Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Matt sat in the darkened living room, the tv in front of him flickering with action. He leaned in closer, reaching over and grabbing a handful of popcorn from a large red bowl to his right and shoving it into his mouth. Edd sat next to him, sort of bored. The tv didn’t interest him much, he was only here because Matt had insisted on watching a movie tonight. He wasn’t too sure why, but not wanting to upset the other, he had agreed. Though, Tom being Tom, he basically told Matt to piss off and went to go pass out in bed. 

Yawning, Edd leaned back into the couch and tried to get comfy, but of course it could not be that easy. He sighed, but heard the creak of a door and shuffling down the hallway. Turning, he saw Tom walking into the kitchen and grabbing a glass of water.

“Hey, Tom!”

Tom hums out a reply, and Edds smile falls as he turns back to the tv. There's a knock at the door, though, and he stand up with an “I’ll get it.”. When he opens the door, there's a tall and slim figure. He can’t see completely, but they don’t look dangerous or anything.

“..Uh, can I help you?”

The lady looks up and her eyes are a stunning lavender, and Edd almost loses his breath when they make eye contact. She smiles. Her hair is as dark as a raven's feathers, but she has loose curls that fall on her shoulders and pale skin. Edd’s eyes travel down, and she's wearing a dark purple and black ensemble with a fitted, long-sleeve dress that reaches down to her ankles and has patterns woven into the fabric. Over the dress, she has a long flowing cape draped over her shoulders that looks torn at the edges. She wears platform heels that go all the way up to her thighs, and golden embroidery runs along the edges of her shoes.

Though, despite her outfit, Edd can’t help but think Who gets this dressed up at night? He looks back up and meets her eyes again.

“Sorry to be a bother, but you have something that I want.” She explains. Edd tilts his head a bit, confused. What could they possibly have that she wants? They don’t own a lot, and he’s pretty sure what they do have they own.

“Sorry, I think you might have the wrong house.. I’m sure we don’t have anything of yours.”

“Oh, you do, and I’d love to have it back.”

Edd makes a confused face.

“..Er, what’re you looking for specifically?”

Her smile falls, and she doesn't seem too pleased. Her eyes scan the house behind him, taking in the red couches and yellow walls, and she only becomes more displeased as she doesn't find what she’s looking for. She looks back at Edd.

“You know what I’m talking about, give it back!” She takes a step forward, and Edd takes a step back. And by now, both of his flatmates are staring nervously at the encounter.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re looking for!” The Brit holds his hands up in surrender, he really isn’t sure what the lady was going on about. “The crystal!” She shouts, and the other flinches.

“That crystal harnesses such power that without it, Hexheim is falling apart!”

Hexheim? Edd has never heard of that before. Is it a place? Does she live there? No, now isn’t the time to start asking questions He thinks. A few seconds pass and Edd still hasn’t replied, and the lady cries out. Edd flinches, again, and the woman brings her hands up to her chest, clasping them together as she mutters something.

“Enth yb hte owper fo aiHicel, hte nomo, adn hte rtass, I llwi evha oryu esey intlu you netrur wath asw ocen iemn!” She chanted. Edd didn't understand a word, but he didn't think about it too hard before light crackled from between her palms. She pulled her hands apart to reveal a small purple orb that popped and fizzed, it kind of reminded him of trying to get a small fire going. She blew on the orb and it suddenly grew larger within her hands, and she raised her arms and shouted a word that sounded like gibberish.

“Amazatebu!”

Before Edd could even react, a huge flash of light along with a loud cracking sound, almost like thunder filled the room. He shouted and ducked, covering the back of his neck like those tornado drills they make you do in school. The only thing he could hear was the crackling of magic, Matts shouting, and picture frames falling onto the floor with the shattering of glass. It only lasted for a few moments before the light and sound fizzled away, and Edd could only hear Matts shouting. He peeked his eyes open and looked at the open door, but the only thing that was there was the dark night sky and the houses in their neighborhood. The woman had disappeared. 

He turned to Matt next, and he was still screaming and covering his ears with his palms. Edd slowly stood up as he surveyed his surroundings, the picture frames on the wall were no longer hanging up, and a potted plant that usually sat on the small table in the corner was now on the ground with the dirt scattered across the floor and the pot was shattered into multiple sharp pieces. Other than that, everything seemed fine, they just had a mess to clean up.

(By they, he means him. Matt and Tom would come up with some bullshit excuse to get out of cleaning this.)

He looked back into the kitchen where Tom had stood before, but he was now on the floor slowly standing up. Edd looked back at Matt, who was still screaming.

“Matt-”

He was interrupted by more screaming.

“Matt, Matt!”

The screaming stopped and Matt looked up, looking around for a few moments before setting his eyes on Edd.

“It’s over, you can stop screaming.”

Matt blinked. “Oh.” Was all that he said. Looking away from Matt, he turned back to the kitchen where Tom was using the counter to pull himself up with a painful groan. He slowly walked toward the kitchen, dragging his hand along the couch as he passed it. “Tom?” He spoke. “Are you alright?”

“Ugh, no.. My head is pounding… This feels like every hangover I’ve had combined!” He rubs his face and turns around, still leaning against the counter for support. Edd drew closer until he was right behind the blue hooded man, and he placed a hand on his shoulder. Tom turned and met eyes with Edd, but Edd gasped and staggered backwards.Tom looked over at Matt in the living room, and Matt’s mouth fell agape and his eyes widened as he stared. Tom's eyebrows furrowed suspiciously, and his eyes flickered between Edd and Matt.

“..What?” He asked. He saw Edd’s mouth move to speak, but nothing but air came out. He turned to Matt and repeated himself.

“What? Is something.. On my face?” He brought his hands up to drag them down his face, hoping that would get rid of anything that was on there, but his friends merely continued to stare. He sighed and made a confused gesture, and Matt started walking forward until he had also entered the kitchen, where he stopped and patted himself down for a moment. Not finding what he was looking for, he thought for a moment before snapping and making an ‘ah’ sound. He reached into his green overcoat and pulled out a small purple mirror, turning it around and showing Tom his own reflection. Soon, just like the others, his mouth fell open in shock as he stared at his reflection.

He was mostly normal, his skin was the same, his hair hadn’t changed, and he still had dark sunken in circles underneath his eyes, but his eyes. Instead of the dark voids he was used to, they were replaced with actual eyeballs. With a white sclera, dark blue irises, and black pupils. He could actually see where he was looking. He reached forward and took the mirror from Matt (Who hesitantly let go), bringing it closer to his face, more specifically his newfound eyes. He blinked, then again, then three times.

“...What the hell?!” 

Chapter Text

Tom leaned against the uncomfortable chair that Edd sat in as he researched. He had his flask in his right hand and he brought it up to his lips, taking a quick swig and feeling the liquid burn his throat as it traveled down to his stomach.

“Find anything yet?”

Edd sighed and shook his head. “Not too much. Most of it is just articles about proving magic is real, and the good few that I’ve found only give so much information.” The other sighed. Who knew trying to find out how to break a curse and get your eyes back would be so difficult? Tom leaned his head against his palm, watching his friend click from link to lick. At this rate, he’ll get a virus before we can even find anything.

Edd sighed and leaned back in the wooden chair, reaching up and dragging his hands down his face. His eyes ached from staring at the bright screen in the dark for so long, and he looked up at Tom. It was very strange being able to actually make eye contact. Not like he couldn’t before, but he was never completely sure that the other was staring at him back. In a way, it felt better knowing where Tom was looking now. Tom stared down at Edd in his chair and offered him a sip of his flask, which the one in green politely declined with a wave of his hand. Tom shrugged, bringing the flask up and taking a swig. “Your loss.”

Edd looked back down at his computer, reading the same link over and over again. What is he even supposed to search up? He was pretty limited on possible search options, and what he did have was very vague. “What do I even type?” He mumbles, mostly to himself. The other shrugs again and looks forward, reading the link that Edd had been staring at for a while.

“What about that place that she said? What was it... Hex-”

“Hexheim! That's right! Tom, you're a genius!” Edd perked up and snapped his fingers, leaning forward to type in the name. He wasn’t entirely sure that he spelled it right, but a link popped up, and it was better than nothing. He clicked, and it took him to a different website where the background was black and the text was white. Honestly it was an eyesore to look at, but Edd wasn’t paying attention to that aspect. In summary, it was a lady claiming to be a witch and saying that for the low price of £100, (her words, not Edds.)  she could send you to whatever world you wished to enter. It seemed fake, but it was pretty much the best thing they’ve gotten so far. Underneath all the information was a list of all the worlds she’s sent people to, and as Edd skimmed through most of the names, his eyes landed on the one he was looking for:

Hexheim.

Tom grunted, and when Edd looked up at him he saw the same expression he’d make right before Matt does something stupid. The one that read “This doesn't seem trustworthy.” Honestly, Edd completely agreed with him, but it was their only major lead so far. Plus, how could the woman even know that Hexheim was a place? Everything he’s read so far has never even mentioned the world, so this was definitely the best he's found. He scrolled down to the contact information and went to send her an email that basically consisted of “Hey, my friend is cursed and I need to get to Hexheim. Get back soon, thanks.”

“Are you sure this is gonna work?” Tom spoke.

“Nope.”

“Fair enough.”

Edd heard his door creak open, and he turned in the chair to see his devil horned flat mate standing in the doorway. “Matt’s finished cooking, and he didn’t burn it this time.” The one in red leaned against the doorway as he spoke. Edd stood up, walking toward the door with Tom following close behind him. “Good, I didn’t want to have to call the fire department again.” He jokes. Tord snorts out a laugh as Edd walks past him, but as Tom walks by he sticks his foot out. Tom stumbled but caught himself on the wall and glared daggers at Tord as he stabilized himself, but Tord merely snickered and pushed past Tom as he walked into the kitchen, and Tom soon followed.

In the dining room, all four friends sat at the table with plates in front of them. Edd and Matt dug in, Tord ate small bites, and Tom mostly just picked at the food. Tord cleared his throat and leaned back, spinning his fork in hand. “So...” He began and looked up at Tom. Tom rolled his eyes, already knowing what the other was about to say. “What happened while I was gone...?”

Edd and Matt glanced at each other, then back at the Norsk. “Well…”

As Edd recounted the story from his point of view, Tord nodded along, taping his finger against the wooden table as he spoke. “And we found this woman who claims that she's a witch and can send us to Hexheim for the “low price of 100 pounds”.” He recalled. Tord blinked and nodded suspiciously. “Sounds like a total scam.” He says, and Edd just shrugs. “Yeah, me and Tom already decided that, but it was our best bet, so we sent her an email right before we came out to eat.”

“Has she replied?”
“Not that I know of, no.”

Tord hummed a reply as he brought his fork up to his mouth. “So, until we break the curse, Tom has…” He paused, looking over at the other. “...Eyes?” Edd shrugged. “Guess so.” Tom leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “You guys talk like I'm not sitting right here.” Edd blinked, swallowing the food in his mouth. “Sorry, it’s just... weird.” “Yeah! We got used to you having no eyes, but now you look…” Matt trailed off, not wanting to use a word that might set him off. Tom sighed. “Whatever, I’m finished.” He pushed his plate full of food away. Edd looked down at his own plate, decided he was done, and pushed it away with a “Me too.”

Soon, all of the guys’ plates were stacked in the sink and they all gathered in Edds room around his computer. Edd refreshed the page, and lo and behold there was a new email on the bottom. He scrolled down and leaned forward, reading the reply.

Hello,

I understand your problem and I would love to help. Can you provide me with more information?

Thanks,

Lady Wisteria.

“Well, at least we got a reply.” Edd shrugged, reaching over his keyboard and beginning to type a reply. “Do you think she’ll reply immediately?” Matt asked, and Edd shrugged. “I hope so, it seems like she replied quickly to the last one.” He hit send and leaned back in his chair, bringing his hands up and behind his head. “Do you think she gets a lot of emails?” Tom leaned over the chair, and Edd set his elbow on the table and rested his head on his hand. “Probably not. Who's usually looking to get shipped off to another world? And for £100? I'm sure she's rolling in clients.” He says, and Tom chuckled.

Edd refreshed the page again and there was another reply from Lady Wisteria. He raised his eyebrows in surprise as he scrolled down to read, a “Wow.” being all that he was able to utter out, though the question Is she just sitting at her monitor and refreshing? Was currently running through his head.

Hello,

Thank you. If you could please provide me with your street address and any relevant information (as in apartment number if you have one) . No need to worry about me being across the globe, I can be there soon.

Thanks,

Lady Wisteria.

“Don’t worry about me being across the globe?... What, can she also teleport?” Tord asked, standing up fully and crossing his arms. Edd shrugged as he replied to the email with their address. “Guess so. At least we don’t have to wait forever.” Tord blinked but decided not to reply. Guess so.

“I wonder if-” Tom began, but there was suddenly a knock at the door. All four heads turned; eyes wide. Edd stood and walked over to his door, peeking out and into the living room where the front door was. He walked forward and looked through the peephole and saw a chubby woman with darker skin and tight black curls. Her eyes were a dark brown and a dark purple dress with transparent sleeves that reached down to her wrists. She stood with her weight pushed onto one leg and one of her hands resting on her hip, and she glanced around nervously as if she was anxious about anyone seeing her. Edd unlocked the door and peeked through the crack, glancing back at the three behind him before he spoke.

“Err... Are you Lady Wisteria?”

The woman straightened her posture when he saw Edd and nodded. “I am. Edd, right?” He nodded and opened the door wider to allow her in. She seemed slightly shocked when she noticed that there were three other people waiting behind the door, and her eyes scanned each of them up and down. Confused, she turned back to Edd and furrowed her eyebrows suspiciously. “I thought you said one of your friends lost his eyes? You aren’t playing tricks with me, are you?” She tilted her head, and Edd realized that he probably should’ve explained further. 

“No, no, no! Err, how should I explain this…” He glanced around the room for a moment before his eyes landed on one of the broken picture frames on the ground. He walked over and bent down, picking up the broken frame and turning to show the woman. He pointed to Tom's eyes in the photo, which were their usual black voids. “I guess he didn't really lose his eyes. He… gained them? Either way,” He waved his hand dismissively. “We need to get them back to normal.” The woman reached for the picture and took it from Edd's grasp, bringing it closer to her face as she looks from the photo to Tom.

“...So, you need to get rid of your eyes?” She asks Tom, and he shrugs, scratching the back of his neck. “I mean, yeah.” He says. Lady Wisteria blinks and tilts her head. “Well, pardon me for asking but, wouldn’t you want normal eyes? I mean, no offense, but I feel like I’d want them. I’ve definitely never seen completely black eyes before.” Tom blinks and glances off to the side.

“It’s uh... personal.”

Lady Wisteria makes a confused face but seems to shrug it off as she hands the frame back to Edd. “Alright. It’s not like it’s any of my business anyway.” She turns to Edd. “So, do you have the money?”

“I have to pay upfront?”

“It was on the website. Didn’t you read it?”

“I, uh... skimmed through it.”

She sighs and rolls her eyes, placing a hand on her hip and pinching the bridge of her nose. Edd chuckles and sheepishly rubs the back of his neck. “Well, you can’t pay me from Hexheim, can you?” She says, and Edd thinks for a moment before shrugging. “I guess you have a point. Matt, could you fetch my wallet?” He turned to the ginger, who nodded and left in search of the wallet. He turned back to Lady Wisteria and gestured toward the red couch, inviting her to sit down.

Soon, they were all sitting on the couch and discussing the events that were about to take place.

“So, you can send us to Hexheim?” Tord began. She smiled and leaned against the arm of the chair. “Of course I can! I didn’t take 100 pounds out of your wallet for no reason.” “How do we know you’re legit?” Tom followed soon after. “For all we know, you’re just a scammer trying to make a quick buck.” She frowned, leaning forward in her chair and locking eyes with the man. “You doubt my abilities? Fine, I can give you proof.” She smirked, and her brown eyes suddenly glowed a bright orange color. Tom's eyes widened slightly, and he grumpily sank back into the sofa. 

“Woah, your eyes can glow?!” Matt gasped, his voice filled with fascination and wonder. “I wish my eyes could glow…”

She chuckled and sat back normally, the light in her eyes dissolving away just as quickly as it grew. She crossed her legs and got comfortable, wiggling in her seat slightly before she settled, but as she glanced around, she noticed that nobody was really freaking out like her other clients. “You don’t seem very surprised...” Lady Wisteria spoke, and all four of the men immediately glanced off to the side. She furrowed her brows suspiciously and looked to Edd.

“Do you have something to tell me?”
“Errr…”

“I should know any information that might interfere with the transportation process...”

Edd blinked and stared at her, smiling nervously before he accidentally glanced over at Tom.

Shit. He thought. Lady Wisteria turned her gaze towards the one in blue, narrowing her eyes. It wasn’t really any of her business, but she was curious as to why they didn’t seem shocked at the fact that she wasn’t fully human.

Tom stared back at her, and she tried to imagine staring into the black voids that he used to have according to Edd and the picture, but it was difficult to do so after never having seen anyone with his case, even after she's traveled through so many worlds. 

“What?” He finally breaks the silence, but Lady Wisteria continues to stare suspiciously at him. His brows furrowed together in frustration, and he leaned forward. “I don’t think it’s any of your business what goes on here, you’re only being paid to send us to Hexheim.” She thought for a few moments after he spoke, choosing her words carefully.

“Hexheim isn’t what you’re used to; It’s different there than it is here. If there happens to be anything important that I don’t know about then I won't be able to warn you accordingly.” She paused, glancing at each of the men, but they continued with their silence. She sighed. “In Hexheim, nobody is ‘pure’. You aren’t only human or only monster, you’re-” “There's monsters in Hexheim?” She was interrupted by Matt, turning her gaze to the ginger. “Yes, but probably not the kind you’re thinking about. Anyway, you’re a mix of both, both mentally and physically.” She looked back at Tom. “If there happen to be any… supernatural abilities between the four of you, it will affect your visit. For better or worse, I can’t tell you that if you don’t tell me what's going on.”

She waited for a reply, watching how Edd seemed to carefully consider his options. They had the option to not tell the woman about their past adventures and what three out of the four of them had been turned into, but it could come with a price when they finally got to Hexheim. On the other hand, they could tell her about how they weren’t all entirely human and be properly warned before they jumped into a completely different world where, according to her, they wouldn’t be the exact same as they are now, but then they would be exposing secrets that were to only be discussed between the four. 

(Oh, and their neighbors, but who really cares about them?)

Honestly, the ladder seemed like the better option to Edd. Who wouldn’t want to be warned before doing something new and as drastic as this? Then, he thought about Tom. He thought about how deeply Tom hated what was within him, and how at any slight mention of it would be immediately shot down by the Brit. If he were to tell Lady Wisteria everything about their abilities while knowing how Tom felt about it, it would basically be like shoving a knife into his back and going “Sorry, I know how you feel about being stabbed, but this is for the better.”, and he didn’t want that.

He thought for a few more moments. They would most definitely need the warning so they’d know what to expect, but he didn’t feel like giving up Tom's biggest secret and dealing with the consequences afterward. So, he came up with a compromise.

“...Well,” He finally began, and noted how Tom's head shot towards him, but continued nonetheless. “There are some things that I may have left out before. We aren’t entirely human, or, well, three of us aren’t. One of us may or may not be a superhuman, one of us may or may not be a vampire, and one of us may or may not be a giant.. Purple monster...” He tried his absolute hardest not to even glance in Tom's direction as he said that, and he thought he did pretty good, but apparently it wasn’t good enough for the other since he caught the glare that Tom had shot him. Lady Wisteria's eyebrows raised in surprise, she hadn't expected to actually get an answer, but she definitely wasn't complaining. 

“Oh? Well, I wasn't expecting an actual answer, but I was pleasantly surprised.” She cleared her throat. “The superhuman shouldn’t affect anyone much. At most, your powers will cause some physical differences, but nothing difficult to handle once you get used to it.” She spoke to nobody in particular as she wasn't 100 percent sure who was which, but she had the sneaking suspicion that the big purple monster that Edd had described might have something to do with the one in blue. “As for the vampire, you might take on the appearance as one more than you do now. Your skin will be paler of course, and your teeth will grow and sharpen. I probably shouldn’t have to explain this to you.” She breezed right past the vampire part since she was most interested in the purple monster. However, Matt was left with many questions, but when he opened his mouth to ask he was roughly nudged in the knee by Edd's leg. He shot the other a confused look, but Edd subtly shook his head as if saying “I know you have questions, don't ask them.” Matt sighed and looked back to Lady Wisteria.

“As for the monster...” The woman continued. “I can't give a completely accurate description because I don't know exactly what this “Monster” looks like, but I can probably tell you that you’ll be taller. How much taller, again, I'm not sure. And you’ll probably take on some physical traits of your monster form too, and I'm assuming you’re stronger when you’re in that form, so you’ll probably have an added strength boost too.” 

Tord blinked. He had completely forgotten about his friend's supernatural abilities over the years, and it always shocks him when he remembers that he's the only pure human in the household. That got him wondering; what would happen to him in Hexheim if he had no supernatural abilities? Would he stay the same?

“What about if you were completely human?” He asks out of the blue, and his flatmates turn their heads, a bit surprised at his sudden question. Lady Wisteria turns her full attention to the Norsk, looking him up and down, his strange haircut is the first thing she notices. She doesn't think she's heard him speak too much, and she wonders if he's the one human.

“Well, you wouldn't change much. But humans aren't exactly supposed to be in Hexheim, so you might get some strange looks, but overall you'll be fine.” She shrugged and waved her hand. Tord nodded and leaned back in the chair, trying to imagine what Hexheim would be like. Will it look like Earth? Probably not, right? Will magic be a normal thing? How is it used? Is it a daily occurrence? Will I be able to use it? Tords' heart leaped when he wondered that. Imagine if he would be able to bring said magic back home, he'd be unstoppable. What would one even do against magic? Shoot him? Please. He hasn't seen firsthand what magic can do, but after seeing Tom when he got home, his skin prickled as he imagined what else he could have control over.

Suddenly, he was roughly nudged in the shoulder, and he turned his head. Tom stared back at him. “Quit grinnin, it's creepy.” He said in a hushed tone. Tord blinked, not even realizing that he was making a facial expression. How embarrassing he thought as he looked away.

“So, how are you going to transport us there?” Edd asks, and Lady Wisteria smirks. “I'm so glad you asked!” She clasped her hands together and stood up. “How about you all gather your belongings that you plan on taking to Hexheim? I'll get everything set up.”

Soon, they were all searching the house for anything they wanted to bring. Tom shoved his flask into his hoodie pockets, not planning on taking much. He walked past Matt in the hallway who was carrying way more mirrors that he could handle. He stopped watching him drop a mirror and sigh sadly as it clattered to the ground.

“Matt.”

“Hm?”

“You don't need that many mirrors, I'm sure they have plenty in Hexheim for you to stare at yourself in.” 

“But these are special!” He whined, and Tom sighed.

“Fine.”

He continued forward and glanced into Edds room as he walked, seeing the Brit reach for his lucky cola can. “Do you really need your lucky cola can?” The usually eyeless man spoke, and Edd turned to see the other. 

“Of course I do! You never know.” He justified, but Tom wasn't buying it, as was made obvious when he narrowed his eyes in an expression that read “Really?”. Edd sighed and reached to put the can on a chain back, but as Tom left, he slowly pushed it back into his hoodie pockets while glancing over his shoulder to make sure Tom didn't return.

Tord grabbed a small notebook and shoved it into the front pocket of the black backpack sitting on his bed. His mind was still filled with the thought of harnessing the magic in Hexheim for his own needs. Normally he would only take mental notes on new places, but he was going to an entirely different world. He would definitely need to write stuff down. Speaking of writing, he turned to the desk in the corner of his room and reached forward, grabbing one- no, two pens and shoving them into the same pocket in the front of the backpack that his small notepad was currently in. He wasn’t sure how long he’d be in Hexheim for. What if one of his pens ran out of ink? Better be prepared just in case. 

Before long, all four men including Lady Wisteria stood in the middle of the living room. The coffee table that usually sat in the middle was pushed off to the side against the wall, and there was a white chalk drawing on the floor. As Edd stared down at the symbol, he racked his brain trying to see if he was familiar with it at all, but nothing came up. The symbol looked like a circle with four half circles on the inside, and above each half circle there was a star and a lit candle in the very middle. The woman stood on the opposite side of the circle with a small brown bag in hand.

“What’s that?” Matt asked, pointing at the bag in her hand. She glanced at the bag before looking back up at the man.

“It’s a bag of starlight.”

“Starlight?”
She nodded and opened the bag to show them the contents. It looked like gold glitter, but each speck shined and glowed despite there being no light being let into the bag. Edds mouth made an ‘o’ shape as he stared at the substance, and she soon pulled the bag away and pulled the rope around the top to close it up again. “What’re you gonna do with it?” Tom asked, shoving his hands into his hoodie pocket and flipping the flask around in his hand. “It’s a part of the transportation process. Speaking of which, are you ready?” She didn’t ask anyone specifically, but Edd glanced around at his friends to see their reactions. They all shrugged, and Edd turned back to Lady Wisteria.”Uh.. I guess so.”

“Good, now lie down on your back with your heads in the half circles.” She spoke, and they did as told. Lady Wisteria reached down and grabbed a book that sat on the arm of a red sofa, flipping through the pages and eventually stopping on a certain one, seeming like she had found what she was looking for. She breathed in deep and held the book with one hand, reaching into the bag of starlight and grabbing a pinch. “I, Lady Wisteria, grant these four men access to Hexheim in hopes of completing their mission. Of which, I am not sure, but I wish them luck on their journey through this world. Mya htye nurture scusefclus nda innurdeuj.” After, she sprinkled the flecks starlight over the four and slammed her book close, which made all but Tord flinch.

However, after a few moments, Edd didn’t feel any different, and he found that he wasn’t the only one when he heard Matt's voice ring out. “...Uh, is it me or do I not feel any different?”. He looked up at Lady Wisteria, who sighed exasperatedly and looked up to the ceiling. “Come on, don’t make me say it!” She seemed to pause as if she was waiting for something. She groaned. “You do this every time...” she spoke, crossing her arms and glancing off to the side as if she was a rebellious teen. The four glanced among themselves, confused and wondering if this was supposed to be happening.

“Fine! Please! ”

Suddenly, Edd was hit with a horrible wave of nausea, and he groaned, reaching up and pressing his hand against his forehead as he closed his eyes. He felt like he was falling, and even with his eyes closed he started to see bright flickers of light and the sound of wind whipping past his ears. 

“By the way, if you all end up scattered throughout Hexheim, it's not my fault."

“What?!”

Chapter Text

“What!?”

Before Edd could hear a reply, the falling sensation grew stronger than ever, and the bright flickers of light only got brighter. His eyes shot open, but instead of being greeted with the beige ceiling of his house, he was met with bright streaks of light of all colors flying past. Looking all around, he spotted Tom falling at the same speed as him, but he was wide-eyed and upside down. He also didn’t register Matt's screaming until just now, and he glanced behind him to see the ginger's limbs flying around in a useless attempt to stop falling. Right next to Matt was Tord, who had his arm raised above his head as he desperately clutched the strap of his backpack, his knuckles white from how tightly he was gripping the thing. Edd wondered what was so important in there that he was holding it so tightly as to not lose it.

He looked down and saw a bright light rapidly getting closer, and squinted so he could see into it better and not singe his corneas at the same time. However, the light eventually got so close that squinting could no longer aid him, and he closed his eyes and looked up to avoid further damage. He heard Tom loudly groan with his hands placed over his eyes to shield himself from the light.

“Oh, I’m gonna puke…” Was the last thing he heard from Tom before the light engulfed the four completely.

Edd couldn’t see anything. Beneath him feels soft, as if he’s lying on the softest mattress he could get his hands on. He can faintly hear something but can’t make it out at all from the loud ringing in his ears which contributed to his horrible pounding headache. He attempted to force his eyes open, and could see a figure standing over him, but everything was still blurry. He brought his hand up to press his palm against his eyes, still recalling the bright streaks of light flying by and the huge white light that he and his friends fell into.

Speaking of, where are his friends?

His eyes shoot open and he leans up, startling the stranger in the process, but he doesn’t seem to care less as he whips his head around and takes in his surroundings. It doesn't look very different from Earth, in fact, it looks exactly like earth. Surrounding him are a bunch of trees with bright green leaves and warm brown trunks. Through the trees, he thinks he can see fireflies flickering through the leaves and grass, which he soon realized was what he was lying on that was so soft. Above him, the sky was dark and was littered with white dots with teal and blue streaks that resembled the northern lights that he saw when he visited Norway with Tord to see his family.

This doesn’t look any different from Earth... Am I in Hexheim?

“Isr?” He heard from behind him, and he quickly turned his head to see who was speaking to him. In front of him stood a tall man, but as his eyes traveled up he only became more shocked at his appearance. 

“Isr? Rae uyo rlgthai?”

The man had longer legs than usual and light brown skin and as he looked further up, he noticed how the figure was wearing a long sleeved warm white shirt with swirls woven into the fabric, with dark brown loose pants that gathered around his ankles, which transitioned into black hooves. They also had a leather brown messenger bag that hung from their shoulder and went around their body. They had honey brown eyes with small flecks of green, and small white freckles dusted along their cheeks, along with short dark brown hair, but the thing that Edd thought was the strangest was that they had long tan antlers that sprouted from the top of their head, decorated with sparkling rings of silver. Edds mouth fell open in shock.

I’m definitely not on Earth…

“Err…Isr?”

Edd blinked, closing his mouth and swallowing. No wonder I couldn’t make out the words, I don’t even speak their language! He thought. “...W-what?” He finally forced out. The strange person blinked and tilted their head a bit, seemingly not understanding him either. “Rae uyo rlgthai?” They repeated, but Edd was still just as lost as he was moments ago.

“Uh, I’m sorry- I don’t know what you’re saying…”

They made a sound of understanding and nodded. “English?” They spoke. Edd's heart jumped in surprise and thankfulness. “Oh, yes! English!” Thank God, they speak English!

They nodded and reached out a hand to help him up. “Are you alright?” Edd gratefully took his hand and used the stranger as support to help himself up. “Yes- I, uh... think so?” He looked down at himself, but didn't notice anything strange. “Your hands are very cold. Are you sure?” They asked, and Edd tilted his head, looking down at his hands. At first glance they seemed normal, but when Edd looked closer at his right hand, he noticed that his fingertips were slightly purple. His eyes widened.

“Um... well, now I'm not so sure.” He chuckled softly, but his nerves were going haywire on the inside. Do I have frostbite? Am I gonna die here? It's not even that cold- He was snapped out of his spiraling thoughts early by their voice again. “Do you need help?” He paused. Do I need help? My fingertips are purple and my hand is freezing. But why doesn't my left hand feel the same? It feels hot. Very hot. Edd stared down at his hands before glancing back up at the stranger, meeting their eyes.

"Um... Yes. Where am I? Is this Hexheim?”

“Hexheim?” The stranger repeated. “Yes, this is Hexheim.. Are you from around here? You don’t look…” They paused, and Edd assumed they were thinking of how to word it. “...common.”

Wow.

Edd shook his head and brushed himself off as he stood, hearing the leaves rustle as a breeze passed through the forest. “No, I’m from Earth.” He noticed how the strangers head tilted to one side; confusion written all over their face. “Earth?” They parroted, and Edd nodded. “Earth, yes. Have you... Never heard of it?” Honestly, Edd wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out that the stranger wasn’t all that familiar with Earth. He hadn’t even known that Hexheim existed until a few hours ago. They shook their head, confirming that they, in fact, had not the slightest clue of what Earth was.

“Anyway,” Edd waved his hand dismissively. “Have you seen my friends anywhere?”

“Your friends? I’m not sure. What do they look like?”
“Well, one has ginger hair and he’s kind of tall... The others have brown hair, and one has black eyes- or, well, used to. Not anymore.” He caught himself, forgetting that the entire reason they were here was to break the curse that Tom had casted upon him. But how are we supposed to break the curse if I don’t even know where he is? “The other has his hair spiked up. They kind of look like horns.”

They thought, but slowly shook their head after a few heartbeats. “No, I’m sorry, I haven’t seen them…” Edd sighed but didn’t let it bring him down much. As he gazed around, he took in the environment, his mind drifting back to the memory of how soft the grass seemed. Honestly, it was kind of calming here with the way the breeze flowed through the trees and drifted across his face.

“Are you lost?” He was broken out of his thoughts once again by their voice, and he looked up, just now taking in just how tall the stranger was. They had to be at least six feet tall! There's no way they’re anything under. He nodded. How could he not be lost? He had never stepped foot in this world, and being thrown into the middle of nowhere with an indirect “Goodluck” from Lady Wisteria wasn’t exactly helping him either. The stranger gestured to their right, and Edd turned his head in the direction that they had gestured to. “Fauna is that way. If you’d like I could guide you there?”

“Fauna?”

“It’s a village.” They clarified.

“Oh, well then, yes please. That’d be really helpful.”

It wasn’t long before they were heading in the direction of the village that they spoke of, Edd falling significantly behind from how fast the stranger was walking. He was almost panting and had to take a few breaks, each time having to stop and lean against a tree for a few moments before continuing. It wasn’t his fault his legs weren’t as long as theirs! But the stranger remained patient with him, and with each stop they went off for a few seconds to gather flowers, clovers, rocks, that sort of thing. Edd found it a bit strange, but who was he to judge hobbies? For all he knew, the stranger could be doing it for a very important reason. After taking his third break in twenty minutes, Edd watched how the stranger walked a few feet away from the tree he was resting against and bent down to pick a leaf off a specific flower with bright yellow petals. He felt the urge to ask about it and thought of how to bring it up without seeming nosy.

“So…” He cleared his throat. “What’s your name?”

They glanced back at him, but didn’t look for long as they turned back around after only a few moments. “Maxine”

“Maxine? Can I call you Max?” He smiled, and the stranger nodded. “What’s yours?” They asked, and Edd silently thanked them for being willing to participate in conversation with him. Or, at the very least, small talk.

“Edd.”

“Edd?”

“Mhm!” He hummed. “Or, well, it’s actually Edward, but everyone calls me Edd.” He added, almost as an afterthought.

“I like it, I’ve never heard it before.”

“Really?” Edd asked, his voice betraying his surprise. “It’s quite a popular name... Maybe it’s just an Earth thing.” He shrugged, and they nodded. “Maybe.”

After a few more moments of silence, Edd sighed, knowing he had to continue with something but not being sure what. Finally, he just decided to bite the bullet and ask. “So, why do you do that?” He started, and Maxine shot him a confused glance. “Do what?”

“Every time I have to take a break, you leave for a few seconds and come back with flowers and rocks and… stuff.” He stared up at them, hoping his question didn’t sound annoyed with the way he worded it. But thankfully, Max didn’t seem to take offense, and they even smiled at the question. “Oh, well, I’m a gatherer!”

“Gatherer?”
“Yes. In Fauna, there are hunters and gatherers.”

“Oh?” Edd tilted his head, curious to know more about the village. “How do you know which one you are?” He sped up for a moment to catch up to them, his breathing growing heavier with each step. He would have to take another break again soon. Guess travelling through worlds really takes a lot out of you. “You choose to be either, but predator and prey do have a pretty big factor in what you choose.” Maxine motioned their hand around as they spoke, their other hand dragging against the trunks of the trees as they walked. “Predator and prey?...” He continued to parrot. “It’s simple, really. You’re born either predator or prey. Of course, we prey don’t live in fear. Fauna is welcoming to all!... Can’t say the same for Ignia, though…” They muttered. Edd blinked but decided not to ask about it, and instead pretend he hadn’t heard. “But, yes, being predator or prey does naturally sway your decision making. My friend, Vixen, is a fox, and he’s a hunter because, well, it’s only natural for him to be. He has the mindset for it and the build. It’s easier for him to be a hunter.” They took a breath in. “But prey being hunters isn’t unheard of, and they’re even praised by most for being able to choose a different path from them, and it’s the same for predators that wish to be gatherers.” 

Edd didn’t reply immediately, he was still trying to digest all the information that had been suddenly dropped on top of him. Predators and prey, hunters and gatherers, it’s all so much to process! But Fauna seems like a wonderful place. Will I find everyone else there? Edd wonders. He can only hope that they’re there. “What made you want to be a gatherer?” He asks. “Well, aside from being prey, I also don’t think that violence is the answer to anything.” Tell that to Tord. He thinks dryly. “I know it’s only necessary for me to live the life I live…” For a half of a second, Edd swears that he can see a distant sadness in Maxines eyes, but it disappeared just as soon as it arrived. “...But I think that talking can be, if not better than immediately resorting to violence with every disagreement. In the end, it will only lead to more violence.”

“So, you’re a pacifist?”

“In a way, I suppose.” Maxine shrugged, turning his attention back ahead where Edd can see a trail begin to form. It’s rocky and has stones and pebbles bordering it, which definitely doesn't look natural. “Oh look, we’re nearly there!” Maxine says happily, but Edd isn’t paying much attention to their words. I wonder if Tom and Tord would be willing to listen to that sort of reasoning. He can’t recall if they’ve ever even attempted talking out their differences. Probably not. Any and all attempts that Matt and I have tried to get the two to talk to each other always ends with a black eye and a bloody nose. It’s like all reasoning gets thrown out the window when those two are together! He sighed. Although he always wished for the two to get along, in the back of his mind he always knew they’d never get over themselves. As he gazed ahead, he noticed how the trees started thinning out and eventually revealed a handful of buildings made from wood and bricks, and as he walked further into the village, he noted just how many people were here. And not just how many there were, but how they all looked so different. They ranged from rabbits and mice, to bears and wolves. There were just so many !

“This is Fauna.” Maxine stopped, opening their hands and gesturing all around them, the corners of their mouth tugging into a smile when they saw the awe in Edd’s gaze as he looked around. “Most people are asleep by now, and after that walk I’m assuming that you’re ready for re- Oh, wait. You don’t have anywhere to stay, do you?”

Edd felt slightly embarrassed by the question. He looked up, shaking his head as he stared into Max’s brown and green eyes. They hummed, quickly thinking up a solution. “Well, no big deal. You can just stay with me for the time being.” They smiled wider, and Edd tilted his head. “You’d really do that for me?” He asked, surprised. They nodded. “Of course! It’s only right. I couldn’t just leave you on the streets to fend for yourself.

“But I’m a stranger, aren’t I? What if I were to rob you in your sleep?”

“Are you going to?”
Edd paused, realizing how that sounded. Honestly, he should just be glad that he didn’t have to sleep in the streets. He didn’t take in account just how long he’d be in Hexheim for, and he especially didn’t think about where he would be sleeping. “...No.”

“Well then I have no reason not to invite you in, right?” Edd was about to reply, but they didn’t give him the chance to. “Come on, I don’t live far from the town square. It won’t take us long at all to get there.”

Chapter Text

Tords eyes shot open, and he pulled himself up and off the floor. His head whipped around, where he saw the black backpack that he had been holding onto so tightly during their descent. He reached forward and unzipped the front pocket, grabbing his notepad and a pen as he scribbled down a bullet point.

-  Traveled through a bright tunnel. Wormhole?

His heart nearly leaped out of his chest as the possibility that he had just traveled through a wormhole. It has been predicted that wormholes may exist somewhere in space, but none have been discovered. Yet. If I’ve discovered a wormhole, then I would be the first in existence! I would be one of the most known men in science!

But how would I explain how I discovered it? He deflated at the sudden question. Surely, if he said he discovered it while traveling to another world to break a curse and get his rival's eyes back, he’d be labeled as a crazy man and no one would take him seriously. Grumbling curses in his native language, he shoved the pen and notepad into his hoodie pocket and zipped the bookbag up as he swung the straps over his shoulders. Glancing around, he was met with dark green sopping wet grass, and he cringed as he felt the wetness seeping through the fabric of his hoodie. There were many tall trees surrounding him with dark, desaturated leaves, with small streams running through the grass and he frowned as a pinecone fell from the tree above him and bounced off his head.  He squinted and craned his neck further, just barely being able to make out lights dancing around in the distance. Civilization, maybe?

He wasted no time in beginning his walk towards the structure in the distance. His vision was slightly clouded by a fog that hung low, but it thankfully didn’t make it any more difficult to see. His gaze drifted up to the sky while he walked, and he noted how the night sky was littered with stars and bright cyan lights swaying back and forth, and it reminded him of home. Though he could never see the northern lights in Oslo, he once took a trip with his family and once with friends down south where the northern lights were brighter than ever in the sky. He also noticed how the sky seemed so much clearer, he could see pink, purple, blue, all colors above in strange shapes. He stopped for a short moment to admire it.

Guess light pollution here isn’t as major as it is on Earth.

After a little while, Tord had finally reached his destination, and he now could classify it as a small village. Though, the thing that was strange about it wasn’t the village itself, but the ‘people’ roaming about. At first glance they seemed normal, but he noticed a few unnatural skin colors, a few with gills and tails, and in general qualities that should’ve been impossible for a natural human being to have. As he walked through the village, he noted how the ground was constantly moist or had a thin layer of water covering it. And when he reached the center, he set his eyes on a well. Just a normal, boring well. But the interesting thing wasn’t the well itself, but there was a man standing next to it with a thick rope in his hands. He looked immensely bored, as if he was about to fall asleep standing, but sighed as a group of people got onto a platform that Tord had not seen before. The man slowly let the rope go, and the group descended into the well. After a few minutes, the man tugged on the thick rope in his hands and the platform rose back up, but the people that were standing on it just moments ago had disappeared underground.

Confused, the Norsk stepped forward and peered into the well, but he couldn’t see into it because the wooden platform covered everything up. But through the cracks in the wood, he thought he could see faint blue lights shimmering underneath.

“Rae uyo igonig ot egt no?” A sudden voice came from his left, and he looked up to see the man who was holding the rope staring right at him. He had pale grey skin with a blue-ish tint and bright yellow eyes, with medium length black hair that fell down over his eyebrows. He wore a dark grey jacket over a light and dark grey striped shirt and jet-black loose jeans. Tord tilted his head, a clearly confused expression on his face. Now I know how everyone feels when I forget I’m not in Norway in the mornings.

The man let out an exasperated sigh. “I dsai, rae uyo igonig ot egt no?” He repeated, but Tord remained silent, glancing around a bit awkwardly. “Uh… I don’t speak that language…sorry…” He said, just hoping the man understood him as he scratched the back of his neck. The man seemed less than pleased and rudely gestured to the platform in the well. Dumbass! He silently cursed himself. He’s obviously asking if you’re getting onto the platform. Now, as the realization finally hit him, he shook his head and held his hands up, his palms facing outwards. “Oh, no, sorry. I was just looking.”

“Then what’re you still doing here?” He suddenly asked, and Tords eyes widened slightly at the sudden change in language. “You speak English?” He forced out after a few moments of stunned silence, and the man rolled his eyes as he gazed off to the side where another group of people were slowly walking towards the well. “I speak a lot of things, Lumarian and English mostly.”

“Lumarian?”

“Htsi.”

“Ah.”

He noted how the man was looking him up and down, as if he was slightly intrigued by his appearance. Tord looked down at himself, but didn’t notice anything odd about him. He still had the same red converse, black jeans, red hoodie and fingerless gloves that he swears up and down have a use to Edd. (He’s lying, they just make him look cool.) He looked back up at the man and shot him a confused glance. “You’re not from around here, are you?” He asks out of the blue, and Tord shakes his head. “Figures. Where are you comin’ from?” He inquired, slowly letting go of the rope as the group finally stepped onto the wooden platform and slowly began to lower. Tord took his eyes off him for a moment to watch as the group lowered, curious to see where they were going. “Norway, but I moved to London when I was three.” The man doesn't say anything for a few moments, and Tord glanced at him momentarily, but there was nothing very interesting about his expression. “Norway? London? Never heard of ‘em. Either way, welcome to Vaelin! Glad to have you here. Gotta tell you though, you’re gonna struggle if you don’t know Lumarian. Not everyone knows English.”

Tord watched as the platform lowered further and further into the well, the darkness nearly consuming them before they were suddenly illuminated by a bright shimmering light that came from the water at the very bottom of the well. The group leaped into the water without hesitation, and the man holding the rope began to pull the platform back up. “I’m sure I’ll be able to manage just fine.” He finally replied, turning back to the man and locking eyes with him. He shrugged. “Whatever you say. What’s your name?”

“Tord. Yours?”

“Finn! Nice to meetcha.”

Finn reached forward with his left hand and shook Tords firmly, locking eyes with him as his grin grew wider. Slightly unnerved, Tord pulled away early and turned around, sitting on the edge of the well and leaning against one of the wooden pillars that supported the roof of the well. “So, why do you do this anyway? The well, I mean. It can’t be comfortable to stand here pulling a rope all day.” He asked, glancing in Finn's direction. The other's grin crumbled and he seemed unpleased by Tord’s simple observation. “Well, I’m not exactly here by choice…” His gaze lowered, and Tord followed his eyes until they landed on Finn’s left hand, which he just now noticed was handcuffed to the pillar. He titled his head. “You’re being… forced to do this?” 

In all honesty, Tord was surprised that they had normal handcuffs here. He was assuming something like magic would be used to detain criminals. Actually, I don’t think I’ve seen any magic here at all. “Yeah. You see, I’m kind of known around here for my, uh… long list of alleged crimes. And I was allegedly caught stealin’, but the cops only let me off with a few hours of community service. It probably could’ve been more, but I haven’t been proven guilty to the other crimes that I allegedly committed.” He made sure to emphasize allegedly as often as he could. He couldn’t have Tord thinking he was a criminal after all! 

Tord raised a suspicious eyebrow. “You were… only let off with a few hours of community service?” 

“Well, I had to pay a small fee too, but it wasn’t all that important, so I didn’t include it.” Finn waved his hand dismissively and rolled his eyes, before he perked up and turned back to Tord. “Say… you wouldn’t happen to know how to lockpick handcuffs, would you?” He tilted his head and smirked. He didn’t know Tord all that well, hell, he’d just met the dude; but he knew a fellow troublemaker when he saw one, and Tord was no exception. Tord blinked. Perhaps he did, but what would he be getting out of it? Surely if he were to free an alleged criminal he should be getting something in return.

“Do I get a reward?” He asks, and Finn doesn’t look surprised at the question, almost as if he was expecting it. “You’ll get a buddy for life!” He smiled and threw his hands into the air, but Tord’s expression remained as he made no move to help. Finn deflated and sighed.

“I can get you pretty much anything you want.”

Now that's more like it! He smiled and pushed himself off the edge of the well, walking over to Finn and reaching into his pocket. When he pulled out a paperclip and started straightening it out, Finn shot him a confused glance.

“Do you just bring that everywhere you go?”
“Yeah. Why? Would you prefer I don’t have it?”
“Nope! Just odd, that’s all.”

He grinned widely, and Tord noticed just how sharp his teeth were. Must be an apex predator of some kind, fish don't commonly have teeth like his. Shark, maybe? The Norsk glanced down behind Finn and laid eyes on a long tail that resembled a shark, with the same pale greyish color with a blue tint that faded into a lighter color underneath. The tip was split into a fin, and he also noticed a smaller fin on the underside of the base of his tail. Definitely a shark. 

Turning his attention back to the handcuffs, he finally completely straightened out the paperclip and bent one of the ends into a hook, finally beginning to pick the lock in the steel cuffs. Finn watched him intently, his cheek nearly pressing against Tord’s. After only seconds, the cuffs popped open with a click and Finn pulled his hand back and rubbed the sore redness on his wrist. 

“Ouch… How’d you do that so fast?” The shark asked, and Tord shrugged as he folded the paper clip back up and shoved it into his jeans pocket. “I’ve been handcuffed one too many times, I guess.” Finn smirked and opened his mouth to make a snarky comment, but Tord elbowed him and he closed his mouth, grumbling. “So, about that reward.” The Norsk looked at Finn, and he sighed. “Damn, I thought you forgot about that…”  He mumbled, and Tord decided to ignore it. “What exactly can you do for me?” Tord had no idea where he was going, he just started following Finn as he pushed through the crowded street. “Well, I can’t do everything for you, but I can get my hands on a lot of stuff.” the shark smirked and pushed his way through a small gap between two houses, which Tord had to turn sideways to get through. As they popped through the other side, Tord wondered what he would even ask for. He could ask for a lot, weapons, directions to his friends, magic… But he knew what was important. He had never been in this world before, he was completely and utterly lost. And to add onto that he had nowhere to stay, everything here was wet (which he hated , by the way.), and he wasn’t exactly sure that he would be completely safe sleeping on the streets. After all, the first person he met was allegedly a criminal, so the streets didn’t seem like a very good place to stay. After thinking about it, Tord finally decided what he wanted to ask.

“What can you tell me about Hexheim?”

That seemed to throw Finn off, and he stopped dead in his tracks and turned to Tord with confusion written all over his face. “Really? That’s your question? You don’t wanna ask something like, I dunno, “Can you get me a weapon?” or “Can I get some Crystals?”. Nothing like that?” Finn makes a confused gesture. Tord blinks, his eyes widening at his words. 

“What?”

“What?”

“I don’t… What’re crystals?” Are we talking about the same thing here?

Finn reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small brown bag, much like the bag of starlight that Lady Wisteria had (Save for being smaller) and opened it to show Tord what was inside. Bright, dazzling crystals of all colors, shapes and sizes shifted around with each subtle move of the bag, and Tord quickly realized his mistake. “Oh.” He muttered out, feeling the tips of his ears burn crimson with embarrassment. Clearly not. 

“What?” Finn pulled the bag back closed and shoved it back into his pocket, giving the other a strange look. “Nothing, it’s nothing. Sorry.” Tord shook his head. Shrugging, Finn just decided to drop it. He isn’t from around here after all, maybe he just got confused. He thought as he continued forward, Tord soon followed right behind him once more as they left the village's boundaries, which Tord could tell by the way the grass didn’t squelch under his feet anymore. Still has dew all over it though. God, will I ever get away from this place?  

“You said you wanted to know about Hexheim?” Finn’s voice interrupted his thoughts, and he looked over at the other to find him looking back at him. “Yeah.” He nodded, shoving his hands into his hoodie pocket as a cold breeze passed by his face. Where are we going anyway? Why are we leaving the village?

“Well. Long ago, I’m talking hundreds of years, we all used to live together in Ruania-” “We all?” Tord interrupted, and Finn shot him a slightly annoyed glance, but didn’t say anything. “Yes, we all. As in all four villages, Ignia, Vaelin, Fauna, and Albenu. Anyway, like I was saying, we all used to live together in peace, and the thing that really kept us all together was this crystal. Well, great things don’t last, because one day the crystal was stolen and the thief used magic to disappear from Hexheim. Without the crystal keeping us together, since it was a symbol of peace and all, we started to fight and disagree. Magic was rejected and so was anyone who dared to associate themselves with it. After a while, nobody in Ruania had even heard of such a thing called ‘Trust’ and The Separation happened.”

Magic? So magic does exist! Or, did? Either way, this proves that it does exist, I just need to figure out how to get to it. He glanced at Finn. Would he be willing to help me? Tord was pulled out of his thoughts by Finn's hand snapping in front of his face. “Hello? Are you not gonna ask what The Separation was?”

“I- What ?” He blinked.

“I said, are you not gonna ask what The Separation was?

“Oh, yeah. What was The Separation?”

Finn smirked and rolled his eyes at the others' confusion. “Basically, it’s when we all gathered together and decided that it would be best if we divided into four groups and left Ruania. Of course, not everyone agreed, and some stayed behind to try and find the crystal in hopes of bringing us all back together.” By now, Tord noticed the ground becoming lumpy and as he gazed up, he was met with a huge mountain that stretched farther up than he could see. How come I didn’t notice this before?

“Quick question, where are we?” The Norsk asked as he craned his neck further up to view the mountain. He would be lying if he said he didn't feel slightly intimidated by its size. “Oh, I guess I should’ve explained earlier. Since I was the one operating the well, I couldn’t exactly go down there without getting caught, but I know another way. It just takes a little longer to get there.” He split off the faint path they were following before and disappeared behind the trunk of a tree. Tord sped up to catch up to him, but when he turned, Finn was nowhere to be seen. In a moment of confusion, he whipped his head around to see Finn's tail slipping into a narrow crevice in the mountain side. “Finn?” He called out and heard Finn's faint voice echo from within the crevice.

“I’m in here!”

Tord pushed himself into the crevice, the cold stone walls pressed against him on all sides, but he continued further by turning to his side and shuffling through the crack. It was definitely claustrophobic, and the walls only seemed to get tighter as he pushed forward, making it rather hard to breathe. “Where are you?” He called out again, his words echoing off the words and making them seem louder than he intended. “I’m still here, just keep going! It opens up eventually!”

“Eventually…” Tord scoffed, but being unable to do anything else, he continued further even as his mind screamed at him to turn around and get out of this dark, cold, claustrophobic cave. 

It was only mere moments later when the passageway finally opened up to a huge space, and he finally took a big breath in to calm his nerves. He couldn’t see much since the entire thing was shrouded in darkness, but with the tiny sliver of light peeking through the crevice he could make out the silhouette of a person standing before him. “Finn?” He spoke, bringing his hand up and waving it around in front of his face, just barely being able to make out the outline of his fingers. 

“See? I told you it opens up!” Finn's voice came from right in front of him, startling the Norsk and making him stumble backward. “Oh, yeah. Um, where are we?” He glanced around, but all he saw was darkness all around him. He nearly lept out of his skin when Finn reached forward and gripped his wrist, his hold gentle but firm. “I know the way, follow me and try not to let go.” 

He knew better than to blindly follow a stranger into the dark, now quite literally, but his options were already limited. Plus, Finn said he knew the way, and he didn’t have a reason to harm him. Yet. What am I, stupid? Why am I following some random that I just met today through a cave? Especially an alleged criminal! Tord paused at that thought, the long list of crimes he’s committed flashing through his head. Okay, maybe he was being a bit hypocritical, but who cares? Finn could be dangerous and here he is being pulled along with no clue in the world where they were going to end up. Maybe I should’ve just stayed home. Tom being cursed isn’t my problem, after all.

No! What am I thinking? I need to be here. I need to figure out how to get my hands on the magic that Finn was talking about.

I need to know more. I need to become unstoppable .

“So, what can you tell me about the magic that you used to use in Ruania?”

“Honestly, not much. Like I said, that happened hundreds of years ago, and I don’t even know if that’s the actual story, that’s just what was told to me.” Faen. He sighed. That was no help. What was the point of even asking if I don’t even get anything out of it?

Suddenly, his foot hit something solid and he tripped, his knee roughly scraping the ground and slipping out of Finn’s grip as he fell. Grunting, he reached down to feel his knee. The fabric of his jeans felt coarse, but they didn’t feel torn thankfully. There was a whoosh by his ear, and he snapped his head around, but couldn't see if anything was there. Taking in a large breath, he used the stone wall to stabilize himself as he stood up.

“Finn?!”

There was no reply. He swallowed his nervousness and took a hesitant step forward, bringing his hands up to make sure he didn't run into anything. However, he stopped dead in his tracks when he felt a sudden chill run down his spine. There was a small prickle in the back of his neck, and soon the feeling spread across his body and left him feeling numb with coldness, as if an icy claw reached forward and swiped at him, tearing into his skin. He stumbled forward, hissing in pain as his shoulder collided with the wall and sent a jarring shock throughout his body. Another shiver was sent down his spine as he felt a chilling breathing on his nape, and he spun around to be met with nothing. Reaching under his red hoodie, he pulled his handgun out of the holster fastened around his thigh and brought it up as he flicked the safety off, his eyes flickering around trying to make out anything in the darkness.

A faint whispering in his ear made him spin around once more, holding the handgun out and aiming anywhere that dared to make a sound. The whispering slowly got louder and louder until it was clear as day, but Tord couldn’t make out the overlapping words being spoken to him.

I am not safe here.

As soon as that thought went through his head, the Norsk took off in the direction that he was heading before. Kicking pebbles and rocks out of the way as he ran, the whispering grew louder as he ran, and after some time he could make out the rushing of water that sounded like it was barreling just behind him, as if every step he took was the only thing keeping him from meeting a freezing cold, water infused demise.

THUMP

Tord stumbled and fell to his knees after colliding with something in front of him. Pain shot through his nose as he dropped the handgun, which clattered against the ground. He grunted in discomfort, feeling a burning sensation on the bridge of his nose and tasting the metallic tang of blood on his lips. Frantically, he reached out, blindly searching the ground for his lost handgun.

“You.”

A familiar voice whispered into his ear, but he didn’t pause to think before he wrapped his fingers around the handgun and aimed in the direction of the voice, pulling the trigger without a second thought.

Click.

What? No!

Click, Click, Click.

He groaned in frustration. The damn thing was jammed! Unsteadily standing up, he staggered forward with his arms reached out as he dragged his hand across the cool stone wall. The sound of rushing water from behind him continued, never dying down. As he ran, each step hitting the floor in rapid thumps, he could see blue and teal lights flickering in front of him illuminating the cave walls and revealing a narrow passageway, much like the one in the side of the mountain. He turned on his side and shuffled through the thin passageway, the lights quickly getting brighter and the sound of cheerful murmuring slightly blocking out the sound of water and the whispering that never seemed to fade.

He stumbled out the other side, the bright cyan lights making him squint as the sudden change in lighting dazed him. Staggering forward, he brought his hands up to cover his eyes.

“Took you long enou-” Another familiar voice commented, but Tord was too dazed and confused to properly register it. “What the?- What happened in there?” He felt a hand on his shoulder.

Finn?

Slowly pulling his hands away, he looked up and saw a figure of about the same height in front of him, then turned his head to view the sight around him. He was standing on stone, but water surrounded him on all sides as if he was in an underwater tunnel at an aquarium. Eyes wide in astonishment as he spun in a circle, taking in the incredible sight before him. People, fish? Fish people? Yeah, that sounds right. Fish people swam in the water surrounding him. Some with bright and dull colors, fish people with their legs replaced by a long tail swaying behind them and some that swam with actual legs. It was breathtaking, honestly.

But even as he gazed before him, he couldn’t forget what happened in the cave behind him. The whispering, the rushing of water, the sudden coldness he felt even through the fabric of his hoodie, it wasn’t easy to forget.

Something isn’t right here.

Matt flinched at the sudden screech behind him, but when he turned he only met eyes with three women all staring at him with their eyes wide.

“Lkoo ta atht iucte!”

“Sode eh ocem rfmo douarn erhe?”

“I vleo shi riha!” 

“Uh..” He gulped. Ever since he got here, every woman that laid eyes on him had begun practically swooning over him. Normally he’d be flattered and would maybe even play along with them, but right now he was in the middle of nowhere with no idea where anyone he knew was. It didn’t help that everyone around him seemed to speak the same language that he didn’t know. 

Gosh, this is like that time I went to Norway with Todd, except this time I don’t have a translator!

Each of the women had ash blonde hair and two long, feathered antennas poking out of their foreheads, along with large gray wings with beautiful designs on their backs. At first glance he thought the women wore a long faux fur scarf, but now that he looked for a bit longer he could see that it was just the fluffy fur on their chest and around their neck that hung over their long identical dresses. The woman on the right wore red, while the one in the middle wore a yellow dress and the woman on the left wore green.

They’re all wearing the same dress! How lazy. He frowned. Could’ve at least put on a necklace or something. I can barely tell them apart! Taking a step back, he turned and took off running.

“On, iucte! Omce akcb”

“Esh tignget waya!”

“Haesc mhi!

The women immediately gave chase, following him and trying to keep up as much as their heels would allow them. He looked around as he ran, but the buildings were spread too far apart to hide in between any of them. Glancing behind him, the women had fallen behind fairly quickly. Thankful, he turned back around, but before he could even register it-

Crash!

His butt hit the floor as he collided into someone, squeezing his eyes shut and pulling his arms up to cover his face. If his beautiful face was so much as scratched it could leave a scar, and it would ruin his flawless appearance!

“Ow!- uedd, tawhc here uyo’er oiggn!”

Peeking through his hands, he met eyes with a woman with reddish brown hair and hazel eyes who wore a white tank top, black hoodie, and red plaid pants. Oh no, I don’t need another woman chasing me! He thought as he stared at her. She gave him a weird look and stood up, reaching her hand out in an offer to help the ginger up. Matt hesitantly accepted, but froze when he heard the screeching of the women chasing him from a few feet behind. Tightening his hold on her hand, he bolted forward with her dragging behind.

“Ehy! Hatw het llhe?! Elt em og!”

“I’msuperdupersorryforthisbuttheresthreewomenchasingmeandIhavetokeeprunningorelsethey’llgetmeandIhavenoideawhereIamandIdon’tknowwheremyfriendsareandnobodyspeaksenglishhereandI’mPANICKING!”

“Hatw?! Lows nwdo, I ontd nwok hatw uyo’er iysagn!”

“What?!
“Hatw?!”

She glanced over her shoulder at the three lovesick women chasing them, and her mouth formed an O shape as if she understood. Suddenly, two huge white wings unfolded from behind her and she leapt forward, wrapping her arms around Matt's torso and taking a huge leap that sent them into the air. Unprepared, Matt shouted and pulled his legs up to his chest, tightly gripping her arms as they flew higher and higher. The three women below them looked up in awe and stomped their feet in anger, shouting a string of (What Matt is sure to be) very colorful words in a different language.

Looking down, Matt noted how the ground only got further and further away, and he gulped nervously. “Um, t-thanks- but, you can- you can let me go now!” He looked up at her, and she glanced down as if he was stupid. “You want me to let you go from this height? Okay, but it’s your death wish.”

Matt realized what he said and let out an ear splitting shriek when her grip around his torso began to loosen. “NonononononoNONO NO!” He kicked his feet and he squeezed her arms even tighter than before. She snorted and pulled him back up. “I’m just kidding! Calm down- ow! Fucker, stop or I’ll actually drop you!” Matt accidentally kneed her wrist, but after hearing her words he went dead still. Seriously, it was like he turned to stone or something.

After a few minutes of flying upward, Matt coughed as he slowly found it harder to breathe so far into the sky. But finally, after what seemed like way too long to Matt, she finally stopped and landed on a cloud, folding her wings back up. “There, now let go of me.” Matt looked down, but instead of seeing solid ground like he was expecting, he was met with a white semi-transparent cloud.

“What?! No! I’ll fall!”

“No you won’t.”

“Yes I will!”
She sighed exasperatedly and let go of the ginger's torso. But, as expected, the cloud below him parted and sent him through. Panicking, the woman dropped to her knees and shot her arm through the cloud, grabbing his hand just before he fell out of reach. Sighing in relief that she didn’t accidentally kill a man, she looked down into his wide, terrified eyes.

“Okay, maybe you will.”

Chapter Text

“Uhm… where am I?”

“You're in the cloud. See down there?”

The woman with reddish-brown hair pointed through the cloud, and Matt looked down, just barely being able to make out the shape of a few buildings. “Yeah?” He looked back up. “That's Albenu. It looks small, but mostly everything's up here.” She motioned around, and Matt nodded along.

After the woman had saved Matt from a horrible fall (that was totally her fault, but Matt didn't want to appear hostile.), Matt thanked her for getting him away from those women and she showed him around The Cloud. It was mostly the same as on the ground, but it was packed with more people and buildings. Definitely being the most popular choice to live out of the two. The people looked interesting, though. They looked mostly normal, but lots of them had wings or feathers. I can't count how many pretty butterfly wings I've seen!

“Woah… So, you have wings, right?” Matt looked back up to her, and she nodded, flexing them subconsciously. They were a lot larger than he had originally thought, and had to be at least four feet long. They were pasty white, almost like a dove, and had nearly hundreds of feathers coating every inch. And one tiny, tiny detail that Matt almost missed was the way that the feathers on the end faded at the tips, almost like they were a gradient between being in and out of existence. His mouth fell slightly agape as he watched how she folded them neatly behind her back, running her hands through her hair to try and flatten the strands that stuck out wildly. “Why did you help me?” He asks out of the blue, but she doesn't seem surprised by the question.

“I wouldn't want to be chased by three women either.”

“But you still didn't have to help me.”

“Okay, well, would you rather I didn't? If I knew you were gonna complain I would've just left you there.” She shot him a warning glance, and the Brit immediately backed into his shell. “Oh, no- sorry! I didn't mean it like that- I meant, like, I was- I just was curious, cause, like, I don't know you and-” “Mhm, okay…” A light smirk appeared on her face, and he sighed as he cleared his throat. “Ahem… Anyway, what's your name?” He slightly turns his head to her, meeting her eyes.

“Emma.”

“I’m Matt!”

He enthusiastically reached out his hand in greeting, and she hesitantly accepted the handshake, but nearly had her arm pulled out of socket by how enthusiastically he shook it. She pulled her arm away quickly, rolling her shoulder and giving him another weird look. “uhm… anyway, why do you look so weird? Like, not to be rude or racist or anything, but you are definitely not from here.” She gives him a questioning look, glancing him up and down. He doesn't have any defining traits that he's from Hexheim at all. “Oh, I'm not! I'm from London.” He pointed back as if he was pointing in the direction of London, forgetting that this place didn't have a London. “London? Never heard of it. How'd you get here?”

“Oh, well, I was watching TV with my friend Edd and someone knocked on the door and Edd got it, but it was this woman and she looked kind of weird and she kept asking about a coin or something. I don't really know, but Edd tried to tell her to go away and she got mad and said something that sounded like ‘amazing’... Anyway, it totally wrecked the house and she was gone, but when I looked back at Tim— He's also my friend-  was standing in the kitchen, he had eyes! ”

Emma gave him a weird look for the 3rd time since she met him not even ten minutes ago. “Uhh, yeah. Most of us do…”

“No- like, it's a long story but he was born without eyes.”

“Oh, well, that's weird.”

“Yeah! And then Todd— he's also my friend— came home and we ate dinner, and then Edd found this woman- what was her name? Lady… Lady Winchester? Anyway, she said she could send us to Hexheim but we were all skeptical. But I guess she turned out to be trustworthy because here I am.” He smiles and opens his arms as if he’s showing himself off. Her gaze lingers on him for a moment, before she turns away and continues walking forward.

“Where are we going anyway?” He asks as he looks around, taking in the strange looks of the village. There are small houses surrounding him, but as he gazes up he also notices how a few structures are suspended in the air by a few straying clouds, and he can’t help but wonder how impractical that must be. What’s the point of even leaving your house if as soon as you take a step outside you fall straight back down?

“Well, I was planning on taking you to the Thief, but-”

“The Thief?”

“Yeah. It’s just a statue, nothing super special.”
“What kind of statue?”
How many questions does this guy have? “What kind?- It’s just a statue, dude. There’s nothing special about it.” She says as she gestures forward. He blinks and follows her gesture, finally noticing the giant stone carved structure in front of him. At first he isn’t sure what it is, but it appears to be a cloaked figure glancing over their shoulder as they hold an item (He isn’t sure what it is.) close to their chest as if they were wary of being seen with such an item. Tilting his head, the ginger tries to get a look at what's underneath the figure's hood, but it’s too dark to properly make out anything besides a sliver of an eye.

Wait, what time is it?

He turns back to Emma, his eyes slightly wide in panic. “What time is it?” He asks, his voice quick and panicked. “Uh,” she glances off to the side before looking up at the dark sky. “I don’t know, probably late?”

“My beauty sleep!” He suddenly exclaimed as if missing a little sleep was the worst thing in the world and reached forward, gripping Emma's white tanktop and pulling her so close that their noses bumped together. “If I don’t get my beauty sleep then I’ll have eyebags, and I’ll ruin my face! My pretty pretty face! Please, you have to help me! I can’t sleep on the road. I’m too good for that!” He stared into her hazel eyes. How humble. She thought dryly as she glanced off to the side, feeling slightly awkward from the closeness. “Please, you have to let me stay with you!” The Brit pleaded, and her eyes widened.

“What?! Hell no! I don’t even know you!”

“But you saved me!”
“So?! That doesn’t mean I’m going to let you let you sleep in my house! That's your situation, your issue, not mine!” 

“Just for a day!” He pleaded with her, his big blue eyes hard to ignore. But, staying firm on her decision, she pushed him away and shook her head with a strong “No!”. Sighing in defeat, Matt looked around as if he was searching for something. “Where am I going to sleep?” He mumbles to nobody in particular, mostly to himself as he searches for a spot. Maybe he could try to convince some random stranger to let him stay with them, or he could find a nice comfortable spot underneath a tree or something. Oh, wait, there are no trees. Nevermind.

However, as the woman watched the ginger search around for a place to sleep, she couldn’t help but feel sort of bad for him. If I was in his situation, I would want somewhere to stay, wouldn’t I? No! I can’t let this guy stay with me, even if it’s only for a night. He could be dangerous, this whole thing could just be some sort of trap to hurt me.

But would he really do that? I’ve only just met him, I don’t know his intentions, but I shouldn’t immediately assume that they’re only bad. Maybe he’s being genuine?

With a heavy sigh, she made her final decision.

“...Fine.” She crossed her arms. Matt turned to her, the shock on his face soon morphing into a large grin. “Really?! Thank you, thank you!” He immediately rushed forward with his arms open to engulf her into a huge hug, but she stuck her arms out to prevent him from getting any closer than he already was. “But!” She suddenly began. “Only for one night. No more than that.” Matt nodded vigorously, retracting his arms and letting them go limp by his side. Looking him up and down for a moment, Emma turned and started walking in the opposite direction, and the Brit immediately began following after her.

After a few minutes of walking, she stopped in front of a small looking structure that was built out of logs. It kind of looked like a log cabin you’d find in the woods but scaled down by a lot. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a complex looking key and pushed it into the lock, turning it and opening the door. Stepping inside after her, his eyes slightly widened at how it looked. As soon as he stepped inside he was greeted by a pleasant smell and a maroon colored sofa with a red rectangle carpet underneath. In front of the sofa was a small coffee table, and in front of that was a lit fireplace that gave the whole room a warm, comforting atmosphere. Pulling her jacket off her shoulders, Emma threw it onto the sofa and closed the door with her foot as she walked past Matt.

“Wow. This is where you live?” Matt wondered out loud as he gazed around, spotting an open doorway next to the fireplace and a door on the wall to the right of the sofa. “No. Well, actually, yes, but it’s not mine.” She replied as she plopped down onto the sofa and hung her legs over the arm. “It was my friends, but he…” she paused, clearing her throat. Realizing, Matt turned to her and spotted a flash of sorrow within her eyes.

“Oh, I’m so sorry-”

“No, don’t say that, it wasn’t your fault. It was just an accident.” She waved him off dismissively as she turned her head. Feeling awkward, Matt continued looking around and laid eyes on… himself? Oh, no, that’s a mirror.

Smiling, he rushed forward and immediately began combing his fingers through his hair to make it seem more presentable, but he soon noticed something odd. Instead of his eyes being his usual sky blue, they were a deep vermillion, and instead of being circles, his pupils were slits. Furrowing his brows, he opened his mouth to speak, but noticed that his canines were a lot longer and sharper than usual. And suddenly, Lady Wisteria's words popped into his head.

“As for the vampire, you might take on the appearance as one more than you do now. Your skin will be paler of course, and your teeth will grow and sharpen. I probably shouldn’t have to explain this to you.”

He let out a whine, now noticing that his skin was in fact paler and his ears were slightly longer and pointed. “Aw man…”

Hearing him, Emma pulled herself up to look up at himself staring at himself in the mirror and tilted her head. “Um… What’re you doing?”

“Look at me! I mean, I knew Lady Wisteria said I'd look more like a vampire when I got here, but I didn’t think it’d be this bad!”

“I- what? Who’s Lady Wisteria? Vampire? ”

“I mean, just look at me! I’m surprised so many women wanted me when I looked like this! ”

“Look like what? You look normal-”

“I need to get out of here!” He whined. “I can’t look like this, I don’t even know how long I’m going to be here for! I don’t even know how to break Tims curse, or even where he is! I don’t know where anyone of my friends are!”

“Dude, calm down!” The redhead spoke, standing up and walking over to him. “I’ll help you find your friends, okay? Just calm the fuck down.”

Matt looked at her with uncertainty in his eyes but slowly nodded.

“Okay, okay.”

Chapter Text

“Ouch!-”

Tom exclaimed as he fell into a tree, wrapping his limbs around one of the branches and desperately clinging to the wood, but a piece of dry bark broke off and sent him tumbling down, and it felt like he hit nearly every other branch on the way down. 

Curling himself into the fetal position, he finally hit the ground and groaned in pain. His sides felt like they were on fire, and his stomach churned. Peeking one eye open, he glanced around to take in the strange landscape before him. Small and large hills of sand, with a few small trees that seemed to have been placed sporadically around. He had no idea where he was, and the most he could remember back at the moment was some woman named Lady Wisteria and him falling through a bright tunnel with him and his friends.

Actually, where were his friends?

He couldn’t hear anything around him, nor could he feel anyone's presence, so he assumed they probably weren’t anywhere near him.

Actually, where am I?

As he pulled himself up, he bumped his head on a low hanging branch and hissed. The sand shifted beneath the soles of his vans as he reached up to rub the crown of his head and brush the remaining grains of sand out, but he felt something smooth and hard erupting from his hairline. His hands traveling up, he dragged his fingertip across the sharp tip of the new object.

Horns, how wonderful. Guess I can't be mad about it, though. I was warned. 

He realized just how dry his mouth and throat felt, and grimaced at the taste of old alcohol that lingered on his tongue. Reaching into his hoodie pocket and pulling out his metal flask, he unscrewed the lid and took a swig of the straight vodka inside, coughing at the sharp taste that stung his taste buds. Shoving the flask back into his pocket, the Brit began walking forward, not too sure where he was going.

As he made his way over a particularly high sand hill, he thought he could see a few buildings in the distance.

Better than being stuck in this desert.

It looked rather far away, but didn’t take too long to actually get there. As he walked, he noticed how the endless grains of sand slowly transitioned into a dirt path, but what he found strange was how instead of grass, or maybe more sand, surrounding the dirt path were glowing, red hot coals. And what was even stranger was the fact that the “people” in this place had strange physical features. He could see a pair of two with multiple arms and the tail of a scorpion, he saw someone with the ears of a sand cat, and a lean man with tan skin and dirty blonde hair, whose bottom half transitioned into that of a tan snake tail with a rattle at the end.

That's… kind of cool, actually.

Shifting his direction, Tom stepped onto one of the hot coals before he could even think about it, but instead of him immediately pulling his leg back and hissing in pain, he noticed how he couldn’t feel anything. Looking down, he shifted one of the coals under his foot, but still found that he couldn’t feel any heat radiating off of it. Reaching down, he picked up the coal, and finally confirmed that they weren’t actually burning hot as they looked.

Weird.

Dropping the coal, he looked back up and continued walking toward the man with the snake tail. “Excuse me?” Tom spoke, and the man turned his head to glance at the Brit, his grey eyes flashing with something that Tom couldn’t quite place his finger on, but it felt somewhat insulting. But the first thing he noticed about the man now that he was looking face to face was the single red ring curled around his left earlobe.

“Where am I?” The man in blue spoke, watching as the strangers' eyes looked him up and down. “Ignia.” He replied, his gaze lingering on Tom's hands. Looking down, he didn’t notice anything strange at first, but soon found that his fingers seemed elongated and his fingertips faded into a deep purple, his nails were also longer and had turned black. Swallowing the dread that had erupted from deep within his chest, he looked back up at the stranger and locked eyes.

“Okay, thanks.” Tom spoke, turning his head to glance around the village once more. The stranger continued eyeing him up and down, and after a few moments, finally speaking his thoughts. “You look… lost.”

Looking back, Tom pressed his lips into a thin line and nodded slowly.

“Kind of. I have no idea what this place is; I didn’t even really mean to end up here.”

“How’d you get here?”

“It’s a long story.” He sighed. “Have you seen anyone with brown or ginger hair? Should be wearing a green hoodie, or a purple hoodie with a green overcoat.”

The stranger shook his head, and Tom sighed as he reached into a hoodie pocket and pulled out his flask, unscrewing the cap and taking a sip.

“What’s that?”

The stranger gestured toward the flask, and Tom glanced down at it before turning back to him.

“Vodka.”

“What?”

“Alcohol.” He screwed back on the cap and shoved it back into his pocket. “Well, have you seen a guy with brown hair spiked up into two horns? Potentially wearing a red hoodie?” The Brit spoke, but the stranger once again shook his head. Sighing, Tom glanced around, when his gaze was suddenly caught by the flickering of a flame in his peripheral vision. Turning his attention to the flame, he suddenly noticed how, in the very middle of the village, was a large white pillar with flowy designs carved into it, and on the very top was a seemingly everlasting fire

“Well, thanks anyway.” He bid farewell to the stranger absentmindedly and started walking towards the pillar, his gaze locked onto the bright sparking of light, when suddenly the toe of his shoe is stopped by a stubborn coal, and he’s sent to the ground. Reaching his hands out to catch himself, he slightly grimaces as he feels his knees dig into the coals and make room. His face just hovering over the coals, he slowly peeks his eyes back open, having closed them as he was falling, and a small but noticeable shiny blue object clashing against the red of the coal. Curious, he pulled himself onto his knees and pushed a few of the coals off the shiny blue object to reveal a small, two inch long crystal shard.

What the?

Reaching forward and grabbing the shard, he pulled it closer to inspect it. It was a deep blue, like the color you’d see in the deepest parts of the pacific ocean, and looked like someone had dropped a crystal and it had shattered into small fragments. But something about it was just strange to Tom; something about the way the color ever so slightly shifted from deep blue, to dark turquoise, to a muted cyan every time he shifted it in his hand. This definitely wasn’t a normal crystal shard, but he wasn’t sure what it could be instead.

Pulling himself back up, he shoved the shard deep into his jeans pocket, ensuring it wouldn’t get lost or damaged. 

Edd glanced around, his eyes filled with wonder as he took in the beautiful scenery. Cabins lined the bustling streets, and in the middle was a giant oak tree that had fireflies weaving in between the gaps in the leaves, making the whole area look enchanted. The clicking of hooves against the rocky ground suddenly took a turn, and he turned his head to see Maxine walking in a different direction. Turning on his heels, he swiftly caught up to the deer.

“So, where do you live?” He asked, glancing up at them. Maxine turned their head, meeting Edds hazel eyes. “Just down this road; it’s not too far, don’t worry. I know we’ve been walking for a while.”

Thank God. Truthfully, Edd was practically dragging himself around at this point, his feet ready to give out at any moment now. Maybe he was being dramatic, but he doesn't think he’s ever walked this far in his life. Maxine walked up a pair of stone steps leading up to the entrance of a cabin with stone bricks for a base. Reaching for the knob, they pushed open the door and stepped inside, calling out.

“M’I mohe!” 

“Ah, yalifln! Hewer ewre uyo? Uyo dais ti ouwndl’t kaet onlg!-”

A second, rougher voice replied as someone walked around the corner, but suddenly stopped as it laid eyes on Edd. Looking him up and down, the first thing he noticed was his fiery orangey-red hair and glowing amber eyes. He had tan skin and two red stripes on both cheeks, and wore a black leotard with no sleeves, along with a pair of tan cargo pants and a black leather belt with matching black combat boots. On the top opf his head, Edd noticed a pair of long fox ears and a large, fluffy fox tail, both tipped with black. Also, it was something small, but the Brit also noticed a sharp tooth that stuck out and over his lips.

“Er… Hws’o atht?”

“Htsi si Edd. Esh otn romf erhe. Eh kapses Gislhne.”

The fox turned his head towards Edd, tilting it slightly as he looked him up and down with his blazing amber eyes. “Gislhne? Nloy Gislhne?”

Maxine nodded, and the fox sighed, his ears slightly lowering. “M’I otn dogo ta kapsesgin Gislhne.”

“Uyo t’nidd aekt Admame Vee’s ssonles?”

“I t’nidd khint ti aws patmiornt! V’ie nrvne tme weonsen hwo clulayta kapses ti!”

Maxine sighed and turned to face Edd, slightly annoyed. “Sorry, he doesn't speak English very well. We were supposed to take lessons, but…” They trailed off, turning their head back to the fox. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, smiling, before turning to Edd.

“Uh… Hi.”

"Hi.”

“... I’m Vixen.”

“I’m Edd.”

A silence followed. The Brit could tell that Vixen was trying to think of something to say, but kept coming up empty. After a few more seconds passed, Maxine sighed and brought their hands up.

“Okay, listen. Our guest is tired, and I’m sure he just wants to lie down and sleep.” They stared at Vixen as they spoke, Who nodded along with each word. Maxine turned to Edd, who also nodded.

A few moments later, Edd was situated on their couch with a blanket and pillow. Maxine had apologize for not having a spare bed for him to crash on, but he was more than grateful for the couch, let alone a place to stay for the night. Eyes heavy, as he rested his head against the pillow provided to him, he thought back on the day just had, and created a mental to-do list. 

To-do list

• Find Matt, Tom, and Tord.
• Get Toms eyes back
• Get home

It wasn’t much, but he couldn’t think of much while he was this tired. He’ll add onto it later. But for now, he’d rather slip into a comfortable sleep.

Murmurs. Murmurs that got louder, and louder, and louder until his eyes shot open. Around him was a bustling city, people walking, talking, laughing with each other. Where am I?. Suddenly, a siren rang throughout the city, and his head shot towards a crowd of people beginning to form. Walking towards the group, he pushed his way through until he could see. Leaning over the railing, he spotted a cloaked figure with their head on a swivel, as if every angle was a potential escape or threat. 

What’s going on?

A woman raced toward the figure, calling out something that he couldn’t quite make out, but she looked very familiar, with warm brown skin and tight black curls. The cloaked figure turned, locking eyes with the woman. The familiar woman reached forward to grab the object in their hand, which Edd was just now realizing was a shiny white crystal. The cloaked figure brought their hand up, a bright ball of warping purple magic fizzling into existence. The magic grew brighter and brighter, until he had to force himself to close his eyes and look away.

The crowd gasped, and after a heartbeat he pulled his hand away and turned his head back towards the scene.

The familiar woman was sitting on the floor with her forearm held in front of her face, as if she was shielding herself from something. The cloaked figure from before was gone, no trace of them left behind. It was as if they had never been there in the first place. The familiar woman turned her head to look straight at him, and though he was far away, he could still recognize those brown eyes that glowed orange

Lady Wisteria!

He blinked, but when he opened his eyes once more, the world around him didn’t return. Everything was black. Confused, he whipped his head around, but he was only met with the same darkness. Though, in the distance, he thought he could see a glowing ball of magenta light. Suddenly, a heavy breath came from behind him, and he turned on his heels to be met face to face with a large monster with black fur, purple striped horns, and a single eye placed on the center of its head. His breath leaving his body, he went to take a step back, but found that he couldn’t move. The monster growled, baring its yellowed teeth at him, and he could feel the color practically drain from his face, but still, he couldn’t move any part of his body.

It narrowed its single eye, huffing through his nose and suddenly jolting forward, its jaws snapping open as it lunged.

Gasping for air, he shot up in a cold sweat, his hands tightly gripping the warm blanket. What the hell was that? What could it mean?

Was that monster Tom?

He swallowed thickly, taking a deep breath to try and calm his racing heart. Lying back down, he stared up at the ceiling, an uneasy feeling resting within his stomach. 

Chapter Text

“Oh, good morning!”

A cheery tone greeted Edd’s ears as he awoke, stretching and pulling himself up to sit properly on the couch. “Morning…” He yawned. Maxine sat in front of him, holding a brown notebook with a leaf pressed against the cover. “What’s that?” He asked, curious. Maxine looked up and smiled slightly, happy to answer his question. “It’s my journal! I’m just noting down some things to remember for later.”

“You like journaling?”

“Well, not really. This one is kind of just used for me to remember things; I don’t have a good memory.”

“Ah. Well, that’s still cool. My friend, Tord, likes journaling too! Or, at least I think so. He’s always writing stuff down.”

Maxine nodded as they wrote in the notebook, the sound of pencil against paper relaxing. Glancing out the window, Edd noticed a beautiful sunrise, the sky orange and streaked with pink clouds as the sun was pulled into the sky. “Wow.” He spoke absentmindedly, pulling the deer's attention away from the book and towards the beautiful sky for a short moment, but they didn’t seem as mesmerized by it as Edd did.

They probably see it all the time. 

“Pretty, isn’t it? I always try to wake Vixen up so he can see it, but he always falls back asleep.” 

He turned back to Maxine, who continued writing in their notebook. He chuckled.

“That reminds me of when my friend, Tom, took a “nap” for 14 hours. I tried waking him up, but eventually just gave up.” Maxine smiled, amused by the story. They were curious about Edd’s friends, and wondered if they’d ever get to meet them. 

“So, you’re from… Earth, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah, London.” He clarified, and Maxine nodded. “So, you’re not from here?”

He shook his head.

“How did you get here?”

“Well…”

Maxine listened intently as Edd went over how they met this strange lady who was after some sort of crystal, then suddenly Tom had eyes, and how they reached out to Lady Wisteria, and now were here.

“So, Tom didn’t have eyes?”

“No, they’re black- or, he was born without them?”

Pausing for a moment, the Brit tried to think back to when his friend explained the unusual phenomena, but when he explained it, his mouth was full with cereal, and Edd couldn’t catch a single word of what he was saying. “Anyway,” He waved his hand dismissively. “That’s basically all that happened. By the way, do you have a bathroom anywhere?”

“Oh, yeah, it’s just down there, second door to the right.” Maxine leaned forward and pointed towards a hallway. “Thanks!” Edd stood and continued down the hallway, pushing open the bathroom door and closing it behind him. The bathroom was nice, with cream-colored walls and a sink to the right as you walk in. Next to the sink was the toilet, and on the wall opposite to the door was the shower.

After doing his business, he went to wash his hands in the sink, but when he glanced into the mirror, he noticed just how green his eyes were. Normally, they were a hazel with a ring of green around his pupils, but now they were green , not just a desaturated color like most, they were bright green. Leaning closer, he reached up and pulled at the skin under his eye, his gaze flickering between the eyes in his reflection. How long have they looked like this? Why do they look like this? Swallowing the growing nervousness in his throat, suddenly, Lady Wisteria's words echoed in his mind.

“The superhuman shouldn’t affect anyone much. At most, your powers will cause some physical 

differences, but nothing difficult to handle once you get used to it.”

PowerEdd! The memory suddenly flashed through his head. I guess I still must’ve had a little juice left, and now that I’m in Hexheim, it’s back! And… makes me look different.

He felt rather dumb after the realization hit him, and pulled himself away from the mirror to finally wash the germs off his hands.

Turning the faucet on, he wet his hands and pumped a small amount of soap into his hand, lathering it in. However, for whatever reason, he glanced up at the mirror to view himself once again, but behind him was a pale lady with loose black curls and lavender eyes. Gasping, he swiveled around, but found that the only thing behind him was a cream-colored wall. Turning back around, he found that the lady had disappeared from the reflection, but something else that was odd was how he no longer felt the water running on his hands.

Glancing down, he furrowed his brows when he realized that the reason was because the water was now ice. Pulling his hands back, he tapped the frozen tap water, but it didn’t move an inch. Sighing, he came to the conclusion that he must’ve accidentally froze the water when he got scared.

“Great.”

“What the?- What happened in there?”

Finn placed a hand on the Norsks shoulder, but he just barely registered the words as he gazed at the beautiful tunnel of water surrounding him, though his mind was still stuck on trying to figure out what the hell happened in that cave. Turning to the shark, he opened his mouth to speak, but something caught his eye.

A shiny object floating in the wall of water behind Finn. It looked like a piece of red shattered glass, but bulkier.

“I, uh…”

Something about the shard was weird. He wasn’t sure what, but it was like he couldn’t walk away. Finn glanced behind him, but didn’t even seem to notice the shard, because he just turned back around and gave Tord a weird look.

“...Okay, well, c’mon. We aren’t getting anywhere standing here.” He started walking away, but Tord found that he couldn’t bring himself to move his legs to follow him, and instead, before he even noticed, he had subconsciously pulled his sleeve up and reached into the water to grab the shard. The sharp edge slit the tip of his thumb open, but he didn’t care all that much as he pulled the shard out of the water and brought his hand up to swipe the blood away with his tongue. Staring into the crystal, he swore he could see a faint red light flickering within it, but Finn's voice tore his attention away from it. 

“Hey! You coming?”

“Uh, yeah. Sorry.”

He shoved the shard into his hoodie pocket and turned, walking towards him as he flipped it around in his hand. “So, what is this place?” He questioned as he glanced around, continuing to take in the beautiful looking marine life swimming around in the water surrounding them. He’d never seen anything like this, and he’d probably never see it again if he were to leave. Glancing towards the shark, he felt tempted to show him the shard, but wasn’t sure how he’d react.

What if he takes it?

That idea seemed less than appealing, and in turn, he tightened his grip around the pretty shard in his pocket. 

“This is Aquiria, basically where everyone that can’t breathe outside the water lives.” Finn explained as he walked, his head turned away from Tord as he reached out and dragged his hand along the wall of water. The Norsk nodded as he watched the water fall to the floor, tilting his head up as he watched a fish person with a long blue tail with orange, pink, and cyan fins swim above him. “How come you can breathe outside water?” He asked, looking back down to sweep his gaze over the shark. He didn’t look to have a pair of visible gills, but maybe they could be hidden under his clothing somewhere.

“Well, I guess it kind of depends on two things; if you can breathe outside water, and if you have legs.”

“What if you can breathe outside water but don’t have legs?”

“We can still breathe in water, all of us can, but we prefer not being limited to water.”

“How?”

“Gills.”

“Where?”

“On my body.” This guy asks a lot of questions, doesn't he?

“But if you swam, wouldn’t your clothes make it hard to breathe?”

“If I were to swim, I’d have to get naked.”

“Oh.”

An awkward silence settled between the two, but Finn didn’t seem to care all that much, because he only continued walking.

“...Where are we going?” He asked, attempting to make normal conversation again. “Honestly? I have no idea, I just wanted to get away from that well.” He shrugged, shoving his hands into his grey jacket pockets. Tords brow furrowed in confusion.

“So, you decided to go through a mountain instead of, just, walking away?” 

“Actually, fun fact, we’re still in Vaelin.”

“...What?”

“Yeah, this is what’s under the well. Look.”

Finn motioned Tord over, and as he walked over and turned in the direction that he had gestured to, he realized that he was right. There was another group of three people descending down the well on the wooden platform. Though, a question suddenly popped up in his head, and he turned back to Finn.

“Who’s pulling the rope?”

The shark's eyes widened, as if he had just realized something that he wouldn't've thought of earlier.

“Ehy, hetre eh si!”

A deep voice called out, and Finn looked as if he could just sink into the floor right now, because the way he sighed and hung his head, pinching the bridge of his snout, basically told Tord everything.

“Shit.”

Yawning, the ginger lifted himself from the comfortable bed that had been ever so kindly provided to him, arching his back in a stretch that made his eyes water. Sighing contently, he leaned up and swung his legs over the bed, standing and quickly making his way over to the door. As he entered the living room, a pleasant smell greeted him, and he turned to the couch where he saw the crown of a head covered in red hair just barely peeking over the cushion.

“Good morning!” He greeted, walking around the couch and plopping down right next to her, careful to avoid sitting on her outstretched wings. Glancing toward Emma, he noticed how her eyes were half-lidded, as if she was having trouble trying to stay awake. Though, he barely paid any mind.

“What is that amazing smell?” The Brit glanced around the room, wondering if it was coming from somewhere else. “Starberries.”

“Strawberries?”
“No, star berries.”

Emma showed him her cupped hand, which was filled with many small, star-shaped bright yellow berries. Intrigued, Matt glanced up at her face. “That’s what smells so good? Those tiny berries?”

She nodded, bringing her hand up to his nose. He sniffed, and gasped softly. “These smell amazing! What do they taste like?” He grinned widely, and Emma shrugged, gesturing for him to take one. Eagerly reaching forward and grabbing a few, he popped them into his mouth, and was pleasantly surprised. When he chewed, the berry burst and the juice inside coated his tongue, and it tasted like a mix of pineapple and mango. “Mmh!” He pleasantly hummed, swallowing. “Where did you get these?”

“From the market.”
“You need to get more of those! Where do they come from?”

She paused, hesitating for a second. 

“...That’s a great question.”

“You don’t know where they come from?” Matt questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Dude, I only buy them, I don’t pick them myself.”

“You should! Then you wouldn’t have to buy them, and you could have them whenever you want!”

Emma's eyebrows raised slightly, why hadn’t she thought about that sooner?

“... Actually, that isn’t a bad idea, but I can’t just go buy the seeds.”

“Why not?”

“Because, you can only get them from Fauna.”

“... So?”

She sighed. Idiots only have a brain sometimes, I guess.

“ So, we’d have to go all the way to Fauna for some seeds.”

“Then let’s go!”
The ginger hopped up enthusiastically, much in contrast to how Emma sighed and stayed on the couch. She didn’t really feel like getting up, much less travelling all the way to Fauna just for a few seeds. But, it’d be nice to not have to waste crystals on starberries every time I wanted them. Sighing louder, she pulled herself off the couch and towards her bedroom to get dressed. 

Chapter Text

“Shit."

The shark looked back up and reached for the Norsks hoodie, gripping the thick fabric tightly and suddenly bolting in the other direction. Taken by surprise, Tord stumbled, but quickly recovered and caught up to Finn.

Chapter Text

“Tord?”

Chapter Text

"So, how do we get there?"

The ginger stopped at one of the fresh fruit stands, admiring the berries before he was pulled back into focus by Emma. They'd left her house and landed back on the ground floor of Albenu, now trying to figure out a way to get to Fauna.

"Well, usually I'd fly there, but you're here."

"Can't you just carry me like you did when you brought me to the cloud?"

She turned to him, slightly shaking her head in confusion. He blinked.

"...Okay, well, first of all, I only carried you to the cloud because you were being chased by those women, mkay? Second of all, aren't you, like, deathly afraid of heights? Do you really want me to carry you all the way over there?"

Her talk about heights made Matt shiver, and he quickly regretted even suggesting that she fly him. "Nevermind... But how will we get there? It's not like we can teleport." He joked, but that gave her an idea.

And, soon, they found themselves standing outside a black tent with gold trim decorating the edges. He stared up, an uneasy feeling resting in his gut.

"Uh... Where are we?" He glanced around nervously, unconsciously shifting closer to Emma. "This is Madame Vee's tent. I wanna see if she can teleport us to Fauna."

"She can teleport?"

"I dunno. I've never been here to be honest, I've always just thought she was some sort of myth. Like, I knew she was a real person, but I don't know if she really lives up to what everyone says." She grabbed his arm and pulled him inside.

Inside, it was rather dark, but was lit up by many crystals lining the bottom edges of the tent. Almost immediately, he met eyes with a lady that looked strikingly familiar. She had loose black curls, pale skin, and lavender eyes that widened as soon as she saw him. Turning her head, she focused toward Emma, almost as if she were refusing to make eye contact with him.

"Uh. Hi." Emma greeted with a nod of her head. Madame Vee smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners, and gestured for her to sit down on the chair in front of her table. She glanced around, looking for a seat for Matt, but to no avail.

Madame Vee leaned forward, intertwining her fingers as her smile grew wider. “Hello, dear. What can I help you with?”

“Well…” She paused, looking at Matt to see if he’d found somewhere to sit, but found him staring down at a few crystal shards that were in the corner, particularly fixated on a large purple shard. Turning her attention back to Madame Vee, she continued. “...We need to get to Fauna. Please.”

“You have no means of transportation?”

“Well, uh, I could fly, but I need him there too. And… he’s afraid of heights, and… all that stuff. Yeah.”

She narrowed her eyes in slight suspicion, but glanced toward Matt, who was bent over as he inspected those shards, then turned back to Emma with a smile returned to her face.

“Okay.”

Madame Vee paused. Emma blinked.

“...Okay?”

“I’ll transport you to Fauna.” She reached her hand out, but the redhead was hesitant to take it.

“Uh, how much will that?-”

“Free of charge! No need to pay me.” She shook her head, her smile tightening as if she was forcing it now. She reached her hand out further, and, finally, Emma reached forward to grasp her hand firmly. Almost immediately, a wave of nausea washed over her, nearly making her jump out of her skin. Goosebumps pricked her skin, and a queasy feeling settled in her stomach. She inhaled sharply through her teeth, ripping her hand away, but the wave of nausea didn’t pass when she let go. She stood suddenly, making the chair fall to the floor under her, but she couldn’t focus on much else but the colors that had begun flickering in her vision. Turning, the redhead reached for Matt, managing to plant a hand on his shoulder, before everything promptly went black.

“What’s that?”

Edd pointed toward a small group of people who all stood, sweating, while holding what he assumed to be weights.

“Weight lifting competition,” Maxine looked in the direction Edd was pointing to. “They’ve been doing a lot of those recently. Not sure why.”

“What’s the prize?”

Suddenly, the man whom he had assumed to be the host, pulled a closed fist into the air, grasping some sort of necklace with an emerald green pendant in the middle. “Who’s gonna win this?!” He shouted into the crowd, met with loud grunts of competitiveness. The host's blue gaze scanned the crowd, landing on Edd for some strange reason. “Do you wanna win this?!”

He glanced around, assuming that the host was talking about someone else, but didn’t see anyone else around him. Turning back to the host, he pointed toward himself.

“Uh, me?”

“Yes! You, in the green hoodie! Do you wanna win this?!”

Edd looked at Maxine, but they shrugged, although he could see the slight smirk on the corner of their lips. “Not… really?” Edd spoke, but the host either didn’t hear him or just didn’t care, because they gestured him forward. He turned to Maxine again for help, but they pushed him forward. “Looks pretty. I’d at least try.”

He sighed and decided to hell with it, why not? Walking around the small crowd, he stood in front of the host, awkwardly standing with his hands by his side. The host seemed to light up when he realized Edd was willing to try. Immediately, he turned around and grabbed a weight, his hands shaking with effort as he handed it to the Brit, but when he took the weight from his hand, he barely gave any effort. Seriously, the thing felt light as a feather to him, it felt like he was picking up Ringo.

The host gasped dramatically, turning around and grabbing another weight to hand to Edd, but he, again, barely broke a sweat taking it from his hands. The host gasped again, as if he’d never seen such a display of strength before, and slowly met eyes with Edd.

“You, sir… are the winner!”

He reached down and grabbed his wrist suddenly, surprising Edd and making him drop the weight, but the host didn’t care as he held the Brits hand in the air, smiling widely. The rest of the contestants dropped their weights and shouted in approval, some coming up to shake his hand as the rest hollered. He chuckled nervously, when the host let go of Edds wrist and brought his hands up to pull the necklace over his head. The gem settled on his chest, matching the green of his hoodie.

“Uh, haha… thanks.” He smiled tightly and pulled away from the host, making his way around the crowd again to get to Maxine. He punched their shoulder, half joking, half serious.

“Why would you do that?” He asked, taking long strides to keep up with Max's steps. “What’s the matter? You won, didn’t you?”

“Well, yeah, but-”

“How’d you do that?” 

He paused. That was… a good question. How did he do that? He never cared too much about muscle, so it was surprising for him to have lifted those so easily. Power Edd? The thought crossed his mind, making him slow his steps. Maybe? I know for sure that I’m not that strong. It must just be my powers, since I’m in Hexheim, like Lady Wisteria said.

He jogged to catch back up with Max.

“I think it must just be my powers, y’know?” He replied to their question earlier, and they tilted their head in slight confusion. “I thought you weren’t from here? You have powers?” Edd shook his head, but paused again. “Well, no, not really, you see, there was this one time when my neighbor…”

He groaned. His head was pounding, it felt like someone was beating on his skull with a mallet. Slowly opening his eyes, he squinted as the sun above nearly singed his corneas off, and turned over onto his side to avoid staring straight at the star. Now that he could actually open his eyes, he did, and looked around. All that he was met with was the brown bark of trees and green, healthy leaves, as well as the spongy grass he could feel beneath him. He brought a pale hand up to rub his eyes, yawning, and finally sitting up.

When he looked behind him, he saw Emma lying on her back, seemingly still asleep. Crawling over to her, the ginger tried to gently shake her awake, but she barely moved. Shaking her a bit more urgently, she still didn’t wake, so Matt took to vigorously shaking her until she groaned and peeked her eyes open.

“What?”

“Where are we?”

She yawned, rubbing her eyes and slowly sat up. “Fuck if I know, dude…” She glanced around, squinting just as he had when he first awoke. “...A forest?” Matt gasped, smacking his hands against the sides of his face. “We’re lost! Oh no, oh no, oh no! I can’t be lost, how will I shower? Or do my hair? Or what about my face?! My pretty, pretty face!” He turned to her, gripping her shoulders tightly and shaking her as if he was trying to wake her again. “Quick! What’s the last thing you remember?!”

“Dude- get off me!” She pushed him, staggering up onto her feet and using one of the nearby trees to keep her up. “We’re not… lost. We’re just… Okay, we’re lost, but it’s not the end of the world, okay?”

He nodded slowly, but didn’t seem completely convinced. Whatever, it was good enough for her.

“The last thing I remember… we were with Madame Vee, right? And she was gonna-”

“Teleport us to Fauxa!”

“Fauna.”

“That's what I said?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, she was gonna teleport us to Fauna, and then we both passed out. Right? Do you remember the same?” Matt stood up, a little unstable, but he was better than she was. “Yes!” He replied. “Well, kind of… Not really. But I remember grabbing this!”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out that same crystal shard that she remembered him inspecting in the tent, and shoved it into her face enthusiastically. She pushed his hand away from her face, looking at the shard, then back at him.

“...Seriously?”

“It’s pretty!” He smiled, pulling it back to stare at it himself. “And it matches my hoodie!” The ginger pressed it against his chest to compare the colors. They didn’t look completely the same, his hoodie was more desaturated than the crystal, but she didn't wanna correct him in fear of. Well, no fear, she just didn't care enough.

"Matt?"

They both paused as the shard lit up in his hand, a voice familiar to only one of them ringing out. The ginger looked down at the crystal, his eyes wide in surprise.

"Edd?"

"Matt! Can you hear me? Where are you?"

"Who's that?" Emma whispered. Matt looked at her, a hopeful gleam in his scarlet eyes. "Edd!” He replied. “He’s my friend!”

“Who’re you talking to?”

The crystal glowed, Edds voice coming through. “My friend, Emma!”

“Uh, cool. Where are you?”

He looked around, but couldn’t see much else other than trees and grass. “Uh… Fauna, I think. All I can see is trees…”

“Oh, oh, I think I might know where you are! Stay there.”

Edds voice faded, and a slight panic appeared in the ginger's eyes, but flickered away just as quick as it appeared. He faced Emma, smiling. “We’re saved!” The Brit celebrated, pumping his fists into the air. The woman rolled her eyes, but couldn’t hide the small smile her lips curled into.

Iobra bar. That’s what the sign said. In all honesty, he could totally use a drink right now. The useless metal flask in his pocket was completely empty, having run out just a few hours ago, rendering him way too sober to be dealing with any of this.

Sure, he had a problem, but is it really an issue if it's a solution as well? 

He ignores the memory of Tord in his bed, muttering an empty promise that he’d quit if Tom quit.

Walking into the bar, he was met with an atmosphere that was the closest thing to home he’d experienced so far. People sitting at tables, at the bar, standing around in a circle, the drunk regular passed out on the floor as people avoided standing on him. He wondered, what's the strongest thing they have?

Walking up to the bar, he too avoided stepping on the man, and leaned against the table. The bartender walked up to him as he cleaned out a glass with a wet rag. He was a tall man with tan skin, dark green eyes, and a large, bushy mustache. Though, the most prominent feature was his large nose, and the bear ears planted on the crown of his head. “Orminn’, isr. Hatw acn I chegta’?”

“Uh… Sorry, I don’t…” Tom swallowed.

“Mornin’ sir. What can I getcha?” The bartender repeated, making his eyes widen slightly in surprise, but he was thankful. 

“Morning. Do you have vodka?”

“Vod…ka? Er, no, sir. I’ve never even heard of that.”

Damn. “Right, er. Can I get the first, no, second strongest thing you have?” He’d like the first, but the idea of destroying his liver with the strongest alcohol an entire different world had didn’t seem too appealing. The bartender nodded, and walked off with the glass to fill up Tom's request.

“You there, Thomas?”

He pulled the shard from his pocket, rolling his eyes before he replied. Can’t he even drink in peace?

“Yep.”

“I’m on the way to Ignia.”

“...What?” His words took him by much surprise. What did he mean he was on the way to Ignia? Wasn’t he in a completely different place? “How? Who’s taking you? How’d you even figure out where to go?”

“I’ve… made connections.”

“Tord, we’ve only been here for a day. What do you mean you’ve “made connections”?”

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it. Also, where are you? Why is it so loud?”

“Found a bar.”

“Of course you did.” He could practically hear the eye roll from Tord. “Anyway, I’ll be there… soon. Not sure when, just soon.”

“‘Kay.”

He shoved the shard back into his pocket, just in time for the bartender to set the glass full of amber liquid down in front of him. “Ya wanna start a tab?” The tall man asked, and Tom glanced down at the glass, before shaking his head. “Nah.”

“Right. Let me know if ya do.”

The man walked off, leaving Tom to himself with the glass. He picked it up, inspecting the liquid, before shrugging, tilting his head back, and taking a big gulp. It burned his throat as it travelled down, making him grimace. He coughed, and the lingering taste continued to burn his mouth, but he didn’t dislike it. In fact, it was probably one of the best things he’s drank today. It reminded him of his first shot of vodka, when he scrunched his face up as he requested another. Unfortunately, his tolerance pretty much skyrocketed, and the most that smirnoff could give him now was a nauseating feeling and a headache.

In other words, it felt nice, and it didn’t take him long until he needed a refill. And another. And another. Though, the words of the drunks around him had begun to overlap, the drinks behind the bar had doubled, and when he had tried to stand, his legs felt rather wobbly. He raised a finger, requesting another drink from the bartender, but the man came over with a slightly worried expression.

“Sir, I don’t think you should have another drink. Maybe some water will do?”

He shook his head. “Nuh. Another, please…” He slurred, but the bartender shook his head. “Sir, I’m not gonna serve you anymore. It’s water or nothing.” Tom grumbled, but sighed.

“Fine. Nothing.”

The bartender nodded. “Yes, sir. Those drinks'll be twenty crystals.”

He froze. Crystals? Shit. He’d forgotten he had to actually pay for a drink. Swallowing thickly, he nodded. “Uh… sure. Just, uh, gimme a second.” He slowly reached into his pocket, praying that something would distract the bartender long enough for him to make an escape. And, somehow, his prayers were answered, because almost immediately, two under the influence men had begun pushing and shoving each other around, slurring curses in their native language.

"Ehy, ctu to uot!" The bartender walked over to separate the men, giving Tom the chance to escape. He stood and wobbled to the exit, the world around him spinning as he pushed through the doors into the hot outside air. 

He wasn't sure how long it'd been since he entered the bar, but he noticed how it seemed to be a little past midday now. Not wanting to stand in front of the bar for forever, he stumbled forward, going to see if he could sit under a tree and make the world stop spinning.

Finding a tree behind a building, he stumbled over, but a stray coal caught under his foot and nearly sent him to the ground. Reaching his arms out in a late reaction, he was seconds from face planting right into the brown bark, but felt his hoodie tighten around his neck as he stopped mid air. Reaching up, he hooked his fingers under the torn up fabric to pull it away from his neck as he stepped forward, finding his balance. Confused, the drunk glanced behind him, but his eyelids felt too heavy to keep open anymore. He'd been tired the entire day after the shitty sleep he'd had in between two houses, and rest seemed rather appealing. Though, desperate to make sure he wasn't in danger, he forced his lids open for a moment longer, seeing a flash of red, before he closed them for good.

Chapter Text

“Matt!”

The brunette ran over, his arms spread wide as he engulfed the ginger into a tight hug. Pulling back, he moved both hands up to his shoulders, scanning his friend up and down. “Are you okay? Where have you been? You look pale!”

Matt chuckled, patting Edd's hand as the other let go of his shoulders. “I’m perfectly fine, no need to worry. It’s just the vampire thing.”

What the hell is a vampire? Emma thought from the side as she watched the two reconnect. Edd turned to face her, blinking.

“Oh, hello!”

“Hi.”

“I’m Edd, Matt’s friend.”

“I’m Emma. Uh, me too, I guess.”

He reached his hand out, smiling. She grasped it and the two shook hands, before Edd pulled away and looked to Matt, taking a few steps over as he went to reconnect with his friend. Behind Edd stood Maxine, who watched the two laugh and tell each other about their experiences so far. They looked at Emma, and their eyes widened slightly when they noticed the huge wings folded behind her back.

Albenu. Guess it could be worse, right? She could’ve come from Ignia.

They shuddered at the thought.

The two met eyes and paused. Just staring at each other for a short minute, before Maxine finally brought their hand up to wave awkwardly. Emma waved back, but turned and walked over to Matt, trying to avoid any awkward conversation. Figuring she had the right idea; Maxine did the same and walked to Edd.

“-and then we met this lady, and she seemed really familiar.”
“What did she look like?”

“Uhh, she had beautiful lavender eyes, and black hair.”

Edd stopped dead in his tracks, turning to the ginger with his mouth hanging open in shock. Matt also halted, staring at his friend nervously. “Uh… What? Did I say something wrong?”

“Lavender eyes?”
“Yeah. What? Do you know her?”

“Matt!” He gripped the other by his shoulders for the second time, startling him. “That was the lady who took Tom's eyes!”

Madame Vee? Emma’s eyes widened in surprise. 

“What? Really?”

“Yes! Pale skin, black curly hair, lavender eyes! That's her!”

“Ooohh, I thought she looked familiar!"

“Matt! I- Ugh. We have to get to Albenu.” He turned to Maxine. “How do we get there?”

Maxine froze, startled from suddenly being put on the spot, and shrugged. “I’m… not sure. Sorry.” He was a little annoyed, but shook his head dismissively and turned to Emma. She hesitated for a short moment.
“Well… We could walk there but it’d take a while,” That idea seemed less than appealing to Edd. “Or…”

“Wait, if you’re trying to break your friend's curse, then wouldn’t you want him with you? Seems rather pointless if he’s not there for the curse to be broken.” Maxine suddenly butted in, making all heads turn towards them. “Yeah,” Emma added. “That’s like if you buy something and aren’t there to receive it. What was the point of even spending your crystals?”

Edd nodded, considering both their words. “Okay, you’re right. But how do we find him? He isn’t in Fauna, and I’m assuming he’s not in Albenu.”

“Maybe he’s in Vaelin?” Maxine said.

“Or Ignia.” Emma added. Both of them went quiet, both hoping that wasn’t the right answer. Matt seemed to notice the silence, because his question made both of them regret mentioning it.

“What’s so bad about Ignia?”

They glanced at each other.

“Well, nobody really… likes Ignia, to say the least.” Maxine spoke first, rubbing the back of his neck. The redhead nodded. “They say that the one who caused The Separation came from Ignia-” “The Separation? What’s that?” Matt interrupted. Emma sighed. “Basically, Fauna, Albenu, Ignia and Vaelin used to be one big city called Ruania, and the thing that stopped us from killing one another was this crystal. Well, one day, someone managed to steal that crystal and get away, so everyone started fighting, and then we all got together and decided it’d be for the best if we all just separated. Which was The Separation." She paused, catching her breath. “Anyway, like I was saying, the person who stole the crystal is apparently from Ignia.”

“But, wait, if you were all still in Ruania when the crystal was stolen, how could the thief have come from there? They would’ve just been from Ruania, just like you, right?” Edd raised an eyebrow.

“Well, if you haven’t noticed already, each village has a main species, or general look. So, if you were to be sorted into one of the villages, it’d be based on how you look, and the thief, based on descriptions, would’ve been sorted into Ignia.” Emma gestured toward her and Maxine as she spoke, noting the clear species difference between them. 

“Also, we don’t directly come from Ruania. The Separation happened hundreds of years ago, so we’re just descendants of our ancestors who were in Ruania.” Maxine held up a finger as he added onto the answer to Edd's question.

Edd and Matt glanced at one another, the same thought going through their head: This is all rather… racist, isn’t it?

Edd turned back to the pair. “Okay, thanks for the backstory, but maybe we should focus on what's important at the moment. We still don’t know how, or where to find Tom.”

They all went quiet, trying to come up with solutions to this problem, when suddenly, Matt snapped his fingers and reached into his pocket.

“Our crystals!” He presented the shard triumphantly, but was only met with confused stares. He sighed. “ Maybe we could use our crystals to talk to him! After all, we talked to you with it,” He gestured toward he and Emma, then Edd and Maxine. “Right? Who's to say we can’t talk to him? ”

“Well… it’s not a bad idea,” Edd shrugged. “It wouldn't hurt to try, right?” He glanced at Emma and Maxine, who both shrugged in reply. 

“Morning, Thomas.”

A familiar voice rang through his ears, making his throbbing headache about ten times worse. He groaned in reply, refusing to open his eyes and look at the assailant on his ears.

“Have a good rest? You were snoring pretty loud, so I’d assume as much.”

“Fuck off, Tord…”

“Oh good, you remember my name! Was starting to think you forgot.”

“I’ll never be able to. You’re the bane of my existence.”

“At least I’m memorable.”

He sighed and finally opened his eyes, pleased to find that there wasn’t a sun that seemed to be three feet from his face. It seemed to be later into the afternoon, making him wonder just how long he’d slept for. He pulled himself into a sitting position, pushing his back against the dry bark of the tree behind him.

“How long are we gonna be here for?” An unfamiliar voice spoke, making Tom turn his head towards the voice. He laid eyes on a man with grey, blueish skin and black hair, his eyes a piercing yellow.

“Why? You don’t have places to be.” Tord replied, his smirk making the Brit a little uncomfortable. Who was the guy? And why didn’t he wanna be here? The shark must’ve noticed his staring, because he locked eyes with Tom. The Norsk looked at Tom as well, taking in his new eyes. It was… weird. He’s only ever known the Brit as a loser without eyes, and it was hard to adjust to the change. But, thankfully, it’s only temporary.

Hopefully .

“Uh. I’m Finn.”

“Tom.”

“ Thomas.” Tord corrected, making the other shoot him a glare.

“ Tom. Just Tom. Nothing special.”

“Oh, you’re no fun.”

Finn glanced between the two, clearly picking up on some sort of tension in the air. He wasn’t aware of their past, but they didn’t seem like friends.

Then why did Tord insist on coming here to see him?

Remembering how the Norsk forced him to bring him to Ignia made him flinch.

“Personally, I think you still owe me for getting you out of those handcuffs.”

“No, I don’t. I already paid off my debt.”

“Just telling me about the history of your village? Doesn’t seem like a payment to me.”

“You asked for it!”

“Well, now I’m asking for more. Help me get to Ignia.”

“What do I get in return?”

“I don’t shoot you.”

Look, when you have a gun pointed straight at your chest, you tend to become a lot more willing. And, unfortunately, Tord knew this. Because of course he did. The damn guy knows everything about everything. He’s clever. And cunning. And sly. And I’ve run out of words to describe him, because that's all he is: Clever, cunning, and sly.

He found himself staring at the red hooded man, swallowing hard as he pulled his gaze away. Would he really shoot him? He didn’t know, and he definitely didn’t wanna find out.

Suddenly, Tom remembered something, and reached into his pocket, pulling out the crystal shard and breathing a sigh of relief that he hadn’t lost it. Tord looked at him, the shard sparking a memory. He too pulled his red shard out of his pocket, showing it to Tom.

“Look, Thomas, we’re matching!” He showed the shard to the Brit, who rolled his eyes at the name. “Yeah, whatever. What do these things even really do?” He asked nobody in particular, spinning the blue shard around in his hand, careful to avoid the sharp edges.

“Well, we can talk through them.”
“Duh. How?”

“I don’t know, what do I look like, a crystallographer?”

“What the hell is that?”

“Take a guess.” The Norsk replied, his tone dripping with sarcasm. Tom flipped him off as he reached for his flask, only to remember it was completely empty. Shit. I should’ve filled it up at that bar. Tord noticed, and smirked.

“No more alcohol? Poor you.”

“Shut up, I have a headache.”

“So… you kill the pain with more alcohol?” He chuckles. “You have issues.”

“Well, I’d drink water , but I don’t have water.”

Tord unzipped his backpack and grabbed a bottle from inside, tossing it to him. Tom just barely caught it, flipping it around in his hand to look at the label.

“... Springwater? Seriously?”

“It’s healthy.”

“It tastes like shit.”

“Just drink it.”

He sighed, inspecting the cap. “Is it open?” 

“If you’re asking if I poisoned it, then no.”

“That sounds like something you’d do. You and all your weird experiments.”

“Do you think I keep a special bottle of springwater in my backpack labeled ‘Poisonous, do not drink, except for Tom’?”

“Nah, too obvious. You keep purified water in your backpack and only poison the springwater so you know which one to give me.”

“That’s…” Stupid, was the first word that came to mind, but after he thought about it for a few moments, the more he liked the idea. “Not a bad idea.”

Tom glanced at the bottle in his hand, then back to Tord. They locked eyes for a few moments, before one finally spoke.

“It’s not poisoned.”

Immediately, he attacked the bottle, ripping open the cap and guzzling down more than half of it, before pulling back and gasping for air. Handing it back to Tord, he took it and stared at the amount of empty space in the plastic, and turned back to Tom.

“Thanks.” The blue hooded one spoke, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. “Yeah.” He pressed his lips into a thin line, nodding slowly, before a voice suddenly crackled through the shard that Tom had discarded onto the floor.

“Tom? Tom! Are you there?” A sigh came from somewhere farther away from the voice. “No, Matt, you’re not doing it right. Here, let me see. Tom?”

All three of the men stared down at the crystal, eyes wide in shock. And, slowly, Tord reached down and picked up the crystal.

“Hello?”

Chapter Text

“Edd?”

“Tord!”

Edd turned to Matt, his eyes glimmering with excitement. Tord wasn’t exactly his goal, but it’s good to hear from him. “How are you? Where have you been?”

“Er, places. Ignia. Vaelin. Doesn’t really matter-”

“Have you seen Tim?” Matt's voice interrupted from somewhere in the background, and Edd shot a warning glance at him.

Tord looked at the brit next to him, meeting his eyes. “Yeah. He’s right next to me.”

“Wait, what?”

And they haven’t torn each other apart yet?

“Yeah. I was in Vaelin, and got in touch with Tom through a crystal I found, and… found a ride to Ignia.”

He ignored the angry glare shot his way.

“Well, at least we don’t have to go on a hunt for both of you now. Oh! And we might’ve found a way to break Tom's curse!”

That caught the drunk's attention. He reached forward for the crystal, but Tord, being annoying, pulled it out of reach with a smirk. “Just give it to me!-”

 “What’s the magic word?”

“I’m not saying ‘please’, it’s my crystal!”

“I don’t see your name on it.”

Gritting his teeth, Tom reached up and gripped onto one of Tord’s hair horns, tugging harshly. The norsk sucked air through his teeth and let his arm fall, his other hand flying to Tom’s to pry his hair out of his grip, but Tom reached over Tord’s lap and wrapped his fingers around the crystal.

Edd rolled his eyes. I knew it was only a matter of time.

“How do I break the curse?” Tom's voice suddenly came through. “We don’t completely know yet, but Matt and Emma saw her in Albenu-”

“Emma?”

“Oh, yeah. She’s from Albenu, she’s right here.” Edd extended the crystal toward her, and a slightly sheepish “Hi,” escaped her lips. “And this is Maxine.” He turned to the deer, and they smiled. “Hello.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Anyway,” Edd shook his head. He was getting off topic. “Matt and Emma said they saw Madame Vee in Albenu.”

.

.

.

“...And?”

“Well, we have her last known location.”

Tom's eyes fluttered shut, a sigh leaving him. “So we don’t know how to break the curse.”

“Not… necessarily, but!-

“Ugh.”

Tord shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest as he gazed around the fiery village. “It’s better than nothing.”

“So we need to get to Albenu, right?” Maxine spoke, and that gave Tord an idea. He glanced toward the shark, who was staring straight back at him.

“No. Nope. No way.”

“Cmon,”

“No!”

“You got me to Ignia, can’t you get my friends and I to Albenu?”

“That's only because you threatened to shoot me!”

“It was all in good fun. I wouldn’t have actually shot you. That’d be idiotic.”

“I’m not helping you anymore, so you can get that thought out of your head.”

And, throughout their entire conversation, Tom couldn’t help but think what kind of sick power dynamic is this? 

Fortunately for him, he wasn’t the only one, for Edd had a confused look on his face, and so did almost everyone around. Thankfully, Maxine stepped forward and silently motioned for the crystal, and Edd placed it gently in their hand. They cleared their throat.

“Albenu is too far for us to walk, and it poses a huge risk to get lost. Especially if we’re separate groups.”

That gave Emma an idea, and she perked up. “So what if we meet up?”

She must've seen the confused glance Maxine shot her, because she continued.

“Ruania is in the middle of all of the villages, right? So what if we meet up there, take a break, and then head for Albenu as a group? Then we’re not separated.”

Edd smiled. “That’s a good idea! Did you guys hear that?”

“Yeah.” Tord confirmed, but Tom stil seemed confused. “Right, okay, one question; How do we find Ruania?” He asked. Nobody spoke for a moment, Maxine and Emma were thinking of how to point them in the right direction despite never having entered any other village besides their own.

Then, Finn spoke.

“I’ll take you.”

That surprised both of them, and Tom and Tord turned to Finn, both expressions riddled with confusion, before a sly smirk spread across the norsks face.

“Oh, yeah? But I thought you were so set on absolutely refusing to help me anymore.”

“I’m not doing it for you, asshole. I just want you gone as soon as possible, and from what I’ve gathered, you’ll leave as soon as you break your friend's curse. I’m only taking you to Ruania, no further than that.”

Tord paused, but shrugged. Fine by me. We’ll all be in a group anyway.

“So, Ruania?” Edd spoke.

Chapter Text

“How long is this going to take?”

Those were the first words to leave Tom’s mouth when they officially lost sight of Ignia behind them.

“Impatient, are we?” Tord smirked. “To be honest, I don’t even know why you want to break the curse. At least you’re not a freak anymore, right?” The norsk quipped, making Tom shoot an angry glare at him. Finn, already seeming to be dreading having to spend another minute with the duo, answered before Tom could reply.

“Considering it’s already noon, we’ll probably make it there by nightfall tomorrow.”

“What?” Tom's jaw fell open. How far was Ruania? Why the hell would it take so long to get there?

“That’s…”  Tord chewed on the inside of his bottom lip, thinking for a moment. He’d just teased Tom about being impatient, but nightfall tomorrow? He’d assumed it’d be a few hours, sure, but this was almost unrealistic.

“What?” Finn turned, glancing at both their faces. “Did you think it’d only take ten minutes?” He smirked. “I thought you guys were smarter than that. ”

“No, I just-”

“Yeah, Tom, I thought you were smarter than that.”

“Shut up! I was-”

“I was talking to both of you.”

Rolling his eyes, Tord turned forward and continued walking. He’d say it was almost relaxing, but the sun blared down on him, making his forehead wet with sweat, and the uneven sand made it awkward to walk on. Especially for Tom, he thought. I can’t even count how long he’s had those shoes for. There must be no cushioning left. He almost felt bad for the guy.

Almost.

“It’s hot.” Tom murmured, fanning his face.

“Then take your hoodie off.”

“You first.”

“Oh? Are you flirting with me, Thomas?”

“What? No. You’re fucking weird.”

“Hear that? He’s getting defensive.” Tord snickered. Finn rolled his eyes and sighed. 

It’s been almost an hour since they left Ignia. And it’s been almost an hour of the two's continuous bickering.

In all honesty, Finn wasn’t sure if he would be able to make it through the journey without snapping. He was still pissed at Tord.

Speaking of,

“I’m not saying Zombie Pirates from Hell six isn’t good, it’s just not as good as the fifth.” Tom argued.

“Just say you have bad taste.”

The brit scoffed. “What would you know about taste? You sit in your room and watch porn all day.”

Tords gaze flickered toward Finn, his cheeks slightly flushed with embarrassment. He didn’t have to say that so loud. But Finn didn’t seem to care. In fact, he didn’t seem present at all. Guy was completely stuck in his head.

“Well, porn happens to be a work of art. Plus, they get paid good. I’d know.”

Tom paused.

“...What does that mean?”

A sly smirk formed on Tords face. He didn’t actually have any disturbing secrets, well, none that mattered at the moment, but he found it entertaining to keep Tom guessing.

“Tord, what does that mean?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Tord.”

“I said don’t worry about it. It’s nothing important.”

“Tord.”

The sun was finally setting, cooling down the hot air around them and making it much more comfortable to walk.

Well, to Tord and Finn, anyway.

Tom's feet were killing him. Every step felt like a shock up his leg, and his knees trembled with the effort.

And, unfortunately, Tord wasn’t oblivious to this fact.

“Struggling to keep up?” He chuckled. Tom rolled his eyes.

“No.”

“Are you sure? You’re looking a little sore.”

“Why do you care? Offering to carry me?”

“No, just hoping you collapse and we can continue without you.”

“You can’t leave without me.”

“I think we can.”

Finn sighed, but his legs stuttered when he realized he saw something in the distance. Trees! Tord, of course, noticed Finn's pause, and followed his gaze, noticing the tall greenery in the far distance.

“We’ll take a break when we reach that forest.” Finn spoke, pointing ahead, and Tom let out a small sigh of relief. “Okay.”

It wasn’t for another thirty minutes that they finally reached the treeline, and the moon had risen at this point, but when they passed it, Tom practically started hugging the trees he was so thankful. Finn said they’d make a fire and find somewhere to rest for the night, so now, he was wandering around on the hunt for sticks or small branches. His feet still ached, but the pain seemed dulled now that he knew he’d be able to rest soon.

He bent over to grab another stick on the forest floor, adding it to the pile in his hands. The silence was almost peaceful, with none of Tords stupid, grating voice, or Finn's sighs of annoyance each time they bickered.

A breeze ran through the trees, sending a chill up his spine, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. The peaceful forest suddenly almost felt eerie. Tom glanced around, but couldn’t spot anything in between the trees. He was about to just chalk it up to it being dark and him being tired, but suddenly, a distant booming sound came from somewhere he couldn’t point out, until he looked up through the leaves of the trees, into the inky black sky, and saw the bright beacon of turquoise light shooting into the sky. It reminded him of the northern lights, but if they happened to be vertical and coming from the earth itself. Tom’s brows knitted together as he gazed at the sight, and his mind couldn’t exactly make sense of it. His first thought was that it was just some trick of the light, but the more he stared at it, the less he believed that.

And when he finally made it back to the small clearing that they’d decided to set up camp, finding both Finn and Tord also staring up at the strange phenomenon, he’d finally decided that, yeah, he wasn’t crazy.

“What the hell is that?” He inquired, dropping the sticks he’d found onto the makeshift fire that Tord had set up. Don’t even ask him how the guy did that, the most Tom could do was rub some bark together and hope for the best.

“It almost looks like a… waypoint?” Tord answered, the shark nodding in agreement. “It looks like its coming from Ruania. I’ve never seen this before.”

Tord seemed to get an idea, because he reached into Finn's pocket and pulled out his crystal, talking into it.

“Edd? Are you seeing this?”

A few seconds passed with no reply, confusing all of them. “Edd?” Tord repeated, but still, no reply. Unexpectedly, a sound did come from the crystal, but it wasn’t anything legible, merely broken up speech that they couldn’t piece together.

“To-.... l-..ight?... -ania. Max-”

Tord stared at the crystal with a puzzled expression. The thing had been working just fine earlier, they’d chatted with Edd and the others quite a bit before the sun had set, and Tord thought for a moment that maybe it was the moon messing with the shard, but that was stupid. Then he suspected that it was the strange beacon of light, but it was so far away, could it really reach all the way over here?

“That’s… weird.” Finn commented, Tom nodding in agreement as he plopped down on the log in front of the campfire that Tord had found and rolled over. The other two soon followed, and now, they were all warming themselves by the fire. Finn had sat himself right in between the two, not in the mood for them to be at each other's throats.

“Where are we going to sleep?” Tom broke the silence, still curious about the light, but really, there wasn’t much he could do about it.

Tord reached for the backpack that he’d brought with him and pulled out a small cube, his finger slipping onto the small red button, and the cube suddenly expanded into a large sleeping bag that he stood up to set up. The sight had shocked Tom, and also left him slightly jealous.

“You have a sleeping bag?” Tom questioned. Tords reply was merely a shrug. Finn also stood and started unloading the sleeping bag that he had apparently also brought in the backpack that Tom hadn’t even realized he had until now.

“You both have sleeping bags?” What the hell. “Where am I supposed to sleep?”

Finn looked at him, then slowly turned to Tord. Tord shot him a glare.

“No.”

“He can’t sleep on the floor.”

“Yes he can!”

“He was already complaining about his feet hurting. Do you really want him crying about his back?”

I’d be fine!

Tord went to spit a reply, but glanced at Tom and paused, then sighed.

“Fine.”

“What?!”

“Wait, actually?”

Finn seemed surprised, as if he hadn’t expected it to actually work.

“I’m not sleeping with him!” The brit argued, pointing an angry finger at the red hooded man.

“Please don’t word it like that.” Tord sighed.

“Just get in the sleeping bag!” The shark exclaimed, clenching his fists, thoroughly finished with their bickering. “I still have to spend another full day with you two. Just do me a favor and let me fall asleep without hearing you argue again!”

Silence filled the clearing, both the men feeling rather awkward. And, wordlessly, Tom unhappily shuffled over towards Tord as he set up the sleeping bag. Finn, seeming content, unzipped his bag and crawled into it, finding a comfortable spot and closing his eyes.

Soon later, Tom and Tord were crammed into the sleeping bag that was only fit for one person, shifting uncomfortably.

“Stop kicking me.” The norsk whispered.

“I’m not trying to- move over some.”

“I can’t. You’re too fat.”

“What?!”

After some more shifting around, Tom fell asleep rather quickly. Until he was awoken too soon after to Tord climbing out of the sleeping bag like he had two broken legs. Lifting his head, the Brit grumbled and rubbed his eye, peeking over his shoulder to see Tord sitting on the log, back turned to him.

He watched him for a few more seconds, before pulling himself up and over to the log with a slight limp from the journey.

They sat in silence for a while, just listening to the fire crackle and crickets chirp. Tom turned his head, taking note of the beacon of light still shining bright in the sky, but when he turned back, he found Tord staring down at the log.

Or, more specifically, his hands.

Tom followed his gaze, which landed on his clawed fingertips, and paused.

But Tord spoke soon after.

“It's weird.”

“What?”

“You having eyes. You being…” He hesitated, gesturing vaguely towards the Brits' monster-like appearance. “...that.”

“Wow. Huge confidence boost. Thanks.”

Tord scoffed. “I'm not insulting you.”

A few more seconds of silence followed, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Of course, Tord had to ruin that. Because Tord ruins everything.

“Why don’t you like it?”

There it goes. He knew he’d get this question sooner or later.

“What? Turning into a huge, ugly, purple monster at every slight inconvenience?”

“When you put it like that-”

“Waking up in some random alley with no memory and bits of people stuck in my teeth?”

Tord grimaced. When he thinks of Tom's monster, he doesn't think of the dark side of it. He thinks of how much power he could have, how strong he’d be, what he could do, but he never took into account how it might be difficult to control, or what it's even like. He's never seen Tom's monster form firsthand, only snippets of stories he catches from Edd. Edd won't talk about it, and Matt hardly remembers it. So, basically, when it comes to finding anything out about Tom's monster form, he's fucked.

“But, it’s…” Tom paused. “Cool, I guess. Not everyone can turn into a giant monster.”

Tord looked at him, searching his gaze.

“Don’t lie.”

“Yeah, okay. It sucks. I’d get rid of it if I could.”

The air filled with quiet as Tord turned back towards the fire, the fiery glow making his sharp features seem all that more dramatic. Tom tried not to stare, and instead looked back down at his clawed hands, picking at the dirt and sand under his dark fingernails. His stomach grumbled quietly, but loud enough to make Tord raise an eyebrow.

“Hungry?”

“No.”

“Liar.”

Tom didn’t reply, and that gave Tord all the information he needed to know. He reached over, unzipping his backpack that leaned against the end of the log, and pulled out two chocolate dipped nutrition bars, nonchalantly handing one over to Tom.

Neither made a big deal out of it as Tom unwrapped the bar and almost immediately gobbled it all down in two huge bites, while Tord slowly chewed on his, staring at the brit with distaste. 

Slightly more comfortable now with something on his stomach, Tom leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, sighing. The rod of light caught his eye again.

“What do you think that is?” He mumbled, half to himself. Tord turned to the light in the sky.

“Finn said it was coming from Ruania.” He thought for a heartbeat. “Maybe it’s a waypoint?”

“You said that earlier.”

“I’m saying it again.”

“I don’t think so.” Tom doubted. “It’s too perfect. Why would a waypoint show up now? It should’ve been there.”

“Maybe it’s magical.”

“Everything is magical here.”

Tord rolled his eyes. He has a point, I guess. “Maybe it’s extra magical. I think it might’ve been what was wrong with the crystal.”

Tom didn’t reply for a moment, thinking about it, then shrugged and slowly stood. Tord looked at him.

“Where’re you going?”

“To sleep.”

The norsk hummed a reply as Tom walked off, climbing back into the sleeping bag and getting comfortable. He didn’t shut his eyes just yet, though. Instead, he watched the way Tord sat by the fire for a few more minutes, his back turned to him, until the Norsk eventually stood and pulled his red hoodie on. The brunette had to force his gaze away before Tord climbed back into the sleeping bag, trying his best to get comfortable in such a limited space.

When both their backs were turned, the devil-horned man felt something swipe over his leg, and instinctively kicked it away, only to earn a grumble from Tom as he pressed his tail closer to his body.

The next morning, when Tom woke, he found Finn and Tord already up and about.

“Morning, starshine. The earth says hello.”