Chapter Text
Eve’s health began to deteriorate rapidly and no one could figure out why. Ruth poured over his books but found next to nothing. Their world didn’t know much about illnesses that affected humans while they were being possessed, probably because the individuals being possessed usually didn’t spend their time in the company of others.
He continued to search and search and eventually came up with a solution, of sorts. He had not found a cure, but he had located a healer who had some experience with demonic possession and was only about a day’s ride on horseback from the master's estate. Some experience was better than none, and it’s not like they had any other options.
Eve was reluctant to go but she didn’t have much of a choice. She chose to risk her chances with a healer rather than continue to feel sluggish and sickly.
Eve, Riftan, Elliot, Uslin, Hebaron, and Gabel rode out early the following morning. They didn’t arrive at the wizard’s isolated hut until sundown. They had ridden all day and would have arrived sooner but due to Eve’s sensitive illness they could not ride at top speed.
An old wizard with a long wispy beard welcomed them in. The small one-room house smelled of herbs and chemicals that made Eve’s nose itch.
The knights suddenly rushed at her, grabbing her arms and legs, lifting her off the ground and quickly rushed her to the bed on the other side of the small room. They each grabbed an arm or a leg and tied them to the bed posts.
“What are you doing?!,” Eve screamed. “You said he was a healer! You said- “
“He is,” Elliot interrupted her. “But he is also an exorcist.”
“You are what is making Lady Maximilian ill,” the wizard spoke as he gathered ingredients from the small kitchen. “Her soul is pure, and you have ensnared it with your unclean presence. Her will was strong but not invulnerable. Whether you realize it or not you have slowly been crushing her spirit. You need to be eliminated or your host will soon perish.”
Eve howled and thrashed violently against her restraints which had been soaked in holy water. She kept fighting to no avail as dark bruises began to form on her skin.
“Dammit Eve!” Riftan yelled, finally snapping. “Enough! You have put my wife through more than her fair share of hell. Stop resisting, you’re hurting her! I promised her I would never let anything hurt her again and that includes hurting herself. It’s over Eve. Give my wife her body back. NOW!”
The room sizzled with tension, ready to snap at any moment and dissolve into untamed chaos.
“NO!” the voice from Maxi’s body doubled. One was hers, but the other was a low guttural voice that sounded like it had crawled straight out of the underworld. “She is mine! My vessel. I have protected her better than you EVER could!”
Riftan was livid. Everything he had ever done was for Maxi’s safety and happiness. How dare this foul creature accuse him of such a thing.
Eve continued to taunt him. “She is a weak, pitiful mortal. She has powerful magic, but I helped her reach her true potential. I gave her strength, mentally and physically. She is lethal, precise, deadly, things she never could have been without me. She was helpless which is why she needs me. I have protected her and cherished her. She belongs to me now and without me she is nothing.”
She smirked darkly before continuing, “Her father was right, if it weren’t for me she’d still be a worthless, stuttering, pathetic- “
Riftan quickly shoved a wad of cloth in her mouth to silence her. He wanted to do more than that but of course he could not hurt Eve without hurting Maxi in the process.
“No,” he spoke quietly. The softness of his voice surprised her and everyone else in the room.
Riftan leaned forward in his chair so that he was eye level with the demon strapped to the bed in front of him. He rested his arms on his knees and slowly clasped his hands together.
“Maximilian,” Riftan began, “is so much more than that. Before you came along, she was a respected healer and wizard. She was gifted with an affinity for not just one but two mana elements. Without any proper training, she saved the lives of thousands of soldiers even though she nearly lost her life in the process. She is all those things and more. More than I could have asked for. She is the most selfless, stubborn, brilliant woman I have ever known. I have the honor and privilege to call her my wife. I will always be there for her to provide for her, protect her, comfort her, be whatever she needs me to be. So, I’ll be damned if I let you take my very reason for living away from me. You may have temporary control of her body but let me make one thing very clear to you, Maximilian Calypse is MINE! I will gladly find a way to drag your pathetic demonic carcass to the lowest depths of hell and strangle you with my bare hands.”
He leaned back in his chair; his black onyx gaze still locked on the white eyes that stared back at him. The small body tied to the bed had broken into a cold sweat and was trembling in fear. The room seemed to grow darker at his words and though a creature of darkness should relish in it, the demon felt stifled. If possible Riftan’s blazing eyes grew more intense and the demon felt as though she was no longer looking at a man but at death itself.
“Go quietly, do not struggle, do NOT cause her any further pain. Or I swear on my wife’s soul, the last thing you will ever see is me hauling you to Tartarus where I will watch you burn for eternity.”
The demon did not feel any pain as the old wizard performed the ritual that would cast her out of Maximilian’s body. This type of spell usually burns and leaves her feeling itchy for weeks. However, this time the demon was too afraid to feel anything and went quietly as the lady’s husband had requested.
—-
A few hours later, Maxi’s eyes slowly fluttered open. Her throat burned as though she had been screaming. “R-Riftan,” she croaked in a hoarse voice. A large hand was placed on the top of her head as her husband leaned over her bed so she could see him without having to sit up.
The look of relief in his eyes made her want to cry. She didn’t know what had happened these last several months, and maybe she would never want to know all the details, but whatever it was it had shaken him. She tried to smile at him, but she was so exhausted it looked more like a smirk.
“It’s over,” she said in a soft, raspy voice. Her eyes slowly closed again, her body went limp, and her breathing slowed. She felt Riftan’s grip on her tighten but it didn’t hurt because he felt very far away.
“MAXI!” Riftan yelled as he began to panic.
“Sir,” said the old wizard. “She is simply resting. Her body and spirit are understandably still exhausted and need time to recover.”
Riftan breathed a sigh of relief and he carefully moved Maxi’s sleeping form to one side of the bed so that he could lay down next to her.
The knights were patiently waiting outside the hut. When the wizard came out to inform them that the Lady of Anatol had woken and was resting comfortably they all breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
The hut was quiet as Riftan, gently wrapped his arms around his wife’s small frame and carefully pulled her closer to him. She shifted and rested her head on his chest. He closed his eyes as he listened to her soft breathing.
He thought she was sound asleep but apparently not. Her sweet gentle voice broke through the silence that filled the room. “I never doubted you would save me.” she said in a sleepy voice barely above a whisper. Riftan did not open his eyes. He simply held her a little tighter and replied softly in an equally tired voice, “Always Maxi, always.”