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The town was on lockdown. It wasn't official or anything but, everyone knew not to go outside too late.
The changing of seasons always brought on strange weather and the transition from fall to winter was no exception. Rainy days interrupted by clear skies. High winds followed by intense humidity. That, however, did not prepare the small town for the lake to go haywire.
It started slow. Fishermen weren’t catching nearly as much as they should have been. Everyone blamed it on an unlucky season. But what was a few missing fish? The town wasn’t dependent on fish so, no harm no foul.
And then the animal carcasses started showing up.
Some poor family went to the lake for a little bonding time and were unpleasantly surprised by the remains of a deer. Crushed bones and the occasional organ were scattered around the shore of the lake. More animal remains showed up in the following days; they were always on the bank of the lake.
This was when the rumors began. Perhaps a werewolf had moved to town and couldn’t control themself. Conceivably, a pack of wildcats migrated to the area. Maybe a carnivorous bird was back from extinction. There were many creatures—mythical or not—that could have been eating all the wildlife. That fact didn’t stop the bigoted human population to start blaming the witches and warlocks they had been living in peace with up until then.
As this idea spread, so did the mistreatment of witches and warlocks. No one could tell who they were until they started using magic but, that didn’t stop the growing numbers of humans from generalizing and assuming who was a magic user. Humans called names at them and told them to stop doing their satanic rituals. Really, for a civilization that has coexisted for years, one would think that they could tolerate each other.
Tensions were evergrowing when the first boat capsized. A small group of humans had set sail to “prove” that the witches and warlocks were to blame. No one was seriously harmed but, they hardly remembered what happened before their boat tipped over.
A warlock on a morning jog told the town of an odd hum emanating off the lake but, no one believed them. Their story was brushed off.
More people started to believe that a monster was at play, yet, enough still blamed magic altogether.
People were getting restless as nothing new developed from the terrors of the lake. Restlessness leads to curiosity leads to teenagers wanting to be heroes.
“C’mon, Ranboo!” Tommy exclaimed from further up the dirt path.
“The lake monster will still be there in a few minutes, man,” Ranboo joked.
“Hey! We don’t know if it’s a monster, yet!”
“Sure,” Ranboo rolled their eyes as they finally caught up to Tommy. “Animal corpses start showing up around town, the fisherman can’t find any fish, boats are capsizing, and the tides are breaking records. Definitely not a lake monster.”
“Whatever. Just hurry up,” and with that, Tommy bolted up ahead yet again.
The usually buzzing road to the lake was deserted now. Even in the winter months, many people still made their way to the lake for gathering together. In a town as small as theirs, any chance for socialization was worth taking, despite the temperature. Though, apparently, people were not willing to socialize in the face of a rumored monster.
One would think in a town with a healthy mix of magically inclined and gifted people that the humans would be more inviting towards the supernatural. But, alas, no one was picketing for monster rights.
Great trees surrounded the two of them in every direction as they got further and further away from the town. A breeze from the lake’s surface sent a shiver down Ranboo’s spine and they quickened their pace, pulling their jacket closer around themself.
Tommy was waiting for them just outside the littoral zone. Ranboo stood next to him as they surveyed the area. The sun was setting just behind the treeline and a determined look settled on both of their faces. They would solve this mystery. As the self-appointed saviors of the town, by gods, they would solve it.
The two teenagers walked down closer to the water as the rocks beneath them became more silt-like. Ranboo had been to the lake not too long ago but, even he could tell that the water levels had raised quite a bit.
Quite honestly, they had no idea what to do now that they were here. Tommy was counting on some inspiration to strike on the walk. It didn’t matter too much, though. They had no distractions around to keep them from forming the most excellent plan of all plans. No one else was in sight.
Oh.
Except for that stranger on the shore.
Tommy and Ranboo made eye contact as soon as they saw the other person a few meters away. Before Ranboo could stop him, Tommy was shouting at them.
“Oi, dickhead! What are you doing here?!”
“Tom-”
The other person turned towards them at their very aggressive entrance. They had pink hair and were wearing a purple hoodie. They started walking over with a purpose, taking the tide with them.
“Evening, gentlemen!” They tipped a non-existent hat, “I’m Guqqie. Who might you be?”
“I’m Tommy and this is my mate, Ranboo,” Tommy said, tipping his imaginary hat in return.
“Excellent,” Guqqie smiled at them. “Are you guys here for the lake monster, as well?”
A beat of silence. Ranboo shuffled to the side, wanting to put more distance between them and the lake.
“I knew it!” Ranboo started at the same time as Tommy said, “It’s not a monster!”
“How did you find out about it?”
When did they move closer to the shore?
“Rumors, mainly,” Ranboo responded for the both of them. “You?”
“I’ve been feeling this energy calling to me from the lake for the past few days and I finally got around to checking it out,” she said nonchalantly.
“Oh, are you a warlock?” Ranboo asked, his interest focused on probably the wrong portion of that sentence.
“I am! And you’re a witch.”
“How- how did you know that?” Ranboo was shocked.
Guqqie stood up tall and said, “All witches have a unique aura around them.”
Okay, the water really is too close now.
“Really?” Tommy cut in, flabbergasted.
“No, I’m just joking,” she said with a laugh. “I’ve just seen you in the magic bookstore before and took a guess.”
“Oh,” Ranboo paused for a second, “Wait. You felt an energy call out to you?”
“Yeah! It was strange but, I can’t feel it anymore.”
“Maybe the magic force ding-dong-ditched you?”
“Tommy, I really don’t think that’s what happened,” Ranboo sounded exasperated.
Guqqie was trying to get them back on track. “Well, now that you’re here-”
A giant wave of water grew out of nowhere, smacking back down onto the surface. The water swelled, reaching the trio’s ankles and pushing them off balance before pulling them back toward the lake. Ranboo heard someone yell before he was dragged under the current.
Guqqie sunk their feet into the dirt, willing themselves to stay upright as a giant wave struck them all. A sparkling, golden glow mixed with the sand, securing them in place. Before they could even think about helping the other two, she heard their screams drowned out by the water. That might’ve been a bit of a problem.
As the tide receded, Guqqie scrambled backward, trying to get to higher ground. She made it to a slight incline with a sapling sticking out of it and decided that it would have to work. She grabbed the trunk and watched the tides recoil.
Soggy blond hair bobbed up from the water for a moment. Guqqie held their breath as they waited for the two to resurface. Any second now.
Surely they would come up soon.
Right?
Dammit.
Guqqie let go of the tree and dived for the lake in the general area that they thought they were in. Sometimes a learned spell seems useless at the time but, right now, Guqqie was incredibly grateful for learning how to keep water out of her eyes.
With their head under the water, Guqqie felt the energy again. It called out to her. In her peripherals, she saw the slight movement of a scaled tale before it disappeared again. She opted to ignore it in favor of finding the two people probably drowning. The first person Guqqie found was Ranboo. They looked somewhat conscious as they tried to fight their way back up to air. A quick glance to their left showed Tommy in significantly worse condition. He looked like he had hit his head on a rock and promptly got knocked out.
Guqqie’s first priority was getting Tommy out. Hopefully, Ranboo still had enough survival instinct in him to not die before Guqqie could make it back.
They made their way to Tommy and hooked their arms under his. With a little magical boost, Guqqie brought the two of them back to the surface, not too far away from land. They kicked and dragged their way to solid ground before unceremoniously dumping Tommy onto the dirt. Guqqie stared at his chest for a moment, willing him to take a breath.
Of course, he didn’t.
Quickly rolling over, Guqqie leaned over Tommy, placing one hand on top of the other and interlacing her fingers. She started chest compressions, hoping that Tommy would spit out water sooner rather than later.
Whichever god was watching over them was one cruel motherfucker because Tommy still wasn’t breathing. Guqqie was singing ‘Stayin Alive’ by the Bee Gees in her head and Tommy wasn’t breathing.
Guqqie saw something red out of the corner of their eye and that’s when they finally noticed the gash on the side of Tommy’s forehead. It was steadily oozing out blood with each fake pulse that Guqqie was making with her arms. No matter how much she wanted to tend to the actively bleeding wound, Tommy wasn’t breathing. Something in his ribcage snapped and Guqqie kept pressing down.
Something wet was running down Guqqie’s face and she pretended that it was just water dripping from her hair. Better fresh lake water than salty tears.
Finally, after what seemed like hours (it had only been a few minutes), Tommy coughed up water from deep in his lungs. Guqqie rolled him on his side and allowed his diaphragm to take over.
“Fuck you,” Guqqie very kindly told Tommy.
He shakily flipped her off without turning to face her.
Guqqie had nearly forgotten that they had left Ranboo in the lake. They were about to jump back in when they noticed a coughing form on the edge of the water. Guqqie’s shoulders relaxed at the sight of Ranboo’s split-dyed hair.
“What the fuck was that?” Tommy asked, his voice hoarse.
“I… I think we’re dealing with an afanc,” Guqqie stared at the deceivingly still waters.
“Like the insurance company?” Ranboo had crawled his way over to Tommy’s side, looking his friend up and down, trying to take inventory of all his injuries.
“What? No,” Guqqie shook their head. “I didn’t think afancs existed any longer. I’ve only heard tales about them.”
“Do any of those tales describe how to beat it?” Tommy sounded like he was in a lot of pain, just laying down in the dirt, not trying to move.
“Actually, yes.”
“Can I just derail us for a second and say that Tommy needs medical attention, like, now,” Ranboo interrupted Guqqie.
“Do you know any healing spells, Ranboo?” Guqqie was praying that he did because she’d never been able to get a handle on any healing magic.
“Um yeah but, nothing powerful enough to reset his broken ribs,” Ranboo said unsurely.
“Oh, they’re broken? That’s why it hurts so much. Makes sense.”
“I can handle that if you can heal them.” Guqqie suddenly had a very serious look on their face that did nothing to comfort the other two. Guqqie and Ranboo got on either side of Tommy.
“Sure. Sorry, Tommy.”
“That’s alright, I’m a big ma-”
Tommy’s assurance was cut off by his own scream as Guqqie wrapped her magic around his ribcage. She had to use the shining mist as an extension of herself, feeling for any ribs out of place. Finally, she located a snapped rib and a few fractured ones. She focused her magic into those localized areas and got ready for the go-ahead from Ranboo.
Ranboo pulled a small candle from the bag on his back and lit it with the flick of his wrist, telling Tommy to hold it above his sternum. Ranboo paused his hands above Tommy’s ribcage. He was frozen by the prospect of hurting his best friend even more.
“I’m ready whenever you are,” Guqqie broke him out of his own mind.
“Okay,” Ranboo took a deep breath in. “Do it.”
With that, Guqqie forced the broken bone together again, purposefully ignoring the writhing Tommy just underneath them. For the second time that day, Tommy’s rib made a very loud popping noise. Her magic held onto all the damaged ribs, hoping it would somehow help Ranboo as he healed them.
Ranboo muttered a spell that no one else could make out. A deep purple aura seeped from his hands as he closed his eyes. The two magics mixed, Guqqie’s powers enhancing Ranboo’s and allowing him to heal his friend. Slowly, Tommy relaxed again and they were all able to exhale the breath they were holding.
“Do you want me to fix that too?” Ranboo gestured to the cut on Tommy’s forehead.
Tommy silently nodded and allowed Ranboo’s hand to ghost over the injury. They chanted a similar phrase to the one they had just used and the cut began to close.
Now that Tommy was no longer in large amounts of pain, Ranboo fell back against the dirt, properly drained. Their skill level, the intensity of the spell, and the severity of the injuries all made for one very tired witch.
Guqqie took the opportunity to tell them about the afanc. The afanc had been terrorizing a village in a valley by causing floods. The wise men of the valley held a meeting to figure out how to get rid of the creature. They decided it must be lured out of the lake and then relocated far away. A blacksmith forged strong chains to bind the afanc. Another mythological figure, Hu Gadarn, lent two of his strongest oxen to pull the afanc out of the lake. They ran into a problem deciding how to coax the afanc out of its water but, a farmer’s daughter volunteered to act as bait. The girl called to the afanc and its head came up to the surface. She then sang a lullaby to the afanc until it fell asleep on her lap. The men jumped out of their hiding places and set on tying up the afanc. As soon as they were done, it woke up and started thrashing around, retreating back into the water. It took the strength of all the oxen and men to pull it onto the bank. They then dragged it over a mountain to be deposited in a new lake surrounded by rock where it stayed forever.
“That’s cool, except, two of us are not going to have the same strength as a yoke of oxen,” Ranboo made a very good point.
“I hate to be the one to say it,” Tommy sounded from laying on his back, “but, seeing all the terror this fucker has put our town through, it might just be easier to kill it.”
A heavy silence settled over the trio as they debated every possible choice they could execute. Guqqie couldn’t think of another option. There weren’t any other bodies of water nearby to relocate the afanc to. It either stayed, or it died.
“I’ll draw it out of the water if you guys can finish it,” Guqqie spoke up after a while.
“Okay, we’re going to need some supplies though.” Ranboo was on board with the plan.
“I’ll get the rope if you get all the materials you need to kill it with a spell.” Ranboo looked like he was about to object. “It has impenetrable skin. You’re not gonna do shit with human tools—no offense, Tommy.”
“None taken?”
“Okay. We’ll meet back here at dawn. Preferably not so close to the lake.” Everyone nodded in agreement. “Go, team!”
And with that, the newly-trauma-bonded friends split up to gather supplies for hunting an afanc.
Guqqie approached the entrance to the lake. Whatever magic they’d been feeling was back again. It felt like a heartbeat playing inside their own head. Constant and consistent. The dense trees parted for a small section, allowing people to reach the shores. The sky lightened around them with the slowly rising sun. Tommy was leaning against an ineffective gate, resting his head on his knees. Ranboo stood near him before noticing Guqqie. They met her halfway.
“Ready?”
“Always am,” Ranboo offered a tight smile.
“Is he ready?” Guqqie looked around Ranboo at Tommy curled in the fetal position.
“Oh yeah, he’s fine,” they glanced back at him as well. “He’s just cranky that we had to wake up so early.”
They made their way back over to Tommy and the supplies. Ranboo reached for the bag and explained everything as he took them out one by one. He pulled out several candles, explaining that he shouldn’t need them but, they were there for backup. He didn’t take it out, but he let it be known that they had brought a large spool of rope and net. Next, he grabbed several herbs and assorted spices each in their own little labeled jars. They pulled out an old spell book that definitely wasn’t overdue from the library. The last item in their bag was a jagged knife.
“I figured that it would be easier to enchant a weapon rather than kill it directly with a spell,” Ranboo explained, holding the knife gingerly.
“Sounds good,” Guqqie nodded to themselves. “What do you need from me?”
“Well, I should be able to enchant this by myself but, you’ll be the closest actually to the afanc,” they said, handing the knife over to Guqqie.
“Oh,” she stared at the hand reaching out towards her, not taking the knife. The pulsing in the back of Guqqie’s head was growing stronger.
Something swished under the surface of the lake.
“Sure thing,” Guqqie snapped themself back into the moment.
Ranboo placed the dagger on the ground and knelt in front of it. They poured varying amounts of the substances in jars onto their palm (making one great marinade). Tommy opened the spellbook to a bookmarked page for them and set it down. Ranboo started reading from the pages. Their hands glowed with the same purple aura they had the previous night.
Guqqie watched the whole process with great interest. Being a warlock, they didn’t need to learn a lot of spells because they could just control the magic without thinking about it. Still, it was fascinating to watch someone work with magic in different ways.
Before they knew it, Ranboo was sprinkling the mixture onto the knife. When he picked it up, the spices fell off and all that was left was a knife glowing purple.
“Now comes the hard part,” Tommy piped up for the first time that morning. The sun was peaking up over the horizon, creating a soft, yellow glow that reflected off the few clouds.
Guqqie slipped the knife into her hoodie pocket and they all made their way down to the shore. Tommy and Ranboo found good places nearby to hide until they were needed. They split up, Ranboo holding the net and Tommy holding the rope.
Guqqie knelt down at the very edge of the lake, the water lapping at her legs. And she started humming.
In all honesty, she was planning on singing a simple nursery rhyme but, when she sat down, something in the energy calling out to her reminded her of another song. The pulsing settled right into the tempo of the song she didn’t know she would sing until it was coming out of her voice box.
Just as the story had said, the afanc’s head popped up out of the water at the sound of their voice. The creature was indescribable; it looked somewhat like a beaver but was still so far away from anything Guqqie had seen before. It stayed in the lake. They needed to do something else to lure it out.
“Be good,” they added in the lyrics quietly, “be good or be gone.”
The afanc tilted its head to one side, not unlike a dog hearing a new sound for the first time. The water receded into the lake, both to cover the afanc and keep Guqqie dry. It took a small step forward.
“Oh I slept like a baby with you in my arms.”
They didn’t even realize they were doing it, but Guqqie had started lacing their magic into their singing. They had no intention in mind, just supporting their own voice.
“Oh I slept like a baby with you in my arms.” Guqqie dared to look the afanc in its eyes. When she made eye contact, the pulsing just got louder and louder. She could barely hear herself over that damn energy. It pulled on her, making her want to jump into the lake. “Out of harm.” It pulled on her and she stayed put, the water rising to meet her.
Guqqie went back to humming the song. Maybe it was out of fear—the afanc was getting closer, almost out of the water now.
The monster didn’t break eye contact and Guqqie wasn’t about to break it herself. It crept forward, walking on the lake floor now.
On the last verse, they sang the lyrics again.
“Like honeycomb holding the bee in the folds,” they sang, and they repeated.
Guqqie wasn’t sure if the pulsing had quieted or if she had gotten used to it but, it was no longer consuming all of her focus. The afanc reached her, no longer staring, and it laid down next to her.
“Like honeycomb holding the bee in the folds.” The afanc rested its head on her lap. It closed its eyes, and for a moment, the pulsing sounded like it had a tune. The energy harmonized with her voice.
“Like honeycomb holding the bee in the folds,” Guqqie finished the song.
Tommy and Ranboo jumped out from behind their trees. Ranboo threw his net first. The afanc was smaller than either of them expected but, they kept going with their plan; there was no room for hesitation.
As soon as the weighted net was over the afanc, Tommy was at its side, tying rope onto all its limbs. He was connecting the last leg to the web of ropes he made when the afanc shot awake. Its tail thrashed around from side to side, knocking Tommy on his ass.
Ranboo grabbed the rope and pulled. The afanc’s legs were knocked together and it toppled. The lake water had come back with a vengeance, filling the bank faster than any of the townsfolk had seen before.
“Now!” Ranboo shouted over the commotion. Tommy was back at his side, helping to hold down the monster.
Guqqie grabbed the knife from out of her pocket and got as close as she dared to the creature’s head. She looked into its eyes again and the pulsing became unbearable. The knife dropped out of her hands, clattering on the dirt as she brought her hands up to her temples. The energy was pounding inside her skull and she didn’t know why. She didn’t know what magical force was calling out to her but, now was certainly not the time.
“You good, Guqqie?” Tommy’s voice sounded so far away.
“Hold onto it,” Ranboo sounded strained, tired, “I’ll get the knife.”
They watched as the blurry outline of Ranboo grabbed for the knife while still trying to keep the afanc under control. He barely reached it with his fingertips.
The energy was growing louder; it was growing frantic. The water was growing higher, halfway up their shins now.
Ranboo adjusted the knife in his hand to have the blade coming from the side of his pinky—good for downward stabs.
“Help,” a quiet voice said that was certainly neither Ranboo nor Tommy.
Guqqie managed to look into the eyes of the afanc again and a realization struck them. Something was off about the monster, about the energy. Those eyes looked so human.
“No! Wait!” Guqqie lunged forward, trying to stop Ranboo before he finished the job. She managed to grab his arm and redirected him at the last second. The knife just barely made a cut along the afanc’s shoulder.
“What’s wrong?” Ranboo glanced back at them.
“There’s a person in there.” They were out of breath, the pulsing still so loud in their skull.
“That thing ate someone?” Tommy called from the other side of Ranboo. The afanc was still struggling, but it had gotten less violent.
“That thing is someone,” Guqqie corrected. Everyone froze, including the afanc, if only for a split second. The lake was slowly returning to its usual volume.
“Oh. Shit,” Tommy summarized everyone’s thoughts.
“So what do we… do?” Ranboo asked.
“A good old curse-reversal spell.” Guqqie tentatively stuck out a hand toward the afanc’s head, making sure their movements were slow and seen. After some time, the afanc relaxed again and let Guqqie place a gentle hand on its head.
“Oh yeah. Super simple. I know how to do that.” Ranboo remarked sarcastically.
“Just grab the spellbook you brought,” Guqqie nodded in the direction they left their stuff at, careful not to disturb the calming afanc. “There should be something useful in there.”
Ranboo hesitated for a moment and then he carefully dropped the ends of the rope he was holding. He backed up slowly to a distance he deemed safe before turning around and booking it to his bag.
When they returned, bag on their shoulder and book in hand, everyone was in the same spots they left them in. Though, the afanc was a little closer to the ground, relaxing ever so slightly at Guqqie’s soothing pets. Ranboo accidentally kicked a rock which made a small noise. The afanc’s eyes snapped open and it started growling at him. Its tail swished back and forth, once again knocking Tommy (who made a comedic oof sound) over because he was standing too close to its tail.
Ranboo froze in his tracks and took excruciatingly slow steps toward Guqqie all while the afanc was glaring him down. He made it back to their side and shoved the book into their arms. Then he went to go help Tommy off the ground.
Guqqie took her hand off the afanc’s head to search through the book. She quickly scanned through every page, hoping to stumble across anything that could be useful. The afanc was stirring again and she had no idea how hostile it would be.
Finally, she found a promising page. The spell wasn’t specific to animal transformations, more of a general cure for curses but, it would have to do. She read aloud every ingredient for Ranboo to check for. They had almost everything and the missing items would just have to be substituted.
The afanc was fully awake again but, still somewhat subdued. Its tail was more happily wagging than being threatening.
Ranboo picked up all of the supplies and carried them over to Guqqie. She dug a small hole in the muddy dirt to act as a bowl and then stepped back for Ranboo to take over the show. Guqqie would help with the actual application of the spell but, creating the concoction was better left to someone trained in witchcraft. She made her way to the other side of the afanc and continued to hold its head gently in her palms.
A few minutes later and Ranboo was done. They made something resembling an unappetizing soup.
“Guqqie! I think it’s ready,” Ranboo called over to them.
“Great,” Guqqie continued to calm the creature down. “The book says to put the mixture on the affected person’s head and then say the spell.”
“Uh, okay.” Ranboo scooped a handful of the concoction out of the hole and very delicately dropped it onto the afanc’s head. They quickly backed up, not wanting to get their head chomped off.
“Tommy, I need you to hold it down while we perform the spell,” Guqqie ordered.
Tommy sighed but, obliged as he wrapped an arm around its torso and crouched low to the ground.
With only one hand, Guqqie positioned the book between herself and Ranboo. The writing was in a language she didn’t understand but, she figured being able to see the spell might help ever so slightly.
Ranboo started chanting, his hands on either side of the afanc’s head. Guqqie placed her hands over his and forced magic energy through them. Gold and purple auras mixed and covered the afanc completely.
Tommy’s job was fairly easy until the transition started. The afanc’s bones started shifting underneath its skin. It didn’t look like an afanc anymore and it certainly didn’t look like a human yet. Tommy found it quite hard to hold onto a creature—human—while said creature’s bones were inverting and moving around all funkily. But, he held on because it was all he could do. He didn’t have any magical powers to offer. In his eyes, this was the least he could do for them.
The process was painstakingly slow but, eventually, the scales rippled off, showing skin, and the frame contorted into a human skeleton. Eventually, a human was laying in front of them.
The person wore tattered clothing. Their jeans were ripped all over, their sweater had a large tear on the shoulder, and their beanie seemed one thread away from unraveling. They were soaking wet—though, to be fair, all of them were carrying uncomfortable amounts of lake water on them at the moment. They seemed only partially conscious. Overall, not ideal conditions.
Oh yeah.
They were also bleeding large amounts of blood out of their shoulder.
“Shit!” Guqqie was the first to notice the injury.
Ranboo looked a bit confused, a bit tired, before he saw what she was looking at. He scrambled to grab a candle out of his bag and lit it. Guqqie grabbed the candle from his hands and held it over the stranger’s shoulder while Ranboo repeated the same spell he had used on Tommy the previous night.
The bleeding stopped and the wound closed. The new person fell asleep and Tommy laid them gently on the ground. Then everyone collapsed from exhaustion.
The sun was fully risen in the light blue. A few clouds speckled the sky. Sunlight peaked over the tops of trees, casting long shadows across the lake shore. On the ground laid two humans, a witch, and a warlock.
After a few well-deserved minutes of laying in the mud, the three healthy people picked themselves up and stared at the new person. They silently agreed to hoist them up and carry them somewhere.
That somewhere ended up being Tommy and Ranboo’s cabin. It was both the closest and most secluded place they could have gone. They didn’t need to be carrying an unconscious figure around the center of town.
When they got home, Ranboo set on drying off the person and wrapping them in warm blankets while Guqqie magically started a fire in their fireplace. Tommy went to the kitchen to make them some tea and then it was just a waiting game.
The three of them talked for most of the day. Despite being in such a small town, Tommy and Ranboo had never really interacted with Guqqie before. There was plenty of time to get to know each other now that they weren’t at risk of being drowned by a lake monster.
Around dusk is when the stranger stirred awake. They sat up slowly and seemingly had a headrush because they brought their hands up to their head in a comforting position. The house went silent as they all waited for them to speak first.
“Where the fuck am I?” the person asked, looking everywhere.
“Uh, you’re at our house,” Ranboo greeted them. “What’s your name?”
“I… I’m Aimsey,” he said, eyebrows furrowed. “Who are you guys?”
“My name is Guqqie. That’s Tommy and Ranboo,” they said, pointing to each respective person.
“Nice to meet you all.”
Tommy, ever the master of subtlety and patience, decided to cut in: “Care to explain why you were a fucking afanc?”
“Tommy-” Guqqie tried.
“No, he’s alright,” Aimsey chuckled. “It’s still a bit blurry but, from what I do remember, I was cursed.”
“Do you know who did it?” Ranboo queried.
“I don’t, sorry,” Aimsey looked down at his hands. “I think it was a warlock.” The statement sounded more like a question.
Guqqie stood from their place on the couch and crouched in front of Aimsey.
“It’s alright if you don’t remember,” they said, taking Aimsey’s hands in their own. “We can figure that out later. For now, just relax.”
Aimsey looked up and made eye contact with them. There wasn’t a pulsing anymore, but there was still something there. In that cozy house, four people became friends.
Tommy went back into the kitchen, this time filling up four mugs with hot chocolate. They were all dry by now, but a little extra warmth never hurt anybody.
He brought the cups back to everyone and they settled in. Tommy and Ranboo sat on the couch with Aimsey and Guqqie facing them on the floor. The fire burned dimly as the sun set behind the trees. They each had a blanket wrapped around their shoulders and a warm mug in their hands.
For the time being, they could just exist as the kids they were. They didn’t need to worry about exacting revenge on whoever cursed Aimsey. They could just exist with each other.