Lucitius listened, then sighed.
“Besides mine throbbing head and the agonizing crack in mine chest, I am well. Yet, I am also aware of an armor plate that is not mine. Sahlonek… clarify that for me,”Lucitius said, his intense eyes looking at the floating armor.
Electricity crackled in his fingertips again, but they didn’t last, fading seconds later. Lucitius sighed again.
Sahlonek chuckles, then turns somber. Small sparks start coming off of him, indicating how nervous he is.
"You know the blast that knocked you out?" he says, gesturing to the ruined world around them.
"Well. . . it nearly also killed you, and pretty much did kill me. So, in an effort to keep me alive, this armor, which is the manifestation of my soul, attached to you to save us both. But it also nearly killed us by doing so."
Lucendi nods. "And not only do you have Sahlonek, I have the jackass in my head."
Qûs'ÿltn sends an image of him looking affronted to everybody. "Oi, I don't call you a jackass! Well, in front of your face."
Lucendi mentally slaps Qûs'ÿltn to shut him up.
Lucitius sighed again.
“I see. And, I know why our connection nearly killed us. It was too much at once. Mine bond with the mortal Lucitius grew gradually. It allowed us to acclimate properly to two souls merging into one. Too quickly, and it will overwhelm both souls and destroy them. The bond must be gradual,”he said.
After a moment, Lucitius slowly flexed his toes. He winced.
“Mine damn legs. They always do this. And Qûs'ÿltn, you are indeed a damn useless fool,”he grumbled.
Qûs'ÿltn takes control of Lucendi, who sighs. "Good, I hope your damn legs stay dead, Blue Fool."
Lucendi wrests back control, and sighs. "He is very difficult to control."
Sahlonek shakes their head at Qûs'ÿltn/Lucendi and sigh. "Shut the hell up, jester."
He turns to lucitius. "A slow amalgamation of souls, huh? Let me try something, then."
The largest piece of armor, the main component of Sahlonek's chest, floats forward and attaches itself to Lucitius.
Lucitius rolled his eyes when Qûs'ÿltn spoke.
“Mine legs are not dead, fool. They bleed, nearly going numb. ‘Tis a remnant of a scar,”he hissed.
He then turned to Sahlonek, watching the armor cautiously. When the chest plate attached, Lucitius winced, coughing a few times.
“Careful. I still have a crack through me. That explosion nearly tore me in two, and I mean in regard to souls. I and the mortal Lucitius may be one, yet we still can be separated if the sorcery is strong enough. ‘Tis the equivalent of tearing a singular soul in half. It leads only to Death. And these cracks never truly heal, if I am any proof of that,”Lucitius mentioned.
Lucitius then tried to sit up, only to realize that he was still being held by Lucendi. He blinked, humming breifly, then teleported to sit nearby. When he reappeared, he was wincing, blood leaking from his mouth.
Sahlonek winces in sympathy. "Sorry. I'm trying my best to be gentle here."
He chuckles despite himself. "I know how soul fracturing works, Lucitius. I am experiencing it myself, as we speak."
Lucendi sighs at Lucitius's use of his magic. "Lucitius, please, stop. You'll only make it worse."
She walks over to him and gently cleans his face. My payment of my debt to you.
Lucitius nodded at Sahlonek, his body swaying a bit. He then watched Lucendi, a bit confused as she wiped off his face, but otherwise not dismissing her.
“How? I am a creature of magic. ’Tis is in mine blood. ‘Tis in mine mind. Mine claws. Everything,”he replied.
To prove his point, he summoned a ball of electricity in his hand. It fizzled out within moments. Lucitius sighed.
“I have never been without it,”he added, melancholy in his eyes.
"You know your magic can be messy after a particularly nasty incident, Lucitius. I just don't want you hurt before I can repay you my debt." Lucendi murmurs, continuing to clean his face. She inspects him closely, then moves to his hands, cleaning those.
Qûs'ÿltn is silent, for once, watching.
Sahlonek watches Lucendi clearly, not for the first time wondering what exactly Lucitius had done to make Lucendi so loyal. He never asked, though, knowing that if she wanted to talk about it, she would.
Gently, he walks over and places a hand on Lucendi's shoulder. "We have no time, Lucendi, for this."
“This was no mere incident. I was nearly torn in half, which is not a common event for me. Beyond that, I told you before that you have no need to repay me, and yet you persist. That has mystified me for a long while now,”Lucitius said.
He let her clean his face and hands without complaint, finding comfort in the simple deed. He also tilted his claws a bit as she went, so they wouldn’t tear up her arms.
When Sahlonek approached, Lucitius watched him without a word. Sahlonek was right, but Lucitius wasn’t even sure if he could stand, let alone walk.
"You know what I mean, Lucitius." Lucendi responds calmly, and then looks up, her hair in her eyes. She blows it away in exasperation.
"You saved my life, and if needed, I would give my life for you," she says. "But Sahlonek beat me to the punch on that one, so I have to content myself with cleaning you."
She turns her head slightly to listen to Sahlonek, but otherwise ignores him, continuing to clean Lucitius. After a bit, she tells Sahlonek to go get some water, and he does so. When he returns with the water, she takes it wordlessly, rolling up the fabric covering Lucitius's legs and cleaning them. As she does so, numerous scrapes and gashes are revealed, and she feels a pang of sorrow. This is no way to treat one such as Lucitius.
Qûs'ÿltn snorts at Lucendi. Get ahold of yourself, Lucendi.
Sahlonek looks at the pair in front of him with some ammount of bemusement.
"Yeah, sorry. But it wasn't exactly within my control. I would much rather be stuck with Qûs'ÿltn, no offense to you, Lucitius. I could restrain him better anyways." he grins.
He fetches the water, then watches for any signs of attack, as unlikely as they would be after what had happened. He figured nobody in their right mind would want to investigate. But better safe than sorry.
Lucitius snorted in amusement, both at Lucendi’s words, and at the way she blew her hair out of her face. He then nodded at her next words.
“‘Tis understandable. Though, I still insist you have no need to do such. Too many have died for me, or because of me, and none of them deserved to die as they did,”he said with a sigh.
When Lucendi uncovered his legs, Lucitius noticed her reaction. A rumbling hum came from him as he remembered every scar.
“Mine scars are from battles, not abuse. I was a warrior in both lifetimes, and remain one. The bleeding is, itself, a scar, from when mine legs had been broken from being thrown nearly across an entire village in mine mortal life. That particular battle influenced much of mine future,”he explained.
Lucitius then turned to Sahlonek with a snort.
“I doubt any can control me. Mine abilities are… nearly incomprehensible. And chaos follows me ceaselessly,”he grumbled.
(At heart, Lucendi is still pretty much a teenager, lmao! And then sometimes she goes mom mode, lol.)
Lucendi chuckles as well.
"I know you understand. But stop arguing with me." she murmurs, hiding a grin.
She nods. "I know, but one such as you does not deserve a life of scars, pain and killing, not to the degree you do. Not after what happened in the past, to your Clans, to your people, and," she directs her next words directly to the Great Guardian himself, "to you."
Lucendi snorts as well, but stays silent, now carefully bandaging Lucitius's legs with the magically strengthened bandages she'd made specifically for him.
Sahlonek listens intently, learning from context clues and tone that Lucendi must have been around at the time that Lucitius's first family had been killed, and that she had been abandoned close by the ruined place at a later date, when Lucitius was there. Beyond that, he couldn't guess any more.
He also looks at Lucitius's heavily bandaged legs, frowning slightly at them.
(Lol)
(Also, it’s just ‘Great Guardian’. There’s no ‘the’. It’s not a title, it’s his actual name)
Lucitius snorted in amusement again.
“I am not arguing. Simply stating that no one deserves to die for me,”he mentioned.
”Possibly, yet I am genetically predisposed to chaos and death. That is why I am basically insane. No High Shaman ever lives peacefully,”Lucitius replied, laughing mirthlessly.
He watched Lucendi put the bandages on him. It was strange, having the bandages. He had only used bandages a few times in his entire life since his healing was typically fast enough to remove most wounds within within a day, if not minutes.
(I'll keep that in mind, lol.)
Lucendi chuckles. "Suit yourself. But even so, you saved my life. I am prepared to give it for you, if needed."
She nods. "I know that, you know. But that does not mean you deserve the life you have, Luitius. No one person deserves such a burden on their shoulders to keep the multiverse safe."
She nods at her handiwork, then stands up smoothly. "Do you think you can stand?"
Sahlonek sighs, and waits. When Lucendi and Lucitius finally finish up, he manages to portray a relieved face without having a face.
"Good question." he mutters, looking at Lucitius's bandaged legs doubtfully.
Lucitius sighed,”Very well.”
He then shrugged at Lucendi’s next words.
“I have no adequate reply to that. ‘Tis all I have known.”
To reply to the pair’s question, Lucitius summoned his staff, which appeared effortlessly, and used it to assist him in standing. His legs shook heavily once he put weight on them, and he nearly fell over a few times, but he managed to stay upright, leaning on his staff. It was clear that without the staff, he wouldn’t be standing.
“Well, that is answered. Though, I highly doubt I can walk,”Lucitius remarked, shaking his head and sighing.
Lucendi nods, then chuckles at Lucitius's response. "Really? I have left mine savior speechless for once? How rare."
Lucendi chuckles despite herself. "I suppose I should call in a favor, then."
She whistles sharply, and moments later an equine shape bursts through the clouds. It lands, then neighs softly. Lucendi chuckles and places her forehead against the white stallion's head, whispering. It snorts and shakes its head, then trots over to Lucitius.
"Hop on." Lucendi grins.
Sahlonek looks stunned, then starts laughing.
"Holy shit! Really, Lucendi?" he exclaims. "You have a favor from the fucking horse?"
Lucitius snorted in amusement,”In your own way, aye.”
Lucitius watched Lucendi curiously, then stared at the horse in awe. A wide grin formed on his face.
“Much like the horses of Blue Wind,”he said thoughtfully.
Lucitius gently, even reverently, caressed the horse’s mane, then kneaded the ground with his feet a moment, hesitating.
“‘Tis been many, many millennia since I last rode any form of horse,”he mentioned.
After a moment, Lucitius’ form wavered, becoming ethereal, and he used his staff lift himself up and guide him over to the horse. He then sat down sideways, becoming corporeal again, and swung his leg over to properly straddle the steed. Even with his stature and wounds, Lucitius weighed almost nothing while on the horse.
“‘Tis useful being born ethereal in one life and corporeal in another,”he commented with a chuckle.
Lucendi chuckles, then cracks a true smile at Lucitius's reaction to the majestic stallion. "I saved this one a while back, when the fuckhead in my head was stirring up trouble elsewhere. Needless to say, I got that sorted out."
She watches as Lucitius mounts the horse, and her smile turns soft, remembering the first time she'd met him. He had been sitting astride a similar horse, as she recalled.
"I suppose we should check on the other cities." she murmurs.