Archive of Our Own ^beta

“You would know the identity of your would-be prince? Here he is!” exclaimed Louis.

              Strohl could only stare in wide-eyed horror at the human that was once Will. “He’s a human…” he said numbly once Eupha confirmed it was actually Will. Strohl couldn’t believe this. All this time he had been traveling with a monster, the same thing that had destroyed his home. He had been sharing meals with that thing, talking to it. He even had a few thoughts of perhaps they could be something more once they had stopped Louis.

              “Come on boy, stop spacing out!” yelled Heismay.

              Strohl snapped to and realized the party was moving down the stairs, towards the Will-human. Eupha’s hand was outstretched as she was clearly trying to control the flow of magla.

              “Almost got it,” she said, her voice strained. The human-Will was slowly shrinking as the magla was taken away.

              Strohl trailed behind everyone else to the bottom of the stairs as Will returned to his elda form, the others quick to surround him. Will looked up at them confused, his face covered in sweat as he asked what was going on. Everything he had been through with Will came into his mind. Everything hit Strohl again. Their friendship, everything that came with it.

              Strohl could only stand as everyone filled Will in, Louis adding in a few comments of his own, making it clear the real prince was in danger. The party rushed back to the runner, Basilio carrying the exhausted Will.

              Strohl wasn’t sure what to do, his mind churned as the runner took off for the secret forest in a hurry to get to the prince. Will was resting in one of the beds, still recovering from being turned into a human.

              “Come now boy, what ails you besides the obvious,” said Heismay as walked up to Strohl who had retreated to the basement floor to be alone. Due to how fast they were going, it wasn’t smart to be up on the deck otherwise Strohl would have been up there.

              “Nothing ails me,” Strohl said quietly.

              Heismay’s ears twitched. “You would have been the first to be at our Captain’s side when something like this happened and yet you didn’t. And now here you are sulking in storage rather than hovering near his sleeping quarters.”

              Strohl dug his nails into his palms, there wasn’t really much he could say to argue that point. “Did Eupha say he was going to alright?” he asked quietly.

              “As long as he rests so the magla flow doesn’t go out of control. But I have a feeling that isn’t exactly what you are worried about.”

              Strohl stared at the nearby boxes so at least he wouldn’t need to look at Heismay’s wide red eyes. They really did see too much. “He became one of those things. A human.”

              “That he did, a cruel trick on the part of Louis. Thank everything we had Eupha who could reverse it.”

              “Yes, thank everything.” Strohl gritted his teeth and he resisted the urge to kick one of the nearest boxes as he wasn’t sure what was in there. “For a moment or two there I thought Louis was right. That Will was actually…”

              “Ah, so you feel guilt for that.” Strohl couldn’t help but glance at Heismay, the eugief’s eyes were sympathetic instead of damning. “Considering your past, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the first thing that came to mind. I assume you thought of the worst?”

              “Yes. I just thought of how Will could have just been tricking us this whole time. Despite the claim for doing it for the Prince, he was doing it for some evil human wish. He was just treating us like pawns for his own gain. I hated how I thought Louis might have been right in that moment.”

              “And do you still think that?”

              “No.” Strohl thought back to when Will had changed back. Those huge doe-like eyes he had that were always inquisitive, always smiling or looking out for others. For once they looked confused, scared, and probably a few other things mixed in as well. In that moment Strohl realized it.

              This was Will. Will was no monster, Will was an elda that was always trying to do the right thing and help everyone they met. “I…I hate how Louis got to me. That for a second, I even thought that Will would be against us when it’s clear he didn’t know what happened either.”

              “I see. That is a hard thing to grasp and overcome. Just don’t hold onto that guilt more than you need to and focus on our current mission. Will is alive and safe.”

              “Yes, that is true,” Strohl said softly as he thought back to their conversation in the ruins of his village. How Will had smiled brightly at Strohl’s declaration and all Strohl could think about was how cute Will had looked in that moment. This was no time for feelings like that and yet Strohl couldn’t deny to himself that he felt that way towards Will. And yet even those feelings were easily pushed aside seeing Will in that human form.

              Heismay left Strohl with his thoughts and for the rest of the ride, Strohl turned over what happened in his mind. He still hadn’t been able to shake all of the guilt when he finally got to the forest and he admitted to what happened to Will. Even if it was just for his own peace of mind, he knew he couldn’t face Will much less fight alongside him without him knowing what Strohl had felt.

              “Honestly it was a big surprise to me too,” said Will. “No hard feelings.”

              Strohl should have expected as much. That was just the kind of person Will was. Loyal to a fault to the people he cared about. He knew he would still feel the guilt for a while now, only time could take that away, for now though they had to get to the village and make sure the prince was alright.