“—I can’t die.“ His rebuttal was instant as he heard those words. So often people had told him to remain safe, a word that never existed within the current societal norms. To be safe meant to never take any kind of risk. Yet, he took risks daily, with only half a mind to consider the options laid in front of him and to select the path that would keep objectives met with the least amount of damage. All that he did, so to say, was consider options.
That statement, however, was something he believed rather strongly in. It wasn’t to say he was immortal, as despite all of his gazes into the unknown future, he never thought so far ahead to where he believed he would, eventually, leave the world and return to Etro’s side, but it was a claim he’d always known to be true. Mother, after all, had said that the Class was special, and Ace had experienced the state known as death a few times. It was never particularly pleasant, but the fact remained that when his body did fall limp… He wasn’t forgotten. His soul was never accepted back through Etro’s gates. It was a lot like falling asleep, only colder, and then… when he woke up, he was back in the Peristylium, without so much as a scratch.
He simply eluded death by any human means. So he never had anything to fear or concern for his own well-being.
As he walked forward, arms locked around the petite girl’s legs that were at his sides, his legs moved faster, trying to abstain from draining the energy he had on reserve until they reached the cemetery, where they would inevitably be needed for that last push to the gate. Normally, he would never offer himself like this, as a vehicle to take people along. Just the feeling of the girl’s arms around his neck, body pressed against his back, and the radiating warmth as she rested upon him made him jumpy at best. Physical contact always had. Occasionally, in the midst of his fascination, or rather, awkward notice of the girl upon his back, the nerves in his right arm would surge with pain, and he’d temporarily let go of her, become a lopsided mess as he hissed and seethed in wincing silence. After a minute or two, though, he’d always clench his teeth and return back to how they were positioned prior, forearm on fire and with forced apologies that he’d be just fine.
It hurt like hell, though. Or at least, what he perceived hell to be like. The only time his feet stopped moving otherwise along that turf of green, dotted with black pools that were easily gaining upon them, was when they actually did, inevitably, reach the place of the fallen. It was strange compared to every other area of the Peristylium, as it held no grand decoration, save for the tall, stone pillar with various engravings upon a gold plate. Ace had never cared enough to read it, however. It was also the only area he was aware of, though, that dipped down and required stairs to reach from all directions. Otherwise, it was simply a large, circular plaza with stone-paved paths that led in the four cardinal directions, ending with stairs and decorated with tombstones and placards risen from the ground beside the paths. Occasionally, there would lie the shiny black dog tags, that would give each name and date a face to be remembered by, despite the fact they were already long forgotten. Cemeteries were… unneeded, in his opinion.
People only mourned who they remembered, after all. This world made everybody forget everyone else. So, it was hard to mourn a blur and vague feelings.
He glanced over his shoulder, just briefly, at his princess with a light smile. Once he started running, the ride would actually get bumpy, he knew. Especially when he had to blow the gate off of its hinges in order to get to the backyard. Unlocking it would take time they didn’t have, and it opened inwards towards the cemetery, which means he would have to back up. All things they didn’t currently have the stamina to afford. “Hold on. I’m going to have to let go of your legs when we get to the top of the stairs. Don’t choke me when you fall back, alright?”
However, without any other warning, he took a single step back and rested on the ball of his foot for one, two— Heel touch and smashed into the earthen surface before he darted off. Not wishing to deal with going down stairs, the boy launched himself from the top upwards. His gaze ran rampant, eyeing every little ink spot that had appeared since he stepped foot within sacred ground. His landing, albeit rough as he had actually landed atop one of their formless puddles, only forced him forward as he regained his balance and pivoted his ankle and torso towards the main stairs. His senses were almost being beaten to a pulp, honestly. His ears resounded with the sound of his feet clattering and stomping into the ground and the unfortunate attempts to keep breath and the small squeaks as Naminé kept hold around his neck as best as she could. His arm painfully screamed at him, demanding a break that it wouldn’t get. With each bubble of air that he actually got, the feeling of her crashing back into his form sent it right back out. It was all blocked out, though. He couldn’t pay attention to how disabled he was, because for right now, he was able to do whatever he needed to do.
Just as promised, however, at the top of the stairs and a little down the path, he abruptly stopped. His back took the brunt of the impact, and he leaned backwards just a bit with a groan as he returned to the bleak reality they were in. Arms unwrapped themselves from her legs just briefly, and with a few movements that were obviously a strain on his sluggish right side, a bright ball of oranges and reds was conjured atop his left hand. Luckily, he had no need to throw it, only to think of where it should go and give a light push in the correct direction. It sent off like a missile, large explosion intact and the crackling and creaking sounds of combusted metal, along with the flurry of firework-like sparks, was only followed by the sight of the gate itself, busted inwards and missing half of its door.
“In we go.” Relief coursed at him just briefly, starting in his… feet? The light blue gaze trailed downwards, and he flinched, with sloshed steps as he could only watch what appeared to be his own shadow attempt to bind him in place. The stark contrast of blacks and purples wrapped against his now off-white pants made him yell out in shock, but he abstained from any further panic. His eyes closed and he could only tentatively steel his resolve, remind himself that he was trying to save as many lives as he could here, in order to remember to grab the frail girl’s thighs close to the knee and to just run out of that area. Through the backyard, with its quaint little garden and small benches that, and in through the side door. Back to the place she’d sent him back to when he’d ended up in Twilight Town, to the place he went into every day apathetically.
The door slammed behind him. As he fell apart on the floor, on his knees and in desperate need of air, he could only struggle to find the ability to tell his friend that he was sorry for suddenly dropping her to the ground like that. Hands grasped at the carpeted floor, thankful for at least some sort of sanctuary in this situation. Too bad he only had a few moments to recover, to find the inventory of potions hidden in the cabinet, and then return to whatever ruins lay in wait.
To be sure of something in the world it took the utmost and absolute trust and belief, because honest and true feelings had to be pure and had to be resoundingly true. Or at least true to the person who was sure of those things in the world, and of everything in the universe that she was not sure about, the blonde was more than sure that her friend was strong. That he was strong and determined and stubborn and surprisingly snarky at the most random of times and that he held his own beliefs that he did not look past very often.
So to hear him say that he could not die was not much of a surprise, not when she liked to think that she knew him well. Arrogant as it sounded he likely did truly and honestly believe that he could not die, and not particularly in terms of immortality but rather simply because it seemed to be an impossibility. Absolute belief in something was only a few steps away from it being truth, no matter how bizarre the opinion may have been. And yet, in spite of her utter belief in him and the fact that she knew that he believed what he said to be truth, she did not feel comforted, but rather felt a pang of concern, a resonating feeling of despair.
Breathing softly she closed her eyes and nodded slightly against his shoulder even though her words contradicted her action—
”Everyone can die.”
Lost in the wind as the words were she let them slip away unnoticed and unacknowledged, because there were other things to think about and she glanced down at his arm regularly. There was no doubt in her mind that he was in pain, from the way that he was moving and the way that he sounded, and she wanted to get off of his back as soon as possible. For one thing, she knew that just as she, he did not take physical contact with others lightly and her being pressed against him was likely incredibly uncomfortable, just as it was for her to be clutching onto him—for neither of them was physical contact a comfortable thing.
As she lifted her head again she noticed him smile at her, a small smile, one that was meant to comfort and little more and she tried to smile back also, to feel the same things that he was feeling in that moment. It was hard though, and she knew that the smile was weak and she could only nod mutely as he told her to hold on tightly, because words had fled her mind for that moment in time. Instead there was only reality, no dream or otherwise to slip away into, but rather just Ace, and herself, and the darkness that surrounded them and the knowledge that her friend could get horribly hurt or worse if he was not careful. And she knew that he would not be.
Still she held onto him tightly and let out only a small gasp as he began running forwards and oh how her leg burned. The gashes that dug deeply into her skin stung and made her wince and she tried her best to resist movement, but she feared that not going along with the movements naturally would make it harder for Ace. Already he had so much to deal with—his arm and running both of them, because for that time she was unable to run, so she gritted her teeth and bore it because it was likely that her own pain was nothing compared to his. So she held on tightly as they ran through the area and she closed her eyes against the wind, allowed her hands to tighten around his shoulders for only a moment before loosening to a more acceptable hold. Still firm but no longer practically crushing in force and she let out another gasp as they landed hard.
A useless apology fell from her lips almost immediately, stuttered and broken and weak as it was, and she let her legs droop lightly as he dropped them and she lifted her head for a moment, watching him conjure fire and sending it down, as if it were a projectile, before she actually looked down. Darkness was swarming around his feet and she squeezed at him but he was already grasping at her legs again and had noticed and then they were running again and she tried to keep her breathing steady, trying to remind herself that darkness was not new to her. In the end, it was almost an old friend.
Falling to the ground was rather abrupt and the impact was hard, but it was not the impact that hurt so much considering the carpeted floors, but rather the shock that rippled throughout her body and made her leg jerk. Knowing that her breath was not nearly as lost as Ace’s, she breathed softly before rolling onto her back and staring up at the ceiling. An apology was given to her and she looked over at him eyebrows furrowing because he had no reason to apologize—and he was hurt, and she had to do something to help him. Anything, really, and she struggled to sit up, only sparing a glance to her thigh and the gashes that still bleed sluggishly and it was unlikely that they would heal nicely, later.
Still her shoulder ached and she knew that she had cut her hand, but neither of those injuries compared to the searing pain of her thigh but in spite of that she still struggled her way up to her feet, swaying in place. Walking was not the best idea at the moment, but it was all that she could do, and she could bear the pain so long as she tried her best not to think about it. Or at least, in theory that would work, not that it did in practice as she lurched dangerously and cringed, trying to compose herself.
”A-Ace, you’re hurt… let me help you.”
Pained as she was there was still concern loud and clear in her tone as she mustered up her voice from her throat once more and spoke properly, looking at her friend with worry bright in her eyes, even as she placed all of her weight on her good leg instead. Just as her injury it was unlikely that his arm would heal very well, though she could not tell right at that moment—medical things had never been her forte, and she could not tell the severity just by looking at it no matter how much she wished that she could.
They only had so much time, only a few minutes at most, before they would be in trouble once more even in that room that was supposedly safe–she could not force him to rest no matter how she wished to be able to. Together they may have stumbled into this mess, but the differences in their abilities and powers had never been so defined until that moment as she was unable to do very much to help him. But she would come up with something, she would make something up if the had to, because she would not let him get more hurt, she would not allow him to perish.
exnatura-archive liked this