All these years spent risking his life to save her, to save everyone, never complaining, never asking for anything in return, just picking up his sword and readying his magic to throw himself into danger... All these years holding her in his arms and whispering sweet nothings in the night, pressing kisses to her neck and jaw and assuring her that she was his one and only... All these scars from battle, these tired bones, these victories and losses...
For what?
The day was saved for good. The great evil that overshadowed their lands was gone, had been gone for months, slayed by his own hand, an end to his journey, a new beginning for them all.
And here their hero was, tossed in the dungeons, held in chains, all because one woman thanked him for saving her husband with a kiss on the cheek.
Avery had never seen his princess so angry, so betrayed as he had that day. He'd tried to explain to her that the woman was married, that it was thankfulness and thankfulness alone on her part, that he loves (loved?) her and her alone and always would, but that had only seemed to anger her more.
The air had grown cold as he was dragged away, accused of aiding the very forces he had done his best to defeat this entire time. She fed him, at least, though he preferred the days that she sent servants and guards to do the deed instead. There was always a catch when Vanessa was involved these days: a hundred assurances of his love for her with each needing to be just as heartfelt as the last, each bite of food accompanied with a kiss, a candlelit dinner when he couldn't even reach the seat... The only question that seemed to be allowed was when he would see her next. Asking when he would be let out only ended in a hungry, empty night or two.
There was something different about her--not just her mannerisms and frightening obsession with their love, but a sort of aura of wrongness that he couldn't quite describe, that seemed to be getting stronger by the day. Days that seemed to be getting colder and colder as of late. Anymore, he spends the days in his cell shivering, teeth chattering away as he wonders if (when) it'll be cold enough for frostbite or hypothermia to send in.
Some days he remembers to use his magic to keep himself warm. Some days he's so tired he can't even be bothered.
He just doesn't get it.
How did he end up like this? What was the point of it all?
There's no warning of his arrival, no footfall or sound. Just a space suddenly filled, cloak swirling around him and failing to stir any air at all.
The wizard, face entirely shadowed by his hat, leans against the half-frozen wall - mostly for effect. His solidity is questionable right now, given that the last time they'd seen each other, Avery had put a sword through him.
"You look like you've seen better days. Did peace not agree with you, oh bold hero?"
Avery stares at the wizard in front of him, eyes wide, mouth agape.
The Dark Lord's servant. Here.
No.
No, it's impossible. Avery had defeated him (run him through, felt the hot coppery rivulets of blood run over and through his fingers, relished the moment and felt horror at it all the same). It can't be him.
"I've been down here too long," he croaks, and looks away, brows knit.
"Don't be such a child," he says witheringly, stepping forward to inspect him. His eyes glow as bright as they did every time they fought. It's like their last battle, when they finally faded, never happened. "Surely you've seen the dead before. Turning away won't do you any good."
There's not even the slightest hint of warmth from him. In the flickering light of the torches, he casts no shadow.
Avery scoffs. "So either you're the soul of a dead man come to taunt me while I wither away down here, or you're some sort of hallucination I'm having." He rolls his eyes, and fixes the wizard with a glare that would have been just as icy as the walls around them if it didn't hold such weariness. "What a wonderful choice."
"You're not even correct on either of your guesses, which is a step down from your usual cognition." He crosses his arms, meeting the hero's glare with a glare of his own. "Besides, I'm too lucid to be your hallucination. And if I was, I wouldn't have to ask why you were down here, would I?"
Despite his snappishness, he hasn't just turned around and left yet, so clearly there's something he's hanging around for. What that is, however, isn't yet clear.
"'Wouldn't have to ask why I'm down here,' he says..." It only makes him suspect the wizard all the more. How many times had he stolen Vanessa away? How long had she spent in his or the Dark Lord's capture?
They'd done something to her.
They had to have.
"But fine. If you're so eager to know, someone got the idea that I was working with you all this whole time."
"Had a falling out with someone special, did you?" It's a dispassionate observation. If the wizard (had the hero ever learned his name? Had he ever learned the hero's? Unclear. Irrelevant.) ever had someone special of his own, it's clearly not something that affects the things he says.
"You were a good rival, you know," he says, almost conversationally, after a long pause. "Clever. It seems such a waste for you to just rot away down here."
He glances around at the ice crawling up the walls.
"Well, in these conditions you wouldn't rot. You'd freeze to death, most likely," he amends. "Still a waste, either way."
"That so?" he growls out, eyes narrowed. "And what makes you think I'll agree? What do you even get out of letting me free?" He could kill the man again, after all. Find some other way to do it, to put him down once and for all.
"Well, if you want to freeze to death so badly, I suppose I could indulge your odd desires," the wizard muses, lifting a hand to inspect his fingers like they're the most interesting thing he's ever seen. "It seems a pathetic, undignified way to die, but if that's what you want..."
He taps his cheek, in apparent thought. "But. If you need a little sweetener to accept my offer, I suppose I can share some of my power with you. Give you a little boost to break yourself out. You always were independent."
He struggles fruitlessly against his bonds, the clanging of the chains seeming to echo about the empty chamber. It doesn't last as long as he'd like.
Her servants hadn't been by in a few days. Whenever Vanessa came by, the world seemed to grow even colder. He's going to die if he stays, and Vanessa will fall even deeper into madness.
The idea of owing this smug bastard anything is abhorrent, but maybe, just maybe, he'll be able to find a way to break the curse if he pretends. Then he can end this once and for all.
Avery lowers his head and looks away, eyes squeezed shut. "Fine," he snaps, the word practically forced from his lungs.
"I won't force you to make the pact the traditional way. Usually it requires eye contact, you know."
When he takes the hero's hand, it burns with intense, feverish heat; enough to sear, even in this half-frozen cell. It surges into the rest of him in short order, leaving a crested mark on the palm of his hand, filling his veins with blazing energy.
He drops the other man's hand almost immediately, watching him with interest. He doesn't know how this power will take to him; it's an unruly, individual sort of thing. It gives according to the measure of its wielder.
"Why don't you try now?" he suggests, his voice mild.
It hurts. Oh god, it hurts. Like daggers digging into his bones and venom in his veins, all while his blood boiled within. Avery nearly bites of his own tongue in an attempt to hold back a scream, writhing in his bonds as shadows seep from his pores and wrap around him, suffocating and tight, pinpricks of thorns digging into his flesh without drawing blood.
For a moment he's sure he's been tricked, that he's going to die to whatever foul curse has been placed upon him, but the fire dims and the shadows begin to feel both less and more (a part of something more, a limb, a gentle caress from within), and he's left with nothing but a buzzing, prickling feeling in his skin.
He doesn't dare try to find his reflection in the ice.
He lifts his legs and braces himself against the wall as best he can, then pulls at the shackles, his arms straining. The metal creaks, then bends, and finally one link in the chain snaps. Then the other.
There's finally a noise that Avery hasn't made himself as the wizard lowers to the floor with the single tap of a foot. He wears his power like a cloak; it winds around him in an almost affectionate way, radiating warmth that turns surface layers of ice into shining water.
"The pain will lessen as your body acclimatizes," says the wizard's voice, from somewhere above him. "And if your growing pains become too much, well, I have a draught for that. I'm not that unkind."
He's talking a little more like a healer, an apothecary, and less like the smug, irritating villain who'd been an eternal thorn in the hero's side until the day the hero killed him.
"I'll just wait for you to scrape yourself off the floor, shall I? Then we can leave. Or I can leave, and you can do what you will, since you clearly find my company objectionable enough that you were itching to strangle me just a moment before."
"Asshole," he hisses. It takes a few times to push himself to his feet. It's his arms that fail him first, weakness pairing with the shock of how pale his skin is and the way his fingers darken at the tips, ending in sharp claws. His legs have gone unused for so long that it takes him three tries to stand.
"I gave some of my power to you," the wizard says, eyeing him as he struggles to his feet. "The rest is your own doing. It shapes itself according to the measure of each wielder."
The glow of his eyes crinkle in faint, cruel amusement. "Though it seems to have liked you very much, since you're able to stand so quickly. A stroke of good fortune for your newfound freedom, perhaps."
He turns on his heel, already beginning to walk away.
It doesn't like him at all, Avery tells himself. It's a curse. It has to be. The wizard is just saying whatever he thinks will get him on his side or will make him grovel or... whatever it is he has planning. There's no other reason why he would try to save him.
A thousand words buzz in his head like a swarm of angry bees, every last one fighting to get out. But he has to pick his battles, and right now he can only choose between walking and talking.
Like hell he's going to give the wizard the satisfaction of leaving him behind.
The wizard seems entirely unbothered, like this is just another day for him. If he senses any leaking animosity from the man following him, he doesn't react to it in the slightest.
"Getting away from here seems wise," he comments, after he judges, on some invisible metric, that they've walked far enough (no resistance on leaving the cells, at least, though given who Avery's new 'traveling companion' is, that might be ominous rather than reassuring). "And this will be a good exercise for you."
The bright red glint of his eyes, still the only thing that can be seen of his face, is wicked. His tone curls in spiteful amusement.
He should go back and accept his death with some amount of dignity (he should break from the wizard, attack while his back is turned, and run). He shouldn't go along with this. Even if it's for her sake, he knows he's already crossed some sort of horrible line, that he's dangerously close to crossing another.
He may have to attack the guards, may have to kill them. They'll see him with the wizard and what then? Anyone who still believes he's loyal surely won't after that.
He should go back (the shackles had grown colder by the day and he was sure he had scars from where they'd bitten into his wrists). He should break away and warn someone (no one had spoken up in his defense back then--only empty apologies and "just following orders"). This isn't right (he's so hungry and tired). This isn't right (he doesn't want to die).
"Would it kill you to not kill them? Or did death take away your ability to be stealthy too?"
"My, jumping straight to murder? All that time locked up seems to have made you a little vicious." He chuckles, darkly. "Not that I blame you. It's a starving animal that's most savage."
He spins on his heel with a flourish, his cloak flaring out behind him. Death hasn't lessened his taste for dramatics, it seems.
"I was alluding to teleportation, not to a massacre. Far less messy. But if you want to take out all that anger on someone, I won't stop you."
It's a struggle to keep his voice down, and once again he feels the urge to leap forward and strangle out whatever life is left in those bones, or rip some shackles of the walls and make use of them or... Or something.
"And out of the two of us, only one is known for aiding someone who wanted this kingdom razed to the earth, so please, forgive me for my skepticism."
In all the time they've bantered and fought with each other, the wizard has never been angry. Playful, annoyed, irritated even, but he'd taken even death with good grace.
"How fitting, then, that I have nothing I'll forgive you for." That same fire that gnawed through Avery's body is briefly incarnate in the wizard's voice, smoking off every word. For a moment, he radiates heat like an inferno, a roiling sea of fire scratching at ashen shores. There is not even the slightest trace of amusement in him. "Follow me, then, if your pride can bear it."
One moment, the heat is there, present, oppressive; the next it's gone, as he swirls his cloak and vanishes, leaving only traces behind; the guttering embers of a deliberate trail. The message is clear.
The dam breaks, and Avery leaps at the wizard just as he disappears, the omnipresent heat indistinguishable from the bubbling rage roiling in his stomach. He practically roars as he hits the stone floor, chains whipping his sides as he slams his fists down on the ground.
How dare he? After all these years, how dare he act like he was the only one harmed? How many people in this country had died because of him and his lord? How many times had Vanessa been ripped from her home and used as nothing more than a power source for their wicked plans? Killing the wizard and the Dark Lord had been doing the world a favor.
"For her," he whispers, squeezing his eyes shut and taking a moment to grit his teeth. As long as he can bring her back to her senses, it's worth it. Whatever curse was placed upon him, working with that awful man... "For her."
He gets to his feet once more, hands and wrists aching from something other than the magic and the shackles for once, and follows the traces of magic left behind.
He tries to ignore how the dungeon, despite its lack of windows or torches, seems to look bright as day.
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All these years spent risking his life to save her, to save everyone, never complaining, never asking for anything in return, just picking up his sword and readying his magic to throw himself into danger... All these years holding her in his arms and whispering sweet nothings in the night, pressing kisses to her neck and jaw and assuring her that she was his one and only... All these scars from battle, these tired bones, these victories and losses...
For what?
The day was saved for good. The great evil that overshadowed their lands was gone, had been gone for months, slayed by his own hand, an end to his journey, a new beginning for them all.
And here their hero was, tossed in the dungeons, held in chains, all because one woman thanked him for saving her husband with a kiss on the cheek.
Avery had never seen his princess so angry, so betrayed as he had that day. He'd tried to explain to her that the woman was married, that it was thankfulness and thankfulness alone on her part, that he loves (loved?) her and her alone and always would, but that had only seemed to anger her more.
The air had grown cold as he was dragged away, accused of aiding the very forces he had done his best to defeat this entire time. She fed him, at least, though he preferred the days that she sent servants and guards to do the deed instead. There was always a catch when Vanessa was involved these days: a hundred assurances of his love for her with each needing to be just as heartfelt as the last, each bite of food accompanied with a kiss, a candlelit dinner when he couldn't even reach the seat... The only question that seemed to be allowed was when he would see her next. Asking when he would be let out only ended in a hungry, empty night or two.
There was something different about her--not just her mannerisms and frightening obsession with their love, but a sort of aura of wrongness that he couldn't quite describe, that seemed to be getting stronger by the day. Days that seemed to be getting colder and colder as of late. Anymore, he spends the days in his cell shivering, teeth chattering away as he wonders if (when) it'll be cold enough for frostbite or hypothermia to send in.
Some days he remembers to use his magic to keep himself warm. Some days he's so tired he can't even be bothered.
He just doesn't get it.
How did he end up like this? What was the point of it all?
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The wizard, face entirely shadowed by his hat, leans against the half-frozen wall - mostly for effect. His solidity is questionable right now, given that the last time they'd seen each other, Avery had put a sword through him.
"You look like you've seen better days. Did peace not agree with you, oh bold hero?"
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The Dark Lord's servant. Here.
No.
No, it's impossible. Avery had defeated him (run him through, felt the hot coppery rivulets of blood run over and through his fingers, relished the moment and felt horror at it all the same). It can't be him.
"I've been down here too long," he croaks, and looks away, brows knit.
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There's not even the slightest hint of warmth from him. In the flickering light of the torches, he casts no shadow.
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Despite his snappishness, he hasn't just turned around and left yet, so clearly there's something he's hanging around for. What that is, however, isn't yet clear.
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They'd done something to her.
They had to have.
"But fine. If you're so eager to know, someone got the idea that I was working with you all this whole time."
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"You were a good rival, you know," he says, almost conversationally, after a long pause. "Clever. It seems such a waste for you to just rot away down here."
He glances around at the ice crawling up the walls.
"Well, in these conditions you wouldn't rot. You'd freeze to death, most likely," he amends. "Still a waste, either way."
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"I thought you said you weren't here to taunt me. Good to see your just as much of a liar as always."
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He tilts his head, inspecting the shackles and paying no mind to the anger that's beginning to rise in the other man.
"I could salvage this for you, you know," he says, casually. "Get you out of those chains."
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He taps his cheek, in apparent thought. "But. If you need a little sweetener to accept my offer, I suppose I can share some of my power with you. Give you a little boost to break yourself out. You always were independent."
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He struggles fruitlessly against his bonds, the clanging of the chains seeming to echo about the empty chamber. It doesn't last as long as he'd like.
Her servants hadn't been by in a few days. Whenever Vanessa came by, the world seemed to grow even colder. He's going to die if he stays, and Vanessa will fall even deeper into madness.
The idea of owing this smug bastard anything is abhorrent, but maybe, just maybe, he'll be able to find a way to break the curse if he pretends. Then he can end this once and for all.
Avery lowers his head and looks away, eyes squeezed shut. "Fine," he snaps, the word practically forced from his lungs.
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"I won't force you to make the pact the traditional way. Usually it requires eye contact, you know."
When he takes the hero's hand, it burns with intense, feverish heat; enough to sear, even in this half-frozen cell. It surges into the rest of him in short order, leaving a crested mark on the palm of his hand, filling his veins with blazing energy.
He drops the other man's hand almost immediately, watching him with interest. He doesn't know how this power will take to him; it's an unruly, individual sort of thing. It gives according to the measure of its wielder.
"Why don't you try now?" he suggests, his voice mild.
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For a moment he's sure he's been tricked, that he's going to die to whatever foul curse has been placed upon him, but the fire dims and the shadows begin to feel both less and more (a part of something more, a limb, a gentle caress from within), and he's left with nothing but a buzzing, prickling feeling in his skin.
He doesn't dare try to find his reflection in the ice.
He lifts his legs and braces himself against the wall as best he can, then pulls at the shackles, his arms straining. The metal creaks, then bends, and finally one link in the chain snaps. Then the other.
He falls to the floor in a heap, breathing heavy.
It doesn't feel like a victory at all.
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"The pain will lessen as your body acclimatizes," says the wizard's voice, from somewhere above him. "And if your growing pains become too much, well, I have a draught for that. I'm not that unkind."
He's talking a little more like a healer, an apothecary, and less like the smug, irritating villain who'd been an eternal thorn in the hero's side until the day the hero killed him.
"I'll just wait for you to scrape yourself off the floor, shall I? Then we can leave. Or I can leave, and you can do what you will, since you clearly find my company objectionable enough that you were itching to strangle me just a moment before."
And it's gone.
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"What did you do to me?"
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The glow of his eyes crinkle in faint, cruel amusement. "Though it seems to have liked you very much, since you're able to stand so quickly. A stroke of good fortune for your newfound freedom, perhaps."
He turns on his heel, already beginning to walk away.
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A thousand words buzz in his head like a swarm of angry bees, every last one fighting to get out. But he has to pick his battles, and right now he can only choose between walking and talking.
Like hell he's going to give the wizard the satisfaction of leaving him behind.
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"Getting away from here seems wise," he comments, after he judges, on some invisible metric, that they've walked far enough (no resistance on leaving the cells, at least, though given who Avery's new 'traveling companion' is, that might be ominous rather than reassuring). "And this will be a good exercise for you."
The bright red glint of his eyes, still the only thing that can be seen of his face, is wicked. His tone curls in spiteful amusement.
"How do you feel? Ready for a challenge?"
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He should go back and accept his death with some amount of dignity (he should break from the wizard, attack while his back is turned, and run). He shouldn't go along with this. Even if it's for her sake, he knows he's already crossed some sort of horrible line, that he's dangerously close to crossing another.
He may have to attack the guards, may have to kill them. They'll see him with the wizard and what then? Anyone who still believes he's loyal surely won't after that.
He should go back (the shackles had grown colder by the day and he was sure he had scars from where they'd bitten into his wrists). He should break away and warn someone (no one had spoken up in his defense back then--only empty apologies and "just following orders"). This isn't right (he's so hungry and tired). This isn't right (he doesn't want to die).
"Would it kill you to not kill them? Or did death take away your ability to be stealthy too?"
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He spins on his heel with a flourish, his cloak flaring out behind him. Death hasn't lessened his taste for dramatics, it seems.
"I was alluding to teleportation, not to a massacre. Far less messy. But if you want to take out all that anger on someone, I won't stop you."
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It's a struggle to keep his voice down, and once again he feels the urge to leap forward and strangle out whatever life is left in those bones, or rip some shackles of the walls and make use of them or... Or something.
"And out of the two of us, only one is known for aiding someone who wanted this kingdom razed to the earth, so please, forgive me for my skepticism."
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"How fitting, then, that I have nothing I'll forgive you for." That same fire that gnawed through Avery's body is briefly incarnate in the wizard's voice, smoking off every word. For a moment, he radiates heat like an inferno, a roiling sea of fire scratching at ashen shores. There is not even the slightest trace of amusement in him. "Follow me, then, if your pride can bear it."
One moment, the heat is there, present, oppressive; the next it's gone, as he swirls his cloak and vanishes, leaving only traces behind; the guttering embers of a deliberate trail. The message is clear.
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How dare he? After all these years, how dare he act like he was the only one harmed? How many people in this country had died because of him and his lord? How many times had Vanessa been ripped from her home and used as nothing more than a power source for their wicked plans? Killing the wizard and the Dark Lord had been doing the world a favor.
"For her," he whispers, squeezing his eyes shut and taking a moment to grit his teeth. As long as he can bring her back to her senses, it's worth it. Whatever curse was placed upon him, working with that awful man... "For her."
He gets to his feet once more, hands and wrists aching from something other than the magic and the shackles for once, and follows the traces of magic left behind.
He tries to ignore how the dungeon, despite its lack of windows or torches, seems to look bright as day.
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