The helminth brought its sharp point behind, stealing momentum before it stabs Lucaen's back.
Yet, the pain never came. Only a loud clank was audible. It was as if an organic metal met another with a way higher density, in fact, higher than EXA's.
It was not the sound of pierced metal or the sound of his system falling. His HUD was perfectly active.
Hesitantly, Lucaen turned to his left. His own body tensed, alerted.
The helminth retracted itself, shrieked as if the metal that loomed over them had personally offended it.
A 21-foot stretched wing stood before them. Lucaen retreated slightly at the familiarity of the material in front of him. Glossed, thick, and it was tungsten.
Aurelius pushed himself off the pile, the pieces of sandstone came, revealing the scratches it had been enveloping Aurelius like a lover's caress. Aurelius didn't spare a glance at him. No words were spoken. But it was undeniable, Aurelius' on his limits.
The rubble continued to reveal his other wing. Drooped, stilled to the ground. He let out a silent visible mist from the cracks of his body.
The helminth itself stilled when Aurelius retracted his wing to ease his movement.
Before it could act, Aurelius' left arm shot up. Gripping its neck. A crushed shriek was heard as Aurelius brought its limping flail body above the air.
"Regenerate." His voice echoed. It was not the voice Lucaen was familiar with. This, was on another level of octave.
Aurelius dug the helminth's neck, piercing through its first layer of armor. It regenerated. While his exo was seen producing a slow vapor with every motion he made. The helminth's flesh was starting to shrink; too hot. Too hot to even regenerate. It tried to envelop Aurelius's arm. It wanted to breach Aurelius' system. But it was futile.
He stopped with a cocked of his head, letting the helminth generate itself. It tried to mutate, lest it couldn't, not with its body trying to regenerate and mutate itself. It can't. So Aurelius benevolently let it restore itself with his talons in its jugular. An act of mercy as the heat subsided.
With the coolness of his metal, it healed its burnt flesh. While Aurelius' eyes observed every strand of its body, every molecule's interactions. Every spasm of its muscles.
It generated a tail. Lashing it towards Aurelius' eyes.
Aurelius didn't flinch. He slammed its body to the ground. His left wing impaled its legs as he stomped on the helminth's ribs. He tore its throat swiftly with his other talon, decapitating it.
It wailed, it flailed, grappled, scratched, invaded, all were in vain beneath his thermokinesis.
The sound of the flesh sizzling became the constant melody as the helminth scrambled through the sand. Covering itself to ease the heat. With every twitch of the muscles made by the helminth, Aurelius felt it in the crook of his own foot that pierced it. He could predict the helminth by its muscle movements.
He lowered his face to the helminth. A low reverberation rumbled in his chest.
"Should I let you go?"
He pressed on further, taunting it. The helminth wasn't given the time to even hiss back; its body dissolved, merging with the very foundation of this place.
Lucaen's eyes fixed on the junction of Aurelius's wings and scapulae. The fusion. The right wing hung limp, a dead weight. It didn't move, even when the left flared in threat. It was at peace, contrasting with the animosity that was happening in front of him. Perhaps, the wing itself was dysfunctional.
Aurelius shifted his weight, digging through the flesh. Even the sand below parted while the unfortunate became a little too close to a glass medium.
[Target Seized]
[G. Aurelius Everhart//ASSIGNED//STATUS: IN PROGRESS// LIVE UPDATE>90% Completion]
[G. Lucaen Theron//ASSIGNED//STATUS: IN PROGRESS// LIVE UPDATE>90% Completion]
[REPorT: REturn To Elys1um]
"It's done." Lucaen snapped some sense to Aurelius, keeping some distance from his exo. He could feel the steam even with some distance apart. Only a moron would dare to touch Aurelius as of now, and Lucaen is not a moron.
Luc. He breathed.
He turned to face Lucaen, studying the scratch marks embedded. "Are you alright?"
Lucaen was seen obstructed. He didn't think Aurelius would be asking about him.
"Your chest. There are scratches on it." Aurelius interrogated, pointing at his left chest where he had previously dug himself during Scarred's death. The outcome of his enduring, the unmaking of his own rhythm.
[Initializing Self Reparation Protocol]
Aurelius shook his head. The air simmered around him before it vaporized as Aurelius cooled his system down. His wings stretched, but not his right. It was stationary while the other flared majestically.
"Don't let this get into your head." He lets out a low huff towards Lucaen.
The pain was still stinging him from all sides of his body. The heavy stones that crashed on him were still viscerally there. The sounds of his joints against each other. His own exo was full of scratches himself. But that is nothing other than badges of honor.
The sandstones crumbled beneath their weight as they made their way. Wings tucked. Lucaen loathed it when his wings stretched wide during the two of them alone after all.
[Body Extension Critical]
How annoying.
"That was inordinate. Melting the helminth should have been sufficient." Lucaen accused as he pulled his gaze away from Aurelius. He scanned the area, still tensed. Aurelius tracked the hitch in Lucaen's gait, the subtle lag of a system stabilizing under strain
His system needs stabilizing..
Aurelius didn't even register the scolding; he didn't need to. He will do whatever it takes to get what he wants.
And all he wanted was for Lucaen to get what he wanted. What he believed Lucaen wanted.
"We should go back to the HQ. Nearest Linking Port is Enarc."
Lucaen nodded, his shoulders relaxed slightly at the mention of Enarc. "We should."
[Waypoint Had Been Set]
[REP0RT: RetuRn To Elysium]
"I'll inform your stay to the lieutenants while we drag ourselves to the border." He mused.
Lucaen brushed the attempt at humor by passing first. Leading the way instead. "Why did you tear it apart?"
"To kill it, why else?"
"The most efficient way was to heat it from the inside. Other than that was unnecessary."
"You know me, as always." He shrugged, setting his eyes to the north. Took a quick note of Lucaen before trailing behind, following him. Enough distance for their voice to be heard by each other.
"Since when we were kids, you really are uncontrollable." Lucaen sighed, navigating through the ruins. He didn't need the governor to show the place. Why bother guiding him the way of his frequent place?
The sudden accusation struck Aurelius out of his mind. To bring that up, Aurelius managed to hide the brief complexity of his trudge as quickly as the wind soothed his inner heat. Lucaen knows that their shared past was not a passing subject.
"Can't help with that. Mother and father had a hard time with me compared to you." His eyes roamed Lucaen's back. The way each strand bellowed behind him. Aurelius' tone was flat. A fact. The walk to Enarc was balmy, a middle ground between the chilling cold of Echolon and the humidity of Enarc.
"That's why you were their favorite." Aurelius continued.
"Nonsense. Mother loves us equally."
"Father, too."
Lucaen thought nothing of it. Thinking it was Aurelius' usual antics to gain sympathy. But even still, this was not the right time to bring up that matter. It may have been Lucaen's fault for bringing their past, but Aurelius needs to stop comparing them. The Therons cherished him as much as they did with Lucaen as the true heir.
"I don't really mind about it. I'm still indebted to Therons." He assured Lucaen.
No many how many times they talk about this, Aurelius won't change his answers. The same as fact still remained. Even if the answer displeased Lucaen. He can't lie about what he truly feels. How he was nothing until the Therons gave him a value to live for.
Lucaen's claws unknowingly lingered on his robe. Aurelius knew. Always the same reaction. "You don't owe us anything."
Aurelius cocked his head to his claws. A subtle reminder of his tick. "If it's nothing to you, why do you always bring it up?"
"You are not fooling anyone, idiot." And for the countless times, Aurelius wished to step away from this conversation. It's feeding the flame with the flammables.
"You started it first." Lucaen defended himself. "Always with that insecurity of yours."
Aurelius let out a cold sigh, shoving Lucaen aside. A familiar gesture. One he had done many times.
Silence falls between them as they share a quiet understanding. Save for the sound of crunching sand beneath their feet, leaving trails behind them that they are too bothered to even cover. No words nor banter could fill the void of what had happened.
It was a deafening journey. Torturous even, but one might find it peaceful. Aurelius was content enough with the thought of having Lucaen in the land he governed. That alone overrides all the painful thoughts or physical pain he may have had.
They were both, victims of their own lives.