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My partner died in this room.
The room is gone, now, shattered and dispelled after Viktor was crushed from Huck's evolved frame by arcs of brutal, blinding light on all sides. There had been no physical pain--Huck was beyond pain, as Viktor was, but there in the arcane Viktor shook with the weight of Jayce's cruelty.
My partner died in this room.
Jayce had made him this. Had smelted the ruined pieces of Viktor's body and forged them anew. Stronger. Better. Straight and tall and lovely. Viktor hadn't understood, before, what Jayce had done for him, only to him. His reedy breaths echoed in the astral stillness, his wide eyes seeing nothing.
My partner died in this room.
Only to cast him aside as soon as Viktor no longer followed his vision. Only to make no attempt to understand what Viktor had accomplished on his own, the progress he had made. His stance was clear, it seemed--Viktor was only his partner when they agreed. Viktor only mattered when it was convenient.
Viktor was only his when he was weak.
Soft brown hands close over his, fading at the wrist into soft watercolor ink.
My partner died in this room.
He pulls his hands away.
There is an ache in his chest that is ripping him open, a seam splitting to purge the softness in him like rot. He allows it, lets the pain of it expand until it consumes him, lets himself wallow in the heartbreak and despair. Lets it run rampant one last time as he steels himself for the only course of action he has left.
My partner died in this room.
"Doctor'" he croaks. "You may begin the process."