"It's all my fault."
"Vy, it's not your fault," Lycster said as he hugged her with his left arm. He too had tears rolling down his cheeks
"But… I…. I….," Vy could not even bear to say those words. She covered her mouth as she tried to hold it all back.
But as the memories of what had happened that night continued, she could not help herself. Ever since she regained consciousness, Vy replayed the scenes in her mind, over and over again.
She tried to picture every single scenario of how things would play out if her movement speed was a little quicker. If she had kept her calm through the entire situation.
"If... I had not..., none of this would have happened," Vy cried.
"Don't think that way, Vy!" Lycster quickly rebutted.
But he did not know what else to say. Everything happened so fast that night. Lycster blamed himself for what happened too. If he did not let himself be caught and if he was strong enough to break through the restraints and help Elette break through them, maybe she would not have died.
Seeing Vy in such distraught brought him to tears too, as both of them cried. Vy was upset, but she was also extremely angry that they had to flee. She could not even take her body along with them so that they could bury her. Who knows how they were going to dispose of Elette's corpse.
"I need to go back. Elette deserves a proper burial at the very least," Vy said through her tears.
"We need to, the both of us," Lycster corrected her.
Vy smiled at him as both of them shared a warm embrace. They will never forget their littlest sister, she would always hold a special place in their hearts. But with their individual injuries, they were not suited to travel.
Just then, there was a knock on the door. Both of them wiped their tears as Teno entered. He could see their bloodshot eyes and hear their sniffles, but he did not say anything.
"How are the both of you feeling today?" Teno asked as he pulled up a seat and sat between their beds.
"We're doing a lot better thanks to everyone's care," Vy replied with her cracked voice.
Teno nodded, "That's good to hear. I have some news for the both of you. I am afraid it's a bit of both good and bad."
He turned to Lycster and explained that to him what had happened when he was brought in. His arm at that point was beyond repair. So, Teno had taken samples of each component of his arm, in hopes of reconstructing one.
It was a really difficult process, but unfortunately, it was not possible to reconstruct one with the sample components as some of the nerves and tissue were beyond repair.
"But that being said, you both have the abilities to shapeshift, right?"Teno asked.
"Yes, that's right," Lycster replied.
"Your injuries will not affect the forms you shapeshift into, you need not worry about that," Teno assured them.
"How did you know we're shapeshifters?" Vy asked out of curiosity.
She knew that most of the healers and Teno knew that Vy was the Kyu that had brought Lycster to them, but they never mentioned anything about Lycster being a shapeshifter as well.
Teno explained that he could sense the magic and powers they had and so he was able to make that assumption. He did not know Vy was the Kyu in question, but his suspicions were confirmed when the information was revealed.
"As for you, Miss Vyrena," Teno turned to say. He took out a jar and presented it to her as he continued to speak, "We were able to restore your eye."
Vy was surprised as she looked into the jar to see a floating eyeball.
-That's certainly not something you see everyday.- she chuckled to herself.
"But I'm afraid this will not restore your sight, at least in your human form."
It would be a lie to say that Vy was not a little disappointed to hear that. But remembering how she got the injury in the first place made her shudder. The adrenaline from the battle, coupled with the Dark Kyu form were the two things keeping the pain and bleeding at bay.
Since she had awoken the pain of her wound lingered, especially when it was time to clean and redress the wound. But she knew that nothing could compare to Lycster's wound. Vy could only watch on as the boy struggled, she wanted to help him do everything.
But she also knew the importance of letting him struggle and become independent. There must be a way for Lycster to regain at the very least some form of function in his arm. She just needed to search hard enough once they could discharge.
In the last few days, Vy had sent out letters to their friends in Timbretune and associates in the Prism Sector to assure them of their safety. She did not want to implicate anyone, so Vy did not mention anything about what had happened in the letters.
They had merely extended their trip and also visited the Alterra Sector for leisure. As the brother and sister continued to recover in the hospital, the relaxed atmosphere had made Vy realise that her powers seemed to be under control.
It becomes wild, when she is under high stress, anxious or highly emotional. But being unable to change out of her forms at will did scare Vy as that had never happened before. All of this led Vy to think about Dotty.
As weird as it might seem, Vy did not feel like Dotty was gone. She had replayed those final moments in the Throne room over and over again in her mind. Dotty's words rang loud and clear in her mind each time.
Why did her words feel so cryptic? What did she mean till the next time they met? Was she just overthinking it, like everything else?