Several dozen minutes of straight healing his eyes before they finally stopped being so hot to burn his flesh. At no point in battling how hurt Nil was did his body stop convulsing and jolting from the state he was in. There were concerning cracks and pops emanating from Nil while I struggled to keep him from breaking himself. I suspected Empress Senna was immensely spent and the city was a disaster, but did they really trust I could keep Nil together? Or were they too distracted by grief and what happened? I grit my teeth as I struggled to keep Nil from breaking himself apart from the
After Nil struggled for a little longer before he finally stopped, jaggedly gasping for air as he leaned into me. His breathing was labored, tears just falling from his face. I held Nil into me while he whimpered in a pitiable way as he tried hugging himself into me more. Nil was laying so limply into me as his eyes were devoid of all life with his pupils were completely unfocused. Tears were flowing from his eyes as his voice still didn’t come out despite the fact he was clearly trying to vocalize his pain but it just came out as this weak wheezing sound. I reached down, inspecting his hands and fingers now that he wasn't flailing violently. Unfortunately, Nil clearly cracked several bones in his fingers and hands; I slowly checked other parts of his body, seeing Nil damaged quite a bit of his body with the flailing and involuntary spasms. How long was he going to take to heal fully from this? I didn’t want to be in this kind of situation again, just on the sidelines for the major action and picking up the pieces after. Never again did I want to be in this kind of situation.
I assured him as kept crying.
Nil lamented mentally. Even not speaking out loud, his voice was so weak as he confirmed who died for me.
I apologized to him while hugging him harder.
Nil cried as his body tried moving but barely anything happened.
I lectured him gently. Nil kept making that crying slash wheezing sound as tears fell ceaselessly from his face.
Nil wept as he kept bawling.
I… I went silent. That… that was… awful. What could I possibly say in response to that? Nil clearly was internalizing his guilt and blaming himself entirely for this disaster. How would I feel if I saw future me assault and kill my family? I shifted Nil into me more as I hugged him tighter, trying to think of something I could say. I ran my hand through his hair and held his head into me as he kept weeping. How did Nyx even manage to create that? That seemed like something well above what was permitted; there had to be something she did to game the
I tried, knowing Nil was not going to be convinced so easily.
Nil retorted immediately. I stroked his hair calmly as I tried to think of how to reply to him.
I told Nil as he settled into me.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Nil informed me in a tone that broke my heart.
Something occurred to me when he said that: this was likely a massive insecurity of his. This entire situation validated a deep-seated fear of Nil’s. Nil probably had some old wounds about being called a cursed child that ruined everything which was getting compounded on. No wonder grief destroyed Nil last time. He kept crying in anguish as I held him close, pulling him into me more. How did I dissuade that fear of his? Tell him he wasn’t a curse like he thought? It felt disingenuous when he had tangible proof a literal Lord was going out of their way to kill and maim what he cared about. It wasn’t Nil’s fault he was born, that he was being hunted by the Void King, nor that Nyx decided him wanting to live was him defying her will. Nil wasn’t cursed; he just had the misfortune of being the target of monsters.
I informed him. I set my head on him, trying to comfort him.
Nil spat back. I paused for a moment because I knew Nil was going to take a lot of convincing after today.
I insisted with him, hoping desperately to convince him.
Nil kept crying into me. I knew he was in pain and there was nothing I could overly do about it. We stayed there with Nil bawling silently. I took the blanket after he was settled to cry and wrapped it around him. I slowly healed some of his cracked bones and strained muscles, knowing there was a limit to what I was able to fix currently. Nothing I was doing would be able to reduce his pain; there was nothing more I would be able to do until Nil had more time to process. I could barely hear his voice as I imagined Nil was screaming. Please feel better Nil, please don’t let this destroy you. I kept giving Nil affirmations as he sat in my lap, trying everything I could do to console him. My shirt was feeling wet from how much Nil had been crying.
I felt a few tears of mine begin falling as I began mourning Emperor Father Nil and Prince Nox. They didn’t deserve to die. Emperor Father Nil was such a good demon, a shining beacon in Speranza. Prince Nox was such a kind man and did his best to teach Nil. I kept remembering them, wondering what the last things I said to them were. I didn’t even say goodbye properly to them before this all transpired; I hugged Nil even tighter as I began crying. We both cried some more as Nil was shaking and shivering into me. Tears kept falling from my eyes as I just hated today so much before I realized Nil had stopped moving and crying after a few minutes. I panicked for a second, shifting him to realize that Nil had passed out. Once I had confirmed he was breathing, I shifted back so Nil was sleeping against me before I resumed crying against his head.
“Luna!” Dad chimed from the doorway as I remained holding Nil.
“Dad. I’m so glad you’re okay.” I replied, hugging Nil harder. Dad manifested next to the bed, hugging me and Nil a little by extension.
“Are you okay?” Dad inquired as he set his head on mine for a moment.
“Yes, are you?” I checked because this was an awful day.
“Comparatively. Things went badly today.” Dad confessed with a heavy sigh. He stopped hugging me for a moment and pulled the desk chair over and sat down.
“I heard.” I grumbled. He looked so crushed as he resolved himself to say something that was clearly bugging him.
“Luna, I want to ask you a difficult question that I can’t get out of my head.” Dad confessed with a mix of shame and exhaustion all over his face.
“What?” I probed, wondering what was bugging him.
“Are you sure you want to remain by Crown Prince Nil? It is proving to be extremely dangerous.” Dad inquired. I disliked the question, but I knew why he was currently asking it. I couldn't blame him at all given what happened today.
“Yes, I do. I know it is, and that fact was made brutally apparent today.” I sighed, trying to stay composed. I felt my arms wrap around Nil a bit tighter.
“I am torn but am leaning to disliking being this close to the Imperial Family and Crown Prince Nil. I am not making a decision now, I am just wanting to let you know today was haunting and making me greatly reconsider a lot.” Dad admitted. That was completely fair, an awful point, but valid that Dad wanted to discuss it.
“I want to make things better, I… I just can’t. I’m not able to right now and I hate it.” I lamented to Dad, feeling more tears fall.
“I understand. I just wanted to let you know that I want to have a more serious conversation about this in the future.” Dad said softly before he hugged me again.
“How is everyone? What exactly happened?” I asked. Today seemed to be a nearly unmitigated disaster.
“Grieving and in pain; emotions are going to be high for a while. There was the army of the human who decided to try and burn Umbra to the ground, which was then followed by a copy of more grown versions of the two of you. I don’t think I felt terror quite like the older version of Nil. You were scary, but older Nil was something I wasn’t aware was possible. The amount of
“I see. I’m really glad you’re okay.” I replied, not sure what else I could say.
“I understand you’re going to want to stay here for the night, and that is okay. Just, think about what I said and what you want, not what anyone else does or what you think you should do. I have things to attend and take care of as the Imperial Family is in no shape to currently. Once things settle down, I want to talk about the plan moving forward.” Dad told me before kissing my head, hugging me, letting out a massive sigh, and begrudgingly leaving me. I simply hugged Nil tighter as I cried for a while longer.