Orchid

Desire Achieved

Ok, I've been listening to the protests, and finally I get some time off to do this.

 We burst through the door. I find Solara chained to the wall, while Powerr stands over her, tsking his tongue.

 "Now fly!" he yells, obviously unknowing we're behind him.

 "What. The. Hell. Are. You. Doing. To. Her?" Persephone yells. "Powerr, we never authorized this. Are you really trying to graft wings on her?"

 "Wings?" I echo.

 Powerr spins around, his coal-black eyes igniting with rage. "Why are you in here?"

 "Don't talk like that to my girlfriend," Anubis growls. His jackdals growl with him.

 "I can talk however I like," Powerr retorts. "Mistress didn't authorize you in here."

 "Oh, she didn't?" Persephone steps forward, her finger outstretched. "You wanna go?"

 Kyo glances anxiously around. "Is it fyre time?"

 "Powerr." I step forward, channeling all the power in my voice and gazing into those blank eyes. "If you let Sol go, we won't harm you."

 "Really? Like I believe you," Powerr sneers.

 I nod my head to Hero. I'll distract him. He's yours. 

 You don't know how much this means to me. Hero's voice glows with pride, and she hunches over.

 "Powerr. What was that wing idea of yours? I'd like to fly." I inch toward him, smiling widely. Shira, Mom, please let this work.

 "Oh! It's was Sol's idea in the first place, from a book she read. Sally Ride, I think," Powerr muses.

 "Maximum Ride!" Kyo says, outraged. 

 "Whatever." Excitedly, Powerr strides across the room to a computer, where he types a few commands. Kyo sneaks over and puts her hands on the chains, burning them up and Solara sinks to the ground, unconscious. Anubis tiptoes over and helps to lift the young princess up.

 "You see," Powerr drones on, "the amazing bird DNA I got from an ostrich was supposed to work, but..."

 I kick in the face, swinging my leg up high, and deliver a quick uppercut below his chin. "You freaking dummy! Ostrichs don't fly!"

 Hero rushes over, smashing her fist into the twerp's face. Staggering, the servant of Lycaeon covered his face. "What the--"

 He didn't get to finish the sentence before Hero's foot collided with the ass that should've been kicked a long time ago. "That's for being such a jerk!"

 Powerr staggers to the glass window in the room I didn't notice before and smashes through it, his arms flailing. Quietly, we walk toward the smashed window and watch him fall to a gloomy lake, where he goes up, sputtering, waving his arms.

 "He's not dead yet," Hero hisses. "I'll go finish him."

 I grab her arm. "Don't."

 "What?" Hero's eyes are wide and brown. "You promised me I'd have him."

 "We must let peace rule our hearts. Sometimes the death of a warrior does not mean victory." I don't know where I quoted that from, but that sentence made me feel good.

 Hero sighs, looking irritated. "You read Warriors?"

 "Huh?" I cock my head.

 "That's quoted from Warriors. Well, not in those exact words. But Hollyleaf said that to Ivypool, who was ready to chase Sol down and kill him for treachery."

 "Oh." I kick the floor with my shoe.

 "You're right," Hero admits. "You certainly didn't kill Xander, did you?"

 "I was ready to," I say. "He's just...I thought he was better off dead than being a cruel servant of Lycaeon. And he's Air's son. I'm glad he's good now, though."

 "Who's good now?" A cruel voice I recognized startles me.

 Looking up, I see the cold blue eyes that once belonged to a villain. I can't believe it.

 "Xander?" I whisper. He grins as he drifts on the air.

 "How's it going, big girl of the prophecy? Feel so big now?" he taunts. He looks exactly the same when he was with Nira. But now...what the f happened? He lowers his elegant blade, a sword I've never seen before.

 "But--but..." Hero sputters.

 "News flash: the effect of the Yang orb only lasts a few hours. That felt sooo bad. But now I feel like so alive, yeah." Xander smiles and pats himself. He's holding a bag in his hand. He waves it and opens it up. The white glow of the Yang orb was distinctly recognizable.

 "Once I figured out the pain was gone and I could control myself again, it was easy to go to that stupid elf and take the orb back." Xander narrows his eyes. "I have a great vision for the future, Orchid. One where you're my mate, and we rule the world. We kill Shira, and then we rule over Vidalia. Just as simple as that."

 "You're not fricking serious." Hero voices my thoughts. "That would be a barren wasteland."

 Xander laughs harshly. "So you're Orchid's little puppy-dog friend, to hold her hand and cheer her up when she's lost. You do such great things, Orchid. I know you. You're alone even when you're surrounded by friends."

 How did you know? I open my mouth to speak, but loneliness engulfs my heart. It's true. He spoke the clear truth. Shame burns my cheeks. "Well, Xander, I say no. I'll never be your queen, or your princess. I stand by my friends and my family, not villains trying to kill me."

 "Friendship is worthless," Xander spits. "It is power that will land a seat in the survival of life. Lycaeon and I, we have great plans for Vidalia. I see you care about kin more than you. In that case, you are nothing but barriers upholding me. I see love does nothing for me."

 Wait--love?