Devvyn flopped dramatically onto the couch, arms flailing. "How in the name of Mizuho is it my fault that a whistle tried to kill me?" he groaned, throwing his arms up.
Maelis gave him a long, withering stare as she slipped on her coat and stepped outside, shutting the door behind her.
The moment the door clicked shut, Aela crossed her arms. "Well… it is kind of your fault," she said.
Devvyn shot her a look. "Excuse me?"
"You went into the black market. Even Jelric, with his strong-headedness, wouldn't do that."Aela said.
"Hey, why am I in this?" Jelric protested.
"To get steel sheets," Devvyn said, sitting upright. "For the stupid machine that's going to help everyone in the Lower City. Forgive me for wanting to do my best to help."
Aela raised a brow. "Your best was buying a whistle that almost killed you?"
"First of all, I only went to the weird guy because I wanted to get that ship for Orryn," Devvyn waved a hand to the toy ship resting atop the steel sheets on the floor. "Look, that's not the point. We should be heading back there right now. Find that vendor, ask what the hell this thing is, and get answers."
"Thank you for the ship, Devvyn. But I don't think you should go back. Maelis wouldn't like that, and just…You didn't see yourself shaking and going into a seizure. We did. I think you should rest." Aela said.
Jelric scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, man, we were really scared for you. If Maelis didn't have that iron ball thing—"
Devvyn hissed. "Would you grow a mind of your own for once, Jelric? Stop agreeing with Aela all the time."
Jelric's brows shot up. "Excuse me? What does that mean?"
Devvyn stood, fists clenched at his sides. "It means I nearly died, and you're both treating me like some idiot who tripped over his own shoelaces!"
"We're not," Aela said, stepping in.
But Devvyn wasn't listening. "You were scared? I was the one who felt like I was swimming in a volcano! Like my blood was lava. I saw monsters tearing people apart, and it felt real. Like my mind was coming undone, and I was going to lose myself right there on the floor!"
His voice cracked. He took a breath, hands trembling. "So yeah. I think I deserve answers. Because I don't know if this is going to happen again and if this is just the beginning, I'm not waiting for the next meltdown."
Aela raised her hands. "Okay! Can we all just, please, calm down and sit and think this through?"
Jelric shook his head, jaw tight. "Not until Devvyn apologises for what he said."
Devvyn snapped. "Oh, so now you've suddenly got balls? But you still can't face Aela and tell her the truth?"
Jelric's face twisted. "Not cool, man."
Aela blinked, looking between them. "What truth? Jelric, what is he talking about?"
"It's nothing," Jelric muttered, looking away.
Aela's voice sharpened. "I swear, if one of you doesn't start talking in the next five seconds—"
Jelric ran a hand through his hair, eyes darting to the floor. "Fine. I'll talk." He took a breath. "I found out my dad is part of the Unbound."
A heavy silence dropped into the room.
"He was going to be one of the ones who bombed the square," Jelric continued. "But I stopped him. They—" he hesitated, "he said they blackmailed him. Threatened to kill me if he didn't work with them."
Aela didn't move. Her expression slowly drained of all emotion. She stood still as stone, her fists clenched by her sides. "What…" her voice grew low, dangerously soft and quiet. "What did you just say?"
Jelric's eyes dropped again, guilt flickering across his face. "I didn't want to tell you because I… I didn't want you to hate me. I felt ashamed. Of my dad. Of myself. For being his son."
Aela's jaw clenched. Her voice shook with barely contained rage. "And so you held back information that could've saved people?"
Jelric's fists tightened at his sides. "Well, I didn't know what to do, okay? I was scared, and…" He turned sharply to Devvyn. "...and if we're talking about people hiding things, maybe Devvyn should tell you about the book he has. The one with the names of all the Unbound members."
Aela's eyes snapped to Devvyn, wide and disbelieving. "You said you lost it?"
Devvyn opened his mouth, then closed it, searching for the right words. "Jelric's dad's name was in there," he said finally. "He didn't want the book getting out. I was waiting… waiting for him to talk about his dad first before I told you about it."
Aela stared at him in disbelief. "You should come up with a better excuse."
Her lips trembled before the tears started to fall. She wiped at them quickly, angrily, like they had no right to be there. "Well," she said with a brittle laugh, "it's nice to know my two closest friends don't trust me."
Devvyn took a step toward her, guilt twisting in his stomach, but she held up a hand.
"No. I need to go get my siblings." Her voice was tight. "I'm done for today." She turned on her heel and stormed out of the house, slamming the door shut behind her.
Jelric stood silently for a moment, then slowly walked up to Devvyn. "I hope you're happy now," he muttered, eyes full of disappointment, and followed her out.
Devvyn stared at the door long after it slammed shut, Aela's words still echoing in his ears.
A part of him wanted to run after them, say he was sorry, say he wasn't in his right mind because he kept seeing the dead guy and now monsters. But a bigger part of him was relieved they were gone.
Quietly, he made his way to the outside workshop. He averted his gaze from the spot where he'd had the seizure.
His eyes drifted to the drawer beneath the workbench. He pulled it open and found a dusty sketch pad wedged between scraps of paper and a few old stiff pencils. Sitting down at the table, he laid the pad flat in front of him and stared at the blank page.
For a while, he just sat there. Then, without fully understanding why, he moved his hands. He picked up the pencil and started drawing. Slowly at first. Then faster. Lines swept across the page with precision he didn't fully control. Curves. Claws. Eyes. Teeth.
He didn't stop until it was done, and two creatures stared back at him. One, tall and skeletal, with gaping jaws stretched vertically across its face. The other, hunched and twisted, covered in sharp spines with dozens of small, angry eyes.
Both of them were exactly as he remembered from the visions. Remnants.
Devvyn dropped the pencil. His heart pounded in his chest. The creatures on the page looked like they were moments away from crawling out of the paper, so vivid, so real.
He had to find out why he was seeing them.
"Fine," he muttered, fingers still trembling. "You want to stick around? Then I'm going to figure out what you are."
First though, he had to fix things. He needed Aela. And Jelric. But especially Aela. He needed his friends.
On the way out, he grabbed a sheet of paper and scrawled a quick note for Maelis in his messy, all-caps handwriting:
Gone to Aela's. We had a fight.
"Peace offering," Devvyn said the moment he spotted Aela.
She was outside by the laundry line. She didn't look at him or say a word.
Devvyn waited for a beat. "I brought the toy ship. For Orryn."
Still, silence. Aela continued methodically folding the sheet, keeping her eyes fixed on the fabric.
Devvyn sighed and stepped forward, grabbing the edge of another piece of clothing from the line to help. "Look, I know you're mad. You have every right to be. But give me a chance to explain."
Aela didn't answer, but she didn't push him away either. That was something.
They packed the last of the laundry in silence. Then Aela picked up the basket and headed inside.
Devvyn followed.
Orryn and Melo burst out from the small back room, nearly tripping over each other in their excitement.
"Devvyn!" they shouted in unison.
"Hello, Orryn. I got this for you," he said, crouching and presenting the toy ship.
Orryn's eyes lit up. "Cool!" he exclaimed, grabbing the ship with both hands and turning it around in wonder.
"Outside, both of you," Aela said, pointing toward the door. "Before you break something."
Orryn and Melo dashed out the front door, the ship already zooming through the air in Orryn's hand.
Aela hoisted the basket of clothes and walked into the children's room. Devvyn followed her quietly, watching as she knelt beside the small wardrobe and began sorting the clothes into neat piles.
She let out a tired sigh, still facing the wardrobe. "You've got five minutes. Max."
"I'm sorry."
Aela turned her head slightly. "You're going to have to be specific. Because, Devvyn… you've been horrible lately." Her voice was quiet, but there was no mistaking the hurt underneath. "You acted like none of us mattered."
Devvyn let out a slow breath. "I'm sorry," he said again, quieter now. "For hiding the book from you. For not telling you about Jelric's dad when I found out. For acting like a jerk… especially when you two literally saved my life."
Aela finally turned to look at him, arms crossed. "And for ratting me out to Maelis about the Gauntlet trials."
Devvyn winced. "That too."
She held his gaze for a few moments, then said, "Alright. I'll accept your apology… on one condition."
Devvyn's eyes narrowed cautiously. "What?"
"You tell me what's really going on with you," Aela said firmly. "You've been off lately. Paranoid. Irrational. Emotional. And now this whole thing with the whistle?" She shook her head. "I want to know the truth. All of it."
Devvyn hesitated. His shoulders dropped. "Okay," he said quietly.
"I've been having panic attacks," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "And I keep seeing that Unbound guy… the one that died. I know he killed himself, but—" He looked down at his hands, staring at them like they were covered in blood. "My brain doesn't seem to want to accept that."
"I've been waking up with nightmares since then. Every night. And then this stupid whistle… it started making me see things. Monsters on the street, Aela. People we know, they looked like Remnants. I'm not sure I know what's real anymore."
"It's messing with my head, Aela. I don't know what to do."
Aela stared at him, her expression softening with every word.
"You should've told me earlier," she said, her voice quieter now. "We could've figured this out together."
She sat on the edge of the bed and sighed.
"It's not just your fault, you know," she said quietly. "Me and Jelric, I… we've been so caught up with getting our Echos that we never stopped to ask how you were doing after that day."
Devvyn lowered his gaze. "I didn't want to burden you. You both had your own stuff going on. I figured I'd deal with mine."
She shook his head. "Devvyn… your problems are my problems. That's what family does. We might not share the same blood, Dev, but we're family. And family shares the weight. You don't have to carry everything alone."
Devvyn blinked a few times, then nodded slowly.
Aela bumped his shoulder lightly with hers and smirked. "If you cry, I'm telling Jelric."
Devvyn rolled his eyes. "Wow. Emotional blackmail. Nice."
"Just keeping you humble."
He smirked, then sighed. "Speaking of Jelric, I wouldn't want to be in his shoes right now."
Aela nodded, her expression softening. "Yeah… I get why he didn't tell us, though. It's a lot. And honestly? I'm kind of embarrassed by how I reacted earlier."
"Well," Devvyn said, "we'll both go see him tomorrow and patch things up properly."
Aela smiled. "Yeah. Good."
"I'm going to the library tomorrow," he said.
Aela looked up. "Aren't you grounded?"
"Technically," Devvyn said with a shrug. "I'll talk to Maelis about it. But I need more info on the whistle. I have to know what it really is and why it's trying to kill me."
Aela nodded. "Fair. But while we're there… can we also gather info about the Gauntlet Trials?"
Devvyn looked over at her, brow raised. "You really want to do it? You're sure?"
Aela didn't hesitate. "Yeah. I am."
"Alright," he said, eyes steady. "If you're serious about this… then we'll train together. Every day. I'll do whatever it takes to help you through the Trials."
Aela looked over her shoulder at him, a soft smile tugging at her lips. "You sure you're ready for all the complaining I'm gonna do?"
Devvyn smirked. "Please. I've survived your cooking. I can survive anything."
"Seriously, though," he said, "we'll do it together. Me, you and Jelric."
