A/N: Apologies for not doing a new AU, but I frigging love this one for unknown reasons...
So King Webber Part 2! =D
Wilbur's POV
"I foresee this will not end well."
Webber shot me a glare from the corner of his eyes. "I didn't ask you. You're only here-"
"because I am your best friend and Royal Adviser." I grinned at him.
"No, because I personally don't want to do this alone." His voice wavered a bit, his infinite loneliness breaking through. He shook his head furiously as if to clear it. "Do you think they'll remember me?"
"If not it won't seem too odd for you to randomly show up," I offered. "After all, you are their new king."
His whiskers twitched. "I suppose. How's the new gift going?"
"As I said, I foresee this will not end well." I laughed as he shoved me.
"I'm serious!"
"There is about a million ways I see this could end." I curled my tail to my side. Apparently, with his new position, he had a few new powers to toy with, one of them including foresight, which, like the Gift of Sight, he shared with me. Which made it quite fun for both of us. "Maybe you should have brought your bodyguard."
He paused for a second, perhaps looking into what I was talking about. "Nightmare would have made this worse." Finally, he rose to his feet as the darkness of night began to lift. "Are... are you ready?" Judging by the lost tone of his voice, though, he was not speaking to me.
"Hey... maybe we should save this for a later time. When you have gotten used to everything-" I cut myself off as he was already shaking his head.
"I've been waiting for this opportunity for years, Wilbur," he sighed. "I just can't believe that this can be real. All of my hopes and dreams of seeing my family again... I had almost given them up."
"Ooooh, I see another thing you're looking forward to." I grimaced. "I don't like her. She looks at me like I'm a pet. And I don't like the way she talks to you."
"Shut up! I'm not looking forward so it'd be great if you wouldn't also."
"But what about that hunter in our near future. Should I be concerned about that?"
"I'll tell him not to shoot you. Stop fretting! You are standing next to the Nightmare Captor and Nightmare Servant. There is literally nothing that can hurt me. And it'll be quick. I'll just... tell them who I am and that I'm okay and... stuff..."
"I see another way that ends ba-"
"I said stop that! Come on, let's go..." He ran his fingers through his fur. "Do I look alright?"
"Now who's fretting?"
"I'm just asking! I really need to find a way to get you to stop being so frustrating."
"Nope. I see how you'll go about that. I don't like that either. For your information, I have never liked anyone like that, and I never will so don't even try to play matchmaker."
He scowled at me for a few seconds before finally breaking down into laughter. "Alright, you win. Let's actually go now." He started forward before I could even try to find ways to stall further. He wasn't moving very fast, though, as though he were about to face something worse than the Nightmare Throne. Well, that might be the case, I realized. This must be super stressful for him.
"You have no idea." Even the boy's inner voice was quivering.
Are you okay?
"I'm fine." Outwardly, he sighed and lowered his gaze. I had a feeling that meant Webber was not up for any more of this conversation, so I let my mind wander ahead. I hope it's clearer when we get back to the mainland. Right now I can only see bits and pieces.
There were a few more minutes of silence before I couldn't take it anymore. "Why are you so... hesitant? Didn't your family- you know- actually like you?"
"Well..." He stopped walking. "They... did... I'm just... you know..." He spread his arms as though to indicate his entire being. "Not... how they remember me."
"Didn't you see them in a dream? Don't they know that this is you now?"
"I'm pretty sure they saw me me not... this me." He shrugged helplessly.
"Simple solution. I act all special and stuff and inform them that you are their new king. You can drop the 'Oh by the way I'm also your son' bomb later in the conversation."
"Oh I couldn't do that," he insisted, beginning to walk again at a faster pace. "I just can't. It would feel like I'm lying. And... I just want to..." he lowered his gaze, but not before I noticed the way he was tearing up. "I just want to talk to them again and... and to hear they love me."
"Oh, Webber..."
"I feel bad for you... you never had a family."
I cringed slightly but buried thoughts before he could see them.
"You never knew what it was like to truly be cared about and loved... did you?" He gave me a sad smile. "I've been inside your mind... I know how much you hated your family. And yet... somehow you turned out better than I did."
"I'd really like to know your reasoning behind I am better than you are. I committed genocide without shedding a tear; I murdered my entire old group just because."
"Oh... that's not completely true is it, though? There was something else but... sometimes I wonder if you even remember. No, I don't know either," he added at my glare. "but I can tell that there was something else that compelled you to be horrible. All the horrible things I've done? Nothing."
"Seriously? Name three horrible things you've done."
"I helped to kill the giants even though they did nothing wrong."
"Wrong. The Deerclops would have killed you anyway. As for the other three-"
"Well the Dragonfly and Goose were just protecting their children," he hissed.
"You were lied to."
"Well, second of all I was the reason my sister was killed..."
"Wrong again. No one blamed you but yourself."
"And third-" He cut himself off, holding his arm out to stop me as well.
"What?"
"That's it..." Webber's voice was barely a whisper. "It... it's the same... I thought it would have looked so much more different. Come on."
I blinked at the area beyond where he was looking. It really looked nothing special to me; The roads were gravel and the homes themselves looked sturdy but basic. What I wouldn't give to see what he's seeing right now.
"It's a world of happiness and excitement. You wouldn't understand... the stories that lie here... the adventures I could tell you... it's just... too amazing... too unbelievable to bear..."
How long has it been since you stood on these streets?
"Five years, my friend... five long, painful, sad years."
He had slowed once more to the point he was hardly moving. Gravel cracked under his feet, but that was the only noise in my entire hearing range. It was as though the entire world was holding its breath, waiting, watching.
He broke away suddenly, scattering rocks all over me and freaking me out at the same time. I was following his orders and not looking ahead... and at this point, I particularly did not want to see what was happening next. Webber stopped in front of a particular doorway that looked no different to me. I caught up to him, walking slower than he was, and sat beside him. We exchanged a look. He let out a deep breath, then let it out shakily. His entire body was quivering with barely suppressed fear or excitement or both. He lifted his fist, hesitated, adopted a determined expression and rapped on the door three times.
Oh dear, doesn't he have another sister? I'm gonna have to meet three different people at once? He is so lucky he's my friend and king.
And it was almost certainly his older sister who answered the knock. She had straight brown hair that ended at her shoulders, brilliant amber eyes, and a smile, along with an empty flower pot in her hands.
"Hi!-" she silenced herself as their eyes met. The clay pot fell to the ground with a loud smash but neither of them paid any attention to it. She dropped to meet his height, and without a word, Webber, the all-powerful King and Night Monster, the unkillable and invincible, wrapped his arms around her neck and sobbed into her shoulder. It was such a sudden change that for a second, I didn't understand what had just happened. I had never really paid attention to his blatant youth because if you just talked to him without ever seeing him it would be impossible to tell how young he was. But the second his eyes met his sister's, he seemed to transform before my eyes. His fierce features almost melted away, his kingliness faded into thin air, and before I knew it he had gone from a king to a child in a matter of moments. He just... looked like a kid.
And it freaked me out.
"When I had that dream..." His sister- Alyvia- murmured. "I knew... I just knew you two were alive somewhere."
"I'm so sorry..."
"Don't be... you were young and foolish, and so was she. You two didn't know any better."
He shook his head.
"He's also your new king just... throwing that out there. Show him, King Webs." I wanted to say something to break the ignorance to the fact I was there.
Webber broke away from her embrace and stepped back, displaying the red hourglass-shaped marking on his chest. "Surprise." He giggled.
She laughed a bit through her own tears and hugged him closely again. "I'm so glad you're alive."
"I-I'm glad too."
"I'm here also, just saying." Of course, my comment still fell on deaf ears.
"Will you stay?"
"I can't." He smiled again. "I have a world to take care of. I just wanted to let you guys know I was alright... I'll visit again sometime soon. Just... tell Mum and Father I said hi?"
"I will, Ty." She squeezed him a little. "I will."
