- 71 [Voice]

[fortunefail]

[Attentive villagers may have seen bright beams of light originating from the far reaches of the forest, where the mountain range starts. Those beams were a result of this battle, and directly after it's taken place, Yuan has a message to broadcast to the entire village. His voice sounds hoarse and he seems to be out of breath.]

The threat known as Aku... has been defeated. For now... at least. [He stops to cough for a moment.] Once the Malnosso bring him back, there'll be... hell to pay.

[The public message ends with some fumbling sounds.]


[Diana]

I need you to get over here... Immediately. It's an emergency.

[/Filter]

Comments

[orchidsandfire.livejournal.com]

[Diana is about to comment on Aku's "defeat" when she notices the filter.]

Where are you?

[fortunefail]

North East of the village, at the foot of the mountain.

[This is followed by a brief grunting sound. He had to roll Kratos onto his side to keep the guy from choking on his own blood or something equally dangerous.]

[orchidsandfire.livejournal.com]

I'm on my way.

[True to her word, she immediately takes off from wherever she is, flying as fast as she can to Yuan's location. She'll be there in a few minutes.]

[fortunefail]

[That's not a moment too soon. She'll find Yuan kneeling next to Kratos' unconscious body, trying to stop the bleeding with both his hands. One of these days he'll try to make a pact with Nala. No, really, he means it this time.]

[orchidsandfire.livejournal.com]

[She lands a few feet from the two men and wastes no time rushing towards them. She can ask what happened later.]

Clinic?

[fortunefail]

Yes. Take him first.

[Yuan would follow, but... Well, he can't. Total mana depletion can do that to a guy.]

[orchidsandfire.livejournal.com]

[She'd offer to take them both, but it looks like Kratos will need all of her attention. Diana carefully lifts him up into her arms and stands up slowly.]

I'll be back.

[And she takes off again, this time going slower. She doesn't want to make Kratos' condition even worse.]

[fortunefail]

[He'll just let himself fall backwards carefully and rest while he waits for Diana to return, then. Jeesh, he hasn't had a battle like this since... Well, not since coming to Luceti, really. Whenever he had to fight the Third Party, he had his full powers back.]

[orchidsandfire.livejournal.com]

[Yuan can spot her over the horizon in about half an hour. Transferring Kratos to the care of the healers in the clinic took longer than she expected.]

[fortunefail]

[He'll be dozing off by that time. The area is eerily quiet now that Aku's gone and with only a bit of mana left, it's hard for him to stay awake. At least he isn't too worried about Kratos at the moment. Those healers at the clinic can work miracles.]

[orchidsandfire.livejournal.com]

[Seeing him unconscious causes her a bit of panic until she notices his even breathing. Diana gently nudges his shoulder.]

Yuan. Wake up.

[fortunefail]

[His eyes slide open again. Give him a second while his gaze focuses. ... Theeere we go, he's stopped seeing double.]

... Well? [He means Kratos, but that may not be entirely clear.]

[orchidsandfire.livejournal.com]

He's in the clinic, safe and sound. [Well, as safe as he can be in his condition.]

[fortunefail]

Good. [His eyes slide shut again, just for a few seconds. Then he realizes that he has to get back to the village as well, so he'll just look up at Diana again. He hates being helpless.]

Can you give me a hand? ... I spent nearly all my mana.

[orchidsandfire.livejournal.com]

[She chooses not to ask about the mana. Thankfully she's learned some patience from her time in the League.]

Need a lift?

[fortunefail]

Yes. [Crude way of putting it, but that's what it boiled down to. He slowly raises an arm for Diana to take.]

[orchidsandfire.livejournal.com]

[She takes it, careful not to harm him further.

Hmm.]

How do you want to do this?

[fortunefail]

Whatever's easiest.

[Heck, Diana can sling him over her shoulder for all he cares.]

[orchidsandfire.livejournal.com]

[Nah. Instead she carries him in her arms! He said whatever's easiest, after all.]

Tell me if you're uncomfortable.

[fortunefail]

[He would've preferred the shoulder thing, Diana. His girlfriend may not be able to bear seeing him cradled by another woman so shortly after the 4chan incident. Well, let's just hope they don't run into her.]

...

[orchidsandfire.livejournal.com]

[Aww, but it's totally platonic.|D Anyway, Diana takes his silence as confirmation of his comfort and once again takes off into the air, this time going a bit faster than she went with Kratos. Yuan looks like he can take it.]

[fortunefail]

[Oh, he can. He's spent most of his life energy, but he's not dying, if that makes sense. He just needs to recover. Bedrest for a while should do the trick. Hm, now he's left wondering if Martel would make him a sandwich when he gets home.]

[orchidsandfire.livejournal.com]

[He may have to wait a while because Diana has every intention of taking him to the clinic.]

[fortunefail]

[Ah, well, then the clinic employees can make him a sandwich. That's probably safer than Martel's sandwiches anyway. He won't stay at the clinic for too long, though!]

[orchidsandfire.livejournal.com]

[Hopefully he knows better than to try to escape when Diana's still there.

Anyway, it's a quick trip to the clinic, and they alight in front of it in a few minutes. She lets him down, figuring she should be nice enough to spare him some dignity when he enters.]