Chapter Text
At eight years old, Cater had a routine already. He’d move around every time his mom had a new project. This meant a new school and new friends he wouldn’t keep contact with. So he’d play nice and be the upbeat new kid for however long he stayed there.
The strange thing was at his most recent school (he had only been a student for a week). A new kid started today. He introduced himself as Vil Schoenheit. Vil was a quiet kid. He introduced himself with a monotone voice as if he didn’t plan on making friends.
It was weird.
Then recess came and Cater realized why.
“Hey, how about we invite Vil to play with us?” Cater suggested with a grin. Being the new kid sucked, after all. But the reply he got wiped the smile from his face in a heartbeat.
“Why would we want a villain to play with us? He’s nothing but a bully!”
Cater wasn’t sure what the name of this kid was. He was too young to be very good with name memorization yet, especially for kids who didn’t matter in the long run. All he knew was he did not like this kid at all.
“He plays a bully in a movie,” Cater said, “that doesn’t mean he actually is one.”
The other kids argued and Cater stormed off to the stairs. If they were going to use a movie as a reason to exclude someone, then they weren’t worth hanging out with for another month. Instead, Cater set his sights on making sure Vil had one thing to look forward to at this school.
“Yes, I play Roman. No, I’m not actually that mean. Now go away!” Vil snapped when Cater came to a stop in front of him.
Well, that was rude.
“Cater Diamond,” Cater tossed a hand up to make a “V” beside his eye. “Wanna play a game?”
Vil looked at Cater as if he’d just kicked his dog. It was like the blonde was expecting to get bullied for a movie role…which didn’t sound that far fetched from what the other kids had said moments ago.
“Why would I want to play with you?” Vil asked.
“To make this school go by a bit faster,” Cater suggested. “Being the new kid sucks with no friends, so we can be friends until one of us leaves.”
Vil eyed Cater for a moment before offering a hand. Cater shook it and felt almost like he himself was in a movie.
In one universe, they wouldn’t meet until they were in high school and would never befriend each other. In this one, they meet as two children forging a temporary alliance against loneliness.
“I suppose that’s a good reason.”
Neither expected their friendship to last. They were only eight and neither had a cellphone nor a permanent address to send a letter to. Luckily for them, Vil’s father heard all about Vil’s new friend and refused to let either boy say goodbye until they were ready.
At ten years old, Cater was dragged to Sunset Savanna. He was staying in the palace because his mom was making a wedding dress for the future queen . He’d heard that the Crowned Prince had a younger brother a little older than Cater was, but he’d seen neither hair nor hide of this rumored prince. He was all alone for this one.
So, Cater busied himself with learning how to skateboard. He was sure that there was some rule about skateboarding indoors but nobody caught him, so why should he care? He didn’t.
Until he skateboarded straight into an older kid. The kid was tall and had dark skin and dark, braided hair. He also made a sound that was suspiciously like a strangled kitten.
“The hell do you think you’re doin’?” the older kid demanded.
Cater couldn’t help it. He started laughing. This only made the dark skinned boy agrier.
“Well?! Answer before I have the guards drag your ass out!”
“Y-you sou-sou-sounded like a k-kitten!” Cater laughed. He took deep breaths to calm down enough to speak coherently again. “And they can’t kick me out. My mom’s making a wedding dress for the crowned prince’s bride.”
The older boy scowled. “So you’re that Diamond brat.”
Cater frowned at the fact that this other kid knew him. Or, well, knew of him. But who…oh! Cater’s eyes lit up as he connected the dots.
“You’re Leona!” he said brightly. “Nice to meet ya! I’m Cater!”
“Cater?” he scoffed. “That’s a weird name.”
“Not as weird as Leona!”
In one universe, these two would meet in high school and wouldn’t be connected outside of one being a Dorm Leader alongside the others friend. In this universe, however, Leona somehow ended up helping the younger boy with his balance issues, complete with snarky comments and backhanded compliments.
And if Leona Kingscholar had insisted on keeping contact with Cater Diamond? It was nothing but wanting to be the first to laugh in his face if some noble actually tossed him in a dungeon for being an annoying brat, obviously. Not because of actual affection or friendship! Never. Because Leona didn’t need anyone, especially not a sassy kid, as a friend.
At fourteen, Leona hated Vil Schoenheit. The twelve year old was a complete brat! Worse than Cater, who he’d had to dive to stop from breaking a limb or getting a concussion on multiple occasions when the ginger got too bold. This spoiled punk kept picking fights with Neige LeBlanche and kept whining for “Cay-Cay”.
Whoever the hell that was.
Finally, Vil’s agent had agreed to go get this “Cay-Cay” and had put Leona in charge of the monster of a boy.
“I don’t have to listen to you!” Schoenheit had snapped when Leona snarled at him. “You’re nothing but a lousy, lazy prince!”
“And you’re just a snarky, spoiled brat !” Leona bared his teeth, canines glinting and tail swishing back and forth.
Could this babysitting gig get any worse?! Leona was a prince, not some peasant, yet somehow had ended up in this situation?!
Apparently, life took that as a challenge. Because the next thing he knew, the door was slammed open and a ball of ginger was launching itself at the arguing teens. Cater Diamond had wrapped one arm around Leona and the other around Vil, effectively tying the two together.
“Leona! Vil! You’re both here!” he cheered, somehow not sensing the tension between his friends.
Cater was Cay-Cay? Cater, the number one annoyance in his life, was friends with Schoenheit? Leona just knew that any peace in his life was over.
Vil and Leona shared a look over Cater’s head. While the boy chatted aimlessly about school and how his trip was, the two came to a reluctant truce. They would get along while Cater was there. Just to make sure the sunny boy didn’t get upset. Then, they would go back to antagonizing each other.
Little did they know that heated glares would eventually become fond looks, that vicious taunts would turn into teasing insults. Because both had befriended the living embodiment of sunshine and both would defend their friend out of fear of how they would have turned out without him and without each other.
By the time Cater was thirteen, he’d become well acquainted with social media. Being best friends with an actor and a prince meant knowing his stuff and knowing how important an image was. So, it wasn’t surprising when he got his first cell phone and Leona’s brother hired someone to teach him about everything.
And by everything, he meant everything.
How to organize a magicam page, how to take good photos, and public photos vs private photos were a few examples. A photo of Leona and Vil eating ice cream or at the airport with him was fine to post. The video he’d taken of their latest “argument” was not. Stuff like that. She had also decided who he was allowed to follow and had set his private messages to friends only. That also made sense.
But…having to let her monitor messages and comments he received? That was a bit much to thirteen year old Cater.
Until he looked at some of the comments. Most of them were fine, commenting on how cute they all were, how they were amazing friends to each other. Others though…were comments that made him sick.
Cater hadn’t disobeyed her again. Clearly, she was just trying to protect him and at thirteen, Cater wished he had listened better.
When Cater was fourteen was when stuff started to change. He was still flown from whatever city his mom dragged him and sisters to, to Sunset Savanna at Leona’s word. Still met up with Vil whenever he could. But…Cater’s sisters still fought over him a bunch. Still argued over whether Stacy was going to feed him candy until he puked or Drew was going to make him wear her clothes so she could visualize the outfit.
It was a pain! All he wanted to do sometimes was have his own life, not be pulled in two different directions when he didn’t want to go in either one! It was during one of these arguments when Cater felt something weird. A small tug in his gut. Before any of the Diamond siblings could blink, there were words coming to his mind.
Split Card.
And there was…another him. Another Cater just stood there, looking straight at him. The same emerald eyes, the same chin length hair. Stacy and Drew had both looked at him before they were yelling together.
“MOM! CATER HAS MAGIC!”
Cater sighed as his mom’s heels clicked on the stairs. He just knew this would somehow turn into a trip to Sunset Savanna. Leona had been tutored in magic since before they met and Cater just couldn’t picture his mom not using his friends to get him tutoring too.
Although, for this one, Cater knew Leona would set everything up if Cater’s mom didn’t. Magic was just too dangerous if you weren’t taught properly.
Cater stared longingly outside, his moms words going in one ear and out the other.
It was two months after Cater’s magic showed up that he, Vil, and Leona all got together. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one to have a sudden display of magic. He also learned that Leona turned a funny shade when he was ten minutes into a scolding that could last who-know-how-long.
“-couldn’t move for three hours! Do you have any idea what the actual fuck that can do to someone?! If the medical mages didn’t get there in time, you could have gone to jail for murder, Vil! I get that you’re jealous of Neige, but grow the hell up! He’s twelve, for fucks sake!”
At the mention of Vil’s jealousy of Neige LeBlanche, all the colour drained from Cater’s face. “Vil” and “Jealous of Neige” in the same sentence? Definite way to cause a mental breakdown. Cater found himself actually wishing to be anywhere other than with his friends as Vil started yelling back.
“It wasn’t like I planned it!” Vil snapped. “I didn’t want him to die, I just wanted him to stop following me around all of the time! I told him to leave me alone earlier that day but Neige just never listens!”
Cater sunk into his chair and pulled his knees up to his chest. Vil and Leona arguing was nothing new…but…it was always just arguments. Never full blown fights. This was an honest to god fight and Cater found that he hated it.
But at fourteen, Cater had also never heard of dissociation before. So when he turned to his own mind so that he didn’t have to witness his best friends fall apart, he didn’t realize that a few moments to him was twenty minutes for the two. Didn’t know how they’d managed to make up and then realized that Cater was staring blankly at the wall.
If there was one specific thing that Vil and Leona agreed on, it was that they never wanted to see Cater that quiet and still with that disconnected look on his face ever again.
They’d hurt whoever they had to in order to protect him. Because they were best friends and neither planned on just letting go of the only friends they ever had.
After all, Cater was the one who saved them.