All the Stars Between Us

We Wait.

The blood drained from Thalia's face, and she nodded. Never closed their eyes for a second, and their limp body crumpled to the ground.

Àiran caught it, and held it tightly. Everyone had their weapons drawn, but it was impossible to tell what was going on. A low hum emanated through the room, and the lights flickered- then the room was plunged into darkness.

There was a whispered chorus of "brighten," in the ancient language and the blackness was perforated by a spectrum of colours from the weapons.

Thalia almost didn't see the blinding glow being emitted from Never's axe, strapped to their still body across their back.

She began to crawl towards it, but sat back when Never sat up abruptly. The lights flickered back on, and the weapons shot back into their places. The hum finally subsided.

Never looked around, seemingly disoriented, before their eyes rolled up into their head, and they went limp in Àiran's arms again.

Nyx pushed him aside and took Never into her lap. She held two fingers to their wrist, and let out a breath of relief. "They're not stuck in the in-between, just unconscious."

"Thank the gods," breathed Linh.

➵➵➵➵ ✵☽✵ ➵➵➵➵

Never opened their eyes groggily, reaching up to rub them. Once their vision cleared, they took in their pristine white surroundings, and the complicated-looking monitors arranged uniformly against the wall.

They craned their neck painfully, and noticed the plain, loose white tunic they had on, and the carefully tucked covers around their lower body. "Nyx," they yelled.

Nyx walked in wearing a loose cotton top and pants with a long white nylon coat, setting a tray on the table beside Never's beside and sitting beside them.

"Hey," said Nyx with a smile. "How are you feeling?"

Never looked up at her, and deadpanned, just to be irritating, "Not too great, doc. I keep hearing this insistant, tinny little voice in my head asking me how I'm feeling." They lowered their voice, beckoning Nyx in closer. "You know, I think if I ignore it, it'll just go away."

Nyx laughed. "Well, I'm glad your sarcasm is intact, at least, or we'd definitely have a problem."

Never scowled, but Nyx knew they enjoyed the care she gave them when they had an injury- which wasn't all that uncommon.

She held a button down beside Never's bed, and the back moved slowly inwards with a mechanical whir until Never was only reclining slightly- they would only have to move a bit for their torso to be at right angles to their legs.

"Is this alright, or are you uncomfortable?" Asked Nyx gently.

Never nodded. "This is fine."

Nyx nodded, and pulled a notepad out of her jacket. "Never, I'm going to have to ask you a few questions, alright? All I need you to say is 'yes' or 'no'."

Never acquiesced with a slight nod. Nyx raised an eyebrow, and they rolled their eyes. "Yes."

"Ok," said Nyx with a smile, "Since you've been awake, have you felt short of breath?"