Falion returned before an hour had past. Athene waited in the basement and let him see the trap door open, his apprentice gone. She listened to his frightened cry.
His face appeared in the bright square above her basement. He clearly didn't expect her to be there, so he shouted and jumped back when he saw her pale face.
"Welcome home," she said.
"What did you… what…"
He couldn't say the words. Athene let him sputter a while, then said, "She's down here with me, Falion. And before your heart gives out, you should know she's all right."
Well, more or less all right. The little girl's breathing was ragged, her eyes half-slit as she dreamed some horror. Athene had held back from killing her, but it wasn't like she had experience with this kind of thing.
It had crossed her mind that murder might be a mercy. She wished she had Babette to speak with, to give her perspective.
"Let her go!"
"Then she'd fall to the ground, Falion. She's a little sleepy right now. She's lost a lot of blood."
He sputtered further.
"This is how it's going to be," Athene said. "Slight change of plans. You don't get to torture me anymore, you cure me, and I leave, and you never see me again. In return, Agni is safe and well and I don't break her neck. Deal?"
"At dawn," he said. "We'll go and cure you. I have a black soul gem here. You'll be human—sorry, elven—again. Yes?"
"Yes," Athene said.
"Let me take care of her."
"Not until tonight."
They waited as two people who loathe each other must wait, in silence and noticing each time one shifted, every time someone breathed. Athene found herself rocking the sleeping child, singing a lullaby she hadn't heard in a lifetime. Now that she was sated the sound of the blood through Agni and Falion's veins wasn't such a torrent, and she felt even peaceful. She looked at Agni and thought of Shaude, her sister. She thought of her sister and thought of the person she used to be.
"It's time," Falion said eventually.
So used to the darkness, and becoming used to her new powers, Athene found the night a comfort as they marched out of Morthal. She carried Agni in her arms, her face white in the moonlight. Falion looked like he wanted to throw up but managed to lead them to a stone circle outside town. He instructed Athene where to stand, and began his ritual while she held tight to the girl's arm. As the ritual washed through her she wondered if she was making a mistake giving up what she'd so recently acquired, but saw the gashes on Agni's neck and knew it wasn't what she wanted. Not now, and perhaps not ever.
As the sun broke over Skyrim's horizon she felt a final wrenching within her chest as her heart stuttered to life. The golden warmth was lovely on her face, and there was no burning in her veins. She was cured.
"Now give me Agni," Falion said.
Athene handed over the girl and stepped back, ready to run if the mage tried his powers. Fortunately he was totally preoccupied with his apprentice, and she started on her way, glad to be rid of them both.
"She'll need a potion within the next three days," she called to remind him.
After a moment he said, "Yes. Yes, a potion."
As he stared down at the little girl's face, Athene wondered if he was going to get to perform his tests after all.