Chapter 58: The Missing Thirteenth

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"You've got to be kidding me," Tedros cracked, as he, Y/n, and Agatha goggled at the saggy, ancient crew. Y/n counted four men and four women– a geriatric gang of liver spots, turkey necks, hairy ears, foggy eyes, yellowed teeth, beady grins, bony limbs, and heads of sparse, colorless, or poorly dyed hair. Two of the eight were in rickety wheelchairs, three had walking canes, two were hunched and bandy-legged, and one was a morbidly obese woman in a muumuu, slathering on makeup at a mirror.

All of them had silver swan crests over their hearts, like Uma, Yuba, and the White Rabbit, badges of membership to a League Callis had trusted with the young adult's lives. She sent us here for a reason, thought Agatha desperately. Would they rip off masks, revealing invincible warriors? Would they magically turn you? Agatha held her breath, taking Y/n's hand, waiting and praying for something to happen...

The League blinked back, like fish in an aquarium, waiting for something to happen too.
"Told you they wouldn't recognize us," grumped the fat woman in the mirror.
"You do look a little familiar..." Y/n said, trying to act like was doing her best to think of who they were. But even if she wanted, she wouldn't be able to because her head was hurting too much. She had no idea at all who they were. In the reflection of the mirror, Y/n glimpsed the woman's pink, hoggish pallor, squinty green eyes, wide jowls, hideously rouged cheeks, and a nest of flat curls that she'd tried to dye brown and turned blue instead.She looked like a doll who had been abused by a rouge child with makeup.

"Recognize you? I'm quite sure I've never seen you– or any of you– in my life," Agatha said, scanning the group. She turned to Y/n, hoping she had come up with something, but she just shrugged. They turned to Tedros, hoping he'd seen something they hadn't, but the prince was red as a fire ant, about to explode.
"This is who's supposed to get us to Sophie?" he barked, blue eyes raking the puke-colored carpet, flower-patterned sofas, moth-eaten curtains, and thirteen hard, thin mattresses split into two rows. "A retirement home for the about-to-be-dead?"

Y/n felt herself get hit with a stick in the head, which bellowed to Yuba. She touched her head and it wasn't bleeding anymore. Then Yuba yanked at Tedros. "How dare you speak that way to the League!" he hissed, peeking to make sure the others couldn't hear. "You know the lengths I've gone to find them? To bring them here? And here you act as if they have to introduce themselves to you like common folk– you, a boy with no accomplishments to his name–"

"Tell that to a king in a few weeks!" Tedros bellowed.
"You arrogant prat! The way you've bungled things, you won't make it a few days, let alone to a coronation!" Yuba shot back.
"First thing I'll do is outlaw old gnomes!"
"Listen, Callis knew the League would help us," Y/n broke in, giving Tedros a "calm-down" look. "That's why she wrote them. So clearly we're missing something–"
"Yeah, like people who aren't a thousand years old!" Tedros lashed, earning another miffed look from his princess. "What," He said, turning his fury on her. "We barely escape our own execution, then we learn your best friend is following an Evil sorcerer, then we travel night and day, surviving zombies and witches and graves, all to find a League Agatha's mother promised would get us to Sophie and this is it? Bollocks. Let's go. Better chance of breaking into the school ourselves–"
"She was a bright woman, Tedros," Y/n said, stopping him. "And with the way you've been acting lately, I trust her to know what's best for us more than you."
Tedros fell quiet.

Agatha glanced at the two and then at the old, swan-crested strangers completely ignoring them now, knitting, reading, napping, car playing, and pulling out false teeth to eat their gruel.She was happy Y/n had faith in her mother, but even she started to lose it.
"Listen to me, all three of you," said Yuba. "When our thirteenth member returns, your questions will be answered. Until then, you three need some strong turnip tea and a bowl of oat porridge. Having survived in the Woods these last few months after 115 years of sanctuary at school, I know firsthand how intense your journey must have been–"

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