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It had finally happened.
The thing Scott had dreaded so much since the day he was sent away to the capitol..
The two kingdoms were locked in a bloodthirsty battle, the rank stench of blood tainting the air as the clank of metal against metal filled his ears.
He stumbled through the battlefield, lily staff clutched in his hands as he wildly looked around, hoping to see anyone from the blue kingdom safe and alive.
Why, you ask, did this battle happen? He couldn’t tell you.
Tensions had been high for a while, with both kingdoms having scraps and arguments constantly. Inevitably, of course, battle had finally happened—and here Scott was—his dads death still stinging sharp in his heart.
He didn’t want to be here—he wasn’t a fighter, for gods sake—.. he couldn’t even cast spells properly without them fizzling out or casting the wrong thing. He was barely qualified to be considered a “mage” at all. That didn’t stop his mayor from sending him away of course, as though he were nothing but an object, a means of trade or payment. No, he was sent to fight a battle that he never wanted anything with.
He dashed and weaved through the fighting bodies, his pale blue cape billowing behind him as he flickered in and out of visibility. His mind flashed between people as he thought of who to try and find: Shan or Eloise perhaps? They were both much more capable mages though, and somehow seemed to always know what they were doing. If anything, he would simply be getting under their feet. Both Graecie and Owain were capable fighters and could easily fend for themselves…. There shouldn't be any help needed there. 4c and Mae were quick and nimble, they could fend for themselves (at least he thinks so). So that left Nom, right? Except Nom didn’t need him either, he was one of the strongest knights in the kingdom, of course Nom didn’t need Scott—quite the opposite in fact; Scott would get in his way and only mess things up more.
Just like how Scott always did.
Now fully invisible (the only thing he could ever be good at) he couldn’t help but look at the ground as he wallowed in his own pity, feeling sick at the sight of the deep crimson red staining each blade of grass—the once bright green plains of no man’s land now tainted with the battle's regrets. Bodies lay—scattered and abandoned without much of a second thought, left to the cold night air to chill their warmth and stare up at the otherwise beautiful starry night.
A shame—such a beautiful night to be a time of fighting and pain. He drew closer to one of the nameless knights—a young girl of the blue kingdom from what he could remember. She had just been knighted a week ago, so full of life and joy, ready to fulfill her purpose as a knight. Now here she lay, her blood soaking the soil beneath her in a pour of crimson, her eyes staring blankly into the sky as an arrow embedded in her heart.
Scott slowly reached for her face, brushed her hair to the side and gently closed her eyes. Maybe he couldn’t do much—but he could grant the young girl some semblance of peace in her dying state.
“4C NO- WATCH OUT-“
Scott leaped to his feet, heart beating out of his chest as he heard Nom’s panicked yell ringing out from across the battlefield. He jerked his head to the sound of the scream.
Nom was breathing hard, his hair plastered to his face from sweat and blood donning his armor. He was running towards .. 4c, who has been cornered by Apo, her spear raised—clearly intent on killing him. Nom wasn’t fast enough though, he wouldn’t make it. He wouldn’t be able to save 4c in time—
Maybe Scott could finally be worth something…
Nom ran as fast as he could across the battlefield, his lungs burning and screaming for air as his legs, weak from fighting and maneuvering around his opponents, struggled to carry him to his friend in time. Maybe he knew deep inside that he couldn’t make it in time, that he just wasn’t fast enough, that he wasn’t good enough. That he couldn’t save his closest friend, the one who he had trusted with everyone, that 4c would die because of his incompetence.
That didn’t stop him though, no matter what, Nom would run till the end, he would fight until his final breath. Not for the joy of the kill or for the rush of his blade against another’s, but for the knowledge that he’s protecting his loved ones, his family and the people who had come to be his family.
He leaped forward, using his shields momentum to dash forward as Apo raised her spear, preparing to strike-
Fuck. He couldn’t- he wasn’t-
Suddenly, thorns burst up from in front of 4c, flying up into Apo’s face, knocking away her spear and slicing her arms and face where her armor didn’t cover. She leapt back in pain, the poison stinging each mark left by the many tiny thorns. 4c quickly leapt up and away, backing up to where he knew Nom was. Nom stood in shock for a second—the thorns.. he was okay! 4c was fine.. but -
He whirled around
Scott was shaking slightly next to him, his staff slowly lowering, a faint glow emitting from the white lily at the tip. The half-elf looked shaken, a bit of fear mixed with determination in his eyes. His legs shook with the concentration of the thorns still slowly crawling towards Apo, pushing her back further and further with every burst and cut. Eventually he decided it was enough, and with trembling legs he pulled back, lowering his staff as he let out a huff of pent up air.
Nom stared at him in silence, a gratitude he couldn’t express welling up inside him as he stared at the nature mage he had grown so fond of. He reached out slightly—as if wanting to hug him, but pulled his hand away awkwardly at the last second.
“Thank you.” He murmured, staring at the slightly shorter mage in front of him.
“Huh.” Scott looked back up at him “for saving him?”
Nom nodded.
Scott shook his head and smiled “he’s a part of this kingdom.. I value him.” He glanced over at 4c, who was now standing near the pair as well “plus, you two are best friends.. I couldn’t just let him get killed by her. Plus… I finally wanted to be useful for once in my life”
Nom felt a slight pang at the self deprecating words Scott was using, though he couldn’t say he was entirely shocked—especially after his dad died.. though it didn’t make it any more wrong.
Nom placed his hand on Scott’s shoulder, firm but not quite squeezing, “you are useful Scott, before helping 4c, before even coming to this kingdom. You should give yourself credit for your accomplishments.. yknow.”
A slight heat ran up to Scott’s face, a pink tinge flushed on his cheeks as he awkwardly smiled back at Nom.
“Thank you-“
4c appeared back next to them—he had been gone for a few minutes after they had started talking. He grabbed Nom’s hand with a dark look in his eyes as he spoke, “nom- Katie.. owain- he.. they’re-..”
Nom froze, Scott forgotten momentarily in light of the message.
He didn't need any more explanation. That fucking bastard—Owain was. There they were, Katie and Owain locked in a fierce battle, swords clanging against one another. He couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pride at his younger sisters fighting. She had undoubtedly improved so much—but he knew she was ultimately no match for the older knight.
He ran across to them, slamming into Owain with a cry. Shocked at first, but recovering quickly, Owain turned on Nom. His mask hid all emotion, but Nom easily knew his anger was seething.
“You traitor. How dare you?” He said lowly, his voice slightly muffled from the lion mask, but anger nonetheless sickening and clear “you turn on me? Your loyalty really doesn’t lie with the kingdom?”
Nom glared back. He had no shame. He would fight for his sister, for gods sake he would slit Owain’s throat if it meant keeping Katie safe.
“I told you what would happen if you fought Katie.” He said plainly, raising his sword to meet Owains’s.
Owain was silent for a moment, the cold bearing eyes of the gold lion mask staring back.
“So be it.” Owain said coldly, and leapt forward, Nom following suit. The two knights locked into a vicious battle..
Nom and Owain were now fighting, two blue kingdom knights were now fighting. Scott wouldn’t pretend like he would fault Nom for it, never in a million years. In all honesty, he agreed with Nom. Katie was his sister, and Scott knew all too well how important protecting your family was.
He watched the pair for a few minutes, the knight’s swords clashing back and forth, sparks flying as they leaped, lunged, rolled, and stabbed. It almost had him in a trance as he watched, unable to tear his eyes away from the fight.
He shook his head, yanking himself out of the trance. 4c was gone again, though he couldn’t really blame the rougue—he was just glad he was fine. He did wonder where he had run off to though, the battle was still raging around them, even more blood and bodies scattered across the grass, making him feel sick to his stomach as he tried to avoid stepping in any of it.
His peace didn’t last though, with a yell Katie—out of nowhere—lunged at him, her sword glinting in the light as it flew right towards his face. He leaped back instinctively, flicking out of visibility as he felt his heart hammering out of his chest. This was real now—he wasn’t on the sidelines, nor was he fighting from a distance. She wanted to fight, to kill him. He couldn’t beat her, he was just a pathetic mage—he couldn’t even fight! Sure, he had thorns, but Katie was more nimble than Apo had been, she could easily dodge them.
“Stop hiding mage!” She hissed out, whirling around as she tried to find him. She sounded upset, angry, but not in the murderous way, she was almost.. sad? Maybe she didn’t wanna fight—maybe she just wanted peace? Or maybe she just wanted to prove herself to be a competent knight no matter what stood in her way.
No matter the reason, she stood her ground, eyes boring into the empty air around her hoping for any sign of Scott’s whereabouts. Scott knew not to run, but unfortunately for him—and almost ironically for his luck—he stepped on a twig, the small crack being just enough to send Katie flying towards him.
She slammed the hilt of her sword at him, the blunt metal tip slamming into his wrist, shattering it instantly. Scott screamed in pain and he fell back into the grass. He clutched his wrist as he looked up at her quickly, trying to turn invisible, but the pain was far too great for him to properly focus. She stared back, an unreadable expression on her face as she raised her sword almost robotically, ready to strike.
Ignoring the white-hot pain, he rolled out of the way, Katie’s sword burying itself into the spot he had been in mere seconds before. He made tiny vines wrap around the sword, pulling it into the ground as he struggled to stand. He had just gotten to his feet as she finally yanked the sword out of the ground, the blade covered in dirt and mud, that would easily be infected if she stabbed him with it, he thought uneasily to himself.
“Katie- don’t… Why are you doing this..?” Scott asked, almost pleading with her as she slowly advanced on him, taking a step back for every step she took forward. He didn’t know her the best, but from what Nom had told him, she was normally sweet. Along with the fact that she had left the blue kingdom to join the red kingdom.
Katie’s grip on her sword tightened, “don’t pretend like you know me.” She spoke quietly “I have to do this. To prove my honor, to show that I’m strong”
She started to take a bigger step forward, a slight bit of hesitation in her movements.
“What would Nom think?”
That was the completely wrong answer.
Katie exploded in anger
“I AM MORE THAN BEING NOM’S SISTER” she screamed, lunging forward, her sword slicing through his sleeve, leaving a good sized gash in his arm. He screeched in pain, curling in on himself as he swung his staff at her, just barely managing to intercept her second swing. Inevitability though, the force of her pushing down started to push him downwards, and his grip on his staff started to slip.
“Katie..”
“Shut up Scott! I’m so TIRED of everyone comparing me to him! To making fun of me! To reducing me to NOTHING!” With each point she pushed harder, pushing Scott down more and more. She glared down at him, her anger clouding any valid reason she could’ve had.
Scott yanked his staff back, diving out of the way as her sword came crashing down. With his left wrist shattered and his right forearm gushing blood, he didn’t have a very good control on his magic, but with pure determination he managed to cast astral bolts, sending them flying towards Katie, sending her flying backwards.
“I’m sorry Katie. I didn’t mean to say it like that” he pleaded with her
She shook her head, trying not to cry
“It doesn’t matter Scott. It’s true. It’s all true.” She looked down, tears starting to well up. She paused, looking up with newfound determination.
“But I can prove I’m strong, I can prove I’m worth something" she glared at him—running fast at him, faster than he’d ever seen her run.
He had no time to react, barely managing to lift his staff as Katie lunged at him, plunging her sword into his side, just barely missing his vital organs as he twisted slightly.
He screamed in pain, immediately falling to the ground, blade still stuck in his side, blood now pouring out of the brutal wound. He gasped, the sticky blood coating his fingers as he tried to stop the blood, but to no avail, it kept coming out. The blood soaked his clothes now, the grass turning a bright red.
The pain was unlike anything he’d ever experienced, the feeling of the cold metal embedded in his flesh made him want to scream, cry, and sleep all at the same time. The wound was gaping, and blood wasn’t stopping anytime soon. Ignoring Katie standing above him now crying, he carefully summoned some magic, and with a whimper of pain, he pulled the sword out, wincing as blood immediately poured out. He quickly cast vines around his waist, simulating bandages around his abdomen. Until he could get proper care (if he was even able to), this would suffice.
He could look up, couldn’t stand, he just wanted to curl up in a ball and tune the world out.
Until he heard a small voice, full of betrayal and pain..
Nom..?
The fight with Owain had been brutal. Sword against sword, stab against slash. Neither man had let up, both fighting to the fullest of their abilities despite being in the same kingdom. Harsh words had been exchanged and Nom was pretty sure his relationship—if you could even call it that—with Owain was completely destroyed after this. He honestly didn’t care though, protecting his sister was worth any amount of fights with Owain.
They would’ve seriously injured each other if it hadn’t been for Shan trapping Owain in a bubble and pulling him away. She sent him into the battlefield, sending him to hopefully fight somewhere else.
Shan glared at him, clearly angry at his fighting. He didn’t care, he didn’t care about anyone’s opinions. They didn’t matter to him.
“What were you thinking Nom!?” She exclaimed, throwing her arms up in exasperation “he’s on our side!!” She stared at him, her expression softening “what happened..”
Nom stared at her.
“She tried to kill Katie”
An uncomfortable silence filled the air between them, neither speaking a word. Shan didn't reply, looking away.
“I see. Uhm… okay.” She sighed, rubbing her neck, “okay, I understand just.. Please don’t try and kill him.”
Nom didn’t reply. Her words meant nothing to him. If he had to kill Owain to protect Katie, well then he’d do it a million times over.
He was about to reply when 4c appeared next to him, the slime man out of breath and clearly panicked. He yanked Nom away from Shan, dashing away with Nom in his wake. Nom stumbled after him, trying to keep up with the rogue's faster pace.
“What happened..??” Nom asked, his voice slightly muffled as they rushed to a corner of the fight where two people stood—or actually one stood and the other was stumbling away. Wait— no.. they were-
“Katie- she attacked Scott after you left.” 4c let go and turned to face Nom “it’s bad, she hurt him, she-“
They both went silent.
Nom watched as Katie drove her sword into the blonde mage’s side, the blood gushed instantaneously.
He felt sick.
He felt hurt(?)
He felt betrayed.
4c’s voice muffled into the background as his ears started to ring—he couldn’t hear anything—all his focus was on the scene in front of him. His sister, his dear little sister Katie.. drove her blade into the man he had.. come to care for.. deeply. She had driven the blade into him. He watched as he screamed—it was sickening, it was horrible and bloodcurdling and it made him want to scream as well. He watched as Scott collapsed into the ground in a heap clutching the gaping wound he now sported in his side.
He watched as Scott wrapped vines around himself. He stared as Katie just watched.
His sister Katie.
His little sister he had trained alongside to become knights—who had left him because she was jealous. Who had left him because she wanted her own life. One without him, clearly.
She had tried to kill Scott. A mage. One who couldn’t defend himself. No, that wasn’t knightly, that was cowardly. That was brutal.
He was his sister though.
He couldn't stop caring
Yet he felt so utterly betrayed, so hurt.
“Katie..?” His voice wasn’t his own, it was broken and quiet, and it carried none of the conviction it usually did. He sounded like a broken child—just like when Katie had first left.
Katie whirled around, horror on her face.
“Nom-..I..” she stuttered slightly, wringing her fingers together.
He looked at her, then at Scott’s body and back at her.
“You stabbed a defenseless mage..”
She looked guilty. Utterly guilty.
“I had to.. I had to defend my kingdom.. I had to prove myself”
Nom was angry now. He was so angry
“You didn’t have to “prove” yourself by fighting and stabbing a MAGE Katie! You know he isn’t on your level of fighting!”
She didn’t have any words for that, and she didn’t stop him as he slowly walked over to Scott, his feet felt heavy, like weights had been strapped to them. He looked down, kneeling next to Scott as he gently brushed his sweat soaked hair out of his face. He noticed a deep gash in his right arm, and his left wrist was horribly misshapen. He was so pale, he was pale, sweaty, and shaky. He looked horrible.
He felt horrible. He was a failure. He couldn’t stop Katie from being a killer, and now he couldn’t even stop one of his closest friends from being gravely injured.
“Hey Scott.” He said softly, reaching for his limp hand “it’s me, Nom”
Scott’s eyes flicked to him, but he made no effort to reply, only staring back into Nom’s eyes. Nom felt sick, physically and mentally. Fuck, Scott was so hurt. He needed to get him back to the kingdom, back to safety. He stood up, carefully lifting Scott as he stood, careful not to mess or jostle any of his wounds.
“Nom… please. I’m sorry” Katie said quietly from behind him.
Nom was silent. He didn’t turn around, didn’t look at her.
“You aren’t who I thought you were.. you know that, Katie? My little sister wouldn’t have hurt an innocent person—wouldn’t have attacked just because they were told to.” He trailed off, looking down at Scott , “she wouldn’t have left me.” He trailed off
Now Katie was upset, “that’s not fair Nom! I’m a knight, I have to do what my monarch says.. and .. and if that’s a battle so be it.” She got quiet as she finished that sentence, almost as if she regretted it herself.
“You chose the red kingdom Katie, you chose this”
“Nom! Stop saying that! This is what we wanted when we trained.. this was our dream.. the be knights, to FIGHT for our kingdom!”
“No. We wanted to protect loved ones, to protect those who couldn’t, to bring honor.” He was silent “you didn’t do that”
Katie let out a choked sob, trying so hard to not start crying. She couldn’t get any words out.
Nom turned his head slightly
“I won’t fight you. Can’t fight you. You’re my little sister, I’ll always love you.” He started, turning his attention back to the injured mage in his arms “but you aren’t the little sister I know. You aren’t my honorable sister Katie now. I’ll have to accept that. I’m sorry. I don’t know if we should talk much anymore.” His voice shook as he spoke, tears of his own threatening to spill down his face as he heard her start to cry. She never spoke though, just watching as he headed back to the stone gates of the blue kingdom.
It had been 2 weeks since the battle and Nom had been in Scott’s house every single day. He brought food, fresh bandages, helped clean his house, and helped water his plants. Scott knew this was in part due to what had happened with Katie, but he couldn’t say he didn’t enjoy the constant appearances from the knight.
His wound was still bad, and he had to regularly change his bandages on his abdomen. On the brighter side though, his right arm was mostly healed, although his wrist was still casted and bound, leaving little room for him to be able to do work with his arms.
He was healing well though, and partially due to Nom’s help and attention. He enjoyed it, and enjoyed having Nom around a lot. It made him feel funny, like he was excited and nervous, which was weird considering it had only been two weeks since getting stabbed.
He blinked his eyes open, looking down as Nom cheerfully opened the door to his house, dropping some stuff down by the greenhouse before coming up the ladder to his room.
“Hey Scott! How are you doing today? The wounds getting any better”
“As better as they can be without any healing magic”
Nom nodded, turning around to go grab a fresh roll. Though Scott noticed a fresh cut on the back of his arm. Not deep, just.. there. Something Scott knew Nom wouldn’t have gotten lest he has wanted to or simply not cared enough to stop. He frowned, looking at the wound, Nom had been showing up with more of them every couple days. Maybe it wasn’t grounds for so much concern, they weren’t deep or anything—but it still worried him to think that the wounds were left purposefully.
“You’re hurt again”
Nom froze in his actions, stiffening slightly.
“It’s .. fine! Just slipped up at the arena today.”
Scott was quiet for a minute, just observing the knight grab the gauze and medicine. That’s bullshit and he knew it, Nom wouldn’t have let that happen on “accident”
“Is it about Katie?”
The gauze fell from Nom’s hand, and he picked it up just as quickly, turning around with a hurt look on his face. He didn’t say anything as he made his way to Scott, helping the man lean up in bed, carefully cleaning and changing the wrap on his waist, then the same for his arm.
His hands were shaky—unsteady—as he worked, slipping up a few times. Scott gently put his hand on Nom’s hand, halting his work as he looked at the knight.
“Nom?”
“Please Scott… Just let me do this. It’s the one thing I can do well despite fighting—but” he trailed off with a harsh laugh, “I can’t even do that well. You got hurt, you were injured because I couldn’t protect you” his voice shook as he stared at Scott, barely being able to meet his eyes.
Scott shook his head, tilting Nom’s head back up to meet his eyes, gently caressing his face as he felt a single tear slip down.
“Nom, this wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have stopped it. You were protecting Katie from Owain—that’s something I can’t fault you for.”
Nom shook his head “she hurt you—Scott she..she almost killed you.” He croaked out, unable to form his words properly.
“But she didn’t, you were there”
“That—I only knew because of 4c! I wouldn’t have even got my eyes off of Owain if it weren’t for him and Shan!” He sounded so hurt, so guilty, so sad. So unlike how the knight usually was.
“You aren’t responsible for your sister’s actions. She made her choices; you saved her, you protected your family and that’s honorable.” Scott moved his hands down to hold Nom’s own shaking ones “you did save her, and then you helped me. You’ve saved me by being here, by taking care of me. That’s something I don’t think anyone else would do.”
Nom was silent, his eyes unblinking as he stared at Scott.
“I’m sure the other mages would. Graecie would..” he trailed off.
“But you did.”
“…”
“Thank you Nom, you’ve been so kind.. you’ve been so good to me. Thank you” he smiled, feeling his stomach do that flip again “you’ve made me feel so at home since.. since everything happened. I can’t ever say that enough”
He couldn’t ignore the way Nom’s face tinged slightly pink at Scott’s words.
“Thank you.. I… I’ve loved your company, you know. It’s.. it’s different than anyone else. I don’t have to pretend, to try to be someone I’m not around you. It’s so freeing, like… I can just be myself around you. I don’t think I’ve had that around anyone but 4c.. but it’s different with 4c. I can’t explain it but… you’re just special.”
Now it was Scott’s turn to blush. He felt the heat rush to his cheeks as he listened to Nom, lips quivering as he tried to reply.
“Thank you.. Nom.”
They were both silent for a while. A calm, comfortable silence, one where no one needed to say anything or do anything to fill the silence.
Nom gently took Scott’s hand, simply holding it. He didn’t say anything—the gesture was enough, and Scott didn’t pull away, only squeezed back. He leaned his head against Nom’s shoulder and closed his eyes.
There were things to fix, relationships to mend, wounds to heal—but here they had a moment of calm, and a way to escape the tragedies of it all.
They would relish in that peace, and their comfort of one another—even if just for that moment.