Juniper stared up at the ceiling, trying to remember how many days she'd been lying under the harsh lighting. She'd only been lucid for a few hours at a time, and those were probably the worst moments of her day. She could feel everything when she was fully awake.

Every bead of sweat rolling over her flushed skin. Every pain wracked breath. Every sharp blinding pain that shot through her head.

"Juniper...?" Finar's voice pulled her attention away from the pain and onto the green eyes staring intently down into her own.

"Is she awake?" Red eyes peered down at her. "I thought you said she probably wouldn't be waking up anytime soon..."

"She's in the worst stage, Thorn..." Finar sighed. "So she's in complete agony, and I kinda hoped she'd pass out and stay that way."

"You don't say." She spluttered.

"Hush." He said, folding his arms. "Don't speak. Your throat's probably raw from all the screaming you've already done."

"Yeah." Alpha Thorn mumbled. "You've got a good set of lungs on you, that's for sure..."

"It'll be over soon, Juniper." Finar said, mopping some of the sweat off her brow.

"Sure..." She croaked, blinking as she drifted back into the strange haze that'd consumed her for the last however many days she'd been lying there.

She went back to floating in the black void she'd been wallowing in for the most part of the time she'd been ill. Juniper couldn't tell which way was up and which way was down as she floated through the darkness, enjoying the numbness it brought. There was no pain there.

It was just nothingness.

Or so Juniper thought, until she reached the flicker of a flame.

A purple flame.

***

"Again." Juniper clapped her hands, smiling widely as her father threw her up into the air again, catching her with ease. "Again!"

"Justin!" Her mother's voice echoed through the corridor.

"In here." Her father called, setting a nine-year-old Juniper back down on the bed.

"Why are you in here...?!" Dark blue eyes narrowed on her daughter.

"I'm spending time with my daughter, Gwendolyn." He sighed, folding his arms. "We've barely seen her since we shut her away down here."

"Well..."

"She's still your daughter..." He said. "She's saved Ishgard from the Rogues and the Pack! We should be thanking her, not locking her away."

"She's too dangerous..."

"But still-"

"Enough, darling." She said, closing her eyes. "We need to take her to the doctor's for her appointment."

"Does that mean I get to go outside again?!" Juniper's eyes lit up. "Can I? Can I?!"

"You'll be going upstairs and out to the car, Junebug." Justin smiled at his daughter. "But I don't know if mummy will allow you to run around outside again after what happened a few days ago..."

"You mean when I took care of those Rogues that went after Big Sis Julia?"

"Yes, little Junebug." He sighed. "Mummy wasn't best pleased with the methods you used."

"But if I hadn't killed them, then they'd have hurt Julia and taken her away... it'd have started a war... because they were planning to kill her and send you her head. Then you would've become very upset and hunted down every last Rogue in the area, turning the whole Rogue Community nearby against you. The stronger Rogues would've then made an appearance, having hidden while you slaughtered their kin-"

"Juniper." He ruffled her hair. "You shouldn't be so quick to kill. You could simply incapacitate them..."

"But you don't know the future like I do." She stomped her feet. "They're evil! Pure evil! They want to use any sort of underhand trickery and vile means to get what they want! They would've tried and tried again to get Ishgard to fall..."

"Well, at least your online classes are going well."

"I finished them."

"That's brilliant, Junebug." Her father smiled. "You're learning at an incredible rate. If I had my way, I'd send you to one of the Academies, but I don't know whether I could bear only seeing you in the summer and the Winter Solstice Celebration..."

"Mummy won't let me go, will she?"

"She's overprotective." Justin grinned. "But then so am I... You're my precious little girl, after all, and you're your mother's too."

"Come on, Juniper." Her mother finally spoke. "It's time for you to go and see Yvain."

"I'm ready."

"Justin." Gwendolyn glanced over at her mate.

Juniper's father simply nodded, gently picking his youngest daughter up, carrying her after his mate.

Juniper couldn't walk on her own, you see. The cuffs around her ankles prevented that. They didn't have a chain between them. Not even a small one.

Her parents had already tried her with those cuffs, and she'd used them as a weapon – strangling two Rogues with them. That was when they'd changed them to the restraints she was wearing at that moment. Her ankles were practically glued together, almost touching the other, as her father carried her up the stairs and out into the car.

The drive was long, like it always was.

Time didn't fly by, because she wasn't having any fun. She'd seen the scenery far too much for there to be any excitement, especially when she shut up inside a car. So she just sat there, staring out of the window, waiting for the familiar building to come into view.

Eventually, the large white building did. It's expanse of glass windows shining in the midday sun, making Juniper squint. She'd been cooped up underground for far too long.

"Yvain is waiting." Her father turned to her. "You ready?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Let's go, then." He said, scooping her out of the car, carrying her inside, taking her into a very familiar room. "Yvain will be along shortly."

"I know the drill." She sighed, twiddling her thumbs as she waited in the large room equipped with everything a doctor would need.

Yvain was late.

As always.

The door creaked open, making Juniper turn, but it was only the nurse. Albeit, a different nurse compared to the usual one, but she still took Juniper's blood pressure and gave her the usual injection followed by a few pills.

"Where's Dorothy?" Juniper stared at the woman, the hairs on the back of her neck rising as their gazes connected.

"I think you mean Dagga, sweetie, and she's ill." Brown eyes met her curious blue ones that narrowed on the small red smear on the woman's neck. "I'm Emma, another nurse who works with Yvain."

"So, she's not lying in the nurse's office, bleeding out...?" Juniper tilted her head. "Come now, Emeline Doyln. You didn't really think you could fool me, now, did you?"

"I'm afraid I don't-"

Juniper had her pinned to the floor in an instant, a knife pierced through her hands, holding them to the ground. "I liked Dagga. She was nice."

"You'll pay for this, brat."

"Tell me what you just poisoned me with."

"Never."

Another knife slammed into her shoulder. "Tell me, and I'll end your suffering."

"Go to hell... Oh wait-"

"Tell me." She repeated, carving the knife into her shoulder.

Juniper didn't know how long she spent trying to get answers out of the woman, but by the time the two words she'd been looking for slipped from Emeline's mouth, the woman was half dead already. "Well..." Juniper's shoulders sunk as she hopped over to the sink. "At least I'll be able to continue preventing disasters..." She mumbled, washing her bloody hands, wiping the stray tears out of her eyes. "It was for the greater good." She said, gritting her teeth, grabbing her head in her hands. "That's right. Maybe if you hadn't taken that contract on me, you might still be alive." She nodded. "Yeah. You chose your fate."

"Juniper." Her father stuck his head around the door. "Yvain will be along shorty, so- what the bloody hell have you done, Junebug?!"

"Oh." Juniper glanced down at her bloody clothes. "I killed the woman who killed Dagga."

"How do you know about Dagga?! Even Yvain didn't realise until a good fifteen minutes ago, which is why he's late..."

"The blood smear on Emeline's neck was a bit of an indicator... as well as the scratch marks on her hands..." Juniper smiled wistfully. "Dagga always did have such long pointy fingernails... painted cherry red... but now they're probably dyed in blood..."

"You probably ought to go lie down, Junebug." He said, watching as she swayed on her feet. "You don't look so good."

"Yeah." Juniper mumbled, blinking as she was carried over to the hospital bed in the corner of the room.

"Yvain will be here soon, don't worry." He patted her head. "You might just be a little woozy, after all that excitement." He said, struggling to keep himself from glancing over at the corpse in the room.

"No." She sighed. "I've been poisoned."

"Sorry I'm..." Yvain trailed off, having spotted the carnage in the room. "Late..."

"Nightblade Vera." Juniper stared over at the doctor, not wasting any time. "What is it?"

"It's a poison. A deadly one at that, too... well, unless you treat it in time." Grey eyes locked on her dark blue ones. "How do you even know about it?"

"The woman who killed Dagga, and took her place, poisoned me with it."

"Are you sure?!"

"I don't think she was in any state to lie to me." Juniper smiled. "So please help me. I can't die just yet."

"King Justin." Yvain turned to him. "I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave the room..." He sighed. "In fact, I'd recommend you go back to the palace. Your daughter will be in my care for quite a while... considering she's been poisoned with a Poison of the Apocalypse."

"I can't leave her."

"You have your duties to attend to, my King." Yvain bowed his head. "Security has already been raised, so the Princess won't be any danger."

"It's fine dad." Juniper sighed. "I'm used to being on my own."

"And I wish you weren't." He closed his eyes, knowing he had no choice in the matter. He had a job to do. "I'll visit you every other day, Junebug. That OK with you, Yvain?"

"Of course."

The door closed quietly behind him as he left, leaving Juniper alone with the doctor.

Her gaze shot over to the intelligent grey one. "This is going to hurt, isn't it?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Typical."

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ILLENIS HERE

Yay! A long chapter...

I don't know why but half the time the longest chapters involve flashbacks. They seem to be easier for me to write for some unknown reason.

For some reason, it feels like ages since I last posted a chapter, when in fact it's only been a couple of days.

Oh well...

Back to my writing I go.

Hope you enjoyed learning more about Juniper and her past. The action will be coming soon, I promise.

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