forum The Dark Kingdom (Fantasy BXB, Closed, Stalkers welcome)

Started September 07, 2020 by @bluebee55

tune

"True… couldn't hurt to try it out, anyway." He shrugged and continued on, soon clearing off a thick layer of dust that had been blanketed atop everything in the room. "I think we'll be able to clean up this place pretty quick."

"Yep, it shouldn't take too long!"
After he finished sweeping the room, he switched to mopping, which didn't take very long, considering it was such a small room. Afterward, he grabbed all of the blankets and sheets off of the bed and washed them in a large wooden tub he found, along with soap and river water. He was a pretty diligent worker, despite never having a real job. He hung them out to dry and came back inside, finally straightening up the rest of the room.

Mylan finished up soon after Caspian did, stepping back with his hands on his hips to examine his work. He sighed contentedly, tired, but pleased with himself. "I think we did a pretty good job. Don't you?" He looked over at Caspian, smiling softly at the shorter boy.

Caspian grinned back at Mylan. "Definitely." He turned over to Eveline. "Do you like it?"
"I love it! It looks great!" The girl chirped, spinning around in circles childishly. It was hard to believe that if she were alive, she would be a 23 year old woman.
"Well, it's getting a little late," Caspian pointed out, looking out the window. The sky was fading to a darker blue, which would soon be followed by a pallete of oranges and pinks and purples. "How about I go into town and get some food, then stop by the library?"

"Sounds good to me. I'll wait here for you, alright? Maybe Eveline and I can catch up." He looked over to the girl with a weak smile. "I haven't seen you since I was around six, after all. You still look the same…" He sighed. "I'll see you soon, Caspian." He said after handing some money to the other.

"See ya!" Cas called out to Mylan, before leaving the house and shutting the door behind him.

"You look the same as well." Eveline spoke softly, nostalgic memories flooding back into her mind. "A bit more mature now, of course. It's so weird…you're my little brother, but you're older than me." She smiled sadly.

Mylan smiled gently. "My hair was shorter back then. Still a mess, but… I tie it up now." He sat down on the bed as he looked up at his sister. "I wonder how you came to be a spirit, though? You know, rather than… moving on, so to speak. I don't know if any of my books talk about this… if I ever get to go back, I'll try my best to look into this a bit more for you."

Eveline sighed. "I think…it might be because of father. I never really got over what he did, and…I don't want revenge or anything but…I can't let it go…" Her eyes became distant and she shivered a bit.

"Right… unfinished business, so to speak. A… a grudge being held, I suppose. That makes sense… is there any way that I could help you move on? Not that it isn't wonderful to see you again, of course, but I can't imagine living alone in a house in the woods with no way to interact with anyone or eat or do normal things is very pleasant." Mylan sighed, adjusting his glasses a bit.

"I don't know. I'm not really sure how to move on. Maybe…" she paused for a moment. "The amulet. That might be what's holding me back from moving on. It's…it's what made father hurt me. But there's no way you could do anything about that. It's too dangerous. And I don't want you to end up like me."

"True… but… I want it to be destroyed anyway. I just… I'm not quite sure how to do that." Mylan sighed softly. "I'm only sixteen, after all. They don't listen to me, even more so now that I'm on the run… I just hope that this'll all be over soon. Maybe I could use some kind of magic to get the job done?"

Eveline shrugged hopelessly. "I…I honestly don't know. We'll have to do some more research when Caspian comes back with some books from the library."

Mylan nodded a bit. "Hopefully there's something in those books that can help me… I want to get this nightmare over with as soon as I possibly can, you know?"

Eveline nodded. "Yeah."
All of a sudden, Caspian burst through the door, holding a bag of food and a couple of thick books in one arm. "Bad news." He spoke through pants, sweat trickling down his face.

Mylan jumped a bit at the sudden noise. "W-What? What's the bad news?" He asked nervously, jumping to his feet just in case. "You're not being chased, are you?"

Caspian shook his head, swallowing and taking a breath. "No. The village. Soldiers are everywhere, they're burning buildings, they're-they're killing people." He stopped to breathe, and set the food and books down on the table. "This all happened after I got the food and books. Th-thankfully I wasn't followed."

"O-Oh god, um… is… is there anything we can do??" Mylan asked worriedly. "Or… or is it better for us to just… stay here??" He sat back down on the bed, his heart pounding hard in his chest. "I don't know if I'm strong enough to put out fires that big…"

Caspian shook his head and sat down at the table, wiping his sweat with his forearm. "N-no. We need to stay here. They'll just kill us- there's-there's nothing we can do." He let out a sigh, remembering the street corner he performed on- the children he performed for. It made him so sick to his stomach, he started shaking.

Mylan nodded a bit and headed over to Caspian, hugging him tightly. "This isn't your fault, Caspian… it's… I don't think it's any of our faults, okay? We… w-we can't control them. We can't stop what they're doing."

Caspian froze, his eyes widening a bit, before hesitantly wrapping his arms around Mylan and hugging him back. "I- I should have been able to stop them… I…should have done something…"

"Shh, no… no, it's not your fault." Mylan sat down with Caspian to hug him closer. "None of this is your fault, okay? There's nothing you could've done. Neither of us can stop fires that big. We'd have been killed. You'd have been killed."

Caspian rested his head on Mylan's shoulder, letting out a shaky sigh as he gripped the other tightly. He couldn't remember the last time someone had hugged him, so it surprised him a bit, but he embraced it nonetheless. "Y-you're right…" he spoke quietly before finally letting go. He wiped a tear and looked away, angry at himself for letting Mylan see him at a weak point. "S-sorry.."

"Don't be. I'm sure it was terrifying… I wasn't there. I can only imagine what you saw in the town, Caspian." Mylan pulled Caspian close again, still trying to comfort him. "You don't have to apologize."

Caspian sighed and let Mylan pull him close, resting his head on his shoulder again. After a bit he stopped shaking and started breathing more slowly, in and out. He felt a strange sense of safety in Mylan's arms, almost as if they were in their own little bubble, completely shielded from the outside world. He could feel that Eveline wasn't watching anymore. She probably left to give the two some privacy. Wrapping his arms around Mylan, he didn't ever want to leave.

"Are you feeling any better?" Mylan asked gently, rubbing Caspian's back a bit to try and calm him. "I'm really sorry you had to see all that… I'm sure it was awful. You can talk about it if you wanna."

"I…I think I'm okay now." He let out a shaky sigh and let go, but still stayed close to Mylan. The fire…it reminded him of the fire that killed his family that night. Looking at Mylan now, even though they had just met that day, he realized how important he was to him. He needed to make sure he was safe. He didn't want to lose him like he did with all the other people who were ever important to him. "I'm okay, I just…it scared me to see the fire. When I was eleven, my house burned down and it killed my parents and brothers. There was nothing I could do about it, and I lost the ones that I care about. I don't want that to happen again."

Mylan winced a bit at the explanation and pulled Caspian closer. "Shh… I bet that was awful, wasn't it? I… that sounds a little like something I've read about in my books. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Like… when something influences a traumatic event in your past, it can have a lasting effect on you and it's just bad every time you see or experience that thing. In your case, the trauma seems to be connected to the fire."

Cas nodded. "That sounds about right…" he wrapped his arms around the taller male and began absentmindedly playing with his hair. It was actually a bit soothing. "You're helping a lot…thank you…" He paused for a moment. "Please dont be stupid. Don't go try and destroy the amulet. I need you. I can't lose anyone else. Promise me, please…"

Mylan flushed a bit when Caspian started toying with his hair, but figured he'd let him fi it as long as it helped him calm down. "I… I'll try my best not to be stupid. We'll figure something out, okay? I'm glad that this is helping you, though…"

Caspian smiled slightly. "Thank you," he murmured, before realizing what he was doing with Mylan's hair. Flustered, he pulled away. "Shit- sorry!" He went a little red but tried not to show it.