Chapter Text
A few days passed and Eden was in the passenger seat of her sister’s car on the way to her parents’ house. She still felt like shit but figured that wasn’t going to go away, at least not for a while. Her dads were told days ago about her return and had been waiting to see her again. She didn’t want to make them wait any longer so she decided to go with her sister to see them. Olivia could at least do most of the talking for her.
Eden’s previously sanitized eye was now bandaged. Even though they’d be telling her dads about what happened, she didn’t want them to see how bad it looked. She could barely open her right eye and the skin around the scar was red and irritated. The ibuprofen she’d been taking barely helped with the raging migraine ripping across her head. Nausea came and went and she was constantly freezing. Despite it being a warm spring day, she was dressed in layers. On top of all of this, her ink color was stuck green - nothing she tried could change it back to the original orange.
They pulled into the driveway of their parents’ home. Olivia looked over at her sister and smiled sadly. “You ready?”
Eden sighed. “No.”
”How are you feeling?”
“I think you know the answer to that.”
Olivia looked down at the steering wheel guiltily. “Right, sorry.” She unbuckled her seatbelt. “Well, let’s get this over with, hm?”
Eden did the same. “Yeah. You’ll do the talking, right? I’m exhausted.”
“Of course.”
They made their way out of the car and into their childhood home. “We’re here.” Olivia called from the front door.
Owen and Mateo came rushing into the living room upon hearing their daughter’s voice. They directed their attention to Eden, wrapping her in a hug.
“Eddie! We’ve been worried sick about you!” Owen said, hugging her tightly.
“I’m fine guys. I’m sorry for worrying you. You can let me go now.”
Tears pricked the corners of Mateo’s eyes. “In a minute Sweetheart.”
Eden sighed internally. She hated being doted on, but she guessed it was to be expected after being missing for so long.
Her dads finally let go a few minutes later. Mateo put his hands on Eden’s shoulders to get a better look at her. His heart sank to his stomach seeing the state his daughter was in. “Eden, what on Earth happened to you?”
“We should sit down.” Olivia said.
Mateo nodded. “I’ll make some tea.”
—
“You…you were sanitized!?” Mateo’s mouth dropped open.
Owen wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but given his husband’s reaction and Eden’s condition, he knew it wasn’t good. He looked over at the now green-haired inkling and noticed her shivering. He grabbed the blanket off the back of the loveseat and wrapped it around the girl before sitting back down. She nodded at him as a thank you.
Eden stared daggers into her lap as guilt washed over her. “I’m sorry, I should’ve been more careful down there.” Olivia put a hand on her shoulder.
Owen and Mateo shared a concerned look before looking back at their daughter. “We’re just glad you’re safe and alive.” Mateo said.
“Yeah, you have nothing to apologize for, Honey.” Owen chimed in.
Eden nodded, holding back tears. She hadn’t told anyone about the worst part of the whole thing yet - where she was mentally aware while she didn’t have control over her body that was attacking Roxie. She’d been having constant nightmares about it.
The thought of it made her sick to her stomach. “Excuse me.” She choked out, getting up from her spot on the couch and leaving down the hall to the bathroom. She quietly shut the door behind her.
Olivia looked down at her feet, tears in her eyes. “We should have rescued them sooner…” She felt like a failure of an agent.
Owen got up from his spot and sat down next to Liv to comfort her. The girl shook her head. “S-sorry, I told myself I wouldn’t cry.” Olivia sniffled.
“You guys did everything you could. You got them back alive, that’s what matters.” Mateo said.
Olivia nodded, wiping away her remaining tears. “You’re right…”
Mateo got up from his spot on the loveseat. “I’m going to go check on Eden.”
Tears filled Eden’s free eye as she looked at herself in the mirror. She couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened. She hadn’t talked to Roxie since they made it back to the surface, she hoped she was doing okay.
Images of the octoling’s terrified face looking back at her flashed across her mind. Bile climbed up her throat as her stomach tossed and turned. She quickly crouched down and lifted the toilet seat, emptying the contents of her stomach.
The force from the vomiting agitated the wound on her face. She hissed in pain, tears now streaming down the left side of her face. When would this torment end? She flinched when she heard a knock at the door.
“Eden? Are you alright?” Mateo asked through the door.
“I-I’m fine.” She said through gritted teeth.
“May I come in? You don’t sound fine.”
Eden took a deep breath and wiped away her tears before flushing the toilet. She shakily stood up and quickly washed her hands. She hesitated for a second before opening the door and walking out into the hall.
She looked up at Mateo. “I’m okay, really. I’m just tired.”
He wrapped the girl in a tight hug. “It’s okay to hurt, Ed.”
Eden paused, trying to hold back her tears. Her lip quivered as tears filled her eye once more. She finally relented and returned the hug, burying her face into his shoulder.
The two of them stood like that for a few minutes, Eden silently weeping in her father’s arms. Eden inevitably calmed back down. Although the pain from her eye had yet to subside.
“I’m okay dad, you can let go.”
Mateo held on tighter. “In a second.”
He finally let go and took a second to get a good look at his daughter. The bandages on her eye looked like they desperately needed to be changed and she had dark circles and bags under her other eye. Has she been getting enough rest? Her tentacles had lost part of their luster as well. It broke his heart to see her in such a state.
He smiled sadly at her. “You’re freezing. I’ll go make you another cup of tea.”
Normally Eden would decline, but it was true - she was frigid. She nodded. “Thanks Dad.”
Eden made her way back to the living room and sat back next to Olivia on the couch. Owen smiled at her. “Hey kid, you feeling alright?”
Mateo came back into the room with a fresh cup of tea and handed it to her. “I’m fine, just tired.” Eden said.
“You two should stay the night, it’s getting late anyway.”
“I think that’s a good idea.” Olivia smiled.
Eden wanted to protest, but it had been three months since her dads had seen her. She couldn’t imagine how worried everyone must have been. She nodded in agreement. “That would be fine.”
—
Eden was getting ready to go to bed when her dads walked in, Mateo holding a medical kit and a warm, wet cloth. She looked at them curiously. “What’s that for?”
”Your bandages need changing.” Mateo said.
“Oh, I mean, it’s fine. I can change them in the morning.”
Owen gently sat her down on the bed. “Nope, we’re changing them for you now.”
“I can take care of it myself.” Eden protested.
“Stop being so stubborn and just let us help you.” Mateo said, pulling a chair in front of her and setting the medical kit down on the bed.
Eden anxiously looked down at her feet and fidgeted with her hands. Owen noticed this. “What is it?”
The younger inkling sighed and closed her eye. “I don’t…I don’t want you guys to see it. It’s pretty bad.”
“Well I think that’s even more of a reason to let us help.” Mateo replied.
Owen put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “It’s not going to scare us off. There’s nothing wrong with accepting help, Eden. You’re not alone in this.”
Eden took a deep breath and nodded sadly. It was hurting quite a bit and fresh bandages probably would feel better. “Alright…Just be careful, please.”
“I will.” Mateo smiled.
He leaned over and slowly started peeling the old bandages off of her eye. Eden hissed in pain when a part of them stuck to her skin. Her claws came out as she gripped onto the blankets beneath her, ripping them slightly.
Mateo shot her an apologetic look. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay, this happens all the time.”
Mateo managed to get the old bandages off and Owen discarded them in the trash. They could both tell by just looking at it how much it must have hurt. Her skin around the scar was still raw and red and it didn’t look like she could open her right eye either.
“Can you see out of this eye?” Mateo asked.
“Barely...”
That shattered the hearts of both men in the room.
“What did the doctor say when you saw him?” Owen asked.
Eden sighed. “He doesn’t think the vision is going to come back. But he also treated this like an ink burn which made it worse.”
“This definitely isn’t an ink burn.” Mateo said, gently dabbing her face with the cloth and causing the girl to flinch. “Sorry.”
“Hopefully it will get better with time.” Owen said.
Eden looked down sadly. “I hope so...”
“Maybe you should consider getting a second opinion. It doesn’t sound like that doctor knew much about sanitization.” Mateo suggested.
“He definitely didn’t. There’s barely any information about it out there, how do you know about it dad?” Eden asked.
“I don’t know too much, but I read about it once when I was in college. I’ll have to see if I can find that book again, it might have some useful information.”
“We’ll get this figured out Ed, everything’s going to be okay.” Owen reassured.
Eden could only stay quiet and nod as she felt a lump forming in her throat. The last thing she wanted was to break down crying in front of them.
Mateo gingerly wrapped Eden’s eye back up. “How does that feel?” He asked.
Even though it still hurt, it felt considerably better. ”Good, thank you.”
“Of course.” Mateo smiled.
“We’ll let you get your rest, you must be exhausted.” Mateo said, packing up the med kit.
Owen leaned down and gently kissed her on the forehead. “Goodnight, Ed.”
The two of them left momentarily after. Eden let out a sigh of relief. Finally, she was alone. She shut off the lights in the room and bundled up under the blankets. She was just about to fall asleep when she felt a presence in the bed next to her. It was Olivia, fresh out of the shower.
”Move over.” She said, putting some pillows in the bed.
Eden begrudgingly turned around to face her. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like? I’m spending the night in here.”
”What’s wrong with your room?”
”Nothing. I just want to be here.”
Eden pushed Olivia off the bed, causing the girl to pancake onto the floor.
“Oof! Hey!” Olivia scowled. She got up and turned on the light. She put her hands on her hips. “Ed, come on. Let me stay.”
“No, you have a perfectly good bed in your own room, go use it.” She turned back around in the bed and covered her face with the blanket.
Olivia huffed, tears forming in her eyes. “Please?”
Eden groaned in frustration, taking the covers back off of her and looking over at Liv. “Why do you want to sleep in here so bad? We haven’t slept in the same bed since we were kids.”
Olivia sat back down next to her in the bed and hugged a pillow close to herself. “I missed you, that’s all…”
Eden sighed and scooted over, making space for her sister. Olivia smiled wide and scooted into the bed next to her. “Thanks, Ed.”
“Yeah, whatever.” Eden replied, hiding her smile. She missed Olivia too.
Olivia reached over and shut the light off before laying down in the bed. “Hey Ed?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
“I love you too Liv.”