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Chauncey was the first to succumb. He always was, seeing as his immune system defenses were much weaker than most others. Of course, this also meant he was ill for longer, but had very...different symptoms than most others.
For example, he was currently shedding layers of ooze.
Linus sighed as he cleaned up yet another puddle of it, Chauncey flinching back.
“I’m sorry!” he wailed, coughing unexpectedly.
Linus rushed to reassure him, handing him a bottle of water. “Oh, dear, no. You can’t help it. It’s quite alright. Here, you need to stay hydrated when you are sick.”
Linus had no idea if that was true for a...err, whatever Chauncey was, but thought that it certainly couldn’t hurt. He finished cleaning up the puddles (for now) and sent Chauncey back to bed. Then, he went to go check on Arthur in the kitchen. Linus found him stirring a large pot of soup under Zoe’s watch.
“Status report?” Linus asked, half-joking.
“You mean on the soup or the children?” Arthur raised an eyebrow, smiling slightly.
“Either?” Linus said nervously.
Arthur laughed. “Well, the soup’s almost done. And as for the children, besides Chauncey, everyone seems fine so far. David was looking a bit peaky earlier, though, so could you please check on him for me?”
“Of course,” Linus said immediately.
He kissed Arthur goodbye, eliciting a warning from Zoe (“No snogging in the kitchen!”) and went around to the cellar. Inside was David, sitting quietly among the snow. Linus sat down next to him, ignoring the chill, and waited a few moments before David turned to look at him.
David was a generally quiet child, usually off in his own world. When he first came to the island he was wary of everything, defensive and completely nonverbal. His few possessions (a small plush animal of indeterminate species and a rock that didn’t seem to have a purpose but was always cold no matter how long you held it) were always kept with him, and he hissed at anyone who he thought would take them. He was slowly warming up to them, though, and just last week he said his first words since coming to the island, a quiet “Thank you” to Theodore, who seemed to be his favorite, when he offered David a button from his hoard. He hadn’t said much since, but it was a start.
Linus noticed that David indeed looked slightly paler than usual. Linus kept his hands in his lap, but asked softly, “May I touch?”
David twitched slightly, but offered a nod after a few seconds. They had learned not to touch him unexpectedly the hard way. David was not good with physically touching things in general, and when it was unexpected he’d scream for a long time and have to be alone for a bit to recover.
Linus placed the back of his hand against David’s forehead before quickly realizing that wasn’t going to work, seeing as yetis had significantly lower body temperatures than that of humans. He told David to wait there while he went and fetched a thermometer.
When he returned, David was rocking back and forth in the snow. Linus asked to touch again and was rewarded with a nod. Linus gently maneuvered the little glass tube under David’s tongue, and they sat together to wait the three minutes. When the time was up, David took out the thermometer himself and handed it to Linus, declining a touch. Linus glanced down at it and was dismayed to see it was higher than usual, 12 degrees instead of his usual 10.
“Alright, then, to bed with you.” Linus ushered David into the nest of snow that served as his bed.
Linus sighed. “You must’ve caught whatever Chauncey had. It’s no wonder, seeing as you’re so often affected by large temperature changes whenever you come in and out of here.”
David blinked at him and he put on a reassuring smile. “You’ll be fine, just get some rest, okay?”
David nodded, burrowing into the soft snow. Linus said, “Good, then” and left.
He sighed again as he entered the kitchen, but was surprised to find no Arthur there. Or Zoe, for that matter. Helen, who was there, didn’t even turn around, just informed, “He’s in with Chauncey.”
So Linus went to Chauncey’s room, greeted by more puddles of ooze, Chauncey slurping down a bowl of soup (apparently his illness had not affected his appetite), and Arthur, who was cleaning up the puddles.
“Hello, darling,” Arthur said, looking up.
Linus blushed, and waved a tiny bit. Chauncey finished his soup with a loud slurp and set the bowl down.
“Uhrm.” Linus glanced at Chauncey, wondering if he should tell Arthur about David with him near. Chauncey would almost definitely take it personally that David had fallen ill.
Chauncey saved him the decision by asking, very seriously, “Did I get David sick?”
Linus stammered. “I’m sure it wasn’t—that is to say—you shouldn't blame yourself.”
“So I did!” Chauncey wailed. He slumped over, eyestalks retracting almost entirely into his form.
Arthur moved to pat him but thought better of it, instead saying, “Look at me—no, really, look. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s not even certain that he caught it from you, he could have caught it from whoever you caught it from. But even if it was you, you didn’t do it on purpose. David will be fine, and he will not blame you. Okay?”
Chauncey hesitantly nodded, and Arthur mimicked the gesture confidently. “Good, then.”
He came over to Linus after ordering Chauncey to try to sleep. Arthur tilted his head in a gesture Linus interpreted as a question.
“David has a fever, it’s a little high, but he seemed alright otherwise.” Linus lowered his voice as not to agitate Chauncey further, even as they stepped out into the hallway.
Arthur sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “It was bound to happen. His immune system was already stressed.”
“Yes, that’s what I thought,” Linus agreed.
“Lucy seems to be succumbing, too, but of course he won’t admit it. Did you know Scourges of Evil can’t fall ill?” Arthur said dryly.
“Interesting.” Linus bit his lip, having seen Lucy sick only a couple times before and dreading this time.
Arthur continued. “Talia is grumpier than usual, so it’s likely she’s catching something, too. Sal seems fine for now, thank goodness. I haven’t seen Theodore lately, so someone should probably check on him. Phee...has enclosed herself in a section of the jungle and refuses to come out, but Zoe is talking to her right now. She’s sick, too, but she thinks we don’t know. I believe she may have had some bad experiences with going to the doctor, even if we wouldn’t bring her to the doctor anyway.”
Linus grimaced. He could only imagine what would scare such a fierce little girl, and was glad that she was safe now. “And you?”
Arthur blinked. “Phoenixes hardly ever get sick, so I think I’ll be fine. How about you?”
“I’m okay. I haven’t gotten ill since I was young.”
Arthur lifted an eyebrow like he was saying “just wait and see”, but said nothing.
“Right!” Linus clapped his hands together and then felt silly for it. “If you could check on David again, I’ll see if Zoe needs help with Phee.”
Arthur clapped, too, and nodded, no mocking to be found in his gaze.
They parted ways and Linus began the easier-than-he-thought task of finding the two sprites. In fact, even if the dome of shrubbery wouldn’t have been directly in his line of sight, he thought it might have nevertheless not taken very long for it to be. It was quite large, and also quite strange-looking.
Zoe was sitting cross legged on the grass, talking softly to the tangle of plants that Linus assumed housed Phee. Zoe’s back was turned to him and he stopped a ways away from them, just watching for now. He knew Zoe knew he was there, but she did not react, continuing her soft encouragements.
“I know you’ve had bad experiences with doctors and hospitals. I know you’re scared.”
“I’m not scared!” Linus heard a small voice say stubbornly before coughing twice wetly. She continued.
“I just want to stay in here. I’m okay.”
“I know you’re sick,” Zoe said gently.
Silence from inside the dome until: “I’m not that sick. I don’t need to go to the doctor.”
“No, you don’t,” Zoe agreed. “But even if you did, do you think that Arthur, Linus, or I would let the doctor hurt you?”
“...No,” Phee said begrudgingly.
“Either way, I don’t think you need a doctor at this point. But if you stay in there and don’t let us check on you, we won’t know for sure. And I’m sure it can’t be comfortable there. If you come out, we can take care of you. Wouldn’t that be nice?”
Phee didn’t say anything, but the wall of the dome parted, and she came padding out. Zoe scooped her up, cradling her gently. It worried Linus that Phee let her, and that Phee’s wings were so droopy, but Linus knew that she was (literally) in good hands now.
Zoe met Linus’s gaze as they passed, rocking Phee gently and agreeing with her drowsy claims that she was not a baby.
Linus smiled and nodded, silently acknowledging her accomplishment. He followed them into the house but stopped at the door to the attic instead of going on to Phee’s room.
He knocked on the trapdoor gently, opening it slowly when there was no response. He stuck his head in, looking around the dark attic, and reached up to turn the light on. He heard a scrabbling of claws and a hiss from behind him, and he climbed up to face the wyvern in the corner.
“Hello, Theodore,” Linus said mildly, but frowned when he saw the defensive position Theo was taking.
Theodore was backed up in the corner, claws digging into the floor. He hissed again and Linus noticed how dilated his pupils were. Theo was shaking, and quite obviously couldn’t recognize Linus, who cursed himself for not checking on him sooner.
“Theo, it’s Linus. Do you know where you are?” Linus spoke slowly and quietly, not moving towards him.
Theodore tensed when Linus spoke, but quickly became visibly confused. He whined, releasing his grasp on the floor. He hissed again when Linus pulled himself fully into the attic, narrowly avoiding a bump to the head. Linus approached him slowly, unfortunately misunderstanding how fearful and filled with adrenaline Theodore was.
He bolted, streaking down out of the attic. Linus hurried after him, frowning in concern. He found Theo with Arthur, clinging desperately to the ceiling. Arthur stood underneath, looking surprisedly at the child above him.
“He...doesn’t recognize...anything. He’s scared,” Linus explained, panting.
“Ah,” Arthur nodded, somehow understanding immediately. Linus wondered if this had happened before.
Arthur quietly asked Theodore to come down, prodding him with questions about what he recognized. When Theodore didn’t respond, he simply reached up on his toes to pull Theodore down, hissing and clawing and squirming. But Arthur didn’t let go, holding Theodore tight against him until he fell limp with exhaustion.
“Can you get the fever syrup? It’s in my jacket pocket.” Arthur shifted to present the aforementioned pocket to Linus.
Linus pulled it out and measured out some into the cap. Arthur gently jostled Theodore back awake and Linus murmured encouragement to him as he tipped the medicine into the wyvern’s mouth. He whined but swallowed it. Theo quietly clicked his disgust.
“I know, I know,” Linus soothed. He looked up at Arthur again, who had an unreadable expression on his face.
“What?”
“Nothing,” Arthur said in a tone that made Linus think it was definitely something. “Will you check on Talia and Lucy?”
Linus decided to let it go (though he would certainly ask about it later). He nodded by way of an answer, but stood and watched for a moment while Arthur, most definitely showing off, spread his phoenix wings and flapped up through the trapdoor in the ceiling. Linus shook his head in amusement before moving on.
He decided to save Lucy for last, instead heading out towards the garden. Sure enough, Talia was there, digging up some vegetables. Her movements were angry ones, hard and fast, and when she did notice Linus, she only scowled at him before going back to what she was doing. Linus thought “grumpier than usual” was much of an understatement, and tried to convince himself that Talia would not attack him.
Talia sneezed three times in a row, barely catching the last one in her sleeve. She sniffled through what sounded like a heavily blocked nose and wiped her nose on the back of her hand. Linus thought this must have come on quickly, seeing as Arthur didn’t mention it.
“Ehrm, Talia?” Linus finally worked up the courage to ask.
Talia barely gave any sign that she heard him, but she didn’t kill him, so emboldened, Linus continued.
“Are you feeling alright?”
“Fide,” Talia spit out.
“It’s just that the others are all unwell, except maybe Sal, and it’d make sense if you were, too.”
“Well, I’b dot.” Talia’s tone made it clear that she thought that was final. Nevertheless, Linus pressed on, especially after Talia sneezed thrice more, trying very hard to stifle them.
“Even if you’re not, it’d make me feel a lot better if you would come inside just in case, preferably to bed,” Linus wheedled.
Talia sighed loudly, falling for it. She stood up quickly, swaying slightly in a concerning way.
“Would you let me carry you?” Linus asked gently, choosing his words carefully.
Talia glared suspiciously. “Dot sig.”
“Not because you’re sick,” Linus confirmed. He decided to pick his battles.
Talia wrapped her arms around his neck and he hefted her small form up, supporting all of her weight.
She rested her head on his shoulder as he headed towards the house, sniffling quietly.
Linus moved assuredly through the house, stopping at Talia’s room. He tucked her into her bed, and despite her protests that she didn’t think he meant actually in bed and being in bed during the day was only for sick people and she was not sick, she didn’t fight him. Before exiting, Linus left a box of tissues within Talia’s reach, being careful that the movement seemed absent-minded and not a conscious decision. Talia grumbled a bit as he left, but didn’t get out of bed, which Linus counted as a win. Even if it was surprising enough to make him worry.
He made a note to check Talia’s temperature later, or maybe make Arthur do it. He then sighed as he went to finish his final job: checking on Lucy.
Lucy’s “spiders in his brain” tended to get worse when he was ill, and he tended to be very unpredictable. Sometimes, he would hide from unknown threats and be impossible to find until he was very, very much worse. Other times he would cry a lot and cling to Arthur for the duration of his illness. And, of course, his nightmares shook the house nearly every time he slept.
With those thoughts in his head, Linus quickened his pace. As expected, Lucy was not in his room. He was not in the vents, either. Nor the kitchen. With every place that failed to contain Lucy, Linus’s worries grew louder in his head. He decided to see if Zoe could help and wondered why he had not asked her in the first place.
He found her in the kitchen again. Phee was sitting up on the counter, eating soup. She looked a bit better than when Linus had seen her last. Zoe was just standing there, eyes closed and head slightly tilted.
“Zoe?” Linus posed uncertainly.
She opened her eyes and sighed. “Sorry, what?”
“Where’s Lucy?”
“I was just looking, actually. Check Sal’s room.”
“Oh! Thanks!”
Zoe tilted her head in acknowledgement, looking worried. Spurred by this (Zoe was hardly ever worried), Linus hurried towards Sal’s room.
He opened the door to find Sal holding Lucy to his chest, and everything in the room levitating. The little boy’s head was flung back and his eyes, though open, were consumed entirely by black. He made a quiet but nonetheless unearthly noise. The bed, a chair, a desk, and Sal’s beloved typewriter were trembling about a foot above the ground. For a single second, Linus was scared of Lucy. But he forced himself to see him as he truly was: a sick, upset little boy that needed help.
Quickly, Linus rescued the typewriter, setting it gently on the floor and crossing his fingers that it would stay there. He then gently took Lucy from Sal, who had been unsuccessfully trying to soothe him. He was grateful that Lucy seemed to be too tired to extend his levitation to any of the people in the room, or anywhere else in the house, but it also worried him.
“Lucy. You’re okay. You’ve been burdened with things I can’t even imagine, and I know you’re sad and angry and terrified. I know you feel bad. But I need you to breathe, okay? And I’m sorry for this, but you also need to wake up. You’re safe, I’m here.”
And then Arthur burst in, Theo slightly more alert in his arms, and in followed Zoe, Phee, Helen, Talia, Chauncey, and finally David, who seemed uncomfortable with the amount of people in the room, but came in anyway. They surrounded Lucy and Linus quietly as Lucy awoke, tears streaming down his face. Without saying a word, everyone apart from David enveloped Lucy in a hug. David hummed and everyone looked at him as he slowly signed the very first word they had taught him.
Family.