TW: y'all probably hating me part 3
Pona had become a war zone. They all knew a battle would commence, but they didn't know when. When Richie and Eddie woke up the following morning, Katie knocked on their door and told them that they needed to meet with their group of leaders.
Richie slipped out of bed and opened the closet in the room, grateful for the clothing he found inside. He grabbed a jacket for himself and then another for Eddie, who would most likely be disgusted for the amount of time he'd spent in his clothes from the day before.
"Eds," Richie whispered, shaking Eddie's shoulder. "Wake up, baby."
Eddie groaned in his sleep and reached out for Richie. His eyes fluttered open, showing a look of adoration for his boyfriend.
"We have to meet with the people leading this war," Richie said, helping Eddie out of his gross shirt and wrapping the jacket around his shoulders. "You don't have to come if you feel sick."
Eddie shook his head, buttoning the jacket and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He pushed Richie away gently when Richie tried to lift him up and stood shakily.
"I'm part of this battle too, Rich," he said, sounding slightly breathless. "I can do this."
He took a few shaky steps, holding Richie's arm to keep his balance. There was a throbbing pain in his stomach, but he ignored it, wincing and forcing himself to walk. He could see Richie's concern but pushed past it and walked toward the door.
"Eds, you're pale," Richie fretted, letting Eddie hold onto his arm to keep balance. "Just let me carry you!"
"That's injury discrimination," Eddie argued, one hand covering his stomach where the injury was.
"It's called being a concerned boyfriend!"
"That's a sub category."
Richie shook his head. "Eddie, you got stabbed less than a day ago. Please let me carry you," he said, the stress radiating off of him.
Eddie knew it was there. Part of him wanted to cave, but the other part was scared that others would see him as weak if he allowed it. So, he shook his head and just held onto Richie's arm, slowly making his way to where they would be meeting.
Once they walked inside, Richie and Eddie could feel the tension in the room. Everyone was tense, silent, and refused to exchange any jokes or laughs. It was extremely unnatural for the group inside.
It was made up of Cassie, Bill, Edwin, Katie, and Avi. They had a map of the island in front of them, and Cassie was marking the points that had been taken over by the Lucantians.
"They have messenger dragons," Cassie said, shaking her head. "Their technology is advanced, but kept from their people. They used small devices to control my dragons and some of the smaller ones. I expect Lucantian troops here in a week at most, three days at the least."
Eddie felt his heart drop. "They have my dragon," he said in a small voice, realizing that Henry had taken Eclipse.
Richie gave Eddie a pained look. Eddie's connection with Eclipse hadn't been as strong as Iris's with Richie, but Richie could tell that Eddie was feeling the impacts of his dragon going missing.
He wrapped his arms over Eddie's shoulders, pressing a kiss to his hair. "Do we have a plan?" he asked, looking hopefully around the room.
Cassie shrugged. "Unless we have some kind of backup on its way, we need to take down the Lucantians within the next couple days, but it'll be hard. Low numbers or not, they have control over dragons with their devices and they're blood thirsty. They'll be looking to kill without a care for casualties."
Avi pet Jynx, who was sitting beside her. "I'd send word to Konilla, but any warriors that will help us are already here. We lost a lot of people when we were attacked."
"What about the Tenebrians?" Katie asked, nodding toward Eddie. "You were there, right?"
Eddie nodded. "Yes, but I think they're prepared for a war in Tenebris. We don't know if any message reached them or if they know anything. Meaning our only backup is an ocean away and we can't send a messenger dragon with the Lucanitan dragons roaming," he said, glancing out the ship window to see if he could spot any dragons.
"H-have they f-f-found our father yet? He m-may have insight and w-would want to help us," he said, leaning into Edwin who had an arm over Bill's shoulders.
Cassie and Avi both shook their heads. "We haven't found a thing," Avi said, glancing out the window as well. "I'd send our bonds out, but I don't want to risk capture."
Richie nodded, knowing how she felt.
"Is there any other way? Maybe we could compromise with them somehow?" Eddie asked.
Richie gaped at him, dumbfounded. "Klais tried to murder you. Twice. I think a compromise is out of the question," he said, shocked that Eddie would even consider that.
Eddie shrugged. "I don't want this to end in violence," he muttered, face hot with embarrassment.
"I fear that non-violent actions are out of the question," Cassie said, sitting down and resting her head in the palm of her hand. "I'm sorry, Eddie."
Eddie sighed and sat down on a chair, Richie right next to him and patting him comfortingly. They continued to talk until a Konillian guard knocked at the door and entered.
"My queen," she started, bowing to Avi, before bowing to Edwin, Katie, and Richie. "We have an injured Lucanitan on our shores, but we don't know if it's a trap or not."
Avi looked at her siblings before leaving the room, the others following close behind. Richie tried to make Eddie stay, but couldn't since Eddie started limping behind them determinedly.
They stood at the front of the ship, peering at the shore. There were a group of warriors standing around someone laying on the ground.
"Let's go," Cassie said, glancing at the sky. "There's no dragons. We have time."
They all ran to the shore, looking around for danger.
"Dad!" Eddie exclaimed, eyes wide. "Holy shit!"
Bill was right beside Eddie, kneeling close to his father. Frank was unconscious, but had a weak pulse.
"Was he awake when he got here?" Richie asked a warrior, skeptical of the situation.
The warrior shook his head. "We found him like this."
Richie backed away. "This is a trap," he whispered. "It has to be. They could have dropped him while we were busy."
"No, we have to help him!" Eddie argued, grabbing his dad's arm. "He's still alive, we can still help him!"
A faint beeping caught Richie's attention. It was coming from Frank's body. He pushed Eddie away and opened the large jacket covering Frank's body.
There was a timer on his stomach, showing there were five seconds left.
"IT'S A BOMB!" Avi screamed, running toward the ocean for cover.
"No we have to get it off!" Eddie screamed as Richie picked him up and ran.
They didn't have time to make it to the ocean as the bomb blew, launching them all forcefully in different directions.
