Summary: Hugo and Yong get separated from the group and have to make their way through a labyrinth.
I originally wrote this here on Tumblr a while back. Not a lot of Varigo in here, I admit. I just wanted to write more interactions between Hugo and Yong. There is a bit of trauma here for Hugo, so CW on panic attacks and claustrophobia. But I can guarantee there's a sweet ending.
Hugo felt as if he were in a void. There was no source of light in the small closed off crevice he was stuck in. There was barely any room for him to turn around, but he managed to shift his body to point back at the panel door that had closed and locked him in.
Outside, he could hear the faint cries from Yong, calling his name.
“Hugo! Hugo, are you okay?!”
“I’m okay!” the trapped teen yelled back, hoping the kid could hear him. “Open the panel!”
There was a moment of silence before he heard Yong respond back.
“I can’t! There’s no handle! And the button isn’t working!”
He wasn’t sure if it was the claustrophobic atmosphere or the fear in Yong’s voice that was setting him on edge. Hugo placed his hands against the wall in front of him, searching for a lever, handle, anything that could get him out of this room. Aggravatingly, there was nothing. He continued feeling each wall around him, cussing out when there was nothing but smooth surfaces surrounding him.
“Hugo?!”
“I-I….I’m here!” he called back, surprised by his own stutter. “I can’t open the door from inside!”
“Hugo! I’m gonna get help!”
“W-Wait!”
Wait? What the hell was Hugo saying? The best idea would be for Yong to find Varian and Nuru and bring them back here to get him out. It was a rational plan, and it wouldn’t take long for Yong to find them. But for some reason, being left alone in this trap made Hugo’s insides scream.
“I’ll be right back! I promise!”
“Yong! Wait!” Hugo shouted. “D-Don’t lea-….Don’t g-g-“
What was happening to him? Why was he losing his nerve now? His throat felt tight as a lump formed within it, making it even more difficult to speak. No yelling would have helped though, since by the sound of pure silence, Hugo deduced that Yong had already left. He was alone, locked in a suffocating pitch-black room. And suffocating was the best word to explain it as the teen could hear his breathing turn more erratic, as if his body couldn’t get enough oxygen. The sound of his heart thundered in his ears, and Hugo wondered what was making him react this way. The hairs along his arms stood up as a chill spread down his back.
His fight or flight responses were kicking in, sensing nothing but danger. The worst part was he couldn’t do either. This hellhole was making Hugo physically sick. Was this room spinning? It had to be since Hugo started feeling lightheaded and dizzy.
The walls were not closing in on him, but the thief felt like they were. He pushed against the walls and started hitting them, doing anything he could to get out of there. Terror spread through his veins and it wasn’t long before he started screaming for help, tearing through the lump in his throat.
“GET ME OUT OF HERE!!” he begged. “GET ME OUT!”
Pure panic set in, causing Hugo to lose it. He continued screaming for help, begging for someone to let him out.
Someone had to let him out.
Please someone let him out.
---
“Let me out!”
A very young Hugo trembled in fear as he waited for a response before calling out once more.
“Please guys, this is enough, let me out already,” he pleaded. It was his first week in the orphanage and the other kids had decided to play a horrible initiation prank on him. In the beginning, the group suggested playing a game of hide and seek. One of the older kids partnered up with him, telling the little blonde about the best hiding spot. Together, they ran down into the basement and the older kid suggested they hide in a dusty storage trunk sitting at the back of the room.
“They’ll never find us here,” the kid had assured, having Hugo crawl in. “Everyone else is too scared to go near here anyway.”
But before Hugo had a chance to ask why the kid themself wasn’t joining him, it was too late. His ‘partner’ closed the trunk and locked him in it before laughing and heading back upstairs. He wasn’t sure now much time had passed since he got locked in, but the game of hide and seek had to be over already. Hugo kicked against the lid of the trunk, but all that did was cause dust to swirl around the dark space and make him cough and struggle to breathe. As the dust settled, he shifted his position in the trunk, trying to find a better angle to push against the top of the case. His attempts were futile, as it did not budge an inch. He dug his nails into the faint crack below the lid, doing his best to pry it open. Hugo yelped in pain as his hand slipped, causing him to break one of his nails.
“Someone PLEASE,” he began to cry. The poor child sobbed, wondering if anyone would find him. What if he was going to be stuck here forever? What if they left him in the dark cold basement to never be found? Slowly, he began losing hope, because even if someone did find him, they probably wouldn't let him out anyways. He was just another orphan and no one would miss him. Losing hope, he curled into a ball and cried, the sobs shaking his shoulders.
“...hugo..”
The voice sounded so far away, Hugo barely heard it. Still, he was too upset to answer back. He held himself tighter, wanting to be home.
“...hugo…”
What he would give to just be back home. To be somewhere he was missed and to be held by his parents.
“Hugo…snap out of it.. ”
The sorrow in his chest began to fade, leaving a numbness inside him. The small Hugo preferred the cool sensation of apathy washing over him, letting himself get lost in it. This was better than the misery and helplessness that racked his body before.
“Hugo!”
---
Suddenly, Hugo felt a small pair of arms wrap around him, snapping his senses back to reality. Blinking in confusion, his eyes rapidly scanned across the room. He was on the control room floor, resting on his knees. In front of him was Varian, who had a hand on his shoulder, looking straight at him with the most concerned expression he'd ever seen on the alchemist. Behind Varian stood Nuru who looked just as troubled. The group had found a way to get him out of the trapped room, but Hugo couldn't recall being released from the prison. Feeling warmth around his waist, he looked down to see Yong hugging him tightly, his face buried in Hugo's chest.
“Hugo, are you okay?” Varian asked, causing him to look back up. It was Varian's voice he had heard before, trying to wake him up from some…memory?...more like a nightmare. “We got you out, but you…”
Varian seemed unsure how to explain it. He turned to Nuru for help.
“I what?” Hugo rasped, his hand shooting up to his neck as his voice came out strained. His throat felt raw, burning with each word he spoke.
“We used the console to get you out,” Nuru explained. “We caught you as you fell to the floor when the wall opened back up. But when we got you out, we could not get you to speak or move. It was as if you were in a trance of some sort.”
“What happened in there, Hugo?” Varian pressed. The alchemist could see that Hugo was just as confused as the rest of them. The tone in his voice became gentler, as if he was trying not to frighten him…as if he had an inkling as to what Hugo experienced. “Where did you go?”
“I don't…”
Hugo took a deep breath, trying to collect his thoughts, and gently placed his hands on Yong's shoulders. Yong finally loosened his grip on him. The kid backed up to look up at him.
“I promised I'd come back with help,” Yong explained in a shaky voice. “I didn't know-...I didn't mean to-”
Hugo realized Yong was trying to apologize to him for leaving him behind. He recalled calling out to the kid before, not wanting to be left alone. Slowly, shame colored his previously pale face. How embarrassing could he be? Getting spooked from the dark to the point of pleading for some kid to stay with him? He looked up to Varian and Nuru, seeing the pity in their eyes.
Oh no. There was no way he was going to let this group pity him. He was not going to stand by and let them think he was some weak and jittery mess. Hugo Rottewange was not afraid of the dark or small places. There must have been some other explanation.
“Don't apologize,” he quickly ordered Yong, pushing himself away from him and standing up. “I'm fine. The trap must have poisoned me with some gas. I had trouble breathing a-and hallucinated.”
“Are you oka-” Varian began, but Hugo cut him off.
“I'm fine,” he assured, walking past them to go towards the exit. The sooner he was out of this damn labyrinth, the better. Varian followed closely, Nuru and Yong behind him. “Now that I'm out, I can breathe. I feel fine.”
“But Hugo-”
“You don't have to worry about me.”
“Hugo, please wai-”
“There’s nothing wron-”
“Hugo-”
“I said I'm fine!” the blonde hissed, turning back to the team. The trio froze, their faces filled with even more unease, which pissed him off more. “What?!”
“...you're crying,” peeped Yong. Hugo touched his face. Sure enough, he felt the tears that were rolling down his cheeks. Fuck, when had he started crying? Had he been crying this entire time? Ashamed, he quickly wiped his eyes and turned back toward the exit.
“I'm fine,” he spoke once more. “Some of the poison is probably still in my system. Let's get out of here.”
The four of them stayed silent, exiting the passage. As they continued their travels, Hugo kept his distance from the group. Yong would try to catch up to talk to him, but Varian would hold the kid back.
“Give him some space, Yong,” he heard Varian advise. “When he's ready to talk, we'll be here.”
---
A few days had passed since they left the secret passage. Hugo had thought that by now, the team would go back to their usual dynamic, but he could feel the others treading carefully around him. At the start, when he would talk to them, Varian would try to pry about what he went through back in the maze, but he would shut that topic down, swearing he was fine and they needed to move on. Nonetheless, It looked like the group didn’t believe him. Maybe it was because that was a lie, and he was sure they all knew it was a lie. Every night since the labyrinth, he would have nightmares of being locked in a small room or box, and would wake up with a start. Hugo wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep afterwards, so at best, he was running on 3 hours of sleep a night. Varian would offer him sleeping aids and continue to try and talk to him about the nightmares, promising him that talking about it would help.
While he had a feeling Varian was right, he refused. He would tell the alchemist it was all just a side effect from the poison in the trap and would eventually go away. He could tell Varian wasn’t accepting this explanation, but he wouldn’t push further.
The lack of sleep made Hugo more irritable, but the three seemed more forgiving of his irked attitude than they usually would. Still, the mood between them was gloomy and tense. He would try breaking the blue atmosphere with a sarcastic joke or snarky remark, but their reactions were off. Yesterday, when Nuru had gotten herself tangled in a spider web while lost in thought, he joked that the web was a great addition to her stuffy clothes. Instead of receiving a chastising look or comeback, Nuru calmly removed the web from her clothes and shrugged at his words, giving him a slight awkward smile.
Really? he thought. I insult her and she smiles?
He could stand Varian’s overly friendly inquisitive nature, but Nuru’s kindness was too much. Hugo had to nip this in the bud and fast before he blew up on them. But first, he needed to fix his sleeping issue. The blonde would have an easier time convincing them he was back to being normal if he managed to get a good night's sleep without waking up in a panic.
—
Later that night, Hugo woke up with a start, nearly shouting out for help. His breathing was shaky and his heart pulsed rapidly in his chest. It took him a few seconds to realize that he just had another nightmare and sat safe and sound in his tent. Frustrated, he threw off his blanket and placed his face in his hands, rubbing his eyes with the tips of his fingers. Hugo took a deep breath, but froze when he heard scuffling outside his tent entrance. The blonde reached for his glasses and placed him on, getting a clear look of a person’s shadow draped across the fabric. He knew that silhouette instantly.
“Sparks,” he called. “I know you’re there.”
Sure enough, the kid opened one of the flaps, smiling sheepishly as he peered in.
“I..uh..heard you moving around,” the boy lied, having actually heard Hugo groaning in his sleep. “And I couldn’t sleep, so I thought, we could, maybe, not sleep together?”
Hugo raised a brow at this. He sighed and put on his boots before stepping out of the tent.
“Beats waiting for morning here,” he replied. At the very least, Yong didn’t seem to change the way he interacted with him as much as the others. Hugo was grateful that Yong would try to act the way he hoped the rest would. The kid never brought up what happened in the maze and when he spoke to the older teen, it was either about his firework experiments, what they saw on their trek to the north, or random ramblings. “So what do you want to do?”
Yong gave him a bit of an apprehensive look, unsure if his idea would be interesting enough.
“I found this really cool part of the forest with Nuru earlier,” he answered. “I think you’d like it.”
“An impromptu hike through a dense forest in the middle of the night?” the blonde asked. “Sounds safe, I’m down.”
“Good!” Yong beamed, before remembering everyone else was asleep and lowering his voice. “Bring your blanket and pillow.”
“Why would I need-”
Yong was already running back to his own tent, collecting the same materials he instructed Hugo to get. Groaning, Hugo grabbed his blanket and pillow before joining Yong, who led him away from their campsite.
“It’s right over here,” Yong announced, his voice louder now that they were further away from their sleeping crew. The two entered a large clearing, the trees opening up to show a small hill. Yong ran up the hill before placing his blanket down on a soft patch of grass. When he noticed Hugo was still standing under the trees, he ran back toward him and pulled him along. “Come on! Ya gonna like this!”
Hugo let Yong pull him toward the hill, slightly smiling at his enthusiasm.
“I’m coming, Sparks, you don’t need to yank me so hard,” he joked.
“Put your blanket here,” Yong instructed, helping him spread out the cloth and place it next to his. Satisfied, Yong grabbed the pillow from Hugo’s hands and placed it down before sitting on the blankets and patting the spot next to him.
“Okay, okay,”Hugo sighed, sitting down. “Now what?”
“Lie down,” Yong answered.
“Are you telling me you took me away from the campsite where we were sleeping to a random part of the forest to sleep instead?”
“No, I’m telling you to lie down.”
Hugo reluctantly did as Yong ordered and gazed up. His eyes widened, seeing the vast starry sky up above, illuminated by the full moon and infinite stars stretching across the galaxies. At the campsite, the large trees had meshed together, blocking the view of the sky. But here, the clearing gave them a gleaming picture of the celestial bodies above them. It was mesmerizing, grand, and Hugo never felt so calm.
“Nuru was showing me some of the constellations,” Yong spoke softly. “Like that one.” He pointed up to a set of stars that formed something similar to a pot. “That’s Ursa Major. Wait…no, that’s Ursa Minor. That’s Ursa Major.”
Hugo listened to Yong point out the constellations he learned and could understand why Nuru was so entranced by the stars. Their constellations glowed carelessly hundreds of lightyears away and he started to form respect for the novas. As the kid continued to ramble, changing the topic to the different gasses that formed the twinkling orbs, Hugo felt his body relax and had to stifle to yawn.
“Feeling tired?”
Hugo looked at Yong who seemed rather pleased for someone who’s audience was dozing off. “You’re not boring me, Sparks. I swear. I just haven’t been sleeping well lately.”
“I haven’t either,” Yong confessed. This surprised Hugo. He didn’t realize Yong was suffering from insomnia as well. He figured the kid had lied about not being able to sleep earlier.
“...how come?” Hugo asked.
“I think,” the kid began. “I just don’t like sleeping in my tent anymore. I know it’s safer for me, but I can’t explain it. Ever since the-"
Yong froze up for a second. Hugo could tell he was trying not to mention the maze, afraid it would put him in a sour mood. Instead, the firecracker redirected his thoughts. "When I look up from my sleeping bag, I just see the roof of my tent, and it makes me feel restless…and kind of lonely. But here, under the sky, I don’t feel that. Everything is open and there’s so many stars, so I don’t feel like I’m by myself.”
Hugo listened thoughtfully to Yong, sympathizing with the nervous boy. No…not sympathizing…empathizing. Being under this sky made him forget about his nightmares that he was too embarrassed and reserved to divulge, but Yong laid next to him comfortable enough to reveal his fears.
“...you’re not by yourself,” the older teen pointed out.
“I know,” Yong responded in an embarrassed tone, taking Hugo’s words literally. He turned back to look at the sky, too self-conscious to look at Hugo.
“No-...what I mean is…”
Hugo paused for a moment.
“Can I ask you something, Yong?”
“Yeah.”
“Back at the maze, you mentioned that, if I wanted to, we could be teammates and friends.”
“I did.”
“Is that offer still on the table?”
Yong turned towards Hugo, taken aback by his question. Hugo knew this was going to cause problems for him down the line. Donella had warned him not to get too close, but he couldn't stand by anymore and let this kid think he was on his own when with him.
“Yeah!” he answered enthusiastically. Hugo had to stop himself from laughing at Yong’s eagerness.
“Then, since we're friends now, you can let me know when you feel like you're by yourself,” Hugo instructed. “And as your teammate and friend, I’ll remind you that you aren’t.”
Yong nodded, smiling gratefully at him. The two looked back at the sky, both yawning as sleep began to take them.
“Hey Sparks, did you know this place would make me sleepy?”
“Maybe.”
“How did you know?”
“I guess I just felt it in my gut.”
