Back in Solitas.
Cypress and Janus were in the kitchen, cornered by the attackers. Janus was barely holding on, having been shot twice. tear gas was tossed into the room. Janus quickly ripped off a sleeve of his shirt and wrapped it around Cypress’ mouth. “Get to that vent and get out of here.”
“What about you?” Cypress tried to ask as he was pushed towards the vent.
“Tell my family I’ll see them one day in the Samaritaine.” Janus said just before the gas reached them. Cypress crawled though the vents trying not to cough as he heard gunshots and screaming behind them. He tried to not think about the fact his bodyguard and friend just died as he followed the vent to an opening. He kicked it open and crawled out, just to come fact to face with three more attackers.
He looked up at them frozen like a deer in the headlights as they raised their weapons, but then the door behind them burst open and the three men were surrounded by smoke as blue fire started to roast them alive. Once the smoke cleared Roxas was standing there with the Saebo word gifted to him by Pjotur the year before. Cypress wasted no time rushing over and engulfing his father in a hug.
“Father! Rognhildr disappeared, then these strange people attacked!” he said, trying to hide his panic.
“Come on son, lets find your mother, maybe she knows what’s happened.” Roxas said, concern and worry in his voice. Only for Lyra to answer as she approached.
“I’m here.” She said sounding tired, she had a foreign sword in her hand with blood smears on it. “I’m fine, one of those guys tried to fight me up close. But we have a problem.” She held out one of the hair ribbons Rognhildr was wearing.
As Roxas recognized what it was he remembered Lukas’ threats and demands that Rognhildr was to be returned to Svipjoth. “Lyons had one last move after all.” He mused out loud. “sabotage the defense network, and kidnap Rognhildr behind an attack on the city. Ly, call Errol and tell him I want every scrap of info in Lyons’ head ripped out, now. Lets find Kolfinna and get back to the Citadel, the Shield battalion can finish up with whoever these people are.”
OOC: This was previous roleplayed out by Stigya and I, so everything has been pre-approved
OOC 2: Listen to
this while reading
Solitas, The Stigyan TriumvirateAfter the near death of his son and the disappearance of Rognhildr, Roxas angrily stomped his way into the war room, the flame of rage in his heart eager to gain revenge against his now sworn enemy, Lukas Grankjellsson. Slamming the doors to his office open, he marched straight towards his desk when a flash of light and a second door slam made him freeze. Turning himself around, he saw the man that he has fantasized disemboweling for so long: Lukas Grankjellsson. He stood aloft where the light once was, his hand regally resting on his sheathed sword. Lukas gives a small smile, “Emperor Roxas”
“Lukas… I knew you were involved. What have you done with Rognhildr?”
“I am taking her back to her home country. She will be safe there and with her people. I can promise you that I would never harm my little cousin.”
“Forgive me for not believing a word of that. I’m surprised you didn’t just kill her as a potential threat to your right to throne? Not that it matters, for you’ve delivered yourself to me.” Roxas rests a hand on his own blade, “A bit hypocritical of you to use teleportation tech to get there though” He smirks.\
“You may choose not to believe me, but that is your prerogative. But yes, about my delivery,” Lukas met Roxas’ smirk, “And a bit inconsiderate of you to not protect against teleportation magic. Alas, the difference between this tech and your tech, good sir, is that it won’t be used to economically exploit my people.”
“Regardless, I have come here with a simple proposal: a gentleman’s duel, if you will. I find that the exchange of letter was… unsatisfactory.”
“All I’ve tried to done was help your people. So did your uncle. So if you’re here to allow me to avenge his death…then I’ll gladly oblige you” Roxas pressed a button on the side of his desk, turning into smoke as the lights in the room went out.
Lukas chuckled, equipping his sword and standing perfectly still, poised to attack at any direction he so wished. Hearing a soft sound of movement behind him, Lukas swiftly slashed a full 180 degrees, his body following. The lights came back on as Lukas slashed, Roxas blocked the attack with his saber in his right hand. In his left he drew his shotgun revolver and brought it up towards Lukas’ chest. Lukas quickly flicked his wrist, maneuvering the sword from the outside to the inside of Roxas arm before lunging forward, twisting his body in this lunge to dodge the shotgun revolver.
Roxas’ arm suddenly turns to smoke and passes through Lukas after dodging the shotgun blast. As it turns solid again Roxas swings his saber at Lukas’ face. Lukas reaches his freehand to his lower back, pulling out a seax he had sheathed to block the saber. As he did so, his other hand maneuvered his sword once more, this time slashing to strike at Roxas’ shoulders. Roxas ducks and tries to sweep Lukas’ leg while aiming another shotgun blast. Lukas disengaged, leaping back to avoid the slash as his saber then slashed downward in a circular motion, knocking the shotgun revolver out of Roxas’ hand.
Roxas cursed under his breath, but then his eye started to glow as he flicked his empty hand back, a sword of obsidian materialized in it as if burned into existence from the air itself.
“You didn’t think it would be that easy, did you?”
"I'd never underestimate my opponent, unlike yourself." Lukas spoke coolly, smirking as he readied his sword and seax, "Go on, hit me."
Roxas immediately charged, with Lukas meeting Roxas' charge with a blocking slash from his sword and his seax moving to stab Roxas' torso. Roxas moved the obsidian blade to block the seax as the saber lit on fire. Lukas then maneuvered his seax around the obsidian blade to draw it back as did his sword.
The obsidian blade started to glow, then exploded once it made contact with the seax, destroying both weapons, with one chunk of the obsidian fully lodging itself into one of Lukas' eyes. As the flaming saber grazed down onto Lukas’ arm, a scorch of fire burst through the cut. The room smelt of the burning of flesh as the arm was fully amputated off.
Lukas gripped his upper arm, it not spewing blood if only for the fact that Roxas' blade effectively cauterized the wound, and cried in pain as he disengaged from Roxas. He glanced at his sword in the distance, "A good hit, Roxas. Excellent counter."
Roxas punches him in the face and knocks him to the ground. Roxas steps on his chest and raises his sword to stab Lukas through the head. “Unfortunately for you, you won’t get a chance to counter anything again.”
As Roxas plunges his blade down, the air around him drastically turns cold without warning. Reacting to save his life, Lukas lifted his spare arm from his injury and, without thinking and most assuredly without his better judgment, Lukas grabbed the saber with his remaining hand. As he reached, his hand became encased in ice. Gripping the saber, regardless of its sharpness, he immediately stopped Roxas' momentum. Lukas looked just as shocked and surprised as Roxas did in that short moment.
Just as fast as Lukas was shocked, he regained his composure and his expression became grim, squeezing the saber tighter. Despite the flames being channeled into the blade by Roxas, the cold slowly crept up the blade, beating back the fire as the sharp temperature change made major cracks in the blade, until at last, Roxas' saber was completely shattered. Pieces flew out and shrapnel bits injured both men. Roxas and Lukas were both sent flying back. Roxas was frozen in surprise.
Lukas slowly stood up, glaring at his hands and then Roxas, stating, “Isn’t this quite the surprise?”
“What exactly did you use to teleport here?” Roxas asks cautiously.
“A housewarming gift from the Spireans. Oh, but enough talk, I believe we have a duel to finish.” Lukas throws his arm out wide, summoning an axe made of ice, while from his amputation, a spiked arm made of ice was formed. He then lunges at the frozen Roxas.
Roxas recovers just in time, jumping back and dragging his hand along the floor, setting it on fire. Eight blades emerge from the flames and start floating. Lukas stops in front of the fire, if but for a moment, before lifting his glacial arm prosthetic up into the air and striking the air in a diagonal slash. This summoned a whirlwind of ice, extinguishing both the flame wall and the blades. Lukas steps confidently over the smoldered floor.
“…The philosophers stone. So you’re a hypocrite about using foreign technology as well as religion.” Roxas says, his body swaying slightly from exhaustion but his eye still glowing. “Come kill me then. My daughter and the Ursians will just orbital bomb your nation to dust, everything you’ve done would be for nothing. I’m not afraid of death.”
Lukas shakes his head solemnly, slowly approaching the exhausted Roxas, "Tsk tsk. It's a surprise to me as well, Roxas. Alas, I was raised on your church's soil. It was even Odin who said to seek power and knowledge, no matter its origin," Lukas throws his ice axe at Roxas, the axe striking his side before shattering into him.
Roxas screams in pain as he goes down,
“Is that not what your uncle was doing, knowledge from any source. I’ve been ready for death since I was ten. Go ahead and finish me. After what you did here, what you did in Haithabu, your homeland will burn until nothing is left. And for what? Ego? You think you know what it means to be a king? To be loved by millions, understand the responsibility of guiding them to a better future… No. No you only care about yourself, just another murderous monster with no higher cause than himself.” Roxas said with a shaky breath, staring down his imminent death without the slightest hint of care.
Lukas continued his approach towards Roxas, lifting his ice hand to his eye, pressing firmly against it. HE stood nonchalantly before Roxas, crouching down to his level before removing his hand from his eye, the obsidian becoming a sort of pupil as the blue ice surrounding it created a false eye. The blood that once ran down his face was now frozen, each sliver breaking off as Lukas spoke softly,
"Don't you have more spirit? Fight me."
“You know, maybe if you were a bit smarter or a better fighter… You would remember to watch your back.”
A bullet suddenly blasts through Lukas’ shoulder as Colonel Radek and two other praetorians break into the war room, opening fire.
Lukas snarled in pain, standing up and gripping his shoulder with his prosthesis hand as he turned to see the praetorians. He glared at the three, "Interrupting a duel? How very dishonorable of you." Picking a praetorian at random and without moving, Lukas' eyes began to glow a brilliant ice blue. Catching the horror of both Radek and the other praetorian, the victim began to ice over. He tried to move and scream, but he could not make any noise. Each movement he made became slower and slower until he moved no more, his whole body frozen over.
The other praetorian, recovering their senses, opens fire full automatic with his assault rifle, but Radek pushes the man aside as Roxas could’ve been caught in the crossfire.
Roxas forms an obsidian knife in his left hand and lunges. Seeing his not so covert attack, Lukas quickly stomps his foot over Roxas' low lunge, freezing his hand to the ground as he then charges towards Radek and the praetorian. Forming a spear of ice, he strikes at the distracted praetorian, piercing him through his throat.
Radek fires off a burst from his machine gun, the bullets barely missing Lukas, only able to shatter the ice spear that was stuck into the praetorian. He then turns invisible only to appear at Roxas' side.
"I shall only ask you once, stranger. Step away from the emperor. This is our duel, and your involvement is nothing short of dishonorable."
“Keep him busy, I’ll only get one shot at this” Roxas whispered just loud enough for Radek to hear, who then pulled out his handgun and engaged Lukas,
“Honor is for the dead. All that matters is protecting the emperor.”
“Pathetic.” Lukas rushes for his sword, creating an ice shield to block Radek’s gun shots as he retrieved it. Once in his possession, he charges straight at Radek, ignoring the rising temperature of the room. Spikes formed on the ice shield before bashing Radik with it, creating multiple stab wounds across his entire chest and torso. Radek collapses with a pained groan, the room is no longer cold.
Lukas looks over at Roxas to see his entire body on fire, looking furious. Without a word, Roxas sends a massive fiery explosion across the entire war room.
The explosion lit the warm room in flames and heat, engulfing everything in sight. Everyone was blinded, including Roxas himself. As he slowly regained his vision, Roxas was met with his surroundings ablaze. And yet, he saw the worst thing he could see: Lukas standing where he was before, the remnants of a glacial wall having been melted.
“Oh for fucks sake…” Roxas muttered between coughs as blood poured out of his nose. Roxas tries to stand, but quickly collapses to his knees, coughing blood.
Lukas walked towards Roxas once more, entirely unphased by the flames. When they try to lick him, they are extinguished by the cold emanating from his body. Lukas stood in front of the knelt Roxas and then crouched to his level, gripping Roxas throat and forcing him to look up at Lukas.
Roxas uses the last of his energy to spit some of his own blood on Lukas face,
“What are you waiting for?”
The blood froze on impact as Lukas stares, his expression undisturbed by Roxas’ attitude.
“I win.”
Lukas drops Roxas onto the floor, the deep handprint-shaped frostbite marking Lukas' victory. He stands up and starts to walk away.
“… That’s it?” Roxas wheezes out incredulously, his voice wavering as blood pooled into his lungs.
Lukas paused and threw his gaze over,
“I was never going to kill you. After all, death is above dishonor. Roll in your shame, Roxas.” He then reached into his pocket, retrieving the philosophers stone, before teleporting away.
As he teleports out, more Stigyans enter. The entire world seemed hazy as Cíelle ran over to his father. He could see Cíelle
yelling and himself bleeding out from his stab wounds, but all he could hear was a loud ringing in his ears as he tried to breathe. Then the world went black.