Hey, everyone! This is my first time writing for the Stranger Things fandom and this little bit of story just wouldn't leave me alone. This story was brought to you by the following items on the following forums:
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry:
Fantastic Beasts and How to Collect Them: 3. Abraxan Winged Horse (theme) Freedom
Scavenger Hunt: 41. Write a story from another fandom. (Stranger Things)
Guess the Number of Eggs in the Jar: Dungeons and Dragons!AU
Paint a Rainbow: Grey Doing homework
Monthly Challenges For All:
Link Maker: Anchor link, 2,743 words
Shipping Wars: Mike Wheeler/Will Byers (DND Lovers), Spring Medium 1 List (First Kiss), 2,743 words
Spring Bingo: 3D (open) 2,743
Warning for Dungeons and Dragons!AU/Fairytale/Sleeping Beauty!AU, hints of bullying, and a slight bit out of character due to the AUs used and this being my first time writing for the fandom in question. I hope you all enjoy The Mysterious Sleeping Curse of Will the Wise.
The realm was covered in darkness. A darkness so black it almost sightless and one would collide with anything in one's path. The known wizard of the realm a young boy named Will the Wise was trap in a realm that was much like his own but a complete reverse of the one he was used to. He was trapped in this world in utterly terrible sleep. A slumber from which no one could wake him from. Not even his mother the Lady Byers could wake him.
"Has there been any news of Will the Wise?" the page boy Dustin of House Henderson asked, looking between Sirs Lucas and Mike as they walked toward the halls of learning. "Has he awoken yet?"
"No, Dustin," Mike answered, a sorrowful look crossing his features. He and Will the Wise had been the best of friends since they were born. They'd even neighbors in their hospital bassinets. "I think that mayhaps we should think of a way to bring him back to us ourselves."
"But how?" Sir Lucas asked, raising a dark eyebrow at his friend and comrade. "Everything that healers have tried hasn't worked. What can we do that they have done already?"
"I don't know," Sir Mike said, looking down at his feet. "But we have to try and figure something out and we have to do it fast."
"Jonathan," Dustan said, looking towards the place of higher learning which was across the way. "Mayhaps Jonathan the Bold will know of a thing to cure Will the Wise? Shall we ask him when we leave the Halls of Learning?"
"I don't know," Sir Mike said, feeling in his gut that something was about to happen. He didn't know if it was something good or bad but he knew that something was going to happen. And his gut was telling him that that something would happen if they went to Jonathan the Bold. "Maybe we could try and research with the Lord of the Knowing some more? Maybe there was a book or something that we didn't check out yet?"
"Why don't you want to go and ask Jonathan the Bold?" Sir Lucas asked, turning to face Sir Mike and causing a pileup in the doorway to the Halls of Learning.
"Move it!" the evil knight Sir Troy shouted, lumbering his way forward and glaring at the group. "You're going to make us all late again."
The group moved aside so that they were no longer blocking the doorway to the Halls of Knowledge. People glared as they passed but the group was unfazed by this and only started the conversation that had been previously interrupted by Troy.
"Yeah," Dustin said watching as the party's zoomer and mage made their way through the doors. "Jonathan is just as wise as Will is. Plus if he doesn't know the answer maybe your sister Lady Nancy will or Lord Steve of Hair?"
"Lady Byers and Sheriff Hopper said that the fewer people who know about the sleeping sickness of Will the Wise the better," Sir Mike said, looking at each of the boys as the girls finally joined the group.
"But what if someone outside of our group can help?" asked Lady Max who could scarcely be called a lady by the way she acted. "What if the answer to waking Will the Wise up is outside of our range of knowing?"
"That's why we've come to the Halls of Learning," Sir Mike said, trying to keep the bitter unhappiness of what was happening with his friend from coloring his voice. "We can look in the books of this knowledgable place and maybe find an answer here."
"But what if….."
"We'll find an answer," he said firmly, eyes flaming with anger now. "Will the Wise will wake again and he will join us on our next campaign."
"She wasn't saying that he wouldn't, Sir Mike," Sir Lucas said, coming to the defense of his girlfriend. "She was only saying if we don't find answers here, we might want to look outside of our group."
Sir Mike turned and raced back out of the Halls of Learning. This was after all the last place that he had wanted to be during this whole mess. He wanted to be out here trying to find a way to bring Will the Wise back.
"Aren't you supposed to be headed the other way, Sir Wheeler?" asked the wise and all-knowing wizard of the AV Club. "We're going to be doing some very interesting experiments in….."
A conversation that he'd had a week ago flew into Sir Mike's head at the mention of experiments. A conversation where he was pretty sure that he'd accused his wise friend of being gay. A conversation which had deeply seemed to have hurt Will the Wise more than he continued to let on.
"I have to go, Mr. Wizard." Most of Sir Mike's friend group called the wizard of AV Club Mr. Wizard. But the wise all-knowing man seemed to be a bit perplexed as he watched Sir Mike race towards his steed. "I'm going to try and wake up Will the Wise."
"Where's he going?" Sir Mike heard Sir Lucas ask the wise wizard as he began to pedal his steed in the direction of the House of Healing that Lady Byers had taken Will the Wise to.
If he was wrong about the thought that had just popped into his head when the wise wizard had spoken of experiments then there would be no harm and no foul. He'd probably be grounded by his parents Lord and Lady Wheeler for skipping the Halls of Learning today. But it would well be worth the risk in Sir Mike's mind. After all, Will the Wise had been his friend for so long and his absence was felt by the whole party.
The whole ride to the House of Healing the story of a Princess called Aurora played through Sir Mike's mind. She'd been put under a spell curse thought and not the same thing as what had happened to Will the Wise. But everything else seemed to be the same between the two cases.
"What was the cure for the sleeping curse of Princess Aurora?" he asked himself, pedaling his noble steed harder as he came to a hill.
He wracked his mind and wracked his mind, and then wracked his mind some more. The only thing that came to mind was the first thing that had popped into his mind when the wise wizard had said the word experiment.
The cure for Princess Aurora's sleeping curse was true love's kiss," he said, feeling his cheeks start to flame. He liked Will the Wise as a friend and plus he had a girlfriend already. He was dating their mage, Eleven or El as the group called her.
He scoured his brain for any other answer that would present itself as the House of Healing presented itself to him. But none would come to him. He just kept thinking of the case of Princess Aurora.
"At least the other didn't come with me," he whispered to himself his cheeks still aflame which he chalked up to the cold wind whipping at his face as he rode.
He entered the House of Healing and took the all-to-familiar path to the room of Will the Wise. Lady Byers, who usually by her youngest son's bedside, was absent but Jonathan the Bold was sat by the bed doing some homework that Sir Mike's sister Lady Nancy must have brought him from the Halls of Higher Learning.
Jonathan the Bold looked up from his work as the door opened. He was probably expecting his mother or Sheriff Hopper or both of them because a shocked look formed on his face. He was about to get up when Sir Mike made his way over to the bed.
"Aren't you supposed to be in…."
"I couldn't stand being there when Will was like this," Sir Mike said, looking down fondly at his friend who slumbered on not knowing that he was the topic of many conversations in the small kingdom of Hawkins. "Has there been any change? Has anyone thought of a way to possibly bring him out of this….this sleeping curse?"
Jonathan the Bold stiffened at the words that Sir Mike of Wheeler had just uttered. He knew as well as the younger boy did that this was a curse. He just wasn't ready to admit it or hear it admitted to out loud yet.
"They've tried a few more things but nothing has seemed to make a difference," Jonathan the Bold stated, sitting back down and putting his books aside. "Do you want me to take you back to the Halls of Learning? We might have to wait a bit for my mom and Hopper to get back. I don't want to leave him alone in case he wakes up, you know?"
Sir Mike hesitated looking between the two Byers boys. He was pretty sure that the older one was going to laugh right in his face once Mike told him what he had been thinking on his way to the House of Healing.
"What's wrong?" Jonathan the Bold asked, making Sir Mike inwardly curse at how expressive his own face was at times.
"I had a rather stupid thought while I was riding my noble steed here to see Will the Wise," he said, trying to keep his cheeks from flaming up once more. "But it's rather ridiculous and probably won't work. You probably don't even want to hear it."
"No," the older dark-haired dark-eyed boy said, giving him a serious look. "I want to hear it. It's probably better than sitting here and doing absolutely nothing for him. Which is exactly what these doctors have been doing since we brought him here."
"Do you remember that case that was presented in one of the books in the Halls of Learning?" Sir Mike asked, looking at Jonathan the Bold hoping he would say no and that would be the end of it. "The one that had everything similar to what is happening to Will the Wise?"
"The Case of the Sleeping Beauty?" Jonathan raised an eyebrow. "There certain differences between that case and this one. Why do you bring it up?"
"Because I was trying to think of a way to wake Will up the whole ride over here," Mike said, watching his friend's face as he slept. Mike had to admit that Will looked more peaceful than he'd ever seen him when the dark-haired boy was asleep. His dark eyelashes plastered against his cheek. The easy rise and fall of his chest as he drew in a breath and released it.
"What exactly were you thinking that led you to mention the whole Case of the Sleeping Beauty thing? I'm not judging. I'm just wondering that's all."
"Well, the reason I mention is….um….it's really rather stupid and probably won't work but….uh...the only cure that I could think of is the one that worked for Princess Aurora in that case."
"You mean true love's kiss or something like that?" Jonathan said, stroking his chin deep in thought. "Did he have a girlfriend or someone you know of that could give him true love's kiss?"
"No, not that I know of," Mike said, feeling the familiar burning as his cheeks once more started to flame. "But I was thinking….uh….um…."
"What?"
"I was thinking that not all true love has to be the romantic sort of love, right?" Sir Mike asked, looking at his friend. He loved Will the Wise as a friend. He had a girlfriend. "That maybe if you loved a friend as a friend that would work too?"
"You do know that in that story Princess Aurora and her rescuer went on to get married and settled down and have a family, right?" Jonathan the Bold stated, watching Sir Mike in order to gauge his reaction to what was just said.
His cheeks flamed against his wishes as he looked up at the older boy. "But maybe it could work out for friends too?"
Jonathan the Bold had heard his brother speak of Sir Mike of Wheeler before and from the way his younger brother spoke he knew that Will thought of Mike as more than a friend. The only problem was that Sir Mike had a girlfriend. The lady mage Eleven or El as she was often called. He seemed to care as much for El as he cared for Will. Was that why he was being so iffy about his suggestion for waking Will up?
"Who were you thinking could give him true love's kiss?" Jonathan said, broaching the subject that Sir Mike seemed to be staying away from. "Was there anyone specific that you had in mind? Or…." He didn't know how to put his question into words. If Mike had wanted to put forth one of the other he'd have brought the whole crew and he wouldn't be so hesitant about answering the question that Jonathan was asking.
"I mean….uh….I don't know," he said, feeling like a ton of bricks had just crashed down upon his shoulders. If he put himself forward and it worked what would that mean? Would that mean that he had to break up with El and start dating his best friend since childhood? Would that mean things could go back to the way they once were with no consequences? "Maybe I should have waited until after school….."
"What are you afraid of?" Jonathan asked, pulling Mike into a seat next to him and looking into his eyes. "That you may find out that when you yelled at my brother about being gay that you were really yelling at yourself? Or maybe you're afraid of having it confirmed if you kiss Will and he wakes up?"
"I don't know," Mike answered, looking away from Jonathan's eye and down at his own hands. "I don't know what I'm afraid of. I just know that there is too much to take into consideration and that is kind of freaking me out, you know?"
"I know." Jonathan put a steadying hand on Sir Mike's shoulder. "But look at this way, if you kiss Will and he doesn't wake up it's just a kiss. No harm. No foul."
"But what happens if he does wake up from the kiss? What then?"
"If that happens you, he, and El can figure out where to go from there. But you won't know until you at least give it a try, right?" The older boy smiled encouragingly a thing which strangely enough made Mike feel more confident about going forward with the cure.
Taking a deep breath, Sir Mike rose to his feet and looked down upon his sleeping friend. "If this doesn't work, Will, you have my permission to make fun of me for the rest of our lives," he said, leaning towards the bed as the doorknob started to turn.
"What's going on…."
Sir Mike heard as his lips brushed against those of his sleeping friend. He could feel his face once more flame up to a pinkish-red.
The room was cast into silence for what felt like the longest of moments. No one dared to move or even breathe as they all stood staring at the bed. The nurse who'd opened the door to check on Will's mouth was open. Behind her, Lady Byers was weeping in joy and Sheriff Hopper was asking what he was seeing.
Upon the bed, Will Byers eyelashes started to flutter and he started to stir fitfully upon the bed as though in a bad dream. Then the warm rich brown eyes opened and stared into Mike's own dark eyes.
"Sir Mike, what are you doing here?" Will asked in a voice that was raw from disuse. "Aren't you supposed to be…."
"He brought you back to us," Jonathan the Bold said, patting Mike's shoulder, "and that's all that counts."
As Lady Byers and Sheriff Hopper questioned him about how he brought Will the Wise out of his sleeping curse, Mike couldn't help wonder how he was going to explain all of this to El. But unbeknownst to him, El was having a drama of a different kind with an older Prince Charming. But that is a story for another time.
I hope you all enjoyed The Mysterious Sleeping Curse of Will the Wise as much as I enjoyed writing it.