Kieran kept calling for her even after he knew she was unconscious.
He cradled her rolling head in his elbow. A familiar panic was crawling up his chest, cramming itself into his throat. He'd sworn he'd never get attached again, but it'd happened. After Tira, it'd just hurt too much. Only Dusk and his promise to make a better world for those like her had kept him going. Even turning Lightless himself hadn't bothered him by that point. He'd been focused soley on the only purpose he had left.
Leah was freezing, like an icicle in his arms. The crystal on her shoulder had spread down to her elbow and up to her neck. Her heart was dimmer than the orb. The damned thing was probably leeching the little Light she had left in her and he knew that, unlike Tira, Leah wouldn't just become Lightless. She had too much Radiant blood in her. She was going to Shatter, and despite his earlier confidence, he didn't actually know if Emrys was willing to let it happen or not.
Kieran lifted his head to the darkness. "Emrys, you know exactly what's happening right now! You know that she's just too curious for her own good!"
He knew they were listening. He'd lied before. He couldn't take the risk that they'd leave Leah in here just to get to him. Yet when only the sound of his own breathing answered him, he had to bite down the frustrated growl.
"I swear to the sun, if you let her Shatter," said Kieran slowly. "If you force me to kill her, I will fight you every step of the way, and that crystalite door isn't going to stop me. I don't care if you set all five of your Slayers on me, you will damned well regret letting her Shatter." He drew another breath. It wasn't smart to throw away his only bargaining chip, but he knew this is what Emrys had been after from the beginning. "But if you take her out now, I'll co-operate. I'll go along with whatever plan you have in mind."
Once again, silence returned his words. Kieran was starting to wonder how fast he'd be able to cut through the crystalite door when it slid aside. Asriel and two of the white-haired Slayers were on the other side.
Asriel didn't even glance at Leah. "Put her down, and go to the back of the room. Move before the door is closed again, and she stays in here until she Shatters."
Kieran did as instructed. Gently, he laid Leah's head on the ground, feeling one of her shallow breaths against his palm as her cheek touched the floor. It was hard to step away, to leave her with the people who would let her Shatter to get at him. People that were supposed to be dedicated to finding the cure.
Only for Leah's sake was he able to remain pressed against the back wall as one of the Slayers stepped forward and picked her up.
Asriel smiled. "Good. Now you stay in here until we're ready for you. I expect your full co-operation, else I suspect you know what will happen."
The door shut.
Without Leah, Kieran was left alone in the now perfect darkness.
*+*+*+*
Kieran didn't know if it had been half an hour or half a day until that door opened again.
Once again, Asriel was on the other side, this time accompanied by three of the Slayers.
Kieran almost felt honoured.
"Come with us," said Asriel. "And remember--"
"I haven't forgotten," said Kieran. "But I want proof that she's okay before you go ahead with whatever it is you're going to do to me."
"You think you're in any position to be bargaining with me?" said Asriel.
"No," said Kieran. "I was planning on bargaining with Emrys, since I'm assuming he's the one calling the shots."
"As you wish," said Asriel.
Kieran was handcuffed before they ascended the stairs. Judging by the sun, it was morning, which meant Leah had made it through the night. He was uneasy. Despite knowing without needing to look that the Slayers had their hands resting on their weapons, knowing how they'd move, how he'd move to counter, he couldn't act. Even if he'd been certain about his ability to take down three Slayers, the other two would get to Leah before he could. In this situation, it wasn't his combat skills that were going to save him.
What unnerved him most was that he wasn't even sure he needed saving. Their methods might have been extreme, but they were still trying to find a cure. Was his reluctance and their replying force a result of his own unwillingness to be cured? A sliver of the control the parasite had on his mind?
If he were honest, he had no idea.
Emrys was waiting in the room above.
He gave Kieran a critical, almost disappointed look. "I've read over the transcripts from your time in the holding cells, but I have to ask. How long have you been Lightless?"
"Nearly three years."
"Ah," said Emrys, almost in a sigh. "I am sorry to have failed you for so long, Kieran. You and Tira."
Kieran's blood boiled. "I want to see Leah before you go ahead with whatever it is you're planning on doing to me."
Emrys's gaze was steady. "We're going to cure you, Kieran. The ritual chamber Leah found--"
"I'm not going anywhere willingly until I see her."
Emrys had the nerve to look confused by the demand. "Very well." He looked to the Slayers. "Take him to see Leah. Once he's satisfied, bring him down to the temple and we shall begin. Asriel, we shall go and begin preparations."
"As you wish, Emrys."
As expected, Kieran found himself led to the medical wing. As they reached each hallway, one Slayer would go ahead to ensure there were no Radiants in the way before they progressed. It made slow, frustrating time, but eventually, they arrived. Kieran ignored the fearful glances from the nurse as one of the Slayers explained the situation.
"In here," said one of the female Slayers. "Don't give us a reason to act."
Kieran didn't dignify that with a response.
Leah lay unconscious on the bed in the sunlight flooded room. The orb still hovered by her shoulder. The white robe had been cut back to reveal both her heart and her crystal-covered shoulder. Unlike her previous injury, Kieran had a clear view of this one. It was eerie the way every piece of skin, bone and muscle at the injury site had crystalised. It wasn't quite opaque, giving him a glimpse inside her body, under the skin.
It was hard, looking at her like this, but like before, he figured she'd wake when she was healed. What decided that, why it was happening at all, that was another mystery all together, but she would survive.
Kieran stepped closer to stand right by her bedside. Without really thinking about what he was doing, he called a little of the remaining Light in his heart. He controlled the wave of pain the same way he did when he used a Displacer, but every moment he held the un-crystalised Light was an agonising effort. Quickly and out of sight, he stretched it into a piece small enough to nestle in his palm and etched a symbol into its surface. The same symbol he'd left for Leah to find around the League when he was still Shade in her mind.
Then, under the pretense of holding her hand, Kieran curled her fingers around it.
"I'll see you soon," he murmured.
Daylight, why was he so nervous? This was the cure, wasn't it? The thing his and Leah's efforts had led to! It was because of them that the League had found the temple at all. They would have shown them anyway, so why did he feel like he was being led off to an execution? Like this was his final march?
"Satisfied yet?" called one of the Slayers.
Kieran replaced Leah's hand, careful to leave her fingers around the small piece of etched Light.
"I'm satisfied. Let's go see about this cure, shall we?"
*+*+*+*
The hard surface under his back.
The restraints holding him down.
Blood bubbled and blistered the insides of his veins, reacting to the blinding Light that turned the world white behind his eyes. Its ethereal tendrils that wriggled through his body, grabbing at every cell, every crystal on his skin, re-integrating them--the way they should have always been, it said.
It was agony.
It was bliss.
It was too much.
A rush like he'd never had, a rush far greater than anything he'd ever had before he lost his Light to the shadows. A rush that he couldn't control. It was all--it was everything, and with its soothing song inside his mind, the pain that seized his muscles subsided.
Exhausted. Spent. Yet somehow he rose, dissolving his own crystalite bonds as he drew the Light from them and let them crumble. He stood. His legs were steady. His mind was clear. He felt different. Stronger. The insecurities banished, dissolved, leaving his free. Leaving him confident.
Words around him. Five Radiants.
"Did it work?"
"He's using Light, so I would assume that's a positive sign."
Kieran faced them, a silky harmony in the back of his mind watching his words before he spoke of his own free will.
He smiled, Light blazing in his heart and mind.
"It worked. I am cured."
*+*+*+*
A/N - It's a short one, sorry!
Hope you guys had a good christmas or holidays or just a good few days in general ^_^
(also i'm sorry about not replying to comments on last chapter yet, will try to get around to that tomorrow, just been really busy! IVE READ THEM ALL AND I LOVE YOU, ESPECIALLY THE THEORYCRAFTING LOT OF YOU *hopes i live up to standards* <3)