cuts me off, hands clamping around my wrists as Harry, Elizabeth and Jamie all head upstairs with Alexander and Aleera. "You just need to stop and rest for a moment before you start running around with cures they don't need"

"No, they do need them Jai" I disagree, shaking my head as he forces me away from the stairs and down into the sofa. "They have to heal and wake up, we can't just let them do it all alone because then, well then- what if-"