After the End (Julian and MC)

7

I awake to Scout gently shaking my shoulder, and I inhale sharply as I sit up. Julian is still asleep beside me, his dark red hair falling in his eyes. When I look back to Scout, she waves me towards herself urgently, and I realise she wants to get going. I nod at her before looking back to Julian, smiling as I gently pushing his hair aside before kissing his forehead and stroking his cheek with the backs of my fingers. He stirs at my touch, and his eyes slowly flutter open.

"Ngh, MC?" He groans, slowly sitting up beside me and rubbing his eyes.

"Scout says it's time to go." I tell him gently, kissing his cheek as he becomes more awake. I'd love nothing more than to stay here a little longer with Julian, but if Scout says we need to continue, I won't argue with her. I can tell from the way she looks at me that she wants us to hurry, and I quickly lean over and grab Julian's gloves, handing them to him before slipping my shoes on.

Julian yawns and stretches, cracking his bones before he sighs and relaxes. "Can't we stay a little longer?" He wonders, smiling at me as he shifts to the edge of the bed and sits next to me.

I look at Scout and shake my head, watching as Julian slips on his boots. "No, we can't stay in one place for too long." My voice is calm and gentle, and when Julian looks at me, my smile mimics it. "The sooner we find Asra, the sooner we can find everyone else." I remind him, stroking his hair before standing up.

"Fair point." Julian sighs, standing up beside me and taking my hands in his.

I smile at him before looking to Scout, who turns and indicates for us to follow. "Scout? Is Asra far?" I ask her hopefully, my chest lightening when she shakes her head. "We're close?" I wonder, my smile widening when she nods. I turn to look at Julian, who shares my enthusiasm. "Do you think Asra's alright? You don't suppose theDevil did something to him, like what he did to you?" I query, my smile dimming as fear creeps into my heart.

"Asra's a powerful magician, I'm sure he's fine." Julian assures me, lifting my hand to his lips.

With a sigh of relief, I lean into him and follow Scout out of the shop, stepping back into the storm outside. Julian and I lock our fingers together and break into a run, following Scout as she bounds ahead.

After a long run through the back alleys of Vesuvia, I realise where Scout is taking us.

"Julian, she's taking us to the palace." I call over the noise of the storm, stopping for a moment to meet his eyes.

Scout stops and turns to us, barking in alarm to draw our attention back to her.

"If that's where Asra is, that's where we need to go." Julian replies determinedly, squeezing my hand comfortingly and pulling me ahead.

I frown and start running again, pushing away the growing fear in my heart as we enter the palace gardens through a side gate. The storm quietens, but the gardens aren't as calm as they once were. The maze is overgrown with brambles and vines, and when I reach out with my magic, I can sense the dark beings within.

Scout senses them too, and she growls as she leads us around the maze, her pale eyes alert. I cling to Julian as we warily make our way around, gently squeezing his hand when he begins to tremble beside me. We make it around the maze, and Scout leads us to a wall of the palace, pausing in front of it and turning to us.

"This wall... I came through it when I came out of the dungeons to confess to the Countess." Julian murmurs in my ear, swallowing hard as he squeezes my hand. He steps forward and presses his palm to a brick in the wall, gasping and moving back when it sinks back and opens a passage way.

Julian takes my hand again, and we follow Scout down the steps. He drops back behind me as we move in single file, keeping his fingers laced with mine. We come down to the dungeons, and Scout cautiously leads us away from where the research for the plague was conducted. I can feel Julian's hand trembling in mine, and I squeeze it comfortingly as I turn to smile at him.

"It's alright, we're not going down that way." I assure him gently, stopping to kiss his cheek before continuing behind Scout.