[Lucifer has long-since established himself as a man people should never cross. Perhaps, he thinks, some people here haven't gotten the message — and that's why he can be found that night semi-close to the counsellor's office, black wings spread like an omen, whip in his hand, and magic absolutely thrumming through the halls. Because, well, Lucifer isn't dumb enough to let blood fall quite yet, lest the void ruin everything for him; a few small stasis hexes here and there prevent too much bloodletting. If one were to walk through the scene at the moment, they might find blood droplets floating far away from the locations of the bodies, suspended in air by nothing more than Lucifer's will.
It's not quite late enough for screams to go unheard, either; much as Lucifer likes to think himself intelligent enough to only kill where he could get away with it, this is in many ways a challenge. Go on. Walk in. Try and stop him. Try to cross him again.
In many ways, this is Lucifer's catharsis, his retribution, his way of getting closure — what happened to Clamor is all said and done, and as much as Lucifer pretends day to day that his fury is quelled, it will never be. Demons do not simply move on.
His targets aren't quite as random as people may think when they walk in to see this scene in the morning, his message. They're people who have, in some way or another, offhandedly said something rude or untoward about either Clamor or the school's cultists — people Lucifer's eyes had been trained toward ever since the former's murder, just in case it was one of them. People who Lucifer had effortlessly kidnapped as the students cleared out for the day so that he might damn them all later.
The first student is lying closer to the front door, a spray of blood hovering over their face like it'll fall at any moment, though it never does. A long gash trails from their cheek to about mid-torso, slicing through the fabric of their shirt, though the killing blow seems to have been struck by their windpipe being crushed. The second is currently facedown, missing both eyes because in the throes of watching Lucifer murder the first person, they'd begged to be blinded — and really, who was he to not comply? The eyeballs themselves are some ways off from the body, floating like everything else, including a severed arm belonging to Lucifer's third victim. A kitchen knife in the back of the second is what killed them. The third person, the one missing their left arm, is in the worst shape of them all — head crushed and torso cut in half at the legs, burned to a crisp in a manner not too dissimilar from how the first pool body was discovered that night. Homage, perhaps.
Lucifer's in the process of tying rope around the first victim's already-smashed throat so that he can, erm, decorate the school for Halloween — stringing up corpses seems like standard fare for this place. It's the last of the things he's going to do before he goes to bed tonight, and he'll undo his various little stasis spells as soon as he leaves to let the blood fall and splatter and paint the floors red.]
[ An excuse to go to the bathroom turns into a walk up and down the halls of the second floor, quiet down the stairs and out onto the ground floor, nearly walking into the hanging beads of blood for all Minato's inattention, but the smell— belatedly, the sight— tugs at the memory of another school life skirting the fringes of his mind, one shrouded in darkness and smelling of blood.
There's the distinct thought in the back of his mind that he should not feel so comfortable stepping forward, that it would be a stupid idea to interfere with whatever this is, but...
The blood doesn't bubble or even do so much as moisten the tip of Minato's finger, hexed as it is — but as he pokes it, the droplet shifts a little bit in the opposite direction, like a bead rolling across the table.
Lucifer looks up at that moment; he'd thought most people were out of the school for the day, but he hadn't bothered to check — in any case, the screaming of his peers might've alerted anyone inside the building by now. Either Minato took his sweet time getting here, or he's more unhinged than Lucifer gave him credit for. Regardless of leaving himself open to be visited by witnesses, he can't say that the guy's presence is welcome, unless he's going to swear silence and help with Lucifer's decorating.
From where he's crouched knotting the rope, his wings flex, an intimidation tactic to be sure.]
I had thought most people had gone back to the dorms for the day. [There's a thinly-veiled threat in his eyes, red glowing in the dark.] Don't touch anything.
[ He hasn't been staying in the dorms, but that goes unvoiced; something about Lucifer and his murderous vibes tells Minato he doesn't actually care for an answer, just the acceptance of that order. Easy enough. His hands slide into his pockets as a show of acknowledgement, and far from leaving, he takes conversation as an invitation to approach, slow and careful to dodge what blood is in the air, eyes lingering on the bodies on the ground but ultimately focusing on Lucifer.
The look in his eyes is largely neutral, though, given the circumstances, that lends more towards the unhinged theory. ]
[This is much, much different-feeling than the vibe Lucifer got from the kid the first time they talked. Then again, what does he know about the so-called vibes of others? Maybe if he were more aware of people's vibes he could've figured out that Clamor wasn't Clamor and he could've helped do something about that whole situation.
There's no use dwelling on that. Not right now. He stands to his full height, whip in hand, though no blood sticks to it despite the obvious whip-wounds to the bodies. Magic is a fun little thing; keeps his weapon of choice clean. Lucifer doesn't make a move other than that, standing in place with all the authority he believes he has over others.
After all, no one had proved him wrong yet.]
Not much of a talker, are you? I'm afraid, unless you plan to swear allegiance to me or help in some way, that I can't just allow you to walk out of here.
[Not because he fears retribution, no; a man of Lucifer's calibre never does. It's because he doesn't need his message sullied by interfering parties that he can't let witnesses walk so easily. A subtle distinction, to be certain.]
[ He casts his eyes down— not out of submissiveness, but simply to survey the body at Lucifer's feet, the others strewn around them, the way they are all an inch from death by the snap of a finger and that could so easily be him if he refuses.
...his eyes lift back to meet Lucifer's, voice quiet but perfectly audible in the still of night. ]
What did they do to deserve this?
[ Death is part of the natural order of things; it isn't his place to interfere. But it also isn't one person's place to bring it upon another, far before their time. ]
[Lucifer tilts his head up and casts his eyes down at Minato, a sort of holier-than-thou look, an expression that dares Minato to challenge his supposed authority. Technically-speaking, these students didn't really get in anyone's way; yet technically-speaking their whispered words could have caused harm somehow. He prefers not to think about his morality in the moment.]
This is the natural order of things. They're human; there's eight billion other ones out there. I have no love or sympathy for mortalkind.
[Mortals — humans specifically — took from him that which he loved. Why is it, then, that Lucifer cannot take in kind?
Because he's supposed to love humanity as an angel would have? Because of Lord Diavolo's doctrine not to hurt another human being? Because, Demon King forbid, his own sister would be furious with him?
Lucifer has always been in the seat of authority; how dare it be opposed.]
[ It's slow, the way Minato's eyebrows furrow, the way he looks up at Lucifer and meets his eyes and holds that gaze there, almost contemplative, the disagreement subtle but there in his expression. The lack of love, of sympathy, should only be indifference, but as he lowers his eyes and settles it upon the student on the ground, he can't help but feel...
Feel in general, the way he doesn't usually, heart overflowing with love and sympathy and pity for all that Lucifer lacks. ]
...eight billion in the world, and each one is their own person...
[ He looks back up at Lucifer. ]
It's the middle of the night. There shouldn't have been anybody here to get in your way.
[ Assuming he killed these students because... they were in the home ec room when he went up for a midnight snack or something. ]
[Humans are entertaining to him, in some ways; their morality swings on a pendulum to and fro. They sit there claiming superiority and posturing as long as it suits them, but Lucifer knows better than any — put in the right circumstance, a human will kill another. To him, there's no argument to be had here. Minato can flex his "superior human mindset" all he wants; Lucifer isn't listening.
But this chatty little problem needs to be silenced, or at least have his memories erased as he did to that girl at the ethics club's request. Lucifer takes a step forward. A threat.]
Need I remind you what happens when others get in my way?
[He tightens his grip on the whip in his hand. One last chance before he strikes. He's willing to give that much to the boy who spoke with him in front of the bulletin board some time ago.]
No. [ The reminders are all around him, strewn across the floor and hanging in midair, but there is no fear in Minato's eyes, no submissiveness, no... concern for the inevitable consequences of his actions that is continuing to talk instead of moving aside, because it's the only way he knows how to connect. ]
But I can't understand, or help, if you don't explain... Why are you upset?
[Given everything that happened, why would Lucifer not be irrevocably furious? Does he honestly, genuinely have to explain himself? His frustration bleeds out through his clenched fists, one still grasping the whip's handle, the other down at his side. Lucifer is not a man who cries and screams to take the edge off; he does not cry for the dead, and he most certainly does not cry for a love he barely knew.
Lucifer takes action, however damnable that may be.]
I will not be crossed again. I'm simply nipping this in the bud.
[They — the people he killed — talked cruelly. Who's to say they weren't friends of the perpetrator?]
[ The understanding would have come easier if he were in the loop of things, but unfortunately, Minato is the wrong Persona protag for this. His is the game where you listen to news reports of murder every night on the evening news and then go out to the mall to play arcade games before going to bed. ]
By killing... by torturing people before they can hurt you again? Or maybe in the first place. Any person is capable of cruelty...
[ As Lucifer very well knows: put in the right circumstance, a human will kill another. Even the boy standing before him had bloodied his hands by choice. ]
[ He is, and him more so than others with his fragmented personality and a soul that used to be so full, it feels utterly empty now with nobody at his side as he once more stares death in the face. The hand hanging loose at his side brushes against his belt where no summoning medium is holstered, no weapon in his hands, nothing in his pockets, only him and himself standing his ground because he's never learned how to run away. ]
You could ask, and I'll stop talking. But I'd like to ask something of you, first.
...To... talk it out with somebody, I guess. Whenever you're ready. [ It's not much of a request, just a wish, careful, as if he knows this is a thin line he's walking at the cusp of something personal. ] And to remember you have people who care for you... humans who care for you.
[ ...
There's more he wants to say about that, lips parted while he tries to find the words— of how much praise Nene had for Lucifer's cooking, of how high regard Clamor held him when it came to demon summoning, of how comfortable his own brief interactions with Lucifer have been. Of how he used to be much the same, dealing with grief by shutting it all out, everything from people to his own emotions, how he might not have killed anybody but how he's definitely hurt so many people in his indifference that he might as well have. Of how much he's changed opening himself up to other people, to humanity, of how precious people's lives became to him when before he wouldn't have cared less walking through a hall of massacre, eyes closed and ears covered.
But he doesn't say any of that, because this is Luficer's journey, not his, and he knows in his heart Lucifer will come to realize the same.
So it's a faint smile that he offers instead, following the silence. ]
That's all. Goodnight, Lucifer.
[ And he turns around to leave, like he can just say his piece and go on his way. ]
[Perhaps another time, Minato's words will reach him, but not tonight. All they do is prod at him in ways he doesn't like and doesn't care to decipher in the moment.
He's holier-than-thou, he's a demon, he's the one in charge of the fates of people in this school. So, no, he's not going to just let Minato walk away after that, not after degrading him so thoroughly — as if he needs to be talked down to by a child.
He lets Minato take maybe three steps before he snaps, a magic circle flaring up under the student's feet to hold him in place, a chant on Lucifer's lips as the bind grabs him. No. No, no, absolutely not. No one in the three realms speaks that way to the Avatar of Pride Himself and walks away alive.
Lucifer does not even give Minato the privilege of a warning or final goodbye before he attempts to strike true, whip cracking in the darkness.]
[ Minato's feet stick fast to the ground, taking him so much by surprise that he lurches forward and almost falls to his knees, barely managing to catch himself and turn around to see what happened when he feel the pressure against his chest— then the crack of the whip that resounds in the empty halls— and belatedly, the pain, white hot and searing, that catches up the moment after.
The world is quick to fade, vision already dark by the time he manages to find Lucifer's eyes, holding onto that gaze, the expression on Lucifer's face as the very last thing he would remember of his existence before his ribs fracture, and Lucifer breaks his heart. ]
( She had thought she heard familiar voices, and she turns the corner to greet them and see if there is something, perhaps, she might be able to auspice, steps quicker at the unfamiliar crack of a weapon--
but what she sees instead is the magic circle lighting up and Lucifer's whip striking true. Minato, dear Minato, not "hers" but hers all the same, fall. It isn't a sight she thought she would ever behold, not in this way, and she's silent as she turns the pages of her Compendium, ever on her. Her fingers land on a familiar page, and she smiles.
It doesn't reach her eyes. )
Thanatos, ( she calls softly, and the Persona's scream echoes through the halls as she summons him; while her mood is almost inscrutable visually, Thanatos has his sword drawn immediately; this may be an accurate indicator of how she's feeling right now.
Once Thanatos' echoing fades, Elizabeth takes exactly four steps forward and... her expression twists slightly, sorrow, and she flashes her hand towards Minato. The familiar glow of Thanatos' healing magic surrounds him, but it doesn't help, and she does it again. Just in case.
And then, softly: ) Perhaps it's because your powers are lessened on this side... But we have ourselves, ( she looks to Lucifer, guiding Thanatos' gaze to him too, ) a rather willing sacrifice for our ticket to the other school.
( Which is about the amount of warning Lucifer gets before Thanatos is ducking around Minato and bearing down upon him with his sword, a killing intent emanating from he and Elizabeth both. )
i'm taking psychic damage from the heartbreak line everyone hold on... ok we're good carry on
[Lucifer is trying his damn hardest not to end up in the void right now, thanks, not that he's not prepared — he has a mirror shard on him because he likes to think he's not a dumbass (the fact that he's left himself open from several angles not withstanding) — but still. Trying his damn hardest means an immediate hex to keep Minato's blood from spilling onto the floors, a frozen splatter hovering just above the corpse proper, and—
—Thanatos' blade quite nearly strikes true; were Lucifer not experienced in combat, he might've been cleft in twain. As it stands, the blade slices through his shoulder, and against the demon's better wishes does blood spill. A breath, sharp and pained, is sucked in through clenched teeth.]
Really now, Elizabeth, [and despite the above, he really does try his damn best to maintain composure, even as the world shifts and throws them within the blackened halls,] I always thought of you as a more rational person.
[He likes Liz, always has — she was one of his picks for those he wished to see protected should the ethics club start coming after people. To break his own vow would normally impact his pride directly, but, well...
If Elizabeth has made her choice, then so has Lucifer. In the end, his life is always the most important.
Lucifer doesn't focus on Thanatos; wings flared, he dodges around the summoned entity, going directly for Elizabeth. A magic circle flares at her feet in a manner not too dissimilar to the one that encircled Minato's earlier, except instead of a bind, it threatens to burn — should she not step out of it on time, a pillar of fire will likely ignite at least some part of her.]
( "Rational," happily, has never been in her vocabulary; "rational" is more of Margaret's thing, though Elizabeth supposes she's taken on some of her older sister's traits as she's come to learn more about the world... but a rational person does not see an inhabitant of a doomed world and think to themselves, I'll save them, this time. and go out of their way to make certain of their safety.
Thanatos twists around with a metallic snarl as Lucifer dodges around him, sword raising again; Elizabeth, for her part, keeps her composure as she steps not as quickly from the magic circle as she'd like, not even flinching or buckling when the pillar of fire catches her leg as she moves out. It's hard to see through though, and it makes her think that it isn't entirely meant to hurt her, but to act as an ample distraction, too—
she doesn't wait for the fire to dissipate; she draws a magic card from her book, glimmering blue, and chucks it through the fire. It doesn't burn, but if it strikes Lucifer—make a roll between 1 through 150, and let me know what it is.
Otherwise, Thanatos strikes from behind, aiming for one of Lucifer's wings—he's much faster and stronger now that they're in the void, something Elizabeth can feel, too. )
[Lucifer decides in the moment, watching Elizabeth kind-of-not-really dodge the fire pillar, that she's either got a ridiculous pain tolerance or that she's not human. He really doesn't have time to think further on that, because something's coming at him through the fire, and Lucifer's bright idea is to block it with his arm.
Which, you know, we already discussed what happens on a 118 so without further adieu...
This looks very, very bad, doesn't it? For a moment, Lucifer feels as though time has stopped, and that gives Thanatos enough time to slice down on the lower wing, severing it; even though he registers the pain, Lucifer does not so much as scream, too affected by the magic is he to do even that much. Why can't he move all of a sudden? Why does his heart twist when he looks at her, why do his lungs freeze mid-breath?
It's a fear that overtakes him wholly and completely, the sort of fear he gets when he sees Barbatos back home — the latter demon terrifies Lucifer to his core, even if the man is normally calm and collected. Much like Liz is in this moment, actually, and for a split second he swears her outline blurs and that she has horns and a tail before—
Something, who knows what, manages to snap him back to reality. Perhaps it's his magic immunity kicking in a second too late, since this school severely limits his power; when he snaps out of that wide-eyed terror, he finally fully registers the lost wing, no more painful than the day he lost his third set thousands of years ago, yet still painful enough to induce a wrath within him. Blood falls, and Lucifer charges forward. He knows enough about summons to say that he's at a disadvantage if he doesn't take out the summoner herself, but he has summons of his own — imps which he calls to his side to latch onto Thanatos and hopefully provide a distraction, long enough for Lucifer to try and catch Elizabeth on the receiving end of his whip.]
( The imps work for a distraction, Thanatos swinging his sword to cleave them; Elizabeth raises her own arm to catch the whip on it, knowing she won't be able to dodge, and grips her book tightly with her other hand as she feels her bones brace against it and then snap. Not human, without a doubt, but Lucifer isn't either; it's that strength and the precision of his weapon that helps with hurting her.
Besides, she's used to battling with shards of consciousness, her stints in the Prixs aside. She isn't considered the ultimate secret boss of several games she's in for nothing though, and she finally speaks, but only to cast a spell— )
Magurudyne!
( Thanatos draws his sword back to himself and ducks his head, his coffins turning upside-down in a sort of funnel-shape around him; they open slightly, green wisps of wind slipping out from them and swirling around him quickly, going from spring breezes to a billowing fall tornado as it catches imps too close-by. Ordinarily, Elizabeth would be in his arms, safe in the eye of the miniature, but powerful, magic tornado.
But she has her own problem to deal with, and Thanatos will come to meet her when he can. )
—I do wish we were battling under better circumstances, ( she says, voice firm and level, ) Lucifer. You're proving to be a rather fun opponent to go against... As fun as my former guest's, or my older sister's.
( Though that had been the strength of their bonds... Are hers strong enough to win against Lucifer? To overcome whatever had driven him to the screams she had heard, that must have been caused by him? To harming someone as harmless as Minato? —The thought sends another hot flare of anger and grief through her.
She won't stop her onslaught: even before the winds begin to die down, she raises her voice in another call, this time guiding Thanatos to ignore the imps and aim for the summoner, just as Lucifer's intent on doing with her. )
Maragidyne!
( Which comes in the form of pillars of blue flames shooting out in front of Thanatos' raised hand, streaking across the already old and burned floor of the other, more shadowy school, through anything in its way as it travels towards Lucifer. )
I'm a little old and out of practice, as you can probably tell.
[That, and perhaps in some ways Lucifer's been having a bit of fun himself, what with someone able to stand up to him for once; that fun is short-lived though, since she's quite literally aiming to kill him and he's not been trying hard enough to kill her.
An attempt to dodge goes rather poorly for him, scorching across his left side — the side that's already lost a wing — and Lucifer inhales a sharp breath against the searing pain.
He hasn't been taking this seriously enough. Perhaps if he were serious, she'd already be in stasis and he'd already have won. Time to go on the defensive.]
This is disappointing. I was rather fond of you. Perhaps in the next life, we might be able to sit down and enjoy the piano as we used to.
[It's as close to a goodbye as Elizabeth will get, stated with the cold calmness of a man who's looked death in the face several hundred times in his long lifespan — a man who has taken more lives as a demon than he saved as an angel.
Lucifer incants, and this time, a glowing sigil appears at his back — a shield of a type, no doubt, though given the words on his lips it seems that whatever touches it will explode. It's the same spell he used back at the swimming pool void the day the burnt body was discovered, the one that gave all of the 3rd-years migraines. Shields were never Lucifer's specialty; this is more of a last resort.
Despite the smell of burnt flesh and fabric and feathers, the severed wing on the ground not too far off, Lucifer still stands tall, following up his pseudo-shield with another incantation at the same time he bears his whip down upon his former friend. Which will she dodge, he wonders — the binding circle etched into the floor behind her, or the whip attempting to drive her into it?]
He should have thought about that before hurting Minato. Not that she doesn't feel the same--the piano was lovely, listening to it making it feel as if she were in the Velvet Room once more, home--but she's the only one of their family to step out on her own journey for a reason.
She's made of raw willpower, but even that begins to lag as she chooses to dodge the whip and steps into the magic circle behind her with a slight grimace. Thanatos, behind Lucifer, drives his sword into the center of the other's back--or would have if not for the sigil, sending him back with an explosion that makes Elizabeth's heart cry out. Her one remnant of her guest...
She wishes she could summon more, but the rest of his Persona stay quiet in her hands. They aren't technically hers to command, hers to summon; she's a being of power able to call for their aid, but these are parts of her guest. Elizabeth tightens her grip on her book, sees Thanatos struggle to standing, and closes her eyes. )
Megidolaon.
( It's barely a whisper, but Thanatos drags his sword up and at the tip of it a small ball of blue light glows and grows, bigger and bigger until the edge of it almost touches the edges of the hallway, and he throws it at Lucifer.
Megidolaon is a big spell, though, sure to catch her as well... and she thinks, she thinks, she'll be able to withstand it, and she only needs to survive a little longer than Lucifer to try and heal Minato again, and herself, too. )
[Not even his flimsy attempt at a shield will be able to deflect that. And even if it did, the blowback from the explosion would likely do more than just damage the hallways. Can he possibly use Elizabeth as a shield?
Well, no time to think: He'll have to find out.
Lucifer wraps his whip around the woman's neck to hold her in place — as if the binds aren't doing enough — and, dropping his prior explosive pseudo-shield, he tucks what remains of his wings tight behind him and ducks behind her. She's smaller than him — human shields work a lot better when the person in question is larger, sadly.
A split second before the ball of light obliterates the both of them, he barely manages to create several wide magic circles for a stasis hex, hoping — praying, really — that they at least soften the blow on his part. As for Elizabeth, well... she doesn't get the honour of such an action, but Lucifer will let her watch while the circles pop up everywhere else around her.
It... does little, truth be told; going against something that's ostensibly inhuman in strength means that his magic can be brushed aside as easily as one would swat a fly. The circles shatter like glass around the two of them, and he's not quite sure what state Elizabeth is in, but he knows from where he's currently hiding from the blast that he can feel it searing against his legs and arms and his hands near where her neck is — injured as he is, if he took that directly, it might have spelled the end of the Avatar of Pride.
Everything fucking burns. The longer this goes on, the more he can see those shadow students moving toward them, grouping up like they're eagerly awaiting to see who goes down first. At this point, Lucifer may as well be wearing rags, too; one of the burns on his side is deep enough to where he can see the smallest spec of bone and scorched muscle.]
( The magic fades slowly, heat and light dissipating bit by bit at first--and then faster as shadow students take notice of their state, beginning to swarm, darkness over taking the fading light. Thanatos is nowhere to be seen; Elizabeth is... lighter than he remembers, probably, which is primarily thanks to most of her being obliterated. Maybe if their positions had been reversed, she would have survived a little better.
Her book, somehow, remains without injury, though it's been dropped to their feet. The shadow students pause to consider it but ultimately want Elizabeth and Lucifer more,
Elizabeth moreso given her condition, and they scramble to grab what's left of her hanging in front of Lucifer.)
It would be safe to assume that she's dead, but this is also Elizabeth, so he'll play it a bit cautiously for now. Regardless, Lucifer slumps forward a bit, looking disdainfully at what's left of his whip — the spell had obliterated the part of it that he'd quite nearly strangled Elizabeth with.
All things considered, though, Lucifer is a prideful man. She was his kill, and at the same time she was someone he once considered a friend; to let the void swallow her would be unjust. No, she'll be put on display when they exit, just like everyone else — so, gripping the mirror shard he'd kept on him just in case, he uses what's left of her hand (or the ends of her limbs, should she not have any left) to get her out of there, before he follows after with the remaining pieces.
He considers himself lucky that the worst of the injuries didn't stick; four powerful wings flex at his back as a reminder that he's alive and whole, though he can still feel the damage to the formerly-severed one, and by the Demon King his entire body feels like it's ablaze, not to mention the still-prevalent pain from the injury that sent them both to the void in the first place. In the time they were gone, Lucifer's glad that the time-stop held his stasis magic in place for the remaining students and blood splatters.
The demon glances at Elizabeth, who looks otherwise fine, uninjured, no longer just pieces and mangled limbs. A shame, really, that she had to go.
Five bodies to send one message. For those he loved and lost — for Narumi still in stasis and soulless back at the dorms and for Clamor, his dearly departed.
Do not cross the Avatar of Pride.
Lucifer sighs a touch sadly, setting to work. He has decorating to finish, after all. When the elevator doors open in the morning, Elizabeth and Minato will be found within, Elizabeth poised like a doll in that chair she normally sits in and Minato leaning lifelessly against her side.]
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OCT 1st || cw violence like, brutal fucking violence
It's not quite late enough for screams to go unheard, either; much as Lucifer likes to think himself intelligent enough to only kill where he could get away with it, this is in many ways a challenge. Go on. Walk in. Try and stop him. Try to cross him again.
In many ways, this is Lucifer's catharsis, his retribution, his way of getting closure — what happened to Clamor is all said and done, and as much as Lucifer pretends day to day that his fury is quelled, it will never be. Demons do not simply move on.
His targets aren't quite as random as people may think when they walk in to see this scene in the morning, his message. They're people who have, in some way or another, offhandedly said something rude or untoward about either Clamor or the school's cultists — people Lucifer's eyes had been trained toward ever since the former's murder, just in case it was one of them. People who Lucifer had effortlessly kidnapped as the students cleared out for the day so that he might damn them all later.
The first student is lying closer to the front door, a spray of blood hovering over their face like it'll fall at any moment, though it never does. A long gash trails from their cheek to about mid-torso, slicing through the fabric of their shirt, though the killing blow seems to have been struck by their windpipe being crushed. The second is currently facedown, missing both eyes because in the throes of watching Lucifer murder the first person, they'd begged to be blinded — and really, who was he to not comply? The eyeballs themselves are some ways off from the body, floating like everything else, including a severed arm belonging to Lucifer's third victim. A kitchen knife in the back of the second is what killed them. The third person, the one missing their left arm, is in the worst shape of them all — head crushed and torso cut in half at the legs, burned to a crisp in a manner not too dissimilar from how the first pool body was discovered that night. Homage, perhaps.
Lucifer's in the process of tying rope around the first victim's already-smashed throat so that he can, erm, decorate the school for Halloween — stringing up corpses seems like standard fare for this place. It's the last of the things he's going to do before he goes to bed tonight, and he'll undo his various little stasis spells as soon as he leaves to let the blood fall and splatter and paint the floors red.]
no subject
There's the distinct thought in the back of his mind that he should not feel so comfortable stepping forward, that it would be a stupid idea to interfere with whatever this is, but...
He reaches out and touches a drop of blood. ]
no subject
The blood doesn't bubble or even do so much as moisten the tip of Minato's finger, hexed as it is — but as he pokes it, the droplet shifts a little bit in the opposite direction, like a bead rolling across the table.
Lucifer looks up at that moment; he'd thought most people were out of the school for the day, but he hadn't bothered to check — in any case, the screaming of his peers might've alerted anyone inside the building by now. Either Minato took his sweet time getting here, or he's more unhinged than Lucifer gave him credit for. Regardless of leaving himself open to be visited by witnesses, he can't say that the guy's presence is welcome, unless he's going to swear silence and help with Lucifer's decorating.
From where he's crouched knotting the rope, his wings flex, an intimidation tactic to be sure.]
I had thought most people had gone back to the dorms for the day. [There's a thinly-veiled threat in his eyes, red glowing in the dark.] Don't touch anything.
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The look in his eyes is largely neutral, though, given the circumstances, that lends more towards the unhinged theory. ]
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There's no use dwelling on that. Not right now. He stands to his full height, whip in hand, though no blood sticks to it despite the obvious whip-wounds to the bodies. Magic is a fun little thing; keeps his weapon of choice clean. Lucifer doesn't make a move other than that, standing in place with all the authority he believes he has over others.
After all, no one had proved him wrong yet.]
Not much of a talker, are you? I'm afraid, unless you plan to swear allegiance to me or help in some way, that I can't just allow you to walk out of here.
[Not because he fears retribution, no; a man of Lucifer's calibre never does. It's because he doesn't need his message sullied by interfering parties that he can't let witnesses walk so easily. A subtle distinction, to be certain.]
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...his eyes lift back to meet Lucifer's, voice quiet but perfectly audible in the still of night. ]
What did they do to deserve this?
[ Death is part of the natural order of things; it isn't his place to interfere. But it also isn't one person's place to bring it upon another, far before their time. ]
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They got in my way.
[Lucifer tilts his head up and casts his eyes down at Minato, a sort of holier-than-thou look, an expression that dares Minato to challenge his supposed authority. Technically-speaking, these students didn't really get in anyone's way; yet technically-speaking their whispered words could have caused harm somehow. He prefers not to think about his morality in the moment.]
This is the natural order of things. They're human; there's eight billion other ones out there. I have no love or sympathy for mortalkind.
[Mortals — humans specifically — took from him that which he loved. Why is it, then, that Lucifer cannot take in kind?
Because he's supposed to love humanity as an angel would have? Because of Lord Diavolo's doctrine not to hurt another human being? Because, Demon King forbid, his own sister would be furious with him?Lucifer has always been in the seat of authority; how dare it be opposed.]
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Feel in general, the way he doesn't usually, heart overflowing with love and sympathy and pity for all that Lucifer lacks. ]
...eight billion in the world, and each one is their own person...
[ He looks back up at Lucifer. ]
It's the middle of the night. There shouldn't have been anybody here to get in your way.
[ Assuming he killed these students because... they were in the home ec room when he went up for a midnight snack or something. ]
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[Humans are entertaining to him, in some ways; their morality swings on a pendulum to and fro. They sit there claiming superiority and posturing as long as it suits them, but Lucifer knows better than any — put in the right circumstance, a human will kill another. To him, there's no argument to be had here. Minato can flex his "superior human mindset" all he wants; Lucifer isn't listening.
But this chatty little problem needs to be silenced, or at least have his memories erased as he did to that girl at the ethics club's request. Lucifer takes a step forward. A threat.]
Need I remind you what happens when others get in my way?
[He tightens his grip on the whip in his hand. One last chance before he strikes. He's willing to give that much to the boy who spoke with him in front of the bulletin board some time ago.]
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But I can't understand, or help, if you don't explain... Why are you upset?
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[Given everything that happened, why would Lucifer not be irrevocably furious? Does he honestly, genuinely have to explain himself? His frustration bleeds out through his clenched fists, one still grasping the whip's handle, the other down at his side. Lucifer is not a man who cries and screams to take the edge off; he does not cry for the dead, and he most certainly does not cry for a love he barely knew.
Lucifer takes action, however damnable that may be.]
I will not be crossed again. I'm simply nipping this in the bud.
[They — the people he killed — talked cruelly. Who's to say they weren't friends of the perpetrator?]
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By killing... by torturing people before they can hurt you again? Or maybe in the first place. Any person is capable of cruelty...
[ As Lucifer very well knows: put in the right circumstance, a human will kill another. Even the boy standing before him had bloodied his hands by choice. ]
You would have to kill every person here.
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[Being... human and all that.
But talk is cheap, and time is ticking. Lucifer still hasn't finished his decorating.
Another step forward.]
How should I silence you, I wonder?
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You could ask, and I'll stop talking. But I'd like to ask something of you, first.
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...I'll humour you this once. What is it?
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[ ...
There's more he wants to say about that, lips parted while he tries to find the words— of how much praise Nene had for Lucifer's cooking, of how high regard Clamor held him when it came to demon summoning, of how comfortable his own brief interactions with Lucifer have been. Of how he used to be much the same, dealing with grief by shutting it all out, everything from people to his own emotions, how he might not have killed anybody but how he's definitely hurt so many people in his indifference that he might as well have. Of how much he's changed opening himself up to other people, to humanity, of how precious people's lives became to him when before he wouldn't have cared less walking through a hall of massacre, eyes closed and ears covered.
But he doesn't say any of that, because this is Luficer's journey, not his, and he knows in his heart Lucifer will come to realize the same.
So it's a faint smile that he offers instead, following the silence. ]
That's all. Goodnight, Lucifer.
[ And he turns around to leave, like he can just say his piece and go on his way. ]
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He's holier-than-thou, he's a demon, he's the one in charge of the fates of people in this school. So, no, he's not going to just let Minato walk away after that, not after degrading him so thoroughly — as if he needs to be talked down to by a child.
He lets Minato take maybe three steps before he snaps, a magic circle flaring up under the student's feet to hold him in place, a chant on Lucifer's lips as the bind grabs him. No. No, no, absolutely not. No one in the three realms speaks that way to the Avatar of Pride Himself and walks away alive.
Lucifer does not even give Minato the privilege of a warning or final goodbye before he attempts to strike true, whip cracking in the darkness.]
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The world is quick to fade, vision already dark by the time he manages to find Lucifer's eyes, holding onto that gaze, the expression on Lucifer's face as the very last thing he would remember of his existence before his ribs fracture, and Lucifer breaks his heart. ]
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but what she sees instead is the magic circle lighting up and Lucifer's whip striking true. Minato, dear Minato, not "hers" but hers all the same, fall. It isn't a sight she thought she would ever behold, not in this way, and she's silent as she turns the pages of her Compendium, ever on her. Her fingers land on a familiar page, and she smiles.
It doesn't reach her eyes. )
Thanatos, ( she calls softly, and the Persona's scream echoes through the halls as she summons him; while her mood is almost inscrutable visually, Thanatos has his sword drawn immediately; this may be an accurate indicator of how she's feeling right now.
Once Thanatos' echoing fades, Elizabeth takes exactly four steps forward and... her expression twists slightly, sorrow, and she flashes her hand towards Minato. The familiar glow of Thanatos' healing magic surrounds him, but it doesn't help, and she does it again. Just in case.
And then, softly: ) Perhaps it's because your powers are lessened on this side... But we have ourselves, ( she looks to Lucifer, guiding Thanatos' gaze to him too, ) a rather willing sacrifice for our ticket to the other school.
( Which is about the amount of warning Lucifer gets before Thanatos is ducking around Minato and bearing down upon him with his sword, a killing intent emanating from he and Elizabeth both. )
i'm taking psychic damage from the heartbreak line everyone hold on... ok we're good carry on
—Thanatos' blade quite nearly strikes true; were Lucifer not experienced in combat, he might've been cleft in twain. As it stands, the blade slices through his shoulder, and against the demon's better wishes does blood spill. A breath, sharp and pained, is sucked in through clenched teeth.]
Really now, Elizabeth, [and despite the above, he really does try his damn best to maintain composure, even as the world shifts and throws them within the blackened halls,] I always thought of you as a more rational person.
[He likes Liz, always has — she was one of his picks for those he wished to see protected should the ethics club start coming after people. To break his own vow would normally impact his pride directly, but, well...
If Elizabeth has made her choice, then so has Lucifer. In the end, his life is always the most important.
Lucifer doesn't focus on Thanatos; wings flared, he dodges around the summoned entity, going directly for Elizabeth. A magic circle flares at her feet in a manner not too dissimilar to the one that encircled Minato's earlier, except instead of a bind, it threatens to burn — should she not step out of it on time, a pillar of fire will likely ignite at least some part of her.]
cackles just as planned
Thanatos twists around with a metallic snarl as Lucifer dodges around him, sword raising again; Elizabeth, for her part, keeps her composure as she steps not as quickly from the magic circle as she'd like, not even flinching or buckling when the pillar of fire catches her leg as she moves out. It's hard to see through though, and it makes her think that it isn't entirely meant to hurt her, but to act as an ample distraction, too—
she doesn't wait for the fire to dissipate; she draws a magic card from her book, glimmering blue, and chucks it through the fire. It doesn't burn, but if it strikes Lucifer—make a roll between 1 through 150, and let me know what it is.
Otherwise, Thanatos strikes from behind, aiming for one of Lucifer's wings—he's much faster and stronger now that they're in the void, something Elizabeth can feel, too. )
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Which, you know, we already discussed what happens on a 118 so without further adieu...
This looks very, very bad, doesn't it? For a moment, Lucifer feels as though time has stopped, and that gives Thanatos enough time to slice down on the lower wing, severing it; even though he registers the pain, Lucifer does not so much as scream, too affected by the magic is he to do even that much. Why can't he move all of a sudden? Why does his heart twist when he looks at her, why do his lungs freeze mid-breath?
It's a fear that overtakes him wholly and completely, the sort of fear he gets when he sees Barbatos back home — the latter demon terrifies Lucifer to his core, even if the man is normally calm and collected. Much like Liz is in this moment, actually, and for a split second he swears her outline blurs and that she has horns and a tail before—
Something, who knows what, manages to snap him back to reality. Perhaps it's his magic immunity kicking in a second too late, since this school severely limits his power; when he snaps out of that wide-eyed terror, he finally fully registers the lost wing, no more painful than the day he lost his third set thousands of years ago, yet still painful enough to induce a wrath within him. Blood falls, and Lucifer charges forward. He knows enough about summons to say that he's at a disadvantage if he doesn't take out the summoner herself, but he has summons of his own — imps which he calls to his side to latch onto Thanatos and hopefully provide a distraction, long enough for Lucifer to try and catch Elizabeth on the receiving end of his whip.]
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Besides, she's used to battling with shards of consciousness, her stints in the Prixs aside. She isn't considered the ultimate secret boss of several games she's in for nothing though, and she finally speaks, but only to cast a spell— )
Magurudyne!
( Thanatos draws his sword back to himself and ducks his head, his coffins turning upside-down in a sort of funnel-shape around him; they open slightly, green wisps of wind slipping out from them and swirling around him quickly, going from spring breezes to a billowing fall tornado as it catches imps too close-by. Ordinarily, Elizabeth would be in his arms, safe in the eye of the miniature, but powerful, magic tornado.
But she has her own problem to deal with, and Thanatos will come to meet her when he can. )
—I do wish we were battling under better circumstances, ( she says, voice firm and level, ) Lucifer. You're proving to be a rather fun opponent to go against... As fun as my former guest's, or my older sister's.
( Though that had been the strength of their bonds... Are hers strong enough to win against Lucifer? To overcome whatever had driven him to the screams she had heard, that must have been caused by him? To harming someone as harmless as Minato? —The thought sends another hot flare of anger and grief through her.
She won't stop her onslaught: even before the winds begin to die down, she raises her voice in another call, this time guiding Thanatos to ignore the imps and aim for the summoner, just as Lucifer's intent on doing with her. )
Maragidyne!
( Which comes in the form of pillars of blue flames shooting out in front of Thanatos' raised hand, streaking across the already old and burned floor of the other, more shadowy school, through anything in its way as it travels towards Lucifer. )
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[That, and perhaps in some ways Lucifer's been having a bit of fun himself, what with someone able to stand up to him for once; that fun is short-lived though, since she's quite literally aiming to kill him and he's not been trying hard enough to kill her.
An attempt to dodge goes rather poorly for him, scorching across his left side — the side that's already lost a wing — and Lucifer inhales a sharp breath against the searing pain.
He hasn't been taking this seriously enough. Perhaps if he were serious, she'd already be in stasis and he'd already have won. Time to go on the defensive.]
This is disappointing. I was rather fond of you. Perhaps in the next life, we might be able to sit down and enjoy the piano as we used to.
[It's as close to a goodbye as Elizabeth will get, stated with the cold calmness of a man who's looked death in the face several hundred times in his long lifespan — a man who has taken more lives as a demon than he saved as an angel.
Lucifer incants, and this time, a glowing sigil appears at his back — a shield of a type, no doubt, though given the words on his lips it seems that whatever touches it will explode. It's the same spell he used back at the swimming pool void the day the burnt body was discovered, the one that gave all of the 3rd-years migraines. Shields were never Lucifer's specialty; this is more of a last resort.
Despite the smell of burnt flesh and fabric and feathers, the severed wing on the ground not too far off, Lucifer still stands tall, following up his pseudo-shield with another incantation at the same time he bears his whip down upon his former friend. Which will she dodge, he wonders — the binding circle etched into the floor behind her, or the whip attempting to drive her into it?]
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He should have thought about that before hurting Minato. Not that she doesn't feel the same--the piano was lovely, listening to it making it feel as if she were in the Velvet Room once more, home--but she's the only one of their family to step out on her own journey for a reason.
She's made of raw willpower, but even that begins to lag as she chooses to dodge the whip and steps into the magic circle behind her with a slight grimace. Thanatos, behind Lucifer, drives his sword into the center of the other's back--or would have if not for the sigil, sending him back with an explosion that makes Elizabeth's heart cry out. Her one remnant of her guest...
She wishes she could summon more, but the rest of his Persona stay quiet in her hands. They aren't technically hers to command, hers to summon; she's a being of power able to call for their aid, but these are parts of her guest. Elizabeth tightens her grip on her book, sees Thanatos struggle to standing, and closes her eyes. )
Megidolaon.
( It's barely a whisper, but Thanatos drags his sword up and at the tip of it a small ball of blue light glows and grows, bigger and bigger until the edge of it almost touches the edges of the hallway, and he throws it at Lucifer.
Megidolaon is a big spell, though, sure to catch her as well... and she thinks, she thinks, she'll be able to withstand it, and she only needs to survive a little longer than Lucifer to try and heal Minato again, and herself, too. )
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Well, no time to think: He'll have to find out.
Lucifer wraps his whip around the woman's neck to hold her in place — as if the binds aren't doing enough — and, dropping his prior explosive pseudo-shield, he tucks what remains of his wings tight behind him and ducks behind her. She's smaller than him — human shields work a lot better when the person in question is larger, sadly.
A split second before the ball of light obliterates the both of them, he barely manages to create several wide magic circles for a stasis hex, hoping — praying, really — that they at least soften the blow on his part. As for Elizabeth, well... she doesn't get the honour of such an action, but Lucifer will let her watch while the circles pop up everywhere else around her.
It... does little, truth be told; going against something that's ostensibly inhuman in strength means that his magic can be brushed aside as easily as one would swat a fly. The circles shatter like glass around the two of them, and he's not quite sure what state Elizabeth is in, but he knows from where he's currently hiding from the blast that he can feel it searing against his legs and arms and his hands near where her neck is — injured as he is, if he took that directly, it might have spelled the end of the Avatar of Pride.
Everything fucking burns. The longer this goes on, the more he can see those shadow students moving toward them, grouping up like they're eagerly awaiting to see who goes down first. At this point, Lucifer may as well be wearing rags, too; one of the burns on his side is deep enough to where he can see the smallest spec of bone and scorched muscle.]
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Her book, somehow, remains without injury, though it's been dropped to their feet. The shadow students pause to consider it but ultimately want Elizabeth and Lucifer more,
Elizabeth moreso given her condition, and they scramble to grab what's left of her hanging in front of Lucifer.)
:')
It would be safe to assume that she's dead, but this is also Elizabeth, so he'll play it a bit cautiously for now. Regardless, Lucifer slumps forward a bit, looking disdainfully at what's left of his whip — the spell had obliterated the part of it that he'd quite nearly strangled Elizabeth with.
All things considered, though, Lucifer is a prideful man. She was his kill, and at the same time she was someone he once considered a friend; to let the void swallow her would be unjust. No, she'll be put on display when they exit, just like everyone else — so, gripping the mirror shard he'd kept on him just in case, he uses what's left of her hand (or the ends of her limbs, should she not have any left) to get her out of there, before he follows after with the remaining pieces.
He considers himself lucky that the worst of the injuries didn't stick; four powerful wings flex at his back as a reminder that he's alive and whole, though he can still feel the damage to the formerly-severed one, and by the Demon King his entire body feels like it's ablaze, not to mention the still-prevalent pain from the injury that sent them both to the void in the first place. In the time they were gone, Lucifer's glad that the time-stop held his stasis magic in place for the remaining students and blood splatters.
The demon glances at Elizabeth, who looks otherwise fine, uninjured, no longer just pieces and mangled limbs. A shame, really, that she had to go.
Five bodies to send one message. For those he loved and lost — for Narumi still in stasis and soulless back at the dorms and for Clamor, his dearly departed.
Do not cross the Avatar of Pride.
Lucifer sighs a touch sadly, setting to work. He has decorating to finish, after all. When the elevator doors open in the morning, Elizabeth and Minato will be found within, Elizabeth poised like a doll in that chair she normally sits in and Minato leaning lifelessly against her side.]