Hell and Back [Germany, Closed]

Loss.

The babies she gave birth to were lost. No matter how many times she called for them to come back they wouldn’t. Aodh’s tranquil arrows manage to subdue the Queen until rest again for a few days - even the guards and nurses were safe enough to enter her private room in the hospital ward. They tried to keep the young teen’s mind off of the babies and help feed her when she could not even lift a hand - she looked completely numb - like all life had sapped out of her leaving her as a husk.

Slowly the numbness eased away and slowly did her mind recalled the feeling of her babies’ life being snuffed away - that sensation of the bonded link she shared with them utterly cut away just like an umbilical cord and felt a surging pain through her soul like she lost a part of herself. Her cries and screams shook the nurses and guards into a panic; and no matter how much they tried to calm her, Freyleif’s reiatsu waved out like a tsunami through the room causing most of them to faint or clenching their throats to breathe.

The soul synthesis reinforced wooden door was busted down by her force of spiritual energy and she moved through the ward’s halls in complete entrapment of her rage. “Where are my babies!?” she would sway clutching her ears as they rung with the sounds of infants crying - her babies, yet they were nowhere to be seen. Their tiny wails haunted her mind every so often.

She clutched at her chest as her soul cried out in pain and her spiritual energy continued to flood out through the halls forcing the guards to hold their stand and calm the Queen - but it was not enough as she flung them through walls, picked up furniture and threw it at them only to leave holes in the walls.

It was not until another brave soul came and stopped her fist from slamming into a guard willing to fling himself at her. Her deep, tearful, emerald eyes locked into her friend, Erek, and screamed into his face.

“Get out of my way! The Shinigami must pay! Don’t you understand what they have done!?” she did not pull away her fist as Erek held onto it and she growled and splurted out spit.


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391

Rage, misery, pain-- she pushed, and he felt the stone underneath his feet buckle as his eyes hardened. A raging creature, logic thrown to the wind by the girl and replaced only with only her negative emotions-- so much so that he didn’t need to sense her reiatsu to feel the wrath flowing off of her body. His teeth ground tighter at her words, however-- there was no pity in his eyes, it was drowned out by a rage of his own, his words dripping with venom, with anger-- but unlike her own, it was under control and quiet.

“And where do you see a Shinigami you foolish girl?! Where do you see anyone here who must pay?!” and-- likely to her surprise, he released her hand only so that her own force carried her toward him.

Before his skin flushed with steam-- as his blut arterie activated, as his hand shot outward, aiming to use her own lack of skill, and lack of tactics due to her rage against her as his hand wrapped around her small shoulder as she approached him-- and hurled her, sidestepping in the same instance-- judo throwing her with their combined force. Using his enhanced power to throw her like a cannon ball out of the hole in the castle wall and straight out into the wilderness beyond.

Without blinking he glanced down at the guard, now that the initial pressure of the woman was gone, glaring down at him.

“No one follows us! You get everyone into the underground levels-- and set up and alarm for any of the stronger guards and maids to form a barrier using their own energy to protect those that are weaker. Do not come out. I’ll deal with the Queen.” His words rang with the force of a commander, and his goals were focused-- protect the weaker Quincy and humans before all else. He had to get Freyleif away from the castle, and unaware humans that were near Berlin-- he was not going to allow her to meaninglessly stain her hands with blood.

Similarly-- he would not allow innocents to die just because a girl had lost her head. The guards headed nodded vigorously, before he turned-- and launched himself after the girl in a blurred hirenkyaku-- his sensory reaching out, searching for the location she had landed, briefly wondering if she even had the mental control to properly use reishi to catch herself with her Hirenkyaku, or if she’d just slammed into the earth.

Not that he figured that would hurt her. He doubted he was going to be doing much more than enduring the damage, in fact. His hands stung still from blocking her blow, as his blut vene washed over his body again he ground his teeth-- he had to bring her out of it. That was his second responsibility after the safety of all around them-- he owed her that much, at the very least. Even if the anger over her failing to control herself burned in his chest, the logical side of his brain told him that he shouldn’t have expected much else. She was just a girl, damn it.

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Her response came with a growl until the man had judo thrown her out the hole through the wall in flew over into the foresty landscape. Her body like a beacon of dusty rose flames engulf her petite form. “They must paaay!” a scream escaped her lungs and her voice rang through the air.

CRACK.

Her back slammed against a pine tree and she quickly absorbed reishi into her bloodstream as her veins flashed a blue color of Blut Vene to steel most of her injuries as she crash landed into the earth creating a skid mark and small mound at the end of the path. The dust began to settle as the teen laid there coughing up blood as most of her ribs broke from the impact. Why did this have to happen? She wondered this many times even with Aodh in trying to bring reason and comfort to her. She thought if bringing peace with the Shinigami by bringing in Murat and giving sanction to Shigure fleeing the Soul Society that things might just be better with their diplomatic skills. She trusted them and here they repaid her by removing her innocent young ones from the world, that was just despicable vile. The tears continued to flow from her cheeks like a never ending river gushing through a dam - the wound of her heart just too deep to be healed and nurtured back.

“Why.” she croaked out. Slowly she finally stood up from the mound her body molded and roared out in fury. “They must pay! They don’t deserve kindness!” she swung her fist into a nearby tree causing bark and splinter to fly everywhere as she left a hole larger than her fist creaking many spider web cracks. The tree began to groan and tilt over before falling and crashing into another tree with a loud crack from the force.

She snarled before slowly moving forward towards the castle once more. Still sensing the one Shinigami probably hiding under his desk: Murat. She would get her hands around his neck and snuff the life out of him even if he did or did not be involved in the killing of her babies. The spiritual energy around her body exploded outward and continued to wash out throughout the forest like a tidal wave going to engulf all in its path.

“They must pay.” she gritted her teeth as she stomped forward with ragged breath.
--

406/391=797

Each step sent Erek flashing through the air, he saw the dusty rose reiatsu blast upward in a pillar, felt the raw power seeping around him, and knew there was no way he could allow her to enter the castle again in this state. He dropped from the air, landing with a light thud several feet in front of the girl as the reishi burst from her in waves-- but he did not shy away from the force, he faced it head on as his own reiatsu reared up. Deep crimson and grey, billowing forth like smoke as he smashed against her own head on, diverting the energy, blocking it from outright smashing into the castle walls.

He heard the words forming on her bloodied lips, saw the unyielding rage forming in her eyes, and his palms throbbed in a brief reminder that even if he was superior in skill, her raw power was not something that he could effectively match. Still, he stood his ground as his jaw locked as she approached him. Erek was faced with a choice: try to baby her, try to ease her back, or force her to acknowledge reality-- and he knew he was no good at the first option.

Instead, his words rung out, the complete opposite of her own-- calm, cold, and beyond all else-- disappointed.

“So this is your limit, Freyleif? This is what all your spouting of wanting to be Queen, equates to?” An especially strong blast of energy smashed into his own wall, forcing him to wince, but he refused to give ground.

“What did I tell you?! What did you promise me?!” He took a step toward her, despite all of the energy washing over him, the tsunami that was smashing against his body, his soul, but he couldn’t drop his own power. He couldn’t risk her hurting the unawares far in the distance-- or killing the Quincy that remained within the castle even now, likely worrying over their Queen. His teeth ground together as his eyes stared into her own-- his steely blue, sharp eyes burning into the girl's own fiery, wrath filled gaze.

“Are you so weak that you would slaughter your own people just to attack one Shinigami that likely didn’t even have anything to do with it?!” Another step forward-- and he knew that she wasn’t likely to remain silent much longer, nor did he expect she wouldn’t lash out at him for his words-- but he was prepared for it. He knew what was coming, and he knew it was his job to endure it-- because no one else could right now.

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Everything became hazy and her path was set: the Shinigami must be removed from the castle. Her energy fluxed out and mitigated by the other Quincy’s trying to be a wall from damaging the bricks and structure. Her dead emeralds no longer held the sparkle they once held as they locked onto Erek and she came to a stop as his voice rang out; the man foolish enough to get in her way.

Her teeth grinded as he threw out promises - growled when he tries to be the voice of reason to protect one Shinigami while the other was likely far away from his attempt to assassinate her and forcing her into a premature labor. She didn’t understand why he got in the way of her wrath, the Shinigami deserves everything coming to them, yet her own friends refused to let her bring justice upon creatures that were already dead. Dead! She snorted and took a few more steps into she was close to him while controlling some of her reiatsu to pull back from the man.

“Are you telling me that they should get away with murder!?” she hissed out and clenched her hands into fists. “That I should just sit back while they have blood on their hands? T-they killed my children!” she panted and raised her fist to thrust out into his stomach. “Get out of my way!” energy blasted out once again in a wave and she roared out with anger - the birds too late to flee such pressure and fell towards the earth lifelessly.

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259/797=1056

The words were more intelligent than he had hoped if nothing else. But it didn’t stop her from lashing out, she was fast-- but sloppy, overwhelmed with emotion and inexperienced, to begin with. His hand extended, smacking the blow to the side-- re-directing her force instead of trying to outright block her again, and even so, he felt the shock all the way up to his damn shoulder as it rattled his bones. Grinding his teeth, Erek stubbornly held his ground against the force-- and this time, his free arm lifted, smashing an open palm into the girl's chest-- he couldn’t afford to not fight back, there were too many lives on the line here.

He had to keep her back, he had to force her away from the castle, no matter how outclassed he may be when it came to raw reiatsu. His words came with the kick, echoing across the now dead-silent field.

“I’m telling you to act like the goddamn Queen that you said you were! Not a child throwing a temper tantrum!” As he growled these words back at her, he watched the blow flash through the air, the reiatsu that poured off her slaying all the creatures in the area as he clenched his hand, silently willing feeling to return to it-- when it came to raw power, he may have her matched, perhaps even beaten-- but she was far too fast, he could barely keep up and guard properly.

“I told you, didn’t I?! I told you that you would lose someone you cared for! I told you that you would bear immense anguish on this path!” He stared her down, knowing his kick likely hadn’t done much since he hadn’t used arterie-- but it should have at least forced the girl back.

“Look around you, Freyleif! You’ve destroyed your own castle-- you’re killing the creatures that called this place home, just because you can’t control yourself!” His arms motioned around them, to the dead birds, the dead insects, the dead silence that filled the air around them-- not even the sound of a cricket, a chirp of a bird, only the wind of their own reiatsu clashing and whirling the leaves of the forestry.

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“Oomph!” the strike forced the girl back, but only a smidge. Her eyes locked into his with such a glare that it could burn through. He was right that her needless wanton destruction would cause unnecessary deaths inside the castle - she could already feel the many souls struggling and being snuffed out with her energy in the field. The tears did not cease and her eyes became more bloodshot with the heavy glare settled upon Erek.

Here her own friend refused to back down and she just couldn’t understand why the Shinigami had to be protected or the castle inhabitants, wouldn’t anyone be like this if their own children were put to the slaughter? Was it even ok for letting murders be free? It didn’t make sense and she tried to wrap her head around giving mercy to a Death God.

“I’m not throwing a tantrum!” she yelled. Her energy pushed back against him as she now just stood her ground and heaved. Her whole body shook and let the tears just flow free as she began to whimper, losing herself to her own emotions as she fell down onto her hands and knees sobbing. No life of animals were to be sensed when she finally took a look around with her spiritual senses and only picking up the mass of souls inside the castle frozen or looking for safe haven.

“Why can’t you understand?” her voice cracked - feeling dry from all the shouting. “They took everything I loved.” she peered up at Erek and finally pushed herself up. Shaky hands reaching up to clutch her chest as the sensation of pain and anger welled up inside. The only sounds in the area were the whooshes and whirls of their reiatsu clashing to and fro - Freyleif’s own flattering and rebuffing to crash into the man and push him aside or back.

---

311/1056=1367

Erek ground his teeth, the tears were earnest, and if she was a normal young girl-- he would never be this harsh on her. But she had chosen this path, and it was too late for her to turn back now. He remained where he stood, his energy smashing against her own, refusing to budge even as it pressured him, he felt his muscles tensing, felt the veins on the side of his head stand out-- struggling against the pressure that was being forced down upon him. But he couldn’t afford to budge, not in this instance.

“You are doing exactly that, Freyleif!” he stated firmly back as she claimed not to be throwing a tantrum, and he knew that it wasn’t exactly true-- if a normal teenage girl had her children killed, this would be a completely acceptable response. He would pet her head, tell her it was alright, comfort her.

Freyleif was a Queen-- she had accepted the lives of thousands on her shoulders-- tens of thousands-- and this was simply not acceptable. When he thought of the innocent lives around them of the Quincy in the castle cowering for protection against their own ruler, he ground his teeth and knew he had no room to back down from the girl.

“I do understand-- far more than you, it would seem!” he stated firmly, not giving ground, not showing mercy as he stared down at the sobbing girl as she clenched at her own chest.

“You accepted the responsibility of Queen, you accepted that crown! You cannot act this way-- because doing so puts thousands of other lives at risk. You would kill your people-- the people that have served you loyally-- all this time-- just because you want to vent your hatred! That is nothing more than a tantrum thrown around by a child with too much power-- and you are better than that!” His teeth ground together, and he moved forward-- each wave of reiatsu smashed into him, each step a battle, but he didn’t slow.

Fighting against the waves of force-- again, and again.

“You say they took everything you loved-- what of Aodh? What of Wraith? What of the countless lives that you've sworn to protect by accepting that crown? What of me?” With each question, he took a step toward her, eyes narrowed on the young girl.

“You told me you feared becoming a worm pretending to be a dragon-- well your fear has been realized. That is exactly what you are right now. So blinded by the roots of fear and pain that you can’t even see the things you still have left-- right in front of you!” He halted, mere feet from the girl, and it felt like he was trying to force his way through a constant explosion-- waves coming off of her, rattling him to his very core, his bones complained, his muscles strained, and still-- he refused to budge.

This was too important-- not just for the lives that he was trying to protect, but for Freyleif as well.

“Come back, Puffin. They’re gone-- what is gone cannot be regained. What do you have left?” he murmured-- his tone kinder, but that harsh tone still reverberating through it-- he couldn’t allow this to continue. Even if she snapped again, even if she lashed out at him in anger, screamed in rage, and pain, and fear-- he would not budge. He’d repeat this as much as he had to, endure as much as he needed to, if it meant helping her-- saving her-- from becoming like so many he had seen, crushed under their losses, unable to move forward.

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Damn, why did everything he said make sense? She was acting out of blind rage and still, he held firm in stopping her and trying to get through her thick skull. Everything felt like it was against her crushing her down and taking her joy - first her mother and now her children. She never got to see her babies as they were just snatched away from her and murmurs that the babies wouldn’t make it due to the prematurity. Wouldn’t be able to see their cute faces or hear their first words ever formed, and wouldn’t have a normal family life - ever. Her hands gripped her head and screamed out her frustrations.

“No, no, no! Why does this keep happening to me?! What’s the point anymore? What am I fighting for!?” she glared up at the sky hoping to get an answer. “Why must I suffer?” her focus to Erek once more and slowly stepped back still holding her head as if trying to fight off the demons in her head. There just didn't seem to be the point in living anymore; whenever she had a happy moment Fate turned around and put a cursed obstacle before her. If she couldn’t be happy then why should anyone else? She directed her rage to destroy those weaker than her and yet no matter how much she crushed the problems the symptoms came back like a tumor.

The mention of Wraith made her wince and coil back another step and nearly tripped over a log. Even though she didn’t have her children would her lover still accept her? Could she still be a wife to him even if they were not engaged and she had big dreams of a wedding? She caught her balance and slumped on the ground letting the tears flow out as she leaned over a bit with slumped shoulders.

Her hands slid down to her ears to block out the truth of the reality of Erek’s words: what did she have left? Growling out she picked herself up once again and the dusty rose energy blasted out in chaotic swirls tearing away the leaves and barks of nearby trees.

“I don’t have anything! What is there to be happy about anymore? I couldn’t even be there for my own children, so what’s the point?” she hissed out before stomping forward, crushing a moldy stick under her foot causing a soft snap sound before she swung a fist at Erek once again.

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413/1367=1780

She retorted and it was nothing but illogical gibberish-- and he felt an anger burn slowly in his chest, and as she approached him, as her fist clenched and slammed toward him, his teeth ground as his own fist clenched and met it. Now-- there was a complete difference, Erek’s skin was no longer blue, nor red-- instead a purple hue had coated his skin as he activated his Blutkreislauf, his arterie and vene combining-- and it was the only thing that allowed him to match her attack combined with the fact she was a speed-based fighter.

With that clash of power, he felt his knuckles burst, blood dripping down both their fists as his arm shook-- pulsing with reishi as his eyes stared down into her own, anger burning inside his eyes before the words snapped out-- harsh, and cold, burning with anger as he stated it directly into her face.

“Life is suffering, Freyleif!” As he stated this, he felt his muscles straining, body tearing just as his regeneration kicked in, mending the damage of his knuckles and straining muscles as he stared down into the girl's eyes.

“We have all lost! Best friends-- lovers-- children-- it doesn’t matter what it was-- everyone has gone through this at some point!” His foot slammed into the earth, and instead of just holding his ground-- Erek pushed back. His muscles straining, his blut pulsing through his body as steam rolled off his skin, teeth grinding together as his lips pulled back from his teeth in a sneer of pain from the effort-- but he didn’t stop.

“What makes you so special?! What makes you think you can act like this just because you’ve been hurt?! What gives you the right?!” Another step forward, before his other fist slowly clenched, his mind moving back to her previous words.

I don’t have anything!

He felt it-- a sensation in his chest, so similar to burning, and yet so different-- as if she had struck him directly. His jaw clenched-- anger. He was angry, far angrier than he could ever remember being-- his other fist clenched tighter, and his reiatsu mixed with the reishi pulsing through his body-- before he suddenly went on the outright offensive. His fist smashing forward to strike her directly in the chest, aiming to smash her straight into the ground from above with the downward hook.

“WHAT THE HELL AM I THEN?!” He roared as his fist connected, the explosion of force breaking his hand, even with his blut vene he felt his knuckles crack, felt his muscles tear, his fingers crack in different directions-- even as his regeneration went to work beginning to pop them back into place and regenerate the fractures. The shockwave shaking the entire forest as dust exploded around them-- glaring down at her, his good hand grabbing her by the collar and yanking her up.

“I thought we were friends you little fool! Was I the only one that thought that?! Is this all the word ‘Friend’ means to you?! The moment you get hurt-- none of them matters?!” He barraged her with questions as he held her by the collar, his jaw clenched so tightly it hurt as the steam poured from his skin, his veins standing on end from his technique as the purple reishi pulsed through his veins.

“I told you Freyleif! I told you this would happen-- and you told me that you accepted that risk! You accepted the fate of all these people-- you don’t get to regret! You don’t get to be special! The lives of every Quincy in the Order-- on this fucking planet-- rests on your shoulders!” His jaw clenched, and he finally repeated words that he had told her long ago, words that had forced her to acknowledge he was right-- words that had made her scream at the broken god that had cursed her.

“Suck-- it-- up!” With these words he drug her toward him so their faces were inches apart, his eyes burning into her own-- fire, a fire burned in his chest that he had never experienced. She had hurt him, her words had struck him far deeper than he had ever expected-- he had never truly had a bond with anyone-- but with this girl, he had begun too-- or at least, that was what he had thought. Had he been wrong?

No. He knew she had genuinely thought of him as a friend-- but right now she was at a war with herself, and he couldn’t afford to not let her see his anger-- his pain-- because it may very well be what helped force her to face her loss-- and realize that she had more important things to worry about than the death of her children, as harsh as that was-- it was reality, and it was the life that she had chosen, and the life that he had promised to help her live.

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No matter how many times she tried to break the wall before her it continued to reinforce and try to stand in her way. Erek wasn’t going to let her pass and rain her destruction on those in the castle - The Order. Their fists had met and caused some damage on the other Quincy until his skin started to glow another kind of color; purple? Her own veins glowing blue in Blut to mitigate from her own skin from completely peeling off from their fists connecting. Her own arm shook and fists bled from the impact Erek kept countering and she panted looking down at her own fists a moment.

“I don’t want to suffer this Life anymore!” she thought as he shouted at her once again. Her body trembling, nerves knotting up and burning from the intense pain and rage surging through her, yet kept her gaze locked to Erek’s. Refusing to back down or feel intimidated at her own friend.

“What right!?” she hissed back. “They killed my children! I can’t just sit back and let them get away!” her reiatsu pushed back against his unrelenting. She was about to swing another punch towards him until he stomped forward and attacked first right into her chest head on and caused an ‘oopmh!’ as she fell through the ground causing dirt to fling up and caked her already bloody and dirty body. If she didn’t keep her blut activated that hook would have costed her life. The force rocked her body and she felt a dizziness settle in before shaking off the feeling and forcing herself to stay awake regardless of still recovering. She didn’t have time to pull herself out as the man grabbed her by the color and shouted into her face, some blood spluttering out her mouth as she coughed.

“W-e are.” she barely could get the words out, her own veins standing on end as the reishi pumped through her body. He told her to suck it up but could she really just let it go? Jian had abandoned her and refused to help her in need, why did she need friends though? She tried to hide behind a mask to reign in her feelings but it just kept growing more and more and she wasn’t allowed to feel? To just sit back and accept things the way they are? It was better off she left - but she accepted the responsibilities as Queen as an entire race.

The teen lingered her gaze on the man before her; could feel his own emotions through his energy burning with rage causing her to shiver. Looking upon his face was hard as she tried to look away and not see the reality of the situation; she was hurting her friend over the death of her babies.

“I failed them,” the words came out gravely, her whole body going limp as the reiatsu finally subsided. The tears falling through once again and weakly brought her hands to rest on his wrist and try and pull free. “I’m a terrible mother. I-” she coughed up more blood before continuing. “I’ll never forgive myself.” her eyes fell downcasted losing the luster once in those emeralds. She felt cold, a coldness growing deeper in her heart that she failed in being there to stop the Shinigami from murdering her own children. It was all Rick’s fault for not waking her up and just moving her to another hospital like she couldn’t help. If only her friends trusted her more things would've gone different and she wouldn’t have to feel this pain.

--

598/1780=2378

His hands shook-- the pain throbbed through his body, the steam flowing from him burning as hot as his emotions were for the girl's words-- for her actions. He ground his teeth as he looked into her eyes, and finally, he watched her crumble-- her rage replaced by something far more primal. Something she had been using her rage as a crutch to ignore-- pain. Slowly, his grip loosened, but he didn’t let her break it completely, he looked down into her eyes as she coughed up blood, as she broke eye contact and stared downward.

Slowly, he released a breath-- that pain in her voice melting the anger that had burned in him, and slowly, the steam dispersed, his breathing heavy-- both from the surprise burst of emotion, as well as the amount of power he had to use in order to try and force her under control. His vision blurred, but he couldn’t just fall over now, her guard was down-- it was time to put the nail in the coffin, to bring her back-- even if she was more jaded,harsher-- it was still better than the alternative.

“I won’t tell you you’re wrong,” he murmured, and he tasted blood-- the technique wasn’t quite perfect yet-- and he had rushed in its usage, pushed himself too hard trying to deal with someone that was fucking captain-class.

“I won’t tell you that you have to forgive yourself either. People always spew that bullshit but it’s never that easy-- I haven’t forgiven myself for a single death I’ve caused, or failed to stop,” his body wavered-- but he forced himself to hold strong as his grip tightened on her collar once more as his eyes hardened.

“But you chose this path-- and you accepted the responsibility-- you don’t get to just throw it away for your personal feelings. It’s time to grow up Freyleif-- and part of growing up is putting your responsibilities before your own desires. Whether it be getting a night to relax, or going on a rampage to slaughter your children's murderers.” It was harsh, and in a way-- cruel, but that was exactly what reality was. His vision blurred, and he felt weakness in his limbs as the purple pulsing faded from his skin.

“If you want revenge-- then want it-- but don’t you dare put the lives of so many people that trust and rely on you in jeopardy. Not unless you’re willing to throw everything away-- including that crown you wear on your head.” As he murmured this, his strength finally fell-- his regeneration was acting as fast as it could, but blood dripped from his lips-- too many ruptured veins, bruised organs, he’d done as much damage to himself as her. Falling on a knee, his grip on her finally loosened-- releasing her as a hand slammed into the earth to support him.

“Ah, shit,” he muttered a bit, wincing-- the attack he’d blocked earlier had fractured his hand-- and of course it was the one he’d fallen on. God damn the girl was a little fucking monster. Vision blurring, he forced himself to look into her eyes once more-- and weakly, his free hand opened, and despite it all-- despite the damage he’d taken, despite his harsh words, he released a slow breath as he wrapped an arm around her-- hand cupping the back of her head as he pulled her face against his shoulder.

He didn’t bother saying any detailed words-- Erek wasn’t a person that liked to hug, or be hugged-- but this was a special occasion. His eyes softened and finally, he allowed a tone that wasn’t strict and cold to enter his voice.

“I’m truly sorry, Puffin,” he murmured to her gently-- and he was. But he didn’t say the words in a way that acted like that somehow mattered. Because he knew, he’d been in her position, and knew how empty those words felt. It was simply him telling her that for all his harshness, he did understand-- he knew the pain she felt, and he knew how much it hurt to have to be responsible instead of letting emotion take over weighed on you.

But she’d chosen this path.

“I promised you, though,” he stated, voice weak-- as he sighed, lightly petting her head and closing his eyes so the world would stop spinning. He’d promised that he would call her out if she did something stupid, or immature. He’d promised that he would be by her side and help her become Queen-- become a dragon -- and that meant he couldn’t just be kind and gentle. No one else was going to step up and smack her, tell her to get over it, to grow up. That’s why he had agreed to take that spot in her life.

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Her body still shook as she let the weight of his words slap her into sense. It pained her not getting the revenge she sought and falling into her old habits in using rage to destroy the weakness, pain or obstacle in her way. Her head swam with all the failures of being there for her twins but she had to move beyond that hurled - she was still alive along with her friends and family. Wraith was probably dealing with his own failures and she didn’t even think to check on him nor call for his comfort - the beast inside her wanted revenge, and it took her friends from sedating that beast from causing lives to be lost further.

She took a few breaths as she continued to stare at the ground and clenched her fists tightly. It would be painful to not let her mind wander back to the death of her children, but she had to grow up as Erek said. She wanted to be Queen and her childish nature had to be erased completely if she was ever going to move on and not fall back on emotions controlling her. No matter how much bad fate befell her, she had to push on and take responsibility for her actions. Slowly her own anger melted away like butter and she just didn’t have the energy to let the rage consume her any longer - it was pointless and would leave more pain and suffering. Erek’s words were harsh as usual though she forced herself to look up at his eyes even if she didn’t want to listen to the truths. He fell and she still looked at him with sadness in her eyes.

She held back the tears, sucked in a breath, and accepted her fate - there was no use trying to break from the strings and she just had to grow up harden and shed that childish nature that kept her alive. Her eyes widened as Erek pulled her into a hug and rested her muddy face into his shoulder -- through all this chaos he didn’t give up on her and continued to smack her with words and stand as a fucking wall -- persisted in trying to help her get past this and accept the reality of the situation.

Still, he called her Puffin and ruffled her hair in that annoying fashion but this time she didn’t really feel anything and couldn’t even smile. Indeed his words were sincere but she still felt cold and lost in what to do now. Her mind was empty and she just stood there leaning limply into the man and let out a shaky breath unable to get any words out or some sort of retort. There was one thing she did feel though: Erek was her one true friend and stuck there unlike most of her friends that discarded her because of her lash outs. He promised, and that promised struck through her heart making her lips form a weak smile to form. She brought her shaky hand and reached to ruffle his hair in return, pay back.


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Erek’s eyes softened as he felt her sort of just melt against him, there was no energy left in her-- she had spent in all feeding the anger, and now that it was done, she was empty. Slowly he released a breath-- and his forehead fell to lightly rest on top of her head, he didn’t even have the energy to really move. Instead, he glanced down at his own body-- his skin was splotched with sections of red skin where the veins had ruptured from his blut. His regeneration was slowly working, the bruising, torn skin and ruptured veins slowly mending before his gaze lifted upward slowly.

He felt her fingers trail through his-- much shorter-- hair, and ruffle through the top. A soft laugh managed to form from his chest, trying not to cough up blood from the action, before he would slowly release her.

“You need to heal yourself, Puffin,” he murmured to her softly-- before he slowly placed a hand down on the ground, using his uninjured one this time as he struggled to force himself to his feet. His stumble, however, halted him-- forcing him to fall back with a grunt, his hand and knee remaining down to maintain what little balance he had.

“Fucking hell you’re too damn strong for your own good,” he muttered-- a weak laugh forming from his chest before he slowly released a breath-- eyes closing as he forced himself to gather his strength. Slowly, carefully, he hauled himself upward-- footing shifting slightly before he would straighten his body slowly to focus on her once more.

“Let’s go back-- you owe them an apology-- and you need a bath,” A slight smile formed on his lips before he straightened slowly as his muscles clenched slightly when he straightened. His eyes were red, the sclera pink from the ruptured veins-- his body was shaking slightly, but whether he was ignoring the pain, or didn’t feel it due to his healing, it was hard to tell. Instead, his hands lowered as he gently placed a hand on her shoulder, offering her a hand to help her rise up as well-- his gaze sliding toward the smoking castle.

This had been a terrible instance-- and Frey likely would carry the pain for the rest of her life-- revenge wouldn’t heal the wound. If anything it would make it worst, but that was a talk for a later time, for now-- she needed a bath, something to eat, and some time with him to think and calm down completely. But more importantly than anything, it was time that she took her place as Queen once more.

“They’ve been without their Queen for an entire week-- you’re going to have a lot of work to catch up on-- and I think it’s time I started training with you. Those punches were pretty sloppy.” He smiled gently, it was a weak attempt at lightening the mood-- but it was the best he could do, at the very least hopefully it would set her at ease knowing that he wasn’t angry at her in the slightest. That he wasn’t going anywhere-- he would be here for her, like always.

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Freyleif let out a sharp breath before gritting her teeth, all the pain coming back to her as she wrapped her arms around Erek for support and shook as her nerves were on fire. The burning rage went back to sleep and her cold sensation felt a bit warmer as she held him tightly, and let out another contented exhale. Her fingers gripped into his shirt that undoubtedly must have been ripped from their brawl of the bulls, she wondered if he would have continued on like this just to make her realize her actions were dumb and senseless.

“Don’t go.” she clung to him, her voice soft. She moved her head to the side to spit out the nasty iron tasting liquid in her mouth and nuzzled her face into his shoulder for comfort. She didn’t care how much her body was screaming out in pain and broken ribs and bloody knuckles still dripping, nothing else mattered right now but to be held by him.

“You’re truly a Jötunn.” she said grinning up at him as her chest heaved. Beads of sweat and blood mixed dripped down her forehead only to be washed by her nuzzling into him once more. “I think you need a bath more than this worm.” she pulled back some to look over his wounds and reach to place a hand on his chest before muttering a prayer in her tongue. Reishi danced along the arm touching him and a new wound opened on the back of her hand and the blood trickled onto him with her own energy fusing into it. She pursed her lips when he said her punches were sloppy and raised her free hand to place a finger on her lips to silence him.

As the blood streamed along his chest, he would note the reishi pulling towards his own wounds and mixing her blood into his skin -- slowly but surely she would try and help heal him with her own Blut that she had been practicing on to help restore lost cells and regenerate over time with her own blood. She reached up with both hands after finishing and placed them on Erek’s cheeks before pulling him down, eyes locked onto his, and resting her forehead against his.

“Thank you,” she smiled. “You helped me gain control of my beasts and showed how childish I was-” she coughed and her eyelids felt heavy, there wasn’t much time left as she used so much of her blood to heal him and started to feel dizzy as she saw stars. Slowly she tilted her head upward to press her lips against him but then slumped forward - the world going dark and blurry.

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