Damn it! Clea thought. She rarely cursed, even in her own head, but fireworks had definitely not been part of the plan. But then, Margali was never one to stick to plans if more expeditious means of achieving her goal presented themselves. She had a lot in common with Umar in that respect. Clea would just have to trust that Margali’s goals continued to align with her own in this instance. She at least genuinely cared for her daughter and was fighting to keep her safe in Limbo, unlike Clea’s own mother, who only sought Clea’s destruction.
As much as Clea had longed for even as tortured a relationship as Margali and Amanda had, she knew the time for that was long past. If Umar wanted destruction, Clea would give it to her.
Stepping out from hiding, Holly at her heels, Clea readied the Crystals of Cyndriarr spell. She doubted the crystals would kill her mother, but she imagined they would hurt her, allowing them to rescue Ardina with a minimum of interference from the goddess. Which was preferable, considering that the demons streaming in through the double doors coming to aid their mistress would be interference enough.
But I don’t want destruction, child.
Umar’s voice in Clea’s head was so unexpected that she stopped where she was, flat-footed, momentarily losing her spell. She felt Holly bump into her, heard her say something, but somehow the pink-haired witch’s words seemed very far away compared to Umar’s.
I have never wanted destruction. I only want the same things for our people that you do: Happiness. Prosperity. Peace.
There was something very wrong with that, but Clea’s thinking was suddenly slow and foggy, and she couldn’t work out what the problem was. After a moment, she began to doubt there was a problem at all. Umar wanted the same things for the people of the Dark Dimension that Clea did, and why shouldn’t she? She was their ruler, after all.
“That’s right,” Umar said, smiling down at her from where she sat on the Azure Throne. She gestured to a second throne on the dais beside her, this one at the same height as hers, only done in shades of plum and eggplant instead of hues of blue. “And I only wish to rule with wisdom and benevolence, with my daughter here at my side.”
Clea frowned. Umar had never wanted to share anything. Had she?
“Oh, child, you’ve allowed the lies of others to cloud your thoughts. People who hate me, like my brother, and your husband. People who would see both of us diminished and weak, the better to perceive themselves powerful.”
That… sounded right, actually.
“If you don’t believe me, why not listen to the friends you brought with you to celebrate your coronation?”
Holly startled her by putting a hand on her shoulder. Clea had forgotten that the pink-haired witch was behind her.
“It’s true, Clea,” she gushed, her big doe eyes as wide as her smile. “Your mother is amazing! I’m honestly jealous of your relationship. I only wish Agatha treated me with half the respect and kindness that Umar treats you with. What an amazing opportunity, to share rule of the Dark Dimension with her, equal in all things. Think of all the good you will be able to accomplish by working together!”
“I envy you, Clea,” Margali said from the other side of her, and Clea turned to face the green-skinned sorceress. She, too, was smiling, an earnest expression that Clea for some reason thought should include fangs. “You have this incredible chance to reconcile with your mother, after all these years. Would that I were offered the same opportunity with Amanda, or Kurt. What wouldn’t I give for it?
“And think of all the time you’ve already wasted! And for what? So some man could come along and snatch the Flames of Regency from you when you were too weak from battling each other to stop them? Don’t you see? That was their plan all along! Dormammu’s. Stephen’s. To keep both you and Umar under their thumbs, too busy fighting each other to see how you were being manipulated! They are the ones who have kept you apart. The ones who have stolen all these years away from you. They’re the ones who stole your mother from you, Clea. Don’t let them get away with it!”
Before she could even start to process that, Elizabeth was spinning her around and grabbing her by both shoulders, giving her a firm shake.
“Margali is right, Clea. You can have the loving, nurturing relationship with your mother that you’ve always wanted. You can have what the rest of us have messed up or lost or never even got the chance to try for. It’s yours for the taking.” She took one hand off Clea’s shoulder to point up toward Umar, who was now standing on the dais beside the twin thrones, arms outstretched. “All you have to do is join her. Just sit beside her and finally give your people what they need. Give your heart what it needs. Be happy, Clea.”
Clea took a few halting steps toward her mother and the dais, the other sorceresses encouraging her from behind.
“You’re making the right choice, Clea,” Elizabeth cooed.
Clea took a few more steps. She was nearly at the bottom of the dais now.
“I’m so happy for you!” Holly added, barely able to contain her excitement.
Clea’s foot was on the bottom step, and she only had eyes for her mother, waiting with open arms above her.
“Finally,” Margali sighed, her voice somehow sounding as if it were right in her ear. “You’re finally going to have what you’ve always wanted. You will rule the Dark Dimension hand in hand with Umar, your beloved mother.”
Clea stopped where she stood, alarms bells ringing in her mind.
Wait. That wasn’t right.
“But I… I don’t want to rule the Dark Dimension,” Clea said slowly, shaking her head as if to throw off something unpleasant that clung stubbornly to her hair. “By myself or with anyone else.”
She looked up at the top of the dais, eyes narrowed. Umar sat on the Azure Throne, which no longer had a purple counterpart, looking back down at her and smirking. In between them, wicked-looking spears at the ready, were a trio of very large, very drooly demons.
“I only ever wanted…” she said, making several quick hand movements and recalling the Crystals of Cyndriarr. Instantly, a swirling maelstrom of sharp, thin rectangles of crystal began to churn before her, each glowing with an infernal yellow light. “…to free it.”
And then she let the deadly crystals fly.