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Scott waved goodbye to his son, Grian, as the young scarlet macaw hybrid walked away with Jimmy Scott’s husband. Grian had been asking to go spend a few days with the older man, the young avian wanting to repair their relationship since the last world, and after talking with the Ocean Queen Lizzie, Scott hesitantly allowed Grian to see the man again. When the pair disappeared out of view Scott moved back inside to hopefully get some paperwork done, au remembered seeing an alliance draft from the Ocean Empire earlier and figured it was high time to actually finish said paperwork.
Sitting at aurs dusk the deer hybrid pulled off the first page of the stack of paperwork and began looking over the information on the sheet. Hours pass and the stack of paper shrank in size, Scott wanting to get the paperwork over with reaches for the next sheet of paper. The blank paper stared back at him as he looked into it as if seeing worlds that weren't there, before after what seemed like an eternity passed Scott signed the blank paper and pulled another blank paper off the stack and looked over it.
“You better come and save them Scott.” A distorted voice echoed around Scott, the deer hybrid jumping to aurs feet as au looked around. Aurs cyan hair falling into aurs eyes as the deer hybrid ruler’s eyes darted searching for the voice in the dark room, but not finding anything but dancing shadows in the corner. The voice sounded too much like the sibling that au had lost years ago, only for it to come back as a demon, craving the destruction of the world that the group of people had settled on.
“What? Xornoth, what do you mean? Who do I need to save?” Scott called out into the dark with confusion.
“ The little bird and fish Scott. Don't you like to play hero little fawn?” Xornoth’s voice patronizing the deer hybrid who stood in the middle of the room, taunting aur with the information that only it held.
“What are you doing with Grian and Jimmy, Xornoth? This war has been between you and me, leave them out of this. And I'm not a little fawn, not anymore. I haven't been one since you killed our parents.” Scott’s voice wavered, aurs cyan eyes looking for a way to get away from the static filling the room and to get to the only au had left. Cyan eyes landing on the door out of his office the deer hybrid took a step to the door and opened it. Walking through the door into the swampy lands of the cod empire, gaze instantly snapping to the tall pedestal created from the red corruption.
“I see you have made it little fawn. Now you get to watch their demise.” Xornoth sneered as he raised his sword just enough to tap the flat of it against Grian’s head, the young scarlet macaw flinching away from the contact.
“Let them go Xornoth, they have no qualms with you.” Scott cried desperately, the pain on the two’s faces wrenching at aurs heart.
“ See, dear sibling, that is where you are wrong. I have been unable to break you, or your spirit, all because of these two. The ones you call a son and a husband.” Xornoth moved the tip of the sword just under Jimmy’s neck, making the man lift his head to avoid being cut. His normally amber eyes dark with hatred and fear towards the demon standing above him. His blond hair clumped and matted with dirt, grime, and blood from an unseen injury, Grian’s hair not faring much better, his dark chocolate eyes shadowed by the locks of hair in his face. The young avian’s wings ruffled and feathers out of place, some even clumped together by who knows what. One wing lay at an awkward angle, as if broken or dislocated as it twitched every so often.
“Please Xornoth. Just let them go, you can have me instead.” Scott begged aurs demonic brother, taking step after step trying to make it to the pedestal as au watched it raise its sword as if to swing down on Jimmy or Grian. The slight pause in its movements showed it was listening as Scott tried to the group, even as they seemed to just move farther and farther away, aurs movements like wading through mud.
“ Hmm I could do that or I could just let them die and still kill you.” The demon hummed in thought, its large black horns moving, catching the light of the dying sun in the red sky, Scott still trying to run to the ever further platform.
“ But where is the fun in that?” The haunting echo of the demon's voice seemed to rattle Scott’s bones and au ran sluggishly. The cyanette watched in horror as the demon swung his sword down killing Jimmy and with one swift movement stabbing Grian through the stomach. Both bodies collapsed to the ground as Xornoth laughed standing over them, Scott looking up in horror at the base of the pedestal. The demon picked up both bodies with ease and threw them down into the deer hybrid’s waiting arms, the dying members of the small family gazing emptily into the sky.
“No no no please. Please don't leave me.” Scott sobbed brokenly into the cooling bodies, clutching them to aurs chest. The faces of the dying bodies blurring and contorting as the voices of the two calling out around the grieving deer hybrid.
ỹ̵̧̖̲̳̜̻͇̇̆̎̓̊͒̍͛́͠o̷̗̠̝͎̹̣̪̣͙͒̋̋̓̍̋́̔̐̈̏͗͋̅̎u̵̱͍̼̜̫͈͍̣̜̗̰̫̺̱̮̿̂̔̀͠ ̵̧̨̱̹͓͉̝̘̥͗̊̽̒́̕ͅl̶̨̛̲͎̦̦͉̭̗̻̙͇̪̒̈́͑̎̓͂̂̎͘͜ė̵̥̙̺̻̥̭̟͗̋̓́̚̕f̷̛̘͙̦̠̭̪̬̦͈̒̀̌͑̌̓̃̌͘͘͘t̵̨̺͙̠͇͎̹͕͙̱̣̙͕̹͐͗͐̆̍̉̋͋͂̕ ̶̨̛̺͔̟̭͖͇͓̬̯̯̒͆̊̅͜͝͝ͅu̸̻̽̒̏̂s̴̨̠̮̰̫͉͎̤̐̿͌͊̉ͅ
w̷̘̦̰̲̿̑̐͝h̴͉̝̟͍̖͙̳̝͑y̸̛̥̞̠̰̯͆̔͂͐̿́̾̈̑̕ ̷̻̤̼͙̟͍͔̱̹͉͇̮̃̒̄͊̒͜ḋ̵̢͉͉̟͙͖̲̹̗͍͍̠͈̯̏̄̔̃̎͆͛̇̎ḭ̶̭̙͖̋ͅd̷̡̧̛͕̤̉̑̎̄͛̂̅̌͒͗̿̈͑̚ ̸̢͈̰̰̼̯̹̩̩̖̙̰͚̯̄̈́͐͑̎̾̎̃͌y̸̲͈͂̈́̆̈́̄̎̇̚ơ̵̧͕̳͇̱͎̹͚̦̺͉͉̣̘͊̒̊̊͆̆̊͊̉̃͒͝ͅu̶̗̼̱͓͈͗̽̌̒̍̔̿̋̉̄̆͒͜͠ ̵̢̧̛̭̣̬̩̖̣͙͍̯͍̒͆̌͆̇̋͊̈́̂̈̕ļ̶͍̜̻̝̫̪͍̗̝̆̑́̓͌̔̿̈́̋̔̉̇͒͘͜ę̸̳͇͚̗̣̟͈̈t̸̻̄̇͐̍̄̊̿͑͑͒͑̑̔ ̵͈͓͊͛͐̆̈́͛͛̈u̷̡̢̨̝͓͍̘̱̮̳̹̼͔̔́͋̿͛͋̂ş̷͎̖̟̖̜̰͉͙̌̀̀̈́̉̌ ̶͈̮̖̺̖̻̙̙̮̫̉̏̐d̶̢̡̗̝̫̮̜̠͎̆̏̆̈́̀̈́͐̚ͅȉ̶͍̼͍̤͕͇̯̘é̵͈̌̄̊͝͝
i̷̺̳͌́͛̐̇̚t̸̢͍̩̥̭̮̔͜s̷̟͈̩͇̼̭̮͚̝̭̅̓ ̶͓̦̳̘̮̺̣̩̖̩̺̈́͋̊͛̔̈̿͠y̵̡̠͎̺͗̊́̋̓̽͂̿̈́̚̚ͅo̵̥̭̟͚̤̮̽̀̿̓̔̄̈́̂̿̿̾̎̄͘͝ũ̸̡̫̺̹̞̩̞̣̀̾̈́̄̈́̇̀͑̈̕͜͝͝ŗ̶̤̤̩̬̉͐͒̽͌ ̴̢͉̝͇͓̲͖͈̒̎f̴̢̡̛͔͈̤̫̥͈̦͖͔̠̳͐͘a̵̯̫͓̰̥̪͕͔̠̼̤̺̬͆̄̆̒̎͝͝͝ͅư̷̮̳͔̪̮̯̝̰̖͇͚̊́̊̓̈̋̑̐̊́͝ͅl̷̺̥̫͈͚̩̇ͅt̵̢̧̫̱̺̺̔͊͊̃̃̅̽̚
The soft echoes that could barely be heard turned into a roar of static as Scott jerked back, the deer hybrid’s vision going black as aurs hand knocked against something cold. Looking down at aurs hands au saw a dark liquid dripping of aurs hands onto his desk, staining the paper underneath. Scott’s breath hitched, the air seeming too thick to even breath as au stared down at the dark liquid in the black room.
Where was Jimmy? Where was Grian? Lurching to aurs feet au ran to the door of aurs office into the cold mountain air of Rivendell. The wings blessed upon the deer hybrid by the stag god Aeor themselves, flapping frantically as the ruler struggled to take off in the panic clouding aurs mind. The flight became a blur as the night sky blended with the dark stained liquid on Scott’s hands.
Au couldn't save them. Au let them die. Au failed them. Tears fell from the sky, glinting like crystals in the starlight of the new moon sky. When Scott landed in the Cod Empire au stumbled from aurs less than graceful landing, falling to aurs knees as the deer hybrid scrambled to aurs hooves as au ran to aurs husband’s house, praying that they would be there. When Scott burst through the door of the house with barely restrained sobs, desperately trying to ignore the still dripping liquid on aurs hands.
“Jimmy? Grian?” Scott called wetly, barely able to get the words out around the lump in aurs throat. The cyanette stumbled down the hall to where Jimmy’s room was, where Jimmy and Grian were supposed to be.
“Scott? Petal what’s wrong?” Jimmy’s voice called out of the dark, making Scott sink to the floor. Sobs breaking the silence before Jimmy lit a lantern to chase away the dark. The blond man rushed over to Scott pulling the smaller into his arms.
“Dad? What’s going on?” Grian sat up in the bed from where he had been cuddled up to his adoptive father, rubbing the sleep and confusion out of his eyes. Scott let out an embarrassing whine as au reached for aurs son, desperately wanting to check and make sure that he too was also alive.
“Shh Gri, it’s ok. Can you come here?” Jimmy spoke softly as he looked over at his spouse, noticing the dark ink on aurs hands.
“What's going on with mom?” Grian slipped off the bed, his wings fluffing from the slight chill of the air and the confusion at the whole situation. The young avian hybrid shuffled over to where his parents were sitting on the floor, slipping into the cool embrace of the distraught deer hybrid, black ink smearing across his clothes and wings. The cyanette calming down finally with both of aurs family members in aurs arms safe.
“I'm not sure, but I do know I need to clean off this ink from aurs hands.” Jimmy frowned slightly as he listened to his partner’s sobs turning to hiccupped mumbles, the words painting a picture that he wasn’t sure he was liking.
“There’s blood. I couldn’t save you. You died, why did I let you die.” The mumbling from the distraught person became almost a mantra as it was repeated over and over, Jimmy putting together that whatever Scott had seen was something truly nightmarish.
“Scott, Doe, I need to clean this ink off you.” Jimmy spoke softly, putting a hand on the deer hybrid’s head, rubbing the base of the antlers as he leaned back to reach for the small wash cloth and bowl of water on the vanity behind, gently pulling it to the floor with the group. Jimmy gently took one of Scott’s hands and began to clean the ink off aurs hands, the black slowly smearing and washing away, each stroke from the cloth that took away the dark liquid allowing Scott to breathe a little easier. After several minutes of gently cleaning off the ink the cyan ruler slumped against aurs husband, exhaustion clouding aurs mind, allowing aurself to be picked up and moved to the bed curling against Grian, who lay in between Jimmy and Scott. The light from the lantern being extinguished as the family fell asleep, the warmth from each other keeping the nightmares at bay.
Xornoth watched its sibling run to the building, a smug smile pulling at its face as it knew that its vision got to Scott. The future that both knew was coming, but one in denial.
“Oh dear little fawn. You should know better than to get attached.” The demon chuckled darkly before turning and teleporting away, the looming threat that was soon to be a promise clear between the two siblings.