Steve's whole body is numb. He's vaguely aware that the others have gathered around him, vaguely aware of Mort's faint and desperate whisper, but everything sounds like it's muted, like he's underwater.
This can't be real.
Any moment now, Steve's going to wake up from a horrible nightmare, and he'll look over and see Krel curled up asleep, oblivious, intact. He'll wake him up, just to be sure, and Krel will laugh but hug him and reassure him, because they've all had nightmares like this before. It has to be a dream. The worst dream Steve's ever had. These shattered, burnt shards can't be – they can't be–
He hears a broken sob. Seamus falls to his knees beside Steve, and it's enough to break the illusion. Steve realises he, too, is crying, tears dripping off his chin and onto his shorts. This is real. This is real, Krel is – he's – gone.
"We left him," Toby whispers. Steve doesn't turn around, doesn't take his eyes off of the pieces of Akiridion core – of Krel's core cradled in his hands. "We left him, we – no. No, no, this isn't–"
Seamus's breath hitches, like he wants to say something, but the sounds that come out are unintelligible. Steve's pulls the broken core to his chest and closes his eyes. How could this have happened to Krel? The boy Steve had come to see as a little brother? How can this be all that's left?
A hand lands on Steve's shoulder.
"We need to leave," Mort says. His voice wavers and cracks. "It's not safe. The rest of the building could be unsound."
Mort tugs Steve to his feet. Steve is aware he isn't much help right now, but he can't bring himself to care. He sucks in a rough breath, and when he lets it out it comes as a sob. His grip on Krel's core tightens. Mort steadies him with a hand as they walk out. Steve shouldn't be off the crutches, but he won't let go of Krel.
Douxie breaks away from the paramedics to run to them. "Did you find him?"
They don't say anything. They don't have to. Douxie's face crumples and he shakes his head. Archie, at Douxie's feet and still pretending to be a normal cat, lowers his head and rubs up against his wizard's leg. Steve takes another breath that ends with another sob. It still doesn't feel real. He's still so sure Krel's going to stride out from the wreckage, injured but alive, and make fun of them for being so upset. But that won't happen. Steve's holding the equivalent of his friend's dead body. The thought brings another uneven sob.
Steve doesn't pay much attention to anything that happens next. Toby and Seamus stay close to him and subsequently to Krel. Seamus's face is still coated with blood, seeping down his neck and into his t-shirt, nearly invisible on the black fabric. Ikram joins them, limping but refusing to be left behind. Nimue supports her. They follow Mort, because Mort seems to know what to do, and Steve feels lost. His little brother is dead and never coming back.
They're at the same cliff where they'd taken Krel after he'd integrated with Gaylen's core. Not that that had done any good. Steve thought – he was so sure Krel was safe, because the wizard wanted him alive, and wasn't Morando nearly impossible to kill with Gaylen's core? Apparently, he was wrong. He realises a few seconds later why they're here. Aja has to know.
Mort is the one to call her. Steve doesn't think any of the rest of them could manage. He leans sideways on Toby, and Toby leans back, the two of them supporting each other's weight and grief. He doesn't pay attention to what Mort says. Seamus wipes his cheeks and smears blood across his face in the process. Steve closes his eyes when the wormhole opens. How can he face Aja after letting Krel die?
"What's going on?" he hears her ask. He bites back another sob. "Steve? Toby? Where's – where's Krel?"
Seamus's breathing hitches. Steve swallows roughly and opens his eyes, blinking away the tears blurring his vision. He lowers his hands to reveal the burnt shards that are all that remain of Aja's baby brother and feels sick as he finally meets Aja's terrified eyes.
"I'm sorry," he manages. Aja takes a step forward, then collapses to her knees in front of him, trembling and shaking her head. Steve tries to find something else to say as she lets out a soft, keening noise and looks up at him, desperate, pleading.
"No," she says. Steve just shakes his head. Aja takes a deep, shaking breath, and her brow lowers into a hard, angry line. "What happened?"
Steve tries to speak, but nothing comes out. What can he possibly say? Sorry, we've been hiding from you that there are these crazy knights who've been attacking us, and now your brother is dead? Mort takes over for him, stepping forward. If Steve hadn't seen the way his eyes shone and heard the way his voice shook earlier, he might have thought Mort was business-like coldness. He knows better.
"It's a long story, your majesty," Mort says.
Aja's lips tremble, but she closes her eyes and tries to compose herself.
"Give him to me," she whispers.
Part of Steve doesn't want to. How can he let go of Krel? But this is Krel's big sister, the only blood family he had left, so Steve gently passes her the shards of his core and watches as tears spill over her cheeks and she cradles what's left of her baby brother to her chest. Steve starts to reach out to her, but she flinches away and refuses to look at him. Mort passes Steve back his crutches. Steve takes them dazedly. He's still floating. This still doesn't feel real.
"Come on," says Aja, her voice soft, as shattered as Krel is. "Let's go."
Steve's still-living friends are patched up by Mort and Akiridion doctors when they first reach the planet. Eli greets Steve with a tight hug and a lot of tears when he realises what happened. Steve doesn't bother arguing against it, instead holding his friend close because contact gives proof that he's alive. In the back of his mind, he decides that he should have shown his affection more often. He hopes Krel knew he loved him like a little brother, even if he never said it.
By the time they're done, Steve has stopped crying and the detachment has settled back in. Aja allows him to hover close to her, to Krel's core cradled in her hands. No one speaks. Steve thinks that if they did, everyone would be back to crying. He knows he would.
The broken shards of Krel's core have to be restored to their original form before the funeral. Typically, according to Aja, this would be a family-only event, but the rest of them and Stuart, who someone called and brought to Akiridion-5, are allowed to join Aja as she carefully arranges the burnt pieces over a device that keeps them levitating in mid-air an inch or so above it.
"Krel considers – considered you family," she says softly. "He would – want you to be here."
It still doesn't feel real, watching Aja gently piece together the only thing remaining of her little brother, of Steve's friend. He's not sure it will ever quite feel real. Death is – well, a new concept for Steve. He's never lost anyone like this before. If he's honest, he didn't think he would for a very long time. Even with all of this going on, he felt like his friends were invincible. Steve remembers promising Aja he'd take care of Krel. It hasn't even been a full day since they left. How could things have gone so wrong so quickly?
Aja picks up the device and Krel's core. There's no denying, now, seeing it put back together, that it's Krel core, although burnt and cracked. There's no denying that Krel's gone and never coming back. They walk to a separate chamber, full of floating Akiridion cores that Steve realises might be Aja and Krel's ancestors. The room is beautiful, the walls intricately carved and design, the cores likes stars in a dark night sky, lit faintly by technology in an imitation of the life-glow they'd once held. Steve's numbness has yet to fade. Aja cradle's Krel's core close to her own, as if afraid to let it go. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.
"May you be welcomed by our ancestors long gone," she starts, voice trembling as she speaks what must be words of tradition. Steve keeps his eyes on her, on Krel's core floating barely an inch above her palms, and doesn't bother fighting the new tears as they form. "May your life's light burn brightly among the stars for all to see. May you guide us on our paths until we meet again. Although your light may be gone from this world, it will continue to shine in the next as we remember you and the life you led."
Her voice breaks off with a wet gasp. Stuart, behind them, lets out a wail. He's the loudest in his mourning, but if Steve listens he can hear Seamus choking back his sobs and Toby and Eli sniffling. Aja blinks rapidly and looks up at the other cores hovering in the room.
"I'm sorry, little brother," she whispers. "I couldn't protect you. I should have been there to protect you. If I'd been there, then maybe – maybe – I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
I'm so sorry, Steve echoes in his mind, grip tightening on his crutches until it hurts his palms. He was supposed to be the protector, wasn't he? He couldn't fight anymore, not with his leg, so he was supposed to be the one to shield his friends, to keep them safe. But he let Krel die. He let Aja's little brother – he let his little brother die. He failed Aja by not protecting him. He failed Krel.
Aja lifts her hands, then hesitates. Fresh tears slip down her cheeks, and finally, she releases Krel's core into the air to join the others in the room. Steve follows it with his eyes as it floats sluggishly upward and surprises himself when his next breath comes as a choked gasp. Aja lets out a broken cry, then turns and wraps her arms around Steve, burying her face in the crook of his neck and sobbing, shoulders shaking. Steve holds her tightly, desperately, closing his eyes against her hair and letting his own tears fall again.
He can't bear to look at his friend's core any longer.
A few hours later finds all of them gathered for dinner. Steve isn't hungry, and no one else seems to be, either. Toby pushes his food around on the plate. Eli sniffs pitifully every few minutes and does the same. Seamus has pulled his knees to his chest and stares ahead blankly, face still tear-tracked, head wrapped in make-shift Akiridion bandages. Douxie, arm in a sling, takes small bites every now and then; Archie is curled on his lap, asleep. Nimue and Ikram are murmuring to each other, low enough that Steve can't hear. Mort just keeps cutting his meat – or what looks like meat – in smaller pieces.
"It's just not fair," Stuart blubbers. "He was so young!"
Aja's lips twist into a deeper frown. She wipes tears from her cheeks. Steve gets some food onto his fork, as if he's going to eat it, but last second feels sick and decides against it. He sets down the fork.
"What happened?" Aja asks.
Steve swallows dryly. She deserves the truth, but he's not even sure where to begin. So much has happened that led up to this. They should have told her sooner, if not right away. Toby sets his spoon down and pushes his plate back.
"Krel didn't want to tell you," he says softly. "I think he didn't want to worry you, and he said you had a lot to deal with here."
"Maybe if Krel had told us, he'd still be alive," Zadra says tartly. Aja flinches, but she nods in agreement anyway. Steve doesn't know if they're right, because the attack on the shop came out of nowhere, but he's always believed the Akiridions would be helpful in this whole thing. Maybe she's right. Maybe if Aja, at least, had been there, Krel would have been okay.
"It was – probably the day after you left," says Steve hesitantly. Aja's brow lowers. Steve wonders if she's blaming herself for leaving – or for letting Krel stay. Eli leans forward, clearly curious despite his sadness. In any other circumstance, Steve knows Eli would have loved all of this, the wizards and the Knights and the magic. "We got attacked by – well, Ikram, actually, but she was mind-controlled. I guess there's this – evil wizard or something, and he sent the Knights after us, and all we really know is that he's after Earth's formstone and he wants me dead because I guess I'm descended from King Arthur or something."
"We thought he wanted Krel alive," Seamus mutters. He doesn't look at Aja, still staring forward. His fingers tighten on his arms, visibly indenting the skin. "Apparently we were wrong."
Toby shakes his head and blinks rapidly, as if he might start crying again. "Two of the Knights attacked Mort's shop and disabled the magic, which left most of us kind of defenceless, and Krel and Ikram stayed behind to fight but – Krel never – we don't know what happened."
"I should have been there," Aja snaps. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Steve shakes his head. "Krel didn't–"
"You shouldn't have listened to him!" Aja's voice breaks halfway through her sentence. Fresh tears spill over and she glares around the table at all of them. "You should have told me. I should have been there, and I wasn't, and now my baby brother is dead!"
"I'm sorry," Steve says. The words taste bitter and ashy on his tongue. Is that the best he can do? He let Krel die and all he has are useless excuses and worthless apologies. Aja's expression turns stony.
"You promised he'd be safe," she says.
"This is on me, your majesty," Mort says quietly. He meets Aja's furious gaze unflinchingly, but even Steve can read the pain in his eyes, the way his brow twitches downwards and lips curl. "I shouldn't have allowed them to keep this a secret. I should have been there to protect Krel. I wasn't, and I will never forgive myself for letting him die."
"There was little we could have done," says Ikram. "It was a surprise attack. There's no telling if you would have gotten there on time even if you were in the know, and there's no point in should haves and what ifs."
This was probably the wrong thing to say. Aja stands abruptly and turns away from the table.
"I think you all should leave," she says coldly.
"Aja," Steve starts. He reaches a hand out towards her.
"I can't, Steve." She flinches away from him. Steve shrinks back but she refuses to even look. She takes a shuddering breath and closes her eyes. "We – we need a break. Just go home. Please."
She strides out of the room, carrying herself with the air of someone on the edge of breaking completely. Part of Steve wants to follow her and comfort her, but that would have been a job for her boyfriend, huh? Which he's not anymore. Part of him, selfishly, is almost angry, because just because he wasn't Krel's blood brother doesn't mean he didn't love Krel, too. Aja isn't the only one who lost someone she loves. Instead, he pushes his plate back and stands. The others watch him worriedly.
"You heard her majesty," he says bitterly. "Let's go home."
Part of Steve would have liked to have spent the past few days hiding in his room, but another, larger part, didn't want his remaining friends out of sight. Toby and Seamus, apparently, felt the same way, and so all three of them – and newly homeless Mort and Douxie and a newly returned-to-Earth Eli – ended up sleeping over at Seamus's house. Steve hopes the Knights don't know where Seamus lives. Mort does a bunch of wards anyway, even more than there'd been around his shop. Eli's return was almost a surprise, but at the same time Steve can see why he's back.
"I'm not going to risk any more friends dying while I'm not here," Eli had said. Steve gets it, but he's torn. He's glad to have his Creepslaying partner back, but there's a part of him that wished Eli had stayed on Akiridion-5 where he'd be safe.
They spend the next few days alternating between trying to keep their minds off of what happened and watching all the dumb videos of Krel they have saved on their phones. Toby has a lot, courtesy of the DJ Kleb film, but Steve has a memorable one of karaoke not that long ago. They catch Eli up on all the magic stuff, show him some spells, but all of their enthusiasm is lacking. Even Eli, who Steve knows would have been all over this before, can only manage lacklustre excitement at the cooler spells.
School was supposed to start today, but Coach had pulled all the teachers in for a meeting and had explained the whole end of the world thing going on, with Mort's help. Señor Uhl almost immediately agreed – Steve supposes it's because they've already dealt with two or three apocalypses (if they count the asteroid). More and more people are finding out. Steve thinks it might be a good thing. It's definitely a good thing if it means they don't have to deal with this and school.
They go to the scorched remains of Mort's shop this afternoon. Steve feels physically sick to be back here. Krel died here. Steve let Krel die here. Almost nothing is salvageable upstairs. Mort manages to force the trap door open – it seems the stairs to downstairs are still there and largely unburnt.
"Well, I think if it hasn't collapsed by now it won't," mutters Mort. They follow him down. The downstairs seems to be pretty much intact, although a few parts of the ceiling have crumbled in. Nothing is burnt down. Eli lets out a small, subdued noise of amazement. Douxie traces a hand along the desk in the library and closes his eyes. Archie leaps onto it and butts his head against Douxie's arms.
"Homes can be rebuilt," he says softly.
"People can't," Douxie mumbles.
Steve flinches and wanders away, into the potion lab. It's also still intact, miraculously, though there are vials that have been rattled and dropped by the motion of the initial explosion that had caught Steve and Mort's attention in the first place. Mort and Toby follow him.
"We're lucky the fire didn't spread here," says Mort. "Lots of explosive ingredients."
"Yeah, that would have been bad," says Toby.
"I would guess they only got the upstairs wards and magic shut down, then," says Mort. "I don't even know how they shut down the magic upstairs."
Steve adjusts his crutches and glares at the wall. His eyes burn. He'd like to blame it on the dust and the ashes but he knows better.
"This is my fault," he mutters. Toby glances at him with wide eyes. Mort frowns. "They were after me. They were trying to kill me, and instead your shop got destroyed and Krel got murdered."
"Steve," Mort starts.
"This isn't your fault, man," Toby cuts in, resting a hand on Steve's arm. "Even if they were after you, Krel chose to stay and fight them. That – that was his choice. And if it's anyone's fault, it's the Knights."
Steve sniffs and blinks rapidly to fight back the rising tears. Mort pulls him into an awkward hug, and Steve drops his crutches to hug his mentor back. He hates this. He hates that he's the target of crazy Knights and putting his friends in danger. He hates that he made the mistake of jinxing them, complaining that things would be boring. He'd give anything for boring, because boring would mean safety. Boring would mean that Krel would still be alive.
"Toby is right," Mort murmurs, pulling away but keeping his hands on Steve's shoulders. "This isn't your fault. This is the Knights and their master's fault. We can't change what happened, and we can't blame ourselves. Krel wouldn't want that."
"It's not fair," Steve manages. "He was just a kid. We're all just kids."
"No," agrees Mort. Toby steps up next to Steve again and wipes his eyes. Steve swallows. "It's not fair. Nothing about this is fair. You're just kids. You shouldn't have to deal with any of this, and if I could take this burden off your shoulders, I would in a heartbeat. But I can't."
Steve rubs his eyes with an arm. If he just closes his eyes and ignores the faint smell of charred wood he can almost pretend nothing ever happened. It's just another day of magic training, and Krel is next door, learning to master his new powers and kick butt. But he opens his eyes and the smokey smell floods his senses again and the illusion crashes. When does the pain dull? When will he stop expecting Krel to walk in and start blabbering about science Steve doesn't understand, bragging about his new skills, smiling and laughing and just being a kid like he's supposed to be?
"How are we supposed to save the world if we couldn't even save our friend?" Toby asks, voice small and raw with grief that Steve is starting to think will never fade, since it hasn't yet, days later.
"What's important is that you try," says Mort softly. "Both of you have the makings of greatness in you, and I know you can reach it. I have total faith in you. You have to have faith in yourselves."
Steve doesn't know how he can do that. He's injured, he can't fight, and he let one of his closest friends die. Maybe Mort has faith in them, but Steve can't find that faith for himself. Not after this.
"I know it's hard," Mort says, as if reading Steve's mind. He lets out a breath and turns around, walking deeper into the lab and opening a safe in the back, the one Steve knew existed but has always been a bit scared to open. "I think it's time I give you this."
He pulls a box out of the closet and turns to face them.
"Normally, training would last years before technical graduation, but… I don't think we have years," he continues. "Your learning will never end. Mine hasn't. But as of today… I am declaring you graduated, and finally giving you your formal armour."
Mort passes the box gently to Steve. Toby helpfully holds his crutches for him as he sits down on the nearest chair – the only one in the potion lab – and gingerly opens the box. Inside is golden armour, intricately designed and laying on top of a crimson cape. Steve lifts the helmet out of the box and turns it, observing the shape of it, reminiscent of a crown. He feels his heritage, his place as heir of King Arthur, weigh down on him as he hesitantly puts the helmet on to test it. It fits perfectly.
Heir Squared, his mind supplies in Krel's gleeful voice. Steve closes his eyes and takes in a shaking breath.
"Thank you, Mort," he manages to say.
Mort nods to him, a sad, grim smile briefly pulling his lips upward.
"It suits you," he says softly.
Steve takes off the helmet and puts it back in the box. He's not ready for this. He's not sure he'll ever be ready for this. Toby rests a hand on Steve's shoulder, mouth pulled into a thin, determined line.
"We're going to win this," he says. "For Krel."
Steve swallows and closes the box, hugging it to his chest and nodding. Toby's right. This isn't just fighting to save the world anymore. This is personal.
"For Krel," he echoes.
That night, after the sun has set and Aaarrrgghh! can join them, they stake out on the clifftop just outside the town – it's far enough away from other people that no one will get hurt who isn't involved, which is good because Steve doesn't think the Knights care much about civilian casualties. Steve calls Aja for the first time since she kicked them off Akiridion-5. As he suspected, she does want to be there to help capture the Knights. She, Vex, and Zadra show up shortly after the rest of them arrive, all three geared for battle. Aja barely spares him a glance, face set in hard determination. Steve ignores the sting of hurt. He deserves her anger.
Steve's new armour fits him like a glove. He doesn't know if that's a magic thing or if someone measured him in his sleep, but he also doesn't really care. It's a little bit hard to navigate with crutches and armour, but he'd rather have the armour than be without it. Most of the others are in armour, too, with the exception of Mort, Eli, Aaarrrgghh!, and the Akiridions. Steve doesn't know why Mort is armourless. He doesn't ask.
"Alright," says Mort. "Remember the plan. No one attack until my signal."
The others nod. Steve has his doubts Aja even knows the plan, honestly. He hopes she'll at least wait for Mort's signal. He also hopes the Knights fall for this – Aaarrrgghh! and Vex, especially, are kind of hard to hide in the bushes, and surely he isn't stupid enough to fall for the same trick twice.
Wait. Armoured footsteps sound. Turns out the Black Knight is stupid enough to fall for the same trick twice, because he walks out of the forest – helmet on this time – and stops a foot or so in front of them. Toby shifts his grip on his hammer, lips pulling upward into a barely noticeable snarl.
"The wizardling and the Trollhunter," says the Black Knight.
"BK," Toby greets, eyes narrowing.
"One short, I see," he notes. "So we were successful in killing the little alien. You can never be sure – even when you watch them die, some aliens have a hasty habit of coming back."
Toby's brow lowers. Steve presses his lips together and adjusts his crutches to free a hand for a rune if needed.
"You said you wanted Krel alive," Toby says.
"Plans change," replies the Knight. "We weighed our options. Ultimately, keeping him alive would have been more troublesome than eliminating him from the equation. Besides – killing him was enjoyable."
Aja lets out a roar and charges out of the bushes towards the Knight. The other emerge as well, but Aja attacks with anger fuelled by the grief of losing her last and most precious family member. The Knight barely has time to dodge her first attack and then rapidly block her next. He's outnumbered and outmatched with all of them there. He has no chance. Steve meets Douxie's eyes, and the other wizard nods and the two of them set to work creating a ward around the perimeter so the Knight can't escape. Steve can't do much else, and Mort has forbidden Douxie from genuine fighting until his shoulder heals, so they're Team Injured together.
It didn't take them very long to set the perimeter – they may have over-runed a little bit, but, even then it couldn't have been longer than ten minutes. Still, by the time Steve returns his attention properly to the fight, Vex has hauled the Black Knight up and Aja is aiming a blaster at him, face streaked with livid tears. Mort puts a hand on her shoulder, staring unfeelingly at the Knight. Aja doesn't lower her weapon.
"Restrain him," Mort says. "We will question him again. Maybe this time he'll be more cooperative."
Steve crutches back towards them as they tie up the Knight. He's still smiling – why is he still smiling? He lost. Big time. There's nothing to smile about for the Knight, so now Steve's kind of worried what his plan is.
"Who is your master?" Mort demands.
"I'll never say." The Knight's grin widens. "I got to kill the boy. Oh, but we made it hurt first–"
"Shut up," Aja snarls.
"It was delightful to watch the light fade from his eyes." His grin sharpens, shark-like. "To see his form flicker and vanish under my axe. The way he begged in his last moments, delirious, dying, for his big sister to save him – except she never came, did she?"
Aja gives a furious scream, and before any of them can stop her, her serrator – now in sword form rather than blaster – slices clean through the Knight's neck. Steve looks away, physically ill at the violent death but also unable to make himself feel anything other than grim satisfaction at the Knight's fate.
"We needed information," Mort says, frustration lacing his voice.
"He killed my brother," Aja says coldly. "He deserved a worse fate than this."
She holds herself firmly, head high, expression neutral, but Steve knows her well enough to see that she's hurting. He takes a half-step towards her, then decides against it. He knows she's still angry at him, and she has every right to be. He's not going to overstep his boundaries now.
A wormhole opens at the edge of the cliff. Steve doesn't know who called for it, or when, and for all he knows Aja expected the fight to be this short and planned accordingly. Vex nods to them sombrely and he and Zadra walk through first. Aja hesitates, still staring ahead, then turns and walks tensely through the wormhole as well. Steve's not sure he'll ever see any of them again.
Aja didn't even say goodbye.