Chapter 172 – Crisis Management

Caeileera

As we walked back to the keep, I couldn't help but observe Lilyth. My poor Jelly has gone through so much, and now she's been blown in half. I’ve noticed that Aki and Sav were also giving her concerned looks, which only made me more worried. So, after settling in the comfy guest room, the Viscount assigned the three of us, and Lilyth went to shower, I called Aki and Sav over to discuss what to do. Sav summarised the issue pretty neatly:

‘Even trained soldiers would not handle what she had just gone through well, assuming they survived to begin with, and she is just a glorified civvie. Once the reality of what had happened fully sinks in… she will need to be watched 24/6, really.’

‘H-how long will it take for her to recover?’ Aki asked, not realising the obvious answer.

‘Depends,’ Sav sighed. ‘Returning to “normal” will probably take her months, if not years. And that's assuming Lilyth will get proper care. As far as returning on the battlefield… your guess is as good as mine. I have not seen anyone survive AND fully physically recover from the injuries she has sustained, so this is uncharted territory for me.’

An expression of pure torment appeared on Aki’s face.

‘It is time for Lilyth to stay with Nyx for a while, then,’ she said, sadly. ‘I think she is the only one equipped to handle this.’

‘It’s Lilyth you need to convince, not me,’ Savri responded.

We quickly discovered Sav was right about Lilyth having a delayed reaction to being blown up in half, as sometime after we finished discussing her, Aki and I noticed that our Jelly was spending an awful lot of time in the shower. As in… it had been over an hour since she went in there. So, I went over and knocked on the bathroom door.

No response came.

I knocked again.

Still no response.

Fearing the worst, I slammed the door several times with my fist and shouted:

‘Everything okay, my love?!’ I shouted.

‘Go away,’ came a muffled response.

Sorry, I cannot do that, I thought and opened the door.

I found Lilyth sitting naked in a fetal position in the corner of the shower cabin, water pouring over her. She was weeping.

‘Aki!’ I shouted and ran towards the love of my life.

I slid into the cabin next to Lilyth and wrapped my arms around her. Aki soon joined us, and together we just held our Jelly, comforting her and telling her it would be all right.

An hour passed and then another, but finally Lilyth calmed down.

‘I got you all wet,’ she muttered.

‘Don’t worry about it,’ I replied in a comforting tone, having long gotten used to my clothes being soaked through. ‘You needed us.’

‘Thank you,’ Lilyth whispered and buried her face in her knees. ‘I guess I put both of you through a lot today. First, having to take care of my mangled torso, and now this. I can’t keep doing that to you. Neither of you deserves this.’

‘Lilyth,’ Aki cupped our wife’s face in her hands and made our Jelly look at her. ‘We are the ones who made you go into that house. Taking care of you after you were seriously hurt is the least we could do to make up for it.’

‘Still… it couldn't have been easy.’

‘It wasn't,’ I agreed. ‘But judging by your state, neither was getting blown up in half, you stupid Jelly. We got off easy. You really should focus on taking care of yourself.’

‘I… I can’t,’ Lilyth wept.

‘But… but why?’ I asked.

‘Because the two of you are the only good thing that has happened to me ever since I ended up here. Longer than that even. I had nothing to live for. Nothing! And then I met the two of you. And I… I don’t want to lose you. But all that happens is that no matter what I try, all you get is more of my wounds to take care of. Each one of them is a sign of failure. And I can’t keep doing it to you. And… and… to myself. Life here has been almost nothing but pain… I… just… just can’t take it anymore. But if I stop, I risk losing one of you. And… I don’t know what to do anymore.’

She began to weep again, and all I and Aki could do was hug her.

Suddenly, she muttered something.

‘What is it, my love?’ I asked.

‘H-help me…’ she repeated. ‘Help me, please.’

It turned out that it wasn't just us Lilyth was begging. Or possibly we weren't the only ones listening, as when we finally emerged from the shower and changed into dry clothes, Nyx appeared in our room.

She slowly approached Lilyth and gave her a bear hug, causing a new stream of tears from my poor, poor Jelly.

Stay strong, Caei. Stay strong. She needs you.

‘There, there, sweetie,’ Nyx cooed. ‘I am here now.

‘So, I’ve been thinking how to best handle this whole mess, and I have a few ideas, 'the goddess said from her cloud seat when Lilyth was once again capable of talking.

The three of us were on our bed: our Jelly lying in a fetal position with her head in Aki’s lap, our blue-haired lioness slowly caressing her hair and fur, and me sitting next to our wife, her hand in mine.

I couldn't help but notice how small and vulnerable Lilyth was, and some part of me was both sad and disturbed to see that.

Was she always like this? Only I preferred not to see it?

For me, Lilyth was the kind of person who never gave up. Even after what Kojiro did to her, she was up and running the next day. Sure, she was reckless… and sometimes stupid… very stupid… but she was dependable. I could trust her to try to do everything to get us through the latest mess we got ourselves into, even at a massive cost to herself. Images began flashing in my mind of all the times Lilyth gave a piece of herself to save us.

When she tried to stop the Corrupted Darhun, and nearly fell to her death.

Her mad dash to save me in Akh’ret's Mercy that permanently injured her.

The fight against the Greater Rot Hound and the Chimaera thing.

Her confrontation with the Sun.

Her rape and the fight against Kojiro.

The Corridors.

The Kisamzo.

Each time she came through for us. For me.

And this was where that path took her. So now it was time for me to come through for her.

‘If there is any way I can help Lilyth, just say the word,’ I proclaimed to Nyx.

‘Same here,’ Aki said. ‘Anything for her.’

Lilyth raised her head and began to protest, but Nyx interrupted her with:

‘Shush! Adults are talking now.’

Defeated, my wife lay her head back on Aki’s lap.

That was worryingly easy.

‘Anyway,’ Nyx continued,’ the two of you will be vital to my plan. My first idea was to take her to my realm full-time for a while, but then I realised it would not be the best thing to do. She needs the two of you. So… the way I see it: each day Lilyth will visit me for a few hours. I will show her around, introduce her to some people, talk with her, whatever she wants. Then she will spend the rest of the day, including nights, with the two of you. There are some caveats, though: One, if Lilyth doesn't want to fight anymore, neither Ere nor I will force her and neither should you. That being said, we are realists and understand that some fights are unavoidable and that you will need to head into danger from time to time, and, let’s face it - chances that Lilyth will stay behind are close to zero, so, with her permission, I will retrain her to be able to contribute to your fights without being your battering ram.’

She paused there, likely expecting a response from Lilyth, but all that came from our poor Jelly was a whimper.

‘I guess my work is cut out for me,’ the goddess sighed, seeing how little oomph was left in Lilyth. ‘Don’t worry, girls. I’ll do my best to salvage whatever I can, but don’t expect miracles, at least in the short term. Anyway, condition the second: for the next few weeks at least, the two of you will refrain from engaging in any “risky” behaviour. No dungeons, blood crusades or jaywalking. You eat at a restaurant in a bad part of town, and I will lightning your asses out of existence.’

We just nodded, unsure whether Nyx was joking.

‘The last condition is for you, Lilyth. You have to communicate your needs. You set the pace here. You want more time with those two? Just say the word. You want to spend more time with me and my court? Done. None of this “Don’t worry about me” crap. If I hear that you said something to that effect, I will electroshock your ass until you learn. This also applies to your senseless sacrifice bullshit. Your life matters to others. Got it?’

Lilyth let out a weak, undecipherable sound that Nyxie must have interpreted as assent because she simply exclaimed:

‘Splendid! Any questions?’

‘Will we be able to tag along with Lilyth once in a while?’ Aki asked.

Nyxie tapped her chin with her slender forefinger.

‘I could arrange that, yes,’ she finally said. ‘Now that I think of it, taking the two of you with us tomorrow might not be the worst of ideas. You up for it?’

We nodded eagerly.

‘After that, a few hours every week or so shouldn't have too much of a deleterious effect,’ Nyx continued. ‘I think Caei would have a much easier time due to her origin than you, Aki, but I lack data to prove that. Not many Sanguine visited my realm. In fact, unless some Serrated Blades snuck in - you will be the first.’

Lilyth's head perked up.

‘People can sneak into your realm?’ she asked.

‘Yes,’ Nyx confirmed. ‘As long as you know how you can travel to any realm, other than the one of Death, anyway. I am reasonably certain that the Church of Light regularly scouts all of our domains.’

‘Don’t you mind?’ Aki asked.

‘So long as they behave - no. So until it is brought to my attention that I need to step in, I leave handling visitors, including minor disturbances, to the locals. In fact, the first people you will meet are my government. Fae living in my realm are like every other person - they have dreams, aspirations, flaws, and engage in vices. Some commit crimes. My people have free will, so my handling every little transgression would be against that. Even the Blood, the monster that it is, leaves handling of day-to-day affairs to those awful Vicars of his, doesn’t he Caeileera?’

I could only nod.

‘And I am nicer and easier on the eye than it is, aren’t I?’

She then waved and said:

‘Gotta run, kiddos. Will pick. Take care of that fox of ours. She really deserves all the best. Toodles!’

Nyxie then disappeared with her usual thundercrack. I had no doubt she would be back for a late-night “planning session” with Sav, but hey, who was I to judge her? My plan for the evening was to ask Aki to help me fuck Lilyth into forgetting her woes, at least for the night.

Alas, when, after a sombre dinner with the Viscount, we tried to put our moves on Lilyth, she, disappointingly, but understandably, turned out not to be in an amorous mood. So, instead, we just slept with her in the middle, doing our best to keep her warm and safe. It did have some effect, but I was still woken up several times by her sobbing.