Chapter 144: Kingdom Keys
Banella quietly walked the long corridors of the castle in which she had grown up. It was haunting, seeing again the castle walls that were now a pile of rubble. She had never thought she'd see the Clan of Resting Wings again, yet here she was. How had she got here? The last thing she remembered was grabbing that strange necklace.
Banella was careful to stay out of sight. She wasn't sure what point in the timeline she was at. Was she at the castle right now? Had she already run away? Who was the clan's current ruler? She had so many questions, but they were drowned in the emotion of seeing home again. She hadn't realized just how much she missed it, and how much she grieved its loss.
"Banella?" The wildclaw spun around when her name was called. Perhaps she had not left the castle yet after all. To her surprise, however, she realized she recognized the imperial crouched in the corner from Windkeep Tower. She was that annoying fae's friend. The one she and Quartz had captured. What was his name again? Kipper? Kipling?
"It's Rori!" The imperial said, seeming relieved to see a familiar face, but her face fell as Banella stared at her without response, "Oh my goodness, do I have it all wrong? Do you not know me yet? Do I have the wrong Banella? I am so sorry for bothering you, I'll just go-"
"No, Rori, wait!" Banella whispered, "I remember you! Did we just-?"
"Time travel? Yeah. This isn't my first time," Rori looked around the corridor, "Do you have any idea where we are?"
"The Clan of Resting Wings. My birth clan," Banella said sadly, "I never thought I'd see it again."
"The Clan of Resting Wings? You don't mean-" Rori's eyes widened.
"You know it?" Banella asked, surprised. Her visit to Novus Lux had implied it was beginning to fade from memory of all but those who had visited it while it still stood.
"Yeah, I mean, my family came from here. Kahli told us all about it. Well, what she remembers anyways," Rori explained.
"You're descended from Basil?" Banella asked, staring at the imperial as if she was seeing her for the first time. Her sister's descendants truly were everywhere. She felt a pang of grief that she hadn't let herself be a part of her sister's legacy. She had missed so much.
"I mean I'm a bit fuzzy on details though, I didn't stay in Novus Lux very long before I moved to Windkeep Tower, but-" Rori began before Banella cut her off.
"Shhh! I hear voices!" Banella hissed and pulled Rori into what she hoped was an empty room. To her relief, no one was inside of it.
The two dragons sat crouched in silent as the footsteps and voices drew nearer. As they passed, Banella recognized them to be that of her parents, and she had to stop herself from being overwhelmed by the flurry of emotions she felt inside. On one hand, she was still angry at them for not taking her seriously, but there was some part of her that wanted to jump out and tell them about all of her accomplishments. She wanted to tell them about the kingdom she shared with Quartz (though she would have to leave out a few key details, they wouldn't approve of everything she had done to gain power), but most of all, she wanted to tell them about her beautiful children. She had built a family for herself. It wasn't the perfect family, no, but neither was the one she had been born into. She was finally building something for herself, and she wanted to share her pride with her parents the way Banella had as a hatchling.
But it was too late. They were dead and gone, and these were just ghosts. No, less than ghosts. They were echoes. Though they were physically real, events were set in motion.
"We have to go, we can't be here," Banella realized, "This is wrong."
"We can't go back home, we need to wait for the sand in the necklaces to run out," Rori explained.
"I don't care! We have to get out of the castle, out of the clan, we can't be here! I can't be here! There are too many emotions here!" Banella hissed.
"Okay! Okay! Gosh, no need to be so snippy about it." Rori muttered.
As soon as she was sure that her parents had passed, Banella opened the door and waved Rori through. The two began to creep through the castle, hiding themselves in empty rooms whenever they heard anyone coming. Eventually, they made it out without being spotted.
Banella let out a sigh of relief, only to see Leo walk by her. Banella cursed. Of all the dragons, her ex-lover was the last one she wanted to run into. To her surprise, however, he walked right past. This must be before she met him, if he didn't recognize her. How old was she in this time-frame? Had she even hatched yet? Curiosity filled her, and suddenly she didn't feel ready to go.
"Where are we going? I thought you wanted to go?" Rori asked, clearly confused.
"Yeah, well, now I want to look around," Banella snapped. Who was this youngling to tell her what to do? "If you want to go, fine."
"I'm not letting you out of my sight," Rori hissed, "I knew something fishy was going on when my hourglass glowed, and I'm not going to let you complete whatever evil plan you have in store!"
So it wasn't an accident that Rori had found her way here. She was so caught up in her memories that she had forgotten everything going on in their time zone. She was used to being disliked, but somehow the hatred in the imperial's voice threw her off guard. She tried to ignore Rori's glares as she wandered around the clan she once called home, paying no attention to the snide comments Rori was making.
Eventually, the two of them found themselves in the clan gardens, Basil's old haunt. Banella couldn't recall the number of times her sister had skipped classes and meetings to come here. For the first time, she could understand why. The beauty of the gardens brought an immense sense of peace, as if whatever problems she had back home didn't matter anymore. Suddenly, her contemplation was broken by the playful screech of hatchlings.
"Tag! You're it!" A small voice giggled.
"Why do you always tag me? Why don't you tag Bloodburner for a change!" Another hatchling complained. The name sent a wave of shock through Banella.
"Because you're slow, Banella!" The hatchling called Bloodburner taunted.
"You're going to regret saying that! I'll show you how fast I am!" The young Banella growled, sending her sister into a rolling fit of laughter.
Banella took a step back, suddenly overwhelmed by emotion. Here she was, before everything. Before she had set her heart on the throne and been denied it. Before she began her affair with Leo and ran away from home. Before she had lived a life governed by bitterness and resentment. She couldn't remember ever being this carefree, yet here she was. A child, young and free. She was competitive, yes, but that drive for competition had not yet consumed her. She wished she could take her younger self and hold her close, keep her safe from all that was to come. But she knew she couldn't. This innocent hatchling was going to go on to break her family's heart, the way Sapphire had broken her own when he had run away.
Then suddenly, she understood her son, and she broke down crying. She had failed her children, she had never even allowed them carefree freedom like this.
"Are- Are you okay?" Rori asked, clearly unsure of how to approach the queen as she sobbed. Banella didn't respond. Tears streamed down her face, blinding her. She could not stop crying.
"Um, excuse me, are you okay?" Banella lifted her face from her hands and wiped away her tears to see baby Basil looking up at her with concern.
Banella didn't know how to respond.
"Here," Banella turned to see her hatchling self holding out a flower, "These always make Basil feel better when she's upset. Maybe it will help you too."
"Thank you," Banella sniffed, "You kids go back to your game, don't mind me, I'll be fine."
As she stepped away from the gardens, she knew it was time to leave for good. As she left, she wondered what her younger self would think of herself more. For some reason, after the kindness baby Banella had showed her, she had the strange feeling this wasn't what she had initially imagined when she wanted to become queen. She had wanted power yes, but above all, she wanted to be important, to be loved and respected. She knew deep down that Windkeep Tower resented her for what she had done to their queen. Banella didn't blame them. She knew she resented the dragons who had stolen her home and family from her before she could make amends.
Maybe it was time to make amends in a different way.
Banella could tell Rori was getting worried. The imperial had said the time travel only lasted a day, and it was nearing two. Vaughan must have messed with the time machine for some reason, and now she and Rori were stuck here.
The two were huddled in a makeshift den of brambles, hidden from the elements. It had been a while since Banella had been this uncomfortable. She was used to palace life, and before that, the theatre. Rori wasn't happy to be stuck with the tyrant, but Banella didn't blame her. With what she had become, she wouldn't want to be stuck with herself either. She had to applaud the imperial for her patience.
"Those are poison berries," Rori sighed as Banella came back from her third gathering trip. Every time, she had brought back something inedible. "You know what? Let me get the food, again." She rolled her eyes as she pushed past Banella.
The imperial took a few steps outside, then there was a sudden flash of light, and she was gone. A few seconds later, Banella was enveloped in the same light and the next thing she knew, she was back in her room in the Windkeep mansion.
She wasn't alone. Standing next to Rori was a dark skydancer she didn't recognize. At the sight of the queen, the skydancer drew a glowing blade and held it to her throat.
"I take it you are Queen Banella," The skydancer said, "My name is Eclipse. I've heard you've caused this clan a lot of pain, and I'm here to change that."
"I know," Banella sighed, feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders, "Do it, kill me, I don't deserve what I have here. I've betrayed by birthright. Have your revenge, become the hero, restore the freedom you all deserve."
"Wait, what?" Eclipse was so surprised, she withdrew her blade. Clearly she was not expecting this answer.
"This has to be some sort of trick," Rori growled, "She would never give up power just like that!"
"Rori, what I saw in the Clan of Resting Wings-" Banella took a breath, feeling the emotions wash over her once more. What she was about to say felt like it was betraying everything she stood for her entire life, but it had to be said. "This was never what I was meant to become. I see now what my parents meant when they said I wasn't ready to be queen. I give up my throne. I was wrong."
"Mom! No!" Topaz burst out from where he had been hiding in the curtains, "You're giving up everything we've fought far!"
"You are too young to understand, but this must be done, my dear," Banella sighed, feeling guilty for how she had misled her son, "Royalty is not anything anybody deserves, it needs to be earned, like respect, and I haven't done anything to earn this."
"But-" Topaz looked utterly betrayed. Then his gaze hardened. "Dad was right! You are weak! You don't really want this!"
"Topaz, wait! Let me explain!" Banella called after him. But it was too late, her son was gone. He had too much of her stubborn spirit. She supposed it was only fitting, after all she had put her family through, that she lost her family here as well.
"So, what are you going to do now?" Rori asked warily, "You're not going to sit here feeling sorry for yourself, are you?"
"Of course not!" Banella spat, feeling her nerve return after such an accusation. She was not a dragon who worried about consequences, once she made a choice, she stuck with it to the end, and that was what she was going to do. If her family didn't agree with her, that was their problem, not hers. If they wanted to take advantage of and hurt innocent dragons, that was their mistake.
Banella was coming for Quartz, and this time she wouldn't let him off easy. If anyone didn't deserve a throne, it was her husband. Or rather, ex-husband. She was done with him and she wanted to make sure that she never had to see his stupid face again.
It's been a long journey, but Banella's character arc is finally reaching some sort of conclusion!
