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𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 : 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞'𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰

A ringing in her ears was the thing that made her aware of her surroundings in the first place.

The second thing was the nasty crunch that caused a pang of pain to shoot through her shoulder as she rolled onto her side, making her bite back a wince.

Slowly, after opening her eyes, they became used to the lighting of the room, which wasn't much. The only thing that clawed away at the murky darkness was a small candle, dangling in a cage from the ceiling next to the wooden door that kept her trap in the small space.

It had been a while since she was left in the cobblestone room. She couldn't figure out how long; everything seemed to be a haze to Eris, who hadn't properly slept for an equally unknown amount of time and who only got her energy from the bare meals she was given, maybe twice a day.

When she sat up, a clunking noise of metal filled the entire room, echoing around the space like a rubber ball.

Blue eyes squinted down at her ankle where a metal chain was placed, locking her in against the wall behind her.

Confusion was written on her features as she pulled at her ankle, the sharp edges scraping against her skin as a result. That hadn't been there before.

She tugged against the restraints once more, with more strength to it this time, but still it did nothing. It was only after the edges of the metal stabbed through her pale skin, causing a bit of blood to drip out, she stopped, realising the dangers that could come with metal against an open wound.

"Shit."

The single word made Eris almost jump in her seated position. The way her voice felt like it scraped against her throat scared her slightly, the noise so hoarse, that it sounded like she hadn't drank any water in years.

Again the thought of how long she had been down there rushed through her mind. She truly had no idea. The only way she could have kept count was registering whenever somebody came down to her prison cell. But even that seemed impossible to her as sometimes it felt like days between visits, and other times like mere minutes.

It didn't help that she couldn't sleep. For as long as she has known, she never slept alone. After Technoblade had found her, she always slept next to him, her night terrors making it impossible for both of them to get a good night's rest otherwise as her screams filled the night when she was alone. As she grew older, she got her own bed, on the other side of the room. But still she never was alone. Even when Technoblade left her with Wilbur and the other people of what would become L'Manberg. At first, Eris had thought herself to be old enough to sleep alone, only to awake again in the middle of the night, her face set in tears and her voice screamed raw. She was quickly moved over to Wilbur's room, a thin mattress placed on the floor next to his bed. But as their personalities often collided, Eris eventually moved over to Eret's room, where she had lived until-..

Eret. The brunet haunted her mind. Everything she thought she knew was wrong, so wrong from the moment he finally met her eyes and told her it was not meant to be. Eris wanted to be angry, so, so angry, but the only feeling that really whipped around her heart was betrayal and hurt. An agonising hurt that seemed to suffocate her every second she thought about it. He was her best friend, he knew the most anybody knew about her, maybe even more than Technoblade himself, and still he abandoned her-, no, betrayed her.

Eris' throat tightened and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force out all the feelings that tried to drown her in her own body.

And then, if matters couldn't become worse, he opened the door.

Suddenly the ringing in her ears stopped and a thick, uncomfortable silence filled the room alongside the fresh breeze that came from the opened door.

Even when she didn't look up at him, she felt his dark eyes fall upon her with a sense of shame that sent the slightest bit of relief through her body, only to be put down by the sound of his clearing throat, which she ignored promptly.

"Are- are you okay?" His voice was quiet and uncertain, awkward in his deep tones, but the familiar voice suffocated Eris even more, so she resorted to staring at the wall in front of her, trying to tune out his existence.

He nodded before putting down the plate of food he held in his hands on the floor. After he did, he looked at Eris again, who still didn't acknowledge him.

"Eris-, I-." Eret sighed, his voice hitching in his chest slightly, almost inaudible, "Please eat this."

With that he left again, closing the door quietly behind him, with the hinges locking back into place with a final cling, leaving Eris to herself once more.

She sniffed and wiped her cheek from a non-existent tear before looking over to the plate of food in front of her. Two small plates with potatoes and a stale-looking piece of bread stared back at her and she was pulled back into a small feeling of fondness at Technoblade's favourite food.

Technoblade. The man that taught her everything she knew and raised her like she was his own. Another pang of pain shot through her chest at the thought of him, as she hadn't seen him in so long. His absence had hurt her more than she was willing to admit. Even when she should be old enough to live on her own, she still missed him more than anything in the world.

So why did he never write? Sure he was never one to write letters or anything of the sorts. But for her it would have meant so much, surely he must have known that?

Then another intrusive piece of thought entered her brain in the isolating space; what if he had left forever? What if his visit to Phil was just an excuse to leave forever? That single thought sent her back into a spiral, because she knew she was much to deal with, she always had been. So what if he had enough? He was incredibly young when he found her so what if he finally wanted to be by himself? Live the life he never could because some child placed herself in his path?

Eris' breathing had become shallow and she had to force herself to stop thinking about anything to prevent herself from going into a full-on panic attack.

But it was true though, wasn't it?

The brunette placed her hands around her knees as she placed them around her chest, rocking back and forth in her place as her mind spiralled into a black hole of intrusive thoughts and bad memories.

The potatoes and bread stayed untouched.

A knock on the door was the thing that brought her back to reality. She still had her arms wrapped around her legs, but she had no idea how much time had passed.

The door opened and a figure appeared in the hallway, the light that came from behind the door blinded Eris temporarily and she had to shield her eyes.

After getting used to the harsher light, she could make out the figure standing in the doorway. The backlighting made it so it was impossible to make out any real features, but the smaller frame and height gave the shadow away, as George entered the room with a briefcase-like bag placed in his hands.

His dark eyes squinted as he scanned around the room, until they eventually settled on Eris' even smaller figure, who looked ghostly compared to his already pale complexion, but somehow he seemed to look as tired as she felt, which surprised her.

He made his way over to Eris before kneeling down in front of her slowly, as to make sure she wouldn't launch at him.

Eris didn't. She still saw now harm in the brunet and was too absorbed in her own mind and too exhausted in every limb in her body to even try anything.

"I'm sorry for hitting you in the head earlier." George mumbled quietly, "Is it okay if I look at it?"

In reply, Eris turned her head to the brunet, making it easier for him to examine the place of impact.

He nodded, before reaching over, gently grazing against the bruised skin. Eris winced at the contact, and George immediately removed his hand, whispering an apology before retrieving a piece of cloth from the bag, which he handed to Eris.

"It has some ice in it, I know it's a bit late for it but it could help against the swelling."

George picked up Eris' arm that now held the cloth before placing it against her own head as she did not do it herself.

He seemed to understand the girl's dissociated state and continued on with a gentleness that only reminded her of Wilbur's care.

"Is your breathing okay? Dream told me you inhaled a lot of smoke." George continued, but the words sparked some confusion in Eris' head, distracting her from her thoughts, because she hadn't been in the burning room that long. It couldn't have been more than a minute or two.

The confusion must have laced through her features because George cocked his head slightly, "You were in there for at least ten minutes. Dream told me there was so much smoke that he could barely find you."

How?

Eris stared in front of her, it only felt like a few minutes to her.

George snapped her out of her gaze again when he spoke up once more, like he forgot something, "Oh, I was told to take you to the shower as well. You have a lot of soot and dirt on you."

The brunet reached over to his belt and took a key from it, before reaching over and unlocking the chains around her ankles, revealing the bloody and bruised mess that was hidden underneath it. He cringed.

"I'll fix that later," he mumbled, "Can you walk on your own?"

Eris stood up slowly, testing out her underused legs. Once she stood upright she straightened her aching back, sending some relief down her spine, before her knees buckled by the sheer exhaustion of her body.

George was quick to catch her however, holding her up by her good shoulder.

He led her up the stairs and to a bathroom on the first floor and for the first time she could take a good look at her surroundings. The entire building consisted mostly of wooden planks and furniture, only a simple woollen tapestry decorating the hallway as she was led to one of the few wooden doors, leading into the bathroom.

Once inside she found a bathtub with a showerhead above it and a simple sink. Everything looked simple, but lived in as a few toothbrushes laid scattered around the marble sink.

The bath had already been filled with a small layer of soap covering the top.

"I reckoned a bath would be better than a shower." George spoke in a monotone voice as he sat Eris down on the side of it, "I put some new clothes over there so you can change into them afterwards. I'll be outside if you need anything."

With that he left Eris to herself, closing, and locking the door behind her, trapping her into another room once more. But this time, she didn't mind as much, as the thought of a warm bath was a welcome one.

She stripped off her torn shirt and other clothes slowly, making sure not to hurt her bruised body before letting herself sink in the lukewarm bath.

It wasn't as magical as she hoped it would be, but she didn't complain as she closed her eyes, letting the warmth of the water embrace her, like the feeling of fire did, comforting her in her ultimate discomfort.

____
A/N:

ahah - hi 

i am so sorry i haven't updated in a month and a half lmao - i had some bad writer's block and then i also got covid lmao. i survived tho and now i'm on vacation. but i brought my laptop with me and i have a lot of time to write so i really hope i can publish more now!

this one is a bit shorter as it is kinda a part one of two chapters. but i really wanted to give you guys something lmao so expect a part 2 to this very soon.

also i forgot to tell you this--

good morning everyone, i have read passerine and decided to make it everyone's problem.

^ take this as you will muhahahah

love you all,
blue