#rattling the bars of my jail cell (mental and physical) | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

meimikana · 6 years ago

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A Beginner's Guide to Caring for Your Luminary: Chapter 1: AO3 Fandom: Dragon Quest XI Pairing: Erik/Eleven (eventually) Rating: Teen Summary: Follow along as Erik meets, gets to know, and slowly learns how to properly care for his Luminary.

Notes: Updates will be sporadic as I'm writing this as I play, and my playtime is limited thanks to current physical issues (I had surgery on my left shoulder not too long ago and physical therapy makes me want to die). As such, I've just now gotten the orb from the mermaids, so if I get anything wrong about anybody's motivations, I can always go back and edit it. Please don't spoil me~ <3

That’s right, I’m back on my bullshit. I’ll never escape fic writing, never ever.

P.S. The chapter is under the cut for people who don't wanna go to AO3 for whatever reason. Cheers~

Ch1: Break Him Out of Jail

Keeping track of time became difficult when you were cooped up down somewhere in the bowels of Heliodor's famous inescapable underground dungeons. Nights and days had a tendency to blend together into an amorphous mass of unending boredom. Erik didn't figure he'd been consigned to this dull hellhole for too long though. A few months maybe, certainly not a year. Just enough time to dig a nice little hole straight down to potential freedom. Now he just had to make up his mind and take it.

It should have been an easy enough thing to do. He didn't care much for jail. It sucked. So why not just take the plunge and get the heck out of dodge, so to speak? Why not just go? There was absolutely no reason to still be here, rotting away, waiting for something that he knew wouldn't happen. No one knew their future, no matter how much someone else told them otherwise. Just because he'd been a little stupid and had gotten caught and thrown into jail was absolutely no reason to believe that anything else would happen. Fairy tales and legends were so not his deal. Thieving was his deal, his chosen profession, as it were. And it was something he would very much like to get back to. So he definitely needed to get up off his butt, break out of jail, lay his hands back on his richest score to date, and then skedaddle until Heliodor was just a dot on the horizon. It would be a perfect sequence of events, which meant, of course, that something would go wrong somewhere in there, but Erik was nothing if not flexible. He just needed to actually get the ball rolling.

So why was he still sitting here? Waiting?

Couldn't be for things that wouldn't happen. Nope, no way. Wasn't happening. Maybe he was just curious then? Maybe Erik was just waiting to see if Heliodor's equally famous knights would actually notice what he'd been doing this whole time? A likely enough reason, right? A thoroughly stupid and suicidal reason, mind you, but what else could there be? Besides, he had enough justification to wonder about that anyway. The knights had been… less than admirable in their intense lack of vigilance on making sure all the nasty little criminals didn't do anything untoward… like breaking out of jail or anything. They brought him tasteless food, clean water, and cleared out his waste on a regular basis, but other than that, nobody seemed to want to come down this way. It was weird. Even bandits tended to have better lookouts than this place. Arrogance, maybe? Could be, Heliodor's knights were known far and wide as being hyper-competent. But maybe that was the real fairy tale here? They sure hadn't seemed competent since catching him, and he still wasn't even sure how they'd managed to get the drop on him in the first place. He'd been careful. There had been no indication that he'd been made. Nothing at all. It was almost like it had been his fate this whole time…

But that was just him being silly about stupid things. Not gonna happen.

Erik perked up, gratefully sidelining that train of thought, at what sounded like the tromping of several knights marching their way down towards his cell. Hmm, interesting. Maybe they had noticed his digging after all? Swiftly yanking his hood up, Erik crossed his arms and slouched back against the wall facing the entrance to his cell block, then did his level best to give off an air of abject indifference. He was either about to get nailed for attempting to escape (even though he hadn't quite gotten that far yet), or something else was going on. Either way, it would be a welcome disruption from the overwhelming boredom his life consisted of at present.

Holy- Erik nearly swallowed his tongue as what he'd been hearing finally came into view. That's a lot of knights. And Hendrik… What the heck was he doing all the way down here? Oh, pushing around some poor kid by the looks of it. Why in the world would they need to send an entire troop of knights, along with Sir Hendrik, their most famous jerk, to lock up some poor kid? Erik's opinion of Heliodor's knights just kept getting lower and lower without him even having to try to think badly of them. Darkspawn? What in the world were they talking about? It's just some kid. The worst he'd probably ever done in his life was walk in on the girls' bath or something equally naive and stupid. This was the most ridiculous posturing Erik had ever seen. Was this some ill thought out, harebrained scheme to scare the crap out of some rich guy's kid? Seemed the most likely explanation; but no, they were all just walking off and leaving him there. What even- This didn't make any sense whatsoever. Granted, the kid didn't look all that rich, but what else could he be? He was clean, well groomed, and looked to be completely baffled at what had just happened. No way was he a criminal. So why was he here?

This? Was really, really weird.

The kid didn't seem to know what to do with himself either by the sound of it. Rattling the bars, jostling the jars that had been left behind in the cell, and generally just being a little less than quiet. The noise kind of irritated Erik, if he was being honest. It had been so quiet for so long down here that he didn't really appreciate any unwelcome clamor, even if he had been looking forward to something different just a short while ago. But that was then, this is now.

"Could you knock it off?" Erik threw out as he slouched back further against the wall. No. Wait. He was the one being ridiculous here. This was exactly what he'd been waiting for. Well, no, not really, but that wasn't actually ever going to happen. But this? This was good. A perfect reason to get out. He hadn't asked for a roommate, after all, and if they were going to insist on giving him one, then he was going to make them regret it. But how did he want to go about doing that…

His own escape would certainly prove to be something of an embarrassment for the knights, especially the ones who were supposed to be guarding him, but it wouldn't make that much of an overall splash. Erik was just a "petty" thief when you got right down to it, and the theft of the Orb hadn't really made any waves as far as he could tell. In fact, back before he'd gotten caught, it hadn't seemed like anyone had even known about it. Which had been odd at the time, and still kind of was, but whatever. This kid, on the other hand… Oho, this kid had just been deposited right in his proverbial lap by Sir Hendrik of all people. Erik wasn't a kidnapper or anything of the sort, but he didn't think the kid would mind all that much if Erik stole him right out from under the noses of all of those knights. The kid could just make his own way home once they were out and it would all be square, they'd both be free and Heliodor's knights would be covered in mud, figuratively speaking.

Yes, that was perfect. Now he just needed to get the kid onboard. Easy enough. Smirking to himself, Erik languidly looked over at the kid and felt his breath catch in his throat. This guy definitely wasn't a kid, young, yeah, but not that much younger than him. But there was something… It was the strangest sensation, but Erik almost felt as if he should already know who this person was. Didn't make sense… Mentally shaking his head at his own flight of fancy, Erik kicked his brain back on track for the situation at hand. He had an escape to make and a plus one to spring with him.

"What are you in for, anyhow?" Erik asked curiously, then let the rest of the conversation go on autopilot as he catalogued what he needed to do. A guard would be by soon with the disgusting gruel they fed the people locked up down here. The usual knight was fairly apathetic about his job, so it would be old hat taking him out, and he'd have the keys on him, then-

It was at that point when everything kind of just locked up and froze and the conversation he'd barely been paying attention to flashed across the forefront of his mind in lurid detail.

The Luminary.

Oh.

Oh no.

That… That wasn't- This wasn't- He'd like to say that this wasn't supposed to happen, but he had known it would happen all along, hadn't he? He'd been told it would happen, though Erik had never once really believed that little prophecy would actually come true. Fate happened to other people. He was just a thief, nobody special, just somebody getting by in the world by his own means. But here he was, and here they were, and this is where he was supposed to be, after all. Right here, right now. Erik was entirely certain that somewhere someone was laughing at him. Probably himself. Definitely the Seer. Oh well, this was it. The future he'd been denying was standing right in front of him now, it would be stupid to pretend his outlook hadn't flipped itself around thanks to the shock. The Luminary… Kinda young to be a hero, all things considered, but Erik supposed everyone had to start somewhere. And hey, that's probably why out of everyone in the entire freaking world, he'd been the one chosen to be here. A thief who knew the ins and outs of everything would probably be good to have on hand right about now.

Later, he'd wonder about it a little, about how he just took this fresh faced kid who was barely even an adult at face value. How could someone so unassuming be the Luminary? But he'd only wonder about it for the briefest of moments, because even at this point, deep down Erik already knew he'd do just about anything for this young man. And this was before Erik even knew his name. Funny how things worked out, huh?

---

There's a dragon underneath Heliodor.

A giant freaking black dragon. Under Heliodor.

What the hell?!

Erik should have known things were going too smoothly for it all to work out okay. The knights had been on the ball about trying to catch them, but he supposed that fit the situation. If those morons were going around calling the Luminary of all people a Darkspawn, then it made sense for them to want to get their hands back on him. Seriously, Darkspawn? What even? Anybody who had a freaking dragon hanging out in their basement had no business labeling other people as evil. Much less the Luminary. But why is he even surprised? Everything else about this place was crazy, the knights of Heliodor might as well be cuckoo along with it.

Erik spared a glance to the side as he pelted full tilt down another tunnel. The kid was keeping up with him, then again, he'd been keeping up with Erik the entire way. He'd snuck around the knights just as Erik had instructed him to as if he'd been born to thieving. Which he definitely hadn't. The kid did things well, but he didn't have the moves of a pro. Maybe that was just something else about him being the Luminary? Good at stuff even though he was probably too good to even think about some of the stuff he had to do? Something like that maybe.

If they survived this, somehow, Erik supposed he could just ask about it. Then again, maybe he shouldn't. Sometimes it was best to just not think about some things. Sometimes you just had to do stuff whether you wanted to or not. Fate, right? Well, probably in the case of the kid, but for him it had always just been another facet of survival. That's what he was good at. Surviving.

This dragon really needed to go away right about now though. They were not dragon treats. Or human flavored shish kabobs, please stop breathing fire at them and just go away.

And maybe it did? Erik blew out a hard breath as he surveyed the wooden walkway that was cheerfully burning behind them. They'd gotten out of that last deathtrap of a tunnel in the nick of time, and it really did appear as if the dragon had given up. There was no more fire barreling down towards them, and no more earth shattering stomps bouncing off the walls in horrific, unending echoes. Here's hoping they were home free. But he really ought to know better than that by now. Because just as soon as he thought they were safe, if just from the dragon, here come more knights to chase them down. More running, but not in the right direction, Erik despaired as the newest tunnel they'd headed down opened up onto a ledge and a sheer drop as their only form of escape.

Pretty place really, great view with a waterfall within arm's reach. Not a bad place to die, if they were going to die, which they were not. A waterfall meant water down below, though a jump from this height ought to kill them. Hitting water from this high up would be just like hitting the ground, after all. But what other choice did they have? Erik didn't want to die, and he sure didn't want the Luminary to die. That's not what they were here for anyway. So… trust in fate, huh? He could do that. They could do this. Just… take a leap of faith and trust that whatever had been watching over them up to this point would continue to do so.

"The name's Erik, by the way."

He'd only admit it to himself, and only in the dead of night when he was the only one awake, but the little smile Erik got in return had kinda made it all worth it.

---

Erik awoke alone on the shore of a briskly running stream, half in and half out of the water, and for a moment's time he couldn't recall why that was completely and utterly wrong. Then it all came rushing back to him and he was up on his feet before he even knew what he was doing. He was incredibly waterlogged, but that didn't matter in the least right now. Where was he? Erik couldn't have lost the Luminary already! Heck, even if he wasn't the Luminary, Erik would still be a hairsbreadth away from panicking. He'd broken them both out of jail, escaped a dragon and the knights of Heliodor, no way was a waterfall going to be the end of either of them. Just… gotta find the kid and everything would be fine. He couldn't be far, the water may be moving at a good pace, but it was still just a stream, more than enough places to get caught on.

"Hey-!" Erik began to call out, then thought better of it. No need to alert anybody nearby of their presence. Find the kid first, then figure out what to do afterwards. Glancing around at the trees that rose all around him, Erik supposed he'd floated down quite a ways. It had looked pretty clear when they'd been looking down from above. This worked in their favor, at least. If anyone was playing lookout back up on that cliff, they wouldn't be able to see either of them getting out of the water. Though, that was assuming the kid hadn't washed ashore somewhere closer to the base of the waterfall than this. Which would be terrible luck, but Erik highly doubted that had occurred. Their luck might have run out a bit up there, but it ought to have bounced back by now. And if not luck, then fate. Erik wasn't dead, so fate was definitely still working for them. Now to find the Luminary and get back to business.

But which way? Back the way they'd come, or further down stream? Erik swivelled his gaze back and forth both ways, undecided. They didn't have a lot of time, and he certainly didn't have any time to waste, but he didn't know which way would be the right one. Which way should he go? He wasn't one for indecision, so he wasn't sure where this was coming from, but… What-? Something that felt kind of like warmth climbed up his left arm as he turned to look down stream once again. Maybe… maybe this time, he didn't really need to make a choice. Just… follow something that felt like an instinct instead. Shrugging to himself, and less than eager to ponder over his bout of indecision and the random sensation that decided his course for him, Erik headed down stream, his steps light but swift. They really needed to get out of here. Pursuit wouldn't be far behind.

He didn't have far to go. In fact, Erik had just started wringing the water out of his hair when he nearly stumbled over what he'd been looking for. The Luminary was laying on his front, half in, half out of the water, tucked away between two tree roots that neatly hid him from view. Talk about luck. Or not, Erik thought ruefully as he crouched down beside the kid. The sigil on the kid's left hand flickered with a soft, golden light, then promptly went out, taking the warmth from Erik's arm with it. Huh. The Luminary. Right. Some things would probably always work in the kid's favor, whether he was aware of it or not. Though he definitely didn't know anything this time around. Erik frowned as he brushed the curtain of wet hair back from the kid's face and rubbed his thumb along his cheek. He was drenched. And cold to the touch. And out like a light. Erik prayed that was just it. They didn't need any broken bones or worse. Being on the run was going to be bad enough to deal with, they sure didn't need bothersome injuries added along to the mix.

"You'll be okay," Erik muttered as he manhandled the Luminary up onto his back. The kid was a little taller than him, but thankfully didn't seem to weigh much more than him. He'd definitely had to carry heavier weights before this, that's for sure. Now then, if he was remembering correctly, there was a nice little church squirreled away in the foothills below downtown Heliodor. No one went there since the only thing around was the Manglegrove and who in their right mind wanted to go there. But he'd heard good things about the old nun at that church. She had a soft spot for thieves. Should be the perfect place to get warm and dry.

#Dragon Quest XI #DQXI #DQ11 #fanfiction

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