Colin's posts

Rene shook his head.

"No. I don't." he said.

"Damn Michael." Ash hissed. "HE had to have done something." he said further.

"Like what?" Rene asked.

"Odds are he was close to Emelie before it happened." Ash responded. "Which is to say, whatever he did to Emelie solidified his fall. He was still an archangel when he managed to do... whatever it was." he continued.

"And also, the lose their mana thing when they lose their positions, that's if Ana decides that that's enough." he then told Vae. "This happening because of an ARCHANGEL is... new. Like, never happened before, EVER, new."

Rene just shook his head.

"Shows how outta the loop I am." he said. "Then again, I'm also not a head doctor." he admitted. "I make sure her body is functioning, and call it good." he shrugged. "Kaia's pretty good about that." he finished.

Ash merely sighed.

"I see." he said.

"And yeah... yeah, I WAS in a VERY vulnerable state." he admitted, pausing for a moment.

"...been a while since that happened." he admitted, before clearing his throat.

"But she'll be okay in a bit, yeah?" he asked.

Rene shook his head.

"You don't need to apologise." he said.

"...is she still starving herself?" Ash asked.

"It's not THAT bad." Rene told Ash. "Last I saw her for a general checkup, she's staying... well... she drinks her blood." he said to him further. "And she drinks enough to keep herself... reasonably sustained." he continued.

"...but she's not fully come to terms with what happened, or what she is now?" Ash mumbled.

"Seems so." Rene sighed.

Rene looked over towards her, and sighed.

"Down, girl." he told her.

"AH!" Ash yelled suddenly, as he 'came back to life'.

"...wow." he mumbled. "That was... an experience and a half." he admitted quietly.

"How y'feeling?" Rene asked him.

"Uh... well, aside from slightly chilly still... a LOT better, surprisingly." he admitted.

"Good." Rene said, before looking at Kaia and Kaori.

"Thank you both."

Rene shook his head.

"No gradual." he said.

"It needs to be a sudden drop to hypothermia, and then held to the point where someone is pretty much on death's door." he told her. "And then quickly raise their temperature back up." he went on.

"As for how long... hmmm." he mumbled, looking at Ash and narrowing his eyes.

He then reached out and put his fingers on the man's wrist.

"When his pulse almost stops, nuke this bro." he told her. "To put it in medical terms." he chuckled darkly.

Ash accepted the water, and his eyes widened as he looked at the liquid.

"...woah." he muttered.

He then looked around, saw a nearby seat, sat in it, looked at the water again, took a small breath, and chugged it all down. As soon as he did so, he seemed to just stop in place, the glass falling from his hand and clunking against the floor.

His skin then turned ALARMINGLY pale, and he slumped down into his seat, as ice seemed to form over his clothes and skin.

"...holy crap..." Rene said.

"And that's to one of the strongest fire mages in the friggin' WORLD." he commented.

Rene sighed, shelfing the 'part of a thing' part they had said.

"He's infected with a parasite that feeds off of heat." he told her. "Only way to kill them off is to induce hypothermia." he said further.

"So I need you to chill him down to his bones and his soul." he finished, his tone having an almost... eerie dark tone to it.

"At least for a minute or two." he quickly added, his voice suddenly back to normal.

"Whatever gets me to stop feeling like shit." Ash said.

Rene looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"....say what now?" he asked. "Is this little interaction what I'm thinking it is, hmmmm?" he asked further with a smirk.

"Kaori?" Ash then inquired.

"Ah, yes." Rene said to him.

"She's someone that can actually be of AMAZING help here." he told the Fyrane, before looking back to Kaia and Vaeri.

"So. You two, eh?" he asked.

Rene just groaned.

"It's an ancient parasite that feeds off of extreme temperatures." he explained.

"Kelly and her mother had them, and now it seems like Ash here has them." he went on.

"Wh-what?" Ash stammered. "Why didn't anyone tell me?" he asked.

"Fucked if I know." Rene responded.

"Anyway, the only way to get rid of them is to induce dangerous levels of cold. Like... hypothermia cold... hold it for as long as is considered 'safe', then hold it for longer... and then bring back up to temperature." he explained.

"In the absence of heat, they go dormant. When it suddenly gets super fucking cold, they outright die."

Ash just sighed.

"What she said." he said further.

"Plus, Emelie IS the main medic of the guild I work at." he then told Kaia. "So I DO have a vested interest in her location and well-being." he reasoned.

"...speaking of medics..." Rene then said. "You look like shit." he told him.

"Yeah, started happening after I helped lower Kelly's insane temperature by absorbing her heat." Ash responded.

"..." Rene was silent for a moment, before cursing loudly.

"YOU have that damned parasite now." he growled.

Ash nodded in response.

"I getcha." he said. "I'll watch what I say around here." he promised her.

"...but at least we know where Emelie IS now. That's SOME form of progress." he then reasoned. "Not... sure how comforting it is, but... it's something?" he shrugged.

"Look, we're on our way to legitimate Ragnarok, I'll take whatever I can get at this point." he then told her bluntly.

"EVERYONE in ALL the realms are on board with stopping this."

When she said that, she saw Ash's eyes widen considerably, horror permeating his entire expression, as he stumbled and almost fell, but somehow managed to correct himself... albeit ungracefully.

"...what." he stated.

"Oh, those damned Fallen." he growled.

"That damned Michael." he continued, before looking at her.

"Not sure HOW much you know, but the Fallen are cooperating as a cohesive team. And we're 99% sure that Michael is in the process of falling as well, and is acting as their leader." he explained.

"Nice to meet you, Vaeri." Ash responded.

"I'm sure you already know this, but I'm Ash." he introduced himself.

"...and yes. Yes I do." he then told her.

"Everyone's been worried SICK over her disappearance." he said to her further, as the two started to leave the room.

"We've been wondering what the Heaven, Hell, and everything in between, HAPPENED."

Ash almost fell over when she mentioned it had come from Emelie.

"WHA-" he started to exclaim, before stopping himself.

"What!?" he whispered panickily, looking at the halo and then taking the halo off of her wrist. He held it in his hands for a moment, before exerting pressure on it with both his hands. Sweat started to bead up and drip down his forehead and face at a surprising rate, before he finally managed to crush it into a gem.

He was breathing heavily for a couple of seconds, and pocketed the gem.

"I'll... send that up later." he told her.

"But Emelie!? She's here!?" he asked the woman.