AATS
Chapter 28
Herbalist

Because your question searches for deep meaning, I shall explain in simple words.
-Dante Aligheri, Inferno

It had been shortly after his visit with Wilhelm that Albedo had first learned how to heal. He had injured a soldier assigned to assist him on some mission or other. It had been an accidental injury and it would have been more troublesome to leave without him so he'd given his Kirschwasser permission to heal him. He'd watched impatiently as she bent beside him, treating the large, bleeding gash in his side, when a horrible thought struck him.

No matter what his vampire had planned for him, Albedo knew that when he was reunited with Rubedo it wasn't going to be a happy reunion. It was going to be violent, earth-ending and what if, by some chance, Albedo managed to injure him? What if Albedo was too violent or Rubedo too lost in the war to keep from hurting himself?

The Kirschwasser's ether healed the soldier fast. The wound was already gone and his skin was closed and solid. He heard the soldier sigh and thank his little Realian. She stood without answering, yellow eyes forever blank. Albedo grabbed the Kirschwasser by the arm and dragged her over to him. She looked up at him expectantly, always ready and willing to do whatever was asked of her.

"Can I do that?"

She tilted her head slightly in confusion but her face held no expression.

"Heal," he clarified. "Am I capable of it?"

Am I, a weapon, a child born and bred for monstrous things, capable of healing?

His Kirschwasser's blank eyes lit up for a brief moment as she studied her master, working through every piece of data she and her sisters had ever collected on him.

"Yes," she answered finally.

"You will teach me," He commanded, shaking with urgency.

The soldier was standing now, waiting for Albedo's command. He glared over to him and then back to his Kirschwasser. "When we get back, you will teach me."

"Yes."

It was harder to master than Albedo had thought it would be. He'd never expected it to be easy to begin with but it felt almost impossible at times. He practiced at every opportunity. Sometimes, when there were none, he would create these opportunities. Enemy soldiers were ripped apart on missions and put back together only to be ripped apart again. Albedo became the go-to agent for torture and he relished it. He eagerly learned how to heal the most gruesome wounds. Bones, perforated and ruptured organs, deep lacerations, reconstruction of tissues and muscles, Albedo could heal anything. He could bring a person to the brink of death and restore them to life in mere seconds and he would repeat the cycle again and again until his victims pleaded for death and still he continued. He had to be consistent, needed to become a master at healing every horrific thing he could possibly inflict on a person, a Realian, a cyborg anything with a pulse, with flesh of any kind. He had to be ready.

He had been ready in Abel's Ark when the final showdown with his beloved Rubedo had finally, finally happened. He'd been too ready, in fact. Rubedo had been careless and lost in his power but Albedo had been extra cautious, had fed his Rubedo that life-saving ether any time he showed any signs of pain, of slowness or weakness.

He had done well. All of Albedo's hard work had paid off.

And yet, now, when it mattered more, when Rubedo needed him most, all he could do was stare at the blood covering his arm and fall apart.

Virgil's voice was muted when it hit his ears. Albedo's senses were dull, every single one of them focused on the blood. The smell, the color, the texture, and the fact that it belonged to Rubedo held him paralyzed. He had done this. He had lost control.

Virgil's fists were wrapped in his collar. He was shaking Albedo. It barely registered.

"Show me the kid!" Virgil's voice was loud, angry and frantic. "Show me the kid!"

Albedo opened the looking glass and Virgil's hands left him. He could hear his footsteps as he ran, the sound filling the area with the clink of Michtam's crystal. Virgil had been right. This had all been a mistake. No one would do this to a person they loved. He fell to his knees, every razor-sharp sense still on his arm, on the blood.

"Albedo!"

He couldn't stand. He couldn't think.

"Albedo, he's dying!"

Rubedo had been his. He'd almost won. How had it all gone so wrong? He wouldn't be able to fix it. Wilhelm wouldn't let him get close enough to fix it. The realization destroyed him like nothing before it ever had. The knowledge must have hit Virgil at the same time. His shouting had stopped. Albedo could hear his panicked pacing, the sound like short shrieks stabbing into him. Then nothing. Stillness.

"Shit!"

Something in the way Virgil said it broke Albedo out of his daze and he turned, desperate for a solution, but Virgil was gone.

Albedo controls those scenarios, was Jr.'s first thought as his eyes opened onto the ceiling of the beach house's suite. Albedo controls those scenarios. If that was true then he was in control of this one too.

Jr.'s body was going into shock. His mouth was full of blood and he was soaked in it. The bed beneath him, the sheets, all of his clothes were absolutely drenched. He felt an unbelievable need to look at his wound, to assess the true damage done, but he was past the point of movement, past the point of pain. He was almost past the point of cognitive thought. He had no way of calling for help. I could drop my defenses, he thought weakly. I could call for Gaignun. He heard a whine and found that he was still able to turn his head. Alby was beside him, covered in Jr.'s blood.

"Alby," Jr. whispered.

He tried to touch him but he couldn't lift his arm. Alby could call for help. Maybe he already had. Jr. wasn't sure if it mattered now or if anyone would make it in time. Alby cried and nestled worriedly beside Jr., placing his forehead against Jr.'s cheek.

"Alby...contac-"

"Jr.?"

Jr. looked past Alby to his bedroom door. It had been left open and he could hear someone moving around in the living room. Alby's ears perked up and he turned his head toward the sound.

"Go," Jr. told him.

Alby shot out of the bedroom, barking wildly. Jr. heard running and was hit with so much relief that he almost fainted. Alby came in first and ran straight to Jr., burrowing his nose under his neck. chaos rushed in behind him. chaos. Alby had called chaos. Jr. hadn't even realized he was back home. How long had he been fighting Albedo?

chaos took one look at Jr. and dashed to the empty side of the bed. Jr. could see the fear in his eyes as he ripped off his gloves and held his hands over the gaping hole in Jr.'s torso. He didn't say a word, didn't ask any prying questions. He worked in complete silence, only taking his eyes away from the wound to send worried glances to Jr.

Jr. had never been injured so badly in his entire life. He'd never witnessed chaos save anyone this badly injured either but he felt safer under chaos' hands than he would have any doctor or surgeon. He thought he would feel something; his organs stitching themselves back together, blood returning to his veins or the sudden reawakening of pain but Jr. felt nothing.

"Bad, huh?" Jr. choked out.

A deep frown was the only answer he received. Jr. felt chaos' fingertips on new, reforming skin. Finally, after hours of chaos' careful ministrations Jr.'s body was once again whole. chaos released from Jr. with a shaky breath. His silver hair stuck to his forehead, glued with sweat. He smoothed it out of his eyes and settled his stressed expression onto Jr.

"Jr..." He said, breathless.

Jr. tried to move but chaos gently pushed him back down.

"Don't move for a while. You've got to rest."

chaos's eyes ran over the blood-soaked bed and his face twisted into disgust.

"Maybe in the other room. We need to get you out of these clothes too."

chaos moved to lift Jr. out of bed but Jr. stopped him.

"I think I can walk."

"Jr.-"

"Just..." Jr. said through a grunt as he sat up. "Just walk with me."

Walking was painful and it made Jr. dizzy but he made it with chaos' arm around his back. When he was lowered down into the guest room's bed chaos disappeared back into the suite, returning with an armful of clothes, his jacket and his guns. As chaos laid them on the bed beside him Jr. looked down at what he was wearing, just now realizing that he was in pajamas. His shirt had a giant hole through the middle of it. He touched his stomach through it, pressed against the flesh. When had he fallen asleep? Jr. placed a hand against his head and felt chaos' anxious fingers on him again, searching.

"I'm ok," Jr. reassured him, taking chaos' hands in his and pushing them away from his head. "I'm-"

Jr. paused. chaos wasn't wearing his gloves. His bare hands were wrapped in Jr.'s but he couldn't feel his power. His shoulder stung with the memory and he pushed chaos away. Jr. reached for his guns and pointed them at his best friend.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

chaos blinked, silver brows knitting together in confusion. The sight made Jr. seethe with anger. He fired a warning shot. It singed the top of chaos' ear, burning through a few locks of his silver hair. His expression changed instantly into one of resignation. chaos crossed his arms and sighed.

"Clever, Rubedo," he said. He shrugged. "Or is it Jr.? I get so confused. This guy calls you Jr., right? I did get that part right at least."

The guest room was smaller than the suite. It had a queen sized bed and large bay windows opposite the door with two soft green armchairs that sat at the corner of the windowsill's edges. chaos walked around the bed, hands up in surrender, to one of the chairs. The barrels of Jr.'s guns followed him.

"Is that the way to treat the person who just saved your life?" He asked as he sat, arms still raised.

"chaos isn't home," Jr. growled. "He won't be back for weeks."

"Ah," chaos nodded, "Makes sense. Big plot hole."

He dropped his arms then and leaned back in his chair, arms slapping against the armrests.

"What would have made it more believable?" he asked. He raised a hand and snapped. chaos shifted away and in his place sat MOMO. She adjusted her small blue hat and smiled at Jr.

"Is this better? I thought it would have been worse. I'm not very familiar with her either. Can't get her voice right."

MOMO pointed to her throat and she was right, her voice was off. It was too deep, too rugged.

"I hate Realians but I gotta admit, this one's cute."

MOMO winked and shimmied for Jr. She crossed her legs and placed her hands delicately on one knee.

"She would have been a great healer too," she said, shrugging with one shoulder. "I don't know if she could have filled that void, though."

MOMO was chaos again. He grinned too wide.

"This one, on the other hand, is capable of just about anything. We can at least agree on that."

"Stop," Jr. shouted. chaos laughed. It was a nasty, hateful sound that the real chaos would never have been able to make.

"Come on. I never get to have fun. Oh! I know, what about this one?"

Mary took chaos' place. She turned to the side and stretched her body up, arched her back and ran a hand under her hat, burying them into her blonde locks. She gave Jr. a seductive smile, capturing him in her light blue eyes.

"She's a hot one. Her and her sister."

Mary became Shelley.

"Your brother's a lucky man."

Shelley relaxed into Gaignun. Jr. had forgotten about Alby but as soon as Gaignun was in his sight he started barking and growling viciously. Gaignun looked down at the bloody puppy and then back at Jr.'s furious gaze. "Good instincts."

Jr. fired. The bullets ripped through Gaignun's right breast and shoulder. He looked down at the wounds, fingers pulling away the destroyed fabric to inspect the damage.

"Both of you."

The guns shook in Jr.'s grip and his shape-shifting guest frowned at him.

"Listen, kid. You can relax. I'm not here to hurt you, obviously."

Gaignun gestured toward the hole in Jr.'s ruined shirt, uncaring of the wounds Jr. had just inflicted. Jr. strained to see if they were healing, if this was another of Albedo's tricks.

"I could have just let you die but here I am, in the flesh. I've been watching you for so long that it's almost like meeting a celebrity. You're basically a celebrity, right? Who doesn't know about the Foundation's Little Master?"

Gaignun shrunk down and shifted into a mirror image of Jr. Alby's barking stopped and he looked confusedly from the Jr. sitting in the chair to the one beside him on the bed holding the guns.

"I'm not sure about your powers," the imposter Jr. said with a shrug. "I think I've seen enough of them to make it look believable though."

"You said you've been watching me," Jr. said. This version of his shapeshifter wasn't harboring any bullet wounds."Why?"

"Not really sure," the imposter replied. His voice matched Jr.'s exactly. It sent shivers down his spine. "I guess I'm just bored. They don't let me out often. But hey, nobody said I couldn't pay you a visit. And you clearly needed a visit."

The imposter stood. "You really need to sleep or you're going to hurt yourself. I'm a good enough healer to know that if you don't then you're going to end up a lot worse. I've also been through it enough times to know that the pain is finally catching up with you. That's why you're shaking."

Jr.'s fingers pulled back but the imposter had been watching him. He placed his hands over the barrels, surprising Jr. into releasing the triggers.

"Don't waste it."

The imposter was right. Jr. didn't have the strength. There was a deep aching in his gut. His muscles were tightening against the pain. He was weak, a cold sweat began to break out over his skin. The imposter grabbed his elbow and Jr. looked up into his eyes, Jr.'s own eyes.

"You're not Albedo," Jr. said to the imposter. The imposter's teasing expression dropped slightly. It was strangely relaxing. "This isn't a nightmare."

The imposter shifted back into chaos and pressed gently against the boy's chest - with gloves on this time.

"Nah, not a nightmare," he said as he laid him down. "Just one hell of a dream. You're good, kid. You're safe."

Once Jr. was on his back, chaos' hand moved from his chest to his forehead. Their eyes met for a brief second but Jr.'s body was pulling him down, forcing him to rest.

"Sleep well, Jr."

Albedo was a wreck. He was leaned against the crystalline bench, a broken statue. One leg was pulled up, the other stretched out. His arms were loose, one still covered in Jr.'s blood. Virgil was surprised that he hadn't ripped it off yet. The looking glass was playing at his feet.

Jr. was right where Virgil had left him, sleeping off the ether. Alby was curled in his armpit, still soaked in Jr.'s blood but far more relaxed than he had been in hours.

Virgil walked around to face Albedo. He didn't look up. His face was still covered by his mask.

"I have to know, Albedo."

He raised his head but didn't remove the mask. When he didn't answer Virgil pointed to the sleeping boy and his now-closed wound.

"You owe me."

Albedo moved back down to the image on the floor, absorbing the sight of his sleeping Rubedo. Finally, and Virgil felt, with great reluctance, Albedo waved it away. It moved from the floor to the wall and Virgil turned to see.

"I won't stop," the kid said, "I'm going find you. Wherever you are, whatever you are. I'm bringing you home."

"You are my home."

Albedo pulled the kid down into a kiss. Things were getting hot and heavy and Virgil wanted to turn away, it felt too personal and it wasn't exactly something Virgil was interested in seeing. Albedo's hands were all over the kid, under his shirt, touching his skin and Jr. welcomed it, leaned into the touch. Albedo's right palm was pressed against the kid's belly button, sliding slowly down further, meeting absolutely no resistance.

"Albedo," Jr. whispered, a whine in his voice. "Albedo I..."

The kid's body jerked violently. The hand that was on his stomach had ripped through it, dragging Albedo's entire arm along with it. Jr. coughed blood. His body went limp and he fell forward onto Albedo, covering him in his blood. The image went dark and disappeared, leaving Virgil staring into his own, confused expression.

"I lost."

Virgil turned at the sound of Albedo's voice. He was slumped forward onto his knee, eyes staring down at the blood on his arm.

"You were right, Addict. I'm only a danger, a mindless creature untouched by the cleansing power of death."

The image opened up by his feet and he placed a bloody hand against the hole in Jr.'s shirt.

"What horrors I've exposed him to. He returns my affections only for me to destroy them. I'd drag him to hell only to torture further. This 'love', a madness I'll never be free of."

The crystal was smeared with blood from Albedo's hand. It still hadn't dried.

"I'll free him of it then."

"You can't do that," Virgil said, interrupting Albedo's musings. "You can't abandon him after dragging him through all of this shit."

Albedo looked up at Virgil as he gestured toward the wall behind him.

"You bastard, you were winning. I never thought you would come close but he almost said it. If that hadn't happened he'd be yours. You'd be doing whatever the hell it is the two of you want to do."

He dropped his arm and straightened up.

"Besides," He said, taking a deep breath. "I don't think it was your fault."

Albedo chuckled - a defeated, hollow thing - and closed the image of Rubedo on the floor.

"What is this, Addict? Pity? Rubbing salt into my wounds when I'm nothing but muscle and blood -"

"Oh shut up, will you? I can't stand your whining!"

Virgil reached down and ripped the mask off of Albedo's face. Albedo had enough presence of mind to look thoroughly irritated by the action.

"What would you say if I told you I know what happened?"

Albedo's expression softened a little. He raised a disbelieving eyebrow at Virgil.

"What, you think you got lost in a part? From the looks of you, I assume the two of you had been fighting before your little love session. The kid doesn't have a scratch on him. Then what, you're all rock hard and decide to eviscerate him? You know you can't leave to save him. We both know if you'd tried you would have been pulled back and neither of us know what kind of shit I've gotten us both in for jumping in to save him."

Virgil pointed at the naked crystal where Jr.'s image had been.

"You think you were just careless? Got your juices flowing? If this were anyone else I'd say yeah, sure but this is the kid. The kid. Your kid. Rubedo."

The image popped back up and Albedo turned his vision back down onto Jr.

"Think about it. Use your brain, not your wild, pathetic, out-dated Shakespearean emotions."

Virgil had bent over Albedo during his tirade. He pulled back now, huffing angrily.

"I know who did this and it wasn't you."

Virgil threw Albedo's mask down onto the crystal. It landed face-up, covering Jr.'s sleeping form.

"And I think you do too."

Lon rubbed his tired eyes. He'd been staring at his console for far too long. He knew he needed glasses. He also knew that continuing to work without them was probably making his vision worse but he was simply too lazy to do it.

I'll remember that when I finally go blind, he thought to himself. He rubbed both hands over his face, sighed and leaned back in his chair. A hand landed on his shoulder and he looked up, startled.

"Oh, Mr. Mantel. You scared me."

"It's late," Mantel said. He was a dark shadow, his glasses reflecting what little light the dark had to offer. "You really should get some sleep. We move out tomorrow."

Lon nodded and turned around in his chair. "Yeah, I know. I just wanted to double-check everything. I don't want to leave any loose ends for Scientia."

"I understand," he said with a nod. "But there's no reason to push yourself so hard."

He turned away from Lon to the maintenance bed in the middle of the lab.

"We have so much work left to do."

He walked away from him, down the steps, toward the bed. Lon followed quietly behind. The lab was the largest Lon had ever worked in. There were forty desks alone, all raised in rows built into the walls, pushed away from the center of the room to make space for the maintenance bed. Screens hovered in an oval over the bed, all reading and reporting its inner workings.

"You haven't been with us long, have you?" Mantel asked as they descended the last ring of desks.

"No sir," Lon replied. "I just transferred here from the fleet design team about seven months ago."

"Is that so?"

When they made it to the maintenance bed Mantel paused. He turned to Lon and nodded over to the machine.

"And what made you decide to move here? This isn't exactly uncomplicated work. A lot more time consuming than fleet design."

"To tell the truth," Lon said, eyes locking on the maintenance bed. "When I first started working for the organization I was a soldier stationed on Pleroma."

"Ah," Mantel nodded. "I know that place well."

He started towards the door and motioned for Lon to follow him.

"It was a hectic place. Crowded."

"Yes," Lon answered, following him out of the door and down the long, dark hallway.

"I lost a lot of good friends there."

"Really? I've heard that a lot of dangerous missions were carried out from Pleroma."

"Yes, that's true, but I didn't lose them to missions. I lost them to Albedo."

Mantel paused. The hallways were dark. Most of the station's employees were in bed asleep. In the darkness of the space station, in the glow of the emergency lights that dotted along the floor and the ceiling every few inches, Albedo's name felt more dangerous, made every shadow into his likeness.

"Albedo killed us all the time," Lon said with a defeated shrug. "If you looked at him wrong he'd rip you apart without a second thought and no one did anything to stop it. Honestly I don't think anyone could have stopped him even if they'd tried."

He walked around Mantel, toward the elevators. Mantel followed behind him, listening intently.

"He killed them in the church," he continued. "Right in the middle of it. No one did anything. The organization kept using him, kept sending him partners to kill. I got tired of it. I decided to do something else, go somewhere that treated people as more than just fodder to feed deranged mutants."

He pressed the buttons on the elevator and the two of them watched the glow of the numbers as it drew it closer.

"There was a program a few years ago...maybe nine or ten...that helped with career advancement for soldiers that had been with the organization for more than seven years. I jumped at the chance. I was able to join the fleet design team. While I was there I heard about the T-elos development and I knew that this is where I belonged. If we could build weapons as efficient and capable as she will be then we'd never have to use people like Albedo again."

The door to the elevator opened. Light spilled out from the open door, illuminating the researcher in its glow.

"I've heard about Albedo," Mantel said tentatively. "Rumors about him, I mean. I never met him."

"Count yourself lucky," Lon said, stepping into the elevator. "He's dead now. I don't know the exact details but I don't need them. Knowing that he's dead, that someone finally killed him, is enough."

Mantel didn't follow him into the elevator. Lon held the door open for him.

"Are you coming, Mr. Mantel?"

He looked troubled and Lon instantly regretted all of the things he'd said. He started to apologize but Mantel shook his head. "No, it's fine," he said. "It's a hard thing to hear but you're right."

He entered the elevator and the door slid shut on the darkness behind them.

"Once our work is completed the world will really be an easier place to live in."

Mantel held out his hand and Lon took it gladly.

"I'm glad to have you on our team."

There was a sudden, powerful noise in the distance. The two of them exchanged glances. "Scientia? But our intel said that they wouldn't be here for another twelve hours."

Another sound, closer this time and louder. The elevator halted and the light died out. Emergency power kicked on and Mantel furiously hit the buttons that would take them back to the floor they had just left from. The elevator pulled them back up. The doors opened and Mantel ran, leaving Lon behind.

The hallway was alive now. Every light was on. Sirens blared, screaming for passengers to head for escape pods, to disembark. Every hologram projected from the wall had turned into a bright red emergency sign. He ran past all of them, back to the lab. He could see as he rounded the corner that the door to the lab was open and it spurred him forward, encouraging him to run harder. He was almost there, could see the back of Mantel's white lab coat. He turned, saw Lon coming and slammed his hand against the door. It shut in his face, just as Lon reached it.

"Mr. Mantel!" Lon shouted, banging on the door. "What's happening?"

"Leave!" He shouted through the door. "Evacuate now!"

"But what about you?" Lon called back, slamming on the door with an open palm. "I can't leave you behind! What about the project?"

"I'll make it out, just go. Now!" His voice was angrier, more demanding.

Lon heard laughter on the other side of the door. Loud, crazed, familiar laughter that sank deep under his skin, chilled his blood.

"M..Mr. Mantel..." Lon said, backing away from the door.

"Run!"

Lon didn't stay to argue. He turned around and ran back towards the elevators, the haunting sound of that laughter chasing him the entire way.

"Mr. Mantel," Albedo mocked. He slapped a hand against his chest. "Oh, Mr. Mantel. Whatever will I do without you? Without the overwhelming waves of lust? Oh, Mr. Mantel. Roth Mantel!"

"Put her down, Albedo."

"Oh? I thought this was empty," Albedo shrugged. He was holding T-elos' maintenance bed on his right shoulder, his arm outstretched beneath it. "Seems a little light. Nobody home!"

The ceiling above them imploded, raining down sheets of metal and plastic into the once pristine lab, destroying consoles, machinery and holograms on the way down. Albedo stood untouched in the middle of it, purple eyes as fierce as his smile.

The lab sat at the top floor of the space station and the implosion ruined the outer hull, opening the lab completely onto space. The room depressurized, and the force pulled everything out of the lab, sucking anything broken or loose out into the abyss of space. Albedo's cape was pulled upward and swung wildly behind him. Kevin's Roth facade melted away until he was the Red Testament. Albedo sucked in an excited breath.

"Albedo, now is not the time," Kevin shouted. "Scientia is coming. We're in the midd-"

"Of something important?!" Albedo shouted back. His voice cut through the depressurization like a giant sword cleaving through the chaos to strike Kevin. "Oh, forgive ME, Mr. Mantel, but I believe we have some business to discuss."

Albedo shifted the weight on his shoulder to his hand. He bounced it up and down, space pulling it a little farther with every bounce.

"I've run into a little trouble, you see," Albedo said. "I've grown weary of my current game. I need a new partner, a new adventure; someone new, something fresh."

Kevin's eyes followed the bed and the weight it lost with every return and release of Albedo's grip.

"I'd like to play with you, Lust."

The maintenance bed came back down and Albedo threw it up with all of his strength, sending it hurtling through the darkness of space.

"A game of Keep-Away!"

Kevin ran after it but when he jumped up Albedo grabbed his ankle and pulled him down onto the floor.

"Now, Lust. Cheating isn't allowed."

Kevin rolled over to see Albedo towering over him. He was brimming with power in a way Kevin had never seen. It was leaking like smoke from his eyes, dancing across his skin. Albedo was a mirage, his image constantly shifting. Kevin backed away, scrambling to make some distance between them before it was too late. He made it just in time. The mirage around Albedo resettled, materializing into something real, something solid.

It was blood red. It crawled out of Albedo's back, sunk four sets of claws into his body; one set in his ribs, another in his right shoulder, the other pressed against his face. Giant wings spread from Albedo's back, attached to the emerging gnosis. Its head pulled around Albedo and Kevin saw it for what it truly was; a dragon. A red dragon. It jerked and shrieked and opened it's mouth, spraying fire at Kevin. Kevin moved just in time to avoid it but he felt the molten heat as it raged past him. It felt like lightning.

"Well," Albedo laughed, cradling the claws against his face. "Not for you."

The gnosis continued to twitch. It spread its wings wide and stretched over the top of Albedo's head to send aimless fire into space. Albedo motioned Kevin forward.

"Come, Lust. Won't you try your luck?"

A/N: I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe. Have a wonderful, albeit safe and responsible, holiday weekend. I'll see you again for the second part of Wrath.