Chapter Fifteen

“Maddie-”

Madeline shot her hands in front of her, stepping away. “No, Varian,” she said.

Varian held out his hand. "Madeline, please," he begged. "Quirin was like a father to you! Surely you understand me."

She spun to face him. "No! You're right, he was like a father to me! Why are you tarnishing the memories of him like this?" As her temper rose, so did the rocks around her.

"Avenge him with me," he pleaded. "You know what must be-"

"NO!" she screamed, rocks shooting out of the ground. "This is NOT necessary! You could talk this out with Rapunzel- she *never* wanted to hurt you, and you know that. If you refuse to accept that, fine. But in that case, I'm not fighting by your side." She picked up her bag. "I'm leaving." She glanced at a worktable. Equations laid there- weeks of work, trying to build robots, devices, weapons of war. She snatched them up.

"But- your powers!" As he said that, her rocks seemed to glow. “A-and… my equations!

"Yeah, what about them?"

"You could be a target- they're dangerous- everything you were raised for, you're just leaving that all behind?" he asked. “And ruin the work of a scientist? You were taught to respect others… weren’t you?”

Her voice turned cold, pure ice, even as tears streamed down her cheeks. "I could ask the same of you."

"Madeline-"

"NO." She opened the latch on the door and ran without looking back, rocks shooting out from where she had stepped. Varian could've chased after her, but for some reason, he felt rooted to the spot. As he saw her trip, though, something snapped and he chased after her.

“Maddie!”

She turned and he was shocked at how many tears had already streamed down her face, glowing blue as they hit the ground. She began to sing softly. “I saved every letter you wrote me, from the moment I read them I knew you were mine, you said you were mine, I thought you were mine.” She pulled a handful of letters out of her bag. “Do you know what Annika said when we saw your first letter arrive? She said: ‘be careful with that one, love, he will do what it takes to survive. You and your words flooded my senses. Your sentences left me defenseless, you built me palaces out of paragraphs, you built cathedrals…”

She began to walk away, and Varian followed her. “I’m re-reading the letters you wrote me, I’m searching and scanning for answers in every line, for some kind of sign, and when you were mine… the world seemed to… burn… burn…”

She spun to face him again. “You turned your back on your best friend. You let the kingdom know how you betrayed, backstabbed and stole, you’re pursuing revenge, I’ll leave you alone! Do you know what Annika said! When she heard what you’ve done? She said: ‘You’re in love with an Icarus, he has flown too close to the sun.’ You and your words *obsessed* with your vengeance! Your equations trying to attack them, and you are stating in every solution, how bad this hurts you! You, you, YOU!!!”

She threw the letters and equations into a hearth, turning away as he gaped at her. “I’m erasing myself from the narrative. Let future historians wonder how Madeline reacted when you broke her heart! You have torn it all apart, I’m watching it burn! Watching it burn! The world has no right to my heart, the world has no place in my head, they don’t get to know what I said, I’m burning the memories, burning the equations that might have redeemed you! You forfeit all rights to my heart! You forfeit your dangerous works! I’ll see that no one gets hurt! All you’ll have is memories of when you were mine!!!”

She kept running, until finally he was no longer chasing her. She placed a hand on a rock, watching as it glew a deep crimson.  “I hope that you… burn…”