Long Lost Queen

Chapter 15

One week later, Kat lay on the hard cot in her imitation of a bedroom. She had begun to keep tally of her days trapped here again, and they lined the walls like the cell of a madwoman. She gazed out the window, watching what little of the trees she could see sway in the wind. She was wearing a pair of ripped leggings and a cropped tshirt. Perfect for Wes' little operations.
For the past few days, that was exactly what he had been doing. Enzo or Christine would bring her down to the lab and strap her into one of the beds, muttering apologies the whole way. Wes would attack her with scalpels and needles, cutting open her arms or even her stomach, observing and taking notes of how her body reacted to certain things, like exposure to oxygen or vervain. She would shriek with pain till her throat was raw, but she still refused to speak a word to him. So she would lay there like a lab rat, waiting for him to do what he claimed he would. Make her a true Targaryen again.
And then and only then, would she get her true revenge.

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Alec sat on Kat's bed strumming chords on her guitar. He was staring mindlessly at her bookshelf. He missed her terribly. Ever since she disappeared he felt like he was missing a chunk of himself. His heart was broken, and he had cried every day since that damned night. He had tried to start training again, taking out his pain on dummies and targets. But every time he tried he saw Kat's black bow hanging on the wall and couldn't bring himself to continue.
He knew he wasn't the one in the institute hurting the worst. His sister, Isabelle was. She had lost her parabatai and she spent her days in a daze. She would wander around the institute, staring at the piano, Kat's bow, or sit in her room, much like Alec was doing now, looking for anything to bring her parabatai back to her. Simon tried to get her to go on missions, get her back into hunting demons. But she always threw down her whip and claimed its not the same without her.
Magnus drowned his grief in novels and grimoires, searching for any type of spell to find Kat. He had tried many tracking spell variations and all had failed. He had one last option left, but he would have to get Isabelle to agree.
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Kat walked down the steps into the basement of Wes's mansion, dread filling her stomach. Enzo had told her that today Wes would tell her his plan. She was scared to learn how he planned to change her into a true Targaryen.
She walked into his lab and her attention was drawn to an old wooden chest on a lab bed next to her usual one. Wes was standing behind it, an unreadable expression on his face.
"Hello Katerina. Still refusing to speak?" He walked over to stand in front of her. Kat's stare was a clear response.
"Very well," he continued. "You've been here a week, and through some of my tests, my theories were confirmed. Your 151 year old body still holds the aptitude and genes of the original Targaryens. Which means, I can go ahead with my plan." He made a gesture with his hand and Enzo emerged from the shadows, lifting the wooden chest and bringing it to her.
"Open it," Wes ordered her. She turned away from him and gingerly lifted the clasps on the chest. When she lifted the lid it revealed three of the most beautiful things she had ever seen. Dragon eggs, hard as stone, their color vibrant as ever. One was green like her brother's eyes, another black as night, and the final as white as her hair. She looked at Wes, confused as to why they were here, and how.
"Dragon eggs, Katerina." She glared at him with a look that seemed to say: I know that, you moron. She heard Christine giggle from a corner of the room. Wes ignored her and continued.
"I paid a small fortune to find and obtain them. The years have turned them to stone, but my predictions are that the release of magic and power coming from you will awaken and hatch them."
"What is your plan Wes?," Enzo spoke for her from the shadows. Wes' head snapped towards him. "Be quiet. She can speak for herself. Unless she is still to cowardly to do so." Wes sneered at her, daring her to retaliate.
She shot off the lab bed, grabbing him by the throat. She growled at him, baring her sharps fangs. Her claws dug into his neck and she wanted to sink her teeth into it too.
A cackle escaped his lips as she held him suspended in midair, her anger making her shake. "That's the Katerina I need." He continued to laugh as she released him and he slammed to the ground.
She backed up to the bed, and sat, trying to calm her anger. Enzo laid a hand on her shoulder and she stilled, his touch enough to bring her back to Earth.
"I want to light you on fire Kat." Wes stalked up to her. "Light your body and your heart on fire. Awaken the side of you that's been long dormant. Give you the ability to manipulate what will surround you, give you the ability to become a dragon. You will be a mother to these three," he said as he ran his hands over the eggs. She already felt protective of them and lashed out, slicing his hand open with her claws.
He glared at her, furious, and she paled. "Bitch!," he snarled, smacking her across the face. Her cheek stung and she brought her hand up to touch it, flinching at the heat.
Christine rushed forward from where she was hiding and quickly wrapped Wes' hand before he got angrier, looking at Kat worriedly. She gave her a returning look that said: I'll be fine. Christine touched her arm lightly and retreated back to the shadows.
"You know what I want to do with you now you filthy piece of shit." Wes' voice was strangled and Kat felt a twinge of satisfaction. "We will attempt what I said in two days. Be ready," and with that he turned and stormed from the lab, surely headed for his study.
Kat's body slumped, tired of holding herself up. Christine approached her will a small paper cup. Kat smelled the blood and took it from her with a shaking hand.
"Thank you," she murmured with a smile. She tilted her head back and drained the cup quickly. The blood filled her body with warmth and made her feel stronger. Then the memory of Wes' words weakened her again. She pulled her legs up on the table, and grabbed the green egg from the chest, running her hand over the stone scales.
"Was he serious?," she asked quietly.
"Yes." Enzo walked towards her. "He thinks the stress put on your body from the fire will awaken the gene that allowed the Targaryens to manipulate fire and have an immunity to it, in turn awakening all the old powers."
"And if it doesn't work?" Kat placed the green back and lifted up the black one.
"Then...I'm afraid no supernatural survives being burned alive. Not even the casters." Enzo looked at her with a face full of sadness and remorse.
Kat nodded, returning the egg to the chest. She stood up off the bed, and looked at her two friends.
"I need a nap.." She turned and with an aura of hopelessness, trudged up the stairs.
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"I've done my research and it is possible to track ones parabatai through their rune." Magnus bustled about the institutes main sitting room, collecting the things he would need to mark Isabelle. She was laying on the couch, waiting. Alec stood against one of the walls, his heart beating hard with the hope of learning where his Kat is. Jace and Clary were sitting together in one of the love seats, tense with nerves. Simon kneeled next to Izzy, rubbing her arm comfortably.
"I will need to draw the tracking mark above your parabatai one, Isabelle." She simply nodded at him. Magnus walked towards her, a burning stick in his hand. "This will hurt, I'm afraid," he said with an apologetic tone, kneeling next to her so he can access her mark.
"I don't care. Just do it." Isabelle's face was stone cold, her determination to find Kat palpable throughout the room.
Magnus began to draw the mark above her heart, and she gasped with pain, clenching Simon's hand. Alec slowly began to walk forward from the wall, his hands shaking. Please, oh please, tell us where she is, he thought desperately.
"Izzy, do you see her?," Jace asked gently, moving towards the couch with Clary behind him.
She groaned slightly and her eyes squeezed shut.
"Focus on your desire to find her Isabelle," Magnus told her, holding his magic above the two marks.
"I see trees, and and a basement.." She jerked with pain.
"What else?," Alec asked sternly. He just wanted to know where she was, not cryptic clues.
"I don't know!,"Isabelle yelled, her eyes tightly shut. Simon gripped her hand harder. "I just see a dark forest, with the occasional glimpse of what looks like a basement..."
She shot forward with a scream, her chest heaving. The others jumped back from their spots around her.
"Isabelle," Alec spoke leaning down towards her,"where is she?"
She turned to stare at him, an awful look of defeat on her face.
"I don't know....I just saw the trees...I couldn't see her.." Her voice cracked on the last syllable and she fell into her brothers arms, sobbing.
Alec felt numb as he held his sister. They were no closer to finding the love of his life.
Magnus sat back in an armchair, exhausted with defeat. This was his last hope. He had tried other spells on his own and none of them gave him where she was. He closed his eyes and tears rolled down his cheek. He was out of options.
Jace wrapped his arms around Clary before she fell to the ground, both of them shocked with realization. This was there last idea to find her and it had failed.
"I'm so sorry," Isabelle sobbed, guilt consuming her. She pulled away from Alec, wiping her eyes. "I couldn't see her. I failed." She wavered on her feet and Simon reached out to steady her.
"No," Alec spoke quietly. "This isn't your fault. It's the fault of what ever sons of bitches took her from us, and I don't care who they are because I will kill them if I ever get a chance. This is not your fault Isabelle. Not by a long shot."
The supernaturals of the institute nodded together, pledging that no matter what it took, they would find the long lost queen of Erilea.