Chapter Text
There was a flash of light, dust was kicked up, and it was over. Xornoth was contained; the empires were free. However, when the air cleared everyone was stunned at what they saw. The spell had worked, there was a red crystal, but lying unconscious was Scott, who had been caught in the spell. Next to him was someone who looked...well.
Their hair was the same shade of blue but it was long and tangled, like it hadn't been cut in a few… years. They had antlers, too, but theirs were silver instead of gold. They also lacked feathered wings and their dark purple clothes made their pale skin seem more stark. Getting closer revealed dark bruises around their eyes. When was the last time they slept? Or eaten, for that matter?
Also, they were bleeding.
"Xornoth?" Joey muttered.
Oh.
Oh no.
"Let's get them both to House Blossom," Katherine said.
Gem had cast a levitation spell on Scott and grabbed the crystal while Pearl picked up Xornoth. It was like carrying a feather.
Scott was standing in Rivendell castle. He felt like he was underwater, muffled footsteps echoed from his right. His head turned and he knew instantly what night this was.
He was summoned by his parents who had something important to tell him. Scott remembered being so nervous, anxiously fiddling with his sleeves while-
Wait
Walking down the hallway, holding his hand was another elf who looked just like him, they were even wearing the same clothes.
That's not-
They walked by, unaware of his presence.
Scott didn't follow, he remembered the rest. He was informed of his destiny, of being the champion of Aeor.
That's what happened.
...
Was it though?
Gem flipped through her spellbook again, double checking the containment spell she had used. She'd done every step described; Xornoth should be contained in the crystal. So why wasn't- unless. She turned back to the spell description.
To remove and contain unnaturally occurring magic.
Gem paused. That made sense, or it could make sense. Considering what had happened, it was safe to assume that Xornoth was also corrupted. Maybe they were acting as some sort of vessel. She could ask Xornoth about it when they wake up, assuming they don't try and burn the infirmary to the ground; by the looks of them, though, it'll be impressive if they can still move.
That still left the concern of Scott. Odds are he didn't have any spells or curses placed on him but, regardless, he was still hit with a powerful spell.
A gentle nudge snapped Gem out of her thoughts. She turned to see Katherine holding a cup for her.
"I made some tea!" she said. "It's mint."
"Thank you, Katherine. Actually, could you check something for me real quick?"
"Sure! What is it?"
Gem held out the red crystal. "What can you sense from this?"
Katherine glanced at Gem, then at the crystal. She gave it her undivided attention before flinching.
"A lot of corruption."
"Okay, okay. So the spell worked. Just not how we expected."
"Okay."
"We thought that Xornoth was the corruption, right?"
"Right."
"He might actually have been a vessel for the corruption."
"Um… what did the spell do ?"
"It removed magic that wasn't naturally occurring in the circle," Gem elaborated. "So Scott is probably fine. Speaking of which, how are they doing?"
"They're both still asleep. Scott has a few scrapes and bruises but will be fine after a healing potion. I'll have him stay overnight in case there are any magical side effects," Katherine said. "Xornoth, on the other hand… I don't know how they're not dead."
Gem knew exactly what she meant. Anyone with eyes could see Xornoth was in rough shape. On top of that, they had taken some pretty hard hits during the fight so they definitely didn't have the energy for a healing or regen potion.
"Definitely no potions."
"Definitely," Katherine confirmed. "I should go check on both of them, actually."
Gem followed Katherine out of the room and went to go sit with Joey and Shubble. Both were fine, physically speaking. Joey was dealing with a… breakup? Katherine wasn't really sure how Joey and Xornoth's relationship worked and knew that now would be a bad time to ask. Shubble was comforting him but other than that they were both a bit rattled from the whole situation.
She decided it would be best to check on Xornoth first, since they had taken the most damage out of the two. Katherine was a little wary at first but felt better about treating them when she realized they weren't corrupted. And at least as a medical (well, not exactly) professional, she was concerned about the many old scars Xornoth had on their arms and torso which she'd noticed when bandaging their fresh wounds. She was especially concerned about the two large scars on their back.
Katherine wasn't sure if Xornoth was just a deep sleeper or if it was the magic, or maybe it was the fact they hadn't slept in ages so a deep sleep was inevitable.
She lightly knocked on the door.
"Come in," Pearl responded from the other side.
"How are they doing?" Katherine asked as she stepped inside.
"Still asleep." Pearl gestured toward the bed.
"I made some tea." Katherine held out the cup.
"Thanks." Pearl immediately took a sip.
Pearl had actually sustained the least amount of injuries in the fight. It was one of the reasons she volunteered to watch Xornoth. Speaking of which, there wasn't much Katherine could actually do while they were asleep. She could see they were still breathing and put two fingers to their neck to check their pulse. Their skin was like ice and the beat was slow. Katherine checked if they had a fever. She placed the back of her hand on their forehead. A chill went up her arm.
That was concerning.
"I'll get them a few more blankets. Let me know when they wake up."
Pearl nodded while taking another sip of tea.
Scott was still asleep too; Katherine did the same steps she did on Xornoth. Scott was cold, too, but that was normal for him and it was less extreme. Maybe an extra blanket would be good though, just in case. Just as she was about to leave, though…
"Ugh… Katherine?" Scott groaned.
"Scott! You're awake!"
"What's going on?"
"You got caught in Gem's spell. We're currently in House Blossom. How are you feeling?" Katherine asked.
"I have a headache."
Katherine nodded. "Wait right here. I'll get you a health potion."
Scott's head felt heavy as he remembered the fight. He'd gotten stuck in the circle, but Gem hadn't noticed and cast the spell before he could say anything. Why wasn't he in a crystal with Xornoth then? Did the spell work? Was Shubble okay? She got out of the cage, right ? He's pretty sure she was, but everything was happening so quickly.
Then there was that dream. That- he- he doesn't have a brother. Not in this life at least. Must've just been his subconscious being weird.
…
Aeor, his head hurt.
Katherine returned with a glass bottle of swirling red health potion.
"Here you go!" Katherine handed it over. "Don't drink it too quickly."
"We defeated Xornoth, right?"
Katherine made an expression that Scott couldn't quite place without more sleep.
"Well… the corruption is taken care of."
"...What about Xornoth?"
Pearl considered the elf lying on the bed in front of her. It was hard to believe that they were just trying to destroy the empires. Now they looked like a small breeze could knock them over. She'd volunteered to keep an eye on them; she had taken Xornoth on before and they'd had to cheat to defeat her, although she doubts they'll be trying anything for a while.
Red vines receded into darkness. Xornoth felt like they could finally breathe but also so, so empty.
"Pathetic."
They sat up quickly and immediately regretted it. The room spun as their skull pounded. Their body screamed in protest as they moved to clutch their head to keep it intact, squeezing their eyes shut.
A hand touched their shoulder, causing them to flinch.
"Didn't mean to scare you, but you should lie back down."
Who was that? She sounded familiar. Xornoth cautiously opened their eyes and lowered their hands, the searing pain dulling to an ache.
"Lie down, at least until Katherine gets back in here, you got pretty banged up."
Pearl.
Wait- Katherine?
What was going on?
Why was Pearl leaving?
Where were they?
They were so cold.
Xornoth decided to focus on their surroundings. The air smelled of flowers and sunlight came in through the window.
The Overgrown.
Why were they in the Overgrown? Running fingers through their hair made them realize two things: their long hair was blue and their hand was whiter than a sheet.
"What?" they were taken aback by their voice. That's not how their voice sounds. They aren't supposed to sound like Scott.
Not anymore.
The door opened and Pearl returned, joined by Katherine, who looked a bit nervous.
"What the hell is going on?"
Katherine and Pearl seemed to have a similar reaction as them to their new voice.
"It's a bit complicated, but basically you aren't corrupted anymore," Katherine answered.
"What?" No, that was impossible, but it would explain why they felt so...weak.
"We'll explain in a minute," Pearl added. "After Katherine looks at your injuries."
"I'm fine ."
"You're no-" Katherine started.
"Stand up then," Pearl challenged. "If you feel fine then stand up."
That seemed easy enough. They'll even walk over to those two, just to prove a point.
Their legs didn't get the memo. Xornoth had managed to shakily stand for a few moments, but when they actually tried walking their legs gave out.
Katherine sighed and Pearl went to help them back into their bed.
"Pearl, can you get them some water and berries?"
Joey and Shubble had left to go back to their empires after telling Joey repeatedly that no, he couldn't see Xornoth. Xornoth probably wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. Gem decided to stay; it was her spell that caused this, after all. She also wanted to talk to Scott.
When she walked into his room he was sitting up in bed messing with an empty glass bottle that must've once held a health potion.
"Hi, Scott. How are you feeling?" Gem asked.
"I've been better," Scott answered. "What happened with Xornoth? Katherine was about to tell me but Pearl came in and they both left."
"They're… down the hall."
"WHAT?!"
"Katherine says they aren't corrupted anymore," Gem added.
"How?"
"It turns out the spell actually removed any unnaturally occurring magic within the spell's radius," she explained, "Which brings me to my question: have any spells been cast on you that we should be aware of?"
"No," Scott answered. "So… Xornoth was corrupted?"
"That's what it looks like," Gem said. "We're kind of waiting for Katherine to give them a check up before figuring out what to actually do with them. But… Scott, are you sure you don't have a brother?"
"I-" Scott hesitated. "I'm absolutely certain. Why?"
"They look a lot like you. It's a bit uncanny, actually," Gem answered. "Maybe they can shapeshift; it wasn't mentioned in any books, but a few things can slip through the cracks."
Another elf that looks just like him, even wearing the same clothes.
"Maybe…"
Xornoth was a surprisingly good patient. Well, sort of. They had been difficult about letting Katherine change their bandages but they had calmed down after Katherine mentioned her hall of heads. The berries and water were left untouched on the bedside table.
"Okay, Xornoth, you've been an excellent patient. I just have a couple questions, then we'll leave you alone."
Xornoth sighed. "Get it over with."
"When's the last time you slept, not counting today?"
Xornoth hesitated for a few seconds too long for her liking.
"...what about the last time you ate?"
Xornoth could actually answer that one, but it was a bit embarrassing. Joey had baked cookies for them and they had decided to eat them, just to further secure Joey's loyalty. They still weren't sure if Joey didn't know how to bake or if they just weren't used to flavor in general.
Though Katherine didn't need to know that.
"A few weeks ago."
"Mhm. Eat these." she put the berries Pearl had gotten into their hand. "And drink some water."
Xornoth really wasn't looking forward to the second thing. Although, if they no longer had corruption… maybe it would be fine? They carefully put a berry in their mouth. It felt unnatural. They bit into it and immediately gagged. How can these be called sweet berries? There was an overwhelming tang that was just awful. Still, they forced themselves to swallow. They repeated this until all the berries were gone.
"Have you just been surviving off of corruption this whole time?" Pearl asked.
"That's none of your business." it was really hard to be intimidating when one was under three colorful blankets with a Fairy Queen shoving bottled water in their face.
"Drink the water!" she ordered.
Oh boy.
The water didn't hurt Xornoth, but they didn't like how it felt going down. It was flavorless and cold, causing them to shiver a bit. Better than the berries in flavor, at least, since there wasn't one.
"Okay! That's everything. Now, I'm going to trust you to be a good patient and stay in bed. I'm going to check on Scott." the last part seemed more directed at Pearl than Xornoth.
Katherine left the room, leaving just them and Pearl. After a few moments of silence, she said something.
"My offer still stands, you know."
"... what offer?"
"You can be a citizen of my empire."
Pearl just wanted a fighting buddy. She clearly knew they weren't in fighting shape, going off of what she said earlier. Maybe she was willing to wait, which might take a while. Xornoth had a feeling Pearl had the time though. They weren't sure what she was, but she's definitely not human.
She left the room, presumably to also check on Scott. Xornoth weighed their options. Pearl was pretty cool, if a bit scary. Again, she most likely just wanted someone to spar with, which they'd be willing to do once they didn't feel like death. They certainly wouldn't be allowed in the other empires, not without being taken prisoner, anyways, and they'd rather avoid that. Though they were in the Overgrown, Xornoth could tell Katherine intended this to be a temporary arrangement.
The best choice was obvious.
"What are we going to do with them?" Gem started the discussion. "They can't come to Crystal Cliffs."
"That would be a bit awkward, considering you tried to trap them in a crystal," Pearl remarked.
"I don't think they should come to Rivendell," Scott added. "If they really do look like me-"
"Which they do," Gem interrupted.
"- if they do , then that would raise more questions than I have answers for."
"I'm fine with them staying here for a few days," Katherine stated.
"They can stay in my empire," Pearl said.
It was ultimately Xornoth's choice, but Pearl didn't add that. They weren't planning on immediately arresting Xornoth, since they seemed to have been corrupted themselves. Despite this, she wasn't certain her friends would agree with letting Xornoth decide their fate considering what they had done to everyone, especially to Gem and Scott.
The others glance at each other.
"Xornoth had to cheat to beat me in a fight, and that was when they were corrupted," she explained, "And my empire isn't too big. It'll be easy to keep an eye on them."
"If you're certain, I trust you," Gem said.
"I do, too," Scott agreed.
"Okay then, Xornoth can stay here a few days to recover, then they can stay in Pearl's Empire where she can keep an eye on them. Does that sound alright to everyone?" Katherine asked; everyone nodded in response. "Okay, second order of business, what do we tell the other empires?"
"I don't think Jimmy would be too happy about it," Scott answered.
"True, he can hold a grudge pretty hard. I don't think we have to worry about Joel. He won't believe us no matter what we say," Katherine added.
The rest of the unofficial meeting went on like that. They came to the conclusion that 1.) They still took care of the corruption, which is worthy of celebration and 2.) The other emperors should know, since Xornoth had been affecting (almost) all of them. They also decided to hold the festival in Rivendell, which Scott was delighted about.
The meeting had wrapped up a few minutes ago, and both Gem and Pearl decided to stay the night. Gem chose to stay because if there were side effects, it was her magic that caused them so it would be best for her to be present. Pearl just didn't want to fly home in the dark.
Scott had gotten the clear from Katherine to walk around if he felt like it, which he did. He wanted to talk to a certain demon. He wanted to see for himself what they looked like. He knocked on the door, to be polite.
"I'm not stopping you."
Scott was taken aback by hearing his own voice. It was like hearing a recording being played back. Is that really what he sounded like? There was something else about it, too, that sounded off. He braced himself before opening the door.
It was like looking at a warped reflection. Their blue hair was long and tangled, their antlers were a dull silver instead of shiny gold. Dull could also be ascribed to their eyes, which were blue instead of red. Their torso had been wrapped in bandages, but a couple old scars were visible on their face. Xornoth also didn't have wings, which felt wrong, though Scott couldn't quite place why.
They also, in general, looked like shit.
Xornoth wore an expression of slight surprise at seeing Scott.
"Hello, little brother."
No, they weren't related, not like that.
"Why do you look like me?" Scott asked.
"Blunt today, aren't we?" Xornoth snarked. "But, to answer your question, I didn't have much choice in the matter."
"You just love being vague, don't you?" Scott snapped back.
Xornoth rolled their eyes. "Did you have anything important to tell me, dear brother?"
The way they said brother always dripped with resentful poison, like Scott had committed some personal slight, instead of just being prophesied to fight them. Regardless, Scott didn't have anything actually prepared. Although…
"... When you're feeling better, you'll be staying with Pearl," Scott explained.
"Aw, don't I get a choice in the matter?"
"You tried to kill all of us multiple times!"
"Still."
This little-
Xornoth glanced just over Scott's shoulder and snickered. "You're so much fun to wind up."
His feathers must've been ruffled, showing his irritation. Scott took a deep breath; he wouldn't blow up, he wouldn't snap at them. He would stay calm, diplomatic, sort of. Close enough at least.
"Do you need anything?"
"Can you hand me my jacket?" they requested.
A dark purple jacket laid folded on a chair. Scott picked it up and handed it over to Xornoth. He noticed an empty water bottle on the table. He collected it with the intent to refill it. If he was the only one in the infirmary for the time being, he was going to help the one other patient. Even if that patient tried to kill him and his fr- allies many times. Especially Gem…
Besides, this was Katherine's kingdom. And if Katherine was willing to help them, Scott wasn't going to argue.
Scott closed the door behind him, leaving Xornoth alone again. That was fine. They wanted to enjoy the quiet while it lasted. Usually Exor echoed in their mind, telling them what to do, and the emperors weren't exactly a quiet bunch.
And Scott… what a prick. He was really dedicated to this memory thing, wasn't he? Fine, they had more important things to be concerned with. They could make it fun for themselves.
It was interesting seeing their little brother up close, when not in battle anyways. It confirmed stuff Xornoth had already figured out while spying on the emperors. Scott moved precisely, like some part of him had planned it beforehand. He had no qualms with showing irritation but didn't let his emotions drift into extremes.
Almost how they would've wanted.
They moved their attention to their jacket and immediately checked the pockets. It was still there, right? If it fell out during the battle it was probably lost forever. But a small ruby inlaid on gold glinted in the room's light. Another gift accepted in order to further Joey's loyalty. What had the fool called it? A promise ring.
…
Why did Xornoth want to see it so bad? They didn't even like red that much, to be honest. Joey would probably throw away his own ring soon, if he hasn't already. Still, Xornoth carefully put it back in the pocket.
They were so, so tired.
Their eyelids fell and they drifted into a dreamless sleep, the first one in decades.