No Matter What

Chapter XIV

"Good morning," Phoebe woke me up.

"Oh no... Work," I said.

"Yep."

I got up and looked at my foot. It was healing, but it constantly hurt and it was very inflamed. Phoebe gasped at the sight.

"Oh my Lord! You said it was bad, but.." she gasped again, "I have an idea! C'mon. Get ready. Fast!"

I wore one of her white dresses. She took my hand and ran.

"Ow! Foot! Remember?"

"Oh, right," she giggled, "I'll slow down."

We moved through the leaves of a wallow and when we got to the other side, the view made me catch my breath.

"What is this place?" I asked, in awe.

"The Health Cascades."

The Health Cascades were the most beautiful waterfall I had ever seen. It was, actually, the only waterfall I had ever seen. The water fell, white and cold, and crashed against a pond. A pond so transparent I could see the fishes and tadpoles as they danced in the water. The droplets of water that bounced off the pond's surface with each fall formed a gorgeous rainbow over it all.

Phoebe flew to the showers and cupped her hands. She brought the collected water to me and spilled it over my foot.

"This should help," she said.

At first, all I felt was stinging, which was what I normally felt when water touched my wound. Then the water started to work. I could sense my energy all being pulled to my foot, it felt warm. At an unnatural pace, my foot began to heal. I watched as my skin grew over the cut and the red blisters went down and became my skin color again. It no longer hurt.

I hugged Phoebe tight, she giggled. What a beautiful laugh she had. It made my heart beat faster each time I had the pleasure of hearing it.

"Thank you, Pheebs. Truly."

"Now that you're all better and strong, let's get to work!" she giggled again.

I followed her to the stables, only a few yards from there.

We would clean the pegasi today. We washed them and brushed them thoroughly. The Green Queen wanted them to always look immaculate.

"You talk about this Arthur... in a different way," Phoebe pointed out.

"Well, yeah. He's—he's like family to me. I've known him since... Gosh, since, like, forever! I first met him when I was, I think, seven."

"Family," she echoed.

"Family supports you. Family sticks up for you. Family does everything for you. Anything. No matter what."

"No matter what," she repeated, fascinated.

"Whenever any one of us is feeling bad or is in danger, we aid them. We help them stand back up. Even if we have to fall a bit, as well."

"Sacrifice," she said.

"Yes," I answered, "Sometimes we have to sacrifice some things for the greater good."

"Greater good..." Phoebe was deep into her thoughts, she brushed golden Venus, absent-minded.

"So," she reflected, "you work together to be happy."

"That is right. Four arms are stronger than two, two minds are wiser than one, all our voices are much louder together," I recapped.

"Stronger together..."

We were quiet for a long time. At some point, Phoebe asked,

"Gwen, have you ever felt love?"

"Uh... yes?"

"I don't mean friend love. I mean that other love humans are always talking of and writing about in poetry."

I thought for a moment.

"Huh. I've never really thought about that. I mean, we all just assume that everyone loves, but... I have no idea. I wouldn't know if I did."

"Do you love Arthur?"

"I—I don't know. I... Maybe?"

"I see. So this is what they mean."

"Who's they?"

"The poets. They're always so confusing. They have a million emotions and they can never decide on anything. I've always been so sure of what I feel, I never thought that could happen—not knowing what you like, what you hate..."

"I usually don't focus too much on my feelings... Usually what I most feel is anxiety, I guess. I try to focus on other things or it becomes worse."

"You keep doing that."

"What?"

"You keep touching your neck, why is that?"

"I..."

"It's your missing necklace, right? The one you said your father gave you for your birthday, that was taken from you by that witch?"

"Yeah."

"Old habit?"

I nodded, tears in my eyes. I missed that necklace. It was one of my favorite memories from the time my father was alive.

Phoebe sighed, smiled, then said, "Hey, do you want to do something fun but also totally illegal?"

"Uh—" she did not let me finish. She took my hand and ran to the big wooden chest.

She took out a saddle. It was evidently home-made. She looked both ways before she said this and when she did it was just above a whisper,

"Let's stick it to the queen. Today you learn how to ride a pegasus."