#wvype

EPILOGUE

Ryan yawns and stares at the job description, blinking rapidly to try and clear his vision. He has three discarded newspapers and two cans of coke in front of him. Job hunting is a dreary and laborious process on the best of days, but if he has to spend another day staring at little numbers in a table any longer, he swears to whatever god is listening that he'll go insane, and he's only partially kidding.

The sense of urgency and obligation that pounds at the back of his eyeballs grows stronger. He grimaces and takes a small break to knead the heel of his palms into his eyes. It's only been getting worse. Not to the point of a full migraine yet, but definitely making its way up there. 

Maybe he's having a midlife crisis. Maybe he's just plain tired of being a glorified spreadsheet. Maybe he actually is going crazy, like his friends have always said. Ever since he woke up from a nightmare a few weeks ago, he'd been going through life feeling as if something was just plain wrong. Like there was something missing. A lot of somethings.

Maybe once he removes one source of tension it'll go away. All he has to do is find another job quick, then the stress will go away. Maybe then the headaches will give him a break, and he'll be better and he'll stop feeling like he's broken so many promises he can't remember making. 

The problem is this: he has found absolutely jack shit. Zilch. Nada. Nothing at all.

The newspapers are a bust. A few friends had called him and they had nothing enticing either. He even went to a few of the smaller shops he liked to frequent, including a small independent bookstore just down the street, but they had no openings.

And so now, here he is, turning to the internet. Talk about scraping the bottom of the barrel.

If Gavin was completely honest with himself, things weren’t going entirely to plan. In fact things weren’t going well at all. If he took current stock of the situation he had to realise that a) he was in fact falling to his death b) the others were nowhere to be seen and c) this was kind of, almost entirely his own fault.

But really he was inclined to blame Ryan. Stupid Ryan.

*

Three months earlier

“Dude have you ever thought that maybe your obsession with beating Mogar and the Mad King, is getting slightly… pathological?” Ray said mildly as he watched Gavin pour over the latest plans for some ridiculously complicated stunt involving a helicopter, which they didn’t have, a harpoon which for some reason they did and Jack’s latest gadget, a freeze ray that, despite its name actually stopped time. It had a few bugs apparently which meant that currently it only slowed time down in a couple metres radius around the user. Still, Gavin was kind of into it. Of course.

“It’s that King” Gavin muttered feverishly. “Him with his superior powers, his do-good attitude and those perfectly muscled arms.”

There was a slightly pregnant pause. “What?” Ray demanded.

“I mean what?” Gavin spluttered. “I meant um his… cheating. That he does. He cheats. All those loopholes.”

Ray peered at him suspiciously. “I think you need to get some more sleep.”

“Yeah” Gavin said gratefully. “That’s probably it.”

“But I’m serious” Ray said. “I mean we never win. Austin has two superheroes that are pretty determined to protect it. Maybe we should just throw in the whole evil villain thing all together. Or start anew in another city which isn’t protected by a hothead and a psychopath.”

Gavin made a small non-committal sound but otherwise didn’t answer.

“I mean,” Ray pressed on determinedly. “Arguably the only thing we’re good at is running away. I hate to think what the King would do if we actually caught us.” He shuddered.

“Well don’t worry about that” Gavin said. “Because I think I’ve finally found some leverage on our dear superheroes.”

He reached for his laptop and tapped a few keys so that the massive screens that took up one wall blazed into life. Several pictures of a pretty red headed women appeared on screen.

“Lindsay Jones” Ray read. “Who’s she?”

“She’s someone that Mogar wouldn’t want to lose, let’s put it that way. And as Mogar and the King are partners, I’m pretty sure both of them would do whatever they could to protect her.”

“So… what are you suggesting?” Ray asked. He had a sudden punch of foreboding to his gut. He and Gavin caused mischief, sure. Millions of dollars’ worth of damage to the city too, on occasion. Usually accidentally. But this. This was in a whole different ballpark.

 “We find Mrs Jones. And we lay a trap. Then we wait.”

“Kidnap, Gav?” Ray asked anxiously. “Not really our style.”

“No” Gavin admitted and Ray was slightly comforted to see that Gavin at least looked uneasy about it. “But if we pull this off then we never have to worry about those pesky superheroes again. Trust me. It will be worth it.”

*

Michael was having a bad day. People didn’t realise that there were downsides to super powers but really if he accidentally pulled the doors off any more cars people were going to start getting suspicious. Not least the guy that sold him the car and couldn’t understand why he kept bringing it in for the exact same fairly unexplainable issue.

So when his phone blared with Ryan’s special ring he just knew it was going to be some bullshit.

“What?” he snapped, car door still in his free hand.

“X-Ray and Vav have got Lindsay” Ryan said without preamble. Michael froze, his hand tightening so much that the door handle crushed in his grip.

“What?” he breathed.

“Don’t worry” Ryan said. “I’ve already tracked them. One of the old abandoned warehouses by the river.”

“I’ll be there” Michael said and hung up. He rubbed a tired hand over his eyes. X-Ray and Vav really were the absolute worst.

*

“Testing… is this thing on?” Gavin peered into the camera mounted precariously on a pile of old crates. Behind him Lindsay shifted uncomfortably, crudely duct taped to a seat. There had been a lengthy debate about whose responsibility it had been to bring the rope.

“Vav? Is that you? I assume you’re behind this.”

There was a flicker and then the King’s face blazed into life on their monitors, blinking disapprovingly down at them, complete with crooked crown perched on his head.  

“Ah the Mad King, just the man I wanted to talk too” Gavin said, leaning casually back in his swivel chair with his hands behind his head. Ray rolled his eyes.

“Hola, your Kingship. I’m here too. Just in case… you know it mattered.”

“X-Ray” the King nodded curtly before swinging his attention back to Gavin. “What do you want, Vav? You are aware of course that I know exactly where you are.”

“Aw King. You’re all business. You never have time for chit chat anymore.”

“Maybe if you weren’t so extremely predictable” the King said.

“How dare you?” Gavin said, outraged. “We’ve never kidnapped anyone before. I thought that was proper clever.”

“You left a trail of destruction in your wake that meant a five year old could follow you. As usual.”

“Yeah well” Gavin muttered. “The helicopter was a little harder to control than I first realised.”

“And the harpoon?”

“Insurance.”

“You shot it through a billboard!”

“It was in my way!”

The King sighed. “Look let’s get down to business. I assume you want something or you wouldn’t have taken Lindsay.”

“Maybe I just want your attention” Gavin smiled coyly. “You never call anymore. You’re so grouchy all the time. I mean I really think we got off on the wrong foot.”

“The wrong foot of you trying to kill me?” the King asked. “Because yeah that did bum me out a little bit.”

“Misunderstanding” Gavin said airily. “It’s in the past.”

“You tried to drop a piano on me” Ryan pointed out.

“I just wanted to know if that would actually work. It was all for science, King. You can appreciate that, right? And besides, you were fine.”

“I’m not sure why your ‘science experiments’ always have to result in massive damage and injury.”

“Maybe I just need someone to tame my wild ways” Gavin sighed wistfully. Ray rolled his eyes so hard he was surprised he didn’t strain something.

“What you need is a good kicking” the King said stoutly. “And I’m gonna give it to you.”

“I love it when you talk dirty.”

“Guys, please!” It was Lindsay that had spoken. “When you’re done flirting with each other can we get back to the issue at hand? I.e. my rescue?” X-Ray and Vav were notoriously awful at everything they actually attempted to do so Lindsay wasn’t actually unduly worried. But her butt was kind of going numb. Time to speed things along.

The King had the decency to look a little ashamed. “You’re right, Lindsay. I apologise. Alright Vav, what do you want?”

“I don’t want anything. If you know where we are, why don’t you just come and rescue her?”

“Yes because that quite obviously isn’t a trap, is it?” the King.

“King” Gavin feigned hurt. “You wound me. But yes you are correct. But as it happens we will kill her if you don’t turn up soon so… it’s your choice really. Mogar really would be most upset if you let that happen, I’m sure.”

Gavin slammed a button and a lazer blazed into life, the red point of it starting at Lindsay’s feet but, even as they watched, raising slowly up towards her face. “Clock’s ticking, King” Gavin said and killed the connection.

“Umm” Ray said, peering at the contraption. “This is in fact a lazer pointer” he said. “It’s just a light.”

“Yeah” Gavin agreed. “I don’t want to hurt her. I’m not some kind of barbarian, X-Ray. Please.”

“Huh” Ray said and glanced at Lindsay who was looking a lot calmer now she knew that the worst could happen was getting a light shone in her eyes. “So now what?”

“Now… we wait.”

The words were no sooner out of Gavin’s mouth when the wall shuddered violently as something smashed against it.

“Wow that didn’t take him long” Ray commented.

“Noble people are so predictable” Gavin said. “And he had the audacity to call us predictable. Did you hear that shit?”

“Yeah but um… maybe focus?”

“Oh right. The King’s coming.” Gavin paused. “Shit the King’s coming!”

“Please tell me you have a plan?” Ray demanded.

“I have half a plan.”

“Half?”

“More like twenty percent” Gavin admitted.

“Twenty percent?” Ray yelled. “That’s barely a concept!”

“Yes well to be honest, Ray, I didn’t think we’d get this far.”

“Yeah I sort of thought that when you crashed the helicopter into the apartment building.”

CRASH

All three of them jumped as a sizeable hole appeared in the concrete. Gavin shrieked and jumped into Ray’s arms. Ray dropped him. 

“Dude, grab this” Ray said pressing Jack’s latest invention into Gavin’s hand. “Do things.”

“You’re the one with super powers” Gavin whispered.

“I’m not sure how x-ray vision is really going to help us here. And you should have thought about that before you took point on this ridiculous suicide mission” Ray snapped. But he softened slightly at the look on Gavin’s face and glared at the wall, using his vision to look through it.

“Jesus Christ, he’s got a JCB.”

“Ah I did wonder how he was doing that.” 

The King’s true powers were largely secret though it was well known that he had an uncanny gift with animals. But Mogar had always been the muscle on their team, which is quite possibly why Ray and Gavin always lost. They had nothing resembling muscle. Ray was quick, and calculated, with a good aim and a stubborn attitude but it was no match for Mogar’s brute force. And Gavin. Well. He didn’t have any real powers to speak of. He heavily relied on the gadgets that Jack made for them which invariably went wrong. Ray couldn’t help but blame the user more than the maker.

“Shit here he comes” Gavin said as the King appeared, silhouetted in the hole he had created. Dressed as he always was in kilt, long socks and black blazer, he should have looked ridiculous. Instead he always managed to pull it off with a certain amount of panache in Gavin’s opinion.

“Ah, Mad King” Gavin said, his voice only shaking a little bit. “How nice of you to join us.”

“This is a lazer pointer” the King snarled, gesturing at Lindsay.

“Fooled you!” Gavin said with a shrug and a sheepish grin.

The King full on growled and Gavin took half a step back, only to be shoved forward by Ray. It was odd really. Mogar was nowhere to be seen and he was the one who had kicked both their heads in on more than one occasion. The King usually did little more that stand back and watch. But there was something sinister about him that had earned him the nickname Mad King even by those he had vowed to protect. Something that suggested he was a lot more dangerous than Mogar if he wanted to be.

The King charged forward and both Ray and Gavin dived to either side and then ran for it, deeper into the warehouse. Gavin pressed the communicator on his wrist.

“Code: Release the robots” he muttered.

“You know,” Rays said conversationally, “the point of a code…”

“Just do it, Ray!”

“Autobots, roll!” Ray yelled and a dozen small flying robots swarmed into the air. They were another of Jack’s concepts. They were small and strong and good for basic tasks but weren’t really designed for warfare despite the nickname.

“Attack!” Gavin tried hopefully, gesturing towards the King who was hot on his heels. One of the robots zoomed towards the King, crashed into his crown and pinged off with a hopeless bleep.

“Gary, noo!” Gavin yelled.

“Code: time for Plan B” Ray yelled desperately. “Come on, Vav!”

“OK OK” Gavin said. He swung around, pointing the freeze ray at the King’s chest. “Take this.”

Gavin pulled the trigger and several things happened at once.

The jet of orange that spurted from the gun hit the King square in the ribs, making him stagger. Mogar crashed into the building, through a different wall incidentally. Gavin was thrown backwards by the force of the shot and was sent sprawling. Time seemed to slow for one short second, as the gun was supposed to do but then righted itself very quickly. And in that split second, the King vanished.

Mogar ran to his wife’s side, ripping off the tape with his bare hands. “Are you hurt?” he asked.

“No, I’m fine. But Ryan…”

“I know, I saw.” He rounded on Ray who was closer. “What have you done with him, you bastards?”

“I…” Ray stammered. “I honestly have no idea. Vav?”

Gavin shrugged helplessly, examining the spot where Ryan had stood. “Jack’s gadgets. They can…”

“They can what?” Mogar demanded.

“I mean…” Gavin looked like he was about to throw up. “They can go wrong… sometimes. There have been cases…”He paused again, looking agonized.

“Just fucking tell me” Mogar roared.

“There have been cases of complete disintegration.”

Mogar who looked like he had been about to burst a blood vessel, paled so suddenly that Gavin was sure he was going to faint. “You… you killed him?”

“We killed him?” Ray echoed. He too glanced to where Ryan had once been. “We won?”

“We won” Gavin whispered. “Mogar… this wasn’t really our intention. I…”

“Bullshit!” Michael exploded. “You’ve been after Ryan since the start. You couldn’t be content to just stick to small town crime like the rest of ‘em. You wreak a trail of havoc wherever you fucking go. You really are the worst supervillains I’ve ever heard of.”

“Ah” Gavin said weakly. “But you have heard of us.”

Mogar seemed to swell with rage. And continued swelling. And then Gavin realised. He was shifting into bear form. Gavin had a distinct feeling his face was about to be ripped off.

It was unpleasant to watch really. Flesh stretching, reknitting and covering itself in fur, face elongating and teeth sprouting until a great grizzly stood before them. Gavin braced himself for the attack, with half a mind to just use the freeze ray again. But Mogar just bellowed mournfully, the sad cry of the bear somehow worse than any sound he could have made as a man. Then he lowered his haunches so Lindsay could climb aboard and took off, great strides eating up the length of the warehouse in mere seconds.

“Holy fuck” Ray said. “I thought we were bear food. I’ve never seen him shift before. Have you?”

“No” Gavin said weakly.

“But holy shit dude, we won! Super epic fist bump?” He held out a fist and Gavin tapped his own against it but only half-heartedly.

Ray peered at him. “What’s up? Your grand nemesis brought to justice. I thought you’d be crowing.”

“Ryan” Gavin said slowly as if trying the name on his tongue. “Ryan was what made all this worth doing.”

“Nah, man. Austin is ours! Mogar is nothing without his King. Trust me, this is a good thing. You’ll see!”

*

Ray was right about one thing. Mogar went completely underground after the attack. And once news got out about the Mad King’s demise the whole city went into mourning for the pair of them. The Mad King had been a feared but respected figure and Mogar had been much loved when people realised that his rage was mostly a front and he was actually just a great big teddy bear.

The city was ripe for the plucking. But really the whole fun had been in the game and if they were really honest they had no idea what to do with the city now that it was theirs.

“Um… go about your daily business” Ray commanded in what he hoped was a sinister tone, when the press asked what their intentions were. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

“What are our intentions?” he asked Gavin later that day. Gavin just shrugged.

“Do some science?” he suggested weakly.

That was how all this had started. A bunch of wild science experiments gone wrong, earning them their reputation as the “bad guys”. If Gavin was really honest, it was mostly his doing. Ray had been pretty content to spend as little time outdoors as possible. But Gavin had been missing Dan so Ray had agreed to hang out with him for a bit. He possibly didn’t realise that hanging out with Gavin usually included explosions.

Gavin had a certain knack for pyrotechnics and more than once he and Ray had tested this ability to its limits, half certain that Gavin did have one of the more milder forms of super power. But the tests had proved nothing except their propensity to stand too close to fire bombs.

It had also caught the notice of the official city superheroes both of whom Gavin and Ray had been pretty keen to avoid. They started masking and cloaking up when then conducted their experiments, hoping to keep them off their back for a bit longer.

One day when they were messing about in a junk yard, the resulting explosion had started a fire than had raged quickly out of control. Gavin and Ray had just scrambled to the top of a huge mound of junk when the King had arrived astride a giant bear.

“Shit!” Ray shouted. “They’ve tracked us down.”

“Yeah.” Gavin agreed. “It probably wasn’t hard.”

“What are we going to do?”

Gavin scanned the immediate area and noticed an old piano on the edge of their junk pile. “Something very stupid.”

Ray followed his gaze. “Are you crazy? That only works in cartoons!”

“Only one way find out” Gavin said. “Help me.”

They both put their shoulders in, shoving the piano to the side nearest the two heroes who were closing in with some speed, despite the uneven and dangerous terrain.

“OK” Ray breathed, looking doubtful. “On three. One… two…”

“Three!” Gavin shouted, shoving hard. In the second that the piano, teetered and then started to slide, he actually glanced down and caught the King’s piercing gaze. His breath caught oddly for a minute that had nothing to do with the smoke that was being pumped into the sky by the fire. This King dude was actually seriously good-looking.

Gavin sort of regretted chucking a piano at him now but it turned out not to matter because the piano, whilst tumbling down the pile at some speed, was apparently no match for an angry bear. Mogar reared up as the piano approached and batted it away with one huge paw.

“We’re fucked” Ray said. “I’m going to die. We’re going to die.”

“You always say that” Gavin said, though he was feeling a little panicky himself. “Goddammit Ray, why can’t you have a power that’s actually useful?”

“Well I’m sorry, I’m sure.” Ray said tartly. “Clearly I was back of the queue when God was handing out superpowers. Oh wait, sorry that was you.”

“I think we should probably be running” Gavin realised as Mogar seemed to have caught his stride. They took off down the other side of the pile, almost tumbling over in their haste.

“I’m just saying” Gavin panted, unable to drop the argument. “That a bit of lazer vision or even flight would not come amiss right now.”

“If I could fly would makes you think that I would be able to lift you too? I mean Gav, please.”

“Like even if your rays could also melt stuff or something. But no. They just give people radiation poisoning. Really really slowly.”

There was a crash behind them and a roar. Gavin chanced a glance back. An old rusted crane had fallen directly into the superheroes’ path, causing Mogar to stagger backwards.

“Leave them!” the King yelled. “We have to get this fire under control.”

“Leg it” Gavin advised.

The two took off again, sliding along in the slurry of garbage. A few twists and turns finally found them tumbling up and over the chain link fence into an alleyway. Luckily their landing was broken somewhat by some cardboard boxes and, in Gavin’s case, Ray.

“Get off me” Ray grouched, shoving Gavin hard. The both lay on their backs for a second catching their breath. “We were lucky” Ray said after a while. “I think we should keep our heads down for a while. I mean if we haven’t forced your powers to show themselves by now, you probably don’t have them. Sorry, man.”

Gavin thought of Ryan’s blazing eyes. He had to see him again. “I know I have powers, Ray. I can feel it in my balls! We can’t give up now.”

“You really want to take on a bear and a madman?” Ray said incredulously.

“He’s not a madman” Gavin said reasonably. “I mean he’s the good guy. Technically.”

“Maybe” Ray said. “There’s something about him I don’t trust.”

“It will be alright, Ray” Gavin said with confidence that he didn’t feel. “Trust me.”

*

Gavin had never though that that promise would actually come true. He never thought for one moment that they’d actually be able to beat Mogar and the Mad King. It had just been a game really. And now it was Game Over.

But life went on. The whole city acted like they were all under some tyrannical reign, especially the press which called for a hero from a neighbouring city to come and “free” them. But really Gavin and Ray wouldn’t know how to run a tyrannical dictatorship any more than they knew how to dance the can-can. So the city went on in much the same way as it had before. They left the government in charge after giving them a hard stare and warning them not to “fuck everything up” but largely they just stayed out of it.

They were just two twenty-something nerds whose main priorities in life were still food and getting laid. They didn’t have time for a dictatorship. Which was why it was probably a surprise to everyone when there was an uprising.

The giant, twenty five foot robot marched into the square in front of city hall one Tuesday morning with all the subtlety of a freight train. It was pretty hard to miss, a huge circular metal shell with spider like limbs that gave it a creeping gait. X-Ray and Vav were summoned as apparent caretakers of the city but the reality was that they were two idiots with nothing but x-ray vision and some pipe bombs between them. So when the robot mechanically screeched, “This city is mine now,” the two villains could do little more than exchange a nervous glance and say, “Um… strongly disagree?”

“Listen here…” Gavin hesitated.

“You may call me Grif” the robot intoned.

“Grif? That’s a bit shit.”

“When you are enclosed in a giant robot suit, you have no need for fruity hero names” the robot said as dismissively as a mechanical voice could.

“Wait” Ray muttered. He focussed his gaze in the main body of the robot. “There’s a dude in there.”

“Not so artificial intelligence” Gavin muttered. That was bad. Robots could be fooled. You just had to find the flaws in their programming. On the other hand there was always capacity for human error. That could be worthy of exploitation.

“Listen here, Grif. I don’t know if you’ve heard but we were responsible for the death of the Mad King. You don’t want to mess with us.”

“You were lucky” Grif grated.

“Shit he’s on to us” Ray muttered. Gavin shoved him.

“No, honestly” he insisted. “We’re proper ninja. You don’t want to mess with us. My friend here has some sick arse powers. And I… I look good in a cape.”

“Pulling up data on X-Ray and Vav” Grif said. “X-Ray. Power: X-Ray vision. Vav. Power: Data not found. Excuse me if I am not trembling with fear. In fact you removed the only factors that were keeping this city safe. I should thank you for that. But I won’t.”

The robot reached out with surprising suddenness enclosing Ray in one iron claw.

“Dude, what the hell!?” Ray yelled, struggling wildly.

“Ray!” Gavin shouted. He pulled the freeze-ray from the holster strapped over his back. He shot it immediately, aiming for the robot’s underbelly. The orange beam rebounded, hitting a nearby fire hydrant which exploded in slow motion. 

“You let go of him right now!” Gavin yelled like he was talking to a naughty dog.

“Affirmative” Grif said and released him. Unfortunately by this point he had already lifted Ray up to his full height and was dropping him from twenty feet in the air onto solid concrete.

Gavin reacted instinctively, shooting the freeze-ray directly at Ray. He has no idea if this would work. The freeze-ray was still prone to odd fuck ups though Jack had assured them that he had worked out a lot of the kinks. But it was the only option open to him.

For one second Ray froze in mid-air and then began to fall again, but slowly so he gently tapped down onto the paving slabs. Grif moved forward, clearly intent on crushing them both.

“Woah. Just woah, OK?” Gavin shouted. Mogar and the Mad King had never seriously tried to damage them. No matter what. But this Grif character was clearly a very different beast. “Calm the fuck down.”

“Run lads” Grif called. “And watch your city burn.”

In fairness they had watched the city burn many times because of their own actions. But they heeded the warning and took off, Ray still moving oddly as he fought the after effects of the slow mo.

“What are we going to do now?” Ray asked as they ran.

Gavin just shook his head hopelessly.

“I suppose there’s only one thing we can do.”

*

Mogar looked very different out of costume. He was all curls, with glasses and a nerdy t-shirt and honest to God freckles. He was nearly adorable and Gavin was almost disappointed.

“Mogar?” he asked when the man opened the door to the apartment.

Mogar frowned at them.

“I no longer go by that name. It’s just Michael now.”

“Well ‘Just Michael’, we need your help.”

Michael peered at them suspiciously. And then the penny dropped. “Oh my God. You’re those dumb kids. X-Ray and Vav.”

“Not so dumb that we couldn’t beat you” Ray muttered petulantly. “And we’re the same age.”

“Ray, please” Gavin said. “Although he does have a point,” he added to Michael.

Michael glared.

“OK listen. I’m Gavin and this is Ray. No doubt you’ve noticed the giant robot destroying the city?”

Michael scratched his chin idly. “Might have seen something about it on the news, yeah.”

“We can’t fight that thing ourselves. We need your help.”

Michael shrugged. “Why do you want to stop him? I thought you were all about the burning and destroying of public property?”

“Only a little bit” Gavin said.

“Look, dude, this guy is seriously depraved” Ray said. “He makes us look like children. And we are really. We never really intended any harm, we just wanted to do our own thing. And then it kind of just became a game. We were dumb, yes. But this guy is malicious.”

“And we really are sorry about Ryan” Gavin added. “I wish he was here now.”

Something odd passed over Michael’s face. “I don’t really do the hero thing anymore” he said.

“We noticed” Ray said and Gavin nodded. “But why? You were always the strong one of the team. You don’t really need Ryan, do you?”

“I think you better come in” Michael said abruptly.

It wasn’t until they were all sat down in Michael’s surprisingly cosy lounge, that he explained.

“Ryan has his own powers. Some weird thing with animals. He just has a knack with them. But he’s also a catalyst.”

“Oh” Ray breathed.

Gavin was blank. “What’s a catalyst in this context?”

“Ryan brings out the powers of those who have very little control over them. Sometimes a lot. I always have my super strength. But without Ryan in close proximity, I can’t phase into bear form. He acts as the catalyst.”

“But that can’t be true” Gavin frowned. “Because you phased the day that Ryan died. Right in front of us.”

“Yeah…” Michael said. “There’s something else.”

*

It was a long drive out of town and Gavin was half concerned that Michael was just driving them out into the middle of nowhere so he could kill them without witnesses. But maybe that was just the paranoia talking.

Even so he and Ray had brought back up in the form of Jack. He had always half-heartedly supported their endeavours in exchange for them testing his gadgets for him.

“Need to make sure they’re fool proof” he always said and chuckled to himself. But Jack was just a good guy really and Gavin felt bad that he had got swept up in this. The only reason he knew them was because he supported young people who were trying to discover their powers which is what Gavin had been when he had arrived in Austin. And now he was in the middle of a giant robot shaped mess.

“Okay, we’re here” Michael muttered, pulling up outside a stone farmhouse and killing the engine. Gavin hopped out the van and could swear that even from this distance he could feel the earth shudder under foot where buildings were being levelled in the city.

“Hurry” he muttered.

Michael led the way up the path to the front door. Gavin was still convinced this was some huge wind up. Ryan couldn’t be alive. Couldn’t be living in some random farm south of the city. Not when he had relived his disappearance night after night. Not when he’d had nightmares about the light in those bright blue eyes just winking out.

But when a broad man with perfectly muscled arms opened the door, he knew it was true after all.

“Ryan” Michael greeted him with a friendly shoulder pat.

“Ryan” Gavin whispered and before he was really aware what he was doing he had rushed forward and thrown his arms around him, pulling him into a crushing embrace. “You stupid bastard. I thought you were dead. You have a lot of explaining to do.”

“Umm…” Ryan gently pushed him back, only to hold him at arm’s length to have a good look at him. “No way.” He glanced at Michael and then back to Gavin. “Vav?”

“Hey” Ray said. “X-Ray is here too. You know. In case it matters.”

Ryan glanced at him for a second but then his eyes zoned back in on Gavin. And to everyone’s surprise he pulled him back into the hug. “I’ve missed you, you annoying asshole.”

Gavin just laughed.

*

Once all the proper introductions were out the way and they were all seated around Ryan’s dining table (which he had to shoo a chicken off of) Gavin asked the question that he Ray and Jack were all burning to know the answer too.

“So… how did you do it?”

“Well” Ryan turned to Jack. “Actually your gun worked. Just in reverse. Everything froze around me. At least I thought it had. Turned out it was just moving really really slowly. But I’m going to be honest. I had been thinking of leaving the superhero game for a while. But it’s not something you can just walk away from. Being a hero. People need you. Rely on you. I knew that if I went it would have to look like an accident. And suddenly there was this perfect opportunity presenting itself.

“So I did it. I just walked away. Time was moving so slowly that I simply walked out of there and I knew you would see nothing more than a flash of movement. If that. I came here and started this farm. Me and animals have always had a certain understanding.”

“You just walked away?” Jack asked, finding it hard to hide the disgust in his voice. “But the city needed you.”

“The city never really needed us” Ryan said mildly. “There two were idiots sure but they weren’t truly dangerous. The only reason we engaged with them so much was because we found it entertaining.”

“Oh please” Michael said. “You just couldn’t keep yourself away from Vav.”

“Really?” Ray said. “I thought I was the only one that had to deal with a lovesick partner.”

“Lovesick? That’s a bit strong!” Gavin said at the exact same moment as Ryan said, “That wasn’t what it was like at all.”

They caught each other’s eyes and both blushed slightly dropping their gazes.

“Gross” Ray commented and Michael nodded.

Jack cleared his throat. “Have we forgotten why we’re here?” he prompted. “Giant robot.”

“Giant robot?” Ryan repeated.

“Yeah it’s a long story” Gavin said. “Well it isn’t actually. This giant robot just showed up. Started causing shit. We need to sort this out. Are you in?”

“I’m not really a hero anymore” Ryan said uncomfortably. “I’m retired.”

“You said yourself. It’s not just something you walk away from. People need you” Ray said.

But Ryan was shaking his head. “I’m sorry fellers. I really am. But this is a fight that you’ll have to fight without the old King.”

The rest of the team all just stared at him. It had never once occurred to any of them that he would refuse.

“But Ryan” Gavin said quietly. “The game. I know you loved it as much as I did. It’s just like that. But with much higher stakes.”

“I’m sorry, Gavin” Ryan said and he looked it. “I just can’t.”

The silence spiralled uncomfortably until it was broken by Ray who had been staring hopelessly at the floor. “Wait a minute. Is that a cow?”

“Everyone’s attention snapped downward. The floor under the table was made of glass and looked down into a huge basement where there was a single cow.

“Ryan what are you doing in here, you sick fuck?” Michael demanded.

“That’s Edgar” Ryan said. “Trust me, it’s for your own safety that he’s in the hole.” The silence that followed this announcement was even more uncomfortable than the previous one.

“I think it’s time to go” Jack said eventually.

“Yeah” Gavin said. “Agreed.”

As they were all shuffling out the door, Ryan grabbed, Gavin’s arm, pulling him in for a second. “I really am sorry, Gavin. I wish I could help. Especially you.”

“I thought you were a hero” Gavin said in disgust. “But you’re just like everyone else. A huge disappointment.”

Ryan cringed and Gavin pulled his arm free. “Goodbye” he said coldly and he let the door slam behind him.

Outside he turned to the others. “Okay, gang. Revised plan.”

“Is it more than twenty percent of a plan?” Ray asked.

Gavin pulled a face. “Barely. But it’s all we’ve got.”

*

They left Jack safely ensconced in the secret lair which was actually just a shed in Ray’s back garden. He had been up all night tweaking gadgets for them and besides he had very little battle flair. His powers lay in inventive creations. He also had a weird thing for stairs which none of them questioned too closely. But they all knew he would make very little difference in a proper fight.

Gavin was also pretty aware that he would make little impact in a proper fight. But it was what it was, he couldn’t back down now. If he had anything going for him, it was a complete overabundance of faith in his own abilities and that of his team.

They had to drive the van to where they had reports of Grif’s movements. It was not the most triumphant charge in to battle to be fair but even Jack couldn’t whip up the grand battle wagon that Gavin was envisioning, in one night.

“We’re probably all about to die” Gavin said matter-of-factly once they were parked up.

“Not the best start to a motivational speech” Michael drawled. “You dumb fuck” he added for good measure. Gavin ignored him.

“But at least we can die doing what we love. Blowing shit up!”

“What? I don’t…” Michael started to protest but Ray interrupted with a roar of,

“Yeaaah! Super epic fist bump!” He knocked his fist against Gavin’s and then turned to Michael who sighed but complied.

“Alright. Ready, lads?” Gavin asked, hand on the door handle. “On three then. One… two…”

“THREE!” Ray shouted and they all tumbled out of the van. Onto the completely deserted street.

“Okay well he’s a few blocks down” Gavin said. “But it doesn’t hurt to get pumped up.”

They moved stealthily down the streets but they probably needn’t have bothered. Grif was making enough noise to mask the approach of an entire army let alone three ill prepared superheroes. They caught sight of him at last, strange spider limbs scuttling and levelling a diner in his wake.

“Okay, guys?” Ray checked. The other two nodded. “Then take to the sky!”

“I’ve always wanted to do this” Gavin crowed gleefully and slapped the side of his boots. He shot into the air, Michael close in his wake.

“Jack’s a fucking genius” Michael said in something like astonishment. The boots were surprisingly easy to manoeuvre with and soon they were flying like they were both born to it.

“Remember the plan?” Gavin checked, coming in close.

“Ye” Michael said. “Let’s do it.”

Gavin swooped first, dropping straight down onto the unsuspecting robot’s head. Grif roared, though Gavin could have been no more than a pesky fly was to a lazy bear.

“Get off me, dude!” Grif clanked in a surprisingly human turn of phrase. But of course there a man inside of him.

“Aw sorry, mate. Didn’t see ya there!” Gavin said, patting the great metal casing. One spidery limb came up to swat Gavin aside but he was ready for it, tucking and rolling to one side so the claw swept harmlessly over him.

“Did you know?” Gavin asked conversationally, swooping around to hang directly in front of the great glass visor that he assumed served as the eyes. “That if you flip a coin three times, there are eight possible outcomes?”

“…What?” Grif said, actually pausing in his active limb flailing to stare Gavin down. “That’s bullshit.”

“Ok” Michael muttered into the communicator on his wrist. “Gavin’s got him distracted.”

“Right” Ray acknowledged, running out of cover to get close enough to use his powers. “Alright. Weak spots. Where each leg joins the body. The centre of the visor is pretty breakable.” He whistled through his teeth. “That’s about it. Aim good.”

“Aim good” Michael repeated. “Great advice.”

He swept in under Grif’s notice. Gavin was still gabbling a mile a minute, trying to explain some stupid coin thing that he had brought up last night until Michael had just stared him down. Grif seemed about as impressed as he had been judging by the angry clicking noises he was making.

Michael pounced. In one quick movement he swooped down onto the leg nearest him and crashed both fists directly into the joint. The leg didn’t come off but the metal buckled under the impact and the robot screeched angrily, another limb snaking around to bat Michael out of the air. He spiralled wildly for a few seconds before righting himself.

There were two of them in the air but Grif had eight long limbs which was unfortunately more than enough to keep them both busy and keep the robot’s body suspended. Still, Michael did his best, ducking and weaving through the flailing arms and landing another hit. Unfortunately on a different joint.

“It’s not working!” he yelled frantically into the communicator.

“Yeah I can sort of see that” Ray admitted. “Keep trying.” Down on the ground, Ray sorted through their arsenal and finally picked a gun. He was a sharp shooter which was why he had been voted to stay on ground. He hoped he could live up to that now.

He had picked the shrink ray, in the scant hope that it would actually work. He took aim and hit the robot directly in its visor. The shot had absolutely no effect, simply dissipating against the glass. Ray glanced around frantically.

Michael swept in, landing another solid blow to one of the leg joints while Gavin just circled annoyingly around the robot’s head, shouting obscenities. Ray was pleased to see some of the metal splinter. A weak point.

He took careful aim again. He completely missed that time, the robot was rocking around so much, it was hard to get a clear shot. The second shot merely grazed the metal armour, almost hitting Michael in the process. But the third shot was true, hitting Grif directly in his damaged joint. If Ray was hoping for a miracle, he didn’t get it. The leg did shrink, causing the robot to stagger for a second as he was thrown off balance. But aside from that the gun had achieved very little.

“Alright get clear” Ray muttered into the comm. “Time for the big guns.” He picked up a rocket launcher.

*

Up in the sky, Gavin was blissfully unaware. They only had two communicators and Ray and Michael had them, a fact that Ray has possibly forgotten. So Gavin couldn’t understand why Michael suddenly pinged away, putting as much distance between himself and Grif as possible.

“Wha-?” Gavin started to say and then heard the tell-tale boom of the rocket gun. He did the only thing that made sense at the time, and shot directly upwards.

The rocket slammed into the robot’s tough shell and exploded against him, causing him to screech loudly in what might have terror for the first time. But the robot was angry now and one of his wildly snaking claws caught Gavin right on target, smashing one boot completely.

Gavin swung dizzingly in the air, trying to regain control. But one boot alone was not enough to hold him up. He tried gunning it further and he shot a couple of metres upwards before the boot beeped dismally and completely cut out.

“No!” he yelled, twisting desperately and smacking the side of the boot repeatedly. But it was no good. He was falling. And fast.

Gavin had mere seconds to take stock and if he was honest, things weren’t going entirely to plan. In fact things weren’t going well at all. He had to realise that a) he was in fact falling to his death b) the others were nowhere to be seen and c) this was kind of, almost entirely his own fault. Also he was about to be smashed up by one pissed off robot but, really, one ridiculous problem at a time.

Gavin had read a thousand things on how to survive bizarre situations including high drops but he forgot all of it and just screamed loudly, praying for the ground over the robot.

And then something huge sprang out of nowhere. And suddenly he was being snatched up by a furry brown creature. A bear, Gavin thought wildly. What the…?

The bear caught Gavin against its chest and then rolled into a protective ball around Gavin’s body to lessen the impact. It was still by no means comfortable. The wind had been knocked out of him on impact and Gavin was half afraid he was going to get crushed instead of splattered and with a mouth full of bear hair to boot. But then the world went suddenly still and he could breathe again and hear the comforting thud of the bear’s heart next to his ear. After a long second the bear slowly uncurled itself, releasing Gavin from its lifesaving grip. Gavin staggered to his feet, staring in awe at the huge bear.

“Michael?” Gavin breathed. The bear turned to peer down at him, giving him a look that clearly said “well duh.”

“But that means…” Gavin said and someone behind him cleared his throat.  

“You didn’t think I would miss the party, did you?” Ryan asked sheepishly.

“Ryan!” And Gavin had just had near death experience and just seen a very attractive man that he was actually head over heels in lust with and he really couldn’t be responsible for his actions in those next few seconds. Which was to pounce on the unsuspecting Ryan and kiss his stupid face off.

“Gross” Ray said and Michael made a bear noise of agreement, covering his face with one giant paw.

Gavin didn’t hear any of this. He just clutched Ryan’s blazer, pulling him into a crushing kiss that Ryan returned eagerly, his arms tightening around Gavin’s narrow waist and nearly pulling him off his feet.

“You know” Ryan murmured a little breathlessly against the shell of Gavin’s ear. “You could have saved yourself a lot of trouble and minor injuries if you had just asked me for coffee.”

“I’ve never been very conventional” Gavin mumbled back, laughing his way into another messy kiss.

“Well well well” clanked a mechanical voice from behind them. “This is all very touching I’m sure. A little misfit family all back together again. Of course it won’t stop me crushing you.”

The heroes scattered, all except Ryan who held stubbornly on to Gavin’s hand. “I’m not letting go of you again” he said. “If we go down, we go down together.”

“That’s all very lovely and everything” Gavin said. “But I would rather no one went down at all.” He picked something out of his belt. “Pipe bomb” he explained. A flick of a lighter and then he threw it with all his might at the charging robot.

And for the first time in his life, with Ryan’s hand grabbing his again, he felt the unmistakable surge of power to his fingertips. “A catalyst” Gavin breathed. “That’s all I needed. Of course.”

He thrust his free hand out in a needlessly dramatic gesture that seemed to fit the moment. And somehow that bomb hit the exact right target and exploded with the power of a hundred pipe bombs. All four heroes were thrown onto the ground and there was a great metallic screeching sound as the great metal body finally crumpled.

“He’s breached!” Ray yelled, using his powers to see through the waves of billowing smoke.

Michael roared.

“That means, leave it to him” Ryan translated still sprawled on the floor.

Michael leapt forward. He always revelled in this. The freedom of his bear form. He had missed it fiercely. He charged at Grif’s metal shell, not needing to use his eyes to sense his way through the acrid smoke. The hole that had been blown into the side of it was huge, the entire visor had shattered and half the legs were hanging uselessly off the torso.

Michael grumbled and thrust one big paw into the gap. It only took a few swipes to hook the man in his claw and pull him from the wreckage.

He was bearded and tattooed and currently unconscious. Michael roared, calling the others in.

“I can’t believe he survived that” Ray commented, staring down at him.

“The robot suit protected him” Ryan said sombrely. “Though what are we supposed to do with him now?”

Gavin was less concerned about that. “Oooh yeah. We kicked robot arse! We need a dramatic super hero team name. Like… the Avengers!”

“I think some assholes in New York already took that name” Ray said.

“Oh” Gavin deflated slightly. “OK. How about the Fantastic Four!?”

Ryan and Ray exchanged a look. “We can discuss a name later” Ryan said quickly. “What about this asshole?” He kicked at the man disdainfully.

Grif moaned, instinctively twisting away from the pain. “Hey!” Ray yelled, shaking him. “Come on, man. Wake up!”

“Is that wise” Ryan asked mildly.

“Ah he’s not so big without his robot suit. Are ya?” Gavin said, also nudging the man with his foot.

“What the hell happened?” the man moaned, sitting up slightly and examining the wreckage around him.

“We beat you down” Gavin said proudly. “Is what happened.”

“Oh” Grif blinked and looked mournfully at the destroyed robot suit. “Shame about that. Rampaging around in that thing was fun as dicks.”

“Fun?” Ray said.

“As dicks?” Gavin added incredulously.

“Oh come on, lads. You know how fun a bit of wonton destruction is.”

“That’s your reason?” Ryan asked. “You were just bored?”

Grif shrugged. “Would it help if I said I was very very sorry?”

“Aw” Gavin said. “Can we keep him?”

“Gavin!” Ray and Ryan shouted together along with an annoyed grunt from Michael.

“He said he was sorry!”

Ryan shook his head. He could see he was going to have his work cut out with Gavin. “Come on” he said. “Let’s get this douche in the van at least.”

Grif went without resistance. Maybe it was the proximity of Michael’s teeth or maybe he just knew when he had been beaten because he allowed Ray and Gavin to frogmarch him back to the van and throw him in the back before cable tying his feet together for good measure.

“Right” Ray said, brushing his cloak down. “What now?”

Michael walked out from behind the van, having phased back into human form. “Pizza” he declared. “And milkshakes. I’m pretty sure there’s a diner around here.”

“I think Grif flattened it” Ray said.

“Oh. Well fuck I’m sure we’ll find something. Come on, Ray.” The two boys strode off, leaving Gavin and Ryan to hang back slightly.

“So how does it feel to be the hero for once?” Ryan smiled down at him.

“Pretty good. But I mean I never wanted to be a villain. I just er… wanted to see you again” he said sheepishly.

“I noticed. And as I said before. Next time just ask. You were making my job so much harder than it needed to be.”

“You make me so much harder than…”

“Gavin please. Just shut up” Ryan said and pulled him in for a bruising kiss. “You’re dumb.”

“Didn’t stop you coming back for me though” Gavin crowed happily.

“I came back for the good of the city” Ryan said in a dignified tone.

“I bet my arse helped a little bit, though didn’t it?” Gavin grinned.

“Your ‘arse’ helped a lot” Ryan admitted, giving it an appreciative pat. “Now come on. Let’s get pizza.”

“Sounds great” Gavin said, taking Ryan’s offered hand. They wandered in the same direction as Ray and Michael. “Ok. How about this for a name? The Justice League!”

“Gavin.”

*

If any of the heroes had remained near the van they might have heard Geoff talking into his own communicator.

“Hello? Jack? Yeah the prototype robot suit was an almost complete success. Time to move onto phase two.”

CHAPTER SIX

Lindsay pulled out her knife. Jeremy's grip on Ryan's throat tightened.

“It ends here,” Lindsay’s voice sounded, from beyond a haze of murky darkness. “So long.”

But no. Ryan could not let it end here. He could not. Not while Geoff was in danger, not while he had so much left unsaid and so many promises left to keep. Ryan would not let himself die here, when there was still so much left to see through.

He kicked wildly, thrashed his arms about. Through his desperate gasps he summoned up the energy to flail, hoping for something, anything at all.

Something connected, and the grip on his throat squeezed tighter for a brief moment before it released. Jeremy grunted in pain behind him but Ryan couldn’t pay him any attention through the sudden rush of air that entered his lungs. He fell to the floor with great heaving breaths as his vision slowly returned. His arms trembled as he pushed himself up-

-and he suddenly remembered Lindsay.

He threw himself away just in time to avoid Lindsay stabbing his back. He was on his side, craning his neck upwards to catch what was going on above him. The knife was embedded a few inches into the wooden floorboards and Lindsay crouched to his right, wiggling it out in order to try again. Beyond her was Jeremy gingerly putting weight on his right leg.

He had no time. He scrambled to his feet and darted for the doors, but Jeremy was there already. Lindsay freed her knife at his back, so he couldn’t go backwards or ahead. He made a quick turn to the side and dashed for it. If he remembered the layout of Lindsay’s shop correctly, there was one cabinet, one display case… 

Ryan frantically dove for the floor as Lindsay threw her knife over his head, praying to any god that was listening that he hadn’t just thrown himself away from that one display case-

He hadn’t.

The sword was at his waist- his scabbard was still firmly attached to his belt. Without any conscious thought he pulled it out and held the hilt in both hands. Its weight was foreign, and he was seconds away from dropping it as he remembered just what it had done to Geoff. 

But he needed it now, so he pushed that out of his mind and lifted it over his head. He turned his head to the side and closed his eyes to protect them as he swung it into the glass, and the sound of shattering glass was quickly replaced by an explosion that almost burst his eardrums.

Flecks of superheated glass flew at his face, but none scratched across his eyes. When he dared to open his eyes his whole world was tinted red. Lindsay and Jeremy had drawn back and covered their eyes and ears- Lindsay had dropped her knife. Shards of glass and bits of jewelry littered the floor around him. 

As Ryan waited for his ears to stop ringing, he quickly ran over what had happened. The enchanted sword had reacted with the redstone jewelry in the display case. A quick glance down at the blade confirmed what he thought: the enchantment had somehow been cancelled out by the redstone; it was just a normal sword now. The explosion had turned the compressed jewelry back into dust and blasted it into the air, giving the room a red tint.

Jeremy and Lindsay were already recovering. He had to be quick if he wanted to carry out the next part of his plan. It was a terrible, terrible plan, but it was his only one. And to do that, he had to get away.

He scrambled for the door, almost tripping over himself in his desperation and sending the sword skittering across the floor. Jeremy lunged at him again, trying to slam into his legs to keep him down while Lindsay tried to recover her knife. The redstone dust still drifted in the air but it was settling quick- if he wanted to subdue them (permanently, a small part of his mind whispered, and he went slightly queasy at the thought) then he had to leave now.

He kicked Jeremy’s arms away and barreled against the door door, slamming his back into the wood. He shoved all his weight against the wooden door, kicked Jeremy away once again. Any second now, Lindsay would recover and Jeremy would take advantage of his cornered status, so he had to act now. No time for hesitation. Only action.

No matter how guilty he would feel afterwards.

He closed his eyes, extended his senses within the shop. There was so much power in the air, so much volatile glittering redstone. He focused his senses, gathered energy. Focused even further, on the clouds of redstone hovering around Lindsay’s and Jeremy’s faces. 

And then Ryan thought one word:

Ignite.

There were two explosions, and two screams. Mercifully, they were extremely short screams.

And then there were two bodies hitting the floor.

There was no ignoring the smell, but Ryan tried his best anyway. He stopped for a moment to try to calm himself. It wasn’t working; he could still feel his hands trembling. He took a deep breath and immediately regretted it. He gagged, inhaled again through his mouth this time. It wasn’t much better, but then again, it wasn’t like he had many other options. He did have something quick to do inside after all.

There weren’t many people on the streets when he staggered out the door, which was a good thing because he doubted that his appearance said anything about him other than ‘deranged’. He was sure that by now he had bruises around his throat, maybe some vessels in his eyeballs were burst due to the itchy soreness around his eyes, and he still felt sickly from what he had done.

But there wasn’t any time for self-hatred or guilt. If what he had overheard was true, Geoff was in danger. And if they were storming the castle, there was only one thing for Ryan to do.

He fled for the palace.

He had to warn Geoff, somehow. An army was marching on his castle, an army of fanatically loyal Ender, who were convinced that they were to bring about a new world by murdering Geoff and taking over his castle? And Jenzen was of course at the head of it all, Jenzen who had some odd connection to the strange structure beneath the castle.

So, two goals. Warn Geoff. Stop Jenzen from getting to the cavern.

But it appeared that he was too late for at least the first one. Even as he crested over the distant hills on his mad run back to the castle, he could already see a swarm of purple-hooded figures around the castle. There were so many of them! No wonder that Achievement City itself had nearly been deserted; it seemed as if the entire population was gathered at Geoff’s gates with enchanted swords and lit torches.

Did the Ender really have so many members? Only a week ago, it seemed as if they weren’t so prolific. Perhaps recent events had pushed people further away from Geoff’s side, turned them to the Ender’s side. But even so, the impression Ryan had gotten was that the citizens were very resistant to violence, or even the threat of it. It was just a small group that ambushed Michael- this was an entire city’s worth of people. Did Jenzen have such a great hold on them that he was able to rally them to action?

…No, that wasn’t it. 

As Ryan approached he could sense a thrall of magic over the whole crowd. They weren’t being controlled, not truly. There was no sorcerer in the world who could conjure the sheer magnitude of pure magic required for such a feat. This was more insidious, more subtle. Like someone had taken everyone’s frustrations and amplified them, funneled and directed them towards Geoff.

As he got closer to the castle the mess of people seemed to swell in size. There was so much noise- people chanting for Geoff to abdicate, others yelling angrily of the Ramsey line’s warmongering ways, others yet raging at the lavish lifestyle of the king. The voices swelled until they were not so much voices as they were a roaring wave of anger and resentment, punctuated by enchanted swords and burning torches held aloft like banners.

There were so many people squirming about, darting here and there, shoving and pushing. It was easy for Ryan to fit right in. He fought his way through the crowd of people until he made it to the front of the crowd, right in front of the iron gates that blocked the castle entrance from the gigantic angry mob.

He didn’t see Jenzen anywhere, but there were so many people gathered around that it wasn’t much of a relief. He could be anywhere.

But, as he took in the enormity of what he was witnessing, that may have been the lesser of his problems. The people were actually swarming. They were attacking the guards at the gates, trying to force them open. They were invading the castle, trying to get in.

And with no small amount of horror, Ryan realized this:

They were winning.

Little by little, the guards at the gate were pushed back until they were pressed against the iron doors. No matter how skilled Michael had trained them to be, they were no match for a literal sea of angry citizens. As the people surged forwards, Ryan couldn’t see what happened to them. Perhaps they were trampled to death. Maybe they survived. But the crowd stormed ahead, hacking at the gates with their enchanted weapons until they cut a hole big enough to pour through.

“Recall all guards!” someone yelled. “Protect the castle! Defend King Ramsey!”

And then the crowd poured in. Many of the guards had retreated to within the castle to defend its hallways, and the castle’s wooden door was no match for fire-enchanted blades. 

Ryan was crushed in the throng of people; he couldn’t do anything other than move ahead and try not to falter lest he suffer the same fate as the other guards.

But once they were in the castle, maybe it was for the better. Because the hallways of the castle were sprawling and random, so the crowd spread out over the myriad passageways aimlessly. The narrow walls made it difficult for them to swing their weapons about without hitting someone else, though that didn’t seem to bother the most gung-ho of the crowd. But it also made it easier for the guards to defend themselves.

Not to mention that they didn’t know where Geoff was. But Ryan did.

He ran as fast as he could for the throne room. There were people ahead of him- some had to have chosen the right corridor out of pure luck, but it was only a fraction of the mob that raged outside. And Geoff would surely have guards with him, right? Geoff would be safe.

Geoff had to be safe. Ryan couldn’t live with himself if he weren’t.

But there were more people following behind him, and the clock was ticking. He had to get Geoff out of here, somehow…

Briefly, he fantasized of cutting a swathe through the crowd, enough for Geoff to pass through safely. His hand itched for his long-discarded sword. Maybe now he knew how Michael always felt- strength seemed like it would solve a lot of problems. But Ryan had no sword, no skill. Fighting would not be the way out.

Maybe sneaking out? But with the sheer mass of people, it would be impossible to get Geoff through, not when he was so recognizable to the populace. 

…Unless…he didn’t have to sneak past the people.

Ryan pulled to the side of the corridor until hands dugs to his coat pockets as he rooted through them, and he frantically prayed that the pearl from so many days ago hadn’t broken. 

Somehow it was safe, thank whatever god was out there. He took the pearl in his hand, held it tightly but not too much, so that it wouldn’t shatter in his grasp. He needed to get it to Geoff as soon as possible, so he needed to get in the throne room, now.

He practically flew through the hallways, but what really made his heart race was when he saw that the door to the throne room had been forced open. There was shouting from inside, the sound of sword clashing against sword.

Ryan ran in, eyes wide and scanning the large hall for any sign of Geoff. There were guards scattered around and an enormous crowd of people brandishing swords of their own- they were backlit against the bright afternoon sunset pouring in from shattered windows. But he scanned the room once more, and realized that the guards weren’t scattered randomly. They were arranged in a circle.

And that could only mean that in the center-

“Geoff!” Ryan yelled, desperate. “Geoff!”

He shoved his way towards the guards, ducking a sword that swung far too close to his face.

“Ryan?” It was faint, almost drowned out by the sound of combat around them, but that was Geoff’s voice. Ryan didn’t close his eyes out of pure gratitude but it was a near thing, relieved beyond words that Geoff was okay.

He shoved his way through the crowd again, until he was face to face with the guards. And just beyond their heads, there was Geoff, surrounded by people calling for his blood but his eyes were still filled with so much worry when he looked over Ryan’s injuries.

“Ryan!” Geoff yelled again, shoving through his guards to yank Ryan inside their circle. Geoff’s hands were warm and electrifying, and maybe it was a product of the adrenaline and fear, but Ryan suddenly, inexplicably, wanted to kiss him. But this wasn’t the time for that. He had a purpose in coming here.

“Geoff, you have to go,” he said urgently.

“What?” Geoff frowned. “Ryan, what are you talking about? We can’t leave, can’t you see what’s happening around us? There’s nowhere to go!”

"Geoff, please." He pressed the pearl into Geoff's palm and closed his fingers around it. "Take this pearl, throw it out the window. It’ll hurt, but it’s only for a while so just run! They won’t be looking for you outside, you can run from there.”

“What about you?” 

Ryan shook his head. “Geoff, just go and live!”

"Not without you!"

"Geoff, please, please listen to me. You need to live. Go and run, find Michael and the others. Go to Remnant, go wherever. They need you.” Ryan let his hand rest on Geoff's, made sure he kept his fingers curled around the pearl. 

"We need you too."

It wasn't an "I love you," but for now, that would be enough. He took a shuddery breath and closed his eyes, lifted Geoff’s hand to his forehead and just let himself lean a little bit forward, the two of them suspended in the chaos for just a single moment.

"I'll find you," Ryan promised, voice low and steady. He drew back to meet Geoff’s eyes, no matter how watery his own were. ”I’ll come back for you, and the others; all of you. I swear.”

The words were binding. They settled into his soul, locked themselves away in his mind. Making a promise to someone you cared about was one thing, making a promise as a mage was something else altogether.

He would find them again. No matter how long it took.

Geoff seemed to realize this, somehow. Perhaps it was something in Ryan’s expression. But whatever it was, Geoff nodded and turned away to a window. His eyes darted back to Ryan, and the pearl sailed through the air-

Maybe it was just a frantic, last-minute thought. A ‘why not?’, ‘what the hell’ kind of thought. But it did not change the fact that Geoff acted on it.

There were a pair of warm hands cupping Ryan’s face, and Geoff’s eyes were so close and so blue, and there was the kiss- and it was everything Ryan had hoped for, dreamed for, dreamed of, and if only they had more time... 

But they didn’t. They didn’t have more time, and Geoff was suddenly gone, and Ryan was alone again.

The guards were still holding strong amidst the wave of people, but Ryan couldn’t afford to stay. He knew what Jenzen was going for, and he had to stop him before he finished whatever it was he wanted. Jenzen obviously had no intention of claiming the throne, or he would have been here to ensure Geoff’s death. He was after the magic in the cavern, and that could not mean anything good.

“I have to go, there’s something I need to do,” Ryan shouted over the sound of combat. The guard nearest to him grunted, and Ryan was ashamed to admit that he had never learned the man’s name, any of their names. “Will you be okay?”

“Go! We can hold them off for a while,” one said.

“You saved King Ramsey. That’s all we need to know,” another said. 

And Ryan hated himself because he didn’t know their names, and they were already willing to risk their lives to get him a clear path. But they shoved some of the people aside, and there was Ryan’s opportunity before him. He thanked them in his heart, left a small burst of redstone to clear the area for them a while- it wasn’t dangerous, but it would knock back some of the crowd for the guards to catch their breaths for a moment.

There were still too many people in the way so Ryan has to shove himself through the crowd. Most of them, despite their ferocity, didn’t know how to use their weapons, if they had any in the first place. Maybe most of them didn’t actually want to harm anyone, unwilling to raise a hand unless to protect themselves. But whatever the reason, it was easier than he expected to push past the crowd gathered in the throne room, to take the unexpected secret passageways to the archives that Ray had shown Ryan that one night.

He was out of breath but had enough energy to punch straight through the walls with a ball of redstone. When he was first down here with Jack, he had thought the archives had some sort of magical aura about them, and he chalked it up to just being overwhelmed at the scale of the place. Now he knew better, especially since the archives were just about the same level with the cavern.

He was lucky that the ceiling didn’t collapse on top of him as he emerged into the cavern, coughing away the dust. That said a lot about the integrity of the castle’s architecture.

Speaking of.

There were only two people in the cavern, at the far end of the cavern where the mysterious structure was. Kdin Jenzen was easily visible, even though his dark cloak blended in well with the shadows. Ryan couldn’t not recognize him.

The man at his side was somewhat more surprising.

Matt Bragg.

Both turned to look at him. Jenzen didn’t look surprised. All he did was grin. “Welcome, Mr. Mage,” he said. “You’re just in time to see the end of our plans.”

“What plans?” Ryan said. His voice was hoarse even to him.

“Very old plans,” Jenzen said, which didn’t clear up anything at all. “I mean, it’s not as if we needed to wait so long to make things happen. We could have gotten in here any time we wanted thanks to Matt here.”

Matt, who Ryan suddenly realized was far too pale, too thin- like the skin had withered on his bones, eyes sunken a bit too deep into their sockets. Jenzen smiled. “We’ve been playing a very, very long game,” he said, clapping Matt on the shoulder gently. “Maybe it would clear things up if I mentioned that the only Matthew Bragg that has ever existed was the one who first built Castle Ramsey?”

The implications settled in Ryan’s mind. Long game indeed.

Jenzen turned around to place a few things into the odd square. They seemed to be the same material, somewhat similar to the pearls, and with every piece that Jenzen slotted into place Ryan’s headache intensified. “That’s enough about Matt, though,” Jenzen said. “The point is, our goal is this right here. We could have ended this all a long time ago, but we didn’t. Do you know why?”

“No, I don’t. Enlighten me,” Ryan said.

“Because it has never been the right time. But now it is.”

He slid the last block into its place. Ryan’s headache spiked, and something changed in the air. The cavern was mostly closed off, and the air inside was musty. That had not changed, but Ryan thought it had, somehow. Like there was a connection opened between the cave and somewhere outside, somewhere with cold open air.

The square flared, pulsed. And slowly, the empty space inside the frame dissolved into a bubbly black sheen that wavered as if it were a flag in a nonexistent breeze. It raised hairs on the back of Ryan’s neck. Now he knew where he recognized it from, what it reminded him of other than Jenzen. This was a portal.

“Ah well. That’s enough exposition, I think.” Jenzen lifted his hand off Matt’s shoulder. “Matt, go ahead and join the others. I’ll start things here.”

Matt grunted something and left. Ryan let him. 

“You’re too late to stop anything, really,” Jenzen said. He slowly started moving deeper into the cave, away from the tunnel and Ryan’s impromptu entryway. Ryan matched him step for step. His redstone ball was still following behind him, and he was just about desperate enough to launch it into the portal, potentially explosive side-effects be damned. “But it was a valiant attempt, Mr. Mage. It’s a shame you had chosen the wrong side.”

And with that, Jenzen stepped through the portal, his body disappearing into the dark. Through the tunnel, there were voices yelling, coming closer, growing ever louder as the crowd of Ender pushed closer to the cavern.

There was only one thing Ryan could do.

As he stepped through there was a pulsing resistance, some kind of magic so ancient and wrong that he very nearly leapt back. But he didn’t and he pushed through the oddly sticky film, even though there was no trace of any goop or sludge on his body as he fell.

And fell. And kept on falling, with a thousand pinwheeling stars in the distance. It was so quiet, the voices cut off so abruptly. There was only the sound or Ryan’s fluttering clothes, and… something else.

Something else that was very, very large.

In the distance was the sound of flapping wings, and he could not see Jenzen but there were purple eyes gleaming in the dark, growing closer- ever closer, with a roar so loud that it drowned out his own heartbeat, his own voice in his own mind.

Ryan was flying with the portal at his back, but it was more that he was free falling forever, adrift amidst the dark in the face of so many gleaming teeth.

And he knew what had to be done.

The Ender, in Kdin Jenzen’s own words, were not religion. Thus they did not worship a god. What was not a god was mortal. And there was so much leftover redstone in Lindsay’s shop, after all.

His whole body was glowing red and blazing, first around his waist where he kept his pouches and then gradually building, the way an oven did, condensed in seconds. Light and heat: almost, almost unbearable did he not know of the alternative, and in that instant before the teeth closed around him, before the pressure built up to its breaking point, Ryan had one last thought: 

CHAPTER FIVE 

“Something happened to Michael,” Ray said, barging into the throne room. His voice was harsh and carried an undertone of something dark. “He got jumped by a mob.”

“What!” Geoff demanded. He bolted out of his throne, and Jack beside him went pale so quickly that Ryan briefly worried for him too, in between his own heart seizing.

“He wasn’t hurt too badly, and Gav’s with him right now,” Ray added. “Apparently some people got wind of patrols around the border tightening and they think that you’re planning on invading the Burning Lands or starting a war, so they tried to lynch Michael.”

“What!”

Ray shook his head and left the room without another word. Geoff followed immediately. Ryan and Jack shared a glance for a moment before the two of them followed. Ryan let Jack go on ahead first as they made their way to the infirmary.

Geoff threw the door open and startled the medic sitting inside, who was gently prodding at Michael’s left shoulder. Michael didn’t respond beyond a raised eyebrow, and Gavin just looked up briefly before staring back at the ground, occasionally darting anxious glances up to Michael. As Ryan shuffled inside, he could see that Michael’s shirt was off. His chest was littered with harsh red marks and some bloody areas where the skin had been scraped away. His foot was also wrapped in bandages.

“What the fuck happened?” Geoff asked. 

“Bunch of assholes thought we were going to war,” Michael said loftily. “Jumped me on my morning patrol.” With his free hand, he gestured to his body. “You can see the result. Managed to give them the run around and booked it back here.”

Geoff simmered angrily, words seemingly beyond him. Jack had already moved to the other side of the bed, a cloth in his hand and carefully cleaning Michael’s wounds. From Ryan’s short examination of Michael’s wounds, they didn’t seem too serious, but injuries weren’t the point- the fact that it happened at all was. The people would probably not have gotten so brazen without direct provocation, and how would they have known about the actions of the Burning Lands’s own patrols? Ryan had a pretty good idea of who would have been doing the provocation.

Gavin was hyperventilating. 

Ryan blinked out of his thoughts to turn to the spymaster, who was pale as a sheet in the corner. His breathing was quickening, coming in shorter shallower bursts. His eyes widened as he leant against the wall and stared at Michael, seeming on the verge of collapse. Geoff was by Michael’s side, as immovable as a mountain, and Jack was overseeing the physician as he tended to Michael’s wounds- deep bruises, a few scrapes across his face and a twisted ankle, perhaps some broken bones if the way he was positioning his arm was any indication.

Ray and Ryan traded looks, and without another word between the two men Ray took hold of Gavin’s elbow and gently guided him towards the door. Ryan was right behind them.

The instant the door closed Gavin collapsed against a wall, his knees drawn up to his chest. He crossed his arms on top of his knees and dropped his forehead down to rest over his forearms. His breathing was louder now, gasping like he wanted to cry, and he was very visibly shaking.

Ray had stepped back, awkwardness and uncertainty written all over his face. He didn’t know what to do- he likely had never seen Gavin in a state like this before.

Ryan slowly crouched down by Gavin’s side, being very sure to move slowly and loudly so that Gavin would know he was there. Also very, very slowly, Ryan put his hands on Gavin’s shoulders and drew closer. “Gavin, it’s okay,” he murmured. “Michael’s safe, you’re safe. Everything’s fine.”

He knew with an odd certainty that Gavin needed tactile comfort, to be able to hold and touch all over to make sure that someone was okay, to have hands on top of his to help him calm. Jack was tactile in a different way- he needed presence and warmth, the knowledge that he wasn’t alone. Or put more simply, Gavin would want to be held, and Jack would rather be doing the holding.

Michael, Geoff, and Ray, they needed less touch and more on other things. Geoff needed gentle words, Michael quiet spaces and somebody to listen to him spew his frustrations and anger and fear into words, and Ray would at first need his own space, and then small constant reassurances.

But this wasn’t about the others just yet; this was, for now, just Gavin. So Ryan pulled Gavin closer into his arms and let the other man grab and clutch at what he needed. He adjusted the cross of his arms periodically to give Gavin the movement he required, held the other man as Gavin came back down from his panic.

When Gavin’s breathing had slowed some and he stopped struggling as much, Ryan slowly let go. He was better now- he wouldn’t be fully okay until he could cram himself into Michael’s personal space to make sure that the other man truly was okay, but for now Gavin was better.

“Gavin?” Ryan tried.

“S-sorry,” he said, still sounding shaky. “I- I got scared, and I-“

“No, no, that’s okay,” Ryan said. He gently placed his hand on Gavin’s shoulder. “It’s fine. Michael’s safe, we’re all safe, everything is going to be fine. You don’t have to be scared for Michael.”

“Y-yeah.” Gavin pushed himself up to his feet, but Ryan still remained close by. Ray hovered awkwardly behind them, not saying a word. 

“Do you want to go back in?” Ryan asked. “Jack and Geoff should be done interrogating Michael for now.”

Gavin bit his lip and nodded hesitantly. Then he paused, nodded sharper, and strode past the other two back into the infirmary with a determined expression on his face. The door swung closed ahead of them, and before it closed Ryan could hear Gavin’s explosive, “Micoo!” and Michael’s cut-off yelp of surprise.

With Gavin taken care of, Ryan turned to Ray. He tilted his head questioningly towards the infirmary. The other man’s lips thinned and he shook his head. 

“I’ll see him later,” Ray mumbled.

Not that Ryan was expecting a different response. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll let them know.”

“Thanks.” Ray’s gaze shifted between Ryan and the infirmary door a few times, before he eventually decided to take his leave. Ryan waited until he had gone before he pushed open the infirmary door. The other man hadn’t looked like he was about to do anything rash, just like he needed some time to himself. 

“Ray said he needed a minute,” he said, startling Jack, who had been leaning just next to the door. “He’ll be around later,” he added, almost surprising himself at how certain he sounded. But for now he was just tired of questioning the sudden epiphanies about these five men that he seemed to be having as of late. So far they hadn’t been entirely inaccurate.

“Sure,” Geoff said. 

Michael rolled his eyes, though he winced when the attending physician tugged on the bandage he was winding around Michael’s forearm. “He’s always been like that. Ever since we met he wasn’t so good at the whole touchy-feely thing, unlike this lump over here.”

Michael shrugged his other shoulder, the one that Gavin was currently attempting to absorb into his own body, considering how tightly he was clinging to Michael. Gavin grinned- it helped him look more like the cheerful and carefree man that Ryan had first met. His eyes still carried the leftover traces of his worry for Michael–for all of them–but at least he was smiling again.

“You guys go on and do whatever you want,” Michael said. “You guys are all busy and I can heal just fine on my own.”

“I can make you a-“

“No offense, but you really need to stop offering to do everything, Ryan.” Michael pointed at him; slightly difficult to do when there was a stubborn spymaster clinging to the arm in question. “Geoff told me about the other potion incident. And don’t think about lying about those headaches you get–I may not know much about magic but I know migraines when I see them. Just relax.”

“He’s right,” Jack said simply, with a shrug. “I saw how the thing in the cave affected you. Is it something about there suddenly being a lot of magic around?”

Looks like Ryan hadn’t been as discreet as he was hoping. “Something like that,” he said.

“Well, take a break. You’ve earned it.” Geoff clapped his shoulder but his touch lingered a moment too long, his fingers pressed just a bit deeper into Ryan’s skin.

“What they said,” Michael said with a nod. “And you had better do your goddamn paperwork, Geoff! If I have to do my work then you should too!”

Geoff hid a groan when Jack turned a pleasant smile onto him. “You heard Michael,” the bearded man said, grinning. “And you wouldn’t deny an injured man possibly his last request, would you Geoff?”

“Dying? He has a broken arm!” Geoff vigorously waved his arm in Michael’s direction.

“Oh no. The light. I see the light. It’s coming closer…closer…” Michael said flatly. His lips were quivering with the effort of hiding a smile. Gavin was not making any effort to conceal his own snickering, and Ryan was having a hard time of it as well. A good actor, Michael was not.

“I’ll get your paperwork so you can get started right away,” Jack said. “Yours too, Michael.”

And abruptly his mood sobered. “I’ll also get to work on a speech.”

“Speech?” Ryan asked.

“We’ll have to address this some way,” Gavin pointed out. “Jack usually writes speeches for Geoff when we go out to talk in front of the city.”

“We’ll need to clad up some misconceptions with the general public,” Jack said. “Let them know that there have been no soldiers going over the border, and that we have no intentions of war. And then we’re going to have to say that we are absolutely not going to let the attack on Michael slide. And a couple of other things. I’ll figure those out later as I write.”

Geoff sighed. “Is this going to be an unpopular speech,” he lamented. “And we’re going to have to do it pretty soon.” He made a face. “And I actually have to sort out business with Burnie too, damn it.”

“That’s all work, so you go ahead and do it.” With great effort, Michael shook Gavin off his arm, much to the dismay of the physician, who had been in the process of carefully splinting Michael’s other arm. With his newly freed arm, Michael made a ‘shooing’ gesture. “You guys do your shit, I’ll do mine. Now get.”

“Aww Micoo, I’m starting to think you don’t love us!” Gavin said, pouting.

Michael rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, you’ve got fucking work to do too!”

Ryan chuckled at Gavin’s continuing protests, even as Jack started hauling him out the door. “Come on, Gavin, Michael’s right. The sooner you finish your workload the sooner we can see Michael. And it’s not like he’s going to be going anywhere in a hurry. He’ll still be in the infirmary once you’ve finished.”

“You heard the man,” Geoff said. “Now I’m going to retreat to my room… to do my work, of course,” he added quickly, seeing Jack’s deadpan stare. Geoff chuckled nervously. “It’s like you don’t trust me, Jack! When have I ever been unfaithful to you?” 

Ryan grinned. The way they bantered among themselves was familiar, and it was nice to have one of these odd recollections be comforting for once rather than just painful. 

“I do trust you, but just not when it comes to paperwork,” Jack said dryly. “You go, then. I’ll bring up anything that looks like it needs your attention. Gavin, you go do whatever work it is you have.” And finally Jack turned to Ryan.

“You’ve got free reign of the castle,” he said. Apologetically, Jack added, “You may not be able to go out to the city for a while. If people figure out that you’re associated with the castle it might not go so well for the time being.”

Ryan nodded. “That’s fair. I guess I’ll be around, then.”

“Right.” Jack sighed. “Do try to get some rest? Well, I’ll see you later, Ryan.” The spectacled man turned to glare at both Gavin and Geoff, who were inching away. “And the next time I see either of you, you had better not be procrastinating.”

Gavin gave his best “who, me?” face. It was not a very good one. Neither was Geoff’s.

“See you,” Ryan said, raising a hand to hide his smile. The sound of bickering started up again as he turned around and left the hallway. Perhaps he would go exploring the castle, like Gavin apparently loved to do. 

…Or, maybe he’d do something else to unwind. He’d been ‘forbidden’ from any work, but it wasn’t like chatting with a friend was work, was it?

Michael’s raised eyebrow as Ryan re-entered the infirmary asked all the questions for him. Ryan smiled as he pulled up a chair. It appeared that in the short time they were gone the physician had finished bandaging both Michael’s arm and his ankle. 

“Can’t I stop by for a chat?” Ryan asked.

Michael rolled his eyes again but the corner of his lips slid up in a small smile. “Yeah, yeah, sure. I guess I was gonna get bored anyway.”

“You said you knew Ray for a while?” Ryan asked.

The next few hours were very informative. Though he was not quite that convincing of an actor, he was a very entertaining storyteller. 

“-And the second he got in the carriage Gavin asked Ray whether or not he’d kill Jack in exchange for a chance to sleep with Geoff.” Michael snickered. “And the two of them are right there in the carriage with Gavin, and they just turned to give him the weirdest look, like ‘are you shitting me, are you really this dumb?’ kind of look. And Ray takes one look at Geoff and goes, ‘Hell yeah’, but then the second after he winks at Jack and says, ‘Don’t worry, I’d do it if it was the other way around too.’”

Michael shook his head. “Gavin’s such an idiot. He just went and asked the best assassin in the Burning Lands some kind of question like that while Geoff was right there, I can’t fucking believe him sometimes. And Ray was cocky as hell back then- he was like that when we were both on the streets together, and I guess being the best assassin that side of the continent hadn’t deflated his ego at all. He’s a lot calmer now, but you should’ve seen him a couple of years back.”

Ryan almost, almost, said, “I did,” because really, he was there. Sort of. He kept quiet instead.

It was clear how much Michael loved them. The fondness in his tone was undisguised, his eyes lit up with glee every time he remembered something else from their past together, and just the way he spoke about them…

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. It was the physician with a tray of food. 

Michael blinked and glanced out the window. Ryan followed his gaze, and noted with some surprise that it was already dusk. 

“It’s dinner time,” Michael said. “You should go get something to eat. Sorry I kept you here.”

“No, it’s fine. I enjoyed it.” He smiled at Michael as he stood. The medic slowly balanced the tray on Michael’s lap. “I guess I’ll be going for today. Thanks for talking with me-“

There was another knock, and the door slid open just an inch. Then wider again, and Ray was standing in the doorframe.

“Hey,” he said.

Michael snorted. “Hey yourself. Get in here, Ray.”

Ryan was already making his way towards the door, not wanting to intrude on Ray and Michael’s time together. But Ray surprised him when the other man reached out to briefly touch Ryan’s elbow. 

“Thanks,” Ray said quietly. “For earlier.”

Ryan smiled gently. “No problem. See you later.”

Ray nodded. Michael waved. “See you!”

-

"Ryan could probably read the damn dictionary and make it sound sexy." Ray's feet are off the edge of the bed and his entire upper half is practically splayed out over Jack's lap. "I mean, goddamn.” He makes a fanning motion with one hand that makes Jack roll his eyes.

Ryan watches himself as his body chuckles and decides to prove Ray right. He picks up the dictionary off their bookshelf, flipping it open somewhere in the middle. As he reads, he tries to inject as much ridiculous seductiveness into it as possible, complete with wiggling eyebrows and just the right amount of smirk. "Lateral. La-ter-al. Adjective."

Ray and Gavin are giggling, Michael's lips are twitching, Jack is chewing the inside of his cheek to stop himself from laughing, and Geoff just rolls his eyes. Alright. Time to up the ante. Set eyebrows to max.

"Relating to the sides of an object or..." He pauses, looks up and makes sure to meet all of their gazes, and pulls up the most innuendo-laden look he can muster. "...sideways movement." That's it, that's it–that's the last straw for the lads as they topple over in a pile of laughter, and Jack has to catch himself on the bedpost right as he's about to fall over. "Laterally. La-ter-al-ly. Adverb form of-"

"Okay! Okay, enough!" Jack waves a hand in front of Ryan's face as Geoff, so overcome with laughter, actually falls off the bed. There’s a slowly drying stream of boisterous laughter from over the side of the bed, and when Geoff clambers back on the mattress he’s wiping tears from his eyes and muffling giggles with the other hand. 

It suddenly occurs to Ryan that he’s never heard him laugh like that since… or rather, at all. The king has always been burdened by some threat or the other that has plagued the kingdom, and even though this Geoff still has wrinkles on his brow and a perpetually weary expression, his eyes are gentle and Ryan suspects that those wrinkles all come from smiling.

By his side Michael and Gavin, still not yet recovered from their laughter over Ryan’s dramatic reading, now find it difficult to breathe after Geoff’s tumble. Jack is hunched over himself with laughter but he’s locked the two lads in a hug to prevent them from going over the edge as their leader has done. Ray’s giggling is pressed into Ryan’s chest after the younger man had rolled over to nestle against his side.

Wherever or whenever this moment is, it is important, somehow. His arms encircle Ray, and it is so very warm. 

He’ll keep this dream close, he decides. He deserves at least one good one.

-

Last night’s good dream and yesterday’s cheerful banter seemed to have evaporated by the next morning meeting. Geoff and Jack were back with serious expressions, and Gavin shifted with restless energy near the back of the room.

“We’re going out for the speech soon,” Geoff said. “I made an announcement that we’d have one in the main square early afternoon. It’s not going to be very long, but I’d like you all to come with me. Gav and Ray, you two are investigating around the back. Ryan, you can stand at the front of the crowd. We think Jenzen might show, and I want to know his reaction to all this. Michael, you’re up on stage standing next to Jack.”

A lot of eyebrows rose in surprise at the last comment. Michael looked down at his bandaged appearance, then back at Geoff. “You sure you want me up there?” he asked dubiously.

“Let’s see if we can’t milk the sympathy factor,” Geoff answered.

Michael snorted. “Sure, if you think it’ll work. I won’t have to say anything, right?”

“Nothing,” Jack assured him. “You just stand there and look… not-so pretty.”

“Why Jack, I’m almost offended.” Michael’s lips slid upwards in a sideways grin. “So, we’re moving out now?”

“Soon,” Geoff said. “Everyone take the time to dress up nicely and we’ll meet at the front gates in half an hour. 

Ryan didn’t have much to do, not having too much in the way of presentable clothes. And he wasn’t going to be up on stage anyway, so he just made his way to the gates immediately to wait. There were a few guards standing around, about half a dozen. They saluted when they saw Ryan, and he smiled uneasily back at them.

They didn’t attempt to speak to him, which was fine with Ryan. Just waiting was awkward enough, really.

Jack and Geoff arrived first, Ray and Michael together soon after, and Gavin ended up last to their little group. Once everyone was gathered, Geoff took one last look over them, nodded.

“Ray, Gav, Ryan- you three go on ahead. You’re going to be infiltrating the crowd so you shouldn’t arrive with us,” Geoff said. “The speech should be starting in around an hour so that should be plenty of time to start looking for Jenzen. Ryan, just muscle your way up to the front.”

“Got it,” Ray said, giving Geoff a salute with one finger.

“Sure,” Gavin said with a smile that quickly faded. Ryan nodded.

“See you guys,” Michael called out as they left. “Later tell me that I looked pretty up on stage!”

Ryan chuckled briefly. Ray and Gavin were both smiling as they set off.

But the closer they got to the city the more antsy Gavin got, and Ray wasn’t much better, constantly peering around corners and staring suspiciously at everyone that so much as glanced their way. It seemed as if their paranoia was catching; Ryan caught himself shrinking back from as much contact as possible as they pushed their way through the crowd of people headed for the main square, afraid they would somehow sense his magic.

“See you,” Gavin murmured, touching Ryan’s arm. “We’ll be hanging back here.”

Ryan nodded slightly and started slipping through the crowd. There was still a part of him that flinched at the sheer mass of people around him, so it was harder than it should have been. It had taken far too many apologies and ducked heads to get here, and Geoff and the rest had already made their way up to the stage. Michael stood beside Jack, leaning on the other man to take his weight off his injured foot. 

“People of Achievement City,” Geoff began, and the crowd’s muttering grew quieter, just a bit. Geoff had a talent for speaking, and Jack was quite good at writing speeches, considering how they drew everyone’s attention. Even so, most of the people looked displeased, and the few conversations that Ryan could pick out around him sounded one step removed from outright jeering.

But Ryan only half-listened, because there was a magical signature that he was starting to become attuned to. It was very faint and subtle, so much so that he initially mistook it for no signature at all. But the more he strained, he more he recognized it.

He knew who he was searching for as he skimmed the muttering crowds. And there he was, plain as day. 

Kdin Jenzen, smiling placidly through the surrounding discontent.

-

Ryan really didn’t like how Jenzen smiled. He smiled like someone who knew what was coming. The Ender were growing bolder and taking more direct action. He didn’t know how far they would go before they got whatever it was they were looking for, and he really didn’t want to find out the hard way.

So he hatched a plan. It wasn’t a solution, or even a preventative course of action, but it’d help in the worst case scenario.

And he had a feeling that they were very rapidly approaching it.

It took a few days of grueling work, since he’d never before tried something like it with his redstone. But there was one dream which gave him the idea, a brief glimpse into some strange world that sent the gears in his mind spinning. And under these circumstances, then he was more than willing to stretch the limits of his abilities if it would grant them even a small measure of safety.

The next time Geoff called them for a meeting, he took the fruits of his labor with him.

“What’ve you got there, Rye-bread?” Gavin asked.

“Take these,” Ryan said, handing out red gemstones strung on some pieces of twine to the others. “I really don’t like what’s going on, and the Ender are getting more bold. These pendants are enchanted- we can communicate through them across long distances. They’ll light up when someone’s speaking through them.” 

Jack held one up to the light, peering at the hexagonal pendant from different angles. “Huh,” he said. “You can really do all sorts of things with your magic, can you.”

Ryan shuffled, slightly self-conscious. But Jack smiled and looped it over his neck. Gavin was still staring and turning it over in his palm, examining the cut of the gemstone in the center with avid fascination. Everyone else had put theirs on already.

“Good timing with this,” Geoff said, tapping the center of the pendant. “Jack and Ray, I need you two to go meet with Burnie. I fucked up last time he was here and we need to clear up a couple of things about who’s actually going over the borders. I already sent a message ahead so Meg should be expecting you.”

“Got it,” Ray said.

“Just a day trip?” Jack asked.

“Meg Turney’s the spymaster of the Burning Lands,” Gavin clarified quietly for Ryan’s sake. “She’s a master of disguise. I mean, I’m better at managing a network, but she’s better than me at infiltrating things personally.”

“There was one time when Gav had a crush on Meg,” Michael said, trying to lighten the mood as the other three hashed out details of the visit. “And maybe she liked him back, I dunno. But there was that time when the two of them started sending purposefully incompetent spies into each others’ kingdoms with badly coded letters and shit like that.” Michael smiled and shook his head. “It was the most expensive and labor-intensive grade school flirting I’ve ever seen.”

“Michael!” Gavin protested quietly.

“I bet you that Gavin still has all of Meg’s letters.”

“Michael!”

Ryan snorted at Gavin’s stricken look of betrayal. And again, when Gavin turned that look towards him.

“You’re all mean!” Gavin cried out.

“Aand as for you two dunderheads over there,” Geoff cut in, glancing pointedly at Michael and Gavin. Immediately Michael’s face was the picture of perfect innocence as he turned to salute at Geoff. Gavin pouted.

“Michael, stay low for a while. Wait till the dust settles down. Gavin, see if the Ender have been planning anything else,” Geoff ordered.

Michael raised an eyebrow. “You’re not giving me anything to do?”

“I just did,” Geoff said. “I’m not trusting you to not get attacked again if you go back out.”

The captain sighed. “Fine, fine. I’m just tired of sitting around.”

“When do we leave?” Ray asked.

“This afternoon. I want things sorted out as fast as possible. Try to ask Burnie if he’ll co-operate with us against the Ender too.” Geoff sighed and looked out the window of the throne room. “I’ll feel better about things if we can at least clear up the misunderstanding with Burnie.”

“Right,” Jack agreed. “Ray and I will start preparing, then. We shouldn’t be gone longer than two days if everything goes as expected.”

“See you later,” Ray said with a brief salute. “Take care of things here, will you?”

“You got it, buddy,” Geoff said. “Check in with Ryan’s new pendants when you can, okay?”

Ray ran a finger down one of the sides of his pendant. “Sure.” He smiled briefly at Ryan before turning his gaze back to the rest. One hand rose in a lazy wave. “Time to go. Lots of shit to prepare, and all that.”

“Stay safe,” Ryan whispered. He had a bad feeling about this.

-

Later that evening, Ryan was at the dining table with the others when their pendants started blinking. 

“What the hell?” Michael asked, taking his off. His brow was furrowed as he stared at it, a confused frown on his face. Ryan’s eyes widened and he quickly tapped the center of his.

“-stop, Geoff-“ came Jack’s voice.

“Jack?” Geoff asked. The king immediately tapped his pendant too, holding it up to speak into the center. “Jack! What happened? What’s wrong?”

“-ambush…Ender…” Ray said faintly, difficult to understand through the crackling background noise. “Sorry-“

There were sounds that could have been shouting in the background, the clash of metal on metal. Gavin gripped his pendant so tightly his knuckles were white.

“Ray? Jack?” he called.

“-to go now,” Jack said. “Love y-“

“Me too…”

And the pendants fell silent.

So was the dining hall, but not for very long. 

“Damn it!” Michael yelled, slamming a fist on the table. He grabbed his pendant and held it up to his mouth. “Jack! Ray! Answer me!”

Ryan’s pendant flared at Michael’s voice, but there was no response from Jack or Ray. Michael waited a moment, then tried again. “Hey! Ray! Jack!”

Again, there was nothing.

Geoff slumped in his seat while Gavin all but exploded out of his his.

“The Ender knew about the ambush, how could they know?” Gavin asked angrily, pacing up and down the length of the table. Michael fumed by Geoff’s side, glaring at the pendant like it was personally responsible for Jack and Ray’s disappearance. Guilt curdled in Ryan’s gut.

“Michael, send a couple of guards out to the route Jack and Ray took,” Geoff ordered sharply. “Gavin, send Meg a message. Ask her if her spies have noticed anything.” He rested his forehead against a palm. “Fucking fuck.”

“Damn it,” Gavin said suddenly. “I’ve got to go. I’ll do that, Geoff.” Before anyone could protest he shot out of the hall.

Michael glowered. “Got it. God fucking damn it, what the fuck were the Ender doing there?” He apparently wasn’t waiting for an answer and merely shook his head, getting out of his seat. “I’ll send some guys out. It’d have to be pretty discreet; I don’t think the people are going to take some guards headed out to the Burning Lands lightly.”

Geoff winced. “Fuck. I forgot about that. Damn it, why does everything have to be going wrong now?”

Ryan felt useless. “I’ll take a look at the cave under the castle,” he offered. “It felt like there was something related to the Ender there. Maybe I can figure out what it is.”

“Do that,” Geoff said with a nod. “I’ll get a guard or two set up there, if that’s what the Ender are really after.” He sighed and rose from his seat. “This is going to be a long fucking week.”

-

One day, Michael stopped Ryan in the hallways.

“Have you seen Gavin around?” he asked. Ryan frowned and bit his lip.

“Not for a while. I think I last saw him maybe two days ago,” he said. 

Michael swore. “I haven’t seen him either. The little shit’s vanished.” His hands formed fists by his side. “I’m going to Geoff.”

And without another word the other man turned and stormed off in the direction of Geoff’s throne room. Ryan followed immediately- Michael didn’t look like he was thinking very rationally at the moment.

“Where’s Gavin?” Michael demanded as he threw open the door.

Geoff was seated at the throne, running over a wordy-looking document. At Michael’s dramatic entrance, he looked up with eyebrows raised in surprise, but as he processed the captain’s words, his expression became pinched.

“He told me he went to meet a contact a few days ago to ask if they knew anything about what happened to Jack and Ray. He’s done his disappearing act before. You know how he and Ray get when they’re off being secret,” he said, but his own expression showed how much he doubted his words.

“Yeah, but he’d have checked in by now,” Michael said. He lifted his pendant, which remained red and inert, not lighting up. “He knows not to do a vanishing trick at a time like this. Gav’s stupid but not that stupid. Something happened to him.” 

“You can’t go,” Geoff said immediately. Michael glared at him. “Michael, I’m serious, you can’t go. Gavin said he was going to meet one of his contacts. I don’t even know who his contacts are, and the Ender somehow still got to him. We don’t know if they’ve gotten into any of your own men, and I can’t risk you disappearing on us either.”

Michael growled. “I just feel so fucking useless!” His hand gripped tightly on the hilt of his sword, clutched it so hard that the veins on the back of his hand popped out. “Ray and Jack were ambushed, Gavin’s missing, and Jenzen’s all smug and acting like nothing’s his fault when everything fucking is!”

“I know,” Geoff said. “Michael, trust me. I know, but we can’t do anything now.” Geoff’s voice was full of despair. “But Burnie’s agreed to help us look for Ray and Jack, and Gavin’s crafty. He knows every part of Achievement City like the back of his hand. I’m sure he’s fine. The Ender won’t know how to catch him if he’s anywhere around the city.”

Michael sighed. “God damn it.” His shoulders slumped. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m still worried.”

He turned to look at Ryan.

“Ryan, if you ever go out, keep the sword with you. Even if you don’t know how to fight, it could still save your life.”

“I will,” Ryan assured him. He still wasn’t sure on his ability to wield a sword, but at least it was enchanted. Maybe he could actually do some damage, cause a distraction.

“Good.” Michael nodded sharply. “I’m going to find something to do. Maybe I’ll watch the gardens, or some shit.” He turned to leave the throne room.

“Michael.” Geoff walked up to him and placed his hands on either side of Michael’s face. “I promise you, Jack and Ray and Gavin are fine. They’re all fine, and you can’t blame yourself for not being there. I need you to be safe too, okay?”

For a moment it looked to Ryan like Michael would try to break away. But all the belligerence seeped out of his posture and he slowly pushed Geoff’s arms down, his hands on the taller man’s wrists. “Yeah, Geoff. Yeah.”

And Michael left.

Ryan’s semi-regular trips to the city became shorter and shorter after that. It got more difficult to pass by the Ender on the streets knowing what Jenzen had done, not knowing what happened to Gavin or the others. Besides, the whispers got worse as time went on, and it took a lot to prevent himself from snapping every time someone slandered Geoff. 

Besides, his study of the cavern and the structure within was eating up more of his time. He couldn’t for the life of him figure out what the strange square was, and he ended up going to bed each night frustrated at his lack of progress.

Geoff still invited him to their room. He and Michael were often there late at night, bundled up together under the blankets.They always invited him to join them for the night. And Ryan had never actually slept close to them before, but now it seemed as if all three of them couldn’t get enough of each others’ presences; when Ryan woke each morning they were all tangled together.

Michael grew more and more pensive as time wore on. Sometimes when Ryan woke in the middle of the night, Michael would be seated at the edge of the bed, holding his pendant in his hand. “Gav?” he would mutter into it. “Ray? Jack?” 

There was never any answer.

Ryan stopped him one day. Said, “If you ever want to talk…” and trailed off, hoping the offer was clear. Michael had paused, looked down with a tiny bitter smile.

“Yeah,” Michael said, and for a moment Ryan had thought things would be okay. But Michael shook his head and turned around. “Maybe later. I’ve got some things on my mind now that you don’t need to hear.”

That was just one of many signs that something was up with Michael. Ryan should have paid more attention. But between his tiredness, his investigating of the odd square in the cavern, and trying to snoop around town regarding the Ender, there was just too much to focus on.

So he was completely blindsided when Michael went up to him and Geoff one evening, all dressed up in his armor with his sword in one hand.

“Geoff.”

“Michael.”

The shorter man swallowed, adjusting the pack on his back and said, “Let’s leave.”

Geoff blinked. “What?”

“Pack up and leave now. We go find Gavin, and then find Ray and Jack, and then we all get on a ship and sail to Remnant. Or if we can’t find a ship we stowaway, I don’t care. The Burning Lands don’t like you right now but Remnant doesn’t care; they don’t care about anything. We’ll be safe there.”

Geoff blinked again, processing Michael’s words. And then he sighed. “Michael. I can’t leave now. When I became a king, I swore a duty to the land and people.”

Michael exploded.

“Fuck your duty!” he shouted. He glared at the crest on Geoff’s chest, threw down his sword in his rage. “Your duty to the kingdom is going to kill you! You can see, can’t you? The Ender want you fucking dead and gone. You don’t have to stay, Geoff- just come with me!”

“Michael, I really, really can’t.” Geoff smiled, a little bitterly. “Jenzen wants something, and I can’t leave until he’s stopped. And even then, like I said, it’s my duty. I can’t abandon the kingdom, or the people I swore an oath to.”

“You and your fucking honor,” Michael said. Geoff hid a snort and Ryan hid his small smile. Like Michael was one to talk about honor. “Fine. Ryan?”

Ryan’s eyebrows rose. He hadn’t expected Michael to extend the offer to him. But he shook his head anyway.

“No. I’m sorry, but I’m staying.” He had made a promise to Jack, after all. “Jenzen is up to something, and it isn’t good. I can’t leave if I know he’s planning something that could be potentially harmful.”

Michael drew in a deep breath. Exhaled. “Okay. You two are fucking honor-bound idiots, but at least competent honor-bound idiots.” He picked up his sword again, and then pointed it at Geoff’s face, the tip of the blade just barely hovering above the bridge of his nose. “You had better be safe! Once you’ve done whatever your duty is, fucking abdicate and come join us in Remnant!”

Geoff chuckled, pushing the blade to the side with one finger. “Yeah. Okay.”

Michael swung his arm to Ryan. “You too!”

Ryan smiled too. “I swear. We’ll join you, the both of us.” And Ryan did not swear lightly.

Michael glowered suspiciously. “Okay.” He sheathed his sword and nodded. “You two better keep your goddamn promises.”

“When are you leaving?” Geoff asked. “Do you have supplies?”

“I raided the infirmary and kitchen, I’ve got enough shit.” Michael shuffled from foot to foot. “I was planning on leaving now. Right away.”

Geoff paused. “Oh.”

“Yeah.” Michael looked him in the eye. “I’m not changing my plans. It’s easiest to slip out at night. So. I’m going now.”

“Okay.” Geoff sighed deeply. He stepped forwards, moved as if to take Michael’s hand, but at the last second changed his mind and hugged him instead. He seemed as surprised as Michael did.

“Stay safe,” Geoff whispered, and released Michael. “Keep our boys safe too.”

“Yes, sir!” Michael saluted, stubbornly refusing to let his tears fall. “And you better remember your promise.”

Surprising even himself, Ryan said, “When you get to Remnant, look for Beacon Academy. Say you know a Professor Haywood. The headmaster will shelter you. He’s a good man.”

Michael looked at him contemplatively, nodding slowly. “Thanks. Thanks, Ryan. I really mean it.”

“Where will you be going from?” Geoff asked.

Michael jerked a thumb beyond the throne room. “There’s a passage that way that Gavin showed me once. It leads out beyond the forest behind the palace. I can double around to the west gate of the city.”

“Looks like you’ve got everything sorted out,” Geoff said. 

“Yeah. I’ve been thinking about this for a while.”

Michael hesitated, almost like he wanted to say something more. But he shook his head and turned around. “Come after us!” he called, without looking back, and slammed the door shut behind him.

Geoff and Ryan looked at each other. The king began chuckling slowly, sinking back into the throne. “Look at us,” he said. “Fucking pathetic, is what we are.”

“Geoff,” Ryan said, but he stopped. Because what could he say? “Things will be okay.”

The king waved his hand. “Get some rest, Ryan,” he said tiredly. “It’s been a long day.”

Life continued.

It was fine for the first few days; Ryan could almost ignore the eerie silence. But soon it became too much to be in the castle. The tower had always been huge, but it’s as if the lack of the others has made it all the more desolate. Without Gavin constantly careening about on some odd errand or the other, or Michael’s loud jokes easily audible from around a corner, or Ray and Jack’s quiet comforting presences, Ryan found it hard to stomach being around the empty hallways for any stretch of time. He was even seeing less and less of Geoff as time went on; the man seemed to always be busy with some announcement or council meeting of some sort, and the bags under his eyes just grew darker and darker.

So he went out to Achievement City. 

It seemed quieter than before. It was early enough in the afternoon that he expected the marketplace to still be rather bustling, but the streets were emptier than he thought they would be. Sure there were still dozens of people going through and chatting, but the whole city was stiller than it had ever been.

Ryan wandered aimlessly for a good hour or so, but found himself meandering back towards Lindsay’s shop after a while. Perhaps it would be good to pay her a visit and talk with someone who wasn’t involved in this whole-

-Hold that thought.

Her door was ajar, but that wasn’t the oddest part. No, the strange part was the fact that Ryan could detect several strange magical signatures inside the shop. Not on the ground floor, but on the upper floor. Yes that was where Lindsay apparently kept her supplies, so Ryan had expected a region of just blinding magical signatures where the pearls were. These odd signatures were moving and smaller. 

Like individual people carrying the pearls.

Like the Ender. Who were meeting in Lindsay’s shop.

The Ender were meeting in Lindsay’s shop.

So much for Lindsay not being a part of this whole mess.

The door had opened enough that the bell would not ring if he opened it further. So he quietly did so and crept into the shop. There were no customers on the ground floor, and Lindsay wasn’t there either. Even so, there was still a creeping presence, something lurking that made his metaphorical hackles rise.

But, there were definitely voices coming down from above. Ryan frowned deeply, moving closer to the ladder at the back of the room to listen in.

“-the castle?” a man asked.

“Yes, Kdin’s going.” That was most definitely Lindsay’s voice. “Caleb’s confirmed the route.”

“Did he find the stronghold?”

“The castle’s built on top of it. We’ve made sure everything’s going as it should,” Lindsay responded.

“Good. And the people?”

“They’re prepared to march upon the castle. Don’t worry about that. Everything’s sorted out- the weapons and such are all under control. Those enchantment tables really come in handy. Ramsey won’t be expecting it and Kdin can get to the stronghold easily. Everything will be done soon.”

Ryan’s eyes widened. So the Ender were planning on rising against Geoff, and they were using the townspeople to do it.

He had to warn Geoff.

Ryan backed away from the ladder, eyes darting towards the door. He made a step towards it. And then one more.

And then something latched around his throat. 

He gasped out loud, hands flying up to his throat out of reflex. There was nothing there, not that he could see, but his nails dug into skin and flesh. Stupid, stupid- he had known that there was another presence in the shop! Why had he ignored it?

The arm wrapped around his neck faded into view, and he caught a glimpse of the man holding him in a nearby glass display case. His eyes were wild and green and sparking.

"Hey Lindsay!" he called, tilting his head back and up to yell through the ceiling. "Look what I caught!"

"Jeremy! I'm in a meeting!" Lindsay's voice was muffled, but her annoyance carried clearly.

"You'll want to see this." Jeremy's elbow locked around his throat and tensed. Ryan gasped, tried to kick back, something, anything to free himself. He missed, and his captor chuckled. "Looks like we've got a bit of a pest problem.”

There was a pause, and suddenly most of the magical signatures disappeared. The sudden lack of presences sent Ryan’s mind spinning with nausea- most of the people meeting above must have thrown the pearls to vanish somewhere.

There was the sound of somebody climbing down a ladder and soon after that Lindsay slinked into view, a raised eyebrow gradually fading into a smirk. Her mask was off, and she really was not joking about the scars. They seemed especially prominent around her eyes… which were the exact same shade of green as Caleb Denecour’s.

…Come to think about it, he had scars around his eyes too. As did Jeremy.

"Well, well, Mr. Mage," she said slowly, in time with her steps. "Eavesdropping is really rude. I expected better manners out of you." She stopped in front of him, her fingers tapping on the handle of the knife she kept at her belt. "And we thought it wouldn't have to come to this. If you'd been a bit less nosy you could've made it out of this all alive, you know.” She sighed. “It’s a real shame. You seemed like an okay sort of person.”

Ryan couldn't respond. His throat was seizing, crushed by Jeremy, his vision starting to waver.

CHAPTER FOUR

It was hard to make himself listen to Gavin that morning. He knew that it was important, whatever Gavin had managed to discover from their prisoner; it might even implicate the Ender. But sounds were slowly growing more and more indiscernible, and Gavin’s voice faded into the background, melding with the shuffling of cloth and slowly echoing footsteps and odd scratching coming from the walls and floors.

He blinked hard. The world sizzled back into focus.

“-Denecour. He admitted he’s with the Ender, but for now it doesn’t look like they’ve actually sanctioned the assassination attempt. Basically he just sounds like an extremist madman, honestly. Jack, do you want to take his things? Look over them?” Jack nodded, and Gavin handed him a small leather belt with a pouch attached.

“So now we can go after the Ender, right?” Michael’s arms were folded in front of his chest. He was leaning against the doorframe, everything about his posture practically screaming impatience.

Gavin grimaced. “Yeah,” he said. “As far as Ray or I can tell, word’s gotten around that someone tried to assassinate Geoff and the Ender are involved. Probably started with the guy whose house you barged into to capture Denecour. It doesn’t really matter, but at least we’ll be able to go talk to Jenzen without everyone revolting.”

“Do that,” Geoff said. He had an arm wrapped around his left side constantly but there was no other indication of the wounds he suffered the night before. His face was unbandaged now, the skin still red and his eye still swollen, but at least it was safe enough for the bandages to come off. “Jack, look at Denecour’s things. Michael, take a couple of guards and go right to the Ender’s base. Ray, ask around the streets. Gavin, go talk to Denecour more, maybe help Jack if you find any coded messages.”

“Fucking finally,” Michael said. He pushed off the wall and stretched his arms over his head.

Ryan shuffled on his feet, very aware that he hadn’t been given anything to do. Geoff was sinking back into the throne already, and Gavin and Ray were already leaving to start carrying out their duties. 

“I’ll go with you, Michael,” Ryan said, awkward. “If I can get closer, I’ll be able to tell if the sword from the first assassin was enchanted with the Ender’s enchantment table or not.”

“Sure,” Michael said, a vicious grin on his face. “Even more stuff to incriminate them. About time those fucks got what was coming to them. Anything to make sure they pay.”

“Are you sure you’re up for it?” Jack asked, worried.

Ryan waved it off. “It’s fine.” Yes he was tired, but if he could just confirm that the first assassin was sent by the Ender as well, at least it’d be the last nail in the coffin for the Ender and their credibility. Then this whole mess would be over.

“You’ve kept the sword?” Michael asked.

“It’s up in my room. I’ll go get it,” Ryan said. It was a quick trip back to fetch the sword, which was still leaning against the dresser as he left it a few days ago. The handle felt weird in his hands, and walking around with a sword felt vaguely uncomfortable. But now was no time to let this unnerve him, so he wrapped the blade in a roll of cloth he randomly fished out of the closet, and tucked the sword into an empty bag he found lying around. He could still feel the warm blade through all the layers, but hopefully it wouldn’t be bursting into flame any time soon.

One last check to ensure that he had adequately restocked on redstone dust, and he and Michael were ready to leave.

As they departed the castle with two other guards who were already in position and waiting outside the gates, Ryan noted that Michael was nearly leaping with every step he took, some kind of predatory anticipation running through his whole body. Ryan couldn’t stop himself from occasionally gazing back at the other man as they walked. Just how long had Michael been waiting for this?

The crush of people that normally surrounded anyone that stepped deep into the middle of Achievement City parted before Michael and the guards easily. Michael’s tension was tangible, something thick that swirled around him and made other people instinctively back away. If Ryan weren’t with Michael right this instant, he would’ve thought that that he was out for his blood.

Eventually they reached a familiar street, where people wearing purple hoods dotted the crowd like weeds in a field. Whispers followed them as Michael strode up to the door of a particularly large building, something that seemed almost like a cathedral.

“I’m looking for Kdin Jenzen,” he announced to the cloaked men stationed at the door. “I’ve got a few questions to ask regarding… recent events.”

The whispers multiplied but as Ryan turned his head to search for the speakers, a few of the cloaked figures let out quick gasps and ducked their heads.

“Well, you’ve found him,” came a voice from the doorway. Its owner walked up to the door, his hands behind his back and smiling serenely. “You’re looking right at him.”

Michael narrowed his eyes.

It was subtle, but on closer observation the man’s robes were more intricate than those of other members of the Ender. On the sleeves were gold embroidery, he had a golden clasp to hold his cloak shut beneath his neck, and his boots were sturdy and of obviously high quality. His glasses shielded purple eyes from view. 

For a brief moment, Ryan thought that Jenzen was looking straight at him. But he blinked, and the man’s gaze was focused on Michael.

“Let’s speak inside, shall we?” Jenzen offered, bringing a hand up to direct them inside.

Michael hesitated, then nodded. “Sure. Somewhere private.”

“Of course.” Jenzen turned around to begin walking. “I’ve got something like an office on the upper floor. Will that be private enough?”

“That works,” Michael said. 

The building was massive. It was obviously not as large as the Ramsey castle, but the building seemed larger than its outside would suggest. Of course, that was perhaps because of the abundance of people within- pressed up against each other, it was miraculous that they managed to get through the crowd at all. Ryan suspected it was because they were being led by Jenzen himself; cloaked people cleared the path ahead of Jenzen so give him a clear passage, but where they found the space to squeeze into each other, Ryan didn’t know.

The middle aisle was carpeted, and it ran right from the far end of the building to the door. To the left was empty floor, with many members milling about and talking lowly with each other. On the right, closer to the doors, was a wooden counter, something of a donation area where people left things like clothes or food that would keep, and picked up other things in return. Beyond that were chairs and seats- some children sat on the floor and watched, entranced, as an older woman told stories with cloth puppets. 

Most everyone here had one of those pearls with them- Jenzen had an entire string around his neck. That obviously didn’t do anything good for Ryan’s seemingly constant headaches. Lindsay really wasn’t kidding, then, when she said the Ender loved these things.

There was a small set of stairs hidden behind a wooden stage at the very fore of the building. “That’s where we give speeches, on occasion,” Jenzen informed them, referring to said stage. “You’re welcome to drop by anytime, of course. We’re very open to… all sorts of people.” 

And again, it might have been Ryan’s imagination but Jenzen looked right at him, as if he knew.

“We’ll pass,” Michael muttered sourly, for the both of them.

“If you change your mind,” Jenzen said mildly. Michael rolled his eyes.

Once at the top of the stairs, Jenzen turned into a room. “My office is here,” he said. “Nobody comes in without knocking, and I can assure you that the door is quite soundproof. Is this private enough for you, Captain?”

Michael grunted as he scanned the area. “It’ll do.” 

There was no grand gilded desk or other similarly ostentatious decorations. The room was practical and well-kept. Papers on a sturdy-looking desk, plain blue curtains drawn over the one window, a lamp hanging overhead, a small wooden shelf with many books and scrolls, only about half of them looking anywhere close to ancient.

Ryan was a bit disappointed, if he had to be honest with himself. He expected something showier- 

-like an enchantment table?

He narrowed his eyes. As he searched for the telltale magical signature, Michael made a sharp gesture with his hands to the guards following them. Both men saluted, walking out of the door and letting it close behind them. “I hope you don’t mind that they’re going to be standing guard outside.”

“Not at all. So long as they don’t scare the other members. We’re a very peaceful community.” Jenzen smiled. Michael almost bared teeth. “Now that that’s all settled, what were your questions? I’d offer a chair, if there were more than one. Alas.”

“We’re fine standing. So, one question to start with: have the Ender at any point traded with the Burning Lands? For magical materials?”

Ryan kept half an ear on the conversation as he scanned the building- or tried to, at least. He was certain that there was the resonance of diamond and obsidian coming from somewhere. Not this room, but there was definitely something odd about the stage downstairs. Perhaps it was hidden inside the stage, somehow? No matter, it was absolutely the same aura that the sword by his hip radiated. 

“Yes, we have,” Jenzen confirmed. “Diamond and obsidian, mainly. We’ve built an enchantment table for help with our donations. If you’d like to see them, I keep all our records.”

“Donations.” Michael’s voice made the word a question.

“We enchant clothing, to make it more durable. It’s a great help for those who cannot afford to replace clothing as often as we do. Occasionally we enchant other items, such as shears for shepherds, so that they can collect more wool to sell. Sometimes weapons, to help people ward off wolves. Little things to help make people’s lives easier.”

“Right.” Michael was not very good at keeping skepticism out of his voice. Despite that, Jenzen didn’t let up his smile. “Is Caleb Denecour a member of the Ender?”

“Ah, Caleb. Yes, he’s one of our members- one of our community heads, in fact. He hasn’t been appearing for a while, though. He’s missed at least a few weeks of meetings.” Jenzen’s smile dropped briefly and his voice grew pensive. “He has taken a few days off before, but nothing for this long.”

“He’s gone missing?”

“I suppose.” Jenzen winced. “We should have realized this before. I hope he’s all right and unharmed. Maybe I should ask some of the other members if they’ve heard from him…”

“We’ll put up a missing person’s report,” Michael lied. 

“Oh, good. Thank you, very much.” Jenzen closed his eyes and exhaled in relief.

“Last question, then.”

“Yes?”

“What are the Ender’s goals?”

Jenzen paused a while before answering. “Well, that’s a rather broad question, isn’t it? We have a lot of goals. Mostly, we just want to help people who have no means of helping themselves. There are the donations, and you’ve seen the childcare we do while the children’s parents are working. We occasionally hold talks, and let people talk themselves. We provide a place for people to meet others, to socialize and make new friends, or business partners, or perhaps even future husbands and wives.”

“Right.”

Jenzen’s smile sharpened, just a bit. “I know what you’re trying to ask, Captain. Your loyalty to the throne is commendable but as the leader of the Ender, I assure you that we have no intention whatsoever of rising up against the kingdom. We are simply doing what we can for a better world. Would you have us persecuted for that?”

Michael hid his snort. “That’s no business of mine, until you start threatening the king. Your religion’s free to do what you want.”

“Oh, we are not a religion,” Jenzen said. “I’m flattered you think that our devotion to our cause deserves to be called religious, but we are not a religion, nor a cult, nor a group of zealous fanatics. We are just people united by a common vision.”

“Well. It was a pleasure,” Michael said, his voice saying the exact opposite.

“Likewise.” Jenzen extended his hand, and Michael shook it briefly. He turned to Ryan, who smiled weakly as he shook Jenzen’s hand. “I do hope you stop by for a talk sometime. You may find it enlightening. Magic is a very rare gift. Perhaps you could use it for the greater good?”

Ryan froze. So did Michael.

“Don’t worry. Like I said, this is a soundproof room,” Jenzen said. “Nobody will know.”

“Good afternoon,” Michael said, in a tone of voice that suggested that he was trying very hard to remain calm, and walked out of the room. 

Jenzen kept on smiling at Ryan, and he quickly left as well, mumbling a mess of words that he now couldn’t recall. Cold panic was set in every muscle of his body. Jenzen had known- Jenzen had to be a magic user of some sort, to sense that in the first place. But why wasn’t Ryan able to tell that he was a mage?

“I don’t trust a fucking word he said,” Michael muttered with a glare as they pushed their way out of the building. “He’s too slimy- smiles too much. He definitely had something to do with the assassination attempts. I don’t believe him for a second when he says that Denecour hasn’t shown up for week, but we can’t fucking prove it.”

“If it’s any help, the sword was definitely forged somewhere there,” Ryan said. “It’s the same magical signature, for sure.”

Michael sighed. Once they were through the doors, he dismissed the guards, telling them to go back to their normal rounds. When it was against just the two of them, he said, “But if we can’t prove that Denecour had orders from them, there’s nothing much we can do to them.”

“Could you ask some other members if they’ve seen him?”

Michael shook his head. “Who knows how deep Jenzen’s got them. They might all be covering for him and lying about Denecour. Can’t trust a word any of them say either.”

Ryan paused, frowning in thought. “If it were someone unaffiliated with the Ender?”

“Maybe.” Michael raised both eyebrows. “You know someone?”

“I might,” Ryan said slowly. He was already regretting his words even before he said them- those pearls were absolutely going to give him a terrible headache. He was definitely not looking forward to this. “Follow me.”

The path to Tuggey’s Jewelry wasn’t particularly confusing, but it still took them a while to get there. Ryan slowed down on the pretense of trying to remember where it was, but the truth of the matter was just that he really did not want to get anywhere near the shop. But it was necessary, he told himself. Just a short visit to ask Lindsay a question, and then he and Michael could leave and he would force himself to somehow get any kind of rest at all.

They stopped in front of the shop and he pushed the door open.

“Welcome to Tuggey’s Jewelry-“ Lindsay stopped, raised eyebrows just barely visible over the top of her mask. “Ah. Welcome back, sir! You’ve got a friend with you, I see.”

“Sorry, but we’re not here to shop,” Ryan said. He resolutely kept his eyes from wandering anywhere near the redstone or the green pearls- was thatglowstone he detected in the corner? That was most definitely Netherborne glowstone. Ugh, all the conflicting types of magic swirling about in the room was making his mind violently object to any sort of rational thought.

“Oh?”

“You said the Ender regularly stop by your store?” he confirmed.

“Yep. They like to buy those pearls over there, like I told you.” She waved a hand to the display case in question. Michael’s gaze followed her movement. Ryan had to stop himself from doing so, and just barely saved himself from the lurch in his gut. “What’s this about?”

“Do you know someone named Caleb Denecour?” Michael asked, taking over the line of questioning. “Skinny guy, short hair, one blue eye, one green? He’s a member of the Ender.”

“Caleb? Yeah, I know him.” She frowned, tilting her head to one side and scratching behind her ear. “Haven’t seen him in a while, actually. Usually he stops by every weekend or so to buy a couple of pearls, like all the rest of the Ender do. I don’t think he’s been getting his weekly fix for a while.”

Michael’s lips thinned. It was obvious to anyone with working eyes that he was not very pleased at all, likely at the fact that someone outside had confirmed Jenzen’s words. So there was no probable reason for suspecting that Denecour was working under orders, and thus no way to launch an official investigation into their matters- sure there was the first assassin, but with the enchantment table so commonly used, how could they prove that the Ender had specifically given it to the assassin?

“Right,” Michael said. “Thanks, that’s all. We’ll be going now. We’ll be putting up a missing persons notice. If you see Denecour anywhere, tell one of the city guards.”

“Sure,” Lindsay said. Michael nodded once at her and immediately turned around, pushing the door open. “See you!” she called, but it was unlikely that Michael heard it over the door creaking shut.

“Your friend seemed angry,” Lindsay commented.

Ryan massaged the bridge of his nose, trying to will away his headache. It wasn’t working. “He’s going through a lot,” Ryan said. “By the way, could I ask a favor?”

“Uh, sure. What is it?”

“Would it be possible to not sell any more of those pearls?” Ryan nodded in the direction of the furthest display case. “They’re magical jewels, possibly evidence in a crime.”

Lindsay paused for just a little while. Then she smiled, a bit tentative and sharp. “All right. I’ll see what I can do about it.”

“Thanks,” Ryan said, and said his farewells.

Michael was waiting outside the shop as he emerged. He raised an eyebrow in a silent question and Ryan just shrugged.

“So, that conversation didn’t end as well as we were hoping,” Ryan said. 

Michael glared at him, then to the ground. “That’s a fucking understatement. Fuck.” Just to make himself feel better, he stomped once, hard. Then he brought his gaze back up towards Ryan. “You head on back. I’ve got stuff to do here at the headquarters and you look like shit. Seriously, get some fucking rest.”

“Sounds good,” Ryan agreed, very eager to head back to his room.

Michael left with a wave, and Ryan began the long walk back. Pushing the wrong way against most of the crowd and suffering from extreme sleep deprivation, it was almost too easy to accidentally blunder into someone’s path. He muttered quick apologies and just did his best to push through the crowd of people until he reached the castle. Navigating to his room was almost second-nature after so many trips out and about.

He ran into Matt outside his door.

“King Ramsey wants to see you, sir,” the pale man said. “He’s at his chambers.”

Ryan dithered, briefly. He considered asking if it could wait. But Geoff was the king, so Ryan just nodded and tried to hide his resignation.

“He requests that you bring materials necessary for the potion you brewed for him previously,” Matt continued.

Ah, so Geoff wanted a potion. Ryan supposed that was unsurprising- the other man had gotten stabbed yet again, after all. And it wasn’t as if potion brewing took any particular effort. He could just take a nap as the ingredients began stewing, and ask to be woken up after an hour or so.

“All right. I’ll get them.” Ryan popped into his room to pick up the brewing stand and restock on some redstone, and then followed Matt out towards Geoff’s room, apparently a few floors up somewhere close to the center of the tower. All the more difficult for an assassin to get in, which raised the question of how Denecour had managed to get all the way to Geoff’s chambers, and where he came from.

He was pensive as Matt knocked on the door, announcing both his and Ryan’s presence. He almost missed Geoff calling him in, only looking up when Matt turned to leave. The door was slightly ajar so Ryan nudged it open, slowly poking his head around.

“I’ve got the things,” he said. “You wanted another p-”

Geoff was seated on the bed beside Jack, their arms around each other. In the brief instant before they realized Ryan was there, Geoff’s expression was something Ryan had never before seen. Tired but still soft, vulnerable and fond in a way that he would never show to anyone else.

That was not the part that hurt. That it was an expression just for Jack did not hurt. What hurt was the stab of recognition, the knowledge that Ryan has seen this face before, directed at him, that he recognized the unspoken words in Geoff’s eyes and he didn’t know why it made him so unbearably sad.

But Ryan froze in the doorway and the other two pulled away. Jack blushed ferociously, his words already collapsing over each other as he attempted to force out explanations. 

Geoff. Geoff, though. He smiled, but then suddenly, violently frowned. It was an angry kind of frown, completely at odds with the pure love in his eyes not even half a minute ago, but that just made him look all the harsher.

Ryan felt like crawling out to his room, maybe even crawling back to his mountain retreat out of pure mortification, but Jack had already stood, smoothing out his clothes. “Sorry,” he muttered, not meeting Ryan’s eyes, not glancing back to Geoff. “I’ll leave you now.” 

 The taller man pushed past Ryan, and then it was two. Geoff, still frowning. Ryan, inexplicably hurt without knowing why.

At last, he coughed. Cleared his throat. “I- Matt said you wanted another potion.” He couldn’t look Geoff in the eye. “I have my potion stand here, and I-“

“Forget the potion,” Geoff said roughly.

Ryan blinked. Blinked again. “…Come again?”

“You heard me, fuck the potion. Ryan, you look like absolute crap. You haven’t been getting rest, right. That’s not a question. You’re fucking exhausted.”

“But you needed the potion.” Ryan, slightly lost, waved a hand to his potion stand drifting a ways behind him. “You just got injured-“ 

“No, set your shit down. That’s an order if I have to make it one. You look terrible and that’s not an exaggeration. And we keep saying get some rest, get some rest, but obviously you’re not doing that on your own so I’m gonna take this into my own hands.”

“But you-“

“Okay, now it’s an official order. Royal decree. Get your ass into bed, right here. Can’t trust you to get some sleep on your own. I can just heal the old-fashioned way like I always have, screw the potion,” he added, when Ryan still frowned back towards his equipment.

There really was nothing Ryan could to in the face of that. Geoff looked ready to catapult out of bed and bodily drag the other man to join him.

“All right,” Ryan said uneasily. He allowed his brewing stand and his redstone to drift into a corner as he removed his outer coat. He dropped his bag beside the rest of his things, mindful of the sword within. And then he looked hesitantly to the bed. Geoff was still in it.

“Get in, Ryan.”

His heart was thudding in his chest as he sat at the edge. He hoped it didn’t show on his face. All he could think of were the imaginary Geoffs in his dreams, the ones that were warm and so familiar and intimate in a way that the real Geoff would never be with him. It was wretched, and he hated himself for wanting- it wasn’t only the king, but Jack, and Michael, and Gavin and Ray too. He wanted that intimacy, the closeness, wanted for their vague friendship to be something else.

“Get some fucking sleep,” Geoff ordered. He at least did not curl up right beside Ryan, and laid at the other end of the bed. 

Ryan swallowed. Closed his eyes. Tried to will away his emotions. But it was so hard, because he could still feel the imaginary specter of body heat pressed against his back, and the threat of nightmares was always looming…

…but the bed was warm and soft and no matter how much he wanted it not to be, Geoff’s presence was a comfort and slowly… 

like a feather suspended in the breeze… 

Ryan drifted to sleep.

It was the first peaceful sleep he’s had in weeks.

-

When Ryan next woke, it was to the dubiously pleasant and wholly surprising discovery of Michael’s face almost nose to nose with his and Gavin sprawled right on top of him.

So he did the only logical thing to do in such a situation: he yelped and flailed. He was not at all ashamed to admit it.

Gavin and Michael both startled awake, and Gavin was sent tumbling off the bed right to the floor. Michael very nearly fell on top of the other man, but managed to cling to the edge of the bed through sheer strength of will and very powerful fingertips.

“Rye-bread, why?” Gavin whined, a hand at the back of his head. “I was having a lovely dream.”

“S-sorry,” Ryan said. “I was surprised.”

He glanced around quickly. “Where’s Geoff? And do you all normally dog pile in his bed?”

Gavin and Michael looked at each other, very significantly. 

“Eh,” Gavin said. “Sort of. Anyway, about Geoff. He’s off doing royal stuff. I woke up after he did and he threatened to do horrible things to me if I woke you up because you needed the sleep. He was right, you know. But anyway he said he was going to do some work, I dunno. I guess he’d be at the conference room.”

Michael rolled his eyes. “The day Geoff voluntarily does his work is the day I retire. Geoff’s a lazy bastard, you know that. He’s probably hiding from Jack before Jack makes him actually do the things he’s supposed to be doing.”

“Well, we’re awake now.” Gavin stretched his arms over his head. “What time is it?”

“Around nine,” Michael replied. 

Ryan looked out the window. Daylight.

He took a moment to process this before the revelation hit.

“It’s nine?” he demanded. “I slept through yesterday?”

“Yeah.” Michael gave Ryan a look. “Hey, calm down, nothing happened. You deserve it. Honestly you should probably sleep more. You look better already.”

Gavin agreed. “You can go back to sleep,” he said. “We’re getting things under control and you don’t have to get involved. We’ve got our own things to do, you’ve already done your part.”

Ryan shook his head. “I’m already up and I’ve slept for a long time already. I doubt that I’ll manage to get back to sleep even if I tried. And I really do feel better,” he added, seeing Michael and Gavin’s identical looks of skepticism.

“If you’re sure,” Michael said slowly, as if he didn’t believe him. “We’re not gonna go like Geoff and force you to sleep but just take it easy, okay?”

“I will, thanks,” Ryan answered. “What are you planning on doing?”

“I’m gonna go look for Ray and compare information,” Michael said. “He’s been doing some rounds in the city, I’ve been doing some rounds- there’s lots of shit that we have to handle. Fucking paperwork.”

“Jack’s asked for me,” Gavin said. “He said there’s something he wants to investigate about the castle so since Ray’s not going to be available I’m going. It’s about the assassin. Jack said they traced a blind spot in one of the castle guard patrol routes, which was probably how the assassin slipped through. Maybe Matt’ll come with us, I’m not sure about that yet.”

“I can go with you,” Ryan offered, reaching for his coat. 

“You sure?”

“Yeah.” He shrugged. “I’d like to explore the castle a bit, if that’s okay. I’ve had enough of heading out into town for now.”

“Yeah, exploring’s always good!” Gavin exclaimed. He bounded off the bed, and the whole mattress wobbled. “Okay, so it’s down somewhere in the basement. By the archives, you remember those? I’ll lead you.”

“Have fun,” Michael said dryly. “Me and Ray have reports to file. If you find Geoff tell that bastard that he’s got stuff to sign. If I don’t get to avoid work, he doesn’t either.”

“Okay!” Gavin agreed with a grin. “Come on Ryan, it’s quite a walk! If we finish up quickly then we can go grab lunch.”

“Is food all you ever think about?” Michael asked. Gavin only grinned and waggled his eyebrows.

“Right, well.” Michael sighed and waved a hand tiredly, though there was the slightest spark of good humor in his eyes. “You know where to find me if you need me. Go and have fun doing secret exploring shit, or whatever.”

Gavin bounded out the room and Ryan followed just behind enough to not lose him in the mess of hallways and staircases leading down to the basement. The spymaster chattered animatedly as he walked, turning behind him to glance at Ryan so much that he might as well have been walking backwards. It led to more than the occasional run-in with the odd squire or group of guards, but everyone just sighed and adjusted their course around Gavin, who waved brightly to anyone he passed.

Jack met them at the bottom of the stairwell Gavin led them to. He held two torches in his hands, passing one to Gavin as the other man approached.

“Gavin, Ryan,” Jack said, by way of greeting. “This is probably where the assassin came in from.” He gestured over his shoulder to the wall behind him. “There’s a passageway here that’s easily covered up. I guess you missed one in your quest to explore the whole castle, Gav.”

“Let’s see it, then!” Gavin exclaimed, rocking back and forth on his feet.

Jack rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, let’s get going.”

They lit the torches, Ryan formed his own ball of light, and then they set off. There was a large hole at the end of their hallway and a tapestry on the floor. “Nobody goes down to the archives unless they’re looking for something in particular, so it was the perfect place to tunnel into from outside. We’ve followed it a while in, but we stopped so you or Ray could come down here,” Jack explained, ducking inside. 

Gavin hurried after, leaving Ryan to take up the rear. “Ray’s going to be out all day on the streets,” Gavin said.

“Right, well, I guess he can investigate later. There are a few guards up ahead. We’ll be taking over from them so they can go back to their normal patrols.”

“Sure!”

The tunnel wasn’t particularly long, and they soon ran into said guards. There was no room to snap to attention in the cramped space- barely enough room for them to squeeze past the other way. 

“Sir Patillo, Sir Free, Sir Haywood!” One guard nodded and waved back towards the unknown end of the tunnel. “There’s a cave there, we suspect that’s where the assassin’s been living int he castle while he attempted to find a route to King Ramsey’s chambers. There’s signs of someone having stayed in there for a while, but no outside entrances we can find.”

Jack nodded. “Thank you. You can return to your duties, we’ll take over from here.”

“Sir!” Both guards attempted to salute as best as they could and scurried off.

Gavin was practically vibrating from anticipation. “Let’s go! See if Denecour’s been leaving any clues behind.”

The tunnel went on for just a little more before opening up. 

Really, really opening up.

A lot.

“Whoa,” said Gavin.

“This is incredible,” Jack said in disbelief, moving his torch around over his head. “You’ve never seen this place, Gavin?”

“No.” Gavin looked like he was torn between frowning and gaping in wonder at the sheer scale of the cavern. “Never knew it existed. I don’t think Ray knows either.” He shook his head, apparently still in shock. “This place is bloody massive! How have we never known that this place existed before? Right under our noses!”

Ryan had his eye on something else. As far as he could tell, there was nobody else in the cavern with them, but there was still something… A weak magical presence, or more than one?

“There’s something else here,” he said slowly. “Something magical. I’m going to take a look.”

“Huh?” Both men turned back to him. Ryan ignored them and stepped past Gavin, sweeping over the cavern with his magic. 

There was a violent reaction somewhere near the rear left of the cavern that made him wince. He brought up a hand to rub at his temple- his headache was back and probably worse than ever.

“Over here,” he said, moving slowly towards it. Whatever was emanating this magical signature, it wasn’t alive. That was all Ryan could tell. He hadn’t felt this kind of magic before, though it did raise goosebumps along his arms at how much it reminded him of the Ender. Or more specifically, Kdin Jenzen. 

He didn’t dare to bring his makeshift lamp closer, out of fear that it would react with whatever it was that was set into the stone wall of the cave. He couldn’t quite make out what it was, but Jack and Gavin were to either side of him and they had their torches, so that section of the cave was quickly thrown into flickering yellow light.

It looked innocuous enough, really. A square made of blocks of indeterminate material, with circular grooves in the center. There was another magical presence somewhere to the left but it was fainter, so perhaps it was a remnant, a trace of Denecour from before. It seemed perhaps a bit too fresh for that, though…

“What’s this?” Gavin asked, baffled.

“I’m not sure,” Ryan answered, pulled away from his thoughts. “But don’t touch it. If it’s magical and you don’t know what it does, that just means it’s more dangerous. I might be able to examine it more, but i can’t do that while I have my redstone on me. I’ll have to come back for-“

“Sir!”

They all startled, spun around. Gavin nearly lost his balance along the way. Matt was a few reps beyond the entrance to the tunnel, holding another torch in his hands.

“Matt?” Jack moved closer. “What is it?”

“King Burns has arrived at the castle,” Matt said. Jack’s eyebrows rose in panic. “King Ramsey is meeting with him in the main hall.” Matt paused. “If I may add, sir, King Burns seemed rather… frustrated.

Alarmed, Jack asked, “Geoff’s talking with him alone?”

“No, sir.” 

Jack relaxed. 

“Captain Jones is with him.”

“Shit.” 

Jack looked back to Gavin and Ryan. “I’m going up there,” he said. The next bit was mumbled under his breath, probably not meant for Ryan or Gavin to overhear. “Of course it had to be those two…” 

He quickly strode past Matt, who shrank back against the corridor to give space for him to pass. Gavin and Ryan exchanged glances, and in unspoken agreement hurried to follow him.

Ryan spared a slightly apologetic nod towards Matt as they passed, but the other man’s eyes were fixated on the chamber beyond. That was more than understandable; if Matt knew the castle even half as well as Gavin did the presence of such a large undiscovered cavern would be a shocking discovery.

But he had no time to spare for even a short conversation with Matt, and so he and Gavin rushed back upstairs after Jack. The other man was just a little bit ahead of them, but Gavin’s long legs easily pulled him up ahead to catch up with Jack. Part of Ryan was holding back a shiver of deja-vu. Him, Jack, Gavin. Running, something sinister and invisible at their backs.

He shook his head. Maybe he hadn’t had as much sleep as he thought.

As they approached the throne room, they could hear King Burns before they even entered through the doors.

“-I would never try to kill you,” he said.

“Well obviously you’ve tried,” came Geoff’s voice, hard like stone. “We have records of your kingdom trading with possible terrorists. Tradingenchantment tables.”

Silently the three men entered the main hall to see Geoff at his regular seat, Michael standing at attention to the right of the throne’s arm. King Burns was directly in front of the throne, a few steps down so that he had to look up at Geoff. He wore a dark travel coat and kept a scabbard at his side, both looking well-worn from years of use.

“You’re supporting a fucking terrorist group that’s trying to kill me, and you’re here falsely accusing me of trying to invade you, am I getting this story right?” Geoff asked.

Something flashed in King Burns’s eyes, something like hurt and uncertainty and wretched sadness. But his head turned slightly, and he saw that he now had an audience, and all those disappeared from his expression. His eyes narrowed, his posture straightened.

“Geoff. King Ramsey. I’ve said my piece as your friend and ally, and now I’m saying it from one ruler to another. My accusations are not false nor unfounded.” 

He withdrew his arm from inside his cloak, tossed at the floor a scratched up sword. Even from this far away, Ryan could see the unmistakable emblem of the Ramsey Kingdoms was etched on its hilt. 

“Keep your soldiers out of my lands, or there will be consequences,” King Burns said.

And with that, he turned. His cape was a flourish as he marched straight out of the room back towards the gates, and Geoff watched him go. He was standing in front of his throne, one hand clutching at the arm of his throne like a vise. Michael was tense but he didn’t move, barely even blinked.

Then all at once Geoff’s breath rushed out of him and he sat back down on the throne, head bowed and something defeated in his expression.

The doors closed behind King Burns’s departure, and Michael took that as the cue to relax, just the slightest amount. “Geoff?” he asked, voice uncharacteristically small.

Geoff sighed again then tilted his head far back, so that the back of his head rested against the back of the throne. “Michael. You haven’t got any reports of anyone going over the borders, right?”

“No,” Michael confirmed. “None of my guards have been going anywhere even close to the border. And without your command I doubt any of the regular patrol guys have been dicking around either. I bet all my fucking money it’s the Ender and they’re trying to frame you.”

“Fuck.” Geoff briefly lifted his head only thump it against the back of the chair again. “Great. Fucking perfect.”

Jack stepped forward, comforting words already on his tongue, arms extended to reassure Geoff, to calm him. 

Gavin and Ryan hung back. 

“Geoff and Burnie were pretty good friends as kids,” Gavin said quietly. “I guess they’re still friends, but one friendship doesn’t erase years of bad blood between kingdoms.”

“But if they’re friends, why would Geoff think that King Burns sent the enchantment table?”

Gavin shrugged. “I mean, the Burning Lands aren’t exactly nice about magic. They really don’t like it after what happened last war, especially the general populace. If there’s anything magical in the kingdom it would be in the possession of royalty, who would be the only ones even moderately willing to tolerate it.”

Yes, Ryan knew what happened the last war. There were reasons that the Burning Lands were so named, and eponymous tendencies was only one of them. Second-hand guilt stirred in his gut.

“I suppose so,” he said. 

“The Ender haven’t ever been serious about undermining Geoff before,” Gavin mused. “But now they’ve sent the assassins, and then they’re probably the ones trying to start something with the Burning Lands.” 

He sighed. “I’ll ask Ray to investigate some more,” he said, louder so that Geoff and the others could hear.

Jack nodded. “You do that.” He held Geoff in his arms, and a wave of wretchedness passed through Ryan as he looked at them- at how intimate they were.

Taking it as the dismissal it was, Gavin made his way out after giving Ryan a nod. Ryan himself hesitated: lingered, just the slightest bit to catch another glimpse of Jack and Geoff, and now Michael as well. He imagined himself slotting into their group, Jack and Michael shuffling to the side so he could slot into place, Geoff’s hand in one of his and Michael’s in the other. Gavin and Ray popped up in the middle of Jack’s embrace too and it just felt so right, the six of them.

It was so familiar that it hurt.

So he left.

Sleeplessness was starting to look like a distinct possibility again.

The tension over the next few days was unbearable. The few times that Ryan ventured into town, he couldn’t help but notice just how many purple-cloaked people there were about, preaching into the crowd. He was even more unnerved by how many others were gathered around to listen, but he could never stay long to attend one just because of those damn pearls. 

He instead eavesdropped in the town square, and apparently the recent gossip was that the Burning Lands were increasing the frequency of their patrols around the borders, and the people were indeed very unhappy about that.

Gavin and Ray disappeared more frequently but for shorter periods of time, talking to contacts and slowly growing restless. Though they bantered more or less as often as usual, there was a false quality to their laughter and smiles. Jack frowned much more, and now it seemed that he was furrowing his brow over some report or another every time Ryan saw him. Geoff, on the surface, appeared as carefree as ever, but every time he ordered Ryan to sleep in his room with him the other man was stiff and constantly uncomfortable- it made Ryan feel guilty about how at peace and well-rested he himself was, when it seemed to have the exact opposite effect on Geoff.

But it all came to a head by the end of the week.

CHAPTER 3

Jack summoned them all for a meeting the next morning. Ryan was one of the last to arrive, only just ahead of Ray. To his surprise, Geoff was at his seat on the throne, still bandaged but sitting up tall, not a hint of pain showing on his expression. Michael remained near the doors and Gavin was opposite Jack, the two of them standing on either side of Geoff’s throne. There were no other guards in the room.

Jack started off straight to the point, without introductions. “I found some trade records with the Burning Lands and there is a mention of magical equipment that was bought by a religious group. Their leader is Kdin Jenzen, and from what Gavin’s told me, that is the name of the current head of the Ender. So I’m certain that the Ender have an enchantment table, which came from the Burning Lands.”

Geoff frowned. “Fuck. I think I remember that- it was a few years ago. They’d just gotten so popular I had to open up trade with the Burning Lands because they said they needed stuff for rituals or some shit.”

Michael glowered, his mood obviously not improved from the day before. “Can I just go in and ask some questions? I fucking hate waiting around.”

“If I can get close to the table, I’ll be able to tell if the sword was definitely enchanted there or not,” Ryan offered. “Maybe I could head in and pretend to be interested in what they have to say, so I could find out for sure?”

“No,” Gavin said immediately. “Ray and I have the Ender covered for now- so Michael, you don’t do anything either. Look, we can’t let any of the guards be seen harassing the Ender, and something’s off about Jenzen. Just let me and Ray get some information first.”

“You do that,” Geoff ordered, and both Ray and Gavin nodded. “Michael, just do your thing. Stay away from the Ender. And that goes for you too, Ryan.”

Ryan blinked, noticing just how deeply Geoff was looking at him. “Take a break. You look like shit, man.”

“You look pretty bad,” Ray agreed. Jack just frowned as he noticed the no doubt very conspicuous dark lines around Ryan’s eyes. “It’s still pretty early, so you can go back and catch some more sleep if you want.”

“I’ll be fine,” Ryan murmured, still unused to the attention of all five other men, suddenly more uncomfortable with memories of his latest nightmare drifting around his mind. “I- uh, I’ll go now, then.”

He slipped out of the throne room and wandered around a few random hallways until he was fairly sure that none of the others would be coming after him. He sighed in relief, for a moment just leaning against a wall as he tried to gather himself. It was… difficult, to say the least, being around the others after his nightmare. It felt like a guilty secret, something he was not supposed to know.

And no wonder. In that nightmare, he had known somehow, felt for sure that he was- they were all- together. 

Ryan grimaced and shook his head. He shouldn’t have thought about it anymore. Something else to think about: maybe going out in town. Being in the castle was nerve-wracking, and not only for the possibility that he may run into any of the others, especially Jack. He’d been getting disturbed by being within the castle walls, convinced that there was something muttering beyond the stone facade.

It was likely nonsense. A combination of stress and lack of sleep. But it’d do him some good, at least mentally if not physically, to be out of the castle.

So he left.

He got lost, yes, but thankfully he managed to find Matt, the man who accompanied Jack and Michael when he first came to the castle. Matt helpfully showed him the path to the exit, and also gave him directions back to his own room again from the main entrance–Ray and Gavin weren’t kidding when they said Matt knew essentially every place in the castle. He thanked the man and set out.

It was still relatively early when he made it down to the town center. People flowed around him, and for some reason it wasn’t as claustrophobic as before. Maybe because he had real, tactile people around him to ensure that he wasn’t stuck in some sort of horrendous nightmare. 

So Ryan wandered. He stayed away from the Ender, because now that he noticed it, their magical signature was almost overpowering. They saturated the entire street where their main building was located and it was giving him a headache.

He turned to the market instead, hanging by near the entrance to the street and just watching people as they went about their day. He could have probably spent the whole day like that, if not for a child’s voice.

“Mr. Vagabond!”

Ryan startled and glanced down, wide-eyed. It was a young boy with brown hair and three missing teeth, grinning widely up at him. He vaguely remembered him as one of the children who frequented the square of the village up in the mountains; Ryan had sometimes taken to performing small parlor tricks to amuse the children as their parents finished their jobs in the marketplace.

“Mr. Vagabond, can you do a magic trick?” the boy asked, almost bouncing on his feet.

“Edgar!” And that must be the boy’s father, running up to him through a stream of people. A woman followed behind him, in one hand a rope tied around the neck of a cow. “Don’t run off, I’ve told you so many times-“

The man stopped as he looked towards Ryan’s face, eyebrows rising high. “Ah, sir! Sorry about Edgar, I’m sorry if he’s bothered you-“

“No, no, not at all,” Ryan said quickly. “It’s all right, I was just a bit surprised.”

He pulled up his best smile for Edgar and said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t do any tricks right now. I’ll be back in the village in a while, maybe I can do something there.”

“Okay!” Edgar said, nodding vigorously. “Promise, Mr. Vagabond!”

Ryan nodded, and Edgar beamed. Ryan turned his attention back to Edgar’s parents, both of whom were now nearby. 

“What brings you to the city?” Edgar’s mother asked. 

“Ah, I’ve been asked for help,” Ryan answered, wondering if he should say anything about who had asked him or what for. “I hadn’t planned to come down, but I suppose it’d be easier to work from here.”

The father nodded, his expression serious. “The city isn’t for us,” he said. “We’re just here for the day to sell the calf.” He gestured to the cow his wife held. “Maybe buy some things, a toy for Edgar. It’s far too noisy here, too many people, too many things going on.”

“Too easy to lose Edgar, too,” the mother added, sparing another glance for her son even as the cow tugged against the rope. “As you’ve seen. He gets distracted easily.”

“He is young,” Ryan commented. “Is it his first time in the city?”

Ryan was slightly ashamed to admit that he really remembered nothing about Edgar’s parents, not being one to remember details about acquaintances, but he stayed behind to chat for a while longer. They told him some of what had happened since he’d left, like how the children had all been disappointed when he was no longer around to make redstone butterflies for them to chase.

Deep in the conversation, they didn’t notice when Edgar wandered off, yet again. The realization came slightly too late, when the boy’s voice cried out, “Mama!”

Instantly they stopped talking, both parents growing white as they frantically turned their heads to search. Ryan bolted upright, extending his senses to try and find the boy. He couldn’t have gotten that far.

He zeroed in around the corner to the left, and called to Edgar’s parents where he was. It seemed that Edgar had gotten himself trapped inside a large wooden crate. His father extracted him quickly and the family said their farewells, the parents making sure not to let Edgar wander off on his own. Ryan said his goodbyes, before turning his attention back to the box.

It was magical. It seemed that a lot of things were, these days. Not the box itself, but it had once contained magical objects. The aura was faint, but he could still just barely trace it down a few streets, to fancy looking store with a red awning. 

A wooden sign hung over the doorway, reading TUGGEYS JEWELRY. There was a display window, loaded with various types of jewelry, but on closer inspection Ryan could find a bracelet carved out of bone, some necklaces with gold and prismarine pendants.

It was a very strange shop indeed. He entered, and a bell run to signal to the owner that a customer entered.

Inside wasn’t too large. There were four long glass cases arranged in columns, with a wooden counter by the back right corner of the room, presumably where transactions were made. There was a ladder beyond the counter going up to another floor, and Ryan assumed that was where the owner slept.

Speaking of the owner, a woman with vibrant red hair looked up when he opened the door. She had a mask covering her eyes, but the lower half of her face was left exposed, so he could see her warm grin when she saw him.

“Good morning!” she called out, gently placing a headdress back in its case before walking up to him. “Welcome to Tuggey’s Jewelry, good sir. I’m Lindsay Tuggey, the owner, as you might have gathered from the name. Are you looking for a gift for your wife?”

“No.”

“Oh. Mistress?”

“No.”

“Daughter?”

“No, not a daughter.”

“Ah.” 

There was a pause.

“Husband?”

Ryan coughed. “No, sorry. I’m just looking, for now. I’m new to the city, and you have a very interesting shop. Is that bone you have in the front?”

Lindsay smiled widely. “So you noticed! You’ve got good taste. You know how there are noble women who boast about having rubies, or diamond, or gold- that’s all mundane. Or, mundane for jewelry, I should say. I specialize in very exotic and special jewelry. I’ve got bone, prismarine, obsidian, redstone- anything odd or hard to find, I’ve probably got it! It makes for a much better image, wouldn’t you say?”

“Redstone?” Ryan cocked his head, not able to help the curiosity from seeping into his question. It was rare that anyone other than a mage would collect redstone. It was notoriously difficult to find, only located deep underground near magma, and there were many difficulties involved in collecting the material in the first place, what with it turning into dust with the slightest tap to its ore. That Lindsay had managed to shape it into jewelry was very impressive, if perhaps dangerous. Ryan knew firsthand how volatile redstone could be when compressed enough.

“Yes. Are you interested? We have some right here.” She walked over to a glass case near the middle of the room, tapping on the covering. “I’m going to have to warn you, though: all of my wares are pretty expensive. I have a reputation to maintain, after all, and I’d say it’s fair compensation for risking my life to get these all.”

And now that drew a raised eyebrow from Ryan. She noticed, and laughed lightly.

“I get everything myself, actually! The bones are from skeletons, I mine down the redstone myself, get the prismarine from the ocean, travel to collect everything personally. That’s my sword right there,” she said, nodding to the far left wall. Indeed there was a worn yet well-maintained blade hanging on the wall. “It’s why I have this mask, really.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s the scars. If you go hunting, you’re going to run into some unfriendly creatures. Skeletons, creepers, angry wolf packs, the lot of them. I’ve had a couple of close encounters.” She drew off her elbow-length gloves, and showed Ryan the scratches all over her arms.

“Most of my customers are noble ladies, and they’ll get uncomfortable if I don’t cover them up. Some slashes right across the face aren’t going to look pretty,” Lindsay said, waving towards her mask. “And now I look mysterious and enticing, just like my goods.”

“I see.” Ryan peered at the redstone jewelry, and he was very impressed. It looked like the redstone was of high quality, and even with his limited knowledge of jewelry he could tell that they were very lovingly crafted. But more than the redstone, there was another conflicting magical signature within the store. 

He turned to the left and noticed a case full of green pearls, some linked by wires to form headdresses and necklaces, others mounted as the centerpieces of various ornate rings. The pearls looked exactly like the one he had plucked off the would-be assassin. Almost subconsciously, his hand dropped towards his pocket, as if to make sure that he had taken it with him.

“What are those?” he asked, hoping that the suspicion he felt didn’t carry through to his voice. Lindsay followed his gaze and laughed.

“Oh, these! They’re basically glass, really. They shatter real easily and I find them all over the place down by the coast. Honestly, they’re practically worthless, but a lot of those Ender guys stop by every week to buy them. They’re like clockwork- I’ve gotten to know a couple of them by their faces since they come by so regularly. During slow seasons the Ender are practically the only reason I’m still in business!” She paused, looking to him. “You’ve heard about them?”

Ryan nodded. “Yes, I have.” As he approached the case, there was no doubting that the pearl in his pocket was the same as these. 

“Would you mind if I bought one?” he asked. “It looks very interesting.”

Lindsay frowned. “Are you sure? Like I said, these things are practically all glass. The only reason I mark them up is because those Ender nuts will pay practically anything for them.”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“I’m not about to give discounts to any random stranger, you know. It sets a bad precedent. It’ll be pretty expensive.”

“Will the raw pearl be as much?” Ryan asked, periodically glancing back to the case.

“I suppose not. You just want the pearl?” Ryan nodded in confirmation, and Lindsay frowned again. “I’ll be back,” she said, headed back behind the counter to climb up the ladder. He could hear the shuffling of boxes overhead, and Lindsay soon returned with a rather small pearl wrapped in a white handkerchief.

“I’ll take it,” Ryan said, smiling briefly. She named her price and he paid her, now somewhat thankful for the money that Ray had lent him earlier.

“You’re very strange,” Lindsay commented as he turned to leave the shop with his purchase safely in his coat pocket. “Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter for me. A sale is a sale. See you soon, sir! Be sure to visit again!”

“I’ll consider it,” Ryan said, giving a slight wave back.

The moment the door closed behind him, the smile dropped from Ryan’s face. His headache had been slowly intensifying the longer he spent in the shop, and Lindsay’s words regarding the Ender had started to make suspicions start brewing in his mind. He’d probably have to inform someone of this, perhaps Michael or Gavin. It really was time that they should start investigating the Ender in full.

He winced as a sudden ray of sunlight sent a pulsing pain through the back of his eyes. First things first, he had better return to the palace. Perhaps he’d get some rest for a while, though he’d have to avoid sleeping. Then he’d find somebody to inform.

And of course, something had to go wrong the moment he stepped foot in the castle.

This something was King Geoff Ramsey himself.

The man noticed Ryan step in and his expression brightened. “Ryan!” he called, voice still somewhat muffled from his bandages. He motioned for Ryan to come over. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you, I feel like we haven’t had the chance to speak properly.”

Ryan hid a grimace but went over anyway. It seemed like Geoff wanted to talk about other matters unrelated to the current investigation. Maybe Ryan could tell him about the Ender after their chat was done.

“Sir,” Ryan said, and Geoff shook his head.

“Geoff. Not sir. How have you been doing? You’ve been out, haven’t you. I did tell you to get some rest.”

“I’ve been a bit restless,” Ryan said. “And I was curious about the city.” It wasn’t the best lie, but it would do.

Geoff just nodded. “I understand- it’s hard being stuck inside here all day. I’d be out with you if I’ve been able to get a moment away from Jack and the court. And if I didn’t look like this.” He gestured at his face, frowning. 

They walked as they talked, Geoff leading Ryan into a seemingly rather underused room. Around them were various portraits of the forefathers of the Ramseys, extending back several generations. Their painted glares were unnerving, and it set invisible spiders crawling up and down Ryan’s spine.

Geoff noticed.

“These old bastards were fucking asses, weren’t they?” he said. “I mean, I can sort of understand their point of view. We were a pretty tiny kingdom and everyone around us was a lot larger. The Burning Lands and Remnant- though they weren’t called by those names earlier. It made sense that they’d want to conquer as much land as they could, but it doesn’t excuse their actions.”

“No,” Ryan said. He hadn’t been paying much attention to it in his time at Remnant when the previous King Ramsey had been threatening war, having taken it as empty posturing. He was more worried about what he was to do when he had to return home, how he’d have to hide his magic- the mage purges were already well underway by that point in time, Remnant being the only kingdom to remain even vaguely friendly to magic wielders.

As if knowing exactly which topic Ryan was thinking about, Geoff said, “But I guess that’s not really what matters personally to you, is it? My father especially was a real bastard about mages. Jack was telling me about how nervous you are about your magic. Michael said you looked like you were about to run when he and Jack showed up at your place.” Geoff shrugged. “It’s understandable, and I know it’s not worth much, but I’m sorry for what he’s done.”

“It’s not as if he’s done anything to me,” Ryan muttered. And it was true- he didn’t suffer much from the purges, but he did have friends who were forced to flee the kingdom. He hadn’t heard from them since. But him personally, he was just lucky enough to find a village that didn’t very much care about magic, somewhere to live relatively safely and in only mild paranoia while his acquaintances and peers were persecuted around him.

Maybe that was another reason for his nightmares. Survivor’s guilt.

He shook his head slightly, to pull himself out of his recollections. Geoff was looking at him closely.

“It’s past now,” Ryan said. “It doesn’t really matter anymore.”

Slowly, Geoff shook his head. “It still really does matter. But what I’m trying to say is, thank you. Really, thank you for coming down here, even when you’ve got no reason to stay. You’ve already done your part, and you’re free to leave whenever you want.”

Ryan bit the inside of his lower lip but smiled, just a little. “No, not really. I did say I would help, and as far as I’m concerned things aren’t over yet. I’m staying until everything is settled.”

Geoff smiled, in his eyes something like respect. “I know I’ve said this a hundred times already, but thank you.”

He scratched at a bandage, and Ryan felt compelled to ask, “How are you doing? Does it still hurt?”

Geoff hummed. “It’s still painful, yeah. But Jack’s good with first aid, and it’s not infected or anything. It’ll be a while until it heals fully but for now it’s fine.”

“I can make a potion for that,” Ryan offered. Geoff raised his eyebrows in surprise. “If you have some gold and melon, I’ve got the other ingredients I need back in my room along with my potion stand. It will help the wound heal faster.”

“Really?” Geoff asked. “Are you up for it, though? You still look like shit.”

Ryan waved a hand. “It’s fine. Potion brewing doesn’t take much effort, aside from chucking ingredients in.”

“Well, if you’re sure,” Geoff said, still a bit uneasy. “I could use it…”

“Come with me, then. My things are back in my room.”

Geoff stopped briefly to ask for some melon to be delivered to Ryan’s room, and he had a few golden coins in his pocket so that took care of the ingredients. Ryan had, unsurprisingly, gotten the both of them lost at least once, so the melon was ready in his room when they arrived.

Potion brewing took a lot of time, so he and Geoff chatted more as he got the glistering melon boiling. Geoff had a somewhat crude sense of humor, Ryan discovered. He wasn’t what one would expect of a king, and he found that Ryan’s sarcasm fit well with Geoff’s joking. It was nice hearing him laugh- for some reason the sound being as familiar as it was obnoxiously happy.

He handed Geoff the potion once it was done and their fingers brushed for a moment- and Ryan suddenly remembered his dream from the night previous, the way the imaginary Geoff’s fingers swept across his forehead. He hoped that Geoff was distracted by the bubbling red potion, that the other man hadn’t noticed the way he came to a dead stop.

“So I just drink this?” Geoff asked dubiously, holding the flask up in his hands to look at it from various angles.

“Yes,” Ryan confirmed. He pulled up a smile when Geoff gave him a look. “It’s not going to hurt you, and it doesn’t taste terrible.”

“Well, if I’m poisoned, this is all your fault and you are a crafty assassin as your ploy to make me let my guard down worked,” Geoff said. And then he guzzled down the entire potion in one go, and Ryan was grateful that he wouldn’t see how Ryan’s heart practically stopped at the sentence.

The second Geoff was done, he made a face. “Too sweet!” he complained, sticking his tongue out. “God, what did you do to that? It’s like someone glued a block of sugar to my tongue!”

Ryan chuckled to hide his own unease, still reeling from the assassination comment. Just how had he grown so protective over Geoff this quickly? “Well, it’ll work, so you have nothing to complain about. Try checking under your bandages later tonight.”

They wrapped up their conversation, finishing a few more trains of thought, and then Geoff had to depart for even more duties. “Nobles,” he said in distaste. “They’re always complaining about something. If it’s not the taxes it’s the farmers, if it’s not the farmers it’s the damn weather,” he grumbled. “Well, see you another time, I guess.”

He waved as he left and Ryan waved back. Glancing out his window, he noted it was already late afternoon. 

He frowned. Might as well rest, really. Talking with Geoff alleviated his headache some, but there was still a perpetual soreness pulsing under his temples. Rest sounded good. Maybe he’d even make up for the lack of sleep, or at least do something to dampen the exhaustion permeating his entire body.

He hung up his coat, for now too tired to properly change out of his clothes, and collapsed onto the bed. His mind fled into darkness just as his head hit the pillow.

-

Ryan later awoke in the throes of another nightmare. His breathing was harsh as his eyes flew open, and he couldn’t move, his body paralyzed. His gaze zipped frantically about the ceiling, and his body strained at its invisible bonds. Sleep paralysis- he’d had it happen to him before but each time it was as if the experience was new, and he struggled uselessly as his breathing sped up, the inability to move only intensifying his fear fresh from the nightmare.

It was Geoff, this time, but only after all the rest had vanished. It was a strange world, where horseless carriages were made of metal and everyone carried around with them explosives as volatile as heated redstone. He had a projectile weapon- they all did, but that hadn’t helped any of the others when the city’s armed guards had come for them- didn’t help Jack when he startled Michael. 

Didn’t help Geoff either, when he thought he was in the company of an ally. A friend. Perhaps a lover.

They were far out on the water, the land just a thin strip of darkness behind them. Geoff was half-cackling, still running on adrenaline and desperation. over one shoulder he had a large bag, stuffed full of money. Ryan himself was unmoved. His pulse was just the slightest bit faster, but whether it was due to their narrow escape or some dark anticipation, he couldn’t tell.

…In all honesty, it was probably the anticipation.

He stopped the boat.

“Why are we stopping?” Geoff asked.

“There really doesn’t have to be two of us,” his own mouth said while his body stood. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Geoff’s confusion slowly morph into realization and horror. 

“Oh no, we are not-“

These projectile weapons were loud, Ryan discovered. And bone cracked a very specific way, and brain and blood splattered oddly. Geoff’s face was beautiful even when it was blown out.

He wanted to scream, he wanted to cry. But instead, all that came out of his mouth was a low, “Alpha two wins.” Smug and satisfied, almost a purr.

And then he woke up.

God.

Where did these dreams keep coming from, these worlds where they all cared for him and he for them as much as Jack and Geoff did for each other- as much as everyone else did for Geoff? It just hurt, sent his heart into spasms of longing and pain both, made his eyes heavy with a need for sleep, made his body tremble from fear and exertion.

It took a while, but he eventually calmed. His sheets were soaked in sweat yet again, and judging by the sky outside it was sometime in the dead of night.

It was progress, at least. He’d had at least a couple of hours of sleep.

But he could hear something in the walls, creeping underneath the floors, and suddenly he felt uncomfortable in his room again. He got up, quickly changed into fresh clothes and pulled on his coat- there would no doubt be a cold wind through the stone castle this late at night, and he had no desire to be shivering as he wandered the halls. 

Perhaps he’d find his way to the gardens again, Ryan mused as he let the door swing shut behind him. It was calming there, and he could learn to ignore the magic radiating from the statue’s diamond eyes. If only he’d been paying attention when Ray and Gavin first showed him the way.

He wandered down a few hallways aimlessly. It was quiet at this hour.

He fished a handful of redstone out of his pouch, made a small little globe of red light to follow him around. His footsteps were almost too loud, and he felt an odd sense of disconnect between himself and the shadows that scuttled across the surface of the walls. He counted his footsteps, counted their echoes-

“Hey.”

-and was so lost in his thought that he didn’t notice the voice until it was right behind him.

He whirled around, arm drawn back and ready to detonate the ball of redstone right into his attacker’s chest. 

But the light flared brighter and it was only Ray with both his hands raised.

“Nice reflexes,” Ray said. There was a pause. “Could be faster.” 

Ryan sighed and dropped his hand. He closed his eyes for just a moment, and waited for his heartbeat to calm down. 

“Can’t sleep?” Ray asked.

Ryan couldn’t stop his eyes from flickering to Ray’s chest, where a bolt of light had whizzed right through the other man in his dream. He forced his gaze back to Ray’s face. “No,” he answered. “I thought I’d take a walk to calm my mind. And yourself?”

“I just got back from meeting with my guy in the Burning Lands. I was kinda ready to turn in for the night,” Ray admitted. “What’s got you wound up?”

Ryan shrugged. “Anxiety, I suppose. This business with the Ender is unnerving. You have information about the Burning Lands?”

“Not much. There’s rumors about King Burns coming down to visit Geoff about some diplomatic issue, but that’s about it as far as gossip goes. Not a word about the Ender.” The younger man was dressed in dark clothes, making him almost blend in with the shadows. “So, enjoying your walk?”

“Yeah.” Ryan shifted from one foot to the other. “Didn’t you say you were going to bed? Don’t stay up late on my account, please. I don’t get very much sleep anyway.”

“If you want me to go, then you can just say it, you know. I’m not going to be offended or anything if you’d rather be alone. You just looked stressed, is all. Thought you’d appreciate some company.”

Ryan was silent. He couldn’t deny that being around Ray and talking to him was helpful- maybe even necessary to remind himself that the dreams were just dreams, no matter how vivid they’d been getting.

“I guess company would be nice,” he said, and smiled crookedly. “Could you show me the way back to the gardens? It looks nice and peaceful out there.”

Ray grinned. “Hell yeah, I can! Come on, follow me.”

Ray bounded ahead, and Ryan followed. Ray wasn’t exactly chatty, but he dropped occasional tidbits of information about his life prior to coming to court, and Ryan found himself doing the same in return, saying a few sentences about his teaching days. He learned that Ray was a past assassin working in the Burning Lands, who joined Geoff’s court after an invitation from Jack. It explained why he was so sneaky, or why Gavin left Ray to dig up information from the Burning Lands.

And in return Ray asked questions about what it was like teaching at one of Remnant’s more prestigious schools, the kind of things smart-aleck magic-wielding troublemakers would get up to.

Ray has just pressed the stone that would open the passageway to the gardens when three things happened, all in close succession:

The sound of running footsteps.

Gavin yelling, “Geoff!”

And Michael roaring, “Catch him!”

Ray and Ryan exchanged the briefest of looks, just barely enough for Ryan to read the sheer panic in Ray’s eyes, before Ray shot off like a hare in the direction of the commotion. Ryan followed as fast as he could.

They were on the same floor, which was the only reason that Ryan managed to stumble into the scene of Michael and Ray cornering the runner, swords drawn- Michael with a streak of blood on the right side of his face and ferociously bed-messy hair— and a thin man with a giant smirk that was just barely visible with his back to an open moonlit window, a bloodstained sword at his feet.

“Don’t make another fucking m-“

Michael got no further, because the man reached into his pocket and threw something small and round out the window, and Ray rushed to apprehend and immobilize him- 

But the man was gone in a swirl of blinking purple lights.

The man was Ender, Ryan was sure of it.

Ray and Michael looked to each other, lost, and Jack staggered into view, his shirt missing and blood on his face.

Ryan reached into his pocket, fingers finding the pearl that he bought that day. It was a guess, pure wild speculation, but if he was right-

He flung the pearl out the window, and waited.

Three.

Two.

On-

Crash.

And god it hurt. 

His entire body was wracked with pain, like he shattered just like the pearl he threw, and it took everything he had not to cry out. But he lifted his head just in time to catch a flash of movement on the rooftops across from him. There was no doubt in his mind that it was the same man from the castle, running.

Well, Ryan wasn’t about to let him do that. 

He still had some redstone, even after having to abandon the light he conjured for his walk through the castle. It wasn’t much, but the last of it streamed out of his pouch, grains attaching to each other to form a rope that slithered around his arms. 

The man was racing across the roof, running further out beyond the castle. With another few minutes, he’d probably be lost enough among the city that it’d be near impossible to trace where he’d be going.

Ryan took aim and let it fly.

The redstone glowed as it flew through the air, and Ryan didn’t realize he was holding his breath until he sighed in relief as the rope connected with the (hopefully) would-be assassin. His fingers twitched and the redstone coiled around the man’s ankles. With another flicker they pulled tight, and the man went down, rolling hard on the roof. One last gesture, a sharp flick of his wrist, and the rope stretched between the man’s ankles to his arms, ensuring he wouldn’t be able to grab hold of another pearl or weapon.

There was a faint grunt, and then it was silent.

Ryan took another deep breath. Held it, and exhaled.

And then he began running ahead. The roofs weren’t far apart, so he merely steeled himself before the leap, and jumped.

The landing sent tremors through his ankles, and he winced, but there was no rush now- not when the man was right there lying on the roof, unable to get up. He made his way slowly, to give time to the others to gather reinforcements, perhaps for Michael to rally some guards. He kept his distance, still wary.

But the man spat on the ground and glared at Ryan’s feet with hateful eyes- one blue, the other green. With one eye watching the man carefully, Ryan slowly lowered himself to sit at the edge of the roof, sighing in relief as the weight got taken off his feet.

He hadn’t expected his day to be so action-packed. Not being able to rest peacefully for more than a few hours each day was really taking its toll on him- he felt at least a dozen times as tired as he should have been, and the suddenly frequent use of magic certainly wasn’t helping, as was his exposure to multiple conflicting sources of it. But at least, if they had another assassin in custody, they’d be able to go and question the Ender directly. Ryan had a feeling that if they didn’t do that, there wasn’t any way to resolve this whole fiasco.

It was strange, wasn’t it. He recalled that someone mentioned the Ender hadn’t ever made any move to suggest they wanted to overthrow Geoff. So why the deluge of assassination attempts? Surely, if what he’s heard was right, the easier way would be to cultivate their popularity and attempt to force Geoff to abdicate. Geoff wouldn’t rise up against the people if they wanted him to leave the throne.

“You think you can win,” the man said, jarring Ryan from his train of thought. He turned to look at the man, his smirk serpentine. “You won’t. Whatever you can think of doing, there’s no stopping it.”

“What do you want? What are you trying to do?”

“It’s all over for you,” the man said, a mad sort of laughter slipping through after the last word. “For all of you.”

Ryan grimaced and gave up. He didn’t know how to ask questions to get people to answer, he’d leave it until the man got to Gavin arrived. A spymaster ought to know those things, right? If some guards would get here, there’d probably be-

There was clanking and voices down in the streets below. A few windows were opening and sleepy people poked their faces out, wondering what could cause a commotion at this hour.

Speak of the devil.

He peered over the edge and indeed, it was Michael leading a group of guards. Three split off to go in a different direction, and Ryan could hear Michael already ordering another trio to search down another path.

“Michael!” he called, just loud enough for the other man to hear, but not so loud that it’d wake everyone down the street. He waved when Michael turned to look at him, and breathed a sigh of relief when Michael started making his way up with another guard. 

With many apologies to the owner of the house, the Ryan followed Michael back to the castle, surrounded by a group of guards. Michael asked him a few questions, he answered as best as he could- many of his responses being, “I don’t know,”- and Ryan asked after Geoff and Jack and everyone else in the castle.

“Geoff got stabbed a bit. Not serious- Jack’s patching him up. Everyone else is fine- Gavin got bruised but it’s nothing much. Maybe the rest of his face can swell up to match his ridiculous nose.” Michael grinned, but it was brittle and only for a moment, as if trying to convince himself everything was alright and failing.

“That’s good, then,” Ryan remarked quietly.

Michael exhaled. “As good as it gets,” he said.

Once they were in the castle, Gavin was waiting at the doors with an impressive black eye. Ray and Jack were nowhere to be found- presumably up with Geoff.

“I’ll handle this from now,” Gavin said, nodding to Michael and the guards. “Let’s go into the dungeons. Michael, Ryan, you two should rest.”

Ryan wanted to argue but just as he opened his mouth a yawn escaped. Gavin looked at him pointedly, and he sighed. “I’ll leave you to it, then,” he said, already turning to head back to his room.

Michael caught his arm and squeezed. “Thanks for going after him,” Michael said. He hesitated like he wanted to say more, but just shook his head and marched back out, tossing out a few last orders to the guards- mainly, do whatever Gavin says, he’s in charge for now, don’t let the bastard get away.

Ryan couldn’t help but sneak one last glance to the assassin as he left. The man was looking right at him, the scars around his right eye narrowing his expression into a smirk. Ryan shivered. 

The guards started following Gavin’s lead away, but Ryan felt eyes at his back long after he was gone. His fingers itched for redstone at every random scratching sound, but he was all out for now.

So. 

Sleep.

“Well,” he said to himself, his smile sardonic. “That’s not happening any time soon.”

He could still remember where Ray led him to. Perhaps he’d manage to find the gardens again. But either way, there was still quite a ways to go until daytime.

————————————————

AN INTERMISSION

"Sorry, sorry!" Ryan drops to his knees to help the stranger he bumped into pick up his dropped papers. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Aww, dicks," the man mutters, frowning at his papers. "Fuck me, I spent ages putting that together." 

Ryan winces, but before he can let out another stream of apologies, the man waves a hand and says, "It's fine, it's cool. Just some papers, dude."

Once every page is haphazardly collected into a pile, Ryan stands, still not managing to hide his embarrassment. "I'm rea-"

"Dude. It’s really ok, no probl-"

Their eyes meet, and Ryan swears that his heart shivers.

For a moment neither man says anything, simply staring at each other. Just to himself, Ryan thinks that a collision in the middle of a parking lot is probably the worst place to encounter a soulmate.

The man isn't wearing a pendant on him, at least not one that Ryan can see. He wonders if his own is glowing.

“S-sorry," the man says nervously. "I'm Geoff."

"Ryan," he says, almost automatically.

"Uh. Sorry if this is weird or something, but... is your color... red?" The man fidgets nervously, a few sheets of paper wrinkling under his fingers. "I don't. Uh, I don't actually have a pendant, but my boyfriends, they- they say that there's a red space missing. And, uh, my color is silver, and your pendant is...?" Geoff's eyes flicker down to Ryan's chest, and he gestures at the pendant in question.

Ryan's color is red, yes, and his pendant is glowing like it's lit up by the moon, yes, and his just heart aches to say it. 

What he says instead is this: "I'm engaged."

Geoff flinches. "Oh."

It's silent for a good while longer. 

"I have to go," Ryan says eventually. "I'm sorry."

His heart feels like it's going to freeze a hole straight through his chest as they say awkward farewells, and he stands there for a long time after Geoff walks away, wondering if he's made a mistake. He'll think about it a lot, in the coming months.

The wedding is half a year later and it's the happiest day of his life, and he almost–almost– forgets about the man with no pendant and a soul full of silver. But when his insomnia gets bad, he'll stay up at night and just wonder.

Her pendant's been empty since the day she was born and his still glows faint colors that aren't hers, but what does it matter? He's happy. He is.

~

He’s almost not sure what he’s doing when he takes his hands off the steering wheel. The hum of the engine cuts out and they’re drifting to a stop on the waves. He can sense Geoff’s confusion when he stands, rocking their little speedboat.

“There really doesn’t have to be two of us,” he says, and isn’t it wonderful how brittle Geoff’s temple is against the barrel of his gun?

~

The polaroid picture is grimy. It's not a surprise; he's always pulling it out of his pocket, thumbing over the creases over their faces. It's been so long since he's seen any other humans that the only memory of faces he has left is locked in this one single photograph. 

He's lonely, but it's safer this way. 

He wastes away in the desert, in the scorching sun and howling winds at night. Sleeps in caves, curled up against the rocky wall with the remnants of his rags pulled tight around his body. Hunts rats and small rabbits, where he can. Tina was kind enough to let him leave the shelter with a knife. It won't do him much good against an infected, but he hasn't seen one in... weeks? He lost track.

Sleeping alone is hard. It was so good with five other bodies pressed against his, and the lack of presence is more than enough to stir up bad dreams. Bad memories. Bad everything.

gavin's face, melting, skin sloughing off rank with blood and pus-

his finger on the trigger, the shotgun barrel pressed to gavin's temple-

"don't tell the others please, please, please rye-bread don't tell"-

waking up in the middle of the night to michael's eyeballs popped like water balloons-

jack's fingernails suddenly claws on his shoulder-

geoff howling in pain until his voice crumbles and his teeth fall out-

ray. ray, ray, ray: gorgeous ray kissing him while he turns and all ryan can taste is blood-

he has exactly four bullets left-

And then he wakes up. He never sees himself pull the trigger on any of them, but that's good. Maybe he can somehow forget that it's his fault. He really didn’t know he was a carrier, he didn’t!

…Oh, who is he kidding. It's his fault. Everything's his fault. If it weren't for him. Oh, if it weren't for him.

~

Ryan smiles in faux-benevolence at his gathered subjects.

“I propose a team breaking exercise,” he says, fingers steepled. 

~

“I don’t like this.” Ray frowns deeply as he glances around the dirty walls. “This is really not a good place, I mean it.”

“Come on, Ray! It’s not like it’s really haunted.” Gavin adjusts his grip on his phone, grinning at the other man. “It’ll be cool- nobody’s lived here for like, a hundred years or something! We’ll just film it for a while and then leave. Nothing wrong about that.”

Geoff and Michael are further up ahead and Jack lags behind them. Geoff had grumbled, Jack was worried about whether the floorboards were safe to walk on or asbestos or something or the other, and Gavin and dared Michael so that really was that.

“I’m not worried about it being haunted,” Ray shoots back. “I fucking bet you that some freaky axe murderer guy’s holed up in here somewhere waiting to decapitate us or some shit like that.”

“We’re gonna have to cut off your slasher flick supply, buddy,” Michael says. That draws a muffled snicker out of Geoff, and a faint smile from Jack, though the latter still seems hesitant about this whole adventure.

“If you really want to leave, we’ll make this short, okay?” Ryan assures Ray. “Twenty minutes, probably. We don’t have to go upstairs, we’ll just stick to down here.”

Gavin hides his groan when Ryan gives him a look. “Yeah,” he says anyway. “Come on Ray, twenty minutes, like Rye said!” 

Ray sighs. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Seriously, this place is fucking creepy.”

“You can say that again,” Jack murmurs.

Ryan hums noncommittally as his fingers brush over the doorframe leading to the kitchen. They come away white with chalk dust. If he peers close, maybe he can see vague smudged squiggles around the door, some odd markings that he can’t recognize, but feels as though he should.

“Hey, look at this!” Gavin’s voice calls from inside. “This is so cool!”

“Coming, Gav!” Ryan wipes his fingers on his jeans. He turns away and plods into the kitchen where the others are, letting the door swing shut behind him.

(somewhere deep, deep, deep in the walls and rusty water pipes, running through unconnected electric cables, hiding underneath the stained linoleum tiles, something suddenly wakes. it rattles, it shakes, going tap-tap-tap on the peeling wallpaper.

it is hungry.)

~

“There doesn’t have to be two of-“

Ray fires.

This time, Deadshot Ray misses. How unfortunate. For him.

Ryan laughs and the subway is painted red.

~

He wakes up.

Again, and again, and again and again and again, he wakes up.

He wakes up and

he

always

CHAPTER TWO

Ryan woke up simultaneously shivering and sweltering under the blankets, so he kicked them off and sat upright in bed, just breathing slowly. Eventually he felt his breathing ease and his pulse slow, and he felt well enough to get out of bed. He quickly put everything back in its place and went up to the window, for a moment simply staring at the dark skies above. He'd maybe gotten three hours of rest? 

Well. Nothing to do but wait for daylight to break. He doubted he would be able to get back to sleep now.

That dream was so vivid, though, more real than anything else he dreamed before. The images were already fading from clarity, but he could just barely recall blood splashing onto skin, glazed eyes staring at nothing, and the air was so cold, so still. 

He shivered again and resolved to stop thinking about it. Distract himself from it. Somehow.

He paced around the room. Searched through the closet more thoroughly. Examined the sword, though his eyes throbbed too much for him to take a closer look at it. Set up his potion stand. Went through every single drawer.

Before he knew it, the sun was up, and there was a knock at the door.

"Hey, sup." 

It was Ray who greeted him, a hand caught mid-wave. "Morning. Sleep well?"

"Good morning. I'm fine, thanks," Ryan replied. Ray looked dubious, and Ryan wondered whether his tiredness was that visible.

Behind Ray was an unfamiliar man wearing green robes and messy hair- from Jack's stories, he could only be the mysterious spymaster Gavin Free. He was making absolutely no effort to conceal his wide-eyed wonder at the sliver of Ryan's room that he was able to see from his position.

"Morning!" Gavin enthused. "You're the Vagabond, aren't you? Wow, it's so good to meet you! I've never met a mage before."

He bounded over past Ray and thrust out his hand, and Ryan very quickly discovered that Gavin had a very wild handshake. 

"Same here," Ryan said. He pulled up a weak smile as Gavin immediately started babbling. He couldn't even catch all of the words but it had been a while since he'd seen such a positive reception to magic. It was refreshing, something nice to carry him through his exhaustion.

"Michael and Jack have things to do and Geoff's resting, so we're going to show you around the castle," Ray said. "We'll stop by the dining hall for breakfast, and we'll show you around after. Anywhere you want to see?"

Ryan spread his hands. "I have absolutely no idea where anything is, and you two are the experts. Wherever is fine."

Gavin groaned. Ray grinned.

"He's going to take you to the bloody gardens," Gavin said. "Spends all his time there, and he never shuts up about his damn roses."

"Shut it, Gav. My roses are fucking masterpieces," Ray shot back. "You're okay with the garden, right?"

"Sure," Ryan said. 

Gavin squawked in disappointment, and Ray elbowed him sharply, sparking a squabble between the two as they set off towards the dining halls, Gavin making wild motions with his arms and Ray just crossing his arms over his chest and making faces as he talked. He followed behind them sedately, content to watch the two younger men get increasingly worked up.

It was almost comical how they both immediately silenced the moment they stepped foot into the dining hall. Gavin immediately went for a spot on the table and waved for Ryan to come sit by him, while Ray went over to examine the dishes for a moment before squeezing in on the other side of Ryan.

It was a large meal, and Ryan wasn't sure that he'd be able to finish everything, so he grabbed a few familiar looking fruits and some bread, letting Gavin's conversation wash around him. 

"So, there's Micoo, yeah?" Another thing about Gavin: he had a penchant for nicknaming. "And he gets pissy because I maybe kind of took his sword and hid it somewhere, but it's so much fun to make him mad!"

"I was pretty sure he was gonna stab you in the face that time," Ray chimed in, around a mouthful of bread. "But yeah, that was really fucking funny."

"Micoo wouldn't really stab me," Gavin said, as if imparting an important secret. "But anyway, Rye-bread, you're probably getting bored. Let's go, yeah?"

Ryan looked down at the piece of-yes-rye bread he was eating and raised an eyebrow. Gavin flushed, and Ray laughed.

"Rye-bread, huh. Suits you," he said. His grin quickly grew as he turned to Gavin. "Aww, Vav, ain't it cute?"

"Shut it, X-Ray," Gavin muttered. Ryan chuckled, and made sure to smile when Gavin glanced his way again.

Breakfast finished quickly, and they were off into yet another hallway that was practically indistinguishable from every other one Ryan had seen thus far. "Don't tell Geoff, but there's this secret passage through the castle to get to the gardens," Ray said in an exaggerated whisper. "Right here."

He pressed a hand to a particular stone brick and shoved it deep into the wall, which opened up with a rickety creak. Gavin grinned as he took Ryan's arm, yanking him along.

"There's loads of these running through the whole castle. Geoff probably knows, I dunno, maybe half of them? He grew up here, 'course he knows about a couple. But me and Ray, we know pretty much every single one. It's part of the job, you know? I'm the spymaster, so I have to know about all the secrets and stuff." 

Inside the tunnel it was dark, but surprisingly dry and well-kept. Sand slipped beneath their feet as Ray led them ahead at a brisk pace.

"One of these is how the assassin got in," Ray threw over his shoulder. "It led into the councilroom, from out near the western gate. The area was packed full of merchants' carts, so he must have slipped past the guards then. But we've got security on the rest of the passages, especially the one Geoff doesn't know about."

"With us and Matt, there's going to be no way any more assassins are getting through," Gavin added. Though his smile was cheerful, the airy quality to his voice rang fake.

"Matt?"

"Matt Bragg, yeah. The Bragg family was the one that built the castle way, way back in the old days. Matt knows the place almost as well as we do. Hey, you know, Matthew was the name of the first head of the Bragg family. Matt told me the name’s passed down to every firstborn son in his family. That’s pretty neat!” Gavin's steps slowed as Ray stopped, and Ryan could just barely make out the man pushing yet another brick and opening the passageway into the light.

"Here's the gardens!" Ray proclaimed, sweeping an arm out as he stepped out the tunnel. Ryan had to let his eyes adjust for a moment, but once he could see again there was no denying that the garden looked gorgeous. If Ray was indeed the caretaker of the place, he had done a superb job. Lush flowering bushes were arranged in neat rows going around the square, a large tree in each corner spiraling up towards the sky, their branches stretching out towards the center where a large statue stood atop a polished stone fountain.

"Wow," Ryan breathed. Ray grinned proudly when he caught the look on Ryan's face.

"Yeah, it's pretty fucking awesome, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Ryan agreed. "It's amazing."

"Now Ray's going to be here all bloody morning," Gavin complained. "He goes mental where his roses are concerned. Might as well take a seat."

Ryan turned to catch Gavin sprawled out across a nearby bench, his arms hanging behind the back of the seat. One knee was crossed on top of the other, and he gave Ray a very disgruntled look behind the other man's back; Ray had already crossed over to the other end of the garden, looking closely at a particularly thick bush hidden in the shade of a towering oak.

"I'll take a look around first," Ryan said.

"Look but don't touch!" Ray hollered back. "It took me fucking weeks to get these growing properly!"

Gavin rolled his eyes but didn't make another comment, simply basking in the sunlight. Now that he wasn't pumped up from verbal bantering or the initial excitement of meeting someone new, Ryan could see the beginnings of dark skin around his eyes and the way his hand massaged at his temple, all symptoms that Ryan knew very well. The man was exhausted.

Feeling slightly guilty that he'd been in some way complicit in dragging the other man out when he needed rest, Ryan tried his best to keep his curiosity in check and only look around nearby. 

Obviously the most eyecatching piece was the fountain and statue. The statue was definitely of one of the Ramsey kings, dark hair and sharp eyes. Perhaps Geoff's father. Under the scrutiny of the statue's glittering jewel eyes, Ryan felt extremely uncomfortable; despite not living in the Ramsey Kingdoms during the time, he'd heard about the purges of magic users the Ramsey line initiated.

"That's Geoff's grandfather," Gavin said. "Pretty mean bloke. Not a good guy. Geoff's dad wasn't that much better."

"So I've heard," Ryan said, walking closer. It looked like the statue had a real functioning sword sealed into its marble grip. The edge of the metal glinted in the bright sunlight.

"Geoff's a good guy, though. Not at all like his old man."

"I've heard that said a lot, yes."

The unsettling feeling was growing stronger as he approached the statue. Ryan bit his lip as he examined it, the rest of the world fading into a background buzz- Gavin's light conversation, the rustling of leaves in the breeze, the rush of water from the fountain; it all washed out, his senses attuning themselves to something beyond the mere physical world.

"Does this statue... not come from here?" Ryan found himself asking.

"Uh, I think so?" Gavin said, frowning. "Ray?"

"It was a gift," the other man confirmed. Ryan would have jumped under any other circumstances, but with his senses so focused on magic, Ray's presence nearby did not come as a surprise. "The Burning Lands had it made as a peace offering between the kingdoms. Not that it really worked out, considering current relations." He and Gavin exchanged vaguely displeased glances. "But it's not as bad as things between us and the Ender, that's for fucking sure."

"Why're you asking?" Gavin asked.

Ryan frowned. "The diamonds in the statue. They have the same magical signature as the enchantment on the sword."

At that announcement, there was silence. And then Gavin immediately sprang out of the bench in a whirl of green cloth and dark muttering.

“An enchanting tables' too uncommon, would've noticed if it was being traded in. There's no records of that, it can't have been- smuggled?"

"Caravan checks," Ray reminded him. "And I don't think an enchanting table's small enough to be hidden on someone's person?"

Ryan shook his head, and Gavin frowned deeper.

"Relations between us and Burning Lands not good. They enchanted the sword- Ray?"

"Looking like it," Ray confirmed, resting a hip on the edge of the fountain. Everything from his tone of voice to his posture suggested nonchalance, but Ryan wasn't fooled. Though he hadn't known the other man for long, his concern was as obvious as Michael's desperation the prior day. "Someone from the Burning Lands tried to assassinate Geoff. An enchanting table or diamond sword can't be cheap either. Someone with connections and money. Nobility, at least."

"I'm going to tell Jack," Gavin said decisively, nodding once before his entire posture straightened. Ray tilted his head, something grim in his expression.

Ryan fidgeted. There was still something about the whole matter that seemed unfinished to him. 

"Before that," he spoke up, surprising even himself. Both younger men turned to look at him. "Could I see the assassin first? I'd just like a few things confirmed; maybe there are some traces of magic left on his person, something I could use to pinpoint it further. Gather some information before we make a judgement."

Ray raised his eyebrows, exchanging a quick glance with Gavin.

"He's out in the city prison," Ray said. "Gav, why don't you take him? If we're talking about things in the Burning Lands, my contacts would be faster. I'll gather some gossip, see if there's any talk of any movements against Geoff."

Gavin frowned, obviously eager to let Geoff know about any news that could help, but he nodded anyway. "Sure, all right. You let me know anything that comes up, yeah Ray?"

"'Course, Vav. See ya, Ryan." Ray gave both Gavin and Ryan a smile and then immediately turned back to the passage through the castle walls. 

"So, it looks like it's the two of us! You ever been to the city?" Gavin asked brightly. He began walking and Ryan followed right by his side.

"No, I haven't. What's it like there?"

"Achievement City's great, it's really top! If Jack brought you by carriage he took the main road, which is all right but it's not as good as going through the smaller paths." As they made their way through the various halls of the castle, Gavin kept heartily endorsing the city. "Absolutely bloody amazing. It's always full of color, there's so much going on and it makes everything seem so alive. There's loads to do in the city, maybe we could stop by once this is all done."

By the time Gavin was done singing his praises, they were already well on their way into the city proper, just having left behind the main path that Gavin was speaking of. The castle itself was deep in the center of the city but Ryan had the impression that ordinary life didn't begin until they left behind the ostentatious nobleman housing and luxurious gem trader mansions. 

Taverns and huts began lining the streets, which were packed with people and horse-drawn carts. As the people grew in number, what was fascinating was the way that Gavin's entire posture changed. He went from a confident and bouncy stride to something slouched and shoulders hunched up- he ducked his head a bit and it was already enough to make him seem like an entirely different person.

"I don't like people knowing I'm from up there," he said, jerking a thumb back in the direction they came from. "Makes it harder to get real information. It's habit, by now. A lot of people don't pay attention to faces if you're up there making announcements. It's how I meet contacts."

Ryan had to admit that Gavin was an impressive actor. He really knew his business, then.

Shouting conversations took place all around them, some merchants hawking decorative pieces, farmers discussing the best place to acquire seeds, horse breeders competing with one another for the showiest stallion- everything swum with activity, almost enough to make Ryan feel crushed to death in his own skin.

"-and there's a tavern a few streets down, they love tricks and sleight of hand," Gavin was telling him, waving a hand above the crowd in the general direction of said tavern as they weaved in between stalls at a wet market. "Me and Ray go there sometimes, you should come with us! Imagine what people'll say when you show off actual magic!"

And that immediately made Ryan flinch. Gavin noticed.

"What's wrong?" he asked, furrowing his brow in worry. "Did I... say something?"

"I would prefer it if you didn't mention magic. Not so much." His eyes scanned the crowd of people around them, the majority not paying any attention whatsoever to his and Gavin's conversation, but there was always the chance- Ryan had heard the stories of lynched wizards, heard personal horror stories from the reign of the prior Kings Ramsey, and none of it was anything that would make him comfortable with speaking of his magic in public.

Gavin made an 'ohhh' of understanding and nodded. "Right, I get it. No talking of- yeah, ok."

Ryan smiled, very slightly. "Thank you."

"So, uh, you up for a question?" Gavin asked. "Not anything about that. Just, something kind of random, I guess." 

Ryan shrugged slightly, so as not to jostle the people squeezing around them too much. "Sure, what is it?" 

"What would happen if someone could control your body, but you'd still be aware of it, and couldn't do anything about it?" Gavin asked, glancing back towards Ryan. "Like, out of all of us, who would you rather have in your body?"

"Well, I don't really know any of you well enough to make a good judgement, but for now I guess I'd have to say Jack. He seems like the most sensible out of all of you, as far as I can tell."

They passed by a congregation of people in heavy purple cloaks; as Gavin pushed through the throng, he pouted and raised his voice to be heard over the commotion, "Aww, Rye-bread! Don't you trust me with your body?"

There was no hesitation whatsoever as he answered, "Absolutely not."

Gavin did his little squawky protest and Ryan laughed, shaking his arm to get rid of an annoying tingling sensation. The argument/discussion went on, and as they finally approached their destination Ryan had to wonder when the topic of contention shifted to coin tosses. Gavin was always lighthearted about it, and Ryan found himself easing up a lot- he liked Gavin, with his bluntness and rather peculiar trains of thought.

Gavin was throwing his arms over his head and saying, "No, no, see- if you had the third coin-"

"Oi, Gav! What're you bothering Ryan about?" Michael's voice rang out over the commotion of midday in a busy town center, and both stopped their chattering to see Michael walking up, dressed in full city guard uniform.

"Nothing!" Gavin protested, squawking again at Michael’s accusations. “Aww, Micoo, why do you always say I’m bothering people? I’m being polite!”

Michael rolled his eyes. “The day I see you being polite with strangers is the day I believe it. And you are a fucking imbecile with people, I swear to fucking God, Gavin.” After a short glare in Gavin’s direction, he instantly switched his attention to Ryan. “This place isn’t really tourist material, so I’m guessing you’ve got a reason to be here? Unless Gavin’s being a dumbass and dragging you to places for the hell of it.”

Over Gavin’s indignant noises, Ryan smiled very briefly. “Yes, there’s a reason we’re here, actually. It’s about the assassin. Would I be able to see him?”

Michael frowned, his eyes darting around to the bustling of the streets around them. “I- yeah, I guess. But here’s really not the place to talk, you know? Follow me, we’ll go inside.” He scratched at an ear and tilted his head towards the entrance to the city guard base, and presumably the associated prison.

His gaze swept the crowd of people once more before he headed back in through the doors. Ryan looked at Gavin, who motioned for him to go ahead.

“Sure you can see him, but the son of a bitch hasn’t said a single damn word,” Michael said over his shoulder. “Don’t know if you can get anything at all out of him, but whatever. Give it a try, I don’t really give a damn.”

Ryan nodded, though Michael had already turned his head back ahead. “I’ll do my best,” he said.

“You fucking better.” Michael snorted, the dark promise in his voice only half-joking.

The complex was fairly large and almost ridiculously busy inside. People in uniforms scurried through corridors, going every which way as they called out to others over everyone else. Many saluted as Michael walked past, others still greeting him with “Sir!” and shooting up to attention. Gavin danced out of the way of many of the guards, most of them looking quietly resigned to the spymaster’s antics.

They gave Ryan a wide berth as they passed. It may have been due to the fact that he was a guest of their captain, but Ryan’s mind automatically went to the worst case scenario of them somehow being able to tell that he was a mage. He felt eyes on his back, and it didn’t matter whether they were real or imagined; he quickened his steps to stay just the smallest bit closer to Gavin. Michael side-eyed him- perhaps the other man realized what Ryan was doing. But he didn’t say anything as they walked deeper into the compound, down a few flights of stairs to reach the prison cells.

It was almost uncomfortably damp down at the lower levels, the moisture in the air seeming to seep into the stone floors. It smelled too, not that strongly, but there was definitely a noticeable odor of filth. 

“He’s the only one in here now,” Michael explained, pointing to one cell on the leftmost row. “Don’t usually keep that many people in here, really. It hasn’t been cleaned in a while.”

He leaned against a wall. “Do what you need to do. I’ll be here.”

Ryan nodded his thanks and carefully walked down the row of empty cells. Each was identical: a wooden cot shoved in a corner, a water spigot, a pot, presumably for waste, and a bench attached to the wall. Ryan was glad he wasn’t in one of those.

And at last, he reached the end of the row. Briefly, he was almost afraid of what he would find.

It was just a man. A man with tangled dark hair and swollen joints at his fingers, clothes smudged with grime of indeterminable origin. The assassin’s eyes were bright green and practically sparking like lightning frozen in shards of jade. True to Michael’s assertion, he didn’t speak a single word, barely even made a sound beyond slightly wheezy breathing.

There wasn’t anything Ryan could learn from him, but there was a lingering shimmery veil over him, something that his fingers tingle. Magical. But this man wasn’t a mage, so it had to have come from somewhere else. 

“May I see his belongings?” Ryan asked.

Michael and Gavin exchanged glances. “Sure, I guess,” Michael said. “The only important thing he had on him was the sword, though. You got it. No secret orders from mysterious masters or whatever.”

He left and quickly returned with a leather pouch, something to be clipped onto a belt. Ryan took it, fingers shifting through the contents quickly, searching for the one thing that would-

He found it. Something small and round, its cold surface sending tiny jolts through his fingertips.

He withdrew his hand from the bag and watched the pearl roll about his palm, wondering. There was the possibility of pearls normally absorbing the ambient magic in the ocean, especially when harvested from areas closer to ocean strongholds. But the color was raising some warning in Ryan’s mind, and he couldn’t help but feel that there was something more artificial about this pearl in particular.

Then it hit him, the nagging sense of recognition.

“I’ve felt this magical signature in town before,” he said.

“You have?” Michael leapt from his position on the wall, Gavin not far behind. “Where? I’ll get some guards to follow me, we can get maybe four or five with us depending. We’ll catch the bastards, where are they?”

“I’m not sure exactly, but it was somewhere around the corner down by the end of the market. There was a big crowd around, a lot of people wearing purple. There was some… preaching, it looked like?”

As Ryan spoke, he noted the way Gavin winced in disappointment as Ryan mentioned the purple, and Michael’s scowl, simultaneously enraged and defeated. 

“Fuck. Crap. God damn it all, of fucking course it has to be them- why the fuck is it them? Motherfucker!” Michael’s fist crashed into the wall, his teeth bared in a thunderous snarl. “God damn it!”

“What’s wrong?” Ryan asked, concern seeping into his tone. He slipped the pearl into his pocket.

“It’s the Ender,” Gavin answered. He sighed. 

“That’s what’s fucking wrong. Can’t do shit about them,” Michael added. He slumped back against the wall, the glower he aimed at the prisoner suddenly a hundred times more venomous.

“You know about the Ramsey family?” Gavin asked, sensing Ryan’s confusion. “So Geoff’s predecessors weren’t that popular. Probably an understatement. The kingdom was always pretty small, historically. They wanted to gain more land, more power. Really nasty people, very war-hungry. Geoff’s dad was the latest- nearly caused an uprising, up until he abdicated and Geoff took the throne.”

“Geoff is fucking amazing,” Michael cut in, his expression just daring Ryan to disagree. “But people are goddamn morons and a lot of them think Geoff is going to turn out like the rest of the Ramseys. Which he isn’t. But like I said, people suck. There was a thing a couple of years back and Geoff had to draft some citizens because someone from the Burning Lands got too land hungry, and basically everyone still hates him for that. The Ender are a cult, or something. Whatever the fuck, I don’t know. They’re like goddamn vultures, those motherfuckers.”

“They cultivated dislike for the Ramsey line,” Gavin elaborated. “Fear mongering and all that. Made the public like them so much that we can’t touch them. I really don’t know what they want, but they’re not demanding that Geoff should step down, or organizing a rebellion, or anything like that. So there’s really no excuse to go after them either.” He winced. “But even if we have an excuse now, if we try to move against the Ender there’s really not going to be a good ending to this. Especially since news has gotten around about the assassination attempt- if we accuse the Ender of that…”

Michael hissed. “Just go back to the castle. Tell Jack what you’ve got, if we can’t go after the Ender.” He hesitated but later clenched his fist and gave Ryan a decisive nod. “I’ll go with you. Not like I really have anything to do here, to be honest.”

Gavin nodded quickly in agreement, rocking back and forth on his feet. “Yeah! We’ll compare with Ray later. Come on, then. The sooner we go the sooner we get to see Geoff.”

He zipped out of the underground holding cells almost before the last word was out of his mouth. Michael sighed, gave a ‘what can you do?’ look towards Ryan, and motioned for the other man to go on ahead, trudging towards the door with a heavy slouch.

And that was essentially the pace for the rest of the way back to the castle. Gavin bounded ahead every time Ryan and Michael caught up to him, his shadow falling long in the early evening sunset, anxious to share the information and see Geoff again. Ever since Ryan revealed that the assassin was connected to the Ender, Michael’s mood had been sitting around rock bottom. Ryan could feel Michael’s anger radiating, and it seemed that the townsfolk could as well, because there was somehow always a clear path around the pair of them even though the streets were packed with people darting to and fro.

They were quickly let into the palace and still Gavin was running through the hallways, his feet seeming to skip over the ground carpet as he rounded a corner. Ryan winced- his feet felt like they were about to burn right off his legs.

“Slow down,” Michael advised, the only sign that he was tired at all being the slightly deeper breaths he was taking. “Gav’s an idiot and he’s gong be bent over wheezing once he makes it to the throne room. You don’t have to be as fast. He’s not gonna be able to talk for like, an hour once he gets there. No rush.”

“Sorry,” Ryan said. He covered his mouth as he coughed.

Michael sighed. “Just take a break,” he said. “You’re not used to running this much- it’s a long way from the guard station to the castle.”

Despite Michael’s words, Ryan still felt the rush of shame, especially with Michael’s lack of reaction to the run.

Still, he slowed his steps and Michael fell into step beside him. They made the way back to the throne room in silence, and Ryan really was grateful- or at the very least, his feet were, if not his pride.

Inside was Jack and Gavin, but no Geoff or Ray. And much like Michael had stated, Gavin was leaning against a wall and sucking in great gasps, Jack’s expression something of a mix between both annoyance and concern. Both occupants turned to the doorway as Ryan and Michael entered.

“It’s the Ender,” Michael announced immediately. “Those bastards have something magical.”

“The Burning Lands also have something to do with it,” Gavin said in between breaths. “Rye-bread said the garden statue’s enchanted like the sword.”

“Something like that,” Ryan said, noticing the alarmed look Jack sported at the last sentence. “It isn’t enchanted, but the signatures match. The statue isn’t actually enchanted to burst into flames or something like that.”

Jack grimaced and nodded. “That complicates things a lot, if the Burning Lands are involved. Ray’s still out, but his contacts might have some more information. We’ll need to wait another day or so for that.”

“Is Geoff…?” Gavin trailed off, glancing around the room anxiously, as if Geoff may appear from behind the throne at any moment. Jack shook his head.

“He’s sleeping for now, but he’s fine. It was a long day at court. You can visit, if you like?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll go.” Gavin gave them all a nod, and turned back to the door. “I’ll be with Geoff!”

Michael shifted uneasily. “I’ll go with him,” he said. “Make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid like wake Geoff up.”

It was still obvious that he himself was practically chomping at the bit to see Geoff as well. Understandable, Ryan thought. His duties would probably have kept him out of the palace for a long time, and the loyalty he displayed to the king was nothing short of absolute.

He shuffled out the door, and then it was just Ryan and Jack. The other man sighed and made towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Ryan asked.

“I’ll go down into our archives,” Jack said. “There may be some records of any connection between the Burning Lands and the Ender. Trade records, any official communication that suggests co-operation, anything.”

He moved again, and Ryan was suddenly gripped with a sense of concern.

“I’ll go with you,” he offered. Jack looked to him in surprise, and Ryan tried his best not to wince at his own offer and the attention both.

“I- I would like to help you. It sounds like you have a lot to look through, and two pairs of eyes are better than one, right?”

Jack smiled. “Thanks. I could use the help, actually. Follow me, the archives are pretty far from here.”

And was that an understatement. The archives were a few floors down, and practically in the exact opposite corner of the castle to the throne room- which obviously wasn’t true, as the throne room was in the center of the building, but Ryan’s aching legs felt like that anyway. Jack hummed to himself as he walked, and it was nice and quiet and inexplicably relaxing, so much so that Ryan was almost disappointed when they arrived at their destination.

The archives were massive. Giant shelves filled with scrolls and books, collections of scraps of paper, arranged in shelves that reached from the far away ceiling right to the floor. The very air seemed saturated with an otherworldly presence, though perhaps it was because a place as old as this had a magic of its own. By the outside of the doorway, Jack frowned as he reached for an unlit torch.

“It’s pretty flammable in there,” he explained. “It’s why I don’t like using torches- and why we don’t let Gavin in here, really. Too easy to accidentally burn the whole place down, especially for him.”

“I can help with that,” Ryan said, even though he glanced around to make sure that nobody other than Jack was around. Jack paused, raised a questioning eyebrow. 

Ryan pulled a handful of redstone out of his pocket. “It’s smaller than a torch,” he said apologetically as he compressed the redstone dust into a sphere about the size of his palm. With a short spell muttered under his breath, it began glowing gently, floating in the air between the men. “It’s not going to explode unless I really get angry, or someone whacks it with a sword. Which probably isn’t going to happen, unless your definition of archives is significantly different from my definition of archives.”

Jack laughed. “I don’t think that’s happening, so we should be safe. Thank you.”

As they went in, Jack pointed out all of the various sections of the shelves. “There’s where we keep census records, there are the farming almanacs, and official communications with Remnant are stored here.” He pointed at each shelf as they passed it, and Ryan could only marvel at the way Jack seemed to have every part of the place memorized.

“You must go down here a lot, to know where everything is,” he said.

Jack shrugged and smiled slightly. “I do, really. I’m Geoff’s advisor, so I need to keep track of everything to help him. After a while, you just get to know places you visit frequently.”

“That must take dedication,” Ryan said. “There’s a lot to go through here. That must take a lot of dedication.” 

And it was true- perhaps he’d seen bigger libraries from his teaching days, but this wasn’t a collection of texts to be taken lightly. That Jack seemed to have everything organized neatly here was a testament to the man’s diligence.

“Here’s the trade records with the Burning Lands,” Jack said, motioning to a particular shelf. “They’re arranged with the oldest records going up by the top, so we should be able to just stay down here. I’m not sure about time frame, but if they had an enchanting table earlier, it would definitely have raised a lot of red flags when relations weren’t so good, so they must have gotten it fairly recently.”

Ryan nodded. “So, time to start reading?”

“Time to start reading.”

And to Ryan’s utter lack of surprise, it was possibly the most mind-numbing task in existence. When he had earlier said it must have required a lot of dedication from Jack, he was severely underestimating how much it must have taken. Even though he was only barely skimming for any mentions of the Ender or enchantment tables, he could almost feel his brain slipping out of his eyeballs.

For a long time, possibly hours, the only sound within the archives was the turning of pages and the creaks of the spines of books as they slotted in and out of place. Illuminated by a gentle red glow, they kept on searching.

“I’ve found it,” Jack said, snapping the cover of a dusty book shut. Ryan glanced up, surprised, and their redstone lamp bobbed along with the motion. “I’ll bring it back up to look at more closely, but this should be it. Let’s go back up.”

Ryan sighed in relief as he set his scroll back into place. “Thank goodness. I can’t imagine doing this regularly.”

They made the trek back up to ground level with Jack telling short anecdotes and jokes all the while, and he even made sure to lead Ryan back to his room before he left for his own, guessing correctly that Ryan hadn’t memorized how to get back to it on his own. Ryan smiled in gratitude, but before he could say a word of thanks to the other man, Jack clapped a hand on his shoulder.

“Thank you for today,” Jack said. “You’ve been a great help, and I can’t even begin to thank you enough for what you’ve done to help Geoff. And for tonight- you really didn’t have to, but I want to thank you for helping me search the records.”

It hurt, being thanked, and having his accomplishments be put only in terms of Geoff, how it was to help Geoff. For some reason, Ryan felt his heart twinge every time Jack mentioned the king’s name, something like jealousy clinging to his heart, pulling it to the bottom of his ribcage. Oh it was obvious that Jack cared deeply for the man, and Ryan wouldn’t ever dream of trying to step in between whatever it was they had. 

But it still hurt.

So he smiled at Jack and said, “No problem.” And Jack smiled back, squeezed his shoulder, and left.

Ryan watched him go until he rounded the corner, and then went into his own room.

-

Ryan runs. He doesn’t know from what. Gavin and Jack to either side of him, harsh breathing and burning legs. They don’t know what they’re running from either, but they all know in their gut that they cannot be caught.

“Faster!” Ray’s voice comes from ahead, urging Gavin’s feet to pick up the pace until he is practically flying over the moldy floorboards. Ryan grimaces and tries to will himself to run quicker, but Jack is falling behind and the silence grows ever larger behind them, swelling closer until it almost has physical weight. The growling in the walls follows them, pursues them like hunting dogs.

He has to run faster, he has to run faster-

He trips. His head crashes against the floor so hard that he swears his eyeballs get knocked backwards and his hearing vanishes for a moment.

“Ryan!” That’s Geoff, and Gavin, and Jack- no, Jack is stopping to haul him up, no Jack can’t stop they’re going to be caught- “Ryan, you motherfucker. Don’t you fucking dare stop,” Jack mutters, dragging Ryan as he stumbles onto his feet, trying to again find his balance so he can run and not slow Jack down anymore. “You’re not going to die,” Jack says through a gasp, and shoves Ryan forward as hard as possible.

He flails towards something resembling balance, and risks a glance over his shoulder.

“Jack!” The name is strangled coming out of his lips, and he surges back to try and maybe grasp an arm, pull Jack out of the swelling darkness before-

But no, no it is not to be, because two pairs of arms wrap around him from the other side and it’s Michael and Geoff hauling him back beyond the doorway, all while he shouts for Jack, as his arms scramble desperately, trying to find freedom, an extra burst of strength to push against his other boyfriends holding him back, because the darkness has Jack and he has to save Jack, he can’t let Jack die for him, not like this-!

But they drag him beyond the doorway and the runes on the frame glow white as he passes, protecting them now that they’re out of the hallway, but it doesn’t protect Jack, caught in an invisible grasp and as the door swings closed all Ryan can smell is blood, all Ryan can see through his tears are limbs and skin flying about, all Ryan can hear is Jack screaming and Ray screaming and no, no, he’s failed, he’s failed and it’s his fault that Jack is dead.

He crashes to the ground and Gavin retches in the corner, and Geoff’s eyes are red but his hands are prodding Ryan’s head around the bruise gently, but Ryan sees how Geoff’s lips tremble and Michael is roaring in anguish, pounding on the door and cursing everything he can name, and Ray is shaking, having long dropped their video camera and none of them could have guessed that this would happen, what sort of person thinks something like this could happen in an abandoned haunted house, really, who would have thought that it would take Jack-

Blood seeps in from under the door. 

It’s all his fault, it’s his fault that Jack is dead, why did he ever suggest they go inside, why is Jack dead…

-

Ryan jolted upright in bed and immediately threw up. Thankfully it was to the side of the bed and not on the sheets, but some of the bile splashed onto the carpet. He shivered, taking deep, deep breaths to calm himself down, but he could only remember his chest heaving from running so much, the physical pain of his body impacting the floor, a warm strong hand at his back-

He dry-heaved, but thankfully nothing more came up.

Looking out the window, it was probably only a few hours since he first went to bed. There would be no sleep for him tonight, he knew. It was useless to try and sleep after a nightmare hit. It would only return, more vivid and unsettling than before.

So he cleaned up as best he could, and sat back in bed to pull the blankets tighter around himself as he waited for dawn to come. There were noises in the walls, something like screeching or claws skittering. It was probably rats. 

CHAPTER ONE

In his dreams Ryan was flying. Only, it was not so much flying as it was free falling in reverse, and not so much free falling in reverse as it was the abrupt sense of being that catapulted him back to wakefulness, sweat-drenched and afraid of something that he could not recall and no longer existed.

Ryan hadn't had a good sleep in a long, long while. He'd had the time to get used to it, and the nightmares were no more than a mild inconvenience at this point. Maybe it was a side effect of practicing his particular brand of redstone magic, maybe it was a product of his mind imploding due to his self-imposed and near-total isolation. He didn't have a way of knowing. He could theoretically try an experiment to find out. Goodness knows he tested a few hypotheses on himself before, but what would the point be?

Regardless of why, he was awake. And if there was one thing he's learned from his study of magic, one single takeaway from a life spent training and running, it was this: the nights were very, very long and very, very cold.

There was no use whining about it. He probably had a good few hours until sunrise, and he'd become very good at finding things to occupy his time with until the sun came up. Then he could get on with the rest of his day.

Ryan had a routine. At sunrise he would head behind his small cave and out to the clearing where he set up a farm- it was nothing too large, but being only one man, he'd had to set up a few redstone mechanisms to help him fill troughs and water seeds. The manual labor helped keep him occupied and as sad as it sounded the animals were good company when he couldn't muster the energy to head down into the town.

Usually though, after he was done with the farm he'd walk down to the village near the base of the mountain and trade in some magical favors for goods like food or other supplies. The townspeople were generally ambivalent about his presence and not about to report him to any of the semi-regular patrols that arrived at the village, so he could remain here for the rest of his days in relative safety. 

Maybe he'd stick around to entertain the children with flashy but otherwise useless magic, maybe he'd chat with some acquaintances to catch up on news and gossip. He liked stopping by the small bookstore, despite the fact that he'd probably read everything there twice over already. 

And after all that it'd be evening, and he'd hike back up the mountain to rest again. It was a transient (and admittedly, sometimes lonely) existence, and earned him his nickname from the townsfolk, but Ryan was content.

Up until two men wearing court uniforms stumbled right through his doorway at the crack of dawn.

The larger of the men cleared his throat. "Vagabond? I am Jack Patillo and this is Captain Michael Jones. We are here as representatives of King Geoffrey Ramsey, and seek your aid."

Ryan's fingers twitched for the pouch of redstone powder he normally kept at his belt. If he threw it at them and detonated it, he could maybe distract them long enough to run- but the smaller man, Jones, had a hand on his sword and a determined glare, and the two men were right in the entrance. he wouldn't be getting past them without a struggle, which Jones looked very willing to give him. But more to the point, Patillo's expression was practically dripping with both sincerity and desperation, and Ryan had never turned down a request for aid before.

Ryan swallowed. 

He hoped he would not regret this decision.

His hand dropped away from the pouch. "Come in," he said. "We should talk inside. It doesn't seem like a simple request.

He rarely received visitors, so there was not much in the way of furniture at his small hideaway. Two stools, a low-set stone table, and a brightly dyed wool rug on the floor. He had a mattress tucked away in the corner, and most of what occupied the rest of the main room was his equipment: a brewing stand, a wooden chest with his tools against the wall, an enchantment table with a few bookshelves, and a well-worn anvil.

"Sit," he offered, glancing back at the two men to check where they were. "I'll get some water."

"No need," said Patillo. He stood by one of the seats while Jones was further out, standing guard by the entryway with a dark look in his eyes. It made Ryan's fingers itch for a way to defend himself. "Our request is pretty urgent, and we don't plan on staying for long."

Ryan paused. "All right. What do you need?"

"Do you get much news here?"

"Not so much, unless I go down to the village. I haven't been there in a few days." Patillo and Jones exchanged brief glances. "I assume that something happened at court?"

"Someone tried to assassinate King Geoff."

Shock hit him like a burst of lightning to the gut.

"He survived, but the assassin had an enchanted sword when we captured him," Patillo continued. "We don't know how he could have gotten one, and he isn't talking. We have no leads, we know nothing about magic; we need your help. Anything you could find is invaluable." 

Ryan barely heard him over the sudden pounding of his heart. He didn't know why he reacted so strongly. Sure someone tried to kill the king, but that's what happened to kings, wasn't it? He didn't know King Geoffrey personally, and they had assured him that the man hadn't died, so why did he feel his heart frizzle and almost burst out of sheer terror?

Thinking things through always helped him calm down. He had no personal connection to the events, this was irrational fear. He had no reason to be afraid for the king. His breath evened and his heartbeat started to slow, fingers unclenched from fists and tension seeped from his shoulders. 

He took another breath, and then another. Okay. He was okay, the king was okay.

Eventually, Ryan realized that he'd been quiet for too long. It happened, being alone for as long as he had. He'd forgotten that people expected replies when they asked questions. Patillo looked carefully neutral while Jones seemed as if he would explode this moment if he didn't get an answer.

"I- I can't say that I would be much help. I've been quite... isolated for some time."

"But you'd know something," Patillo pressed. "Anything."

Ryan didn't answer for a while, and that appeared to be the end of Jones's patience. "Can you fucking help us or not!"

"Michael!"

"That bastard almost killed Geoff and we don't know how he could have done it! Geoff's fucking unconscious- he's been out for three goddamn days, and Gavin keeps forgetting to eat because he's too fucking worried and Ray's gone quiet again and we're standing here like idiots and we can't do a god damned thing. This is the last lead Gavin has and we've got jack shit after this and I've been completely fucking useless..." Jones's voice cracked and his eyes sharpened and his knuckles grew white on the handle of his sword- he seemed to almost tremble in anger, and Patillo's hand on his shoulder did nothing to calm him down. 

Jones swallowed a few times, took deep shuddery breaths as he stared Ryan down, and said, "So will you fucking help or not? Because if you're not going to let us know so we can stop wasting our time here."

Ryan bit his lip and looked down at the rocky floor. He could hear harsh panting from in front of him, and there was so much pain and fear in Jones's voice.

"I could... I can't right now, right now I have nothing. But if I could see the sword, I might find something." There was relief in Patillo's eyes and vindictive satisfaction in Jones's, so Ryan rushed to add, "I can't promise anything. I'll give my best effort, but there are no guarantees. I don't make miracles."

"That's fine." The words came out in a rush. Patillo sighed in relief. "That is more than fine. If you can give us something we haven't had before, it'd be enough. We don't have the sword with us right now, it's back at the castle."

Ryan tensed. They noticed.

"Is everything all right?"

"You didn't bring it with you?" They didn't say anything about going into the castle, into the heartland of the Ramsey dominions. 

"Of course not," Patillo said. "It's evidence. Our spymaster is keeping it with him now."

He was holding his breath. Ryan realized that he was well on his way to panicking. Think. Talk your way through it, Haywood.

They could have easily killed him here. He was unprepared, not expecting anyone, and obviously Jones was well-versed in using the sword he carried. If they were hunting for a mage they had no reason to bring him all the way back to the castle to kill him there. And their pain was so real, as was the desperation, and Ryan could not stand by and refuse them.

He exhaled, slowly. Inhaled.

They would not hurt him. Why he was so certain of this fact, he didn't know, but he knew in some intrinsic part of his mind that he would not be harmed.

He looked up and met their gazes again. “I will go," he said firmly. Briefly, in the back of his mind, his mentor’s voice was speaking, cautioning him about promises and their levity, especially for a mage. But somehow, this felt right.

A sharp nod from Jones. The slightest smile of gratitude from Patillo.

"We have a carriage at the base of the mountain. If you need to bring anything we can transport it."

"The brewing stand," he said, motioning to said piece of equipment in the corner. He wasn't expecting to make any potions, but in the extremely rare occurrence that he had to make any sort of long journey away from home he would always take it with him. He'd had wild animals get into the cave more than once, and while everything else was relatively easy to replace, he had very little desire to go into the Nether for the umpteenth time to procure some blaze rods. "Some bags of redstone and other ingredients. Otherwise, I won't need anything."

Patillo nodded. "We'll help you carry them. Michael?"

"I'm fine," Ryan said, interrupting Jones's movement to the stand. He concentrated and waved a hand- the brewing stand glowed red and levitated, the chest opened and a substantial sack of redstone dust floated into the air and some pouches of other materials, like glowstone dust or netherwort. They drifted over by his side at hip-level. Jones was staring blatantly at the display and Patillo was only mildly less open about it, and Ryan almost–almost–smiled when the comparison to the awestruck village children came to his mind.

He'd left enough food and redstone for his farm to continue running for the next week if it came to that. There was nobody in the village who would really miss him. He was set to leave.

"I'm ready to go," he said, and that snapped the two men out of their stupor. 

"Right," Patillo said. He gave one quick glance around the room, focused for a moment on Ryan's floating entourage, and then nodded. "We'll get started down the mountain, then."

The walk down was quiet and took nearly an hour, Ryan only speaking up to suggest a shorter or safer path down the mountainside. The sun was already climbing high into the sky by the time they made it down, and Ryan could hear the three restless horses before he saw them. Another man stood up straighter when he saw the three of them approach, and fired off a salute towards Jones.

"Matt, we're leaving now," Jones said. He nodded at the pale man and then climbed on top of the one saddled horse. The other man nodded and clambered onto the seat at the wooden carriage hooked up to the two remaining horses.

"Keep your things at the back and get in," Patillo said. "I'll be inside with you on the way back. The ride is pretty long-it took us a good chunk of last night to get here, so we'll be back at the castle by late afternoon."

With a nod of acknowledgement, Ryan set down his supplies and entered the carriage. After literally living inside a rock for the past two years or so, he found the inside of the carriage was almost painfully ornate. The inner walls were painted light blue, and thick embroidered curtains adorned the intricate pane-glass window. The birch floor was polished to a shine, a hollow tap echoing at every footfall within. Ryan felt very, very out of place.

Patillo seemed to pick up on his uneasiness. 

"Have you been to the city before?" he asked.

"No."

"It's really not so bad." Patillo smiled kindly and Ryan tried to muster one in response. He did not feel as if he succeeded. "The palace is great too. There's not too many people, and it's very private there. King Geoff is a good man and all we're asking of you is some advice and guidance. If you don't feel like going out, there won't be any reason for you to. "

Huh. Patillo was dead on about Ryan's misgivings.

"Do you have any questions?"

"No. No questions, sir."

A slight wince from Patillo. "We'll be working quite closely together for a bit. You can call me Jack, you know."

There it was: the slightest stinging sensation in Ryan's chest. It jolted near his heart, so sudden that he'd almost dug his fingers into the spot out of pure reflex.

"Then I'm Ryan," he said instead, trying to ignore the pain. Jack was both surprised and delighted- it showed easily in the way the smile slipped out without his realizing it.

"Ryan," Jack repeated. "Well then, it's good to meet you, Ryan."

Jack extended a hand and Ryan took it. The part of Ryan that remembered his previous magical training warned of contracts and deals brokered with demons. The rest of him knew it was just Jack, and he'd already agreed to a brief collaboration-a consultation-and then they would part ways completely. And yet, he still felt as if there were some unspoken promises, a wordless mutual agreement that things were, perhaps, not entirely what they appeared to be.

And for some reason, this did not bother him in the least.

"Oh, and feel free to call the others by their first names too." Jack's voice broke through his thoughts, bringing him back to the gentle rocking of the carriage as they made their way down the roads. "Maybe we can look a bit formal around outsiders, but they'd all be much more comfortable with first names. Decorum isn't... any of their strong suits, to put it lightly."

"Noted," Ryan said, and he couldn't help but smile at the dry exasperation in Jack's tone.

Satisfied that he had gotten his guest to relax, the bearded man leaned back. "Trust me, there are so many things I could tell you about the lot back at the castle. You wouldn't believe the stupid things they get up to."

"I'd say I've seen some strange things," Ryan said. "Is that a challenge?"

"Oh? Okay, so, this was maybe three months back. You know me, and Michael, and of course there's Geoff. So there are two more of us, Gavin and Ray- you'll meet them later, but all you need to know for now is that Gavin? The biggest asshole this side of the continent. He just lives for annoying the shit out of everyone, Michael and Geoff especially. He and Michael have been good friends since they were kids so Michael mostly tolerates him, but he and Geoff have the best reactions so Gavin likes to annoy them the most. So one day, he gets it into his head to just permanently invite himself into Geoff's bedchamber and just not leave. He doesn't even take over Geoff's bed- no, he tears down all of Geoff's cloaks to make a nest and lives in the fuckingcloset."

The story went on for a good ten minutes and Jack was doubled over wheezing by the end of it; Ryan was not much better, for quite a different reason.

Jack's story? It hurt. It hurt so much that Ryan was sure his heart was about to explode this instant. God, everything was so painful and he didn't know why. He knew that Gavin would definitely have tried living in Geoff's closet, just like he just knew how Gavin's ridiculous squawk-laugh would sound when he had his head shoved in a bucket courtesy of a fed-up Geoff, like he knew how Michael and Ray would be slumped against a wall dying of laughter and clutching at each other to stay upright, like he knew how Gavin's and Geoff's bodies would feel when Jack would have had to separate the two to prevent Geoff from tackling Geoff to the floor, all the little details Jack never mentioned but he could envision perfectly; like he knew how warm and soft the rush of affection would be, as he looked over at all these strangers and didn't know why he felt like crying.

Thankfully Jack misinterpreted it as laughter, and he followed up with a string of further exploits. Some stories more ridiculous than others, some smaller tales of daily routines, and Jacks eyes were beginning to unfocus with nostalgia. The warmth in his voice was unmistakeably fond, and Ryan ached for it.

Caught between wanting to hear more and sparing himself the pain, the journey passed quickly. Before Ryan realized what was happening, the carriage had rolled to a stop and there was a knock on the door as Matt let them know they had arrived.

Jack extricated himself from his seat and unlatched the door, motioning for Ryan to step ahead. 

He did so.

Nothing could have prepared him for the sight of the castle. It was an enormous gray tower stretching up into the twilight sky- even when he craned his neck back as far as his body would allow, the roof still curved up beyond sight. Set at the bottom were massive iron gates, wide enough for two carriages to pass by side by side.

"Come in, follow me. We're going to the throne room. Don't worry about your things, Matt is bringing them up to where you'll stay. Michael's headed back to his room, he doesn't have business with us for now." Jack took the lead with quick brisk steps, and Ryan hurried after him. There would be time to look around later, and the day was getting late. He came here for business, after all.

Contrary to what Ryan expected, the inside of the castle was sparse. There were massive stained glass windows in the corridors, and the only sources of decoration on the walls were the the mounted candelabras with elaborate carvings. There was a green carpet in the hallways, and that was it. All the empty space just made the walk castle seem even more imposing than it already was, and Ryan made sure to stay close behind Jack, not wanting to get lost in the winding corridors.

The throne room seemed to be at the very center of the castle. Outside two knights guarded the doors, and seeing Jack they quickly bowed to let him through with a murmured, "Sire." They bowed for Ryan too; he didn't know what to make of it, so he gave a small smile and nod to them as he passed.

"Jack!"

A scratchy loud voice carried across the room, and Ryan's eyes snapped up to the throne. It was King Geoffrey Ramsey himself, dressed in his armor and standing tall in front of his seat. He had bandages wrapped around his face, revealing only his right eye and part of his jaw. Despite it, he still managed to look imposing, his presence dominating the room.

"Geoff." There was reproach in Jack's voice. "You shouldn't be standing up."

"Aw Jack, I'm fine. A bit singed at the edges." King Geoff waved a hand and switched his attention to Ryan. "You're the Vagabond, then?"

"Yes, sir." His eyes met Jack's briefly. "I'm Ryan."

"Good to meet you." King Geoff nodded decisively. "Call me Geoff. You'd probably be tired from the journey if it took you this long to get back, so we'll make this quick. Ray's getting the sword, so if you could take a look at it, we'd appreciate it."

Ryan nodded. He knew why he was here, and so far it hadn't seemed like a trap. He still couldn't hide his uneasiness completely.

Geoff looked over at him for a long moment, but before he could say anything the doors opened once more. A younger man wearing a black suit quickly made his way through the room, carefully holding a long wrapped package in his hand.

"Yo, Geoff. Got the thing." He tossed a quick salute and handed the package over to Ryan. "Careful, it's sharp."

Ryan murmured a quiet thanks to the man as he took it from him. Even through the thick leather wrapping, he could still feel the heat radiating from the blade, and the lingering magic made his fingers tingle. There was no question that this was a very powerful enchantment.

He unwrapped the sword, taking care to keep the blade far away from his personal redstone supply at his belt. Enchantments were usually limited only to the object they were attached to, but especially considering how volatile redstone could be it was never a bad idea to be careful. 

The sword was made of pure diamond and it glowed faintly purple. Ryan trailed a finger down the center of the flat of the blade, felt the tendrils of magic clinging to the sword pull and strain against his skin. The blade scorched the air then flared icy cold but Ryan didn't flinch as he closed his eyes and concentrated, tracing the magic and following its pulse, trying to pinpoint exactly where...

He opened his eyes. Three faces stared at him expectantly.

"The sword wasn't made here, or enchanted nearby," he said. "Enchantments require an enchantment table, which is made with diamond and obsidian. Both of those are highly magically charged materials, and they have a magical signature that depends on where it was formed. For now I can't tell more without taking a deeper look at it, but the signature from the sword doesn't match the surrounding area."

Jack frowned but nodded. "It's pretty general, but it's more than we had before. Ray?"

"Yep, got it." The man who brought the sword gave a sharp nod. "I'll let Gav know. And Michael too, so he won't give himself an aneurysm from stress searching the whole city over."

"Good." Geoff glanced back to Ryan. "Ray's going to bring you back to your room. Keep the sword. Are you okay to continue tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Great!" Geoff probably smiled; it was a bit difficult to tell through the bandages. "Thanks for your help. See you tomorrow, then."

"You should get to bed," Jack called over his shoulder, already making his way over to Geoff. "And as for you..."

Ray started leading him out of the room, but before he passed through the door at the back, he could see Jack all but dragging Geoff away, the other man protesting and flailing his free arm around as his whine carried through the room. Jack snapped something back, and Geoff ducked his head- he could all but see the pout. Ryan's lips twitched, and when he turned back Ray was grinning.

"Jack's pretty protective," Ray said. "And Geoff doesn't like being told what to do."

"I can see that." Ryan shifted his grip on the sword.

"Yeah, Geoff's the king but he's really just a big baby. He acts all tough but he's completely under Jack's control. He'll protest, sure, but Jack always gets his way in the end." Ray sniggered.

Ray led him through dozens of practically identical hallways, turning left and right until Ryan was sure he wouldn't be able to find his way back to the entrance.

"You're up here," Ray finally said, motioning to a door. "Your stuff should all be inside. There's a bed, couple of drawers. We got some spare clothes floating around, just take whatever fits, it doesn't really matter. Tomorrow I'll be showing you around the castle if you're up for it?"

Ray's voice trailed off like a question, and Ryan caught the faint hint of both nervousness and eagerness in his tone. Maybe his expression wasn't showing it, but the younger was definitely curious about Ryan.

"Sure," Ryan answered with a smile of his own. "I look forward to it."

Ray beamed and rolled up on the balls of his feet. "Awesome! So I guess it's a bit late, we'll start the grand tour late tomorrow morning. See ya!"

Ryan nodded and waved, and then Ray was gone. Ryan stood in the hallways for a moment more, before pushing his way in.

The room wasn't ridiculously large, but there was a lot of space. He spotted his things beside a cabinet, an elevated bed- now there was something he hadn't seen in a while- beside a closet, and a large window overlooking the rest of Achievement City. A candle burned on the desk below the window, already a quarter gone.

All of a sudden, Ryan felt exhausted despite not doing much at all the whole day. The sword was heavy in his hands, so he left it leaning against the cabinet. There was a vague pang of guilt as he went through the closet but it was quickly overrided by sheer tiredness. He changed quickly, blew out the candle, then went to bed.

He stared at the ceiling for a very long time. Sleep came slowly, tempered with uneasy nightmares.