REWRITE IN PROGRESS - Outcasts - A Fractures Alternate Universe

Chapter 6: Revelations and Regret

   How long had she been asleep? Days? Weeks? Months?

   Ever since her narrow evasion of death, Abigail had been in a coma, having various nightmares during her period of unconsciousness, most of which were filled with feelings of shame and agony. She mourned the death of her lover, and quite frankly, she wished she'd never awaken. And it looked like the odds were in her favor. Unfortunately for her, they would not remain this way...

* * *

   When Abigail awoke, the first thing she registered was the room she was in. It had polished stone walls and dark oak floorboards, and the only light sources were torches and lanterns. The next thing she noticed was that she was lying in a bed with bandages wrapped around her arms and chest. She felt a slight bit of soreness in these areas, specifically the part of her chest below her jugular.

   "We were starting to think you'd never wake up." She turned around to see Aro sitting on a wooden chair beside the bed, stirring a cup of tea. "Would you like some Green tea?"

   Abigail nodded. Aro poured a cup for her and gingerly handed the cup to her. The tea was hot, but her fire resistance ensured that it would not burn her hands or her mouth.

   "How long was I out?" Abigail's voice was quiet, almost silent.

   "About ten days. Looked like you had quite a few nightmares during your coma."

   "I'd be lying if I said no." Abigail took a sip of her tea. "H-how are you even alive? Kyle shot you!"

   "Kyle's shot wasn't a fatal one. He got me in the cheek, barely missing my brain." Aro pointed to a dark red scar on his right cheek, close to his mouth. "I was able to get back up and continue... destroying Glacierford."  He looked down. It was obvious that bringing up Glacierford brought him pain. "After all the inhabitants were dead or infected, Herobrine sent us after the survivors. Along the way, Julius found me and cured me using an old, but effective method involving golden apples and weakness potions."

   "Who's Julius?"

   "That'd be me," another man with messy light brown hair and light blue eyes spoke, wearing a black shirt with an orange coat. "I still don't trust her being here, Aro. Who's to say she isn't using her injuries to infiltrate the Outcasts and tear us apart from the inside?"

   "Julius, the Horde tried to kill her! And you have the nerve to come in and say that we should just leave her outside of these walls to die?" Aro shot back at Julius.

   Julius rolled his eyes, "It's difficult to be trustworthy of someone who still has the Nether Star inside their body," Julius turned around and walked away.

   Aro sighed again after he left, "Julius is the leader of our Air Force. He also happens to be my brother. Ever since you got here, he hasn't exactly trusted you. I wouldn't blame him, you can't be too careful nowadays, especially when most people in this faction are part Netherkin."

   Abigail glared at Aro. 

   "Not that I  don't trust you or anything. I know you're better than that, Abigail."

   Abigail grumbled, sipping more of her tea before asking, "How did you find my exact location, anyhow?"

   "Oh, right... that," Aro chuckled, "Turns out tracking Nether Star Essence isn't as difficult as you'd think. Our inventor figured out how to build a device that tracks anyone who has the raw essence of the Nether Star within them. It tracks individuals in the Overworld and the Nether. They say that one block in the Nether is eight in the Overworld, so she implemented a coordinate conversion feature into the device-" Aro noticed how utterly confused Abigail was, "I take it that you don't understand what I'm saying?"

   "Not at all, sadly," Abigail's voice had softened a little more, "The Nether doesn't exactly have any advanced technology. Just swords, axes, bows, magic... Simple stuff, you know?" 

   Aro nodded, "Well, ever since Glacierford went to shit, I wanted to find out what happened to the other villagers. Unfortunately, many of the most well-known inhabitants had perished. Soon, the only villagers I hadn't tracked down were you and Rain. I found Rain in the Frostbourne Domain after talking with Frostbourne Grandmaster Patrick. After that, the only 'Child of Glacierford' I hadn't found was you."

   Abigail looked down, "You went back to my old house, didn't you?" She asked sadly.

   "Precisely. I went back to your old house, and, to be quite frank with you, I only expected to find a bunch of pictures of you with Rain and other personal belongings... But then I went into the attic, and I found out about everything."

   Abigail sniffled, holding back tears.

   "I learned about your true identity, your family, your heirlooms. The only question I have is: why did you hide it from us, Abigail? We would've gladly accepted you, even if we did know you were the Nether Princess."

   "The whole reason why I hid it was because I didn't want to get sent back to the Nether. I didn't want to become a monster. Now, look at me! Rain is dead! Dozens of innocents are dead! And it's my fault! Do you know what that's like, Aro? Do you know what it's like to become the very thing you fear?!" Abigail broke down crying.

   Aro just sat silent, looking off to the side of the room. "Abi, I-"

   "Don't... call me Abi. That was a nickname that Rain and- R-Rain only can call me by," Abigail buried her face in her hands.

   Aro got up, walked over to Abigail, and hugged her tightly, "I'll leave you be for now if that's alright. I can tell that you need some time alone right now," He stopped hugging the poor girl and left the room, looking back once before closing the door.

   Once Aro had left, Abigail sat up on the side of the bed, looking out the window. Then, she felt a sharp pain in her chest. At this moment she realized...

Her corruption hadn't been neutralized, it had only been suppressed.