Ruul's ZRP Party: Thread 6.2

"You know when people are dying and they say they see a light and other people tell them not to go in to the light. I'm telling you, don't go in to the light."

Ruul didn't really have anything to say to that. "Fine."

Leighi was pretty light anyways, and Ruul could fight by controlling ice without needing his hands, even though he was much more adept with his axe.

So with that, they turned around.

The light shone through Leighi's eyelids and started to wake him up, although he was still weak the light gave him enough strength to stand on his own feet. So he got of Ruul's back and started stumbling towards the light.

"Eh? Leighi?"

"Leighi, what are you doing?"

Leighi still half unconscious didn't react, instead he picked up his blade and walked inside the light where he put the blade into the ground and stumbled backwards. When the blade was put into the ground all the light around it started to focus around the blade, a light shone from the lens towards Leighi's forehead where a patter appeared for a few moments and then disappeared again. This at the same time refilled his magic, regaining some strength he put the sword back into it's sheath and walked towards the group again. "Now that I've regained some strength I can explain what that light was. Remember that pattern I showed Chaos when we split up?"

"Oh, so... that's a seal?"

"Well yes and no, the blade of truth reacted with the portal and gave me a quick mental peek in nayru's library and because of that I am now infused with the language of the seals, while that was happening I also remembered a pattern I saw on a wall here and recognized it as a seal. Anyway like I mentioned before that thing over there is a portal, it will instantly bring us to the exit of the dungeon."

"Oh, well that's practical. Let's go, then."

As the party was walking to the portal, the loud sound of a great mass of breaking ice snapped through the chilly air, only a tiny fragment of silence between it and the complimenting sound of something cracking into ice. It overshadowed the sound of crunching bone. It was coupled by a brief tremble in the ground that made Calcifer start. "Woah, what the fuck?" He looked around with wide scarlet eyes for a moment before swirling around.
The color entirely drained from his face, his expression melting from startled shock to a hollow blankness. A large stalactite had broken off from the ceiling and impaled Aero straight through. It entered through her left shoulder and exited at an awkward angle at her inner left thigh. Her body was like a marionette that had been skewered, blood beginning to soak through and pervert the calming green of her clothes, matting up her hair. She stared back at him for a moment. Her bluing lips trembled as she struggled to inhale, two short, raspy little breaths. Then her head dropped. Her hair fell over her shoulder. Her limbs went limp.
Calcifer still stared at her, like it was a dream. He took just a few steps, snow crunching beneath his feet. He raised a hand like a child terrified and in doubt whether or not they could touch the surface of the stove, despite it being off. He raised her chin gently, just a tiny bit, her head slumping back down lifelessly when he let it give. "Aero," He breathed, shook his head.
He snapped out of the blank state he was in, and started to panic. He began to sob through his please, "Aero, no! No!" His hands and arms went a hot pinkish color as he held her body and the ice, water, starting to trickle through his fingers as it melted. He paused from it a moment, ripping off the extra layers of clothing he had to keep himself warm and wrapping them around her gaping puncture wound, his shaking hands beginning to stain with blood. He held her as though he were trying to warm her, her hair obstructing any view of her face.
"Help!" He looked back at the rest of the group, "Anybody, help! Ruul!"

The sound of Ruul's soul being torn was practically audible. "Ae...ro..." He couldn't even put together what had just happened in his head.

They had won.

The beast was dead, they had the mask. There was no danger. This wasn't happening.

He was suddenly at her side. He didn't realize he had moved. She wasn't dead, she couldn't be. They had finally met up again. After all they had been through.

Leighi had healing magic. Leighi must be able to fix this. Right?

"Leighi..."

Kairo stared blankly at Aero. This couldn't be real. It had to be a hallucination brought on by the cold or something. Aero was fine. She had to be. He too turned to look at Leighi but he didn't trust himself to speak.

Leighi saw how the stalactite had pierced through the body of Aero, combined with her lifeless body already knew it far far from anything his magic would be able to heal. He slowly walked towards the body and spoke. "Currently the best I can do is carefully break the stalactite and heal her wounds to prepare her for a proper burial, bringing her back is impossible now. Even IF there was a necromancer here they could only reanimate the body, the soul is long gone. I'm sorry for your loss." Without waiting for a response he started slowly chipping pieces from the rock making sure not to harm the lifeless body, he knew one thing for sure even if he was powerless against these kind of injuries he would still try his hardest to make sure that the body would be properly buried in a decent state so that the loved ones could visit a decent grave.

Doing this reminded him of the countless times he had to do similar things whenever someone died during an attack on a village where he couldn't get to in time. Each time it became harder and harder since his mind didn't allow him to forget it, every time he had to recover a body or bury one he saw all the faces of the people who were there in shock and crying over their loved ones. He however didn't permit himself to get emotional seeing how he barely knew them. He had to stay rational and make sure that no one tried something reckless to avenge the deceased person.

This time was no exception while other people might find him cold and not caring, seeing how he was the last member to join this party he didn't share a lot of memories with them and thus unknowingly didn't allow himself to get emotional. However this burden started to take his toll on him, this time he literally was fighting against the tears. 'Why for ONCE can't I keep everyone alive, WHY CAN'T I PROTECT A SINGLE PERSON FROM SOMETHING AS STUPID AS THIS!' Thoughts similar to those that kept filling his mind while somehow maintaining control over his light beam which was almost done with chipping enough away from the stalactite to be able to get it out.

Kairo slowly walked over to Calcifer who was still holding Aero. Gently he placed his hand on Calcifer's shoulder. He wasn't sure if anything he could say would soften the pain he knew Cal felt at Aero's death, but the least he could do was to be there for him.

Ruul's knees buckled. His eyes watched Leighi work, but his mind was elsewhere. Another time and another place. Another girl, and another icicle.

The irony only made the anger and agony under Ruul's expressionless shell hotter. But somehow none of it was breaching the surface.

And so he stared.

Calcifer had the impulse to shove Leighi away. Stop touching her, he wanted to say. She was like a fine china. Something to be treasured and maintained, treated with gentleness. A delicate, withering flower to be pressed and preserved. Even in her d--... no. He couldn't think that.
He let her go, like stepping away from something precariously balanced, careful not to knock it over. When he was clear of her body, he gripped Ruul harshly by the arms, a light in his eye, a last little flicker of hope and fear rushing through him. "Ruul, you-- your harp! You can use it! We can go back, back and save her!"

"I can't," came his emotionless response, so soft it was barely audible. "Time travel... doesn't work like that."

Kairo followed Calcifer to Ruul's side, his eyes darting around warily, watching for any more dangers they may have overlooked in their eagerness to get out. He found himself looking anywhere, everywhere but at Aero. He was scared to touch Calcifer or even to suggest they move Aero for fear of tipping him over the edge of grief and into anger.

"N...No, no, Ruul," He shook his head, "You can. You just--" His breathing hitched. He shut his eyes tightly and shook the taller man, "You can!"

Ruul droned out the words he had memorized inside the tower automatically and unthinkingly. "A person saved via time travel will meet death in another way at the same time, regardless of one's efforts. Fate always finds a way."

"Fuck fate!" The fire mage was dangerously close to losing his grip on his magic in that moment, a small burst of flame blooming out from the backs of his hands. "I'll try a thousand times if it means she'll live! Ruul, look at me, you fuck! Look at her!"

Enough echoed through to wake some of Ruul. A steady stream of tears rolled down his cheeks as his dull eyes moved slowly to the body.

"I am, Calcifer... I am."

Calcifer wanted to yell at Ruul. He wanted to hate him with every fiber of his being, to accuse him of not loving the girl because he wouldn't even try to save her even once. He wanted to go back and save her, no matter how much of him it took. He wanted, again, to rip Leighi off of her body because he wasn't worth touching her. He wanted to be able to go to Kairo for comfort. A part of him wanted to die with her.
"You-- you don't understand, Ruul, she's Ae--she's my Aero, you can't just let her go! I can't let her go! Why won't you try?" He realized arguing with Ruul wouldn't do anything. He was powerless here. He let the man go and sat down in the hard snow. His hope and fight drained from him, Calcifer felt the bite of the cold, shivering, his mouth in turn becoming blue. He let himself go and just cried.

Ruul slumped as Calcifer let go, supported only by reflex. The tears stopped and his eyes stared ahead emptily as his mind retreated once more. Flashes of the past and present filled his consciousness.

Kairo knelt in the snow next to Calcifer. Gently he began radiating heat from his body and then he embraced the other Gieru. "Cal, you're going to get sick," he murmured as he held the other man tightly.