[Warning! This solo contains heavy religious references. Viewer discretion is advised.]
Leucite was pleased to find that they had been left alone while he slept. Iudicael was proving to be quite the blessing on this pilgrimage. The second pair of eyes and company made the long hours of walking and searching bearable.
Drinking some water, and finding he had very little of it left, Leucite found himself desperately hoping that his pilgrimage would soon be over. He could not bear to think of coming all this way, of spending all this time to return with nothing to show for it. To end this trip incomplete. Rising, he gathered his things, and ventured back out with Iudicael.
He spent the better part of the day searching, but still could not find a single piece of crystal that fit his needs for his cross. Nor two pieces even that he could combine to make one. His frustration grew with each hour that passed with no luck.
Kicking a piece of crystal in anger, he spotted a strange shadow out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head, he looked down at the ground near where the crystal had been. A large cross shaped shadow seemed to be cast upon the ground.
Leucite looked up and saw one of the most blessed sights in his life. A crystal formation jutted out over a crevasse, it was roughly crossed shaped, and looked to be just the size he needed. Moving into to the crevasse, of which he stood at the bottom, Leucite looked for handholds that he could use to climb up and break off the crystal formation.
Rubbing his hands together, Leucite began to climb. As he climbed, he noticed that the edges of the formations were growing sharper and more pointed as he ascended. Still, he pressed on. Past the halfway point however, he hissed as he felt the crystal start to dig into his hand. The next hand hold above that actually cut his palm, causing him to swear loudly, and grab a lower hand hold with his good hand. Looking up, he knew he could not give up. Steeling himself, he gripped the painful, cutting handhold once more, cringing as it bit into his flesh.
Upward he forced himself. The next hand hold cut into his good hand and he hissed at the pain. But still he pressed on. He gripped each hand hold harder, cringing as each one bit more and more into his hands. The crevasse grew narrower and narrower as he ascended. Soon sharp tips of crystal bit into his arms and legs, drawing blood as he forced himself to climb higher and higher.
Soon he reached the top, hands weeping blood, his arms and legs scratched and stinging. looking up and out of the crevasse, he saw a small ring of sharp crystal points was all that was between him and taking hold of the final piece of crystal he needed.
Pressing forward, he forced himself up, his forehead and scalp being cut and pricked by the sharp crystal spikes as he pushed on. He reached up, his arm cut more and more by the sharp spikes as he took a hold of the crystal formation. He tried to wrench it free of its base, but it was quite sturdily attached to the crystal it had split from.
Cursing low under his breath, Leucite felt around for something, anything that might be heavy enough to dislodge the crystal without damaging it too badly. All the while the spikes dug into his head, arms, and legs. Finally his fingers gripped a stray piece of crystal that must have been broken off by some youma or another, and with a couple swings, managed to break off the crystal.
He kept a death grip on it so that it did not fall. Even as he let the other piece of crystal plummet to the ground below to shatter against the hard ground. Blood ran down his face and his arms as he slowly, weakly, began to make his way down slowly from the top of the crevasse. Tucking the cross shaped crystal into his coat, he slowly made his way to the ground.
Once there, he sank down to the ground and rested his bloody head against the wall of the crevasse.
“I did it Iudicael…” He said with a small laugh. “See?” His bloody hand reached into his jacket and he pulled out the cross shaped crystal with a small smile. “It’s done…”
Or it would be, once he drilled a hole in the thing and put the rosary together. Placing the crystal in his lap, he looked at his hands and winced. He would not be able to work with them in that condition. No, not at all.
Pulling out the bottle of water from earlier, he washed his hands, wincing as the water stung against the wounds. Then, tearing off a part of his coat, he wrapped his hands to try and keep the wounds from growing any worse.
Once he finished however, he was far too tired to continue his work. So worn from his wounds and the climb. Instead, he closed his eyes.
“Iudicael… guard…” He murmured weakly, unable to focus on anything save the weight of his eyelids. He was so tired… so very, very tired.
He would just take a short nap, he told himself as he let his eyes close. He would rest for an hour or two, and then he would get right back to work. Surely he was almost finished. This would truly be it. He had found the final piece of the rosary, this cross would work perfectly for his needs. He drifted into a deep and dreamless sleep. All the while, Iudicael watched on, protecting Leucite with his life, as all good bonded youma would. For the first time in a long, long time, Leucite forgot all his troubles, all his woes, and sins. For the first time in a very long time, Leucite had found peace.
