Lauri's gaze settled heavily on the dismembered corpse of the Lurker Hive. His fingers tightened around the radiant spear, knuckles turning white as the light along its length flickered. His eyes were burning with barely restrained rage.
'What was I thinking… Going to the Dream Realm… leaving them alone…'
His jaw clenched.
The image of Katrina lying motionless on the ground was stuck in his mind.
"If I was here… I could have easily dealt with it. I should have been here, what was I thinking…"
The spear trembled slightly in his grip as his anger turned inward.
"You know, I don't think it's going to get up if you turn away."
Lauri tilted his head towards Danse's voice, seeing the man grin.
"But I can stab it a few times if it would help calm your nerves."
Lauri shook his head.
"I shouldn't have gone."
Placing his hands on his hips, Danse rolled his eyes.
"If you hadn't gone, I doubt you would have been able to punch straight through that big beetle it made in some desperate last gamble if you didn't have the essence or light to spare… So I don't see the problem."
Leaning against the spear, Lauri looked Danse up and down.
"You are remarkably calm for someone who was having their ass kicked by an Awakened Devil."
Danse shrugged.
"As I see it, nobody got maimed, killed or injured beyond repair, so I'm not too worried. Did you get anything nice from killing that thing?"
Glancing back to the corpse of the Lurker Hive, a faint smile crossed Lauri's lips.
'It would have been nice getting another Echo, but I'm not that lucky.'
"Nah, no Memory, no Echo… Speaking of injured beyond repair, is Katrina okay?"
They both turned to see that Katrina was now sitting up, supported by Lucky. Vick knelt beside her, her hands resting on her thighs now that she was no longer using her Aspect.
Danse spoke.
"Vick says Katrina is fine, well, aside from her broken arm. But that should heal quickly since Vick has stimulated the essence in that region of Katrina's body."
Lauri seemed hesitant.
"Just her arm? I thought the attack knocked her out?
Crossing his arms, Danse shook his head.
"Not quite, I think it was a property of the Gate Guardian's staff. The one attack I blocked sent tremors up my arms, which leads me to believe it could enhance vibrations, and well, you know how sensitive Katrina is to vibrations."
Lauri slowly nodded along as Danse spoke.
It was no surprise that Katrina had been taken out of the fight. If the staff could manipulate or amplify vibrations, then she had been at a clear disadvantage.
Her Aspect granted her an affinity to sound – one of the main reasons Lauri had chosen her for the team. That same sensitivity, which allowed her to detect subtle changes and even listen into the Rhino to assess its mechanical state… also made her vulnerable. Whether it was due to her Flaw, or something more, Lauri did not know. As they began to walk towards Lucky, Katrina and Vick, Lauri turned to Danse.
"Did you know, Danse, I've only ever known two people whose Aspects are based around sound."
Danse shook his head.
"I did not. I take it one is Katrina, then who is the second?"
Resting the spear against his shoulder, Lauri smiled as he reminisced.
"The second would be the Saint that was in charge of the Citadel I was tethered to after my Winter Solstice. Last I heard, he's still working for the Government... I was hoping to run into him in Antarctica, but it seems only Cor was sent down here to help with the crisis. I wonder what he's doing that is so important the Government leaders chose not to send him with the rest of us."
Reaching the rest of the group, Lauri was happy to see that Katrina had managed to sit up on her own, though she still looked shaken. Lucky remained at her side, hovering close. As Lauri glanced at him, he couldn't help but notice the way Lucky watched her – like a scolded puppy, equal parts worried and guilty.
Seeing the two approach, Vick clapped her hands together.
"Bravo to our Captain – arriving just when all seemed lost."
Lauri smiled faintly.
"Bravo to you all for having the guts to take on a Gate without me. I'm sure you all would have been enough to take out that Devil if it didn't have that insidious cloak."
The corners of his lips turned down slightly.
"That was a nasty effect, being able to redirect attacks that should have killed it."
Katrina shifted, one hand pressed to her side as she looked up at him.
"Did it give you a Memory?"
Lauri paused for a moment before shaking his head.
"I'm afraid not. No Memory this time…"
His gaze drifted slightly as he added, almost to himself.
"Come to think of it… I haven't received one in a long while."
Ruffling his hair, Lauri crouched slightly to meet Katrina at eye level.
"Are you feeling okay?"
Rubbing her arm, Katrina gave a strained smile.
"I–I'm okay. It got me pretty good. Vick says my arm took most of it. If it had hit my side directly, it might've broken a few ribs… but it didn't, so…"
She hesitated, glancing toward Vick.
"I should be fine, right?"
Katrina looked to her, and Vick gave a short nod.
"Kat's fine."
Hearing that Katrina would be alright, Lauri gave a small nod.
"Alright. Let's head back to the Rhino. We'll need to move quickly if we want to make up for lost time."
The group began to move, the tension of the fight finally giving way to something quieter.
Lucky stayed close to Katrina's side, hovering as they walked.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Do you need help?"
"I can carry you if you want?"
"I–I'm okay."
Katrina murmured, her tone soft as she rubbed her arm again, glancing at Lucky before quickly looking away.
"You don't have to worry so much."
A small pause.
"…but… thanks."
As the others made their way back, Lauri lingered behind.
His gaze drifted toward the Nightmare Gate in the distance, its presence still lingering like a stain on the world.
'How many Nightmare Gates have opened across Antarctica since this Crisis began? How many more will open before we've managed to evacuate everyone? …And how many will keep opening once humanity has abandoned Antarctica? How many of these vile abominations will be left to roam this place?'
The thought sat heavily in his mind.
'This is supposed to be our world, then, why do we keep losing it? We lost everything that wasn't heavily defended, forced to hide behind our walls. Now even those walls aren't enough. First, we lost North America, now we lose Antarctica… What's next? How many will die if… No, when another Gate crisis comes to the NQSC–'
"Lauri."
Vick's voice cut through his thoughts.
He turned.
Vick's expression softened with sympathy – a stark contrast to the darkness quietly churning behind Lauri's light-filled eyes.
"You coming, Captain?"
Lauri held her gaze for a moment, the darkness within his eyes giving way as he .
He gave a small nod.
"…Yeah, yeah. I'm coming."
Lauri began walking back toward the Rhino, the spear still clenched tightly between his fingers. The light contained within it flickered. As he passed Vick, she glanced at the weapon, then back at him.
"Not dismissing it?"
Lauri frowned slightly, glancing at her.
"I can't. I would lose both the essence and the light from my soul that I used to reinforce it. So it's better to hold onto it and use it in place of a weapon Memory until it breaks, since it's equivalent to a high-tier Ascended Memory."
He paused, then looked at her again, a hint of confusion in his expression.
"But you would already know that, as I've already told you all how my Aspect works."
Vick's lips curved into a small smile, and she let out a soft giggle.
"I do know."
She clasped her hands behind her back, walking alongside him.
"I just thought you might need something else to think about."
Lauri's gaze drifted down to the snow beneath his feet, his grip on the spear loosening just slightly.
"…Thanks."
Vick glanced at the spear still glowing in Lauri's hand, then let out a soft, amused breath.
"You know… your Aspect is kind of ridiculous. You can create weapons and armour, walls and obstacles. You can send down a rain of swords, heck, you can even fly, and that's all just one of your Aspect Abilities."
Lauri snorted quietly.
"It wasn't always like this."
He looked down at the spear for a moment.
"When I first got my Aspect after beating my First Nightmare, it was barely anything. Weak and useless. I spent most of my time in the Awakened Academy just trying to figure out how it even worked. By the time the Winter Solstice came around, I was able to make a shoddy sword – and even that wasn't worth much, made with my Dormant essence."
Lauri glanced at the spear in his hand, its light flickering softly.
"What you're looking at now…"
He exhaled quietly.
"…Is decades of practice and refinement."
Vick raised an eyebrow.
"Hard to imagine. The Smiling Death being some weak Sleeper."
Wincing, Lauri watched Vick from out of the corner of his eye.
"Please don't call me that."
Vick returned his gaze.
"You don't like the name? I always thought Smiling Death was a cool alias, not quite as cool as Soul Reaper, but I've heard worse ones."
Shaking his head, Lauri sighed.
"I got it during a… It was a dark time in my life."
For a moment, Vick said nothing, then her lips curled slightly.
"Alright, alright… sorry, Lauri."
Vick said, a hint of mischief in her tone.
Lauri chuckled.
"No 'Captain'?"
Vick smiled, eyes glinting in the Rhino's headlights as they reached it.
"I'll keep calling you Captain when you stop being a decade younger than me."