Just a heads up, I went and made myself a dreamwidth account called bilbosama. It'll be updated whenever I remember about it. Also a heads up: I'm working on a multi-chaptered story. I'll start posting it once I got three or four chapters down.
Okay so this here was meant to be a drabble collection centering around Ferdinand aka Mysterious Boy aka Spoiler-kun but it mutated into a short story version. I stopped after three because the first two went and ate a lot of my writing energy. So it's like Two Ways Evan Got a Kid And One Way The Other Ending Reveal Could've Happened. That's...pretty much it.
To be honest, I am leaning towards the possibility that Evan can have kids the natural way because of how optimistically fairy tale-y the game was. I want to believe.
Warnings for: End game spoilers, natural disasters, talk of sterility/infertility, character death, Doloran being Doloran, slightly OOC, deus ex machina plots, time travel, talk of possible child death, arcane blood rituals, man pain, parental angst, bold text headcanon, and who knows what else I missed.
Also a heads up: Nerea/OC, Nerea/Leander, older!Evan/Tani, Roland/semi-OC spouse
First story was posted on tumblr on November 20, 2018.
Stick to the Script and Other Stories
By Bilbo-sama
Ferdinand
1. MAXIMUM YEET
"I must make a confession," said Queen Nerea tiredly as she leaned back into her throne. Evan wondered what had to be said without Leander in the same room.
"Yes?" prompted Evan worriedly.
"On the day Hydropolis would have been consumed by the volcano, I was recovering from giving birth to my son weeks after after losing my husband to Cetus."
"W-what?"
"It was customary to not name the baby until a month has past," continued the Queen, "It had only been five days."
"What happened to the child?" asked Evan, his ears drooping.
"I…" Nerea paused, a flicker of grief passing her features before she schooled her expression to become neutral. Like Roland, it appeared she had a lot of practice in concealing great pain.
"When the volcano erupted and as ash, smoke, debris, and lava threatened to consume us all, I used an ancient spell to throw him into the wilds of the future. I wanted him to live in a time where there was hopefully someone waiting for him. Yet…" Her lips quivered.
"He has never resurfaced," she revealed. "The last tie to my late husband may be forever lost to time."
"I'm sorry," said Evan helplessly.
"My only hope," Nerea closed her eyes, "is that he and his father are waiting for me."
-One year later-
Evan's heart clenched as survivors of the destruction of Hydropolis sobbed in grief. The city is no more. The volcano's smoke threatens the skies. And Queen Nerea has perished from her injuries in Leander's arms despite his best efforts. The man hasn't spoken since.
Evan wished Roland was still here. He'd probably know what to do.
But he was sent back to his world several months ago as soon as the Horned One was defeated. The closest they have of him is Doloran, who has hidden away somewhere in the world. No one is sure what he is doing.
In the end, it will be up to the remaining kingdoms to host what is left of Hydropolis.
-Five years later-
"The stars have shown me something...fascinating," declared Hau Ling.
"What is it?" asked a 17-year-old Evan.
"They foretell of an heir," he revealed and various ministers and nobles gasped. It was generally accepted that despite the efforts of the best mages in the world, the trade off of a human hybrid living past infancy without issue was that the offspring will never have offspring. King Leonhard was rumored to be advised to sire a pure-blooded heir when Evan was older so the boy could claim his sibling and their children as his heirs. He had refused. And in hindsight, if Vermine and Mausinger had known about it when they were plotting the coup, the child would've been...taken care of.
"What do you mean?" Evan knew better than to expect a miracle, "Is it my heir or an heir for one of the other kingdoms?"
"Neither," replied Hau Ling before shifting nervously, "I then saw...an outline of Brineskimmer."
The throne room went silent. Hydropolis' tragic end hadn't been spoken aloud in two years. It took six months for Leander to start speaking again after the...event. Doloran, who greatly understood the pain of losing your country and the love of your life, had offered him a place in New Allegoria with some of the other Hydropolitans but he had never accepted it. Leander instead strove to help Evermore rise as its Chief Consul.
"Did the stars ever say when the heir will arrive?" inquired Evan.
"In two weeks."
"That's very soon," commented an ex-Dellian noble.
"What does this mean for Evermore? For the world?" asked the junior minister of conjuration.
"It means I must leave immediately if my hunch is correct." He got up from his throne.
"Yer Majesty," started Batu, "What are ye up to?"
"I just remembered something Queen Nerea had told me once," said Evan as his tail swished up, down, left, up.
I'll tell you later.
"It's not something to be alarmed about," the king reassured, "but I do need supplies and the fastest ship we have."
"That's not very reassuring, my liege," complained a minister.
"Evan," said Leander quietly as he, Tani, and the King watched Evermore become smaller as the ship sailed away, "What is this truly about?"
"Do you recall the Queen's consort?" Evan unexpectedly asked.
"I thought Leander was supposed to be consort," frowned Tani in confusion. "Does this mean there was someone else?"
"Her Majesty indeed married another before me," confirmed Leander. Time has made it easier for to speak of his past but Evan believed it will be a long time before he can do it with a faraway look in his eyes. "Augustus, Prince Consort to Her Majesty, fell to Cetus' wrath a month before the volcano first erupted. She was with child at the time."
"She what?" Tani yelped in surprise.
"We all had thought she lost the babe to grief," continued Leander, "and that was why the law against love came into effect. It was decided among the citizens that Nerea only wanted others spared of the pain so no one had questioned it. Everyone merely waited for her to heal. It wasn't until she renewed the city for the second time I had realized the true reason behind the four pillars."
Leander turned to Evan, "That's not what happened, isn't it?"
"No," Evan shook his head, "She sent him into the future to spare him from the volcano. He never resurfaced."
"...Until a fortnight from today," said Leander distantly. "The lost prince of Hydropolis...a king of a dead city. Orphaned by the long patience of fate."
"Why didn't she tell me?" he asked, mostly to himself.
The ship arrived at the ruins of Hydropolis on time. Evan wondered if it was possible to access the palace in its current state. That would be where Nerea kept the baby until that fateful day, right?
Fortunately, fate had other ideas.
"What's that?" a sailor called as he looked up at the sky and saw a streak of light he hadn't seen before.
"A shootin' star, mate," said another.
"I thought ye can see 'em at night."
"It's...gettin' larger."
"It's coming towards us!"
The light descended onto the boat and Evan was struck by the thought of how similar it resembled Roland's arrival into the world. He moved to stand beneath it and Leander and Tani followed.
The ball of light finally split open and there was an infant swaddled up in blankets floating at eye level. Leander quickly grabbed the child before the magic that allowed him to float wore off.
The three of them all huddled closely to look at the babe. The child had human features and no signs of gills or a tail. It was just a human baby.
Leander adjusted the blanket around the child's head and revealed he had dark blue hair. Evan was struck by how familiar that looked. Almost like...
The babe stirred and started to squirm before unleashing an annoyed wail that his sleep was interrupted.
"Is that a baby?" called one of the sailors.
"We came all this way for a baby?"
"Is that why there's milk under preservation spells in the hold?"
"Shut up and let the poor thing sleep!" Someone had shouted and the voices quieted down.
"We must return to Evermore," Leander decided, "and discuss on the fate of the prince of Hydropolis."
"I'm glad you have returned, Your Majesty," said a noble, "I trust your journey was fruitful."
"Yes," replied King Evan, "We rescued the long lost son of Queen Nerea."
The noble and his colleagues stared at the young king with great confusion.
"...What?" said a junior finance minister.
"So," began Batu as he and the rest of the king's inner circle gathered around the table in the conference room where the baby napped after given a meal, "Yer hunch was true after all, lad."
Evan nodded, "I trust the rooms have been prepared?"
"There's so much ye can do in two weeks, Evan. The nursery is partially finished. But we did get a crib for ye."
"Does the baby have a name?" asked Bracken.
"Traditionally, Hydropolitans don't name the baby until a month has passed. It is a custom carried over from the merfolk who chose to fully leave the sea," explained Leander, "this child is technically five days old."
"A nameless prince..." mused Batu, "and no nation to call home."
Leander's face crumpled before he quickly readjusted his glasses to hide it. "I..." he started. After another false start, he teleported out of the room.
"Leander," said Evan guiltily as his tail went limp.
"Give him time, lad," advised Batu.
-Several days later-
"Your Majesty," started Leander formally, "As much as I wish to claim the child as my step-son for it is my right as King of Hydropolis, it is clear that Hydropolis will never rise again."
"Then..." Tani trailed off.
"Therefore, I believe the child is better suited as your own."
"W-what?" Evan's tail stiffened in surprise.
"Hydropolis is no more and Evermore needs an heir," reasoned Leander, "The House of Tildrum shall live on."
"...Of course," Evan conceded. Leander's grief must've been deeper than they all thought.
And...the babe did resemble the boy in his dreams all those years ago. Ferdinand occasionally visits him now. He...wait...
Evan blinked as realization came to him.
Oh.
"I...I..." started Evan, "I would like some advice on how to take care of a baby. And...perhaps if he has the talent, can you be his tutor?"
"I would be honored," Leander bowed.
Thirty days after his return from the ruins, even though the child was much older than tradition abides, King Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum announced that he had adopted a son. He then revealed Prince Ferdinand Tildrum to the world.
The future he had been shown all those years ago was secured.
2. Doloran Ex Machina
The wedding of King Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum of Evermore and Lady Tani of the Sky Pirates was the most grand occasion to ever grace Evermore. It was just as grand and loud as the wedding of Queen Nerea and her consort eight years ago.
Some claimed they saw this day coming for a long time and that they 'knew.' Evan for the life of him still has no idea what they have meant by that.
The days leading up the wedding was a mix of surprises and headaches as some nobles - still smarting about the coup a decade ago - complained of the possibility of King Mausinger attending, King Doloran of New Allegoria smugly revealed that he had managed to bring Roland Crane back into the world for a second visit years after the reemergence and defeat of Blackheart, Roland - who now appeared to be in his mid-thirties despite being closer to sixty (or was he much older than that?) - nervously offered his wife a tour around Evermore, other nobles complaining about Batu being the King's father-in-law (which Roland and Batu found hilarious), Nereus's protege picking a fight with a Porc and winning with a broken arm, and one of Lofty's old friends tracking him down.
Somehow, the pre-wedding chaos all settled down and it all suspiciously went off without a hitch.
Evan wondered how in the world he got this lucky. Red snow started falling to herald the Winnower's inevitable arrival just as Leander and Nerea were mid-way in exchanging vows for goodness sake!
"Well," comforted Roland when Evan told him of his concerns during the reception, "the day is not over yet. Did I ever tell you what happened at my wedding?"
"No," said Evan while Tani shook her head in response.
"A cousin brought his fiance along and she got tipsy enough to collide into the wedding cake," revealed Roland.
"That's awful!" gasped Evan.
"It was a shock at the time," smiled Roland, "but looking back at it, it's kind of funny...in a way," he quickly amended at his wife's sigh.
"Nobody let her live it down for three years," said Melissa Crane, "Not until her own wedding day."
"I could always arrange for the cake explode if it makes you feel better," offered Tani.
"But then that's an expected event," Evan complained.
"Nothing wrong with some controlled chaos, dear," Melissa pointed out.
Roland suddenly frowned and looked over at his right. He stared in that direction before sighing.
"Excuse me, I believe I'm being called away." He left the three of them behind.
"He...believes?" blinked Tani.
"Roland told me once that this was a soul mate thing," said Melissa, "that sometimes he senses something that Doloran feels strongly about. It's gotten stronger ever since Doloran made a pact with a...Kingmaker, was it?"
"Yeah, a Kingmaker," agreed Evan.
"How do you deal with a double of your husband?" asked Tani.
"In small doses," replied Melissa, "That man is the most dramatic person I have ever met and most likely where all of Roland's suppressed emotions go when reporters ask him stupid questions. He's probably sulking somewhere about something."
This didn't reassure Evan at all.
A week later, once the festivities died down and nobody tripped into exploding cakes nor did old gods return to the world to enact judgement against everyone, Doloran was announced into the throne room. He was accompanied by the Cranes.
"King Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum," he boomed and the Cranes rolled their eyes, "I wish to grant you a boon."
"Oh boy," muttered Tani.
"However," continued Doloran, "it requires your and Her Majesty's consent."
Evan quickly glanced at Roland in hopes of answers and the man whispered, "It wont kill you. Probably."
"Er..." started Evan as he got up from his throne, wondering if this was the shoe he waited to be dropped at the wedding. "Let's speak of this privately."
He and Tani lead the three visitors into the conference room. All of them gathered around the large conference table.
"King Evan," he started more calmly, "In the weeks leading up to the wedding, I had been hearing whispers of sterility enforced to your lineage."
Evan and Tani winced. They were both aware of what it means for Evan to be a hybrid. That in exchange of him having a long life was that he'd most likely never have children of his own. Tani knew of this and she still stood by his side.
"I may have a solution," revealed Doloran, "it's a ritual spell older than Allegoria. It was created to work around issues concerning...heirs."
Only the Cranes weren't surprised by the reveal. It was possible that they, especially Roland, had spent some time talking Doloran down into at least asking to perform the ritual first.
"...How does it work?" Tani cautiously asked.
"By collecting ingredients and chanting the spell on yourself or on another in specific conditions, the spell pulls away a piece of the soul, heart, and body to create a being that may bear a resemblance of the chosen target but it also draws on characteristics added to your family line. In your case, Your Majesty, the resulting child may be fully human or fully grimalkin."
"So it's like cloning," commented Melissa. "I presume the child is considered their own person?"
"Despite being a magical extension of its parent or parents, the child is indeed an independent being."
Tani and Evan shared a look and came to an agreement.
"We aren't ready to be parents just yet, King Doloran," Evan at last said, "but when we are, we will seek your council."
"Understandable," nodded Roland, "You just got married and you're still young. You have plenty of time. Right?" The last word was directed at Doloran with a sharp edge to it.
"...Right," Doloran shifted in his spot, chastised.
The newly-wedded couple lasted a year before people started to mention children as if the high chance of sterility wasn't an issue.
"It would raise morale," Chief Consul Norbert mused when an exasperated Evan complained to him. The mouse's tail flicked behind him as he considered how to solve the issue before scoffing, "as if a royal wedding last year wasn't enough to allow Evermore to coast on high morale for awhile."
"But-"
"Surely you are aware of the many options out there. Adoption. Naming one of your relatives as an heir. Trying...the natural way until something sticks. Magic." Norbert shook his head, "and if my hunch is correct and King Doloran has a solution that you considered before consulting me or the court mages first, would it hurt to look up other arcane magics related to fertility? Perhaps one your parents may have used?"
"Um..." started Evan before blushing, "but then we'd have to explain to King Mausinger why we wish to use the castle library."
"He most likely saw this coming," Norbert pointed out.
So did Boddly, Evan realized. He cringed.
In the end, Evan sent a couple of healers to Goldpaw's library with instructions to reserve any books on fertility spells they could find. They returned with shellshocked expressions after dealing with Boddly and a book on ancient spells and rituals which surprised Evan. Boddly allowed that?
Evan and Tani carefully flipped through the pages, occasionally commenting on some of the contents they passed through ("Who thought that creating a time travel spell that you can only use once was a good idea?" "Cloudburst...that would've made some of the battles we fought a lot easier..."). None of the contents so far resembled anything related to fertility.
"What's this one?" Tani pointed to a page.
Evan's eyes widened as he read the contents. A ritual that extracted part of the target's essence and draws on the bloodlines within to create an heir during a night when both of the two moons can't be seen, even behind the clouds.
"This sounds like what Doloran was telling us."
"Oh," Tani pointed to a particular passage.
Can only be used twice. Once on yourself and once on another.
"It must use a lot of your magical energy to perform it," said Evan, his tail swishing in thought.
"Look there!"
Another passage read, In the case of a bonded leader, the Kingmaker must be consulted first or they will try to intervene to protect their partner from a perceived attack.
Evan nodded at that. Well, that's fair.
"You want to do flippin' what?" gaped Lofty when Evan visited the Cathedral and called him back from the dimension he instinctively created a few years ago to 'flippin' give meself a flippin' break from youer teenage shenanigans' and refused to elaborate. It was probably a Kingmaker thing.
"Perform an ancient ritual older than Allegoria to build myself an heir using my own essence?"
"Can't ya just cheat by drawin' on the Kingsbond while doin' the...usual way? Just warn me before you flippin-"
"Lofty!" squeaked a mortified Evan.
"Alright, alright. Ye Olde Ritual it is then, mun. Just remember you can't try it on youerself again if it succeeds."
As it turned out, Doloran had managed to successfully orchestrate the ritual four years ago. The result was a little girl named Alicia who was a splitting image of her father (and by extension, technically Roland as well). The adults in the throne room watched as she chased after Runcible, giggling.
"I had considered it long ago," said Doloran softly, "and was working up the nerve to ask Alisandra if she would be okay to being a co-parent. I never got to ask her."
"I'm sorry," offered Tani.
"Has Alicia met Roland?" Evan quickly asked.
"She has. She kept following 'Uncle Roll' around everywhere when he last visited," smiled the ancient king. He then added sourly, "Melissa found it cute but it didn't change her opinion on me that I don't think things through."
The Evermore royals then wondered what exactly Roland had told her.
Despite being a ritual from a time where it was not considered 'proper' if it didn't have a long list of requirements, the criteria was much simpler. A night where both moons were dark, a circle containing incomprehensible symbols that had to be drawn carefully by hand on a flat surface, a lock of hair from the participant(s), a fruit with seeds, a single bananza of all things, a cupful of blood, a blood replenishing potion that had to be brewed at least a week beforehand (Evan became even more nervous once he learned of these items' inclusion), and a symbol of childhood (all agreed that a toy sword may work).
They waited until Alicia was truly asleep according to New Allegoria's Kingmaker, Eltrio. The phoenix-like being offered to keep her distracted if she ever woke up. With that taken care of, they all headed to a room deep within the castle that only a select few knew about.
It reminded Evan of the altar-like room they had confronted Doloran in all those years ago but with a great absence of the snake motif.
Where did that snake helmet go anyway? Evan found himself pondering before shaking himself away from that train of thought.
"Do you have the hair?" asked Doloran. Evan retrieved a small box containing two locks of hair and the sword from his arms band and handed over to the sorcerer king. Doloran carefully hovered the box and sword into the center of the circle along with most of the other ingredients.
"How should we do the blood thing?" inquired Tani.
Doloran unsheathed two knives from his belt and conjured two bowls before handing them over to the couple. "It shall be done around your wrists. Do not do it until it is time."
He motioned for them to stand in opposite sides of the circle. Once everyone was positioned, he called forth his staff and drew a symbol that activated the others in the circle one by one until the room glowed blue.
He took a deep breath and started to chant in the ancient tongue of the ritual's origins. The room's temperature seemed to become warmer.
As the chanting continued, Evan felt compelled to join in with a verse that had popped into his head. Midway through his chant, Tani started to speak as well.
It was as if all three had fallen into a trance as the magic took hold. None knew the language but they somehow knew the words, the actions, the intent. There was no stopping it.
Evan, mun, you doin' the thing? asked Lofty through the Kingsbond and it brought Evan back into awareness enough to pass on a quick yes.
Righto, mun. Have fun with that. Don't die. Lofty's presence retreated and Evan was swallowed back into the sea of the ritual's power.
The runes within the circle got stronger and brighter as three voices chanted louder. The items within had long been incinerated by the heat but no one was concerned. Nobody was truly aware in order to be concerned anyway.
Smoke started to swirl as Doloran finished his lines, his role as the initiator completed. He stood silently and watched blankly as Evan and Tani held up their knives and stabbed themselves in the arm. Blood seeped out but instead of dripping into the bowls, the magic seemed to pull the blood inside of the circle.
No one seemed to care that it was a lot of blood.
Once the last drops of blood entered the circle, the world went white.
Doloran was the first to return to consciousness. It was brought upon by Eltrio calling his name through their Kingsbond.
I'm here, he answered.
Excellent, said Eltrio with relief. Tend to them before Lofty comes and destroys us all.
Doloran blinked, confused. Why would Evermore's Kingmaker attack New Allegoria? They weren't at war. In fact, King Evan and his wife are close by.
...On the ground. Pale as death.
Oh gods.
Tamping down the panic and concern before it could alarm his soul mate a world away, Doloran quickly retrieved a vial of the replenishing potion and headed over to King Evan first. He opened the vial and poured the contents down the young man's throat.
Immediately he gasped and sputtered as the potion took affect. Satisfied, Doloran moved on to Tani and repeated the same actions.
"Tani!" yowled Evan as he stumbled over to his wife who was regaining a healthy color to her skin.
"Evan?" she coughed, "Are you okay?"
"I-I'm fine," replied Evan, "what about you?"
"Like I can eat a Porc."
"Gross," commented Evan before giggling alongside his wife.
A baby's cry erupted and all three adults froze at the sound. Slowly, they all turned their heads to look at the spent circle.
In the center of the circle was a baby on its back and making its opinion on cold air and stone known. Carefully, the child's parents got up and approached the results of their efforts. The infant had dark hair that Evan found familiar and appeared to be fully human with no sign of grimalkin fur, ears, claws, or tail.
"It's a boy," whispered Tani as she lifted up the baby and hovered him over the cape Evan had taken off so the babe can be quickly swaddled and warmed. She ran a hand across the short dark hair on the baby's head.
The child quieted down once she held hem close to her chest. To his parents' s surprise, he made a deep rumbling sound that was similar to...
"He's...he's purring," breathed Evan. He had little expectations that his child would inherit anything from his paternal line.
Tani suddenly realized something, "Evan? What should we name him?"
Evan stared at the babe before smiling knowingly.
"Ferdinand," he decided, "Like the legendary king."
3. Passing the Torch
"I am glad to have met you," said the odd boy once Evan finished sobbing. He enjoyed visiting the young king. His stories were so fascinating. Tiny Kingmakers, befriending pirates, driving off very large and very angry Kingmakers, a soul mate pair at odds to one another, the first steps to true peace between grimalkin and mice...
"Me too," Evan concurred tiredly. He hadn't cried this much since the night of the coup. At the time, he felt like he was alone in the world. But Roland stayed and helped him build Evermore. Evan sort of hoped he'd stay forever but knew he wont be around forever. He thought Roland would eventually decide to settle down with someone. But he'd still be here.
The Horned One's power used to bring Roland to this world wearing off with him sent back to an uncertain fate as a consequence was not Evan expected to happen at all.
Evan never admitted it out loud but he saw Roland as a father figure. With yet another adult gone from his life within a year, Evan wasn't sure he could take any more loss. At least he knew where Leander would go when he eventually steps down as Chief Consul of Evermore. Bracken was more interested in 'modernizing Evermore' - whatever that meant - but she wont be returning to Broadleaf soon. And Batu...the man was too strong and stubborn to up and die.
The dark-haired boy sitting across Evan made a thoughtful expression before he seemed to come to a particular conclusion.
However, before he could say anything, the dreamscape started to waver.
"Ah," he said instead, "I hope you feel better, Evan. See you soon."
The dream ended.
A couple of weeks later, the two boys met once more.
"I have something to show you," said the dark-haired boy before handing over Evan a page. Evan gasped as he read it.
Gateway. A spell that allows the user to traverse between worlds. Best used when one has a destination in mind.
Above the description was a rune. Rune-based magic was rarely used these days.
"Really?" said Evan's dream companion and Evan blushed as he realized that he had said that out loud. "That's unfortunate."
"Er..."
"Use this to visit Roland. If his situation is dire, you would be able to rescue him."
Evan's tail stood ramrod straight behind him as he stared at the other boy in shock. "T-thank you!"
"It's all I can do," confessed the boy, "considering I already cast Breach Time once. I can't travel through time again."
"W-what?!"
"It's a long story," said the boy, "but, um, a rival tried to get rid me by casting me into the future but thanks to a kind witch, I got to learn the spell that would bring me back."
"That's awful!" commented Evan.
"In a way it was," agreed the boy, "but in the end I learned new spells. One of which I wish to share with you."
"Thank you."
The boy then looked concerned, "I hate to tell you this but this may be our last meeting. There is so many times I can use this spell to bring us together before things could go wrong from overuse."
"Oh..."
"But I'm glad to have met you, Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum. I really am."
"I'm glad too."
"The future becomes brighter again and the world is on its way to be reunited once more," said the boy wistfully. "Perhaps we were meant to meet each other."
"What do you mean?" asked Evan.
"Perhaps I was meant to guide you," the boy theorized, "you are, in a way, my successor."
"W-what?"
"I too had dreams of uniting the world," revealed the boy, "I worked hard at it. I was laughed at. Scorned. Humiliated. Almost assassinated a few times."
"Oh my!"
"But I had done it," he smiled. "I united the world. I've been doing my best keeping up with it ever since."
Evan gasped, "Then...then you are...!"
"Yes," the boy nodded, "I am Ferdinand."
Evan's mouth opened and closed a few times but no sound came out. His eyes were comically wide.
"Not sure why I appear younger in these dreams," Ferdinand shrugged, "I suppose it's to make me less intimidating."
"You...!" Evan managed.
"Um, yes." Ferdinand confirmed. He watched as the boy king stammer before regressing into Grimalspeak. It was rather fascinating. He didn't realize Evan had the vocal chords for it.
Eventually Evan regained his wits and managed, "I...wow."
The dream ended abruptly to both kings' surprise.
Evan woke up in his bed and sat up. This in turn caused something to fall off the bed and onto the floor. Confused, Evan peered over the side.
It was a sheet of paper.
Curious, he climbed out of bed and picked it up. He gasped.
On the paper was the drawing of a rune titled 'Gateway.'
He grinned excitedly.
"We're coming, Roland," he whispered.
1. So like, if Leander supposedly came from a family who served the royal family for generations, then he is technically barred from marrying into the royal family. So enter King Whatshisface who conveniently dies so Nerea can avoid feelings for 300 years.
And then I fling Leander into the angst pit whoops.
2. One possible alternate title is 'Doloran's Wild Ride 2: Electric Boogaloo.' To be honest, I should've seen 'perform friendlier version of human transmutation' coming when I was like 'how would Doloran solve this problem.' Doloran, why.
And with this, I now suspect my take on him is that Alisandra was maybe 70% of his impulse control and that explains so much what happens whenever I write about him left to his own devices.
Eltrio is basically my Kingmaker OC for Doloran and New Allegoria. His name is a reference to Dragon Quest 8 and I've meant to introduce him in a post-Chief Consul's Diary short story but this happened instead.
3. Okay so if Ferdinand is mentally traveling through time to the past in Evan's dreams, then a non-Evan version of him could...travel forward in time I guess? And provide advice and tools to Evan because why not.
Does Evan and friends find Roland? Probably. But its up to Roland if he wants to come back. :O
Someday I'll write about CCD!Roland finding his way back to Evermore.