It was Astrids' last day with the hunters. And through out those thirty days she has been tortured in ways no one ever imagined. She would never again be the same after that. In her mind, Astrid was going through the loss of those she held close to her heart over and over again, while she was being physically tortured by Pegah. And all those days. She was going through the same emotional pain over and over again. And while Pegah was torturing her, Astrid was unable to scream, whimper or cry. She felt every stab and every cut but she was unable to fight her off or to at least cry out loud. She was suffering in her own mind.
She could no longer think of her friends or about Imelda. All she could think about was her family. Her real family. Her mother and father along with her younger brother who she was unable to save. She would remember their screams, their cries for help.
And she would remember herself being dragged away by another pack member, so that she could not hear her familys' screams for help. Or so that she could not see them dying. And now was her last day with Pegah. Then, she heard the doors open and she heard someone walk towards her bed.
She saw the same recognizable grey outfit that Pegah always wore and she prepared herself for a stab or a hit, but it never came. Instead Pegah unchained her arms and legs and she made her get up. Astrid felt incredibly weak. She was so weak that she could not stand on her two feet without trembling which is why Pegah gave her her hand as a support and they slowly walked outside the dungeon and down the hallway where they came to the elevator. They walked inside and few seconds later the doors opened again and Pegah helped Astrid walk again.
And as they were walking to their next stop they had to pass the living room where the other hunters were sitting. As soon as they saw her they sent her terrible wishes, saying how they hoped that she will die from the wounds. Slow and painful death they wished her.
Astrid again could not cry or fight back so she let Pegah lead her wherever it is she wanted her to go. And then they stopped infront of the big white doors. And once Pegah opened them she saw that it was the toilet. Pegah walked her inside and then she walked back to the doors.
"You have to shower. Clean all of the blood and dirt off. There is also new set of clothes there for you. Wear it and come out once you are done. I will be right outside." She said and then she closed the doors behind her.
Astrid looked towards the doors and then she started taking off her clothes which took her longer than necessary. Thanks to her wounds and scars, she could not properly take the clothes off, so she ripped her shirt apart.
It was way too dirty anyways. And then she slowly started walking towards the shower. She got inside and turned the hot water on and sighed in relief. Usually, when she would shower she would be singing something like Bang Bang Bang from Big Bang, but not now.
She was way too damaged to be happy and sing.
Thirty minutes later she got out of the shower and she dried her hair. Then, she wore what Pegah gave her which was black jeans along with black T- Shirt.
And as soon as she was done she opened the doors and saw Pegah there, typing something on her phone. As soon as Pegah saw her she put her phone in a pocket and she took the witch stone out of her another pocker. She pointed it towards Astrid who could feel her wounds healing now and she sighed in relief.
Then, Pegah walked towards her again with new chains and she put them around her arms. Then she made Pegah walk infront of her and they went back into the living room where other hunters were sitting. They were all geared up and ready for fight when they saw Astrid.
"Ready?" Pegah asked them and they nodded their heads as they started walking out of the living room and outside. Each of them gave Astrid the look full of hate. The look that told her that they would kill her if they could. But Astrid then looked at Pegah and she spoke up silently.
"Where are they going?" She asked, her voice was silent and weak. Pegah looked at her as she took her giant bag and she told Astrid to continue walking.
"The King told us to come to the Royal Grounds. All of us will be in the castle until the war is over." She said and Astrid wanted to scream right then and there. She thought that she would never again have to see Pegah, but she was wrong. Now, she will have to live in the same house where she lives. And little did they know that the war is closer than they ever thought. As soon as she walked outside she saw about twenty big black cars.
Pegah made her get in one of them with one hunter sitting on each side of her. Astrid was happy that she was finally going back to the Royal Grounds, but she was terrified of the fact that all of the hunters will be there too.
And then the cars started driving. And as they were coming closer to the Royal Grounds, she felt more and more scared. They have been driving for two hours without stopping, when Astrid stared falling asleep. And then the car stopped driving. She looked outside of the window and saw that they were at the gates with blue dust all around them.
Some called it the Moon Dust, some called it the Sky Dust. No one knew what kind of dust it was and no one in the Royal Grounds really cared as long as it was protecting them.
They were standing there for a few minutes before the gates opened and with them the blue dust was separated so that they can drive through. Few more minutes of driving and they were in the Royal Grounds and infront of the castle. She didn't dare to look outside. She didn't dare to look outside and see the disappointed looks on her friends' and on her soulmates' faces. So, she sat in the car and listened to Pegah and Sebastian talk.
She sat there and listened to Imelda ask where she is and she wanted to cry once she heard fear and worry in her voice. She wanted to cry, but she didn't. She never again will. The Huntress may have broken Astrid, but they will never again see her cry.
Then she heard the doors to her left open and once she turned around she saw one of the hunters outside. He took her by her chains and roughly pulled her out of the car. She walked beside him, while she was looking at the ground. And as they came to Pegah, Pegah took Astrid by her chin and she made her look her in the eyes.
All this time, Astrid did not say anything at all.
"It is over now. You can stop remembering it now. Now, you are free again." Pegah said and as soon as she finished saying that Astrids' eyes became purple as she took in a deep and sharp breath. She turned towards her friends, while still not looking them in the eyes.
The hunter that got her to Pegah was now taking her chains off. And as soon as they were off she looked up at all of them. And as soon as she saw Imelda she ran to her and Imelda greeted her with open arms. Astrid hugged her and she hid her head in her neck. Few minutes have passed before she let go of Imelda again who asked her if she was ok to which Astrid answered with 'yes'.
They wanted to stay there forever, in each others arms, but Astrid had other people to greet. Next, she hugged Gehenna, Enfys, Kaleb and Sebastian. And once she looked to Sebastians' right side she saw her brother standing there. She stared at him in shock for a few seconds before she hugged him. She hugged him hard and he hugged her hard too.
"I am so sorry, Barin. I'm so so sorry." She kept saying over and over again while she was hugging him and he stroked her hair as he took a deep breath in.
"You've done some fucked up things, Astrid. But it is over now. You've paid enough for it." He said and she couldn't have felt more grateful than like in that moment. Her brother knew what she did and he knew that it was fucked up, but he did not judge her.
Not anymore, at least. And as they separated, Sebastian told them to go inside and once they did, he started giving orders to Daetrin and other Guards to show the hunters where they will be staying and then he went inside too.
As soon as he walked into the living room, he saw Elois and Astrid sitting on the couch talking. They were probably trying to figure out what was going on. They may even have been sharing their experiences with each other. So, Sebastian walked up the stairs and he went straight to the office to talk with Pegah and to discuss things with her. He needed to tell her the plan. He needed to explain to her what was about to happen. And he also had to call Imara to see how far she has come.
She started travelling with half of her pack yesterday night. She should be there any minute. An hour later, Astrid walked up the stairs and went to her room to rest a little bit. However, she was not expecting to see Imelda right there.
She raised an eyebrow as she closed the doors and walked towards her work table where her swords and guns were. And as soon as she saw them she remembered all of the pain she inflicted with them and she shook her head.
She did not want to ever again touch them, but she knew that she will have to. When the war comes they will need her. She sat on the bed next to Imelda and she waited for her to speak up.
"Are you okay? What am I even asking, of course you aren't. No one would be. Just please, know this, Astrid, if you ever want to talk I will be here, alright?" She asked her and Astrid nodded her head as she remembered the hell she went through.
"I missed you." Astrid said silently and Imelda smiled sadly at her.
"I wanted to help you, Astrid. I wanted to come and save you, but I was not allowed to." She said and Astrid smiled as she shook her head.
"It's alright. I had to go through that alone." She said and then they were both silent again. However, it was the comfortable silence. They were both near each other again, they weren't in danger. They were simply them.
"Promise me something." Astrid said and Imelda looked at her as she asked her what did she want her to promise her.
"Promise me that once this is all over, we will go back to that lake in Norway. Promise me that we will go back to Norway." She said and Imelda smiled sadly as she nodded her head.
"I promise you. As soon as this is all over, we will go back to Norway. I will take you away from all of this mess." She said and Astrid hugged her and then the explosion was heard. Astrid got up immediatelly and looked outside of the window to see a few guards rushing the old people and children in the castle and then her doors opened.
She turned around and she saw Daetrin standing there. She wanted him to know what he was, but he did not want to listen and she was not gonna force him to listen to her.
"Get your weapons and run outside right now!" He yelled and he turned around in order to run down the stairs but Astrid stopped him as she asked him what was happening.
He turned around and looked her in the eyes.
"I know that you just came back and probably want to rest and all that, but there is no time for that. We need everyone we can get. And Astrid this is the time to be ruthless. Both of you. Be as ruthless as you can be." He said and they both nodded their heads. Astrid took her weapons and was about to start walking when Daetrin spoke up again.
"She's here. And she's not alone." He said as he run down the stairs. And then the screams and explosions could be heard outside.
She looked up at the sky and saw the Moon slowly start appearing. She quickly opened one of her drawers with a safe in it and she unlocked it.
She took the four tiny stones and she put them in her pocket and then Imelda and her run down the stairs too. And once they walked outside they were greeted with horror. She could see so much smoke around them. The battle didn't even start yet and it looked terrifying.
This is going to be hard. It was going to be extremelly hard and in that moment Astrid knew what she had to do. She had to find Rhaegos girl and make sure that she was on the Earth and then she will have to summon the Moon. And then all hell will break loose. The Moon will end the Goddess once and for all. That is what they were all hoping would happen, but what if there were big casualties because of that?
*Hmmm.*