Unlikely | Newscapecrew Fanfiction

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As soon as the scream left his mouth, Jon rushed over to the bedside, almost tripping as he ran over. Bri's mother- no, their mother was lying there. She looked dead, almost as if she was rotting already. Jon was panicking; wouldn't you if you saw someone you saw as a mother figure dead?! Someone you cared for; someone who cared for you. Someone who you thought meant the world to you once, as they were your family. Dead. Silence. Just dead right before you with no last words to you.

Someone suddenly ran in, breathing heavily and standing beside him. "I know she doesn't look like it, but..she's fine-" Bri said. Jon looked at her, trying his best not to let the tears piling up in his eyes fall.

"But she's- she's rotting, Bri! No human ever has that happen! Not even magical beings or anything else in this cursed world! She's rotting, she looks dead! I don't even feel her pulse!" He shouted. Two sets of footsteps neared, but he completely ignored them.

"Jon, Jon! Listen to me, alright? She's not dead! I know it looks like that- I know it feels like that- but she isn't! She's still here, I swear." Jon turned away from Bri, and at his mother figure.

"No..no she's not...did the witch...witch curse her or kill her? Did...did.." He could barely process anything. His world was breaking for the second time in his lifetime. When he had to watch the kingdom he grew attached to be burned to ashes, watch people he cared for burn to death, and now seeing her dead-

"Jon!" Bri started shaking him, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Okay, look! That's what the curse did.. Okay? Just listen, stop panicking." She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Okay, so when the witch found out she was  trying to break that other curse, the witch cursed her. The curse was, as the witch said, supposed to show the true horrors and things that she deserved. It started with her not being able to care for anyone- everyone avoided her, and those she cared for like me- she yelled at. Then, she couldn't speak at all. When she tried communicating to me by writing, she said it was as though someone was silencing her by sewing her mouth shut. She said it was so painful it was almost numbing." Bri started the story, frowning slightly.

"Then she started closing her eyes and never opening them. She started feeling dead, looking dead- and I thought she was. I sought out the witch, and she told me my mother was fine; just letting her sins show." Bri said, bitterly, looking down. "She's fine, she's alive..  Just her body is putting her through pain and horror as a curse, a punishment." Bri whispered, her voice cracking slightly. She wasn't even looking at any of them anymore, her face in her hands, shaking her head. "I've been trying to find out what happened to her- trying to find a way to undo the curses- but I can't find anything and-" she stopped, and quiet sobbing filled the room.

"Bri- I'm so sorry I-" Jon didn't know what to say. He kind of just yelled at her and she went through the pain of seeing their mother like this. So he did the only thing he could think of. He hugged her. She stiffened for a few seconds, before hugging back. Everything in the room stayed the same.

For quite a bit.

× | ×

"All we need to do is leave and go right for a bit, and then at an angle to reach where Duni is!" Ashlie exclaimed as the four of them walked out of Bri's house.

"Duni?" Bri questioned.

"It's the wolf's name." Nick replied.

"Oh! I see!" Bri replied, smiling slightly. They started heading for the gate, ready to leave the place. Bri had packed a few books, a few potions of healing, and a few other things she refused to tell them about.

"Bri, um, is it weird to want someone dead?" Jon whispered to the girl, and she shrugged.

"Depends on the person, Jon." She replied.

"I kind of want the witch that cursed mom dead-" He admitted quietly, and she stopped walking and looked at him with a frown.

"Isn't that kind of rude Jon?" She suddenly said. Jon hesitated, scratching the back of his neck and starting to walk again.

"I guess so." He said. Nick and Ashlie were talking as they walked, and Bri and Jon stayed silent. That was, until they got to the gate. There was a problem. A really big problem. What problem, you may ask?

Cory.

Standing there and talking with a guard, and Nick quickly yanked them all over behind some bushes. "Isn't this kind of creepy, Nick?" Ashlie whispered. Nick glanced at her, staring blankly at her.

"Well, did you want to stand somewhere where he could see you?" Ashlie didn't reply. "Thought so-"

"Yuck. Visiting family is just gross." Cory gagged, before locking eyes with the guard. "What did these people look like, anyways?" Cory asked.

"Guys! He's talking about us!" Ashlie whispered shouted, looking a bit panicked. Jon glanced at Cory, and then back at her.

"I'm sure the guard won't remember exactly what we looked like-" He said, stopping as the guard spoke up.

"There was a guy with a beard and some glasses I think. And a jester guy- oh! And a red haired girl." The guard said. Silence passed for a few moments.

"A jester, you say? Can you describe more in detail?" He asked.

"I think. He had a purple and green color theme- oh! And some of his clothing looked a bit burned, now that I think about it-" Cory looked right at the bush we were hiding behind, and Jon tensed up. Jon couldn't tell if he was glaring directly at us, or if he was just glaring at the bush. Either way, he turned back to the guard.

"More detail about the girl?" Cory questioned. The guard shook their head.

"Sorry sir, couldn't really get a good look at her." The guard replies.

"Oh, that's fine I guess." Cory said with a shrug. "How about the male?" Cory questioned.

"Him? He kind of looked like one of those shapeshifters. Wait- what if he is a shapeshifter? The town could be in danger and-" Nick glared slightly at the guard, and Cory grinned in reply.

"I see. Then I have a request, and it must be done immediately." Cory replied, and the guard nodded.

"What is it?"

"Put the village on lockdown. I'm not going to let those three leave." Cory said, walking in the direction of the bush.

"Guys! The isn't good- he's coming our way!" Nick whisper yelled, and lucky for them, Cory stopped as the guard suddenly said one word: "why?"

Cory chuckled, walking back to the guard. "Those three...let's just say I'm looking for that jester, and that the red haired girl might be a person I'm also looking for. And this so called shapeshifter could be of use, to me of course." He said, before walking towards the gates. "By the way, I'm going to be bringing two...'guests' to the cells in the dungeon, so once the village is on lockdown, could you prepare those for me?" Cory asked, and the guard nodded.

"I will!"

Cory grinned, waving at the guard before leaving. Nick sighed, looking down at the ground.

"Seems like we're stuck in the Everwatching Kingdom."