Chapter 21: Adventures in the Dark Realm
When Dorian heard the term "Dark Realm," he had been expecting that to be a fancy name for a small forest or a bar, or a code name for a mafia or gang, not an actual Dark Realm they needed Maki's help to access.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Maki asked, and Dorian nodded.
"Seeing as I'm running out of both hope and time, this is a good idea. Worse case, I die, but at least I'd die my own way."
"Hate to break it to you," Kelly said from where he was still resting, having only woken up in the last couple hours, "I'm coming with you, so the goal is to not die."
Dorian hesitated, not wanting Kelly to go with, especially since he didn't know about the agreement with Amelia. And it was no secret at this point that the curse became more apparent if Kelly was in danger because then Dorian saw red. Love, even an unrequited crush, was dangerous.
"Kels, you just woke up after getting attacked. It would be best if you didn't get hurt. Makane isn't around anymore to bring back the dead."
Mention of his recently deceased surrogate sister made Kelly's mood darken, and he looked absently at the wings he had yet to retract.
"Dorian, I've come back from the dead before, and I might as well give Death a damn fruit basket. Worst case, I do the intern thing again or use that favor of mine—though, admittedly, if that was going to be of any use, it would have broken your curse so we wouldn't be in this mess to begin with."
"You have no fear of death." Dorian deadpanned, unable to really process how little Kelly cared.
"I lived with Regina Blackwell for twelve years, would you have a fear of death after that?"
"Touché."
Maki finished making the magic circle, and Amelia looked down at it, suspiciously, "Is that cocaine?"
"Yeah, you wanna make something of it? Mikan bought it for one of the Chandra killing plans, and the sisters are getting curious. And for the record, thank you, Dorian, for killing twenty sisters in the last week and kidnapping one. The dishes are much more manageable."
"You're...welcome?"
"You don't know the pain of having 285 sisters. Anyway, the magic cocaine is ready to make a portal."
"Of all the weird things I expected to hear in my lifetime, that is not one of them," Kelly said, getting up with the help of Harrison, who gave him a drone,
"Remember to send the drone out, and it will take pictures and map out the area. And bring back samples of things!"
"Sure, Harry." Amelia looked down at the portal, which was now an indigo whirlpool, "Is it safe, and can we get back?"
Maki shrugged, "Hopefully."
Kelly narrowed his eyes, "That's not comforting."
"Never said it was. Don't die."
"Dorian," Amelia turned to him, "If I die because of you, I am gonna be so pissed."
"Noted." Dorian hopped through the portal, followed by the others moments later.
The place was beautiful, with the appearance of an enchanted cavern with each rock having glowing indigo veins, illuminating the area.
"Woah," Kelly exhaled, "This is—"
"Incredible." Dorian looked around while Amelia activated the drone, which took flight and examined the area.
"Which way?"
"The hell if I know," Kelly replied, "Peridot, this is your quest, so lead the way."
Dorian blushed a little at the nickname, but managed to keep his voice steady, "I don't know where to go either. Normally I'd ask if we can wait for the drone to make a map, but I am on a time limit, and we only have two weeks until fall break ends, so we have to hurry."
Amelia dug into her backpack, "I've packed enough food to last two weeks, but we're teens, so it might only last one week." She then took flight, and the two boys followed her, making conversation,
"Dorian, did I do something wrong?"
Dorian raised an eyebrow, "What?"
"Harry said you don't want me staying with you anymore."
There was a silence between them for a moment as Dorian contemplated the right words to say.
"You did nothing wrong. I'm doing this to protect you."
"Protect me from what? I'm immune to your powers, being your other half and all."
Without thinking, Dorian stopped in his tracks and grabbed Kelly's wrist. He didn't know why exactly he'd decided to stop walking, but he didn't want Amelia to overhear this, "I'm trying to protect you from the curse! I've noticed I go berserk when you're hurt or upset."
"Really? Why?"
Knowing this was the moment of truth, Dorian took a deep breath. Kelly watched him with piercing sapphire eyes, curious and wanting an answer. Even if he decided to not answer, Kelly would still want to know.
"I... It's because..." he nodded to himself, he could do this. He held both of Kelly's hands loosely, "I'm in love with you, Kelly, and I would do anything to make sure you're safe and happy and have people who treat you right. So if even the slightest misfortune befalls you while you're staying with me, I don't know what would happen." He finally looked up, and his silver eyes met Kelly's blue, "Yeah, I'm gay. I didn't tell you before to avoid the awkwardness of you knowing I'm into you."
He saw Kelly's cheeks were bright red, same with the tips of his delicately pointed ears. He remembered Harrison mentioning how flustered Kelly got when getting confessed to. He sighed,
"I don't expect or even hope you return my feelings—actually, it would be better if you didn't." Deciding to take a chance since Kelly wasn't downright rejecting him, he leaned in and tenderly kissed him. Kelly didn't return it, but also didn't back away.
"You kissed me," Kelly said after a moment, placing a hand to his mouth and gently touching his lips,
"I-Is that a bad thing?"
"I don't know. I suppose that with the curse, it is, but I'm not going to complain. For the sake of simplicity, I won't think much about it until the curse is broken."
Dorian chuckled, "That's probably for the best, but I had to tell you. Because if this doesn't work..." he smiled, but it was strained, "Don't worry about it."
"What aren't you telling me?" Kelly asked in a warning tone, "Don't hide things from me."
"If this doesn't work, I asked Mia and Harry to isolate me from the world forcefully, and possibly kill me."
"WHAT?!" Kelly grabbed his shoulders and shook him, "Why would you—"
"Because I won't let Chandra win and the multiverse pays the price. Just because a time traveler said I am to be an evil mastermind, doesn't mean I actually need to be. I'm writing my own destiny, and even if it ends in my death, my happily ever after starts now."
Amelia landed, frowning, "You guys stopped following me. Did I miss something?"
"No." Both men replied, and she giggled,
"Double negative, I get it."
Kelly facepalmed, "Alright. Did you find anything?"
"The stone? No. A ton of monsters blocking our path to a run-down town close to a palace covered in thorns? Yes."
"Well, that sounds bad." They followed her and hid behind a rock, seeing the dark world natives.
"Okay, here's the plan," Kelly said, "Activate your powers and, as we are doing that, sprint crazily."
Dorian turned to him, "That's a terrible plan."
"You got a better one that doesn't involve being any European explorer ever?"
"Well, those guys were in it for God, glory, and gold. I'm doing it for salvation."
"Doesn't change the fact we'd be killing just because they're natives. What if they're nice?"
"Then, why does your plan involve running?" Amelia retorted, and Kelly rolled his eyes in response,
"I'm not that confident in the friendly theory."
Dorian dug into the pockets of his camo jacket, pulling out a small thing of binoculars, "What do we do, then? Because from where I stand, sprinting crazily is, unfortunately, the smartest option."
"Or fly!" Amelia brightened, "Kels, you have wings. And since Dorian is your other half, he probably does too!"
"I don't know how to activate my wings."
Dorian nodded, "Yeah, I've got no clue."
"You two are hopelessly made for each other," Amelia muttered, and Kelly smacked her arm,
"You knew he's in love with me?!"
"You know?!"
"I confessed earlier," Dorian murmured, "And he knows about our agreement."
"O-Oh..." she sighed, "Kels, the only reason I agreed is because of what happened to Harry."
"I understand, but that doesn't mean I like or accept it." Kelly sighed, looking back at the creatures, "Looks like Harry gets to discover a new species after all. What should we call them?"
"Well, seeing as we're planning to avoid them, I don't see that as a priority." Amelia replied, "Maybe just focus on your wings to activate them."
Kelly tried that, and peridot-colored wings sprouted from his back, glowing dimly and contrasting the indigo lighting around them.
In response to the wings, the abnormally-colored strands of Dorian's hair began to glow.
"Oh. You might not have wings," Amelia groaned, picking Dorian up bridal style and taking flight.
It took a moment for Kelly to figure out how to get his feet off the ground, and even then it was much slower than Amelia, who came back,
"How do you do this?" Kelly asked, fluttering in the air, struggling to remain in the air.
"It's like you're walking."
"Then why are you going so much faster than me?"
"Because I know how to walk forward."
"Meanwhile, I must be carried," Dorian clung to Amelia's neck nervously, looking down at the creatures below them, wondering if any of them could fly.
"I don't see a problem," she replied, adjusting his weight in her arms, "Now come on, there's an open window in the castle. If we'll find the stone anywhere, it's there."
Controlling wings was a new experience for Kelly, so it took a bit to flutter after the others, landing in the castle, and everyone was surprised to find it abandoned, but also looking as though it had been lived in.
"Do you think the stone is here?" Dorian questioned hopefully, and Kelly shrugged while trying to retract his wings.
"I would think so. If we're lucky, this place is as abandoned as it looks."
"Should we split up?" Amelia asked, and Kelly pondered that for all of two seconds,
"I've seen enough horror movies to know that sounds like a terrible idea."
"I'll so alone," Dorian suggested, "You two go together."
"Are you trying to die?!"
"I'm going to die if we don't find the stone, so I'm willing to take some risks. Besides, I have my scythe," to prove a point, Dorian took out his pen, activating the scythe.
Kelly bit his lip, "O-Oh. Just try not to get hurt. We're connected." He held Dorian's hand, squeezing it comfortingly, "So if you need me, all you have to do is call."
"A-Alright." Dorian went down the nearest stairwell while Kelly and Amelia walked down the hall.
Once alone, Dorian slid down the wall, looking at his hand and thinking about how that love confession went. In a way, it went exactly how he'd wanted it to, but a small part of him longed for Kelly to return his feelings—which was to be expected but didn't make it hurt any less.
No, Kelly couldn't return his love, not until the curse was broken.
With newfound resolve and determination, he kept walking, trying to locate the stone.
He didn't know how long he was searching since time didn't seem to work correctly here. His watch was working, but it only jumped hours, not minutes, so it was unclear if this was correct or not. But, regardless, he kept moving until he came across a corridor, illuminated in turquoise light.
"What do you seek?" He heard a voice say, and he looked around in search of the source,
"I seek my salvation."
In the darkness of the unilluminated corners of the corridor, a figure appeared and revealed herself to be none other than Chandra.
"Chandra?"
"In this place, to find is to lose, and to lose is to find. That's the way of things in this land."
"What are you talking about? Can you not be cryptic?" He pulled out his scythe and attacked, only for the time traveler to vanish, reduced to no more than turquoise sparkles, "Oh. An illusion. That's a bad sign." He frowned as he kept walking, pondering what had been said, "To find is to lose, and to lose is to find? What does that mean?"
Deciding to find the stone before he found out, Dorian broke into a sprint.