Chapter 322

322 Shock And Awe

***CONTENT WARNING: LANGUAGE AND VIOLENCE***

Skye wasn’t expecting a blade to be aimed at her face, but knew what to do to stop it. She could’ve handled it in a way that didn’t call for blood, but since the man seemed to have an issue with listening to both Amara and his King; Skye thought that dramatic might leave a better impression on him..

When the dagger was about a foot away from her, Skye put her hand up, and let it go through her palm until the hilt hit her. She didn’t flinch, or even break eye contact when the blade had pierced her flesh, which unnerved Mickey greatly.

The pain didn’t bother her since the dagger had gone into her left hand. That was the one that had been smashed to bits by Jacob Fowler, as well as been steam-broiled while making Tidas’ armor. There wasn’t much that could be done to it that would bother Skye at this point.

Wrapping her fingers around the hilt so Mickey couldn’t pull it out, Skye backed him up against a wall as she signaled Tidas to stand down. She didn’t even need to look at him; his hostility rolled out in waves, and threatened to smother anyone near.

Mickey had been far closer to death than he knew as Tidas put his own hidden dagger back into his boot..

When Mickey’s back hit the wall much harder than he had expected, he grunted, then continued to glare at Skye. It was honestly distracting how pretty she was, but the anger in her eyes made him want to shrink back.

Confused already, Mickey didn’t understand what the Last Warrick was doing when she placed her hand on his forearm. When his drunken fog started to lift, he tried to yank his arm away, but she was using her Tank trait to keep him in place.

Skye broke down the alcohol in his system, then took it a step further, and stimulated his liver cells to turnover faster. He fought back at first, but she dug her nails into his arm every time he started up. After about the sixth time, she finally snapped at him.

.....

“Would ye stop yer squirmin’!? I’ve healed three year olds better behaved than you! Yer liver was about three more benders away from shuttin’ down on ye, and ye got a tumor growin’ on the side of yer lung. If ye stop actin’ like a bloody bairn for a minute, I can save yer life.”

Mickey stared at her with shock-lined disdain; “How can ye even Think about savin’ me?! I just tried ta kill you!”

Skye smirked; “So ye knew that ye were dyin’.. How long did the doctors say?”

“....”

“As ye said, ye just tried ta kill me. Ye could at least tell me that,” Skye practically barked at him.

“...Four months at best,” Mickey replied as the constant pain in his chest began to ease up.

“Mickey! Why did ye na say anythin’ ta me?!” Amara asked with hurt in her tone.

“Because I didna wanna worry ya. Ye do that enough already,” Mickey stated as he avoided looking directly at her.

Skye huffed; “Well, thanks ta yer drinkin’, ye had cut that time down ta one month.. Hmm.. Ima not seein’ much tar in yer lungs. Then where did this thing come from-oh. Ye been messin’ around wit some Nasty stuff, haven’t ye?”

Skye’s words made Mickey freeze up. No one knew that he had been trying to figure out a way to purify the soil in the Barrens. Gavin Bruce was analyzing the samples he’d been bring him the past two years, but so far, their experiments hadn’t yielded anything.

His liver had been failing for two years because of his overly excessive drinking and drug usage as a teenager. Mickey wanted to leave something of himself behind, and leaving behind an entire field to use for food seemed the best idea at the time. Reading and thinking weren’t his thing, but manual labor was in his blood.

Mickey’s job was a relatively simple one. Get samples, administer experiments in sections to make sure there was no cross-contamination, and to monitor for changes after experiments were done.

Gavin did all the physics and chemical work, designed the experiments, and broke down how to administer them. After he’d finished telling Skye everything, he’d felt better than he had since his twenty-first birthday. It probably had more to do with his system being cleaned out, but he felt like the talk had helped, too.

When Skye removed her hand, she smiled at him as she asked; “Do ye feel better now? Less stabby, maybe?”

Mickey looked at her hand that still had the dagger sticking out of it, and immediately started to fret. He got up to get a towel, and that went he realized all of the angry faces staring at him. Some were angry that he’d hurt the Last Warrick, but most were generally pissed about him insulting Murdoc and Amara’s honor.

Declaring that the fight had been fixed was akin to calling them charlatans along with the Southerners. The same people that had risked their lives to stop the fighting, and that they were now hosting.. The same ones that were finally going to end the plague that was the Monster in the Old Capital.

Feeling the hate boiling over behind her, Skye stood up, got on a chair, and yanked the dagger out for all to see. A few of the Highlanders gasped in shock, but most looked a tad confused.

After Skye showed everyone her hand heal instantly, she handed the dagger back to a flabbergasted Mickey, then spoke to the spectators; “I know yer all a wee bit pissed at Mickey here fer what he said and did, but Ima not. Husband? Amara? Murdoc? How about you three?”

“Nope,” Murdoc stated, understanding where Skye was going with it.

“I know twas fair. I dunna care what that welp says,” Amara replied a bit more testily than Skye would’ve liked, but she took it.

When Skye turned to face her husband, she knew that the would be facing an angry expression. But even she didn’t expect the level of rage she saw him holding back. Flashing him a pleading look, Skye prayed that he would understand why she was doing what she was..

Tidas understood her motive: to make her blood the only one spilt. The Highlanders behind him wanted to throttle Mickey for his insults, but if those slighted were to publicly forgive him, then no one could hurt him without repercussions.

He was the last holdout, and everyone was not-so quietly whispering about ‘what kind of a man let’s his woman get hurt, and does nothing?’

It wasn’t that Tidas actually forgave him in any way, and he would find a way to make that clear to him later. But if someone were to die tonight with them at the center of it: it wouldn’t look good. A certain member of the Council would love to have an excuse to try and spark a war again..

“Husband, what say you? I forgive ’em, what about you?” Skye asked with a raised voice.

“...If you forgive him, then I have no right to be angry,” Tidas stated as simply as he could.

Skye beamed at him, making the lie a little less bitter in his mouth. If Tidas had his way, he would’ve run through every part of him similarly to how he had stabbed Skye’s hand. He was still fighting his darker side about it when Mickey voluntarily apologized.

“Ima sorry fer disturbin’ everyone, and Ima especially sorry ta the Last Warri-”

“Skye! Everyone! Just bloody call me Skye!”

Mickey fumbled a moment after her outburst; “Gen-er, umm-Skye, Ima sorry fer tryin’ ta kill ye, and stabbin’ yer hand..”

Looking over at Murdoc and Amara, he added; “And Ima sorry fer not tellin’ ye I was sick. I would hold shit in anymore.. That bein’ said-”

Mickey turned back to Tidas; “I still think ye killed me Da, and I’ll Never forgive ye fer that. But I thank ye fer stoppin’ the fight.”

“...Guess Ima just chopped liver ta everyone,” Petrie mumbled from the doorway.

Mickey turned around and grinned broadly at him; “Ima sorry I wasna rougher wit ye..”

Skye’s heart jumped nervously until she saw the two smiling at each other. They were obviously ribbing one another, in a good-natured kind of way. As she sighed in relief, Murdoc called out; “Alright! Enough of this serious shit! Time ta party!”

Everyone cried out their agreement as cups, hats, and weapons went into the air. It was at that moment that Skye realized that most of those gathered were soldiers of some kind. There were civilians mixed in too, but the majority had the look.

“What is this place?!” Skye yelled to Murdoc over the noise.

“Think ofa this like a relaxation area! Tis the first bunker connected, and tis called Mead Hall! The other bunkers are through there!” Murdoc called back as he gestured to the doorway that Petrie was still standing in.

Skye looked at Tidas with a cheeky smile, then dashed off before he could object. As she ran by them, Skye grabbed both Mickey and Petrie’s wrists as she said; “Come on! Ye two can be me guides!”

Tidas sighed as Amara laughed boisterously and said; “Yer wife’s gone again!”

“I’d suggest a leash, but she’d probably strangle ye wit it,” Murdoc commented in between his own laughs.

Tidas glared at them, then motioned at them to follow as he said; “Come on, you two! You’re the ones that brought us here! She’s you’re problem right now, too!”

Exchanging a glance, Amara and a hesitant Murdoc left the music and booze to follow after Skye...

************

Entering a much quieter room, Skye was met with one sight she never tired of seeing: wall to wall books. The ceiling was high, and the built-in, hand-carved bookcases reached all the way up. One could tell by the miss-matched colors that sections had been added over time, but it was still a wonderful sight to see.

As she walked down the few steps, the layout reminded her of the palace library, but bigger, which was a thrilling thought to her. As she looked further into the room, she realized that there were also rows of smaller computers with people randomly sitting at them.

“Are those fer public use?!” Skye nearly exclaimed, but kept in mind where she was.

Petrie grinned; “Aye. Anyone can use them, so long as they don’t eat or drink around ’em.”

“And all these books? Anyone can read ’em?” Skye asked as she eyed one called ‘The Hobbit’.

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Petrie stepped forward, grabbed the book, and handed it to her as he replied; “Aye, just get it checked out wit the librarian. And just so ye know..”

Petrie gestured to the other side of the room; “Those aren’t books, they’re movies.”

Skye looked at him with a confused expression; “A movie? How do I know that term?”

Mickey and Petrie shared a conspiratorial grin, then Petrie said; “Oh, this is gonna be so much fun! I have a list...”