Vision
“No! EM!”
It was just supposed to be a simple scouting mission. They were supposed to find the hilichurl camp, report it on their maps, maybe clear it out if they thought they could handle it. Of course, they could, between the four of them, three had visions. Roland understood he was the only one without it, but he was just as strong as the rest of them. So they made the effort and cut down the camp without much issue.
There wasn’t supposed to be a ruin guard.
They knew their limits. If it was just the guard, they could’ve handled it. They had enough ranged members, and the strength to take it down if they managed to stun it. But after a lengthier battle, as well as being surprised, they couldn’t fight it.
Roland watched his partner fly through the air, having been hit by the large rock fist as it spun like a top. He felt in that moment like he’d been hit too, heart sinking in terror as he watched the pyro-user he was in love with hit one of the large trees with a force that nobody could just walk away from.
His eyes darted between the giant and his lover, debating if it was worth trying to fight. His fellow friends, the hydro catalyst wielder making their best effort to keep the creature distracted and at bay, while his sister, the cryo bow-woman, took shots at the creatures eye in attempt to stun it.
His sword fell from his hands, deciding the battle wasn’t worth it. He raced towards his long-haired ally, crumpled against the base of the tree like a sack of rocks. By some miracle, or perhaps a curse, the man was still breathing, albeit raged and visibly pained.
The sight was awful, but he knew he didn’t want to abandon him to his suffering. There had to be a chance, some way to save him, but even just glancing at the twisted form and collapsed ribcage of his lover, he knew there was no way he was making it through this.
“Ro…” The man tried to speak, but the effort made him need to cough, which then lead to more pained noises. The visionless rested his hand on the man’s shoulder, gazing up from his knelt position.
“Shh…” He whispered, reaching to clasp both his hands. “Don’t talk, just… just breathe, okay?” He could see the dubious gaze in the injured man’s eyes, and it took all his effort not to just break down crying. Now wasn’t the time to mourn what he was losing. “We… we’ll get someone, we have to. We-we’ll get Barbara, she’ll come and she’ll heal you up. It’ll take a while but you’ll be good as new. You just need to hang on, alright Em?” The pained man nodded, gazing into his desperate companions eyes.
He quickly glanced behind him, looking to the fight. It was that moment the ground shook with the weight of the guard landing after a leap. His sister took the catalyst-user and pulled them out of the way, just in time to avoid the impact of the fists. He gave her a look that asked all he needed to know, to which she nodded in confirmation. She was giving them time.
Another cough drew his attention back to his beloved and he quickly placed a gentle hand on his shoulder to keep him from rocking back and forth and further injuring himself. “It-it’ll be okay. We’ll get you home, baby.” God, he could feel the usually-warm touch fading into a normal, if not slightly cold, temperature. No no no. “I’ll spend every day with you in the chapel, okay? I-I’ll try and make that soup you like, what was it? The calla lily seafood soup. It won’t be the best, but I’ll do it. I-I’ll hold you hand and kiss you goodnight, and…” He could see the effort behind his partner’s eyes, all his energy being put into just staying alive.
God, he could feel the blood caking his forearm and hands.
“I’ll sing you that song you like, the… the one edgy one Venti sings. I’ll do all the chores and clean everything up, even though I don’t wanna. I’ll do everything, I’ll baby the shit out of you, okay? Just, just stay, okay? We’ll bring Barbara. You’re gonna be okay.” He was lying. They both knew it. Part of him wondered if his partner knew it from the desperation in his voice or by his own pain.
“Ro…” He didn’t cough this time, just tried to swallow the blood he wanted so desperately to expel. “I love you. S-” A pause as he tried again to breathe, the pain greatly increasing. He wasn’t keeping air, his rib likely punctured one or both of his lungs. “So much.” He tried to raise a hand, but he didn’t have the strength to lift his hand. Noticing this, he let out a small bit of air, opting instead to rub his thumb on his partner’s hand. “D-don’t l-listen to him. T-this isn’t… n-not y-your faul…t.”
God, he couldn’t believe this miracle of a man was still trying to comfort him, when he was the one dying. He was scared of death, they both knew, and here it was, taking him. And his priority was him. Him and what their ex-friend had told him months ago.
Tears began streaming down his face. “B-but I’m the one who wandered too far, Emerson. If I didn’t… it wouldn’t’ve found us. I should’ve paid more attention, and…” Emerson clutched his hand with his fading strength, drawing his attention.
“N-not… yo…ur… f-fault.” He insisted with his waning consciousness. His gaze was drifting, and he seemed to notice, flicking his eyes back towards his partner with a pained smile. “K-kiss me?”
Even now he remembered his stupid joke he always said, a dumb attempt at comfort all those times before. I’d be okay dying if I had your lips on mine. It was always said in jest, for those times when he didn’t want to stop kissing because he needed air. He couldn’t believe this stupid man was bringing it up even now.
He wasn’t one to deny his request. Tears welling in his eyes, Roland pulled a hand from the bloody pile, resting it gently to his partner’s cheek. He leaned into it, thankful for the contact but likely also a chance to not have to support himself. In a horrible, tormented moment, he pressed his lips to Emerson’s, a gesture he melted into.
He felt the man’s eyes flutter closed. He felt the man’s breath stop coming from his nose. He felt the moment the man’s weight was held only by his hand.
He hated this.
He pulled away, tears streaming down his face as he looked at the body of the man he loved. The body. There wasn’t life anymore, there wasn’t the man he’d spend two years loving. There was just a body, a lifeless shell; a memory.
He let out a pained sob, resting his head on the shoulder, desperately clinging to his hands as if clutching them hard enough would bring his life back.
He didn’t hear when the sounds of elements and arrows dulled behind him. He didn’t hear the loud steps of the monster that took his partner. All he heard was his own sobs.
Hot.
The sensation surprised him, and he jerked his entire body away from the corpse of the man. It took a second for him to realize what it was he felt: a burning pain on the side of his pinky, as if he’d touched a burning hot iron. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and he slowly crawled forward, eyes darting around in an attempt to solve the mystery.
“Roland!” His sister’s voice piped up behind him, but he didn’t care. He need to know. What if it was something to bring him back? He began searching the body for the source of the pain.
“Roland!” The voice spoke again, this time with a tug on his shoulder. He spun around to see the pale face of his sister, standing right next to him with a look of alarm. “We have to go! We can’t keep fighting!”
He yanked his arm from his sister’s grasp, a confused and frustrated groan falling from her lips. When his eyes landed back on the body of his beloved, he saw it.
The vision.
The glowing red orb around the man’s waist had dulled with his life, but now it was nearly glowing hot orange. In desperate confusion, he reached down, trying to remove it from the corpse. He was desperate, he needed it.
“Roland!” Came his sister’s voice again. He didn’t care.
He held it in his hand, a white-hot pain flowing through his entire arm. It spread to his entire body, but he didn’t care. He needed this. If not as a momento, than a solution for this mystery.
His sister didn’t cry out a fourth time, as he saw his body engulf in flames. The pain had gone, or at least numbed, but the flames were very much alive around him. He didn’t even put together what was happening, it was like his body moved on its own.
Roland rose to his feet and approached his weapon with a rage unlike anything he’d ever felt before. His sword in one hand, the red orb in the other, his gaze fell upon the giant structure that had felled his partner. “COME AT ME, YOU STUPID FUCK!”
When the large, glowing eye landed on him, he didn’t hesitate.