Checkmate || OUAT Fanfic || DISCONTINUED

Chapter 28; The Devil's Offer

"Hope is the single most dangerous thing you'll ever face."

~ @tenwordspoem / / Twitter

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Peter's P.O.V

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    I wipe the perspiration off my forehead as I look down at my trembling hands. "I can't do this."
    "Yes, you can," Malcolm insists, placing his hand on my shoulder. "Just focus on Alice. Draw the power from the memories you have of her."
    I take a deep breath before bringing my hands up again, doing as my grandfather said. The crystal ball gives out a faint glow as the pieces slowly mend themselves back together.

    1/4 of the crystal ball is repaired and it's only a matter of minutes until it'll be fixed.
    "Just hang in there, Peter," Malcolm says. "Only a few more minutes till it's complete."
    A another piece of the crystal merges back with the other shards as he says that. The crystal ball is half fixed when my hands start shaking again.

    I close my eyes, focusing on all the good memories I have of Alice and Cassie in order to block out the pain that I'm feeling. I almost manage to block out the feeling of my hands burning but a searing pain in my chest stops me completely and I collapse again. I would've fallen on the wooden floor if I weren't for Malcolm catching me.
    "Easy there, laddie."

    "Maybe you should take a break," he suggests, storing the crystal shards away. "You've been at it for hours."
    "Forget it." I shake my head. "It's useless. It's been a week and I still haven't made any progress with the bloody crystal ball."
    "So? As you said earlier, it's only been a week. Maybe you'll have better luck tomorrow."
   I clench my fists to stop them from shaking. "That's what you said yesterday."

    "And the day before that."
    "You can't give up hope, laddie." Malcolm places his hand on my shoulder. "You're so close to seeing Alice and your prince again. And you know I can't help you because-"
    "Because she's my soulmate and the I'm the only one who has the power to fix this," I say, repeating the words my grandfather had said so many times that I remembered it by heart.

    "Exactly."
    So the only thing standing against you seeing the rest of your family again is yourself.
    "Let me just take a short break," I tell him as I collapse on the cot.
    Malcolm nods, standing up. "Good idea, you just need some rest. You'll fix it when you wake up."
    "Don't worry, laddie," he whispers, his voice softer this time. "I'll make sure you get back to them."

    That's the last thing I hear before I pass out due to exhaustion.

****

    "Dada, dada, wook at what I drew!" Cassie exclaims, running towards me, Alice not far behind him.
    I smile at the toddler. "What'd you got there for me, son?"
    "Iwt's a dwrawing of our fwamily," he says, passing me the piece of parchment.
    The first thing I see is the drawing of Alice holding Cassie in her arms. I'm standing next to her, my arms resting on the twins' shoulders.

    "It's beautiful, Cassie," I tell him, a smile etched on my face
    "I ewven dwrew uwncle Fwelix," Cassie says, pointing at the very colourful drawing of the tall lost boy standing next to The Bloodlust Trio.
    "Have you shown uncle Jerome yet?" I ask, handing the drawing back to the hyper toddler.
    "No, bwut I'll swhow it to hwim now," Cassie says, running off to find the said boy.