The hours following the head-splitting malady that had struck all citizens at once had been nothing but mayhem. Sandalphon had flown ahead to scout the areas past the lifting fog, but he had yet to return. And Lucio had done his best to remain by Lucifer’s side, clutching desperately onto his hand--until they had been separated in the panicking crowd of those fleeing the city.
There was no trace of either of them, even as Lucifer wandered in a half-daze to the outskirts of Spirale City. His voice was already hoarse from calling their names, and he was exhausted, his body aching and sore. The doctors had cautioned him against straining his body so soon after leaving the hospital, but this purge had left him with little choice on the matter...
“Sandalphon... Luci...”
His leg gave way suddenly and he stumbled, barely catching himself against the wall. Already short on breath, and he had been walking on his own for only half an hour... It was a sorry situation, and one devoid of hope completely. If only he could find someone... Anyone--
--and his prayers were answered in the form of a white-haired man in intricate robes standing across the street. Lucifer could recognize that cold stare anywhere.
“Lucilius...?”
But something was different.
He was Lucilius, but he wasn’t--and the uncertainty only drove more fear into Lucifer’s heart. He stepped back, regarding his brother’s doppelganger with unease.
He knew he should stay in the city. Lucifer knew he should remain where Lucio and Sandalphon were probably going to be looking for him. He knew, and yet...he couldn’t stay still.
The encounter with Lucilius’ double was still fresh in his mind, shivers wracking his body from the mere recollection...albeit the virus that he had been afflicted with probably had something to do with the tremors that shook his body as well. He felt feverish, and his vision swam, and he definitely wasn’t walking in as straight of a line as he should’ve been...
“...Hey... Isn’t that...?”
As Lucifer attempted to gain his bearings, a hushed voice punctured the edge of his consciousness.
“No way... He’s their boss, isn’t he?”
More and more voices. They were all around him. Lucifer raised his head and realized that several people had gathered around.
“Wow... What a dumbass. Coming out to this place on his own like this... Hey, didn’tcha know this was our turf? Since your guys drove us out of our old one...
“Heh. Makes things easier for us, though...”
And then he realized that it wasn’t so much that they had gathered around...
But they were closing in on him.
And they had weapons in their hands. Crowbars, bats with nails, pocket knives...but weapons nonetheless.
Lucifer took a step back, fear gripping him for the second time.
“...What? Who are you...?”
“Oh, don’t worry your pretty little head over it. It’s not gonna be attached to your neck much longer, anyway...”
“You’re gonna pay for all the shit you put us through!”
“Wait... I don’t understand.” Lucifer took another step back, and then another. “You’ve...mistaken me for someone else...”
“Shaddup! Get him!”
“--!”
Suddenly, they lunged all at once. And unable to muster up the strength to move, Lucifer could only raise his arms in a fearful and desperate attempt at defense and brace himself--
Lucifer’s only answer was the whisper of the woods. Tendrils of warm mist crept closer, invitingly, but the primarch ignored it as he scoured the surroundings for any sign of Lucio.
It was somewhat troubling. That version of Lucio had been no warrior. He hadn’t been armed, and he didn’t wield the power that his own Lucio did. Lucifer could sense no malignant entities in the immediate vicinity, but that fact was little comfort if Lucio wasn’t close by.
Lucifer began to wade through the dense undergrowth and the mist, keeping an eye out for his friend’s double. The only comfort was that Lucio was very tall himself, and would stand high above the mist. The only trouble was finding--
A shadow darted through the tree tops and Lucifer stopped before silently moving to the nearest tree trunk for cover. It vanished into the mist as soon as it had appeared before Lucifer could catch a glimpse of it...
Even so, Lucifer had a bad feeling.
With a noticeably faster pace than before, Lucifer continued on.
In another part of the forest, a monumentally unlucky individual had once more stumbled into the maws of misfortune.
Lucifer didn’t know what manner of creature had decided to pursue him, but he was fairly certain that the moment he tried to look back, it would gain on him and eat him alive. It was that fear that motivated him to keep running through the pain, the illness, the exhaustion.
“----!!!”
--until his foot caught a particularly large root, and Lucifer was sent tumbling over a ridge, rolling painfully down the hill. Sharpened snags and thorny plants and stones and roots alike tore at and battered him during his descent, and by the time he had come to a stop, he had already been left in a daze.
“Nnh...”
That is, until he felt something breathing on him...
And when he dared look up, he saw the beast that had chased him.
A black, shadow-y creature loomed over him, it’s gangling forearms and elongated claws scraping along the forest floor as it crept closer. A multitude of eyes dotted the black crest that adorned its head. Where its snout ended and where its mouth began couldn’t be determined, for when it opened its jaws to let off an ear-splitting roar, its entire head bloomed like a red, grotesque flower whose petals were lined with teeth.
“A-aah...”
Terrified into action, Lucifer attempted to scramble to his feet, only for his legs to fail him again. And when he looked back, the abomination’s mouth was right above him, ready to snap shut over him--
No... No, no, no...!
I don’t want to die!
Lucio! Sandalphon! Someone--!
He raised his arms and shielded his face, as if bracing himself for such a gruesome end would make it less painful...but that end never came.
With an eerie shriek, the monster began to writhe, bucking wildly. And when Lucifer dared look up, he saw why.
There was a man on its back. A man who had embedded his katana into the beast, and the blade had stuck fast, even through the beast’s attempt to throw him off.
The next moments happened so quickly that Lucifer almost missed them.
The monster stopped moving for a split second.
In that instant reprieve, the man twisted his katana deep into the beast, dragging the blade through its flesh. In a single practiced slash, he had circled the entirety of its long neck and leapt off.
And then, the beast’s head fell to the floor with a resounding crash. The rest of its body followed, dissipating into nothingness.
Frozen in place, Lucifer could only watch as the man turned to him next, his long katana still dripping with the black blood of the monster. And as soon as his eyes fell on his face, he knew.
He was looking at his double.
“...You.”
Lucifer started as the other man spoke. But as he approached, Lucifer backed away.
“S-stay back!”
The primarch stopped, surprise evident on his face. He had just saved his double--why would he be reacting with fear? But Lucifer was clearly not in his right mind right now, far too agitated from all of the things that had happened. Separation from Lucio and Sandalphon, the encounter with Lucilius told him, the attack on him and his brother by the older Lucifer’s double... Lucifer had just about reached his limit.
“Don’t come any closer!”
It was odd, hearing his own voice sounding so fearful. The primarch sighed softly, remembering the words of the message they had been given. It had mentioned that their doubles would lose themselves to irrationality given the progression of the virus, but if that was the case, then time was short...
“I said...I said, don’t come any closer!!”
“I have no intentions of hurting you. I ask that you listen--”
Lucifer’s tumultuous encounter with his and Sandalphon’s double came to a relative calm. With Sandalphon in his double’s arms, Lucifer led the way, navigating through the Mistwoods and making absolutely sure not to lose the doppelgangers in the mist.
A mortal may have found such a feat impossible, but Lucifer was able to discern the shortest route out of the forest with keen senses and intuition unique to primarchs. Within a 20 minute trek, the mist had cleared, and the three emerged from the Mistwoods withuot further injury.
Lucifer glanced back at the doubles. Sandalphon was still recovering from the injury, while the other Lucifer was, in simple terms, a mess, riddled with scrapes and cuts and bruises and looking like he was about to collapse at a moment’s notice.
“We should rest here,” Lucifer said. His double looked almost relieved, though became worry-stricken once more at an apparent realization.
“But Dyrn... Both Dyrns--that is, my pet lizard, and that little blue dragon... They’re both in the forest still.”
“So you have met Dyrn as well. I see... Then I will return and look for Dyrn.”
“In a forest like this? They’re both so small, it’d be hard to find them without help... At least let me...”
“Rest assured, it will not be difficult for me to find the Dyrn that I know,” the primarch interjected. “Dyrn and I are both primal beasts. It would be a simple feat for me to locate the both of them, provided that they are together. But you must look after Sandalphon.”
The other Lucifer sighed, conceding defeat as he set Sandalphon down to rest against a tree. In the meantime, Lucifer’s eyes combed the forest’s perimeter, looking for a certain someone...
And he found him, sitting against a tree and hugging his knees just a little ways away.
“There is someone else who is waiting for you as well, Lucifer.”
“Huh...?” But before the other Lucifer could think to ask what he had meant, the former supreme primarch had already gone to the distant man’s side, tapping him on the shoulder.
“Lucio. I’ve kept my promise to you.”
He stepped aside so that the two brothers could finally meet each other’s eyes again.
And the other Lucifer’s eyes widened upon seeing his brother in one piece.
While Lucifer had contemplated waiting out the chaos while safe within the city limits, he had caught word of doppelgangers forming troupes to hunt down their doubles. Such groups were scouring every nook and cranny of the city, and Lucifer knew he could only remain hidden for so long before he was also found.
Reluctant to leave the confines of the city without ascertaining either Lucio’s or Sandalphon’s safety, Lucifer knew he had little choice on the matter. But an irrational fear of getting caught gripped him, one that was strangely prevalent, especially after the fear of his double that the other Lucilius had planted within him. And without giving it much further thought, Lucifer followed the many others who had fled the area.
He walked slowly, urging his ailing, aching body to keep going. Breaths came in short gasps, an effect not only from a prolonged period in the hospital, but from whatever sickness that he had been unfortunate enough to be afflicted with at this timing. It was already difficult enough traveling this barren land with no guidance or company. But solitude was comforting in a way. This way, he didn’t have to spend his time looking over his shoulder. This way, he could hear and see any potential allies coming from miles away...or enemies, if it came down to that.
Speaking of...
He saw a familiar figure in the distance, and though he wasn’t who Lucifer had initially been looking for, he felt relief upon finding him all the same.
“Brother!”
Forcing his weary legs into a run to catch up with him, it was only after he drew close that he realized just how much in disarray his brother looked. The older Lucifer seemed to be somewhat shaken... A rare sight indeed, and the concern was immediate on Lucifer’s face.
With the safety of their copies secured, all that was left was to notify the originals of their location and status. But as it turned out...the area around the Mistwoods didn’t have the best reception, and Lucifer was forced to leave the group temporarily to contact the original Sandalphon and Lucio.
“I have found your doubles. They are safe. Because of their close relationship to one another, I would like to seal them all together at once to avoid any complications... Please hurry to this location.”
And it was only after he terminated the call to both parties that he realized he wasn’t alone. Lucifer didn’t even need to turn around to ascertain the identity of the intruder. With a small sigh, he addressed them with a calm voice.
“You needn’t conceal yourself any longer... I know you are there, Belial.”
Amidst the confusion that the messages from their phones had wrought, Lancelot had been making an effort to search for his own double.
If his copy was anything like himself, he would have remained within the city limits to try and keep order. After all, his other self was a “police officer,” a type of enforcer... In other words, very similar to a knight. That eliminated the search to just Spirale.
However... Spirale itself was a sprawling metropolis of a city. With so many nooks and crannies to search through, Lancelot wondered whether it would’ve been easier to spot his double in open space, as opposed to a sprawling urban jungle...
To say nothing of the other people he’d run into.
Lancelot had been following the sound of a clash for a while, fearing for the worst. When he saw the source, his fears were laid to rest--however, the situation was equally urgent.
An individual attacking their own double. Lancelot didn’t know which was which, but there was a clear aggressor in this assault. The knight leapt between the two with his wooden swords drawn.
“Hey! Calm down! Didn’t one of you get the message? If you kill them, you’ll both die!”
