For the second time recently, Harley found himself in an unfamiliar street lined with old houses. The grey mist hung just as heavy as before, blocking his view any further than a few houses. Invisible rain once again poured all around him, making it hard to hear anything else. Although, listening harder, he guessed that it could've been static. He looked left, waiting for that same dark-haired girl to come running up the street and end this confusing mess. However, even after waiting for what seemed like a minute, she didn't come. Harley was suddenly doubting that he was actually dreaming. Normally something would've happened by now, no matter how weird it seemed.
"Considering the amount of hits I took an hour ago," he said to himself, "I could be in a bloody coma."
Fearing the worst, he decided to take a walk along the endless road. Maybe something would show up eventually. "Hell, for all I know, this could be the King messing with my head again." He mumbled.
Finally, after about ten houses worth of walking bare foot, something appeared amidst the fog. It was extremely difficult to make out, but a blurry white shape seemed to be growing somewhere on the road ahead. Moving closer, Harley slowly recognised enough details about the shape to determine it was a person. A person wearing something white.
"It's her..." he whispered, walking faster.
As he approached, however, the girl in the white dress stopped moving. She was hunched over, her back to Harley, and there appeared to be spots of blood decorating her dress.
"Hey," Harley called, "are you okay?"
Faster than anything he'd ever seen, the girl rounded on him and crawled right up to his legs. A strangled gasp escaped Harley's mouth and his heart leapt into his ears. But just as quickly as she'd come, she retreated back to her original spot and stood there, staring at Harley with blank white eyes. Help me, she mouthed.
"I- I don't know what... what you mean..." Harley managed to say.
The girl's face suddenly contorted in pain for a few seconds, then she dropped to her knees and started breathing heavily. "Harley!" She spoke to the ground. "You have to save me, no matter what! I can't keep him out much longer. You're not going to have a choice. You have to save us!" Then she screamed, and Harley was wrenched from the nightmare.
He sat bolt upright in bed in a cold sweat.
"Fuck!" A voice said, followed by a loud crash.
Harley gripped his chest, fearing his heart would burst from it, and took deep breaths for a solid minute. All the while, Joel stood back up and breathed with him.
"Don't... do that." Joel puffed. "Ever... again."
When Harley found his throat again, he turned to face his best friend. "How long have I been out?"
"It's about lunch time..." he said, "so I'd guess about twelve hours. Kira said not to wake you up, 'cause you needed time for the injuries to heal."
Harley was suddenly aware of a dull ache in his left shoulder. He felt the area where Callum had punched him and sighed with relief to find that the skin felt smooth to the touch. Kira's weird new plant powders obviously work, then.
"Do you need help sitting up?" Joel asked. "Or, you know, clothes?"
It hadn't even occurred to Harley that he was naked, even as he swung the sheets aside and stood up. He winced in pain almost immediately after, though.
"Gah!" His sword cut obviously hadn't healed completely yet, although it was covered by a large gauze pad. "Damn ribs."
"I can't believe I wasn't there to help..." Joel muttered. "But, you know, guard duty."
"It's fine." Harley said quickly, feeling anything but. "It was just Knight and the 'new and unnecessary' Estella."
At this, Joel narrowed his eyes. "So she's really... Rose?"
Harley nodded, moving to the door. "We'll have a meeting in a bit, I suppose. But first, I wanna see these awesome scars!"
"Only you," Joel said throwing a shirt after him, "would be excited about this. Only you."
..................
"This is the last meeting we have to plan our attack." Wills announced as soon as everyone had found seats in the lounge room. "I won't wait much longer, and I'm sure none of you will either." Numerous nods from around the room confirmed as much. "I have my forces ready to go, but we need to make sure we're ready. We can't fight something as powerful as the Shadow Court in these conditions. Thankfully, Acrobolt tells me we can find a costume place to hook us up," Harley nodded to confirm, "and other than that, we need to train to deal with the apprentices. The King isn't as powerful by himself, thanks to our numbers, but with Rose and Callum, plus the massive amount of guards at Stone Industries, they have an army to match ours. The goal is to hit them with a surprise attack; storm the facility from all angles and take down the apprentices as quickly as we can. The Crime Lords army can take on Mr. Stone's guards, so that we can concentrate on the Court. They'll have power, but we have skill. After the guards are wiped out and the apprentices are unable to fight, we go after the main prize: Anthony Stone. He's the reason our lives have been so crap. The reason why we have to kill and steal just to eat every night. We can't change; we were born and raised in hell. We should've burned, but we rose to the top. We adapted to survive in a world that wanted us dead. The least we can do is kill the devil and give the people hiding under sheets of cardboard a second chance. We own the night! If they call us filth, so be it! Let's put a bullet in this world's head!"
Everyone cheered. Ella thrust her mallet to the ceiling; Briannon and Jack fist-bumped; Thea tackled Ruby in a hug; Joel fired an arrow through the window and Harley flipped over the couch. Quinn sat in the corner, a bottle of vodka in their hands.
"God help Anthony Stone." They said, before downing half the bottle. "We're about to go to war."
..................
Rose woke with a start, having felt the King's mind jerk her out of a dream. She sat up in bed, rubbed her eyes and gazed around in the darkness until she found his flickering form somewhere on a lower level in the factory. Come, he spoke in her mind, it's happening.
"What's happening!" She demanded, feeling around until she found a shirt.
She received no reply. Angrily, she stormed out of her room and used muscle memory to find the hidden elevator. Being able to see minor details around her now, such as walls, was useful, but not when they all looked the same in an endless factory. Callum met her at the keypad and, from one examination of his soul, appeared to have been woken up too.
"Any idea what's going on?" He asked, punching in the access code.
Rose shook her head bitterly. "None."
The gleaming metal doors opened and the two apprentices stepped inside. Callum raised his palm to a blank plate above a series of numbered buttons. Usually, they didn't work, because the lower levels were closed off to anyone except Anthony himself, but someone with the King's abilities could unlock them. Rose watched Callum's red soul brighten as it usually did when he used his powers, and a second later three buttons beamed to life.
"He's two floors below." Rose told him.
Callum pressed the second button, presumingly leading to sub-level two. The elevator groaned and began its descent, whirling all the way down to their destination. Once the doors opened, Rose marched out and lead Callum to where she could see the King. There was only one room on this floor, and two other souls appeared to occupy it with Arthur. The door opened upon their arrival; the King had obviously sensed them. As soon as it did, Rose felt a tremendous force push her back. Callum caught her, apparently having summoned his armour, and together they pushed themselves into the room.
Rose recognised Anthony's soul standing beside the King, but wondered why he wasn't struggling as she and Callum were. "What the hell is going on!?" She demanded.
"To me!" The King ordered.
The two apprentices obeyed, and soon the force wasn't affecting them. The King had set up a telekinetic shield to protect them from whatever was emitting from the third soul in the room.
Someone, a girl, was floating in the dead centre. It was as if she was submerged in water, but obviously the room was dry. Even stranger, it seemed as if she was making herself float. The King wasn't doing it, Rose could feel his energy concentrating only on the shield. Whatever this girl was doing, it was strong enough to equal Arthur.
"She's waking up!" He announced. "The third apprentice! The final member of the Shadow Court!"
At these words, the girl's figure slowly lowered until she was standing on two feet. Her eyes remained closed, but her hair and white dress rippled behind her like she was standing on a cliff. The King let down his shield, having felt the energy surge subside, and slowly approached her.
"My dear..." he said softly. "Are you ready?"
Her hair stopped rippling, her dress fell to her sides, and her hands closed into fists. "Yes." Her voice was soft, yet deadly serious. "I'm ready."
The King turned to face Anthony and his apprentices. "Behold. The Queen of the Shadows."
Anthony exhaled, muttering "good lord," while Callum crossed his arms and Rose looked her up and down. Arthur turned back to the Queen and raised his chin.
"To assume control of the district and deploy our forces across the country. We will strike at society from the shadows, and humanity will enter a new era. All shall fear the might of the Shadow Court. That is our ultimate goal." He announced, as if reciting from a document. "State your new name and status, along with your intentions."
The girl revealed a set of shimmering lavender-coloured eyes that once were blue. "My name is Nadia Penderghaust." She said. "I died once, but I have been reborn as a warrior. As your queen, I will fulfil your wishes and bring glory to the Shadow Court." She raised her arms, telekinetically lifting herself with them. "My past life is gone. April Penderghaust is nothing but a memory."
End of part 1