Familiar Fire

Chapter Nineteen

"What happened?" His eyes were full of worry and concern, thinking he caused this. He held her close, still pressing on the wound.

"I wasn't paying attention and stabbed myself in one of my hearts."

"W-What does this mean?"

"That I still have six left. I'll be fine, get out of here while I wait for my body to heal." Ban picked Aurora up gently, trying not to hurt her anymore.

"I'm not leaving you, Aurora. Either we both leave or we both stay." And so, without another word, Ban carried Aurora. She didn't have a lot of energy in the first place, so Ban was better than he was before, but was still significantly weakened. His steps were slow, and she could tell he wanted to collapse. Another boulder came flying toward the two, but Ban was able to dodge it just barely. Another one came and the two couldn't get out of the way in enough time. Ban threw Aurora as gently as he could and got hit by the boulder. Aurora gasped, fearing the worst. She thought she lost him for good a few minutes ago and now it was happening again.

"Ban!" She yelled, but her voice sounded weak. She just got him back, she couldn't lose him again.

"I'm alright." He emerged with more injuries than he had prior. He looked like he was about to collapse, but he picked up Aurora and kept moving. Aurora weakly lifted a hand and rested it on one of his arms, letting magic flow from her palm. His injuries healed for the most part and he felt a little bit stronger. "Aurora, no. You need to take care of yourself, I'll be okay."

"I can't heal myself. I might as well heal you." Aurora spoke quietly and slowly, as if sleep were trying to pull her from consciousness. Ban looked down at her in worry. Her face was unnaturally pale, almost gray. Her lips started to turn blue as she shivered. Ban took a deep breath.

"You just have to hang on, Aurora. We'll be somewhere safe soon. Just stay with me."

"I'm so...tired. I'm just going to take a quick nap."

"No, Aurora, stay with me a little longer." He started moving faster when he noticed how fast she was bleeding now. The boulders kept coming, but he tried to dodge them until one knocked them both off a cliff. The two coughed, clearing dust from their lungs. Once Aurora recovered, she continued violently shivering.

"I haven't died in thousands of years...I forgot what it feels like." Aurora said, looking up at the sky, her eyes empty. Ban quickly got up and made his way over to her. She was laying on her back and a puddle of blood had begun to form around her. He gently yet firmly placed his hands over the wound.

"You're not dying. You're not going to die, Aurora. We just found each other again. Not now." He scooped her up in his arms. "We just need to hide from the demons and then we'll be okay." He walked into the small cave at the bottom of the cliff. Once he got far enough in, he saw a door. He slowly opened it, revealing a small tavern.

"Welcome to-"

"Escanor, thank god. You got to help me. Demons are following us and Aurora's bleeding. Can you hide us? And do you have a first aid kit?" Escanor ushered the two over to the food storage and handed Ban a small first aid kit.

"I'm sorry I don't have anything more."

"It's okay, thank you." Without another word, Escanor closed them in the small room. Ban gently placed Aurora on the ground before digging around in the first aid kit, trying to find something that would help. Aurora raised a shaky hand to his face and pressed a finger in between his furrowed eyebrows.

"Don't do that, you'll get wrinkles." Ban rolled his eyes.

"And it'll be all your fault. That and the heart attack you're giving me." Aurora laughed, but quickly shot a hand to her abdomen when the pain worsened. "Can you stop hurting yourself for just a second so I can help?" Aurora rolled her eyes. Ban took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself. He laid everything out in front of him neatly. He didn't have that much, some bandages, tape, some alcohol for cleaning, and a suture kit. "Okay...I'm going to take the knife out now. I need you to stay still, okay?" Aurora was feeling weaker by the second. The puddle of blood expanded further and further while the darkness danced in her vision. Aurora weakly nodded. Ban took another deep breath and took out the knife, making Aurora gasp. The blade's removal was heightening all of her symptoms. She felt like she was going to lose consciousness. She felt Ban quickly press gauze down onto the open wound. Aurora started coughing uncontrollably. She sat up ever so slightly and put a hand over her mouth. When she pulled it away, it was dripping in crimson liquid. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she started to fall back. Ban caught her shoulders in time so her head didn't slam against the ground. He gently lowered her then went back to the wound in her abdomen. He was just hoping and praying that her internal injuries would heal. He slowly and carefully began stitching Aurora's skin back together. She had to be okay. After everything they'd been through, he couldn't lose her now. Once he was done, he pulled Aurora into his lap and leaned his head against the wall. He held her tight in his arms, never wanting to let go.