i just wanna know: who broke it?

[summonerd]

[Sheena'd thought she was all done with dimensional travel, now that the two worlds were united. But here she is, having fallen asleep in one world and woken up in a Tethe'alla that's just different enough from the one she knows to be constantly jarring. Her connections to Aselia's summon spirits dangle loose, snapped by distance - not even Origin's power could follow her here, it seems. That's more than a little unsettling.

It takes her some time, alone in a bizarro version of Meltokio as she is, but eventually she stumbles on a lead - an old scientific journal, a mention of the power of something called an Aegis being able to transcend space and time, at least in theory. And a little asking around tells her that Tethe'alla has its own Aegis, though no one's seen it for years. Well. Worth a shot, right?

Somehow she manages to talk her way into the Tethe'allan castle where the Aegis's core crystal awaits being woken up, with a series of smiles and her very best politicking - yes, of course she's got nothing but loyalty for Tethe'alla, of course she's skilled at this, of course it'd be a great honor.

(Zelos would be proud, she thinks, wryly.)

They're dubious, but her persistence wears them down, or maybe they're just desperate enough for a return of the Aegis's power to let her try, and the orange core crystal is offered out to her.

She takes a deep breath, and reaches out to touch it.]

Comments

[presidentheartbeat]

Zelos breathes in deeply, holds the air in his aching lungs, and shakily releases it. How the fuck is he still awake, honestly. It's kind of like a miracle. Being moved around like a doll is a little bit weird, but Zelos is too exhausted right now to care too much, so he focuses his energy in trying to hold onto his driver a little better to keep them both steady.

He wheezes a little laugh at Sheena's comment, though. "'Scuse me, princess," he mumbles, leaning his entire weight against her in some kind of petty revenge. "Sorry ether's literally my lifeblood. 'n' that I use that to fight 'n' heal. My baaaaaaad."

Geez, that was weak, but. Whatever, though. Zelos is a little too tired right now, focusing on staying awake and aware, to try for anything more biting or creative, but at least his voice is tilted upwards in that sarcastic and bitchy tone he's hoping will carry across the whining joke.

[summonerd]

"If I look like a princess to you, you must be worse off than I thought," Sheena says, trying to keep her tone light. Oh, this is a mess. Even if they weren't trapped, she can't carry both of them.

That makes her remember there's something she can do, at least. She digs for something in a pocket with the arm that's not helping to support Zelos. "Here," she says, offering out what looks like a slightly oversized piece of candy to him. Please don't make her feed it to you, Zelos. He's not that far gone, right? "Not sure how much help it'll be, but we use these if we're low on personal mana."

Alright kids we're gettin outta here

[presidentheartbeat]

Zelos blinks at the candy thing Sheena offers, partly trying to get his eyes to open and his vision to focus on the damn thing, partly because, holy shit, what the hell is she doing offering candy at a time like this? But then Sheena explains, and at least the 'low on personal mana' thing makes it through the fog in his mind for him to realize exactly what she's doing. He snorts. Okay, then. He can work with this. Slowly, Zelos reaches forward to take whatever it is that Sheena offered and gets to eating, and the refreshing feeling of a sudden clarity of mind and strength in his body hits as soon as he's gotten the whole thing down.

He raises an eyebrow. It tastes like lemon. That's... odd, but it gets the job done, so.

Whatever.

Zelos doesn't feel better, but he does feel a little energized and more aware, so now actually focusing on their surroundings comes easier. The ambient ether levels in the cave are still dangerously high, so the next order of business is to get Anna and Sheena the fuck out of here before either of them succumbs to either ether poisoning or asphyxiation. Besides, he's not sure he actually did a good job on Anna, so it'd be for the best if they can get to either a medic or an actual healing blade to get her checked out.

Okay, alright. Alright, alright, alright. The only way to break through this wall of stone and rubble that separates them from the other half of their group is to do something incredibly fucking stupid and dangerous, so Zelos decides not to say a goddamn thing about the plan that formulates in his mind. "Thanks, hon," Zelos says, pushing himself away from Sheena, then rising to his unsteady feet. He sways, he stops, he huffs. Gathers ether in his hands, feels that slight burn in his injuries again, manages to not focus on that now that he has more awareness to do so. "Anyway," he walks over to the wall, sets a hand on the rubble, "you might wanna carry her a lil' further to the back."

At least he warned her, he thinks as he starts painfully gathering the ambient ether into his core, directing it to pool on the palm he keeps against the rocks. It burns right away. Architect, today's fucking hurt so bad. Zelos grunts, grits his teeth, focuses, breathes. Keep calm, Zelos, keep calm. You only get one shot at this and you better not fuck it up.

With that in mind, with his veins burning from absorbing and gathering an obscene amount of destabilized ether, Zelos pushes it forward to meet the rocks in an explosion of fire and pure energy.

but first let's take it back now ya'll

[theactingdad]

Damage check: You're fine, Malos. Anna feels fine. Look around the area for her-- can't see her. There's a wall of rubble where there wasn't before. The tug of ether between his core and the other half of it that sits in Anna's chest is coming from the opposite side of that rubble. Great. Anyone else over here with him?

Oh, it would be hard to miss Lloyd. He's set aglow with those cyan wings that sprout from his back-- he looks. Okay. Not great. The wings seem to be supporting him more than anything else, which is... kind of weird?

Architect, the fuck. Wings.

Does he ask? Maybe later. Now seems like a bad time. Malos gives one more cursory glance. Looks like just him and Lloyd on this side of things. Right.

"Lloyd, you good?" he asks. Best start there.

420 BLADE IT

[risingfalcon]

Lloyd is having a bad time. As soon as the mines started shaking, he felt a rush of - Mana? Ether? - in his body, felt the burn of them in his bloodstream, amplifying his sense of everything around him until it was too much, too much, way too much.

The only bit of knowledge Lloyd is able to properly work through is that they were hit indirectly with the effects of a cannon. Aside from that, he can no longer think past his flooded think tracks, mind so foggy and bogged down with whatever is ailing him be can't think or process more than the immediate, obvious shit.

Lloyd's body feels the heaviest it's ever been. It's as though the blood in his body has been replaced with molasses, the way his pulse feels so slow but pounds so hard in his chest, the way his body feels so slow to react. His vision swims like his mind does, and though he can make out a voice through the haze of it all, he can't really figure out where the source is, or even what they look like.

Come on, Lloyd. Status report. How are you doing?

Lloyd tries to stand from where he's at. The cannon's impact had threatened to throw him off his feet, but his wings had worked to support him instead, lowering him to his knees and allowing him to grab onto the rocks and hold on with the last of his shaky strength. His legs tremble as he rises, the wings behind him fluttering faster and harder as he does, taking up for his weakness.

Everything about this sucks. Lloyd can barely control his body - even standing is requiring almost all of his focus, and he can feel a cold sweat break out on the back of his neck and on his forehead. His arms hang limp at his side, and when he walks forward, his feet drag on the rocks below, causing him to stumble. His wings catch him from falling, but a short yelp escapes him.

"I-I can't -" Lloyd is able to mumble, his voice weak. His pulse speeds up, and through the dense cloud that is currently his mind, panic starts to surge. He feels like he's been drugged, he feels like - like the night at Altessa's, when Lloyd's entire life was flipped upside-down in a few bitter words. He can't control his body, not really, and he's so useless.

Where is Sheena? The ether high blocks Lloyd's ability to process their literal separation, and the fact that he can't see her only adds to the rising sense of frustration and panic. He needs to see her. Taking tabs of what he does know, he attempts to process the information past his foggy mind. They were in the caves. Cannon went off. ?

This is no help.

"Who?" Lloyd bites out, attempting to sound out an actual question and failing. He licks his cracked lips, tries again. "Who's there?"

I'D LIKE TO WRITE A FORMAL APOLOGY TO LLOYD IRVING

[theactingdad]

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.

Kratos. fucking. Aurion.

Lloyd Irving and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

[risingfalcon]

Malos. Okay. Malos is in here with Lloyd. That's good, he thinks past the haze of his mind. Malos is good. He trusts him.

Doesn't change the fact that he can't properly control his movements. Every attempt ends up shaky and limp, the way his legs strain to hold up his body shown in the way he trembles. He can't tell if he's cold or if he's hot or what, given how he's shivering but sweating and everything is terrible. Pressure begins to build up in Lloyd's chest, suffocating and anxiety inducing. He can't move like this, can't fight, can't even run. He's useless.

The last time he felt this way, every one of his friends had seemingly sacrificed themselves for him, one by one, falling like dominoes in a chain. His swords lie somewhere in the dirt of this cavern, and he needs them. Needs to pick them up. Needs to be useful. Come on Lloyd, fucking walk.

Malos yelps and collapses. Lloyd subconsciously follows the sound, trying to work past the ether high and help him up, but the moment he takes a step forward, his vision goes momentarily black and he panics, stumbling again. The wings. The fucking wings he never wanted are the only things holding him up and he hates it, another reminder of how he's only been at all useful because of things that never came from his own strength or training. He can't even help his own grandfather.

And then the blade raises their weapon, and Lloyd watches in distant horror as they take aim at Malos, unaware of the tears that are spilling down his face, trying to will his stupid fucking body into doing something to stop this -

The blur behind Malos' vague shape disappears, and another appears behind it. Lloyd squints, best he can past the tears he can't control, and hiccups. It takes a moment of fighting his exhausted, high, and twisted mind, but he can place a name to the figure.

Kratos.

Lloyd's hallucinating. He has to be fucking hallucinating.

Or maybe the universe just hates him that much.

[theactingdad]

Kratos is not the worst person who could be standing here, right now, though Malos can definitely name a few he'd rather see. Couldn't it have been Jin? Nia, maybe? Someone he didn't have to explain being not-dead to? Never mind that, Malos, Lloyd sounds like he's having a horrible time (and if he's unexpectedly suffering ether high, no wonder) and they need to find everyone else and get out of here--

Malos doesn't have time to think anything else, because Kratos' sword is suddenly pressed to his neck. He blinks. Laughs, startled. Kratos looms over him and Malos, though on his knees, gets the idea. He's not meant to move.

"H- Hey, holy shit, Kratos," Malos gets out, glaring up at his son-in-law. "I get if you're mad but--"

"Friend or foe," Kratos demands, no nonsense.

"Friend, Architect,," Malos swears. "Kratos come on, not in front of Lloyd."

Kratos blinks. Malos notices, now, that he's trembling, his sword not exactly steady where he holds it against Malos' skin. He looks away from Malos to Lloyd, and though most of his face is covered by his hair, Malos knows he's confused.

"Not our Lloyd," Malos explains. "But, a Lloyd. Come on. I'm sure he hates seeing this."

Kratos lowers his sword, though he doesn't dismiss it. "You remember me," he says, and then: "I thought you were dead."

Malos flinches under the weight of that stare. "Yeah, and we shoulda told you we weren't, I know," Malos hedges. He wonders if he's good to get to his feet. Everything hurts like a bitch. Maybe wait, til he needs to for sure. "Look. Can we-- later? We need to get Lloyd out of here."

[risingfalcon]

Ha. Hahahaha, what the fuck is happening.

That didn't just happen, right? That Kratos-like hallucination just talked, just. Threatened Malos. And there's no way that could have happened, right? The world spins from under his feet, swimming like his mind his thoughts his vision. He's fucking hallucinating. Move. Move, Lloyd, move.

"Can't be," Lloyd breathes out, just loud enough to be heard. "Y-you left."

Staring in the general direction of where Kratos stands, the seemingly slow travel of his blood loud in his ears, Lloyd sluggishly raises an arm, holding it to his chest, right above where the locket rests below his jacket. What's he not putting together here? He thinks thinks thinks, frustration built with every piece placed and misconnected. He's forcing square blocks into circular holes, completely unable to put it all together.

It's the fucking worst.

Breaths coming out in short puffs, he slowly shakes his head, eyes narrowing in disbelief. Not him. Can't be him? Is it him? Does he want it to be him?

No.

Lloyd falls to his knees, no longer able to support himself. His wings help him drop down gently, beating hard against the weak air current of the cavern. A shuddering gasp escapes his mouth as he panics panics panics. He's useless and can't control himself Malos almost got hurt did get hurt Kratos is here and Lloyd is weak.

Count to ten.

One. Two. Three. Four.

One. Two. Three. Four. Ffffive?

Lloyd's head swims. He feels as sick as he can feel, as disconnected as his head is from his body.

Count to ten, Lloyd.

But he cannot.

Fine. Stand up Lloyd.

Stand up, Lloyd.

But he cannot.

TAKES A HAMMER TO THE TAG IT'S FINE IT'S FINE

[aurions]

Kratos closes his hands into tight fists, the hilt of of his sword digging into the skin of his fingers in a way that's grounding, almost comforting. He tries to breathe around the erratic roaring of his ether, the way-too-loud thump of his heart, beating off-beat to everything else inside of him. (He wonders not for the first time if it would just be easier to cut himself open and rip the damn thing out, but likely it is too late for that and he cannot afford dying, not now, especially not now.)

Malos remembers him. Anna is alive.

Martel is in a cannon.

That's all that matters, Kratos. You have to get to her, get to Mithos. Just focus on--

Lloyd speaks. Quiet and confused and hurting, a little desperate "You left" that Kratos tucks away to worry about later, as the severity of Lloyd's current condition makes itself apparent to him. The boy appears to be hyperventilating, and-- The mines. The mines are not safe for humans to travel through, not if they are in here long. Worry for his son (even if that is not his son) overrides his panic, for just a moment.

"How long have you been in here?" he demands of Malos.

"A while," Malos admits. "We got stopped by a bunch of fucks who wanted us dead, and between that and the cannon blast--" Kratos flinches at the mention of the blasted machine, not wanting to be reminded (as if he could forget). "--I think the ether levels in here got fucked, so we really gotta move."

Yes, he does. Martel is in a cannon and he is wasiting time he is wasting time--

(Martel, trembling in his arms clinging to his shirt
not again she pleads never let them put me in that machine again she pleads and
never again he promises, never again--)

"Hey, Kratos," Malos' voice cuts through the fog, and Kratos slams himself back down into the present, anchoring himself with the still-too-fast-too-loud beating of the heart he never asked for. "Stay with us, will--"

He cuts off abruptly, and before Kratos can ask Malos has shoved a knuckle in his mouth and bitten down on it, eyes squeezed shut with both the pain and the effort of keeping a scream in his throat. Confusion and discomfort roil up in Kratos' chest, under the roar of

Martel is in a cannon Martel is in a cannon and you are half a continent away from her while she is suffering, you need to hurry, you need to get her out before they fire it again you PROMISED--

"Fuckin, hell," Malos wheezes, finally. He sits down and shifts, yanking up the leg of his pants so he can assess damage. Kratos doesn't even bother looking becuase he doesn't care, he's wasting time-- "Well," Malos says, voice tight. "That's one way to stop a wound from bleeding. Fuck."

Martel is in a cannon. Anna is alive. She's alive, and every pain she feels Malos feels reflected. (Martel is in a cannon, this doesn't matter-- but Anna is alive. Doesn't that matter just a little?)

"...Anna?" Kratos asks, unable to articulate much else while he is warring with his mind such as he is.

Malos nods, short. "She's- unconscious, now. On the other side of that rubble." He gestures too specifically to be pointing at anything other than Anna herself. "Shit, fuck," Malos wheezes. "If- If you got an idea how to get through that, that'd be great, but-- Gimme a minute if you need my help. If I move I'm gonna pass out and that's the last thing y'all need right now."

"Right," Kratos says, turning to the problem. (Martel is in a cannon-- you cannot reach her until you get past this wall of rubble, anyway.) He wishes briefly that Presea was here, because an earth blade would certainly have better luck than he would. But a concentrated blast of ether, though sloppy, would likely--

Oh.

Kratos hastily slams a shield up around himself and his companions as the rubble explodes.

[risingfalcon]

Lloyd can hear Kratos and Malos' conversation, can hear the way Malos' voice wavers in the face of so much pain, but like before, all he can do is sit and watch this shit go down, unable to process it, unable to do much more than try unsuccessfully to control his rampantly off-pace breathing. Eyes wandering around the cave, numb tears still falling from them, he sees the bright wings protruding from behind Lloyd curl around him, shrouding him in their light. It's a little comforting, even if Lloyd has no idea how they're being controlled right now, or even has the mind to wonder.

With a fight, he forces himself to sit back from on his knees, gasping a little from the effort it takes just to do so. Trying to bridge the disconnected gap between his weakened perception of the world around him and the distant heaviness of a body he feels like he's not in, Lloyd places a hand on the ground and forces his legs to hold him up, come on, come on, get up, Lloyd -

The cave earns a red tinge, and then the loud noise of an explosion echoes throughout. Lloyd flinches, greater angel hearing amplifying the sound and causing the harsh discord to ring through his ears. For a few seconds, the sound bounces around the cavern, and then it's gone, but the impact of the explosion and the sudden introduction of such an awful sound was enough to make Lloyd fall flat on his ass again. The wings are still curled up around him, covering his face, showering the cave in their vibrancy, but as he tries again to stand, they unfurl, instead helping him to stand again with powerful flutters.

He looks out from where the rubble once was. Three blurs, one of which is straight up lying on the ground. One of them is purple, the other orange. Lloyd squints, forces a better understanding of the situation, and grasps onto a rock protruding from the wall. Sheena is there? Right? Zelos? Maybe? Where's Anna, is that Anna on the floor?

Man, he's trying so fucking hard.

Either way, he forces a step forward. And then another, and another. The walk is slow, unsteady, and he's sweating harder than he was already, just before all of this, but. He needs to see Sheena, if that's her.

After a few moments, his feet stop meeting the ground. Lloyd blinks, looks down, and finds himself hovering only an inch of two off the ground, wings taking on his weight. And because of that, the few meters between him and Sheena are easily crossed, and he's able to properly see her. Already feeling the panic die down just a tad, he pushes the weakest grin he's ever worn in his life.

"Hi," Lloyd rasps out, exhausted and shaky, "high? I am."

Martel have mercy, this is the fucking worst.

[presidentheartbeat]

Blowing up the wall of rubble to get to the other side? Probably a valid idea. Blowing it up by siphoning ambient ether into himself and then releasing it explosively, when said ether is destabilized and the action will most likely drain him of whatever ether Sheena's recovery item helped him gain? The stupidest idea, actually. By far. Ever. Of all time.

As soon as the wall's down and Zelos can see the cyan glow of Lloyd's wings, relief settles into his core at the fact that he managed to reunite both teams. Good, good. It's quickly replaced with confusion and alarm, however, when he sets his eyes on the newcomer instead, some blade with a red core crystal on his chest--and that is a blade, Zelos knows, because even if it's not as brilliant in the dust and dirt of the explosion, a core crystal's glow is still easy to pick apart from a mere ether crystal's glow. Zelos blinks, looks around. Malos is down, but that's to be expected; his driver did get injured, and they're sharing a core crystal, so.

That leaves him, Sheena, and the blade, because Lloyd sure looks like he's starting to feel the effects of poisoning.

Great.

With the situation assessed and the damage taken into account, Zelos' next instinct is to get on the defensive against the intruder. Maybe it's one of Dickson's blades, even if Zelos can't recall even seeing him in the fight. Still, he has to be careful. He spreads his legs into a fight stance, but, unfortunately, before he can do much else, with a zap of pain in his body the exhaustion at being drained of ether again settles in with a grunt.

His vision's swimming again. He's still injured and aching. Right away Zelos' legs give out under him, leaving him kneeling on the dirt and panting once again. He raises his sight to the blade and glares, as if daring him to move, trying in vain to gather more ether in his hands. It still burns. Architect damn it, not now, not when there's a new threat he can't fight back against.

[summonerd]

Zelos's warning gives Sheena enough time to move Anna, at least - a little slowly, because she's not used to carrying people taller than her, even when she's not dealing with a handful of small injuries that are enough to slow her down further - and even to crouch down a little in front of where she settles her, hands up in front of her face to put up a shield that should hopefully protect the both of them. It's not perfect, but she'll take a little bit of hot air over the full strength of Zelos's ether.

He blasts the rubble away, and the ceiling doesn't immediately crumble on them, so Sheena lets her seal fade as she straightens up, taking stock of the situation. Malos, injured but conscious. Zelos, sitting down hard with exhaustion. Kratos, looking like he's having about as good a time of the rest of them. Lloyd, backlit by his wings, unsteady on his feet - no, he's not even on them, she realizes, as he crosses the cave.

Wait, Kratos?

Before she can ask about that, though, Lloyd's made his way to her. He sounds… gone. Anna and Malos had warned them that the caves were dangerous for humans, but she feels - well. She doesn't feel great, but she's pretty sure she's doing better than Lloyd is, right now. "Nah, I'm alright," she tells him, her answering smile more worried than anything. "Think you can hang in there a little longer? I'm not sure how we're gonna get all of us out of here." Her gaze roams over their group again, heart starting to sink. Even with Kratos's sudden appearance (seriously, what did she miss?), they're going to have a hard time with two people down, one unconscious, and Lloyd apparently in the grasp of an ether high.

[aurions]

The first thing Malos does when the rubble's out of the way is run to Anna's side, which Kratos can't exactly say he expected to go any differently. He has half a mind to follow the man, but for some reason it seems his feet are rooted to the ground. Anna is alive. She is alive, she is alive, even though he never thought he'd see her again--

(You never thought you'd see Martel again and she's the one in the cannon)

Kratos' eyes slide away from his wife, taking in the two faces he doesn't recognize. Actually. Just one face. The girl who's talking to Lloyd is a stranger, but the blade on his knees in the dirt, still glowing with expent ether-- that's Zelos. Tethe'alla's artificial Aegis. A lot of things quite suddenly click together in Kratos' mind, and with them quite a large handful of questions.

But first--

Realizing he is still holding his sword, which has every right to make the Aegis nervous, Kratos lets his weapon disolve again into ether and holds his hands up in a gesture of peace. The Aegis has nothing to fear from him.

"Right, now for getting out of here," Malos says, though Kratos does not take his eyes off of Zelos. "I can carry Anna--"

"That's a bad idea," Kratos interjects before he thinks, like he's a man five years younger, like the weight of unnecessary grief doesn't still sit on his shoulders.

"Irvings aren't exactly known for good ones," Malos counters, which Kratos concedes. "I'll be alright, though. Zelos, you good to walk?"

[presidentheartbeat]

The blade dissolving his weapon is a good sign already, at least, and then the peace gesture sets in nicely once Zelos realizes he's literally the only one glaring and getting ready to go one-on-one with this guy. Okay, alright. Deep breaths, Zelos, and try to uncurl your posture, just get out of defense mode. No one here is looking for a fight.

At least, that's what it seems.

Slowly, after much hesitance, Zelos releases the ether gathered in his hands. With that excess ether gone, some of the pain dissipates from his lungs, though the ache on his shoulder remains. There's so much ether in the air. They need to get out of the mines, pronto. Trying to gather his bearings Zelos takes in a sharp breath just as Malos speaks, but he sounds like he's so far away, murky as if underwater. He shakes his head, and then the red blade's response comes a little clearer. Okay, okay. Workable. A blink. And hey, where's Sheena? Lloyd went somewhere, too. Architect above, Zelos is too fucking tired to be paying attention to any of this shit.

Malos addresses him, and Zelos... has no real idea what he's been doing this whole time, other than staring at the blade with the red ether, keeping eye contact, and thinking. He blinks himself back to the present. Tries to put on a brave face, or something nonchalant and fun, unbothered, light. Builds a mask with shaking hands and a clouded mind, paints it blindly as he keeps his little staring contest with the blade.

What comes out of his efforts is an exhausted laugh and barely a pull of his lips upwards. "Sure, chief," Zelos says, already starting to get up. His eyes are still on the red blade. Something in his dissociated mind tells him that he needs to keep this up to survive. "Aegis. Can do literally anything I want--"

He stumbles. Somehow manages to catch himself before he falls back on his ass, finally breaking eye contact due to the sudden brick-like exhaustion in his veins causing him to sway.

[risingfalcon]

Sheena's. Not high. That's good, yes. Lloyd wishes he could feel more relieved about this fact, but even though he knows what those words mean, he's still pressed down by the fact that he can't fucking control himself and the anxiety that crushes him because of it. The others' words fly past his head, fuzzy as his mind feels, and he just stands for a second, blinking and trying to respond.

"I - no walking," he says, squinting, working past his high. His eyes feel itchy with the remnants of tears he hadn't been able to properly wipe away. "Wings," he adds, not quite noticing the way they fold a little closer to him in response. "I'll be okay."

Weakly, he grabs at Sheena's hand and squeezes it before letting go again. She's alright. That's good, yes.

[summonerd]

Sheena squeezes back, fond. "Alright," she says, looking like she's not completely convinced. "If you're sure." He'll be okay, she knows, because it's Lloyd, but - she hates him having to use his angel powers like this.

"Maybe I should get Anna," she suggests - she's less injured, and supporting someone doesn't take quite as much as carrying them - but then a wave of exhaustion that's definitely not her own hits, and she stops, looking over at Zelos. He's right back where he started, huh? She frowns, making a decision, then crosses the cave to him. "Not sure about that, right now," she tells him, voice light as she presses down on her anxiety. "Let me carry you, okay? Otherwise you're gonna fall on your face." She turns away, with that, ducks down so he can climb onto her back without too much issue, tilting her head so she can still see him. There's a little twinge of guilt at not giving him much of a choice here, but really - what choice is there? She's not sure how she's managed to avoid the ether poisoning so far, but if it hits her, she won't have any angelic resistance to help her out. They need to move, and fast.

He died

[presidentheartbeat]

Getting up from the ground takes an incredible amount of strength and willpower, but eventually Zelos is back on his feet, just in time to catch Sheena ducking down in front of him like he's hoping for him to hop on her back. She's said something, but Zelos couldn't quite catch what, and the way his driver is looking at him like she's not going to take no for an answer, which kind of fucking sucks, but at least the guilty twinge in their resonance link reminds Zelos that she's probably worried about her ether poisoning and that this is probably for the best if they're going to get the fuck out immediately. Because, honestly, what's Zelos gonna do, walk out on his own? Yeah, right; he can barely stand still or think straight. And literally the only other person he could go to for assistance is a complete stranger, too.

Damn it, okay. Fine. Sheena's his best choice here.

But that doesn't mean he has to like the choice.

Zelos takes a deep breath, sighs it out. Grumbles under his breath as he gathers his conscious to form some sort of a complaint. "Architect, you're treatin' me like a goddamn baby. I can do it," he grits out. Zelos sways where he stands. Architect, he's so tired. So, so tired, the ether in his body dangerously low again, aching for reprieve to gather up again and reform, to produce a stable amount and heal his wounds. Zelos' mind swims, his eyes close, and he's made highly uncomfortable by the vulnerable side he's displaying out in the open like it's nothing, right in front of a blade he still isn't completely sure is on their side. "I don't need your help. I'm fine."

He opens his eyes again. Then, as if to prove the point that he doesn't need her, Zelos takes a step forward and away from Sheena. It's not perfect, but stable enough. "Go get Anna," he mumbles next. "I'm right behind you."

NO DYING IN THIS THREAD

[theactingdad]

"...I guess you carrying Anna and me spotting Zelos would be a smarter idea, Sheena," Malos admits after a moment. He hadn't gotten Anna much further than into his lap as he was checking on her, but he leaves her there for a second as he twists to look at Sheena. "How do you wanna do this?"

NO DEATH!!!!

[summonerd]

"I'm not treating you like a baby, I'm treating you like you just used all your energy saving us," Sheena snaps, but she loses steam even before she makes it to the end of her sentence. This is a dumb thing to argue about, isn't it? He's sure he's fine, and - honestly, Sheena's not, but if he wants to insist then that's on him. "Just - say something if you need help, alright?" she says, straightening up as Malos responds. That... probably is a better idea. Maybe he'll listen to Malos, if not her.

"That should be okay," she tells him. "Here, give me a hand getting her settled?" She steps towards Malos and Anna, turning away from Zelos as she goes.

YOU CAN'T TELL HIM WHAT TO DO

[presidentheartbeat]

There's a bit of cold guilt sliding down Zelos' throat when Malos and Sheena finally leave him alone, combined with some anxious feeling at the prospect of being left behind, but he swallows it down and keeps his eyes on the red blade instead. Because nobody here seems to think that watching this stranger as he sticks around their numbers is important, which is fucking bizarre, but he's still kind of making Zelos a little nervous, so.

Silently, through the fog in his mind, Zelos carefully observes what he's doing: collecting the intact and sleeping core crystals from Dickson's blades in his arms, slowly, one by one, as gently as if he were picking something precious like flowers in a field. The sight pops a bubble of curiosity in Zelos' chest, something that curls his lips into a disarming smile that he accompanies with a hum loud enough for the blade to hear. "Plannin' on returning them to the humans?" he asks softly, stepping forward. Then frowns. "Or do you... have..."

And that's as far as Zelos gets, because as his speech slows and slurs, his mind and body finally give out on him, conscious fading to black as he stumbles forward in free-fall.

I AM YOUR DRIVER AND I SAY NO DEATH

[summonerd]

She doesn't even make it all the way to Malos, let alone start moving Anna onto her back.

Zelos's words dissolve into mush, and there's just enough time for her to realize what's happening and move, the remnants of adrenaline in her system helping her whirl around and catch him as he starts to slump. His head lands on her shoulder heavily, too heavily for him to be awake, and oh, that's bad.

"Zelos? Zelos, fuck, hey," she says, as if he's not clearly dead to the world. He's alive, right? He's breathing, she can tell that much, but -- she should be able to feel his heartbeat, the way he'd landed, shouldn't she?

"Nevermind, I guess I'm getting him," she says to Malos, trying to hide the stress in her voice with a joke as she tries to heft his weight into a more stable position. Had he always been this heavy, or she just more tired than she'd realized?

[aurions2]

Kratos tenses slightly at the question from Zelos-- having been quite certain no one was paying him any attention-- but waits until he's picked up the last core crystal and placed it in the bag with the others (not the kindest place to store them, but he does not have anywhere better at the moment) before he answers. It seems Zelos has passed out before Kratos could answer. Convenient, though Kratos supposes Zelos isn't the only one curious.

"Well I wasn't going to leave them here, where they would be unlikely to be found again," Kratos explains for whoever is listening, slinging his bag over his shoulder and straightening.

With Zelos down that makes only three of them concious, and only two of them uninjured. They should really hurry. (The longer they stay here the longer Martel remains in that cannon.) Kratos wonders if he should offer to help Anna, but he's quite certain the somewhat-fragile hold he has on his sanity right now is going to shatter if he has to endure the sensation of anyone touching him, even if it is his wife, even if she is unconcious, even if he willingly picked her up. So he lets Malos handle it, grateful that if Irvings are anything, it's stubborn. Malos seems to be alright.

So Kratos takes point as they make their way out of the mines, figuring the least he can do is take care of anyone else who might attempt to ambush them at this point. It's a good thing there's very little mines remaining before they're out in the open air again. From there it will only be a matter of deciding whether their wounds are bad enough to risk venturing into town for a healer or not, but that decision isn't on Kratos.

(If they do decide to go into town, Kratos might just go ahead on his own.)

a wild nia appears

[ywkon_rp]

Luckily for them, they don't have to even get as far as town to find a healer. One's waiting for them-- sort of. Nia had had other business, but once she sees three familiar faces she forgets entirely about it, especially since Malos is carrying Anna.

"Architect, the lot of you!" she swears, flagging them down. She does a hasty survey of the area-- lot of dirt and rocks, being the base of a mountain range and all, which isn't ideal but will have to do. "Malos, put Anna down, if she's bad enough off to be needing carrying, then so are you!"

"I'm concious and she's not," Malos protests, but he doesn't argue, easing Anna onto the ground where Nia indicated. He's moving like it's his leg bothering him-- of course it is. Fuckin' Irvings.

"Nia," she introduces herself to the lot Malos has got with him, figuring they might appreciate it. "Friend of Malos'." She doesn't recognize anyone here she hasn't met other than the Aegis, but he's corporeal if unconcious, so he can wait. The blade kid-- is he a blade? No human she knows has wings, but he's acting like a human high on ether right now-- is whimpering a little as the wings deposit him gently on the ground, so maybe she'll look at him next. After a moment, for their sakes, she appends: "Healing blade."

Normally she isn't so open about that fact (there's a reason her clothes hide both core crystal and ether lines, after all, even if she's not currently wearing a hat to hide her distinctly cat-shaped ears), but half of the present company already knows, and like hell she's not going to heal them just to keep a secret when they'd kick the arses of anyone who tried to give her trouble for it. (What if she loses them for real this time? Because she chose to forgo healing them? She'd never live with herself!)

Deciding that she'll have to endure Malos bitching about Anna regardless of which one of them she heals-- healing blade eaters works the same way hurting them does, so that's good if nothing else about today is-- Nia just sets herself beside Anna and finds the wound based purely on which leg Malos was favoring even before he sat down on the other side of his driver. ...A burn? It's careful, deliberate, which... Well that would be a fire blade's idea of handling a bleeding wound, wouldn't it? Nia rolls her eyes, just a little. As her ether hits the burned flesh and the depth of the wound underneath, though, she reconsiders-- It's not ideal, but it was quick thinking, and leaving Anna open and bleeding in those mines would have been significantly worse, and this would have been faster than getting it to stop bleeding otherwise-- if they'd even managed that. So she doesn't comment and keeps healing, instead asking a more important question:

"Do I even want t'know what you got yourselves into this time?"

[summonerd]

Sheena's never been as glad to feel fresh air as she is when they finally make it out of the cave. Even with half their party unconscious or high off their ass, even with the knowledge that Tethe'alla definitely knows where they are - they'd made it out alive, at least.

Someone stands in front of them on the path, and Sheena tenses, trying to come up with a plan for dealing with another attacker with an unconscious Zelos on her back and no one else except maybe Kratos in any kind of shape to fight, but thankfully her no-nonsense familiarity and the others' reactions to her make it unnecessary. Malos knows her, which -- that's lucky. But then, Kratos had shown up at just the right time, too. Maybe that's related. Sheena doesn't voice her thoughts, just smiles gratefully in Nia's direction and offers her name in return before focusing instead on getting off her feet before she collapses and takes Zelos with her.

Movements slowed by her exhaustion, she pulls Zelos off her back carefully, lowering him to the ground as gently as she can manage, before she takes a seat next to him. It's hard to gauge how bad off he is - but he'd been out like a light the entire way out of the cave, and the wound on his shoulder had been slowly bleeding ether onto her for just as long, an uncomfortable, too-hot sensation that feels almost like getting too close to a fire. It's still going, and she brushes his hair away from it to get a look. Well. If it hasn't killed him yet, he'll be fine long enough for Nia to deal with Anna and Malos's wounds, hopefully. Not like she's got any healing abilities that would do anything, here. She beckons to Lloyd, patting the ground on the other side of her. The ether's effects should start fading now that they're free of the caves - her head feels clearer already, even with the fog of energy loss threatening to replace the ether headache - but maybe if he sits he can put his wings away, finally.

Nia asks a question, and Malos looks like he's too focused on Anna to answer - which, fair - and Sheena realizes again that she's the best-equipped here to have a conversation.

"A whole bunch of blades came after us," she says. "And then part of the cave came down on us. That was a cannon blast, wasn't it?" She hadn't even thought about what had caused it, but as soon as she says it it clicks, with a sinking of her heart. Oh, no. What are they doing to Colette, right now?