Origin

CHAPTER 19

"Holy crap!" someone screeched as we stepped into the empire of Ledus.

I glanced at the heeling room we were transported in. Alaric was shaking visibly on the bed while Haru and two healers were trying to hold him down. On the corner of the room stood the king with his hand on Lovetta's shoulder. Her eyes revealed that she was seconds away from crying.

All eyes focused on us and their question about our sudden appearance was just about to be asked when the door busted open. The queen barged in with Caroline on her heels. She was running with her hand extended towards her husband when her steps started to slow down.

"Dear, the kids are..." she trailed off as she stared at us with eyes wide open.

"Oh, you're back." Caroline sighed in relief as she guided herself into Holden's arms. "Are you okay?"

"Will someone tell me what is going on?" the king demanded to know.

"There's no time. Kristy, give it to them," Clell instructed me as he nodded towards the healers.

"Here, give this to him," I told them as I uncurled my hand and handed them the glass bottle.

"What is this?" one of them asked.

"It's the antidote, isn't it? You really did it?" the queen wondered with a hitched voice.

"It is," Holden confirmed it.

"What are you waiting for? Give it to him," Clell screamed as he approached the bed.

The rest played out quickly. Clell barked our orders to the healers to hurry up while the king tried to understand what had happened. However, at that moment we couldn't talk; we were too busy watching the antidote flowing into Alaric's mouth. Only when the doctors made an announcement that his body was gaining an advantage against the deadly disease, were we able to focus on anything else.

"It's working," they both called out at the same time.

I noticed Haru and Vetta who until now were watching speechless the scene play out. Once they heard the good news, the sister jumped next to her brother and whispered encouraging words while the boy hugged her shoulders. Holden sighed in relief as he finally faced his parents and Caroline.

"All right, now we can talk," he announced.

"To my office, right now," his father commanded sternly as he gestured towards the door.

Our talk went surprisingly well. I expected that we would be punished more severely. Instead all we got was a lecture about how bad this stunt we pulled could have played out. Just like we promised Margot, we didn't mention anything about the attack, although each of us still recalled the man's strange words. They let us leave in less than an hour with only a small scolding and a pat on the shoulder. By the time we had gone back to see Alaric, he was back to normal.

"Dude, you're okay!" Clell screamed as he ran to his friend who was standing next to the bed.

"You scared us back there," I told him as I took Clell's place in his hug.

"It's good to see you up and kicking," Holden commented as he patted him in the back.

"Okay, you have seen him. Now, it's time he gets back to bed," Vetta commanded. She was looking a lot better than before. Her eyes were still bloodshot but there was finally a smile on her face. I could tell that behind it was the relief to see her brother well.

"Fine, fine, I'll go lay down. But only if you promise me you'll go grab something to eat," he told his sister.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine. I'll just stay here," she reassured him.