Cold Comfort (G)
Characters – Eric the Cavalier
Prompt – Deathfic #21 Cold
Word Count – 1268
Warning – Character Death!!
Summary – Eric loved Diana, though he never had the courage to say. He would do anything for her, anything at all!
A/N – Entirely inspired by pervyficgirl’s fic that I read at random and thoroughly enjoyed. With yet another reference to Mistress Scribbles’ writing!
= = =
Cold Comfort
Diana was dead.
Someone always died in the cold, hard days after Venger was defeated. Death itself was not new. For Diana, it was quick, maybe painless, and totally unforeseen. But they called it an accident.
That wasn’t how Eric had seen it, not at all.
Even after her death he couldn’t bring himself to admit the depth of his feelings to anyone; not even Sheila. It was a testament to his acting skills that no one even suspected.
They were all sad at her death, and they grieved for her as a friend, and someone who would never go home.
The Cavalier relived that day, that hour, that moment again and again, seeing it all in glorious, rich detail on endless repeat inside his mind. The others didn’t understand that Eric couldn’t go home now. Earth was a grey, empty place without Diana in it; the Realm was too. How he kept going, day after day, he didn’t know.
But he did.
= = =
Life in the Realm didn’t change after her death, not one the surface. The same pattern of “find portal, miss portal” repeated itself, just as it had done before.
Only this time Eric didn’t care.
He could look through a thousand portals and still be dead inside.
So when Dungeonmaster appeared and told them about the Cave, Eric barely listened. Until Dungeonmaster, said his name.
‘What?’
‘You must do this,’ the old man told him gravely.
‘Do…? What…?’
‘Weren’t you listening, Eric?’ asked Sheila kindly.
‘Well, um… of course I was.’
‘Very well, Cavalier. But be sure to heed my warning. You must only think of one thing. One thing.’
Eric
stared at the diminutive Guide, but his pride forbad him to admit that
he didn’t know what they had been talking about. Why did he get the
feeling that whatever they were about to do was a really, really bad
idea? He had rarely seen the old man look so old, and so sombre.
There was a movement by his side, as Uni shook her mane, and that distracted the Cavalier’s attention for a moment.
When he looked back, Dungeonmaster had gone.
‘You didn’t hear him, did you, Eric,’ asked Presto as they walked side by side along the mountainous path.
‘Well, um…’
‘It sorta phased out again?’ said the Magician.
‘In a way.’
The Magician gave a small smile and patted Eric gently on the arm.
‘I know it’s tough when the old guy is around not to drop off, especially when he starts on about fairy tales and Wishing Wells!’
‘W-wishing Wells?’
Presto acted as if he hadn’t heard him.
‘I don’t really know if I believe him,’ he said. ‘It all sounds a bit unlikely to me! I mean, a magic Wishing Well, in the middle of a magic Cave! It’s a bit Brothers’ Grimm for my taste!’
Eric nodded and forced out a smile, Presto continued to talk, tactfully repeating what Dungeonmaster had told them earlier.
But only two words stayed with Eric.
Wishing Well.
= = =
‘Well, said Hank, ‘I guess this is it.’
‘I guess so,’ muttered Eric.
‘Not really what I expected.’
‘No.’
The two boys both stared at the small hole in the ground.
‘Not like any Wishing Well I’ve ever seen,’ said Hank. ‘But we’ve searched everywhere else.’
Eric leaned forward a touch more, staring down into the inky dark of the hole, lifting his torch higher to give more light. He had to agree with Hank on this issue. It didn’t seem much like a Wishing Well. But what else could it be?
None of the others had wanted to accompany Hank into the dark of the Cave, they trusted the Ranger enough to know he wouldn’t let them down. It seemed to surprise the rest of the group when Eric had offered to go with him; but Hank had jumped at the chance. Even now, the Ranger seemed pleased that Eric was joining in again.
They waited in silence for a moment then Hank pulled a shiny, golden coin out of his pocket.
‘Dungeonmaster said to concentrate,’ Hank told him rubbing the coin a little.
The Ranger looked nervous, and the bright glinting of the coin attracted Eric’s attention.
‘Can I see it,’ he said suddenly, holding out his hand.
For a moment, Hank looked worried, then he gave a wide smile.
‘Sure, Eric,’ he replied with a grin. ‘Just don’t drop it!’
The Ranger placed the coin in the middle of Eric’s palm.
It wasn’t anything special, just a normal, gold coin. It felt heavy in his hand, and cold. He looked back to the hole in the ground in front of them.
This was it?
This was the way they were going to get home? Just wish it?
As he looked at the coin, he felt a growing anger at the situation. It was so easy, so simple and straightforward! Why hadn’t they done this first? Why had they traipsed all over the Realm finding portals when they could have just come here, dropped the coin in and wished it all away? Why?
If they had, Diana wouldn’t be dead.
The thought stung him in a way he could never explain. She was dead, because they had never got home. Now they had a way to get home, a way of wishing themselves home. But he didn’t wish he was home; he wished Diana was still alive.
The coin glinted more brightly in the torchlight, sending golden shards of light round the Cave.
Eric closed his eyes. She was gone.
He had thought nothing could bring her back.
He was unable to speak, and unable to face that reality. Diana was dead, everything that she was had vanished. He’d never be able to tell her how he felt. He’d never be able to talk to her at all. She’d never know.
He drew breath sharply. That she died without knowing was the most unbearable thing in the world.
He didn’t want to go home without her.
He tried to think of his friends and the warm welcome that awaited them back on Earth. He tried to concentrate on the portal, he tried…
But all he could see was her face, and all he could hear was the sound of her voice whispering his name.
His hand began to shake.
He still hadn’t dropped the coin.
Hank looked up, hope and fear etched onto his face, and he looked Eric directly in the eye. They stared at each other for a moment, and them Hank seemed to realise what Eric was about to do.
‘No! Eric!’ cried the Ranger. ‘It won’t be the same…’
It was too late.
As the first word left Hank’s lips, Eric dropped the coin.
= = =
It
wasn’t the first time he’d wished he’d listened to Dungeonmaster. It
wasn’t the first time he’d wished things had been different.He had what he wanted; Diana in his arms, his lover and his goddess, to love forever and ever.
But they didn’t life happily ever after. No one could in such a ruined Realm.
True, they were idolised, the last remaining Two of the Six that had saved the Realm from the Evil of Venger, but there was no comfort in the riches and wealth.
And at night, when he lay in bed, her cold arms wrapped tightly round his waist, he thought of them, and what it cost. And he knew that the price had been too high.
But there was nothing he could do about that now.