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“Alone at the edge of a universe
Humming a tune
For merely dreaming we were snow.
A siren sounds like the goddess who promises endless apologies of paradise
And only she can make it right
So things are different
Tonight.”
-Dream Sweet in Sea Major, Miracle Musical
“Where’s Jester?”
Fjord’s head whipped around. He could just barely hear Beau’s voice rise above the countless spells and yells flinging around on the bloody snow crunching below boots. He hadn’t noticed when she’d slipped from next to him. Snow slammed around them, a blizzard coming in from the North. Momentarily the sound of the giant snake disappeared from his ears and the sound of his heart replaced it. It was almost like she’d vanished into thin air, a melted snowflake into a vat of lava. He took his eyes off of her to look at Yasha, having heard Veth call up to her as she was slashed from the sky. Other snow creatures had come out of nowhere but they’d managed to get it whittled down to the one… hopefully.
“Fjord?” Beau raised an arm in front of her eyes, feet planting into the ground to hold her in the spot as the wind picked up. “Where is she?”
“Is she with Caleb?”
The sound of ice cracking reached his ears then, a giant puff of smoke somewhere into the cold, cloudy air of angered snow popped up. The loud screech of a dinosaur danced around, causing Fjord to jump, looking over at it.
“I’d assume no. She wouldn’t have gotten over to him that fast.”
“Fuck.” Fjord looked back towards the fight before turning around. “I’ll find her. Stay here.”
Beau nodded and looked back towards the fight as well, hands lowering before she ran towards it. Fjord squinted into the darkness before taking off. The snow slamming into him hurt like hell, pricking into his skin and hitting his eyes. His boots were sinking into the banks and he searched, looking behind trees and rocks of all sizes. Panic was rising in his throat. Maybe Nonagon had found them and took her, holding her ransom. Hell, he didn’t know what happened to Molly anymore, Wildmother only knows he could teleport if he wanted to. Maybe he killed her and he was just pretending to be her. Millions of ideas were running through his head and he could feel sweat beginning to gather on his palms and catch on the base of his neck.
“Jester!”
His voice echoed back to him, reverberating off of trees and rocks around him. A yell scattered across the ground from the fight disappearing into the storm. The clouds engulfed it, swallowing it whole. For a moment, it was quiet. It felt as if he was the only one in the world now, on a hunt for someone who disappeared into thin air.
“Jester!” He cupped his mouth, attempting to yell louder. “Jester where are you!”
The wind picked up around him, three green leaves wooshed past his ear, brushing the tip of it. He watched them shoot off almost willing him to follow. The Traveler. More of an assumption and a judgement on the barren trees looming above him. He grunted as he began running again, pulling off his gloves and shoving them in his pocket.
He wasn’t sure how long he’d been running before the leaves disappeared into the blizzard. His lungs ached, pressing hard against his ribs to take in air. His head was pounding and dizzy from the cold. He could feel a hard chill beginning to creep up his back. A loud wolf cry wrapped around him but he didn’t stop. He kept running as long as he could, hands beginning to grip onto his chest. After another moment, a louder more dense, icey crunch radiated from his boots. He halted suddenly and slid for another moment. An ice lake with a frozen story beneath the layer. A sort of fog lifted from it. His arms shot out to steady himself.
Why would he have been led here?
“Jester! Jester are you out here!”
Fjord looked around, wind whipping at his jacket and almost pulling him in a circle. The cold air making its way into his lungs was painful, like dozens of tiny soldiers entering his nose and stabbing at his throat and lungs, pulling them towards his stomach. The cold was beginning to seep into the soles of his boots and bite harshly at his bones. His eyes scanned the frozen plane for a sight of life, a sight of her. He didn’t know what to do, where to go. It all looked the same now. All a snow covered planet blanketed by ice and fear. A t-rex roar echoed across the blizzard.
After an instant his eyes caught something, a line in the ice. It wasn’t a crack though he couldn’t decipher a crack from a frozen sea plant. He moved quickly, kneeling down and touching it. Almost like pin pricks slipping into his nails, he pulled his hand back. It was wet, warm… globular. Fresh. His eyes looked up, spotting a second, larger line. The same fear was finding its way back into his heart, into his chest. His nostrils flared and he shot himself forward. He wasn’t moving by choice but instinct. He didn’t know what he was following but he knew… he had to know.
His boots slipped against the solid surface, traction nonexistent in this world. It felt like hundreds, thousands of eyes were locked onto his figure, surrounding his form. He couldn’t stop, he had no choice now. Another blob caught his eyes further ahead, decently sized and beginning to freeze into a lump. It was smeared into a decently sized dent into the ground. He studied it before his head shot up, catching sight of a large clump scooting across the lake. It would raise and collapse once more, freezing before dragging itself. Blood trailed behind it before it collapsed for the final time, laying still on the barren waste land. It began curling up into itself. Fjord's eyes squinted hard as he stared. After a moment they widened as the colors began to connect the dots. It was a bright pink dress, flattened against the cold ground.
“Jester!”
The word left his mouth before he could process the imagery. He shot off, stumbling and sliding, slamming into the glass. His hands slipped against the ground and ice cut into his palms. He immediately picked himself up once more and ran. The figure didn’t respond, didn’t move. Fjord tripped once more before reaching her, collapsing to the ground and scraping his knees against the cut up shards. It didn’t register in his mind. It didn’t register that he was bleeding and that his palms were radiating with pain. It also didn’t register that he was kneeling in a puddle of thick, cold blood. The sight in front of him wasn’t registering, it wasn’t registering. He couldn’t think straight and his head boomed from the beginnings of a headache.
His hand reached out and he hesitated. Her arms were wrapped around her abdomen, a large slash present just beneath her hold. It was dripping with the same blood he was positioned in. He didn’t know what to do, his breath caught in his lungs. It felt like he was being choked from the inside out, unable to breathe, unable to move, speak. Just to observe. To watch her suffer.
Like it was some sort of sick game.
“Jester. Jester I’m here.”
He reached out and carefully scooped her into his arms. He didn’t know what to do and could only hold her, provide some sort of dull comfort to her. He lowered his head to hers, allowing their foreheads to connect. Her skin was frigid to the touch and it was like he was holding a corpse. Like she’d been dead before he’d gotten there and he was too late.
But her chest was heaving, a deep wheeze present. Her hair was matted to her forehead from sweat. Her body was shaking ever so slightly and her dress was damp with a collection of melted snow, ice, and blood. She’d freeze if they stayed out here. Her blue skin was pale against her hair. Snowflakes gathered on the edges of her lashes, catching on her eyebrows and horns. Her gloves were ripped and tattered, hanging together by the stitching and the dampness of her fear.
“It’s alright. It’s alright I gotcha now, yeah?” He huddled her close, attempting to shield her from the elements. “And we’re gonna get you back to Caduceus and he’s gonna fix you up. And then we’re gonna get back into the mansion and we’re all gonna have a good chuckle about this one, like we always do.”
Her face contorted with pain before her eyes fluttered open by a hair. She stared up to him and they connected for a brief moment. One of her hands raised to clutch onto his shirt and he could feel the cold seep through his armour.
“Fjord.”
“Yeah. It’s me. I’m right here.” He looked around, surrounded by white. Just… white. No more t-rex, no more frumpkin, no more giant snake.
No more.
He shifted to balance her on one of his arms, immediately struggling to pull off his own jacket. He had to get her warm, he had to keep her close to him. He needed to do something to help her. He needed to get her to Caduceus, he needed… he needed so many things right now. Answers, help, comfort… anything. But nothing all at once. Like the world had opened up some sort of black hole in this very specific spot and it was all collapsing into them but he remained untouched.
“Stop. What are you doing?” She tried to push him away, writhing with pain. Tears gathered on her lower lash line as she attempted to move. “You’re gonna get cold.”
“You’ll freeze if we don’t get you warm, Jester.”
“Fjord I’m fine. I’m okay.”
“No. No this isn’t okay. It isn’t okay that you went off on your own, running away. It isn’t okay that you didn’t think for a minute that you’d get hurt.”
“I’m fine Fjord. I’m okay. I’ll be okay, I just need a minute.”
He pulled his jacket off of his shoulder, beginning to tug it off. His teeth grinded against one another with effort as he tried to move her, to get her balanced so he could wrap it around her.
“Fjord. Stop this is ridiculous. You’ll freeze and-”
“ Jester. ” He looked at her again, eyes connecting as time seemed to stop. He stopped what he was doing, frozen.
“It’s okay, Fjord. This is okay.” She raised her hand, coated with a thick layer of blood. It set gently on his cheek, her thumb coming to caress his skin. “It’ll be okay.”
“I can’t-” He huffed, frustrated. He hadn’t noticed the tears mirroring hers, gathering, until they spilled out. He didn’t take himself to be a cryer, but he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t help her. “I can’t lose you Jester.”
They both fell silent as they sat there on the ice, clinging to the other. He lowered his head again and found hers, pulling her to his chest. He didn’t know what to say, how to continue. He just wanted to be close to her, to ignore the rest of the world around them and to just hold her. He shuddered, suppressing a sob. Soft lips found his cheek, pressing a warm kiss to it. His head tilted into it and he held onto her more.
“Let me go, Fjord.”
He tightened his grip ever so slightly before beginning to loosen, raising his head. Their eyes met and he watched a smile slip passed her lips. He shut his eyes briefly.
“No.” He moved again, pulling his jacket around her shoulders and reaching to fasten it. “Not here. Not now.”
Jester fell silent as she lowered her arm, silently complying. They both knew, deep down, it wouldn’t work. It was worth an attempt, however weak. She deserved an attempt after the hell they’ve been through together. He dipped his hands into his pocket and pulled out his gloves, beginning to push them onto hers. She shivered and only pressed closer to him.
“When we get back-” She paused, eyes fixating on the white plane in the distance. “To Nicodranas, I want to sail with you.”
Fjord didn’t respond, too focused on the task at hand. He shifted her around in his grasp to tighten the jacket around her. He had nothing else to give but his own body heat. His eyes scanned the surface for anything, a sign of anyone.
“I’ll send the Plank King a message, ask for forgiveness. We can go visit again.”
He grunted and scooted her closer, scooping her into a bridal carry as he began to stand up. His legs shook under the stress. Under the anxiety of it all. He had to get back to Caduceus and they had to get back to the Tower. And then he’d fix her and she’d rest, and she’d be back to the same Jester he’d met way back when.
“It’ll be wonderful, Fjord.”
His voice wavered and he began the trek, following the trail towards the snow covered forest. It was moon-like, alien in nature. Except they were not the aliens, they were not permitted to explore the face of the moon as one. They were not allowed to experience it… experience it together. He tried to remain still on the ice. He tried to keep this short, to keep her safe.
He shifted her, holding her closer. A cough came up and she shook, unable to catch her breath. He stopped in his tracks to look at her. His heart leapt as she clung to him, trying to fix this but unable to.
“Ok. Ok hold on just-”
Fjord moved faster, picking up speed. He ran as fast as he was able to. Adrenaline filled his body. He had to get her back to them, he had to do something. His scraped knees protested harshley, crying out with each step he took. The storm was beginning to lighten up and the wind was relaxing. He was beginning to be able to see more than five feet in front of him.
“Caduceus!” He felt the yell escape from his lungs with all the air he could muster.
Fjord couldn’t explain why he was yelling, why he was yelling to Caduceus. He couldn’t understand it himself. It came up without him willing it to. It tore against his sore throat and it sent waves of shocks through his body. He was tired, exhausted even. He wanted to go home, to go back to a simpler time when their biggest issue was Avantika, when they didn’t have to worry about potential death. He wanted to wash back up on shore, soul sold to Uk’otoa.
“Fjord-” Jester winced, her cough never stopping for more than a moment. “Fjord I-”
“Please. Please we’re almost there. Don’t do this.”
He reached the edge of the forest after another moment, cradling her closer. He stopped to look around, only to hear the cough stop abruptly. His gaze shifted down to her, noticing the blood beginning to travel it’s way up through the new over layer. Her gaze was locked on something in the distance, wide open. Once again, the scene didn’t register with him. It took him a moment of standing and staring.
“Jessie?” He held onto her tighter, lowering his head. “We’re gonna find Caduceus and get you back into commission and bring you home to Marion and have a nice dinner and tell her about what happened.”
No response came from the other. Her hand slowly slid away from his chest, dropping to her side, limp. He shifted her around and watched her head tip back, snow beginning to pelt her forehead like small white freckles.
“And then we’re gonna-” He began moving again. He had to find them, needed to find them. “Gonna sail the seas together and you can name the boat whatever you want to. And we can bring Nugget and-and Sp-”
He grunted, shifting her. He finally stopped, looking down towards her. Unmoving, unblinking. He waited and observed, assuming it to be a prank of hers. She was just joking around and she was gonna look up at him and laugh, seeing his face. And then Caduceus would come find them and fix her quickly.
And he’d save her like he was supposed to.
“No.” He felt his chest heave. “No. Jester come on.”
His legs gave into the exhaustion and he fell to his knees. He dropped her lower body into the snow, immediately moving her head to look at him. His hand rested on the back of her head and he watched her. Her eyes were dead, cold and lifeless. Her bright gaze had faded.
Jester was dead.
“Jester. Plea-” He held her closer. “Please I can’t lose you too. Not like this not here please. I promised your mother I'd protect you, that I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”
He scanned her, trying to see if anything else was moving. To show him she was okay and that she was alive and happy. Her chest was still and her gaze never once broke with the cloudy sky.
The sob escaped him before he could stop it, his head dropping to her chest as he cried. He couldn’t save her. He couldn’t save any of them. He never could, and never would. His hold tightened on her arm.
“I’m sorry.” He only held onto her tighter, collecting her once more into his arms. His lungs burned. “I’m sorry, Jessie.”
Silence fell over the clearing, settling down like the snow had. He felt something watching him though he couldn’t have cared less. If something was coming to get them, it wouldn’t be such a bad way to go. It was beautiful, quiet here. It would all go back to normal then.
After a moment he felt something approach, brushing up against his back before rounding to the front. His eyes opened and he looked down, eyes filled with the sight of a small amber cat standing in front of him, eyes glowing a bright yellow. Almost instantly the glow faded and Frumpkin purred, pressing his face against Fjord's arm. They were coming.
“Fjord!”
His head whipped around, looking across the clearing just as the cat vanished into thin air. There they all were, their friends, crossing the moon together to meet them. They were all smiling, happy after a battle. Under the assumption that everything was okay. He watched Yasha stop first, smiling leaving her lips. Then Beau, then the rest. It took a minute but it registered. Caduceus lifted his staff, near running over to them, pushing past the group. Fjord felt relief flood him and he stood up as fast as he could, collecting Jester in his arms.
“How long?” Caduceus approached, stopping as they met in the middle.
“I can’t have been more than a minute. I-”
“Ok. Okay.” He turned his head, about to say something.
“Got it. Right.” Caleb turned as well, immediately beginning to set up the mansion.
Caduceus nodded and looked back down to Jester, moving the coat to look at the wound with a large frown. He placed a hand over it carefully.
“We’ll get her back. We have to.”