Wish you were here
Chapter I—Truth is painful
"Why are lions lazy? Cause they love to lie down!" Eris ended in a fit of giggles. "Get it? Hehehe..."
Ewald forced a smile and pretended to laugh at her 'hilarious' joke. Eris was never good in telling jokes-they don't even make any sense. Even if it did, it wasn't even the least bit humorous.
"He he... heh... funny..."
"I'm glad it was. Ever since I fell ill, everyone's so gloomy, so I decided to cheer you guys up!"
Ewald had to shrink away from his daughter's sweet smile, for his heart ached whenever he saw it. Not to mention those innocent eyes that filled him with guilt.
"Dad? Dad! Yohoo! Earth to dad!" Eris waved a hand in front of Ewald's face. He jumped and blinked.
He cleared his throat, "sorry Eris. I must have zoned out. Say, why hasn't your brother arrived yet? He should have came fifteen minutes ago!"
Equila was Eris' older brother. He is the announcer for the races for the golden CHI. The two siblings don't usually hang out much, thus explaining their distant relationship.
"I'm sure he's busy... with other stuff. Give him some time." Eris defended.
"How can you always defend him when he makes a mistake? But that's what I like about you, you're always forgivable."
Eris flashed a sweet smile. "Of course! You always say to forgive people that hurt or disappoint you. What's the point of holding a grudge on someone?"
Just then, a panting eagle burst through the door. He stopped to catch his breath, before rushing to the bedside. "Dad! Sis! Sorry for coming later than usual, apparently someone screwed up and I had to fix the situation, but everything is fine now."
Ewald sighed. "You always say that. Can't you be more original?"
"But dad! I am telling the truth!" He was. An eagle librarian arranged the books in the wrong alphabetical order, section and shelf, thus every single eagle had to rearrange the books back to it's rightful place.
"Anyways," Equila placed a hand on his sibling's shoulder, "how's your condition?"
Eris shrugged half-heartedly. "I don't know. No one has even told me about my condition. I don't even know if the doctor's doing his job properly."
Ewald coughed loudly. "Eris, can I have a word in private with your brother?"
After Eris' acknowledgement, the two eagles left the room.
Ewald had an expression on his face that Equila rarely saw. He spoke in a inaudible and grave tone, "Equila, do you not know anything about your sister's illness?"
He shook his head blankly.
"Well then, are you absolutely sure that you want to know?"
Equila raised his hands above his head. "Of course I want to know! I'm her big brother!" Even their distant relationship, Equila cared deeply for his sister, like any other older sibling would do.
"Are you sure you're ready? I don't want you to do something foolish."
"Of course I am! In fact, I was well prepared even before I stepped in the temple! Now tell me!"
The leader of the eagles inhaled and said, "Eris contacted a foreign illness with no known cure. The doctors weren't able to save her... I'm so... sorry..." He ended in a quivery voice.
Tears pooled around the corners of the eagle prince's eyes as he took in the horrible news. "N-no... this can't be, it can't be, it can't!" He choked on his sobs as he embraced his father tightly, tears soaking their feathers, but they didn't care, not anymore.
...
As the matter of fact that Eris cannot handle strong emotions such as grief, everyone agreed with this lie: The doctors have a cure but they needed a new supply of ingredients that are extremely scarce. Also, the ingredients can only be found in the outlands, thus they would take a long period of time to gather them and brew the medicine.
As long as nothing about Eris' real condition, everything would be fine.
Just fine.
...
Equila never slept peacefully after knowing her sister's situation. He knew that when he opens his eyes one day, his sister's might not.
He had a dream where he was on a boat during a raging storm, with Eris overboard. He watched helplessly as the waves drowned the screaming eagle, removing all evidence that it has taken a life. The boat was rocking back and forth, back and forth, back and forth...
Equila snapped his eyes open, breathing heavily as his heart beat madly in his ribcage. Wiping the sweat off his forehead, he darted his head to where Eris was sleeping soundly.
Thank goodness she's safe.
...
Three months have passed. With each passing day, her friends became even more emotional, and not to say strange as well. Whenever Eris asks about her cure, they all tense up and stammer every time they speak, and they hastily try to change the topic.
Every time her friends act like that, she didn't really care and ignore their awkward behavior, but as time went on, Eris' curiosity ate at her and she couldn't resist it anymore-she was going to find out what's going on, and she started to hatch her plan.
...
"Hey Eris, howtcha duin?"
"Fine. How about you?"
"Awesume! Runk n' I had a rock smashin' computitiun, n' I won! It was sooooooo awesume!"
"Wow, that was err... awesome! Really, really awesome..." Sarcasm was dripping in her voice, but Rogon didn't seem to notice. Instead, he went on yapping about how his day went, hanging out with his friends, and how he won an eating competition, so on and so forth.
Eris got impatient. She cleared her throat loudly and purposely changed the topic, "hey Rogon, may I ask why my medicine has yet to arrive?"
This sentence caused the rhino to pause abruptly. Awkward silence filled the room as Rogon stammered, trying to find an answer. "Urr, it's umm... no medicine can- uh! I mean... umm... it has nut arrived yet! Yu knuw how hard it is to gathur ingrudiunts frum the outlands, right?"
"If what you said earlier was the honest truth, why were you so jittery when you spoke?" Eris narrowed her eyes and stared into Rogon's eyes, searching for any clue that he was lying to her.
The intensity of Eris' stare caused Rogon to tense up even more, his palms wet in perspiration. From the looks of it, Rogon is a terrible liar.
"Rogon." Eris said firmly, "tell me the honest truth-what exactly is going on?"
Nu, Rogon! Yu must nut tell hur the truth, or shu'll flip out! Whatevur yu du, keep yur mouth shut! The rhino thought furiously to himself, determined to not let the secret that everyone was ashamed to keep leak out. Nu matter huw much she pusters yu, du NUT ruveal the truth!
"Rogon..." The eagle threatened.
"Surry Eris! But I gutta go! See ya!"
"WAIT! COME BACK!" She screeched, but the rhino was already long gone.
...
Since the little incident, Rogon never visited Eris, to avoid more awkwardness between their relationship. They grew more distant and callous towards each other as time went on. The only animals that visited her were her family, the gorillas, a bunch of her eagle friends and the bears that stopped by once in a while, only to fall asleep a minute later. Skinnet once dropped by, but he released his horrible stench when he stepped into the room. From then on, a bowl of nose pins were placed at the table next to Eris' bed.
Laval had been burning the midnight oil almost everyday, not willing to give up on his friend, neither was he going to just sit back and watch as the dreaded tentacles of death drag her down to the underworld.
He spent countless nights studying medical science, reading books about it and conducting experiments. Still, the fruit of his labour was still unripe, for he has not discovered anything to help Eris, not even a brew that can delay her illness from killing her.
One night, Eris decided to sneak out of bed and enjoy the fresh air outside and count the endless sea of stars in the inky black sky. It was so boring being cooped up in bed all day.
As she walked down the hallways, she noticed light piercing through a gap through the door of Laval's room. Being the nosy eagle she is, Eris peeked through the gap to find the floor littered with books. She pushed the door wider to see Laval at his desk reading, his frazzled mane made him look like a mad scientist, only without the lab coat.
"Ugh, what the hell do these mean? Even history makes more sense than this!"
Eris didn't know what he was studying about. Heck, why would he, in the first place?
"And I don't have much time left! I only have a month before she is taken away from my life forever! Why can't I do it? Am I not smart enough? Am I not worthy of saving her? But those useless doctors didn't do anything at all!"
Wait, was this 'she' Eris herself? And what about the doctors not doing their job? But she thought...
"This is hopeless! I hate to admit it, but I think that those useless doctors are right-she's a hopeless case! I can't find anything that can improve her condition! Why did I even stay up all night studying crap for an incurable patient? Whatever, I'll just sit back and watch Eris pass away."
Realisation struck Eris like a wave.
The hopeless patient he was referring to was me.
Her heart shattered into a million pieces as the gravity of reality weighed on her shoulders. So this was it, huh? She was a burden to her friends all along?
Eris let a whimper escape her beak. It soon turned into sobs as she dashed through the corridors. She didn't had a specific place she wanted to go, but that didn't matter. All she wanted was to get a clear head.
...
Just as Laval was about to go to bed, he heard sobbing. He spun his head around, only to spot a lone white feather on the ground. He approached it and picked it up. That feather looked awfully familiar. Suddenly, he gasped and let the feather fall from his loosened grip on it.
No, crap! What have I done! I only said those words in a hissy fit! Oh god, now Eris knows the truth. This is all my fault…
...
"Stupid Laval, stupid doctors, stupid Rogon, stupid family, stupid friends… how can they do this to me?"
"Well, it seems that you can't handle grief, and they think you'll do something stupid when they tell you the truth. Did I ever mention that you're a tad bit useless?"
"Shut up, you-"
"What? It's true, darling." The little voice in her head mocked at the poor eagle.
"What can I do now? I don't know how long I have left in this world."
"Why not find a cure yourself?"
"But you said I was useless! Even Laval couldn't find anything after many sleepless nights studying! My body is getting weaker and weaker, and I don't think I can make it."
"All right, you have to admit you're a bit useless, but not completely. Since your family and friends have given up on you, show them that you're not a hopeless case. In fact, I know someone who can help you…"
Eris jerked up, her eyes filled with hope. "Who?"
"A raven-eagle hybrid. I'm sure you've heard of him…"
Of course, how could she not know about him? The infamous scientist who created fake CHI, causing whoever plugs it in their chest will be reduced to bird brains trying to fly. Eris shuddered at the thought. After what he had done, his can he be trusted? Maybe he'll transform her into an ugly beast, or maybe curse her with whatever he has in his sick and twisted mind.
"I don't know, how can I trust him, after all he has done?"
You'll never know if you don't try. Besides, I'll tell you where he lives if you agree to it."
Eris paused for a long time, deep in thought. After what seemed like an eternity, she spoke up, "I accept. Where can I find him?"
If the voice had a mouth, you could see it smirk in victory. "Excellent. He resides somewhere in the outlands. Just follow my lead and you'll be safe..."
...
"You WHAT?!" Ewald bellowed, his voice loud enough to shake the concrete walls of the temple.
"I know, and I'm sorry! I didn't mean those words! I swear!" Laval protested.
Ewald sighed, "what's the point? My daughter's run off, and no one has the slightest clue where her current location is!"
Laval fumbled with his flaming red mane. He messed up big time, and how was he going to fix it...? Suddenly...
Ding!
Idea...
"Okay, I know I messed up, but perhaps I could make it up to you, by finding Eris and bringing her back safely?"
Ewald glared at the lion prince suspiciously. "And what if you fail?"
"Punish me harshly, as harsh and gruesome as you can."
The leader of the eagles pondered on it for a long with occasional hmms. Laval couldn't be impatient on him, he knew that his daughter was extremely dear to him, and as a father, he had to make a logical and wise choice.
"I decided. You go out there to rescue my daughter. If you return alone, I have to do something... horrid."
Laval nodded firmly, his face grim, like a soldier being given a command by his Sergeant. "Understood."
After he prepared for his rescue mission by bringing his weapons and grabbing some CHI, Laval jumped on his Speedorz and sped off.
"Remember Laval, there will be consequences if you fail!"
Let me say this, please, please PLEASE don't rush me into updates. Like all of you, I have a life and I get busy too. Rushing me just gets me all stressed up. Also, the updates may depend on the amount of free time, inspiration and ideas I have. I want to enjoy writing this fic, so please don't make things difficult for me.
Also, in MY headcanon, Equila is Eris' older brother. I just read from the brickipedia that they are siblings, but whatever, just go with the flow.