Malos blinks in surprise at the question, cautiously moving closer to Lloyd. He holds his hands out, wondering if he should help support Lloyd, but not wanting to touch the kid until he's sure that's not gonna make this mess worse.
"Malos," he says, gently, and in case that's not enough: "Y'know, grandpa from an alternate dimension."
Lloyd doesn't look like he's hurt, and Malos was pretty sure he got a shield up around all of them before the cave collapsed, so this probably isn't a concussion. That's good, except the other answer is much worse. Malos tries to remember how long it takes before ether poisoning starts setting in, realizes in horror maybe it's different for humans from an alternate dimension, and-- No, come on, don't panic. Even with the added ether from whatever Lloyd's doing with those wings and the cannon blast, they've probably still got an hour before it gets too bad.
He holds his hands out to Lloyd, so Lloyd can grab 'em if he wants to. "Listen, Lloyd, you're alright," he explains, doing his best to speak slow so Lloyd can keep up. "Ether can do funny things to your head if you're exposed to a lot of it. You'll feel better once we're out of-- ow fuck!"
Sudden stabbing pain embeds itself into his calf. It's sharp enough it drops Malos to his knees. Shit shit shit shit fuck fuck fuck fuck.
"Who the hell--" he spits, spinning around as well as he can to the cave behind him. One single blade stands there, hands up.
"Wasn't me," they say, laughing.
Oh, Architect, that means Anna--
"But I'll be happy to finish the job!" the blade says, summoning their weapon.
They don't even get the chance to move.
There's a sudden, sharp sound of a core crystal shattering. The blade staggers back, horror washing over their face, and then they are nothing but dissipating ether particles and two distinct halves of a core crystal falling to the ground. For a second Malos worries about having to deal with someone much worse than that blade, but then the dissolving ether clears enough for him to see the face of the man responsible. That face knocks the wind right out of him.
I'D LIKE TO WRITE A FORMAL APOLOGY TO LLOYD IRVING
"Malos," he says, gently, and in case that's not enough: "Y'know, grandpa from an alternate dimension."
Lloyd doesn't look like he's hurt, and Malos was pretty sure he got a shield up around all of them before the cave collapsed, so this probably isn't a concussion. That's good, except the other answer is much worse. Malos tries to remember how long it takes before ether poisoning starts setting in, realizes in horror maybe it's different for humans from an alternate dimension, and-- No, come on, don't panic. Even with the added ether from whatever Lloyd's doing with those wings and the cannon blast, they've probably still got an hour before it gets too bad.
He holds his hands out to Lloyd, so Lloyd can grab 'em if he wants to. "Listen, Lloyd, you're alright," he explains, doing his best to speak slow so Lloyd can keep up. "Ether can do funny things to your head if you're exposed to a lot of it. You'll feel better once we're out of-- ow fuck!"
Sudden stabbing pain embeds itself into his calf. It's sharp enough it drops Malos to his knees. Shit shit shit shit fuck fuck fuck fuck.
"Who the hell--" he spits, spinning around as well as he can to the cave behind him. One single blade stands there, hands up.
"Wasn't me," they say, laughing.
Oh, Architect, that means Anna--
"But I'll be happy to finish the job!" the blade says, summoning their weapon.
They don't even get the chance to move.
There's a sudden, sharp sound of a core crystal shattering. The blade staggers back, horror washing over their face, and then they are nothing but dissipating ether particles and two distinct halves of a core crystal falling to the ground. For a second Malos worries about having to deal with someone much worse than that blade, but then the dissolving ether clears enough for him to see the face of the man responsible. That face knocks the wind right out of him.
Kratos. fucking. Aurion.