Within Magic [Douxie X OC]

Curses to Bear

[Douxie's POV]

This couldn't be happening. How could I have let this happen? I was sure the plan would work, and we could salvage the damage we'd done to this timeline.

How wrong I was.

Morgana was gone and it was all because of us. Because of me.

Excalibur was shattered, people were injured and Nimue had collapsed after the battle. Needless to say I'd nearly panicked when I'd seen that. It was a difficult yet strange scene to process, but I wasn't going to forget it for a long time to come.

-

We were all frozen when Morgana had gone over the cliff. Arthur had destroyed his holy sword. No one knew what to say or do as the king mourned the loss of his only remaining family.

"This..." My fists clenched in the grass, looking down.
"This can't be real..." I grit my teeth, anger welling up. Not just with the outcome, but with myself. What kind of wizard was I? What kind of friend...?

"Nimue...!" I was yanked from my thoughts when I heard Claire's panicked voice and looked up.

My eyes widened when I saw Claire dropping to Nimue's side, Steve quickly following suit. Her brown hair was sprawled under her, some strands having come loose in the fight.

Claire looked up, brown eyes frantic and near tears.
"Douxie, something's wrong!" She called to me, pulling Nimue's head up into her lap.

"No...! No no no!" I scrambled to my feet and ran over as quickly as I could, nearly tripping in the process. Archie shot up and flew after me.

"Nimue!" I skid to a stop beside her and got to my knees. She was pale, but what caught my attention first was a strange, inky looking black mark shrinking in on itself over her chest.
"What...?" My brows furrowed, watching it recede. It only lasted for a few brief moments, but it clearly wasn't something I could ignore.

"Oh man. What do we do?" Steve asked, torn between his shock and panic.
"She doesn't look good. What happened to her?"

"I-I don't know. I didn't see when it started. I just saw her on the ground." My voice nearly broke, reaching over to take her hand. They were clammy and just barely trembled under my touch.

Claire was careful with Nimue's head in her lap, but I could see the tears and the frustration in her eyes.

"Mistress Nimue will be alright." Merlin's voice spoke up from behind me and I turned.

His expression was grim, but there was no concern in his expression. He seemed sure of his own words.

"Master, how do you--"

"I do not sense any dark magic at the moment. Whatever it was merely exhausted her." He said, looking over my friend.
"She needs rest, but I will find out what caused such an outburst. First, we need return to Camelot and regroup."

Whatever it was, I could tell Merlin had seen it even during the battle. As unsettling as it was, I knew he was right. I couldn't afford to panic. Not when the girl I cared so much for needed help.

-

She was resting at the moment. Safe in the bed she'd been loaned in the castle. I hadn't left her side since we'd gotten back. I was more worried than anything, but at least we hadn't seen any trace of those black marks from the cliff. I still couldn't get that image out of my head. That battle had been so chaotic we'd been separated. For the beginning, I couldn't find her without losing focus on the fight.