SJ grabbed a vial of purple liquid, hopped down from the stool, and headed over to us. She held it up and I read the tiny print on the label.
“Memory Cure.”
“Hopefully this can restore what the prince has lost,” SJ said. “While we are here, we should find him and Odette and free them. Save two birds rather than kill two birds with one stone if you will.”
“Mauvrey is already on it, but I have to find Von Rothbart too. He has my pocket watch.”
My Mark Two rang. I answered it and Mauvrey’s face filled the looking glass. “I have found Odette and the prince. Did you find SJ and Kai?” she asked.
“Yeah, they’re safe. How do we get to you?”
“From the hall we were in, take two lefts, a right, then another left. Go through the—oh darn. Wolves.” She hung up.
“If we try and rescue Odette and the prince, I am sure Von Rothbart will come to us,” SJ said. “You get your watch back and we will help the others.”
“Love that plan. Let’s go.” I stowed the keyring in my pocket just in case and started running up the hall lined with cages. I arrived at the stairs and glanced back. SJ caught up with me a second later, but wait, where was Kai? I turned and looked down the corridor. She was a good twenty steps behind.
“You good?” I asked as she sprinted up to us.
“Yeah fine, just a little cramped up from being in that cage.”
The three of us ascended the stairs and followed Mauvrey’s directions. It wasn’t long before we came upon a pair of tall double doors. They were wide open, providing us with a perfect view of the princess defending herself against a dozen cobalt wolves in the massive living room.
Man, she really could take care of herself.
We rushed into the room as Mauvrey fired a set of electrified wires that ensnared a wolf. She grunted, yanked, and spun—hurling the wolf sideways like a tetherball and knocking the creature into several more wolves in the vicinity. She retracted the wires and clapped her hands together, punching a wolf pouncing at her and knocking him back with a surge of power.
SJ, Kai, and I dove into the fight. The living room was super spacious, allowing for a range of attacks from our team. SJ drew her portable potions while Kai and I took out our swords. SJ froze a handful of wolves where they stood. Kai and I stabbed a couple more. Mauvrey continued doing her thing.
POOF!
I killed another cobalt wolf, causing it to erupt into blue-gray smoke that drastically contrasted the various reds of the room’s carpet, sofas, and armchairs.
“Odette is up there!” Mauvrey gestured in a break between wolf attacks. I followed her finger to the big cage suspended from the roof, twenty feet up. A white swan was inside, peering down at us.
“And the prince?” I asked. I slashed at one wolf and kicked another back. More of the enhanced animals kept coming down the hall. They were like ants that’d found a sandwich in the grass; there was no stopping the flow now that they found a meal.
“In the corner!” Mauvrey said, pointing with her chin to the right. “Without a memory of someone worth fighting for, it looks like he forgot how to fight period.”
I glanced over. Near a roaring, iron fireplace I saw the prince from my vision cowering behind an armchair.
“I have the wolves,” SJ called to us, focusing her fire power on the door to try and prevent new animals from entering. A slime potion encased three creatures. “Kai, you get Odette. Daniel and Mauvrey, help the prince.”
“How do I open the cage?” Kai asked.
“Try this,” I called to Kai, tossing her the keyring from the potions lab. She stowed her sword then popped the hood of her cloak. Kai turned back into a black swan and soared up to Odette’s cage. SJ threw me the vial of memory restoring potion, which I caught in one hand.
I looked to Mauvrey. “Watch my back.”
“Of course.”
We darted across the living room—bounding over fallen furniture, Mauvrey thwarting any wolves that came at us. When I made it to the prince, I took a knee directly in front of him.
“Hey, man. I realize this doesn’t make a lot of sense, but you need to drink this potion.”
I held out the vial. The prince didn’t look up. He gazed at his feet, quaking with nerves. I reached out, but he shied away from me when I tried to put the vial in his hand.
“He’s catatonic,” I said to Mauvrey. “The combo of his memory wipe, fear, and years of being beaten down by Von Rothbart have made him shell-shocked. I don’t know what to do.”
“Let me try,” Mauvrey said. “You watch my back now. Maybe this prince just needs the princess touch.”
We traded places and I passed Mauvrey the vial as she came to her knees in front of the prince. She reached out and tilted the prince’s chin upward delicately so that his gaze met hers. Then she slapped him across the face. Hard.
The prince was stunned and stopped shaking.
“Drink this. Now,” Mauvrey ordered. She uncorked the vial and held it up to the prince. He hesitated another second, then swallowed it in one gulp.
“That was the princess touch?” I asked Mauvrey.
“It was mine,” she replied. Then her eyes widened. “Daniel—”
I spun around and got tackled by a wolf. My sword clattered to the ground as I struggled to push the creature off, but it bore down—exposed teeth inches from my face. Then the wolf yelped loudly and was booted off me. I looked up. The prince held my sword, which dripped with blue blood. The wolf exploded into smoke a second later and the blood vanished from my weapon magically, as was part of its design.
“Sorry about the PTSD,” the prince said, offering me a hand up and returning my sword. “Von Rothbart’s potion essentially robs you of who you are when it takes away the people you love.” His eyes darted to Odette’s cage. Human Kai sat on top of the cage trying to open it with different keys.
“Odette!” the prince cried.
Kai found the right key at that exact moment and unlatched the cage. The second it opened, Odette dove down. Kai popped her hood again and did the same. We reunited in the middle of the living room, all except SJ who still held the doorway. Kai became human but Odette did not. She landed at our feet and waddled over to the prince.
“Daniel, you are up!” SJ called.
“How dare you!”
I turned as an outraged Von Rothbart appeared at the entrance, flanked by too many wolves to count quickly.
Geez. First there was Eva and her flying monkeys, then Xēshēng and his owl demons, now this guy and his potion-altered wolves—why were bad guys always so well-stocked in the evil minion department?
“Mauvrey, protect Odette and the prince. Kai, help SJ. I have a watch to recover.”
Kai drew her sword. SJ aimed her slingshot. Von Rothbart raised his hand and pointed forward, sending all the wolves straight at us.
A rainbow of potion colors ignited my periphery as I dodged wolves and raced toward Von Rothbart. He seemed eager to meet me and our blades collided beneath the epic double doors. Slash. Clash. Duck. Boom. Clang.
“I’m surprised you’re still alive,” Von Rothbart said. He parried and thrust. I leapt sideways and slashed at his neck.
“I’m not. I still have a lot to do today.” I drove my sword toward him. Wolves rushed around us as we bounded over patches of slime and ice from SJ’s portable potions.
I blocked his blade again, but Von Rothbart closed in and punched me in the exact spot where he’d stabbed me earlier. Despite the Lady of the Lake’s magic, it hurt like heck. I buckled from the pain and Von Rothbart came in forcefully. He knocked my sword out of my hand and it clanged to the ground behind him. He brought up his blade for a two-handed overhead strike, but I whirled past him—skidding to my knees, grabbing my weapon, and pivoting back to my feet.
Von Rothbart turned and stabbed. I redirected his blade into one of the couches then kicked him hard in the chest. He landed on his back with an oomph. It was déjà vu. Only this time it w
ould end differently.
Before Von Rothbart could get up, before he could do anything more than look me in the eyes, I bridged the distance between us and drove my sword into him. Only when the light left his irises did I withdraw my blade.
I checked Von Rothbart’s pockets and pulled out my watch, stowing it in my own pocket before pivoting to witness SJ blast the last two wolves into blue-gray dust.
I exhaled as the blood magically melted from my cursed blade. I turned the sword over in my hand. I had a lot of questions about it, but the Lady of the Lake said I wasn’t in immediate peril and not to worry for now. It wasn’t in my nature to blindly trust anyone—spirits included—but I’d take her at her word for the time being given how many pressing issues I had to deal with.
Sheathing the sword, I walked over to my friends. They’d gathered around Odette and the prince, the latter of which was on his knees in front of the swan.
“Odette. Odette, I’m so sorry.”
She looked at him blankly with her lavender eyes, her neck regally elongated. The orange and gold of the fireplace behind them caused her white feathered body to practically glow.
“I was a fool and I was weak,” the prince continued. “Von Rothbart tricked me. I should’ve known that woman he sent in disguise wasn’t you. I should’ve known because I love you more than anything. You always made me feel like the best version of myself and all I did was get you turned into the worst version of yours. It is my fault you’ve been trapped as a swan all these years, and I’m so so sorry.”
He bowed his head in front of her, looking sadder and more defeated than when his memory had been lost.
At first Odette stood there frozen as a statue as the prince stooped before her miserably. Then Odette took several steps forward until barely a few inches separated her from the prince. She wrapped her neck around his head in a hug, and closed her eyes. The couple embraced in the hearth of the fire, all else silent except for the crackle of the flames. I was not a touchyfeely person, but it was the purest, most loving gesture I had ever witnessed. My heart was moved by such a powerful, wordless expression of love.
Love.
I realized I hadn’t checked my pocket watch to see what pivotal relationship aspect I’d absorbed with the latest flame. I opened the watch and read the word I’d been missing.
Forgiveness.
“Oh my word,” SJ gasped.
Odette and the prince were glowing. A spellbinding lightshow of gold and pink and silver and white swirled around them, forming a glittering cocoon that spun faster and tighter until it burst into a gush of water that splashed to the floor. When it did, it revealed the prince . . . and a princess. A human one, with wavy honey hair that cascaded over the prince’s face and fell to the floor. Her head was pressed against his and her arms were wrapped around him in an embrace on the floor.
The prince looked up. His eyes widened with as much joy as a person could possibly hold. “Odette!” He wrapped his arms around her properly and she did the same. They crouched there for a long moment, soaking in one another. This was love. Real love.
“It makes sense,” I thought aloud.
“Sorry?” Kai said. “What happened? How did the prince break the curse?”
“He didn’t. She broke her own curse,” I replied. “Melior said that only the most selfless form of love could restore Odette. That must be forgiveness.”
I showed them the glowing word inside my pocket watch, now seventy-five percent full of green light. “It all checks out. The Midnight Law quests are based on themes, right? Our time here is all about forgiveness, hence the tie-in with these two.”
I pivoted toward Odette as she and the prince pulled away from each other, addressing her with no small amount of awe. “You forgave him. In spite of everything, in spite of all the mistakes and pain he caused, and the cruel twists of fate he failed to prevent.”
“Of course I did,” Odette said. Her prince took her by the hand and they stood up together. Once up, they held onto each other still. The princess wore an emerald green gown, but no cloak of feathers. She was not a swan anymore, nor did she ever have to become one again.
Odette looked me in the eyes. “He was truly sorry and I love him. I did not know forgiving him would restore me, but even so, I did not want him to eternally live in such pain and punish himself for his guilt about the past. I desire what is best for him, and I want us to move forward.”
“Wait, if Odette breaking her curse was a part of this Midnight Law challenge, then why hasn’t our next portal appeared?” Kai asked.
“Because the test isn’t over,” I said. “Odette was only one part.” I glanced at Von Rothbart’s dead body and remembered Melior’s visions. I frowned, thinking.
Those feathered cloaks in the cages downstairs . . .
I turned to Odette and the prince. “I realize what I’m about to ask is a lot, given you’re probably over swans, but I think I know how we can end the curse of Swan Lake.”
The six of us carried Von Rothbart’s body over the forest in a rope net. He weighed a lot, but our wings were strong and our resolve powerful. The sky had turned pale gray by then. We were running out of time before sunrise, and for my idea to work, the Swan Maidens needed to be human.
As Swan Lake came into view, we saw the Swan Maidens standing at the edge. They were surprised when we landed on the embankment and jumped back in fright when they caught sight of Von Rothbart’s body.
I transformed back to human form first.
Clarissa stepped toward me. “Daniel, you came back! How? Why?” Seven more swans flew over the lake and the Swan Men joined us.
Several members of my party were more elaborately strapped to the rope net. I cut them loose and they changed back. Odette and the prince immediately shed their cloaks, not wanting to be burdened by them anymore. The garments fell to the dirt and Odette came forward. The Swan Men’s and Swan Maidens’ eyes widened as far as their sockets would stretch.
“Odette, you’re alive!” Anderton exclaimed. “And you’re not a swan!”
Odette nodded. “Daniel and his friends rescued me and restored my love’s lost memories.” Her prince moved beside her and they laced their fingers together. “When I forgave him for his past, my curse was broken. So we have come here with Von Rothbart’s body to symbolize the death of the old ways, our anticipation being that it will unburden you from your curse as well. It was Daniel’s idea—an offering to you so that maybe you can find room in your hearts to let go of the past as I have.”
The princess turned to the Swan Men. “Gentleman, please place the body in the lake. The water’s magic is tied to our shared curse so that is the optimal place for an offering.” She glanced at the lightening horizon. “Hurry. The sun will rise any minute and these maidens will be forced to change back. If this is to work, we must act now.”
The Swan Men obliged and carried and then pushed Von Rothbart’s body out onto the water. Instead of sinking, the warlock floated on the surface and glided to the middle of the lake. Shades of pink and orange reached over the tree line. The water glowed like it was coated in sherbet.
“Melior said that the same act of love that freed Odette could end your curse,” I reiterated to the Swan Maidens. “That act was forgiveness.” I gestured to Von Rothbart’s body. “I’ve done all I can do to help you get past the repression that’s held you back. The rest is on you. No more blaming people for the pain that happened before and the bad things people did. That was then. And those people weren’t us. You can choose to let go and leave the darkness behind. If you do—willingly and sincerely—I think that will be the cure your curse has been waiting for.”
“That is easier said than done,” the Swan Maiden Amber replied.
“Ease has nothing to do with what is right,” SJ responded, coming to stand next to me. “It would have been easier for Odette to hate her prince. He hurt her. He let certain bad things happen and failed to prevent others. He caused her a great deal of suffering. But lov
e is not easy, and moving forward never is either. However, it is the only way to be happy and to be at peace.”
“And you can only move forward with forgiveness,” Mauvrey added encouragingly.
Clarissa gazed at me for a long moment. Then she took a few steps forward and I saw her eyes fill with remorse and softness. Finally, she released a short exhale that melted her frown.
“Daniel, my sisters and I have shown you unnecessary anger, fear, and distrust because you were a part of a group that had wronged my kind in the past. But that was wrong of me. Of us.” She gestured at the others who stood behind her. “Every person is different, and you’re right; we can choose to let things go and leave the darkness behind.”
“Clarissa—” Amber started.
The redhead waved her hand. “We can’t keep blaming all men for how the gender mistreated us in the past. It’s a new day, and it has been for a while. We have just been too bitter to embrace that. Not anymore. No more grudges. They’re a waste of time and they’ve been holding us back. We can be better than this.”
She moved to the edge of the embankment, stepping into the water enough that the lake soaked her and her clothes up to the knees. She gazed out at Von Rothbart’s body. Then she took a deep, cleansing breath and sighed.
“I forgive you.”
After a moment, Clarissa’s Swan Sisters joined her, then joined hands. With equal serenity and gravity, each announced “I forgive you.”
A calming breeze swept over the lake, blowing back the Swan Maidens’ hair. In the middle of the lake, Von Rothbart’s body began to glimmer then glow—getting brighter and brighter until . . . POOF! It disappeared.
Glistening waters rose in twisting formations and wrapped the girls in one massive, vibrant cyclone. When the water splashed down into the lake moments later, the girls turned to face us. They looked the same, but I knew they weren’t.
Midnight Law Page 53