Burn As Bright (Frerard)

11

Patrick had excused himself to another room, yellow eyes wide as he muttered to himself. Though he usually tried to stay grounded in the present moment, the unfocused look in his eye made it seem he was jumping between different points in time.

Pete had tried to follow, but he was shooed away to the main entrance room.

Gerard sat on the edge of the moss bed beside where Frank rested. The words Patrick had said kept replaying in his head. I've never seen someone burn as bright. It didn't make sense. Patrick had some of the strongest magic to currently exist. Was it betraying him somehow?

He turned to Frank, who still hadn't moved. Was he hiding something? As nervous as he was, he didn't seem the type to be good at hiding things. However, he was a Force soldier. There was no telling what he could be capable of.

"What did I do?" Gerard brought his hand through is hair before gripping some of the strands. Why hadn't he ditched the soldier when he had the chance? He could have been back home free without him. Instead he was underground, having potentially helped to damage the seer. Did the Force even know about the seer?

A gasp pulled him from his thoughts. When he looked to the moss bed, Frank was looking back at him. The soldier shot upright, immediately scooting back against the wall. He looked at Gerard with wide eyes, chest rising and falling quickly.

"Frank?" Gerard dropped his hand as he looked at the soldier pressed against the wall.

"Who are you?" Frank demanded, "How do you know my name?"

Gerard tilted his head, brow furrowing with worry. "Frank? Are you okay?"

FRANK

Frank felt his chest tighten as he stared at the red head in front of him. He didn't recognize where he was. Whatever he was sat on was too soft. The walls were too dark. The lights didn't buzz... They weren't even lights.

"Where am I?" He pulled one of his hands to his side, but there was nothing in his pocket.

The red head held up his hands. "Frank, I need you to calm down." He spoke slowly as a pink mist flared from his fingertips.

Frank's eyes widened. "No!" He brought both his hands up to cover his face as a squeezing sensation seemed to consume him.

"No what?"

It was a different voice. A familiar voice. Slowly, Frank lowered his hands.

His friend, Ray, looked at him with confusion. "We didn't even get to the scary part yet, you baby."

Frank just stared at his friend. It was Ray in front of him, but he was a child. Ray frowned as he continued to stare. "Snap out of it." He brought his hands in front of Frank's face and clapped loudly, sending a ringing echo in his ears.

Frank cried out, shutting his eyes tightly and covering his ears. He could hear other voices, but their words didn't make sense.

"Frank, hey." Ray's voice was softer now.

Frank could feel hands lightly grip his wrists. They pulled his hands away from his ears as a sense of ease washed over him. When he opened his eyes, Ray was there. His yellow eyes looked over Frank with worry. "Where did you go?" Ray asked.

"Go?" Frank repeated. His voice felt different...

Ray frowned. He rose to his feet and extended his hands to Frank. Frank reached up and took them, standing eye to eye with his friend. They didn't seem that much taller than when they had been sitting. Ray kept hold of his hands. "Where are we now?" He asked.