The Collision (Sequel to The Division)

Chapter 25 (Autumn)

"How are you?" Xavier wraps an arm around my waist as River goes up to speak. I give him a half smile and look toward Nichole's casket.

"I'll get through it. I just miss her, you know? As strange as it sounds, I miss that ice throwing maniac." I move my head toward his chest as he plants a light kiss on my forehead.

"Why is River speaking instead of you?"

"We drafted the speech together. It's gonna bring the nations together so we will be united against Icas."

"You hijacked your friend's funeral so you can use it for political purposes?"

"I know, I know it's awful, but we don't have a choice. Icas and his men will be here soon and our people need to be prepared."

His shoulders sink slightly as he nods. Just then, the crowd breaks out in a chant. "Well I think the speech worked. But those chancellors over there don't look too happy with River."

I look over and sure enough, one of the chancellors is giving her a death stare. I take that as an opportunity to move toward the stage and usher River off of it quickly.

"That went well." She says with a smile as we walk through the crowd that continues to call for an alliance. Still keeping an eye out for the chancellors, I mutter under my breath,

"I hope so."

My mind flashed back to the events of the past few days. Things at the Resistance haven't been going so well since my sudden departure. For one, most people have started getting a bit anxious with the impending attack. In my absence, my old partner Klaus and his girlfriend Bella took over my leadership role, but the two of them weren't really cut out for the demanding aspects of the job. For the most part they did alright, but there were some moments I was briefed on that weren't exactly ideal.

Queen Azalea seemed to be having a difficult time as well. Once more of our members got trapped in Icas' hospital, the rest of our group began to have serious doubts. Some even decided to go rouge and make their own plans to get rid of Zayin themselves. We haven't heard from them since.

If I were to put it in simpler terms, the Resistance was beginning to fall apart, and now more than ever we needed to stay together.

Now, as I sat at the table of the Resistance meeting a few hours later with Xavier on my left and Queen Azalea on my right, I had to admit that I was a bit nervous. People that join this group are hard to sway, so whatever words I was going to use to convince them had to be good.

"Alright, Autumn would like to say a few things to everyone." Queen Azalea introduces me. I clear my throat and slide my hand from Xavier's, which he had offered for comfort earlier, before speaking.

"It's great to see all of you again." I start, and everyone mumbles their greetings back to me, "Okay, so I'm just going to cut to the chase. I know a lot of you are probably frustrated and losing hope, but I'm asking you to stick around for just a little bit longer. We all joined this cause to make sure Mes was restored to its former glory, but right as a new threat enters, we all began to abandon the cause. We've worked too hard to get where we are, and now is definitely not the time to stop, especially when our people need us the most."

"It's a losing battle, Willow. This new country has a strong army, one that we can't just take out as easily as we can here." One of the older recruits says. He'd been with the Resistance long enough for me to have immense respect for him, but right in that moment I'm tired and looking forward to going home, so my tone is borderline rude and irritated. Nevertheless, I continue my argument.

"Everyone has a weakness. We discovered our's once the Great Tree began to lose its power. All we need to do is find Icas' and we'll have an advantage over him. Think, what is one of the most important weapons that the president has?" After a lack of response I continue, "Zayin. He's is the only connection to magic that Icas has. If we get rid of him or his magic, then Icas will be on the same playing field as us, with only his army left."