Alchemist Spirit Knight Lucina

Chapter Forty Two- Puppet

Closing his eyes for a moment made Lucas feel a bit better about facing the shade of his brother. There wasn't any trace of a soul remaining in that corpse, so truly, he was not up against his brother at all. If he could have kept his eyes closed the entire time, he would have felt a lot safer, but a burning heat passing through his shirt on his chest brought Ness's warning to light. How was it he was using up his power so quickly, he had to wonder? The others never seemed to tire after a volley of spells, but did his somehow drain more power? Or perhaps he lacked their stamina? The reason didn't matter much, he supposed, only that it was happening.

Ness and Red were approaching the Masked Man in the world of the living, one holding his core in a clenched fist, and the other holding a Poké Ball like a dagger waiting to be plunged into flesh. Broken words came from their foe. "Knights… Destroy… No hope…", came out a garbled chain, followed by a bolt of lightning. It would have ran straight through Red had Ness not suddenly called out "Magnet!", drawing towards himself harmlessly.

Casting a sharp glance and nod towards Ness, Red called out his Charizard. "Okay, give that zombie a few burns to take to the afterlife," he ordered with his normal false sneer. Somehow, even without closing his eyes Lucas could sense the pounding of the Pokémon Trainer's heart and his silent prayer his idea would work. Was the core starting to overtake him again, like it had when he'd first used it? It was burning even hotter, and things seemed a bit out of focus.

Though a blast of fire came from the great dragon, Claus hardly flinched upon impact. The black jacket he was wearing must have been some armor, or something fireproof, as far as Lucas could tell. "Okay, now use Smokescreen," Red followed up, without even taking note of its ineffectiveness. A charcoal plume shot out of Charizard, solidifying like breath on a cold day. Only closing his eyes could allow him to see through it, but he hadn't even realized he was doing so.

Yellow flames were pushed by blood-colored flames towards a red-orange spark that lacked the intensity called humanity. The yellow flames, the dark red, they were both struggling to keep burning, but still had something in them that kept them from collapsing into the void his had become. What did they have to hold onto, hope? Drive? Stubbornness? Echoes he could hear coming from both told him it was a bit of both. Perhaps if he tried, Lucas could try to echo some of that.

Eyes snapping open, Lucas saw the smoke disperse from a single wing-flap, and Charizard shot into the sky with Ness clinging onto its back. The Masked Man didn't so much as look up, but simply stared straight ahead. He didn't flinch when Ness called out "Thunder!", didn't try to dodge the blue ball of energy when it collided with him, and when his helmet shattered, still didn't do a thing. It was almost as if he meant for it to break to pieces, flying off his head and crashing to the ground.

It was nigh impossible to keep his eyes open when Claus's face emerged from behind the dark glass. He looked just the same, save for the vacant look of brown eyes with no life behind them. A bitter chuckle, something closer to a convulsing or a cough came from the corpse. "Lucas…" was all it said, a short echo in a voice that didn't resemble Claus's in the slightest.

Another echo came into his head, this one benign. "Lucas, you can't listen to him!", Pit cried out. "He's not your brother, he's just a puppet, and they're just trying to scare you! Trust me, okay? I think our powers combined will be enough to take him out!"

He simply had to trust the angel if he wanted to save his brother. A pure heart and good intentions, that was all that teal flame masked. Could he call that faith in his good nature trust? He tried to push his misgivings about Pit's plans away, push away the pain of seeing his brother again, push away all the deaths and sorrow the past days had brought him. With a deep breath, he closed his eyes, and felt something reach to hold onto him.

A bright light, a surge of energy, it was almost beautiful, the power coursing through his veins. He didn't care what the Knight of Air had done, only that it had happened. Opening his eyes, the whole world seemed like a dream. Nothing was concrete, not with their souls exposed out in the open. Dying lights filled all the world, each as vulnerable as the last. He just had to get control of that corpse, right? Just make one of those cannon shots he was narrowly dodging go straight through that empty skull? That seemed far too easy, almost a bore. Perhaps he should have a bit of fun before he ended it?

"Lucas, what are you doing?", asked a teal blaze. "Did I do something wrong? What's wrong with his eyes? They aren't supposed to be that glowy, right?" What was it going on about? It didn't seem important, even if he could feel a blazing at his own chest that he felt he should pay attention to.

A twitch at the strings at his fingers, and the yellow flame danced at his will. He took shaky steps across the stage before launching a dazzling chain of sparks at the lifeless puppet acting on the will of a master that wasn't present. The audience- or was it the other actors?- were booing the scene. Was he playing the villain, perhaps? A burning told him that wasn't the case, as did a struggling voice coming out from the yellow soul. "It's overtaken him! His core, it's gonna burn up if we don't stop him!"

He was no villain, he was no hero. Was that what the script said? It was too late to worry about what the script might have said, it was already showtime. He released the yellow and started to make the red flicker. It cried in protest, told him to stop it, but he didn't pay it any mind. All these cries were starting to distract from the score. Perhaps things could quiet down on set a bit?

"We've gotta do something!", one voice called out to add to the chorus. "Red, I'll get some blood going, you try to snap him out of it!"

A quick move, but the teal flame didn't even try to be subtle as it rushed towards him. He dodged out of the way easily, but something started to sting. His hold on the red strings faltered out of shock. Something in his mind seemed to ebb away, while the flame eating at his chest grew hotter. The stage faded away, there was only a battlefield of a lifeless machine throwing shot after shot at four children, three of which were desperately trying to get the fourth to awaken.

"Lucas, calm down! This isn't about us!", Red called out, his blood throbbing to make the words stick. "Your brother needs you, just finish this!"

Couldn't the world just fade back to hazy dreams? His eyelids were heavy, and he hardly thought he could take another step. From the Masked Man's back, black metal wings sprouted, and he took to the air. Another few shots, which Ness had to deflect, as Lucas couldn't respond in time to do it himself. Things were fading away, he'd done too much. The spirit in the core, the kin of the boy he'd saved on that very spot, was it dying? It didn't have much more to give, but Lucas wasn't sure if he did either.

Pit's presence glowed brightly beside him, and he couldn't tell if his eyes were open any longer. "I'll give you a boost!", the angel cried. Lucas gave an agreeing nod, and a cry of "Lift!" produced a current strong enough to knock him towards the hovering Celestial Guardian.

Up close, it was easier to see Claus for what he really was. The wings, the cannon, they had become part of him, like the chimeras that were eating up their world back home. His brother was one of them now, one of those things he'd so hated, but somehow, he knew his true brother was there also, telling him to put an end to this. The winds carried him closer to the corpse, to the beast, but he couldn't see anything beyond a bright pink heart-flame to match what his once was. He reached for his brother.

"Claus, I'm so sorry," Lucas almost sobbed, but his eyes weren't functioning enough to produce tears. "I couldn't save you, and I couldn't save myself."

Someone reached out to grab his hands. "It's alright," a voice he'd long forgotten assured him. "You don't need to fight anymore. Your part in this is over."

"I haven't done nearly enough," Lucas insisted. "The only people I could help are still in danger, and my world hasn't gotten any nicer. If I quit now, will things be alright?"

A brief hesitation. "That's up to fate now. Well, fate and them. You've done all you could, it's time to come home."

"Home", what a funny word. Lucas had been under the impression that place no longer existed, but perhaps that wasn't the place he was thinking of. A glance backwards at the hazy world, but all he could see was a triad of flames trying to reach out to him through a veil. He didn't really want to leave them quite yet, but it seemed his time was up.

The pain of the flame at his chest bursting forth and eating up two bodies was brief, but he could vaguely hear the booms and the horrified cries.


AN- Lucas, I'm sorry you died. I really am, but I'm more sorry this didn't quite turn out right and that it's rather short than I am it happened. This'll see a rewrite pretty soon, I think, but I just wanted to get this up. Basically, he used up too much power, he was about to go crazy from it until Red interfered, and the Love core exploded, taking the Masked Man and Lucas down with it. So, three deaths this chapter? Yeah, I'm confused too. But hey, at least this is the last of the killings for a while.

Chapterly question: which parts are in the most dire need of revision? I really want to work on Red's earlier stuff and the portrayal of Lucas's powers, as both seem rather inconsistent.

So, thanks for reading! –Twilight Joltik