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The heat burned his skin but he couldn’t stop, he had to push on no matter the pain. He had to find them .
“Varian!?” Hugo called out, stumbling as he trotted onward. The fires grew around him consuming the rubble of buildings. How did he get here? He couldn’t remember. He didn’t care to remember, his mind was focused on only one thing. Finding his friends.
“Nuru! Yong!” Hugo coughed trying to ignore how the smoke made his throat ache, “Var- Varian!?” Hugo’s eyes widened in horror, “no- oh god-“ there Varian laid amongst the burning rubble, a piece of shrapnel protruding out of his abdomen.
Hugo rushed forward sliding to his knees next to Varian’s body, “no, no, no,” he carefully pulled Varian into his arms, “Varian, please , stay with me!” The shallow rise and fall of his chest signified that Varian was still alive, if barely. A small cough came from the boy's throat, his eyes gently fluttering open.
“Varian!?” Hugo brushed the hair out of the boy's dirty face.
“Hu- Hugo?” Varian’s half-lidded eyes looked up at Hugo.
“H-Hey,” Hugo’s voice soothed, “it’s me… I’m right here.”
A small whimper escaped Varian’s throat as he seemed to curl further into Hugo’s arms, “ngh- Hugo…” he raised his hand to reach up toward Hugo but stopped as he saw the blood coating his fingers and staining his sleeves. His eyes widened as his breath hitched in his throat, “H-Hugo,” a new sense of fear lingered in the younger boy's voice.
“It’s okay, I’ve got you…” Hugo held Varian tighter in his arms, his voice breaking as he continued, “I’ve got you.”
“Hugo…” a sob broke through the boy’s voice, “Hugo, I- I,” Varian gripped Hugo's jacket balling it into his fist burying his face in Hugo’s shoulder as tears began to streak his cheeks, “I don’t want to die.”
A lump formed in Hugo’s throat. He bit his lip continuing to just cradle Varian in his arms. He looked around his surroundings, fire as far as the eye could see, not a sign of a single living thing, Nuru and Yong were probably crushed in the debris and now Varian was dying in his arms and there wasn’t a single thing he could do to save him. All he could do was be a single source of comfort in Varian’s final moments. Hugo lowered his head… he should’ve known it would end this way.
“Hugo…” Varian coughed causing him to spit up blood, the tears still glistening in his eyes, “you.., heh, you we- were one of,” he leaned his head into Hugo’s shoulder, his breath growing shallower, his eyes growing more unfocused.
“Varian..?”
And at that moment the life seemed to fade from Varian’s eyes as his hand fell limp next to his body and that steady but shallow rise and fall of his chest ceased to be and whatever words he intended now lost forever.
“No..” Hugo’s mind spun, “no no no! God-“ his voice broke as the first sob escaped his throat, “Varian!” He pulled Varian’s lifeless body into a tight embrace, “please- don’t,” he didn’t even try to control the tears that flooded his cheeks, “don’t leave me.”
“Hey,” Varian felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, “we’ll find him.”
Varian looked back to see Nuru, a reassuring gaze betrayed only by the way her eyebrow creased in concern. They’d been searching for what felt like hours and still, there was no sign of Hugo. They were running out of options and time. He looked up at the metal door concealing the last room in Donella’s lab. If Hugo wasn’t here… Varian shook his head and gripped his alchemy staff tightly in his hand.
“Yeah.., yeah, we will,” he pressed his free hand against the door, his voice lowering to a whisper for only him to hear, “we have to.”
The doors swung open, urgent footsteps echoing off the metal walls then suddenly coming to a halt and replaced by a horrified gasp. There in the middle of the room sat a singular table, laying atop of it was Hugo strapped down by his wrists and ankles by thick leather straps with another thick strap wrapped around his chest. His body was battered with scars and bruises and his shirt had been torn and ripped.
“Hugo!” It was Varian who reacted first. He dashed forward, Nuru and Yong not too far behind him, he skidded to a halt next to the table, “oh god Hugo!” There was no response from Hugo, but the rise and fall of his chest told Varian that he was at least still alive.
“Wha- what’s wrong with him?” Yong asked
“I- I don’t know.” Nuru looked over Hugo, “it’s like he’s asleep-“
There was a sudden movement, Hugo’s fist seeming to flex as his body tried to subconsciously shift against the restraints. His face scrunching in distress as if having a bad dream.
“Hugo!” Varian dropped his staff and grabbed Hugo’s shoulders attempting to shake him awake, “come on, wake up!” When his attempts seemed to fail He turned his attention to the restraints around Hugo’s wrists, “I’m getting him out of here!” Varian fiddled with the straps for a moment trying to undo them.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, darling.”
The room froze over as the eerie voice filled the air. No one even dared to breathe. A complete still overtaking the room. Nuru shifted her eyes to look at Varian and her heart stopped, he was smiling. Not a happy gleeful smile, no this smile was different. She had only seen it twice before. The first time was when Hugo revealed himself as a traitor… the second, the second was when they had found out about the way Donella had treated Hugo.
There wasn’t a single semblance of happiness in that smile. No…
He was angry.
How long had it been? Hugo didn’t know, long enough for the lifeless body in his arms to begin to grow cold and pale, and even now his tears had not dried. It hurt. Everything just hurt . He kept trying to tell himself that Varian couldn’t be gone, that there had to be something more to it, some way to bring him back, but the reality of it all was painfully cradled in his arms. It was over, Varian was gone and it just hurt so much.
Suddenly it was like the world went white, a weird pressure building in his shoulders as if he’s being grabbed and forcefully dragged away from Varian’s body. He screamed, desperately reaching out to the body that seemed to fade as if it never existed, to begin with. Hugo’s mind felt like it was being torn apart from the inside, the world spinning around him in a constant white blur of motion until suddenly it stopped.
Hugo slowly opened his eyes taking in his new surroundings. He was standing in a long corridor, the remnants of the fire gone as if they never existed to begin with along with Varian’s body. He turned to look down the corridor and his heart skipped a beat.
“Va-Varian..?” There he was at the end of the corridor. Varian was there and he was alive. Hugo felt himself begin to laugh as he started to make his way to Varian, “Varian!”
Hugo ran down the corridor, his heart pounding out of his chest, Varian was alive!
A sudden rumble brought Hugo to an abrupt halt as he felt the ground and walls around him begin to shake. He looked up to the end of the hall where Varian had been standing as suddenly a huge explosion destroyed the end of the corridor.
“Varian!” Not again, no, it couldn’t be happening again. Hugo’s thoughts reeled in horror as he saw the flames coming closer to him. He threw his arms up in front of his face as he let out a shout as the flames consumed him as well.
“What did you do!?”
Donella’s lips twitched into a smile, “Oh come now, I haven’t the slightest idea-“
“Shut up!” Varian shouted, “just shut up! I am so sick of your twisted little mind games, Donella!”
Donella scoffed, “it’s rude to interrupt people you know.”
“What did you do!?” Varian repeated, his voice growing darker with every passing word.
“So impatient, I thought you were better than this, darling.”
“You listen here-“ Varian was cut off as he heard a sharp gasp behind him, he quickly turned to see Hugo having another reaction of some kind, this one seemingly worse than the first.
“Hugo..” it was Nuru this time that reacted as she moved next to Hugo. He was mumbling incoherently under his breath as his face contorted in pained expressions. Her eyes shifted and finally met with Varian’s as he picked up his alchemy staff that he had tossed to the ground moments before, she saw the dark rage boiling beneath those bright blue eyes, whatever Varian was going to end up doing Nuru knew nothing would stop him. She only prayed that he wouldn’t do something he’d regret.
Varian’s attention shifted back to Donella, “what. Did. You. Do.”
Donella chuckled, “it’s my latest invention, you like it? It’s a special kind of drug, it will trap you in an eternal nightmare forcing you to watch your worst fears unfold in front of you over and over and over again . There is no way to awaken the victim once the drug has been injected- except,” She reveals a small vial of light blue liquid in her hand, “this, the cure. If injected into the victim it will awaken them from the nightmare almost immediately.”
“Heh, and I guess you’re not going to just give me this cure now are you, Donella.”
“Now where would be the fun in that?” Donella slipped the vial onto her belt.
A small silence overtook the room once more as the two locked eyes.
“Var- Varian?” It’s Yong who speaks up, fear surrounding his voice.
Varian looked back at him for only a moment before turning back to Donella, “don’t worry, Yong, I’m getting Hugo out of here.” He took a step forward. Prepping his staff into a fighting stance.
“How sweet,” Donella's voice rang out, “the little alchemist thinks he can win,” she pulled out a small cylindrical device that extended into a full-length bow staff, “very well then, let the game begin.”
The tension grew in the air as the two stared into each other’s eyes, a strange sense of darkness enveloping both of them. Their lips simultaneously twitched into a smirk as they lunged at each other.
Hugo looked around the flames that had consumed him only a moment before dissipating from existence. He felt a sudden pressure against his chest and he looked down to see a head of familiar black hair leaned against him.
“Varian!?”
The boy shifted, a small cough causing his shoulders to vibrate.
“Var- Varian, are you okay?”
Hugo noticed his hand gripping some sort of object, he gently pushed Varian away from himself to see what it was. His heart stopped as he saw his own hand gripping a knife plunged into Varian’s abdomen, the blood coating his hand in a bright display of crimson.
“Oh, god- Varian Wha-“ Varian’s legs finally gave out from under him and he fell into Hugo’s arms.
“You..,” Varian coughed, “ you did this to me.”
“No- no! I didn’t- I,” Hugo’s eyes watered, “I don’t…”
“This is your fault, Hugo.”
“I didn’t mean to-“
“You betrayed me!”
“No… I-“ a lump formed in his throat as he choked back a sob, “I- I’m sorry!”
Donella swung her staff in a downward motion toward Varian's head. He quickly extended his staff upward holding it horizontal with both his hands as the force of her attack came down upon it. Varian kicked his leg out against Donella’s stomach pushing her back away from him.
Varian gripped his staff and swung it in a diagonal line towards Donella’s head. She brought her arm up, blocking the attack with her guarded forearm, and then swiftly wrapped her arm around the staff attempting to pull it from Varian’s grip. She twirled her own bow staff around in her other hand and swung it toward Varian causing him to let go of the staff and duck his head below the attack. Varian fell back against the floor with a grunt quickly scurrying back as Donella loomed over him, both staffs now in her possession.
Varian scrambled to his feet and started backing away from Donella his mind scrambling for something to help even the odds again. His eyes darted around the room scanning for any potential weapons. Donella took her chance to strike, jabbing the end of the alchemy staff into Varian’s stomach causing him to double over and collapse onto the floor as the breath was knocked out of him. He gasped trying to get the air back into his lungs.
Donella laughed as she retracted her bow staff back into its small cylindrical form and attached it to her belt. She reached out her hand and gripped Varian’s hair, forcing him to look up at her, “never take your eyes off your opponent, darling.”
Varian furrowed his brows, forcing his breathing to even as he looked into Donella’s eyes, pure rage emanating from his being.
Donella chuckled, a low and haunting sound that could freeze over any room, “you always were quite the resilient one, it really is such shame it had to end this way.”
“Varian!” Yong’s voice rang out as Varian heard something land behind him followed by a loud bang and a bright white light flashing around him. Donella cried out as she threw her arms up shielding her face and releasing Varian from her grip.
It took Varian only a moment to process and understand what had happened, Yong had thrown a flashbang, a little invention that they had come up with together. Once lit the little bomb would explode in a blinding white light and a deafening bang. Lucky for him his back had been turned to the device sparing him the effects of the light even if his ears were still ringing from the sound. But Donella, she had taken the full brunt of the blast- this was his chance.
Varian lunged forward toward Donella not wanting to lose the upper hand. He balled his hand into a fist and punched her in the face- boy did that feel good. She stumbled back, dropping the alchemy staff and holding her face in her hands.
“Pestilent brat!” Donella growled. She blinked trying to clear up her vision, looking forward just as a blurry figure was charging toward her in another attack. In her brief moment of recognition, she sidestepped the swing of an arm, her body moved in a familiar motion as she gripped the arm and used the force of the attack to sling the boy around and toss him to the floor. She jumped back, trying to buy herself precious seconds to regain her vision fully.
Varian growled as he was tossed to the floor, his window of opportunity slipping. He had to get that cure and fast . He jumped to his feet again ready to strike again.
“Ngh...Varian…” a familiar voice caught his attention… it was Hugo’s . He looked where he knew Hugo was, still strapped to the table and unconscious. He was having another reaction, this one much worse than the others. Hugo shifted in his delirious state, trying to pull against his restraints, his brows furrowed as he mumbled pleas under his breath. Nuru and Yong both moved their attention away from the fight and onto Hugo, Nuru gently brushing the hair out of Hugo’s face as he whimpered.
Even from this distance, Varian could see that Hugo was crying.
Varian gritted his teeth as he turned back to Donella, his fists clenched tight. His entire being radiated with a deep-seated rage directed at the woman in front of him. Their eyes met once more and at that moment Varian felt his rage take full control, he charged forward throwing another punch at Donella. She sidestepped his attack and stuck her foot out causing him to trip over himself. He stumbled forward but managed to keep himself from falling flat on his face, he swiftly turned around to face her once more, as soon as his balance had been restored he wasted no time in throwing another punch at the woman he despised. This time Donella threw her arm up deflecting the punch to the side, and she took the opportunity to counter. She used her other hand to wrap around the back of his neck pulling him forward and throwing her knee up, hitting him directly in the stomach causing him to gasp out as Donella threw him to the ground.
Varian struggled to pull the air back into his lungs as he tried to push himself up. Donella kicked his shoulder forcing him flat on his back. She planted her foot on his chest and pressed down, leaning over him and supporting herself on her knee, “checkmate, darling.”
“Heh,” Varian smirked, “not quite.”
He slammed an alchemy ball he had grabbed from his belt into the side of Donella’s head, smoke exploded from the ball- ah, so it was a smoke bomb- Varian felt the pressure release from his chest and rolled over onto his feet as quickly as he could. He scanned the area, his vision now obscured by the smoke filling the room. He stumbled back his footsteps echoing against the metal floor. He internally cursed the smoke- sure it had been his only way out of a tight situation but he hadn’t given much thought to what was in the alchemy bomb- he was paying for that one now.
Suddenly he felt an arm wrap around his neck as he was pulled into a chokehold. He struggled against the hold trying to pull the arms away from his neck. His mind stopped in a moment of clarity- this was it, this was his chance, there was no way he could defeat Donella; but he didn’t need to defeat her, he just needed to get close to her and, well, he was as close as he was gonna get. He reached his hand down to Donella’s belt and grabbed a small vile- the cure- he pulled it from the belt and threw his head back slamming the back of his head into Donella’s face. Her grip released for a moment and Varian took his chance shoving Donella off of him.
“NURU!!” Varian screamed, making the girl, who had been trying to snap Hugo out of his nightmare state through other means, turn to him in surprise, “CATCH!” Varian tossed the vile to her just as he felt a firm hand grip his arm.
Nuru caught the vile mid-air. She turned before she could see Varian grabbed by Donella- he could handle himself, he had to- but Hugo… Hugo needed this cure. She had been watching him suffer in whatever nightmarish state he was trapped in and- she shook her head- focus. Hugo needs you.
Varian cried out as he felt his arm be twisted behind his back in an unnatural state. He threw his elbow back striking Donella in the jaw causing her to lose her grip on him. Varian quickly turned around to face her, ready to fight with all his might now that he knew the cure was with Nuru. However, he stopped in his tracks as he saw Donella’s face, half bloodied and covered in cuts from the alchemy ball that had been slammed into it. Blood- it just had to be blood- Varian felt himself go lightheaded at the gruesome sight that he himself had been the cause of.
Donella saw the sudden paleness in the boy's face. So despite all his fearsome bravado he really was just a kid. Perfect. She lunged forward grabbing Varian’s shirt collar. The force shook Varian from his sudden lightheadedness and he fought against the grip trying to pull away from her. Donella held him firm in an iron grip as she forcefully pulled him with her. She slammed him against the wall and pulled a knife out of her belt. She gripped his chin firmly in her hand and leveled her eyes with his, “end of the line, dar-“ a loud thud was heard and suddenly Donella collapsed onto the floor unconscious.
Varian starred up, fear evident on his face even as Donella collapsed in front of him, “hu... Hugo?”
There standing where Donella had been only moments before was Hugo with the alchemy staff that had been dropped earlier in the fight. They stared into each other’s eyes for a moment, Hugo’s holding some sort of uncertainty behind them as if he didn’t know if what he was seeing was real.
“Hugo!?” Varian’s face softened.
“Varian…” Hugo took a tentative step forward, looking Varian up and down… a little bruised but alive. He was alive. Hugo couldn’t help it, he grabbed Varian and pulled him into a tight embrace that Varian promptly returned. The two stood holding each other for a moment before Varian gently pushed away from the hug.
“We have to get out of here,” Varian looked between his friends, “now.”
They all nodded in agreement before running off through the door of the lab leaving Donella’s unconscious body behind.
It had been several hours, Donella’s lab and the horrors that lay within it were long behind them. They had run for what felt like hours until they were a safe distance and then found a secluded cave, set up a temporary camp, and have been hiding out there for the night. Nuru and Yong had agreed to go out and scavenge for something to eat to let Varian and Hugo get some rest, they all needed it, but the boys more so.
Varian looked across to the other side of the cave where Hugo sat leaning against the wall staring into the fire that sat between them. He hadn’t said a word since they had left Donella’s lab even as Nuru had bandaged up his wounds which was… concerning, to say the least, especially for Hugo who Varian usually couldn’t get to shut up . Now though… Varian would give anything to hear a bad pun, a witty remark, those annoying little nicknames, anything that resembled the Hugo he knew. He’d only seen Hugo like this once before when everything happened, when they found out he had been a spy sent by Donella, and when they found out about how she had treated him. After they had escaped back then Hugo had been so quiet like he was walking on eggshells and if he did or said anything wrong he’d be tossed out and abandoned. It had taken a lot to finally work past everything, all of the hurt and trauma, but if Varian knew one thing, it was that he would give anything for Hugo.
Varian looked down in uncertainty for a moment before his gaze raised back up to Hugo. Here goes nothing- he stood from his seat and made his way over to Hugo, he silently sat down next to him. Hugo glanced over at Varian for a moment before returning his sight back to the fire.
Hugo sighed, “Hey, hairstripe,” he knew where this was going.
Varian placed his hand on Hugo’s shoulder, careful not to aggravate any of his wounds, “you know, I’m here for you.”
“It’s… I’m- I’m fine-“
“Don’t lie to me, Hugo.”
“Hairstripe, really it’s fi-“
“Hugo.” Varian leveled his eyes with Hugo’s, a pointed look of determination telling Hugo that Varian really wasn’t going to let him win this one.
Hugo groaned and rested his head against his knees, “What do you even want me to say?”
Varian pulled his hand back, he hadn’t really expected that, “I- I don’t know… I just don’t want you to- to feel like… like you have to pretend that everything's fine when it’s clearly not, and… and I want you to know that there are people here who care about you, I care about you, Hugo.”
Hugo curled further in on himself, of course, Varian cared about him, Hugo knew that, he didn’t understand why or how he could care about someone like him but Hugo knew that Varian cared more deeply than anyone ever could. That trait, it was endearingly annoying but somehow it always managed to get the better of him. Hugo sighed, letting himself relax just the tiniest bit.
“It’s just… what I saw in- in that nightmare..,” Hugo looked to the side away from Varian who leaned forward to show that he was listening, “it was you, and-“ Hugo’s voice caught in his throat, he took a few deep breaths, “and you died,” He heard a sharp inhale of breath from Varian, “and I just- there was nothing I could do and- and I-“ Hugo shut his eyes, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall from his eyes, “even now I just- I keep seeing you here and I’m terrified- I’m so scared that at any moment something will happen and I’ll- I’ll be back in that- that hell , and you’ll be ripped away from me again and I just…” Hugo finally looked at Varian, “I can’t lose you.”
“Hugo…” Varian felt his chest ache, Hugo didn’t deserve this, he didn’t deserve any of this, “It’s okay, the nightmares over, and I’m not going anywhere… I promise.”
“None of us are,” Nuru’s voice echoed from the cave entrance as she came into the light of the fire with Yong right behind her. She set down the bag of food she had been carrying and immediately made her way to Hugo’s side, sitting down next to him, “sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” Nuru placed a gentle hand on Hugo’s, “but, Hugo, we’re always going to be here for you, no matter what happens.”
“You..,” Yong started, joining the little group at Nuru’s side, and placing his hand atop of Nuru and Hugo’s, “you don’t have to be alone anymore, whatever happens, whatever you’re going through, you don’t have to go through it alone.”
“I-“ Hugo struggled to find the words as the lump grew in his throat, the tears becoming harder to fight with every passing second.
“Hugo,” Varian placed his hand with the others making Hugo look up at him, “you’re our friend, our family, and we love you.”
It was finally too much and the first tears fell from Hugo’s eyes, “... thank you.”
Varian smiled, pulling Hugo into a tight embrace that was promptly followed by Yong and then Nuru. Hugo let out a sob as he felt his friend’s warm embrace around him. This was nice.