View source for 2290/Choices You Won't Remember To Regret.

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2017/01/05
|Location=Mitakihara/Pikarigaoka - King Penguin Park
|Synopsis=While meeting in the park, a horrible creature attacks. Lacrima and Alexis try to fight it. It goes very wrong. Very very wrong and one of them don't come out the same...
|Cast of Characters=160,182
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>It is actually a crisp Winter day out. The sky is blue. There's white puffy clouds in the air. The sun is out, threating to melt the thin snow layer that exists currently. You can almost see patches of brown grass- waiting for the spring to burst into greens again.<br /><br />Lacrima has gained a parasol somewhere and is out for a walk. Something has drawn her to the park today. Since her discussion with Eilam last night. Plants. A Garden... things she were suddenly drawn to creating- and as usual she didn't know why.<br /><br />The pond isn't actually frozen over enough for ice skaters today- the big red sign saying 'NO!' No Skating! She was staring at the sign mulling it over.<br /><br />She might be thinking how amusing it might be to see some punks try to skate anyways and end up ice cubes maybe.

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Oi, oi," the familiar voice of a certain German Pseudo-Thug she can hear from just a few ways behind her, accompanied by the crunch of snow underneath boots, growing closer with the gradual approach of footsteps.<br /><br />If it wasn't somehow apparent enough, this would be Alex, coming to stand just behind and to the side of the tiny vampire, looking past her to the frozen-over lake, and then the sign.<br /><br />"It couldn't be..." He murmurs, and turns his gaze sloooowly down to Lacrima, finally. "That you're thinking what would happen if someone neglected that sign?"

:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Lacrima turns toward's Alexis. "I'm thinking it might be amusing to see it happen, yes. But I don't think anyone is that dense." she says softly. "I mean. The signs are clearly labeled and the ice /looks/ dangerous." she says flatly.<br /><br />"I found myself drawn here today." she says softly, from under the shadow of her parasol.<br /><br />"Something about...plants..." she muses a bit as she muters under her breath.<br /><br />"Or.. something." she says as she narrows her eyes.<br /><br />"...you seem to be in a better mood?" she asks. "That's good." she says quietly.<br /><br />She blinks once and looks off to the distance a bit over Alexis's shoulder.<br /><br />"...Something... is..."<br /><br />Is what?<br /><br />Snow is wisping up unnaturally around the crowded park. Like carried by a wind. Except. There's no wind. It's perfectly mostly still out today. It attacts some attention. Maybe more. In a bit.

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"I don't really have a choice about it," says Alex with a quiet sigh, with his eyes turning up over to look over the lake again. "Being in a bad mood ain't good for anyone."<br /><br />This might, really, just mean that he's basically hiding the fact that he's in a bad mood phenomenally well.<br /><br />"Eh?" He sounds out when she starts acting like that, though, and he looks down to her in confusion. "Something is what?" He asks, before he turns to actually follow the direction of her gaze.<br /><br />After everything else he's seen so far, it doesn't take long for him to catch on to what she might mean.<br /><br />"Oh."<br /><br />"We should move," he urges then, and even reaches a hand down to take Lacrima's hand, tugging on it just lightly enough to signal he's moving. "It's too open here."<br /><br />...What's he thinking, exactly?

:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Snow spins, and into a flurry it forms. Lacrima's first instinct is to look skyward-- look for the girl she met before who could control ice. She doesn't see her. She looks back down and there's a sudden flare of darkness. Snow suddnely compacts into some sort of beast made of of sharp, cloudy ice. With spindly limbs and three eyes.<br /><br />Lacrima seems to snap with familariance. "Oh! I've seen this one before." a pause. "Why did it leave the Dusk Zone..." she asks quietly to herself- but she doesn't get much further in thought, Alexis is grabbing her hand and leading her away. She frowns and blinks, but lets herself be lead.<br /><br />"What? Where are we going." she says.<br /><br />Oh yeah people are running. The thing seems to be out for energy. It's freezing people... it's stealing warmth.<br /><br />Alexis and Lacrima can hear the chaos behind them.

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Alex very quickly changes his mind, apparently.<br /><br />Something that vaguely sounds like a german expletive rumbles underneath his breath when he looks back again, and turns quickly back around, and tugs Lacrima along with him to behidn a tree.<br /><br />"Okay," he breathes out, nervously. "What is this thing?" He asks of the vampire, since she seems to know what's up. "What can it do, and what can *we* do?"

:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Lacrima lets Alexis tug her, but only so far before she yanks her hand out and she follows, before... Alexis double backs. She blinks a bit and looks toward's the creature. "Ah. These creatures don't have a offical name. Um.. I named them. 'Carambano de la Muerte'." she says. "'Death Icicles'" she elaborates. They seemed to ... not want. To breach the Dusk Zone but..."<br /><br />"Now I see they are obviously... heat thieves."<br /><br />She frowns a bit. "I should. Probably stop it. Or send it back." I. Not 'We'. Pointed. "You. Will stay here."<br /><br />"These ignored me in the Dusk Zone. MOST creatures notice me. But now I see why... they are attacted to heat..." she says. "--I am obviously not a warm body." her eyes trace to Alexis. She frowns, and begins to walk forward toward's the beast as she shifts into her more proper henshin. It's a light purple flash. All this means is her dress changes.<br /><br />She fires off a quick blast of dark energy. This smacks it in the side of the head.<br /><br />She now has it's attention.<br /><br />People have fallen down in the area from the creature draining.<br /><br />It begins charging at Lacrima-- with those very sharp. very spindly limbs.

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Heat thieves," Alex repeats after Lacrima with a wrinkles of his nose. "Okay--" He mumbles then, and turns the messenger bag from his back loosed and brought around to his side so he can dig through it and...<br /><br />He's told to stay back.<br /><br />"But, wai--" He starts, but the vampire's already turning around hte tree to go for the foe.<br /><br />This prompts more german expletives from him.<br /><br />Amazingly, he doesn't go after her. At least not right away. He trusts her at least enough to see if she can deal with it right away. Meanwhile, he's crouching down and continuing to rifle through his bag, to get a spray can, duct tape and a lighter from within. The lighter's taped against the thing, right before the nozzle, and more tape is taped along the vertical length and imposed over the button that releases the spray-- but not tight enough to press it down right away.<br /><br />And thus, he peeks around the tree, to follow the fight for the time being.

:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Lacrima is finding this creature is a little faster than it looks as she sighs and begins walking back some as she keeps her hand raised- glowing in purple energy. She has not noticed Alexis, or what he is doing. She is focused on the creature.<br /><br />Dark Energy doesn't fight Dark Energy very well. When that happens it just comes down to who is stronger. Who can dominate the other. Lacrima is an intelligent dark force that can think for itself. The creature is a barely sentient mass of dark instinct in the form of something more or less resembling a four legged ice spider with a crystalized jagged body.<br /><br />Lacrima fires a blast of dark energy again-- as it lifts up it's legs-- at it's under side. This causes it to screech. Loudly-- but also to flail one of it's legs into Lacrima from the side- causing her to be thrust down to the right into the snow suddenly by surprise. There is a pretty big thud associated with that.<br /><br />She is now in the process of getting up as fast as she can.

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>And it's right in that moment, that another, smaller thud sounds out. This one as a result of a spraycan spitting out flames bouncing off of the creature's head after flying in from the side, and continuing after to veer over the thing, spinning through the air until it lands into the snow couple meters off, still spewing fire.<br /><br />A heat-eating creature surely wouldn't be harmed by flames. But Alex's thought process, at least, figured that maybe they can at least be attracted to heat.<br /><br />Thus, lighter-spraycan-combo where both components have been artificially locked to spitting out their contents and taped together, intended to be tossed there as a distraction after the german had moved just a few ways closer along the side -- and now at least trying to keep in cover behind another tree.<br /><br />The plan's two-fold, mind you. If the thing isn't aimless enough with it's instinct, then it can at least get distracted by the jerkweed who tossed the can at it's head.<br /><br />...Though he's REALLY hoping it gets distracted by the can instead.

:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Lacrima has gotten to her feet and she is getting ready to form dark energy into a blade to slice into one of it's spindly legs- like perhaps an axe into a tree's trunk. When a metallic thunk happens and her trace to---<br /><br />A can of hairspray. Lit on fire. And there's a lighter sort of...taped? Tied to it? What...on...<br /><br />This actually distracts the creature for a moment. Because indeed- it is drawn by the flare of the fire. But it is not the human warmth it desires. It isn't the feeling of hugging someone- the feeling of a hot chocolate after being out in the cold- the feeling of a warm fireplace surrounded by those you love...<br /><br />Alexis may have taken 'warmth' to mean the physical aspect.<br /><br />"Idiot!" calls out Lacrima as her eyes focus on Alexis. Also. The creature is now heading toward's Alexis's direction. This is very bad. This is very bad.<br /><br />Lacrima tries to blast the creature. A bolt goes flying past the monster and hits into the tree line somewhere over Alexis. Splinters rain down from above-- they are harmless. It's just wood.

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>That Alexis might have done indeed.<br /><br />But hey, it still worked, in theory. This just means he's in more danger than intended.<br /><br />...What an incredibly casual thing to think over, isn't it?<br /><br />At the very least he realizes this much, too, and sets himself into a run away from his previous hiding spot, to run on away and weave through the trees. "JUST DO YOUR THING!" he calls out after Lacrima, with a peek sent sidelong at the charging Dark creature. As far as he's concerned-- he can't do anything to the thing, lacking in magical weaponry, but he can at least try to keep distracting the damned thing so that Lacrima can keep taking easy shots at the damned thing.<br /><br />Of course the question is if he can keep this up and survive long enough for her to actually take care of the thing.

:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>You would think, that, a big lumbering ice spider would have trouble in the treeline as it chases Alexis now. But it doesn't seem to slow it down. Rather. It begins digging it's spindly, sharp limbs into trees and using them as limbs distort and rush through the trees. Shaking them as it goes. It doesn't make it faster but it does let it's keep it's current pace.<br /><br />Alexis is doing a good job of not giving it slack to catch up though. But how long can he keep this up? He's only human. He needs to breathe sometime. He needs to reset eventually.<br /><br />Consequently. Lacrima is actually slowed down by the trees. This was a bad idea. Her shots are being blocked by trees. She's actually getting annoyed AND worried at the same time. She's running through the snow as fast as she can.

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Alex promptly complains when the thing does.. THAT. "WAS IT REALLY NOT ENOUGH TO BE A SPIDER, DO YOU REALLY GOTTA BE ALL MESSED UP LIKE THAT TOO?!"<br /><br />The boy weaves around through the trees further, and upon realizing that SOMEONE ELSE is also getting hampered by the trees, he at least makes an effort of looping back around and towards Lacrima.<br /><br />This does also, unfortunatley, give the damned creature a chance to catch up to him, too.

:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Looping around was a bad idea. This thing doesn't seem to have a back or front-- it doesn't need to stop and turn around it.. just... moves. It's ignoring Lacrima. Lacrima is a dark creature. She does not radiate warmth, or life and everything good-- and she isn't managing to connect with hits.<br /><br />She's cursing. Loudly. In Spanish.<br /><br />There's too many trees for her to dusk step safely to catch up. (Else, really, she'd had done that already.)<br /><br />The creature thrusts itself forward and through the air-- positioning itself above Alexis--- two spindly 'arms' down and forward- trying to pounce, and pin and stab Alexis as bolts of dark energy attempt to hit it. Each bolt getting angrier and bigger with every bolt- a side affect of Lacrima getting downright angry at this thing now--- empowering her blasts little by little.<br /><br />"/IDIOT!/." she screams. It's hard to tell if she's screaming at the creature or Alexis. Or maybe both. Probably both.

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Just gotta make it back to an opening close enough to Lacrima. That's what Alex probably thinks, at first.<br /><br />But then he probably thinks something along the lines of 'hey that shadow right beside me looks awfully like a OH NO'.<br /><br />One kick into the snowy ground below, and Alex doesn't so much as dodge out of the way as he outright desperately leaps to the side. At that point, there's not much room for any gracefulness of any kind, so when he flies out of the way, it's only by a scant dangerous few inches that he moves just out of the way of the crearture's arms - not to say anything of the whole weight of it's body surely - and his whole body lands side-first into the ground.<br /><br />This is incredibly bad for Alex.<br /><br />His body rolls again, over to his back, to leave him face-to-face with the giant spider-like creature of dark energy, with both his hands and feet working to scramble him AWAY. It might be quicker to get onto his feet and running by having rolled to his front, but this wya he can at least see what the damn thing is doing and try to react to it.<br /><br />Or that's how he's reasoning that particular move anyway. And by the fact that now Lacrima has a chance to catch up to them, too.

:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>The creature hits dirt. Dirt goes flying and it actually leaves a small pit about half the size of Alexis himself. That would had obliterated him had it hit. Lacrima is admitedly surprised for a moment at Alexis's dexterity. But this has to be taxing on Alexis. How long can he keep it up? Is it skill or luck? Or both? One of those will run out.<br /><br />"Huelga de la tempestad oscura!" calls out Lacrima-- a proper spell-- rather than manipulated energy. Way more of a drain on her energy reserves-- she's going to need to feed before midday tommrow at this rate.<br /><br />A briallant swirl of deep dark violet energy rockets forth--- it seems to almost come to a spinning tip at the end and it actually rockets through the one tree in the way- leaving an almost perfect hole.<br /><br />It looks like Lacrima may finish this. This is of course. When Lacrima learns another new fact about this creature. It creates a shimming sheet of ice out of thin air between it's back legs- acting like some sort of (un)natural emitter-- an energy screen that seems to reflect the powerful spell off it-- not just richocheting it but sending it back toward's it's destination. Purples eyes widen as her own spell crashes into her in some sort of horrible darkness explosion.<br /><br />That. Could had gone better. She could had missed. And it would had been a better outcome because she'd been able to follow up. Right now she's sort of dealing with trying to keep most of herself together. She's succeeding but she'll need a second. She isn't not /that/ weak.<br /><br />Alexis doesn't have that second. A spindly limb aims to drive downwards into his center- to pin him- to drain and take.<br /><br />The feeling is awful. The creature is ice and despite the pain associated with having something sharp driven through you- it's stinging numbing cold to the core-- and the sense of your core and being being drained and attacked by something awful and leaving nothing in return.

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Alex stares at a sharp limb rising up to go in for the kill, with widened eyes.<br /><br />But, the instant he hears Lacrima's voice over there, his expression immediately changes. His eyes narrow back down and his lips turn into a wicked smile.<br /><br />"You lose."<br /><br />A hand comes up to point a single finger at the creature.<br /><br />"You ugly *bleep*."<br /><br />Alex's gamble worked out.<br /><br />This is what he thinks, anyway, until the wall of ice comes up, and the beam of energy bounces back and returns to sender.<br /><br />Oh.<br /><br />It didn't work out.<br /><br />With this realization, Alex's eyes widen all over again, and his gaze flicks to the limb that's already on the way down.<br /><br />"Shi--!!"<br /><br />He should have started moving even if he was confident on Lacrima's ability to blast this thing. He shouldn't have *assumed*. All he can do now, is to kick at the ground to push him further back in desperation.<br /><br />But ultimately, all that does is delay the inevitable. And in this case, in the way that the limb doesn't pierce his heart. In that death isn't instantenous. Even if it wasn't for the energy drain, the thing still goes right past his ribs, punctures his lung and keeps on going until it leaves his body through his back and sinks into the ground.<br /><br />"Ah--"<br /><br />It takes a second or so of staring at the foreign object going into his chest with blood staining his shirt around it to fully register what is going on.<br /><br />"--AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHGGHH!!!!"<br /><br />Pain surges everywhere for the brief moment before it's overriden by numbness, but that is no comfort. Breath barely travels through his body, and strength leaves his arms to send him slumping down fully against the ground, along with his head tilting back while incoherent, wordless sounds of pain whimper within his throat.<br /><br />This lasts for all of four seconds before he tips his head up again to stare at the monstrosity above him, and force his arms up to direct both his hand into gripping at the limb. And pull.<br /><br />Surely this is futile.<br /><br />Even if he manages to draw it out amidst all the breath leaving his body from his lung being severely damaged and his life energy itself being drained by the creature and with the additional contact of his hands potentially making the drain easier, his life remaining life would surely still be measured in tens of seconds.<br /><br />And yet, he grits his teeth in defiant determination. He just refuses to givee up. Even with strength rapidly draining away from the grip of his fingers. Even with his vision going hazier. Even with the reality that it's too late.

:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Lacrima is trying very hard to reform the better part of herself she just accidently obliterated. This is an awful process that sort of looks like a dark swirling cocoon- not that- Alexis can see right now- between the being stabbed and horrible energy drain on his being.<br /><br />Oh then he yells. And something snaps. Lacrima can count the number of people who will ambically talk to her on one hand- let alone count /friends/ on one hand.<br /><br />It's a final straw- that scream. No time to regenerate---<br /><br />It's horrid. Something awful and black and not human explodes forth and it's screaming...<br /><br /><span style="color:purple">"IDIOT!"</span>.<br /><br />It's an awful terrible unnatural thing that happens next. The black smacks into the creature and fills it- and begins canablizing it. Awfully. Horribly. The creature itself begins walking backwards-- screeching-- flailing--- and it begins to fall apart.<br /><br />Lacrima doesn't like doing. It's horrid. Unnatural. Awful feeling.<br /><br />But she can deal with it. She can deal with it if Alexis will be alright. She can deal with it if she doesn't have to face loss like that.<br /><br />All that's left of the creature when she's done is a dust of ice specks that fall to the ground, harmless-- wretched foul water that melts into vapor.<br /><br />Lacrima reforms itself. It's easier with all the dark energy she just consumed. It isn't sustatining to her being, but it makes the physically existing easier.<br /><br />She shivers and shakes a bit as she clenches her fists and looks around frantically and immediatly runs over to Alexis.. "A...Alexis-kun!" she says worriedly. Her eyes are just coming down off a weird purple glow.<br /><br />"Alexis-kun..k--keep up!...please... don't..." frantically fumbles for her phone and begins texting. She being texting like crazy and she's failing because everything is wibbly and wobbly and wrong because of what she just /did/.

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>It's not exactly easy for Alex to keep up with what is going on, all things considered. He doesn't see Lacrima's partly-destroyed self. He doesn't even really make out what ultimately happens with the monster above him.<br /><br />But the next instant, there's nothing for his hands to grab onto anymore, so he allows his arms to slump back down onto the ground.<br /><br />This hardly means that he's alright, of course. His breaths come in uneven, unrhytmic wheezes, his eyes barely remain open, and red repidly spreads along his shirt and the snow around him-- did the limb cut a larger vein, too?<br /><br />"Ah..." He lets out in a tiny sound when Lacrima comes along, and he slowly turns his head just so that he can look to her with hazed eyes.<br /><br />"You... are... alright...?" He manages to mumble out between the wheezing breaths.<br /><br />Even like this, the idiot's worrying more about someone other than him.<br /><br />"That's... good..." He even smiles when he says that.<br /><br />But focus is repidly going away from his eyes-- along with that little spark of light.

:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Lacrima can't text. Everything is coming out wrong. She throws her phone is frustration even as texts beep back. Kunzite, Amu, Ayana, Narua-- more too. She's shaking. She can /sense/ it. Alexis's life weakining-- she can feel it because her senses are telling her that he's becoming less and less a likely meal- in a morbid way.<br /><br />She can't summon help. She can't call anyone...<br /><br />She can't risk taking Alexis through the Dusk Zone in his current state somewhere-- else she'd just Dusk Step into the Earth Court Frat House and begin /SCREAMING AND DEMANDING/ for help.<br /><br />What can she do?<br /><br /><span style="color:purple">'You know what you can do.'</span><br /><br /><span style="color:xterm59">'No.....'</span><br /><br /><span style="color:purple">'It's okay. We both don't want it.'</span><br /><br /><span style="color:xterm59">'...'</span><br /><br />"Alexis-kun. I'm sorry. I don't know what to do..." she says quietly.<br /><br />"I don't know this is going to do."<br /><br />"I don't know if it'll work."<br /><br />"Sorry..." she says as she places both hands down across his chest....<br /><br />She's shaking. She doesn't /want/ to do this. She doesn't /want/ to spread her curse... but. If it could save Alexis... if it could...<br /><br /><span style="color:purple">"Autorizar!"</span> she calls out.<br /><br />There is a sudden- and hard- deep violet flash of dark energy directly from Lacrima and she winces and-- it feels.. like ice crystals are forming inside her and stining. It feels like when she drains someone. But it's not intolerable. and she's shaking.<br /><br />The energy passes through into Alexis and he can feel it.<br /><br />It's oppressive. It seeks and ebbs through him and begins tying itself to his being. It is not quite the same power that consumed Lacrima- but similar-- it doesn't cosume but it integrates--- and what's missing... it replaces-- drawing energy from the source that's touching her- to repair and mend- but also replace with something darker and horrid- and it's existence laughs in the face of natural order and reality.<br /><br />Perhaps devouring the creature was a boon. She'd been putting herself in danger doing this. Instead she's using it.. for this.<br /><br />It doesn't take long until she's done and it sort of ends with the energy-- collapsing in on itself a sparking feedback through Lacrima's hands. Which shake.<br /><br />And then it is black because she falls over to one side. There's just a final utterance. Somewhere between worry and concern--- 'Idiot...'.

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>He can't really make out what she's saying, at this point. There's hardly enough oxygen flowing to his brain to maintain even token perceptions up.<br /><br />He jolts briefly when the energy she channels begins ebbing through him along the touch of her hands, however. It's a reaction of a body adjusting to somethign utterly unfamiliar, something that shouldn't be-- and then it just lets go.<br /><br />By the time she's done, his eyes have already drifted closed. And there he remains entirely limp in laying there.<br /><br />Completely still.<br /><br />Save for the slow, steady rise and fall of his chest.

:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Snow is cold- when you're laying it in unconcious. They're in the middle of a wooded forest area in the park. Far off the beaten path. No one to find them. Or call them an ambulance. The Park's already returned to 'normal' by the time Lacrima stirs.<br /><br />Her motions are not the slowly wake up motions of a human. She sits straight up. Fast. Rigid. And she looks around. Eyes look left. and Right.<br /><br />What just... happened...?<br /><br />She was in the park. With her parasol. Alexis walked up to her- asked her about what she was thinking about the sign... then....<br /><br />Then...<br /><br />Nrg... It was the late afternoon earlier. It's very dark out now.<br /><br />She reaches down, her phone is next to her, glowing in the night in the snow. She wipes the snow off the screen and peers. A text. Garbled. Replies. Confused.<br /><br />A thought of panic enters her head becasuse she's woke up like this before... after..."<br /><br />"No... she isn't ... starving. She feels a little drained. But. She isn't. Ravenous. She feels like she did when Alexis approached her. She didn't do the desperate starvation rampage.<br /><br />So then what?<br /><br />She looks to her right. And there's Alexis laying there too. This catches her slightly off guard- she stands up.<br /><br />"Hello...?"<br /><br />"Alexis-kun?" she asks. "Are... you okay?" she asks.<br /><br />Something makes her feel uneasy all of a sudden. A tingling at the back of her mind. She doesn't know why yet.

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>The boy remains in almost-perfect stillness there for a good moment, still, even after she speaks up to him. If it wasn't for the telltale signs of his breathing, he could just as well have been mistaken for dead.<br /><br />It takes a moment. But then, eventually, his upper body rises up.<br /><br />It's kind of an unsettling motion, let's be honest-- just his torso alone takes to leaning and rising up, starting from the flex of his stomach, and leaving his arms and head hanging back downwards, up until they're brought swinging forward by the motion having brought him upright, to sitting.<br /><br />His eyes remain closed a moment longer, and when they do open, it's in a quick snap of eyelids rather than a gradual rise of them.<br /><br />His head turns, after, to look over to one side, and then slowly turning towards the other, to scan over his surroundings-- until his eyes land on Lacrima. Somehow, they don't seem as bright as they were before.<br /><br />"This is..." He says, with a tilt of his head. "...The park in Mitakihara?"<br /><br />He sounds diifferent. He still has the distinct, german-accented voice of Alex, sure, but... usually, there's a rumble there hinting towards the spirit in him, the heat in his blood. There's no such thing now. It's just a blank tone of voice.

:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Lacrima looks at Alexis with a blink. It's that feeling she gets. She leans forward and seems to grate her teeth a bit. Something is.<br /><br />Wrong.. Right?<br /><br />She stands to her feet and--- she's in her proper form-- the one she uses when she fights. She flashes that off-- back to the pretty dress. Why was she... properly henshined?<br /><br />She walks over to Alexis and offers a hand down. "Here..." she says silently.<br /><br />Does she pick up the subtle change? Kind.. of?. She's checking.. herself. Something is wrong and she doesn't know what.<br /><br />"Something happened. I don't know what. I sent out some sort of garbled text...?" she asks as she holds her hand down.

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Alex stares at the offered hand quietly. It's a confused sort of stare, but in the exaggerated bemusement sort of confusion taht Alex often displays.<br /><br />It takes a moment. But he eventually reaches for the hand, and takes it into his own hand -- not that he actually relies on her help to get himself up, when he goes up.<br /><br />He doesn't say anything to her words. His gaze still wanders along around them, and.. one hand lifts up to his chest, briefly. He doesn't know why, but he clutches at his shirt there, too.<br /><br />"I feel different."

:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>It doesn't take long the moment Alexis takes her hand. It feels odd. Strange. She can sense something... there. Something. Dark. Like she is. Familar and---<br /><br />She sort of instantly pulls her hand back and takes a few steps back as she swallows. Like something spooked her. "D-different? Different how?" she asks. Oh yes, that's a stammer. This can't.. possibly. Be true right? Something else happened, right?...<br /><br />"Humor me... for a moment.." she says softly- though there's a sense of worry to her voice.<br /><br />"Do you feel.... oddly... hungry?" she asks. A pause.<br /><br />Alexis just seems normal... but he's acting odd.<br /><br />"What do you feel?" she asks curiously, swalloing a bit.

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>His head tilts to the opposite side in further confusion over her question. He regards her in silence for a moment. And then he looks down at his left hand, flexing and stretching fingers in it slowly.<br /><br />He feels like her stammering should worry him, for some reason. But he can't quite figure out why.<br /><br />The answer ot her question does eventually come along in a single, blunt word.<br /><br />"Yes."<br /><br />HE feels like he should be more worried about that too.<br /><br />"Other than that..." He goes on, and draws his eyes, slowly, towards her. "... I don't know. I don't know how to explain it."

:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Lacrima is now fumbling and shaking and reaching for her necklace. The necklace that she keeps spare energy in- that she drains from people- the same that cursed her. She shoves it into Alexis's hand and closes his fingers around it.<br /><br />"Alexis. This is very important. I need you to concentrate." she says- voice still shaking.<br /><br />"I need you. To say. 'Drain'." she says. "I need you to say... 'Drenaje'.. spanish. For Drain. I want you to.. say Drain. In your home language. I want you to to say it.. in English! and Japanese! or anything language you know." she says softly.<br /><br />She's waiting. That's how her drain works. If any of those cause him to start...taking. From the necklace..<br /><br />She'll know.

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"What?" Alex blinks his eyes once, twice at Lacrima, and the pendant brought to be closed within his hand.<br /><br />"''Dorein''?" He says, in japanese, first, while he peers at his closed hand, still confused. "''Drain''." English, next. "...Drenaje? I don't understand." In spite of this, one more word slips out...<br /><br />"''Leeren''."<br /><br />In the instant the word is uttered, something happens. Both of them can feel it. But the difference is in that she actually *knows* what it is. The energy within the pendant flows out, and moves through Alex's palm... into him.<br /><br />It doesn't last long, though, on account of Alex instinctively letting go and yanking his hand back in surprise-- but even that reaction is subdued into merely a raise of both of his brows and a stare sent at his hand.<br /><br />"What... was that?"<br /><br />"Did I...?"

:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>The energy helps focus. It keeps you stable. It stops you having to bad of thoughts. It keeps you 'comfortable'. Alexis is more comfortable than Lacrima usually is. Alexis is still..human. Just... something. Not that Lacrima knows this.<br /><br />Lacrima ... just prys the necklace back and puts it around her neck..<br /><br />"I.. that... I didn't...." she seems to be clenching her teeth. "Not... to you... why...." she's panicing. Her eyes are wide. It looks like she might snap in two in any given moment.<br /><br />She wants to run. and hide. hide forever. Instead. She cries. Her tears are purple. Always purple. Never clear or pure.<br /><br />"Alexis-kun.. I don't know. What happened. I don't know... but... I... I think... I think I turned you." she mutters.<br /><br />"I don't.. know.. I... "<br /><br />Yeah she's loosing her ability to deal with this. She's just. shaking. and digging her nails into her palm hard enough that black ichor is dripping out just lightly.<br /><br />"I..don't know.. you.. feel.. different but- I don't know what happens now! I..."

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Eh?"<br /><br />The initial reaction is accompanied with another series of eyeblinks sent at Lacrima. His expression does begin to change now, with the realization of what exactly she's talking about, and his eyes thus slowly begin to widen, alongside his jaw slowly working itself this way and that with his lips parting and closing over and over while he just tries to find something to *say* for the longest moment.<br /><br />"I'm turned?" He eventually says. It somehow still take several seconds to process this fully.<br /><br />"Oi, oi... stop that," he urges of her then, and reaches down over with both his hands to settle them onto her shoulders. "Calm down. Just... Calm down, and think. You know this better than I do. What do we do?"<br /><br />He says that calmly enough, all things considered. But it's largely a facade, too. For all he is trying to remain composed, he is shaking, now-- and she can feel as much with his hands on her shoulders.

:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Lacrima is having some sort of really bad panic and anxiety attack and it's causing her to shake and shiver and all the bad stuff she's made of is /boiling/ in it, /reveling/ in it. She has to close her eyes. She has to think. She has to think. She has to think. She has to think....<br /><br />She manages to bring herself down- bring herself down before she switches to 'irrational' mode. Like she used to a lot.<br /><br />"..We. I have to. Take you back to the manor. My manor. Alexis. I need to. Think. I need to know." she says.<br /><br />"I need. I need to.. show you. How to do some things. How to..."<br /><br />"...You fight..thugs a lot.. already... you attacking people and draining them isn't uncharacteristic...."<br /><br />You get the impression she's talking to herself. Trying to give reasons for her to calm down- that maybe she didn't utterly destroy his life.<br /><br />"I--I'm sorry... I.. we need. To go..." she says softly.<br /><br />"... You're... a little. Like me now. I can feel it. This dark." she mutters. "Take my hand... just... you can close your eyes.. I'm going to.. Dusk Step. You'll be okay.. as you are now." she says quietly.<br /><br />"P..Please trust me.. I.." she grates her teeth a little-- holding out her hand.

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>She might not notice it on account of her eyes being closed, but Alex's brow does twitch every now and then there. Especially when she mumbles about what isn't 'uncharacteristic' for him.<br /><br />But, ultimately, when she gives her ultimatum, his gaze lowers down in akward, uncertain thought-- and a few seconds later, he nods his head.<br /><br />"...Okay..."<br /><br />He's still shaking, too. He tries not to. But this is-- new to him. Unknown. Something he doesn't know how to deal with-- and as far as he knows, something that is now changing his life completely from here on out.<br /><br />He always manages to think his way out of trouble, so surely he should be able to manage with this somehow too, right? That's what he's internally telling himself, anyway.<br /><br />He doesn't show it a lot usually, but he's actually *afraid* now.<br /><br />And if for nothing else, he reaches for Lacrima's hand just because he's hoping that there's at least some respite to be found through there.
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