𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐈 𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐄// 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐨 𝐑𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 𝐀𝐔

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟔𝟏// 𝐏𝐮𝐭 𝐈𝐭 𝐓𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐭

Will woke up to Kayla gently tapping his shoulder. He blinked the sleep from his eyes and frowned up at her. “What is it?” 

“There’s a letter on your nightstand,” was all she said before walking over to the closet, frowning at his rows of clothes. 

He groggily rolled over and snatched the paper up, stifling a yawn. He saw a glimpse of Nico’s handwriting, and fought a smile. He opened it quickly. 

Jalgan’s assassination attempt was a test to see if you were “worthy” of him. We knew he was lying when he claimed it was a kidnapping attempt, but I didn’t think it would be something like this. I’m sorry. 

Will flinched, the words a blow he wasn’t ready for. He stared as the paper blurred before his eyes, as his surroundings started to become distorted. 

“Hey.” A gentle hand on his shoulder, a familiar voice in his ear. “Are you alright? You look like you’re going to be sick. Do you want me to get a healer?” When there was no response, she softened her voice. “Are you dissociating?” 

Will's body felt rigid, like he would shatter if he breathed too hard. He was floating above himself, watching everything as though it was merely a play. His head was spinning, pain pulsing between his eyes. Was this some awful dream? He had to wake up. 

He forced himself to calm down, for his head to clear. If he wanted to ground himself, he couldn’t lose himself to terror. With a deep breath, he named several things he could see then hear. He forced his body to walk forward and touch the nightstand, his blankets, the letter still clenched in his hands. Kayla looked concerned, hovering next to him, but she didn’t say anything. 

It took a few more tries, but soon he was able to snap back into himself. His body became real again. The surroundings were real again. He breathed a sigh of relief. He still felt a bit dizzy, but it was much better than dissociation. 

“Are you okay now?” 

 “Y-yeah.” He took another grounding breath, trying to push the dizziness aside. “I’m glad it took me shorter than usual to come down.” He rubbed his temples. “Don’t worry about me. You have a job to do.” 

She raised an auburn eyebrow. “Your wellbeing is my job, Solace.” 

“I’m okay now. I won’t split off again. I promise.” 

She nodded, before turning back to the closet. Will forced another breath, before crumpling the paper in his hand and snatching up his cane. 

 He had known Jalgan had been lying about the assassination attempt, of course. His lies had been hilariously flimsy. But a “test?” To prove his “worth,” of all things? He supposed that made some kind of twisted sense. Jalgan had been obsessed with him, sure, but he wouldn’t want just anyone by his side, would he? 

Wait. He shook his head in disbelief. Was he actually making excuses for Jalgan? Gods, he needed to get it together. 

He had therapy with Fletcher in a few hours. He should bring this up, probably. Better to get it out of him than sit on it. 

☀️☀️☀️

He indeed brought it up with the healer. He had expected it to be cathartic. He certainly didn’t expect the emotion to crash over him. Fletcher stayed calm, even when Will’s sorrow turned to anger. 

“I hate this,” he snapped, tugging at his hair hard enough to hurt. “I was doing great these past couple of weeks! Now this tiny thing is pushing me back! Gods damn it!” 

“It’s okay,” Fletcher said, his voice soothing his rage. “Remember what I said yesterday. Healing isn’t linear. You’ve still made fantastic progress.”