Thank You.
The day that Karol Capel had a second near death experience happened almost one year after the events of the Adephagos. Some people would say that this was quite an achievement seeing as he was only thirteen, but the people who actually cared about his wellbeing would never say anything so foolish.
Brave Vesperia was now a stable guild with a solid reputation, thanks to the combined efforts of Yuri, Judith and Karol. He would never tell them but the initial first months had been a living nightmare thanks to his lousy reputation in Dahngrest. His reputation consisting of him being a unreliable cowardly brat of course. However, his friends and most importantly Raven had helped lead him down the right path.
The more their reputation grew their list of job requests grew with it. On a quiet Friday morning they were asked to go to the blade drifts to collect some synthesis materials. It was meant to be a straight forward job. They knew in advance that it was not going to be pleasant thanks to the cold, but it was fairly straight forward none the less. They did not know however that the ice was not as thick as it should have been for that time of year, due to the unusually warm weather. This had led to Karol's current predicament of standing on far too thin ice, which in turn led to his second near death experience.
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The second worst day of Ravens life happened almost one year after the events of the Adephagos. The first was the day that Casey had sacrificed herself trying to save his life, only for him to die later on the battle field with his heart missing. The second would have to be pretty terrible to match the first, which it almost did. He was walking out of the Guild headquarters after just finishing a meeting with Altosk when he saw them. When he saw him. Karol was slung over Yuri's back, looking like a breathing corpse. If he still had his heart it would have stopped beating.
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Yuri ran through the streets as fast as possible with Karol draped over his back and Judith hot on his heels alongside Repede. The back of his shirt was soaked through thanks to the water dripping off Karol's prone form. It left Yuri feeling dangerously cold and he dreaded to think how Karol felt.
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Raven hastily put Karol to bed and began to pile quilts on top of him, all the while he was trying to decipher what had happened through Yuri's panicked speech.
"It was just an accident, a stupid accident! While we were fighting the ice began to crack beneath our weight. Me, Judith and Repede managed to make it to thicker ground, but Karol…" Yuri paused abruptly and turned to stare at Raven square in the eyes before continuing. "Even after falling in he managed to pull himself out of the water. His legs were so cold that they went numb and he had to use all the strength in his arms to drag himself over to the side."
"Well what did you expect?! The kid is as tough as nails," snapped Raven. He was fully aware of the fact that he had no right to be angry at Yuri, but he needed to do something to distract himself from the growing guilt that was beginning to set in. Raven knew that even if he had been there it most likely would not have changed how things had panned out. However this did not do anything to help improve his mood.
"Listen, I tried, "started Yuri.
"Just stop! Okay?! Just…stop." Raven rubbed his temples, trying to avoid Yuri's gaze. "The best thing you can do for the boy now is bringing the doctor straight up here when he arrives. "
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Judith and Yuri stood in the hallway, impatiently waiting for the doctor to finish. The clock on the nearby wall seemed to mock them by being a constant reminder of the growing expanse of time it was taking for them to be informed over whether Karol would be okay or not.
"Don't take anything that Raven said to heart, he's just worried. He knows that you did all that you could" Judith said coolly, staring at the clock. "Just please remember that you're not too blame, no one is to blame. If it hadn't of happened to us it would have happened to someone else…and they may not have been able to escape."
"I know that but it doesn't really make me feel any better" said Yuri dryly.
"Ha, it rarely does. Just give it time and it will soon sink in"
"I sure hope your right Judy "He turned to briefly meet her eyes, and gave her a ghost of a smile. Before either of them could say anymore the door opened.
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The doctor hovered over Karol with a stern expression on his face while he examined him. Raven stood at the side of the room, trying to figure out what the hell the doctor was thinking. It drove him crazy and he ultimately came up with no answers.
"Well, how's he doing?"
The doctor slowly buttoned up Karol's shirt, while he answered Ravens question.
"The boy has a high fever and is showing the early signs of hypothermia. The next 24 hours will determine how serious his condition is, and because of the hypothermia he may experience difficulties breathing. Make sure that you try and keep his fever down, and don't be surprised if he starts hallucinating. I'll come back tomorrow morning and see if there is anything more that I can do." And with that he turned to leave. Raven quickly grabbed his arm, causing the man to come to a halt.
"So that's it? We're just meant to stand by and wait to see if Karol will die?!"Growled Raven in disbelief. "Please tell me this is some kind of joke!"
The doctor calmly pried Ravens hand off his arm, but his eyes gave away the fact that he was becoming more and more aggravated as time went on. "I'm afraid that medical research has only gone so far. It's all up to the boy now. Stay by his side, keep his fever down and hope that he pulls through." After opening the door to leave the doctor was greeted by the sight of a distressed young man and a slightly impatient looking woman. Hoping to avoid any more questions he left as quickly as his feet would allow him.
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In all of his short life Karol could not recall ever feeling so awful. His thoughts became jumbled and confused no matter how hard he tried to hold onto them. It was like trying to catch water with a sieve. Even though his body felt uncomfortably hot, his blood felt like liquid ice, making him shiver uncontrollably. All of this would have been bearable if it wasn't for the lights dancing in front of his eyes.
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The first couple of hours were quite uneventful when all things were considered. Raven followed the doctor's advice (somewhat bitterly) and stayed by Karol's side.
However, things took a turn for the worst in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Karol's fever began to rise dramatically and his breath came out in choking gasps.
"Come on kid; don't do this this to me. Just hang in there" Raven pleaded. He placed a fresh cold towel on Karol's forehead using one hand, while the other clung to the boy's palm. He turned to stare at the clock on the nightstand and began to wish that time would somehow march on a little bit faster, just for them. Before now Raven didn't think that it was possible for him to long for the doctor's return as much as he did right now.
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Later that morning, once the doctor had arrived Raven allowed himself to feel a small amount of relief. However, seeing the mans worried expression soon put a stop to this.
"What's wrong now?" Raven asked hesitantly.
The doctor sighed and wiped a hand across his brow. "The good news is the boy hasn't deteriorated as much as I thought he would. The bad news is that this doesn't necessarily mean that he will recover."
"So there's no improvement since yesterday?" Raven asked weakly.
"No, but that doesn't mean that there won't be any. The boys still with us, that's the most important thing to remember in these tough times."
Meeting his eyes, Raven was led to believe that there was a kinder man underneath that tired, weathered exterior than he first thought.
"Make sure to call for me again, if you feel the need too."
"Thank you" Raven said quietly. And he really, truly meant it.
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As the day went on Yuri and Judith slowly began to edge into the room. "He's stayed up all night with him, he must be exhausted" murmured Judith softly
"Raven, why don't you go and get some rest. We'll take over if you want." Yuri said, trying desperately to sound causal and light-hearted.
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I just need to see the kid through the worst of it is all." Raven turned towards them. "Thanks for the offer though." He said, giving them a weak smile.
Accepting defeat, Judith turned to leave. Before opening the door, she looked round and saw that Yuri was frozen on the spot. "Yuri?" She asked.
"I'll join you in a minute." He said blankly. Seeing no need to question him further, Judith quietly left the room.
Yuri pulled up a chair next to the old man and joined him with his candle light vigil.
They were sitting in friendly silence, when Raven began to speak. "Sorry about how I acted earlier. I just couldn't handle it. I know that you did all that you could, and I'm sorry if anything I said made you think otherwise."
Feeling a weight lift from his shoulders, Yuri turned to look the old man in the eyes before replying. "There's nothing to apologise for, I know you didn't mean it." He said sincerely.
"That's nice of you to say, but I know what I did." Raven said tiredly, gazing down at Karol. Sighing, he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before continuing. "You know, this past year has been the best of my life. I can't really explain in words why that is, but I know that I'm right. I think it's the small things, like the way Karol runs up to see me after a meeting, or when he grabs my hand and looks up at me the way that he does. Sometimes it gets me thinking 'is this what it's like to be a dad?" Raven once again rubbed his eyes, but Yuri suspected that it had nothing to do with removing sleep. "For the first time in my life, I was content." He said in a broken voice that made Yuri go cold.
"Nothing is going to change that" Yuri remarked firmly. "Don't give up on Karol now, not when he's about to win this fight!"
The old man sat in stunned silence for a moment, before managing to compose himself.
"Thank you." He said with gratitude shining in his eyes. Turning back towards Karol, a small smile stayed firmly on his lips. "I'll keep an eye on the boy."
"You want me to leave you alone?" Yuri asked gently.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. We'll be fine."
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After floating in darkness for what seemed to be an eternity, Karol found himself awaking in an unfamiliar dark room. He slowly climbed out of bed and began to search for someone who would help him figure out where he was.
However, he only made it halfway across the room before he was surrounded by tall, looming, faceless figures. Feeling a shock of unwavering terror, Karol quickly tried to flee. The figures seemed to have other plans as they swooped upon him with large clawed hands.
"If you scream we will keep you here for ever" said one of them, in a cold unfeeling voice.
"No!" he shrieked. "No! No!"
Karol had spent most of his young life alone, in the cold and dark and was not willing to have to relive those lonely years. After going through what he had with his friends he could not go down that road again. For this past year he knew what it was like to feel happy and secure with the people around him. Through the many days that Karol had spent with them they were the closes thing to a family that he had ever experienced. And then there was the small matter of Raven. Karol had never told the old man this, but if he were to ever have a dad he'd want it to be him. He tried to tell Captain Schwann this, but had got interrupted halfway through. Since that time Karol had never been able to gather the nerve to finish what he started. But he swore on everything that was important to him, that if he managed to get out of this that he would tell Raven everything.
Karol needed to get back to them, or die trying.
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Later that night, Karol became so feverish that sweat trickled down his face in never-ending streams. He arched his back, gritted his teeth and with flailing arms appeared to be fighting some kind of force. Raven felt quite helpless, but there was nothing that he could do except stay with the boy and go with what was happening. It made him think back to his time spent in the war, and how he was forced to witness the death of many of his friends and loved ones. He hoped that this was not about to become one of those times.
Raven glanced down at Karol, who was starting to stir. The boy gave a start and opened his eyes. Forcing himself to stay calm, the old man called out "Hey kid, can you hear me? It's Raven, your safe now. You fell through the ice, remember?"
Karol wearily looked around the room for a moment with fevered eyes, before finally managing to focus his gaze upon him. "Raven..?" He said hoarsely. The old man quickly grabbed the water bottle off the nightstand and helped to boy to take a drink. Resting back against the pillows the boy weakly called out again "Raven?"
"I'm here kid. I'm here…" Raven pulled Karol closer, so he was now resting in the circle of his arms, against his chest. "I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. That's a promise."
Karol shakily reached out and placed a hand over where his blastia lay embedded in his body forever. This normally would have made him flinch, but Raven pushed that aside and put his own hand over Karol's. He wanted to prove to the boy that everything was the way it should be, so he wouldn't have to spend too much of his young life worrying over weather this old man would suddenly drop dead.
Karol squeezed his hand back and turned to meet his eyes "Raven…I couldn't tell you before…" Recognising the words spoken at Captain Schwann's final battle, Raven didn't dare tear his eyes away from the boys. "But if I were to ever have a dad I'd want him to be you. Only you."
Raven hugged the boy closer to him, and Karol could have sworn the top of his head was beginning to get damp. He didn't point this out however, as he was pretty certain that he was slowly making the front of the old man's shirt wet.
Before Karol fell back asleep, Raven moved over and repeatedly whispered in his ear "Thank you…thank you." And he really, truly meant it.
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