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As soon as Easthies caught wind of what Luluci was doing, or rather, who she was chasing after, initially, he didn’t say a word. No one apart from he and Vinanna were aware of her past, they’d taken great pains to keep that day from the rest of the Knights, but there was no mistaking the fact that as the smallest of them all, everyone was naturally inclined to be the most protective over her. Instead, he turned and strode into their tent, retrieving a fresh guidance orb and a spare tassel from her uniform that he insisted everyone give him when they joined the Knights. It was no secret that multiple people were outrageously annoyed by the fact the Knights even existed, so he took care to keep something from each of his coworkers so that if they were in danger he’d be able to find them with ease.
He popped the tassel into an orb and strode back out, startling the rest of the Knights who were evidently devising a plan to find her.
“Leave it,” he growled, when the twins made moves to start to follow him. “I’ll find her.”
With that, he took off, and the rest of them slumped against the wall, spent.
When Luluci had joined the Knights, she’d had to spend a few nights away from home as part of a bootcamp. Standard procedure, he had gone through it himself. Easthies had found her unable to sleep on multiple occasions, sitting on the edge of the campsite. She’d been perched on a large rock, staring at the stars, hair loose and free. Her face was marred by a frown and her hands were clenched into fists and resting in her lap.
“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked on the first night, settling next to her.
Luluci hummed, the sound clearly trying to be unbothered. She wasn’t fooling anyone.
“Can I ask why?” At no reply, he continued, a large stone having sunk to the bottom of his stomach at the thought that she was still haunted by that day. “Is it…him?”
It had only been two years, but the scars left on one’s soul from sexual harassment and assault would not be so easily cured.
The younger woman nodded miserably. “I haven’t been able to sleep properly since then,” she confessed, voice rough. “Every time I close my eyes my dreams start out normal, but then they all turn to him and what could have happened. The only time I’m able to sleep is when I’m so physically exhausted that I pass out beyond the point of dreaming.” She stared straight ahead of her, eyebags looking rough.
There was a bout of silence, where her face had collapsed into what Easthies could only call helpless pain.
“Did no one ever get you help?”
“Did anyone ever believe us?”
“We did,” he said quietly.
She gave a harsh laugh. “And you just might be the only ones in the world. Eryenne’s parents didn’t believe her until they found her in her room in the middle of the night. She’s fine now, but has to live with the consequences of what she did and what he did. Me? I’m lucky my parents didn’t cast me out to the streets one winter’s day and leave me to rot. I stuck out the rest of my apprenticeship, but when I moved back in with them afterwards they didn’t--wouldn’t--understand.”
Easthies hummed, and for a moment they both just sat, staring at the steadily lightening sky.
“I apologise it wasn’t offered to you before,” he said finally, “but we do have doctors available to us, people who will be able to help you heal. Did Eryenne ever get that?”
“Yeah, she did. She was able to get the help she needed, and I’m grateful for that.” Luluci pulled one knee up to her chest and rested her cheek on it, looking at Easthies sideways. “Thank you for the offer by the way. I’ll think about it.”
The sky lightened further, and as they heard shuffling in the remaining tents, Luluci nodded and stood. She disappeared into her own, and returned looking like she’d had the best night’s sleep in years.
Easthies found her there every single night for the rest of the training camp. Well, except for the time that she actually slept, but he had a feeling it was the “passing out beyond the point of dreaming” she’d mentioned on the first night.
Easthies remembered the day they’d apprehended her old master with clarity, and prayed he wasn’t too late to prevent her from living her worst day all over again. He flew through the undercity at haste, scanning each alley for either his coworker or the man behind it all, hoping there wasn’t anything happening that would tip the younger woman over the edge that no one would be able to save her from.
“Let’s see how you like being undressed for REAL!” filled his ears from a nearby alley he hadn’t looked down yet, followed by a shocked inhale by who could only be Luluci.
Easthies bristled with alarm and swept around the corner. Principles be damned, he whipped out his pennant to attack without hesitation, only to pause at the sight of a clearly concussed creep doubled over at the feet of the object of his worry. He stepped up to her side, eyeing her carefully, and saw the relief creep into her face as he metered out the punishment.
He wasn’t lying when he said she’d done a fine job. As fine as it was though, he’d lecture her later about not flying off alone after a man who would no doubt be causing her more sleepless nights if his plan had succeeded.
Easthies rubbed the bridge of his nose. Why was it so hard to keep the people he cared about safe nowadays?