tampered | Log; Ongoing

Current Mood: nauseated
Current Location: Somewhere in Xanadu Garden

Log; Ongoing

When; November 29th; Late Night
Rating; R [ Light gore and bad language. ]
Characters; Rubedo/Jr. [

red_dragon_666], Albedo [

theinfinite_667], M.O.M.O. [

hilbertaffected], & Elena [

lady_turk].
Summary; After Rubedo gets mauled by the slug host, he doesn't have much longer to live, as the injuries are too severe. MOMO, Albedo, and Elena are among the first to find him, but what can be done?
Notes; Posting order once MOMO and Albedo show up will be Albedo, MOMO, Rubedo (at least 'til he dies), Elena, if that works for everyone.
Log;

It didn't feel like...how dying was supposed to feel. There was all that talk about how it wouldn't hurt, about how the shock would cover that part up. But no, that only lasted maybe a minute.

And then it hurt like a bitch.

It made him want to cry, but he didn't have the energy. The blood was draining too fast. Too fast, just like that fight had been.

He shouldn't have gone back out after returning to the apartment for a short while. Just long enough to grin at Sakura and say he wouldn't be gone as long this time. He just had some business to take care of, after all.

And then there it was, massive and disgusting. It reminded him so much of the Gnosis he had faced before, but somehow he had let this thing get the best of him. How? He'd held back. All for fear of losing control again. It got him too distracted.

And then wham his eye. Wham his arm. It had been plenty to catch him off guard, and next thing he knew it had crushed him down beneath his foot and that claw--WHATEVER it had been--had ended that battle.

He hadn't wanted it to. That hadn't been the plan. Even as he managed to crawl up to slump against the tree, he could see it fleeing, and tried to hard to shoot again. Steady, steady, aim....

Click.

No more bullets. No more time.

Was he really going to die here? All alone? As a weapon, even, he had figured that if he ever were to die, his brothers would be with him. Now, as a man, he knew that had been idealistic and stupid. It was better this way. He didn't want anyone to see this.

He could see his left arm a short distance off with his working eye, and the gun it still clutched, and he almost felt sick. Swallowing, Rubedo let his eyes close, and he tried to calm his breathing. Slowly...

If he was gonna die, he'd at least try to do it with as much dignity this situation allowed him.

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As soon as she had heard of Jr.'s distress, Elena was out the door and heading towards the gardens as fast as her legs would carry her. Even faster than that actually since fear, worry, and no small amount of anger were pushing and giving her engery as well. She was close to panicing, but the urge to just find Jr. and being on the move managed to push that particular feeling down, though it was still there, just bubbling underneath all her other emotions.

The gardens were huge, but the blond would be damned if she gave up searching till she either got word of his locations, or she found him herself. No matter how long it took, she was going to find him, and then she was going to giving him a piece of her mind for making her worry like this. And if he died before she got to him... Then she'd give him MORE than just a piece of her mind.

She had been searching for hours now, and her body was starting to protest to her actions, but Elena ignored it with ease of long practice. Shoving aside another bush and dashing through, Elena's brow eyes scanned the scene before, looking for any signs of Jr. or clues as to where he could have been.

Too bad she actually found what she was looking for.

Eyes going wide, Elena rushed over to where Jr. was propped up and swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. It wasn't due to how he looked, though that was no small part of it either. But it was because her mind had already told her the truth and she couldn't deny it and hope for the impossible. That simply wouldn't be her.

"Jr.?" she called, reaching a hand out and touching his cheek. She wasn't expecting a response, but she had to try nonetheless.

The pain had finally started to fade a little, though it was slowly being replaced with an undeniable cold that only felt worse. Pain was a sensory to let you know you were still alive.

Was he still alive?

He hadn't even heard his name, really, as out of it was he was by this point, but the touch to his cheek startled him enough to make his one working eye open. The blue that was normally so brilliant had long since faded to something cloudy and glazed. The other remained closed, the blood still attempting to trickle out little by little.

It took him a moment to recognize who it was, and he tried to shift, but it only made him slump over a little more.

"Damn...woman... You startled...me..." His words were choked, not to mention wet with the blood that kept spilling forth. Even though much caused him to fall into a bloody coughing fit, at least having the energy to turn his head away a bit.

Elena had to bite her bottom lip to keep from crying out with unexpected joy and relief. Jr. was alive. Even if it was only for a short while, she had gotten to him before he was completely gone. And for now, that was enough.

Swallowing and clearing her throat, Elena attempted a small half-smirk, though it came out more as a pathetic looking thing that was more sad then smirk. "It's your fault for letting your guard down then."

Taking off her jacket, Elena quickly ripped one of the sleeves and used the cloth to clean up the blood mess trailing down from Jr.'s mouth. Tossing aside the soiled cloth once she was done, Jr. didn't look like someone bad attempt at a vampire anymore at least, she set to work, ripping up another strip and cleaning up the rest of Jr.'s face. She wouldn't try to heal him. She already knew that much was futile. But she'd could stay with him while he died and do what she could to put his mind at ease and keep him company.

Once she was done with his face, Elena ripped a larger strip off and used the remainder of her jacket and set to work tying off what was left of Jr.'s arm.

It wasn't until she had reached this step that Elena choose to speak again. "You just can't seem to keep out of trouble, can you?"

He could tell she was doing her best to stay strong, and he was relieved that she wasn't trying to give him any false hope or anything like that. The last thing he needed right now was to be babied. But at least she was working to make him look a little more dignified.

When she tied off Rubedo's arm, he visibly flinched, but at the same time was a bit relieved he could still feel it. Sense of touch... He wanted to keep that for just a little while longer.

"Heh...yeah... I knew it'd catch...up with me sooner or...later...damn..."

He let go of his pistol so that he could try to push against the ground and lean forward a bit. "MOMO and...Albedo are gonna come... I dunno if I'll...last that long, but..." He wheezed. "MOMO, she... She's strong, but...having her see this, I don't... Her and Sakura...I still wanna protect... So I...held back...for them...and look what it..."

Rubedo's voice trailed off then, and his eyelashes fluttered, having a hard time focusing on what he was saying.

Elena had just finished tying off Jr.'s arm when he lent forward. Or tried to at least. Reaching for him on reflex and completely ignoring the stains she was going to get on her white blouse, Elena held onto Jr. She wasn't a stranger to blood anyway, so even if she had, it wouldn't have been that big of a deal. Pulling him closer so she could run a soft hand throuh his hair and continue his clean-up, Elena listen to each word. By the end, he was nearly gone, but he hadn't let go just yet. It would have been more merciful to just let him go, but the blonde knew mercy wasn't always what was needed most.

Slapping not quite gently, but not hard enough to bruise or hurt, Elena made sure her face was in his line of vision.

"This is no time to be sleeping if you want to still be around when Albedo and MOMO get here," she chastised lightly. "You can explain things to everyone later. But until they do get here, I'll do what I can to see if I can't get to look like something other than shit."

Her jacket was gone so that option was out... Letting out a soft sigh, Elena adjusted her hold on Jr. and set to work on doing something about his blood-stained clothes and the hole in his chest.

Albedo barely felt his feet touching the ground. He was moving -- or, at least, the area around him seemed to be changing -- but all his mind was trained on one single line.

No time. No time. No time. Nothing more, nothing less. Rubedo was injured. Bleeding. Near death. And he wasn't there...

Albedo burst into the isolated clearing and felt his heart drop into a void in his chest. There he was...bleeding, an eye missing, lids shut around a stream of congealing scarlet, the other half-closed and tinted with an odd misty gray-white fog. An arm torn off, the crude bandages around the shoulder turning dark red and dripping. A ripped gash in his torso, raw muscles soaked in blood, the sickening yellow-white shade of bone showing through. Albedo's face turned as white as his hair.

"He's dying and you're trying to make him look better?" Despite the encroaching fear and despair, his voice came out as a furious snarl. Then, as abruptly at it had come, it changed, softening and lowering to a whisper. "Rubedo. I'm here. Stay with us...look, if I can't kill you, no one can..." He snatched a piece of his white cape and, nails digging into the fabric, ripped a long shred away. Leaning around the blonde woman, he wound the strip around Rubedo's ribs, covering the hole.

Albedo tightened the strip and tied it. His gloves were turning red, but he didn't care. If Rubedo died...no, that couldn't happen. His brother couldn't leave him yet.

"You'll be fine..." He curled his long, thin fingers around the boy's hand.

"Aw, Hell..." Rubedo could sense Albedo before he could hear him. The right side of his chest hurt...and no, not where the gaping hole was. It wasn't a physical pain, though... More like an ache.

He looked past Elena's shoulder just in time for Albedo to block his view of anything else, and flinched when he felt the fabric wrap around his middle. "Lay...off her... C'mon, I gotta die...pretty...right?" He grinned, but it was a miserable one. He knew he was the furthest thing from pretty or handsome or cute or anything right now.

But he was so glad Albedo made it before he died. He ought to say something. There was something he really ought to say. Instead, he just tried to push against Albedo's hand to shake it off. "Don't be...a baby... I'm dying...you bastard. What are you...gonna do...break my...neck before I...bleed to death...?"

Every word was hoarse, and he was having more and more trouble speaking. In truth, Albedo killing him might have been more merciful than this, but he would never ask. Elena might be able to handle that, but he doubted that MOMO--

"MOMO!" he rasped out when he saw her, and that was when he felt sickest. For a moment, he had seen her, and thought he saw Sakura. When would he get over that? When? Sakura was always linking him to the past. He couldn't reject her, but was accepting her any healthier?

He couldn't taste anything more when he swallowed, but he still did his best to offer a cocky grin. "I bet I know what the old man would say to me right now, huh..."

She had stopped a few feet away, all too aware of her surroundings suddenly as she looked on. This wasn't supposed to happen. Jr. was stronger than that, knew better than to get himself beaten up as badly as he was. Should have known better than to get himself hurt over her.

It was her fault. Golden eyes slid shut at the sound of his voice, snapping open again when he mentioned Ziggy. Would Ziggy have done the same? The little Realian didn't know, but she forced herself to move forward to Jr.'s side, sinking to her knees beside him. "I'm sorry," she whispered, glancing away.

It's a regular party now, Elena thought sarcastically, as the two people that Jr. had been waiting for finally arrived. She refrained from commenting about their reactions though. It was a bit of a surprise to see what Albedo's reaction had been, but then again, he did have his reasons for it. MOMO's had been somewhat expected. She was a little girl after all.

Not releasing her hold on Jr., Elena did, however, free up a hand to run it through her blonde hair and the lock that always hung forward. If there was a bit of blood smeared in the process, oh well. Not like there was anywhere she could wipe it off on. She was going to have the play the bad guy soon, judging from the reactions she'd seen, and she needed a quick breather to prepare herself.

"He's dying and saying sorry or saying false truths aren't going to do him any good you know," she stated plainly, addressing the two before her. Letting out a small sigh, Elena steeled her voice and went on. "Jr. hung on so he could see you two, though it would have been more merciful to just finish killing him. So if you have anything to say besides apologies and blame, or false statements, say them now."

Then, in what might have been deemed a cold-hearted gesture, Elena shrugged. "Or you could just wait until the city revies him and tell him then. If that's the case, I can kill him now and we can shorten our waiting time."

MOMO's apology made his grin falter, before it completely crumpled and he also looked away.

"...Nah, I...don't think he'd...say that..."

He knew that wasn't what she was saying, but he couldn't bear to think that MOMO would be blaming herself over his mistake. Yeah, it had gotten a little personal, and he wouldn't say that she hadn't been involved, but his choice had been his own... He hoped she could understand that...

Rubedo had been the stupid one. He was too busy holding back, considering what had happened the last time he hadn't.

Still, there was no way Rubedo could have managed to get all those words out, so instead he shifted his hand from Albedo's to MOMO's, squeezing weakly. "Don't worry...about it... And Elena...take it...easy... It's okay..."

He had to think quick. He was feeling too cold, and had no energy left. What could he say? What was there to say? He had heard the rumors that the City would just bring him back, but after how long? And would he be missing his arm? What was going to happen?

Rubedo's cloudy blue gaze switched from Elena to Albedo, and finally to MOMO again before he sighed and rested his head back against the trunk, absently stroking his thumb against a chain on MOMO's wrist. What was that hanging there...a...bullet? Oh... The charm he'd given her...

"Of all the...times...now is when...I can't remember any cool...lines... Damn... There was that one...what was it... 'Those who live...deeply....have......"

Suddenly, his grip slackened, and his eye slipped shut. A light tremor went through him as
he struggled to try and finish his sentence, but it was all just white.

And then black.

"Rubedo!"

The agonized cry tore from his throat before he could stop it. He hated the sound it made -- it was horrible, that...that pining sound from someone like him. But it didn't matter now...nothing mattered now...none of it...

Would the City revive his brother? And if it did...would he still be able to return to their old worlds? What if...no, he didn't want to live chasing ghosts as Rubedo had chased Sakura. If Rubedo was dead...as much as Albedo would regret everything he had said, everything he had done, for the rest of his eternal life, he wouldn't have to look the boy in his blue eyes again and know that it was all so futile. If he had to die, let him die...if he didn't, keep him alive...

As the boy's body slumped forward, Albedo leaned forward and caught it before it could reach the ground. Although his clothes were streaked with red now, he held Rubedo there, eyes closed, feeling his brother's skin turn cold. And, despite his best efforts to keep his face calm and cold, little glistening drops formed at the corners of his eyes.

Rubedo...I didn't mean to put you through so much pain... A little damp line trickled down one cheek and fell into Rubedo's hair.

MOMO stared at the hand in hers for a moment before glancing over at Albedo. The shock registering in her face was either from the white-haired mans response or from Jr.'s death, it wasn't clear beyond the fact that she was shocked.

And hadn't even thought to try her healing ether. The Realian kept her hand in his though, not fully aware at the loss of heat. It crossed her thought process that she might be malfunctioning, as she couldn't come up with an appropriate response at first. But after a moment of watching Albedo she shifted her gaze to the blonde woman.

"His arm. I should reattach it," she mumbled. If she used the E.S. Zebulun to boost her ether skills, there shouldn't be too much of a problem. And if there was, there was someone on the network with the ability to reattach limbs. But if she did it, chances were it could be completed before he was brought back, which was her main concern. Don't let him wake up without his arm.

It occurred to MOMO that she wasn't acting like she really should in the circumstances, but what could she do? Her emotions didn't allow for the appropriate response of crying, however much she might want to.

It was in times like this that Elena wished she acted like most other people and just gave into the emotions she felt, but she couldn't. Too much training had been engrained into her to let herself cry in front of others like this. It wasn't so much that it was a weakness, but crying didn't do anything and never got anything done. Though later for sure, she'd find a vent for her feelings.

Backing off and closing her eyes, Elena took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"You should since we don't know how long it'll take for the city to revive him and we don't know how it plans on doing it," Elena spoke softly. The steel had gone out of her voice and, though she wasn't crying, she couldn't control all her sadness. "And we should probably move him somewhere inside so we can do whatever else we can."

A small, humorless chuckle. "Though I don't know what we're going to do about that eye of his. Maybe give him an eyepatch and suggest he become a pirate?"

"I wasn't aware you could be a pirate cowboy." It wasn't meant to be anything but a statement of fact; she really wasn't aware.

She moved carefully, freeing her hand as she stood up, glancing over at where the E.S. Zebulun could be seen in the distance. "I can take care of it at my place, if one of you will carry him."

MOMO ignored the blood and went to retrieve his arm since the other two seemed loathe to move. With her back to them she let her eyes close, pausing for a moment before picking it up. Her mind was already running through the possibilities, working out her options to restore both his eye and his life, although the eye did come first.

"I'll do it. But either you keep him in my room, or I stay with you." Albedo rose, lifting his brother's body as if it were made of feathers and could flutter away at the slightest shake. I won't leave him. He narrowed his eyes and shot a fierce violet glare at MOMO, but much of the force was gone from it.

"I assume he can come back with us all when we return to our world."

The words that Albedo said and the statement he proclaimed caused Elena to stop for a moment and just look at the man. She studied him, trying to not make it seem too obvious about what she was doing. But... While Jr. was the man in a child's body, it seemed that Albedo was the child in a man's body. The two of them...

Shaking her head slightly, the blonde woman decided not to correct Albedo's assumptions just yet. It wasn't really her place to do so.

Standing up, Elena went through the motions of dusting off her pants, thinking over what the next logical steps would be to take. She wasn't planning on leaving just yet.

"Now that's that matter is settled, shall we go? Whatever did this to Jr. might come back and I'm not really interested in adding to the body count."

"You can stay," she shot back, calm. She wasn't letting him go either.

Carrying the arm carefully she made her way back to them, keeping her expression blank. "I doubt it will return, since it left him for dead. But it's better if we get him healed quickly."

He kept his eyes on the horizon, refusing to look at Elena. Don't say he can't come back. If you say it, I'll kill you. A sudden aura of tension and rage surrounded him, but it unraveled and vanished as soon as it came, leaving him feeling hollow and standing gingerly, like a ghost ready to vanish. He had only proclaimed the statement as a statement -- as opposed to a question -- for outer confidence's sake. Inward, he didn't want to know the answer. He just wanted to believe that Rubedo would come back...

And if he didn't...then the moment had come. The day he knew, somewhere inside, that he would have to see. He would outlive his brothers, both of them, and Rubedo would die. But like this...why like this? By some beast that could have easily gone after someone else? By a strike that Albedo would have taken for his brother, had he only been there at that moment? By something he could have chosen to survive, but Rubedo could not?

And now here he was, holding the body in his hands, painted with the blood, red stains on white...

He couldn't take it. No more of this. Something far more guarded and fragile and final was about to break, and if that happened, he would never keep a hold on himself again. His last bastion of outward stoicism, the bitter, wry edge in his voice, returned at full power.

"As soon as he wakes up -- as apparently both of you think he will -- I'm going to track that beast down and tear it apart." He set off at a moderate pace for building 6, keeping his expression as blank as possible, but still noticing blurs at the sides of his vision. He cursed them and blinked them away. "And you two are going to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid, because he'll try. He was climbing through my blasted window right after the last time he hurt himself."

That little voice, the whispering, strange, eerie voice, the voice of a child and a man, a spirit and a mortal, curled in his ear and spoke so faintly that he could barely hear. What if he doesn't come back?

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Log; Ongoing

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