[15strangers] [Private Conversation] [Week 4, Thursday] [Minato]

[katzenpfote]

[Thurday, Caleb had not slept well. Not with everything that had been going on yesterday.]

[He wakes up early in the morning and takes stock of everything, before rising, preparing himself slightly, and hammering on Minato's door.]

Open up. We need to talk.

Comments

[biddentodance]

[Minato has been keeping somewhat strange hours lately, so it's only a minute or so by the time he gets the door. ...Right, Caleb had said they would talk. He....doesn't look happy. Minato opens the door wide to let him in, right off the bat.]

Caleb-san.

[katzenpfote]

[He steps inside and closes the door, folding his arms. Frumpkin has been let out to roam a bit, so his neck is bare.]

What were you thinking, following us like that?

[His voice is barely above a hiss, eyes narrowed.]

[biddentodance]

Couldn't just-- watch, when he pushed you all...

[It's not really an explanation. He was just kind of suddenly there, after all.]

[katzenpfote]

Before that. The stations. You thought it was a good idea to wander into a dark cave alone?

[biddentodance]

Wasn't alone. Was following along right behind Charlotte-san and McBurn-san, the entire time.

[katzenpfote]

No one saw y - your power.

[He sighs and drags a hand down his face.]

It is still dangerous. Do you think any of these people on the train want to see you hurt further? Do you think that - that I do? [He presses his fingers against his chest a few times.] I got you killed. You should hate me, but you don't. You're a very strange young man... I cannot simply just...

[Caleb shakes his head, sighing.]

You should not go out of the way to put yourself in danger like that. None of us want you hurt. Take care of yourself. You cannot be foolish like this.

[biddentodance]

Far as I know, nothing can really touch me while I'm using it. [He doesn't especially like it, can't help but feel like someone did this on purpose, but that's neither here nor there.] Been training, too, in case I do have to fight. Hands are fragile, feet are just fine.

[He's gotten a lot better at kicking, entirely through sheer stubbornness. He doesn't want to be defenseless. He's a Fool and a fool, he knows, but he can't just sit idly and let everyone else run into danger, just because he might get hurt.

That would be selfish.]

Why did any of you go in there?

[katzenpfote]

That's not - for all we know, all of your body is really made of glass to some degree.

... I seek out knowledge. That's part of what a wizard does - test reality and bend it until it breaks. I want to use power like that... but not that one. Not one that would destroy everything. I had to know.

[biddentodance]

Nothing's felt off, other than my hands...

Death and darkness have been part of me for a long time, Caleb-san. But not everyone belongs in the shadows. Won't just sit around while everyone else dives into it - can't just sit around.

[katzenpfote]

... You're a child. You're just a child, not far off from when I broke. I won't see you make the mistakes I did of trying to be everything.

Heroism is one thing. Diving in blindly... leave that for people who have already stained themselves. People here would care if you died.

[biddentodance]

[...a child. A child. Ken was a child.]

I'm the field leader of an execution squad.

[Stained... He already is. Not intentionally, not directly, but-- Shinjiro, Ken, Mitsuru's father, Junpei, Aigis. Their bodies, broken, bleeding, flash through his mind. Ryoji's smile as he said Minato would have to kill him. Proto Man in a heap on the ground. Atsushi, his head knocked off and gouged deep. Beatrice and Eliza, executed as they were, as he must have been. A pale hand streaked with crimson hanging limply out of a car window, the jagged edge of shattered glass dark against the flames--

Minato's breathing is shaky, his mind somewhere else entirely.]

How many more do I have to watch die?

[katzenpfote]

[He goes pale and pushes forward, practically invading Minato's space. His eyes are wide, unseeing.]

You are not executing anyone here, I'd rather die than let any of these people be hurt -

[He sweeps his arms wide, knocking things over and practically snarling. He's holding on, but barely - every inch of him screams to run or fight and it's difficult to not summon his flame.]

[biddentodance]

I-I'm not, I wouldn't, I--

[Caleb's drastic change in behavior is alarming, and at least it's enough to bring Minato's mind back to the present....for the second or so before his arms go wide. Minato's run through the baggage claim had left him with a lot of stuff, and while most of it is either unbreakable or sturdy enough to withstand the drop....the little bottle labeled "Nightmare" is not.

He sees it, but cannot process enough to even try to catch it, not as he's stumbling backward himself. It breaks. An ominous dark cloud is released, engulfing both of them. Far too many inky black hands reach from the shadows around the floor, grasping, catching, pulling at anything they manage to get ahold of. The walls begin to bleed. There's no way to get free, and nowhere to go even if he could--]

[katzenpfote]

[The reaction is enough to snap him back slightly, but he'll still have to talk to Minato about that -]

[Scheiße. He watches the vial fall and then explode into pieces. He pulls his collar up as the cloud is released, trying not to breathe it in, but it's thick and hands start grasping at him. The blood on the walls is one thing, but the flames licking at the edges of their vision is another.]

[He struggles, pushing away the hands, and pulls Minato into a grapple, trying to shield him and turn his back towards the flames. It's still cold, even as he can feel the smoke rising and choking at his lungs.]

Get -

[He coughs hard.]

Get out of here!

[biddentodance]

[Of course there's fire, too, of course--

And of course there's no door.]

Stairs.....no way down, stairs only go up--

[That's how the tower works. The stairs disappear the moment you've climbed them. Have to find an access point, but there's never a guarantee one will be on this floor. Still, he grips the fabric of Caleb's clothes as tightly as he can manage. His bones threaten to break, but they hold.

He won't leave him here, not with the sound of rattling chains and the way the floor starts to swallow their feet. The light is getting dimmer. By the second.]

[katzenpfote]

[He can't see. He's blind and coughing and still clinging to this boy, ignoring the feeling of burns starting to work their way across his skin. There's screaming, too - and he freezes.]

... Mutter? Vater?

[No. No, they're dead, they're dead, and he killed them -]

[He falls back as crystals erupt from his arms, green glassy shards tearing through his bandages. A figure appears from the smoke - feminine, holding a dagger - and he tries to move in the way of Minato so she can't get to him.]

[biddentodance]

[The dead cannot scream, but Minato knows the exact shapes of the blazing heaps of metal around them, the stench of human flesh and hair burning strong on the wind. The ocean of blood roaring below.

He did say he'd seen it.

There's something burning in his chest, too, and Minato's knees give way as he starts coughing. The fluid he's forcing out is thick, and black. He just needs to breathe.]

[katzenpfote]

[There's a flash of pain at his back, and he glances over to see Astrid's handsome face smiling back at him, Ikithon nodding over her shoulder before they disappear in a blaze of flames.]

[It's agony, but he still tilts himself to cover Minato as best he can, his speared arms shaking with effort. Every breath is agony, and he spits up some blood. That's... not good.]

[He leans against Minato slightly, eyes closing as he tries to stay conscious. He has to protect him...]

[biddentodance]

[The scene may not be silent, but it's all white noise until it's broken by the sharp crack of gunshots. And Minato sees them Familiar figures from a memory no longer blocked out. The white robot, and the black mass of chains and rags. He can't move, Caleb needs him, but they're getting closer.

He knows what happens next. The screeching shade hovers over him. He shifts, tries to move Caleb to the side, give what has to happen a clear shot. Aigis's Persona forces the thing down, down, closer and closer. The waiting is hell.

"My apologies."

Gunshots again as she forces the Shadow down into him, binding it there. A child's scream rings in the air.]

[katzenpfote]

Mina... to...

[He’s weak. Too weak to protect anyone. He tightens his grip, but he can feel it slackening.]

I... am sorry... I could not...

[He feels himself fading, and falls silent, just listening to the crackling fire.]

[biddentodance]

[He feels a bullet in his chest. Sees black staining his shirt. Looks up and sees not Aigis, but Takaya, smirking.

Minato knows every face in the pile of bodies behind him. His voice is hoarse, raspy with the black not-quite-blood filling his lungs. Caleb is still here.....Caleb needs him. He will not break.]

Not.....your fault...did nothing wrong.

[He shifts, puts himself as a shield between Takaya and Caleb, just like Shinjiro had for Ken. He knows it'll do just as much good. He smiles.

Bang.








.....The darkness and pain fade away.]

[katzenpfote]

[He wakes with a gasp, clinging tightly to Minato, tears dried on his face. His voice is rough when he speaks.]

... You’re... alive?

[biddentodance]

[His breathing is a bit shaky, but his voice has no sign of weakness. There's no blood. His clothes are clean. It's cool, and still, on board the train.]

Yeah.... You, too?

[No green crystals. No apparent stab wound. Which means...]

....was a dream....

[katzenpfote]

... It was.

[There's still tears in his eyes, and he buries his head in Minato's chest.]


... I am... pathetic...

[biddentodance]

No, you're not.

[He.... It feels a bit awkward, but he doesn't care, he lets himself cling to the wizard. That was awful...but Caleb, despite his anger, despite his behavior that knocked the vial off the shelf, had tried so hard to protect Minato.]

[katzenpfote]

I... I apologize. Even if you are part of Execution forces, you have not harmed me or anyone else here...

[He rolls off of Minato, closing his eyes as he tries to breathe. He's okay. He's fine. He's safe.]

... My name is... not actually Caleb Widogast. That is just a name I came up with the day I met Nott.

[biddentodance]

We don't.....fight people. Usually. Only when they-- Takaya, he was- at the end, of all that. Only fight him, and his partner, when they attack first...he's killed three of my teammates.

[He hadn't had time to explain that part. "Execution" it may be, but mostly because Mitsuru just likes that word.]

....then.....your real name is....?

[katzenpfote]

I... I am sorry to hear that.

[He puts a hand heavily on Minato's shoulder.]

My name was... Bren Aldric Ermendrud. Was.

[biddentodance]

Were ten of us. Oldest is eighteen. Youngest was eleven, unless you count a ten-year-old robot and a dog... Six of us left, now.

[He owes Caleb the explanation, after all of this. Especially knowing Caleb's history. Specifically was his name...]

I....I see.

[katzenpfote]

... That's awful.

[He squeezes Minato's shoulder carefully.]

I... I traveled around after the asylum. It was necessary to change names. 'Caleb Widogast' was just the name I came up with that day we were put in prison... and she kept calling me that, so it stuck.

[biddentodance]

Have to fight.... Only ones who can. Don't get to stop.

[Surely this is what Caleb wanted to hear.]

...Tell me about your travels? If it's not too much trouble...

[katzenpfote]

... Why do you have to fight?

[biddentodance]

[Right. He should explain himself, before asking for stories.]

A....hm. Papers call it an illness, but it's not, really... Call it Apathy Syndrome. Strikes with no warning, victims are healthy one day and the next....they're shut down. Alive, but no will to do anything. Just stand around and moan a little, until they die of exposure or get taken to a hospital. No known cure, no known cause.

Publicly, anyway... Actually caused by-- we call them Shadows. Only a very small number of people know they exist, and even fewer have the power to fight them.

So we have to.

[katzenpfote]

... Why do you call yourself an execution squad?

[biddentodance]

SEES.... The Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad. Mitsuru-senpai named it several years ago, well before I joined. We execute Shadows.

....think she just likes that word, honestly. Uses it when she punishes people, too - nonlethally. ...Does suit how we operate, though.

[katzenpfote]

... Good. Don't... I feel like this goes without saying, but don't kill people. It doesn't end up going well.

[biddentodance]

[He can't help it. A choked noise, something like a sob, escapes his throat.]

...asked me to. Wants me to. I-I cant, I can't--

[katzenpfote]

[He's not sure what that means, but he rolls over and hugs Minato lightly all the same.]

[biddentodance]

[It does help. Help him calm, re-ground him. After a minute, he swallows.]

What.... What would you do if-- someone important to you wanted you to kill him? If it also meant you'd forget everything related to him?

[katzenpfote]

... The former part has actually happened. It would depend on why, though.

[biddentodance]

Wants me to do it, so- So SEES can stop fighting. Live the rest of our lives in peace, like normal students, and get a little more time.... Won't live to see spring either way, though.

[katzenpfote]

... A little more time? ... Before 'the end of everything', you mean?

You mean... ignorance of what's coming.

[biddentodance]

Yeah... Delay the Fall a little while, and- forget everything related. Lose our powers. Lose what we've been fighting for. Lose all memory of--

....hard....to imagine life without it..... Have experienced the Dark Hour every night, ever since the beginning...

[katzenpfote]

... You're asking a wizard if he'd prefer ignorance over trying to find another way to do the impossible. No, I wouldn't do it.

I would rather fight. Especially with a team of people I trust.

[biddentodance]

Remembered the others deciding to fight, one by one, this week. Just....don't want the rest of the squad to suffer anymore. Enough of us have died. Ken-kun was only eleven, should never have let him-- [Deep breath.] My fault. Not just as leader. Guess I should...explain...

Don't know how much of the last part of the dream you saw, but....some of it was-- some of it actually happened. Night my parents died, Death was sealed inside of me.

[katzenpfote]

... None of that could be your fault. You did not choose to have that happen to you.