Josephix had seen his share of tough cases. He had seen people who had had issues with the killing they had to do (that was expected of this society though), he had helped Mareth deal with what he had deemed 'ghost pains' when he lost his leg, and had helped numerous of the staff members work through their problems after the war-when they were too scared to do almost anything. He hadn't seen anything like this before. The queen had told him he didn't believe he was himself. That Gregor thought he was the Warrior, and that he had some job he had to finish. She also told him a little bit about his past issues, but she mainly wanted Gregor to come back. Alright. There was a plan.
But when Josephix walked into the room and saw the boy he was supposed to help, his stomach dropped. He knew this kid had been the prophesied warrior-that he had fought the Bane and won-losing his bond in the process. But he looked so much younger than he had imagined, and it wasn't helping that he knew that the war had been several years before. They had really made a child fight their battles. And it was his job to pick up the pieces.
"Hello, Gregor," he starts, "My name is Josephix. I am here to help you out."
The boy looks to him, and doesn't say anything.
"Gregor?"
"I'm not Gregor."
"Right, I am sorry." Josephix says, grabbing a chair and settling next to the bed. "You are the Warrior. My apologies. Do you know when Gregor may return?"
"When it's safe."
"Is it not safe here? Protected, in the palace?"
His forehead crinkles, and he shakes his head. "But-he can still get hurt. I have to protect myself."
Josephix tilts his head slightly. "Are you different people?"
The Warrior shakes his head. "No. I'm the same. He's just-I need to protect him right now."
"So let him come back. You can come back if you need to, yes?"
He shakes his head again. "I'm tired. Do we have to do this?"
Josephix sighs, before shrugging. "Very well. I will let you rest for a bit, but we will need to talk. I hope you understand."
##
He was standing in the Arena. There's a tap on his shoulder, and he turns sluggishly to see Luxa. Her hair is short again, and she smiles.
"Pick your weapon, Overlander."
He frowns. Weapon?
He turns, and sees a table strewn with various weapons. He sees some axes and knives, along with a few spears and other long range weapons. His eyes linger on a dagger, but something unpleasant tugs in his gut when he sees it, and he settles on the sword.
"Are you ready to fight?" Luxa asks, touching his shoulder.
He shakes his head. "Who am I fighting? I'm done fighting."
She smiles, patting his shoulder. "Good luck, Gregor."
She plants a kiss on his cheek, but when he goes to grab her hand, she turns to mist, and is gone. He hears footsteps, and turns to see a figure clad in black armor walking towards him. He looks familiar. He removes his helmet, and Gregor can't help but jerk back in surprise. It's him. Well, it's the Warrior.
"Hello, Gregor." he says, tipping his head to him.
"It's you."
"It's me." He agrees. "How are you?"
Gregor takes a second. "Tired. I'm exhausted. What is this?"
"You're dreaming. Obviously. There's not actually two of us. Of you."
Gregor shakes his head. "I know that. What's all this, though?"
"You have to fight me. I thought you were smarter than that."
"I don't want to fight you." Gregor says. "I'm tired of fighting."
"You won't be safe if you can't fight."
"That...I have Luxa and Ripred."
"They couldn't protect you the last time."
"Fine. I want to learn to fight to defend-not to attack and harm. Is that too much to ask?"
The Warrior shrugs. "I don't know. I only know as much as you do."
"It's not." Gregor says quietly. "It's not."
The Warrior drops one of the daggers in his hands, and walks closer to him. Closer. Closer.
"Maybe it's not. But you will still be a murderer."
"I can-that man wants to help. He can help, can't he?"
"Only if you let him. And if you try."
"Then I will."
The Warrior considers this for a moment, and nods. "Okay."
He takes the other dagger and pushes it into Gregor's hand. "End it, then. One last death for someone who's supposed to be dead. You killed me once before."
Gregor looks down to the dagger, and back to the Warrior.
"But-you're me. You said that yourself."
"You've already killed me. You know that you want this part of you dead."
Gregor opens his mouth to say something else, but the Warrior shakes his head.
"Do it. For all those that have died because of me."
He nods slowly, his chest feeling tight. He turns the dagger and it pushes through the armor like water. There's no blood. The Warrior only gives him a fierce smile, and-
Gregor wakes with a start, sitting up quickly in the bed. He looks around, taking in the room once again. No one else was there. He blinks quickly, before tears start to drip down his cheeks. He wipes at them hurriedly-the ache in his chest almost painful. It's like a part of him has died, and this time it's staying dead.
#
Josephix returns later, as promised. As soon as he walks into the room, it's different. Gregor looks up to Josephix when he enters, and smiles hesitantly, looking slightly worried.
"Hello." he says.
Josephix pauses, but smiles back. "Hello."
He pulls his chair back up and sighs. "Are you ready to talk now? Or…?"
Gregor nods. "What exactly-what exactly does that mean? What am I going to talk about?"
Josephix hums for a moment. "Whatever you feel comfortable talking about right now. Eventually I want you to talk about the traumatic events, so that we can try to work through those."
Gregor nods. "To be honest-I feel kinda stupid talking about all this. Is that-is that normal?"
Josephix nods. "For some people. I find men are more likely to feel like that. But some women as well. All depends on who you are."
"Alright so, where do I start?"
"Wherever you want to."
Gregor looses a sigh. "Well. Can I talk about my family?"
"Of course."
#
Ben wasn't really sure how he got here. Sitting in a room with Luxa and Ripred with Eli by his side, along with multiple other scary looking creatures. There was a spider that kept giving him a look, and he wasn't sure if he liked it or not. They wouldn't eat him, right?
Eli taps his hand, and Ben startles.
Technically, Eli wasn't supposed to be here, but Ben dragged him along on grounds of emotional support. Ripred had given him a look, but let it slide.
"The Interfectores are still at large." Luxa says. "Ben and Ripred managed to retrieve Gregor from them, but he will take some time to heal."
She didn't specify mental or physical, Ben notices. He wasn't sure if that was on purpose or not, but from what he knew about Luxa, it was definitely on purpose.
"We have taken down what appears to be a small group of them with possibly a branch leader, but the main leader is still out there, along with the other branches. Gnawers have still been turning up."
"So we stomp them down." Ripred snarls.
"Why am I here, again?" Ben whispers.
Ripred and the mouse (he guessed) heard him, and the mouse sighed.
"You were present when Ripred was there. You have to confirm there wasn't excessive force used in the neutralization of the branch."
Ben thinks of the ripped off foot, flung far from its body. He swallows back his nausea, and shrugs.
"Looked pretty by the book to me." he says weakly.
The mouse nods, and turns back to let the rest of the discussion. They were starting to talk about organizing groups to hunt through the city, and he heard Luxa arguing for putting moles into branches to get more information.
"Ripred."
Ripred looks to him; irritated. "What?"
"Can I go?"
Ripred waves him away with a paw, and Ben grabs Eli's hand, pulling him away from the table and the room.
As soon as they're out into the hallway, Eli grabs him by his shoulders, looking worried.
"Are you okay?"
Ben forces a smile, giving the best double thumbs up he could. "Yeah. Totally fine."
Eli gives him a flat look. "Ben."
"Yeah! I'm fine. I just-I didn't realize I would have to think about that again. Like, on purpose. You know? I get that they're some super war driven people or whatever, but I'm just...me."
Eli lets his arms go, and takes a step back. "You're not 'just you'. You're…" Eli sighs, and gestures at him with his hand.
"Perfect."
"Oh, be still, my beating heart." Ben says sarcastically, all the while trying very hard not to blush.
Eli scoffs, rolling his eyes, but Ben notices the tips of his ears are red. Cute.
"Let's go visit Gregor. Luxa said he was doing better." Ben rushes out. "She said he was more himself."
"Yeah. She seemed kinda weird about it though. Like he wasn't himself before or something but like, literally."
Ben nods, leading the way to the hospital wing.
"Luxa said there was some guy that would be with him to help. I guess the equivalent to a therapist in the Overland or something."
"That should help."
They round the corner to the hospital wing, and Ben starts to Gregor's room. He peeks in, seeing him talking to an Underlander.
"Oh!" He says, ducking back out.
Eli gives him a curious look, and Ben shakes his head. "He's talkin' to that guy."
Eli nods, and leans against the wall, sliding down to the floor. "Let's just wait then."
Ben nods, sitting down next to Eli, sighing. "Do you think they're gonna be successful in taking down the Interfectores?"
Eli shrugs. "I hope so. I mean-what they're doing? It's no better than what the gnawers did to the nibblers during the war Gregor fought in."
Ben nods, leaning back against the wall. "Yeah. Hey-do you think-what are you gonna tell your mom when you get back?"
Eli lets out a breath, shaking his head. "I don't know. I'll probably just tell her the truth. I mean, yeah, it's crazy, but also-it's better closure than nothing."
Eli doesn't ask about Ben's parents-which he appreciates.
"Well," Ben starts, "I think me and Gregor should definitely be better friends after this. Whether he likes it or not, he's stuck with me now. I'm gonna become the best unofficial son Grace has ever had."
Eli laughs, and shakes his head. "You're always welcome at the shop."
Ben smiles, leaning against Eli's shoulder. "Yeah. You're always welcome to my house too, but I doubt you'd really want to go there."
Footsteps don't let Eli respond, and the same Underlander who had been in the room starts when he sees them sitting on the floor.
"Oh. Hello. Are you Gregor's friends?"
"Yeah." Eli says, standing up.
Ben follows suit, trying to peek around the door. "Can we see him? Is he alright?"
The man hesitates, looking behind him. "Yes, but do not ask him too much."
"That's all I needed to hear." Ben says, slipping past him.
He can hear Eli apologizing and talking to the man, but he's more concerned with Gregor.
He's sitting up, and looks up to him when he hears his footsteps. Ben stops a couple feet away, his stomach twisting slightly. Gregor's eyes were red and puffy from crying, but he still manages a smile.
"Hey, Ben."
Ben blinks rapidly, clearing his throat as he grabs the chair and sits next to his bed.
"Hey, Gregor. What's up?"
Gregor blinks, before he laughs. It sounds slightly strained, and it doesn't last long, but, Ben thinks, at least it's real. Ben quirks a smile, not really sure what to do.
"You good there?"
Gregor sighs, sitting back slightly. "I'm good."
Looking down at his hands, Gregor sighs, looking troubled. "Hey, Ben. Can we-can we keep everything that's happened here just...between us? And Eli. I can't-I can't let anyone else find out what I did." He whispers.
A chill slithers down Ben's spine. "Of course, Gregor."
Of course, because just because he looked better, doesn't mean he actually was better.
Ben swallows down the lump in his throat, looking around the hospital room. "Well, I gotta say, the rooms a little barren for my tastes, but I suppose it isn't too bad."
Gregor cracks a smile, and leans back completely into the pillows, his eyes closing. "Thanks for saving me, Ben."
"Ah, c'mon, man! I barely did anything!"
"But it was enough."
Ben stares at Gregor, before shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He jumps when a hand descends on his shoulder, and he looks up to see Eli looking worriedly at Gregor.
"Hey, Gregor." Eli says, "Are you feeling okay? Josephix told me about you talked about and stuff. You sure you're up to us visiting?"
Gregor mumbles something that might've been a yes, and he sits up slowly, his eyes droopy.
"We-we'll come back tomorrow, yeah?" Ben says, standing. "Uh-you look tired and stuff."
He rushes out, not waiting to see if Eli follows. He does, and catches up to him just outside the medical wing.
"Are you alright?" Eli asks, grabbing his wrist.
Ben shrugs, avoiding looking at him. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just-I want Gregor to get better. That's all."
"He'll be fine. Josephix seems nice, and he's probably as well versed in his field as he can be, down here."
"Yeah, yeah. I know. Just-I'm tired. I think I'm gonna go take a nap."
Ben tugs away from Eli's hand, and gives him a tight smile. "See you later."
#
They should've been back by now, is what Lizzie tells herself. It has been far too long for them to be gone. But it's not exactly like she can go tell the police. What was she supposed to say? That her brother and two of his friends where lost (possibly dead, though Lizzie didn't like to think about that) in the Underland, which is an entire region underneath New York that houses giant animals alongside humans? She'd get laughed at.
So that's how Lizzie finds herself plodding through the snow to the bookstore in town; in part to talk to Eli's mom, and also to find herself a new puzzle book. Normally this was Gregor's thing, so Lizzie wasn't exactly sure what she was looking for. The big sign out front was definitely a help. The door jingled lightly as Lizzie stepped into the shop, and an older looking woman smiles at her from behind the counter.
"Hello!"
"H-hello. Are you Eli's mom?"
The woman's eyes widen slightly. "Yes. Have you heard from him?"
"He...he didn't tell you were he was going?"
"He told me he had pressing business in New York, of all places. But I haven't heard from him in a while and I'm getting worried."
"You haven't said he was missing, though?"
"Yes, well...this happened to his sister, as well." She says, smiling wryly.
"Hazard's mom?"
"Who's Hazard?"
"Oh. That's...I guess your grandson."
The woman looks stricken. "Pardon me?"
"C-could I maybe talk to you in private?" Lizzie asks.
The woman hesitates, but nods. "Come to the back. I'll make us some hot cocoa."
~
Lizzie sips at her cocoa, watching Helen intently.
"I can't believe Sara got herself tangled up in this kind of mess." She finally says. "I have a grandson…!"
She blinks, before dabbing at her eyes with her sleeve. "Oh, good lord. I'm really falling into this grandmother role headfirst-all these tears-I'm sorry, dear."
Lizzie smiles slightly. "Don't worry. It's alright."
"I wish I could meet him, I'm sure he's grown up alright if he's with the people you told me about."
Lizzie nods. "He's surrounded by people who love him."
Helen smiles, somehow looking fond at the thought of someone she's never even met. "You're telling me all these crazy things, but someone I believe you."
Lizzie smiles slightly. "I know how it sounds."
Helen suddenly stands up, her chair shrieking back. "Your poor mother! She must be-my god. Your brother's been gone longer than Eli, I bet she's just about lost her mind!"
"She's doing alright. This isn't the first time someone's disappeared in my family."
Helen gives her an incredulous look. "Did you walk here?"
Lizzie nods, and Helen's eyes widen. "It's freezing out! Come, I'll gather some things, and we can go over, and I'll bake a casserole. Let your poor mother relax."
"Oh. I don't-"
"Nonsense! Gather your coat, I'll close up the shop and get the car warm. You stay here, alright, dear?"
Lizzie finds herself nodding, watching as Helen bustles around, keys jingling, and once upstairs, cabinet doors opening and closing. She eventually comes down, arms heaped with bags.
"Alright, dear. Let's go."
With a giggle, Lizzie smiles and takes a couple bags from Helen, helping her put them into the car, and then off they went.