Chapter Text
while people rushed towards the scarecrow, gillion turned, and ran the other way, through the broom cupboard, grabbing his cane as he went.
“this is all my fault,” he said to himself. “i always end up doing something wrong. i could have kept miss widow inside the castle. all i had to do was talk to her and be civil about it. chip may have forgiven me for many things in the past, but he’s not going to rush to forgive me for this one.”
in the shop, he dumped out the shells and stones onto the floor, emptying the seven league boots taking them both in his arms. they were heavy, but he was strong, and he hauled them both onto the street, closing the shop door behind him.
it was still midsummer’s day, and he looked up at the grey sky, trying to find the sun. “southeast,” he muttered, turning slightly. “excuse me, excuse me—” the village was still busy, and people stepped around him as he set the shoes down, pointing the right way. then he put his feet into them, and began to run.
blur, blur, blur. it was somehow even worse with both boots on than with just one. gillion saw briefly, between his long steps, blurred scenery surrounding him. the valley house, with edyn’s carriage, a river running down a hill into a stream, the city, somehow, floating in the distance, the mountains that tilted him off balance, despite leaning on his cane as hest he could, the edge of a cliff, where he had to take another step quickly, for fear that he’d tumble right off. and he ran, and he rand, until he reached the edge of the forest, the sea not far off. and he landed, on crumbly brown dirt. he dug his cane in, to prevent him from taking another step, and looked around carefully.
it was by no means, a pleasant forest. a mist surrounded him, hiding the way he’d came, and covering the way he was supposed to go. he wondered absently why he’d used the village entrance, and not the stone beach entrance, that was much closer to the forest, but he took a careful step, moving forward nonetheless.
it was hot, and gillion’s body ached, sweat rolling down his back. “if this is where niklaus lives,” he grunted. “then i feel pity for him. only a little bit.”
he stepped again, and the wind of rushing through space did not cool him down at all. everywhere he stepped, looked the same, but the ground grew coarse, and marred with pebbles, the mountains behind him disappearing into the fog.
gillion peered ahead, where he thought he saw something, poking out of the mist. he took one more step. somehow it had gotten even hotter, and he wiped his forehead, stumbling against his cane, so he did not move one more. but he was right about the thing that he saw. it was a strangely shaped pile, about a half mile away, standing on an incline. the ground was now fully rocks, trees still surrounding him.
it was a fantastical shape of twisted towers, joining together into one main tower that pointed slightly crookedly, reminding gillion of a bent finger. gillion kicked the boots off. it was too hot to carry them, as much as he could, so he left them behind, heading to the structure, with only his cane.
it seemed to have been made by the roots of the trees surrounding it. at first, gillion thought it might be home to some strange woodland creature. but as he approached it, he could see that whatever held it together was by no ordinary means.
strangely, it reminded him of the castle, in an odd way, and he grinned, out of breath. it had to be a fire demon’s work.
as gillion staggered up the hill, there was suddenly no doubt that this was the witch’s fortress. two small orange figures greeted him, and he recognised them, trailing after the witch in the city, although he couldn’t remember their faces. they blended into the crowds well enough that his memory was faint. but they greeted him, and as he had no issues with them, he was polite to them both. “good afternoon,” he greeted, catching his breath.
the two figures, young boys really, just stared at him, faces permanently upset. one bowed and held out his hand, pointing toward the misshapen dark archway between the bent columns of roots.
gillion followed him inside, seeing no other option.
the other boy walked after him. and of course, the entrance vanished as soon as he walked through. gillion looked back for a moment, and then continued moving forward. he would deal with that when the time came.
pushing his loose hair back, he dusted his shirt off, and walked forward. it was a bit like going through the castle door into wales. there was a moment of nothing, followed by a filtered light. the light came from green-yellow flames that burned and flickered around him, but in a way that gave no heat and not very much light either. just for the sake of having shadows on the wall. and when gillion tried to look at it, the flames were never where he was looking, but always to the side of his view.
but that meant it was magical, didn’t it?
gillion continued on, following the boy among root made pillars, just the same as the ones on the outside. finally, the boys led him into a makeshift living area. or maybe it was just a larger space between two pillars. gillion was confused by this point. the fortress seemed enormous, although he knew it was deceptive, just as the castle was from the outside.
the witch was standing there, waiting. he looked the same, the same dark hair and dark skin, the same beautiful, haughty face, but he looked weak , and he looked tired , and as gillion appeared, holding his cane out in front of him, and walking up to niklaus, the latter backed away.
“i will not be threatened, in my own home,” he said, sounding as weak as he looked.
“then give me miss widow, and you won’t be,” said gillion. “i’ll take her, and get out.”
moving back even further, the witch brandished her hands, gesturing towards gillion. and the two boys melted into sticky orange blobs, which rose into the air and flew towards gillion. he made a noise of disgust. “get off!” he yelped, beating at them with her cane. the orange blobs did not seem to give a damn about his cane. they dodged it and wove about, and then flew behind gillion. he was just thinking about how it wasn’t hard to outsmart them, when he found himself glued to a root pillar by them. orange sticky stuff wove between his ankles, when he tried to kick, and pulled at his hair as he tried to wiggle.
“i would rather have green slime!” gillion said, annoyed. “i hope those were not real boys.”
“only emanations,” said niklaus, boredly.
“let me go,” gillion said.
“no.” niklaus turned away, and seemed to lose interest in gillion entirely.
gillion bristled, and his stomach turned again, as he slowly realised that he may have been too reckless once more. the sticky stuff seemed to get harder, and more elastic every second. when he tried to move, it snapped him against the pillar. “where’s miss widow?” he asked.
“you won’t find her,” said niklaus. “we’ll wait until chip comes.”
“he will not be coming,” said gillion, holding his head high, despite the way the orange stuff tugged on it painfully. “he is smarter than that. and your curse has not worked at all anyway.”
“it will,” niklaus said, a smile on his face. “now that you have fallen for our trap and come here, chip will have to be honest for once.” he made another gesture, towards the flame just out of gillion’s eyes, and a throne moved out from between two pillars, stopping in front of the witch. there was a woman sitting on it, wearing a green dress, and long, shiny heels.
gillion thought she was asleep at first, with her head out of sight, tilted. but the witch gestured again. the woman sat up straight. and there was no head left on her shoulders at all.
that was all of what was left of princess ava.
“oh my fucking god,” said gillion, his eyes wide. “she looks horrible like that. put her head back on at once!”
“i got rid of both heads months ago,” said niklaus, idly. “i sold wizard elizabeth’s skull when i sold her guitar. princess ava’s head is walking around somewhere with some other leftover parts. she’s completely unrecognisable. this body is a perfect mixture of princess ava and wizard elizabeth. all that is left is chip’s head, to make it our perfect human. when i have chip’s head, we will have the new monarch of this land. and i will rule beside them.”
jay had been right the entire time, realised gillion, something sinking even more in his stomach. parts of her sister had been with her for a few days now. it made him sick to even think of.
“you are deranged,” spat gillion. “you have no right to make puzzles out of people! and i cannot believe that chip’s head will do anything that you want it to. he’ll get out of it somehow.”
“chip will do exactly as we say,” and niklaus’ voice was different now, stronger somehow, as though he’d already won. it was a terrifying one, paired with a sly smile. “we will control his fire demon.”
gillion was scared. it upset him, how scared he was. his mind raced, and he realised how difficult he had made things, by trying to help. he needed to distract the witch, somehow. “what did you need me for?” he demanded, trying his best to kick his feet free.
“oh, you.” and niklaus turned to face him, completely amused. “the boy of the prophecy, so clueless to everything around you. do you not see that this entire ordeal has to do with you?”
“who gave the prophecy in the first place?” gillion demanded. “why is it so important? and why won’t anyone answer my questions?”
“you don’t even know?” and a gleeful grin spread across niklaus’ face. “that’s alright. i can tell you. as my final favour to you, since you’re about to watch wizard chip die by my hand. you might as well have the privilege of knowing.”
“knowing what?” gillion snapped, impatiently.
his eyes sparkling, niklaus began to recite.
“a hero born of moonlight, storm and sea.
they shall rise or fall to bring unity.
they will be tested or bested by evil’s hand.
by their choice one will remain: sea or land.”
gillion was silent for a few moments, turning the lines over in his head. he still was unsure how he was the hero exactly, but if everyone kept saying that it was him, he was not going to argue with them. the second line, rising or falling, must be due to the curse, the one that caused him to run. being tested or bested, gillion glared up at niklaus as he mulled it over, clearly he was the evil at play.
but that only left the last line, choosing between sea or land.
giggling at gillion’s expression, niklaus couldn’t help but gloat. “what a pity you will not be fulfilling your destiny,” he said. “being bested right now is the most mercy i can grant you.”
clearing his head, gillion decided not to worry about that. “where is miss widow?” he asked again, waving his cane.
niklaus’ grin faded as he waved his cane, and he stepped away, frowning. “you all make me exhausted,” he said. “keep spoiling my plans. first, witch elizabeth wouldn’t come near the forest, so i had to threaten princess jay in order to make the king order her out here. then, when she came, she brought the tides with her. then, the king would not let princess ava follow elizabeth for months, and when she did finally follow, she, stupidly, went north somewhere for some reason, and i had to do everything i could to get her here. chip, somehow has caused me the most trouble, by escaping me once. i had to waste a curse on him, to bring him in, and while i was finding out enough about him to give the curse, your prophecy came up, and you got involved somehow, getting into what was left of elizabeth, and causing me even more trouble. and now when you are here, all you do is wave your cane and complain. i have worked very hard for this fucking moment, and i am not to be argued with.” he turned away, and stepped off into the light.
gillion stared after him, moving faintly among the flames. he’s crazy, gillion thought, his mind almost full with the amount that niklaus had just told him. about himself and about the other three. but he knew, that if he did not make an attempt to rescue miss widow, chip would be very upset with him, and so he continued to struggle. remembering that the orange stuff had avoided his cane, just as the witch had, gillion reached back over his shoulders with his cane, and wiggled it where the sticky stuff met the root pillar. “get off! let me go!” he grunted. his hair dragged, and pulled, painfully, but the orange bits began to run, away from his hair. gillion wiggled the stick harder.
he had worked his head and shoulders loose, when a dull, loud noise came from around him, somewhere. the flames wavered, and the pillar that gillion was pressed against shook. then, with a crash unlike anything gillion had ever heard before, as if everything had shattered, a piece of the fortress wall exploded. light streamed in, through a long, jagged hole, and gillion gaped eagerly, hoping it was chip. but the outline that stood against the light only had one leg. it was the scarecrow again.
the witch gave a scream of rage, and rushed towards it, his long hair flying, and his porcelain arms stretched out. the scarecrow jumped at him. there was another thunderous bang, and the two of them were enveloped in a magic cloud, like the cloud over the seaport, when chip and the witch had fought that day. the cloud moved forward and back, filling the murky air with shouts and loud sounds. gillion’s hair frizzed. the cloud was only feet away, going here and there, among the pillars. and the break in the wall was very close to gillion too. as he’d thought, the fortress was really not that big. every time the cloud moved across the blinding light gap, he could see through it, and he saw the two figures, battling in the mist. gillion watched, and kept working at the orange stuff with his cane.
he was just about free, save for his legs, when the cloud shouted across in front of the light one more time. gillion looked up, watching as another person leapt through the gap behind it. this one had long black sleeves. it was chip. gillion could see his outline clearly, standing with his arms folded, watching the two battle.
for a second, it looked like he’d step back and let niklaus fight the scarecrow instead. then he raised his arms, and above the already deafening noise, chip shouted one strange word, long and thunderous, and a clap of lightning came along with it. the scarecrow and the witch both shook. violent booms of sound rang around the root pillars, bang after bang, and each bang carried some of the cloud of magic away with it. it vanished in wisps, and swirled away, becoming faint mist and nothing else. when it had become the thinnest white haze, the tall figure, that had once stood so proud and haughty, began to tremble. the witch seemed to fold in on himself, thinner and frailer than ever before. finally, as the mist cleared away, he fell in a heap, with a small clatter. as the sound died, chip and the scarecrow were left face one another across a pile of bones, all that was left of niklaus.
thank god, gillion thought. he pried his legs free, and went up to the headless figure on the throne. it was annoying him.
“no dude,” said chip to the scarecrow, who was searching among the witch’s bones. “his heart’s not gonna be here. his fire demon’s got that. i think it’s been in control for a long time now. how sad.”
as gillion brushed off the woman’s shoulders, carefully making her appearance at least somewhat presentable, chip said, “the rest of what you’re looking for is over there.” he made his way to the throne, the scarecrow hopping alongside him.
“hi gil,” he said, quietly, a hint of a smile on his face. “‘course i’d find you helping her, after all my efforts to get here. you’re something else.”
gillion looked up at him. as he’d feared, the bright light streaming through the wall showed that chip had not bothered to shave, or even brush his hair. his eyes were still red, and his sleeves were torn in several places. the clothes on him and the scarecrow looked very similar. something akin to hurt settled in his stomach. he must love miss widow more than anyone else, he thought to himself. “i came for miss widow,” he muttered, the words burning as they came out.
chip snorted. “i thought if i called for your sister and your friend to come, that it would keep you there for once,” he said, a bite to his words that gillion couldn’t quite place. “but no, you had to help me, even if it meant hurting yourself in the process—”
looking at his legs, gillion saw where his pants ripped, a nasty bruise that spread across his calf. but it didn’t look too awful, and when he opened his mouth to say just that, the scarecrow hopped in front of gillion.
“i was sent by wizard elizabeth,” it said, in it’s strange voice. “i was guarding her bushes from the birds in the forest when the witch caught her. she cast all her magic that she could spare on me, and ordered me to come to her rescue. but the witch had turned her into pieces by them, and spread them in many places. it’s been difficult. if you hadn’t come by and talked life into me again, i would have failed.”
it was answering the questions that gillion had asked, before they’d both left.
“so when princess ava ordered finding spells, they must have been pointing to you,” gillion realised. “why was that?”
“to me, or to his skull,” said the scarecrow. “between us, we are the best part of her.”
“and luna is made up of both of them? princess ava and wizard elizabeth?” gillion asked. he worried about jay’s reaction to that.
the scarecrow nodded its rotten little face. “both parts told me that the witch and his fire demon were no longer together, and i could defeat the witch on his own. i have to thank you, for giving me my speed.”
chip waved it aside. “bring that body with you to the castle,” he said. “i’ll help you there. gillion and i have to get back, before that fire demon finds a way of getting inside.” he grabbed gillion’s wrist. “come on. where’d you leave the boots?”
gillion tugged against him. “but your heart—” he protested. “miss widow—”
“what’re you talking about?” chip asked, dragging him now. “miss widow is the fire demon. if it gets inside the castle, then pretzel’s done for, and so am i!”
“oh god,” gillion said, dread filling him. “it’s been in twice already. but she— it went out.”
“fuck’s sake!” groaned chip. “did it touch anything?”
“the guitar,” gillion admitted.
“then it’s still in there,” said chip. “we need to get moving.” he pulled gillion over to the smashed hole in the wall. “follow us carefully,” he yelled back to the scarecrow. “i’m going to have to raise the wind! no time to look for the boots,” he said to gillion, as they clambered over the wall, into the burning sun. “just run. and keep running, or i won’t be able to take you.”
gillion helped himself along with his stick, and managed to start running, the heat tearing at this skin, the hot air clawing down his lungs. he stumbled among the stones as he ran, his ankles bruised from all his struggles. chip ran beside him, pulling him along by his wrist.
wind pulled up, whistling at first, and then growing into a roar, filling gillion’s ears, hot and dusty, throwing up stones and dirt, whirling around the two of them in a storm that whirled on the edge of the root covered fortress. by that time, they were not running, but sliding forward, in sort of a slow motion version of flying. the ground sped past them, underneath their feet, and dust and dirt swept around them, high overhead, and being tossed far behind. it was noisy, and uncomfortable, but the forest flew past.
“it’s not pretzel’s fault,” gillion shouted. “i told him not to say anything.”
“he wouldn’t have said anything anyway,” chip replied, speaking loudly into gillion’s ears. if they weren’t moving so fast, gillion would’ve felt every word against his skin. “he’d never give away another fire demon, even if it’s trying to get both of us. he’s my weak spot.”
“i thought that was wales!”
“no, i said that on purpose! i knew i’d be angry enough to stop her if he tried anything over there! i had to leave him an opening, do you get it? the only chance i had of finding princess ava was to use that curse he’d put on me to get near him .”
“so you were going to rescue the princess!” gillion yelled. the wind was deafening, and if chip’s mouth wasn’t pressed against his ear, he wouldn’t be able to make out a single word he said. “why did you pretend to run away? to trick the witch?”
“not likely!” chip’s hands gripped tightly onto gillion’s wrist. “i’m a liar. the only way i’ll get myself to do something this fucking terrifying is to lie to myself, and tell myself that it’ll be okay, and that i won’t be able to do it!”
he’s being honest, gillion realised, looking around at the swirling dirt. and this is a wind. the last bit of the curse is coming true.
the dirt flew in his face, and chip’s grip hurt. “keep running!” chip called. “you’ll get hurt at this speed if you slow down any more!” gillion wheezed, and made his legs move, continuing to run. he could see the mountains clearly now, and a line of green that was below the flowering bushes. even though dirt continued getting in the way, the mountains seemed to grow, and the green line rushed toward them, until it was tall, as tall as a hedge. “every side i had was weak!” chip continued. “i was relying on lizzie being alive. then, when all that seemed to be left of her was luna, i was so fucking scared, i had to get myself drunk. and then you went, and you played right into niklaus’ hands!”
“i’m disillusioned!” gillion cried out. “i pretend to be so much better than i actually am!”
“bullshit! you’re a better person than i’ll ever be! your fault is that you’re too fucking attached to people, and you care too much about what they think!” chip was slowing down. dust billowed around them, in dense clouds. gillion only knew how close the bushes were because he could hear the rush of the wind in the leaves. they fell into them with a crash, still going so fast that chip had to pull gillion away, running across a lake, the both of their feet barely skimming the edge of the water. “and you’re too nice,” chip sighed, still holding onto gillion. “i thought you’d be too jealous to let that demon anywhere near here.”
they hit the rocks of the beach at a slow run, the stones skittering about as their feet touched land, and gillion stumbled, using his cane to prop himself up. the castle was moving down the shore, quickly towards them, and chip slowed down just enough to shove the door open, shooting gillion and himself inside.
“jay!” he shouted.
“it wasn’t me who let the scarecrow in!” jay said quickly.
everything inside the castle seemed to be the way that gillion left it. someone had pulled his bed out from under the stairs, and luna was lying on it, still unconscious. edyn and ensa and jay were sat around it, watching luna, worried looks on all of their faces. chip released gillion from his grip and sprinted towards the guitar. before he could touch it, it burst, with a loud sound, an awful sound that made gillion want to cover his ears. strings twanged as they broke, and wood splintered, showering chip, forcing him to back away, one tattered sleeve covering his face.
and miss widow was suddenly beside the fireplace, smiling. chip was right. she must have been in the guitar all this time, waiting for her moment.
“niklaus is dead.” chip told her.
“isn’t that awful!” miss widow said, appearing wholly uncaring about the whole thing. “now i can make myself a new human, who will be much better. the curse is fulfilled. i can hold your heart in my hands now.” her eyes bled black, no white left in them at all, and her fingers grew long and spindly, looking like one of those spiders that chip was so fond of. she reached down into the grate, and plucked pretzel out of it. pretzel wobbled on top of her hand, looking terrified, his eyes wide. “don’t fucking move.” miss widow said, warningly.
nobody dared to move. least of all chip, who stood the quietest of them all. “help me!” pleaded pretzel, weakly.
“no one can help you,” said miss widow, her voice soft. “ you are going to help me control my new toy. let me show you. i only have to tighten my grip.” her hand that was holding pretzel squeezed, until her knuckles paled.
chip and pretzel both screamed. it was agonising. chip collapsed onto the floor, his face turning blue, and pretzel wiggled this way and that, writhing in pain. gillion’s focus was on chip, alone. he did not think the other boy was breathing.
miss widow blinked. she stared down at chip. “he’s faking.” she said, astonished.
“no, he’s not!” pretzel screamed, twisted and writhing. “his heart’s really very soft! let go of me!”
something inside gillion snapped at the sight of chip’s body, lying unconscious on the floor, his chest still. he raised his cane, slowly and gently, glaring terribly at miss widow. he thought, for a moment, forcing himself to slow down and think. “cane,” he whispered. “hit miss widow, but don’t hurt anyone else.” then he swung the cane, and smacked miss widow’s tightened fist, with the biggest crack that he could muster.
miss widow hissed, like a wet log burning in a fire, and dropped pretzel. pretzel rolled helplessly on the floor, flaming against the stones, and crying out with terror. miss widow raised a foot to stomp on him, and gillion let go of his stick, diving to rescue pretzel. his cane, to his amazement, hit miss widow again on its own, and then again and again.
of course it would! gillion thought. he had talked life into that cane, and arlin james had told him such.
miss widow hissed and stumbled. gillion stood up, holding pretzel, to find his cane beating miss widow, and smoking with the heat that she was emanating. by contrast, pretzel did not seem as hot. he was a light blue, and barely there, only his face floating up. gillion could feel that the dark lump of chip’s heart was barely beating between his fingers. it had to be chip’s heart that he was holding. he’d given it to pretzel as part of his contract, to keep him alive. he must have been sorry for pretzel, but honestly, what a stupid thing to do.
miss widow bolted towards the door, with gillion’s cane still hovering over him, smacking her repeatedly.
“don’t let her leave!” gillion shouted. “guard all the doors!”
everyone rushed to obey. edyn blocked the door to the yard, and ensa stood, her arms and legs outstretched, to block the exit that lead through the broom cupboard. jay rushed to get to the castle door, but luna got there first. her face was pale, and her eyes were shut, but she ran even faster than jay, and she opened the door.
with pretzel helpless, the castle had stopped moving. miss widow saw the sea, still roaring outside, and raced for the door, with inhuman amounts ot speed. but before she reached it, she was blocked by the scarecrow, looming in the doorway, with princess ava hung across its shoulders. it spread its stick arms across the door, barring the way. miss widow backed away from it.
the cane beating her up was on fire now. the metal end was glowing, and gillion realised that it could not last much longer. miss widow hated it so much that she grabbed jay, and dragged her in its way. the cane had been told not to hurt jay. the cane hovered in midair, hesitantly. gillion had made another mistake.
there was no time to waste.
“pretzel,” gillion said, looking down at him. “i must break your contract. will it kill you?”
“it would if anyone else were to do it,” pretzel said, weakly. “that’s why it has to be you. i knew you could talk life into things. look at what you did to the scarecrow and the skull.”
“then, my friend, please live for another thousand years.” and gillion willed very hard as he said it, just in case his words weren’t enough. he took hold of pretzel and carefully pinched him off the black lump, as though he were a dead bud on a plant. pretzel whirled loose, and hovered by his shoulder, as a teardrop shape.
“i feel so light!” he exclaimed. then it hit him, what had just happened. “i’m free!” he shouted, gleefully. “i’m free!” he whirled to the chimney, and rushed up it, out of sight. gillion could hear him shouting faintly, as he rushed out the other end, outside.
gillion turned to chip, with the faintly beating black lump, feeling scared, despite his hurry. he had to get this right, and he was not quite sure how to do it. “here we go,” he murmured. kneeling down beside chip, he carefully put the black lump on his chest, in the left sort of area where the heart is supposed to go, and pushed. “go in,” he said to it. “get in there, and work!” and he pushed and pushed. the heart began to sink in, and began beating strongly as it went. gillion tried to ignore whatever was happening around him, and to keep pushing steadily. his hair kept getting in his face, falling around his cheeks in green strands, but he had to ignore that too, the light coming from chip’s chest causing him to barely be able to see his own skin.
the heart went in. as soon as it had disappeared, so did the light, and chip gasped, and then groaned, flopping over. “fuck!” he exclaimed. “such a bad fucking hangover.”
“no, you hit your head on the floor,” corrected gillion.
chip stood suddenly, scrambling to his feet. “i can’t be here,” he said suddenly. “i've got to rescue that idiot, gillion.”
“i am right here,” gillion told him, something warm spreading in his chest. “but miss widow, chip! do something about her!”
the cane was entirely ablaze now. and miss widow had realised that the scarecrow would burn if the stick touched it. as usual, gillion had rushed into something, without thinking it through.
chip only needed to take a single glance, and he shook his hands out in a hurry. he held one hand out, and spoke a sentence of words that disguised themselves in thunder. the ceiling shook, everything trembled, but the stick vanished, and as chip stepped back, there was a small, hard, black thing in his hand. it could have been a little lump of coal, except that it was the same size as the thing that gillion had just pressed into chip’s chest.
miss widow wailed, and held her arms out, wishing for it.
“yeah, no.” said chip. “you’re done for. and it was really clear that you were trying to get a new heart too. you were trying to get mine, and let pretzel die, weren’t you?” he shifted the black thing onto his palm and pressed his hands together.
niklaus’ old heart crumbled into black sand, soot and then nothing at all. miss widow faded away as it crumbled, wailing as she did so. and as chip opened his hands, to show that there was nothing left, the remains of the fire demon had left the doorway empty as well.
the moment that miss widow was gone, something else happened. the scarecrow was no longer there. instead, two women stood in the doorway, smiling at each other, as if they were the only two people there. the one with the dark skin had luna’s dark hair, falling down around her face. the one with a green dress held the features, yet more personality than luna had ever had. her ginger hair fell down in sheets.
jay lunged towards the red headed one, her eyes wet, and chip turned to gillion, distracting him just them.
“i know i told you i liked your other hair, but i wanted you to be mad at me,” he said apologetically, taking a curl of gillion’s hair between his fingers. “but now that i’m really lookin’ at it, i think the green and pink suits you more.”
“pretzel’s gone,” gillion said in a rush, before he forgot. “i had to break your contract.”
chip looked a little sad, but he said, still absently playing with gillion’s hair, “we were hoping you would. we didn’t want to end up like niklaus and miss widow. so what kind of person are you?” he asked, his thumb swiping across gillion’s cheek next.
“triton,” gillion said, his face warming. not much had changed about chip that he could see, except that he stood a bit taller, now that his heart was back, and his eyes were a deeper brown than ever before. “do i have to pick between the sea and the land now?”
“only if you wanna.” chip said, shrugging his shoulders. “the prophecy doesn’t have a time limit, does it? just ignore it, and live the way you want.” and gillion knew that chip wasn’t changed at all.
things were happening around them, but chip and gillion were too invested in each other to care. the princesses, near the door were reuniting, tears being shed. wizard elizabeth and ensa stood watching the two, both smiling happy for the two of them, but standing together awkwardly.
“so you’re the wizard elizabeth?” ensa asked, turning to look at her. “big fan.”
“it’s just lizzie now,” lizzie replied, pushing her hair out of her face. “and you’re the girl who’s seeing my girl’s younger sister, aren’t you?”
her cheeks colouring, but her gaze steady, ensa nodded, unable to hold her own grin back. “she’s great. how about princess ava? wasn’t it strange, being the same person?”
“thankfully,” lizzie sighed. “i don’t remember much. i feel like it’s better that way.”
“i knew you were the guy i met on may day,” chip said to gillion, tilting his head, his smile threatening to burn gillion’s insides out. “you look fuckin’ identical to your sister, y’know.”
“you will find that i am very different to her,” gillion decided to reply, unable to stop his awkward grin. “after all, i am the one destined for greatness.”
“forget about that for a bit, will you?” and chip’s smile was so fond, it nearly tore gillion to pieces. “thanks for holding my heart for me. if i could, i’d give it to you forever.”
“i think you should keep it, for the time being. we would not want all this happening again.”
if they were paying attention to the rest of the room, they would have seen jay and ava break apart at last, rubbing their swollen eyes, happy beyond belief. they would have heard jay shout an exclamation, and rush behind them to the fireplace.
but all they could do was smile, very much not willing to stop. and gillion looked down at chip’s hands and grabbed them in his own, clutching them tightly. “you are…” he hesitated. “a piece of work.”
“oh, but you aren’t?” chip retorted. “watch it, fish boy. i can still drop you off into the ocean this very minute.”
“lies,” said gillion.
“i said,” jay shouted, peering at the fireplace. “that pretzel’s come back!”
that did get chip’s attention, and caught gillion as well. they both squinted at the grate, where, sure enough, a familiar little face flickered among the logs, tentacles hiding beneath the wood.
“you didn’t have to do that,” chip said.
“i don’t really mind,” admitted pretzel, “as long as i can move a bit more. “besides, it started to rain out there.”