Challenge -
Done by CHARLENE for RUMMI
"Something with Diana/Eric Unresolved Sexual Tension, that includes a fight, some humour, and one of them helping the other with something."
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Introduction - This is a flash-forward fic, set a few years after the end of the series. But the only change to note is that Eric has graduated to being a Paladin.
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Survival
“I can’t remember ever being this hungry,” announced Eric.
He was sitting on the ground in the small room, back to the wall as he leaned against it. Sitting across the room, which was really more of a glorified storage cupboard more than anything, Diana ignored the former Cavalier as she tried to work out how it had all gone so wrong.
At least Hank and the others weren’t trapped up here, too. That was the one bit of hope that she had, and she clung on to it like it like a lifeline. They could be dead, she knew that. The last time she had seen her friends, they’d been engaged in a furious battle in the dining hall, fighting for their lives.
And that had been nearly two days ago.
The Acrobat knew that the enemy they’d been fighting had taken hold of the castle. The Queen they were supposed to have protected was dead; she and Eric had heard the celebratory cries from below them as the enemy relished in their victory. The death of the Queen didn’t fill her with confidence for the safety of her friends…Hank had vowed to protect the royal at all costs.
“I’m so hungry,” continued Eric “that I could almost eat that cockroach. Hell, right now I’d even eat our cook’s German liver sausage ‘treat’ that used to give me nightmares as a kid!”
“Eric! Our friends could be dead, how can you even think about food?” Diana snapped. Even though she hadn’t eaten or even had anything to drink for nearly two days, food was the last thing on her mind. She’d had enough of his attitude. While she had been desperately trying to think of a way to escape, all Eric had done was moan. It was giving her flashbacks to their younger years, when they’d been mere children, still innocent and hopeful. Although he was still sarcastic as Hell, it took a lot to get Eric to actually whine in the way he’d done as a youth these days.
“It was your idea for us to hide in here! If I’d had my way -” Eric began.
“We’d probably be dead. We had no other choice; we had to come in here. I still can’t believe they didn’t find us.”
“I think they know we’re here really. I think they’re just letting us starve ourselves to death so they don’t have to get their hands dirty anymore.”
“I don’t think they care about having blood on their hands,” Diana shuddered as her mind was assaulted by disturbing images of how they might have killed the poor Queen.
Queen Cecily had been the soul survivor of the royal family of Tian. She was the last of her bloodline, with no children or relations to take over the throne. Their job to protect her from an invasion that they’d been tipped off about had been an important one. Queen Cecily had ruled her Kingdom with a firm but gentle hand and her people were well treated and had good lives. An invasion would change all that.
Diana couldn’t help but partly blame herself that the invaders had been successful. She was supposed to be a warrior. She should be good at this by now; Lord knew she’d been doing it for long enough. They’d been through so much, done so much. The mission should have been a piece of cake and she struggled to work out how everything had gone haywire.
Maybe some, if not all, of the others had escaped. Sheila had the best chance. She was such a master of her cloak now. Years of practice had seen to it that she’d finally become confident with her weapon and she now used it to its fullest power. Years in the Realm had hardened her somewhat. The pretty Thief still had the compassion that she was famous for, but there was an edge to her now that hadn’t been there before. She was more daring, more willing to try and make it on her own if she had to.
Presto might have managed to get away, too. Like Sheila, the Magician had long since become truly competent with his weapon. Long gone were the days of his hat getting things disastrously wrong and causing more harm than good. Presto’s magic took Diana’s breath away sometimes; it amazed her just how far he’d come. Hopefully he’d been able to cast a spell that would have gotten him safely out of there.
It was Hank and Bobby she was the most worried about. They would have stayed and fought for her Majesty until the end. They’d have tried to protect Queen Cecily with everything they had, including his own life. None of the others were ever able to reason with either of them when it came to his self-sacrificing attitude, not even Sheila. Bobby was too old not to be told what to do now. The Barbarian fought side by side with Hank in battle, and Hank treated the younger boy as an equal.
“They’d better have made it. All of them,” Diana muttered, not knowing what she’d do if she lost any of her friends. She’d been through so much with each of them. Each of them had undergone several close calls over the years, but somehow they’d all survived. They could survive this, too. Damnit, they had to! It wasn’t like they hadn’t been through worse.
“If they’d made it, they, or at least one of them, would’ve come back for us,” argued Eric “There’s no way they’d just leave us here.”
“Once upon a time. We’re adults now; we should be able to get ourselves out of trouble. Hank’s probably counting on us to be self reliant…if he got away, it would be far too risky for him to come back to the castle.”
“Yeah, but what can we do? We’re locked in and there’s nothing in here we can use to force the door open. That’s the main reason we haven’t tried anything,” Eric pointed out.
“Who said anything about the door?” Diana’s eyes twinkled and she looked towards the window.
“Jesus, Di, have you lost it? We decided when we first came in here that the drop was probably enough to kill us, remember?” Eric looked at her like she belonged in the nearest asylum.
“Probably,” Diana echoed the word, but went over to the window and peered down through the glass.
Diana studied the drop thoughtfully. They were in one of the torrets…at least seven stories high, by a regular Earth building’s standards.
“Diana, you know I don’t do that whole jumping from high places thing anymore. Stop thinking what I know you’re thinking, it’s making me nervous,” Eric told her. He was still sitting against the wall, looking like he wasn’t even slightly interesting in moving any time soon. He eyed the cockroach that was scuttling around the floor. “I wonder what they taste like? Y’know, ‘roaches? I mean, I’ve eaten snails back home and they’re not nearly as gross as they look.”
“If I extended the javelin at the right moment while I was falling I could use it to vault…” Diana murmured, a plan forming. She knew she’d be able to handle the jump. She’d jumped from higher points than the window. It was Eric she was worried about. He’d was completely inept with the javelin. It wasn’t his weapon; she knew he didn’t feel safe with it. Unaided, Eric likely wouldn’t make the jump without breaking something, or multiple something. It would be incredibly lucky for anyone if they’d survive that drop without an aid like her javelin. Could she take that risk and let him jump if he suddenly changed his mind and wanted to? No. She couldn’t.
She could forgive Eric for his reluctance. If she’d had an accident like his, she probably wouldn’t be too willing to do a whole lot of jumping herself. She grimaced, old memories of the accident returning as she remembered those long weeks of recovery, knowing that Eric was only able to even walk now because of Presto’s extensive healing spells and what had seemed like an eternity of bed rest. He’d nearly been crippled for life…his desire to avoid jumping of any kind was understandable, even though the accident had been a long time ago and his body had been magically healed so that it was like it never had happened.
“Diana, for Christ’s sake,” Eric told her “I’m not jumping and neither are you. It’s suicide.”
“So is staying in here.” Diana retorted “Look, you don’t have to jump. You’re right – for you it WOULD be suicide. But I’ve got my javelin, I can make it.”
“We talked about this -”
“No, I told you my plan and you stomped your feet and threw a fit to try and stop me. Which has never worked,” Diana was trying to open the window. It was stiff, probably hadn’t been opened for ages. It looked like no one had been in the storage space for years. Diana gave one final, huge push and at last the window sprung open. “And never will!”
Eric stood up and marched over to the window. Diana could feel his anger as he grabbed her arm, but she glared back at him as he tried to force her to bend to his will.
“Even if you make it down there, someone’ll see you and you’ll wind up dead. I’m not letting you do this!”
“Not LETTING me? I’d like to see you try and stop me!” Diana was glowering now.
If Eric wanted to stay up here forever and rot, that was his business, but she’d be damned if she let him stop her from trying to escape. He could order around servants and command armies, but he couldn’t control her, especially when it was their own lives that she was trying to save.
“Just wait a bit more, we can handle a couple more days if we have to.” Eric insisted.
“If we stay in here much longer, we’ll have dehydrate to death before anyone finds us. We can’t go without water anymore, we HAVE to get out, and I’d rather die trying than waste away!”
“You’re nuts! Diana, they’ll KILL you. Probably in a really drawn out, sick, painful way. I won’t let -”
“STOP SAYING THAT!” Diana shouted so loudly it hurt her throat. Pure frustration laced with anger consumed her for a moment and she hit him in the chest, so hard that he stumbled and lost his balance. He fell backwards, crashing into the wooden shelving unit that was in the room.
The unit was big and sturdy and remained in position even after Eric knocked into it. But the things on the unit, which were mostly books and some strange little ornaments, fell off the shelves and onto the dark-haired man.
Eric yelled out as he was buried under the pile of items, but Diana made no move to dig him out. She just moved closer to the window, trying to figure out when she should extend her javelin while she’d be falling, wanting to get it right. She only got one shot at this, and the possibility of ending up as street pizza wasn’t one that appealed to her.
Though it was the enemy that un-nerved her more than the jump. Eric was right; if they spotted her, she’d definitely be killed. Leaving this room was going to be one of the biggest risks she’d ever take in her life, but she had no choice. If she stayed, she’d starve. If she left, chances of escaping the castle grounds without being seen and consequently murdered were ridiculously slim. But the latter option did offer more hope than the forer, so she might as well take the road that offered a tiny glimmer of hope. She’d never forgive herself if she didn’t try and it was now or never.
“When I get down there, I’ll come back into the castle and find my way up here and let you out. Then we’ll make a run for it together,” said Diana, watching as Eric stood, touching his head where he’d been struck and groaning.
“You pushed me!” he shook his head in amazement. “Damnit, why do you have to be such a stubborn pain in the ass?”
Diana half-snorted, half-chuckled. “Look who’s talking!”
“What if Hank’s on his way to get us out? What if the others are trying to get to us right now?” asked Eric.
“Then hopefully I’ll run into them. Six against however many guards there are is better than one or two.” said Diana. “We can’t wait anymore, Eric. Maybe one or more of our friends are on their way, but we can’t rely on that. We need to get out. Now.”
“Okay, you’re right. But you know what? You go. You’ve got free will, you do what you want. But once you’re down there, do me a favour. Don’t come back up for me.”
“What? No way!” Diana couldn’t believe what he was saying. While she would take the courageous, mature man Eric had grown into any day over the spoiled, childish teenager she’d originally been thrown into this world with, even now he still managed to frustrate her with his short sightedness.
“Yes way,” he insisted “Going down there is bad enough. Going down and then coming back up here again? That’s just dumb! Really, really dumb! I’d rather wait for the others, even if there is a chance they might not make it in time.”
“I don’t care what you want. I won’t risk leaving you behind. I’m doing this my way. Get that through your incredibly thick head, Eric,” she told him in no uncertain terms. She’d put her foot down and it was staying down.
The Paladin sighed, defeated. Diana smiled, softening as he visibly gave up.
“It’s our only real chance,” she said. That point couldn’t be driven home enough as far as she was concerned.
“I know. I just wish it wasn’t,” he looked sad, like he knew; deep down, that she wasn’t going to make it. If she dared to admit it to herself, Diana felt the same way. There were just too many odds stacked against her. But she was a do-er. She could never sit around and wait for the end. She had to fight right until the last possible moment. Even after so long in the Realm, and all the heartache and growing she’d had to do while there, Diana still had a bit of optimism left in her.
It wasn’t over yet. There WAS still hope. She just had to keep telling herself that.
“I’ll be back. I will,” she promised, making a silent wish that she’d get to keep her vow. This couldn’t be the end. It just couldn’t. And her friends were alive, too. If they weren’t…
Filled with raw determination, Diana hauled herself up onto the window ledge. She sat there for several moments, looking down into the room. Then she manoeuvred her body, turning herself around so that she was facing the courtyard below the castle. No one was down there, not in the part of it that she could see. The Acrobat carefully got herself into a standing position, balancing on the thin, bricked ledge. She took hold of her javelin and made it extend to its full length.
“Here goes nothing.”
She took a deep breath and jumped.
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Eric watched her go. As much as he’d tried to change her mind, he felt a glimmer of hope rise within him as Diana disappeared, taking off from the ledge like a phoenix.
Trying to escape was still no better than a suicide mission, in his opinion, but his admiration for Diana went up countless notches as she put her life on the line to save them both. To save him.
By jumping out of that window, she had already bought her own ticket for freedom, if luck allowed it. She didn’t need to come back. Her chance of getting away would be much higher if she didn’t return, and he cursed her for being so loyal, and himself for being so useless. How was it that anyone could survive bloodbaths on battlefields, yet not be able to free themselves from a room?
Stupid world. Stupid, insane, ridiculous world. It was never going to make any sense.
The Paladin went to the window and peered out. Diana was already gone from view. He couldn’t see her at all. Man, she was quick. Her speed and agility had only improved while they’d been in the Realm, the years allowing her already amazing skills to become finely tuned into something truly incredible.
But not even Diana was invincible. If that crazy General who had stormed the castle got hold of her…Eric shuddered, trying to block out such thoughts. He couldn’t think like that. All he could do was wait, and hope.
Seconds went by. Seconds turned into minutes. With each one that passed, Eric’s fear for Diana’s safety increased, but just when he began to feel that he couldn’t take the waiting anymore, he heard something rattling in the door’s lock.
He held his breath, staying silent. It might not be Diana. It could be their enemy, it could be anyone. With that in mind, Eric drew his sword, preparing for the worst…
But then the door clicked open. And it wasn’t the enemy. It WAS Diana, and she was standing in the corridor, holding up a thin piece of metal and grinning like a maniac.
“You did it,” Eric wanted to cheer. He lowered his sword, relaxing slightly.
“Could you imagine if this had happened before any of us had known how to pick locks?” Diana looked over her shoulder.
“How did you get passed -?”
“Lots of ducking, diving and hiding. If there was ever a time I’ve wanted Sheila’s cloak for myself…” Diana said “Come on, we can’t stay here.”
Eric wasted no time in following Diana down the empty corridor. He could hear their enemies downstairs. Some sort of celebrations were still going on. If Diana had managed to get back to him, maybe there really was a chance they’d make it.
Either way, they were soon going to find out.
(THE END)
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