𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓑𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓮𝓻'𝓼 𝓔𝓷𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰 | 𝕤𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕒 𝕩 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣

𝕴𝖓 𝕽𝖊𝖒𝖊𝖒𝖇𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖊: ᴛʜᴇ ꜱʜᴀᴅᴏᴡ ᴏꜰ ᴀ ɢᴏᴅ

"Y/N, can you hear me?" a voice in your mind called.

"Nahida! How is it going? Has Irminsul been cleansed?"

"Yes... it has... but Greater Lord Rukkhadevata is also going to be erased from existence! There's no time to lose, my memories of her will be gone soon..."

Nahida tells you everything that happened in her time in Irminsul, and right as she finished speaking, the connection she made with your mind dispersed and the communication stopped.

"Nahida? Nahida!" you tried to call her back. Soon, she connected back, but she seemed to have no recollection of Greater Lord Rukkhedevata, and even asked you whether you were joking with her. You realised she must have forgotten about the Greater Lord already, and so you dropped the topic, and congratulated her on her success in cleansing Irminsul.

"So, Y/N, how is the Balladeer doing?" she asked.

"He's stable right now. He cried a bit when I brought him back, but managed to calm down after a while. I removed the tubes from his back and patched up most of his injuries from the fall. He still needs some time to recover but I believe he will be okay soon," you replied.

"That's good to know. Where are you guys right now?"

"We're at an inn below the Sanctuary of Suranthana. You'll probably be able to locate me through the Akasha."

Soon after, Nahida arrived at your location. "Is the Balladeer inside? Can I see him?" Nahida asked. You opened the door to the inn, and invited her inside. Upon seeing the Balladeer's state, both of you held back a gasp. He lay on his chest, and was shaking violently from physical pain. Tearstains were painted across his face, and sweat prickled at his forehead.

"Scaramouche!" You ran up to him, checking his temperature. As you expected, he was blazing hot, and his cheeks were flushed with red. "Nahida... What should I do? I don't know how to take care of sicknesses in puppets! I don't know how he got like this... I shouldn't have let him out of my sight!" you were frantic upon seeing the sight of the Harbinger in this state. You didn't know why. You were supposed to hate him, yet it pained you to see him like this. Nahida seemed rather concerned as well, but it was probably because she was just very kind.

"Don't worry. His sickness isn't fatal. He will be alright. It seems the painkillers you applied earlier have lost their effects, causing him some pain. As for the sickness..." Nahida put her finger on her chin. "Hmm... I'm not sure what the cause is. It may be because of his internal pain. After all, puppets aren't immune to psychosomatic illness. But whatever it is, he'll heal over time." Nahida said, walking up to Scaramouche and watching as you kneeled on the floor, brushing away some of the Harbinger's stray locks.

"I can see how much you care for him. I don't regret my decision to place him in your care," Nahida said. "As the Archon of the people, I'll be rather busy after this incident. I'm sure you will take great care of the Harbinger," Nahida said before leaving.

"It hurts so much... Hahaha..." You heard a voice say softly. You turned around and saw Scaramouche's pained expression. It broke your heart.

"What hurts? How can I help you... Scara?" You said frantically as you grabbed the painkillers off the shelf you left them on. You rubbed them onto his back and his expression slowly eased.

You sat next to him in the bed. "Y/N...?" He said, his voice shaking, "Why did you save me?"

How could you answer a question that even you didn't know the answer to? It just pained you so badly watching him fall just like that, and you would never forgive yourself if you just stood there and let it happen. You were supposed to hate his boy, you were supposed to want to kill him. But you couldn't bring yourself to see him hurt in any way, and every time he suffers, your heart feels like it would break into a million pieces. You care so much about him, but you just don't know why.

"Y/N? Why aren't you talking?" he asked and then exploded into a fit of coughs. You helped him up and rubbed his back as he choked. "P-please, I just want to k-know, ugh..." he clutched his stomach from the strain of coughing.

How do you answer his question?

Hm...

You suppose that there was only one answer to this.

"Scara, I think I love you."

"Wh-what?" he was shocked at your sudden confession, and his breathing started getting more rapid. "I..." He was hyperventilating from the shock combined with his sickness. He was coughing uncontrollably now. "Please... go out... I need some time..." he stammered, leaning against the wall for support.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you such sudden news in your current state..."

"But why... How could you love someone like me? Y/N, why? I'm just a worthless puppet... Ah- you're just doing this to get closer to me aren't you? Just so you can betray me and make me suffer again! No... please... leave me alone!" He was clutching his head as he tried to slow his own breathing without success.

"Shh... it's okay, I won't hurt you," you said softly as he trembled. You cupped his hand in yours and stroked it gently. To your surprise, he didn't try to stop you. He seemed to calm down with your touch. "Just breathe. Everything's okay. You're safe with me."

And then he did something you didn't expect him to do. He threw himself into your arms and hugged you. "H-huh? Why-"

"T-thank you for taking care of me..." he sobbed.

Stroking his back gently, you thought to yourself, "He's only this nice because he's deliriously sick. He hates me for stripping him of his godhood..." But you treasured the moment while it lasted.

This puppet, he should be able to let his guard down with others, yet for now, he shivers and cries in your arms. And maybe that's okay, because everything takes time, and you believe that one day, he will be able to heal, and trust again. 

~end~