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They had found themselves in a fight. Just Venatori after Venatori, but he and Rook had it covered. They sliced and cut like a well oiled machine, their backs to each other as they fought tooth and nail against the seemingly endless onset of enemies. Lucanis knew he should feel exhausted from the continuing fight, but he still found himself moving with energy to spare.
Things had been going well, until he heard a cry from behind him. The sound echoing in his ears as he turned around to find Rook laying prone on the ground. An arrow piercing straight through her chest, right where her heart would be. Lucanis found himself unable to move as he watched the ground underneath her turn red with her blood. Her body laying lifeless before him.
His vision tunneled as his heart rate shot up, his hands shaking as he processed what he was looking at.
“Rook.” He silently pleaded as he realized what had happened, feelings of anger filled him as Spite roared in his mind before snatching control of his body. Lucanis was in no position to fight back Spite’s fury, but found himself sharing in the demon's rage. So he let the demon have full reign as he continued to grieve.
Lucanis couldn’t remember the last time he had let Spite rule his body like this, especially not with such anger. The demon practically tore through the Venatori around them, and all Lucanis could think of was why no one was here to help. Why no one was running to Rook. Why it was just the two of them here.
When silence finally filled the space except for his own labored breathing, Lucanis turned back to where Rook still lay. Stepping over cruelly eviscerated bodies of the Venatori who had taken her from him. Spite hadn’t wasted any effort in how he had killed them all. Bodies torn asunder in anger and revenge. The only space not covered in remains was where she laid.
Falling to his knees as he reached Rook, he picked her up in his arms, trying to hold her close for one last time. Her body already going cold in his hands as he curled himself around her lifeless body.
“Please, someone please. Rook needs help.” He pleaded, even though he knew it was too late. His breath hitching as he felt tears trail down his face as he buried it into her hair. He couldn’t lose her, she was the only person who truly cared about him. Her, whose love was unconditional, and was always ready to support him as he healed from his past trauma.
Lucanis could hear Spite grieving alongside him, the other having been just as attached to Rook as he was. He knew Spite understood death, but the demon seemed unwilling to accept that Rook was gone. The spirit crying out that she hadn’t finished reading the new book she had picked up just for him. He wasn’t sure which one of them was feeling her lose worse, but he knew comparing their grief wasn’t healthy. They had both lost the most important person, and that was what was important.
As he squeezed her body closer, he felt his hands lose his grip on her. Rook’s body turning to dust in his hands quicker than he could react, and all he could do was stare down at his empty arms. Her body gone in seconds and blown to the wind, leaving not a trace for him to hold onto.
He had needed more time, he wasn’t ready to let go yet, he wanted to see her face one last time.
That’s when he noticed the ground beneath him changing. Sand and old flagstones appearing beneath him, and the sound of water filling his ears. Looking up he realized he was back in the Ossuary, the cold and damp air filling his lungs as he forgot how to breath.
He couldn’t be back here again.
No.
He was done with this place.
Standing up, he found himself backing up away from the site before him. His back hitting a wall of ice and Zara walked towards him. Blood dripping from her form as she sauntered forwards. To the sides the shadowy forms of Caterina and Illario and his friends stood, their backs turned to him as if scorning him.
“You don’t deserve anything my pet.” The woman hissed “You never deserved her love. You were a worthless waste of a test subject. Did you really think she could love someone as broken as you?” She continued to hiss, coming every closer.
“No. Not real. All fake.” Spite screeched in his head, but Lucanis couldn’t understand him past his own panic.
Lucanis
His heart pounding hard as he spiraled. Knowing he was imagining Rook calling out to him as he lost himself to this nightmare.
“Wake up. All in our head.” Spite called out, his voice barely audible as he could hear only his own blood pounding in his ears.
Lucanis!
He heard it again, but he knew it couldn’t be Rook. She was gone, and he was imagining her voice, even as Zara stopped in front of him. Her hand coming up to leave a trail of blood across his cheek.
“Such a waste you are. As a man, a demon, and a Talon.” Zara whispered into his ear before her body disappeared in a splash of blood. The shadows that had filled the room vanishing, leaving him.
... Lucanis
He knew he was hyperventilating, but he couldn’t seem to remember how to start his breathing exercises. His mind and body filled with adrenaline induced panic, the urge to run singing through him, even though he knew running was useless. He was stuck here, and he would never see anyone again. Not his family, his friends, Rook.
Falling to his knees, he slightly wondered if he deserved to be alone, to be trapped in the Ossuary. What was there to live for, if he could not have her?
Lucanis …
Alone with only her voice to haunt him.
She hadn’t been sure what had woken her up at first as she sat up in bed, bleary-eyed as she scanned the room. There wasn’t anyone in the room that she could see, so she moved to turn to Lucanis.
It was when she caught a look at him that she realized he had been the one to wake her. He was shifting restlessly in his sleep, and she could only think that he was having a nightmare. His lips moving like he was trying to say something, but not a sound leaving him. His covers having been kicked almost down to his feet with all the moving he was doing.
Sitting up fully she turned to him, gently placing her hands against him. She shook him ever so slightly to wake him, but yet he still slept, plagued and trapped by whatever nightmares were haunting him.
“Lucanis.” She called out. She thought about calling out to Spite as well, but she knew that if he had trapped himself, then he had probably taken Spite with him.
Purple energy began glowing from around him, and while that would probably frighten most people, she knew it had to be Spite fighting against Lucanis. Or fighting with him, sometimes it was hard to tell.
“Lucanis!” She yelled in a more desperate tone, gripping him harder as she tried to wake him. Rook could see that he was sweating now, and a pained expression filled his face as he continued to fall prey to his nightmare.
Finally after what seemed like an eternity, his eyes shot open, but instead of his soft brown pupils, they were tinged purple. She felt like she could sigh in relief, because she knew if Spite was able to take hold, it meant he wasn’t as trapped as she had thought they were.
“Spite, where’s Lucanis?” She softly asked, unsure if the demon was effected by Lucanis’s nightmare
“Bad dream. Rook dead. Trapped again. Always trapped.”
“I’m right here Spite, no one has hurt me. It’s ok. Can you please try and bring him out?” She said, as she gently ran a hand up and down Lucanis’s arm, trying to reassure the other.
“Can try, but stubborn. Feels alone. Lost.”
“Please Spite, I need Lucanis.”
The demon gave a small nod before closing his eye’s and slipping back into Lucanis’s mind. She could only wait patiently as the other worked to free the man from his own tangled mind. This wasn’t the first time Lucanis has had a nightmare, but she had never seen it get so bad. If what Spite had said meant anything, then she had an idea about how bad it could have been.
After a few moment Lucanis stirred again, but this time she was met with those beautiful brown eye’s she loved. He seemed disoriented and confused as he woke before snapping to attention and turning to her. Even in the dimly lit room she could see that his eyebrows were knitted together, and the shine of tears filling his eyes.
“Rook … are you … am I still dreaming?” He softly said, his words filled with uncertainty as he brought a hand up, but stopped short of touching her. Almost like he was afraid to know if she was real or not.
Taking his hand in hers, she pressed it to her cheek. Letting him know she was real, and that he wasn’t caught in his nightmare anymore. She could see that he realized now, and before she could say anything he caught her in his grasp, pulling her into him as he held her tight. His body shaking as he held her tightly.
Moving so she could lay more comfortably against him, she could hear the near silent sob that left him as his fingers dug into her night shirt. How he shook against her as she wrapped her arms around him protectively. His face buried against her chest as he cried out.
Pressing a kiss against his forehead, she slowly drew circles into his back as his breathing began to finally even out and the tension in his body faded. She has never seen him react so badly to any of the nightmares he had, and all she could wish for was that she could steal them away from him. He didn’t deserve to deal with this, but if that was his fate, she would be there for him to ease his soul.
To hold him and sooth his pains. To love him through his worries.
“It’s alright Lucanis. I’m here, I’m here. Don’t hold it in.” She softly whispered to him, unsure if he was listening at all.
When he truly began to relax against her, she knew he was through the worst of it. The tell-tale sound of him sniffling against her had her reaching over and grabbing a rag from her nightstand. Tipping his face up slightly, she wiped away the tears from his eyes, and then anything else that needed cleaning from his breakdown. Then placing the rag to the side just in case it was needed again.
“Are you ok?” She cooed, cupping his chin and gently rubbing her thumb across his cheek. “You don’t have to tell me what happened, but I just want to know if you need anything from me.”
He only shook his head in response before resting it against her chest again, as if he needed to hear her heart beating to remind him that she was here. If she considered what Spite had told her, it made sense that he needed that reassurance. So she let him cling to her like a lifeline.
Looking down at Lucanis, she could feel her heartache for him. He had been dealt such a bad hand in life, and continued to suffer for it. She could do nothing but continue to support him and hope her love was enough to mend some of his strife. She would do anything in her power for him, but seeing him like this made her realize how powerless she was in the situation.
“I’ve got you.” She murmured into his hair as she went back to rubbing his back. Motioning for him to release and inhale with her hand motion, helping him calm his racing heart.
Only then did he finally will himself into speaking. “Please don’t leave me. Please. I don’t think I could take it.” He softly spoke, his voice barely over a whisper, but she still heard him,
Her eyes welled up at the fact that he would think she would ever do such a thing. She wanted to tell him that the only way she would leave his side was if she died, but she knew those words would only cause him more pain.
“Never. Never could I leave you. Everywhere you go, I go, remember? I told you that when we exchanged vows. My soul call for you every moment we are apart, I could never do that intentionally.” She firmly replied, putting her hand in his, lining up their rings. “These rings are our bond, and nothing will change that. I promise you.”
He looked up to her, his brows were drawn together, but she could see how much love those eyes held. “Promises are a dangerous thing.”
“So is love, but we brave it every day. Because we are a piece of each other, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”
Finally did he smile for her, and she could feel her heart lift.
“I don’t know what I would do without you.” He murmured against her skin, having rested his head against her chest again.
“Neither do, but thankfully we have each other. Now sleep my love. You need to rest.” She urged him, pressing another kiss against his head.
She stayed awake until she was sure he was asleep before letting herself drift off. Only hoping that as he lay tucked against her that his dreams were filled with hope and love this time.