middaeg | [Closed] Ain't No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down...

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[Closed] Ain't No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down...

Who: Edelgard, Hubert, Corrin, and possibly others later
When: Mid Feoveuer
Where: Edelgard's home
What: Edelgard's vampiric death
Warnings: Death, blood, potential mention of human experimentation, war and scarification.

Edelgard knew it was happening the moment the pains started. It was hardly unexpected, with how her changes had been progressing. This was simply the last thing, the final nail in her literal coffin, the actual death. It was early evening, she'd risen and bathed, dressed and eaten as per her normal routine. She was preparing to leave for a time, head out into the streets when the first stab of pain struck.

A great, wracking pulse of sheer agony ripped through her and she barked out a short cry that was quickly cut off as more pain tore through her. She staggered and dropped to the floor of her bedroom, clutching her chest and clawing at her shirt in a wordless scream ripped itself from her lips. Everything hurt, everything felt like it was on fire, and words failed her as panic set in.

She didn't want to die.

It was worse than all the nightmares she ever had. There was no creeping dread to her emotions now, no recognition of terror as some weakness that could be ignored, no melancholy. There was simply the sudden, desperate clawing for survival. War had failed to kill her, her many enemies had failed to kill her, a self-styled deity has failed to kill her, but random chance was a foe not even her tenacity and unyielding nature could overcome. Even knowing that she would rise again couldn't stop the blast of mind-numbing panic that shattered the calm composure of her thoughts. As her panic mounted, she thought of so many things, but everything flitted too quickly. Images of friends, of dreams, of a sun she'd never see again, but nothing made sense, it was all a jumble save for one thing.

It was selfish of her, maybe, but the only cogent thought she had as she writhed on the floor was a mental shriek to her Bonded.

Don't let me die alone...please...not alone...

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Something was wrong.

They'd been expecting this. Such sudden, immeasurable distress could only mean one thing. Hubert responded immediately, dropping the firewood in his hands all over the sitting room floor and slashing a gesture through the air. It's a sloppy casting, excessive magic spilling out it his haste, but that didn't matter. He vanished in a blink.

But not to Edelgard's location. The pitch black of his lab didn't even phase Hubert as he took one step, knowing precisely where and what to grab even in total blindness, and the only flash of illumination was his magic lighting for his next teleportation. The detour only took seconds. Hubert materialized in the center of Edelgard's room, a clay jar in hand, a few shreds of dark mist curling off his form.

"Lady Edelgard—" He's kneeling in another instant, jar set on the floor, arms curling under her shoulders and lifting her off the floor.

Time. Hubert knew not how much they had, but it was short. Fear and anxious tension boiled underneath his iron, single-minded focus, heart hammering harder than he would've liked. He hadn't expected this (his mind kept dodging the word "death") to onset so suddenly—perhaps a decline, like an illness or slow failing of the organs. This was—hearing Edelgard scream like this—

No. This would be fine. This happened to all Mirrorbound vampires. No one reported one failing to rise yet. It would work out, logically.

That line of thought did little to ease the invisible vice cinched around his chest.

Hubert would find Edelgard on the floor, curled in around herself, fingers clutching at her chest...specifically around her heart. Her whole body seems wracked with pain, all her blood feeling like it's practically on fire. This wouldn't be the first time she'd suffered such pains, but it's the fear that cuts her deepest. She's not allowed herself to be afraid of this, not since she'd arrived here...and after months of putting it off, it all comes crashing down, shattering her composure.

Tears streaming down her cheeks, eyes watery with tears, tears mingling with blood, Edelgard struggles to focus on Hubert.

"Hurts..." she groans, "Feels like...blood on fire..."

Goddess. Edelgard didn't deserve this, not after everything she's already suffered through.

Hubert might not be the strongest man, but he manages to lift his Bonded from the floor and carry her over to her bed. It's... strangely difficult to let go, to lay her down, Edelgard's unchecked fear threatening to mingle with his own and his will and determination the only buffer between the two. Now wasn't the time to let his emotions best him, try as they might.

Hubert couldn't afford to lose sight of the bigger picture, not for one precious second.

"I did not think to bring anything for pain—forgive me."

Would it even work, at this point? Would what he had in his stores help agony of this degree? If he left to retrieve it, would Edelgard still live when he returned? One task at a time. Focus on the big picture, what awaited her when she would wake again.

Hubert waves his hand at the clay jar, wasted magic curling off him as dark mist in his sloppy casting, and the container quickly floated over to the bed. He curls an arm under Edelgard's back, and props her up.

"You must drink. Can you manage that?"

Perhaps it was cruel to demand something of her, in this state. Hubert couldn't risk hesitating if their time was short.

She felt him, those long arms and longer legs bearing her from the floor. She didn't know what to make of it at first, the pain dulling her mind, but his words manage to bring her back. Edelgard croaks something soft, an acknowledgement that he was not at fault. He'd come as fast as possible, she knew, and the pain would be temporary. She could bear that, at least.

She shifts, some sense of control coming back as she's set down and now finally off of the floor. The bedding is soft enough to help some, and the twitching of her legs subsides, for now.

"...Yes..." she mumbles, reaching a shaking hand up for the clay jar. Her eyes focus for a moment on it before darting up to Hubert.

"What is it?" she murmurs, not unwilling, just unsure, and unable to determine the contents in her current state.

Hubert meets his Bonded's gaze steadily, trying his utmost to project that through their link. Oh, had he a third hand to dry the mess of bloodied tears from her face. His thumb flicks up to break the enchanted wax that preserves the contents, and the cork falls carelessly aside.

"Monsters' blood. From Bonded individuals."

The best Hubert could offer her. There was more, but not much; most of what he'd managed to acquire was unbonded and poor in magic, and even that lacked in quantity compared to the animals' blood. Still, if it came to that, the animal blood was better than nothing.

Hubert's hand never left the jar, supporting it from the bottom should her trembling grip fail, but he would let her guide it.

"As much as you can take."

She took a drink, and then another, hesitant and slow sips. She was cogent enough to not want to spill anything, and she knew the quantity was limited. Unfortunate, that, but it was the best he could offer.

It helped. It helped a little. The blood seeping through her burned a little less, but still she ached. Still she knew she was not going to survive this night.

"...Thank you..." she murmurs again as the blood buys her a little more strength, a little more of herself. Reaching to take the cup, her hands no longer shaking quite so hard, she turns her gaze up to him.

"This is it. I know that. But...I think I have some time."

She takes another mouthful, hands more steady with each swallow, until the jar is drained completely. She feels a bit of a glutton, knowing the cost of such, but it helps, so she will cling to that.

He patiently doesn't rush Edelgard, even if the whole process feels so horribly slow underneath the urgency racing through him. His hand moves tentatively away from the jar at first, until her grip was surely steady.

Time. A blessing in a way, but as much as Hubert wanted to field his preparations, he could only hope her pain wouldn't be cruelly drawn out. More time or not, he couldn't take it for granted. Keep moving forward, one thing at time.

"I see. I have more things to retrieve, then. It should hardly take me a minute—two, at most. Here."

Hubert takes back the empty jar before helping Edelgard settle back against her pillows, sitting up. A slight pause, and then presses his handkerchief into her hand. Good—the trembling seemed to be subsiding, some.

"Do you need—" Read: want, "—me to bring you anything else?"

She leans back at his touch, settling herself against the pillows and staring up at the ceiling for a moment or two. Pallid fingers squeeze around the handkerchief and a faint smile finally quirks at the corners of her lips.

She can feel Corrin and Azura hurrying closer. She knows, perhaps, that this will be a traumatic experience for them, just as it is for Hubert. But something that she can make up to all three of them later. For now...

"A warm, wet cloth. Corrin and Azura are on their way. I would like to look presentable."

Her cheeks do still have blood splattered on them, but the crying has stopped, even if the pain has not. It's manageable, for now.

"And anything you can bring me to dull the ache without dulling my mind. It hurts, but I have no doubt it will get worse. I just don't want to part even temporarily with my mind in shambles."

"Of course," is all Hubert says. He wanted to say more. He didn't want to leave her alone. But that didn't matter, not right now, not with so much left to do.

Hubert steps away and vanishes in dim flash with the empty jar. To his study; to Leslie's room; to his lab; to the kitchen. All sharp, abrupt flickers of magic as he jumped from room to room, putting his exercises from earlier months to practice. It's roughly 50 seconds before he materializes in Edelgard's room again, arm laden with three more jars of varying sizes and a stack of shallow bowls—but he quickly sets them down before vanishing again.

Teleporting short distances to familiarized locations was ordinarily a simple spell, but so rapidly like this and with increasing numbers of objects was nothing short of a strain. To his room, then the lab and the kitchen once more, a little longer this time; it's another thirty seconds before Hubert returns in a purple flash, more of those misty wisps curling off his form and sweat beading at his temple. A pouch is at his belt now that very faintly clicks, and a few tin vials as well.

"I can't promise the medication I have will be effective," Hubert murmurs as he hands his liege a small bowl with a damp rag. "...I've also suggested that Leslie head to Gloucester's for the time being."

"Good."

Edelgard had waited with baited breath, her whole body tense from the pain. She reaches for the cloth first, dabbing at her cheeks before beginning to scrub as furiously as she can. She would die with dignity, if she had to, and she was just vain enough to care about her appearance.

"I'll have to explain to her, later. She deserves to know, but Lorenz will take good care of her."

She had already insured that, weeks ago. Maybe it wasn't her place to order him about, but he had seemed eager to work with her, and looking after Leslie was something he was well and truly capable of. The girl didn't need to be here for this.

"What is in the medication?"

"I'm not sure—I purchased these." He lays one of the tin vials next to her on the bed, and this one also rattles with pills inside. Hubert continues as he retrieves one of the other blood jars. "Perhaps devils' claw and a local spice, among other things. The medical aspect of chemistry is hardly my strong point."

A slight pop as the cork is removed, the preserving magic in the wax dissipating. Hubert offers the jar, this one only 2/5ths full with the last of the Bonded Monsters' blood.

"A mild medicine, but I can guarantee it will not cloud your mind, Lady Edelgard."

That was important to him, too. With the much spoken-of dying frenzy of vampires looming before them, he would do anything that might loosen her grip on herself beforehand.

Corrin was across the city when Edelgard collapsed, and she felt the wave of emotions a split second before she felt them, a wave of pain and fear and distress that hit her hard enough she almost thought her knees would give out, and she grabbed at a nearby counter to steady herself.

"Edelgard," she muttered the name to herself, red eyes narrowing. This...it had to be. Either she was under attack, and no one had a reason to attack, or...or.

Damn it. She had known this was coming, they all had, but not so abruptly. Or maybe it was, and El and Hubert had been sparing her the worry about it? A discussion for later, anyway. She cursed herself for taking such a long walk as she straightened back up and with a muttered apology to the store clerk, vanished in a swirl of magic.

Unfortunately she wasn't nearly as talented at teleporting as Hubert was, and two teleportations and her tattoo only got her most of the way there, leaving her running the way up to the house and through the wards with a gesture. Edelgard was still alive, she was, she could feel her, a little muffled now but somehow it didn't matter, not until she saw her.

She took the stairs two at a time, nearly colliding with the far wall before she reached the top and down the hall. Hubert was outside the door, and she exchanged a wordless look with him as she slid past and into Edelgard's room...only to come to an abrupt stop at the edge of the rug.

There she was in bed. Alive. For now, at least, but that was...something. She hoped. Her breathing was so fast still she pressed her hand to her chest as if to physically slow her lungs down before she managed to get a word out.

"...Hey."

Edelgard had felt Corrin's approach, the panic in her emotions, and she felt guilty for it. She hadn't intended to frighten her Bonded like that, but in the moment all she had been able to do was scream inside. It did her a lot of good knowing that her partners had come, it made some of the panic and the desperation to not be alone ebb, though there was still the dull ache that came with knowing her fate.

Asking Hubert to leave the room hadn't been an easy thing, but she wanted a quiet moment with Corrin, regardless. And with Azura, poor thing. They earned that much.

When the blonde hurtled into the room, she'd find Edelgard laying atop her blankets, dressed nicely, like she had been planning to go out. Breathing was hard, but her chest still rose and fell, and she was very clearly in pain. Everything ached, her muscles occasionally spasmed, but she seemed to be much more in control than moments before.

"Corrin," she mumbled, "I'm so sorry."

"Good."

She doesn't know what those are, but what she does know is that if it won't cloud her thoughts, she'll take it. Reaching for the jar, she takes it and gulps down the remainder, dabbing at her chin with the handkerchief when she's done.

"I don't want to hurt anyone, when I return."

Reaching for the medicine, she uncorks it and swallows it all down with a grimace before laying back against the bedding.

"You'll have...prepared for this, yes? We have large stores ready?"

Once the jar is in her grip, Hubert pivots on his heel, quickly arranging the shallow bowls and larger jars on the writing desk. Easily accessible, and close. He almost brings another jar to her side, but thinks better of it. If this was going to draw out for a bit longer, perhaps it was more optimal to keep her well-fed over a time, than to drain it now.

"Of course. I've been preparing for months."

He's just as quick to return to her bedside, hovering close.

"I've prepared for every outcome I could possibly conceive." Hubert shakes his head slightly, and something changes subtly in his voice. Softer wasn't quite the right word, something equal parts worry and resolute flickering in the Bond in time with the inflection.

"I will be here when you wake, Lady Edelgard—I swear it. Should it come to that... I will not permit you to harm anyone. I will never allow this affliction to take more of you than it already has."

Despite knowing the course these changes would take, there were still too many variables. Even knowing Edelgard would rise again, Hubert couldn't pretend this wasn't a nightmare; the knowledge of the price her body would pay for the Crest experiments was a terrible thing, and Hubert has lived too keenly aware of the very real possibility of outliving her—and not by a small margin. This world showed them either a mocking warning, or a cruel metaphor for that possibility. This misery she suffered while waiting for the looming touch of death... both might be temporary, but it was no easier for it, no matter how they tried to approach it logically.

She watches him laying things out, committing the locations of each and every jar and bowl to memory. She is certain that she's going to need them, and to know exactly where they are. Still holding the vial that had contained the medicines, she closes her eyes and shifts, trying to find a comfortable position to lie in.

"Thank you, Hubert."

She's not entirely sure what to say. He's willing to do so much for her, and his emotions are plainly in turmoil. This is a decidedly cruel fate, to be claimed by random chance, to be forced into a situation where nothing she could do would alter the outcome was hard enough. But to live for months, to dwell with the knowledge that this was the inevitable outcome was a misery, but one she was not unable to bear. She knew she would rise, and while the sun had been stolen from her, she would embrace the night. She would not do things by halves, just like she would not allow her will to break.

"I will certainly be a difficult charge for a time, but I know I can count on you."

"My lady, I know no other kind of charge," he says, utterly deadpan. Tentatively, Hubert sits on the edge of the bed; everything was more or less in place.

Edelgard cannot help but snort, even in this situation. She reaches for Hubert's hand, hoping to steady the trembling of her fingers with a bit of solidarity.

"It...will be well. I know you are worried, but I've studied this just as intensely as I know you have. I'll return, stronger, more capable."

With some new weaknesses, yes, but...those are manageable.

Hubert stalls her reach with a gentle touch; he takes the moment to peel off his glove in a silent suggestion before offering his hand. Perhaps magic would help steady her as well, even if the flow between them would be fainter for all Hubert had expended in such a short time.

"I understand that, and yet..." Even a mind so strict and logical as his couldn't help but worrying, what if it doesn't happen this time? He glances aside, little glimpses of the turmoil buried in the Bond flickering across his face. "...I still cannot help but wish to trade my heartbeat for yours."

A shake of his head. "Your new capabilities will be a mere shadow of what you already possess. You won the future back from the claws of insurmountable odds, Lady Edelgard. Such strength is rooted in who you are, not what the world forces you to be."

She's returned changed from the dead before; Edelgard would again.

Edelgard's fingers pause, and she nods, peeling back her own glove to touch his bare skin. It's still awkward for her, but after her interlude with Corrin, she's much more able to manage this without shivering and being forced to retreat. That they are alone, helps.

"...No...do not wish that. It's simply not possible, and we both know that my time was limited, even before we arrived, unless Crestology progressed much farther than it had."

Hanneman and Linhardt she did trust, and she'd certainly set them to task, though she'd told them that it was for Lysithea's sake. She hardly wanted either scholar knowing her of her afflictions.

"This way, I am beyond that. I will rise again, and it will not be a concern. In a way, this will let me enjoy that future we all fought so hard for."

Even if they both knew that, it still weighed on him if Hubert ever allowed himself to dwell on it. His long fingers were surprisingly warm considering everything about his bearing. The flow of magic between them is a little weaker than usual, after after a beat Hubert bolsters it with a push of his will. If magically-infused blood was more effective, perhaps this might provide Edelgard some relief.

"I suppose so."

Hubert acquiesces, but doesn't sound convinced. This process was not easier for those truths. And... more concerns bubbled under. When they returned to Fodlan, would Edelgard be restored? Would the changes remain? And if they stayed, did their world have the magic necessary to sustain her unbeating heart?

Things he could not answer now, and irrelevant to the moment.

[ Azura's not versed in teleportation magic, so she has to find her way there with her own feet. She's a fast runner, but her sprint to the house feels like it takes ages.

The pain reverberating back at her hurts less than the shock of "something very terrible is happening and Edelgard can't handle it" does.

When she does get there, Azura opts to ask someone around for an explanation (so, probably Hubert, sorry dude) before she talks to Edelgard, so as to not walk around radiating panic herself.

There's a moment where she feels her stomach drop, and then a sense of eerie calmness washes over her. She was dying, but she'd come back...so the bond feedback Azura had been getting was the pain of a dying person.

Hm.

She takes a moment to smooth out her windswept hair and steps into the room. ]

...Edelgard?

Those were problems for another day. Another time. They had work to do here, too, before Home was even an option. She had so much to work at going forward, and that helped her focus on the tomorrow, rather than the now.

"I know this is hard, Hubert. But...we will get through this."

She does not necessarily believe that, not completely. This is definitely going to fracture something in her at least.

"...I won't let a little thing like death stop me."

That, though, she does believe.

[Edelgard had been waiting, as with Corrin, as with Hubert. Laid out on the bed, resting atop blankets, her hands folded neatly over her stomach...she turned her head to look at Azura, offering the haggard, unlucky woman a weak smile.]

...I am here, Azura.

[She breathes out through her nose, fingers tightening into fists.]

I owe you an apology.

Corrin walked towards the bed as if under a spell, a slow, steady pace that probably would've included heavy, dreading thumps if not for bare feet on carpet being so soundless. When she reached the edge she looked Edelgard over carefully before turning to sit down by her hip.

"Don't apologize. You couldn't stop this." She said, her voice a whisper right on the edge of cracking. She reached out to take Edelgard's hand, squeezing it tightly.

"I..." She hesitated, and then there was a weak smile. "I'd ask how you feel but."

Well. It was kind of obvious.

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[Closed] Ain't No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down...

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