The Guardian - A My Inner Demons AU Fanfic

Chapter Twenty-Five - Chance at a New Start

Emerald woke up slightly confused.

She was in her room, but she had absolutely no memory of how she'd ended up here. She felt safe in her bed, the heavy weight of her comforter pressing onto her from above as she lay on her left side and looked out her window. It was still fairly early: the sun was just barely peeking over the buildings. Hazy images from the day before flittered through her head as the veteran tried to recall what had happened.

Magic. Panic. Darkness.

Emerald sighed, closing her eyes and snuggling down further into her covers. It was confusing, but pieces were starting to come back. For whatever reason, Rhys had been angry with Asch and Noi, so much so he chased them into the Haunted House. He'd even been ready to attack them when she'd grabbed him from behind. Then...

She frowned, furrowing her brows as she tried to remember. Rhys had stopped, she knew that much...but what happened next? The veteran made a fist in frustration, inhaling sharply at the pain that shot through her hand and forced her eyes back open.

Slowly, she brought her right hand out from under the comforter and studied it, a bit surprised to see a few bandages wrapped around her palm. A few more pieces of yesterday came back, causing her to groan in frustration.

'Public panic attack. Fucking fantastic.'

A large hand came to softly rest on top of her head. "Emerald? Are you awake?"

The veteran froze, feeling her body tense instantly. Reflexively, her hands curled into fists again, bringing a soft cry of pain and a quiet curse.

"Emerald?" The voice grew a little louder. She felt movement behind her on the bed, realizing part of the heavy weight on her body was actually an arm slung across her waist. A hand reached up and took hers, gently working the thumb between her fingers and straightening them out. "Please be careful. You have not yet healed from yesterday."

"Pierce?" She let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding, allowing herself to relax a bit as she forced her other hand open under the sheets. She idly rubbed her thumb over his, fingers curling back down a little. "Have you been here all night?"

The veteran felt him nod as he removed his other hand from her head and propped himself up. She rolled onto her back to see him looking down at her, studying her face with an expression of worry. "You have been asleep for quite a while, but Ava assured us it was normal. What do you recall?"

Emerald paused, trying to remember more of the previous day. "I...had a panic attack. In the Haunted House. Rhys was..." She let out a soft scoff. "He was pissed about something." Pierce nodded, encouraging her to continue. "I ran up and...grabbed him. Made him stop. Then..." she trailed off, frowning as more memories started coming into focus. "I couldn't breathe. It was dark, I couldn't see anything." She felt her chest tighten as she recalled the events. "I couldn't breathe -"

"Emerald." His tone of voice made her focus on his face again. He took the hand he was holding and held it against his chest. "Look at me. Do not think about anything else right now. Just breathe with me."

She did as he asked, focusing on his azure eyes as she took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds before letting it out. The longer she stared, the more it felt like she was sinking into water off the shore of some tropical island. After repeating it a few times, she sighed and closed her eyes.

"Are you calmer now?"

The veteran huffed out a tired laugh. "Yeah, actually." She looked at him again. "Sorry I made you stay here. I know you don't like how soft human furniture is."