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Her words strike like my whip, leaving a stinging mark on my flesh. I reflexively grab at my waist, fingers falling on my whip.
“I’m taking the face path, climbing the mountain,” Max declares with resignation. “Come with me, Vi.”
I shake my head. “No. We had a deal, Max. We do this together. You said you’d follow me to the end, and I know this is the right way to go.”
Tulip, bless her, remains silent, distancing herself as much as possible to afford us some semblance of privacy. “Yeah, well, I said that when I thought we were just going to Ytopie. Now you’re talking about killing a vessel and dismantling society. I do not want to spend my life in a fight. I want to settle down and just exist.”
“I know our plans have changed, Max,” I say softly. “But this is what I was meant to do. I feel it in my bones. We have to stop the Race once and for all. By destroying the vessels, we can ensure the Gods do not return. If there is no hope of the Gods returning, they’ll have to stop the Race.”
Max scoffs, shaking her head. “You’re so naive, Viola. For someone who likes to pretend she’s devoid of emotion, you sure are letting your need for vengeance drive you.”
I wrinkle my brow, confused. “Vengeance? What do I have to be vengeful for?”
“If the Race didn’t exist, your parents would never have left you.”
It’s like she slapped me, and I move backward, craving distance from her harsh words. “This has nothing to do with my parents!”
Her laugh, mocking and loud in the empty air, cuts me down. “It has everything to do with your parents. Everything you do is because of them. They neglected your emotional well-being, so now you cannot open yourself to love. They left you in the Race, so now you’re going to fight to dismantle the fabric of fae society. All of it can be traced back to your parents.”
I find myself tapping my fingers along my collarbone while I attempt to process what Max has said. “I can open myself up to love,” I say quietly. “You say that like I’m broken.”
The look on her face churns my gut. “You are broken, Vi. Since Link…”
Anger bubbles inside me, and I lash out. “Do not mention Link!”
“Don’t pretend this sudden need to find the elevator is anything but you wanting to prove to yourself that he didn’t die out here, Viola! He did, and we all know it. There was no elevator for him to find.”
Tears well in my eyes, a foreign feeling. I try to remember the last time I cried but come up empty. “I have to believe he found it, Max. And we will, too.” I dip my head, trying to subtly wipe the tears from my face. “We have to,” I add, voice barely above a whisper.
Tulip crosses to me and takes my hand in her own. The gesture is one that I welcome, a comfort that I used to imagine only a sister could provide.
“I thought after all you’d been through, that one day you’d change, Viola,” Max says, her voice tinged with sadness.
“And you want to change me?” Anger pushes the grief from thinking of Link from my body, threatening to engulf me.
“Honestly? Yeah, Viola. I do. You’re impulsive, bitter, and rude. You’re angry at the world for something your parents did to you, refusing to place blame where it belongs. Not everything can be attributed to the Race, Vi. Not everything can be traced back to your shitty childhood where you didn’t even get a chance to be a kid.” The vitriol spewing from her mouth like poison changes this woman I have known my whole life into a stranger.
She fights the tears that are so close to spilling while my veins turn to ice, and a fire burns in my stomach. “There’s no need to change me, Max. I’m fine the way I am. And yes, I may have mentioned after killing Amio that I needed to change, but you know what? It was a fucking lie. Everything I’ve done has kept all of us alive, and I will not apologize for it.”
“How do you sleep at night, Viola, knowing you’ll never find satisfaction? Even if we reach Ytopie, you’ll still be miserable.”
Tulip, unable to quietly absorb our escalating voices, intervenes. “Max, where is this coming from? I may not have known you long, but this doesn’t seem like you.”
Max redirects her anger toward Tulip. “You’re right, Tulip. You don’t know me. Since you brought up killing the vessels, I’ve debated whether to stick around with you two. I’ve been stewing on it, trying to understand why it unsettles me so much. I still can’t figure it out, but I do know that I can’t stand to be around you anymore.”
Max’s venomous words bring tears to Tulip’s eyes. Sweet Tulip, who has lost her parents and brother, and somehow still manages to remain a bright little sun. I suddenly feel fiercely protective of her, as if she were my family.
“Max, that’s uncalled for. Tulip hasn’t done anything to deserve your anger. Your frustration is clearly directed at me, even if I don’t understand why.” I try to placate her, raising my palms in a gesture of peace.
“I can’t do this anymore, Viola,” Max whispers, her voice barely audible. She takes a step away from me.
I move toward her, but she recoils as if I will scorch her. “Are you coming with me, Vi?” Her voice is pleading, desperate.
I shake my head. “I... I can’t, Max. I need you to come with me. I know this is the right thing to do. I know we’re on the right path.”
Max adjusts her pack and looks at me, sadness in her eyes. “I can’t, Vi. I just can’t.” She turns to start her ascent up the face of the mountain.
With increasing and out-of-character panic, I cry, “Wait! What about our deal, Max? We promised to face this together and live normal lives in Ytopie. You promised!”
