Chapter Text
“You’d have to be out of your mind to pull a stunt like that without calling us!” Jax shouted.
“I don’t need you!” Viktor retorted, “I clearly had a handle on it all on my own! She’s going to be fine!”
“Because you got lucky!” Jax retorted, “She was in a horrible state! She could have died!”
“Well you all plan to kill her anyway, right?! I needed to do this to get her magic out! If I waited any longer, it would have only been worse!”
“You should have called us!” Jax shouted, “You needed more backup than three random healers!”
“They’re not random!” Viktor said, his blood boiling in his veins.
“Oh, right, they’re you’re friends! Last I checked, that doesn’t make someone qualified to heal a Princess!”
“They’re all certified for emergency medicine through Mei’s program! They’re plenty capable and qualified!”
“Not more than Negasi! And what were you thinking doing it all on your own?!”
“I had it handled!”
“She knocked you back a hundred feet!”
“But I still controlled it!” Viktor retorted.
“You were stupid and reckless!”
“It was a necessary progression, and I took the proper precautions!”
“Proper my ass!”
“Can we stop yelling?” Negasi asked. The two of them went quiet, so Negasi continued. “Regardless of whether it was stupid, everything worked out in the end. No one got hurt except the Princess, but that was planned for, and she was able to be healed. She’s going to recover, so how about we all just take a breath and talk about this like adults?”
“No, I’m with Jax, this was stupid,” Zohana said from where she sat in a chair nearby.
“Nobody asked either of you anything!” Viktor exclaimed, getting heated again, “This is my mission, and I get to decide how it works! I didn’t fuck up, everything went as planned, and she’s going to be fine!”
“Oh you planned to get pushed back a hundred feet?” Jax challenged.
“I handled it!” He knew that it’d come close, he knew better than anyone, but it all worked out. He was able to stop her. He was able to control it.
“Viktor, even you know what you did was reckless,” Negasi said, “She’s extremely powerful, we already knew that. You should have had backup. I know you’re used to being the strongest, but she’s biologically engineered specifically to counter you.”
“But I’m still stronger, and I just proved that,” he said, “So back off and go back to the Palace and let me do my work.”
“Rohesia is going to hear about this,” Jax said, poking his chest, “And she can be the one to decide if it was reckless or not.”
“Let her,” Viktor said, harshly smacking his hand away, “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Let’s go,” Jax said, “We’ll be back.”
“Don’t count on it,” Viktor said. Jax made a portal and stepped through it with everyone held onto him, and they all disappeared.
Viktor let out a heavy sigh, collapsing back against the wall with his head in his hands.
That had actually been close, too close.
He’d expected her to be strong, but he’d never actually seen someone Burst before. Aptly named, her magic had burst out of her like a damn bomb, and trying to hold a bomb back by force was definitely stupid.
He thought he could, though. He really didn’t think she’d be that strong.
He looked down at his hands, trying to clench his fists but finding himself weak. He’d needed to expend an exorbitant amount of energy just to still get knocked back a hundred feet. She’d almost gotten to Sam and Noa and Cass. If she’d knocked him back even one more foot, they would have gotten caught in her magic too.
They’d be dead.
Viktor scrubbed his hands over his face, letting out a heavy sigh. He pushed away the thoughts closing in on him. He didn’t want to imagine them like that. He didn’t want to see their ice slicked corpses on the ground. He didn’t want to see them with icicles through their chests. He didn’t want to see them with blood pooled beneath them, their chests still, unmoving—
He slammed his head against the wall a few times until the pain blurred out the thoughts, then groaned, grabbing the back of his head.
“Viktor, are you alright?” Sam asked, opening the door, Penny following in behind her.
“Yeah,” he said, “How’s the Princess?”
“Recovering,” Sam said, “She’s still fine, though.”
“Good,” Viktor said. That was good because if she was dead his life would be over. Worse than over, actually. If he thought things were bad now, getting her killed would almost certainly get him jailed, and he did not want to go to jail. Especially not Carravosan jail.
“That was… crazy,” Sam said.
“Yeah, it was,” he said, breathing out a long sigh.
“You want to talk about it?” Penny asked, “I know they must’ve been reaming you out.”
“That’s never happened before. Not them yelling at me, I get yelled at a lot," he clarified, "But me getting it that wrong.” In all his years, he'd never had much difficulty measuring just how much magic it would take to ward off an attack. It had long been one of his best skills. Always knowing how to use just enough and not go overboard. He had a lot, but he tried to ration it just in case of an emergency. However, this time had been the emergency, and he was wiped.
“Who could blame you? No one’s ever been able to hold off Bursting that long,” Sam said, “It’s not supposed to be possible. She should have died a week in. It’s been months. You couldn’t have known how to accurately guess.”
“Well… she blew a hole in a mountain,” Viktor admitted.
“She what?” Sam asked.
“She blew a hole in a mountain. From here.” A long moment of silence extended between them and then Sam spoke again.
“Okay, yeah, maybe you should have known better,” Sam said, rubbing the back of her neck.
“But it’s still a scaling that you’re not familiar with,” Penny said, “And you did deal with it, and everyone’s fine. We know better for next time now.”
“Yeah, I guess,” he sighed, leaning his forehead on his knees. They sat on either side of him, hugging him.
“It’s going to be okay,” Sam said, “You just have to… act really confident in you decision. Like you knew the risk the whole time and you made the right choice. Because you kind of did. Everything worked out.”
“But it almost didn’t,” he said, “I could never forgive myself if I’d gotten someone hurt.”
“But you didn’t,” Penny said, rubbing his back, “So take the win.”
He sat with them hugging him for a long while, his chest aching at the familiar feeling. Visions of the infirmary at the academy flashed through his mind as they sat there hugging him just like this, but his hands had been crusted in blood. There’d been so much blood. Blood smeared over his shirt, his face, his hair.
A knock pulled him out of his reverie, and he looked towards the door.
“Come in,” he said. Cass stepped inside, Noa right behind her.
“Hey,” she said, “The Princess is awake. She’s doing good so far. She tried to get out of bed, but Selene is trying to coax her to stay.”
“I’ll go down there,” Viktor said, standing up, “She knows better than to try and get up and run around right now.”
They all followed him out of the office and down to the infirmary where they appeared, but found it empty.
“I’m sorry, I tried to tell her to stay, but I can’t force her,” Selene sighed, setting down the dirty sheets she'd been folding up, “She left.”
“Which way did she go?” Viktor asked.
“Back towards the castle,” she said, pointing off in the proper direction.
“If we didn’t pass her heading towards her office, she’s probably heading towards the observatory,” Viktor said, “We’ll head that way, and I’ll drag her back down here when I find her.”
“Yes, but only metaphorically, please,” Selene said, “Her body is extremely fragile right now.”
“Obviously,” Viktor said. He made one little half mistake, and suddenly people didn't trust him. She wasn't actually dead, and they'd accounted for her getting hurt. It'd almost gone entirely to plan.
“I hope she doesn’t break her stitches…” Sam said, “If her magic starts bleeding out again, it won’t be good. She used up most of it when she Burst, and the majority leaked out before we could fix her double veins.”
“Well, she replenishes at an astonishing rate,” Selene said, “She was already starting to fill back up before she left.”
“That’s good at least,” Cass said.
Viktor grimaced, rushing towards the observatory to catch her before she actually went upstairs. She’d just made it to the steps when Viktor caught her.
“Stop. Now.” She froze at the bottom step, dressed in a new, more plain gown meant to help her in the infirmary. “Didn’t Nurse Selene tell you that you needed to rest? You’re going back down there. Now.”
She hesitated, even as her body trembled.
“You’re making this harder on everyone, yourself included. You need to rest for longer than two seconds after having all the double veins in your body torn apart. Fucking hell, look at you.”
Her body had already started to bruise, standing out starkly against her pale skin.
“Maybe you’d be more comfortable resting in your room, Princess,” Cass said, coming up behind him with the rest of them, Callaghan included, “We can take care of you there too. Whatever’s most comfortable for you.”
Valentina grimaced.
“Room or infirmary, pick one,” Viktor told her. She looked back at Callaghan and he nodded.
“You need to rest,” he said, “And the observatory is not the best place to do that.” She pondered it for a few moments, then made her decision.
“Room,” she answered reluctantly. Viktor walked over, picking her up as easily as a gallon of milk.
“You’re like a damn piece of paper,” he said, feeling the weight and size of her in his arms, “Have you really been eating the food I give you?”
“Yes,” she said, looking away.
“Have you been throwing it all back up when I’m not looking?” He pressed.
“No,” she said.
“Regaining weight might take some time,” Noa said, “Maybe we can try some foods that are really calorie dense, but not too filling so she can eat more often. I’ll go down and talk to the chef.”
“I’ll come with you,” Penny said, “I think I found out where the kitchens were when I was checking things out this morning.”
“We’ll meet back up later, alright?” Sam said, “Seven PM sharp in my room.”
“Our room,” Penny said.
“Our room,” Sam corrected.
Viktor carried Valentina to her room, her frail body freezing cold in his arms, even after all her magic had been expelled.
“Are you cold?” He asked, pressing a hand to her forehead. She shrugged. “Again with the shrugging.” He hated the shrugging. He wanted answers, not vague gestures.
“She’s injured, be nicer,” Callaghan said.
“Don’t tell me what to do,” Viktor retorted.
“I’m used to it,” she said quietly.
“You’re shaking like you’re not,” he said.
“Some of her magic spilled out into her body cavity, so it’s probably exacerbating the problem,” Cass said, “Maybe we can run you a warm bath, Princess. That might help.”
Viktor opened the door to her room, carrying her over to the bathroom. Sam stepped in front of him to turn on the water, then frowned.
“What is it?” He asked.
“Uh… there’s only one knob,” she said. She turned it on, and the water started to rush out. She touched it, then pulled her hand back. “Super cold.”
“How do you turn on the hot water?” Viktor asked Callaghan.
“Ah, well… there isn’t any,” Callaghan said.
“You didn’t mention that earlier?” He snapped, “Why doesn’t her room get hot water?”
“Cold baths are more beneficial to her,” Callaghan replied.
“That’s not true,” Cass said, “With magic as out of control as hers, she should have been keeping warm to mitigate the worst of the side effects. The cold only strengthens the power of her magic, which isn’t good when the power is the problem.”
“We’ll take her to my bathroom,” Viktor said, “And we can save the lecture for Callaghan’s incompetence for later.”
“Coming from the person who nearly killed her,” Callaghan retorted.
“That is not an argument you want right now,” Viktor said sharply, and the man backed down.
Viktor carried her to his bathroom, and he saw her eyes catch on the photo of Diane on the nightstand. He turned her away so she couldn’t see it as he shouldered his way into the bathroom.
Sam turned on the hot water and started to run the bath as they got Valentina ready.
“Alright, Princess, is it alright to take off this gown?” Cass asked. Valentina didn’t answer, only frowned slightly.
“I’m going to leave, so you don’t need to be all shy,” Viktor said, setting her on the counter, heading back out to give her some privacy, Callaghan following close behind. He didn’t make it more than a few feet before stopping.
“Viktor?” Sam called out.
“What is it?” He asked.
“The water’s freezing,” Sam said. Viktor rolled his eyes, then went back to the bathroom, Callaghan following close behind.
Valentina's mere proximity to the water was turning into icicles. Viktor clenched his fists. He didn’t have enough magic left to be wasting it on warming her bath tub.
“We need someone who can heat up the water as she freezes it,” Viktor said.
“Can’t you do it?” Callaghan asked, raising a brow.
“I just stopped her from blowing up everything in a hundred mile radius. I think someone else can take heating the bathtub,” Viktor retorted, “Anyone with a fire ability is fine.”
“Would you prefer anyone, Princess?” Callaghan asked. She shook her head and he nodded. “I’ll stop whoever I see first, then.”
He came back with a maid a minute later and she nervously used her magic beneath the tub.
“Stronger,” Viktor said, “It’s icicles. You’re not going to boil her.” The maid nodded tentative, turning up the heat. “More.”
“I… I’m doing what I can,” she said.
Viktor forgot normal people couldn’t produce much, or make it as hot. He sighed, giving it a slight boost with his magic just until it got warm enough to melt the bigger icicles. The maid’s eyes widened as she looked over at Viktor.
“Keep up what you can,” Viktor told her, feeling her magic wane.
“R— Right,” she said, her cheeks flushing. Sam fished out some icicles, tossing them into the sink as Valentina sat staring into the water, watching them form on the surface closest to her. He wanted to tell her to stop letting it happen, but he didn’t want to encourage her to hold back her magic when they’d done all this to try and get her to let it out.
“Was this one more or less than last time?” Viktor asked.
“Less,” she answered.
“How’d you get healed last time?” He questioned.
And she shrugged.
“Are you being serious?”
“I… woke up healed,” she said, “I don’t know.”
“I’ll ask Negasi the next time I see him,” Viktor said. He needed to know what the process was like before to speed things up now without her redeveloping the atrophy. Once the water warmed enough, they lowered her into the water with the gown still on. They were keeping it warm enough to not freeze, but it took a constant effort that really wore down Viktor's last reserves.
“Do you want me to fix your hair, Princess?” Cass asked, gently brushing her fingers through Valentina's hair.
“You don’t have to,” Valentina said.
“But do you want me to?” She asked, “I don’t mind fixing it up to keep it out of the water.”
“If you want…” Cass chuckled, combing her fingers through her hair.
“I don’t mind,” she said, “I know you probably go through a lot to get it this nice, so I don’t want the water to ruin it.” Cass carefully pulled her hair back into a high set ponytail, then braided the ponytail and wrapped it into a bun. Valentina sat still and unphased by the treatment, as was to be expected of a Princess. “Is your hair curly, Princess?” Valentina looked away and Cass laughed lightly. “I think you’re curling a little right around your neck. You must’ve been sweating a little. It must take a long time to straighten all this. I bet it looks super cute curly too, though.” Valentina shrugged. “You don’t wear it like that a lot, do you?”
Valentina shook her head.
“Why not? Do you not like it?” Cass asked.
Valentina just shrugged again.
“That’s fine,” Cass said, “I get it. You don’t like it or hate it. You don’t really like to talk a lot either, do you?” Valentina shook her head.
“That much is obvious,” Viktor said, getting his shoulder smacked by Sam, “What? It’s just funny cause we couldn’t get her brother to shut the fuck up and she won’t say more than a few words at a time.”
The maid beside him gasped a little, looking over at him in a panic.
“Maybe you should speak a little more gently in front of people who knew him,” Sam said, giving him a disapproving side eye.
“Did you have a fond impression of him?” Viktor asked the maid. She stiffened, struggling to find the words.
“I— I—” She looked over at Valentina who busied herself with looking at the wall beside her.
“You can be honest,” Viktor said, “He’s not here.”
“I never met him personally, but… he wasn’t known for his kindness,” the maid said, anxiously looking between everyone.
“Yeah, sounds about right,” Viktor said.
“Not to speak ill of the dead, of course,” she said quickly, “He just…”
“Was a piece of shit?”
“So much for gently,” Sam sighed.
“I don’t owe him any amount of gentleness,” Viktor stated, “He made my life hell for years. He deserves to rot in the Pit for everything he did to me, and to all the other people he mistreated. I’m sure that list is long, here especially.”
“Well, he’s still dead,” Sam said, “And people here might still care about you saying negative things about him.”
“They can tell me if they have a problem with me,” Viktor said.
“You’re also saying those things in front of his sister,” Sam said. Valentina hadn't piped up on the matter, but he didn't know if she would even if she wanted to.
“She’s the one who killed him,” Viktor said, deepening Valentina’s frown.
“By accident,” Cass said, “So maybe be a little considerate. Would you like it if you died and some guy who hated you was telling Ana and Elena about how shitty you were? I’m sure she feels some amount of guilt over it, and you’re not making it any better.”
“Do you care, Princess?” Viktor asked, “Or are you more than aware of the kind of man your brother was?” She remained silent for a moment, then spoke quietly.
“I’m under no illusions about his behavior,” she replied.
“But was he a good brother to you?” Cass asked. Valentina shrugged.
“That’s a no,” Viktor said.
“Maybe it’s complicated,” Cass said.
“I doubt it.”
They heated up the water until it was moderately warm, and then Viktor let the maid maintain it. Valentina didn’t seem to know what to do with herself, so she sat quietly as Cass asked her questions, just letting her nod her head or shrug her answers.
After a while, the maid grew tired and Valentina had stopped producing icicles.
“Alright, someone will come to redress you,” Viktor said, “You should rest in bed the rest of the day. You still need lunch too, but Noa and Penny should be handling that. You’re not allowed to leave your room until I say so, and don’t go doing anything that could break your stitches. Okay?”
She nodded and he stepped out, sending the maid to fetch someone to change Valentina into new clothes.
Viktor collapsed onto his bed, sighing heavily, exhaustion weighing on him in a way he hadn’t felt in a while. He flexed his hands, his palms sweating, and closed his eyes. He only intended to rest them for a few minutes, but a few minutes turned into hours.
Viktor jolted awake some amount of time later, slightly disoriented. He looked around, but the bathroom had long since been vacated. He climbed out of bed, rubbing his eyes as he went to investigate the situation.
He opened the adjoining door to Valentina’s room and found her out of bed, sitting on the window sill. She must’ve been sleeping because she startled as soon as he opened his door. She looked back towards him, dressed in her nightgown, her hair gathered in a bonnet.
“Why aren’t you in bed?” He asked. She slowly climbed down, going to her bed, laying down on top of the covers. Viktor crossed to her, pressing his hand to her forehead. “You’re still cold. You should get under the covers.” She pulled them back, climbing beneath them, laying there stiff as a board. He sighed heavily, seeing the bruises covering her figure. “How are your injuries?”
“Fine,” she said.
“Do they hurt?” He asked, sitting down on the edge of her bed, gently picking up her arm to look at her, “You’re bruised quite badly.”
“It’s fine,” she replied. She meant it, but Viktor didn’t think she seemed fine.
“If you ignore the pain, you could end up exacerbating your symptoms,” he told her, setting her arm back down, “So if it hurts, you can tell me and we’ll get someone up here to help.” She shook her head. “Alright, if you’re sure…” She nodded. “Okay, well… I’m glad you’re okay, at least.” He yawned, rubbing the back of his neck, having a slight crick from the way he’d fallen asleep.
“Are you okay?” She asked.
“I’m fine,” he said, “You didn’t put a scratch on me.” A moment later, his neck didn’t hurt anymore, making him frown. “Did you just do that?” She looked away. “That’s what your power is, right? Taking away people’s pain?” She nodded hesitantly. “But it doesn’t work on yourself. You can’t make your own pain go away.” She shook her head. “Did you use it a lot before?” She nodded. “Helping your mother?” She tentatively nodded again. “Do you miss it?” She shook her head again. “No? You don’t miss helping people? You’d rather they just be in pain? That’s why you don’t want them to have her research right?” She bit her lip, a guilty look flashing over her face. He shouldn’t be surprised. She seemed to prefer doing nothing at all, so it wasn’t a shock that she didn’t miss the work. “Whatever, it’s none of my business.”
He stood up, turning back around.
“Get a good night’s rest. If you don’t sleep your body can’t recover,” he said, “We want to get you back up and running again as soon as possible, so they’re going to check the state of your stitches tomorrow and then have you try and use your magic again if you can. So be ready.”