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It was over.
Lucien—or whatever that was—was dead.
Essek hadn’t been foolish enough to think the first part of their fight—the one above ground—would be all Lucien had in store. It was way too easy, considering the scale of what this whole thing was, this entity, this place.
Not that the first phase of combat hadn’t been terrible. Essek had come dangerously close to turning on his friends. He didn’t let himself imagine what kind of damage he could have done, had the charm effect lasted. Who would he have hurt? He couldn’t even begin to describe the relief that had washed over him when Caleb had dispelled the effect. Had Essek attacked even just one of the Mighty Nein… He never would have been able to forgive himself. There would have been no recovering from that guilt.
So the rest of the fight had come as no surprise to him. Of course, things would get ugly. Though the form Lucien had taken, the way he seemed to fuel each of his attacks with the life essence of the strange city itself… It certainly was something the Shadowhand of the Kryn Dynasty had never been unlucky enough to witness.
But he supposed that sort of thing was an inevitable side effect of adventuring with the infamous Mighty Nein.
Sitting on the strange battlefield, recovering from the last attack he’d sustained and slowly making his way back up, he took a minute to look at the improbable band of misfits that had so inexplicably taken over his life.
He looked at each of them, all in terrible states that matched his own.
Beauregard was unconscious, a concerned Yasha kneeling next to her, her hands firmly laid against her beloved’s heart, muttering a healing incantation.
Veth lay bloodied on the ground not ten feet from Essek, motionless. Lifeless, Essek realised as he watched Caduceus magic life back into her, her body slowly being covered by moss and… insects? Essek stared, mesmerised, until finally Veth’s body reappeared again, and he heard her gasp for air.
The dread that had overtaken Essek lifted. All of them were alive. They’d actually succeeded. Survived.
Everyone was now getting back to their feet, slowly taking in their surroundings, the torn apart remains of Lucien. Essek watched the Mighty Nein go through exactly what he had: the initial shock of being alive, the anxiety about everyone else, shortly followed by quick reassuring glances around, and finally, an overwhelming wave of relief and gratefulness for the friends around them.
Caleb was standing on the other side of the chamber, badly hurt but on his feet still, his face the purest representation of utter awe. He started moving, crouching in front of Veth to pull her into a tight embrace. Then he did the same to Caduceus, and Essek heard him thank the cleric.
He rose, and Essek braced himself for what he thought would be his turn. But Caleb turned away, not sparing him a glance. Essek tried to ignore the lump in his throat as he watched the man he had such deep feelings for walk away.
Caleb strode towards Jester, lifting her off her feet as he embraced her. He grabbed Fjord’s face then wrapped an arm around his neck, pulling him close. Each embrace made Essek’s heart crack a little more. He chastised himself for being so damn stupid. The Mighty Nein were Caleb’s family, they’d spent every day of the last year together, saving the world time and time again and always painfully close to losing one another. He, on the other hand, was a traitor that had lied to them, manipulated them. They’d only brought him along because he was useful. There was no more to it.
The Zemnian wizard continued his round of embraces, wrapping one arm around Yasha and the other around Beauregard, whispering something in the latter’s ear.
The lump in Essek’s throat was getting hard to ignore as profound disappointment and self-hatred washed over him. He wanted nothing more than to disappear, right then and there, while none of the Mighty Nein was looking at him. They probably would part ways with him after this, anyway. They’d go back to their lives, healing and resting and enjoying a well-deserved break, and Essek would go back to figuring out how not to get assassinated. He resisted the urge to touch the Amulet around his neck, a tangible proof that his friends did care about him. Or had they given him the necklace to serve their own purposes? After all, his capture would have been inconvenient for them.
Essek was staring at his feet—currently firmly planted on the ground for once—when he saw a pair of muddied boots reach him. He looked up to see Caleb standing surprisingly close, his blue eyes hard as they stared. Essek swallowed, fearing whatever Caleb was about to say. If he had actually come to say his goodbyes, to dismiss Essek after a job well done, Essek wasn’t sure he had it in him to not break down crying, the strain on his heart growing painful.
As he stared back at the other wizard, struggling to maintain his composure, to not look like he was holding back tears, Caleb said, “I saved you for last.”
Essek’s brow furrowed, wondering what the hell that could possibly—
Caleb gently gripped his chin and leaned forward.
Oh.
Essek always thought the description of butterflies in one’s stomach to be a ludicrous exaggeration, something foolish people in love made up to try and make others jealous. But as Caleb’s lips tenderly pressed against his, Essek realised he had been very, very wrong.
Warmth seeped through his mouth, spreading through his face, down his entire body as his stomach simply… fluttered.
Curiously, there was no shock or confusion to recover from. His body simply reacted, only too eager to return the long-awaited kiss.
Caleb’s hands were now on the back of his neck, one thumb stroking lovingly. Essek realised he had no idea what to do with his own hands, so he simply wrapped his arms around the other wizard’s waist, tugging him close.
That’s when he remembered they weren’t alone. He withdrew but didn’t dare take his eyes off Caleb’s face.
“The others—” He started.
“I’ve already showed them my affection. Now it’s your turn,” Caleb barely replied before claiming Essek’s mouth once more.
That obviously wasn’t what Essek had meant, though he supposed it was a fair point. And at that very moment… He found that he didn’t truly care. Beauregard and Yasha were probably sharing a relieved kiss, as were Fjord and Jester, so why not Caleb and him?
With nothing holding him back anymore, Essek gave in fully to the kiss.
Then he heard a loud “Woohoo!” followed by a clap. Jester. He would’ve ignored it, had Beauregard not snorted as she said, “That’s a bit much, you show offs.”
That last bit startled Essek and he pulled away. He looked down at Beauregard to find out—
He looked down at her.
He had unconsciously gone back to his usual floating. And Caleb, being in the freaking Astral Sea, had simply followed him up.
He was finally kissing Caleb Widogast, and they were levitating. In front of six people.
There was no stopping the embarrassment that flooded him, his entire face suddenly going very warm. He landed back on the ground, pulling Caleb down with him. Caleb, whose massive grin momentarily rendered Essek speechless.
“Don’t stop on my account,” Beauregard sneered.
“We’re totally not watching, you guys!” Jester exclaimed, the smile in her voice impossible to miss.
Essek finally smiled, though his eyes still hadn’t left Caleb, who brushed a thumb over his cheek. Something wet spread under it, and Essek was mortified to realise a tear had escaped him.
“I’m sorry. I, uh, it’s the exhaustion, and uh, we’ve been through a lot,” he fumbled for words, feeling the need to explain himself. “And it’s just—” Caleb interrupted him with another kiss.
“I know,” Caleb whispered against his mouth. “It’s all right. It’s over.”
Essek closed his eyes and felt another tear run down his cheek as he rested his forehead against Caleb’s. He let that one go, not caring who saw, what they thought, or what it meant.
He was thinking about how he could stay in this exact position forever, Caleb’s scent wrapping him up entirely, his breath coming and going over the bottom half of his face, skin against skin, when Fjord cleared his throat behind him.
“We should really get going,” he stated. “There’s no need to stay here any longer and, frankly… I’d like to get the hell out of this place.”
The others echoed his sentiment, and Essek forced himself to break his connection to Caleb, delighted to realise the other wizard had apparently not planned on being the first one to move away.
“We’ll continue this later,” Essek promised, though his voice wavered. The last thing he wanted to do—lest his heart just shatter—was read into this. Maybe Caleb was just acting on the adrenaline rush this fight had given him. Maybe there was nothing to continue later.
“Yes, we will,” Caleb promised back. “You and I will have our time together, Essek Thelyss. I am not letting you go.”
And as if to make sure Essek didn’t get a chance to doubt that promise, Caleb took his hand and led him back towards the group. Jester was holding a tuning fork in front of her as the Mighty Nein gathered, linking hands.
“Ready?” She asked the group.
Essek glanced down at his and Caleb’s intertwined fingers. “As I’ll ever be,” he muttered as he locked eyes with the other wizard.
Jester cast her spell, and Essek felt his entire self distort, being tugged in impossible directions. The pull back towards the Material Plane was intense, uncomfortable. But through it all, the warmth in the hand Caleb was holding never faltered.
As his feet slammed against the ground of what looked to be a busy Empire city, Essek’s eyes once more found those of a beautiful, copper-haired man.
And saw the promise of a future he never dared dream of staring right back at him.