The Heartless Heart

Lilac looked around the room, tightly gripping a prototype zweihander in one hand, and several vials in another. One vial was glowing enough for him to get a decent look at the room.

There was nothing there.

And yet his brother, smaller than ever, shivered next to him. His long hair was a mess, his feet were bare, and Lilac's warm robe that was too small for him did nothing to help how cold and pathetic he looked. He burst into his room, quietly begging for help, too incoherent for Lilac to figure out anything more than two things: devil, and a nightmare.

Well there obviously was no devil here. Monsters that lurk in the shadows go away the moment the light is on, after all. If there were any to begin with. It wasn't the first time Rose had a nightmare that would get him to this point, but it has certainly been a few decades since the last time he saw him in this shape. He held the light high up, illuminating the room and reducing the long shadows two brothers cast on the walls. It wasn't that he didn't believe him, Rose looked thoroughly mortified. It's just that, well, he had bad dreams before. He'd get reduced to nothing from a memory of a different world surfacing, and it would be up to Lilac and their parents to build him back up. However, usually he'd not... just stand like this. It seemed like he was avoiding to look at anything in the room, his mind terrified of a mere possibility he could see something in the dark corners. His bed looked like he was thrashing around in his sleep, but it hardly looked like a violent struggle- why were Vervain's swords by the couch? Could she have been the reason? According to Rose, she didn't shed infernal dust herself, but with how much they were all exposed to both it and her... No, unlikely. He worked with it the most. If anyone was meant to get a nightmare from it, it would be her. Or him. Not Rose.

"Do you see anything?" he asked. Could Rose even get away from a devil? He couldn't imagine it possible, considering what he knew of their power. Hells, Lilac thoroughly doubted he would have been able to do anything, alchemical sword or no. So, either it intentionally let him go, or it was never here.
Rose didn't answer. Not good. If he was getting unresponsive, that meant that he was fading from his mind. Lilac clumsily switched to holding his sword and vials in the same hand and placed a hand on his back. Rose flinched and his trembling got worse. He immediately let him go.

Right. He was in his mind, then. Too much, it seemed. If he was getting overwhelmed, there were solutions for that. A hug was not one, but he had other things in his arsenal. But before that, he needed to figure out whether this was real or not, and how to continue. It was time to be ruthless. His gaze fell on a blanket that was left neatly folded on the aforementioned couch. He wrapped it around Rose's shoulders. No response. With a deep frown, he snapped his fingers in front of his face to get his attention. "Rose. I asked if you see anything."
He flinched away, blinking at him. "D-do you not?"
Hallucination? Sleep paralysis? Paranoia? Reality? "What do you see?" he asked again.
"H-he was bleeding. My- my bed..." he said, pointing with a shaky finger. Lilac looked again. There was no blood on the bed. Or anything that would resemble it. He looked back at Rose with an even deeper frown, trying to figure out what was happening. Rose snarled at him as his anger started to break through the sheer terror. "Give me a vial," he ordered.

Lilac obliged, handing him an empty vial from his pocket. Rose grabbed it and furiously marched to the bed, the blanket falling off on the floor. He followed, switching back to holding his sword properly and holding the light high up so he could see what he was doing. He silently watched as Rose started to gather nothing into a vial with his hands. Whatever he was seeing made him deteriorate even further. Panic and despair grew on his face as he tried even harder, before he turned around and violently shattered the vial on the floor. He sat on the floor, his shivering worse than ever as he curled up into nothing and leaned against the bed. His fingers were tangled in his hair and he was crying again, completely broken.

"I-it disappears wh-when I t-t-touch it," he sobbed. "It's- it's there..."

Hm.

Lilac put the light into Rose's hand and put his sword on the ground, pocketing other bottles. He covered him with a blanket again. This time it helped with his shivering, somewhat. He put his hands on the bed, where Rose was grasping for nothing, and closed his eyes. Everything in this world had properties, and as an alchemist, Lilac could find them with ease. He started to gently stream his magic into the bed to see what was there.

His hands started to burn.

He quickly took them off the bed, stepping back and waiting for them to cool down. It was a familiar sensation of his mana being drained away into the void. There was definitely something here. It wasn't just a nightmare. He took out another vial and tried to imitate what Rose did before. He showed what he presumably gathered to him. "Is this alright?"
He looked up at him, wiping his tears in an attempt to calm down. "Y-yes. It's- it drains th-the vial's magic."
It was ruining another one of his vials enchanted with magic of preserving. Nice. Those weren't expensive at all, it's not like he couldn't afford losing two in one night. Deeply annoyed with the fact that devils existed, he put it into his pocket and picked up his sword.

"Let's go," he said.
"W-where?"
"I'm hungry. Make me a stir fry."
"I don't w-want t-to."
"Too bad." Lilac mercilessly grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him on his feet. He needed- ah, there they were. "Put your slippers on," he ordered.
"The- the devil-"
"I'll handle it. Make me a stir fry," he repeated. Slippers were on, they were good to go. Rose stumbled as he dragged him out of the room and to the kitchen. He was a priority. Checking whether the devil was still somewhere close was secondary, although it wasn't as if he could do much about it even if it was. He presumed it was gone since the house wasn't on fire and nobody was screaming, but he will check anyway.

In the kitchen, they found a servant in charge of the fire sleeping on the floor next to it. Lilac woke him up with a light kick in the back. It was a local man, not one of the people they took with them from the Capital. The shocked look on his face when he saw the sword and his brother wasn't helping the situation.

"Lily..." Rose tried.
"Wake up. Lord Governor wishes to cook a meal," Lilac said. He let go of his brother and pulled the man on his feet. "You will help him. You will not leave his side. You will not take your eyes off of him. If you leave him for any reason, including a direct order from him, I will personally kill you when I see you. Do you understand- Rose, did you hear me? The life of this man is in your hands!"
Rose was staring at him furiously, but Lilac responded in kind. He was not joking around and his brother knew it. He let go of the terrified servant only after he got a nod out of both of them. He gathered a few vegetables to give the two a chance to calm down and put a knife in Rose's hand.

He really didn't want to cook, it seemed. Too bad. It was one of the very few things Lilac knew worked reliably to calm him down. He watched as he slowly picked up a bell pepper and started cutting it and cleaning it. A few minutes later, his tired focus shifted fully to what he was doing, so Lilac figured he was good to go.

Next step was their parents. He went to his workshop to get the orb and contact them. He impatiently tapped the table. What was taking them so long- it had been two minutes before his father's voice answered him. No images this time, they didn't need to see how he looked.
"Lily? What's going on?" he tiredly said.
"Emergency. Rose is at it again."
He heard his mother cursing.
"How bad?" she asked.
"Worst I've ever seen. There was a devil. He had a nightmare."
"Of a devil?" his father asked.
"No, it was there. I could sense its residue. Rose can see it, too."
"Do I need to come there, Lily?"

Lilac continued tapping the table, thinking. His father was more learned and considerably weaker than him, since he was perpetually keeping mother's wooden arms working. None of his assistants made their way here from the Capital yet, though. He had a very distinct feeling he was out of his depth. However, if dad makes his way over here in the middle of the night on both sides of the ocean... it could cost them.

"I just need to make it through the night. I made him cook."
"Good," his mother said.
"I'll handle things on this side. I have a witch with me, we'll try to manage the situation. I'll send a sample to you in the morning, along with Rose and the Pirate Queen. He didn't yet tell you the whole story, did he?"
A pause while his parents processed what he just said. "No."
Well, he hardly had the time, considering the trial. "Alright. Get rid of Alberic so the four of you can speak in peace."
"Will do."
"Where is the devil now, Lily?" his mother asked.
"I... don't know. I will search the house. I needed to tell you first. Be ready for him in the morning. I'll wait this out and get the story out of him. He couldn't tell me what happened."
"He'll get better. Be patient," she said. "And calm. And nice."
"I know. I'll- I will contact you again if I need to. But I think I can handle him."
"Good. Take care."
"Yes, sir."

They were four hours ahead. He woke them up at the break of dawn. They'll be fine even if they don't sleep any longer than this.

Teo next.

He found his way to his room and mercilessly shook him awake. Rose was the holiest person in the house, with his minor blessing and whatnot, but Teo was by far the most pious. Although it was reserved for minor gods, for which he claimed he felt as if he was borrowing power from whenever he did magic.

He pushed the vial into his hand. "What do you make of this?" he asked.
"It's the middle of the night," he complained before he realized what he was holding. "What is this?"
"You can feel it, right? There was a devil in Rose's room. He's recovering. We need to search the house to see if it's still there."
"Nita-!" His voice cracked in panic. "What about Nita?"
"I didn't check yet. Split up, take the upper floors, I'll take the lower ones. We meet again in the foyer. Don't wake anyone if you don't need to. Including Vervain. Do you have a weapon?"
"I can't fight a devil," he said directly.
"That makes two of us. Worse comes to worst, hit it with a lightning. There's a storm outside, make do with what you have."
Teo cursed. The little man got out of bed, which was enough for Lilac. He could go on from here on his own. With his sword in hand he went downstairs to search the large manor for any more infernal traces.

The two men turned the house upside down in absolute silence. It seemed nobody else was hurt or attacked, and the devil was well and truly gone.

"You didn't wake that woman, did you?" Lilac directly asked him.
"No."
"Good. We'll tell everyone later." Last thing Rose needed was another person to gawk at him. He grabbed Teo's arm and dragged him to the kitchen, where Rose was just starting on the stirring and frying parts of the stir fry.

Teo audibly gasped when he saw his brother. The shape he was currently in was night and day compared to how he usually was, but his reaction relieved him. If he was this shocked, that meant Rose never broke down in Hannau. That scum didn't need to see his weakness. The servant was still there, which was one positive development for this night. He won't need to commit a murder. He sat down at the table and watched Rose cook in absolute silence, looking for signs of him deteriorating further.

Rose was cooking in silence that nobody planned to break. He wasn't crying anymore, but his sharp eyes lost focus. His movements were almost mechanical like a clock, only repeating actions he was used to doing. He looked calmer and at peace in a familiar setting, and his shivering had finally stopped while the delicious scent of spices, vegetables, and meat filled the room. For as long as he could remember, Rose would cook for him whenever he had the time. His food was the best, he was the one who taught all their chefs, and the bland Bretonian meals he needed to tolerate elsewhere in the country and at social events were absolute trash in comparison. But somehow, when he was cooking in this shape, it was never anywhere near as good. He tightly gripped his zweihander, resting his head on the table.

Why was he so exhausted? Why was this happening? He really wanted to find someone to blame, but going off to try and kill Vervain again seemed counter-productive. The trouble followed her, somehow. But she didn't make it happen. Right? Probably not. He couldn't really imagine a way for someone like her to manage to summon a damn devil. Or to do something like this to his brother. She lacked both competence, knowledge, and malice, she wouldn't be able to do it. Which reminded him, why were her swords in Rose's bedroom? If she tried anything with him, he will just go for the throat. No joking around.

The servant placed plates and some silverware in front of the three men. Rose got an additional plate for the man and gave him some food before sending him out. He left only after Lilac gave him a nod that he was permitted to, which made him happy. Sometimes you needed to put a fear of god or yourself into people. The man kept his brother safe, though, and it was something he was grateful for. He'll get Nivelir to give him a bonus.

Rose sat down. He didn't have a ribbon to tie his hair with, but he looked like less of a mess as he was calming himself down. He gave them bread to eat with the food he cooked, which was good enough. He did his best and it was good. The three ate, still not saying a word.

Lilac could feel himself calming down, too. The distress and directionless anger that was fueling him slowly waned away. Rose's food was certainly its own kind of magic. No matter how much he tried to imitate and directly follow his recipes, it just never worked out the same. Teo clearly found it delicious too, as he was the first to finish his plate. He watched the two of them with a strange unreadable expression, and Lilac decided he really didn't care what a pirate witch thought about his brother's hobbies. At least the man was polite enough to keep his mouth shut until everyone was done with their meals.

"Are you feeling better?" Lilac asked him.
Rose gave him a slow, measured nod.
"Are you going to tell us what exactly happened?"

His hands started shaking again, he noticed, but there was a bit of a flame in his eyes again. He calmed down as much as possible and he could make it through this. Lilac placed his hand on Rose's, for a bit of additional reassurance.

He took a deep breath and started telling them.