You idiot. Just like Nico can convert flesh into Energy, and Energy into flesh, Luna can convert heat into light, and light into heat. You fucking idiot.

It doesn’t matter what Rank the enemy was, or how many of them there were. If they had no way to see, then they’ll die. It’s so simple. Why didn’t I think of it? Not taking advantage of having someone on his squad being able to fight blind would be insane. He should have realized this even before meeting Luna, much less after.

Nico fell into a crouch, slightly bouncing up and down on his heels as he rubbed his face with the Locust’s hot metal. My ‘squad,’ huh? If Luna was supposed to blind everyone, and Kara was supposed to kill them, then what was he supposed to do? Be a healer? But the Locust was so much more than that. It had to be.

Maybe finding out what the other two pieces are will give me an answer. Maybe there was a chance even he could get out of this alive, but the thought made him dizzy. It felt wrong. He couldn’t think of anything he could do more that was more useful than handing Kara the Locust. It complemented her build far too much for it to be anything else.

The cloud brightened. It pulsed from black to dark red. He stood up and walked towards it feeling uncertain. His mind juggled a couple dozen thoughts with none of them making much sense. He thought of what other skills he could combine, which rankers would fit in with their marry band, and what they could accomplish with it. There was so much work to be done, so many possibilities to consider that he feared he didn’t have the time to sort them all out.

He paused right before the cloud, a single observation raising above all the others; If Luna takes heat and turns it into light that is dispelled from her skin, and if she’s taking light and converting it into heat, then where is it being dispelled from?

Nico broke into a sprint. The cloud parted around his face, the light gradually fading until its blackness was blacker than any night. He lost track of his limbs and ended up falling, scrapping his knees and elbows. He got up and scrambled towards Luna on all fours. There was so much rubble in the way.

At first he followed the path she took from memory, then his Life sense once she was within range, and finally before he reached her, the blanket of hot air. He didn’t know how hot it was, but the fact he even noticed worried him.

Once he got closer he realized she was on the ground. She was on her knees with her arms wrapped around her. She bent over her stomach, whimpering and sniffing through closed teeth, trying to keep quiet as best as she could. He slowed down when he got close, both because the darkness was complete around her, and the air became heavy to breathe in. Each one made him feel the outline of his lungs.

“Luna? Luna, are you there?” he whispered quickly. He didn’t hear a response. He dropped besides her, placing his hand over her back. She flinched and stopped shaking as hard. “What are you doing?”

“…be-ing…useful.”

“Can’t you do that in a non-self-immolation way?”

“No,” she said, gasping. She couldn’t breathe fast enough either. Talking made her raspy panting worse, but she still did it. “I…I…this is…what…I’m supposed to do.”

“Good job then,” he said. He wrapped the Locust around her and pressed her against him. His hand found hers and pried them open. He held them too and squeezed. “You’re doing great. This isn’t easy and you’re doing great. Do you hear me?”

“I…I d-do,” she said, gasping for breath. She squeezed his hands ungently. Her grip was strong. “D-don’t—”

“I won’t step in front.” The light turned to heat on the surface of her skin. He couldn’t step in its way. “You’re doing great. Listen to me. Do you want to do conquer your pain or do you want it to go away?”

“What?” she said, turning towards him.

“Make a choice,” Nico said, wondering whether he was being cruel or kind. “What do you want? I can make it go away, but it’ll haunt you. You conquer it now, and you’ll never fear it or anything again.”

“Conquer,” she said, her voice raw.

“Stand up then,” he said.

“I-I---”

“You can,” Nico said, standing up. He gently lifted Luna with him, but damnations she didn’t need it. She jumped up and stumbled forward, groaning as if each step hurt her. He helped her keep her balance. “You see, you see? You did it,” he said, nodding at her and squeezing. “Pain is just a sensation. It won’t stop you from moving as long as you believe it won’t.”

He slid the Locust from her shoulder to her back. He kept holding onto her hand but he slightly stepped away. “You’re fighting. Take a fighting stance,” he said. “Legs shoulder length, knees bent, elbows bent. Your hands are fists.” She made her left into a fist and squeezed his right even harder. “Good. You’re doing fucking good. Relax your shoulders. Don’t fight the pain. Let it flow in your blood and let it out with your breath.”

He heard her breathe out. “Good,” Nico said, grinning. “You have the heart. Everything will come after.” He snapped his head in Kara’s direction. He heard foot steps, loud and angry. A Doomie entered his range. He turned back to Luna and spoke faster. “You’ve conquered this pain. You’ve proven it, look at yourself. This is evidence.”

She half chuckled, half sobbed. “It doesn’t feel good,” she said quietly. “It’s coming to us.”

“Unfortunate you’re not a masochist. Life would have been easier, but listen, it means you’re still sane.”

He couldn’t see her, but he could have sworn she smiled. “I—I can’t keep quiet—”

“You’ve done more than enough,” Nico said. “Want to do an experiment now?” He brought the Locust from her back to hold her hand. He tried to slip his hand out but her clutch was too solid. “Hold the Locust,” he said, poking her. “Your hand, relax it.” She did and he interlocked the Locust’s fingers with hers. “The Locust can store up to 5 heat units—store your heat inside it.”

Luna gasped, her knees buckling. Nico reached to catch her but she held at the end, only stumbling forward. He felt her breath against his neck. It was warm but not hot.

“Thank you,” she said, her breathing slowing down. “Thank you.” She turned her head from him to their front. Even he could see the Doomie’s orange light coming towards them like a torch. Instead of backing out, though, Luna gently tugged him with her to the side. She led him strangely well in the darkness. She dodged walls and cautioned Nico against the rubble. The Doomie reached their spot, but instead of going forward, it ended up turning to the side and following them.

It has our scent, Nico realized. He almost made a Kinetic Shell and blew them away in the bad way. The Locust was still in Luna’s hands.

The Doomie picked up speed and so did Luna. She walked quicker. Nico did too, but he kept stumbling.

Nico traveled through night before, but this blackness was something else. His brain was confused and repulsed by its unnaturalness. It moved with Luna, making him lose track of where his limbs were, of where Luna was. Each step was a question that had his heart in a chokehold. It was more unsettling than running with closed eyes.

Luna stopped. He hit her and bounced off. Before he got his feet under him, Luna bent down and pulled him forward. His face struck the fluffy back of her head, and before he knew it she was carrying him.

Fine, Nico thought, as he bounced. Just this onc—"

Warning

Heat 3 > 4

Not fine, not fine. The Locust couldn’t sustain as much heat as they needed. All of the dust almost fell too. He leaned in forward and whispered into Luna’s ears. “We’ve stalled enough. Run out of the cloud. Kara will handle the rest.”

She shook her head, then changed directions. She started moving sideways, her head fully turning towards the ground every few steps. She must have been keeping the front of her body towards the center of the cloud to keep absorbing the light. When he glanced behind him he saw that the cloud was bright enough that even he started seeing through it. The moment the Doomie’s get behind them they would be seen.

“Kara can handle herself,” he said again more urgently. “You’ve done enough.”

“Two are still standing,” she said. “And it’s we.”

A sweet sentiment, but hardly the time for it, Nico thought, but then again, they hardly had the time for Nico to voice that complaint either. Fuck, focus. Focus. Why can’t you just focus?

Warning

Heat 4>5

Though the letters appeared inches away from Nico’s eyes, somehow Luna was able to tell. She stopped pouring her heat inside the Locust and began letting it escape through her body. With a grunt her run slowed down to a painful walk. Nico got down to the ground and pulled away, but her grip on the Locust was too strong.

“Let go,” he whispered.

“I’ve…I’ve conquered it,” she said, desperate. The heat coming off her intensified. The dust had mostly fallen and the light that pierced through was too much. She started grunting, groaning, and grinding her teeth, but true to her word she didn’t whimper anymore.

Fuck me. He didn’t mean she was invincible. He just didn’t want her to be afraid of it. “This pain. There are worst pains. Conquer them one by one, not all at the same time. We need you for the long run, not just now. Trust me and let go. Please.”

“Promise me you won’t…hit me…with your balls,” she said, suddenly giggling. He felt her entire body shake.

“What the fuck are you talking about,” he hissed.

“Promise,” she said.

“You’re not thinking right, just le—"

“Promise.”

Nico uppercut her jaw. Like flicking a light switch, the cloud brightened instantly, alerting the two standing Doomie’s to their position. He felt the nearest one run towards them as he saw Luna stumble back, her hands going lax and her knees giving out. He jumped into her arms, a kinetic shell popping out of the Locust as they touched the ground.

It exploded under them. They flew at an angle out of the cloud, leaving behind bright trail of red dust. He got his arms around Luna in time and landed on his back.

In hindsight, it was a terrible idea. Luna weighed far too much for him to do that without repercussions. She was soft, but she quite literately squeezed the breath out of his body, leaving him dizzy and seeing bright rainbow lights. He couldn’t remember how much Energy he had, and what he was supposed to do. He pushed her off ungently and stumbled up to his feet towards the Doomie, hoping to catch its attention.

Not one, but two blazing Doomie’s stumbled out of the cloud, one limping on a half-cut foot, the other bleeding through a half-squished torso. The one with the injured foot got a few steps before collapsing to the ground, one of its legs separating at the knee. It pressed its head against the ground and pushed off, lifting its torso far enough for it to get its foot under it.

It hopped away, getting a few feet before most of its blood fell through its open knee. It collapsed.

The other Doomie swung its head behind it as it took off on an awkward run towards Nico, looking with as much terror as their metal faces allowed them to at the cloud.

Kara ran out enveloped in red dust towards the last one. The Doomie turned around and stabbed at her fruitlessly. She ducked, letting its head stab into the dust that trailed her, and unleashed her sword. She slid past it, cutting one leg off. The Doomie tumbled past and so did she. She didn’t move.

Nico fell to his knees, taking his first dust free breath in what felt like forever. He didn’t care how muggy the air was, for all he cared it tasted like flowers and tomatoes. He got up right after and made his way towards Kara, a health shell being made in the Locust. It spurted out hot vapor, burning the flesh connected to it at his shoulders, but it did its work. The health shell didn’t even pop when he held it with the Locust’s smoldering metal. That was an important detail to keep in mind.

He looked at the Doomies as he reached her. She even left one for me. She sat up, her breath shallow. Blood dripped down her arms and legs.

As Nico pressed the shell against her shoulders, he finally realized what Luna meant by balls. Damn. It was a good one. He should have laughed.

With Kara healed, he walked back towards Luna, another health shell in hand. This is my role, I guess. If this is how Kara fought, and the rest of her…and the rest of their squad, then even a casket of health potions wouldn’t last them an expedition. So I do have a worth. It felt weird, borderline arrogant, to say that with Kara walking behind him.

Huh? He turned around. Kara stopped. They looked at each other, her glooming over him, and him slightly staring up to her.

“What happened?” she asked.

Nico chuckled. He knew it was bad, that it was wrong. He knew an immortal not having their eyes meant someone or something gouged them out, and he knew how cruel it was to laugh so loud it rang throughout the bronze plains at it, but he couldn’t help it. It came out of him without permission, his body shaking like Luna had been shaking, and his lips spread far and feeling hideous.

Others suffer, while I watch and laugh, in the comfort of my invulnerability, he thought, his laughter finally dying out. He sighed, wiping a tear.