Muj Milacek | Viktor Arcane x Reader

Chapter 9

You thought about the dance often, too often, in fact. Especially when it is just you and Viktor in the evenings. You let yourself get caught up in the joy that that evening brought you. Those few months after the party you wondered if maybe things were going to start to look up from here, you couldn't imagine anything ruining this moment.

It wasn't until Viktor showed up one day with a crutch instead of a cane that you were rudely brought back to reality, your hope for a brighter future squashed. He'd had a crutch in all your visions of him. It reminded you that you hadn't figured out what was going to happen, let alone how to solve it. Viktor was still going to get sick, you were still going to have to watch him suffer.

You looked away when he entered the lab as if nothing was wrong, earning some concerned looks from Sky and Jayce, but they hadn't seen what you had, so they went back to work as they usually did.

You couldn't keep the anguish off your face as you made eye contact with him, his face was carefully blank.

This was the beginning of the end.

After that, he rapidly declined. He started getting thinner, paler, and the bags under his eyes grew as he started to pull more and more all-nighters at the lab. You didn't know how he did it, you tried to stay up with him but you always seemed to end up falling asleep, your head resting on a pile of papers.

He became quieter, more focused, determined. You couldn't blame him, you only wished that you could do more to help. Viktor and Jayce had started working on building the blue orb covered in runes that you had seen in your vision, but even with the runes you had given him, they still hadn't made any progress.

The Viktor you knew was still there, but he had changed. He smiled less, he ate less, but most of all he was exhausted. You were pretty sure that even when he did go to bed that he wasn't sleeping well. He always looked tired, no matter if he left the lab at a regular time or not.

You'd tried using your magic, desperately pleaded with it to do something, fix whatever was happening with Viktor that had left even the doctor's confused. You'd have taken one of those horrifying visions if it meant you could figure out how to solve this. Yet, like every other time you'd tried to use your magic on purpose, nothing useful happened. It was beyond frustrating at this point.

"What if I absorb just a bit more magic?" You asked one night, staring intently at one of the many Gemstones laying about the lab. Now that they had become stabilized, they were much safer to have around, "Only a small amount, then maybe I could do something to help heal you."

"No," He said, moving his stool over so he was in front of you, holding your hands in his, "I refuse to bring you down with me, we don't know what that would do to you. You cannot sacrifice yourself for my sake."

"It's my choice, Viktor, I want to help you," You pleaded but he shook his head, an air of finality to his words.

"There has to be another way."

'Just let me help you!' You wanted to shout, 'I can't do this without you!'

You felt like you understood the raw emotion behind your voice from your first vision. You'd tried to deny it, pretend like your feelings for Viktor were not as strong as they were, that you were just friends, but you couldn't pretend otherwise anymore. You were in love with Viktor, and you didn't think your heart could handle it if he died. You may not be the Motus Mage that Heimerdinger feared you would be, but you didn't know if you could stop yourself from tearing apart the world that was trying to take Viktor from you. You'd do just about anything to save him, whether he approved or not.

You watched as Viktor's eyelids drooped, head nodding as he stared at the paper before him, covered in runes. Maybe you couldn't use your magic, but that wasn't the only skill you had. Viktor may be stubborn, but you were more so.