Helluva Deal

48. To Save Me, You Gonna Need...

A demonic screech.

Blitz feels a jerk going through his body that pulls him away from Striker and then back upwards. Black and red feathers envelope him, muffling Striker's blood curling scream of hatred, anger and agony.

Seconds later, they reach the top of the tree and Stolas turns back to normal, holding his husband in his arms, his voice panicky, „Blitz! Blitz, can you hear me?!"

„St...olas..." Blitz forces his eyes open, a small smile washing over his face, „I knew...you'd...catch me..."

„And that's why you throw yourself off a tree while Striker stabs you and... Oh my... Blitz!" Stolas' four eyes widen in pure shock and fear and he carefully kneels down, the imp still in his lap now, „Th-The knife..."

„What knife?" Blitz knows that his senses are still barely functioning at the moment and that the tight feeling in his chest keeps his voice from being any more than a weak rasp, so he instinctively fixes his eyes on the only thing, keeping him grounded and alive at the moment – his husband.

„It's stuck in your side! You're bleeding all over! What... What shall I do?!?"

„First of all... Breathe," Blitz fights against the dots returning into his vision, „No...panic, Sto. Secondly... Don't pull it out. Just...leave it, until..." Blitz fights for his next inhale and he knows that he needs to prepare his partner for what's to come, „Sto... L-Listen... I'll...black out...shortly... L-Leave...the knife... T-Take me to M-Mox... I..." he feels his whole body numbing more and more, and there's no fresh air coming into it, „Lungs. Heart. Astry. A-Alast-," his eyes roll back in his head and he goes limp in the owl-demon's arms.

„BLITZ! NO! Nonononono!" Stolas feels panic rising in his heart, but he forces himself to focus just enough to remember Blitz' words and calls out while already opening a portal, „Fizz! I need to take him back! Are you okay here?!"

„Yes! I'll follow you shortly with this jerk! He's alive but got it pretty bad!" Fizz' voice sounds rather satisfied, but then concern breaks through, „Is Blitz okay?"

„Be careful!" Stolas doesn't manage to answer the question.

And he already steps through the portal, while Fizzarolli calls out audibly scared, „Stolas?!"

„Moxxie! Quick! He needs..." Stolas' voice breaks and he hurries over to the smaller imp.

„Stolas!" Moxxie's head jerks up from where he's feeling Alastor's forehead and he winces back, just like the rest of the family and friends.

„Mum! Dad, what happened?!" Via is next to them at once, her voice trembling just as much as her hand, when she now reaches out to touch Blitz but then stops herself, afraid to hurt him even more.

„Striker..." Stolas can't help the tears anymore, his eyes stuck with Moxxie, because that's what Blitz told him before blacking out, „Moxxie! He's got a knife stuck in his side! H-He said...lungs and heart and Astry and Alastor, then he blacked out! Please, Mox..."

„Ozzie, please take Al to the bed for now. I need the space for Blitz. Bee, you and Tex watch after him, please," Moxxie quickly, but gently orders the other's around while beckoning for Stolas to put Blitz on the medical table now.

The prince barely did so and takes a step back, his legs give way beneath him. But Ozzie has already been waiting for this, thanks to Moxxie's silent hints and catches him, holding him up and soothingly squeezing his arm, „It's okay, Stolas. He'll be okay. We'll do everything for that."

Stolas nods weakly but then can't help but bury his face in his hands, sobbing lowly, „I was too slow! I should've been with him when Striker showed up! He was in no condition to fight! Ozzie! W-What if...he..."

„Hey. I wanna hear none of that, Stolas! Come here..." Ozzie simply pulls the owl-demon against his chest now, rubbing his back, „If I've learned one thing about Blitz, it's that he leaves no one behind. So he won't leave you, Stolas. Trust me. He's a fighter. And he will fight to be by your side! Okay?"

Stolas nods weakly, but he's still feeling dizzy.

„Ozzie is right, Stad..." Loona is now standing next to them, a whimpering Astrea in her arms, her voice shaking a little as well, but she forces herself to sound calm, „He won't leave his new baby nor you or us alone like this."

„They are both right, Stolas," Moxxie's voice is calm, „His injuries are mostly superficial. And we should be able to take care of the knife easily enough in a minute. But first I need to know whether you have any idea what he could've meant by lungs and heart and Astrea and Alastor?"

„N-No... I... He just..." Stolas swallows hard, shortly closes his eyes and forces himself to calm down enough to think for three seconds, „He... He didn't black out because of his injuries, Mox. He couldn't...breathe... His chest...was contracting very strangely, as if... Mox!" Stolas staggers back to the table with his husband and puts a hand on his chest, „Moxxie, his heart isn't beating!"

„What? No, it... It is, Stol-"

„That's not his! That's MINE! That's why I feel so dizzy out of a sudden! Mine is beating for two right now!" Stolas feels adrenalin rushing through his veins and instincts kick in, he was sure he didn't have, „Moxxie, we need to reanimate him! Can we do that with the knife still stuck in him!?"

„It's...risky... But fuck, if you are right about this..." Moxxie's brain is working feverishly, then he takes a deep breath in, „Can you hold on with this shared heartbeat for three more minutes?"

„But isn't this dangerous for him? His breathing..."

„It's more dangerous if the knife moves and injures inner organs after all."

„I can take it. Just save him, Mox, please!"

„Millie, Loona, I need you here now!" Moxxie already grabs everything they need.

„Via," Loona carefully puts Astrea in her sister's arms now, then she focuses on Moxxie, „What can I do?"

„Pull the knife out on my word. Don't move it too much, just..."

„...straight out. I know," Loona nods, but she swallows visibly.

„Okay. Let's do this. Millie, are you ready?"

„Yes."

„Wait!" Stolas suddenly looks at Via, who's still holding Astrea, who is fully crying now, her tiny arms stretched out towards her unconscious mother. Suddenly, Stolas understands what his husband tried to tell him before blacking out and he orders his daughter quickly, „Via, bring Astrea close to Blitz, so she can touch him with her tail!"

Via looks at him in puzzlement for half a second, but then she does as told. Astrea is just close enough, she already puts the tip of her gleaming tail over the place where the knife is still stuck in Blitz' side. Stolas puts his own as well gleaming hand onto Blitz' lower stomach, then he looks at Moxxie and nods, „Do it."

„You're both going to manipulate Blitz' wild voodoo-magic so it heals him... That's absolutely brilliant!" Moxxie's eyes start to shine with a mixture of amazement and relief, „That's so smart, Stolas!"

„It was Blitz' idea, actually. Anyway..." Stolas takes a deep breath in, looks at their daughter and says softly, „Let's save your mother, Astrea!"