Work Text:
Nox needed a new summer job. The one he currently had was time consuming. Well, time consuming for him. See, he found a key in a library one day when he was out reading. (like you do when you're in a library ). It was a magical key that turned into a little person (Violet) and also let him into storybooks. As the Villainess. He didn’t mind being the villainess. Actually, he quite enjoyed it. Going into books, playing a role, it was better than facing the reality outside. The only thing he didn’t like about it was a certain someone who bothered him. Daily.
“Heeeeyyy Buddy~”
Chase Hollow (Like and Follow). A name that Nox could literally not care less about knowing. Like, actually, Nox did not want to know this man . Yet the idiot couldn’t seem to stop shouting his name every. Single. Time. He did anything . Sings for the princes? “Chase Hollow, Like and Follow”. Finished a dance? “Chase Hollow, Like and Follow”. Torments Nox? “Chase Hollow, Like and Follow”.
What’s worse, even if he wanted to Like and Follow, he couldn’t. Not that he wanted to. He was just curious about who this guy was and why he wanted so desperately wanted to befriend Nox. Why he was always in Nox’s space and trying to learn every. Single. Thing. About him. But Chase Hollow didn’t exist. At least as far as the internet was concerned. Why give someone a name that isn’t real?
“Buddy, pay attention to me!” Chase whined, throwing himself over the back of the couch Nox was sitting on.
“Go away and do your part of the story. Cinderella is not supposed to be bothering the stepmother right now. Or ever.” Nox replied, looking back down at his book. “Go clean something.”
“No way you are actually reading right now. We’re inside a literal book and you’re reading .” Chase groaned, looking over Nox’s shoulder. “Come on, we're supposed to have fun in these stories!”
Annoyed, Nox snapped his book closed, glaring at the ceiling.
“From my understanding, you get Naratonin based on how much enjoyment you gain from the story. Enjoyment and fun do not always go together.”
“Yeah, you probably think that because you don’t know how to have fun. You… no-fun-haver.”
“Very Clever.”
“Yeah, I am.”
Nox rolled his eyes and stood, stretching his arms above his head. If the heroine wouldn’t entertain himself, then Nox had no choice.
Chase perked up when he saw Nox walking towards the doorway.
“Where are you going?”
“Somewhere away from you .”
Chase huffed and trailed close behind.
“You know, I have a way that you’ll be able to never see me again. Ever. Just give me your key, and I’ll be out of your hair.” The blond cheered happily. “I mean, it’s not like you know everything about it anyways. All you know is that you can go into books, earn naratonin and make wishes! Wait. Did you know that last part?”
A smirk crawled up Nox’s face.
“I do now.”
“Okay… well. At least you don’t know that you can’t make a wish without all twelve keys–” Chase froze, eyes wide. Nox turned back to glance at him, eyebrow raised. “Any chance you’ll forget I said anything?”
Nox shook his head before turning back around. He wasn’t quite sure where he was going. Probably trying to speed the story along. Or, better, find someone else to pawn off the blond to. See, Chase wasn’t alone in bothering Nox inside books. There was this other guy. He assumed the boy’s name was Deacon, though he’d only heard Chase say that once, every other name is a variation of Dorkin, Enemy of Horses, Book Brain, Dorkwad or any other demeaning name of the likes.
Nox just called him Freckles.
Quick to say, he wasn’t being demeaning because the boy did have a lot of freckles, plus it wasn’t assuming the guy’s name. Not that Buddy cared about stuff like that. They were the enemies. Trying to come and take Violet away from him. What would they do with Violet anyways? To make wishes? From what Vi had explained to him, Ex Libris had elite members made the wishes. The lower members were the ones who actually went into books.
That's what Nox assumed Chase and Freckles were. Lower members being used by the elite to gather Naratonin. Which makes sense. No way Chase could be an elite. With the way he acts? Nox would be surprised if he had any say within the order.
“ Buddyyyy …” Chase whined as they made their way over towards the stables. “Buddy stop ignoring me!”
“I couldn't ignore you if I wanted to. You are far too loud for that.” Nox replied, giving a horse a soft pet on its cheek before moving to set up the saddle.
That was another thing he liked about going into stories. He got to experience things he wouldn't otherwise in the real world. Like horse riding.
He paused just before climbing into the horse’s back.
Luna had always wanted to go horse riding.
Nox sighed to himself and reminded himself just why he put up with Chase and his nerdy friend. His sister had a major heart disease that, while not fatal, would affect her the rest of her life. Nox didn't remember what the disease was called, nor did he care. All he cared about was how it affected her. It was something in her blood system that sometimes made her blood pump really fast or dangerously slow. On good days, she was able to run around outside, playing and laughing like any other girl her age.
On really bad days, she'd sleep all day with a fever, only waking up to eat or drink.
That's why Nox was doing this. He wanted his sister to be at a hundred percent all the time. He hated sitting by her bedside, wondering what she did to push herself too far. Wondering how he could help her. Wondering if he ever could help her. After all, he was just the lazy older brother with no dreams or aspirations. No motivation to move up in life. Just content with where he was in his crappy town on the crappy farm.
Shaking his head to clear those thoughts away, he climbed onto the horses saddle and raced off into the forest. He just wanted this book to be over with.
☽☽☽☽☽
“Luna? Are you awake?” Nox knocked on his sister’s door hesitantly before entering. When he walked in, he saw his sister humming to herself as she laid on her stomach, coloring some drawing of a prince.
“Nox! You’re home!” Luna jumped up and ran over to her brother, hugging him tightly before pulling back just enough to look up at him. “Did you get any more magic juice?” She asked giddily, looking to see what was behind his back.
Nox rolled his eyes.
“It's just regular orange juice. Nothing magic about it.” He showed her the small bottle, twisting the lid slightly so she could open it easier.
“Nox, orange juice is magical.” She corrected playfully and took the drink. She swirled it around for a moment, watching the liquid slosh around the bottle, before taking a sip. “Mmmm magical.”
Nox snorted out a laugh before moving to sit on the edge of her bed, picking up her notebook.
“What are you drawing this time?”
“Hmm?” Luna looked up from her drink before quickly putting the lid back on and setting it on her dresser. “Oh! You can’t look at that! It's not finished!”
Luna rushed over, taking the notebook from her brother’s hands and slamming it closed. She quickly picked up her pencils and shoved them into a random drawer before moving to sit next to Nox on the bed.
“So! How was work today?” She asked, kicking her feet slightly.
“Why are you so curious about my work? Aren't you, what, seven?”
“I’m Nine!” Luna stuck out her tongue. “And can't I just be worried about my big brother?”
Nox let out a soft laugh and wrapped an arm around the girl.
“You can. But you shouldn't. Like you said, you're seven–”
“NINE!”
“–you should be worried about other things. Like whether or not your brother saved you some chocolate cake–”
“Nox if you ate the last slice of–”
She was cut off by Nox pulling her into a hug, burying her face in his chest.
“Shh… you poor, sweet child. It's okay. Don't cry. It's okay…”
“Nox!” Luna laughed, pushing herself away from her brother.
“Aww. Don't be mad! I'll make sure you get some cake next time… maybe.”
Nox let out a yelp as a pillow came flying at him. He ducked behind her and grabbed her other pillow to defend himself with. They laughed and shouted as they had an impromptu pillow fight. Nox had the upper hand because he was bigger, but Luna combated that by ducking into smaller places.
Suddenly, Luna dropped her pillow, falling to her knees and clutching her chest. She was coughing quite a bit, causing Nox to panic.
He reached over to grab the juice from her dresser, moving to sit kneel next to her. Shakily, he unscrewed the cap, holding the lip of the bottle up to her mouth and helping her slowly drink.
Once she had calmed down enough, she leaned against his side, panting heavily.
“Luna I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I shouldn't have pushed you–”
“I'm fine, Nox. I-i want to lay down…”
Nox nodded quickly, helping his sister up and into her bed. He rushed to grab her medicine and a glass of water, setting it on the nightstand. By the time he got back, she was already half asleep.
She smiled and said a quick “thank you” before Nox turned out the light and went up to his room. Once in the confines of his own room, he slid against the door, pulling his knees up to his chest and glaring at the ceiling. He tried not to blame himself. It wasn't his fault his sister was ill. It was his fault that she overworked herself though…
He let out an angry groan into his hands. He wished… he wished the Naratonin worked faster. That he was able to give her more than a few drops at a time. He wished he had all the keys. Not just to help Luna, but also for Violet. He wished… he wished he could do more .
Maybe… maybe he could try to get some information out of Chase. Get the idiot to tell him where Ex Libris was hiding. Only problem with that would be getting him away from Freckles. Despite being easily swayed and flustered, the older of the two was like a steel trap. Clearly the brains of the operation. Which would be commendable.
If it didn't ruin Buddy’s plans.
“Nox…?” Violet asked from atop his desk. Her brows were tight with worry as she looked down at the human. “What happened?”
Nox just shook his head, resting it against his knees.
“It’s just Luna. I…” he took a deep breath in. “Let’s do another book.”
Violet looked shocked.
“We just got back. Are you sure–”
“Yes.” He interrupted. He was sure. “We’re slowly running out of Naratonin. And we need half a jar plus all the keys to make a wish. That means we need to work double time.”
“But perhaps you can wait a small while.” Violet suggested. “You should not overwork yourself. You should not sacrifice yourself for something you love. Because then there is no You to love it. When we first met, wasn't it you who said you would try to be the best villainess you could be?”
Nox glanced up at her.
“Well, yeah. But I just want to play my part well. I don't actually want to be evil .”
Violet hummed, folding her arms in front of her chest.
“Is that what you think being a villain is?”
“I–”
“Nox. Being the ‘villain’ or being the ‘villainess’ in this case, is more than being evil. What makes someone evil other than having a different set of morals than the ‘good’ people? The hero is considered ‘good’ because he would sacrifice himself for the world. The villain is considered ‘evil’ because he would sacrifice the world for one person. But at the end of the day, the only thing that makes the villain the ‘villain’ is the point of view you're looking at it from.”
Nox blinked as he looked up at the key.
“I didn't mean to say you're evil.”
“I know. But I just wanted to clarify that you do not have to be labeled the hero to be the hero in someone's story. Namely your sister's. She will understand if you take your time. Do not hurt yourself trying to save her. It will not be worth it for either of you.”
Nox sighed, but nodded.
“You're right.” He stood and moved over to his bed. If they weren't going into a book, he could be productive somewhere else in his life.
Like watching YouTube.
★☽★☽★
“Deacon, where did you put my pencil?”
“Chase, you don't need a pencil.”
“Deacon, yes I do .”
Deacon groaned, glaring up at the ceiling before grabbing a random pencil and setting it on Chase’s desk.
“This isn’t my pencil.”
“Yeah, well I don't know where yours is so you're going to have to deal with it.”
“Just give him his pencil.” Bronze suggested from where he sat on a pile of books next to Silver.
“I don't know where it is !” Deacon reiterated. “And why does he even need a pencil?”
“To write stuff down. Duh .” Chase said, picking up the pencil twice his size. “Hey, how do you spell ‘obnoxious jerk’?”
“Okay what are you writing.”
Deacon moved to look over Chase’s shoulder. There was already half a page of sloppy writing, mostly illegible. Though Deacon could recognize the word “Buddy” written down.
“Chase. What is this?”
“It's my journal , Dorkin. Everyone has one. It’s popular with the kids.”
“Uh-huh.”
Deciding to leave… whatever that was alone, Deacon moved towards the bookshelves. There wasn't much to do here other than read and while Deacon loved to read, he’s read and reread all these books by now. Part of him wished Buddy would go into a book again.
At least when they went into books, it was a break from the monotonous life of being in Ex Libris.
Deacon and Chase’s roles were… complicated. They grew up in the order, not really remembering much outside of it. Deacon was maybe six when his grandpa dragged the family into Ex Libris and their magic and books. He enjoyed being here, though. Around books and away from people. Though he kind of envied those who weren't living a sheltered life.
Here, Deacon’s life has been planned out for him. He started out as just a simple key holder. Going into the books to earn Naratonin and handing it over to the elites. Eventually, he worked himself up to watching over the keys. Making sure they worked properly, keeping an eye on the lower members, things like that.
Then, the villainess key went missing. Shortly after, more keys went missing. One by one, they all disappeared until it was just Silver and Bronze.
The responsibility fell onto Chase and Deacon to find the missing keys. Though so far they could only find one key. The Villainess key.
The keyholder using the villainess key was very vague about what he wanted and who he was. He refused to give a name so they just called him Buddy. Chase was actually the first person to discover that Buddy was in the books. Although he didn’t tell any of the elders. Just Deacon. Chase figured that if they could get the villainess key back on their own, then he could go back to living a normal life.
A life as a human.
See, Chase had been in Ex Libris since he was four years old. Growing up sheltered in Ex Libris with his type of personality led to one rebellious teenager. It only grew worse when his dad died and his mom got cancer. He wanted to make wishes for himself, to be able to help his family. The elites didn’t like that, and they didn’t need him to go haywire, so they found a way to keep him under control.
“Deacon!”
Deacon felt a tiny crumb hit him in the back of the head.
“What?” he turned to see his cousin standing next to Silver and Bronze who were staring at a book. The book was glowing a soft purple light, signifying the villainess key was in use. “Oh. Yeah. Okay.”
Chase bounced on the balls of his feet, Silver having to hold his shoulder to keep him calm.
The elites said that turning Chase into a key was supposed to calm him down a bit.
Deacon felt that it was like putting a lightning bolt into a tiny glass jar. Too much energy with not enough places to store it.
With a sigh, Deacon walked over to the book, silently holding his hand out for Bronze to turn into a key. The tiny metal man glared at the hand before turning into a key–only at Silver’s insistence. Silver did the same, Chase struggling to catch her key. Soon, the two entered the book.
As soon as they entered the story, Deacon was aware of two things. One, they were in Sleeping Beauty. Two, Deacon was NOWHERE NEAR Chase. Instead, he was sitting at the castle. In the stables. Next to a horse.
“BROOOOOOOONNNNNZZZEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!”
★★★★★
“Deacon? Deacon, where are you?” Chase grumbled as he wandered around the tiny hut in the woods. So far, he’s gathered that he’s in Sleeping Beauty. Unfortunately, he doesn’t exactly know how the story goes. Has he seen the movie…? Yeah, probably. Once… back when his family had access to internet and the outside world when he was FOUR .
So, no. He doesn’t know the story. At all. Except that the princess ends up asleep for a hundred years and gets kissed by some random prince who the girl had never met . Seriously, who falls in love with someone you just met . That was like, worse than… worse than dipping sour patch kids in ranch.
Who would dip sour patch kids in ranch?
That was besides the point. Because right now, Chase was alone. With his thoughts.
A bad combination, mind you, especially since his thoughts seemed to wander towards a certain villainess that kept popping in and ruining his life. Who does Buddy think he is? Showing up with too low necklines and too many belts to be useable and tights so tight that–
“Get it together, Chasey.” Chase told himself, wandering through the cabin for the umpteenth time. Now, he just needed to figure out where to go from here. He was… supposed to… uhm…
Where was Deacon when you needed him? Or Buddy…
Nope. No. Scratch that last part. Buddy was the enemy. He had the one thing keeping Chase from going back to a normal life. (did he ever truly have a normal life though?)
“Okay. Okay, cool. Let’s focus. The princess is in a cabin… but she needs to prick her finger on a spindle. Oh man I do not want to stab my finger on a needle. I can not do blood. Nope. Skipping that part… uh… then the prince comes and–”
His rambling was cut off by a knock on the door.
Chase spun on his heel to the front door. It swung open gently to reveal… a small little girl with red hair braided down the back dressed in what looked like a riding dress paired with a red cloak.
“We need to move.”
“Excuse me?” Chase blinked down at the girl. He saw a thick black cord hanging around her neck and paused. Another key… “Wait… where did you–”
“Stop talking, Nox needs you to be at the right scene now .”
The girl walked inside, grabbing Chase by the wrist and dragging him out towards where Deacon stood, tapping his foot impatiently. His cousin was dressed in a white outfit adorned with a red and gold trim. He wore thick black boots as well as thick black gloves. The boy was glaring moodily off into the woods, not making eye contact with anyone.
“Wait. Dorkin…” Chase started, but he burst out laughing.
Deacon turned with a glare.
“Not. A. Word.”
“Stop talking, we’ve got somewhere to be. Let’s move, princess.” The girl instructed.
“I don’t take orders from a child.” Chase snarked.
“You mean other than yourself?”
Chase sighed and moved to climb onto Deacon’s back. As soon as he was situated, the three of them made their way towards the palace. Thankfully, Deacon explained what was going on. The girl was named Prunella. She had the Hero key. Apparently, she had been going into books separate from the rest of them. Buddy had been giving her her own books to do. Although apparently this time, Prunella found herself following Buddy inside this book. The reason? Apparently Buddy had a little sister that he conveniently decided not to tell about the books. The sister was about to find out about the books, and so Prunella went into the book to warn Buddy.
Apparently, though, Buddy had ended up pricking his finger on the spinning wheel. Rookie Mistake. But now, he, the villainess, was asleep. And the only way to wake anyone from this curse is a true love’s kiss. Except the kiss can’t be completed if there’s no one to love the villainess.
Chase bit the inside of his lip. He couldn’t let Buddy just sleep like that forever. Sure, at the end of the book they’d all just be booted out of the story. But the story can’t end if there isn’t a true love’s kiss.
So now they had to figure out how to fix Buddy’s mess so all of them can go home.
Not that Chase cares if Buddy goes home or not. He just can’t take Violet back if she’s in the book.
Mhmm. That’s the reason.
“So what’s the plan?” Chase asked as the three of them raced up the stairs.
Seriously, why did the spindle have to be in the tallest tower? And why would the princess even want to climb those stairs just to get stabbed by a needle ?
Personal opinions aside, Chase still wasn’t completely sure what they were doing. When they got up to the top of the tower, Chase paused where he stood. There, laying on the bed was Buddy. His dark hair was brushed to the side, his normally blue eyes closed, matching the rest of his relaxed state. His hands were laid gently over his chest which rose and fell with each breath.
The boy’s outfit was extravagant as ever. Black laced trim following a deep v-neck that pointed down into a deep purple corset. The sleeves went down and came to a point at his wrists, almost covering a pair of black gloves. Chase drew his gaze back up to the boy’s face, or rather, just above his face. There, protruding out of Buddy’s skull were two black horns, curling upwards.
He looked every bit like a villainess.
And Chase could not be more attracted to him.
LESS! Less attracted! He could not be less attracted. Chase wasn’t attracted to Buddy. That was ridiculous. He was just admiring Violet’s skills. That’s all. Yup. Mhmm.
“You need to kiss him.”
If Chase were drinking something right now, he would have spit it out.
Eyes wide, he spun and looked down at Prunella who was looking forwards at Nox with a worried expression.
“W-what?” he spluttered out.
“He needs a true love’s kiss. You love him, don’t you?”
“I-I… uh… You… Deacon…?” Chase looked up at his cousin who was staring at the boy in front of them with furrowed brows.
It was the same expression Deacon used when he was considering a Very Bad Idea.
“I think you need to, Chase.”
“No!” Chase responded immediately, face going a deep red and backing up towards the door. “I can’t just kiss him! I… I don’t like him! And even if I did, I can’t just kiss him! He’s asleep ! A-and–”
Prunella spoke up, her words panicked.
“Chase, you have to!”
“I-i–”
Deacon sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“I guess then, technically there is another way. True love’s kiss doesn’t necessarily mean romantic.” Deacon closed his eyes as he spoke. It was his way of thinking, seeing the information behind his eyelids before he relayed the message. “Prunella, you said Buddy has a sister?”
“Well, yeah, but–”
“Go trade places with her. Leave the story and send her in.”
Prunella looked like she was about protest before she nodded and grabbed her key, disappearing with a shimmer of gold light. A few moments later, a nine year old girl appeared where the prince once stood. She had shiny black, shoulder length hair with strikingly blue eyes. She looked everything like her brother.
“Nox? Nox!” she spoke frantically searching around the room.
Deacon pointed over towards the bed that Buddy laid on. The girl rushed over to his side, immediately fussing over him.
“Nox, you idiot. I knew you were into something weird and crazy. I knew you added something to the orange juice. But I never could have imagined…” she sat on the bed next to him, pulling his upper body into an embrace. “You’re an idiot. Did you know that? Going into books. Messing with something you don’t know about is dangerous. Is… is this how you feel with me…?”
Chase looked away when the girl started crying. This was a family moment. He shouldn’t be here.
“Hey… uh… you two…” the girl spoke quietly. “Pru said you’d know how to help him. And that only I can help.”
Deacon nodded.
“The story needs to end with a true love’s kiss. Though, it doesn’t have to be romantic.”
The girl nodded.
“Like a mother’s love. A kiss on a wound to show that you care. Or a kiss on the forehead as an unspoken promise.”
“Exactly.” Deacon responded.
Chase closed his eyes. What if it didn’t work? Sure, he knew more than anybody that you didn’t have to follow the book completely. But this was a true love’s kiss. What if it meant exactly what it said. What if Buddy needed to be kissed by his One True Love? And not using some weird loophole. What if…
“Okay.” The girl spoke softly. Chase turned around and watched as the girl leaned forward, tapping her forehead against her brother’s. “I hope this works, Nox. You can’t leave me alone.” she leaned forward and brushed her lips against his hairline. A soft kiss like an older sibling kissing their younger sibling asleep.
Although this time it was to wake them up.
There was a beat that passed in the room. Then, slowly, Buddy’s eyes fluttered open. His eyes met his sister’s for a moment before his brain caught up to him.
“Luna…?”
“Nox!” Luna cried, pulling the boy into a tight hug. “If I ever have to come into a book and save you again, I will end you .”
Buddy chuckled and returned the hug.
“I’m fine, Luna.” he smiled, burying his face into her hair. “I’m sorry for worrying you. I won’t do it again.”
“You better not.”
“Ahem.” Chase cleared his throat, glaring at the raven haired boy. “I believe you have some explaining to do?
<~--~>
An explanation and proper introduction later, Chase, Buddy, and Deacon formed a sort of alliance. Instead of working against each other, they would work together. If only at Chase’s insistence. (what, he was weak to small, adorable children). The group would go into books, working to gather as much Naratonin as possible. Although when that conversation got brought up, Chase had to explain that he himself couldn’t gather Naratonin. And in turn, he had to explain his keyness.
Buddy seemed shocked, but didn’t comment further on it.
They talked about getting Chase and Deacon out of Ex Libris, though that wasn’t their main concern. First, they had to find the other eight keys. It would be hard, but having Buddy on the outside looking, hopefully they’d be able to work a little bit faster.
Occasionally, Luna would come into books while Nox did real world stuff. She would be on constant surveillance and if she showed even a hint of passing out, would be sent home immediately. Prunella was good at keeping the girl from overexerting herself, though.
And slowly, things fell into a new normal. A normal that Chase wouldn’t want to change for the world.
[End]