Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The cells under Heliodor were incredibly dark, and incredibly damp. The first, Erik could deal with. His experience as a thief had required he get used to operating with very little light, so even from the back of his cell he could make out the dull gleam of armor as his guards paced up and down the stretch of hallway beyond the bars. But the second was plainly uncomfortable. Not because of the cold of it, no that he was used to, but feeling water seep into his pants every time he sat down was losing its charm real fast.

Erik sighed, letting himself fall back against one stone wall. His patience was wearing thin. His fingers itched to get back to digging the hole hidden under his sleeping mat, but the guards had been making their rounds much too frequently.

Just go to sleep already! He begged silently. Why did they have to pick now to become competent soldiers?

Erik caught the sound of a door opening in the distance, likely at the very tantalizing exit to the dungeons. Not that he would take it, even if he could. Leaving through the front door is far too risky. But the need for freedom was there, and he felt it in spite of himself.

Muffled conversation filtered into his dark, lonely cell, and he strained his ears to pick out the words, but the syllables were too jumbled to make sense of. The clanking sounds of soldiers on the move came next, followed by another squeak, a slam, and silence. The thief blinked. Were… were they gone?

He stepped up to the bars, eyes scanning what he could see. No metal glinted in the desaturated light. No clunking sounds of heavy booted footsteps stalking the dungeons. It could be… but his luck was never that good. He called out to make sure.

“Hello? Guards? Anyone there?” His voice almost cracked at first from lack of use, but the words still echoed off the rocks and through the empty space. Nothing came as a reply.

“Well… perhaps Yggdrasil watches over me after all.” He murmured to himself.

Quickly, the thief tossed his mattress aside to begin his work again. Digging with ones bare hands sucks immensely. But without his trusty knives, which also made convenient spades when needed, he was pure out of luck. Usually, a thief was resourceful. But when that failed, they could also be stubborn. He cursed a few times as skin scrapped against rock, but the hole was a decent enough size at this point for a person to slip through. Erik sat back to survey his work. His hasty made exit was even darker than the dungeons, opening up into some large cavern beneath where no light reached at all. He thanked the heavens that the intel he had heard about the Heliodor sewers running right under the castle were true. It was hard to imagine another possible way out of this star forsaken castle.

The distant creak came again, and in one fluid motion, Erik swept the mat back over the hole, and took up a relaxed position back against the cell wall. The clanking of armor returned, signaling the guards coming back to their posts. But something was off. There was a lot more noise than Erik remembered three low ranked soldiers making. It echoed off the walls until the dungeon was filled with it, and if Erik didn’t know better, he’d have thought a whole squadron was marching down the hall.

Sudden bright light filled the corridor, and Erik flinched away from it. His eyes stung from the days he’d spent in nothing but near darkness. When he blinked his eyes clear, he could see that while it wasn’t a whole squadron of soldiers, there were far more than three. A few held torches, some spears, others swords.

What’s with the entourage?

Erik crept closer to the bars on silent feet, looking for a good view while staying out of the torch light. In the midst of the group was a tall man dressed in dark armor, a great sword strapped to his back. Hendrik himself had graced the dungeon with his presence.

The hell is going on?

Another cell door was opened, and a figured was pushed inside, hitting the ground heavily before the door was slammed shut behind them.

“Enjoy your stay, Darkspawn,” Hendrik spat at whoever was now sitting in the opposing cell. “Don’t expect to be leaving here again. At least not with your head.”

Leaving his threat hanging in the air, Hendrik turned and stomped out of the dungeon, a walking wall of armor and well- trained muscles. The other soldiers followed him out, taking their light with them, and closing the door behind. Erik sat unmoving for a moment, only listening. Aside from the rustling sounds of the newcomer likely pushing themselves off the ground, Erik heard nothing else. They didn’t leave any guards behind.

The thief scoffed. Heliodor really needed to step up their training. Its no wonder they only had two competent knights in their whole retinue. He turned back to finish his escape plan, still catching scuffing sounds from across the hall. Some curiosity pulled at Erik’s mind, but he pushed it away. It was no business of his, and he had his own hide to save. No time to worry about the wellbeing of other criminals.

The hell is a Darkspawn, anyway?

He scrapped a little more at the walls of the hole, widening it just a bit more to make sure his shoulders would fit through with the rest of him. All the while, little noises came from the other occupied cell. Clanks, scrapes, and scruffs of frantic movement. What were they doing over there? There was no way to escape from any cell but his, what did they think they would find? A secret passage? He tried to ignore it, but each time another reached him, he flinched a little bit. Instinct told him noise meant danger, and his fight response kept going off each time in expectation of an enemy.

When the sudden loud crash of pots shattering broke what little quiet there was, Erik just couldn’t take it anymore.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing over there?!” He shouted.

“Sorry!” The response came from across the hall. “I didn’t see those there…”

Erik’s anger fled. That voice… it was male, but it sounded so young. Around the same age as him, maybe younger. And it didn’t have the tone of someone who was steeped in crime and the dirtier parts of life, as he would assume one would have to be to end up in the castle dungeon. It was… completely innocent. He suddenly had the thought that this other boy had probably never seen a day of hard, unreasonable struggle in his life. And a feeling of concern flooded over him.

Oh, Yggdrasil’s branches, not again…

His next response to his neighbor was softer and more understanding.

“Yeah, it is a bit dark in here. Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.”

A bit of nervous laughter greeted him. “Y-yeah, sure…”

He was scared. Well, of course he was, he was probably set up for the execution block. The need to reach out to him was very strong, and the Thief couldn’t resist talking to him.

“So, what did you do to get yourself thrown in here? You have to do a lot to end up in Heliodor’s dungeon, and no offense, but you don’t sound like a hardened criminal.”

“None taken.” The boy responded with genuine humor in his voice this time. “Honestly, I have no idea what I’ve done. I came to Heliodor looking for help, and instead, the king went and had me arrested.”

He didn’t sound outraged, merely… confused.

“Well that’s strange.” Erik agreed. “The king’s no friend of mine, but I’ve never heard of him being anything but accommodating to upstanding citizens.”

“I don’t know what to make of it either. Maybe he has something against boys from outlying villages?” The joke sounded hollow, drained of humor by the circumstances, so Erik chose not to laugh.

“What did you come to him for?”

“Well…” there was hesitation in his voice.

“If you’re worried about me telling, you don’t need to be. I’m a thief. Discretion is my specialty.”

“Well now I know why you’re here.” There was laughter in his voice again, and Erik tried not to feel proud over it. He would not get attached.

“… This is going to sound crazy. It’s still hard for me to believe, I mean I’m… completely ordinary. At least, I thought so.” Now Erik was curious. He leaned towards the bars. “Just a few days ago, my mom gave me this necklace and said… that I was the reincarnation of the Luminary.”

Erik’s heart stopped.

The Luminary?

Are you freaking serious?

He voiced his thoughts to the boy across from him.

“I know, that’s what I said! I’d only heard of the Luminary in legends, but apparently, all of its real and that’s who I am. My mom said that necklace would prove my heritage and that I should show it to the king of Heliodor, and he would help me fulfill… whatever roll I’m supposed to fulfill.”

Erik was still struggling to process the boy’s previous words. The Luminary. Was here. In the cell across from him.

“Yes, well… here’s something that might sound even stranger,” Erik began. “A while ago, I met this Seer, who told me that I needed to find and help the Luminary. I’d dismissed the old man’s words as just some mad rambling, but… if you are the Luminary… and you’re stuck in a dungeon waiting to lose your head… maybe he was righter than I thought…”

There was silence from the other cell for a moment, before the other responded with “Really?”

“It would seem so.”

“Then… do you know a way out of here?”

The completed hole seemed to give off it’s own aura. He’d just finished it right as the Luminary was tossed in. What the hell even is his life?

“I’ve never believed in destiny, but now seems like a good time to start…”

Trust in the Luminary. The words echoed in his memory. The thief heaved a sigh, already mourning the pains he was probably about to go through.

I’m taking him with me, aren’t I?

“Well, you’re in luck, Mr. Luminary because I have a plan just for this occasion.”

“El.”

“Excuse me?” Erik asked, sure he had missed the rest of his sentence. “L, what?”

“Just El. That’s my name.” The Luminary… El now, he supposed, almost whispered the last part somewhat shyly.

“Alright, El. Sit back in your cell and be ready when it’s time.”

“How will I know it’s time?”

“Oh, it’ll be hard to miss.”

The door opened again, and a low ranked guard came swaggering into the hall, a tray with rather spoiled looking food placed on top held in one hand. He stopped by Erik’s cell and slid the food under the slot in the door.

“Order up for the gentleman in the vacation suite.” He declared in a mocking voice.

Erik stood up, a smile on his face. He was glad one of the over-confident bastards had come to his cell, it would make doing this a lot more fun. In a flash, he grabbed the knight by his collar, and slammed a rock he’d dug out from the floor into the side of his helmet. The metal rang out and reverberated around the man’s head. When Erik let go, the knight collapsed to the floor like a sack of flour.

He reached through the bars, grabbed the knight’s keys, and unlocked his door. As the thief stepped out, he smirked down at the limp soldier lying on the floor.

“Too easy.”

“What was that?” El asked, sounding nervous.

“It’s fine, just me.”

“Oh… what did you do?”

“Knocked out our guard and grabbed the keys.”

Erik stepped up to the cell El was crouched in and unlocked the door.

“C’mon, we got places to be.”

The other boy hesitated for a moment, before getting to his feet and walking towards where Erik stood. He stopped a few paces before him.

“It’s open?” He asked, reaching a hand out to feel in front of him

“Yep, free to go.”

El took the last few steps out of his cell, a hand still flung out in front of him. His eyes still weren’t used to the dark.

“Wait here.” Erik told him, before trotting over to the guard station at the end of the hallway.

“W-where are you going?” El asked, and the underlying fear lurking in the boy’s voice squeezed Erik’s heart.

“I’m just getting our stuff. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.” El responded, sounding relieved.

Sure enough, next to the table the guards often sat at, playing cards and passing their shifts in the cells, were Erik’s pack, knives, and a sword and other pack that were most likely El’s. He scooped everything up into his arms and headed back to the Luminary.

“Alright, now that I’ve got this baby back, we’re golden.” He strapped his things back onto his person and assisted El as he fumbled with the clasps on his items.

“So, how do we sneak out of here?” El asked, gripping the strap of his sheath.

“We’re not sneaking out.” He led the boy over to his cell, before sweeping his mat off his art project. “I’ve got an escape hatch!”

El kneeled down, feeling around slowly before he found the lip of the hole.

“Is this a pit?” He asked.

“Dug it myself.”

“Wow.” He murmured, sounding genuinely impressed.

“C’mon.” He gestured to the boy to follow as he dropped down into the opening.

Erik hit the ground lightly, bouncing back to his feet. He looked up, catching El’s silhouette back lit by the dungeon’s light.

“Well?”

“Well, what?”

“Well, jump!”

“J-jump?” He stuttered.

Erik was beginning to suspect he was right about the kid. But rather than feeling frustrated, that pang of concern came back. Damn his protective nature…

“It’s okay, I’m right underneath you. I’ll catch you.”

Silence came from above.

“Trust me!”

How ironic, asking the blessed Luminary to trust him, a lowlife thief.

“Okay, I trust you.”

Erik didn’t have much time to contemplate the sudden warmth he felt, because El had slid down over the hole’s edge and was now falling through the air. Erik expected a scream, but other than a surprised gasp as first, El was silent. Ture to his word, the thief caught him in his arms, grunting slightly at the sudden weight, but El was light enough it didn’t cause too much discomfort. El looked breathless, cheeks flushed lightly and breathing heavy.

“See? Told you I’d catch you.”

The Luminary turned his head towards him.

“Y-yeah, thanks.”

“No problem.” The thief set the boy in his arms down, before looking around at the caverns around them.

“Where are we?” El asked.

“The Heliodor sewers. They run under the entire city.”

“Sewers?” El wrinkled his face at the idea.

“Not a pleasant way to travel, but we’re not likely to get caught. C’mon, this way.”

Erik headed down one section of the rocky tunnel before them. El ran to catch up to him.

“How do you know where we’re going?”

“I got a map of this place a while back. Don’t have it anymore, but I made sure to memorize it.”

“That’s pretty cool.”

That flood of pride came back, and Erik pushed it away. He needed to focus.

“Woah!”

A thud from behind stopped Erik in his tracks. He turned around to see the Luminary, face down on the ground. He looked up at Erik, somewhat embarrassed.

“The ground is more uneven than I was expecting…”

Still hasn’t adjusted to the dark, huh? He offered the boy his hand, but El didn’t seem to notice. He started getting up himself, and Erik let his hand drop. Perhaps it was a little awkward to be so forward with this boy. They were still strangers. They continued onward, but after El stumbled several more times, Erik sighed and took his hand.

“Since I seem to be the only one who’s able to see, I’ll watch out for pitfalls for us both.”

El looked a bit unsure, before nodding his head slightly. And the two made their way through the even darker, even damper Heliodor sewers, hand in hand, one leading the other. Neither aware that this would set the precedent for the rest of their time together.

What Erik had said about not getting caught? Yeah, turns out that was total bullshit.  They discovered the sewers were flooded with Heliodor knights, and the two renegades were spotted almost immediately. What the thief had thought would be a casual walk out of enemy territory turned into an all-out chase as he and El raced down corridors and took so many sudden turns, Erik almost lost track of their place a few times.

 In all honesty, Erik had to admit he would have gotten away by now if not for El. The other boy seemed prone to blundering into the path of almost every guard they encountered. Even when Erik tried to show him how to stealth around their patrol patterns, El still managed to stop in exactly the wrong spot and get seen immediately. At least he was good with a sword. And, as Erik discovered, could cast magic. Eventually, he gave up and just kept one hand wrapped tight around El’s and practically dragged the other with him whenever he moved.

Eventually, the thief and Luminary made it to a section of the sewers that was far more… cavernous. While it was full of monsters, it was devoid of soldiers, and that was honestly the preferable situation at this point. Erik let El’s hand fall out of his and the two slowed to a walk as they caught their breath.

“Well, that was something…” Erik muttered sarcastically.

“Yeah…” El agreed through his panting. “I’m sorry about being so useless back there.”

He looked genuinely distraught about it, and Erik’s frustration left him again.

“Don’t worry about it. You more than made up for it with that fancy sword work.”

El smiled. It was so bright and… happy that Erik suddenly had no doubt that El was who he claimed to be.

“Thanks. My grandpa taught me everything I know.”

“Well, my thanks to him for saving our bacon back there.”

Their path had brought them to a large, empty room that looked scrapped out of the rock.

“This is… different.” Erik murmured, concerned that he didn’t remember this area from anywhere on his map.

He stepped forward to take the lead, when a hand blocked his path.

“Wait.” El said, his voice low.

“What is it?” Erik murmured, all senses on high alert.

There was a light huffing sound, and the thief realized El was sniffing the air.

What is he-?

“Something doesn’t smell right.”

“What do you- “

“There’s something here with us.”

Erik froze, hand reaching for his knife.

“Well, at least we’ll have the drop on it. Powerful nose you’ve got there.”

“It serves me well enough.” El flashed him a grin.

Together, they crept further into the cavern, step by step. As they got closer, Erik saw there was something else in the cave. A huge shadow, no more than a lump of darkness against other darkness, but the rising and falling of its shape signaled a living, breathing creature. Erik stopped El this time.

“I see it.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know, but I do know it’s big. Let’s go around.”

El nodded, and now Erik took the lead, guiding the Luminary around the hulking shape. The outline of another tunnel appeared before them, and Erik quickened their pace towards the exit.

Clink

A rock skidded past Erik, clattering against the stone floor, and both boys froze. The shadow stirred. Erik looked back at the Luminary, exasperated.

“Sorry.” He whispered.

But it was too late. The thing uncurled from its spot on the floor, and as it stretched to it’s full height and let a few puffs of flame into the air, Erik gulped. El drew his sword but kept hold of Erik’s hand.

“What is it?”

The beast locked eyes with them and let out an earth-shaking roar.

“Dragon!” Erik cried, turning to dash for the tunnel, almost dragging El off his feet.

The lumbering lizard crashed after them, barreling through stalagmites and scattering monsters before it, roaring its fury for the world to hear.

“A dragon?” El gasped as they ran. “Under the castle?”

“I had no idea it was here either!”

The boys ran, keeping ahead of the beast, who was slowed greatly by the cramped tunnels and uneven footing. Several turns, many rocks, and one harrowing jump later, Erik and El burst from the tunnel back into the sewers proper, narrowly missing a blast of dragon fire that exited behind them. But there was no time to rest. A patrol of knights rounded the corner and caught sight of the boys, laying panting on the pavestones.

“The Darkspawn! Get him!”

“Ah, Goddess, why?!” Erik cried as he pulled El up and the two were back to running.

Eventually, they were chased out to what they thought was the exit, and while it did lead outside, it was only a dead end. The ground fell away sharply into a cliff, accented by a waterfall and a river that flowed peacefully underneath.

Erik groaned. This was one hell of a mess.

The soldiers that had been chasing them fanned out, surrounding the two.

“Stop right there, Darkspawn! There’s nowhere to run!”

Erik looked to El, who he saw was looking back at him in desperation.

“What do we do?”

Erik looked around at the guards, then back at the cliff.

“Only one thing to do. I suppose I should tell you, in case we don’t get out of this alive…” He pulled his hood down, revealing his face to the Luminary for the first time, blue spiked hair and all. “My name is Erik.”

“What?” El asked in confusion, but Erik didn’t bother to answer.

He grabbed El’s hand and rushed to the edge.

“Jump!”

El didn’t question him, just launched off the cliff at his side, face a stony mask of concentration.

Is he really my destiny? Erik asked himself as they plummeted down the falls and into the river.

I’m alive.

It was the only thought Erik had been able to focus on after he woke up on the river bank, soaked but breathing with an unconscious Luminary beside him. One of the others he could manage to put together was find shelter. So, forcing muscles that were far too abused to do anything more into working, he hoisted El’s weight to his shoulders and set out climbing the hills of Heliodor’s outskirts. There was a place he knew they could rest. Somewhere that would be more than willing to open their arms to two wet, bedraggled, down on their luck children.

The church’s steeple was the first thing Erik saw, rising high above the surrounding terrain, and with one final push, he hauled them both up to its doors, where the nun who ran the place set upon them as soon as they entered, fretting over their wounds and almost demanding they take a bed for the night. He was too tired to say anything, but hoped his face looked grateful enough. He made sure El was placed safely into a bed before all but collapsing into the one across the room and quickly passing out himself.

The thief awoke some time later as the nun opened their door. It was morning now, sunlight gently flowing in from the window. But Erik felt like barely a moment had passed since they arrived last night.

“Would you like something to eat, dearie?” The nun asked in a voice that Erik imagined most moms sounded like.

“If you don’t mind.” He answered but didn’t try to move himself yet.

The nun left to go get his food, and Erik pushed himself upright, eyes flickering over to his fellow escapee. El was still dead to the world, laying flat on his back over the sheets, clothes slowly drying and breathing deep and peaceful. Erik got up, stretched, and moved to sit in a chair beside El’s bed.

“So, you’re my Luminary.” It didn’t feel quite right to call El his Luminary. He was the world’s Luminary, after all, what claim did Erik have? But it also made sense in a weird way, if El was supposed to give him the forgiveness the Seer had promised.

Now that they were both in the daylight, Erik managed his first good look at the boy. He was right about El being around his age, thought he wasn’t as much of a string bean as Erik. He wore plain but sturdy looking clothes of good make, and had surprisingly luscious looking brown hair, parted neatly down the middle. How had it stayed so nice after their botched escape attempt?

Erik reached out, absentmindedly running a hand through the ends of it, marveling at its softness, before catching himself and pulling his hand back. What was he doing?! This kid was a stranger to him and here he is brushing through his hair while he’s asleep?

There was a mumbling sound, and El’s eyebrows bunched together before his face relaxed and his eyes slowly opened. Now, Erik could admit El was pretty before, but his eyes were something else. They were a gray, almost silver color, reflecting in the morning light and almost sparkling in a way Erik had never seen before.

But… there was also something off. He could tell what color El’s eyes were, but it almost seemed like they were… duller. Not the full saturation of shade they should be. Like frosted glass was placed in front of them, muting the hue slightly. But he didn’t get the chance to continue that thought, because El was blearily moving his head around, searching the room, and his expression was changing from sleepy to frightened.

“Erik?” He called out in an uncertain voice, sounding concerned but also too afraid to be loud.

“I’m right here.”

El’s head snapped towards him, gaze filled with relief.

“Oh, thank goodness. I was worried for a moment that I was alone.”

“Not sure how you missed that since I’m right next to you.” Erik said with a bit of laughter in his voice. “You must be more tired from that jump than I thought.”

El looked at him, slightly confused, but whatever he was going to say was cut short when the nun entered the room again, a tray of food in each hand.

“Ah, your friend is up. That’s good to see.”

She walked over and handed Erik a tray. He quickly said his thanks before digging into the bread and stew ravenously. He was starving. Prison food is far from filling. The nun chuckled at his eagerness, handing the other tray out to El.

“I brought some for you too, dear, just in case you were awake.”

“Thank you, Miss.” El spoke, but made no move to take the tray.

Erik looked at him, confused, before the Luminary spoke up again.

“You can place it on the bed.”

The nun looked confused as well but did as El asked. The boy reached a hand out, slow and a bit uncertain, like he didn’t quite know where to put it, but as soon as his finger tips brushed the bread, he easily got his hand around it and brought it to his mouth.

“It’s very good.” He told the nun through a mouthful.

The nun smiled at El.

“I’m glad to hear it. You boys are allowed to stay as long as you need. And I certainly expect you to. You were in a bad way when you got here, so I expect a lot of rest before you’re up and about again.”

“Yes, ma’am.” El assured her.

Erik said nothing. He had a feeling they’d need to make a quick exit from here as well and wasn’t in the practice of making promises he couldn’t keep. Not anymore. The nun left, closing the door gently behind her. Erik swallowed his food and El spoke up again.

“I can’t thank you enough for getting me out of there.”

“Eh, no big deal.”

“No, it was. I know it wasn’t easy having to avoid dangers and guide a blind kid around in that death trap.”

Erik paused in bringing a spoonful of stew to his mouth.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?”

El looked puzzled.

“That I was grateful for what you did for me?”

“No, no, not that. What was that about a blind kid?”

“Uh… Me?” El clarified, pointing towards himself.

Erik let his spoon fall against the bowl with a clatter.

“You’re blind?!”

El flinched back at the sudden volume.

“Did you not know?”

“Of course not! You didn’t tell me!”

“I thought you figured it out!” El responded, sounding just as exasperated.

“How was I supposed to figure that out?” Erik was out of his chair now, throwing his hands up in the air. He wasn’t angry, just… incredibly confused.

“Well you seemed pretty good at picking things up quickly, and after what you said in the tunnels, I thought- “

“What did I say in the tunnels?”

“… that you were the only one who could see.”

Erik paused, arms falling to his side, face in shock. Though since El couldn’t see, apparently, there was no reaction from him.

“Erik?” He asked.

“I… I thought your eyes were having trouble adjusting to the darkness.”

El was speechless for a few moments, before he doubled over in laughter a few moments later. Now Erik felt a little hurt.

“And what exactly is so funny?”

“Th-that you couldn’t tell that I was blind! I was tripping over myself every few steps, how did you not catch on?”

“I-I- “Erik tried to defend himself but couldn’t find a good argument.

“You know, it kinda makes sense now why you kept trying to demonstrate how to stealth around the guards.”

Erik’s eyes widened as he came to the same conclusion.

“Oh, shit, of course, you couldn’t see. I just thought you were that clumsy.”

El was back to laughing again, and Erik sat down in the chair, exhausted and a little embarrassed.

“But, wait…” El stopped laughing as Erik spoke. “How can you use a sword so well?”

El’s face took on a wistful look.

“My grandpa, Chalky, always told me that I could do anything a person with two working eyes could do, I just had to work harder for it. And he never let me give up on what I wanted because of that. I said I wanted to be able to fight for myself, he taught me himself how to wield a blade and figured out how I could use my other senses to compensate for my lack of sight. It took a lot of scrapes and bruises, but eventually I could match him blow for blow, without him holding back.”

Erik felt new respect for this stranger growing inside him. Lacking sight, but as skilled with a sword as any villager without proper training could be.

“Well he sure did a good job, you were pretty graceful back there.”

El blushed and scratched at the side of his face nervously.

“Ah, thanks…”

“So, you can’t see at all?”

“Well, not exactly. My eyes still work, at least a little bit. I can see light and shadow, but everything’s just indistinct blobs of color. I couldn’t tell a person from a piece of furniture. I can catch movement, but only a little bit. And only when there’s enough light. It’s not enough to rely on though.”

Erik looked pensive for a moment.

“It’s strange…”

“What is?” El asked.

“Well… no offense, but… I can’t help but wonder why Yggdrasil would reincarnate the world’s greatest hero into a body that can’t see? I get you’ve made up for it when it comes to fighting, but it just puts you at such a disadvantage.”

El’s expression fell a bit, and a pit opened in Erik’s stomach. That look of disappointment was officially the worst think Erik had ever seen, and he wanted it off El’s face immediately.

“Ah, I’m sorry that was too far-“

“No, you don’t have to be sorry. You’re actually completely right. It doesn’t make any sense. That’s actually what I said to my mom after she told me. How could I be the Luminary, when I need help for so many basic things?” El looked up at Erik, though not directly looking at his face. The thief wondered why he’d never noticed that before. “She told me that many times, great power comes with a price, as a way to keep balance in the world. She believed that my lack of sight was for a reason, that Yggdrasil wouldn’t have given me a destiny I couldn’t handle.”

“And what do you think about that?” Erik asked, studying his face intently.

There was uncertainty. Self-doubt. El obviously knew little of the world, and what it offered for people, especially for the disadvantaged. But under that, lurking beneath the surface, like the true color of El’s eyes under that film of glass, a sturdiness was there. An unshakable foundation of hope. Erik forgot to breathe for a moment.

“I’m not sure yet, but I do feel… something. A feeling I can’t explain that’s been there since I left Cobblestone. And it’s only gotten stronger since. I think… maybe I was meant for this.”

Erik let out his held breath.

“Yeah… you’re definitely him.” He whispered it so quietly, El didn’t catch it.

Before the Luminary could ask any uncomfortable questions, Erik bolted up from his chair.

“Well I guess that seals it. I’m coming with you.”

El’s face brightened, and Erik felt like he’d captured the sun.

“You will?”

“Of course! We’re not out of the woods yet, after all. We’re still in Heliodor territory, and we’re both wanted men now. I’m not the type to leave a job half done, so you can count on me to be your guide. Ah, if you’ll have me, that is.” Erik finished, feeling uncertain at the end.

El smiled.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Chapter Text

El didn’t need to see to know it was a beautiful day. The sunlight warmed his skin wherever it touched, the air smelled clear and bright, with no hint of a coming storm. He couldn’t resist taking in deep breaths as he and Erik walked step in step through the Manglegrove.

Erik had described the place as a tangled mess of trees and vines, a forest unlike any other in the land of Heliodor, and absolutely flooded with monsters. There was hesitation in his voice, perhaps apprehensive about bringing El into such a place, but El wasn’t afraid of the Manglegrove. It was their best route of escape, after all. And the fastest way to Cobblestone. Monsters and trees were nothing to fear.

Besides, El loved forests. So full of scents and sounds, it was a place that always made itself known. And that gave El some peace of mind. Cobblestone was a wonderful place, and always safe, but it could get so quiet sometimes that El would begin to fear that he had imagined the people and places in his life. That there was nothing there after all.

That was the one curse of his condition he couldn’t stand; the uncertainty. Sure, he could hear people’s voices and their footsteps, but because he could never really see them, when those signs of life faded it was easy to doubt they were ever there to begin with.

In a forest, he could pick out the surrounding plant life by their variety of smells, run his hands over the petals and leaves, and track the creatures living in it with their cries, steps, and heartbeats. Even now, he was placing the various monsters meandering through the grove by sound. Liquid slimes squelched as they slithered along through low bushes and undergrowth, Great Sabercubs growled and squeaked as they play fought amongst the ferns, and a group of Lips inched slowly across the ground a few clearings away.

Surprisingly, the one thing El had trouble keeping track of was Erik. He was so quiet it was becoming incredibly frustrating. Even while walking through the undergrowth he stepped with such care there was only the tiniest rustle of leaves, and El had to strain his ears to catch the sound of his breath. The only thing that El could rely on when it came to Erik was his heart beat. That was something his companion could not control the volume of. It was soft, but strong, steady, and always there.

El resisted the urge to grab his hand. He had been leaning on the other young man since they’d met, which he was fine with while escaping from a strange place whose many twists and turns he didn’t know, but the last thing El wanted was to come off as a responsibility rather than an ally. But the need for certainty that he wasn’t alone in his sightless world was almost overwhelming.

Something caught around his foot, and El felt his balance leave him as he started falling forward. He tried to brace himself before he hit the ground, but a pair of arms were suddenly wrapped around him.

“Woah there!” Erik said as he helped El get back on his feet. “You sure you wanna rely on that stick? It doesn’t seem to be helping much.”

El had kept his hand wrapped tight around the end of the stick. He had felt around for one of a good length before they entered the forest, to use as a temporary cane. It was something his grandpa had helped him figure out so he could feel out and memorize the surroundings of an unfamiliar place. It worked great when traversing the rocky scape of Cobblestone Tor, but perhaps the Manglegrove was too cluttered for that.

“Perhaps you’re right.” El murmured, letting the stick fall away from him and into the void beyond his knowledge.

Erik didn’t say anything, but he did pick up El’s hand before leading him on. It was the hand that so many had told him displayed the birthmark that showed his legacy. El had never been able to confirm what they said; if there was a mark on his skin, it felt no different from the rest of him, so it was impossible to tell. But since everyone he met seemed to mention it, he just had to trust it was there. Though, there were times he felt a heat coming from it. Like on that day atop Cobblestone Tor, when Gemma had almost fallen off a cliff, and a flying monster had taken El completely by surprise. There was heat in his hand, then heat in the sky, a crash of thunder, and he couldn’t hear the creatures wing beats anymore. It was hard to believe that he had somehow called lightning down onto the thing, but Gemma was so certain of it El was convinced into believing her.

That was also the hand she held onto the most. While Chalky had been an amazing teacher in every other sense, it was Gemma that showed El the intricacies of Cobblestone village. His hand in hers, the young girl spent nearly every day taking El around, letting him feel the edges of each house and counting the steps of each path until he was so certain in his knowledge of where each thing was, he no longer needed a guide to find his way from place to place safely.

Gemma was so patient with him, and so eager to help, El couldn’t help but get attached to her. She was an amazing friend, the only one his age in the village, really. He felt a pang of home sickness. He missed his home deeply. But they would be back soon. He felt a little disappointment at the thought of returning home only to tell his mother that the king would be no help to him. What was he supposed to do now?

“Ah, hey look! A campsite!”

Erik brought them both to a stop. He took his hand from El’s, and the Luminary listened to his footfalls as he walked a few steps away. El took a few steps forward, focusing his other senses in an effort to get an idea of where they were. The smells of nature were farther off than before, and the sounds of monsters were muted.

“Are we in a clearing?”

“Yeah.” Erik replied.

Clinking sounds came from where El heard the thief’s voice.

“What are you doing?”

“Starting up this fire. We’ll stay here tonight and get to Cobblestone early tomorrow.”

El nodded.

“Sounds good.” He stood in place awkwardly, feeling that uncertainty of his place in the world creeping in. The only noise came from the rock Erik was scrapping together.

“So, um… what does the clearing look like?”

The sounds stopped, and El clenched at his sword strap nervously. Did he say something wrong? Was Erik in a bad mood and he hadn’t been able to see it?

“Gah, I’m so stupid!” The boy cried out. “I’m so sorry, I somehow completely forgot you couldn’t see.”

El laughed, awkwardness leaving his chest.

“It’s no issue, Erik. I get that you haven’t exactly been hanging around blind people your whole life.”

There was another shuffling sound and El heard Erik approach before he took his hand. El let himself be led a few paces forward before he heard a sound that he guessed was Erik taking a seat on the ground.

“Take a seat.” El heard the other boy hit the ground next to him, and El dropped to the floor in one fluid motion.

“Okay, so… um…. Where to start…. Ah! So, we’re in a big clearing…. Which you know. And right in front of us is a fire pit. There’s some old tinder, ashes, a spit for cooking, and a ring of rocks around the outside.”

El reached out and felt the cold rocks against his fingertips.

“There’s a log cabin right behind us, but it looks lived in so I don’t think we can use it, and there’s one of those Goddess statues here too.”

“Ah, there’s a statue? Where is it?”

“Right across from the fire pit.”

El pushed himself off the ground and using the toe of his boot to keep track of where the rocks around the fire pit were, he traced the outside until his fingers found stone again. El lifted his hand, following the grooves and bumps that textured the statue until he found the features of the Goddess’ face.

“Um… what are you doing?” Erik piped up from across the fire pit.

“I like to have the certainty of feeling something when I pray. I know it seems odd, but I find actually knowing that something is there comforting.”

“You’re religious?” Erik asked.

“Not incredibly,” El admitted. “But I like praying. It helps me get my thoughts in order.”

“Alright.” Erik ended the topic, but his voiced sounded skeptical, which made sense to El. The thief didn’t seem like a particularly pious person. “I’m gonna get our stuff set up.”

El agreed and returned to sit by the fire, content to listen to the world work around him, and to especially focus on Erik as he struggled to get their packs unrolled. He was suddenly hit with a great feeling of gratitude towards the stranger who had already sacrificed so much comfort for him. El couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have gone through all that by himself. Alone and surrounded by enemies he couldn’t see coming, no one to turn to who would watch his back and cover for his blind spots. When he left for Heliodor, while he had been apprehensive, he couldn’t have anticipated being treated like a villain and having his life threatened so viciously.

He was also struck with the realization that Erik might not stick around. He was a thief, and a traveler. Not used to staying in one place or working with someone else. A time could come when Erik would feel his work was done, that El was fine and then he would slip off into the dark, and El would listen for his heartbeat only to be met with silence. It scared him in a way. The thought of someone’s signs of life just being… gone, leaving El in the dark as to their fate. But it would be selfish to demand he stay, Erik had his life to live and his things to do. Once El got back to Cobblestone, there would be people to help him figure out his next step. Erik wouldn’t need to look after him anymore.

He clenched his hand onto his sword strap again but tried to ignore it. Focusing instead on the slow, cooling sensation of the sunlight fading into evening.

The fire crackled in a steady, soothing way, and Erik let out a sigh from beside El as he finished his stew.

“Man, that stuff’s good. You said it’s your mom’s recipe?”

“Yeah, she packed all the ingredients herself. Though it would have taken me longer to put it together without you.”

“Still, that’s the best food I’ve had in a while.”

The thief let out a yawn, and El heard the sound of a blanket being moved.

“Let’s get some rest.”

“Yeah.” El agreed, feeling around for the soft texture of his own bedroll.

As they both settled in for the night, the quiet moved in heavily around El, like a second blanket. The forest seemed almost dead without noise. He couldn’t place the movements of monsters in the undergrowth, most were likely asleep. Even the scents seemed muted. All he could hear for certain was the crackling of fire, even Erik’s breathing seemed so far away. It was like being trapped on his own personal island, and that sensation of anxiety and loneliness came back.

El pushed his blanket off and sat up, moving himself closer to the welcoming heat of the fire. He sat with his eyes closed, letting the crackling fill his senses and focusing only on breathing. It was always hard for him to sleep, especially when he was younger. El often asked his mother to stay up with him and tell stories or sing lullabies until he managed to drift off. Sometimes, even that wasn’t enough, and he often got up in the middle of the night, felt his way over to the bed opposite his, and climbed in to curl up against his mother’s back. She always welcomed it, but he always felt a little ashamed about needing that comfort.

El rubbed a hand across his face, letting out a long sigh. A shuffling sound came from his right.

“You okay?”

It was Erik.

“Sorry, did I wake you?”

“Nah, I hadn’t gotten to sleep yet. Feeling restless?”

“Not really… Sleep’s a little hard for me when I’m in an unfamiliar place.”

“Ah…”

El shuffled nervously and turned his head towards where he thought Erik’s voice was coming from.

“This might sound a little odd, but… Could we sleep back to back tonight?”

There was a pause, and El felt himself hanging over a pit of uncertainty again. What he wouldn’t give to see Erik’s face. There was so many little things he missed without sight.

“Ah… sure.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it makes sense. Sleeping like that will keep both of us safe. I know we’ve got that statue and all, but I’ve never been one to take chances when it comes to monster attacks.”

The thief was trying to sound aloof and humorous, but there was a lingering nervousness behind the words. El wasn’t sure if he was uncomfortable with the situation, or just caught off guard by the question, but at that moment, he was so tired and spent that he surrendered to the need to be selfish.

“Thank you.” El nodded towards Erik’s voice and crawled over to where it sounded like he was sitting.

A hand touched his shoulder, and the thief helped El pull the rest of his bed roll closer before settling back into his own. El laid down beside him, and barely held back a sigh of relief at the sensation of Erik’s sturdy back against his own. A solid, real, living person lying next to him. A true reminder he wasn’t alone.

After that, it was far easier for him to find sleep.

Whenever El imagined what it would be like to see, he didn’t really know how to picture it. It’s a little difficult to think of something your mind is incapable of conceiving. So, when he stepped over the threshold of Cobblestone, and a veil seemed to lift from in front of him, spots of light suddenly sharpening into focus, he knew it wasn’t real.

El couldn’t really process what exactly was happening to him, what he was experiencing, all the colors and things he was suddenly exposed to, but as soon as he saw the figures moving in front of him and heard the noises he recognized as the sounds of an average day in the village he knew.

I’m seeing.

And it was the only thing running through his head. Even as he met a young Gemma and Sandy, even as his own mother refused to recognize him, even as he met himself. His young self! Even as he talked with Chalky, getting to look at his grandfather for the first time ever, his mind was still in shock. But his grandpa’s voice was the same as ever, such a familiar tenor and cadence that it calmed him immediately. And he felt no qualms in telling him what was happening.

“You’re seeing, lad?” Chalky asked in wonder, and El finally understood everything a face could tell a person.

“Yes, I am.”

“Ah… it’s a vision.”

“A vision?”

The old man nodded solemnly.

“Aye, a picture of sort, being gifted to you by Yggdrasil itself, I’d imagine. Can’t think of anything else that could. She must be opening a window into the past for you, and giving you sight for this moment.”

El couldn’t find any words. This was beyond anything he imagined when told he was the Luminary, Yggdrasil’s chosen.

“Well, if the Great Tree believes this to be so important, something must have really gone south in your time. Tell me what’s wrong.”

It was so easy to confide in Chalky, as easy as when the man was still alive. That made El unreasonably happy. He was worried something would have changed if he tried to talk to his grandfather now that he was older.

There was clear sorrow in his face when El had finished his story, and such guilt at having led El into the hands of those who wanted to hurt him, but also determination as he told El where to go next.

“Don’t look so worried, my boy.” Chalky rested a hand against El’s shoulder. “You’ll be alright, I just know it. You were always stronger than you seemed.”

He smiled, and El thanked Yggdrasil for the chance to see it in all its legendary warmth and joy. For once, he felt pride in the start of his journey that it had been sorely missing.

“Thanks, Grandpa. I’ll remember that.”

The old man nodded.

“Take care.”

The colors blurred, becoming indistinct light and spots once again, and El knew he was back.

“Hello? Erdrea to Luminary?” Erik called out from next to him.

“Uh?”

“You alright? You spaced out as soon as we got here.”

El kept still for a moment, trying to adjust to the sudden lack of sensory information. He reached out blindly and felt Erik grab onto his hand.

“Hey, what’s wrong? You feel faint?”

The thief gently guided him to the floor, and El let him, grateful for the feel of solid earth beneath him. Earth… he knew what color it was now.

“Erik, I… I saw.”

“You… saw?”

El nodded.

“Are we talking… metaphorically?”

“No, I could really see. Just for a moment.”

“Ah… how exactly?” Erik asked, his voice more subdued.

“Yggdrasil. She gave me a vision of the past and allowed me to see.”

“Yggdrasil can do that?!” Erik asked in clear surprise.

“Apparently. It let me talk to my grandfather. He said he’s left something for me by the falls, I think its where we have to go next. But Erik, it… it was beautiful. The colors, the buildings, the grass, the sky! The sky! I had no idea anything could be so… huge!”

Now that it was sinking in, El realized what a miracle it all was. He held onto the memory of the vision and tried to etch every color and shape into his mind permanently. Even if Yggdrasil would only grant him that gift once, it was enough. He would remember what it was like to see forever.

Erik let out a muffled laugh from beside him.

“As much as I’d love to sit and talk about all the wonders of the world you’ve seen for the first time, maybe we should get to following your granddad’s advice.”

El nodded.

“Right. We’ll make a quick stop in town to say hi and get something to eat, then head over to the falls.”

He pushed himself up but didn’t hear Erik do the same.

“Ah, El… about that.”

El turned towards his voice, sensing his apprehension, and felt a pit open in his gut.

Cobblestone was completely devastated. At least, that’s how Erik described it. He relayed to El the state of the village, how it was completely devoid of life, every house burned to the ground, the well-worn roads churned into mud by horse tracks and the foot prints of armored soldiers. But El refused to believe. At least until he ran into the heart of the village and caught scent of the smoke.

The air was filled with it’s acrid stench, and when he wondered the streets he knew so well, his feet caught on rubble that wasn’t there before. He ran his hands over the sides of the stone homes that had seemed so unmovable and felt the uneven edges where walls had been broken with brutal strength.

Panic set in, and he ran despite the danger of it, calling out the names of those he’d known form childhood.

“Gemma! Sandy! Cole! Mom!”

His foot was swept from under him, and found himself once again hurtling toward the ground, until a familiar presence caught him in his arms. He’d fallen into Erik’s chest, the thief’s hands were tight around his arms, keeping him upright after El went limp against his companion.

“Hey, careful there.” He murmured in a soft voice.

There was concern in his words, and a kind of tenderness that told El Erik was feeling his grief but didn’t know what to say. The hopeless feeling that had been building since he noticed the smoke clashed with the gratefulness he felt for the only person he really had in his life now, and something in him broke.

Tears spilled down his face, and El pushed further against the warmth of Erik’s chest, hands clenching in his clothes as his body was wracked with sobs. Erik breathed in sharply, body tensing, but El couldn’t make himself care about Erik’s personal space right now. He needed… something real that he could touch right now, and Erik was all he had.

But not long after, the tension left the thief’s shoulders, and El felt his arms lower to rest around the Luminary’s back. Erik’s grasp was loose, giving El the chance to push away if he wished, and he ran one hand up and down El’s back in an attempt at a soothing motion. It was a bit stiff, and it was very noticeable that comforting wasn’t something Erik did often, but in that moment, it was exactly what El needed.

When his shaking had calmed, and his breathing had steadied, Erik spoke again in that same quiet, contemplative voice.

“Let’s go to the falls. If there’s one thing I know about grief, it’s that sitting around to wallow in it won’t do anything for you. We’ve gotta keep moving forward.”

El couldn’t get himself to speak, but he managed a nod before pushed back from Erik’s chest.

“Thank you. It must have been… a little awkward, but I really needed that.”

“Ah, don’t mention it.” Erik brushed it off, but there was a little something else in his voice El didn’t recognized.

He ignored it for now, took Erik’s hand, and recited the directions Chalky had given him in the vision. As they left the ruins of his life behind, El took comfort in the fact that Yggdrasil had let him see it one last time.

A lot of what happened after passed in a haze for El. While he was paying attention, the dull ache he’d been left with since Cobblestone was a constant presence in the background. Erik did his best to keep them both looking forward. Even when El felt the tears coming back as Erik read aloud the letter his birth mother had left for him; the thief didn’t leave him stuck in those feelings.

“Hey, I know that the Door of Departure lies just past the Kingsbarrow, and that’s where Dirk said the orb had ended up. Let’s stop by there and grab it before we head out.”

El forced the tears away, glad to have some kind of a distraction.

“Yeah, sounds good.”

Erik was far more talkative as they moved on, and El could tell it was mostly for his sake. The thief was clearly not used to idle talk, struggling a bit to find enough topics to keep the momentum going. El participated as best he could, and for a while the ache was easy to push aside. But as the sun set once again, night brought silence, which gave the Luminary space to think.

He was very quiet as Erik went to set up camp again. His feelings itched at the back of his mind, and El yearned to fill the silence, so he spoke up.

“Erik?”

There was a stop in the sounds of movement as Erik gave El his attention.

“Yeah?”

“What… what do you look like?”

The thief didn’t answer.

“It’s just… I’ve been thinking about it since… you know. I got to see the faces of people I’d known only by voice for so long, and it was striking how varied their appearances were. I’d kind of like to know what… you look like.”

More silence, broken by a little shuffling.

“A-ah, sure, I guess.” He stuttered a bit. That was new…

“Well, I um… Ah, I don’t really talk about myself much, so I don’t know where to start…”

El waited patently for him to start again, and after taking a deep breath he did.

“Well, I’m about the same height as you, you’ve probably got, like, a centimeter on me or something. I’m not… particularly strong looking? I guess? I’m kinda thin. Which is good, in my line of work at least.”

There was a hint of defensiveness in Erik’s voice, which surprised El. He sounded like a confident guy most of the time. How odd.

“I mostly wear tunics with hoods, you know, for stealth purposes, usually dark green.”

El thought of the grass in Cobblestone.

“Um, I’ve got spiked blue hair-“

“Like the sky?” El asked. Erik paused again.

“Well it’s a little lighter than the sky, but yeah. That kind of blue. My eyes are blue too.”

El remembered the sky. It had stretched so far above him, it seemed to go on forever. And it was such a beautiful hue, it brought awe back into his heart just thinking about it.

“I think that blue is my favorite color.” He mentioned out loud.

Erik was silent again.

“R-right. Do you, ah, was that a good enough description?”

“Yes, I think I have a pretty good picture of you now.”

“Mmm.” Erik murmured. “We should turn in for the night. The Kingsbarrow’s a bit of a trek.”

“Good idea.”

The two slept back to back again that night. El didn’t even need to ask that time, Erik had already set the blankets up next to each other. The Luminary felt a little relief at that. He was nervous about asking again, but he knew there was no way he was sleeping by himself tonight. As they lay down to rest, El’s thoughts stayed on Erik. He’d come to rely on the boy quite a bit. And while he didn’t think they could be called friends just yet, they were certainly not strangers anymore. Not after El cried into his chest today, and Erik had allowed him to do so.

He thought about Erik leaving, and that brought the anxiety back. He focused instead on the heat of the thief’s sleeping form behind him and forced those thoughts from his mind. As El drifted off, he came to a realization. It was selfish, and plainly stupid of him to want, he knew, but he still couldn’t keep the thought out of his mind.

I don’t want Erik to leave.

Chapter Text

The stairs to the Kingsbarrow stood tall before them, and unending wall of stone stretching high into the sky. Erik could just spot the tip of the entrance peeking out from behind the final step.

“You ready?” He asked his quiet companion.

“As ever.” El replied.

Erik took his hand and started up the stairs. It took some time, given that he was guiding another person, but with El using the tip of his sword sheath to find where the edge of each step was so he could avoid tripping himself, they made better time than he would have thought.

He no longer thought about things like personal space and how well he knew the other boy before grabbing his hand. They wouldn’t be getting anywhere if he hesitated to assist the Luminary, and the brunette made it clear already that he didn’t mind if Erik pulled him around as needed, without some long-winded reason being given beforehand.

The inside of the Kingsbarrow was a little more surprising than expected, mostly because of the unconscious Heliodor guards lying scattered across the floor.

“What’s wrong, Erik?” El asked.

That boy’s hearing was something else. Erik was certain he hadn’t made a single noise of surprise, yet El could still tell something was off.

“Looks like the guys who were returning the orb got a little more than they bargained for.”

“Are there enemies around?”

“No, but,” Erik walked around the statue in the back, and sure enough, a secret stair case sat open, leading into the depths of the temple. “I have a feeling I know where they went.”

El’s hand was suddenly in his, and the thief almost jumped out of his skin. The Luminary could be quiet if he wanted to.

“Well, lead on, then.”

Erik nodded, before realizing El couldn’t see that and actually voicing an answer.

Turns out, going down stairs is way more difficult for El than going up. Since he now had to reach down with his blade to find the next step, he was constantly losing his balance. After the fifth time Erik had to catch the Luminary and rebalance him, the thief let out a dramatic sigh.

“You know what? Fuck it.”

El looked confused, but quickly changed to surprise as Erik swept him into his arms. The blue haired boy took a moment to settle El’s weight in a more comfortable position before starting down the stairs again. El said nothing but brought his hands up to rest on Erik’s shoulders for support.

The stairs were a lot longer than Erik expected, and he was quickly finding himself unable to play off this move as a casual thing done for convenience sake. He was starting to realize how awkward it was to be holding the other like this. The silence certainly wasn’t helping.

“You’re pretty strong, you know.”

“Huh?” Erik asked dumbly, a little surprise El said anything.

“Last night, you said you were thin and not very muscular. But you seem to be holding me no problem.”

Heat flooded Erik’s cheeks, something El was doing far too often for comfort. He still remembered vividly how El’s simple question of ‘what do you look like’ had him blushing like some innocent school girl… and when El asked to sleep next to him… and every time they settled down to rest and Erik could feel each inch of the other boy’s back against his…

“Well, you’re not exactly ripped yourself.” Erik responded, with a little more pettiness in his voice than he would have liked.

But El only laughed in that light, airy way that reminded Erik of sunshine… somehow.

“My apologies, you’re right on that front.”

He let the brown-haired boy onto his feet once they reached the bottom, and quickly took up his hand again. Sidling up to the corner, Erik peeked around and spotted a Little Devil hopping down the hallway like some demented rabbit.

“Looks like I was right. Ready to dive in?”

The Luminary drew his sword in response, moving to stand beside Erik rather than behind him.

“More than.”

A lot happened way too quickly for Erik’s liking. They trounced the Grim Gryphons lurking in the temple’s basement quite soundly and got the red orb back safe and sound. Things seemed like they were looking up as Erik carried El back out of the temple. They retrieved the Luminary’s horse, specially trained for use by the blind, apparently, and set out for the Door of Departure; Erik riding in front and El sitting comfortably behind him.

While Erik was trying to make conversation again, in an attempt to not focus on El’s hands resting on his hips or what it was making him feel, their cheery mood was soundly interrupted by none other than Hendrik himself. Well, him and a cavalry of Heliodorian knights.

Erik gave El’s horse the run of its life, guiding the beast intensely towards the looming gates. Hendrik’s steed was some kind of other worldly creature, he was sure. Even when the other knights’ horses fell behind them in a cloud of dust, Hendrik’s horse only continued to gain speed.

“Give up, Darkspawn!” The lavender haired man cried out in righteous fury.

Erik felt a surprisingly potent spike of anger flash through him. How could anyone with working eyes think El was some kind of harbinger of darkness? And what right did Hendrik have to decide that? Who died and made him lord of the world?

The thief was distracted by a sudden, bright blue light.

“El, your crystal!” Erik shouted over the wind.

The other boy hurriedly reached into the pack at his side, pulling the gateway stone out by touch alone. The thing was pulsating with an intense brightness, and the gate reacted in turn, lighting up with an answering glow and slowly opening its doors.

“The gate’s almost open, just a bit longer.”

Erik dug his heels into the horse again. The animal gave a snort of frustration, its sides had been abused enough today, but it didn’t rebel, just kept pushing forward. El wrapped his hands tighter around Erik, hunkering down against the blue-haired boy’s back. This must be terrifying for him. Nothing but wind, sound, and fury, and nothing to make sense of.

I have to keep him safe.

It was the first time he had put the feeling that had been creeping up on him into words. He tried to ignore the inevitable, but now it rang out in his head, clear as a bell. He was in way too deep now, and he was probably going to end up protecting El with his life. And while he felt a wave of exhaustion at the thought, he didn’t deny that role.

It was obvious to him now, but Erik had been yearning for a purpose. For something to make his life worth living again. Ever since he lost Mia, he’d been wandering adrift in the world, nothing to anchor himself to. He’d thought that was what he wanted, the kind of life he was content to live, but that was as big a lie as any other he’d told. As dangerous as it was, as close to death or capture as they likely were now, Erik realized he needed this. Needed someone. Needed El.

He held tight to that revelation as the horse took one final leap into the glowing portal and Hendrik and the rest of Heliodor flashed out of sight.

The horse hit the ground heavily, but didn’t falter, trotting to a stop just outside the connecting gate. Erik and El continued to sit on the horse for a moment, breathing hard themselves even though they had done none of the running. Erik pushed his stiff body off the saddle. El followed close behind, experienced enough in getting in and out of the saddle himself that he could do it unaided.

Erik stretched his arms high over his head and then reached down to stretch out his back.

“Aaaah, I don’t think I’ve ever ridden a horse that fast before.”

El had moved to the horse’s head, brushing at its mane as the beast took in great gulps of air.

“You did a wonderful job back there.” He said soothingly to the horse as he continued to pet it.

“Well, thank you.” Erik said.

El paused for a moment, before cracking up into unrestrained laughter. Erik gave him a rue smile.

“Alright, alright. We’re not out of the woods yet, Mr. Luminary. Let’s find somewhere to hunker down for the night, yeah?”

El, still chuckling, managed a ‘yeah,’ and took the horse’s reins as he followed Erik’ footsteps through the rocky canyon before them.

The sun was dropping quickly by the time they reached Hotto. It was a… strange town to say the least, what with everyone talking in haikus. El seemed to find it amusing at least and kept trying his hand at doing it himself. They left the Luminary’s horse tied at the front entrance, wandering in only to be accosted quickly by the owner of the steam baths Hotto was most famous for.

His invite of a free bath was certainly tempting, Erik could practically feel the sweat sticking to his tunic by now, but well-worn instinct made him hesitant about accepting the offer.

“We might as well go,” El said to him, shoulders raised in a shrug.

“I dunno…”

“Erik, we both stink to high heaven, and I’m feeling a little stale in these clothes. Besides, if they do try and pull something, it’s nothing we can’t handle.”

El smiled again, in that easy-going way he did sometimes.

“Ah, alright, why the hell not.”

As the two made their way over to the building the owner had gestured to during his invite, Erik placed a hand on El’s shoulders to stop him.

“Uh, oh. We got stairs.”

“Again?” El asked with a sigh. “My true worst enemy.”

“Forget Grim Gryphons and Heliodorian knights, stairs are the real danger.”

Erik quipped with a smirk on his face, which only grew as El laughed in response.

“So, how do you want to do this?” Erik asked his companion. “I mean, I could carry you again?”

“Well… I mean…” El whipped his head around like he was looking, even though Erik knew otherwise. “There’s a lot of people around, and…”

“Yeah, I get it. No offense taken. You think you could climb, then?”

“How many stairs are there?”

Erik gave the red, wooden structure an appraising glance.

“Not many. Well, not nearly as many as the Kingsbarrow.”

El’s face relaxed and he gave Erik an easy nod.

“That sounds perfectly doable.”

It was definitely a much easier climb than the Kingsbarrow had been. The first set of stairs took them to a long, single story building with a sign out front that identified it as a bar. As they walked, Erik was describing the sights of Hotto to El, trying his best to give his blind friend a sense of space and how the buildings were located.

“The whole place is mountainous, so the town is broken up into different levels on different elevations of rock. The bathhouse is up higher than the bar and shops, and the main village we entered through is on the ground level.”

“Which explains all the stairs.”

The two broke out into a short fit of laughter, which was soon interrupted by the bang of the bar doors flying open. A red blur came tumbling out of the entryway and crashed onto the wood deck.

“Oooow…”

A small girl with blonde hair dressed in red picked herself off the floor, before turning around with a rather peeved look on her face as she faced the offending bartender.

“Who do you think you are to treat me like that?” The young child demanded with a surprising amount of bite in her voice. “Didn’t your mother teach you any manners?”

The bartender only scoffed at her, arms crossed against his chest.

“Your words grate my ears. A good child should be silent and stay out of bars.”

The girl stomped up to the other man, red faced and glaring, though the fact that she had to look up at him made it far less threatening.

“But I already told you, I’m looking for my sister and I think the bar’s owner might know something! So, let me back in there!”

She tried to dash around the man’s legs, but the bartender quickly grabbed the door and closed it right in the red girl’s face.

“A child in a bar is like a fish in a tree. You must search elsewhere.”

Leaving that as the final word on the matter, the man slipped back into the bar and closed the door before the girl could rush in after him. She pushed against the door, even banged her fist against the wood several times, but when it didn’t budge, the blonde growled fiercely and kicked it.

“Fine, don’t help me! I’ll find someone else!”

With a huff, the girl turned and stormed towards where Erik and El had been watching, or listening in the Luminary’s case. Erik watched her approach, though the blonde’s eyes were looking down at the floorboards. Her arms were crossed, and her face was pinched in a pouty look that reminded Erik a little too much of another young girl.

As she passed the two, Erik took El’s arm gently and guided him aside, so the girl had enough room to walk by. It surprised the thief greatly when she stopped and looked up at him, same angered expression on her face.

“What are you looking at?” She asked in a very accusing tone.

Erik was caught off-guard at first at having her anger directed at him, but then felt rather indignant. Who did she think she was, running her mouth at them?

“Other than watching a little brat get put in her place? Nothing, really.”

If she wasn’t pissed before, she certainly was now. It looked like her teeth might crack if she kept clenching them that hard. Erik felt a hand tighten on his shoulder.

“Erik, that’s not very nice.” El chided his thieving companion.

Erik looked towards the blind Luminary, and though he shrugged like it was no big deal, the blue haired boy also looked rather abashed. El stepped forward, hopping he was moving in the direction of the new stranger.

“Forgive him, we’ve both been on the road for a while and haven’t had much rest.”

At El’s entrance into the conversation, the red-clad girl’s expression changed from angered to only slightly annoyed.

“Well, I guess I can overlook it this once.”

El smiled, and Erik saw the last of her impatience drain out of her face. At least he wasn’t the only one El had that strange, calming effect on.

“I hope you’ll forgive us for overhearing, but did you say you were looking for your sister?”

“As a matter of fact, I am.” The girl placed her hands on her hips. “My younger sister, Serena. We got separated a while ago. I came back here to find her, but she doesn’t seem to be anywhere.”

El looked concerned, and Erik suddenly realized what was about to happen.

Oh please, no. We don’t have time to run other people’s errands, El!

But before he could interrupt, the Luminary had spoken.

“We can help you look for her.”

The girl seemed shocked, before shaking her head and putting that arrogant expression of hers back on.

“Well, normally, I would say no, because I’m perfectly capable of handling this sort of thing myself, but now that the bar is off limits it would be nice to have help scouring the rest of Hotto for leads.”

“Sounds like a plan,” El agreed.

Erik groaned internally and rubbed a hand against his forehead.

“But would it be alright if it waited a bit? Erik and I were going to stop in at the baths.”

Erik looked over at his companion in surprise. He wasn’t going to drop everything to solve someone’s problems? Huh. That seemed… somewhat unlike him. The girl seemed unfazed.

“Fine by me. Just don’t keep me waiting.”

El smiled at her again.

“It was very nice to meet you…”

“Veronica.” The girl supplied.

El nodded in acknowledgement.

“My name is El, and this is Erik, my guide dog.”

“Wha- hey!” Erik turned on his companion, looking incredibly indignant.

Veronica laughed, clearly in a far better mood than when she left the bar.

“You both are a piece of work.”

Veronica left, shaking her head in exasperation at them both.

Once she’d started down the stairs, Erik took El’s hand again and resumed their walk up to the bathhouse.

“So, what was the dog comment for?” Erik asked with a bit of ruefulness in his voice.

El let out a breathless laugh at the reminder.

“It sounded like she could have used a little cheering up. I’m sorry it was at your expense.”

“Eh, don’t worry about it,” Erik told him, any hurt quickly leaving at the heartfelt reasoning.

“Besides, it is kinda true.” El commented under his breath.

“No, it isn’t!”

El held up their joined hands, and Erik huffed before walking on, not even dignifying the other boy’s insinuation with a response. El tried to hold back more laughter as they approached the bath entrance.

Erik sighed as another wave of steam rushed up from the heated water, clouding the room even further in white mist. It felt so good to be in clean clothes, even if they were quickly getting soaked themselves. The bath outfits were very light and airy, and for the first time in a while, Erik felt clean.

Judging from the relaxed position of the boy next to him, El was enjoying the steam as well, though he continued to sniff loudly through his nose. The Luminary brought a hand up to rub at his face.

“The steam’s nice and all, but I hate how it’s clogging my nose…”

“It’s a little stuffy in here, but not that bad.”

“It is when you rely on smell as much as I do,” El replied in a rather snide tone.

Erik nudged his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, that’s why I’m here. What with me being your guide dog, apparently.”

El chuckled again, only to be interrupted by a sneeze.

“Ya know, I’m really not surprised you volunteered us for a sister hunt.”

Erik tilted his head back, so it rested against the seat behind him and closed his eyes.

“You’re not… upset by that, are you?”

“No, not upset, just…” He sat up and turned so he could face El. Even though he knew the other couldn’t see him, it still felt right to give El his full attention. “I’m the sort who thinks its most important to make sure your own back is taken care of first. And now, that includes you too, I guess. And since we’re both currently on the run, stopping to help other people just feels like an unnecessary risk for us both. A bath and a good night’s sleep is one thing, finding lost siblings is another.”

El blinked at him but stayed quiet. Erik ran a hand through his damp hair.

“I don’t mean to sound cold, I just-”

“No, it’s not cold. It’s a very ‘you’ thing to say, actually. And I get what you mean, but… My grandpa always told me lending a helping hand to others would never hurt you. And I think that’s held pretty true so far. I mean, you stopped to help me, and we both got an ally out of it.”

El was looking at the thief with such a soft expression on his face. Erik felt a little heat rise into his face and was suddenly very aware of their proximity. And the privacy of their location.

“I guess you’re right.”

Erik conceded the point, if only to move away from the suddenly uncomfortable conversation. The Luminary fell silent as well, Erik guessed he was back to enjoying the steam. The room was almost unbearably hot now, thought the thief couldn’t tell if it was really the room, or just himself. El was far too cute for his own good. Or Erik’s, for that matter. He just kept smiling in that disarming way and saying things with such clear affection it sent the usually well-composed criminal into a spiral of stuttering confusion.

It was such a strange reaction, nothing like how Erik normally was. Though, he supposed no one had ever given him the kind of attention El had before. Was this really how his brain functioned? A little bit of acceptance and kindness and suddenly he’s emotionally attached?

His eyes flickered back to the other boy unbidden. El was sitting peacefully with his eyes closed, head tilted up slightly, hair falling down the side of his face in a smooth, glossy wave. Erik felt himself smile. It was still strange to see El as the Luminary. He was so… fragile looking. And though they’d been in enough battles at this point for the thief to know otherwise, it was hard not to fall into that sort of thinking when looking at him.

A surging feeling bubbled up inside him, a yearning to say something to El, though Erik had no idea what it was. He was about to speak up despite himself, swept up in the flow of emotion, until he heard the back door to the sauna creak open.

A little girl, hands pressed over her face as she cried, stumbled into the room, hiccupping and sniffling. El opened his clouded eyes and tilted his head as he caught the sound.

“Is someone crying?” He asked Erik, sounding concerned.

“Yeah, a little girl just walked in.”

Together, the boys stood up and El followed Erik over to the young girl.

“What’s wrong?”

El crouched next to the girl, surprising Erik at his accuracy with pinpointing her location. Though, perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising given the amount of noise she was making.

“I-I can’t find my daddy…” She sniffled

“Oh, boy, here we go again.” Erik sighed.

Their side quests went smoother than Erik was expecting. Veronica was surprisingly willing to add looking for the girl’s dad on top of finding her sister, though she still had no leads on that front. What happened next involved a lot of running around, stopping every man, woman, and grandmother in Hotto to ask; ‘have you seen this girl’s sister?’ or ‘have you seen this girl’s dad?’ But their efforts were met with nothing.

Eventually, Erik decided they should go back to the bar, and follow up on Veronica’s original hunch, something that was far easier for him and El to accomplish. And lo, luck smiled upon them! The bartender had seen Veronica’s sister, and there was a chance the girl’s dad was in the same place.

So, leaving the girl at the bar under adult supervision, Erik, El, and Veronica set out for the Cryptic Crypt.

“Gah, that complete airhead! I can’t believe she went back to that place looking for me when I was already looking for her!”

“Quite the twist of fate.”

Erik commented dryly, one had in El’s as they both followed Veronica’s lead.

“So, what were you both doing in the crypt, anyway?” El asked.

“We heard there were some troublesome monsters lurking in there, so we went to go teach them a lesson! Unfortunately, they caught us first. They kidnapped me, but I managed to escape. I went back to Hotto, thinking my sister would have gone back there, but apparently I was mistaken.”

Erik snorted. Veronica turned towards him, flashing her characteristic glare.

“You have something to say, blue hair?”

Erik glared back, thinking of some clever retort, but El tugged on his hand and stole Erik’s attention.

“Come on guys, no bickering.” El chided.

Veronica huffed and turned away. Erik gave a side look at her back but said nothing.

The Cryptic Crypt was about as difficult as the Kingsbarrow. Well, aside from collapsing floor traps. Though El’s surprise tree visions came in handy for avoiding those. They also finally figured out where they were coming from; the many Yggdrasil roots that sprang up in the strangest places across Erdrea.

The monsters as well were easy to deal with, and for a while Erik had to wonder exactly how two supposed mages were taken out by these low-level grunts.

They found Veronica’s sister unconscious by a Goddess fountain. Veronica gasped and rushed over to her, crouching by her sister’s prone body as she cried out for her to wake up. Erik and El stood awkwardly off to the side, not sure if they should rush over as well or give the two some space.

But the green-dressed mage sister did wake up. In fact, she yawned. Apparently, she’d been so exhausted from looking for Veronica she decided to take a nap. In a crypt. Erik suddenly realized why the younger-appearing sister was the one doing the looking. As Veronica berated her sister, or Serena as she called her, the taller blonde caught sight of the two young men by the fountain. Her eyes seemed to widen slightly.

“Veronica, is that?” She whispered quietly to her sister.

The red mage glanced over her shoulder.

“I think so, but we’ll deal with that later. Now we have to get my magic back!”

In the very back of the Crypt they found the offending monster, some fat lizard named ‘Jarvis’ who just could not leave off the jar puns. Erik got far more satisfaction out of digging his knife into the monster’s side than usual, if only because it shut him up for a few moments.

He and El fought side by side, as usual, reading each other’s movements without even needing to look, their sense of the other’s moves honed to a fine point. But this fight went even faster than usual, likely due to the added back up that had come with them. Serena and Veronica kept the boys on their feet with plenty of healing spells, strength buffs, and single vials. With their assistance, Jarvis went down easy.

Veronica got her magic back from that pompous slug, but it did nothing to change her back to normal.

“You still look young,” Serena said, disappointed.

“Young?” El asked suddenly.

Erik jolted in place a moment.

“Ah, shit, I never described her, did I?”

El smiled at Erik as the thief rushed to correct his error.

“Veronica looks about… ten, maybe? She’s got blonde hair, red hat and dress, and a wand that’s probably way too big for her. Serena looks almost the same, except dressed in green, has a much smaller wand, and is probably closer to our age.”

“Veronica is ten?” El asked, sounding confused.

“No, I am not!” The red mage declared as she marched over to the two. “Serena and I are twins, thank you very much. That jar-headed idiot changed me into a child when he took my magic!”

“Pfft, really?” Erik asked, sounding more amused than surprised.

“Huh, I figured you were much older.” The Luminary commented.

“You did?” Veronica sounded taken off-guard.

“Yes, you talk like a young woman, so I had assumed…”

Veronica huffed but looked incredibly smug as well.

“Well, I guess there’s some brains in your two-person troupe.”

Erik growled under his breath at the small mage.

“Um, if you don’t mind me asking,” Serena spoke up in her more subdued tone of voice. “Why did your blue haired companion need to describe my sister for you?”

El turned his head towards her voice.

“Ah, we should introduce ourselves again. My name is El, my friend over here is Erik,” Erik offered the taller mage a short wave. “And I happen to be blind.”

“Oh.” Serena gasped, and Veronica’s eyes widened.

“Wait, you’re blind?”

There was a pause in the conversation. Erik looked towards El, and both boys burst out into sudden laughter.

“H-how… How did you not notice?” Erik asked between giggles.

El gave the thief a good-humored shove.

“Hey, don’t be mean, you didn’t notice at first either.”

“I have an excuse, it was pitch black in those dungeons. She saw you stumbling around in broad daylight.”

Veronica’s face had changed from shock to embracement induced rage.

“H-how was I supposed to notice? Neither of you ever said anything to me!”

“This conversation seems familiar…” El murmured.

“What did you think the guide dog comment was about?”

“I thought that was a joke!”

“Or the fact that I was having to lead him around by hand this whole time?”

“I thought you both were-” The mage stopped short.

Erik gave her a raised eyebrow, and El looked to be listening intently.

“N-never mind that, we have more important things at hand.” The spell caster dismissed their looks and approached El with her sister at her side. “You’re the Luminary, aren’t you?”

Now it was Erik and El’s turns to be shocked.

“How did you know?” The Luminary asked.

“We’ve seen that mark on your hand before.” Serena nodded towards the hand grasped around El’s sword strap. “Veronica and I have set out from Arboria on a mission to find the Luminary and assist him on his quest.”

At Veronica’s beckoning, the taller sister knelt beside her and the twins gave a speech in unison about loyalty and destiny that Erik assumed would have looked more endearing if they both were the same height.

“So… I guess we have some new companions.” El said with a smile directed at Erik.

The thief felt a little apprehension kick in. He’d gotten comfortable with just him and El, out on the road together, looking for the Luminary’s next step. Now they’d have more people to look after, more mouths to feed, more backs to watch. But the twins had proven they could be useful, with their variety of magic spells both helpful and harmful. And maybe, a traitorous voice in the back of his head whispered, he didn’t want his alone time with El to be taken away.

But when the brunette smiled like that, and Erik looked into those brilliant, clouded eyes, his resistance melted.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Chapter Text

The desert heat around Gallopolis was not to be underestimated. It pressed in close to a person like a blanket, almost a second layer of skin. It quickly sapped away any sort of moisture in your body, leaving behind only a stifling warmth inside and out. Which is why it’s always important to pack plenty of water, something Serena and her sister had been sure to do before they left Hotto.

It’s also important to take plenty of breaks, exactly as their little group was doing now. All four were resting around the campfire, though no one tried to light it given that the sun still shone bright in the sky.

Erik rustled through the packs tied to the Luminary’s trusty horse and pulled out one of the waterskins. The thief took several gulps from the skin, a few lines of water running down his face at his rush to quench his thirst. Veronica slapped at the back of his leg, and Erik almost choked on his water in surprise.

“Don’t hog it all!” Veronica chided him. “We’re not at Gallopolis yet, and the rest of us need a drink too!”

Erik wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his tunic, glaring down at the small mage.

“I wasn’t going to. I’m getting the rest of this for El.”

He stomped away from the mage to the other side of the camp. Serena had quickly assembled the tent, creating a small circle of shade which the Luminary was currently under. The green mage sat next to him, one hand on his forehead.

Erik subconsciously bristled at the sight, but only tightened his grip on the skin’s neck as he fought the unwanted emotions down. Serena’s personality was nothing but caring and motherly, she was the last person he should be worried about hurting the other boy.

The last remnants of a green light faded, and the blonde girl lifted her hand from El’s face.

“All done! How do you feel?”

El flexed his hands and moved his arms a few times.

“Perfect. Your healing skills are something else, Serena.”

The mage smiled at the blind boy.

“My spells are at the ready anytime, Luminary. Though I would prefer if you tried to avoid hits from Robber Rabbits as much as possible.”

El laughed.

“I’ll keep that in mind. And please, call me El. You and your sister calling me ‘Luminary’ is way too formal.”

“If that’s comfortable for you.”

Erik would have been fine if they went on calling him the Luminary forever. They’d only just met, there was no reason to act so close. He stepped into the tent and made himself known.

“Hey, Serena, Veronica wanted you for something.”

The girl looked up at Erik in surprise that changed to a kind smile.

“Thank you for getting me, Erik. I’ll go see what she needs.”

As she left, Erik felt a little guilty for lying, Serena was perfectly kind, if a bit naïve, but it felt like he and El had gotten no space since the two had joined them. The blue-haired thief sat next to El and pressed the waterskin into the other boy’s hand.

“Here ya go, drink up.”

El nodded gratefully and took plenty of his own greedy drinks out of the skin. A quiet settled over the two for a moment, and Erik basked in the quiet sounds of desert life.

“Erik?”

The thief turned his attention back to the Luminary.

“Yeah?”

The boy looked nervous, hands cinching around the neck of the bottle.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m not… sure I know what you mean.”

“Your body seems tense,” the boy remarked, one hand placed on Erik’s shoulder as if testing his muscles. “Your voice sounded a little strained as well. Not by much, but I was wondering if something was bothering you.”

Erik stared at his friend slack jawed for a moment. For a kid without working eyes, his intuition was scary accurate. In the space between question and answer, Erik wondered if he should lie to El. It was his first instinct, the back of his mind jumping quickly into self-preservation mode, but the idea left almost as soon as he thought it. El made him feel safe, like he could let himself come out of the shadows once in a while. It was probably stupid, it would probably bite him in the ass one day, but he couldn’t lie to someone who’d shown him so much kindness.

“It’s the twins.”

El nodded in a knowing manner.

“I had a feeling.”

“I just… I don’t like it.”

“You don’t like them?”

“No, it’s not that, I just don’t like it.”

“You’ll have to be more specific,” El added with a slight smile.

Erik ran a hand through his spikes.

“I can’t, I just know I don’t like it! It’s hard to explain…”

He felt El’s hand on his arm again and tried to fight the urge to relax into it.

“It’s okay if you’re nervous around them. I won’t ask you to find the reason if you don’t know it yourself. But Veronica and Serena only want to help, and not just to help me.”

Erik scoffed.

“It’s true!” El insisted. “Serena was just asking me about you before you walked into the tent. She wanted to know what she could do to make you more comfortable around her.”

“She… she did?” Erik asked, not sure if he believed the Luminary, but El nodded in response. “What did you tell her?”

“That space is very important to you, and just because you’re not openly friendly doesn’t mean you hate people.”

Erik only hummed at his answer, lost in thought. El pressed the rest of his side against Erik’s, and though the thief subconsciously wanted to flinch back, he knew physical touch was how El comforted people. So, he let the Luminary lean into him.

“We should get moving soon, Gallopolis is only an hour away.” Erik mentioned idly, bringing the waterskin back to his lips.

El let his head fall against Erik’s shoulder.

“In a few minutes, it’s way too hot outside.”

Beyond the confines of the shady tent, Serena joined her sister under their own temporary shelter, a blanket stretched over four sticks the smaller girl had likely found in the area. Veronica sat on another blanket to keep sand off her dress, a book on her lap and another waterskin in her hand. Serena ducked her head to join her under the blanket.

“Need any healing, Veronica?”

“Nah, I’m good.” The red mage didn’t look up from her book as she talked. “What are you doing outside? Thought you were looking after the Luminary?”

“I finished tending to his wounds. Besides, Erik came in and it seemed like they wanted to be alone.”

Veronica snorted as she flipped to the next page.

“That boy is so territorial.”

“I don’t think so, he just seems… nervous.”

“He’s not nervous, he’s jealous. Bet he though the two of you would start kissing if he didn’t walk in-”

“Veronica!” Serena sounded genuinely offended. “I would never take advantage of the Luminary in such a manner.”

Veronica rolled her eyes and finally looked away from her book.

“I know that, and you know that, but his brain is telling him otherwise.”

“I see,” Serena’s look turned thoughtful. “Is that why he’s been so cagy, do you think? Do he and Luminary have…” Her eyes darted from side to side, and she leaned close to Veronica’s ear. “… a thing?”

Veronica let out a short burst of laughter, her book spilling out of her lap and onto the rug.

“A thing. Serena, I love you, but you need to get out more.” The smaller mage wiped the tears from her eyes. “If they did have… a thing as you called it, Erik wouldn’t be dancing around the other so much. It’s clear that he wants to have a thing, but either hasn’t worked up the backbone to tell the Luminary yet or doesn’t know it himself.”

“Should we do something?”

“Oh, no no no no no!” Veronica said quickly, shaking her head furiously. “Trust me, this is not something either of us should be involved in. They’ll work it out eventually.”

The red mage picked her book back up and resumed reading. Serena still looked unsure.

“Well, I really don’t want him to be so cold to us until then. Who knows how long that will take? Maybe I can reassure him that I would never dream of viewing the Luminary in any romantic light, without outright mentioning it…”

Veronica kept her eyes on her book, but still raised an eyebrow.

“Good luck with that. I sure won’t be getting involved. He can ignore me as much as he wants as long as he’s not getting in our way.”

Veronica handed the waterskin to Serena.

“In the meantime, drink up. Who knows how long this break will last?”

“I think we’ve reached Gallopolis.”

“Gee, ya think?” Veronica replied to Erik’s observation sharply.

Once again, El wasn’t sure whether to laugh at their banter or scold them for it.

“Those are some pretty grand gates.” The thief observed.

“Indeed,” Serena agreed from beside her sister.

“What does it look like?” El asked his blue-haired companion.

“A garishly large slab of stone? Best way I can describe it. It’s also got two horses carved into it.”

“Makes sense.” Veronica piped up from in front of them both. “Gallopolis is famous for its horse races. They really love their steeds here.”

“It has horses on it?” El asked, somewhat embarrassed by the childish excitement in his voice. “Can you take me over to feel it?”

Erik took El’s left hand once they’d reached the gates and lifted it to the surface of the stone. El took over from there, running his hands across the dips and groves of the artwork painstakingly scrawled into the giant doors. He felt around for the familiar outline of a horse’s mussel and ears but frowned in confusion when he couldn’t find it.

“Well, that’s definitely a hoof,” El remarked as his fingertips traced the familiar rounded edge. “But where’s the rest of it?”

“Above you. Now that I think about it, the door’s way too big for you to trace the entire horse. But it is there, and it’s quite grand.”

“Ah,” El backed away from the door, somewhat disappointed. “Well, nothing to do about that. Let’s head in.”

Gallopolis was one of the more bustling areas they had stopped at. An active market supplied a large venue of smells of all kinds. Sharp, tingling spices, sweet pastries, clean and crisp clothing, the tang of fresh beer, and the sharp smell of armor polish. The voices of people and clopping of horse hooves on stone blanketed the area in a constant din of movement and life.

El faltered for a moment as he adjusted to all the noise. Largely populated areas were still a new thing for him, the first time he had been anywhere larger than a village was Heliodor. He still remembered how overwhelming the experience was, how he spent almost a whole day getting pushed into people who didn’t seem to want to make an effort to simply move around him.

El was more than happy to be out of that city and would be even more happy to never go to a place like that again. It was almost as easy to lose himself in there as it was in complete silence. It wasn’t like the orderly noise of the forest, where everything made just enough sound to be known, but rather a cluttered mess of confusion.

But Erik was still there. The thief’s hand locked tight around his. And the other boy kept him close by his side, not allowing anyone from the passing crowd to part between them. Veronica and Serena flanked him on his other side, forming another wall of protection as their group made their way into Gallopolis’ plaza.

None of the others really knew they were acting as his body guards. Serena and Veronica were talking amongst themselves and Erik griped his hand almost absentmindedly, but their presence still made the experience far more enjoyable.

The city’s crowds thinned out as they passed the bazar, and El let out a sigh of relief as the noises faded back to a reasonable level.

“So, where do you think they’d keep a Rainbough in a place like this?” Erik asked the group.

“Probably in the palace with the Sultan.” Veronica replied. “It’s the place with the most guards, after all.”

“Sounds good.” El felt the thief tug on his arm as they started forward again, but he kept his feet planted in the floor.

“Wait a moment.”

He heard the other’s footsteps come to a stop.

“We’ve come a long way today, and the Rainbough won’t be going anywhere, why don’t we enjoy Gallopolis for a bit before we keep going?”

Erik made a noise that El interpreted as uncertainty.

“Oh, that sounds lovely.” Serena spoke up from El’s right. “I don’t know about any of you, but I feel quite dusty after today.”

“Yeah, and my feet could use a break.” Veronica agreed with her sister.

“Oh, come on, the palace is right there. It won’t take long.”

El placed a hand on Erik’s arm, and felt his muscles tighten again. Something still had him a bit on edge.

“It’s alright, Erik, we have all the time in the world. We’ll need our rest if we want to keep going.”

The thief’s arms were still crossed over him, and El had a feeling he was unconvinced.

“Please? It’ll be just a little break.” El felt his arm relax.

“Alright. As long as it’s quick.”

El nodded, before turning to where he last heard the twins.

“Veronica and Serena, why don’t you both take a cut of the gold and restock our supplies? Erik and I will go on our perfunctory tour of the area. We’ll meet up at the inn later and rent a room for tonight.”

The brunette linked his arm around Erik’s and felt the other’s body stiffen slightly again.

“Sounds good, see you two later.”

With Veronica’s final comment, El listened to the mages as their steps faded into the crowd. He tugged on the thief’s arm to get his attention.

“Okay, where to first?”

Their first major discovery about Gallopolis was that it actually had a horse stable, and one that travelers could keep their horses in too. So, they dropped the Luminary’s horse off with the stable hand before continuing on their way.

“Man, that’s pretty handy.” Erik remarked as they left. “Why don’t more places have open stables?”

“Guess it comes with being a very horse centered town.”

Erik took the lead of their group of two, as always, describing the sights for his blind friend. They passed the tall, sandstone houses and shops, and stopped briefly outside Gallopolis’ famous horse track.

“Do you think we’ll get to see a race while we’re here?” El asked his friend

“I dunno, maybe. But why would you be interested in that? You can’t see it after all.”

“The smells and sounds of excitement would be enough for me. I love listening to horses run. Besides, I still want you and the others to have fun. You shouldn’t have to sit out of events for my sake.”

Erik shrugged, and gave a non-committal noise.

“Horse racing has never been my thing, anyway. I won’t be disappointed.”

The duo ended up back in the bazar, El said he wanted to smell some of the produce on sale again, maybe find something they could add to their usual stew dinner when they next made camp. The last time they’d been through this area, Erik had kept the brunette as close to him as possible, fearing that they would get swept apart by the force of the crowd. But this time, the thief didn’t have to worry about that. El was already as close as they could get.

Their entire walk, the Luminary had both his arms grasping one of Erik’s, his side pressed against the thief’s own. Linked arm in arm like that, Erik felt like some kind of royal escort chauffeuring a princess… or prince, in El’s case. Erik was hyper aware of their proximity and was also caught a bit off guard by El’s behavior. Sure, the Luminary had no issue with touching someone, but he’d never been this… clingy before.

He also seemed determined to keep Erik talking. El would ask questions about things Erik pointed out, getting him to elaborate and share what he thought about Gallopolis. Their conversations eventually left the setting entirely, and the two were back to talking about everything, and nothing at the same time. Erik felt himself relaxing into El’s company once again, something he hadn’t really felt since they left Hotto.

As they rounded the corner at the end of the bazar, Erik caught sight of a large tent erected against the town’s far wall. The whole area was decked out in lights, feathers, and other fanfare, and the thief was so caught off guard by all the color and extravagance he stopped in his tracks.

“Woah!”

El stumbled to a stop next to him and looked over at his companion.

“What is it?”

“Looks like the circus is in town.”

“A circus?” El asked.

“Oh, you’ve never seen one, have you? Makes sense, they don’t usually go to small villages. Well, a circus is basically a show. They have performers, like jugglers or knife throwers, usually animals too that know tricks. They hold it in this giant tent and people go there to watch it.”

“Ah, that sounds like fun.”

“Yeah, it usually is.”

“We should tell Serena and Veronica about it, we can all go together while we’re here.”

The reminder of their traveling companions snapped Erik out of his good mood.

“Yeah, sure.”

The circus tent was the last major sight in Gallopolis, signifying the end of their tour.

“Well, that’s everything, I guess. Let’s head to the inn.” Erik tried to lead El back, but the Luminary resisted.

“Ah, wait!”

Erik stopped and turned to face him, a little confused.

“It’s been a while since we last had something to eat. We passed a restaurant on our way here, didn’t we? Let’s stop in for a minute before we go.”

The idea sounded appealing, but Erik didn’t move. He took a moment to study his friend. His behavior had certainly been weird since they’d left the twins back in the plaza.

“Okay, what’s up with you?” Erik asked.

El blinked in surprise at his response, letting his hand drop from the thief’s

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve been more… attentive than usual today. Something up?”

El’s posture changed to surprised, and then to embarrassed, moving his fingers to brush through the ends of his hair.

“Ah, guess I’ve been found out.”

Erik crossed his arms and tilted his head.

“Care to explain?”

“It’s just…” the other boy began. “You’ve been tense and a little moody since we left Hotto. I wasn’t sure what was wrong, but after you told me the girls made you a little uncomfortable, I wondered if maybe you were feeling… a bit left out.”

As El gave his reasoning, Erik felt an itching nervousness creeping up on him. This kid seemed to read him like an open book, and he couldn’t help but feel uncertain about being left exposed like that.

“I thought it would help to have a little time, just the two of us.” El stepped a little closer to Erik, looking concerned but also as bright as he always did. “I don’t want you to start thinking we can’t be as close as before just because we have more traveling companions now. I’ll always be willing to spend time with you, Erik. You only have to ask.”

A shock of… something flashed through Erik. It wasn’t pain, or fear, he knew those feelings well, but it was something that made his knees want to shake, and the thief wasn’t sure if he wanted to run away from El or towards him. If this kept going, the Luminary might just kill him with kindness before Erik got his forgiveness.

“Y-you… you don’t have to do that for me.” The thief turned away from El to hide the flush decorating his cheeks. “I-I’m not some kinda dog who needs constant attention from people.”

El chuckled, and Erik almost leapt ten feet off the ground as he felt the brunette’s hand touch his hair. The thief froze in place, not even daring to breathe as El ran his fingers through the spikes.

“But you are my guide dog, after all.” He said with clear teasing humor in his voice. “And you’ve been a real good boy today!”

El’s chuckle changed into a full laugh as he removed his hand from Erik’s head.

“Alright, if you’re okay with it, we’ll meet up with the twins to eat. Then we can go see the sultan.” The Luminary turned and headed back down the street the way they came. “I think I can find the inn myself this time!”

Erik stayed frozen in place, his thoughts left high in the clouds, until the absence of El’s presence snapped him back to reality. The thief shook his head, forcing the heat out of his face.

Focus, damn it! He was only teasing.

He caught sight of El’s retreating back and ran after him to catch up.

“Hey, wait for me!”

As off-balance as Erik had felt throughout El’s heartfelt admission, the thief went through the rest of the day with a warmth in his chest that only grew each time El looked at him. He felt more at home then than he had since leaving Sniflheim.

Chapter Text

El was beginning to think the sultan had a thing for stairs. Not only was there a huge set leading up to the palace doors, but there was another, even grander staircase leading to the throne room. Calling it overkill would have been an understatement in his opinion. Why couldn’t people be satisfied with nice, simple, single floor housing? No one in Cobblestone ever complained!

The one upside to this was that El could tell he was definitely getting better at stair climbing. It was easier to guess the height of the steps and get his foot over the edge without stubbing his toes against the hard stone. He didn’t even need to test the way with his sword scabbard anymore!

But even so, Erik was still there by his side in case he stumbled, which still happened a few times. El couldn’t have been more grateful for that.

“Would it kill these people to spring for a ramp?” He muttered to his companion in a low voice.

Erik chuckled and responded in his own whisper.

“Royal types have never been too bright, unfortunately.”

El wasn’t sure if that was true, but his past experiences at Heliodor didn’t set a good precedent.

Unfortunately, the Sultan of Gallopolis didn’t help either.

He seemed perfectly amicable, don’t get him wrong, but the man was far more occupied in preparing his speech for the Sand National than listening to the Luminary and his plight. El sighed, exasperated at the lack of progress they were making and concerned that Erik was about to interfere. He could feel the thief’s frustration radiating out of him like a wave and could hazard a guess that he looked tense, like a cat ready to spring.

Before either El or Erik made a move to defuse or make the situation worse, the doors were flung open and the entrance of the Sultan’s son was announced. Prince Feris sounded like a younger reflection of his father; well meaning, but clearly focused on only himself. At least they had clear respect for the ideals of knighthood, an aspect that was likely the reason their family had stayed as Gallopolis’ rulers. What they lacked in strategic thinking they made up for in a clear dedication to the needs of their people.

The Luminary’s entourage waited somewhat impatiently for the Sultan to finish drilling his boy about codes of honor and the importance of the Sand National. Eventually, their conversation at last came to an end, and El felt Erik guide him aside to allow the prince to exit.

The prince’s steps grew in volume as he approached, but suddenly disappeared.

Did he stop?

“Hmmmm…”

It sounded like someone was contemplating something. Was that Prince Faris?

There was another sound of movement, and El sensed the familiar presence of Erik standing in front of him. There was a low sound at the edge of El’s hearing, so quiet he doubted anyone else heard it.

Was Erik growling?

“Ah-!” That was definitely Faris. “Forgive me for staring, I did not mean to be rude. What brings you all to our lovely palace?”

Relieved at finally having the ear of some royal, El and the others explained their search for the Rainbough. Faris seemed to know exactly how to help, but for some reason asked to talk in his private chambers instead of the throne room. The heir left ahead of the rest of their group, saying he’d be waiting for their arrival, and suddenly they were alone again.

“Well, he seemed…” Serena started.

“Like a total block head.” Veronica finished.

“That’s not what I was going to say.” But the mage’s voice revealed that she didn’t disagree with her sister.

“Well, let’s not keep him waiting.” El said, extending his hand for Erik to grab so the thief could help him back down the steps.

Erik took his hand but was silent as they reached the main hallway on their way to Feris’ rooms. Something had pushed him into his quiet mood again. Did the prince put him off in some way he couldn’t see?

“Hey, girls?” The mages’ stopped at El’s request. “You head on, I need to talk with Erik. We’ll catch up.”

“What do you-” Veronica started before her sister interrupted.

“We’ll wait for you outside the prince’s door.”

El waited for their footsteps to fade before giving his attention to the thief.

“Do you suspect something of Prince Faris?”

There was no response from the other for a moment.

“Uh… what?” Erik sounded genuinely confused.

“You seemed tense, are your instincts telling you Faris is up to something?”

Erik had far more experience with the more harrowing parts of life than El, the Luminary was perfectly willing to admit there were things Erik would be able to sense that he couldn’t.

“No… no, nothing like that.” Erik’s voice was subdued, almost… embarrassed. “He’s just some harmless doof, I can tell.”

“Oh.” El responded, genuinely surprised. “Well, if you’re okay, then we should catch up with the others.”

“Yeah…”

They caught up with the twins at Feris’ chambers, and while El and the others seemed to be conversing with the prince, Erik wasn’t listening. He was a little caught up in berating himself for his earlier behavior.

Goddess above, why am I like this?!

Well, he knew why he’d acted that way. He did not like how Feris had been looking at El. Scanning the other boy from head to foot with the gaze of someone appraising a horse for sale. It made his skin crawl in a very visceral way, and he made no attempt to stop himself from physically placing himself between the prince and the Luminary, staring Feris down with all the vile he could muster.

The prince quailed very quickly when he met Erik’s stare, and that was when the thief was reassured the other was no danger. That boy could bluster and swagger through town as much as he wanted, but there was nothing to back it up.

Even so, that encounter had kicked his mood from ‘high-in-the-sky’ to ‘grouchy porcupine,’ and to make it worse, El had noticed. He’d caused his friend to worry unnecessarily when the only thing wrong was Erik’s attitude. It warmed his heart that El trusted him so implicitly, but that only made his guilt over the false alarm sting worse. He needed to get control over himself before he did something stupid and got El in trouble. He couldn’t keep letting his protectiveness override common sense.

“I’m sorry, you want me to do what?”

The sheer appalled confusion in El’s voice brought Erik back to the present conversation.

“I want you to ride for me in the Sand National, of course!” Feris declared, one hand flourished open to gesture towards the Luminary.

There was silence in the room.

“Ah, that’s really not a good idea-” El began.

“Oh, of course it is!” The prince interrupted. “We’re the same height and build, and you look like a horse rider, yes?”

“Well, I am, but-”

“Then it’s clear as day! The Goddess has sent you to me to help in my time of need!”

“I’m sorry, Prince Feris, but there’s something you don’t-” Serena tried to intervene.

“Shut up for a second and listen, you dunder head!” Veronica scolded sharply at the same time.

The prince suddenly, and dramatically, collapsed onto the floor, face against the carpet, hands splayed out in front of him.

“Oh, please! Please, you must help me! My people expect me to put on an amazing show for them tomorrow, and I barely know how to stay upright in a saddle! If I go out there, their faith in me will be crushed!”

“I understand that, Prince Feris, but I-”

“Well I guess there isn’t a choice then.” Erik interrupted El this time, moving in front of the group to stand before Feris.

The prince looked up at him with watery puppy dog eyes.

“If it means that much to the people of Gallopolis, we have to help.”

“Erik, what are you-?!” Veronica couldn’t finish her biting remark, as Prince Feris jumped up from his groveling position.

“Ah, thank you so much, my friends! I will forever be in your debt! Do this for me, and I will be sure to get you your Rainbough!” The prince swept out the door in a flurry of bright robes and princely bluster. “The Sand National is tomorrow, I will expect you in the stables by noon, don’t be late!”

With that, the doors fell shut behind him and the Luminary’s escort group was alone again. The others slowly turned to look at Erik.

“What did you just do, you pompous spike head?!” Veronica shouted up at him, her hands grasping at her hair in distress.

“It was clear he wasn’t gonna listen to us anyway,” Erik defended himself. “Besides, El can ride with the best of them. And if tomorrow he finds out a blind kid can ride better than him, maybe it’ll knock him down a few pegs.”

Veronica looked contemplative at the idea.

“One small correction, Erik,” El entered the conversation. “I can ride my horse. You know, the one that’s trained to work with blind people?”

The room was silent again.

“I… I thought you grew up with horses?”

“Yes, I grew up around plenty of horses in Cobblestone, but Silver is the only one I’ve actually ridden at anything faster than a walk by myself. I’ll have no idea how to control Feris’ horse.”

Erik stared at the blind Luminary for a few solid minutes.

“Ah, shit…”

“Well you’ve really gone and stepped in it now,” Veronica added, shaking her head in dismay.

“There’s nothing we can do about it now,” Serena commented, sounding equally frustrated but more resigned to their fate. “We’ll just have to figure something else out before the race tomorrow.”

“Think we can leave it ‘til tomorrow morning? I’m a little exhausted form all this.” El asked, looking somewhat bedraggled.

“Sounds good to me,” Veronica declared. “How do we want to spend the rest of the day? We could go back to the inn?”

“Aww, I was hoping to enjoy the town a little more before we turned in…” Serena sounded like a disappointed child on vacation.

El perked up a little bit.

“Erik and I saw that the circus was in town, we can go watch their performance tonight.”

The rest of the crew brightened.

“Oh, that sounds absolutely wonderful,” Serena cooed.

“Haven’t seen one of those in a while. Let’s do it!” Veronica pumped the air with one small fist.

With their plan decided, the group left the palace and headed towards the big top tent, where spot lights were already streaking through the evening sky.

The crowed ‘oohed’ and ‘awwed’ as a set of acrobats flipped gracefully through the air, gripping onto their trapezes with the elegance of flying birds. Erik, El, and the twins sat close to the front row, the girls sitting on El’s right and Erik on his left. The girls’ attention was locked on the performers, and the boys had their heads tilted close together. Erik gave his blind companion a play-by-play of the performance to the best of his abilities, though he doubted words could paint enough of a picture to get across the wonder of watching people perform dazzling feats of strength and endurance. But El had a smile on his face the whole evening, so Erik had to believe he was doing a good enough job.

As the acrobats finished and received their roars of applause, the rotund ringmaster stepped into the circle.

“A big hand for the Amazing High Fliers, folks!”

There was another round of clapping and cheering as the two exited the stage. The lights dimmed and all attention was directed back to the ringmaster.

“Tonight, for you all, we have a special performance. The greatest showman Erdrea has ever seen has graced our big top with his presence here today! You’re all in for a wonderful treat! It is a great honor to introduce, the amazing, the spectacular, the fabulous…. Sylvando!”

The roar of the crowd overshadowed even the sounds of confetti cannons that went off to accent the new performer’s entrance. A shadow jumped from the platform above the center ring, and a tall, willowy man in a classic jester’s outfit took the ringmaster’s place in the spotlight.

He rose from his crouched position with deliberate slowness and brought his hands up over his head, before sweeping them out to gesture to the crowd.

“Hello, Darlings!”

The crowd lost their minds again. Even Erik had to clap his hands over his ears, just to muffle a little of the sound. He felt El press closer into his shoulder, no longer looking like he was enjoying himself.

“What’s with all the noise?” The Luminary asked over the crowd.

“I guess this guy is popular.” Erik said with a shrug.

El pressed his hands over his ears as well, cringing closer to Erik. The thief felt concern flood through him. He leaned close to the brunette.

“If you want to go, we can.”

El shook his head.

“They’ll quiet down in a minute.”

And he was right. At Sylvando’s request, the audience returned to their seats and a hush fell over the tent. The showman didn’t introduce his act, or open with some hint of things to come, he simply reached behind his back, and pulled out a set of colored balls which he quickly tossed into the air and began to juggle.

The audience applauded, though much calmer this time. Erik watched on, confused.

“That’s it? All that excitement for juggling?”

El snickered at his comment.

“Give him a moment, maybe he’ll surprise us.”

And surprise them he did. His performance quickly became more complex, as he added more bouncy balls to the mix, circling them into figure eights and even tossing them through his legs at one point. Erik counted close to twenty in the air at one time.

Then he added flaming torches to the mix, and after that the crowd started to get rowdy. Erik made his best guess at the point of this guy’s show; it seemed to be a test of endurance, to see how much he could keep in the air at the same time and slowly adding more dangerous objects as it went on.

The audience began to chant ‘Sylv! Sylv! Sylv!” to a steady rhythm, slowly gaining speed as Sylvando juggled the objects faster. Even El was on the edge of his seat, and that was only with Erik’s descriptions.

Suddenly, Sylvando tossed each object that reached his hand far higher than before, until each ball and torch hovered above the crowd, almost suspended in the air. The torches fell quickly, landing flame down in the sandy earth and snuffing themselves out. The colored balls, however, vanished in a puff of smoke… only to be replaced by decorative throwing knives which fell quickly in an arc towards the audience.

People across the tent gasped and screamed, and Erik caught sight of one’s trajectory, headed straight towards their seats. The thief bolted up, placing himself in front of the Luminary, eyes locked on the falling blade. He had plenty of experience with knives, and catching one, even one falling from such a height, would be simple.

But Erik had missed one torch, tossed higher than the others. It fell towards Sylvando and the showman caught it with ease, lifting the flame towards his mouth, before blowing out a gust of fire to cover the quickly falling knives. The weapons dissipated into clouds of sparkling dust, which fell softly across the audience like a gentle snowfall.

There was a beat of silence, until the audience erupted in applause even louder than when the jester had first entered. Erik kept standing, breathing hard and fast, adrenaline still running high through his blood. He snapped out of it when someone from the row behind shouted ‘down in front!’ and he plonked back down into his seat.

El grasped at his arm.

“Are you okay, Erik? What happened?”

Erik waved him off, still catching his breath.

“Oh, just an unbelievable finale.” He said, breathlessly.

Sylvando soaked in the adoration, waving to his fans with a bright smile.

“Darlings, there’s no need to fear! I would never let any harm come to any one of you!”

He dropped one hand for a moment, and Erik thought the man was looking right at him, when suddenly, Sylvando sprung into a series of flips that took him gracefully over the heads of the first few rows of audience members. He landed on the backs of the chairs right in front of the Luminary and his friends, and Erik and the twins reeled back in surprise.

El looked ahead, unresponsive to the jester’s sudden entrance. Erik was about to stand up and confront the performer, before Sylvando pulled a handkerchief from his shirt sleeve with a dramatic flourish. The showman flicked the cloth and it turned into a freshly cut rose.

Sylvando bowed deeply and offered the rose to El.

“My apologies if I frightened you.”

The Luminary jolted at the sound of his voice so close, and gingerly reached out a hand until it touched the flower’s petals.

“Ah, thank you.” He said somewhat quietly as he took the gift.

Sylvando looked at the younger man, winked, and backflipped into the center ring again.

As the show was brought to a close, Erik sat fuming in his chair. If his mood was bad beforehand, it was at rock bottom now. El’s hand touched his arm and he felt the tension in his body relax.

“Show’s over, ready to go?”

“More than ever…”

The group exited the tent and were more than eager to head back to the inn. Veronica and Serena were both yawning, practically dead on their feet. Erik felt much the same.

“Man, I’m gonna sleep like a rock tonight.” Veronica murmured in a drowsy tone.

Serena only responded with a yawn.

“Don’t forget, we have to fix Erik’s mistake tomorrow,” the red mage teased.

“Yeah, yeah.” Erik waved the two off, sounding more unbothered than he felt.

El still held the rose between his hands, fingertips running over the stem almost absent mindedly. Erik had never hated a flower more than in that moment.

The next day was bright, but not unbearably hot. Perfect weather for a race, as the audience could watch in comfort and the horses wouldn’t get overheated either. But El couldn’t bring himself to enjoy it, as he stood waiting for Prince Feris in his changing room outside the race track.

He’d already changed into the full armor regalia that Gallopolis royals always dressed in for their Sand National performance. The costume was light weight, but stifling, and El’s anxiety about the situation only heightened the discomfort.

He could hear Veronica pacing across the floor beside him and caught the sound of Serena’s hands clutching nervously at the fabric of her skirt.

“Ugh, where’s Erik gone off to?” Veronica griped as she continued to pace.

“I’m sure he’ll be here soon,” Serena assured with a surprisingly calm voice. Her hands gave her true feelings away.

El couldn’t bring his thoughts to focus on anything other than the Sand National. Feris had left already to retrieve his horse and would bring it to the changing room doors so the two could make the switch. And then… then El wasn’t sure what he would do.

The sound of knocking on the ornate doors brought El to his senses. The twins both froze, and he could feel their eyes on him, doubtless worried for his own sake. The Luminary took a deep breath, placed the knight’s helm over his head, and opened the doors.

“About time you opened up!”

El froze. He knew that voice.

“Erik?”

“The one and only.”

“Erik!” The twins shouted in unison as they saw who was at the door.

“Where have you been?” Veronica berated. “And why do you have a horse?”

El caught the sounds of stamping and breathing from next to his thief friend and recognized them as well.

“Is that…?”

El stepped forward and placed a hand on a very familiar neck. The horse whinnied and nuzzled its face into El’s palm for more pats.

“Is this Silver?” El asked in amazement.

“Sure is. Got him all decked out in Feris’ horse wear as well. No one will be able to tell the difference.”

Erik let out a gasp of air as El barreled into him, arms wrapped tight around the thief.

“How did you manage that?!” The Luminary cried in joyous surprise.

“I caught Feris on his way back from the stables and offered to take the horse while he went to hide out somewhere. He seemed more than happy to pawn menial work off on someone else, and after that shifting all the armor to Silver was a piece of cake.”

Veronica snickered from somewhere behind the two.

“You know, if he’s that lax about letting strangers use his stuff maybe he does deserve to be shown up.”

“Veronica.” Serena admonished her sister but didn’t sound like she completely disagreed.

The sound of trumpeted fanfare rang out from the track beyond the doors. El pushed away from his friend, and Erik stepped back to allow the Luminary access to the saddle.

“After you, your highness. Don’t want to keep the adoring public waiting.”

El laughed at his teasing, his mood once again feeling light.

Despite the new confidence of being seated on a horse he knew well, El’s hands still shook through the entirety of the Sand National. The roar of the crowd, the brightness of the sun, the smell of other horses impatiently waiting for the order to start, it made for a flurry of information that threatened to ruin his focus.

Another surprise had been the appearance of Sylvando, the performer from the circus last night. Apparently, he’d entered the Sand National himself. El had almost expected the man to address him in a familiar way, but quickly remembered that he was impersonating the prince, which explained why Sylvando addressed him with such formality.

When the race finally began, and the horses bolted as one over the starting line, El’s worries were quickly left behind. His world narrowed, filtering out the sounds of other people and horses, ears only filled with the sound of Silver’s hooves beating against the stone.

El’s horse practically rode itself. As another living creature, it had enough intelligence not to run headfirst into an obstacle, all El did was give the small nudges needed to tighten a turn and spur the steed on faster. When he felt the signature dip of Silver reaching a turn, El leaned into it and pressed his legs into the horse’s sides so it stayed close to the center wall.

It was exhilarating, to push the animal to the limits of its speed and stamina, and the only thing that would have improved the experience was getting to feel the wind through his hair. They made it through the second loop, Luminary and horse breathing in sync.

As they passed through another straight area, trumpets blared, scarring El from his zone of concentration. In his panic, he pulled back on the reigns sharply and brought Silver to a very clumsy stop. The horse snorted angrily.

“Sorry about that.” El whispered as he patted the horse’s neck.

“And our own Prince Feris comes in a very close second! Only a nose length behind Sylvando!”

El jolted upright in the saddle, not sure he heard the announcer correctly. He came in second? The sound of another set of hooves approaching grabbed his attention.

“My, that was quite a show, Darling!” Came Sylvando’s lilting voice, sounding giddy with excitement. “Neck in neck the whole time, and not once did you take your eyes off the track, despite all my distractions. Wonderful job, dear prince.”

El flushed at the praise from a practical stranger, but he still said nothing for fear of ruining the disguise. He gave Sylvando a nod instead, hoping it would suffice.

“Ooh, keeping the stoic persona, how coy.” Chuckling to himself, El heard the performer turn his horse and leave, likely to accept his award.

The Luminary was more than happy to retreat back to the changing room, his limbs shook with his pent-up excitement. He climbed out of the saddle on shaky legs and got one foot caught on a stirrup. It seemed like he was going to end his ‘performance’ with a rather un-princely fall, but a familiar pair of arms caught him before he could reach it.

“Careful there!” Erik righted the other boy quickly, and El removed the rather bulky knight helmet, running a hand over his face to wipe away sweat.

“El!” Veronica cried, and a flurry of steps showed the twins had arrived as well. “That was amazing, you were faster than the wind out there!”

“Truly, your skills are something to admire.” Serena commented in her usual relaxed voice.

“Thanks, I’m just glad to be out of there.”

“So am I, you had me on the edge of my seat during a couple of those turns. Thought you would fly right off the horse.”

“Aww, was someone worried?” Veronica teased.

“Sh-shut up, magical brat!” Erik threw back.

“Now, now, you two.” Serena chided with laughter in her voice.

The sound of doors flying open interrupted their moment.

“That was fantastic!” Prince Feris had arrived, it seemed.

The prince took the helmet from El’s hand before shaking it thoroughly.

“I couldn’t ask for a better performance! Well, first would have been ideal, but at least you kept it close enough it looked like that jester fellow got a lucky break.”

“Right,” Erik interrupted, sounding frustrated. “We’d like our Rainbough now, please.”

“Of course, of course, all in good time. I just need to take my victory lap, show off for the people you know. Meet me back at the palace later, and you’ll have your reward.”

With that, Feris mounted El’s horse and took off towards the track, wobbling back and forth in the saddle.

“Hey, wait!” Erik called out after him, but the prince didn’t acknowledge his outburst.

“Should we run after him and tell him that’s El’s horse?” Veronica asked.

“It’s fine,” El waved it off. “We’ll grab Silver once the Sand National’s over.”

“So, I was right.” A new voice joining the conversation caused the party to jump.

El felt Erik’s arm brush against his, likely placing himself between the Luminary and the threat, a scraping sound signaled that he had drawn his knife.

“No need to get so hostile, darling, it’s only little old me.” A familiar flirtatious voice responded.

“You?!” Erik said, clearly surprised.

“Yes, me, the great Sylvando! I had a feeling that wasn’t the prince inside that helmet, there’s no way a peacock like that would resist playing to the crowd when all the attention was on him. I should know, I’m one myself, after all.”

 The man giggled at his own self-deprecating tease, and El could feel the tension leave his other friends. Erik lowered his arms but stayed in front of El.

“Although, I had no idea it would be you four.”

“You recognize us?” Serena asked, somewhat surprised.

“Of course! Who could forget a colorful troop like yours? I thought I sensed something special from you, and it seems you proved it today. Very fine work out there, horseman.”

“Yes, well, if that’s all you have to say, we’d like to get going.” Erik responded, sounding very put off by the performer.

“Geeze, no need to be so grumpy. I suppose I’ll see you all around sometime.”

Sylvando’s steps began to retreat, but El suddenly felt he couldn’t leave the interaction on a sour note.

“Wait!”

The steps stopped, and he heard Erik take in a breath, perhaps surprised by his outburst.

“My name is El. And… thanks for the rose.”

“You’re more than welcome, El darling.” With that, Sylvando left the arena.

“Well he’s certainly a character.” Veronica remarked.

“I suppose since we have no choice but to wait for Feris again, we can go do our own thing in town for a bit.” El suggested.

The twins gave their agreement with the idea, but Erik said nothing.

“Erik?” El asked his friend.

“Hm?” It sounded like El had startled him out of a deep thought.

“We’re gonna kill some time in Gallopolis until the prince is done. Sound good?”

“Sure.”

His response was curt, and that caused El to worry. Did something happen to put him on edge again? He pushed his worry down for a bit, he could deal with Erik’s changing moods again later, after he got a little rest and a change of clothes.

“First, I need to go back to the inn. These clothes need a wash.”

That got a small, breathy laugh from Erik, and the group left the arena entrance together.

“Something tells me it’s gonna be a lot harder to get a hold of that branch than it seems…” Veronica said with an edge of concern in her voice.

Her words turned out to be prophetic, as once they met the prince back in the palace, he saddled them with yet another side quest. This time, it involved killing a deadly sand scorpion that was terrorizing the area, and which scared the prince half to death.

The cowardliness was palpable. As done as Erik was with ornately dressed young men that day, the idea of getting to take some of that stress out on an unsuspecting monster certainly had some appeal. So, he didn’t protest as El took up the job and the party prepped to set out into the desert again.

That was until Sylvando appeared out of nowhere and declared his desire to join them. He gave some excuse about ‘keeping an eye on princey,’ but Erik suspected he had… ulterior motives. And since the rose incident from last night was still stinging in his blood, the thief decided to make it as difficult for the showman as possible.

He made certain to place himself between the performer and Luminary at all times, and always kept Sylvando visible in the corner of his eye. His experience in staking out possible targets for thievery made this easy, and if Sylvando so much as breathed in El’s direction, Erik made sure he was there.

Of course, this put him even more on edge than he was before, which resulted in some absolute brutality being unleashed on every Flython and Crabber unfortunate enough to cross their path. He stabbed his knife deep into each monster, feeling a little of his frustration ebb out of him with each strike. It was far from healthy, but if he didn’t do something he was going to explode.

The only thing that turned his blood from a raging fury to a simmer, it was the concerned looks his blind companion kept casting towards him after each lethal blow. He knew he was worrying El with his behavior, and it tore him up a little bit.

Why was he like this? Why was he so bad at dealing with… feelings?! He’d never been good at this sort of thing, and it had already torn his life apart once, he didn’t want that to happen again, but the thief was at a loss for what to do.

If only he could explain to himself why his blood boiled when anyone even looked at El in some possibly suspicious way, or why he only ever felt truly carefree when the brunette was around to distract him. If he could name it, maybe he could deal with it.

But he didn’t know what it was, so he just thought himself in a circle again, which only built the frustration. Freaking Sylvando, why was he even here? This was all his fault!

Erik was both relieved and distressed when El ordered a camp break for the night. His muscles screamed for rest, but he was not looking forward to having to play nice with the newcomer around the campfire.

Once the troop had gotten settled, Sylvando struck up a conversation, grilling El’s team on why exactly they had come to Gallopolis. Erik left the retelling of their story to El and the twins, keeping his thoughts only on getting his dinner from bowl to mouth. Even so, he couldn’t stop himself from overhearing.

“My, that’s quite a story. And quite the adventure. Out on the road, two boys, two girls, how romantic.” The performer sighed, a dreamy look on his face.

“What about you, Sylvando?” Serena asked. “What brings you into town?”

“Moi? Oh, nothing more than the circus, truly. My life story isn’t nearly so interesting.”

That was an expert dodge. Maybe Erik was right to be suspicious…

There was a soft clinking sound as El set his empty dishes down.

“We should turn in early for tonight, we’ll need our strength for the fight tomorrow.”

The others agreed, and each turned to ready their respective beds. Erik stood to do the same but paused when he felt El’s gentle touch on his shoulder.

“If it’s alright with you, Erik, I’d like to talk about something before bed. Away from the others.”

Erik had a bad feeling about this, but there was no way he could refuse the other boy.

“Alright.”

Together, they made their way quietly out of the campsite, heading towards the cliffside that overlooked the sea.

Sylvando watched them leave out of the corner of his eye before turning to look at the twins.

“Tell me, dears, did I do something to offend Erik in some way?” The jester asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

Veronica looked up from her stuff momentarily.

“Ah, he’s like that with everyone, cagy as a wildcat. He’ll get over it.”

“Mm… I’m not so certain. He had an eye on me all day, that’s a little beyond being a bit antisocial.”

“Well, you did give El a rose last night,” Serena commented.

Sylvando looked confused.

“The rose? Why would that- Oh!” Sylvando pressed his hands against the sides of his face in surprise. “Oh, my Goddess, I had no idea! If I had known the young man was taken, I never would have given him such a gift!”

“You wouldn’t?” Veronica asked.

The performer shook his head furiously.

“Oh heavens, no. Sylvando may flirt, but he is no thief of taken hearts! Why, that’s about the most dishonorable thing I can think of!”

“Well, you are a bit off the mark, Erik and El don’t have a thing yet.” Serena commented from where her bedroll was set up.

“They’re not? Then what’s with the protective dog act?”

“Erik wants to have a thing,” Veronica stressed. “But he doesn’t have the courage yet to do it.” The mage shook her head sadly, as if the thief were already a lost cause.

“I don’t know, Veronica,” Serena interjected. “I think he doesn’t quite know what he’s feeling yet.”

Sylvando clapped his hands together, suddenly looking mischievously giddy.

“Ooh, a budding young romance in motion! So exciting!”

“I hope you’re not thinking of getting involved.” Veronica said cautiously.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, darling. But I do love a bit of drama, and I intend to support their trials of love wholeheartedly!” He declared, one finger pointed to the sky.

“Trials of love?” Veronica whispered to herself, a little exasperated.

“If you don’t mind me asking, then,” Serena spoke up. “Why did you give El the rose?”

“Well, dearie, because he was the only one in the audience that night without a smile on his face. And if there’s one thing I can’t abide by it’s leaving the stage with even a single person unhappy. Though if I’d known about him and Erik, I would have chosen a gift with more platonic implications.”

“Well, I suppose that was only natural given he couldn’t see your show.” Veronica commented absentmindedly.

“Ah… excuse me?”

Veronica froze and flushed slightly with embarrassment.

“Ah, shoot, I’m not sure if I was supposed to say anything. It’s kind of El’s secret to give away.”

“Cat’s out of the bag now, sister.” Serena shook her head sadly.

“What exactly is out of the bag?” Sylvando asked, clearly confused.

“El happens to be blind.” Serena answerd for her flustered sibling.

Sylvando stared at the two, wide eyed and mouth opened.

“It was a surprise for us, too.” Veronica found her voice again. “We had no idea until they told us by accident. I sometimes wonder if El completely forgets that his condition is uncommon.”

Sylvando let out a breath, bringing a hand to his face as he contemplated that information.

“That young man is far more remarkable than I could have ever expected…”

Serena interrupted his thoughts with a hearty yawn.

“Oh, excuse me, I must be incredibly worn out after today. I think we could all use the extra sleep.”

“You speak the truth, dear. Sweet dreams to you all!”

After blowing a kiss, seemingly to the sky, Sylvando rolled himself up in his blankets and was quickly asleep. The twins followed suit not long after.

The desert air was crisp at this time of night, a few stars dotted the quickly darkening the sky. Alone with only El for company amongst the sand, it was almost peaceful. The Luminary walked to the cliff’s edge, and Erik started forward to stop him, but the boy only crouched, felt for the edge, and sat down so his legs could dangle over the drop.

The brunette patted the ground next to him, and Erik took the invitation to sit down. A silence settled over the two, accented only by the breaking of waves against the rocks below.

“Are there any stars out?” El asked.

Erik was startled for a moment, and then looked up at the sky.

“A few, still a little light outside though.”

El hummed.

“I love the night air, it’s always so cool and calm.”

“Yeah…”

Silence again for a few more moments.

“Is… there some reason you brought me out here?” Erik asked.

“Oh, nothing major. You just seemed a little… stressed today. I could hear it in your movements, and in how quickly those monsters bit the dust. We’re here to relax a bit, away from the others.”

Erik stared at him.

“How…”

“How what?” El’s eyes were on him now.

“How do you always know?”

El froze for a moment.

“I don’t know, I just do. I guess I’m used to you. I could always tell when Mom and Gemma were upset, there’s a ton of little tells in a person’s voice and movement.”

“Geeze, I can’t imagine being so considerate of someone else.”

“You’re awfully considerate of me.”

Erik froze again, feeling a familiar heat come rushing back.

“Th-that’s just… I mean…”

“Ah, don’t you write it off as anything less than what it is, mister. I won’t allow it.” The two broke out into laughter, and Erik felt the weight lift from his shoulders again.

“Seriously, Erik. You’ve done so much for me, and you keep doing so much for me. I don’t think I would have gotten this far without you. And… that means a lot to me. You mean a lot to me.”

El turned his face away from him again, but Erik caught the sight of redness staining his cheeks.

“I completely get that people are… a stress for you. But I don’t like seeing you isolate yourself from them either. Veronica, Serena, Sylvando, too… they have good intentions, I know it. I’m not asking you to get super close with them but being a little open to their help will be worth it in the long run. And if you do ever need time away, you can come find me anytime.”

El looked back at him, a sudden intensity in his clouded eyes.

“I mean it, Erik. I’m here for you to rely on as much as I rely on you.”

That warmth had spread all through Erik’s chest and into his limbs. He both felt like he could climb Erdrea’s tallest mountain, and collapse into an exhausted heap simultaneously. But at that moment, the world had narrowed to just him and El.

At once, his tension fled, and he felt so stupid for being so territorial that day. It sent all kinds of feelings through him to know his place in El’s world was secure.

“Alright,” Erik relented, his voice sounding more shaken than he would have liked. “I’ll play nice from now on.”

El smiled, and Erik was certain he’d made the right choice.

“I’m so glad to hear that. C’mon, let’s get back, I’m exhausted.”

As the boys got up and dusted sand from their pants, El offered the thief his hand again as they started back. Still, Erik couldn’t take his eyes from the Luminary, as another unbidden realization became clear in that moment.

I would do anything for him.

The Slayer of the Sands gave their party a good work out the next day. Erik and El dished out the majority of damage, weaving in and out of range to hack away at it’s protective shell, while Veronica covered them with stat debuffs and a barrage of magic attacks when the opportunity arose. Serena stayed to the back, focusing her strength on keeping everyone else standing and making sure Veronica didn’t run out of spell power.

Sylvando was lending his aid to both efforts, buffing the thief and Luminary’s attack powers between getting in hits with his saber and letting lose jets of flame across the creature’s back. Feris and his band of “soldiers” cowered under the rocky overhang, being as useless as expected. But their assistance wasn’t needed. While the fight was long, El and the others eventually wore the creature down, and with a final set of strikes from knives and swords alike, the scorpion collapsed to the sand, tossing up a cloud of dust in its wake.

Of course, once the beast was down, Feris was back to his trumped-up self, strutting triumphantly over to the slain creature and ordering his men to chain the beast up for transport.

Erik growled under his breath, losing his patience for the prince taking credit for other people’s wins. He felt El place a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s alright, I’m fine with letting him have this one. Besides, my grandpa always said, ‘you get what you dish out.’ He’ll have to pay for his decisions soon enough.”

That statement turned out to be true. Almost as soon as the party returned to Gallopolis, the giant scorpion woke up and shrugged off its chains like tissue paper. El grabbed his sword, about to give the order for his team to spread out into a fighting position, but before they could, Feris took the opportunity to show his true metal.

The young man actually grabbed a sword and stood ready to face the beast, a surprise to any who knew the true him. Though he was severely out matched, and out classed, the mere fact that he was trying managed to raise his status from simple coward to determined amateur in Erik’s eyes.

He was about to ask the Luminary if they should step in once the prince’s sword broke, but who else but Sylvando should swoop down from the roof tops and cleanly carve the beast in two. As the creature collapsed to the ground for the last time, the jester gave Prince Feris a lecture about knighthood that seemed to come from somewhere more personal than one would expect.

Erik picked up on this but pushed it away. It wasn’t any of his business.

 El and his group joined the Gallopolis rulers some time later, eager to receive the Rainbough at last, only to be thoroughly disappointed when it was revealed that Feris’ dad had sold the thing off to a merchant over a week ago.

And to pay for the extravagance of the prince’s Sand National debut, no less!

Feris gave them a nervous smile and a ‘what can you do’ shrug. Erik was seriously about to turn his knives on him, but El stopped the thief before he could cause a national incident by assassinating the heir in broad daylight. Erik could tell he was frustrated as well but had also come to terms with the fact that there was nothing they could do.

After they got the merchant’s next probable location, the sea side town of Gondolia, their little band resigned themselves to another very long walk.

As they neared Gallopolis’ front gates, a call came from above.

“Hold on there, darlings!”

Sylvando, as if it could be anyone else, jumped from the top of the gate, managing several flips and spins before landing gracefully on his feet.

“Sylvando?” El asked, surprised. “What are you doing here? I thought you were heading out to your next performance.”

“I am silly. I can’t let my escorts head out without me.”

“Wait, you mean us?” Erik asked, sounding incredulous. “I don’t remember getting hired to watch your flamboyant ass.”

“But of course, you can’t tell me such an amazing story and not expect me to come along with. This is an adventure I simply can’t miss out on. I mean, getting to travel with a set of gifted mages, a crafty theif, and a blind Luminary? What a story this will make.”

Erik did a double take at his words.

“Wait, how did you know El was blind?”

Veronica flushed and turned her head away. Erik caught the movement and sent an accusing glare her way.

“… Oops.” The red mage admitted.

“Way to go, big mouth.” Erik crossed his arms over his chest disapprovingly.

“Hey!” Veronica turned to start up another bought when El stepped in.

“It’s alright. I don’t mind if people know I can’t see. To be honest, sometimes I forget to mention it myself.”

“Oh, you didn’t have to tell us that.” Erik responded.

The newly expanded group shared a laugh, and together they set course towards the coast.

Perhaps Erik should have expected Sylvando would join them, given their constant run-ins with the performer over the past few days. Perhaps Yggdrasil was at work with destiny again. Either way, Sylvando was welcomed to the team with open arms, and as they finally set out for what they hope would be the Rainbough’s final location, Erik found he was less bothered with the jesters presence than he had thought.

After all, he was still the only one who got to hold El’s hand.

Chapter Text

Gondolia was probably the most beautiful city Erik had been to so far. The natural light filtered over multi-colored houses and across the water in a way that made the whole town shine like some sea-side paradise. It was far calmer than Gallopolis; no giant crowds or horses being pulled through the streets, just a simple, open air market occupied by a few residents, the shopkeepers, and fishermen. And the proximity to the ocean washed the area with that crisp salty smell that really opened a person’s lungs.

El seemed more comfortable here as well, taking in deep breaths with his head tilted back slightly and a smile on his face.

“Oh wow,” he remarked. “This place smells amazing. And it’s so… relaxed and quiet.”

“I’ll say.” Erik answered him. “So, where to next?”

“Well, that merchant you’ve been chasing is likely long gone,” Sylvando joined the two near the stairs to the main bridge. “Lucky for you, I happen to have just the thing to get us where we need to go.”

“And that is?” El asked, sightless eyes turned intently towards the jester.

“A boat of our very own!” The showman declared with the usual flourish of his hands, as if it were some grand reveal.

“Ooh, that sounds much nicer than trying to find passage on a fishing vessel,” Serena chimed in.

“Yeah, sounds great! Where’s it at, Sylv?” Veronica asked.

“Why down at the docks, of course, where else do you keep a boat?”

“Shall we go, then?” El asked his troop.

After the others gave their shared agreements, they headed off towards Gondolia’s lower section. As Erik reached out a hand to grab El’s, another hand clapped onto his shoulder and stopped him.

“Ah, Erik, honey,” It was Sylvando, smiling widely and warmly at the thief.

Erik still felt that twinge of annoyance, but it passed quickly. He’d given El his word, so he would do his best to give Sylvando a chance.

“Yeah?”

“Mind if I talk to you on the way down? A bit away from the others?”

“But-” The thief protested, looking back towards the Luminary, who was waiting patiently for him.

“It’s alright, Erik,” The brunette assured him. “One of the girls can help me.”

“If you do not object, I would be more than happy to assist.” Serena said with a smile, eagerly offering her hand to El.

The Luminary nodded in her direction, and the green mage led him off by the hand towards the stairs, her sister following close behind. Veronica threw a knowing smile over her shoulder, and Erik fought the instinct to blush at her insinuation.

“Well, I guess I can’t say ‘no’ now…”

Sylvando clapped his hands together.

“That’s the spirit, Darling!”

Erik and Sylvando walked a few paces behind El and the girls, and despite the fact that the jester had asked for a conversation, the thief kept his eyes centered on the Luminary, ready to spring into action should they encounter any surprises on the way.

“So, Erik, dear?”

“Yeah?” He answered Sylvando without looking at him.

“I understand that I did something that gave you a bad impression of me, and I wish to clear that up so we can start off on the right foot.”

This got Erik’s attention. He didn’t respond to the showman but was now looking in his direction.

“I must apologize. I never intended to give the impression that I wished to court that dear El friend of yours, and it was my mistake for using something so often thought of as a romantic symbol.”

Erik stiffened, heat rising to his face as he stumbled to a stop in shock. He was not a fan of this conversation anymore. Sylvando stopped as well, but continued on, unaware of Erik’s discomfort.

“It’s simply that roses are some of my favorite flowers, and they’ve always made me smile. And that night, I was only trying to make our friend smile, too. Though now I understand it wasn’t that he was unhappy with my performance, but likely because he couldn’t see what I was doing. I apologize for this grave miscommunication.”

“W-wh-why are you telling me this?!”

“Well you seemed rather put off by the idea of me being so forward. So, I wanted to assure you have no untoward feelings for our little hero, you have nothing to worry about from me.”

With a final smile, the showman turned and skipped off after the rest of their group, leaving Erik behind. The thief stood there in shock for a moment.

“Hey, wait!” He called after the retreating man.

Sylvando stopped and turned back to him.

“He did like your show, he was smiling almost the whole night. I described it to him as best I could, and I could tell he was enjoying myself. He just got a little… worried for me. During the whole thing with the knives I kinda reacted hastily and freaked him out.” Erik scratched at the back of his neck, embarrassed to have to admit this.

Sylvando smiled again, this time filled with care and gentleness.

“Then let me apologize for that as well, Erik.”

The blue-haired boy nodded, before breaking into a jog to catch up with the others who were waiting at the entrance to the docks.

While the atmosphere of Gondolia was relaxing, the Luminary’s group’s experience there was no less frantic and fraught with set backs than any of their previous stops.

First, the docks were closed due to the local tough-guy competition starting that day, much to Erik’s distaste, and even more than that, the others in their party seemed fine with spinning their wheels in the sea side town, checking out the sights until they could board Sylvando’s ship.

Erik wasn’t in the mood to lollygag around and decided to go find this ‘Doge’ guy to explain their situation and have him make an acceptation. Luckily, El was more than willing to go with.

It was the perfect plan, until the Doge learned who they were and slammed the door in their face. With that path closed off, Erik was about to resign himself to waiting, until they found the kid missing his voice. As soon as the kid’s friend began explaining their plight, Erik saw that familiar glimmer of concern and pity enter El’s foggy eyes and he knew exactly what was coming next.

Sure enough, the Luminary had their friends gathered up once again and marched them off to a nearby cave where Serena said a special kind of curse-breaking water could be found. Supposedly, it would fix the boy right up.

Several monster killing sessions and one giant coral colossus later, they had their magic water and eagerly made the trip back to Gondolia after resting their sore bones for a bit.

By the time they got back, the rest of the group was on board with getting back on the road soon. Sylvando raved about the quality of the beds on his ship, which only increased everyone’s discomfort. Because of this, someone came up with the bright idea to split the party.

“Sounds good to me,” El agreed. “Serena, you take Veronica and Sylv and go find that boy. Erik and I will check out the competition, see if there’s anything we can do to move things along.”

“Why do I get the feeling that will involve us having to participate?” The thief whined.

“Aww, what’s the matter, Erik? Not confident in your skills?” Veronica teased.

Erik didn’t rise to her bait but rolled his eyes and shook his head in mock annoyance despite the slight smile on his face. The group said their ‘see you later’s’ once again, and Erik took El’s hand as they headed down Gondolia’s main bridge. The Luminary had a strange look on his face, like he was forcing back a grin.

“What’s got you in a good mood?”

“You.” He responded with surprising bluntness.

Erik flushed.

“M-me?”

The brunette nodded.

“You didn’t start another fight with Veronica back there.”

“A-ah…” Erik stuttered, scratching the back of his head. “What can I say? The half-pint’s grown on me.”

El chuckled, lifting his free hand to his face in a gesture that made Erik feel weak at the knees.

“Thank you.”

“What for?”

“For trying. Like you promised.”

Memories of the starry night in the desert came back to him.

“Oh, yeah. Well I am a man of my word.”

He played off the embarrassment with a little false bravado. If El noticed, he didn’t say anything about it.

The raised dais at the end of the bridge was a rather opulent location for such a laid-back town. There was a rather intricate looking pattern set into the floor made from colored stones, and the pillars that ringed the area were decorated with streamers and flower trains, likely in celebration of the contest.

As the boys approached, they caught sight of a rather tall, shinning figure talking with a squat man they had met earlier; the contest’s host. The stranger glinted in the sunlight, a mini sun that had come down to the earth to blind everyone in the local area.

“Geeze, that’s gotta be some well-polished armor. Think he’s in the contest?”

He turned to his blind companion, but El’s expression had changed. His eyebrows were pinched together in a look of concentration. He was sniffing at the air again. Suddenly, the Luminary jolted to a stop, halting Erik along with him.

“Erik,” he whispered in a tense voice. “I smell Heliodor.”

The thief’s eyes widened, he turned back towards the dais. Now, the light had shifted somewhat, and he could make out the details of the newcomer.

A tall man, definitely older than them, dressed from head to toe in shining white armor, long blond hair held back in a ponytail, narrowed eyes and slanted brows that gave his face a look of constant arrogance that was true to his personality.

“Holy shit, is that Jasper?” Erik whispered.

El tugged urgently at his hand.

“We need to go.” The Luminary still whispered, but his voice sounded strained with fear.

Erik wasn’t going to disagree with that plan. They both turned to run off and find the others, but as if they appeared from a magic portal, a whole line of Heliodor soldiers stepped out from behind the market stalls and formed an impassible wall, cutting off their escape. Erik muttered a curse as he pulled them both to a stop, quickly positioning himself in front of El while drawing his knife. He heard the Luminary pull his sword free as well.

“Well, well, well.”

A snarky, weaselly sounding voice grated against Erik’s ears, and both boys turned to watch as Jasper approached, casually walking down the stairs, confident in his authority. The thief kept his head high and shot a glare towards the white knight.

He held back the need to spit in Jasper’s direction. Hendrik, at least, he could stand. The black armored Heliodorian seemed serious about keeping his oaths as a knight, but everyone in the criminal underbelly knew Jasper was a cruel man, eager to abuse his power over the weak.

“Seems today is my lucky day. One Darkspawn and one Darkspawn accomplice, delivered right into my hands.” His smile was an ugly, white scar splitting open his face.

“Don’t get cocky,” Erik taunted with his own roguish grin. “Avoiding you lot this long has been no accident.”

“Oh, I don’t think so.” Jasper chuckled darkly. “Close in, men.”

The armored guards moved in on the boys. Erik flinched closer to El, one hand griping his knife and the other one placed on the brunette so the thief could grab him at a moment’s notice. He cast a glance towards his blind friend.

“Here they come!”

The Heliodor soldiers were as incompetent as ever, and with a few good whacks or blasts of magic, they keeled over no problem. No, the real issue was that there were so damn many of them! For each one they felled, two more charged into the fray, swords flashing in the sunlight.

The thief and Luminary found themselves slowly cornered against the foot of the stairs, pushed back inch by inch under the onslaught of steel, and closer to Jasper. The knight stood on the steps behind them, that sickle smile curled into deadly points as he watched his prey being slowly cornered.

Erik felt a nervous sweat break out across his forehead. Neither of them could keep this up for much longer. El was low on magic and was having trouble keeping track of where each individual knight was standing, his hits missing more frequently than usual. Erik’s hands felt weak from clashing against the weight of so many swords, and he could feel his legs moving slower than they had at the start. At this rate, neither would last.

Just when he was about to consider grabbing El and bailing into the canal, there was a sizzling, crackling sound, and a flash of light spiraled down from the sky.

A rain of fireballs collided with the line of soldiers, knocking them down like pins. Several fell off the bridge and into the water, in such a comedic fashion Erik almost let out a hysterical laugh at the sight.

When the fire stopped, Sylvando and Veronica were standing on the bridge.

“Ah, ah, ah! Not so fast, Honey!” Sylvando declared, wagging one finger at the head knight.

“Yeah! …Honey!” Veronica copied the jester’s pointing.

Jasper’s smile had dropped, his face now scrunched in a scowl of annoyance.

“More petty flies,” the knight spat. “Well, no matter. The more Darkspawn I can kill today the better.”

The knight began moving down the stairs, his other goons managing to pick themselves up off the ground.

“My, my, someone’s cocky, wouldn’t you say, Vinnie?”

“Looks so!” Veronica smirked, eyes sparking with mischief. “Guess they didn’t learn their lesson.”

The two shared a wink, and together, cast another volley of fire down upon the bridge. The falling meteors sent tremors through the stone, and the soldiers that weren’t hit lost their balance once again. Even Jasper struggled to keep his footing, stumbling around like he was riding a ship being tossed in a storm.

“Gah… you damn…. Pests!”

 He tried to draw his sword, but another tremor shifted his balance again and the weapon clattered out of his hands and onto the floor. The knight growled in frustration.

As the chaos unfolded, Erik had grabbed El almost immediately and took off towards the top of the dais, both of them letting out unstifled giggles.

“Some friends we got, huh?” Erik asked the other boy.

“Yeah, they’re the best.” El agreed, smiling once again.

“Over here!”

Erik caught sight of a figure dressed in green. Serena was crouched by one of the stairs that let to Gondolia’s lower section, waving frantically in their direction.

I was wondering where she was at.

The thief changed their course and made a beeline for the mage, when a sudden weight crashed into him from behind.

“Look out!”

El ran into the blue-haired boy, sending them both crashing sideways onto the stone, as a ball of dark flame rocketed past and left a scorching hole in a nearby pillar. The boys sat panting in shock for a moment, but quickly got to their feet.

Jasper came to a halt a few paces away from them, another ball of dark fire building in his palm. That cruel smile was back.

“Did you think I would let escape be that easy, Darkspawn? Now that your allies are appropriately distracted, we can settle this.”

Erik’s eyes darted from Jasper to Serena, who was now hiding herself behind the railing. The knight’s dark magic continued to build for another attack. There was no time, there was no escape. They both couldn’t make it to the stairs before Jasper was ready for another strike. There were no options left.

Unless…

Jaw clenched in determination, Erik pulled El close towards him, before pushing the Luminary towards Serena with all his strength.

“Go, run!” He shouted.

Luckily, the blind Luminary obeyed without thinking, automatically breaking into a mad dash.

“Fools!” Jasper shouted, eyes bright with a sick glee, as he launched the fireball towards the fleeing brunette.

But before it could reach its target, it struck Erik’s chest instead. The thief cried out in pain, a cold kind of burn lacing through skin. It reminded him of the winter winds of Sniflheim, a cold so biting it was like sticking your hand in a camp fire. He collapsed to the ground, muscles still twitching with remembered pain, even as the tingling feeling faded from his chest.

As he looked up, eyes slightly blurred, he saw that El had reached Serena, but both were paused on the stairs. Serena looked shocked, El looked panicked.

“Erik?!” He shouted back, sounding half hysterical.

The whizzing sound Erik recognized as activating magic reverberated at the edge of his hearing.

“Run!” He cried out at the two frozen figures. “Go, get out of here!”

His voice was shot but was still loud enough to snap them out. El look furious, and one hand reached for his sword, but Serena grabbed it, pulling the Luminary behind her as they took off towards the docks. El tried to resist, calling out something that Erik could no longer hear. They disappeared around a bend, and Erik sighed in relief.

A shadow covered him, and the thief looked up to see Jasper’s horrifically pretty mug looming over his prone body.

“A clever move, thief, but you’ve only bought them time.”

“If it keeps him… away from you… it’s enough.” He spat out, a deep hatred running through him that Erik rarely felt.

Jasper only laughed and brought his steel-toed boot down on Erik’s head, sending him into a dreamless sleep.

Sylvando watched as the last of the Heliodorian patrol walked up the stairs from the docks and disappeared into the main streets. The jester let out a sigh of relief, slumping back against the crates their ragtag group had chosen as their hiding place.

Well, almost all of their group.

The news that Erik had been captured had hit all of them hard, though no one was taking it worse than El. The poor boy had wedged himself into a corner of the crate stacks, legs pulled up to his chest, eyes downcast, looking very small and decidedly unheroic.

One hand kept running across the other which bore the Luminary’s mark. It was also the one Erik held most often. El didn’t exactly look like he was on the verge of tears, or about to burst into rage, he seemed more… lost than anything.

Sylvando’s heart broke at the sight.

The girls looked exhausted. Veronica was worn out from spending her magic on creating that rain of fire that scattered those pesky soldiers, and Serena was still shaken up from their near escape from Jasper. All in all, their party was not in good shape.

But if there was any time to whip up some Sylvando-grade smiles it was now!

The showman gracefully hopped to his feet, clapping his hands together.

“All right, looks to me like we’re all a bit pooped, so let’s take this down time to get some rest while we plan our next move.”

The girls’ looked up at him, Veronica with determination, and Serena with uncertainty mixed with hope.

“Sounds good,” Veronica agreed. “We can’t let that uppity tin can get away with what he’s done.”

Serena nodded, her hands clenched together over her chest.

“I can’t imagine how scarred Erik must be right now. We have to save him, the sooner the better.”

Sylvando turned to their leader, expecting to see that familiar burning hope in his eyes as he gave a rousing speech to get them back into gear, but the boy was still staring sightlessly down at his hands, face blank and distant.

Sylvando saw the girls’ expressions fall. This wasn’t good. El was doubtlessly the heart of their group, that shinning beacon for their motley crew to rally around, and without which they could easily fall apart. If their rescue mission was going to work out, El had to be snapped out of his funk first.

Sylvando told the girls to get something to eat and go over their gear, before walking over to settle next to the Luminary against the crates. For a time, the jester said nothing, choosing to let the silence speak for any greeting he could have given.

“You’ll scrape that mark right off if you keep doing that, Honey.”

El’s head jerked up, and the Luminary’s clouded eyes turned to him.

“Oh, Sylvando. I’m sorry, I was lost in my own thoughts, I guess…” he trailed off, still rubbing at his hand absentmindedly.

“I’ll say. You didn’t respond to anything we said earlier.”

“You were talking?” His voice was subdued and lacked any real interest in what the others had been discussing.

“Yes, we’re going to start on our game plan once we’ve all rested up a bit. You don’t have to worry.” He draped an arm over the Luminary’s shoulder and let the younger man rest his head against the performer’s arm. “We won’t be leaving him behind.”

A tremor wracked the brunette’s body. Not the reaction Sylv had been hoping for. El wasn’t crying aloud, but the silent shaking betrayed what was happening. Sylvando rubbed his hand soothingly up and down the younger boy’s arm.

“Oh, Honey, I know, I know… cry as much as you need to.”

“He’s gone…” The Luminary spoke up, voice cracked and broken. “He’s just… gone. Just like that. He’s not here anymore…”

The brunette stopped after that, choosing instead to burry further into Sylvando’s side rather than continue. The jester was a little unsure what El was trying to say by that, but he knew heartbreak and loss when he saw it, that much was clear.

“I know, it hurts to be separated from someone you love, especially in such a cruel way. But you can’t wallow in the despair. Erik is still alive, he’s up there waiting for us to come back for him. He’s a strong one, that’s certain, so you can be sure he’s not giving up on you. So, we won’t give up on him. Once all the tears are gone, we’ll put one kickass plan together and teach those bullies a lesson. Jasper won’t know what hit him.”

Sylvando finished with his dashing, confident smile, hoping that El could at least sense the encouragement he was trying to give, even if he couldn’t see it. His prays were answered as the young boy pulled away, face a mask of hardened determination.

“You’re right. We’re getting him back, Sylv. No matter what.”

“Now, that’s the spirit, Darling!” Sylvando cheered. “Come now, let’s get some food in you, get that sword sharpened, and hash out some ideas.”

With the jester’s comforting arm still wrapped around his shoulders, he walked El to where the twins had their equipment spread out already. The absence of Erik was still a deep ache in his chest, like Jasper had carved a piece of him away without even touching him, but he’d covered the shock and loss with his fury, and certainty that he would get Erik back at any cost.

Jasper better watch his back.

Erik had been awake for a few minutes now, but he was already missing that blank sleep with each wave of pain that ricochet up from his chest wound. The ropes dug tightly into his skin and rubbed against the raw mark in the worst way, making for very uncomfortable captivity.

The thief couldn’t see much from his place against the pole, but he could hear the clanking of armor as Jasper’s men continued their sweep of Gondolia for the Luminary and his friends. He could only hope he had bought them enough time to make their escape and find some hole far away from this place where they could hide.

Jasper stood a few paces away, looking out over Gondolia as if he thought himself a king. Erik would be lying if he said he wasn’t scared. Jasper was one of the few people who legitimately terrified him. Horror stories about what he would do to the king’s enemies were passed around in the slums like campfire tales, and it was more common for mothers to use him to scare their children than any of the actual monsters roaming the countryside.

His heart yearned to see El again, it felt wrong to not be near him. What if something else happened and Erik was no longer around to look after him? Could Sylv and the twins keep track of him by themselves? No one else knew El’s needs as well as he did.

Would they watch him when he had to climb stairs in case he fell? Would they know how much he hates loud places and know to steer clear of crowds? Would they remember he needed to walk a place a few times so he wouldn’t get himself lost somewhere new?

And who would he sleep next to at night, when the silence managed to unsettle that seemingly unshakable courage and certainty?

But there was nothing to be done about that now. Maybe once Jasper decided to move him, there would be a chance to escape. But without his knives, there would be no cutting this rope, and there wasn’t anywhere he could sneak off to if he did. The dais was completely exposed from all angles, and with Jasper smack in the middle, the knight would spot him for sure. And Yggdrasil only knew what he’d do to the thief then.

For now, he would wait and watch for his chance. He had to focus on that.

Jasper’s eyes flickered over to where the thief stood, trust up against the stone pillar. His grin widened when he noticed the boy was awake and sauntered over to Erik with the relaxed grace of a cat. Erik tried to put on a demeaner of mild annoyance to cover his anger, fear, and frustration.

“Back with the living, thief?” Jasper cooed, voice dripping with sarcasm.

“With you here? I must have gone to hell already.”

“Don’t make jokes, you may be arriving there soon, your friends included.” The scheming look on his face broke Erik’s façade for a moment.

“After all, it shouldn’t be that hard to catch a clown, a maiden, a child, and a blind boy.”

Erik almost choked. He knew. Jasper knew El was blind!

“H-how… how did you know that?”

Jasper only smiled.

“I’m not stupid, boy.”

The sound of clashing swords rang out in the distance, and Jasper chuckled to himself.

“As I thought. Those who think themselves ‘heroes’ wouldn’t dare leave a friend behind.” He looked smugly back at Erik, certain that the thief understood.

And he did. Jasper knew El’s weakness and was using Erik as bait to lead the boy right to his trap.

The minutes ticked by agonizingly slowly as Erik waited with held breath to see if the Luminary would arrive, sword blazing, with the others behind him. So far, only the distant sounds of fighting, which broke out sporadically, signaled that anything was happening.

But the fights were so small and infrequent, it was impossible to tell where they were or how far away. Jasper’s confident look had soured to frustration as the night wore on, foot tapping against the stone with his arms crossed in a look far too pouty for a grown man.

Erik chuckled at the sight, taking advantage of the moment to push the knight closer to losing his patience.

“Things not going to plan, Jasper? Not a real surprise, those knights of yours might as well be wielding butter knives for all the good they can do with them.”

Jasper’s teeth clenched.

“I mean, they left me unguarded for hours in that dungeon cell. Not that I’m complaining, gave me plenty of time to get my escape route prepared. And plenty of time to snatch the Luminary on my way out as a bonus.”

Now the tapping had stopped, but the knight’s hands tightened into tight fists.

“You know, that job ‘aughta make me a legend among thieves and robbers. Erik: the thief who managed to steal the Luminary right from under the King’s nose, my greatest snatched treasure yet; Yggdrasil’s chosen himself.”

The knight’s body had stilled, but Erik could feel the rage seeping off of him in waves. Maybe this is what El was talking about.

“What kind of army can’t even keep hold of an untrained blind boy from the country?”

Jasper finally exploded, but not in the way Erik expected. Instead of roaring out his anger or flying into a rage, the knight drew his sword and stomped angrily down the stairs.

“Get your tin heads out of your asses, fools! I’ll find him myself!”

Erik let out a sigh as the blonde man finally disappeared. Now to work at the ropes. He was planning to bide his time, but if there was one thing he would not stand for, it was being used as a way to hurt El. Escaping later was no longer an option.

The blue-haired boy began twisting himself back and forth as much as he could in the space offered. The ropes scrapped against his burn, but he held in the groans of pain. A contortionist he’d met on a job had once given him pointers about how you could dislocate your arms just enough to create enough space to slip out of a bound rope. It was a trick often showed off during street performances, but Erik had seen it as a technique that might come in handy on the job.

Once he did get out, he would be useless in a fight until he could pop his joints back into place, but this was a last resort kind of scenario, so the consequences were negligible.

“C’mon, almost…”

Suddenly, the rope went slack, before dropping to the floor in loops like a dead snake. Erik stared at the cut binding in disbelief, not sure what had happened.

“I think you’ll need this.”

A voice he desperately wanted to hear came from around the pillar, and a brunette dressed in purple stepped into view, holding Erik’s knife in one hand.

“El!” He cried in as loud of a whisper as he dared.

The other boy barreled into him with a force that drove the wind from Erik’s lungs, and he grunted in surprise for a moment as El wrapped him into a hug.

The brunette didn’t say anything, just held him tighter than a boa constrictor, face hidden in the thief’s shoulder.

Erik felt warm. Things felt right again, and he let his arms fall down to encircle his dearest companion.

“As nice as this moment is,” Veronica’s whisper interrupted them as the girl poked her head out from behind the pillar. “We need to get moving. Sylv will have our escape route in place soon.”

“You came too, half-pint?” Erik asked, genuinely touched.

Veronica flushed in embarrassment, turning away from them slightly with her hands on her hips.

“Y-yeah, well, that one was completely distraught without you, and I promised to look after him, so that means I gotta look after you too, I guess.”

Erik looked down at El, still buried in his arms. His heart melted a little more.

“Thank you. For looking after him. I mean that.”

Veronica blinked at him.

“Well, of course, spike head. He’s important to us too, you know. And so are you.”

Erik smiled. Maybe having friends wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Serena joined them after Veronica gave the all clear, sprinting quickly over to the dais from the shadows cast by the bridges.

“So, what’s our plan?” Erik asked.

“Sylvando was supposed to come find us with our method of escape,” El explained, now back in his leadership role. “But we got our chance to break you out sooner than expected.”

“So, dodge and weave until Sylv can pick us up?” Erik asked.

“Seems like it.” Veronica confirmed.

“Alright, sounds good to me. ‘Dodge and weave’ is what I do for a living, shouldn’t be too hard.”

“That’s what you think, Darkspawn.”

Erik cursed as they all jumped, turning in time to see Jasper climbing the dais stairs again, sword still drawn.

“Of course, the mice wouldn’t come out to play until their hunter left the bait. I told you I wasn’t stupid.”

A dark aura sprung up around the edge of his blade, and the knight raised it into a battle stance. Erik grabbed El by the arm, tugging him along behind as he broke into a run.

“DODGE AND WEAVE!” He screamed and the rest of the party took off behind him.

“Run as much as you’d like, rats, you won’t find a place to hide!”

Erik wasn’t sure how long they evaded the Heliodorian forces. Everything was so chaotic and spurred on by fear and adrenalin time felt like it was flying past and at a standstill at the same time. With El in one hand and knife in the other, Erik led their group as they bolted around Gondolia like it was an obstacle course, dodging swings from swords and spears wielded by Jasper’s unimpressive lackeys, weaving between stalls that were often destroyed by the knights crashing into them and causing the townspeople all kinds of strife, and staying out of Jasper’s line of sight as much as possible.

Along the way, El and Veronica covered them with magic, blasting their pursuers back when they gathered too close or too many. Serena kept to her usual work of healing wounds and maintaining spell energy, staying as close to the members with destructive power as possible so she wouldn’t be left unguarded.

If Jasper was looking for a real game of cat and mouse to go with his metaphors, he’d sure found it. The sea-side town was a mess by the time they were done, and the citizens looked just about done with the Luminary and Heliodorians both.

But in the end, they had only bought time, and soon Jasper and his underlings had them cornered against one of the balconies that overlooked the sea. The stone railing pressing into them from behind, and a wall of armor closing in from the front. The quartet readied for a charge, but Jasper flung one white armored hand out to halt his forces.

“You idiots have proven your uselessness, and don’t think that will go unpunished just because this capture was successful.”

Several men flinched back at his words, and Erik felt a surprising stab of sympathy. He wouldn’t wish punishment from Jasper on his worst enemy.

“I will break the Luminary myself.”

Jasper stalked forward, sword raised. Erik readied his knife, but El stepped in front of him, his own sword drawn.

“El-!”

“Stand back, Erik.”

“What? What are you-?”

“I said stay back!”

Erik flinched back. He’d never heard El speak with such authority.

“I’m not losing you again.”

That last part was deadly quiet, Erik shivered at the cold venom that undercut his words. The thief was so shocked by the sudden change in behavior, he could do nothing but watch as the Luminary stepped forward to meet his hunter.

“Ah, you come to fight fair at last, cowardly Darkspawn. I will enjoy this.”

Fair?! How is this fair when you already know his weakness?

Jasper dashed forward to strike the first blow, but El met it, lifting his sword at almost the last minute to stop the blow. Jasper’s brow twitched. Was that surprise? The two separated before clashing together again and again, steal scrapping against steal, El matching the trained soldier blow for blow.

The Luminary never gained, but he also never retreated, content to fight Jasper to a standstill. Their swords locked again, Jasper pressed his full weight into the skirmish. His superior weight began to push El back slightly, but the younger man refused to waver.

“Thinking you’ll tire me out, Darkspawn? A desperate tactic, but all you can hope for I’m sure. Sadly, you couldn’t possibly hope to beat me, even if I was exhausted.”

El smiled.

“Oh, I know that already.”

Jasper’s confident expression dropped.

“There’s no way I’m strong enough to beat you yet. This is just a distraction.”

The Luminary offered a cheeky grin, and Jasper quickly tried to withdraw, his hand flaring with dark magic in an attempt to change tactics. El was unfazed and raised his hand towards the sky. The familiar mark it held was glowing a bright white, and suddenly, a flash of light filled the air.

The Heliodor knights cried out in surprise and pain, stumbling back, hands rushing to cover the eye slits in their helms. Jasper had gotten the worst of it, falling to his knees in agony, fingers clawing at his face.

“Gaaah! You damn sneaky bastard! Resorting to a cowards tricks, you disgraced cripple! I curse your leaf to rot from its branch, miserable excuse for a man!”

El ignored the volley of insults, turning back to his friends who were marginally less affected. Erik blinked the spots from his eyes, looking at his friend in shock.

“What was that?”

“New Luminary powers, straight from the Great Tree herself.”

“Praise Yggdrasil, always there in our time of need,” Serena rejoiced, hands clasped together.

A bellowing sound rung out over the harbor, and the Luminary’s group caught sight of a very lavishly decorated boat with a carved horse for its figurehead cutting a fast wake through the water. Their magnanimous, flamboyant showman rode on the bow like an elegant sea captain.

“Ahoy, friends! Let’s blow this dump, Darlings!”

His entrance was accompanied by confetti canons spraying colorful paper out over the water.

“Does he just take those everywhere?” Erik whispered, not sure if he should be amused or embarrassed.

El tugged at his hand.

“Let’s go.”

The four made a break for the railing as Sylvando’s ship pulled up alongside.

“Jump, Dears!” Sylvando cried to them.

Serena and Veronica waited no time, gathering up their skirts and jumping from the top of the rail onto the ship’s deck, where the buff man Erik had seen at the helm helped them steady themselves.

“Wait, did he say jump?” El asked.

“How were you expecting to get on the ship?”

“Are we not near a dock?” The Luminary asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

Erik let out a burst of laughter at the absurdity of the moment. Leave it to El to go from sword wielding badass back to his clumsy, innocent self in the blink of an eye. The thief swept the Luminary up into his arms, as El let out a squeak in surprise.

“Sylv, catch!” Erik called to the jester as he tossed the brunette over the railing.

“Erik, what the heck?!” El cried out as he sailed through empty air before landing heavily in Sylvando’s waiting arms.

“I’ve gotcha, sweaty, no need to be alarmed.”

El took a moment to let his stomach catch up to him, before bolting up in Sylvando’s arms urgently.

“What about Erik? Where is he?”

The Luminary caught the sound of another body hitting the deck with a whomp.

“On board, safe and sound.” The showman assured him.

Sylvando let the Luminary onto the deck, and El got unsteadily to his feet.

“Erik?” He called out to his companion.

The familiar tenor of Erik’s boots hitting the wood welcomed him along with the thief’s voice.

“I’m here, don’t worry.”

Those words snapped the tension inside him that had only been building from the moment they had been separated. All the feelings, anguish over loosing him, anger at Jasper, fear at their near-death dash for escape, the relief of finally being out of reach as the boat quickly sped away from Gondolia, crashed over him at once, and the brunette felt his legs almost give out.

“Hey, are you alright?” Erik asked, concern filling his voice.

Weakly, the Luminary stumbled over to his friend’s voice, collapsing into his comforting warmth and digging his hands into the fabric of his tunic. Erik was quiet for a moment, before El felt the weight of the boy’s hands on his shoulder. It felt good. It felt right. He never wanted to lose that presence again.

His eyes started to sting again, sobs trying to creep their way up his throat. Erik’s hands started to move in circles across his back.

“Hey, it’s alright. We’re okay.”

“I just…” he tried to answer, his voice weak. “I need this. Just for a moment.”

Erik went quiet again, but his hands didn’t stop.

“Alright.”

They stood there for some time, together on the deck of the ship. El knew their friends were there too, likely walking around elsewhere getting things settled for their journey, but in that moment, it was just him, Erik, and the sounds of the sea.

A great splash followed by a sharp rocking from the boat crashed through their quiet moment, and El felt Erik’s grip tighten on him to keep the blind brunette from falling over.

“Oh, my,” they heard Sylvando exclaim. “That’s one large squid!”

Erik and El looked at each other for a moment, before they both broke out into manic smiles.

“No rest for the wanted, eh?” The thief remarked.

“Guess not…” The Luminary replied wearily.

Hands clasped once again, they dashed off to meet their friends and confront whatever new obstacle stood in their way. They were tired, wet, and hungry, but none of that mattered. They could make it through anything as long as they were together.

Chapter Text

Once Sylvando had showed the group the boat’s sleeping rooms and set them free to pick one out for themselves, Erik wasted no time ducking into the nearest one, tossing off his tunic and boots, and crashing face first into the blankets.

He was beat from today, more worn out than he’d been in a while. Most of it was emotional and mental stress rather than physical, he was used to working his muscles, so, nothing felt better than immediately sinking into a peaceful sleep.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but when he woke the sunlight had left the room, leaving only the lanterns tied to the ceiling for visibility, so it had to be close to the middle of the night. The sound of the door creaking open had pulled him from his dreams, sleeping lightly was a habit at this point.

The door opened a little further, letting in one sliver of light before it was cut off by a figure peaking in through the doorway.

“Erik?” El’s familiar voice asked, sounding shaken and small.

The thief bolted up despite being half asleep.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” He asked, sounding bleary and confused. “Are we under attack again?”

They’d only just sent a giant squid on its way, there was no way he could handle anything else!

“No, it’s just that…” the Luminary trailed off for a moment. “I can’t sleep.”

A little more awake now, Erik gathered his senses enough to think properly. He should have expected this. The only time he and El had slept apart was when their group had shared a room in the Gallopolis inn; the beds were close enough that the blind boy suffered no anxiety over it. But now, they each had a large, empty room to themselves, something El had never been too keen about.

“Oh, okay.” Erik rubbed at his face and stretched, his body still yearning for rest. “Do you want to… ah…”

There wasn’t anywhere else to sleep but the bed. And while Erik was more than happy to share, the thief wasn’t sure where El’s comfort zone was on the matter. The brunette’s sightless eyes stared down at the floor, his hair falling across his face like a curtain, hiding the boy’s expression. He crossed his arms across his chest, his stance stiff and guarded.

“I’m sorry, I know you need to sleep as well, and I thought I would be fine by myself for a night, but…” El breathed in, and exhaled slowly. “I just can’t.”

“Hey, it’s fine, I get it. You don’t need to apologize.” Erik waved off his concerns, not surprised that the other was being so attentive of his needs. “It’s just that… well there’s only one bed in here. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, or anything, but if you’d be okay with it, I’m fine if you want to sleep next to me.”

El looked up at his words, arms still crossed.

“Really?”

“Yeah, sure-.”

Erik had barely finished before the brunette had crashed onto his bed, shucking off his overcoat and shoes before wrapping up in the covers. Erik stared at the boy for a moment, before smiling and hiding a few childish giggles at his behavior.

“Tired?”

“Ugh, you have no idea.” El murmured, voice already drowsy.

Erik turned his back towards his blind companion, relaxing into the mattress himself. A sudden warmth pressed against his body as El shifted to rest against him. The thief inhaled sharply for a moment, the sudden contact could still be a shock sometimes, but it was a more than welcome one, and the blue-haired boy allowed himself to relax in El’s company.

“G’night.” Erik murmured.

“Night.”

Erik fell into sleep just as easily this time, but instead of feeling like a sudden fall, it was more like easing into warm spring water; smooth, soft, and comforting.

The Salty Stallion was quiet this morning, the only sounds a muffled sloshing as it bobbed along the ocean surface. Sylvando moved down the hall as silently as possible, not wanting to wake the crew’s last two members from their sleep.

El had already proved that he was no early riser, but Erik was often up with the dawn, usually the first to start breaking camp before the rest had even stirred. The fact that both were still asleep this far past sunrise was a testament to the wild ride that was their stay in Gondolia. He and the twins had made the choice to let the boys sleep, but at this rate they would end up missing breakfast, and a hungry Erik was a grumpy Erik.

He reached the cabin the thief had claimed and knocked lightly before gently pushing the door open.

“Erik, sweaty, wakey wakey! Breakfast is waiting upsta-“

The words died off as he noticed Erik was not alone in his bed. A head of neatly combed, brown hair rested on a pillow next to the thief’s striking mop of blue. Sylvando blinked, a little startled and not sure what to do.

The blankets shifted as El drifted awake.

“Sylv? That you?” The Luminary asked with a sleepy drawl slurring the words.

“Ah- yes, it’s me dear,” he replied shakily, still reaching for an appropriate reaction to what he’d stumbled on.

“Wha’s up?”

“Mm- well, you and Erik have been asleep for a while and breakfast won’t stay warm forever! So, I thought it best to come wake you.”

El perked up, pushing himself upright and turning his head towards the sun, feeling the early light warming his face.

“It’s that late already? Hm, I guess we were pretty tired.”

“No doubt, dear. Care to wake Erik? The girls and I will be waiting upstairs.”

“Sure, Sylv, be there in a minute!”

With a last, nervous smile that El couldn’t see, Sylvando retreated back into the hallway. He closed the door with a louder slam than he wanted but was more caught up with the flush of embarrassment that washed over his face. The jester brought both hands to his cheeks and fought down a squeal of mixed excitement and disbelief.

He rushed back above deck to the kitchen room where Veronica and Serena were still nibbling at their breakfast, spooking the twins as he crashed through the door, slamming his hands down on the table.

“It has been one night. One. Night. And they’re both sleeping in the same bed!”

The girls stared at him. A realization hit the jester and he buried his flushed face in his hands again.

“AAH! And I just walked in on them!”

“Woah, slow down, Sylv, we have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You know who! The Luminary and his thief! They’re in bed together right now!”

Veronica shared a look with her sister.

“Oh! To think they’ve moved so far in their relationship so quickly! I suppose the events of Gondolia were quite harrowing and stressful, enough to make any man cherish his bonds and realize what he would regret leaving unsaid, but this is quite a jump, especially for El of all people! I’d have thought he-“

“Sylv! Hold your horses a minute!” The minute mage beckoned for him to sit down. “You’re jumping the bow a bit!”

Sylv followed her request and lowered himself into his chair, a bit confused.

“What do you mean, Ronnie? I know what I saw in there! They were in the same bed!”

“Which for them is completely normal.” Serina commented with a casual air.

There was a pause in the conversation.

“Come again?” Sylvando asked. “Normal?”

“Yeah, they’ve done this before,” Veronica continued. “El hates sleeping by himself for some reason, he likes to have someone next to him at night.”

“And since El has known Erik the longest,” Serina took over. “He’s the one El usually asks about it.”

Sylvando’s shock sank into mild confusion.

“Oh… so that’s their normal…”

“Mhmm,” Veronica nodded. “You haven’t been with us that long, so it makes sense you haven’t picked up on it yet.”

“So… this isn’t a sign that they’ve taken their relationship to the next level and confessed their affection to each other?”

“Not in the slightest,” The red mage answered.

Erik and El came trumping up the stairs, both rested and hungry, talking and joking amicably with each other. In the kitchen room, they found Veronica, Serena, and Sylvando seated around a table stacked with food for everyone’s enjoyment. Erik rubbed his hands together and grabbed an empty plate.

“Not cold yet, I hope?”

“No, you’re both just in time.” Serena assured them with a smile.

“Yeah, thank Sylvando for getting your rears out of dream land.” She gestured to the performer with her fork, an impish smile on her face.

Erik raised an eyebrow at her expression before turning to Sylvando. The jester pushed his food around on his plate, a hand rubbing at his temples with a rather subdued, Erik might even say embarrassed, expression. The two made eye contact, and Sylvando glanced away quickly, that strange expression deepening into a grimace.

“Everything okay, Sylv?”

“Yes, of course darling,” Sylvando waved him off, a forced smile on his face. “The sea air is turning my stomach a bit.”

Erik shrugged, whatever it was wasn’t his problem, and sat down next to El, eager to dig in.

Veronica cast another coy smile at Sylvando, and the jester cringed harder in response. The rest of the morning passed with carefree conversation and some jokes at Sylvando’s expense, much to Erik and El’s confusion.

The sea air was sharp, almost overwhelming in its intensity as the air pushed it past El’s upturned face. The Luminary took another slow breath, relishing the new scents that crossed his path. Salt covered everything like a blanket, but underneath he could pick out the pungent tang of fish, and the oilier smell that came with the sea monsters that often chose to harass their boat.

“Keep breathing like that and you’ll suck a wave right up your nose.”

El glanced over his shoulder in the direction of Erik’s voice.

“I’ve never smelled the sea before. There’s so many new scents to take in.”

“Really? I thought Cobblestone was close to the water.”

“Just a river that connected to a nearby lake. You can see the ocean from the top of Cobblestone Tor, apparently, but I couldn’t smell it while I was up there, so it was still pretty far away.”

“Hmm…” The thief let the conversation drift off as he draped his arms over the railing next to El.

The ocean breeze filled the silence with gentle roaring and the sounds of seagulls cawing overhead.

“I grew up around the ocean.”

El’s ears perked up. Erik never shared information about his past, except that it was long, hard, and taught him a lot of messy lessons. The Luminary didn’t respond, afraid his talking would pull Erik from reminiscing and scare him off.

“The place I lived in was literally right offshore. You only had to walk a few paces down the path, and you’d be at the docks. It smelled just like this, only the air was way colder.”

“Was there snow?” El asked, voice almost a whisper.

“Oh yeah, nine months out of the year. And even in the height of summer, there was still slush on the ground.”

“I’d love to feel snow.”

“Hmm… it’s not that great. People down south wax poetic about ‘fields of pure white powder’, and ‘frost kissing the tip of your nose’, but then the snow melts into your boots and freezes the ends of your hair and you never want to go outside again.”

El laughed.

“Sounds like you have personal experience.”

“Oh yeah, made the mistake of taking a bath in a stream, got out and nearly had frostbite on my whole body. Never did that again, bucket showers only.”

El laughed harder, leaning against the railing for support.

“And this other time, I’d been waiting for my- “

Erik broke off suddenly, and El stifled his laughter when he noticed the silence.

“Erik?”

No response.

“Erik?” He reached out a hand to touch the thief’s shoulder, and felt the other violently finch away from him, far more than the little twitches he’d gotten before.

“Erik, what’s wrong?”

A beat of silence.

“H-hey, where’s Sylvando driving this thing anyway, did we ever settle on our next destination?”

“Um… Sylv said he had a good idea where the merchant would have bought the Rainbough. But never mind that- Erik are you alright? You spaced out back there.”

“I’m fine, you’re imagining it.”

“Are you sure? If it’s something that’s difficult to talk about, you can share it with me-“

“It’s not like that. It’s not anything. Just leave it.”

“But why-“

“Look, El, you don’t have to fix everything!”

El paused. Erik had never raised his voice like that before. Not even with Jasper.

“It’s my problem, I’ll deal with it. I don’t want your help.”

A quick flurry of stomping steps across the floorboards signaled Erik’s departure, and El was alone with the sea breeze once again. The salty air had a more bitter smell than before. He sighed and leaned forlornly against the railing.

“One step forward, two steps back…”

“So where are we going, Sylv? Planning to keep us in the dark?”

Veronica swung her legs from her perch on the desk in the navigation room. Sylvando leaned over an extensive map of Erdrea spread out across the wood, one hand on his hip and drafting pencil pressed to his mouth.

“Not at all, Ronnie. My best guess for where our merchant fled to is a little place called the Zwaardrust region.”

“Zwaardrust? Why does that sound familiar?”

“Well, about ten or so years ago… maybe it was twenty? I can’t remember. The Zwaardrust region shared a border to a respected and prosperous kingdom called Dundrasil, then one day monsters attacked and the whole thing went up in flames.”

“Oh! That does sound familiar!”

“Yes, it made for quite the tall tale. There were few survivors, and the ones that fled had no intention of returning, so the whole area fell into ruin.”

“Wait, then… why would the merchant go to a defunct kingdom?”

“Well, it’s not uninhabited. Several settlements still thrive despite being surrounded by ruins, though they are spread far apart. I suspect he’s there due to its proximity to Gondolia and the fact that the city of Octagonia is known for buying rare items to use as prizes for their martial arts competitions.”

“So, what better place to take the Rainbough to be sold!” Veronica gasped at the realization. “Wow, Sylv, you’ve got real sleuthing skills!”

“Oh, you’re too kind, my dear.”

A loud thumping distracted them both from their conversation. A shock of blue hair stalked by the window towards the back of the ship, the boy’s stomping practically rattling the pictures and books propped against the wall.

“Was that who I think it was?” Veronica asked.

“I believe so. I don’t think I’ve seen him so outwardly emotional before. You don’t suppose something happened, do you?”

“Hm, dunno. That boy’s an enigma to me.”

“Someone should go check on him, make sure he’s alright.”

“Mhmm…” Veronica murmured absentmindedly, until she noticed Sylv looking at her expectantly.

“Wait, me?!”

“He’s not my biggest fan, Ronnie, I’m not sure he’d appreciate me digging into his business.”

“Well he’s certainly not gonna take it from me!”

“I’m not so sure.”

Veronica raised an eyebrow.

“Have you heard our conversations? I can’t say too words to that boy without getting snarked at!”

“I think the reason you butt heads so often is because you’re both cut from the same cloth.”

“What are you getting at, Jester? Pick your words carefully.”

Sweat broke out on Sylvando’s forehead.

“I’m just saying that you both deal with your problems in a… similar way. You’re far more likely to hide your reactions to things and not tell anyone when you’re uncomfortable. You’d probably understand each other pretty well if you got to know each other a bit better.”

Veronica narrowed her eyes, still unconvinced.

“Just give it a shot. Please, Ronnie?”

The red mage crossed her arms.

“I have a prime cut of steak stored away for a special occasion. I can break it out for dinner tonight, if you’d like!”

Veronica rubbed a hand across her chin.

“Hmmm… fine. But throw in a glass of that fancy wine I saw in the back cabinet, too.”

“What?! It takes decades to age that stuff properly, you don’t just-“

Veronica leveled a steady gaze at him, and the jester relented.

“Fine. A glass just for you. But only a glass.”

She pushed herself off the edge of the desk, hitting the floor and marching over to the door.

“All I need, Sylvando. You’ve been a dear,” she said in a poor imitation of his voice.

She closed the cabin door behind her, muffling Sylvando’s stifled giggles, and followed the hall around deck to find where Erik had stormed off to.

Serena stood on the deck, taking in the sight of a wide, endless ocean, glistening with stars in the sun’s light. Not like there was much else to do on a boat, but she wasn’t complaining. It was the first time she’d seen the ocean, after all, so the image of something so vast it looked almost endless was breathtaking.

“Ah, Serena, could you give me some help, please?”

Serena turned to see the Luminary, stuck at the top of the stairs that led from the ship’s steering wheel to the main deck. She blinked in surprise before responding.

“Oh, yes! Of course!”

Quickly, the green mage made her way to where El was standing and offered her arm to guide the boy down the three stairs that had him trapped. El sighed as if he’d crossed a mountain and dropped his hand to his side.

“Much obliged.”

“Of course,” she offered a shallow bow, even if El couldn’t see it. “Anything for the Luminary.”

“Still insisting on the formality?” He asked, humor in his voice.

“Well, old habits die hard, as they say.”

El hummed and nodded in agreement, but his overall demeanor was more… subdued than it should be. It was then Serena became suddenly aware of the missing face in the picture.

“Where’s Erik gone off to?” She looked about for the blue-haired boy, genuinely surprised he’d left the Luminary’s sight.

El jolted slightly and ran a hand nervously through his hair.

That was a new sight.

“Did… something happen?” Serena tried to tread lightly with her question, not sure what trip wire she was stepping on.

El sighed, looking tired and resigned.

“I pushed him too hard too fast.”

Serena tilted her head.

“I’m not sure I understand that phrase.”

El’s tinted eyes glanced sideways at her.

“You really are sheltered,” he murmured.

“What was that?”

“Ah, nothing, doesn’t matter,” he waved his hands to push away the topic. “The point is, Erik was finally in a space where he felt comfortable enough to open up, but I pushed my luck, and he got mad and ran off.”

“He… he got mad. At you?”

El nodded.

“That’s… new.”

“I should have expected this,” El put a hand to his forehead, his voice laced with regret.

Concern flooded over Serena, along with a compulsion to do something to help. When they were young, Veronica often yelled at her for her smothering tendencies, but caring for people was just a part of who she was. It’s probably why she has such an aptitude for healing magic. She placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“There’s no need to beat yourself up over this. You didn’t hurt his feelings on purpose, did you?”

El scoffed.

“Of course not.”

“Then there’s nothing to worry about. You just have to apologize and make up! Let’s go find him.”

The green mage turned to begin the search, before she felt a sharp tug on her sleeve.

“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

The mage looked back at him with surprise.

“Erik’s… not the sort who’ll listen when he’s angry. I want to give him some space to cool down a little.”

“Well, alright. If you’re sure.”

“I am.”

Serena nodded.

“In that case, I don’t suppose you’d like to spend the time with me?”

El looked to her with a smile.

“Of course, not much to do but talk on this ship it seems.”

Serena grabbed the Luminary’s hands.

“Wonderful! Perhaps we can get to know each other a little better. I have scores of stories from my years in Arboria, and I am more than curious about where the Luminary was born.”

The healer and Luminary retreated to a shaded portion of the deck, chatting amicably to pass the time… and ignore any current friendship problems.

Thonk, thonk, thonk.

The sound of something solid hitting wood greeted Veronica before she caught sight of Erik. The red mage cringed slightly at what she might find as she rounded the corner.

Erik sat with his back to her, legs hanging through the railing that separated the back of the deck from a drop into the ocean. The thief’s eyes were scrunched closed in an expression that screamed frustration, while he let his head thump against the wood rail.

Yeah, something was definitely wrong.

“I’d stop that if I were you,” she jabbed, trying to put a joking tone into her words. “Don’t want to knock out the few brains you have.”

Erik paused.

“Shut up, Veronica,” he responded without much force before continuing to knock his head against the rail.

“Wow, not even a good comeback? What’s crawled up your tunic?”

No response.

“Yeesh, imagine if El caught you moping like this. You trying to embarrass yourself?”

That got Erik to stop, then he let out a strangled moan of pain and began thumping his head even harder.

“Hey, you daft spike head!” Veronica cried out, tugging on the man’s hood to stop him. “That’s not an invitation to keep going!”

Erik rounded on the small girl.

“What do you want?!”

Veronica fell back, thrown off balance when the thief turned, and landed on her rear, hat falling down over her eyes.

“I want,” she began, pushing her hat back in place. “To figure out what’s wrong with you!”

“And why do you care?” he quipped, less angry, more annoyed.

The girl was silent for a moment, the crashing waves filling their void of conversation.

“Because… Because we’re a team now.”

Erik’s shoulders stiffened.

“We’re counting on each other to achieve a common goal, right? And if one of us is out of sorts, that’s gonna come back on the rest of us when we get in a fight.”

The thief didn’t respond.

“I’m not trying to… make you feel bad about feeling, well, bad,” Veronica stumbled. Finding a way to say what she wanted and not prick Erik’s nerves was a little difficult. “I just… if you want some help, you’ve got it from me?”

More silence. Veronica shifted on the deck. Damn Sylvando for suggesting this. Feelings were not her strong suit, how was she supposed to make herself the “put your head on my shoulder” type? That’s her sister’s wheelhouse.

How long was too long? Did this silence mean “no?” Should she get up and leave?

Erik sighed; long, deep, and depressed. His muscles went slack and the thief’s head came to rest against the railing once more.

“I’m an idiot.”

“Didn’t need to tell me that,” she joked. But her laughter faded when she noticed that Erik was pretty serious.

“But uh… what makes you say that?”

“I…” Erik hesitated; the words stuck in his throat.

Veronica leaned forward, invested in whatever the thief was about to reveal.

“I… I snapped at El.”

Silence.

“Wait, that’s it?”

Erik turned to the mage with clear surprise written on his face.

“What do you mean, ‘that’s it?’ I snapped at El!”

“Yeah, and?”

At Erik’s flabbergasted face, she continued.

“Friends fight sometimes, Erik, that’s completely normal. Even the best of them. Serena and I are sisters, but the things we do get on each other’s nerves sometimes. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve let a harsh word to two slip against her.”

“And she at you?” Erik asked with sarcasm.

“Well, Serena expresses anger in a different way, but I can assure you, she’s let me have it plenty of times before.”

“Well, as enlightening as that is, El and I are different. I’m his… protector. Of sorts. His first companion, I’m supposed to always have his back. I’m not-“

“Supposed to get mad at him?”

Erik flinched, suddenly sheepish.

“Sorry to bust your bubble, Erik, but everyone fights sometimes. That’s just a part of being with people. You never mesh perfectly all the time, your rough edges are gonna bounce against each other once in a while, it’s fine.”

Erik mumbled, not completely convinced, but now seemed to be thinking hard about something.

“You know what’ll do real damage to your relationship?”

Erik’s eyes flicked to hers.

“Not saying sorry.”

The thief slumped.

“Is that all you’ve got?”

“It works every time, trust me.” She patted Erik on the shoulder. “And if you think a guy like El won’t forgive you, then I might have to question if you’ve spent any time with him.”

Erik looked back to the open sea. His poster straighter and his expression brighter, if still serious.

Sylvando’s voice rang out from the main cabin.

“Dinner time, everyone! Gather ‘round in the kitchen!”

“Oh! C’mon, let’s go!”

Veronica tugged on the thief’s hood as she scrambled to her feet and made for the doorway.

“Hey, what’ the hurry?”

“I’ve got some winnings to claim!”

“Ooh, Sylv!” Serena cooed. “This smells simply delectable!”

The crew gathered around the kitchen table, seated end-to-end on wooden benches, marveling at the spread of simple, but well-crafted dishes on its surface.

“Don’t thank me, Darling, Dave is the real cook.”

Sylv gestured to his helmsman, dressed in a pink apron to match his mask, and the man shied away from the praise.

“Aww, was nothin’. Just a few li’l recipes me mum taught me.”

“Well, cheers to the chef!” Veronica raised a glass of rich colored wine, casting a smug glance at Sylvando who ignored her.

The cast laughed, joking and shouting as they piled their plates with food, except for Erik, who sat stiffly beside El. The thief desperately avoided eye contact and tried not to flinch at the sound of the Luminary’s laughter and banter with the others.

Veronica’s words rang in his head, and words desperately clawed to leave his mouth, but Erik was frozen with anxiety. How do you start an apology? Let alone do it in a crowd. No, he would wait until they were alone to apologize. But… was El upset with him? The Luminary didn’t try to get his attention or speak to him, was he waiting on Erik? Was he getting angrier the longer Erik waited to apologize? Was he only making it worse?

His grip tightened around the edge of the bench, knuckles turning white. More thoughts raced through his head as he spiraled down a tangent of “what if’s”, until…

A light touch ghosted his fingers.

The thief glanced down. A hand was tentatively resting on his, the fingers just slightly covering his own. Erik’s eyes darted up, and met El’s, who was glancing his way out of the corner of grayed-out eyes. It still amazed him that El could meet someone’s gaze without sight.

Erik paused for a moment, but the thoughts cleared, and he found the ability to act.

He took El’s hand more firmly in his own, letting them rest comfortably on the bench. The Luminary smiled, something genuine and bright, before returning to the conversation with renewed vigor. And while Erik stayed silent, he was unable to keep the grin off his face the rest of the night.

The meal drew to a close as the sun disappeared into the ocean, and after a final word from Sylvando about how they would reach their destination tomorrow, the crew each left for their beds one by one. Eventually, only El, Erik, and Dave were left.

The burly helmsman stacked the last of the dishes, now clean, into the cabinet.

“’Aight, I’m turnin’ in as well. You lads need anythin’?”

“No thanks, Dave,” El replied. “I think Erik and I will stay up a bit longer.”

The man nodded and moved for the door.

“Don’t be up too late, now. No one needs a tired Luminary when there’s adventure a’foot!”

El waved him off with a cheery laugh, and soon, thief and Luminary were alone.

Erik took a quick breath to still the left-over nervousness in his gut.

“Hey, El-“

“Erik, I’m sorry,” The other boy interrupted.

Erik froze, confused, and blinked dumbly before finding his words.

“Wait, wait, why on Erdrea are you apologizing?”

“Because I overstepped your boundaries?” El responded, confusion turning his statement into a question.

“Overstepped? I’m the one who snapped at you over something stupid, I should be apologizing!”

“You apologize? I asked invasive questions!”

“Wh- Look El, you didn’t do anything wrong. I got angry, so I’m the one who needs to be sorry.”

“Erik, that’s ridiculous, you had every reason to be mad, and I just- I just…”

El trailed off, eyes wide like he had been given a divine revelation, before doubling over into unbridled laughter. Erik stared at the boy like he’d grown an extra head or gone mad from too much sun.

“Um, El? Are you alright?”

“I-I… I’m fine, I just-“ more laughter. “Did you realize we were fighting over apologizing to each other?”

“We-“ the thief paused, realization dawning. “Huh. I guess we were.”

The boys looked at each other, before the Luminary was taken by another laughing fit. And this time, Erik was compelled to join in.

“Maybe this is getting a little ridiculous.”

A sudden weight slammed into Erik’s chest, winding the blue haired boy for a moment. El wrapped his arms tight around Erik in a hug, which the thief eventually relaxed into, returning the embrace.

“Y’know, I think we both have reasons to be sorry today.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“So, I’ll accept your apology if you accept mine?”

Erik chuckled.

“Deal.”

El stepped back.

“I’m glad that’s all settled. I felt awful most of the day, thinking I’d damaged our friendship with that moment of carelessness.”

Erik’s eyes softened, and he took El’s hand again.

“I can promise you right now that I can never stay mad at you.”

“Really? You promise?”

“On my honor as a thief,” he declared, free hand raised.

“I feel like that’s an oxymoron, but I’ll take it.”

The Luminary smiled warmly at him, and Erik’s heart felt strangely looser than before, like a weight had been lifted from his chest. The Seer’s prophecy came back to him. Forgiveness, through the Luminary. Perhaps this was a new step to… something. Erik wasn’t sure what, but he was pretty sure it was good.

El tugged on his arm, pulling Erik towards the door.

“C’mon. Dave was right, it is getting late.”

“Right, we hit land tomorrow. Let’s get some sleep.”

The two left for their room, all silent and well on The Salty Stallion as she rocked gently on the ocean waves.

Chapter Text

El drifts up out of sleep, slowly and gently. The first thing he’s aware of is warmth. Not just the warmth from the early morning sun leaking in through the cabin windows, but from the soft cocoon he seems to be encased in. It’s a wall of gentle heat pressed against his front from head to toe and stretching around his back. At first, all he can think of is how nice it is, and how getting up feels like the worst possible idea right now.

Then, as El comes into himself a little more, he starts to wonder… what exactly is that warmth? It’s not the sun, he feels that on his face. It’s not the blankets, he can feel those too. It’s not until the blind boy shuffles a bit, and hears a soft murmur break the silence as that wall of heat shifts a little bit against him that he realizes.

Oh… its Erik.

They must have turned to face each other in their sleep, and Erik tossed an arm over him sometime in the night.

It dawns on El that he should probably be embarrassed, being in such an intimate position with someone outside his family, but the thing that strikes him the most is that he isn’t. Erik’s presence, almost wholly wrapped around him, his gentle breathing, the solidity of his chest under El’s hands, it feels… right. Like a missing piece is falling into place, and instead of wanting to pull away, El wants to burry his face into the other boy’s neck and fall back asleep.

At the same time this thought crosses his mind, El is also struck with a memory from his mother, when she sat him down and spoke to him about growing up. Much of the conversation had been practical and embarrassing, but what comes to thought is what she told him after, in regards to something much more precious.

“Someday, you’ll find someone who just can’t help but be special to you. When you think of them, your heart will tip-tap away in your chest. When they’re away, all you’ll want to do is be near them. When they’re near, they’ll feel like home.”

“Even though I can’t see them?” He asked.

“You don’t need eyes to love, dear.”

Oh. Oh!

It makes so much sense, a name put to that thing that fell into place. All those complex feelings he’d gone through when Erik was captured, this sense of gravity he felt pulling him towards the thief. What had started as reliance during a troubling situation had evolved to genuine friendship, then to something deeper when he came to truly admire the other boy’s nature.

All those feelings and more tumble to the surface, and El feels consumed by the desire to shake Erik awake and shout declarations of love into his face.

But…

Memories of yesterday pull to the forefront. The defensive hurt and pain in Erik’s voice when his past was tred on too suddenly, the ways he always pulled back after stepping closer to El. Something in El’s gut tells him that springing sudden, deep affection on Erik will only end poorly.

And he doesn’t even know if Erik feels the same. Sure, he likes El. The Luminary is fairly confident Erik considers him a close friend, but the closeness and care the thief has shown him isn’t enough to assume his feelings.

No… now’s not the right time. Maybe, someday, Erik will be ready. But not now.

Still, El finds himself greedy to keep this moment of bliss. He decides to be selfish, for once, and settles back into the mattress, hoping he can prolong this moment for just a bit longer.

It’s not to last. Which makes sense, Erik has always gotten up with the sun. The thief lets out a groan as El feels his arm lift off him for a stretch. There’s a beat of silence. He must have seen what position they ended up in. Goddess, please don’t let Erik notice he’s awake.

El’s warm cocoon is ripped away as Erik bounces out of the bed. There are rapid sounds of shuffling, followed by quick, yet quiet footsteps and a gentle closing of the door.

El only rises once the silence has settled long enough for him to be sure Erik is gone. El sighs, rubbing at his eyes, feeling warn despite being well rested.

One the one hand, he should be glad Erik didn’t start screaming or making a scene out of embarrassment. On the other, he can’t help but feel disappointed. A reaction of some kind would have at least given El something to work with…

The Luminary slaps his face with both hands.

No, wallowing won’t help. Emotions be damned, they have a world to save right now! Yggdrasil won’t wait for silly romance drama. He’s going to get out there and be the cheery leader his team needs right now, and he’s not going to treat Erik any differently than yesterday.

“Aaaah! Feels good to be back on dry land!”

Veronica stretches her arms far overhead, a pleased expression on her face.

“I thought the boat was quite wonderful,” Serena commented.

“I mean, yeah, it’s majestic and all, but that starts to fade after all the rocking.” Veronica shakes her head, as if tossing off the memory.

“Well, hopefully the Rainbough will stay on dry land for now.”

Both girls look up to see El making his way down the gangplank, with Erik, ever his shadow, close behind.

“We can only hope,” Serena says.

“For our sanity.” Veronica adds.

“Do we even know where the thing ended up?” Erik flicks a hand, looking bothered already.

“Worry not, my dears, Sylvando has all the answers to your Rainbough questions!”

The party all turn to see Sylvando skipping back towards them from the seaside cabin by their landing dock.

“Is that where’ve you been?” Veronica asks, hands on her hips.

“But of course! No one hears more gossip than dock workers.” Sylvando gives a coy wink to his friends. “Now, listen to this: our lovely dock hand saw to a merchant vessel just a few days before. The man unloaded quite a bit onto a wagon and set for North. And, judging by my maps, there’s only one place he could be heading - Octagonia!”

Erik raises an eyebrow. “And you’re sure of this because…?”

“Well, because Octagonia is the only major settlement in the Zwardust region for miles, and, it’s well known for paying handsomely for rare trinkets it can use as rewards for its many contests of strength! I’m sure they would think the Rainbough an enticing addition.”

“Exactly as you theorized before! Well done, Sylvando,” Veronica says, clearly impressed.

Erik groans. “Another strong man contest? Didn’t we just get out of doing one in Gondolia?”

“Yes, but only thanks to a Jasper encounter,” El reminds him. “After that, I’ll take a contest over anything.”

“Pshh… I guess you’re right.” Erik runs a hand through his hair, looking away.

El’s smile drops slightly.

Suddenly, there’s a tension in the air.

Everyone is looking at them.

“W-well?!” Erik shouts, face turning red. “What’re we standing around for? Let’s go!”

The thief hops down the rest of the plank and takes point up the coast, quickly leaving the others behind.

The twins and Sylvando exchange confused glances before El chimes in with a laugh.

“I think he’s been feeling cooped up. Let’s follow before he finds a Splatypus to torment or something.”

Taking the Luminary at his word, the rest of their party follows in Erik’s steps. As they pass the end of the dock, something… shimmers in the corner of El’s vision. Which is odd because, of course, nothing should be shimmering at all.

El follows the shimmer to find himself looking at the cabin. And he does mean looking. His vision isn’t fully clear, but like a hole burned in a sheet of fabric, a spot of vision sits in front of him.

He can see the wood beams making up the cabin’s stilts, the water rising and falling in the distance beyond, and, sitting between two crossbeams, the strangest little critter El had ever seen.

Almost transparent, its small, round body rests comfortably on its little post. Tiny legs swing over the empty air, long, spindly arms resting against the wood. Two dot eyes sit in its face, giving away no emotions or expressions.

El is already flabbergasted, but the longer he looks at it, the more he feels… fuzzy. Like his head is stuffed with cotton balls. A strange ringing begins to grow, and El feels like those empty eyes are pulling him in. Deeper… deeper…

And deeper…

“El?”

He blinks, turns to the voice and is lost in blindness once again. He knows from the voice it’s Serena.

“Hm? Yes?”

“Are you alright? You weren’t following.”

“O-oh, I’m sorry. I spaced out. I’m afraid I didn’t get the best sleep last night.”

A blatant lie, but who said he had to be perfect all the time?

“It must have been quite an important thought to keep your attention for so long!”

“Ah, Serena, you think too highly of me.”

“No such thing for the Luminary! Would you like an arm?”

El feels her elbow bump against his, an invitation to link arms for a bit.

“Thank you, dear follower,” El replies in jest.

Serena giggles as he loops his arm in hers, and leads the Luminary off to join their friends. As they follow close behind, El can’t help but be stuck on a thought. It’s strange but…

He can’t seem to remember what had grabbed his attention in the first place.

“Ughhh are we there, yet?” Erik groans, hunching forward dramatically.

“Not quite, deary!” Sylvando answers, looking incredibly chipper as he skips along in the lead.

“Not that… huff… I’m complaining,” Veronica says, panting as she struggles to keep pace. “But uh… how far off is Octagonia anyway?”

“Well, from the coast it’s about a… two-day walk?”

The thief and mage stop dead.

“Two days?!”

Sylvando pauses to look back at them. “Hm? Something wrong?”

“What the hell, Sylv?! Think you forgot to mention something important?!”

Veronica crosses her arms as she chastises the jester.

“Never thought I’d say this, but I agree. Knowing the path to Octagonia is going to be a two-day hike seems pretty important!”

“Why darlings, I’m surprised! Half of this journey was long treks through the wilderness. Did the Salty Stallion really diminish your stamina that quickly?”

Both turn sheepish.

“W-well, it’s not that exactly…” Erik starts.

“It’s just this Rainbough goose hunt is driving me up the wall! And I was looking forward to sleeping in a nice bed on solid ground tonight…”

Sylvando smirks. “Well, honey, do I have good news for you!” The jester holds a finger up next to his face. “Lucky us, there’s an inn placed at just the halfway point between Zwardsrust and Octagonia! A lovely little number called The Warrior’s Rest Inn.”

“Ahh! An inn!” Veronica sighs with relief.

“Yep! And if we keep going at this pace, we should reach it by… nightfall!”

Veronica and Erik’s shoulders slump.

“Ugh, nightfall? We’ve already done so much walking…”

“I guess we’ll have to hope our legs don’t fall off before we get there,” Erik quips.

“You can borrow Silver for a bit if you’re tired.”

Erik jolts, turning to see El coming up on his left, his horse’s reigns gripped tight in one hand. Looking into his face, with those soft, gray eyes framed with silky hair, a face he’d been very close to this morning…

Erik feels his face go hot, and he turns from El in a rush.

“Nah, I’m good. Can’t have people thinking I’ve gone soft.”

It’s a half-assed excuse, even to him, but if he stands next to El any longer, he may just explode and do something incredibly stupid.

“Oh, okay.” El’s expression drops a little, which Erik fails to see as he speedwalks away.

“If the offer’s still up, I’ll take it.”

El turns his head at the sound of Veronica’s voice, who’s still trundling along as best she can on short legs. El chuckles to himself.

“Sure, Veronica.”

The two stop so El can help the small mage climb into the saddle, and they end up stopped long enough for Serena to catch up and ask for a ride as well. With both twins on board, the Luminary continues leading his horse down the road to Zwardsrust.

All around, golden fields of wheat and other crops stretch from horizon to horizon, bordered by the green hills rolling in the distance.

“Oh my,” Serena gasps. “If this is how beautiful Zwardsrust is now, I can’t imagine how it must have looked when it was a grand kingdom.”

“It had a sterling reputation,” Sylvando says. “One of the strongest military forces on Erdrea.”

“Until it got wrecked by monsters,” Erik adds.

Sylvando nods sadly. “And Dundrasil not long after. Such a shame, two long standing kingdoms in the same area, wiped off the map completely.”

El perks up. “Dundrasil is here?”

“Oh yes, the old territory boarders Octagonia, in fact.”

Erik’s eyes dart back to the Luminary, concern clear on his face.

El’s Dundrasil connection was something they’d left on the backburner. The boy was so distraught at Cobblestone’s destruction that the knowledge he’d been a long-lost prince of a dead kingdom had slid right off him with no reaction. Erik had been cautious about broaching his feelings on the matter, and then things picked up so fast the whole afair completely slipped his mind.

El didn’t have much of a princely presence, after all. Except for his eyes, maybe… And his smile… No, he’s not thinking about that. Not thinking!

But… he may have to finally talk to El about it, see if maybe he wanted to visit. Or tell the others, at least.

“Well, the place looks like it’s made a decent recovery,” Erik says, hoping to change the subject.

“I guess everyone has been doing their best to rebuild,” El chimes in. “Maybe it’ll be a kingdom again someday.”

“That’s the spirit, honey!” Sylvando tosses the boy a wink.

The party laugh and talk as their walk continues, soaking up the warm daylight while they can.

The Warrior’s Rest Inn sits in a valley between two hills of rolling farmland. A squat, but sturdy little building with few signs of age, and an extensive horse stable on the outside.

Silver comes to a stop and Veronica hops down, stretching her arms over her head.

“Ahhh, finally! Decent sleep, here I come!”

“You’ve been sitting on a horse for the past three hours. The rest of us are the real needy party, here.”

“Oh, shove it, Spikey, you can complain when your legs shrink to half their size.”

Erik rolls his eyes but can’t suppress a smile as the little mage stomps off.

El steps up beside him with Silver.

“It’s nice to see you two getting along.”

Erik lifts an eyebrow. “I think your definition’s a little loose there.”

El scoffs and shakes his head. “Alright, tough guy, quip as much as you want, but I can hear the fondness in your voice.”

“Hmm, are you sure your ears don’t need a tune up?”

El laughs aloud that time, bumping the thief’s elbow.

“Help me get Silver set up in a stall? I think he’s looking forward to a nice rest, too.”

The horse only snorts in response, as indifferent as always.

The boys meet with Sylvando and the girls at the check in counter, where a portly woman with a kind, motherly face greets them.

“Welcome! Is this the whole group?”

“Yes ma’am,” El says with a respectful bow.

“Oh, aren’t you a sweet boy! Well, how many rooms will you be needing?”

“Serena and I can share,” Veronica says.

“Ah, I’m afraid I’ll need a solo space for my beauty sleep, darlings.” Sylv pats at his cheeks dramatically.

“And then one more for El and Erik, yeah?” Veronica asks.

Both boys flinch, suddenly unable to meet anyone’s eyes.

“Uh… something wrong?” Veronica questions.

“You boys always share, yes?” Sylvando adds, sounding confused.

Neither say anything. Serena brings a hand to her mouth.

“Oh dear, are you having another fight?”

“You did seem awfully cagey on the road.” Veronica crosses her arms. “I thought we got over this already.”

“Wh- it’s not about-“

“No, no, that’s not what-“

Both boys talk over each other in a nervous rush, leaving their companions starting slightly wide-eyed.

“I-I would be fine with a single room tonight!” El declares. “I know Erik would… probably appreciate a night without my snoring.”

Erik blinks, looking at the blind swordsman.

“Are… you sure?”

El nods. “We’ve been in each other’s space since this journey began. It’ll… be nice, for the both of us.” He finishes with a smile, blinding and innocent as always.

Erik feels a conflicting wave of relief and rejection wash through him as he relents. “A… Alright…”

“So…” the group is reminded of the receptionist, who’s just been privy to this whole thing. “Four bedrooms, then?”

The others can’t help but laugh as Erik and El go bright red.

“Y-yes ma’am,” the Luminary stutters as he hands over their payment.

The group part ways as they head to their separate rooms. Erik helps El find the room number that matches his key, but just as El says ‘goodnight’ for the evening, he feels the thief’s gentle grip cover his wrist.

“Hey, are you… sure you’re alright alone tonight? I-I mean, I appreciate the offer for space, but if you really need-“

“It’s alright, Erik. It’s just for one night. And you’re right next door, right?”

“…Right.” But Erik doesn’t let go.

“…Unless… you want to-?” El starts, nervously.

“I-I just. Want to be considerate! You know, with all that stuff you told me-“

“Oh, well, I wanted to be considerate too! I mean, I shouldn’t be inconveniencing you-“

“I mean, I appreciate it, and all, its just-“

They end up talking over each other again, two reluctant partners in a dance around the heart of the matter, only leaving them both flustered and foolish. It ends with El giving a hasty goodbye and shutting the door between him and Erik.

The Luminary sighs, resting his head against the door. Goddess above, he feels like an idiot. Being considerate of Erik’s emotional state while also trying to figure out if he likes El is a task in subterfuge he’s just not built for. And now, every interaction with him feels like stepping on a live wire!

Pulling away from the door, El sheds his clothes and falls face first on the bed, unable to care about neatness right now with his thoughts in such a whirl.

He’s really been unfair to Erik, huh?

Pushing so much responsibility for his care on his shoulders, getting physically close without any confirmation that it’s the kind of relationship he wants with El, at a time where he’s clearly unable to sort through whatever happened in his past. He hasn’t been thinking about Erik at all.

El kicks the sheets up and pulls them over his head. It’s so quiet, all by himself. Not even the inn makes any noise. Well… he can muddle through one night.

For Erik.

Erik can’t sleep.

He finds himself staring at the ceiling’s wood planks well into the night, counting wood grains after his eyes adjusted to the darkness. A pleasant breeze floats in from the open window. The mattress is soft, and the pillow is plush. It’s all the ingredients for a well-earned snooze, but it’s just not happening because…

…Alright, he’ll face it. He can’t stop thinking about El.

Not like that isn’t a problem most days, but tonight it’s far worse.

He really must have made a fool of himself if even El could see he was uncomfortable. And what’s worse, he’d read it as some sign Erik was uncomfortable being near him, when it’s just the opposite.

It had been overwhelming, when he’d woken up on the Salty Stallion to El in his arms, so at peace, and warm, and safe, and content. A moment so soft, so perfect, the sensations that welled up within him threatened to carry him away. Because Erik did want to be close to El.

But he was terrified of how much he wanted it.

Because it meant that the deep, deep part of his heart was opening back up. The part that, once, had only housed one other person.

Mia.

Erik’s chest clenches, he sucks in a teary breath.

Night was the worst time to think about her, when he had nothing to distract him from what exactly he had done to her and how it was his fault.

Fuck.

Erik rolls onto his side, eyes squeezed shut. Come to think of it, he never slept much before all this.

Maybe he’d needed El, too.

Letting out another shaky breath, Erik tosses off the covers and gets to his feet.

Feelings be damned, he can worry about this later. He needs to clear things up with El and get some damn light in his room. He can’t stand the darkness any longer.

Erik opens the door and takes silent steps down to El’s door, never more grateful for his thieving skills. He knocks gently on the wood.

“Hey, El, you up?”

No response. He knocks a little louder.

“Uh, sorry if I’m waking you, I just… I need to talk to you.”

Nothing still. There’s no way El didn’t hear him, that boy’s ears heard Veronica cuss from across the ship’s bow.

“Look, I get if you’re upset with me, but I’m here to explain myself.”

Still silence.

Erik shakes his head.

“Alright, if that’s how you’re being, I’m coming in!”

The thief turns the knob, and swings open the door to an empty bed. And empty room.

Loud snores fill the space as Sylvando sleeps, sprawled out across the bed, eyes covered with a slime eye mask.

The door flings open with a crack against the wall, and the jester jolts out of a dead sleep.

“Wha? Wha?”

“Sylv!” A panicked voice shouts.

The man pulls his mask off to see Erik, eyes and hair wild, tunic askew and hanging off one shoulder.

“Erik? Sweaty, what’s wrong?”

“It’s El! He’s gone!”

It’s a beautiful day on the Tor.

The sun is warm on El’s face, and the swaying grass is just tall enough that it brushes his fingertips when he leans over.

Ahead, he can hear Gemma laughing and Sandy barking as they run.

“C’mon!” Gemma calls back to him.

“I’m coming!” El replies with a chuckle.

But he feels no need to hurry. It’s so warm, and the air is so sweet, why not enjoy it while he’s here.

Gemma and Sandy’s sounds fade into the distance, but El’s not worried. He knows the way. They’ll be walking into the village soon.

“El! Come home, dear, soup’s on!”

His mother’s voice echoes through the valley. El can already taste the warm stew on his tongue. Perhaps he can afford to hurry a little.

More sounds grow, the life and laughter of the village, the voices of the people he loves.

“Hey, pick up the pace!”

Is that…

“Erik?”

“Who else? Your mum offered me a plate. Get your butt over here so we can start already!”

“Alright, alright!”

El jogged through the grass, the thoughts of all his family, gathered around the table spurring him on. He had to introduce Erik to his mum, she’d love him for sure. She’d especially love having another rail thin boy to hoist plates of food on.

Until ahead, he sees something.

A little, translucent figure, with long, dangling arms trundling along ahead of him. It doesn’t seem all that fast, but it’s still managing to keep ahead of him. El squints his eyes. Is that?

Oh. That’s the thing I saw at the docks.

Of course, how had he forgotten!

Before he can think on it too much, new voices appear, replacing the old.

“El… El, honey, is that you?”

It’s a man’s voice. And a woman’s.

“El, baby, come here.”

Who… he doesn’t recognize them. How do they know him?

“We’ve been waiting for you, son.”

Shock runs through his body.

“D-dad? Mum?”

His birth parents. The ones he never knew, who gave up their lives so he could live, so Grandpa Chalky could find him.

“El, honey, come here. Follow the way. We’ve been waiting for you.”

Their voices sound distant, weak.

“F-follow…” He looks down at the creature, still running. “Follow this thing?”

“Follow the way. We’re waiting.”

Their voices start to fade.

“W-wait!”

Then, ahead in the darkness, something new pierces into vision. A door, marked with a strange sigil, almost like the tree of Yggdrasil.

El slows down as he sees it, a beacon of sight in his blindness.

The creature trots up to it and disappears into the stone.

El comes to a stop before it, looking up with apprehension, but also an intense yearning to open the door. He must know what’s inside.

His hands go up, resting on the cold stone. All he has to do is push. The voices of his parents are back, growing with volume and urgency.

“El… El… El. El.”

“El, look out!”

Erik’s voice cuts through the dream sharp as his knife, and El, operating off muscle memory and days spent fighting on the road, drops to the carved stone stairs beneath him.

Something cracks against stone, and a cry of pain and frustration sounds above him.

A Grym Gryphon looms over the cowering Luminary, but before it can recover, a shadow falls over its back.

“HAAAAAH!”

Erik takes a flying leap onto the monster’s back, knife digging into the ruff around its unprotected neck. The beast squeaks, flailing back and forth in a desperate attempt to shake off its assailant. But Erik is a man possessed. He keeps a death grip on his dagger, sinking the metal as far as he can into the gryphon’s weak spot.

El lays gasping and confused on the floor.

What’s going on? This isn’t the inn! Where is he?

Above the stairwell, frantic footsteps can be heard.

“Erik!”

“El!”

The rest of their party arrives, hastily dressed with weapons drawn.

Veronica takes in the scene before pointing to Sylvando.

“Sylv, get that thing clear of them!”

The performer nods, swiftly loosing his whip from his belt.

“Erik, darling, time to exit stage left!”

The jester lashes out, whip wrapping around the gryphon’s dangling ankle. Quick on the uptake, Erik wrenches his knife free and leaps to the ground, just as Sylv pulls back and yanks the gryphon out into open space.

Before the beast can even react, Veronica is there with a charged-up fireball she sends right into its chest.

The gryphon screams as it goes flying, dissipating into black smoke before it even hits the ground.

“E-Erik?” El calls out.

“I’m here, hey.” Rough but gentle hands cradle the sides of El’s face. “Are you okay?”

“I-I, uh. Yeah, I think so.”

Erik moves his head and arms around, searching for signs of visible wounds.

“Are you both alright?” The others come running down the steps.

“Serena,” Erik gestures to her. “Check him over, please.”

“I-I’m okay, Erik, really,” El protests as he gets a better bearing on himself.

“Oh no, you’re gonna sit there and let the healer look you over. I don’t wanna hear any protesting after this stunt.”

“But-“

“No buts, El. What were you thinking, wandering off in the night! And into the Zwardsrust ruins! This place is crawling with undead, y-you could have been-“ Erik stops short. “No, I’m not even gonna think about that. But what were you doing?! If you needed a midnight excursion, why didn’t you tell us-?!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” El shouts over his concerned rambling.

Everyone stops short.

Serena brings a hand to Erik’s shoulder. “Perhaps, we should discuss this somewhere safer.”

“So, you were wrapped up in the depths of a dream, following the voices of your loved ones, until Erik woke you up just in time to dodge the gryphon.”

“That’s what I remember, yes.”

They’re all gathered in El’s room. The Luminary and Serena sit on his bed as she drifts a hand rich with healing energy across his body.

“And you have no idea how you got all the way to the ruins.”

El shakes his head. “I only remember falling dead asleep in my bed.”

“My, that must have been one powerful dream.” Sylvando presses a hand to his face in thought. “The inn keeper told us she spotted you heading out the door by yourself. Didn’t even respond when she called out to you, which was certainly odd. I didn’t know you were a sleepwalker, darling.”

“I’m not. At least, I’ve never done it before.”

“And you’re sure you don’t remember anything else?” Veronica asks.

El frowns, wracking his brain. There is something tickling at the edge of his memory, something he feels he should be holding onto, but the dream is rapidly fading from his waking consciousness. The scraps slip through his fingers.

“No, nothing else.”

“Dreams can be meaningful things,” Serena chimes in. “Sometimes, strong shifts in the world’s magic can influence people’s perception of the world, even giving them visions of great importance. And Zwardsrust seems like a place teeming with magic, good and bad.”

The glow fades from her hand, and she gives El a reassuring smile, even if he can’t see it. “Well, you’re in perfect health. So, for now, let’s gets you back to sleep. If you remember anything else, you can tell us then.”

El only nods, still feeling thrown from the whole situation.

Sylvando claps his hands. “Alright, party people, back to dreamland for all of us!”

The jester leads the others out of the room and into the hall. All except for Erik, who stays leaning against a wall.

“I’ll stay here tonight.”

The others blink at him. Veronica’s hands go to her hips.

“Finally got over yourself?”

Erik sputters.

“A good idea,” Serena interrupts before they can bicker again. “We should have someone keep an eye on El for the night, in case of any more incidents.”

Erik nods like that’s exactly what he was thinking. El only listens silently as the thief sees the others off and closes the door.

“Erik…” El starts hesitantly. “You don’t have to-“

“No, I think it’s pretty clear that I do.” Erik kneels down in front of El and places a hand on his knee.

The Luminary’s hand covers his, surprised at the contact.

“I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

“This is my fault.”

“Oh, Erik, it’s not-“

“No, it is. I should have been here for you, and I wasn’t, and you… you almost died tonight, El.”

“Erik, that doesn’t mean you have to-“

“But I do have to.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s my duty.”

A pause.

“You sound like a knight.”

Erik sorts a laugh, surprised by the comment. El starts to giggle, too.

“I’m trying to be serious here!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… Look, Erik, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. I’m grateful for all that you’ve done, really, I am. But the last think I want is for you to feel like I’m your responsibility because I’ve asked for your help.”

“El, what are you talking about?”

El stops, confused.

“Did you… did you really think I felt forced to be here?” Erik asks, incredulousness clear in his voice.

“Well, I mean, I did kind of hoist myself upon you in that dungeon…”

“The king threw you in that dungeon. And I didn’t have to get you out of there.”

“Sure, but then I needed to get home, so you had to guide me-“

“I wanted to.”

“Only because you’re so kind!”

“Kind?”

“Yes, Erik, you’re a very kind person.”

Erik felt his face heat and was very glad that El couldn’t see it.

“And the whole time, I never made it clear to you that you could leave anytime. I just… I just didn’t want to be alone. But, I shouldn’t have held onto you like that without making it clear you could leave whenever you wanted, and I-“

“You really think you could keep me somewhere I didn’t want to be?”

El pauses.

“El, I’m a thief and, well, you’re blind. If I wanted to leave, I doubt there’s much you could do to stop me.”

“Still…”

“Ugh, this is my fault.”

El moves to say something before Erik stops him.

“No, don’t even start. It is. I… haven’t been honest with you. And that’s cause… well, it’s hard for me. Doesn’t come natural.”

Not since he lost her.

“I know I tend to brush things off, justify what I do with circumstance, but… I promise you; I would not be here if I didn’t want to be. I decided that day we jumped to our certain deaths that I was gonna follow the Luminary wherever he was going next, no questions asked.”

El is completely still, just letting Erik speak.

“I chose this role. I made myself your protector because I… I want to be here. With you.”

Erik’s heart is beating louder now. This is treading way too close to volatile feelings.

“So, as long as you’ll have me, I’ll be right here. No matter what.”

Erik leans back slightly as he finishes so he can see El’s face. The Luminary’s expression is blank and unreadable, and Erik wonders for a moment if he’s said something terribly wrong, before El comes careening into him, pulling the thief into a hug.

Shallow sniffles puff at the edge of his ear.

“Thank you.”

Erik folds his arms around the younger boy, really pulling him close.

“It’s nothing…”

They stay like that for a time, before Erik feels El sag into him even more.

“I’m tired.”

Erik chuckles. “Then let’s go to bed.”

Chapter Text

Octagonia was a marvel of architecture. Built into the hollow insides of a mountain, with multiple levels carved from the natural cave system, supported and accented with wood and brick structures, it was as well protected from monsters as a settlement could get. A testament to its ability to outlast the collapse of Dundrasil.

The lamps cradled its sprawling bridges and walkways in a cozy orange glow, and the party could not help but be awed as they stepped onto its main walkway.

“Woaaaah. This place is huge!” Veronica shouts, her small voice bouncing through the cavern.

A hand pushes her hat over her eyes playfully.

“Pipe down, pipsqueak, you’re making a scene,” Erik chides.

Veronica huffs before delivering a quick kick to the thief’s shin and stomping off. Serena and Sylvando chuckle at the display.

Erik shoots the child mage an exaggerated glare as he rubs his wounded leg. The thief turns back to check on El, only to find the Luminary gazing up, head whipping back and forth as if he could see the grandeur before them.

Suddenly, he stumbles, tilting to one side. Erik is there, quick with an arm under his.

“Woah there, thought you settled your sea legs.”

“Ah, sorry, it’s just… all the rock really changes how the sound flows. I just need some time to get my bearings.”

“Perfunctory tour of the town?” The thief offers.

“Maybe later. We should see if our fleeting Rainbough is even here.”

Erik nods, taking El’s hand in his own to lead on. The boys catch up with the others at the far end of the bridge, where some kind of check-in counter stands lit in the same warm lights.

The girls come rushing over, followed by Sylv.

“It’s here! It’s finally here!” Veronica waves her hands in excitement.

“Really?” El asks.

“Oh, for sure, there’s no doubt! C’mon!”

Veronica grabs El’s free hand, pulling him from Erik’s grip and yanking him towards the counter.

“Hey, be gentle! We only got one of him, you know!”

But Veronica doesn’t listen, as expected. Erik follows with an exasperated eyeroll.

Sure enough, the Rainbough is there, in all its sparkly, branchy glory.

Okay, Erik shouldn’t be so glib. It is a beautiful thing, glowing white with a rainbow shine, kept safe in a glass case.

“Ah, wish you could see it, El,” Veronica muses.

“Well, I can’t see it, but I can… feel it, almost.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yes, it’s like there’s… a hum. But not one you can hear. A hum of energy, like the world is swirling around it.”

Veronica turns back to the branch, a look of new interest on her face.

“It must be Yggdrasil, calling to the Luminary,” Serena muses, holding her hands together in a pose of prayer.

“Yes, yes, it’s nice to see, but I’m afraid there’s oooone little catch,” Sylvando says, pointing to a sign over the counter.

Erik follows his gesture.

“Oh, c’mon.”

Standing tall and bold on a blackboard, he reads:

Come One, Come All!

The 34^th Annual Octagonia Masked Martial Arts Tournament!

Grand Prize: The Rainbough

Second Place: Yellow Orb

“Uggggh, I was afraid of this.”

“What, Erik?” El asks, concerned.

“We’re entering a strongman contest after all.”

El stood just outside the check-in’s entry way, listlessly tilting his head around. He was leaving the details of signing up to Erik and Sylv. Can’t read paperwork, after all. Tilting his head back, El hopes to be ‘looking’ up to where, he was told, a large statue of Hendrik looms, wielding his ever-intimidating greatsword.

Apparently, Octagonia was an old stomping ground of his, a place he often came to ply his training in their tournaments. And he won quite a bit of fame as a result. Odd, it seemed to El, to get this human glimpse of someone who dogged him like a beast. He couldn’t help but wonder; did Hendrik like being a knight, following King Carnelian’s orders? Maybe he was happier in the ring, displaying his strength for lower stakes and great prizes.

El’s musings are interrupted as a heavy weight crashes into one shoulder, sending him spinning around. A broad hand catches him by the side and pulls him right.

“Woah! Sorry there, little guy. Didn’t see ya.” A voice speaks in a deep, booming baritone. El can tell this man is huge.

“O-oh, no, I’m sorry, I’m standing right in the way.”

“Ha ha, no worries. Just look after yourself, yeah?”

Quick as he came, the man left, and El was alone again.

Well, that was an odd, if polite encounter.

“What do you mean, ‘no exceptions?!’”

Oh no, that was Erik yelling.

El quickly ducks into the doorway, easily pinpointing where Erik stands before the counter.

The thief is furious. With only a few words he has the young receptionist cowering under his glare.

“I-I’m sorry, Sir, but those are the rules!”

Erik’s brow furrows further. A hand lands on his arm.

“Erik, what’s wrong?”

The thief feels the rage leak out instantly, replaced by a wave of calm that always seems to come in El’s wake.

“Ahh, this damn contest! It’s a partner event, but they’re using lottery draw to pick matches.”

“Oh. So…”

“So, they won’t let us fight together.”

“W-well, we just can’t set you up to be partners. If you get lucky, you may still get paired.”

“And I told you we can’t do that!”

“I-I’m sorry!” The man squeaks as he ducks bellow the counter again.

El quickly puts himself between them.

“I’m sorry, we don’t mean to be difficult. Please, just put us both down, we’ll make do.”

The receptionist nods nervously, and El quickly pulls Erik out and away from the crowd.

“El, how could you just let this slide?!”

“Well, it’s better than letting you bite that poor man’s head off.”

“Not my fault he’s stubborn.”

“He’s just doing his job, Erik. It’s not his fault.” El rubs his hand up and down Erik’s arm.

The thief’s shoulders relax under the touch.

“Gah, this sucks! What are we supposed to do now?”

“I can make do in a pair, Erik.”

“Hey, I don’t doubt that for a second, but the other guy’s not gonna know how to work with you! What if he gets in your way and costs you the contest?”

“Well, maybe we can use this to our advantage. Sylv’s entering, too. That means we have three chances to win the Rainbough, that’s three times the chances of everyone else. If someone gets a bad pair, we’ll have the others to fall back on.”

Erik huffs.

“Still not convinced?”

“I just…” Erik takes a steadying breath, remembering their conversation in the Warrior’s Rest Inn. “I just worry about you being okay. That fight with the gryphon… it really freaked me out.”

“Hey, it’s alright. It’s just a contest, I’ll be okay.”

“Right, you’re right. Gotta get myself outa that headspace.”

“For what it’s worth, I’ll worry about you too.”

Erik laughs. “Guess that’s fair.”

“Hey, are you two done yet?!” The boys look over to see Veronica on the other side of the dais. “Better get up top, they’re starting the draw!”

Erik gives another dramatic sigh.

“Let’s get this over with.”

“Llllladies and gentlemen!”

A man dressed in well fitting garb flails his hands dramatically towards the audience.

“Welcome… to the 34^th Annual Octagonia Masked Martial Arts Tooooooooournameeeeent!”

A cheer goes up, and El is deafened. Reflexively, he covers his ears. A habit he thought he kicked when young, after his mother told him it was rude to cover his ears when someone spoke. He feels Erik’s hand on his back, a stabilizing force in the chaos of sound.

The sun beat down strong on the twenty-something contestants, all ringed loosely around the announcer, who stands in the center of a stone colosseum at the top of Octagonia. It’s a marvelous thing, all gleaming white stone open to the wide, blue sky.

El couldn’t deny he felt just as much excitement as he did nervousness. He’s never gotten to test his skills before. At least, not on anything but monsters. He was curious how he stacked up against  able-bodied fighters, wanted to know just how effective his grandfather’s teaching had been.

Erik, he could tell from the stiffness of his arm, was far less enthused. The Luminary wasn’t surprised the thief deemed such things a waste of time and energy. But, he also didn’t doubt Erik would put his all into this, complaints about rulings aside.

“Without further ado,” the announcer continues, “Leeeets pick our teams!”

The crowd cheers again as the man steps up to a metal cage filled with colored balls. He gives the crank on one end a mighty turn to send it spinning, and all wait with bated breath as one sphere falls through the grate and rolls onto the platform bellow.

The announcer picks it up, reads it, then displays it with a flourish.

“Number eleven!”

El perks up. He’d been childishly happy to be given that designation, and when his companions pressed on why, all he could say was ‘it’s my lucky number.’

And it has been. El’s always felt drawn to it, for some reason he can’t explain.

Still, he didn’t expect to be first.

Erik gives his back one last pat for good luck, and El shakily takes center stage, Sheathed sword tapping the floor for guidance.

“Ah, one of our newcomers! Let’s see who his lucky partner will be!”

The man gives it another spin and quickly snatches the next ball.

“Number nine!”

El turns as a new set of footsteps move to join him. He listens intently. Solid, but light. Someone tall, but still slightly built. Goddess, he really wishes he could see right now.

“Ah, our mysterious battling beauty!”

A woman, then?

“Charmed, I’m sure.”

The voice was deep, but still feminine. Definitely a woman, and one older than him if he had to guess.

“Ah, hi,” he offered.

“Alright, next-“

“Wait a minute!”

A raspy voice breaks the announcer’s stride, and everyone’s attention turns to a new face. An old man in a fez and red vest, who steps to the front with a relaxed expression on his face.

“Hold yerself there, lad. I’m afraid there’s to be a change of plans. I will be this lass’ partner.”

“Ahah,” the announcer balks, caught off guard. “I’m afraid that’s not how this works, Sir. The rules were clearly explained to all contestants-“

The man waddles up, pulling the announcer down to whisper in his ear. Silence blankets the colosseum for a few moments.

“Ah… ahum… ah… lemme check with the board.” The announcer quickly shuffles away.

The contestants are left to idle for a time. El swears he can hear a soft sigh of exasperation from the woman next to him.

“He a little protective?” He asks, hoping to break the ice.

The woman chuckles. “You could say that.”

The announcer rushes back.

“Change of plans, folks, number nine will be paring with number three!”

A wave of discontent ripples through the crowd.

“I know, I know, but the board has made their decision! Let’s move along and find eleven his real partner!”

“Well, it was nice while it lasted,” the woman says.

“Good luck to you,” El says with a bow.

Another chuckle. “And to you, country boy.”

El was left shocked by how well she had pinned him as he listened to the woman walk away.

The cage rattled as it was turned again.

“Number twelve, come on up!”

A far heavier set of steps make their way to the front.

“Hey, it’s little guy!”

El jolts in surprise. The man from yesterday! What a stroke, that.

“Wait just a second!”

Another voice rings out. El blinks in surprise. Erik?!

“What’s the meaning of that, huh? I thought rules were rules!”

The announcer’s shoulders sag.

“I understand, but the man had extenuating circumstances.”

“Oh, I’ll give you an extenuating circumstance!”

Erik’s boots clomp heavily on the pavement as he marches up to the announcer to whisper in his other ear. The mans face moves from annoyed, to surprised, to weary.

“Ahhh… let me check.”

He leaves again, but comes back much faster.

“Alright! The board has agreed. Five will partner with Eleven. But that’s it- no more exceptions!”

More restlessness from the crowd, and El feels Erik take position next to him, radiating a smug aura.

“Guess you got your way after all.”

“Hey, it’s only fair. Besides, you actually have a reason to need someone specific.”

Erik tosses a hard look to the old man and woman pair. She meets it with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile.

“Erik, I can hear you glaring,” El chides

“No, you cannot.”

The boys share a quiet laugh.

“Ah, that’s a shame. Was looking forward to having you on my team.” The man from earlier was before them now.

“Oh, uh. Likewise. Goodluck anyway, though.”

“Heh, you too, almost-partner.”

The man turns away to receive his new teammate, and Erik gives El a confused look.

“You know each other?”

“Yeah, he bumped into me outside the check-in counter.”

“He what?!” Erik said, indigent.

“Relax! It was partially my fault, anyway. Besides, he apologized. Seems like a nice guy.”

“Seems like a brick wall. Let’s hope he gets out early…”

“Now that we’ve cut our chances by a third, we’ll need all the luck we can get.”

“C’mon, I know you’re happy it worked out.”

El only bumped Erik with his shoulder, so he wouldn’t have to admit that he was.

After the teams were finally settled, the contestants were freed to wander about while the brackets were arranged. Erik and El made their way to the stands where the found the twins waiting for them.

“Welcome back, you two,” Serena greets them.

“Gee, El, you better get a leash on your dog before he bites somebody.” Veronica smirks in Erik’s direction.

The thief’s eyebrow twitches, before he pulls veronica’s cap down again and starts ruffling her hair.

“Can it, mini mage.”

The two break out into a minor scuffle. El shakes his head and Serina hides a smile with her hand.

“Still, that was quite a surprising turn of events.”

“You can say that again,” El sighs. “Seems like we’ll have some tough competition.”

“Even so, I am glad to know you two will be working together. You’ve always been the sharpest set on our team.”

Veronica pauses from their play fight to turn back to her sister.

“Let’s hope it’s enough, since we’ve only got two bets on the table now.”

Erik looks around. “Where is Sylv, anyway?”

“Oh, he’s off galivanting with his partner.” Veronica shrugs her shoulders. “Somehow managed to find someone just as sparkly as him.”

“Wow, that’s an achievement I’d like to see,” Erik muses.

“I’m sure their entry will be hard to ignore.”

Trumpets sound, and audience members scramble to their seats. Serena looks to center stage.

“Ah, looks like the first match is starting!”

Veronica grabs onto the stone wall separating the rows of seats to get a better look.

“Ooh, look! First up is mysterious green lady and the red old guy!”

Erik looks out. Sure enough, that black-haired woman with the high ponytail and the elderly man in the long bird-face mask take their place in the ring. He feels El’s arm loop through his as the Luminary looks to him with childish excitement.

“Play-by-play, please?”

Erik huffs. “Sure.”

The fight lasts less than five minutes.

Jade, as she is introduced, is a flurry of kicks and jumps, dominating the arena and giving no openings to the poor chumps placed in her path. Even with weapons, they seem completely unable to grab an advantage, and the tall woman has them on their rears crying uncle.

But even more insulting, to Erik at least, is that the old man didn’t even lift a finger.

‘Rab’ stands at the edge of the arena, just far enough in to not be disqualified, watching his partner take names with a smug tilt to his eyes.

“Is this what he was putting up a fuss about?” Erik complains to El in a low voice. “Knew no one else was gonna carry his sorry weight if he tried this?”

“I’m just surprised this isn’t against the rules.”

“Feel bad for the girl, getting treated like a slave.” Erik shakes his head.

“Hey now, let’s not judge. They may have a reason.”

“You better be paying attention,” Veronica pokes at Erik’s arm from his other side. “If you end up in the ring with them, that fight’ll be a doozy.”

“Eh, if it’s two on one I think El and I will be fine.”

Still, Erik was taking mental notes of her fighting style. This Jade character would be no easy victory, whatever they do.

“Well, they’ve won today’s match,” El chimes in. “So, they won’t be getting another one until tomorrow.”

“That’s a relief…”

“Oh, they’ve moved on to the next one.” Serena points down below.

“Who is it?” El asks, leaning forward despite his lack of sight.

Erik peers through the crowd and sees a tall, broad man dressed in orange and purple walk onto the stage, accompanied by his new partner- a scrawny man in green.

“Hey, it’s your big friend.”

“Oh, really?”

“His little friend looks like he’ll blow away in a stiff wind,” Veronica comments.

“With that guy’s size, he may be able to compensate.”

El huffs. “I really wish my eyes worked right now…”

“You’re really into this tournament thing, huh?” Erik glances at his friend.

“I like fighting. It was… kind of my hobby for a long time, and my grandpa was the only person I had to spar with. I’ve never gotten to experience other fighters before…”

Erik’s eyes soften.

“Well, guess I need to step up my description game.” The thief stretches out his arms for emphasis.

 El chuckles.

“They’re starting!” Veronica shouts.

El’s almost-partner soon reveals himself as another force to be reckoned with. His fists, armored with some wicked looking knuckle claws, come down on his opponents with amazing force. One of his blows sends a very large man skidding to almost the edge of the arena. But what’s even more shocking is the crowd. Every step the man takes sends them into a cheering frenzy, each blocked strike and counter an excuse for celebration.

“Yeesh, this guy’s popular.” Erik digs a finger in his ear, sure that it’ll be ringing by the end of this.

“Course he is!”

A gravelly voice from behind gets the group’s attention, and they turn around to see a burly man sitting in the seats behind them.

“He’s Vince Vanquish; won the MMAT six years running!”

“S-six years?!” Veronica stutters.

“Oh my…” Serena mutters.

Erik looks back just in time to see Vince land a hit that sends their final opponent spiraling through the air and land hard outside the ring. A bell goes off, the ‘In-Vince-Ibles’ are declared the winners, and the crowd loses their minds.

Erik feels a drop of sweat crawl down his face as he looks to El.

“Maybe I should have let you partner with him…”

But there wasn’t time to dwell, as El and Erik soon found themselves gearing up for the arena, masks donned and blades at the ready.

“You ready?” Erik asks his partner.

El smiles. “Ready.”

Erik smirks in return, giving his knife a stylish flip. “Alright, let’s kick some ass.”

And the thief led their way out onto the dias, to much fanfair and shouting.

“YEAAAAH! SHOW ‘EM A THING OR TWO!”

Erik startles as he looks up to see a small, red figure bouncing up and down in the upper bleachers.

“What is it?” El asks.

“Leave it to Veronica to make herself heard over an entire crowd.”

El laughs, and it takes the announcer walking over to them for Erik to look away from the Luminary’s beaming face.

“Alright boys, hope you’re ready for bracket one! Have you decided on a team name?”

“Uh…” El and Erik exchange a look. “No, we haven’t.”

“Well, you might want to consider it. If you don’t, the audience will.”

“Psh,” Erik waves him off.  “We don’t need a title, just use our names.”

“Suit yourself.” The man shrugs before moving to center stage.

“Ladies aaaaand gentlemeeeeen! I hope you’re ready for another heart-pounding brawl!”

The crowd cheers their approval.

“On our right, we have another party of newcomers! Give it up for our rookies Erik and El!”

The crowd roars again, but Erik tunes it all out. His knives slide easily from their sheaths and the blue haired boy rolls his shoulders, giving a few test hops to loosen up his limbs. Looking over, he sees El glancing back and forth nervously. Despite not being able to see the crowd, it’s clear that he can feel all the eyes focused on them.

“Getting stage fright on me?” Erik teases.

El blinks, before shaking his head and pulling out his sword. “No, just… adjusting.”

“Some advice? Don’t focus on them, just look at the bad guys.”

“And on our left, we have The Titanic Duo – the Underdigger and Abominable Showman!”

“Ah, speaking of!”

El and Erik look across the field only to see the two largest men ever birthed on Erdrea standing in their way. One with a bull masked covering his head, large horns gleaming in the afternoon light. The other, eyes darkened with a thin face mask, sporting a wild hairdo and a wicked grin, a long tongue lolling out like some vicious snake.

Erik gulps.

“Their footsteps sound heavy. Are they big?”

“Oh… you could say that.”

The announcer turns to them. “Alright boys, I want a clean fight. On go.”

The duo flex their limbs, knuckles cracking on giant fists.

“Ready…”

Erik crouches low. “The usual?”

“Right.” El nods.

“GO!”

Fighting with El is like riding a horse. That is to say, even though they’ve had a party to bolster their fights the past few weeks, Erik hasn’t forgotten how to fight as a duo.

Over the days they spent traveling to Cobblestone, tracking down the orb, and trekking to Hotto, Erik and El had developed their joint fighting style down to a science. Erik, light and quick on his feet, dodged about the arena, dashing in with quick cuts, before pulling out again, doing his best to keep enemy attention focused on him. While they’re distracted, El slides in with the heavy hits, slipping past their defenses when they least expect, whether that’s a slash from his sword or a bolt from his magic.

Then, when the enemy is finally worn down, Erik lands the final blow, right in their vital spot.

Worked every time, the MMAT would be no different.

“WOAH!” Erik reeled backwards just in time to dodge the Underdigger’s grab for his torso.

Well, maybe not so easy.

These larger opponents were slow, but huge arms meant long reach, so Erik was forced to keep more distance and had fewer chances for return strikes as a result. He could hear El clashing with the Abominable Showman somewhere behind him, the blind boy’s sword blocking swings and punches with ease. Turns out, El’s way stronger than he looks.

Erik dodges another swing and lands next to El, who pushes back at the Showman to get clear.

“Usual’s not working.” Erik says through gritted teeth.

“New plan?”

“Think you can land a snooze?”

“Maybe, if they’re not looking for a bit.”

“You got it.”

And Erik’s back in, sliding under the Showman’s legs so he’s standing between the long-tongued man and his bull faced partner.

“Yesh, you guys are slow. Maybe they should have made a bracket for geriatrics.”

The Underdigger chuckles, deep and low.

“Aww, the little bunny thinks he’s tough.”

“Not for long!” The Showman lashes out, using his tongue like a whip.

Erik leaps, flipping over the Underdigger by using his horns as a vault. As he gets clear, the Showman’s tongue slaps his partner right on the face. Erik lands as the Underdigger flails and gags, almost landing on his butt.

“Woah there, at least take a guy to dinner first.”

“Augh! Showman! What the hell?!”

“Wh- It’s not my fault! You got in the way!”

Their bickering is interrupted when a blue aura strikes the Showman on the back. The man staggers, speech slurring as his eyes flutter closed.

“Wh-?!” The Underdigger flinches back in shock, but it’s too late.

Erik flies in, dagger wreathed in blue light.

“Persecutor!”

He hits with the blunted side, but it still strikes home. The Abominable Showman flies across the arena, spinning a few times before he hits the ground beyond the stone platform.

The announcer rushes over, checking the man’s condition. A groan comes from the collapsed figure, but the Showman makes no effort to stand.

“He’s out!”

The crowd cheers. Cries of ‘Erik! Erik!’ ring throughout, and when he glances to El and receives a proud smile, Erik feels pretty good about himself.

Until he feels a shadow fall on his shoulders.

“Forgettin’ somebody?”

“Aw, shi-“

Big arms wrap around his middle, and Erik’s vision spins as the Underdigger lifts him high before throwing him down to the pavement. The wind leaves Erik’s chest and he lets out a pained groan.

“He he heh, not so cocky now, rabbit?”

Erik looks up. Seems he skidded some distance away from the force of the throw, but the Underdigger stands before him, cracking his knuckles and kicking his feet. A bull, about to charge.

The man starts running. Erik can’t dodge, not fast enough, he’s too winded. His mind races for what to do next, before El’s voice rings out.

“ZAP!”

A bolt of lightning flies into the Underdigger, pushing the man faster than he’d been running, and in an instant, Erik knows the plan. As the bull man stumbles forward, Erik swings out hard with both feet.

It connects, Erik winces at the force of contact, and the Underdigger trips right over him.

“Wh-Whoah!”

The man tumbles, horns over heels, right out of the ring. Another pained groan, and the announcer runs up to see the Underdigger, flat on his back, staring up at the sky.

“…I give…” he moans.

The announcer crosses and uncrosses his arms dramatically. “That’s game! Erik and El are the winners!”

The arena is filled with noise as the crowd goes wild.

Erik still lays on the pavement, breathing hard, until a hand enters his vision.

“You alright?”

He looks up to see El, concern etched in his eyebrows. The thief puts on as convincing of a smile as he can, even though the other boy can’t see it.

“Yeah, I’m good.”

He takes El’s hand and stumbles to his feet, brushing dust from his tunic. Confetti and even some flowers fall from the bleachers above. Erik tugs on El’s hand.

“Shall we greet our adoring audience?”

The laugh he pulls from the boy is enough to light the rest of his day.

It’s late when El finds himself alone on the parapets of Octagonia again. A party had been thrown in honor of the day’s winners, a tradition to continue the hype for the tournament. The whole evening had been a blur of voices, food, and offers for drinks that El had to politely turn down (even though he was of age, he’d never had alcohol before and was a little nervous.)

It was fun, but all rather overwhelming, and eventually he’d felt the need for fresh air. He’d left Erik back at the inn, where the party was raging. The thief looked like he was having so much fun, basking in popularity and adulation for once, drinking to his heart’s content. The Underdigger and Abominable Showman even showed up to congratulate them and praise Erik’s performance in the ring.

El was so happy for him. He deserved to enjoy some time in a positive spotlight for once, and besides, he could take himself for a short walk.

So, he meandered the walkways, making sure not to drift too far. His sword tapping against the walls of the bridge his only guide, until he felt someone grab his shoulder.

“Who-?” he asked, trying to identify the person.

“You did well out there today.”

Ah, it’s Jade.

“Oh, thank you. I thought you performed well, too.”

Silence. He got the feeling Jade wasn’t a woman of many words, which posed a bit of an issue for a blind kid.

“Not welcome in the party?”

“Oh, it’s not that, I just needed some air.”

“And your partner?”

“He’s enjoying himself, couldn’t take him away from that.”

Silence again.

“Well, I’d be careful out here on your own.”

El tilts his head. “Why do you say that?”

“There have been some… rumors. Apparently, some of the fighters from today haven’t been seen. It’s probably nothing, but you can’t be too careful.”

“Oh, um… thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Silence again, before the clacking of heals signals her departure. El breaths out a little sigh he didn’t realize he was holding. Jade was certainly an interesting character. An attitude of tight control and deadly observance, but there was… something else, just underneath. El could hear it in her voice, in her walk, he just… couldn’t pin down what it was.

Still, what she said, about fighters disappearing. It was concerning, for sure. Maybe they should look into it when they have the time.

“Hey, Vince!”

A loud voice to the right catches El’s attention.

“Hey, Darin.” Vince’s deep voice rumbles to his ears.

“Not staying for the party?”

“Nah, you know me, gotta get home.”

“Alright, stay safe, man! Looking forward to tomorrow’s show!”

“Ha hah! You know it.”

And El hears Vince walk off, into the lower reaches of Octagonia, alone.

Wait, does Vince know?

A cold shot goes through him at the thought of Vince being made victim of whatever is causing fighters to disappear, and before El can think he’s rushing down the stairs as fast as he’s able in the direction he heard Vince leave.

It’s slow going, being stairs and all, and he can’t help but think he should have brought Erik along afterall. Just as the thought crosses his mind, his sword hits empty air, and El feels himself pitch forward down the stairs.

All he can think is, ah, this is gonna hurt. Before he’s stopped short. A thick arm lands across his middle and stops the boy from face planting at the bottom of the stairs.

“Woah there, little buddy!”

“Ah, Vince!”

The large wrestler easily rights El, setting the Luminary back on his feet.

“Can’t say I was expecting to run into you this way again.”

“Well, it wasn’t us bumping into each other at least.”

Vince laughs. “What are you doing all the way down here? Party’s still going strong upstairs.”

“Oh, well, it’s… not really my scene. It’s fun, don’t get me wrong! But, it’s also very… ah, loud.”

“Well, no shame in that.”

“Thanks… Oh! But I did have something important to tell you!”

“Hm, well, want to come inside then?”

“Inside?”

“Yeah, the orphanage.”

Just when it didn’t seem possible for Vince to be more of a classic hero, turns out, he single handedly supports Octagonia’s only orphanage. He enters and wins the MMAT every year so he can use the money to maintain the place. New beds, new clothes, new toys, every cent goes to the kids.

And they love Vince, maybe more than all his adult fans in the arena. They cluster around him as soon as the two open the doors, shouting ‘Uncle Vince, Uncle Vince!’ and vying for his attention.

Vince kneels down to appease them for a bit before quickly introducing El and turning their focus to him.

The Luminary gets swarmed at once, because the only thing more exciting than Uncle Vince is something new, apparently. But El doesn’t mind. He finds himself enjoying the evening a lot, actually. He plays games with the kids, answers their litany of questions about who he is and what he does, and even has a meal with Vince and the group.

It turns out to be a nice evening, in the end.

But, eventually, Vince has to order the kids to bed.

“Aww, really?!”

“But Uncle Vince, we’re not tired!”

“Tell that to your yawns.” He pats the boy, Conner, on the head before shooing them all to their respective rooms.

Task complete, he takes a seat in a bench next to El.

“Phew. Sorry about that, I know they can be a handful.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it! I had a good time, actually.”

“Well, that’s a relief.”

They laugh, atmosphere relaxed in the evening candlelight.

“So, what’s this important thing you need to tell me?”

“Oh!” For a moment, El had forgotten all about his encounter with Jade on the walkway. “Well, it’s… it’s probably nothing, really. I just heard some rumors about fighters going missing, and when I noticed you alone, I thought someone should let you know.”

It’s quiet for a moment. Vince leans back, wood creaking under his weight.

“Missing fighters? That is concerning. I appreciate the heads up.”

“Yeah, no problem!”

“Well, if that’s all you had to say, do you mind if I ask a question of my own?”

El blinks, caught off guard. “Ah, sure.” He can’t imagine what question Vince would have about him.

“Do you happen to be, ah, seeing impaired?”

“Uh…” El gapes. “How’d you know?”

“I put it together about the second time you failed to watch where you were going. And then, in the ring, your eyes never quite locked onto anything, but your hits never missed. Pretty impressive, honestly.”

“Oh, thanks! Ah hah!”

“I hope you don’t feel like I’m putting you on the spot, or anything.”

“Not at all! I’m just… not used to people paying attention, really.”

“Well, guess it’s easier for me because, ah… I’m a little vision impaired myself.”

“Wha- really?!” El leans forward in his seat.

“Yeah. Not fully blind, I can see things pretty well if they’re right in front of my face, but go a few paces away, and it gets real fuzzy.”

“Wow, that’s… that’s really amazing.”

“Yeah? Surprised you’re that impressed.”

“Well, it’s just, you’re the first other person with a condition like mine I’ve ever met.”

“Oh yeah? Fancy that. I’ve met a few who’ve traveled through Octagonia, but they never stayed long.

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing I came after you, huh?”

“Yeah, we can swap stories about all the stuff we’ve bumped into.”

They laugh again. El feels elated! He’s got a new friend, someone who understands what it’s like to miss out on something that seems so important to everyone else’s lives. If only Erik was here…

“Oh, shoot!”

“Hm?”

“It’s getting late, Erik’s gonna be so worried about me!”

“That blue haired partner of yours? Alright, don’t loose your head, lemme help you get back to the inn.”

“Thanks, Vince, I appreciate it-“

A crash breaks the quiet evening, coming from somewhere down the hall.

“What was-?!” El asks, before Vince leaps to his feet.

“The kids!”

El and Vince rush down the hall, chasing the source of the sound. Vince leads them into one room, flinging the door open with aggressive force. He takes a few paces in and curses.

“What’s wrong? Are the kids okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just my room, but somebody’s trashed the whole place.”

El steps after him and feels something wet under his boot.

“What’s…?”

“It’s nothing, broke a flowerpot.”

Suddenly, El feels an arm on his shoulder as Vince leads him out of the room.

“Wait, do you want any help?”

“Nah, they’re long gone by the looks of it. Besides, you’re being missed, right?”

Despite his protests, Vince insists that he’ll take care of things at the Orphanage. Extra locks, night patrols before he goes to sleep, nothing for El to worry about.

Not convinced, but seeing how insistent Vince is, El lets the larger man escort him back to the top level. Sure enough, the first person they run into is Erik, frantically pacing the walkways.

“El!” he rushes over, pulling the Luminary from Vince’s grasp and into his own.

“El, are you alright?! What happened? I just looked up, and you were gone, and I couldn’t find you anywhere-“

“E-Erik, Erik, I’m alright!”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes! Wait, are-“ El sniffs the air, catching the heavy scent of alcohol. “Are you drunk?”

“Pfft, not nearly. I can hold my-“ the thief reaches out to rest a hand on the railing, only to miss it by a mile and nearly fall to the ground. “Well, maybe a little tipsy.”

“Ha, ha, ha! Sorry about that,” Vince cuts in. “Found El walking about on his lonesome and decided to steal him away for a bit.”

El feels Erik tense as his attention moves to the fighter.

“Well, Vince. I suggest you keep your hands to yourself next time.”

“Erik, what are you-?”

“Cause the only one who steals El around here is me.”

El freezes in shock, before covering his face with his hands in embarrassment. Vince, however, takes it in stride, bursting into unrestrained laughter.

“Understood, little man. Have a good night.” And Vince walks away.

Things are quiet for a moment before El feels Erik move back to his side.

“You like him?” the thief asks, and El can hear the light slurring in his words now.

“Wh- Vince? I mean, yeah, I guess.”

“I can take him.”

“Erik, what?”

“Could put on more muscle, too.”

That gets El to laugh.

“What?! Don’t laugh, I totally could!”

“Ugh, finally!”

El turns at the sound of Veronica and Serena running up to them.

“See, Erik, he’s fine.”

“No thanks to you.”

El blinks questioningly. “Did Erik have all of you looking for me?”

“Yes, he was quite incensed.” Serena says with laughter in her voice.

“And I told her you weren’t a toddler and could handle yourself for a night.”

“Well, I’m sorry that the only one taking his Luminary duties seriously is me!” Erik flings his arms out in an exasperated manor and loses his balance enough that El has to right him for once.

“I think we should be getting to bed.”

“Hm, good idea. You in bed. And far away from Vince.”

“Vince? Why’s he talking about Vince?” Veronica asks.

El sighs as he leads Erik back to the inn. “It’s a long story…”

Chapter Text

El woke that morning to the sound of pained groans. Turning over in his bed, the Luminary reaches out a hand, only to feel a pillow where soft, spiky hair should be. Seems Erik thinks he can hide from the pain of his decisions.

“Bad hangover?”

Another groan.

“Not my worst…” the thief’s voice comes muffled under the fabric.

El chuckles despite his friend’s pain.

They’d shared a bed again. Seems after their talk in Zwardsrust, they had established sleeping beside one another as a level of intimacy their close friendship allowed. And even though harbored affection kept turning El’s stomach into knots, he couldn’t be happier with how things were.

He wasn’t ready to tell Erik, and Erik probably wasn’t ready to hear it, so for now, this would do.

“…We should probably get up.”

“I know…”

“Not ready to face Veronica’s ‘I told you so’s?’”

“…Maybe.”

“Alright, I’ll go down first. Just don’t fall back asleep.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Erik waves him off as El extracts himself from their make-shift sleeping arrangements.

They’d been given a double suite, like all the competing pairs, but El and Erik had pushed the beds together to make one large enough for them to share. It only took some minimal fumbling about the room for El to find his things and dress for the day.

He found the girls downstairs, already helping themselves to breakfast.

“Good morning!”

“Well, that’s a sight,” Veronica says. “You’re up before Erik?”

“He’s, ah, still shaking off last night.”

“Oh my, does he need any healing?” Serena asks.

“Maybe, I’ll let him make the choice.”

“Hmph, I told him to go easy. A high tolerance doesn’t mean there’s no limits, and he was getting bought drinks left, right, and center!”

Veronica sounds chiding, but El can hear the concern underlying her voice. He’s been around her long enough to tell- she pretends not to care, but in reality, she may worry more than Serena.

“Oh, good, I missed the mini mage’s preaching.”

Lazy, clunking steps signal Erik’s approach down the stairs.

“Hey, that was fast!” El says, turning to where Erik’s voice came from.

“Well, can’t leave the adoring public waiting too long.” He replies with a sarcastic lilt.

El hears Serena giggle and can practically feel Veronica roll her eyes.

“You may have missed the ‘I told you so,’ but you’re just in time to hear me say ‘you look like shit.’”

Erik grumbles at that, but El can tell there’s nothing behind it. It’s a new dynamic that’s grown over the past few days, where Veronica and Erik tease each other to no end, but only to hide just how much they like each other. To any outsider, they may think they were brother and sister. El feels a warmth grow in his chest; the thought of Erik building more close relationships outside of their own makes him so happy, and he can feel with each new bond their little group is growing stronger.

“Whatever,” El snaps back to the conversation as Erik quips back. “Appearances can be deceiving, as you know. I’m more than ready for another day in the ring-“

El hears Erik take the final step and land somewhat heavily.

“Ow, ow! Ough…” A hiss leaves the thief’s mouth.

“Are you okay?” El asks.

“F-fine. Damn this headache…”

“Would you like some assistance?” Serena asks.

“Not so tough after all, huh?” Veronica teases.

Erik says nothing as he takes a seat beside Serena. Veronica laughs at his sulking, and El finally joins them at the table. All are ready to continue breakfast before Erik speaks up again.

“Is Sylv still not here?”

But there’s not much time to worry about their rogue jester, as day two of the tournament quickly gets into swing.

This time, Erik and El are up first, facing off against a pair of young women calling themselves “The Beaty Queens.” Ha ha.

It’s a less harrowing fight than the two human walls from yesterday, but the girls are fast. Couple that with the fact that one knows healing spells and the other hits like a truck, the thief and Luminary still had their work cut out for them.

Luckily, Sinderella can’t hope to match El’s magical ability. The Luminary out-heals and out-zaps her to exhaustion, and after that, Erik makes quick work of the lone Whambalina.

“Ouch!” Whambalina cries out as Erik’s final strike throws her back and onto her exhausted mage friend.

“Get… off me!” Sinderella harshly shoves her partner to the concrete ground. “Augh, my poor bunny ears!”

“Ugh, you always do this!” Whambalina sits up, expression fille with frustration. “Maybe if you spent less time worrying about your outfit and more time in training, we’d get farther than the second bracket for once!”

Sinderella’s face scrunches up. “Well, maybe if you cared more about your appearance, you’d have more admirers buying your merch!”

“AUGH! Why am I even friends with you?!”

The girls argue from their spot on the arena floor, leaving El and Erik to watch on awkwardly.

“S-should we-?” El asks, hand raised in concern.

“Don’t.” Erik places his hand on El’s own and lowers it.

The announcer nervously steps in.

“Ah, ladies, do we take this as a concession?”

“STAY OUT OF THIS!” They both shout.

The announcer recoils with a yelp and scampers back. He quickly regains his poise before addressing the crowd.

“I’ll take that as a yes. The Lightning Lads win round two!”

Erik does a double take. “Wait, the what?!”

“Oh, you didn’t hear?” El turns to his friend. “They’ve given us a title. Started putting it on shirts and everything.”

“What?! I didn’t agree to this!”

“He did warn us yesterday.”

“Still… Lightning Lads?”

El chuckles at that. Erik only sighs in defeat.

Day two of the competition goes much faster. With half the parties eliminated yesterday, there’s only a few fights remaining until the finalists are decided; few enough that the other bouts are set to be fought today and the whole contest will finish with the finals tomorrow.

But for now, Erik and El (not the Lightning Lads, Erik refuses to use that name for themselves) have some down time. They spend it in the stands with Veronica and Serena again, where they watch Rab and Jade, “The Beauty and The Baffling,” as they’ve been dubbed, easily take out another team.

A final roundhouse kick sends one poor sap spinning out of the arena.

Erik whistles low at the sight. Veronica quirks an eyebrow at him.

“Impressed?”

“Terrified, more like.” Erik crosses his arms. Everything he sees of that woman makes him think getting in the ring with her is not a good idea.

“Hmm, is that all?” The small mage asks with a mischievous grin.

“What are you talking about, half pint?” It’s Erik’s turn to raise an eyebrow.

“I dunno, you just seem rather enraptured by her legs.” Veronica crosses her arms behind her head nonchalantly.

“Wh-?!” Erik stutters and he feels heat go to his cheeks. “Only if you think imagining all the ways she could kick me into next week is being ‘enraptured!’”

“I mean, some guys are into that, no need to be ashamed.”

“I cannot believe this is coming out of your mouth!”

El leans in from Erik’s shoulder. “C’mon, guys, leave off.”

Erik’s head whips around to El, and he feels a sudden mortification at the idea that El might take Veronica’s words seriously.

“El, I swear, I was not looking at her like that.”

El looks confused. “O…Okay?”

“You have to believe me.”

El laughs as Erik puts pleading hands on his shoulders. “I never said I didn’t, you goof! Gosh, Veronica really got you flustered with that one.”

Erik pauses, suddenly feeling a fool.

Veronica leans in. “You know, there is a saying about protesting too much.”

“You can shut up!”

“Oh, it seems Vince is up.” Serena’s comment expertly changes the conversation, and now all three’s attention is turned back to the arena.

El leans forward in his seat, eager to know how his friend will do with the match today. Erik, seeing his eagerness, can’t stop a crease from forming on his brow at the sight, to which Veronica sighs and shakes her head.

In the mist of Vince and his partner soaking in the accolades, a certain someone makes their long overdue entrance.

“Well, this is quite the celebration, don’t you think, Darling?”

“Indeed, my fair friend. But how can one hold a party without us?”

Gasps ring out from the crowd, and everyone looks up in time to see two figures fall as if from nowhere, landing gracefully in the center arena.

“Worry not, dear audience, for your wait is over! Here to take center stage…”

“Golden Boy!” A head of short, blond hair flicks over the glittering mask of a young man dressed in blue and gold.

“And the Sterling Sylva!” A long figure unbends from his graceful bow, fans weaving in front of his face to reveal-

“Sylvando?!” The entire group gapes from their seats

“Wait, it’s him?” El asks dumbly.

“You were right,” Erik leans to Veronica. “He did find someone almost as flamboyant as himself.”

“I wonder what they’ve been doing this whole time...” Serina questions.

Vince only smiles at the jester and his sidekick. “Nice entrance.”

Sylvando twiddles his fans as he and Golden Boy strike new poses.

“Why, thank you, Darling. We spent quite some time on it. If you’d like, I can give you a few pointers. Spruce up your routine.” The tall man tosses in a flirtatious wink for good measure.

Vince laughs, unfazed. “Maybe. If you win.”

Sylvando’s eyes tighten with focus. “Then let’s dance.”

Sylvando – or ‘Sylva’- and Golden Boy give Vince and his partner a better fight than their last opponents.

The performers are a menace on the field, using a combination of speed and reach to dominate the space and giving the In-Vince-ibles nowhere to run. Golden Boy’s boomerangs flash in the sun as they streak through the air, leaving cuts on Vince’s gauntlets and lashing at his partner’s trousers. Sylvando’s saber reaches out with precise stabs, weaving past armor and defensive blocks. It’s only a few minutes before Vince’s partner goes down.

Gasps and ‘oohs’ echo through the arena, and El can feel the tension rising in the air. This is probably the closest to ‘on the ropes’ Octagonia had ever seen their champ.

Vince stands surrounded, Golden Boy on one side and Sylva flanking the other. But he doesn’t waver. Only tightening the grip on his claws, readying for their next move.

Sylva and Golden Boy close in as one, and Vince rises to meet them.

It’s an impressive sight, Sylv and his partner all but flying around the arena, their attacks only quick, silver crescents to the naked eye. But none of them land. Vince blocks one after another after another.

With force doing nothing, Sylvando changes tactics. Sending winks and blowing kisses as he tries to get a charm spell to land to little effect.

Erik snorts. “I guess Sylv’s not as charming as he thinks he is.”

“Yeah,” Veronica says. “It’s like Vince is pretending not to see him.”

Erik starts at the almost choking sound El makes.

“You good?”

“F-fine, fine. Just… swallowed… wrong.”

Erik looks to Veronica, who shrugs before turning her attention back to the ring.

It’s a war of attrition. Vince muscles through assault after assault, landing what hits he can manage. But eventually, something’s got to give.

Vince goes low to block a boomerang, Sylv swings high and catches Vince’s other gauntlet hard. The large man is pushed back, sliding across the field where he stumbles low.

The crowd gasps in shock and disbelief. Several cries of ‘No!’ and ‘It can’t be!’ ring out.

Erik feels El’s hand tighten on his own as he describes the scene. Erik feels the tension too, despite how he feels about Vince. The champion came to a stop almost right under their seats, which is perhaps the only reason Erik’s keen eyes picked up what happened next.

The thief catches something glinting in the sun and looks down just in time to see Vince lift something to his lips. It’s gone just as fast and the man gets to his feet, to many cheers of encouragement from the crowd.

“Huh…”

“What is it?” El asks.

“Ah, nothing, just… I could swear I just saw Vince drink something.”

“Drink something…? I thought items weren’t allowed in matches.”

“Yeah…” Erik leans back and crosses his arms. A life in the underground honed his instinct for suspicious activity. The thief can’t put his finger on it, but something’s not right.

Vince turns to his opponents with new steel in his eyes.

“Oh ho, not ready to admit defeat?” Sylv teases.

“It would seem he’s ready for the second chorus!” Golden Boy adds.

Vince says nothing but flicks his hands in a ‘come at me’ motion.

Sylv and Golden Boy rush in once more. Sylv curves to the right, circling around as Golden Boy charges ahead. The blond man cries out as he lifts his boomerangs for another throw-

-And Vince’s fist lands right in his face.

Golden Boy flies, with much less grace this time, across the stones and out of the ring. He lands with a hard thump, a cloud of dust flying up in his wake.

Silence. Then the crowd erupts in roars for Vince’s sudden second wind.

The champ turns to Sylvando, who’s stopped dead, stunned by his partner’s sudden disappearance.

Vince stalks towards him. Sylvando raises his saber, putting on a brave face, but his voice sounds shaken.

“Now Darling, this may be a fight, but surely some level of decorum is-“

Vince lunges with a fierce blow. Sylv tries to move out of the way, but he’s not quite fast enough. His saber blocks the claws, but the force of it wrenches the jester’s arms to the side with a sickening jolt.

Sylvando cries out, dancing back to get clear. Even from their position, Erik can see the taller man is holding his sword arm awkwardly.

“What’s happened?” El asks, his hand now griping Erik’s arm.

“Sylv’s hurt.”

Vince turns to the jester again, his only response a low humph. He stalks towards Sylvando once more, and Sylv closes his eyes tight before shouting.

“I concede!”

Vince stops.

“I-I concede!” Sylvando drops his sword to the ground.

The announcer, who was absorbed in the fight himself, is finally shaken into action, taking his place in the ring.

“Sterling Sylva surrenders! The In-Vince-ibles are the winners!”

The crowd explodes into cheers. El and the rest can only clap dully, none of them feeling good about this outcome. The Luminary and the twins are quick to leave their seats, eager to see if their friend is alright.

But Erik lingers, for just long enough to study Vince. The man stands with the announcer, one hand held in the air, accepting his accolades with a champion’s grace. Erik is probably the only one who notices how unnaturally heavy the man’s breathing is.

Erik catches up just as El and the girls enter the infirmary.

“Sylv!” They find the jester sitting on one of the beds, already being tended to by a healer. He looks up and gives the party a beaming smile when he sees them.

“Ah, Darlings! Did you enjoy the show?”

“Forget the show!” Veronica throws her hands up in exasperation. “What about you?!”

“Me? Oh, don’t worry, Vincie didn’t do much damage, just dislocated my arm.”

An array of gasps and flinches roll through the others. Even Erik winces.

“Dislocation’s not nothing, Sylv.”

“Oh, posh, dear Mini here already fixed me up, good as new!” The performer stretched his sword arm only to immediately wince and pull it down.

His nurse chuckles. “And I told you, it would still be sore for a time. Keep it iced, the muscles should loosen up by morning.”

“Ah, thank you Darling, you are a savior!” Sylv bats his eyelashes at the young lady, who chuckles again and waves him off.

“Oh, you.”

El leans over to Erik. “He sure is good at making friends, huh?”

The thief huffs and shakes his head in amusement, only to stop and look around when a thought enters his mind.

“Speaking of friends, where’s Golden Boy?”

“Hm?” Sylv asks. “Why, he’s right-“

The jester motions towards another bed, only to find it empty.

“Well, that’s… odd. I could swear they brought him in right after me.”

The others look around, concerned, until Mini looks up from her work.

“Oh, Lana probably finished with him and let him go early. Somehow, he came out with lesser scrapes than you,” she chides good naturedly.

“And leave without sparing a word for his dear mentor as he lies in agony?! Oh, and after all I did for him!” Sylvando cries out with a dramatic hand at his brow.

“So much for barely a scratch, huh?” Erik quips.

The rest of the group breaks into laughter at Sylvando’s expense, but the jester’s smile only grows. Odd that, how well he seemed to take jokes and laughter. Erik supposes that just speaks to his character, easy to forgive and slow to have his pride wounded; a far cry from most of the men Erik’s met in his travels.

His musings are broken when a valet peaks his head into the room.

“Ah, there you both are! The Lightning Lads are needed in the ring, it’s time for the semifinals.”

Erik and El exchange glances. The end of the tournament is in sight, and now it’s up to them to bring the Rainbough home. Sylvando looks at them with sad eyes.

“Ah, sorry to leave you alone on the battlefield, boys.”

Erik waves him off. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Yeah, Sylv. You gave it your best,” El chimes in. “Besides.” Erik flinches when El wraps his arms around one of his and pulls the thief to his side. “We’ve got this.”

Erik is once again glad the boy can’t see his blush as he mumbles out a shakey ‘yeah,’ doing his best to glare down his teammates’ knowing looks.

By the time they arrive, Jade and Rab have already taken the field. Erik can’t decide if he’s relieved or terrified that it’s them first. But he can feel El’s presence as a sturdy wall at his back, and he reminds himself – there’s no reason to be afraid.

Trust in the Luminary.

Jade pauses in her stretching as they enter center stage. “Ah, if it isn’t the dark horse duo.”

“I’d say you and the old man have made quite the stir yourselves,” Erik replies.

It gets a bark of a laugh from the man and a smile from the woman.

“Perhaps, but I think they find you lot more inspiring.” She gestures to the crowd, where Erik is both surprised and embarrassed to see a large amount of Lightning Lads merch.

…They’re never living that down.

“Speaking of duos, is he gonna fight this time or did you just bring him for decoration.”

Erik can feel the old man smiling behind his mask. “Augh, don’t mind me, Laddy, I’d just be in the way.”

“Are all contestants ready?”

“Ready.” Jade answers, lowing into a martial arts stance.

Erik glances back to see El pulling his sword from its sheath. In another demonstration of El’s supernatural senses, the blind boy gives him a smile and nod, and Erik can feel them already falling into sync.

“Ready.”

It’s a hard fight. A really hard fight, despite being effectively two on one. Turns out, Jade came with Erik’s weakness – strength and speed.

Her kicks fly hard in rapid succession, always dead on at his unguarded parts. Their force causes the air to whip around the limb, tossing his hair back like Erik’s fighting a twister. He can tell, a single hit will be it for him, but in consequence he’s on the backfoot in each of their bouts.

With so much energy spent on being just faster than Jade, there’s barely any time to score a hit.

El’s not having much success, either. He keeps trying to fall back, go unnoticed like they always do, so he can land a blow with magic or a sleep spell to give Erik his critical opening, but it seems someone was paying attention to their matches. Somehow, Jade gives El equal attention, throwing out a kick his way when he goes for a snooze, and dodging every lighting bolt and fireball the blind swordsman can manage.

Doesn’t help that Rab keeps giving them away.

“He’s charging another Snoose, Lass!”

Jade sweeps low, kicking up a loose piece of stone and sending it flying at El. He manages to block it with his sword, but with the break in concentration, the spell fizzles out in his hands.

Erik growls. “If you’re not gonna fight, will you at least shut it?!”

“Oi, can’t leave my partner completely out in the lurch!” The old man chuckles.

Erik glares his heart out, hoping maybe the red fool will just fall over dead.

“Erik!”

El’s shout grabs his focus, and Erik ducks low just in time to dodge a kick. As Erik comes out of his crouch, he sees it. Jade lands with her legs spread wide, back to him. An opening.

He rushes in, sending a flood of magic to his blade which begins to glow with a sickly purple aura. Some poison ought to slow her down.

The space closes quickly, and Jade smirks. Erik feels his stomach drop.

A trap.

But he can’t stop. Jade bends, bracing herself with her hands, as she sweeps one leg back in an arc so graceful it would make Sylvando jealous. Her heel connects right with his shoulder.

“Gah!” Erik shouts as he’s thrown to the side.

He lands hard on the stone, flipping over a few times before coming to a stop. Pain radiates up and down his arm, and somewhere in the fall he lost his dagger. He’s not completely out, but disarmed like this, he might as well be.

The sound of footsteps draws his attention, and Erik looks up to see Jade dashing for him, ready to deliver a finishing blow. The thief tucks his head into his arms, preparing for impact, until the sound of thick leather hitting steel rings out.

El stands over him, blocking Jade’s next kick with the flat of his blade, his superior arm strength matching Jade’s powerful legs and keeping them at a standstill. Sweat drips from the Luminary’s face, but he still holds a confident smile.

“I think it’s time we had a go.”

So cool…

Erik tries to subtly cover his cheeks as he feels them flush. He’d rather not turn into a blushing maiden while on display before a stadium of people.

Jade looks from Erik to El, then smiles. “If you insist.”

Erik never thought one could have a sword duel with hand-to-hand combat. Even with El using the flat of his blade, he’s surprised Jade’s legs can take that many collisions with a giant slab of metal. It’s an impressive sight, to be sure.

El, meanwhile, has never felt more alive in his life. His whole body is on fire with the strain of swinging his sword. He’s hyper aware of every muscle, every twitch, every brush of air, shift in the ground, and sound on the wind.

Jade’s fast but covered in tells. Her breaths, her grunts, the sound of the many buckles and straps on her armor clinging against each other, he’s got her location pinned and meets each of her strikes with ease. He almost doesn’t want this to end… almost.

While handling the woman, El keeps another ear out for Erik, who’s currently circling around their duel, waiting for El to make his opening. But Rab is still a problem. If they try anything, he’s sure to give Jade a warning. He’s got to find a way to catch Jade off guard.

El feels the barest tingle run through his hand, the one with the Luminary’s mark. He remembers his fight with Jasper.

Did Luminary powers count as forbidden spells? Well, it's unlikely they're covered in the rule book. Surely the fate of the world takes priority over keeping an honorable fight…

El steels himself, willing power to flow into his hand. He can pray extra hard at the statue tonight.

But he doesn’t get to calling on the blast of light. Just as El raises his off hand, he hears a gasp. He feels jade’s body go ridged against his blade. In that moment, El sees their opening and wills the magic in his hand to change form.

“Snooze!”

He snaps his fingers right in Jade’s face.

He hears Jade’s shocked inhale and feels her body start to go slack.

Rab barely gets out a strangled cry before he feels Erik slip in, his ever-reliable shadow.

“Persecutor!”

Jade takes the impact heavy in her gut. Impressively, she doesn’t fly like the Abominable Showman, but she does skid back to the arena’s edge, before collapsing to the ground, winded and gasping.

El and Erik both stand, breathing heavily, as the announcer jogs to the downed woman. He crouches down, before leaping up with a shout.

“She’s out!”

The crowd cheers, loud and elated, and a shaky laugh of relief leaves Erik’s lungs.

“And that’s real teamwork!” He directs to Jade before turning around to give El an exuberant high five.

El’s laughter is equally breathless, Erik feels like he’s on cloud nine as its heavenly sound graces his ears. Until the sound of clapping breaks their revery, and both look over to see Rab, sitting in the same place he’d been the whole fight.

“Well done, Lads. Mighty fancy work.” He says, and Erik feels like he’s still smiling.

“So, you gonna get off your ass yet?”

“Erik!” El hisses he admonishment into the thief’s ear.

But Rab only chuckles, again. “No, no. My ‘auld bones wouldnae stand a chance against that. I surrender.” He bows low.

The announcer joins them as he addresses the crowd.

“The Lightning Lads are the winners!”

The audience explodes again, the fanfare and cheering accompanied by flowers of all shapes and colors being tossed down on the arena.

Erik looks to El, soaking in another moment of joyous victory, laughing and telling the blind boy about all the flowers drifting about them.

El tries to catch a few as they leave. Erik ends up grabbing the ones he misses and handing them to the other, much to his elation. As they leave, Erik glances back, and catches Rab leaning in to help Jade to her feet.

As he does, the woman’s hands grasp him with some urgency, and she speaks to him something Erik can’t hear in a way that looks fast and frantic. Rab’s eyes going wide are the last thing he sees before the arena door closes behind them.

The day winds down with yet another party, this one somehow even more riotous than the last. The inn is filled to the brim with fighters and onlookers, drinking and engaging in general revelry deep into the night.

Erik keeps a tight rein on his drinking this night and seems content to be glued to El’s side for now as they both find themselves bombarded with attention at their table. It’s loud, and hectic, but wonderful. El feels lightheaded, despite only having a few sips of his drink. Erik had been somewhat flabbergasted when El admitted he’d never tried alcohol before and had taken it upon himself to be part of the Luminary’s introduction to liquor.

As they see off another set of well-wishers, El hears Erik sigh and lean back in his chair.

“Man, this celebrity stuff is exhausting.”

“Hm, poor thing. However will you manage all this adoration and glory?”

“Shut it.” Erik pushes at El’s face, and El laughs in return.

It is nice, being here with Erik. Well, it’s always nice with Erik, much to El’s constant joy and anxiety, but relaxing with him in this moment of pure happiness… it makes his heart feel full in a way it hadn’t since they left cobblestone.

“Y’know, I was hoping Abominable and Underdigger would stop by. They sounded excited for our matches yesterday.”

El gasped.

“What?” Erik asked, turning to him.

“Did you make friends?”

“Wh-?!” El can hear the embarrassment in his voice. “N-no! I just… they wouldn’t leave me alone last night.”

El laughs again. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t tease, but that’s a good thing, Erik. You should make some more friends.”

“Pfft, what good is that?”

“I’d say making friends has been good to us so far.”

“Yeah, well…” Erik trails off.

Internally, El sighs. It’s a small step towards getting Erik to open up, but it’s a good one.

“There’s the men of the hour!”

Both boys turn towards the familiar voice.

“Hey, Sylv. And girls.” Erik greets.

“How is it at the top of the world?” Veronica teases. A chair makes a scrapping sound as she joins them at the table.

“Oh, fantastic. Shame you can’t reach from down there.” Erik fires back.

“Oi!” Veronica shouts indigently, but her venom fades quickly as the rest of the party laugh.

“Yeah, yeah." Veronica shrugs them off. "Ready to go?”

“What? Night’s still young!”

“And you have a hell of a fight tomorrow! Plus, the barkeeper said I can only stay long enough to get you guys. Ugh, this body is such a hassle sometimes!”

“Aw, cheer up, pipsqueak, at least you still look eligible for their ‘kids eat free’ promotion.”

Another round of giggles kick up as Veronica protests again. El lays a hand on Erik’s arm.

“Actually, I wouldn’t mind getting out of here. I’m starting to feel a bit… overwhelmed.”

Erik pauses before placing a hand over El’s own, a little signal to show he’s listening. “Alright. How about a walk through the town, first? We can cool down before heading to bed.”

“Sounds lovely!” Serena agrees.

El nods and finds himself being escorted by Erik and the rest of their friends. Sylv, Veronica, and Serena chatter away ahead of them, Erik slowly getting dragged into the conversation thanks to Veronica’s biting wit.

At some point, El’s arm leaves his, and the Luminary finds himself falling back from the group. Not so much intentionally, but he was serious about feeling overwhelmed, and disconnecting for just a bit helps to clear his head.

He lets his friends be a comforting background noise as the open air of the cavern sweeps the heat and sweat of the crowded bar off his body.

The sound of footsteps catches El’s attention, a set that has become distinctly familiar over the last few days.

“Vince!” He says to himself, homing in on the man’s presence.

But something’s off. The steps are heavy, with an odd, limping rhythm. Concern floods through El’s body, and the blind boy finds his feet carrying him after the fighter of their own accord.

El trails the footsteps, one hand tracing the stone walls of Octagonia’s buildings for guidance. As he gets closer, El can hear heavy breathing accompanying the staggering steps, and he picks up his pace.

The footsteps stop, El rounds a corner. He can hear Vince, gasping somewhere in front of him.

“Vince! Are you okay?”

He reaches out a hand and meets the broad fighter’s back. The fabric of his vest feels damp, an almost feverish heat radiating through it.

“Who-?! Oh, hah, it’s just you, little guy.” El feels Vince shift under his hand as the fighter turns to him.

“Sorry if I spooked you, it’s just… you don’t sound too good.”

“Ah? Oh, no, I’m fine El, don’t worry about it. Just a… hard fight today.”

“Yeah? It looked like you beat Sylvando pretty soundly. I didn’t think he or his partner landed a hit on you.”

“Sylvando? You know him?”

“Oh, yes, he’s a friend of mine.”

“Hm…” Vince’s breathing still comes harsh and shallow. “Sorry for decking him so hard then, might have gone easier if I knew he was a friend.”

“Seriously, Vince, are you okay?”

“I told you, I’m-“ Vince grunts. El hears a thunk as Vince collapses to one knee.

“No, you are definitely not okay. Let me help you get to the infirmary.”

“Isn’t that kind of… the blind leading the blind?”

El chuckles despite himself. “I guess, but if we work together, I think we can manage.”

“Heh… you know, you don’t look it, El, but… you’re pretty strong.”

“Ah, you think so?” El asks, somewhat caught off guard by the sudden complement.

“Yeah. Strong. Physically and mentally, too. You don’t let anything get you down, not even your blindness.”

“Oh, well, thanks but, I don’t think it’s that impressive.”

“I don’t think I could be that strong if I tried.”

Something cold ran down El’s spine, a sudden feeling of wrongness growing in his belly. There was a new tone to Vince’s voice. He didn’t like where this conversation was going.

“Vince, what-?”

“That kind of strength… it’s exactly what I need.”

Suddenly, El felt as though something was… looming over him.

“V-Vince?”

The fighter didn’t respond, but El could still hear him breathing. Deep, heavy, and long… like that of a predator, hidden in the darkness.

Dread flooded El’s gut. He was alone, he’d left his friends behind to chase Vince down a dark alley, he was alone.

“I’m sorry, kid.”

“Erik-!”

El barely got out the strangled cry before something heavy came down on his head, and the world disappeared.

Chapter Text

“Gah, that statue is so tacky,” Veronica squints up at Hendrik’s likeness with disgust as they walk underneath it.

“Oh Ronnie, don’t judge just because you’re jealous.” Sylvando flicks a hand at her.

“Jealous?!” Veronica shouts with her hands on her hips.

“Hm, perhaps they’ll make statues of El and Erik if they win?” Serena asks, titling her head in thought.

“I’d rather not. We have a hard time keeping a low profile as is.” Veronica says, shaking her head.

“It’s not like fate has given us much of a choice,” Sylvando comments with humor in his voice.

“Enjoying the night life, are we?”

The party’s peaceful walk is interrupted by a rotund man dressed in red meandering into their path. He’s sans bird mask now, revealing a gloriously bushy mustache, but all recognize those wrinkled, humor filled eyes after today.

“Rab?!” Sylvando asks with surprise.

“What are you doing here, grandpa?” Veronica plants her feet and gives the old man a withering look.

“Auch, such fire from such a wee bairn! What’s ol’ Rab ever done to you?”

“It’s not personal, I assure you, just team loyalty.” Serena adds with her most calming smile.

“I understand, Lass, I understand, but I come to you tonight not as an enemy, but as an ol’ man seeking help.”

“Why, help with what, Darling?”

“I assume you’ve heard rumors of fighters goin’ mysteriously missing?”

That gets their attention.

“Ah, so ye have! Well, truth is, my partner and I entered the tournament under ah… false circumstances. See, tales of strange things happening in Octagonia have been circulating for some time now. We caught wind an’ wanted to investigate. It’s just what we do.

“Jade an’ I made a plan. We’d enter the contest, an’ Jade would show off, try to make ‘erself an appealing target. An’ once the perpetrator is lured out, then we strike an’ bring ‘em to justice! But ah, we ‘orribly miscalculated, my partner Jade’s gone missin’, right from under my-“

“Rab!”

Rab freezes. The party, who had been so enraptured by Rab’s tale, are jolted back to reality as they see the woman in question running up to them.

Veronica’s eyes narrow as she crosses her arms. “Oh, you mean that partner?”

“I-I, ah...” Rab stutters before rounding on the young woman. “Jade, what’s the meaning of this?”

“It didn’t work.”

Rab’s eyes go wide. Everyone else looks confused.

“Okay, you’ve lost me, honey,” Sylvando says.

“What do ya mean it didnae work?” Rab asks in an urgent tone.

“Vince didn’t take the bait. He never showed up.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Veronica interrupts. “You mean Vince, the champion-of-Octagonia-several-years-running Vince?”

Serena gasps. “He’s the one kidnapping fighters?”

Veronica stares at her sister, impressed that she’s the one who put that together first. Jade nods.

“I thought for sure he’d come after me. We noticed a pattern where he only takes fighters who’ve proven their strength after they get knocked out of the contest, likely so fewer people are looking for them. We got to the semifinals, I should have been the next target.”

“You don’ think he chose someone else, did he?” Rab wonders.

“But who-“

Jade’s interrupted by a scream from Sylvando.

“What, what?!” Veronica whips around to see the jester staring at the empty space behind them.

Wait… the empty space?

“Erik and El, they’re gone!”

Vince’s breath leaves his body as a heavy bout of air. Sweat drips from every pore, but it does nothing to cool the fire running through his veins. His muscles tremble under the weight of their burden, and Vince stops to readjust El’s limp body.

He can feel the strength bleeding out of him with each second that passes, as though the magic tincture is leaking out along with each bead of sweat.

He needs more, or soon he won’t even be able to stand. He needs to make another sacrifice, to throw away another friend.

Oh, how weak he’s become.

There’s little time for continued self-pity as Vince makes it to the deepest part of the caverns under Octagonia. Webs drape from every corner of the ceiling, unsettling decor for a depraved master’s throne room. Suspended amongst the silk, cocoons rock back and forth in the air.

Previous offerings. Vince can’t bring himself to look.

Instead, he finds himself looking down at El, his sleeping face tight in pain at the blow rendered on his head. Vince feels a lump in his throat.

“…I’m sorry.”

Gently, Vince places El on the cold, stone ground and stands, about to call for his master, when his fighter instinct twitches.

Vince dodges back, just as a blade cuts through the air an inch from his nose. A dagger imbeds itself in the rocky floor, and Vince has barely a moment to wonder at it before a figure comes hurtling out of the air.

Vince raises his gauntlets just in time to intercept the strike, but the force of the attacker bowls him to the ground. Locked in a deadly embrace, he looks up to see wild blue eyes and even wilder blue hair, as El’s partner looks down on him with an expression of murderous intent.

“Shit.”

Erik bares feral teeth. “Yeah, you’re in it deep.”

There’s a flash as Erik pulls another dagger from his belt. Before he can use it, Vince pushes out, tossing Erik away and disconnecting their weapons.

The thief lands with a cat’s grace and charges again, lashing out with quick bites from his knives, never letting up on the offensive. In his weakened state, it’s all Vince can do to stay on his feet.

“Graah!” Erik roars, voice filled with an unbridled rage. “You snake! You… traitor!” A violent strike lands on Vince’s left ear.

Vince raises a gauntlet in time to keep the blade from nicking his skin, but the impact leaves his ear ringing. The fighter stumbles to one knee.

“He trusted you! He supported you, and you did this to him!”

Vince’s arms shake, it’s getting even harder to breath. El’s body is just within his blurred sight, still limp and lifeless. The first time he did this, he cried… but he can’t afford to cry anymore.

Gathering his strength, Vince rises to his feet, gauntlets raised.

Erik’s face is still a mask of rage. “Got nothing to say for yourself?”

“Nothing to say… that’ll make you happy.”

Erik sneers. “The only thing I’m happy for is that he won’t be awake to see me do this.”

He charges again, a bolt of blue lighting streaking across the ground. But this time, Vince meets the slighter man with a roar of his own.

The air vibrates with the force of knives on claws, the entire world narrowed to the desperate, animalistic fight between a man with nothing to lose and a man with everything to protect.

Vince puts up a good fight, but he can feel himself fading. His knees shake harder and harder with each hit he blocks, until finally, he feels himself buckle under Erik’s weight. Sensing weakness, the thief brings a knife around and sinks it deep into the back of Vince’s heel.

“Gaah!” Vince cries out in pain as his leg twists out from under him, and the weakened champion falls to his back in the dirt.

Through bleary eyes, Vince looks up to see Erik, teeth still bared in that ferocious snarl, bringing his remaining dagger up in both hands, readying for the final blow.

This is it, Vince thinks quietly. It’s over now.

Vince lays back and can’t help but smile. Maybe it’s better this way…

“Grrrrr-AH!” Erik, lost in a swirl of anger and fear, brings the knife down with all the force he can muster, only to stop short when something wraps around his arm and yanks him back.

“Gah?!” Erik collides with something sturdy, and feels an arm go around his chest while another wraps around the hands holding his blade.

“Easy there, honey,” Sylvando says in as soothing of a voice as he can manage. “You don’t want to do this.”

Erik twists and writhes in the jester’s grip like a thing possessed. “Let. Me… GO!” But Sylvando doesn’t waver.

“Sylv!” An urgent voice calls from beyond the cave.

“In here!” Sylvando calls back.

The sound of trampling footsteps heralds the rest of the group’s arrival, Veronica and Serena in the lead.

“Looks like we were just in time, Dears.” Sylvando nods to where El still lays.

Serena gasps and Veronica pulls her sister to the Luminary’s side, while Jade and Rab put themselves between Erik and Vince, who still lies prone on the ground.

“You won’ be getting’ away that easy now, Lad.” Rab says to the wounded fighter.

“Why not… let me die…?” Vince asks.

“’Cause that wouldnae be justice, now, would it?”

Jade rolls the man over before quickly binding his arms with a sturdy rope. “Indeed. We still have your other victims to recover as well.”

Erik watches numbly from Sylvando’s hold, no longer struggling, but still panting heavily with unreleased anger.

“Erik, Honey, just breathe.”

The thief tries, the few breaths he manages to take shakey and shallow. His gaze turns to El, still unmoving and being hovered over by the twins. He feels tears build at the corners of his eyes. Goddess above, he almost lost him again.

Serena’s head goes up, and she nods to Veronica, who then turns to the rest of the group.

“He’s okay!”

A breath of tension leaves the room.

“Auch, that’s a relief,” Rab sighs.

Erik feels something loosen in him, and he sags limply in Sylvando’s grip, finally able to breathe. Sylvando lets him go, bringing his hands to steady Erik at the shoulders as he sinks to the ground.

“There we go, Dear. It’s gonna be okay.”

Immediate crisis averted; Rab turns back to the man at his feet. “Now then, I believe you have some explainin’ to do.”

Jade looms over Vince, arms crossed and face like stone. “Like what you’ve been doing with all those fighters.”

Looking up from his place on the ground, Vince sighs, defeated, and opens his mouth to answer, but-

“He’sssss been sssserving me.” A deep voice hisses from the darkness, and before anyone can blink, a shot of web flies out, latching onto El and yanking him high, into the air.

“No!” Erik cries, leaping to his feet.

The others do as well, stunned with shock and fear, as something descends from the shadowy cavern wall. A huge spider, with wicked looking mandibles and a ferocious smile etched onto its face, its appearance marred by a scar through one eye.

“Arachtagon.” Vince whispers in a shakey voice.

“I mussssst thank you again, Vinccccce, for proving to be a loyal sssssservent.” Arachtagon reaches out a wicked, gnarled hand, curling it around the strand of silk holding El to bring him closer to his face. “And now you bring me the greatessssst gift I could imagine. The Dark Lord will reward me handsssssomly, and of courssssse, you assssss well.”

The spider grins, and Vince flinches, its as if he can feel his soul blackening with the monster’s praise.

“The Dark Lord?!” Rab shouts.

“Yessssssss, Lord Mordegon will be oh, so pleassssssed when I bring him the corpssssssse of the Luminary.”

Rab and Jade stiffen in shock, while the rest of El’s team form up before the spider.

“Like that’ll happen!” Veronica brandishes her staff at the creature.

“Indeed!” Serena joins her. “So long as we remain, no harm shall come to him!”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself, Darling!” Sylvando adds, brandishing his whip.

Erik says nothing, just grabs another dagger as the anger returns. He has had enough of people thinking they can take his partner.

Arachtagon takes in their blustering and chuckles. “Then I will enjoy ssssssucking the sssssstrength from you assssssss well.”

An unearthly glow surrounds the spider. The many spikes adorning his back suddenly shoot off, arching high into the sky before raining down on the humans below.

“Scatter!” Jade calls.

The party splits. Jade, Sylvando, and Erik rush out front, engaging the monster directly. Serena and Veronica fall back, trying to stay out of Arachtagon’s range while keeping him within theirs. As the spider deals with the forward line, he launches another volley of spikes. As the deadly projectiles arc towards them, Veronica leaps away, only to look back and see that Serena hasn’t noticed their approach.

“Serena!”

The healer looks up, eyes widening in fear as the spikes approach, before a shimmering, green barrier springs up around her. The spikes ping harmlessly off the shield, and Serena is left unscathed.

“Now, we cannae be havin’ any of that!”

The twins turn to see Rab, an aura of green fading from his hands.

“You’re a mage?” Veronica questions.

“Aye, an’ a fighter. Dabbled in both in my day.”

“Got debuff spells?”

“Sap or Blunt?” The old man asks.

Veronica just smiles.

“Haiiii-yah!” Jade lashes out with a roundhouse kick right to Arachtagon’s head.

The spider flinches at the blow, hissing with pain. He brings a leg up, stabbing out at the nimble fighter, but Jade effortlessly dodges away. The spider attacks again and again, but each time, Jade evades him, far out speeding something so large and ungainly.

“Grrrrr,” Arachtagon growls in frustration. “I tire of gamessssss.”

The spider extends a hand, and a sheet of webbing covers the cavern floor. Jade feels herself stopped short, her legs sinking deep into the sticky silk. Arachtagon chuckles, and Jade looks up to see a leg swinging towards her.

“Oh, I don’t think so, Honey!”

Sylvando’s whip breaks the air, a glowing ball of light at the tip smacking right into Arachtagon’s good eye.

“Grah!” The spider screams in pain, clutching uselessly at its face.

With Arachtagon distracted, Sylvando quickly slides to Jade’s side, flipping out one of his show daggers to cut the young woman free of the troublesome webbing.

“You alright, Dear?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Sylvando helps Jade to her feet, and the two of them retreat for a moment.

“Where’s Erik?” Jade calls.

“He’s, ah, working out some feelings.” Sylvando glances over to Arachtagon, and Jade follows his gaze to see a streak of blue zigzag around the spider’s many legs.

Erik fights an army of one, dodging in and out, peppering the monster’s legs with a thousand cuts. Arachtagon roars, blinking through the daze Sylvando left him with. “Die, pest!”

Arachtagon raises both his hands, brining his full force down on Erik’s head. The thief picks up his pace, but with how large the spider is, it soon becomes clear he can’t outrun this.

“Shit!” Erik brings his hands up to brace, only to feel something encase around his body, just as another blue aura strikes Arachtagon.

The blow feels muffled, almost, leaving Erik physically unharmed but sending him skidding across the rocky ground. He comes to a stop, and looks up to see Jade, one foot extended to stop his rolling as if he were a rogue football.

“Careful there, Lad,” Rab admonishes from beside her, the glow of a spell fading from one hand. “You’re nae strong enough to take a direct hit from that.”

“Just stay back, we’ll hold him off.” Jade tells him before running back to the front lines.

The woman flies into the fray with another kick, sending the spider staggering through sheer force. Sylvando joins her, supporting with an array of status effects that keep Arachtagon’s full attention from her. Veronica and Rab step in front of Erik, sending down a rain of deadly magic on top of layering attack and defense weakeners on the monster.

Erik, only able to watch the fight wear on, feels his rage boil over into frustration, and he brings a fist down hard on the ground.

“Damn it! Why am I never able to help when it matters?!”

Veronica looks back at the thief, concern flashing on her face. The mage glances up, and an idea forms in her mind. She runs back to Erik, laying her hands on his to get his attention.

“Maybe you can’t go through, but you sure as hell can go up!” She points.

Erik follows her finger to see El, suspended on a net of webbing, completely ignored by Arachtagon. Erik turns back to Veronica, a pleased grin on her face, and Erik feels a smile of his own taking hold as he catches on to her line of thought.

Everything’s swimming. The world a vortex of indistinct sound, scent, and feeling. Everything beneath El sways and wobbles, and nothing wants to stay in his head.

But he keeps trying. He has to… to do something… he needs to…

Something else joins the cacophony. Harsh and grating, but steady. Rhythmic. Consistent. El latches onto it, uses it as an anchor to right himself, pull himself to… to…

To wake up.

“El, wake up!”

Slowly, El opens his eyes. It doesn’t make much of a difference, his sensory knowledge only vague awareness of light and dark, but he’s awake. And he knows that voice.

“…Erik?” He murmurs, voice rough and weak.

“Oh, thank the Goddess. Yeah, yeah, it’s me. I’m here.”

“Hmmm…” El moaned, scrunching his eyes against the pain still radiating through his head. There was something he had to remember. “Where… where’s Vince?”

The arm Erik is supporting him with goes ridged under his back. “There’s no time for that now, we’ve got a bigger mess to deal with.”

Erik gives him the rundown. Giant spider, super strong, it’s a losing battle.

“We need our leader.” Erik says. There’s an underlying shakiness to his voice, and El has to wonder how dangerous this monster is to have Erik unnerved like this.

El takes Erik’s hand in his, hoping to lend the thief some stability.

“Okay, let’s go.”

Despite having to support El in his arms, Erik managed to quickly pick their way down the cavern wall, slipping between ropes of silk and narrow handholds amongst the rocks. From his place gripping tight to Erik’s shirt and focusing on not slipping free, El can only listen to the chaos below.

He can hear the names of spells and special attacks ringing out, as the sounds of explosions and flying projectiles rocked the ancient cavern. It’s hard to pick out individual voices, but El held tight to his faith that his friends were still alright.

It was as they passed a lower rung of webbing that a new sound stuck out to El, the tell-tale rhythm of a slow, but steady heartbeat. Are there… people in these webs?

The Luminary was left with no time to ponder, as Erik finally hit the cavern’s floor with a quiet thump, letting El’s feet touch the surface.

“C’mon, this way.” The thief tugs El’s hand, leading him to where the sounds of battle still raged.

“Ah, they made it!” El heard Veronica first.

“He took a hit to the head but seems alright otherwise.” Erik surmised the situation as El felt the thief’s hands push at his shoulders, a gentle signal to sit down.

“Let me take a look,” He felt the familiar warmth of Serena’s healing magic wash over the place Vince struck him, and El let out a ragged sigh of relief as the remaining pressure left.

“How are ya feelin,’ Laddy?”

El looked to the new voice in surprise. “Rab? What are you doing here?”

“It seems our goals happened to align this night. Good thing, too, I’d ‘ate to think of you yougins facin’ this beast on yer own.”

“Right, Arachtagon…” El murmured. “How are things looking?”

“Well, the offensive spells have been doing a lot of damage,” Veronica answers. “Sylv and Jade have been keeping its attention off us. But they can’t seem to get in a solid blow.”

“Aye, the damn thing has something powerin’ it’s strength, I’m sure of it. I just cannae figure out what it is…”

El’s thoughts raced. A secret source of power… working with Vince… the missing fighters…

El takes in a harsh breath.

“Is Vince here?”

He can feel the surprise run through his allies.

“What do you need him for?” El’s shocked by the strength of venom in Erik’s voice, but Rab jumps in to keep things focused.

“Aye, we’ve got him bound in the corner. I donae think he’s going anywhere anytime soon.”

“Take me to him.” El demands.

“Absolutely not.” Erik counters.

“Eh?! Who made you boss of the Luminary?” Veronica says.

“If you think I’m letting El anywhere near that psycho-“

El lays a hand over Eriks, praying the thief can feel his earnest intent through the contact of their skin.

“Please.”

The blue haired man goes silent, and El worries he may still fight the subject, until he feels a return squeeze around his fingers.

“Fine. But I’m with you the whole time.”

El smiles. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Erik pulls El to his feet, and the Luminary leaves Rab and the twins with orders to continue supporting the others and be ready to change tactics quickly. It’s a short run across the cavern to where the others left Vince, trust up and laying on his side.

His breathing is still labored, and even after all this El feels a pang of concern run through him for the man. He feels Erik signal for him to stop, and the thief helps him kneel closer to the defeated fighter’s face.

“H…Hey… little man… You’re okay…”

“No thanks to you.” Erik almost growls the sentence out.

El presses a hand to Erik’s arm to tell him to settle and focuses his attention on Vince.

“What was Arachtagon having you kidnap those fighters for?”

He hears the sharp breath Vince takes at that, but the man says nothing.

“Vince, please, we need to know if there’s any hope of stopping him.”

“Why… ask me? I-I’m a… part of this. Why would I… rat on myself to save… you?”

“Because I know this isn’t you.”

Vince falls silent again.

“The man who has nothing but patience for that gaggle of orphaned children, the man who takes time out of his day to shepherd a blind boy back to his friends, the man who greats every opponent with a kind word and a smile? That’s you, Vince. Whatever Arachtagon convinced you to get involved in, whatever moment of weakness led you to say yes… it’s just that – a moment.”

“You really think I can… come back from this…?”

“So long as you’re still alive, there’s always time to come back.”

He’s silent, for a moment that feels like hours. El’s hyper aware of his friends, still fighting, and Erik’s presence at his back. In the end, it all comes down to Vince.

The man sighs.

“Arachtagon told me… he could… pull from someone their… fighting essence. He just… needed someone to bring them there… He said… if I helped… we could share. He’s been… feeding off Octagonia’s finest for… months.”

Erik’s body stiffens with rage, but El pushes forward before the thief can interrupt.

“How do we stop it?”

“The essence… it’s not… permanent. He’s got… a lot of it, but… if he spends enough of it… on some big attack… his strength may… sputter out.” Vince falls into hacking coughs.

El lays a hand on the man’s chest and sends a wave of healing magic through him. The coughing subsides and he can hear Vince’s breaths come a little easier.

“T-Thank you.”

“Save your strength. There will be things to atone for later, you’ll need it then.”

“…Right.”

“Erik, take me to the others.”

The thief says nothing, but dutifully pulls El up, clasping a hand in his as Erik prepares to lead him away. As they race back across the cavern, El hears Vince desperately shout after them.

“I’m sorry!”

A whistle from Erik brings the others to their side, Rab and Jade following as they pick up on the signal.

“Alright,” El begins. “If we’re to have any hope of taking this guy down, we’re gonna need to land the heaviest blow we can manage.”

“What do ye have in mind, Lad?”

“I’ve given about all the strength I can muster; damn bug barely feels it.” Jade comments through panting breaths.

“Rab, Veronica says you have debuff spells?”

“Aye.”

“Right, then you and Jade listen up. I’m gonna teach you how to do a Flying Dagger.”

“Ohoho!” El can practically hear Veronica’s hands rubbing together maniacally. “This is gonna be good.”

Arachtagon scans the cavern, mandibles chittering in frustration. Somehow, the giant spider had managed to loose sight of the dancing ants, much to his irritation.

Suddenly, he feels something thwack into the back of his head.

“Graah!”

A blur appears at his feet. The woman in green again. She flips her ponytail while tossing the spider an arrogant look. “Thought you were rid of us?”

“Hsssssss! Dance around all you like, you only delay the inevitable!” The spider swings one of his mighty arms down, tossing up rocks and dust as the impact shakes the ground.

Through that dust, a volley of fire balls erupt and blast right in Arachtagon’s face.

“Ach! Hssss, dirty tricks!”

Below, Sylvando and Veronica pop up from the ground.

“Oh, you’ll have to try harder than that, Honey.” Sylvando tosses the ugly beast a saucy wink.

“Yeah, Honey!” Veronica teases, copying the jester’s stance.

“Grrrrrr, die, worms!”

The battle rages on, Arachtagon’s full furry settled on the small party of three. Behind an upturned boulder, Rab watches the fight. The old man looks over his shoulder, where El sits crouched.

“Alright, they’ve got ‘em!”

“Let’s go.”

Together, the mage and swordsman run low through the rocky cavern, staying out of Arachtagon’s sight as they weave between his legs, sidling right under the giant spider’s chin.

“Now!” El shouts.

Together, he and Rab extend their hands, a joint Snooze spell washing over the great beast. Arachtagon grunts, stumbling as a haze settles over his mind. He looks down, spotting El and Rab, mere colored dots against his imposing size. He sneers, and lashes out at the two. Even under the effects of a sleep spell, his movements are far from slow.

“Down, Laddy!” Rab covers the boy with is body, throwing up a Bounce shield to protect them both.

The impact sends the two rolling, a debris of rocks rainging down around them. Arachtagon laughs.

“Do you think thisssssssssss will be enough?” He roars, arrogance filling his voice. “I am Arachtagon! I have menaced these cavernsssssssss ssssssince before your ilk even thought to crawl into itssssss cracksssss! I will not be cowed by mere ssssspecks of dirt! I-“

Rab looks up as the monster continues to gloat, and spots Erik, nimbly climbing through the stalactites until he’s perched over Arachtagon’s back. He gives El their signal, a quick tap on his shoulder.

“No, we just needed to get you into position.”

“Huh?” Arachtagon stops, thrown at being so glibly interrupted mid-sentence.

“Let’s see how well you handle this.”

Far above, Erik pushes off the rocky outcroppings one last time, before hurtling straight down towards the lumbering beast. From around the arena, each of El’s teammates move into action. An Accelerate from Serena gives Erik’s fall an extra boost. Sylv sets off an Oomphle at the same time as Veronica triggers a Sap, and Rab sneaks in a Blunt for good measure. Arachtagon stumbles, thrown by the array of spells landing on him at the same time, still addled by the lingering snooze, and goes unaware of the blue haired missile streaking down from above.

“Persecuter!” Erik roars out the name with all his lingering fury as he comes down hard, knives extended, right into Arachtagon’s back.

“Gr-AAAAAAAAGH!” The spider cries, falling flat to the floor under the critical force of Erik’s attack.

The ground shakes and cracks, sending the rest of the party stumbling to the ground. A strange, blue aura flashing around the spider, before cracking and shattering like glass. As the last of the strange magic flickers out, silence finally falls over the cavern.

Erik stands, rolling a shoulder while taking in the room from his new perch.

“Hey!” He looks down to see El, gathering by Arachtagon’s head with the others. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” He responds, idly flipping a knife in one hand. “Felt really good, actually. Think I needed that.”

The others laugh as he slides down one of the spider’s bent legs, landing gracefully on the upturned ground.

“Been a while since we pulled out the ‘Flying Dagger!’” Veronica comments with glee.

“Still not big on the name,” Erik adds.

“Oh, hush, Darling, you wouldn’t know a good name if it slapped you in the face.”

Erik only rolls his eyes as another round of laughter ripples through the group.

“It was a mighty impressive thing, Lad. Very well done.”

“Th-thanks,” Erik stutters, running a hand through his hair.

“Grrrrrr…” the low groan captures everyone’s attentions. Behind them, Arachtagon shakily raises his head.

“Hehehe… f-foolish… humans… Did you think that would be enough to… defeat me?”

“No, that was my job.”

“Huh?” Arachtagon glances up in fear, only to see Jade, posed on a rock with a deadly looking spear in one hand.

She leaps and pierces the spider right through his injured eye.

“AAAAAAAAGH!” The monster cries out in one last, painful screech, before dissipating at last into black mist.

Jade lands, hefting her spear and tossing her long ponytail over one shoulder, before sauntering over to the crew.

“Show off.” Erik mutters.

El shoves an elbow into his side, but Jade only smirks.

“Well, that was certainly fun, but I think it’s time we return to our… original target.” She motions to the man still slumped over by the mouth of the cave.

“Right, him…” Erik spits.

“Ah, wait!” El interrupts suddenly. “Above, in those webs. I could hear the sounds of people’s heartbeats.”

Everyone’s eyes drift to the many cocoons littering the ceiling.

“The fighters are in there?!” Sylvando shrieks.

“Oh, dear…” Serena’s hands cover her mouth in shock.

Erik sighs. “I’ll start climbing again.”

The rest passes in somewhat of a blur. The party manage to pull all the cocoons down, revealing the many fighters that had gone missing. The Abominable Showman and Underdigger, the Beaty Queens, even Golden Boy, who had a dramatically tearful reunion with Sylvando. Aside from residual dizziness from having their physical prowess sucked dry, all seem in good health and spirits.

Rab and Jade take Vince back to the surface, where the man is taken to his room in the orphanage, at El’s request, so they can get some answers.

El finds his way to Vince’s bedside, flanked by Rab and watched over by Erik from the doorway. The thief made no protest when El expressed a desire to talk with the man, but El is sure everyone can feel the malice Erik radiates into the room.

Vince lays on the bed. The healers already did a first pass on him, stabilizing his condition, but whatever Arachtagon was giving him took a tole on his body. It will be sometime before he recovers, and he may never reach full fighting strength again.

“Ye played with a dangerous game there, Lad.” Rab tells the man. “That stuff Arachtagon fed you wasnae made for human consumption. Any longer ‘an it would ‘ave killed ye.”

Vince doesn’t respond, choosing to stare blankly at the wall rather than meet their eyes.

El leans in, flooded with sadness for the man he’d once called his friend. “Vince, why did you do this? You were already Octagonia’s strongest fighter, what more could you need?”

Again, silence.

“Please. Vince, I want to understand. I know this isn’t like you, if you tell us why, we can-“

“I’m not strong.”

El bites down on his sentence, wanting to give Vince as much room as he needs to say his piece.

“Not in the ways that matter, at least.” He turns to El, tears building at the corner of his eyes. “My sight’s gettin’ worse.”

El sucks in a breath at that.

“It’s only a matter of time before I’m completely blind. I’m not like you, I need what little of my eyes I have to fight. Without it, I… I won’t be able to keep my champion spot.”

“Really?” Erik speaks up, frustration clear in his voice. “That’s why you did this? To keep your flashy title?”

“I did it for the money.” Vince clarifies.

Erik huffs at that.

“Before I started winning, this place, the orphanage, it was in complete disrepair. The kids couldn’t afford new clothes, good shoes, not even blankets without holes. They need that money, need me to win it for them. Cause if I don’t take care of this place… who else will…?” Vince trails off for a moment, sniffing back his tears.

“Arachtagon said the mixture could stave off my blindness. The extra strength was just a bonus. I… I know it was shameful, I regret every second of it, but… but I didn’t feel like I had any other choice.”

Vince’s sniffling devolves into muffled sobs, a few stray tears running down his face.

Rab puts a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Ach, don’ beat yerself up too bad, Laddy. Everythin’ came out fine in the end.”

“Y… You really think I deserve forgiveness?” The tearful fighter asks.

“I’ve seen greater evil done for less good. We’ve all got things we go astray for. Donae count yerself out for fallin’ pray to yer temptations. What matters is what you do with that second chance.”

“I wish you’d told me.” El says to Vince. “I would have helped you. Taught you how I fight or found some other way you could support the kids.”

Vince sobs again. “I know. I know, but I felt I was in too deep, I didn’t think there was any way out for me. But you gave me a second chance. Thank you.”

El nods before turning to Rab.

“So, what’s next?”

“Well, we need to tell the mayor of Octagonia what happened, but given how it only came about ‘cause their pride an’ joy felt it was his sole responsibility to keep what should ‘ave been a priority of the local government afloat, I’m sure I can swing a light sentence for the lad.”

El smiles. “Thank you, Rab.”

“Don’ mention it, Laddy.”

The old man’s voice carries a strange amount of emotion, but it’s been a hectic day for them all. El pushes it to the side, and leaves with Erik to find the rest of their team.

Their time in Octagonia wraps up smoothly after that. With Vince in no shape to fight, and with an immense amount of guilt still on his shoulders, the former champion formally withdraws from the contest, leaving El and Erik as the winners by default.

Despite the chaos caused by Arachtagon’s medaling, the energy during the closing ceremony remains positive. The people of Octagonia hold no ill will towards their beloved champion; even the other fighters band together to support him in the end.

“Why, ye shoulda’ told us, Vince!”

“Yeah, if we’d known the orphanage was relying so heavily on you, we would have pitched in to help!”

The Underdigger and Abominable Showman were just the latest of Octagonia’s strongest to grace Vince’s bedside, showing their support and affection for the large man. Under the wave of forgiveness and generosity, Vince spent most of the evening with tears in his eyes.

The lack of a final showdown was a disappointment for some, but the citizens saw no reason not to close with a bang anyway, and El and Erik were showered with yet another party – this time solely in their honor. A banquet was held, one so large it left the inn and snaked its way through the town’s many walkways, the tables chocked full of delicious food and decorated with lanterns, streamers, and gusts of confetti.

As much as El hated to come off as rude for rejecting all the effort the people of Octagonia had put into honoring them, he was kind of getting sick of the parties. They spent less than an hour mingling before Erik seemed to sense El needed a break and pulled the other boy away from the tables and into the shadows.

El breathes a sigh of relief as the cool shade of the building shields them from the heat of the celebration.

“Thank you. You always seem to know when I need stealing away.” El says.

“Eh, it’s my job. Be a lousy thief if I couldn’t recognize an opportunity.”

El laughs, but it’s quiet and short lived. Erik’s tense, he can feel it in the air, and El has no intention of letting it sit like this.

“…I’m sorry.”

El can hear the gentle tinkle of Erik’s earrings, a sound that usually indicates that the thief has turned his head.

“I worried you… again.”

“…It’s not your fault.” Erik says, voice tinted with emotion. “If anything, it’s mine.”

El blinks. “Now how is that true?”

“Well, because… because I’m your… protector, I guess? I-I’m supposed to be looking out for you, it’s the whole reason I’m here. But I just keep… not being there when I should.”

El reaches out for Erik’s hand and pulls the thief to a stop. “Erik, I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but you’re not my protector.”

El can feel the thief’s grip tighten around his hands. “You’re my…” Another word almost slips out of El’s mouth, until uncertainty makes him change his mind. “My friend. Best friend, if I may be so bold. We look out for each other. You don’t deserve all that pressure.”

He can feel Erik’s hands relax against him.

“And it was dumb of me to run off by myself like that, I should have told you or one of the others.”

He hears more jingling as Erik shakes his head. “No, you thought Vince was your friend. You shouldn’t have needed to be afraid of him.”

There’s an angry tightness in Erik’s voice when he says Vince’s name.

“You’re still mad at him.”

“…Yeah.”

El nods for a moment, letting the answer simmer. “That’s okay.”

“…How do you do that?”

“Hm?”

“Just… be okay with things.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“Vince kidnapped you. He knocked you out, and almost fed you to a giant spider, but you forgave him. Then, you find out I’m still holding a grudge, but you’re not upset about that, either. Where the hell does all that… patience come from?”

El chuckles to himself, finding humor in how surprised Erik is by something that, to him, feels so simple.

“I mean, I guess it’s just who I am, but if I had to point to something, it’d be… my grandpa. He always told me to ‘never hold a grudge’ and ‘live with love’ in my heart. That’s always stuck with me, you know. The world doesn’t need any help being cruel, I think you and I can both speak to that.”

Another squeeze on his hand.

“So, if letting go of anger and revenge can make opportunities like Vince getting some help with his disability and the orphanage, I guess it just feels worth it.”

He hears Erik let out a weary sigh.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just… I don’t think I could ever be strong enough to do that.”

“That’s okay. I get it’s not something that’s easy. If it was, the world would probably be a better place, right?”

“Pfft, are you sure you’re fine hanging out with someone so impure, your Luminousness?”

At that, El reaches up to tug sharply on Erik’s tunic. The thief laughs and pushes back.

“You are not impure, Erik. Don’t laugh, I mean it! Look, I know you have a hard time seeing it, but I don’t intend on letting you go anywhere… U-unless you want to, I mean, I’d never-“

“Sounds good to me.” Erik loops an arm through one of El’s, leading the way as they enjoy a moment of quiet together.

Sometime later, after Sylvando and the twins manage to track down the awol pair again and the festivities have finally wound down, the party finally remembers what all this hullabaloo was even for.

“The Rainbough!” It leaves Veronica like a punch to the gut and sends shockwaves through the rest.

The group make their way back to the sign-up counter, Erik pulling El along to the front.

“Hey, I believe we’ve got some winnings to collect?” The thief asks.

The man behind the counter goes white, a bead of sweat breaking out on his forehead.

“Oh, Lightning Lads! How... H-how wonderful! Y-yes, um, as the champions of the MMAT, you are entitled to the winning prizes and several other wonderful benefits-“

“Yeah yeah, you can skip the script, we’d like our Rainbough, please.”

“Um, w-well, it’s just…”

A sense of dread and annoyance fills Erik’s stomach. “What is it?”

“I’m afraid the, ah, Rainbough has been… well… stolen.”