The Guardians of the Crystals- Officially Over

Celeste's eyes fluttered, but didn't open. Her head felt heavy and hot, and the pain from the scratch on her hand was unbearable. She winced, her fingers twitching. She could hear a faint voice over the throbbing of her pain-

"Celeste-can you hear me?"

She shivered, and opened her eyes. Arthur was sitting next to her, a worried look on his face. He was grasping her hand-the one that wasn't wounded-and the Crystal was laying next to her face. She closed her eyes. She didn't seem to have the strength to speak.

Arthur smiled slightly at the sight of her opening her eyes, even if it was only a little to look around and where she was. It was enough of a sign for him to believe she heard him.

He took the rag and held up her cut hand and, with a very focused gentleness, began cleaning the wound. He made sure that no part of the pin was stuck in her palm, and he made sure to find some clean bandages to wrap around the Queen's hand after cleaning the scratch thoroughly.

The General then dipped the rag back into the cold water and wrung it out, laying it over her head softly. "Stay with me, Celeste." He whispered, his pale brown eyes going down to look at the crystal. He couldn't tell if it was the same, weaker, or stronger in its pulsating.

Either way, he planned on staying with her until she was well enough to talk... stand... walk... essentially, until she was better.

He also forced himself to not think about the alternative.

Cora helped the other guards usher the confused citizens out of the palace, then went to find Luna. She had jumped out of her arms before...but she was nowhere to be found. Neither was Moonlight. She pinched the bridge of her nose, and decided to sit on the steps of the castle until further notice.

Celeste winced as the pain in her hand was met with a cold, wet feeling. It stung badly and she cried out a couple of times, gritting her teeth. Her breath was ragged, and her heat still felt like a craftman's forge. She gasped, and she could feel her life force flickering. The burst of power had drained her drastically. It was possible she could slip away.

"Shh, it's okay, Celeste!" He said quickly, checking the wrappings on the Queen's hand. He knew that he needed to cool her down, but he didn't know how.

"Listen, Celeste, please. Are you able to tell me what you need me to do to help you if you know?" He asked her in a hushed yet firm voice. 

He felt her head and, indeed, it was still burning up, but not as bad as it being on literal fire. The hand he was now clutching once more was almost equal in hotness, but not quite.

Come on... He willed, gazing at her fragile face intently.

Luna had dashed off deeper into the palace when she had jumped out of Cora´s arms and now found herself lost, alone and scared, still in her fox form, she came to a stop looking around before she sat down, shivering, she let out a few yips, hoping someone not out to hurt her would hear her

Moonlight had wandered after Luna but had lost her. she heard the yips, and began to follow them.

She clenched and unclenched her fists, cheeks red from the heat spreading around her body. She managed to lift her eyelids, which had suddenly gotten heavier than a block of marble. She looked at Arthur. "Arthur....?" She could barely speak, her tongue feeling thick and numb. "W-what...happened...?"

Moonlight eventually found the fox. she slowly approached the fox. " hey, it's ok. did you get lost? "

"Oh, goodness." He dipped the rag in the cold water once more, wrung it out, and put it back on her face.

"When Luna got attacked by one of the fake Guardians, I suppose it was the last straw pulled and you found a whole conjured group of the fakes, which means they were probably planning something. All I saw was them getting turned into ashes and you falling out of the sky, but you were caught and brought to me. I took you to your room, where we are now, and I'm trying to cool you down." He said, all of it coming out in a fast rush of words. 

He took a deep breath after spurting it all out, running his fingers through his red hair. "I can't let you slip away, Celeste."

Luna looked up at Moonlight and nodded, shifting into her human form, "what....what happened to Celeste?" she asked her voice trembling, her body still shivering though she was starting to calm down a bit, if a bit slowly, though she did worry about Celeste