Chapter Text
Gale couldn’t sleep.
Once again, he was being kept awake by the obnoxiously loud sounds of lovemaking coming from his upstairs neighbour’s apartment. He had checked the time- it was 3 am for crying out loud! On a Tuesday! This simply wouldn’t do. If he wanted any chance at getting some rest before his shift, he would have to go over and knock. God knew banging on the ceiling had never done any good.
He dragged his way out of bed and up the flight of stairs to the unit above him, still in his favourite purple silk pyjamas, and knocked loudly on the door. The sounds stopped abruptly, followed by the muffled noise of a woman giggling and a man’s voice “Don’t you worry, my dear, I’ll continue right where we left off”.
The door opened to reveal his neighbour, Astarion, dressed in nothing but a pair of boxers. He was certainly very handsome- as he was clearly aware, with the near constant stream of lovers he entertained. His body was well-toned and he had sharp, high cheekbones that made him look almost like a model. Maybe he even was a model, Gale had no idea what the man did for work. His white hair was messy from the activities that had been so unceremoniously interrupted, and he had a smirk on his face as he looked at Gale through green eyes.
“If it isn’t my favourite neighbour, Gale. I hope we weren’t being too loud? I try to keep it down, but you know, when you’re having fun…” Astarion trailed off.
“Actually, yes. I would appreciate it if you tried harder. Some of us have work tomorrow.”
“My apologies! I wouldn’t want to deprive the books of their favourite librarian.”
Gale had tried to be friendly when he moved in here. Astarion had made that very difficult.
“If this continues, I’ll be forced to take it up with the apartment management. This is the third time in less than a week that I’ve been kept up well past midnight by your lovemaking sessions.”
“Maybe you should try it yourself. It seems like you might need a bit of relaxation, if the stress lines on your face are anything to go by.”
“I would be relaxed, if I ever got any damned sleep. But while we’re here you can give me the number of your plastic surgeon, you probably have it on speed dial.”
“That’s very flattering, darling, but this is all natural. I do keep a strenuous exercise regimen, you see” he said with a smirk.
“Is he gone yet? Come back to bed!” came the woman’s voice from inside.
“It seems I’m being summoned. Sweet dreams, Gale.” Astarion shut the door in his face, not a moment later the noises started back up at full volume. So much for getting any sleep.
Gale stormed back to his apartment to grab his coat, he might as well take a nighttime walk if he wasn’t going to get any rest. He strolled over to the park near his building, and took a seat on one of the benches, gazing up at the sky. His work had been suffering recently due to his lack of sleep, he had started mixing up ISBN numbers and sorting things into wrong categories.
Gale almost fell off the bench when in a sudden flash of light, hanging in the sky appeared a humongous black spaceship. The sleep deprivation must have been far worse than he realised, as there was no way it was possible that this strange, almost squid-like vessel was real. He rubbed his eyes, but there it was. Ominously floating right above the city.
Panic took over him. He stood up to run, to call someone, but before he could move he was gone. He must have fallen unconscious. There were flashes, alien creatures with tentacled faces holding open his eyes to insert a disgusting, wriggling worm. Flames, hellish creatures with wings entering the ship with swords, even a dragon.
Then he was falling through the sky, burning pieces of the alien vessel hurtling down beside him. He flailed his limbs, desperate not to hit the ground. He could feel the pull of some kind of invisible force within him, drawing him somewhere safe. Focusing on the feeling, he squeezed his eyes shut and prayed that he would wake up.
When he opened them, he was no longer falling. He seemed to be surrounded by some kind of strange, glowing purple energy. Was he still dreaming? Up ahead he could make out a semi-translucent opening in the swirling mist. Barely visible were the outlines of two or three human figures. He pushed with all his energy, but it was so hard to move- as if he were trapped in stone. With a final burst of energy he managed to force his hand through the opening.
“A hand, please?“ he begged.
Whoever was on the other side gave him a high five. Not exactly helpful in his current state. But sure enough, after a few moments they grabbed his hand and pulled. It was definitely a struggle- wherever he was, he was quite stuck. Finally, he felt a give and was pulled forward through the hole, losing his balance and landing on the ground. Looking around, he noticed it was the middle of the day. He was somewhere far outside the city, not a building in sight.
He gazed up at the person who had pulled him out- a tall individual with purple skin and a rather impressive set of horns. Behind them stood two women- one with pointed ears and long black hair and the other with green skin and an unusual facial structure. All three were wearing armour. Cosplayers or LARPers, perhaps?
“Hello, my name is Gale Dekarios. Would you be so kind as to call me an ambulance? I appear to be having some kind of episode.”
The group members looked at each other in confusion.
“We do not have time to help this… ‘ambulance’. We must report directly to my Kith’rak.” asserted the green one.
“I really need medical attention, if you wouldn’t mind pausing for a second” he tried.
“We are in need of aid ourselves, perhaps you can travel with us until we find a healer” said the purple one.
Just his luck. He was stuck in some kind of nightmare trip with the most dedicated roleplayers in the world.
“What? This man is completely useless, a waste of time.” said the green one, apparently outraged.
“Our Gith friend is right, we can’t pick up every random straggler we come across” chimed in the pointy-eared one.
Gale honestly wasn’t sure if it would be better to go with these people or try and find help on his own, but he certainly didn’t see anyone else around. Ignoring their companions, the purple one helped him to his feet.
In a sudden spark of pain, they both grabbed their heads as images flashed before their minds. Gale was vaguely aware that he was witnessing scenes from the stranger’s life, different moments of what looked like renaissance fairs interspersed with sword training and prayer. A whole family of horned people, skin a variety of reds and violets.
Had he been drugged? If so, this was one hell of a strong hallucinogen.
The stranger took a few steps back, confusion and fear flashing across their face. “What in the hells was that? Who are you?” they demanded.
Had this been some kind of mass chemical attack? Was the group’s extreme dedication to staying in character a side effect? Maybe all three of them truly believed they were fantasy creatures right now.
Gale decided to play along. They might listen to him if he proves himself “useful”, then he could try and push all of them in the direction of a doctor. Out of everyone, he seemed to be the most level-headed right now.
“Gale of…” he tried to come up with a fantasy sounding name “Water…deep? At your service”. He held out his hand.
“Tav.” said the stranger, shaking it. “This is Shadowheart-“ they gestured towards the pointy eared one “- and Lae’zel”, the green one.
“What we saw in your head just now, what was that?” asked Shadowheart, eyeing him with suspicion. “It was all so strange… huge towers of glass and metal beasts.”
“Yes! Waterdeep is well known for its unique transportation and architecture. I have a glass tower myself!”
“So you’re a wizard, then? Or at least I assume so if you have a tower.”
“Absolutely. The finest in the land.”
“Maybe this one is useful. Very well, he may join” said Lae’zel. His plan was working.
“I’m guessing your search for a healer may arise from the same reason as ours,” said Tav.
“Yes. These visions plaguing my mind.” said Gale, trying to sound wizardly.
“A side effect of our shared affliction, the mind flayer tadpoles we were infected with”.
Wait so they had also experienced the whole worm thing? What exactly was going on? “Mind flayer” did not sound like something he wanted to be infected by, even if it was just part of a fucked up roleplay nightmare.
“Let’s continue, we should cover more distance before it starts getting dark,” said Tav.
They started walking, making their way toward a cliffside that overlooked a quiet coastline. It would be a beautiful landscape if it weren’t for the occasional large pieces of burning machinery he was hallucinating. How had he managed to travel so far from the city?
There was someone up ahead on the road. Finally, a familiar face. Under any other circumstances his neighbour would have been the last person he wanted to see, but right now- he just wanted help.
“Astarion! I didn’t know you were into cosplay.”
Astarion was dressed in an elegant velvet doublet. He was also wearing elf ears, but these were longer and pointier than Shadowheart’s. A pair of red contact lenses in the man’s eyes gave him a striking effect.
The next thing he knew, Astarion was on top of him. He could feel the point of what felt disturbingly like a real dagger against his throat.
“How do you know my name? Who sent you?” growled his neighbour.
“I can see you’re in character right now, but I’m not part of this- I urgently need help!” It was starting to look like nobody around here had avoided whatever was causing these strange effects.
“Oh, I’ll give you some help alright-“
“One more move and you won’t be helping anyone”. Tav had drawn their sword and was pointing it in Astarion’s direction.
“Apologies, no need to be rash.” Astarion stood up and dusted himself off, returning the dagger to his belt. “I can tell when I’ve been bested. I assume you’ll be wanting to take me back to Cazador then?”
“Who's Cazador?” asked Gale.
“Wait, he didn’t send you? How did you know my name, then?”
“It must have come to me… in a magic vision.”
Right on cue they were hit again by a wave of pain and flashing images. Gale saw the dark streets of an ancient city, violence, anger.
“What was that just now?” panted Astarion in confusion. “Were you also on the ship?”
“Yes,” said Tav, who was still pointing a sword in his direction. “It appears the parasite is causing some kind of mental connection between the infected. I’m sure I don’t need to explain how urgent it is that we find a healer.”
“I seem to have forgotten my manners. Astarion, as my strangely dressed friend here already mentioned.” Astarion held out a hand to Tav, who sheathed their sword before shaking it cautiously. “Perhaps we can help each other.”
“Do not get sidetracked!” urged Lae’zel.
Despite her objections, Tav responded “You’re welcome to meet us at our camp. We could use all the help we can get.”
“Very well. I’m sure I can prove myself a valuable asset to your little expedition.” said Astarion.
“You’ll find it south-east of here in a clearing. This is Shadowheart, Lae’zel and Gale. They’ve also been infected.”
“A pleasure. I’ll go and get myself settled then”.
“Shouldn’t he stay with us? Safety in numbers and all” Gale interjected. Irritating as the man was both in-character and out, he didn’t want him getting lost in the wilderness during a bad trip.
“I can see your group is already quite full. I prefer something more intimate. Though you’re welcome to join me if you’d like to help me get set up.”
“The wizard stays with us,” said Tav.
It appeared Gale didn’t have a choice. He hoped that by the time he found someone who could help them, a doctor ideally, he would be able to relocate the man.