[The real Solomon pauses, just enough to cast those brassy eyes towards Day. And with the same smile as his counterpart, though significantly more pained, he nods.
There's a flare of magic, one that Day can feel in his own body like it had emerged from himself without any effort at all - an echo, of what the phantom Solomon does without even moving. Lucifer has wavered at the site of the grimoire, and it is enough for the sorcerer to snap the spell that binds him, the outreaching of one hand all that is needed to free Ibuki as well, who stumbles back down to the ground coughing for breath.
Wow, Lucifer. Did you lose your composure?
The demon sneers in his direction as Solomon skirts his way over to Ibuki to stand between them, his voice lowering as he speaks over his shoulder to his apprentice.
Are you okay? I could have handled that on my own, you know. Haha... sorry for robbing you of the chance, then.
You feel a rush of pride at their confidence.
Thirteen tosses the grimoire. Ibuki catches it. The demons in the room are frenzied to a panic. Some yell at Thirteen for not maintaining a neutral status. She just shrugs and says to stuff it. It doesn't surprise you. Thirteen always walked her own path.
Well, now. Things have gotten interesting. So.
What are you going to do, Ibuki?
You know what you want them to say, even as they hold the book out in front of them. But it is never your choice. You are here to guide. To assist. Not to act on their behalf.
...
And yet, you still feel your chest constrict, as they lower the book from a protective hold.
...I won't.
I love all of you.
Of course they do. They always have. It's that enormous heart you love so much about them.
They hold the grimoire out to Lucifer. Your fear climbs.
Ibuki--
Lucifer stares down at them, wings still spread, still furious... but laced with deep confusion and hurt. Do they understand what they're doing?
...
There are more important things than this.
More important things than control, in the situation they're in? It unsettles and confuses the demons. Thirteen looks baffled.
Solomon's fear could not be higher. But he merely watches, eyes flicking to Lucifer. So he does not see, and he cannot stop, when they say:
I promise--
The rest of the statement feels so distant. The reason a blur. Because what matters to you isn't what they just told a demon. It's what they just did to themselves.
Your heart jumps into your throat, and you hear Thirteen start forward. The demons don't react. They don't know.
And just as the promise leaves Ibuki's lips, their entire body locks up, skin going deathly pale, as they crumple straight to the ground.
Solomon moves forward. Of course he does. The master is responsible for the apprentice, his apprentice, his...
Thirteen shoves him aside. She barks at the demons who now start to swarm. The sound is rushing through your ears like a river, with the pound of your heart. No one can rouse them. They're fading, Thirteen says. And Lucifer, of all people present, is the one that immediately grabs them in his arms and shouts for attention, for people to follow.
That ache in your heart only grows as you follow along in suit. Their love for the brothers, always warm for the brothers, always present for the brothers, even now. This beautiful, wonderful part of them, chosen over instruction and warning. Chosen over the good of humanity. That heart you love so much.
The memory starts to muddle. A pale body laid down onto a bed. A blessing attempted, with no response. A deep knowledge that, in all of the knowledge within the Fountain, there is no knowledge of the Fountain itself... nor of the curse it places. There is no way to break it. It's nearly impossible.
But you will try, you say. You promise you will find a way. No matter how impossible.
Because you love them.
Even if, with that loving and open heart, they will never, ever, love you back.]
no subject
There's a flare of magic, one that Day can feel in his own body like it had emerged from himself without any effort at all - an echo, of what the phantom Solomon does without even moving. Lucifer has wavered at the site of the grimoire, and it is enough for the sorcerer to snap the spell that binds him, the outreaching of one hand all that is needed to free Ibuki as well, who stumbles back down to the ground coughing for breath.
Wow, Lucifer. Did you lose your composure?
The demon sneers in his direction as Solomon skirts his way over to Ibuki to stand between them, his voice lowering as he speaks over his shoulder to his apprentice.
Are you okay?
I could have handled that on my own, you know.
Haha... sorry for robbing you of the chance, then.
You feel a rush of pride at their confidence.
Thirteen tosses the grimoire. Ibuki catches it. The demons in the room are frenzied to a panic. Some yell at Thirteen for not maintaining a neutral status. She just shrugs and says to stuff it. It doesn't surprise you. Thirteen always walked her own path.
Well, now. Things have gotten interesting. So.
What are you going to do, Ibuki?
You know what you want them to say, even as they hold the book out in front of them. But it is never your choice. You are here to guide. To assist. Not to act on their behalf.
...
And yet, you still feel your chest constrict, as they lower the book from a protective hold.
...I won't.
I love all of you.
Of course they do. They always have. It's that enormous heart you love so much about them.
They hold the grimoire out to Lucifer. Your fear climbs.
Ibuki--
Lucifer stares down at them, wings still spread, still furious... but laced with deep confusion and hurt. Do they understand what they're doing?
...
There are more important things than this.
More important things than control, in the situation they're in? It unsettles and confuses the demons. Thirteen looks baffled.
Solomon's fear could not be higher. But he merely watches, eyes flicking to Lucifer. So he does not see, and he cannot stop, when they say:
I promise--
The rest of the statement feels so distant. The reason a blur. Because what matters to you isn't what they just told a demon. It's what they just did to themselves.
Your heart jumps into your throat, and you hear Thirteen start forward. The demons don't react. They don't know.
And just as the promise leaves Ibuki's lips, their entire body locks up, skin going deathly pale, as they crumple straight to the ground.
Solomon moves forward. Of course he does. The master is responsible for the apprentice, his apprentice, his...
Thirteen shoves him aside. She barks at the demons who now start to swarm. The sound is rushing through your ears like a river, with the pound of your heart. No one can rouse them. They're fading, Thirteen says. And Lucifer, of all people present, is the one that immediately grabs them in his arms and shouts for attention, for people to follow.
That ache in your heart only grows as you follow along in suit. Their love for the brothers, always warm for the brothers, always present for the brothers, even now. This beautiful, wonderful part of them, chosen over instruction and warning. Chosen over the good of humanity. That heart you love so much.
The memory starts to muddle. A pale body laid down onto a bed. A blessing attempted, with no response. A deep knowledge that, in all of the knowledge within the Fountain, there is no knowledge of the Fountain itself... nor of the curse it places. There is no way to break it. It's nearly impossible.
But you will try, you say. You promise you will find a way. No matter how impossible.
Because you love them.
Even if, with that loving and open heart, they will never, ever, love you back.]