Work Text:
Everything was going well. Or, as well as it could when a murder of Crows decided to fight a pair of dragons. Kal was zipping about, his lightning sparking across his skin as his magic propelled him around the battlefield while his tattoos glowed a deep, mystifying purple. Queenie was aiding the injured off at Viago's side while Bishop and Rook helped pepper the beasts with shallow cuts. They'd even managed to take the beasts down before the gods showed up.
And then a wave of magic crashed over the area. One moment, Kal was in front of him; the next, he was falling through the air limply. Lucanis barely managed to catch him, even with Spite's help. "Kal! What happened?" He doesn't know, but the growing pit in his stomach isn't helping his nerves. It grows and grows with Kal's silence. All the way to the ground where Lucanis can finally lay his boyfriend down and take a better look at him.
That ethereal purple glow is gone, replaced with the painful red of fresh burns and sickening blackened, slightly cracked skin. That hurts, but they can deal with that once they know what's wrong. "Kal?" Lucanis tries, failing at suppressing the growing panic.
"Why. Won't. Kal. Answer!" Spite demands. Lucanis doesn't know. All he knows is that Kal's unconscious and unresponsive. His brows are furrowed in an expression Lucanis' never seen on his face, and Kal's skin feels hot to the touch. It's hard to see against the angry red burns, but Lucanis swears he sees red in the shape of a hand around Kal's throat.
Spite kneels, noisily examining Kal for himself. "Magic!" Spite hisses. "Magic. Steals Kal! From Us!" Magic? Magic. Like whatever just washed over the area and made Kal teleport. Something cast by the gods, no doubt.
How are they supposed to deal with that? Lucanis's thoughts keep spiraling into the uncomfortable realms of what-ifs, and he's certain he won't be able to explain things for a while. Emmrich. They need to find Emmrich. Emmrich can hear Spite. Spite's simple explanation is all he'll need to start searching.
What if it's not enough? What if he loses Kal like this? They can only keep him alive for so long. If he loses Kal, then what are they supposed to do? Lucanis wouldn't have been able to start healing inside without him. There's no way he'll be able to move on. Spite won't let him hear the end of it if they lose Kal like this.
"Emmrich! Queenie!" Lucanis cries with his emotions threatening to close his throat, "Kal's down! We need help!" It's a miracle either of them heard his plea.
"What happened?" Queenie demands, arriving first and downing a potion so she can get to work on the injuries she can see, while Lucanis keeps a tight hold on Kal. Emmrich and the other two de Rivas rush up behind her. Bishops limping. There's blood on her clothes.
"I— He—" Why won't his words work? Why can't he do this one thing when Kal's done so much for him? He can hear people trying to explain, Emmrich musing, and feel the buzz of magic at the back of his eyes. Why does it hurt to breathe? Why can't he understand the others? Why--
Lucanis stares at his unconscious boyfriend's expression with an ache in his heart and a loathing in his throat. None of this would have happened if he'd killed Ghilan'nain the first time. If he hadn't missed, then the gods wouldn't have appeared while they were fighting dragons and then Kal wouldn't have gotten hurt and ended up in a coma. If Lucanis had been better, faster, a little less of a failure of a crow, then he wouldn't be sitting here wondering if the love of his life was going to wake up again.
"Lucanis?" Rook calls gently. "Are you alright?" Spite begins to stir at the question, unhappy and more than willing to make it everyone else's problem.
"What happened?" Lucanis demands. He knows someone tried to explain it earlier, but he couldn't hear them. Stupid. He can't even gather information right like this.
Rook grabs a chair and sits, his eyes flicking to his brother. "It was the gods. Just as Kal struck Ghilan'nain, just when we thought we had her. Her brother, Elgar'nan, appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Kal by the throat, holding him up like it was nothing. Then he cast a spell, blasting everything away. Everything felt so heavy like we were being held in place by something invisible. Everyone- no, everything was frozen, and all we could do was listen to the god monologue the whole time. Except Kal, he wasn't frozen. I don't know how, maybe because he was just up too close, maybe it was the god's arrogance, or maybe it was his tattoos…but that's just like my brother, isn't it? Doing the most impossible things because he has the strength to do it?" Rook let out a sad sort of chuckle as he looked at Kal; he moved his hand and traced his fingers where the lines of his older brother's tattoos would be if they weren't bandaged.
"You know what's not like him, though?" Rook continued before he looked at Lucanis; something behind the young elf's eyes darkened. "He said, 'Sorry'. A genuine sorry. I watched him mouth it to me when he tried to strike down a God. He said it with a smile, too. Not his usual one, either. It wasn't like any I'd ever seen him do. Then he went full black lightning! For fucks sake, Lucanis, we didn't even know he could go past dark purple!" Rook tensed up, nearly gripping his brother's wrist before letting go. "And I just had to stand there and watch while it happened. Him injuring Elgar'nan, the god growling and doing something to Kal's forehead before dropping him over the cliff. We watched the gods limp away while you caught him. Kal was the strongest of us all, and his sacrifice only managed to mildly injure the gods. What hope do we have of completing this contract?"
Lucanis doesn't know how to respond to that. He and Rook may have a relationship, but Lucanis has never been great at comforting others, let alone the youngest of Viago's little murder. "We can do it," Lucanis states, even though he doesn't feel it right now. "Kal will wake up, and we'll be able to stop the gods." Sure, Emmrich may have stated that Kal's state has something to do with magic, but Kal's a mage. They have several mages here. They'll think of something.
They have to. Lucanis isn't going to live in a world without Kal, no matter how hard he has to try to get him back. "Get. Kal. Back!" Spite agrees.
Lucanis hovers in the background as Kal's siblings watch Emmrich work from the other side of Kal's bed. Magic flows freely in the air, leaving an ache in the back of Lucanis' eyes that he doesn't like but helps to ground him. Spite demands they do something, anything more than pace the infirmary, waiting for a miracle.
"Do something! Bring. Kal. Back!" Spite demands.
"We're trying," Lucanis mutters.
"Not. Enough!" He knows. Mierda. He knows. Nothing's happening. It's been weeks, and they haven't made any progress. Lucanis isn't sure how much longer he can keep at this. Spite grows fussier by the day, and Lucanis' heart hurts more and more every hour. Kal's not waking up. It's been weeks, and Kal's still unconscious.
A frustrated growl slips from his throat. Was that him? Was it Spite? They're not sure.
A hand lands on his shoulder. Lucanis flinches, knife in hand, and swings before he recognizes Viago standing behind him. "This is why I don't like you Dellamortes. No sense and always after my ki-- proteges." There's a heartbeat of indignation before Viago's gaze lands on Kal. Lucanis watches as that hard expression changes to something... Worried? Concerned? He's not entirely sure.
"Aha!" Emmrich states in the silence. "I've got something!"
"What?!" Lucanis demands at the same time as several of the siblings.
"It seems Elgar'nan's put our dear Kalias into a prison in his own mind."
"Yes! Get Kal! Save him! Bring him home!" Spite cheers.
"Spite." Queenie growls. "Shut the actual fuck up. I'm so sick of hearing you complain." A stunned silence overtakes the room.
Uncertainly, Lucanis speaks first. "You... Can hear Spite?"
"A-fucking-parently." Mierda. How many more people are going to start hearing Spite?
Emmrich clears his throat, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. "Well, now that that's sorted, If we could talk about a solution to our problem?" All eyes snap to the necromancer. "I believe we can weaken the magic holding dear Kalias in his own mind, but we're going to need someone to go in and--"
"I'll do it." Lucanis volunteers. "It's only fair after everything he's done for me." Spite growls his agreement. He can feel the eyes boring into him.
"Why are you pretending it's not because you're hopelessly in love with my brother?" Lucanis pointedly avoids looking at any of them as his face heats at Queenie's comment. "You Dellamortes kinda have a weakness for us de Rivas, hmm?"
"I don't think my reasons are really that important right now." Queenie hums judgementally.
"If there are no objections, I think it's best we get working," Emmrich states carefully. "It would be best for Kalias to come out of this as soon as possible."
"Maybe Lucanis should try kissing him. You know. True love's first kiss?" Queenie pauses. "Though... Pretty sure that's not the first kiss between you two, but I digress. It worked in fairy tales, and frankly, I'm out of other ideas."
Emmrich sighs. "There's no need for fairy tales!" He scolds. "I've already worked out a way to break this spell. Lucanis, if you'd come here?" Lucanis nods, going to stand beside Emmrich. "If the rest of you would give us some space?" Kal's siblings grumble about it; Rook hesitantly lets go of his unconscious brother's wrist before moving to gather around one of the other cots. Viago's judging gaze never leaves Lucanis' back.
"What do you need me to do?" Spite manifests on the opposite side of the cot, running his fingers absentmindedly over what he can find of Kal's exposed skin.
"With Spite's help, I believe I can send you into dear Kalias' head to pull him back."
"Help?" Spite askes.
Emmrich smiles. "Yes, Spite. You get to help."
"YES!" Spite cheers.
"Now. I'm going to start casting. Lucanis, so long as you're making contact with Kalias, it should be a simple matter for Spite and me to focus in on the prison and get you into it." Lucanis nods. He may not know what exactly they plan to do, but getting Kal back takes priority.
Lucanis takes a deep breath, readies himself, and looks at Kal's unconscious face. "I'm ready." Emmerich drinks a potion and starts casting. Lucanis, feeling particularly theatrical at the moment, feels the magic wash over him and decides to lean over for a kiss.
The next thing he knows, Lucanis finds himself looking at a ruined battlefield covered in blood and the cries of the dying filling his ears. Something unknown pulls him deeper into the scene, demanding he move. He walks and walks for what seems like hours until he finally finds himself looking down at Kal's bloody body. Those eyes that have always been so confident look at him with boredom, hurt, and distrust. It hurts Lucanis deep down, but that's the least of his worries right now.
"Kal?" His beautiful Kal ignores him, choosing to look anywhere else and mutter something Lucanis thinks might have been 'not again.'
The scene shifts, and just like that, he's in Treviso, watching Kal and his siblings speaking to Viago and a dwarf with greying orange hair. "--which is why you'll be traveling with Tethras." Lucanis looks around. Kal just looks bored.
"Kal!" Lucanis calls, ignoring everything around him and grabbing Kal's wrist. "What's going on? Is this a loop or something?"
Kal just stares at him blankly. "Just leave. I'm not going to follow you." Kal mutters. It hurts worse than getting stabbed. "I refuse to be tricked again."
Tricked? What-- Lucanis feels anger growing where the hurt used to be. Why would the gods hurt his Kal like this? What does he have to do to get his beautiful, confident Kal back?
He needs to get Kal out of here. Kal isn't going to come on his own. Lucanis may not know how long this has been going on for Kal, but he's going to drag him back one way or another. Lucanis takes a page from Kal's picture book and throws the elven man over his shoulder so he can head back to the point in this weird dream that feels like it's calling for him.
Stepping into the right area, Lucanis feels something shift. He blinks, something soft pressing against his face and something else held in his hand. Spite's looking at him curiously. When did he fall asleep at Kal's side? Sitting up, Lucanis rubs at his face with his free hand. He finds his other hand linked with Kal's fingers.
Lucanis looks over at Kal's still sleeping expression, waiting for anything to happen. His boyfriend's eyes crack open, dull and lifeless. He blinks slowly, those uncharacteristically dull eyes flicking over to Lucanis, then Spite, then move to stare at the ceiling.
"Kal?" Lucanis tries.
"What?" Lucanis doesn't have the words to describe the tone his wonderful, beautiful Kal just used or just how it made him hurt. He may have already planned to kill the gods, but now it's personal. Spite growls, echoing his feelings on the matter.
"Mierda," Lucanis mutters under his breath before turning to Kal. "Hey." He tries softly. "Why don't you try sitting up for me?" Those striking eyes stare at him blankly, but he does as asked. Kal slumps forward limply, his once glorious hair a dull white and tangled to the black city itself. He'll have to fix it later; for now, his lovely boyfriend needs help, and Lucanis isn't sure what to do.
He's going to find out, though.
Kal's gaze moves to something off to the side. It's the pile of de Riva's that's been ever-present since this happened. Lucanis freezes momentarily when he sees Viago among their numbers. "What are they doing here?" He tries, voice rough and depressed.
"Your family was worried about you, still is, probably," Lucanis explains. "They'll be ecstatic when they--" Lucanis stops when he notices Rook moving. The multi-colored eyes that mark the boy as one of Viago's crack open and look around the room sleepily before landing on Kal.
They widen, unbelieving, as Rook detangles himself from Queenie's grasp. "Kal!" He calls far too loudly for what Spite informs him is three in the morning. "Kal. You're back!" Bishop grumbles as the next one to wake and find Kal.
"I told you to be sile--" Viago's sentence cuts off as those piercing eyes spy their target. Lucanis watches the man jab Queenie harshly in the side to wake her. "Get up." He demands.
Lucanis doesn't get a chance to be alone with his love for the next several hours. He can't exactly blame the de Riva's.
Lucanis doesn't know what to do. Kal's done nothing but float lifelessly through the lighthouse for days now. Even his siblings are starting to worry about him. Spite's worried and won't shut up about it. He doesn't know what to do, but that's not going to stop him. If Kal's taught him anything, it is that sometimes straightforward recklessness is what you need.
"Kal?" He tries, uncertain of how this is going to go. "Is everything okay? You seem listless."
Kal turns to him, blinking dumbly from his spot in front of that weird aquarium. "Why bother?" Kal states. "None of this is real."
"You don't think you actually escaped from that prison and returned to reality?" Lucanis can feel his heart breaking with every word as he goes to kneel in front of Kal.
"How can you be sure this is truly reality? How can I?" Kal's leveling a gaze at him that makes Lucanis certain that his next words are, quiet possibly, the most important ones he will ever say in his life.
"It's real. You're really here. I promise." Lucanis feels Spite's wings form around them. Spite insists he fixes everything even as Lucanis keeps at it. He moves forward, pressing a soft, loving kiss to his boyfriend's lips. "I know it's hard for you to believe, and I know that you're going to have a hard time believing it, but I'm not going to stop until you do."
Kal searches his eyes, looking for something unknown while Lucanis kneels, waiting for him to make his decision. "I... Want to go to Treviso."
Lucanis gives off an optimistic smile. "Sure. Let me fix your hair, and we can go." Kal nods solemnly, letting Lucanis do whatever he wants with those pretty white locks. Lucanis takes his time to untangle the knee-length hair before braiding it. Spite hums pleasantly in his head as he works.
Lucanis leads Kal through the Treviso eluvian and lets the elven man look around as much as he wants. Those depressed, unbelieving eyes scan the area, looking for something unknown before Kal sighs. "Let's go find Dad." Is it his imagination, or does Kal seem a little more lively? He's not sure, but there's definitely something different in his posture. It's refreshing.
Neither he nor Spite mind following the mostly naked man through the Diamond and straight up to Viago. "Kalias?" Kal doesn't say anything, choosing to stare at Viago for an awkward amount of time before turning on his heels and crashing into Lucanis' chest. Lucanis finds himself in a tight, desperate hug. Spite covers them with his wings.
"You promise this is reality?" Kal mumbles, almost too quiet to hear.
Lucanis hugs back, smiling into the contact. "I do."
Those mismatched eyes look up at him with such different emotions in his eyes than he's seen in a while. "A'ight. I'm not sure I believe it, but I'll try to believe in you."