Chapter Text
Riz woke up in the hospital.
It didn’t surprise him, as he was in pretty bad shape when he passed out. It wasn’t the worst injury he’d sustained, not like anyone knew about them. He either had Kalina to heal them or he took the energy from someone else. At the current moment, however, neither could be achieved. Kalina was angry at him so he didn’t have his spells. It didn’t help that he collapsed in front of his party who didn’t even know that he was a warlock.
The heart rate monitor jumped when he realized that he was in a hospital. Even if no one knew about his injuries before, he certainly had scars to prove that it happened. The one he was most worried about was the giant blast shaped scar on his chest that had suddenly appeared on him after his first failed mission. He was eleven and had felt more terror and pain in that moment than he had felt or would feel in his life. He had shoved the memory of that instant so far down that he got a migraine whenever he tried to remember. Those times were usually when he was lying in his bed, trying to sleep while thinking about his failures or who he murdered.
Gah, there was the migraine again.
In his haze of pain, he distantly realized that his shirt was on and the only people who probably saw were the doctors or nurses. That did nothing to soothe him. There was still a chance that his party saw. He heard the beeping of the monitor increase, the door open, a few sets of thundering footsteps, and then nothing.
Adaine and Fabian were watching Riz. He didn’t seem to notice that they were sitting next to him as he woke up, freak out, and then pass out again. It was extremely worrying and neither of them knew why. He tried to bring his hand up to his torso a few times but was too weak to do so.
When they had brought him in, the doctors had said that he was suffering extreme dehydration and malnutrition, a concussion, and two slash wounds. They had healed as much as they could with magic, but had informed them that if someone had tried to heal dehydration or malnutrition, it would end with him getting more injured. As such, they would have to keep him at least overnight.
“Fabian,” Adaine whispered. There were doctors in the room. She couldn’t let any of them know what she was about to tell him. Fabian leaned in.
“Do you remember the place that you saw Riz? The forest?” She asked. Fabien nodded. “I’d like you to go back to it once we see Riz going there. Try to be stealthy about it.” He nodded again. As he was answering, she quietly cast Clairvoyance .
Adaine smiled. Fabian smiled back. Adaine would be getting answers soon enough.
When Riz woke up again, it was dark. It was the perfect light level for the person who he had the most complicated feelings about to be at home in. His feelings ranged from hatred to adoration at a metronome pace, only settling on one when speaking to them.
All of that was to say he woke up to Kalina standing next to his bed, watching him sleep.
As he jolted in surprise, he realized he wasn’t in pain. There was no more biting at his stomach, no more dull pain in his head. More than that, the ever-present ache in his joints was gone. The throbbing in his feet after running around in dress shoes wasn’t there anymore. All the pain he’d grown used to living with had disappeared.
“Welcome back to the world of the living, dear,” She said in her horrible voice. Riz scowled. She probably healed all of his injuries so that he would go on more missions more easily.
A thought popped into his head. The thought made him dread the eventual answer. “Kalina…” He trailed off.
“Yes?”
“Did I.. Did I die?” He looked up at her and squinted against the darkness to see her. She always brought the darkness that wouldn’t let him see. He hated it.
With a sickening grin, the archfey smiled and nodded. Riz felt like he was about to vomit. In the back of his mind, he realized that he probably deserved what happened. But next to that thought was the realization that it was Kalina who revived him. That she had more sway in his life than he did.
“Well, you can leave now. I healed you much better than those lowly healers ever could. Now say thank you ,” Kalina commanded. He hated when she did this.
“ Thank you for healing me so expertly, Kalina. I can never hope to repay you for all you’ve done for me .” Riz’s mouth spoke without his permission. Once he had finished his words, he slapped a hand over his mouth and glared at his patron.
Kalina’s grin widened. “Oh I know, sweetie. That’s why you’re getting one more school day and then you’re off with missions. You can say goodbye to your team or whatever, I don’t care. It’ll be the last time you’ll see them for a while.” She paused. “Oh, saying bye would make them suspicious of you. Or should I say more suspicious of you. That Oracle is seeking answers, hon. She’s listening right now, in fact. Toodles!” With those final words, the cat and darkness disappeared.
After a few moments, Riz got out of bed. He carefully removed the IV and nutrient drip from his arm and fixed the sheets on his bed. He was so angry. He needed to do something to fix it. He needed to kill someone.
What he did instead was cast Calm Emotions on himself. He felt the serenity wash over him, releasing the tension that had built up in his shoulders. He let out a breath. He’d dealt with the complete isolation of going on countless missions before but that was before he had an adventuring party.
No, push those feelings down. He couldn’t think about them. If he did, Riz would crumble. If he was thinking about his feelings this easily, he would have to repress them even further. Make them obsolete so he didn’t need them anymore. Or, even better, his party would forget about him in the time it took for him to finish all of the missions Kalina wanted him to do.
So instead of feeling his emotions, he shouted. The word in specific that he screamed was fuck. It was cathartic.
Adaine listened to the conversation that Riz and Kalina shared. This time, she heard the cat. She was terrified of what Riz’s patron had done and said. Not only was she able to make Riz say something but was also making Riz leave them for an extended period of time. As if it couldn’t get more horrifying, when Riz collapsed in front of them, he died. If Kalina was to be believed, this wasn’t the first time either.
She didn’t know what to do. Kalina knew she was listening and yet talked as if she wasn’t. The cat wasn’t a simple foe such as the corn cuties or Johnny Spells, they needed to be strategic. She needed to talk with her party or Arthur.
Elsewhere, somewhere alike to the material plane, a goblin man sat at his own grave. His son had told him horrifying things, things he couldn’t even begin to comprehend his sweet son had done. He didn’t blame his pride and joy. He would never blame him. He blamed his old partner, the Shadow Cat.
After his son’s most recent visit, he wept. He wept for hours about how much his son grew up without him, how he had been convinced to obey his former partner, how he had only admitted his secrets to a dead man. His son had become a monster under the guidance of a monster. Once he was done despairing, he was filled with determination.
The goblin man had to talk to his superiors. He knew there was at least one assignment on the material plane and he needed it.