"NOW, Nikki!" Max shouted, and her war-cry sounded from the bushes.
Amusement crossed Daniel's face in a cold flicker of interest before he easily dodged the foolish girl and, wait no girl, but- "Fuck!" Fireworks. Why in the nine hells were there fireworks shooting across the field instead of the green-haired hellion? Horizontally? At Daniel?
Neil gave Max a thumbs up and ran. Like hell he was sticking around on that side of the clearing when Nikki was coming through next. Plus he'd already lit the fireworks and they were packing more punch than he'd thought, given their small size. It was Max's opinion the best feint was just another, different attack.
Singed but not down for the count, Daniel dodged another firework and laughed, low and eery. Had Max really thought that would take him out?
"You barely managed to slow me down with beginner's luck on your side." His words dripped with condescension, breathing even and steady despite the footwork taking him back and forth across the archery range at a not insignificant speed. "And now, without your protector-" While it was always nice to simply talk his enemies into defeat, it appeared there were more pressing concerns. The feral child had lunged at him for real and he smoothly dodged her, but with her came- what was wrong with this camp?
Daniel shook his arm, but the beaver refused to dislodge, and the sheer confusion of being attacked by an herbivore in addition to the small girl he had seen coming meant the wolf and its friends took him entirely by surprise.
As he tumbled to the ground under just a few hundred pounds of angry woodland animals, Daniel clawed a hand out of the pile. His fingers met loose dirt but he gained just enough traction to momentarily free his torso.
"I will kill you for this-" he growled through teeth bared in a crazed smile, clothing askew and torn, hair every which way and eyes locked on Max.
"Can't forget the platypus!" Nikki exclaimed, tossing said creature onto Daniel's face and prompting a scream as she dug venomous spurs into his skin.
Nikki was the only one who didn't wince.
"You know," she said, bouncing on her heels a little and smiling as the mob of animals did their work, "This was a really good plan, Max."
Daniel's screams took on an inhuman tone, rage evident even in the strange distortion.
"...Thanks," Max decided, pushing the slightly unsettled expression from his face and waiting for Daniel to lose consciousness. Behind them, Neil slid down the trunk of the tree in which he'd taken cover, looking green.
"I think I'm gonna be sick," he informed them.
A cheer from Nikki, and she encouraged him, "Spew on Daniel!"
"No," he edged warily back towards the edge of the archery range. "No, I don't believe I will." The sound of him losing his lunch was nearly drowned out by Daniel's continuing wordless screech, but Max managed to take in both sounds at once, along with the monotonous drone of the speakers. What a joy to have fully functioning, youthful ears. Of course, with Daniel's impossible volume and lung capacity, other problems arose.
"Someone's going to hear this," he thought aloud.
A hand landed on his shoulder and squeezed, just this side of painful.
When it finally came, David's voice was tight and angry, "Yes, they will."
Half an hour later, Daniel watched with a hooded gaze, skin knitting slowly back together, as David paced just outside the wolf cage in which they'd imprisoned him.
Coming to an abrupt halt he turned on the three children fidgeting nearby. Or two children fidgeting. That heathen, Max, was stockstill and scowling. "What were you thinking?"
"...That it might help if we actually did something instead of waiting for Daniel to come to us?" Max suggested venomously.
"And what if it went wrong?" David took a sharp step forward, looming over Max with fire on his breath, "You could have gotten your friends hurt, Max! You could have died! Why are you set on making me regret- Isn't it enough to be passively in danger?"
Rolled eyes were not one of the accepted responses to that sort of accusation, Daniel was fairly certain. He might not spend a great deal of time around people before he purified him, but that he could pick up on.
It seemed David agreed since he made a strangled, inarticulate noise of fury and turned away from the children, fists clenched in front of him as he tried to breathe deeply. This, of course, only led to him making eye contact with the very person who might have killed his campers if things had gone well. 'Well' for Daniel, anyway.
Daniel raised a half-regenerated eyebrow at him over the gag.
David made another furious noise and kicked his cage over before storming out of the room.
A few seconds later, it appeared he'd sent Gwen in to deal with the situation more calmly.
"You three are terrifying," she informed them bluntly upon entry, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't think there was a big chance you'd have gotten murdered if only because you clearly have some sort of probability skewing force on your side, but David would still like me to remind you that risking campers like that is against the camp rules and that your lives are precious and blah blah blah." She shrugged, "But like I said, I don't think you increased the danger you were already in doing this."
As he wiggled back into an upright position, Daniel noted Nikki had already relaxed at the calmer tones and Neil didn't look ready to climb the sides of the craft hall and dig his way out through the wooden walls anymore, but the heathen child was still tense. Some sort of schism, there?
"Okay, how are we going to..." Gwen jerked her head towards Daniel, not looking at him or elaborating what exactly she meant. Perhaps one of the children would slip up and reveal what they intended.
"Outside," Max said sharply, and Daniel twitched.
Fuck that kid.
.
"...and we still have the purification sauna, after all," Max concluded his explanation, trying to ignore David's silent glower the whole way through. The counselor couldn't quite protest, however, because he'd essentially planned the same thing. Without the whole use Max as bait caveat.
That was an important distinction.
"Plus, Neil can help us set it up to brainwash him better," Nikki put in, snagging Neil cheerfully by the shoulders.
Dislodging her, Neil threw his arms up in the air, "Why do you just assume I know how to brainwash people? I'm not a mad scientist, Nikki!"
Max snorted and Nikki leaned in closer, staring at him with wide, hopeful eyes.
After a moment of staring back, Neil crossed his arms and looked away. "Okay, I happen to know how to brainwash people. Shut up."
"Harrison can help, too," Max added, talking right over the glare Neil shot his way, "but we gotta figure out what kind of stuff Xeemuug would say, so someone's going to have to go listen to his fucking propaganda and report back."
Gwen looked at David, who shook his head tensely.
"I'd kill him."
The words were delivered flatly and without hesitation.
"Okay," she said carefully, "So I can-"
"You got suckered in first, last time," Max interrupted, "and Neil would just argue in circles. We all know Nikki's not an option. As for the Quartermaster, he would probably just drink with him; besides, the other campers need him right now."
Seeing immediately where Max was going with this, David actually scowled, "You are not talking to him alone-"
Glaring, Max wanted to reach out and shove him. Just because David was obsessed with protecting campers and Max happened to be a camper didn't mean the jerk could get in the way of Max saving the day. Unfortunately, David was akin to a brick wall if he didn't want to be physically moved, so Max kept his hands to himself and tried to convey the violence through tone alone, "Yes, I am." He probably didn't care anymore, anyway. David just... saw him as another camper. Yeah. And there was no need to dig into it- no need to ask, because Max knew. There was no need to- to hear it.
David closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'll talk to him. I just have to control myself."
"If you manage to actually kill him, we'll all die, David," Max shot back, leaning into the argument with vicious glee, away from the curled, hurting places in his head. "You'll kill us all. Is that what you want? All your campers- dead by your action? Your hand, one might say?"
Recoiling, David watched Max with a wary, weighted stare for a moment in silence.
"That was... really harsh," Neil put in uneasily from the sidelines.
Unhesitating, Max retorted, "The truth is harsh."
"Look," Gwen swept her hands to either side like a referee making a call, "Max has a point, and he is the only one who Daniel didn't end up catching, before. Shit, David, when have you ever known Max to be swayed by words?"
Scrunching up his nose, David declined to reply.
"Okay, Satan," she clapped a hand on Max's shoulder, and the nickname had a strange edge of respect to it that wasn't there before, "go do your thing."
The boy nodded, glancing one more time at David's ever-darkening expression, and slipped past them all back into the crafts hall.
"David, he'll be fine," Gwen said firmly when Max was gone. "You can stand out here and make sure no one else gets in while we grab Harrison and bring him up to date."
"...Okay."
As they walked away, David could hear Neil mention how Dolph and Nurf might be of use in their scheme, but deliberately stopped listening so he wouldn't have another thing to worry about.
Maybe he would... just crack the door open a little and listen in, to make sure Max was doing okay. It wasn't like his self control was that lacking. Daniel's voice alone shouldn't-
His chest and neck flared with furious heat as the man's grating, inhuman cadence became audible.
David silently shut the door, an uncharacteristic scowl in place as he leaned back hard against it with a thump.
Well, this sucked.
.
Settling on the floor in front of Daniel's cage, Max rested his hands in his lap. "Lean over here and I'll take off your gag."
At the offer, Daniel's eyes sparked interest, but he merely tilted his head, birdlike and wary.
Obviously, he needed a little push. It was hard to not roll his eyes, but Max kept his tone calm and neutral, "Do you want it off or not?"
Finally, the man leaned his face close to the bars, turning his head slowly to the side so Max could reach the knot at the back. Never once did his intent gaze waver from Max's face.
Max reached gingerly through the bars and untied the gag, letting the fabric fall to the ground with a gentle rustle.
"So..." the man's voice was genial and cold. Xeemuug had done a good job on Daniel's throat; he sounded exactly the same. After what had happened- blood and horrible gurgling noises flashed through Max's mind for just a moment before he forced himself to focus on Daniel's next words. "Is this when you offer me freedom in exchange for...?" The question trailed off leadingly, a smile sharp and questioning on his lips.
"We might get to that later," Max denied flippantly, "if you don't piss off David and get yourself fucking owned again."
Wham! Max stumbled back from where Daniel had thrown himself against the bars with a snarl contorting nearly familiar features into something feral and mindless. His teeth were bared and his eyes wild.
"Unlikely," he growled and, like a switch had been flipped, the faux affability returned. He sat upright again with a strange sort of dignity, despite the bindings keeping his hands behind his back and his legs useless. His tone, however, remained terse as he clicked his tongue in a manner reminiscent of David, "Beginner's luck."
Warily, Max returned to his previous position. This had some potential. Risky, creepy potential, but potential nonetheless. He kept his voice lightly mocking and steady from years of experience with the tone, slipping easily into the well-worn cadence, "Oh, of course. It's not like Xeemuug's will has that much sway over a fight's outcome."
"Xeemuug's will is absolute," Daniel replied with a slow smile. "That's why I'm still alive."
"Sure, sure." Feeling his stomach settle, Max leaned into the role. This was what he was good at. This was something that wouldn't let him down. After all, Max could depend on himself. He always had. With a dismissive twist of his hand, he continued, "And surely you learned what Xeemuug wanted you to, with the whole losing and getting your ass kicked thing?" Before Daniel could freak out again, Max gestured pointedly at the cage, "Not to mention..."
It was clear Daniel knew what he meant.
Max would be having nightmares about that expression.
If he had nightmares, that is.
Shaking the thought from his head, Max continued, "It's a weird coincidence that you showed up at the same time Xeemuug's enemies made their move, isn't it? I mean, why would Xeemuug want you trapped in here when you could be out spreading the good word and bringing more people to ascension?" Now he had to get Daniel to come to his own conclusions. If he pushed too hard this direction, the creepy bastard might see through it. Max was already laying it on a little thick, but the sheer lack of reason Daniel gleefully carried around like a mantle would probably let him get away with that much. If it was David, he'd be saying something about the campers right now, but for Daniel? The man willingly identified himself as a high priest of Xeemuug without prompting, and with nothing to gain. In fact, if someone actually knew what he was talking about, like one of Xeemuug's enemies, for instance, it might be a disadvantage.
Pride.
"I guess Xeemuug just wants you out of the way," Max mused. "The rest of the world is better off without you, or something. Maybe he'll just let his enemies kill you off when that seal pops so he can focus on shoving them back in; you're probably not that important."
"Xeemuug would never abandon his most faithful- I-" There it was. The facade was beginning to break. Max's greatest skill at work once again. He ignored the twinge in his chest in favor of watching as Daniel's expression faltered, and his hands came up to grip the sides of his head, "There must be a task that is desired of me here!"
"Like what?" Max scoffed, "Obviously, he doesn't want us ascended or whatever, and it's not like there's another way to fix the seal-"
"There is."
"What?" He raised his pitch, tried to sound shocked, "What do you mean?" Daniel was calming down, now, but that wasn't what Max wanted. He couldn't let the man's temper die down. "Oh, I get it; now you're just lying to get free! That's pathetic even for you-"
"Shut up." Daniel's desperation had faded to something pensive and dark. He cut a look at Max from beneath his mussed and frizzy bangs before dismissing him. "I'm thinking."
Well, Max could only hope he was following the roadmap Max had just plotted for him. Even if he wasn't, Neil was working on a way to get Daniel in a suggestive state so they could just make him think they were speaking for Xeemuug. Hopefully.
Honestly, Max didn't put a great deal of stock in that option.
He wasn't sure what a millennia old magical seal would count as willing.
"You're trying to save your own skin," Daniel decided finally and Max's heart sank for just a moment before it stumbled over the next beat as Daniel continued, "but you're not entirely wrong."
"What?" This time the surprise wasn't faked.
"What greater glory is there than to vanquish Xeemuug's greatest enemies?" Daniel spoke earnestly, and Max didn't want to believe him so quickly, but... It sounded true. The cultist's volume dropped as he murmured to himself, "Of course, my own sacrifice would only stop the Kronic infestation."
No. No, Max knew this trick and he wasn't going to fall for it. He would ask but he would not put stock in Daniel's word. He was not going to be drawn in. "Is there some other magical monstrosity we have to worry about?"
Lips curling upwards with satisfaction, Daniel leaned against the bars and purred, "Why, the seal creatures. Of course."
"Of course," Max echoed wearily, but... Hadn't the Quartermaster said something about seal creatures before?
Shit. He'd have to go terrorize the old codger into spilling more about it after this.
"My sacrifice, willing as it is, would reset the seal, locking away the Kronics with my... superior life force, if I may say so myself." Daniel cast his eyes downward with false modesty, the smile slitting his face unchanging like a blade yet to be bloodied. "However... the seal creatures would get loose without... a second, just as willing sacrifice."
"And the seal creatures are bad, I guess," Max pushed his hands into his pockets, slouching over them defensively, "so someone would need to jump in with you."
Smile growing painfully wide, Daniel fixed Max with bright eyes as his posture screamed his eagerness, "I wouldn't say bad. Many of them simply have certain... dietary requirements society would find... unsettling, but they can't help that. It is mankind's stories that shape them, after all - not any will of their own."
Oh, joy. What the fuck did that mean? They were going to unleash fairy tale - or ghost story - characters all over the Sleepy Peak area? Max was tallying up the questions he'd put to the Quartermaster in his upcoming interrogation even as he kept a mistrustful eye on Daniel.
"Let me see if I've got this straight. The seal being reset means the seal creatures - whatever they are - get out," Max began counting the issues on his fingers irritably as he went, "they probably eat people if they do get out, which is, in fact, bad even if it's not as world-ending as the Kronics; it would take someone else doing a swan dive into Sleepy Peak Peak to stop this; and it's all our fault it's happening because human societies have more stories about human-eating monsters than about nice fairies. Is that about right?"
Daniel leaned back from the bars and his eyes creased merrily with his gentle smile, "Exactly."
"Nope," Max shook his head, compressing the uncomfortable feelings that list had brought up until he wouldn't notice them anymore. "I call bullshit; you just want to take me or David down with you."
"Ask your loremaster," Daniel shrugged easily. "I know you plan to."
Max stood, pausing until it was clear Daniel meant to let him go without making any attempts to convince him further or clarify any of the issues he'd raised.
At the door he looked back, "I will."
That had been... enlightening. He walked past David without a word and the man followed after a beat.
Max didn't expect David to ask how he was, or anything, not anymore.
He really didn't.
So it didn't hurt when David's first question was, "Did you get what we needed?"
Right, everyone else thought he was trying to pry Xeemuug information out of Daniel.
"Yeah," Max answered shortly, "and a little more. He's convinced Xeemuug wants him to stop the seal from breaking - which means sacrificing himself. Problem solved. Yay." His hands fluttered upward in mocking victory.
David stopped dead in his tracks. "What?"
Leaving David behind, Max kept walking.
At least until a hand gripped his arm, hard, and whipped him around. Blue-green eyes met his with a steely urgency, "Max. What did you promise? Daniel is dangerous -"
"Oh, come off it, David!" Max wrenched his arm free, ignoring the pain in favor of getting some distance. "Like you care! And in case you're still having some memory problems - I'm the only one who saw that in the first place! And look what happened when you wouldn't trust in me, then!" Before David could speak, Max had pivoted on his heel and stalked onward to his ultimate destination: the purification sauna and Neil's team of brainwashers.
"Change of plan," he announced upon entering the building, "Daniel's decided his death is the will of Xeemuug on his own. All we need to do is get him up the volcano and make sure he doesn't get cold feet."
"Oh, for fuck's sake-" Neil snapped, holding live wires in each hand as Nurf suspended him over a strange chair covered in straps and electrodes. When the collective gaze of the room landed on him for the comment, he coughed and gestured for Nurf to put him down. "I mean, good. Because I wasn't looking forward to compromising my ethics like that." He nudged a notebook labeled Mad Science Log One behind the chair with his foot.
"I'm glad I don't have to change my alignment," Nerris agreed reluctantly, allowing Harrison to finally take the Evil Sorceress Chic catalogue from her limp hands.
Gwen's reaction was more relieved. "Thank god," she tossed a thick stack of papers behind her, heedless of the mess. "Preston's first draft for convincing him was immense and Dolph's additions only made it- um-" On catching sight of Dolph's trembling lower lip, she amended hastily, "a little better than it was."
Nurf nodded ominously at her in approval as Dolph lit back up again.
"I, for one," Nikki put in, "am disappointed."
"No one is surprised," Harrison muttered, patting Nerris' shoulder as she mourned the fashion choices ripped from her grasp.
At this point, Gwen had moved on efficiently into planning the journey. "The sooner we can get moving, the sooner this nightmare ends. But we can't leave the kids undefended and we can't take them with us."
"If we hole them up in the dining hall with the Quartermaster- if you stay, too-" David started, getting drawn into the conversation by the mere mention of keeping the campers protected.
"No, we already know we can't trust you with Daniel," Gwen stuck a finger in his chest accusingly. "I haven't forgotten that whole 'I'll kill him' thing."
"Technically, keeping him safe on the way up the mountain would directly lead to his death," David pointed out, but his words were lost in the sudden rush of ideas coming from the campers.
"-special magic handcuffs-" Harrison was intoning at the same time as Nerris exclaimed, "- a spell of binding!"
Neil was tapping his pencil against his chin, "It's like that logic puzzle with the goat, the cabbage, and the wolf..." He cut himself off as Nikki punched his shoulder excitedly.
"Wolves! You're a genius, Neil!"
"Hmm, perhaps a small amount of sedative und a large number of chains..." Dolph thought aloud, and at Nurf's questioning look, elaborated, "For Daniel, of course."
"Right, just checking," Nurf shrugged.
Running a hand down his face, David waited for the chatter to stop.
And waited.
And...
Casually David rested his hand on the nearest shelf and ripped it off the wall, dropping the resultant debris to the floor with a clatter that ended in silence. He'd actually meant to just... slap it. But what works, works.
"Okay, enough . Let's try one at a time."
When there were no takers, David crossed his arms over his chest, feeling a little off kilter, "What?"
"David..." Gwen picked up one of the half-inch-thick bolts in awe, "You just tore four of these out of the wall." That... was true. He'd done that.
How he had done that was another question.
Stepping forward, Max peered at him with a scrutiny that made David shift, as if to dislodge the boy's gaze. Instead of pressing for answers or whatever he was figuring out, he turned back to the rest of the campers. "Yeah, so basically we can send David up with Daniel to keep him restrained, but we need someone else there who can keep him from murdering the guy early."
"Not it," Neil proclaimed nervously, stepping back and pulling Nikki with him. The show of strength didn't make him feel better about venturing out alone with a David that was upset.
"Yeah, you guys aren't a good idea, anyway," Max agreed, "And not Gwen, for the same reason as before."
Oh, no. This sounded very familiar. As in, happened-an-hour-ago familiar. Max was even making the same arguments now.
"You are not going up that mountain," David cut in, attempting to end the discussion before Max could once again manipulate it to that point.
"- you're not my dad, David; shut up -" Max replied without breaking stride in his debate, "-and Nurf, you wouldn't want to leave Dolph down here alone, right?"
"True," the bully conceded. "My friends should be priority in these trying times."
"Exactly," Max concluded triumphantly. "And that leaves..."
"You," Gwen sighed.
"I'll take Daniel alone-" David began, but the eerily synchronized glares from Max and Gwen cut him off.
A feminine hand gripped the front of his shirt and Gwen dragged him down to eye level. "Look, David. Someone's gotta go. I'll admit Daniel gets to me and the other campers aren't exactly social prodigies. The Quartermaster would wander off. It's the same damn problems. But think about it: Max is probably safer with you than anywhere else in camp. In fact, while you're gone, he might be safer than us. So go. Go fast and remember you could save our asses by getting this done." She dusted off his shoulders perfunctorily and stepped back, satisfied with her argument.
"I... I want to say I hate you but I can't." David wrapped himself in an unhappy self hug.
She put a hand on his head, "I know."
Preparations proceeded at pace. Harrison produced the handcuffs he'd mentioned and there was some debate as to whether to attach Daniel to David or not. That was put to an end when Max reappeared, looking pale, and pointed out the possibility of Daniel dragging David over the edge of the volcano with him.
Daniel was exaggeratedly disappointed when he was the solitary occupant of the handcuffs after that. Still, they had to go. David checked the traps around the dining hall and had to accept Max's silent help since he hadn't put them up himself before reluctantly hugging Gwen goodbye. Leaving the campers in someone else's hands.
Max could practically see David tearing himself apart, but that wasn't... He didn't want that anymore. Hadn't for a long while.
It was strange, standing at David's side and walking down to the docks when he wouldn't make eye contact. Wouldn't be the same, ever again.
"You're still pissed, huh?" Max murmured as they secured Daniel to the seat so David could row without worrying he'd jump ship.
A bitter laugh escaped David, but he didn't otherwise respond, tightening Daniel's bindings and eliciting a wince from the man.
Maybe it would be better to just get in the boat.
...
(Photo sourced from https://unsplash.com/@marv_o)