Sacrifice
Three figures emerged from the automatic doors, very much out of place in their free flowing robes. The busy lab assistants paid them no mind. A particularly preoccupied individual attempted to go straight through the figure on the right. She quickly side stepped the man although his thin frames caught on her golden trim. The glasses clattered on the ground. Perplexed, he picked them up and stared at the three figures, seeing only the plain metallic wall. He attributed the sudden jerk he felt to coincidence and continued. The previous delays in Momentum's research had them scrambling to make progress now that the project had inexplicably been reopened. No need to bother with such inconsequential matters.
"Nice one, Rei," Manjoume teased. She gave him an uneasy smile, hiding the splitting headache the panicked spirits in the vicinity were inflicting upon her. The damn things remembered the last time. So, they made it a point to bother her and insist she keep the event from happening.
I am not a hero. I was afraid and choose something horrible. She reminded herself, ignoring them.
How typical, demanding something you cannot give, soon, you will command them all. Cusillu promised, completely loathing his rebellious kind. Unfortunately, Cusillu didn't know her near as well as Piscu knew Asuka. Rei cared not for power.
With all that I have forsaken, it is still all about what the damn ape wants. She grumbled. The god didn't correct her.
At least he is honest, she decided. It's what she liked about him. He spoke little, but he told her exactly what she needed to do.
It's not like he doesn't help me. She admitted as the group made their way to Momentum's core. The god would grant her small things. She doubted that she could do half the things she did now in her current condition had she been alive.
More importantly, he made no qualms about her skirting around with a particular friend of hers. He even hid her secret from the others gods. A small favor she was especially grateful for since its reveal would lead the gods to ground her into dust.
Those spirits wouldn't come to me if it wasn't for Johan. She thought, her body aching as it did when she suffered any sort of morality. Johan confused her. The man's midnight company gave her a sort of tingle that a dead woman shouldn't be able to feel.
I feel alive when I'm with you. She admitted wistfully to the absent figure. Of course, like many of Rei's exploits, there was something wrong with who she choose. Ryo had been too old for her, Manjoume too unwilling, and Judai way too naive. Well, before the Dark World incident, she conceded. The changes had been hard to miss. Afterwards, he began to politely ignore Rei, although that never stopped the hypocrite from eating the snacks she made.
This time, Johan was too good. Sure, he put up with her, but she planned to bring the world into hell which directly conflicted with his interests considering he kind of liked the world the way it was. Rei's awareness of this bothered her. Playing with her, consoling her, healing her even, a dead body, it made no sense.
Why do you come to me? I'm not special. She asked herself, not expecting her mind to formulate any sort of answer.
I just want to help you. The empty echo of his voice replied, simple and earnest as always.
Please don't. She begged the absent specter. For decades, he remained as unaged as she, unwillingly to age gracefully and stop making a general nuisance of himself. She imagined this happened to be one of the many perks of being the super special rainbow guy forever protected by the crystal beasts. He could drop dead anytime he wanted without making stupid deals with callous devils.
Why did I tell him not to come? She scolded herself, a bit frantic that the city would be demolished again. She did not want him anywhere near the place. She told him as much, but she knew him.
If he . . . She bit her lip, contemplating a new mess of possibilities. Rei was unable to continue a particularly destructive train of thought thanks to Asuka shaking her out of her inner mind bubble.
"Johan is in the building. He's up to something. Rei stop whatever he's planning." Her usually passive face showed a hint of a frown, and her slender brows came down like a water fall. Rei could translate well enough. Get him out of here.
With Asuka's blessing, she ran the opposite direction, shoving several scientists out of the way in her haste. Rei cursed silently, knowing the others would not hesitate to reverse Momentum regardless of whether or not Johan was in the building. He would die if she couldn't drag him out of the lab.
He didn't listen. The idiot is going to blow himself up without my permission. I'll kill him before I let that happen. She cried, unwilling to quell her impulsive murderous tendencies when overcome by such palatable emotion. What a fool I was to trust him so completely, I should have told him nothing. Rei didn't consider his purpose here. And yet, despite her initial murderous rage, all that mattered was she needed him alive. An increasingly desperate panic consumed her, the stupid halls all looked the same, and she was having trouble uncovering Johan's aura. For once, she felt truly blind.
His aura is light. If you look deep inside it, you'll see a rainbow. Honey, he likes honey and strawberries. She rambled, failing to spot anything remotely resembling Johan's aura.
Everything's so bland here. It can't be this hard to spot a rainbow. She yelled in frustration as she scrambled to locate him. In a rare moment of thoughtfulness, Cusillu heard her pitiful cries and transported her straight into the path of her target.
Do what you will. The simian stated, unconcerned by her detour. With his power, she could easily deflect the coming destruction. If she lost her reason to live, however, she would be of no use to him. The god did not have the luxury of being able to abandon its vessel as the Crimson dragon could. They were connected, and like it or not, this boy held value to her. The ape would be out of the way in the meanwhile.
She held her hand to her heart, glad feel him near. Her senses faintly outlined Johan crouched over a man who clearly would soon bleed to death. She smelled it all the way from the other end of the hall way. That guy, always needs to help everyone, she grinned, quickly making her way over to him. Her smile faded as Rei realized why Johan had decided to help this particular man. Both their arms were glowing in that threatening crimson aura, the dragon head and the claw. Her heart sank. He used her. He was her enemy all along.
The man muttered something to Johan, handing over four silver lined cards. He then clutched Johan's shoulder, speaking with an urgency that wasn't there before. Rei didn't care to pay attention. She understood what the man wanted Johan to do well enough.
At least we have the same goal at the moment, she decided. She would knock Johan unconscious, gag him, and beat the stupid bloody dragon out of him until he understood he was hers and not the Crimson Dragon's.
Its recent, or I would have warned you. Cusillu said solemnly, sensing his host's distress. If the current revelations weren't enough to make her panic, the next words out of her god's mouth were.
Hurry, both Aslla Picus and Uru's chosen are heading this way. The simian finished, again making himself scarce. She didn't take any more time to ponder the situation. The time to act was now. Rei smashed Johan across the opposite wall, ironically just as he planned to depart. She yanked the cards out of his hands, securing them while still keeping them as far away from her life source as possible. Rei punched him across the jaw, taking advantage of her rekindled fury. Unfortunately, Johan had managed to keep hold of one of the offending cards and instinctively transported said card out of her reach. She huffed. The dragon was probably on its way to one of Asuka's dear children or their biological parents as the case may be. The thing would be easy enough to snatch later from such unsuspecting hands.
She dragged him away quickly, wishing to limit the other man's influence on her dear Johan. She wanted answers from him, not his damn accomplice.
"Asuka, there's something I need to talk to you about now that we are alone." Manjoume insisted, glad for the opportunity. He expected the rather biting temper she accrued over the years to show its fury considering they were in a middle of a rather crucial juncture. Fortunately, holding her new child alleviated Asuka's mood substantially, she cooed at the pudgy bundle in her arms before answering.
"Are you asking to be the father?" She replied passively. The little baby in her arms remained remarkably quiet since they first unburdened the passing mother. Asuka stared into the baby's tranquil sapphire gaze. She held her pinky in front of him hoping for any sort of response. He stared at it briefly with a puzzled look before gripping it. She encouraged him softly, stroking his plain black spiky hair. Manjoume tried his best to tune it out. It would make what he had to say even harder. Most of all, he didn't want to accept that this was the happiest he'd seen her in a while.
Asuka frowned as she remembered the rather brutal scene that the little one had witnessed minutes before. She hoped his young mind wouldn't develop a trauma from the spectacle. Their presence had changed nothing. Rudger had kept his insane desire to dispose of his former friends for the interruption of the project and security remained as trigger happy as before, shooting the baby's mama shortly after she took him from the crib. Asuka, for one, was glad she wouldn't have to wrestle the boy from his pleading mother. Still, the baby's lack of response after the incident worried her. He hadn't uttered a sound, not even when he was first removed from his mothers surprisingly firm grip.
The little boy must have sensed what happened somehow. Asuka decided as the little crab head had no qualms about being transported out of the vicinity.
Meanwhile, Manjoume stopped in his tracks, at a loss for words at the question. Frankly, he wanted to say yes. Despite the current convoluted means, he often wished to have a family with her. Today, she asked him. A chance that would not come again. He shook his head. At the end of the day, what mattered was their welfare. He had developed a very accurate picture of what exactly each death god planned for the bundles of joy heading their way. Most involved very unpleasant results shortly after their arrival. Uru kept trying to urge him into a similar line of thinking, but what made him avoid falling into that mindset was the goddess before him. He understood exactly what drove her, and if that where taken away, he did not know if there would be any Asuka left in the flesh in front of him.
"That's not what I wanted to ask." He answered, avoiding the subject. Not exactly a no, he assured himself. For a moment, she appeared stupefied, shocked by his quick dismissal. Subconsciously, she held the small life closer. He had put her on edge by going against her expectations. The dark clad figure put an arm around her shoulder anyway and went through with giving her a reality check.
"Do you think you can take care of this baby?" He responded promptly. She narrowed her eyes and in Manjoume's mind stood much taller. She walked slowly down their planned path. All sorts of workers passed her, unaware of the nearby shooting. They had not bothered to unleash chaos yet. The baby was much too important to risk during the explosion. So, they indulged in a brief detour.
"Of course, I've spent decades waiting for this moment. Are you telling me I"m not mature enough to handle the responsibility?" She scoffed, headstrong as always. The baby laughed in agreement. She lit up again at the sound, glancing at Thunder, with an air of self assurance. Like the stupid laugh was a real miracle, Manjoume thought sarcastically. Manjoume held his temper. Already, he didn't like that kid.
"That's not the problem, its everyone else. Ryo made a sly remark about drowning your kids in the bathtub, kinda completely under his god's influence on that one. Edo is insane half the time from his possession, no telling what could go wrong there. Rei and Jim are reasonable now, but the point is you can't protect them all the time." Manjoume said, stopping before he started to ramble on and lose all credibility. He courteously omitted what the spider had instructed him to do. He didn't plan to go through with any of it anyway.
"Oh," She faltered. They had promised to cooperate and give her plan a chance, but it seemed, perhaps, only the humming bird might be worthy of her trust. The others were prepared to bury her children in tiny coffins before she even saw them. She looked down at the wrapped figure, sleeping peacefully in her arms and closed her eyes and pushing the argument from her mind. She had a reactor to blow up and a baby to deliver to safety. There would be time to talk about the future later.
They wouldn't dare kill the vessels before we seal the marks onto them permanently. The dragon would simply escape. Piscu assured her. The comment didn't really ease her nerves any. Instead, she focused on eliminating said nerves herself. Over the years, the bird had coached her on burying emotions, an ability which came in handy today. The doubt washed away, at least temporarily.
"I'll keep what you told me in mind," She said cooly. He sighed in relief as if talking to her had been some huge ordeal. She was ready to finish what they started, but first, she wanted to make one thing clear, especially concerning the Spider immortal. He may not have mentioned his own qualms about the children, but if he warned her, the suggestions Uru implanted in his mind must have been deplorable.
"One day, my children will ask who their father is," She stated plainly. Manjoume staggered as he had expected the subject to drop after he had brushed her off. He composed himself and waited, a thin veil of hope visible in his posture and expression. You can burn away the boy's life until he serves an Incan deity, but you can't take the lover out of the boy.
"Out of all the male dark signers, I trust you the most," She admitted, rocking Yusei who opened his eyes and started to fuss.
The boy doesn't like you. Uru teased, displeased that his partner was a snitch. He might as well start breeding dislike between them. The problem with strong servants was that they were difficult to motivate, best to add incentive early. Manjoume grumbled slightly but didn't comment. Reassuring the baby left her unable to look as intimidating as she wanted, but she managed an aloof stance before laying some poisonous words on him.
"However, as far as I'm concerned, they don't have one. One day, Jim will try to kill me to spare the world its destruction." She said flatly. The baby started to whimper after hearing the words kill. She muttered some sort of tune that she heard Judai play once, and it seemed to keep the well from bursting. Manjoume flinched, dreading the end of her speech. No speech that started with the word kill ended well.
"Ryo might betray me by destroying my new family if only because he longs for his own. I wouldn't blame him, not like I would if Jim did me in." She spit out, anger building, and the boy seemed to sense the hostility and shift uneasily
"In the end, I would see it coming. Jim needs the idea of salvation to keep him going. Ryo gave up his morality when his brother died. How fair was it that he survived and his brother died after all?" She summed up sadly. Manjoume hadn't realized just how much Asuka considered death by their hands a possibility. A small bit of bile made it out of his mouth, he knew he would hate the end of the longest most poignant rejection ever.
"But with you, I don't feel safe. Your god wants to be in charge. Right now, you care for me but how long until that turns to hate? I couldn't take that sort of betrayal, not with my family involved. You will never be their father." She enunciated curtly, and his face stung as if she had slapped him. Did she really believe it was only a matter of time until he betrayed her? Still, judging by the way she kept looking down at the baby every few minutes, Manjoume had done enough, if nothing else, those signer kids might be a little safer because of his input. It didn't take long for her to regain her usual confidence and continue forward. Unsure of where that left him as far as their current objective went, he hesitated but followed her anyway, forever lasts a long while after all.
"What the hell?" Rei screeched into Johan's ear. He winced unable to really remove himself from her grip. The man felt dizzy from the previous blows, and she carried him more like cargo than a human being at the moment. Considering what she previously saw, he thought himself lucky that the hovering disaster of Zero Reverse prevented her from unleashing her full fury.
"I told you I've been looking for a way to reverse what the Immortals did." Johan said, defending his actions, truly thinking himself correct. Rei didn't want to hear any more lies.
"By allying yourself with the thing that is trying to kill us," She hissed, leaning enough to the right of the spacious hallway to have him hit his head repeatedly on the wall. Ow. She kept him from explaining further, slightly more interested in scolding him at the moment than hearing excuses. Johan sighed knowing he would be met with resistance.
"As far as I know, the dragon just wants to keep balance in this world. Once the immortals are sealed, it can . . .," Johan said just as the alarm rang. He winced, knowing the likelihood of reaching her in the next few seconds was almost impossible. Any trust Rei had for him had been broken when she sensed the signer mark on his arm. Dammit, he was going to try anyway. His friends souls were on the line.
"I think we barely missed her," Asuka sighed in disappointment. Turning to the semi conscious man, she glanced at Manjoume before making a decision.
"Go on ahead, I need to talk to him." She said suddenly as if following a whim. Manjoume looked at her incredulously.
"This is Mr. Fudo. I'd like a few words before, you know, we blow him up." She remarked dismissively. The man perked up at the words, blow up and raised his head, suddenly very aware that a dark signer was holding his child.
Manjoume reluctantly let them be and headed to momentum's core. She glared at Jun, making it frightfully clear that he should not start the reaction till he was damn sure she and the baby where out of the building. Manjoume sighed, knowing he needed the time to take care of Rudger who had descended into madness due to the timeline melding together. The man still had some echo of Uru's past possession or so the spider had informed him casually. Manjoume would just have to put him out of his misery.
Mr Fudo coughed, severely damaged in his attempt to defy Momentum's revival. Now he feared that it came too late, and his family would suffer. The male signer left on the girl's command, and he hoped to find the strength to pry his boy out of the woman's hands. She knelt down to meet him, and Yusei immediately gurgled some foreign greeting. Sometimes, Mr Fudo wished he'd invested more time working on that baby translator. He really doubted that anyone would have turned against him for that, and he'd know what his boy's last words to him might of been if they meant anything at all.
"What did you do to Lily?" He demanded with as much rage as he could muster. The raggity bits of his coat weren't helping stabilize him. He'd lost too much blood. The woman frowned, rocking Yusei preemptively.
"Rudger ordered both of you dead. I found him being held by her lifeless corpse." She explained with more detail than was warranted. She did take care to avoid using the word kill this time to keep Yusei from tearing up. The words dead, lifeless, and corpse didn't appear to register any negative connotations yet. He frowned, knowing Rudger ill for quite sometime. He wanted to blame her, but there was a strong possibility one of his closest friends had indeed doomed them.
"Who are you?" He asked, he had assumed that Rudger hadn't had the time gather anyone else yet, and both victims looked quite young. There was a chance the girl might still have enough compassion in her to at least take his little one to someone he trusted, which, unfortunately, now only consisted of Goodwin.
"The woman whose taking care of your baby," She retorted gleefully. She smiled in triumph when a new found terror met the man's face. His hands shook, and his left arm glowed dully of the dragon's mark. The alarm sounded, and he knew that could only mean his worst predictions might come true in the next few seconds. The humming bird's vessel hummed pleasantly although he could see her tense slightly and hold his boy tighter. She closed her eyes momentarily before leaning closer to him.
"I'm giving you a choice," She informed him. Mr. Fudo found it hard to concentrate with the siren's warning urging him to escape when he honestly couldn't. He nodded, stroking his little star, so close, yet out of his reach.
"He can die with you," She suggested, handing him the child, and the siren sounded much too loud, now that he held him. Yusei squeaked in contentment, and Mr. Fudo felt dizzy and agitated. He wouldn't go through with this. He mumbled sweet nothings to Yusei whose over enthusiasm knew no bounds. Mr Fudo tried to think of the last time he had time to hold him. He regretted that, in total, the times he had were few and far between.
"Or you can give him to me," She said, her outstretched hands clearly indicating she considered herself the obvious choice. He looked down at his boy who smiled, unaware that his father was seriously considering handing him over to a sworn enemy. The dragon head ever present since his youth disappeared from his arm and with that, he figured that he had no options left, not if he wanted his boy alive. It didn't matter what she was, if it meant he might live. He handed him over quickly, an arrangement that caught Yusei by surprise. The boy whimpered, no longer comfortable in the strangers arms. She brightened, naturally easing the boy's doubts. Mr. Fudo smiled in spite of himself, reassured that he made a good choice, considering his four other options were either now insane, dealing with the insane, dead, or had been dragged away by another dark signer.
"He'll be loved. Don't you worry," she promised, oddly relaxed now that she technically had permission to take him. She didn't plan to stick around and keep the scientist company however. There was no telling if Manjoume might spring the lever too soon.
"Don't get him killed," he eked out, his breathing shallow. Even her motherly actions couldn't completely undo his mistrust, he wanted an affirmation. She nodded, transporting out of the area. Yusei, without warning, began to wail as he traveled further and further away from his father. The little one had learned quickly that it was the fastest way to be returned to him when his father decided it was time for work again. His mother would often do just that and most of the time he would hold him a little longer, just enough to put Yusei to sleep. This time, however, his new guardian knew better than to turn back.
The crying stirred her buried emotions, and her previous doubts began to resurface. Asuka understood why the signer might be concerned that she, a dark signer, would get his child killed, and although she knew this would not happen by her hands, Mr Fudo's last words had reminded her of the others murderous intentions and what Thunder said began to eat at her.
His opinion means nothing. The boy is in our hands. That's all that matters right now. The humming bird interjected, edgy since Uru's host first alerted her to the situation. She nodded unsure of that herself.
Jim waited outside the buildings steps. His job was simple but pivotal. Take the baby, find the two toddlers and take them somewhere safe until everyone returned. If the dragon's track record held, they expected the signers to remain unscathed but that didn't mean Asuka planned to take any chances. She suddenly appeared before him. Jim cracked a toothy grin. His feelings for the girl in front of him might fluctuate from hate to love, but it was a relief to see both she and the baby untouched. The soon to be orphan screeched horribly, and while Jim couldn't help but admire the set of lungs on the little guy, his job wasn't looking as easy as he thought it would be. Asuka seemed to be taking the complaints personally, rocking and shushing as she handed him over to Jim. He took the kid, and his undisguised appearance appeared to increase the volume of Yusei's pleas.
"Don't worry. He'll be in good hands while I get the other two. I'll take him to Ryo, might give him a chance to bond with someone new. I know you probably don't want him anywhere near this area when the blast hits." Jim said conversationally, trying to ease the tension he felt emanating from Asuka's figure. She did an immediate one eighty, looking more high strung than before.
"No, not Ryo, take him to Fubuki." She insisted. He raised an eyebrow curiously.
"You sure? He can barely keep standing these days." He argued reasonably. Asuka clenched and unclenched her fists nervously. She didn't want to discuss what Manjoume had said with her current time restraints.
"Yeah, I trust him." She emphasized, before transporting again. Jim followed suit if only because the sirens told him now wasn't the best time to demand more answers. They had bought a cradle a while ago. He sourly remembered the term cradle robber come up. He wanted such things to occur under less morbid circumstances, but it was the closest his day came to normal these days. Activities involving the new kids settling in were the only times everyone had a sort of joy to their demeanor. Even Fubuki who rarely spoke, except during brief discussions with Asuka, liked the idea of children hanging around.
"Time to meet your uncle, little guy," Jim told the little tike who seemed keen on ignoring anything the strange man had to say while wailing uncontrollably. The room was dark and pallid, very much against the owner's usual tastes. He just didn't have much to feel happy about anymore. Luckily for him, Jim was coming in with a new precious face. The sight of the babe seemed to spur him into standing. Jim was afraid Fubuki might just fall over thanks to his over exuberance. He signaled to Jim to hand over the rioting infant. Jim figured he could catch them both if he needed to, and Yusei exchanged hands for the fourth time that day. Much to Jim's annoyance, Fubuki's excellent people skills served him well, despite their disuse. The baby stopped crying in a matter of minutes.
Asuka fluttered down gracefully to the scene below, landing in between the fallen Rudger and his equally flattened brother, Goodwin. She looked up at the man responsible who heaved unsteadily from his earlier brawl. The two brothers were not easy to take down, and had Uru not backed him but his old predecessor, Manjoume doubted he would have succeeded.
The spider mark glowed stronger although both of the lab assistants where very much alive. Asuka gave him a pat on the back for his effort, but now came the dirty part of the mission.
"You do realize we have to kill them. We can't risk uncle Goodwin or Dark Signer Rudger surviving." She declared promptly. Manjoume nodded, not calling her on the clearly selfish call as far as Goodwin went. Both appeared horrified, the only difference stemmed from Rudger connecting that this karmic punishment had to do with the rapidly diminishing purple glow on his arm.
"Please, I didn't ask for this. Let us go. Whatever your planning, we won't get in the way." Rudger begged and the more articulate of the two could only nod in agreement, very worried that his other dear colleague might be dead. Manjoume hesitated realizing that the timeline had already changed at least twice. Mr. Fudo was not a signer before the shift which Jun assumed had to do with the dragon's awareness of their presence. Rudger hadn't received its mark this time. There was no guarantee that they would be enemies if they survived the blast.
Asuka rolled her eyes and bent down to finish the job. Jun would spare two previous power houses over a hunch? She wondered, in disbelief. Well, it wouldn't be the first time she made a tough call. Still, her hands couldn't quite snap Rudger's neck yet. Asuka paused, as the reality of the situation hit her. This would be the first time she actually killed someone. She wouldn't come back from that. Her godly winged beast cut in and added his perspective on her moral dilemma. It won't be the last. She recoiled at the response. Asuka was worried about her companions killing her kids but would she truly be any different if Aslla Piscu changed his mind?
Manjoume saw her inner turmoil and made a decision. He found the task easier now that it was for a noble cause. He had beaten them before, and his supernatural stamina showed its worth now. Rudger made a move to lunge, and in two steps, he snapped both their necks. Goodwin managed a decent enraged kick when his brother went down, but despite being winded, the task was no harder with Goodwin.
Asuka found herself speechless for the first time since their rebirth. Manjoume limped to the lever, and she swiped his hand away.
"This is my burden," She told him. You've done enough, Jun roughly translated. He shook his head. She made her feelings clear. Now, it was his turn.
"I will take all your burdens, Asuka. I'll keep your life safe and free of blood. Is the kid alright?" He ended casually. He screwed up, many times, by laying it on too thick, and his dramatic speech would be severely handicapped if he accidentally killed the child by igniting the contraption too soon.
"Fine, with uncle Fubuki," She replied, wiping away stray tears. He had agreed to be the monster for her. Manjoume yanked the lever, and a high pitched humming sound met them as they were pushed back by the destructive force. Instinctively, they held each other as their fortified bodies were tested. Their clothes began to tear and that was when Manjoume decided it best to transport. The resounding blindness from the array of colors pressing against him caused him significant discomfort, and he blinked profusely trying to dispel the bright light from his eye sockets. Asuka had remembered to close her eyes, but she limped forward still recovering from the blasts excessive force. When his sight finally returned to him, he whistled. This entire half of New Domino was unrecognizable. Manjoume said the first thing that came to his mind.
" I didn't realize it would only take a few seconds for this to happen." Manjoume said, staring at the wreckage with an empty sort of appreciation.
"Where are you going?" He asked, in awe that she was heading back to the disaster area's center. She smirked slightly as she held her hand to her forehead to get a better view.
"To my new castle," She replied happily, heading to Momentum's active core. He returned the smirk, but it seemed that this would weigh on him much longer than it would for her. He followed again because for him, this was the only path he wished to follow.
"No, you can't," Rei demanded, tears streaming down her face. He couldn't be sure whether it reflected the frenzy signifying everything about to fall apart or his own secret recently revealed.
"Help," Johan shouted above the sirens. A nervous tingling descended on him. Is this how it feels? Knowing you're going to die? Johan reflected briefly before regaining his focus. He needed the message to get through. You can live, Rei. Please, hear me. We're not exactly out having tea right now. There's no time. Johan pleaded silently.
"Lies," She responded, glowing yellow as she attempted to transport before the blast hit Johan. Her last use of this power had drained her. She transported them too slowly. The blast hit them upon their exit. Rei prayed he made it unscathed.
"The signers and the dragons" Johan mumbled to her. He could sense himself slipping, almost like he was falling off the bed. Rei's eyes were more fixated on the giant piece of shrapnel jutting out of his belly than his words.
"Traitor!" She yelled in anger and grief. He shouldn't have come. She declared again, loathing his determination to change them. Wasn't I enough this way? She wondered, but Johan hadn't quite passed yet.
"can," He coughed out, almost losing touch but holding her hand led to some relief somehow. He felt better, enough to speak even. She could talk sense to Asuka and the others certainly.
"Rever-" The crystal guardian began, before she rudely plunged her tongue down his throat. He pushed her off, barely. He felt his new found strength fade again. He knew damn well what would happen if he let himself enjoy that. No, he didn't have enough time to sway her, but perhaps, there was another way.
"Rei, I want you to have this," Johan said, offering her his cherished deck which glowed profusely as he held it in front of her. Her eyes widened in surprise and fear. No living man hands over his deck.
"Believe Rei. You don't have to live like this. They can save you." He beseeched her. He smiled at her one last time, accepting his departure. The years stretched for Johan because of magic so naturally the magic began to take him away. Colored hues surrounded him as his crystal beasts prepared to take him on one final journey. Rei didn't have the same complacency about the matter. She clutched both his hands attempting to cage him in his earthly body as she was forced into hers.
"No, I can save you. Let me," she begged desperately. She saw him fade as he rejected the transformation. Unlike what was done to Fubuki, she couldn't particularly name anything to threaten him into staying. Everything he held dear was literally in the palm of her hands. He trusted her with it. She wished she deserve them. Finally, he vanished from sight just like a real rainbow. Cusillu stirred, unhappy with the incessant glow of the beasts. Actually, the big ape had a lot to answer for, and she didn't appreciate the brute pestering her precious new companions.
"Why didn't you just shield us before the blast hit?" She asked evenly. How could such simple a thing be forgotten so easily? The idea that he choose not to act, unnerved her, because then, Cusillu let him die.
We Immortals recover life. We do not protect it that is not our jurisdiction. The wretched dragon decides that. The beast explained in apparent disgust.
Rei nodded, placated enough to no longer blame the spirit. The proud woman recognized the empty feeling lurking in her hollow shell. She felt nothing and therefore was truly dead. The urgency gone, the girl stayed where Johan previously disappeared for a few minutes. Finally, after she truly registered that there was nothing to wait around for, she stood and laughed bitterly at the rainbow over the horizon.
She couldn't stop herself from drowning in tears when the rainbow glow around Johan's cards faded with the mystical rainbow ahead. She heard nothing from them. They didn't want her. They wouldn't help her. She sank to the ground in despair and laid there with no hope left. The beasts had chosen to follow their one true guardian.