entrancelogs | [closed]

[Omg so many people.]

Elaine watched the group warily, her hands clenched into fists at her side. Several days of searching for the Major had yielded nothing. She couldn't feel him, couldn't sense where he was despite the fact that she had memorized exactly how his mind felt to hers. It was obvious why; depression at having let down so many people made her unfocused. And not just depression, but anger. More anger than she had felt in a long time.

It had been the event. That's what she keeps telling herself. She had seen the Major during the event, had even hugged him. In her elation she had barely registered that his hands were working again. Not that it would have made a difference. By the time she had come to her senses, had realized that he had fixed his hands, somehow, impossibly... by then it was too late. The event had let him wander.

She was angry that the Mansion had confused her long enough to let him slip away. And she was angry that she had been too dumb and careless to realize that she couldn't beat him at his own game.

What would he do, in this situation? Lucifer would have let the Major be. As long as Lucifer himself and the people he deemed important weren't harmed, then he would have left the Major free to rampage through the Mansion. Elaine had always idolized Lucifer, always followed willingly at his side. But could she bring herself to stay idle even as the Major killed and killed? Could she let innocents die, and just watch, knowing that it would be better for herself not to get involved...?

Glancing from Ritsuka to Nisei, and all the others, she sighed. Her fists tightened even more, as she gathered power until she could barely keep her body together, readying herself for whatever fight might be ahead.

Ritsuka was already pacing. His ears pushed back against his head and a backpack of bandages on his back. Ritsuka wasn't a fighter, but he was a planner ... sometimes. If the Major really had Seimei then the other would probably be hurt. He'd have to bandage him and still somehow keep Seimei and Soubi from being at each other's throats ... or at least keep Soubi from making an idiot of himself.

He glanced over to his fighter and offered a half heart-ed smile. Yeah, he was fine. His brother could be in a ditch dead somewhere and he was fine ... or at least he'd let everyone think that. Even if he knew Soubi knew differently.

"Is this everyone? Can we go now?" His words were harsher and more staccato then normal, and that was saying a lot for the boy.

Soubi was standing silent sentinel by Ritsuka's side, one hand on the boy's shoulder. He was trying to keep the boy grounded and stable, but it was getting more and more difficult as the days progressed without word from Seimei. Simply to assuage Ritsuka's anxiety, Soubi agreed to join the search party. That did not, by any means, indicate that he was happy to do so.

Nevertheless he stood beside his sacrifice, waiting on his orders.

Angel had one reason to join the group, and that wasn't nearly as altruistic as probably everyone else's. But what she had heard about the Major did not only sound very similar to the scientists that worked at the School; it also sounded like activities that might turn their aim at her sooner than not. And she had nobody to protect her in this place, all of her flock being absent and Max having left.

So she just wanted to know what all of this was about. And find a way to get out of that guy's way... or help getting rid of him in the long run. Elaine was probably the closest to her own methods, and the person in the mansion that she trusted most. So the blond girl moved silently to stand next to her, blue eyes widening slightly when her mind reached out to greet, establish a connection with the other telephat in the room. Safety.

There was one he hadn't anticipated - the young child he had met when he had first arrived. As much as he would have liked to say that this was no place for a child, he wasn't in much of a position to do so. Under these circumstances, where he could not predict what was ahead of them, the more allies they had, the better. He could sense a wide variety of emotions in the room from the different players in their little "team". But the strongest was coming from Ritsuka, and frankly, Ritsuka's were the only ones he had to be concerned for in his opinion.

"I think we can take that as a yes." Nisei said, looking around. He was impatient in his own way, though it didn't show as clearly as Ritsuka's. "Everyone, follow me." Judging by the mental map he was making, they could have searched for a very, very long time without ever finding Seimei if not for his help. After all, he and Seimei shared the same name. They were bound, and no matter where Seimei was taken, Nisei would always be able to find him.

The thing that concerned him the most, however, was not only that Seimei's location was far out of the way, but that he also appeared to be a great depth down, under the ground. A self-made prison dug underground was the first thing that came to Nisei's mind. And if that was the case, there would definitely be the question of getting him out safely while also dealing with the disgusting creep who'd taken him.

"It's pretty far." He added, a small warning, as he began walking at a fast pace in the right direction. He didn't look back, but he was sure that they'd catch on and follow. They could handle that much without being told. "And my best guess is that he's being held underground somehow. Very deep underground." Nisei said it not only as a warning, but also for Ritsuka's sake. It didn't show, but, he figured that perhaps that would give Ritsuka some kind of consolance. After all, if things got ugly, at least then, perhaps, Seimei would be safe when things got messy. Not that he would allow any harm to come of his sacrifice anyway. On top of that, Ritsuka was clever. The boy might even be able to start thinking of a plan while they walked. He was Seimei's brother after all. Nisei wouldn't underestimate him in that respect.

Elaine had also been surprised when Angel had showed up. Distracted as she was, she hadn't even realized the younger girl was there until she felt the familiar greeting in her head. Shocked, her immediate inclination was to tell off the blond, to make her go away. For her own sake of course. The less the Major saw of Angel, and vice versa, the better.

But that would have been a hypocritical thing to do, considering how young Elaine was as well. Besides, Angel could take care of herself, right? Still... Stay close to me. The words form in Elaine's mind and she sends them out to Angel. She has to admit the younger girl has a... soothing effect on her. The anger drains away from Elaine (or to be more precise, she forces it away) so that Angel won't pick up on how upset she really is.

Elaine follows Nisei, calmly at first, then hurrying when he picks up the pace. Underground? The word immediately brings up the image of a grave in Elaine's mind, and again she forces it away before Angel picks it up. "If he's trapped there, I can use my powers to get him out." The teleportation trick was something she had practiced before Ganta had left the Mansion. She hadn't done it in a long while, and she wouldn't say how likely it was that she would accidentally materialize herself straight into solid ground, with disastrous effects.

But again thoughts flash into her mind, that she tries to push away, though probably not quickly enough. My mistake. My fault. Even if it meant dying, she'd do her best to get Seimei out. Who knows what the Major had done to him in four days.

Elaine's thoughts mirrored Ritsuka's. It was his fault that Seimei had gotten hurt, his fault that this was happening. His hands balled into hard fists as Nisei kept talking. The Major kept his brother in a hole. In a dirty disgusting hole for four days. Things had to be bad for him right now. Really bad. He thought about the bottle of meds in his pocket and wondered if that would be enough. The meds and the bandages. He was worried even more now.

"We'll have to check for injuries before we move him." He paused, looking at Elaine. "Can you move him without disturbing injuries?" Although it might be better to tend to the injuries before he was removed from the hole ... if he was even alive that is ...

Were it up to Soubi, they would yank Seimei out of the hole and crack his head a few times on the way up. He seemed to be in the minority with this sentiment, however, and so he kept his mouth shut. Nisei's appearance made him more uncomfortable than he'd allow to show, and the glare he fixed Hibari with was positively cutting.

He followed for now, keeping alert as they moved.

As he thought, the others were quick to chime in with helpful ideas. That sort of thing had never been his strong point. After all, he'd never needed to think, with Semei the great stategist being the one to give him orders. He didn't know if he wanted to trust someone he knew so little of with the task of getting him out. However, Ritsuka seemed to trust her enough with the task, and that made quite a statement. So he didn't argue.

Instead, he simply did what he could and led them along. Although not without keeping his eyes and ears wide open to what the others were saying and doing. Sensing Ritsuka's distress, Nisei reluctantly decided it was his job to at least say something that might help the boy.

"He's fine. Probably not at his best, but he's fine. The fact that our bond is still in-tact is proof of that."

If nothing else, consoling him might stop him from worrying about stupid things and instead, spend his time thinking intelligently about the task at hand. Of course, the most important reason was that if Seimei had been here, he would have ordered him to do as such.

"Yes. I could bring him up to you, or make several trips to bring one of you down then back up again along with Seimei." Which would drain her to the point of a splitting migraine. But nothing dangerous, yet. Angel would make things easier, too, as Elaine could use her familiar prescence as a sort of anchor or marker, making the trip out of the hole much easier than the trip into it.

She couldn't say that she liked Nisei. He seemed to be acting out of some sort of responsibility, and not any actual sympathy or care. But that was enough at the moment, as Elaine followed calmly, feeling great to finally have a sense of direction and purpose after all that fruitless searching. That meant that she could concentrate more now, and although she still couldn't sense the Major, she began feeling ahead for any traps he may have laid.

Nothing. No traps. That scared her more than it should.

One could think that it wasn't the Major's fault that Seimei had gotten hurt, as much as half the group seemed to blame themselves. She didn't like that, and a frown formed on her little face while she followed the older girl silently. She'd stay close to the other; being used to work in a group of at least two or three, but usally six people, she wouldn't have considered getting into anything alone if she didn't really really have to do it.

Nisei isn't a danger. It was obvious, but sometimes it was good to tell people that they were right; that they didn't need to worry. After a short moment of private thought, she added Should I link with Ritsuka? He's the most likely target.

Ritsuka was trying to think, to stay focused, but it was hard. This was his brother, the person he thought was dead for two years before Soubi showed up and everything changed. He couldn't lose him again, even if it was a mansion death.

"You said you would use your powers ... what are they and what are the limitations?" The boy's fangs sunk into his lower lip, sliding over the soft flesh there and causing trickles of blood which he licked off. If they could get down and bandage Seimei ... but there were complications even with that. Seimei's aversion to dirt and filth. A hole would be filthy, Seimei would be filthy and there would be no way to clean him of that filth. No way to clean his wounds before bandaging. And what if The Major had cut him open. He'd done that with everyone else. What if he'd taken his eyes or his tongue. What if he was bleeding to death as they followed the strong to him. His hands began to visibly shake with every passing thought. "Nisei, move faster." Even though all the shaking his voice somehow seemed clear and commanding.

Soubi was about to make a snide remark (why was Ritsuka giving someone else orders when he'd never give orders to Soubi?), but thought better of it, considering the situation. The others planned, they plotted as they walked, trusting that Nisei was actually leading them to an injured Seimei rather than an elaborate trap. Yet even as they all talked amongst themselves of Seimei's suffering, and how they should rescue him, and how they should go about bandaging his wounds... all Soubi could manage to feel was a deep twinge of satisfaction. A satisfaction that Seimei had recently been getting a taste of just the sort of agony through which he'd once put Soubi.

The Germans call that schadenfreude.

Not all that fond of orders coming from someone other than Seimei, Nisei followed them regardless, speeding up his steps. They were close now. Nisei tensed up slightly, prepared for whatever was going to happen.

Up ahead, he saw a small clearing - a seemingly bare and empty space. His eyes narrowed. This was the place. Twenty or so feet ahead of him, there was a large, circular hole covered with a metal grate. Clenching his teeth slightly, he motioned for the others to stop ten feet from their destination.

"We're here..." He said simply, although it was hardly necissary to say so when they could probably see it quite clearly.

A pit. Not an underground prison as Elaine had thought. That made things much simpler...

"If it's just this, then I won't have to use much power at all." Impatience gnawed at her though, and instead of waiting for someone to get rid of the grate, she did it herself, burning away the metal with the energy she had gathered. Hardly any expenditure of power, but it tired more than usual. "That's all." Then, with a sound like cloth flapping in a high wind, her wings unfurled behind her, and she stepped out onto the air above the pit. The path down seemed clear enough. She couldn't sense any traps, at least, but it was a bit too dark to see Seimei. Or maybe the pit was too dirty, and he was lost somewhere in a corner along with all the filth...

Yes, Angel, link with Ritsuka. For some reason, Elaine felt some hesitation about Angel linking to anyone but herself, but she pushed that aside. Listen to his thoughts more than speaking to him. And stay here. The last two words were stressed. Like hell she was going to let anyone else take the risk of going down first, after how much she messed up. She addressed the group at large as she began to descend. "I'll bring him up as quick as I can. Taking anyone else down with me will just slow down the whole process." It would mean having to make multiple trips instead of one, and she couldn't stand to spend any more time stewing in guilt. "The pit doesn't look that deep, and I don't sense any traps, but... But Angel will know if I run into any problems. And you'll be in a good position to react, up here." Taking a deep breath, she sank out of view of the others.

She wondered what it would look like to Seimei, an angelic figure descending toward him, silhouetted by the light of the room above. She couldn't bring herself to be amused by the thought.

Seimei had held completely still when he heard the noise above the hole. Fear kept him silent because the movement he heard did not sound like the Major. Instead of rescue the sacrifice thought he had finally submitted to madness.

The pain medicine the Major had left him, made him blessedly numb but it also caused hallucinations. Seimei cannot even feel the connection to Nisei at this point because of what he's been given. He wasn't sure what was real right now and what was fake. Somehow the Major was really the only thing he was sure of, perhaps he believed in any shape of the major because it might punish him if he didn't.

It would have been hard to see him as he was pressed against the closest wall with a filthy blanket to cover most of him. Whatever flesh wasn't covered by the blanket was layered in the same muck as the hole making for an effective camouflage in the dark. Clean in this environment just didn't last long.

When Seimei sees Elaine descending from the sky it's hard to tell if he sees her as who she really is until he speaks..,ut does he really believe she's there or just an elaborate hoax? The sacrifice starts laughing rather manically until she touched the ground. His voice is tinged with desperation and anger. The volume rises as he gets closer to the end of what he wants to say.

"You...bitch. What type of fool catches that animal then lets it go. You were suppose to stop this from happening and look what happened!!"

He tries to get up but his body and the drugs immediately cause him to fall hard into the water. Seimei coughs some of the water back up and remains still watching Elaine with frightened crazy look in his eyes. It's very obvious he'll attack if she touches him.

"Get out of here."

Angel had nodded at Elaine's words and shifted to stay back, not be far away from the group, still near Ritsuka, but also standing so she could watch as much as possible around her. Linking her mind with Ritsuka's didn't take her long; balancing both connections and keeping them equally strong took a bit more effort, but she tried to not let it affect the concentration that she put into watching their surroundings. Multitasking like that wasn't new to her, after all.

"NO!" Ritsuka actually runs forward after Elaine. What was she doing? Seimei wouldn't react well to that at all. He'd thrash and scream and try to hurt her. She wasn't someone who was allowed to touch him ... and he could be injured.

Idiot! You stupid idiot! Don't go down by yourself, you don't know him. You don't understand what you're doing! His mind screamed, but then he felt that twitch at the back of his mind. Something was there ... no, someone was there. GET OUT! He screamed at them as loud as he could. He didn't have time to deal with this now, he had to help Seimei and stop Elaine from doing something stupid and getting hurt.

He turned back to Nisei and Soubi. "Both of you, go down there. Soubi, keep Elaine safe without hurting Seimei, Nisei, Check Seimei's condition. Use the bandages and disinfectant in my bag." He threw the bag at Nisei hoping he'd catch it.

Soubi stared at his sacrifice for a moment. 'Go down there,' he ordered. Well that was all well and good, but that still left the question of how to do so. Even he couldn't do anything so precise as... say, summoning a rope ladder. Or even rope.

The fighter's brother furrowed and he stepped to the edge of the hole, staring down into the dark fathoms. Even if he managed to get down there in one piece, there was no guarantee he'd stay that way. He wasn't exactly one of Seimei's favorite people. He might get clawed to bits and then die of gangrene from filth-infected sores. That would be pleasant.

Well... here went nothing. With one final calculation, Soubi stepped over the edge and plunged. He'd never manipulated winds quite like this, and he wasn't entirely sure it would save him. Nevertheless, mumbled a quiet spell, and a strong wind began to buffet from the bottom of the hole. Remarkably, the resistance was enough to slow him, at least enough that he could land on the mucky pit bottom without shattering his legs.

That wasn't to say it didn't hurt.

Even on such short notice, Nisei caught the bag in one hand. Patting the inside of his jacket to make sure the supplies he brought himself were still there, he nodded solemnly, not all that thrilled that Soubi was going with him. But he wasn't going to argue. Not now. Things were getting out of hand down there, and as Seimei's fighter, he had to do something.

Approaching the open hole as he watched Soubi drop, he watched the other fighter and cleverly borrowed the idea the first used. With his sacrifice so close and clearly in need, he was able to borrow strength from their bond and land a little more gracefully at the bottom. He couldn't waste any time being hurt.

Quickly taking in the scene, Nisei's eyes immediately darted to Seimei. What he saw was not pretty at all. In fact, even he was disgusted by the filth. Adjusting the bag in his arms, he stepped a bit closer to Seimei, trying to get a better look at the situation he was in. "Sorry I'm late." And imagining what Seimei'd been through... he really was.

Angel clenched her jaw, keeping quiet; for one, that had come as an surprise, in a way, and secondly, she didn't want to show what she was able to do - On the other hand, should Ritsuka try to go down there himself, she would not hesitate to stop him. This had already gotten worse for Elaine enough to not give her more to worry about.

Link, not talk. She bit back a sharp comment about how it would make things a lot harder and slow them down, unless the two men grow suddenly wings, but quit it. No need to steer up trouble. Instead, she stepped forward and dug her fingers into the boy's shirt, to at least have the option to slow him down physically for a few seconds.

"...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Elaine is glad that the pit is dark enough that Seimei can't see her eyes water up. Not going to cry... That's about as much of a conversation she gets with Seimei before the racket started on the floor above.

Soubi arrived a second later, followed a bit more elegantly by Nisei. "I would've gone back up..." But then her eyes widened, sensing both Angel's thoughts, and Ritsuka's. The latter she couldn't keep out; the strength with which the thoughts enter Ritsuka's mind is too powerful to be ignored. It's okay. I won't touch him. The reassurrance might not go far, though. She hadn't realized how upset Seimei would be, although it was still less than what she deserved. But still... Ritsuka was being a bit extreme. Enough. Relax. Both of you. Angel, let him go. Don't escalate the situation more than it has to be.

"Mm. I seem to cause trouble wherever I go. I didn't mean to scare Ritsuka..." She adds that as a sort of explanation to Soubi. "I'm just... trying to help." And now it was going to be a long while lifting everyone back out. Not to mention that if the pit had been full of traps, traps that Elaine might not have sensed, then the group's three fighters would all be dead right now. Ritsuka and Angel would be exposed, and Semei would now be stuck in the hole with three corpses. Not a lot of foresight... but still, she couldn't blame Ritsuka for acting that way. She should have expected it.

"Seimei won't let me touch him."

The pit is oddly devoid of traps but the Major doesn't need traps to keep Seimei. After all, the Major's had control of the situation the moment the sacrifice broke his leg on the way down and who would have expected anyone to come for Seimei this soon?

Seimei's eyes are as wide as dinner plates when Soubi and Nisei descend from the sky. Now there's an angel, a demon, and a dog in his hole, surely he's seeing things right? This can't be possible. Three people in his hole. The sacrifice looks at each of his three potential rescuers with an anxious slightly deranged look.

His ears are back and his hands grip the wall while the blanket slowly slides down uncovering a clothed but very much dirty, slightly bug infested Seimei. His broken leg is only noticeable by the way he refuses to put weight on it.

He's very much afraid and he does not want to be touched. The moment those words leave Elaine's mouth she will probably regret them. Seimei can hear her and is quick to start scrambling around! He can't walk anymore but he can crawl and covered in slippery muck which might make it hard in his desperation. However given the options of where to go in an attempt to escape he'll go to his fighter.

"N-Nisei."

He doesn't sound indifferent to the other's presence for once. He's happy to see him which can be heard in his voice. Seimei doesn't care if he's not real, he's better than Soubi and Elaine right now. The older Aoyagi moves to put himself behind his dog where hopefully he can't be touched.

HE DOESN'T LIKE TO BE TOUCHED! DON'T TOUCH HIM! He was actually trying to warn her, to keep her safe from his brother. He loved the older boy but he was well aware of the damage he could inflict when he wanted to. He tried his best to shrug off Angel but with the help of the freak chip that the Major had installed inside him only managed to pull her forward, toward Seimei's hole.

"Elaine, get behind Soubi. Nisei, is he hurt?" He was looking into Seimei's hole. It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the lower lighting of Seimei's hole, but he could see clearly enough to know how bad things were in there. He turned to Angel, "Keep a look out for the Major. He's fat and ugly." If he showed up they'd need Elaine back. Ritsuka could fight, but he wasn't sure how well.

Soubi wasn't sure why he needed to be down here in the first place. Nisei could handle his sacrifice, and Soubi didn't like the idea of leaving his own without a capable fighter above. And why was Ritsuka asking Nisei questions instead of him? Soubi was suddenly frowning, glaring up out of the pit as he leaned to one side, trying to conceal just how hard he'd landed on his right ankle.

He stared over at Seimei, crossing his arms. Not touching him seemed a moot point at this stage, they likely wouldn't even make contact with skin through all that muck. He couldn't help but think that this would be much easier if they'd just knock him out, which he was sorely tempted to do. Maybe he could just freeze Seimei solid for long enough to drag him out of the hole.

Soubi crossed his arms so that he wouldn't be tempted.

"How exactly are we doing this if we can't touch him?" Soubi asked bitterly.

Angel didn't let go, though. She would not let the boy jump into the hole; he didn't look strong nor very tough, and she doubted that he would survive traps or a direct attack of any other kind; she would probably be able to lift him to the top of the hallway for a few seconds, should it be needed, or to slow down his fall should he decide to jump. Her potential was fighting and keeping an inner eye on their surroundings. She couldn't do that if he was down there and another burden to Elaine. Had those people never learned how to act in a group?

"I'm staying here." Ritsuka didn't need to know yet that she could see his mind; hopefully, Elaine hadn't told anyone. She herself certainly hadn't. "It would be easier to keep an eye on everything if I hadn't to concentrate on you not jumping so much, though."

Seimei was naturally so apathetic to his existance. Seeing him otherwise was slightly... disturbing. Nisei's eyes narrowed further. As he watched Seimei trying to hide behind him, he turned his head to follow the sacrifice's actions. The odd limp was impossible to miss. And the sacrifice's very actions screamed that he was hurt, mad, desperate, derranged, or a mixture of them all.

Not going so far as to touch him, Nisei turned around to look Seimei in the eyes. He ignored most of the others as they bickered, and focused instead on what he came here for. He scrounged in the bag Ritsuka gave him, before realizing that the boy had asked him a question.

"His leg is broken." He called out, loudly enough for Ritsuka to hear. When he looked up to yell that, he felt something odd. Looking back down, he noticed the little hedgehog of Seimei's, curled up in a ball next to some of the medical bandages. When he took them away, she hissed at him, but he paid the creature little mind. This was more important after all. Setting the bag down, he looked back at Seimei.

Taking one small, experimental step forward, his eyes drifted towards Seimei's broken leg, frowning. "Seimei."

"You need medical attention before we can get you out of this place. I know you don't like it, but you need to work with me here." He grinned slightly. "After all, you were the one who showed me how to properly wrap a wound." He was confident he could do it well this time. Much better than his attempt on his own wound some time ago.

Elaine placed herself behind Soubi. She again sent reassurrances back up to Ritsuka, though this time she said it out loud. "I won't touch him, I promise."

She watches Seimei's movements as well, wondering more and more what the Major must have done to him. She shuffles her feet in nervousness, pushing aside a small mound of grit. Glancing down, she notices the steel grating and the machinery underneath. "What..." She pushes more dirt aside until she realizes that they're standing on a very conductive floor, with an electrical generator positioned below it.

"That's just..." Sick. Really sick.

Seimei stares in complete disbelief at Nisei. He's towering over him in his mind and everything is so very loud with Ritsuka yelling. He's certain that this is all an illusion, proof that he's gone mad.

He goes rigid with that one step in his direction by Nisei. It's very obvious that if someone touches him there will be a kill or be killed response in spite of how weak and tired he is.

Seimei won't even look at Soubi, of all his delusions seeing Soubi there makes this humiliating. He watches them all paranoid of what they might do to him, until Elaine's discovery distracts him enough for someone to possibly move closer to him. Seimei smiles in a rather unpleasant way having figured out what she's found.

He laughs.

"He's trying to break me. B-but I know he's an animal. H-He's an animal. He has to be an animal."

Ritsuka's tight tether of calm snapped with Angel's words and Seimei's voice. It was already hard enough to keep his emotions in check with the chip still inside his body, but this broke it. He shoved at her hand causing her contact to break and spun on her, fangs almost bared. The effect was only accentuated by the bits of dried and fresh blood that were staining his lips from the fangs digging into his lip. "I'm not the one you need to worry about! I'm fine, but if he shows up then we're all not fine. Now go make sure he's not coming!"

He leaned down further, trying to get a better view of everything but digging his fingers into the dirt to keep purchase on the ground. "Brother .... brother, we're here to help you, but we need to fix your leg." He bit into his lip again, thinking. "Soubi, you and Elaine come back up. Nisei ... I think he can do it alone." If not then he'd have to have someone take him down, but for now he needed to get the people who were targets out of danger first.

Soubi quirked his brow and slowly lifted his head to stare up at his sacrifice. He swore he could feel his left eye twitch. He put his hands on his hips and yelled back up,

"How exactly is Nisei supposed to bring Seimei back up if Elaine isn't here? And you actually think Nisei is capable of patching someone up?"

It was improper to be using the girl's first name. They hadn't even been introduced. His gaze turned to Elaine and he offered her an apologetic look accompanied by a quiet sigh. He had to follow orders, even if they seemed nonsensical.

"Would you mind...?"

"No, I wouldn't." She slings her hands under Soubi's arms, and spreads her wings wide. With a few strong beats, they lift off the ground. Although that's only the start; Elaine struggles more with the steep, vertical ascent.

She whispers to Soubi. "I think it's better to listen to him for now."

Eventually she pulls him to the top, where she puts him down as gently as possible (suspecting that he did indeed hurt his ankle) and then sets down next to him.

She was actually slightly glad to be out of the pit. She'd want to help Seimei, but he didn't seem to want to let her anyway, and it was easier to keep an eye on Angel once she was out.

Sensing Ritsuka's calm snapping, Nisei had to admit that the boy had held himself together well thus far. If he'd have made a bet, it would have been that Ritsuka would have lost it as soon as he'd realized what happened. Maybe he wasn't just some immature kid after all. If he was Seimei's brother, that was actually pretty unlikely. "Don't worry about it. I can handle this just fine."

"In fact, he taught me a lesson about patching up wounds." There was no attempt to hide his pride in that statement. Who would have guessed that his little accident would later come to good use? He certainly didn't.

Watching Seimei's rigid reaction closely, Nisei freezes. When Seimei relaxes again, distracted, he takes a few cautious steps closer, his eyes watching for any signs of resistance from the sacrifice. "Seimei." The fighter clearly addresses the sacrifice, and even he's surprised by how strange the near role-reversal feels. "You're going to be fine. He can't get to you now. But you need to let me help you." And so it was that the dog found himself giving his master an order. Under any other circumstances he wouldn't be so stupid as to even try such a thing. But right now, it was necessary.

Seimei calms down a bit after Soubi and Elaine are gone. One of the might have been able to do something but with so many it was just too much.

"Ritsuka?" His brother's voice hurts him. Seimei looks up then immediately down. The top of the hole is spinning for him now as the drug's influence is accelerated by the excitement. The older Aoyagi doesn't want him to be here as much as he does.

"W-why are you here?"

Seimei lets Nisei get closer than anyone else might have been able to who was not Ritsuka. However the tension in his body doesn't diminish. He flinches with every touch and seems ready to attack. Yet Nisei is not attacked at least not yet.

"Don't touch me." The sacrifice insists on repeating the statement even though his fighter is trying to help. The phrase gets more desperate sounding as Nisei starts to fix him up. He doesn't feel the pain he should be in but the action of being touched by a dog is traumatizing.

Most of the damage is covered by a layer of grime and the water but the injury to his leg probably feels wrong but minor considering how bad the break could have been.

Nisei doesn't say anything, because he knows there isn't anything he can say to the sacrifice that will calm him in any way. Maybe not talking would help Seimei ignore the fact that he had to resort to being touched by his dog.

He's very careful when handling Seimei's wounds. Number one, he doesn't let his touch linger, so he has to be quick and precise, because the less he touches Seimei, the better the sacrifice will be able to handle it. Number two, he's no medical genius and he doesn't want to aggravate any of the injuries more than he has to in order to clean and cover up the wounds.

Coming to his leg was despair. Nisei didn't know anything about broken bones, but he could tell when something was broken. Constantly fighting gave him plenty of experience with a number of different kinds of injuries. How to deal with it was another matter. After all, he didn't exactly have the necissary materials to make a proper cast, which was what Seimei really needed. Thinking as he went, he started by wrapping his leg up with the medical bandages.

But they were thin, and flexible. Although they would help a little, they wouldn't really keep his leg as still as he needed it to be. What he needed was something thicker, something that wouldn't bend quite as easily under pressure, in case Seimei moved too much. It wasn't cast material, but the next best thing he had was his coat. The material was far less likely to budge. Sighing, he shrugged off the coat and took out a small knife. He cut up the large section of the coat, just enough to cover Seimei's leg, and with a few clips from the bandages, made a much tighter, sturdier outer layer for Seimei's make-shift cast.

Leaning back to look, he wipes his hands and smiles slightly. "Looks good. Anything more will have to wait. I don't really know anything about dealing with broken bones... sorry." And he doesn't hide how really honest he is about that. After all, he finally got the chance to be the one person who could help Seimei and there really wasn't much he could do.

Ritsuka was still bending down and watching, ears flat back and tail twitching back and forth. He was glad that the others were up, but he didn't have any time to worry about them right now. "We need to get him back up without moving his leg too much." He frowned, biting his lip again. How could they manage that without touching him?

Then he turned to Elaine. "Can you move him without touching him?"

Of course she could... But it would drain her like crazy. Lifting stones and other small objects had been the extent of her practice in that regard, and lifting two whole people was something different entirely. She had to lift from the bottom, not from within their bodies, and she had to be gentle enough not to hurt them...

But glancing from Ritsuka to Seimei down in the pit, she sighs and wipes her forehead, conceding to Ritsuka's need to save his brother no matter what. "Yes. I can try." She concentrates. The two begin to lift off the ground, and rise steadily out of the pit.

Elaine decides to try a different appraoch, persuading the gravity around the two to let up a little bit, rather than lifting them with her mind, so that Seimei wouldn't feel like he was being carried at all. Eventually she's able to guide them to the top of the pit, and she puts them down gently before sitting heavily on the ground, breathing hard.

[closed]

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[snerk Come with me if you want to live!]

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[closed]

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[*snerk* Come with me if you want to live!]

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[snerk Come with me if you want to live!]