๊ฐ .. Red Spider Lily .. ๊ฑ
Summary: Lilia's beloved husband, male!reader, dies while he is fighting on the front lines during the human-fae war.
Genre: Angst, hurt/no comfort
Pairing: Lilia Vanrouge (Twisted Wonderland)x male!reader / reader has the fantasy chronic illness
- 2nd person POV, one shot -
- divider: @thanathecreator (โ ๏ฝกโ โขฬโ แดโ -โ )โ โง
A/N: My first fanfic on Tumblr, I really hope that you guys like this one.
๐ถ recommendation: Army dreamers โ Kate Bush
What is the point of war? To gain power, land? Or to lose countless soldiers, countless civilians who had the misfortune of living? To spill acres of blood and cut off every limb on a peasant who had no other means of surviving besides signing their lives off in hopes to recieve even a bit of bread and drinking water? Or could the ultimate goal be separating families? To drag away husbands, fathers, brothers and sons into battle, to give them armour and swords and force them to defend the homeland that has done and will continue to do nothing but leave them begging on the streets after releasing them from military duty?
Most wars end in devastating amounts of death, ruthlessly devouring children and assaulting women. If your homeland is on the losing side you face humiliation and despair, if on the winning then no one other than its rulers are left with joy and fill their days with celebration. Most soldiers don't return but, the ones that do are forced to go back to normal and continue their previous lives with no one to understand the terrors they've faced. Many wives are left with husks of people they've once loved deeply, their hands and feet ruined from the grueling work they've had to take up during the absence of their beloveds.
Some lonely men, whether they would return or not, had married right before they were drafted. At least then they could have something to drive them forward. The thought of having someone waiting for you at home was comforting, it pulled some out of their righteous fear of dying at any possible second. It gave them all a shared topic to talk about, just mention having a wife and wishing to see her once more, then someone would join in and mention their own and the conversation would carry on. Lilia was amongst those men, he had gotten married exactly 3 years before he was called to war.
Luckily for Lilia, you weren't drafted. Not seeing his husband die from a human's sword had placed a temporary ease on his mind and heart. Temporary ease. Unluckily for both of you, you would be left at home forever bound to a bed in your shared cottage. You were sick when you met Lilia and your condition had only gotten worse, your bones ached and ached until you could no longer move from the pain. At times, when you'd cough, blood would spill and your lungs felt as if they were repeatedly pricked by needles. Even your skin felt uncomfortable, so cold to the touch, how could anyone enjoy your presence? You must have committed a great crime in your past life for you to be so punished in this one.
But Lilia didn't mind. He, much like you, had been abandoned. Abandoned and left on his own. Perhaps that is why your paths crossed on a sunny day in the middle of the summer solstice. He had found you writhing in pain on the ground and had brought you to his little house, the house you would unknowingly remain in until your very last breath. How joyful your life with him was, he was a grump but when it came to you, oh how sweet he became. It was like a stray cat finally being adopted, wary and harsh at the start but now he curled into your lap. He didn't mind carrying you to the bath and washing you himself, he didn't mind cooking you meals and chopping wood the entire summer just to keep you safe from the winter frost. For every festival he'd bring you back a trinket along with himself in a jolly mood and soon a kiss to celebrate.
".. You'll get sick yourself, silly.." you'd scold him often, but your words went through one ear and out the other. Then, accompanied with a rare and sheepish smile, he'd often reply "Perhaps that way I would take away your illness and cure you".
How kind of him to dream of such a thing. How truly kind of him to help you with chores and to deliver you medicine even in the worst of storms after which you'd force him to get a bath lest he be bedridden as well. Though, his reasoning wouldn't be as harsh as yours, a common cold was nothing compared to your sickness most doctors didn't even know how to name.
How kind of him to run home as soon as the war ended even if his leg was broken. But how unkind of him to think that you'd still be waiting for him in this storm like the many times you've done so before. Lilia entered the cottage and called out for you so many times, so many times only to come into the bedroom and see you sleeping so peacefully. So peacefully one would think that you are dead. "Oh, my pearl thank the seven.. I thought that you would remarry with me being gone for so long." He whispered to you, though you could not hear him, how deeply asleep you were!
He changed out of his armour and bandaged his leg, wrapping the broken thing in white cloth all the while hissing from the herbs that touched the slashes placed by iron swords. He had been apart from you for 5 whole years. 5 whole years without seeing his darling husband. How he missed your touch, though your hands were cold, they were so gentle to him. So kind to him. He laid his tired head upon your chest, wishing to hear your heartbeat like many times before.
There was none. There was no heartbeat. There was no life in you.
Lilia screamed once the realization that you truly are gone forever had settled in. Screamed and cried for days until he finally buried you in the little garden behind the cottage. And centuries later, he came back for you. He sat down in front of your grave and placed your favourite flowers in a vase. They sat there happily moving from the breeze, an incoming storm. Perhaps the same one that took your soul away from Briar Valley.
