After his stint in the hospital, Cobalt had missed the Spring Festival, not that it mattered much to him. The cold weather was finally beginning to abate as sunlight pierced the clouds high above, and the wind carried the scent of fresh vegetation over the Brimstone Institute of Demonics campus. Most students were relaxing as the school year drew closer to its end, save for the third-years, who only became more stressed as the date of their final exams crept ever closer. With the syllabus covered in all of his subjects, most of Cobalt's classes with 3-F had become quiet, cold affairs; just guided study, with his students all individually working on their weak points. No more homework, or random quizzes, or projects, or experiments, or group activities. No joking with his class, or digressing into side rants about interesting topics, or calming fights, or handing out accolades.
Just him, the shuffling of his students, and the ticking of the clock.
At one point Cobalt looked up just in time to see Whitney pass a note along to Karazelle, but he didn't even bother calling her out on it. There was no point, and besides; he couldn't risk it anymore. Those two were still stubbornly attached to him, despite everything else in his life falling apart.
He needed them to distance themselves from him.
... Right?
He knew this to be the right path, to shield them from the worst when his end came knocking. And yet, with even Alison slipping through his fingers, the very thought of losing Whitney or Karazelle made Cobalt feel physically ill.
But that was just sentimentality. They had to move on with their lives. In order for them to achieve their potential, they had to forget about their tertiary-level core teacher for good. Only then could he fade away with a clear conscience, knowing that they were safe.
From the Devils. From their feelings. And from the dangers he was always at risk of exposing them to.
Taking a deep, shuddering breath, the Incubus focused his attention back at the moment at hand. He was sitting in his homeroom, alone at his desk. Classes had ended some time ago, and he had barely even noticed. One of the caretakers opened the door and began to buff the linoleum, only to notice the Incubus, apologise and leave him be. Blinking slowly, he looked down at his arm.
He had rolled his sleeves up at some point, exposing the array of fresh bites decorating his flesh. He could hear Lilith gasping in the back of his head; he didn't blame her, the pain was almost debilitating.
"Cobalt!" she cried, her voice cracking.
"Yes?" he responded, tasting blood just under his breath.
"I've been calling for you for a fucking hour!"
He peered up at the clock. Had he been out of it for an hour? Lost in his own thoughts.
"I... I see."
"You were in a trance or something! Wouldn't answer! You just kept... biting!"
Swallowing hard, he rolled his sleeves back down, hissing through his teeth as the fabric of his shirt grazed the red-raw flesh underneath. Though Lilith raised Hell about what had just happened, he did his best to ignore her and pack up his things, fixing to get a little sleep before the next day. The normally-pleasant routine of his life had become a death march; just a matter of counting down the days until his mind finally gave out. He didn't know when, only that it would be soon.
With satchel in hand, he headed out of the classroom and started on his way back to the dorms. With spring in full bloom and summer not that far away, plenty of students were out enjoying the warm evening. But when the Incubus passed, they turned their gazes away and shuffled out of his path. A few stopped and stared, but he knew that they weren't really seeing him. Just the rhetoric that swirled around him like a swarm of flies.
... Nothing made much sense anymore. His past was obscured. His present was peppered with obscurity. And his future wasn't to be. All he wanted was to teach. Was that so hard? Or was that even what he wanted at all?
Did what he want even matter?
"Cobalt. Over there," Lilith chimed alerting him to something just off the path.
Raising an eyebrow, he glanced over to see a small flock of pigeons picking at a dropped sandwich over by one of the benches. They were relentlessly tearing at it, bar one, who just stared at Cobalt. He knew the pattern of her feathers well enough to recognise Columba when he saw her. And if Columba was here...
"... Elya," he murmured, jerkily changing course to the staff apartments.
"Wait. Is seeing her such a good idea?"
He froze. Was it?
"Maybe not," the Incubus murmured, clenching his fists.
But despite that, something deep down urged him to continue down the path. He knew he had to keep his distance; he cared about Elya no less than the others. But this went deeper than that. Far, far deeper.
With his satchel tucked firm beneath his arm, Cobalt made a beeline straight towards the staff apartments. He brushed past Ethan Zespire and Madam Pudon sharing a cigarette just outside the door, and ignored George Hersh when he greeted the Incubus on the stairs. Up he climbed, feeling his heart pound in his chest with every step he took.
He already knew this was a bad idea. And yet...
As he came to a stop in front of the door labelled "Nurse Elya Yalfre", he found himself struck with intense deja vu as three names forced themselves into his head, against his will.
Durnall Klarke. Harriet Mathers. Cherry Lattess.
A bully. A manipulator. And a tormentor. All of which he supposedly hurt, for one girl's sake.
Swallowing hard, he reached up to knock on the door, only to find it lying slightly ajar already. With a cold sensation settling in his gut, he pushed it open and stepped inside. For all intents and purposes, nothing had changed. The apartment was still dark and completely barren; an empty shell of grey concrete illuminated by the waning sunlight shining through the dusty windows. And yet whereas Elya's apartment used to be stark and sinister, it now carried an air of profound sadness. In the living room he found a case, half-filled with old clothes. Garments purchased from a charity shop. Elya owned nothing save her uniform, and now that she had been let go...
Cobalt turned his head to the bedroom. He could hear movement beyond, and smell a somber presence. Leaving his satchel on the floor, he pushed it open.
There she was, kneeling on the floor before the shrine dedicated to him. The candles had all burned out a long time ago, plunging the room into darkness. Elya herself was silent and still, dressed in a scratchy purple turtleneck that was far too big for her. The Incubus quietly stepped around her and looked down to see that a woodsman's axe lay on the floor before her. She was staring at it intently, her eyes gleaming like dew upon a spring leaf.
He sat down beside her. Lilith had told him enough. Cobalt had grown so numb to tragedy that he couldn't even bring himself to cry when he learn that Immoderata had taken Elya's voice. That no matter what, she would never speak again.
"Elya?" he asked quietly, his voice echoing off the bare concrete.
She glanced over at him before pulling a notebook from her pocket. Producing a pencil from behind her ear, she quickly scribbled on a page and showed it to him.
Hello. It's good to see you again.
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The way she stared at him... There was heartbreak there, and a deeper understanding. The cold malaise that had taken him was affecting her too; a parting gift from the Curse that had affected them both. He didn't speak as she flipped the page and wrote another message.
Why are you here?
"I... wanted to make sure that you were okay. I saw Columba, and... well..."
She was already scribbling by the time he trailed off.
I understand. I'm okay. You don't have to visit if you're too busy. You have enough going on. Both of you do.
Lilith let out a quiet breath in his head. Staring down at the floor, Cobalt took a deep breath and shook his head, trying to keep the subject on anything other than himself.
"You're not staying here, are you?" he asked, glancing around the bare apartment.
Elya shook her head and flipped the page.
No. Monique was kind enough to let me stay with her while I get my bearings.
They both heard fluttering from outside, drawing their attention to the window. Columba had landed on the windowsill, and was tapping on the glass. Standing up, Elya stepped over and let her in, allowing the bird to flutter onto her shoulder. A small smile twitched at the corner of her mouth as she handed another message to the Incubus.
She likes you. Always in a better mood when you're near.
"She's a smart bird."
That she is. Smarter than me, in any case.
Allowing Columba to settle next to the Incubus, Elya returned to the axe and hefted it into her arms, almost toppling beneath the weight of it. Seeing her stood there, clinging to such a heavy tool with her baggy clothes hanging off her skinny frame... It made the pain in Cobalt's chest worse.
"What are you doing?" he asked, picking up the Fallen's pigeon.
She didn't have the means to answer with her hands occupied, but that okay; he already knew the answer. He stood back as Elya approached the shrine, hefting the axe onto her shoulder as she took a deep, quaking breath. She was shaking all over - barely able to keep the tool aloft - but he didn't interfere, no matter how much his chest ached to ease her burden.
Immoderata forced her to build this monstrosity. Who was he to get in her way if she wanted to tear it down?
He suddenly flinched upon hearing a loud crunch. With a suppressed gasp, Cobalt watched on as Elya swung the axe straight through a wax-covered shelf. She rested one hand as she used the other to tear several boards off the shrine, casting them aside in a shower of abused wood and bent nails. Lifting the axe again, she gave a silent, primal scream and brought it down upon half of a couch, splitting the shirt that lay upon it right two. As he stood there, the Incubus' mouth lay open as Elya steadily decimated the shrine she once adored. He watched as she cut through the ruined furniture and obliterated the items she had gradually stolen from him, her face twisted with anger and her skin glistening with sweat.
It was scary. More and more of the shrine came undone as an uneasy sensation settled in his stomach, perpetuated by a deep-seated sense of panic.
Was she doing this because she hated Immoderata? Or... was it because she hated...?
The axe fell to the ground. With an inaudible gasp, Elya fell to her knees, prompting Cobalt to drop Columba and rush to her side. She barely registered his presence, instead staring out at the sea of broken wood, cracked wax and torn cloth.
"Elya? Are you okay?" he asked, concerned that she might have hurt herself.
Slowly, Elya turned to him and smiled weakly, her green eyes glimmering. She looked as if a weight had been taken off her shoulders. Swallowing hard, the Fallen reached for her notebook and shakily wrote upon a new page.
Better than I was. Much better.
"Do... Do you need a moment?"
No. Just stay a moment. Please.
Seated back down on the floor, the pair leaned against one another as they stared at the mess Elya had left. After all this time - all the years spent apart - there they were; alone together. When he glanced over at her face, the Incubus was reminded of the things he saw in the abandoned house. How they had grown closer in their time together at school, how their feelings blossomed over the months, how it all bloomed on the night of his eighteenth birthday... It all felt like a lifetime ago.
No. It was a lifetime ago.
"I'm sorry. That all this happened. If I had done something..." he murmured, turning his attention to the floor.
The Fallen nudged his shoulder as she passed him the notebook.
It's not your fault.
"... You know it's not your fault either, right?"
Perhaps. But I was still too weak to resist. To stop it from hurting you. And the girls.
He heard her sigh as she flipped the page. Her breath was warm, and yet it still chilled him.
They're all lovely. Even trapped in my head I found comfort in how they reminded me of my schooldays with you.
Of course. Cobalt's head was fuzzy, but the more Elya wrote of their past, his memory gradually grew clearer.
She was the nurse's assistant back then, there to help the students with minor injuries and help the more seriously wounded to the infirmary. He still remembered her, silently zipping about with her armband and bag, both decorated with a cross. She was always so nervous, sticking to the shadows as she moved and hiding her face as she passed people, barely able to speak even as she dressed someone's skinned knee. But upon meeting Cobalt in the infirmary, she always stuck by him, following him around during breaks and silently watching him as he ate his lunch, running off as soon as he looked at her. It took a long time for them to properly exchange words, and even longer for them to start hanging out as friends. He could recall that day in the infirmary when they first properly spoke. She shook her head, causing her long bangs to part, revealing her emerald eyes to him for the first time.
They were so beautiful that he couldn't help but stare.
From there, they were close as kin. Through good times and bad, they stuck together, until... Until suddenly they didn't. That was where the memories ended; just a grey spot where his final exams ought to have been.
"I don't remember much. I don't know why. Maybe it was the Curse, maybe something else, but... I remember you. And I'm sorry I ever forgot you. Who you really were to me," he told Elya, peering deep into the eyes that enraptured him all those years ago.
But the Fallen turned her face away, her frown deepening as she wrote another note.
It pains me to leave, Cobalt. But I can't stay here. Everything is far too different. Too many painful memories. Too few chances left to rebuild.
She stopped for a moment to stare at her hands before continuing.
Knowledge of triage. The steady hand I needed to treat wounds. The names of antibiotics and supplements. It took them all from me, Cobalt. I'm no use to anyone like this. I'll have to go and-
Tears fell from Elya's eyes, spattering the page and interrupting her sentence. Concerned, Cobalt reached out, but she kept writing anyway, smearing her pencil across the paper.
- start over. From the beginning. I'm sorry.
"Elya..." the Incubus breathed, placing a hand on her arm.
She suddenly turned around, knocking the notebook from her lap and startling Columba. She grabbed his face and stared desperately into his eyes, her pupils flitting about as though they were searching for. Whatever she was trying to find, however... it simply wasn't there, as the tears began to fall thick and fast as her face crumpled with heartbreak. Before Cobalt could react, she wiped her eyes with her sleeve and rose to her feet, bolting out of the room without explanation.
He remained where he was, his own eyes dry as a bone.
"... You're not gonna follow her, are you?" Lilith ventured, her voice low and jaded.
Taking a deep breath, Cobalt cradled Columba and gazed out at the destroyed shrine.
"No," he said simply.
His heart twinged, and he kidded himself into ignoring it.
"... No I'm not."
He remained there, drifting in and out of consciousness as the sun tracked across the wall and gradually faded away, plunging Elya's old room into pitch blackness. Hours seemed to pass, until he was alerted to the door opened and sharp footsteps clacking against the concrete. The light of an LED torch pierced the blackness from behind him, almost blinding him as the beam was directed right where he was sitting.
"I was told you were seen coming here," the voice of Mistress Viola spoke as she rounded the Incubus.
The Succubus stared at the shrine, a sharp frown upon her face.
"She took the news of her dismissal gracefully," she continued, planting a hand upon her hip.
Cobalt nodded slowly.
"It's not like she has the voice to lash out anymore, anyway," he mumbled.
"... I suppose so. I won't pretend to know what happened out there, and I'm far too tired to ask. I'm just here to congratulate you for carrying out my bidding, even if your delivery is late."
"I didn't do anything."
"Regardless."
Mistress Viola took a deep breath.
"Your father is arriving at the school tomorrow for something he has planned. Twisting my arm as usual, but in the end I agreed. You're to meet us in the main basement after classes end. Don't be late."
Cobalt raised an eyebrow.
"What's going on?" he asked, gazing up at her gloomy sillouette.
But she was already turning to leave.
"Don't be late," she repeated, before leaving the Incubus alone in darkness.
Confused and saddened, he just held Columba closer. Lilith tried to make conversation, but he was in no mood for it. Silence pervaded the room.
He stayed there all night.