All the Stars Between Us

Back to the Present

She reached out her hand as far as she could, and grasped Thalia's hand. "Thalia, you need to wake up," she whispered. "You can't let her see you like this! You're better than her, and you need to show her that, okay? Hey, wake up, you idiot!" She whisper shouted.

Thalia's eyes fluttered closed slowly, and her breathing stopped for a second or two. Caspienne's heart was in her mouth, and she didn't know what to do to make it better. She just hoped with what was left of her cold, dead heart that Thalia would be okay.

Without warning, Thalia sat up. Her eyes opened quickly, and raised her sword. Caspienne couldn't see very well in the dim light, but she was freaking out nonetheless.

Thalia looked at Caspienne with fire in her eyes, and slashed through the bars of her cell. Caspienne waved goodbye, but Thalia cut through her bars, too. "What are you doing?" Caspienne asked stupidly.

Thalia looked at her with an obvious look on her face. "Um. Breaking you out of prison? Dumbass much?" She said in a 'duh' tone. She looked at Caspienne expectantly. "Come on, we have to beat the guards." She said quickly.

Caspienne turned her face away. "I can't walk." She said quietly. "I'm too weak."

Thalia's eyes flashed angrily. "I'm really going to kill Maeve." She knelt down and hugged Caspienne lightly. "Would it be okay if I carried you?"

Caspienne's eyes filled with tears at Thalia's soft words, but she cleared her throat quickly. "Harsh light," she lied unconvincingly. The dungeon was practically unlit, save for a few torches.

Thalia rolled her eyes fondly, and softly slid her arms under Caspienne and lifted her up bridal style. She weighed practically nothing, due to her being extremely malnourished, and Thalia tried not to wince in pain for the other woman every time a cough wracked her frail body.

She quickly stood up, and made her way out of the prison, Caspienne barely conscious in her arms. Her previous outfit was riddled with holes from the Chamber, so Lilith had fashioned her a dark dress and some shoes from the shadows. She had also cleaned Thalia up a bit, and her wounds were mostly healed. Her hair was in a ponytail, and she was carrying the sword in her other hand.

She made her way up to the Maeve's room via the long staircase up to the turret, and strangely, even though she was carrying Caspienne, she didn't feel remotely tired. She felt powerful, like all she had to do was swing her sword and the world itself would bow to her.

She decided to leave Caspienne sleeping soundly in one of the little alcoves rather than being her to the inevitable confrontation that was to follow. Thalia opened the door quickly and walked in. "Maeve?" She called loudly. "I know you're there."

Maeve was busy swinging slowly back and forth on her swing, lazily eating honeycomb and milk with lavender. When she heard Thalia, she jolted up with a start, dropping her glass and her honey. "It can't be," she said incredulously.

"Yeah, I know, you put me in the Chamber, how did I escape, blah, blah, blah," Thalia made a face. "Okay, I know I'm supposed to have some really well thought out speech or something about how I beat you against all odds, but I really don't give a fuck anymore. Let's fight."

Maeve scoffed. "Well, it's hardly a fair fight, is it?" She looked at Thalia scathingly. "You couldn't hurt a fly."

Thalia pulled the sword from her back smoothly, letting the light catch the shining blade as she did. "Oh? Not even with this?"

Maeve's eyes widened, and she paled. "Thalia, you don't know what you're messing with." She froze Thalia with her telepathy again, but this time she looked panicked rather than calm. "This sword," she gestured to the sword as if it were a piece of rancid meat,