❖ 016 // [Action]

[crisisrain]

[OOC: I suppose this is filtered to house 12 as he won't be answering the journal at all.]

[It's late afternoon in the town, the day had marked the first signs of the upcoming summer heat. Raven had been taking advantage of the change in weather by taking a very discreet walk through the town alone. He'd remained quiet for the past few days, not out of antisocial behaviour, but more so that he was struggling to stay alive. As he approached house 12 his breathing became heavier, legs weaker and his heart started to burn as if it had been ignited like a fire. Raven grasped at his chest as he collapsed onto his knees mere inches away from the porch, unable to think straight his vision became blurred he mumbled under his breath.]

Dammit... I thought... I'd last longer... than this.

[He knew it was going to come to this, but not so soon. Over the months since Alexei first messed with his Blastia and it had been causing him some minor problems, following their little fight in February it received quite a harsh hit, making that decline in its condition so much quicker. He had been procrastinating having to see Alexei to ask for his help, after all, he was the man who sabotaged it in the first place (amongst a plethora of other reasons). So Raven reluctantly went to see him only the week before and was promised a new formula. All he needed was a few more days till it was finished, however time was not on his side as the 8th day rolled round he found his body failing.

Taking his journal out he used what little strength to throw it at the front door, in the pitiful hope that someone may hear the knock and come to help. Even though there isn't anything they can do.]

Comments

[rabidrapido.livejournal.com]

...!

[inabook]

[Estelle and Flynn are in the kitchen, enjoying afternoon tea and teacakes in proper noble fashion. ...Estelle made the food. It's a pleasant day though the house's air conditioning makes it preferable to be inside for this.

The idyllic scene is broken by Repede's frantic barking. Wondering what is happening, Estelle stands up to move to the living room.]

Repede? What's wrong? [The collapsed Raven isn't visible through the window now...]

1/2

[capital-justice.livejournal.com]

[Dude, why is Repede barking so much. These teacakes were amazing. He needs this recipe It doesn't matter, as Flynn was following Lady Estellise to the living room to see what was amiss.

And it seemed like Repede was outside. So. Opening the door to follow.]

[capital-justice.livejournal.com]

[This is not a sight that Flynn expected.] Ca... Captain Schwann?!

[crisisrain]

[Godammit Flynn. He looks up to see the trio on the porch, struggling to stay awake. Seems like throwing the journal at the door did the job.]

Did ya have to say that... seriously...?

[inabook]

[No recipe for you Estelle goes with Flynn when he opens the door, only to find the old man collapsed in a heap on the porch steps.]


Raven! [she rushes to kneel beside him, readying some healing artes.] What happened?

[rabidrapido.livejournal.com]

...

[capital-justice.livejournal.com]

[Flynn ignores what Raven had just said, because that didn't really matter in comparison to the matter at hand. Flynn, instead of rushing to Raven's side like Estelle, decided to stay near the door to see if any of the others were coming.

Estelle asked any question that Flynn really had, and it was pointless to repeat it.]

[rending-drop.livejournal.com]

[It was pretty hard to ignore Repede's barking, even when holed up in his office-room-thing. After all, Repede wasn't the type to bark for the hell of it; when he barked, something was up. So after a while, Karol comes running to where the others had gathered. Oh, the many questions he had, but he decided on this.]

...Wh-what happened to Raven?

[trueknight]

[Soon after Karol asks that question, Yuri appears in the front door's doorway, just having come back from a short walk. Something about Flynn looking out for anyone coming toward the house gave Yuri a bad feeling, so he had hurried over to see what was up.

For now, he just stays quiet, standing in the doorway and waiting for someone to answer Karol's question. There wasn't any sense in repeating it after all, and he can't do anything to help out if he doesn't know what's happening.]

[crisisrain]

[Well might as well answer the question, he hasn't got much time left.]

My heart... Alexei was... changin' the formula.

[inabook]

Changing the formula?

[Estelle doesn't know what to do. Healing artes won't keep a heart going, no matter how much energy she pumps into them. And she isn't good with blastia, like Rita...]

[capital-justice.livejournal.com]

Is that even possible?

[Because Flynn is the one here who is sitting in "does not know wtf is going on" land. From the looks of it, though, it seems like Alexei did something very bad. Feel free to ignore his question, guys.]

[rending-drop.livejournal.com]

I knew Alexei was bad... But I didn't think he'd stoop this low.

[If only Rita was around. She'd be able to fix this no problem. But without her... They're powerless.]

Isn't there anything we can do...?

[trueknight]

[Yuri looks over at Repede for a moment. He seemed oddly ... solemn, for whatever reason.

...

He wasn't going to think too much on it. Instead, he glances at Flynn, then walks over to where Estelle and Raven are.]

Hanging around out here won't help anything. ["This isn't anyone's business, either."] Let's move inside.

[crisisrain]

[Raven doesn't have any objections, even if he does feel a little bad about dying in the house. He can't move on his own though, he can barely speak. So he just nods towards to Estelle.]

[inabook]

[she takes his arm. the only time you get to sort of hug her, Raven.] Flynn, Yuri...

[capital-justice.livejournal.com]

[Flynn nods to Estelle when she calls his name, moving over to help prop up Raven from his side as carefully as he can.]

[rending-drop.livejournal.com]

[Karol goes over to the door and props it open for them. There's not much else he can really do here.]

[trueknight]

[Yuri will be moving to where there is available space on the side opposite of Flynn, and helping to prop Raven up as well. Once this is done, he'll be helping to lift the old man once Flynn is ready.]

[crisisrain]

[He feels like such a dead weight see what I did there? right now. The last thing he wanted to be was a burden to them and now he's got them all concerned. He'll just be limping along when they start to move.]

[rabidrapido.livejournal.com]

[capital-justice.livejournal.com]

Ready. [And a moment after saying that, Flynn begins to lift Raven up to start moving into the house ASAP. Let's do this, Yuri.]

[inabook]

[Estelle keeps her hold as well, though the two men are doing most of the work. She follows the group inside.]

[rending-drop.livejournal.com]

[After everyone gets inside, Karol closes the door behind him. They don't need any unwarranted spectators.]

[trueknight]

[Now that everyone's indoors, Yuri (and by extension, Flynn, for obvious reasons) will be guiding Raven over to the couch. If the old man weren't in such horrible condition at the time, he probably would've tried to get him to his bed, but ...

... Well, once they reach the couch, he'll be moving to help Raven on to it.]

[crisisrain]

[He lies down on the couch, desperately struggling to breathe. He'd thank you guys if he could. He really hates seeing you all so worried, and now he's concerned about what you plan on doing to Alexei. If only he had the energy to explain it more.]

[sultrytempest.livejournal.com]

[Sup guys, have a completely oblivious Judith saunter out of the bathroom in a towel, idly humming some jaunty Krityan tune (usually reserved for Jonah, but she's in a good mood right now). Heat waves are good for cold showers and suntanning and solemn grieving crowds and what the hell is going on in here.]

[inabook]

Judith! [well you're the only other one here with blastia experience.... even if it is just blowing them up] Raven's blastia...

[capital-justice.livejournal.com]

[Since Raven is finally on the couch, Flynn is taking a role in the back by stepping off to the side and listening to the conversation so he could get a grasp of what's going on.

This had to do with his blastia?]

[rending-drop.livejournal.com]

Raven... [Yeah, the kid's really bummed by all this.

...Oh, Judy's here. When'd she come in?]

Judith, Raven's...

[sultrytempest.livejournal.com]

[Just now. She pauses, waiting briefly before stepping closer, kneeling beside the couch and gently tugging aside Raven's shirt to see the blastia. ...That does not look good. After another moment of silence, she smiles faintly- there's little sense in looking sad in his last moments.]

Are you leaving us, Raven?

[crisisrain]

[Usually he'd just faint from seeing Judith in a bath-towel as it is. It's probably not helping his heart much but he'll be dying a happy man at least, unable to help but laugh at little.]

There's... much worse ways ta go.

[Following his last words his Blastia is glows brightly, with the final signs of life before prompty fading out to nothing. Still and moving, eyes closed his life ends.]

[inabook]

Raven!

[This was all too fast. Estelle could only stare for a moment... and then instinctively, her hands begin to glow. She knew healing artes would be useless, but still-]

[rabidrapido.livejournal.com]

...

[trueknight]

[Yuri stays still, not looking at anyone and keeping his expression as blank as possible. How he felt about all this, no one was about to know any time soon, preferably ever. If Estelle hadn't begun to use her healing artes at the moment, he would've remained still, but since she did, he's putting an hand on her shoulder to get her attention.]

... Estelle.

[rending-drop.livejournal.com]

R-raven... [Sniffle.

This is really hitting him hard. He's always really looked up to Raven as a parental figure, someone he could really respect. So to see him go like this... Are those tears starting to well up in his eyes?]

[capital-justice.livejournal.com]

[Flynn didn't say anything, staying where he stood. However, unlike Yuri, Flynn's expression wasn't all that blank. In fact, he looked pretty damn sad. He just couldn't find any words that would be appropriate for what just happened. Even if he didn't understand how.]

[sultrytempest.livejournal.com]

[She hadn't expected it to be so quick, though it's a mercy that he wasn't in pain for long. She re-covers the blastia - there's little sense in looking at it right now - and glances back. Since Yuri's got Estelle's back, she looks... at Karol.

...Dammit she's not good at this comfort thing. But the poor kid needs something right now, so have an awkward arm around your shoulders, Karol.]

[rabidrapido.livejournal.com]

[rendingblade.livejournal.com]

[Nan had been out all day. To come home and find everyone crowded in the living room was unsettling. Especially when there was an entirely too still person lain out on the couch.

The sound of Karol's tears is hard to ignore too.]

... Karol.

[rending-drop.livejournal.com]

[Oh crap, it's Nan. He can't let her see him like this. brb trying to wipe away those tears with his sleeve.

...DARN TEARS, WHY WON'T YOU STOP. D<]

[capital-justice.livejournal.com]

[Flynn eased up a bit once he saw Repede near him, and shot Repede a weak smile. It's hard seeing someone you look up to die, especially so suddenly and right in front of you. But it seemed like Karol really needed comforting the most. And Flynn wasn't being all that helpful with that. Dammit.]

[inabook]

[When Yuri puts his hand on her shoulder, Estelle's own stop glowing and she reluctantly drops them, moving instead to hold Raven's. It's slowly growing cold. She knows he'll be back, that in this world death is cruel but only temporary - but she can't stop the tears from coming to her eyes as well.]

[sultrytempest.livejournal.com]

[Oh snap, the girlfriend approacheth. Judith releases Karol, though she leaves a hand on his shoulder, and gestures to Nan. Come here and do something about him, will you?]

[trueknight]

[Yuri's really not good with this comforting thing, but at the very least, he won't move his hand from Estelle's shoulder. When he hears Nan, and notices both Karol's condition and Judith's gesture, he looks over at Karol with a faint smile.]

Hey, Karol ... why don't you go outside with Nan for a little while? [This whole thing would be way too awkward for someone just walking in (not to mention a person not too close to the group), and there was no reason for Karol to see Raven like this any longer than he had to.]

[rendingblade.livejournal.com]

[She shoots Yuri a brief, possibly thankful look. She makes her way over, grabbing the boy's arm in a firm but gentle way.

She can't reprimand him for getting upset over this.]

Let's go, Karol.

[rending-drop.livejournal.com]

[He wipes at his eyes again, before going with Nan.]

Sniff... Y-yeah... Thanks, Yuri. Let's go, Nan...