damned_institute | Night 30: Main Hallway, 1-East

Fierfek! TK's eyes widened as the floor suddenly burst into flames. He lept out of the way as fast as he could, striking one more time at the attacker as he passed by him, aiming a quick, hard jab with one half of the broken staff at the attacker's neck. It seemed a good target, when this person's words could cause shockwaves and set the damned floor on fire.

Once he'd attacked, he dove for safer ground, hitting the ground rolling to smother the flames eating at his clothing as fast as he could, so he could get up and be back on the offensive.

Leon had suspected it when he saw Kratos cast First Aid that night in the clinic, and now he was certain of it--somehow, the spells of Kratos' world and of his own were the same. He was very glad to be out of the range of Eruption, especially since he was without Chaltier's magic to shield him from the worst of its effects. But the spell also granted him an excellent opportunity to try to take out one of Kratos' opponents.

Swinging the knife with a sharp, practiced motion, Leon murmured softly, "Majinken" and released the energy he'd summoned into the blade. A shockwave identical to Kratos' Demon Fang sped towards the staff-wielder as he rolled on the ground to try to put out the flames licking at his clothing and hair. Was it a cheap shot, attacking a man who was on the ground and on fire? Yes. Was it a good move, tactically? Absolutely.

Kratos backpedaled a little too quickly to avoid the staff and for a split second almost lost his balance- he'd been expecting one last attack, but had been too focused on the completion of his spell to begin preparing a Guardian. The other Demon Fang surprised him as well- another Exsphere user, here? Whoever it was, they were certainly going to be a challenge for later. However, at the moment his objective was to get out of the flames and make his next move while he still had a handle on the flow of the fight.

There was a flash of blue as the signature wings of a Cruxis angel materialized behind him. Teleporting was out of the question- he only did it when absolutely necessary, in any case. Soaring up and out, Kratos landed at a distance from the fire, now dying as the spell wore down. His uniform was smoking, but he couldn't afford to be concerned about it now. He had the time; he needed to make use of it--

"Sacred powers, cast thy purifying light upon these corrupt souls..." The chant made Judgment long and hard to cast, but twenty seconds more was all he needed- after THIS spell, it would all be over.

Most of the fire out, Armand couldn't even gather his thoughts well enough to assess damage. He hurt, mostly his unprotected hands and his neck near where his hair had taken flame. He panted and huddled against the wall, trying to stay out of the fight. Let his friend call him a coward if he must. Armand, frightened more than he cared to admit, could not stand to face that sword-wielding man again. His small knife attack hadn't even fazed him.

Still, he was far too close to the fighting for his comfort, and the sound of their opponent's chanting made his skin crawl with nervous anticipation. He worried that they'd should have fled. Was it too late? He couldn't fight, but he wouldn't leave TK to fight alone.

Damn. They had to run. He got his feet under him and staggered to where his friend was, trying to grab his arm to drag him away. "Morrison... run!"

With how focused he was on putting out the flames eating at his clothing and his skin, he nearly didn't see the next shockwave attack coming. He tried to get out of the way, but it still clipped him, knocking him back and driving the air out of his lungs.

Two attackers now. And whatever the first one was saying, it sounded like trouble. Normally, he'd have just headed straight for the hostile and done whatever it took to bring him down. But...

He had to keep Armand in mind. It didn't matter what he'd normally do if he were alone or with other fighters, Armand didn't have to get hurt because of him.

He picked himself up, pushing Armand in front of him as he started to run. If they got hit by another attack, he'd take the worst of it.

[running off to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/307793.html)]

[[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/304409.html?thread=24725529#t24725529).]]

"KRATOS!" Raine shouted, stopping not far behind him. She knew exactly how much damage Judgment could do, and if at all possible she had to stop him from casting it. She was standing out of reach, technically--she couldn't hit him with her broom from here, but even Demon Fang could get her from this distance. Still, she might have time to dodge if it came to that.

"You don't have time for this." She stared at him, her eyes steely. "I know the rest of us are your enemies, but Lloyd's hurt. Regal and Genis are trying to get him out of here, but it doesn't look good; I couldn't do much for him, his injuries were too extensive. If you care about your son at all, go find him."

After so many years of practice, she was an excellent liar; she didn't break eye contact, and the subtle emotion in her voice was real. She was genuinely worried for Lloyd, even if what she was telling Kratos was a lie. Lloyd was perfectly capable of defending himself under ordinary circumstances, but their journey was anything but, and the protectiveness she felt towards him, towards Genis, towards Colette had nothing to do with logic.

And the guilt in her eyes over not being able to protect her student was real, too, as well as the regret. She really didn't want to be telling Kratos this, but even if it didn't make him abandon the fight in a search for the child he wouldn't find here, it should demoralize him enough to let someone take him down.

After this, she was going to owe more than one apology in the morning.

If you care about your son... Leon flinched, physically, at those words. Concerns about the spell Kratos was casting, about fighting, flew completely out of Leon's head. Kratos had a son. If that was who Kratos had been talking about last night in the clinic, when they spoke of war and power, Leon already knew the answer--Kratos cared about his son a great deal. Leon wasn't sure why that hurt him, any more than he'd understood why he grew so angry at that father who sat with him at dinner--he'd always known that it was normal for fathers to love their sons, to defend and protect and support them. Always known that Hugo was the exception and not the rule.

But he still hated being reminded of that.

Could he ever look at Kratos again, without thinking of--without wanting--the Hugo that could have been? Should have been. Was that why he was drawn to Kratos? Not just shared experience as warriors, but because he was looking for some sort of replacement father? Disgusting. Weak. Leon started to laugh, clutching at his cane to keep from falling down. "Oh, I'm pathetic, just like he always said."

"Judgm..." The word faded from Kratos's lips as the mana building around him collapsed. The angel froze, unbelieving, as all thoughts of opponents or fighting fled.

The Flamberge pointed at Raine accusingly. "A lie. You can't be serious." To think that the boy had been foolhardy enough to come after his father- his enemy! And then Lloyd had to get himself injured...so much that not even Raine Sage could heal him. Idiot!

"Lloyd would not-- he would never let himself be caught in that sort of situation." Kratos' voice was sure, but the doubt was growing: the concern in Raine's voice had sounded genuine. Lloyd...! His parental side was screaming for him to run to his son; he shoved it aside. The task at hand- he had to think of the task at hand. "And I...I have orders. I cannot leave."

He had practically shouted those last few words, not just as his excuse to Raine, but also as his excuse to himself.

"Colette was in trouble," Raine replied; she'd meant to keep her voice steady, but it wavered a little. She knew exactly what Lloyd would do in that kind of situation, and she could picture it far too easily.

Regardless, the part about orders made her glare. "What's more important to you? Your orders, or your own child? He's in real trouble, and he'll have the best chance if you're there. You need to go find him." She wouldn't do more than imply Lloyd could be dying; it would be too hard for her to say and too hard for Kratos to hear.

"And if you were ordered to make us leave--be assured we're trying to. You can tell Yggdrasil you chased us all off later; for now, we're not the important ones. Go; the last I heard, they were trying to get out through the back exit." She nodded towards it; if Kratos was going to be sent off on a wild goose chase, it was best he go deeper into the building. When he didn't find Lloyd, he would be able to blame it on all the chaos--and hopefully keep looking, out of a desire not to fail him this time.

It would be good if Kratos smashed the back wall while he was at it, but she would settle on him being driven to frantic searching that allowed nothing else.

When the woman's ploy, against all odds, actually seemed to work, Leon's battle-trained body took over, moving him towards Kratos despite his continuing emotional anguish. The rubber foot of the cane kept his movements as quiet as possible, though Leon was not exactly at his stealthiest tonight. Still, it wasn't a very long walk, and the woman had the bulk of Kratos' attention.

Moving as quietly and as quickly as he could, with one bad leg, Leon crept up behind Kratos. Mentally apologising to his friend, Leon threw his weight onto his good leg and brought up his cane, aiming a strike at the juncture of Kratos' head and neck. If he could knock the older man unconscious, then at least he would no longer be going up against opponents who truly wanted to hurt him.

Yes...yes of course Lloyd would run after Colette, as he had countless times before. It made perfect sense. Kratos seemed to droop from the fact- he couldn't rationalize this one off now.

And then the cane had hit him. The Cruxis Crystal numbed most of the pain, but the force was enough to pitch him forward. Kratos hit the floor heavily, eyes wide with shock. The darkness came rushing up to meet him, but just as he was about to succumb to unconsciousness, his brain came up with something radical: It was a trick. They tricked you. They used Lloyd-- Lloyd...dying!

HOW COULD THEY.

Rage. "YOU." His sword slammed point-first into the floor as Kratos tried to use it to hoist himself back to his feet. His movements were slow and his words slightly slurred, but then again, the Cruxis Crystal could not prevent everything. His fingers tightened around the hilt. "Foul play? From you, Miss Sage?"

There was of course the possibility that his attacker had been acting alone, that he was shooting the messenger, but at the moment Kratos was too angry to care: he'd let his guard down; he'd allowed the boy to be come his weakspot- but most of all, he could do nothing to save Lloyd. Despite Raine saying otherwise, Kratos had already come to the conclusion that Lloyd was beyond his reach. The boy hated him, he was sure- after all, he was Cruxis! "Why? Why would you...?"

Raine acted as soon as she saw her chance; Kratos wouldn't be much less dangerous without his sword, but any weapons they could take away from him were one less thing to worry about. She whirled, kicking out at Flamberge's hilt; if she was lucky she would knock it out of his hands. Her broom was at the ready, posed to either follow up her attack with another hit to hands or head, or block any retaliating moves Kratos managed.

Normally she would have been far outmatched here, but Leon had hit him precisely where it was easiest to knock someone unconscious; anyone else would have been out cold on the floor by then, and from the look of it Kratos was barely hanging on. She had no idea what they were going to do with him once he was out, but she had cause to hope that they could defeat him.

There was no doubt in Leon's mind that Kratos' anguish over his son was real--real, and strong enough to distract him even through whatever spell Landel had put on him. Kratos felt as strongly for his son as Leon had felt for Marian.

Without having to think about it, Leon interposed his cane between Kratos and the woman's kick. "Isn't this enough?" His grip on the cane was weak, though, because he held it once again in his maimed hand. The woman's kick sent it flying, and Leon was left unable to move, all his weight put on his good leg so that he could even stay standing. He still had the knife in his left hand, but if Kratos or the woman lashed out at him there was little he could do but try to deflect the blow with the tiny dinner knife.

Well, he deserved it, though, didn't he? For taking advantage of a friend's pain, for allowing Kratos to suffer so, and for failing to render him unconscious with his first blow, Leon knew he had it coming. He had failed in so many ways, and failure brought consequences.

Raine's kick didn't connect, but it was enough to solidify in Kratos' mind that the elder Sage was his enemy now. "Internal strife...?" He couldn't help but echo her own words from a while ago: they were eerily appropriate. "How...pathetic."

Kratos lurched to his feet, coughing. It seemed his throat hadn't fully recovered either. "Answer my question, Miss Sage. Your last chance." Such bold threats- he doubted he looked intimidating enough to back them up, what with his current state. Still, his anger was enough to fuel him at the moment and push him upright. "Your last chance, or I end it now." And then I find Lloyd...dead or alive.

Raine held her broom at the ready, but more defensively than offensively. He wouldn't be under orders to kill her, and he was hurt enough to give her the advantage, but that wasn't saying much. A retreat might make the most sense... she was still close enough to the patient rooms to make a break for it, and as far as she knew, he wouldn't follow.

Still, for the moment, she didn't move. All she saw in Kratos' eyes was justified anger, no hint of forced madness. He didn't know where he was or what was going on, but aside from that his mind was intact. I can't tell him where we are--he'll have been brainwashed not to believe most of what I say, undoubtedly. But a partial truth... "You've been lied to," she said. "I don't know what you were told, but you're attacking innocent people. I wasn't intending to cause injury, just disable you any way I could." She wouldn't point out she had no chance against him in a fair fight--at full power, while some of her spells could match his, he could fly and teleport.

If she told Kratos now that she had lied and Lloyd was neither here nor hurt, would he let her go or lash out in anger that she had taken advantage of knowing exactly what to say to demoralize him? It was a chance she didn't want to take... she'd been hoping to get to the clinic eventually, but she didn't have much hope that she would, at this point. "We're all leaving," she told him. "If... you want to check on Lloyd later, he'll be glad to see you." It was the closest she would get right now to saying that as betrayed as Lloyd felt, he didn't hate Kratos.

Raine glanced at Leon; she could see that he was just concerned for his friend. Much like Lloyd, his heart was in the right place, even if his brain wasn't. Kratos wouldn't kill him either, but the boy was in poor shape already and didn't need any more wounds. Even walking would be difficult, and worse, Kratos stood between him and the way to the nearby patient blocks. "May I take him with me?" she asked, nodding to Leon. "He'll be able to get out faster with assistance."

Maybe she should say she was out of magic and low on Gels, and offer what she had left as a peace offering... she wasn't sure what the result would be, but it certainly wouldn't help Kratos fight.

"I'm not leaving him like this!" Kratos was injured now and in no shape to take on further opponents, but his orders would have him continuing to attack people as soon as he realised he'd been lied to. "Don't think you can make decisions for me, woman!" Leon cursed his weak leg, and his inability to move, because right now he really wanted to put himself between Kratos and this woman--Miss Sage, was it? "Until this night is over, I'm not leaving him alone."

Fighting against one's friends, alone and unmourned at the end, was no way for anyone to go. The chances of Kratos dying this night were slim, Leon knew. More than that, he knew that it was irrational to be more concerned for Kratos' life than his own, when Kratos surely saw him as an enemy right now. But his life had already ended, hadn't it? He'd given it up for Marian's sake. What was one more time?

"Your loyalty is appreciated, but I don't need it," Kratos said coldly. "You'd be of no help." This all was his business, and it was his intention to make sure that no one decided to play interloper, lest they get unintentionally wrapped up in the affairs of Cruxis. "I suggest you get a hold of yourself before this devotion leads to your death."

There was a flash of green as Kratos quickly cast First Aid, the mana sweeping over him as it attempted to repair what the Cruxis Crystal had failed to. It would do little, but at the very least the spell would give him the strength he needed to last just one more fight. Lloyd was gone. He could not rely on his emotions any more to ensure his morals' victory; he would throw himself completely into the arms of Cruxis. "My orders were to halt a possible threat to Lord Yggdrasill within this building, and it seems that threat has currently culminated in your group, Miss Sage. Lloyd Irving is beyond my reach, now. Having failed him, I have only one course of action left." Kratos' voice was mechanical, meant to be emotionless, but still there was the unmistakeable note of guilt. "I am sorry, but no one will be leaving any time soon."

A pause. "Double Demon Fang!" He sent the shockwaves at Raine; his previous attacker appeared to be unable to move, meaning that there was no purpose in trying to further ground him.

Raine would have at least tried to explain, but Kratos not giving her that chance wasn't exactly surprising. She had no time to dodge, after all, but she threw her broom up in time to block. It still hurt, especially without even the minor protection that long sleeves provided, but the cuts it gave her would heal quickly enough.

Knowing he needed a moment to recover, Raine backed away and ran as soon as the attack was over. That had backfired spectacularly...

[[Running around the corner to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/304693.html?page=2#comments).]]

Leon laughed softly and shook his head. "You don't make decisions for me, either, Kratos. I act according to my own nature, even here. Especially here." Here, without Hugo to force his hand, Leon could do as he chose. Funny that he still ended up with the same fate, though, even with that freedom.

His good leg growing tired, Leon sat down on the ground quite suddenly--the movement was just barely too controlled to be considered 'falling', but it was close. At least the woman was gone and wouldn't see his weakness displayed so spectacularly.

"So, since I'm not going anywhere and killing me right now would be a waste of energy, tell me about your son. What's he like?" Leon wasn't entirely sure why he cared--Kratos' son was nothing to him, he didn't even know him. But he was... call it 'curious'.

The boy had some nerve.

Kratos, still seething from Raine's escape, swung the Flamberge to rest its tip squarely at Leon's neck. "Why." Obviously it was meant as a question, but he stated it baldly enough to make it sound like an ultimatum. "Give me one reason why I should tell you."

Leon didn't flinch in the slightest, staring up the length of the blade tiredly. "No reason in particular. I've heard that some fathers like to talk about their children, that's all." Pity no one had gotten the sword away from Kratos--it would probably disappear come morning, along with the rest of his gear, now.

A sigh. He didn't have time for this, nor did he have the patience. The Flamberge reared back as Kratos contemplated knocking the young man unconscious right then and there. It would be easy to do so and then move on, all too easy. "I'm not in the mood."

Leon shrugged, sighing a little. "No, I guess you wouldn't be." He wanted to keep Kratos busy until night ran out, but in his current condition there was little he could do but talk. Pity talking had never really been his strong suit, or at least not any kind of civil talking.

Night 30: Main Hallway, 1-East

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