#it would mainly follow the Wittebros while they're in ye olden times

[unfried-mouth-wheat]

Gazes at you so sweetly... Tell us of the au! 🐈‍⬛

OKAY so its like a kinda generic Role Swap idea with Belos and Caleb, right? But the thing is, it's not so cut and dried as that as everyone else has pretty much the same role, or one very adjacent to canon. The idea is what if Philip and Caleb got lost in the Demon Realm while they were still children?

Philip, struggling to be accepted by the populous of Gravesfield, follows the first sign of witchcraft he can. That ends up being a teen-aged Evelyn who isn't supposed to be in the human world. Ultimately, Caleb is the one who chases after his brother in hopes of saving him from the grasps of a witch. When he finally finds his brother, he realizes that they are both trapped in this unfamiliar land, and he ends up blaming Evelyn for it.

The search for a way home is similar bout now Caleb and Philip are a united, albeit younger, front. A key incident involved a Crab Maiden and her guardian while they were at Bonesborough. The Crab Maiden shows Philip how to use magic without having been born in the Demon Realm through the use of a light glyph. However, the guardian begins to act strangely, with the added oddity of feathers and fangs. Ultimately, the woman ends up busting Philip's nose and severely injuring his arm before vanishing. Caleb ends up hiding the extent of his injury and his resentment of witches grows, while Philip is left with an intense interest in finding more glyphs and understanding the demon realm.

When Caleb's arm becomes fatal if he leaves it, he replaces it with one made of palistrom wood, binding it to his body with what he doesn't know is Titan's blood. The entire altercation has made him fearful for the survival of his brother and himself. He vows that he will find a way to return to the human realm no matter what. Even if it means finding a way to keephis brother frozen in time while he works. Even if it means cultivating Grimwalkers from the remnants of his arm.

Even if it means bringing the Isles to ruin. After all, it's residents have proven time and time again that they aren't worth sparing. They're dangerous, just like the people of Gravesfield said.

He just needs to live long enough to see this through.