Reiken sat cross-legged on his bed, just staring down at his hands. Mostly at his wrist. His entire hand and wrist were covered in a thick bandage. It hurt just to move his arm, not to say anything about his wrist.
After what happened with the demons, his not been able to move much. His body was really exhausted. He hadn't been able to fight the demons since then. If it weren't for Gruen and the others bringing him food, he probably wouldn't have eaten anything.
Shaking his head slightly, Reiken forced himself to get up from the bed. His legs almost buckled beneath him as he got up.
For the room around him turned.
He whimpered softly, wrapping his arms around himself. When the room finally stopped turning, he limped over to the kitchen.
Everything around him, felt dull and numb to his senses.
His power was exhausted. He could barely feel the heat from his fire element, nor the calming effect of his water and wind. The worst was the loss of the earth. He couldn't feel the earth, or smell it. It was all just dull and beyond his reach.
Nausea rolled in his stomach, and he almost crumbled right there, pressing his hand over his mouth.
Reiken leaned against the doorframe, breathing slowly.
His other arm wrapped over his stomach as he tried to keep his breathing even. So that he wouldn't start throwing up right there.
Shutting his eyes for a moment, before he stumbles over to bathroom. He barely made it in time, before starting to throw up. When the heaving finally stopped, he just curled up on the floor, whimpering softly.
He wasn't sure how long he lay there, before he finally had the strength to get up.
With a soft groan, he managed to get up. There was a soft ringing in his ears as he continued to stumbled towards the kitchen. Slowly he got the tea pot, putting it on the fire.
A fire that Hein made sure kept on burning.
Reiken sank down on the floor as he waited for the water to boil. He hugged his knees to his chest. He sat there staring at the flames. They felt nice and warm and calming.
"Why... can't I reach you?" he asked quietly.
A shiver ran through his body and he lean a bit towards the fire. He wanted to reach for his power, but it stayed out of his reach.
Sadness filled him and he hugged his knees a bit tighter.
He jumped slightly when the kettle started whistling. Immediately he looked up. Slowly he got to his feet again and for a moment he reached for it with his bare hand. He jumped slightly before reaching for the cloths.
They were just out of his reach.
Biting his lip, shuffled to the side, quickly grabbing them. He sighed as he took of the kettle.
***
Reiken sat curled up on his couch, just staring at the fire in the fireplace. A cold cup of tea stood next to him. Shivers ran through him as sat there. A shrill screech sounded through the air.
He flinched, his head snapping in the direction the sound came from.
For a moment his eyes widened as he stumbled to his feet, knocking over the tea cup.
"no...." he whispered, feeling the fear rising in his chest.
He couldn't really much at the moment. His power stayed out of his reach. Holding his hand against his chest, he stumbled towards the door opening it.
The sound of the demons felt like they were cutting through his soul.
Reiken whimpered, almost pulling back into himself. He was terrified of going out. Only he couldn't leave the demons. They will go to the down to the village and he could not risk that.
Shutting his eyes for a moment, he took a deep breath.
Clenching his jaw he started moving to where the sounds were coming from. Even if he had to fight the demons with his bare hands and sai daggers. He was not going to let the demons get to the village.
It took him longer than it should, to find the demons that made the calls.
Reiken nodded as he shot forward.
Immediately the demons turned their attention towards him. He stumbled slightly as pain shot up his leg. The sai daggers fell into his hand.
Taking a deep breath he shot forward, constantly reaching for his power that stayed just out of his reach. He was lucky that they weren't high level demons, or else he'd be dead already.
One of the claws caught him across the chest, throwing him back.
Out of reflex he reached for his power, only to feel the bracelet around his wrist burned white hot. The pain made him drop his dagger. His back slammed into a tree and he whimpered, sinking down.
His vision blurred as he gasped for breath. Pain tore through his chest.
The world started disappearing. And the last thing he could make out was the image of the demons moving towards him.
Maybe this was it.
His time to atone for everything he's done. If they kill him, maybe that will be enough.
A new sage will be born.
Someone that can be worthy of the title.
It might be good.
Everyone can have peace. They can be happy. Everyone can be happy. They wouldn't have to worry about him, because he wouldn't be there to cause them any more trouble.
So will it really be that bad if he just gave in...?
If he'd let them kill him now?
Would that really be so bad?
Demon claws ripped through his abdomen, lifting him of the ground. A weak scream sounded from his throat.
His hand weakly held on to the demon's hand, as his vision faded again.
Slowly the corner of his mouth lifted in a sad smile. A weak cough, sounded from him as blood dripped from his mouth. He could taste a rancid taste in his mouth as he started fading.
The last thing he saw was a flash of brown, black, white and blond.
Pain tore through his body, before everything disappeared.
Pain shot through Reiken like lightning.
He wanted to scream. But he did not know if any sound came out of his throat, maybe there was. He didn't know.
"...."
A long familiar voice sounded.
"...."
More familiar voices.
Why did everything hurt so badly? Couldn't they just leave him to sleep.... Who every they were.... The familiar voices.
Brown and Black.
They stayed with him as a flash of colour filled his eyes. It didn't want to make any sense.
Something warm took his hand.
It was gentle.
Misha? What was she doing here?
He was tired. Wanted to sleep and rest. To get away from the pain and the confusion. Why would Misha be there with him? Wasn't she....
He couldn't even finish that thought.
Why would he think about her? When she couldn't be with him, when she left him.... No wait.... That's not right... He's the one that left her...
"...."
The voices again.
Not Misha.
"...you cannot die yet..."
"...don't think we'll let you off so easily...."
"...Rei.... you'll be alright...."
"...I WOULDN'T let you die!"
"...Just hold on..."
"We've got you"
The colours merged together. He felt so confused. The pain slowly pulled him back into the darkness.
***
Slowly Reiken started waking up. He couldn't feel his arms. Pain throbbed in his abdomen. It was echoed by the pain in his head.
Waking up, surprised him.
He did not expect that.
Opening his eyes felt like a chore. As if it was the hardest, most difficult thing he'd ever done.
What he saw was a canopy of green above him. He couldn't make out what it was made of, and he couldn't figure out what the hazy figures were moving around them.
"...he's waking up" a voice said.
That voice belonged to the blond, not that was the brown... He wasn't sure anymore. It confused him.
"...Then we leave"
That was the black... He was sure that the black.
Blond moved into his field of vision, before followed by black. Immediately his entire body went cold. Pain shot through his body. He wanted to scream again.
Maybe he did.
He wasn't sure. The pain clouded his mind, leaving him feeling weak and cold. He wanted to reach for his power to warm him up, but it stayed out of his reach.
A gentle hand brushed back his hair.
Slowly his vision cleared.
Finally he could make out what was going on around him.
"Slowly" a voice said "Don't move to fast"
Reiken slowly turned his head to where the voice came from. "...Waneta..." he whimpered.
The blond head nodded. "Yes..." she said "Are you... feeling alright?"
For a moment Reiken just blinked at her. His eyes widened as his mind caught up with what was going on. Immediately he pushed himself up, only for his arms to give in beneath him.
Someone caught him, lowering him back to the ground. "You should stay down for now" a new voice said.
Sigurd sighed, when Reiken just stared at him with a terrified expression.
"....I'm sorry..." Reiken whispered, pulling back, away from Sigurd, as if terrified of getting into trouble.
Sigurd lifted his hands slightly in a show of peace and shook his head. "Easy there, Fire Sage..." he said "We're not here for trouble, Reiken"
Reiken all but curled up into himself, his body trembling.
"...sorry..." he whispered.
"You should have been more careful" Acheron said as he walked over to him "What the hell did you think going out like this?"
Reiken immediately looked away, his body trembling.
"Ash..." Waneta said "Back up... You're not helping"
Acheron rolled his eyes as he pulled back. "He should get back to his cottage.... because he croaks" he said coldly.
"He wouldn't die" the last voice said, Kaelah.
Reiken stared at the other immortals. It felt like he was hallucinating them there. Why would they help him?
"Why're... you here?" he whispered, still tasting blood in his mouth.
"You were going to die" Waneta said, tilting her head slightly "We couldn't just leave you to die like that"
She held out her hand towards him.
"It's okay, Rei.... You're save now... I wouldn't let anything happen to you"
Slowly Reiken reached out to her, taking her hand.
Waneta smiled as she helped him up. Immediately she had to catch him again as his legs gave in.
Sigurd sighed as he went to Reiken's other side, putting his arm over his shoulder, holding him up. "Come on... you will probably fall over if we leave you alone..." he said.
Reiken just looked down at the ground. "...sorry..." he whispered.
"You power is exhausted" Acheron said with a frown "What did you do?"
When Acheron started talking, Reiken flinched. ".... demons.... they... attacked the village" he said quietly.
"And you used all of your power for that?" Acheron asked, frowning.
Reiken nodded slightly. "...A hoard" he said and felt Sigurd stiffen next to him.
"A hoard, are you sure?" Sigurd asked.
"Of course he's sure" Waneta said "What kind of idiot do you think he'll be if he didn't know..... All of us know what a hoard looks like"
"And he used all of his power for that?" Acheron asked again "He shouldn't have had to do that"
"You forget the seal" Kaelah said quietly.
Acheron paused for a moment before he nodded. "Right..." he said "half his power... right... that makes sense now... Just take him home so we can get out of here"
"You really have to work on your personality, Ash" Waneta said, shaking her head "It's starting to get really bad..."
Reiken just looked away. He could feel Acheron's dark eyes on him, like daggers in his chest. All he wanted to do was to go home and curl up on his bed.
"....Can I go home... now?" he asked, voice barely audible.
Waneta looked over at Reiken, smiling slightly. "Alright.... let's go" she said "You look terrible"
***
Reiken closed the door as the others left. He could barely stay on his feet, so he was thankful that they brought him back to the cottage.
Wringing his hands together, he limped back to the living room. The fire that was there, had long since gone out. He sighed as he sank down on the couch, curling up.
After a few more second he struggled back up and stumbled to the fireplace.
He went down on his knees as he put some logs in the fireplace. It took him a few tried before he managed to get a fire started with the firestones. Immediately heat filled the apartment.
He was to tired to do anything else, so he just curled up on the floor, in front of the fire.
It did not take very long before he slowly started falling asleep.
Here we go again.... Almost done @myfriendcallsmeasickwoman19
***
Reiken with his knees pulled up against his chest, just staring at the bodies of the demons around him. It was so cold and quiet. So he stayed there, curled up and staring at nothing.
“Rei?” a voice asked.
Reiken flinched, his eyes snapping up to the figure.
It was Waneta.
She tilted her head slightly, looking at him with a slight smile. “Hey, Rei...” she said again, before slowly walking up to him.
“Netta...” Reiken whispered, curling up a bit more “What... are you...?”
Waneta knelt next to him. “I came to visit you....” she said gently.
Reiken blinked before looking down again. “I’m sorry....” he said softly.
“For what, Rei?” she asked, sitting down.
“All of this....” Reiken said quietly “This chaos... It’s all my fault”
Waneta shook her head. “Rei-Rei...” she said “It’s not your fault, alright. It was an accident. You couldn’t do anything about it”
Reiken just shook his head.
“Where’s the others?” he asked.
“They are not here... Just me” Waneta said, just wrapping her arms around him. “Sweet Rei.... You are trying so hard. I know.... Reiken you’re doing everything you can to protect the people. We know that.... I know that... And you are doing a great job....”
“no....” Reiken whispered.
“You are... You protect them, and you take care of the demons” Waneta said softly “Rei.. there’s no need for you to do this all on your own. You can let us help you”
“No... I did this...” Reiken said softly “It’s my fault....”
“It’s not your fault, Rei.... You are strong and gentle and takes care of everything... You’re doing your best. and you take care of everything all on your own. So don’t worry.... If you ever need anything.... Rei, just call me... let me help you”
Reiken bit back a sob, before hiding his face in her shoulder. “I’m sorry... Netty....” he cried and “Thank you.....”
Reiken stopped, his eyes narrowing at the group that stood in front of him. It was never good when they came over here. Somehow it always ended up with him getting hurt.
“What do you want?” he asked, resisting the urge to step back and away from them.
“You are needed for this” Kaelah said.
Reiken shook his head. “What if I don’t want to?” he asked.
“There is no choice” Kaelah said, folding her hands behind her back “If you don’t come. People will die”
Reiken clenched his jaw. “Fine...” he snapped “I’ll go with you.... Don’t expect anything else from me...”
Kaelah nodded. “No problem” she said “We will not expect anything else from you. You are not needed for other problems”
“Why don’t you just leave me alone?” Reiken asked walking towards her “None of us has anything to say to each other. You don’t want my help and I don’t want to be anywhere near any of you...”
“Rei” Sigurd said “Please don’t do this right now”
Reiken’s eyes snapped toward the brown haired man, narrowing, but he did not say anything.
“Let’s go” Sigurd said.
For a moment Reiken’s shoulders stiffened, but he nodded and started after Sigurd, keeping his eyes on the ground.
Sigurd sighed as he teleported everyone to the right location.
***
The ground trembled, cracked and disappeared beneath Acheron and Reiken. It swallowed them and the demons around them.
Reiken tried to reach for his control of earth, but before he could manage that. Something slammed into his head. The world around him blacked out, the last thing he saw was Acheron, reaching for him.
Slowly the pain pulled Reiken back to consciousness.
He blinked a few times, struggling to see anything in the semi darkness. There was a blinding throbbing in the back of his head.
“...”
A voice sounded up, but Reiken couldn’t understand a word of it. It just sounded like foreign words with no meaning.
“...”
The voice kept on. It got louder and louder.
“... Rei...”
Reiken flinched and blinked a few times. A small flickering fire hovered in the air, casting a pale light in the darkness.
“REIKEN!” the voice snapped.
Slowly Reiken turned his head towards the voice. It took him a moment before he understood what he was seeing.
Acheron lay a few steps away from him. it looked like he was trapped beneath some rocks.
“Ash...?” Reiken muttered as he slowly got to his feet.
“Reiken...” the other immortal said “What just happened?”
Reiken blinked a few times. “I.... I don’t... know” he muttered “I couldn’t reach... earth fast enough...”
Acheron nodded. “Can you move?” he asked.
“Yeah...” Reiken muttered “I think so...”
Slowly he sat up, feeling the pain in his head making the world turn. He moved towards Acheron. Everything around him moved. Somewhere in the distance he could hear the sound of demons. They sounds closer and far away at the same time.
His shoulders stiffened.
“Reiken!” Acheron snapped, drawing the red haired immortal’s attention back.
Reiken blinked turning back to Acheron. “Are you... alright?” he asked hesitantly “Can you move?”
“No...” Acheron said, pain lacing his voice “My legs are trapped beneath some boulders. You will have to move them before we can get out of here”
It took a moment before Reiken made his way over Acheron to make sure about what was going. He just blinked at Acheron’s legs before his eyes flickered over the other guy.
“Let me make sure that you don’t have any other injuries...” Reiken muttered.
“Like hell” Acheron snapped before groaning in pain “Just get me out of here and I’ll take care of myself...”
Reiken clenched his jaw. “NO!” he said, sounding angry “You are not going to suffer like that... Let me help you”
Acheron groaned, his eyes flickering closed.
“Ash....” Reiken said “Ash, wake up... open your eyes... Come on man... open up your eyes. DON’T go to sleep!”
For a moment Acheron groaned and his eyes flickered open.
It took a few seconds before Acheron’s black eyes focused on Reiken. Reiken breathed out and pulled back slightly.
“Thank you...” he whispered. He placed his hand on Acheron’s chest. “Take it easy... I’ll take care of you, just hold on a little”
“Rei...” Acheron muttered, closing his eyes.
Reiken clenched his jaw and shook his head. “Just shut up, Ash” he snapped “Shut up and let me help you, alright”
Acheron groaned before nodding. “Thank you...” he whispered.
Taking a deep breath, he moved his attention to Acheron’s legs. “This is bad...” he whispered.
He placed his hands on boulder on Acheron’s legs.
“This is going to hurt...” he said quietly.
Acheron nodded. “Yeah I know....” he said quietly “Crush injury... the boulders probably crushed my legs. You will have to heal them”
Reiken nodded slightly. “I’m so sorry....” he said quietly.
He closed his eyes, pushing the pain to the back of his mind, as he reached for his power and then lifted the boulders. Acheron’s scream echoed through the darkness of the hole they were trapped in.
Without hesitation, Reiken moved and rapidly pulled Acheron away.
Pain ripped through his wrist as the bracelet burned him. He let go of the boulders and the sound thundered through the small space.
Both Reiken and Acheron fell on to the ground, gasping. Reiken flinched as he looked over at Acheron’s bloody legs. “I’m so sorry...” he whispered “I don’t know if I have enough.... enough power to... to... to fix that”
“Give me your hand” Acheron said.
Reiken nodded slightly and held out his wrist, Acheron gripped his wrist tightly.
“Start” he said.
Reiken shut his eyes tightly before holding his hand out over Acheron’s legs. He could feel the power rushing through him, adding to his own borrowed ability. Slowly he started healing the injury.
Acheron’s grip on his wrist tightened as the pain tore through him.
After a little while, he could feel Acheron’s power fading as the immortal started losing his consciousness.
“Ash...” Reiken said, as he turned his attention to the other guy. He’d done all the healing that he could on the guy’s legs “Ash... wake up... Please... Ash... You have to wake up”
The black haired immortal stayed motionless.
Reiken could feel the panic rising in his chest. He couldn’t let this happen. Not again. Not while he was there. He was not going to let someone else die while he was there.
“Ash...DAMMIT! WAKE UP!” he screamed.
The power exploded around him. It torn at his body.
“REI!” Acheron’s voice snapped “STOP IT”
No... That wasn’t right... He was not... Acheron was not.
Arms grabbed him, holding him tightly. “It’s alright.... Take it easy... It’s alright” the voice whispered “Sshhh... It’s alright... No one is going to die... We’re all alright”
Reiken gasped, pulling his legs up against his chest. Slowly his power calmed down.
“There you go... It’s alright Rei-Rei...” Acheron muttered as he rubbed Reiken’s back, trying to calm the other immortal down “Deep breaths, Rei.... Come one Kid... Deep breaths”
Reiken finally managed to draw in a deep breath, as his power calmed down.
“There you go...” Acheron said quietly “Calm down, Kid... Calm down... It’s alright”
Acheron breathed out and nodded, continuing to rub Reiken’s back. “Just hold on a little... Sigurd will get us out” he said gently “Don’t use any more of your power, alright. We’re fine”
Reiken was trembling, just staring out at nothing, struggling to get his breathing back under control.
“Come on Kid” Acheron said “I don’t hate you so much that I want to see you suffer like this”
“Sorry... Sorry... Sorry...” Reiken muttered.
“Close your eyes, Rei” Acheron said quietly “Close your eyes and stay calm... I’m here... I’m not going anywhere, you know I’m to stubborn for that. You know that...”
Reiken shut his eyes tightly. “I’m sorry.... I couldn’t... I couldn’t help more...” he whispered.
Something always on them: Punch Dagger and a golden sealing bracelet - it is a copy of Reiken’s silver one, but this one is controlling the silver counterpart.
Fears: Acrophobia - afraid of heights
Habits: Always looking for movement & Tapping her leg
Abilities: Shapeshifting & Super-senses
Residence: Lives on the edge of the capital at the hunter’s guild. The house is small, but earthly. It’s always a bit messy, but it is controlled chaos.
