Feathers & a Dash of Magic

Chapter 52: When Did Kayda Become the Town Therapist?

CW: refusal to eat, depression, blood, burns, iron poisoning, torture and the affects of torture (so a lotta pain)

Remus sat down in front of Roman who was huddled in a blanket in front of the fire. He held out a cup of rice and a cup of water. "Eat," he demanded.

It was early in the morning and people were starting to pack up as fast as possible while others ate. They were getting closer to Virgil, Roman could feel it, but the emotions that came from the fairy were dazed and hard to read. It was like he was in shock, he probably was, something bad happened to him and Roman wasn't there to protect him.

"I'm not hungry," he told his brother, staring into the flame of the fire.

"You can be all depressed and sad when we get home, but right now you need food or you're gonna get yourself killed in the fight. How close are we?"

"I think we're a little past halfway there."

"Then we should make it there before the end of the day. You can still feel Virgil's emotions, right?"

Roman swallowed back a sob, tears sprouting in his eyes. "It's so dull... Like he's only half aware of what's going on."

"But it's still there, so he's still alive. You need to eat if he's going to be saved. Jan and I have seen monster hunter fortresses, they're big and the hallways are confusing. You'll find him the fastest while the rest of us are fighting, you'll get him out of there and bring him home, only you can do that! But you can't if you don't eat."

Roman sighed and nodded, holding out his hands for the two cups. Remus gave them to him with a soft, genuine smile. Those were always rare from his brother.

"I'm going to kill them all," Roman swore. "None of them are going to get away with this."

"That's the spirit! Now get something down your stomach so you can do just that!" Remus stood up, making a gesture to dust off dirt from his pants even though the dirt was on the other side. "I'm gonna go help pack, when you're done moping, come lead us to the monster hunters! I already got some explosive potions in my pouch for the attack. You just take care of yourself, get ready for the absolute chaos that there's going to be during the attack!"

His brother walked away, Roman didn't bother to turn to see where to. He took a small sip of the water as someone else sat next to him.

"How are you holding up, dear?" Kayda asked him.

"Horribly," he answered.

"I can tell. But I won't give you a whole speech, I'll save your ears. Instead, if you feel like talking mine off I won't mind."

"There's not much to say." Roman put down his water and grabbed the spoon that was sticking out of the cup of rice. "Virgil was kidnapped, I wasn't there to protect him, and he's probably hurt really bad right now. I can feel every one of his emotions, and right now they're really numb. Something bad happened to him last night."

"That's... worrying."

"And I know, I know I shouldn't blame myself, but I do! I can't just control that though, no matter how much I wish I could! He was so scared and-and angry and really really hurt! And I can't do anything about it! I just feel so useless right now. I just want Virgil to feel safe and happy."

Kayda put her arm around Roman's shoulder. "I don't want to make any empty promises because I know that never helps, but you need to remember that you're doing everything you can. And you're not the only one!"

"I know, but I promised him I would always protect him!"

"You're not the only one to blame. Heck, I was there when they took him! I couldn't protect him. I did my best to, messed up my knuckles while fighting one of the hunters." She lifted her hand, which had since been healed thanks to Roman, but there were still scars on her knuckles. "There were just too many, and they all had guns."

Roman sighed, "I could have done something."

"Well you're doing something now. So tell me, what do you plan to do when we get there?"

~~~

Everything was blurry, and that was when Virgil could open his eyes. His whole body was on fire, if not then completely numb. He couldn't move, he could barely think, and all he knew was that he wanted Roman. His wings itched and ached, wrapped in bandages with splotches of blood staining them.

His hands were numb and he felt something running down his arms and staining his torn shirt. It was hard to remember what they did to him, he knew that they hurt him with more than just iron chains though. He had refused to tell them anything, and got a beating for it before they left him hanging from the chains all night.

He didn't hear the iron door screech open, nor the footsteps walking towards him. A key unlocked his shackles, and the person there just let him fall to the floor, sending more pain through his body. Though... it wasn't like he had the energy to react.

There was a sharp kick to his side, making him whimper in pain as he tried to move his body to curl up. Everything spun and made Virgil feel nauseous, he tried focusing on the cold floor under him to lower the heat.

He felt a hand grab him by the hair, lifting his head for a moment before dropping him. There was muffled talking above him for a few seconds before hands grabbed him and started dragging him somewhere.

Virgil must have passed out at some point because when he became aware of what was happening to him again, he was sitting up against something warm and fuzzy. Two people gently held his arms, wrapping something around them. It felt like something cold had been spread on his wrists as pressure was applied to them.

He groaned in pain and one of the pair of hands stopped, brushing some hair on his forehead back. They were so gentle with him, unlike the hands from before. He could barely move, and that frightened him, but somehow he knew he was safe with these people, for now at least.

"R-ro...?" he whimpered.

The people were silent for a moment before a voice said, "I don't know." It sounded like they were talking to someone else, but the voice was certainly not Roman.

Virgil felt tears slip down his cheeks, just now realizing he was crying. He wanted Roman, he wanted him so much that it hurt! Why couldn't Roman be there? Where was he? "R-Rom-m-an..." His voice was so quiet and weak, scratchy from screaming.

"Shh, it's okay," the voice whispered. "They're gone for now, we're wrapping your injuries. Just stay quiet and rest, they can't know you're awake right now."

A quiet sob escaped Virgil's throat as his senses started to come back to him. His hands tingled and it felt like lava was crushing his wrists, the heat and pressure was unbearable. His stomach turned but there was nothing in there, he hadn't eaten since the morning he was captured and that was two nights ago.

He managed to open his eyes, the blurry figures slowly becoming sharper. He saw Elliot and Cynthia in front of him, each holding an arm as they finished wrapping it. The bandages were stained red, and Virgil groaned at the sight. His shirt was off at the moment, folded up next to him. Several bruises that had barely started to heal and burns showed, though the worst of it was covered by bandages. He didn't even want to see his wings, already knowing that every one of his feathers were gone.

He leaned his head back against whatever he was sitting against, now just realizing that it was Griffin. The griffin purred in sympathy as Virgil let out a shuddering breath. Everything was hot, and moving his head even slightly made the whole room spin. Iron poisoning. Right. He felt defenseless before but now he knew he wasn't going to be able to even move to protect himself, it's never been this bad before.

"Just focus on breathing, I know it's hard and that it hurts, but you have to keep breathing," Elliot encouraged.

"H... hurts..." Virgil whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut. His tongue was heavy and there was a sharp pain in his side. Wasn't he hit there? There was a bandage around his chest so he was probably hurt badly.

It sounded like Cynthia sighed, and she and Elliot were silent for a moment. Elliot carefully lowered Virgil's hand into his lap, making him whine at the smallest pressure on his burn.

"This is why I still wish I had my magic," they mumbled under their breath. "Rest for now, try to fall asleep. You're... you're going to be okay. The pain will go away eventually."