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Rivener's half-lidded, unfocused eyes widened when he saw the regal, deadly form on the landing behind Lazarus. s**t!! Roux WAS here and he HAD heard the noise, finally! The Scorpion had been hoping-...

Fast as a blizzard gust Roux was onto Laz, demanding what he'd been doing. Rivener cringed at his friend's scream of pain, knowing full well how it could feel to have Roux's icy cold grip on your wrist like that... The lead pipe fell to the floor, clattering near to Rivener's freed arm, and he weakly tried to reach for it, vaguely thinking that he could either attack or continue to free himself... No use; the pipe was just out of reach.

Gritting his teeth, hazy red eyes turning up to Roux, Rivener tried desperately to get through to the crazed Roc one more time, his last-ditch resort. "R-Roux, stop, Lazarus was just helping me because I was hurt! I-I'm not going anywhere, I was just cold and in pain and I nee-... needed his warmth! Roux, please STOP, you're hurting him!" Teeth chattering, lungs burning from the air that even now dipped in temperature from Roux's very presence, Rivener fought to keep his voice loud enough to be heard. Though whether the Ice Sigel was listening or not was another question altogether...

"No," the Frei replied to the Muse at her rather adorable question, offering a small but kind smile. "The lab is not and never was curs--"

Zul stopped abruptly at the inhuman scream that split the air. It wasn't the scream that alarmed him so much as the fact that he'd heard it before. It was the same one that had pierced his ears when he'd shoved a cone of ice into the face of its owner.

"Laz'rus," he murmured, spreading his wings and turning his back to Melisande as though he would protect her from whatever caused the yet unseen Incubus to cry out as such. "Keep yourself safe, Melisande," he murmured by way of apology, uncertain of what they were about to find and even less so if he could protect her against it. His temperature rose rapidly against the chill of the ice-encrusted room, floating just beyond the immediate way of the balcony to the room to find...

...to find...

...who the hell was that? And what was he doing to Lazarus?

Floating forward, the Frei's bright eyes tried to absorb the scene playing out before him: Rivener, pleading through teeth chattering so hard he could barely understand him; Lazarus, limp against his bindings of ice -- reminiscent of when he himself had attacked the Sigel and used his magma to chain him to the wall; and the unfamiliar Sigel, a beautiful monster that felt like a living, breathing icicle to him. There was no doubt in his mind that the cause of the ice tomb - for that's what it was to him now, no longer a castle but a marker of an end - was the feathered, crowned male of frigid white and arctic blues. There was something very unforgiving about his appearance, threatening in his posture and utterly devoid of light in his manic eyes.

I knew two cold Raevans, a long time ago... The Muse's voice replayed in his mind, clarifying the situation. Roux was cold inside.

Glancing over his bare shoulder to Melisande, he kept his wings spread protectively, vibrant sky-blue eyes slowly turning back to who he was mostly certain was the one they'd been speaking of but mere moments ago. "You must be...Roo," Zul said by calm way of greeting, lifting his chin and furrowing his brows. Lazarus was hurt, Rivener...he couldn't even begin to think about the Scorpion when he felt his temper tickling beneath the surface, but he did not see his woman or Kyou. The demon did not know which way to go first!

So lost in his delight to torture the fire Sigel, that Rivener's voice was totally deaf to his ears. All he could hear was Lazarus's scream, it sounded so agonizing, almost like it was coming directly from the Sigel's soul. And it was so... beautiful. He never knew that agony could sound so beautiful.

Roux almost felt pitiful when the scream ended, and Lazarus was reduced to a shuddering limp body pinned to the wall. All by his doing. Loosening his grip, he lowered his arms to his sides and back up a little to admire his work. Although Lazarus looked beaten and tattered, he would still look good as a trophy on his wall. For a flitting moment, he considered bringing the fire Sigel along with Rivener back with him when an unfamiliar voice disrupted his thoughts.

Slowly and calmly, almost as calm and casual as the voice, he turned around to meet the guest that is visiting his ice castle. The person that stood before him though was someone that he did not expected at all.

Zul.

He recognize that Raevan, he was just looking at his photo minutes ago downstairs. A gentle but slightly sinister smile appeared on Roux's face. Luck is on his side today, as all these people gather around here for him to 'take care of'. "Zoool..." He almost purred the name as it rolled off his tongue. His voice crisp and clear, but laced with something else. Bright blue eyes met with the other's bright blue ones, almost identical in color, but looked completely different at the same time. Roux's ones were cold and crazed, but Zul's one was calm and warm. The ice Sigel was almost impressed by the Frei's stature, although he was still just a Frei - a weakling, he had the look of confidence, of a king, such as him. His gaze was almost admirable when he remembered who he is... Rivener's new love.

The smile faded immediately, and with a mighty flap of his wings, he raised himself off the ground a little, blowing a chilling wind around him, before swooping down like an eagle at Zul with his claws outstretched. His eyes were wide like saucers, crazed and filled with hatred. "YOU TOOK RIVENER AWAY!!" The scream that erupted made the ice shuddered, sounding almost otherworldly with a siren-like echo. He will rip Zul's body apart, limb by limb, and the neck is the perfect place to start tearing.

He could feel himself fading in and out of consciousness, the exhaustion and the coldness finally caught on. Being a fire Raevan, Lazarus had always hated, and weak to coldness. It was a surprise really that he lasted this long. Vaguely far away, he could hear a familiar voice... Rivener..? He is still alive, good.

And then, he heard that voice as well, the one that he did not expect to hear here. Frost covered brow furrowed as he struggled to open his eyes and make them focus on the source of that voice. "Zul...?" It was barely a whisper. He wasn't sure why, but suddenly he felt a renewed hope to... live. That there may still be a chance that all of them could get out of here alive.

But suddenly, something else caught his attention. "Me... li...?" It was all that he could mutter as he turn his head weakly in their direction. The Sigel behind Zul, although she was disguised somewhat, but that taste in clothes, there is none other. Why are you here? At least Zul still knows how to fight, how to be defensive, or offensive, who knows. But Melisande... "No..." He whispered weakly, his breath coming out in white clouds, his chest heaving, struggling to breath. The fire Sigel winced as he felt a cold gust of wind hit his face, and he knew what was coming next. No... "No!" He let out a strangled cry as he struggled against the ice cuffs with the last of strength he could muster. But it was too late, he watched with wide eyes as Roux swoop down at the pair that just arrived.

Melisande's pupils dilated, the color driven back until only Roux's reflection filled her eyes. Honest fear, something the Sigel hadn't truly known before this moment, filled her. The urge to flee was almost sickening. It didn't even occur to her that she would be abandoning Rivener and Lazarus...running simply sounded like a fine idea.

Her wings had barely spread to propel her back, anywhere, away! -when Zul thrust her to the side. Blow back of Roux's icy descent scorched against her fair skin, stinging with unearthly cold that contrasted against the wash of terror. He hadn't let her run! Pasha's delicate wing's snapped open, halting her just moments before she collided with the ice. Her body yanked to a stop, back arching and curls swinging forward with her desperation not to touch the frozen prison.

The battered red of the two flickered before her, image broken by the strands of her pale hair as it drifted down again around her face. Wings still open, Pasha floated frozen for a single heart beat. The terrible sounds of Roux raging against the Frei were close, so close, but the urge to flee had been broken. He hadn't sacrificed her...he was fighting for her. For them.

But the Muse was cornered.

Her eyes were almost black. Pupils so wide that her frost pricked lashes seemed to ring her eyes in white, all the color drained from her fair face. She reached for Rivener, her supernatural gaze locked on his. Slender fingers grazed his tortured face.

"Protect." The depth of her fear, her need, her command, was like a static shock between them.

Rivener struggled valiantly against many enemies: the ice trapping him, the exhaustion trying to drag him under, the cold sucking away at his very rune. He couldn't split his focus between all this and the battle he knew was raging between Roux and Zul... It spurred him on, teeth grit, hoping to any listening god or goddess that he might get free before Roux killed the Demon Frei!

Those gods and goddesses were paying attention today, it seemed. They answered Riv's desperate prayer in the most unexpected fashion: soft, slender fingers along his cheek, drawing his eyes up to a pale, ethereal face haloed in gold curls... Those eyes!...

Protect, the goddess said, the word like a soundless concussion through the air. Rivener felt the command slam into him, his body tensing, his hooded eyes widening to wakefulness. Adrenaline coursed through him. "I will," Rivener declared, frowning in determination. "I will!"

His rune glowed brighter, distorted in the ice below, and with newfound strength Rivener hacked at his prison. A chip here, a chunk there... mere moments later, Rivener had freed his other arm and could now make much faster progress! His other wing came free, then the ice trapping his stomach... There were still pieces of ice clinging to him, but the Scorpion wobbled upright "to his feet", floating lower than he normally would. He was free! He could protect, now! He would!

Red eyes first landed on Lazarus. Melisande was still safe for the moment, so Rivener could focus on freeing his friend, returning the favor for earlier. "Stay close," he whispered to Pasha, gently nudging her towards the wall so Riv would stay interposed between her and Roux, guarding her. The rush of adrenaline still pumped through Riv's veins, keeping him awake despite how dim and sputtering his Rune had become. At least being out of the ice itself was helping, no longer drawing out his consciousness.

Clawed fingers ripped away at the ice, making slow progess at first until Rivener remembered that steel pipe Laz himself had used. The dark Sigel picked it up and things went much faster then! Only a few minutes later, the last of the icy manacles holding Lazarus prisoner broke and Riv dropped the pipe, catching his friend before he crumpled. "...You alright?" he asked, concerned, feeling his own body start to tire.

His vision suddenly spotted as his bare spine came in contact with the icy wall, winding him beneath the unrelenting grip. The Frei felt the pressure on his gorget, felt the threat of pain creeping into his neck -- but before the Roc's talons could instill fear, he felt a different type of pain: the cut of the necklace beneath his gorget. The flower pendant that Rivener had given him, now melting underneath the heat of the magma that coursed over his body, had given him a parting gift of cutting his skin. The pain was quick, healed over rapidly with the warmth radiating off his body, but it had served a purpose. Zul felt his resolve strengthen, his focus renewed: he was here to stop Roux, no matter the cost.

The excess of magma worked in his favor, drawing in a deep breath of lung-searingly cold air into his lungs as the Sigel released him, steadying himself with a shake of his horn-crowned head. The magma slowly slid over his jaw and cheeks, cooling around the crooked form of his grin. Zul didn't feel like grinning, but it was a knee-jerk reaction for the Frei, a means of taunting and power over his angry opponent.

Before he could think of how to react, he was suddenly thrown back, impaled by the sheer force of the icicles that were lodged in his body. The ice was so cold and the penetration so clean that he barely felt the agony of it, only dimly aware that he had three shards sticking out of his body; one in his arm, one on the right side of his chest and the other in the joint of his wing. Swallowing hard, his free hand seized the one in his wing, using all his strength to pull it out. The Frei gasped as the white-hot pain did strike through him then, making him tremble and sag, bending over against the unfamiliar sensation. He wasn't sure how he was going to pull the others out of himself -- if he even could -- but his body was already answering his questions.

He was absorbing the ice.

The demon felt momentarily alarmed when he realized his body was feeding on the ice, pulling the unnatural concoction into himself. It burned, burned in a way that fire could not, making his veins scream with the liquid fire that streamed through them as the icicles began to shrink. Zul turned his black, pained gaze towards the other three Sigels, seeing that Rivener and Lazarus were free. Good -- and yet, very, very bad. If the two of them couldn't stand up to Roux--if he was the only thing keeping them safe by keeping Roux distracted--!!

Letting a low, inhuman laugh trickle from his maniac grin, the Frei yanked the melting icicle out of his arm, tossing the weapon aside; it was thick with his black blood, the likes of which hissed and steamed around it. He could feel the flecks of his own life force flick against his brow and chest with the effort, doing his best not to show the pain was beginning to seize up his muscles. Even as he floated there, repressing the tremble of weakness in his body from taking in the ice that was not his, he could only repeat a single mantra in his head: do what's right, do what's right, do what's right. Lifting his malicious grin so that Roux could see, his gaping wound very slowly beginning to heal around the spill of dark, sluggishly cold blood -- the ice doing a number on his healing ability -- he knew. He knew that he was the only thing that could draw Roux's attention away from the others.

As the ice shard in his chest began to get absorbed, the blue on his gloves and gorget near blinding in their brightness from the foreign, painful substance, he laughed as mockingly as he could at Roux. "He doesn't--want you," Zul forced himself to say, trying desperately to expel the Eternal Ice from his body into a lance against his palm, heaving it over his shoulder and aiming it at Roux. "Rivener...chose...me!" And he hurled the javelin at the Roc's far shoulder, trying to turn him away from the other three Sigels.