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huffle-dork · 25 days ago

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Long Live the King

Chapter 9: Storming Mind

Read Fantasy Masks | Read Swapboys | Read the first FM adventure | Other Multiverse Adventures | Read on AO3

Aneirin rushes through the forest, quickly gaining on the figure in a green cloak. He reaches out but his hand passes through the figure's arm. Even so, the figure stops and turns around, revealing a man with chin-length brown hair and green eyes, wearing a golden circlet.

"What are you doing out here?" Aneirin snarls. "Trying to stop me again? Was changing history not enough?"

{You changed it yourself,} the man says, but his lips don't move. {With what you've done.} His appearance shifts, growing slightly older--and one of his eyes disappears, replaced by an empty socket. {Misrepresenting myself was a price I was willing to pay.}

Aneirin scowls. "You're not really here. You can't do anything anymore. Me and Magnificent will find that doorway no matter how much you or this forest try to interfere."

The man smiles. {Will you, then? With that man you've roped into your schemes, I presume? Where is he, anyway?}

A moment passes. Aneirin's eyes widen and he spins around. Where is Alt?!

"You little--"

{Hello, Jack,} the man says, looking past Aneirin's eyes into who's trapped behind. {Don't worry. They'll reach you, soon.}

"Shut up!" Aneirin slashes his seax through the man's form, causing it to disappear. He looks around for Mag. "Magnificent!"

Magnificent is still following Jackie when he hears the King shout. But no matter how hard he runs- how close he seems to get, Jackie is always just out of reach. Why? Why can't he reach him?

Magnificent cries out in desperate rage, trying to get closer- closer-! Then, he hears the King's shout and stills, taking a moment to pause and think. His clarity comes back and he curses, stepping away from the specter even if it pains him. "An illusion...! Fucking-!" He opens up a hand to try to blast the image that's been taunting him away- but he hesitates. He... He can't. He bares his teeth in a snarl and then turns to run back to where he heard the King. "Aneirin!"

The King runs towards the shout and the two of them meet up quickly.

"This was a trick!" Aneirin hisses. "Alt is gone!"

"What?!" Magnificnet shouts, and looks around frantically. He yells out in rage and punches the nearest tree he can with a flame coated fist. "FUCK!" He feels out his magic to try to see if he can sense him- but he can't! "How are we supposed to find him in this fucking god forsaken forest?!"

Aneirin growls. "Who knows?!" He reaches into his pocket. "Maybe that thing Alt got from the Fair Folk can--can--" He checks his other pockets. "...FUCK." He takes out his seax and slashes the nearest tree. Bark sprays from the impact. "It's gone! I'm sure it didn't go anywhere--there must have been some sort of spell on it to make it disappear."

Magnificent roars in rage and scratches his claws deep into another tree in a powerful burst of magic. Then, he grips at his hair and curses in Gaelic before he spins around on Aneirin, "The doorway won't work without him! We need his glitching!" He growls and starts prowling forward, "We have to find that fucking brat!"

"We will," Aneirin growls. He casts out his mind, seeing if he can sense Alt's thoughts. He can't. How far did he go in such a short time?

"I'm sure there's a way for me to track him--oh!" He cups his hands together. Green crackling energy forms a sphere between them, which he tosses onto the ground. It skates forward across the ground, letting out a high-pitched whine and singing the foliage as it crosses. "That spell can lock onto a target. Don't get too close! When it ends, it bursts into 'electricity.'"

Magnificent pauses in his stomping to see the magic form and then yelps and jumps out of the way as it skates past him. He grins, laughing sinisterly. "Alright... let's find our lost kitten!" He rushes after the spell.

"Let's hurry." Aneirin keeps his hands free, ready to cast the spell again when it runs out.

The forest around them rustles... but it can't stop them.

◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈

Jameson took the last watch for the night, saying that he was feeling restless. But now he awakens everyone, starting with Marvin. Is this daylight? he asks.

Marvin looks around. He nods. "This is as bright as it gets."

Good. Let's eat and get moving again.

Then the two of them shake everyone else awake.

As soon as they step near Bro, he's awake, pushing himself up quickly. He doesn't look like he slept much at all but he shakes it off. The others are a bit slower to rise but awaken and start to get ready all the same.

Dr. J checks on Bro but he just shakes his head and says he's fine.

Jackie starts rummaging through the food packs and handing things out. "Remind me, Marvin. We can't forage at all here, right?"

"When I was going through the Wyldwood the first time, Draco would point out the food that is safe," Marvin says.

"It's so strange that we're relying on a cat," Chase mutters.

"Well Marvin said Draco is magics- he must know more than we do!" Henny tries to say brightly.

"Oh yes, he's very magic." Marvin reaches over and starts petting Draco, who opens his eyes and mrrps. "Think of it like... like familiars are related to the Wyldlands. Cousins from the same tree. So they know about each other."

“That’s honestly fascinating,” Dr. J muses, looking at Draco.

"You do not look so good, Bro," Henrik mumbles, also not looking too good.

"m' fine," Bro grumbles, checking over his weapons before breakfast is handed to him. He takes it and eats quickly. "'m just eager to get back to it."

Jackieboy looks at his friend with concern but he knows not to poke too much at Chase when he's grumpy.

"Question." Jackie raises a hand. "What do we do about that water in the distance?" Now that the forest is brighter again, they can see the water in the distance, a shining reflection of the light.

"Is it alright to get close to it?" Henrik worries. "If it's a river we'll have to, to get over it, but let's try to avoid it at first."

“I could just- grab a bunch of you and fly us over it.” Bro says in between bites.

“There’s like-“ Jackieboy starts to count all of them, “-9 of us though!”

“So like… 3 ish trips?”

“You can’t carry 3 people at once!”

“Sure I can!”

“What are you expecting one of them to cling to your back like a monkey?!”

Henny sighs and shakes his head at their bickering.

"I would not like to be carried," Chase says, going a bit pale. "I'd rather take my chances with the river."

"Awww c'mon other me! Where's your sense of adventure?" Bro teases.

Marvin stands up. "It might be a pond, so we won't have to worry about it. Let's see if we can go around."

Whatever the body of water is, it must be rather small, because they are indeed able to walk around it, so it seems Bro's noble effort of carrying the boys is moot. But not long after they start walking, they all see movement to the side. Like a large animal--too large to be a person.

Marvin holds out an arm, gesturing for everyone to stop.

Bro is on high alert, hand on his weapon.

"W-What is that?" Henny whispers, clinging to Jackieboy's back. Jackieboy grabs his knife.

It looks like... like a horse. With a dark gray coat and a black mane and tail.

"What?" Jackie whispers. "Why is there... a normal animal here?"

It's probably not a normal animal, Jameson says.

The horse looks at the group with big black eyes. It approaches, but doesn't fully close the distance before stopping and lowering its head to graze.

Bro narrows his eyes, tightening his grip on his sword. "... it kinda looks like the King's horse...?"

"Are horses... dangerous? Cuz it looks chill..." Jackieboy comments.

Jameson nods slowly. Doesn't look too dangerous. But then again, if it belongs to the King, it could be tricky.

"Maybe it's not his," Jackie says. "I didn't get too close a look at it."

"Do you think we can ride it?" Henrik asks, walking closer to the horse.

Chase's eyes widen. "That's not a horse!" He lunges forward for Henrik. "The hooves!"

Bro notices it, too. The horse's hooves shifted when Henrik started getting too close, unfurling like a fist into webbed claws.

Bro startles and then attacks fast, drawing his sword and getting in front of Henrik. He points the sword at the not-horse, "Stay back!"

The horse raises its head and--oh god, its teeth. They're sharp. Henrik stumbles back when Bro jumps in front of him and Chase pulls him back.

The other swaps startle and fumble for their weapons.

As the others draw their weapons, the "horse" charges right at Bro.

Bro yells out and slashes at the freaky horse thing's chest. "Back up, all of you!" He yells at the others.

The "horse" rears back as Bro manages to slash a red line in its flesh, letting out a not-quite-horse-sounding scream--and then it turns and gallops away, running towards the water.

As they group watches, it barrels into the pond and quickly disappears under the surface.

"That's a kelpie!" Chase gasps. "They drag travelers into the water and drown them."

"Sun and moon," Henrik mutters in shock. His eyes start to go distant before he shakes his head, forcibly snapping himself to reality. "That--that would have been good to know beforehand."

"I've never seen one, just heard stories," Chase says.

Bro breathes heavily, still holding his sword out until he sees that thing disappear under the waters' surface. Then, he backs up, "A kelpie... j-jesus-!"

"Fucking hell- those stories used to scare me as a kid!" Jackieboy mutters, putting away his knife.

"I-I guess we must be more cautious around the water then?" Henny squeaks out, looking at the water with slight fear.

"That's why I wanted to avoid it," Marvin says, breathing out and letting go of his focus. The amulet is glowing slightly even without his intent. "Let's just... just hurry past."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Jackie says, practically running away from the water and forcing the others to run to keep up. The swaps don't hesitate to follow after him.

The forest changes slightly as they continue to move. The glowing flora goes from flowers to vines to mushrooms to vines with flowers and mushrooms. The trees have dark brown bark, then gray bark, then red bark, then pale yellowy bark. The grass grows to waist length then shrinks to ankle height and then gets replaced by moss.

Around midday--presumably--they come to an area with small, round bushes dotting the ground. Their sizes vary from chest height to thigh height. And all of them have fist-sized fruit dangling from their branches, strange teardrop-shaped ones that are gold, silver, bronze, and black.

Henny looks the most interested by the fruits- leaning up close to poke at some of them.

"Henny, please be careful-" Dr. J warns.

"But look at these, Juwel! They shine like- well, like jewels!" He laughs.

Marvin frowns. He leans down and picks up Draco, putting him next to one of the bushes. Then he reaches out for each of the fruit in turn. The others watch in fascination as Draco bats Marvin's hand when he reaches for the shining fruit, but doesn't react when he reaches for the black fruit.

"Interesting," Marvin says.

Who wants to test out what the cat says? Jameson asks.

Jackie laughs. "You know what? Might as well, right?" He plucks one of the black fruits. "Who dares me?"

Jackieboy grins mischievously and grabs a black fruit as well, "I'll try it too!"

"Well- Draco has not lead us astray so far...." Henny says.

"A black fruit looks gross tho- not sure I'd wanna eat it." Bro says, sticking out his tongue, "Also, shouldn't we be focusing?"

"Aw c'mon Bro! How often do you get to try out magical fruits?" Jackieboy laughs, and he takes a bite.

Jackie grins. "Exactly!" He also takes a bite.

The inside of the fruit is a dark red. It looks almost bloody when taking a bite of it. But it tastes delicious. Almost like a cross between blue raspberry and cherry--not artificial cherry flavor like the swaps would be used to, but real cherries. As they take a bite of it, they feel lighter, and the environment brightens and sharpens. Any discomfort and exhaustion fades away.

"Whoa!" Jackie rolls up his sleeve. "I had a scrape here but it's gone. So are all my bruises."

Jackieboy brightens and looks down at himself, "Holy shit-" He laughs, "I... I don't feel tired- like... at all!" He pushes back his hair and grins wide. "This is some seriously magical fruit!"

Dr. J's eyebrows raise, "Not tired...? Well- that's like... a miracle for you."

"I know right!!" Jackieboy says excitedly.

"I want to try it now!" Henny exclaims and grabs a black fruit and quickly takes a bite. He blinks and then looks himself over and laughs too, "My back is not hurting anymore!"

"Your back was still hurting from that fall?!" Dr. J gasps in concern.

".... it is not hurting now!"

Henrik also looks concerned at Henny's announcement. "You do realize we had pain relief salves, yes?"

Henny blushes and looks away timidly, "It was... mild discomfort- nothing to worry about!"

But Henrik also curiously takes one of the fruit and bites into it. "Oh. Oh!" He laughs. "It tastes so good!"

"It's like a healing item in a game!" Jackieboy laughs.

Now I'm curious... Jameson takes out a knife and plucks one of the golden fruit, slicing it in half. The inside is a gross rotten brown color, and it hisses ominously as the knife passes through the skin. He shudders.

"So they're a trick." Chase sums up. "I bet the valuable-looking ones will kill you at different speeds, while the bad-looking ones heal you. Interesting."

Bro frowns at the shiny fruit, "Guess that makes sense- everything in here kinda seems like a trick..."

"We should get more of these," Jackie says, plucking more of the fruit. "They could be useful."

"What if they rot suddenly when we get too far away?" Marvin asks.

Jackie shrugs. "Might as well try, given how helpful it could be to have magical healing fruit."

"Do you think all Wyldlands are as tricksy as this?" Chase asks. "Or is it just this one, on our island?"

"Vsevna has sailed through Wyldseas sometimes," Henrik says. "He says that there is strange weather and small islands and creatures that come up from below. But I don't think he has mentioned many tricks or illusions in his stories."

"Maybe this Wyldwood acts like this because the Fair Folk used to reside here," Marvin speculates. "They like their tricks and rules."

"hmm yeah- Emmy used to say the fey were all about tricking folks like us," Bro mutters. "When you live as long as they do- you gotta find a way to make your own entertainment. Even if it tricks mortals."

Jackieboy grabs a couple more black fruits too and stuffs them in his bag. He then hands one to Bro, "Bro you gotta try this! It's like- super tasty! Plus, it could help you feel better!"

"I told you I feel fine, Jackie-" Bro sighs, bouncing on his feet, looking ready to move on.

"You're doing that thing again, Chase," Dr. J deadpans, raising an eyebrow at him. "Suffering isn't noble."

"... fine gimme that-" Bro grumbles as he takes the fruit from Jackieboy. His friend just grins.

Bro takes a bite from the fruit and then blinks rapidly, feeling his exhaustion fizzle away. He laughs and looks down at it, "...what the hell- dude, it kinda tastes like... blue raspberry??"

"Doesn't it?! It's wild!" Jackieboy says excitedly.

Meanwhile, Jackie has stuffed as many of the healing fruits into the food bag as possible. "Are we ready to move on or should we take a break for food?"

As soon as Jackie asks his question, Bro packs the rest of the fruit in his bag and hurries forward, "We should move on." And so they do. But curiosity still grabs hold of them.

"You have blue raspberries in your world?" Henrik asks, intrigued. "Interesting."

"It's not a real fruit," Jackieboy explains, "It's a flavor! Usually for candy. It's like... raspberry but kinda sour but also just- really sugary." He laughs, "Me and my kids love it."

"Candy? Ooooo." Chase grins. "Like peppermint. Or honey."

"Or candied berries, or chilled cream, or sugar sticks, or rock candy..." Marvin closes his eyes. "Mmm. Been a while since we had good candy."

"Well, make do with the magic health fruits for now," Jackie says.

"What even is half of what you said?" Chase says.

"Oh. I suppose some of that is a bit expensive... Sorry, I forgot not everyone would have had that."

Jackieboy laughs, "God that all sounds so good- if we come again, I'll have to bring you some! My kids got massive sweet tooths."

"I remember it took me a bit to get used to all the sweets back at home," Henny muses, "They had just started making chocolate bars before I came!" He grins, "I like it though- so many different things to try!"

The guys look confused.

"What was that word?" Chase asks. "Was it... 'tshákulet?"

Whatever it is, it sounds delicious, Jameson says.

They're walking to a section where the trees are once again getting weird and bendy, though these ones remain that yellowy wood. Most of the glow here seems to be coming from blue fireflies--like what Marvin mentioned while traveling through the Moors.

"Oh! Chocolate!" Henny says excitedly, "It is made from something called cocoa beans! They do not look tasty by themselves but you add it in with sugar and cool it and it becomes this yummy bar you can eat!" Then, Henny gasps happily at the sight of the blue fireflies and tries to run up to some, "Oh!! More firebug friends!! The blue ones!!!"

The other swaps laugh lightly at Henny's excitement.

Henrik grins at seeing his other self's happiness. "I think we have something like that here, though not in this kingdom. I hear that to the west there is a plant called cacao, which is used to make all sorts of delicious drinks. There is even a nation called Quichilti that uses the cacao as money, and--and I am sorry, but is anyone else hearing that humming?!" His voice cracks as he suddenly asks that last question.

The group stops for a moment. There is a faint humming, actually. "No, we hear that too, Schneep, don't worry," Jackie says softly.

"Is it... getting closer?" Marvin asks.

Bro puts a hand on his sword and narrows his eyes.

"I hope its not something like that Kelpie..." Jackieboy whispers.

In the distance, a glowing light is getting closer. Pretty rapidly--until, suddenly, a bird swoops past the group, lightning trailing from its wings. It circles the group twice before landing on the branch of a nearest tree.

An eagle.

And it's not alone.

The swaps shout out and duck out of the way of the lightning. But, Bro watches with wide eyes, hope swelling in his heart. Lightning- just like-!

They all turn as they hear footsteps approaching.

Dr. J gasps quietly, putting a hand over his mouth. Jackieboy pushes himself up with wide eyes. Tears come into Bro's eyes as the figure races into the clearing.

It's Alt.

He looks... terrible. Panting and flushed from running, dark bags under his eyes and he looks like he's been in this forest for days. But, he doesn't look like he wants to kill them, at least. He does stare at them all with wide eyes, skidding to a halt before reaching any of them fully.

Henny is crying with joy, "Alt! It's Alt!!" But, Dr. J holds him back for a second before he races to hug him.

Bro cautiously steps closer, "...Alt...?" He breathes, "...do you remember us?"

Alt looks at them all like their ghosts, stepping back a bit, worried this is an illusion. He looks towards the Eagle like it has the answer.

The eagle looks back down at him. Whatever connection allowed him to sense feelings from it has faded, but it gestures to the rest of the group with its head.

Henrik blinks, then gasps. Chase gasps. Marvin covers his mouth and Jameson stares at the eagle with wide eyes.

"The--The Winged--The--" Jackie stammers.

Henny looks at the other's reactions and looks back at the eagle. Then he gasps too, "Like Jameson's vision! That must be-!"

"... the Winged Elder," Alt whispers, still looking at the others cautiously. "... t-they... they lead me... here..." He swallows shakily, his eyes misty as he looks at everyone's face. He seems to be holding a... twig in his hand, gripping it tightly. "...are you all... real?" He asks through ragged breaths, his other hand instinctively going towards his sheathed seax.

Bro chokes on a sob for a second and then rushes forward, scooping up Alt in a tight hug. Alt stiffens.

“Yes- yes we're real Anti- we're here...!" Bro chokes out, "I'm so sorry, Alt- I'm so sorry I left you! I'm sorry you were all alone! But we're here... we're here...!"

Now, Alt's eyes fill with tears and he breaks down, gripping tightly to Bro and burying his head against his shoulder.

The other Swaps all look at each other and then go to join the hug- Henny falling onto the two and crying with them, but with a relieved smile. Dr. J and Jackieboy support Alt from behind. And Bro holds him the tightest.

Alt wails as all he's been through crashes down on him but for now- even in his storming brain that still felt so empty... here... it was warm...

Eventually, the group hug disperses and Alt looks up at the fantasy boys, eyes wide as he wipes at his face. "... A-All of you... were looking for me...?"

"Of course we were," Chase says quietly.

"That's why we're in this place in the first place," Jackie adds.

"Well--" Marvin starts to say, only to have Jameson reach over and squeeze his hand, silently asking him to stop talking. This wasn't the time to mention their secondary quest. "Yea. And it's been... yea."

"We are real, Alt, I promise you," Henrik says.

"Are you okay?" Chase asks. "Are you hurt? We can help."

Or maybe you just need a moment, Jameson says. We can rest here for a while.

"We can," Marvin agrees. "Seems safe enough."

Alt laughs tiredly and shakes his head. "I'm.... exhausted... a-and still... so confused but... I'm not... hurt?" He knits his eyebrows together and looks at himself. "... t-they didn't... hurt me..."

The fantasy masks boys can tell that... Alt is still speaking Glasish.

"Sounds like they still massively hurt your brain..." Jackieboy mutters, looking concerned.

"Let's just take a second, okay?" Bro says quietly, holding Alt's shoulder lightly. "We can take a second then get you fixed up..."

Draco walks over to Alt and starts rubbing against his legs, purring.

Alt nods and then blinks as Draco comes over. Then, his eyes light up and he smiles, "oh..! Draco!" He laughs weakly and goes to pet him, "I remember you...!"

Marvin chuckles. "He remembers you too, clearly. And he remembers that he likes you more than me, the little traitor." He shakes his head fondly.

Alt laughs a bit more, giving Draco the best pets.

"You're... still speaking our language..." Jackie says slowly.

Alt looks up and tilts his head, knitting his eyebrows together in confusion. "...o-of course I am... I'm... I'm from..." He starts to say and then he sees flashes of the shiny buildings from his visions- of things that made no sense to him but... still felt like home. He looks at the other swaps and blinks big confused eyes at them.

"That, um, might sound confusing to you," Henrik quickly adds. "But listen to your friends. Can you tell they are using a translation spell?"

Bro smiles sadly and then holds up his wrist and taps his bracelet. "We're speaking English dude- You know English. You're the one that made these bracelets to translate for us!"

Alt looks more confused, realizing it does feel like his friends aren't speaking Glasish. But... "I... I did...?" He asks.

"Either way, I think a rest here could help us all," Chase says. "Um... Marvin, do you have any spells that can protect us?"

Marvin nods. "I can set up a defense spell to let us know if people get too close. And then I could set up a shield, too, just in case." He grabs his glowing amulet. "My magic acts strangely here. It's not necessarily more powerful... but it does come easier, if that makes sense. I'll be able to keep both those spells up if we want to try that."

"Seems like a good idea to me," Henrik says, sitting down and leaning back against the nearest tree.

Other me, Jameson says. Can you... do that same thing? Or do you think that won't work?

Dr. J has been observing this whole exchange with a worried expression until he catches Jameson's signs. He sighs and looks... nervous. ".... I could try- but we'd need to make sure we aren't disturbed... and... and Alt was never really... comfortable around my hypnosis before..."

Jameson nods slowly. That makes sense. We wouldn't want to make Alt uncomfortable.

Henny looks back at Dr. J with worry, "... how can we break the spell then?"

"I... I don't know..." Dr. J admits. "... Magnificent has always had a stronger hold on Alt... and with this King's meddling... I'm afraid I might not be able to break a spell of his..."

"It might be safer to try like... back at camp maybe? Cuz there's all those- creatures and stuff around..." Jackieboy mutters.

As Alt hears the mention of Magnificent, he stiffens slightly and looks around, suddenly on edge.

Bro frowns and looks at Alt, "What's up?"

"...Magnificent and mu r-" Alt shudders, "T-The King... t-they're still in the forest..."

The atmosphere immediately sharpens.

"Of course they are," Marvin mutters darkly.

"We can't really go back to camp yet," Jackie says. "We have something else to do while we're in here. Somewhere to go."

Marvin nods. "And it's about a few days' journey away. I recognize where we are."

Chase doesn't say anything. He looks up to the tree where the eagle still sits. And he bows his head slightly. "Is there anything you can do?" he whispers.

The eagle cocks its head. And everyone has an image flash in their mind.

Chase nods. "I-I think they say they will let us know when the King and Magnificent get close."

Alt shivers and holds his arms, curling up around himself. "W-We're just gonna s-sit around and wait for them to find us?!" He somewhat growls, but you can hear the tinge of fear in his voice. His mind is stormy again- conflicting thoughts threatening the warmth within this safety.

They didn't hurt you. They need you. They have your purpose.

Bro swallows and looks anxiously out at the forest. "... We have... literal gods watching over us now. W-We should be okay..."

Henny sits down next to Alt and tries to smile warmly at him, "Yes it will all be alright, Bolzen...! We are all here to protect you!"

I know you're probably feeling very confused right now, Jameson says, but you're safe. I promise. We promise.

"We're not forcing you to stay, but... you don't look too good," Marvin says. "You look like you need a good rest."

"Are you... are you hungry?" Jackie digs into his bag and pulls out one of the fruit from earlier. "We have this--I know that it doesn't look too appetizing but it's magic." He laughs awkwardly.

Alt's gaze is dazed as he listens, or half-listens. Until he sees Jackie offering him the fruit. He hesitates, then feels his stomach growling. He slowly takes the fruit then studies it with a wary expression. "... the King would tell me if things were safe... this is... safe...?"

"You should try it Alt! It tastes like blue raspberries!" Jackieboy tries to encourage.

"...i... don't know what that is-"

Jackie smiles gently. "It's safe, yes."

"Hang on." Chase takes one of the fruits from the bag and eats it. Nothing happens outwardly, though Chase does feel less tired. "See?"

"The most you have to worry about is the way the red juice makes you look like a vampyr," Henrik says, chuckling.

Alt still looks hesitant but... seeing Chase take a bite does help ease his worries. He turns the fruit over in his hand and then takes a bite out of it, chewing slowly.

The fruit's effects work on him like it did with all the others. His exhaustion fades, and any injuries he may have had heal over.

Marvin sits down and Draco hops into his lap. Meanwhile, Jameson takes some of the non-fruit food from the bag for a short snack.

Alt blinks as he suddenly feels- so much better. He looks down at the fruit in wonder, then starts to eat some more, realizing just how hungry he was.

The others looked relieved to see him eat and share a smile with each other, knowing he's on his way to recovery.

Jackie gives Alt another small smile. "It tastes good, right? I don't know what blue raspberry is, either, but it's nice."

Alt chuckles and looks at the fruit again before smiling at Jackie, "Yeah it's... really tasty. And... m-maybe I've... eaten this fruit before? Cuz it tastes... familiar."

"I mean- you love eating candies with Kelsie when you come over Alt," Jackieboy chuckles. “Especially the blue raspberries ones, those are her favorites.”

Alt freezes slightly, "...Kel...sie...?" He whispers.

Memories assault his mind, so much so that he winces and grips at it. But, then he gasps as he sees a kind small face, smiling at him- welcoming him. "...Kelsie..." He repeats, smiling slightly, even as he grips at his head.

Jackieboy perks up, looking hopeful, "Do... do you remember her?"

"Y-Yeah..." Alt chuckles, "How... How did I... forget her...?"

“Kelsie is one of your kids, then, Jackieboy?” Chase asks. “That’s a nice name.”

The others murmur their agreements with that statement.

“Yup! She’s my oldest,” Jackieboy smiles warmly, “My sunshine!”

“I don’t think you’ve eaten this before, Alt,” Marvin says. “Nobody really goes into the Wyldwood, and these certainly don’t grow outside it. So Jackieboy is right. You must have tasted something similar somewhere else. These others compared it to candy, too.”

“They say that smell is linked to memory, and taste is mostly smell,” Henrik points out.

Alt knits his eyebrows together in more confusion, looking over his mostly eaten fruit. “Huh… yeah…” More pieces were starting to come together slowly. It was all starting to make more sense but… that scared him too.

All you know is serving us.

Alt grips at his head some more, groaning softly.

“Are you okay, Alt?” Henny asks worriedly.

“M-My head is killing me…” Alt mutters.

“Do you need some pain relief?” Henrik asks. “I did not bring any, but the fruit will apparently work well eno—”

“Schneep, I don’t think it’s a physical pain,” Jackie interrupts. “It’s in his mind. Maybe because of the magic.”

Henny lightly rubs Alt’s back as the smaller boy curls up, closing his eyes against the blaring white noise.

Marvin, is there any way to get that magic out of him? Jameson asks.

“Not that I know of,” Marvin mutters. “Magnificent’s magic is from a different world, I don’t know how it works. And even if it was from this world, it would fall under enchantment, and I can’t help with that.”

“We have to help somehow,” Chase insists. “Maybe—maybe if we keep talking about Alt’s past? If we had his mask that would probably help. But the King might have that…” He sighs. “That… that ‘sucks,’ as you guys would say.”

Bro looks angry again at mentioning Alt’s mask, “I’d fly to the castle to get it right now if I could… fucking bastard-!”

“It was such a nice mask, too,” Marvin mutters.

“You’re just saying that because it was a big cat,” Jackie says.

“Maybe. I’d never heard of a “ti-ghr’ before. It was interesting.”

At the word tiger, Alt stiffens, his eyes flashing purple. He grips tighter onto his head, digging nails in hair as he’s assaulted with images and whispers.

A lovely tiger- my pet.

Pet pet pet pet pet.

Blitz- you’ll serve me well.

“h-hngh-!” Alt whimpers.

“Alt!” Henny whispers in concern.

“Oh!” Marvin gasps. “Did I—did I say something wrong? I-I’m sorry, I didn’t—”

“Alt, are you okay?!” Jackie scoots a bit closer. “Your eyes—they—that must be a sign of the magic.”

“It is not completely gone,” Henrik mutters. “Even with help.”

“Alt… wh-whatever is happening in your mind right now, it’s not really you,” Chase stammers. “I-it’s not your fault. It’s… it’s Magnificent and the King.”

Jackieboy frowns in worry, “…why is he still so affected even if he’s away from those bastards?“

“Magnificent’s triggers can work from a far distance…” Dr. J mutters quietly, “And unfortunately, Magnificent knows the kinks of Alt’s mind too well…”

Bro bends down by Alt and tries to look into his eyes, “Hey, Anti… it’s okay- no one here is gonna hurt you-“

Alt pants heavily, his eyes wide and flickering. His eyes flit to all the people talking around him but they’re starting to blend together.

Friends-

Foes.

Family-

Enemies.

The white noise is blaring, drowning out any thoughts that try to form. Any memories that try to surface- all of them melt away into green and purple- green and purplegreengreengreen-

Alt’s body starts to fizzle and pop with electricity, ducking down his head as he starts to growl. “T-Too loud…!”

They’re your friends-

you don’t know them

they’re trying to help!

they’re trying to trick you

The Elders lead you here

the Elders lie, everyone lies

You know them, they know you!

all you know is serving us

I’m hurting- I’m burning

because you betrayed us.

Come back, a klaíoh.

We need you.

Bro tries to push forward, “Alt what’s-?”

“You’re all too damned L̶̐̈O̷̩͒Û̸̑D̷̽͠!” Alt finally shouts, electric magic bursting out of him, his eyes blaring bright green.

The blast comes and Bro manages to stay on his feet, shielding himself from it. Jackieboy catches himself on one of the trees and uses it to stay upright, wincing slightly as the magic burns his skin. Dr. J ends up thrown across the ground, crying out and then struggling to get back up as his limbs shake from the electricity. Henny gets the worst of it- being closest to Alt. The blast hits and he screams, being thrown into one of the trees and then crumpling to the ground in a heap, body jittering and trembling from the magic.

The magic blasts the others back. Chase and Jameson, closest to Alt, take the brunt of it. Both of them skid across the ground, electricity jolting across their skin. The others fare only slightly better as they all land on their backs.

Alt shudders and shakes on the ground, panting and curled up into a tight ball.

Jackieboy shouts for Henny and goes to check him over. The gentleman's eyelids flutter but he's knocked out. Dr. J shakes himself off with a bit of effort and goes to check him over as well.

Draco rushes over to Marvin, eyes glowing blue, and starts nudging him and purring. Marvin forces himself to recover. He grabs his amulet, pulling more light from it, and throws it up into the air.

It burst like a firework, sparks falling, shimmering, over the whole area in a dome shape. And suddenly, everything goes quiet. Even as Jackie gets up, clearly wincing and groaning, he doesn’t make a sound.

The swaps all flinch and look up as the magic washes over the area, drowning out the noise.

Sorry, Marvin says in handspeak, the movement accompanied by small subtitles in everyone’s mind. Sorry. Sorry. We can be quiet.

Alt looks up with wet eyes towards Marvin, seeing the handspeak. He hiccups and tries to nod but he looks distraught, trying to mouth out 'Sorry'. Bro tries to comfort him but Alt just curls up smaller, pulling at his hair.

The silence makes the static in his head stronger- the corrupted voices in his head only getting louder- with nothing else to drown them out.

Look what you've done Alt. This is proof you don't belong here, pet~! You're meant to get rid of these rebels once and for all. Even your confused mind knows this. You should finish what you started~.

Alt gasps as more colors flicker in his eyes. He stumbles back, looking at all the others, eyes widening as he sees his friends crowded around Henny. He looks down at his hands.

All he sees is blood.

Alt glitches up to his feet, even if it makes him dizzy and then takes one last look at everyone before he turns and runs back into the forest.

Chase instinctively cries out but his voice is muffled by the spell. So he scrambled up, pulling Jameson with him, and starts to run. The others get up at varying speeds and run after Alt as well.

Bro cries out and is too muffled by the spell. Jackieboy catches his eye and the two nod and rush after him with the others. Dr. J watches them with worry, trying to get Henny to wake up.

◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈

Alt distantly knows this is stupid- he was safe there! Right?

But he wasn't- his mind isn't his and he can't quiet it...! He hurt Henny- he hurt all the others... the voices in his head only continues to slam against his ailing mind.

Kill the rebels. Kill the rebels- k i l l t h e m!

He only continues to run, not sure where else to go or what to do- but knowing staying near the others was dangerous.

"ALT!!" Bro's voice echoes through the trees.

As Alt crashes through the trees, he comes across something unusual. A path of sorts, running horizontal across the way he’s going. It’s about as wide as a single car lane on a road, but it’s dipped slightly into the ground. Meaning you have to be ready for a drop while walking across it.

Watch where you’re going, Alt…

Alt sees the path and pants, looking behind him. If he wants to lose the others... this is probably the way to go! He skids and then starts rushing down the horizontal path.

Behind him, the guys skid to a halt. Chase almost trips over the edge of the path but Jackie pulls him back. Bro skids and holds Jackieboy back for a second as the others stop, though he looks confused.

"Um, Marvin?" Jackie says. "Do you know what this is?"

"No, but--I-I have a bad feeling," he says. He continues to run after Alt, going alongside the path instead of actually going on it. The others follow his example. Bro curses the fact that they’re in such a dense forest- he can’t fly to catch up!

The ground of the path is slightly muddy, but it's not enough to really hinder Alt. In fact, without the grass, he's gaining ahead slightly. Alt slips a bit on the mud but pushes to keep going. Why are they still going after him?!

But then everyone hears it. Or feels it, first. The rumbling. Up ahead, there is a mass of black rushing down the path towards Alt. It looks so far away--until suddenly it closes half the distance in a second. And it's not slowing down.

Alt pauses slightly and looks up, staggering back as he sees the mass coming towards him.

“Alt! Move!!” Bro shouts.

Alt freezes, staring at this thing with wide eyes- then he tries to see if he can dodge off the path and get out of its way.

The mass gets so close so fast--and it becomes clear what it is. This is a herd of animals. Horses, deer, donkeys, goats--all of them pure black. The rumbling of their hooves is rivaled by the sound they make. Human-sounding laughter, a mad, cackling uproar. Within seconds, they're on him.

"Alt!" Chase screams. He reaches for his bow and quiver but this is all happening so fast!

Marvin tries to throw up a shield around Alt to protect him, but the animals crash through it.

"Ghlish out of there you fool!" Jackie shouts.

Alt's eyes grow wide and he tries to glitch but he's too drained- he only fizzles and then trying to stumble back he trips and falls.

"NO!" Bro screams, trying to fly towards Alt. It's all coming so fast-! He tries to grab Alt but- the stampede beats him there, knocking him back with massive force. Jackieboy tries to make it to Alt and cries out as he gets cut off and pushed off the path too. "ALT!"

One of the larger horses slams into Alt, knocking him back into the rest of the herd. That uncanny laughing surrounds him as he gets slammed back and forth between the animals. He quickly loses his footing and would have been knocked to the ground if some of the animals hadn't suddenly transformed into more humanoid forms--still all black, with white grinning teeth and glowing yellow eyes, some still having goat horns or antlers. Their fingers end in claws that scrape against him as they grab at him.

Alt tries to scream as he's first hit but the mass is suffocating, stealing his voice from him for a second as he feels crushed. He does yell and try to fight the claws and humanoids that are grabbing him. Everything is a confusing blur of black and laughter and grinning teeth.

The horde isn't endless, though. And they're moving fast. The whole terrifying experience probably only lasts ten seconds before they're gone, and Alt is left lying on the muddy path.He’s heaving and scratched to all hell , struggling to breathe.

Bro recovers as fast as he can and hurries over to Alt's side, shaking him, "Oh my fucking god- Alt! Alt?!"

Alt is hardly able to take him in, staring out with a scared and haunted expression, the stampede's laughter echoing and mixing with the loud static in his head.

The others follow Bro quickly, though a bit uneasily having just watched that stampede. Jackieboy crashes down next to Alt too, looking beyond worried.

"Wh-what happened to him?!" Chase gasps. "Henrik?!"

"Let me see, let me see." Henrik kneels next to Bro and Alt and starts checking Alt over. "I-I think--there is bruising of course, a-and cuts--these are strange patterns--those creatures--"

"Pooka," Chase mutters. "That was a herd of pooka. Shapeshifting Fair Folk."

"Please don't tell me they have poisonous claws or anything," Marvin mutters.

"No, they--in stories they range from mischievous to actually evil. I've never--never heard about a herd of them like that--"

"I am not sure if his bones are broken," Henrik continues. "Fractures, maybe."

"Let's get him out of this path," Jackie says. "I bet it's here because that herd runs this way frequently."

Bro finally nods and goes to pick Alt up, "Right we... we gotta-"

Alt screams in pain as Bro tries to lift him up though and he curls up as soon as Bro jerks up, blinking back tears.

Henrik jerks backwards at the sound of Alt's scream. "Damn it! I-it must be terrible."

"Is there anything we can do?!" Chase asks.

"I--E-even with my skills, we would need--need--I-I-I--"

Jackieboy sees Henrik's distress and tries to comfort him, "H-Hey it's okay, Henrik... just try to breathe-"

Henrik puts his head in his hands. "I'm sorry, I cannot do this by myself. We--What about that fruit?"

Jackie takes some out of his bag. "You really think it could help?"

"Even if n-not fully, it will speed things along."

"Okay." Jackie nods, and passes two of the fruit to Bro. "H-here. Have him eat that. Marvin, what about your magic?"

"I-I can also try, but I'm not too practiced in it..." Marvin says hesitantly.

Bro swallows thickly and hurries to grab the fruit. He hesitates before gently trying to prop Alt up in his arms.

Alt cries out again, pained tears streaming down his face and Bro tries his best to quiet him, "Shhhh shhh Anti hey... j-just try to eat this okay? R-Remember? I-It'll help...!"

Alt blinks open blearily eyes and sees the black fruit just barely. He tries to reach up but winces as he moves his arm. One of his arms seems broken, it hurts to sit up because of agony in his stomach/chest. Plus, all the scratches all over his body, dripping blood onto the forest floor.

Bro shakily gives Alt the fruit, helping him to take a bite. Alt bites it desperately, wanting anything to stop the pain. It's hard to eat it as Alt feels so much tightness in his chest and finds it almost hard to breathe. But, as he struggles, it slowly becomes a bit easier.

It takes pretty much the whole fruit for Alt to start feeling a bit better. The scratches and bruises heal pretty much right away, but his arm and chest still ache. By the time that Alt has eaten the fruit to the pit, he feels better, but still not great. The pain has faded but he can still feel something off. And weirdly enough, he's started to feel... warm. Almost feverish.

Henrik watches carefully, trying to breathe as Jackieboy requests. Jameson puts a hand on his shoulder supportively.

The others stay quiet and wait.

Alt starts to relax slowly and breathes a bit easier, slumping a bit against Bro. He's still sort of panting and now his... his cheeks are flushing. He knits his eyebrows together in discomfort, sweat breaking out on his forehead.

Bro seems relieved to see the cuts and bruises healing but looks worried as Alt seems to heat up. "A-Alt...?"

"...s'hot..." He mumbles out, eyelids fluttering.

"That must be a side effect," Marvin mumbles. "Even pure magic has its cost."

"H-heat is the body killing your sicknesses," Henrik stammers. "I-it must--the fruit must speed the process a-and wound can get infected, s-so any infection is burning burning burning away, wh-which is a good thing really but we probably should not have Alt eat any more of them just in case because the fever kills your body too which seems like such a strange detail ofour bodies youwould think wewouldknowbetterbutinsteadwedo--"

"Henrik," Jackie interrupts. "You're talking scattered. Is everything alright?"

Jackieboy looks worried for Henrik and Alt and pats Henrik's leg gently. "Breathe... Just try your best to breathe…“

Henrik covers his mouth with his hands. "Alt will be fine," he says, voice muffled. "H-he will be eventually. Though we should check to see how healed he is."

Bro nods and gently starts to check over Alt, trying to see if he can pick him up now.

Alt winces and makes a small whimper, his arm and chest still aching but- the difference is there.

Bro staggers to his feet and balances with Alt. "H-He's... He's warm but... w-we can move him now at least- l-let's get off the path..."

"Yeah, let's get off the path," Jackie mutters. "Come on." He reaches down and helps Henrik up.

As they all start heading off the path, he asks, "Henrik, how is your medicine? The mind soother?"

"I-I-I think I've--I think I've forgotten to take it," Henrik says, then laughs. "It is funny about that one, when you forget about it once, your memory fails and you forget about it more."

Jackie laughs. "I understand that. Once you're ready, we can check Alt over again."

"We have supplies in my bag for splints, I was worried about broken bones but nothing like a stampede--"

"Don't worry about it," Marvin says. "We'll check. You focus on calming down a bit."

Henrik nods. He takes his flask off his belt and takes a drink.

Bro goes between watching Alt anxiously and looking out at where they're walking.

Jackieboy laughs quietly, "Oh yeah... s-since this whole thing started... we haven't been taking our ADHD meds... I-I don't think any of us imagined we'd be staying this long. S'ok though... just- being kinda spacey and rambling i-isn't too bad!"

Bro looks back and gives Henrik a sympathetic smile, "You're doing great, Doc... I don’t think any of us were prepared for... something like this..."

"Eheh." Henrik gives a small smile.

Once the path is out of sight, Chase stops. "We should take care of Alt before we go too far," he says. "We don't want him to be walking on a broken rib."

"Bag." Henrik takes his pack off and sets it on the ground.

Jameson starts rummaging through it. Tell us what we're looking for, he says.

Bro goes and sets Alt up against the trunk of a tree.

"Alt, how do you feel?" Jackie asks. "Does it still hurt? Where?"

Alt groans and blinks out at the others. He knits his eyebrows together and tries to think. There's... still so much static. ...how does he know that word...? It's not Glasish... but... its the only way to describe the stormy loudness that's invading all his senses. But, at least the pain is a bit more stark. It almost feels like it clears some of the fog as he focuses on it.

"...b-bad..." Alt coughs, " n-not as much... but m-my arm... and m-my c-chest aches..."

Bro has been holding his tongue for a bit but, hearing this, he snaps. Angry tears are in his eyes as he bites out quietly, "W-Why did you run, Alt?!"

"Chase-!" Jackieboy tries to hold Bro back but he continues.

"We... we were safe! We weren't gonna hurt you! We were gonna help- we could have...! So... Why?!"

Alt opens up his eyes to look at everyone, looking apologetic and terrified. He shudders, "... t-their voices... I-I can s-still hear them... t-they want me to k-kill you... I.. I don't want to...!" He hiccups, pained tears leaking out. "I-If I stayed... I... I might have...!"

Then, his quiet sobs turn into semi-delirious laughter, "M-Maybe now I c-can't...! Maybe that's good..." He giggles a bit more. "T-They can't use me if I-I'm broken..."

Jameson’s head snaps towards Alt. Don’t say that, he says. That leads to a dangerous path of thoughts. Especially if you tread down it often.

“I can’t speak for everyone, but… we don’t want you to be hurt,” Jackie says. “We’d rather have an unhurt you over an injured you in any circumstances.”

Bro looks at Alt with a pained expression. “You don’t need to be broken, Alt. You’re so much stronger then you know…!”

“Plus like- literally we have gods on our side bro… you think Mag and this fucktard of a king are more powerful than gods?” Jackieboy tries to laugh. “We’re not gonna let those bastards get you again, Alt…”

Alt listens to everyone and feels more tears form as his laughter quiets. He looks away then mumbles out, “….m’sorry… sorry…”

“Don’t apologize,” Chase says. “You’ve been through a lot. Of course you panicked.”

“Arm and chest,” Henrik mutters. He tugs on the bag. “There is splint materials and pain salves in here. Compress the chest. Bandages.”

Jameson nods and begins pulling items out of the bag.

Meanwhile, Draco walks over to Alt. He puts his paws on him, intending to climb up, but Marvin quickly intervenes and pulls him back. Draco gives him an almost offended look, then settles for curling up next to Alt. The purring commences.

Alt does jolt slightly at Draco trying to climb up on him but he smiles slightly at seeing him curl up. He weakly reaches out with his good arm to pet him.

Henrik, is this everything? Jameson asks.

Henrik glances at the stuff he’s retrieved. “Y-yes. I’ll—“ he looks down. “My—my hands are shaking s-someone else should do it. Apply the salve in that jar to the spots where it hurts, th-then wrap the bandages tight around the ribs. Wrap a layer around the arm before tying on the supports for the splint.”

“I can do that,” Chase offers. “Unless you’d rather have someone else do it, Alt.”

“I can do it,” Jackieboy offers, “I’ve patched Bro up like a million times.”

“…I-it’s not been a million!” Bro mutters, face turning red.

Jackieboy just laughs and takes the supplies, “I don’t ever mind, Chase. Suppose it’s the dad in me~” He takes the supplies from Jameson and quietly apologizes and reassures Alt as he gets to removing his tunic and chainmail.

For a brief moment- the fantasy boys can see faint purple scars around Alt’s upper chest and down his sides like stretch marks. Jackieboy quietly asks Alt where it hurts then starts to apply the salve and wrap up his chest. Alt is stiff at first but very quickly starts to relax.

The sound of Draco’s purring helps a lot, reminding him of… something. A small black cat with bright green eyes. Ghlishes… no… Glitches… his cat. Huh… he wonders where she is… he hopes she’s safe.

The exhaustion of this all has Alt closing his eyes as Jackieboy works.

“He looks tired,” Marvin mutters. “Maybe we should take a break.”

“Is that safe?” Chase asks. “Not just from the things in this forest, but also from… them?”

“I think we can afford a small break,” Jackie says, glancing between Alt and Henrik.

Bro frowns and cautiously eyes the surrounding forest, “As soon as Alt’s all patched up we should find our way back… we left Henny and Jay…” but he also looks between Alt and Henrik with worry.

Jackie looks around. "Damn. I didn't realize they didn't follow us." He shakes his head. "I-it'll be okay for a little while. We should all be in top shape to deal with anything we find in this forest."

“Henny got knocked out by that blast…” Jackieboy mutters, sitting back. “Jem probably made sure he was okay… m-maybe they’re trying to catch up?”

“You are doing great,” Henrik says, watching Jackieboy with a slightly vacant expression.

Jackieboy smiles, “Thanks Doc.” He hesitates then starts to wrap up Alt’s arm and he cringes and whimpers at this.

“Sorry Alt sorry- I’ll try to go fast okay?” Jackieboy reassures him quietly.

Alt shakily nods and Jackieboy gently takes his arm and splints it, wrapping his arm up one more time afterwards. He backs up once he’s done and hums, “I remember hearing that we should sling broken arms and stuff… but uh- here bud-“

Jackieboy helps Alt get his shirt and tunic back on, tossing away the chain mail. That’s gotta be agony on broken ribs.

Alt presses his splinted arm against his chest and pants lightly, still feeling kinda feverish. But, he shakily breathes out, “ah.. t-thanks… m’feeling a bit better…” He gives a small smile.

Draco rubs his head against Alt's leg, purring louder.

We'll move when you feel you're ready, Alt, Jameson says.

But, Alt has a bad feeling in his gut… even with Draco rubbing up against him. He tries to push himself to his feet, slipping slightly as he strains his injures.

Bro hurries to support him, “Alt! Careful…!”

Alt pants and shakes his head, “H-Henny is hurt… we s-shouldn’t leave them…!” He looks to the others, fear slipping back in. “I-I’m okay- as okay as I can be. Please let’s just- we should go.”

The guys hesitate. But then Marvin sighs. “I don’t think there’s much rest can do anyway,” he says. “If worse comes, I can try some healing. Henrik, you’re the doctor, what do you think? Also, are you alright?”

Henrik blinks. “I, ah… i-if we have to move he should be fine enough. And I am fine enough, too.”

“If you insist,” Chase mutters, standing up. “Let’s hurry, then.”

#LLTK #long live the king #YEAHHH MY FAV PARTTT #alt reuniting with everyone is so sweet #but like being mind controlled for days isnt so easily fixed!!#bro had it easy only being controlled for a few hours #alt's been trapped for days!!#and ugh so much fun whump too GJVHBK

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