April 4, 1943
By the time they got back to base camp, Carter's mood and general demeanor had gone from bad to worse. Douxie rarely, if ever, saw a smile from him. He understood it, he really did. And he knew the pain wouldn't go away. Not really. But all Douxie could do now was be there for Carter.
"Carter?" Douxie tried to grab his hand as they were trekking through the woods. He glanced warily at their fellow soldiers. "Carter, come on. Talk to me."
"I don't need to talk." Carter growled, wacking aside a tree branch. "What I need is something to punch."
Douxie sighed. "You're angry, and hurting. I know. I understand. But violence isn't the answer. It won't make you feel better."
Carter whipped his head around, eyes sharp with a glare. "Maybe it will." His face twisted with guilt when he saw hurt flash across Douxie's. "Sorry, I'm sorry." He rushed out, voice quiet. "I know you're just trying to help."
Douxie smiled softly and gently squeezed his hand. "Hey, it's okay. Just… don't stop trusting me, Carter. I've got your back. I always will."
Carter nodded, squeezing his hand back before he turned and continued walking. Douxie followed, staying close behind him. He looked around at the trees as they went, holding his gun a little tighter. Something wasn't right.
"Hey," he grabbed Carter's arm to stop him, unease growing. "Wait."
Carter's brows furrowed in a questioning look. "What?"
Douxie's eyes darted around. "I'm not sure."
They stood there, waiting and listening. After a minute, Douxie slowly let go of Carter's arm.
He sighed. "Maybe it was nothing-" his words were cut off when something heavy slammed into him, knocking him to the ground so fast he didn't even have time to scream.
"Douxie!" Carter yelled, eyes wide, frozen with shock.
Douxie let out a burst of magic from his hand, knocking the monster off him. He scrambled to his feet, breathing heavily. He grit his teeth when he saw what it was. "Oh great." He let his magic back into his hands as the hellhound shook itself off and got back to its feet.
"What the hell is that!?" Carter demanded, dodging to the left as the beast leapt at him.
"You don't even know how appropriate that question is." Douxie said, stepping in front of Carter to create a shield as the hellhound tried to run at them again. "It's a hellhound. Very nasty. They don't make very good family pets."
Carter readied his rifle, watching as the hellhound stalked around their little bubble of protection. "Why aren't the other guys coming to help? Didn't they hear us yelling?"
"It's the Vela." Douxie explained. "It keeps mortals from seeing things their brains can't comprehend. And," he looked back at Carter. "If someone is skilled enough, they can control it. Someone doesn't want our squad to know what's happening. We're in a soundproofed… fog of magic." He pointed ahead of them. "It's stopping there. Like a dome."
Carter flinched as the hellhound jumped at the shield again, claws scraping against the magic, leaving sparks. "So what do we do?"
Douxie sighed, jaw clenching. "We kill the bloody monster and then I can break the spell."
Carter looked to the side, eyes calculating. "Wait… someone is making the dome of magic… fog?" He looked at Douxie. "Another wizard?"
Douxie looked to the edge of the dome, eyes narrowing. "Or something more."
"What?"
"Nevermind." Douxie flicked his wrist, runes swirling around his vambrace. Carter's eyes widened when he saw it. "I'm gonna need you to cover me. Hellhounds aren't easy to kill and the spell I know to get rid of them is hard and I need time to prepare it. So you need to give me that time." He looked at Carter. "Alright, love? I know you aren't prepared for this but I trust you to have my back."
Carter took in a deep breath and nodded firmly. "Alright. You've got my back, I've got yours."
Douxie smiled. "I love you." He took a deep breath, turning his attention back to the monster. "As soon as I take this thing down, it's going to attack. You go left, I go right."
"Got it."
"Ready… go!" Douxie let the spell fall and he dove to the right.
Carter dove left, rolling on instinct and springing to his feet. He turned just in time to see the hellhound stalking towards him. He fired his gun on it, but the bullets didn't do anything. They barely even fazed it.
"That won't do anything!" Douxie shouted at him, stretching his hand out. A sword appeared out of thin air. "Mortal weapons have no effect on them!"
"You could've told me that earlier!" Carter shouted back. He dodged again, but the beast managed to claw his side. He yelled, stumbling back, clutching his side. It wasn't bleeding that bad, but damn did it hurt. "Dammit!"
"Here!" Douxie tossed the sword to him. Then he turned back to focusing his energy on the spell.
"Are you kidding me!?" Carter caught the sword, fumbling it before he got a good grip on the hilt. "I don't know how to use this!"
"Yes you do!" Douxie dodged the hellhound again, retreating further towards the edge of the dome. "You need to!"
Carter looked between the sword and the beast. The hellhound was looking between the two of them, like it was trying to decide which one of them was more dangerous. Who it wanted to kill first. Its beady red eyes locked onto him, seeming to burn holes into his very soul.
"Alright." He took a deep breath, gripping the sword with both hands. Carter met the monster's gaze with a glare, standing his ground as it stalked closer. "Come and get it."
The hellhound growled and leapt at him. Carter swung up, managing to cut it across the chest. Not deep enough to kill it, but enough to make it rethink its next attack. It ran at him again, trying to dodge the sword, but Carter still managed to hit it across the neck.
A few more times of this back and forth and he felt like he was getting the hang of it. The sword felt lighter, easier to swing the longer this went on. And his own attacks were becoming less random, panicked swinging, and more precise. Like muscle memory.
By now he was dodging and countering the beast's attacks like he'd been doing this his entire life. Carter side-stepped another attack, but wasn't quite fast enough. The hellhound knocked him to the ground, a mouth full of razor sharp teeth inches from his face.
"No!" Douxie yelled. He realized that what he had now would have to do. "Carter!" He shot the spell into the sword, watching the runes on the blade and hilt light up blue with his magic. "Finish it!"
Carter got his arm out from under the beast's giant paw and jabbed the sword deep into its rib cage. It howled in agony, magic coursing through its body, tearing it apart from the inside out. It exploded in a cloud of shimmering black dust. Carter let out a sigh of relief, dropping his head back against the ground.
Douxie helped him up, brushing some monster dust out of his hair. They stared at eachother for a moment, both in a bit of shock. Carter opened his mouth to speak, but Douxie quickly drew him in for a kiss. He let out a noise of surprise before leaning into the kiss and wrapping an arm around Douxie's neck, his other hand still holding tight to the sword. They parted after a moment, breathing hard, leaning their foreheads together.
"Holy-"
"Yeah, I know." Douxie laughed breathlessly. "But hey, not bad for your first time slaying a monster."
A ghost of a smile pulled at Carter's lips. He pulled back from Douxie a little and looked down at the sword, studying the blade. "Yeah. Pretty cool seeing some magic in action."
Douxie watched the way his eyes wandered the sword. "You're a natural with that."
Carter glanced up at him. "Yeah…" he sighed, holding the hilt towards Douxie. "I swear I've never touched a sword before in my life."
Douxie pushed it back towards him. "Keep it, love. You'll get more use out of it than I will."
Carter scoffed out a laugh. "What, you're saying we'll be doing this every day?"
Douxie shrugged. "Hopefully not. But," he looked back at him, wiping some blood off his cheek. "If I'm right about you, then this is going to happen more often than we might like."
Carter blinked. "You're not kidding."
"Nope."
"Great." He groaned. "What is it about me that attracts weird things?"
Douxie stopped. "That… this isn't the first time something like this has happened?"
Carter shook his head. "I mean… I've never gotten outright attacked like this, but I've never been… exactly normal."
"What do you mean by that?" Douxie asked, a feeling stirring in his gut.
"Like…" Carter gestured around them. "Weird stuff just happens to me. When I was a kid I used to see a lot of weird things. Things nobody else saw. Everyone thought I was crazy."
Douxie stared at him. "Weird things? Like what?"
Carter sighed. "Like… tall guys in trench coats and wide brimmed hats who only had one eye in the center of their forehead. You know, weird stuff that didn't make any sense. At least until now."
Douxie nodded slowly. "Well… okay then. I think I'm right."
"Right?" Carter raised a brow. "About what?"
"Um," Douxie ran a hand down his face. "Sunshine, I don't think you're mortal."
Carter nodded. "Right, you said that already. On the train."
Douxie sighed deeply. "No, but I think I figured it out." He took his hand. "Love, I'm pretty sure you're a demigod."
Carter stared at him. "A what?"
"Demigod." Douxie said again. "You know, half mortal and half…"
"Half what?"
"God. Half god."
"... Oh."
"Yeah." Douxie looked at him with concern, watching his eyes flit around like he was reading invisible equations. "I know it's a lot to take in, but I think your father is a god."
Carter looked up at him. "God of what? Who is he?"
Douxie sighed, pursing his lips. "Now that is an excellent question. It could… it could honestly be any of them."
Carter huffed, knuckles turning white as he gripped the sword tighter. "Well, that's fantastic!" He laughed dryly. "This entire time I thought my dad was some deadbeat? Turns out he's a deadbeat god!"
Douxie looked at him sadly. "Sunshine-"
"Don't." Carter growled out. "Just… don't."
Douxie sighed, looking towards the magic dome that surrounded them. He could see it clearly, but he knew Carter couldn't. Where he saw the thick, curling white fog of the Vela, Carter would see the regular woods. He'd have to teach him how to see beyond the mortal plane of sight. Sometimes the Vela could trick even half-bloods. But not wizards. Never wizards.
"Well," he started, gently taking Carter's hand. "Let's get going, darling. We should catch up with the others."
Douxie stepped towards the dome, holding his hand out. He let it drift over the unfamiliar magic, closing his eyes as he focused. Slowly the dome shimmered and faded, the fog curling away as if it had never existed at all.
"There." Douxie said, letting out a shaky breath. That should not have tired him as much as it had. "Come on."
Carter held tight to his hand, stopping Douxie from walking. The wizard looked back at him, brows furrowed. Carter stared at the ground, listening intently.
"Carter?" Douxie asked. "Love, what-"
"Shh!" Carter hissed, squeezing his hand.
Douxie waited, looking around at the forest surrounding them. He saw nothing but shadows dancing in the trees as the sun set. He looked back at Carter. "Carter? What is it?"
Carter looked behind them, eyes drawn towards the tops of the trees. "I thought I heard something."
Douxie pursed his lips, entwining their fingers. He gently squeezed Carter's hand. "Whatever it was, it's gone now. Let's go."
Carter hesitated, still staring off into the forest. Eventually, he nodded, letting Douxie lead him back towards the rest of the group. "Okay."
Little were they aware of the figure watching them, hovering above the trees, cloaked in a veil of shadows. He smiled to himself. "Perhaps this is the one I've been looking for."
