Opera in Underland

23. It's Not Over Yet

Rosalind's eyes were locked onto her younger sister as the girl wavered, dangerously close to collapse. She couldn't believe Ophelia had pulled a stunt like this. She'd nearly gotten herself killed. Again.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rosalind saw something move. Nergal was getting ready to go to the children's aid. Both his son and Ophelia had taken quite a beating, and Rosalind stood slightly to try and call him back.

But before she could, another voice, stern if slightly shaken, echoed out from down on the board.

"No. Don't move."

Ophelia was holding her hand up now, urging Nergal to stay back. "The game is still active."

Rosalind couldn't see his reaction from her perch, but he stayed in his square. She slowly sat down again. If there was any way to reach her sister without breaking her neck, she'd have taken advantage of it already. As things were, she was forced to watch Ophelia struggle to continue.

Struggle she did, as Ophelia moved to assume the unconscious Eris's previous position on the board, one square away from her own. The younger girl's muscles tightened and pulled hard against her sheer exhaustion. It seemed like an eternity before she traveled what to any other person would have been a few short steps. At the end of it, however, she was still standing.

Her voice asserted itself again, this time low and growling, as if through gritted teeth. "Move."

Because the battle had counted as the tail end of Mandy's turn, Rosalind knew that the assertion was meant for her. But in her panic over her sister, she'd lost track of the game.
Her eyes scanned the board quickly as she muttered to herself under her breath. Just staying focused now was a titanic task.

If I moved my knight, I could... but is Lia injured so badly that... no, no, think about the knight... or maybe the rook, it's in a decent spot to be able to... wait, is she limping, what if her leg's broken...

Rosalind went on chasing her own worries for a good several minutes before she finally saw the way forward.

It happened when her eyes lingered on Ophelia again. She realized that, in Eris's former square, Ophelia was blocking any possible escape route Grim had to his right. In fact, there were only two places he could currently go. And she had a knight ready to cover both of them.

It only took her a few seconds to piece the rest together. She put on her best poker face and commanded the knight to move, trapping Grim inside his square.

..........

She's a genius.

Nergal saw it as soon as Rosalind commanded the knight. From his non-aerial perspective, it had taken him a bit longer than normal to piece the endgame together. But he had still managed it before Grim and Mandy. That was the key bit.

One look at the faces of the Reaper and the cruel little girl who commanded him revealed that the girls had finally outsmarted them. Ophelia and the stone knight couldn't be taken in one move by any piece; they were out of range. All it would take would be one well-placed piece to check Grim.

Not just check. Checkmate.

At first, Nergal didn't dare to believe in their luck. But on second glance, he knew it was true. Mandy had clenched her fist, and her eyes had narrowed even more than usual. She was straining, looking for a way out. But there wasn't one. Ophelia's bravery had given them the opening they needed, and there wasn't a thing Mandy could do about it.

Eventually, she sighed, and using a short, agitated voice, moved a pawn on the outskirts one space forward. A wasted move from a doomed opponent.

All that was left was to make the finishing move. Junior was mere spaces away from doing just that, and as soon as the command was uttered, he would be the one to win the siblings' freedom.

Nergal dared a glance upward and back at Rosalind, who had broken her stoic demeanor with a slightly triumphant grin. She glanced back down at him, and that's when he noticed something else.

Maybe it was the distance, or the flush of victory. But for the first time since he'd met the older sister of his charge, he saw no distrust and suspicion in her eyes. Her look could almost be called friendly. She smiled, and gave a slight wave of her hand, as if to say "Go on, you know what to do."

He nodded and turned, smiling as well now. "Junior, my boy," he called out. "I believe that's your cue."

Junior looked around for a moment, the last to see the part he was to play in all of this. When it dawned on him, his eyes widened slightly, and he flashed a sharp-toothed grin back at Senior.

The boy trotted the few spaces forward among a great hush from the crowd. No one wanted to say a word when it was so close to being over. From their perspective, those who had nothing riding on the match except a few bets, it must have been a brilliant show.

Junior reached his space, planted his feet, and cleared his throat. "I believe that's... Checkmate."

It was said with a cheeky grin, first directed at Grim, then lingering on Mandy. Both of them looked displeased at best, and furious at worst. But the bell rang three times, ending the match once and for all.

"WE HAVE A WINNEEEEERRRRRR"

The judge's wrestling match officiator voice rang out again, and Nergal sprang from his square, laughing uncontrollably. In a very modern and very gleeful gesture, for him, he actually did a fist pump. And one so vigorous he jumped in the air as he did.

He ran to where Junior was still positioned and scooped up his boy in a hug as the crowd's noise erupted again, some cheering, some shouting, some booing. He didn't especially care what any of them had to say. He'd accomplished what he came to do, and the girls were free to go.

Junior was laughing as well, returning the hug, and then jumped down and sprang away, probably to go check on his valiant young friend. Nergal turned as well, preparing to follow, but was distracted by an all too familiar and all too bothersome voice.

"Jus how did that little monster have da power to take down Eris?" Grim scoffed. "Dere has to be some sort of foul play here."

"The only foul thing is you, Reaper," Nergal said with contempt towards Grim, turning back and taking a step forward to face him. "That girl has more power in her than you or I could possibly have guessed. You'd be wise to give her the respect she deserves."

From his left, Nergal heard Junior calling for him. "Dad?"

He brushed it off at first, knowing Junior, passive as he tended to be, was probably just trying to draw him away from a fight. But he fully intended to stand his ground on this one.

"And just what respect is dat?" Grim questioned. "Cause if it's anyting like what we gave you, she's gonna be one messed up kid."

Nergal positively bristled at that. He was really getting ready to teach Grim and his big mouth a lesson. "Now you listen..." he started, jabbing a finger at Grim's cloaked and skeletal chest. "If you think you can stand here and insult me to my face then-"

"Dad!"

Junior's call was urgent this time, and slightly panicked. Nergal heard a shuffling noise and couldn't help but turn his head. He half expected to see Junior running towards him.

What he saw instead turned his blood cold and his body numb. Ophelia was slumped over, barely held up by Junior. Her eyes were shut, and what little color she'd had in her face had been drained. It looked as if her legs, and her strength, had finally given out on her.

Faintly, from behind him, he heard Rosalind scream. She'd seen it too. He heard the rapid footsteps as the older girl ran towards her collapsed sister. Soon the footsteps blended with his own as he ran towards the children, abruptly abandoning his argument with Grim. Some things were more important than pride. Two of those things were in his field of vision right now.

One of them desperately needed help.

..........