Chapter Text
Red was the first to notice something was up.
They were all outside enjoying the weather on a sunny, spring day. Green and Blue were using the back veranda and their old hoop to play one-on-one basketball. So far the score was tied. Ever the all-rounder, Green had a slight height advantage and the strength to win the tussles over the ball. However, Blue had the best agility and aim out of all the brothers, keeping the older teen on his toes and the game evenly matched.
Yellow had pulled apart the living room air conditioning unit, hoping to upgrade the device before summer hit. Currently he was sat in the centre of the chaos he’d created, pieces strewn all around him in a complicated system that only the blonde knew – or at least Red hoped was the case. It was hard to tell with Yellow sometimes whether he was working on something helpful or just indulging his own curiosity.
Red himself was sitting in the grass, trying to coax his newest charges to eat. A pair of parrots he’d found at the bottom of a tree just at the edge of the surrounding forest. The duo were currently too young to fly and the fourteen-year-old had been unable to find any sign of their nest or parents. So home with him they’d come. Or at least until they grew big enough to fend for themselves.
He’d just managed to get them nibbling on the syringe when Orange sat up, expression furrowed in confusion. The Hollow elf had been content to lay sleepily on his deck chair all morning, happy to just relax in the sun with the sounds of his friends’ activities keeping him in comfortable company. So when he moved, it definitely caught Red’s attention. The redhead watched as the orange-clad teen looked around, seemingly searching for something before letting out a soft sigh and relaxing once more.
A quick glance around told him no one else had noticed. Green and Blue were still engaged in their game while Yellow had his eyes solely locked onto the compressor in front of him.
Red was moving before he’d even really thought about it. Bundling the parrots snuggly against his chest in one arm as he held the food syringe up with his other hand. Then he briskly made his way over to the deck chair, plopping down on the end without preamble.
Orange startled again only to get a face full of feathers and hungry cheeping as the redhead held the blanketed fledglings out to him. “Can you hold them for me?” he asked brightly.
Tangerine eyes blinked back at him before the other gently took the bundle, supporting the chirping parrots the way Red had taught him to.
A small burst of pride rose up in the human’s chest before he mentally shook himself. Now was not the time for that. The red-clad teen instead positioned the syringe again, half watching as the feathered pair began to dig into their meal once more and half watching the elf as he curiously viewed the feeding process. His face held no trace of whatever had disturbed him before, fully engrossed in observing the way the young parrots guzzled down the processed food.
Still, it wouldn’t hurt to ask. “Hey, are you okay?”
“Huh?” Orange turned to his friend, confusion once more morphing his features. “Yeah, I’m fine. Why? Does something seem wrong?”
“I guess not. I was just worried. You looked like you were looking for something just before. So I wanted to check,” Red tried to explain his concern.
Realisation slowly filled the Hollow elf’s face. “Oh! That!” he looked down with a sheepish shrug. “It’s probably nothing. I just thought I heard something.”
“Wait! You heard something!”
Okay Red that was definitely too loud, he realised as Orange’s ears twitched back involuntarily and the other three paused to look over in their direction.
“No- Maybe- I don’t know! I’m not even sure if it is a sound. It sort of like a song, sort of like a pressure in my head. It’s kind of hard to explain. It just comes and goes on the very edge of my hearing,” Orange rambled, hoping to put the other teen at ease.
Wide scarlet eyes just stared back at him, shock, curiosity and excitement spilling out with increasing intensity and Orange had a sinking feeling he’d just started something unstoppable.
“How long has this been going on?” Both Orange and Red looked over at Green’s question, only just noticing the other three teens approaching them.
“Since I got here,” the orange-haired elf admitted.
“What!” Both Red and Green visibly and vocally reacted at the confession, their cry of indignation synced as Red jumped up and Green took a step forward. Blue and Yellow just exchanged a shared look of worry.
The blonde turned to Orange, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration and concern. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
Because I was worried you wouldn’t believe me. The Hollow immediately shoved the thought down.
He didn’t know why he’d been so scared to share the strange ongoing occurrence with the brothers. Never in the month or so he’d been living with them, had they ever not taken his input seriously. They always listened when he had ideas and concerns. Always answered his questions, even when he was hesitant to ask them. Always included him equally.
But he had still held back, unsure whether that inclusivity extended into such an area of unknown and potentially impossible circumstances. Why should they believe he could hear something none of them had picked up on in the entire time they’d lived here? They had no reason to. And even Orange was unsure himself if it was real. Even still, the idea that they might not believe him had terrified the orange-clad teen. So he had kept silent.
Instead of attempting to unpack those messy emotions however, he decided to skirt the matter entirely by bringing up the other reason he hadn’t mentioned it. “Well to be honest, I didn’t even realise it was there until after Green and I got back from the city and I noticed it had been gone.”
“So it wasn’t present in the city?” Yellow double-checked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
Orange shook his head.
The blonde looked over at Green, who seemed to have cottoned on to the same thought he had. “So that means it’s coming from somewhere nearby,” the green-haired teen speculated.
Red and Blue shared matching grins. “Adventure time?” the red-clad teen asked.
“Adventure time!” his twin confirmed. The blue-haired human turned back to Orange, dialling his excitement down enough to plan. “Do you think you could figure out where this noise is coming from?”
Orange hesitated, his eyes growing distant as his long ears twitched once, twice, then, “I think so.”
All three of them turned expectantly to the elder pair, a mixture of determination, excitement and trepidation visible across their faces.
Yellow grinned, “I’m down. Green?”
“I don’t know, it could be dangerous.” The green-clad human looked doubtful for a long minute, waiting as the others’ faces fell with groans of disappointment before his facade broke and his own smile emerged. “I’m in! Lead the way Orange!”
Stopping inside the house just long enough to put everything away, the quintet made their way out into the surrounding forest, Orange at the front of the group.
It was slow going at first. Several times the Hollow elf needed to stop and backtrack in order to pinpoint where the mysterious call was coming from. However, after a while, he began to get the hang of it and their progress sped up dramatically. Deeper and deeper into the woodland they travelled. Farther than the brothers had ever explored before. Until they came across a rocky formation rising up from the surrounding earth, a craggy opening barely visible against the dark stone and underbrush.
“Huh,” Blue tilted his head. “That’s new.”
“Sort of,” Yellow corrected him, hand trailing down the rocky surface thoughtfully. “There is a known low-set cavern system in this area. We’ve been past bits and pieces of it closer to our house. But this is the first large opening I’ve ever seen.”
“Well what’re we waiting for?!” Red was bouncing on the balls of his feet, a wide grin overtaking his features. “Come on!”
He made a break for the entrance before a hand snagged the back of his shirt, stopping him in his tracks.
“Maybe take this first, hotshot,” Green smirked as he handed the redhead a torch.
“Right,” Red rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he took the offered item, before brightly bouncing back over to the cave opening.
He took several steps into the cool darkness within, the electric light illuminated the dusky cavern ahead of him. The uneven walls formed a long, narrow corridor, sloped slightly downwards. Lengthy shadows cut jagged chunks from the path, the single torchlight throwing everything close into sharp relief. Meanwhile the end of the passage remained out of sight, still consumed by the omnipresent darkness and stone.
A breath of breeze tugged at the fourteen-year-old’s hair. A whisper of song and the light fingers of curiosity that vanished as he stepped further in. “It’s a passageway!” he called out. “I can’t see where it goes yet but it definitely goes somewhere!”
“Well don’t just stand there,” Blue shoved him. “Let us in too.”
“Fine, fine! Stop pushing! I’m going!” Moving cautiously but purposefully, Red began to advance again, throwing the torchlight ahead of him to see where to put his feet. Behind him, more footsteps sounded as the others followed suit, hushed murmurs filling the stagnant air as they all looked around.
Eventually the tunnel opened up into a massive cavern, far larger than any of them thought possible. Stalactites hung from the roof, but the floor itself was surprisingly free of stalagmites and other difficult terrain.
Of far more interest to the gaggle of teens however, was the unexpected illumination visible at the other end of the lofty cave. There, hewn from the surrounding rock, a stone pedestal rose. The plinth looked sturdy and ancient, weathered but not damaged by the passage of time as it continued its ever present job of supporting the cube above it.
The block atop also wasn’t anything impressive. Indeed, by all appearances it seemed to be a simple mound of dirt and grass, carved into the impressive but mundane shape of a perfect cube. Completely innocuous.
Or it would be, were it not glowing. Glowing and hovering an inch above the rocky pedestal as it turned in lazy circles through the air.
“No way!” Yellow breathed out as they all clustered in the opening. He seemed transfixed by the mystical sight, feet planted solidly in the entryway as his eyes roamed over the spectacular view.
Green meanwhile, pushed forward eagerly as he recognised the mysterious object. “That’s the Crafting Cube!”
“The what?” Orange asked, following the green-haired human as he bee-lined towards the artefact.
“The Crafting Cube,” Green explained, coming to a stop next to the pedestal.
He circled the podium, marvelling at the construction, before turning a critical eye to the floating square. However, after a several of minutes fruitlessly trying to dissect the power keeping it up, he gave up and instead pulled out his phone. There was a flash and a click before the teen put his phone away again, ignoring the judgemental look the Hollow elf was giving him.
“It’s an object of legend. Our dad loved learning about stuff just like it. According to legends, the Crafting Cube – or the Crafting Cubes – are mystical artefacts scattered throughout the many realms. They say that a single cube exists in every dimension, hidden as to stop any from finding them. But if you do then it has the power to create any object you ask for. Or summon monsters from another realm. Or something like that. The details got a little fuzzy on exactly what it could do.” The green-clad teen sighed a little wistfully. “It was always my favourite of dad’s stories. I can’t believe it’s actually real.”
“I can’t believe it’s actually here,” Blue spoke up, joining the pair on the raised floor. Over his shoulder, they could see Yellow inspecting the walls, directing Red to shine the torch here and there for more detail. “To think, all this time it’s been this close. Was this what you could hear that whole time Orange?”
The ginger teen nodded. “Guess it was. Or well is. Since I can still hear it singing.”
The two humans tilted their heads, listening hard before Green sighed, “I can’t hear anything.”
“Me neither,” the blue-haired teen mumbled dejectedly.
Orange just shrugged in sympathy, an awkward guilt twisting in his gut. Wanting to end their despondence and unable to resist the silent song any longer, he reached forward and picked up the cube.
Both Green and Blue jumped at the action, suddenly alert and wary of any repercussions that would have. They scanned the pedestal and the surrounding cavern, eyes and ears open for any disturbance.
Several seconds passed in this tense state. But nothing changed. Nothing moved. The empty space seemingly unconcerned by the removal of its precious treasure.
The trio let out a collective breath.
“Maybe warn us next time you do something like that,” Green let out in a shaky sigh.
“Sorry,” Orange flashed him an embarrassed grin.
“No harm I guess,” the taller teen relaxed even as he glanced around again. “But maybe we should get going. Just in case.”
“Agreed,” Blue nodded, shaking off the last of his unease. He hooked his arm through the Hollow elf’s as the trio made their way back across the cavern, flagging down Yellow and Red as they went. “I’ve already patched you two up once this month. No need to make it a habit.”
They made their way out of the tunnel quicker than they’d entered, all five of them eager to be out in the daylight again. At the entrance of the cave however, Red found himself pausing. For the briefest moments he almost thought he heard something. A cry. A flash of anger.
“Hey slowpoke! Hurry up!”
Then it was gone. Just a mirage left over by the wind and the eerie cave atmosphere.
“I’m coming! I’m coming!”
All thoughts of the strange phantasm immediately disappeared as he caught up with his brothers.