[center][h3]Day 2, Evening[/h3][/center]
[center][i]Lazarus, Andri[/i][/center]
[center]Themerlinhawk, Wind Wild[/center]


As he walked down the Academy’s dim-lit corridor Andri couldn’t help but notice how [i]empty[/i] the space was. Even the usual chatter of the students seemed distant, otherworldly, irrelevant. Perhaps it was his tired mind playing tricks on him - he hadn’t slept again but he suspected that he did pass out a few times in the daytime. 


But maybe the space truly was abandoned. After all, Lazarus was back in town and with a man of his calibre, you never knew what might happen, even if he was supposed to be on your side. Students at Master Melody’s rarely feared their teachers. But they learned quickly when to step back too. And word got out. 


Andri reached the office and slipped in after a knock, closing the door quickly behind him. The nature of the problem required secrecy. Murder was picking up in Loom even without Hazumi being officially pronounced missing. 


The man was already there, waiting for him and the weapon was firmly at his side. 


“It’s me.” The Wielder said, probably out of instinct than necessity. It wasn’t the first time for him to visit Lazarus’ office… but the circumstances now were entirely different.


Dinner with Ian had gone more or less as expected, he was still hurting from the disappearance of all the people in his life. Which had left the man who really should have been his son in law a complete mess. Little surprise that he had taken to gunning down angels doing arms dealers and terrorists. Folding his arms Lazarus kicked his feet up on the desk and leaned back in his chair. 


It was amazing that the academy had largely left his office alone. Maybe it was something about his reputation. No one wanted to take it over perhaps? Regardless the necromancer looked at the clock and pursed his lips. Absent mindedly he manipulated the pummel of Dracul.


As the kid stepped into his office he snorted at the comment. “That certainly identifies you now doesn’t it?” Lazarus chuckled over the top of his interlaced fingers. It was funny to see how the students had progressed in his absence which really hadn’t been too long. Leaning forward he gestured and his will wrapped itself around one of the chairs in front of his desk and turned it for Andri. “So pitch me it, what exactly do you want from me?”


Andri’s eyebrows rose at the question. The man was clever, he had to give him that. Then again, he probably wasn’t the first student to want something in return to his services. He approached the offered chair cautiously, certainly with more respect than he’d had for the principal the other day. He had to wonder if it was all to do with Lazarus being a famous necromancer or if it had to do with his curse.


There was something animalistic clawing inside him, putting his senses on high alert and his body ready to seize up in defense. He was painfully aware of the tension behind Lazarus’ casual tone, of the darkness pooling at the back of his eyes. Perhaps it was the demon making him hyper-aware. Or maybe it was a defence mechanism all of the students here developed.


No, not all. Just the good ones. The ones that survived.


Sitting down, Andri glanced at Dracul before settling his gaze at the desk. Truth was, when he first made that phone call he was ready to do whatever it takes to get Lazarus to help him on his quest. He thought that talking face-to-face would aid that goal. 


But circumstances had changed since then. Oni_desho?! had updated him on Lucien’s status and that lead all the way up to freaking [i]Heaven[/i]. Well out of reach, even if it wasn’t for the curse. 


But it was for the curse as well… He’d had at least one more blackout today, making it a grand total of three to gods-know-how-many in only five days. He was seriously starting to question his abilities. 


“Do you have any idea where Hazumi is?” He broke the silence with a question of his own, levelling his eyes on the older man.


Lazarus pursed his lips at the question. It was not what he had hoped to hear from the young man given that he truly didn't have a clue himself. Pushing up from the chair he walked over to the window overlooking the street in Loom that ran past the outer edge of the Academy. 


“If I knew that then don’t you think I’d be out there somewhere looking for her? Frankly I had hoped you might have more of a lead given the whole vision thing.” 


Extending his sense Lazarus opened his eyes to the flow of essence around him. So much death. The city was wallowing in it. The spirits of the dead no longer found rest and it was weighing on the world. This place sorely missed its mother and with Hazumi gone there was no one left capable of regulating the mess. Pushing deeper he tugged on the essence around him reeling in the emotions, the pain the suffering from Loom tasting it. In just a few weeks the city had already begun to go to hell. Maybe Judas had been onto something when he had tried to subjugate the world. Maybe there had been a purpose to it all. When the world was this vulnerable perhaps it had needed a protector. 


Under his breath he whispered “Forgive me, sometimes I falter.” The words were aimed at a great many people who had come before him and those whom he had left behind. Turning back to the boy he exhaled slowly. 


“Where do you think we should start? I may not be Solus Grim but I’m hardly a pushover.”


Andri’s eyes followed the man cautiously and his sensitive hearing couldn't help but catch the troubling admission he would rather not have heard. He wished he was a first year then, innocent and capable of putting his whole trust in men like this. Things were endlessly more complicated now that he could see the shadow they cast. 


Matthew had been a first year. Bianca - second. Now they were merely “Lucien’s latest victims”. Andri’s nails dug into the soft of his hand, feeling the rage reach for his throat. When Lazarus turned he unclenched his fist and tried to calm down. Lucien was out of reach now. Nothing he could do about it. Focus on the present. 


“It's complicated.” Andri started, distantly wondering if anyone ever had mistaken Lazarus for a push-over. The man could see essence so what he was about to say would probably come as no surprise. It didn't make it much easier. “I got Hazumi's message through my fragment, Ashley. She says she had a twin sister that remained in Hazumi when the shards were created. Apparently this allowed them to communicate though it must have been Hazumi's intention as it's never happened before. Technically this should allow us to track her as well, right?” Now for the tough bit. 


Andri pulled his sleeve up and laid his arm on the desk, staring at it as if it was some alien specimen. It sort of looked like one too. The thin grooves that normally appeared on his skin when he fought had deepened and reddened, the skin looking rough and infected although he felt no pain. It had also thickened, now closer resembling reptilian hide. The nails on that hand had also changed. 


His mouth was dry. [I]Be less dramatic, damnit![/i] “Ashley is a Guardian angel, she’s bond to my soul… but now there's a demon in there as well. I was bitten by a hellhound a few days ago and things are not looking good.” He tried to sound as casual about it as all the medical staff he'd spoken to so far. “I know it's taking over. I can feel it at Ashley's throat. I have a… nasty reaction when I try to use her. So… I'm not sure how I can help you. I'd like to, for my own sake as well, but as you can see… So I was hoping that maybe you'd come up with something.” It was scary, he couldn't deny it. He was offering his help to a man who would probably do anything to save his beloved. But in the end it wasn't Andri’s essence that mattered, it was Ashley's. It wasn't unthinkable for Lazarus to try and just take her forcefully… given that she didn't have a physical form but was bond to his essence instead… human souls were notoriously fragile. 


His hand trembled in nervous anticipation but he didn’t pull it back. He wouldn't go down without a fight. But he really hoped one wouldn’t ensue. 


Frowning Lazarus stood up and unbuckled Dracul. With a fluid motion he drew the sword and set it on the desk. It was easier to work with the sword when it wasn’t getting in the way of his movements or if he was using it to direct magic. Stepping back from the desk he made a quick gesture with his right hand and hauled the desk around a full ninety degrees with sheer force of will and essence making Andri jerk his hand off in the last moment. Hooking his right foot around his chair, Lazarus pulled it along after him as he stepped forward. The chair was a high back open armed chair and it became immediately apparent why the eccentric mage kept it in his office. Stepping through the arms he sat down with his legs straddling the back of the chair and folded in arms on its back. Resting his head on his arms Lazarus called up his essence sight again. 


The quicksilver spread slowly across his eyes which glowed like cold stars behind thin clouds. Cocking his head to the left he narrowed his eyes as he studied the flow of essence that was Andri. The student was right. There was a systemic infection of both Ashley and Andri’s souls which was not helpful.


“For lack of a better term, that Hellhound bite has metastasized. I’m amazed it hasn’t started to affect your functioning but I get the feeling that Ashley is protecting you. For now. Unfortunately I am not Hazumi. I can’t just remove your fragment and absorb the demon essence the way she could. The other problem is that I seriously doubt that right at this moment I could safely remove your soul and disentangle the infection. I only deal in reconstruction of damaged souls and moving them from vessel to vessel. Hazumi is the one who can sift through essence and pull it apart. Well, living essence. Non-differentiated essence is something else entirely but your consciousness informing order is going to make matters difficult. I mean unless you want to sacrifice yourself for the cause.”


More medical mumbo-jumbo but the same old diagnosis. Well, actually, a bit worse,  Andri scowled.


Chuckling Lazarus leaned back from the chair. This was going to require Shay in order to shift through the mess that was Andri’s essence. Loathed as he was to admit it Shaylee had a natural grasp of how conscious souls fit together that would take Lazarus another several decades to understand. That being said he needed to stop the bleeding. Reaching out Lazarus seized on the well of essence in Dracul. There were at least two dozen anchor points in Andri’s soul that were currently uninfected. With a quick motion Lazarus spun essence across the fingers in his right hand. Braiding it quickly he flicked it at the anchor points and cocooned them. While it wouldn’t stop anything permanently it would slow down the demon's progress until he could extract the infecting essence. Quickly assessing Ashley, Lazarus pursed his lips. The angel didn’t have long. Spinning more of the essence Lazarus hardened it and carefully sectioned off parts of Ashley. It would make using her much more difficult but it would also mean that the demon couldn’t completely consume her.


Letting go of his essence sight Lazarus exhaled a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. 


“We need to get you somewhere that I can actually operate on this mess, and to someone who can actually help you besides treating symptoms and slowing down the progress.” 


The man across might have gaped or recoiled from the strange treatment if he'd spent the last few years anywhere else but at the Academy. But Andri knew how good Lazarus was with essence and let him finish, keeping very, very still. That's not to say he was unimpressed with the whole process but with Ashley's current state his limited perception of essence was almost completely gone. It was hard to appreciate something you couldn't see. As for the outside signs… well, you just had to remind yourself the creepy guy was [I]helping[/I] you.


 Once it was done he shared Lazarus’ exhale and rolled his shoulder trying to feel a difference. None, he still felt like shit but hopefully at least it wouldn't get worse. 


“Well, I fully agree with that.” He said, getting off his chair. Then he remembered his manners. “Oh and.. thank you. In a few moments you did more than anyone I've seen so far.” 


[I]Thank you for not leaving me to die.[/I] He couldn't bring it out, but it was implied.


Lazarus have Andri a grim half smile. “Everyone forgets the reason I've learned everything I have is to unravel death. It's just difficult to see through the murk. You’re welcome”