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 Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 10:06 pm
He had no where to go.
The streets were cold and snow covered, the wind gusting around Cerussite and bringing with it an icy chill that froze him to the bones. He'd been walking for what seemed like hours; by this point, his leg was beyond the point of pain and had settled into just a numb ache that seemed to reverberate up and down his entire body.
In one gloved hand, he held the crystal he had been given by Cinnabar, clutched tightly in shaking fingers.
In the other, his cell phone, flakes of snow melting against the screen and turning it glassy.
It felt hard to breathe. A thumb was on the contact list, hovering over the name he wanted to talk to most of all, and yet he couldn't bring himself to press it. Cerussite had stopped, and now he stood in the shadow of a tall building, his entire body shivering from the cold.
A sob choked out of him, and the bleakness was settling in; the terrible, suffocating sensation he'd had when he'd gotten into his accident and woken up to find that he'd ruined the life and livelihood of an unknown girl who hadn't deserved what he had done to her.
The overwhelming sense of being trapped. Of a life he could not escape, no matter how much he struggled against it, the ropes were there, tying him down, strapping him into place so that he couldn't even consider getting out of them.
What have I done?
Cerussite's thumb hit the button, a message typed out before he could stop, desperation in his veins.
He won't want to talk to me.
He hates me.
He doesn't love me anymore.
The text was only two words.
He hit send.
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Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 1:35 am
They'd propped a chair up against the door, which was really about all they could do until Fritz got around to calling someone about it - and on the list of concerns they'd had when they'd gotten back, that was kind of somewhere near the bottom, hovering around 'brush their teeth'. Okay, a little more pressing than that, but still. As much as they'd wanted to go charging right off and roam the streets looking for Tolliver, there were some things they had to take care of first. Number one had been getting Fritz properly cleaned up, patched up, delightful things like that.
Really, they could've headed out right after that - but it would've been a shitty idea with Fritz as ragged as he was, so Hitch played the role of procrastinator. You should eat somethin' before we go. Your kitchen's a ********' disaster. Sit your a** down, I got this. He'd said things like that, but he liked to think Fritz knew what he was really getting at:
Take a goddamn rest, you idiot.
It was easier, really - it was easier, even just a little bit, to keep himself together when he was fussing over Fritz. He'd plugged his phone in to charge for the first time in nearly a week as he set to work in the kitchen making some simple pasta, intending to throw some butter and grated cheese on it and call it dinner - which made it easier to ignore all the calls, the texts, all the worry he didn't deserve and the frustration from his job when he vanished off the face of the goddamn earth. (He didn't bother to listen to those voicemails. He was sure he could guess the direction they'd take. Another thing that would have to wait like the door.)
I should've texted Van. I should've texted Jari. I should've texted Fritz sooner. I should've - Quenton. He texted him at least, some brief, but honest thing, because he really didn't need him thinking he'd just up and snubbed the kindness he'd shown him.
Somewhere down the line, he got himself a glass of bourbon from a bottle he knew Tolliver had tucked away near the back of a cabinet. Just to give himself something else to do, some part of him rationed, soothe his mind after what just happened. Just something to help him relax, another part offered, because he was stiff and sore from the fight. Just because it was there and he wanted one, that was there too, deep down. It wasn't like one glass was going to get him stupid drunk anyway, he wasn't draining the bottle or anything. He rationed the same thing about halfway through a second glass, with a side of 'even when Tolli was home we drank more than this, it's fine'.)
He set dishes on the table, plates and forks and knives, and he knew where they all were because he'd cooked here before. Not for Fritz, though. Fritz had gotten some tupperware and that'd been it. But for Tolliver, though -
I cooked for him here. After that first night. After the fight, Hitch's denial, both to acknowledge what he'd done and to claim it as a mistake. The move that'd left them in limbo for almost a week. He sat there. He sat there an' we still ********' talked an' laughed anyway. Hitch's hand found the back of the chair, imagining Tolliver in it like he'd been then. They'd both been awkward and unsure - how could they not be after that? - but it wasn't like it could've been, maybe should've been after the way he'd treated Tolliver.
He stared off for a long moment, eyes half-lidded, at the chair before him, trying to recall Tolliver's unsure smile and the splash of color on his cheeks when Hitch had set the eggs and toast in front of him. His grip on the back of the chair tightened, the ache of loss washing over him, throbbing and painful. He turned away abruptly and went back to cooking, trying to ignore how much harder it was to draw a breath after that.
It was just after Hitch drained the water from the pasta that he heard a buzz from his phone and stole a glance, expecting maybe Quenton's response - and instead he dropped the pot into the sink with a clatter, fumbling for his phone and it was like those words had sent a tremor through him because ******** his fingers were shaking and -
"Tolli, " he gasped out, quietly at first, quickly and clumsily typing out a response and all but tripping over himself in his haste as he made his way back to the living room to say more loudly, for Fritz, "Tolli! He texted me. I - I just texted back an' I - I asked where he - !" With a stifled sound of desperate frustration (at himself and no one else) -- was that the right thing did I say the right thing but what if he doesn't text back what if he's in danger oh god what if -- he pushed his stupid zebra print phone with the dinky little keyboard unceremoniously at his lover's twin.
kuropeco Text to Baby heart :where r u?????
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Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 5:14 am
Every single inch of him hurt.
It was a consistent, frustrating throb that seemed to reverberate from the tips of Fritz's toes all the way up to his head. A bone deep weariness had settled into him, and the voices were still sifting through his mind, the dizziness annoyingly persistent. However, the injury to his face had been clean and bandaged, somewhat awkwardly, considering its position, and so had the one on his neck. Fritz had tossed his broken and shattered glasses and fetched his spare pair, which, while not the greatest, were still better than nothing.
And now he sat on his couch with his eyes closed, head tilted back against the headrest, his bruised hands resting in his lap, a bandage around one of them.
Everything kept running through his mind. The feel of the general's hand as he had tried to force it past the barrier presented by the Transcendence; the desperate, panicked face of Eurydike just before he'd flung himself - stupidly - into the fight. The feel of his neck throbbing, a warmth across it that had nothing to do with pain.
"I can't do this without you."
"You could have gained a brother instead of lost one."
Absently, Fritz lifted a hand, and his tired fingers massaged his neck. Beneath the bandage, everything felt normal, but he'd seen already in the mirror what lay there. Words, unintentionally spoken, etched forever into the skin at his throat as a permanent reminder of what he had promised.
He wondered what exactly the promise was, though he could guess.
Fritz opened his eyes and turned his head slowly, watching as Hitch moved around the kitchen. He said nothing; he didn't even know what to say, really, as his brother's fiance gathered things together, his head bowed, as though he was doing everything on autopilot. A pang was welling deep within Fritz's chest, and he looked away, feeling the tightness, the tenseness that made it difficult to breathe, to think.
They had to get Tolliver back somehow. They had to get him back and they had to do whatever it took to bring him back - and Fritz knew, somewhere in his hazy mind, what the cost of that might be. That to bring someone over to the other side would be at the price of precious memories. The possibility of Tolliver forgetting him - of forgetting both of them - caused a wave of pain to sweep over Fritz, a tremor running through him.
He didn't want that.
But which was more important? Saving him from a group of people who would likely not let him live if they deemed him unimportant enough? Fighting against the one person in his life that Fritz would have died for, would have given his life to protect - and he still hadn't been able to still, because he was pathetic, and inadequate and -
The thought of having to go up against his own brother was almost unbearable. Fritz swallowed hard against the painful lump in his throat and tried to focus on the matter at hand: getting Tolliver out of the Negaverse and back into safety.
There was a faint, distant buzzing noise, footsteps, and then a clattering pang that echoed loudly throughout the room. Fritz jerked, his eyes flying open, and something was being shoved into his face, Hitch's fingers trembling as he stood in front of him.
"What - " Fritz started, and then his sluggish mind seemed to speed, finally, up to the current moment.
Tolli. He texted me.
Fritz's eyes tried to focus on the screen, his heart beating very fast, every part of him suddenly alert and aware of the fact that there was indeed a message on the screen. But it was the kind of short, desperate message that sent a ripple of fear through Fritz, and he sucked in a sharp breath, his pulse skyrocketing.
"We have to go," he said, and pushed himself to his feet, swayed, and nearly fell over again. Ignoring this, Fritz made his way to the door and shoved the chair aside, his fingers trembling as his mind made every indication of showing every single bad possibility through his mind of what could have happened to Tolliver.
It was sometime in the ridiculous hours of the night, or maybe closer to morning. Somewhere behind him, Hitch's phone buzzed again.frayedflower Text to Logan:Outside coffee shop on seventh street.
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Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 6:01 am
It was like clockwork. Hitch saw Fritz stumble and began to move, only to hear the buzz from his phone - and automatically, he snatched it up, his eyes already locked on the screen as he stepped closer to the redhead again, rocking back and forth on the heels of his feet. "Got a place. Coffee shop on seventh street. I - ********, hold on, I gotta - "
He had to ask. His fingers shaking still, his eyes narrowed as they focused on the screen, he typed out the safest reply he could with the question that really needed to be asked:kuropeco Text to Baby heart :omw do u need salt
Then, maybe a little abruptly after a moment of more awkward and unsure shifting, Hitch finally gave a hell of a sigh as he grabbed Fritz's arm (gently, ish) by the wrist and hoisted it back around over his shoulders like before. "You can still ********' lean on me, y'know, I don't bi - " He thought back to the battle with the general, then just went ahead and shut his mouth. "We should go."
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Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 6:39 pm
Coffee shop on seventh.
Fritz heard the words somewhere in his mind, and tried to focus on them, his heart in his throat. Coffee shop on seventh street. Tolliver's there. Tolliver asked us to meet him there - no, he asked Hitch, but I have to - I can't not go.
A shaking hand pressed against the door, and Fritz felt, before he saw, Hitch lifting his free arm, and once more it was slung over his shoulders, trying to take the weight off of him. Fritz turned his head, and saw, with some relief, that he was not being told to stay back because he was the way he was.
He couldn't have born it had he been told to stay home.
"Right," said Fritz, and he gave Hitch's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "We'll get him back, Hitch, all right? We'll get him back."
It was said as much to reassure himself as it was to reassure Hitch. Fritz felt his head pounding, felt his pulse skyrocket, the nausea barely kept at bay in his throat.
"Let's go take him back."
-------------------------------------------
Two messages were sent out.
One, to Hitch.
And one to Cinnabar, through the crystal, in half strangled sobs that wrenched at his throat and tore at his heart as Cerussite huddled in the alleyway, the cold sinking into his already soaked uniform. whimsical blue "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Cinnabar."
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Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2016 6:12 am
Hitch knew on some level taking Fritz with him was dangerous - he could barely stand, and he couldn't imagine him being able to fend off any attacks if he was powered, but -
'Just go home, Logan. There's no point. You can't do anything. No one can.' Her voice had been bitterly cold, and it burned. 'I don't want you here.'
Maybe he understood a little without having to hear it straight from Fritz's mouth.
He almost faltered at the squeeze to his shoulder and the words of reassurance that the redhead was offering, and he hated himself for it a little because he knew the kind of state Fritz was in. He had it worse, so much worse; who knew how long he'd been struggling with his own demons while he'd been busy with Tolliver and - he'd been a mess the past week. But who knew how long this had been going on for Fritz, now. It didn't seem right to let himself be consumed by his own darkness when the person beside him had been drowning for so much longer. More than not right, it was selfish.
He was selfish. Incredibly selfish. So many things he'd done had been -
Focus. He breathed out and put on the best smile he could. "We will." He sounded so much more sure than he felt. But if there was anything Logan Hitchcock was good at, it was putting on a front. "He said we should power up. We're takin' this slow an' easy, he ain't goin' nowhere - " Hopefully. " - an' if anythin' happens, I got you."
There was one last message sent before they headed out the door, and moments later, he was Eurydike again, ready to take action - and he just hoped, prayed, begged to whoever would listen that this would turn out okay, somehow. He had to hope. He had to try.
His words to Olga flashed through his mind, hazy and clouded through the lens of the alcohol he'd had that night: I ain't ********' meant for hopin'. I ain't ********' meant to have somethin' - somebody like him. I knew from the start it was too damn good to be true, 'cause that's just how it is. Hitch set his jaw and walked faster.
kuropeco Text to Baby heart :5 mins wait 4 me
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Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2016 6:40 am
It was dangerous, going out in the state he was; the voices were still in his head, and the dizziness and the nausea and the persistent feeling of unwell had not abated, even with Fritz's earlier adrenaline rush and the unintentional oath that now bound his throat.
But Tolliver needed him. Needed both of them.
Outside, a safe distance away from the loft, they powered up. Celsus slid his arm away from Eurydike's shoulders and stood on his own, closing his eyes for a brief moment before opening them again, exhaling a long, ragged breath that made his head spin.
"Here," he said quietly, and reached out, pressing his fingers to Eurydike's arm. He would feel a sense of warmth and healing ease through him; a small burst of energy given from the transcendence that Celsus had fought against for so long.
Maybe now it could be put to good use.
We'll get him back," Celsus said, and his voice was determined, unwavering, almost fierce in its intensity. "We will get him back."
And they went, taking the streets fast and careful, Celsus ignoring every throbbing bone in his body. He kept going, every so often glancing sideways at his companion to make sure that he was still there, but there was no real need. The idea that Logan Hitchcock would abandon Tolliver was unthinkable, ludicrous, and seeing his set jaw only pushed Celsus more into continuing.
Seventh street was quiet. There were no people around, all the storefronts still and silent. A bookstore, several smaller buildings with miscellaneous knickknacks in the windows, a copy place for paper needs...and a quiet, homey looking coffee shop with a small figure huddled against the side of it, crouched in the snow.
Celsus's heart gave a lurch
"T - Ceru!"
----------------------------------------------------
He didn't know how long he'd been sitting there. Cerussite could hardly feel anything anymore with the cold sinking into him, the snow around them icy against his skin. The flush to his cheeks was not only from crying, but the sheer bitterness of the weather, which was forcing its way into his veins, so that he was shivering and trembling violently where he sat, arms wrapped around his middle.
The crystal had fallen free from his hand and now lay abandoned in the snow. He couldn't seem to draw breath, Cerussite clutching only his phone now between numb, reddened fingers beneath the gloves, as though desperate to cling to the only lifeline he thought he had left.
Wait for me. Hitch had asked him to wait for him.
Hitch was coming for him.
More time passed, wavering in and out of Cerussite's mind. Sometimes he thought it had been mere minutes, other times hours that seemed to dredge slower and slower, so that he felt the growing agony of abandonment deep within him. He tried to push past the feeling in his chest, his teeth chattering, his head throbbing.
And then he heard a voice, close by.
It wasn't as familiar as it should have been, but it made Cerussite lift his head. With a great deal of effort, he turned, slowly, as though hardly daring to believe what was happening, his pulse quickening and his eyes widening, a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold chasing its way down his spine.
They were here. They had - both of them had come for him.
Cerussite could hardly move. His limbs felt locked together, but slowly he pushed himself away from the wall, intending to stand, intending to rush to them, to beg them to take him away and please forgive me, please, I'm sorry, I didn't know any better, I didn't know -
A hand stretched out, reached towards them, and the expression on Cerussite's face was shifting.
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Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2016 10:15 am
The strange message from her lieutenant had been alarming, to say the least. Cinnabar didn't understand what was going on, but the pain in his voice had squeezed her heart like a fist. As much as she struggled to divorce herself from it, she couldn't help being concerned.
"Cerussite! Where are you? What's going on?" She barked into her crystal. There was no response and that only concerned her more, her fingers clamping down tight. Cin didn't wait, gathering herself in her rooms in the Citadel and tore herself out of reality, flinging herself across it following the thread of the her lieutenant's signature.
Where she landed was not immediately familiar, but there was a street, and a coffee shop... And the glow of Order signatures, far too close for comfort.
Cinnabar spun, her face hard, and found the source of it... and her wayward Lieutenant. She reacted immediately, teleporting to put herself between Cerussite and the pair who were threatening him.
"Now now... I thought you White Mooners had values. Ganging up two on one is not very sporting, is it? And a super and a knight, no less, against a Lieutenant." Recognition of who she faced dawned and Cinn smiled, but it was harsh and full of fang.
"Didn't you learn your lesson last time, Pet?" She purred at the senshi with the claw marks decorating his face. She hadn't known they scarred, but it was pleasing to see how obviously she had left her mark on him. "Did you and your handsome friend come back for more of my gentle handling? Mmm... he doesn't look so handsome now though... had a rough go of it, Lovely?"
Her hands remained in her pockets, but there was threat in every line of her despite the casual stance. Hopefully Cerussite would be smart about this, and use her distraction to get himself somewhere safe and out of the way.
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Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2016 8:07 pm
Here what? Eurydike looked at Celsus strangely as he set fingers on his arm, then he realized the knight was doing - uh, something - and he almost jumped back out of sheer surprise, but willed himself to keep his feet grounded where he was because that wasn't a bad feeling at all. He shut his eyes and let out a heavy breath, releasing something he hadn't realized was weighing him down, and flashed the redhead a kind of lopsided, almost sheepish grin when he was through. "Okay. No idea what the ******** that was, but you should totally ********' bottle that, it's like - 20 times better than coffee man." It was a touch of levity bought about in a deadly serious moment, and the super senshi quickly nodded, because yes - yes, they would. They had to, come what may.
His heart was pounding impossibly loud in his head as they went, and when they got close enough to sense it - the lieutenant's aura - it was the first time he'd been so ******** happy to sense someone negaverse. Although the closer they got, the more his stomach twisted into knots, his tongue feeling heavy in his mouth -
What can I say? What can I do? What if it comes out all wrong? What if -- ?
Then he saw Cerussite just sitting there in the snow and all coherent thought just left him as he turned to face them, his eyes wide, staring directly at them. A hand reached towards them and he was left breathless, and any anger he'd ever known felt irrelevant now, because he was there. Because that brush of lips against his ring finger didn't have to be the last. He was right there, right there, and Eurydike's lips parted, ready to call his name, ready to reach back -
There was a a sudden rush of chaos energy, and Eurydike recognized her before she even turned to face them. Raw fear flooded his face as his hand dropped and he took a step backwards without meaning to, and even if he visibly regained his composure within moments, his heart was pounding for an entirely different reason.
He'd seen Cinnabar since then - but he'd always kept his distance, always tried to stay out of sight, the whispers of her promise and the sting of her claws still fresh in his mind. Now, there was no way around it. The half-youma was literally standing between himself and the man that meant more to him than anything else in the world.
(There was a moment, a terrible, dark, horrible moment where part of him wondered if Tolliver had betrayed him to her - but he told himself there was no chance. Not his Tolli. Hell would've frozen over first. - right?)
Her words sent a chill down his spine, his eyes flaring with the use of 'pet', hands curling into fists at his sides and his breath drawn in raggedly. He glanced at Celsus, who was really in no state to fight, although he didn't doubt the moron would given half a chance - like he was one to talk, honestly - he had his magic, and that'd be useful to try and protect him, but -
His memories took him back to when he'd tried to cast last time against her, the snap of his own fingers echoing in his ears.
Focus.
"Cerussite!" he tried instead, leaning to peer around the general and at him, trying to meet his eyes. She wasn't the important one here; he was.
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Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2016 8:02 am
He could not have torn his gaze away from the redheaded figure even if he'd wanted to. For a few seconds, it seemed as if the world was shrinking down, as if the moment was frozen in place; he, Celsus, standing alongside Eurydike, and Tolliver - Cerussite - in front of them, reaching out, trying to get to them -
- and then it was gone, speeding up, as though on fast forward.
The Chaos signature swept through, obliterating the calmness of the night, the stillness and the clean, beautiful feeling of the White Moon signatures. A black taint that seemed to spread tar like across the space so that everything in its path became murky and convoluted.
Celsus was standing on his own, without leaning on Eurydike, and although his eyes were full of a fierce determination that had not been there in a long, long time, one glance would be enough to tell that he was not fully up to par. His face was pale and had a sickly greenish tinge to it; the dark circles beneath his eyes made his entire countenance seem hollowed out and gaunt, and he was swaying a little, unsteady on his feet.
But he did not back away. And neither did Eurydike.
"No," said Celsus steadily, and he dragged his gaze away from his brother's terrified, stricken expression, and lifted his eyes to meet the general's. "We didn't come here to fight him."
"We came to take him back."
------------------------------------------------------------------
He had not expected Cinnabar to come.
Huddled in the snow, trembling violently all over, Cerussite stared with wide eyes at the scene unfolding in front of him. He felt sick, a wave of panic spreading across him, and he staggered to his feet, his legs feeling terribly unsteady beneath him.
"Cinnabar," he said hoarsely, shakily. "Cinnabar wait, I - "
He was throwing her kindness back in her face, he knew it. She had treated him well, for all that had happened, and he couldn't have forgotten that even if he'd tried. Cinnabar had given him strength, even if it was the wrong sort of strength, and she'd supported him.
Cerussite limped forward until he was beside her, partly in front of her, and stretched out a tentative hand to touch her arm.
"General," he said, in a quiet, small voice. "Please."
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Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2016 9:50 am
Something was off here. It didn't take much to realize that. The knight and the senshi seemed uninterested with her, which considering their history, was odd. The senshi himself bore the scars on his face, but he seemed to disregard her entirely to call out to her lieutenant instead.
Then the knight, Celsus, spoke, and Cinnabar's eyes narrow dangerously, the pupils starting to shrink. She had an idea this was related to that capture of agents a while ago, but why Cerussite, even if he'd been one of them? He was new, green... he hadn't done anything to earn the attention of Order. He didn't know any secrets, or have access to anything...
She felt his hand on her arm, his voice pleading with her, but she didn't take her eyes off their enemy, reaching out instead to wrap her fingers around his arm in a firm grip.
"Cerrusite." She rumbled, her voice a little harder than she usually used with him. It seemed, perhaps, like she had not been as thorough in his training as she should have been, for him to leave her protection and put himself in the way. "Go and find a safe place. I will deal with these two."
"As for you... You're not taking him. I saw what you did in that prison to our officers. You think I'm just going to give up my lieutenant to you?" A harsh bark of a laugh left her and her smile was fanged. "Back off. I am being generous and giving you a chance to leave here alive. Push me, and I will kill you. Whatever you think Cerrusite knows or has, he doesn't. You're idiots if you think a lieutenant has something you can use against us and you are wasting our time."
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Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 5:45 am
Eurydike had quietly told himself from the moment that he saw Cinnabar - no, from the first moment he'd felt a prickle of a stronger chaos aura - that he should try not to let on how much Cerussite meant. That made him leverage. A weapon. A pawn. It was a bad idea, a VERY VERY bad idea. Likewise, if there was any way NOT to fight her, hey, that'd probably be the smarter idea.
That all more of less went right out the window the second he saw her lay a hand on him, grasping him firmly, and it didn't even matter what she said - that she laid a hand on Tolliver, his Tolliver like that, like he was something that was her's and not his - he was already seeing red, rage quickly and maybe gratefully (or stupidly) taking the place of fear.
When she mentioned the prison, he tensed, bristling like a dog struck and cornered, his lips pulling back from teeth in a snarl because she was right she was right he did that to him he hurt Tolliver he knew that it gave her no right no ******** right -
Whatever you think Cerrusite knows or has, he doesn't. You're idiots if you think a lieutenant has something you can use against us and you are wasting our time.
The snap was almost tangible. A week of agony, guilt, stress, exhaustion, and bourbon did little to help ******** YOU, YOU GODDAMN FREAK b***h!" he snarled at her, followed quickly by, "Salt of Man!" and a swing of his arms in a circle, producing a ring of white aimed to encircle Cerussite - anything to get her away from him. "Just a lieutenant - he's worth so much ********' more than you'll ever ********' imagine! So just ********' try me, b***h!" He flipped her the bird defiantly before dropping into a defensive position. "You ain't ********' takin' him away from me again!! You ********' hear me?!"
Whimsical Blue Super Sailor Scout Attack: Salt of Man. Eurydike performs the same motion as before, but the white of the ring glows a bit brighter. It can now protect a single person for sixty seconds. It may be extended to envelope up to three senshi -- but for each locked within the circle, it divides the time evenly amongst them (two is thirty seconds, three gets twenty seconds). A youma or lower level character may feel some pain if they throw themselves at the circle. Higher leveled characters do not share this sensation, and they can still break through it with relative ease. (Also, in this stage, Salt of the Earth may be used twice.)
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Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 6:00 am
Celsus was breathing raggedly, but he remained upright, and he remained still and calm, his eyes focused on the general. Beside him, he could feel the tension from Eurydike; the the agony, and in front of him he could see Cerussite, wide-eyed and terrified, his face pale in the moonlight.
He gave the smallest of nods towards his brother, the faintest smile flickering across his face, wan and tired - and he saw Cerussite's expression of shock.
"I am," said Celsus, and with a little shiver of displaced air, the whip appeared in his hand, the fingers of which were still bloodied and bruised. He hadn't had time to clean them well enough before they'd gotten the call. "We are. We're here to take him back to us."
Cerussite had stumbled back a little at Cinnabar's grasp, looking up at her as though he had no idea what to do. He gave a little gasp, a hiccuping sob that Celsus recognized all too well -
- and then a roar of fury came exploding out from beside him, and a frisson of magic as the salt was flung. Celsus threw out an instinctive hand and yanked Eurydike back a few steps as, in front of them, Cerussite staggered into the salt ring, looking utterly petrified.
"We're taking him back," said Celsus, a restraining hand still on Eurydike's arm, "because he was never yours in the first place."
And this time it was he who lunged forward, the whip snapping, aiming for the general's side. Even if h was running off of pure adrenaline and emotion now, his power level was still higher than Eurydike's; he had a better chance of keeping her occupied, which would leave Eurydike free to get to Cerussite.
Hopefully.
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There was no good outcome of this, Cerussite knew that.
Protected by Eurydike's salt ring, frozen in place, he felt the pulse beneath his skin skyrocket; felt the aching throb of emotion thick in his throat as he watched, his chest so tight it felt difficult to breathe. No matter what would happen, he would hurt someone; and in spite of everything Cinnabar had done to Hitch, he could not forget that she had guided him.
He wanted to.
He wished he could. The guilt ate away at him, just like it had that night of his accident, fraying the edges of his heart until it was raw and exposed for the entire world to see. On that occassion he'd ruined a girl's life because of his stupidity.
And now he was ruining more, all because of his own stupid, stupid mistakes.
"Cinnabar!" Cerussite shouted, and his voice wavered. "Please, don't - don't hurt them, I'm - I have to - " His words broke a little, his eyes and face burning. "I have to go with them, I'm - I'm sorry - "
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Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2016 7:32 pm
Her teasing struck home with the senshi, as it had last time, and she felt a deep satisfaction at the anger on his face. It was so easy to push his buttons... it was wonderful. It would take so little to push him over into doing something idiotic, and sure enough, he jumped all in, calling for his magic.
Cinnabar grinned, as she tightened her grip in preparation to pull Cerussite out of danger, but something tore her hand from his arm and she rounded on it, finding that there was something between them to keep them apart. It was a warning, gnawing at her as she turned her focus back to the dark haired man and his furious ranting about how her lieutenant belonged to him. It confused her... but it was pretty obvious there was a lot more going on here between these three than she had known about, and she didn't like it.
Not that she had long to consider it, because as soon as the senshi magic went up to separate her from Cerussite, the knight was calling his weapon to hand and lashing out at her. The General darted forward, into the swing, and brought up her arm to intercept the lashing strands. She felt them connect through her coat and pain burned in lines down her arm that made her snarl, a rough, feral sound starting to roll from her throat. It wasn't a human sound... it was not something her throat should have been able to make.
"He came to me!" She barked at them, reaching out to catch the strands of the whip in her hand and hold on tight. She pulled hard, attempting to draw the knight closer. "He wanted strength, and he came to me, and I gave it to him! I made him strong, and I taught him how to use it!"
"I don't know what you're holding over his head, but he's not going anywhere. He is a Negaverse agent. I saw what you people do to the agents you take... We protect our own... I protect my own!" Cinnabar growled, her eyes fiery. She swung at the knight with her free arm, fingers curled to bare her claws.
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Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2016 8:11 pm
The sudden hand on his arm, restraining him and tugging him backwards when he should have been lunging at her, initially made Eurydike whirl and glare hard - until he realized what Celsus was doing, and then that made him suck back a harsh breath between his teeth to try and calm down, no less tense, but no longer resisting the knight's grasp.
When Celsus lunged, he moved, too, making a beeline for the panicked lieutenant tucked in his protective circle - trying to tune out the snap of a whip, a snarl, and many, many words that made him want to lash out, and to - he had to focus. He had to get to him.
Then, what?
Then they'd be together, and like always, they could ******** deal with it from there. Which was really what he should have been thinking all along, he realized dully, a pang of guilt freshly churning in his chest. Not much to be done about it then.
He just had to get there. Everything else could come later.
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