Chapter Text
The day after the attack on Fort Salem, Raelle still lies in the makeshift infirmary. Her body is exhausted and refuses much more than soup and other liquids. Scylla doesn’t left her side for long. The longest she was away from her girlfriend was when she called Edwin to tell him about what had happened. It was a task she felt would be best if she did for Raelle, who was taking her mother’s death painfully hard. Edwin needed to know as soon as possible and Raelle was in no state to do so. Edwin’s response to the devastating news was heart wrenching and Scylla was glad she took on the force of it instead of Raelle.
Now, the two are in the infirmary, Abigail and Tally having just left for lunch. Scylla sits beside Raelle’s cot, which is lined up along the wall farthest from the blown-out wall. The room is still filled with injured witches; some groaning in pain and some having yet to wake up from their injuries and surgeries. It’s freezing cold and the gaping hole in the wall lets in snow. Soldiers who weren’t injured in the attack take turns singing the room to a comfortable temperature for the injured and their loved ones.
Scylla rests her head on her sleeping girlfriend’s chest, listening to the beating of her heart and finding comfort in the rise and fall of her chest as she breathes rhythmically.
“You were stabbed…” Raelle croaks, startling Scylla. She meets the bright blue eyes of the blonde. “They stabbed you… You almost died.”
Scylla takes Raelle’s hand in her own. “You saved me, Rae. I’m here. I’m okay. Thanks to you.”
Raelle shakes her head, her bottom lip quivering. “I can’t lose you too, Scyl,” she says. “Not again.”
“Never again,” Scylla tells her, leaning forward and kissing Raelle’s forehead. “I won’t leave your side ever again. It’s you and me. No matter what.”
“Scylla.” Izadora calls their attention from the doorway of the room. Her expression is urgent as she stares across the room at the Spree agent. “Come with me. This is very important.”
Scylla is ready to object and tell Izadora that she won’t be leaving Raelle while she is still not healed, but Raelle squeezes her hand and nods her okay. Scylla gives her one more kiss on the lips before getting up and following Izadora outside.
“What’s going on?” Scylla asks.
“Something has come to the attention of General Alder and she needs information.” This is all the instructor tells her until they reach the War Room. Inside, Alder and her Biddies, Petra, Anacostia, Witch Father, Khalida and Adil, and a Spree leader Scylla has never spoken to before stand throughout the room.
“Ramshorn,” Alder acknowledges.
Scylla takes in all of the high positioned witches around her. All these leaders in the room are looking at Scylla with a mixture of expressions. Some are cautious, some are disapproving, some look confident. “What’s going on?” she asks hesitantly.
General Alder explains everything. She tells Scylla about their suspicion that President Wade may perhaps be in on the attack of the day before, that she may be in cahoots with the Camarilla.
“We must find out if our suspicions are accurate,” Alder tells her. “Izadora here is the Necro who works best in this sort of thing, and she has come to me with a different plan.”
Izadora turns to Scylla, “You have been doing phenomenal in your training for this, Scylla. You’re learning at a rate that I haven’t seen before except for in myself. I have told General Alder that you will be doing this.”
Scylla is taken aback. “Do—doing what exactly?”
“Doing what I have been training you to do, Scylla. Find out if President Wade is working with the Camarilla.”
“Uhm…” Scylla looks at every face staring back at her. “You can’t be serious. This is huge. I am not ready for this, no.”
“You are ready,” Izadora says. “Scylla, you are our future. You must learn to harness your powers and use them in ways you may need to in the future. There is no better way to learn than this.”
Scylla gapes at her instructor. “I cannot do something this big—”
“You can. And I will be here the whole time, helping you through it. I will guide you along.”
Scylla’s head is on a swivel as she looks around the room once again. Everyone here had agreed that Scylla would be the one to do this. Even General Alder had accepted this major decision. They all relied on her to find out such important information.
“You’ve got this.” Anacostia tells her, a small yet confident smile on her lips.
Scylla gulps, but nods her head.
“Okay. Let’s do it then.”
A few days later, Raelle is out of the infirmary and healthy once more. She, the rest of her unit, and Scylla stand together along with everyone who was in the War Room when Scylla confirmed President Wade was in fact part of the Camarilla, and more high ranked soldiers whom Raelle recognized from the Bellweather wedding. They are crowded together in the General’s office as she prepares herself for the big announcement. Today is the day she will tell the world that Madame President is a traitor of the nation and a terrorist and must be removed from her position.
Scylla holds tightly to Raelle’s hand, their fingers interlocked. This day would change their future and the entire room was filled with tension, fear, and excitement.
When Scylla had spied on the President, she found her locked away in her office on the phone with a Camarilla leader, discussing the attack. Scylla followed the caller’s connection—she had no idea how she was doing it— with Izadora walking her through it as she relied on mycelium to lead her. After a while, she had found the location of this Camarilla leader and a large number of others. As Alder prepared for her speech—which would be broadcasted through the entire nation—squads of soldiers, Tarim, and Spree were making their way to the location.
“Alright,” General Alder says. “I’m ready.”
As she says this the television, which was on and would show Alder as she spoke to America, suddenly flipped to a new channel. Everyone in the room turned to the screen to find President Wade in a black dress suit and a serious look.
“Good morning, my fellow Americans,” Wade says to the camera. “I come to you today with grim and dangerous news. I will not sugarcoat this or beat around the bush, for all of you deserve to know the truth. Yesterday, I was informed of a horrible news. The people—the witches—we all thought were protecting us from the dangers and threat of the terrorist organization known as the Spree, who have killed thousands of helpless and innocent civilians, has in fact been working with them. They have been harboring Spree agents inside of Fort Salem and protecting them while the group continues to cause harm to the nation and attack innocent Americans. This is an act of treason far worse than one could ever imagine. Nobody knows how long this has been going on. I have been informed that this could have been happening since the beginning and the Spree attacks have always been driven by those who were sworn to protect us.
“The United States Witch Military has been a lie and a danger to us all, and I will not allow this to continue.” President Wade now lifts a length of worn-out paper in her hand. The camera focuses on the new object and Raelle recognizes is as the Salem Accord. “The agreement made long ago will be no more.” Wade brings her other hand into view of the camera. She holds a lighter in this one. With an audible flick, Wade lights the lighter and puts the flame to the corner of the accord. “We no longer need this witch Army if they are going to go behind our citizens’ backs and stab us.” The paper is in flames in seconds and Wade places it in the metal can within view of the camera. “This is a new era. The Salem Accord is no more and these witches are now wanted for treason. As I speak, forces are infiltrating Fort Salem to capture these terrorists and bring them to justice.”
At this, there is shouting outside and a commotion of airplanes above them. Alder looks outside to the sudden chaos once more. There is no sign of attack just yet. The yells around them seem to be soldiers who are also watching this speech made by the President. Alder turns to the high ranked soldiers quickly and says, “Code red.”
At this, most of the witches run out of the office. The Bellweather unit look to each other in panic and Scylla holds tightly onto Raelle. It’s not long before Raelle catches sight of a filmy substance creeping through the sky outside. She peeks out the window and watches as the off-white familiar material covers the sky from all ends she can see and closes in on them.
“What the hell is happening?” she asks Alder. “What is code red?”
“Code red is our last resort protection system,” Alder tells the office of witches. “Everyone inside of Fort Salem is protected by the mycelium that keeps Fort Salem alive. The exact mycelium that you now have a connection to.” She looks to Raelle.
“How long will it hold?” Abigail asks, looking at the mycelium snow globe they were suddenly in.
“Hopefully until we figure out our next step,” Alder tells the room. “Wade must have known we found out about her and she beat us to making an announcement first.”
“So what now?” Tally asks.
“We can still get our word out,” Anacostia tells Alder as the other Generals and Lieutenants enter the room again. Bridey joins them now and stands beside Abigail. “We may still be able to get civilians on our side.”
“There are tunnels under Fort Salem,“ Izadora tells the room. “They lead out of here in case of emergency and trail underground and through half of the country. We can get out through them and come together again in small groups.”
“It’s going to be a Civil War…” Petra breathes.
“Well,” Alder says, taking steady steps to her liquor cabinet, pouring whiskey into a glass, and downing is all in one gulp. “If it is a war Wade wants, it is a war she will get. Be ready for what comes next, witches. We must stand together or fall apart.”
“With Storm and fury, witches.” Abigail says, taking Raelle and Tally’s hands in hers. She looks to either of them and they nod in return.
Echoing her, Raelle and Tally both say together, “Storm and fury.”