"Hmmm…"
Valcroy mumbled as his eyelashes trembled, trying to keep the eyes close. But soon they were overpowered, and like a door creaking open, they gave way for the eyes to take in the visual.
Everything was blurry at first, but soon they, like a turbulent lake, became still, cleared. He stared at the clear blue sky, something he very much appreciated.
Ugh*
The familiar pain returned, making him wake up from his reverie as he raised his head and looked down. His chest, bandaged now but he could still feel it, the feeling of his rib cage being empty, literally.
He sat up, or tried to, before falling back on the bed. Even movement ensured to inform him what weakness meant. He looked around to see what was keeping him alive and found it out in the next instant.
A silvery globe, sitting on a small pedestal on a table next to his bed, long cables, that looked like wires, came out of them and had been attached to his back, penetrating it was the precise term as they were connected to the valves, veins and arteries, whatever a heart can connect to, of his missing heart, doing the work of a heart.
This silver globe was an invention of the mages, let's not go why they wanted to make such a thing and stay on the fact that it was the only thing that was keeping Valcroy alive, but there was a limit to how long it can do that and looking at the dimmed silver globe, Valcroy knew it was reaching its limit.
'I don't know how to feel anymore.'
He was dying here and there. It made him become somewhat numb to it. He moved his hand up, trying hard to get them up. The weakness, because there was not much oxygen being provided, was affecting every muscle, made sure to not let him do it.
After trying once more, he stopped. The hand moved back to its position just then..
Cling*
Something cold in contact with it. Valcroy looked down toward it.
"Ah."
He looked at the teardrop necklace, remembering about buying it for his mother and sister. A tear stained his cheeks as it streaked.
"I'm sorry, mom.... I got too reckless."
He clenched the necklace, a strange feeling arose in him, a stuffy feeling that made his eyes moist, making him want to cry his heart out, but he only ended up giving a sorrowful smile, he was missing the very heart.
He wanted to see the loving face of his mother, the innocent smile of his sister, the calm expression of his father, and the gentle smile of his brother, but everything was feeling distant now. He didn't want them to see him in this state, didn't want her mother to worry about him.
Just as he was reminiscing about everything, his eyes became blurry, and one sentence kept coming out of his mouth.
"I'm sorry."
Swish*
He heard something move the cloth away from the tent, but before he could see who it was, his eyes already closed, leaving a tear behind that followed the path of its predecessors and streaked down.
Erik kept staring at Valcroy's face, indifferent or what he tried to be, but his scrunched eyebrows were making it hard for him to keep it. A woman followed him into the tent, hair tied in a bun, blonde and upon seeing Valcroy's condition, she shook her head. Saving him was impossible, he had a maximum of 5 hours to live.
"At least he'll pass away in his dreams."
She said, trying to console Erik, who said nothing as his eyes were on the necklace that Valcroy was holding dearly to and he could hear him mumbling.
After standing there long enough that it made the woman so uncomfortable that she opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when she saw his shoulder slump a little and he uttered, "You really leave me no choice."
His frozen face, for the first time, showed a helpless expression as he walked next to him and put his hand over his chest. The moment he touched him, a white light engulfed both of them.
"You can't!"
The woman said out loud as she walked next to Erik and was about to remove his hand from Valcroy's chest. But before she could do that, Erik's other hand grabbed her wrist and flung her away.
"Stay within your limits."
"I-I'm sorry." She said, her head lowered, not daring to look at him, but inside she was burning with anxiety as she felt the light burning every so brightly.
Ugh*
Erik grunted in pain but kept his hand over his chest. The process went on for a while before he grabbed the silver globe and pulled the cables away from his chest.
"Haah*"
After he was done with this, Erik slumped on the ground, taking long breaths, everything felt stuffy to him for a moment, like he was missing something, he felt his heart being plunged into the coldest water there ever could be in this universe.
He shivered as he faintly heard someone saying something.
"Oh, he liveth."
"A variable hath occurred." Another added. Erik felt like whoever was talking was next to his ears, making him turn around, but there was no one there. He heard another sentence.
"It changeth naught. Having two shall grant us greater chances in achieving salvation, Lorein rejoices."
The whispers became so small that he couldn't hear what they were conveying anymore.
"Who?"
He said, but got no answer.
Arghhh*
Erik grabbed his chest as he felt everything disorienting. The pain was like millions of needles were pricking his heart, making him grunt in pain, it became so much that he felt like he'll pass out any moment.
"Young m-master!"
"Stay there!" He said to the woman, who did so and looked at her writhing young master, who was going through such agony. He flailed around, clutching his chest, wanting to tear whatever was causing this pain out.
The woman was so frightened, not because of Erik, but because of his family, the Frostbornes. It was a family who was as old as the Ironheart, the royal family. [1]
The woman wanted to cry out loud and wanted to run away, but couldn't do both. The family tasked her to keep an eye on Erik, to not let him do anything stupid and here he was just doing that and she couldn't stop him even if she wanted to now.
Once the process has begun, if stopped in the middle, it'll kill Erik. He could only look helplessly at Erik tumble, and convulse in pain.
"What's going on?"
A voice came from the outside, inquiring about the painful grunts that they were hearing. This brought the woman out of her thoughts and she composed herself as she walked out and said, her voice a little cold, "Nothing."
They could hear the pained howls, but then, seeing the woman's face, they could only suppress their curiosity and walk away. The woman, after seeing that, took out a same rectangular paper, the size of her hand, and tore it, activating a magic that enveloped the tent, making the sounds go away.
After which, she entered the tent and painfully watched her life writhing away in the form of young master Erik.
'Should I tell the elders about this?'
This was the only thought that was circulating in her mind. Weighing the pros and cons of it. But after seeing that, if she didn't do that and they somehow find out about it. It will only end up with one fate for her. The communication was cut off right now, so she would've to wait before she could tell them.
Meanwhile, Erik was in a different world, a world that was teaching him what pain meant. He wanted to knock himself unconscious, but something or someone was keeping him from doing that while his heart was being divided with Valcroy.
The reason Erik was confident he could save Valcroy was because of his unique trait/physique: One Heart, Two bodies.
It was a trait that could make the physique holder truly powerful or might end up being an utter waste. This was the reason he was hesitating.
One Heart, Two bodies. So his strength would depend on the person he is sharing his heart with. If he/she is stronger than Erik, then Erik will gain the boost and the other person's strength will also become his, but the opposite is also true. If the person he shared his heart with is not strong enough, then Erik's strength will be strength will be shared by him. There was also a middle state where both will utilize each other's powers. Their powers will be more than double, but they first need to reach that equilibrium first.
After experiencing pain for what he felt like an eternity, Erik stopped convulsing, making him regain his sanity. He laid down, taking long breaths, like his life would be snuffed out if he took one scant breath.
It took him a while, but he was finally stabilized, making him take one long breath before he felt a strange feeling. His chest was a little light, he sat up hurriedly, but that ended up making him feel lightheaded as felt weakened.
The woman saw this and hurriedly helped him up. Erik didn't stop her. His mind was too busy processing that empty feeling that he was getting. It would've helped him to know if he had opened his chest right now, he would've found his heart to be missing, and a strange black mist occupying that area before it retreated as well, leaving an empty spot, but the blood was still being pumped.
A strange black aura had covered all the valves and arteries linking to his heart, taking the position of helping him pump blood into his body.
Erik had researched his body trait and knew that his heart would be gone when he did that, but the way this trait worked over how it could supply blood to him from his heart that was in another person's body, was a mystery to him.
It took him a while to get used to this feeling and the weakness that came and went in waves. He let go of the woman's hand and walked next to Valcroy, concluding whether his sacrifice was worth it or not.
'What were those voices?'
He asked himself as he moved his hand over his body as he used mana to check on him. A relief washed over him when he saw the blood moving from his lungs to his heart?
"Hmm?"
His eyebrows scrunched together as he held his hand over his chest, and without turning back, he said, "Wait outside."
The woman, although surprised at his sudden change of expression, didn't dare to disobey, she bowed slightly and walked out, not before giving Valcroy a glance and wondering, 'What's so special about him?' But no one was there to answer her question. At that moment something clicked in her mind, 'I can,' she thought of something, and slowly walked away, vanishing into the shadows of Iron'Heits, her whereabouts unknown.
Erik, after hearing the tent's closing, removed Valcroy's bandages and looked. No matter what he could think of, it wasn't enough to help his brain accept what was happening before him.
"H-how?"
He asked, alas, there was no one that could clear his confusion. He stared at the hole that was still in Valcroy's chest and showed his insides. Everything was getting reconstructed before him, everything but the hole and a heart. It was like his body liked that hole very much and decided to keep it, but then it suddenly stopped and ribs formed before skin started appearing.
This was not why Erik was confused. There was one thing missing in all of this ongoing project.
"No Heart?"