Crystal Swan || Sugar Squad || WC Exceeded
Though at the present it might have looked like it was two against one, it was very much three against one. As Rin and Lester tangled him tightly in their arms and called him back, he fought just as much on the other side to
make it all the way back. With the goblin carnage the three of them had wrought, he found that the lack of immanent threat made it just a little bit easier to fight Drathir. "I'm trying," he growled at the two people closest to him in life.
I don't see why you don't just embrace me. Look at how many goblins we took out for your little magic council puppet masters. If you'd just honor your own contract and let me stretch my legs, we could have taken them all by ourselves. Killjoy.
The muscles under his squad mates' arms were taut, flexing and poised to strike just as much as hold himself in place, like a dangerous zoo animal fighting every instinct to attack the friendly hand that feeds. Occasionally he'd twitch in restrained efforts to break free, attempt to claw, or shift the sword as if to use it, though he didn't allow any of those things. He ignored Drathir's chatter, trying to remain focused on regaining the control his friends pleaded for. He wanted to regain himself. He wanted to go back to normal life with them. Take Rin on many, many dates to learn about her as she learned about herself. Eat more scrumptious breakfasts with Lester, he always brought the best waffles and muffins. He wanted to go on more jobs with them, more sleep overs, more cuddle piles. Theo wanted to do more good to replace the bad.
Wait. Wow. How is it your little girlfriend can hear me?
"I...don't know," Theo ground between his teeth, groaning at the horns growing from his skull. Was his fighting back not having any effect? Was he losing despite giving all he had? His back ached from the pressure of wings attempting to break free. How could Rin hear the booming voice in his head? The voice that was low and gravelly dripped with sarcasm and taunting, belonging to the very thing he hated most about himself? He didn't want to subject her to this!
Interesting. Well, she wants me to kill her. You heard that right? He's begging for it... to protect the other guy. So hot~ I can't resist. Lester wants it, too! They're both here, willing to die at your hand. Is this was humans call romance, because I could dig it.
After a throaty scream of both anguish and rage, Theo managed to form words again. "Don't do anythig to them, please! Please. Don't. Not again. I can't do that again," Theo pleaded desperately, struggling now for a different reason. If he could get loose, he could run. He could save them if he just ran away until Drathir settled down.
What did you expect? Like your friend said, I've been so freaking bored. There's no talking it out! Locking me up so tight was a cruel thing to do, Theo. And being a demon, I know a few things about crue-- Hey. Hey! What is he doing!? Stop, you sugar coated sapli--
As Lester's MP draining spell took hold, both Drathir and Theo were losing strength fast. Theo used this opportunity to push back with all his own magical power, before it was all but gone. He shoved at Drathir's weakening takeover magic, aware that this would make it deplete even more quickly, but he didn't care. Very slowly, his demonic traits started to recede. The horns grew shorter and his claws pulled back into their nail beds, leaving bloody wounds as consolation prizes. His fangs were the next to haltingly return to normal human teeth, ripping his bottom lip as he bit down in effort. Lastly, his eyes flickered back and forth between hues as he mentally battled his inner demon for the last shred of control. Chest heaving for air, on his last blink those familiar frosty irises had returned thankfully surrounded by white once more.
One last thing, just in case, his tight grip on the sword released and it fell with a dull thud on a goblin body beside them. Between the after effects of the weapon and the magic syphon, Theo's body wobbled and staggered within Lester and Rin's grips before going limp. He slid from their grasps down to his knees, where he remained with slumped shoulders and a hanging head.
His mind whirled as guilt wracked his very core. The goblins deserved to be defeated, but sliced up, stabbed, and left bleeding to death? Everywhere he looked, his mind warped the summoned creatures into human bodies. Why had he taken up a sword again to begin with? This...this is the result. Side effects of Bloodlust Fang or not, this is why he laid his swords down. So much blood and death. He'd brought so much...
And now these two people he loved knew what lurked within him. They'd witnessed Drathir's effect on him. Rin had even heard the demon's voice. Oh, what would happen now? What could he do? What did they think? This wasn't even the worst of it. Just seeing it was one thing. Plenty of legal mages had some pretty dark and scary magics, though most of them had control of it. But...what he'd
done. Who he used to be. That was his true fear. If they were frightened and disgusted with him now, how could they ever accept him when he told them the rest? They said it'd be okay, but he didn't trust their reassurances. Not because they ever lied to him, but because he couldn't fathom how it couldn't go wrong from here and result in the loss of two very important people.
He fought back tears the best he could, but he was feeling pretty low right now. "Lester..." he whispered through a tight throat, expecting the worst but still experiencing the full brunt of panic in his presumed rejection. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry....I-I'm sorry..." He didn't know what else to say to the watermelon eyed boy, his fellow butt brother. Had he just destroyed their friendship and stained all their good memories?
He lifted his head to glance from Lester to Rin, terrified of what he'd see. Had be become worthless to her now? A bent, eroded coin void of all detail and splendor, tossed to the side due to its unclear values, made of nothing but common iron that rusts and chips away? Was this too much for their new special bond to withstand? He'd feared this would happen the day he gave into impulse and kissed her, but his optimism had carried him on. Would the sight of him make her sick and repulse her? How quickly could love shatter? Was it sick that he longed to be held in this moment, even though he knew he didn't deserve it? "I...I wanted to tell you..." he mumbled, voice quivering. "I tried...but I couldn't... I didn't want to admit Drathir was still there. I thought if I kept it shut up tightly and never gave it a thought, that I could forget about it and it'd never happen again. I was wrong...You don't even know the rest. D-Do you hate me now, Rin? Do both of you hate me?"