TELOS TOU KOSMOU // Callahan X Reader

14

You loitered around on the patio with Callahan until your attempt was finished brewing, falling into a little rhythm of conversation. His company was welcome, and the practice reading sign language was nice as well. You were a little sad when the time came and you did have to go back inside, bidding Callahan farewell.

You were feeling good about this attempt at a cure though. Hopefully Callahan's little additions would prove useful.

Ceres was awake when you stepped back into the room, their eyes red and puffy as they scanned over the pages of the Agatheia. It was plainly obvious to you that they had had another coughing fit not all that long ago.

"How are you feeling?" You asked, shutting the door to the little patio behind you and pulling the strip of fabric around your neck up over your mouth and nose.

"Fine." Ceres said, their normally melodic voice roughened. "Just a little cough."

You hummed, bringing the bowl you had been working in over to your claimed table, and taking one of the cups nearby, scooped up some of the latest concoction. "A little cough?" You asked, bringing the cup over to Ceres bedside table. They were underplaying the symptoms again.

"Nothing a little tea won't fix." They said, carefully marking their place in the Agatheia and setting the book aside. "What have you got for me now?"

"A little of a lot of things." You said, sitting down on the end of the bed as Ceres picked up the cup you had poured your cure into, sniffing at the edge. "Feverfew, goldenseal, fairflax this time too. Shouldn't taste all that bad, but it'll probably put you to bed pretty quickly."

"Just in time for my afternoon nap anyway." Ceres said, bringing the cup up to their lips and knocking it back in one go. With a hearty swallow, all the liquid was gone, and they set the cup back down on the bedside table, resting against the pillows again.

Looking at them, you couldn't help but feel a little melancholy. You knew the apathy and denial was just a way for them to cope with being sick - but it was killing them on the inside, both in a literal and metaphorical sense. How hard must it be, to be the strongest person in the whole city - the champion of champions - and to fall ill with a commoners disease? They had been living the life of a hero - at least while they had been in the colosseum.

"Ceres?" You asked, breaking the moment of silence that had fallen over you.

Ceres hummed, mirrored eyes finding yours.

"If you don't mind me asking... before the colosseum, what were you doing?" You asked, suddenly curious. You hadn't really thought about it before, but surely they had been someone before they had been Ceres.

Ceres lips curled into a wry smile, and their eyes fluttered shut. "I was a soldier, before they captured me and brought me here. I've been fighting almost all my life, when you think about it."

That made sense - they wouldn't have even made it past the first round if they hadn't been able to hold their own. But the second part of the statement made you pause - they weren't from the city, if they had been captured and brought here.

"Where are you from then?" You asked.

"Telbao." They said. "Vesapasian's father was very keen on adding my homeland to his own empire, much to the disdain of everyone living there."

You remembered that - the caesar before Vesapasian had sent many a troop across the hills to the southern border, and much blood had been shed over the small island. It wasn't surprising that Telbao had been something of a prize though - the soil was rich with gold.

"I was but a child when me and my brother went to help protect the border." Ceres continued, the smile falling from their face. "My mother wasn't going to let me go with him, but I wanted to help. Aurelius was his name. He was everything to me at that age - as a brother should be."

There was a lilt to Ceres voice as they said his name that made you think they were going to cry.

But Ceres muscled on, talking around the lump in their throat. "He taught me everything I know. It was he who showed me my way around a sword, and helped me slit my first throat. For a while, things were good. It was me and my brother against the filthy invaders." They paused. "For a while, it was like we couldn't die."

Even though you knew how this story ended - Telbao was part of the city's reach now, after all - apprehension filled you as Ceres continued.

"It was good, until the ships came. It had been easy to tip a few small boats and let their armor drown them, but we couldn't do much against the ships." They trailed off. "It was all a blur after that - they killed Aurelius without hesitation. The only reason I'm still alive is because I was so young then."

"But they still threw you in the colosseum." You said.

Ceres shrugged. "What else do you do with Telbaoans? Especially prisoners, at that. It worked out for the most part - it's not every day that you become the champion of champions and receive a blessing from Logios." Their mouth opened in a yawn, letting out a long exhale.

You pursed your lips, staying quiet. No wonder Ceres was so apathetic about the topic of death - it was all that they knew. They really had been fighting their entire life. And to lose not only a brother, but their entire homeland? Your chest ached with sympathy, but what could you say?

It didn't really matter much though, because when you looked back over, Ceres was asleep, their chest rising and falling with steady rhythm. That tea really had put them to bed.

You just hoped it also killed the disease that was eating them alive.