Nepenthe (TMR FF) UNDER EDITING

Chapter 34

"Aris...we need to get out of here." I told the boy in front of me, my voice lowering. I glanced around nervously. I was a lot older now, probably a year younger than I was when I was put in the Maze. Aris looked younger than he did in the first memory; his hair was longer. His eyes were red as if he had been crying for hours, and the dark circles under his eyes were as prominent as ever.

"Emma, you know I can't. We have friends here. You have family here. I don't have a family to go home to, Emma. I don't even have a home." Aris told me, twiddling is thumbs in front of him. I sniffed, looking away.

"Please, Aris. You're my best friend. I can't do this alone." I pleaded, reaching across the table to grab his hand. He looked down at my hand on his and swallowed loudly, before looking into my eyes.

"We've spent half of our lives being told that Wicked is good, Emmy. Why are you so convinced that they're bad after all this time?" He asked softly, squeezing my hand. I closed my eyes, shaking my head slowly.

"How many friends have to die before we realise that we're the bad guys?" I whispered, letting out a long breath. Aris sighed, squeezing my hand again.

"You're not a bad guy, Emma. You did what you had too—"

"To save the world? I helped create a Maze that no one can escape and filled it with mutant, metal, death machines. And if that doesn't convince you that I'm a bad guy, I then sent my best friends into it to see if they're brains could handle the emotional trauma." I growled, not angry at him, but at myself. I hated what I had done to my friends.

"You can't just abandon all that you've worked for, Emma. We're so close to finding a cure, even Chancellor Paige said—"

"Ava doesn't know shit. She just sits behind a desk and looks pretty." I told him. He flinched back at my choice of words, but other than that, remained silent. "How is it that she's the Chancellor, yet I make all the hard decisions?"

"Just because she's Chancellor, doesn't mean she's at the top of the food chain. She just works for the person who is." Aris muttered, letting go of my hand.

"Me." I stated, glancing over at Thomas who was sat at a table with Rachel and Teresa. I hated Teresa, so I never sat with her. Coincidently, Aris hated Thomas. That eventually led to us sitting together every time we ate or did virtually anything. It was only us five, most of the time. Sometimes I got to sit with the others, but that was before they were sent to the Maze. The other four in my group never got to talk to the others. I guess people liked to listen to my requests.

"Emma...Are you sure you want to do this? If Thomas and the others don't agree to this, then they might tell on you." He said, his voice lowering. "Then there'll be no hope of you getting out."

I smirked slightly, leaning in so that my mouth was at his ear. I felt him shiver, and let a breathy laugh, causing him to squirm. "I'm not getting out, Aris. I'm going in."

~

"Emma? Thomas? Can you guys hear me?" I groaned loudly, rolling over onto my side.

"I'm trying to sleep, Chuck. Go away." I muttered, the memories I had from the changing playing over in my mind. Someone in the room snorted, making my eyes slowly opened. I blinked furiously, bringing my hand up and rubbing my face. "Do you guys have any idea what time it is? I don't, but I bet it's early."

I looked out the window to see how far the sun was up, and I groaned again. "I forgot that I turned off the sun."

"They're awake! Thomas and Emma are awake!" Chuck exclaimed, making me cringe. Thomas winced beside me, sitting up and running his hand through his hair.

"Chuck, do you have to scream? I don't feel so good." Thomas said.

"It's worse the second time around." I told him, laughing as his face scrunched up in distaste.

"Sorry—I'm just glad you're alive. You're lucky I don't give you a big kiss." Chuck teased, puckering his lips. I raised my eyebrows and Thomas made a gagging sound.

"Please don't do that, Chuck." He muttered, leaning his back against the wall and stretching his legs out. I sat up and stretched my hands above my head, letting out a weird noise that I probably haven't made before. Chuck looked at me weirdly whilst Thomas just shook his head, chuckling quietly. "How long did it take?"

"Three days." Chuck answered. "We put you guys in the Slammer at night to keep you safe—brought you back here during the days. Thought you were dead for sure about thirty times since you started. But check you out—you look brand-new, Thomas!"

Chuck glanced at me and smiled innocently, but said nothing. I guess I looked l like shit then.

"Did the Griever's come?" I asked, not sure if I really wanted to know the answer.

Chuck visibly deflated, and his eyes sank down to the floor. "Yeah—they got Zart, Sam and another guy that I don't know."

I sucked in a breath at the news, blinking rapidly to force the tears away. Zart and Sam may not have been my closest friends, but we got along quite well. Sam was one of Newt's best friends. He would be crushed. I took deep breaths, drowning out the rest of what Chuck and Thomas were talking about.

After a while, people started filing into the Med Jack quarters, but I didn't take any notice of them. I stared forward at the wall in front of me, my eyes clouding over. I couldn't cry. I wanted to cry. Crying would be great right now. But I physically couldn't. It was like I had cried out all my tears and I had none left.

"Hey there, Sunshine." Dave announced, limping over to me. I looked up at him with wide eyes, not really believing that he was actually there. He would have had to be stung, and that means that he went through the changing. So why was he not angry at me? What did he see?

"Did you just call me Sunshine? Me, the girl who turned off the sun? How ironic of you."

"It is quite ironic, I know. It's also ironic that you ended up in the Glade." He told me, raising his eyebrows. I looked at him in confusion.

"What do you mean? What did you see, Dave?" I asked, sitting up straighter. Dave chuckled, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Emma, do you know what the Yin and Yang symbol is?" Dave asked. I gave him a 'wtf' look, followed by an 'I'm not an shank, of course I do' look. "You're like Yin and Yang. You're equally as good as you are bad. There's no in between Emma."

"Wha—"

"What do you mean? You know a way out?" Newt suddenly exclaimed. I turned my head to look at my boyfriend, whom of which I had only just noticed just now. When did he come in the room, and why didn't he come say hello to me?

"Yeah. Call the Gathering. Now." Thomas told him, standing up.

"Thomas, what's going on?" I asked, following his lead and walking up to him. Newt smiled slightly when he saw me, placing his hand on my lower back. He muttered a 'hi', in which I nodded back in reply.

"Emma, I think you have some explaining to do." He said, tilting his head to the side. I nodded slowly, fear starting to consume me. Thomas saw something about me, but what exactly? Was it like my memory? Did I try to convince him to escape Wicked as well?

Newt looked at me questionably. "What's wrong? What does this have to do with Emma?"

Thomas sighed, looking away.

"Newt...this has everything to do with Emma. She was the one who sent us here."