Chapter Text
The two of them walked together in silence. Cyan wanted to do anything. Hug him, chat with him, but something told her not right now. He just escaped the place he’s been trapped at for 3 years and he looks in really bad condition. Her thoughts get interrupted by the excited skipping of Luo next to her. “It really is nice,” said Luo.
“Hmm?” Cyan looked at him, her eyes focused on his face. After years of not seeing him, anything he does has her full attention.
“I’ve never really been outside the orphanage, besides having to constantly move from place to place. It’s amazing to just look, and be able to see all the new things around me!” His eyes shine which causes Cyan to smile softly before returning to a grin as she moves closer to him. Hoping he doesn’t pull away, she leans her head against his and smiles as he turns and smiles at her. Her heart skips a beat, her smile widening as he 3 years of not seeing him is now just a bad memory.
His pace slowed with each step. “You okay Luo?” Luo always tried to look tough. He always got punished at the orphanage for stuff they both did, he would always sit next to her, smile and say; Luckily you being here eases the pain! She would always roll her eyes at the horrible joke.
Luo ignores his pain before nodding with a weak, fake smile. “I’m fine! Now that I'm out I can handle anything!”
Cyan, having spent years with him in the orphanage, can tell when he’s lying. In the past he always did things for her, in secret. Whether it’s when she missed supper from her practice as the Sacred Maiden and finds snacks ‘coincidentally’ on her bed, or him after putting the blame on himself for things they did together, he would always have the brightest smile. Cyan snaps back to the problem at hand.
“You're lying, tell me.” Her voice shaking, she tries to talk in a concerning, yet commanding voice. The last thing she would want is for him to be hurt already, who knows what the Dean did?
Luo sighs, he knows that lying to Cyan would be harder than trying to break out of the orphanage himself. Even though he always saw Cyan as someone he had to help, he has to admit, she’s definitely stronger than him now. She was too observant and always tried picking fights with anyone who made fun of Luo when they were at the orphanage. Luo had to constantly stop her. ‘I could never believe her.’ Luo thought, she would almost always throw away her Sacred Maiden title for him. The 'Calamity'.
The one that brought down multiple orphanages because of his bad luck. Even though he tried to hide the pain, he felt light-headed and knew if he passed out without saying something Cyan would panic. He could imagine Cyan’s face turning to panic if he passed out. He smiled to himself imagining Cyan scrambling around, not knowing what to do, but nevertheless, he knew that wasn’t an option. He sighed "Okay… I'll start from the beginning." He took a deep breath and thought to tell her everything, with the exception of some graphic details.
“So... after you escaped from the orphanage 3 years ago, the Dean was furious that I helped you get away. He locked me up for weeks without food and barely any water. He came by my room everyday just to tell me I’ll never be more than 'The Calamity'. After 3 weeks or so I was given food once per day but…” He wished he didn’t have to say this next part, his throat already closing, but Cyan deserved to know the truth, no matter how much it might hurt her. He closes his eyes, imagining Cyan’s tears falling as he tells his tale. It’ll hurt her a lot, I don’t want to do this. He thinks of Cyan. She deserves to know. She deserves to know! He opens his eyes and continues. “...He beat me.. everyday, calling me a failure and never letting my wounds heal. After years of that, I became stronger, more resistant to his punches. So he started hitting me harder, a couple weeks ago he hit my leg really hard with a crowbar, causing the bone to break..”
Cyan gasps in horror of the suffering he had to go through for her. She would never in a million years guess that the Dean would go to such lengths over 3 whole years! She felt her face getting hot and her tears already falling. She tries composing herself and dries her tears. Her feelings of concern for Luo were stronger than her emotions right now. Who was walking all this time with her, while having a broken leg.. “You should’ve told me you had a broken leg!”
He struggles to keep his eyes open, the pain finally getting to him as his body starts putting him to sleep, to ease the pain. “Sorry…” She picks him up and starts trying to skate, but almost falls over since one of her rollerblades broke in the confrontation the pair had with each other at the orphanage. "Stay with me Luo! I'm right here!" She runs with all her might. I’m a top hero, I can do this. I’ve gone through years of training to help people, I can’t fail Luo after just reuniting! She runs and runs until she reaches a nearby hospital in district 68. “Please! Help him, he has a broken leg!”
The whole lobby froze, with people instantly recognizing the famous hero. Some of them get up and start recording her and asking for her autograph. Cyan, annoyed by all this angrily stomps her foot on the floor, causing the ground to shake.
“Stop it, all of you!” She struggles to keep in her tears. Finally, two nurses bringing a stretcher towards them. She gently places Luo on the stretcher and follows the two nurses. The brunette rolls up Luo’s pant leg to get a good look at his leg, Cyan watches as their faces darken.
“Ma’am” the nurse turns to Cyan “How did this young man receive this injury?”
“He was tormented for months.” Cyan's voice barely a whisper, her trying to talk whilst having a lump in her throat and tears falling hysterically. “Please, help him!” She says, her voice hitching.
The nurses look at each other, before nodding “This is a deep wound," One of them said. "I’m surprised he was conscious with a wound like this. We’ll need you to stay out of this room, for your own well-being”
“My well-being is being next to Luo!” Cyan says, with a determination she didn’t know she had at the moment. She already knows Luo will never let her hear the end of that if he can hear her. He would say; didn’t know I was so sought after. Cyan thought, before she could imagine her laughing with him and calling him the Shameless Hero Luo. He will get through this okay.
The nurses look at each other before nodding again, the nurse with brown, wavy hair speaks up “If you insist Miss. But if you start causing a disturbance we’ll have to make you wait outside the room, this patient’s leg is in very bad shape.”
Cyan nods and watches nurses and doctors go in and out of the room. There’s not much she can do right now, which she hates. She always hated having a sense of powerlessness. Whether it was her having to take on the role of the sacred maiden, or her having to rely on Queen’s assistance in her debates with Micky. If it wasn’t for Queen, she wouldn’t even have been able to go back to the orphanage. Which means she would’ve never found Luo.
She taps her foot melodically, a habit she took up that would always seem to calm her down. It didn’t help. Cyan suddenly snapped to attention. She forgot to update Queen on the matter! She opens her cell-phone to find that in her fight with the Dean it had taken an impact. It seemed like luck wasn’t always on her side. She sighs and turns to one of the nurses who seems to not be too busy at the moment “Where are your pay phones?”
The nurse turns, “Oh, they’re down the hall, make a right then look straight.”
“Thank you.” Cyan says with a forced smile. She can’t really focus on anything besides Luo right now. She heads to the payphone and dials Queen first. After a couple minutes, she hangs up, feeling slightly better than before. She returns to the room to see the original two nurses waiting for her.
“Miss, This young man is-”
“Luo.” Cyan said, interrupting them. “His name is Luo.” Cyan knows this isn't an important detail, but hearing his name calms her down, the thought of him being here keeps her going.
They nod before proceeding. “Luo’s injuries are not as bad as they could’ve been. You're lucky you brought him in when you did.” Cyan lets out a sigh of relief. “But..” The nurse continues “We’re going to have to do an X-Ray. Are you his guardian? She looks up at her suspiciously.
Cyan blinks at the question. “I guess so.” She responds, it's not like in a time like this they'd ask me for an ID... She thinks.
The nurses seemed satisfied with this answer "Do you permit us to start the X-Ray?" One asked.
“Yes,” said Cyan. Nothing else mattered to her, she had more than enough and would spend it all and more for Luo. After her approval, the nurses brought Luo into another room. “Stay out here.” the blond one said. Cyan nods and slinks in the chair outside the room in defeat. She didn’t know much medical knowledge, but she knew that she wouldn’t be able to argue this time.
She starts singing, her voice cracking with every minute that passes by, eventually she stops singing and buries her face in her legs. Sobbing uncontrollably. Another nurse walks down the hallway, looks at her with sympathy before continuing on her way. Luo…. Cyan can’t stop crying, she’s a mess. Her eyes red, her clothes soaked in tears. Please be okay...
After a little while they emerge with not-so-happy looking faces.“ Cyan shoots up from her seat, she wipes her tears away. “Ms. Cyan, the X-Ray shows us all the information we need so we won’t need another test.. But the damage to his leg is severe, he’ll need to stay off it a month give or take. Then he'll need to walk with caution."
Cyan breathes a sigh of relief. She knows that it could’ve been much worse. She looks at the two nurses gratefully “Thank you.” She finally gets a good look at the two, the blonde having short, straight hair and a comforting smile. The brunette has more of a 'fun' appearance, with her wavy hair rolling down her back like a stream and her clothes white but decorated with stickers. She seemed like more of a scientist than a nurse to Cyan.
The Brunette smiles assuringly “If this wound really was made over the span of multiple months, he must have an incredible pain tolerance by now. His body could already have superhuman capabilities. The wound could heal faster than expected. Oh! I’m guessing you’d want to stay with him, the Hospital is open 24/7 to visitors." She tries her best to relieve Cyan of her stress, but her mind is already racing back to Luo. I wonder what capabilities his body has! The nurse thinks to herself. She always was fascinated with all the incredible things the human body could do. So much so that it caused her to get in trouble a lot. She wishes she had more time to do experiments on Luo, but Cyan was on the verge of crying. She didn't have the heart to ask to do an experiment for research.
Cyan nodded along to the nurse's explanation. She felt relieved that she could stay with him. After not being with him for 3 years, the last thing she could imagine is leaving his side. She watches as the nurses leave the room leaving them alone.She turns to Luo, who seems to be sound asleep. She smiles softly. He didn’t change a bit, he’s still slightly taller than her, which she doesn’t like. Hours pass and Cyan sings, hoping her music will help him.
At around 12 in the morning she stirs awake to a knock. “Come… come in!” Queen enters the room. Looks pitifully at the state Cyan is in. Her hair’s all messy, her skates are broken and muddy. To top it off, she has dark circles under her eyes from her lack of sleep. She looks up at Queen, eyes quickly darting to Luo as if he would disappear if she didn’t watch him.
“Sleep.” Queen issues a command to Cyan, which causes her to feel extremely sleepy. “No wait… I… I… need to be protect him…” Cyan says sleepily. Finally, she falls asleep on the guest chairs she was using as a makeshift bed. Queen sighs and looks over at Luo, who seems in good condition besides his leg that’s in a brace. This is the guy? The guy that you were talking about for hours? Queen thinks. Cyan could never stop talking about Luo the first couple times they met. Her eyes always lit up when talking about stories about them. Or tear up when she would think of him sacrificing himself to help her escape. Queen looks back down at Cyan. This won't do. She thinks. Cyan can't be seen in a state like this. I won't allow it as her friend.
Queen sighs, pulls out her phone and calls Ken. “Ken? Yes hello it’s me Queen, I need a new guitar for Cyan, a pair of rollerskates and some clothing for Cyan and a boy. The hospital that's North Westward street, district 68.” Glances at the pair sleeping. “Who he is doesn’t matter, if you don’t get good clothes for him Cyan will give you an earful.” She does a quick calculation of Luo’s measurements, hangs up, and puts a blanket over Cyan before leaving satisfied.