Winter Savior
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9:01
With Akko left only with a drink and his thoughts, he recalls his recent interaction with the Aduri; the visit from the redhead as well as his confrontation with the Vikaeli father-son duo. As he thinks about the last encounter, the blast from Nikki that sent him through the second story window, a moment of clarity washes over him. He slams his glass down, spilling much of the remains over his hand. Looking up, his eyes cut across the room, darting this way and that. With a quick sweep and a glance outside, Akko confirms to himself that not only has Nikki gone, but his has departed as well. Cursing himself for not taking notice sooner, he gets from his seat and heads for the exit.
“Akko,” Pietro steps from the crowd on the floor, “You have to come mee—“
“I need to borrow your car,” he replies quickly
“Yeah sure, here.” Pietro noticing Akko’s hurried manner, begins to speak again but Akko is already out the door
Keeping his foot on the gas the entire drive back to his home, Akko encountered several near misses as he went; oblivious to the honking horns of his angry fellow drivers, he speeds on. As he pulls up into the driveway, he looks around into the night, for someone lying in wait. Though not the least bit assured that he would not be ambushed, he exits the car and walks attentively to the front door. He starts to put his key in, but notices that it was already open. Ulrich was not one to leave things open; though he was not afraid to kiss Seneca in public, he was a private person, always locking or closing the doors whenever he entered any room in the house. He walks into the house, unusually darkened; the only light coming from down the hall, a thin vertical line against the wall shining from a crack of the partially open bathroom door. Akko walks over and pushes the door open slowly, stopping upon looking at the sight before him. Slumped over the sink was Seneca, blood dripping from a gash in her head into the basin, a splintered mirror attesting to the damage done. A groan quilling his fears of the worst, Akko rushes forward, lifting her up gingerly before placing her in a sitting position; propped up against his knee as he used his right forearm sleeve to apply pressure to the wound.
“Seneca..” Akko speaks softly, looking down at her as she begins to stir
Her eyes flutter, reaching her hand up, running it across Akko’s face, “Ul…rich..”
“Ulrich..” Akko takes ahold of her hand, turning to the open door, louder now, “Ulrich!”
The silence of the house remains, as if an ominous response. His thoughts betray him, the worst ever prevalent. He turns back to Seneca, unconscious once more, placing her gently against the bathroom wall. He goes into the hallway once more, hastily ascending the stairs, calling his brother’s name as he went.
“Ulrich! Ulrich!”
The door of Ulrich’s room was wide open, the light from the moon shining through the window, down onto a darkened figure that lay on the floor. Akko stands in the doorway, his heart racing as he looks down at the body, wanting to step forward into the room but his body not responding. His feet feeling like cinder blocks, he shakily takes a step forward, then another, his eyes remaining on the body that lay before him. As he drew closer, the form became ever clearer. His brother lay sprawled on the floor, his eyes wide open; a final look of shock remained. Unable to maintain himself, Akko’s legs buckled beneath him, falling to his knees beside his brother’s bloodied and battered body.
“Ugck…Ul…”
His throat contracting, as if a ball had formed, disallowing him from speaking Ulrich’s name; tears forming in his eyes as emotion overcomes him. Placing his hands on the floor in front of him, he bends over the motionless body, closing his eyes, trying to fight back the tears as he clenches his teeth. Teardrops fall onto Ulrich’s face as they seep through effortlessly as Akko’s body heaves up and down in deep muffled sobs.
9:26
Akko had watched as they came, from the top floor of his home, he had looked from the window of his brother’s room, and watched as the lights drew ever closer. He saw the dark cloaks as a Veldt stepped from each of the three cars that had arrived, accompanying the local police. Upon entering Ulrich’s room, they’d asked him out of the house, wanting it clear as they analyzed the scene.
A small gathering of neighbors and passerby’s had formed; the neighborhood not being one to attract the police, a genuine curiosity flowed through the crowd. The night was alight as the beams from the police cars jumped from wall to wall, flashing against the faces amongst the gathering. Akko leaned against the side of his car, arms folded and looking down, he made it a point not to look as his brother’s body was carried from the home. From his peripheral, an officer approached a pen and pad in hand. He looked to be no more than a starter, his uniform pressed and new, his badge shone against the ever moving lights.
“I know this may be hard for you but we need~”
“To get out of his face!”
Malko walked up behind the officer and brushed past, knocking the pad out of his hand in the process. He turned to the officer, who was picking up the pad.
“No questions,” he said, “find something else to do kid, but don’t bother him.”
The young officer walked away, and Malko put his hands in his pockets as he looked at Akko.
“Pietro’s headed to the hospital with Seneca,” he stated, “he’d come check on you but y’know, sister and all.”
Akko nodded understandingly. Another officer walked towards them, an older man; flanked by a Veldt on his right, Akko knew this must be the DPC.
“Akko Namor,” he said, “I’m District 18 Police Chief Ril Cerverza. These Veldt were put into the force immediately following the Mayor’s announcement earlier tonight,; they’ve looked over your brother’s body and seen a sort of clotting of the air canals by black soot, as well as a number of burns on his body; from that we can assume it was probably an Org attack, but they can’t be sure. If you know anything that could help move the investigation forward, or you just want to talk, here’s my number. I know what it feels like to lose a brother.”
The Chief handed Akko his card and walked away, the Veldt giving one final turn of his head in Akko’s direction before following Cerverza.
“They killed him Malko,” Akko said
“What? What are you talking about?” Malko asked
“The Aduri,” he replied, “they wanted me. I said no. They couldn’t take the rejection, so they killed my brother.”
He clinched his fist, as he looked down at the ground; he began to tremble in anger.
“Those…bastards,” he said through clenched teeth, “I’ll kill them all.”
Malko reached out a hand to place on his shoulder, but Akko moved away. He walked away from the gathering, around the side of the house, and Malko followed.
“Akko, come on,” Malko said, “You’re not thinking straight.”
Akko spun around on him. His face contorted in rage.
“The Aduri killed my brother! They will all die!”
Malko grabbed ahold of Akko’s shoulders and shook him.
“Listen to yourself,” Malko said, “This isn’t you. I can feel the mana in you is imbalanced, you need to calm down, or your emotions will get the better of you.”
He looked away from Malko, his voice calmer now “You’re right.”
Looking relieved, Malko smiled, letting go of Akko, “ Come on, you can stay at my place for a—Nghhh!”
Akko’s hand formed a knife-edge, having been thrust into the abdominal mana point.
“I’m sorry.”
Caught off guard, Malko’s mana was disrupted by the intrusion of Akko’s into the cycle. He lost consciousness, allowing Akko to place him against the side of the house.
“Please forgive me,” Akko said
9:53
He’d thought the walk to the estate might clear his mind, but to no avail. Only a block away, he saw the same two guards as before, in front of the gate, and just as last time, their police counterparts were posted across the street, both sat inside the car. Under the cover of darkness, he went over the gate; once over, he dusted himself off and headed for the front door.
Ninji sat in his father’s office, having just retold of the events that had transpired. Nikita Vikaeli clasped his hands together, leaning forward on his desk. His son had returned alone and battered; the assignment had been simple enough.
“And you’re sure the brother is dead then?” he asked
“Of course,” Ninji said, “but that’s~”
His reply is interrupted by a loud explosion-like noise that shook the room; it was immediately followed by frantic yelling. Nikita looked to his son, Ninji nodded and rushed from the room. Downstairs, five Aduri are locked in combat with Akko, who has kept the upper hand against uneven odds, fueled by his rage. Ninji made it downstairs in time to see Akko take out two of his fellow. The pair had charged Akko closely side by side, but Akko struck out with a sharp blast, causing the two to break apart. At that moment, Akko’s fists swung out with a double Manda blasts at the Aduri to his right. He dodged the shots, but the blasts were curved, striking the Aduri to Akko’s left in the side, sending him to the floor. The other, distracted for a second, was unable to avoid Akko’s leaping Calcit shot as his foot caught the man in the side of the face, before releasing the blast. The Aduri cried out as he received the full effect of the attack, the left side of his face, burned.
Outside, the guards had heard the commotion and rushed back to the mansion. The officers too had heard the noise and called it in, reinforcements were on their way.
“I am your opponent now!” called down Ninji from the top of the stairs
The remaining Aduri encircled Akko while Ninji made his way down the stairs; Akko noticed his current state.
“My brother didn’t go down without a fight,” he said
“That he didn’t,” Ninji replied, “I suggest you end this now before you suffer a similar fate. If you continue, I will kill you.”
“Like hell!”
Akko leaped over the Aduri at Ninji, sending a series of Manda blasts at his as he flew. Ninji dodged them all, but by this time, Akko had met him on the stairs. Ninji brought his hand up to attack, but Akko grabbed it with his own, using his other hand to elbow Ninji in the face. Dazed, Ninji fell against the railing. He regained his senses in time to avoid a fiery downward heel kick that smashed the wooden railing to pieces. To get space between himself and Akko, Ninji leaped backwards with a series of flips. Akko ran forward up the stairs while Ninji sent fire as sharp as blades at Akko, the fiery blades many, Akko abandoned the charge and leapt onto the wall and flipped to the floor below. Only then did he notice the blood trickling down his left arm. He looked up at Ninji, who wore a superior smirk on his face, which was quickly replaced by that of pain as he trembled and fell to his knees, holding his torso.
“Abtono!”
Akko turned, a streak of orangish-red light struck an Aduri and sent him flying across the room and crashing into the wall. The police had arrived, among them, a number of masked Veldt. They wordlessly made their way through the rubble that had formerly been the entrance to the home, with Captain Nul-Won at the front of the group. There were two dozen wands and blade staffs pointing at the remaining Aduri and Akko, encircling the group. Nul-Won stepped forward, catching sight of Akko, he gave that of slight recognition.
“You’re all under arrest, for disturbing the peace,”
The breaking of glass could be heard coming from above. Seconds later, Nikita Vikaeli tumbled into view, falling into a heap beside his son.
“Father!” Ninji yelled out
Ninji’s hands were covered in flames as he stuck out at someone not yet seen by the others downstairs. A blast of platinum light flew at him, striking him in the right shoulder, and sent him spinning around, falling front side to the floor. He rushed to pick himself up.
“When I put you down, it’s best not to get back up” Orojin said, his wand pressed into the back of Ninji’s head
Ninji slowly raised his arms above his head.
---------------------------------------------
Abtono: orangish-red, one of many combat attack spells, though not deadly, if enough mana is used, it could be severe
Manda: basic elemental attacks that come from the hand, used by most visarts
Calcit: attacks coming from the legs or feet
With Akko left only with a drink and his thoughts, he recalls his recent interaction with the Aduri; the visit from the redhead as well as his confrontation with the Vikaeli father-son duo. As he thinks about the last encounter, the blast from Nikki that sent him through the second story window, a moment of clarity washes over him. He slams his glass down, spilling much of the remains over his hand. Looking up, his eyes cut across the room, darting this way and that. With a quick sweep and a glance outside, Akko confirms to himself that not only has Nikki gone, but his has departed as well. Cursing himself for not taking notice sooner, he gets from his seat and heads for the exit.
“Akko,” Pietro steps from the crowd on the floor, “You have to come mee—“
“I need to borrow your car,” he replies quickly
“Yeah sure, here.” Pietro noticing Akko’s hurried manner, begins to speak again but Akko is already out the door
Keeping his foot on the gas the entire drive back to his home, Akko encountered several near misses as he went; oblivious to the honking horns of his angry fellow drivers, he speeds on. As he pulls up into the driveway, he looks around into the night, for someone lying in wait. Though not the least bit assured that he would not be ambushed, he exits the car and walks attentively to the front door. He starts to put his key in, but notices that it was already open. Ulrich was not one to leave things open; though he was not afraid to kiss Seneca in public, he was a private person, always locking or closing the doors whenever he entered any room in the house. He walks into the house, unusually darkened; the only light coming from down the hall, a thin vertical line against the wall shining from a crack of the partially open bathroom door. Akko walks over and pushes the door open slowly, stopping upon looking at the sight before him. Slumped over the sink was Seneca, blood dripping from a gash in her head into the basin, a splintered mirror attesting to the damage done. A groan quilling his fears of the worst, Akko rushes forward, lifting her up gingerly before placing her in a sitting position; propped up against his knee as he used his right forearm sleeve to apply pressure to the wound.
“Seneca..” Akko speaks softly, looking down at her as she begins to stir
Her eyes flutter, reaching her hand up, running it across Akko’s face, “Ul…rich..”
“Ulrich..” Akko takes ahold of her hand, turning to the open door, louder now, “Ulrich!”
The silence of the house remains, as if an ominous response. His thoughts betray him, the worst ever prevalent. He turns back to Seneca, unconscious once more, placing her gently against the bathroom wall. He goes into the hallway once more, hastily ascending the stairs, calling his brother’s name as he went.
“Ulrich! Ulrich!”
The door of Ulrich’s room was wide open, the light from the moon shining through the window, down onto a darkened figure that lay on the floor. Akko stands in the doorway, his heart racing as he looks down at the body, wanting to step forward into the room but his body not responding. His feet feeling like cinder blocks, he shakily takes a step forward, then another, his eyes remaining on the body that lay before him. As he drew closer, the form became ever clearer. His brother lay sprawled on the floor, his eyes wide open; a final look of shock remained. Unable to maintain himself, Akko’s legs buckled beneath him, falling to his knees beside his brother’s bloodied and battered body.
“Ugck…Ul…”
His throat contracting, as if a ball had formed, disallowing him from speaking Ulrich’s name; tears forming in his eyes as emotion overcomes him. Placing his hands on the floor in front of him, he bends over the motionless body, closing his eyes, trying to fight back the tears as he clenches his teeth. Teardrops fall onto Ulrich’s face as they seep through effortlessly as Akko’s body heaves up and down in deep muffled sobs.
9:26
Akko had watched as they came, from the top floor of his home, he had looked from the window of his brother’s room, and watched as the lights drew ever closer. He saw the dark cloaks as a Veldt stepped from each of the three cars that had arrived, accompanying the local police. Upon entering Ulrich’s room, they’d asked him out of the house, wanting it clear as they analyzed the scene.
A small gathering of neighbors and passerby’s had formed; the neighborhood not being one to attract the police, a genuine curiosity flowed through the crowd. The night was alight as the beams from the police cars jumped from wall to wall, flashing against the faces amongst the gathering. Akko leaned against the side of his car, arms folded and looking down, he made it a point not to look as his brother’s body was carried from the home. From his peripheral, an officer approached a pen and pad in hand. He looked to be no more than a starter, his uniform pressed and new, his badge shone against the ever moving lights.
“I know this may be hard for you but we need~”
“To get out of his face!”
Malko walked up behind the officer and brushed past, knocking the pad out of his hand in the process. He turned to the officer, who was picking up the pad.
“No questions,” he said, “find something else to do kid, but don’t bother him.”
The young officer walked away, and Malko put his hands in his pockets as he looked at Akko.
“Pietro’s headed to the hospital with Seneca,” he stated, “he’d come check on you but y’know, sister and all.”
Akko nodded understandingly. Another officer walked towards them, an older man; flanked by a Veldt on his right, Akko knew this must be the DPC.
“Akko Namor,” he said, “I’m District 18 Police Chief Ril Cerverza. These Veldt were put into the force immediately following the Mayor’s announcement earlier tonight,; they’ve looked over your brother’s body and seen a sort of clotting of the air canals by black soot, as well as a number of burns on his body; from that we can assume it was probably an Org attack, but they can’t be sure. If you know anything that could help move the investigation forward, or you just want to talk, here’s my number. I know what it feels like to lose a brother.”
The Chief handed Akko his card and walked away, the Veldt giving one final turn of his head in Akko’s direction before following Cerverza.
“They killed him Malko,” Akko said
“What? What are you talking about?” Malko asked
“The Aduri,” he replied, “they wanted me. I said no. They couldn’t take the rejection, so they killed my brother.”
He clinched his fist, as he looked down at the ground; he began to tremble in anger.
“Those…bastards,” he said through clenched teeth, “I’ll kill them all.”
Malko reached out a hand to place on his shoulder, but Akko moved away. He walked away from the gathering, around the side of the house, and Malko followed.
“Akko, come on,” Malko said, “You’re not thinking straight.”
Akko spun around on him. His face contorted in rage.
“The Aduri killed my brother! They will all die!”
Malko grabbed ahold of Akko’s shoulders and shook him.
“Listen to yourself,” Malko said, “This isn’t you. I can feel the mana in you is imbalanced, you need to calm down, or your emotions will get the better of you.”
He looked away from Malko, his voice calmer now “You’re right.”
Looking relieved, Malko smiled, letting go of Akko, “ Come on, you can stay at my place for a—Nghhh!”
Akko’s hand formed a knife-edge, having been thrust into the abdominal mana point.
“I’m sorry.”
Caught off guard, Malko’s mana was disrupted by the intrusion of Akko’s into the cycle. He lost consciousness, allowing Akko to place him against the side of the house.
“Please forgive me,” Akko said
9:53
He’d thought the walk to the estate might clear his mind, but to no avail. Only a block away, he saw the same two guards as before, in front of the gate, and just as last time, their police counterparts were posted across the street, both sat inside the car. Under the cover of darkness, he went over the gate; once over, he dusted himself off and headed for the front door.
Ninji sat in his father’s office, having just retold of the events that had transpired. Nikita Vikaeli clasped his hands together, leaning forward on his desk. His son had returned alone and battered; the assignment had been simple enough.
“And you’re sure the brother is dead then?” he asked
“Of course,” Ninji said, “but that’s~”
His reply is interrupted by a loud explosion-like noise that shook the room; it was immediately followed by frantic yelling. Nikita looked to his son, Ninji nodded and rushed from the room. Downstairs, five Aduri are locked in combat with Akko, who has kept the upper hand against uneven odds, fueled by his rage. Ninji made it downstairs in time to see Akko take out two of his fellow. The pair had charged Akko closely side by side, but Akko struck out with a sharp blast, causing the two to break apart. At that moment, Akko’s fists swung out with a double Manda blasts at the Aduri to his right. He dodged the shots, but the blasts were curved, striking the Aduri to Akko’s left in the side, sending him to the floor. The other, distracted for a second, was unable to avoid Akko’s leaping Calcit shot as his foot caught the man in the side of the face, before releasing the blast. The Aduri cried out as he received the full effect of the attack, the left side of his face, burned.
Outside, the guards had heard the commotion and rushed back to the mansion. The officers too had heard the noise and called it in, reinforcements were on their way.
“I am your opponent now!” called down Ninji from the top of the stairs
The remaining Aduri encircled Akko while Ninji made his way down the stairs; Akko noticed his current state.
“My brother didn’t go down without a fight,” he said
“That he didn’t,” Ninji replied, “I suggest you end this now before you suffer a similar fate. If you continue, I will kill you.”
“Like hell!”
Akko leaped over the Aduri at Ninji, sending a series of Manda blasts at his as he flew. Ninji dodged them all, but by this time, Akko had met him on the stairs. Ninji brought his hand up to attack, but Akko grabbed it with his own, using his other hand to elbow Ninji in the face. Dazed, Ninji fell against the railing. He regained his senses in time to avoid a fiery downward heel kick that smashed the wooden railing to pieces. To get space between himself and Akko, Ninji leaped backwards with a series of flips. Akko ran forward up the stairs while Ninji sent fire as sharp as blades at Akko, the fiery blades many, Akko abandoned the charge and leapt onto the wall and flipped to the floor below. Only then did he notice the blood trickling down his left arm. He looked up at Ninji, who wore a superior smirk on his face, which was quickly replaced by that of pain as he trembled and fell to his knees, holding his torso.
“Abtono!”
Akko turned, a streak of orangish-red light struck an Aduri and sent him flying across the room and crashing into the wall. The police had arrived, among them, a number of masked Veldt. They wordlessly made their way through the rubble that had formerly been the entrance to the home, with Captain Nul-Won at the front of the group. There were two dozen wands and blade staffs pointing at the remaining Aduri and Akko, encircling the group. Nul-Won stepped forward, catching sight of Akko, he gave that of slight recognition.
“You’re all under arrest, for disturbing the peace,”
The breaking of glass could be heard coming from above. Seconds later, Nikita Vikaeli tumbled into view, falling into a heap beside his son.
“Father!” Ninji yelled out
Ninji’s hands were covered in flames as he stuck out at someone not yet seen by the others downstairs. A blast of platinum light flew at him, striking him in the right shoulder, and sent him spinning around, falling front side to the floor. He rushed to pick himself up.
“When I put you down, it’s best not to get back up” Orojin said, his wand pressed into the back of Ninji’s head
Ninji slowly raised his arms above his head.
---------------------------------------------
Abtono: orangish-red, one of many combat attack spells, though not deadly, if enough mana is used, it could be severe
Manda: basic elemental attacks that come from the hand, used by most visarts
Calcit: attacks coming from the legs or feet