Despair maneuvered his High Elf avatar aimlessly through the streets of Shoreshire, still ignoring messages from guildmates. He’d told them he had a family emergency and had not been up to raiding. There was no use in responding further.
Without speaking to Coalpelt, he knew the hellhound and his father were upset, and not necessarily with him, but more the situation. The whole palace was in a panic over what this disturbance might mean, and all he wanted to do was escape for a little with his best friend, pretend he might not be king soon. They knew Despair’s sudden exodus had been an ill portent, further magnified by his wounds when he returned. He peered down at his body, inspecting the chiseled abs, his pale flesh, now wrapped tightly with bandages thanks to Tilly. All that might soon be permanently mutated, destroyed.
He bowed his head, tightened his fingers in his hair and snarled to bite back a scream of fear and pain. Amethyst, where are you?
His head hurt along with the rest of his body. He’d combed his thoughts for anything he’d heard in the past that might resemble magical men. Not a shred of evidence had come to mind. Father was the one who traveled to meet with other realms, conduct meetings with demons, Coalpelt ever at his side. To explore all avenues, Despair had asked Coalpelt tonight. But even the gruff hound, who paid attention to even the most miniscule of details, had been unhelpful and urged Despair to proceed with caution.
He raised his head and glared at his friend’s grayed-out name. “Amethyst, I don’t care what excuses you make. I must see you. I will see you.”
With a scowl he closed the game and pulled up the local paper’s site. A few bystanders had helpfully uploaded videos in the comments. With a sigh, he clicked one of the longer ones. Of course, he had to put up with the high-pitched cameraman shrieking in the background. “Are you seeing this? Whoa! Look at that!” And he continued making the same comments throughout, not a single line of substance. Despair turned off the sound and rewatched the video without the obnoxious human’s repetitive commentary.
Titania seemed so happy and excitable, even while dodging Emperor Pierogi’s buttery attack. Emperor Pierogi was a sorry monster; Despair had no idea those infected by the Black Diamond’s misery might turn into such stupid things.
The bunny man, Oberon, had a face that was a mix of anger and joy. It was obvious he loved his hammer and enjoyed smashing things with it, or he’d just really wanted to hit something. Well, it would only help expand the potholes, which allowed the Black Diamond to more easily feed on the humans’ negative emotions. Even if the Diamond were inside the humans here, the bulk of it was below ground; the potholes allowed all that miserable energy to seep below the earth easily.
The third magical man, the poorly-named jester, was a strange one. While Despair could guess the other two’s thoughts, Puck had a stony, mostly expressionless face, as if the situation didn’t warrant any kind of reaction. What kind of person ran into a crowned pierogi and didn’t have any thoughts?
Despair played back some of the closer shots of Puck’s obnoxious face. Oh, there! He paused the frame. Puck wore a cold, arrogant smile just before his cards slashed into the monster. That smile was not any better, and why was he so arrogant while wearing that stupid hat?
The Disco message notification chimed, and he half-expected it to be from one of the Philosophers Stones members yet again. But no. It was Amethyst: [I’m here now. I’m sorry for not being able to get online sooner. Are you okay?
]Despair typed quickly, chuckling in relief: [I'm better now.] Now that you’ve messaged.
Amethyst: [I’m so happy to hear that!]
Despair set his status to offline and typed back: [I’m still online, just appearing invisible since you know I’m here. Is all well with the dog?]
Amethyst: [
Despair took a swallow of his whiskey, embracing the burn in his throat. [Can we have a call?]
Amethyst: [
###
Luca had made his excuses to Nick and Tschida. He could not ignore D. But he should try to talk to Tschida alone and soon. Tschida, even with his placid demeanor, got especially quiet when Don was mentioned. Luca knew he blamed himself. After all, Don had died the last day Tschida was in jail.
Luca kept his steps quiet; Tony had been passed out on the couch when they’d arrived home. As Luca rarely stayed out so late, Luca knew he would have questions from his father in the morning. Tony would probably think Luca had hooked up with someone.
Though he hadn’t met someone new, aside from AnthraPsycho, he hoped fervently that from now on, this new bond with his friends would grow stronger. They were now united in a bigger purpose. Though he hated to leave them, even for a few moments, D needed him. He couldn’t forget about this other important bond either, especially after he’d been so selfish, mostly sharing his own family’s hardships with D. But D wasn’t a stranger to those; he had disclosed some of his own sorrows too, like his mother’s and sister’s death, his family pressure, yet had a much better life. Or at least didn’t have the crippling debt. And both of them could forget their troubles and escape together in a way Luca couldn’t with anyone else.
He clicked the silver ball icon to open Disco, clicked on D’s handle – the same one he used in game, but here his avatar wasn’t a High Elf; it was a crown made of small gold stars.
D’s voice boomed powerfully through the speakers on the first ring. “Am. Thank you for calling.” Even though he sounded sad, his resonant voice came through the speakers as strongly as ever.
“Hey,” Luca said, suddenly feeling distant. There were things in his life now that he couldn’t fictionalize to safely share. Or at least he’d not figured out how. There was something that he shared only with Nick and Tschida.
“It has been a busy night for both of us,” D said, sounding slightly more upbeat, or maybe just slightly more brimming with ego than just a moment ago.
“What’s happening?” Luca asked, keeping his voice low. He still didn’t want to wake Tony, and was cautious of Nick or Tschida sneaking up on him; they shouldn’t know D’s business. Nick would be the most likely one to investigate this online friendship.
“Ahhh…” D paused. “My father’s health is failing, as I said, and it’s like competitors sense his weakness, choose now to strike when he is not up to the task. The timing could not be worse. These miserable attempts by these squirming competitors to sabotage …Father isn’t taking it well.”
“I’m so sorry, D,” Luca said. “Is there anything I can do?” Where did D live? He’d never explicitly mentioned it. Could Luca travel there and do some Pink Prince Titania stuff? My powers should be to stop whatever’s trapping Don, but shouldn’t I use them for as many good things as I can? Or is this selfish? No, if someone is doing something wrong and hurting someone else…
D’s breathing grew heavy for a few breaths before he answered. “I need to see you, Amethyst.”
Luca held the phone away from his ear, tempted by the red hang-up button. One little tap and the awkward situation, and perhaps this wonderful friendship, would end. “I don’t think…” He fumbled for words. “Things with my dad. I’m not sure how he’d react to you staying here, and I don’t think I can get to where you are.” What if D came to visit him? How would he react when he saw Luca’s shoddy half-double? How would he react if he knew Luca had lied?
“I can stay at a hotel. I’d planned to do that already. I do not impose. But right now, I need a friend. You.”
This was the most intensely he’d requested an irl meeting in the years they’d spoken. Could Luca work out some kind of elaborate scheme? Maybe he could tell D he was visiting Anthracite City because his dad was looking to buy property here? And what about his duties as a magical man? He couldn’t just push that task – that blessing – off for the entire course of D’s visit. And with his luck, AnthraPsycho would show up.
“I will do what I can. I know I can arrange something.” You need to learn to say no! Just not right now, because you need to be there for D.
“I knew you wouldn’t let me down.” D chuckled, the sound rumbling from deep in his chest.
How had Luca’s early lies spiraled so far out of control? But he’d wanted D to like him, not feel sorry for him. D’s voice, the first night they’d randomly paired up for a gladiator match, had been so strong, so confident, and so comforting to Luca, that he’d latched onto it, clung to it. He’d already been feeling so pathetic and lost, and it was easy to grasp onto to someone like D, especially when he couldn’t contact Nick and Tschida.
“Am? Are you all right?” The frown in D’s voice was clear.
“I’m fine. Just thinking about the arrangements I’m going to make.” About how I’m going to tell him the truth. What if he never wants to speak to me again?
“I will not put you out. I’ll get a driver, too,” D said quietly.
“It’s okay. You’ll need to meet my friends though.” Why am I talking like this is going to happen? Is it? Am I going to make this happen somehow? If it does happen, my friends will need to know where I am. Even though I’ve known D for years, I should take some precautions. But D is a really wonderful guy. Maybe this meeting won’t happen if he knows who I am. I might be worried for nothing. No, not nothing. I can’t lose D!
###
Why was Amethyst panting? Was he nervous about their visit? Despair grinned; he was, too. But nerves would not cancel their meeting. He’d have to show Amethyst his true self then, and hope his dear friend wouldn’t run, or worse, seek to use him or make some kind of deal with him. Deals with demons were costly.
As he waited for Am to speak, he scrolled through the actual article about the Midsummer Court, which he’d ignored earlier in favor of the videos. A publicity stunt to sell pierogis? These humans diminished a threat to the shadowy empire that governed their entire lives and, in some cases, afterlives like this? Ah, humans were so foolish. And only one elderly woman had mentioned a shirtless man in leather pants in the comments, and her remarks had been passed through her granddaughter: "My gran said, 'I never seen a chest like that. His abs were harder than managing our funds during the Great Depression. If that man’s reading this, my husband is dead.' So, hot, shirtless guy, my gran’s name is Marge. She lives across from Stan’s shop. Go make her happy!"
Marge, eh? Despair chuckled over that comment. The human was obviously younger than he, but nearing the end of her lifespan. Maybe I will pay a visit, considering she’s the only one who noticed me. The rest of the comments though, they were discouraging.
Why did it bother him that people were making such disparaging comments about the Midsummer Court? These were formidable foes, could easily snuff out any of their expendable lives. He sniffed in disgust and scrolled back to the videos left in the comments, clicked the “mute” button, then play.
“I’ll make it,” Am said softly. “We’ll make this happen.”
“We will.” D grinned as Titania twirled in front of the camera, shining hair flying behind him. He could easily grab that tail, plant a polished loafer against his spine… “It will not be easy, but it must happen. Father needs me, but right now, I need you. Before we meet, I have only to crush one small problem.” He clenched his left hand into a fist, long nails biting into his palm. He imagined he squeezed the life from Pink Prince Titania and his companions. Why? Why should a filthy shop owner, who turned into an utterly lame monster, be given hope when Despair and his family were denied it?
“Don’t lose hope,” Amethyst said, as Titania did his glittery wink on the screen. “You’re strong and successful. I know you’ll get this resolved. And if you need me, I’m here.”
Puck came back on the screen with his no-personality face. Maybe Despair should take care of that one first, then move to Titania. He closed the video. Why had those stars appeared around Puck’s head?
“You hear me, D?” Amethyst said again. “Promise me you won’t lose hope.”
Amethyst was the only human who deserved hope. Eventually, he’d be in the Gloom Realm with Despair, who’d fill his dearest friend with all the potential and hope drained from the worthless humans of Northeastern County.
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