Chapter 25: Counting down

"So..." Kelly was pacing, "Dorian is gone."

Harrison nodded, "Yes."

"And there are meteors outside, killing people and making craters like motherfuckers."

Amelia's turn to nod, "Yes."

"And he started cackling like a nutjob but also kinda sexy villain laugh."

"Yes." Harrison and Amelia said together.

"And...how screwed are we?"

"Depends on what kind of screwed you mean," Amelia retorted, "Because in your case it's yes to both."

"You suck."

"No, I don't."

"Can we stop with the dirty jokes!" Harrison was blushing like mad, "Dorian is out there, potentially nuts, killing everyone! Can Dorian not leave New York without causing a disaster here? I don't know. But right now, we need to use Kelly as bait because he's the only one I'm pretty sure Dorian won't murder."

"Gee, thanks." Kelly replied, "But where are we gonna find him?"

"I don't know!" Harrison snapped, "You're the one who's got the connection to him. Where would he go?"

"The first place I can think of is the forest," Kelly continued pacing, waving his arms around as he spoke, "But with Regina added into the mix, would he really go there?"

"There's an old tale Mother used to tell us when we were little. I can imagine Dorian going there if he knew about it," Amelia said, crossing her arms in contemplation.

"The Pavillion?" Kelly remembered the tale they were told as small children about a panel in the woods with stepping stones on it, and underneath was a Pavillion with enchanted flowers that granted wishes. He remembered when he, Amelia, and Morrigan were six and went looking for it. They hadn't found it, but maybe a stone wielder could?

"Yeah, I told him the story months ago." They looked outside, and thankfully the meteors had stopped. This meant Dorian was probably safe. Or dead, that was a distinct possibility too. Kelly closed his eyes, trying to call to Dorian, only to get a clearly intentional lack of response.

Harrison was on his tablet looking for any leads, "Okay, that story is real, and those of high power can summon the panel to them. However, any person is only allowed three times entering, but can stay as long as they'd like each visit."

"So that's absolutely where Dorian would go. Sweet." Kelly got up, throwing a bow over his shoulder and grabbing some arrows.

"Why not leave him there?" Amelia asked, "If he could technically stay forever. Certainly better that he stay in comfort instead of miles underground in a bunker."

"Yeah, but I want to make sure he isn't insane because if he is, he can still leave any time," Kelly replied, actually just wanting to see Dorian. He didn't care that he was still in his pajamas, because people were dying, and it was a mystery why anybody still lived in New York. At least real estate was a whole lot cheaper since there were constant villain attacks and catastrophic disasters.

"I'm going to the woods," he announced, "If I don't come back and haven't called you with a reason, Regina or Mara got me."

"You say that so calmly," Harrison rolled his eyes, "If you find him, tell him we say hi. But Kels," he smiled, "I'm glad you found someone you think can make you happy."

Kelly nodded, running out the door and into the forest, "Dorian!" He called, knowing he wouldn't get a response. He used his magic to look for the Pavillion, which he didn't find, but he did find a panel on the ground with twelve flowers on it.

And the biggest, most terrifying creature Kelly would ever see was guarding it.

Instantly, Kelly knew the wolf was protecting Dorian. Whatever power was granted to him by that second stone allowed him to command an animal as mighty as this one.

"Are you Dorian's?" He asked the animal, putting his weapons on the ground to show he meant no harm, letting his wings out to show the same color as Dorian's hair, "Dorian is very special to me. I want to make sure he's okay."

The wolf was watching the glow of the wings, which illuminated the clearing in green light. It highlighted the few leaves on the trees which hadn't yet changed and fallen.

"Can I see him? I promise I won't hurt him. He knows me."

The wolf eyed him for a moment, and Kelly slowly brought his hand toward it, letting his hand be sniffed. It was a moment of being smelled before this monstrous-looking canine was behaving like an overgrown excited puppy, licking his face. Kelly was unaware this was because the wolf was able to recognize his master's intimate partner, and figured it was because he was wearing Dorian's sweatshirt.

"You gonna let me through, buddy?" Kelly stepped towards the panel and was met with no resistance from the wolf. According to the story, there was a specific pattern to hop from flower to flower, before spinning three times on the final one.

Only one way to find out: trial and error.

It didn't take long. Kelly hopped on the first one, and it lit up. After that, all he had to do was jump to the closest one.

The panel melted away when he was done, revealing a staircase underground, which he walked down and saw a stunning area like a fairy tale. There was a boat ready to take him across the river to the Pavillion.

The sky above was night, but no light pollution bothered him, so the stars twinkled brightly, giving him enough light to see just fine with the assistance of very few enchanted glowing flowers.

Getting off the boat, Kelly peaked into the main area from behind a pillar, where he saw Dorian holding a bright golden flower and humming to himself, watching what seemed to be five stones fusing into one—into tanzanite.

Ah. Dorian came here to learn how to get tanzanite. Kelly smiled, knowing it was still the young man he had fallen for.

But then something happened he didn't expect at all.

He saw himself appear.

...

After the wolf dug him out of the bunker—a genuinely impressive accomplishment—Dorian had been unsure of where to go. The first priority was to make the meteors stop because he was pretty sure those were his fault.

Isolation really did drive people mad, who knew? Or maybe it was the sheer lack of things to do, and no freedom whatsoever. Was Kelly okay? The last letter had been three days ago.

Once he managed to stop the meteors, he remembered an old children's tale that Kelly had told him a few months back. Summoning the panel hadn't been hard, but it seemed Luci—as he dubbed the wolf that appeared to view him as its master—was going to guard.

He wasn't sure how long he had been down here, but the first thing he did was grab one of the magic flowers and wish for the answer to tanzanite. If he found what looked to be three or four more stones, he could get it and be free.

However, he didn't expect an older Kelly to step out of the mist.

Physically, he was somewhere between five and ten years older, but his eyes said it had been much longer than that. Wearing less casual clothes in the form of navy jeans, a gray button-down shirt, and a gray-blue vest over it, he looked great. His hair was down to his shoulders in a loose ponytail, with the tiniest bit of stubble.

"Hello, Dorian, it's been a while."

"Y-Yeah," Dorian stammered, "Kelly?"

"Pretty much, I come from the future—or a future. It's complicated." Dorian instantly pouted,

"Damnit, Chandra put you up to this, didn't she?"

"Kind of, but you know me, and because of that, you know I have no intention of bending to the rules. This," he gestured to Dorian and the area around them, "Isn't how the timeline used to be, and we're connected, so I want to make sure you're okay."

Dorian perked up, cocking his head, "How was it supposed to be?"

"From what I gathered judging by what I was told, you weren't supposed to know what was happening until it was too late." Dorian shrunk down, trying to hide his rage that that was what Chandra wanted for him.

"Did we..."

"Get together for a time? Don't know since I do not own those memories, rather the ones of a timeline where we knew what was happening every step of the way. To put it this way, there's mayhem because there was a disaster in the future. The time travelers are trying to fix it. Don't even ask me what that disaster was, because I haven't got a clue. If I had to guess, we got together, but split when I got banished to Earth and got drunkenly married to my first Earth friend."

Dorian sighed, "Seeing as you're clearly still Kelly, what should I do? I'm dangerous, and I don't want to hurt past you. I can't isolate myself, because clearly that doesn't work, so the only options I see are to die or find those stones."

"Don't die for starters," Kelly shrugged, "The banishing to Earth thing is gonna happen regardless. What happens before that is hotly up for debate. I'm saying you shouldn't let fear control you. Past me is stronger than you think, and can kick your ass if it came down to that. Live your life like there's no tomorrow, and if you break the curse, I'm looking forward to seeing how it changes things. Sounds interesting."

Dorian chuckled, "I'm guessing that since you're here, you would rather I don't murder Chandra or Adelina the next time I see one of them?"

"Keep in mind that it might not be the same version, since only one will know why you'd want revenge, and any other version of Chandra or Adelina would be clueless." He hugged Dorian, "I'm looking forward to seeing what choices you make."

"How long?" Dorian meekly asked, "Until I lose myself, and past you gets banished to Earth?"

"Five years for both, and I expect there was some causation there. Oh," Kelly pulled out a notecard, "And take care of Alexa, and make sure she doesn't develop a thing for emotional sadism? What? Oh well, I'm not gonna question that today." He laughed, before turning, "Looks like I'm here to see you. He can't hear us, so don't tell him about the Earth thing. Trust me, he'll understand in time, but will not be happy at first." He smiled, "Goodbye, and good luck." He vanished abruptly, and Dorian turned to see his Kelly peaking out from behind a pillar.

...

Kelly hadn't been able to listen in on what Dorian and his older self said, but was finally able to hear when Dorian turned to him with a small smile,

"I've missed you."

Kelly's bottom lip quivered, and he ran into Dorian's arms, hugging him, "I missed you too. When Mia told me you..."

"Yeah, I couldn't deal with confinement anymore, kind of hoping Harry would finish me off."

"Dorian..."

"I know, but I didn't expect that wolf to come for me." They both sat down, and Kelly cocked his head,

"What is with the wolf?"

"I have no idea. But I named it Luci, and it obeys me."

"You don't know the gender of your wolf servant?!"

"It's not like I can ask it!"

Kelly laughed, finding it adorable how Dorian's voice went up an octave when he was exasperated, "I suppose you're right." He looked around the Pavillion, "This place is beautiful."

"It really is. You know, this would be a great place for Harry and Mia to get married."

"You're right, but I wish we had music."

All the flowers opened and released golden pollen, and instruments appeared, playing themselves. Dorian got up, "Care to dance?" Kelly took his hand nervously,

"Even if I step on your toes?"

"Even if you step on my toes."

The dance was slow, and Dorian helped Kelly along, keeping a hand on his low back to steady him. Kelly looked into his eyes, "Why do you know how to do this?"

"Before you came along," he explained, "My life was pretty boring. I had to do something to pass the time."

"You're not going to isolate yourself again, right? It clearly didn't work." He saw Dorian hesitate, looking away shamefully,

"Five years. We can do this for five years, but if the curse isn't broken by then..."

"I'm sure it will be," he assured, cupping Dorian's cheek, "What was the deal with the other me appearing."

"He mostly told me how long I've got, and said he was curious about what I would do in the meantime, such as seeing if I can break the curse before I go off the deep end."

"And what are you going to do with that time?" He was answered with a kiss.

"Have a life with you for as long as I can."

...

"You're lucky to have him for even a moment," a voice whispered in Dorian's head, "But you know that in five years he will be out of your reach forever."

Dorian knew that. He knew he would have to let Kelly go, even if the curse was broken. But this didn't make him give up on getting free. Having Kelly in his arms right now with love in his eyes was more than he'd ever hoped to ask for, and was all the motivation he needed to keep going.

So, he was nothing if not grateful for the time he had.