The Wolf's Den

Path 2: Ryland, Chapter 13: Part 2

        "While you yourself did not break any laws, your sisters have. Adrieve killed Mr. Catly, the friend to Mousina you did not get to meet, which is most unfortunate. What Adrieve has also done is to ruin stories in her universe, which is why yours is collapsing. Do you continue to follow me?"

        Ryland nodded, not failing to see Tom leave the room, whereas Mr. Wolfe didn't see it in his talking to Ryland.

       "Good, good, that's very good. Tilli freed Rapunzel and changed stories that should have been my control. That is not what I approve of, as my control is absolute, and now, her actions also collapse your universe. Your sisters have broken all three rules between themselves in their various universes, leaving yours to be affected the most. How does this make you feelake you feel, Ryland?"

        "I feel nothing towards what you say, Mr. Wolfe, I only feel love towards people I value as sisters. They did what they thought was right. I won't justify what they've done, why they've done it, for what reasons the circumstances occurred, and I won't let you change their actions or have me say what my reaction to them are. Adrieve did what she felt was right, and I'm guessing it was because she had to survive. While she might have been wrong, Adrieve had good intentions." Pausing, she directly stared at Mr. Wolfe. "Tilli did what she felt would help others, and what she knew was the right action. That's what makes Tilli who she is, she's beautiful inside and out and wants what's best for others."

        "How interesting. You love them a whole lot, don't you?"

        "I do, and that's why they should be free, as well as the friends who've helped me."

        "Are you reciting this from memory?"

        "No, and I never would. While I recall some events, I don't recall exact words, and that's how it should be. I ask you let us free in this universe, even if it means Tilli and Adrieve cannot live and only I live."

        By this point, Tilli had stopped her eating, the berries sitting uneaten and piled on her plate. She looked up, a smile brightly to Mr. Wolfe. Mr. Wolfe started, looking from Ryland to Tilli.

        "What have you done? Why is she smiling at me?"

        "I've done nothing, Mr. Wolfe. Tom has, and you can't do anything to him. Levi's gone, his brothers recollected him and left like you wanted. Red is just outside, guarding the water from flooding the hallway, due to the collapse of this universe. The water will flood this hallway when we're gone, and you won't get to see the end of it. Now, Tilli's going to leave because Tom and Red have freed her. You can do nothing for this, as we've stuck you in a room of her own."

        "How dare you!? I told you how this would go, you'd choose one sister, and the other would perish. Your friends could leave with you, but the one sister remained. We agreed to this!"

        "No, we didn't." Standing, Ryland stepped towards Lady, watching her unfreeze from the wax figure she was previously. "Lady, I'm going to ask you to kiss Mr. Wolfe. Can you do this for me?"

        "Yes, of course." The voice was monotone and controlled, but she hummed warmly. This was a neutral pawn, and it was important this worked. When Lady approached Mr. Wolfe in her daze, Adrieve stood, no longer eating, still appearing to feel sick, and leaving the room.

        "I leave you to suffer here, Mr. Wolfe, with no way out and a princess to marry. You've held her prince from her for so long he doesn't exist in this world anymore, so I give you the woman you didn't let marry. We all get our just desserts, you know."

        Giving a curtsy, Ryland followed after Adrieve, though her siblings would be long gone and she'd never see them again, which she already knew. Red tore the door handle away, giving it to Ryland. The door handle from Mr. Wolfe's pocket let with Adrieve, and standing in the doorway of the dark room with the table, she nodded to Tom, who smashed the first home, the straw home, and the last home, the brick home, model, leaving Mr. Wolfe's added character from Levi's brother Gregory in the damage of the straw home. With the other figure from Gregory, she placed Lady in the brick home, stopping her control on the world, as it was done to Mr. Wolfe.

        Tom left the room when she did, and at the rush of the water from the open first room, Red scrambled to join them. When they shut the doors to The Wolf's Den behind them, they heard the water crash into the locked doors, and soon after, she took Tom's hand in one hand and Red's in the other, needing to find Levi, Gregory, and their siblings.