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“You… you’ve been near my sister.”
Those words hit Ethan like a punch to the gut. Yes, he had been near Rachel. But only because they were friends. He’d never have gone near Rachel, or anyone for that matter, if he knew he’d start emitting skulk. It didn’t spread like that, but Ethan needed to spare himself from the looks of horror he’d receive if anyone laid eyes on the spores. Spores that he had created. Seeing Andy’s reaction alone was enough.
“What?” Ethan breathed out. “No- no, it doesn’t work like that, Andy. I wouldn’t put her in danger. It’s not contagious, it doesn’t spread that way!”
The steel of Andy’s axe gleamed beneath the sun. It was a reminder that its wielder would attack Ethan if it came down to it. Andy wouldn’t hesitate, Ethan couldn’t even imagine that.
“How does it work, Ethan?” Andy demanded. “Is it a condition? A mutation? Clearly you don’t seem to have any kind of concept of how it works! And you’re acting like you’ve got it all under control-”
“I do have this under fucking control,” Ethan seethed. “I’ve locked myself in with this thing to study it—I haven’t slept in days over this—but I’m almost there! I just need more time.”
“Are you out of your mind!? You think reading some books is going to fix you ?”
That was the moment Ethan knew. All Andy saw him as was infected. A deformity. Andy didn’t believe in magic, but they seemed to believe in it enough to think that Ethan was a threat.
“...you’re looking at me like I’m some fucking monster. I’m not…” Ethan trailed off. “You don’t get to decide that.”
Ethan’s entire body ached with shame and determination. He became so hyper-aware of all the skulk surrounding him. It was almost like he could feel every spore multiplying, spreading across the dirt on the ground. He could hear it calling out to him, forcing itself into his mind. It spoke over his internal monologue, but Ethan was intent on getting his point across to Andy.
“I’m fighting with everything I have, I’m still me, Andy,” Ethan was almost begging. He wanted more than anything for Andy to believe him. “I haven’t changed, I swear to you, I’m right here. I’m the same stubborn, work-worn bastard I’ve always been…I’m not a threat. I never was! I’m not…
…I’m not dangerous.”
“Then why are your footprints rotting the soil?” Andy spoke to Ethan with the same hostility and edge as the skulk did. Only, this was directed at him. The skulk wasn’t as scary to Ethan anymore, since he knew it didn’t want to tear its host apart. But Andy was a different story.
“I need time…please…” Ethan whispered as Andy stepped backwards, slowly scaling up the hill. It made Ethan feel smaller with every step Andy took. “You cannot tell people.”
“Go near her,” Andy spoke sternly, tilting their axe toward Ethan ever so slightly. “And so help me God, I will kill you, Ethan. I’ll rip that sickness out of you with my bare fucking hands. I knew I was right about you and your kind.”
With that, Andy turned on their heel and climbed up the mountain, leaving Ethan alone. He turned around to face the mess he’d made. Skulk crept along the soil he stood on, climbed up the stems of greenery, and rotted wooden fences.
Ethan would show Andy. He would prove to them he didn’t need to be fixed. He was still Ethan. He just needed more time.
- - -
Andy felt a sense of relief wash over them after Rachel had reluctantly agreed to stay away from Ethan. They knew that Rachel and Ethan were friends, but Rachel’s safety came first. It was for the better.
So, Andy spent their time making weapons for their loved ones. They even took to using those stupid scrolls Ethan cared so much about. Obviously they didn’t do anything, they were just paper. But they were better off being used to make stronger weapons than being used by a lunatic who emitted dark magic (allegedly).
God, Andy just couldn’t wrap their head around it. Ethan had been willingly spending time around other people, even people he cared about. Desca, Ashlyn, Mossie… All those adventures, and he’d been spreading skulk around Aldwynn. How much skulk had he given off that Andy didn’t even know about? How many people could it be spread to?
Ethan said it didn’t spread through close contact. But Andy didn’t know how much they could trust that. Maybe it had already spread. Maybe it was too late. Maybe Rachel was already in danger. Maybe Taylor was already in danger. Maybe Andy was-
No.
Andy boiled it down to paranoia. A trauma response, or something. After all, they’d started to tolerate the Fisherman, just to find out he’d been endangering everyone the entire time. The switch up gave them whiplash. Don’t even get them started on the trees.
While Andy was trying to get a suitable answer out of Ethan, while also dealing with their own shock at the situation, the trees were having a meltdown of their own. Most of them were screaming “OH NO” and “I’M GOING TO LOSE MY MIND”. Others were just sobbing. They were so dramatic. It was bad, but not that bad.
After all, Andy had other things to worry about, like the nightmares. They hadn’t gotten a good night’s rest in what felt like ages. And it showed on their face, too. Their skin had become noticeably paler, they’d started getting dark eye bags, and Rachel and Taylor had told Andy that they looked “sadder” than usual, which was sort of annoying.
Andy tried to cut them some slack. They didn’t know about the nightmares and Andy refused to tell them. So they were allowed to make any observations they’d like.
In the night, when they weren’t working on commissions, which they’d mostly finished during the day, Andy had started to spend a lot of their time around the campfire outside their cabin. They found a sense of comfort in the soft orange glow it gave off, the warmth that bit back against the evening breeze, and the embers that flicked off of the flame every now and then. Sometimes, Koda would curl up next to the fire and doze off, the light snores filling the space.
On one particularly cold night, however, Koda had chosen to stay in the cabin. But Andy, stubborn as ever, still chose to go out to the campfire. It was just as therapeutic as it always was. But then, Andy heard a soft, unintelligible whispering. It didn’t come from behind them, or next to them, or even above them. It sounded like it was coming from below . Andy brushed it off. It was probably just sleep deprivation. They were surprised they didn’t start hallucinating voices sooner.
Until it came again.
The whispering was louder this time, and instead of coming from below, it came from everywhere. Andy jumped to their feet and wielded their axe. They circled around, looking for a figure, but to no avail.
“Who’s there?” Andy called out.
Of course, nothing. Maybe they were just sleep deprived. Andy sat back down on the tree stump. Immediately after sitting back down, the whispering came once more. This time, Andy could tell it was a foreign language. It didn’t sound like anything they’d heard before. In fact, it sounded sort of ancient . And somehow, Andy could understand it. But not in the normal way. More in the way that they could tell it made sense and understand what it was saying, but not translate it back to English.
Andy recalled one time on a quest when Rachel found a scroll with a phrase on it in a foreign language. She gave it to Ethan upon request, because Ethan claimed he could read it. Andy rolled their eyes when he, in fact, could.
It was some sort of incantation or spell or something, if Andy remembered correctly. They buried their face in their hands and groaned.
“Fucking hate magic.”
- - -
Ethan kept his word when he told Andy he just needed time. Was he getting anywhere? No. He hadn’t made any progress, even with how much he’d sacrificed his morals.
He kept promising himself he wouldn’t do it again. But he just needed to study the skulk, especially when it was fresh. Every day, he would lure a farm animal into his greenhouse and, for lack of better terms, put it out of its misery. Ethan knew it shouldn’t affect him this much. It was part of his job as a farmer. But there was something about his intentions that made it worse. Something about the fact that he was doing it just to produce the skulk, it made him feel sick.
But he kept doing it anyway. The voice in his head told him it was for the greater good. Maybe, eventually, he would understand the skulk better. He’d be able to get it out of his system for good. He’d be able to show Andy that he was cured! Andy wouldn’t have to fear him anymore, then they could all go on adventures together again.
That’s what Ethan missed the most. He missed when Andy would go on quests with him and they’d be able to harmlessly bicker and protect each other from monsters and bring each other artifacts that they’d thought the other would like.
He didn’t mind the fact that Andy wasn’t in love with him. But he couldn’t stand that Andy hated him. That was the only thing that kept Ethan in this cycle. He thought very deeply of getting to see the day where he’d go on another adventure with Andy.
So, he listened to the voice. When the voice said to kill, he killed. When the voice said it was worth it, he believed it. When the voice told him to give it control, that’s what he did.
Afterwards, once Ethan had gotten control over his own body again, he realized what he’d done. He promised not to do it again. Surely there were more ethical, less wasteful ways to study the skulk.
But when he hardly had a body to control anymore, was he really to blame?
- - -
Another day, Andy thought. That’s all it had to be. Just get through another day of trying their best to protect their loved ones. There was no reason why they had to cross paths with Ethan, so all would be well.
That’s how it went. It was a relatively good day. They told Taylor about Ethan, and Taylor took it relatively well. They took it better than Rachel, that’s for sure. But that was expected. Then, Taylor showed Andy another of their planes and the two of them took a hot air balloon to Coalhaven. The topic of Ethan came up a few times, but Taylor always said exactly what Andy wanted to hear. It was relieving.
As always, Andy preferred not to sleep. They just couldn’t bring themself to. The night before, Andy had dozed off for a few hours. It was well needed rest, but what happened in their dreams was enough to put them off sleeping again for a while.
They were in a dark, cave-like place similar to the Nether, except it was entirely black, other than the occasional lava pool they came across. Terrifying monsters were everywhere. They were unlike anything Andy had ever seen before. One looked akin to the endermen from the Overworld, only smaller. It hunched over and made a crackling noise with every step it took. Another was a black, humanoid creature with its ribcage entirely exposed. If Andy looked close enough, they could see its mouth was unnaturally wide open.
These entities came closer and closer to Andy, until they were completely surrounded. Instead of attacking them, one of them touched Andy and melded to their arm. Each of the monsters did this until Andy was covered in black from the chest down. The darkness crept up their neck, until it covered Andy’s face. They could feel their airways close up, and they reached up to their face to try and claw the black material away. It was no use. That was when they woke up.
Andy wasn’t looking forward to having another nightmare, so they did their best to stay occupied. Koda came out to curl up beside Andy in front of the campfire. As Koda drifted to sleep, Andy carved shapes into a little slab of wood. They hadn’t decided what it was supposed to be yet. Consider it freestyling.
Koda’s ears pricked up, followed by his entire head. He glanced behind Andy and let out a hostile growl.
Andy’s gaze followed Koda’s to find a skeleton approaching. They jumped to their feet, axe in hand, and attacked the skeleton. Andy swung their axe at the pile of bones several times, until it eventually fell to the ground in defeat.
Immediately after, a pile of skulk spread at Andy’s feet.
- - -
Three weeks.
Ethan locked himself away in his greenhouse for three weeks to study the skulk. He’d meticulously planned everything beforehand to ensure that Aldwynn wouldn’t fall apart without him: he made sure all of his clients had made orders in advance so he could deliver them early; he told most of his friends that he was going on a solo work expedition so that they wouldn’t question his absence; he even asked Ashlyn to check up on Rachel and Andy every now and then in her free time, just to make sure nothing seemed off.
He’d felt very neutral feelings towards his little experiment. It hadn’t really gotten him anywhere. He was just as in the dark about the skulk as he was before. He hated that it felt like a complete waste of time.
Time.
Ethan promised Andy that he just needed more time. Where had that gotten him? His mind and body didn’t even feel like his own anymore. It felt like he was sharing it with an entirely different being, one that didn’t even feel human. Granted, the skulk wasn’t a human. Ethan wasn’t sure what it was. But he knew that he wanted it gone.
Ethan fell asleep on Day 21 looking forward to the experiment being over. He couldn’t wait to leave his greenhouse and see his friends again. Being isolated made him feel so very lonely.
Unfortunately, Ethan was awoken by a hammering knock at the door. The upper half of his body shot up, panting anxiously from the nightmare he’d just had. Skulk crept up his arms and legs, pinning him down to the mattress.
Maybe if he just stayed quiet, the visitor would go away. He’d told everyone he would be out of town, after all. Still, he tried to free himself of the skulk. He disliked the restricted feeling it gave him.
The pounding at the door came again while Ethan quietly worked to cut himself free from the skulk.
“I know you’re in there, Ethan!” A familiar voice snapped.
Ethan’s eyes widened. The Carpenter had come to see him?
It checked out. He’d told most of the people he knew that he was going on an adventure. He’d never crossed paths with Andy, so he never told them that he was leaving. There wouldn’t have been a point, anyway. Andy likely couldn’t care less
He worked faster to get the skulk off of him and scurried out of bed. He looked through the peephole to catch a glimpse of Andy. His heart caught in his throat when he saw them. They looked almost exactly as he remembered, but they were paler, they’d developed eye bags, and their expression looked more sad than before. Ethan heard their disappointed sigh through the door and knew in a split second they were about to leave. He backed away from the door.
The one chance he had to speak to the Carpenter again, and they would be leaving before they got to properly interact.
- - -
Andy kicked the spot on the door below the doorknob as hard as they could. The door flew open and Ethan stood a few feet away, looking bewildered. Andy strided over to him. They pushed him square on the chest and he fell to the ground. Andy pointed their axe at Ethan, the blade planted firmly under his chin.
“What did you do to me?” They demanded.
“I didn’t do anything to you, what do you mean?” Ethan replied shakily. Andy saw him glance to the side at a knife a few feet away from his hand. They dug their blade against his chin a little more forcefully.
“You told me it didn’t spread if you were near someone,” Andy hissed. “Was that just another lie?”
“Andy, I swear I- I didn’t know!” Ethan stammered, before his eyes widened even more, if that was possible. “Wait, are you…”
Andy paused, then they lowered their axe. “Get up.”
Ethan scrambled to his feet. Andy turned to the door and added, “Don’t even think about bringing the knife.”
“Wasn’t planning on it.”
Andy opened the door and walked out into the nature, trusting that Ethan was following behind.
They quickly spotted a zombie. They charged at it, killing it. As expected, the skulk spread beneath the zombie’s corpse. Ethan let out a gasp behind Andy.
“Andy, I’m so… I didn’t know it could spread like this, I promise,” He pleaded. “I wouldn’t have ever gone near you—or anyone, for that matter—if I knew you could’ve gotten-”
“If Rachel gets infected,” Andy interrupted. “I won’t be able to forgive myself.”
Ethan’s eyes were glued to the skulk on the ground. “I understand.”
“This entire time, I’ve been trying to protect her from you. But now that I could put her in danger… how am I supposed to help her? What if she gets infected because of me? ”
“I know this is the last thing you need to hear,” Ethan replied. “But Rachel is strong. She can take care of herself. And I know you just want to make sure she’s safe, but it’s out of your hands now.”
Andy wasn’t happy with that answer. But they understood. “Have you made any progress on studying this stuff? Like how we can get rid of it?”
Ethan shook his head dejectedly. “I stayed in my greenhouse for three weeks. I have nothing.”
“So there’s nothing we can do?”
“‘m afraid not.”
Andy fully examined Ethan’s face for the first time. It was almost like looking in a mirror. They didn’t look alike, really, but Andy recognized the signs of sleep deprivation. Ethan had the same dark eye bags, pale skin, and depressed resting expression that Andy had had recently.
Andy could never forgive Ethan for what he’d done. But maybe they could cut him some slack and recognize that he was going through a hell of his own. They just had to tolerate him for the time being, then they could go back to hating him.
- - -
As time passed, Ethan noticed Andy being oddly cordial toward him. It felt slightly forced, but he was just happy they weren’t threatening him every chance they got, no matter how bad they wanted to.
Granted, they were both keeping their distance from other people so that they could contain the skulk. So they might as well be nice to the only people they were allowed to see.
When Andy was in his presence, it was always something in the back of Ethan’s mind that they could kill him if they really wanted to. It was weird, he should’ve feared for his life, but the voice in his head told him he was safe.
One day, Andy barged into the greenhouse, looking rather distressed. Ethan jumped up from his seat at his desk.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Ethan inquired.
Andy swallowed as they stepped closer to Ethan. They rolled up their sleeve to reveal a large patch of skulk growing on their forearm. There were scratch marks around the edges of the patch, indicating that Andy had tried to remove it forcibly. Luckily, they weren’t bleeding or anything, so they knew not to tear their arm apart trying to get it off.
“Oh,” Ethan’s expression softened and he carefully reached his hand out to touch the skulk. It was coarse, just like it was whenever it would appear on him.
“How do I get rid of it?” Andy begged.
“You’re not gonna like it,” Ethan sighed. Whenever the voice took over, it made Ethan’s skills in dark magic much stronger. This included removing skulk from his body. “I can get rid of it, but…”
“It would be magic.” Andy finished.
Ethan nodded hesitantly. “I’m afraid it’s the only way.”
“...fine.” Andy’s voice was small.
Ethan raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure? I’d understand if you didn’t-”
“Just do it, Ethan.” Andy cut off.
The voice took over Ethan’s body. Ethan himself felt like he was watching from outside his body as he chanted a spell he didn’t even know he could do. The skulk detached itself from Andy’s arm and dissipated into thin air. Ethan regained consciousness and slowly looked up to Andy. He hadn’t noticed it before, but they were crying.
Ethan cautiously opened his arms and approached Andy. He closed in on them and sensed them tensing up. He jolted back slightly, but Andy awkwardly reciprocated the hug before he could get far.
“I just want this to be over.” Andy uttered softly.
“I know, I do too.” Ethan melted into the embrace little by little, and felt Andy do the same.
The two of them stayed like that for a moment, until Ethan assumed Andy realized what was happening. They abruptly peeled themself away from the hug and wiped their eyes forcefully.
“That didn’t happen.” They asserted.
“No, of course not.” Ethan replied, either out of fear or his sympathy for Andy.
This wasn’t what Ethan asked for. He used to pray to whatever otherworldly being was out there. He would beg and plead for him to see a day where Andy would look at him with an emotion other than anger. He’d seen that day. It was today.
He should’ve been more specific: he didn’t want Andy to suffer for it to happen.