"Karol!" Yuri's hand shot out shoving the kid out of the radius as aer blasted out of the krene at such a volume that he felt his vision spotting.
no. No. No. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. . NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO! NO. NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!
NO!
He can't breathe. All he can feel is aer pooling into his lungs as everyone screams for Karol to run. Please, don't let him be helpless again. Please, stop burning. Stop aching! Just stop tearing him apart and let him be more than a burden in all of this.
Just let him be useful for a change!
"Yuri!"
Growling. He's growling, right? That's what the word is for the noise echoing from his throat. It feels more like he's retching. That thing giant thing is going to kill them.
Karol!
Karol's fighting it all alone because they're trapped.
Karol.
I need to save them. I need to do something.
But this body is useless. That blade tossing back and forth, "I'll protect you guys no matter what. I'm not some weak kid. I'm the leader of Brave Vesperia and I am going to set an example."
The Baitojoh dives in from above cleaving Karol but the boy stands strong. Yuri can only keep screaming and writhing as the aer floods him. His vision is so spotty but he sees Rita and Judith join the fray with Repede following after. Someone's holding him down. Patty?
"I got you. We're strong and can do this."
The aer krene is no longer being stimulated but he can't stop swallowing. His eyes water from the pain and it's the first time he's cried in a month and Yuri has had many things to cry over. A little part of him here's that apatheia calling vengeance. To kill and hurt.
Stop it! He can practically feel the bones in his hands grinding into their permanent inhuman shape. The sting of fur poking along his skin. Why is it all so red? Hungry. He's been so hungry. Shut up. Shut up! It's just a hunk of rock but it's yelling in his ears so loudly. He's clawing and barking at Patty but then he looks at the Baitojoh and… food.
He's hungry and this thing is hurting the people he cares for.
This is prey.
And we are predator.
In that moment something snaps- no, not just the bones in his face and the shape of his jaw as it extends into something closer to a snout. Not just the bursts along his back as red-hot spines shoot out splattering blood and fluids among the pure snow. Burning. He's burning and he's hungry!
Kill it! Kill it!
His mouth distends as he howls.
Running- charging on all four and leaping onto it's back digging his fangs into the hard hide.
Fighting like a man won't work.
I'm barely human.
So then- the satisfaction of flesh tearing as he swallowed the chunk whole- Yuri will fight like a monster. Laughing. Someone is laughing. He claws and tears into digging deeper with each bite. Scream louder you dumb monster.
Scream!
This is what they get for hurting his friends! This what they get for hurting him!
You made me act like a monster
You're making me a monster!
Blood. Blood. So much blood. "Yuri, stop that's enough!"
No. He's hungry. He's hungry and all things are made of aer. He's just doing what comes naturally.
Yes. This is natural. Humans are weak and Entelexeia are strong. Far stronger.
And you will never be human again.
So
Give
In
"Yuri, please, it's already dead."
Then why is one of them laughing? Why is-
It all goes black.
There are tears wept though mostly inside as they look at the unconscious form of Yuri. Karol can't believe it. There was blood dripping from his maw along with teeth littering the ground. Bigger shinier ones than before; the face somewhere between human and animal in its shape as the fur now covered everything in a thick coat except a few parts of red scales. The spikes jutted sharply like stalagmites and had an unearthly crimson glow to them.
And those things… they would never be hands again. No, they were paws with thick claws that tore flesh and those feet resembled talons. Yuri Lowell could never be thought of as human.
"Is- is it just me but does he look bigger too?" Rita stuttered breaking the silence. It was true. He did look larger. Much larger. Judith took in a deep breath and lifted him across her shoulders clearly struggling from the weight but moving all the same.
"You were very brave Karol," Patty says pulling him along, "You saved us."
"Yuri stopped the aer krene and killed it," Karol dismisses as pulls out what looks like a good makeshift cane for Rita.
Rita takes it and hobbles behind as they continue tired through the snow. They have to keep going now more than ever, "You kept it busy long enough for that to happen. I think Yuri would say you did great."
A bark of approval came from Repede and hesitantly Karol took the praise.
"What are we going to do with Yuri once we get out of here? We need to see a doctor for Rita not to mention we need gels."
Judith's breathes come out heavy in the cold air and she's sweating despite herself. "We'll figure that out when we get to it. The closest town coming out of here is what again?"
"Halure," Patty says. "We need to get to Halure but… Yuri, if he doesn't wake up at all should we do it?"
"Do what?" But everyone knows what she means. They've all gotten the talk from Yuri by now. Kill him if he's never coming back to his senses.
Rita grits her teeth, "Never! I'm not giving up on him. I'll turn him back no matter what that's a promise." She says that but then when they're forced to stop and huddle against his blisteringly warm body as the cold wind bites at their skin the doubt sets in. Yuri doesn't wake. He just breathes wet languid puffs with a whine occasionally squeezing away.
Keep moving. They have to keep moving.
The call of the knights for Flynn to hurry and that there were people who arrived who knew him. They mentioned something about a late-stage infected person and an Aspio mage with an injured foot. He's running before they can even finish.
Yuri.
His feet dash towards the inn room they've been using as an infirmary once the local practitioner's office became too crowded. Relief food through his chest because Yuri is alive. He's alive and Flynn knew he would be.
That idiot is too stubborn to die.
The door burst open and his stomach dropped. Battered and beaten were the group of Brave Vesperia exhausted on the medical beds. In the corner was that dark plum color he'd come to associate with Yuri laying on his side breathing hoarsely. Those spines- and all that fur looking like a ratty mane.
Each step closer made his skin crawl with a single word bubbling up inside of him. No. Anything but this. His face. Flynn wanted to scream but instead, he just put a hand on Yuri's head and stroked his fur gently. "Is he… How- how did- can he still talk?"
Karol grabbed his hand pulling him away. "He hasn't woken up since the Blade Drifts."
"I assume you plan on heading to Zaphias," His lips thin as he tries not to look too hard as the scales under Yuri's eyes.
"As soon as we're healed and resupplied, we're setting out," Judith says.
He nods. "Good. I'm coming with you."
Rita jolts upright in her bed, "What? Excuse me, in your condition going into an aer field that dense could kill you."
"Then you have the next thirty-six hours to figure this out because I'm leaving regardless," They need to rescue Estelle and he's not waiting on them if it comes down to it. He trusts them but also… Flynn needs to repent, and this is all he can think to do in this moment. "Captain- Raven, is here as well. I think he said he'd be working in the kitchen to get back some dexterity."
Karol's face lights up, "I'm gonna go see him." He's bolting out the door and he hears the call of Karol asking for directions along with eager footfalls.
Rita is glaring at him sourly, "Your hair get lighter or that just me?"
She's not mistaken. Flynn's hair is slowly turning from the golden yellow he's always known to a tone closer to platinum as it grows out. The armor hides it well but his right arm is coated from the elbow down in teal that fades to silver around his fingers. It's always too bright outside.
There'd been whispers behind his very sharp hearing how they glowed at night.
"Sorry to say but you have your work cut out for you." Rita shook her head.
"It's fine. I needed to fix this anyway. I've just got a deadline to push towards." Rita limps on crutches when she gets up to walk.
"You should stay in bed," Patty scolds.
"You heard the doctor, this gonna be here awhile. I need to get used to it." And yet she still planned on fighting in Zaphias. He's got to give it to her the mage has real grit. "Hey Judith, come with me I have some theories I might need you for."
Judith follows with a small hum and now it's just him, Patty, and Repede who merely say they'll give them alone time. Or as alone as they can be all considering. He's not even sure how to respond to this sight. To Yuri like this. The only thing he can think to do touch that face only to recoil because it's real.
The only- the only family he had left- the person he spent his whole life looking out for- this whole mess they called a relationship.
"Yuri, you're still in there, right? Please tell me you are?"
