The blur of red at the corner of his vision was not in his calculations. Dull blue eyes turn with mild shock towards the rushing Sigel, bringing back some of the brightness in his gaze in the sense of familiarity. Zul didn't even have time say Lazarus' name as he was collided with; more alarming than the fact the Incubus was tackling him was that the hands that touched him had no warmth to them. Even he knew that was a bad sign! It all happened so fast that he couldn't even process why his friend would be attacking him at all, only that he was suddenly and violently pushed back and against the frozen wall, his exposed spine singing with sheer pain from the coldness that leeched through his bones.
Zul saw the rush of blue from above and understood. He finally saw what the Sigel was doing but before he could react, it was over. Lazarus was motionless on the floor, the red of his rune barely a bloody flicker against the shards of ice.
Lazarus...had saved him.
In all his life, Zul had never been saved. He'd never been in a position where he couldn't do for himself, that he couldn't provide for others. The only exception was when Alex dragged him into the water, but he'd been well on his way there to begin with, by his count. But this! He'd destroyed a car for LuLu. He'd carried Rivener bloody and broken in his arms, an equally broken and drained Lucia on his back. He'd pulled Cordelia out of solid ice. He'd blasted Lazarus with cold to give him a moment of clarity and ultimately help all the other afflicted Raevans. He'd dragged Ekundayo out of her death throes and seen others given new homes...he'd even pulled the essence of death out of his tutor's arm but never in his small life had someone jumped in the way for him. Zul was no hero, he was just -- he was a protector. And for the first time, he tasted failure -- and bitter disappointment. He wasn't cut out of the cloth of heroes, he just wanted his friends to be okay--!
The Frei's body felt cold in a way that had little to do with the ice around him, a trembling hand reaching towards the inert Sigel. Fingers tried to brush the crumbled ice off of the Incubus, sticky with the cooling blood of his friend. Lazarus had been the one he had chosen to trust with matters he couldn't speak of to anyone else -- Rivener, trust, growing and challenging himself to be better. In a way, he'd looked up to the Sigel, and now -- now he was dying on the cold floor of the Lab, and for what? For him? "Why," Zul muttered, his voice wavering and distant, "why--?"
As his fingers touched Lazarus' cold face, he knew he was helpless. He couldn't procure any heat, because Roux's magic had drained him. There was no way he could use the only thing he'd thought he'd have the power to utilize over the Roc, and now the b*****d Sigel was taking away his loved ones, one by one. First Alex, then Rivener, and now -- Lazarus. But he was innocent in this! Zul wanted to cry out, his words lost in the growing fury that was making his throat close. He didn't deserve this. Not because of me. And certainly not for you -- "Roux."
The Frei's head snapped up, the blue of his eyes soaking up the blues around him and shining brightly. It was Roux's fault. It was all his fault and damn if Zul wasn't going to stop this once and for all! No more toying, no more feeling each other out, he was going to -- he was going to end this now and it didn't matter how or if his body was too small and too weak, it was over and he was going to end it-- As his mind screamed in outrage, his body move of its own accord. His whole body tensed and without any sort of warning, he lunged at Roux, his cold hands viciously seizing the Sigel's neck. He wasn't strong enough to suffocate the more powerful Raevan, but it wouldn't stop him from trying--!
The orange of his rune flared brightly, prompting the ice that still coated Zul's body to suddenly soak into his skin, leaving him bare, but something was wrong. As the Frei's breathing became more labored, his body began to writhe and shift, the gaps between his ribbon stretching, melding into each coil and beginning to extend his small body. The demon's lips curled back from his slightly sharpened teeth, and as his horns began to twist and extend further from his hair, he let forth the most inhuman roar, the type that promised to hurt his vocal chords for days afterwards. The bones of his wings extended, popping in and out of joint as the marble webbing between them loosened and then tightened to accommodate the wider reach, the exposed spine continuing to rip out of the back that was forming and resting atop of it. The muscles in his arms seized and tightened, causing his hands to spasm and instead grip Roux's face, but as the pain began to subside, he could feel the change in him. The untapped resources that were now his to command.
As brown leather began to swirl around his middle, curving down his rapidly forming waist, gold glinting warmly in the valley of ice, his fingers curved and instead slid against Roux's jaw, dimpling the pale skin with the rage that continued to consume him. Burnt orange ribbons fell elegantly from between his hips and as the newly born Sigel floated above the Roc, central horn burning brighter than before over his narrowed, unforgiving blue eyes, he knew it was over. Zul had grown in mind and now in body, the Sigel's form easily stronger physically than the slender one of Roux. He would not allow the vile avian to screech his lies, his opinions, his self-righteous idiocy that had cost his loved ones greatly. There was no more fighting; Zul was going to silence Roux once and for all.
Using his new-found strength to pinch the other's cheeks and force his teeth apart, his fingers slid into Roux's mouth and began to pull in opposite directions with all his might.
