Chapter Text
Most issues within Hero Haven came to rise with the thanks of a particular green and divine duo.
The walking pair of problems known as Auster and Nine.
Somehow, by the playful hands of the Almighty and the alignment of the stars, they found themselves frolicking around on the floor of the one place in the Hero House where leisure was absolutely forbidden.
The Hero Archives.
Even the blue flames of the lanterns lighting up the archives seemed to flicker in fear as Auster presented a strange box to Nine.
“Hey. Check this out.” Auster said, eying the box in curiosity.
The box wasn’t your typical delivery package. It was entirely black, with golden runes running along all its faces. A complicated latch that screamed “MULTIVERSAL DOOM WILL BEFALL ALL LANDS IF I’M OPENED” sealed the box shut with no clear way of opening it.
“Huh.” Nine lowered himself gently to the ground, giving the box a suspicious stare. “Now that’s something you don’t see every day. What’s it doing down here?”
Auster shrugged nonchalantly. “Beats me. But look at the lock. That’s the kind of lock you’ll find on boxes and chests that contain rare specimens of treasure!”
Nine’s eyes shimmered slightly at the mention of treasure. “I don’t know, Auster. It doesn’t look safe to me.”
Nine attempted to glance away but soon found himself hungrily gazing into the box with a dangerous glint of curiosity in his eyes.
“I do like good treasure, though…”
“You mean if you’re able to open this, we’ll be more stinking rich than all the kingdoms across the multiverse?” Auster asked innocently.
“If I’m able to? Of course I’m able to!” Nine boasted as his hands shone with divine energy only he was familiar with. “What kind of Celestrian would I be if I didn’t know how to breach through simple locks?”
An ominous air shrouded the mysterious box, as it creaked quietly, almost as if it were alive.
“F̷o̷o̷l̷i̷s̷h̷ ̷c̷h̷i̷l̷d̷r̷e̷n̷…̷y̷o̷u̷ ̷s̷h̷a̷l̷l̷ ̷s̷o̷o̷n̷ ̷s̷e̷e̷ ̷t̷h̷a̷t̷ ̷ ̶c̶u̶r̶i̶o̶s̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶k̶i̶l̶l̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶a̶t̶.̶…”
With a sample of celestial energy, the box soon clicked open as Auster and Nine giddily peered inside…
…only to be greeted by emptiness.
“Huh?” Auster’s eyes furrowed. “Well, that’s lame.”
Nine huffed in disappointment as the box was settled down. “Wow. Thanks for getting my hopes up for nothing, Auster.”
“Hey! I could have sworn I heard some type of jingling in there!”
Before Nine could retort, a gutted yell tore from upstairs.
“AUSTER. NINE.” Eight screamed. “WHAT DID YOU OPEN?!”
The two devils mentioned exchanged alarmed glances, mentally parading the responsibility and the blame between themselves before Nine finally spoke up.
“W-well…uh. Auster found this black box-“
“ARE YOU TRYING TO GET ME KILLED?!”
From upstairs, Alef watched with concern painted in his eyes from the kitchen island as Eight spiraled into pain, the guard viciously grabbing his head and shaking it rapidly, as if attempting to shake off an ancient curse.
Alef slowly inched towards Eight with a hand raised in worry. “Eight? Are you…”
“Alef.” Eight cut the first hero off. “Get the others down here. Quickly. I can’t explain but you’ll soon see. The backyard! Meet me there!”
Eight didn’t wait for a response from Alef before bolting outside towards the back door.
Soon, a dragon’s roar thundered across Hero Haven’s grounds, quaking the floors beneath them.
The depths of the Hero Archives weren’t spared from the violent trembling as Auster and Nine fully realized the extent of what they potentially unleashed.
“Auster…”
“Nine…”
Silence.
“We’re both in serious trouble.”
~
Nine heroes and an orb gawked in horror as a mighty dragon, red scales gleaming sinisterly underneath the afternoon sunlight, stood before them, tail swishing gently but to them, could immediately knock them off their feet.
The dragon in the backyard was no other than Eight, in courtesy of his half Dragovian blood. However, he didn’t transform into this form at will.
Abel immediately glared into the devious duo, as Auster and Nine shrunk away in shame, twiddling with their thumbs.
“Do I even have to ask if this is your guys’ doing?” he asked coldly, his stare so icy it could have petrified both boys on the spot.
Their jittery body language immediately gave away the obvious answer.
“Figures.” Abel sneered.
“Okay, um, problem detected.” Eleven said as he gazed upon Eight’s majestic dragon form. “Problem. Eight is a dragon now.”
“Gee. I would have thought a Godbird landed in our backyard instead.” Allen groaned.
“Another problem. He can’t speak to us like this.”
A grunt escaped from Eight’s nostrils, smoke flaring out and dissipating into the air, confirming Eleven’s fears.
“Last problem…this change appears to be irreversible.”
That was the nail in the coffin.
“Irreversible…?” Solo quoted as if the word mocked his entire existence. “That would mean-“
“Yeah…he’s stuck like this is for good. But there is a way to reverse it, I swear, I read it in a book!”
“Eleven.” Erdrick sighed. “Why describe this transformation as ‘irreversible’ when the books you claimed to have read stated there’s a way to reverse it?”
“I said it only APPEARED to be irreversible!” Eleven insisted.
“Yeah, but then you said Eight’s stuck like this for good.” Alef stated.
“Not the point!” Eleven glanced back up at the dragon Eight towering above the heroes. “Hey…Eight. Give us a signal that you’re still there.”
The crimson dragon huffed slightly and produced a small, flickering ember from his mouth.
“Oh good, he’s not lost to us after all.” Ten muttered to himself from the confinement of his orb. “Well, what are we doing just standing around? Get to it, everyone! Just don’t let his embers fall onto me, I just returned from a volcanic expedition!”
Rek smiled sheepishly as he offered dragon Eight the most polite look he could manage that resembled more of a grimace.
“So…uh, any clues on what to do, Scaly?”
Eight huffed heavily again, more smoke dissolving in the air.
Rek immediately straightened himself upright. “Right. Can’t talk. You’re a big dragon. Great. That’s helpful.”
All eyes fell onto Eleven as the Luminary pondered deeply to himself. It didn’t take more than one brain cell for him to feel multiple pairs of eyes on him.
“Why’s everyone looking at me like that…?” Eleven asked, the gazes of many heroes seemingly burrowing deep into him as if he was the one responsible for this transformation.
“Why are we looking at you like this? You said you read a way to reverse it in a book, did you not? Go on. Tell us how we can reverse this.” Allen said firmly.
“R-Right.” Eleven retrieved a thick tome stowed away in his satchel, its weight already settling in his hands.
“This is a book I got from my grandpa. Don’t know the full context, but he said something among the lines of “I dinnae about ye, laddie, but I suppose ye should keep yer hands on this book, should any wee lads too curious for their own good go stickin’ their noses where they werenae supposed tae’.”
Auster and Nine shuffled backwards slightly, clearly guilty of this whole situation going haywire in the first place.
This didn’t go unnoticed by Solo, who immediately pitied the two boys. “Yikes…you two are definitely in trouble with Eight if we ever manage to change him back.”
“No need to remind us. We know.” Nine sulked, his wings drooping in despair.
“Already prepping myself to carry 110 pounds up The Tallest Tower and back down.” Auster added, his posture slumping downwards.
Abel raised an eyebrow as he skimmed through the text displayed on the pages. “The Marshmallow Pact? How in the world is that supposed to help?”
“Hey, remember the demon from the campsite. Before we left the campsite, he left me this pretty creepy note.” Rek revealed a small slip of folded paper between his fingers. “Said dragons like melted sweets. I don’t know if I can put my trust on that.”
Alef emerged from the Hero House’s kitchen, same bag of smooshed marshmallows residing in his arms. “Whatever is whatever. We’re trying every solution in Eleven’s book until Eight changes back somehow.”
Ten coughed from within his orb. “EVERY solution? You do realize that book is thick enough to leave a concussion on the strongest hero, right?! We’ll be here for at least 3 days!”
“A week if we waste time idling.” Erdrick calmly said. “Perhaps more. Let us commence this ‘Marshmallow Pact’. Only then will we soon find the solution to this transformation.”
Soon, Eight was fed one marshmallow after another. Midway, at least what was estimated to be midway through the process, Rek lamented on the loss of high quality marshmallows.
“Do you want Eight back to normal or not?!” Solo snapped at him.
By noon, the heroes have burned through at least 5 bags of marshmallows. Abel swore he witnessed his credit card weeping after he was sent to restock their marshmallow supply.
“Why must it be me who was granted financial responsibility.” Abel sighed.
The process went nowhere. Minutes later, Eight’s massive, scaled form was writhing on the ground, a small scorched patch of grass forming in front of his snout.
Auster and Nine both winced as a massive groan rumbled through the air from Eight’s stomach.
“G-guys…it’s not working.” Auster stuttered.
“We are in some REAL trouble now.” Nine sobbed to himself.
“You mean YOU two are in trouble. You were the ones that caused this transformation!” Allen retorted, narrowing his eyes at the two boys. “Alef said you guys opened some ominous box. What about ‘do not open’ do you not get?”
“Allen.” Alef began. “That’s enough. Eight will deal with them accordingly once we change him back.”
Auster and Nine let out pitiful sniffles, the guilt now really drenching them heavily.
“Eight’s not sick…is he?” Ten asked. “That stomach rumble was a bad sign. Oh my god, he’s going to vomit, I can feel it. NOTHING is worse than dragon vomit. Please tell me there’s a mop on standby!”
“Relax, orb boy!” Rek casually blurted out. “He’ll be more than okay. He’s supposed to be a big, scary guard, remember? Something as puny as a marshmallow can’t stop him, even if he’s weak-“
Eight’s monstrous glare froze the Prince of Somnia on the spot. Rek immediately gave him a mock salute.
“I said nothing!”
Solo ran a hand through his green hair as he hastily turned to Eleven.
“Eleven. We can’t just stop here. There has to be…something that can be done!”
“Trust me, I’m trying to find something!” Eleven replied, hurriedly flipping through pages of the tome as if his life depended on it. “Okay, let’s see if this one works.”
First, they tried to serenade Eight with old melodies. It all went smoothly at first thanks to their HEROPOP experience, until Nine was given the microphone.
It was unclear to most of the heroes how HEROPOP became a fandom sensation after allowing Nine near a microphone. The boy may be divine, but he sings in a voice that could make angels weep.
“To shiiiiiine…like the sparkle…of a CELESTRIIIIIIIII-“
It got to a point where the squawking briefly severed Ten’s orb connection to the Hero House’s Wi-Fi.
“Earth to Zenithia!” Solo screamed over the celestial screeching. “Someone take that microphone away from him! I may die faster right now than I ever did in Nadiria!”
Eight, having enough with Nine’s chalkboard-scratching falsetto, gave one massive swoop of his giant tail and immediately knocked the microphone out of Nine’s hand, sending it rolling away into the bushes.
“EEEEEEEEK! SORRY!” Nine yelped, soon grounding himself.
Next came the therapeutic exposure, the solution that caught Ten’s attention.
Abel was in charge of making an herbal blend of tea, Erdrick set up a speaker playing classical Dragon Quest tunes, and Auster and Nine were forced to fan Eight with giant leaf fans.
The rest? Trying to fit Eight into a kiddie pool that was only large enough to host an Auster. It ended up deflating.
Eight roared in frustration, killing the idea.
Then came the idea to simply file a form for a curse removal.
Abel shrugged. “I read through forms all the time back in Gotha. Boring, but necessary in times of need.”
It was signed using one of Nine’s glitter pens. Rek had to forge Ten’s signature for him, much to his disappointment.
The paperwork was sent away by Auster via a fishing rod, only to be sent back almost instantly.
The signatures were gone, replaced with big, bold letters.
“THE DRAGON IS IMMUNE TO CURSES, YOU DUNCES.” it read.
“Is this not a curse?” Allen asked. “He got forced into his dragon form!”
“The Hero Haven committee classified it as a detrimental spell.” Eleven revealed.
“Is that not the same thing?!” Alef exclaimed, baffled.
By the time the sun set, the heroes have already scavenged through the entire tome, replicating plan after plan, only to have each one fail miserably.
Eight, sprawled out on his stomach, already grew to accept his fate in this old yet new body.
“I don’t get it!” Eleven said as he shook the tome like it would reveal a secret, grand plan no one could have ever thought. “We tried every plan in the book! I was sure one of them would work!”
“Well, we did go through it faster than I thought.” Ten whispered. “That’s impressive enough.”
Auster and Nine could only grimace as they came to realize the extent of what they unleashed thanks to their undying curiosity.
“Well, that’s charming, isn’t it?” Abel asked, bitterly chuckling. “Thanks to your nonstop snooping, Eight might be stuck like this for good.”
Before either could whimper out a response, an otherworldly, raspy voice echoed through the backyard.
“ ̶H̶e̶r̶o̶e̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̷t̷h̷e̷ ̷w̷o̷r̷l̷d̷…”
“What the?! Who goes there?!” Rek brandished the small folded paper like a blade. “Hey now, we aren’t afraid of you!”
“Look! Over there!” Solo pointed at the bird bath.
Sitting calmly in its waters was the mysterious black and gold box whose contents were the seed to the day’s entire problem.
“That’s it! That’s the box Auster found in the archives!” Nine exclaimed, his wings rustling ever so slightly.
“Again, you’re blaming me?!” Auster clapped back.
“You’re the one who suggested it in the first place!”
“True…” Auster whimpered, defeated.
Erdrick immediately marched towards the box with all the authority a legendary ancestor could hold.
“Speak. Auster and Nine said you were the root of the problem behind us when they curiously opened you, yes?” he interrogated. “Tell us. There’s a way to reverse this, is there not?”
The box remained silent for a good minute before speaking up.
“ ̶Y̶e̶s̶…̶y̶e̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶i̶s̶.̶ ̷M̷y̷t̷h̷s̷ ̷d̷e̷s̷c̷r̷i̷b̷e̷ ̷t̷h̷e̷s̷e̷…̷c̷u̷r̷s̷e̷s̷…̷o̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶D̶r̶a̶g̶o̶v̶i̶a̶n̶ ̶k̶i̶n̶d̶ ̶i̶r̶r̶e̶v̶e̶r̶s̶i̶b̶l̶e̶…̶b̷u̷t̷ ̷o̷n̷l̷y̷ ̷a̷ ̷f̷o̷o̷l̷ ̷c̷o̷u̷l̷d̷ ̷c̷o̷n̷c̷l̷u̷d̷e̷ ̷w̷i̷t̷h̷ ̷t̷h̷a̷t̷.̷” it rasped.
“So there is a way?!” Allen asked, suddenly giddy. “Please tell us, oh peculiar box! We just want our friend back!”
“ ̷T̷h̷e̷n̷ ̷l̷i̷s̷t̷e̷n̷ ̷w̷e̷l̷l̷,̷ ̷c̷h̷i̷l̷d̷.̷ ̶Y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶s̶c̶a̶l̶y̶ ̶f̶r̶i̶e̶n̶d̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶m̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶u̶c̶h̶e̶d̶ ̶b̶y̶ ̶a̶ ̶p̶u̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶c̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶h̶e̶a̶r̶t̶.̶”
“So what you’re saying is…we have to do an act of humility to undo the curse?” Alef questioned.
“ ̶P̶r̶e̶c̶i̶s̶e̶l̶y̶.̶” the box replied. “ ̷O̷n̷c̷e̷ ̷h̷e̷’̷s̷ ̷r̷e̷s̷t̷o̷r̷e̷d̷…̷ ̶s̶e̶a̶l̶ ̶m̶e̶ ̶a̶w̶a̶y̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶w̶h̶e̶re w̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶n̶o̶ ̶i̶r̶r̶e̶s̶p̶o̶n̶s̶i̶b̶l̶e̶ ̶h̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶c̶h̶…̶”
And with that, the box went silent.
“Wow. Real bold of it to drop that on us and not give us a hint on what ‘act of humility’ is required.” Ten snorted. “Anyways, this one’s on you all! I’m in an orb, so there’s little I can do to assist you.”
“Now you want to hide in your orb?” Eleven asked, bewildered.
“Okay!” Abel clapped his hands. “Acts of humility that’ll touch Eight! Who will go first?”
Silence shrouded the heroes until Rek and Solo sneered at each other.
“Fine. I guess I was wrong using your hair gel without your permission.” Solo admitted. A fire immediately ignited in Rek’s eyes.
“You WHAT?!”
Abel immediately wrestled both teens under his grip to prevent the immanent brawl. “Anyone except Rek and Solo.”
Alef and Allen immediately turned to Erdrick standing behind them.
“Gramps. Did we ever tell you that we love you and treasure you so much?” Alef asked.
Erdrick nodded, offering his two descendants a polite smile. “Yes, Alef. You told me that plenty of times. And I appreciate the fact that you cherish me so much.”
“Well, it’s true!” Allen added. “You’re the best, Gramps.”
“I hear that often, Allen.”
Hopeful glances were thrown in dragon Eight’s direction. The guard was still very much a dragon.
Alef sighed deeply. “Even if it didn’t work, it doesn’t change our love for you, Gramps…”
Erdrick pulled in both of his descendants closely. “You two truly are the descendants of all time.”
“Bleh.” Ten gagged. “Familial love. Spare me the sympathies.”
“Jealous because you couldn’t repeat the same gestures to your family, orb boy?” Abel smirked.
“Watch that tone, Abel.” Ten warned. “This is why Pankraz died, you know?”
Abel immediately backed down. “Papa…he never left my heart…”
The brief tension between Abel and Ten was quickly broken by a desperate devious duo.
“Okay! Yes! It was both of our doings. I confess, I confess!” Nine admitted, words spewing quickly out of his lips.
“I saw a shiny black box and thought it contained some kind of ancient treasure so I showed it to Nine and he opened it with his powers so we could see what was inside and we realized what we did was wrong, please don’t kill us, I still have a life to live and fish to catch!” Auster begged, tears streaming down his face.
Now that the truth was back, everyone optimistically glanced at Eight again…who still remained in his draconic body. The dragon huffed for what felt like the fifteenth time that day.
“Well, this is getting us nowhere!” Solo hollered in pure fury.
“Bullshit! I declare bullshit!” Rek pumped an angry fist upwards. “I knew better than to listen to a creepy talking box!”
“Unless…” Eleven spoke his thoughts aloud. “…unless the act of humility has to come from Eight himself?”
Now that has the heroes thinking.
“But he’s still a dragon.” Ten pointed out. “What more can he possibly do in that state?”
“Communication may not be possible, but even in dragon form, Eight still has a side of humanity, which means he has access to humans emotions. Perhaps, it was up to him this whole time.” Erdrick explained.
Eight lifted his head as gently as he could off of the scorched grass, now intrigued in the direction this was going in.
“Alright. But this better work or my whole day was wasted over something Eight could have easily solved himself.” Allen grumbled.
Eight slowly rose from the ground, his dragon body already taking up most of the backyard space. He fully extended his legs and soon towered over the Hero House, scoring through the terrain until he came across a familiar structure.
The skinned oak tree from the battle cry practice that has clearly seen better days.
With a rumble, Eight released a soft grunt and bowed his head in apology to the poor tree, possibly for skinning it alive to fulfill his drill purposes.
“Wait…is he apologizing to the tree?” Auster asked curiously.
Poof.
A cloud of bright purple smoke enveloped Eight’s form and slowly shrunk him down until he was the size of a human again.
When the smoke dispersed, a very tattered Eight, now with arms and legs again and his bandanna undone, stood in the place of the mighty dragon.
Mouths fell agape.
“H-he’s back. He’s back!” Alef exclaimed. “Oh, thank Rubiss!”
However, Eight’s expression lacked any celebratory intentions. Only an intense anger burned behind those eyes of his. His gaze immediately fell on Auster and Nine.
Eleven immediately collected Ten’s orb as the heroes fled back into the Hero House to the safety of their bedrooms, leaving the devious duo alone with the fuming guard of Trodain.
Nine sheepishly smiled. Auster trembled violently.
“Uh…nice weather we’re having today, right?” Nine joked, attempting to diffuse the situation, which did little help.
“Tomorrow. 5 AM.” Eight ordered in a tone that left no room for commentary. “You will quarter-deck until your limbs can’t function no more.”
“But Eight-“
“SILENCE! That is DRILL SERGEANT EIGHT TO YOU, CELESTRIAN! I do not recall giving you permission to talk back. You better retire now, boys. Tomorrow will be a day for you two.”
Auster and Nine didn’t even have to argue any further as they trudged back into the Hero House in shame, Eight watching their figures disappear into the walls of the house.
That next morning, the box was immediately discarded into the depths of the Hero Archives, never to be seen again. As Eight barked continuous orders at two wincing boys, a new note in courtesy of Eleven appeared on the fridge.
“DO NOT OPEN MEANS DO NOT OPEN. This includes you, Auster and Nine.”