Third Person
Harry had been calling to Brielle as much as he could during the entire argument, but it was as if she couldn't hear him. Harry's heart broke for Brielle, she truly looked absolutely shattered when she suddenly broke down and ran away. Harry had called to her to come back when she ran, but Uma and Harriet held him back and told him to give her a minute to simmer with the help of Carlos. The Hook sisters had been observing the entire situation and whispering amongst themselves during the entire exchange, and now they realized that they probably shouldn't have been mean to Brielle at all, the real enemy was among them the whole time. They never liked Mal, but they thought they could trust a fellow villain kid.
Obviously, that wasn't the case, in fact, they regretted being any sort of allies with Mal. They also regretted giving their brother any sort of bad time about Brielle. So to make it up to him they were trying their best to hold him back from running after Brielle so quickly.
But Harry really didn't like it, especially when Brielle was out of sight.
However in the past, Brielle had needed a minute to cool down before Harry could help her so he allowed her to have a minute, in the meantime, Harry had a piece of his mind to give to the people remaining,
"I don't even know what ta say... I truly don't. Brielle, a lassie willing ta give up her own well being ta help the Isle and the people on it, the most loyal lassie I've ever met, and this is the thanks she gets from all of ya"
Harry said in such a bitter and angry tone he couldn't yell, Uma and Carlos and now the Hook sisters, those who had believed Brielle before Ben cleared her name, stayed by his side while Ben was debating whether or not to console Mal who was in such disarray,
"And ye, Malsy, I genuinely thought ye had changed for the better. Brielle saved us and so many others from rotting on the Isle and wants to save everyone and ye don't just try ta stop her, ya make her look like the villain when yer ass in on the line. Making everyone believe she's some wicked witch that puts a face on for the presses but in reality doesn't care about the Isle or anyone on it, and that could not be further from the truth! Ya know what's always bothered me?! The fact that no one ever gives her all the credit she fucking deserves! None of ya have a damn CLUE as ta what she does every day ta help everyone else! She forgets ta SLEEP sometimes because she cares about others, especially those on the Isle so much! I see all of her dedication and hard work every day! I see her exhaustion and frustration when she can't help the people of the Isle! And ya all had the audacity ta call that woman a liar and shout at her... and ye Benjamin oh ye and I are going ta have WORDS DAMMIT! HOW MANY TIMES AS SHE CRIED BECAUSE OF YA TODAY ALONE?! GIVE ME A DAMN NUMBER NOW!"
Harry shouted louder than ever before, eventually, he quickly stalked up to Ben and got in his face. Harry is slightly taller than Ben, so suddenly the boy with an inner beast to him felt as small as a mere mouse. No one had ever screamed at him like that, not even close. Pure rage fueled Harry's words while he had to seriously fight back the urge to hook Ben on the spot because in his eyes all he could see is that Ben made his lassie cry. There is one thing that Harry loathes with his entire being, and it's when someone hurts Brielle in any way. Ben shook some at Harry's intensity and began quickly thinking and counting the times he's made Brielle upset today on his fingers, Harry peered down to see him having to count with his fingers and about lost it again,
"Ye do realize that ye should be dreadfully sorry if ya did even ONCE right? The fact that ya even need ta count is appalling! Yer her TWIN BROTHER! DO I NEED TA SPELL THAT OUT FOR YA?! She's had ta put up with yer ass for her entire life and she has never done anything ta spite or hurt ya so how on earth can ya stumble so fuckin' badly eh?! I hate ta compare the two of us lad because we obviously know her very differently but my gods I have never made her cry let alone like this! Whenever something comes up we face it and talk our way out of it like responsible adults and guess what?! We don't throw each other under the bus! When it comes to most things we look at it as me and her as a team that solves things together, and ye two should be the same way when doing royal things! Brielle. Is. Not. The. Enemy. And yet, that's the first thing ye guys saw her as back there..."
Harry very quickly brought himself back down and slowly backed away from Ben to look at everyone else around. Harriet, CJ, and Uma were all particularly in shock at the rage he displayed in defense of Brielle. They hadn't known her for the longest, but they for sure didn't expect Harry and Brielle to be the couple they are.
The Hook sisters remembered Harry as the rather snappy, harsh, plain mean sometimes, a slightly deranged pirate that instilled fear in many on the Isle for even looking at him wrong. Uma remembered him as the loud and slightly obnoxious ex-first mate of hers. But this Harry, they all saw a very different picture than they hadn't seen before. At that moment where he passionately defended Brielle, they saw the loyalty and the unconditional love, and that was something they never thought they'd see in him,
"... Mal, she has tried so much ta help ya, and yet ye seem ta take her words and throw em out as soon as ya deem them irrelevant. For someone who treasures every word that that woman speaks I'm HIGHLY offended. Maybe if ya listened to her for once instead of letting silly fear and paranoia rule yer thought process we wouldn't be in this mess!"
Harriet and CJ quickly walked up to Harry and pulled him back some to have a cooldown, there were others who wished to speak after all. Evie slowly walked forward to Mal with tears in her eyes. Mal walked forward to Evie with a pleading smile,
"You g-guys I didn't mean to d-do any harm I promise y-you... I j-just don't w-want to l-let a-anyone down... Evie"
She said while she was simply looking for some sort of guidance, for she felt lost in the moment. Mal looked to her best friend for something, anything. Advice, support maybe, Mal just wanted something. Evie let the tears begin to fall onto her cheeks and slowly began shaking her head,
"All of those kids that instilled so much hope in you... some even put more faith in you getting them off the Isle than the royals themselves and yet you're the reason they could be trapped there... how could y-you?"
Evie said with a broken voice, something that made Mal realize how much she had messed up. Mal tried to go to her friend, but Evie kept backing away from her,
"E-Evie... you guys I-I-"
"Save it, Mal"
Jay said with a very disappointed tone, cutting Mal's pleas off. Carlos slowly shook his head in disapproval, but suddenly Harry felt a sort of terrible feeling arise in his chest. He took a quick breath and looked after where Brielle had run off, and he couldn't resist any longer. He walked right through the group and followed her very footsteps,
"Harry where are you going?"
Harriet shouted at him, CJ sighed and went running after him as they both believed the Queen needed a long cooldown and he shouldn't go after her just yet. But Harry felt otherwise, if she wanted alone time to process then Harry would like Brielle to do it while she was at least in his line of sight,
"I'm going ta find Brielle, no one follow me"
That was all Harry said before continuing on. In his heart, he truly had a sense of uneasiness that Brielle had run off on her own and hadn't said where she was going, but she mentioned going back to Auradon Prep. Therefore that's the first place Harry was going to look, once he was deeper into the woods, he began calling out to Brielle, asking her to come out and talk to him.
But Harry never got an answer.
Right after Harry was out of sight as well, Celia took action to get revenge on Mal for what she did. Celia walked up to Mal and began to cry on the spot even after Uma had taken time to console her as best as she could,
"You know I thought you were brave, I sided with you because I thought it was right to trust a fellow villain kid. Turns out I was wrong, you're just a chicken, too much of a chicken to tell me that you wanted to take away the option for me to go see my dad ever again!"
Celia shouted before snatching the ember right from Mal's hand and dumped it into a birdbath without another thought, making Mal shriek in horror and jump after Celia to try to get the ember as quickly out of the birdbath as possible. But it was far too late, the embers light had been drowned out by then, and no one seemed to feel any sympathy for Mal and her desperate pleads via spells to relight the ember, all while by the second Audrey's power was growing.
While Mal tried to regain the light of the ember so desperately, Ben couldn't help but feel extremely guilty for Brielle's reaction above all things. So even though Harry told everyone to not follow him to find Brielle, he crept away without saying a word to find his sister and try to make some form of amends.
Mal desperately tried to spell it back to life, meanwhile, Uma no longer wished to help Mal's cause. Uma wanted to help Brielle's cause, so she slowly walked past Mal with the ember by the birdbath,
"You know... I could probably help with that, but I'm not going to help your sorry ass. Good luck Mal, good luck"
Uma bitterly spoke before slowly sauntering off to go join those who obviously were on Brielle's side. Mal slowly turned to her friends plus the Hook sisters who were debating whether to go after Harry or not, but Mal began to plead to her friends for some form of forgiveness despite the sister's presence,
"G-Guys... I-I j-just wanted t-to protect o-our lives here.... I didn't w-want to l-let anyone down, I t-thought I w-was doing the r-right thing"
Evie was silently crying and just slowly shook her head and looked at Carlos and Jay who were in shock and disapproval of Mal's actions too. They were all speechless until Evie spoke up once again,
"W-Well... it w-wasn't the right thing"
She stuttered out. At this point, Harriet and CJ felt like they were intruding so they began to sneak away. But just as they began doing so, a strike of lightning blinded them all for a few seconds as a spell was rained down upon everyone there besides Mal. Mal quickly shielded her eyes from the light before shakily putting her arms down and loudly gasping in fear and heartbreak.
There were all her best friends, Harriet and CJ included, seemingly encased in perfect stone statues... turned to stone before Mal's very eyes.
Brielle POV
I took as many deep breaths as I could and finally stopped running, catching my breath and choking on sobs at the same time which made it quite hard to breathe. I had stopped right outside the first wall of Auradon Prep I had run to and just looked straight up for a few moments. The run was harsh as I cried the whole way, and was still crying now that is.
It's hard... knowing that someone so close to you could do such a thing. It really hurt, and it probably will for a while. Running away might've been dramatic but... I just wanna be alone for a while.
I took some deep breaths and got my breathing under control for a few minutes before wiping my tears and attempting to get myself together some so I could head back to the group. I turned on my heels to begin heading back to the group, but what I got instead was my heart jumping out of my chest at the sight of Audrey standing right behind me. I loudly gasped and stumbled back in shock,
"A-Audrey, you s-scared me"
I muttered in a bit of shock which made my voice inadvertently tremble. Audrey slowly laughed some and gave me a smile that I knew was fake but didn't look like it,
"I'm sorry Bri, I didn't mean to frighten you. But by the looks of you, you look a little beaten down, what's wrong?"
She said as she slowly began walking closer to me. I only shook my head and mustered up a smile,
"Aud you don't have to pretend to care, I know what you think about me. Listen, I'm really not in the mood for whatever you're here for so could you just leave me alone?"
I said, I was doing my best to hide my emotions right now as today has really beaten me down and I wish I could just lock myself in my room and have a solid cry, but I sadly couldn't. Audrey hummed and walked to stand directly in front of me,
"Well... no"
She said with a smirk. I groaned and took a long sigh, I have plenty more crying to do and would much like to either finish my crying or get back to the group, not talk to Audrey of all people. She may have the scepter and she may be all evil and stuff, but I'm not scared of her so I simply acted as if we were having a normal conversation,
"Okay fine, what do you want?"
I said with a very tired tone, I could tell my voice was slowly getting more coarse the more I didn't rest it especially because I've cried so much today, cried and yelled are the top two things I've done today and that's just upsetting. Audrey hummed some before speaking,
"Bri, you and I finally have a common feeling. Ben and Mal wronged you huh? Went behind your back and lied to everyone you love including you? And not just that, made almost everyone turn on you for something that Mal did. Such a low blow... even I could never"
She said as she slowly began circling me like a shark would as she spoke, it was ominous sure, but it'll take a lot more than that to scare me,
"They were just doing what they thought was best for Auradon. Yeah, we all made bad decisions along the way but in their mind it's... it's what they believe, their opinion, and I can't change that all the time"
I spoke, my voice cracking some mid-sentence as the anger and betrayal from that moment hadn't ceased,
"All without you though, it seems like he's slowly replacing you with Mal doesn't it? Suddenly Mal's paranoia means more to him than your logic. Must be rough, your own brother turning on you and going against something you've worked years to achieve. You're the Queen, you have just as much power as he does and yet he thinks he can overpower you hm? How terrible, if only he knew how powerful you really are~"
I could only laugh a little as no other emotion wished to show, it's like I had been tired of being sad and went to laughing things off like it's fine... but it did kinda seem like that... didn't it? Ben couldn't be trying to... replace me right? I-I mean more to him than that I'd hope. I sadly laughed and shook my head some,
"H-He wouldn't do that, he's just trying t-to not ignore Mal that's all... I'm sure all o-of this will pass and t-they'll figure it out soon"
I shakily spoke as the idea of Ben replacing me with Mal made... it made a little sense. And I hate... I hate that it made even a little sense. My internal insecurities that Audrey was always so good at bringing up began lurking back into my mind. Back in the day, Audrey would casually pick on me here and there, before I had the voice to fight back and such. But Audrey was always so good at picking out what I disliked most. She continued to slowly circle around me, gently waving her hand about in the air as she spoke,
"Brielle, look at yourself. You have more power than any other, you're beautiful, have a heavy hand, a strong opinion, and a fire in your soul yeah? Don't you want Ben to see that fire? To feel that fire?"
I was only getting more confused, this didn't seem like the Audrey that said she hated all that stuff about me in her diary. It was like she was praising me for having all of my strong attributes that I thought she hated,
"What do you mean?"
She came to stand right in front of me, stopping and staring at me some with the scepter ominously swirling all sorts of shades of green within it,
"Brielle, don't you want Ben to feel that fire? Well then, I can help you with that. We're both angry at Mal and Ben, so let's get them back together..."
She took her free hand and held it out to me for a handshake,
"... take my hand, won't you?"
This is a trap, isn't it? I backed away from her some as soon as I realized I was being lured into a dangerous trap with a very shocked expression,
"W-What? Audrey no! I would never hurt Ben not even over this, don't try to trick me into doing so! You know me I'd never willingly hurt anyone I love and yeah I'm upset with him but that doesn't change anything!"
I shouted, she quickly put a finger over her lips and shushed some,
"Shh, you would hate for someone to hear you"
I shook my head and stopped backing up with a very confused look,
"Why on earth would that matter Aud?"
I asked with a very confused tone, but Audrey only hummed some and slowly shook her head,
"I thought this would be a bit easier, I really thought you had enough pain in that soul of yours to want some form of revenge. Apparently, you aren't hurt enough"
Audrey said as her smile slowly twisted into a sinister smirk that successfully managed to worry me a little. I looked around and nervously laughed a little but decided to try my best to tap into the real Audrey that was being trapped under this evil surface, we have been looking for her all this time and now that she's finally here I need to at least try to get her back to good,
"Audrey, I know you aren't really like this. I know there's something on your mind, something you want maybe? Just talk to me Aud, I don't want this to end badly for anyone including you"
I said with major sympathy, she looked at me for a few seconds more before looking into the scepters crystal for a moment or two. As she stared into the scepter I noticed her expression seem to soften some, just a little but it was something,
"You know what I want Bri? I want a happy ending"
I smiled some and took a step closer to her as she seemed to be coming to her senses some, this time she didn't step back in fear that I would try to steal the scepter from her. In fact, she didn't even move,
"Yeah? Well this isn't the way to get it. Aud, I know it must be hard watching Ben and Mal and all. I can barely comprehend how hard that must be, but that just means Ben isn't your person and that's okay. I know how your grandma can be, I've overheard a few things about what she tells you and I can tell you very confidently Aud that if she truly loved you she wouldn't be putting such terrible things into your mind. I can't express how sorry I am that you have to deal with that. It doesn't matter if your person is a prince or a person from the Isle, when you find them you'll know I promise"
Her eyes softened some and looked back over to me and took another step forward, I didn't take a step back this time as I felt more comfortable that she was coming to her senses. I seemed to ignore the underlying feeling of something not being right here and allowed her to get closer to me,
"But I want Ben"
She said softly, I sighed and shook my head some before even thinking of offering her my hand, but that didn't feel right. So, I refrained from being too friendly just in case,
"What you want isn't always what you need Aud"
I gently spoke as to not aggravate her in any way now that it looks like we've gotten to a steady point. She looked to the side some before looking back to me, a bit of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips,
"You're right, I know what I need"
She said as she began to walk around me again, but at a slower pace than before so I didn't feel intimidated or put off,
"What is it then?"
I softly spoke, Audrey stepped behind me and led me to turn my head towards her some. Slowly, I noticed a smirk coming back which immediately made my sense of uneasiness spike,
"I need everyone to feel what I had to"
Audrey quietly spoke with a growl of vengeance that immediately kicked my fight or flight response on, but it was too late for that. Audrey lunged towards me before I could react and brought her arm around my neck and pull me into her from behind, as soon as I started to struggle she pointed the scepter right at me and tightened her grip around my neck, restricting my breath as I suddenly grew very panicked and was forced to freeze from the scepter being dangerously close to me,
"When Harry comes around to find you, I'm going to give him an illusion of having a choice. He'll have a "hard choice" to make. Save his own skin, or save his precious little Queen, and the best part is I know who he's going to pick"
W-What? Wait no, Harry... oh gods, please. My eyes widened and fear settled into my heart at the mention of Harry, I was okay when this was just my matter, but Harry doesn't deserve any of this. I took as deep of a breath as I could despite her basically choking me to a point,
"A-Audrey? Wait w-what do you mean?"
I said with panic with what little air I could manage. A cold cackle came from her,
"Oh innocent Brielle, you know I have always been at least a little envious of the two of you. Always so lovey-dovey with each other no matter when, where, or how you two were even feeling. Especially you, out of all people since when were you of all people allowed to be so fucking happy? Don't think I don't remember how you were back in the day, so cold, harsh, sometimes I could've even described you as a stuck up prick just because you think you're some sort of catch. All of that, and you get... him. Someone who fawns for you, admires you whenever you're in view, thinks you're some sort of goddess. You... You of all people don't deserve that! I was a polar opposite compared to you and still am and yet here I am! So, if I can't have that sort of love... if I can't be happy... then no one can!"
Audrey said every single word with a venom I had never experienced first hand, she hates me because... I'm happy? She doesn't like that I found Harry? And because of that... she wants to hurt him? I found myself slowly slipping into an actual panic, I don't want Harry to get hurt because of this of course not! Not to mention, the only reason she can do any of this in the first place is because I ran off... oh my gods I'm the bait, how have I just now realized that?! I am SO off my game today! Gods... what is wrong with me?!
"Let's see how close we are to our deciding moment~"
Audrey sang as soon as she stopped cackling at my panicked and scared shaking. She swirled the scepter around some before a cloudy view of Harry himself sure enough coming our way made its appearance to my demise. I whimpered as tears uncontrollably fell from my eyes,
"H-Harry... no Audrey p-please leave him out of t-this!"
I begged, I've never begged for something before but I couldn't help it. Why couldn't she keep this between us? Why couldn't she leave him alone?! She cackled as I struggled some more, unable to do much from the scepter being so close. It's like being in a predator's grasp, trying desperately to get away somehow while knowing it's no use, and I hate it. Your fate is sealed, but you wish you could change the tides. If I can't get away, I at least want Harry to get away. I want him to run, far away from here. I don't want him to ever show up to my rescue, because I know what choice he'll make. Even if he had a real choice, no matter what he'd choose to save me... and for once I wish he wouldn't,
"P-Please Audrey don't hurt him I beg you!"
I desperately shouted, she quickly resituated her arm and slapped her hand over my mouth and harshly pressed down, only small whimpers could be heard from my lips now,
"Hmm... I don't think so, if it makes you feel better I'm getting rid of Mal next so Ben won't be happy either... but soon neither of you will even know Harry and Mal existed, and it'll all be alright then. Besides, as soon as he sees you there's no getting him away from you so he'll just have to take the hit, he would die for you after all"
Audrey said in the most sinister tone I think I've ever heard from her. I suddenly felt extremely worried as to what she meant and I really wished I could ask for clarification, but I could only mumble incoherent sounds as I couldn't even open my mouth. I let out silenced sobs, tears of desperation and fear were never-ending now, and they weren't for my safety. I'm extremely scared... for Harry. I was alright when the target was on my back, but I'm.... I'm not okay with it being on Harry's. I love him, I-I don't want him to get hurt because he wants to protect me, ugh it's not fair... I just wish I could prevent him from ever coming, then... oh gods no... I've never felt the sense of dread when hearing Harry's voice until this moment,
"Brielle? Come on darlin' where are ya?"
Harry... he's almost here. I took a few more desperate thrash arounds but it did nothing, and it was too late anyway.
Third Person
As soon as Harry and Brielle's eyes met he was struck with the fear he only ever saw in his greatest nightmares. There she was, his Brielle being held hostage by the enemy, tears streaming down her cheeks and her mouth harshly covered. Harry froze in shock, his breathing immediately quickened and chest tightened,
"Welcome Harry, took you long enough to get here. We've been waiting just for you"
Audrey coldly exclaimed. Harry shook his head in disbelief and tried to keep a calm and cool composure despite the shot of adrenaline that had been pumped into his veins,
"Audrey, let her go"
He calmly tried to speak, Audrey cackled as Brielle tried to thrash against her again. She forced the scepter closer to Brielle to get her to stop which sent Harry's heart into a frenzy of adrenaline,
"Brielle don't do that love, just relax it's gonna be alright"
Brielle was internally screaming, warning Harry that Audrey ultimately wants to hurt him not her, that he's in danger, not she. Harry thought she was scared for her own safety, thought she was in tears because she was hurt and frightened, but that was as far from the truth as it could get.
Brielle was trying to warn him, but there was no way a single coherent word was going to come from her mouth as long as Audrey was silencing her. Brielle whimpered in desperation and began raising her voice some to try to get some sort of word through her mumbles. Audrey harshly forced her head to look away from Harry for a second,
"Shut up!"
She shouted with a growl at Brielle in an attempt to frighten her out of speaking any more, Harry could only panic more, hoping Audrey wouldn't lose her temper at Brielle's struggle,
"Darlin', Brielle listen ta me. Please, just relax some. For my sake please, stay calm for me"
Harry took a few more steps closer, maybe until he was six feet away. Then Audrey stopped him by forcing Brielle back to look ahead and up and put the scepter right under her chin,
"That's close enough"
She growled at Harry, Brielle still had her hands on Audrey's arm and was trying to just pull her hand away from her mouth for a second, that's all she needed. But she was trembling too much, her strength was wavering with the panic,
"Audrey p-please, just let her go I'll do anything just... please don't hurt her"
Harry desperately begged, Audrey cackled as Brielle only whimpered more, Harry put his hands up to make sure she could see his hands and not trigger her to do anything brash,
"You have a choice to make Harry. You can save your own skin and you go free, no one ever has to know we even talked and that you even had a choice and Brielle gets it, or you can sacrifice yourself and she goes free and unharmed. It's either you or her, no in-between. So pirate, what do you choose? You or her?"
Audrey lied, for no matter Harry's choice she would be spelling him. Harry gulped and locked eyes with Brielle, he hated seeing her so scared. What he didn't know was it was fear for him, not herself. Brielle shook her head a little as Audrey's grip ceased for a second. Harry took a deep breath and smiled at Brielle through his tears,
"I l-love ya, Brielle m-my love. I'll take it for her, just p-please let her go"
Brielle harshly sobbed and tried to get out of Audrey's grasp once again as she was in such disarray. Audrey evilly smirked and cackled some as Harry did exactly what she had predicted,
"You drive a hard bargain, but I'll give you your wish seeing as its one of your last requests before a nice long sleep~"
Audrey harshly shoved Brielle to the side and into the ground with a powerful force, Brielle taking a gasp of air now that her mouth was free. Brielle was petrified at her statement for she didn't know if the "long sleep" was actually being put to sleep... or if she was going to kill Harry. Brielle looked up at Harry, he looked at her with a brave smile as Audrey charged the scepter while Brielle was in shambles. She was trembling and shaking so badly, and no soft smile from even Harry could help. She could see the fear and the tears in his eye too, however, he kept his head held high as he was willing to do anything to keep Brielle safe. But Brielle couldn't take it. She was on the verge of a panic attack, and Harry hated not being able to go over there and console her,
"It's going ta be alright darlin', p-please smile for me"
Brielle conjured up her best smile, having to swallow a sob to do so. Audrey finished charging the scepter and looked right at Harry with a sinister smirk as this was just how she anticipated her plan going,
"Goodnight~"
She purred, she brought the scepter back in preparation to shoot the spell right into Harry's chest for a direct hit. Then, it all went in slow motion.
Brielle closed her eyes for a second to ready herself, shakily stood up, broke into a sprint as quickly as she could just as Audrey shot the spell, and threw herself into Harry to his ultimate horror just as it reached them. Even though Harry had already wrapped his arms around her and was ready to spin around to still take the hit, Brielle had perfect timing. Gasping as she felt the spell hit her right in the back, she took the spell for Harry and acted as a shield to protect him.
Brielle had to cling onto Harry's shoulders to continue standing as the spell took effect so quickly Harry quickly began shaking his head in fear as tears were already welling up in his eyes as in his head, all he could think was that this was his greatest nightmare come to life. He couldn't believe it, he could not wrap his head around what she had just done,
"B-Bri-Brielle?"
He whispered with a coarse, shaky, and terrified voice as she stared up at him with eyes quickly sinking into looking far more tired than moments before. Suddenly her legs collapsed and Harry quickly caught her to prevent her from falling. Harry had to keep his exterior calm to not scare Brielle he thought, but Brielle herself was scared, she simply didn't have the energy to express it,
"I-I got ya, h-hey yer going ta b-be okay alright?"
Harry spoke as calmly as his trembling soul allowed as he gently lowered the two of them in unison to lay her down since her legs no longer allowed her to stand. Harry leaned over her with a hand under her head and another completely around her as he held her in his lap. To Harry's ultimate horror, Brielle's eyes looked as if they were about to close, so he quickly continued talking to her in his best attempt to not let her slip under then inevitable effects of the spell,
"Brielle j-just keep looking at me alright? Yer gonna b-be alright okay? D-Don't close yer eyes pl-please"
He quickly spoke, but the magic however was taking over quickly and making Brielle more and more tired no matter how hard she tried to fight it. But Harry's words motivated her to fight just a little harder, but Brielle understood what was going to happen. So instead of using her energy to fight off the inevitable, she shakily was able to raise her hand up and gently cupped Harry's cheek. Harry saw her eyelids struggling to stay open any longer and felt like he was about to have a heart attack,
"No no no Brielle c-come on j-just stay a-awake for m-me please!"
Harry began quickly pleading even faster and more frantic, but Brielle knew she couldn't hold on any longer. Harry felt her hand on his cheek about to slip away due to her lack of strength to keep it up, so Harry took one of his hands and supported her more by bringing her fully into his lap before placing that free hand of his over hers to help her keep her hand on his cheek. Brielle was able to muster up a smile and gently was able to move her thumb across his cheek one more time, though it wasn't much its all she could do before using the rest of her remaining energy to whisper one last message to him as she didn't know what was going to happen to her when her eyes closed,
"I love you..... Har..."
She couldn't even get his full name out before her eyelids fluttered shut and Harry felt the weight of her hand on his cheek fall into his. Brielle's body quickly fell completely into the effects of the spell, and Harry felt a panic attack so bad on the horizon he already felt like he was going to die,
"B-Brielle? B-B-Brielle?!!"
Harry screamed in terror as he felt her entire body give and overly relax to the point of being limp. Harry shook his head and began to hyperventilate within seconds and he very quickly leaned down further and gently let her hand that had been on his cheek down and shakily used one of his hands to lift up her head up and held her still. In such a panic he shook her body a little, desperately hoping for something. But she didn't move, she didn't even flinch. He pulled her up into him and held on as tight as he could, but it wasn't like he's used to. Instead of her seemingly molding herself to fit snug in his arms, she was entirely limp, unable to hold him in return like she always did,
"D-Darlin' please, d-don't leave meh... n-not like this p-please"
Harry desperately whispered to her in a panic still, unaware of the slow rise and fall of her chest that indicated that she was in fact not dead, for right now Harry thought Brielle had died in his arms. Audrey meanwhile felt different, weakened almost. It was as if someone was draining the power she had just gotten and needed to fulfill her plan. Suddenly the scepters crystal began to crack straight down the middle in a jagged fashion, she shrieked and looked in a panic as her scepter looked like it was losing its spark. It was like the magic was spilling out of the crack in the Dragons Eye, and Audrey didn't even know why. She growled and looked at Harry as he held Brielle in such disarray,
"What did you do?!"
She shouted. Harry didn't even move his eyes, focus, nothing, he simply cupped Brielle's warm cheek and pressed his forehead against hers as he tried his best to not completely lose it, but losing it was also inevitable for him,
"B-Brielle... my l-love just o-open yer e-eyes... p-please..."
He sobbed out, bringing her head up some more and subconsciously nuzzling her face, wishing with all of his heart and upon every star in the sky that she would nuzzle back. Press her forehead against his, brush her nose against his, cup his cheek, something. He just wanted something, anything, and he got absolutely nothing.
Audrey stomped in frustration at Harry ignoring her as all of his concentration was on Brielle, and there was no way he was going to move that concentration as he couldn't grasp the idea that Brielle was gone. At least that's what he thinks of course, as the sleeping spell slows down everything in the body, breathing and heartbeat being the most notable as it can give the impression that the victim of the spell is dead unless they are laid flat where the rise and fall of the chest are most evident.
Audrey finally let it go and stopped trying to get Harry's attention and teleported away, the scepter sputtering and seemingly struggling to do so but eventually succeeding in sending Audrey away. Harry kept muttering and whispering his desperate pleas in hopes that somehow she could hear him still, refusing to cease his tight grip as if he was afraid to let her go,
"I-It should've b-been me.... darlin' it s-should've been me..."
A/N
Hiya....
Wow.
So........
That happened, uh I know we ended off on a serious note and all but... betcha didn't see that coming XD
Sorry I cope via humor and writing this chapter made me cry, so hopefully it evoked some emotion out of all of you as well because... this is the longest chapter of the entire book so far at a whopping nearly seven thousand words.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, despite the obvious theme here. I guess the question I should ask today is, how did this chapter make you feel?
I'd still love to hear your thoughts despite this obvious... sadness here and all :)
Remember to stay hydrated and to be kind to yourself today :D
-Brooke