Welcome to Gaia! ::

Percy was exhausted, physically and emotionally. He was also trying not to be in obvious distress that the Springs didn’t seem to have the same healing properties as they normally did. Every so often, tears would spring to his eyes, but he did his best to hold them back.

He took medicine for the pain from his wounds, and, after having to calm down from once again being distressed that he must have broken his Wonder, Percy and Devyn left the Springs to find Madison and Lucien.

They were directed to Percy’s office by some of the soldiers from Valhalla, and while he’d seen his share of gore over the years, Percy listened to Devyn and closed his eyes as they made their way through what carnage remained.

Once they arrived, they found Lucien inspecting some of the trinkets Percy displayed with his books on a shelf, and Madison was taking up the full length of the couch, anxiously checking his pocket watch every minute it seemed, but sat up knowing Percy and Devyn would be better off sitting down.

Serge was there as well, already shuffling through some paperwork at Percy’s desk, although he was quick to rise once they were joined.

“The Springs aren’t working,” he confessed, guilt in his voice. He was in Devyn’s arms, but did his best to coax Devyn to at least set him down on the couch.

Serge approached the two as they entered, having left the paperwork as it was so he could help set the couch up for them to sit once Dr. Eld vacated it.

“That’s not surprising,” he admitted, gesturing for Devyn to get comfortable. “The seal on the vault is only as strong as your conviction. You kept them out. Had you died, they would have gotten in, although accessing the rest of the vault would depend on the barriers the owners placed on each safe.”

“What?” Percy choked in disbelief, his heart dropping into his stomach. “I thought… I thought if I--... if the Knight died then everything gets shut down. Isn’t that what happened before?”

He couldn’t believe that, but then again it wasn’t as though Serge had a sense of humor. He wouldn’t just make a joke about something as serious as that.

Lucien turned from where he was inspecting a living replica of Jupiter. The gasses inside swirled and churned, just like the storms on the surface. He straightened a bit as he nodded to Devyn and Percy, his pride as the bonded Mauvian to Alastor evident in the way he wore the Alastoran symbol on his chest.

“The Springs should be rejuvenated once you are feeling better,” Lucien insisted, and while he didn’t turn to give Serge any disapproving looks, he didn’t sound as though he was too thrilled about stressing Percy and Devyn out right away.

“I have put in a request with the Council to allow me to research the stone. This is a place where many live and study, is it not? It should only be fair to share the energy from all living beings who take shelter here,” he hummed, clearly confident in this idea of his.

Madison just scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest as he waited for Devyn to set Percy down, and then immediately started pulling out gauze and bandages and ointments.

“Now’s not the time to be shy. Off with your shirt,” he demanded of Percy, who looked at him with alarm as well, before glancing pleadingly up at Devyn for help. Or at least some direction. Percy looked like he already wanted to go back to sleep.

Madison grunted in response to Devyn’s question about doing all right. He would be doing a lot better if they could get everything settled and get back to Alastor.

As soon as Percy had his shirt off, Madison went to work poking and prodding the bruises that were already quite prominent around Percy’s chest and abdomen. He clicked his tongue in disapproval and fished out some ointment to start smoothing over the bruised area.

“It’ll help with swelling and minimize internal bleeding,” he explained, even as he frowned at the bruises over Percy’s body that he could see. “Might as well have you bathe in this stuff,” he grumbled.

“Good, you’re next,” he said then to Devyn, glad that he at least thought to take some medicine instead of suffering. “Want to make yourself useful? Clean up his arm and I’ll close the wound,” Madison directed, passing Devyn some supplies to help clean the cut across Percy’s arm, and some ointment that was intended to stop the bleeding. It looked like it was having trouble healing on its own, despite being a couple hours or more since he’d received the wound.

“The boy is resting. By some miracle, it appears as though the most concerning part of his wound had been healed. There was no sign of additional internal bleeding, and he’s expected to make a full recovery. I don’t believe I’ve seen this kind of healing outside of Senshi or Knight’s abilities before,” Lucien shared, folding his hands casually behind his back as he observed the others in the room, his eyes lingering on Percy, knowingly.

His focus seemed to be on Devyn and Percy, and although he knew they trusted Serge, he didn’t look like he’d let his guard down.

Percy was doing his best to let Madison look at his injuries. He was grateful for Devyn’s help, because he didn’t think he could get his hands to cooperate enough to unbutton anything.

He hated seeing Devyn so worn down. He knew the day must have been hard on him, and he knew he must have been exhausted even before helping him. He didn’t have access to his necklace while Devyn must have been rushing to get there, but he could see the fatigue in the paleness of his face.

Percy wanted to fuss over Devyn, and insist that he be taken care of too, but knew the sooner he was patched up, the sooner Devyn would let himself be looked at, so he offered no resistance or complaints to Madison’s… techniques.

However, what Serge had said was still weighing on him, even with the distractions.

“They were keeping me alive because they were convinced they needed me to get in. Is that not true?” Percy asked Serge, doing his best to keep himself from getting distressed, but… what was the point of them not just killing him if that would grant them the access they wanted?

“The last Knight was killed and the vault was protected then, wasn’t it? That’s why they kept me--”

His head was spinning. He wanted to get up and demand an answer from Serge, who looked like he was trying to decide what he wanted to say.

“The last Knight put a seal on the vault. Or rather… what’s inside,” Serge frowned, lifting a hand to scratch thoughtfully at his neatly trimmed beard.

“He must have known death was imminent and as his last act used his power to seal it,” he suggested, turning away from Percy and Devyn so he could return to the desk with the paperwork. “It only lasted for so long. Why do you think they were so desperate to fill the role?”

Madison didn’t like all of this secretive Knight and Senshi talk. He hated it when it had been Tieran, and he hated it now. Maybe more.

“You really think we have time to play these games?” he barked at Serge, who leveled him with a glare of his own. “Oh, knock it off. Just because I don’t have magical powers doesn’t mean I’m not always around these two, anyway,” he jerked his thumb at Devyn and Percy, pausing from wiping his hands so he could work on dressing Percy’s other wrist.

“What’s inside the vault that’s so important?”

Percy’s cheeks flushed with what little blood he had left. Desperate? Was that the real reason why he, a fourteen year old kid, freshly out of the Academy, had been rushed into the role of Knight of Sessrumnir? Was this why Serge had always been so frustrated over the fact that he’d been chosen?

“Sessrumnir’s Code piece,” Percy said when it was apparent that Serge wasn’t going to reveal information that was not his to offer. His voice was weak but he was frowning at his brother. He still hadn’t answered him well enough. He wasn’t satisfied with his vague responses.

“The ******** a Code piece--”

“It’s what gives Knights our power,” Percy answered before Madison could start getting unruly about more Knight nonsense, although that didn’t stop him from grumbling.

“It’s what we, as Knights, are sworn to protect. It’s why our Wonders exist in the first place. It grants us our powers,” he explained, still frowning at Serge. His hand had found Devyn’s leg while he worked on his harm, and he took comfort in just being able to touch him. Especially as he felt himself getting worked up.

“Do you think they were after the Code?”

If that was the case, then of course the first thing anyone would try to attack would be the vault. There was already so much potentially dangerous information in there. If they didn’t need anything but the Code piece--

“You said the door was sealed prior to the previous Knight’s untimely death, but that it didn’t last,” Lucien hummed thoughtfully as he pieced the bits of information together.

“But for some reason, these people who attacked Percy believed they needed him to open it. So his life had been guaranteed a while longer due to poor research?” he frowned, not comforted by this thought. And for people to be after the Code piece, if that was what they wanted…

“Have other Wonders been attacked? Was Valhalla?”

Serge stood with his arms crossed over his chest, frowning at the conversation taking place. He knew he was stressing Percy out, but it was Percy who kept asking questions instead of just accepting things as they were.

“Valhalla has not been attacked,” he confirmed, maybe a little arrogantly. But he had soldiers, not scholars.

“No, they did their research,” Serge confirmed, but there seemed to be a glint in his eyes and twitch of his lips as he spoke. “They found the information they were meant to find. As for what they were after. Could have been anything. The Code, designs for weapons of mass destruction, secrets that would cripple a whole society. Does it matter?”

“I did,” Serge responded easily to Devyn. There was no point in hiding it now. It worked, so sharing some of the information would likely soothe some active imaginations. Although perhaps not active enough if they didn’t expect things like this to happen.

“There was a risk of people trying to access the information again, so if they thought the only way to get into the vault would be by keeping the Knight alive, then it would at least buy some time. And it did,” he said, still casually flipping through papers like it was completely normal.

“You… you put false information for people to find. And you didn’t tell me?” Percy choked through gritted teeth, tears in his eyes once more. “What else are you hiding from me?? This isn’t Valhalla, Serge!”

“It may as well be with how frequently you’re away on Alastor,” Serge countered, his voice purposefully raised to speak over Percy.

No, Serge didn’t have to take care of things while Percy was away, but he did. And he did it out of concern for his brother’s wellbeing, but if Percy was going to start telling him that he didn’t have any right to do what he had to in order to protect him? Then he was going to point out every single time he stepped into the role as acting Knight.

“He can’t be expected to just stay in one place all the time, focusing all of his energy on a single place,” Lucien spoke up with a scowl of his own. He was a Mauvian and was often away for years at a time, so he understood what it was like to have his focus pulled away from where he really wanted to be.

“Devyn does,” Serge gestured. He had nothing against the man, currently. He’d proven himself reliable and took care of Percy -- whose tears he was now ignoring. “Devyn focuses the majority of his attention on his World, as expected of a Senshi. A Knight’s duty is to their Wonder, but Percy decided that gallivanting across Alastor with his husband was a better use of his time.”

“We don’t. Gallivant,” Percy choked on the emotion in his voice as tears spilled down his cheeks. He was shaking, but he didn’t know if it was with rage or just exhaustion. He was upset, yes. Serge didn’t understand.

“Just because you don’t spend more time with Liesel doesn’t mean I can’t spend time with my husband! I can be dedicated to more than one thing, Serge!” he sobbed, but still pushed himself off of the couch to try and at least stand. He didn’t want to be looked down on so easily.

“Will you stop distressing him?? What the ******** is wrong with you? They need to rest!” Madison barked at Serge as he attempted to get Percy to sit back down so he could finish up with his wrist.

“You are lucky you are here and not Valhalla, Dr. Eld,” Serge turned his anger on the doctor then. “We have no need for your bad attitude. Just because you have people who rely on your expertise does not give permission for your arrogance. How anyone can tolerate you is a mystery.”

Devyn had an arm around him, and while Percy didn’t want to sit down, he turned to press his face against Devyn’s shoulder and chest. He didn’t understand why Serge was being so mean now. Maybe he was upset, or worried, but Percy was so tired and felt like everything was falling to pieces already.

And then Devyn powered down, and Percy’s heart felt like it was breaking. He watched in silent, resigned dread as Devyn worked to get his shirt off. But even then, Devyn was taking hold of Percy’s hand to finish the bandages around his painful wrists.

“Dev--” he choked, but lifted his hands to wipe the tears away and steel himself. He didn’t care what Serge was hiding from him, he just wanted to make sure Devyn was okay.

“Sit, I’m okay,” he promised, moving to sit back down and trying to coax Devyn to join him on the couch once more. He wiped what was left of the tears away, and while they threatened to spring back up, he did his best to focus on what was more important.

While there was a moment in which Madison looked like he was going to get up and show Serge just how bad of an attitude he could have, his attention was indeed drawn to Devyn when he powered down.

“What the ******** is wrong with you?” he repeated, this time to Devyn and sounding increasingly distressed. “********, sit down already,” he scowled and moved closer so he could start assessing Devyn’s wounds.

Percy was mostly patched up and just needed to rest, probably. Devyn could have likely been bleeding out this whole time and he didn’t bother saying anything.

“This is why I’m going to get gray hair, you know,” Madison growled, shot a glare over his shoulder at Serge, but then went back to focusing on getting the bloody bandages off Devyn’s abdomen so he could see just how bad everything was.

Lucien’s tail swished irritably, but otherwise didn’t have any noticeable reaction to the exchange. He was still tense, as though waiting for the moment in which he had permission to strike.

Fortunately, Devyn also seemed to realize a conflict would only cause more pain and distress.

“Your assistance here has been invaluable, Mr. Martel,” Lucien nodded politely and sincerely. “Tensions are high and thoughts are not being conveyed properly. Would it be acceptable to reconvene once everyone has had a chance to rest, yourself included?”

Serge stared down his nose at the doctor, clearly with a low opinion of the man. He would have liked to make a comment about how Devyn seemed to enjoy the attention of a dramatic injury reveal, but decided he had caused enough distress already.

Despite his actions, he did care about his brother and wanted to keep him safe. With Percy being away, it was easier for things to happen without his knowledge.

And he was a bit irritated that Percy dared to mention Liesel.

“Very well,” he finally agreed and pushed some of the papers back into a pile to be dealt with later. “I shall have the kitchens send up something to eat. Try to get some rest. I will have soldiers stationed in the hall if you need anything else.”

Percy couldn’t look at his brother as he left the room, and was focused instead on Devyn. He wanted to cry. He couldn’t. Not when Devyn was needing to be patched up. They’d spent all this time taking care of him, when they should have been taking care of Devyn’s injuries all along. Percy’s at least weren’t potentially life threatening. Maybe Devyn’s weren’t either, but there was a higher risk of blood loss.

“I’ll take care of his arm,” Percy told Madison, pulling his eyes away from Devyn’s steady gaze so he could actually do something useful. The medicine he’d taken before for the pain felt like it was already wearing off, and he wondered if it had to do with the energy he’d used already. His abdomen throbbed painfully, and it was still difficult to breathe, even more so when he was crying. But he could stop and focus on Devyn instead of himself.

Madison clicked his tongue in annoyance at Devyn’s suggestion about him sitting down.

“Oh, you’re so great at making sure others are taking care of themselves and getting treatment, but you must think this is a game,” he gestured angrily at the bloodied rags and sap closed wound.

“One more scar to show off. Is that what you think? Do you hold your arm out to get hacked at because you think you need an extra scar there? You’re both testing the limits of your powers and I promise you it will come back to bite you in the a**,” he growled at both Devyn and Percy, and then dumped what seemed like a whole bottle of antiseptic onto a cloth so he could somewhat gently work away everything that had congealed so he had a better space to get Devyn patched up.

Stubbornly, he remained standing until Lucien pushed over a chair for him to settle down on. But that didn’t mean he didn’t grumble about it.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you did,” he glared at Devyn. “I could have taken that guy on. I’m also Alastorian, in case you’ve forgotten. I could handle Tieran at his worst.” Although he preferred him at his best. “So I could have handled that punk.”

“Please, don’t,” Percy glanced at Madison with increasing distress. He didn’t want to say he doubted Madison could actually fight his brother, but he really preferred that they just stay out of each other’s way. He knew what Serge was capable of, knew the things he had to do, especially as a Knight. He didn’t want Madison getting hurt, or worse.

Percy was already taking some clean cloth with antiseptic to wipe away the blood from Devyn’s arm. He’d settled on the couch next to him, although he really would have just liked to hold him. He would do that once Devyn had his wounds taken care of.

“I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but once we have whatever food is being delivered, we should check in with those waiting for us,” Lucien hummed, his tail still flicking with lingering irritation from their encounter with Serge. He was grateful that Serge was there to help them, and to take care of things for Percy, but he was certain everyone in that room would feel better back on Alastor.

Well, except perhaps Percy who was likely now riddled with guilt more than he already carried. Being told he was, essentially, a bad Knight by his own brother, also a Knight, likely dug deeper than any dagger could.

So far, Percy seemed to be holding up well, but he always seemed to focus easier on a task, and then let his worries and fears devour him in moments of rest.

Percy was as gentle as he could be with tending to Devyn’s arm. His hands trembled from them being poorly treated before, but once he got some energy back and the muscles healed, he was sure they would be fine. The bandages and ointment on his wrists already made them feel a bit better.

He was chewing on his lip again, too. There was still the taste of blood in his mouth, but he figured he would worry about that later. Devyn wearing armor was a little surprising, but he was grateful.

“Under duress,” scoffed Madison.

“I seem to recall your reluctance as well, Dr. Eld,” Lucien pointed out. Not because he wanted to nag at the doctor, but if he was going to be making comments about Devyn wearing armor, he wanted to make sure it was an even playing field.

His comment was met with a glare.

Percy didn’t want to argue. He didn’t want to give Devyn a hard time when he was just relieved that he was there with him now. Things could have turned out a lot worse.

He also didn’t want to decide what they would do or where they would go. A heaviness was weighing on him and he felt like it was crushing him.

How could he leave Sessrumnir when it was just attacked? How could he stay when he was afraid of it happening again, as unlikely as that would be? How could he deny Devyn a chance to check in with everyone? Would leaving give more fuel for Serge? Would he be considered an even worse Knight than Serge already thought him to be? He risked his life to protect Sessrumnir’s secrets -- nearly sacrificed the life of an innocent student in the process. He’d used so much of his energy to just try and stabilize the boy, and in doing so depleted his Wonder of its energy. If he left, would things still be safe? If he stayed, would Devyn just worry about everything at Alastor?

Carefully, he finished bandaging Devyn’s arm, and then leaned close so he could rest his head on Devyn’s shoulder. Devyn couldn’t see his face like this, so he could blink back the tears easier.

“I want to go to Alastor,” he tried not to choke on the words. And maybe there was a small part of him that feared if he didn’t go to Alastor, the others would be frustrated with him. Some people already thought he wasn’t worthy of being married to Devyn. What would happen to Devyn’s reputation if people found out his husband wouldn’t stay by his side when Alastor was clearly in need of help and healing?

It was almost strange, listening to Devyn admit that he was hurt, asking them to not be upset if he asked for more help than usual. It wasn’t as though Devyn had never admitted to needing help before, but the frequency of it was notable.

Devyn was prideful, and he was strong, and he was confident in a way that some may consider arrogant. Except he always came out on top, no matter the cost.

In spite of the cost.

Percy knew that all his life, Devyn pushed and pushed and held himself up, held himself together piece by piece. With literal glue sometimes. He had to, to survive. If he was viewed as weak or not good enough, he could literally be devoured by those who wanted better, wanted more from their World’s Senshi.

It was cruel and brutal and Devyn was forced to live that life, or die.

But as he grew, as he became stronger, Devyn decided to make his own fate. He decided to do things differently -- to still be strong and powerful, but no longer need the brutality that his dog-eat-dog world was known for. To no longer accept that it was the only answer.

Percy loved him. For his compassion, for his charm, for his strength, for everything that made Devyn who he was. He loved his confidence and his sense of justice--

And Percy knew he was responsible for tearing that away from Devyn. It wasn’t a matter of feeling sorry for himself. He knew he selfishly picked Devyn to be alive and with him for maybe one more day, over his desires to not turn into some kind of monster that he always feared he’d become. That every Senshi of Alastor had become.

Now with everything -- with Villefort and with Sessrumnir -- how long would it be until the memories from the previous Senshi started bubbling up like the tar in the bog of Blackroot forest? How long would it take for poison to take hold and drown them both?

Percy couldn’t let that happen. He wouldn’t. Even if they never figured things out, his heart was with Devyn. Maybe Serge was right. Maybe he was never meant to be a Knight. But as long as he had Devyn, he would do whatever it took.

He knew Devyn was trying to ease his worries, so he would do whatever he could to ease Devyn’s.

“You know I could never get upset,” Percy said quietly as he rested against Devyn’s side. “We’ll be okay,” he promised, even if he wasn’t sure he believed it. “We’ll figure things out,” just like they said they would and never did.