Wilting Light (Vaati x reader)

Just A Kid

    Your eyes silently and carefully scanned the sea, in search of something – something. The sun slowly inched below the horizon staining the water shades of pink and orange, the waves making it look like dancing flames, twirling and hopping. It had been a couple of hours since you last saw Tetra, and your spirits were temporarily raised. After she left, though, they fell back down into the pits of fear and sadness. Now, you felt like you'd been betrayed. She had left willingly, and had stayed gone for so long...willingly. You bet that if you hadn't popped up next to her or whatever may have happened, she wouldn't have cared for your existence. You were nothing to her, yet you were stupid enough to think you were a large part of her world.
    After she left, you found that the fog had never left your sight. That was nice, considering your goal was to follow it and you didn't know how long you had been stopped. You should have told her that the fog was the Ghost Ship so if she was going after it she would go in its direction, but you figured it was too late. However, at the moment, that wasn't your biggest concern; you hadn't seen an island since an hour before, and according to what you knew and your map, you should have passed another one. The fog, too, should be getting closer. You were going as fast as your ship would allow. Yet, it seemed to move farther and farther away as you paddled along. The sea was empty and vast, but you felt trapped.
    You felt lost.
    Hearing heavy footsteps, you glanced behind you at their source. Agnan was behind you, his eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the fog, guessing that was what you were looking at as well. "Are you alright?" he asked, bringing his eyes over to you. A small bit of comfort came from the softness of them. It reminded you of that child on Tetra's ship. You desperately wanted to forget everything but the softness of those eyes. Him turning towards the ocean didn't allow that. You snapped back into reality and told him of your concerns.
    "I don't have much of an idea of where we are. I know we're in the west, but..." You shook your head, turning to face him. "Do you know?"
    A pained expression appeared on his face. He knew what this meant. "No. I think we passed that island with the one-eyed blue things a while ago, just before you woke up."
    You frowned deeply. "I know. That's what I'm guessing our location on." You should be seeing something. But there was nothing. Have you even seen the sea as empty as this? "I don't like this," you muttered, turning to the fog once more. You bit your lip, carefully peeling the top layer of skin off. You knew that you more than likely had to turn around so you don't get even more lost, but by doing that you would abandon what you had set out for. You took a deep breath.
    "I'm turning us around. We can't be getting lost. We only have so much food." Your lip hurt. Though you had not noticed, you'd been biting at your lip, peeling off the top layers of skin. Now that it was in pain, though, you realized you had a bad habit you needed to get rid of.
    You stepped up to the wheel and quickly turned the ship around, using the fog as a compass. You turned to make sure the fog was behind and in front, but jumped. Vaati had somehow come up behind you without making the slightest sound. He looked wore out and tired, like he had been doing hard work for the past couple of days without sleep. You wondered if it was that trick he pulled earlier.
    "Is something wrong? You turned around." His expression was, of course, unreadable, but you saw a bit of genuine worry. You were certain you wouldn't have been able to read anything else even if it was written on his face, clear as day. His face seemed to consist of layers upon layers of emotions so that it appeared blank, like how white has so much color that it becomes colorless.
    "We got lost. We're turning back to find our way again."
    You saw his tongue push at the side of his mouth, making his cheek poke out a bit. "Alright." He went below the deck once more. It seemed that the sun repelled him, keeping him down there. Perhaps your decision, too. You could tell that something of what you had done bothered him, but left it unspoken. You felt numb and tired, wanting nothing more than more sleep, but you kept yourself awake, knowing you had things to do.
    You were silent as you went about your business, managing to produce a sloppy soup. Once what could hardly be called supper was finished, you decided to go below the deck and try to talk with Vaati. You had just remembered that you still did not know much more than his name, and your curiosity was rising again despite your drowsiness. Just how strong was his magical ability? You were also tempted to ask where he really came from, but you knew he wouldn't answer the way you wanted. And, also, his parents... Perhaps, if you knew his parents, you, hopefully, would be able to find them.
    Downstairs, he sat on a crate, whispering something, though you couldn't understand what he was saying; it seemed to blend together to form a single, long sound. You wished you could understand him. You watched for a moment before clearing your throat, catching his attention.
    He turned his head, giving you a heated glare. "What? I'm busy."
    "Doesn't look like it. I was wanting to ask about your parents. Surely they're worried—"
    Suddenly, he burst into laughter. As he doubled over, trying to stop himself, you stared, wide-eyed and caught by shock. Why is he laughing!? It took him a moment, but he did manage to stop. "They're dead," he said, letting out his last few giggles.
    "Oh" was all you could say. You wanted to say something like "I'm sorry", but he had laughed at his parents being dead. Would that make this more of a comedy for him? And why was he laughing? You were momentarily left speechless. "Okay... Um... Grandparents? Aunts? Uncles? Non-blood-related guardians? Do you have anyone like that?"
    "Nope," he replied with a smirk. If there was one thing he was sure of, it was that he had no one before you came along. The smirk was wiped away when he saw your concerned frown. "It's not like I needed them anyway." The frown only deepened. He let out a puff of air, figuring that he was only concerning you more. He really needed to control that laugh of his.
    "Okay..." Your voice was hesitant. When you spoke again, you stumbled over your words. It was evident that you were forcing yourself to sound confident. "You don't have parents or anything like that... Next question. Just how strong is your magic or whatever?"
    Vaati had to admit that this question caught him off guard. He didn't know exactly what was too much when doing magic in front of other people, so he didn't know what to tell you. He'd probably already shown too much with that stunt he pulled earlier, with the shark. Of course, though, he couldn't have just let it attack, especially while he was still on the ship. He took a deep breath and took a shot at the question. "I suppose that stunt I pulled earlier was my strongest. I haven't exactly tested my boundaries in the past." If he ever did stronger magic by mistake, the second sentence could help keep you from getting suspicious.
    "Oh. I thought they tested you to see what exactly you can do or something. Like, you know, when you're learning." You shrugged as your eyes focused on the soft, lavender hair falling gracefully over his eye. You thought of that morning when you woke up and glimpsed whatever was under that hair. Once again, the curiosity surrounding it made itself known. "I understand if you don't wanna answer, but what's under your hair?"
    Before the teenager could even react to your question, you looked up at the wooden ceiling as you heard the sound of frantic, muffled yelling. You practically jumped up the stairs, fear enveloping your mind. Vaati was close behind, though he appeared to be more calm. 
    Thump, thump, thump, thump...
    Vaati could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he thought of how close you had come to getting an answer to that question. He didn't even know you would ask it. He'd thought you forgotten, since it was a detail so small, so minuscule...
   On the deck, where the commotion was, there was a fog so soupy and thick that you could barely see your hand in front of your face. You were cold, so cold you began shivering as soon as you felt the icy air bite at your skin. That in combination with the fear from knowing what this fog meant made you barely able to hold steady and speak.
    "So it found us?" Your heart was pounding the blood through your body so hard and fast you feared it would stop, and your brain became a chaotic mess. Your mind brought previous nightmares back, some of which you didn't even remember or were from several years ago. You gulped.
    Vaati appeared to be the only one not scared out of his wits. Agnan and Vila had their weapons out, but they didn't look ready to fight if it came to that. You had nothing on you; you had forgotten your throwing knives downstairs. You made your way back downstairs, keeping an eye out for the Ghost Ship in that fog. You figured that it was best to have a weapon on you, even if it may do nothing. Seeing it on a table, you quickly grabbed the knife, sheath, and belt and clutched the thick leather in your fingers. You had thought you had two knives, but there was only one. Your brow was furrowed as you stared at it with eyes whose glow were broken down by worry and sadness. I better make good use of these things, then...
    "Kid! Vaati or whatever! What the hell are you doing!? You said for yourself that the ship was too damn dangerous!"
    Your head snapped back around, your thoughts disrupted by the sharp sound of yelling. You rushed back upstairs, freezing once you saw what Agnan was yelling at Vaati about. The ship had revealed itself, the lamps hanging on hooks in its wooden frame making it visible in the thick fog. Vaati had somehow managed to get on the ship, which was huge—bigger than Tetra's.
    Your mouth fell open as you wondered just how he got up there. You then proceeded to search wooden frame of the ship. You quickly found a crack that was reachable if you jumped, and big enough to stick your fingers in. You would be able to grab on there, but what about getting up there? Your eyes continued scanning, until you decided that the lamps were within reach if you were at the crack, and there were planks of wood nailed to the side of the ship, decorated all around with eyes just above the lamps; those planks would allow you to jump up to where Vaati was. Perhaps that was the way he got up there.
    "YOU FUCKING STAY THERE YOU CHILD OF GRAPES!" you howled before you ran up to the ship, jumping. Barely, you managed to shove your fingers in the crack. Your lungs hogged the air, knowing you were in danger. The god on that ship could come out at any moment and take you, too. However, you proceeded to prepare to jump and try to get to the lamps. Looking at it now, though, you knew that was going to be a difficult task; the crack and lamp were much farther apart than you had guessed. But your fingers were sweaty and slipping. You had to jump, or you would inevitably fall in the ocean below. And you couldn't just leave him. You didn't want to; having grown used to how tough he acted, in such a short amount of time, you had found yourself unable to imagine exploring the seas without him.
    So you jumped, but as soon as your fingers left the crack and the only things boosting you up were your booted feet sliding against the rough, weathered wood, you knew you wouldn't make it. You went to try and reach for the lamp, but they were just out of reach. Suddenly, you felt a strong wind shove you up in the air. As you were sent flailing, you wanted to shriek, but the wind had knocked any air you had out of your body. Before you were aware that you were falling, you had smashed against the rotting wood of the ship. Again, you were unable to breathe for a moment. You gasped for air as you pushed yourself to your feet, surprised you didn't break any bones. Everything in you merely ached.
    "Vaati...?" you breathed, looking around. He had run off somewhere out of sight, which was especially easy with this fog obscuring everything. But he had to be somewhere nearby--you were almost certain that he was the one who conjured that wind. You wondered if that was stronger than what he had done to the shark. In that case, had he lied? Then again, he did say he hadn't tested his limits. Maybe he had proven himself stronger than previously thought. "Vaati?" you called again. This time, you heard something close to a laugh. "This isn't any time to play games!" you yelled.
    The sound of light footsteps lead you to an area you couldn't reach at the rear of the ship. Knowing Vaati was quite light for someone his age, you had a hunch that he had gotten up there. How would you climb up, though? Quickly, however, you found a box and used it to climb up to that area. Here, you found Vaati, standing and facing you. His face was calm, emotionless. He had that constant breeze around him, stirring his hair and cape. He seemed to have been waiting for you to get up there and get him.
    "What are you doing!?" you snapped. "You're going to get us killed!"
    "I'm doing nothing any worse than what you've been doing," he replied in a chillingly calm voice.
    Though you were a bit spooked by how he spoke, with his voice low and seeming to dare you to do what you came to do, but at the same time calm, you continued to scold him. "I only came to give them a way to go after this thing! Vaati, please, don't be an idiot. Get back on my ship."
   "It's coming."
    Chills ran down your spine as he said this. His voice was so calm, so collected. He seemed to have not a concern about what he was talking about. Your lungs tried to freak out, forcing you to pant like a dog, but you managed to steady your breathing. "What's coming?" you asked, only as a final confirmation. However, it wasn't needed.
    You could feel the temperature drop. You didn't want to turn around, but curiosity drove you to do so. Behind you floated the "god", a floating octopus-like creature with eyes sitting at the end of its tentacles, each open and gazing at you and Vaati. You took a deep breath as you struggled to keep from jumping in the ocean behind you out of panic. Though the monster looked ridiculous, that uneasy feeling from when the Ghost Ship had paid Castle Island a visit overcame you.
    "So it was nothing but a beast?" you heard Vaati say behind you.
    This is the god? Fuck, how're we gonna get away? The deity had decided that it was a great idea to block your way out, unless you considered jumping into the ocean an escape route. Which you didn't.
    You were yanked out of your nervous thoughts as you realized one of its arms were shooting for you. Quickly, you rolled out of the way, barely able to jump back on your feet. Each breath was a struggle, as your body wanted to do nothing else other than inhale, inhale all the air in the world. You watched Vaati quickly and effortlessly drive the tentacle off with a single burst of roaring flames that disappeared as quickly as he had conjured them. The octopus-like thing wailed as it drew back, hitting the mast of the ship. The entire ship rocked violently. You stumbled a bit, barely able to keep your balance. 
    Holding on to the wooden guardrail, you stared at the this thing. If this was the god, it was most definitely far from what you had expected. You had thought it would have resembled something like a human, not this thing.
    Vaati now seemed to be trying to keep it away. Dazed, you watched as he managed to break all of its arms in half. However, when it had finally lost all of its arms, it lashed back. With a puff of deep purple smoke, it began spinning, quickly gaining speed so that in a matter of seconds it appeared to be as fast as a tornado. You slipped behind a crate, not wanting to be hit by it. Vaati remained where he was, seeming to be fearless. Instead of taking cover like you, he made a quick, strange motion with his hands. A small tornado left the beast disoriented for a moment. He used that to his advantage, moving his hand upward to summon a wall of flames hot enough to turn you into pure ashes. In the light of the magical flames, you could see the calmness in his face. He knew what he was doing, what he was facing. It sent relieved butterflies free inside your stomach. 
    In less than a second, those butterflies were nothing but a pile of butterfly guts and blood.
    His bloodcurdling shriek seemed to disrupt everything. Before you had even gotten to see that the octopus god had knocked him airborne, he slammed into the railing of the ship. You heard it crack with the force of him hitting it. He quite nearly fell off the ship. In his stomach, there was a deep gash, one deep enough to kill. He was completely still.
    It seemed that, in that moment, your heart stopped beating. That had to have killed him. He has to be dead. There's no way someone could have survived that... Your chewed-up nails dug into the wood of the crate. Goddesses! I'm such a coward! The beast was moving in to deal its final blow, to make sure that the teenager was dead. You felt rage fill you, rage like you'd never felt before. Jumping out from your hiding spot behind that crate, you clutched your one knife so tightly that your knuckles were white. You grit your teeth as you stared at the octopus-god thing, at the markings that embellished its body, hesitating. You're about to waste it. Even if it hits, it isn't going to do anything. This is a god, remember? Your breath hitched at the thought of not being able to hurt this thing. You felt the need to hurt it, to stab those little eyes on its arms, to kill it. This was the thing that had taken Tetra's father and Herm. And now it has killed Vaati. But you were afraid; you just wanted to run, but your feet kept you in place, forcing you to stand and stare at the beast before you as it went to do as it pleased. You had to be thankful that it appeared to have forgotten you were there.
    Before you managed to throw the knife, you noticed movement. Glancing over at Vaati, you saw that he had opened his eyes, which now seemed to have a faint glow about them. His face was distorted with rage. but that quickly faded into a look of confusion, then into utter horror. He couldn't see anything, hear anything. I'm back in the sword? he wondered, that feeling of dread taking over his insides. But I still feel pain... He felt around him, but his hands caught nothing. Dammit! I'm certain none of this is real! However, his mind continued to fill him with doubt.
    He's alive! you realized, almost grinning, which contrasted his fear that you seemed unaware of.  He has to be a child of miracles or something! Though you were overjoyed to find this out, relief did not wash over you. It was still trying to kill him. Swinging your arm as hard as you could, you sent the knife straight in to one of the beast's eyes. It whipped to face you, opening its jaws to reveal yet another eye in its mouth. Surrounded by jagged teeth, this eye gave you a glare that devoured that happiness you felt. More than anything, you wanted to cry, to jump into the ocean, to run, anything to get away from that eye's glower. You backed away until your back bumped the railing. You almost screamed when the wood came in contact with your skin, catching you by surprise. You went to reach for another knife, but you remembered that you had thrown your last one at the monster, and it was still stuck in one of the thing's bleeding eyes. It seemed that you couldn't have been more scared, hopeless.
    As it moved to grab you and do Goddesses-know-what to you, a loud crack left you deaf for a second, a loud ringing in your ears drowning out any sound. When you looked, you saw that Vaati had done the same thing he had done to the shark; the god's arm was split in half again, squirting blood. You felt a few drops splatter onto your face. The part that had been cut off shriveled up on the floor and disappeared in a puff of thick, purple smoke. The look on Vaati's expression showed his fury, his mouth distorted into a hideous snarl and his eyes emitting that same glow they had when he got angered by you not wanting to let him come. Looking at his wound, you saw that it had already almost healed. Dried blood that had flowed from his head when he hit the railing was merely clumps that could easily be cleaned off. He looked as if he had been hurt weeks ago, though it had only been a few minutes. Who is he? you found yourself asking again. 
   Vaati steadily walked towards the beast, bombarding it with weak curses. All they really did was make it do something that resembled cringing and twitching. This allowed him time to make another one, and to keep it momentarily stunned. As he threw these curses, you could see that they were getting stronger each time until, finally, the thing lunged at him with a sickening screech. Its movements were far from smooth, with it jerking as it pinned him. When you managed to get a glimpse of him, you could see that he was trying to drive it off with fire. However, within seconds, it clung to him with its arms so tightly that he couldn't move a muscle. You saw that, even though he would surely die, he appeared calm. Is he trying to hide his fear? you thought, but doubted it. How could someone hide fear so well?
    Before you could question him more, you were shoved into the railing by a force so strong it broke, leaving part of your numb body hanging off the ship. Your head hung off the side, limp. You stared at the waves, at how they rolled over each other, brain dead. But weren't you in the middle of something? Remembering where you were, quickly, you pulled yourself up, but stopped once you reached a sitting position.
    Your eyes widened, and your muscles tensed up, paralyzing you. Your eyes were forever locked open as you beheld the sight before you.
    There it was, the demon eye from your dream. The Wind Sorcerer. All of his wings flapped in sync with each other. His eye was piercing, terrifying, as it glared at the god. Its claw was extended, pinning the other monster to the mast of the ship.
    "You think you can belittle me? Make me weak and helpless?" it said, its voice seeming to replace the air around you. You clutched the splintery edge of the railing so tight that your knuckles turned white.
    You quickly scanned the deck of the ship. Where's Vaati? Your eyes jumped back up to the Wind Sorcerer. Vaati was gone, completely gone. No sign he was ever there, aside from the cracked railing where he had hit it. The Wind Sorcerer had taken his place. You gulped as you remembered what Tetra told you just a few hours ago: Vaati the Wind Mage sounds kinda right, don't'cha think? Yes, it did sound right. Because it was right. Tetra had suspected it the moment she learned his name. You should have been suspicious as well, with all the dreams you have been having ever since you met him. But how could you suspect a teenager was one of the most powerful beings of all time?
    You stared at the fight that was unfolding before you, unable to move. Your eyes were fixated on the Wind Sorcerer, Vaati. You could watch nothing else. Your eyes watched as that claw twisted, digging into the slimy skin of the god thing as he pressed it harder into the mast. You feared that it would break under the pressure, but it held its own until the thing vanished with a screech. Where it was before, you saw blood and bits of skin. You shook uncontrollably as the eyeball became nothing more than a silhouette and shrunk back into the teenage boy you knew. But now, he didn't look so familiar. His hair fell out of place so that it revealed what should have been his other eye. However, it was the eye he had in its other form. It was staring at you.
    Shrinking back into the splintery remains of the railing, you opened your mouth to try and say something, but your voice seemed to have run away when Vaati transformed. Quickly, you closed your mouth. Now you wished that he would forget your existence and disappear, but he turned his head to look towards you, a look in his eyes that told you that he was expecting you to react, to say something. Your cheeks felt wet, and you tasted saltwater on the tip of your tongue; you were crying.
    Vision blurry with tears, you continued to stare.
    "Did you enjoy the view?" he asked, a strained smirk on his face. Now, as you saw his shaking hands and the sweat running down his face, you could see that he was in pain.
    "Goddesses... I thought you were just a kid..." You said nothing more, wishing that your voice wouldn't break and give you away. Though you were sure many other people would have done the same thing in your situation, you didn't like it when other people saw you cry. You felt like you looked horribly weak and helpless.
    Thankfully, Vaati appeared not to notice."Ha! You're so gullible. The Goddesses were practically in your face, screaming it."
    "(Y/N)! (Y/N)! WHERE ARE YOU!?"
    Vaati's head turned at the sound of the panicked voices. The fog was fading, but he had yet to be able to see them. However, it was more than likely that black haired girl and her blonde friend, Agnan and Vila. A wave of panic took over him. Surely she'll tell them! If they find out who I am, there is no telling who they would tell! I can't have that... His mind overcome by panic, he looked towards you. He could hear them scrambling up the ledge, apparently not aware of the box that had gotten you where you were. No one could see that he felt as if his heart would leap up his throat and out of his mouth.
    You managed to pull yourself to your feet, though you could barely hold yourself up. You wanted to run, but you knew there was no point in it. You glanced over at the ledge, knowing that Vila or Agnan or both were trying to see what happened. You wanted to call for them, to tell them to back off, to inform them of what you just found out. However, before you could even blink, you felt a sharp pain in the side of your head and heard a sickening crack. You fell to the ground, in immense pain. You tried to cry out, but darkness swallowed you and you knew nothing more.