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 Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2022 5:49 pm
The water was rushing past Alastor. He’d had to let go of the scarf, but he didn’t think the tunnel had been that long. There was a bend in it that he wished he could have warned Sessrumnir about, but he shined his flashlight into the opening to make sure he could use that to direct himself.
He thought a few seconds must have passed, and he’d tried to count, but time wasn’t Alastor’s strong suit.
The waterway had taken him from one open cavern to another, and he didn’t want to admit that he was uncomfortable here.
The Chaos was sickening. It felt like sludge dripping down from the ceiling, poison slowly crawling towards him. Every few seconds he shined the flashlight around, as if to threaten the darkness.
He had no reason to doubt that the source of the Chaos was here, somewhere.
Great stalactites dripped from the roof of the cave, oddly sharp and glassy. The water was up to his chest but he was pretty sure there were a good few places untouched by water. They could climb out and be on solid ground at least–which was good for him. His heartbeat was faster in the water.
A few times, he caught the dim, flickering glow of golden embers in the room–up high. Maybe his world was trying to show him how dangerous it was, or maybe it was trying to tell him to go up there.
He wasn’t going anywhere without Sessrumnir, though.
Alastor shifted positions and exhaled, because it must have been a minute already, where was he?
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2022 6:02 pm
And then, Sessrumnir surfaced from the water. He coughed several times and gasped for air. He had what looked like claw marks, gouged into his tunic across his abdomen, which wouldn’t be completely visible until he was out of the water, but the water around him was already stained red.
“I’m okay,” he promised as he gasped for breath, his hand pressed over his stomach and another over his mouth so he wouldn't cough in Alastor’s face if he got close. “Something pulled me under -- held me there,” he explained as he coughed again, then rubbed the water and his hair from his face.
He winced when the light from Alastor’s flashlight shone on him, but shook his head in apology. “There was a lot of debris in the water… had my eyes open too long I think. Rocks and water were coming down from the ceiling. I… s**t, I had to use both hands. I dropped the flashlight and GPS…”
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2022 6:13 pm
Alastor’s eyes snapped up and he immediately wrapped an arm around Sessrumnir so he could draw him a bit away from the water entrance. He moved the flashlight from Sessrumnir so he could shine it around the room. Partly to make sure nothing had changed since he last saw it. Mostly to keep the shadows at bay.
“I didn’t see either of them come by,” he said, but that wasn’t particularly unnerving. The GPS might not have been bright enough to spot in the water, and the flashlight could have gotten hit hard enough that the light shut off. He would have missed debris in the water.
He was just glad he had Sessrumnir.
“But that’s okay. I’m pretty sure it’s in here. Just not sure where. We just have to find it, destroy it, and then we can get out of here.”
When he shined the light in the water, it still looked red.
Alastor grimaced. “You’re bleeding. A lot.”
Sessrumnir could say he was okay, but Alastor was already doubting it. The water was cold, maybe it numbed him to the pain–or, maybe it was just mixing with the blood to make it worse, but he really didn’t want to take any chances down here.
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2022 6:28 pm
Sessrumnir let out a quiet laugh at Alastor’s observation, although there really wasn’t anything funny about the situation. His face was pale and he rubbed his hand off in the water before placing it over Alastor’s uninjured shoulder for support.
“We don’t really have time to worry about it,” he reminded Alastor. “It’s just a papercut. I think. Maybe a big one,” he grunted. He wasn’t moving very quickly, but he also wasn’t trying to make himself stay in the water, either.
“Alright, could you take a quick look when we’re out of the water? We can just wrap a bandage around it or something. I’ll get better treatment once we’re home,” he promised, sounding like it took a lot for him to at least compromise instead of trying to keep pushing forward.
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2022 6:35 pm
Alastor knew this was hardly the best place for first aid, but if there was something he could do–sure. The papercut line didn’t sit as well with him as it did earlier, but maybe because this place just felt wrong.
They were closing in on the Chaos and he didn’t expect it to be ready to play nice. He was waiting for another attack–any minute, now. While he was disoriented. While Sessrumnir was weak.
He placed a hand on his back and tried to guide him to the nearby platform. The current helped, it pushed them towards the rocks. The floor was uneven, and though Alastor stumbled a bit as he stepped over the rocks, and into little pits and holes, he held his ground easily enough. “All right. Here’s good, let me give you a lift. Will you be okay holding the flashlight for a minute? You just have to shine it around. If I’m bandaging you up, maybe you can give me your expertise. It’s hiding in here, somewhere. I’m not sure where to start looking. But it can’t be too far. You don’t think it could get up high, do you?” he asked, briefly shining the light towards the rocky ceiling. It cast shadows into every nook and cranny, and there were more tiny crevices than he could spot at a glance.
He passed the flashlight to Sessrumnir and reached an arm around him to help him onto the nearest solid ground.
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2022 6:44 pm
He did his best to ease up onto the platform, and was grateful for Alastor’s help.
“Woah…” he said with a breath of air blown out from his lips. “I must have held my breath longer than I thought. My head is spinning a bit. Sorry, just give me a minute and I’ll be okay,” he promised as he rested his head on the rocks and took the flashlight from Alastor to wave the light around at the ceiling with one hand, and pulled at the hem of his shirt with the other.
There were long gashes across his stomach. Something tried holding him under the water. It didn’t succeed, but it seemed to have done a significant amount of damage.
Sessrumnir drew in a shuddery breath, and shook his head -- slowly.
“I don’t know. I hope it can’t get up that high. Maybe I can have Princess sniff it out,” he offered with a small smile, and then coughed into the back of his free hand. When he pulled it away, there was red on his lips.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2022 4:24 pm
Alastor stayed in the water, absolutely not because he wanted to, but because it was easier to see Sessrumnir’s wounds from here. Easier to treat them, probably, but they didn’t look good. He could access subspace from here, and withdrew a first aid kit. It was enough for now, but the longer he looked at it, the longer he worried.
“...Sess, if these keep bleeding, I don’t think bandages are going to be enough. I don’t want to do any stitches down here, but I don’t know. Why are you coughing up blood, did you swallow a rock?”
It wasn’t panic in his voice, but it was something not so very far off. External injuries, sure. He could manage those. The ones you couldn’t see? The ones that ate you away from the inside out?
Those scared him.
Not for him, he was sturdy.
But for Michael–
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2022 4:59 pm
Sessrumnir shook his head, but seemed to regret it. He placed his hand over his mouth again, as if that would be enough to hide any evidence of blood.
“Maybe,” he said, although it was probably too obvious that it was for Alastor’s benefit. After a moment, he pushed himself up a little -- enough to be able to check on the wounds and grimaced at them.
“I can barely feel them. Maybe adrenaline or… the cold water,” he suggested, but didn’t seem too concerned about why it didn’t hurt too much, just that it was maybe a little weird.
“Here, those butterfly bandaids. They should be enough to hold everything in place. Hurry, we don’t have a lot of time,” he reminded. “If whatever did this to me -- and what it did to you -- I don’t want to know what it could do to the boys.”
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2022 5:05 pm
Alastor’s eyes narrowed a bit, not because he doubted Sessrumnir but because he didn’t like any of this. And, he was right. Sessrumnir was sturdy. He was a good swimmer. He was strong.
And they couldn't see what was in the water.
But, this was still the best place for him to apply any bandages, he was the perfect height for it.
Every little thing that bumped or brushed against him made him bristle, but he was focused. He moved quickly, albeit a bit sloppily. If he hadn’t been cold and wet, maybe it would have been different. If he could have seen, maybe it would have been different.
If he wasn’t worried about the Chaos grabbing Sessrumnir and dragging him somewhere he couldn’t reach, maybe it would have been different.
He pressed close to Sessrumnir; he pushed his legs apart so he had a knee under each arm, and he pressed his chest to the cold rocks. If something came from behind, Sessrumnir could just kick it, but this meant he could be as close to him as possible. He pulled out the bandages and immediately started trying to piece him back together.
“What did it do to you? I don’t like you coughing up blood, Michael, it makes me worry that it did something else.” His eyes flitted up to him and then back to the injuries as he worked quickly. “If it hurt you too badly, you have to go home. No questions about it. I don’t want you to have an internal injury that we don’t catch quickly enough. I’m not going to lose you.”
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2022 5:36 pm
Sessrumnir groaned a little as Alastor got more comfortable both over him and in the water. It was fine. He wasn’t actually complaining, but his mind was clearly elsewhere than any comments he could make about how close Alastor was to him. He was trying to treat him for a very bad wound, after all.
“I’m not leaving,” he hissed, lifting his head up for a moment, before lowering it back down. He tried not to move too much, but every so often he waved the flashlight up at the ceiling.
“You can’t argue with me. There’s not enough time, and I’m going to be stubborn. I’ve had a lot worse. I know my limits,” he insisted, and wiped some more blood from his mouth. “I probably bit my tongue,” he suggested, although he didn’t sound too confident in his answer.
“I don’t know what it did. It grabbed my ankles, held me under the water, clawed at my stomach when I kicked it away.”
As he spoke, his voice slowly grew quieter. Maybe because he was being contemplative. Maybe he was just so exhausted that he couldn’t help it.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2022 5:58 pm
Alastor sighed heavily, gruffly. His brows were knit and it seemed like every time he found one cut to close, he noticed another one.
“Well, I hope you just bit your tongue or something. Just take deep breaths. I’ll be done in a minute.”
There was an alarming amount of blood, and he frowned because it didn’t make sense. But, he was trying his hardest.
He didn’t like how quiet it had gotten.
“Michael,” he said, a little sternly. He just needed to get his attention. “Does it hurt anywhere else? Show me your mouth, let me see.”
It felt ridiculous, but he had goosebumps, and a strange paranoia creeping up his spine.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2022 6:16 pm
Sessrumnir didn’t respond when Alastor called his name. He’d been conscious enough at one point to prop the flashlight up between his arm and side, so that it illuminated the cavern ceiling.
He didn’t move either.
At some point, more blood filled his mouth, enough to spill over and down the side of his face. His bright blue eyes were open, just barely, almost like he was dozing off, but there was no light left in them.
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2022 5:22 pm
“Michael.”
Alastor’s voice was flat for a moment. He knew he wasn’t blinking. He knew he wasn’t breathing.
“Michael,” he said again, this time with more force.
Nothing moved. Nothing changed.
“Michael,” he said again, and shook him. After a few seconds did nothing, he shook him with more vigor, and then almost violently. He didn’t want to hurt him. Panic swept through him. He pushed himself up a bit on his elbows and checked for a pulse. His hand was cold, but Sessrumnir–how was he colder?
“Wake up,” he demanded, frantic.
And he kept bleeding. Through closed wounds. More–how were there more?
Sessrumnir’s lifeless eyes pierced him like daggers, and the thoughts were pushed so violently from his mind that he slipped back into the water and could only stare. He forgot how to blink. Forgot how to breathe.
He saw Michael’s face. Saw Percy’s. Blinked and couldn’t tell the difference.
This was impossible. He’d just been talking a moment ago, he was fine, he–
They just had to get him to Earth. To a hospital. This could wait. He could try again.
He couldn’t lose Michael.
The flashlight rolled from Sessrumnir’s grip and hit the hard surface of the floor he was sitting on. Alastor wasn’t really thinking when he tried to grab it, all he could think was that he needed the light to see. He had to get his phone, maybe he could still save Michael if he could just get back, and–
He grabbed the flashlight before it could roll into the water and–
Something behind him caught his eye.
He thought, at first, it might have been a shadow and he was already on high alert and ready to attack, but–
He recognized the familiar golden glow of his Core tumbling through the river. The current carried it quickly; he hadn’t realized how much the water had risen or how fast the water was moving. The necklace nearly shot past him, but he snatched it out of the water before the cave could swallow it up.
It shouldn’t have shaken him as much as it did, but he froze. He didn’t have time to freeze, Michael was–
Not wearing the necklace.
Alastor’s fingers curled around it.
Not wearing the necklace?
Sessrumnir would have said something if he’d lost the necklace. He would have known. He was always reaching for it, always holding it when he needed to ground himself. He hadn’t reached for it once.
And–
Alastor looked at his hand and realized, with sudden alarm, that he wasn’t even wearing the ring he’d given him.
Michael wouldn’t have lost that, either.
The panic rapidly faded as the pieces clicked into place, replaced with pure rage. He could see Sessrumnir’s lifeless form in the shadows and he knew. He had enough wits about him to shove the necklace into subspace so it didn’t get lost again, but Michael still wasn’t here.
He would have come unless something had happened.
And, he had no way of reaching him now.
He could hardly hear his own voice above the water rushing into the room, and he hadn’t heard any other voices. He could still feel Sessrumnir’s energy signature–getting further away?–
Wait–
Sessrumnir was clever, he would be paying attention.
In a frantic, desperate move, Alastor powered down.
The water nearly whisked him off his feet, but Devyn grabbed onto a rock with such force that he felt his nails crack. He didn’t know if he broke his fingers. He didn’t care.
He needed Sessrumnir to know something was wrong. His henshin pen would have gone flying out of his hand if he hadn’t been gripping it so tightly, and it was a struggle to power up again but when he did he fought desperately to reclaim his footing.
And then, he pulled himself up onto the rocky surface Sessrumnir lay on.
Alastor was breathless; his heart was pounding desperately. He knew he wasn’t thinking. He didn’t know what was real or not.
He crawled atop of the Chaos–he knew it was the Chaos, it had to be–
He wrapped his hands around its neck and squeezed. He wanted to crush it. Wanted to destroy it.
He hated the way it wore Sessrumnir’s face.
All he could see was him killing Michael, too.
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2022 5:26 pm
Hands around its neck was enough for life to suddenly be back in Sessrumnir’s eyes. It sneered up at Alastor, although clearly amused that he’d fallen for its trap, however temporarily. The longer Alastor hesitated, the longer Chaos had to take control of the whole situation.
After all, it was Alastor’s decision to go to war with it.
Sessrumnir’s hands reached up to grab Alastor’s neck as well. It might not have been a Knight, but it still had strength. And with all of its effort, it shoved Alastor back enough so it could kick at him, hoping to injure him. Hoping to cripple him.
“Pathetic,” it hissed in Michael’s voice. “Couldn’t even remember your dead husband. You’re delusional. A joke. The warfaring Senshi who wants to be known as the peacemaker. How more cliche could you get?”
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2022 5:53 pm
He’d been unprepared. Of course, Alastor knew it wasn’t going to just lay there and die, but he’d been so angry that he hadn’t considered what sort of backlash it might inflict. It wasn’t a person, and in his rage he might have ignored the fact that it didn’t fight like a person. The shadows were all around them, and no amount of glow from his world could shine bright enough to dispel all of it.
…Maybe.
The light that clung to him flickered briefly and then surged, doubling in intensity. It didn’t illuminate the whole room, but it made it a little easier to see. His neck would bruise, but that was among the least of his concerns.
He knew it wasn’t Michael, not really, but his mind was already swimming. He already had too many emotions surging through him.
Percy was more than his dead husband. Delusional, maybe. That probably wasn’t so far from the truth.
When Alastor hit the ground, the breath had been knocked from him, and he nearly rolled off into the water. He dug his fingers into the ground to catch himself and was again reminded that he had probably already hurt his hands enough that it wasn’t a good idea.
But, it was now or never. He couldn’t back off.
Alastor pushed himself up and he knew there was no point talking to the Chaos, he didn’t care what it had to say. It wasn’t going to reveal anything useful to him. Maybe he could distract it enough to buy some time for Michael, or to get it to reveal itself.
He might have torn open his shoulder again but he couldn’t tell outside of a sharp burn. It had been little more than a dull ache for most of the night, so now that he was aware of it he just reminded himself that he couldn’t throw away all the hard work Sessrumnir had put into patching him up.
“Get it out now while you still have a voice. I’m going to burn up every last spec of you,” he grunted, and pushed himself to his knees. He didn’t know how useful the flashlight was going to be, and it took every fiber of his being not to just chuck it at the shadow.
He wasn’t entirely sure how to fight the shadows, but it wasn’t going to stop him. He’d pummel them into nothingness if he had to. He’d use every last ounce of energy he had in him if he could light up this cave and get rid of the shadows once and for all.
On his feet again, he didn’t know what else to do but charge at it.
He hadn’t used his magic in a long time, but he was putting everything he had into this, and unleashed his super attack–and for as unreliable as it had been, he had more despair in him now than ever, and he was all too eager to unleash it on the Chaos.
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