Wayfinding | Aaravos x Reader |

⚜ STELLAR ⚜

CHAPTER 22: GUILTY AS CHARGED

Your mind was a carnivorous fiend.

It chewed you between each fang – each troublesome thought – savoring the taste of your misery before it spitting out your listless corpse.

You imagined Enox would be its final meal, but it was a gluttonous and callous creature.

It wanted more.

It wanted everything you had.

So naturally, the morning after Sal Dorei, its predatory instincts gravitated towards Uzner's lagging figure. The boy swore he was fine, just as he did with the Prince, but the miffed grimace that stained his unrefined features told a very different story. If that were not enough, while ceaselessly grunting, the young man kept slumping against anything and everything in his surroundings.

He was reluctant to admit it, but you knew that he was in pain.

Luckily, instead of pondering on the past as your mind would have liked, you approached the humans and recounted the events that led to Uzner's injury. When Arkeus heard the infamous moonshadow elf was responsible for it, you imagined a blood-bath to follow. But surprisingly, the blacksmith took that portion of the news well. Besides - after overturning the black-market, Inyah and Gliden parted ways with the crew to rescue Xadian creatures from remaining traders. It would've been difficult to track them down thereafter.

The only dismaying part - for the forger and the alchemist - was the fact that paralysis, in that point of history, was a complex condition. There was no device or medicine in the world to support the boy and the potential - or perhaps, inevitable - changes he would face. Of course, regardless of his state, Uzner would not go unloved. That - the humans were certain of. But if the boy's appendages were more than just numb, everyone knew that life would disfavor him any chance it got.

So, using all they had, the Katolians made it their mission to restore the lad's health. After requesting a leave of absence from the Royal Council, Agatha aided Theodore's research in spinal damage. They tampered with pressurized-manipulation and other prototypes of chiropractic techniques. But they were discouraged by the lack of improvement in the boy. He still writhed in discomfort whenever he used his lower limbs. Arkeus, on the other hand, retreated to what he was best at - smithing. From what you could recall, he must have spent at least a day producing a walking cane for his son. But you were under the impression that he made the contraption only as a temporary alleviation to the child's struggle.

Perhaps it was denial or hope – but Smith was opposed to accepting that things could get any worse.

And that was when your mind started its funny business.

While the adults frantically foraged for answers, you began to feel more and more useless. Every time you opened your mouth, you felt like you were speaking out of turn. Each time you existed in the same room as the others, you felt as if you were impeding a private conversation. Seeing you aimlessly drift about, Aunt Agatha suggested you comfort Uzner. After all, it was the proper thing to do - as a friend and as his foster sister. But your thoughts were already saturated with guilt.

Deep down - you knew you shouldn't be blamed for the altercation with Inyah. You knew you didn't force the boy to do anything that he didn't want to do himself. But, you were aware of the threat the moonshadow elf posed and that none of you were a match for her. So, as much as you wanted to believe that you weren't culpable for the boy's condition, it felt impossible to think otherwise. If you had protected Uzner or - at a minimum - stopped him from risking his life for you, perhaps he wouldn't be laying listlessly on a pallet, awaiting his incalculable future.