Chapter 20
Everyone Meets Everyone

 

“Up ahead!” The call rang over the caravan, muffled slightly by the snow. 

Alexander groaned and rubbed his face. “Oh, for the love of… I thought we weren’t supposed to be attacked on this side of the river!” He frowned and slowed down, then looked up at Lillian. She found his face hard to read. Despite his near-constant and ever-obvious annoyance, he tended to keep his face fairly neutral, all things considered. 

“No,” she said, and shifted her weight. In response, the moth on her shoulder made a very soft chirping sound. “That’s not an alarm call.” She smiled at Alexander. “I believe we’re finally here.” His eyes widened a little, and she was going to have to take that as him being either surprised or delighted. “Come. It’s a beautiful sight, especially in the evening light.”

They scaled the hill, Alexander stumbling from time to time. The snow was so thick, it was hard to find footing. He slipped, but his arm was caught by Melamira, who jerked him back up on his feet. Tilly was riding on Bea’s shoulders, because she’d have had a rough time navigating the snow otherwise. Most of the children — similarly sized — were similarly being helped by parents. It had been a rough few days. But with the call, people’s faces lightened up. Many had only ever heard of Whitehallow and its beauty. 

Even Serana, who had been stoic for most of their three-day journey, seemed to crack a smile at the sight of it. “It’s been a long time,” she said quietly as she walked up next to Lillian. “It’s still beautiful.”

“It is,” Lillian said. In the light of the setting sun the castle of Whitehallow and its many spires were bathed in a golden glow, bringing to mind the wheat fields of late summer. 

Melamira smiled too, and put her hands on her hips. “It’s funny to think that it all really started here, isn’t it?” She chuckled and took a deep breath. In the evening winter air, Lillian couldn’t blame her for wanting to drink the image in. Whitehallow looked like something out of myth. If stories of their little adventure survived, she supposed, it actually would be something out of myth some day. Castle Whitehallow, where the Demon Queen met Queen Anastasia, and where they set out from to save her life. It felt like a lifetime ago already.

“Oh thank God,” Alexander groaned. “I thought we’d be walking forever.” He began to slide down the hill towards Whitehallow in a controlled descent, and pretty soon all of the people in their procession that had stopped in place on top of the hill began to follow suit.

“Kids,” Tilly said, “no respect for architecture.” Bea began to walk forward, and Tilly had to grab two handfuls of hair to avoid being thrown off as the large woman took large unsteady strides down the hill. 

“Or history,” Melamira added with a smirk. “Come on, I actually really do want to sit down too.” She touched Lillian on the arm and smiled a bit more genuinely. “It’ll do you good to be inside too. Get some colour in your cheeks, yeah?”

“Yes,” Lillian said, and followed after them. She paused from time to time, making sure everyone in the group was with them. She wasn’t going to lose someone to a trip or a fall this close to their destination. She’d gotten everyone that far, at least. Serana was doing the same thing, looking out for her people. Lillian briefly considered telling her she could go on ahead, but she wouldn’t take an offer like that. Despite her cold exterior, Serana cared deeply for her people. That was clear in every child she pulled on its feet, every ration she skipped for someone else. 

There were a few stragglers, struggling to get up the hill and slowly drifting behind as those who had reached the apex of the climb hurried to get to Whitehallow. Lillian held her lantern high, already easily visible against the slowly darkening skies. It seemed to lift people’s spirits. 

“Come,” she said softly to an older woman as she held out her hand. “Beyond this crescent is castle Whitehallow.” The woman took it with a weary smile. She looked fragile. 

“It sounds fancy,” she said. “Too fancy for the likes of me.”

“They let Tilly in,” Serana said as she took the woman’s other hand. “You’ll be fine.” The temporary look of shock on the woman’s face faded as she began to laugh. 

“Very well then,” she said. “Lead the way.” The two of them led her and the remaining few up the hill, and then began their final approach of Whitehallow. The river beside it was frozen, but thankfully vegetation denoted its banks. The last thing Lillian wanted was to lose people sinking through the ice. As they got closer to the castle, the road became easier to traverse, and it wasn’t long until Whitehallow was no longer an alabaster painting on an orange canvas, but a large building of brick and stone, real and present. 

Once upon a time, she’d ridden here, with the Queen’s entourage, with what she’d thought had been her friend Daniel. That was before she’d found out that Daniel was dead, and that someone else had been inhabiting his body. It had been a… strange time for all of them. She looked ahead at Tilly. They’d all changed. 

That’s when her belief had been dealt its first blow. About the nature of souls, of good and evil, demons, heavens, hells. She lowered the lantern. There would be no need for it in here. The evening light reflected off Whitehallow’s spires brightly, brighter than her little lantern could. Though the moth stayed with her. 

“Look,” Serana said when the two of them stood alone for a second. “I believe we’ve arrived just in time.” She pointed. Lillian could just barely make out a pair of wings on the battlements. 

“Is that…”

“It is,” Serana said. “Carrying Kazumi and one other person, though I can not make out their face. It may be Elena or John.” Lillian smirked. Good. She didn’t like the idea of having to stay without riding out again soon. She didn’t want to remain in a single place while whatever was happening was, well, happening. She wanted to feel useful.

“Let’s go meet our beloved Demon Queen, then,” she said. 

“Not Queen anymore,” Serana said. 

Lillian smirked. “She’ll always be royalty, Serana. You know better than anyone it’s not given up that easily.” Serana mirrored her expression. 

“You aren’t wrong, Lillian Danse. Let’s, then.” They came to the palace, where people were moved quickly to a series of large tents. It seemed like Whitehallow had been prepared for this large influx of people. Many of its inhabitants were working to provide food and blankets, set up on tables around several fires. Lillian was glad to see so many smiling faces, but there was a pang of anxiety. This was not enough. Not nearly enough. Whitehallow’s stores could feed a lot of people, as it had become something of a gathering point for the surrounding lands. But this was only a fraction of Wydonia’s population. Less than a thousandth. 

“We don’t have much time,” she mumbled to herself, looked at the keep proper, and then began to walk towards it with determination, waving at Tilly, Alexander and Melamira to follow. “She’s home,” was all she said. Tilly, having hopped down, was already excitedly hurrying along, looking over at Alexander.

“You are in for a treat, boy. You are not ready to meet her!”

“If you say so,” Alexander said, rubbing his neck. “Y’all hyped her up so much, I’m pretty sure she’s just gonna be a letdown.” Tilly just grinned fiendishly at that and led the way. Lillian was happy to follow the others. There was no need to hurry. As they walked through the castle’s halls, she felt a strange feeling of nostalgia wash over her. 

She hadn’t seen these halls in five years. It had been easier, back then. To be a paladin, speaking holy words and carrying holy armor. Now she carried nothing, and without faith, that was heavier. She raised the lantern again and looked at it. Hopefully, its light would illuminate her path again some day, and lead her to true belief. 

“You okay?” Melamira asked. She’d stayed behind a bit, and looked straight at her.

Lillian tried to give an encouraging smile. “I hope so. I will be, at the very least.”

“I hope so too, then. I miss seeing you laugh.” She hooked her arm through Lillians and walked on. “Although I have to say, the moth does suit you. You look like some kind of druid.” She chuckled. “Come on, you don’t want to miss the big reunion.” They rounded the corner and pushed through the big double doors. There she was. Liz, in all her glory. In a little bit more of her glory, actually. The Demon Dragon Queen had, Lillian had discovered one day, three separate forms. The usual one, nine feet tall (ten with horns) and purple skin. Then one that was easily another foot and a half taller and had wings. The last one was a hundred feet tall and roared. She’d only ever seen that one once. It had been terrifying. 

But this one was already enough to shock Alexander, who seemed frozen on the spot. Tilly was practically cackling at his reaction. He clearly hadn’t expected Liz to be so tall. Most people didn’t. It was one of many ways in which people got the wrong impression from her. Liz was incorrect impressions all the way down. Demon Dragon Queen to stammering fool to wannabe hero to Demon Dragon Queen. 

Then she smiled, tears in her eyes, and it was impossible to mistake her for anyone but Liz. “Hello everyone,” she said softly, and then cried as her emotions ran down her face. Tilly immediately sprinted over, and Mellie, holding Alexander by the arm and dragging Lillian along, joined them. Bea kept a little bit of a distance, not really knowing anyone involved. As they approached, though, they slowed down. 

“No way,” Tilly said. 

Melamira clasped a hand in front of her mouth in shock. “That’s… not possible.”

“It can’t be,” Lillian heard herself say. A face she hadn’t expected to ever see again had stepped out from behind Liz. The face of a friend, who she’d shared adventures and meals and stories and laughs and cries with. 

“It is,” Sabine said. “And I’ve missed you all.” She looked at Tilly. “Even you.”

“You bitch,” Tilly said with a cry, then launched herself at Sabine and wrapped herself around the woman, using her tail to fasten herself securely. 

“But… how,” Serana said, looking up at Liz. “Surely you didn’t resort to… that kind of magic…” Liz already shook her head. 

“I couldn’t if I wanted to. This is… the result of what’s happening. A silver lining, of sorts. She slipped through. She’d been holding on all this time, I think.” She looked down at Sabine, who was done hugging Tilly and now gently tried to pry the kobold off of her. On Liz’s other side, Kazumi slipped a hand into hers.

“Good,” Serana said. “Five years overdue, but, I suspect, worth the wait.”

“You have no idea,” Liz said, sniffling, and then knelt down, pulling Lillian and Serana in for a not-entirely-asked-for hug. “You have no idea.” A few more hugs went around, before someone pointed at Alexander and Bea and nodded at them to come over. 

“Liz,” Melamira said, “we have people for you to meet.”

Bea stuck out her hand. “Bea. Good to meet you, Your Highness. I’ve heard a lot about you, but it’s something else to meet you in the flesh.”

“Please, everyone calls me Liz. I’m not a Queen. Not anymore.” She cocked her head as she shook Bea’s hand. “You’re tall.”

“I think you might be two or three feet taller than me, Your — Liz,” Bea laughed. “But yes, I am. I’m not often intimidated.”

“Intimi— oh!” Liz immediately shrank a foot, and her wings disappeared. “Is that better?” Bea barked out another laugh. 

“Yes, I suppose it is!” She took a step aside, allowing Alexander to present himself. Liz knelt down in front of him, bringing herself to his eye-height. He was still clearly shocked to see someone as large as her, no matter how badly she tried to seem non-threatening. Despite herself, Lillian found herself smiling. She’d seen people react that way to Liz many times. It really didn’t get old. 

“Hello,” Liz said. “I’m Liz. I don’t often see other people with horns. Especially cool golden ones like yours. What’s your name?”

“I’m Alexander,” he said, quietly. He couldn’t take his eyes off Liz’s horns. “Wh— What’s going on? I’m so fucking confused. Everyone’s been telling me it would make sense if I met you because they think I’m from your world or you’re from mine or whatever, and I’m freaking the fuck out, because you’re like ten feet tall and you’re a fucking demon and now I don’t know what’s true and what’s real anymore and—”

“Spaghetti,” Liz said.

“I— B— Wh— What?”

“Denmark. Foosball. Chainsaws. Batman. Cirque Du Soleil.”

“I’m so lost,” Melamira whispered. 

Alexander seemed to know what was happening, though. “Holy shit,” he muttered. “Holy shit. You’re real. You’re really from, like, Earth? Holy shit.”

“Yeah,” Liz said. “I am. I ended up in this body, and I ended up keeping it, but you don’t have to keep yours if you don’t want to.” She looked over her shoulder. “Look, before we do anything else… I can do a special kind of magic called ‘Soul Magic’. I can make your body match your soul, because I get the feeling this body isn’t yours.” Alexander nodded. “I didn’t think so. So, if this body makes you uncomfortable, I can use that and make you look more like, well, you.”

Alexander shook his head. “Nu-uh,” he said. “No thanks. I used to be some schlubby guy, and I abso-fucking-lutely do not want to go back to that. Anything’s better than that.”

Liz cocked her head. “If you say so. It doesn’t necessarily have to work like that…”

“So you’re from my world, right?” Alexander interrupted. “Do you ever want to go back? Like, you’re super powerful now, why not go back to Earth and, I don’t know, become famous or something?”

“Because I don’t want to,” Liz said. “This world is beautiful. It’s home. Everyone I care about is here. Do you want to go back?”

“I — I don’t know,” he said, the wind gone out of his sails.

“He may not have a choice in the matter,” Serana said. “I firmly believe he’s connected to all this.”

“Well, then!” Liz said. “Let’s have a look.”

“It may have to wait,” a familiar voice said from the other end of the hall. Everyone turned. Lillian barely recognized her without her ostentatious royal getup, flanked by Sally. “I’m afraid,” Anastasia said, “that the moon bleeds once again.”