The hospital wing saw many sunrises.
Aria steadily improved. Her arm, while reattached, was weak and required magical rehabilitation, but it was healing at a steady pace. Her family remained close by with Julia helping her sit up, Lux brushing her hair, and Damian keeping a quiet, watchful eye on everyone. Well, on Kaiden, to be specific.
But Nyx...
Nyx’s condition remained unchanged.
Machines kept her breathing. Spells kept her blood circulating. The necrotic curse left by the vampire’s weapon made healing erratic and unstable. Even the famed S-tier healer Elysia, who brought Quinlan back from the brink of death after his duel with David, was struggling to stabilize her.
And with each passing day, the guilt in Luna’s eyes only deepened.
...
The serene moonlight streamed through the reinforced hospital window.
Kaiden, Bastet, and Aria were asleep, though none of them rested easily.
But Luna hadn’t slept at all.
Her eyes were bloodshot. Her body curled into itself on the chair beside Nyx’s bed, as if trying to become smaller, trying to disappear into her grief. She hadn’t spoken in hours. There were no more tears to shed, just the raw sting of guilt hollowing her chest.
The Space Valkyrie’s hand was clutched between both of hers.
Warmth, but shallow.
Alive, but fading.
Luna’s thumb gently stroked Nyx’s knuckles, with her lips trembling. "Please don’t do this to us, Nyx... We were just getting started... The real party didn’t even begin yet..."
Just the dull hum of machines.
Luna bowed her head forward so that her forehead was resting against the back of Nyx’s hand. Her shoulders trembled in silence.
"I can’t do this if you’re not here with us... None of us can..." she whispered. "I don’t care how strong we act. I don’t care what kind of power Kaiden has, or what kind of stunts Bastet pulls. You’re the glue, Nyx. The ruler of space, the most versatile combatant out of all of us. But you do so much more than that... You hold us together."
The silence stretched.
And stretched.
And stretched.
Luna’s voice cracked. "So please, I’m begging..."
She couldn’t finish.
The machines kept pulsing.
Unchanging.
Unfeeling.
She gripped Nyx’s hand tight. Tighter. Enough to hurt. As if she could force her will through the flesh and into Nyx’s soul.
Her breath hitched.
And then...
A flicker.
Not sound.
Just a single spike.
The monitor sounded.
A blip so faint it could have been a glitch. But Luna’s head shot up.
She froze. Eyes wide.
The room held its breath.
Then came another flicker.
This time, it was unmistakable.
A tiny twitch of Nyx’s fingers. Barely there.
A flutter of her lashes.
The subtlest shift in her chest, a breath no longer entirely borrowed from the machines and magic keeping her alive.
Luna’s voice broke into a sob-laugh hybrid, hand flying to her mouth. "No... no way... Nyx?!"
Nothing coherent came in response. Not yet. But the signs were there.
A heartbeat, just a little stronger.
A faint pulse of mana coiled weakly around her fingertips.
Another spike.
Then slowly... painfully... as if dragging her consciousness out of a pit of tar...
Nyx’s eyes opened.
Dull. Glazed. Lost in haze.
Then they blinked, slow and unsure.
And she focused.
Luna gasped as those familiar, unmistakable pink eyes locked onto hers.
Nyx’s lips moved. No sound came at first. Her throat was too dry. Her energies, too, were spent.
But her eyes filled with a trembling relief.
"L-Luna?" Her voice was hoarse, more air than words. Her chest rose, then fell with effort.
"You’re... okay..." Her cracked lips curved into the faintest, almost imperceptible smile. "T-Thank god..."
That shattered Luna.
The dam broke. She lunged forward and buried her face into Nyx’s chest, sobbing into the fabric of her hospital gown.
"I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Don’t talk, just rest! Just-" Her words tumbled out in choked, frantic whispers.
Nyx’s brow furrowed softly at the sight, her hand twitching again at her command, but her body was too weak to respond. So she reached with her mana.
Nyx used [Telekinesis] to gently pull Luna forward until Luna pressed into her fully like a lost child.
Luna blinked in surprise, then realized what Nyx wanted.
She took Nyx’s limp arms and carefully laid them around her own back.
A hug.
Nyx smiled and whispered against Luna’s ear:
"You’re such a damn softie under all that sass, my gremlin bestie."
"Shut it and let me suffocate between your giant tits, you damned fat cow..." Luna sniffled, though her voice cracked in the middle of her protest. None of her usual sass could be heard, which usually accompanied her statements when it came to the topic of Nyx’s unfairly well-endowed cleavage.
"Mmhm. That’s one heck of a weird fetish you have going on here, but sure, go to town if that’s what your heart tells you..." Nyx chuckled.
Then softer, more serious this time:
"Move my arms again."
Luna obliged, adjusting her grip and placing Nyx’s hands more securely across her back.
Nyx’s voice was barely a whisper in her ear. "You were incredible, Luna. I mean it. If I had to rank our performance out there, you were easily the MVP out of all four of us."
Luna pulled back instantly, with her eyes searching her friend’s face. "But!"
"No. No buts," Nyx interrupted. "You saved lives. You made it through. You fought like hell. That’s what matters."
"This... this is what it means to be one of us now. Awakened combatants. There’s no perfect plan that is failproof. No script. Just us, clawing through the madness until we reach supremacy."
Then, to Luna’s disbelief, Nyx giggled.
That low, wild, totally-typical Nyx giggle.
"Wasn’t it awesome though?! We fought vampire nobles, Luna. Real, honest-to-gods aristocrat bloodsuckers!"
Luna stared. "You’re insane."
Nyx’s smirk widened. "Maybe. But c’mon. Two months ago, I was crying myself to sleep over my ChronosX debt... now I’m waking up from a coma after tanking a freaking javelin from a pureblood vampire for my bestie. If that’s not metal as hell, then nothing is."
And despite everything, despite the terror and sorrow and blood spilled...
Luna found herself laughing.
"Yeah..." she whispered. "That was pretty fucking badass now that you put it like that."
...