Thanks once again to K0ekienut for beta reading for me!
And check out this insane art by @musdswo on Tumblr! https://musdswo.tumblr.com/post/651924064890421248/this-is-pretty-old-and-i-never-got-around-to
Trigger warnings: mentions of past abuse, fear, restraints, strangulation, magic-induced unconsciousness, hanging by wrists, flashbacks, fainting, mentions of blood, trauma-induced fear, asphyxiation, dislocated joints, slightly-injured animals
-------------------------
The room was silent for all of three and a half seconds before exploding into chaos.
"WHAT!" Varian yelped.
"She's kidding, right?" Eugene asked.
"You can't!" the Sundrop exclaimed.
It was the last one that got Cassandra's attention. "Okay, first of all, I can do what I like. Unless that's an order, of course?" Her tone and glare challenged the Sundrop to say the words out loud.
She backed up a step. "Wh—no, I just meant this is what you wanted, isn't it? To be a guard! And you're going to give that up because of what happened to Varian?"
"Sounds reasonable," Hector stated from his place near the child. "Who'd want to stay after hearing that?"
Cassandra nodded. "I can't be part of that. I can't be part of an organization that's okay with doing things like this!"
"But you'd never do something like that," the blonde argued. "You're not like them!"
"Really?!" Cassandra motioned to Varian. "Look at his face! You can still see his bruise! I did that! I hit him, I tied him up, I threatened him, I tried to kick him!" She pulled at her hair. "How can you tell me I wouldn't do exactly what they did, especially if it was an order from the king? When my own worst self is a Coronan guard who would willingly lock him back up, knowing what happened to him? Knowing he's going to get hurt again?"
"Cassandra." Varian took a step forward, emboldened by both her shaken state and Hector at his back. "If this is what you want, then okay. But Corona will need good guards, guards who won't do things like what the others did to me. And yeah, you hurt me, but you wouldn't do it again, right? You know now. You can learn from this and become the kind of guard Corona needs you to be. Your worst self... it's not who you have to be. It's who you could be if you chose to. Who I saw was who I was, but Uncle Hector and Aunt Adira saw what they could have been. It's the choices we make." He offered a sad smile. "We all want to be better people. I want to do better and move on with my life. You don't want to do the things you did. I'm... pretty sure the Sundrop wants to do better."
"Of course I do," the Sundrop insisted.
Cassandra shook her head. "Good point. But... I don't know yet. I don't think I can stay at this point. I'll... figure it out later. For now, I do plan on quitting."
"What will you do after that?" He tilted his head.
"I don't know yet. I'm not going to be just a lady-in-waiting. Worst comes to worst, I go to Ingvarr."
"You'd do that?" her princess asked, tears starting to cloud her eyes.
"I might. I think they'd still have me. I just don't know yet, okay? I need time to think!" She spun and stormed off down a hall.
"Wait, we shouldn't split up!" Lance called. Cassandra ignored him.
"we have to go after her," the Sundrop insisted. "Lance is right. We can't split up, not in this place."
"That's dangerous, Sundrop," Adira argued. "It took long enough to get back here. We shouldn't take any more chances."
"But Cass could be in danger!"
"Short Hair can take care of herself. But you need to stay here."
A broken scream interrupted the conversation. Rapunzel cried out in fear and whirled around. "Cass!" Before they could stop her, she'd disappeared down the hall Cassandra had taken.
"Sunshine, wait!" Eugene and Lance tore after her.
Adira rolled her eyes. "No one ever listens. You two, stay here with the soiled gnome." She ran after the others.
Varian hugged himself. "Are they gonna be okay?"
"They've got Adira with them," Hector assured him. "They'll be fine. Don't tell her I said that, though; she'll get a big head. How you holding up?"
Varian shrugged and moved over to the stairs to sit. "I can't believe she did that."
"What? Run off?"
"She told them!" He wrapped his arms around himself. "She didn't have the right to do that! I didn't want them knowing!" He buried his face in his knees.
Hector sat next to him and put a hesitant arm around his shoulders, letting Varian lean into his side. "Why not?"
He shuddered. "I... I haven't gotten over it. I'm not okay with this! Alchemy was everything to me... and they hurt me with it, tortured me with it! All I ever wanted to do was help people, and they used my own work to make me suffer. It's... what happened to me is shameful!"
Hector hugged him a bit tighter. "No. Varian, you got no cause to be ashamed. They're the freaks that hurt you. 'Kay? They're the only ones who oughtta feel ashamed. Tell me you know that."
"I know it." Varian shook his head. "Still, I can't just... not feel humiliated! It's the worst thing they ever did to me! I can't even look at it anymore!" Tears rolled down his cheeks, wetting Hector's shirt. "Why did they do that? Why did they have to hurt me that way? I didn't deserve that!"
"I know, kid." He gently ran his fingers through Varian's hair, fuming once again at the thought of everything they'd put his nephew through. Part of him wanted to storm back to Corona and tear them limb from limb, make them shriek in fear and pain the way they'd made Varian. The more rational part of him (the one he didn't listen to often) told him that that was ridiculous—that even if he could, his place was here with Varian, watching out for his safety and holding him when he cried. "I know. They're sickos, 'kay? That's why they did it. They're nothing but freaks, all of 'em. They get a kick out of hurting people. It's not your fault."
"B-but if I hadn't—"
"Uh-uh. Stop it. We talked about this, kiddo; no 'if I hadn't's. Knock it off. They're old enough to take responsibility for their actions."
"And I'm not?"
Hector gave him a fond glare. "What do I keep telling you? You don't listen very well."
Varian sighed and recited, "'You can take responsibility for your actions as long as you admit your circumstances were crap and the way they treated you was crap and they're crap.'"
"That's it. A filthy pile of rhino crap."
Varian snorted and shoved Hector playfully. "You're ridiculous."
"I'm right."
"I hate to interrupt a tender moment," the old man slurred from his place on top of the mantle, "But should we be concerned about the snakes?"
"Snakes?" Hector's eyes shot upwards. He hissed in shock as glowing vines—vines like the ones at the Great Tree, those crushing and pulsing and writhing vines that wrapped around his waist and chest and slowly crushed the life out of him, that snatched up Varian like a rag doll and swung him about, that tore through his home and spread their dark power to every corner of the Tree until the princess's incantation tore it apart—spread through the room, crawling closer and closer to the staircase.
"They're coming from the hall!" Varian pointed in the direction that Adira and the others had gone. His eyes were wide with horror.
The bearcats, who had been lounging nearby, snarled and charged at the vines. A wave of green washed over them, binding their limbs together and knocking them to the floor. Hector gasped and started to rush to their rescue, but the vines moved forward, slithering across the floor towards his feet.
The warrior growled and shoved his unwelcome fear down into the little dark corner in his mind. He snatched the old man off the mantle and Varian off the stairs, dragging them both up. Varian got his feet underneath him and scampered upstairs like a frightened rabbit, Hector on his heels. As they reached the top, Hector tossed Shorty at Varian. "Take him and go."
"What about you?"
"I'll catch up." He drew his sword as the vines shot up the stairs, their green glow clashing with the eyesore that was the pink walls. Varian's footsteps sounded in his ears as he turned away from the child, mentally begging him to obey just this once and actually leave.
The vines surged forward, and Hector swung. His blade sliced through them easily, their ends dropping to the ground and writhing around as the glow faded. At the familiar feel of the straining and flexing of muscles he hadn't been able to work out in a few days (ever since Varian got sick and needed a nurse), he settled back into his old rhythm of hacking and cutting and slashing, pouring his worry and fear and panic into each move, letting the metallic sheen of his blade collide with the glow of his nightmares and snuff it out like a candle at night. The twisting and spinning and leaping was an old dance, one that he knew well, and it carried his body through the mass of vines at the same time it carried his mind to the cold, calculating plain from which he analyzed his opponent carefully, expected every outcome, predicted every move.
"UNCLE HECTOR!!!"
Crap.
He spun to see Varian hacking away at a vine with his dagger as the plant wrapped itself around his leg. With a graceful backflip, Hector reached his nephew, slicing the vine away before his feet even hit the floor. "The crap, kid, I told you to RUN!"
He turned back to face the vines, but the delay had cost him. One struck him in the chest, knocking him back and slamming him to the ground. It wrapped itself around him before he could move, latching his arms to his sides and winding up his chest. He brought his forearm up to cut it, but two more vines caught his wrists, pinning them to the ground as more snagged his legs.
Varian yelped and ran to Hector's side, but he too was overtaken by the oppressive wave of green. Panic flared to life in his eyes as the vines started to cocoon him.
Hector thrashed and twisted, attempting to wrestle his way out of the ever-contracting grip unsuccessfully. The vines tightened across his chest, sneaking upwards to his neck. Breathing grew laborious as his ribs groaned under the strain. He twisted his head to see Varian struggling as well, tears falling from his eyes now as his movements grew slow and sluggish. One of the vines wrapped around his face, covering his mouth.
He had to get to him, had to cut him loose, had to get him out of here... they weren't even supposed to be here in the first place! They never should have come here... But he couldn't move, couldn't fight back, he was powerless to save himself or his nephew. And either the lack of oxygen or his panic was getting to him, because he was suddenly so tired, and all he wanted to do was close his eyes and surrender to the darkness bordering the edges of his eyesight...
A vine crept across his face, covering his eyes, and he knew no more.
O‴O‴O‴
His wrists hurt. Why did his wrists hurt? And his chest ached, and his shoulders were on fire...
Varian forced his eyes open, but the faint green light did little to reveal the room. It appeared to be circular, with stone walls rather than pink shell that, from where he could see, extended down past his line of sight... past his feet... which weren't touching the floor—
With a cry of fear, Varian tried to move, but his wrists were firmly held in place. Looking up, he saw the source of his discomfort.
Shackles.
Shackles chained him to the ceiling, far above his head, pulling at his shoulders and hands. Hard metal, rubbing at his bare wrists as a thin stream of blood seeped into his long sleeve. Metal that clinked and rattled as he swung freely below, frantically yanking and tugging to get free, to fall to the ground, to do anything but hang there vulnerably!
Chains, holding him up, keeping him from touching the ground as he swayed back and forth, the sharp crack of the whip too loud in his ears, the pain in his wrists dulled by the pain in his back as his blood soaked his skin, his clothes, and traced down his frail body to drip from the tips of his bare toes onto the red-stained floor below...
He twisted around, biting his lip to keep from screaming in pain. No, this couldn't be happening! He wasn't in Corona anymore! And Uncle Hector—
Where was he?
Varian's gaze darted around frantically. Nearby, Hector hung in the same way, head slumped against his chest and braids hanging over his face. He, too, was gloveless.
"Uncle Hector!" Varian hissed. "Uncle Hector, wake up! Please!"
Hector grunted. "Too early," he grumbled. "Tired..."
"Wake up, please!"
He lifted his head then, yelping when he saw where they were. "Agh! Whazit—King Edmund's silk nightshirt! Varian, are you okay?"
Varian struggled to pull in gasping breaths. "Scared," he whimpered. "It hurts!"
"'Kay, kid, just stay calm. We'll get out of this."
"How?!" He wanted to scream, but his shoulders were doing that enough, and the lack of oxygen made just talking difficult. "M-Matthews, he's gonna keep us here, and we won't get past the vines, and the door's gone and we'll die here we can't get out we're gonna die!"
"Varian!" Hector snapped. Varian met his eyes, their yellow glow looking more green in the ominous light. His expression softened. "Want to see a magic trick?"
Varian bit his lip. "Y-you don't do magic," he whispered.
Hector had the audacity to look offended. "That hurts. Watch and learn, you little skeptic."
Lifting himself by the arms like he was doing pull-ups, Hector took a deep breath, lowered himself down, and yanked hard on the chains to lift himself higher. He twisted his hands to grab the chains above the shackles. Then steadily he climbed upwards, hand over hand, until he was able to loop his legs around the slack of the chain. Varian craned his neck so he could see.
Getting a steadying arm around the chain, Hector reached down with his bound hands and drew the lock picks from his pocket. Humming softly, he unlatched the shackles and let them fall, holding to the chain still to keep his place. Then he frowned.
"'Kay. I don't think I can get to your lock without hurting you in the process, and I don't want to do that. If I had my sword, I could jump off the wall and cut the chain, but I think the freak has it." He gritted his teeth. "I don't know how to get you down yet. I gotta get out of here and find something."
"Wh—no, don't leave me!"
Hector dropped to the ground. "I'll be back, kiddo, but I've gotta find a way to get you down. I can't do that from here." With a fierce kick, he knocked the heavy wooden door straight off its hinges. He disappeared into the hall, leaving Varian alone with the silence and pain.
Varian's struggle to pull in breath grew harder. "N-No! You promised! You said you wouldn't leave me! You promised!" He screamed until his throat grew raw and his vision blurred, but it did him no good. Hector was gone.
He'd left him.
He'd lied to him.
Just like her.
"You promised," he weakly sobbed one last time before his vision darkened and he fainted.
O‴O‴O‴
His heart thudded in his ears as quickly as his feet thudded against the floor, the panic in his veins lending a new speed to his body. Door after door caved in under his boot, only for him to spin and keep moving as nothing met his eye—nothing of worth, that is. Worth, in this case, was defined as either a weapon to free Varian or a neck to snap.
Hector's heart somehow sank into his stomach and crawled into his throat at the same time. He'd left Varian behind! He'd promised he wouldn't leave him, and he had. Sure, he could say he didn't have a choice all he wanted, but he'd left him. He couldn't imagine how terrified the kid was right now. Hector had never felt the kind of fear Varian had to face, and he probably never would—
He spun around a corner and came to a screeching halt, a gray blur flying at his face. He snagged it midair. Ruddiger screamed and wriggled, fur bristling. "Rat!" Hector breathed a sigh of relief. "Where've you been?"
Ruddiger pointed off in the direction he'd come, still shaking like a sapling in a strong breeze.
"Did you see the others?"
He nodded.
"Matthews?"
Another nod.
"Take me there."
Ruddiger whimpered and scrambled onto Hector's shoulder, hiding under his braids. Hector tugged him out. "We ain't got time for that! Varian's in trouble, and I need my sword. I bet you anything Matthews has it. If not, we'll get Adira's. Now show me where they are." He set the raccoon on the ground.
Ruddiger whined but obediently started off, Hector following on his heels. The loud pink halls all looked the same, and the warrior gave a silent word of thanks for his miniscule guide. He'd've never found his way around in this place otherwise.
Ruddiger seemed to know exactly where to go, following his steps back the way he'd come. With new hope to speed his steps, with new direction to aim his fury, Hector tore through the house, his mind now fixated on one goal: find that worthless imbecile Matthews and tie his neck in a knot.
His goal was brought to a sudden and short stop when he spun around a corner and froze. In front of him lay a hallway covered in vines, draped across the floor, crawling up the walls, spreading outwards from a door marked with a goat's head knocker. The vines stretched out, reaching forward like the claws of a slumbering beast, ready to stir and attack and wrap and crush and strangle—
Hector twisted his wrist, flinching as nothing happened. Right. His sword was gone. His knives were gone, he was weaponless, and Matthews was probably right behind that door and there was nothing he could do because those BLASTED VINES WERE IN THE WAY!
He took a step forward. They were just laying there, not moving. No problem. He'd just walk over them. He took a step forward—
And then several steps back, until he bumped into a wall.
Why was it suddenly so much harder to breathe?
He brought a hand to his bruised neck. Nothing was there. The vines were still and dark, not glowing and twisting and crawling like they had been before. It should be simple to walk forward and just... step over them. Like he did back at the Tree, every single day. They were just vines, nothing more.
He stepped forward again, Ruddiger's worried chittering in his ear. Reaching the edge of the tangled carpet, he lifted his foot and prepared to place it in one of the gaps. Easy. Just one footstep after another.
He jumped back and tore his hands through his hair. This was ridiculous! It was just walking over vines! He lived in a tree, for goodness sake. It wasn't like this was new.
And, of course, the Tree had been ripped to pieces by the Sundrop in her attempt to stop the Heart, the Heart that clenched and warped and twisted and tore his home apart, that flung its vines forward with one purpose: to kill them all, to squeeze the very air from their lungs, to grind their bones into dust and bury them in the rubble of the fallen Tree to die alongside its long-forgotten history and secrets.
He wasn't aware of the tears on his cheeks until Ruddiger wiped them with his paw. The racoon crooned gently from his shoulder, rubbing up against his neck. Hector took a shaky breath, leaning up against the wall and sliding to the floor. Every second he wasted here was one more that Varian was in pain, was terrified, was alone, but the answer to that problem lay behind a door that might as well be on the other side of the world. No, worse than that, because if the answer was on the other side of the world, Hector would go there. He would cross any distance, brave any challenge, to keep Varian safe. But this dormant mass of green, maybe fifty feet long, formed an impassable barrier that left him shaking and useless.
Ruddiger hopped from Hector's shoulders to his arms, nuzzling against his chest the way he did with Varian and purring softly. Hector scratched behind his ears, rubbing his fur in between his bare fingers. Pouring his energy into controlling his breathing, he closed his eyes and tried to stand again. Shoving himself up onto trembling limbs, he walked forward again. It was just vines. Just stupid, worthless plants laying on the ground. All he had to do was walk over them. Maybe step on a few for good measure.
Yeah, and have them come to life underneath his feet and rip him limb from limb. Bad idea.
O‴O‴O‴
Varian wasn't sure how long he'd been hanging there. Long enough for his shoulders to pop out of their sockets, making the flaring agony rippling through his arms and back even worse. Long enough for the shortness of his breath to make him drowsy and semi-conscious.
Long enough for him to suspect that Hector wasn't coming back.
He'd... he'd left him. He'd run off and left him. After he'd promised. He'd promised he'd never leave him but he had. He'd lied. He'd lied to Varian. He'd promised but he was lying and he wasn't coming back and Varian was going to die here—
His breathing quickened again, but instead of air flowing to his lungs, all he got was dizzy, his position making it nearly impossible to take in a clear breath. No, no, he needed to calm down, he needed to think, but he couldn't, and he was so scared and it hurt so bad and he just wanted Hector! He wanted to get out of this stupid house and get Ruddiger back and see his family again and be safe. He wanted to feel safe again, to be protected, to be sheltered in the arms of his family and let them be a strong wall between him and the world because he couldn't take it, couldn't face the dangers that assaulted him from all sides, couldn't stand on his own. He was so sick of being on his own. And being with Hector had gotten him used to being protected, something he hadn't felt in ages, and he'd forgotten what it was like to be on his own the way he had been after the storm. Now he was alone again.
The chain snapped.
Varian dropped limply to the floor, the pain he felt when he struck the hard stone still a welcome relief from the pain from dangling by his wrists. He was still in agony, but the lack of pressure on his muscles made him want to weep in relief. He dragged his knees up to his chest and curled up as much as possible without moving his arms from where they still stretched out by his head.
"Oh dear," a soft, melodic voice gasped. "Are you alright, child?"
Varian flinched at the sudden words as they pierced through the harsh stillness and quietness, as they let him know that he wasn't alone, that someone was there watching him and he wasn't safe and he had no way to protect himself if whoever this person was chose to hurt him. He curled in closer, trying to drag his arms nearer to his knees.
"Oh, I won't hurt you," the lady's voice assured him. "Breathe now. You're safe. Deep breaths." Her voice was gentle and low, with the sweetness of honey but the brisk coldness of a winter storm brewing behind it. "That's it, one breath at a time. I'm not here to hurt you."
Varian tried to speak, to demand why she was here then and who she was, but his voice refused to cooperate. He obediently followed her coaching as she talked him through each breath. If she wanted to hurt him, there was nothing he could do about it anyway, so he might as well do what she said. As his shaking slowed and his mind cleared, he became aware of a strange blue glow illuminating the room. It wasn't much, just a small flickering light like the moon. He started to turn his head to discover the source of the light, only to shrink back as movement in the corner of his eye spooked him.
"I'm sorry," the lady said. "I didn't mean to startle you. I only meant to unlock those cuffs. There, isn't that better?"
Varian lay still as the metal clinked and fell away from his wrists. He forced his gaze up to the lady sitting next to him, his eyes widening at what he saw.
She was transparent, for one, the stones on the wall behind her showing through her skin and clothes. A soft light shone from her, making her entire body appear blue. Her hair was braided and pulled up into a bun atop her head, and beads draped gracefully across her forehead. She wore a fur vest atop a leather tunic, crossed with a leather belt that held two boomerangs on her back. Thigh and shin guards covered her pants, and leather boots completed the outfit. Swirling tattoos crept up her neck and covered her arms, down to her wrists, one of which was stretched out towards Varian.
On the back of her hand was the mark of the Brotherhood.
O‴O‴O‴
It's just vines. They're not even moving. A bunch of stupid plants. Just walk over them.
Hector stared at the blockade. He'd seen them piled up thicker at the Tree. Why was it so hard for him to imagine walking past them to get to that blasted room? Especially when Varian's life was in danger! That should be enough to get him moving.
Ruddiger chittered and wound around his ankles. Then he scampered over to the vines and carefully placed a paw into one of the gaps. Hector hissed, but nothing happened. The vines still lay unmoving.
The raccoon kept going, one paw after the other, winding his way through the mass. He turned to Hector and motioned for him to follow. The warrior gave a short laugh. Hesitantly, he stepped into the first gap that Ruddiger had, tensing up and glaring around to see if anything had moved. Everything lay exactly where it had, and he took the next step.
He tiptoed through the maze cautiously, eyes bouncing between his guide and his feet. The vines on every side didn't move an inch, though their pulsing, beating, breathing grated against Hector's mind, winding into his thoughts, tracing twisting patterns across his brain and searing there, marking him, branding him, scarring him. It dug underneath his skin and into his veins, slithering through his body and halting his movements.
Loud chittering broke through the fog over his mind, and he forced his attention back to Ruddiger. Seeing he was paying attention, the raccoon kept moving. One step after the other, one shaky breath at a time, inching closer and closer to that blasted door...
Then he was close enough to reach out and touch it. Setting his shoulders back, Hector twisted and slammed his foot into it, the sound of it slamming open a soothing relief. It snapped straight off its hinges, crashing to the floor inside the dark circular room...
Where more vines grew, spreading from a statue of the monster Zhan Tiri across from the door to wrap around the unconscious body of the Sundrop, laying on a table.
O‴O‴O‴
"You—you're a si-sister," Varian rasped.
The lady nodded. "Yes. Or, was. I'm afraid I'm rather..." she looked at her transparent hands. "I haven't been myself in quite a while, not since I was killed by a friend."
His eyes widened. He had started to sit up, but now he shrank away from her. "You're dead?"
She smirked. "I have been for a millennium, and yet somehow I still look amazing."
"Wh—so am I dead then?"
"Oh no, dear! You're still very much alive. And that's why I'm here."
A familiar tension started at the base of his skull and worked its way down his back, his aching muscles tightening and his scars pulling at his skin. So she wanted something from him, then. Typical. Even dead people only cared about what they could get from him. "What... what do you want?"
One of her eyebrows raised. "Isn't it obvious?" She gave him a motherly smile. "I'm here to help you."
O‴O‴O‴
Hector tore his gaze from the vines at a startled gasp from across the room. He looked over to see Adira shackled to the floor. Fitzherbert and Lance were chained next to her. The chameleon was trapped in a cage suspended from the ceiling.
Adira pointed over to the altar. "Get the Sundrop! Matthews—" Her words were cut off as a vine lashed across her mouth.
"Now, now," a cold voice spoke. "You wouldn't take the guest of honor away from zhe party, now would you?"
Hector whirled around to see Matthews hovering near the altar, glowing a deadly green the same shade as the vines. The villainous host shook his head sadly. "I did expect you to come, but I had hoped you would be patient for another five minutes. Really, is zhat too much to ask?"
Hector's blood ran cold, his breathing steadying. He had all he needed now: a target. Charging forward, he planted a foot on the altar and leapt at Matthews. The man's eyes widened, clearly not expecting this, and he dove aside. Hector's next step was on the arm of the statue, and he cut a backflip to strike Matthews from behind—
And passed straight through him, his skin crawling at the feel of dark magic passing through his body. He hit the ground and rolled, flipping up into a standing position by the altar.
Matthews laughed. "Zhat will do you no good, knight. Zhe disciples of Zhan Tiri cannot be defeated by mortal means."
Hector growled. "Gimme my sword back and we'll see." His gaze fell on the bags at the foot of the statue. Lunging forward, he reached for the bags, only to be swatted away and thrown to the other side of the room. He braced his feet and slid to a stop, freezing when he saw the glowing vines rising up to meet him.
Matthews waved his hand, and the vines surged forward. Hector jumped, flipping over them and bringing his foot down to crush them under his heel. Then he ran for the bags again. Just a few inches—
Matthews sighed and motioned again, and the vines lashed around Hector's wrists, dragging him backward. He snarled and fought against their bruising grip, twisting around and sinking his teeth into one. Ripping it from his arm, he yanked the other one away and charged again, only to have his ankles snagged. The vines dragged him to the ground, and he snarled up at their controller.
"Eventually you'll realize the futility of your struggle," Matthews intoned. "Surrender now, and per'aps I will release your boy. Fair, no?"
"Nah."
Matthews rolled his eyes and waved his hand. The vines flung him backward, and he groaned as his back and head struck the wall. He dropped to the ground near Adira, and the vines started to form their poison cocoon around his limbs and throat. Hector snarled and bit at them, clawed at them, only for the ones around his neck to tighten and cut of his breath again. No, no, not again, this couldn't be happening!
Ruddiger scampered towards him, tackling the vines only to be swatted aside. He landed at the base of the altar. Hector growled and tried once more to tear himself free from the vines.
"Hector!" Adira screamed. "Hold on!" She strained against her chains, but they held fast. "Let him go, Tromus, you're killing him!"
Matthews—Tromus, whatever—shook his head. "And why would I do zhat? He would kill me if I gave him 'alf a chance."
"I'll kill you if you give me half a chance! Let him go! You think Zhan Tiri wouldn't be pleased with you if you captured two members of the Brotherhood alive?"
"My master would be pleased if I killed two members of the Brotherhood." Tromus rolled his eyes. "I admire your efforts, though."
Hector's muscles burned as he strained against his bonds, the lack of airflow to his lungs reducing him to the helplessness of a kitten. His vision faded in and out, black and gray and green swirling together in a mesmerizing whirlwind that sucked him in, tugged at his consciousness, chanting for him to let go, to close his eyes and let the colors bear him away somewhere he wasn't in danger, somewhere he wasn't in pain...
The gray grew larger in his vision, nearly blocking out the green. Screeches and howls filled his ears, muffled and distant. Then it was gone, and the blackness was filling his vision, and his head slumped to hit the floor...
O‴O‴O‴
"Help me? With what?"
The lady's smile fell. "I know what you've been through, Varian. I know the pain you've had to endure. I know the pain you still endure. I know what you will be forced to endure if you don't heed my warnings."
Varian pushed himself up to a seated position. His entire body ached in ways it hadn't in months, especially his shoulders, and not the good ache that came for Hector's rigorous workout routines. Half of him still shrieked that he needed to stay away from this woman, that she was dangerous, but the symbol on her hand stood out against her blue skin, reminding him who she was. She was part of the Brotherhood. She was good. "What... what warnings?"
She leaned closer, and he fought the urge to back up. She was a ghost—it wasn't like she could touch him. "I know you think you're safe with Hector, but you're not. He cannot protect you."
Varian tensed up again. "That's not true!"
"Really? Would you dare to go back to Corona with him, then?"
"I'm—I'm not going back!"
"Not even to free your father?"
He froze. "I... I'll go back for that, just so we can get his body."
"Varian," she sighed. "I don't think you understand. Even if you don't go back, even if you're there for only a few hours, you're an escaped convict, one of the most dangerous in the Seven Kingdoms. You really think they'll just let you go? They're hunting you already. You've already been found once."
"And Uncle Hector saved me!"
"Because there were only four of them. Please, Varian, I'm not saying this to hurt you. I'm trying to protect you. Hector won't be able to stop an entire army, even with Adira by his side."
"Ra—the Sundrop—"
"Won't help you." She shook her head sadly. "She's not brave enough to defy her father. She never has been. She didn't stand up for you when the king tried to hurt you in your own home. She didn't stop him from making you wish you were dead rather than suffering the abuse that you did. She didn't stop her lady-in-waiting from mistreating you."
"She's—she's trying! She apologized!"
"And you trust her words? She's given you pretty speeches before, and where did they lead you? You trusted her before, and where did you end up?"
Varian flinched. He couldn't argue.
"Varian, please," the lady said. "I don't want to see you get hurt again. I don't want you to put your faith in empty promises. I know you want to have faith. You have such a sweet heart, a bright light inside you, and you want to believe the best of people, but that's what got you into this position in the first place. You had to learn a hard lesson about trusting people. Don't forget what you learned just because the Sundrop shed a few tears."
He wrapped his arms around himself, mind reverting back to the conversation earlier. After everything she'd said the night before, all her apologies, and she'd still had the audacity to try to defend that monster she called Dad... maybe the sister was right. He wanted to believe the Sundrop could change, but what if she couldn't? Did he even have the right to say she didn't when he had changed so much?
But she had refused to change, even after everything she had seen and heard. Maybe she just didn't want to.
He shuddered. "What am I supposed to do about that? If she doesn't want to face the truth, then what the crap am I supposed to do about that?"
"You need to find a way to defend yourself. You've been training, and you're doing so well, but you won't stand a chance against a battalion of soldiers plus the Sundrop without your alchemy. You know this from experience."
He laughed bitterly. "You're a real ray of sunshine. Yeah, I know. If that's all you wanted to tell me, maybe you could actually try something useful, like telling me how to get out of here."
"That's not all I wanted to tell you," the sister chided. "And what I'm going to tell you will be useful, so if you could kindly listen, please." She sighed. "I apologize. You have every right to be skeptical and upset. All I want is to help you, but it's up to you if you want my advice."
He glanced aside guiltily. "Yes ma'am. Sorry. What did you want to tell me?"
"I know you're scared, Varian. But there is a way for you to get everything you want and protect yourself. And you won't even need the Sundrop's help to free your father."
It seemed too good to be true. "How?"
She gave him a motherly smile. "When you get to the Dark Kingdom, you have to steal the Moonstone."
O‴O‴O‴
Air surged into Hector's lungs, sparking a fire in his chest that left him coughing fiercely. Grabbing the vines around his neck, he started to rip them free, only for them to crumble to dust in his hands. He forced his gaze up to where Adira stood near the altar, sword in hand. The severed ends of the vines around the Sundrop trailed limply from the fingers of the statue. Around him, the room shook and crumbled, rubble and dirt falling from the ceiling. Stones crashed together in a deafening cacophony as the force of the shaking tore apart his home—
No, this wasn't his home, was it? The Tree was gone, lost to the Sundrop's arrogance... But this, this breaking, shattering, splintering destruction, was the same as then; the same dangers, the same...
The same cause...
Her.
Adira sheathed her sword and ran to Hector's side, scooping him up and flinging him over her shoulders before he could protest. Every nerve in his body screamed at the sudden contact. He was grateful that he hadn't eaten in a while, or else he'd've vomited all over Adira's clothes. His head spun as her pounding footsteps blended with the crashes of the walls collapsing.
He twisted to see Fitzherbert carrying the princess, Lance and Pascal beside them. Ruddiger sat on Lance's shoulders. As the walls tumbled down, turning to sand that flung into the air and ripped around them, the howling of his bearcats added to the thunderous noises as they raced up to him. He weakly grinned to see them unhurt. Riki, Kiki, Ruddiger, Adira, Lance, Pascal, Fitzherbert, the princess. The handmaid and the old man were nowhere to be seen. That left only—
"Va—Varian!" he rasped. "'Dira... get Varian—" His words were cut off by a painful hacking. The sand blasting all around them in a tumultuous whirlwind pelted against his skin like tiny daggers, and he clenched his eyes shut. "Ge—"
"I'll come back for him," Adira called over the noise. "I gotta get you out!"
"N-no!" He struggled vainly against her hold—though his lack of success probably had more to do with his weakened condition than her own strength. "Can't leave him!"
Adira yelped as she lost her footing in the growing piles of sand, sinking to her knees. The wind picked up speed, driving the sand harder, and her attempts to stand met with no success. Hector grimaced and opened his eyes to see Lance stumbling towards her, hand extended. Adira shook her head and lowered Hector to the ground, wrapping her arms around him and letting her own body act as a buffer. He growled and wrapped his arms around her head in turn.
They hunkered down against the wind, the sand seeping into their clothing and behind their closed eyelids. Past the raging storm, the sound of Tromus's screams drifted to their ears. It faded away, lost in the howling, and the wind itself followed slowly. The stinging sand slowed its barrage, and the tempest became a gust, which became a breeze, which stopped, the last few particles of sand drifting to rest at the top of the pile that had once been a house.
Hector spat grit out of his mouth and looked around. "Wha-what happened?"
Adira coughed. "Tromus was trying to leech the Sundrop's power. He put her in a trance and said she was stuck unless she chose to reject it herself." She grinned smugly. "I suppose that wasn't true. Ringtail here snatched your lock picks to get me out, and I cut the vines. Then the house sort of... broke?"
"Yeah, got that part." Ruddiger came bounding over to them, and Hector scratched behind his ears. "Thanks, rat."
Nearby, the princess pulled herself to her feet, Fitzherbert supporting her. She blinked dazedly, glancing around at the scene. Hector growled and turned away. Maybe this hadn't been because of her deciding to use a blasted incantation, but she was still responsible for the situation.
Shoving himself to his feet, Hector grunted in pain and wrapped his arms around his ribs. He stumbled, unable to keep his balance, and Adira reached out to take his arm. He leaned on her for a moment, just long enough to get his feet back under him, then let go. No sense in making her uncomfortable. Tension bled out of her shoulders once he was no longer in contact with her.
"You okay?" she huffed. "What happened to you and Varian?"
He shook his head. "Fine. We got caught by..." He froze.
"By?"
The vines, his mind helpfully supplied, but his mouth refused to cooperate. It's easy. Two syllables. The vines.
His throat closed up. Bringing a hand to his neck, he shook his head. "Th—" The words stuck, refusing to pass his lips, dancing on the back of his tongue just out of reach, refusing to be pushed forward. He shook his head again. "Later."
"Hector? Are you sure you're okay?"
"I said I'm fine!" he snapped. "Drop it!"
She stepped back, a stricken expression on her face. He winced. "Sorry. I didn't—I'm sorry. I'm fine, really. I just have to find Varian."
The entire house had disintegrated, leaving nothing but a pile of sand in the middle of the woods. Kubwa and the horses stood nearby—and somehow, the old man was standing next to them. How did he do that? Artemis screeched and flew in a circle overhead, swooping low to circle them. Hector stepped shakily away from Adira, looking around. The sunlight glinted off the sand, reflecting into his eyes still attuned to the darkness of the house. He scanned the area, lifting his hand to motion to Artemis. This was too much like last time, too much like the destruction of his home, and once again Varian was missing...
Before he could give the signal, something shifted slightly, becoming visible under the piles of sand. Hector tripped forward, pushing his battered body towards that spot, dropping to his knees and scooping the sand away from that tiny body hunched over and shaking. Varian's arms protected his head, and he didn't move from his curled position.
"Varian? Var, kid, talk to me!" Hector's hand hovered over the boy's back, but he didn't touch him. Even from this position, he could see the tear tracks staining his kid's face.
Varian stirred slightly, flinching at the noise and drawing away.
"Kiddo, it's me. It's Uncle Hector. I'm here, 'kay? I'm right here."
The boy tilted his head, blinking rapidly. He wavered on the border of indecision for a few more seconds before launching his body at Hector and burying his face in the man's leg, shaking even harder and sobbing brokenly. "Y-you lef—you left me!" he gasped. "You left me you left me you promised..."
"I had to, kid, I'm sorry," he whispered. "I had to try to get help. I'm so sorry. You know I wouldn't just up and leave you. I'm never gonna do that." He carefully placed a hand on Varian's shoulder, jerking back when the kid flinched. "Sorry."
Both of them jumped when the sand kicked up again, swirling in one spot. Hector crouched over his nephew protectively, sheltering him with his body. The sand took form, forging a structure midair. A door.
Behind him, Adira drew her sword. The bearcats rushed forward to stand protectively by their humans. Ruddiger jumped protectively in front of Varian, though he stayed behind the safety of Hector's foremost arm.
The door slammed open, and Cassandra tumbled out, leaning on it for support. Her friends rushed forward, surrounding her and talking rapidly, but Hector didn't miss the way her eyes traveled over to Varian and warped in some expression of... anger? Regret? It was hard to tell with her. She looked like she might walk over to them, and Hector shifted to further shield Varian from sight.
But she turned away, and Hector relaxed. Focusing his attention back on Varian, he winced. He'd really messed up this time, hadn't he? How long would it take the kid to recover from this one? And the fact that it was Hector's fault...
Well, mostly. He had had to leave to find a way to free Varian. It was a bad decision, but they never should have been in that position in the first place.
A buzzing started at the base of his skull. They never should have been in that position in the first place. Just like Varian never should have been in the position he was forced into.
They had almost been killed by a deranged psychopath and his vines.
Just like they had almost been killed back at the Great Tree.
Because of...
Her.
He twisted his neck, staring back over his shoulder to where the princess hugged her horses. His thoughts from earlier surged to the forefront of his mind. She was responsible. Maybe not intentionally, but responsible nonetheless.
"Varian," he murmured. "Is it okay if I pick you up? We need to go. The sooner we're out of here, the safer we'll be."
Varian nodded slowly. Hector gently scooped him up in his arms and cradled him to his chest. He carefully picked his way through the sandpile to solid ground, conscious of Adira's presence behind him in case he fell.
The princess sighed when she saw them. "I'm so glad you're all okay."
Hector's mood, tense as a bowstring, snapped. "Okay?" he hissed. "No, Sundrop, we're far from okay. What. The. Crap. Was. That."
She drew back, turning her head to lean into Fitzherbert's shoulder. The motion reminded him so much of Varian that it hurt. "Matthews... he put me in a dream world. It was supposed to be perfect, everything I could ever want. If I wanted to get out, I had to touch the black rocks in the dream."
"Why didn't you? Adira had to save your royal posterior."
"I... I wanted to believe it," she whispered. "Everyone was happy! No one got hurt, and... I wanted to believe it, that everything was okay and—and that my dad didn't do what you said he did. That he didn't hurt Varian or lie about helping him."
Varian shifted to hide his face further, and Hector had to make a conscious effort to keep from half-crushing him as every nerve in his body screamed for him to attack that bratty princess. He clenched his jaw and forced himself to relax. "You... we could have all died because of you. If it weren't for Ruddiger and Adira, we all would've."
"Leave her alone," Fitzherbert growled, though his brow furrowed in pain rather than anger. "She didn't know."
"She made her choice," he snapped back. "She chose to stay there. She chose to pretend that her dad's not a stormin' tyrant who abuses kids. Because that's easier than facing the truth, isn't it? Stay in your little dream world, where everything's perfect, and outside, people are dying. But hey, that's how it is for you, isn't it? You don't need a dream for that."
"You don't know anything about me!" she suddenly yelled. "You think my life is perfect? You think I always had parents who love me? You think I can just accept that my dad, who did everything he did to protect me, is a horrible monster? I'm not saying you're lying. I'm saying I don't see it."
"Then you're blind, princess. And I hope you learn how to see before you follow in his footsteps." He turned away and walked over to Kubwa, gently setting Varian on his back. His nephew hunched over, clinging to the edge of the saddle, looking impossibly small in the falling folds of his maroon cloak. Hector picked up Ruddiger and placed him in the boy's arms. Varian immediately reached out and drew him closer, and the raccoon purred and nuzzled the boy's chest.
Adira came over to him and handed him a few bags. "Found these. And these as well." He looked up from slinging one of the bags over his shoulder to see her holding out his cloak and gloves.
He took them with a nod of thanks, sliding the gloves on and twisting his wrist to summon the blade. Sheathing it once more, he sighed. He'd missed this, the feeling of power and protection it gave him. He was trained in hand to hand combat, but he much preferred to have a proper weapon.
He whirled on the princess as she stepped closer. "What?"
She took a step back. "I—I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. Or Varian. I'm just trying to understand—"
He held up a hand. "Don't. Yeah, you hurt us. You keep doing that. Everything that's happened to the two of us over the last week and a half has been because of you. Every time he's gotten hurt, gotten his memory erased, had a setback in his recovery, it's been because of you. And so is this. Matthews was after you, you and your stupid power. And Varian and I got caught in the middle. Not anymore. We're traveling on our own from now on."
"What? Hector, I told you I'm sorry—"
"Yeah, I heard you. Doesn't change the fact that the next time may kill him."
"But the truce—if you go to the Dark Kingdom and get there before us, then you'll try to convince the king to stop us! You agreed to travel with us."
He glared daggers at her. "If you're so sure you can convince the king to let you take the Moonstone, then what I say to him shouldn't matter. But that's not why I'm doing this. For Varian's safety—for both of our safety—the two of us are going alone from now on."
"No you're not."
He turned to Adira. "What?"
"I'm going with you. If you'll let me, that is."
"Adira!" the princess exclaimed. "You're leaving us? But... but we need your help! How are we going to get to the Dark Kingdom?"
Adira crossed her arms. "You and your friends are pretty reliant. I have no doubt you can get there on your own. But right now, my place is with my family. If they're okay with that."
Hector looked to Varian, who nodded. With a deep sigh, he turned back to Adira. "Fine. Whatever. Can you get the chest?"
She nodded and walked to the still-stuck caravan. Hector climbed up onto Kubwa's back behind Varian. As Adira returned, he helped her fasten it to the rhino. It wasn't the best option, but it would work for now. His sister climbed onto Riki.
"We'll see you in the Dark Kingdom," she told the others. "Try not to die before then."
"Hey." Lance spoke up for the first time. "Take care of Varian, huh?"
Hector raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, we will. Take care of yourself. Varian's attached to you, for some reason." He rolled his eyes. At least Varian had grown fond of the least stomach-churning of the Sundrop's friends.
Speaking of...
His eyes narrowed when he caught the handmaid staring at Varian, unblinking. She rested her left hand on her upper right arm, head tilted. Not an aggressive stance. No, it was... curious? Concerned? She looked away when she caught him watching.
His lips twisted in a scowl. Nudging Kubwa, he turned the rhino in the direction of the Dark Kingdom. The more distance he put between them and the Sundrop, the safer he'd feel.
Ahead of them lay his old home, the land where he'd been born and raised. The land that had been torn from him by the influence of a cosmic power. The kingdom of his past and, now, his future. The kingdom he'd never thought to return to. The home that had been lost to him, and now the home he would try to make for Varian.
He hoped he could do better for his kid than he'd had. He wanted a future of light and hope for him, not shadows and emptiness. Not like either of their pasts had been.
-------------------------
And that's all the pre-written chapters I have, sorry. From now on, uploads will be slower, as it takes me a while to get each chapter written. I'll post them hopefully at the same time I post them on AO3. Thank you for sticking with me this far, and I hope you continue to enjoy!
One more thing! I've thought a lot about the future of this story, and I've decided that Blood of my Brother is now the first part of a series, Blood Oaths! This is because this story has grown far bigger than I ever expected it too. I don't technically have any reason for doing this other than the fact that it feels way too big to be one story right now and it's going to bother me. I'll be cutting Blood of my Brother off either where the end of season 2 was or after their return to Old Corona to get Quirin. I haven't decided on the place yet, but I'm leaning towards after Old Corona for reasons. The story will continue with a sequel, the working title of which is Blood of the Covenant right now.
That being said, I also plan to have a third installment, which is comprised of one-shots set within this AU. Some will take place before, some during, and some after the events of Blood Oaths. They will focus on events that I either didn't have time or room to work into the story or that would have just messed up pacing a bit.
Now that I've said all that, I think y'all deserve to know the secret behind Blood Oaths. This idea didn't start out as a multi-fic story. It didn't even start as a singular book. No, the beginning idea for Blood of my Brother (which was born out of boredom at work one day) was for it to be a cute, fluffy one-shot! It would have had Hector breaking Varian out of prison and the two of them meeting, and that was it. Then I thought it would be too short, so I thought about making it about 3-5 chapters. Well, 8 months later, and here we are. I'm not disappointed. Thank y'all for coming with me on this roller coaster of a story! Y'all are the best.
As always, constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Thank you and God bless!