#can you imagine seeing the crowd startle in unison in that split second of hearing that note | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

alma-berry · 5 years

Text

Kit’s Secret Fire Message # 19

Masterlist 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18

Kit stared at the crowded mess in front of him and sighed a long, heavy sigh.

Thirteen scared, dirty and starved looking kids huddled together, barely touching but obviously drawing comfort from one another. Most of them cried when Kit woke them up, even though he tried to be as gentle as he knew how. With Mina, Kit didn’t have to try and earn her trust.. it was more the other way around. As much as he loved her, he was rather wary of forming any attachments to her when she was firstborn. He didn’t know if Jem and Tessa would still want him after they realized how much work raising a child will be.. not that Kit was an authority on the matter. Tessa had children before, but that was over a hundred years ago, she could possibly forget the nightly crying and feeding routines, and the amount of attention an infant demanded of its surroundings. But they never gave him a reason to doubt their love, and Mina never gave him a chance to go a foot away from her as soon as one of them entered a room.

Now the small group was hiding behind Ty, who was evidently trying to hide how uncomfortable that made him feel. Kit studied him more carefully and wondered if anyone else would have noticed Ty’s discomfort. It was clear to him in the way his fingers trembled at his sides, the small crease between his thick eyebrows and how he bit his lower lip every few seconds.. but he kept his general expression almost completely blank. His eyes kept darting between the kids and the darkness that led outside the hall.

He’s still scared, he doesn’t trust himself after what happened. The realization sent cold anger through Kit’s blood. Ty didn’t feel comfortable in these social situations, but he tried with the Eidolon demon that disguised itself as one of the children. He put himself in a vulnerable position so he would be able to protect the child, and when he turned out to be a goddamned shapeshifter from hell, Ty probably felt helpless; stripped out of his own powers, his ability to see what others couldn’t or wouldn’t, to deduce the unimaginable. He was a fighter betrayed by his most trusted weapon.

And Kit helped it happen. He could have been the mediator, talk to the child who wasn’t even a child and maybe let Ty do what he did best - detect. But he couldn’t risk the chance that he wouldn’t.. it wasn’t just his life on the line, it was thirteen other children’s, and Ty’s. Ty’s, the one person who’s life mattered the most.

Kit could feel the demonic energy in the room like it was a thick cloud surrounding them. It was palpable and absolutely unknown to him. Kit was fighting demons on a regular basis for almost three years, yet he never had this physical awareness of them that he had as soon as they entered the cave.

He knew what it meant, but his anger and frustration resented him for lingering on the realization. His powers were growing, evolving.. and his erratic feelings probably only increased it.

Ty’s deceptively calm voice shook him out of his revery.

“We should split.”

“What?” Kit’s voice was louder than he meant it to be, and some of the kids jumped, startled by his violent reaction.

“We have to get going, it’s not safe here, and-“

“What does it have to do with splitting?” Kit interrupted before Ty could finish his sentence. He was still agitated by the tired, haunted look on Ty’s face and he couldn’t care less about scaring off these kids. Some distant part of him knew he wasn’t acting like himself, that this unmanageable fury was wildly misdirected. He was surrounded by terrified children that got snatched out of their beds, their families, some of them even taken from hospitals. They were in a really bad shape as it was, and Kit’s behavior was making it a hundred times worse. He imagined the weight of Mina’s tiny hand in his and schooled his expression into a controlled absence.

Ty didn’t let any sign that he noticed Kit’s odd outburst. He was still fighting his own tangled emotions.

“We can’t risk running into the demons when the Kids are with us. We have to split. You will take them back where we came from and I will find the demons and-“

“No.”

Kit’s voice broke no arguments. He made it as firm and authoritative as he could, mimicking the rare moments he got to witness Jace being the mature, strong head-of-the-institute that he was in front of others. There was no way he was letting Ty go alone and face whatever was out there. The place reeked of demons, and Kit could still faintly feel the pulse of that energy he felt around the Eidolon demon.

“Why not?” Ty cocked his head, suddenly aware of Kit’s rigid posture.

“I’m not leaving you to go and get slaughtered by-“

“Kit!” Ty gasped in shock and quickly pursed his mouth to a tight frown. “I’m not a child, I’m more than capable of fighting whatever is out there.”

His voice was calm, almost detached, but Kit wasn’t fooled for a second. His patience was wearing thin, but he willed his voice to convey more than the shattered fear that boiled inside his veins by the thought of Ty leaving him.

“Ty, I’m not saying you’re not capable of fighting. I know full well what you can do, and I have absolute faith in you.” He took a deep breath before continuing his words, knowing what they meant and what Ty will make of them. He promised himself to be honest with Ty, and though he couldn’t give him the entire truth at the moment, he could at least give him this.

“It’s not you that I don’t trust, it’s me. I don’t trust that I won’t run straight back to you and leave them alone halfway. I don’t trust that I will be able to see you walk away from me without knowing that I will see you again. I don’t trust myself, so there’s no fucking way I’m leaving your side until we’re out of here.”

He was panting so hard he could feel raw pain in his lungs. The sheer panic and rage of his emotions made his head dizzy, but he couldn’t take his eyes away from Ty’s. He was looking at him like he hit him in the gut, the naked intensity and bewilderment made Kit’s heart drop to a numbing silence.

Finally, he was able to look away. He felt ashamed of his weakness, but couldn’t find it in himself to regret his words. He glanced at the shocked ensemble of children in front of him and muttered “Uh.. sorry for using that word. I’m American, we don’t have that much of a filter.”

“Okay.”

Ty’s voice was barely a whisper, and Kit looked up to find him standing dangerously close to him. His anger evaporated like it was never there at all, and he couldn’t remember the mechanics of breathing as Ty took Kit’s hand in his. It was warm and strong, and the reassurance in his eyes told Kit everything his words didn’t. He wasn’t looking at him, but everything about him said that he understood. He understood enough to give Kit what he needed, and it was the promise that he will stay.

It was a cruel sort of joke, that Kit would be the one unwilling to let Ty leave when he himself left him so long ago. The thought burned a bitter taste in his tongue, but it hardly mattered, not while Kit felt the steady pulse of Ty’s heartbeat through their joined hands. He squeezed Ty’s hand once, acknowledging his gesture, and turned to face the mob of kids that were gaping at them with a mix of fear and incredulity.

“Let’s get the hell out of here”.

The silence was so profound Kit felt like screaming just to break it. It was unbearable, the collective heavy breathing of all the small bodies that surrounded him melted to a jagged hum in his veins that grew louder with every passing minute.

They moved in unison, trading worried looks and hasty hand gestures as they tried to find their way back into the main entrance. Kit had a bad feeling, everything about this place felt off and bone-chilling. But something about the long corridors and vast clearings felt too foreign, too risky to keep for long.

It was clear they made a mistake on one turn or the other, he could tell by the lack of creepy mannequins or historical artifacts. They went in deeper than they meant to, and Kit wanted to put his fist through the wall for forgetting to mark their way when they first entered the caves. He was supposed to be the one with the mundane knowledge, as he couldn’t really expect Ty to know Hansel and Gretel and their trail of breadcrumbs.

He was bringing up the rear at the long walk through the narrow hall when the temperature dropped imperceptibly. If the feeling wasn’t familiar, Kit wouldn’t probably have noticed it.. but as it was, he stopped walking and whispered a low “Stop” that easily carried through to Ty.

It was only a few seconds before Kit could see her.

A young woman had solidified into a barely visible white in front of him. He didn’t have to ask who she was, he read the stories about the young woman who got murdered on the caves centuries ago, and while the mere suggestion of ghosts was enough to exhilarate the swarm of tourists that regularly visited the place, he for once, wasn’t excited. He was sure they would have felt the same if they could have seen the sunken, broken cheeks on her bloody face.

When he came to think of it, Kit was surprised she was the first ghost to appear to him. This place was so ancient it was almost inevitable to find more than one soul that got trapped in the circumstances of its death. Something about that thought, and about the livid fear in the ghost’s half translucent eyes made Kit’s voice pressed and somber as he understood what she was about to tell him.

“You’re too late, I know..”

Her eyes were infinitely sad, and Kit could only guess for how many years she was trapped in this cold, suffocating purgatory, wandering amongst the oblivious strangers.. whispering her story to those who could never hear it.

He felt his heart soften and harden with a quiet desperation.

“I’m sorry for what happened to you, and I’m sorry that you’re here. Thank you for warning us, and I hope that you’ll be able to find peace.”

He could barely hear his own voice but knew she could. With a tight nod, she disappeared into the feral darkness right beyond the reach of his witchlight.

Kit braced himself for the questioning eyes of his silent companions and sought out Ty’s tall figure amongst the crowd.

“They’re here, probably in the next room. We’re out of time.”

Ty’s eyes didn’t waver from Kit’s collar bones. There was a cool calmness to him that reminded Kit that after all, he was a Shadowhunter through and through. No matter the countless differences between Ty and every other Shadowhunter Kit had ever met, the steel in his silvery eyes held him upright, and quieted the beating of Kit’s heart.

Ty didn’t bother to mention the ghost, he understood and probably felt no need to state the obvious. He only nodded, lost in his own thoughts.

“We have to figure out a way to keep them here, and safe” Kit whispered.

Something dark glinted in Ty’s eyes and scanned through Kit’s weapons belt, and then his own.

Kit held his breath, letting Ty figure out what was unraveling in his brilliant, beautiful mind. He needed Ty to know that he trusted him implicitly, that his earlier outburst was exactly what he said it was, and to repay him for staying by his side even though it made absolutely no sense.

Eventually, Ty straightened and whispered at Kit’s direction.

“I can make a Malachi Configuration. I know it would put us at a disadvantage for lack of weapons when we face the demons, but it’s the best option I can see. It would keep them safe, no demon will be able to touch the seraph blades. They will be safe until we’ll come to get them back.”

He was right, this was the best option they had. A Malachi Configuration will trap the children inside a cage and will stop them from running away as much as it would stop anyone else from entering it. Not even the other Shadowhunters could brake it, it would have to be the person who made it, to begin with.

Kit looked at Ty and thought about his earlier words, of how he planned to go and face the demons himself. It wasn’t something Ty would usually suggest because it was obviously a suicidal move. Ty was many things, brave and smart and far too kind for his own good, but he wasn’t self-sacrificing. Kit knew that it was only the encounter with the Eidolon demon that made him act this way, like he had to pay for his mistakes. No, this time, Kit will have to ensure Ty would come back.. because if he won’t there will be thirteen kids trapped in a seraphic mobile prison cell that Kit won’t know the first thing about how to brake. But that scenario wasn’t optional, not by a long-shot. Kit knew it wasn’t very Shadowhunter-y of him, they were an endangered species, after all.. but he couldn’t care less. He lost too much in his life to be able to entertain the thought of losing Ty.

Kit handed him two seraph blades, hilts first, and asked with a twisted smile “How many do you need?”

Kit explained to the small group of children what they were about to do, while Ty readied the Adamas made weapons in his hands. They had to do it quickly, for the sound of thrusting blades through the stone floor was bound to attract attention.. and if not that, then the chime-like sound symboling the lock of the configuration will probably do the trick. As soon as Kit got a firm and convincing promise from every single one of the children that they would not try to set a foot outside the lines he indicated, he stepped back and let Ty do his part.

At the first blade that speared the ground, Kit drew out another of the angel’s blades from his belt and whispered a name into the echoing thunder.

The noises grew louder on either side of the small passage, and he wished Ty would get it over with so they could leave this claustrophobic place.. he had no desire to fight off demons in a place so small. These corridors are made for scared, gullible tourists or secretive make-out sessions. He entertained the second thought for another moment of sweet, dazed sunlight until he realized the bright light in his eyes came from between the blades that marked the ground. With the sharp bell-like sound that indicated his work’s success, Ty turned to Kit. Sweat plastered the long bangs of his hair to his forehead, and Kit felt the tense throbbing of his heart, begging him for some kind of release.

Ty seemed to feel his tension and scanned him for any cause of his distress. When he found none, he searched his face for answers. Something must have given him away because Ty closed the small distance between them as if sensing Kit’s need for his closeness.

Kit stared at his boots, not daring to look up, but he didn’t step back. He knew he was endangering everything, everyone, by simply standing so close to Ty.. but he was so tired. Tired of keeping his distance, of trying to lock his feelings in a place they couldn’t hurt anybody but himself. Who was he kidding? He didn’t even manage to do that.. he wasn’t Will Herondale, and he didn’t want to be. He was Kit. He was the person Ty looked at with a violent blush in his cheeks and asked him to believe that he was the opposite of nothing to him. Kit knew what the opposite of nothing was, and even though it felt impossible to even imagine that he could be something to Ty, he couldn’t not feel the truth in it.

His heart was hammering thunderous beats as he reached a shaking hand and gripped the hem of Ty’s shirt, and pulled him closer.

They stood there, Kit still staring at their feet, barely an inch from touching. The softness of Ty’s breath on his forehead, the heat of his body, the smell of his sweat and skin and phantom touch pulsed through Kit like fire, threatening to bring him to his knees.

It took everything he had to walk away. Everything he was, every silent promise he ever made to his dead father, to his baby sister, to the damned endless night he had cursed for half his life, all sang through his unwilling ears. His legs were two leaded bricks, but he managed to take another step backward and breath the shattered remains of his desire.

He lifted his eyes cautiously, just to find them mirrored in Ty’s. He took him in, the white light that fell on his profile lit his sharp bones to an almost blinding outline of his features. Kit was mesmerized for a split second before he got swallowed by the darkness in Ty’s eyes. It held the same expression he knew his eyes must have had, all fire and loss and unbidden desperation. His lips parted by the force of Ty’s gaze, unwilling to release him.

It was the coiling crackle of a flame that finally broke them free. That, and the roaring sound of the crowd of demons headed straight their way.

151 notes · View notes

dinfeanoriel · 5 years

Text

A Small (Big) Problem Pt. I

A Linked Universe fanfic. This AU belongs to Linked Universe and Jojo56830.

I own nothing but my own writing.

~~~~~~~

“Hey!”

“Come on!” “Wake up!”

Four groaned at the three familiar voices calling for him to stir. They seeped into his already pounding head, aggravating it and making the headache increasingly worse. His body ached horribly. His very bones throbbed in agony, as if they had been stretched and shrunk, twisted and warped, multiple times.

It was an uncomfortable and painful feeling Four hadn’t felt in a very long time, and one he’d hoped never to experience again.

“Green!”

He felt himself being shaken, the darkness behind closed lids vibrating. It did nothing to quell the growing nausea and pulsing in his head.

“Get up, you lazy arse!” Came an aggravated growl.

Four groaned again, forcing his eyes to open into slits. His mind was slow to awaken. It was muddled and dazed, as though cotton had been stuffed into his head.

Everything was terribly fuzzy.

But as long as he managed to open his eyes and shut the voices up, Four supposed he was willing to deal with the drowsiness and smarting his body.

“I think he’s waking up,” The second voice muttered.

“Really?” Came another, more relieved and excited than the first.

“No, Red,” A third sarcastically put in, “He’s sleeping with his eyes open.”

“Why do you have to be so mean to me, Vio?” Red complained, tears coating his words.

“What?! I wasn’t being mean!” The third sputtered.

“You are pretty mean, Vio.” The voice from before stated, the hint of a smirk present.

“I am not!” Vio defended himself, retorting, “You are the mean one of us!”

“Would you guys give it a rest?” Four griped in a terse mutter, slowly sitting himself up. His head bobbed and Four blinked owlishly.

Woah...Why did he feel so faint and weak?

“Woah, easy there, Green!” Red chided, and Four felt an arm hook around his shoulders to help him the rest of the way. He was grateful for it. His attempt had been quite pathetic.The world was spinning in so many different directions, the small Hero couldn’t tell whether he was upside down or right side up.

Possibly neither?

But that didn’t make sense either...

“Gah...My head hurts...” Four groused, a displeased frown lining his lips. He cradled his head in his hand, willing the pounding to go away, “And you guys arguing isn’t helping me any.”

There was a moment of silence.

An awkward silence. Four could just imagine that if Red, Blue, and Vio were physically there, they would be sharing that look with each other.

“Um, Green,” Red slowly started, laughing a bit nervously. Four could see him in his mind’s eye, rubbing at the back of his neck.

“Hate to break it to you,” Came Blue’s voice, “But...”

“We aren’t inside your head.” Vio finished.

Hold on a moment...

They were right.

Their voices weren’t coming from inside of his head, but outside!

Four whipped his head up in disbelief. This, he soon discovered, was an incredibly bad and most idiotic move on his part.

“Blue, catch him!” Red ordered in concern as Four listed backwards. Hands grabbed him again, holding him in place and never letting go.

Four waited for the world to stop tipping and turning before focusing his gaze above him. Three identical, blurry, faces slowly came into focus, and Four was shocked to find they belonged to a frowning Blue, worried Red, and calm Vio.

“How are you three-” He looked sharply to the Four Sword, still sheathed at his side. Confusion furrowed his brow and he looked to find the other three Heroes shrugging, mirroring his bewilderment.

“We’re as lost as you are,” Blue’s voice sounded behind him. His hand moved to grip Four’s right forearm, and the small Hero realized he was leaning back against him, “When you fell unconscious, the four of us separated.”

“I don’t like it,” Red piped up, still hovering worriedly over Four, “You didn’t draw the Four Sword or call on its power, so why did we split?”

Everyone turned to Vio.

Vio blinked and raised his hands in the air, “Why do you look to me?”

“Because you know everything!” Red chirped, staring at him expectantly. Vio was, after all, a fountain of knowledge the other three had constantly turned to in the past. He’d definitely gotten them out of a few tight spots before.

“I do not know everything,” Vio corrected Red, “I know some things.”

“You know more than all of us combined.” Blue pointed out, and Red shot him a look of surprise.

“That was surprisingly kind of you to say, Blue,” He remarked with approval, ocean eyes sparkling.

“Probably as close to a compliment either of us are ever going to get,” Four couldn’t help but add, and Vio nodded in agreement. Blue huffed and turned his face away, crossing his arms with an attitude befitting of the temperamental Hero,

“Whatever!”

“Now,” Vio cut in before anyone else could speak, “On to more important matters, we need to figure out what’s happened to us.” He casually folded his arms, falling into his “thinking stance,” as Red dubbed it. He even raised a hand to his chin when doing so.

Red had taken to mimicking him at times.

“All I remember was a flash of light and then pain.” Red replied, slipping next to Blue. He placed a hand on Four’s shoulder and back, poking and prodding their friend as he searched of something.

He worried his lower lip, intense concentration twisting his usually light and carefree expression.

Four tried to glance back at him, but his eyes still hurt from the little light seeping through the canopy of the trees looming above them.

Concussion?

Maybe.

“What are you doing, Red?” Blue asked as he and Vio watched their counterpart crouch down and take a closer look at something.

“Ha!” Red suddenly cheered, and Four flinched when he felt a sharp prick in his back. “Look at this!”

Blue and Vio immediately crowded around Four.

“Can you not swamp me?” Four grumbled, shifting so he could stand also. Vio gave him a hand, which he gladly took. Instead of allowing Four to stand on his own, however, Vio tugged him close and had him lean against him.

Four supposed it made sense. The ground would often swap places with the sky. Or was it the other way around? He couldn’t tell.

That was a bad sign...wasn’t it?

Blue and Vio peered closer at the object Red held carefully in his hands whilst Four tried his best to focus his whirling vision. Vertigo was such a terrible thing.

From what he could see, it was a thin crystal dart, with ominous, glowing markings coiling around it. Tendrils of mist enshrouded it, finger-like slivers lashing out menacingly.

“That’s what hit us?” Blue questioned, quirking an eyebrow. He looked vaguely unimpressed.

Vio frowned, “I don’t recognize it or the markings.”

That wasn’t exactly what the others wanted to hear. For Vio not to know something spelled trouble for them.

“Great...So, because that-” Four gestured to the dart, “- hit me, we were split apart. Have we tried merging?”

He received three negative responses.

“Let’s give that a shot then. I’d rather not explain why there are four of us.” Four said, and the others agreed. Red, Blue, Green, and Vio unsheathed their blades and lifted them high in the air, crying out in unison.

Nothing.

Red lowered his Four Sword, the others following his lead. They stared at the blade, confounded.

“It...didn’t work?”

“Was that a question or a statement?” Came Vio’s deadpan inquiry. Blue shot him a nasty look but refrained from snapping back.

“Again,” Red firmly said, and they lifted the Four Sword into the air once more.

No light. No dull thrum. No nothing.

“Why isn’t it working?” Four wondered aloud, glancing towards Vio in the hopes that the purple-clad Hero might have an answer.

Vio could only shrug, just as bemused. “I have no idea, but I have an inkling that it has something to do with that dart. If I took a closer look at it, I might be able to find something.”

Red happily handed it to him, shuddering once he’d gotten rid of it. The black, crystal, dart had given him the chills and he didn’t want to hold onto it longer than he had to.

Vio quickly slipped it into his pouch. Clearly, he wanted little to do with it too. Risking exposure to it was not exactly at the top of his list at the moment.

“There’s another thing,” Blue spoke up again, breaking the silence that had fallen between them. Four glanced in the general direction of his voice, squinting when all he saw was a blue blob standing across from him, flanked by a red one.

“I’m not going to like this, am I?”

“Well...have you taken a good look around us?” Blue asked him, motioning with his hands to the surrounding forest.

“Oh yeah,” Red murmured, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, “I’d forgotten about that.”

“About what?” Four inquired, glancing away from Red, Vio, and Blue to see what was amiss. It took him a bit since his vision was still horrifically blurred, but one he managed to focus, the Hero had to take a double take. “What is this?!” He exclaimed, startling his companions.

“Did we shrink or did everything get bigger?” Four asked, staring in disbelief at the gigantic plants and ginormous trees that practically dwarfed them. The sheer size of everything was rather intimidating to him now. Even the blades of grass were taller than they were! The pleasant flowers drooped ominously above them, droplets of dew slipping from the petals and soaking in the dirt.

One plopped onto Red, and the poor Hero’s head and shoulders were drenched. He blinked his eyes clear of the water, brushing the bangs now clinging to his forehead aside.

“Isn’t that the same thing?” Red whispered to Blue as he took off his hat and wrung it. Vio face-palmed.

“We shrunk.” Blue answered bluntly.

“We’re currently Minish-sized.” Vio helpfully supplied in a factual manner. Four could not believe it.

“How could this have happened?”

“We don’t know,” Red replaced his hat on his head then fiddled with his hands, “When we split, we were too preoccupied with ensuring you were okay before realizing we’d separated and shrunk.”

Four’s expression went flat.

“Wonderful...” He muttered under his breath, crossing his arms with a displeased frown, “If I don’t get back to camp soon, they’ll all come looking for me.”

Who knew how long he’d been out? How long would it be until someone came searching for him?

“Oh no!”

Four’s head snapped up again at the abrupt exclamation and he staggered backwards when the world suddenly went berserk. His balance no longer appeared to exist as his knees gaze out beneath him. Vio caught hold of his tunic and dragged him forward, keeping a strong grasp on him to prevent him from falling again.

“Quit that!” He hissed to Four when Red slapped his hands to his cheeks. Blue immediately went for his blade,

“What? What is it?” He demanded, turning his head every-which-way in search for whatever danger he thought Red had seen.

Goddess knows mice were quite the pests when they were this tiny.

Red waved his hands frantically in the air, an apologetic look on his face, “Sorry, sorry, didn’t mean to startle you! It’s just, I realized, they’re going to send Twilight to find us. He is a wolf after all.”

“He’s right.” Vio calmly agreed, inclining his head. Four cringed.

“Fabulous,” Blue muttered with a roll of his eyes. They couldn’t agree more.

“So...” Red started to say, elongating the vowel as his gaze darted between Green, Vio, and Blue, “What do we do?”

“Is there really anything we can do?” Four asked in return, dragging a hand down his weary face.

“Hope that no one finds us?” Blue sarcastically suggested.

“Improbable.” Vio asserted.

“Nobody asked you!”

“Nobody asked anyone.”

Four withheld the urge to sigh. His head still protested against the noise, the blacksmith occupying it making himself known more and more.

“Please stop,” Four pleaded. He rubbed at his temples, pained, “I can’t deal with this right now.”

Surprisingly, Blue and Vio instantly quieted and Red gripped his arm in concern.

“Your head still hurts?”

Four grunted in acknowledgement, eyes squeezed shut, “Terribly. And my whole body aches.”

Blue, Red, and Vio shared another look.

“You don’t think it was poisoned, do you?” Blue slowly asked. Red’s eyes grew wide in horror. He rounded on Vio,

“Please say it wasn’t!”

Vio’s frown steepened as he peeked into his pouch, eyeing the dart with analytical eyes.

How was he to know? He didn’t recognize the magic or the markings. He had no clue what it had inflicted on Four. This mysterious ailment was unfamiliar to him and Vio hated it.

He hated not knowing things because it always led to trouble like this. Yes, he was knowledgeable and well-read, but Vio still had a great deal to learn.

“I don’t know.” He sighed, snapping his pack shut in frustration, “I can’t tell. It could be a side-effect of whatever magic is bound to it.” He didn’t dare touch it to find out. He tightened his grip on Four when the Hero slumped further against him.

Vio grew more troubled. Green wasn’t looking at all good. He was sweating and growing weaker by the second.

He wracked his brain for any helpful information, only to come up empty-handed. He knew practically nothing of what could possibly be ailing him.

“It’s not Shadow Magic, that’s for sure,” Red murmured, watching Four closely. Green was starting to resemble a ghost with how pale he was getting and a glazed look was beginning to enter his eyes. “Why don’t you sit down, Green?” He suggested, gently tugging Four from Vio’s grasp and making sure Four did as he said. “You don’t look too great.”

Four was all too happy to oblige. He seated himself on a large twig, folding his arms on his knees and leaning forward until his head was pillowed on them.

His mind was beginning to spin, his head suddenly light, and body ready to faint. There was a distant ringing in his ears that told Four that if he made any sudden move, he might just black out.

He groaned in distress.

He waited for the dizziness to settle before risking sitting up, only to cover his face with his hands when the light mercilessly stabbed at his eyes and made the sensations increasingly worse.

He felt downright awful!

His hands were immediately pulled away from his face, and Blue pressed the back of his hand to Green’s forehead.

“He is a little warm, but not too warm.”

Four weakly battered him away.

“I’m fine,” He stubbornly claimed. It was useless to try and convince them, he knew. They knew better than to believe him.

“He used the ‘f’ word,” Red accused, jabbing a finger towards Four. Blue shook his head at him, disappointed.

“You should know better, Green.”

Four almost groaned again. He had used the forbidden word and would now reap the consequences of doing so. Why, oh, why had he done that? It had slipped out almost instinctively from him! He hadn’t even thought of the words before they were uttered aloud!

Vio rolled his eyes at Red and Blue, veiling his own concern for their ailing friend, “He’s ill. Give him a break.”

“Thank you.”

Vio accepted his gratitude with a curt nod.

“Anyway, we need to find our way back to camp.” The purple-clad Hero added, crossing his arms once more. “Anyone remember where it is?”

Red and Blue pointed in different directions,

“North.” “West.”

They looked at each other incredulously while Vio dropped his head into his hand.

Hopeless! They were completely hopeless!

“West?!”

“It wasn’t North!”

Blue planted his fists on his hips, leaning towards Red with a scowl, “How would you know?!” Red puffed up his cheeks, shooting back just as fiercely, “Well, how would you know?!”

Four curled into himself, cradling his head. He felt horribly wretched!

Red immediately stopped arguing with Blue and hurried to his side. Gently placing a hand onto Four’s shoulder, he softly asked,

“Green, you okay?”

“He’s anything but okay.” Blue answered for Four, worry creasing his brow. “We need to get moving.” He approached the ill Hero and helped him stand. Four sagged heavily against him.

He was suddenly bone-tired and exhausted. All he wanted to do was rest, but Four knew better than to give in to the urge of closing his eyes. He might never open them again.

They had no idea what he’d been hit by, or what magic was bound to the dart. If there was a chance that it was poisoned, he couldn’t risk sleeping.

“Here, Green,” A red blob suddenly appeared in front of Four’s face. The Hero blinked owlishly, striving to clear his hazy vision. “It’s a Red Potion.” Red identified. Vio took it from Red’s hold and uncorked it, proffering the bottle to Four.

Four reached for it, only for his hand to miss by several inches. Red, Blue, and Vio’s concern skyrocketed.

He tried again, confused as to how he could miss it when it was only a few inches away.

He grasped nothing but air.

Red took the potion back from Vio and Blue gripped Four’s hands, guiding them to the bottle. Once he grasped it, Four closed his hands around it and with Vio’s guidance, brought it to his lips for a sip.

Immediately, his face drained of color and Four shoved it back into Vio’s hands, scrambling to the side. He collapsed against the twig, leaning over it as he expelled the contents of his stomach. Red rushed forward, quickly collecting Four’s hair and holding it out of his face as he gasped and heaved and wretched.

He ended up having to keep Four from falling face-forward onto the ground. The green-clad Hero didn’t appear to be capable of holding himself up on his own.

Fear crept into Red’s heart. Blue and Vio were also beginning to grow afraid. Four was losing his strength at an alarming rate. His eyes fluttered as he fought to keep them open and his head bobbed weakly.

“His stomach rejected the Red Potion?” Four faintly heard Blue shrilly say, unbridled worry seeping into his tone.

“He needs to drink it again.”

Was it Four’s imagination, or did Vio’s voice waver in uncertainty and concern?

Red nervously looked up, “Can he handle it, Vio?”

Vio swallowed back his own concerns, fighting to remain calm and level-headed. He knew Red and Blue needed for him to be strong and stable when they couldn’t be.

“He’ll have to. He didn’t have time to digest it.”

Red was hesitant to, but the health of his friends was more important to him than his own worries. He brushed his anxiousness aside for now and helped Four take another sip when he’d recovered.

“Sorry, Green,” Red whispered, patting his friend’s back and rubbing soothing circles when Four gagged again. Words tumbled from Red in a panicked jumble, “You can’t throw it up! You gotta swallow it, Green! No no no! Keep it in!”

Easier said than done!

Four tried.

He really did.

It was a valiant effort, but his stomach churned and coiled, and Four knew it was a losing battle. The nauseousness overwhelmed him.

The Red potion spewed back out.

A grimace crossed his pained features. Red tugged his hair back and Four felt a new pair of hands settle on his shoulders.

“Again,”

He would have cursed Vio then had he not known they were doing it for his own good.

Blue moved around them to crouch down in front of Four. In his hands was the remainder of the Red Potion. There was so little left...

Blue looked sternly to Four, though none of them missed the worry shimmering in those eyes,

“Now, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t ruin my tunic, alright, Green? Because I swear, if you do, this poison will be the least of your worries.”

Four managed to muster a weak grin. He curled an arm around his protesting stomach.

“I’ll apologize...beforehand...” He weakly rasped as the urge to gag grew stronger.

“Don’t you even think about it, Green,” Blue warned, pressing the rim of the bottle to his lips. Four forced himself to swallow.

He half-expected his stomach to rebel again, but it didn’t. It took a few minutes, but to his relief, the potion soon began to work its magic. His headache subsided and the aching lessened to a more tolerable level. He relaxed and dropped his head, grateful that Red had kept a potion handy.

“How’re you feeling?” Blue asked, leaning into Four’s line of vision. The Hero wearily nodded.

“Better.” He breathed out.

Red gave an audible sigh of relief, shoulders slumping. “Oh, good! We need to start moving. You gonna be okay?” He asked, curling Four’s arm around his shoulders and wrapping his own around the green-clad Hero’s waist.

Four nodded, and with Red and Vio’s help, stood up. He was wobbly at best, but Four forced himself to remain upright.

“By the way,” He started to add, looking between Red and Blue with a smirk, “The camp’s to the east.”

#Linked Universe #linkeduniverse #Legend of Zelda #Fanfic #Beware #Minish-sized Links

230 notes · View notes

things-we-used-tc-share · 5 years

Text

Manifestor // 23

Plot: Set in a world where Witchcraft is real, and the government hunts down those who practice magic, Thomas must flee to an underground safehouse after being discovered. Now fighting a war against Witches who seek the end of non-magic people, Thomas must learn to control and harvest his powers, as well as the manifestation of his sides to bring about peace and unity in the Human and Witch world. (Nanowrimo 2018)

–

The hall was crowded now, everyone prepared and ready almost like they were troops in line for war. Some people had specific partners, some people grouped by element. The strongest, elders and best trained stood in front with looks of unease whilst the younger ones stood by groups with expressions that said they were not afraid to die tonight. Some part of Thomas wants to tell them to run, that they shouldn’t have to fight, and that they were too young to be doing this; but much like Dan and Phil and Jack and Atticus, even given the choice he doesn’t think they would run.

He gets the feeling they’ve already been given the chance.

Atticus stood beside him to his right, his hand intertwined with his own with an expression of defiance written all over his solemn face. On his left was Jack, whose face was set between fear and excitement, adrenaline so clearly already pumping through his veins and some part of the American knows his friend enjoys this just a little, the danger, the fear, the act of feeling useful in a battle that shouldn’t truly exist. It’s written into their genes that they are natural fighters, it’s why they have a class just for it, but that doesn’t mean all of them quite enjoy that.

Next to Jack were Dan and Phil, clutching hands so tightly their knuckles were turning white. They too were looking scared and not much else but he knew it wasn’t for themselves, but for each other. They were soulmates to some extent, they had only had each other for years and tonight could stand to change everything for them, but they had nowhere to run or hide, only stand and fight and hope to any living god out there in the vast expanse of the universe, that they’d both come out of it together.

Dodie and Lucia were at the back, with Lucia acting as a defense so that Dodie and another young healer, whose name Thomas didn’t know, could deal with the casualties. Everyone was either talking with each other in hushed tones or preparing for a battle in their own ways, conjuring small elements and making them disappear like an actor going over their roles before a show.

Everyone here was just as nervous as the other and Thomas can feel his hands shaking. He turns to look at Atticus, with his breath heavy and his eyes focused, full of fear “I love you,” He says with brave certainty, his hands clasping the other’s and holding them firmly to his chest with a hold that begged the other never to let go. “If it’s the last and only chance I might get to say that, I love you, and I need you to know that,” He feels like his soul is slipping through his fingertips for a moment, seeping into the other man’s grip as Atticus gives a watery smile.

“I love you too Thomas, and I’ll always be here,” he moves his hand to place over Thomas’ chest, where he thinks his heart might be. “Always,” Thomas’ hand comes to the back of the other’s head, playing with the hair at the nape of it before bringing his lover into a warm kiss full of gentleness and warmth.

‘It’s going to be okay, Thomas,’ he hears at the back of his head, identifying the voices as they spoke in unison, even Logan’s voice had become softer, more afraid as if the logical side was even able to experience such a thing. The interesting thing was however that he may be so very afraid, and yet Virgil sounded quiet, he felt calm and collected and ready, accepting how the next few hours of their lives may pan out. Perhaps his Anxiety knew something that he did not as his nervous energy fell away to be replaced by hungry adrenaline. ‘Are you ready Thomas?’ he knows this as Roman, whose voice sounds firm and brave and ready.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Thomas replies with a firm smile. In his hands an object slowly appeared, manifesting from what was once his subconscious. Roman’s sword. A smile breaks over his face as he holds it in his hand and standing back from Atticus a little as the other man reaches out to touch the hilt, he held it up to the light and as the light hit the blade, a scatter of colors wove through it, from purple to turquoise, to blue and finally settling on red. His sides were with him now in a physical presence and Roman wanted him to know that.

Logan appears beside him with no summons, startling the two of them. “Just me,” He says defensively, holding up his hands “Objects can be enchanted to harness some of your power, kind of like a database storing residual energy, it should lessen the chances of burnout and should you need to use a lot of energy at once you can use the sword to direct your attack, you will have to focus and imagine little pieces of your energy falling into it, but otherwise I just wanted to say…uh…good luck, from all of us, we believe in you Thomas, and you too Atticus,” Thomas nods and squeezes Logan’s shoulder.

“Thank you, Logan,” The logical side nods with a taught and strained smile before he is gone, leaving the two alone in a room full of people. “Good luck Atticus,” The American says gently to his boyfriend “Try and stay with me so I know you’re here, yeah?” Looking around at the many people here that could prove to be a very difficult task, but at the very least it was something they should try to do. Atticus nods, but no words fall from his mouth as they’re interrupted.

“Are you guys ready?” Joan pops up beside them “Now’s probably not the time but you two are really cute and I needed some happiness in my cold, dark heart,” They snort “That’s not why I came over though, it’s soon, if I were you I’d start seriously preparing yourself, get your attack plans sorted, your lives depend on it,” They meet Thomas’ eyes “And good luck, try not to get me killed again,” There’s a smile on their face but they can both see the fear underneath it.

“Are you ready?” Thomas asks Atticus, his hands reaching for theirs, firmly it is accepted and their fingers intertwine.

“Yeah, I’m ready,”

The doors pound, the walls each bouncing the sounds off of them as the noise of static fills their ears. There’s the sound of heavy footfall, of shouting as everyone finds their place on the frontline, preparing with powers, weapons, shields. There was not a single person stood still as they all crowded around the room, sealing every entrance with their own will and determination, ready for the attack.

The first sound of the door breaking down startles everyone, but no one diverts their gaze from where it should be. Fire blazes and the heat that radiates off of it fills the room, curled only by a whirl of air fanning and taming the flames. Thomas can hear screaming, he can hear shouting, he can hear fighting but his gaze is not diverted, there’s a plan and he must stick to it. They have to clear out the first wave before they can scatter.

The next door to come down is the one that Thomas’ helping defend, his hands turn cold in seconds as Jack sends fire pouring and the other man helps control the flame with air, directing it to a concentrated push before using it to fan the flames into a wall of heat that engulfed the attackers. Screams filled Thomas’ ears but his heart is already pounding too loud for him to properly hear. Atticus puts out the fire when none of them are left standing before Thomas calls out “Go!” The three of them, followed by Dan and Phil and hoard of people charge through, now in the tunnels, it would be easier to take them out but it would also be easier for them to be attacked.

Thomas and Jack take the lead with Atticus just behind them and Dan and Phil behind him, whilst a scattering of people joined them in nervous chatter. “Does everyone know where they’re supposed to go and be?” The American calls out over his shoulder, to be met with a chorus of affirmation. “Alright then, split,” As they reach the intersection of the tunnel people began to head off in their direction Dan and Phil hang back for a second. “Good luck guys,”

“You too,”

Jack, Thomas, and Atticus stood alone at the intersection, each facing a different way as they prepared for the worst. Jack watches Dan and Phil’s retreating figures with nervousness, they were his friends after all and the panic at the thought of them all being split up left a trace of anxiety on his heart. “Are you two doing okay?” He asks in a shaky whisper, anything to distract from the growing pit of doubt in his stomach.

“Yeah,” Thomas replies, but his face looks exactly how Jack is currently feeling and all he can see is the back of Atticus’ head, from the lack of response the Irishman could only assume he didn’t have the same amount of energy to lie in his current state as Thomas did. There’s a déjà vu to this situation; he and Thomas stood in clouded halls, the echoing sounds of screaming climbing up to where they stand. He remembers the smell of sulfur, the charred ground the cracked walls and the sight of dead bodies lying on the floor, bodies of the people whose names he’d known and faces he’d seen pass him on a day to day basis. This was going to happen again now; he was going to have to haul dead bodies into a room for the third time after all this.

Noise distracts him and his hands are suddenly on fire again, whilst Thomas had the slights of leaves curling around his arms. There’s two coming from each direction, but all of them are prepared. A wall of water floods Atticus’ tunnel, stilling and suffocating its occupants in a quick, clean and swift movement. On Thomas side the tunnels seemed to grow thick trees from its midst, entangling the advancing witches and snapping their bones in a series of sickening crunches, whereas Jack’s tunnel had become a picture of hell, a twist of flames had killed the intruders before a single scream had even emitted from their mouth. He can see a twist in the other’s expressions, looking pained, sick.

It was us or them, is repeated in their heads. It’s repeated as a rhythm builds and there’s now a small pile of bodies building; Atticus looks pale as he turns to face the two of them, like the souls he’d just killed now lived in his heart and he had to carry them forever. He turns back, his attention focused on the tunnel, despite everything this still felt wrong to him, despite the fact he is under attack his morality is not something separate like it is with Jack or Thomas, it’s ingrained in his heart and it can’t tell him itself that what he’s doing is okay.

The next lot of witches seemed to have learned from their predecessors as they step forward and attack before they get the chance, fighting against them was more taxing than just killing them as Jack’s fire rages against pooling water and Atticus’ water pushed against fierce bouts of fire. Thomas’ firm branches and climbing ivy attacks were being pushed backward by the strongest winds he’d ever felt. Attack after attack came and their defenses were only met by firmer attacks. Jack is the first to push forward, the energy crawling through him as one foot stepped in front of the other, pushing back at the water until it has been engulfed, and with it, the Witches hosting the power. He immediately turns to help the others, tunneling water with fire to push back at the fire attacks Atticus was receiving.

This left his entire tunnel unguarded, however, a precedent that was perhaps predicted as he and Atticus are both grabbed from behind and suddenly they were gone. Thomas whipped around at the sounds of their cries, before his attack is doubled in rage, hurling fire down both ends until the people down them are nothing but charred bones and ash. Immediately he takes off down the tunnel that the two had disappeared down, his sword drawn and burning in his hands as he takes on each and every attack, slicing through opponents as the only predominant thing he feels is a sheer rage.

There’s a new voice in his head.

It sounds like hot coals in a fire, echoing like Virgil’s does when he’s upset or panicking, it’s loud and overwhelming and fuels his anger further and further as every single Witch that stands to confront him lasts less than a second. This was not Thomas anymore, this was fury. Fury at his friends being taken from him, fury at the mere idea they were only in danger because of him in the first place and fury because nobody touches his best friends and lives.

The corridor opens up to a room, he’s silhouetted against the door with piles of bodies trailed behind him in a massacre much greater than the confines of his flesh and bones. Perhaps he has his own Anti, and this right here was him.

In the room stood what could have been a man. His eyes are black, skin pale and teeth like needles, carved into sharp points so that when this creature smiled all that was seen was a row of thorns protruding from gums. The skin around his eyes was purple, the rest so pale he could’ve been carved from marble and he stands still, very still, a predator seconds away from hunting his prey.

Cloaked in black, like an old story of Witches would portray, a single pendant hung from around his neck, his eyes roll and turn white. Thomas’s bones shudder at the sight and his stomach clenches in protest to the sight. “Thomas Sanders,” He steps forward “Now when I studied the prophecy, I wasn’t expecting someone so young to step into my midst, to challenge me and defeat me, but I also don’t believe in prophecies, I do believe however that you have two choices,” He hears muffled shouting, voices he recognizes as Jack and Atticus calling, he steps forward, his sword pointing at the other. “You can come with us, join us, or you can fight me and die, and with you so will your little friends,” Thomas doesn’t believe in prophecies either, but he does believe in people, he believes in Joan and Jack and Atticus and Dan and Phil, and when they said that he could do this, he believed them.

Right now, he needs to believe that more than ever.

He hurls his first attack, fire, in the form of a boiling ball aimed straight at the other’s chest, but it freezes and turns to air before it makes its target, he sends more flying but it is met with the same resistance. Frustrated, he builds a hurricane in his hand and sends it curling toward his opponent, but it dies halfway in collision with one on his path.

The two encircle each other, engaging in a dance of to and from, attacks of different elements fire across the room in a heated ablaze. One man with everything to lose suddenly feels the anger spike up again. He thinks of Atticus, of his eyes, soft and warm, looking up at him with a sea of emotion that he could dive right into; he imagines his hands holding his own and his lips curled into a smile and then he imagines all that ripped away from him. The sword.

His body vibrates with energy as he attacks again, rebutted each and every time, his defense becomes stronger with every deflection. The two were going to be at a stalemate for a while. But he has one thing that this creature does not have and will never have, one thing that is more powerful of a catalyst for his magic than anything in the world. He has love. And right now his love was his fury, his sadness, his turmoil, and his calm building into a hurricane of energy that with every attack as growing stronger and slipping into his sword to a point where the colors glowed in the dim light of the room. The creature looks confused as he continues attacking and deflecting and that confusion was the only weakness he needed him to show.

“Ever heard of the sword in the stone?” Thomas asks a smirk on his lips as Fury grins. “Have fun digging this one out,” He slams the sword into the ground and all the lights go out as the surface cracks underneath it. Like a storm is in the room, all four elements combined in a deadly attack spun from it and Thomas launched himself out of the room as the screams of the Witch echoed behind him.

As he pulls himself into the corridor through the opposing door from that in which he entered the room through, he sees two more Witches, but they’re not moving, they’re standing still and unsure, looking at Thomas and into the room behind him. “You…you did it?” Jack asks, his voice sounding no louder than a mere whisper, his eyes are wide in shock and his lips hang parted as he stumbles over his word “Prophecy or not Thomas you’re…one hell of a man,” He yanks the other into a hug and Atticus stumbles to join them. The storm dies down in the room behind them and there’s one immobile creature on the floor.

Thomas turns to enter the room again, pulling the sword from the ground, walking over to the creature; he prods it a few times before turning it over to look at the gaunt face devoid of light. Well, that was nightmare fuel for the next few months. “Yeah…I guess I did, was this like their leader or something?”

“Yeah, High Priest I think they call them, this was their leader, famously known as the most powerful witch on this planet and you killed him,” Jack is looking pale and Thomas suddenly feels exhausted. “You need to rest, let’s get you back to the hall,”

“What about…them,”

The two Witches that had been stood into the corridor had now fallen to their knees, looking up at Thomas. “I’ll take care of them, Atticus you help Thomas down to the hall and I’ll join you in a few seconds,” He hears a slight crack and a static sound that sounds like a Glitch trying to break through a system. Thomas nods in understanding, knowing that in a few moments it won’t be Jack they’re talking too.

Atticus and Thomas head towards the hall, with the American becoming more and more tired by the minute, his feet drag against the ground and his weight falls on the other boy causing him to stumble. When they reach it however they’re met with quite the scene, expecting tears and anguish over the mourning and loss of loved ones there was a celebration, Sophie comes running up to the two and bowls Thomas into a hug, causing him to almost fall. “You did it, you did it, no casualties Thomas, none at all, we easily overwhelmed them, everyone is safe,” His eyes begin to water and he looks around, looking for distinctively familiar faces. “For once, just this once, everybody lives,”

He finds them in the hospital beds, of course. Dan’s very much broken his arm and Phil has a few burns but otherwise they’re both entirely fine, they’re smiling “Thomas Sanders I could fucking kiss you right now,” Dan exclaims, practically drinking the medication from the bottle as Dodie tries hard to snatch it away from him over exclamations “You did it,”

“What happened to the Witches you were fighting?” He asks, sitting down on the bed next to them as Atticus leaned his head against his shoulder. “And how did you break your arm again?” Phil looks exhausted, with a smile of fondness on his lips as he stared at the other British man.

“Well we slaughtered a good few,” Dan supplies with a shrug “We had a good teacher I guess,” Thomas blushes just a little “Suddenly they all just stopped, like a hive mind it was weird, they stopped fighting and fell to their knees and then we just took care of them whilst we could,” He yawns “I need some sleep, I think we all do, but first I need my arm fixing wait…where’s Jack?” Thomas blinks for a moment, looking around, he couldn’t see the Irishman in the mix of people and he had said he’d be here in a few seconds.

But he was so very tired.

“I’m not sure,” he replies, eyelids heavy as he lies down “He’ll be here soon I’m sure,” And despite all the noise and Virgil screaming for him to wake up, he falls straight to sleep.

When he wakes up things are a little quieter, some people stood around talking and Dan and Phil had gone, assumedly to bed, Atticus sat on a chair next to him talking to Dodie, he sits up, there’s still no sign of Jack. Anxiety tightens in his chest and he sits up straight, eyes darting around, his breath falls short for a moment. Maybe he just went to bed? He looks at Atticus, whose eyebrows are furrowed. “Are you okay?�� He asks, standing up to comfort the other.

“Where’s Jack?” Are the first words that fall from his mouth, but the confusion on the other’s face only deepens, he looks at Dodie who blinks and looks around the room, as if trying to recall some information. “Have you guys seen him? Has he come back yet?”

“I…uh…Thomas, I think you need to lie down,” Atticus says, putting a hand on his boyfriend’s chest, only to have it pushed away, there’s a frantic look on Thomas’ face.

“No, I don’t, where is he? I need to go and find him,” Dodie lays a calming hand on his shoulder but it doesn’t work, it won’t work, not when he’s so desperate to find his friend, he slides off the bed and looks around the room, feeling his chest constrict. “Atticus, have you seen him?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know what you mean Thomas,” The silence is suddenly a deafening noise, the world around his seems to stop making any form of sense, no sounds, no touch, nothing as Atticus words fall onto his chest “I don’t know a Jack,” He steps back, shaking his head. Dodie gives a small and comforting smile, but it only makes him feel worse. Surely they remember Jack? Who could forget him? He turns and he runs, heading back to the room he had fought the Witch in, it’s empty except for the dead bodies, for a moment.

“Jack?” There’s a glitching noise “No not you, you’re not who I fucking want to…” He turns around and Anti melts into the man he wants to see “Why don’t they remember you?” He steps forward and Jack gives a small smile, leaning against the wall, it’s a tight smile and there’s tears welling in his eyes “Jack what’s happening please talk to me,”

“Because I wanted them to forget, I wanted you to forget too, but it was somehow harder to let you go,” The man steps forward “I don’t have long left,” He says in a simple tone and he sits down on the floor, watching fire bounce over his fingertips in reminiscent of all the times they’d trained together. “Pretty soon I’m not going to be me anymore Thomas, I’m going to be him, he’s eating me apart from the inside, killing me, I asked him to make you all forget if there’s anything he’ll do to me and he might hate me but there’s nothing he has against you, so he did it, except when he got to you he said your mind was too strong, that you were rejecting the glitch that he was trying to put in your brain,”

Thomas is crying, no, he’s sobbing as he falls to his knees beside his best friend “You need to let him Thomas, it will take all this away it will make you feel better, not many people have this chance,” He brings him into a hug, as he rests his head on Jack’s shoulder. “I love you kid, you were the best friend I ever had, but I’m dying, and you’ve known for a while, I know you’ve known, and now it’s time to face the truth, let me make it easier,” Thomas relaxes against his friend’s shoulder, softening against him. “Goodbye Thomas,”

“I love you, Jack,”

Then the world shifts for a second, he’s alone in a room and for the life of him, he can’t remember how he got there.

Ko-Fi

1 note · View note

heckin-good-holland-blog · 6 years

Text

Opposites Attract Part II

Warnings: Language + a little violence

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader

Genre: Angst + fluff

Word Count: 1.8k

You can find part one here as well as my masterlist

A/N - Thank you for being patient with me!! The past few weeks have been totally crazy, but I’m doing my best to keep this updated!! I very much appreciate your feedback and as always thanks for reading :)

Working 8 hour shifts at the sandwich shop just wasn’t doing it for you. Mr. Delmar was an angel of a man, but you were getting a bit tired of the relatively low wages and constant smell of deli meats. You hadn’t been out on the streets since your encounter with Spider-Man in an attempt to keep a low profile. You thought that maybe if you went on a bit of a break he’d forget all about you, but you were eyeing some concert tickets and needed some cash fast. It wasn’t every day that Panic! At the Disco came to play a show in your area, and you were determined to see you large-foreheaded hero in person.

You pulled out your temporary burner phone one night after work and made a quick call to your buddy Steven. He was always scheming and loved nothing more than to cause trouble. You knew he wouldn’t be standing idly by on a Friday night, and you wanted in on whatever he was planning. He picked up on the first ring and excitedly informed you that he was going with a few people to rob an ATM. You felt a smirk crossing your face.

“Any chance you need a lookout?” you asked hopefully. “I’ll be the scout. Do you remember that time I distracted that cop for you? I’m a pro, Steve. You gotta let me in.”

“No problem here,” he replied. “I gotta warn you though, these guys are pretty intense. You sure you want to be mixed up in that?”

“Trust me, I can handle it,” you huffed. “Send me the details and I’m there. I owe you for this!” You hung up and stuffed your phone into your backpack. You needed to change into something else so that you wouldn’t be recognized, so you pulled out a massive black hoodie from your bag. You yanked it over your head and put on your mask. You went on your way, speed walking with your head down through alleyways to reach the address that Steven had texted you.

One look at the crowd gathered outside the ATM was enough to cause a wave of panic to wash over you. While normally you insisted that you were tough enough to handle things, it was possible that you had gotten in over your head. You recognized these men as wanted criminals, and you were certain that they hadn’t served jail time for little things like jaywalking or shoplifting. You tried to ignore the lump in your throat as you approached them.

“What’s the kid doing here?” asked one of the taller guys in a deep voice. “Please tell me they’re not a snitch.”

“No way, this is Y/N,” Steven announced proudly. “You know, the one I’ve been telling you about. Anyway, don’t worry. They’re just doing lookout stuff so you won’t have anything in your way.”

“Let’s get this thing done,” someone said.

“I-I have a request,” you said when you finally found your voice. “I call for an even split of the money.” There was some grumbling amongst them, but eventually your demand was accepted. You grinned and saluted them before going off to climb up to the roof. You didn’t know what it was about rooftops, but you absolutely loved them. They made you feel more secure and the higher vantage point allowed you to just take in so much more. You crouched beside the ledge and pulled a pair of binoculars out of your bag. You took your job as lookout very seriously, especially because you knew what these people would do to you if you weren’t able to keep them protected. When it came down to it, your life was really in their hands.

Everything was going smoothly up until you saw a flash of red in the distance. You didn’t even need your binoculars to tell what was about to go down.

“Shit,” you mumbled and lifted your phone to speak into the mic. “We’ve got some trouble, boys. I’ll take care of it.” You threw down your backpack and leapt off the roof, landing gracefully on the lid of a dumpster. You ran as fast as you could, looking cautiously around every corner.

“You again?” called a voice from above you. You lifted your head to find Spider-Man staring down at you from a fire escape.

“I could say the same to you,” you shouted back. “You seem to have recovered well. Your suit seems nice and clean. It’s just going to get dirty again anyway, but I appreciate the effort.” He swung down and landed a few feet in front of you. You could hear your heartbeat pounding away.

“You must really like annoying me. Have you ever thought of pursuing a different career instead? One that’s actually legal? I think Walmart is hiring.” You twirled your knife between your fingers and took a step forward.

“First of all, I know for a fact that they’re not hiring,” you said as you took a swing at him, just narrowly missing. “Second, if I worked at Walmart we wouldn’t be spending quality time together like this.” You ducked to avoid the webs being shot at you.

“Nothing about this time seems like it’s very high quality to me,” Spider-Man replied breathlessly as he blocked another blow from you. This carried on for a few more minutes, but you both were equally matched. It was a bit of a standstill with neither of you making any headway in the fight. Suddenly you both stopped dead in your tracks when you heard a massive explosion over by the ATM.

“Damn,” you said in unison. You turned to look at Spider-Man and he shrugged. You both took off towards the noise, running stupidly through the streets. You pushed yourself to run faster than Spider-Man, but he took notice immediately and picked up the pace even further. By the time you reached the ATM you both were panting pathetically. You made a mental note to start doing more cardio.

“No, no, no,” you mumbled to yourself as you surveyed the carnage of the explosion. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

“What? What’s happening?” Spider-Man demanded in confusion. You looked at him, your mind whirling.

“I can’t believe I’m telling you this,” you sighed. “This is bigger than you or me. Look on the wall, there’s a marking. I recognize it. The guys that were here are working for someone powerful. Someone I never wanted to get involved with. He pretty much rules the streets of New York, and he has eyes everywhere. There’s no way you’re gonna catch him alone, and there’s not a chance of me confronting him by myself.”

“I think we should team up,” he said abruptly. Your eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“Why should I help you?” you asked warily. “You were literally just kicking my ass a few minutes ago. I was winning though, for the record.”

“Look,” Spider-Man said, “I don’t know anything about this. You’re clearly more knowledgeable and you just said that I’ll never catch him on my own. I can’t just let a criminal go free, I need to do something.” You pretended to consider for a moment before violently shaking your head.

“There’s absolutely no way,” you replied flatly. “This is some dark stuff, I’m not getting on his bad side. Nope, you do it on your own.” You turned on your heel to leave, but he called after you.

“Will you at least tell me who it is?” You rolled your eyes and looked back over your shoulder.

“Are you an idiot?” you scoffed. “I thought you were supposed to be a superhero. He’s called Tombstone, he’s basically a mob boss and expert street fighter. He’s involved in some bad stuff, stuff I don’t go near. Good luck.” With that you headed home. You had been through enough for one night, and you were feeling quite the variety of emotions. You were pissed that you didn’t get your money, you felt scared that you may have ended up on Tombstone’s radar, and mostly you were conflicted. Spider-Man’s surprise offer to team up had really caught you off guard. You couldn’t put your finger on it, but there were parts of him that you hated as well as parts that you kind of enjoyed. For one thing, he engaged in banter with you. That was pretty rare. You stared up at your ceiling for hours, your brain spinning with thoughts of your web slinging nemesis and almost-partner. That was crazy, though… Right?

The next morning as you began your shift at Delmar’s you couldn’t keep your mind off of what had transpired the night before. You weren’t used to feeling so unsure about things, and you couldn’t even begin to imagine yourself fighting for justice. Realistically speaking, you would never actually have helped Spider-Man. You had far too many friends and allies in the streets that had practically been second parents to you. It was stupid to have even considered it for a second. You were so distracted that you didn’t even notice Peter standing in front of you waiting to order a sandwich.

“Earth to Y/N?” he said gently. You jumped back, startled. He laughed and you felt your cheeks start to burn. You brushed the hair out of your eyes and shot him an apologetic smile.

“Sorry Peter,” you responded. “I was up late last night and I’m super out of it. What can I get you? The usual?”

“Yes please,” he grinned. “I had a late one as well. Were you working on a term paper too?”

“Something like that,” you said as you assembled his lunch. He smiled and there was an awkward pause. You reached over to give him his sandwich and his hand gently landed on top of your own. He stared at it for a second without pulling away. You could feel the color returning to your face.

“L-Listen,” he stammered. “You’re really cool and we haven’t hung out in a while. As nice as it is to see you here maybe we could, like, go get pizza later? If you’re not busy.” You could hardly contain your grin as you nodded in reply.

“I would love to,” you said. “I get off work at six, do you wanna meet me here?”

“Yes!” he exclaimed loudly. “I mean, yeah that works. I’ll see you at six then!” He turned to leave and you let out a huge sigh of relief and excitement. Was this a date? You usually flirted back and forth when he came in for a sub, but you just assumed that he was being friendly. Your heart was beating so fast that you almost had to sit down.

“Hey wait!” you called just as the door to the shop closed behind Peter. “You forgot to pay for your sandwich!”

Tags - @radicalstars @ketterdame @xfandomimagines @nebulaeofpie @girl-obsessed-with-things @allthingsfandomdudes @amillionfandoms-onlyoneme @aridinosnore @no-good-ideas @ohmystars30 @fangirl1220 @cutie1365 @huggingholland

#finally back with an update #opposites attract #peter parker x reader #peter parker imagine #peter parker fluff #peter parker angst #spiderman x reader #spiderman imagine #spiderman angst #avengers fic #marvel imagines #tom holland imagine #tom holland fluff #tom holland x reader #tom holland angst

53 notes · View notes