#thekingofthewind

Howl’s Moving Castle Starters

@the-king-of-the-wind​ said: [Leo to Flora] “How about making a bargain with me?”

It was normal for Flora to now be pouring him some tea that it was almost routine to do so. Then again, it was an excuse for both of them to chat especially since Leo found about her powers. He was curious and always seemed to ask her anything about it while she tried her hardest to answer them.

@the-king-of-the-wind​

The lab was in chaos with ‘experiments’ escaping left and right. Kanata and the others really knew how to raise some hell and cause a distraction. Isaac wasn’t content to head to safety with everyone else just yet. The world may have wronged him and his family, but the do-gooder in Isaac was still alive and kicking. He was taking out orderlies and guards that were still around and checking that everyone was escaping.

Leon doesn’t answer at first - he’s quiet for so long that it seems as though he might try to dodge the question altogether, but...eventually, he speaks.

“When I was younger, I had a swordsmanship instructor named Finley Doug.”

“He was one of the Seven Generals of Darilsheid, and a brilliant solider. He was the only one to take note that I was left-handed, and he taught me to dual-wield with my dagger. I...admired him greatly.”

Finley had been a good teacher, and he’d been so kind - for a short period of time, Leon had looked up to him almost as a father figure.

Of course, that wouldn’t last.

“I didn’t know at first, but Finley had also been investigating matters regarding Hugo’s business and his influence on the King of Seinegald.” Leon’s tone had gone flat, carefully impersonal. “I didn’t know until my father brought me to his room one day and gave me instructions to dispose of my own teacher.”

There’s another long pause before Leon continues.

“I wanted to refuse, of course. But in the end, I...didn’t have the courage to tell Hugo “no.” I didn’t even fight him all that hard about it - Hugo provided me with the poison, and I slipped it into Finley’s wine at dinner. Nobody ever found out what happened.”

So terrible a throb; Oh, had he a fall. A great one, at that.  So, it was not much of a surprise that his head aches so terribly, that such would resort to a heaviness of eyelids. There is a temptation to drift back into his sleep. A concussion. His vision had the slightest blur, and instinct tells him to rub at his eyes, but it is no remedy. What-- What happened? It takes a moment to register, with that pain at his skull. Must have shaken him up.

Wait -- Asbel remembers; He hadn’t been alone. There had been company with him to Lhant Hill. Then there was -- ah, that’s right! They fell. He had tried to help Richard up with Sophie, and that was when they tumbled down!  So where-- where were they? 

Slowly, the child manages to push himself up to his feet. He finds there is some difficulty, and trips over his feet, but when he sees Richard, he does what he can to make it to him, even a little crawling. Thank goodness no one was there to see him do that. How embarrassing would that be? -- like he was some baby or something! 

“Ri-Richard?”

He gives the prince a gentle shake at one shoulder, praying that he would wake up. After all, that fall was a dangerous one. His dad would definitely have a fit if something happened, but that wasn’t his concern. Richard was his friend, and his concern was his safety! It didn’t matter what trouble he might get in! 

“H-Hey... are you OK?” 

@the-king-of-the-wind

He had been too careless. Jude wasn’t sure how it happened or when, but at some point one of his earlier actions had come back to bite him, and it bit him fairly hard. Exodus was always a problem and one he never took lightly. Every journey he made out to the lab, every train he took in Elympios, even walking through Trigleph itself? Jude remained on his guard. He had to be. After all, he was the hope of the Spyrix Project. The driving force that helped it near to completion. Without him? It wouldn’t have gotten as far as it has today.

So when he was ambushed outside of Sharilton on the road back to the seahaven, he knew he had been far too lax. Usually he could slip away with a well placed arte or a good dodge combined with his speed, but it wasn’t that easy and he could only inwardly curse at his own mistakes. While Exodus had their usual motives for going after him, this time it was far too desperate and with more purpose than their usual attempts. They would never consider an attack in Rieze Maxia, not with how well protected it was, there was too much risk involved… Which meant this was worth the risk. It went beyond just an attempt on the life of someone who was uniting the worlds against their own wishes.

“Mathis, you made a fool of us before, but it won't happen again.”

Jude had heard the words before, after all, he took no pleasure in hurting people and avoided death at all possible. He is a doctor after all… It was what was said next that brought a sense of panic in the younger.

“No white knight to save you this time around.”

That was when he realised just exactly who he was dealing with. There were times Exodus had bothered him with his friends present, but the wording and with how bold they were being? It added up. If these were the same members he had dealt with in Efinea and had somehow escaped? That knowledge alone was enough for him to be targeted. Jude had access to that world-- and they went straight to him to get it back. At that revelation, the younger immediately made a break for the Sapstrath Deepwood, the only other direction he could take being surrounded as he was.

While Jude was quick, Exodus did learn from their mistakes and with how much information they had on the younger, they knew just how to deal with him. There was a signal from the leader and without much other warning to go off, a charged shot was fired in his direction. A shot that clearly used spirits in its creation and held enough power to go straight through anything it touched. The younger had no time to dodge the blast and he could only watch the devastation to created in his wake, only for it to quickly catch up with him that the blast did not miss him entirely.

Immediately he dived behind a rock for cover (not that it would do much considering the damage that thing had just done), but he did it instinctively. Looking down, he could only see that the left lower side of his lab coat, and the following wear was stained in red as his vision faded for a moment. This was serious. This wasn’t like any of those other times where he came off with some minor injuries or a few scrapes. When he exchanged silly words and moved on with his day. If he didn’t do something about this… He was going to die. The fear-- the feeling of dread that washed over him wasn’t something he could ignore, but he couldn’t give in to it. That pain that persisted? He was going to have to focus on it if he wanted to stay in this game of theirs.

“What’s it gonna be Mathis? We know you can’t kill any of us. Why not just give in and we’ll make this quick.”

Keeping his right hand on his side and forcing his mouth shut so he wouldn’t make any noise from how much that stupid blast had actually done-- if he could only assess the damage, if only he had more time! He couldn’t even think of a good plan in this situation, though he was practically fighting with himself to not just collapse entirely. Jude was cornered, if he didn’t receive treatment soon he would surely die from the blood loss alone. There were too many enemies… and he was in no condition to escape now. Even if he did they might just blast him again, and he if remained here? They’d blast through the rock and he’d be finished in seconds.

To even have a chance… He’d have to use exactly what they were after. Exodus didn’t know what it was that allowed him to traverse worlds, but it was a risk he was going to have to take. Jude couldn’t give up here, he had so much left to accomplish-- he had to survive! He had to keep his promise, he had too much of a responsibility to the world and the people in it, both humans and spirits!

Throwing caution into the wind, he used his free hand to take the dagger out of the sheath that was attached to his belt and opened a rift behind the rock he was still leaning against and walked straight through it. Though only after a couple of steps… oddly cold steps, he fell face first into a pile of snow, snow that very quickly was turning a shade of red. The dagger slipped through his hand in the process and sunk blade first into the snow next to him. No matter how hard he tried to force himself further, his body just wasn’t responding anymore.

The sparkling amber eyes quickly lost their shine, but he couldn’t lose consciousness. If he fell asleep he might not wake up. Jude knew this, but his options were fading by the second. Snow..? Where had the rift taken him to? Who would find him out here? Had Exodus really won? Was this truly the end? The rift… it wasn’t fully closed…

      ❛ ... WHAT do you think of the Cardinal ? ❜ An abrupt question as the thought came to mind. He didn’t hesitate to speak up since he made his presence known awhile ago but there were a few things he was CONCERNED about seeing as he could sense a slight hint of malevolence from the noble but that was a matter for later. What was his CORRELATION to her anyways ?