"Don't look so surprised. I may not have loved Medelyn, but I have grown quite fond of Heturain," Tennex explained after informing Hatch and Teqiyen that he was indeed going to join them.
"You're not coming with us," Hatch decided, but his voice broke. He still wasn't used to hearing Medelyn referred to in the past tense. The sentence seemed to have a similar effect on Teqiyen, who sat himself on top of the table in the middle of the room. His face disappeared behind his dark locks.
"Why not? Because I'm an Adechi?" Tennex asked sternly. "Because you need the particular set of skills that only warlocks have," Hatch explained.
"Oh come on, we're not so different!" Tennex practically yelled, taking a step towards Hatch, who was now putting protective shields on Teqiyen by swiping a finger over his body in an intricate pattern.
"If your brother says you're not coming, you are in fact not coming," Teqiyen growled.
Tennex tilted his head, shocked over Teqiyen's sudden rudeness, before he remember that he had quite recently lost the love of his life.
Tennex calmed himself. He tried to mimic Rain. What would Rain have done? He would have been calm and obliged to the criteria set forth if it came as the result of a democratic process. In this case it was two against one.
"Right then," Tennex said, his head still held high. "Should I lend all my powers to one of you? Or half to each?" He asked.
Hatch looked at him with his big brown eyes, compassion clearly shining through them. "You've certainly matured," Hatch whispered under his breath. He could hardly recognize the man standing in front of him.
Tennex shifted his weight from one leg to another, awaiting a response to his question.
"You can give it all to Teqiyen, I believe the powers should be focused. If Teqiyen doesn't mind, I thought he could take care of the curse and I could take care of him," Hatch concluded.
Teqiyen looked skeptical for a few seconds before he nodded, turned around and started putting protective shields on Hatch as well.
"Thank you," Hatch whispered.
Tennex walked over to Teqiyen and put a hand on his shoulder, he let the power in his aura flow into Teqiyen, before he retreated back to the corner of the room.
When they were both done and ready, Teqiyen strode over to Tennex and kissed his forehead.
"Your master would be proud," Teqiyen claimed while nodding to himself, towering over Tennex, with one hand on each of the Adechis shoulders.
"I'm sure he will be when the shock wears off," Tennex responded. "By the way, I have an idea for the curse. If you haven't decided on one already," Tennex suddenly remembered.
Hatch made eye contact with Teqiyen, and Tennex knew they were communicating in a closed conversation.
Teqiyen looked at Tennex again. "Sure, kid. Fire away."
*
"My lord, are you alright?" Damahk asked with a swift bow. Kithalyuh screamed. "You imbecile! You think I'm alright? I'm blind! I'm blind!" He shrieked. Damahk jumped, frightened by the madness of his master.
"My sincerest apologies, my liege." Damahk muttered, falling to his knees and bowing his head. He had failed his most important mission, to protect his protector.
For some reason, the fact that Kithalyuh's curse was partly his fault, pained him to know.
Kithalyuh paused the time.
Damahk froze and Kithlayuh spent a few minutes attempting to somewhat calm down. When he finally allowed the clock to continue ticking, he stepped forward and fell to his knees in front of Damahk. Damahk didn't have to look up to tell that Kithlayuh was sobbing.
"I can't see man-made material," Kithlayuh whimpered. "I can see shapes and contours, feelings, thoughts and warmth. But I can't see human made material," he muttered.
Damahk looked up. "We can fix it," Damahk stated, determined to find a solution.
"Oh but we can't, we mustn't fix it - at all costs." Kithalyuh whispered sadly.
Damahk looked at him shocked. Kithlayuh locked eyes with him and Damahk noticed a flash of madness that he had never seen before.
Kithalyuh lifted a hand to Damahk's hair, the sensitive part located at the back of his neck. He pulled Damahk closer.
"We have to let it be," Kithalyuh whispered in such a tone that Damahk was nearly too frightened to ask what the condition for the curse was. Nearly.
"Why?" Damahk questioned, nonetheless. His voice was barely audible, as he was afraid to overstep.
"Because I will never allow my daughter to love a warlock."
*
Teqiyen flipped the hourglass and peaked up at Hatch with a crooked smile and rosy cheeks.
"Okay so what if the first person to eat a poisonous berry was just allergic and the rest of us are seriously missing out on a pretty darned good berry!" Teqiyen exclaimed.
Hatch looked at him and blinked a few times, but he did not laugh.
Teqiyen tilted his head and raised an eyebrow, determined he was going to win this round.
He could tell that Hatch was about to lose it. Tipsy as he was, it was a miracle from his side that he hadn't given in already. Teqiyen knew he had to say something just about stupid enough to appeal to his companions' ridiculous humor.
He looked down at the hourglass, which only lasted 30 seconds, and realized that he had to hurry up if he wanted to win.
Teqiyen muttered "why is it called an hourglass when it's only 30 seconds long..." and scratched the back of his head.
He sighed in relief as Hatch burst out in laughter.
Teqiyen of course thought it was because he had hit the jackpot, but Hatch didn't find his stupid comment funny at all.
Hatch admired his friends face as it lit up when Teqiyen thought he had succeeded in making Hatch laugh, and he once again came to the conclusion that he didn't regret continuously losing as long as he could see Teqiyens face light up like that.
"Hatch, you suck!" Teqiyen chuckled and poured him another shot.
Hatch smiled sheepishly and shrugged "I totally don't suck. You of all people should know that" he grinned and Teqiyen patted his back.
"You would have, if you could have," Teqiyen stammered arrogantly.
"Woho buddy, I wouldn't be so sure," Hatch replied and flipped his cup in the air, perfectly positioning his mouth under the flowing liquid.
"Oh yea?" Teqiyen asked in a cocky tone as he pulled his head backwards and pinched his eyes closed as if a fly had flown in front of his face.
Hatch had to make an effort not to smile because of the ridiculousness of drunk-Teqiyen.
"Yea," Hatch countered.
They stared deeply into each other's eyes for about a minute before Teqiyen broke the silence. "Wait what were we talking about again?" Teqiyen chuckled and Hatch chuckled along with him "How I could totally get you laid if I wanted to" Hatch hiccuped.
Teqiyen looked at him with disbelief. "I think I misunderstood something there," he mumbled and Hatch hiccuped again.
Teqiyen blinked and it looked as if he woke up from a deep sleep. He pointed towards the door "I got some stuff for that in my bedside cabinet. I don't think I can walk steady enough to get there so you're gonna have to go get it. Remember I can't-" Teqiyen started but Hatch interrupted him "Teleport when you're drunk".
So Hatch left the room and stumbled through the hallways while humming to an old song. Later he would think back and wonder why he hadn't walked just a little bit faster and gotten back to Teqiyen just a few moments earlier. So many things could have been prevented by so many small movements and corrections.
Fate was like a sticky cobweb in so many ways. All those small threads wound together looked like a masterpiece from afar, but in every cobweb, there was bound to be a blood sucking spider. And that day Teqiyen, once again, met the worst of them.
So many lives could have been spared and hearts could have been whole if Hatch had walked just a bit faster, or simply not left at all. But he came back when he did. Simply too late.
When he entered the room, he could feel a presence as cold and ruthless as frostbite and even deadlier still. The hair on his arms rose and the scene he walked into - Hatch was just so unprepared for it all.
The moment he stepped into the room he was frozen. He couldn't speak, move or see anything or anyone.
"Teqiyen! You are bound to relentlessly love my daughter, Tawária, until the end of your reincarnations. You shall be deprived of all positive emotions and senses until her love for you is equal to your love for her!"
Hatch instantly recognized the voice as Kithalyuh's, the man who had brutally murdered Medelyn and cursed Heturain to be blind.
Hatch thought that they were equal, seeing as he and Teqiyen had cursed Kithalyuh to be blind until his daughter, Tawária, loved Teqiyen.
Hatch and Teqiyen cursed Kithalyuh as revenge for the cold-blooded murder on their warlock leader with the crimson hair - but clearly, Kithalyuh had not been particularly content with that outcome.
Kithalyuh had now arranged so that both curses would be broken at the same time: the moment Tawária loved Teqiyen.
The light suddenly came back into the room and their knuckles were no longer frozen.
Hatch saw Teqiyen in a corner of the room. He was harshly beaten, bruised and was trembling uncontrollably.
Hatch hurried over to him, sat down, gently pulled him into his embrace and held him in his arms until his tears stopped flowing.
"We can fix this. I mean who wouldn't fall for you?" Hatch tried to comfort him, but Teqiyen pulled himself out of his embrace.
"She's his daughter! Tawária is the daughter of my worst enemy! I'd rather die than love a relative of Kithalyuh!" Teqiyen exclaimed and rose to his feet.
"Fix this Hatch!" Teqiyen growled "You're the fucking smart one! Fix it!" He screamed and Hatch hesitantly got up and stepped backwards, totally unprepared for this whole situation.
Ever since Tennex had been forced to leave, Kyu had disappeared and Medelyn had died.
It had been the two of them; Hatch and Teqiyen. They had lived together alone for a considerable amount of years, but when Hatch tried to remember the last time Teqiyen had raised his voice, or the last time he had cursed, or the last time he had been angry at Hatch, he simply couldn't.
Hatch couldn't ponder a way out of it either, no matter how long and hard he thought. Hatch had to helplessly watch as Teqiyen slipped into darkness, growing more and more distant for every passing day.
Hatch vowed he wouldn't ever give up on trying to break the curse. He would be funnier than ever. He would be more stupid and silly than ever before - in an attempt to give Teqiyen back his stolen positive emotions - and he would definitely find Tawária and somehow find a way out of this mess.
He could do it. After all he was the fucking smart one.
And Teqiyen needed him now more than ever.