Excalibur's Seven - Chapter 19: Chapter 19

WHEN MORGANA WOKE UP, he couldn't see a thing. He was in someone's arms, against a sturdy chest, the thud of their footsteps rocking him in a steady motion. He tried to move but his limbs wouldn't listen, and his neck couldn't hold itself up.
"Where--" Hardly anything came out. His throat felt like a desert.
"Shh, don't talk." It was Selene. She was the one holding him.
He felt a sudden wave of vulnerability then. He'd given everything he had back at the village, leaving him weaker than he normally let himself get, and now he had to be carried like a baby. He hated it.
He wondered if everyone else was okay then. "Giselle," he croaked, shifting in her arms.
"She's here. We're all here, we're all okay."
He wished he could see. His eyes were wide open, but the world around him was still as black as the night.
It wasn't until he opened his eyes again that he realized he'd fallen back asleep, dizzy and disoriented. He was laying in a bed now, one he knew well, Giselle sitting at his side.
He was home.
His attempt at sitting up only got him to arch his back and let out a frustrated grunt.
"Hey now, calm down. It's okay," Giselle hummed, leaning over to brush his hair from his face. She stood up, placing one arm behind his back, pulling him into a sitting position. It was embarrassing that he couldn't even lift his own neck.
He looked around his small, one-room cottage to find Kit sitting at the table playing a mindless game of cards with Selene. Chalice was reading on the floor, and Eurion kept Lionel busy with a hand slapping game. A pot sat on the stove, dark steam curling up from the top.
"Your medicine is almost ready," Giselle told him when she saw where he was looking.
It had been far too long since the last time he took it, longer than he's ever gone. It didn't help that he was exhausting himself every chance he had, using up the last bit of strength he had trying to keep Kit alive. He didn't know why he sacrificed himself for an idiot like that, but he hoped it wasn't useless.
"How long?" he asked, pointing weakly at the pot.
Giselle looked where he was pointing, then back at him. "Any moment now. I'm just waiting for it to--"
As if on cue, flames shot up from the pot, startling the humans. Kit even went as far as to jump up from his seat.
"Relax," Giselle told him. "It's supposed to do that."
She took a glass of water from the counter and poured it into the fire, smothering it with a cloud of hot steam. She waved it out of her face, then reached into the pot without bothering to put on a glove.
She didn't flinch as she pulled the large capsule from the pot, even as it steamed in her grasp. The medicine was most potent the sooner it was used.
"Do you need me to do it for you?" she asked as she settled to his side.
His hands could hardly lift themselves. All he got was his fingers.
"I guess that's a yes." She offered a sympathetic smile before snapping the capsule beneath his nose. Black smoke poured from the capsule and into the air.
He breathed the dust in through his nose, eyes rolling back, veins darkening enough to be seen beneath his translucent skin. It took a moment for it to settle, but once it did, his vision became sharper and feeling slowly returned to his limbs.
"Better?"
Morgana nodded. He couldn't even bring himself to feel humiliated with how much better it was already. He rubbed at his forearm with the heel of his hand, trying to wake the nerves up faster.
"Water?"
She offered him a fresh glass and he accepted it eagerly, downing the whole thing as quickly as he could. His throat was still sore, but it wasn't nearly as horrible as it had been.
"Thank you," he managed.
After awhile, he got to where he could stand on his own, but he relied heavily on his cane. Everyone respectfully minded their business up until this point, but they couldn't help looking now.
"Your hair," Eurion pointed out.
Morgana swallowed, looking to Giselle. "There's more?"
She nodded sadly. "It's the other side now. You can kind of hide it if you wear it down."
If he got bad enough, a piece of his hair turned black. It hadn't happened in awhile, and he'd foolishly hoped it never would again. It was yet another thing that told everyone who saw him how close to death he always was, how weak he was becoming. He wished for just one thing about him to be normal, but that was a wish that would never come true.
He took the ribbon out of his hair, letting it tumble the full way down his back, settling just below his waist. Kit was looking at him funny, but he tried to ignore it.
"Okay," he said. "That's enough paying attention to me. We need to find our next shard."
"Are you sure you can-"
"Giselle. I'm fine." He fixed her with a stubborn look, sitting down at the foot of his bed. "Chalice, do you have the book?"
They nodded, pulling out the book and skimmed through until they found the next shard. They narrowed their eyes when they found it, leaning closer and pulling out the book of maps. They didn't say anything for a long moment, looking from one book to another.
"It's not on the map."
That was odd. "Let me see," Morgana said, pointing to the storybook.
Chalice complied, placing it into his hand and he looked over the page. What he found was almost a relief. Almost.
The Foraoise Dorcha.
"Well that's because it's not in your world."
They looked at him in confusion, and he sighed. None of them were good at context clues.
"It's in Faerie, dimwits."
He handed the book back to Chalice. "If there's one shard in Faerie, maybe we should check for others while we're here. It would be easier than going back and forth," the druid reasoned.
No one spoke as they repeated the process, looking through the next pages of the book.
"I think there's two," they concluded after several minutes.
Morgana took the book again as they offered it to him, and he looked it over. He recognized the name in an instant.
"The Palace of Titania," he said. "That's the Seelie palace."
Giselle's eyes brightened. "Wonderful!" she exclaimed. "It's a good thing we're right on time for the midsummer ball."
"We don't have time to stop and go to a ball," Morgana insisted.
She frowned, pinching his ear. "Did you lose your wits when you passed out?" she said. "A ball is the perfect way to get into the palace. I just need to get us all invitations."
"Good luck getting five humans invitations."
She gave him a daring smile. "I'll get them tonight. Just watch."
Giselle left in the evening, when she was done fussing over Morgana. He had to force himself to walk in a steady line before she decided it was safe enough for her to go, but she ordered everyone else to watch him carefully.
"I'll be fine, Princess, I promise. Just get the invitations," he insisted as he escorted her out the door. He closed it behind her so there would be less of a temptation to stay with him.
He exhaled sharply, looking to his companions. "If any of you fuss over me like that, I'm going to personally shove this cane up your ass."
"Don't threaten me with a good time," Kit teased, lighting Morgana's chest with fire.
"I could also hang you from a tree and let the beasts devour you in the night, would that be erotic enough for you?"
"Careful, Morgana, there's a child in here," Selene said pointedly. Lionel, however, was busy giggling along with whatever game he and Eurion were playing. He didn't give the others a single thought.
He rolled his eyes and moved into the kitchen area, grabbing a handful of berries and eating them one by one. He wasn't particularly hungry, but he needed to stay energized.
He just wanted to get this over with. He wanted to feel better so they could look for the shards already, but he had no way to speed up the process. Then his eyes landed on the obnoxious prince as he celebrated a defeat against his aunt in their odd little game. An idea struck his mind.
He rose to his feet, tugging on the prince's tunic as he passed behind his chair. Kit looked up at him, and he nodded towards the door before slipping outside.
The prince joined him moments later, and Morgana took him around to the garden where a bench sat beneath a canopy of vines.
"I'd ask if you were going to kill me but this garden is far too pretty for murder."
Morgana rolled his eyes. "No, I just need to sit down and I wanted to speak with you in private. However, as you say, don't threaten me with a good time."
He sat down on one end of the bench, loathing even the thought of Kit sitting next to him. He did anyways.
"What did you need?" he asked.
If there was one thing Morgana hated more than the prince, it was asking for help. But alas, he had no choice other than to deal with his two least favorite things in the universe.
"I still have your name," he said. His eyes stayed focused in front of him. "From the ship. I gave you strength earlier, but I..."
"You need my strength now," Kit concluded.
Morgana didn't want to say it, so he didn't. But to let Kit know he was right, he turned his blue eyes to look at him. He regretted it immediately, because the prince was staring at him like there was nothing else in the world to look at. His amber eyes were too intense, he had to look away.
He held out his hand, and Kit was slow as he slid his fingers over his palm, until eventually he was grasping it weakly. If it was just as easy to pull strength without touch, he would've. But he needed the highest potency he could get.
"Think of something that makes you mad," he said. "Or whatever. I just need a really strong emotion."
At the start of their journey, he drew strength enough to glamour when Kit got angry with him. He picked fights just for that. It pushed the energy from his aura and Morgana drank it up. He never took too much, but it was enough.
He could feel Kit get warm as he filled with emotion. He didn't know where he got so much when all he was doing was thinking of something, but he took it, pulling at the strength pouring from his body.
His head tilted back against the bench and he inhaled long and slow, letting his body fill with warmth. He could feel the strength returning to his limbs, and the persistent headache at the back of his skull began to subside. He wasn't back to normal yet, but he hoped he would be soon.
"Is that too much?" he asked. He only needed a little more, but he had no concept of how much he was taking.
Kit's voice was as strong as ever when he spoke, but his tone was soft, almost wistful. "Take as much as you need. You need it more than I do."
So he did. He took more, more, more. He took until he felt whole again, until he felt as good as he did the day he nearly succeeded at killing the King of Avalon.
When he felt he had enough, he slid his hand from Kit's, eyes fluttering open.
He looked over at the prince. He looked exactly the same, if only a little tired. Morgana had to wonder just how much Kit had in him. It was no wonder he had this much stamina, he was filled to the brim with it.
"Do you feel any different?"
He lifted a shoulder, scratching at his chest. "Not really. I mean, I could eat."
Morgana stared at him.
"What?"
He didn't realize he was staring, though.
"Nothing," he said, turning his eyes away and pushing himself to his feet. "I'm just wondering how in Arthur's name you're not exhausted."