Reaching Salvation: Post-Acer

"Don't you dare turn away, Tom!" Heidi screamed, having enough sense to drop her spear so she wouldn't impale her best friend on it. She stepped back in from of him, grabbing the front of his shirt to bring him down to her level. "H-He can't be dead. Th-That's...that's stupid, Tombo. I thought I was the stupid one here!" she cried out, almost begging. "Stop! Being! So! Stupid!" she screamed, stamping her foot with every word, knowing Tom didn't like it when people messed with his sight.

---

Kira nodded mutely, hugging Luke back tightly. She was probably leaning on him more than she should have, but she wasn't exactly thinking about those things now. Wasn't he even mad at her? Then again, he seemed to never get mad. Even if it did awfully look like she'd killed them, or at least to her.

"I'm sorry, Heidi. I don't know what to say," Tom didn't seem to react even when she grabbed his shirt and wrenched him down, his reactions a bit dull. His eyes were almost completely devoid of emotion at this stage, hard, pale orbs focusing blindly on what was in front of him. The only time he showed emotion was when she stamped the ground beside him, where he flinched. His voice sounded a bit more wounded then, though his response was more of a child's plea than a sharp reaction. "Ow, stop it..."

------

"Can we go back to the treehouse now?" Luke asked hopefully, pulling back to look at her in the eyes. He was slightly puzzled at her expression, but he left it since he was usually confused by people's facial expressions. Thinking of faces reminded him to look sideways, eyebrows rising in shock at the sight. "Holy shit..."

Heidi didn't want to hurt Tom. Not really. But the longer she looked at him, seeing how little emotion was displayed on his face... Why was she the only one who seemed to hurt? She tightened her grip on Tom's shirt for a second, before letting go. She shouldn't hurt him just because she was bitter. He was hurting on the inside, just like she was, he just didn't let it get to the outside.

She took a few steps away from Tom, before sobbing quietly to herself, all the dangers pushed to the back of her mind for the moment, until they became relevant again.

---

Kira bit her lip, squeezing her eyes shut, not wanting to look at the bodies again, but also trying to hide from what she thought was Luke's inevitable rage or at least disgust of her. "S-S-Sorry..."

Tom just stood there, the storm of stone and grit swirling behind him as he stayed still, an emptiness of expression on his face. He didn't really know what to do, which was very rare for him. There was always a logical next step, even if he didn't know where it led all the time. Now he was faced with a dilemma. Most of his backup was dead, Oliver hadn't shown, and both he and Heidi were in a state of depression.

On an ordinary day he would have been able to deal with something like it, but he was right beside two of Nathan's Flows going full blast and emitting despair. If people miles away could feel it, the effect it had on him after losing Eithne, and also possibly Nathan and the war, multiplied by two, was far, far worse.

"I don't know what to do, Heidi," he muttered, his voice still stoic and emotionless.

----

Luke looked over at Kira with a more blatantly quizzical expression on his face. He recognised one of the bodies as Eithne, which was what had elicited his exclamation, but his mind never even came close to connecting Kira with murder. Even if she had done it, Luke probably would never have believed it, and as it was he merely felt bad for her.

"What are you sorry about?" he asked plainly, going close to her again.

Heidi stared at Tom through watery eyes, having never expected those words to come from him. Tom always knew what he was doing. Tom always knew what was best. It was stupid, but she almost idolized him because he just seemed to make up for all her shortcomings. If Tom didn't know what to do...

She stepped closer, pulling him into a hug. Her thin arms probably wouldn't be much comfort, but it was something, right? Besides, maybe Tom needed a hug just as much as she did.

---

"I-I...lots o-of things..." Kira answered after a few seconds of thought. She was sorry for destroying the forest, for stumbling upon this, for being so weak, for being so reliant on Luke, among other things. Not like she wanted to ever tell him most of those things.

Tom hugged her back numbly, a bit of life returning to his mind as he rejected the despair that the darkness Flows were pushing down on him. He'd gone a long way without falling flat on his face, and he didn't want to break that streak while he still remembered what it felt like. He let out a deep breath, straightening up from the slouch he'd previously been in.

"Alright, change of plans. We need to take care of the two who're copying Nathan's darkness Flow. Since Oliver's taking his sweet time, we can't afford to rely on backup, but waiting it out is a huge risk. If we take Nathan first, the two can sneak attack us and do some serious damage, but Nathan is more likely to remain separate as he fights back darkness," Tom reasoned. It was a quick plan, but he felt the rush was necessary so long as it felt like he knew what he was at.

------

"Well... Don't be," Luke replied, almost chuckling with the simplicity of his laugh. He should really have expected it from Kira, but he felt the need to correct her each and every time. "I mean you've done nothing wrong, so don't go worryin' about it. I think you're great, so we should just be glad that we're both alright, alright?"

Heidi rubbed her eyes dry and picked up her spear as she listened to Tom. "Yeah...should be fine," she muttered dismally, for once not in the mood for fighting. Right now all she wanted to drink away all her sorrows, but alcohol wasn't good for the baby, either. Dammit.

---

Kira nodded, though especially right now, it was hard to see why Luke loved her. "I-I d-destroyed the f-f-forest..." she whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut. That was something she was allowed to be sorry for, right?

A mid a flurry of stones and darkness that was surrounding Nathan, he suddenly became aware of flows as he thought back his own personal demons. He could feel Tom and Heidi near by, he could feel the darkness of Lillian's attackers near by. He became aware of a massive express of flow, close to his own in strength and then another more defensive flow. His eyes widened as he felt a surge and then suddenly nothing. The darkness flared up to an entire new level reaching the sky and becoming visible. Dark wisps could be seen everywhere surrounding people like an ocean.

Kill. Everything. Break. Kill. Crush. Kill. All. Of. Them.

EITHNE!

Nathan's eyes snapped open and the darkness covering his skin vanished, the darkness stopped and so did the despair raining down on Tom and Heidi. Instead, all Nathan could feel was cold. His hands glowered light blue and the temperature dropped to below freezing and all of the dirt that spun around Nathan was frozen and fell to the ground, leaving Nathan perfectly visible to both Tom and Heidi.

His eyes were closed and his hair fell over his face. The cold air radiating from him and the slightly blue hands were the only sign that he was using his flow.

That and the fact that everyone within a quarter mile was being subjected to below freezing temperatures.

"If he's fucking dead..." Tom swore, feeling a bit more able to make decisions now that half of the depressing power had been lifted. He was a lot more worried about what had happened though. So soon after losing Eithne, the thought of another one of his best friends and one of their strongest hopes for the upcoming fight dying was quite daunting, even for someone as calm as he was. "I swear to fucking god if he's dead..."

"Aight Heidi, change in plans," Tom started, taking command instead of Heidi while she was in a state of despair. His first step was to take off his coat, draping it over her shoulders, both for warmth and as a pseudo-blanket. "I need you to keep Nate alive, keep his blood pumping. If he dies we're completely fucked. I'm gonna take care of the other two."

------

"You did it in the end? Damn... I guess it's-" Luke began, reasoning that it was the safest option, admittedly one that would cause her harm. He was worried for her, but he was jolted out of their conversation by the lowering of the temperature. He frowned, looking over at Kira alarmedly.

"Is that Nathan?" he asked, his own Flow beginning to kick into gear. He gently warmed up first him and Kira, before expanding his range to the village, trying to raise the temperature by the same amount in multiple places without making him and Kira too hot. It was a lot more difficult than he thought, but he was equal to it, his concentration rather than strength being tested.

"God dammit Nathan, can't you keep that power of yours under control for more than five minutes?" Paul swore under his breathe, shaking his head. The damned fool should have never kept that Flow, but of course 'power' had always been Nathan's thing. If Nathan wanted to destroy everything he loved, then so be it. The only thing keeping Paul around at this point was the fact that if the Acer group didn't stop Lillian's army he'd have them on his ass which wasn't a fun prospect.

Paul did a recap on his fingers, counting out how many had died at the fight. Two of his people were dead, which sucked but there was nothing he could do about it now. Eithne was dead and his assialants as well, or at least that's what Paul had assumed. Shaking his head at the cold, Paul attempted to counteract it, rising warm energy from the earth below into the air, creating a hazy, low mist, the two saboteurs forgotten momentarily.

OOC: Removed the Joey post because I felt it was wrong.

Heidi frowned, obviously not liking the plan. She didn't want to leave Tom on his own, but keeping Nathan alive was definitely a priority. Her protectiveness of her friends had definitely been strengthened by Eithne's death, and it was making it hard to sit idly by Nathan's side instead of protecting her closest friend.

She shivered, pulling the coat around her shoulders, her eyes narrowing as she looked defiantly up at Tom. "If I feel your blood in places it shouldn't be, I'm abandoning Nathan and coming to save your ass. I am not going to lose you, too, okay?" she clarified, placing a hand on Tom's arm and getting his blood pumping a little faster to warm him up. Not enough to make him out of breath, just to keep him from freezing.

---

Kira jumped when the temperature suddenly dropped, rather grateful to Luke as he warmed it back up. Cold temperatures and her did not agree very well. She tried to put a lock on the Flow, nodding in response to Luke's question. "F-Feels like h-him..." she murmured, worry creasing her face.

"As if some people only on Nathan's level could put a dent in me," Tom replied with a wry smile, relief colouring his face that Heidi would keep Nathan safe and he therefore didn't have to worry about either of them. He nodded gratefully at her speeding up his blood, shivering slightly as he was only in a loose shirt when Nathan was lowering re temperature so drastically.

"If someone else comes to attack you guys, stamp the ground twice and I'll abandon my fight and help. I wouldn't want to risk you fighting alone while trying to protect Nathan's frozen ass. Or, for that matter, myself fighting alone trying to protect him," the huge man muttered, easily forgiving Heidi for hurting his vision earlier.

With his piece said he turned, shifting his storm of rocks from around both Nathan and the thieves and sending it all hurling towards the two who had mimicked Nathan's Flow, the tempest of stone hurtling towards them with the aim to crush them. Tom began to walk closer, shivering slightly as he got closer to Nathan.

-----

"Shit, what the hell's goin' on out there...?" Luke murmured, going back over to Kira for mental comfort. He was curious about what was going on, but seeing Eithne be attacked and killed so close to Kira made him want to stick with her more than ever. He was worried, he had to admit, that they could be simply murdered in broad daylight so close to the village, as Eithne had been.

"What should we do now?"

Heidi sighed, watching her breath fog up the air in front of her as she walked over towards Nathan. She hadn't been so cold in years. What the hell did Nathan think he was pulling, trying to freeze everyone? Once she got near him, she found that she had to focus on keeping her own blood pumping. Tom's coat was definitely warm (and about five sizes too big for her), but coats didn't keep your feet warm.

She knelled beside Nathan, her mouth twisting into a scowl. "You like making things a hell of a lot more difficult than they need to be," she muttered, resting a hand on his arm and closing her eyes as she focused on keeping both of their blood circulating.

---

Kira frowned slightly at Luke's question, chewing on her lip in thought. What should they do? Hiding didn't seem to be an option, unless they hid very, very far away, and there didn't seem to be any time for that. Going to help Nathan would most likely be dangerous, and at what cost? Helping their murderer get back on his feet? That didn't seem like that great of an idea, either. She swallowed anxiously, looking over at where she could sense Nathan's Flow, the darkness, Tom and Heidi's Flows as well. "G-Go back to the v-village...a-and start helping w-with a defense..." she decided after a little bit of thought, deciding that that would be the choice less likely to get them killed. She wasn't sure if she could deal with what happened to Eithne happening to Luke.

"Alright, just stay close, yeah? I want you next to me... I guess I'm a bit scared, t'be honest," Luke replied with a nervous laugh, moving close to the woman he loved. He had almost entirely heated up the village, the place bathed in a warm glow, but Nathan's immediate vicinity was a lot trickier and nearly impossible when he was already busy.

His main concern was sticking with Kira, and not just for his usual selfless and almost blind care for her, but to allay his fears for his own safety, too. As much as he hated to feel like a coward, which he often did, he had to admit that Eithne had been stronger than he was, and he needed to be more vigilant than ever before.

Kira smiled comfortingly at Luke, pulling him into another hug. He was always there for her when she was scared, so it was only right for her to do the same for him. "I'm n-not going anywhere..." she soothed, forcing most of the stammer and shakiness out of her voice. If Luke needed her, she couldn't afford to be so weak and scared.

She started giving her Flow a bit more free reign as she let go of Luke, smaller plants following them as they moved towards the village. Kira wasn't sure how Luke felt about it, but she knew that her Flow at least had a comforting affect on her, and hoped that that was true for others as well. It would be nice to be useful in that degree.

Nathan felt the contact on his arm and also sensed the shuddering in her flow that meant she was having trouble keeping her own blood pumping. His own had been pumping fine, but she hadn't seemed to sense that. He turned his head to face Heidi and his eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Why do you persist with trying to save those who don't need saving?" he questioned, his body beginning to respond to him. The cold he'd been feeling at Eithne's death had acted as a catalyst for him to override darkness with ice, but a sudden jump in powers hadn't caused his fragile mental state to freeze up. Heidi had gotten the blood pumping around his brain more.

Sensing how cold she was he stopped transmitting quite as much cold as he was, instead focusing his attention on Tom's progress. All he needed was a few more minutes to make sure he didn't suddenly return to darkness and then he would be able to help the Irish man.

---

Tom's tempest of stone did nothing to the assailants. One merely carved through the stones with darkness whilst the other quite literally exploded with darkness.

The pure black flow completely blurred them from view. It was there for only eight seconds but when it dispersed an all too familiar sight for anyone who had been in the Acer tournament reared its head. Wielding multiple swords of darkness; Nathan's skeleton let out a horrible shriek that sounded like mental grinding against metal. It was visible from where the rest of the villagers were and even visible to Luke and Kira.

With a maniacal laugh the two assailants looked straight Tom. They'd established the ultimate defense... which meant next came the attack.

Coming down at lightning speed, one of the swords the skeleton wielded arced towards Tom.

Paul frowned at the giant skeleton before Tom, only a few tents away from the scene. Things were gonna get messy and it had been almost five and a half years since he had fight Nathan before he had reached full power. Now Tom faced a menecing force of darkness alone, and Paul couldn't help but wonder if it was time to let someone else take up the gauntlet. After all, the man was tired of playing hero, tired of being the one who people expected to be the major powerhouse.

Right now, every act he commited was in self preservation. The only thing keeping him from leaving was the fact that if he didn't help stop this force here and now, it would follow and track him down one way or another and he'd have to face it yet again, only alone. No sense in running from the inevitable, however, he expected that Tom would be able to hold his own until Nathan spanned out of whatever it was that was ailing him.

That ain't a good sign Zackary thought when he saw the skeleton. Deciding to at least check it out, he moved.

Heidi rolled her eyes, taking her hand off Nathan's arm. Cheeky bastard, couldn't even bother being grateful for her intentions. A small sigh of relief escaped her lips when Nathan let the temperature raise a little, so she could afford to put a little less effort into keeping herself from turning into a popsicle. "Well then. If you're good, I'm gonna go help Tom out. He was just worried since you fell over," she responded, rolling her eyes, before starting to head over to where Tom was fighting.

Nathan caught the eye roll and smirked a little to himself, he clenched and unclenched his fists to test his movement and he raised himself to his full height. There was frost everywhere around him and the light blue hue's still persisted in shining brightly, but other than that he was no longer frozen in place. He took an inquisitive step forward, and then another. Pretty soon he had caught up with Heidi and was joining her on the walk to Tom. Only he knew the Darkness skeleton's one weakness. But he wasn't going to let any of them know that.

He'd let them all go on the defensive for awhile and then when they were distracted he'd exploit that weakness and completely destroy the two would be assassins.

Tom watched passively as they destroyed his attack against them, though he couldn't help but wonder if they had any of Nathan's other powers. He thought he had a fair chance if they had only darkness, but if they had any regenerative abilities, Tom knew that he would be in serious trouble. He also knew that there was no point in getting preoccupied with what powers that they may have, and he was best off getting into the battle.

So fight he did, gesturing almost boredly to make a huge spar of diamond rise up from the ground and repel the skeleton's sword. With Tom it was never possible to tell how difficult it was for him. With another flick of his hand, the earth quaked around the skeleton ominously, a spears of stone going to impale the skeleton from all sides. Tom remained silent.

Nathan raised an eyebrow as Tom launched the spears at the skeleton. That was one way to test whether the mimic's had total control over darkness... or was it the other way around? From what he could sense from his position neither seemed to have any human thoughts going through their heads. Was this what he was like when darkness took over? He shrugged it off and made his way over to Tom a little bit faster; always making sure that not too much of the ground was covered in frost so as not to inconvenience Tom.

All of the stones pounded against the skeleton and not once did it look like it was going to be penetrated. It was an almost futile attempt of an attack, but if Nathan knew Tom then he was just feeling out the skeleton's attacks.

One of the skeleton's arms was shifting wildly and he could guess what was coming. The darkness it was made of erupted into hundreds of razor sharp tentacles as thick as a human head. They twirled through the air wildly and then zoned in on Tom: coming at him from all sides.

Nathan could almost sense the tension radiating around Heidi and then smirked. He flicked his hand lazily and many of the tentacles began to freeze, reducing them to blunt attacks rather than sharp. If he'd wanted to he could have frozen all of them but he figured he'd see what Tom was going to do.

Tom took to the attack by simply avoiding it. The ground opened up underneath him and he vanished, the tentacles hitting nothing but empty air. Nothing happened for a second, before the ground opened up again, this time underneath the skeleton. A huge hammer of earth appeared above the skeleton, gradually shifting into diamonds before slamming down on the skeleton so fast it was difficult to see without Intuitive Aptitude, driving the skeleton down into the ground.

Tom was nowhere to be seen, his Flow signature echoing everywhere underground as he assumed complete control of the earth in the vicinity. He rolled his eyes at Nathan's antics, wishing the man would intervene, though despite himself he felt disappointed that he couldn't test himself against Nathan's darkness. He knew it would take something special to beat it, but Tom personally didn't believe he had anything special.

Heidi tensed when the darkness tried to run Tom through, but quickly relaxed when he went underground. "Cover me," she told Nathan, glowing with Flow, her eyes fixed on one of the two enemies. She exhaled carefully, trying to drive his blood's pH down, hopefully making it acidic enough to start eating him from the inside out. Not a fun way to die, but she didn't know what else to do without getting too close. Either way, she'd end up killing him.

Nathan's intuitive aptitude was twirling rapidly in his eye sockets as he continued to focus on what was going on with Tom. With the darkness using the two humans as mere vessels it was fighting without fear of being damaged. The skeleton rose in height and the bottom of it exploded into tentacles that drove into the ground almost like routes. He admired Tom's logical strategy but that wasn't the way too beat two darkness controlled adults. Especially not when between them they both possessed Nathan's level of power.

The skeleton now looked like some massive skeletal tree. Nathan focused his eye on it and blinked in shock, the head had erupted into missiles of darkness that rained down on the ground and both Nathan and Heidi. Meanwhile the roots of darkness underground began to tear the surrounding area up in order to try and attack Tom.

Nathan frowned and began to freeze and shatter many of the darkness missiles that came towards himself and Heidi. Her idea was a good one, but both assassins were now thirty meter's above the ground.

"You're not close enough!" Nathan called as the volley of darkness missiles kept up, each one the size of a small car.