Servienne (LGBT)

26-Shock

A/N: Evergard's ram on his coat, but on the left horn there is an "L" and on the right, an "S".

    Through the rubble again, Noll found that the smoke had thickened even in the mere minutes that he had parted from its haze. He couldn't breathe; his lungs burned like someone had lit a match in each of them. But Noll pressed on regardless; he had sworn to Aaron he would do this, so he would do so, regardless of who Eugenia was or his jealousy. How could he be so petty as to let her die anyway? Noll was appalled that the thought had crossed his mind earlier.

  Remembering where Aaron had paused after hearing Princess Eugenia's voice, Noll made his way in that direction before calling out above the screams and wails of others doomed beneath the rubble. "Eugenia! Princess Eugenia!" His voice carried over through the ash and smoke, echoing back to him. "Help! Please, oh, gods!" The familiar shrill of Eugenia's voice carried through the air easily. She couldn't have been more than a few meters away, and he started off in that direction. "Just keep making noise, princess!"

  "No, please, help me too!" Someone else called from afar. "Please! I have a child at home waiting!" Another called. His heart twisted painfully in his chest, but he pressed on. They were too far buried for him to retrieve them alone and get out with them in time. So, as awful as it was, he ignored them, zoning in on Eugenia whose sobbing became his only beacon on her location. Eventually, he reached the spot she was in, looking down where her sobs came from deep inside the debris. "I see you! Oh, gods, please, whoever you are, help me! She's, she's dead, I--I can't," Eugenia fumbled over her words, sobbing hysterically. She must be near a corpse, Noll realized, peering through to see Eugenia through the darkness of the hole she was stuck in. Sure enough, two or three feet from her, an older woman's corpse, skewered by a metal ceiling fixing, stared straight at her, blood dripping from her mouth and pooling around the area. Noll cringed at the sight.

  He cursed, leaping from the pile he was on closer to the ground, landing on a slightly angled slab of stone that had fallen from the ceiling, sliding down it closer to the rubble pile Eugenia was under. "Princess, make more noise, please," He said softly so that the others wouldn't try crying out again in pleading. After a long pause, he could faintly hear her; she began to sing some song in Alksberi, her voice shaky and tight, and he could tell she was on the verge of breaking down completely. "I can't hear that well, princess, I'm sorry--"

  "Okay, okay!" She sang louder, still wavering as she tried to keep her calm. His pace quickened in his haste, ripping away debris and remembering to remain careful so that it wouldn't collapse even in the slightest. Moving a chunk of debris, he cursed under his breath as more gave away over it. Then, he sucked in a breath as he saw a gap in the mess. He peered into the hole, seeing movement, but it was still several feet away. "Alright, I'm almost there!" He called, moving around to stabilize the mound as he dug deeper. "Stick out your arm and try to find a hole! I can see you squirming around when I look down it. Look for a source of light, yeah?"

"I can't! Th--There's something wrong with my hip, I think it's dislocated? I don't know, it's just really painful," She called, letting out another sob. "I know it hurts, but I'm going to need you to bite your cheek through it unless you want some worse event to happen because you didn't want to move while the rocks were still stable. Look to the body beside you and tell me if you want to move or not." His words were cold, but he knew for someone so fragile, they would shake her to the core with his bluntness. Almost immediately, Eugenia was shifting despite so little space around her.

  "Okay..." She muttered through her whimpers and sobs. Noll could hear her reaching around, clawing at the debris himself before reaching his arm through the hole. He gasped as their fingers brushed. "Do you feel that? That's me! Grab my hand!" He yelled through to her. She sobbed harder, stretching until Noll could grab her wrist himself, pulling her hard. He groaned, using all of his strength to drag her through the glass and wood, ignoring her cries of pain as she slid from the pile, the whole thing collapsing behind her as she popped out. He caught her, falling back onto the cement slab he'd been standing on, holding her as she wrapped her arms around his neck and sobbed hard. "Thank you! Thank you, thank, oh, my gods..." Eugenia trembled in his arms. Noll sighed, reaching up and stroking her hair gently. Eventually, she drew back, sniffing and staring at him in surprise. "You're... Where's Aaron? You're his valet, so where is he? Did you..." Her bottom lip quivered. "Did you abandon him? Is he--"

  "Princess, he's safe. I made sure to get him out first before coming back for you. His leg is hurt and arms are injured, but other than that, he'll live. What about you? Are you alright?"

  "M, My left arm, I can't feel it, and my hip, I can't..." She buried her face in the crook of his neck. "I'm sorry, I'm just," Her voice lowered, "That woman's skull was c--crushed right in front of me, her blood, it--" She shook her head, tears falling to his skin. Noll continued to run his fingers through her hair, rubbing her back and cooing in her ear to calm her. "You're away from that now. I'm sorry, but we must move lest we suffocate here, Your Highness." He, giving her no warning, scooped her up, getting to his feet. "I'm taking you to Aaron. I know not if the army is here yet or where the other leaders are. I came immediately back here after dropping off Aaron as I promised him, so I know about as much as you. I cannot answer any of your questions, except that this was most likely the Liberation Syndicate." Eugenia just nodded, not speaking now that he had answered all questions she could possibly ask.

  Making his way back through the smoke, ash, and rubble, he drowned out the screams and pleads for help, sighing in relief as he saw the door again in the distance, but paled as he saw through the smoke. Emerging, his face drained completely of color, and he abruptly set Eugenia down on the pavement, not bothering to answer her confused look as he dashed over to Aaron as the prince let out a blood-curdling scream. Ivor's body fell to the ground, sword through his chest, and Noll understood immediately. He clamped a hand over Aaron's mouth, trying to silence him, but it was too late, several people in black looking at the two of them. Noll's heart thumped in his ears, Aaron still screaming uncontrollably. It was absolute chaos in the courtyard. Everything still felt numb from shock. Neither of them could think clearly. But still, Noll found some sense of mind enough to let go of Aaron's face, shifting to stand in front of him, shielding him from the armed people, legs trembling--not from fear, but from exhaustion alone. He knew they wouldn't attack, looking past them to their leader. Noll's eyes hardened as his eyes met the then infamous Claudius Evergard. Any commoner who knew of the Liberation Syndicate would know of Evergard. He was the face of the revolution. Of course he was known far and wide. But Noll did not fear this man, just as Aaron had not scared him in the least when they met. Powerful men shielded themselves with power, but they often had nothing besides their titles. He didn't fear men like that.

  "Stop," Claudius Evergard called. The soldiers advancing towards Noll and Aaron halted, looking back at their leader. Claudius glared hard at Noll, holding up a hand. "We have done what we came here to do. The army shall be arriving in mere moments. We retreat to our rendezvous point. The rest of our fight with these people will come. But not today. Remember the bloodshed here, dear liberators," His eyes did not move from Noll, assessing him, "For we have now declared war, and this shall only end one way." The soldiers hesitated before withdrawing, their forces gathering, but Noll paid no attention to their retreat, turning and kneeling in front of Aaron.

  The prince had curled up on the ground, covering his face with his hands, his arms still bleeding and injured leg outstretched. His prince was physically and emotionally shattered.

  Sitting next to him, Noll looked to the center of the circular pathway in front of the fountain where the leaders remained kneeled and cuffed, Ivor's body laying there, blood pooling around his corpse. Erwin crawled towards his brother despite his own restraints, scooping up his body and beginning to cry. Noll bit his lip hard, looking back to Aaron. What was he supposed to do? How could he fix this? He had to fix this. But Noll found himself completely numb. The shock had taken over his entire body.

  A sob came from Aaron who shook his head in disbelief. Sighing, Noll laid down next to him and gently placed a hand on Aaron's hip, and the prince jolted to his touch, looking up with red, teary eyes, his face twisted in agony. "Noll..." He hiccuped, leaning forward and burying his face into Noll's chest, sobbing hard. Noll stroked his hair as he cried, breathing in the prince's scent to calm the trembling he noticed still coming from his own bones.

  They laid there together in silence. That was all either of them could do: lay there and weep and console. They were completely helpless to this.