Archive of Our Own

“Percy?”

The sound of his name was muffled, but it was the first thing he could hear as consciousness returned to him. He groaned, his ears ringing and head aching as he tried to crack his eyes open. There was a throbbing pain at the back of his head, but he couldn’t remember what had happened for him to receive it. As of right now, the cool ground beneath him was a slight comfort to that throb, and he curled into it.

“Percy!”

The voice sounded more familiar now, coaxing him to wakefulness. He recognized it after only a moment more of grogginess. 

“Mm…” he breathed, “Vex?”

“Oh, thank fuck!” Her words were breathed in silence, but the relief was palpable.

The tone of her voice alone was the first indication that something was wrong. 

The second was the feeling of shackles around his wrists.

Fuck. 

Something was very wrong. 

His eyes shot open, and he clumsily burst upward, forcing his eyes open as a burst of fear suddenly filled him. His mind raced, trying to recall how this had come to pass.

What had happened?

Where were they?

He could barely make anything out from the dim light in the room, a beam of light being cast through a thin slit in the door. 

His heart started to race when he realized that the circular room they were in was a cell. 

Vex was directly across from him, her arms bound behind her back and kept close to the wall by a short chain. She was shifting uncomfortably, and from what Percy could tell, it looked as if she were trying to fidget with her cuffs, trying to take a page out of her brother’s book, but was struggling. They’d been divested of their weapons, and from what he could tell, their captors had been meticulous in robbing them of anything they could use to pick a lock; even Vex’s feathers had been taken from her. 

His mind raced as he tried to retrace his steps, trying to recall the last thing he remembered. 

They’d been with the rest of the group, hadn’t they?

Headed back to Whitestone, if he remembered correctly. Keyleth had been exhausted following their battle with Umbrasyl, and they needed some time before they could attempt a portal spell again, so they’d focused on journeying on foot until such a time when she was healthy again.

He could just vaguely remember making camp in the foothills, rather than rejoining Grog’s herd in Westruun, as it was too far out of their way, and it made more sense for them to head back in the direction of Whitestone, for a shorter journey for Keyleth. 

The last thing he remembered was…gathering drinking water from a nearby stream, right? 

He and Vex had been just outside their camp, beside the stream formed from the steady snowmelt of Westruun’s mountains, talking as if they weren’t on a journey that could determine the fate of the world…she had even cracked a joke that had forced a laugh from him…and then she’d made a face.

Everything after that was a blur. 

“I don’t suppose you know what happened?” he breathed, not trusting his hazy memory and aching head. 

“We were captured,” she murmured drily, ire clear on her face as she struggled with her chains. The shackles barely allowed her any range of motion, and the position she was in was hardly useful to accomplish anything at all. “I didn’t see their faces…but my guess is the people who took us were hired.”

Percy was trying so hard to remember, testing his range of motion, groaning in annoyance,  “Oh? What makes you say that?”

“They targeted us specifically,” she said it as if it were such an obvious thing, her attention still on the shackles. “Besides, these men are far more muscle-oriented…I didn’t hear them say much, but something tells me they’re not the brains of this operation.”

She paused, and in the dim light of the room, he could see concern flashing in her eyes, “Not only that…but they only took us.”

Well…that complicated things. 

He tried to suppress the surge of anxiety in his chest at that. 

“You’re sure?” he breathed, “They haven’t stashed the others elsewhere and thrown us in here alone?”

“No,” Vex shook her head grimly, “If Vax were here, I’d know…besides, Grog could break down these walls in a second.”

“Fair point,” he mumbled, dread welling inside of him, “Any clue what they want?”

“Afraid not,” she sighed, “The last thing I remember before waking up here was someone throwing you into a tree. You hit your head pretty hard. I got a similar treatment after that.”

Well, that explained the sizable lump at the back of his head, and if his dizziness and surges of nausea were any indication, he was likely concussed.

A small flash of worry appeared in her eyes for a moment, “Are you okay? Any broken bones?”

“Not to my knowledge,” he mumbled, “Just an injury to my ego and a goose egg on the back of my skull.”

“That’s a relief,” she sighed, “I’m trying to see if I can…

She fell immediately silent, her face drawn as she looked up, eyes darting to the door. 

That was when he heard it. 

Footsteps. 

He swallowed hard as gruff male voices filled the hallway outside their cell door, following behind an almost-familiar sound of boots snapping against the cold stone floor. Painful memories tried to present themselves in the back of his mind. 

A cold, dark cell, not dissimilar to this one. 

Boots outside his cell door. 

The promise of pain and questions he couldn’t answer every time the door slid open. 

He swallowed hard, bracing himself for whatever horrors awaited them. He wouldn’t give these bastards the satisfaction of seeing him afraid. Besides, he’d faced worse. He braced himself for whatever horror awaited them on the other side of the door, watching as Vex did the same. They’d been through so much in their lifetimes, and if he knew Vex, she could hold her own in all things. Hells, they’d beaten a member of the Chroma Conclave just days before. 

The heavy iron door swung open, allowing warm light to fill the dark room. 

His stomach dropped. 

Anna Ripley’s cruel smile hadn’t changed a bit since they’d seen her last. 

He felt as if his blood was freezing in his veins as he stared at her, looking far more like the cruel captor he remembered than when he’d seen her last in Whitestone. She now had a metal prosthetic to accommodate the loss of her hand, but everything else was practically the same. Her eyes immediately scanned over him, making him feel as if he were a rat caught in a trap, or a canary with a broken wing, found by a cat. 

He hated himself for the cold fear a mere look from this woman could instill in him. So, he did the only thing he could think of doing, and replaced that fear with the anger he had for all the woman had done to him and Cassandra. For all the pain she’d caused him.

He couldn’t give her the satisfaction of seeing him afraid. 

Never again.

He swallowed hard, clenching his jaw as he made eye contact with her, saying nothing. 

Ripley laughed, something that stirred agitation to life deep within him, “Oh, come now, Percival, don’t give me that look.”

“I’m sorry,” he hissed, feeling as if he could spit poison with the bitterness within him, “Was I supposed to welcome this interruption with open arms?”

“I’m just shocked that you’re surprised,” she shrugged, folding her arms in front of her, “You knew we’d catch up eventually.”

Catch up. 

“Is that what this is?” he murmured, “A game of cat and mouse?”

The woman rolled her eyes, striding further into the room, accompanied by a group of five muscular men. True to Vex’s astute observation, they seemed to be hired muscle, following every step of Ripley’s lead. 

This wasn’t good. 

Not at all. 

“You can’t possibly reduce it to just that,” Ripley sneered, rounding him like a vulture, “That would be over-simplifying it.”

“Oh, because your motivations are oh so complex?” Vex snorted, raising an eyebrow. 

Ripley glanced over her shoulder, her eyes scanning up and down Vex’s bound frame, “Ah, the half-elf. You know, you really seem quite weak without your brooding twin–”

“What the hell do you want, Ripley?” Percy snarled, anger coiling in his gut at her derisive comment towards Vex, “What do you want with us?”

“Oh,” Ripley shrugged, “I was in the neighborhood and was interested in your travels. You seem to be searching for certain artifacts…objects that I have an interest in.”

“The Vestiges,” Percy’s heart skipped a beat. 

“Very good, Percival,” Ripley’s smile curled upward, “From what I’ve gathered, you’ve been successful in acquiring a few of them. Goodness, you even beat a dragon in the process of keeping them.”

Percy’s blood ran even colder, if that was even possible. 

How the fuck did Ripley know about Umbrasyl?

How did she know about the Vestiges?

Unless…Unless she had truly been tracking them since Vasselheim. His mind flashed with the memory of the black powder dealer in the holy city, of his description of the woman with the metal arm. 

He’d known then that it wasn’t a coincidence that she’d been in Vasselheim as well…but he didn’t think she’d been watching that closely.

“You’ve been watching us.” Vex snarled, “Tracking our every move.”

Ripley shrugged, “I pay attention. That trick of yours in the tree, though, dear…impressive. It seems you can stand on your own when it counts. Unfortunately, Fenthras got left behind in your scuffle with my help here, but that will soon be rectified.”

“What the fuck do you want with the Vestiges?” Vex breathed, surging forward in her chains, “What do you know about them?”

Ripley clicked her tongue, “Don’t worry yourself about that…all I want to know is where they are…and I suppose you have information that can help me.”

“What could a deranged psychopath want with catastrophic weapons of the gods?” Percy wondered aloud, keeping his tone acidic as he glared at the woman before him, “Can’t possibly be anything important.”

“Laugh all you want now, Percival,” Ripley sneered, “But my goals are inevitable. They surpass anything you can understand, whether you like it or not. Perhaps, with your aid, you can secure survival for yourself and even indulge in innovation that can change the world.”

He laughed, perhaps a little too quickly, “My aid? After all you’ve done, you expect me to help you?!?”

“Your mind would be a valuable asset to the cause,” Ripley shrugged, as if this were the first time they were meeting and she was pitching a business offer to him. As if she hadn’t taken an active role in the murder of his family before his eyes. As if nearly all of the scars that littered his body weren’t by her hands alone, “It would be appreciated.”

“Well, you can take that deal and shove it up your ass,” Vex hissed, “You’re stark raving mad if you think we would ever–”

“I was talking to Percy, dear,” Ripley snarled at Vex, “You’ll get your turn soon enough.”

“Don’t talk to her like that,” he breathed, looking at Ripley dangerously. “She’s right. The fact that you dare to believe that I would help you at all is a testament to your profound ignorance.”

He’d be lying if he said that it didn’t bring him a small degree of satisfaction to see the way Ripley’s eyes flashed with indignation. The moment faded quickly, however, as the woman’s steely eyes got a dangerous glint in them. Some part of his instinct wanted to return to the terrified child he’d been when he’d first encountered Ripley, the one who knew pain was coming and he wouldn’t be able to stop it.  He tried to swallow it down, trying to maintain his composure as best he could. He wouldn’t fall victim to her. Not again. Never again. 

But when Ripley smiled, he knew something awful was in store for them. 

“Well,” she murmured, straightening her posture, “Let’s get right to it, then.”

Without another word, her muscular thugs moved forward, and they weren’t given much time to process as he was grabbed by the arms, forced up onto his knees. Though his arms were still shackled behind his back, they held him tightly, not allowing him much room to struggle. He was sure he would have purple welts around his arms from as tightly as they were holding him. He could hear Vex shouting her protests as three men ripped her up into a similar position, directly across from him, her eyes wide, desperately trying to conceal any kind of fear. 

His heart thundered in his chest as Ripley withdrew a long, narrow blade from her belt, examining it carefully, admiring how the lamplight from the hall gleamed off the silver blade.

His mind flashed with memories of the days he’d spent at her mercy when his world had come crashing down around him. Every scar she’d given him in those days seemed to ache as he watched the blade as she stepped forward, kneeling so she could look him in the eye. 

“Don’t touch him!” Vex shouted, struggling against the men who held her fast, her eyes wide in desperation as she fought to get to him, “Don’t you fucking dare!”

He couldn’t think of anything to say, no matter how desperately his soul wanted to scream. He couldn’t manage a single coherent thought as Anna raised the blade to his throat, staring at him with a look of satisfaction in her eyes that made him all the angrier. 

So, instead of saying anything, he simply braced himself, staring her down with a glare that screamed ‘ go on, do your worst’.

Ripley smiled again.

And he barely had time to register the sound of a blade ringing.

Before he realized that the third man behind Vex was holding a blade. 

And he could do nothing but watch as the man ripped Vex’s head up by the hair…

…and drew the blade across her throat.

Vex’s eyes went wide, still fixated on him as she twitched in the grasp of the two men holding her. She let out a choked gasp, pain and panic mixing in her eyes as she slumped forward, the sound of strangled and panicked breaths leaving her faster than he could think. Crimson blood gushed from the wound as she slumped forward, instantly being bathed in her own blood as the guards dropped her carelessly. 

No. 

His blood was screaming in his ears as he watched the puddle of blood grow around her as she twisted and gasped, her bound hands unable to bring any pressure to the severe injury. 

Her eyes were still on him as she lay in her own blood, and he found his breath again. 

“Vex!” he shouted, lurching forward in the grasp of the guards who held him tight, instantly being wrenched back as desperation consumed him, “Vex!!”

She couldn’t respond, her ragged, painful breaths echoing throughout the room. 

“Stay awake!” he begged her, his heart pounding in his chest as he fought against the grip of the men that held him, “Please! Vex!”

She let out a small whispering cry…sounding more like a gasp than anything else as she drowned in her own blood. Blood was bubbling between her lips as she lay there, her eyes still on his. His heart was pounding in his ears, rattling against his chest as his vision narrowed to her and her alone. All of his instincts were screaming at him to help her, to find some way to make the bleeding stop. 

Until he was snapped from his haze by the sound of Ripley laughing. 

“Did you know,” she whispered, “The average healthy adult human or half-elf has five litres of blood in their body at any given time? Saying it makes it sound like such a small volume, but seeing it… ”

She chuckled and shook her head, “Seeing it is another thing entirely.”

Rage filled his veins. For a moment, he was reminded of the anger that had possessed him completely when Orthax had been woven into the fabric of his soul. Only this time, there was no demonic influence. 

This was him and him alone. 

He could smell smoke as he lurched forward in his chains, catching the two men that held him off guard as he launched himself at Ripley. 

The woman didn’t flinch as he made it a few inches from her face before he was yanked backward, falling painfully back onto the floor. He could have spat poison as smoke danced off his skin, glaring daggers at the woman. 

At that, she laughed again, which made him all the angrier. 

“I will fucking kill you,” he snarled, lurching forward again, “Any chance at mercy you thought you’d earned has been lost. Any harm you visit on her will be delivered back tenfold!”

“Oh?” Ripley narrowed her eyes at him mockingly, “Have I struck a nerve, Percival? I didn’t think you cared about your new companions.”
He ignored her, trying to wrench himself into a position where he could see Vex better. He could still hear her gasping, which was a sign that she was still breathing, but he could see the spreading edges of the growing pool of blood. He could still see the signs that she was losing more and more of it by the second. 

She was dying. 

Vex was dying. 

One didn’t have to be a healer or a physician to see it, but the realization filled him with more cold panic than he was sure he’d ever felt in his life.

His mind flashed with the horrific scene from the sunken tomb in the weeks before. How cold and still and silent she had been. How he’d known without a shadow of a doubt in that moment that the beautiful spirit she had was no longer there…and it was his fault entirely. 

He’d never felt so useless in his life as he did that day.

But then…she’d come back to them, through a miracle of Pike’s workmanship and Vax’s intercession, but he could remember how grateful and relieved he’d been. How he felt as if he could never atone for the fatal mistake he’d made that day. 

And now, he felt that same sense of uselessness. That same fear that perhaps that beautiful light and power Vex gave them every single day would be gone forever. 

No. 

This couldn’t be.

“Vex’ahlia!” he screamed, writhing against the painful grip of the people who held him fast, “Vex, please! Stay awake! Stay with me!”

His desperation only seemed to prompt more laughter from Ripley as she stepped out of the way, making sure he had a full view of the horror before him. 

She was growing paler by the second, her usually warm and wonderful eyes suddenly having a glazed-over look in them as she gasped and writhed in her own blood. She choked and coughed weakly, her skin unusually pale as she stared at him. There was so much pain in her eyes, he felt some part of her break as he struggled, instinct begging him to be closer to her. To try and stop the bleeding, but Ripley’s thugs wouldn’t let him go.

Vex’s breathing slowed, and he felt tears bloom in his eyes, her chest rising and falling with slow, stunted, and painful movements. 

“No! No, Vex!” he shouted, “Please, Vex! Stay with me! Please, keep breathing!”

But he could tell that every breath was getting harder and harder. All he could do was keep begging her to stay awake, to keep breathing, his mind racing as he tried to find a solution. To try and find a way to save her life. 

Ripley clapped her hands as Vex continued to gasp, turning her attention away from where Percy was still pleading with Vex to stay with him. He didn’t care as one of the men who’d been holding Vex left the room, and returned a moment later with a bundle of several thick cloths. Quickly, the man started to use the cloth to soak up her blood from the floor, soaking as much of it up as he could. It sickened him as the pale cloth drank her blood greedily, realizing even more how much of it she was losing. 

“Make sure to get the majority of it,” Ripley instructed, “We don’t want to leave more than a stain behind.”

What?

Fear and confusion were at war within Percy’s mind as the man continued to clean the blood from the floor, the rustic stains smearing across the floor. He didn’t bother moving Vex as she continued to grow paler and paler, treating her as if she were nothing more than a rug as he wiped the blood from the floor. 

“What are you doing!?!?” he demanded, his eyes still on Vex, but that rage remained in his veins. He couldn’t breathe as he watched Vex struggle to breathe, still choking on her own blood. Her eyes seemed to be completely glazed over, but were still fixed on him, “What is it you want?!?”

“Oh, I’m afraid I’m way past the point of answering your questions, Percy,” Ripley murmured, moving to where she was standing over Vex’s twitching form, a predatory glint in her eyes. Vex’s eyes barely moved, her eyelids fluttering as a glimmer of hatred appeared in them, as if she knew Ripley was standing over her. 

"Get away from her!” he shouted, trying with everything he had to get to Vex’s side, to be any kind of barrier between her and the damned woman who’d made his life a living hell all that time ago, “What the hell is it that you want?!?”

Ripley didn’t respond, ushering the man to continue soaking up the blood around Vex before looking over her shoulder and grinning, “I think that’s quite enough blood, don’t you?”

He was panting, feeling as if he were unable to breathe, as Vex weakly gasped. Her mouth opened, and closed again, as if she was fighting to form words, but didn’t have the strength to as the cavernous wound at her throat sapped all life from her. 

When the man was done cleaning the blood from her, Ripley smiled and reached into her pocket, pulling a small rectangular box from it. With one shoe, she pushed Vex onto her side, ignoring the pained gasps from the dying woman beneath her. 

With another gasp, Vex’s eyes fluttered for a moment, her body shuddering on the ground, before they fell shut.

He felt as if his heart had stopped at that moment. 

"Vex!” he pleaded with her, glaring up at Ripley, desperation in his blood, “Please! Whatever it is that you want, I’ll help! Please, just leave her be! Please, let her live!”

At that moment, it didn’t matter what Ripley would ask him to do. It didn’t matter that he would be making a deal with a devil. He would do anything if it meant that the woman would let Vex live. Any price to pay would be worth it if Vex’s light remained in the world. 

But Ripley ignored him as she opened the box and withdrew a syringe. Working swiftly, she affixed a large needle to the edge of the syringe, and his heart twisted in fear as she looked from the large instrument down to Vex, whose breathing had turned into a harrowing death rattle. 

She put the box back in her pocket before removing a vial from the same pocket, holding it up for him to see the dark liquid within, before starting to fill the syringe with the ink-like fluid, dark intent flickering in her predatory eyes. 

For a moment, he could remember the early days of his torture at her hands, when she had used all manner of drugs and concoctions to inflict all kinds of pain on him. Some of them had brought him back from the edge of death only to make him wish he was dead as it coursed through his veins. Others made him feel as if he were being torn apart and stitched back together at a painful pace. 

Gods, if she was going to use anything like that on Vex…

His heart twisted as she started chuckling. 

“Relax, Percy,” she grinned at him, seemingly reading his mind, “This isn’t anything I ever gave you.”

That didn’t do anything to calm his anxiety. He still fought against the grip of the men who held him hostage. There was nothing he wanted more than to get her away from Ripley, to get her to help, no matter the cost. 

But he was rendered useless as Ripley knelt beside Vex, grabbing her by the hair and exposing her neck to her. 

And Percy couldn’t manage the strength to scream as she plunged the needle directly into Vex’s open wound at her throat.

A second passed. 

And another as Ripley pushed the inky liquid quickly into Vex’s wound, not stopping as the woman whimpered quietly in pain, unable to manage more than a breath as she lay there. When the syringe was empty, Ripley tore the instrument from her throat and stood up straight, dropping Vex to the ground again. 

The only sound in the room was one single strangled breath from Vex, before she fell still. 

He couldn’t breathe as he waited. 

One second. 

Another. 

And another. 

Waiting in desperation as his ribs caved in on his lungs, waiting for her to take another breath. 

And Vex was quiet. 

No. 

No. 

No. 

He couldn’t breathe as he stared at her still form, feeling nothing and everything all at once. 

This couldn’t be.

This wasn’t right. 

Vex was the strong one. Vex was far too brilliant and bright for death. The stillness and silence of death weren’t meant for her. She had so much to offer the world. So much light and beauty with every breath that she took. 

This…this couldn’t be.

“Vex…” he whispered, cold and painful grief suddenly coursing through his veins, tears stinging the back of his eyes, “Vex’ahlia…”

And she was still silent. 

No. 

No. 

No. 

If there was anyone who deserved such a miserable end in a cell like this at the hands of Anna Ripley, it was he. He was the one who deserved to pay for his sins. 

Not her. 

Please, gods, anyone but her. 

Shock seemed to seep into his bones as a pain unlike anything he’d ever known rooted itself into his marrow. He couldn’t look away from her, from the woman who’d saved him over and over again.

Just a day before, he’d been holding her hand in the Feywild. They’d sat together in those odd woods, and just for a moment, he became painfully aware of the warmth and life she seemed to fill him with. She was the most inspiring and beautiful soul he’d ever known in his life…and to see her now…

No. 

Not Vex’ahlia. 

Not her.

He couldn’t find the strength to scream as he stared at her. 

A moment of silence passed before the sound of Ripley’s laughter snapped him from his haze. He didn’t turn to look at her, but he could practically see her cruel smile as he continued to stare at Vex’s body. 

“Give it a second, Percy…” she chuckled, “Any second now.”

He didn’t give her any kind of response.

How could he?

Part of him just wished Ripley would kill him already. 

Crack!

The small popping noise was so quiet, it almost completely escaped his notice, but he heard it all the same. 

Crack!

The second sound caught his attention more clearly, as he registered that Vex’s body had twitched. 

It had moved.

“Vex?” he breathed, not daring to hope.

CRACK!

The sound of bone popping was even louder now as Vex’s body convulsed painfully, her back arching, shoulders thrown into the ground, her neck up and exposed, forcing the gaping wound apart in a sickening constriction. 

His heart thundered in his chest. He wanted to scream. He wanted to demand to know what Ripley had done to her.

But his horror had rendered him silent as he was forced to watch. 

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Vex’s body continued to thrash and twist, and each jagged movement he witnessed felt like a knife through his heart. 

“What…” he breathed, terror and rage filling his veins, “What did you do? What have you done to her?!?”

Ripley only continued to laugh as Vex thrashed, twisting onto her side so Percy could see her better, the wound still dripping blood…before something caught his attention. 

The wound…it was closing itself. 

A stream of silver magic wove itself around the edges of the gaping mass of blood and tissue, destroyed by the deep and invasive cuts of the knife. Vex’s body continued to tremble and thrash as, like a silver thread, it wove itself through both edges of the wound before slowly sealing the skin back together, leaving behind a deep and silvery scar lining her throat. 

He barely got a chance to react to the sealing of the wound.

Before Vex’s eyes opened, a painful, loud gasp, more akin to a scream, left her.

Her body thrashed as the sound of bone popping started to echo throughout the room, and her movements became more erratic. Her eyes were blown wide with fear as her body jerked, limbs flinging less than gracefully around as Percy felt helpless, forced to watch. 

Then she began to scream. 

It was perhaps the worst sound he’d ever heard in his life as she wailed like a wounded animal. Tears filled her eyes as she twisted in on herself, moving quickly as her bones continued to pop and crack. She was gasping, trying to breathe, but only able to get a split-second worth of air, as pained cries continued to leave her like a woman possessed.

Throughout all of this, Ripley was laughing.

The woman Percy had found himself caring for in more ways than one…was screaming in agony…

And this monster was laughing. 

“What have you done to her?!?” he screamed, thrashing again in the grasp of the people who still held him tightly, “Tell me! What have you done?!?”

Ripley shrugged, her eyes still on Vex as the woman continued to jerk and gasp in agony. 

“Oh, you know,” she smiled, “An experiment, I suppose.”

“An experiment?” he hissed.

If his blood could have boiled any hotter, it did in that moment.

“Oh yes,” she turned to face him, a cruel gleam in her eyes, “You know, when Lord Briarwood gifted me a sample of his blood, I was planning on using it on you and your sister all those years ago. I never got the chance…but this? This is far better than anything I could have imagined.”

A chill seemed to settle over him. Though Sylas had been killed months before, incinerated by Keyleth’s light, he could still remember the man’s bloodlust as if he were right there with him. The small marks on his neck, barely noticeable, seemed to ache with the memory. 

Sylas Briarwood…had given Ripley a sample of his blood? 

He didn’t even want to think about how long that sample had been in Ripley’s hands, or how it was in such good condition. Right now, it seemed impossible to think of anything else as he realized with horrible finality what the woman had done to Vex, terror suddenly coursing through his veins. 

“Y-You wouldn’t…” he breathed, “You didn’t.”

It was futile for him to suggest so. He knew better than anyone that Ripley’s cruelty knew no bounds.

Ripley chuckled at the sight of his realization, “Perceptive as always, Percival. The exchange was something I looked into quite a bit upon my alliance with the Briarwoods.”

His whole body seemed to shake as he twisted, trying to get as close to Vex as he could, his heart beating wildly in his chest. His heart ached with every pained cry that she unleashed, the tortured sounds of a woman being ripped apart, tearing into his very soul. He wanted nothing more than to comfort her, to promise her that everything would be alright, but the deafening sounds of her bones cracking and popping screamed otherwise.

“Did you know,” Ripley knelt in front of him, looking as if she were trying to explain something to a child, “That the traditional method of siring a vampire is said to be excruciatingly painful?”

As if to emphasize the point, Vex unleashed another terrible scream of agony, her arms flailing as her shoulder joints popped. 

His heart broke with every cry she unleashed. 

Par for the course, however, Ripley was unbothered by the suffering of the woman before her. 

“The Briarwoods had the help of a deity, so Sylas managed to avoid that part,” she shrugged, “But the traditional method is something else entirely . All accounts say that a single moment of it has the victim begging for death. They say it feels as if you’re being torn apart and stitched back together over and over and over again.”

Vex’s howls of pain echoed up the walls, tearing at his heart and soul. Tears rolled down her face as she twisted, trying to curl in on herself, as if she could hide from it, but was unable to do much as she continued to writhe against the cold floor. 

“It’s a beautiful exchange,” Ripley went on, “Blood for blood. Normally, a vampire bites a victim and drains only a small amount of blood before forcing the person to drink from them, but Sylas is no longer around, so I made do. And gods, the results…”

She shook her head, a gleeful grin on her face as Vex continued to cry out in pain, twisting against the stone floor. 

“Vex!” he cried, his heart pounding against his ribs painfully. He didn’t know what he could say or do to comfort her, or try to ease her suffering, so he wasn’t sure why he was shouting, but he felt as if his soul wanted to be at her side. “Vex’ahlia!”

“You know,” she went on, “In my research, I found that the more blood a newborn vampire loses before they’re sired, the more desperate they are to feed. Or rather, the greater the necessity. It turns out that if a newborn vampire doesn’t consume enough blood within the first hours of life, assuming their sire drained them of enough, they could simply…waste away. That’s partially why the instinct to feed is so strong in those first few hours.”

Horror crept into his heart as he watched Vex’s eyes flash with pain, her neck cracking as she craned her neck to see him. 

Gods, she was in so much pain. 

And if he was hearing Ripley correctly, it would only get worse. 

The woman’s terrible design became all the more clear to him as she continued to laugh.

CRACK!

Vex screamed, louder than before, gasping for air as her arms and legs seemed to twist against her will at unnatural angles. Her eyes were open still, staring at the ceiling, and with a twist in his heart, he realized that a flash of silver appeared where warm brown had been, as if metal had cut through her irises. As she continued to cry out in pain, he struggled harder against the grip of the men who held him, keeping him from running at Ripley or for Vex. 

He needed to do something. 

Anything.

Anything to stop this. 

Anything to save Vex’s life. 

“It’s a gluttonous condition, Percival,” Ripley rose to her feet, standing over Vex with a cruel glint in her eyes, “For fully-exsanguinated newborns to survive, they must consume a surplus of blood, to grow into their full potential. Otherwise, they waste away and die. They truly are an invasive species, especially in those early days.”

Vex unleashed another harrowing cry. It sounded as if she were trying to form words, but the pain had fragmented them into long stretches of agonized syllables. Her eyes were open now, silver and brown staring at him in the dark as she suddenly went still, mouth agape in an expression of horror. 

The ends of her canine teeth had grown pointed. 

She gasped. 

Once. 

Twice. 

Three times. 

Another inhale of shocked pain. 

Another jagged thrash. 

A stifled cry of pain.

Another gasp. 

And her eyes fell shut, her body falling slack against the cold ground, finally releasing itself to the exhaustion and weight that had been settling over her bones. 

His heart rattled unsteadily in his chest as he stared at her, tears rolling down his cheeks as he watched the way her breathing was stunted, her body lying broken and slack, reminding him all too well of the brokenness he’d felt when he’d been held hostage by the Briarwoods all those years ago. He could see that same torturous pain in Vex’s body as she shuddered, unconsciously drawing in on herself with a small gasp of pain in her sleep.

“Vex,” he whispered, panic in his veins. He could see her breathing, but he needed to reach her. He was wrenched backward with a shout from the men holding him, their grip unwavering. He didn’t give a damn about the ache in his bones as he fought with them. He needed to be at her side; he needed to be with her. “Vex’ahlia!”

Ripley grinned, using her toe to push Vex onto her back, “Looks as though we have a successful transformation. Wouldn’t you agree, Percival?” 

That was when Percy noticed the streak of white cascading through Vex’s rich brown hair. 

His heart twisted, anger like hot coals deep in his gut. In that moment, he wanted to rend Ripley limb from limb for even daring to lay a hand on someone who was sacred to him. That old familiar scar of anger and revenge seemed to burst to life after lying silent for so many weeks at the realization that the damned doctor had been allowed to scar someone he’d wanted to protect with his whole being. 

It was a kind of burning and icy anger that filled him as he glared daggers at the woman. 

Ripley snapped her fingers, and the men finally let go of him, allowing him to sink to the ground. Almost instantly, he lurched forward, his anger taking hold of his mind. The length of the chains, however, stopped him less than a foot short in front of Ripley. His wrists ached, and he could feel the familiar sting of rusty chains cutting into his flesh, but he didn’t care. 

Ripley merely laughed.

“She’s going to die, Percival,” she nodded, not even flinching at his rage as her henchmen left the cell, “You know that, don’t you?”

“Don’t underestimate her, Doctor,” he hissed, glaring daggers at her, “She’s far stronger than anyone you have ever met.”

Ripley chuckled with a shake of her head, “You don’t understand, do you?”

A stifled moan of pain came from the ground behind Ripley, and he immediately tore his vision to Vex. She was curling in tighter on herself, shivering and shuddering as if ice had filled her bones. 

“Vex,” he breathed, sinking to his knees, trying to get to her,  “Vex, can you hear—”

“If she doesn’t feed, she dies,” Ripley interrupted him, “If she’s truly as willful as you say…she will die.”

The thought sent a burst of cold pain through his soul as he looked back up at the doctor, at her blatant cruelty. It became all the more clear what Ripley was insinuating.

“Not only that,” she shrugged, “But if she does give in to her newfound instinct, Percival, I’m afraid you’ll be the only meal in sight. And you’re hardly enough to sate the desires of a newborn vampire.”

He almost laughed. 

It became all the more clear why Vex and he had been taken.

“So…I leave it up to you,” Ripley took a step back with a mock wave, “After all, I’ve gathered that your friendship with Vex’ahlia goes beyond mere companionship. I find the situation that you’re in…intriguing.”

“So…” he chuckled without an ounce of humor, looking up at her with hatred in his eyes, “Either way, she dies. You’ve found a way to kill us both.”

“You don’t have to die,” Ripley shrugged, “After all, I doubt you’ll allow yourself to be fed on by a creature of the same nature that Sylas Briarwood was…after all, now she’s no better than he is.”

“She’s not Sylas Briarwood.” he could hardly contain his rage as he stared at her. “She is stronger and better in so many ways. I warn you again; do not underestimate her.”

“And I’ll warn you,” Ripley turned on her heel, “Newborn vampires are exceptionally strong. She could break those chains easily if she wanted to.”

She stopped before exiting the cell, looking over her shoulder, “I hope you survive, Percival. I really do. Maybe the next time we meet, you will have come to your senses.”

With that, she slammed the door shut behind her, leaving him and Vex in the dark. 

He could still just barely see Vex in the dim light afforded through the small window in the heavy iron door. He could hear her ragged breaths and the small gasps of pain she was taking in her sleep, the silence making it all the more apparent to him. 

“Vex…” he whispered, pulling against his chains as he tried to be closer to her. “Vex, can you hear me?”

The only response he got was the sound of more gasping, raspy breaths.

His heart felt as if it had frozen over. 

For a moment, his mind flashed with the image of Sylas Briarwood the night his family had been murdered. He could still see the blood dripping down the man’s chin as he stood over a pile of bodies, the way his eyes had been soulless. Empty voids of bloodlust and violence that had shaken him to his core. Those eyes had been the feature of his nightmares for many years. 

The thought of that look in Vex’s eyes… no. 

Vex would never be that cruel. 

Vex was stronger than anyone he’d ever met. 

Vex was good and bright and powerful, and wouldn’t allow something like an unwanted instinct to overcome her completely. 

“Vex,” he said her name a little louder, trying desperately to reach her. The chains were cutting deeper into his wrists as he leaned forward, trying to be as close to her as he could manage.  He could feel blood starting to bloom as his skin was cut into, but he didn’t care, “Vex’ahlia.”

A small hum sounded from where she was crumpled onto the floor, and he couldn’t resist the small spark of hope that arose in his chest. He desperately tried to keep it at bay, not knowing yet how she was. 

“Vex,” he whispered, “Vex, dear, can you hear me?”

There was a brief moment of silence before he heard her voice, barely above a breath.

“P-Percy?”

“I’m here,” he panted, suddenly feeling his heart pick up in pace, “I’m here, Vex. Are you alright?”

He cursed himself for the stupidity of the question, especially since the answer was so painstakingly obvious. He could see her shudder in pain, twisting in on herself with a pained groan.

She was shivering; he could see the way she trembled like a fragile autumn leaf, something so unlike the strong and wonderful woman she was. He could hear her teeth chattering as she twisted again, her joints and bones creaking painfully as she tried to manage movement. 

“Vex,” he whispered, “Vex’ahlia, talk to me. Talk to me, dear.”

He needed to hear her voice. He needed to know what they were working with. He needed to help her. 

“It…” she whispered, the word leaving her in a gasping breath, “It hurts…Percy.”

The sound of her wavering voice sent shockwaves through his soul as he leaned forward, trying to be closer to her. He could feel nothing more than rage as he remained there, fighting with his chains as he watched the way she curled even closer in on herself, almost as if she was trying to tie herself into a knot to keep the pain at bay. 

“Keep talking to me,” he insisted, anger flashing in his mind at the thought of  Ripley’s cruelty. With every passing second, his determination to make the doctor pay for what she’d done grew stronger. “What else, Vex’ahlia?”

“Mmmhh,” she groaned, her voice sounding more and more pained with every passing second. “It’s…too much…too loud. Too cold.”

He nodded, struggling with his chains, trying desperately to find a way out of them. He wasn’t well-versed in picking locks as the twins were, and his hands were trembling against the rusted metal of the cuffs. The lack of light did him no favors. 

Everything he’d ever read about Vampires in his time after the Briarwoods had told him that they were creatures hypersensitized to the world around them. Sound, light, color, even mere vibrations of stationary objects, were amplified, making the world a noisy and chaotic place. It was a kind of chaos that Sylas had seemingly adapted to and thrived on, but to someone unaccustomed to it…it must have been incredibly overwhelming. Vex was already acutely perceptive, with keen eyes, ears, and instinct that had saved them time and time again, but with an amplification like this…

Gods, he couldn’t imagine. 

“I know,” he whispered, trying to provide her a modicum of comfort as he struggled to find any sort of strategy in this situation. His voice was wavering, though he tried desperately to keep it steady, “I know. I’m so sorry…”

He didn’t know what he would do when he found a way to be free from these chains, only that he needed to be free in order to decide the next step. So that he could help them. So that he could make a plan. 

The sound of more cracking and popping caught his attention, fear striking through his heart at the barely stifled sound of pain that she uttered. Only a second more passed before she started to scramble backward, groaning and crying out in pain with every movement until she was against the wall. 

“Vex’ahlia?!” he called, “Vex’ahlia, what’s happening?”

As she curled against the wall, the popping and creaking noises continuing, he could just barely see her in the pale light. She was still shuddering and shivering, her eyes squeezed shut as she tried to turn away from him. With a harrowing pull in his heart, he realized that her skin was growing more ashen, even though it was difficult to see in the dim light. It almost made her look skeletal, as if her skin was drawing in on itself. Her eyes cracked open for a moment, and his heart nearly stopped by the flash of red-gold light in them, before she slammed them shut again, keeping her eyes off of him. 

With a terrifying pain in his heart, he realized she was trying to be away from him. 

“What’s wrong?” he breathed, his ribs feeling far too small for his lungs, “What’s happening?”

She was biting down on her lips, trying desperately to stifle cries of pain, trying to hide them. He could see that clearly, even in the darkness of this damned cell. He could see that she was trying desperately to keep it from him, trying to keep her pain from showing, but he could see the way it shrouded her, practically shadowing her from the world.

“Vex,” he begged her, “Please, dear, tell me what’s wrong… please…”

“I can…” she breathed, “I can…I can h-hear…”

Her words were drowned in another groan of pain. She squeezed her eyes shut again, twisting in pained agony. 

“What?” he whispered, trying to draw her back to him. He could hardly keep the shake out of his voice, “What can you hear, Vex?” 

“I can hear…” she breathed, the words stunted and pained, “I can hear your heart.”

The agony in her voice was palpable, and he could just register exactly what she’d meant.

Her now-amplified hearing would make even the smallest of sounds seem like thunder in her ears, rattling her very bones, but he could tell that there was more to it than an overwhelming of the senses. 

No…if she could hear his heart…then that meant that she…

“I…” she panted, her voice breaking, “I can smell…your blood.”

She sounded appalled at her own words, curling in more on herself as she tried to keep herself away from him. 

The horrible realization settled over him as she tried to hug the wall, trying to keep herself as far away as she could from where he was struggling with his chains.

“What…” she panted, her voice breaking on panicked tears, “What did she do to me? What did she do?”

Somehow, he knew that she knew what Ripley had done, but the truth of it was painful enough as it was. 

“It's like…I can feel it in my bones,” she sobbed, her words broken, “It’s twisting my marrow…and I can feel it living inside of me…and it’s–fuck–it’s too much…It’s…It’s like…it’s eating me alive.”

Those words made some part of him shatter.

In a sense, she already knew what instincts had taken root inside of her.

“She said…” she whispered, “That…That Sylas Briarwood…his blood…she…”

She gasped, a realization of horror dawning on her. She tried to lift a hand to the new silvery scar on her throat, the ugly gash drawn deep across her now-ashen flesh, but the way her hands were bound prevented it. She let out a gasp of agony as tears filled her eyes, tears making the red-golden glow of her eyes all the more apparent in the dark.

“She…” she whispered, horror filling her voice, “She made me… like him.” 

“No.” He insisted, tugging on his chains even more, “No, Vex, you’re nothing like him. You’re nothing like Sylas…”

“Percy, stop!” she shouted, though it sounded torn apart, as he tried to pull on his chains again, curling back against the wall, “I can’t–!!”

Her words were cut off by another scream of pain as her bones cracked again, her skin seemingly growing even more ashen and pale. She was looking more and more pallid by the second, slowly resembling a ghost as she tried to cling to the wall, keeping herself from looking at him. She let out a cry, tears rolling down her cheeks, as her forehead touched her knees, as she lay on the floor. 

She was in so much pain. 

And she was dying.

It didn’t take a genius to see that. 

Ripley hadn’t been lying when she said that Vex would waste away before his eyes. 

He couldn’t let that happen. 

Not after all that they’d already been through. 

He would allow her to die before his eyes without dying himself first. 

A plan quickly formed in his mind. It wasn’t pleasant, that was for sure, but it was the best plan he could think of. It was the only way he could possibly save Vex’s life. In his mind, that made it the only choice he could make.

He quickly tried his best to angle his wrists in the chains, the way he remembered from all those terrible years before. The first time he’d done this, it had been an accident entirely. One was born from his desperation to be away from the torment of Ripley’s scalpel and all other means of torture. It had been shocking and painful, but he’d learned an important lesson then…one that would serve him well today. 

All it took was a painful twist of his wrist, followed by a sharp and hasty pull. 

POP!

He swore at the terrible pain as the bones of his wrist became dislocated, but his hand slipped through the cuff all the same. He panted, gritting his teeth as he used his other hand to quickly pop it back into place, swearing all the while as he did. Vex let out a small sound of distress at his curses, but didn’t wake, her body shuddering with each hoarse breath she took. The mere sight of it was enough to send his heart racing. They didn’t have enough time. He needed to act fast. 

He braced himself, swallowing back his pain as he tried to angle himself appropriately to repeat the horrible action with his other hand, but he was quickly distracted by the sound of another pained whimper from Vex, and this time…

CRACK!

“Fuck!” he shouted as his hand slid from the cuff, icy hot pain flowing through his veins as he fell to the cold ground. Already, he could tell that he’d broken his wrist, the feeling of swelling and numbness filling him, but he didn’t allow himself to dwell on it for long. 

Vex was still dying.

He winced, trying to make his way forward, keeping pressure off the broken wrist and flinching at the residual agony of the reset bones of the other one as he made his way to where Vex was sequestered against the wall.  

“Vex,” he panted, gasping in pain as he crawled on his elbows over to her before leaning against the wall beside her, “Vex’ahlia…”

There was no reply. 

“C’mon, Vex,” he breathed, trying to gather his strength, trying to suppress the urge to scream in agony at the pain in his wrists as he tried to pull her into his arms, struggling against the weight of the chains, “Vex’ahlia… please …open your eyes.”

She did not. 

As he finally managed to pull her into his arms, leaning her back against his chest, he could feel the way her whole body shook. It was a full body vibration, as if every part of her was at risk of shaking apart with every passing second. 

It was wrong. 

Vex was the strong one. 

Vex was the most powerful and beautiful person he knew. 

She didn’t deserve to feel this kind of pain. 

He had to work quickly if he wanted to save her life. 

With shaky, pained hands, he ripped his cravat from his throat, tossing the useless piece of cloth aside. In the cold air, the old scars on his throat, from both Sylas and Ripley, seemed to ache. The cravat had hidden them from the others, but right now, there was no time for hiding, not when Vex’s life depended on it. 

Any other source of blood would be too little. Vex was literally wasting away in his arms. He had no other choice. 

“Hmm,” she breathed, her voice sounding like a gasp as she leaned against him, stirring slightly. Almost instantly, the second her eyes cracked open, she seemed to know exactly what was happening. She weakly tried to thrash away from him, but she couldn’t move away from him. By now, she could hear and smell the thrum of the blood in his veins…blood she needed. Blood, she had a craving for. The thought clearly terrified her as she twisted, trying to throw herself away from him, but the weakness of her body didn’t permit it. “P-Percy! What are you doing?”

“You need blood,” he breathed, his heart pounding, “You need blood…”

“Not like this!” she cried, her voice harrowing as she tried to lean out of his arms. He could hear her small, ghost-like sobs in his ear as she leaned against his shoulder, her tears rolling down her face and soaking into the material of his shirt. Her breathing was a death rattle in his ears, even as she sobbed and shook. “N-Not you…p-please, not like this.”

“V-Vex, you’re dying,” he panted, his heart breaking at the sound of her crying. The mere sound of her sadness and fear made him want to rend the world apart to end her suffering. “I can’t… I can’t let that happen.”

The sound of her body hitting the cold stone floor of the sunken tomb echoed in his ears. For a moment, he was reminded of the terrible coldness and grief that had consumed him at the sight of her eyes, absent the beautiful light that had come to mean the world to him. He could feel her purposefully tensing her jaw, trying to prevent what he knew would happen eventually.

Tears stung the back of his eyes as he held her.

“Please, Vex,” he whispered, “I cannot let you die…not again.”

She was silent again, her body falling slack against his. For a moment, he wondered if she’d lost consciousness again, her body wracked by the shuddering agony of Sylas’s poison in her blood. She shuddered against him for another moment, a pained cry, barely above a whisper, leaving her as she lay there. He was almost certain that she would be dead in moments.

There was no choice anymore. 

“Forgive me, Vex,” he whispered, adjusting her slightly in his arms, so that her nose was nearly pressed against his jugular, “The very least that I can do for you is buy you time.”

A moment passed. 

And then another. 

Before he heard her take in a shallow, harrowing breath. 

Only a second more passed before he heard bone popping as her previously locked jaw opened, her breath almost warm against his skin, instinct possessing her to do what she was trying so hard to avoid. His heart skipped a beat for a moment as he knew what was going to happen next, the memory of Sylas Briarwood flashing in his mind. 

She’s not Sylas, he reminded himself, forcing back his panic. She’s Vex’ahlia…and she needs to live. She will live. Nothing else matters.

Only half a second passed before her newly sharpened teeth sank into his neck. 

It was as he remembered…a sharp sting of pain, followed quickly by a terrifying numbness as venom seeped into his veins. 

Before Vex started to drink, his senses were clouded. 

She drank quickly, her newfound instincts working quickly once blood made itself accessible to her. His mind immediately felt hazed over as he sank against the wall, not relinquishing his hold on her. 

He wouldn’t allow her to die. 

He wouldn’t. 

He didn’t care if this killed him. 

What mattered was that Vex would live. 

Though she was still unconscious, he could feel tears rolling down her face as she drank his blood, as if somehow she knew what was happening, and she hated every second of it. All he could do was hope that she would understand. That she would know that he wouldn’t allow her to die. Not when he could still do something about it. 

He didn’t know when he’d realized it…but Vex meant something to him. 

Vex was something sacred, beautiful, and wonderful to him. She had given him peace and saved him in so many different ways since he’d met her. From the day she’d pulled him from that dark and rancid cell, she had taken a chance on him. She had never given up on him. Not even when darkness had tried to hold his soul hostage. She had never given up on him, even after he’d been directly responsible for her death in that tomb. It had been his fault that she’d lost her life, however brief the brush with death had been, but she had still held faith in him. She had still fought with him and for him…and he could never repay that. 

A world without her light…

Without her warmth…

It could not come to pass. 

The truth was…whatever it was that he felt for Vex was something that had taken root long ago. He was in the middle of it before he’d even realized it had grown. 

He would not let her fall. 

Not again. 

Never again. 

He felt cold and dizzy, the details of the world around him bleeding together with the amount of blood he had lost. Still, he held true. He wouldn’t allow her to die. She kept drinking blood, and he would allow her. For as long as she needed, he would give all he could give. 

He tried desperately to stay awake, holding her close as she continued to drink his blood. He wouldn’t allow himself to fall off guard, but his body was betraying him as darkness swam on the edge of his vision. He leaned back against the stone wall, trying to steady his breathing, trying to focus his attention, listening to the world around him, but he couldn’t focus. 

He was drifting. 

Drifting. 

Drifting. 

Sinking.

As the world around him ceded to the dark, he didn’t even realize that Vex had stopped drinking from him. Time seemed to lose all meaning as sounds and light were drowned in his mind.

His world went black. 

And he didn’t regret a thing. 

“...are they?”

“They’re here! I know it!” 

“How the fuck are we supposed to find them in a place like this?”

The sound of familiar voices slightly roused him from the dark sea that had seemingly consumed him, a lifeline floating on the surface, just out of his reach. He couldn’t open his eyes, even as he tried to grab hold of it. 

The team…they’d found them. 

Of course, they had. 

He wanted to call out to them. He wanted to let them know that they were close, but he couldn’t muster the strength to open his mouth. His whole body felt weighed down, as if someone had tied an anchor to his ankles and he was continuing to sink into an endless abyss, the coldness of the world spreading like a web beneath his skin. 

The soft weight of Vex against him was still present, and it was a relief to him to recognize the soft feeling of her chest rising and falling with small breaths. 

She was still alive.

He was sure that this kind of relief was the best feeling he’d ever had in his life. 

They had a chance. 

They had a chance.

They had time. 

“Trinket!” a voice he could faintly recognize as Keyleth’s echoed down the hallway, “Find them!” 

The roar of a familiar bear echoed in time down the hallway, followed quickly by a chorus of people shouting both his and Vex’ahlia’s names. 

He tried to speak. He tried to tell Vex that they’d been found, but the weight was too great; he could only breathe, his thoughts his only comfort. He could only hold her strong. 

“VEX!” Vax’ildan’s voice echoed down the hallway, closer and closer with each passing second. 

They were so close. His heart leaped with the realization that someone was coming for them. Their friends had come for them.

He managed a small, strangled groan, his mouth barely opening as he lay there, holding her as gently as he could. 

“H-Here…” he whispered, though he knew nobody would be able to hear it, trying desperately to let them know, “W-We’re here…”

A roar sounded from nearby, the footsteps of their companions like thunder as they ran through the hallways, until they stopped. 

“Here. They’re here!” Vax’s voice shouted, “I know it! VEX!”

“Where are you guys at!?!” Scanlan’s voice was on the brink of panic, “Where are you?!?!”

“PERCY!” Pike shouted, “VEX!”

“Here…” he tried to speak again, but it was little more than a breath. 

“GROG! The door!” Pike screamed.

CRASH!!!!

The door immediately went flying off its hinges into the cell, the iron metal bent easily by Grog’s hands. Once more, light flooded the room, and he could just barely make out the blurred figures of their family as they ran into the room. 

“Vex!” Vax shouted, his eyes immediately zeroed in on his sister, before his eyes grew wide at the sight of the large bloodstain on the ground, and the blood that now undoubtedly soaked both of them. 

A scream echoed through the cell, “What is this??”

Vax fell to his knees, pulling Vex from Percy’s arms, his eyes wide with panic as he beheld the blood his sister was covered in. 

“Pike!” he shouted, “Pike, please…Vex! Vex’ahlia, wake up!”

“Holy shit,” Pike panted, falling onto her knees beside them, holding her hands out over them, “What the fuck happened?”

“Who–” Keyleth breathed, horror on her face as she scanned the bloody scene before them, “Whose blood is this?”

“Fuck that,” Scanlan shook his head, his eyes wide in terror, “Are they even alive?”

Percy tried to open his mouth to speak, but the pain that had settled over his body felt too great. He couldn’t manage words as he tried to lift his head, trying to get them to focus on Vex, but all it did was prove that he was still alive, despite the bloody wound on his neck. 

“She’s alive,” Vax breathed, holding Vex close, his lockpicks in hand as he tried to free her wrists from those accursed chains. Panic was in his voice as he held his sister closer to him, tears in his eyes, “She’s breathing… Pike, please!”

“Percy?” Keyleth whispered, her hands hovering over the wound in his neck, “Percy, can you hear us?”
He could barely crack an eye open, but Keyleth saw it all the same: “He’s alive!”

He was fading in and out of consciousness, but his eyes were on Vex, now freed from her chains, held in her brother’s arms while she took a ragged breath. He could see Vax and Pike speaking quietly, but more importantly, he could see the confusion on Pike’s face as she held her glowing hands out to Vex.

“I…I don’t understand…” Pike breathed, “Th-There’s nothing…it’s like, I can’t feel her…”

“What do you mean?” Vax demanded, frantic as he held his sister close,  “She’s alive! She’s hurt! You have to help her!”

Pike shook her head, panicked as she surveyed Vex’s form, “Th-There’s nothing for me to heal…”

“Pike!” Keyleth cried, “Percy’s bleeding!”

Pike’s eyes widened at the sight of the wound in his neck, and she lurched forward, palm outstretched. Almost instantly, he felt the warmth of Pike’s healing embrace him completely, and the feeling of his flesh being stitched back together greeted him. The pain was excruciating, but he didn’t care, even as the bones of his wrist were fixed and all evidence of his injuries was replaced with a shimmering remnant of a scar. 

“Percy…” Pike’s eyes were wide, trailing from the blood on the floor to the pair of chains he’d left abandoned on the other side of the cell, to Vex’s still body in her brother’s arms, “Percy…what the fuck happened?”

He couldn’t manage words. He could barely breathe. All that mattered was that Vex had been given time. All that had mattered was the fact that she would have time to live. 

Keyleth helped him to his feet, though it was more as if he was being dragged from the cell. Vex was still held securely in Vax’s arms, the man unwilling to be parted from his sister, a look of panic in his eyes as he clutched her close. He kept his eyes on her as he hobbled alongside Keyleth, still feeling exceptionally weak. 

“Kiki, can you get us back to Whitestone?” Pike asked, “We need to get them to safety.” 

“Of course,” Keyleth nodded, “I’ll get us there as soon as we’re outside.”

From where she was held in Vax’s arms, Vex let out a small whimper that cut through his heart. He wanted to look over his shoulder, but his tired and clumsy body wouldn’t comply as he hung against Keyleth. 

He needed to tell them. 

He needed to tell them.

He needed to tell them. 

She needed blood. 

She would need more soon. 

But his exhausted mind and body wouldn’t comply, even as he tried to open his mouth, trying to form words. He struggled against Keyleth, trying to shout it for the whole group to hear, but he couldn’t muster the strength. 

It turned out that the prison they’d been held in was an abandoned keep built into the side of a mountain just outside of Westruun. The corridors were long and cold, lit only with sparse torches. He had no idea what time of day it was or how long he and Vex had been missing. He stumbled, nearly pulling Keyleth down with him before he regained his footing. The world still felt like it was spinning, but he did his best to keep himself afloat. 

They continued to stumble through the keep’s cold halls, and he could hear the others muttering to themselves, their guesses as to what had happened, and he wanted more than anything to give them answers. The whole time, he kept his eyes out for Ripley. 

“Is…” he panted, “Is anyone else…here?”

“No,” Keyleth replied gently, shocking Percy that she’d been able to understand him at all, “No, whoever it was that took you…they cleared out long before we got here.”

Dammit. 

That only made him angrier. 

Ripley had managed to escape again. 

After hurting the single most important person in his life.

“It…” he panted, though speaking suddenly felt even more difficult than before, “...Rip-ley…”

Though the message was stunted and muffled, Keyleth instantly grew rigid beside him, a cold shade of anger that was unnatural on the druid’s face flashing in her eyes. 

“Ripley?” she breathed, “She did this?”  

“Ripley?!” Scanlan called from where he remained behind them, “You mean the psycho doctor from Whitestone? One hand n'all?”

“That’s the one,” Vax hissed, his arms still tight around Vex, who still showed no signs of waking up. “She came back for a taste of revenge, and Vex got caught in the crossfire?”

It wasn’t lost on Percy how bitter the man sounded, and frankly, he couldn’t blame him. After the tomb and everything that had happened in Whitestone, he knew that there was plenty of blame that the man rightfully placed on his shoulders. That didn’t stop it from making his heart hurt all the more. 

Vex had been hurt because of his quarrel with Ripley. 

His already persistent self-loathing rose in droves at the thought, and he looked down, not wanting to meet any of them in the eyes. They had all collectively decided to be silent as they finally made their way through the hallways, and they came to the still-open door to the outside. 

That was when he started to panic. 

It was daytime. 

The sun was bright, casting its light like a blanket over the valley. 

He and Keyleth made it out first, and the second the warmth of the sun hit him, he started to panic. 

Vex. 

He started struggling against Keyleth, pulling himself away from her regardless of how unsteady he was. He could just barely hear the druid's protests as he stumbled away from her, quickly shedding his coat and whirling around just in time to see Vax exiting the desolate keep, Vex still in his arms. The rogue didn’t get a moment to react before Percy threw his coat over them, just before they stepped into the sunlight. As soon as the fabric left his fingers, however, he stumbled to the ground, falling against the dirt with a pained gasp. 

Vax tried to tug the fabric down from where it was covering his face, annoyance and anger flashing in his dark eyes. “What the fuck do you think you’re…”

“The sun!” he cut the man off in a gasp, unable to manage the shout he wanted, “She can’t—the sun…”

“Percy…what are you..?” Pike whispered before her eyes fell on Vex. 

The small sound of sizzling had his heart twisting as he tried to force his eyes open.

The tips of her fingers, left uncovered by the dark material of his bloodied coat, were smoldering slightly in the sunlight. 

Almost instantly, Vax adjusted his sister in his arms, working hard to cover any area of exposed skin to protect it from the sun. 

Keyleth had gone pale, her eyes darting between Percy on the ground and Vex, obscured by the dirty material of his coat, hopefully putting the pieces of a horrible puzzle together. 

Percy couldn’t stay awake for it, though. The sudden movement didn’t bode well with his blood loss, and before he could manage to say any more, stars flashed in his vision, before he collapsed into the soft green grass. 

And darkness embraced him once more.

For the longest time in his life, his nightmares were of screams. Memories of that horrible night replayed over and over again, reminding him of the goal that he’d burned into his soul, of the hold hatred had on him. Since the Briarwoods had been destroyed, though, it had seemed a mercy that those dreams had slowed. Occasionally, their faces would flash in his mind, accompanied by the echoing screams of his family, but he could usher them away with the slight spark of hope. With the knowledge that now they were no more of a nightmare than the monsters under his bed from when he was a child. It did nothing to lessen the still-lingering pain of his grief, but it was a way he’d learned to keep them from having power over him. Maybe he was deluding himself. Maybe he was protecting himself. 

It didn’t matter now. 

All he could see was darkness. 

He drifted in it, slowly and silently. It wasn’t the same as the haze of Orthax’s smoke, or the way his nightmares would remind him of the chill of the dungeons beneath the castle. 

No…this was oblivion. 

It intrigued him. 

It was almost peaceful. 

He took a step forward, unsure of why he felt compelled to wander, until he froze. 

The scent of blood hit him faster than it ever had. The step he had taken had led him into a deep puddle of it, the thick fluid soaking into his clothing as he found himself falling into it. He choked, trying to get back up to his feet, finding that the blood was up to his hips, and rising steadily, threatening to drown him at any second. 

That was when he heard the laughter. 

It was familiar, striking through his veins instantly.

It was the same as it had been when he’d been a frightened teenager, still reeling after the terrible death of his family. It was the same laughter that had echoed in his ears when he’d screamed and begged for the questions and the pain to stop. It was the same laughter that had haunted his dreams for years since that horrible night. 

He couldn’t see her, but as the blood rose around his neck, he could feel the doctor’s eyes on him. Almost as if she were all around him, mocking him. 

And then the screaming started. 

They were nightmarish, echoing and resounding in such a way that he couldn’t single them out, but he could recognize the sounds of his friends' voices among them, intermingling with the too-familiar screams of his family. The sounds tore at him as the blood continued to rise, the laughter echoing in his ears, along with the screams, making him feel hopeless and helpless. 

“You can’t save them.”

The sound of Ripley’s voice was the last thing he heard before the blood rose above his head, and he drowned in darkness, his lungs screaming for air as the sounds of his friends’ and family’s agony resounded in his skull.

He was drowning.

No. 

This wasn’t right. 

This wasn’t right.

This wasn’t right. 

Just as he thought he wouldn’t be able to breathe any longer, he heard that terrible gasping noise. 

The sound of Vex choking on her own blood. 

It was the worst sound he’d ever heard in his life, each harrowing breath cutting into his heart, clear even though he was drowning in it. Above it all, he could still hear Ripley’s cruel laughter, resounding through the blood that threatened to consume him entirely, her mocking message all the more clear.

“You can’t save them.”

No. 

No.

No!

“No!”

His eyes flew open, and his body was pulled upward as if pulled by a string, his lungs feeling devoid of air as he tried to grapple with his surroundings. Panic was in his blood as he blindly fumbled at the world around him, nearly falling to the ground in the process. 

“Percy!” a familiar voice cried, “Percy, stop! You’re safe! You’re safe!”

Keyleth?

That was when he registered the feeling of a mattress beneath him. He opened his eyes, and though he was without his glasses, he could just make out the familiar layout of his room. 

Whitestone. 

They were back in Whitestone. 

“Vex…” he panted, “Where’s Vex?”

Keyleth’s blurred form appeared in front of him, her hands finding his. 

“She’s safe,” she murmured, trying desperately to calm down, “She’s safe. Pike and Vax are with her…”

He wished that it could have calmed him down, but it did nothing but make him all the more frightened. They needed to know. They needed to know what had happened. They needed to know so they could help her. 

“You don’t understand,” he panted, suddenly desperate to find her, suddenly desperate to make them realize what had happened, “You don’t understand…Ripley…”

“Ripley did something to her to turn her into a Vampire…or something like that,” Keyleth nodded, her voice gentle, “Percy…we know.”

“We put two and two together fairly quickly,” Scanlan’s voice sounded from the other side of the room, and Percy turned to see his characteristic purple blur sitting on a side chair, “Your freakout over the sun helped.”

He only felt an ounce of relief at that, but it didn’t last long. It didn’t change the fact that Ripley had a way of stalking them. It didn’t change the fact that she had so cruelly torn Vex apart before him, before bestowing her with a blood curse. It didn’t change the fact that the doctor was after the Vestiges of Divergence. 

It didn’t change the fact that they were still very much in danger. 

His hand clumsily shot out, grappling at his bedside table, looking for his scratched glasses. He was knocking smaller items from the space, but he didn’t care.

He nearly poked his eyes out as quickly as he put his glasses on, Keyleth and Scanlan’s faces swimming into view. Slowly, he tried to push himself out of bed, but was quickly slowed by the two, voicing their blabbered frustrations at his attempts to move. 

“Whoa, Percy,” Scanlan protested, “You lost a shit-ton of blood, man!”

“I need to make sure…” he sighed, trying to get them to understand, trying very hard to stay upright as his feet met the ground, “I have to be sure…”

“She’s okay, Percy,” Keyleth soothed, catching his arm, guiding him to sit back down on the bed. Her eyes were full of understanding as she helped him, somehow managing to calm him just a little bit as he sat back down reluctantly, “I promise you…she’s okay. She’s safe.”

“She needs blood,” he murmured, shaking his head, trying to muster the strength to get to his feet again, “She’s going to need–”

“We took care of that,” Scanlan assured him, standing at the foot of the bed, “Vax gave her some of his, and Trinket went on a hunt for her. Grog’s scouting out some butchers’ shops for more. She’s out of danger.”

He wished that it could have given him some kind of relief, but it didn’t. He needed to see her. He needed to be sure of it for himself.

Trying to stand again felt like he was attempting to run around the castle’s perimeter, and he could just barely make out Keyleth’s protests over the ringing in his ears; still, he tried to rise to his feet all the same. He didn’t know what the goal was, as he attempted to take a shaky step forward. He knew he wanted to check on Vex, but he certainly didn’t want to intrude on her space if that wasn’t what she needed. All he knew was that he needed to move. He couldn’t just sit there uselessly. 

Scanlan, apparently, was having none of it, jumping up from his seat and standing in his way, “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”

He sighed, “I can’t sit here uselessly.”

“You’re not going anywhere until you’ve had something to eat.”

He turned to see Pike standing in the doorway of the room, her face drawn in concern. She was holding a tray in her hands with a bowl of steaming soup on it, as well as a cup of tea. She placed the tray on the nearby desk and crossed her arms, looking him up and down with that worried expression that reminded him so much of his mother.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” he brushed the question off, “How’s–”

“She’s resting now,” Pike knew immediately what he was going to ask, offering him a small smile, “You both got very lucky.”

“Thank the gods we found you in time,” Keyleth sighed, leaning against the wall. “Pike said you both had lost so much blood…we could have lost you both.”

The image of Vex, her throat cut, pale, and gasping on the stone floor of that cell, appeared in his mind. He grimaced and pushed it away, renewing his determination to be sure that she was safe. 

“But…” he murmured, “She’s okay?”

Pike shrugged, “About as okay as you can be after…” she trailed off, “I’m gonna need you to fill in some of the blanks, Percy. She couldn’t tell us much.”

“Can’t this wait?” he sighed, “I just want to–”

“She’s sleeping now, Percy,” Scanlan interjected, not unkindly, “Vax and Trinket are with her. Grog’s trying to find more blood for her. She’s going to be okay.”

“You need to eat something,” Keyleth nodded at the soup Pike had brought, “Otherwise, we could be at risk of losing you again.”

He sighed. It felt as if every muscle in his body was screaming at him to find Vex, to be sure that she was safe. To see it for himself. But Vax and Trinket were with her. They would rather die a thousand deaths before letting any harm come to her. 

He didn’t want to agree with them, but he knew that they wouldn’t let up on this. 

So, reluctantly, he sighed and sat back down on the bed. 

“Fine.”

The soup that Pike had brought up was a hearty stew with vegetables and venison, a nice comfort meal, as well as some white toast to dredge up the broth. Though he truly wasn’t all that hungry, he swallowed his pride and, at the very least, tried to calm their worries.  He didn’t like the way the others seemed to stare at him while he ate, but he knew they had their questions. He doubted they were able to put the whole picture together, given what they’d walked into at that horrible keep. 

“Stop staring,” he said finally, finishing the majority of the soup and not meeting their eyes, “Ask your questions.”

“What?” Keyleth’s eyes went wide. “What do you mean?”

“You have questions, don’t you?” he murmured quietly, finally looking at them, “I doubt Vex and I were able to say much.”

“Well…” Keyleth sighed, shaking her head, “We have pieces of it…but not the whole.”

“We just know that Ripley was able to make Vex,” Scanlan shrugged, “Well…y’know.”

He nodded, swallowing hard as the scene presented itself in his head again. He could still so clearly see the way Vex had choked and gasped as her blood was drained from her. 

“I’m back!”

His mind snapped from the terrible memories by the sound of Grog’s voice, his shouted announcement echoing through the hallways. 

Pike stuck her head out of the door, “We’re in here, buddies!”

The sound of Grog’s heavy footsteps quickly grew louder, and the man quickly stepped into the room. Percy flinched at the sight of blood on the man’s hands, though the half-giant wasn’t bothered by it in the slightest.

“How’d it go?” Pike asked.

Grog shrugged, “I mean…the meat-man from down the street thought I was weird for wanting blood from him…but he didn’t mind. Vex is still out, though, so Vax just had them store it for her.”

A pang of bitterness rose in Percy’s throat at the thought of Vex having to live off the refuse from butchers’ shops and drained blood from hunts for the rest of her life. He knew she was horrified by the idea of drinking blood from other people, and wouldn’t want to do anything of the sort. 

But, at her core, Vex was a survivor. 

She was a huntress of the highest caliber.

She was the strongest person he knew. 

She would make it. 

Grog’s rusty eyes fell on Percy, a frown settling over his features. “You’re awake.”

“I am,” Percy nodded wearily, “Good observation.”

“So, uh,” Grog blinked at him with a shrug, “You okay?”

“I’ve been better,” he murmured drily, offering the half-giant a wary smile.

They were all silent for a moment; the only sound was the small clock he had on his bedside table, ticking rhythmically. He didn’t want to answer their questions unless they asked him directly, so he let them marinate on them for a moment. All the while, he worked to gather his thoughts, doing his best to remove himself from the shame and anguish he’d felt in those terrible moments. 

It could have been only a few seconds, or it could have been an hour before the silence was finally broken. 

“Anyway,” Scanlan sighed, “Can you fill us in…maybe? On what happened?”

With a heavy sigh, he told them. 

He told them of the dark cell. 

He told them of Ripley. 

He told them of the blade cutting into Vex’s throat. 

He told them of the blood, spreading across the stone floor too quickly. 

He told them of the syringe and the way Ripley had watched while Vex screamed in pain until the transformation was complete. 

He told them of Vex’s pain and how she had tried to stay away from him because she didn’t want to hurt him. 

And then he told them of the choice he’d made. 

The only choice he could make. 

When he was done, they all looked sullen and shocked, as if it was what they’d been expecting, and yet, somehow worse. 

“Well…” Scanlan sighed after a moment of silence, “Shit.”

Keyleth nodded wordlessly.

“Just when I thought the bitch couldn’t be any more evil,” Pike shook her head, “ ...Fuck.”

“So…we kill ‘er when we see her next,” Grog nodded, anger flashing in his eyes.

“Oh yeah,” Pike agreed, “It’s on sight.”

“Then we’re in agreement,” Percy murmured, staring at the floor. 

He could never forgive anyone who harmed anyone on the team, especially Vex’ahlia. Ripley had already done more harm to him than a single person deserved, regardless of how he viewed himself, but harm to her…that was beyond any kind of redemption in his eyes. 

The next time he saw Ripley, he’d be sure she could never harm anyone ever again. 

“So…she’s watching,” Keyleth sighed in defeat, “She’s been tracking us, perhaps since Vasselheim.”

“Yes,” Percy nodded, “I suspect she has a sending stone or some other means of watching us, but she’s been tracking our every move in our hunt for the Vestiges.”

Grog looked up, his eyes surveying the ceiling as if he were expecting to find the doctor in the rafters, “If you’re watchin’, Ripley, FUCK YOU!!”

That coaxed a small nervous laugh from everyone in the room, but Percy’s mind was with Vex again. 

“So…” he whispered, “She’s…healed? In a sense?”

Pike hesitated, “Well…yes.”

“But?” Scanlan murmured, his eyes searching Pike’s eyes, “I feel like there’s a ‘but’ coming.”

Percy’s stomach twisted uncomfortably at the thought, but he knew that it was likely there was more.

“I…” Pike whispered, “She’s healed… but not by me.”

“What…What do you mean?” Keyleth breathed, her eyes wide with concern. 

Pike hesitated, her eyes tracing the floor, and Percy could remember the words he’d heard her speak within that horrible cell. The panicked words that Vex’s soul hadn’t been able to respond despite her attempts to heal her. 

“I mean, Sylas could heal himself, remember?” Pike nodded, “He was basically impervious to most injuries unless there was something holy about them…or…or y’know, Keyleth’s sunlight.”

There was another moment of silence as a terrible possibility occurred to Percy. 

“You mean…” Keyleth whispered, “You can’t heal her because…?”

“Because her body and soul won’t respond to me,” Pike breathed, “It will reject almost anything given to her holy.”

“Well,” Grog suggested, his eyes wide, “Is there any way we can…I dunno? Heal her?”

“There’s…nothing to heal, buddies,” Pike’s voice was defeated as she stared at the ground, “It’s…like…it’s part of her now. I can’t change that.” 

It wasn’t a shocking statement…but that didn’t stop regret from settling over him. 

He hadn’t been able to stop it. 

He should have been able to help her. To stop Ripley from ever allowing her cruelty near the members of their team, but it had still happened. 

“I guess,” Pike sighed after a moment, “...that we can help her…acclimate to this, maybe find ways to help her walk in the sun. Maybe we can make sure she doesn’t go hungry…but as of right now…I don’t have any ideas.”

They were all silent for another moment, the painful reality of the new normal settling over them like smoke.

Pike looked up at him with a small smile, “You saved her life, you know. Any longer without any blood, and she could’ve…”

“She shouldn’t have needed blood at all,” Percy sighed with a shake of his head, “Ripley shouldn’t have been allowed to…”

He trailed off, regret seeping into his blood as the sound of Vex’s gasping entered his mind again. 

Ripley had done this. 

Ripley had hurt someone he cared very much for. 

“The next time we see Doctor Anna Ripley,” he murmured finally, looking at all of them seriously, “She dies.”

They didn’t even hesitate to nod in agreement. 

After a moment, they left him alone, and he was grateful for the opportunity to get himself in order. His clothes that he’d been wearing when they’d been taken had been taken for laundry, his coat needing a good soak and scrub before he could wear it again. He settled for his usual casual trousers, shirt, and vest, skipping the ascot as his mind ran wild. He paced his room for a while, wanting to work on something to keep his mind occupied, but unable to think of any project that could distract him from this. 

Vex was in his every thought. 

He had always been reminded of the sunlight by her…before he’d even realized he’d had some sort of care for her. 

She was incredibly bright, casting light on darkness wherever she went, uncompromising, unyielding, and constant. She had been the first spark of change and a new dawn in his life since she’d found him in that cell all those years ago. She had been the one to cast light on new opportunities and new life. 

To him, she’d embodied everything he’d been taught about the sun since he’d been a small child. 

She was radiant. 

She was kind.

And she brought with her a promise. 

Now…she couldn’t walk in the sun again without being burnt. 

The mere thought of it made him want to scream.

But…Vex never allowed herself to sit in her regret for too long. She would work on a problem until a solution was found. She had never given up on him, would never accept defeat even when things seemed completely hopeless. 

So…he would do what he could to find a solution for her. 

He would never give up on her. 

That was what had led him to his old family chambers, left cordoned off since the Briarwood’s defeat. When they’d freed Whitestone months before, he couldn’t bring himself to look at the place that had once belonged to his parents and siblings, finding most of their belongings untouched while the Briarwood’s pilfered everything else of value. 

There was one object in particular that he was looking for.

One that led him to the old wardrobe that had belonged to his sister Vesper.

The old ache of losing his family rose like a tide within him as he looked over the space that had once belonged to his older sister, but he pushed it back, searching for one object in particular.

Vesper’s old clothes were worn, starched with time, but preserved all the same. His sister had always taken pride in her appearance, making sure not a hair was out of place in all of their public appearances. She had even fussed over him and the others any time they had an event, prattling on about how their dignity mattered. He’d been annoyed at it in those days, but now…what he wouldn’t give to hear it again. 

His breath was stolen from him when he finally found what he was looking for: a midnight blue coat with a wide hood.

He didn’t think much of it as he quickly walked to get it mended and laundered. 

According to the castle seamstress, the coat had held up very well, and on closer inspection, the fabric blocked out the sun perfectly. 

It suited the purpose quickly. 

The laundering process was surprisingly quick, and the mending process even quicker, with only a button replacement and a snag repair necessary, and within two hours, he was carrying the coat back up the stairs before he caught sight of a familiar figure stalking down the hallway towards him, looking none too pleased about it. 

“Vax?” he breathed, hating the way his voice sounded. His heart twisted to see the man away from his sister. 

The man sighed, his dark eyes settling over Percy with barely-contained exhaustion, “Freddie.”

Percy instantly straightened, his mind burgeoning with questions. He immediately wanted to ask about Vex. He wanted to know what he was doing away from her. He wanted to be sure that she was okay…that something hadn’t changed in the last few hours, but he couldn’t bring himself to say anything. 

Vax just stared at him for a moment, and Percy could hear nothing over the pounding of his heart. 

The man had rightfully treated him with nothing but contempt since the sunken tomb, and he couldn’t blame him one bit. After this, he wouldn’t hold anything against Vax if he wanted to keep both himself and his sister away from him. 

Still…he forced himself to speak. 

“Vax…” he whispered, forcing himself to meet the man’s eyes, “I’m so…”

“She’s awake,” Vax cut him off with a heavy sigh.

He could have sworn his heart skipped a beat hearing that. 

“Oh…” he breathed, inhaling sharply, a tempest of relief and “How–”

“She’s asking for you,” Vax’s voice was sharp, not meeting his eyes as he crossed his arms in front of him, “I have half a mind to tell her no…to tell her you’re asleep or some shit, but…”

He paused, inhaling and exhaling sharply, looking as if there were plenty of hateful things she wanted to say in that moment, but holding them back all the same. 

“But…” he sighed finally, meeting his eyes, “You saved her life.”

Percy hated hearing that. He winced and tore his eyes away from Vax. 

“It’s my own damn fault she was hurt anyway,” he shook his head, “Ripley wouldn’t have taken her at all if I hadn’t been–”

“I won’t tell you whether or not I agree,” Vax hissed, cutting him off, “But my sister is still alive, and would like to see you…and threatened to send Trinket after me if I refused…so…”

The man rolled his eyes and held his hand out, gesturing for Percy to go to her, though he didn’t look happy to do so. 

“Don’t keep her waiting,” was all the man said before turning and walking down the stairs.

That was all Percy needed to hear. 

He moved almost automatically as he made his way to her chambers, his heart pounding with every step. His boots suddenly felt horrifically heavy the closer he got to the room, wondering for a moment if Vex would hate him…or what she wanted to say, but he didn’t care. He would take all the beration and anger if it meant he at the very least knew he was alive.  

Trinket was sitting directly outside her door, standing stiffly as if he were some sort of guard dog. His eyes widened when he noticed Percy walking towards him, the bear searching his expression. He huffed slightly as Percy stood before the door, shuffling out of the way reluctantly. 

He swallowed hard as he looked from the bear’s face to the door he was hesitating to knock at, unsure of whether he even had the nerve to walk through. 

Only a moment of contemplation passed before Trinket was nudging at him, urging him to knock, his eyes almost annoyed.

Percy sighed before lifting a hand and knocking softly. 

“Come in.”

Gods, her voice was so quiet, the mere sound of it felt as if his heart was being ripped apart, chamber by chamber. 

Slowly, he opened the door before stepping through and closing it quietly behind him, finding her immediately. 

She was standing opposite the main windows of her bedroom, just outside of the beams of light cast from the sunset beyond her window pane. Her hair was pulled from its braid, a wavy mess that cascaded down her back, her eyes trained on the sunlight with a bone-deep weariness that broke his heart. She was wearing a nightgown, though it was primarily obscured by the covers that she’d pulled from her bed, shrouding herself in the cushiony blanket as if trying to keep the cold out. 

Her hand was outstretched, her fingers just barely brushing against the beams of sunlight, her gaze transfixed on her fingertips as they started to smoke and smolder. 

“Vex!” he breathed, bolting to her side, gently catching her hands in his own and pulling her hands from the sunlight. He inspected the superficial burn just in time before it faded, her newfound healing ability kicking in immediately. “Vex’ahlia…”

“I can’t be in the sun…” she breathed, swallowing hard before holding up her hand for him to see, “It…It doesn’t hurt that much, though.” 

He nodded slowly, “How…how are you feeling?”

She exhaled slowly, looking away from him. Weighing her words carefully.

“Cold,” she whispered, little more than a breath, “I feel…cold.”

It was such a simple complaint, but in her eyes, he could see a completely different kind of pain. 

“Oh, Vex,” he breathed, his heart shattering even more at the mere sight of it in those eyes that he adored so wholly. “I’m so sorry.”

“No,” she shook her head, her hand absent-mindedly going to her new scar at her throat, still staring at the golden beams of sunlight that cascaded into her room, a shade of longing in her eyes, “No, Percy, what happened was not your fault.”

“Be that as it may,” he whispered, hating how weak and useless he felt, “I should have done something.”

“You did,” she murmured without hesitation, still not meeting his eyes, “I’m still here.”

She finally turned to look at him, her eyes tracing over the side of his neck, undoubtedly seeing the scars Sylas and Ripley had left behind, older than the one that had been left behind, barely visible by Pike’s healing. 

Her hand came up and hovered over the shimmering scar that had been left behind that day. The marks of her new sharp teeth permanently indented into his skin.

“I don’t blame you,” she breathed, “There’s no blame in this that rests on your shoulders, Percy.”

He shook his head.

He didn’t think so.

“Believe me,” Vex chuckled slightly, a cold hand gently cupping his face in a gesture that sent his skin buzzing underneath her touch, “I have a sense that Ripley would have gotten what she wanted either way. This…this is on her. Not you.”

She sighed sadly, looking away from him, her eyes fixed on the sun while she ran her fingers over the silvery scar again, almost as if she couldn’t believe that it was there, as if she could rub it away.

“All the same,” he whispered, “I… I should have been able to do something…you didn’t deserve this…I can’t…”

He inhaled and exhaled sharply.

“I promise you, Vex,” he breathed, staring at the ground, meaning every word, “I won’t let her get away with this. Ripley will pay for this.”

To his surprise, she started chuckling. It was light, gentle, almost as if she was barely trying to keep herself afloat. He could see the sadness and the exhaustion in her eyes as she looked at him, but she smiled all the same. 

“As much as I would love to see that woman suffer for all she’s done,” she breathed, “I won’t let her dominate the time we have.” 

She paused, a flicker of hatred in her eyes, shaking her head before meeting his eyes again. 

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” she breathed, catching his hands in hers, “After all she did to you…”

“No,” he whispered, “She hurt you. She wanted–”

“What she wanted was to hurt you,” she breathed, cutting him off,  “...and she succeeded. But I’ll be damned if I let her take up any more of our time. I won’t let her win.”

She squeezed his hands gently, looking up at him with tears in her eyes. 

“I won’t lie and say this isn’t fucking shitty,” she sighed, a tear rolling down her cheeks, her breathing stuttered, “I…I can’t…I still haven’t quite…processed this …but… I won’t let her win.”

She swallowed hard, wiping her tears furiously from her eyes again before taking his hands again, meeting his eyes slowly.

“D-Don’t…” she breathed, choking on her words, not looking at him directly, “Don’t let her win, Percy. Please.”

He gently squeezed her hands, overwhelmed by the sea of emotion that threatened to drown him as he stared into those beautiful eyes. 

Gods, this woman…

What he wouldn’t do for her. 

Slowly and carefully, he nodded.

“Alright,” he breathed, “Alright…”

Vex nodded with a small sigh, trying desperately to swallow back her clear sadness and fear. He knew it was important to her that she maintain an iron facade, a face of strength in the middle of chaos. After meeting her father, something about Vex seemed to make a little bit more sense. He could see how desperate she was to be respected and…and loved. 

Oh, gods, if only she knew how she was worth more than anyone who’d ever looked down on her. 

She was better and stronger in so many different ways. 

She had risen above every challenge effortlessly, risen to every occasion life had put her to, and had done it with the brilliance and grace of a goddess. 

Anyone who’d ever looked down their nose at her was incredibly ignorant and unworthy of even looking at her.

He just wished she could see herself the way he did.

She chuckled humorlessly, trying desperately to change the tone of the conversation. She gestured to the new strand of white that coursed through her dark hair, “Looks like we match, eh?”

“Oh,” he chuckled, managing a small smile for her, running a hand through his own white locks, “I suppose we do.”

After another brief moment of silence, she looked at him, the small flecks of silver in her warm brown eyes a reminder of what had happened. 

“I won’t be offended if you wanted to keep some distance,” she tore her gaze away from him, frowning slightly,  “I’d understand.”

The implication sent a pang of sorrow through him, “What…why?”

“Well,” she shrugged, still not meeting his eyes, “Given your history with vampires…I’d…I’d get it.”

He sighed heavily, catching her hands in his own again. The memories of Sylas and Delilah’s cruelty appeared in his mind, remembering their endless bloodlust, their lack of care for life at all. He shook his head, meeting her eyes finally, “You’re not Sylas Briarwood, Vex’ahlia. You’re you.”

She didn’t seem certain. 

“Vex, please…look at me,” he breathed. 

When she reluctantly met his eyes, he found his breath taken away once more. His ribcage felt as if someone had let thousands of birds and moths free within it as words suddenly ran dry. 

He hadn’t realized just how ardently he’d felt for her. 

He hadn’t realized how strong the unfamiliar and uncomfortable emotions were. 

Gods…

He swallowed back the shock of the realization, focusing on his words, doing all he could to convince her of what he knew to be true.

“Sylas Briarwood…didn’t have a care for life at all,” he breathed, “He was a vile, soulless murderer…you’re nothing like him.”

Vex swallowed hard, looking away from him, chuckling drily, “Pike can’t feel my soul anymore.”

“That doesn’t mean it’s not there,” he whispered, squeezing her hands again, getting her to look at him once more, “You are good… Vex’ahlia. You are brave, kind, and brilliant…and you respect life. You understand the value of it better than anyone I know and…and you’re worth more than anything this damned world has to offer.”

He’d said it so quickly, he almost didn’t realize the weight of them, but as Vex’s eyes widened, he knew he meant every single syllable. 

“I don’t know what we’re going to do now…” he whispered, looking at her with a promise in his eyes, feeling it down to the marrow of his bones,  “But I promise you, you will walk in the sun again.”

For a moment, they just stood there, staring breathlessly at one another, and he felt as if there was some sort of invisible thread between the two of them, a sort of pull he couldn’t quite understand. Her eyes traced his face, and for a moment, he wondered if she could see into his soul. She undoubtedly knew him better than he knew himself…and though normally he wouldn’t be comfortable with someone knowing him so well, he knew he was completely safe with her. 

He exhaled shakily, breaking eye contact for a moment and looking at the coat that he’d slung over his arm, “I…er…have something for you. It’s not much…but it might help.”

“Oh?” she eyed the mass of dark blue fabric curiously.

“I…I think the hood’s big enough for adequate sun protection,” he rambled, holding it up for her to see, “And the sleeves are thick enough…I…if you don’t want it, that’s okay.”

“It’s…” she breathed, taking the coat from him slowly, looking at him with a small smile, “It’s beautiful, Percy…”

“It’s a temporary fix,” he murmured, “But it should help…perhaps just a little bit.”

She grinned as she looked over the garment, surveying it with those keen, appraising eyes. After a moment, she let out a small sound of delight, “And it has spacious pockets!!”

He chuckled at the sight of her smile, smiling despite himself. “It does. Plenty of storage space for anything your heart desires.”

She laughed, another sound that sent his heart reeling inexplicably before looking up at him with a bright smile, “Thank you, darling. I love it.”

He sighed softly, smiling at her. Gods, the smiles he had for her were seemingly endless and effortless. “You’re very welcome, dear.”

Once again, they found themselves staring at one another, another moment where that thread between them hung heavily. He didn’t know what to do or how to react, but for right now, the silence was enough, her hands in his. It was more than enough for him. Every smile of hers, every day he got to bask in the sunlight of her spirit, was a blessing, and he wasn’t worthy of it. 

She opened her mouth to speak after a moment, “I-”

“Oi! You two!”

The sudden sharpness of Vax’s voice forced them both to jump in surprise. They hadn’t heard the man open the door. His face was still sullen and concerned, his arms folded in front of him as he leaned in the doorway.

“Cassandra wants to open a bottle of red and talk about our next move,” he nodded, “We’re meeting in the dining hall in ten minutes. Be there.”

With that, the man turned on his heel, stalking back down the hallway.

“Right,” Percy sighed, looking down after a moment, “…of course.”

“Right,” Vex echoed, tearing her eyes away from him, “I should get…”

“Of course,” he nodded, stepping backward instantly, his heart rattling in his ribcage, “I’ll let you…”

He trailed off, his words aimless, stuttering into nonsense. 

Vex chuckled lightly, holding up the coat for a moment, “Well…thank you for this, darling. I really appreciate it.”

“Of course,” he smiled, something that he’d used to find difficult, but never around her, “Anytime, Vex’ahlia.”

She smiled gently, and he took that as his cue to retreat from the room with a small, awkward wave. She called after him, “I’ll…see you up there, yeah?”

“Y-Yeah,” he stammered, suddenly unsure of why all words and stability seemed to be leaving him at that moment, “I’ll…er…save you a seat.”

She grinned at that, a look that made him feel as if his head and heart were screaming in unison, and he retreated from the room perhaps a little quicker than he should have, closing the door behind him quietly before sinking back against the adjoining wall with a small sigh. 

A small huff sounded to the side of him, and he jumped. He’d forgotten that Trinket had been standing guard. The bear looked him up and down appraisingly, a trait he’d no doubt learned from Vex, an unspoken question in his big eyes that seemed to see right through Percy. 

He sighed heavily, “I’m afraid I’m in deep shit, old boy.”

The bear huffed again in response, and for a moment Percy swore he had rolled his eyes…another thing he’d undoubtedly learned from Vex. 

Percy wished he could laugh; he wished he could find some sort of light in his heart as he stood there, a bundle of tangled and messy emotions that he could barely make sense of hanging on his shoulders. 

After everything that had happened, Vex had every reason in the world not to trust him. She had every reason in the universe to turn him away without a second thought. And yet…she’d taken the time to try and convince him that what had happened somehow wasn’t his fault.  

He couldn’t understand what he’d done to ever deserve such leniency…especially from her. 

But he would never take it for granted. 

The guilt of what had happened still surged within him, but it was intermingled with the feeling of lightness that had come from the way she had held his hands. It was tangled with the way she had smiled at him, mixed with the way she had gently held his face in her hands. It was a beautiful and chaotic puzzle that he couldn’t hope to fully decipher, and yet, he somehow knew it had meant one thing and one thing alone. 

He had fallen for her. 

Completely. 

Ardently. 

Irreversibly. 

He had fallen in love with her. 

And he didn’t know what to do with it.