Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The Resistance had infuriated the Castle of the Crystal. After what felt like trine of planning, they finally came up with a plan. A plan that worked like a charm.

Rian had managed to sneak away from the heat of the battle. While fighting the Skeksis was one of the reasons he was at the castle, there was a bigger, more important reason why he was there. He knew she was there. He just had to find her.

The sounds of battle faded as he went deeper into the castle. He had no reason to worry about being caught since all the Skeksis were busy fighting off the sudden attack on their castle, but he still tried to keep quiet, just in case.

Still no sign of her. He began to grow desperate, running through the castle halls, clinging tight to his sword. He hated to admit it, but he was beginning to lose hope, and he was beginning to think that Deet wasn’t there, and that the feeling he felt earlier was just false hope. Then he heard it.

A faint whimper, coming from his right. It was almost too quiet for his ears to pick up. But due to the silence in the deep hallways of the castle, he heard it plain as day. He quickly followed the noise, leading him into the Skeksis Laboratory.

He almost didn’t recognize the lab. It had been a while since he and Gurjin snuck into the lab to steal Mira’s essence, but once he saw the shaft where the crystal was being kept, all the memories came flooding back.

He didn’t have time to think for long. There it was again. Another whimper, more faint than the last one. He turned towards the source of the noise. A Gelfling was trapped in one of the lab’s cages. The Gelfling was laying face down on the floor, but Rian recognized who it was. It was hard to mistake all of that flyaway white hair.

The keys to the cages were laying on a nearby table. Rian grabbed them and unlocked the cage, running over to Deet once he got the door open. He gently hauled her up into a sitting position, so that she was leaning against the wall.

Rian ran his fingers through Deet’s hair. All of her little braids and ponytails had been removed, and was an unkempt, dirty mess, full of stubborn knots and tangles. However, her hair wasn’t the worst part.

In the faint light, Rian could pick out the details in her face. Her face was dirty, covered in several thin scratches. There was a deep gash above her right eyebrow, almost hidden under her hair. One of her eyes were bruised, akin to a black eye. Her lips were also covered in scratches, one of the cuts still bleeding, the blood running down her chin, dripping onto the floor. Burn marks littered her arms and hands, and her dress was tattered and torn. Her legs had deep cuts on her shins, which were crudely stitched shut, most likely by the Scientist to prevent her from bleeding out.

Rian placed his hand on Deet’s shoulder to try and shake her out of her unconsciousness, but he paused when he felt a wet substance on the back of her shoulder. He pulled his hand away to find a shiny, slick pink substance on his fingers.

He felt his eyes go wide. Rian gently leaned Deet’s body forward. He already knew what he would find, but he couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped from his mouth.

Just above her wings were four pinprick marks. Another set of marks were on her other shoulder, both sets still bleeding slowly.

Rian felt his anger rise. Knowing that the Skeksis had forcefully strapped her to the draining chair to have her essence drained from her by the crystal only made him more resentful to the creatures he once called lords. Rian’s thoughts shifted again. This time, it was the time when he was rescued by Naia and Gurjin from the Chamberlain’s carriage. While the group sat by the fire Kylan had made, Gurjin explained what the Skeksis did to him, including that he was “drained” multiple times to make him less defiant. And the fact that Deet’s wounds were still bleeding, Rian came to the conclusion that she had undergone the same treatment.

Rian stood up. He didn’t want to leave Deet in the cage, but she most likely couldn’t carry her own weight, and Rian couldn’t carry her. He’d need both of his hands free in case he ran into a foe, and he didn’t want Deet to get recaptured. He gently ran his fingers through her hair again. “I’ll be back, love.” He whispered to her. He was unsure if she could hear him, but he didn’t want her to feel alone, or forgotten.

He turned to leave, but something grabbed his wrist, preventing him from moving. “No, p-please. D-Don’t leave me.”

Rian turned around. Deet was clutching his wrist tightly, her dark brown eyes swimming with tears. “Don’t leave me d-down here alone.” She said shakily. Her voice was raw and jagged, like someone had tried and failed to saw out her vocal cords.

“Deet!” Rian dropped to his knees to wrap Deet in a tight hug, ignoring the blood on the back of her dress and Deet’s tears that were dripping onto his armor. He pulled away, cupping her face in his hands. His excitement and relief were quickly replaced with previous anger once his eyes scanned over the wounds on her face. He cupped her chin, wiping away the streak of blood that dripped from her lip with his thumb.

“Deet.” Rian’s voice was calm, but there was restrained anger in his tone. “Tell me. Who did this to you?”

“T-They all did.” Her voice was shaky, and tears began to spill from her eyes. “All of them. The Skeksis.”

Rian’s expression was emotionless, but there was anger in his eyes. Deet could see it behind the pale blue of his eyes. The eyes that were normally full of love, now full of resentment.

Rian stood up. “I’m sorry. But there’s something I need to do.” He turned and made his way to the cage’s door.

“W-What? No!” Deet tried to stand, but she wasn’t able to hold herself up. She fell back down on her knees with a cry. “Rian! Please! D-Don’t leave me down here! It’s s-so cold…and lonely…”

“Deet, I know. I don’t want to leave you here either. But the Resistance is currently locked in a battle with the Skeksis, and I need to help them. I promise you once the battle is over, I’ll come and get you. Win or lose.”

“You p-promise?” Deet asked.

“I promise.” Rian nodded. “I promise, love.”

Deet smiled weakly. It was the first time she smiled in a long time, and she welcomed it.

“Okay. Please hurry back. I’ll be waiting right here.”

Chapter Text

“Gelfling!”

A loud bang. The Scientist had struck the bars of her cage, which startled Deet. She woke up with a gasp, pressing her back against the wall behind her.

“Get up, Gelfling!” SkekTek hit the bars again. Deet’s hands flew to her ears, desperate to block out the sound that made her ears ring.

SkekTek grabbed the keys from the nearby table, and unlocked Deet’s cage. “Come. To the Crystal with you.”

With a deep breath, Deet struggled to stand up. She struggled to carry her own weight, even though she was much lighter than before. Plus the pain that came from standing didn’t help much. But with a lot of effort, she was able to stand, leaning against the wall to help support herself. She exited the cage, and SkekTek immediately grabbed her by the wrist and started to lead her out of the lab.

Deet yelped from the sudden motion. She started to pull away from the Scientist, trying to pull her wrist from his grasp. “Let go of me!”

SkekTek turned to face her, growling quietly. “Keep still! Or otherwise-” The Scientist stopped yelling. Something was off with the gelfling. She smelled...off. “What’s that I smell on you, Gelfling?”

“I haven’t had a bath in days. Naturally, I smell a little bit dirty.”

“No. You smell...like another gelfling.”

Deet felt her eyes widen. “I-I don’t know what you’re t-talking about.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a bad liar, gelfling? Who was down here? If you tell me, you won’t be punished.”

—-
The attack on the Castle was successful, with little casualties on the gelfling. Once the Skeksis retreated, the resistance did as well. They were currently celebrating their victory at Stone-in-the-Wood. Everyone else was having a good time, but Brea noticed that someone was missing.

Rian was standing a good distance away from everyone, pacing back and forth, murmuring to himself.

“Rian? What are you doing over here? The party’s back that way.” Brea asked.

“I left her there. I promised her that I wouldn’t leave her down there.” Rian muttered.

Brea looked at Rian, confused. She looked back at the resistance, taking a mental headcount of all of the gelfling gathered in the square. “Who? I don’t think anyone is missing.”

No response. Rian just continued to pace and mutter to himself.

“Rian? Can you hear me? Rian, snap out of it!” Brea said, snapping her fingers in an attempt to gain Rian’s attention. Luckily it worked, as Rian stopped pacing. He looked at Brea.

“What? Did you need something?”

“Are you alright? You were kind of out of it. You were pacing and muttering to yourself, saying that you “left her there.” Who are you talking about?”

“You heard that?” Rian sighed. “I’ll tell you. But through dreamfast. It’ll be quicker.” Rian added, holding out his hand. Brea quickly pressed her hand against his, allowing herself to fall into the dreamspace.

What she saw hurt her heart. Deet alone in a cage, thin and shivering, littered in cuts and bruises, covered in dirt and her own blood.

“Enough!” Brea yelled, pulling her hand away from Rian, tears streaming down her cheeks. She pressed her hand to her mouth, trying to fight the wave of nausea that had overcome her.

“It’s been three days, Brea. She’s running out of time. We have to go back.”

Brea nodded. “We can’t launch another attack on the castle. It’s too early, the Skeksis will be on guard. Plus we need to allow the injured to heal. I’ll go find Gurjin, Naia, and Kylan. I’m sure they’ll want to help.”

—-
The three were doubtful about Deet being locked in the castle, so they also dreamfasted with Rian. They were also sickened with what they saw. Kylan was shaking, and was about three shades paler than before. Gurjin and Naia were a bit more composed, but you could see the anger in their eyes.

“We’re going to need a plan.” Naia said. “If we just run into the castle, we’ll be overwhelmed.”

“We could always sneak in.” Kylan suggested.

“That could work, but we need a sure plan. Come, let’s head to my house, away from all the noise. I’d like to leave by midday tomorrow.”

—-
Deet yanked at her chains as a desperate attempt to free herself, but to no avail, as usual. Even though the chains were old and worn, she wasn’t strong enough. If she did have her strength, she would have had a chance. She couldn’t even use her wings to help boost herself. They were tightly tied behind her back with thick leather cords. Too tightly. The cords cut into her wings, which caused pain in her shoulders every time she moved.

She wasn’t always locked in the cage in the scientist’s laboratory. Every now and then, the Scientist would chain her up in the crystal chamber. She didn’t know why they placed her in the same room as the crystal. She was no longer infested with the darkening, so there wasn’t a reason for her to be there.

Deet was laying on the floor, curled up to try and keep herself warm. Even though it was spring, the castle’s interior felt colder than winter in the Claw Mountains. But even though she was shivering, the cold stone of the floor felt nice against her feverish skin.

Footsteps. Someone was approaching her. She opened her eyes and lifted her head slightly. The Scientist and the Emperor had entered the chamber.

“I know why you’re here.” Deet whispered. Her throat was dry and sore, so she could barely speak above a whisper. “I won’t tell you anything.”

“That’s not why we’re here.” The Emperor said in response. “At least, not yet. We’re taking you back down to the lab. We’ll continue talking then.”

SkekTek went over to Deet and unlocked the chains, which fell to the floor with a loud clatter. “Don’t bother making a scene.” SkekTek said to her as he started to push her in the direction of the lab.

—-
Deet didn't make a scene. Not then, at least.

It was about halfway to the lab when Deet started to lash out, trying to pull herself free from the Scientist’s grasp.

“Gelfling, I suggest you stop struggling before you do something you’ll regret.” His grip on her wrist tightly, and continued to pull her down the hallway.

Deet didn’t have time to think about her choices or the consequences that they could hold. Instead, her mind was focused on freeing herself. She found her current burst of bravery weird, though. She never had a thought about escaping before, but when the chance to free herself was presented to her, she decided it was a risk she needed to take.

All it took was a couple more yanks before SkekTek’s grip loosened, which allowed Deet to pull her wrist free. Then she ran, leaving the Scientist and Emperor behind.

—-
The journey to the Castle was about half a day trip. The group left at about midday like Rian had asked. It would give them plenty of light during the day, but the suns lad long set by the time the Castle of the Crystal could be seen on the horizon, just like Rian had hoped. The night would give them plenty of cover.

However, rest needed to come first. The journey wasn’t all that easy, and the small group of gelfling quickly agreed to rest their aching muscles before storming the Skeksis for the second time.

They forgoed the idea of a fire, keeping warm with blankets that they had stored in their packs, and they all snacked on various berries that they had picked earlier that day.

“On the west side of the castle, there’s an entrance to the catacombs.” Rian explained to the group. “We can sneak in through there. Then we just have to find the lab.”

“If it isn’t too late, that is.” Gurjin murmured underneath his breath.

Rian felt his spine stiffen. He didn’t want to admit to himself that Deet could’ve been dead by now, either murdered or by natural causes. Rian shook his head. “She’s not dead. She can’t be.”

“I’m sorry Rian, but how can you tell?” Brea asked, tucking the blanket wrapped around her shoulder closer around her. “She looked pretty bad. And it’s been a couple days, so there’s a chance that she could be gone by now.”

“I can’t explain it, but...I can feel her. I can hear her voice. It’s very faint, but it’s there.”

Brea exchanged a glance with Naia, then with a sigh, she stood up, shoving her blanket back into her pack.

“If we are to get this done, I suggest we get started. If Rian’s intuition is right, we need all the time we can get, because Deet doesn’t have much left.”

—-
The entrance to the catacombs was hard to find in that dark. They almost passed over it, but Brea had somehow managed to find it. The catacombs hadn’t changed much. Old arathim webs still covered the walls, despite the arathim moving out long ago.

“We need to get to the lab. That’s where she’s being kept.” Rian said.

“But we can’t just walk into the lab.” Kylan interrupted. “What if the Skeksis are in there?”

“Then we’ll have to play it by ear. Follow me. The lab is this way.”

—-
A dull ache pounded behind her eyes as she slowly started to gain consciousness. With a tired groan, she made an effort to work the stiffness out of her bones, but she couldn’t move her arms. Her wrists were pinned in place. She quickly realized where she was.

She was in the draining chair.

Deet closed her eyes, trying to stir her memory. She didn’t know how she got there, but all of her memories came up blank. All she could remember was running from the Skeksis and the Scientist’s hands clamped around her throat.

“Finally. You’re awake.” The Scientist said, checking Deet’s restraints. “I hope you’re happy, Gelfling. This is the second time this week you’ve ended up in the chair. I think that’s a new record.” He added, chuckling at his own joke.

Deet took a shaky breath, pulling at her restraints. “Please, let me out. This is pointless. We both know that.”

“Every Gelfling has its breaking point. And I’m going to find yours, no matter how long it takes.”

The Scientist pulled a lever, lowering the crystal into view. Deet felt herself shrink into her chair. The marks on her shoulders began to ache under the crystal’s harsh glare.

SkekTek flipped another lever, firing up the machine. Deet’s muscles tensed. The next lever would activate the draining needles, the most unpleasant part of the process.

Deet closed her eyes when she heard the lever being pulled. The needles dug into her shoulders, pain flooding down her back and into her chest. She had to bite her lip to keep from screaming. She had learned the hard way that screaming meant punishment.

She kept her eyes shut, desperately trying to block out the purple glare of the crystal. It wasn’t full-proof, but it kept her mind from scrambling, so she kept doing it.

After what felt like trine, the needles retracted and the machine powered off. Deet relaxed, taking deep breaths to try and calm her shaking.

“Stay here, Gelfling.” The Scientist said. “I’m not done with you yet.”

Deet would normally fire back with a retort, but her mind was muggy and her eyes were beginning to close.

—-
“The lab’s empty.” Gurjin said, peering into the lab. “Come on, we need to be quick before the Skeksis return.”

The group quickly filed into the lab. Kylan opted to stay behind and keep watch at the doorway. He didn’t want to step foot in the lab, so everyone agreed that he could stay behind and keep watch.

“Rian? The cage is empty.” Brea said, pointing to the open cage. “Does that mean she’s somewhere else in the castle?”

Rian shook his head. “She shouldn’t be. I can’t think of where else she could be. She’s in here, but where could-”

“Found her.” Naia interrupted Rian, pointing to the chair Deet was strapped in. “Just in the nick of time too.”

Brea had to stifle a gasp. She remembered the stories Gurjin had told about his experiences with the Skeksis, and she could bear the thought of the same thing happening to Deet.

Rian was at Deet’s side in a second. “Deet? Can you hear me?” He shook her by the shoulder. Nothing. He pressed his fingers against the side of her neck, sighing in relief once he found her heartbeat.

“She’s alive.” Rian said to the others. He turned his attention to the restraints around her wrists and ankles. He gave the right wrist restraint a tug. “How do we get her out of these?”

“I’m sure there’s a key around here somewhere.” Brea said, looking around the lab. “Ah, here it is.”

She grabbed the key off of a nearby table and passed it to Rian, who quickly began to unlock the cuffs. Once they were undone, Rian carefully took Deet into his arms.

“We’re done here. I’ll let you guys lead the way. I got her.

Chapter Text

“I’ll try my best, Rian.” Naia said. “Many of these wounds are deep. They’ll leave scarring.”

“Please, do as much as you can.” Rian said. “I’m sure the scars will fade with time.”

With a sigh, Naia started to heal Deet’s wounds with her vliyaya, starting with Deet’s face. Deet’s wounds had gotten somewhat better between then and now. There were no more scratches on her face, the cuts on her lips had healed, and many of the burns on her arms had healed. But new injuries took their place. There was bruising on her wrists from her chains, the cuts on her legs were looking worse for wear, and there was a nick in her left ear that wasn’t there before.

While Naia was busy with her healing, Brea worked on Deet’s hair, attempting to brush it out. “Her hair is so tangled. I’m going to have to approach this differently.” And by differently, Brea meant pouring water over Deet’s hair to make it easier to work with. After a few more minutes of brushing, Brea had managed to brush out all of Deet’s hair, and had tied it back with a simple braid.

“There we are.” Brea put the brush back in her bag. “Let’s focus on the marks on her back. They’re still bleeding, and they’ll most likely need bandaging. Sit her up, Rian.”

With a nod, Rian hefted Deet into a sitting position, wrapping his arms around her waist to help support her. Once they were settled, Brea started observing the marks, carefully wiping away the blood with a small towel. “Superficial, but deep.” She muttered. “As I suspected. They’ll need bandaging.” Grabbing her pack again, she pulled out a couple rolls of bandages and tore them into small squares. She pressed one of them against Deet’s left shoulder. “Hold that down until the adhesive sticks.”

He did as he was told, holding the bandage in place while Brea worked on bandaging Deet’s other shoulder. “There. Now, the wings.”

Brea started to undo the ties that were tightly wrapped around Deet’s fragile wings. She struggled at bit since the straps were tight, and even a gentle tug would cause Deet to flinch. “Almost done...and there.” She had finished untying the last of the straps, and was now examining Deet’s wings. “Crushed wings.” Brea concluded. “An injury she can heal from, but it’ll keep her grounded for a while.”

—-
The group broke camp at about midday. They needed to get as far away from the Castle as possible, and setting suns had provided the perfect cover.

Once it had gotten too dark for them to continue onwards, they made camp once again. They had a small fire going, mainly for Kylan so he could cook the fish Naia and Gurjin had caught earlier. The fire wasn’t enough to keep everyone warm, so they had brought out the blankets once again.

“Has Deet awaked yet?” Brea asked, looking up from her journal.

Rian shook his head. “Not yet.” He looked down at Deet’s head cradled in his lap, brushing some flyaway strands of hair from her face. “She’s stirred every now and then, but she hasn’t woken up.”

“Well, don’t worry.” Brea said with a smile. “She’ll awake soon enough.”

—-
As Brea had expected, Deet stirred with a quiet groan, and slowly opened her eyes. “Rian?” She whispered. “Where are we?”

“Safe.” Rian simply replied. “How are you feeling?”

“Sore.” Deet said, sitting up with a pained grunt. “And a tad bit cold.”

“Oh, here.” Brea grabbed her pack and pulled out a folded up traveling cloak. “I brought your cloak, as a just in case measure.”

“Thank you, Brea.” Deet smiled, taking the cloak from Brea.

“Here, let me help.” Rian took the cloak and carefully wrapped it around Deet’s shoulders. He fastened the clasps and adjusted the cloak slightly so it fit her shoulders better. “There. Better?”

Deet nodded, a shy smile on her face. She wrapped Rian in a gentle hug, her ears twitching slightly. “You came back.”

Rian returned the hug, nosing her hair. “Of course. I couldn’t leave you there.”

“Thank you, Rian. Thank you.”