The Hero Nobody Asked For

Chapter 5: Waves

It was around midnight when Fern finally woke up. The room was dark, making it hard to decipher if they woke up or not. Their head felt like it was being pounded with a hammer whenever they tried to lift themself up. After a few minutes of struggling, they gave up and flopped back down onto their pillow in a huff of defeat. Their head slowly turned to the window. The moonlight finally glistened through the inky clouds, acting as dim strings of light to slightly illuminate the room enough for Fern to see.

The room was very much a guest room. It had no personal items apart from one family photo on the wall that showed a younger Ms. Kinder and Darcy. Upon closer inspection, Darcy looked to be around ten or eleven years old in that picture. Moving on from that, Fern laid their eyes upon a small, withered music box. Once Fern realized what it was, their eyes turned a pale green. It was much more dull than the glowing green they possessed when their powers activated. The teen turned over onto their stomach, making their back crack abruptly and almost painfully. Their head pounded in their skull as the feral-looking youth desperately crawled to the rusted metal box.

Just as they were about to reach it, the door creeped open to reveal Darcy. She was in a loose tank top with fluffy, but dark sweatpants. A bright yellow robe was draped over her body as well. She noticed that Fern was reaching for the music box and sprang into action, swiping the box out of Fern's reach and putting a hand on the teen's shoulder. She looked into their eyes, trying to find a way for them to snap out of it.

"Fern! Fern, listen to me! You don't need it. You don't need your powers to get better. You're strong on your own! Very strong! Just come back to me." She said, hoping that her words would at least start to calm them down.

Fern's eyes were slowly starting to darken and turn into a shade of brown. Tears then pricked in their eyes, threatening to fall down their cheeks. Their body ached overwhelmingly once again, making Fern's hands squeeze Darcy's arms out of pain.

"D-Darcy... Darcy please... everything hurts... I need it-"

"No you don't! You can do this!" She reassured, putting the music box on a high shelf so that Fern couldn't get to it.

"If you want, I can make you a midnight snack. I could even help you downstairs." Darcy offered, trying to distract Fern from the pain they're feeling.

Fern agreed to the offer and lifted their body enough for Darcy to easily hook her arm under their arm and pull them up. They both slowly tiptoed downstairs to the kitchen and Fern was seated at the dining room table. Darcy turned on the stove and made some French toast. Even when it was just barely sizzling, the sweet, cinnamon smell wafted the air almost hypnotically. Fern couldn't help but let a string of drool fall down their chin before wiping it away with their pajama sleeve- wait. Fern didn't remember putting on pajamas.

Darcy noticed the confusion written all over Fern's face and gave a light chuckle.

"Mom gave you a bath and put some of my old pajamas on you." She explained. "Honestly, you look good in them."

"That's a little weird... aren't baths only for babies?" They asked, not remembering the last time they had a relaxing bath in their life.

"No, dude. A lot of adults take baths. Plus, you can't wash yourself if you're out cold." She chuckled, explaining a little more before putting a plate of steaming hot French toast in front of Fern.

Fern suddenly felt very hungry. It was like they hadn't eaten in a day or two. They didn't even use a fork to shove the bready deliciousness down their gullet.

"Hey! Easy, easy! You'll hurt yourself if you eat like that!" Darcy exclaimed, stopping Fern from eating another bite.

"I didn't think that sleeping for two days could work up an appetite-"

"TWO DAYS?!" Fern yelped before Darcy covered their mouth.

"Chill! You don't want to wake up the whole damn neighborhood, do you?!" Darcy hissed at the teen before sighing.

"Yes. You've been out for two days. I know it sounds freaky as hell, but you did use a lot of energy." She said calmly before slowly uncovering Fern's mouth.

"Now try and eat slowly, okay?" She hissed a bit quieter this time before getting a plate of her own French toast.

The two then ate their French toast in silence. Fern couldn't get past the fact that they were unconscious for two whole days and didn't even recall any sounds or dreams. As much as they wanted to ask what happened in those two days, they had a feeling that Darcy wasn't in the mood to answer any.

'Maybe I could ask in the morning. I have a right to know! It's almost like I need to
know...' They thought as they ate the last bite of their snack.

Darcy looked up, noting that Fern was lost in thought.

'I wonder what goes through that kid's head. Hopefully nothing too messed up.' She pondered before grabbing both their empty plates and washing them in the sink.

Before Fern could ask what they should to next, Darcy's already started to suggest things.

"Hey kid, wanna watch some cartoons?" She asked turning on the tv and clicking to a late-night cartoon channel. Fern raised an eyebrow at the strange title.

"Mature Snowboarding?" They asked, not very sure if they wanted to watch this anymore.

"It's just the name of the channel. It has a bunch of cartoons, like Cyborg Goose, Manny's Steakhouse, Duke of the Mountain, Dill and Rolly, just... cartoons with adult humor, y'know?" Darcy explained.

Fern slowly nodded before looking back at the screen. They then squinted to better read the title.

"What's Billy Llama?" They asked.

Darcy furrowed her brow. "Oh... Billy Llama is a depressing show. Are you sure you can handle that?" She asked cautiously, not wanting to give Fern more emotional turmoil. Fern shrugged, not seeing what the big deal was.

"It's just a cartoon. How depressing can it be?" They asked, brushing off Darcy's concern.

Darcy sighed and let the channel stay on.

They spent the next 8 hours watching a whole marathon of "Billy Llama".