h4Chapter 822: 822-Fading Into Nothingness/h4

    strongEmmet:/strong

    "What do you mean she’s gone?" I asked Norman as soon as I got to Arthendel. His panic was frightening, and on top of that, I felt a strange pain in my chest I’d been hiding from everyone. But it was getting harder to ignore, especially with Maximus beside me looking just as anxious.

    During the flight, I kept asking if he was okay. He only gave me a thumbs-up, barely saying a word. That silence was its own kind of scary.

    "She’s gone," Norman muttered. He looked exhausted, his shirt buttoned all wrong. He must have transitioned at some point.

    "Did you check Arthendel?" I pressed and in response to my question, he first rolled his eyes hard.

    "Of course I did, Emmet. I even checked everything around it," he grunted.

    It had rained hard, yet he’d managed to search the entire ce and the surrounding areas. That meant she was truly gone. But where?

    "Wait—we need to find her," Maximus said, clearing his throat repeatedly, which made both of us turn to him.

    "Maximus, what’s going on with you?" I rushed to him, and Norman followed. We both knew he was hiding how badly he felt the pain.

    He shook his head, but before he could lie again, Norman cut him off. "Lying won’t help."

    At that, Maximus stuttered, then finally admitted what he was feeling.

    "I’ve been in— this weird pain since— the flight. I don’t know why. The full—moon is in a day. But I’ve never felt this much pain before the full moon. I don’t understand what’s—happening to me." He pressed his hand to his neck, showing us that the pain was all over his body.

    I turned to Norman. The look he gave me said he already knew.

    "Is there something you want to share?" I asked and I noticed how his jaw clenched. He then nodded slowly.

    "I’ve been in pain too—excruciating pain—just like thest time my curse was at its peak," he muttered, cing a hand on his chest.

    Now they both looked at me, waiting for my take, though the truth was obvious.

    "The curses are getting worse." I admitted my own pain, if only to make it clear I understood.

    "What the fuck are we going to do now?" Maximus demanded.

    Before we could answer, word came that the warrior who had passed out earlier had finally woken.

    Hnie’s mother had called to tell us. We headed back into the mansion to question him about what really happened.

    One of the warriors stepped forward.

    "Your Highness, we didn’t do anything. We were just doing our job honestly, when suddenly—," He stopped, ncing nervously at Norman, then at the others.

    "What is it? Please tell us what’s happening," I urged. "No one here will punish you. You’re safe."

    The warrior finally opened up.

    "Your Highness, your brother Kaye came in and attacked us." His voice cracked on the word brother, the only one missing right now, and chills ran down my spine.

    "Wait—what? Kaye?" Norman asked, confused. "He’s supposed to be home."

    "Or maybe someone pretended to be Kaye?" I wondered aloud, but the guard shook his head firmly.

    "No, Your Highness. We know what Kaye looks like. It was him." That was all we needed to hear before the reality hit us.

    "Of course it was him. Our curses are getting stronger," Maximus hissed, clenching his fists.

    Every one of Hnie’s friends had been searching for her. But now we realized we’d been looking in the wrong direction.

    "Wait, how does Lady Darcy keep doing this?" As soon as Jenny asked the question, my father seemed to remember the missing detail, the one we had overlooked.

    "The Grey Woman. The witch in the woods. It had to be her," my father said.

    I’d heard him mention her in passing so many times, even when she brought Norman back to life.

    "And none of the council members ever tried to catch her, because as far as I know, magic is forbidden," Lamar questioned, making us all stare at each other.

    "Actually, she never introduced herself as a witch. She always imed to be a seer, an old woman gifted by the moon goddess. There was a woman before her, the holy mother. Because of that, nobody could ever point a finger in her direction," my father exined, and everyone began to nod.

    "Besides, there has never been any news about her. It’s only Darcy who meets her. No one else has ever seen her," my father added, pointing out how eerie it was that she always spoke to Darcy, our mother, when they were alone.

    "What if it’s just in Darcy’s head?" Sage blurted before everyone turned toward her. She mouthed an apology.

    "No, it could be," I agreed. Then I looked back at my father. "So how are we going to know where this woman lives? Because it seems like she’s the root cause of all our problems. Sure, our mother is evil, but someone has been feeding her madness, and it’s that woman."

    My father nodded, and thankfully everyone seemed to agree. We should have known it wasn’t a one-woman job. Someone else had been supporting my mother all along.

    "I’m almost certain the grey woman has been the one helping your mother with everything. Even the holy mother– I’m convinced she wanted her gone."

    My father nearly rushed to share the information, but someone else caught my attention. Lucy looked lost. Too lost.

    She had just returned after a year-long absence from her own body, and instead of being celebrated, she was trapped in this mess of unraveling mysteries. I couldn’t help but feel bad for her. Being forgotten is one of the cruelest fates but forgetting the whole world isn’t much different.

    I knew it too well. The faces of those not standing before me now were already fading. But I kept it to myself. Saying it out loud would only hurt Norman and Maximus, and I couldn’t bring myself to do that to them.

    "Lucy?" I asked.

    She looked at me, tears brimming in her eyes. Her face said it all, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if she told me she had goosebumps crawling up her skin.