A bath of blood and wakfu

Chapter 11 | Back

- the white dimension -

It was odd to Yugo, how things seemed to work in this dimension. He never got tired, but easily exhausted, it was impossible for him to sleep, which made it even harder to count the days or hours. It was almost as if the concept of time in here was just exactly that - a concept.

But as much as he usually wished he didn't have to sleep, he now wished he could finally close his eyes for just a moment to drift off to somewhere else. And though sometimes his mind did wandered off to different places, where the only thing that existed were just formless concepts and borderless colors, he didn't allow himself to stay there, as he felt like that was the thin line to losing his mind, he could not overstep if he wanted to keep his sanity.

By now he had swung the purple sword countless times, to the point, where he barely had to think about switching from Wakfu to Stasis and back again. He put all of his focus into the swings, keeping the blue sword in his left, and the purple in his right hand.

"Hah.", he huffed, out of breath again, looking up to make his hair fall out of his face, without having to put away either of the weapons in his hands. Then, Yugo suddenly heard a very familiar sound. His eyes widened, but by the time he looked in front of him, there was nothing to see.

He shook his head, staring into the void. Maybe he had just imagined the sound of a portal, maybe he was truly going crazy now. But it had sounded so real, so close, that something inside of him wanted to believe it was real. His eyes wandered around, careful not to miss anything important.

And then there it was again. A blue portal opened up in front of him. On the other side, there was Amalia, staring right at hims. He had trouble keeping his jaw closed, being confronted with too many feelings at once. When he looked into his best friend's eyes, they were filled with tears, her hand hesitant to reach for his face. He too felt like crying, he wished he could, but in the white dimension he had cried so much, it almost felt like he had no more tears left.

- the sadida forest -

"Get him on the other side of the portal, we can't hold it much longer!", Adamai yelled, as he closed his eyes to better focus on the Eliacube and the portal connected to it:"Amalia! Get yourself together!"

Amalia couldn't move a muscle, she felt frozen in time, stunned by the sight of the boy, - no, the man in front of her. But she didn't have to move,  unlike her, Yugo immediately went for a hug, almost throwing her over.

He was so much taller. The eliatrope now reminded her more of Oropo than the Yugo she had last seen. "Amali-", was all he was able to say before the tiredness that had accumulated over the time he spent in the white dimension finally hit him. He was knocked out within a second, collapsing in Amalia's arms. The princess had trouble holding up the weight of her friend, instead dropping to the floor with him.

"Yugo?", while at first quiet, her calls soon turned into screams:"Yugo!? Adamai, do something!" The dragon was exhausted, having used most of his Wakfu for the portal, he could barely keep his eyes open, the world spinning around him:"What-? Is he breath- is he- is he alive?"

He barely got a glimpse of his brother as he went through the portal, but the way Amalia held him in her arms, he could tell that something about his appearance had changed. He was clearly taller, his clothes no longer fitted loosely, and his shoes seemed to be someplace else. What in the world of twelve had happened to his brother?

To Adamai's luck, Evangaline stayed as cool and collected as always, ordering Dally to get Yugo into a bed, and calling for an eniripsa, before trying to calm down the Sadida. The twins next to Adamai had both passed out, just like he did the first time he used the eliacube together with the traitor, - so it was no surprise to him. Still, he made sure they were okay and taken care of, before rushing into Amalia's room, where Percedal had brought Yugo.

The rest of the brotherhood already stood around the bed Yugo was in. When the dragon looked at his younger twin like that, he looked almost peaceful, his breath steady. "Adamai.", Evangeline tried to get his attention, and while his head turned, his eyes were still pinned to his brother. "Do you know what happened to Yugo?" "How would I know?", he mumbled, only partly invested in the conversation.

"Well, he grew, just like you did when we didn't see you for a while." "Eva. People grow. I don't know what the hell went on on the other side of that cube.", his mind ran through all of the worst scenarios. Had he been in there for years? Did time pass the same? Did he live through every minute of a century, until he aged up like he did? The dragon buried his face in his hands, trying to keep his cool until his brother would wake up.

The Cra noticed that she would not get anywhere in this conversation right now, and turned back to her friend in the bed, eying every inch of his face. Then she looked over to the princess right beside her. The sadida held Yugos left hand, cupping it with both of hers, her head placed on top, almost resembling a praying gesture. "He will wake up soon, for sure.", was all the cra could say to try and reassure her friend.

And while most of the brotherhood had left after a few hours, heading back to their rooms respectively, Amalia did not move an inch. She was scared, that as soon as she would go, her friend would wake up, all alone, or even worse, stop breathing. Every few hours she heard the sound of the door opening and closing behind her. She knew that it was Adamai, concerned for his brother, but she never once turned around to him.

"What in the name of sadida did you do?", she knew, that he probably couldn't hear her, yet she had to get thoughts off her mind somehow:"Please. Please just wake up." A cough erupted from the eliatrope, his eyes opening slowly, as he struggled to speak. His throat felt dry, and all he could do was motion to Amalia that he needed water.

The sadida understood right away, and grabbed the glass of water from the table behind her:"Here, be careful when you drink." She did not let go of the glass, not sure how weak Yugo still felt. Yugo tried to reply to her, his voice hoarse from not speaking for too long. After a few attempts though, he was able to speak clearly enough:"Hey Amalia. It's good to see you."

Amalia immediately noticed his much deeper voice, neither sure if he was aware, nor if she should mention it, but she did it either way:"You look different." "I do?", the eliatrope furrowed his brows, not entirely sure what she was referring to. The princess stood up, to get a hand mirror from the other side of her room, giving it to her friend.

When Yugo looked into the mirror he didn't say anything. His face scrunched together, as he slowly led one of his hands to his cheek, as if he was trying to make sure it was really him. "You grew.", the sadida noted, keeping her voice steady. "I grew?", he repeated. "You... are taller than me now."

"Eliatrope...", the realization hit him like a brick. I can help you unlock a part of your power. But I am afraid, in your current state you are not ready for it. The goddess must've made him age so that his body would be able to withstand the effects of stasis. "Eliatrope?", Amalia was lost.

But then, he remembered something more important:"Where is the rest of the brotherhood, where's Adamai, what happened to Q-" He hesitated to pronounce the traitors name:"What happend to the Eliacube?"

Amalia put her hand back on his, trying to calm her friend down:"It's okay. The brotherhood is fine. And your brother is worried to death about you, but he is uninjured. And Qilby... Well he got away, but we have the eliacube."

Yugos grip tightened around the blanket, as his gaze dropped. So he was still running free... "Could you please get the rest of the brotherhood Amalia? There are some things we should talk about." The princess nodded, and while she didn't want to let go of Yugos hand yet, she soon stood up and got all of them into her room.

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Authors notes

Hey,this chaper feels kinda weird to be honest lol, I don't even know why, but here it is anyways, a bit earlier in the day than usually, but I felt like proofreading it, before working on another chapter.

And as always, thank you so much for reading up until now!