Sympathy for the devil

The sound of the wind howling was deafening. A sickening chorus that drowned out any other sound even within the citidal of ice, shored away in a small section of Canada and within a weather pattern that stumped meteorologists. Despite the beating that Ryan did to Lucius, he did not make the step towards killing him and once unconsciousness had been reached he moved the dictator, bereft of his equipment  to this location. Luckily he could move people through his own odd means of teleporting, which saved  a lot of time. Upon waking Lucius would find himself in a room, extremely cold but bound with thick sheets of ice that no level of human strength could shatter. All it took was looking upwards to see Ryan, settled on a crystalline throne with the same glowing eyes looking down on him.

With the raise of a hand the winds silenced, leaving the throne room itself silent as the grave. ”Thought you would be sleeping forever or...well that I had gone a little too overboard.” He huffed, a large cloud of cold air hissing through his nostrils. ”But lucky for me you aren’t so easy to kill. Then all I would have is a smug corpse, and I can’t let you have that satisfaction. We’re not square yet.” Each step echoed off the wall, these ringing sounds that were magnified as they bounced off the harsh, yet well defined walls.

”Think of this as a life lesson. The people you love will die, you will lose everything you hold dear, because existence is unfair.” That was when the room shook, each step as if a giant moved through the palace. A massive facsimile of a humanoid figure stepped through one of the massive craved archways, approaching the two of them with empty sockets that should have contained eyes, a massive maw of crystalline teeth as it turned towards Lucius with what looked to be hands clenched tightly.

”Drop them.” Ryan said with a motion as two shapes hit the dense snow lining the floor of the palace. ”Now you have a choice.” Like hands, the snow gathered and raised the two upwards to make who they were more visible. ”Which one do you choose to die?”

Ryan or Isalia?

There was only black, and the achingly pain in his skull. It pounded with the fury of the world's worst ever hangover, and made the restrained man want to puke. To think, he was tough, and even though it was diminished in power he still healed quickly. To a normal person, this pain must have been extraordinary; lethal, even. He wasn't dying no, but he was trembling, and he was powerless.

As the black turned to grey, then to dark blue, and then to ice, Lucius noticed the pounding in his head corresponded to words being spoken by the very person who had started this. Sound itself caused shocks of agony in his brain, to the point the dictator could barely function. His vision was hazy, his hearing humming, and magnificent mind all but shattered under the torturous venom coursing through his vains, but at least it wasn't as bad as when he was first dosed. He could actually form proper words now.

The first few sentences that came out of Ryan's mouth Lucius simply didn't hear, or at least was too delirious to understand. The room was a fog of all the same bright light color, and it hurt Red's eyes to look at it. Because it was difficult to look at anything else, the man's gaze naturally drifted to the figure that stood in front of him, and after that, the two that followed.

Lucius' vision focused, and he heard the word 'choose' very clearly. His heart sank, his teeth gritted, and his eyes widened in what could only be described as fear. He knew what this situation was before he even saw the faces of his children. How? Lucius knew the why, but he couldn't begin to understand how Ryan had gotten a hold of his kids.

Ryan Lester had sank down to the very level that had taken his mother from him. He even duplicated the scene of her murder, mocking it with him in the place Lucius once occupied. If this wasn't the age old 'he who fights monsters' dilemma then Red didn't know what was. Deluge was clouded by grief and anger, and he was unreasonable at this moment, but the only way Lucius could save his kids right now was to talk this boy out of it.

The terrified faces of Isalia and Ryan looked out at their father, but they did not speak yet. They seemed in shock, just as Lucius was, but he didn't enjoy the luxury of silence, not today. He had to talk, that was the only way to fight.

"Ryan.......... Don't do this. They're only kids. Kill me, don't be me, " Lucius said. His voice was steady, as if he were trying to talk a suicidal person off a building. He wanted to cry. Each second he looked at his daughter, his son, doubt filled his mind. He didn't know if they would get out of this alive, but if he begged, if he got emotional, they most certainly would die.

"Dad... I-i'm sorry..... It was my fa-No..... It's mine. All of this is..... But it will be ok. Just.... Stay calm..... Oh, please... Please don't cry, dear..." Isalia tried to speak, but she was interrupted by Lucius. As he assured her it wasn't her fault, tears streamed down her face. She felt she had put herself in this position, that she had failed her brother, and failed her father, and couldn't help but cry at that thought. Red's grey eyes watered at the sight of his distraught children. The shy, terrified Ryan, and the dutiful big sister, who blaimed herself. He had done this, and he couldn't choose. Not even if it meant he would lose both.

"This is what this game is meant to do, Ryan, don't you see? Back then.... I wanted to show you your heroic ways weren't so ingrained in you.... But you proved me wrong...... Yet now, now you prove me right. I'm a monster that makes other monsters.... Break free from me, and don't hurt anyone on my account.... So many people have been harmed because of me.... Including your mother... May she rest in peace." Desperation built in the father's voice as his glassy eyes threatened to transform into a full sob, but he kept himself as calm as he could. He was circling a tiger, one who had all the power in this situation, and one he had to try to calm down.

Still, deep in his soul, Lucius knew Deluge wouldn't have gone through all this trouble just to be talked out of it. The boy was gone, he was angry, and he was as cold as his potent abilities.

Ryan smiled down at Lucius, face portraying the fear that he wanted and the apprehension that the scenario called for. ”They’re only kids? You know that would be a really compelling argument if I hadn’t just been a kid when you, I don’t know...murdered my mother.” His tone was icy and sharp like a dagger. Crying, begging or even pleading did not seem to break through the exterior. ”Just a stupid kid with the hopes of being a hero and the world class intellect you claim just had to have the last word. To be right, like a stupid child on a playground.” Icy covered the children until only their heads were poking out of it, though little Ryan seemed less bothered by the  restraints than Isalia.

The construct that had brought them in lowered its hand and let Ryan sit on it, serving as a manner of throne as he resided over this judgment. ”Mercy, for you or your children is already gone. If you thought you could keep ruling from your palace in Belarus like an untouchable god while you ruin other peoples lives, you were wrong. This is your fault Lucius, and today the sins of the father damn his children.” His words sounded oddly calm, collected even compared to the normally unsure and babbling person that he normally was.

With his cold persona, Ryan sounded more than anything calculating to a minor degree. As if either he had practiced this for some time or he was suddenly just filled with sadistic inspiration. This veneer of control however fell when Lucius brought up his mother, that smooth marble mask contorting in rage, spikes of ice rising to prick at Isalia and Ryan’s throats, just enough to draw a small droplet. ”If you ever mention my mother again, I will kill both of them. I will not let you sully her memory with your filthy tongue.” A deep breath followed that, running his fingers through frost encrusted hair.

”But you should be celebrating, not begging like that. You were right. I thought that was the point of killing my mother. Just to prove that you were right. Now i’m just being a monster, just like you wanted. So i’m going to make a prediction Lucius. Once I kill one of them, you’re going to be the same monster you’ve always been and kill people. Everyone is someones family, and just imagine how many you’ve snuffed out. Why do you get to be so blessed?” He shrugged looking back to the two, smile turning into a mild frown.

".....Then you really have become me, haven't you?" Lucius said, bowing his head in slight defeat after his children were threatened. This situation had proved hopeless. Ryan was intent on his revenge, however ironic and hypocritical it was. Yes, Lucius took the blame for all of this, and was willing to take the punishment, but instead this boy wanted to do the very thing Red had done those years ago. He wanted to make Lucius feel pain, and he didn't care about the lives he was ruining or the innocent people he was going to kill to get that thing he so desperately desired. Lucius realized this. At least one of his children were going to die today.

A single tear rain down his cheek, before quickly freezing into frost. Lucius blinked, trying to focus his vision. He looked to his son, the future Alpha, and Isalia, the girl that reminded him so much of her mother. He would give his life for these kids, and yet he couldn't even make that sacrifice for them today. He was sick, and desperation ran deep in his eyes.

"Blessed? Do i look blessed? Before this, did i seem blessed to you? What do you think drove me to such heinous actions? What put me down the path that eventually hurt you? Pain... Tragedy... Loss. I'm not blessed, I'm just another person, just like you. This reaction you're having, it's natural, and it's the one that made me into the monster i am now. No, I'm not special..... I'm all too ordinary. That was the brutal point of the test. To show you that, pushed to our breaking point, we're capable of the same things...... Evil comes from these types of situations Ryan, the question is, do you want to make more of it just to make yourself feel better?" Lucius said. He didn't even try to hide his grief at this point. The result of this seemed inevitable, but he talked on none the less.

"Ask yourself.... Would she be proud? ......... And before you lash out at the children for me mentioning her again, give it a rest. It's over. I killed her. That's why we're here. Me speaking of it doesn't somehow make it worse then it already is, and it won't make you killing my children any worse to watch......" The dictator's voice had the familiar snide ring to it once again, his head feeling a bit less groggy now. Yes, he was mortified and filled with dread at the idea of losing his kids, but at the same time he knew he couldn't just sob. He had to make some sort of stand, for their dignity at the very least.

".....Sure, you might kill both, but then again, you might just do that anyway, and then kill me. The point is, here we are. We're both men that have done and are doing terrible things. The least we can do is acknowledge them....... So here's the deal...." Lucius paused midway through his sentence, looking to both his kids, who seemed doomed to the same violent end their father would meet. Red closed his eyes briefly, lowering his head and taking a deep breath in. Once he rose, he spoke directly, and clearly.

"I am not choosing. You will own your actions for what they are, yours, just as i should have that day. Kill them both, then me if you must, but i will not choose one over the other, especially when i can't even be certain you'll keep your word," Red said, exhaling as if he had just let go of the heaviest thing he had ever lifted. Saying what he said was difficult, and took a lot of bravery, but he knew it was the right thing to do given the circumstances. He couldn't trust Ryan like this, and even if he could, would the surviving child even want to live after this?

The words would hit the air and settle for a few seconds, silence following. It was like a calm before the storm, like a choice had been locked in, but then a weak voice spoke up. It was pained, crying, but somehow filled with determination at the same time. Isalia would raise her head, and look right into her father's eyes, and then into Deluge's.

"Take..... Me...... Take me! I....i don't want to die, but if you want one of us, please, just, t-take m-me!" Isalia said, bursting into a fit mid-sentence as she realized what she was saying, and realized she meant it. She wouldn't stand idle and let her fate be played with by too rivaling monsters. She was pleading, pleading to be killed.

"I-i'm so sorry about your mother.... I really am, R-Ryan, but I'm begging you, don't hurt my brother.... Whatever my Dad did..... It wasn't my brother..... IT WASN'T HIM!" Isalia was yelling, hurting. Lucius tried to interject, but her sudden changes from compassion to emotionally charged vocals prevented him from getting a word in. Finally though, she just slumped forward, shaking in her own misery as she cried. This is what her short life had lead to, death at the hands of her father's victim, or worse.

".........One last time, Ryan, this isn't their mistake....... If you want anything of yourself to remain......... Let. Them. Go!"

”It doesn’t matter what she would have felt. She’s dead now, she can’t feel anything anymore.” Ryan sighed, rolling his eyes as he looked over the two children locked within his constraint of ice. One not as affected by the sheer cold compared to the other. The younger Ryan had taken to locking eyes with him, bearing what could only be described as a defiant look. Odd for someone their age, but then again perhaps that came with someone threatening their family. That was when Isalia made a choice that Lucius could not. herself over her brother, even over her own father dying. ”You want me to kill you? Not your father, so willing to let you and your little brother be killed? Look at this Red, your own daughter has the ability to make a choice you can’t. I guess being a pathetic coward didn’t pass on to her.” Raising a hand with the palm upwards, ice gathered in the form of a blade.

”Well she made her choice, so now you have to live with it.” That was when Ryan was lifted into the air and throw into one of the crystalline walls.

Ice shattered, the cocoon around little Ryan falling apart and allowing him to land in the soft snow, blowing away to leave the floor itself smooth. ”Leave my sister alone!” He said in that whiny way a child would sound as Isalia was also broken from her bonds. Scrambling over to her, Ryan examined the small pinpricks ice had been made.  ”Are you okay?” He asked, looking on the verge of tears.

The throbbing in Lucius' head came in waves. One minute he was fine, speaking in his usual impassioned, rant like sentences, but the next he felt as if he would puke. His vision blurred as he saw Ryan raise his hand to strike a lethal blow on his daughter. He wanted to speak, to call out, but he was too lethargic. Thankfully, however, Ryan hadn't counted on something.

Lucius' son, also Ryan, wasn't weakened in the cold. In fact, it was likely the perfect environment for his abilities. Lucius himself had assumed his son was being handicapped in some other way, but that assumption proved false. Little Ryan was standing, outside his restraints, staring down with defiance the one that had threatened his sister. Lucius' head cleared once again, the wave subsiding, and he couldn't help but smile in pride.

That's my boy.... The thought was of relief, but not complete comfort. There was no way a simple telekinetic push had put Ryan down, and that would mean a fight. isalia would be no help, as once the cocoon popped open Lucius could see what was holding her back. Ice spikes had embedded themselves in her legs, and she painfully pulled the last of them out just as Ryan asked if she was alright.

Ryan's older sister embraced him in a tight hug, tears still streaming down her face. She watched as the one that had done this likely slowly got back to his feet, ready to finish this, and she could be of no assistance. The pain was like a block on her powers, a dam that couldn't be circumvented. This was all up to her little brother.

"Yes.... Yes I'm ok, Ryan, because you are... But.... But i need you to be brave now and help me get Dad out of here, ok?" Isalia said, having pulled back from her hug, instead grasping her brother's shoulders as she spoke softly and seriously. She still cried, but there was a determination in her voice that said things had to be done. Lucius, though, wasn't having it.

"No... Don't worry about me. I'll find my way out, i always do. Just run. Buy yourself some time in any way you can, and crack my restraints. I'll hold him off........ I love you both........ Now go!" Lucius said. If his son did indeed crack the ice holding him in place, he would try to stand, but of course fail, at least the first time. He was in no actual fighting condition, but Ryan didn't have to know that. Besides, all he needed was to buy his children time, and he was long winded enough to do that.

Lucius stumbled, hobbled even. He hoped his children would do as he said and flee, because in this place, Ryan was too strong for them in the state they were in. One had to be the diversion to cover the escape of the others, and Lucius figured it was only fitting it should be him. As to how he was going to do that....... Well, he was still working on it, but words nonetheless poured from his mouth.

"Oh, Ryan, Ryan Lester, how many times i could have killed you......." Lucius said once the cryokinetic inevitably came into view. Lucius would try to stiffen himself as much as possible, assuming he was out of his restraints, and walk to meet Ryan. He wanted to be the closest to him, not his children. He wanted to be between them and the thing that desired for their death, and there he would stand.

"I could have finished the job. Sent anyone to get rid of you. You were grief stricken enough, and my resources had grown. You would have never saw it coming...... But i didn't. I had mercy. Want to know why?" Red said. His words weren't exactly the way he felt now, he was just trying to garner attention, to distract, to provoke a response.

"Because i wanted you to live with it. So you could stew it all over, relive it perhaps. I wanted you to feel the pain of losing your degenerate mother over and over again. I wanted you to hear my words repeated in your head until the day of your death, so you would know that i enjoyed doing what i did. Oh, how romantic it was when her blood mixed with your tears, and seeped into the floor boards...." Red stepped forward, hoping Ryan would lash out. What energy he had left gathered in his eyes as he smirked a devilish grin.

"When you weren't there, she begged for her life....... She sobbed at my feet, trying every manner of bargain, to no avail. I suppose when she saw you, she just couldn't bare you seeing her in such a pathetic state..."

The young test tube child looks resolute despite his emotional state. He knew what he wanted, ans Ryan could tell he had underestimated what Lucius’ child could do. Still, he was more than confident that it wouldn’t slow him down. As telekinetic power broke the icy restraints that kept Red down, he would be free to move as he wished while Isalia lead the idea that they should run. He looked up to his father, unsure if he could back up what he said but he ran anyway. Protecting his sister was more important, considering he saw how ready he was to kill her. Nothing appeared to stop them as the two ran through the dense snow that decorated the throne room floor.

All eyes were on Lucius.

The snow close to Lucius formed and rose in a massive spike of ice, attempting to impale the dictator against the massive ice wall. ”Did you think telling your children to run would save them. They could never run fast enough to escape me.” Ryan’s form rise from the snow, seamless as if he were part of it. ”I was going to let on of them live but...i’ve changed my mind. You’ve chosen to have both of them die Lucius.” His eyes glowed, brimming with a cold hatred. ”So  chill while I do that.” Even if he weren’t impaled the snow would attempt to incase him while Ryan disappeared.

Appearing before the fleeing duo who had managed to break through the breach within the walls that Ryan made. ”Sorry, there’s no running.” They could see the white landscape beyond, too far for the human eye to see the end of. Massive constructs of ice rose, their clenched fists coming down upon the two in an attempt to smash them.

The spike shot up before Lucius could do anything to stop it. The dictator was impaled, and almost instantly he spat up a large amount of blood. Despite the pain and obviously near deathly state he was in, Lucius could only think of one thing—his children. See, the man didn't care if he died for his sins, but he couldn't stand the thought of those he loved paying the price for his actions. Lucius' eyes glazed over as he lost blood. He couldn't help them; he wasn't strong enough.

"Why are you doing this? Y-you're supposed to be the good guy, aren't you?" Isalia said as she looked to Deluge. The teen had quickly placed himself in front of Lucius' children, and equally quickly decided to try to smash them in ice. Isalia mustered all the power she could despite her pain, and held her hands outward. The fists of ice would hit a barrier of telekinetic force, but it was weak and unsustainable. The ice fists battered her defenses, forcing her to focus with all her will on shielding the pair of them. Isalia could only hope her brother did something to help. She couldn't hold out for long.

Lucius gripped the tip of the spike tightly, his teeth gritted. Blood still poured from the dictator even as he tried with all his might to help his kids. To say this was painful would be an understatement. He screamed like he never screamed before; the agony he was going through apparent in his face. The vain in his temple throbbed as he exerted as much pressure on the ice as possible, looking like it just might pop.

Eventually, in a case of hysterical strength, the tip of the spike snapped, and Lucius rolled off the ice protrusion onto the ground. He groaned, blood still leaking from his wound, but not nearly as bad. He couldn't even stand let alone save someone. But, he had to try. He couldn't just lay there and watch as first Isalia's defense's were battered, and then little Ryan's. He clenched his fists, mustering his ability, and then attempted to stand himself up using the spike he had just been impaled on. His eyes were glowing red. it was clear his powers were going into overdrive in an effort to keep him alive.

"Coward! .....Rather then face the true object of your pain, you take it out on children. This only proves what I've been saying for so long... The Guardians, Prodigy, Knightwatch, The Talons... None of you ever cared about people. You have no convictions. You just wanted to stroke your own egos. As soon as reality sets in, you're worse then I am," Lucius said as he gripped his chest. His healing factor was slow, but it was keeping him alive. In fact, with every step he took he seemed to regain more power. By the time he walked ten feet, his eyes were like burning embers of crimson light.

A fist of ice slammed down on a fragile shield of force, one that managed to stand thanks to the two of Lucius’ children combining their force to keep Ryan at bay. It was only thanks to the smaller of them that they could continue surviving, each strike weakening the barrier slightly until the one keeping their strength shattered the fist into small fragments and threw the golem down. ”No, I stopped being the good guy a while ago.” his eyes fell to Lucius who had managed to hobble over to them, looking battered but alive. A part of Ryan couldn’t help feeling impressed by his tenacity, despite the burning hatred within him.

”Worse than you? No, until you can honestly look at all the families you’ve torn apart and say that. I don’t want to hear it from you! You’re so self righteous until someone wants to kill people you care about, aren’t you?!” The winds began to how louder, a horrific sound that chilled one to the bone. Visibility itself became shot, and Ryan disappeared once again, soon after a large barrage of ice shards falling on the two children in an attempt to subvert their defenses somewhat. Almost begging Lucius to try and do something about that.

"So.... You're saying you actually CAN'T destroy matter? All appearances thus far have pointed to the Red Energy being able to completely obliterate atoms, given enough time," Sven said, his voice booming out into Lucius' hologram room. The man himself was standing at the center of a holographic structure, which seemed to be in the shape of cells and DNA. Specifically, his DNA. The room was all white, circular, and had many holes along it's walls, which contained the hologram projectors by the looks of it. Lucius nodded in response, his expression tense. He seemed to be in a state of deep concentration, but he nonetheless answered the question.

"I thought that too, but while i was busy researching that biased conclusion i failed to take into account the possibility that the energy wasn't destroying matter. I was too....... Well, perhaps i was too caught up in the idea of being able to bypass the Laws of Thermodynamics. If destroying matter was possible, what else could be? Creation? Perpetual Motion? The limits would be nonexistent..... But, unfortunately, we were wrong," Lucius gestured with his hands, and the hologram zoomed in even further. He wasn't quite sure of the implications he had just found, but he knew it may well have just as many benefits as his previous theory. He just had to figure out how to control it.

"My energy doesn't destroy anything, it never has. Sure, it corrodes it down to fragments, but what's left, the subatomic components, they don't cease to exist like i thought. They are assimilated into more Red Energy. This is why i can make so much of it. I'm not generating that much at all, I'm taking in what it destroys and re-purposing it, conserving my own stamina," Lucius explained. Now it made sense. This is why Flamel wanted the energy. Sure it could have also been due to that 'it being similar to a soul' nonsense, but more likely it was due to the fact the energy could break down and re-purpose atoms. If properly controlled and prevented from becoming simply more Red Energy, the consumed particles could be made into anything. Of course, that required some sort of conductor, like Flamel's stone, which he would never give to Lucius again after what he did to Lucas. That aside, that wasn't the only benefit to this.

"But.... Wouldn't that mea-" the AI began, but Lucius interjected, "Yes, that if given matter to constantly feed off of, the energy could continuously create more of itself indefinitely. We're talking about an infinite energy source. I see now that the rage i feel doesn't come from simply using the energy, but from having to generate it. Deprived of a fuel source to assimilate more of itself, i have to pick up the slack, and that depletes my emotional stability AND my endurance. This is why Lucas never has been able to have focus with the power. The essential particles the power feeds on are mostly being used to transmute him, not create more energy, and therefore he has to generate it himself."

Sven sighed, clearly realizing he was just someone to be talked at now. Any input he had seemed to be already figured out by Lucius. No wonder Hector went insane.

"So, i suppose that means you need a constantly regenerating pool of matter for your energy to feed off of in order to create this infinite pow................... You're going to use your own body, aren't you?" Sven said, coming to a realization halfway through his sentence. Lucius could only smirk and speak a single, delighted sentence.

"Finally hit you, did it?"

"You're the most insane man I've ever had the displeasure of knowing."


"Better is the man who's evil acts serve a good outcome then he who's darkness only serves himself. You may be better then i was then, but you certainly aren't better then i am now," Lucius said, gritting his teeth as he painfully tried to keep himself standing. Just after he spoke, though, the worst that could have happened happened. Ryan was not listening any more, or perhaps he was and simply didn't care. Deluge disappeared, and the winds picked up. Fog, or perhaps snow, blurred Lucius' vision to the degree that he couldn't see more then a foot in front of him. He knew Ryan would reappear with an attack, and he also knew his children weren't strong enough to stop it.

He had to do something. He had no other choice. Broken as his body was, he had to use something that could very well kill him and everyone in this castle. It was untested, but it was the last card he had, and he played it.

He was out of energy. He couldn't project a thing.... But he still had control over what Red Energy was inside him, and that's where he needed it. He began to allow it to eat his own flesh, inside out. The pain, oh dear lord the pain was excruciating, but he had to power through. The matter being broken down was fueling him as it assimilated into his trademark power, and luckily, his healing factor would be able to patch up what he lost once he got about breaking down a few more things. The point was he had enough now to corrode objects outside his body, and that meant he had energy even if he was too frail to generate it.

Mustering up all he had, the dictator unleashed it all in a pulse of energy, and it swept across the room. It quickly returned visibility as it eat at the very air, and everything else for that matter. With one quick attack, the wind itself would be deprived of it's force, the cold fog would be reduced to clarity, and the ice shards reduced to nothing..... To top it all off, what matter the energy corroded was assimilated and carried back to Lucius, charging him with the energy he so desperately needed to win this. His eyes were red, this time with actual power, and he stared Ryan down...........

But, he had failed to take into account the possibility that his children could have been hit before he put his counter measure into action. He couldn't see after all, and had no way of knowing how fast the ice shards were going, or if the attack was ice shards at all. His pulse was bound to miss something, or he simply didn't react quick enough to an unknown with the proper counter. Some of the ice was strong enough and fast enough to move through the pulse without fully dissolving.....

And Isalia had been hit.

Through the bottom of her jaw was a spike of ice that went completely through her head, and another hit her in the chest, impaling her. He didn't know if his son was hit or not, but Lucius knew, he saw it in her eyes......

His daughter was dying, quickly

"Is-isalia.......?" Lucius said, stumbling forward. Water welled up in his eyes, but it froze on contact with the air. He bolted to her, and would defend himself and his son from any projectiles with his energy in the mean time. Once he reached her, he fell to the floor, grasping her in his arms. With a wave of his hand, the ice disintegrated, but it was no use. His daughter was choking on her own blood. She couldn't even speak last words. Her pupils were dialated, and she stared at her father. She moved her hand, grasping at his face, as if to hold on to the mortal world, but she only managed to smear her father's face with blood. The light began to leave her eyes.

"No.... Please.... Don't..... D-don't leave me....... Someone, help her," Lucius said in a panic. She was quickly fading, and beyond medical help even in an advanced hospital. Any normal person would have been killed instantly, but her advanced brain kept her hanging for just long enough to bloody her Dad's face. She lost strength, dropped her hand, and she died.

"Silus! R-rozmer? Zell?! GOD, ANYONE! PLEASE! W-why do you never come f-for them? You....you've always saved me.............." Lucius held his baby girl's body tightly to his chest now. He wanted to hold her, but he couldn't look. He didn't want to look. She was the newest symbol of his failure to protect anyone but himself.

He didn't even look at Ryan, and he wasn't about to listen to any petty words about his fallen daughter, and he wasn't about to let the same happen to his son. Despair, unlike when Silus died, turned to determination and rage. He clenched his jaw, tightened his fists, and let himself go. He was going to let all the energy within him out, and he would make sure he constantly had matter to transmute into his energy, even if he had to use his own body to do it. This would make him one end of a circuit. His energy would roar out from him, and with every atom it absorbed, there was another molecule of energy created. Yes, he would make sure he willed his power not to hurt Little Ryan, but everything else was about to pray.

Lucius contorted where he knelt, letting out a heart wrenching, bloodcurdling scream of agony. His body was fragmenting, healing, then fragmenting again in the center of an ever expanding supernova of energy that would envelop the room, then the castle, then God knows what. He held Isalia, keeping her body from the harm of his energy for the most part, but she was slowly being reduced to nothing. Despite his output, Red was not angry, he was in fact at peace. None of this energy was generated by him, it was Lucius' own body, and the ice all around him being re-purposed as a weapon against the one who did this

"I....... i failed you. I'm so sorry. I'll make it up when this is all over," Lucius whispered to his daughter, and then he let her go. Her body was gone, just as this wretched place would be. Soon, the pulse went nuclear. Not literally, but that was perhaps the only equivalent that could describe the sheer destruction that was taking place. In a flash of crimson light, miles would be flattened, and only when the dust settled would Lucius move more then an inch.

Lucius screamed futily against the howling winds, the sounds of it howling drowning out any attempts to verbally berate him. Right and wrong, all seemed to give way to the seething hatred that burned within Ryan’s chest. Hatred for Lucius, and how no one seemed to care. Supposed best friends turned to this madman, even called him a friend and almost seemed to trivialize everything. It was now that he felt more isolated than ever, lashing out at the object of his anger. In a way that he hoped would hurt him far more than any simple killing. Revenge felt more than just taking his life, but making him want to take it. That was when he hit the mark, first striking the daughter through the head and then chest.

His distance allowed the impacts to have no weight, just someone falling once struck. She was dying, even he could tell from this distance. No one just survived a lance of ice through the brain, not normal people anyhow.

So this was what it was like to actually kill someone? He hadn’t really known what to expect, instead it felt as if he were empty. As if the air were just passing through his body without resistance. How could anyone do this? Even still he watched, the man grieving over a fallen daughter as his son barely recoiled from ice having tried to ram through him. It stopped barely even penetrating the flesh of his stomach, leaving him stunned more than anything else. Regeneration would have undone that damage easily enough. Cries of rage and agony turned into incoherent sounds, raging against the heavens themselves.

But nobody came.

No one was around to undo the damage, save the life of the innocent or anything like that. Cruel reality set in, much like when his mother died. Did she feel pride in him letting her die? Unlike him, that rage that went through Lucius became an explosion. Ryan’s eyes flickered to the little one that remained, alive and in the path of Lucius’ wrath. ”I don’t want to be better than you Lucius. Moral superiority is a really hollow thing when it can’t even save someone you love.” He wouldn’t stay any longer, slipping into the snow beneath his feet as it welcomed him like a shroud. Away from the explosion that came a second later, at least he assumed it would. Until the explosion happened and managed to distort his movement.

Pain came like a lance through his skull, mingling with darkness and the sensation of cold surrounding him. Cold, and wetness that swallowed him up into unconsciousness.

That left the remaining child there, shocked into silence and unable to even look at Lucius. His sister was gone, and there wasn’t even a body to mourn over. It was as if she were gone, never even having existed in the first place. Instead he cried, a pitiful existence within the wasteland his father created.

The snow continued to fall after now silently.

End