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coolcattime · 3 months ago

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Home and Free: Chapter Sixteen - Human Again

Characters: Captain Capsize, Sonja Firefox, Skipper Redbeard, Jordan Captainsparklez, Tucker Jericho, Tom Syndicate, Martha the Mystic, Mot Screziato, Alyssa Countybat, Waglington, Farmer Steve, Prince Andor, Jeriah, Lady Ianite, Lord Dianite

Relationship: Captain Capsize/Sonja Firefox, Captain Capsize/Jordan Captainsparklez (onesided)

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Full Story Tag

Though the memory of it had long since been forcibly removed from public consciousness, there was a time that the castle was inhabited not by a Beast and an assortment of animate furniture, but by a Princess and the staff that resided inside her castle. Normal humans with relatively normal lives, yet uncursed by a goddess.

On the morning of what would turn out to be the worst and most defining days of all of their lives, a day like any other was beginning to unfold. For Tom Syndicate, that meant he was experiencing an already mounting frustration as he was stuck in what was an increasingly recurring argument.

“Absolutely not,” He said plainly. He didn’t think it worth the effort to raise his voice. Though, why he was still having this absolutely pointless conversation was beyond him. He had made the same point every single time this happened, but Sonja appeared to have absolutely zero care that this argument was utterly repetitive. “I have plans today. I’m not staying here all day so I cook two meals for you whenever you happen to emerge from your studies in magical bullshit.”

When she had first made this demand, he’d been open to it. After all, it was meant to be a one-time favour rather than a continuous expectation. Now, though, he couldn’t even act shocked at this point. How could he be? Sonja had been acting like a stuck-up brat for years. So now he just found himself annoyed at how much of his time was wasted in this same argument.

The deep sigh from Martha who stood behind the Princess did more in pushing him towards snapping than Sonja’s audacity. He could already hear the wittering lecture she was going to give him later.

“You can’t speak to the Mistress that way. She’s a princess and the ruler of this kingdom, you need to treat her with due respect.”

He could hear it because he’d received the same lecture somehow more times than he’d had this argument with Sonja. Yet he could also hear her quick follow up point that he clearly hadn’t heard the words enough if he was still acting the way he did.

It was ridiculous though. If it was all just about titles and ‘due respect’ then his own title of Champion of Lord Dianite should surely put him on the same level as Sonja and allow him to talk to her however he wanted. But even that seemed beyond the point.

He had grown up with Sonja in this castle with the same man as their guardian. Even if he didn’t have a fancy noble title, he should be able to call her out when she was acting unreasonably.

Yet, even if Martha was the person most likely to make him actually devolve into yelling, she wasn’t the only source of his annoyance. Quite a lot of it was festering from the indignant look on Sonja’s face. When had she gone from a friend to someone who could look at him like that?

“It’s the first day I’ve asked you to do anything this week. I don’t see why you’re being so difficult about it,” She said, almost sounding proud at how much she was missing the point. She’d gotten progressively worse with just how often she commanded him around. Acting as if she wouldn’t have just replaced him with an enchantment by now if he was actually staff.

“Because you only ever demand that I cook you multiple meals when I have plans to leave. If you’d asked me yesterday, I would’ve just done it,” He would have to be an idiot to have missed the recurring pattern. He’d tell her a good week or two in advance that he was going to the town to see his friends for the day. He’d get himself ready to leave. Then suddenly she needed him to stay because she felt like having a hot meal that day.

It also hadn’t escaped his notice that whether he did cook a hot meal for her, she was never actually around to eat it while it was actually hot. Even if he started cooking exactly when she requested, she would disappear while he was doing so to do more research. Whenever she eventually descended from her private study to collect her meal, she’d complain about the temperature and that he hadn’t brought it to her earlier as if he wasn’t chased away by her any time he dared to try.

“So? I’m just asking you to do your job. Can you stop being so dramatic about it?” Sonja scoffed.

Tom bit his lip to stop himself from immediately snapping at her. However, the shaky breath he forced himself to take did nothing to actually calm him down and he snapped anyway.

“Seriously?! If it’s a job then are you actually going to pay me or should I just do it because you’re demanding it?” He pushed with far too much aggression in his tone as he took a foolhardy step forward.

Next to her, he truly did look like a peasant. He wasn’t dressed shabbily in any measure of the description. Though he was seriously dressed down as he knew better than to wear anything of importance with the route he took to town. It was far faster than using the road but riding through the tightly woven trees risked tearing apart his clothes. He wasn’t about to ruin one of his nice coats… again.

Still, the nice if practical clothes he wore were nothing compared to the finery that Sonja did. Of course, it was completely expected from a princess, but staring at it Tom couldn’t help but think it was ridiculous. It was an outfit just for studying yet she was still sparkling.

Yes, at this moment, it didn’t seem completely ridiculous that she was treating Tom like staff. But, and maybe he would regret having brought the fact up if she tried to actually take him up on it, the actual staff in the castle were paid. If she really no longer saw him as a friend, then why wasn’t he getting paid for the displeasure of her company?

“Thomas, maybe you should--” Martha had started in a careful voice. For once she sounded like she might have something actually reasonable to say. Unfortunately, Tom was not blessed with witnessing such a rare occurrence, as Sonja interrupted her tutor.

“Yes, obviously you’re meant to do the one thing I ever ask you to do,” Sonja said, taking her own step towards Tom. Where his had been a challenge, hers was a threat. She stood a head and a half shorter than him, and there was nothing particularly intimidating about her appearance. Yet she stood with a stance that spoke volumes.

This was her domain, and she knew it. She was without challenge the one in charge here. “Unless you actually want to be completely worthless.”

“Is—” Tom found his voice failing him unexpectedly. It was stupid. He was sure enough that Sonja didn’t actually mean her words. They were just arguing, she was saying things to be hurtful.

Yet he still found the question stuck in his throat. Even with his sureness that this was just a stupid, pointless argument, he didn’t want to have to ask if Sonja actually thought such a thing of him. However, what started as an anxious fear quickly began to bubble into a fierce anger.

“Is that really what you think of me?! That I’m worthless!” He found his voice. Rough and too aggressive, but he found it and that was what mattered. After all, if Sonja thought that of him, why the hell should he care about minding his tone?

“What else would I think of you?” Sonja’s words, as terrible and shattering as they already would’ve been to Tom, were made all the worse by how her tone lacked any kind of sting. This wasn’t a snapped retort, something he could write off as being said without thought. It was just a statement, the neutral tone of someone reading a fact aloud.

Sonja either didn’t notice the hurt in Tom’s eyes or didn’t care to acknowledge it. He’d never hated having indifferent eyes looking at him this much. It seemed that any warmth she’d held towards him had been long since snuffed. “You don’t know any magic. You refuse to learn anything to help with research. You constantly refuse to do the single thing that you can do to help. Frankly, it’s hard to understand why you’re even still here.”

He couldn’t even say her tone was cold. That would be so much easier for him to stomach than the callous nonchalance he was actually facing.

That was when something in Tom just snapped.

He started laughing. A terrible, bitter laugh filling the near empty hall.

“Oh, I thought the point of me being here was us being friends. No idea where I got that stupid thought from,” He said, words laced between his manic laughter. He just couldn’t believe how much of an idiot he had been.

All this time, he’d been living in this stupid dream where he and Sonja were still the friends they had been when they were kids. How could he do anything but laugh when it was laid bare just how utterly wrong he had been? “I’ll keep it in mind that I’m just unpaid help.”

He waited for her to argue back. Hoped beyond hope that she would argue back against him. To soften even the slightest bit and tell him that they were friends. For her to explain that she was just stressed about something and that’s why she was acting this way.

Sonja wrinkled her nose, and Tom knew that the soothing he hoped for wasn’t going to come.

“Obviously we’re friends Tom. Can you stop being difficult?” Sonja said, with absolutely no sincerity to her words. And Tom just didn’t want to listen to her anymore.

Before Her Majesty could talk down to him anymore, Tom spun on his heel and started to just walk away. Maybe, he thought, he should leave for good and never deal with her again.

“So you’ll be cooking then,” Sonja said with a stern tone that made it very clear that there would be consequences if she didn’t get the meals she was expecting. He couldn’t even laugh at this point.

Tom swallowed down his bite and anger, pausing in his stride for just a single moment. He looked over his shoulder, towards the teenage princess looking at him for an answer.

“Whatever you want, Mistress,” He said before turning and continuing to walk down the corridor, considering if it was worth giving her food poisoning so she wouldn’t ask him to do this again.

As he disappeared down the hall, Sonja watched him go with a frown. Deep down, there was an uncomfortable twinge within her that she lacked any explanation for. There wasn’t any reason she should feel bad. Tom acting this way wasn’t anything new, it was his own fault that she had to act like this.

Yet, as he had looked at her with disdain and called her Mistress, it had just felt so utterly wrong. But she bit the feeling down, though it was difficult and bitter to swallow, and turned around herself. She had more research to do.

🌹 🌹 🌹

Less than half an hour later, Tom was found by Steve in the kitchens. It was a shock to the man, as the kid was the last person that the gardener expected to see on this particular day. After all, Tom was never especially quiet about his plans and, for the past two weeks, had been talking non-stop about how excited he was to see his friends in town today.

So, yes, it was a bit surprising to see him in the kitchens when he should’ve left a couple of hours ago. He clearly had still planned to go to see his friends. He was dressed as he typically would to ride through the woods. So, the man found himself stuck on why the kid was still here.

However, Steve’s confusion only lasted a few moments before it became incredibly clear what had happened.

“You want lunch? I’ll make you lunch and pray to Dianite that you choke on it,” Tom muttered under his breath as he roughly cut up vegetables, more focused on working through his annoyance than actually attempting to make a meal.

Suddenly, it wasn’t difficult for Steve to understand why the kid was still here. He should’ve guessed that it would be because of the royal pain.

There were only two people in the castle that Tom would actually listen to. Mot, because the man had raised him. And Princess Sonja, because the girl was in charge of the whole place and the moment she’d realised that, she’d gotten a damn attitude about it.

However, given that Tom was so consumed by his annoyance that he still hadn’t noticed that Steve was even in the room, the gardener hazarded a guess that the royal brat had done something more than merely being demanding this time.

“You alright, Syndi?” He spoke far softer than he usually would, but he still managed to make Tom jump as the presence of another person was made known to him.

When Tom realised who had actually spoken, he straightened up, a little embarrassed at the state he had been found in. He tried, somewhat fruitlessly, to try and cover up how little he had been paying attention to the task he was doing. However, the uneven, half mashed vegetable slices were hard to cover up.

What point was there in hiding his current frustration anyway? It wasn’t as if Steve would judge him for it with the man’s own frustrations towards Sonja. But there was still a part of Tom that just felt stuck in embarrassment about the situation. A part still stuck on the idea that he’d caused this himself with his own naivety and stupidity. That was something he didn’t particularly want to admit out loud.

So, instead, he pushed it down. It wasn’t his fault. It was Sonja’s.

“Oh, I’m great,” Annoyance and sarcasm dripped from his words. The frustration that he had been allowing himself to wallow in finally getting its escape. “I’m meant to be seeing my friends for the first time in weeks, but her Majesty wants a warm lunch, so I’m stuck here!”

If Tom was being entirely honest, he knew that he could still leave. Sonja might be a magical whiz, but she didn’t have anything to physically stop him from leaving beyond regular methods. So, he could just stand his ground, leave, and have the day that he had planned. Show her that she couldn’t get what she wanted from treating him like shit.

However, that was where a certain itching fear came into play. One that Tom wanted to ignore, but just couldn’t shift out of his head. The fear that if he left right now in this head space and knowing at the end of the day he’d come back to Sonja even more pissed at him, that he just… wouldn’t come back.

It was an oddly uncomfortable thought. Sure, he was currently beyond pissed at Sonja and sometimes lent more towards this place being a prison than a home, but it was still the only home he’d known for most of his life. Leaving forever was just as much a fear as being stuck here forever was.

Steve walked up to the table where the kid was working, leaning against it.

“Doesn’t the royal brat do this every time you make plans, though?” He wasn’t actually asking the question. He knew the answer. Rather this was his attempt to prod for why Tom was so beat up about it that he seemed to actually be listening to her and ruining his own day.

“Well, yeah, but…” Tom gave a deep sigh.

He knew, obviously he knew, that this blow up had been a long time coming. It wasn’t as if Sonja had been all happy and smiles with him yesterday, but the idea that she would actually call him worthless still stung. He’d been left with an exhausted mix of emotions that he didn’t really want to deal with.

He knew in some ways that he was at fault. He could’ve pushed back against the way Sonja was acting earlier, but all the what ifs didn’t particularly matter at this point. “I just don’t want to deal with her yelling at me twice in one day, which she’ll do if she doesn’t get both the meals that she’s made very clear she’s expecting.”

He didn’t want to hear her call him worthless again.

“And I’m still expecting a lecture from Martha too. Lovely fiancée you’ve got there.”

“Just isn’t like you to give up on something cause you got yelled at,” Steve said, ignoring the comment that was clearly meant to get him off this topic. He’d known Tom long enough to know when he was trying to avoid talking about something that bothered him.

He was, admittedly, a bit worried about the kid. He never acted like this, never let the spoiled behaviour of the Princess bother him. So, whatever happened today was more serious than he was letting on, even if it was only serious to him.

But he couldn’t exactly force Tom to talk if he didn’t want to. He could try, but if he was resistant that was pretty much all he could do. So, the better thing for him to do was just comfort him and hope he’d get through to him. So, he placed a hand on his shoulder. “Tell me how I can help, Syndi.”

“I’m fine, really, I…” Tom stopped speaking as suddenly the spark hit him that there was something Steve could do for him to fix his whole day. If the man was offering, he might as well suggest. “You could cook for Sonja today.”

“What?” Steve responded flatly. He almost certainly should’ve expected the request, but he hadn’t.

The absolute last thing he wanted to deal with today was the royal brat. His goal for every day was to see her as little as possible and if he agreed to this, he was most certainly going to have to see her. But Tom was already grinning, and it was quite clear the kid already had his mind set.

“You know how to cook! It’s easy! She’s not picky. And this way, I get to see my friends and…” Tom began quickly trying to sell the idea. He tried to read Steve to figure out if he was going for it. Unfortunately, his lips remained pressed into a frown.

Still, Steve loved him. There was no way he’d actually end up saying no. Tom just needed to do a little more persuading. “And I’ll help out in the gardens for a whole week. I won’t slack off or complain or—”

“And I suppose you’ll have magic powers to help the plants grow too,” Steve cut in with a promise that Tom was just as likely to keep, causing the kid to pout.

Now, he was sure that Tom would help him out in the gardens for the week. Mostly because if he tried to wriggle out of doing so, Steve would drag him outside and force him to keep his word. However, he was just as sure that it would be a week full of the kid slacking off, complaining, and mostly not helping despite the story he was currently trying to spin.

Of course, an extra pair of hands was an extra pair of hands. Tom helping out in any way would be appreciated. Whether it was worth dealing with the Princess today was an entirely different question. Especially when he typically only had to deal with her twice a month if he got particularly lucky. “Do you know how much of an earful I’ll get if I cover for you?”

Whether the kid did or not, Steve already knew. He’d experienced it the last time Tom had done this whole song and dance to get him to do his job while he slacked off. There were very few things the man had experienced worse than being belittled and lectured by an indignant and far too powerful teenage girl.

He already hadn’t been the biggest fan of the Princess, seeing how she looked down on him for not having any sort of magical education. That incident had nearly been the straw to get him to pack up and leave. Martha had managed to talk him out of it, though it had been an incredibly close call.

And Tom, of course, knew of this incident.

He wanted to avoid a repeat, because he liked Steve. He was someone who made living in the castle still worth it. The last thing he wanted was for the man to quit his post because something he’d asked him to do had been the final nail. Especially when what he was essentially asking was for Steve to risk getting yelled at so he wouldn’t.

But Tom needed this. By the gods, he needed to get away from Sonja today. He hadn’t seen Tucker and Jordan in a couple of weeks now, which to him felt like an eternity. So, he needed to get Steve to cover for him.

“I swear I will be back before Sonja will want to eat dinner, so you won’t be caught covering for me twice in one day,” He began. He thought it was a good argument, but given how Steve snorted, he realised that he may have said the exact same thing last time.

But he could work with that. Play bigger, offer more. He would get Steve on side. He always did. “If I’m late then you can make me help out in the gardens for an extra week.”

It was at that moment that Steve realised Tom was truly desperate. And, though he was sure that he would come to regret his decision, he couldn’t really say no to him. So, with a deep sigh, he made his choice.

“I’ll be holding you to that. Go have fun with your friends,” He said with as much of a smile as he could muster. It wasn’t much as he could already feel the exhaustion coming from the attitude that the Princess was surely going to treat him with later. But seeing the smile that broke onto Tom’s face, he knew that it was absolutely worth it.

Tom threw his arms around Steve. Even though he had been sure enough that he’d be able to talk the man around, he still found himself beyond appreciative.

“I’ll bring you back something from the market,” He offered. There was rarely, if ever, anything unique on sale, but he’d be able to find something nice, he was sure.

Steve laughed quietly. He was a good kid.

“Just go have fun, Syndi,” Even if at times he was frustrating and could cause a headache, he was just a good kid trying to figure himself out. He deserved more time outside these walls than he got. Steve was happy to give him some more of that time, even if it came at a cost to himself. Being stuck in the kitchens for a day, having to deal with a far too powerful teenage girl yelling at him until she ran out of steam, well it seemed like a fair enough trade.

He'd be back in the gardens tomorrow anyway. So, he could smile as watched Tom run outside suddenly full of energy before he turned to the mess he’d been left with. If her Majesty didn’t feel like lecturing, he likely wouldn’t even remember today, but Tom clung to the days he had with his friends. He’d take the kid retelling stories of their antics while helping out in the gardens the next couple of weeks as payment.

Little did Steve know at this moment that this small decision made out of kindness would come to define years of his life.

However, had he known what was coming and the fate that would be inflicted upon him, there would only be one thing he would’ve done differently. Despite every guidance and bit of anger and resentment he held in the current day, all he would’ve done was reassure Tom to not worry about coming home late.

🌹 🌹 🌹

Tom had never been so happy that he’d learnt shortcuts to the town to cut down on the couple hour long journey as he was right now. He had made good enough time that Tucker and Jordan might not even realise he had been delayed.

Sure, he might have ridden far too fast through the off-road trail, but he knew the route well enough that he barely needed to pay attention to it. Thankfully, his horse was used to the route as well, so the only thing that had been damaged was his coat. It was, to be frank, absolutely ruined, but Tom thought he suited the ripped-up aesthetic. At least that was what he was going to use as an excuse if anyone questioned why he looked such a mess.

However, that thought remained in the back of his mind as he rode past the unoccupied farmhouse and into the town proper. Instead, he was just focused on the happiness of finally being here again.

It was not the town itself that excited Tom. It was a small place with very little going on. However, the freedom it presented him with made him crave coming back whenever he was away.

That was not to say that he particularly lacked freedoms in the castle. While Tom himself might have arguments to the contrary, he had far more freedoms than the typical teenage boy. But a place where he was near universally loved and had no authority figure keeping any sort of eye on him was always going to be a place he craved going back to.

As he rode towards the champion’s training grounds, there were already so many people talking about him, looking at him excitedly. And he was absolutely basking in the attention. Being a teenage boy, any notions of vanity or ego were lost on him as this was simply the attention and feeling of power he craved. The sort he saw Sonja receive whenever she hosted a ball or a gala or a general showing off of her enchantments.

If he considered a little deeper, Tom would not say he liked the townsfolks particularly. He, of course, liked the way that they viewed him as being great simply due to his title and the amount of praise and affection they would pile his way. However, he wouldn’t say he actually liked them as people.

Maybe it was just because he had little interest in actually living in the town, but they always seemed just a tad closed minded for his taste. As, no matter how many times he explained his want to actually explore the world once he was old enough to not be stopped, they never quite seemed to understand.

However, young as he was, he saw little point in dwelling on such facts or thinking so deeply. It wasn’t the slightly judgemental general population that he was here to see, after all. So, he could ignore their blank looks about his future and just enjoy their praise as background noise.

How could he think about anything negative when he was finally riding into the champion’s training grounds and could finally see one of the people he had actually missed. He dismounted his horse and gave an exaggerated wave.

“Tucker!” He called out, already unable to tone down the growing grin on his face. Sure, it had only been a few weeks since he had seen him last, but it felt like it had been a lifetime.

Tucker, turning on his heel to look at him, was too infected by his smile. He rushed over to his freshly arrived friend. For a moment, it appeared as though the two considered hugging. Ultimately, however, they just grasped arms and pulled each other close. Not a hug, but close enough for the two who were grinning widely at each other.

“I was starting to worry you weren’t going to show up, man,” Tucker laughed, making his concern sound less serious. It had been a worry though.

It was already noon. Normally Tom would’ve arrived an hour ago. And, though he wouldn’t admit it now that he’d arrived safe and seemingly without issue, Tucker had been close to riding out into the woods to make sure his friend hadn’t fallen off his horse or had anything worse than that befall him.

But Tom was here now, he no longer needed to dwell on such possibilities and could instead just laugh at his own worries and his friend’s lateness.

“You know I wouldn’t miss coming here for anything,” Tom said, hoping that his own laugh covered up any implication that he had in fact nearly not come.

He’d rant and ramble about it later, when he wasn’t going to be bringing the mood down. They’d likely sneak a few drinks, and he could go on about it then. When all three of them were mostly done messing around and just wanted to relax.

Though, thinking of that, he had been expecting to meet with two people not one.

“I see Jordan’s decided to be a no show, though. Has he finally gotten bored of me?” He joked, again hoping that none of his actual concerns showed through in his voice.

Tom was certainly not ready to either confront or admit his complicated and odd feelings towards the newest champion. Obviously, he considered him a friend, but he held very different emotions towards Jordan than he did towards Tucker.

He had originally written it off as Jordan being new and needing to get used to him. Like, he was a new person hanging out whenever he was with Tucker, being… passionate about his goddess in a way that Tucker never was about Lord Mianite.

Tom had gotten it, of course, he had been a young, newly appointed champion. Obviously, he was going to be attempting to prove himself to the point of extremes. However, Jordan had not stopped talking the ear off anyone who happened to stand near to him about Lady Ianite. So, Tom had, admittedly, written off the different feelings as annoyance towards the new guy.

But now it had been a couple years, and while he couldn’t exactly say that Jordan had mellowed out, he now knew his feelings held towards him were not merely annoyance. Even if Tom would not admit his feelings out loud and Jordan remained utterly oblivious to them.

Tucker, however, was neither oblivious to nor coy about Tom’s feelings.

“Don’t worry, your boyfriend hasn’t abandoned you,” He said, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

Tom squeaked, a noise several octaves higher than any Tucker had ever heard him make. The champion of Mianite started laughing.

“What the hell was that?!”

“You can’t say things like that! What if he hears?!” Tom said in complete panic, only causing Tucker to laugh more.

“Dude, relax. He’s practicing shooting. There is absolutely no way he’s paying attention to his surroundings,” Tucker said, completely fine with tempting fate because, even if Jordan had heard what he said, there was still absolutely no way that the man was going to realise that Tom was actually into him. Hell, Tom could full on make out with him and Jordan would somehow still be oblivious.

So, he felt completely fine teasing Tom about it for as long as he wanted. Call it making up for lost time given how little Tom actually got to be around.

“And, honestly, you might as well be dating. He is completely insufferable whenever you aren’t here,” Tucker did intend those words as another teasing joke. However, there was an undeniable annoyance that oozed through his tone.

“He’s still annoying you to death, then?” Tom asked as if he didn’t already know the answer. Given how much Tucker liked annoying him, he found himself grinning as he groaned in exasperation.

Maybe it was one of those ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ type of deals, but Tom had no idea how Tucker still found Jordan annoying. However, the last time he had said something vaguely to that tune, Tucker had gone into quite graphic details about why he assumed Tom didn’t find the man annoying.

Needless to say, Tom was not looking for a repeat of that conversation. So, he just allowed Tucker to groan and begin rambling.

“He has discovered that he literally can’t miss when he shoots an arrow, Tom. His ego has reached new heights,” Tucker complained. He didn’t miss, and was not a particular fan of, how Tom’s smile grew at his words. He was just thankful that he couldn’t read whatever was in his thoughts because he didn’t want to comprehend what he might be imagining Jordan doing.

However, while most of the time Tucker would be correct in assuming that Tom was thinking about how this new fact about Jordan made the man more attractive, his current thoughts were somewhere far more chaotic.

“I’m gonna make him miss,” He said with the smile of a madman.

He waited for precisely enough moments to see Tucker begin to smile, then began his dash towards the archery range.

Tucker dashed after him with an ever-growing smile. If anyone was going to disrupt Jordan’s goddess given powers, it was going to be him. By the gods, he had missed Tom so much.

Quite oblivious to the arrival of Lord Dianite’s champion, and therefore the beginnings of that day’s shenanigans, Jordan was preparing to shoot another arrow.

He had very quickly come to grips with his newly gained power. He had mostly been testing it with his bow, shooting harder and more ridiculous shots. Hitting every single one without fail, without even having to look. And he had begun to wonder if his power might extend to weapons beyond his bow.

He was admittedly a little nervous to begin testing that idea. He currently felt beyond powerful, and he wasn’t particularly into the idea of being brought back down to earth if he tried to do this with, say, a sling and missed completely. So, right now, he was happy enough to just keep using his bow. After all, it was a symbol of his Lady so it should remain his main weapon.

That and he always found archery relaxing. That was why he’d settled on waiting in the shooting range until Tom finally arrived. However, while he had originally intended it as a mild distraction, he’d been so consumed by it that he had noticed neither the lateness of his friend’s arrival nor the fact that he had actually arrived.

It was the exact blinding focus Tom thought ideal as he stuck his head around the corner. He could almost certainly walk right up to Jordan without him noticing. But he needed to pick his moment. Luckily, picking the exact right moment for maximum impact of a prank was his speciality.

Jordan took a breath, focusing on the bullseye of the target before him. This was so easy that he could do it in his sleep. He took an arrow, notched it, and prepared to shoot. He pulled the string taut. The arrow was ready to fly.

“Hey! Sparklydick!” Tom’s shout cut through the air and Jordan jolted.

The arrow released and flew wide of its intended target. Eventually it made its mark: a good ten feet back from the target stuck fast in the dirt.

Jordan stared at it, almost more perplexed than annoyed. So, clearly, he still needed some practice.

“Holy shit! He actually missed!” Tucker yelled.

Jordan groaned. He could already tell this was going to get rubbed in his face for the rest of the day.

Yet, Tom was smiling. He was absolutely intoxicated by the energy already. This was what he needed. This is what he had been craving. These were his friends.

He was going to make this day last.

🌹 🌹 🌹

The conversation outside the door was bothering Sonja more than she found justifiable. More and more she regretted that she hadn’t yet made her study soundproof to get rid of distractions like this. Here she was though, once again listening to a perfect example of people not caring if she was working or not.

“I just need a break. She doesn’t want to be taught anyway,” Martha had been rambling outside for… Well, Sonja wasn’t exactly sure how long. Since she had left the study, though that could’ve been any amount of time since the Princess had stopped paying attention to her words quite a while ago. It was certainly long enough for the constant distraction of her speaking to become an itching irritant.

How was she meant to keep working through her notes and finish this enchantment with the racket?

Frankly, Sonja didn’t understand why the woman was so insistent on being upset anyway. She’d listened to all the important bits of her lesson. The rest of it had been fluff. Fluff was nice, but she was busy and wanted to get on with her work once she’d gotten the information that she had needed. Martha got paid the same amount either way, so why did it matter if she didn’t pay attention to the full lesson?

However, she supposed that Martha liked to be overbearing and overstep the duties of her job. Like this morning when after Sonja’s conversation with Tom, she was incredibly insistent in suggesting that she go back and tell him that he was allowed to go to town. It had been maddening.

Tom lived here completely for free. All he did aside from occasionally cooking was bother her and distract everyone else from doing their jobs. How was she the one in the wrong for actually expecting him to cook for her? Because he was busy? Well, everyone else was busy too, but they didn’t try to worm out of their jobs.

It didn’t matter anyway. As always, Tom had refused to listen to her. She had seen him out of the window riding out of the grounds not even an hour after she’d told him specifically not to leave. As always, he’d shirked his responsibilities by passing them off to Steve.

Yet somehow Martha was still acting as if she was the person who had been unreasonable today.

“That’s fine, I’ll take over,” Mot spoke softer than Martha, though still loud enough to be disrupting to Sonja. He sounded as weary as ever.

There was a brief tugging guilt as she thought of how tired Mot always sounded. He always seemed to be the one that took everyone’s complaints and ended up picking up the slack when it came to the end of the day and the others decided to throw in the towel.

However, whenever that guilt began to flicker, there were always further thoughts that she piled on to smother it. After all, it wasn’t as if she asked him to do any of that. He took it all upon himself, so what did she have to feel guilty about? If everyone else did their jobs, he wouldn’t be so tired.

“I assume you heard her fight with Thomas,” Sonja rolled her eyes at it being called a fight, but as always Martha felt the need to dramatize.

Sure, Sonja would admit that she had raised her voice a little, but the whole thing had hardly been out of the norm for her and Tom. Why was the woman insistent on making a big deal about it?

“I’ve gotten the general gist,” She could almost hear Mot rubbing his temple.

She wrinkled her nose as she tried to figure out his tone. She was pretty sure he was just frustrated and tired as he typically was, but she couldn’t get away from the creeping annoyance as she could tell she was going to get more comments about being nicer to Tom.

Somehow, she was always in the wrong.

“I’ll talk to them both. Go relax, you deserve it,” Again, she could hear his expression. The same old tired attempt at a reassuring smile.

She hated how their conversation made her head swim. Why did they insist on talking right outside the door where they’d endlessly distract her?

“Thank you, I appreciate it. Don’t worry about the enchantment, she shouldn’t be onto anything dangerous yet, so I’ll try and talk to her again in the morning,” Martha started. She almost certainly said more, but Sonja was finally tired of attempting to concentrate through the noise.

She slammed her book shut.

Normally she would just storm off to her bedroom where she had different research and there would be less distractions. However, right now that would mean storming past Martha and Mot. She wouldn’t want to interrupt their oh so important conversation.

So instead, she just stormed out onto her balcony.

It was cold. The sting of winter had been gaining quite a bite recently. The gown she was wearing offered little protection. She already had goosebumps forming. She should go back inside to grab her cloak. However, her stubbornness wouldn’t allow her to do so.

She really should start enchanting her clothes. She knew from her studies that it was more than possible and there were various techniques to do so. It just depended on how far she wanted to go with it.

There were wizards, warlocks, and witches that created their own clothes that apparently allowed for the best flow of magic. From the patterns to the fabrics to the sewing technique, each was important to the end enchantment. It interested Sonja, but she wasn’t sure she was yet interested in going so far as to give up her finery for a little more efficiency.

It would be a good large project, she supposed, to figure out how to create a garment with more magical flow that was right for her station, but starting with something smaller would suffice for the winter months.

After all, it was far more common for those magically inclined to merely enchant pre-existing clothing. Common for how uncommon magic was, of course. They would embroider or paint enchantments onto their everyday clothes for all manner of protections. Surely, she would be able to use such a method to not have to bother with outerwear for the rest of the season if she so wished.

Of course, she didn’t actually have any experience in working with fabrics, so there was the very real possibility of her just ruining her clothes. But if that happened, she could just get Wag to either undo the damage or create a copy of the original piece. With creation magic, non-magical objects weren’t exactly in limited supply.

Martha, she was sure, would recommend hiring a seamstress or some other artisan with experience with fabrics to teach her techniques. An idea that Sonja would, as always, find laughable. What would a non-magical craftsperson really be able to teach her that she couldn’t learn herself through trial and error? At the very least though, it was good to know what the next thing that Martha would be annoyed about was.

Still, her thoughts were quickly consumed by thinking of what enchantments she wanted to have on her clothes. Another all-consuming project to block out the rest of her current projects, as well as any duties and responsibilities she held.

Until once again she found her thoughts rudely interrupted by a noise outside of her own control. At the very least this time it wasn’t an ongoing conversation that she couldn’t escape. Rather it was the door to her study slowly creaking open.

Here was Mot then, keeping an eye on her because Martha had decided her job was too exhausting.

“Mistress?” The exhausted voice of the man came from the entrance to her study. His entrance was as good a signal as any that she could return to her study and continue with her project. Mot, after all, was typically content to sit quietly and occupy himself while she worked so long as she didn’t do anything that looked particularly dangerous.

However, that project had already flittered out of her mind, and she didn’t care to keep working on it right now. Eventually sure, but the clothing project was now at the forefront of her mind, and she wanted to keep focus there.

So, she remained on the balcony, returning to her thoughts, caring little if Mot came out or not. Of course, he did though. He alerted her of his present by draping a fur cloak over her shoulders.

“You’ll catch a cold out here if you aren’t careful,” He said, attempting a laugh as if that would make him sound less concerned. It didn’t work.

Sonja found herself frowning. She wasn’t a child that needed reminding that her actions had consequences. Why couldn’t she be taken seriously and treated like an adult? She had the responsibilities of one.

“If you and Martha are going to have conversations when you swap over, you should have them further away from the door,” So, she ignored his concerns and went straight onto her own. She spoke shortly.

Even with her tone, her words still sent a pang of guilt through the man. He should’ve known that she could hear them. No wonder she was sitting outside.

“Martha was just—”

“I know she was,” Sonja cut him off sharply. Martha was always just concerned.

The woman’s complaints were basically just background noise at this point. After all, for as many as she made, she was still here in the castle. She was still happily enjoying all of the resources Sonja provided for her own magical studies.

If Sonja was truly as frustrating as the woman liked to make out, then surely, she would’ve already left by now. Of course she hadn’t though. She just wanted to vent about anything to someone who would actually listen.

Still, Mot’s attempt at an explanation had her wrinkling her nose. “You just disturbed my concentration.”

Mot bit back a sigh. More and more he found himself lost as to whether Sonja was truly as dismissive as she seemed or if she was just pretending to be to save her own feelings. Reality dictated that it was some grey area between the two, but it was quite hard to tell exactly what the blend was.

Perhaps he was letting the memories of her younger self cloud and soften his thoughts towards her current behaviour. Or maybe he was allowing exhaustion to exaggerate typical teenage behaviour. He wished that either one sounded like a reasonable explanation.

“We’ll talk outside the wing next time,” Still he reassured. He knew the others called it placating, but what other action was he supposed to take?

Sonja was the sole authority of the castle, and she knew as much. He held no noble title nor any power over her. If he caught the wrong side of her, he’d be out of a job and on the streets at best. Seeing that he still had Alyssa and Tom to worry about, he couldn’t afford such a situation.

Besides, even if he tried to guide her or give her advice, it was not as if the Princess listened to him these days. She’d just look at him like he was interrupting her. It was just easier and less exhausting to tell her what she wanted to hear. Even if it felt like the coward’s option.

The coward’s option saved his sanity.

However, he could not save it completely today. After all, he had told Martha he’d talk to her.

“About your conversation with Tom this morning,” He started as gently as he possibly could.

“What about it?” Sonja said flatly. She knew full well what Mot was trying to do, and she had no patience for it. She hadn’t done anything wrong.

Tom was always acting like a bother. All she ever asked him to do was either cook or leave her alone. Two incredibly simple tasks if you asked her. It wasn’t as if she expected him to cook for a gala full of guests, just for her. Yet he always fought tooth and nail to avoid cooking when asked and annoy her on the days when he wasn’t expected to do anything.

Mot could already feel the headache forming behind his eyes.

“Do you not think you were a tad harsh?” He knew he was not going to convince her that she was wrong in her demands. The same as he would not convince Tom that he was wrong for standing his ground. But maybe he could get her to admit she had been overly aggressive in her particular choice of words.

The wrinkle of her nose and her tightening grip on the balcony railing made that hope harsher to grasp.

“No. He was being unreasonable,” She said sternly, though she avoided looking at Mot as she spoke. She hated seeing his tired eyes. They made her want to agree with him even though she knew she was completely in the right. “All he ever does is mess around and interrupt my studies. What’s wrong with motivating him to actually be helpful for once?”

Mot was silence, no sighing or instant lecturing as Sonja had expected. The longer it stretched on, the more Sonja felt her resolve weakening. Still, she remained looking out from the balcony, off, out of the grounds to the endless woods beyond.

She would not turn around and allow him to win. If he was disappointed in her, he should say so she could correct him.

She was the ruler of these lands and their people. She needed to act as such a figure should. She had to be assertive. She would not be punished for finally acting as a ruler and dictating her needs.

Of course, Mot was not waiting for her to turn around. Nor was he planning on punishing her, even if he perhaps should. His mind was quite rapidly sorting through thoughts in an attempt to figure out anything that might salvage the friendship Tom and Sonja had before it shattered completely. He prayed that there was something to salvage.

“He did tell you a number of weeks ago that—” Mot stopped as Sonja tensed.

Fine, if she didn’t want to hear the truth, then he’d present something more drastic.

“Maybe I should arrange for Tom to spend a week in the town,” He said, using a regretful tone despite not feeling so. Perhaps if he made it sound like a punishment…

At the very least, the statement was finally enough to make Sonja turn around. Her eyebrows furrowed, and lips pressed together into a firm frown.

“So he completely neglects his duties and you want to give him exactly what he wants?!” She couldn’t believe what he was suggesting. Why should Tom get rewarded for being the worst?!

In quite a rarity, she did not find a sympathetic look on Mot’s face. Rather her own sternness was reflected back on his features.

“You said yourself that he keeps interrupting your research. It’ll give you some well needed time free of him. And he’ll have to fend for himself for a week, I doubt it’ll be a holiday for him,” Mot said as if he genuinely thought this would be a punishment for Tom.

Was it the best idea he’d ever had? No. Frankly he was not the biggest fan of the idea of leaving Tom to mostly his own devices for a week, but he could quite easily ask Jeriah to keep an eye on him. Even if the man would grumble to his face about it, he’d still do it if Mot asked him.

All he knew was some real time apart for the two would be good for them.

Sonja wanted to argue against the idea. She needed Tom here. If he was gone then she’d—

She’d…

She’d be fine, she decided quite firmly. Even if she still had some traitorous thoughts trying to object.

Tom was nothing but a nuisance. An annoyance that constantly and purposefully interrupted her studies and would never do anything helpful unless forced.

Any hesitancy she held towards the idea of him being gone were just illogical thoughts she needed to ignore. Silly childish thoughts she should press down and ignore. So, she looked to Mot as if there were no doubts in her mind.

“Sounds great. Arrange it for some time next month.”

Time away from the headache-inducing boy would be great for her. She’d get so much done.

And maybe an extended trip away from the castle and its magical conveniences she had created would make Tom realise just how good he had it.

He’d come crawling back… She knew he would, as she crushed the doubtful thoughts still lingering down with force.

🌹 🌹 🌹

The day, due to a combination of the clutches of winter and the amount of fun he had been having, went far too quickly for Tom’s liking. It felt as though the fun had barely started, but already the night was black as pitch. Not even the stars or the moon appeared to give respite to the darkness as the entire sky was covered in thick clouds that made the champion grimace at the idea of his long journey home.

“Why do you need to leave tonight? What difference will it make if you wait until morning?” Tucker asked what was really more a temptation than a question as Tom got his horse ready for the ride back. Given the events of the day, it was far more a tempting offer than it usually would be and leaving was never particularly easy.

The absolute last thing he wanted to do on this dark, cold night where he was quite certain it was going to storm was ride through the woods. He wanted to stay and keep having fun with his friends as everything here was far warmer than what awaited him at the castle. What waited back there was a mess caused by a Princess who cared more for magic than she did people.

Yes, he didn’t have any particular desire to go home. Unfortunately, though, he had made a stupid agreement that morning, so he was not going to risk being late.

“The difference is a full week extra of gardening chores,” He muttered. Why had he made that deal with Steve? He could’ve just left without saying anything and the man still would’ve covered for him. Instead, he’d agreed to let the man drag him outside every morning for at least the next week, the next two if he didn’t hurry.

At the very least, his misfortune entertained Tucker, who started laughing in a way that made it very clear that he was not at all sympathetic to his plight. To be fair, had their situations been reversed, Tom certainly would’ve laughed at him, but that didn’t make him pout any less being on the receiving end.

“Gods, you always used to show off about being ‘basically a prince’ but you’re stuck gardening in the winter,” Tucker’s words were choked with laughter, only egged on by Tom’s eyes rolling. He could remember so clearly the way Tom used to brag about the castle when they were kids, doing everything he could to make him jealous. How the tables had turned. “We’ll just be relaxing here, worshipped by the people.”

“Keep going. I’ve got rope. I can tie you up and bring you with me,” Tom said with a tone that Tucker only knew was a joke due to how long they had been friends. Hence, he just continued laughing.

Though the threat was a joke. Tom had often considered just bringing his friends back to the castle. They could probably be there for a good few hours before anyone noticed. But it was almost certainly not worth the amount of trouble he’d land himself in. Yet, today particularly, the idea did tempt him just as the idea of not returning did. The way that all bad ideas tempted teenagers.

“You don’t have to do the gardening if you never go back,” Jordan, who was usually not the one trying to tempt Tom into staying, spoke up. His words were a siren’s call as he gave a smile that tugged his resolve taut.

Lady Ianite’s champion moved closer to him, placing a hand atop of the one of Tom’s that was currently holding his horse’s reins loosely. Whether he knew the effect of his touch on Tom was up in the air, though Tom assumed he did not. Still, it worked to the boy’s advantage as his friend hung onto his every word. “I mean, every time you come here, you complain about that place and the way the Princess treats you. Why not stay here where everyone loves you?”

Tom would be a damn liar if he said he wasn’t tempted to listen to him. Staying in the town where his title was given the respect it deserved, and he could have all the freedom he desired sounded like a dream. If he was a less loyal kid, he might have actually stayed until Mot realised he was gone and got Jeriah to frogmarch him back to the castle.

But loyal Tom was. He wasn’t going to leave Steve with the trouble that was rightfully owed to him.

“But if everyone loves me all the time, it won’t be so sweet anymore. And if I was here all the time, they wouldn’t adore me nearly as much,” He laughed despite how Jordan’s easy smile flittering to a frown hurt his heart.

One day he’d be able to stay longer, he reassured himself. Today just wasn’t the right time. But he was getting older. Soon enough he’d be able to persuade Mot that he was reliable enough to stay the night here, he was sure. “Seriously, though, I’m gonna miss you both so much! I’ll be back as soon as I can, hopefully for more than a day next time.”

“If a month passes and you haven’t shown your face, I’ll storm the castle myself!” Tucker laughed as Tom pulled himself onto his horse.

That should’ve been the end of the temptations for Tom. As he began to ride out of town, he should’ve just been left to his own thoughts. However, rather than his own head filling with reasons that he should just stay in the town, he once again received them from an outside source.

“You know, my boy, there really wouldn’t be any harm done by staying for the night,” Tom nearly fell off his horse as Lord Dianite’s voice came unexpectedly into his head. Deep laughter echoed through his head as he just about managed to regain balance.

“My Lord!” He said with a relieved laugh.

It wasn’t the first time Tom had spoken to his god. If it had been, he certainly would’ve actually fallen. They honestly spoke quite often to the point of a relatively casual rapport.

That was apparently a rarity as neither Tucker nor Jordan had ever heard from their gods, let alone so often that conversation was casual. Nor would they ever have the guts to deny anything their god said as he was about to. “Well, I’d call being forced to do gardening chores for an extra week harm done. Maybe not on a godly scale, but I’d still prefer to avoid it.”

“Come on, let me be the devil on your shoulder. You deserve some fun, to cause some chaos. If you’re worried about getting in trouble, I’ll have a talk with Mot,” True to his aim and general nature, everything Dianite said pulled Tom into wanting to agree. If a god told them that he didn’t need to do gardening chores, then he wouldn’t have to do them. So why not stay when he’d been handed an excuse on a silver platter?

However, while Tom laughed and was tempted, he ultimately made the choice that unknowingly cemented his own fate.

“Thanks for the offer, my Lord, but I think I want to get home tonight.”

“Very well, my champion,” Lord Dianite’s voice betrayed none of what was soon to come.

Tom never found out if he knew, but the question of if his offer had just been a coincidence did linger in the many long years to come.

🌹 🌹 🌹

By the time he was dashing back into the castle via a servant’s entrance, Tom was soaked through. As he had guessed, a storm had begun to rage, and his ride back had been a bitterly cold one that he was deeply regretting as he stumbled into the kitchen.

“I’m back!” He called, sounding triumphant. He might be half frozen, and as delirious as that state implied, but he had gotten back while Steve was still cooking. So, he wasn’t going to have to do that second week of gardening work. He was absolutely winning!

Steve only looked up from the meat simmering on the stove for a brief moment. He knew immediately that the boy was in no state to take over. He just smiled and shook his head with a bemused sigh.

“Go get yourself dry,” He said, only barely managing to sound gruff. Though he had a couple of excuses lined up to chase the kid away if he tried to take over in his current state, Tom didn’t need to be told twice. He all but sprinted out of the kitchen and towards his room.

Dashing through the castle was second nature to him as growing up here had allowed him to memorize every passage – regular and secret – that the building held. He was pretty sure that he knew the place better than Sonja. That was to say that Tom made it to his room in under two minutes despite the vastness of the castle.

He had never been more appreciative of the magical enchantments the place held as when the fireplace roared into life the moment he entered. For as much as he begrudged Sonja right now, he could appreciate the enchantments around the castle. Nothing like spending a day in the town in all its mundane glory then riding home through a storm to remind him what a magical wonderland he lived in.

As he got himself dry and warm, the storm raging outside battered against his window. It was a noise that made him appreciate all the more that he was inside and out the weather. It was the noise he would use to explain, to rationalise, as to why he did not hear the banging on the door that night.

In reality, there was but a single soul who could hear the noise. This test was, despite who its consequences would affect, one only for the Princess. So, though she had no way of knowing, Sonja was the only one who could hear the banging on the doors that night. Though she did not realise anything was amiss. As such she ignored it for as long as possible.

Each one seemed somehow louder than the last, to the point that she was almost scrunching the pages of the book she was reading as she continued to try and ignore them. Why did no one in this place do their job?

She was a princess. She absolutely should not have to answer her own door. However, as the noise reached unbearable levels, she slammed her book closed. Apparently, she had to do everything.

With frustration already overwhelming her she began her way to the grand entrance with more a storm in her step than the one raging outside. Needless to say, she was not in a particularly charitable mood when she swung the door open with mounting rage and saw the soaked old crone before her. The old woman, holding nought but a rose, looked up from under her purple hood.

“Please, Miss. Some shelter from the storm.”

It was about then, when she had opened the door, that Tom left his room. Now warm and dry, his journey back towards the kitchen was not the rush that the journey out of it had been.

He walked casually through the hall, carrying a candelabra to light his way. With the distance away from the entrance hall that his room was, and his general meandering pace, it was no wonder that by the time the room was in earshot, their fates had already been sealed.

“Please! I’m sorry! I didn’t know! I—” He heard Sonja yelling. Begging. Sounding more terrified than he had ever heard her.

He took off at a sprint.

He could not fathom what was going on. All he knew was that Sonja was in danger and he needed to help her.

Their arguments seemed so petty and pointless as he was forced to hear such raw fear.

“That, my Princess, is precisely the point,” A cold woman’s voice replied to her cries.

Tom did not recognise the voice, but just hearing it shot a nerve through him. He could sense that whoever this was, she was more powerful by far than any of them. But like hell did that matter.

He was the champion of Lord Dianite. He would defeat any enemy no matter how powerful in order to power his friends. “There is no love in your heart.”

He rounded the corner onto the upstairs landing in an uncontrolled skid. He automatically reached for the banister to steady himself, only for shock to supersede his self-preservation.

Lady Ianite stood in the doorway before Sonja who was shaking on her knees. The goddess wore an expression that even years later Tom would have difficulty fully describing despite how it was burnt into his mind.

He only saw it for a second. It would be so easy to just say it was a terrible coldness. The wrath that only a scorned deity could hold. But he swore, he just swore, he saw a certain grief for what she was about to do.

But he only saw her for a second. Then he began to fall down the stairs.

Lady Ianite touched a finger to the Princess’ forehead and a dazzling purple light filled and surrounded the entire castle. Covering all the way to the edge of its grounds.

It could be seen from miles around, to the very edges of the kingdom.

The crew of a ship just off the coast swore that, for a few moments, there was a purple glow to the horizon.

Those in the town saw it unbelievably clearly. A pair of champions and an old soldier panicked for the only place it could possibly be coming from and rushed to get horses, forgetting who they were worried about in the first place before they could reach their steeds.

The rest in the castle panicked. None but Tom and the Princess had any context for what was going on as they were suddenly blinded and lost all feeling in their bodies.

Tom only knew he was still falling from the clattering of the candelabra so close to his ear. What he knew should’ve been a painful fall lacked any hurt at all. Yet he was already in such a nightmare that he could not even be scared about that fact.

The light finally faded, though the sight he was left with did nought to comfort the boy.

Everything was impossibly large. Either he had hit his head badly or he’d been shrunk. The way his body felt alien and stiff did nothing to tell him which was more likely.

Yet, somehow, whatever had happened to him was not his biggest concern.

Where Sonja had been before the goddess, there now knelt a Beast.

Tom could describe it in no other way. It was terrifyingly large. As much a bear as a fox as a cat as a wolf as a devil. No singular animal. Nothing akin to anything he had ever seen before. Just a Beast.

And it wore Sonja’s sparkling dress.

The Beast spoke no more apologies, shell shocked and terrified. Her cries half-transformed against her will into growls as her mouth and throat were no longer hers.

The goddess looked down at her, twirling a now glowing rose gently between two fingers.

“This rose will act as a timer for this curse on yourself, your home, and those that dwell within. By the time the last petal falls, you must learn to love another and earn their love in return. Only then will the spell break.”

The goddess paused, placing the flower on the ground before the Beast.

“If you don’t, then you shall remain a Beast for the rest of time.”

With those final horrifying words, the goddess turned away. She stepped back out into the storm and disappeared as if dissolved by the rain.

🌹 🌹 🌹

Sonja finally fell silent. The story was finally told. At least as much as she could tell without losing any chance of the curse breaking.

She had told every terrible thing she had done. All she had kept hidden was her own humanity and the knowledge of the curse being able to be broken. Perhaps it was wrong of her when Capsize had laid everything bare for her, but that part of the truth would do nothing but place a burden on her shoulders that already weighed down everyone else in the castle and put the others’ possibility of restoration at risk.

Could real love even form if you know the other will be doomed if you don’t love them enough?

For as much as Sonja still doubted her own deserving, her own ability to love, and even the slightest possibility of Capsize loving one as selfish and terrible as her; she still could not risk her knowing that bit of truth.

It was not of importance anyway. The point of the story was the terrible act she had done, how selfish and unsympathetic she had been. How needlessly cruel she had been to a stranger that just needed help. What a terrible fate she had inflicted on all those around her.

The point was that Capsize’s goddess had seen her as such a heartless person that the curse had been necessary to teach her.

The silence stretched, horrible and sickening. The crackling of the bonfire was no longer a warm comfort as she awaited Capsize’s reaction. As she waited for the woman who had become such a light in her life to look up at her with scorn that she rightfully deserved.

Finally, the moment came. Capsize looked at her with reddened eyes. Sonja braced herself for what was to come.

Capsize spoke with a soft, shaking voice.

“I’m so sorry.”

#mianite #mianite fanfiction #cat's fanfiction #sonja firefoxx #sonja firefoxx/captain capsize #captain capsize #mianite batb au #foxxsize #tom syndicate #martha the mystic #farmer steve #tucker iijeriichoii #jordan captainsparklez #mot screziato #lord dianite #lady ianite #the chapter that has inspired such a what if scenario in my head #also this one has a long ass author's note on ao3 if you wanna hear me ramble for a little bit about my concept and thoughts for the chapte

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coolcattime · 1 month ago

Text

Shifting Scales: Part Two - The God's Prize

Characters: Skipper Redbeard, Captain Capsize, Guardian Furia, Jordan Captainsparklez, Tom Syndicate, Tucker iijeriichoii, Lord Dianite

1 - > 2 < - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8

Expecting to respawn as normal after Furia’s attack, Jordan received the shock of his life as he awoke chained in a cell still in the Nether. What began as a terrible shock quickly turned to a horrifying dread as Lord Dianite is there to greet his unexpected prize.

Little does the champion know that the reality he found himself in was far worse than merely being imprisoned.

A reimagining of my original Mianite fanfiction ten years later

AO3 Link

Jordan woke up with a far groggier head than he usually associated with respawning. Typically, it felt like a sharp snap. Like one moment he was being stabbed, the next he was back in his bed. This certainly wasn’t that.

When he finally began to push himself into a sitting position, he realised that he wasn’t even in his bed.

That was enough to jump start his brain.

His eyes shot open. Jordan saw his surroundings and it was immediately obvious that something had gone terribly, unimaginably wrong.

He was still in the Nether, though he could only know that for certain due to the ambient heat surrounding him. Otherwise, he could’ve theoretically been anywhere as he was in a completely closed-off room made of Nether bricks.

Normally, he would’ve assumed that one of his friends had set this up as a prank, but that wouldn’t explain why he was still in the Nether. Plus, even if it was possible for one of them to set his spawn point here, that certainly wouldn’t explain the manacle on his ankle that left him chained to the floor.

“What the hell is--?”

“Apologies for the lacklustre décor,” His spoken thoughts of confusion were cut through by a voice that he knew all too well. Appearing in the far corner of the room, certainly out of the reach of Jordan for the little it mattered given he was disarmed, was Lord Dianite.

He scrambled to his feet. How he had been captured he had no idea, but he was not about to face the devil sitting down.

Dianite, knowing that there was absolutely nothing that the champion was going to be able to do to escape, merely smiled at the tiny bit of resistance. He had been given a far greater prize than he had expected. He was going to keep basking in his victory for as long as possible.

So, he continued his monologue. “I was expecting the other captain, so I didn’t think to decorate.”

That statement caused a world of confusion in Jordan, the thoughts slowly working behind his eyes delighting the god before him. The smile that began to play on the devil’s lips only muddled his thoughts more.

He was being mocked, even he couldn’t miss that. He couldn’t just stand here and let that happen. But what exactly had happened?

He’d been killed by Furia. Then he’d respawned here. That much was obvious.

Dianite was clearly claiming that he had been expecting Capsize – who else could the other captain be? So, he had wanted to capture her? That made enough sense, Jordan supposed, Furia had attacked her first after all.

However, none of that explained how he’d actually ended up here when he should be in his vault. Somehow Dianite had changed his respawn point.

Maybe that wasn’t so surprising. He was a god, it seemed likely enough that he’d have the power to do so, even if it seemed unlikely that the god wouldn’t have used that power both now given his obsession with him.

Still, that wouldn’t explain how he was meant to have captured Capsize. Furia had obviously been looking to kill. All their strikes had been aimed at their throats. Sure, his respawn point could’ve been changed, but he wasn’t even sure that Capsize could respawn.

All the facts made his head spin as he tried to fit them all together. Though he couldn’t quite make sense of it, he managed to cram enough of them together to come up with a reasoning for the situation he was now stuck in.

“Furia’s sword. You enchanted it so it would teleport whoever it lethally struck here,” He said, wishing the sting in his throat hadn’t caused his voice to creak and undermine his confidence. It was the only explanation he could think of that would mean both he and Capsize could’ve been teleported here, so he had to be right.

A wave of delight ran through Lord Dianite.

Unlike his sister’s precious little captain, Sparklez had little idea of the many workings of the world. None of the champions did, really, all isolated in their own little bubble. Aside from the rank of champion and the occasional smiting, the laws of the gods remained utterly unknown to them.

What fun he was going to have letting him know the truth.

With this delight, a laugh escaped the god. A laugh that Jordan had to force himself to stand strong through as the mocking tone threatened to make him falter.

The amount of joy the devil was taking in this just left him nauseous.

“That’s certainly what Furia believes. Well, not quite. Furia believes that you’ve been sent to the same prison as my sister. In fact, that’s where they’re currently telling all your friends you are,” Dianite said, enjoying the subtle tells on the champion’s face that he was nowhere near as fearless as he was trying to put on.

The god was utterly in control here. He was having such fun with his new toy and wasn’t about to stop. “I’m sure that’ll send them all off on a little adventure far away from where you really are.”

“Then where am I? If I’m not in the same prison as my Lady?” Jordan demanded, taking a step forward and causing the chain connected to him to begin to pull from the loose pile, rattling and undermining any aura of strength he may have had.

The devil clearly wanted to play a game, but he wasn’t going to have any part of it. Even if Jordan was on the backfoot, he wasn’t anyone’s plaything.

At the very least, he’d take control of the conversation. “And I don’t know what you’re trying to imply by saying that’s what Furia believes. Obviously, I was teleported here by them! That’s the only way Capsize could’ve been captured when they were trying to kill her!”

“You’re so easily confused, aren’t you? You know, the pirate wouldn't have had all these questions. She would’ve just known what had happened to her.”

“I don’t care what Capsize would’ve known!” He snapped without meaning to, immediately regretting doing so as he saw how the devil smiled.

He should’ve held back. Outbursts were just giving the bastard further entertainment.

And what entertainment he was to Lord Dianite. He was such an easy fiddle to play.

“All I did was compliment your little girlfriend… What? Are you really so possessive? So jealous?” He asked as he slowly began to approach the champion.

The god, of course, knew damn well that the woman in question would rather die than have any sort of romantic relationship with Sparklez. But that was a fact to break him with later, when his sister inevitably asked the impossible of her messenger.

For now, he merely wanted to make him squirm. He wouldn’t even need to try either, seeing that the truth he was demanding would be more than enough for that. “But, fine, since I like you Sparklez, I’ll answer your questions. You’re under my temple. Any one of your friends could find you in less than an hour if they were given any reason to believe that you’re down here.”

That should’ve reassured Jordan.

He was within reach of his friends. They would be able to find him. Even if it took a while, they would obviously find him.

But Lord Dianite was still smiling.

Despite Jordan’s attempt at confidence, that look was chipping away at him. And Dianite hadn’t even given him the bad news yet.

“As for the how: no enchantments were needed to capture anyone. It’s a simple rule of the world that when something is killed in the name of a god or in their temple, that it becomes a sacrifice. Regardless of Furia’s delusions of grandeur, they are still my guardian, and they killed you in my prayer room. So, you were made a sacrifice, and your very soul belongs to me. I can revive you how I see fit.”

The jubilation in the devil’s voice was matched only by the horror descending into the champion’s bones. He looked down at his prize with a dark smile of total victory.

“I told you I would get you on my team.”

“No! No, I’m not--!” Jordan began to argue only for his voice to die in his throat. Though it was not for lack of trying to speak.

Dianite made a swift movement, raising a hand and clutching his fist, and it was as if Jordan’s voice was crushed. Every noise he attempted to make was forced into silence. Maybe Dianite would’ve been able to do that even if his claims weren’t true, but the demonstration was clearly saying just the same as the god’s words.

Whether or not he had literal physical control over Jordan’s soul, he still had him imprisoned and at his control. In his own mind, he had already won.

“Oh, you most certainly are,” He said, tightening his grip on the champion as he stalked over.

Jordan tried to move back, but his bones were locked in place. He had no chance but to stay as the devil ran a clawed finger across his cheek. He was utterly at the god’s mercy, unable to even fruitlessly resist as that power was lorded over him. “Or you will be. You aren’t leaving here until you renounce my pathetic sister.”

He dropped his hold on Jordan, the champion staggering back with a gasp as he was suddenly released. However, the spite and resistance had not left his tongue.

“So that’s your plan! You capture me or Capsize and hold us here until we agree to follow you?!”

Lord Dianite once more laughed, almost cackling. Still Sparklez didn’t get it. Whether by vanity or simple obliviousness, he seemed quite unable to keep hold of the idea that he was never intended to be here.

“No. My plan was to capture my sister’s most precious follower. Then I’d leave her to slowly die here as it would utterly break my sister that she would be able to do nothing to help. But then Furia missed their strike on her and killed you instead,” He spoke coldly, almost matter of fact, about the grim plan. Up until the last sentence where he couldn’t stop a grin from forming and excitement from leaching into his voice.

All the while, a sickness was forming inside Sparklez, but not from being told that Capsize was meant to have been left to a slow, painful death. This was the uneasy nausea of a child being told they were their parents’ least favourite. So utterly full of denial, but unable to force any words out lest his fears be confirmed.

All his silence did was allow Dianite to continue. “Obviously once I had your soul, the plan had to change. Unlike the pirate, you might have the brains to cut your losses and join the winning team. Besides, I’m not killing my favourite follower for only half the effect that killing her would’ve had.”

“I’m not your follower and I never will be!” Finally, Jordan exploded, all his righteous belief in his championhood strengthening his resolve. “And I’m just as important to my Lady as Capsize is! You aren’t going to get me on your side with blatant lies!”

He was not just going to stand here as the devil tried to convince him that his Lady valued Capsize over him. That couldn’t possibly be true! He was her champion! The one who had restored her heart and was going to free her from Dianite’s clutches!

Capsize didn’t even have a title aside from captain.

All his yells did was stretch Dianite’s smile ever wider.

“Oh, I see. You just want to be in denial.”

Upon those words, Jordan attempted to strike him, but Dianite caught his fist. As he held it with a grip just weak enough to avoid breaking bones, he leant close to the champion’s ear. If he wanted to live in the fantasy world he had created, the god would happily play along.

“Then you should be happy. Without your sacrifice, your Capsize would be enduring a slow death at my hands. You saved her life. What a great boyfriend you are.”

Again, Jordan had bitter arguments on his tongue, but Dianite was not going to waste his time listening to those. Sparklez would have a long time to stew over his fake relationship and where his goddess’ true favour lied. After all, he wasn’t getting rescued anytime soon.

So, Dianite shoved him to the ground. All the weight the champion had been throwing into his swing turned into unbalance with the sudden lack of support. He landed painfully in a heap, the red bricks that made up the room in no way cushioning his fall.

“I’ll be back later to make sure you don’t starve. Oh, though obviously I’m sure your friends will come and rescue you before we have to worry about that,” Sarcasm dripped from his voice.

Jordan attempted to scramble to his feet and attempt another swing, but the god was already gone before he even got his bearings. Jordan was left alone in the empty cell with only his thoughts and the sound of the rattling chain whenever he moved.

He knew that everything Dianite had said was nothing more than lies meant to make him betray his Lady and resent Capsize. There was nothing else his words could’ve been. But as much as he tried, he couldn’t fully reassure himself of that.

Over and over, he tried to repeat the truth. He wasn’t worth less to his Lady than Capsize. He didn’t belong to Lord Dianite. If Furia had struck true, Capsize would’ve been presented with the exact same manipulations as he had been to attempt to get her to abandon Lady Ianite.

Yet still there remained a looming wave of doubt in his mind, lapping ever closer the more time passed.

Just the tiniest voice in the back of his mind that he didn’t want to recognise as his own. The quietest whisper that continued to ask, “What if Dianite had been telling the truth.”

He wouldn’t listen to it. His faith in his Lady was being put to the test, and he could not allow himself to falter at this hurdle. It was nothing worse than the mocking he’d faced from the others for so long.

But as the hours drew on, stuck in the silence and the heat, the whispering doubts only grew louder.

#mianite #mianite fanfiction #cat's fanfiction #shifting scales #jordan captainsparklez #lord dianite #again can't tag this as dianite / jordan but the vibes are there (at least from dia's end)

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