Chapter Text
Cantha was something else, Sylvia decided. Nothing she could have ever imagined and so full of wonder, of ideas, creativity.
Humans, she once more realized, were incredibly versatile beings.
Sylvia had spent the past week helping locals, putting bandaids on scraped knees and setting broken bones for people who had come to her. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for her, although she had hoped for a few days off of work..
It was supposed to be a vacation.
She was renting this small room that was just barely bigger than a shoebox and full of jadetech she barely understood and then, after settling in she had helped a lost child find her parents, looked at an elderly lady who had taken a fall and now people came to her almost every day, with all kinds of issues.
It wasn’t what she wanted to do here, but she couldn’t just walk past people in need. It wasn’t right and it wasn't in her nature.
Word had gotten around and people usually waited for her when they needed help or advice. Lots of them actually. Often it was humans, sometimes tengu. Two Sylvari she had seen but only one had come up to her.
She was just here for the sights, the novelty. Sylvia had had a few interesting conversations with her.
The other had been lurking away from everyone else, giving the impression that he didn’t know anyone else who had come here. There was something wrong, she could tell just by looking at him. But whenever she had offered help, he shied away and left.
She certainly hadn’t expected him to stand at her door when she opened it that morning. He jumped, nearly fell over backwards and barely managed to catch himself. The rain had been pouring since the early morning hours and he was drenched. The thought of him waiting here all morning made her clench her jaw.
“Good Morning.” She greeted him, putting on a friendly smile, but he scrambled, ready to run, eyes wide, looking for a way to flee.
Sylvia sighed, hated that he was so jumpy. He was scared, that didn’t take much guessing. Of what, she wasn’t sure.
“You needed something, didn’t you?” she tried, hoping to somehow rope him into conversation, but he was like a frightened animal.
Any movement she made caused him to take more steps backwards, ready to run. And yet, he wanted something, he wouldn’t have come here if he hadn’t. She could sense his corruption, faint, like a soft breeze, but there nonetheless.
This sylvari was a nightmare courtier.
Sylvia didn't differentiate. She helped whoever needed it and she would offer it to him as well, if he let her.
She had had her fair share of humans too scared to ask for help, people embarrassed at what was wrong with them, or plainly too traumatized to make a request. It was something she still didn’t fully understand after nearly three decades of being a mender and a nurse. This was her job, she had seen pretty much everything at this point.
The sylvari only kept staring and she noticed the tremble in his frame. Was he that scared?
“I’m Sylvia.” She introduced herself. “Who are you?”
He shook his head, retreating another step. She hadn’t approached him at all, and the way he swayed as if he was barely standing on his feet made her furrow her brow.
“Let’s get you out of the rain, alright?” she slowly reached for the umbrella next to the door, showing it to him before she slowly opened it.
The wind nearly ripped it out of her hands, but she held it against it, initially planning to leave it on the ground for him to take but with the strong wind it would fly off immediately.
He seemed to realize as well and made a hesitant move towards it. She could feel heat radiating off of him when she was close enough to hand the umbrella over, resisting the urge to feel his forehead. It would only scare him more. The sound accompanying his breath made her bite back a grimace too. It was off, sounded wrong. Almost a wheeze.
This close she could sense his corruption more clearly.
While Sylvia generally left courtiers alone, unless some unsuspecting sapling walked into their territory, interaction was at times, inevitable.
Like right now. She wasn't going to turn him away if he needed help.
He took the umbrella, clinging to it as the wind tried to take it and Sylvia walked backwards to the door of her room.
“You’re running a fever.” She stated. “I can-”
“No.” he rasped. His voice sounded rough, hoarse, quiet. It was off.
“Why did you come here?” She tried to keep her voice as friendly as possible, didn't want to scare him away again. Maybe he did want help after all.
He stood there, drenched in rain, shaking, sick for all she knew and she was right there, with loads of options on how to help and he wouldn’t take it. It was frustrating.
“I’m a mender.” she pressed.
“In a city full of humans?” he glared at her.
“I also work as a nurse.” She shrugged. “The commander invited me-”
He dropped the umbrella and ran. The wind instantly whipped it across the pavement and she only briefly looked at it before she took off after him.
Sylvia was surprised he even managed to run in the condition he was in. He was fast for a few short moments and then gradually lost speed as if all strength had been sapped from him. Still, he obviously knew the city better than her, because after a few turns in tight alleys, she lost his trail in one of the many tunnels.
“Brambles.” She cursed. “Don’t know what bit you in the ass, but if you change your mind I’ll try to help you anyway!”
With that she left to walk back to her rented room, maybe chase down the umbrella – although she was sure it was a lost cause by now– and change into dry clothes.
Maybe if she figured out how to make the holo-display play the theatrical pieces she had heard about, it would take her mind off of the other sylvari, but she knew it wouldn’t help.
When she reached the complex she stayed in, the place was as deserted as it always was.
In fact, the entire weekend no one came to see her. She almost feared someone had spread bad rumors about her when the other sylvari showed up again the following morning.
He was sitting in a corner under the balcony of the room above, barely shielded from the still pouring rain, curled up as far as possible, face hidden from sight
She sighed, staying where she was to not frighten him.
“Hey,” he said, keeping her voice low, but he jumped anyway and lifted his head.
He looked worse than before, white petals wilting, body shaking violently. The way he swayed despite sitting made her grimace. He seemed dizzy.
“You need help.” she insisted.
“From your lot?” he rasped, voice barely audible over the rain, followed by a small cough.
“You came to me.” she shrugged.
“C-coincidence.” he weakly hissed against another cough.
She shook her head and held the door to her room open. “Come on, let me look at you. I’m a mender, this is my job.”
He hesitated long enough for Sylvia to wonder if he was going to move at all, then he slowly pushed himself to shaking legs. He needed two tries to get upright and was only able to walk small steps. She forced her expression to remain neutral at his struggle, resisted the urge to help him inside.
He was still radiating heat when he passed her, and her concern only grew. There was an array of illnesses Sylvari could be ailed by, and with how worse he looked now she wondered how long he had endured this before she met him.
He settled on the closest chair and she let the door fall shut, now being greeted with the silent room and his attempts to hide how bad his breathing sounded.
“What’s your name?” she asked again.
He glared at her for a moment longer, then looked away, out the small window by the door into the pouring rain. “Arthur.”
She nodded, moving closer.
He shied away again, nearly tipping the chair over backwards and she sat down on the floor, hands in his field of vision. “Okay. Let’s talk about this. You wouldn’t have come here if you didn’t want help. So, let me help you.”
He tensed, shook his head and suppressed another cough.
“What are you scared of?” She changed direction.
His eyes widened, not expecting this line of questioning. “I’m a courtier-” he muttered.
“I know.” She shrugged. “It’s hard not to notice. What else scares you about this?”
“You know how to kill,” he continued.
“I do.” she admitted. “I know exactly what all my herbs and potions do because that is my job. The amount matters. Now, I am also trained in sword fighting, and if I have to, I can pack quite the punch.” She smirked at him, trying to ease the tension a little.
His mouth twitched slightly, the beginning of a smile, but he didn’t give in to it.
“...how close are you to the commander?” he asked, struggling against another cough.
“We’re acquaintances. He looks after my children sometimes, and I take his kid sometimes.”
Arthur looked at her then, eyes still wide, this time in surprise. “You have children?”
“They’re adopted.” She laughed.
He seemed to need a moment to wrap his mind around that and Sylvia used it to get back to her feet and grab her satchel from the table behind her. The moment she turned back to him he tensed again, and she placed her satchel in his lap.
He jumped despite seeing her movement, freezing in place.
“Alright.” she said, keeping her tone light. “I’m going to brew tea. Look through it, all vials and tins are labeled, see what tickles your fancy, and I'll explain what it does once I'm done with the tea. Deal?”
He stared at her, baffled. She expectantly tilted her head and he nodded once before she moved into the small kitchen. She could hear him try to suppress more coughs and it made her grimace.
“You know,” she said as she filled the kettle, “I already know you’re sick, there’s no reason for you to hide it.”
Fiddling with the stove she pondered if she would ever have fancy technology like this back in Kryta. If she could have taken one device with her it would have been the laundry machine. It reduced a whole day of labor to a bit over an hour. It was so incredibly useful.
“No.” he hissed through a wheezing breath that made her poke her head back into the main room of the small space.
“No, what?” she asked, watched as he dropped the bag to the floor with as much care as he could muster and nearly doubled over with a cough. Tears had sprung to his eyes and she could imagine the discomfort he was in.
“Don’t answer. Breathe.” she instructed and placed a hand on his back.
She could feel it then, the effects of something that had once ravaged through his body, leaving only destruction behind.
She had felt this twice before, in two other courtiers. Effects of a very specific kind of poison that was certain death for anyone but sylvari, it seemed. There wasn’t much on it, no one knew where it came from, how it was made and no one had found a cure yet either.
He flinched, didn’t expect the sudden contact and he was already trying to get away from it when she noticed her mistake.
Sylvia pulled back and grimaced. “I’m sorry- I didn’t mean to-”
He ran a hand over his eyes, trying to find some sort of composure and struggled to sit upright again. He looked even more exhausted, ready to pass out but he was too stubborn to let his body rest.
“Let me take a look.” She asked, not bothering to mask her concern now. “I won’t do anything unless you agree, alright?”
He shook his head, clearly unable to speak through fighting for air and she ran a hand over her face.
“It’s only going to get worse if this stays untreated.” she told him, startled by the kettle starting to whistle.
Snarling, she rushed into the kitchen to turn off the stove, and hastily filled two mugs with the boiling water. She was grateful for the tiny bags of tea she had gotten as a gift from the teahouse after patching up one of the employees and brought both mugs into the main room.
Arthur was still sitting upright, breathing a bit easier now but Sylvia knew it wasn’t going to be a permanent thing. Whatever was ailing him was bad. She had a good idea of what it could be, but wanted to make sure first.
The ever present tremble also worried her. He hadn’t stopped shaking at all.
Arthur ignored the mug she pushed in his direction and grabbed the one she was holding instead. Slightly confused, she handed it to him and took the one she had given him.
“They’re exactly the same.” she shrugged.
“No.” he hissed hoarsely, one hand clawing his still drenched shirt.
“Yes they are.” she argued and turned around to get to her suitcase. All the clothes she had would be too big for his lithe frame but it was better than sitting in his drenched garments. He looked at her with a frown when she handed him a dark blue nightgown, not quite getting what she wanted from him.
“You’re drenched, hon.” she sighed.
“I don’t care.” he hissed back at her.
“But I do. You’re already sick, there’s no need to make it worse. I’m going to be in the kitchen so you have privacy, alright?”
She wasn’t waiting for him to reply, instead just moved to the kitchen like she had said, and waited.
She could hear him shift and shuffle and after a good five minutes she dared to speak again. “You done?”
The reply was a noncommittal sound, that she interpreted as a yes. His clothes were neatly folded on the ground, and he was donning the nightgown she had given him. The oversized garment made him look even smaller than he was.
She also noticed how incredibly thin and malnourished he looked. This was unusual for sylvari. Nothing she hadn’t seen, but something that wasn’t common.
Sylvia settled back down on her chair, sipping her tea. “So. What do we do now?” she asked.
“Wait.” he hissed at her.
“Sure we can do that. But that’s only going to get worse. It might just be a cold, but I'd like to be sure.” She reached for her satchel and placed it in her lap.
He continued to glare at her and now without the addition of wet clothes on him, she could see how much he struggled to breathe.
Stubborn idiot.
She pulled two vials from her satchel and added a tin to it. Then she pulled her chair closer and tried to ignore the way he flinched away. He clearly didn’t fancy any close contact.
“Give me your hand.” she sighed and reached out.
“Why?” He looked at her hand, seemingly wanting to move but not letting himself give in.
“If you want me to stop, squeeze my hand and I'll stop. Okay?” she explained.
“This is silly.” he rasped.
“No, it’s not. You’re scared and I need you to trust me so I can do this properly.”
He scoffed, but it turned into another violent cough that made him double over. Sylvia clenched her jaw at the sight, remembering why she wasn’t actively working as a mender anymore. She had no issues treating humans, even the odd Norn, Charr or Asura, when necessary– but when it was her people, she couldn’t help but want to wish it all away, to curse whatever thought it necessary to give the very beings whose only purpose was to be literal dragon minions, illnesses and conditions like this.
She didn’t move back, her hand still there as an offer when he managed to look at her again. Something had shifted in his expression and he grabbed her hand with a firm nod.
She mirrored it, relieved to have the hint of trust from him for the moment. He flinched at any movement, but let her do what she needed to.
She asked an array of questions, he tried to answer most of them, and when she was finally done examining him he seemed a bit less scared of her presence.
Still holding one of his hands, she grabbed another vial from her satchel and placed it next to the other two.
“You can’t fix this.” he told her then, eyes glued to the floor.
“I-”
“No.” he interrupted. “It’s…”
“You’ve got a nasty cold, on top of whatever else it is that’s up with your body.”
He froze, eyes wide. “You noticed?”
Sylvia sighed. “You’re showing side effects of a poison that is primarily used by humans for torture. It’s called Death’s Kiss.”
He stared at her, eyes growing wider. “How-”
“I felt the destruction in your body. It’s a cruel poison that can kill any living thing, except for sylvari, presumably. Current theory stands that this is because our bodies have similar properties to humans but work differently.” she explained. It ravages through our bodies and leaves a path of destruction. It doesn’t seem to be lethal for us, but it’s a lifetime of suffering.”
He didn’t seem surprised by any of that information and Sylvia grimaced. “You already know that, huh?”
He nodded, clenching his jaw. “I’ve tried to replicate it, to find a way to cancel out the effects, and I got close to something similar, but it’s not the same. And over here no one knows of it.”
She gave him a humorless smile, then took the three vials and headed into the kitchen. “I’m going to give you something against that cough and the fever, still.”
“And then?”
“I’d like to keep an eye on you for a few days, but If you want to leave I won’t stop you.” she explained when she headed back to him. She had mixed the contents of the three vials into a fourth and he eyed the dark purple liquid suspiciously.
“It’s not tasting good, I can tell you that, but it’ll help.”
He took the vial simply because she had given it to him but he made no move to consume its contents.
“...I have to drink this?” he asked, looking as if she had personally offended him and the tree he had come from.
“No way around that. I may be a healer, but there’s only so much I can do with magic.”
He shook his head, turning the vial in his shaking hands, contemplating whether he could trust her or not.
“I can put sugar into it to mask the taste.” she suggested, but he shook his head.
“That’s not it.”
Sylvia gave him a small smile. “I know my words won’t help much, but this is safe. Side effects may include nausea and a headache, but that’s about it.”
His mouth twitched but he refused to open the vial. “...I was poisoned like that.” he explained to her. “I was unconscious… that’s how they got to me. I can’t drink this.”
She sighed, trying to find a different solution. “None of the ingredients in this are strong enough to kill you.”
He scoffed, immediately followed by a cough. “I’m not worried about death.”
She felt a chill run through her. “You’re worried about suffering.”
He tensed, eyes back on the floor.
“You’re scared.” she muttered. “That’s okay. What was done to you was horrible, and you’re still suffering the effects. You know they won’t go away, you have all the reason to be scared of some random lady giving you potions.”
He clenched his hands around the vial. “...I know if you wanted to poison and torture me you’d have had ample time to do so… the tea was safe. You drank it too. But this?”
“No point in drinking medicine when you aren’t sick.” she shrugged. “Only going to have side effects. I would do it though, to show you it's safe.”
She reached out her hand to take the vial and he handed it to her without a second thought. She opened it, took a sip from it and grimaced at the taste. She then handed it back to him, and grabbed her tea to get the foul taste out of her mouth.
“We can now wait a few hours to prove that this doesn't do anything bad or-” she stopped when he lifted the vial, carefully smelling the contents. The scent wasn’t bad, Sylvia thought. Only the taste.
Arthur looked at her again, uncertainty in his eyes. “All of it?”
“All of it. You don’t have to do that at once though.”
He surprised her then, chugging the liquid in a few gulps, face growing more and more distressed at the taste until the vial was empty.
He lunged for the cup of tea immediately after and she smiled at him. “I’m going to order food. What do you want to eat?”
He looked at her over the rim of his mug, muttering into it, “What?”
“I’m ordering food for us.” She sighed. She had recently found out these nice little holographic displays were useful for a lot of things, on top of ordering food directly from a vendor and having someone deliver it.
“I don’t need anything.”
“I’ll pay for it.” She sighed, unlatched the display from its place near the door and handed it to him. He continued to frown at her, but navigated the device's layout as if he did it all the time.
It was clear he had been here for quite a while.
After a few minutes he had added two items and handed the display back to her. “Happy?”
“Very.” She smirked.
Their food arrived half an hour later, and Sylvia was a little surprised he had only ordered rice and a bit of unseasoned fish. They ate in near silence, and Arthur kept looking out the window, possibly trying to beg the rain to stop so he could leave.
“You can stay here for the night, if you want. I can sleep on the floor.” she offered.
“No.” he insisted. “I’m going back as soon as the rain stops.”
Biting back another sigh she picked up his pile of clothes and put the items over the radiator. Another new thing she hadn’t seen prior to being here. Sure, central heating systems weren’t new to her, but they still needed to be manually fired by wood. And a house like hers didn’t have that either. That was more for the palace and big mansions. Having it in such a small space was quite innovative, the thoughts.
He watched her like a hawk until she sat down on the bed in the corner of the room and enabled the display again to finally figure out how to watch anything on it.
She tapped through pages upon pages of things she didn’t understand and sighed in frustration eventually. Maybe she was just going to get back to the mittens she was knitting for Susan.
“You need to tell it what you’re looking for.” Arthur muttered from the chair he still hadn’t moved away from.
“I don’t even know what I am looking for. Someone told me I can watch theaters on it- how?”
He slowly stood, the sway in his step still heavy and she was ready to catch him, but he made it over to her without falling. He sat down on the bed, hand extended expectantly for her to hand the device over.
“What do you want to watch?”
“I’d settle for anything now. I heard they made one of the Goldclaw novels into a drama?”
He gave her a confused frown but managed to pull what she had requested onto the display. They both watched several minutes of it before Sylvia noticed that he was drifting off into sleep. He seemed to finally trust her enough to let his guard down. She didn’t move until halfway through the piece, then she pulled the blanket over him and continued to watch the display.
Eventually the rain stopped and she decided to let him sleep. He obviously needed the rest, and she just lay down for the night as well, waiting for sleep to take her.