#koimao

[the-sundry-system]

koimao 2

Steve pressed his forehead against the glass, swallowing down his tears. He missed his kids, but he couldn't leave her alone. Not like this.

Strong fingers moved delicately across intricate carvings, as he wondered what they meant. Foxes and jellyfish. The jellyfish were obvious, something to do with Tyler. Maybe they were there because she missed him. There was no way to know. But foxes? He could understand butterflies, panthers even, but not foxes.

Maybe they didn't mean anything.

In truth these were idle thoughts to keep him distracted from what he knew must be the truth - that the parasite was back somehow.

And God knew what that would bring.

Except there wasn't even a God in this universe, was there? Not one he could pray to anyway. The closest thing they had to a god was in perpetual sleep, right in front of him.

He supposed that made her parasite the Devil.

There was one person he wished he had with him in that moment. Someone who was long gone, and he would likely never talk to again. The man he felt stupid for still loving, who didn't really even exist anymore.

He would comfort him, tell him everything would be okay...

No. He couldn't fall into that spiral again. He had to be strong for her.

The veteran sat back and scratched his stubble, seeing old tired eyes staring back at him. He was old. Not nearly as old as others, but old. He was just glad Arc didn't have to see him like this, on the edge, nearly toppling over into his skinny form.

But even as the thought passed, he noticed something dark out of the corner of his eye. He looked to see the raven just out of reach, black and made of mist. It looked at him thoughtfully, and he could see her wisdom behind its eyes. It was like she was studying him, unable to get the full picture.

"Hey doll," he whispered, not even knowing if she would even hear him.

The bird cawed in response, but didn't get any closer.

"Care to tell me what's going on?" he joked. At her best Arc could make the raven talk for her, at her worst she couldn't even summon it. At least she wasn't at her worst.

The bird glanced to the coffin, then back to Steve, staring at him intensely. Almost disapproving.

"I know," he sighed. "I'm a mess."

It fluttered its wings a little, tipping its head to the side.

He opened his mouth to say something else, when he heard footsteps. It was Merlin walking towards him, brow furrowed.

When Steve turned his head back, the raven was gone.

[the-sundry-system]

koimao

"How long has she been like this?" Steve asked, looking down at the glass coffin.

"A couple days," came the answer.

The protector ran his hands across the metal embroidery of roses across the top, silver like the cushion she laid on. "I knew it was bad, but not this bad."

Merlin bit his lower lip, eyebrows furrowed.

"And it can't be opened?" he asked, swallowing. He saw no hinges or seals, not even a button.

"No." No spell the sorcerer could think of - and there were a lot - would have any effect on it. It was powerful magic at work. He had inspected the whole thing with Pandora, from the jellyfish and foxes engraved in the bottom to researching the crown that sat on her head. There were no clues, no hidden messages.

"No word from the Doctor?" Steve asked.

"He can't communicate, they share a body now." Pale fingertips pressed up against the glass.

"How about the other Doctors? Has Tenley stopped by? Eleven?"

Merlin remembered the looks of confusion on the faces of the angel and the demon. "Aziraphale and Tenley are staying nearby, they don't know what's happening either."

"Last time I talked to her she was a little stressed," the blond murmured, "but overall fine." He regretted leaving the front when he did. He had wanted to stay there to make sure Arcadia was safe, but he had urgent business to attend to. Next thing he knew, Barry was handing him a letter telling him to go back to Greece.

"Medusa visited the console room a little," the sender of the letter interrupted his thoughts. "She can't be dormant, because she's still fighting to front, but the things they hear from her when co-conscious are hard to understand." At Steve's raised eyebrow, he added: "even more than usual."

The captain sighed. Last he had heard, Jamie was popping in and out dealing with a gatekeeping crisis, so she wouldn't know what was going on either. Apparently Merlin had sent Stiles a letter too, but he had answered saying he couldn't come back yet.

Frankly, Steve worried the worst he could think of was happening.

"She's watching us." The words fell out softly in Merlin's accent.

Steve met his golden eyes in confusion, holding his breath. "What do you mean?"

"There. Look."

He followed his gaze to see a raven perched on a branch of ivy, on the wall behind where the throne used to be. It was blurry, as if it was made out of mist. It watched them silently, one eye green and the other a deep blue. He breathed out, but the anxiety didn't lessen.

"She must be okay then. She has to be. If she's watching."

As his throat tightened, he wished he could share Merlin's optimism. But as old as this man was, he had only really dealt with the parasite once before - when it was weak, for that matter. He crouched down to be eye level with his fiancee, sleeping like Snow White, wearing a silver and blue lotus tiara.

Arcadia was the only one who knew for certain what was happening to her.