Trips to the hospital had always been Sal's least favorite thing to do.
He hated walking through those glass doors and inhaling the smell of chemicals and drugs and sickness, and he hated it now more than ever before.
Now he had to go to the third floor and walk to Ward 205 to look down at the body of his best friend as he lay there unmoving.
It always brought him to tears, and it didn't help that Lester was in that hospital bed because of him.
Over a year ago Sal had worked for a drug lord named Boulder who had adopted him and used him for his abilities. He'd been with Boulder his whole life up until last year when he got dragged into the Other World and stopped coming to work because he had to find and kill Percival, Julika's father.
Boulder, though he hadn't known why Sal wasn't coming to work, didn't like his absence and had given him two weeks to sort it out, if not there would be consequences.
Sal had stupily forgotten.
And Lester's condition had been the result.
But this trip was different.
This trip Katarina was with him.
Sal had been glad when he mounted his motorcycle and felt Katarina settle behind him, her arms wrapped around his waist as he revved the motorcycle to life and sped past the tall Philadelphia buildings, the wind carrying her hair as they went.
"You're going too fast" she'd cried over the rush of wind.
"I thought you flew pegasi in the Hunt" he'd said.
"They're horses with wings" she'd countered with a laugh. "Not mortal machines"
Now they were in the hospital, surrounded by the smell and the hint of sorrow in the air, climbing up the stairs side by side to Sal's least favourite place in the world.
"So this Lester guy, he's your boyfriend" she said.
Sal nearly tripped on his next step, then he turned abruptly to her and saw that teasing smirk playing on her lips.
"No" He said with extreme emphasis that made her burst out laughing. "He's my best friend, sometimes I even forget we're not related and call him my brother"
"It must be hard seeing him like this" said Katarina.
"This?" Sal said with a scoff that leaked more venom than he'd intended. "This is another version of Hell for me"
"And his…..condition, it's some type of coma?"
"Dr Felix called it Locked-in syndrome, Lester can't move at all, not even his eyes, but he also said recovery isn't impossible, I just hope this new "development" is some good news"
She took his hand and held it tight, her hand was so soft, how could a hunter's hand be so soft.
"Don't worry, it's gonna be fine" she said.
He held her hand tighter, grateful for somebody to hold on to.
"I just don't want to lose him" he whispered, unable to stop himself, unable to hide his vulnerability from her.
She didn't say anything else, but she held his hand until they got to Lester's ward and Sal opened the door.
Walking into this ward always gave Sal the same feeling, like he was walking into a losing battle.
Antony was there, kneeling by the bed and whispering to Lester the way he always did.
Antony had called it keeping Lester "updated" and Sal thought it was a weird but nice gesture.
Dr Felix was there as well, his worried eyes peering thoughtfully at Antony and Lester through his glasses.
Sal dreaded the moment that came next, he'd been in this room multiple times but his heart still ached when it happened.
He turned and saw Lester motionless in the hospital bed, his legs and arms which had been bandaged before had healed over the months and his bruises had disappeared, but he still wasn't moving, only breathing.
"Oh my" whispered Katarina behind him.
"Kat, meet Lester, my best friend".
***
"Don't worry Les" whispered Tony. "Doctor Felix has news, you're going to get better"
'Don't count on it', Lester wanted to say, but he couldn't. He couldn't do anything, he hadn't been able to for a long time now.
Lester wanted to believe Tony, he really did, but he'd been here for months, lying on this hosptial bed, staring at the darkness of his own eyelids, unable to move, unable to speak, with nothing but Sal's visits, Tony's whispers and his dreams to keep him company.
It was agony, this state of sleeping without resting, of breathing without living, and it had brought him to tears so many times that Lester felt he'd run out of tears to shed.
He often wondered if this would be his fate, but death seemed a better fate than this.
Just then he heard the door open and heard Doctor Felix's familiar voice.
Lester imagined his doctor was a tall, middle-aged man who wore glasses, the thought always brought a smile to his face. Dr. Felix had a kind voice, and his hands whenever he touched Lester were rough and slim, yet affectionate like a father's touch.
"Hello Anthony" said the doctor.
"Hey doc, what's the news?" Tony asked impatiently.
"Salome has to be here" Dr Felix answered.
Salome.
Lester had always thought that Sal's name was the only thing weirder than Sal himself. He knew Sal could read minds and that he was very strong and very fast, like a real life Superboy, but his name always puzzled him.
He'd looked it up once and found out that Salome meant "perfect", and then it suddenly made sense. Sal had always seemed perfect to Lester, devilishly handsome, outstandingly smart, and yet, humble and kind at the same time. Even with his strange hair colour and even stranger eye colour, those strange parts of him were exactly the things that made him perfect.
"He'll be here any second" Tony said to the doctor. Then Lester heard his voice a little bit closer, a gentle whisper of self assurance. "I know he will"
Just then the door creaked open and the sound of footsteps resonated in the hospital ward, the squeaking of sneakers and the clicking of boots, four footsteps instead of two.
"Salome, good to see you" Dr Felix said. "And who is this you've brought with you?"
"I'm Katrina", said a female voice, "Sal's girlfriend"
'Girlfriend?, when did Sal get a girlfriend', Lester thought, 'and why didn't he say anything about it'
Lester heard Tony scoff softly beside him meaning this was the first time he was hearing this as well.
"I'm sorry Miss Katrina but unless you're related to the patient in any way you can't be here" said Dr. Felix.
"I.." she started.
"I want her here" Sal said.
The firmness in his voice shocked Lester, and it seemed it had shocked everyone in the room.
There was a brief silence, slowly growing uncomfortable, until Dr. Felix sighed and said; "Very well"
Lester heard paper flipping, and he could instantly feel the tension already creeping into the room, he prayed to whichever god was listening that he would be fine, that there was a cure, that he would finally be able to wake up from this living nightmare.
"I'm terribly sorry" started Dr. Felix, and Lester felt his heart sink. "We tried our best to find a way to speed up his recovery but his condition is too severe, I'm afraid there's nothing more we can do"
"What?" Sal whispered.
"Wait doc, hold on" Tony said. "Recovery is still an option right?, speeding it up is out of the question but that doesn't mean he won't recover, it will just take some time, right?"
Doctor Felix sighed.
"Maybe, I'm not sure, his condition is rare and unique and his chances of getting better, I'm afraid are disturbingly slim, I.... I'm sorry"
Lester felt his will to live crash and break into a million pieces, he didn't need to listen to whatever the doctor said next, it was settled, this was his life now, this tragedy was his fate.
"Slim?, as in how slim?" Antony said.
"Tony" Sal whispered, but Tony couldn't hear him.
"I asked you a question Doctor, how fucking slim" he said.
"Anthony, please just stop" Sal said.
"I wish there was more we could do, I—"
"Thank you Doctor" Sal said with that dry and plain edge in his voice.
Lester could tell the words had peirced through Sal, he could feel Sal's pain, the pain they both shared. The pain that came from having hope and forgetting that hoping didn't always mean you would get what you hoped for.
"We can continue to accomodate him here" Doctor Felix said. "Or you can take him home, whichever you prefer"
Lester heard Dr. Felix sigh and then his footsteps walking towards the door.
"I'll leave you with the patient, I'll be in my office if you need anything, I'm truly sorry" he said.
There was no reply, until Lester heard the door click softly.
There was a grave silence in the room after that and it remained that way until Lester heard Tony yell in anguish, and after that came the sound of breaking glass.
"Antony!" yelled Katrina.
'Antony?, no, she was probably pronouncing it wrong'
"Tony" Sal said, his voice was steady but Lester could tell better than anyone that he was broken. "Calm down"
"Don't you dare tell me to calm down, how can you just stand there and listen to this...this bullshit!" There was a lilt in his tone that wasn't there before, an accent playing under his voice as he spoke with anger. "I thought he was your friend!"
"Sylvester is more than just my friend" said Sal, he rarely called him Sylvester, only when he was very upset, "he's my brother, my rock, my everything"
"Then why aren't you feeling a shred of anger!"
"You don't think I'm angry!, I did this to him!, he's on that bed because of me!, how the fuck do you think that makes me feel?"
'Oh Sal' thought Lester.
"I'm sorry", Tony said with controlled anger in his voice, "But I promised him Sal, I told him everything was going to be okay and now I feel like i've been lying to him this whole time"
"There's nothing we could've done" Sal said, he sounded utterly defeated.
"But there is" Tony said, his voice strained with frustration. "You know there is"
"Sal, what's he talking about?" came the girl —Katrina's— voice.
"I'm talking about using magic" Tony said.
'What?' Lester thought. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, why would Tony suggest something like that, magic didn't exist.
"Are you crazy?" Katrina said. "You want to use magic on a mortal!"
"Sal's been thinking about it" Tony said.
There was a scoff which clearly came from the girl.
"You can't be serious" she said.
There was silence.
"I was thinking about it" Sal said. "but it's too risky"
"It's dangerous", Katrina said, emphasizing every syllable, "using magic on mortals never ends well"
'They can't be serious' thought Lester, but they sounded very serious.
"Tony, Kat's right"
"But you're a Phantom you can do magic no one else can" Tony said.
'So Sal's a ghost now', none of this was making any sense, but from the way Sal was speaking, the way all of them were speaking, it sounded natural, logical, like sunrise and sunset.
"There could be consequences, he could die or worse!" said Sal.
Lester felt a familiar hand on his cheek, soft and tender, Sal's hand.
"Besides, if he does survive, i'll be dragging him into our world, I don't want that for him"
"But we have to save him, we can't leave him like this, especially if there's something, some spell or glyph or rune we can use to help him" said Tony.
"Antony, I want him walking and laughing again as much as you do but I don't know about this"
"It's too risky" Katrina said. "I've seen what magic can do to mortals, either their minds break into pieces or their bodies dissolve as if doused with acid, or they're Changed into something, some Shaded being out there somewhere, and the chances that happens are extremely unpredictable"
"It's a worth a try" Antony said.
"But is it worth the risk?"
Silence followed.
The question hung in the air unanswered.
"It's a bad idea" she repeated again, and this time there was no argument.
Lester heard the squeak of sneakers edging closer to him, and then he felt Sal's hand close over his, his breath unsteady as it brushed over his wrist.
'Here we are arguing about your future, forgetting you're the one who's supposed to decide' he said.
The familiarity of Sal's voice in his head made Lester feel at ease, and glad that Sal had at least remembered that he was still here, and it was still his life.
'I don't even know what decision it is that I'm making'
Sal sighed, audibly and mentally.
'Do you trust me?' Sal asked.
'With my world' Lester answered.
'Then I'm going to fix this, I'm going to save you, I swear by the Nightshade'
Lester didn't understand a shred of what Sal was saying, of what was happening, but he decided to trust him.
He believed Sal would always keep his best interests at heart.
But at what cost?
***
Sal's mind was still buzzing with uncertainty the next day, even as Lester was wheeled into their house, the gurney making squeaking sounds as he was pushed through the living room, up the stairs and into his bedroom.
The room had been cleaned several times by both Sal and Antony, and each time was a painful reminder of everything Lester owned but couldn't use, but today everything was going to change, it had to.
"Are you sure you don't want to leave him in the hospital?" asked Dr. Felix who was with the team of nurses that had come to drop Lester off. "Our nurses will take absolute care of him"
Sal looked at Lester being rolled into the room and then at the wand in his hand which was Shaded to look like his phone.
"I'm sure" he answered.
Dr. Felix and the rest of the nurses left without another word, and as soon as Sal was sure there was no one around he walked into the room.
Katarina and Antony were leaning on the wall far away from each other when Sal entered, the tension between them was as taut as a wire, but as soon as they heard the door click and saw that it was him, all the tension melted away.
"Hey" they both said.
"Hey, he answered.
"Are you ready?" Antony asked.
Sal looked to Lester's bed where Lester lay with the covers tucked to his chest, and suddenly wanted Lester to kick them away the way he always did.
"I'm ready" Sal said.
"Sal, are you sure?" Katarina asked.
He walked to the bed, his wand, now unShaded, clenched tightly in his hand.
"I'm sure Kat, I really am"
He reached the bed and went on one knee beside Lester. With great care Sal reached for Lester's arm and lifted it, then he placed the tip of his wand over it.
"Please let this work" he whispered. And then he began to draw.
Drawing on Lester's arm was the hardest thing Sal had ever done.
It was like carving into dried concrete, the lines of the Healing glyph left literal grooves in Lester's skin like crude scars.
Sal could feel the wrongness of what he was doing, could sense the lack of synergy and bliss he got from using magic. Instead there was a harsh burning in his veins, like a hot fluid moving under his skin.
It wasn't painful though, it was only a harsher version of pleasure.
It wasn't until Sal finished drawing that he saw the tears running down the corners of Lester's closed eyes.
Sal took several steps back, terrified of what he'd just done, until a gentle hand stopped him, splayed across his back like a layer of warmth.
"Sal" came Katarina's voice from behind him, she was really close and her breath tickled the hairs on the back of his neck. "Are you alright?"
Sal turned to face her, his breath was ragged, his heart constrained in fear.
"I don't know" he said.
Katarina sighed, her eyes on his thoughtful, pitiful, and then as her gaze shifted to what was behind him they widened with fear.
Sal turned immediately and saw that Lester was rising in the air, the glyph on his arm burning a bright pulsing blue, the hospital clothes he'd been wearing fluttering in the air as he ascended.
Sal was sure he'd drawn nothing but a Healing glyph, but he didn't understand why this was happening.
"That's not...that's not right, that's not supposed to be happening" whispered Sal in panic.
"Maybe..." started Antony but he never finished his sentence.
Lester blew apart.
***
Snow fell violently from the gray clouds above, making the path through the Fey Forests nearly invisible, the only thing denoting it were the specks of black hidden under the white blanket of snow.
The trees did nothing to stave off the winds that blew like slashes of steel, and the earth itself was sloshy from the snow that had melted and stayed trapped just under the surface soil by cold.
It was times like this Melchior dreaded how much Fey Land had changed, how the realm the gods had given them had transformed into a land of frost and snow.
He had tried coping with it and had assumed it was only a matter of time before he got used to it, but time had done nothing, it seemed time had lost it's significance.
He wouldn't have even come out this far into the Forests if he'd not been informed of a breech in Fey Land's barriers. Someone was either using a portal or one of the Hidden Ways to come here, and as commander of the Fey Land Forces he had a responsibility to find out who it was and why.
So far he'd found nothing, and the wind and snow weren't helping.
"Are you sure we're going the right way?"
Melchior crossed his arms and turned to the person that had spoken.
Standing with a hand shielding his eyes from the snow was Trystan, Melchior's lover.
Two years ago Melchior had completed his military training under the crystal clear waters of Fey Land. He hadn't been allowed before because of his hybrid nature, but as soon as Bloom had that crown on her head she'd changed the rules.
Then, his heart had still been raw from all the pain he'd gone through during the hunt for Percival, so he'd devoted all his time to fighting despite all the taunts from the other sirens and merfolk. They were convinced that a creature of conflicting characters could not emerge victorious, but Melchior had proven them wrong.
And it was after all that he met Trystan.
Melchior remembered seeing him for the first time. It was on his first mission, and he'd seen Trystan with two shining axes in each hand, flaying about and slicing corrupted elves to pieces.
Melchior was immediately enchanted.
Trystan was one of the Fey, though they were not many, that were helped by Bloom's change in law. He was only half Fey and wasn't allowed to do a lot of things because his father was a mortal and his mother was a fire spirit, though Melchior could never guess how that relationship had worked out for them.
It was in the days that followed after their meeting Melchior realized that he and Trystan were more alike than he thought.
They'd both lived lives of rejection and neglect, had both lost their fathers to war, and had both been alone for a long time until they found a soul sibling.
To Melchior, Trystan was the moon and he was the stars. One could not be without the other.
"Yes I'm sure we're going the right way" Melchior said now as he faced Trystan. "Are you suggesting that I do not know what I am doing and have managed to lose our way in this dense magical forest?"
Trystan lowered his eyes and as they landed on Melchior he smiled. It was a beautiful smile, one that managed to warm Melchior up from the inside.
Melchior supposed all Fey were beautiful, but Trystan had mortality mixed into his beauty, and it gave him the likeness of a flower in bloom. Extraordinary yet finite.
He had olive skin, now flushed red due to the cold, and his lips were pink like petals on a tulip. His eyes were the colour of watermelon seeds, a smooth light brown, and his hair was black, like a raven's feathers.
"No" Trystan said over the howl of falling snow as he began to walk forward. "I am suggesting that you know what you are doing but have still somehow managed to get us lost in this dense magical forest"
Melchior made a face as Trystan reached him and placed his hands on Melchior's arms.
There was so much of Trystan that was mortal, his physical appearance was most of it, but there were parts of Fey intricately sewn into him as well.
The grace in his steps like a dancing flame, the lilt in his voice as he spoke, and his touch.
His touch was an ignition, literally, whatever he laid his hands on burst into flames. But now, as he touched Melchior, all he did was send tendrils of plasmic warmth riding through Melchior's veins.
Melchior couldn't help closing his eyes and relishing in it.
"You're getting cold" Trystan whispered, his breath warm as he leaned closer to Melchior. "Let's go home, we could sit by the fire, cuddle under the covers and listen to the howling of the wind, we need not be out here searching for..." He cocked his head to the side in bewilderement. "what is it we are searching for again?"
Melchior rolled his eyes but his heart wasn't into it. Trystan was so close, and the way he cocked his head made him look much more attractive that it should've.
"A breech in the Fey Land barriers, Trystan" Melchior said. "That's what we are supposed to be searching for"
"Yes, yes, a breech, we need not be out here looking for this breech, why don't we try it another time, when it is less windy and more, you know, less windy"
Melchior laughed.
"You are terrible at english" he said.
"Never was my first language" Trystan replied with a smirk.
He came closer still, his eyes alight with desire, the curve of his lips an invitation as he smirked.
That smirk, it was one of the other things Melchior loved so much about Casmir.
'Wait, what?'
"Melchior" Trystan whispered.
But Melchior wasn't hearing Trystan.
It was Casmir's voice, Casmir's hands on his arms, Casmir smirking down at him, his lips inching closer and closer, his silver eyes boring into Melchior like knives.
He was here, he was so close, so warm, but Casmir was never warm, he was always so cold, and yet that didn't matter, what mattered was that he was here, and Melchior wanted nothing more than to whisper his name, to say it again after all this time and remember what it was like for his name to pass between his lips once more.
'Casmir' He thought, until a hand was wrenched violently from his arm and he was forced to snap out of his trance.
Melchior blinked and saw Trystan standing in front of him, one hand on the axe that was sheathed at his side and the other still holding Melchior protectively.
'Oh no' Melchior thought. 'It happened again'
He'd had another daydream of Casmir. He'd been having them since he got together with Trystan and they had been frequent more recently than before. Trystan knew of the daydreams but he didn't know what they were about. Usually he'd be fussing over Melchior and pestering about what this one was about, but his eyes were watching the trees carefully, his entire aura that had been warm and comforting was now alert and ready for an attack.
Melchior got over the pounding of his heart in his chest and reached for Lamech at his side.
"What is it?" He asked.
"I thought I heard something" Trystan answered.
Melchior listened, keeping himself close to Trystan as their eyes peered through the trees and pelting snow.
He was about to tell Trystan that he must have heard wrong when there was a sharp snap to his left. He unsheathed Lamech and heard Trystan unsheath his axes.
There was definitely something there with them, and whatever it was had a knack for hiding.
"We need to confront it" Trystan said.
"I think it would be difficult to confront something we cannot see" Melchior said with a slight smile. "Maybe we should-"
"Move!"
Melchior felt Trystan shove him away as a large ball of green fire roared to life on the spot where he'd just been standing, and where Trystan was standing right now.
The ball engulfed Trystan in an instant, melting the snow on the forest floor and singing the air all around him with roiling heat.
Melchior's eyes went wide as he looked at Trystan's burning form standing incredibly still, nothing but a dark silhouette in the green fire. Melchior was suddenly numb, he coerced his heart to feel something, some sort of agonizing pain, a rip in the material that made up his heart, but there was nothing, nothing at all.
The rustling of leaves came suddenly from behind him and Melchior leapt to his feet, Lamech ready in his trained grip.
He sent magic into his sword and arcs of green electricity crackled up and down his blade. There was a brief silence, no other sound but the howl of wind and the crackle of magic, and then with slow deliberation, his assailant emerged right in front of him.
It was a large golden furred fox with stripes of white peeking through the gold at the tail, abdomen and neck. It's golden, slit, intelligent eyes looked at Melchior with surprise, and then a joyful relief.
Melchior's first instinct was to attack, but there was something about this fox, something familar, that made him hesitate and wait.
Melchior walked closer and closer, Trystan forgotten in seconds, and as he found himself recognizing the little things about this fox, the swish in his tale and the eagerness in it's gaze, he found himself lowering his sword, the crackling magic fading away.
"Marcus?" he said.
'Melchior', the familair voice brushed against Melchior's thoughts, though it was significantly deeper, no longer a child's voice but a man's. 'I'm so glad I found you'
Melchior didn't know whether to be happy or worried. What was Marcus of all people doing in Fey Land. And how had he gotten here?
"Marcus I am glad to see you but, how is it that you are here, were you the one that made the breech" Melchior said.
'Well I did come here unannounced, so....maybe?'
Melchior chuckled, and then he remembered.
"Oh my god Trystan" Melchior yelled. "You killed Trystan!"
He pointed to the column of fire that was, to Melchior's surprise, still burning with it's green flames and still had Trystan's silhouette in it.
'Oh no, he's not dead' Marcus said. 'That's Petrifying Fire, all it does is render the victim immobile, it'll wear off very...' There was a soft hiss. '...soon'
Melchior turned to see the flames dying out, revealing Trystan unharmed.
Melchior ran to Trystan and threw his arms around his neck. Trystan, though very clearly stunned, returned the hug and buried his face into the crook of Melchior's neck.
"gods know how happy I am to see that you are okay" Melchior whispered and found himself meaning it.
"What happened?" Trystan asked.
'I did' came Marcus's voice. 'Sorry I threw a fire ball at you'
"Is that what I think it is or am I losing my mind?" whispered Trystan.
Melchior pulled away from Trystan and looked him directly in the eyes. He was shook, Melchior could tell that much, but there was a fierce protectiveness in his eyes as he gazed at Marcus.
"Trystan that is Marcus, my friend from the Mortal World" Melchior said. Trystan looked at him in disbelief. "And you are not losing your mind, those are nine tails swishing behind him, he is a Kitsune"
"You mean to tell me that you are friends with the legendary nine tailed fox, the master of illusions"
'I wouldn't call myself the master' Marcus said 'just a master'
"You said he is from the Mortal World, he must have been the one that made the breech" Trystan said, quickly connecting the dots. He leaned in closer, he still smelt faintly of smoke and fire. "Melchior I know he is your friend but we must take him in, a breech in Fey Land will mean danger"
'I used one of the Hidden Ways' Marcus said. 'I sealed it with a powerful illusion, no one will ever find it again'
He stepped forward and Trystan's hands went to his axes once again.
'Look, it was necessary that I come here, I had a good reason' Marcus said.
"Melchior we cannot listen to him, he may be lying, he is a trickster"
"Marcus is different from the Kitsune's of legend" Melchior said. "and as I said he is my friend, he would never do anything to harm me or anyone that I care about"
'In fact, I am here because of someone we both care about' Marcus said.
Melchior turned to the fox standing before him, his golden eyes were burning with urgency.
"You mean Bloom" Melchior said. "What happened?"
Marcus came closer, the look in his eyes grave.
'I had a vision' Marcus said. 'I think something bad is about to happen to her'