Lukas Isharian
Outside the room he was thrown out of, Lukas sighed and rested his head against the wall opposite it. Sprawled loosely in a cross-legged position, the Wizard looked like he was merely taking a rest - which was exactly what he was doing. Getting thrown out of a room with enough force to break his spine was no joke.
Sure, there were better places to rest, but Lukas didn’t feel like moving. Not while his body was still shaking with adrenaline and unwanted emotion.
Spread haphazardly on his lap were bits and pieces of wire and casings. Absently using his wand as a tool to weld the pieces of metal together, Lukas could feel his breath slow and his fingers stilling in their trembling after a few minutes, mind clearing just a bit from the turmoil it was in.
He had to compartmentalise before he fell apart. Before he laughed or cried or did both at the same time. Emotions being felt at the moment - worry, anger, fear, exhaustion. Rationalise. He had to rationalise. Why was he feeling these emotions?
Exhaustion. Easy to explain. He hadn’t slept in over 2 days - between making charms for everyone, researching the circle and confirming (running) some thoughts he had, there wasn’t exactly much time for sleep.
Then there were the emotions related to this incident with Ambre and Kallen. Worry for the both of them, regret for being unable to do anything, terror for Kallen’s situation, annoyance for Ambre’s actions towards him that caused him to be more obstinate and insensitive than he should have been. Clearly, he had done something wrong for Ambre to behave like that, but what exactly? Was it because he activated the charm and gave it to her before explaining what it did? Refused to step out of the room and kept pushing?
Lukas wasn’t entirely sure, to be honest. It was what the rest of his family had done whenever he’d gone too deep into a funk - drag him out despite his protests to either talk or grab something to eat, a method that grounded him into the world even if he screamed for them to stop, although it had always done him good in the end. Lukas had tried to copy their tactics in an effort to keep his promise to Kallen, but evidently, it hadn’t worked.
Maybe it was the messages? At first, it had been an attempt to lighten the mood, but after she’d mentioned Rosa -
Clang.
Lukas started as his wand dropped to the floor with a clatter. Eyes wide, he stared at his fingers, willing them to stop shaking. They didn’t. “Ah…”
Deep breaths. Four seconds in, four seconds out. Raking his hands through his hair as if the pain would ground him, Lukas desperately tried and failed to keep his breathing even. He tried to shove the memories back, tried to think about algorithms and recipes and procedures, but now that the dam had been torn open all the thoughts Lukas had suppressed rushed from the depths of his mind like a tsunami, drowning him with their intensity.
Surrounded by fragments of machinery, curled in on himself like a child and his hands clasped over his mouth to muffle his sobbing gasps, Lukas closed his eyes and wished that it was all a nightmare.
Unfortunately, the reality was this - His best friend was critically injured. He’d pissed off his best friend’s little sister and failed to keep his promise. He’d almost died two days ago. And his sister - Rosa, the only family member left -
She was gone. Disappeared in the chaos (before the chaos, if he was right) and the implications left Lukas reeling and falling into the void.
The Rosa he knew was tough, determined, someone who met everything in her way with a fury that resembled a blazing fire. She’d have stayed and summoned her zombies and fight. She would never have left without a word, especially after the Pillar had fallen. And she would have never left without telling him.
The circle, too. He’d figured out the meaning of it. The four small circles were four summoning circles - the demon which possessed Yukito, the Dullahan that had attacked them, the monster Lady Minami had destroyed, the slimes the rest of the house had dealt with. The larger circles where teleportation circles, intertwined and connected so that the monsters would appear in different parts of the house. It was why the monsters had been so spread out - someone had spread markers around the house, and they’d used those as spawning points to wreck havoc in the house.
The markers had been scrubbed from the walls, but nobody knew who had placed the circle. It had to be a Wizard - demon and monster summoning from a magic circle were something only a Wizard could do, and a talented one at that. Even Lukas couldn’t, although he had written down circles that could, in theory, do so.
There were only a few people he knew who could activate such a complicated circle without it backfiring. Of the few, only one had been here at the time. Combined with the rest of the evidence he had…
Despite all his attempts at suppressing it, the traitorous thought bubbled up once again. All evidence points to her. Are you sure you want to find your sister? Are you sure you want to send the only family you have left to her death?
Is the person you travelled here with really your sister anymore?
Slowly, Lukas wrapped his arms around his knees. Caging his face into the space between his arms, Lukas’s body shook as he finally, silently fell apart.
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It took a bit for Lukas to get himself back under control. Wiping at his eyes, Lukas tapped the side of the frame of his spectacles. For a moment, the glass shone - and when it faded Lukas’s eyes were normal instead of red underlined with dark bags. A simple illusion charm, although only limited to his face.
Items packed, Lukas stood up and reached for his phone. He still had to text Risako.
Glassabi:
Gt important info and stuff i need to give 2. The living rm s gd. Meet in 10 min y/n?
Text sent, he walked to the destination. Within minutes, he reached there, looking none the worse for the wear on the outside.