[Arc] Apex

Leo did seem a bit worse for wear as Eris hauled him to his feet, but that didn't stop him from spouting a witty comeback to Blitz's observations, prompting the metal mage to briefly roll his eyes. "An interesting game, to be sure, but while I'm admittedly, not exactly a participant in the game, that doesn't mean I haven't dabbled, Leo. And power going out of control doesn't mean the power isn't supposed to exist, either." Blitz said.

Meanwhile, Eris just seemed miffed that Leo was on the verge of losing consciousness again. "I'm going to have to agree with Eris on that one," Blitz said. "While I originally thought, given what we're here for and the situation a few moments ago, you going into your 'other state' wouldn't be the worst idea, but given that the fight is now over, I'm going to have to respectfully ask that you keep a grip on it."

"Yeah, we're rather you not go nuts and try to dice things to ribbons when we're the only living things around," Shoop added.

Eris did mention something interesting, however - that her power had a similar limit, but in an opposite aspect. "I suspect yours is more akin to the standard of mages," Blitz said, looking thoughtful. "There are exceptions to the rule quite a bit with magic, but there are two categories that a great deal of magic falls under. The first kind, where you can cast until you're out of power, and then you have no option but to wait for it to recharge - and the second kind, where you can force more magic power out, but at the expense of damage to your own body, like trying to force an exhausted muscle fiber to keep going. Yours sounds like the latter, with Leo's being an extreme version of that particular case," he added with a glance at Leo.

As they finished speaking, a figure approached from out of the woods, walking towards them - an elf, most likely the one Leo had mentioned, and given her appearance, she looked like she was old enough to have known the duo even before the whole Blight thing happened on Earthland. Given how elves are said to age, I wonder how old she is if she actually looks old on the outside, Blitz thought to himself.

She examined Leo for injuries - which weren't hard to spot - with the attitude of someone who had patched him up so often that it had gotten to an almost annoying degree, before helping Leo up and walking off, Blitz following them, curious about this elder.

"I... wasn't referring to that," Leo muttered quietly, glancing downward as a sigh escaped his lungs. His eyes flickered for a moment, then caught the downfall as exhaustion truly set in. It was all he could do to speak, rationalize, no effort even remaining to combat that which held the greatest threat to his sanity. At least the shadows seemed to have receded for the moment, the only thing clouding his mind the result of the battle before. Leo didn't even bother to look at the state of his evidently disheveled appearance, instead staring at Blitz blankly, before clearing his throat. "Literally pass out. Like, drag me across the forest floor. Not pleasant." His mouth twitched for a moment, about to say more but he refrained himself, along with a semi-sharp elbow from Eris. Yes, perhaps it wasn't the best idea to divulge that if at any point he did fall unconscious nothing would happen... after all unlike how the metal mage kept on phrasing it there was no inherent split personality between the civilized and despised. It had always been like that, after his long past persona had been torn apart, shredded into an abyss of torment.

At Blitz's response did Eris merely shrug, though he could immediately tell the memories that were winding through her thoughts. The forest, the meadow, the decaying plains of Earthland crushed in their entirety, at least... at least nothing like that had happened recently. Though he didn't care all that much, Leo knew her own self-hatred was strong when it came to that subject. Then again, so too had it diminished over the years, he could only hope the same for himself one day. At the same time, though, Eris's magic... well it only pulled on a part of what she was capable of. Unfortunately, his own had no clear cut division, no duality whatsoever. It was as consistent in its annihilation as the sun was set to rise, more than any could ever hope to be.

They walked in silence, only unbroken by the digital command delivered by Eris to their ship. "Hey, it does work," she remarked as the whirring was heard behind them, squinting an eye for a moment as Blackjack rose above the treeline, crawling across the sky for a few moments before it rested again just ahead of them, the clearing of its landing quickly becoming evident. A much larger house rested behind it, foundation intertwined betwixt stone and living tree although it was tamed and shaped to the whims of an architect bygone.

"Well, we're here," Maescia said, knocking upon the door in a pattern that curled the branches that held it apart inward. Revealed was an interior that was far more modern than one would expect, a foyer leading into a room that had at one point probably been used for dining but was now occupied by a table shoved into a corner and several cots and materials varying from surgeon's equipment to lacryma crystals lying about. "Sit," she stated, gesturing to the white beds as she picked up a clear sphere in one hand. "You too - I didn't catch your name - but their magic is on you as well, although you probably don't notice it." She nodded briefly in the direction of Blitz even as Eris set Leo down on one of the cots. With a grunt did he lie down halfway, arms stretched out wide on the quickly staining sheet as she sat beside him.

Drawing her hand over the orb did Maescia begin to chant, words comprehensible to him yet holding an arcane quality all the same. "Purifui hin núr -o i dúr galad, on- mui gúl bo hain." Barely traceable strands of grayed energy found the atmosphere of the room for a moment or two, before with an abrupt flick of her wrist were they drawn into the sphere. Eris rubbed her shoulder with a sigh of relief, while Leo eventually picked himself up, grabbing onto his collarbone with gritted teeth although a smile was found in the wince. "Right, so that's settled. Unfortunately, that's the easy part."

Leo pulled his sleeve over his hand, wiping the corner of the mouth although it didn't do much given the state of his clothing itself. "Great. Can I get a shower first?" Maescia rolled her eyes in response, snapping her fingers as remnants of dust, dirt, and, well, mostly blood, disappeared from the entire room, their persons included.

"That's the closest you get. Time to explain."

Blitz raised a brief eyebrow at Leo's initial reply, but then sighed slightly. "It's alright - I think both of us were referring to vaguely similar concepts, but had very different concrete examples in mind, though I don't really know enough to wager what yours might have been." Blitz said, with a slight look of 'partly because y'all play it so close to the vest' implied in his gaze. While Blitz was curious to find out what all of this was about, he was aware that there was a time-limit of sorts - Blitz was probably the closest living thing to them in age, aside from their elven friend, but he'd gotten here by essentially skipping over a full millennium. If they didn't age, they could literally just wait him out by keeping quiet, and that thought vexed him more than Blitz would care to admit. At the same time, though, he had to remind himself that they had very different circumstances - they weren't Fairy Tail mages, the group he himself had signed on with, and in retrospect, was likely because he'd been so laid-back and open with people, and they with him. It wasn't so much that his old guildmates didn't have secrets, so much as they couldn't be bothered to keep them buried terribly deep. But for Leo and Eris, it could have been the difference between life and death, for all he knew, so he had little choice but to piece things together as he went along.

Leo did seem to be okay for the most part - as far as 'okay' was defined in Leo's book - and Eris called the ship over to them remotely. Blitz raised an eyebrow, then his expression went flat for a moment. "I was about to ask why you didn't use the ship to assist in the battle back there, before the other ships appeared, but given that you just realized it could do that, I guess that makes a degree of sense. Still would have made an interesting diversion to backhand archers with the side-wall of a ship, though..." Blitz said, looking thoughtful.

Shoop rolled his eyes. "Not everyone is into as eccentric problem-solving as you are, hotshot. Besides, some of yours bring to mind the question of whether it was even good sense."

Blitz bristled. "Hey, I've had a few....unorthodox ideas, certainly, but nothing downright foolish."

Shoop scoffed. "Didn't you try to extinguish a flame takeover mage's fireball by body-slamming it?"

"Yes. And it WORKED."

They followed the duo and elf into the tree/house and sat on one of the cots near the one Leo was parked on, raising an eyebrow, then glancing along his arms when the faint strands of energy rose from him and disappeared. "Huh. Magic, clearly, but if I was to guess, magic forcibly suppressed to the point where it's like spider silk, perhaps to be used to keep tabs on a target? They're resourceful, I'll give 'em that much," Blitz said, dusting his hands. "And the name's Blitz. Currently a tag-a-long on the adventures of those two and wondering how such intense dislike from a random group even came to be. I even asked the leader why he thought he was in the right of things, and not a peep from him. Which was rude, really." Blitz added.

After the impromptu dust-busting magic, the elf lady seemed keen on an explanation. "Yes, Leo, explain." Blitz said with a curious look. He was interested to hear why they were being targeted so fiercely, and it seemed like this lady was one of the few no-nonsense people that even Leo couldn't afford to brush off.

Leo glanced over at Blitz for a second, he had seen it all play out, after all, hadn't he? Or was the metal mage hoping for him to elaborate on a further detail, one that had not yet been brought into their conversation? If anything, that seemed excessive to him, as a matter of fact Blitz really hadn't spoken much of himself other than that he was from Earthland, although Leo supposed he had never asked. Regardless, he cleared his throat, the metallic taste of blood rapidly fading from his tongue all the same. "Ah, well, I may or may not have gotten a little too upset after the man we were supposed to kill started torturing Eris...." he muttered, in which Eris let out a sigh.

"Very nice explanation." Her posture had relaxed significantly, far more than Blitz had likely seen before. It was no longer the time for false fronts, even as she glanced over at a nearby window her mouth curled in a slight grimace at the flora that had begun to shrivel in on itself. "I'll fix that later," she muttered to herself, words directed at Maescia even as he retorted.

"Look, I really don't know! Do you have anything better to offer?"

She shrugged. "Nope."

Maescia frowned. "I suppose it could be related to what we've discussed recently...." she trailed off, holding up a single finger even as she continued to speak, opening a door that led into a small collection of records in the meantime. "Have you had this sort of sensation before?"

He shifted uncomfortably, watching as she pulled out a tome, its cracked leather holding an ancient quality to it even with the magical veneer that coated it. "I mean... yes? Not with magic, not recently, of course, but it's not an uncommon sentient; I just usually don't, ah, actually act upon it."

"That's a lie."

He winced. "Okay, okay, I usually don't end up destroying an entire building. That's your job." Eris shook her head, soon leaning up against him, eyelids flickering slightly.

Maescia looked between them, exasperated. "Right, it's you two; that doesn't help." She flipped through the journal, tracing the handwritten text with her finger as she scanned its contents. At last did her gaze fall upon a series of pages, rifling through them before she held up one in particular that contained a diagram of a familiar object.

Leo blinked. "Oh yes, right," he said. Reaching toward his neck he untied the knot found in the twine, presenting the pendant that was all too often hidden beneath his clothing, although not for any particular reason other than Leo usually forgot it was there. His thumb rolled over it once, before he held his hand out in the doctor's direction, strings still attached to the far more important crystal it secured.

Despite her curiosity, Maescia's visage flashed fear for a moment. "Is it safe for you to take it off?"

Her concern was quite palpable, yes, but his throat still offered a chuckle. "It would be safe if it were suddenly transported to the other side of this planet. I haven't tested anything farther away, yet."

"Please don't," she replied immediately, taking the necklace away from him almost as if she were chiding his words, although in reality she brought it up to her eye before letting the gem catch the glint of moonlight from outside. "I see, it cracked. Not from sheer force, correct?" Leo nodded solemnly, in which her gaze narrowed. "I'm going to have to look into the enchantment itself, then," Maescia stated, voice then dropping to a murmur. "I just hope that doesn't make it any worse."

Leo looked at Blitz oddly for a moment, but didn't say anything more for a moment, which Blitz thought was his usual descent into silence when personal subjects came up, until he realized that Leo might actually be spitting out blood. He was both shedding and spilling a lot of it back there, Blitz thought, though he kept that to himself - wasn't exactly a secret at this point, but that didn't mean it needed to be dangled in front of them.

Leo finally mentioned that the treatment of Eris was likely what made him snap back in the base. "Yeah, believe it or not, we DID kinda piece that together," Shoop said with some sarcasm, earning a brief scowl from Blitz.

It seemed that the problem wasn't so much that Leo had lost control of things, but that they seemed to have identified his usual triggers, and him losing control in the absence of them was concerning to the rest of the group.

Blitz took a seat about halfway between the old elf and the wonder twins, glancing back and forth between them as they spoke in turn, eyeing the pendant that Leo out, and how the elf's concern seemed to magnify tenfold when it was brought out, and they clarified what their brief exchange had already made Blitz guess - that the pendant was tied to Leo keeping a tight grip on his abilities. "So, let me get this straight," Blitz said with some patience, "That thing is an important part of how you keep your.....let's say 'anger issues' under lock and key, if it gets too far from you, it stops working, and you keep it bound to you with one string?" Blitz asked, with the tone of someone wondering if he'd heard right, before sighing and reaching into his pocket, and pulling out what looked like a short length of chain. "Ironically enough, this was in the supplies from your would-be captors that I knocked out on my way to help you two, back in the clearing. While they likely did bring it with the intent of using it to restrain your abilities, it would at least serve as a more sturdy fixation for that pendant instead of the string, I would think."

The elf, however, examined the pendant, and noticed a hairline crack in it, but confirmed from Leo that it wasn't due to any force against the pendant itself. "Here's a thought....you two," Blitz said, pointing at Leo and Eris, "Seem to be somewhat timeless. The pendant....not so much. Even the magic that I'm guessing is present within it isn't eternal. Magic can lasts for years upon years, but I don't recall many spells that were permanent. I'd wager it's looking into if the pendant or enchantment on said pendant are just past their intended warranty date."

"Two strings," he muttered. In truth, Leo's choice was nothing more than a repetition of past habits, at the end of days there had been no need for elaborate fastenings, after all there was only a singular world to mull over. And far from ever thinking about it, whenever the twine had frayed past usability he had simply replaced it with more, eventually even enchanted yet string all the same. Tradition, not necessarily, it was simply the mindless tasks performed, much the same as the maintenance of any other object, with barely another thought put into that which had been perfectly functional. He was not one to merely dismiss logic, however, and to be fair Blitz did bring up a valid point. Leo reached for the chain, about to mull it over in his palm before upon contact with the metal he let out a low hiss, abruptly drawing his hand back. He then cleared his throat, dismissing the inhumanity. "I should have figured they would make any form of restraint as painful as possible. I appreciate your concern, however."

He waited for Maescia to begin, her attention flirting between the book she held and the pendant that hung so precariously in the balance. The elf's eyes narrowed, apparently catching a detail, or passage, or similar, that tripped her up. All the same did Blitz propose his theory. "Don't need to remind us," Leo snapped for a moment, before wincing. "My apologies, that was uncalled for." The metal mage was right; he knew it. There was a certain refusal of the truth present within his being, however, a desperation to cling onto the past, to depend on that which was known and loved. His active state of mind rejected such, perhaps, an inexplicable delight taken in all new prospects, yet the inevitable sense of dread twisted it into a far darker iteration.

"You know, that does bring up an interesting point...." Maescia trailed off, jotting something down in a notebook nearby before she approached Leo, although not before setting down all of the materials she had been working with beforehand. Maescia then muttered something in his ear, which made him bolt upright.

"It is not!" Leo exclaimed, eyes widening with their hue unrecessed from its darkest point regardless of the current state of relative peace.

"Day after Halloween."

Eris looked up at Leo. "Fuck," she said plainly. "I forgot."

"So did I! I want to die."

"Oh, shut up." She leaned over and kissed him, the exchange fleeting in the presence of others even as he drew her in nearer. "Happy birthday."

A moment passed, then another, Maescia eventually clearing her throat. "Well, I don't have any cake, not that you like it anyway," she said, taking one last glance at the ancient journal on the table before her hands began to move in an ornate, arcane nature. "Brace yourself, my grandmother was rather... vague on any specifics as to what this might do...." From under her breath a chant began, one indecipherable even to him, although the rapid, festering pain that rose up in his chest spoke volumes more, the darkness attempting to worm away from his feeble grasp upon it even as glimmering pieces of light began to reflect from the seal, scripts of various cultures and designs locking in that which was held beneath.

Leo seemed reluctant to change up how the pendant was kept close - Blitz could understand, as he he himself had some faith in the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' theory - but when Leo went to touch the chain, he recoiled swiftly, muttering about the ones who made the chain. "Ah, right," Blitz said, glancing at the chain with dislike. "I figured if they were out to capture you, they would use a chain designed to restrain your abilities in some fashion, but I underestimated how unlikable their methods could end up being. My bad on that one," Blitz said, pocketing the length of chain - while it was useless or even detrimental to Leo, and perhaps Eris, Blitz wanted to pick it apart later - if he could unravel how they planned to keep Leo in check, it would make it easier to undo it later, in the event that they managed to turn the tables on Leo before he let his other half come out to play.

When the metal mage mentioned Leo's graceful passage through the halls of time, however, Leo snapped for a moment, then calmed down. Blitz blinked briefly with a steady look, then said, "I'm not sure what sort of hangup you've got about your appearance or age, but I recommend finding a coping mechanism. I know I had to do some adjustments of my own when I arrived here a thousand years later, but my internal clock has resumed its ticking, so that's a temporary problem. For me, at least."

Blitz paused as another point was mentioned - or so Blitz assumed, but he wasn't privy to the details, as they were whispered in Leo's ear, who clearly didn't like what he was told. After listening for a few moments, it became clear what the topic was - Leo's birthday. The additional surprise was when Eris briefly kissed Leo as a birthday celebration. Blitz laughed and looked up at Shoop, holding up an open palm. "Ha, knew it! They're a couple. Pay up."

Shoop sighed and dropped a handful of credits into Blitz's hand, who pocketed them with a cackle.

Blitz stood up with a smile. "You know, Leo, I'll make you a deal." he said with a grin. "I'll bake you a cake for your special day.....but you have to tell me how many candles it's supposed to have."

"In the meantime, consider this my present," he added, pulling something out of his inner jacket pocket and setting it on the table close to Leo - a bottle of liquid with a rather high alcohol content posted on the side. "Technically, it's from your stash, anyway - never did get to attempt a second molotov cocktail," he said with a laugh.

He put his hand to his temple. Fucking slip ups, why did they have to happen so often? It was even harder to conceal what ran through his mind now, too distracted, discombobulated, struggling to find words in his mishap. "Yeah, I, uh, it's fine. It's just not something I think about all that often, if I'm being honest, there tends to be a serious superiority complex among, ah, individuals who don't age, and it's something I really hate and try to avoid," Leo stumbled, rubbing the back of his neck.

As Blitz and Shoop exchanged their bet he glanced over at Eris, raising his eyebrows for a brief moment, in which she shrugged, shaking her head. It wasn't as if they hid their relationship, one look down at their left hands would confirm such, but then again some people just didn't like to assume, which could be quite annoying when the obvious was clearly presented. Yet the metal mage's far more pressing dialogue was the inevitable query Leo had always expected. "Well, isn't that a great question," he said, clearing his throat. "I'll be honest, that might take a moment...."

"Might as well just light the cake on fire," Eris remarked.

"Hey, I want to see him try! Wasn't it thirteen for you this year?"

She titled her head in thought, squinting one eye briefly. "Mmm, no, fourteen."

Leo blinked, a sigh released from his lungs. "Damn it." With a quick calculation on his fingers he began to laugh, a chortle half covered in a hint of madness. He never bothered to keep track of a specific number, after all, unless it was something significant, there was no point to mindless little details when he couldn't even comprehend the difference between a few digits. A numeral did exist all the same, however, it wasn't as if his perception of time was that terribly warped, was it? "I'm fourteen hundred and thirty six years old. Please... don't repeat that anywhere, for me?" He accepted his own liquor swiftly after the fact, not hesitating to down the entire bottle with the pace of a full-blooded alcoholic.

Maescia cleared her throat yet again, staring at all of them with a gaze of disapproval. "Well then, shall we?" Without any further warning, her hands flicked over the symbols and scripts that had begun to materialize in the air, their hue rapidly degenerating into ink. Grip still on the neck of the bottle he held, Leo's grasp tightened, an ever slight crack heard as he abruptly set the empty container down on the ground below, it shattering upon the slight impact. His hands then knit together in a false pretense of fascination at what the elf was doing; in reality the action only taken to restrain himself from anything more rash as the shadows closed in.