Chapter Text
How?
How had it come to this…
Sure the red and blue kingdoms had been at odds with each other-
But how had it gotten so bad that there was now a full on war between the two?!
‘I didn’t-
I didn’t choose this-’
“SCOTT! You need to stay focused man, we don’t have time for spacing out!”
‘Right,
Owain is right
No time for hows
No time for whys’
“Right, Sorry Owain”
Scott looks around
Destruction again
Smoke
His comrades in varied states of health.
And of course
The red kingdom’s monarch
Scott’s current secret lover.
‘Not the time
Focus-’
Scott scans his surroundings just in time to see Bek approaching from the side poised with her blade ready to strike
“OWAIN! Look out on your six!”
Owain is just barely able to dodge a fast and hard strike from Bek and he answers with an attack of his own
As Bek and Owain continue fighting and exchanging blows with each other Scott turns away to focus on other tasks as he runs to Nom
“Nom! I’m here hold on I’ll get you fixed up!”
Nom coughs a bit “Thank you Scott, can’t be down for too long”
Scott silently nods as he continues his concentration for his healing spell
‘Focus
Steady-’
Unfortunately for him Sausage notices
Suddenly-
He can’t breathe.
His eyes widen in realization
He uses the strength he has left to pull Nom out of Sausage’s suffocation spell.
‘Too close’
After he gets Nom out of danger he quickly whirls on Sausage capturing him in a water bubble and forcing him into his own suffocation spell.
Now Scott watches as Sausage continues to struggle for breath while not being able to escape Scott’s bubble.
Nom recovers enough and covers Scott so that he can continue without distraction.
—
Another minute (or two Scott couldn’t really tell) later and the bubble finally bursts leaving Sausage in the midst of the suffocation spell
Free
But now struggling to pick himself up after being deprived of air for so long
As the suffocation lifts Sausage crumbles to the ground unconscious but not dead
‘not yet.’
Scott then turns his focus to the rest of the battle again as he hears Owain shout
“Good job Scott! Take out the red mages first! They won’t be able to recover or fight long distance if they don’t have their spellcasters!”
‘Traitor’
A small voice whispers in the back of Scott’s mind but he pushes it aside before it dawns on him.
‘Cam-
Cam is a mage.’
He regains composure quicker than anyone can see the slight panic
He turns to Cherri but Apo is too quick and notices the attention now on her princess and charges at Scott.
‘Fast-
Too fast’
In a blink they are right in front of Scott now poised to strike and Scott just barely manages to duck out of the way under the freshly sharpened blade but it doubles back catching him in his upper bicep as he lets out a piercing cry of pain and tries to scramble away from the opponent with fresh blood staining his clothes.
Luckily despite Owain and Nom being otherwise engaged, Gracie quickly rushes to Scott’s aide to keep Apo off him.
“Go! I can handle this!”
As Apo slightly curses under their breath
‘Move move move-’
Scott quickly rushes out of range of the two now engaged in battle and heals himself.
Once he heals up he immediately jumps back into the fray again going after Cherri ensnaring her in his poisonous thorns to keep her from running, as he quickly traps Cherri in a water bubble as well keeping her above the thorns momentarily before bringing her towards himself and finishing the job running a sword through her chest.
The battlefield almost stops-
‘I- I just-
I didn’t mean to—’
But he had hadn’t he?
He meant to survive.
The battlefield stills.
No one moves.
No one breathes.
Heads turn.
Eyes lock on him.
No one says anything.
A scream.
Scott knows that voice.
No.
Don’t—
He turns.
Cam is kneeling beside Sausage.
Hands shaking.
Apo however is blinded by rage and takes advantage of the moment to land a fatal blow to Gracie’s stomach
Gracie crumples to the ground unceremoniously as the life leaves her eyes.
—
Now both sides are fueled by loss and rage as they continue the battle
Blows get heavier
The air heavy with unspoken emotions on both sides.
A sudden yelp is heard as Kitty is able to sneak behind and land a blow on Eloise
It’s a simple wound, non-fatal, to Eloise’s shoulder
Eloise in turn spins on Kitty sending her flying backwards with a gust of wind.
Kitty however
‘as always’
Is quick on her feet so she lands well and remains relatively unharmed, bar an ache from the harsh landing.
Another scream
‘Another gone-’
Owain’s match ends with his victory
Ser Bek now lays unmoving with a javelin from her stomach
‘Heal! My team needs to heal-’
The red kingdom seems to have the same idea as Cam and Scott yell at practically the same time
“Blue/Red kingdom! Gather around!”
Unfortunately the rouges had been on the outer edges of the battle and didn’t need healing and with most having their backs turned Kitty takes the opportunity
She sneaks behind and lands a backstab on Eloise
Eloise goes down now being poisoned and Kitty lands another fatal blow
Eloise lets out a final loud gasp and goes limp
‘How many is that now?’
The rest of the blue kingdom gather around
‘Right- healing’
Scott stills
The others surrounding him facing outwards in a protective barrier
Scott catches a glimpse of red and they are almost a mirror image of blue with Cam in the middle
A flash of light and everyone is healed and running back to the chaos aside from Scott and Cam
‘How much more will these kingdoms take…’
Everyone reengages and the attacks continue relentlessly
Sparks fly from metal hitting metal
‘This is too much’
Scott scans the surroundings again after catching his breath from healing
His eyes fall on the red monarch
A scream sounds from- somewhere?
‘Wait-’
‘That’s weird-’
‘Why is the ground getting-’
Scott feels something hard hit his knees
‘Why-?’
‘When did I hit the ground?’
There’s still a scream and Scott notices some of the kingdom are looking at him
‘Why are they looking at me like-’
All eyes are now on him with confusion and concern
‘Oh-’
‘I- I’m the one-’
‘I’m the one screaming…’
Scott finally forces himself to stop screaming while the others continue their bouts
He’s still on the ground
Pain
White-hot searing pain
Another scream sounds from him but this one is a screech
High-pitched and terrible
‘Wha-’
His hand finds his torso
‘Oh-’
He feels a warm and sticky substance getting on his hand
‘Blood-’
He falls forward fully on the ground
Apo stands over him with a satisfied devilish grin
She crouches to his level
“If you thought you could kill my princess and get away with it, you were sorely mistaken Springwell”
Scott’s eyes widen in horror
Scott couldn’t make any sound
Another wave of pain
He tries to inhale-
Nothing
Dark-
Pitch black-
—
How long had it been?
Scott didn’t know
He felt- comfortable?
Shouldn't death hurt more?
‘That’s not right’
Scott opened his eyes
“Ah-”
He grimaced at the sun in his eyes
Taking a second to adjust he looks around and he’s- in his bed?
‘The fight-’
‘How long was I out?’
‘My friends need me-’
Scott rips off the cover and rushes down the stairs
Odd, there weren't stairs in his house before
...There weren't stairs there before
His stomach drops
He scrambles around the different chests trying to find his items for battle
‘Where-’
‘Why don’t I have my items?’
“Where is my staff!?”
The worry on his face deepens at having lost one of the only things left from his parents
“Well someone is frazzled! What’s got you so worked up sunshine?
Scott’s confusion only grew
‘I don’t recognize that voice’
Scott whirls on the unwelcome intruder
“Who are you?!”
The man only chuckles nervously
“Sunshine- It’s me- It’s Milo.”