Chapter Text
Choking down her sobs, Liv briefly considered shoving her face into the sink full of water. It was a stupid thought she couldn’t stop from forming. Not with everything that had happened recently. How her life had been turned upside down so fast she didn’t know. Between recent events and her emotions, she was exhausted. But she couldn’t stop here. Neither of them could afford it.
She wiped her hands against her skirt and ignored her reflection. When Nyx had told her to leave the city before the signing, she’d told him no and meant it. But a nagging feeling in her gut had had her packing a bag with essentials, just in case. She'd taken it with her that day even though she hadn't gone into work. She had gone back to his apartment to wait for him to come home. Instead the city had started falling around her. She had grabbed it and a few things from his place without hesitation. Now everything she owned was in that car; their clothes, her phone, a modest amount of gil, and a few bathroom things.
Not nearly enough for two people to survive outside of the city on. Provided he actually survived.
Her hands slammed on either side of the sink as her body lurched. No. He was going to be fine. She couldn’t believe anything else. She couldn’t give up on him. She wasn’t giving up on him.
She gulped in several breaths of air, squeezing her eyes shut and wondering if she should move back to the toilet. She couldn’t think about it right now. If she thought about it, she was going to lose all the progress she had made. Grabbing her phone from beside the sink, she called a number she had memorized in the last day. “Shit,” she whispered as it dumped to voice mail again and she hung up after the first word. Hearing Eerie’s voice on a recording was not what she wanted right now.
Liv gathered her few things and shoved them back into her bag. They hadn’t made it far out of the city, most people hadn’t, but there was a fork in the road and she didn’t have time to waste on the wrong direction. However, she still didn’t have an answer of which way to go.
General chatter filled the air as she left the bathroom, the diner not completely full but busy enough. She’d already glanced at the people inside to see if there were any familiar faces. It was a futile effort. Hammerhead was the first stop outside of Insomnia and everyone was coming through the small town. The odds of her recognizing anyone were slim to none.
Moving to the counter, she waited as the tipster finished helping another person before turning to her.
“You sure you don’t want to sit for a bit?” he asked, looking her over.
“Can’t,” she said honestly. “I need to find someone.”
“Not always the best idea to keep moving if you’re looking for someone.”
She knew that but she didn’t have a choice. She could probably get help from someone else, but she wouldn’t trust them to do anything other than look at him and say he was a lost cause. Eyra wouldn’t do that; she would dig in and use everything that she had to help him. She needed that, the stubbornness and love that wouldn’t let her do anything else.
But she had to find Eerie first.
The tipster watched her dig through her purse as he put her order on the counter and she was glad she’d actually remembered they used a different currency out here. She didn’t have a lot of it but hopefully it would be enough to get her to wherever she needed to go.
“You take care of yourself, miss,” he told her after she’d paid.
She nodded, taking the bag and leaving the diner. It had felt familiar when she’d walked in, like the one she was used to in Insomnia, which made sense when she thought about it. Kal was from the Outlands and his diner reflected it. But, as familiar as it was, she hadn’t felt at home like she had at the Cauthess Plate. She was pretty sure it was more a matter of the people and not the location that made it feel like home.
Thinking about that, she hurried across the lot to where she’d parked the car. She’d tried to find shade but there wasn’t any here. It had been a struggle to even leave him in the car. He’d been asleep and it hadn’t been simply her wanting to believe he was only asleep. Shaking fingers had felt for a pulse before she’d left him. She’d been positive she’d felt one but now she wasn’t sure if it had been her own in her finger tips.
Liv stumbled and ran the rest of the way to the car. Her bags nearly slipped out of her hand as she hauled the door open. “Nyx?”
He was still slumped in the seat and he sagged a little further as he lost the support of the door. A ragged noise left him and she shouldn’t have been as relieved as she was to hear it. It was full of pain but it meant he was still alive.
“Sorry,” she murmured. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
His lashes barely parted before they closed again. He tried to say something but she only heard his breathing.
Swallowing hard, Liv’s hand shook as she reached for him. She stopped before touching him, having no idea where she’d even be able to put her hands without hurting him. “I’m sorry,” she whispered again.
If he heard her, he didn’t react. He hadn’t reacted to much on their mad dash out of the city. A few mumbles here and there but never enough to make sense or loud enough for her to make out. She hated that she took comfort in whatever noise he made. The pained ones killed her little by little and she wished she could do something for him. But so long as he was making them, she knew he was alive.
She reached out again, her fingers brushing against his hair. It seemed like the only place she could safely touch now, what with the red marks lashing across so much of his body. “Nyx?” she said softly.
No reaction.
“Nyx, please, I need you to drink something,” she continued.
His eyes cracked open enough to see a slit of blue between his lashes.
Her body ached looking at him. There’d been no time to try to treat him, all of her efforts focused on getting them out of Insomnia. She wished she’d done something now but she wasn’t a medic. What little she could do now wouldn’t be enough for him. But she had his attention and she needed to act.
Rummaging in one of the bags, she pulled out the first bottle her fingers touched. She frowned at it, trying to hear Eerie’s voice in her head. “Blue,” she murmured, slipping it back into the bag. “I want blue.”
She found one on the third pull and quickly popped the lid on it. Cupping the back of Nyx’s head, she gently tipped him back, pressing the bottle to his lips. “Drink,” she urged softly.
His eyes closed and for a moment she thought he didn’t have the strength to even swallow.
Biting her lip, Liv blinked back the tears forming in her eyes. She couldn’t cry yet. Not until they were safe. Once she found Eyra, she would allow herself to break. But not here, not now.
She nearly cried in relief when Nyx’s lips parted and he swallowed the potion she poured into his mouth. “Half now,” she whispered to both of them. “Half in an hour to maximize the effects.”
She thought he slanted a look at her as she pulled the bottle away, replacing the lid and fumbling with her phone to set a timer. She wasn’t sure and she chose to ignore it if he had.
She watched as his tongue swiped across his lower lip, a sigh leaving him. “Sunshine?” he rasped.
“Shh. Don’t speak.”
“Sunshine, listen to me….”
“No, you listen, Nyx Ulric,” she said firmly. “Shut up.”
He definitely gave her a look this time and there was no ignoring it. But it didn’t last, sliding off his face as he sank back into the seat.
Liv didn’t move from her spot, listening to him as all he did was breathe. It sounded like even that was painful to him and she didn’t know what else to give him. She’d gone into the shop first, wanting medicinal items over food, but she’d only been able to buy so much. A few potions and a single elixir were all that she’d managed to afford. She hoped it would be enough but a part of her was sure it wasn’t.
“What are we going to do?” she whispered, mostly to herself as she slumped against the car. “Eerie’s not picking up her phone. I don’t know where to go. You’re…you’re….”
“Everything alright, sugar?”
Jumping at the voice, it took everything in her not to scream. She pressed a hand to her chest as she stared at the woman standing nearby. “W-What?”
The woman pushed the cap back a little on her head, expression apologetic. “Sorry, hun. Didn’t mean to spook ya. Thought ya heard me comin’.”
She hadn’t, completely lost in her own thoughts. “I’m s-sorry.”
“Nothin’ to be sorry for.” She cocked her head, looking Liv over. “Ya alright?”
A short, humourless laugh left Liv. She was anything but alright. “Fine,” she lied. She wasn’t going to spill her guts to a complete stranger. Not today. Not when Nyx’s life was hanging in the balance.
The woman took a step forward before stopping as she got close enough to see in the car. “Holy-What happened to him?” she demanded, closing the distance between them.
Or she tried to. Liv stepped between the stranger and Nyx, screwing up all the courage she had. “He was hurt when Insomnia fell,” she said lowly.
“Sugar, he’s gone way past hurt,” the woman said tightly. “He needs a medic.”
She knew that. She was trying to find one. “I know.”
Green eyes moved over her face. “I know a pair,” she offered. “They ain’t been around here in a little while but I reckon I can figure out where they are if ya want.”
Liv shook her head. “No, that’s okay. I know one. I just have to find her,” she muttered.
“Honey,” the woman said lowly, her voice firm, “ya ain’t alright and neither is he. Ya both need help. I want to help ya.”
“Why?” Liv blurted.
“I don’t know what they tell ya in Crown City but we ain’t that bad out here,” she growled, taking the hat off to smack against her leg. “Ya need help and I’m offerin’ it. That such a foreign concept to city folk?”
Shame flooded her and she tried to stammer out a response but her tongue wouldn’t work.
“Dammit,” the woman muttered, pulling the hat back over her curly hair. “Look, I didn’t mean to lose my temper. Ya ain’t the first to roll through and ya haven’t done anythin’ to warrant that attitude from me. I just want to help.”
Liv’s lower lip quivered. “My name’s Liv,” she offered. “And we really need help.”
“Cindy,” she said, her face softening. “I’ll call the girls up but we should try to move him into the caravan. He ain’t gonna heal sittin’ in the car like that.”
Her stomach lurched. The last time she’d moved Nyx, parts of his skin had been flaking off. His entire left arm was a mass of burns and all of the exposed flesh was cracked and scarred. It laced up his neck and across his face, like the fire that had marked him had come from within. He’d barely had the strength to lean against her as she’d drug him out of the crater he’d been in, stumbling more than walking. She didn’t know if he’d even be able to move now.
“Liv?” Cindy coaxed gently.
“He’s really hurt,” she blurted. “I don’t know if we can move him. He did something stupid and he’s paying for it and I don’t know what to do for him. I gave him half a potion like she said and I’ll give him the other half but I don’t think it’s going to work. Potions aren’t going to heal magic burn out. Will they? I don’t think they will. She never talked about that when she gave me lessons. I don’t know if anything’s going to work. Oh, god, I need to find her before he-”
“Woah, woah, sugar, slow down,” Cindy cut in, grabbing her shoulders to shake her. “Easy there. Breathe.”
Liv clamped her lips together, embarrassed that all of that had come out of her so fast. “I need to find his sister,” she pushed out, forcing herself to stick to those words. “She’s a medic.”
Cindy glanced into the car again. “Huh, he Galahdian?”
She blinked, stunned at the question. “Y-Yes? How did you…?”
“The tattoos,” Cindy dismissed. “And his sister’s a medic?”
Liv nodded.
Cindy stared hard at her. “Eerie. You’re lookin’ for Eerie, ain’t ya?”
Her heart leap into her throat. Cindy knew Eerie? She stuck to nodding when Cindy stared at her.
She let out a slow breath, looking out at the small pitstop. “I don’t know where she is right now, sugar, but I got a damn good idea.”
Liv nearly sobbed in relief. That was the best news she’d had in what felt like weeks.
“But it ain’t gonna do ya any good today,” she continued. “The sun’s startin’ to go down and I ain’t lettin’ ya leave.”
“No. I have to find Eerie!”
“Sugar,” Cindy said with another shake. “The daemons will get ya faster than ya can find her. If I’m right, she’s all the way over in Lestallum and ya ain’t gonna make it there before the sun sets.”
Liv looked into the car. Nyx didn’t have a lot of time but she didn’t want to do something stupid that would see them both getting killed. As much as she hated the thought of waiting, Cindy was right. They had to stay here. “I don’t have money for the caravan,” she whispered.
“Ya’ll let me worry about that,” Cindy said, letting her go. “Friends of Eerie’s are friends of mine. I’ll take care of ya.”
The kindness brought more tears to Liv’s eyes. It was more than she had expected coming out here and right now they needed that more than anything.