Rain Falls, But Can't Wash Away the Blood

[DanteMGalileo]

When the sky falls away,
Your world, your reality
It will all come to an end.

You know this, little songstress.
Why resist?
You can't fight it.

Pisces!
Twelfth of the zodiac!
Embrace your fate!

Submit to the void!
Submit to destruction!
You know it is your destiny!

Why fight?

"... Hmm. What was that?" Loba looked around. For a moment, she thought she saw something flash, perhaps a peak at her own bones through her hand? Maybe she did, but it felt far too real. For the sake of pure pragmatism, when the monstrous creature had descended, she had covered, ah, Minokawa's eyes with her watery hands and did the same to herself. No need for either to be reduced to a fit of shrieking insanity. And yet, she quickly found herself retracting those hands. Was this related to the stabbing pain in her chest? "... I'm going to assume this was not related to anything of Paradiso?" she inquired her captive, watery collar around his neck. "... I figured as such. Even they wouldn't do so, not after..."

She cut herself off. If her captive knew her, things could get awkward. Loba sighed and took a seat on a bench, motioning for him to do the same.

♫ "All your sweet and hollowness, goodbye.
Going down the crossing with... doubt.

Turn our heads around or brave these seas?
Turn our heads around or brace this quest?" ♫

"... Hey." Loba stopped before the next verse at a familiar voice. Looking up, she saw a blonde teenager with a cloak, looking ragged and worn-out. "Just me. Y'know, Jordan. You know where your bro is? 'Cuz I've got one hell of a bombshell."

Loba placed a watery hand to Jordan's lips, making a "ssh" sound. "Not in front of his one," she hissed. The teen looked over Loba and saw an equally-small, green angel.

"Alright, who's this guy? He ain't exactly the best looker, so I'm sure this isn't a date... sorry, that was bad..." While he towered over the petite angel, Jordan still cowered at Loba's glare.

"I will explain later. My brother should be nearby. I just figured that this... Minokawa prisoner of our's... he's best kept under my supervision. You felt that, right? It came from the direction of the abandoned district..."

"Ah." Jordan simply nodded. "That thing in the sky that was there for less than a second? Well, might as well go together." As the pair turned to leave, somebody else caught their eye...

"... Paul? Kel- Kelsey?!"

[ParamountKeymaster]

Mic trembled where he stood, rattled to his core, firmly clutching his chest as if to keep his blood thumper from bursting out of his chest. Thought it was brief, the horrific images in the sky had effectively scared him senseless, and he had a feeling he wasn't going to get over it anytime soon. More than just an unusual sight, the phenomenon seemed to intentionally insert a feeling of dread and unease within him. Was this Paradiso's doing, Loba asked? "Uhh... P-Probably not, but after the whole thing with the dragon, I'm not sure how much is out of the realms of plausibility."

Per his host's silent request, Mic sat down on the bench, dropping his chin into his hands and staring at the sidewalk, straining to regain his composure. When Loba had ordered him to accompany her on her search, he was more than willing to comply, given that with each passing minute, he was growing more and more worried about Paul. How long was the training going to take? Would Liderc find him on his own? How far south would things go if and when Kelsey returned? He didn't have it in him to fret about how the commander would feel having to do the work Mic had been sent out for. His only concerns were Paul's safety, so much so that it was quickly starting to overshadow the discomfort that the eldritch visage in the sky had evoked.

Mic sadly stared at Loba, letting her unfinished sentence soak in, giving himself a moment to relax in the midst of her song, wondering what she was thinking. He could only imagine what it must have been like for her, back when she was...

He tensed up when the newcomer made his presence known, staring wide-eyed up at the human. Loba shushed the middle Lowe sibling before Mic could overhear any information, but this hardly seemed to bother him. All he could think to do was awkwardly wave at Jordan. "Hello."

One brief, uncomfortable conversation later, it seemed like the search was resuming. Mic promptly stood up, ready to follow after them. Then he noticed a flash of blue racing by on the other side of the block.

Paul was still sprinting at full speed, panting heavily as he tore through the city and towards the hotel whilst running on fumes. Kelsey was curled up in his arms, one wing awkwardly flopped beneath her, an alarming amount of color drained from her face, her pajama shirt –not to mention Paul's tee to a lesser extent– thoroughly covered in her own blood and bile thanks to several more bouts of sickness along the way.

After racing down the streets for so long without slowing, something finally did garner Paul's attention. Someone had called his name, followed by Kelsey's at a slightly higher register. And then, much louder than either...

"PAUL!!!"

Mic dashed towards the dragon man, heedless of how Loba and Jordan might react to his hastiness. Paul frantically skidded to a halt, letting the trio catch up to him, sucking in gasp after gasp of air. The man was a mess, there was no ignoring that. His ruffled hair, his utter lack of equilibrium, the sick demon in his arms...

"PAUL! OH GEEZ! OH DOGGONED DOOFERS!" Mic continued to holler, scrambling to a stop, anxiously looking between Paul's panicked eyes and Kelsey's trembling form. "WHAT IS THIS?! WHAT HAPPENED?!"

"And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again"

Paul hardly paid any mind to Kelsey's song; it was the third time she'd sung it anyway. He simply looked to Mic, jaw slacked, shoulders heaving, completely breathless. "Kelsey, she... sick... I don't know how... what... Liderc, he... a-and Lo..."

He trailed off, his tail going stiff, his eyes landing on Loba. As the air continued to wheeze in and out of his open mouth, Paul's gleam of fear and concern turned to utter dismay and regret.

[DanteMGalileo]

"... The hell's his deal?"

"No idea." With that moment of bafflement dealt with, Jordan and Loba began to approach the sight before them, a dragon man carrying a demonic girl covered in her own blood and vomit. The blonde glanced at Paul, then at Kelsey.

"The hell happened to her? She looks like death took a few bites and spat her out... several times..." Cripes, now that he was up close, this girl looked even worse than that. More like she had somehow suffered every magical disease known to man and them some. Even... No, let's focus on this problem, Will's totally got Leanne under his watch. "... What the fuck happened."

Loba elevated herself on watery steps to check on Kelsey. Yes, she looked like crap, but the pink-eyed angel sensed a will to survive, despite being covered in her own blood and vomit. She refrained from touching the demon girl even with her watery hands; Kelsey needed to be touched as little as possible now. Instead, she looked at Paul, looking the dragon man dead in the eye with a serious expression, no signs of her usual playfulness or lightheartedness in her tone.

"Where is Lobo? And what is this about Liderc? I need an answer, now, Paul."

[ParamountKeymaster]

"The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death"

Paul pulled Kelsey closer, though his eyes remained on Loba. His lip quivered. The tears began anew. The words refused to escape his throat, unwilling to face the music. Really, how could he approach this? Loba deserved to know, but oh how Paul loathed having to be the one to break that ice. The silence could only provide so much comfort...

"Tired of lying in the sunshine, staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today"

"Lobo... he..." Paul pursed his lips, instinctively retreating inward against his better judgement. He took a deep, snotty breath through his nose, building up the will to finally force it out. "Liderc killed him."

"Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say"

Mic sucked in a tiny gasp of air, taking a step away from Paul, his eyes growing wider with horror. His hand once again flew to his chest as he turned away, fidgeting in place, an unmistakable sense of grief washing over him.

Paul glanced down at the half-conscious girl in his arms, a soft cough and a trickle of blood escaping her lips. "Kelsey, she... she absorbed his soul... Without her, Lobo would..."

He stopped right there. It was hard enough to say the rest. He simply couldn't bring himself to finish that sentence. With the last remnants of his fortitude completely shattered, Paul leaned his forehead against Kelsey's and let himself become wracked with sobs. "I'm sorry... I couldn't save him..."

[DanteMGalileo]

"... He... my... my brother..." Loba's watery steps and hands dissolved into shapeless masses, the angel's eyes wide, her body shaking. She fell to her knees. This was all some sick joke, wasn't it?! It had to be! Even when they were children, even when they were Fenella and Sampati, he was the one constant in her life. He was the one who protected her when the knockers came. He was the one who was always there to guard her, even if it hurt him. He was always there for her. They came into this world together, they even shared the same egg!!

And yet...

Paul wasn't the type of person to make these jokes. The stabbing pain in her chest... It made sense now.

While the sky was still clear, rain began to fall. It started as a few isolated raindrops around Loba. Then it began to pour more. Soon, the entire plaza was experiencing a rainfall, and the radius continued to expand.

Loba placed her face in her hands, and began to weep. Her cheeks began to stain indigo as her mascara ran with her tears. As the pink-eyed angel mourned, the rain continued to fall, increasing in size and intensity.

Jordan threw his cloak over his head, before walking over to Paul and Kelsey, bringing them underneath. It was the least he could do for the sick girl. Finally, his face showed true sadness, not just unease or confusion. "... This is real, isn't it?" Perhaps rhetorical, but Jordan didn't want to accept the truth. It... This was Lobo. Lobo, who had already gone through so much shit, to be killed just like that. "... How did he die? What did his killer look like? I'm gonna pay his killer a visit..."

While the blonde teen wasn't crying, tears glimmered in his eyes.

[ParamountKeymaster]

Paul raised his head only slightly, staring at Loba out of the corner of his shimmering eyes, his expression wrought with grief. Nothing he could say could make this situation better. This woman's brother, perhaps the sole constant in her life, was gone, and it might as well have been his fault. Words failed. All he could do was share the pain, resting his head against Kelsey's again, letting the rain wash over both of them as the tears continued to flow.

In the midst of the showers, Kelsey's drowsy eyes shot wide open.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!"

"HRK-!!!"

Paul quickly went rigid. Kelsey's bloodcurdling scream was like a nail in his eardrums. She fiercely, desperately grabbed his shoulder, one or two of her claws snagging in between his scales. "K-KELSEY?! KELSEY!"

"FORGIVE ME, FATHER, FOR I HAVE SINNED!!! O MY GOD, I AM HEARTILY SORRY FOR HAVING OFFENDED YOU...!!!"

"KELSEY, CALM DOWN, IT'S OKAY!"

After a bit of awkward twisting and tugging, Paul managed to dislodge Kelsey's hand. Jordan's cloak sheltering them from the rain seemed to calm her to some degree, as her horrified screaming ceased and her panic subdued into a traumatized thousand-mile stare. "Eternity... Infinity... Constantly fracturing, never terminating... Everything ends except time itseeeEEAAAAALF-BLEAAAAAHHHKKK...!!!"

And there came another round of blood and vomit. Paul stumbled back a step as Kelsey nearly rolled out of his arms to puke onto the sidewalk. Once she was done practically coughing up a lung, Kelsey curled back up against Paul's chest and simply started crying.

Paul held her firmly but gently, his tears resuming for both hers and Loba's sake. He turned to Jordan, finding himself once again beyond words. He sniffled and tried to pull himself together, and when he did speak, it was only barely audible above the rain. "Liderc, he... h-he took Lobo's wings... he..."

"The Commander of the Phoenix Platoon. The one fronting this invasion."

A number of eyes landed on Mic, his back still turned to the others, his head hung low with shame. "Son of the Serapis. Lobo and Loba's half-brother... Prasino. Green skin and wings, blond hair, red eye, acid burn on half his face... Y-You'll probably know him when you see him. He's out for Paul's blood, so... you're probably bound to see him again."

"Yeah..." Paul mumbled, turning away from Mic, staring solemnly at the pavement as the rain washed away the blood at his feet. "He... Lobo went down... trying to protect me."

[DanteMGalileo]

"T-The hell's her deal?!" Jordan jumped back slightly at Kelsey's sudden outburst, pulling his cloak back to avoid the explosion of blood and puke. Once he was sure she was done, he looked at Loba, then at Paul. "... The hell was that? Is she having some kind of episode? Or... is it something a bit more severe?"

Rain continued to fall, now soaking Jordan even though his cloak. Loba's crying was silent, but through her fingers, her face was stained with indigo streaks. The blonde continued. "Was this some honour bullshit killing or what? 'Cuz I've got a katana with this Lid-guy's name on it... He... he took the one constant in Loba's life away from her." Jordan looked away, hoping nobody would pick up on his hesitation. Oh hey, this new guy's suddenly a lot more interesting.

Paul was getting to explain, that this Liderc had taken his wings, when the new guy...

Well, what he said caused Loba to look up, the rain slowing down but not stopping. Mic... he described Lobo's killer. Who he was. (So it was an honour killing.) Jordan clenched a fist, practically snarling. "That's enough. You guys watch Loba, I'm gonna find this guy and..." He trailed off, noting that the rain began to feel colder on his skin. Soon, it wasn't water anymore, but ice, accompanied by a drop in temperature.



Soon, a localized hailstorm had formed, gradually replacing the rain. Loba got to her feet, watery hands reforming and freezing into vicious-looking claws. Her mascara had run, producing streaks along her face. Her eyes were bloodshot yellow, her expression one of tranquil fury.

One of the ice claws grabbed Mic, dragging the other angel up to Loba. The air around Mic seemed to fall several degrees as the other claw approached his back, running an elongated finger along the middle of his back, between his wings. "You knew he was a target," she said, voice full of venom. "But you didn't care about him. All you cared about was your own hide, am I right? And perhaps Paul's, for whatever reason? Or do you have an ulterior motive of your own for him? Minokawa, I would suggest talking now if you would like to live."

[ParamountKeymaster]

"I don't know!" Paul anxiously responded, looking between Jordan and Kelsey. "She's been like this ever since... e-ever since she tried to summon her archdemon. It all happened in the blink of an eye and she hasn't been able to tell me what..."

"Letting the days go by
Let the water hold me down"

Well, at least it wasn't Pink Floyd again. Sure, Paul liked both songs, but given that it was a change of pace, he was going to consider this progress. Once again leaving Kelsey alone with her scattered thoughts, Paul sadly glanced up at Mic. The little Plasmis in disguise didn't look back at him. He didn't even try to cover himself, letting the rain soak him to the core and drip down his lowered face. Neither of them knew what to say to the other, let alone what could be said in their present company that wouldn't earn them further derision than what they had already inflicted upon themselves.

"Letting the days go by
Water flowing... under... underground... water underground..."

Paul had no time to warn Jordan against pursuing Liderc before the rain turned to hail, prompting him to lean over and shield Kelsey with his body. This particular weather phenomenon didn't seem to faze Kelsey, who had all but zoned out at this point. The icy pellets did sting the rough spots in Paul's hide a little, but nothing compared to the indirect gut punch he received as he watched Loba grab Mic...

Mic did not squirm in the ice claws' grip. He quite visibly grew nervous, but his fear was surprisingly subdued compared to the outright panic of his introduction to the group. He merely closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and let the dismay fluid silently squeeze out, but made no further attempt to defend himself. Perhaps some small part of him believed he had it coming. Either way, Loba deserved a response, even if it wasn't one she wanted.

"F... Loba... please..." A low, quick, sniveling breath, then he continued, "Please believe me when I say that I had no idea this would happen. I-I was aware of the commander's feelings about you and Lobo, but I'd not personally heard him speak of any homicidal intent towards either of you. I just... I came here for Paul. Because I knew what he wanted with Paul. It... It didn't occur to me just who he might tear through to get to him... besides..."

His eyes opened and briefly flicked to Paul. He could feel the dragon man's terrified eyes on him, but his gaze was focused more on the half-awake demon girl in his arms. Then Mic looked away again and lowered his head.

"Please... I swear... I never meant for this to happen..."

"Loba..."

Paul's voice cracked as he approached the angel. With his arms full, all he could think to do was wrap his tail around Loba's arm, straining to draw her attention, his face reflecting the devestation of a broken man. "Please stop. Can't you see this isn't his fault? If anything, it's... it's mine. I lost control of my powers. I gave away our position. And even after all that, that power wasn't enough to... t..." He was slowly losing his ability to speak, simply wheezing out his air supply through his gritted fangs. All he knew was that he didn't want to see anyone else die tonight...

[DanteMGalileo]

You have him where you want, Pisces.
Why do you hesitate?
One slice.
It'll all be over.

One cut of those icy claws, and it would indeed be over. Loba knew that all too well. How many times had she been forced to do so? Too many times. Was it so ingrained in her that even after all these years of peace, her first thought was to kill? Or was it something deep in their species' psyche?

Do it already.
End him.
He's lying.
One for one.

"W-Whoa, Loba, as much as I already don't like this guy, I don't think murder's gonna solve anything...!!" Jordan was visibly taken aback by the normally calm angel's approach to this situation, internally cringing at Mic in the icy claws. "L-Look, even if he's lying, wouldn't it be more useful to have him on hand? Pry some more things out? Murdering him isn't going to bring Lobo back! I mean..."

It's entertaining, isn't it?
The boy who wanted to get in your brother's pants-
Telling you not to get the revenge you deserve?
You know what will shut him up.

Loba looked at the child in her grip. She could end him there. He was helpless, and she doubted he would fight back.

She didn't make any sound when Paul's tail wrapped around her arm. All she did was look at the dragon man with a cold expression.

Then Paul spoke, blaming himself for Lobo's death by accidentally giving away her position...

Loba looked away, down at the ground. The icy claws released Mic, dropping the other angel roughly on the ground. The hail began to melt back into rain, the storm slowly returning to a concentrated area.

What are you doing?
End him!
He's a symbol of your pain!
Why do you hesitate?

"... Because I'm not like him," Loba muttered to herself, it seemed. She slowly looked up, her face blank save for her watery eyes. "M-My apologies..." She shuffled slightly in place. "My emotions got the better of me."

[ParamountKeymaster]

"El..."

Mic looked up slightly, glancing at Jordan out of the corner of his eye. It was a little hard to tell, given that he was in a precarious position that warranted nervousness, but the young man's initial verbiage seemed to hurt him more than anything else. He turned to Paul, the only one standing up for him out of what seemed like genuine empathy. His expression was caught somewhere between forlorn appreciation and total dismay. He cast a quick glimpse at Kelsey, still half-conscious and murmuring to herself in Paul's arms...

"Elllll..."

Then Mic turned back to Loba. He said nothing. His expression didn't change. If one didn't know any better, they might've thought he had simply, quietly accepted whatever fate was given unto him.

In the end, Loba put him down. Mic could only react to being released with a heavy sigh and a light rub to the shoulder, once again averting his eyes. The moment after Loba spoke up again, however, Mic was quick to offer a reply. "You have nothing to apologize for."

He looked into Loba's eyes again. He seemed tired. Distraught. Hopeless. Feelings that were all rather foreign to Mic. Nonetheless, everything in his eyes and in his tone was nothing short of genuine. "I have a brother. Just a few days younger than me. He never cared for Paradiso's ways either. Or... anyone or anything, for that matter. He left quite some time ago and I haven't seen him since. I... I always thought he was just stubborn. Naive. Unable to look at the... erm... 'bright side' of our way of life. I was upset when I found out he abandoned us, sure, but I never held it against him. He just... always beat to his own membranous percussion instrument."

"Mmm... Muh..."

Mic paused to sniffle, rub his scent detector, then stare at his feet. "If it were him... I think I would've done the same thing. You're not wrong for feeling the way you do."

Paul blink and tilted his head. He could've sworn the raindrops were evaporating the moment they touched Mic's skin.

"That, and... to some degree... maybe you're right about me."

"W...?" It broke Paul's heart to hear Mic utter that phrase. "Mi... Dude, don't say that-"

"No... No." Mic raised a hand, cutting Paul off, unable to look directly at him anymore. "I think... maybe... maybe I am selfish..."

"Min... Mino..."

Mic suddenly perked up, taken aback when he heard Kelsey utter that name. Kelsey merely leaned into Paul, still barely cognizant of her surroundings.

"M-Mino... Need... Mino..."

Her tone was distant. It was hard to gauge how she might respond or if she was even intentionally directing her voice at him. Nonetheless, Mic opted to gently, experimentally respond to his stolen alias. "I-I'm right here, Kelsey..."

"The sietch... in the desert..."

"Wait, the what in the desert??" Paul stared down at Kelsey in reserved desperation, lightly nudging her head in the hopes of rousing her to some state of awareness. "Kelsey, come on... Kelsey? Babe, talk to me..."

"HACK-!!! COFF-! HCK-!" Go figure, the only response Paul got out of Kelsey was another round of blood-tinged coughs.

"Sietch..." Mic muttered under his breath. The part about the desert had certainly garnered his interest, but that word... he knew that word. "That's from Dune..."

[DanteMGalileo]

_{"Oh, so you actually did read my books. That explains why I found them in the wrong order..."}

Loba looked at Jordan when Mic seemed to hesitate on what seemed like a shortened form of his name, the blonde teen nodding at the pink-eyed angel. Hmm, was this all a farce? Maybe it was, but they'll figure this out later. "So, Minokawa... this brother of your's..." The storm was beginning to shrink, slowly beginning to concentrate around just Loba. "How old are you? When did he defect? What made him defect? Did he see the truth with his own vision lumps, or was it something else?"

The two walked up to Paul and Kelsey at the latter's mumbling. "Is that some fever dream, or is it just the mutterings of a sick girl?" He wasn't the brains of the operation, hell if anything their plans were essentially just them making shit up as they went along. Jordan winced when he saw the blood and vomit all over Kelsey again. "All right, assuming this isn't a fever dream or mutterings, what's this about a desert? I've been out for a few hours and apparently all hell breaks lose. Hey, Paul, you mind fillin' me in later?"

A purple-clad figure stood on a rooftop, out of sight, not even slightly damp despite the sudden downpour. He watched the group with a curious expression, pulling the hood of a space-patterned cloak over his white hair.

_{I'm sorry.}

[ParamountKeymaster]

"I-I'm sorry, I rearranged the ones I read in order of publication year. Force of habit," Mic bashfully responded, twiddling his fingers. He then cleared his throat and promptly responded to Loba's questions. "We're both about three hundred sixty... I'd only heard that he'd left some thirty years ago. I don't know what exactly was the tipping point that made him defect. I just know that he never liked Paradiso, their laws, or... really, people in general. He was never a people person. I wouldn't be surprised if those were his only excuses, honestly."

Paul kept still until Kelsey had stopped coughing, though her shudders were enough to make him shake slightly. He sadly looked to Jordan, absent-mindedly brushing his fingers through Kelsey's hair as he spoke. "Like I said before... I don't know what's going on with her. I can't exactly judge the current state of mind she's in."

"Mino... Doctor..."

"I know she had a rough morning... She'd promised me earlier that she would explain what happened, but we never got around to it. I-I can bring you up to speed on what I do know, for sure, but I'm not sure how the desert or whatever's in it ties into anything."

"A sietch is a term for a Fremen community or village," Mic explained, still taking the somber atmosphere seriously while regaining at least a little bit of spark. "Fremen being the native people of the desert planet much of the story takes place on."

Paul took a moment to gather what Kelsey and Mic were trying to convey. "Okay, so... We need to find this village in the desert or something?" He paused again to mull this over, then offered a halfhearted shrug. "I guess we could use a place to lay low for a while, if nothing else. But how would we get out that far at this time of day?"

"There is no real ending... It's just the place where you stop the story..."

[DanteMGalileo]

"Hmm, it is a treacherous journey..." Loba mused on the topic of getting Kelsey to the desert at this hour. "Walking is out of the question, and even if it wasn't, deserts are notoriously difficult to traverse outside of a few hours after sunrise and a few hours before sunset..." She looked up at the sky. "... I'm sorry, but I don't think I could fly both of you there. Even if I teamed up with Minokawa here, we'd likely drop everyone. Plus, Paradiso likely has some kind of sky patrol..."

"Not even a portal?" Jordan inquired, pulling his hood off, the rain now concentrated around Loba herself. "I mean, this island's covered in them, why can't we just use one of those? It'd be easier and quicker than flying or walking, yeah?" Loba shook her head.

"There's no telling where any of them lead. We... I've lived here for fifty years, and I've yet to fully map them. I mostly flew from place to place..." The pink-eyed angel looked down for a moment. _{"But Lobo, grounded Lobo would know..."} After her muttering, Loba looked back up. "I'm sorry. But land and air travel are both highly impractical, the power is still out in most of the city, and even if sea travel was possible, the water ends early in the west..." She bit her lip. "I... I'm afraid you may not be able to get out there..."

There was the sound of light footsteps, as a purple-clad figure with white hair made his way over, dry despite the sudden drizzle.

"... I heard you need instant transport to the desert." Lark had an uncharacteristically serious expression, the shoulder of his top stained with blood, the archmage seeming paler than usual. "Well."

Loba and Jordan jumped slightly. "Gah! The fuck you've been?! From what I can tell, we could've used your powers to stop at least one death!!" The blonde gestured to Loba, who said nothing, but merely stared at Lark.

[ParamountKeymaster]

Paul sadly stared back at Loba, the weight in his chest increasing as she described the futility of traversing the desert anytime soon. He looked down at Kelsey; it seemed like she was finally asleep, but her pained resting expression was anything but peaceful... and neither were the sounds coming from her digestive tract for that matter. Without saying a word, Paul strained to think up an alternate solution despite the odds. If Kelsey needed something in the desert, he was bound and determined to see it through. If he didn't, what else was left for him?

He heard the footsteps first, slowly glancing back before Lark even spoke. Paul straightened up at the sight, while Mic warily took a few steps back before freezing up on the spot. The blood on Lark's shoulder was one issue, but it was one that Paul sensed he wouldn't receive a solid answer for at this time. What really sunk in for him was the prospect of instant transport. That cloak...

"Lark..." Paul stepped closer to the mage, moving slowly and steadily to avoid rousing Kelsey. "Lark, I... w-we really could use your help if you'd be willing. Kelsey's sick with I don't know what, and we have a dragon, the angel commander, and God only knows what else trying to hunt us down. We've... lost a lot of friends today. We need someplace we can lay low, where Kelsey can recover, where... where we can process all of this..." He didn't dare free his hand to wipe the tears. "She mumbled something about a village in the desert. I'm not sure how credible it is, given her current state, but I feel like it's worth a try anyway if there's any chance at sanctuary..."

Mic kept his mouth clamped. He wanted to speak up, to request that he accompany them, but he was uncertain not only of whether Loba would go to and drag him along, but of how willing they would be to let him.

[DanteMGalileo]

"... I understand. After all, while I was... oof, I'm gonna need stitches..." Lark made a grimace of a grin, clenching his bloody shoulder. "Well, let's just say I got an inkling as to what the hell happened." With his free hand, Lark shakily reached for his cloak, slowly removing his other hand from his shoulder. He unfastened his cloak, holding it aloft. The galactic sea shimmered, slowly turning into a desert landscape...

"Alright... we're dialed to the ghost town... dunno what ya need t' go there for..." The mage wiped some sweat off his brow, as if the simple action was tiring to him. "But there ya go..."

"Hmm, I'd go with you, but... someone needs to watch Minokawa, and... well..." Loba wiped her eyes, still not looking away from Lark. Catching the hint, Jordan walked over to Mic, keeping an eye on the male angel.

"I'll go. I guess if Paul approves, we can bring this thing along with us," Clearly, the blonde didn't trust this Minokawa angel. "Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on him so you can watch your girlfriend. I'd also like you to fill me in on just what the fuck happened today. Like, where are my siblings and Percy, and did anyone else die?"

"Thank you, Jordan..."

"Anybody else comin' along, or is this it? When yer ready, just step into the cloak and it'll do the rest." For some reason, Lark wanted this to be over with. Maybe he was just tired.