Illyana knew she was dead even before the field medic declared her as such. She knew she was dead as soon as the sword of an enemy soldier sliced through her arm, burying itself in her side, filling her lungs with blood. Her armour and will to live might’ve been strong, but even that could not protect her from the vibranium weapon that caused her to choke on the blood entering her throat, trying to escape through her clenched teeth. The field medic rushed to her side, pulling her away from the battlefield with the help of some of her fellow soldiers, muttering reassurances.
They all knew she wouldn’t make it, even though the healer wrapped a tourniquet around her arm tightly, crushing her veins and scraping the broken ends of her bones together, it would not help. The bleeding from the stump of her arm might've lessened, but as Illyana saw a soldier cover their mouth and look away as the healer poked her lung through the flesh, she knew she was currently taking her last, pained breaths.
They say your entire life flashes before your eyes in but a second before you leave the mortal realm, but Illyana had to disagree. She only saw one aspect of her life, the only thing that had ever motivated her. She remembered the sweet scent of her childhood love, the way zir hair was always soft under Illyana’s touch. She also remembered the agonising memory of the moment she saw the other girl fall, an arrow sticking out of zir chest as they tried to run away from the army invading their town. Revenge was the only thing on Illyana’s mind after that. She had joined the army, her only other option becoming a servant, and quickly rose to infamy. The people called her ‘Darkchylde’, even though Illyana insisted that she should not be compared to the legend of the demoness they referred to.
People have never been deterred easily though, so whenever someone caught a glimpse of her orange glowing sword, whispers of her presence would quickly spread, instilling fear into some, and dumb courage into others. Enough people had to tried to challenge Illyana, and enough people had failed. She hoped she would not see any of them in whatever hellscape of an afterlife she would enter soon.
“Come on Rasputina, stay with me-“ the medic panicked, eliciting a strangled and pained noise from Illyana as the healer touched one of her ribs, blood gushing out of the wound as her lungs kept going slower and slower in a steady pace. It was then that she realised that her death would not be quick, it would be prolonged and torturous as her other lung desperately tried to keep her body working as the injured one filled with blood.
She looked up at the healer, who was frantically searching for supplies, weakly trying to grasp the woman’s hand. The medic looked up, probably about to deny that she wouldn’t make it, when Illyana shook her head. “P-please-“ she gasped out weakly, ignoring the feeling of a bone digging into her lung as she tried to communicate. “K-kill- me-“ she managed to choke the words, not even leaving enough strength to grit her teeth in pain.
The medic hesitated, eyes flitting from Illyana’s mangled chest to her pleading eyes. It was probably strange, seeing one of the most feared warriors looking at you, begging for death, but at the moment she felt like a scared child again. “I…a-alright, I’ll- okay.” The healer took a shaky breathed, motioning for the one soldier that had remained to stay guard to hand her his dagger. “I’m uh, I’m sorry.” The woman mumbled, seemingly blinking away tears as she raised the dagger above Illyana, steady hands aiming for a place where it would be over as quick as possible.
Illyana just smiled at the medic softly, something she hadn’t done in years, as the knife plunged into her throat, just under her Adam’s apple.
Ze watched with a solemnly sad expression on zir face as the battle continued, not bothered in the slightest by the life bleeding out of the woman on the edge of the field. “You alright?” Zir brother asked softly as he put a comforting hand on zir shoulder. “I’m fine. I suppose I should get ready to collect her.” Ze sighed, smiling reassuringly at the man. He nodded, ruffling zir hair before disappearing again.
Death was not as terrifying as she expected. No, it was beautiful. Illyana had half a mind to think that this was a ruse, a cruel trick to lead her into a false sense of comfort before being cast into the deepest pits of Limbo.
But she knew her lover would never do that to her. “Lovebug?” She croaked out, in far less pain than she should’ve been as a green hand got placed on hers, their fingers slotting together like they were 2 pieces of a puzzle.
Mantis smiled at her, cupping her cheek with zir other hand. “It’s okay darling, it’s not a trick.” Ze reassured softly, pressing a kiss to Illyana’s forehead.
“I…you look divine” she mumbled in awe, a hint of a joke in her tone as her eyes flicked towards the others light green wings splayed out behind zir. Ze chuckled, now holding Illyana’s face in both hands.
”I missed you, although I’m sad you had to go through the pain to get here, I am glad you’ve arrived now.” Ze whispered softly, helping Illyana stand up as she shook out her limbs a bit, the gash in her chest replaced with a glowing orange scar.
She looked up at the other woman, zir eyes still twinkling with the same foolish happiness they always had. “Me too.” She breathed, before kissing Mantis gently, resting her arms around zir waist comfortably as ze giggled into the kiss.
”I missed you so much- I did it all for you-“ she pulled away for the slightest moment to admire the smile on Mantis’ face, before pulling zir closer again and letting their lips touch, zir soft ones a stark contrast to her chapped (and previously bloody) ones. She could finally drink in the feeling of her lover’s mouth on hers, instantly melting away the years of anger and bitterness as ze began to play with her hair, letting Illyana burry her face in the crook of her neck.
“I know sweetheart. I watched you, always, I never stopped following you.” Mantis replied softly, stroking her hair as Illyana took in the familiar smell off sage and hyacints that had always comforted her since they were little girls.
”You’re such a stalker lovebug” Illyana teased, still hiding in Mantis’ comfortable cardigan as she blinked away the tears starting to form in her eyes. Ze just chuckled, pulling away slightly much to Illyana’s dismay, as ze lifted up her chin with her hand.
“Always, you’re not getting rid of me that easily.” Mantis smiled, wiping away a tear from her cheek. “You can cry. I know you haven’t in too long. You don’t need to be strong around me, you don’t need to pretend you’re stoic and mean when you’re not.” Illyana blinked at Mantis, letting out a laugh that turned into a sob within seconds.
“You’re always so honest lovebug-“ she mumbled, burying her face in the other’s hair as she pulled zir close. “I’m never letting you leave again, never.” She promised after a minute, the warm feeling in her chest growing as Mantis hummed in agreement.
”I’d tear down all the grim reapers before I’d let them take you.”