Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change. - Mary Shelley
Inside Zyran Palace, The Floating Kingdom of Zephyr,
Northern Ardeneon.
May 1
"It's time for her to be washed" Princess Lethia walks in hand in hand with Seraphinius alongside two caretakers breaking River out of his trance.
That's the kind of thing you hear after someone has been stuck in a coma for two weeks.
Over the course of two weeks, River had gotten to know princess Lethia better, she treats him like her own son, which is comforting in times like this.
"How are you?" she asks him as he stands up from the bed, making his way to the door.
"The same" he shrugs as Seraphinius leaves her hand and grabs hold of his.
"Rivvy Skai is okay" Seraphinius assures him, the same thing he had been saying for the past two weeks.
They walk towards what has been River's room since they arrived in Zephyr.
After Skai fell, Seraphinius transformed into a dark phoenix—it gets even crazier —they found out that he has the ability to restore life...so technically Skai lost her life that day, but since the dark phoenix has what sprites assume is an infinite number of lives, he gave one of his to her on instinct. The dark phoenix saves those it is loyal to.
Now how exactly was Seraphinius able to transform into one at such a young age?
That they don't know, but Emily and Elijah left a few days prior with Delarune to find out, while also looking for a way to wake Skai up.
Usually in cases like this the great council would be alerted but they are already wanted by them and on top of that they would have Seraphinius on their radar too. They didn't want that.
"I'm telling you Rivvy, she's okay" Seraphinius shakes his hand breaking him free from his thoughts. River hadn't even noticed that they were already in his room.
"Phinie enough of this" River shakes his head not wanting to entertain any more false hope. "Did you read the book I gave you yesterday?" he asks him and Seraphinius nods. He's a fast learner, he yearns for knowledge, like his sister.
.....
"Dexter?" River opens Dexter's door slowly, no response. He takes that as his cue to enter the room. Dexter has been out of it lately, River would hear him go into Skai's room some nights but he's mostly hiding away from everyone.
Nyxia would constantly disturb him day after day but after day seven she gave up and focused on going to scire and her princess lessons.
He's sprawled out on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. "Dinner is ready" River tells Dexter walking over to the door, then he pauses in his steps turning back around to face Dexter. "You'd better get your act together" he tells his devastated friend "I love Skai too and I'm also hurt that she's not responsive right now, but-" River cuts himself off in frustration, knowing Dexter is not going to answer him anyways, he's been like that since it happened.
"Skai wouldn't want this" River sighs before shutting the door behind him.
Skai wouldn't want this
His words replay in Dexter's head nonstop, Skai wouldn't want this. He'd been thinking about himself so much that he didn't stop to think how Skai would feel. Guilt immediately washes over him.
"Skai wouldn't want this." He tells himself "She's going through all of that alone, she has no one, she's all alone in her head, my Skai is all alone, and I'm here sulking.?" He begins to soliloquize "What's wrong with me?"
He stands up from the bed begrudgingly walking to the bathroom. If he was going to face her, he should at least look presentable, he felt that seeing her in his present state would be an insult to her.
...
"Hey Skai" Dexter breathes out as River leaves the room to give them space, clearly surprised that his words got through his friend's thick skull for the first time in two weeks.
Dexter always wondered why people talk to their loved ones when they were in a coma, to him it seemed like a waste of time, they couldn't hear you, you couldn't communicate with them so what's the logic behind it?
But now? sat by Skai in the center of a huge, canopied bed, her small hands in his big ones, her consciousness being so far from her that even if he screams, he didn't think she couldn't possibly hear him? Knowing he might never speak to her again, knowing that the very girl that has clouded his thoughts and dreams for weeks could be gone any moment, knowing the possibility of this being their last means of communication, now he understands.
For the past year he always believed that the next person that he would sit by a bed and talk to while they were battling for their life would be his mom, it was a given actually, he had never even once thought it would be someone else, he never thought it could be someone else.
That's the thing about life, it will prove to you how unpredictable it is, time and time again.
"I'm sorry" a tear slips from his eye "I'm sorry for not being there, I promised you I would, and I failed"
Memories of the times he would walk into her room at night only to stand at the door and cry in fear fills his mind.
"I'm sorry I didn't stay when you were hurting" he lets the tears slip "I promise you, if- no when you wake up, I promise I'll do my best not to leave your side, you'd have to beg me to leave you alone, and even then, I'd still fight to stay"
The door opening cuts their one-sided conversation short and Skai's father walks into the room. Dexter quickly wipes his tears, not letting go of her hand.
"Ah Dexter, nice to see you" Mr. Ladiston acknowledges his presence with a small smile to which Dexter hums in response knowing he would sound terrible if he said anything
"How are you doing?" he pushes.
Clearing his throat Dexter answers, "I'm alright Mr. Ladiston, how are you?" he finally looks over at Mr. Ladiston, a sad smile plastered on the man's face.
And then and there Dexter realizes, he wasn't the only one that was hurt by what happened to Skai.
River
Emily
Elijah
Mr. Ladiston
Princess Lethia
'It must be so hard for princess Lethia, her only child was gone for 16 years and as soon as she came back, she fell into a coma...I'd be devastated.' He thinks to himself. 'Not to mention, she probably blames herself for what happened, I've can't believe I've been acting so inconsiderate and self-centered.'
"I have to leave, so I came to say goodbye to Skai" he informs Dexter to which Dexter stares at him confused.
"Leave?" he asks
"Yes, King Khalil can only do so much for me" Mr. Ladiston has always been friendly, but Dexter didn't expect Kaito to give him the full tea of why he was leaving at such a crucial time.
"Does River know?" Dexter asks instead and Kaito nods, Dexter gets out of the bed and steps out of the room leaving Mr. Ladiston to spend time with his daughter.