When You Realise It's Real

Chapter 29

We entered the lab. It was dark, dusty, and smelled of books.

Any book lover would love this place.

"Alright, look for an enchanted book." Jesse instructed.

I nodded and headed into the lab.

I stopped at one bookshelf, not because I thought the enchanted book might be there (I wasn't and idiot, I knew Jesse would find it) and wasted my time looking at the old books.

It reminded me of the school library.

The school library that Jesse Blackwood spent most of her time in at break.

The school library that Tessa Burns would stay in, staring at the wall.

The school library that Carlos Metrapolis would hide in when bullies jeered at him for being gay.

The school library that Drake Stone used as a good place to stay at cold days, when his popular friends would play soccer.

They were never his friends, though.

"Reuben! Get away from there, you might cook yourself!" Jesse scolded from the other side of the lab.

Rory was talking to Lukas. They glanced at me every so often.

They were talking about me.

I didn't bother going up to them, though. I was used to that stuff at school. The whispers, the rumours.

Lesbian...lesbo...Ms.Broody...music lesbian...

Things a lot worse, rude names that older children used.

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I did that for a while, absentmindedly checking books until there was a clang on the other side of the lab.

I ignored the dust and jogged over. There was the secret passage...

Rory stood next to me. I saw his eyes searched for mine. I didn't give him eye contact. Part of me was dreading the Witherstorm, when we would go and fight it...when Reuben would...

"Why would you need a secret passage in a lab in the furthest corner of the world?" Olivia asked.

"Secret passages are cool!" Petra said in her innocent, dorky personality.

"Maybe the book's down there..." Jesse started going down.

Soren followed her.

He stepped on the tripwire.

The sliding door started to close.

Lukas didn't get there in time.

The door shut.

I ignored Olivia, Petra, and Lukas' panicked shouts, empathy and sympathy drained away.

I sat down and began to think. Think about how much I'd changed since I'd gotten here. Sympathy almost gone, replaced by courage...was it just this moment? Maybe I'd get better after the Witherstorm died...

A voice whispered in my head, soft.

It sounded like...

M.N.

The Witherstorm is the first of your problems, young one.

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Foxspirit sat next to the dying deputy. Battle raged around them, but Foxspirit didn't care.

"I can't..." Squirrelflight struggled to breathe as blood seeped from her throat wound.

Too late for a medicine cat, too late for anything.

"Shh...save your breath." Foxspirit cooed.

"My kits." Squirrelflight rasped.

"Are a skilled medicine cat and a good warrior."

"Don't...don't tell me things I already know."

"Squirrelfight..."

Foxspirit bowed her head. Tears seeped from her eyes.

"You're eyes are leaking again...how?" Squirrelflight asked, the fire in her eyes dying.

"I'm not fully cat." Foxspirit whispered, "I'm part twoleg. It's called crying. We do it when sad...cats don't do it."

Squirrelflight sighed.

"Do you see the stars, great deputy?" Foxspirit asked, "because StarClan will come to take you."

Squirrelflight's breath shuddered.

"May you find great hunting and shelter, may you find old friends, seek your parents, seek your sister, seek the old, the young, and the lonely, for there are so many cats up there...so, so, many..."

Foxspirit had made the farewell up, but it still held true to it's words.

But she realised that the deputy had stopped breathing during her speech.

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I didn't know how long we were there when Ivor came. Explained where he'd been.

The rest was a blur.

The door opening, rushing down...

Soren's confession to the true story...

The betrayal in everyone's voices...

Then Ivor led Jesse to the place where she would enchant her sword.

We waited.

And waited.

Then she came out, in armour, armed with a glowing sword.

We went in next, and came out in armour. Rory's was yellow, with green patterns.

Mine was a gold-brown, with swirls on the chest plate, wrists and ankles.

Jesse had chosen that dark blue one with spikes on the shoulders.

Then...

Then we headed towards the whispers.

Towards death. Victory.

Dread.

Fear.

Horror.

The whispers.

Welcome, Unique One.

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Sorry if this chap got boring, but I will make the next one as exciting as possible.

The story is almost at it's end (this will be a trilogy, I planned it out)

The next chapter may shock you, make you gasp.

Stay tuned, lovely readers, for I have a surprise set for you all.