"He's awake, sir."

At that, Steve dropped all the paperwork he was doing on his desk. He shoved his military jacket on as he followed the medic to the ward. He gulped as he entered the room. Hero was indeed awake, sitting up but his head was turned away from Steve. The door accidentally slammed shut and Hero winced.

Sorcerers were still surrounding him, casting diagnostic spells to check his vitals. The general looked absolutely weak, as if he could collapse any second. No one wanted that, so they stuck around. Steve stepped forward, cautious of the equipment surrounding Hero's bed. The lieutenant spoke softly, not wanting to startle Hero like the door did, "Sir?"

Hero's head tilted just a bit towards Steve, but he did not turn around fully. He asked hoarsely, "Who? Who are you?"

Steve went along with it, "Your one and only lieutenant, sir."

Hero hummed. It was silent after that. The sorcerers were still scrambling around, but they were obviously listening. Steve broke the silence awkwardly, "How are you feeling?"

The general laughed, and it did not even sound right. His voice cracked, and it sounded forced. Finally, he replied, "Like shit. Complete. Utter. Shit."

Steve smiled a little. It was inappropriate with his general gravely injured and weak, but he was glad that Hero was strong enough to maintain his cocky attitude. It was silent again, until Hero spoke, "You want to see me, right?"

"I already have."

Hero rolled his shoulder and drawled, "Not that, you know what I mean. You want to see my face."

Steve swallowed down the bile in his throat, he saw what Hero looked like with the open scars. It was mangled and nasty. He did not want to force his general into something he would not like to do to. He started, "Only if you'd like to show-"

Hero turned, and the bile returned to Steve's throat.

○

Sky knocked slowly, not wanting to spook Jason even further. Soon, a soft voice answered from the other side, "Who is it?"

Sky frowned at how timid he sounded. Jason was always timid, but he never sounded absolutely terrified before. He called, "It's your buddy. Adam. Can you open up?"

"Y-Yeah, sure. Wait a bit."

He heard the lock turning, before the door creaked open. He saw Jason poke half of his face out. His eyes were silver, so Sky noted to himself that Jason was in his wither form. Jason did not move from his spot though, and Sky felt awkward standing outside. He asked, "Can I come in?"

Immediately, Jason squeaked. His fingers started trembling on his hold on the door and he stammered, "No! I-I mean... No, you can't. I'm very b-busy right now, and-"

Sky hated pulling his rank on other people. Still, he said sternly, "Probst. I'm coming in and that's an order."

To be fair, the weird shit happening was slowly piling on top of each other. He wanted to find out what was going on. Sky took a deep breath, his emotions were getting the best of him. His powers had always been a suppressant, but he was a little ticked off today. He ignored the way Jason trembled, then step back.

Sky felt he had done enough, so he just quietly stepped in instead of barging through. He turned to Jason, then gasped. Jason was in half-wither form. The sergeant rarely stayed that way, always preferring to either be full human or full wither. His half form was his safe place, so to say. It was harder for him to embrace his creature side like Ty, who accepted it with open and grumpy arms.

Jason did not have the floating skulls on his shoulders, but black clouds swirled around him. Only one of his eyes were pure silver, the other the normal blue. His hair had a gray tint, and patches of black appeared on his skin. The wither ribcage was not fully formed as well. He only had the the first three pairs wrapped around his torso. They constricted him, as his clothes were squeezed underneath the bones. Sky asked, "You okay, buddy?"

It was quiet. Sky waited patiently, as he knew that Jason did not like opening up to others. Then, it all spilled.

"I can't go into full form, Adam! It's stressing me out and I hate it! I can't even use my powers to their fullest and I just feel so fuc- So stupid."

Sky caught that. Jason was about to curse. He never cursed. The worst he has ever said was 'shit' and that was when Ty stomped on his bare foot with military heels. Everyone was shocked, but they understood his pain. This, however... He was going for the infamous 'fuck'. Sky just gaped before he came to his senses and spoke, "U-Um... Well..."

He thought for a moment before restarting, "It's pretty obvious that something's going on."

Jason looked up at him in concern, "What do you mean?"

Sky groaned and said, "There's been weird shit happening all day. Seto and Brice had some sort of falling out-"

"What?!"

"Jerome went missing, and Mitch is all up our asses..."

"Oh my god."

"Can you stop interrupting me," Sky snarled. "See, my anger management issues are spiking up again too, and now..."

He gestured to all of Jason, "Now you happened!"

It was silent for a while, and Sky was heavily breathing. He clenched and unclenched his fist to calm himself down. After a while, Jason spoke up, "Do you think we should meet up with the others? Maybe it's all linked together."

Sky just nodded, smoothing back his hair. Forget the report, Herobrine can honestly go fuck himself.

○

Well, Hero did not 'go fuck himself', rather... He got fucked. Hard. By life.

He was in a constant on-and-off status, passing out after seemingly being fine for a few hours. It was starting to stress everyone out, even the king, who went to visit him a few times. Steve started doing more paperwork than practical work. He did the paperwork in Hero's ward, keeping an eye on him while the sorcerers took short breaks. Neither spoke much.

A soldier came in and dropped reports from the other militaries. They were one military short though, and Steve voiced it out for Hero to hear. The general raised an eyebrow, "The Southern? Commander Dahlberg never misses his reports."

Steve scoffed, "Because he knows you're watching him 24/7."

"I can't do that anymore."

The lieutenant raised an eyebrow and looked at Hero from the reports, "Why not?"

Hero squeezed the sheets around him and forced out, "I can't use my powers anymore. They're gone ever since the attack."

Steve gulped, "O-Oh. Has this happened before?"

Hero shook his head and remained silent. Steve just thumbed the reports awkwardly, not knowing what to say or do to cheer his companion up.

○

Sky stared at the mess before him. He had called those who were experiencing problems to a meeting room. They had all come, but none of them were happy. Seto and Brice sat at the far ends of the table. Ty was stretched out on two seats, his tail flipped over the table. Jason was still shaking in one corner, while Mitch drummed his fingers on the table, still worrying over his friend.

Brice had his arms folded and he snapped, "Why did you call me? I'm fine."

Seto visibly winced on his end. Before Sky could answer calmly, Ty beat him to it with a harsh snarl, "Because you and your magic boyfriend argued over something petty. Probably over who gets to top in the bedroo-"

"Ellis. Enough."

The hybrid snarled under his breath, thumping his tail on the table. Brice glared angrily at his corporal, while Seto fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat. Sky rolled his eyes and was about to start the meeting until someone interrupted him, again.

"Sky, how long are you going to keep that up? Isn't that draining?"

The commander was about to snap at Jason again, until he registered what he'd said. He looked at him strangely, "What do you mean?"

Everyone replied, "Eyes."

Sky blinked, "What about them?"

Brice and Ty scowled, while the others looked confused. Seto started, and Brice seethed from his corner, "Your eyes are normal ever since you met me and Bric-"

His ex-friend rolled his eyes. He corrected himself quickly, "Ever since you talked to me today. Both you and General Persson said that it was tiring to keep it up."

Sky just stared until he said slowly, "But... I didn't do anything involving my powers today."

They all stared at him like he was wearing the brightest pink tutu. Sky felt a little embarrassed at being stared out. Brice coughed a little weirdly, before he slipped his hand onto his pocket. He slowly handed a portable mirror, those flippy ones, to Sky, who took it gratefully. After struggling with the extremely flat mirror, he managed to pull it open, to see irises. They were not even gold, they had dulled into an ugly amber.

"What the fuck."

○

Hero's hands stroked down Erin's fur. The usually cranky cat was practically attached to his owner. After the accident, the cat had stayed nearby, meowing incessantly at the sorcerers to let him in. They finally relented, and the cat had settled on his owner's lap ever since. It was good for Hero, as the cat eased his panic attacks.

The door creaked open and Erin let out a protective hiss at whoever it was. Hero jumped a bit, but Erin just licked his hand in comfort. Softly, he inquired, "Steve?"

A familiar voice answered back, "The one and only."

Hero smiles as he hears his companion sit on the bed. The bed dips around his right leg, so he turned to face that direction, hoping he was looking at Steve. He asked, "How was throne guarding duty?"

Steve laughed, and the bed shook with him. He said, "It's tourist season. I was stationed next to the empty throne, along with soldier Johnson, you know that guy?"

Hero nods, and Steve continues, "Well, a couple of tourists got a few pictures, the normal stuff. If they got too close we would stomp, your rules, bla bla bla..."

The general huffs and frowns. Erin stirred underneath his hands. Steve laughs once again and he says, "This group of guys, think they were from next door, Russia. Accents and everything. They approach the throne, but they did not get up the steps, past the first two stationed at the bottom of the steps. Weirdest shit happened, my man."

Hero cocked his head in question. Erin also gives an inquiring purr. The lieutenant snickers while he explained, "The dudes, they started singing 'You're beautiful' to all the soldiers. The one they were closer to, soldier Stark, she broke first. She smiled and the dudes stopped to cheer in victory."

Hero grinned, eyes downcast now, imagining the scene. Steve continues, "Then her buddy, soldier Rogers, actually laughed, and then soldier Parker and Wilson, who were stationed by the entrance doors, finally gave in and laughed as well. The dudes restarted their singing again."

They were both laughing now, Hero chuckling under his breath while Steve slaps his knee recounting everything. He says in between breaths, "I went on and fucking stomped like protocol, and gave them an order to stand at attention seriously. One of the tourists shushed everyone else, and the soldiers were serious once again. Then, said tourist, oh man, you won't believe this..."

"Go on, buddy. I'm listening."

"He says 'you're beautiful too, baby' and then I was the first one to break down in hysterical laughter, followed by soldier Evans on the other side of the throne, then Wilson, Parker, Rogers and even Stark once again!"

Hero snickers, bringing a hand to cover his mouth as he did so. Shortly after, he remarked, "If I was on duty, I would have sung back."

Steve giggled once more and slapped his beret on his knee once again. It did not spook either Erin or Hero. The lieutenant shouted, "Hero, my man... Wilson did it for you! It was fucking hilarious. Unfortunately, the next shift came back and they had to wait for us to calm down before properly and formerly switching over. Once we stopped our shift we talked a bit with the tourists. It was great. Should have been there, you know."

Hero smiled sadly, "I really should have..."