I saw a theory somewhere on the internet that the green-and-gold orb that Douxie holds in the teaser trailer is keeping Krel's core alive and my brain spat back this fic in response. The fic assumes that Rise of the Titans takes place about two years after Wizards.

This fic contains major character coma as well as references to past period-typical homophobia, torture, death, Douxie being lowkey suicidal, and unwilling transformations.

Douxie sat down near the Queen of Akiridion-V. Far enough to be respectful, but close enough that he was still close to Krel. Or at least, what was left of Krel. His core was safely tucked in an orb made from Nari's magic and some of the few remaining pieces of the Heart of Avalon. It wouldn't last forever, even with Douxie and Claire routinely channeling magic into the device to help power it. One of their options was to stop in New Jersey to carve out a small chunk of the Heartstone and hope it would keep Krel alive, but in the end Aja and Varvatos would have to take him back to their home planet so he could recover in a stasis chamber since the ones in Arcadia had been destroyed.

"Do you need to..." Aja trailed off, looking between the orb and Douxie.

He shook his head. "Not yet. I just..."

"Douxie, right?" He nodded at the mention of his name. "My brother told me about you."

"Oh?" Had Krel started telling people about their relationship without telling Douxie he had done so? Douxie supposed he didn't mind, not when it would have taken the pressure off, but it would've been nice to have had a warning.

"Never many details, but he was always so lively when he talked about you. Are you two close?"

Well, they had been dating for a little over three weeks, but Douxie didn't feel right telling people while Krel wasn't able to say anything. It felt too much like outing Krel to his sister, despite how homophobia didn't exist on Akiridion-V. Besides, Douxie had always kept his romantic relationships quiet; it was a side effect of being a centuries old gay man. Even when he found decades-long pockets of history where the people in the area were less bigoted, Douxie would have to move to avoid anyone realizing that he wasn't aging.

Plus, he was a little intimidated by Aja. He wondered if it was the secretly dating her brother thing or if it was a fear of ruling monarchs that stemmed from the fact that he'd grown up with Arthur trying to kill people just like Douxie.

"I mean, I'd like to think we are," Douxie said instead.

"I don't like leaving him on the ship, not alone and like this, but I can't carry him and fight at the same time."

"Do you want me to carry him?"

Krel was gone.

It was Douxie's fault that Krel was gone.

Bellroc and Skrael had taken the orb. None of the guardians could tell how Krel might factor into their plans, but they all knew that it wouldn't be good for Krel.

Douxie had an idea, even though he hated it.

It was entirely possible that Krel didn't hold any significance to the Arcane Order's plan to bring about the apocalypse.

Aside from Douxie and Krel, the only two people who knew about their relationship were Archie and Nari. Douxie wouldn't have been surprised if Nari was being tortured, and he knew that those being tortured would say anything to make the torture stop. He didn't blame her, but he also knew that Bellroc and Skrael held a grudge against Douxie. They would want to punish him by taking everyone he loved from him, especially Douxie's boyfriend that had helped to send the demigods hurtling through time.

It was entirely Douxie's fault that Krel was gone.

Krel was either dead or dying, and it was unlikely that they'd be able to save him.

Douxie had sworn Archie to secrecy, so that no one would be allowed to learn the truth about Douxie and Krel's relationship. At least, not until Douxie was as dead as Krel was. Archie had tried to talk Douxie out of it, to tell him that he should allow himself to be honest in his grief.

Douxie had brushed him off. It wouldn't be the first time Douxie had publicly mourned his lover as a friend with only Archie to know better. It was just the first time that deep down, Douxie knew with his whole heart that if they'd told the world about their relationship before Krel had been hurt, no one would have turned on them for it.

Douxie ran down the halls of the fortress, cursing just how much of a maze this one was. He scrolled through his runes before finding the one that would magically enhance his hearing for a minute if he didn't get too distracted. He then stopped and closed his eyes to try and listen. If he couldn't hear anything, then he'd try the soul-sensing magic that Nari had tried to teach him, but it was better to start with something he knew how to do.

"We made you," Bellroc cursed.

"This way!" Douxie called over his shoulder, running to where Bellroc was. Hopefully they were alone, because Douxie really didn't want to have to fight both demigods at once again, especially not alone. He made stupid choices in the past, and he was grieving his lover, but he wasn't that suicidal.

"No, you didn't." Douxie nearly stopped running when he heard the voice. It sounded impossibly familiar. His enhanced hearing stopped, but he was just close enough that he could make out the words. He continued running, magically willing himself to go faster.

"Oh, really?" Bellroc said. "It was the Arcane Order who made Gaylen powerful. It was us who bestowed that same power upon you when you would have died otherwise. You will help us summon the titans."

"You may have forced me to integrate with the core, but I am not Gaylen. I am not Morando. I am not even my parents, nor who they expected me to be. I am no planet-killer, and I won't kill my friends, family, or boyfriend for you either."

And Douxie ran into the room in time to see Krel blast Bellroc through a swirling wormhole. It was cyan at the center, but the edges were violet and red. Just like Krel's hair was now. There was also a pair of glowing red wings adorning his back.

"I thought they'd killed you," Douxie said as he'd walked towards his boyfriend. A tearful smile began to form on his face.

Krel glanced at his wings. "No, but, I'm not the same person anymore."

Douxie cupped Krel's cheek. "I don't care what they did to you. Well, I do care, but in the sense that I never want you to be hurt, not that it changes how I feel about you. I still love you."

And then he kissed Krel. For a moment, the two of them were still, but then all four of Krel's hands began to grasp at Douxie's body, holding them close. As Krel began to deepen the kiss, his wings began to move, like he was trying to use them to hug Douxie.

"What?" Aja exclaimed, and Douxie and Krel jumped apart from each other. It was too late, Aja had seen them.

"Aja, I," Krel started, taking a step towards her, but he stopped, looking at his wings. Aja ran to him, squeezing him tightly with all four of her arms.

"We thought you died, I thought I'd lost you like Mama and Papa," she murmured. Krel stiffened.

"They merged me with Gaylen's core, tried to make me their weapon."

"But they didn't manage with the last part."

"Not really, they didn't."

Aja squeezed her brother more tightly before taking a step back. She crossed both pairs of arms, and her face shifted to a stern expression. It was, thankfully, a similar expression to one that Douxie had seen Claire give to her brothers, so hopefully she wasn't too mad. "Now, is there something the two of you want to tell me?"

Krel took Douxie's hand. "Aja, has my boyfriend ever tried to hurt you? Actually, wait, I know your hobbies, so has he ever tried to hurt you outside of a sparring match or anything like that? Because I doubt he has, and that's already a leg up on when you started dating Steve."

"He wasn't exactly truthful."

"I didn't intend to lie to you, your majesty." That managed to earn raised eyebrows from both of the twins. Fuzzbuckets, and he was trying to be polite. "I didn't feel it was right to talk about our relationship when Krel wasn't... around to confirm what I was saying."

Aja sighed. "If you want to be a good boyfriend to my brother, you'll need to do better at protecting him." Krel began to protest this, likely about to reference the divinity that had been foisted upon him and how it probably made him more impervious to harm, but Aja held up a hand. "Then again, I'll need to do the same to be a good sister."