“Shut up,” Fizz said at the other, shocked. “You’re seriously fucking the music store girl? Isn’t she like all proper and such? The girl went to Julliard for Classical Violin. Violin. She doesn’t seem at all your type Belasco.” Fizz then smacked his shoulder. “Don’t tell me this was like some kind of virgin kink. I know she had a pretty committed boyfriend a while back, but do not tell me you took her virginity. Did you corrupt a Virgin Classical Violinist?”
characters: alec masters, fizz caner, keaton arkwright, blue bluebryn, and mikey brooks
date&time: january 5, 2017; after the ball
summary: a mysterious fire starts in the forges and when it explodes, keaton is caught in the crossfire. alec and fizz hope the three get out alive when blue and mikey go in to search for their brother.
Alec wanders through the forges slowly, using the flashlight on their phone to examine the walls as they walk. They had originally turned it on so they could keep from tripping, not knowing if there were any light switches or if one was meant to see by magic hand fire light, but the forges ended up being a lot tidier than they expected. They pause in front of a door, look between it and the hallway, then shrug and turn the handle, leaning their weight against it to open it. Despite drifting through the hallways without a clue why, Alec doesn't question why they suddenly felt the urge to explore the forges for the first time– gut feelings aren't to be questioned, in their book. They're hit with an odd rush of warmth when they open the door, their eyes watering. Switching off their phone light, they take a curious step into the room. "Seems kinda unsafe to leave a fire lit," they say to themselves to fill the silence, shoving their hands into their pockets as they walk further inside. "Can they get burned? That'd be cool, you could cook things with your hand-" they're cut off when they start coughing and wave their hand in front of their face a couple times, rounding the corner and stopping dead in their tracks by the sight of what their feeling had been trying to tell them. "Oh, shit." Without hesitation, they turn back around and run to the door, pulling it open and stumbling into the hallway. "Not good, not good, not good," they mumble to themselves as they sprint back the way they came, taking the right path every time. They pause for just a second when they get outside to reorient themselves, and then start running towards the Tyche cabin. "Fizz! Fizz, emergency!"
Fizz was fiddling with a ripped card, trying her best to tape it perfectly back together when she heard a faint yelling. Her heart jumped a little, looking around the cabin for Alec, as instinct to keep them safe, even though she knew they weren't in the cabin. She stepped outside, curious to see what the commotion was about. As it got louder and closer, she recognized her name in the screams. She took a step outside, and stared at a panicked Alec, running up to meet him closer. "What? What do you mean? Alec, what's wrong?" she asked, checking him for any injuries, again instinct, not even really knowing that she was doing it. "Are you hurt? What's happened?"
Alec leans over when they reach Fizz, breathing heavily. "Fire! In the forges, there's a fire, not a normal fire, a big one, and your explosives are in there, right, we have to go do something, what if there are people in there? Are there people in there?" They straighten up again and grab Fizz's arm, tugging at it. "We have to go! I don't know where your explosives are but you said someone took them in there and I don't know how far away they are from where it's burning, and it's bad, Fizz, let's go!"
Fizz followed Alec's tug on her arm, panic running through her veins. No this couldn't be happening, not again, was her thought process. "I don't know, I'm not anyone's keeper," she said, "but if anyone's in there, it's bad news." She began to run near the forges, hoping to get there in time. "There's only a few explosives actually done, some aren't finished, I've been showing Blue," she said running on the way. "But if someone's in there, it's not good, not good at all."
Keaton After a quick text to Blue and Mikey that he'd be in the forges trying to work on building a new type of trap, he had been in there a lot lately, not quite getting it right, he headed there after the ball, still in his nice clothes. When he entered, he set down his things, searching for the tools but there was a scent in his nose that concerned him and smoke that started to fill the room. He let out a cough as he spotted some flames. "Oh gods," he let slip.
Alec lets go of Fizz so they can run. "Wait, wait, do we go in? What if we get caught in it? I know we have the best chance, but what if no one's in there and we get hurt for nothing? But we can't let someone else get hurt, do you know where someone would be if they were going in there?"
Fizz "I, I don't know, Alec," she stuttered out quickly. "They could be by one of the tables or they could be welding, I don't know much about the forges, I never really explored them, I just go where Blue goes," she replied and as she got closer, she could take a breath of relief when she saw it was sort of okay currently.
Keaton started to head toward the door to get out, coughing hard now as he could feel the heat from the flames. As he was about to exit the fire got to one of the explosives causing a reaction and sending the whole place up in an explosion with Keaton still inside.
Alec "I have to make sure," they say and shake their head, starting to step forward right as the explosion sounds. They hesitate, glance back at Fizz, then exhale, turning back towards the forges. "No, no, no. We have to make sure no one got hurt! We have to go in there!"
Fizz took a breath, looking to her sibling and to the forges, her heart pounding. She couldn't hear anything but heart beating, her breath quickening as she took a step forward. She looked to Alec again. "I, um," she started, not finishing for a second, just staring at the forges. She took a deep breath and looked to Alec again. "We should get someone, I, um, like Blue or someone. I don't want you getting hurt too," she tried to justify but she knew that she wanted to run in there to make sure no one was in there.
Blue hears the explosion before she sees the damage. She gets up from her bed and checks the window, spying a plume of dark smoke rising into the sky. "Shit," she mumbles. "Mikey, something's burning and I don't like the direction it's coming from."
Mikey is nearby and hears Blue when she talks to him. "Burning? What do you mean?" He asked and walked over to the window to see what his sister was talking about. "That looks like it's near the forges." He comments, noticing the direction too.
Alec winces when they hear what sounds like something collapsing inside. They cover their mouth. "That was loud, I'm sure– I'm sure people are coming, but we should go in, or, or something, what if another explosion goes off?"
Blue "Didn't Keaton say he was there?" She checks her phone as if that would change the message he sent. "Fuck," she mumbles. "I'm gonna go check." She exits the cabin quickly and, trying not to be outwardly panicked, speed walks in the direction of the smoke.
Fizz "I, um, I don't know, Alec, I'll do whatever you do, I've got your back no matter what. But if someones in there, they'll need help," she replied, a bit softly than normal.
Alec is almost vibrating as they watch smoke rise from the infirmary, wringing their hands together. "You can– you can use luck, right, can you do something? So if someone's in there it works out, they're okay?" They look back at Fizz with wide eyes.
Mikey "Yeah, he did. He's working on something," He responds to Blue and and watches her check her phone. He watches Blue head toward the door and then follows her. "I'm coming too," He calls out and dashes after his sister.
Fizz shrugged. "I can try but I can't do big things like this, Alec," she replied. "This is too big, I don't think I can manipulate it this much, besides I don't even know there's someone in there."
Blue doesn't respond to her brother as she moves, on the edge of a jog, to the forges. Once it's in sight— "Shit, what the hell happened?"— she finally does break into a run, catching Alec on the shoulder. "Is anyone in there?" she asks them, coming to a stop.
Fizz "We don't know, Alec came and got me the minute they saw fire, it must've hit the explosives we were working on," Felicity replied. "It blew up the moment we got here. Do you know if anyone is in there?"
Fizz "Or could be in there?"
Mikey catches up to Blue only after she comes to a stop and joins Fizz and Alec outside of the burning forges. "Keaton could be in there," Mikey responds to Fizz. "He texted us earlier that he'd be working on something."
Alec turns when Blue touches their shoulder and holds out a hand to steady her. "There was a fire, and then, then it got to the bomb." They exhale shakily, speaking at the same time as Fizz. "I don't know." They drop their hand. When Mikey speaks, they shake their head again. "Oh no, no, no. We have to go in and help, we have to."
Mikey "Do you think Keaton did something? Where is he? Have you seen him?"
Blue looks at the burning building and pulls her phone out of her pocket. She drops it on the ground along with her jacket. Then she runs inside.
Fizz turned toward Alec once again. "What exactly happened when you went into the forges?" she asked quickly and seriously
Alec rubs their eyes with the heels of their hands. "I got a feeling, one of my feelings, that I had to go to the forges, so I was following that through the halls and I came to a room and went in there, and there was a fire, a big fire, so I ran out and came to you."
Fizz "So there was a fire when you got there? And you didn't see Keaton or anyone else?" she asked, looking at the door, hoping for Blue to come back out.
Mikey stays enough only to hear Alec and drops his phone in the pile of Heph stuff and bustles after Blue. "Wait up!" He shouts after her once inside.
Alec takes a few steps towards the forges but stops when Mikey disappears. "When I got there, yes, it was already set, and I didn't see anyone, but it was dark and I took a direct path there, so I don't know if anyone else was there." They stare at the doorway. "How do you control your luck?"
Fizz "Well I've only tried it a few time, I concentrate on making the luck go on my side, what I want and nothing can be in my mind but that. Usually it's random, like things that I do impulsively go on my side, but this big, I don't think I'll be able to do something this big Alec," she said. :With chance games, it's easy, I barely have to think about that anymore but this is different, these are people's lives."
Blue "Keaton?" She coughs, trying to fan away the smoke with little success. "Do you see him in here?"
Alec just nods and crosses their fingers, squeezing their eyes shut and trying to follow what she first said.
Fizz "Alec, what are you doing?" she asked, concerned.
Mikey's eyes squint and burn as the smoke fills the air of the forges they're now inside. He looks around desperately, searching for Keaton or any sign of him. "No, I don't see him. I don't see him anywhere," He responds anxiously. "Blue, what if he's in here? Where would he be?" He asks, almost pleading for her to know.
Keaton was beginning to return to consciousness and all he could feel was pain. Disoriented and feeling a large pressure on the bottom half of his back and body, he let out a small groan of pain, his throat raw.
Alec glances back at her, and then sits down, still shaking. "Gotta at least try." They keep their fingers crossed and try to picture the two finding Keaton.
Fizz looked at them and then back to the forges. She sits down next to them, "You're gonna need a little help," she said, followed their lead, looking at the forges before closing her eyes.
Blue "I don't know, Mikey," she said, concern finally seeping into her voice. "Keep looking. Keaton? Make a noise or something if you're in here."
Alec gets another one of their feelings and reaches over to take one of Fizz's hands. "They're gonna find him, if he's in there, they have to."
Mikey continues to keep looking for his brother through the burning and the crackling, not minding the heat but minding the smoke. He coughs a few times before calling out. "Keaton?! Where are you? Are you in here?"
Fizz squeezes Alec's hand, trying to comfort them but more hoping it would comfort her. This wouldn't be the first time her explosives had caused something and that fear she felt on her quest was the same fear she was feeling now. But she trusted Alec, she knew from the small amount of time she knew him that he usually felt the correct things. "I hope," she said, softly and scared.
Keaton opened his eyes, there was a throbbing in his head and he didn't want to move, fear that the pain he was feeling would worsen. He could feel the sweat drip down his face. He let out a sputter of coughs, hearing his siblings but he was confused and he tried to recognize. "Here," he tried to call out but it came out stifled and painful, not even knowing if anyone could hear him.
Alec just nods once and squeezes her hand back. They try and isolate where their feeling is coming from, mentally pushing energy in that direction and hoping they're actually doing something instead of just fooling themselves. "At least let them be okay," they say to themselves under their breath. "Please if he's there let him survive, please, please, please."
Blue hears something that maybe, might be her brother and runs in that direction. Her sleeve is on fire and she barely notices, patting it out absently. She finally catches sight of her brother and stops dead in her tracks. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. MIKEY!" She goes to Keaton's side and pats his face. "Hey, stay the fuck awake."
Keaton groaned a little when he felt Blue pat his face. He opened his eyes a little more, struggling to stay awake. He took a look around at the forges, all crumbled, not noticing what was on top of him but only the concern for his sister, looking at her. "You need to go," he said, softly followed by some more coughing and another groan, the coughing just adding to his pain. "It's not safe."
Blue "No shit, Sherlock." She tries to lift the rubble crushing her brother's legs. "Fuckin-- Mikey! Get your ass over here!"
Keaton "Leave," he said, "get out of here before you get hurt." His voice started to trail off as he got to the end of his sentence, his eyes starting to flutter close.
Fizz waited for them to come on and with every passing moment, she could feel her panic rising. She looked over to Alec. "Do you think they found him?"
Alec still has their fingers on their free hand crossed, and leans their forehead against the back of their hand. "I hope so, god, I hope so." They look over at her. "Do you think mom would listen to us?"
Fizz shrugged. Felicity had always felt Tyche with her, her whole life, even when she wished she wasn't. "I hope so, they never gave me a reason to doubt that they weren't here with us."
Alec nods once and squeezes their eyes shut again. "Please," they whisper once more.
Mikey was almost dazed by the sight of the forges collapsing around him, so many memories and people associated with them even though this wasn't the first time something like this had happened. What was different though was that Keaton might still be inside, he looked around frantically for his brother until he heard Blue's voice through the crackling heat of everything around him. He coughed again and then ran toward where he heard her voice. Soon, he came upon the scene and his face blanched when he saw Keaton on the ground and pinned under something. "Shit, shit, what do we do? How do we get this off of him?" He asked Blue, ignoring Keaton telling them to leave because obviously they weren't leaving or losing another brother tonight.
Blue "Maybe our combined strength is good for something," she said evenly, trying not to snap at the only other fireproof person in this camp.
Mikey nodded and took that as a sign that he should move and stand quickly beside Blue. "We are going to try and lift it off of him? What if it's bad, Blue?" He asked.
Keaton tried to focus on his siblings voices, opening his eyes once more, squinting through the smoke. Panic rose as his adrenaline began to wear off and he ran a painful hand through his hair, he hated being trapped. "Guys, I know heat doesn't bother you, but," he was cut off by a rail of coughs and wincing at the pain it took to cough, his voice was more hoarse when he spoke again, even more softly than before, "but like it's really fucking hot." He let out a few more coughs before letting out a groan in pain.
Blue "It's already bad, Mikey." She glanced at her brother and then set her focus on the beam crushing his legs. "Dad, you better fuckin help us out," she mumbled. "Ready? 3, 2, 1, lift!"
Mikey's face paled and then gripped his hands on the beam and waited for Blue's countdown to finish and he lifted with as much strength as he could muster, trying to lift it off of Keaton and set it down where it wouldn't do anymore damage.
Blue discovered that it was really, really heavy. "Shit, fucker... Keaton, can you drag yourself away a bit?" she asked, her voice strained from the effort.
Keaton screamed in pain when the beam was lifted, feeling the pressure come off him. He sat up a bit, the pain not helping him focus but the his flight or fight response was kicking in and it took all his strength to pull himself from the beam, his heart pounding against his chest.
Mikey continued to hold onto the beam as well as he could but the weight of it was hurting his muscles. "Wiggle out, Keaton. You got this," He said and then he looked at Blue. "Is he free?" He coughed a few times. "I can't see."
Blue moved her foot to make sure Keaton wasn't in range. "Yeah," she huffed.
Keaton When he was clear of the beam, he tried to stand up but instead fell back down to the ground, painfully, his one leg numb. He began to panic a little, his eyesight beginning to turn to a tunnel vision and he held his throbbing head in his hands. He laid down on the ground trying to take a minute, hoping that he'd stop feeling woozy.
Mikey set the beam back down and then rushed over to Keaton's side. His vision went straight to where the beam had been and it didn't look good, just as Blue had said. His eyes were burning, but he looked at Keaton's face. "Can you move your legs? Can you stand?" He asked rapidly and then looked over at Blue. "Are we going to have to carry him out of here?"
Blue "Yes," she replied, wiping the sweat off her hands. She took one glance at Keaton's leg and tried to tell herself the blood was making it look worse. She took a deep breath and gently put her arms under his legs. "Uh, scream if I hurt you too much." She motioned with her head for Mikey to grab Keaton's upper body and lift.
Keaton nodded at Blue slightly, weakly opening his eyes once more. He bit his lip, knowing that more pain was about to come. When she grabbed his legs, he bit down on his lip hard in pain trying to stop himself from screaming, though it was apparent in the boy's face that it hurt, a lot. He couldn't pinpoint the pain in one leg though, it was all over, but the other leg, he could only feel it near his hip and he was unsure of why that was the reason, why he didn't feel pain underneath that.
Alec looks up to watch the door again. "They're still not back," they say nervously, looking over at Fizz. "What do we do? Do we get someone? Why didn't we think of that before, we should go find someone else for help!"
Fizz watched the door, her hands shaking. "Yeah, uh, I'm going to get someone from the infirmary, stay here just incase they need help when they get out," she said, standing up, getting a little dizzy from the quick movements.
Alec twists their hands together and looks back to the door. "Okay, okay, I'll stay," they say quickly. "You go get help."
Fizz left running to get someone from the infirmary.
Mikey follows Blue's instructions and moved to grab Keaton's upper body. He lifted and began carrying him out with Blue, although coughing along the way. "Tell me if you need to set him down for a moment." He managed to say to Blue.
Blue shakes her head. "Just go. Watch it, go to the left." They moved him out as quickly as possible, avoiding as much fire as they could. By the time they made it outside, Blue's eyes were seriously watering and her chest was burning from the smoke. "Neither of you two got a medic here?" she barked, which turned into a cough. "Or someone to put this out? What have you been doing?"
Alec jumps to their feet when they emerge, immediately rushing forward to help them. "Fizz has gone to get help now, I'm sorry, we were in shock, help will be here soon," they reply rapid fire, looking between the three of them. "You're coughing, I can help carry him? Or I can go find people too."
Keaton coughed, thankful to be breathing in anything but smoke filled air. "Blue," he said softly when she got snappy at Alec as if to say 'don't'.
Mikey is sweating and coughing but still carries his brother along with Blue. "It's fine, we got him," He almost barks out at Alec.
Blue "Yeah, thanks so much but we don't have time to wait." She looks back at Mikey. "Let's go."
Mikey nods and then continues carrying Keaton and high-tails it toward the direction of the infirmary with Blue.
Alec stays in place and looks between the forges and the three of them. "I'm gonna go– tell Chiron," they say, doubting the others are listening but feeling they have to justify leaving anyway. They turn and run towards the Big House.
Keaton Them carrying him was giving him a lot of pain and he tried grabbed one of his siblings. "Guys, stop, stop," he told them, it was hoarse and quietly and tears were now able to start coming from his eyes.
Blue feels her chest constrict at the sight of her brother. "We have to get you there, bro," she says without stopping. "I'm sorry."
Fizz nearly ran into them when she was on her way back with the medic not too far behind. "I'm here, I got someone," she said slightly out of breath.
Mikey "I'm so sorry, Keaton," He said, tears rolling down his cheek but he didn't know if it was from the smoke or the fact that he had to hurt his brother even more to save him. He almost ran into Fizz but didn't pay her too much mind. His goal was to get his brother all the way to the infirmary.
Blue "Too little too late," she mumbled to Fizz as she walked right past her. When the got to the infirmary, Keaton was either passed out or in too much pain to move. Medics took over right away and lifted him out of her now-bloody arms. She washed them clean and then found a chair to wait in. Blue sat there for a while until someone told her Keaton would survive, coughing out the smoke in her lungs and blaming the tears on the fire.
Fizz smirked when Ben opened the door. She held up a bottle of whiskey. “Time for a hang out night?” she asked. “I want to know all the details of how I leave for like six months and come back to you dating a fuckin’ rockstar. Why did camp suddenly get interesting the minute I wasn’t here?”
Felicity was at the dance studio. She took a break from her pointe shoes to do a more lyrical piece, putting on some music and just dancing. Fizz was so into the dance that she didn’t hear the other come into the room. Fizz turned and caught eye of the other, jumping back, stopping mid-dance. She paused the music. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
“Hey, I needed a drink, and the only person I could think of that would drink at this time is you, so,” Fizz held up a bottle of whiskey, with a slight smile on her face. “I brought whiskey.” ( @hvlfwygod )
Fizz quints as she walked back into the room. “Are you holding my phone?” Fizz asked Ime. Fizz inched closer. “Should I dare ask why?” Felicity raised her eyebrows at her siblings, slightly afraid of any answer. ( @halfgclden )
Fizz looked up when she saw Lisette enter the room. “Hey, so I’m selling some nudes, so like, can you help me pick a nice one, or are you totally against that?” Fizz asked, looking through her camera roll on her phone. “I need some good ones to make some money.” ( @halfmortals )
“Do you want me to beat him up for you?” Fizz suggested as she heard about her roommate’s horror story with some guy from the bar. “He sounds like one of the regulars. I could beat him up for you, or I can just make sure he loses all his pool games.” ( @imitheous )
