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coolcattime · 12 days 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 · 4 months ago

Text

Safety [Mianite Oneshot]

Relationships: Captain Capsize/Lady Ianite

Characters: Captain Capsize, Lady Ianite, Lord Dianite, Skipper Redbeard, Jordan Captainsparklez, Tucker Jericho, Tom Syndicate, Sonja Firefoxx, Lord Mianite

After so long of being imprisoned in the Nether, cold air feels like heaven to Capsize. It’s such an overwhelming relief that it takes her minutes to even consider the implications of feeling it.

When she finally does, she opens her eyes to find herself in a cage floating in the sky somewhere in the farthest reaches of the End. Lady Ianite greets her, an elation overtaking Capsize to see her goddess freed. However, quickly she questions as to why she remains imprisoned. Questions with painful answers, even if the only ones she hears are false.

AO3 Link

The first thing that Capsize noticed was the cool breeze hitting her, as pleasant as it was painful. After the never-ending heat of the Nether, she couldn’t help but bask in it even as it began to feel like needles digging into her skin. It was still the nicest thing she had felt in weeks. She just lay there for minutes, nearly crying in relief that she finally felt cool air again. Until the impossibility hit her.

If she was still in that cell in the Nether, the only thing she should be able to feel was that sickening supernatural heat. She supposed it was possible that she was so close to death that she had begun hallucinating, but her thoughts all felt her own. If anything, she felt stronger than the last time she was awake, not weaker. So, what precisely was going on?

Acknowledging the first difference in sensation opened up her thoughts to begin noticing the other ones. Soon enough the oddities and impossibilities were piling up in her mind. The first one was that she realised with a start that she was no longer shackled. No longer was tight metal pushing into her skin. It seemed her limbs were free to move as she wished them too.

Of course, her body still ached. Though she did not feel nearly as beaten down as she had in her last moment of wakefulness. Despite how it certainly was not possible, it seemed that she had been recovering.

She almost didn’t want to believe these feelings. No… No, she desperately did want to give into this new reality where she wasn’t stuck in that tiny cell in a hellish dimension. But she couldn’t afford to build up hope. It would just shatter her if she awoke from this dream.

It was painful to admit, but she was so tired. She was meant to be Lady Ianite’s messenger, a person looked to for guidance. Instead, she was a worn-down prisoner terrified to even risk hope. She was utterly ashamed of how badly she had fumbled her mission. If anyone from back home could see her, they’d tell her what a failure she had turned out to be.

In a moment of spite, she huffed. What good was berating herself actually doing? It was just as bad as lingering in a dream would be. She needed to actually do something. Though entirely exhausted and frankly still terrified learning she was still in her cell, she forced her eyes open.

What she found before her eyes left her just confused. She wasn’t in the Nether. She was no longer in that claustrophobic cell. However, she also wasn’t free.

Immediately, she tried to sit up. Tried being the optimal word. A sharp pain shot through her stomach as she did. With a cry she was sent back to her starting position of laying on the cold stone.

She tried to breathe through the sudden shock.

Had she been stabbed? It was the sort of injury that she’d associate with this type of pain, but she didn’t recall anything of the sort. She’d have thought even in her less than responsive state that she would’ve been woken by such an attack.

At the very least, she could tell that the injury was recent. It had to be with how painful it felt, but as she carefully ran a hand over where the pain was coming from, she didn’t even feel a cut. She desperately tried to make sense of it, trying to bite back fears of it being something far worse than a stab wound. However, as she continued to lay there, she was stuck staring at the bars above her that separated her from the sky. She couldn’t remain doing nothing. She needed to know why she could see the sky at all.

She was more careful in sitting up than she had been in her first attempt. Though her gentleness did little to ease her pain. She had to grit her teeth as she still very much felt like screaming. However, without the aspect of it being unexpected, the pain was at the very least management.

Once she was sitting up, it was far easier to get herself to her feet, even if her body whined and complained at the process. Now that she wasn’t shackled and restrained, now that she could move, she was going to make sure that she did. She needed to explore whatever she could here before her movement was restricted again.

She was in another prison. Though perhaps that was overselling it a little. It was a cage. A giant cage of iron bars completely open to the air. It wasn’t the most confined she had ever felt. She doubted anything would ever compare to that tiny cell she had been imprisoned in until now. A place where she had been shackled and restrained left with nothing she could even possibly do but await her own death. However, she was not about to be grateful for a prison just because it was nicer than the last. There was still the tightness in her chest from the feeling of being confined. There were still the ever-present thoughts reminding her that she needed to escape.

She needed a focus to stop such thoughts from overwhelming her. So, she settled on the most basic. Where exactly was she? Given her capacity to feel cold and the presence of a sky, she was clearly no longer in the Nether. However, that wasn’t exactly an answer to her question. The sky that surrounded her being lit up by a bright purple aurora did give her a certain assumption. One that made her stomach twinge uncomfortably. However, there was little point dwelling on assumptions. After all, this prison came with a view, she could see for herself where she was.

Despite the dread building within her, she forced herself to one of the cage walls. Her movement was slow, her limbs aching after so long of being stuck in one position. She could see her surroundings quite a while before she actually reached the bars, but still she forced herself all the way. Despite the illogical hope she had tried to hold, the view didn’t change when she reached the edge of her confinement.

She was, as she feared from the look of the sky, in the End. So Dianite had managed to force his way into some of Ianite’s realm despite their efforts to strengthen her. However, it was far worse than just that.

The cage she was in was built on a tiny floating island, high above the other far larger landmasses that surrounded it. All that could be between herself, and the endless void was a layer of stone bricks and a shallow amount of end stone. The landmasses around her were far enough away that, even if she did somehow manage to break free of these bars, she would never be able to reach them. Even if she did, for as far as she could see it was just an endless forest of chorus trees. She seemed as if walk through them forever and never reach their end.

She just stood there, leaning against the bars, realising that she was just as trapped as she had been in her previous cell. Her shackles had been replaced by an endless landscape that she would never be able to reach anyway. It was suffocating. But unfortunately, she couldn’t show it. Not when the bastard god who had trapped her was here watching.

She was sure that he was. While she might not entirely trust herself, she still trusted her senses enough to believe them not to be lying about the presence behind her. And if there was a presence, it had to be him. Who else would it be?

She remained still, as did he. Both were waiting for the other to acknowledge them first. He liked when she acknowledged him, whether she cowered or stood strong, it always left him with a horrible mocking grin. She wasn’t going to this time. If he wanted to play this game, she wasn’t turning to look at him and giving him any sort of victory. She could hold strong. She could—

“Capsize,” Her eyes widened as she heard that sound voice and realised just how completely and utterly wrong her assumption had been.

She turned, fast enough that she wanted to scream, but no pain was enough to stop her from whipping around with tears brimming just as a smile was breaking onto her face. The only fear left in her mind was that this was somehow her imagination.

“Ia!” The moment she saw her, she melted into elation. Standing before her was Lady Ianite. Not a flickering image or a voice in her head. Her goddess was actually physically stood before her. Ianite had been freed.

Even with the terrible situation she was still in, that fact was enough to break through her dread and distress and have her laughing in relief. Even if she hadn’t been the one to do it, Ianite was free. She was stood before her, smiling. Though, strangely enough, the goddess’ expression was not one of happiness as her own was. Though it was, at least as far as she could tell, a genuine smile, it seemed as though it was just there to conceal pain. The smile you’d give to someone on their deathbed.

And that, well, Capsize knew that it should give her chills. That she should stop and worry. But she was face to face with the person that she had been fighting for so long to save. How could she focus on anything else but how much of a relief and victory that was?

“You’re safe!” She said. Then she couldn’t hold back. Even with her aching limbs and the terrible pain in her midsection, she rushed to her. Though her joy wasn’t enough to actually keep her upright. She ended up stumbling, being caught in Ianite’s arms.

The goddess pulled her close as she wrapped her own arms around her. She could only describe it as an embrace, as the sort of thing she had been dreaming of for so long. The sort of hold that she wanted to melt into and never leave. It had been weeks since she had had any non hostile physical contact, she wanted to cry as she felt Ianite’s hand running through her hair. She never wanted this to end. She could fade away right now in this moment and be truly satisfied with her fate.

However, despite her own desires, she knew that she couldn’t stay like this. As intoxicating as being held by Ianite was, there were still so many questions that she needed the answers to. Even so, it took more strength than she’d care to admit to break away. As if being inches away from her goddess may kill her.

“Are you okay?” Ianite asked as she did, leaving her feeling all the worse for ending the moment. Especially as she could not answer the question positively. Beyond her physical pain, there was the question that she needed to ask that she knew could only lead to more pain. Unfortunately, she could not leave it unspoken.

“Why am I still imprisoned? I… I thought that when they freed you, that I would also…” She didn’t know how to finish her sentence. It felt wrong to imply that her friends may have just given up on saving her, but what else could she think given her surroundings?

Ianite looked down, squeezing her eyes shut. Capsize felt a pit beginning to form in her stomach. Had it not already been obvious, it was now painfully so. Something had gone deeply and terribly wrong.

“That was the plan, for the champions to travel to Aethoria and free us both. Unfortunately, my brother couldn’t take a loss.”

⚖ ⚖ ⚖

“Come on then,” Lord Dianite invited the champions to attack him. To his absolute disappointment, not one of them made a move.

They really were all cowards. It seemed that they really had been hoping to skirt by and ruin his plans without any resistance.

He understood his own champion not making the first move. Even if he was a turncoat and a liar, he was still the champion that he had cultivated. The fear would still be there. So, it was no wonder that he stood on the edge of the makeshift arena hesitating to come any closer.

What Dianite, however, couldn’t understand was why the others were being so cowardly. They had wanted to defeat him, hadn’t they? So why were they all waiting on him to make the first move? Perhaps they thought they had time to dawdle and strategize. Well, he wasn’t going to allow them such a boon.

“Perhaps you all need a little more motivation,” He laughed with a horrible mocking tone. He brought his hands up, in one summoning an impossibly sharp sword. It was crafted from a dark metal, one that none of the mortals before him had ever seen before.

He grinned and for a moment it seemed like he was going to lunge at one of them. However, the person he attacked would not be any of those before him. Rather she appeared in his other hand, already barely conscious.

“Capsize!” Her brother screamed in horror as every soul in the arena rushed towards the horned god, each desperate to stop the attack before it occurred. Even the fastest of them could not reach him before he stabbed his weapon into her gut.

⚖ ⚖ ⚖

“He stabbed me?” Capsize questioned. The idea left her cold and numb. It wasn’t unbelievable. In fact, if anything it was extremely believable considering that she did believe that she had been stabbed and Lord Dianite made the most sense to have done such a thing of anyone. But the fact that she believed it to be true didn’t rid of her the numbness at once more being used as a prop to hurt other people.

It was the reason Furia had attacked her too. It had nothing to do with who she was. It was just to cause Redbeard pain. She wasn’t important at all. Just the way her hurt made other people feel.

She didn’t know what was more pathetic, that fact itself or how sensitive she felt about it. Her silence must’ve stretched a little too long as Ianite took one of her hands. She gave it a comforting squeeze. The tiny smile on her face was enough to spread warmth back through her body. She took a breath and managed to speak again. “I don’t remember any of it.”

There weren’t exactly flaws to pick at in the story thus far. While she could ask how Ianite knew what had happened, she assumed that she had simply been watching from afar. She always could watch her own domains and cities. Given that the fight was in Aethoria, she was probably watching the whole thing. Her thoughts twisted at that. Ianite had had to watch her get skewered.

But there was such a gap in her memory that it was difficult to believe anything could’ve happened beyond her being moved from her previous prison to this one.

“I don’t think you were awake,” Ianite spoke quietly. Capsize could hear what remained unspoken, that she hoped that she wasn’t awake. Given how pained her expression was, Capsize herself felt glad that her memory seemed to be failing her. “You haven’t been responsive for almost a week now. Even with our connection, I could barely sense you. I was starting to fear that you might have…”

Again, her fear was left unspoken, though this time because her voice broke before she finished her sentence rather than by choice. However, this time Capsize found the strength to give a comforting smile.

“Hey. I ended up surviving, didn’t I?” She said, laughing as best she could. Though, she couldn’t sound nearly as confident as she wanted to. There was still something deeply wrong here, the questions about it threatening to some to the surface, but even if she was imprisoned, she was okay. She wasn’t dead or dying. So, she could comfort and reassure Ianite that she did not need to linger on such fears. “And you’re clearly fine too. So, I assume Dianite isn’t a worry anymore.”

“No, he’s…” Again, she watched Ianite hesitate. Though she didn’t wear the same pained expression as she did previously. “He’s dead. All the heroes fought him, but ultimately Syndicate dealt the final blow.”

“Oh gods…” Capsize felt her throat go dry. It was as if the world completely froze.

Now, Capsize certainly wasn’t going to mourn the bastard god after everything he had done. In fact, she would be lying to say anything but that she was glad to see him gone. However, it felt so incredibly unfair that Tom had had to kill his own god. She couldn’t imagine a crueller fate for a champion.

She almost asked if he was alright, only stopping herself because she knew he couldn’t be. The most that she could wish was that he wasn’t grieving alone. None of the champions would have any more reason than she did to mourn the devil, she knew. But with how close friends they were, she hoped that they’d have the sense to offer him at least some comfort, even if just a shoulder to cry on. Once she was out of here, she certainly would. It was the least she could do for a friend.

However, with that thought, another struck her with all the gentleness of a falling brick.

Dianite had released her. Released her to kill her, yes, but had he sent her back to a cell again Ianite would’ve mentioned.

But here she was in a cage.

She had been freed. Dianite had been slain.

So why was she once again imprisoned?

She looked at Ianite, the obvious question on her lips. However, she couldn’t ask it as she was met with a look so haunted she doubted she would ever forget it. Purple eyes bore into her, a broken look that did not belong on a goddess piercing into her very soul.

“As I said though, my brother couldn’t take a loss.”

⚖ ⚖ ⚖

All four champions ran ahead of him, Jordan leading the charge, as Redbeard did his best to run without disturbing Capsize’s wound. A futile task given that she had been run through. The fact that she was still holding on was only not a miracle due to the excessive number of healing potions that Foxx had thrown onto her. Even with their best efforts to heal her though, his sister was still bleeding out in his arms.

A curse on Lord Dianite’s sword, he was sure. That was why she wouldn’t stop bleeding. A curse so he could get the last laugh even after his own defeat. But Lady Ianite would be able to heal her. She had to be able to heal her. They’d come so far.

Capsize was in his arms. She couldn’t die now.

“Dianite’s dead. So, she should be free already, right?” Tucker asked as they ran through the gate. The temple was in sight now, towering over them as a beacon of hope.

“Yes! We’ve freed her! I can feel it!” Jordan said in response, confident and completely elated.

Redbeard wished he could share such a celebratory tone. He should be able to. The mission was complete. The evil god was defeated, and their goddess freed. But this wasn’t his mission. He was no hero. He was a desperate man who could feel blood seeping through his sleeves and staining his skin.

She couldn’t die here. This had been her mission. Sparklez could claim it as his all he wanted, but she was the one who had sacrificed everything to make sure that the mission could be completed. This was Capsize’s mission, her victory to celebrate. She couldn’t die without even being awake to acknowledge it.

He knew that she would say she’d give anything for Lady Ianite. As much as he tried to ignore it, he had always known that included her own life. If he was being completely honest, it had been a terrible fear of his that they would make it to this moment, to this victory, and he would see Capsize sacrifice herself for it. But at least he would’ve known that was her own wish. That would’ve been so much easier to stand than the death he was currently trying to prevent.

This was the furthest thing he could think of from willing self-sacrifice. This was her dying to hurt other people.

She’d been imprisoned to hurt him. Dying and being captured due to an attack from Furia that he knew he would’ve been able to prevent if he had just tried. Dianite was only able to attack her because she had been imprisoned. If she died here as a culmination of that capture, her death would rest surely on his shoulders.

But she wasn’t going to die. He kept trying to reassure himself of that as he shook and stumbled. They’d enter the temple. Lady Ianite would greet them as heroes. She’d heal Capsize of this cursed wound. Everything would be fine.

Everything had to be fine.

Those words kept repeating in his head as he entered the temple. They were his only focus beyond keeping Capsize steady. Perhaps that’s why the scene before him dawned so slowly.

The champions had frozen, the previously jubilant energy dead and rotting into a horrible dread. An altar made of obsidian sat in the centre of the room. A bubbling potion sat in the middle of it. Though he had no idea its effect, Redbeard knew just from looking at it that it was wrong.

Then there was what he realised last. Or maybe he had noticed it first but had been such a horrible twist of the knife that his mind had elected to ignore it.

Before them was an image of Lady Ianite, flickering to make it horribly clear that she was not there with them in the flesh. Shackles still bound her wrists. As she looked at all of them, she was barely holding back tears.

“My heroes,” She spoke with the heavy sorrow of one about to watch an execution. “I’m afraid one more sacrifice is needed.”

⚖ ⚖ ⚖

“Dianite placed a binding curse on my prison. In order for myself to be freed, another would have to take my place,” Ianite spoke gently, though each word held a profound grief. Worse, each word brought a dawning realisation to Capsize about the only reason she would be saying them.

“No,” The noise that escaped from her was hollow. Less a word and more an attempt to desperately claw her way to better reality that was quickly spilling away from her. There was only one reason why she would be in this cage and Ianite would be saying these words to her. And it absolutely couldn’t be true.

They couldn’t have done this to her.

“Capsize,” Ianite said, squeezing her hand as if that would in any way soften the blow of what she was going to say next. “This was my prison. You replaced me as its prisoner.”

“No!” She repeated as if being louder would make it have more meaning. She ripped her hands away from Ianite and stumbled away only to feel her back hit the bars. They pressed against her skin, feeling worse than the physical restraints had. She started to feel her breath being ripped away from her. “They wouldn’t have done this to me! They... they can’t have.”

Her own voice betrayed her as it broke and cracked. Reality was as terrible as it was obvious. Still her thoughts rushed to deny it. They can’t have condemned her to this fate. Redbeard wouldn’t have let them. Tom wouldn’t have let them. Hells, all of them had acted like they had cared about her. How could any of them have inflicted such a terrible fate on her when she couldn’t fight back or advocate for herself?

This had to be a test of some kind. She couldn’t understand why Ianite would test or try to trick her like this, but it being a cruel test would still be better than this being her actual reality. So that had to be what this was.

“It was not exactly a unanimous decision.”

⚖ ⚖ ⚖

Jordan stood frozen in horror as he stared at his Lady, still imprisoned. Suddenly what was meant to be his victory was an absolute nightmare.

It felt like a terrible joke. That after all the work he had put in, suddenly there was one more insurmountable hurdle.

Furia was dead. Dianite was dead. He was stood in his Lady’s temple. And in order to get to their final victory, they were going to have to sacrifice someone.

“So, to free you, one of us needs to drink that potion,” He said as if repeating his Lady’s words back at her would somehow reveal another option. There had to be another option. The solution couldn’t be that one of them had to be left behind, sacrificed to reach their greater goal. What kind of an ending was that?

Despite what he had been desperately trying to wish into reality, his Lady nodded.

“Yes, and they will replace me in my prison,” She said, mournful for a sacrifice that had not yet happened.

Jordan, for the first time since declaring his loyalty to Lady Ianite, felt utterly lost. He knew that ultimately this choice fell to him as her champion, but he had no idea where to start. He had to make this decision. It was his job to save his Lady and this was what needed to be done to save her. But it was an impossible burden to bear.

“Isn’t there anything we can do to break the prison’s enchantment? Tom’s Dianite now, surely, he could just turn it off!” Tucker beside him fumbled for another answer. He sounded just as desperate as Jordan felt, offering hope that he could cling to. But he knew that he couldn’t, it would only make his decision even harder.

That was until he saw the briefest hint of light in his Lady’s eyes.

“Yes! Maybe. If we could prepare for a few hours, then perhaps—"

“We don’t have time,” The defeated voice of Sonja cut through his Lady’s words and all the hope they had given it. His thoughts berated himself for even daring to have the tiniest fragment. His body felt rigid as he turned to her, just feeling all the more numb as he saw her gripping an empty bottle in blood covered hands. “I’m out of healing pots. If we don’t free Ianite now, Capsize is going to die. No matter what, we’re going to lose someone.”

“Wait! I’ve got a couple pots,” Tom said, quickly slipping back to the dying woman. Jordan felt the briefest pangs of jealousy as the questions pressed in his head of why Tom would’ve brought healing potions when they don’t work on him as an undead creature. But he pushed it down. They didn’t have time for the petty drama.

How could he even think about bringing up their romantic tangles when Redbeard was lowering his dying sister to the ground with a darkened look in his eye. There was only reason he would be letting her go right now. Though he certainly didn’t want to hear it, Jordan knew precisely what the man was going to say before he said it.

“Give me the potion, I’ll drink it,” He spoke directly to Jordan, as if knowing that this was his choice as champion. Or perhaps he was just scared to pick up the bottle himself.

The latter seemed to be closer to the truth as the pirate was shaking. It was truly like looking at the condemned. It was impossible to believe he truly wanted to make this sacrifice.

“Please,” Still though, he begged to be handed the potion. “Capsize has given up so much for this mission. If making myself a sacrifice lets her live through this, I can happily do it.”

His tone didn’t match his words. Rather he sounded seconds away from breaking completely. His attention turned to Lady Ianite.

“You’ll be able to heal her, right? Once you’re freed you can heal that cursed wound.”

“Yes! Yes, of course, Skipper. Your sacrifice won’t be in— Captain, what are you doing?”

As Redbeard and his Lady were speaking, Jordan took the potion from the altar. Just as looking at it, holding it felt completely wrong. As if it could drag him into the darkness at any moment. But grave as it may be, it was just a feeling. He could push past it, and he needed to. He had to focus all his resolve on doing what he had to do.

“Captain!” His Lady yelled. Though the fear laced in her tone hurt him, it could not dissuade him. He did however turn briefly to look at her.

“I’m making the only right choice. She’s dying anyway,” He said simply. As he turned away from her, back to the woman dying on the floor, he saw the briefest glimpse of dawning horror on his Lady’s face. He forced himself to ignore it.

The decision was painful, yes, but it was the only logical one. If someone had to suffer in that prison, it should be the person who would have to suffer for the shortest amount of time. She wouldn’t even know.

“No!” He heard Redbeard scream behind him. Apparently, the man was going to try and insist on being the hero he wasn’t.

There were rapidly approaching footsteps, the pirate trying to rush him. However, any attempts to wrench the potion off her were swiftly stopped when he threw his elbow back. His diamond armour hit soft flesh, and there was the sound of the man falling back. He forced himself to ignore the yelp, to ignore the painful coughs that quickly followed.

“What the hell, Jordan?!” Tucker demanded from behind him. That was fine. They could judge him and treat him like a villain all they wanted. None of them wanted to make this decision either so why should he care if they judged him.

He needed to save his Lady. So, he needed to make the hard choice.

“Please just give it to me! I can’t lose her!” His voice was weaker, hoarse now. Jordan desperately tried to ignore the voice telling him that was because of the damage he had just done. This was the right choice. He had to hold fast and make it.

“You’ll lose her either way! You won’t have your sister when you’re stuck in a prison for the rest of your life! At least this way she won’t suffer!” It was the kinder option. Either way one of the two siblings would have to live knowing the other had been sacrificed for their Lady. But if Redbeard was sacrificed, Capsize would have to live with the knowledge that he was alive and had given up everything for her. Meanwhile she barely had a few minutes left. Redbeard could live in the knowledge that at least she died none the wiser. It was just kinder.

“No! This place needs a prisoner! It’ll keep her alive!” His Lady cried.

Jordan hesitated, his throat feeling dry. He could so easily pretend she was lying. She had been so close to Capsize, of course she would lie so she wouldn’t be imprisoned. But even with all his rationalizing, his brain wouldn’t accept that.

What it could accept though, was that they couldn’t know how much it would heal her. It would keep her alive, yes, but that didn’t mean she would ever wake, that she would ever realise her situation. Better than any of them who were awake and aware being saddled with this fate.

That, and even if she was fully healed, Capsize was like him. She’d give up anything for Lady Ianite. Give up anything for this mission to save her. If she woke up there, she’d understand that her fate was necessary to save their Lady.

Now steadfast in what he needed to do, Jordan kept walking forward. He could ignore all the cries and yells behind him. Though he did find one more obstacle. Tom stood between him and Capsize, his sword pointing squarely at Jordan’s chest.

“You’re not giving it to her,” Tom spat, snarling as if he was ready to bite like his undead brethren. Jordan squared his shoulders, ready to fight if he needed, though he certainly didn’t have time for one.

Why was he still acting like this? Had he not done enough damage to the mission already? Jordan couldn’t even tell if he was still trying to stake a claim on his girl or just acting like the villain for the sake of it. The sword pushed against his armour. “I’ve already lost Dianite, I am not losing Capsize too!”

“You lost your god because you chose to follow a villain! If you wanted the reward of being a hero, you should have actually been one! Because villains don’t get rewards, and they certainly don’t get the girl!” He yelled. There was a painful silence.

Tom looked at him as if he had physically struck him, just complete and utter shock. He loosened his grip on his sword.

In the brief moment of Tom being distracted, Jordan shoved past him.

He knelt by Capsize, quickly uncorking the potion. He allowed himself the briefest pause, running a hand through her hair.

“I’m sorry, my Capsize,” He whispered before tipping the potion into her mouth.

⚖ ⚖ ⚖

As Ianite fell silent, Capsize sat blinking back tears as numbness overtook her. She couldn’t deny the truth anymore. Every doubt she had tried to cling to had been sunk by Ianite’s full explanation. Never had she faced such a bitter truth.

Sparklez had done this to her. He had chosen to sacrifice her all the while acting as if he was making the honourable decision. She wished so deeply that she could say it was expected, that learning he had done this didn’t hurt. But she would be lying to herself if she said that. Even with just how little she had expected from him, with how little she could say she respected the man, this still felt like an impossible betrayal.

Maybe this was just karma for disliking him.

“I—” As she tried to speak, she found herself unable. Her voice cracked and immediately she broke into tears.

She was stuck here, nothing more than a tragic sacrifice for Sparklez to look back on and lament. His first love lost too soon.

She could have forgiven him for stealing her present. For appearing out of nowhere and stealing her mission and Ianite’s attention. But now he had also stolen her future. Anything she had planned to do was now impossible and all she was left with were shattered dreams. With Ianerea destroyed, she may as well have no past. All that was left of her was a legacy that he was free to weave however he wanted.

In the end, she was nothing.

There was nothing even to fight. Her fate had been sealed hours ago, completely out of her control. She was stuck here, a prisoner of a cursed cage that would never let her leave and not even death was an escape from. Surrounded by a completely unchanging view that mocked her with just how impossible escape would be if she even tried. She couldn’t even gather the strength to be angry, every ember of it already extinguished by cold hopelessness. All she could do was sob.

She sobbed as every sacrifice and defeat hit her at once. They were meant to be worth something in the end. She had given up everything and lost even more. There was meant to be some sort of reward in the end. Instead, she was left with nothing but a complete and hollow emptiness.

Warm arms wrapped around her. She ended up sobbing onto Ianite’s shoulder. Despite how earlier being held like this overwhelmed her with elation, now it barely even gave her comfort. One arm was stretched across her back, Ianite holding one of her arms in her hand and the other in the bend of her arm. The goddess’ other hand rested on her head. It felt protective and warm and she never wanted her to let go. But still, it wasn’t enough to stop her from sobbing.

“I would have— If I had been awake, I would’ve,” She couldn’t complete her own sentence despite desperately wanting to. The meaning of it just felt hollow. It was impossible to rid herself of the bitter numbness the betrayal had caused. But she knew that had she been awake and aware, she would’ve willingly drunk the potion and taken Ianite’s place in this prison.

She didn’t know why it mattered to her. Why she wanted so desperately to make clear to Ianite that she would’ve truly given up everything for her had she been given the opportunity. Maybe just as some kind of trick, to convince herself to stop crying. If she would’ve chosen this fate anyway, then she didn’t need to feel so broken that it had been forced upon her.

“I know, Capsize,” Ianite said softly. She stroked her head, the repetitive motion actually managing to break through her horrible despair and actually give her a tiny bit of comfort. “But that doesn’t mean this isn’t a wrong to be righted. I promise you. I will keep working until I can break this curse my brother put on this place. I will free you.”

Capsize listened to her words, hearing her own resolve from the very start of this mission echoing back at her. Despite how she had never been in a worse place, she had never felt safer than she did right now in Ianite’s arms.

⚖ ⚖ ⚖

Night had fallen now, not that that was a particularly easy fact to acknowledge in the End. However, the bright purple aurora had dimmed, and now the only light in the cage was a lantern summoned by the goddess who still sat by the now sleeping prisoner. Despite Capsize’s insistence, she had used what strength and power she had to summon whatever she could to make sure she was comfortable. The light by her sleeping form. The simple bed that she slept on. Enough blankets and furs to make sure she wouldn’t feel the cold air.

Ianite sat by the sleeping pirate just as she had stayed with her the whole time since had awoken. Even now, she was focused on a task, stirring through her dreams to quiet any nightmares. After how long she had sobbed for, she deserved a restful night's sleep. She did not need any reminders of the betrayals she had suffered, nor the pain that Dianite had inflicted on her. And if Ianite banished away dreams where she was getting a little too close to the champions for comfort that was just a happy bonus.

When finally her dreams settled into something preferable, Capsize’s form relaxed. She seemed so peaceful despite everything. And now Ianite allowed herself to smile. Guilty though she felt for the amount of tears that she had caused, she was glad that it had all worked out.

Admittedly, she had been worried at points. Jericho had immediately questioned why Capsize wasn’t also free when she had greeted them alone in her temple. Absent as her brother may have been as a guiding force, it seemed his champion was still chosen wisely. He had questioned after she had summoned her puppet too, asking after the possibility of a cure. He could’ve so easily ruined all of her careful planning.

Her brothers’ other champions had also posed possible complications. She had at least expected something from Syndicate given his closeness to Capsize. Thankfully his actual ask had been easy enough to shut down. After all, she had no idea what she would’ve done had the champions all agreed that they ought to take the undead puppet with them in the void.

Foxx had blended into the background so often that she hadn’t even noticed that she wasn’t keeping her distance from the puppet like the others until she was far too close for comfort. Yes, she found it admirable that she had cared enough for Capsize to attempt to heal her, but still it had sent waves of panic through her when she had heard the smashing glass and since just how close she was standing to it. What would’ve happened if she hadn’t made it lunge at her to chase her away? How close had she come to seeing the imperfections in the illusion?

But thankfully all her fears had been for naught. Her own followers had played their parts perfectly. Jordan had never doubted a word she said. What a good and loyal champion he was. Even if Redbeard did doubt her, he was never going to allow his sister to suffer. Admittedly, her plan may have pushed him a little far. The man appeared broken by his grief and the mercy killing he believed he had bestowed. As much as Jericho has been a thorn in her side threatening to reveal her lies, she had been so thankful to see him drag the Skipper out the water.

How would she have ever explained to her treasure that her brother was dead on top of everything else she had to tell her?

As it stood, the man was still deep in his own grief. Completely expected, given all he had been through today. Perhaps she could fix it eventually. A little memory manipulation to have him remember things the way Capsize believed they had happened. It may prove useful someday down the line. For now, though, she was content to just let him mourn.

Once the champions had left, he had requested to be alone. She was, of course, keeping an eye on him to make sure that he did not try anything drastic again. But she had been more than happy to give him the time he wanted. After all, there was someone far more important she wanted to focus on.

Capsize had still been unconscious when she had first arrived in the cage. The enchantments on it were already doing their job and healing the damage inflicted on her by Dianite’s prison and general treatment of her. Though, it had been quite the shock to see the bloodstain on her shirt and the worryingly large pool underneath her. Apparently, she had underestimated just how connected the original and the puppet were.

Thankfully, despite her initial panic, the wound had been mostly healed already by the enchantments. She knew it would hurt for a good while but Capsize was not at risk of dying. After all, the goddess had designed this place to make sure that its occupant couldn’t die. She was just so thankful that it worked in practice as well as theory.

She had erased the blood puddle to make Capsize’s awakening at least a little more pleasant. Then all that had been left to do was wait. Wait until the captain had recovered enough to regain consciousness, all the while weaving her story to perfection. She couldn’t afford her to question. If she didn’t truly believe that she was stuck here, she would never stop trying to escape. Thankfully, her messenger had never been one to doubt her. And her dislike of her champion gave an easy person to stick the terrible deed squarely on.

Yes, it had hurt to see her tears, to hear her broken thoughts. But beyond all her guilt, Lady Ianite was overwhelmed by relief. Finally, she had her messenger away from anyone who could possibly harm her. Finally, Capsize was safe.

At first, she had thought it would be enough to keep her safe from Dianite and his servants. The people who wanted her dead or at the very least suffering. She had thought that her brother being defeated would be enough for her to be protected.

However, the more she had watched Capsize from afar, the more she had discovered the sheer amount of people she needed protecting from. She saw her on Ianerea, doing everything she possibly could to assist and to give answers that she didn’t have. And what had its people done? Doubted her. Acted as if she was some struggling child that they could belittle and ignore and lecture. Watching that had made her realise just how many people she needed protecting from.

Watching the way the champions treated her only cemented her decision. Her own champion had bickered over her like she was a prize to be won. The others joined in as if it was some funny little game how uncomfortable they could make her. All the while they had left her so unprotected that she had fallen into her brother’s clutches.

And so, she had realised that there was only one way to protect her. To keep her away from everyone and everything. Now, she would never be harmed again. Now, no one knew where she was, so she was finally safe. Besides herself, of course.

Well, actually she supposed there was one other person.

“I know you’re watching, Mianite,” She said in a soft tone as to not wake her companion. For a god that remained so absent from the action, he was certainly nosey. She could almost feel the judgement in his stare. As if he had any right to judge how she treated her follower. “I will not allow you to interfere. She is my messenger. I can keep her safe however I want.”

“This is cruel and possessive,” He said coldly. She almost laughed.

Who was he to judge cruelty? He had been perfectly content to allow her to suffer as Dianite’s prisoner until Jordan came along and remembered her.

And possessive? Keeping someone precious close to you and away from others who would hurt them wasn’t possession, it was just logical after everything. He had never liked the idea of getting attached to mortals, so he just couldn’t understand. “You can’t imprison her and let the world believe that she’s dead.”

“I can do whatever it takes to keep her safe. And it is absolutely none of your concern,” She said, running a hand through Capsize’s hair. She looked so peaceful.

Mianite stopped staring. Of course he did. She knew he was still judging her, but he could not interfere in her realm. The only way he could possibly try would be via a champion and unfortunately all of them had disappeared who knows where. It was unlikely that the void would give them back anytime soon. He could not steal Capsize away from her even if he wanted to.

No matter what he thought, Capsize was safe. Safe and hers. He could call her possessive all he wanted, but who wouldn’t be when the one that they loved had come so close to death? Finally having her any from all of that, it was such a weight off her chest. Her beautiful Capsize was safe at last.

Soon enough, this place would be a home to her. There would always be the lingering sadness, yes, but Ianite would fill that with hope and anything she could possibly request or desire. She would be just as satisfied here as she could be anywhere else. They would be happy together, just as they were in the dreams that Capsize so often had. She would have no need for anything else.

And if the world proved safe enough one day, she could miraculously figure out how to break Dianite’s curse on this place. How elated Capsize would be when that day came.

With a bright smile, Lady Ianite softly kissed the sleeping woman, only feeling brighter as she smiled in her sleep.

“I promise you, my Capsize, I’ll never let anyone hurt you again.”

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