"LUKAS!"

Jesse scrambled over and fell beside him on their knees, shaking in the rain. The blonde lay lifeless on his back, the blindfold still over his eyes. (Jesse always wondered how he could see through it, but now was about exactly the wrong time to wonder about that). His lips were parted open, as if mid-gasp for air.

"Lukas, Lukas, no, please wake up," Jesse begged him, shaking his limp form as best they could with numb fingers.

He didn't move, despite their pleading cries and the sound of the negative energy buzzing about excitedly above them, seeking the human. Seeking for the ideal host.

A little human whose heart wasn't in their body.

Jesse gritted their chattering teeth against the cold, before they gripped him in an awkward hug and hefted him up as best they could.

He was heavy. Heavier than they'd expected. They almost dropped him right then and there, grunting as they tried to support his weight and failed.

They staggered forward a few steps, almost dragging Lukas's limp legs across the rough ground and stumbling through thick mud that clumped around their legs, before they unbalanced and the two– three of them, if you counted Reuben– all fell back into the mud.

But they got back up, shivering hard with Lukas pressed into their arms.

They couldn't let him die, could he?

Not now that they were friends (friends, he was their friend).

No.

Even if they weren't friends, they couldn't just let him die.

So they gritted their teeth and shouldered him the best they could and waded through almost ankle-deep mud that was icy and sticky and made fording through it so, so difficult, and every time they fell they struggled back up, feeling themselves shake even harder, clenching their teeth harder and harder until the last time they fell, they just couldn't get up anymore.

They whimpered and shook Lukas again. "L-Luh-Lukas–" they managed, through violently chattering teeth, shifting him slightly. "Pl-puh-please–"

He didn't move, still and silent (and dead) in their trembling grip, not quite with a host of negative energy, but not Lukas either.

Jesse shivered and let their head drop to rest on Lukas's chest, knowing that their extremities were probably blue.

That was it, then. This was probably the last thing they'd do.

Great. Yep. Exactly how they they wanted to die.

But what else could they do? Yell? Scream at the top of their lungs into howling wind and thundering rain?

There was absolutely nobody that could hear them scream right now.

Not in this storm.

Reuben whined and nudged them, trying to get them to get back up. They held him tight, eyes flickering shut as the little pig pressed into the mirror and whined and nuzzled Jesse frantically.

The mirror.

The mirror.

Jesse's eyes flew open.

There was one person that might be able to hear them scream right now.

They shivered in the icy rain and gripped the mirror tight in fingers that had no feeling at all as they pulled it enough to be able to see the surface past the dirt and the dust and the smog and yelled the name of the one person they could think of that might be able to help them, with rain pouring down and wind and dust flying everywhere and their legs entrenched in thick black mud.

"Romeo!"

For a minute, there was nothing, and the longer they waited the longer they were certain that nobody really could hear them.

"Jesse!"

They looked up. Romeo's hazy image was in the mirror, the lord squinting as if trying to make them out through the dust and the dirt and the rain. Jesse smiled the best they could through the pain and the cold and the ice and dust and dirt whipping them in the face.

"What the hell? Where are you?!" the lord yelled to be heard over the screaming storm.

Jesse tried to raise their voice the best they could, but the negative energy buzzing about seemed to enjoy hearing their voice, and it was a thin, weak attempt what with dust and dirt blowing half-down their throat. "O-outside Fortrylle. Thuh-there's a really buh-bad storm," they choked out, before devolving into some weak coughs.

Romeo frowned, eyes flicking to the side, before back to them. "You're in the middle of a storm?"

"Yeah..." Jesse coughed again, ducking their head and the mirror to avoid some negative energy that wafted near their head.

Lightning blasted inches from them, Jesse giving a little scream in shock as it narrowly missed blasting both them and Lukas and undoubtedly narrowly avoiding killing both of them right then and there. Romeo swore, but the ringing in their ears from the thunder blocked out most of it.

"–esse? Jesse, are you alright?"

Jesse gave a little sob of fear. "Lukas– Lukas got some negative energy in him, and– and I don't know where we are," they wavered in a voice that shook and broke and rasped in the thundering rain. "I'm– I'm scared."

They half expected him to snap at them.

Tough luck.

You're seventeen. You shouldn't act like a little kid.

You little shit.

Romeo swore again. "Okay– okay, was it a lot? Like did it look like it would've been able to make up his entire body?"

Jesse shook their head, shivering hard in the rain. "No– no, i-it was–" They choked on some dust and coughed, but persisted. "It wasn't that much."

"Okay– okay." Romeo blew out an almost relieved breath. Jesse was pretty sure his voice was shaky, but before they could confirm, he was talking again. "Uh– Isa– Isa said you can do magic, in one of the earlier reports. Is that true?"

Jesse nodded. "Yeah."

They couldn't make out the way his brow creased, but he nodded, filing the information away for later, when it was quieter and more peaceful and the world wasn't screaming around Jesse. "Okay. You need to repeat after me, okay? Just repeat after me and breathe, and everything will be fine."

Jesse shivered and nodded again. "Oh-okay."

"You listening?"

"Ye... yeah..." Jesse let their head rest on Lukas's chest.

It felt cold. Like a corpse. Maybe it was because it was soaking wet, but that didn't sound right either.

"Jesse? It's a light spell. Uh, lekki..."

Jesse's tongue and lips and everything was heavy. They forced themselves to breathe it out. "L-lekki..."

A faint concentric ring formed around them, the runes or letters or whatever they were wavery and indistinct in the rain thundering down and in their own fading vision.

"Aotrom... gerel," Romeo finished hastily. "It's– it's a basic light spell, it should get enough of the negative energy out that you can purify it later, and you can do it as many times as you need..."

"Aotrom... g-gerel..." Jesse whispered, interrupted only with a little cough.

The three concentric rings wobbled dangerously before shooting into Lukas's chest.

He abruptly convulsed and vomited, black substance with a glowing aura around it almost shooting out of his mouth like a projectile. The blonde half-demon shook for a moment, still coughing up the disgusting-looking substance as it shot off, burning red and gold until the wisps had vanished in the smog around it.

Then he went still again.

He was okay.

He would probably be okay.

Jesse shivered weakly and clung closer. That was something. As long as he survived the storm... he would be okay.

Maybe the negative energy wouldn't notice them now that neither of them were moving much.

"Jesse? Hey, Jesse, are you still there?" Romeo was shouting through the mirror. Jesse was vaguely aware that he probably couldn't hear the word they'd just said.

But they didn't have the energy to yell back. They barely had the energy for anything anymore.

Their eyes slipped shut, and their fingers slackened. The mirror tumbled to rest against their lifeless hands and body, the smog and the thundering rain and the screaming wind almost muffling the loud yells coming from it.

"JESSE!"


A/N: On one hand, I really like writing fluff; on the other, this is also extremely fun. xD

Well, most of the negative energy is out, so Lukas won't die from that. :)

RQTC: How much do you like Romeo?

Funny thing was, I didn't like him until Episode 2 when he started making puns... so now I love him xD What a troubled, troublesome red boy. Basically an angsty teen xD

I am a beach. Reviews are the waves. I'm flooded. xD

Responses to reviews!

Syra Nyth: Of course! I try to keep up a consistent schedule. (Which means it never happens.) / Ahhh, I'm so glad you like it! I always am really critical of my writing, haha. / Ahhh, yes. I just really like cats and dogs. xD

Idontwritetoomuch: Oof, yeah. Good on Lukas for being a hero. But, uh, negative energy, so xD / I hope you're having a great day/night as well! And I'm really glad you're enjoying it!

TheAmberShadow: Surely forgoing the puns would mean sack-rificing my soul? I have this in the bag, so don't you worry, I'll tote around all my puns while everyone else purses their lips and shakes their head. / It does have something to do with magic, I'll give you that. xD / Only slightly xD / Yes, run little ones! / Indeed. / He can sort of do it, but in a storm it's no use– Bob can't even see where he's going. / :) / Yeah, it's bad xD / Oh no xD / I updated super fast so I can't blame you for not coming on super fast; I was just in the mood for a poem xD

Happygoluckymegami: Ahaha, don't worry about it. / Yeah, it's pretty bad. Good thing Fortrylle's almost entirely inside the tree. xD / It's not fun. I don't recommend it xD / Big mood xD / LOLOLOL

Toni42: Magnus is great. / It's like a big tree, so xD / Neh / (No, you are) / Yep, but I decided it was a bit distracting xD / Hehehehe xD / Maybe some yelling... xD / Hehe / That was fun to write, lol. / It's weird to realize that when something says 18+, I can go "I AM 18+." / Hehe, yes

bungaMawar001: He really cares about Jesse... to his slight detriment xD

Saran: Haha, I'm really glad you liked it! / Oof, yeah. Not so great about the storm. / I'm basically the Queen of Cliffhangers, I love leaving off on them. xD / Since Aiden never expresses he cares, it means a lot when he does actually try xD / Well, he's... occupied xD / Yeah, it's like... a bunch of bees xD / I'm really glad you're enjoying it so much! / Hehe

That's all for now! See ya, so long, and enjoy!

x.X. A.L. X.x


"Why did you bring me here?"

Aiden nodded, as if expecting the question. "Ah, yeah. Hold out your hand."

Perplexed, Jesse obediently stuck it out. Aiden held up an innocently white sprout of a flower, the two blossoms on it connected by a single stem, and had them hold one of the blossoms while he held the other, a bit gruffly. "Okay. Promise me that you'll do what I say. Even if it's to run and leave us all behind," he added.

Jesse blinked. "Huh?"

"Just promise."

"Um, uh, I promise," Jesse agreed after a minute. There was no point in disagreeing; he knew what was better for them in a dangerous situation, after all.

Aiden grunted. "I promise that I will do everything in my power to keep you safe," he said, a bit grudgingly.

The flower's stem elongated, beginning to wrap around Jesse's wrist in an elegant snaking motion. It was snaking up Aiden's arm too, in an elaborate pattern that Jesse couldn't have broken even if they'd tried, the flower breaking so that each blossom was on the back of their hand.

And then abruptly the vines solidified, around Jesse's and Aiden's hand.

They gave it an experimental poke.

It was almost as hard as metal, glimmering and gleaming in the light.

"It's pretty... what is it?" they asked, curiously tilting their hand from side to side.

"Ah, it's a promise flower. You've promised that you will do what I say, and I've promised that I will do my best to protect you." Aiden narrowed his eyes at them.

"And if you break that promise... you die."

Jesse paused.

"... what?"

"That flower is extremely poisonous. The thorns are a warning. If you can feel them pricking you, that means you are on the verge of breaking your promise. And if breaks the surface of your skin..." Aiden's red eye glinted dangerously.

"Then you've broken your promise. And if you've done that..."

Jesse looked down at the beautiful flower on their wrist.

"You're a dead man walking."

The white no longer looked quite as innocent.