Fallen Hero (Check Author's note!)

Emotions

3rd person Pov with Jim and Toby:

Toby burst into the house, knowing it would be unlocked by Jim. He marched upstairs to Jim's room, only to find him lying on the floor, sleeping.

"Jim?"

Jim woke up with a small flinch and looked up at Toby.

"Oh hey, Tobes." He said, lifting his head slightly then accidentally letting it fall.

"Are you ok, Jim?"

"I'm totally fine. I'm just gonna lie on the ground."

"Jim." He said in a warning tone.

He shifted himself up and stood up shakily. His feet weren't able to balance the weight of the rest of his body, making him lean against his bed.

"What did you want to talk about?" Jim asked, avoiding the upcoming conversation.

"Remember how I told you that Kanjigar told me everything?"

"Yes? Why?"

"He told me what happened to me in the other timeline," Toby said with a poker face plastered all over.

"Toby-"

"What did you come back, Jim? You could have died too!"

"It wasn't just you who died because of me ok?!" He yelled. "Your death was the last straw for me. Strickler, Nomura, Nari, and so many others. I just couldn't handle it anymore."

"You could have tried something else, Jim."

Jim's tear dams finally cracked from all of the pressure put on him. Toby hugged him as he sniffled away his tears.

"It's ok Jim. It's ok."

Jim's head hung low and the room was entirely silent, occasionally filled with sniffing sounds.

"While we're on this topic of truths, I have something to tell you."

Toby took a few steps back and took a deep breath to prepare for what his best friend was about to say to him.

"My old wounds are coming back."

"What?!" Claire's voice came from behind him.

He turned his head slowly to see her and the younger Claire looking at him in shock. She shook her head and clenched her fist in denial.

"And you didn't tell me? I knew something was wrong."

"How bad are your old wounds?" Toby asked.

"I probably have internal bleeding at this point."

"Jim!" Toby yelled.

"I know. I should have told you, but I didn't want to be a bother."

"This isn't a bother. This is a life-threatening situation."

Claire took a few steps toward him and wrapped her hands around his neck to not make the wound worse.

"You can tell us anything." She said, looking into his eyes.

"Are we interrupting something?" Toby asked Claire.

"I'm in as much shock as you are. Probably more."

With Zoe and Douxie:

They both waited for the other to say something. Anything. Zoe clicked her tongue and got up from the park bench. The dark night sky had only one or two visible stars, which neither of the immortals appreciated. Douxie got up along with her and stood by her side.

"I just didn't know how you'd react."

"Douxie." The sound of his nickname from her voice sounded unbelievable. "You of all people should've known I'd be madder if you ran off, than if you didn't tell me why you did it."

"Yeah but-"

"That's enough. You aren't just Merlin's apprentice anymore."

She quickly pressed her lips to his before he could back out. He couldn't force himself to pull away. Instead, Zoe pulled away only slightly, leaving their foreheads touching.

"Don't you dare run away this time." 

P.S. : Four more chapters to go!!! Y'all may be surprised with the next book :>