Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

After a long while of avoiding many well placed taunts and traps made to break down Serph and Asra they finally had the sorcerer cornered. Asra had gotten in front of him, the plan being to trap and capture him, casting him off somewhere or just leaving him with Nadia. Something was wrong however… This felt too easy and Serph knew it, the sorcerer had a trick up their sleeves he could feel it.

Serph tried to warn him about the possible danger ahead but it was too late. Asra stumbled backwards into his arms clearly resisting against something, a spell, Serph held them keeping them from falling trying to help him resist but he knew it would work, and in an instant as soon as he let Asra down they lunged at him with murderous intent.

Attacks were thrown in every which way not really giving him a moment to try and flee. He couldn't fight back, he just couldn't… he couldn't bring himself to hurt Asra, the one person who helped him through thick and thin, the person who helped him defeat the devil, the only one who risked their life trying to revive him. He couldn't hurt them. He couldn't fight back. He just… Couldn't

The attacks from them became a little bit easier to keep up with and only a few times he was able to attack him back landed a few scratches on his body and a kick to the stomach. The kick threw them off guard giving Serph time to get away and put up a shield. Once Asra was back on his guard he came full force against the shield using both physical attacks and magic in an attempt to break the shield and kill him (which is what Serph assumed would happen if the shield broke). Serph was crying profusely begging through his tears for just a split second of lucidity so this nightmare could end but Asra was too far gone to listen. He was desperately trying to keep the shield up but he could feel it failing.

He didn't want to die, not yet anyway and not at the hands of his lover. The shield was failing and they both knew it. Asra took this opportunity. Lighting magic. Serph could hear the crackling between their fingers and he looked at them wide eyed, Asra looked down at him with rage and murderous intent behind his eyes. The magic shot through the shield and Serphs arms. The shield exploded, flinging them both in opposite directions but not too far away from each other. He could see Asra standing up and he got on all fours arching his back up like a frightened cat. He was attempting to look big and scary, an instinct he developed from his past.

Asra on the other hand was struggling to get up as the spell faded from his mind. Once the spell faded completely he got up slowly startling Serph only farther. They noticed his growling and looked down at him. The sight before him made his heart sink.

Before him was a very frightened Serph he was on all fours, his back arched upwards, his fins raised and puffed up, his teeth were bared, and worst of all he was bleeding his clothes torn. Their eyes widened and they went numb. They hurt him, hurt him so badly he almost went back to his animalistic self. Asra couldn't remember what happened next; he was completely on autopilot but Serph did.

He remembered how he felt relief seeing his love being freed from the spell and he relaxed a bit but tensed up when Asra quickly approached. He knew they were shaken after they saw him like that, bleeding and cowering like a rabbit before a wolf.

They got on their knees in front of him eyes wide and taking too fast for Serph to catch up with but all he knew was that they were desperately trying to heal the wounds inflicted. He relaxed getting on his knees and getting closer, gently, Asra grabbed him feeling around and pressing down with his magic while keeping back tears and apologizing profusely after every yelp and cry Serph released as he tried to heal his wounds.

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They had finally gotten home. The sorcerer being left for Nadia to deal with and they both knew she wasn't going to be merciful after he hurt her friends. Serph was worried about them however ever since they both got home he was getting Asras full attention which was great but also concerning, Asra wasn't really taking care of himself.

He wanted to help but… He was still afraid of them in a way, he tried to hide it but his fear would slip out sometimes leading Asra to spiral farther and farther. He felt so bad. He had talked to him multiple times through the week trying to convince him to get some sleep or really do anything else to take care of themselves but they would always lead it back to him expressing their need to take care of him. He was injured.

Many times throughout the next few weeks Serph was starting to get better physically but the fear of Asra trying to attack them again. It took a long time to get Asra to talk to him about it all of which led to him holding them close, petting their head while they cried in his chest apologizing. It took everything in him to not cry as well, that wouldn't make things any better.

It was going to be a long time before Asra forgave themselves and a lot longer for Serph to trust them again…

Chapter Text

The sorcerer was finally corned. Serph was too confident in his abilities and stepped in front of Asra to try and conjure up a net… But he hadn't exactly noticed the spell that was being put on him and how Asra was trying to push him out of the way but… It was too late the spell took hold.

Terror. The only thing Serph could feel. Terror and fear as he could feel his body changing and his mind slipping away from him. He heard himself scream and then… It all just went black. He wasn't in control of himself, he couldn't see what he was doing like he was asleep but when he woke up he saw his love standing up right holding up a barrier while injured and bloody. Cowering in fear and looking heartbroken.

Asra had seen and felt everything he had done to them even though he could've pulled him out as soon as he was taken by the spell seeing how he transformed like that caught him off guard and then… He lunged at them, his attacks starting off more animalistic, scratching and biting them. Asra made little attempts to fight back; they didn't want to hurt him. They pulled him off with relative ease and put up a protective barrier before he could use his magic. They watched as he used all kinds of attacks to try and break the barrier.

Every chance they got they reached out with their magic and tried to pull him through the spell attempting to break it. Before he collapsed and woke up he pushed his clawed hands onto the barrier up against Asras arm and shot lightning through the barrier. They screamed but the barrier didn't fall and this was the perfect chance to break through to him.

Once Serph collapsed the barrier fell but their hand was still up in the air shaking and just about pounced on top of him. They held him while he began to cry, whispering apologies into his ear as he sobbed into his arms. They wouldn't let Serph see how much he had really hurt him and instead focused on them trying to see if they had accidentally hurt him anywhere and healing those spots where there was injury.

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Finally returning to the shop Asra still wouldn't really see him fully but it was so obvious that the one arm holding up the barrier got the worst. Serph couldn't forgive himself he had sworn when he came to the surface he wouldn't ever lash out like that on others again but he did… And he lashed out and hurt his lover. How was he going to forgive himself after this?

He insisted on pampering Asra who rejected his advances. They forgave him but he didn't know how truthful that really was. All that they let him do was heal their wounds that he had inflicted. It hurt to look at them; it was a harsh reminder of his nature, his past that he was trying to run away from.

Over the next few weeks Asra got better while Serph only got worse. He could see the fear still lingering in Asras eyes and to make matters worse they had very frequent nightmares about that night which didn't make him feel any better.

Once he got Asra to talk it gave him some relief knowing that Asra really saw a scared animal, confused, and scared. An animal who didn't understand what was going on and attacking the nearest person. He was given some relief knowing that Asra understood and forgave him.

But… He wasn't forgiving himself anytime soon.