34 Hey you, you're finally awake

I jolt into cognitive awareness, sitting bolt upright, my eyes blinking away the light as the blackness subsides from my vision, leaving a wash of colour in its place. As my senses return to me, I become faintly aware of the smell of lilies, delicate and floral, wafting around the room in an appealing array of whimsicality. Then I hear music- a light tune being tinkered on the piano, soft and airy like the notes of a distant melody singing on the air, as though from some far off revel held by the fairies dancing through the forest. It is beautiful, enchanting, to merely sit and listen the this wonderous array of musicality, sucking me into a trance as I stare blindly across the room, almost forgetting about the memory that had haunted my vision moments before.

Until I do remember, and everything comes rushing back.

As my vision returns and the haziness fades, the music stops, replaced by the tapping of heeled boots across the ground as a figure looms into view, silhouetted by the light and the occasional floating Dilopuff. My head spins frantically.

"She is awake, your highness," a gruff but familiar voice announces from the corner of the room, too far into the shadows to be fully rendered into my conscious cognition. All I glimpse is a hulking, bear like figure, dark eyes and a set of leathery wings, like those of a bat, or a strange, featherless bird.

Then the figure in front of me rolls his eyes, his face coming into view: alluring tousles of blacky-blue hair, lavender eyes, and the ruby lips that glisten with a twinkling humour.

"Yes, I can see that Dreyfus," he calls over his shoulder, smiling as he places a hand on my own, rubbing it soothingly in little tiny circles. From across the room, the hulking figure gives a low grunt which could almost be a laugh.

But I barely hear it.

Dazed, I look down to where Valerian's hand meets mine. The gesture is a relief, but in many ways, my mind is in chaos. Havoc runs a-muck in my head, thoughts still fresh with memories that are not my own, feelings, experiences that I could never hope to feel in my wildest dreams. So for a second, as I sit there, trying to collect my thoughts and temper the racing of my heart, I struggle, attempting to nit pick my memories from anothers- Lyla. That was her name. Lyla.

Valerian's lover. The first ever demon.

In the half light it is hard to tell, but I could have sworn as this thought runs through my mind, the Devil frowns, his face falling with a sudden melancholy. Or maybe, just maybe, my mind is playing tricks on me. It wouldn't be the first time.

"Are you feeling okay, chérie? You have been out for a long time- too long. You scared me," he laughs, but there is a nervous edge to his voice as he says this, as if perhaps he was expecting a much more perilous outcome than the one I experienced. Rubbing my head with a prolonged groan, I attempt to recall the rush of time that surpassed me, but my mind comes up blank. That memory only felt like minutes, and yet Valerian claims I have been out for a long time- but just how long is that?

"How long?" I groan once more, attempting to straighten the messy wisps of my hair between my fingers, but find my efforts are utterly futile. Valerian bites his lip.

"Almost a full day," he whispers, giving me a tight smile. In that moment, my stomach drops to my feet. A day?? I have been out for a day? No wonder I don't feel drunk any more, I fucking slept it off!

"Holy shit," I whisper, slamming my fist bitterly against my forehead, causing Valerian to wince as he carefully pry's my hand back off of myself, wincing further as he observes the red welt that forms on top of my head. He gives a muffled mumble, as if to say: careful. Then (deliberating for a moment), Valerian brings a hand up to run his thumb tentatively over the bruise, a tingling sensation seeping through my skin as the pain subsides, leaving in its place fresh and unbruised skin. Carefully, Valerian dusts off his hands, puffing out a breath I hadn't realised he'd been holding.

"Holy shit indeed," comes the deep rumble from across the room, the voice getting louder as it makes its way across the floor, closing the gap between us.

Dreyfus keeps his distance from me, content to linger and look on from the other side of the couch, arms braced against the chair, his face drawn. His leathery wings brush gently against the couch as he makes himself comfy, his dark eyes glowing as he surveys me up and down with a series of lasting looks. All at once I get the feeling I am more like a specimen than a person.

"Val was very worried," he states simply, flicking Valerian a knowing look. I try to ignore the faint flush that rises upon the Devil's cheeks.

"Not usual for people to pass out for so long after memory splaying- I should know, I discovered the thing," he chuckles to himself in a deep, rumbly growl, lips twitching in amusement. Then he tightens his hand on the side of the couch, pushing himself off with a heaving grunt. Woozily, I watch him as he goes, pushing back his dark hair with a swift flicking motion and straightening the fluffy cloak that braces around his shoulders.

"Alright, since she is well, I am off, your Highness. It is best I go and quell the others. Nora and Aurelius weren't happy upon discovering they would have to wait another day to meet the Princess." he sighs, but doesn't seem too displeased about the matter, as if it is something he has had to do many times before. Sitting up straighter and batting a stray Dilopuff from my face, I reach out to Dreyfus, beckoning him to come back with a desperate look.

"No, wait, I can talk to them now, it's okay!"

"No, Elowyn," the Devil says softly, placing a firm hand on my chest to keep me in place, pushing me back down on to the couch. "Not today. You need rest, and to collect your thoughts. Memory splaying isn't the easiest of things to get used to. No doubt your mind is a mess and your memories are jumbled. Nora and Aurelius can wait- in fact I think it would do them some good to learn a bit of patience," he chuckles to himself, which earns a little laugh from his associate from across the room.

"Alright then, Val, I will be off. Keep yourself out of trouble, Princess," he adds under his breath, before slinking out of the door, trailing long leathery wings behind him into the bustle of the corridor. To this, I can't help but smile. On meeting Dreyfus, I was wildly unsure what to think of him. To me, he appeared more a rogue than a demon lord, a hulking, silent giant with eyes that reign judgement and scorn across the kingdom that he reigns. While his obvious taste for a rather large vocabulary of swear words was mightily impressive to me, a lot of his character was shrouded in mystery, leaving me with more questions and answers- not to mention being continuously baffled as to how Tarquin and he even managed to form a viable friendship.

But it would seem that now, with my doubts set safely aside, Dreyfus could indeed be a reliable ally down here. Even if he does hold a plethora of secrets.

But even still, right now, that is the least prevalent of my concerns.

I can barely even manage to look at Valerian as he sits beside me, my mind a mess of thoughts and feelings that are certainly not my own, alight with memories that I never had and experiences that I have never felt.

I almost shudder as Valerian places a hand on my knee, attempting to quell my obviously lingering unease, but the motion does little of anything, save but to unhinge me further. Finally plucking up the courage, I turn to him, petting a Dilopuff in my lap in a vein and last ditch attempt to calm the thundering of my heart against my ears...