I Scored Myself A Mate

"You know what? After all, I am not so sure about this" Naila told him. 

Another night had passed, painfully slow if anyone ever asked Allias. The girl had gotten his letter this morning and had set out to the magical messenger. He felt useless, unable to even send a basic letter but still he was also grateful for the help that the fairy was providing him. He hadn't met that many good people lately, everyone seemed to want something from him, at least she tried to cure him out of her job's duty, something very honorable in his opinion. 

It had taken Naila many hours until she returned, a straw basket wrapped on her back, filled with herbs and vegetables. At the moment it was after noon, the sun was barely up in the sky and Allias had asked about when she was going to attempt to make the potion she was talking about. 

"Why? I told you that I want to take it, no matter the consequences" 

"It's because I don't know the side effects. Alex, I don't want to play with your life." she told him as she stored away the vegetables in small boxes underneath her sink on a small cupboard. She kept out a few potatoes and carrots, together with onions and sat on the table with a knife in her hand. She was peeling them skillfully preparing the ingredients for their dinner. It was probably going to be vegetable soup. Allias had missed the taste of meat, especially pork, he liked it a lot but from what he had anderstoon Naila was not a big fan of eating meat. 

"Then how is it going to be?" he asked her with a frown on his handsome face. "Will I simply wait to die? Relying on those little potions you give me everyday? What if you disappear, what if they stopped working? I need to go home Naila, people are waiting for me. I can't live my life counting on drugs." he said. 

The girl sighed. She stood up and put all the pieces of the vegetables she had chopped into her apron and walked towards the fireplace. A cauldron was hung above the fire with water boiling loudly. She dropped the small pieces in and stirred the pot with a huge wooden spoon. She grabbed a few spices from a shelf next to the fireplace and dropped them in, counting the shakes from the bottles. 

Soon the whole house smelled wonderfully and Allias felt his stomach complain with hunger. 

"Alex. What will happen if you die?" she asked him. 

"If I die, I died. It is going to happen anyway one way or the other. I want to follow the method that could actually cure me. I won't blame you. I never would. You have done so much for me. I will always be grateful and I promise one day I will repay you." he told her and she smiled at him, fixing her glasses to rest better on her tiny nose. Her markings glowed close to the fire, as the light hit them, the silver color shone very beautifully. Allias liked observing the changes in the tones. 

"Fine, Fine." she finally agreed. She let go of her wooden spoon, dropping it in the cauldron and headed back to her shelves where many bottles sat, unopened and catching dust. She chose one of them. It had a tall neck and its interior was pitch black. This bottle seemed to be one of the newer ones, it had no dust setting on it nor a yellowish label. 

Once she grabbed it she left it on the table, meeting the king's eyes. 

"Is that it?" Allias asked her and she nodded.

"I have actually been preparing it while you sleep. I knew from the start you were going to choose this." she said and Allias smiled, feeling relieved that she was willing to do this for him. "I just need to add one more thing." she mumbled and headed towards her pots. She placed her fingers in one of the vibrant plants and cut two perfectly shaped leaves. She opened the little bottle and threw them in. The liquid started to bubble and slowly it changed color. From black it turned into a lilac color and Allias smiled. It was the exact same color as Theseus' eyes. That couldn't be a bad sign, he told himself so he could feel a bit better. She shielded the bottle again and shook it hard with her hand before she walked over to the bed. The elf was still not strong enough to get up and walk. The trips to the bathroom had been his latest achievement but even those were hard to handle since his whole body felt as if it was on fire. If it hadn't been for that poison he would be fine now.

"There, I hope you live" she told him and passed him the battle, slapping it on his chest first. Allias giggled, catching it from his lap where it had fallen and opened the cap with his thumb. He brought it close to his nose, smelling it only for his whole face to wrinkle in disgust. "Bottoms up!" Naila told him in a singing tone and he closed his eyes as he brought the liquid close to his lips. 

It tasted horrible as it traveled down his neck. Like something had been rotten and blended into a liquid. He managed to drink it all though and for a few seconds nothing really happened. He looked at the bottle, shaking it and signaling that it was empty before he looked at the fairy. 

"Is it working?" he asked and the girl shrugged her shoulders, unaware. 

"I don't know how you're supposed to…" she started saying when Allias' sharp scream spread in the small cottage. He dropped it, the bottle falling on the wooden floor and tumbling in the corner and with his hand he grabbed his hair. It felt as if his head was being split in two, his body was on fire and he started sweating. "Alex? Alex! Are you alright?" Naila asked him, worried obvious in her voice as she watched him suffer. 

"I...My head!" Allias shouted. He wanted to rip his skin off, do something to stop the pain. His heart was beating so fast he believed it would stop. He looked at naila with wide green eyes. "I will die." he told her and the girl cried, not knowing what to do. "I will die." he repeated again. 

He couldn't stand the pain any longer. He fell back to the bed, his eyes closing as he fell immediately unconscious. Naila looked at him with wide eyes, how he didn't move, he didn't even seem like he was breathing.

"Alex! Alex! Can you hear me?" she asked in panic.