The Girl of Many Worlds | (Story formerly known as "Multiworldcial")

Chapter 10

Her husband jolted awake as Arden's cries filled the room. Baby Arden stood up in his crib, tears streaming down his cheeks as his chubby arm reached out toward his mom.

"Dahlia!" her husband exclaimed. He threw the covers off himself. Mercury acted fast, shooting beams of the blue light at him, restraining her husband to the wall above the headboard.

"Why do you have to make this so damn difficult, darling?" Mercury growled. "We'll have a beautiful life together. Stop fighting it!" He propped himself up from the ground, his dagger elongating into a sword. It radiated power and energy—the air around it looked like it vibrated.

"You threatened my son," she said coldly. That was the tone I heard Arden speak in before. "You either leave, or you'll have to die."

He growled before sprinting towards her. She took the lasso and whipped it at his sword. It wrapped around it and tugged down before he could slice at her. She twisted the blade and tore it out of Mercury's hand. It disappeared in an electrifying cloud of smoke. Small tiny knives formed in his hand and she eyed them carefully. In a flash, he sent them flying towards her husband and Arden.

I let out a startled gasp. Blue bolts of lightning flew out of her back and intercepted Mercury's attempted murder. They caught the tiny knives and sent them flying back at him. A shield formed around him and the knives fizzled into it.

"Stop fighting me," he roared. "They will perish—" The lasso wrapped around his throat and she pulled. Gasping, he stomped down on it. She tumbled forward and the lasso disappeared. It formed again in her hand as she regained her balance and he caught his breath.

"Dahlia, you can't win," he warned. She whipped it again and he caught it, determination in his eyes. He wrapped the lasso around his arm, yanked back and then swung, sending her flying into the nightstand next to her bed, directly in between her husband and Arden. She groaned and coughed. Through the pain, she stood back up.

Mercury darted two streaks of the blue light at her husband and Arden. She blocked them with two of hers. They struggled for power against each other, their bolts fighting for dominance. Droplets of sweat trickled down her face from her sheer determination and will. She looked like she wanted to give up but with each shaky breath she pushed on.

That's when I noticed her start to glow. Her whole body was neon blue, from her eyes all the way down to her veins.

"It's me or them," she hissed. She glowed as a ball of energy centered at her stomach. It was brighter than she already was. "You know what I'm about to do."

I didn't know what she was going to do. Whatever it was, though, panicked even her husband. He had watched intensely this whole time as he struggled to free himself, but now he looked desperate.

"Mercury, please leave!" Arden's dad cried. "We don't have to do this. Don't make her do this." He turned his focus to Dahlia. "Please don't do this, Dahlia!"

Mercury looked amazed and fearful all at the same time. The ball grew larger and brighter with each passing second.

"You'd better kill me if you want to live," she said. Streams of electricity flowed through her curls and her hair floated from the charge. Her whole body was lit up.

"Dahlia, please! Please don't do this!" Arden's dad continued, "I love you... please! I can't lose you! I'm begging you!" He knew she was about to die. I could hear the helplessness in his voice. Tears flowed from my eyes and an ache in my chest sprung forth. I knew what was going to happen, too, because she's dead and Mercury wasn't; I just couldn't believe I was about to witness it.

There was a pounding on the door. Palace guards threw it open, but a second too late. Mercury's streams shot directly into Dahlia's chest, striking right in her heart. She let out a blood curdling scream, followed by Arden's dad and Arden himself. The light that was flowing through her diminished and her protective streams disappeared.

Mercury hurdled himself out the nearest window, as guards chased after him, some out the window and others running back into the hallway. Two stayed behind to assist with Arden's dad and Arden. "Sire, are you okay?" one asked.

Arden's dad didn't answer and crawled over to his wife, his restraints gone. He pulled her onto his lap as she let out her final gasping breath. He cradled her limp, lifeless body in his arms. Sobs followed, loud and fierce. Arden cried with him, reaching still for his mom who couldn't see nor hear him anymore.

The simulation ended.

Arden was back beside me again as the shock of the sudden situation—and then lack of it—overwhelmed my mind and senses. Shakily, I wiped the tears off my face.

"No, Princess," Arden said, squaring his shoulders and looking directly at me. "We did not catch the man who murdered my mother."

I swallowed down the lump in my throat threatening to spill fresh tears. I understood Arden a little better now. I slightly wondered why he'd want to help me, but this was never truly about me. Arden no doubt despised Mercury. Of course he'd jump on the chance to ruin any plans he'd made.

Arden said nothing else to me—he didn't even look at me. He walked up the ramp as I stood there, unsure of whether or not I should follow. He pressed a button to open the door and walked out. The door closed behind him as he said something to Zander, which I couldn't hear. Zander nodded and Arden disappeared out of sight.

Zander said through one of the microphones that was on the wall above the window, "Come up, Jade. Arden has given me permission to take you to The Town." He motioned for me to come to him.

I walked up the ramp and pressed the button to open the door as Arden had. It was a tiny button right beside the frame. It felt like stone and clicked like a pen when pressed. The door opened up to Zander and his big smile. "Are you ready? This is going to be exciting."

I stepped through the door but didn't continue walking when he started to. He looked back at me and raised his eyebrows in concern. "What's going on, Princess?"

My thoughts wandered to Arden. After showing a particularly traumatic incident, he just... left. I couldn't imagine he was okay. My heart went out to him. "How's Arden doing?"

Zander sighed and straightened out his vest. "Arden's a very closed book. But this is a pain he's lived through and grown from already. He wouldn't have shown you this if he couldn't handle it."

"That makes sense. I just wish... I wish he could know how sorry I am about it."

"I'm sure he already knows." His face brightened into a smile again. "Come, darling. There's other things to do.  And I'm very excited for you to meet Maya."

Zander led us to the other side of the castle. It was quite a walk to get there. The halls were long and there were a lot of turns. When we finally got to where I expected the town to be, we were just met with a wall and a singular button. This wasn't an ordinary looking button either; it looked like a circular chip in the stone of the wall. Zander pressed it and a whirring sound buzzed to life.

"Just watch," he said proudly.

We waited for a minute before I heard a loud ding and what once looked to be just a stone wall opened up to a modern interiored elevator.