Chapter Text
Cole blinked, and squinted. The daylight felt… sudden, and wrong. It had been night, hadn't it? And… he didn't seem to be in Imperium any more…
Suddenly the view resolved around him. He was in the monastery, in the dragon stables, and—
“Fritz! Spitz! Bonzle! You're okay!” He ran to hug the group that he'd feared for after their encounter with the spectral dragonians. As the initial wave of joy passed, Cole frowned.
“Wait, where's Geo?”
They all looked around, confused. Had he been hollowed too? wondered Cole. But someone brought me back and put me with the others; you'd think we'd all be together…
He was in the elevator and ascending before he knew it, not waiting for the rest of the family to catch up. He burst out into the rec room, barely slowing to acknowledge the pair of frightened, questioning faces peeking from behind the couch, and leapt into the passage, striking a defensive pose and checking each direction for threats. He saw only Mr Frohicky, lying like a discarded doll, close to the door of the library.
Cole crouched next to him, looking him over quickly. The frog man had no obvious injuries, but he trembled uncontrollably.
“Mr Frohicky!” Cole spoke gently but urgently. “Can you speak? What happened here?”
Mr Frohicky groaned and moved his mouth, attempting to form words, though Cole couldn't make out anything coherent at first.
“Ras,” the frog man rasped hoarsely.
Cole felt as if his spine had turned to ice.
“Where's Geo?” he asked in a tight voice. “Did Ras take him?”
Mr Frohicky rocked his head slowly from side to side, no.
“Yard,” he managed, dropping his head from the effort.
Cole sprinted back along the hallway and slammed through the main doors so hard they rebounded behind him. He halted abruptly, taking in the scene of destruction. Purple! his mind screamed, but no, it was Rontu, slumped impossibly against the monastery wall, surrounded by shattered roof tiles. Broken masonry, wooden splinters, and what appeared horribly like shards of bone were strewn around the courtyard; but of Geo there was no sign.
He turned sharply at the sound of the door opening again. Mr Frohicky crawled towards him and all but slid down the stairs to his left, flapping an ineffective hand at the ground twice before hitting the correct spot. The central ring of paving slid open, replaced by the ninja training equipment as it rose from below. And lying flat and motionless on the boards was a small purple body.
Before Cole could react, the monastery lurched alarmingly, as if the courtyard had tilted in an attempt to throw him off. Cole staggered to one side, and only his long years of ninja and dance training meant he was able to keep his balance. He swallowed hard, gulping down the nauseating sensation of motion sickness; then, as suddenly as it had begun, the floor returned to level again. Not stopping to wonder what had just happened, Cole was at Geo's side in three steps, kneeling beside him, leaning over, checking for a pulse, a breath.
“Geo,” he whispered softly into the munce's ear. “Geo, it's Cole. Wake up, Geo. Please wake up.” Don't leave me.
There was the faintest of huffs; then another. The purple ears twitched.
“Cole?” It was almost inaudible.
“Yes, my love, I'm here,” he said, fighting back the rush of emotion that threatened to overwhelm him. “Try not to move. I need to check you for injuries.”
There was silence except for the ragged breathing while Cole gently moved his hands over Geo's body, assessing the damage. Then one eye opened a crack and held his.
“’m sorry,” Geo said, his voice thick and uneven.
“Shh, don't think about it, don't worry about it now.” Cole was trying to soothe him at the same time as keeping himself calm. “I don't think anything major is broken. I'm going to take you inside so I can get a proper look at you. I promise I'll carry you as gentle as I can.”
Geo made an inarticulate, but, Cole thought, assenting sound. He slid his arms carefully under Geo's body and lifted—
Huh. That was strange. He'd engaged his muscles exactly as usually, but hadn't been able to lift Geo more than half an inch. Cole checked all around his friend, but there was nothing holding him down, no clothing caught on the wooden boards, no reason why Cole shouldn't be able to pick him up. He tried again.
Hnnnghhhh! He'd almost strained something this time. He shook his head. Okay. Don't panic. Just an after-effect of the hollowing. I just need to get Geo out of here.
As he stood, he saw heads peering around the monastery door, and more worried faces.
“Fritz, Spitz, go back inside and check that the door to my room is open. Make sure there's nothing blocking the way,” Cole ordered. They didn't need to see this. “Bonzle, I could use your help.”
The two smaller faces disappeared, and the skeleton skipped down the steps and approached him. After years in the Land of Lost Things, Cole knew it was hard to shock Bonzle, but he was pretty sure she'd flinched back at the sight of Geo.
“Help me lift him. You take his legs,” he said, trying to keep focused on the most important matter.
“You lost your touch, big guy?” she quipped, but Cole knew this was a cover to distract him from her reaction.
“I'll be fine,” he replied, hoping that if he said it confidently enough it would be true.
“Y'know,” Bonzle continued, “this would be a lot easier with a stretcher.”
Why didn't I think of that? Cole wondered. Because you knew you'd be strong enough to carry him, he answered himself, grimly pushing away the implications as he ran back into the monastery. Two training staffs and one of the good tablecloths later, he was heading back out. He noted in passing that Rontu still hadn't moved, but that was another problem for later; finding out whether the veteran dragon was merely unconscious or worse was surprisingly far down his list of priorities, he realized.
With Bonzle's help, he was able to manoeuvre Geo onto the makeshift stretcher, and together they managed to carry him inside and deposit him gently on Cole's bed.
~~~
Cole had stretched both his knowledge of field medicine and the contents of the monastery medical kit (which leaned more towards treating cuts and burns than blunt trauma). Mr Frohicky had appeared with some kind of foul-smelling poultice that he applied to Geo's torso, where bruises were beginning to darken, before wandering out again as if on autopilot. Geo had roused enough for Cole to coax him to swallow some strong painkillers, and he sat with him while they took effect.
“I can't believe you took on Ras,” said Cole, chiding him tenderly. Geo grinned weakly.
“Got a coupl’a good hits in,” he whispered.
“Really? What with?” asked Cole curiously. He hadn't seen any weapons in the yard.
“Hammer,” Geo replied.
“Ras's hammer?” Cole forgot to keep his voice gentle in his shock. “What were you thinking? Do you know what that thing is? You could have—” He broke off. He didn't actually know what could happen if an elemental master used their Source's icon, even accidentally, but he was certain he didn't want to find out by experimenting at random.
Geo's face twisted in a grimace.
“Protecting,” he said, a fierce glint in his eyes. Cole gazed at him, his admiration for Geo rising to a new level. Spoken like a true ninja.
Geo tried to turn towards Cole; the man leaned in to save him the effort.
“’m not. lost,” Geo said, emphatically. He sighed and rolled back, closing his eyes. Cole stroked his forehead as he relaxed, the pain meds visibly beginning to work.
“No, you're not lost, I'm here, I've got you,” he crooned. “You found me, and I found you. Rest now, I'm here.”
Cole stayed until he was sure Geo was asleep. He ached to sit with him until he woke again, but there was more work to do. He sent Bonzle in to keep watch; saw Fritz and Spitz playing a game in the rec room with Barry, and reassured them that Geo was resting and would get well soon. Jenny was taking care of Mr Frohicky; he had a blanket draped over his shoulders and a mug of his own tea between his trembling hands, and stared unseeing into the distance.
“The legends. The legends,” he could be heard to mutter. Jenny gave Cole a worried smile; he touched her shoulder and returned the smile, hoping he was more reassuring than he felt.
Finally he walked to the dragon, still prostrate in the courtyard. He stood near Rontu's head, unsure how to proceed. How did you check for a dragon's pulse? He was pretty sure Master Wu's lessons had never covered anything of the sort, and he didn't remember Rocky ever getting sick. He reached a tentative hand towards her muzzle.
The great yellow eyes opened.
“Master,” Cole said, relief washing over him as at least one of his worst fears had been avoided. “You don't know how pleased I am to see you awake.”
“I have survived many things in my years,” Rontu said, her voice low. “Though I have never before been attacked with two Source icons simultaneously. I fear I may be a guest in your courtyard for some time.”
“It is your courtyard, Master,” Cole replied courteously, with a bow. “Only let me know what you need.”
The dragon did not answer immediately. Instead, she said: “Do you know what happened here?”
“I know who,” Cole answered, allowing a growl into his voice. “I don't know why, or what it means.”
Rontu closed her eyes, and opened them again slowly.
“Today – tonight – I must rest. We must all rest. But tomorrow, gather everyone and we will talk. For now, see to your people.”
Cole nodded. “I've checked on everyone who was here – no, wait,” he added, suddenly remembering. “The other dragons – I haven't been back to the stables. I was so fixed on Geo, I never thought of it.”
“As it should be,” said Rontu, with a sad smile. “We will always think of our loved ones first, as long as we live.”
“I'll go immediately,” said Cole, bowing his head respectfully to the mourning dragon and turning away. He descended in the elevator to the dragon stables, realizing he hadn't even noticed who else was in there when he'd awoken from the hollowing. As the door slid open, he gasped. Jiro was apparently napping unconcerned, but Heatwave lifted his head when he saw the ninja and grumbled something that could have been a complaint or a warning. Either would be appropriate, because the great cavern was dominated by a red light glaring ominously from above the portal gate.
Cole ran across the stable floor.
“The Land of Lost Things!” he called, as he took the steps two at a time and pulled at the door of the portal gate. It remained firmly closed.
“The City of Temples! Mysterium?” He tried to think where else he'd seen portal gates, but his mind was blanking.
Tugging ineffectively at the doors reminded him that he had meant to check on his missing strength. A few scaffolding poles lay against one wall, left over from the construction of the basking platforms. He managed to lever up the end of one of them a few inches, but had to let it drop with a clang. Determined to test himself fully, he punched his fists together to engage his elemental power.
His power did not respond.
A nasty suspicion was beginning to form. Cole scanned his eyes across the floor, to the spot below the roof entrance where loose soil always drifted in from the outside; usually swept away by Mr Frohicky, today the dirt lay where it had fallen. There were always a few pebbles among the debris, and Cole stretched out his hands and ordered them to lift. They remained stubbornly on the floor. In desperation, he crouched over them and touched one with his finger. Nothing.
He sat down heavily on the floor, reeling from the new revelations. If the portal gate was broken, did that mean the others couldn't get back from… wherever they'd gone? Last he remembered, Lloyd, Nya, Jay and Wyldfyre had been heading for the Administration on the Bounty. Kai and Frak had been with him in Imperium but they weren't here now; and the big dragon, Zanth, was gone, too. Perhaps they were together? Or maybe Riyu – no, Riyu wasn't big enough to carry a person—
Cole put his head in his hands. There were too many things he didn't know. Rontu was right. He should rest, look out for the others – for Geo, he'd already been away longer than he'd intended – and find out more in the morning.
Back up in the monastery proper, Jenny and Barry were coming out of the kitchen with two large pans.
“I hope you don't mind, we went ahead and made dinner,” Jenny said, almost apologetically.
“Just something simple with noodles,” Barry added. “We've had a lot of experience with potlucks.”
“No, I don't mind at all,” Cole answered. He was suddenly aware that he wasn't being a very good host. “Please, make yourselves at home. Use anything. I'll be there in a minute.” He turned to walk away, then turned back. “Um. Sorry – who were you again?”
“We're Arin's parents,” beamed Jenny. Cole gaped at them as if seeing mythical beings for the first time.
“Arin's parents! But that's – that's amazing! I can't wait to hear your story,” said Cole, hesitating. “But – right now, I have to…” He gestured towards the bedroom door.
“That's quite alright. We have to, too.” Barry nodded at the pan.
“Of course, of course. I'll just—” said Cole, letting it trail off as they turned in opposite directions. Arin's parents! What a day this was turning out to be. True, that one was a pleasant surprise; but he could do without any more.
He slipped quietly into his room and let Bonzle know about the food. Then he sat watching Geo breathe until she returned.
“Cole, he's not going anywhere. Go and eat something,” she ordered brusquely, and he realized she was worried about him, too. By the time Cole returned to the dining room the others were finished eating, so he had his meal in the company of his own troubled thoughts while the clearing up went on around him.
Back in his room, he found a small couch where the hard chair had been.
“Figured you might want to sleep too,” shrugged Bonzle, when he looked quizzically at her. “I'll borrow one of the other rooms.” She disappeared, pulling the door behind her, leaving Cole to wonder that, although he was fairly certain she hadn't been down to the stables, she seemed to intuit that no one else was coming back, not yet at least.
Geo was still sleeping deeply. Cole gazed at him, remembering when Geo had patched him up after the Merge: the kindness of strangers, back when Cole didn't know where he was or what had happened or even how long it had been. Then he'd fought off the Hoarder and saved the Finders, earning him a wary acceptance into the strange little family. And then their growing friendship, and his burgeoning powers, and eventually the startling realization that he could not, in fact, do it without Geo. Even then, he'd had to go away and come back to be certain that his feelings were returned…
And I still wasn't there to protect him, when he needed me.
Cole brushed his lips softly against Geo's forehead. He nudged the couch as close to the bed as he could, curled up awkwardly on it, rested his hand against Geo's arm, and fell asleep.
~~~