The Projection Booth:

Florence closed her eyes for a moment. A flicker of broken memory of her standing on the train, trying to resuscitate the dead queen, while Thackeray stood in the corner and sobbed.

"Do you want some hot chocolate before lunch?" Blackstone interrupted her thoughts.

"No, I'm fine, but I can't wait to eat whatever delicious meal you have planned."

"Aww, thanks." Blackstone set his walker aside and made his way back to the kitchenette without stumbling.

The rickety food processor broke in the middle of running, so he minced the vegetables for the stew he planned to make by hand.

Edgar used his key to enter the booth. "Seeing you thrive is awesome." He arranged eggs, chocolate, and vegetables into Florence's mini fridge. "Petunia confiscated Wendy's old phone. So, here's the new number."

Blackstone read over the note and wrote several lines for Florence, and his hands shook. He showed it to her.

Florence hid Blackstone in her apartment, under her bed.

She opened the door before Griffin knocked.

He rushed into the booth. "Where is Miriam hiding Blackstone? Petunia thinks she's a traitor. She didn't believe me when I told her you had rescued him. Everyone thinks I'm a liar," Griffin whined.

"And whose fault is that, sweetie?" Florence ran to the stove to keep the vegetables from burning, but Edgar stood and pretended he cooked the fragrant vegetables. He tossed the roasted vegetables into the stew pot. "I'm making lunch. Do you want some?"

"If anyone in your family cooks, it's bound to be disgusting," Griffin said. "You're trying to distract me from finding that stupid prince."

Edgar played Got Your Nose with Griffin.

"Stop doing that!" Griffin yelled.

Edgar touched Griffin's nose. "Boop!"

Griffin pathetically batted his hand. He scrunched up his lips. "I'm not six anymore. Tell me where Blackstone is."

Florence nibbled on a fried sweet pepper. "Why would I tell you where it is? You'll betray him to Victor," she said. "Your pouting won't help."

"Wendy has spoken to Tribeca." Griffin raised his hands in the air. "She sent a guard to give me the new number, but Wendy won't tell me where he is. I have to earn Wendy's trust back. It's not happening. She's just bragging; she's still magical. Why can't I be magical?" He stomped out.

Edgar's phone rang. He answered. "Miriam is in trouble. She's outside the inn."

"You stay with Blackstone and make sure Griffin doesn't enter my apartment." Florence fled out of the booth and raced out of the theater. Petunia's troop leader took out a laser gun to attack Miriam.

Even though both women worked out, they couldn't fight twenty men at once.

A large man punched Miriam.

"This calls for the right weapon." Florence whipped out a laser gun hidden in her purse and shot their leader first, stunning him. "I don't carry guns with bullets because death should never be taken lightly, and I prefer a little bit of torture."

The next burst—burned his face.

Florence appeared strong and muscular, but she wouldn't dare fight that many men at that close range. The rest fell in line. "Break it up!"

"Miriam betrayed the queen by quitting," one of the men said. "We should be allowed to execute defectors ourselves."

"Retiring isn't the same as going AWOL." Miriam felt the cut form on her face. Blood trickled down.

Florence's father ran to her and bandaged her face. He guided her back into the theater.

Thackeray walked in from behind and spoke to the squad leader. "This is why I'm asking Florence to take over."

Petunia stood behind him and stomped around. "I need her alive, you idiots. And you tried to sell my prophecy book and lied; she did it."

"I should be chosen." The stun wore off, and he tossed the book at the queen's head.

Thackeray swapped out the oracle books and handed her the forged one.

Petunia located her weapon.

Wisp Hospital:

A month after the lockdown, it was time to leave. 

Tribeca rested after the nurses took her blood. A nurse smiled at her. "What tokens do you want?"

"I'd prefer meals and train tokens. We need to be on the other side of Wendy. She can't carry us, and we can't hide here any longer. I don't want Queen Petunia to tear this place apart to search for us. It's only a matter of time before she discovers her troops were captured." She told the nurse everything.

The nurse handed her extra meal tokens for the train. "You always help us out. Let us help you."

"But why don't wisps donate?" Astrid asked.

"They do, but it's complicated. There is a big fear of needles due to a horror movie," the nurse said.

Astrid spoke. "My parents tried to force me to watch Needles 1, but I don't like scary movies."

"The people behind the film are a fringe medical group. It wasn't a run-of-the-mill horror movie. They wanted to keep medical supplies from wisps. Your mother is a universal donor. She saves more people with her blood than with her magic."

"She is my sister, not my mother, though she's adopted me. I want her to be my mom, though. My birth mother used magic to hold on to her youth. She never felt like my mom."

Tribeca spoke. "It's why she used the magic that was the problem; she wanted to keep me away from my family to abuse my magic."

"Can I also have a beauty parlor token? I need to re-dye my hair before we leave. I prefer keeping the gray, but it isn't safe."

The nurse smiled. "I have a box of purple in the back. My fur isn't natural."

New Joy's Subway Train:

Astrid and Tribeca pulled the harness over themselves. It was faster than any train ride Astrid had experienced.

Tribeca's new hair color suited her—not a harsh purple, but a soft violet. "This will cut our trip to four hours, but the wisp subway train makes me nauseous, but only for the first three minutes, until I'm used to the speed." She raced to their private bathroom and came back.

A cart drove by, and she gave the women her red tokens and helped Astrid with her lap tray.

"Blood money tokens. Thank you for your service." The woman handed her back a few dented brass tokens. "Your change. You can pick a main entree, a soup, and a dessert each."

Astrid pointed to the creamed potato soup. "Can I have two bowls instead of dessert?"

"I like people who know what they want." The woman placed the food on their tray.

Astrid sipped her soup until the last cloudy drop was gone.

Two men rolled a cart, took their empty bowls, and handed them mints.

An announcement went over the intercom. "The blood and plasma crisis is becoming worse. What happens when this becomes a war with the teenage queen, who was once our hero? Please! If you can donate blood, do so now."

Astrid spent the rest of the trip reading and trying to avoid fears dancing in her head. She wrote in her diary.

Dear Diary,

What if Tribeca gets captured? What if Petunia kills her and tries to force me to do magic I can't perform? What if I become bad too? Chosen ones don't always win. I heard the evil Prince Alva is dead. He was good once, or at least he faked it.

But Tribeca never allowed him or Petunia around me, and she always has reasons. I cannot lose her. But I won't lose her, Petunina is a stinky brain whose head is filled with garbage.

Queen Petunia:

The commander lunged at the queen. "Give me the book. It's not like you can use it. You're not special anymore."

Petunia tossed her laser dagger at the man, striking him in the shoulder. The former leader itched from the electrical sparks.  

Victor blew magical dust, causing the man to not breathe, and started to walk away.  "And that is how you kill a traitor and a book thief."

Thackeray stood behind his sister. His necklace was empty, and his wife must have been elsewhere.

The prince spoke. "We're running out of troops and are forced to use prisoners. We're training children."

"Grab a prisoner to replace him." Petunia walked away.

"That is distasteful," Florence mumbled.

Thackeray spoke. "Don't say that in front of my sister, but I agree." He pressed on the fallen man and attempted to resuscitate him.

Florence called the hospital. She helped Thackeray keep the man alive, and she had helped dozens of fallen soldiers, on both sides of a pointless war.

A solar-powered ambulance stopped and medics loaded the man.

Thackeray guided her into the inn. "Consider my offer. Forget the chosen ones, you're more valuable." After he spoke, he sighed to himself. "Everyone claims my mother started the war. Do you believe that she was evil?"

Kyle poured them tea.

"No, Victor and Petunia framed your mother. And your mother wasn't supposed to be slaughtered."

"What should we do to save the kingdom?" he asked.

Florence tucked her weapon away. "My advice is to tax ale and silk dresses. But a real tax, not robberies. Save enough until you can afford a real army and a foster care system. Everyone knows Cora isn't ready to rule."

"Honestly, she's more incompetent than Petunia, if that is possible," Kyle whispered to them.

Florence spoke. "No, she isn't. Griffin used her like he did me to advance Victor's plans. All Cora needs is a title and respect. Give her something meaningful to do. She'd love to be in charge of the orphan program."

"So many are without parents because of my family." Thackeray's hands shook, and he placed his teacup down. "You attempted to rescue my mom, and because of that, I'll never kill you. Actually, I can never kill anyone. Do you think I'm a weak cinnamon roll?"

"No, you're brave." Florence shook his hands. "And I respect you more than anyone, and not just because of your belief in me."

"But I can't take down my baby sister without anyone on my side."

Florence nodded. "I'll always be on your side." 

Thackeray's eyes moved around, and he stared at a zombie doll left on a table. He picked it up. "My sister must be trying to get her powers back. Legend has it that my sister killed people with these dolls. It's not true. Queen Izz and my baby sister had similar powers, so maybe it's Alva's stepmother helping us."

"It is still creepy." Florence flung the doll onto the ground and crushed it with her foot. She walked over to the 3D medicine printer and printed her meds.

Thackeray followed her, and he clutched his cup of tea. "My sister is furious that she lost her powers, but it wouldn't have happened if she wasn't a brat."