Chapter Text
“Look!” Gareth whispers, pointing at the towers. The red flames of the torches are no longer visible and the castle's sounds get slowly muffled and then they stop, leaving the castle surrounded by an ominous silence.
“It’s time.” Steve says, “Don’t be scared.”
“I’m not,” Eddie replies, getting up, not noticing that the other guards have fallen into a dreamless sleep as well thanks to the potion that the mages mixed with their food.
Steve takes the little potion that Robin gave him, the one that will trap him in the dream realm and give Eddie the time to kill the mage.
He unscrews the little vial and brings it to his mouth quietly, but something stops him before he drinks it. Eddie is wobbling. That's not something his dreams predicted. He was supposed to stay awake. He should be the valiant knight that will finally defeat the monster.
"Eddie?" Steve calls, getting closer, the vial still in his hand.
He turns his loyal guard toward himself but the man is staring blankly at him.
That’s not what he dreamed of.
"That's not possible... Robin said that you would be ok!" Steve cries, shaking the boy while realizing that the mage never actually told him that Eddie wasn't going to fall asleep, she just told him that everything would have been ok. He glares at his potion, not sure if to drink it anyway or not. She said the potion would help him in the dream realm, but not how, and Steve is wondering if he should trust the woman or not. Eddie's body is shaking and floating high in the sky, while Steve stares at him with eyes full of terror. That's the moment Steve has to make his choice, and he does. Without blinking an eye he gulps the potion down in one go.
When he opens his eyes he sees them: some golden vines, coming from the castle and wrapped around Eddie's body. They are thick and they shine so brightly that he has to protect his eyes from the light. For a moment he catches a glimpse of Eddie's nightmares, but everything is blurred, like he was watching through a foggy window. Steve tries to get to Eddie, screaming his name, and Eddie turns toward him like he heard him, but soon the image is gone and he is back on the ground while Eddie's body floats in the night.
Steve looks at the golden vines and quickly understands that the only way to save Eddie and his kingdom is to kill the dark mage, so he runs toward the castle, following the vines' tracks, but when he gets there all the doors are locked and there is no way he can climb the walls. He curses loudly, glaring at the golden vines that move like snakes just above the collapsed tower just outside walls. The one that was abandoned after an earthquake damaged half of the castle and whose access was strictly prohibited when they were kids. But Eddie and Steve were never the kind of kids you could say not to do something and expect them to obey.
Steve runs toward the collapsed building, moving rocks and debris, cutting his hand and ignoring the pain until he manages to reveal a secret little passage and crawls inside with his elbows. The air is hot and wet, and after a few moments Steve's body is covered in sweat, but he keeps crawling across the dirty floor, trying not to think about the mass of rocks just above his head that could collapse at any moment and crush him. Crawling on his elbows, he moves slowly but relentlessly. He is covered in scratches and he is bleeding profusely, but he just keeps going until finally he gets to the part of the passage that's behind the castle's walls and he is finally able to take a deep breath in the dark. A few moments later the passage widens and he stands up slowly. Steve’s arms and legs hurt after crawling for so long, but he has no time to rest. Walking in the complete darkness, he puts a hand on the wall and keeps going on, moving along the wall until he stumbles and falls on something cold and hard: the stairs.
***
One step after the other, Steve finally gets to the top of the stairs and into the castle’s corridors that are enlightened by some torches, but the closer he gets to the throne room the more his vision blurs. He is both in the king's throne room with Vecna and Eddie and in the corridors full of people asleep on the ground.
He keeps moving, cursing when he stumbles over the sleeping body of some guard he didn't see while his eyes move from the dream realm to reality. On the floor he recognizes the faces of the men that dragged him to prison as well as the ones of those who were his friends. Walking near the kitchen, Steve sees Joyce lying asleep on the floor with a pillow under her head. He finds it strange, but he doesn’t have time to investigate, he needs to get to the throne room and try to save Eddie, so he keeps moving, even if every step gets harder and harder the closer he gets to the throne room. When he finally gets in front of the thick wooden door engraved with wildflowers he kicks it open.
Seated on the throne, King Richard’s head is bowed and his eyes are closed.
“Father?” Steve calls, and realizes his mistakes as soon as the image shifts and the man sitting on the throne opens his eyes revealing blue and gold and evil irises.
“I'm so glad that you are already moving between the dream realm and the reality, it will make things easier for me!” the mage states, and then lifts one arm. Steve suddenly feels a pull in his stomach while he falls for what feels like an interminable falling until his body hits a ground that’s not real.
The pain sucks all the breath out of his lungs, and for a moment Steve wonders if he is dying, if these are his final moments, but then he breathes again. It takes a few moments to realize that even if the pain he feels seems real it's all in his mind, so he wishes his body to move. He gets on his knees and finally gets up, glaring at the creature that is torturing his lover.
“Clever boy. It didn't take you long to understand that all of this is happening in your mind, but guess what? That's exactly where the pain comes from!”
The mage lifts his arm and Steve's body crashes against the wall.
“All that pain wouldn't have been necessary if your ancestor left me to my research. But they were just humans, and they were scared, and they took from me what I cared about. Now I'll repay you by taking from you what you love the most!” Vecna sneers. “Your boyfriend has a vial of poison in his armor, did you know that? He was ready to kill you and himself to protect you from the pain. Sadly his body is mine now.” The golden vines move again, tugging Eddie's arms and legs. “Look at him. He is going to die here, and his body will follow soon after! I'm so glad you're here to see it happen.”
Steve runs toward Eddie while other vines move toward him, catching his leg and slamming his face into the ground. He spits some blood, cleaning his mouth with the back of his hand, while screaming Eddie's name at the top of his lungs.
For a moment his vision blurs again and he is back in the real throne room, the mage still asleep on the throne. It's just a flash and then he is back in the dream realm, his eyes pinned on the body of his lover.
Eddie's eyes find his eyes and he mouths something.
Three words.
Three unmistakable words.
I love you.
And then Eddie screams in pain.
Steve's blood runs cold. The man he loves is dying. Steve doesn't know if he is dying here in the dream realm or in the woods but Eddie is dying. He looks around himself, trying to find something that could help him, but Eddie's screams are piercing his ears and he can't think.
All of this was for nothing.
They share a last look, and then Steve tries to remember his training.
His trainer used to say that the first fight was always in the mind.
Steve regulates his breathing and flexes his muscles, easing the tension, and when he feels ready he mouths, I love you too .
Then he closes his eyes, while Eddie's scream gets higher.
When Steve reopens his eyes he is still in the throne room, while Vecna's body seems abandoned. It's his only chance.
He runs toward the pillow where the scepter and the sword rest and grabs the sword: it's an ornamental one, it was never meant to be used as a weapon, but Steve has no other choice, so he grabs it and strikes Vecna's chest. The mage opens his eyes, glaring at the boy who dared to hurt him, while the sword shatters and Steve curses.
