Jugement du Ciel
See disclaimer in part 1
The full council of the Six Magi had been called, Ein realized, as he and Ledah entered the central chamber of the archaic hall after Celina. The other five proxies of the gods formed a semicircle behind the pedestal of crystal behind which Celina hovered, with Minerva at the leftmost end and Ashcroft on the rightmost. Each of the Magi in the background was grave and silent, with their hoods pulled forward to hide the upper halves of their faces in shadow. All traces of mirth had left Celina's face, and her blood-colored eyes were somber as she regarded her two Grim Angels.
Something fluttered in Ein's lower belly as he looked from guarded face to guarded face. This must really be dangerous, judging by the way they're acting…
"Ein Legendra and Ledah Rozwelli, Grim Angels of the Six Magi and the gods of Asgard… are you ready to hear the terms of the trial offered unto you?" Celina asked, something obsidian about her voice as she spoke.
Ein clenched his fists, bit his lip, and nodded. "We are."
Ledah inclined his head wordlessly to show that he felt the same way.
"The trial, if it succeeds, will allow you brief spans of passage to establish contact with Einherjar's core, in so doing allowing you to assume spiritual echoes of the wings you lost during your Grim Angel transformation. This will be triggered by a spell, to be set up between you and the Magi when the trial ends.
"The battle itself sounds as though it would be a simple one. You must defeat your foe as completely as you possibly can, by deathblow or simply by depriving it of its consciousness. I warned you beforehand that this enemy has several times the power of Hades, last of the demon god's children. It is also considerably faster, so you can't merely skid by with simple agility."
"Our foe…?" Ledah prompted, his voice jagged-edged in apprehension.
Celina sighed. "By order of our magic, the six of us will invoke a physical representation of Einherjar's binding, known as the Guardian. Even by seemingly killing or destroying it, you would only be weakening it just enough for us to get at the essence within. There's… really no other way to retrieve the spiritual essence of Ein's wings without destroying Einherjar completely.
"There's… a catch to all of this, too, as you may have expected. Because the Guardian will be born from Einherjar and in effect from Ein himself, any attack he would attempt would have no effect whatsoever, nor the Guardian's upon him. Therefore… Ein will not be permitted to interfere in the trial in any way.
"Ledah, you must destroy or otherwise defeat Einherjar's Guardian… by yourself."
Ein lurched forward a step, unable to help crying out. "What! But… these are my wings, so Ledah shouldn't have to…!"
Celina shook her head, smiling bitterly. "Believe me, Ein. I don't like it any more than you do, but this is the way it has to be."
Ein fell silent, pleading her with his eyes to tell him otherwise, but she did not respond, turning instead to Ledah.
"Now… are you willing to undertake this trial, Ledah Rozwelli?"
Ledah bowed slightly. "…Yes, my lady."
Ein turned to his lover, something very like outrage on his face, mingled with the rising fear in his eyes. "Ledah!"
Ledah gave the wingless angel a sidelong glance. "Don't try to stop me, Ecthel—this is my decision." He shook his head. "Besides… you did the same thing eight years ago, when you took Rose and myself on a quest to restore my heart. Gods only know how unwilling I was back then… but even so, it was your will, your words, your effort that eventually paid off. I've always promised both you and myself that if I ever had the opportunity, I would reciprocate… and now, when I am offered the chance to fulfill that promise and grant your heart's desire, you expect me to refuse? I can't, Ecthel… you know I can't."
Ein grabbed Ledah's wrist, twisting the blonde around to face him. "My heart's desire? Ledah, no matter how much I want my wings back, your safety will always be more important to me! You can't! It's just too dangerous!"
Ledah's expression remained as smooth and blank as it had ever been when he had still served under Hector's totalitarian leadership as he jerked his arm out of Ein's grip. "Never forget that though I may not have your youth and potential, I am still a Grim Angel." There was an ice-rimed edge to his voice that stung Ein slightly, even as it made the brunet realize that Ledah was covering his hurt. "You're forever sheltering me these days, and I don't like it."
Ein was silent for a moment, trying to find in Ledah's frosty demeanor where the clinging dependence of the wildly distraught, vulnerable man of just the night before, or the long-suffering ache of the abused and neglected child from not even an hour ago, fit in. Hate it he might, but there were certainly parts of Ledah that needed sheltering, and needed it badly.
All the time, Ledah glared at Ein, bristling and silently daring him to protest again.
Disconcerted as he was by Ledah's cold anger, Ein just couldn't give up yet. Instead, he turned back to Celina, holding his hands out desperately. "You can'tjust let this happen…!"
Celina shook her head, a distant sadness on her face and in her voice as she replied. "In the end, this is Ledah's decision, not yours. I'm sorry, Ein, but you don't really have much say in the matter…" As Ein stared at the floor dejectedly, she shifted her attention back to Ledah. "Are you ready? You'll have the time to eat, rest, and prepare yourself while we work our casting."
"…Yes. I was ready from the moment I set foot here."
"Then report to the Initiation Chamber in five minutes. You're both dismissed." Celina paused. "And I know that you have no reason to listen to me, but try not to argue on your way. It would be a very bad idea for you to begin this at odds with each other."
Both angels turned and began to walk away; just as they reached the door, Celina called, "You'll need to leave Einherjar with us, as I'm sure you're aware."
Ein sighed, turned, and headed back up to her, reluctantly holding out his Diviner in a very blunt and ungraceful movement.
Celina took it, then leaned in close to him. "Don't let Ledah's pride fool you. He loves you and worries for you, even though you do get on his nerves every now and then. And he needs your support, now more than ever…"
Ein nodded, then turned to head back. Ledah was waiting for him by the door, holding it open expectantly.
With the Six Magi still watching, they left the audience, heading back down the high hallways of the citadel.
Ein watched Ledah for a few moments as they walked, then put his hand on his lover's shoulder, stopping them both. The blonde turned to face him, looking tired but not angry any longer.
"I just don't want you to get yourself hurt because of me again," Ein murmured, searching Ledah's face. "I'm… I'm scared for you, doing this all alone."
Ledah was silent for a while before replying. "Trust in my strength," he said at last. "It doesn't matter what the odds are, if I'm doing this for you."
Ein let his hand slide from Ledah's shoulder to just above his elbow, tightened his grip slightly, and leaned in, kissing his lover almost desperately. Instead of returning the kiss, however, Ledah stiffened in Ein's grasp, refusing to let his lips soften against the younger angel's. He pulled away, looking almost pained.
"Not now," he said shortly, with an almost-fierce shake of his head. "I don't have the time for that now." His carmine eyes were adamant and wary as he stared down a few inches into his lover's.
"Ledah, please… I'm not after sex and you know it, so don't act like I am. I need to do this." Insistently, Ein tightened his grip on Ledah's arms and pulled him close again, kissing him hard. Though the blonde remained rigid and unresponsive, Ein seemed not to notice his lover's bristles as they stood with their lips locked together.
When at last Ein released his lover, he eased back, looking sad and vulnerable as he stared into Ledah's guarded eyes. "I'm sorry that it seemed like I was doubting you," he said softly. "Because that's not what this is about… Ledah, I love you."
With that, all of Ledah's tenseness evaporated, and the wariness in his face melted. With apology in his eyes, he put his arms around his young lover and held him close against his chest.
"And I love you, Ecthel… more than anything else in the world, I love you."
As their embrace loosened, Ein bowed his head so that Ledah wouldn't see the tears forming in his eyes. This was silly of him, but he couldn't help but feel like this was more than just an ordinary goodbye. "Take care of yourself out there, Ledah…"
When he looked up again, the blonde seraph was carefully holding out the delicate grail that the two of them had rescued the previous day. "…Here… I don't want it to get broken in the fight. Give it to Celina or one of the others, if you can."
Ein nodded, accepting the Cup of Wishes. "Thanks… Ledah, you'd better go if you don't want to be late. I'll… I'll be up in the Monitoring Room, watching… if they let me."
Ledah put his hand on his lover's cheek, turning the motion into a swift caress that teased the ends of Ein's just-trimmed bangs, then leaned in to kiss his forehead. "I'll be seeing you soon."
Ein nodded again, his heartbeat starting to accelerate. "Yeah…"
With no further words, Ledah turned and began to walk away.
---
The Initiation Chamber, which had once hosted the trials of the many Grim Angel hopefuls who had come from the various corners of Asgard, was now just a hollowed-out workroom in the middle of the Magi's council building. The floor was made of a thick, stone-like material that the Magi seemed to like called concrete, and the walls covered in protective sheets of metal.
Ein was sitting in the Monitoring Room, which offered a broad view of the vast and empty chamber. Located on the second floor of the citadel, most of its far wall was made of thick one-way glass that would look like plain metal on the other side. There were two benches and a table for furnishings, and even a potted plant in one corner, but these obvious efforts at comfort just made the wingless angel edgier.
From here, he would be able to observe Ledah's battle without any chance of interference. He was afraid to watch, but just as fearful of letting Ledah fight without his watchful eye hovering in the distance.
It was the same helpless feeling he'd had back in Yggdrasil, when Ledah had thrown himself between his future lover and Malice's sneak attack, shielding Ein with his own body. And the brunet hated it with a passion.
"You certainly look happy."
Startled, Ein looked up. Celina was framed in the doorway, a wan smile on her face. As Ein watched, she headed to the opposite bench and sat down on it with a sigh of exhaustion.
"Are you okay…?" Ein asked hesitantly. "You… don't look so good."
"Even with six of us, it took almost all our reserves to create the Guardian." Celina sighed again and pushed back her hood entirely, running her hand through her hair (which was cropped short except for the two long locks that still hung down onto her chest). "I'm tired. We haven't had to cast spells of this magnitude since Ragnarok, at least. It's pretty pathetic if you think about it…"
Ein shook his head, smiling wryly. The Magus pulled an outrageous face, then held out a hand over the table.
"Anyway, here you go. We're done with Einherjar now, so you can have it back so long as you promise not to destroy the furnishings if it looks like Ledah's getting into trouble." The Diviner's outline shimmered on the tabletop, then flashed as the sword came fully into being. With no little sense of relief, Ein took it back. "…You know, if Ledah's knocked unconscious by the Guardian, we will be allowed to interfere for his sake. If things get to be too dangerous, we're not just going to leave him."
"I know." Ein sighed unhappily. "I just… I don't like it."
"I know that, and I'm sorry. There's not much we can do about it either."
The two of them were silent for a while, then Ein shifted a little and tried again.
"So, uh… what's going on, anyway? With the trial, I mean. It doesn't seem like anything's happening right now…"
Celina sighed. "Ashcroft and the guys are waiting for the signal to complete the summoning. Minerva and Agrias are with Ledah, making sure he's really ready. He can undergo a quick purification ritual if he wants, or meditate or whatever. As soon as he's finished, the summon will be completed, he'll walk out, and the trial will start."
Ein let a short shiver run over his body and wrapped his arms around his chest.
"Something wrong?"
The brunet shook his head. "Just nerves."
Celina stared at him for a few moments, then shook her head. "It's going to be alright, Ein. Believe me, it's going to be alright. If there's anything the Magi have to say about it, even if this fight goes badly the worst is not going to happen."
Neither of them spoke what Ein knew: That if something happened and Ledah was dealt too strong a blow, he could be killed instantly without anyone's being able to do anything about it.
"You said we might be better off when you came to Elendia," Ein said softly. "I think I understand what you meant now…"
Celina gave Ein an intense look. "Ledah's odds are about even," she told him with a sense of finality to her voice. "He's always been one of Asgard's best, but all the same, he's certainly not getting any younger these days."
Ein stared. "Celina, Ledah's thirty-two. Thirty-two is not old."
"But it's not young, either. Ledah's almost to middle age, and he's been put through a lot of stress in his life. The whole thing with his emotions certainly did not do him any good, and even now I'm fairly sure that some permanent damage was done. And even in his youth, he never did have what you could call an easy life."
Remembering Ledah's desperation the previous night, Ein shuddered. "No… I don't quite think he did." He clasped and unclasped his hands, gripping the edges of the bench he sat on instead. "That's why I didn't want him to do this…"
"All the same, Ledah's strong, he's stubborn, he refuses to know when to give up, and he's very passionately in love with you. He's also intelligent, and even with his emotions returned to him, he's very level-headed. He may seem to be acting obstinate about this, but it's not out of arrogance. It's born of that love and sense of duty towards you… and his own estimation of his abilities… that causes him to act this way." Celina smiled wryly. "Love is a force that's kept so many people alive through the ages… and I'm no exception, Ein. Many a time in Ragnarok, it was my faith in my fellows that kept me fighting what felt like a hopeless battle."
Ein nodded, quelled. Celina should know—her heroism, along with Hector's, the other Magi's, and the Grim Angels', had effectively won the awful war for the rapidly weakening gods.
"Ein—it seems like Ledah's ready now. The door has opened… watch."
---
Ledah stood framed in the doorway, one hand loosely gripping Lorelei's haft, with the heavy spearhead pointed at the ground as he breathed and let his external worries flow out of him with prayers to each of the gods.
Freya, Odin, Balder, Thor… with each name, each patron of his power, one of the tendrils of the thick tangle of anxiety writhing in his mind and heart slipped free, until the maelstrom of pressure left the surface of his inner being as calm as water's surface on a windless day.
The only things he left were the seven cardinal elements of his own being… the things that, he prayed, he would be able to use to overcome the power of the Guardian.
Duty. This was his duty, a duty waiting to be fulfilled ever since he had awakened from the foreign healer's surgery, disoriented and a little disconcerted as well with the unfamiliar rush of pure feeling surging through his solar plexus. He owed this to Ein, and so he would do it. It was that simple.
Faith. He believed in the work of fate that had brought him here, and now by his rights as a priest and the will of the gods that had made him a Grim Angel, he was going to take hold of his own destiny and win, with all his being.
Intellect. He needed a cold precision to be able to calculate his strategy against the Guardian. It was part of Einherjar, which in turn was part of Ein. And through that connection, it would surely know more about him than he would like.
Fortitude. He would need every ounce of strength in his body before this was over—he sensed it in every fiber of his being.
Instinct. It had served him well enough for this long—Ledah knew it wasn't going to let him down just yet, and was glad of it.
Determination. By all the gods, if his will couldn't prevail, neither could he, and he wouldn't be able to bear the thought of Ein's grief if anything happened to him because of cowardice.
And lastly…
Love.
Even if everything else deserted him, love for Ein would keep him going, even if he was trying to use a strength he didn't usually have.
Love was everything.
Knowing he was ready, Ledah took his first long, sweeping step into the room of the trial.
---
"Oh gods," Ein whispered, sick with revulsion.
As soon as Ledah had set foot in the room, the door had slammed behind him, and in a brilliant flash of light, the beast of his opponent had begun to take form.
The Guardian was immense—probably a fifth of the size of the entire room. Its head was only ten feet from the ceiling; there was just enough room for it to maneuver with the slightest vestige of comfort. It completely dwarfed Ledah, who was staring up at it with that same blank, bordering-on-hateful glare he had always given his demon enemies during his and Ein's first foray into Heaven's Gate.
Its body was apish, with a huge, muscular slab of a torso, short legs, and arms twice their length. It was heavily muscled, with only the vaguest resemblance to a human. Its head was almost comically out of proportion with the rest of it; it could easily pinch its own face between two of its gigantic fingers if it so desired. There were thick metal shackles around each wrist, with the remnants of monstrous chains dragging from the side of each. Its body gave off a bluish-green cast, though its eyes glinted a jarring shade of ruby above its huge mouth of ugly, jagged teeth.
Ein had to fight to keep from reflexively twitching his hands away from his Diviner. How could this disgusting creature be born of the beautiful sword that was part of his own life?
"Nasty-looking sonofabitch," Celina commented under her breath, and Ein, overhearing, couldn't be inclined to disagree.
Gods, what was Ledah going to be able to do against this behemoth?
---
Experimentally, Ledah shifted his wrist as though he were about to slash with his Diviner.
There was a nauseating swoop of moving air, and then the Guardian's gnarled right arm was sailing towards him.
Tensing the muscles of his legs, Ledah leaped backwards and away, flaring his wings and straining them with over-exaggerated flaps to keep in the air. Once the monstrous fist crashed to the floor, he spread his wings in an almost straight vertical line, allowing him to drop back down without jarring his body too badly.
The fist was moving again faster than Ledah had predicted; he swung up Lorelei and slashed at it, spraying deep blue blood across the area. The Guardian let out a frustrated roar as its intended prey slipped off…
…and then a triumphant snarl as Ledah dashed full into the broken chain of its shackle.
---
Even as far away as the Observation Room—behind the screen of heavy glass and metal—Ein heard Ledah's tormented cry, and the grinding crunch of breaking bone.
Instantly, he was up on his feet, pounding his hands against the one-way mirror that was his window into the source of his terror. Horrified tears already starting in his eyes, he started to scream helplessly at the combatants: "LEDAH! LEDAAAAHHHH! YOU BASTARD, DON'T YOU TOUCH HIM! LEDAAAAAHH!"
---
Shuddering uncontrollably, Ledah lurched to his knees with a low moan of pain, cradling his left forearm to his chest. Even moving it that much made him feel sick, and he knew—though he wouldn't look—that there were a few shards of splintered bone jutting from the back of his arm.
But he knew that he would have to fight through this pain.
Ein was counting on him.
Trying to struggle back up, Ledah accidentally jarred his wrist, blanched, and retched, coughing up dark spots of blood onto the ground.
Clenching Lorelei's haft tightly in his uninjured hand, Ledah made it to his feet, staggered, and wiped the blood and sweat on his face away with his right sleeve. The sacred spear he gripped like life sent out near-frantic waves of comfort and assurance, like a panicked heartbeat.
But Ledah took solace just the same, able by his Diviner's power to shove the agony of his broken arm back into the distant corner of his mind where he would have to deal with it later.
And he braced himself to evade the next impending blow.
---
Ein watched anxiously, half-sobbing, as Ledah leaned forward into a sharp headlong dash, his broken arm tucked protectively to his chest as he ran, power crackling along Lorelei's scarlet length.
As the Guardian slashed its other fist (and chain) through the air, Ledah stopped dead, gathered himself, and sprang sharply into the air, twirling his Diviner in masterful movements as flickers of flame flashed from its deadly trident head.
The Guardian was still struggling to compensate for its overblown lunge as Ledah's cry of triumph rang through the air, echoing against the metallic walls of the room.
"Burn in the flames of judgment… CRIMSON COURREGES!"
Bright lances of flame shot through the air with every sweep of Ledah's Diviner, provoking the Guardian's squeals as it failed to escape the vengeful angel's punishment. With a final shriek, it collapsed, leaving Ledah hovering in midair, his chest heaving as he glared down at his fallen foe.
The air blurred, and there was a dull sound of impact, followed by a sickly smash as the Guardian's thick arm swept out wildly, slamming Ledah violently into the wall.
Ein stood in shock, starting to shake, as his lover fell into a crumpled heap at the base of the wall, his grip on Lorelei slack from the stun of impact.
And the Guardian began to advance.
"If he doesn't start moving in ten seconds, I'm getting him out of there," Celina started, white-faced and tense, but Ein cut her off with a strangled cry.
Ledah's fist had tightened on his Diviner's haft once more.
"Oh gods, Ledah, don't get up—don't get up…" Ein sobbed, his hands tightening into fists against the glass. "You'll die if you go on like this…"
---
"Ah…"
Letting the hot tears flow freely along his cheeks, Ledah forced his aching body back up again.
There was something wrong with his right wing—that he knew for certain. And it was foolish of him, but he knew that if he was going to have any hope against the Guardian, he would have to fly.
So he just had to try it and hope to all the gods that it wasn't too damaged to support his weight.
The world swayed as he leaned on the wall he had been thrown into for support, bile rising in his throat and forcing him to hunch forward again, coughing and desperately trying not to vomit up any more of his own blood… futilely, as he tasted the acid at the back of his mouth, mixed with the sick metallic tang of the blood that coursed over his lips, exploding from his body every time he coughed to land in bright red splatters on the floor.
Gritting his teeth, Ledah slowly extended both wings, cursing himself for the feeble motions when he knew he was running out of time to waste on reassessing his condition.
"Ah… ahh…" Some of the delicate bones in the end of the wing's arm had been cracked, but not broken. Hellishly painful… but still, if he tried, he would be able to make it work.
For Ein's sake, he would make it work.
Blindly, Ledah stumbled out of the way of the Guardian's blow, blinking blood out of his eyes as he tried not to slip in the blue goo that the monster had released in place of bodily fluids. "Come at me, bastard," he gasped, and leveled his Diviner, screaming inwardly as he buoyed himself up with his twisted wings.
Power sang through Lorelei, crackling along his arm as the inward flames of his conviction burst forth, singing through the air towards the Guardian.
"ROSE KREUZ!"
This time, Ledah had aimed not for the Guardian's body but for its left arm—specifically, for the heavy shackle still attached to its wrist.
The flames that Lorelei generated were more than hot enough to melt any ordinary metal.
The Guardian shrieked, throwing its tiny head back in agony as its skin began to bubble and boil with the liquid metal sinking into its skin. The chain, red and malleable but still solid, dropped away, hissing, as the thick and acrid scent of burning flesh filled the room.
Ledah's vision swayed, but he managed to stay conscious. He had to. The Guardian still had its other arm, which was now flailing wildly through the air. And until he took care of it, he wouldn't be able to rest.
Gods, for only a few moments of rest.
The adrenaline was going to wear off sooner or later, and then the pain would be so bad that Ledah would probably black out automatically rather than force his tortured body to deal with it.
"Feel the true power of my Diviner—and burn in Hel, sinner!" Desperate now, Ledah swung Lorelei up, resisting the urge to gasp in agony as he realized that he'd done it too harshly; the wrenching pain in his right shoulder was already pounding his rational thoughts away.
"Thy sins shall be purged…"
Fighting the hot ache and the dizziness of exhaustion, Ledah brought Lorelei swinging down in a volley of pure crimson fire.
"LOST SERAPH!"
---
Blood splattered against the one-way glass as the Guardian's right arm crashed to the ground with a dull thud.
Ein, still pressed up to his window as closely as he could, was torn between revulsion and fascination at the big monster's throes of agony. Ledah still hung in midair, breathing raggedly, his wings only giving halfhearted flaps to keep him aloft, seeming utterly unaware of the carnage before him, with the giant creature's severed limb and spurting blood dirtying the steel-plated arena of disaster.
"I told you it was going to be alright," Celina said softly.
"Yeah…" Ein murmured, disoriented. "But gods, Ledah's thorough about these things…"
Both Grim Angels were so distracted—Ein by his lover's condition, Ledah by his own pain and exhaustion—that neither of them realized until it was already too late.
"Ledah, get out of there!" Celina shrieked, the suddenness jolting Ein into awareness just soon enough to realize why Ledah had been thrown violently to the ground.
Both angels screamed—Ein in terrified love, Ledah in agony so heartrending that it was all Ein could do not to try to break his way through the walls and go to him.
The Guardian's headbutt had been wild, but it had made its mark…
And now, the giant creature was glowing ominously with some new impending attack…
---
There was something terribly wrong with Ledah's right leg from the hip down.
He couldn't feel much of it anymore, even with it twisted so unnaturally beneath him. The few sensations he did get from it were merely bursts of pain so intense that he just wanted to lie there and cry for help, though he knew that wouldn't get him anywhere.
It wasn't broken. That much he knew for certain. Breaks didn't feel so… hollow, so disconnected.
But the sharper agony in his chest kept him from acknowledging it for too long.
He'd broken at least one rib in the fall, and it felt like it was a nasty one.
He could feel the jarring tang of magic in the air, and knew that between the condition of his body and whatever the Guardian was trying to pull now, he only had one chance left.
It was time to pull out all the stops.
Ledah very carefully shifted Lorelei so that its base rested against the ground, then levered himself up as best he could without resting too much weight on his twisted leg. Stretching his wings out, he beat them as hard as he could, hovering just enough above the ground that he didn't have to worry about the pain in his hip anymore.
"That in my blood… that in my heart and my mind…"
Closing his eyes, he tilted his face back, stretching out both arms as if oblivious to the awful break in his left, a look of utter ecstasy on his bloodied face.
"Odin, my father in Valhalla! Yggdrasil, the root of my life!"
Lorelei began to glow, and high away in his safely contained room, Ein felt Einherjar begin to shake as well.
"For glory! For honor! For the will of the gods—and for Ecthel!
"THE ARCH OF HEAVEN!"
Ledah's vision vanished into fire. He heard the Guardian's squeal, and the hiss of released magic…
…and everything slowly faded into shades of gray as his body hit the hard floor.
---
"LEDAH! LEDAH!"
Ein and Celina had watched as the Guardian vanished in the burst of flame that had issued forth from Lorelei's jagged frame, shocked and disbelieving. Against all the odds, against everything they had expected in his condition, Ledah had won.
"Stay where you are—I have to get him out of there," Celina said tersely. Her form flickered, and she reappeared at the fallen Grim Angel's side as soon as she vanished from the Monitoring Room.
Ein was aware of nothing but the overpowering need to get to his lover's side. Maddened by his overwhelming terror, he simply raised Einherjar and slammed its blade into the glass before him repeatedly, cracking it in several places… then kicked the glass hard, sending it showering down into the room below. Desperate, Ein threw himself through the opening, landing hard and stumbling before lurching forward to the Magus and the angel.
Up close, Ledah's wounds were a lot worse than they'd seemed even before, with him struggling just to stay conscious in his battle with the Guardian. His right wing seemed crumpled; blood clotted his entire left sleeve, with shards of bone snagged in the sodden fabric. His robes were torn and spattered with his own blood and his dead foe's; by the angle of his right hip, it seemed almost certainly dislocated, probably badly.
"What are you doing down here?—Never mind—I have to fix his leg before we can move him to somewhere he can be treated! Ledah—can you hear me?"
The blonde moaned, and half-opened his eyes. "M-my liege…"
"Do not try to talk. Ein, get behind him."
Helplessly, Ein knelt at Ledah's back.
"Hold him steady—Ledah, you hang on to Ein as hard as you can. You've done your part as a man today—this is going to hurt like hell for a minute, and since I don't have anything for you to bite, when it gets to be too bad, scream. I am not kidding—do you hear me? Scream for everything you're worth. Are you ready?"
Ein, carefully cradling his lover's broken body in his arms, felt Ledah's uninjured hand squeeze his upper arm. "Y-yes…"
Celina gripped Ledah's left leg through his robes at the hip and just above the knee. "Then I'm going to move it back into the socket on the count of three. One—two—"
Ein felt Ledah's nails bite into his arm as his lover shrieked, jerking his body back in an involuntary convulsion. Just as suddenly, he fell silent, gasping pitifully, trembling in Ein's hold.
"There—you've done enough, brave one," Celina murmured, easing back. "Let's get you out of here. …Ledah…?"
He'd slumped back against Ein's arms, still shivering, struggling to breathe, unresponsive.
"Oh, gods, no…"
Ein's chest seized up. "What is it… what's wrong?"
"He's lost too much blood—if he carries on in this state we're going to lose him, but there's no way for me to repair that much damage this quickly! There's nothing I can do, and I can't get the others fast enough for it to matter—"
But Ein was already fumbling inside his jacket, digging for the only thing he knew that could help Ledah at a time like this.
When he drew the Cup of Wishes into the open, it began to fill with cold, crystal-blue liquid almost immediately.
Celina went deathly white. "Where did you get that?" she asked in a haunted voice.
"I'll explain later," Ein said hurriedly, and very carefully levered Ledah's unresponsive, half-conscious body up, holding the delicate chalice to his lover's lips. "Please, Ledah… drink this…"
But Ledah only coughed weakly, sending a few flecks of blue into the air—in his state, he no longer could.
With a short pained cry, Ein lifted the Cup of Wishes to his own lips, draining the grail and then sealing his own mouth over Ledah's, forcing the liquid into his body with a finger on the blonde's throat to make him swallow.
And Ledah sighed weakly, only so much warm weight in Ein's arms, no longer struggling to breathe or stay awake but completely comatose in his exhaustion.
"You can tell me the story once we've gotten him into the infirmary," Celina said grimly. "Here—pick him up, I can get the two of you there much faster than you could go on your own."
Slowly, Ein stood, cradling his lover.
The world flashed once, and then reassembled with an anxious group of Asgard's finest doctors milling around the three of them.
As Ledah's weight was relieved from his grip, Ein gave up—the stress of the day had just been too much for him to handle, and relinquishing his hold on daylight was all that he could do now.
The world went mercifully black.
:TBC: