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Chapter Text

On Nice and Adventurous Ways of Bringing Back the Dead 

Special Edition 

Map to Afterlife included on the last page

A story by Time

━─━────༺༻────━─━

"Books are the way that we communicate with the dead."

- Neil Gaiman

Kai always knew he would outlive Irene. It was no surprise really, even if they never talked about it. They both knew. Knowing, however, did nothing to soothe his aching heart as he stood by her grave. 

There was no point in saying she was too young. Being young never stopped anyone from dying. And there was no point in saying it should’ve been him, because she would kill him herself if she heard that. Kai felt his face shift into a smile at the thought, but it was cracking. Not one part of him wanted to move, and even something as small as that was too much. 

His knees ached, pleading for a break. Kai wasn’t sure he still knew how to move, how to breathe, how to talk. Maybe, in a hundred years from then, it would be a tale. The Dragon Who Never Lived Again. He could workshop the name over those hundred years, while he waited for her. 

Kai knew there was nothing to wait for. He kept waiting. 

There weren't many people at the funeral. Just a few friends, if they could be called that. It felt unfair, after she had saved so many lives, that her own wasn't worth more than a handful of people at the cemetery. 

The ones that came wore black and brought white flowers. They passed by Kai, offering empty condolences and cold hugs. And they left before the casket was laid down. 

By the time the Sun had set and the dirt was thrown, Kai was the only one left. Just him and his withering red camellia. She never liked white flowers, and even now, Kai couldn’t bring himself to buy her something she wouldn't like. And he couldn’t bring himself to throw the flower in her grave, it felt too much like a goodbye. 

The rain was unavoidable, and Kai knew it was him as it started pouring down. He hadn't cried when he heard the news. Nor when they asked him to confirm her identity. Not even at the funeral, or when her parents didn't show. Kai found that something was fundamentally broken in him, but the truth was that she was gone. And that was all the breaking he needed. 

Maybe, he thought, there was still something alive inside of him if it was raining. But the rain wasn't enough to heal him. It wasn't enough to bring her back from the dead.

He looked to his side as Vale opened an umbrella. Kai couldn’t tell how long he had been there, but judging from his wet clothes it wasn’t a short time. He wanted to say something, anything. Nothing came out of his mouth. 

“Strongrock.” Vale said before Kai could gather enough courage to open his mouth. “Let’s go home.”

His voice was barely above a whisper, but Kai heard it all the same. 

How could they go home? There was no such thing as home without Irene. There would never be again. Kai couldn’t understand how Vale didn’t see it, there would be no going home. Not without her. 

He turned around, facing Vale for the first time since The Day. The shock was enough to shut him up. Vale’s eyes were red, swollen and clearly without life. It was a mirror of Kai’s own expression. He looked terrible. 

“I… can’t.” Was all Kai was able to say. 

“What you can't do is die here!” Vale’s tone was desperate. “Not like this, Kai.”

“I won’t-” Kai lied, looking away from Vale. 

“Oh, save it, Strongrock. I know you…” He took a deep breath. “I know far too well. And I won’t let you die here. She wouldn’t want this, Kai.”

Kai didn’t answer. 

“Catherine is waiting for us.” Vale tried one last time. 

Irene’s grave was nothing like Kai imagined, because he always thought there would be a place for him by her side. He held onto the red camellia, trying to ready himself. 

“Just a few more minutes.” He pleaded. 

“I’ll wait for you at the entrance.” Vale offered the umbrella, but Kai shook his head. 

He waited until Vale was gone before turning back to her. 

Kai wasn’t sure what he was waiting for. Her. Always her. He was waiting for some big speech, something grand, something that would make this feel less like the world would keep going. All that happened was that the rain kept pouring down. 

He closed his eyes, bracing himself, and kneeled by the fresh soil. If there were any words worth saying, Kai couldn’t find them. He twisted and turned the worn out flower. Most of its petals were loose, on the brink of falling, but Kai couldn’t let go of it. A part of him didn’t want to. 

He brought the camellia to his lips, giving it one final kiss before laying it on Irene’s grave. His fingers lingered on the dirt, but it was just an excuse to stay. Kai knew he should go, there was no point in delaying it any longer. 

Just as he was about to give up, his hand ran across something far too hard to be dirt. Kai stopped for a second, giving it a second try to be sure. There was definitely something there, Kai was certain of it. His suspicions were only proven right when his hands were completely covered in dirt and he caught a hold of a rope. 

It was damp and rough, but Kai found that he didn’t care as he started pulling. And pulling. And pulling. Until Irene’s grave was less soil than it was an open ditch, the camellia destroyed amidst the ruins of her memory. 

He clawed desperately at the end of the rope, uncovering a metal box. It was rusted, and couldn’t have been put there by anyone. Kai had seen the hole get dug, the casket laid down and then covered again. He hadn’t looked away for even a second. There was no explanation as to how the clearly old box had gotten there. But there it was, and he was holding it. 

Kai tried to get it as clean as possible, examining the box thoroughly. There were no clear signs of danger, or written messages, not even a note, but that didn’t mean that he trusted to open it. If anything, it made it all the more suspicious. 

There was no particular smell, and it was relatively heavy for such a small box. Kai tried shaking it, hoping to get some clues to what was inside it. It was something sturdy, he assessed, and without much free room. But there was no way of knowing any more than that without opening it. 

Kai weighed his options for half a second, as a formality, but there was no other answer besides taking his pocket knife and carefully prying it open. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it was definitely not a book. 

Maybe it should’ve been. Their whole lives had always been about a book, some way or the other. It made sense that her death would be too. 

It was shocking to turn the book around and find that it was still in one piece, although in not very good conditions. It had seen water far too many times, and Kai suspected that some of the pages were missing, if the cracked spine was anything to go by. That, however, didn’t stop him from reading the title, written neatly in golden over the brown hardcover. 

On Nice and Adventurous Ways of Bringing Back the Dead 

Special Edition 

Map to Afterlife included on the last page

by Time

It felt like a sick joke. A tasteless one at that. Kai was ready to throw it back into the dirt and let it rot away, for all he cared it could be eaten by worms as well. But a shiny little thing caught his eyes, right in the first page. 

He opened the book to find one single pearl tied on a string, as if it was a bookmark. He flipped the pages, trying to find something else. There was nothing like that, only many annotations; all of them in different pens, all of them the same handwriting. It was the way the Ls twisted at the end that made him stop. There was only one person who drew their Ls like that. Kai flipped back to the first page. 

There he found it, against all odds, a dedication with lopsided Ls. 

To Kai, Because she’ll be waiting for you. 

Bradamant 

Chapter Text

“No.”

Vale said it like it was final, and it would’ve been if the discussion hadn’t been going for the last 7 hours. As it was, Kai only answered:

“Yes.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Strongrock.” Vale threw himself on the armchair by the window, as he needed a break from pacing through the living room angrily. “We have no way of knowing this is real. It most likely isn’t.”

Catherine, who had been all too quiet for Catherine for the last 3 hours (after Kai and Vale had told her that even if they did go, she wouldn’t be going to the afterlife with them), pretended to be very interested in the tea set, and not at all in the conversation. 

“But there could be a- Catherine, stop playing with porcelaine.” Kai turned back to Vale. “There could be a chance that it’s real.”

The weather was fair, and for the first time since The Day, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. In fact, it was sunny, and the light came through the window with a golden glow. Vale knew that this was due to Strongrock’s mood, as the rain was also due to his blue heart. 

“We’re not going.” Vale said for the tenth time as he got up to serve himself a cup of tea. “There are some things we do not mess with, and Death is one of them.”

Catherine huffed from the pillow she was sitting on the floor. 

“That’s rich coming from the guy who once poisoned me to run some tests.” She said as she tipped a tea cup dangerously close to the edge of the table. 

“I had no way of knowing that it would affect you!” He tried to defend himself, after all, Silver was always saying how delightful the poisons tasted. “But that’s beyond the point. The point is-”

“The point is that we’re not going. Yeah, got it.” She sighed. 

Vale looked back at Kai waiting for some sort of protest. That’s how their entire day had been going so far. Even the night before had to be put on hold for them to get some sleep, by Vale’s request. Kai would’ve kept arguing, if he could. 

The silence was nothing short of weird, and even Catherine was staring at him expectantly. Kai kept pacing through the room, his thoughts elsewhere as he murmured to himself. His eyes shot up to find the whole room (consisting of just two people) looking at him. 

“What?”

“Aren’t you gonna fight it?” Catherine asked. 

Kai stopped for a second, then opened a smile. 

“No. I’m not.” They looked at him as if the world had turned sideways. “I’m going. And it’s not a discussion.”

“Strongrock,” Vale took a sip of his tea. “It’s the discussion we’ve been having for hours.”

“I mean that you can stay. I’m going.” Kai said. “And before you say anything, I’m well within my rights to do so.”

The room was a mix of reactions. Catherine got up on a jump, almost taking the tea set with her. Vale was as still as a statue, cup paused halfway to his mouth. Catherine’s delight equaled measures with Vale’s horrified expression. 

“Then I’m going too!” She said with a triumphant smile. “And neither of you can say no, because I’m also well within my rights to go.”

“See what you’ve done?” Vale turned to Kai, still processing what was happening. 

“Well, I suppose she’s right.” Kai shrugged. He wouldn’t be hypocritical, even if he could be. 

Vale, on the other hand, didn’t seem to share the same principle. He threw his hands up in an exasperated gesture. They had gone crazy with grief, he reasoned, it was the only explanation. 

“Come on, Vale.” Kai said. “You must’ve known this is how this would end.”

“I had hope.” Vale’s tone was quite defeated. 

Catherine ran out of the room, unintelligible screaming about, most likely, their next adventure. Kai and Vale watched her go in silence, Kai with an amused look and Vale with a desperate pang in his heart. 

He set his cup of tea down, hands far too unsteady to keep holding it. Kai stepped closer to him, searching his face. He put on his best soothing smile. 

“Don’t worry, we’ll be alright.” Kai said. 

“You shouldn’t go, Strongrock.”

“Please, Vale.” Kai’s voice was small. “Don’t ask me that, you can ask me anything else, but not that.”

“Is it really worth your life?” Vale wanted to shake him by the shoulders, beg him to wake up.

“Yes!” Kai answered with a smile. “She’s worth it.”

Vale took a deep breath. 

“Got it.”

━─━────༺༻────━─━

Kai wasn’t really used to being the one making the plans. He was usually the one following the plan, which meant that he had no idea what he was doing. 

He had made a list, a very incomplete list. It went:

1. Money.

Then scribbled on the side: 

Do we need money?

1. Food.
2. Backpack?
3. Clothes?
4. Water.
5. THE BOOK.

In very big letters. 

Surprisingly, this was the third list so far. The first one Kai hadn't been able to come up with anything, so he tossed it away completely blank. The second one he found to have far too many unnecessary things, such as a lantern, in case there’s no light.

Maybe he should put that back on the list. 

Kai thought there should be a class to making plans, especially plans for big adventures. There probably was, and he probably attended, but then again, it helped with nothing if he couldn’t remember it. Kai was ready to throw it all to the airs and just start walking. That was usually how he did things, but something told him that this time he should try to come up with a plan. 

He sat back down at the table, pen in hand, and went back to writing his list. It was pretty useless, the seventh item stayed blank as the minutes went by and Kai couldn’t think of how else to do this. 

There was a soft knock on the door, freeing Kai from his torment. Vale stepped inside with a small bowl in hands. He didn’t say anything, but Kai had a feeling he wasn’t as angry as the day before. At least he was looking at him now. 

Vale set the bowl on the desk by his side, but didn’t leave the room. He waited for a few seconds, staring at Kai as if something was supposed to happen. Kai opened his mouth to talk, but Vale moved to sit on the bed and he couldn’t gather the courage to say anything. 

“It’s tomato soup.” Vale said from behind him. “The maid was out, so I made it.”

“Thank you.” Kai turned to see him. 

There was an awkward pause, in which neither knew what to say. Then both tried talking at the same time, and another awkward pause. 

“Everything ready for your departure?” Vale asked carefully, the hurt still on his voice. 

Kai couldn’t help but throw his head back, an exasperated sigh much needed to his theatricals. 

“Not even close.” He fell into their familiar tone, forgetting all about their discussions. “I have no idea how she was so good at making plans for this kinda thing.”

“She was pretty terrible at it.” Vale chuckled, the tension leaving his shoulders. 

“Yeah, I guess she was, wasn’t she?” Kai smiled. “That’s hopeful.”

Their laughs died down to silence again. Kai hoped this was only temporary, and that it was close to an ending. Truth was that he didn’t want to leave with things uncertain between them, not when there was a chance he wouldn’t be coming back. 

He heard Vale moving from the bed.

“Let me see what you have so far.” He asked as he leaned over Kai to see the failure of a list. 

“You sure?” Kai moved to the side, even if his first instinct was to hide that hideous thing. “You don’t need to get involved, I know you don’t approve of-”

“Oh, shut it. This is utter rubbish, by the way.” Vale stared at Kai, but he had a rather amused expression. “Really, Strongrock, how will you survive like this?”

“No need to rub it in.” 

“You’re lucky you won’t be alone.”

“Not sure how much help Catherine is gonna be.” Kai mumbled as he finally turned to the soup. 

He was lucky it hadn’t gone cold, and even if Vale was not a bad cook, that didn’t mean he was a good one either. The tomato soup tasted exactly like it was supposed to, if not a bit flavorless. Kai stirred it from one side to the other.

“Good thing I’ll be going then.” Vale raised an eyebrow at him.

The spoon splashed into the soup with a wet plop. Kai looked up to Vale with his mouth hanging open. 

“What?!”

“I suppose there’s no point in staying and missing all the fun.” He shrugged. “Besides, someone ought to make a plan, right?”

Kai couldn’t help himself. He got up and pulled Vale into a hug, a very tight and warm hug. He didn’t even care how long it took Vale to hug him back with an amused huff; all he cared about was that they were going to get Irene back. All of them. 

Chapter Text

Vale, as it turned out, was better than Kai at making plans. 

It took them all of three tortuous days to settle everything, and it felt almost like they were getting ready to travel on vacation, rather than going on a rescue mission. Really, the hardest part was convincing Kai and Catherine to wait the three days instead of just jumping into it. 

Vale double checked everything before opening the door, and then started triple checking as Kai and Catherine took the suitcases to the carriage. The keys were in his right pocket, passport in the left inner pocket of his coat and he was holding his wallet. 

He walked through the house closing the doors of the rooms upstairs, then making his way down the stairs to the living room. There, on the center table, the book lay forgotten. 

Vale had spent the first day reading it over and over. Well, at least whatever he could read. Some parts were too damaged by water, time and dirt for it to be readable, others were simply in a different language and not even Catherine’s training was enough to figure it out which one. The map, luckily, seemed to be in perfect condition. 

It was a long shot, and truth was that Vale quite doubted that it would lead them anywhere. But it was the first time in weeks that he had seen Strongrock so alive, and maybe that was worth the risk. He picked up the book, flipping through the pages one last time before heading to the front door. 

Catherine was making a big show of not really carrying anything outside and waiting for Kai to offer some help when Vale closed the door of the living room. He stuffed the book into one of the many luggages, checking everything they were carrying one last time. 

“Vale!” Catherine called as she put a small purse inside the carriage. “Come on, we’re going to be late!”

“We wouldn’t be if you actually helped with the luggage.” Strongrock flicked her in the back of the head. “Everything ready, Vale?”

He looked back to the house, then turned back to Kai with a smile.

“All ready.” Vale locked the door and carried the last suitcase to the carriage. 

Catherine jumped in as soon as Vale turned around, but Kai waited for him at the entrance. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?” He asked. 

“With all due respect, Strongrock, but your way of traveling is far more turbulent than what I would enjoy.” Vale said as they closed the trunk. 

“You only say that because you never met Tina, believe me.” Kai held the carriage’s door open and waited for Vale to climb in before closing it. “I’ll see you there, just wait for me in the driveway.”

Kai took a step back and waved them goodbye as Vale, quite unfortunately, found out just how turbulent their journey would be. He could see him holding onto the door while Tina took an illegal turn and disappeared through the streets of London, most likely already jumping to another sphere. 

Then Kai turned around and flew away.

The way the in-between worlds worked was rivery. There was a current, and fighting against it would only make things more difficult, but for someone who knew how to swim through it, it was heaven. Kai let the current take him with ease. 

He could feel from the corner of his eye, more than see, as Vale and Catherine went from one world to the other, until they were too far away. That was the main difference between the dragon way and the fae way of getting where they wanted. Kai had to take the long way through the many curves of the river, while Tina had to take the long way through roads and worlds. They often went opposite ways, until meeting at their final destination.

Kai only hoped he would get there fast enough, after all it wasn’t easy to make that sort of appointment. And getting one at the last minute would already cost them a great deal, getting there late was enough to cost their heads. He took a left turn alongside the inworldly river. 

From his right came a red flash and Kai went spiraling out of the river. Whatever hit him kept swimming away in a hurry, but Kai could only pay attention to the ground quickly approaching. 

He spun uncontrollably on the sky, trying to situate himself enough to get control back. It was quite useless, the ground getting closer and closer. Kai tried to recognize his surroundings, but everything was moving too quickly for him to be able to make out any shapes, let alone actually recognize the world he was in. 

His landing was ugly, and it left a trail of destruction on the empty field. Kai went rolling down the grass, his tail catching some trees here and there, until he slowed down enough to change back into his more human shape. 

His whole body hurt, and he wondered what the hell had just happened as he stared up into an incredibly blue sky. As far as he could see, all the clouds were white and the Sun shined just bright enough to warm the world. A comfortable light that would never burn him. 

Kai did his best sitting up, which meant he groaned and complained the whole time. The field wasn’t that different from the sky. It was empty, save from a tree here and there, and some wild flowers that escaped the pesticide. He looked back to see the damage he made to the place, and it was as if a child had fallen down. All there was left was a patch of mud and Kai, whose bruises were the closest thing to evidence he would find. 

Now, he knew he should get up and back into flying, but this world didn’t work like that. There were very few things that could disturb the holy peace of this place, even the wind blew according to plan. Kai wasn’t one of these things. 

He took a deep breath and got up, looking around for any sign of, well, anything. It was hard to see beyond the horizon, the Sun shining bright. But then again, it was hard to see where exactly the Sun was, the light seemed to come from the world itself. Kai turned around and with a great deal of squeezing his eyes managed to make out the shape of a house in the distance, the smoke being a better tell than his eyes. 

It was hard to tell how far it really was, but Kai thought it would be at least a two hour walk. He looked around one last time, maybe there was somewhere else to go. There wasn’t. He started walking. 

Chapter Text

The house had a familiar smell. More than a smell, it had a familiar air. Kai could feel it in his lungs, in the way the atmosphere clung to his skin. It should’ve been unsettling, but somehow it wasn’t.

The walk didn’t take more than 40 minutes, and Kai found that he wasn’t tired in the slightless. Even the bruises didn’t hurt as much. 

The place seemed abandoned as he climbed up the stairs to the entryway. The wood was pale, the house wasn’t painted, and there was a thick layer of dust around everything. There was no sound coming from inside, but the smoke kept coming out of the chimney. Kai knocked on the door, hoping very hard that there would be an answer.

Time started moving.

The wind blew north, the Sun was not only light, but also warmth. There were voices coming from inside the house now, steps moving closer to the door and two people arguing. Maybe Kai should run away, there was still time to hide. 

He turned around to leave right as the door opened.

“Kai?” A familiar voice called.

Her voice. 

Kai couldn’t move. Could barely breathe. 

“It really is you!” He could hear her smile. 

She hugged him from behind and he could see her scarred hands. He had it memorized and knew it was her as he ran his fingers along the scars. Kai turned around and pulled her close, eyes full of water and shut tight. He breathed her in, and it was like coming back to life. 

They stayed like that for a very long time. Irene ran her hand through his hair, soothing him with gentle words and an easy laughter until Kai remembered how to breathe. Until he forgot all about running away. 

“Come on, let’s get you inside.” She took a step back and guided him by the hand to the house. 

There was something in the oven, the smell had contaminated the house, and just as he recognized it Kai found that he was starving. Starving as someone who hadn’t eaten in weeks, that could barely remember the taste of food. 

“About time you got here.” Bradamant called from the kitchen. 

She carried a pie. A very hot pie that was put on the table alongside biscuits, tea, bread, meat, a whole feast. Irene smiled as she sat down and waited for Kai to take his place beside her. 

“You knew I was coming?” Kai asked Bradamant, still standing. 

“Well, yes!” She said like it was obvious. “We were waiting for you.”

“Aren’t you hungry, Kai?” Irene touched his hand.

“Yeah.” He looked at the feast. “I’m starving.”

He sat down and Bradamant cut him a slice of the pie. There was no way to decipher what was the filling, but it tasted like heaven and everything he ever loved. Irene offered him bread. Kai ate it like it was his last one. Bradamant poured him a glass of water and Kai thought that he would drown. The more food he had, the more he wanted to eat. 

The two women stared at him with gentle smiles, watching him take and take and take all the food they had prepared. There were so many things he wanted to ask, but Kai couldn’t remember a single one. Couldn’t come up with anything, anything at all. 

“I think that’s enough for now.” Irene said and put a hand on his shoulder, pushing him away from the plate. 

“No, wait!” Kai tried to get one last breadcrumb, but it was too late. 

Bradamant took his plate and all that was left of the feast. He could hear her humming from the kitchen, the sink running and the world slowing down. His eyes were closing against his will. 

“You’re so tired, Kai.” Irene got up from her chair. “Let’s get you to bed.”

“But-”

“Don’t worry, dinner will be out in no time.”

She took him by the hand into the bedroom. Kai wasn’t quite sure how to keep up, all his movements were sluggish, even his thoughts were slow and all he could do was allow Irene to guide him. Not that he would ever complain, she was finally here, and she could take him anywhere she wanted. 

Irene closed the door behind her. The room was dark, the curtains heavy and clearly full of dust, not that Kai had noticed. He also didn’t notice how bare the walls were, nothing more than wood, and even the wardrobe was empty. But then again, if he had noticed it, it could all be explained by the dead don’t wear clothes. At least, that’s what most people would say, if anything could be said. 

Irene tugged on the sleeves of his shirt, a playful smile on her face. And, oh, how Kai had missed her like a limb. He pulled her into a hug, the comfort enveloping him full.

“I’m so glad you’re here.” She said in a quiet voice. 

Kai wanted to say it back. Wanted to talk her ears off, catch up on everything he missed, and what she had missed as well. He wanted to slow dance with no music, giggle with joy and spin her around. Kai wanted to kiss her. 

His eyes were heavy, and all he could do was hold himself up. Well, up enough that they wouldn’t fall down. 

“Irene-”

“I’m here.” She laid him down onto the bed, the smile never leaving her face. 

The world was nothing but a blur, and Kai could only let himself be guided by Irene’s soft voice as she hummed. It was the same song from before. Kai had the fleeting feeling that he knew it from somewhere, but his conscience slipped before he could find it. 

━─━────༺༻────━─━

It was impossible to tell how much time had passed. Probably because no time had passed at all, but the dark coming from the window would’ve fooled anyone. At the very least, it fooled Kai perfectly. 

He got up with his hair a tangled mess, mouth dry and missing the coat he was sure he went to bed with. He stepped outside the room hoping to find exactly what he did find. 

Bradamant was reading an old book in an armchair by the window, the table already set and waiting for him. There was classic music playing, even if there was nothing to put it on, and it went perfect with the soft rain falling outside. Kai rubbed his eyes, unsure of reality for a second. 

He looked to the other side to see Irene stirring a pan by the stoven, clearly lost in thought. Kai glanced at Bradamant one last time, she was still reading the same page, and then back at Irene. She was already looking at him. 

“Dinner’s almost ready!” She said. “Aren’t you hungry?”

He wasn’t. 

“Yeah, starving.” Kai felt that he could eat without never stopping. 

Irene smiled at him and turned back to the pan. There was something weird about the place, Kai realized. More than realized, he remembered that he had always thought it. He went around the table, noticing the rust in the silverware, then into the kitchen and the door creaked, but Irene couldn’t hear it. 

Kai approached her from behind, taking great care to not say anything. Irene was lost in the humming lullaby, the words just on the brink of Kai’s memories. Just beyond reach. He spied into the pan, hoping very hard that all he would find was soup.

It wasn’t. 

Whatever she was cooking was pitch black. There was nothing there. Less than nothing. The world had been cut open and the hole was being stirred up by a wooden spoon. 

“Are you just going to stand there or are you going to help me?” Irene looked back with a smile, the corners of her eyes crinkled. 

She was making egg drop soup, Kai could smell it. It was such a familiar smell, homely and lovely. He smiled at her and opened one of the cabinets to get the sesame oil, because of course it would be there, where it always was. 

The classical music turned into a jazz as they cooked, a dance of throwing this and then, stir, let it rest, crack one egg. It felt like five minutes, but their mess indicated much more. And something inside Kai knew it was nothing at all. They started cleaning up the kitchen when Bradamant popped her head through the door. 

“Is this soup ready or what?” She said, not really waiting for an answer as she went back to the living room. 

Irene rolled her eyes and turned to Kai. 

“I’ll finish it up here.” She kissed him on the cheek. 

Kai felt that he should protest, but all that came out as a smile as he left things for her to tidy up. He followed after Bradamant, who was just closing her book. 

“Didn’t take you for a Barrie fan.” Kai said. 

“Neither did I.” She placed the book back on the shelf and let her fingers run through the spines. 

Kai watched her for a moment, then followed her hands through the array of books. Of course there was Sherlock, the whole collection, hardcover. Tolkien, a bit surprisingly. A few he didn’t recognize. Barrie’s Peter Pan. And an old, battered up, book that seemed to belong nowhere. Bradamant didn’t touch it. 

She moved past him and sat at the table just as Irene brought the pan from the kitchen. But Kai couldn’t shake away the feeling that he knew that book. 

“Kai?” Irene called. 

He reached to touch it. 

“Dinner's served.” Bradamant said, her tone harsher than expected. 

“Yeah, I’m coming.” But Kai didn’t even look at them. 

He took the book out of the shelf, the weight exactly how he remembered. It still had dirt in it, and Kai opened the first page to find the well known lopsided Ls alongside a pearl tied to a string. 

The house was still warm, and the music was still playing, but Kai turned around and noticed it was coming from nowhere. He stared at the two women at the dining table, they were looking at him with fixated eyes. There was nothing behind it, just eyes with no thoughts. 

“Irene.” He called. She moved her head, gaze focusing on him. “What happened to the pearl necklace I gave you?”

“What?” She touched her neck, surprised to find nothing there. “Oh, I must’ve forgotten to put it on.”

Except Kai knew exactly where it was. The necklace was one of the few things that he managed to save, except for one single pearl that had cracked from the string and he was never able to find. Irene’s necklace was back in London, at Vale’s house. It was safe in Irene’s room, at her nightstand, where Kai usually spent his nights.

“What is this place?” He asked, getting closer to the table. 

“Kai, this is our home.” Irene answered confused. 

He turned to Bradamant, book in hands. 

“Do you know this book?” 

She looked at him slowly, eyes trying to focus with difficulty. Bradamant blinked several times before finally answering. 

“No, I don’t think- Must be one of Irene’s…” Her words were slurred. 

“It has your name on it!” Kai yelled. “This is your handwriting! This was-”

He stopped. Irene and Bradamant were staring at him, a confused expression stamped on their faces. In fact, Kai wasn’t even sure they were listening to what he was trying to say. 

Irene smiled at him. 

“Aren’t you hungry? I made your favorite dish.”

Kai took a deep breath and sat down. That seemed to cheer them up, Irene was quick to serve him a bowl and Bradamant went back to her usual sour mood. Kai kept the book with him, and watched as Irene poured nothingness into his plate. 

“Irene, do you remember how you died?”

She stopped pouring. 

“You were taken.” He said. “And we searched for days, through all the worlds. Do you remember that?”

But she didn’t answer. She didn’t even move. 

“We followed your trace until Paris and the package-” Kai couldn’t say it. 

He got up. Irene was frozen in place, not by shock or surprise, her body had shut down. She was a statue, lifeless, forever waiting for him to play again. Kai turned to Bradamant, she was very aware of what was happening. Maybe more than Kai himself. 

“How do I get out of here?” He asked. 

She looked at him in a very un-Bradamant -like way that reminded him of how Alberich used to wear people’s skin. He really hoped that wasn’t the case here. 

“Back door.” She pointed to the kitchen, voice completely changed. “You’re good, Dragon, but you can’t blame me for trying.”

“Trying what?”

“To stop you, of course.” The not Bradamant person said. “I know what you’re trying to do. Believe me, I was doing you a favor.”

“Yeah, thanks a lot.”

Kai left the warm house without locking the door behind him. 

Chapter Text

Vale was quite used to seeing things coming. This, however, had no predicting. 

He was sure that their current situation was Kai’s fault. Why? Probably because he wasn’t there, but Vale would never admit that. The more logical explanation was because he was late, and therefore they were in a vulnerable position while waiting for him. Hence, Vale and Catherine were now on their way to God knows where, hands tied back and blindfolded. 

And out of the many (many) things that made Vale uncomfortable, this was on the top of his list. Nothing against being tied up, per say, (after all, it is a great way to gather information, under the right circumstances), but being tied up in a world he knew nothing about, being taken to a place with no idea of what he would find, or who, was not exactly his idea of a vacation. Then again, this was not a vacation, it was a mission. A mission that was going terribly wrong. 

Vale couldn’t even guess the means of transportation. There was a lot of noise, but no shaking, or water splashing. And he could barely recognize the terms the people around them were using. A guy even asked if there was anything other than the AIM to read, but Vale had a feeling that you don’t read aims. You just aim. 

“You didn’t knock them out?” A voice from his right came. 

“That’s a child, for God’s sake!” The left answer. 

Catherine, who had a very poor sense of safety said:

“Hey, I’m 26!”

“She’s 26, see?” The first man said. “Knock them out now.”

“Oh, great!” Was all Vale could say before getting pricked by a, hopefully clean, needle. 

━─━────༺༻────━─━

He came to it in a very bright room. His hands were still tied, but the grogginess wasn’t quite helpful to processing the situation. Vale tried looking around, even with his unfocused eyes, and find Catherine. 

The room was very big, with a long and dark table that took over most of it. Vale shook his head a few times and realized he was tied to a chair at the far end of the table. The place was mostly dark, save from a blueish color coming from his side. Vale turned his head. 

The light came from a fishtank. A wall wide fish tank that was bigger than the room he was in. Vale watched it with wide eyes as a shark swam close to the glass, scaring all the small fishes away. 

“I too find them quite beautiful.” A voice from the other end of the table said. 

Vale looked away from the aquarium expecting to find someone sitting in front of him. What he found was a projection, of sorts. He wasn’t quite sure what he was looking at, but it was a man in a frame, and reacting to what was happening on live time. Maybe it would be best not to question it. 

“Wes ees Cathrin?” Vale tried asking, lucky for him the man didn’t seem to mind his slurred words. 

“I’m very curious as to how someone like you ended up here.” He started monologuing. “I first thought the girl brought you with her, but she doesn’t have influence enough to take herself, much less someone twice her size. Besides, she’s nothing more than a child, so I’m guessing you’re in charge.”

He waited for an answer, but Vale was already struggling to keep up with his speech. He took the silence as an answer.

“Well, name what you want and we can start negotiations.”

Vale was a bit busy trying to move his mouth to actually come up with an answer. And this time the man seemed to be losing his patience, clearly annoyed by the lack of reaction he was getting. If Vale had to guess, this was someone used to being the center of attention, and being ignored was not tolerable. 

A door creaked open from the other side of the room. 

“Hello, Mr. Nemo.” Kai’s voice said from out of view. 

“Strongrock?” Mr. Nemo said, very taken aback. “How the fuck did you get in?”

He was looking at something from his side of the conversation, and talking to someone in a low and rushed tone. Kai took that as an opportunity to untie Vale’s hands and check up on him. 

“Where’s Catherine?” He asked, making sure Vale’s eyes weren’t blown out. 

“Dun’ kno’.” Was all he managed to answer. 

Kai made sure he was alright one last time before turning back to Mr. Nemo, who seemed to be having a terrible time on the other side of the line. 

“Mr. Nemo, you still with me?” Kai asked with a smile. 

“Of course, of course.” He cleaned his forehead with a white tissue. “Quite a surprise to see you here, I must admit.”

“Believe me, I’m as surprised as you.”

Mr. Nemo gave his best, awfully fake, laughter. A noble attempt to lighten the mood, but it was a shame that it only made it more tense. 

“Can’t help but notice your friend is missing.” He said. “The Librarian.”

Kai 's hand tightened on Vale' s shoulder. He didn’t say anything, but the stain on his expression was clear. 

“We actually have some things to discuss with you, mind if I sit down?”

Mr. Nemo thought it over, making a big show out of it. 

“Why don’t you get settled in, I have some things to take care of before dealing with you.”

The projection shut off before Kai could say anything, leaving the room darker than before. A rather tall and strong guy stepped into the room and guided them through endless corridors. Kai kept close to Vale, helping when he stumbled. 

“How did you get here?” Vale managed to ask. 

“Long story, but I just went through a door.”

“Library?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Kai said. “It was… something else.”

The guard took them to an open area, the floor was above water in a way that the fishes were swimming right by their feet. It was the closest thing to paradise Vale could think of, everything was vibrant and there was a fresh breeze that smelled of sea. At the very least that was a clue to where they were. 

“We need to find Catherine.” Vale whispered to Kai. 

“Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll see her soon enough.” He kept a hand around Vale’s waist. “Mr. Nemo is very careful with his guests.”

Vale wanted to make more questions, but one look at the guard and he decided to save it for later.

They crossed the open area and went inside again; the corridors had doors lining up until where their eyes could see. Vale let himself be pushed by Kai, who was far more calm than the current situation called for. He was expecting some fights, turning into a dragon, escaping like heroes. Bottom line was a screaming match, but Kai stayed very polite. He even thanked the guard as he opened one of the doors, after five corridors (two to the right, one to the left and another right), and let them know that was their room. 

Kai helped Vale to the bed and immediately started checking the room for wiretaps. Vale watched as he placed them on the foot of the bed, one from the light bulb, another from the curtain, two separate ones from the black frame on the wall. He was finally satisfied after coming out of the bathroom with one last wire. 

“What happened while I was gone?” Kai asked, sitting down on the bed. 

“Just this.” Vale sighed. “You?”

“I saw Irene.” He said. 

Vale thought he must’ve misunderstood. There was no way, no. No, no, no, no.

“It wasn’t really her.” Kai said after a few seconds of silence. “Doesn’t matter.”

“Are you sure, Strongrock?” Vale said. “We can talk about it if you want.”

And we can still turn back, he didn’t dare to say it. 

“It was… weird.” Kai’s words were careful. “Bradamant was there too, but it wasn’t quite her. Vale, I think we’re on the right track. Right before I left she said-”

His words were cut short by a scream. 

Chapter Text

“For the last time, this is not a vacation.” Vale said. 

“I know that!” Catherine answered, in a tone far more offended than she was entitled to, considering she was putting on sunscreen. 

Catherine had been placed in the room right next to theirs, and upon Kai’s request they were now in connected suites. Things had been following at a very slow pace, and Kai had a feeling that Mr. Nemo was trying to wear them down with time. It was working.

Vale, who was less than used to this whole ordeal, was about to crack. Catherine, on the other hand, really did need the reminder that this was not a vacation. She had found a perfect bathing suit in her room and decided that the indoor pool was the best choice, as if that was a debate they were having. 

So there they were, even if it took some explaining to Vale and still he refused to take off his coat. It was painful to watch. Kai himself had opted for a floral button down, from lack of other clothes, but at least the shirt wasn’t as hot as his three piece. 

“Can you get my back?” Catherine tried handing the sunscreen bottle to Vale. 

He gave a horrorized look to Kai, who took the bottle and started spreading the cream on his hands. 

“Are we not going to talk about it?” Vale asked in an exasperated voice. 

“No.” Kai said. “Not here, at least. Mr. Nemo doesn’t believe in privacy.”

“Isn’t that, like, illegal?” Catherine asked. 

“I don’t think he is a man who respects the law, considering how he kidnapped us.” Vale said.

“But he is useful.” Kai closed the bottle of sunscreen. “And our best shot. I’m done, Catherine.”

“Thanks.”

She jumped into the pool. Kai watched with a bit of jealousy and sat down at one of the sun loungers lined up by the pool's edge. He was careful to stay just out of the window’s light range, the heat was definitely on Mr. Nemo 's side. 

Vale gave up his perfect posture and sat down. 

“Tell me again.” He said. 

“What?” Kai said. 

“About Bradamant and…”

“Right.” Kai had already told him a thousand times, but Vale kept going over it. “I think the food was the weirdest part of it. I knew it wasn’t really food, but it was like I forgot, or didn’t care. It’s hard to remember.”

“Try.” Vale was also having a hard time, the heat seemed to finally make him regret the coat. “We need to know why it wanted to stop you.”

“Us.”

“Us, yes.” He ran his hands through his hair. “Did the book say anything about it?”

“Not that I remember, no.” Kai said. 

They watched as Catherine dove to the floor of the pool, and then came out for air. She seemed to be having a grand time, and at least someone was. Kai was very aware that Vale was out of his comfort zone, well, out of his own world. That would mess anyone up, especially a world that was so different from his own. 

Kai knew he was asking for a lot. 

Catherine came up to the edge of the pool. 

“What now?” She asked. 

Kai didn’t have an answer. He was always the one with questions, and Irene was the one with answers. That’s how they worked. He had no idea how to follow from there. 

“Now we follow the plan. We get there, in, out and back home.” Vale said, and Kai felt very grateful he wasn’t alone. 

Truth was that he would’ve never been able to pull this off alone, no matter how much he tried to convince himself. And even with training Catherine was still questionable company, and not qualified for helping. 

“Do we even know where we’re going?” Catherine splashed some water around. 

Definitely not qualified for helping with morale. 

The door for the pool lounge opened and Rob, the guard, walked in his formal suit. Poor guy, Kai thought, then looked over to Vale, who he felt no pity for since it was entirely his fault. At least Rob was getting paid to wear those clothes, Vale was just too stubborn for his own good. 

“Hey, Rob.” Catherine said. “Lunch ready?”

After five days of being followed around by him, Catherine had decided that they were friends. Rob never really agreed to it, but then again, he never denied it either. 

“Mr. Nemo would like to see you now.” He said in a somber voice. 

They waited for the other shoe to drop. 

Maybe Rob had suddenly developed a sense of humor. Or something. 

He opened the door, waiting for them to pass through. Catherine looked back at Kai, as if he had any answer, and when he didn’t say anything she jumped out of the pool. Vale threw her a towel hoping it would land right, since he refused to look at her exposed body. 

“He doesn’t like to be kept waiting.” Rob said and stepped out of the room. 

They looked around and followed him. Catherine left a trail of water as she rushed barefoot through the endless hallways. Kai thought that maybe Vale would leave a trail of sweat, or even his full coat on the floor, but was rather disappointed to see that he was still wearing the damn thing. 

Rob opened another door and guided them into the aquarium room. The TV was already on and Mr. Nemo was silent as they sat down. Kai had the impression he was also looking at the aquarium, even if he wasn’t in the room. 

They were all anxious for when he would talk, but it was a long time before Mr. Nemo looked at them. When he did, Catherine was already dry. 

“I see you’re enjoying the resort!” His usual cheerful persona was back. 

“What’s a resort?” Vale asked Kai in a low voice. 

Kai made a gesture for later. 

“Your hospitality is always a gift.” Kai said, and it’s not that he had been enjoying his stay, but there was no point offending Mr. Nemo so early on the day. 

“You sure know how to flatter a fae, Prince Kai.” Mr. Nemo said. “Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure the last time we met I told you to never come back.”

“Did you?” Kai said with an innocent smile. “Oh, I’m very sorry to trespass, but since I’m already here maybe you’d be interested in what I have to say.”

“Not quite.” Mr. Nemo laughed. “I want to hear the human, Mr. Vale, is it?”

Vale looked up, his posture perfectly straight, but Kai knew he was out of his field here. Vale could solve a mystery like no one could, and he could adapt well enough to the dragons, multi-verse and the Language, but everyone has a limit and technology was his. 

Vale stared at the TV as if it was something impossible and followed Mr. Nemo’s movements as if that was the true magic, not the fact they were in another world entirely. 

“I take it that you’re Mr. Nemo.” Vale said with distrust. 

“And you’ve been looking for me.” He answered. “What can I do you for?”

Vale looked back to Kai. 

“I must warn you.” Mr. Nemo said. “Everything here comes with a price.”

They knew that, and Kai had already warned them that it wouldn’t be cheap. Especially if they gave away how much they needed it.

“We’re looking for a book!” Catherine said.

“Catherine.” Kai reprimanded her. 

“Why is it always a book?” Mr. Nemo sighed to himself. “It’s going to cost you a big favor.”

“Actually,-” Kai started.

“Shut it, dragon. I’m not making any deals with you.” 

Kai stopped talking and Vale took over.

“It has come to our attention that you are in need of assistance.” He said and Mr. Nemo started paying attention. “You’re looking for a frilled shark, since yours died, isn’t that right?”

“Check your intel, my frilled shark is doing just great.” Mr. Nemo smiled, all teeth.

To their left, the aquarium shook as something fell into the water. They watched as a very old and large shark slowly started to float, blood spilling across the water and its insides turned inside out. 

When they looked back to the TV, Mr. Nemo had turned red. His face was contorted with anger, and words seemed to be lost to him. That was not a good sign. 

“I can give you my word that we did not know and are not involved with this!” Catherine said before Mr. Nemo could ask for their heads. 

“And what do you think your word is worth for me?” He shouted in an explosion. “Dead! You’re all dead!”

Security started to flood the room, the doors locking behind them. They had no visible weapons, but Kai knew that meant nothing. Vale jumped into a fighting position, but it was no use. 

“The Language!” Kai begged. “She can swear it in the Language!”

Mr. Nemo raised one hand and all the men stopped on their tracks. 

“Like your Librarian?” He asked, but his tone was mocking. 

“Catherine,” He said in a lower voice, trying to not make any sudden movements. “Show him.”

She slowly unwrapped from the towel and laid it on the table, then took a step back. 

“Towel, start burning.” It was terribly worded, but the Chaos helped carry her intentions. The towel burst into flames. 

Mr. Nemo was silent, his men waiting for further orders. The room was one breath away from death, and Kai could feel it in the air. 

“Swear it.” He finally said. 

Kai nodded to Catherine. She took a few seconds to think of her words.

“I swear that Kai, Vale and I were not involved, directly or otherwise, in the death of your frilled shark.” 

Mr. Nemo’s face didn’t change, but he waved his hand and all the men left the room. 

“Sit.” He said, and it wasn’t an invitation. 

Vale took his coat off and wrapped it around Catherine, who was cleaning her bloody nose, before pulling his chair closer to the table and sitting down again. Kai sat to his right, and Catherine to his left. They were all too scared of saying the first word. 

“You’ve got yourself a deal.” Mr. Nemo declared. 

Chapter Text

The halls were empty. More so than usual. 

It had only been a few hours since Vale and Catherine left, but it was enough for Kai to feel anxious. Waiting had never been his strong suit, after all. Rob was probably getting tired of following him around, his steps were getting slower. That, however, did not stop Kai from turning right and keep walking. 

Mr. Nemo was, by nature, distrustful, not only that, but his mood was as sour as lemon. Their past history wasn’t exactly helpful either. So when he said Kai would be staying at the resort until Vale and Catherine came back with his frilled shark, no one was keen to disagree.

There were rules, of course. Kai wasn’t allowed to wander alone, for one. Which was fine. Totally and completely fine. It’s not like Vale and Catherine had just walked into one of the most dangerous worlds Kai had ever known. At least for a Fae, for a dragon that was just a vacation. But then again, Catherine wasn’t a dragon. 

Kai had been walking for the good part of the hour, after breaking out of a stupor and getting up from his chair. He wasn’t really in the mood to go back to his room. Vale’s things were still there, and he was trying very hard to not think about Vale and Catherine. 

He was doing a very poor job, though. 

He tried following the signposts around the resort and find his way back to the open area. Air would do much good, Kai reasoned. Maybe even some rain, if he was feeling up to it. He turned right, then opened a door to his left that read “entertainment area”.

The place was, in fact, an indoor pool, and Kai was ready to turn around and go back to looking for the right door. He stopped. On the other side of the room, sunbathing on a lounger, was a very familiar face. 

Indigo looked exactly as Kai remembered. But there was something different about her, something beyond her skin. She was dozing off, a book opened on her lap, and there were no lines creasing her face. 

Kai stepped into the room, Rob right behind him. Indigo opened her eyes lazily, stretching the sleep away and looking around without much care. Her face froze when her eyes landed on Kai, immediately taking a defense position.

“Hey.” Kai said. 

She shut her book closed. 

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Her tone was accusatory.

Indigo got up from her sun lounger and walked to him, eyeing Rob every once in a while. She pulled him by his shirt, probably to not let Rob hear them.

“You’re not supposed to be here.” She whispered. “He’ll fucking kill you.”

“It’s alright.” Kai touched her shoulder. “Things are already settled.”

They stared at each other for a moment. There was still mistrust in her eyes, but Kai noticed that she had put up some weight. 

“You look good.” He finally said. 

She punched him in the arm, lightly. 

“You look terrible.” Indigo took a step back. “Where’s your pet human?”

Kai looked down on himself. It was true that he wasn’t in his best shape, but he didn’t think it was that bad. Maybe it was. It definitely felt like it was. 

He didn’t answer her question. 

Indigo must’ve misunderstood things. She glanced at Rob and raised her hand in a dismissive gesture. He nodded at her and closed the door behind him. Kai had the impression that if he tried opening it, the door would be very much locked. He didn’t judge Rob, he would’ve done the same.

Now that they were alone, it felt more awkward. There was no escaping the silence, or uncomfortable questions. 

“I take it Mr. Nemo has been treating you well.” Kai tried. 

“I stay out of his business, he stays out of mine.” She shrugged. “I see you met Ansel.”

Kai thought for a second, trying to place the name. He looked back to the door, not quite sure. He turned back to Indigo.

“We’ve been calling him Rob!” He said. “I really thought that was his name.”

“We?” Indigo asked, and without waiting for an answer said: “So you did bring the Librarian with you.”

Kai cringed at his misstep. He was careless, and now there was no going back. 

“No, she’s not with me.” He got the words out. “It’s… complicated. A lot’s happened.”

Indigo nodded, even if Kai wasn’t sure she knew what he was talking about. She sat on one of the loungers. 

“Are you in a hurry?” She asked. 

“No, not really.” Kai sighed. There was nothing he could do besides wait for Vale and Catherine to be back. 

She nodded again, thinking something over. Her expression was closed off, and Kai couldn’t help but notice how different she was when alone and when with him. Somehow, he brought up the worst in her. The mistrust, the nervousness, the unsureness. He had missed her his whole life, and even now he could not reach her. 

“You wanna- “ Indigo’s voice cracked. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Kai stared at her with a puzzled look. 

“Are you asking me to… catch up?” He asked incredulously. 

“What?! No!” She backed off. “You said it’s complicated, no harm in explaining it.”

But the damage was done, and Kai knew she did want to catch up. Maybe things weren’t entirely lost if his sister still asked what’s wrong. It’s not like she would sing to him after a nightmare, as she had so many times before, but it could mean something. Something. 

Kai sat down in the lounger in front of her, careful to not be too close. 

“I don’t think you met Vale, have you?” He started from the beginning. 

━─━────༺༻────━─━

Vale didn’t know what to do. 

It seemed to have become a habit of his, and it was one that he was ready to get rid of. Vale knew everything, he was very used to being the smartest person in the room, but since Irene had died his world was upside down. Everything that was right suddenly was wrong, and all that he knew as absolute truths became false steps. 

Things started going downhill the moment they stepped inside the world. Catherine had never been the best at opening doors, even with all her training, but Vale could tell that something was wronger than usual. She was freezing, teeth chattering and everything. They were in a tropical world (something about global warming that Vale hadn’t paid as much attention as he should). 

“You doing alright?” He asked. 

“Tip top!” Catherine smiled, bringing her hands together for some warmth. 

Vale didn’t ask again. They had a mission to complete. 

He should’ve asked. 

Now, there are not many ways one can acquire a frilled shark. The most obvious answer would be the black market, but that was not only very expensive but it also presented the risk of being handed a dead frilled shark. They needed one that was alive and in good health. (If they were to buy one alive from the black market, it would be even more expensive). Which means that the already short list of options was even shorter, and the clock was ticking. 

Lucky for them, Kai had a plan. More accurately, Kai had the contacts needed for Vale’s plan. One of the many advantages of having a dragon prince by your side, except that he wasn’t there. 

No problem, Vale thought, the plan is still up. Just some minor changes. 

And then another minor change, and another, and another. Until he could barely recognize the original plan. It was supposed to be simple: meet Shan Yuan, go to the docks, let him do business, and then Catherine opens a door to the Library so they could bring Mr. Nemo his new frilled shark. 

Somehow, they were on a submarine. 

Vale wished he could say it was a good, sturdy, submarine, but it wasn’t. It made far too many noises for comfort, and it was more cramped than a good submarine should be. If his nervousness wasn’t enough, Shan Yuan was arguing with the captain in a language he couldn’t understand. Vale was sure it was arguing, and not a friendly chat, by the exponential increase of the room’s temperature that didn’t seem to be coming to a stop any time soon. 

Catherine dropped her head on his shoulder, lips blue and shoulders quivering. Vale looked away from the fight with some reluctance. He was shocked to see her eyes half closed, clearly in a bad state.

“Catherine?” Vale moved to get a better look at her. “What is it?”

“Cold.” She struggled to get the world out. 

Vale checked her temperature with the back of his hand. There was no doubt at all, Catherine was freezing. He looked around the room, trying to see any sign of how she could be cold. The room was still getting warmer, the pipes by the wall were sweating and smoke coming from the engine room. 

He hugged her close, hoping his warmth would be enough to help. Vale ran a thousand scenarios in his head, he looked for an escape route, a solution, a plan. He really needed a plan. Catherine was shaking in his arms, and Vale held her closer. 

“Shan Yuan!” He called, interrupting the discussion with the captain. 

“What?!” He yelled at Vale, gaze quickling moving to Catherine. His voice softened. “What’s wrong with her?”

“I… I don’t know.” Vale could barely talk, the cold starting to spread to him. “Help her.”

Shan Yuan seemed taken aback, but quickly started moving again. He said one last thing to the captain before kneeling by Catherine’s side. He started checking her pulse, eyeballs, temperature, and even used his sharp nails to cut her finger and tasted her blood. 

Each test seemed to make his mood more sour. He spat the blood with a grimace, expression far too concerned for Vale’s poor heart. 

“It’s an order overdose.” Shan Yuan said. “Usually, for the amount of time you’ve been here, this much order is harmless. But she’s not human, it must be affecting her differently.”

“We need to get her out of here.” Vale concluded. 

“As fast as we can.” 

Shan Yuan got up and turned back to the captain, his tone now far more commanding. Be it fear, be it something else, he complied without second guessing. 

Vale felt Catherine move and try to get herself up. 

“You’re going to be ok.” He reassured her. 

“No.” Catherine mumbled. “No. The shark.”

“There’s no time for that.” Shan Yuan said. 

He was looking over the control panel while the captain pressed buttons and pulled levers. Vale didn’t know what any of that was for, but all his focus was on Catherine. He needed her to get out of this. 

She started gasping for air, coughing something that wasn’t there. 

“Shan Yuan!” Vale hoped he understood. 

“I’m trying.” He said, then answered the captain. “I know that, but it’s just a risk we’re gonna have to take!”

“It’ll kill us.” Catherine coughed. 

Vale took a crumpled handkerchief from his pocket and quickly put it over her nose. It was a long shot, but the chaos embedded into the fabric seemed to soothe her lungs. It was only a temporary solution, and they all knew it. 

“Focus on yourself.” Vale said. “How long until we get to the surface?”

“Ten minutes.” The captain said, tone displeased. 

“Make it five.”

The captain looked back at Shan Yuan, and when he saw there was no bargaining he crossed his arms. The captain’s sanity was hanging by a thread now.

“The pressure will kill us.” He all but yelled. 

“Do it.” Shan Yuan answered. 

The captain said something else in his language. Whatever it was didn’t satisfy Shan Yuan. They stared each other down for a few seconds, but upon Catherine’s pained noise Shan Yuan pushed the captain aside. 

“Out of my way.” He pushed another lever, which was hopefully the way up. 

The captain threw himself at Shan Yuan, but his skin was burning hot, and it was impossible to fight him. The man screamed in pain. The metal started to creek. The pipes were leaking. Vale could feel his ears ringing. 

“Stop!” The captain screamed. 

From somewhere, water started to get in. The walls were bending in angles they shouldn’t. The whole submarine was breaking down. 

“We’re ten meters from surface!” Shan Yuan screamed. “Hold on to me.”

The wall from far back gave out just as he launched himself into Vale and Catherine. The water barred in crashing everything in its way, throwing them apart without care. Vale held on to Catherine as hard as he could. 

The control panel hit him on the side. Vale let go of her hand. He was on open water now. 

There was nothing he could hold on to. Vale’s first instinct was to take a deep breath, but there was no air, his lungs were starting to hurt. He tried moving around and checking his surroundings. He could see Catherine a few meters away. She was moving too slowly, and her hands were completely white, but it looked like she was reaching for something. 

Vale started moving, but water was not something easily convinced. The more he tried getting closer, the further away he felt. Vale trashed helplessly as he watched Catherine pale away. She was moving less and less, and her hands weren’t the only thing that had turned white now. 

He had never been a religious man, but Vale started praying. He prayed to whoever was listening for just a little more, please. Just a little closer. He was almost there. He just needed to save her. That’s all that mattered, because he couldn’t lose her too. So please, just a little more. 

Vale could feel the fabric of Catherine’s dress on his fingertips when a white figure crashed into her. It was like a watersnake, scaly and slippery, except it was bigger than the submarine, or whatever was left of it. 

The movement of the water sent him spiraling through the water. Vale’s lungs were hurting for air, and the effort of not gasping kept him dizzy as he watched the watersnake slither away. He trashed after it, but it was helpless. The creature was long gone, and Vale was left in an empty ocean. 

There was no plan that could help him now. Vale didn’t know what to do. 

It was getting harder to keep his eyes open. The wide blue infinite faded to a black as his body kept sinking. Vale could only feel the water heating around him as the watersnake cut through the ocean straight for him. 

Chapter Text

Vale came to it in a coughing fit. 

He was sprawled on the wet concrete, trying to catch his breath in between spitting water. His vision was blurred, but Vale could feel someone patting him on the back with more strength than necessary. 

“Cath-” He tried to say, before another coughing fit interrupted him.

“It 's ok.” A voice that could only be Shan Yuan’s said. “Just take it slow.”

Vale breathed in, and out, and in again. He kept a slow pace until he was sure there was no more water in his lungs, then worked on sitting up and checking his surroundings. 

“Catherine.” He looked at Shan Yuan. “Where is she?”

His voice was rough, clearly hurt, but that was of little importance. Catherine was nowhere to be seen. 

“She 's…”

“What happened?” Vale could feel his heart on his throat.

“Will you just let me talk?” Shan Yuan snapped. 

Vale shut up, he knew not to cross him. In fact, it was quite impressive that he held back until now. Therapy really was making a difference. He watched as Shan Yuan took a deep breath and smoothed out his wrinkles. 

“She 's safe.” He said slowly. “I had to get her out of this world, but she’s alive.”

Vale finally felt he was no longer drowning. 

“What about the watersnake?” He asked.

“Watersnake?” Shan Yuan said, confused. Then, in a more aggravated tone. “Watersnake?! I’m not a snake!”

“That was you?” 

“Yes, that was me!” He yelled in a shrill. “Who do you think got you out of the water?”

“Oh.” Vale said. “Thanks.”

“Yeah, ‘thanks’.” 

Shan Yuan looked at Vale waiting for something. Whatever it was, Vale could not even begin to guess. He stayed quiet, staring unblinking at the poor man in front of him. They stayed like that for far too long. 

“So,” Vale said. “Are we going or…?”

“”Fine.” Shan Yuan got up and didn’t offer a hand to him.

The way to the other world was incredibly awkward, but Vale decided that there were two kinds of problems, and this one wasn’t his. Shan Yuan would beg to disagree, but then again, he was far too busy sulking to actually say anything. 

They landed next door to a fancy hotel, the kind of building you have to cramp your neck to be able to see, and even then the top is hidden by clouds. Shan Yuan walked right in, leaving Vale to follow behind him. 

They went straight to the elevators, and no one stopped them. In fact, everyone they met bowed their heads, and Vale was quite sure it wasn’t for him. Shan Yuan pressed the button to the top floor, and took the time to smooth out his suit. He refused to look at Vale.

The doors opened with a ring, and Vale followed Shan Yuan to the end of the corridor and into one of the rooms. The moment they passed through the door Vale was enveloped in a tight hug. His first instinct would’ve been to push it away and keep a few meters between them, but Vale would recognize that red hair anywhere. He hugged Catherine like it was oxygen. 

“You’re alright.” He kept saying, not sure if it was for her or for himself. 

She didn’t let go of him for a long while, and Vale could feel that the sleeve of his shirt was damp with tears. He didn’t mind it. 

Shan Yuan coughed, uncomfortable. Vale let go of Catherine with some difficulty, and tried to look presentable. Catherine, on the other hand, couldn’t care less. She dried away her tears, but didn’t hide her emotions. 

“What’s the plan now?” Shan Yuan asked. 

Vale took a deep breath. He moved further into the room, trying to come up with something, and sat down on a small couch. There wasn't a clear solution, in fact, there were only more and more problems. They didn’t have a frilled shark to gift Mr. Nemo, Kai was being held hostage, and they weren’t any closer to bringing Irene back. And still, Vale knew they weren’t going home. 

“First, we need to get your brother back.” He said to Shan Yuan, running his hands through his hair. 

“Obviously.” Shan Yuan said as he sat on a chair by the window, back turned to the view. 

Catherine took that moment to take one of the empty glasses by the minibar and spit a mouthful of water into it. Inside the glass, a small creature swam. It was smaller than a shot bottle, and rather gray. 

Vale and Shan Yuan looked in horror as she set the glass on the center table. 

“We got the frilled shark.” She said with a smile.

━─━────༺༻────━─━

Catherine wiped the blood from her nose as she closed the door behind her. Vale and Shan Yuan were a few steps ahead, looking around the airport for any sign of Mr. Nemo 's men. 

She had a feeling they would be treated the same way as before, but all that mattered was that the frilled shark was now in a safe vial in her pocket. That little thing was their ticket home. Catherine was not surprised when her vision was blocked by a black fabric and a needle pricked her arm. 

She woke up in a familiar chair, in a familiar room. The light from the aquarium left the place in an owl-light, and it was hard to make out any definitive shapes. Catherine looked around to find that Vale was still out, and that Shan Yuan was tied up and gagged. He was wide awake, which probably meant he had already said something wrong. 

The TV on the other end of the table buzzed to life. 

“Should we get right into negotiations or wait for sleeping beauty over there?” Mr. Nemo asked. 

Vale groaned from his seat. 

“We talk negotiations as soon as I see Kai.” Catherine ignored it. 

“Oh, stop fretting, Librarian.” Mr. Nemo rolled his eyes and made a big show of spinning a remote and pressing a button. 

A door opened with a click, and Kai tripped into the room, followed by a beautiful woman. She had long, dark hair, and her eyes were so sharp that it could cut glass.  She stayed behind as Kai opened the biggest smile.

“Catherine!” Kai ran to her. 

She met him halfway. 

“Are you ok?” He whispered into her hair, holding her close. 

“I’m ok.” She hugged him back. “I’m ok.”

Catherine could feel Kai’s breath coming easier, his lungs filling and the way he kept her tight. 

“This is all touching and everything.” Mr. Nemo said with great sarcasm. “But could we get to the important bits.”

“Yes, of course.” Kai slid his perfect mask into place. 

They sat back down. 

Catherine watched as the woman took a seat next to the TV. She didn’t take her eyes off of Shan Yuan, who was staring right back with the intensity of a thousand Suns. Kai had a polite smile and was waiting for Mr. Nemo to start talking. 

“Here I have the Wishes Book.” He showed them a rather shining book. “And you should have my frilled shark, isn’t that right?”

“It is.” Kai said and nodded to Catherine. 

She reached into her pocket where the vial should be. Then she checked another pocket. And another. 

“Oh, I think you’re looking for this, dear.” Mr. Nemo held the vial in his hands. 

“Shit.” She whispered. 

“Which, I think, means that I have what you want.” His smile was poisonous. “And what I want. So why do I need you again?”

“Shit.”

Chapter Text

“How the fuck did he get the shark?” Catherine yelled.

“Doesn’t matter.” Kai yelled back, dragging a groggy Vale by the hand. 

Things had gone southway fast, far too fast. They ran from the aquarium room before Mr. Nemo could call his men, but that didn’t give them much advantage. Catherine had a feeling that he was toying with them, letting them get away and into a sense of security only to catch them at the last moment. 

They needed to get out of his domain. Somehow. 

“We need to hurry.” The beautiful woman said in a sharp tone. 

She was guiding them with ease through the corridors, and Catherine wasn’t going to question it. At least not right now. Behind her, Vale mumbled something and fell into Kai’s arms. 

They could hear steps approaching. 

Shan Yuan rolled his eyes in an exaggerated way and took two large steps towards Vale. He picked him up and tossed him over his shoulder. Shan Yuan turned back to the woman.

“Indigo, where to?” 

There were voices now, getting closer and closer.

She didn’t bother answering and started running again. Kai took Catherine by the hand and they followed her through countless more corridors. The place was a maze, and everywhere looked exactly the same. 

After what felt like hours, and could’ve very well been hours, they were starting to slow down. 

Shan Yuan kept stumbling every few steps, and Kai’s breathing was heavier than usual. Catherine herself was putting all of her efforts into ignoring the pain from her legs. The only one who seemed perfectly fine was Indigo.

“We gotta keep going.” She said.

“No.” Shan Yuan struggled to get the words out. “We need to stop.”

“If you wanna get caught, then be my guess.” Indigo turned on her heels, not an inch of kindness in her face.

Kai took that as an opportunity to catch his breath against a wall, and Catherine wouldn’t complain for the rest either.

“We’re gonna get caught anyway if we keep going like this.” Shan Yuan’s skin was reddish, scales starting to come out.

“You’re always so dramatic.” She rolled her eyes, and Catherine couldn’t help but notice how similar it was to Shan Yuan’s own mannerisms. 

“That 's it!” 

Shan Yuan tossed Vale to the ground, ready to jump towards Indigo. She smiled, a very sharp and dangerous smile. Catherine wasn’t sure who she was, and she knew nothing about their relationship, but she was ready to get between them if it meant stopping this madness. 

The temperature started to rise, and a low rumble of thunder permeated the air. Kai paid it no mind as he lazily peeled away from the wall. Vale groaned from the ground, starting to gain consciousness once more. He slowly sat up and looked around in confusion.

A voice came from somewhere behind them. They all stopped. 

Mr. Nemo’s men were getting close again. 

There were shadows on the end of the corridor, and nowhere to run. 

Indigo pushed Shan Yuan and hit a spot on the wall with precision. A hidden door opened to reveal a dusty corridor. She quickly pushed Kai in, who took Vale by the hand, then Catherine right after him. 

“They’re here!” A man yelled from somewhere she could not see. 

Indigo looked to her side with wide eyes. There was no time. Before they knew it, the floor opened beneath her and Shan Yuan. All Indigo could do was hit the close button, locking Kai, Vale and Catherine inside the wall. 

Her scream echoed in the dark, falling down. No one breathed. 

The bodyguards approached with heavy steps, talking loudly. Rob barked orders to the men, those ones follow right, and these ones go back to see if they missed something. 

Catherine slowly backed away from the wall as the steps grew further away on the other side. She couldn’t see where Kai and Vale were, but it gave her comfort to know she wasn’t alone there. No one dared talk, yet.

She took a step. Then another. And another. And then there was nowhere to step. Catherine fell. 

━─━────༺༻────━─━

Catherine came to it in a dark place that could not be called a room. The floor beneath her was dusty, spiderwebs that were far too old falling to pieces around her. She held her breath, afraid of making any noises. 

It was hard to see anything from where she laid, but her eyes caught a strip of light. Catherine sat up, gaze glued to that light, afraid of losing it in the darkness. It was blueish and glowing, leading to a hole in the wall. Her whole body complained, but she was still determined to keep going.

She looked back, hoping to find Kai or Vale, knowing she would find nothingness. With a disappointed sigh, she crawled towards the wall as silently as she could. Catherine could feel, more than hear, a slight buzz from the other side.

Through the hole, she could see a room, maybe it would be better to call it an office. Or, perhaps, a lair, Catherine thought. The place was covered in high tech gadgets; computers, wires, cameras and screens. There wasn’t a place left uncovered. In the middle, typing away at a machine, sat Mr. Nemo. Catherine couldn’t hear what he was saying, but his body language was clear: danger. 

Whoever had made him mad, Catherine only hoped they were safe. Mr. Nemo got up from his chair, smashing a screen to his left in a punch. He yelled at someone through a microphone before pushing a button and storming out of the room. 

Catherine watched quietly as he left, then she counted the seconds slip by until she was sure he wasn’t coming back any time soon. She guided herself with a hand on the wall, looking for anywhere that could lead her out of the dark place. 

Her fingers caught on a crack, and Catherine pulled it open to find it was a hidden door to the office. It was quite similar to the one Indigo opened in the hallway, completely camouflaged. She stepped into the room carefully. 

The place buzzed with electricity, not only because of her nerves, but in a more literal way. The cables hissed and the lights blinked once in a while, and Catherine tried very hard to not touch anything. Her skirt was rather impractical in moments like this, she lifted it as high as she could, hoping it was enough.

She jumped around the cables to the middle of the room, where the important stuff was. Catherine had never been the best at the more technological side of things, but she knew enough to handle herself. She looked over the monitors hoping to find a glimpse of Kai and Vale, or maybe where Indigo and Shan Yuan had fallen. 

The seconds slipped by. She couldn’t find them. Catherine reached for the cursor, pushing a receipt out of the way, maybe there was a hidden window somewhere. Her hand smacked into something, tumbled over and fell to the ground. Catherine wasn’t quick enough to dive after it and catch it as it rolled away under the table.

She didn’t want to stop her search, but if things weren’t exactly where Mr. Nemo left them she would be in great trouble. Catherine kneeled down with a sigh and patted the ground beneath the console. She put her head on the ground and squeezed her eyes, trying to see through all the dust. She caught sight of the little glass vial with the frilled shark, and by its side the Wishes Book. 

Catherine stopped. 

This was everything they needed. Catherine herself had gone through Hell and back to get it. This was their way in, the only thing on their path to get Irene back. She reached for the book. 

In a very unexciting way, nothing happened. She grabbed the book and pulled it from under the table. It was old and dusty and she wiped off what was possibly a spider web. Catherine would rather not think about it. She turned it from side to side, waiting for it to burst into flames, or start speaking, or something really. It didn’t.

She was so caught up in it, indeed, that she only heard the footsteps approaching when it was too late. Catherine jumped to her feet as the door opened. 

Mr. Nemo, who was in the middle of yelling at a phone, stared at her, frozen in place. It was a battle of who would make the first move. The whole thing took less than a second. 

He threw himself at her, face red and fists clenched. Catherine pushed the chair beside her in front of him and jumped out of the way. He went in for a punch that she dodged by going down and hitting him on the knee. Mr. Nemo fell with a thud and tried to grab her ankle. 

“ Pants, burn.” Catherine jumped over his hand and ran to the door. 

She slammed it shut as his screams started. 

Catherine looked around unsure. She wished everyone was just around the corner, and that they could finally leave this miserable place. 

“What the fuck?” Shan Yuan’s voice echoed through the hall. 

Catherine watched as he came into view, followed by Indigo, who seemed more suspicious than confused. Behind her, Kai stumbled and hit the wall as Vale bumped into him. 

“Catherine?” Vale asked, relief seeping into his tone. 

“Is anyone going to tell me-” Shan Yuan started saying.

“No time.” Catherine’s heart was racing. She held the book tighter against her chest. “ Door, open to the Library.”

Mr. Nemo’s screams stopped as Catherine closed the door behind her.

Chapter Text

The Library was warm. Not in an uncomfortable, burning way, but in a cozy nights at the fireplace way. It was everything they needed. 

It’s not that Kai trusted the place, but it was as safe as they could be. The safest they had been in quite a while. He let his head fall back against the chair, eyes closed and lungs filling slowly. 

It was a long time before anyone said something. 

Kai watched as Catherine got up from the ground and pulled out a chair at the center table. She rested the book by the computer’s side and started checking her emails. There were quite a lot more than he remembered Irene usually having. Catherine barely read them, opening and closing it again.

“I suggest you don’t go exploring.” Catherine said without looking up. 

Indigo, who was just about to walk off into the endless shelves, stopped. She crossed her arms, face impassive. 

“And why is that?”

“That would be because this place is alive.” Vale answered while folding his coat and hanging it over the armchair by the wall. “And sometimes it wants you to get lost.”

“And we would have no way of finding you.” Catherine completed. 

Indigo said nothing, but she slowly moved away from the hallway and closer to the rest of the group.

“Since you’re all in such a good mood.” Shan Yuan said. “Can someone tell me what the fuck happened back there?”

Catherine looked at the book by her side, but kept quiet. Kai waited for her to answer, the seconds slipped by and nothing.

“I might have an idea.” He said, finally. “I suppose it’s not far-fetched to say it was a wish.”

“A wish?”

“A wish.” Kai pointedly looked at the book.

Shan Yuan followed his line of thought, shoulder relaxing as much as they could for him. “I see.”

“And I’m guessing this has something to do with your pet human.” Indigo said, eyeing the book with carefulness.

“With Irene.” Kai corrected her. 

Vale sent a questioning look at his direction, and Kai knew there was a lot of explaining to do and very little time. If Bradamant’s book was right, every second counted for Irene’s life. Or, in this case, death. 

One’s soul could grow attached to the state of things. The longer they live, the more they want to live. The longer they stay dead, the harder it will be to find life in them again. Kai could only hope her life had been enough, and that she must know they would come for her. She had to know.

“Kai.” Vale said softly. 

“Right, sorry.” He snapped out of it. “The book tells us that that book will take us to her.”

“Why is it always a book with you people?” Shan Yuan sighed. 

“What book?” Indigo asked. 

Vale looked at Kai, searching for confirmation, before taking the battered thing from out of his coat’s pocket. It truly was a wonder that it fit, but no one dared question it. Indigo examined it from afar, and asked nothing more. 

“There’s very little about it in our archives.” Catherine turned around on the chair. “But I sent out some emails and hopefully someone will be able to tell us how to use it.”

“Your book doesn’t say it?” Indigo asked with a hint of sarcasm.

They all turned to look at her. Kai, for his part, couldn’t believe she would even ask that. Vale, on the other hand, flipped through the pages just to make sure. 

A small ping rang through the room. Catherine turned back to the screen and started reading the new email under her breath as quickly as she could. It was a rather long message, even if she was only skimming through the highlights. 

Shan Yuan mumbled something about transparency and reached for the Wishes Book. Catherine, without taking her eyes off the screen, placed her hand over it and slid it closer to her.

“Anything useful?” Kai stopped behind her and leaned over to read along. 

Catherine’s grip on the book tightened. 

“A bit.” She said, “It’s an article about something else, but there’s this passage that talks about the Wishes Book’s properties.”

“Nothing on how to access it?”

“I’m getting there.” Catherine waved him away.

Kai paced around the room as he waited for her to be done. Catherine mumbled a few words here and there, but it felt like forever before she looked up from the screen.

“It’s not exactly a safe source, but it’s the best shot we’ve got.” She said, “It says here that you can’t really wish for things, the Book just knows it. Something about ‘your heart’s true desire’. That also means we only get one chance, as it won’t make the same wish twice. It’s a rather confusing article, and Italian isn’t my best language, but it’ll have to do.”

“So we just have to open it?” Indigo asked. 

“Not you, obviously.” Shan Yuan chimed in from the other side of the table. 

“Obviously?”

“You’re not wishing for Irene or whatever it is that they need, so yeah, obviously.”

“Right.” She rolled her eyes. “Cause you are?”

“Maybe I a-”

Vale coughed politely. 

“The question is, I believe, whether it should be me or Kai?” He said in a matter of factly tone.

“What about me?” Catherine raised her voice, a hand over the Book possessively. “I want her back just as much as either of you!”

“We never said you don’t.” Kai took a gentle step in her direction.

“You don’t have to!” Catherine stood up, clenching the Book tightly against her chest. “It’s obvious you’re thinking it.”

Shan Yuan started shouting back at Indigo. Vale got in between them, but soon resorted to screaming. The room erupted into chaos.

“I’m not-”

“You think you’re the only one who misses her!” Catherine shouted.

“Catherine-”

“She was my mom, Kai!”

They all shut up.

Her face was red, her breathing heavy. Catherine held onto the Book as if it was her lifeline. Kai didn’t try getting closer, his fists were clenched, and he kept his eyes to the ground.

“She was… everything.” He breathed out.

Kai opened his mouth, there was so much he wanted to say. He couldn’t. Nothing would come out. His thoughts were too many, too messy, and not enough to fill the hole she had left. Kai let his fists uncurl, trying in vain to say the right thing. 

His head was such a mess he barely noticed as Catherine offered him the book. It was silent, but Kai knew. Catherine didn’t look him in the eyes as she let it go, but he knew. And he really hoped that she knew that he would be there for her as well. 

Kai turned the book and examined the cover. Then he pulled Catherine into a hug. 

“Thank you.” He mumbled into her hair. “And I’m sorry.”

“I know.” She hugged him tighter. “I just miss her.”

“I know.” Kai said. “I miss her too.”

Catherine breathed slowly.

“You should probably open that now.” She let go of Kai, but he squeezed her one last time before stepping back. 

Kai smiled at Catherine before opening the Wishes Book.

Chapter Text

“Are you sure we’re going in the right direction?” Indigo asked. 

She always stayed a step behind, but kept close to the group. She really wasn’t in the mood of being one of the lost souls of the Library. 

“Yes. I’m sure.” Catherine rolled her eyes. 

She had a makeshift map open and was guiding them to the right world. The good thing about the Wishes Book, before it disintegrated for no reason, was that it gave them the coordinates in Library code, which means the world, country, town, time and general vicinity. Catherine walked through the rooms with a confidence the rest of the group could not share.

Behind Catherine, Kai and Vale walked shoulder to shoulder. They stayed quiet for a very long time. While Kai was busy trying to recognize the way from his student’s days, Vale analyzed every room in hopes of finding a pattern. His eyes found their way to Kai’s face, and before he noticed Vale was watching him more than the rooms. Their eyes met.

“Hey.” Kai smiled at him.

Vale looked away as they kept walking. 

It was a comfortable silence, but they were rather used to those. Most days back at the house, Vale would be working while Irene read by the window and Kai lazed at the couch. He was always restless, tired of staying still for too long, then he would get up and watch as Vale worked, then ask about Irene’s book, make some tea, come back to the couch. Yes, they were used to silence. That, however, often meant letting things unsaid. 

Vale had many things he regretted not saying. He kept his head down and took a step closer to Kai. 

“Would you,” He tried. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“About what?” Kai looked confused. 

“What happened before, with Catherine.”

“Oh.” Kai quickly looked away. 

Maybe talking was a bad idea after all. Vale ran his fingers through his hair, nothing was going according to plan. 

“I think,” Kai said after a long time. “We- I still see her as that little kid Silver dropped off at our door. Sometimes I forget she’s already grown up.”

He watched Catherine with a sad smile, hands in his pockets. 

“I keep trying to protect her, but she’s doing just fine, isn’t she?”

Vale thought for a second and couldn’t help but smile. He rested his hand on Kai’s shoulder. 

“She is, Strongrock.” 

“Hell, she saved our ass back then!” Kai laughed. “But I’m still her dad, Vale, I can’t toss her into danger and be fine with it.”

Vale tried to keep his expression in check, but it was hard. That was the first time Kai had said it so openly, not that they didn’t know, but it was just one more of those things left unsaid.

━─━────༺༻────━─━

 Shan Yuan was terrible at subtlety. He kept glancing sideways to where Indigo followed a few steps behind. She, however, was very interested in their surroundings to notice anything. He didn’t know what she was planning, but she must be planning something. 

Shan Yuan slowed his steps and fell behind with Indigo. He kept watching her as they walked together. It took less than five minutes for him to break. 

“The fuck happened to you?” He blurted out. 

Indigo snapped her head and looked at him with a gaping mouth. 

“Excuse me?”

“I just meant to say that you’ve been gone for quite a long time, so what happened?” Shan Yuan smoothed out his clothes in an attempt to seem more composed. “And what are you doing here now?”

Indigo didn’t buy it, quite clearly. 

“I’ll be out of your hair soon enough, hothead.” She rolled her eyes.

“Right.” 

They turned left, into an antique room. The place was covered in dust, lamps, rugs and what not piled around the floor and shelves. Indigo didn’t dare step out of the way, but her eyes wandered with amazement.

“This place is so weird.” She whispered. 

Shan Yuan huffed. 

“You get used to it.” He said.

Indigo side eyed him. “Didn’t take you for a regular around here.”

“I’m not.” He conceded. “But Irene often came to me with her cases, and most times we had to run back here.” 

“She really was something, huh?” Indigo played with the strings of her bikini. “Very creative, I could almost believe she would’ve tricked Death itself.”

“Yes. It was a shock for everyone.” Shan Yuan watched Kai as he talked to Vale. “Especially…”

“He loved her, didn’t he?” Indigo followed his gaze. 

Shan Yuan stayed quiet.

“More than I thought one was capable of loving.” He said finally. 

It’s not only that Kai loved her, Shan Yuan thought, but she was his entire life. He could see his brother withering after her death, the light slipping from his beating heart and turning him into stone. It was one of those dragon tales no one believed, but Shan Yuan knew it was true as he watched Kai slowly die from his broken heart. 

Whether they would truly get her back at the end of this road or not, Kai finally was alive again. And that was worth it. 

Indigo brushed a strand of hair out of her face, suddenly looking smaller than he remembered her. She looked like the child he once knew, the one who would stand beside him for the paintings, the royal twins. A sign of bad luck. 

The lines of her face were softer than his now. Her hair darker as well, and Shan Yuan couldn’t deny that she seemed to be doing well. 

“I hope they get her back.” Indigo said with a smile. “Kai told me about her, and their life.”

Shan Yuan waited for her to keep going. 

“He really has something going, a family and all that.” She turned to him, her words careful and tentative. “What about you?”

“Me?” Shan Yuan's eyes widened. This was an unexpected development, especially that Indigo seemed actually curious about his life. 

“Well,” She tried her best to be nonchalant, but to little success. “You already know where I’ve been, so I just thought you could share-”

“What?!” Shan Yuan interrupted her. “I don’t know where you’ve been. In fact, I don’t even know how you got here in the first place!”

“You don’t?”

“No!”

Indigo thought about it for a second, and indeed, no one ever explained things to Shan Yuan. “I’m Mr. Nemo’s associate, or something like that. More of a refugee, or bargaining chip, since I’m valuable to his market.”

“Wait, you work with the guy that tried to kill us?” 

Indigo shrugged. Life was strange, and worse things had happened before. 

As they crossed a suspended bridge, Indigo told him all about Vienna and everything that came after. Shan Yuan was a surprisingly good listener, he always had been and she was just starting to remember. The rest of the way was filled with chatter and old stories, and Indigo found that maybe brothers weren’t so bad after all.

Chapter Text

World I-21 was not quite what Kai expected it to be. If he had to guess, the door to the afterlife would be in a dark and gloomy city, with lots of rain and a mist that made it impossible to see beyond five feet. As it was, they opened a door to Rio de Janeiro.

Kai had picked up some portuguese through the years, but nothing could’ve prepared him for the actual thing. Brazilians were fast speakers, and most words didn’t sound real. Even Catherine was having a hard time keeping up. 

They exited at the National Library, which made incredible sense, and made it way easier to ask for directions. Not that they could really understand it, but at least Google was an option in this world. 

“What does this say?” Kai pointed to a green area on the map. 

They were all squeezed together trying to look at the library’s computer. Catherine had already tried asking at the front desk about ‘a white man with open arms’, which was all the book had given them besides the general vicinity. The poor librarian only laughed at her, so they resorted back to more simple solutions. 

“It says Sacopã.” She read.

“Yes, I can see that, but what does it mean?” Kai stared at the screen as if that would help. 

“Kai, that’s the opposite way of where we’re supposed to go.” She said.

“Oh.”

“How much longer will this take?” Shan Yuan asked, and (to everyone’s surprise) Indigo nodded along. 

“From my experience,” Vale said. “Quite a while. This compouter cannot be trusted.”

“Computer, Vale.” Kai smiled and went back to the map. “Any progress?”

Around them, the few passersby stared at the group with suspicion and curiosity. They talked in a loud tone for people who were trying to be discreet, but seemed convinced they wouldn’t understand. This would’ve all been easier with the resident librarian’s help, but they all agreed this wasn’t a quest the Library would support. Or anyone, really. It was a miracle Shan Yuan was ok with the whole thing, and Kai had a feeling he just didn’t understand what they were really doing.

 A short woman approached them. She had big red glasses and hair above the shoulders, and a friendly smile that was glued in place. She wore a white dress and the library 's credential around her neck. “Posso ajudar vocês?”

Five pairs of eyes stared at her in confusion. She didn’t give up.

“O que vocês tão procurando?” She peeked at the computer screen. 

Catherine snapped out of it and answered with a heavy accent. “Nós estamos tentando chegar no homem de braços abertos.”

“O Cristo Redentor?” The woman laughed, but Catherine didn’t know why. “Aqui.”

The woman gently pushed Catherine aside and opened a new tab on the browser. She typed a few words and then clicked at an image. She stepped back to let the group have a look. 

“That 's it!” Kai said. “That’s the man the Book showed me.”

“Great.” Shan Yuan said. “And how do we get to him?”

Catherine turned back to the woman. “Como nós vamos até lá?”

“Olha, tem um bondinho que para lá perto, mas eu não acho que vocês têm um bilhete único, né?” The woman looked at the group with a funny expression. “Eu posso chamar um táxi, se você quiser.”

“Taxi?” Vale asked. “She means a cab?”

“I think so.” Catherine answered. “She’s offering to call a cab to take us there.”

“I’ll take it!” Shan Yuan threw his hands in the air. 

Catherine exchanged a few more words with the woman as she guided them to the exit. “Quando vocês chegarem lá tem que pegar o teleférico, viu? Aí lá em cima tá o Cristo.”

Kai followed closely, even if he couldn’t understand the conversation. Catherine, at least, seemed excited to be practicing her portuguese. The woman waited for the cab with them, and said goodbye with a kiss to the cheek and hugs all around. A bit weird, but Kai thought it was better than her trying to kill them. 

The driver opened the door to the car, then counted the heads. “Aperta a pequena aí atrás e tudo certo.” 

Catherine tried to complain, but the man walked back to his seat.

“He told us to squeeze on the back seat.” She said in an offended tone. 

“No point arguing, I’m guessing.” Indigo said and moved to take the front seat. 

She opened the door, but was double crossed by Shan Yuan, who jumped in and took her place. Indigo glared at him, then slammed the door shut.

“Não tem geladeira na sua casa, não?” The driver said angrily. 

“Sorry.” Catherine took the middle seat, squished between Vale and Kai. 

The engine started as Indigo climbed in next to Kai and closed the door, more gently this time. The driver took off with a jump and a loud song playing on the radio. 

━─━────༺༻────━─━

The great thing about traveling with a Fae and no money was that Catherine could fool the poor driver to believe a few random leaves were cash. Kai would never feel good about it, but he was used to it by now. 

The place the cab left them was crowded in a queue that shuffled rather than walked. Street vendors yelled and walked around the, quite obviously, tourists that were waiting in line. 

Vale stayed glued to Kai’s side, looking at the chaos of the place that kept buzzing on. They could barely move, not sure where to go. Kai looked at Catherine to guide them, but she seemed just as overwhelmed as the rest of them. Even with her Brazilian blood, she was an Englishwoman through and through. 

“I’m surprised this place isn’t poisoned by Chaos.” Shan Yuan mumbled, and was answered by a glare from Catherine. 

She opened her mouth to tell him off when a beautiful blonde woman approached them. She was as pale as snow, with a red nose from staying at the Sun for so long. She wore a flowery dress and sunglasses. 

“Oi, licença.” She tapped Catherine 's shoulder. “Cê sabe onde começa a fila?”

Catherine, who was at a loss of words, stuttered something along the lines of: “Uh, I- Yuh, hm.” 

“É ali, ó moça!” A young man who was waiting in line said. 

“Valeu!” She thanked him, then turned back to Catherine. “Gringos.”

The woman walked away with elegance. Indigo rolled her eyes at Catherine’s stupor and started following her. They had never talked about it, but Kai had a slight impression that his daughter had a thing for ladies, rather than gentleman. Not that he was one to judge, considering his own history. It was, however, endearing to see a side of her that had been missed in her teenage years. 

The queue was surprisingly fast once they found the end, and full of chatter and music. People burst into singing every other step, and although Indigo was annoyed, Kai found it all very cheerful. Perhaps he could get used to this. 

Once it was their turn, the cashier asked how many were going up. 

“Up where?” Vale asked, but didn’t get an answer. 

Catherine answered in portuguese and used the Language to pay. They hurried inside the cable car before it wore off and they were escorted out of the premises. 

As the car started to lift, Vale grabbed onto the railing. Kai stood next to him and watched the view, a green tapestry that flowed into the city and, at a distance, the great horizon of the sea. The late afternoon Sun cast hard shadows around them.

Catherine stopped to his right, taking a moment to just breathe. She spied as Shan Yuan and Indigo pointed at something through the window. 

“They’re very similar.” She said to Kai. “Who is she?”

“Oh.” Kai followed her line of vision. “That’s my sister. I guess you two were never introduced, huh?”

“No, we weren’t.” Catherine studied her. “I suppose you weren’t on good terms.”

“Not really, no.” He smiled sadly. “Not that we are now.”

Catherine turned to him. “She’s still here, isn’t she?”

“I suppose you’re right.” He mused. 

Indigo flicked Shan Yuan’s forehead, which earned her some hair pulling. They were just like two kids, never done with the taunting and fighting. Kai laughed softly. He still remembered the busy mornings in the palace, when he sat by the window to read a book while Indigo chased her twin around the halls.

“Some things never do change.” He said. 

“I thought you didn’t grow up with your siblings.” Catherine looked at him. 

“Not with all of them, but twins are a sign of bad luck, so they were kept inside most of our childhood.” Kai said without thinking about it. 

He was so caught up reminiscing about the past that Catherine’s surprise escaped him. Maybe growing up so closely was what made him and Shan Yuan clash so hard, he reasoned. 

The cable car bumped to a stop, until it slowly pulled into the hangar and opened its doors. The tourists left hurriedly, while Kai waited for the exit to be free. The group left with Catherine leading ahead and Kai as last. 

The Cristo towered over them, the Sun setting behind its head. It was hard to look at it, but marvelous all the same. Kai can see it as clearly as midday, flashes of what the Book showed him running through his mind. He just knew, felt it in his bones, that this was the way. He noticed they were all waiting for him. 

“Where to now?” Vale asked him. 

“I think…” Kai looked around the tourists. “This way.”

He walked into the crowd, letting his feet take him. Kai thought he might lose himself in the sea of people, but the path was clear. He took them around the statue and into a rather empty corner near the railing. With ease, he broke the lock of an iron gateway that led to a staircase and down the hill. 

Kai stepped aside, waiting for Vale and Catherine to walk through. He looked back to Shan Yuan and Indigo. 

“I won’t ask you to come.” He said in a light tone. Kai had already taken them far enough. 

“I know.” Shan Yuan said. “I’ll be just a call away.”

Indigo played with the strands of her hair. She fit right in with her risky bikini and tanned skin from staying at the resort for so long. 

“You know where to find me.” She said, every word calculated. 

“You’re still going back there?” Kai couldn’t help himself. 

“Nemo is not that bad.” She said, “Usually.”

Shan Yuan placed a hand on her shoulder. “Our mother’s door will always be open to you.”

Indigo shook her head. She knew, but knowing did nothing when her options were so limited. Seeking asylum with her mother would just be another kind of prison, perhaps a worse one. At least, with Mr. Nemo she could roam free around the resort, no expectations. A palace had rules, protocols, and people correcting your every behaviour. 

“Strongrock?” Vale called. 

Kai turned back. They were waiting for him. 

“See you on the other side.” He didn’t stay to hear his sibling’s goodbye.

As soon as Kai closed the gateway, silence. Deafening, static, dead. All the chaos and buzzing had gone still, trapped somewhere outside time itself. 

They walked down the steps together. Kai couldn’t explain it, but it wasn’t dreadful or wrong. It was exactly where he should be, his own heart felt lighter. He stayed close to Vale, Catherine on his left. They were going to get her back. 

A stone trail appeared at the end of the stairs, leading them to an archway. It was big and old, older than everything they had seen so far. It shouldn’t be standing, all that was left of the structure were the bones and dust. They stepped through it and the scenery changed. 

A desert laid before them. The sand was grey, as was the sky. There were no clouds in sight, and no Sun either. It was neither day nor night, it just was. They stood on top of a hill, and under them a maze rose to the surface. 

Kai could see Vale moving his mouth, but no sound came out. He supposed he was speaking as well, but he didn’t know the words. It didn’t matter, his voice was mute too. Catherine squeezed his hand, her eyes glued to something behind him. 

A naked tree appeared next to them. Kai studied it, trying to find some answer. The air came back. He could hear the sand rustling, his own breathing and time starting again. 

“I tried warning you.” A voice came from his other side. 

They all turned to see a vulture standing next to them. It wore a cloth. More accurately, it was the pitch black cloth that dragged on the ground. 

“Ah, you don’t recognize me.” The vulture laughed.

It twisted and changed until Bradamant was looking at them. 

“I did try warning you, Kai.” It said. 

 “Yeah.” He squeezed Catherine’s hand back.

They stared at each other. The figure was as un-Bradamant like as before, her face nothing but a mask it used for conformity. 

“Will you help us?” Kai asked. 

“I already am.” It answered. 

“Do you know where she is?” He tried another approach. 

“Of course I do.” It was offended. “This is my domain.”

Silence. 

“Will you take us to her?” Kai tried again. 

“I said I’m trying to help you, dragon.” It said. “Not kill you.”

Kai stared at it, hoping that it would give in and show them the way. It didn’t. The vulture gave one long breath, the mask falling for half a second and then slipping back into place. 

“Why don’t you just give up?” It begged. 

Kai tilted his head. Wasn’t it obvious?

“I can’t.” He answered honestly. 

It wanted to say something more, but held it off. Bradamant’s face twisted into a cold expression, but not the one she wore. It wasn’t hers, after all. 

“Let’s play a game.” The vulture announced. “You have until this clock strikes 12 to find your precious Irene.”

With a wave of its hand, a clock started ticking on the air itself. 

“And if we can’t?” Kai asked cautiously. 

“You’ll never be allowed back. And she’ll stay with me forever.”

Kai mused over this. “And if we do find her?”

“If,” The vulture laughed. “If you can find her in 12 hours, I’ll let you go with a kiss.”

Vale put a hand on his shoulder and gave Kai an encouraging nod. Catherine gave his hand three squeezes. Kai turned back to the not Bradamant figure. 

“Where do we start?”

There was no answer. It had never been there. 

The clock ticked.

Chapter Text

“We’ve been going in circles!” Catherine cried. 

There was no telling how much time had passed. They left the clock behind, heading straight to the maze. It sounded easier than it was, Kai realized far too late. 

There was no way in, no door or crack on the wall. It was solid stone all the way through, until the eyes could reach. There was no way they had circled the entire place, miles and miles and miles that they could not have walked. Somehow, it was true, they had been going in circles. Kai recognized the three at the top of the hill, it was the third time he’d seen it. 

His steps slowed. What was he doing? Kai had no idea where he was going, or how to get Irene back. The stupid book he kept carrying in his pocket was no help at all, only weighing him down. The heat, dryness and sand was starting to get to his head. Everything was slower, heavier and even if his skin was dry it felt dirty. 

“What now?” Vale asked from behind him. 

Catherine had stopped, resting against the wall. Vale was only a few steps ahead of her, watching Kai, unsure if he should follow. Kai wasn’t sure either. It wasn’t that he was giving up, or that he wouldn’t find a way, but for the first time he couldn’t see the solution. And Irene wasn’t there to give him the answers. 

He stopped. Everything ached. Kai could still see the shape of the clock at the horizon, next to the naked tree. 

“There’s no point walking aimlessly.” Vale said. “We need a strategy.”

“And what do you suggest?” Catherine said, tone aggressive. “Should we climb the wall? Or would you rather dig?”

Vale didn’t bother answering her, but he studied the wall. Kai had already thought about climbing it, but the stone was far too slippery. He thought of flying over it, but found that he couldn’t shift. He said nothing of it, there was no point worrying about it now. He hadn’t thought of digging. 

“Or maybe we should ask nicely, huh?” Catherine kept going. 

She knocked on the stone, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Oh, dear, beautiful stonewall, would you let these poor sinners in?”

Nothing happened. 

“Catherine, not helping-” Vale started saying, hand running through his hair, but as she threw herself against the wall, Catherine fell inside the maze. 

Kai ran. He couldn’t lose her too. Not again, they had already parted far too many times and he couldn’t afford another mistake. 

He had worried for nothing, Catherine dusted herself off and looked around. A perfect illusion made it so the wall looked solid from outside, but once discovered, the hole was obvious. She started walking right in uncertain steps. 

“You guys coming?” Catherine waited for Kai and Vale to follow. 

They rushed after her. Kai didn’t look back. 

“Are you sure this is the way?” Vale asked. 

“No.” Catherine said. “But it’s as good as any other.”

Vale hummed in neither agreement nor discordance. 

The inside walls were covered in green. It was soft to the touch, but too powdery to be moss. And dry, like a lifeless dust. Kai studied their surroundings, noticing for the first time how colorless everything was. Much like a black and white film, the colors were an impression. When thinking about it, even the green was only a dark grey that his mind had decided it must be something else. He looked down on himself, and his coat was still blue. Catherine’s hair was still reddish. Vale 's eyes hazel. They stood out to the air itself.

They were no longer walking in circles, but it wasn’t much better. Every turn was only slightly different than the last one, no destination in sight. There was no telling if they were closer to the center or further away. Catherine kept leading with a confidence she didn’t have. 

It took them longer than anticipated to run into a dead end. There had been no intersections on the way, meaning their only option would be to turn back and start over. With a sigh, they turned around. Kai was met with a solid wall, there was no going back. 

“The fuck?” Catherine said under her breath. 

“Language.” Vale said, but only out of habit. 

They were trapped inside, all as far as Kai could tell, there was no illusion this time around. All the walls were solid, and their options really were climbing or digging. 

“My dear, beautiful stonewall,” Catherine tried again. “Would you show us the way?”

She ran her hands through the stone, but it seemed they had run out of favors. Vale took it as an opportunity to finally sit down and close his eyes. He took off his coat and discarded it to the side, it was barely usable now. Kai sat down next to him.

“Any ideas?” Vale asked. 

Catherine kept looking for a way out.

“No.” Kai said. “But we’ll figure it out.”

“I don’t suppose that book of yours has an answer.” Vale rested his head against Kai’s shoulder. 

“That book of mine is useless. It took us nowhere.”

“That’s not quite right.” He sighed. “It got us to the Wishes Book, and then here. That’s already something.”

Kai hummed. “I guess.”

Catherine kicked a small rock and crossed her arms. She sat down on the opposite wall to them. 

Kai took the book out of his pocket, careful to not disturb Vale. He ran his fingers through the cover, then opened it to the first page, where the single pearl laid. He carefully put it in his pocket. It wasn’t useless, after all. It had given him hope, when there was none. 

He flipped through the pages, looking for something that resembled the maze or, even better, their current situation. So much of it was illegible, and most of the drawings were nothing but smudges. Kai kept looking, but there was little expectation in his actions. 

Just as he was about to close it, a small note slipped from the pages.

Right corner. 

“What the…” Kai read without a clue of what it meant. 

Around the right corner of the dead end, Bradamant fell into view. Her hair was a mess, black dress ruined and dirty. Her eyes were wild, afraid. 

Kai stood up, and was followed by Vale and Catherine. Her face was familiar, but he had already been fooled once. Kai wouldn’t fall for it again, even if this was their perfect way out. He watched as Bradamant dusted herself off and glanced back the way she came from, then turned her head and saw them. 

Bradamant looked back again, then to the trio staring at her.

“How…?” She asked, confusion written all over her face. “You were just behind me!”

Her voice was just as Kai remembered. Cold, but alive. So alive, and full of everything that came with being human. 

“Bradamant?” He couldn’t help himself. 

“Obviously.” She said. “Who else would I be?”

Kai laughed as he stepped forward. “You have no idea.”

He pulled her into a hug. 

“He 's gone mad.” Catherine whispered to Vale. 

Vale examined Bradamant for a few seconds, then answered. “No, he just found our way out.”

Bradamant wiggled out of the hug, holding Kai at arm’s length. She looked at them, brows furrowed, before her expression fell. 

“Oh.” She said. “You’re from before…”

“Before?” Catherine asked. 

Bradamant hesitated. “How long have you been here for?”

“A while.” Kai answered. “I think.”

“Right.” She pressed on. “How far along have you gotten?”

Kai quirked his head. He couldn’t see where she was going with it, or what any of it meant. 

“We’ve gotten nowhere.” Catherine sighed. “Only at this dead end!”

Bradamant opened her mouth to answer, but she heard something. There’s nothing, Kai noticed, but she looked to the right with wide eyes. Fear was clear on her face. 

“Come on.” She said. “This way.”

She took off to the left. They were no longer at a dead end. 

Bradamant guided them with careful steps, as if she knew the way. She probably did, Kai thought, if by before she meant there was an after. 

He watched from aside as Bradamant counted to five, stopped, knocked a few times on the stone and then pulled a brick. She pulled a key from inside the hole, then used it at a crack a few inches ahead. Behind them, a hatchway popped open. 

Vale went down first, followed by Catherine. Kai waited for Bradamant, but she nudged him in and checked the surface one last time before closing the door. Without the opening, the dark buried them in a dusty tunnel. 

Catherine didn’t dare take even one step. She searched for Vale’s hand in the dark, and didn’t let go. Usually, Kai’s eyes wouldn’t have a hard time with the dark, but there was nothing usual about this place. Bradamant whispered hurriedly to the ground itself and torches lit up along the way. 

It was a catacomb. A grave. Bones littered the wall, up to the ceiling, and what didn’t fit into the cracks fell to the ground. The tunnel was well used, fresh footprints lead the way, as well as old ones. 

“They won’t be able to find us here.” Bradamant walked ahead. 

“Who won’t?” Vale asked. He started walking, still holding Catherine close. 

“The hound dogs.” She said as if it was obvious. “Right… You don’t know yet.”

“Yet.” Kai echoed. “You keep talking like you already know what’s ahead.”

Bradamant stayed quiet. They walked through the wide corridor without a sign of stopping. It was a long time before she talked again.

“Time,” Her words were calculated. “Works different here. Not everything is going the same way. You found me just as I crossed the river, but not not your now. You were… different. All of you. And I was too, I suppose.”

Kai placed his hand on her shoulder, urging her to stop. Bradamant turned to look at him.

“Do we-” He can’t find the words. “Is she-”

She must’ve noticed his despair. “Not yet.”

Kai’s shoulders fell. He let his hand slip off. Vale approached him in a quiet companionship, no words, no touches, but his presence was grounding. Solid. 

“You said you crossed a river.” He redirected the conversation. 

Bradamant seemed to remember something. “You will too!”

“Can you take us there?” Catherine asked, hopeful. 

She waited as Bradamant looked down, listening to this world they couldn’t access. She turned back to the path and started walking, then pushed a few skulls out of the way and did the same trick with the light.

“Straight through here.” She said. “You’ll be out by the shore.”

Catherine went in first, barely looking back. Vale let Kai go before him.

“You’re not coming with us.” It wasn’t a question. 

Kai turned back into the conversation at that. Bradamant shook her head.

“I have somewhere else to be.” She smiled. 

“Thank you.” Vale offered his hand. 

Bradamant took it. It was a firm handshake, and Vale followed after Catherine without resistance. Kai stayed back. She was wearing the same dress from the day she died, he noticed. 

“Don’t worry, prince.” Bradamant said in a light tone. “I’ll see you around.”

Kai pulled her into a hug. He couldn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to when he squeezed her tight one last time before letting go. 

Bradamant was taken aback, but her eyes softened when she looked at him. 

“It was good seeing you again, Bradamant.” He turned around.

“Oh!” She remembered. “He said you have something for me!”

“Who?” Kai asked.

“You.” Bradamant said. “He said you’d know what it was.”

Kai didn’t know, and he was ready to tell her as much. But he stopped, mouth open. He carefully reached into his pocket and pulled out the battered book. 

“I think this belongs to you.” He handed her their only guide.

Bradamant examined it. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but after a life of books, she thought death would’ve been something else. She looked up to find the skulls back in place.

Time had slipped.

Chapter Text

The shores of the Underworld were cold. There was a constant wind that came from the sea, and the sand was made of rocks so sharp that had Kai been barefoot there would be a trail of blood. 

The tunnel opened at the bottom of a cliff, their feets almost touching the water. They squeezed along the edge of the sand until reaching an open space. Souls walked out of the sea, carrying lights with them, and headed to a stone archway at the end of the beach. It was an eerie sight. 

Kai, Catherine and Vale stood far out of the path. Even without the lanterns, they were clearly out of their depth. While the souls were translucent, they couldn’t be more solid. Vale’s coat was heavy from the seawater, Kai’s hair falling out of his braid in a mess of tangles. 

“We should follow them.” Catherine said. 

Her voice was reverent. Whatever they were doing, she knew not to disturb it. Catherine started walking towards the souls, leaving Kai and Vale behind. 

“Do you think she’s here?” Kai asked in a whisper. 

Vale looked back to the beach. He stopped for a moment. 

“No.” He said. He didn’t say that it would be too easy if she were, because it hadn’t been easy so far. But Vale had a feeling there was still more to come, whether they wanted or not. 

He offered his hand to Kai, who took it with the tiredness of a man who had just arrived in Hell. They fought against the sand in the wind, following Catherine along the shore. 

There was no Moon in the sky, but it was dark. There hadn’t been a Sun either, and there was no telling if it was day or night. It was simply dark. The only indicator that they were going in the right direction were the lights the souls were carrying. 

They left the beach and the sand. The trees around them grew closer and closer, until there was no sound of the sea and the only thing they could hear was the rustling of the leaves. The ground was a mix of wood and stones and mud, so much mud. Kai squeezed Vale’s hand, trying not to slip. 

They walked through the shadows and passed under the archway. Kai braced himself for another change of scenery, he was becoming quite used to them. But it never came. Vale tugged him along as they started down a staircase. The steps were short and the stone was old, but sturdy. 

The souls around them fell in line, their translucent bodies flickering with the flames they carried. The path started narrowing until Kai couldn’t walk by Vale’s side anymore, but he kept his hand behind his back, refusing to let go of Vale. Catherine was just a step ahead, looking back every few seconds. 

The trees gave way to the walls of a mountain. There was no sign on it ending any time soon, and the silence was sacred. Kai’s legs were tired, and his eyes were starting to drop. He barely noticed the quiet lullaby. 

“It 's portuguese.” Catherine whispered. 

Kai stood up straighter. 

“She’s asking where she went wrong.” And then. “All she did was love, and love, and love.”

Kai paid attention to the singing. It was bullish, but in her voice it sounded melancholic. Like an epitaph. He supposed it was one, here, at the entrance of the end. 

The closer they got to the bottom of the stairs, more and more souls started whispering their own prayers. Songs, quotes, even conversations. They were coming alive. Or perhaps they were coming dead, and leaving their lives above the surface, by the shores of the edge of the world. 

The path opened into a beautiful cave. Details were engraved to the stone, up to the ceiling, leading to the river Bradamant had told them about. All the souls naturally followed to the quay, and Kai, Catherine and Vale did their best to blend in and followed along. 

The further they went, the more solid the souls became. Their bodies stopped being translucent, and color came back to their cheeks. Kai checked himself twice before finally deciding that no, he wasn’t disappearing. 

By the time they could see the start of the line, things were going fast. 

“What are they doing?” Vale asked, looking over Kai’s shoulders. 

A hooded figure stood at the port, sorting the souls left and right. 

“They’re paying.” Kai said. He watched the next one in line put old coins on the hooded figure’s hand. 

“What for?”

“It’s part of Greek Mythology.” Catherine piped in. “The dead must pay Caronte to take them to the afterlife.”

“What about those who can’t pay?” Vale asked, mind already working on a plan. 

“They wander.” Catherine looked at the shores of the river, where thousands of people walked around. Lost. 

There were less than five people ahead of them now. And the line was moving quickly. 

“I’m guessing there’s no getting in without passing Caronte.” Kai said.

“Sneak up on a mythological figure that is also a god?” Catherine asked. “No, I don’t think so.”

Three people.

“Any ideas?” Catherine’s tone was bordering on desperate. “At all?”

“I will admit that I’m a bit out of my depth here.” Vale said, running his hands through his hair. 

Two people. 

“Is he an understanding guy?” Catherine asked. 

One person.

Kai was frozen on the spot. How was this not in the book? He sighed in defeat. They had a good run, and now they would all wander together for all eternity. He stuffed his hands into his pocket, head lowered. His fingers brushed against the pearl. Irene 's pearl. 

“Next.” Caronte 's grave voice announced. 

The three of them looked at each other. Vale smoothed out his rumpled shirt. 

“I’ll distract him and you two go ahead.” He whispered and took a step. 

Kai stopped him with a hand on the shoulder, a smile in place. “Three tickets, please.”

Caronte said nothing. He didn’t even stare. He didn’t have eyes to stare. His face was hidden away by the hood, if there even was something behind the fabric. Kai pulled the pearl out of his pocket and offered it to him. 

He placed it in Caronte’s outstretched hand, who turned it around and put it against the light. It seemed to be passable by his standards, Kai figured, as he stepped aside and let them into the boat. 

Kai placed a hand on Catherine and Vale’s back and pushed them to move. He smiled at Caronte as they passed, but he only looked away in what could only be described as an eye roll. 

“Was that?” Catherine whispered. 

“Doesn’t matter.” Kai whispered back. And he found that he meant it. 

A pearl didn’t matter. It was the only thing he had left of her. But it didn’t matter, because they were getting her back. 

They climbed into the boat, the boards creaking against their weight. Unlike the souls, they had real mass. They sat in the only seat available, at the back of the boat and right in front of the pilot’s spot. 

The boat didn’t make a sound as Caronte stepped on. He passed the whispering souls and grabbed the paddle and started rowing. The boat moved slowly through the water, slipping down the river.

Catherine reached for Kai’s hand while looking over down the water. 

“Careful.” Caronte said. “The lights might draw you in.”

“The lights?” Vale asked. 

Caronte nodded to the flickering lights on the water. They looked an awful lot like the candles the souls were carrying, but there were no bodies on the river. 

“Drowned?” Vale asked, maybe he was starting to get the jist of things. 

“No.” Caronte laughed. “Just lost. Wandered too far.”

Kai pulled Catherine closer to him, taking her eyes off the water. 

“I’m curious.” His grave voice spoke from the shadows. “It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen someone alive down here. Much less three. And what an odd bunch you are.”

Kai reached for Vale’s hand as well, ready to jump into the water in case things turned south. He might still not be able to transform, but near the water he was sure he would be able to keep them alive, at the very least. 

Caronte leaned in. The hem of his fabric merging to the book itself. 

“What are you doing here?” His tone was pure confusion. 

Not every someone, as he put it, would willingly walk down the stairs to the Underworld. Caronte had no intention of helping them, as far as Kai knew it, but he had let them into the boat. Still, if Kai went around saying what he was doing all the time, nothing would ever get done. Besides, he’s no monologuing villain who would explain all his plans just for the audience to keep up.

“Oh, come off it.” Caronte laughed. “I’m an old man, and fun doesn’t come around so often. Entertain me.”

“I think it’s alright.” Catherine whispered. 

Vale scanned Caronte as if he was any other suspect. He wasn’t, of course. But it was definitely an improvement from how lost he had been feeling so far. 

“Yes.” Vale said. “He 's alright.”

“Glad to have passed your test.” It was said with a hint of sarcasm, something they didn’t think Caronte was capable of. “Will you tell me now?”

“Well.” Kai said, suspicion still there. “We’re trying to save someone.”

“Save?” He asked. “From what?”

“Death, of course.” Catherine said.

“Death is not a curse.” Caronte kept rowing. “Nor is it a gift. Death is part of being, and there’s no saving someone from dying. The same way there is no saving someone from living.”

He waited for Kai to continue, but when he didn’t Caronte said. “Save who?”

“My wife.”

Caronte said nothing. 

“She died on a mission.” Kai kept going. He had never talked about it. “It was…”

Unfair. Sudden. Wrong. Cruel.

“Losing half your soul.” Caronte said for him. 

“Yeah.” Kai sighed. 

They sailed in silence for a few minutes. The only sound was the paddle moving against the water and the rustling of Caronte’s fabric. 

Catherine laid her head on Kai’s shoulder and closed her eyes. He couldn’t remember the last time they stopped, sat down and rested. The exhaustion was starting to get to him, the warmth from Vale’s hand keeping him awake by a thin thread.

“What was her name?” Caronte asked, right before Kai fell asleep. 

“Irene.” He whispered and closed his eyes.

━─━────༺༻────━─━

 The boat hit the shore with force. Kai jostled awake, and Catherine was already standing up. 

“Come on.” Vale tugged on his sleeve. 

“What?” Kai asked groggily. “Where are we?”

The sand was thin and the wind blew strongly. A few meters ahead, there was another entrance to the maze. 

“Go now.” Caronte said. 

“You’re… helping us.” Kai looked at him, not sure he understood the situation. “Why?”

Caronte lifted his head. Under the hood, his face was pale and tired. He had a sad smile, long strands of hair falling in front of his eyes. 

“Why else?” He said. “For love.”

Catherine jumped from the boat, landing on the shallow water. Vale went behind her, and looked back at Kai. 

“Say ‘hi’ to my wife for me.” Caronte asked. 

Kai followed Catherine and Vale into the maze. The water already forgotten.

Chapter Text

The maze was different from before. 

Kai had the slight impression that Caronte had put in a good word for them. The way, unlike the first time, opened to them in cooperation. 

It had taken a while to notice it, but Kai found that the color had also come back. He even checked twice, but it was true. The whole place seemed less cursed, more vibrant and alive. 

Things were going incredibly well, even if they had slowed down a bit. 

“How long do we have?” Kai asked on impulse. 

Catherine looked back at Vale, waiting for him to answer. 

“I’m not sure.” He admitted. 

“But it’s not like we can rush it.” Catherine said. “For that we would need to know where we’re really going.”

Kai fought the urge to roll his eyes. Sometimes it felt like Catherine never left adolescence, she was still the same stubborn, sarcastic, little shit. But he loved her, sarcasm and all. 

“This would be a good time for a plan…” She said. 

Vale stopped. He looked around with sharp eyes while Catherine kept talking. Kai put his hands in his pockets and waited for whatever Vale had to say. 

“Anything comes to mind, Vale?” Catherine’s tone was annoyed, as if she was talking alone. And she had been. 

“Do you hear that?” He asked, full concentration. 

“Hear what?” Catherine said. 

“I’m not sure…” He kept paying attention. 

“‘That’,” Bradamant, who was now standing at the end of the corridor, said. “Are the dogs coming for us.”

She looked older today, but much better than when they last saw her. 

“Come on, follow me.” She smiled and let the way. 

Kai hurried after her. Bradamant walked as if she knew the way around the maze, and chances were that did. She didn’t look back to see if they were following, but Kai caught up within a few seconds and started asking questions. Finally, he felt, there was a chance for answers. 

“How did you find us?” He said. “Actually, how did you know we needed help?”

Bradamant gave a small laugh, as if Kai was an amusing child. 

“What dogs?” Catherine chimed in as she ran after them. 

They fell into a steady pace, Vale only a step behind. 

“Considering the mythological undertones of this whole place,” Vale started saying. “I would assume the dogs are hellhounds, or a variation of it. The question is for how long have you been running from them, Miss Bradamant.”

“Good to see you’re back on your feet, Vale!” She said, “And yes, the dogs are hellhounds, and I’ve been running since the first time we met, but I’m assuming you guys haven’t been there yet. And for the rest, you can thank that book of yours.”

“You said before that it was right after you crossed the river.” Kai confirmed. 

“That’s right.” Bradamant said. “And that was a few months ago.”

“Months?” Vale asked in a tone that meant he wasn’t buying it. 

“A little over five years, if we’re talking linear time.” She admitted. “Over here!”

Bradamant knocked three times on the stone wall, waited a second, and then knocked two times. The door was unlocked quickly and she pushed the three of them inside before going in herself. 

Kai looked up to see the two most surprising things he could ever expect. The first was a garden. Alive, with a blue sky and people smiling and giggling. The second was Alberich. 

He locked the door and exchanged some words with Bradamant in a rushed voice. He looked the same as he did when Kai last saw him. Seconds before he died. 

Bradamant must’ve sensed his animosity, or maybe it was the way his scales were starting to show. Had he been less distracted, Kai would’ve noticed he could feel the water running underground. She got between the group and Alberich.

“I know this looks bad.” She said, “But he’s… a sort of friend.”

“He tried to kill us!” Catherine said. 

“Multiple times.” Vale added. He studied Alberich from head to toe with far less rage than Kai himself. 

“That was before.” Bradamant rolled her eyes. “Death can really change a person, you know?”

“I don’t see him making any apologies.” Kai gritted out.

“That would be because I’m not sorry.” Alberich provided. 

Bradamant looked back at him with an incredulous expression. He was already a hard case, and with the way he was acting chances were that Kai would find a way to kill him a second time. Alberich simply looked away, no remorse. 

“Let’s go inside.” Bradamant sighed. 

She took them into the garden and down to a cottage. The place was rather small, but elegant and full of light. There was a study, full of books and it reeked of comfort, and a kitchen. Humble, but home.

Alberich took a seat at the kitchen table with ease. He was quite used to the place, by the looks of it. Bradamant kicked his legs off the chair he was using to stretch and shooed him away. Alberich huffed, but agreeable went over to the stove and started boiling some water. 

“Tea?” Bradamant asked as she took some cups out of the closet. 

“God, yes.” Catherine fell into a chair with much gratitude, like a proper englishwoman. 

Vale sat down next to her and went straight for the fresh biscuits cooling at a plate. Kai, still not over Alberich’s presence, decided to stand and analyze the study. It wasn’t big, just a table, an armchair and a single bookcase that was starting to have trouble keeping up with the amount of books. 

The kettle hissed and Alberich poured five cups, then sat down on his usual place again. He sipped his tea with no inclination to start talking. 

“Kai.” Vale called, an empty spot at his right. 

He finally relented and went to the table. Kai took the tea, and tried his best to not show how good it tasted. Vale gently pushed the biscuit’s plate closer to him, and Kai ate without a word. 

“I was expecting a bit more questions.” Bradamant said after a while. 

“You got any more of these?” Catherine asked, pointing to the food. 

“Uh, no.” She said, “Sorry.”

“Food is just a hobby for the dead.” Alberich said casually. 

“Right…” Catherine sighed. 

“I do have a question.” Kai took the lead. “A few, actually. Starting with Alberich over here.”

“Yes.” Bradamant made a face. “He’s become a sort of non threatening acquaintance over the last few eternities. And a book club member.”

“I wouldn’t have thought there was time for book club while being chased by hell hounds.” Vale said. 

“That’s outside.” She explained, uselessly. “Right… Well, this is the Garden. Some might call it Heaven, or Eden, or Elysium. It’s a place where souls belong, unlike outside.”

“That’s where you losers were.” Alberich added. “The hounds are just guardians trying to herd the souls back to their place.”

Kai ignored him. 

“And what were you doing there?” He asked Bradamant. “Twice.”

“What else would she be doing?” Alberich spoke. “She was helping you.”

The three of them waited in stunned silence. 

“We all were.” Bradamant admitted. 

“We?” Catherine asked. 

“Irene has met a great many people.” She smiled. “And saved quite some lifes.”

Alberich was very focused on his tea. 

“Besides,” She kept talking. “So did the three of you. Most of the people around here have run into some version of your quest.”

“Some-”

“Time works differently here.” Alberich mumbled. 

Kai was having a hard time keeping up, but at least the tea was still hot. 

“We take turns going outside. Pulling some strings here and there.” Bradamant went on. “Trying to help.”

No one answered. Catherine seemed as lost as Kai, and Vale was doing a pretty good job of keeping a straight face. If the tremor of his hands was anything to go by, however, it was nothing more than a façade. 

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Alberich slammed his cup on the table. “You might not know me, or believe me, but I know you, Kai Strongrock.”

Kai opened his mouth in offense, ready to talk some sense into Alberich. 

“And I will make sure you get out of here with my daughter, even if it’s the last thing I do.”

Chapter Text

Irene came to it in a haze of grey.

Reality was slow and distant. It was hard to move her head, and even harder to make out the shapes around her. Irene had the slight impression, on the back of her neck, that someone was watching her. 

It was gone in a second. The haze took her once again.

Chapter Text

“So you know where she is?” Kai asked with hope blooming at his chest. 

Alberich mumbled a few words and hid his face behind the cup of tea. 

“Well.” Bradamant said, looking away. “About that…”

“They don’t.” Vale put a period to it. 

Catherine threw herself back at the chair, clearly unmoored. Kai couldn’t say he felt too differently. 

“We do know it.” Bradamant said in a defensive way. “But right this second, we don’t.”

“That makes absolutely no sense.” Catherine sighed. 

“We've put the book club on the task of tracking her.” Alberich explained. “We usually know where she is, but sometimes she wanders too far and it takes a while to find her again.”

“Right…” 

By the look on everyone's face, none of them really understood what Alberich was talking about, but they got the important information. They didn’t know where Irene was, but they could know it. 

Kai opened his mouth to talk, but was quickly shut down by Bradamant.

“Finish your tea first.” She said, “And then rest. I have a feeling you'll need it.”

“And then you'll take us to her?” He asked.

Bradamant nodded. She didn't seem as excited as before, but Kai knew she wasn't lying. He drank his tea as fast as he could, only for her to pour him another cup. 

He drank it slower this time. His adrenaline was starting to slow down, and Kai found that he was tired. His body ached with exhaustion, and he was hungry. 

Bradamant must have felt it too. She left the table and started pulling some things from the cabinets, laying them on the counter. It wasn't much. She turned around.

“Is pasta fine?” She asked. “Don't have much kitchen expertise, especially since I died.”

“Pasta is perfect.” Vale answered politely, cutting Catherine’s desperate ‘yes’ off.

Bradamant smiled and turned on the stove. 

Kai, for his part, was only thankful that she hadn't suggested soup. He was pretty sure this wasn't an illusion made to lure him, after all Alberich was still there. Kai eyed him carefully, watching as he added far too much sugar to his tea.

“You know,” Alberich said without looking up. “There are some versions of you that actually like me.”

Kai scoffed.  

There was absolutely no way he would ever feel anything less than disgust for the man, much less like. But stranger things have happened, an annoying part of him said. 

“Then again, it's not like you would know it.” Alberich downed his sugary tea in one gulp.

“I think I know all I need to know.” Kai answered, in a way that sounded petty even to his own ears.

Alberich took no more interest in him, choosing to wander off to the study and pick up a book. He moved around the house in a familiar way.

Kai was so busy, indeed, watching Alberich for any suspicious behavior (which was everything he did), that he barely noticed as Bradamant set the table. She served him a plate and quietly slid it in front of him. Kai was lured by the smell.

“Oh my God.” Catherine groaned in absolute ecstasy as she gave the first bite. 

Vale wasn't even speaking, he dove in with the ferocity of a desperate man. And that he was. Kai looked at his plate and his belly growled.

“It's not poisoned, if that's what you're thinking.” Bradamant said in a light tone. “Eat up, then rest. There's time here.”

Time, he thought, was the last thing they had. Kai picked up the fork.

━─━────༺༻────━─━

A soft knock from the door came into Kai’s dreams, lulling him out of sleep. 

“Kai.” Catherine's voice called. “Can I stay with you?”

He lifted the covers, eyes still half closed, and pulled Catherine closer against his chest when she climbed in. Her hair was still wet from the shower, but Kai didn't mind it.

Not five minutes later, Vale walked in silently. He laid behind Kai, his head resting against his back. Kai had not meant to fall asleep, but the sheets were soft. And Vale's arm hugged him tightly. And Catherine was warm in his embrace. 

The next time Kai woke up, Bradamant was calling his name. He mumbled grumply, fighting to stay asleep. Then it all came rushing back.

Kai sat up faster than he should have, all his limbs complaining. 

“Have you found her?” His voice was rough. 

“Zayanna should be back at any minute now.” Bradamant sat beside him on the bed, careful not to disturb Vale and Catherine. 

It took Kai a minute to place the name. After all, so many years had passed since he last thought of Zayanna. Sometimes Irene would mention her but, with time, even that became unusual. 

“Alberich went looking for her.” Bradamant continued. “Thought you would want to be awake for when they arrived.”

“Yeah, thanks.” Kai rubbed the sleep from his face. 

Bradamant smiled at him and left the room. He could hear her moving around the house.

Kai slipped out of bed as quietly as he could, and followed the sounds to the kitchen. Bradamant had just turned the kettle on. He pulled up a chair and accepted the cup of tea with no complaints.

“Is it always this quiet?” He asked after a few seconds. 

“No.” Bradamant said. “Not always. But things aren't usually loud either.”

“Right…” He breathed out. “This whole place makes no sense. Everything is, and isn't, and then it kinda is, but only maybe.”

Bradamant grimaced, but only slightly. “I supposed it wasn’t made for the living to understand.”

Kai knew when he was being called out, but there was far too much going through his mind for him to care.

“You said there were versions of me. Us. How does that even work?” He looked down at his tea, his voice defeated.

Bradamant thought for a second, and then she said:

“Think of it like this: the outside is a sea, and here is an island. We're static, solid; there's gravity, and laws. 

But on the sea there's only now. The currents take you in a loop, and even if you stay still the water will run over you. And when it does a part of you goes with it. Those versions of you are the endless possibilities of movement.”

She looked at Kai waiting for him to get it.

“You were right.” He said. “I think I'm too alive to understand it.”

“I'm sorry.” She said.

Kai opened his mouth, not even sure what he was going to say, when Catherine walked in. Her hair was puffed out, and although her face was pillow creased, she looked well rested. 

“Wha’da miss?” She asked with a yawn.

Kai shook his head. “Nothing.”

She threw herself at the chair next to him. Catherine’s joints popped as she stretched her back, but she looked more awake then. Kai poured her a cup of tea with extra honey. 

Vale came in not long after.

He was far more presentable than Catherine, clearly having taken the time to get ready before stepping out of the bedroom. He said nothing as he squeezed Kai’s shoulder and helped himself to the kettle. He too looked better rested, and more composed as well. 

“Alberich should be getting back soon.” Bradamant said, looking at a clock on the wall. “Any more questions before?”

“There’s one thing I don’t get.” Catherine said. “How come Alberich, the serial killer, got into Heaven and Irene, saved a thousand souls, doesn’t?”

Bradamant didn’t dare look them in the eyes, but Kai already knew the answer. Vale was the one to speak. 

“I believe,” He said,” That she was here, Catherine.”

Vale looked to the living room, seeing far more than any of them could. He could see the traces of Irene all over the place. On the books, the position of the armchair close to the window, the blanket that hadn’t been moved. 

“She wanted to find you.” Bradamant whispered, the words hard to get out. 

“Oh.” Catherine said. 

She hid her face behind her cup of tea, but Kai knew exactly what she was feeling. He reached towards her hand as a loud discussion broke out just outside. 

The voices arguing got closer and closer. Zayanna slammed the door open with a triumphant smile and a pose that could rival a model. She opened her mouth.

“We found her!” Alberich yelled.

Chapter Text

Watching Irene had become a pastime. Not because it was fun, but it reminded them of life. Somedays, they would watch her and think of the good old days. Others, they wondered if it was possible killing her again, just to end this misery. 

Irene was catatonic. All the ferocity she once had was gone. She walked aimlessly through the infinite fields of the dead. 

A small, weak, part of their heart hoped Kai would come in time. They knew he wouldn’t. He never did.

Chapter Text

“You’re not coming?” Kai turned around. 

Bradamant shook her head. She stood at the door of the Garden, not a foot stepping out of line. 

“No, I’m sorry.” She said. “You’re on your own now.”

“Oh.”

Vale stepped in and placed his hand on Kai’s shoulder, a reassuring look on his face. 

“Don’t suppose the book will tell us what to do now, will it?” Catherine asked, but she already knew the answer. 

“You should go.” Bradamant said. 

Kai stopped for a second, then put on his best smile.

“Thank you.” He said. “For everything.”

“Don’t thank me just yet.” She laughed. “But I hope I won’t be seeing you around any longer.”

“No promises.”

Bradamant watched as the three walked away. She had a feeling it would be quite some time until they met again. She smiled at the hope, then turned around and left the door open. Rest awaited her, finally. 

━─━────༺༻────━─━

When Kai saw her his heart stopped. For just a second, he was alive again. Breathing, feeling, like he thought he never would again. He was moving, running, before he could think about it. 

Kai knew he was smiling, and it was unstoppable. 

Catherine ran after him, passing Vale and reaching her before everyone. She threw herself at Irene, hugging her into the ground. 

Irene.

Irene.

Irene.

Kai could only think of her. She was there. He could touch her. She was real. 

He fell to his knees, throwing his arms around her. Kai pulled Catherine into the hug. His vision was blurry, but his laugh was contagious. 

Kai looked back to see Vale had slowed his pace. He halted only a few steps from them, his smile faltering. 

“Vale.” Kai called, hand outstretched. 

“What-” He licked his lips. “What’s wrong with her?”

Kai stared at Vale with disbelief. They finally had her. This was everything they fought so hard for. Kai had Irene in his arms, she was safe. They were safe. They would be ok, because she was finally back. He looked at Irene.

“Kai…” Catherine followed his eyes. 

Irene had a hollow expression. There was no life in her eyes. 

“Irene?” He touched her face. There was no reaction. 

She didn’t even look his way. Her gaze was faraway, her mind elsewhere completely. 

Vale crouched next to them. He studied Irene as if this was a simple case of too much morphine or Fae seduction, something he could easily solve. Vale was helpless. He had always known this was not his world. That Kai and Irene were far beyond him, even if he liked to pretend otherwise. Vale couldn’t pretend now. He could only watch Irene’s lifeless body. 

“What happened to her?” Catherine asked him. 

The waves of the sea crashed on the sand. The noise was far louder in the silence. 

“I can’t…” Vale tried saying. “I don’t… She’s…”

Irene kept still. She no longer breathed.

Kai kept his hands on her. He didn’t know what he was looking for. A heartbeat, but she was dead. A reaction, but she was catatonic. Something, but there was nothing. 

“Irene!” Catherine called.

She took Irene by the shoulders. Catherine turned her face to look at her. Irene’s body went willingly, but her eyes didn’t move. She kept staring at the water. 

“Irene, come on.” She kept shaking her. “Mom!”

Kai closed his eyes. 

“Please, mom…” Catherine begged. “You gotta wake up. We’re here. We came.”

Catherine cradled Irene in her arms. Her voice had turned into a whisper.

Vale got up. He couldn’t breathe. His throat felt raw. His words were untrustworthy. Vale loosened his tie in desperation, but it wasn’t enough. He struggled out of his coat, throwing it as far away as he could. He needed to get as far away as he could. 

Vale walked aimlessly. His skin felt too tight, nothing made sense and he couldn’t even pretend to know what to do. He never knew what to do, and now Irene was dead and they had lost once again. 

The sand was thick, it slowed him down. Vale ripped his shoes off and threw them into the sea. It helped with nothing. He wanted to scream. He wanted to scream until his lungs ached. 

He fell to the ground, the icy water hitting his feet. Vale couldn’t stop the tears from coming. 

Kai couldn’t move. Not to go to Vale, not to comfort Catherine. He watched Irene only. 

She was as beautiful as he remembered her. But she wasn’t his Irene. His wife had warmth, a love that spilled at the corners. She was a shell of the woman he loves still. 

Catherine held her close. She sobbed like a child, for the first time in her life. 

 “You’re always so damn stubborn.” A familiar voice said from behind Kai.

It wore the same pitch black cloth as before, but this time they didn’t change into any shape. They were far too tired to try, shoulders slouched as they looked down on the three figures. 

“Your time is up.” They said.

Kai looked back at Irene.

“But we found her.” He whispered. “You promised…”

“I’m sorry. You might not believe me, but I truly am sorry.” They took a step closer. “But now it’s time to go.”

The figure offered their hand, but Kai didn’t even look their way. He was still watching Irene. 

“You can’t take her away.” Catherine sobbed. “You can’t.”

“This is for the better, petal.” Their voice was soft, full of grief. “Come on, now.”

“No!” Catherine got up, standing against the figure. “We had a deal. We found her!”

They sighed. “Catherine…”

“It’s not fair!” She yelled. 

Kai crawled closer to Irene’s lifeless body. He placed her head on his lap, careful to brush her hair away. 

“What’s not fair,” Their voice was desperate. “Is having to watch you fail over and over again. Do you know how many times you’ve been here? How many times you have lost her? How many times I had to watch you lose yourself?”

They took a deep breath. 

“Don’t talk to me about fairness. Death does not care.”

Catherine shook her head. “No. You can’t! You can’t.”

“It will be for the better.” The figure approached her. “The dead should stay dead.”

“She 's not dead.” Catherine insisted. 

They moved to grab her, patience hanging by a thread. 

Vale tossed his shoe right at their head. 

“Catherine!” He shouted. “Run!”

The figure tried to catch her, but Catherine was already moving. They tried going after Vale, who waited until they were close enough and threw his coat over their face. He dodged their attempts and ran the opposite direction. 

“Enough!” They yelled. 

With a snap of their fingers, time stopped. Catherine and Vale were frozen on the spot. 

The figure walked back to where Kai was kneeled on the sand. They sat next to him in silence. 

Kai didn’t care. He kept caressing Irene’s face. He wanted to say something to her. Maybe that would wake her up. He couldn’t think of anything worth saying. 

“It’s time you let her go.” They said.

He shook his head. 

It had been said so many times already. And no one understood he couldn’t. There was no getting over Irene, because there was no after Irene. Not for him. Kai knew from the very beginning that he would either go home with her, or not go home at all. 

“It’s what she wants.”

 “No. Not my Irene.” Kai laughed. “She worked like hell to finally be selfish enough to marry me. She wouldn’t let me go either.”

“Things changed.” The figure said. “A lot of time has passed.”

Kai cupped her face, and he finally looked up. 

“Even if you send me away, I’ll come back.” He said. “You know that, right?”

“Not this time.” They shook their head, the hood falling slightly. “You’ll be bound by your word to never come back here.”

“I’ll find a way.”

“You’ve already tried everything. It doesn’t work.” They touched his shoulder. “It’s time to say goodbye, Kai.”

He closed his eyes shut. 

No miraculous solution came. Nothing happened. Irene was still dead. 

He forced himself to breathe once more. Kai placed a kiss on her forehead. 

“I’ll see you soon.” He said. Promised. 

Kai got up. 

“You’ll be alright.” They told him. 

Time came back. Catherine and Vale fell to the ground. 

“Kai!” Vale scrambled to get up. 

“It 's ok.” Kai said, even if it wasn’t. 

“What-” Catherine said from the ground. “We can’t give up. We can’t!”

Kai wanted to tell her they weren’t giving up. But it felt like it. He wanted to fight back. To take Irene and run away. Find somewhere on this shore and hide forever. 

He opened his mouth to tell her it wasn’t the end, but all it came out was a sob. Kai didn’t cry when she died. He didn’t cry at the funeral. But it was over, and no matter what he did she was still dead. The rain started pouring down. 

Vale walked over to him, carefully pulling him into a hug. Kai sobbed into his shoulder, unsure how to stop. He didn’t dare turn around, because he had already said goodbye far too many times. 

“Do something.” Vale begged the figure. “Please.”

They started to answer when a voice whispered. 

“Kai?” Irene’s voice was rough, but it was unmistakably hers. 

Kai was frozen. He stiffly moved to look at her.

Irene’s hair was wet from the rain, and she woke slowly. Confusion was clear on her face, but Irene was breathing. Her eyes adjusted to the light in some difficulty. She looked around, a smile spreading across her face. 

“Vale?” She laughed. “Catherine!”

Irene got up on unsteady legs, testing them out to see if it would hold her weight. Vale watched with wide eyes as she patted herself down to check for injuries, an action oh so familiar. 

The figure stood very still, but Irene seemed to not notice them. 

“Irene?” Catherine said, and her mother smiled at her. 

Irene ran to Catherine and spun her into a hug. She petted her hair with affection, shoulders going up and down from her own breathing. 

“You came!” She laughed. “You really came.”

Catherine laughed with her, tears spilling from her eyes. 

“Oh God, you’re here!” Irene hugged her again. “You’re finally here.”

Vale couldn’t help the smile that came over him. He ran to her with no care. Irene welcomed him into the hug with open arms. She hid her face on the crook of his neck, breathing him in and feeling his heartbeat mingle with hers. 

Irene raised her head to look at Kai. 

The waves grew higher as he finally let his heart feel. Kai met her in the middle of the shore. She was real. She was warm, laughing, and looking at him. 

“I knew you’d find me.” She whispered to him only. 

“Anywhere.” He said. 

“Everywhere.” She promised him. 

The sea died down. 

“No…” The figure said, but their voice wasn’t coming from anywhere. It was everywhere. “It can’t be.”

Irene finally looked at them. “Who is that?”

“That’s-” Kai started answering when the wind blew their cloak away. 

The figure was, underneath it all, a woman. Brown hair, faded laughter lines that had been erased by a permanent scowl. Her hands were burned in a pattern that Kai knew by heart. Irene looked at him with disbelief. 

“Oh…” Irene, his wife, said.

The other Irene looked at them as if they were only a mirage. 

“It can’t be…” She said, “I know how this ends. I’ve seen it a thousand times before. This… It’s not possible. It’s not supposed to be like this!”

“Says who?” Irene asked. 

She stopped. 

“Our time is up.” She said, but it was memorized. “You don’t have any more to live.”

Irene squeezed Kai’s hand. “I think that’s up to me to decide.”

She laughed, mean and cold. The other Irene kept her distance. 

“It’s not so simple.” She showed her hand. “You’re out of time. You haven’t got even a minute.”

“Ah…” Irene 's shoulders slagged. “I see.”

“Take mine!” Vale called. 

He put himself between them. 

“What?!” The other Irene said. She looked at herself, as if she would have an explanation for what was happening. 

Kai was already moving to stop Vale, but Irene held him back. She gave him a look, the one from his apprentice times. Trust me. She stepped forward. 

“Vale, it’s ok…”

“Take mine too!” Catherine said.

“Catherine!” Irene tried to stop her. 

“I’m old enough to decide this, Irene.” She said with a cheeky smile. “It’s my life, and I want to give it to you.”

“That’s not up for debate!” She said. 

Kai looked back at the other Irene. 

He walked to her slowly. She took a step back, but he kept going. Irene stared at him as if he was a dangerous thing. Something she wanted so badly and could never have. Just the taste of him would be enough to drive her mad. 

“Your husband says hi.” He whispered to her. 

Kai brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her. He could feel the tears streaming down her face as she kissed him back. 

Irene pulled back slowly. She traced his face with feather light touches, making sure it was still the same. 

“Hi.” Irene whispered back. 

She looked over at herself. 

“Please.” Irene begged. “I just need more time.”

The other Irene closed her eyes and breathed out. “It won’t be a lot.”

“I don’t care.” She said. 

Irene let go of Kai and smiled at him. 

“Take good care of her.” She whispered. 

“I’ll see you soon.” He said. He promised. 

Kai ran back to his family. They were back at the stone staircase, the thick wood hiding the shore, and the river just a few meters behind them. 

“We…” Catherine licked her lips. “We can go?”

Kai took Irene’s hand. “Yeah, we can go home.”

Vale pulled him into a hug, a relieved smile on his face. He wiped away the tear streaks on Kai’s face and took his other hand. 

Kai looked back one last time before being tugged up the stairs. A pair of silhouettes rested on a small boat by the river. There was time. In life, and in death. 

Kai stepped back into life with Irene. 

Chapter Text

Irene found Kai hiding under the stairs. 

The noise outside was loud and festive, but she could relate to his need for quietness. She lifted her wedding dress and sat by his side. Kai let his head fall on her shoulder. 

They stayed in a comfortable silence until Catherine found them. She crawled under the stairs and tucked herself by Irene’s side, playing with the frills of her dress. 

“How long do you think we still have?” She asked in a quiet voice. 

Irene thought about it. 

“Enough.” She smiled at Catherine. 

Kai hummed in agreement. It had been his idea to renovate their vows, after all, death had done them apart. And it had been Irene’s idea to throw the party. Their first wedding was far too hurried, and if there was one thing she regretted was not seeing herself as a bride. It’s not that she had this childish dream of being a beautiful bride and having the perfect wedding, quite the opposite, in fact. 

Irene was so sure she would never be a bride that she owed it to herself to wear the most traditional dress she could find. To write her vows by hand and to kiss her husband on the altar. 

If this was her last day, Irene would go willingly. But it wasn’t. And it wouldn’t be for a very long time.

Vale found them many minutes later by chance. He was walking through the hall when the sight caught his eye. He smiled fondly at the three people that he called family. 

Irene offered her hand and pulled him between her and Kai. Vale’s body tensed for a second, before relaxing into the warmth of their arms. 

“The guests will wonder.” He complained, but his voice was soft. 

“Let them.” Kai said. 

Vale closed his eyes. 

Irene could still hear the party outside, but it didn’t matter. The rise and fall of Vale’s breathing. Kai’s hand on hers. Catherine’s arm pressed against her body. Those were the things that mattered. 

A stubborn part of her mind bugged her for plans, strategies, adventures. Irene was used to having short term objectives. Get a book, sign a treaty, solve a murder. She never had time. 

Irene wasn’t worried now. There was her whole life. And there was forever.