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thedo0zyslider · 11 months

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Explosions Across Lifetimes - Chapter Eleven: See You Feels Scary (And Losing You Is Worse) - 7k words

(There was so much i wanted to put in this chapter, but some of t had to be moved to twelve bc it was so long lol)

Jimmy acts on his gut feeling, and finds exactly what he's looking for

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The feeling Jimmy had about his friends' disappearances never went away. In fact, it had increased with every passing second since Fwhip had notified them.

It had been a day of tireless searching, and they’d found absolutely nothing so far. They’d started looking at Rivendell and the Crystal Cliffs, then when nothing was there as they expected, they moved onto the surrounding kingdoms. Now Jimmy was searching the wilderness around his own empire, because even after searching ten whole empires they hadn't found anything.

It felt pointless to Jimmy, searching the swamp, when his head was still screaming at him to go to Mythland, or the Lost Empire instead. He was fairly sure their friends were in one of those two empires, because who else would've kidnapped them really? Who else could've kidnapped two people so seamlessly, without any clues, other than two possessed friends? Who else gained anything from kidnapping Scott other than Xornorth itself?

But the group had agreed to search those two empires tomorrow. The excuses were that it was getting late, or that they didn't have an idea of where Sausage or Joey were at any given moment. Which shouldn't be hard information to get really, in the cod's opinion. That mission was obviously going to be some sort of group effort, and Jimmy still being injured was somehow used as an excuse as well. He wasn’t even that hurt anymore! The Codfather had a slight limp in his injured leg at worst , maybe he was a little clumsy with a sword because Sausage just had to stab his dominant hand. But he could fight just fine, especially if he was with a group.

He’d found that suggestion a little insulting actually, because they'd all seem him fight with worse injuries than a hurting leg before. Jimmy could understand why they would want to be wary though, in case Sausage did try to finish what he stated.

The blonde sighed, calling to his people. He was stopping the search earlier than he was supposed to. It was clear that nothing was in the swamp, and the biome could get quite dangerous at night. Honestly the Codfather didn’t want to go to Mythland and get hurt again, and he also didn't want to risk finding Scott and Gem dead. But that last possibility was growing by the minute, which was a thought Jimmy didn’t like one bit.

Now it was really too late to do anything, and he had to reluctantly call it a night. He did want to just keep going, but he had a strong feeling that Gem would whack him over the head, if he made his sleep schedule even worse for her sake.

Another day passed with nothing, and Jimmy became more sure of his hunch. You couldn't even call it a hunch anymore, because he was dead set on that idea. Gem and Scott had been missing for three days at this point, which was making him even more sure.

By this point every empire had been searched. All of them had been scoured top to bottom, all but Mythland and the Lost Empire of course. Jimmy knew why, they were scared. All eight of them were scared to go and enter the danger zone.

Realistically, they needed to go in there. Because where else would Scott and Gem be? Well, they could be in the nether, but that was supposed to be searched today. They were even going to the End. They were so scared of what might be in front of them they were going the the bloody fucking End , a dimension no one had been in since the demon released, when two whole empires had yet to be searched.

Under normal circumstances, Jimmy supposed the End and Nether were reasonable places to look for two missing rulers. But this wasn't normal circumstances. There was a demon, with two people under their possession. Two people who've shown they're prepared to hurt people.

He'd suggested going to visit Joey first, just so Pearl and Fwhip could put off seeing Sausage for a little longer. He knew Shrub had been dying to try and talk sense into her neighbor as well, and the little gnome had jumped to agree with his idea. But no, the majority vote had said otherwise. They’d risk going there after, because Scott and Gem not being there was a real possibility as well, and they'd be putting themselves in danger for nothing.

Jimmy could tell a few others wanted to agree with him, but they were holding themselves back. Pix and Katherine especially. But those two only excelled at leading when it came to boring stuff, like meetings and diplomacy. They weren’t good at convincing Pearl and Fwhip, too very stubborn people, that maybe Sausage kidnapped his sister and maybe he'd done something worse than that. Jimmy didn’t want to believe it either, but he also had a new scar, hidden right under his Codfather’s head, that proved that option was a very real and likely possibility.

They were stalling, that's what they were doing. They were waiting again, and Jimmy was getting bloody sick of waiting. Because they always waited, all twelve emperors did. That was their whole thing, waiting too long to do anything. That was gonna be the thing that ruined them all one day, that one little flaw, he was sure of it.

They'd hesitated to do much about the demon, because most of them had never seen anything like it before; it was unknown and scary and none of them knew how to tackle it. They'd waited and let Xornorth grow in power until he could free himself. Scott had waited too long to be truthful, which had just dug their collective grave deeper. They hadn’t done anything when Sausage and Joey vanished, hadn’t tried to help them, just waited for them to come back demon possessed. Jimmy’s earliest memory was waiting, waiting for Lizzie to return to the sea. He and Fwhip had waited, waited for the worst possible time ever to try and be something more; to get over that stupid rivalry and admit it was getting harder and harder to hate each other. There were probably a handful of other examples he couldn’t remember at the moment or was even aware of. So yeah , Jimmy was more than a little tired of waiting.

By the time he thought this it was already past midday, and sadly the world didn't stop turning when bad things happened. He was busy, he had things to do. So he'd wait until tomorrow morning, when he knew he was free, and then he'd do something. He'd do what no one else was doing and run into the danger zone.

He could handle waiting just a few more hours. Probably.

After the past two days of nothing, Gem and Scott had been kidnapped for four whole days so far. Any longer and it would be a week before they knew it. Jimmy didn’t know what the hell his two friends were going through right now, but any guesses he had weren't good ones. Those guesses made him more anxious, more antsy, more convinced he should do something sooner rather than later; by himself if he had to.

Day two of nothing was also the day after he'd said he'd do something the next morning. And well, it was morning now. He wasn’t busy today. Jimmy suddenly had a decent guess of how his day would go, and it was probably going to be horrible .

The Codfather would tell only one person where exactly he was going, just in case he didn't come back. It took a few minutes of searching, minutes he shouldn't have time to waste, before he found his favorite member of the Cod Council.

He waved Caleb down quickly, and the other was soon walking alongside him. The two men walked towards the more swampy, uninhabited parts of the empire with less buildings, looking as if they were going to try one more fruitless search. Hopefully looking entirely unsuspicious, mainly because Jimmy wasn’t trusting his body language not to betray him. He wasn’t sneaky, or a liar, or very good at hiding his true intentions ever, so he was expecting someone to figure out just what he was planning on doing sooner or later.

They chatted as they walked, engaging in normal, friendly conversation. Though Jimmy did let himself fall more silent the further they got anyway from the main part of the empire. If his friend noticed, or that anything was up, he didn't comment on it. Knowing Caleb, he probably was just giving Jimmy space and letting him set the pace of their conversation, clearly aware of how hard the past few weeks had been on him.

"I'm going to Mythland." Jimmy announced it after a particularly long stretch of comfortable silence. Caleb stopped in his tracks, and openly gaped at the blonde once the words processed in his head.

"Codfa-- Jimmy ," He stated, dropping all the formalities for the first time since he'd been made a Council Member; even despite Jimmy’s insistence that they weren't needed. "That is a horrible idea! What the bloody hell are you thinking?" Caleb hissed, irritated clicks escaping him. The younger cod even grabbed his shoulders, nails digging in slightly and shaking him a little. That made Jimmy blink in momentary surprise. The two were genuine friends, but Caleb was a man of duty and had never quite got over the formal origins of their relationship.

"I know what I'm doing, okay?" Jimmy reassured him, resting a gentle hand on Caleb's arm letting the smaller hold him as much as he needed. "If Sausage finds me, he won't kill me."

"How do you know that?" Caleb's voice became gradually smaller, eyes glazed with poorly disguised worry.

Jimmy just gave a grim smile in return. "Because I'm more useful alive than dead." He said it so casually, and that was a sentence no one should ever have to say ever, let alone like it was normal .

The younger cod was silent for a few painstaking moments, eyes searching Jimmy’s face. He seemed to figure out that no one was talking the Codfather out of this, and would have to suggest some other options instead. “At least let me come with you!” He hissed, gaze hardening as he let go of the blonde’s shoulder. “I know you can still fight, but Sausage will take advantage of your wounds!” Ah, there was that fearless side of him coming out. Caleb’s hands fell to his side, fists tightening as Jimmy firmly shook his head no .

“If I’m being this stupid, I’m not putting anyone else in danger!” He said firmly, trying to keep his face as steady as possible. One part of him, the scared part of him, the one that knew this was stupid and could get him killed , desperately wanted to have some sort of backup. But the rest of him knew he would never stop blaming himself if someone got hurt because of him. Caleb had a good point, a possessed Sausage would absolutely take advantage of those old wounds he’d caused, but this was assuming Sausage was even home . No one could really confirm that, and that man never stayed in one place for long anyways. Jimmy had like, a fifty-fifty chance of running into the guy, which wasn’t good ; but he could work with it.

“If anyone asks, just tell them I’m at Fwhip’s, or looking in the swamps or something.” Jimmy said, giving the younger a pat on his shoulder. Before any more protests could be made he was taking off with his elytra, and flying off towards the dark forest on his border. Despite being several feet up in the air, he could practically hear Caleb’s exasperated sigh from all the way there.

Jimmy had decided to go check Mythland first, mainly because he doubted Joey was a spooky dungeon type of guy. And because trips to Mythland didn’t take long in general, so it wasn’t long before he saw his destination below him. Honestly he was surprised this was going so smoothly thus far, and that he hadn’t been spotted while literally flying . You’d think it would be harder to break into an enemy kingdom. Jimmy landed near the wall Sausage had made, a physical result of all those older feuds of theirs, and hid against it. Quietly as possible, he pulled out his communicator and started to type. He was about to tip off to all his friends that he was being an idiot, but what could they really do? Stop him?

SolidarityGaming: Anyone have a hunch on where Sausage and Joey are right now?

Pixlriffs: Jimmy, why are you asking?

Oh-ho-ho capitalization , Pix was being serious. The Pixandrian was trying to tell him not to do whatever he was going to do, in his own way, and he should know by now that Jimmy was stubborn as hell and that wasn't going to work.

SmallishBeans: jim don't be stupid

SolidarityGaming: that is so rich coming from you mate

SolidarityGaming: im gonna be careful i swear!!! just need to to know

Shubble: no idea about joey but you could probably take him in a fight

Pearlescentmoon: sausage messages me and comes over sometimes still, which are normal other than the evil demon thing

Pearlescentmoon: he said he needed to go get materials for something, so he'll be away for a while.

SolidarityGaming: thanks!

fWhip: if you get hurt again i think im actually going to strangle you

He read the last message a few times, being able to feel Fwhip’s worry through the screen. The blonde typed a few words, hoping to be reassuring. Something stupid like that he'd be fine, he could handle himself. Jimmy just deletes it after a minute, deciding it wouldn't do anything to stop his partner's worrying. He shoved his communicator back into his pocket and managed his way over the wall.

He kept to the outskirts of Mythland, not wanting to risk being caught. But he did beeline for one building in particular, one that had an ominous air surrounding it. The people, from what he could observe from the side, also generally seemed to be avoiding the building, and it gave Jimmy a sinking feeling in his gut. The thing was also built to kinda look like a dungeon, which seemed like a Sausage thing to do. If he was gonna have a cell of some kind he'd make it as, like…dungeony as possible.

He slowly made his way to the large wooden door, finding that his hands shook a little when he reached out to clasp the door knob. Jimmy took a deep breath, hand lingering on the doorknob still. He mentally prepared himself a little, then quietly turned the knob and opened the door.

The Codfather walked in slightly, and found himself in a dungeon just as he'd expected. It felt damp, there was a light scent of blood in the air, and it was extremely clear the room had been used fairly recently. Jimmy was pretty sure by now that he'd just hit the jackpot, and that his strange intuition had been right all along. Though that thought just made him more mad they’d held off for two days, but he could focus on that later. For now he took a few more into the room, shutting the door softly behind him. From here he could see metal bears, and what looked like a figure in it.

“ Gem? Scott? ” Jimmy hissed as quietly as he could, while still ensuring the two could hear him. The cod was also assuming those were the only people the demon had kidnapped, which he was sure of, and didn;t want to think of random citizens being in these horrible ol’ cells. He moved further into the room after a hesitant second as he did, hearing shuffling noises as he did, and the blonde found basically what he was expecting. It was still disturbing though, like really disturbing.

“Jimmy!” Gem exclaimed as loud as she dared, and Scott startled in the cell next to her. It hurt, seeing them like this, and seeing the sense of pure relief in Gem’s eyes when her gaze landed on him; probably the first friendly face she’d seen during these four long days.

“How hurt are you two?” He asked, having rushed forward to grip one of the cold metal bars. The two looked, ….relatively okay, but also not at the same time. He could tell they were injured a little, yes, and they were probably dehydrated and starving, but other than some basic and obvious observations, he wasn’t very good at telling anything else.

"He's hurt worse than me." Gem said, casting a glance over her shoulder at Scott. The elf stayed in his little cell, sat on the floor giving Jimmy a weak smile. The cod just nodded in response, forcing his mind to not think of that and focus on doing something productive.

“Is there a key anywhere?” He asked, taking a quick survey of the room. There were a few barrels and chests, and knowing their owner, they were probably filled with random junk.

“In the barrel over there,” Gem pointed to said barrel, and of course Gem knew where things were in Sausage’s empire. Of course he’d told her at one point, before the demon before everything, and now she’d been forced to live within inches of freedom for four fucking days .

The Codfather nodded again, quickly moving away and starting to rummage through the barrel that had been pointed out. It took a few seconds to find it, and Jimmy’s shaking hands certainly weren't helping, but he did eventually get a grip on the key. He thought his brain was trying to detach itself from the situation a little, because just how fucked up this all was wasn’t really sinking in yet. This also wasn't a good situation to detach from, he kinda needed to be present to keep all three of them safe.

He unlocked the cells, hands still trembling, and Gem was suddenly shoving past him to get to Scott. The elf had to lean on the wall to stand, with Gem having to half carry him out into the rest of the room.

Scott muttered something about a leg injury when the two reached Jimmy, the blonde now carrying him instead. He didn’t want an already injured Gem having to support basically all of Scott’s weight, even if Jimmy himself was still a little hurt.

Well this is just dandy. He thought a little sarcastically, watching as Gem, who seemed to be on autopilot really, ran off to another barrel and began to look through it. Three injured people against a demon possessed one.

That barrel seemed to be where the two prisoners' stuff had been stored, the wizard now taking various tools and weapons out. Scott tried to stagger forward, but Jimmy kept a tight hold on him, fairly sure he would faceplant if the elf tried to walk on his own. He also noticed how Scott flinched when anything touched his left side, and the cod kept his arm well away from there. His eyes searched over the elf again, and this time he could make out a handful of bruises of the elf; a few healing cuts as well. The injuries littered every exposed inch of skin the other had, including his face. If Jimmy looked over to Gem he could see similar wounds, just in lesser amounts.

So from what he’d gathered, both of them were just generally beat up, and probably needed a hot meal, a bath and some water as soon as possible. Scott also seemed to have something in his leg broken, as well as either very bruised sides of broken ribs; maybe even some internal bleeding. Gem probably also had some bad injuries, but knowing her she was most likely pushing through the pain for their sakes. Her left arm seemed a little stiff, and she appeared to wince when it bent a certain way.

Speaking of Gem, she’d turned back to them, magic staff in hand and wizard’s hat now atop her head once more. The Codfather hadn’t even noticed she was missing her hat before now, which he felt like he should’ve, because Gem never went anywhere without it. As he was pondering that the wizard silently handed Scott any weapons and tools he’d had when they’d been taken, and the elf looked very relieved to have the familiar weight of his bow in his hands again. His other items were shuffled away, but he kept a firm hand on said bow.

“He got the worst of it,” The wizard muttered, noticing the concerned looks Jimmy threw at Scott every few seconds. It was a little off putting, to see the other man so…so fragile. Scott had always appeared strong for as long as the cod knew him, even during the lowest points, so seeing him broken like this was upsetting to say the least. At best it made him incredibly worried, and made the blonde wonder what the hell these two had been put through, and how bad it must’ve been, to break Scott so terribly. Gem’s voice trembled as she continued, distracting Jimmy from his worries. “He started, t-to take some of it for me-”

“I’m fine Gem, really.” Scott said, wincing in pain as he did so. Jimmy didn’t know if the wince was from speaking, since that was the first time he’d talked since he’d been found, or if it was from another injury. They’d very obviously been tortured to some degree, so Jimmy’s brain naturally wondered if he’d hurt his throat from screaming; which wasn’t a fun thing to wonder about, by the way.

"It's not fine, Scott!" Gem almost snapped at him, and her eyes started to prick with the beginnings of tears. She tightened her grip on her staff, gaze shining with pain.

"She's right, it's not fine!" Jimmy hissed, wanting to break up the small squabble. Scott just glared at him, and the Codfather glared back. Normally, they would’ve had some sort of silent argument, would’ve stared each other down until one of them looked away. But Scott didn’t have the mental energy for that it seemed, and just tried to rest his head against Jimmy’s chest. The cod pursed his lips, and held Scott tighter.

“We should go!” Gem said after a second, and led them towards the door, shakily holding it open for her companions.

"We can't fly, can we?" Jimmy asked, frowning deeply. The three had managed to limp a few feet away from the dungeon now, doing so almost painfully slowly. Knowing Sausage was gone was a good thing, but he was material gathering. And that either took five minutes or five hours. Getting out quickly was Jimmy’s top priority at the moment, mainly because Sausage could be home any minute. They could get out easily without flying, his empire was just around the corner, it would just be nerve wracking is all.

“Nope. Not flying, sorry.” Scott spoke up, and Gem nodded in agreement. It was then Jimmy took a glance at Scott’s wings, and found that they no longer shone brightly as they used to. The once silky soft, white and gold feathers were now messy, muddled, and covered in drying, flaking blood. There were even a few patches where no feathers remained at all, and he held off a shudder at the thought of how painful it must’ve been. The cod looked at the elves’ antlers as well, and saw that the left had been broken in a few places, and the right one wasn’t in much better shape. The blonde’s heart ached at the sight, knowing how personal both of those things were to the elf.

“I would usually try some sort of cloaking spell, maybe teleportation, but I don't know if I have the energy for it.” She said it dejectedly, and Jimmy felt a wave of sympathy for the wizard. He knew Gme relied on her powers a lot, so presumably not being able to use them must’ve been hard on her.

“Alright,” He said, trying desperately to keep a sigh out of his tone. “Walking it is then.”

Walking, as the blonde had predicted, took longer than any of them were comfortable with. Scott was on edge the entire time, flinching at any random rustle or noise in the distance. Gem had her staff pointed out in front of her, and Jimmy was sure she would shoot anything that dared to get too close; no matter who or what it was. It only took thirty minutes, maybe forty with a slower pace, to walk from the Codlands to Mythland, (which was mainly because Sausage built so many damn things,) and a walk that length had never felt so agonizingly long before.

When they did get into safer territory Gem reluctantly put her staff down, her gaze no longer darting around like she was being hunted. Caleb, the absolute madman , the MVP, found them quickly; and it looked like he’d been patrolling every border of the empire since Jimmy had set off about two hours earlier. Every day Jimmy was more convinced the young cod was just the best person to ever exist ever .

The next thirty minutes or so was a blur, of Caleb running into the main village area to get help, of the three of them moving faster; Jimmy and Gem determined as hell to get Scott to a healer. The elf really looked like he was about to pass out from exhaustion at any minute. The wizard didn’t look any better herself, but the Codfather got the sense he couldn;t convince her to do anything but fuss over Scott at the moment. At some point a light drizzle had also begun, which reflected the mood surprisingly well.

Two healers, Hemlock and Cove, rushed over once they saw the three. Jimmy, who’s still injured arm was starting to ache by now, gave the pair a grateful glance when they took Scott from him. The elf let himself be carried off without protest, blinking as rain started to fall a bit harder.

Jimmy hummed worriedly, clicking words of codlish to the two healers. Codfolk didn’t mind the rain, they enjoyed it even, but he had a feeling rain wasn’t gonna be good for Gem and Scott. He was pretty sure one of them was almost feverish, and Scott was like, permanently cold instead of warm. The blonde wasn’t entirely sure how that affected his body temperature, but he wasn’t taking any risks! He didn’t want the elf out in the weather for too long, and had told his two citizens to adjust the pace.

Cove clicked back to him, and her and Hemlock adjusted the pace best they could. Before he knew it they were in the healers shack, and the building suddenly felt far too small. Jimmy watched Scott be whisked off, and made a mental note to expand this.

A third healer ran over to help, and Jimmy could not remember their name for the life of him right now. It started with an A , or maybe a B . Something like that. All he could remember about the person was that they were in his and Caleb’s age group, and were the youngest healer the empire had.

They nodded at Jimmy, before taking Gem’s hand and starting to drag her off to another part of the building.

She seemed to have forgotten that Scott already had two experienced people tending to him, and shook her head in protest. "Heal him instead!" The wizard insisted, motioning towards where Scott had been taken too, and Jimmy quickly shut her down.

“Heal her, Cove and Hemlock have everything else covered.” He ordered the healer, before turning to Gem. “If they didn’t do it I’d heal you myself.” He hissed non-threateningly, glaring lightly at her.

The wizard just glared back, but she did begrudgingly let the young cod drag her off to another room on the small building. Jimmy had to wonder yet again exactly what they’d been subjected to, for Gem to be so focused on keeping Scott alive and nothing else. How much he’d taken for her.

After that he knew his Council had found him, and the Codfather was swarmed as soon as he’d left the shack. He didn’t know exactly why he’d left, other than wanting to give his trusted healers space and that the rain felt nice against his scales. He happily let the group of cod descend on him, and for once didn’t really care that they were chewing him out, because he so deserved it. Their worried and angry words fell on deaf ears, as his brain started to fully process just what he’d seen over the past few hours of his life. Eventually though the group had left, probably sensing this was a conversion for later, and Jimmy ended up sticking his head back into the door.

“I’m calling Fwhip,” He called into the building. The cod only turned away to do so when he heard Gem’s yell of “Okay, cool!” from the other room.

Jimmy pulled out his communicator, quickly typing a message to Fwhip. The Count was the first person that came to mind, even though Katherine would've been a better pick for healing reasons. His sister was also here as well, so maybe that was why. He should probably call more people than Fwhip, but he also doesn't need six people crowding around two injured ones and interrupting his healer's work. So immediate family only would have to do it for now.

SolidarityGaming: Found Gem and Scott in Mythland’s dungeon. They were tortured

SolidarityGaming: We’re at the Cod Empire, healers shack.

SolidarityGaming: Hurry please? Scott's injured bad and im freaking out a little.

He got his answer within seconds.

fWhip: holy shit i’ll be there in five minutes tops

True to his word, Fwhip was landing nearby in five minutes, goggles over his eyes to keep the rain out. He probably shouldn’t have flown in the middle of a storm, but neither of them were in the right mindset to really care. He just took the Count’s hand as soon as he was in reach, squeezing tight as he silently led the half dragon inside and to his sister.

The third healer had already left, presumably going to help their co workers. Gem stood, fiddling with her staff absent mindedly. She looked better than she had just a few minutes before, and had been given a fresh set of clothes. He assumed that it would take a few rounds of healing potions to get both of them back to full health. There was also a plate of untouched food on the table, and he presumed Scott had been given the same treatment in the next room over.

Fwhip let go of Jimmy’s hand quickly, and practically ran over to his sister. Gem blinked in surprise, but it quickly turned into a joyful kind of relief. Fwhip held Gem’s face in his hands as tightly as he dared, moving her hair away as he checked for injuries. “Are you okay?”

"Yeah, I'll be fine.." Gem muttered. Fwhip, who looked to be on the verge of tears, drew his sister in for a hug. She hugged him back tightly, and Jimmy slipped out of the room, sensing this moment wasn't for him to witness.

He walked over and into the other room, seeing Scott now sitting up in the bed. He’d been changed into some basic Cod empire clothes at some point, ones that were far too big for him. He was being absolutely swallowed by the shirt, sleeves hanging off his arms. It was clear holes had needed to be cut for his wings, and the collar was a little stretched; probably having been caught on the elves' antlers. Scott wasn’t one for baggy clothes normally, but seemed to be tolerating it while his normal outfit was cleaned and sewed up. Cod empire clothes could also be quite cozy, in Jimmy’s humble opinion, so he hoped that was a nice bonus for the other man.

"Hey." The elf muttered after the door was shut, looking just as tired as he had when Jimmy had found him. He sat on the bed, his lower half buried in a mess of covers and blankets. The healers had clearly tried to make the ruler as comfortable as possible, and it looked like their efforts hadn’t gone to waste. Scott seemed to be melting into the fabric a bit.

"Hi." The cod smiled back softly, hesitantly sitting down next to Scott on the bed. The other said nothing, just gave his own shaky smile in return.

Jimmy didn’t really know what to say, so he just asked the most obvious question he could think of. "You okay?" The blonde muttered, idly swinging his legs from where they hung off the edge of the bed.

Scott made a sort of amused huff. "As okay as I can be after…..after that ." He responded, fiddling with one of his rings. Jimmy blinked a bit, having forgotten that Scott often wore jewelry, and a lot of it. He didn’t know how that fact had slipped his mind, he'd never seen the elf without at least one pair of earrings on before.

"What was….. that anyways? If you wanna talk about it, that is." The Codfather asked the question hesitantly. Scott could say no if he wanted, Jimmy was pretty sure he was the last person the elf wanted to talk about his trauma with, especially because of…recent events.

Scott stayed silent for a few minutes, long enough that Jimmy figured he wouldn't say anything at all. But that man was always full of surprises, good or bad, and did eventually speak. “It was like…kinda mix of more traditional torture methods and magic.” Scott’s voice shook each more with each word, and Jimmy instinctively reached for his hand. The elf held onto it tightly as he continued speaking, like it was a lifeline.

“It was mostly magic though, which is better than being like, whipped or something.” Scott shuffled closer to him unconsciously. “I don’t think Sausage has had many… opportunities to try out his powers yet.”

“Did Xornorth not give Joey any magic?” Jimmy asked, a little curious.

Scott let out a hum in response, a noise that seemed to be comforting to himself. “He did, but I don’t think it was very much. Joey has like, this weird ugly crown thing and whatever power he did have seemed a little weak. Sausage is the one with an actual staff.” He explained.

“Was wondering why he wasn’t going around attacking people, if I’m being honest.” Jimmy responded, feeling how Scott gently thumbed his palm. He didn’t think the elf was doing it consciously, and figured it was probably done in an attempt to stay put together. As if anyone would blame him for having a breakdown after the past few days.

“I think he’s just a pawn.” Scott continued, his gaze a little far off. “He seemed a little out of the loop if I’m being honest, and never showed up without Sausage there.”

“He’s clearly smitten for my bro-- Xornorth .” Scott’s face scrunched up at the thought, and Jimmy gave a smile at that. The way the elf referred to his sibling, like he was hesitant to acknowledge that they were related, didn’t escape the cod, but he elected not to say anything about it. “I think Joey’s just being used because of that, and that Sausage is more of a protege.”

“Makes me feel bad for the guy, even if he is a massive pain in the arse all the time.” Jimmy mumbled, and Scott let out an amused snort at the last part. “He’s gonna be so heartbroken if we manage to fix all this…” The elf ran a hand through his hair, seemingly dreading that little possibility.

“Not ‘if’,” The Codfather said, giving the other a light tap on his shoulder. “ ‘When’ ” He just got a quiet, unintelligible murmur in response. It sounded skeptically, maybe even a little sarcastic, and Jimmy had half the mind to scold Scott for being so hopeless. They kinda had to have hope that they’d beat the demon, because if they didn’t what else would they have?

“Was Fwhip right? Was that actually Sausage?” He ventured, remembering that one message his partner had sent after his own encounter with the man. He didn’t think that had been Sausage personally, but Fwhip knew him better, so what could Jimmy tell. He’d only seen the man for like, five minutes anyways, and had just ended up doubting his own view on the matter as time passed.

“He acted the same, spoke the same, but it wasn’t him.” Scott said it with certainty. “I think Fwhip’s in denial, or something, because that’s clearly not him.” The elf gaze stopped being distant, and moved to Jimmy for the first time since he entered the room. “I know you two don’t get along, but he wouldn’t try to kill you, even if you really pissed him off.”

Jimmy made a click of agreement in his throat. “If he wanted to hit me over the head with an axe, I figured he woulda done it years ago.” The statement was meant to be a little humorous, the cod having forgotten that only Fwhip really knew how bad his injuries had been.

“ That’s what he did!?” Scott exclaimed, voice finally rising above something more than a soft, shaken up tone. “Jesus, no wonder Fwhip was worried about you dying ! He gave you head trauma!”

“Got a scar from it too,” Jimmy huffed, tapping a certain part of the Codfather’s head. “Right under there.” Scott made another unintelligible mutter, and they fell in a short yet comfortable, maybe even slightly settled, bout of silence.

“How often was Joey there?” He asked, remembering how earlier Scott had said that he hadn’t shown up much.

“Like once a day, maybe two maximum.” The other responded. “I think a part of Sausage couldn’t hurt Gem, so Joey did most of that. Until-” “Until you started taking most of it for her?” Jimmy butted in, allowing his voice to be a little sharp. Scott simply nodded in response.

“Why’d you do that anyways?” The Codfather asked, making his tone soften. He had a few guesses as to why, and he didn’t like any of them. Said guesses basically all involved Scott thinking he deserved it more than Gem, or some stupid train of thought like that. It was probably true to some degree, even if Jimmy was desperately hoping it wasn’t. He was fully prepared to beat those thoughts out of Scott’s head with a metaphorical broom if he had to.

“….Cause everything’s my fault.” Scott whispered. “If I had said something about the demon none of this would’ve happened-”

“It’s not your fault Sausage is stupid and power hungry.” Jimmy cut him off a little too fiercely. Scott just huffed indignantly, shuffling further away from the cod. It was clear this was a conversion the elf did not want to have right now, and Jimmy just shut his mouth. That man always had to be stubborn when it came to things like this, didn’t he? Another silence lapsed between them, this time more stiff and unfriendly. Their fingers were still laced together, so he could tell Scott wasn’t too peeved at him.

“I preferred Joey though, just a little bit.” Scott slowly went back to their earlier topic, his grip on the blonde’s hand tightened. “Sausage like to be… affectionate? I don’t know how to describe it. He just did things like hold my face, coo at me, generally act really gentle before hitting me with a spell.” At hearing that, Jimmy finally reached over and pulled the elf into a hug. He didn’t know why he hadn’t done so sooner, really, after being so scared of losing him. Of losing both of them.

He felt Scott tense a little, Jimmy taking care to avoid the now bandaged wings. Eventually, Scott’s arms wrapped around him in return, and he let the other melt into him; head carefully buried against the cod’s chest. Jimmy didn’t even bat an eye when his shirt began to grow damp, perfectly content to sit like that for however long Scott needed.

“He didn’t do anything else , if you’re worried.” Scott muttered into his chest. “Just….was really physically affectionate.”

“Still wasn’t okay.” Jimmy muttered, clutching the other a little tighter than he had before.

“I know…” Scott responded, and began to slowly pull back a bit. He was awkward about it, like he wasn’t sure if it was okay for him to hug the Codfather. Even though he clearly needed a hug, or something like that.

There was a soft, distinctive knock on the door when Scott had first started to move away. Jimmy wasn’t very surprised when Fwhip was opening the door a moment later, his gaze almost immediately zeroing in on the tears still lining Scott’s face.

“Hope I’m not interrupting anything.” The Count said lightly, closing the door gently behind him.

“Nah, your good man.” Jimmy responded. Scott just offered a small wave of greeting, the other hand going to wipe his eyes. Fwhip’s tail just flicked in response, before he walked over to stand in front of Jimmy.

He grabbed the cod’s face, probably a little rough than intended, and held his partners cheeks in clawed hands. “Don’t you ever do something that stupid again !” He growled, though the noise came from a place of concern rather than irritation.

“Sorry…” Jimmy muttered, leaning into the touch a little. He felt Scott’s gaze move away from them a little awkwardly, probably going to stare at the wall again or something. Fwhip closed his eyes, lightly resting their foreheads together and his tail winding around the Codfather’s legs. “Seriously…stop making me think I’m gonna lose you buddy” The Count muttered quietly.

In response Jimmy frowned, and maneuvered to press a small kiss to Fwhip’s gloved hand. The half dragon said nothing, clearly thinking it would be better to continue that discussion later. Instead he let go of the cod’s face, and fixed his gaze on the blue haired elf sitting mere inches away.

“And you,” Fwhip’s words startled Scott out of his own head, the elf jumping in surprise. “C’mere!” Fwhip moved away from Jimmy until he could give Scott a hug of his own, leaning uncomfortably over the side of the bed. The elf seemed a little puzzled, but hugged the Count back as well when it became clear he wasn’t letting go anytime soon,

“Didn’t think you still cared that much.’ Scott murmured, punctuating it with a dry and humorless laugh. Fwhip pulled away at that, gripping the elf’s shoulder. His gaze switched back to serious in an instant, and Scott seemed to shrink under the look he was given.

“I wanted to punch you , I didn’t want you dead, Scott!” He hissed, and the elf just moved his gaze to the bedsheets. They were gonna have to do a lot of work with Scott’s self worth issues, weren’t they?

“Where’s Gem?” The blonde asked after a moment, having thought Fwhip would stay close to her.

“Said she was gonna help fix up her and Scott’s clothes. Probably with magic or something.” Fwhip grunted. He was clearly still annoyed at the elf in front of him, indicating by how his tail moved against the floor, but both he and Jimmy had decided to leave it be for now. Now wasn’t the best time to try and convince Scott he wasn’t the worst person ever, when his brain had just been given plenty of fresh experiences to back it up.

As if one cue Gem walked into the room, forgetting to knock and just throwing open the door. She was in her regular outfit again, somewhat used codlands clothing draped over her arm. The wizard had Scott’s normal attire as well, and even from here Jimmy could tell the fabric had been fixed magically. It was a distinct lack of stitches, the cloth looking as if it had just mended itself back together, like bones did.

Gem threw the items in her hand down on the bed, before basically throwing herself at Scott. The elf blinked in surprise again, clearly not expecting to be getting so much love today. “I’m just getting all the hugs, huh?” He muttered, smiling as he returned the wizard's embrace.

“Because you're stupid !” Gem half laughed, half choked out. She went to grip the elf’s shoulder, mirroring her twin, and gently throttled him about for a minute. “You are the stupidest person in the room right now! And Jimmy is literally right there!”

“Hey!” The cod giggled, giving her a lighthearted glare. Gem just smiled cheekily at him. Fwhip just huffed and patted his partner's arm in playful sympathy.

Scott laughed at that, it was a good laugh too. It was the most joyful sound he’d made all day, and Jimmy was glad he could still be so happy after everything he’d just endured over the past four days.

A few hours after that they left Scott to sleep and hopefully eat a little, because he was clearly still exhausted. He’d offered a room for Gem and Fwhip to stay in, not feeling comfortable with the former being discharged so quickly. Usually Gem would be antsy to return home, but the cod was pretty sure her concern for Scott was overriding that. Fwhip didn’t even have to force her to accept the offer, and the two disappeared into their own room soon after.

Jimmy didn’t want to call it a night, he really didn’t. But he was tired, and the sun was starting to set. He had more things he wanted to talk about with the elf, some personal, some the whole group of them needed to hear, but he supposed that he could wait to do that.

For the second day in a row, Jimmy promised to do something in the morning.

#i shat out most of this today dfgh #ron.fic #ron.writing #explosions acorss lifetimes #jimmy solidarity #empiresblr #fwhimmy #fwhip #empiresshipping #count fwhip #the codfather #empires jimmy #empires fwhip #i think its funny that no one ever talked abt the kidnappings in canon after they happened. like excuse me lmao #literally speed posted this dfgh

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