With the fighting over and his adrenaline gone, Lauri began to feel his injuries, especially the deep bruises forming along his right side – from when the Tyrant's arm had struck Lauri with the force of a train. His armour had absorbed most of the impact, protecting Lauri from the threat of certain death, but the strike still stung badly. Lauri's fingers slid up his side, testing the skin as he reached his shoulder.
His right shoulder had taken the worst of it when the Tyrant's claws cleaved through the pauldron of his armour as if it were made of butter. Lauri softly shook his head as he inspected the wound the Tyrant had inflicted upon him. Cleansed by the purifying light resting within his soul, Lauri could rest easy knowing that he wasn't harbouring a dire infection that would slowly kill him from within. The wound was only shallow, already beginning to scab over; his Ascended body would take care of the rest in no time.
'If anything, I got off easy. That attack could have easily severed my nerves and made me have to finish the fight without my arm… Worse still–'
Lauri's eyes flicked to Danse as he stepped into the Rhino.
'–I can only imagine what condition Danse would have been in had the Tyrant successfully landed that attack. I suppose I should take solace knowing I'm the only one who actually got hurt in this engagement.'
Holding his breath, Lauri looked at his teammates. The intensity of the glow in his eyes shifted slightly as his vision penetrated their being, gazing upon their souls. Unlike Lauri, who was the only one to take direct soul damage from the Foulblooded Alpha's soul-rending howl. Their souls were completely unharmed.
Only then did Lauri allow himself to exhale.
Danse and Vick's souls were dimmer than before; the light he had placed within them using [Well of Light] was nearly spent – unleashed to resist the invasive corruption of the pack's tainted fluids that had touched them. What little remained flickered faintly, a testament to how much they had endured.
Katrina's soul, by contrast, still shone brightly. It seemed the nimble woman had managed to avoid the juices. The light within her soul was steady and undiminished. Despite already knowing the answer, Lauri turned his head to Mele and Sansa. As they had been far from the fight, their souls still shone brightly.
'I'll need to refill Danse and Vick's souls once enough light has come to rest within my soul… Thinking about it, I should inspect my Soul Sea. I'd hate to die because I misjudged the state of my own soul.'
Lauri's awareness sank inward, his mind descending into the depths of his soul.
Into his Soul Sea.
He looked up.
Above him, his Soul Core burned – radiant and immense, like a golden sun suspended in an endless cloudless sky. Its light pulsed steadily, dimmer than it should have been, but far from extinguished. Drifting around it were a handful of smaller orbs and one orb that stood apart, being far larger than all the rest. These were Lauri's Memories, and the Echo he had just obtained.
The Soul Sea below lay muted, its glow dulled by the battle. A sign of how much of the light Lauri had called upon, first to shield himself from the Tyrant's howl, and again to prevent the Tyrant's blood from infecting him. Yet even as he watched, it began to change. Threads of light seeped in from beyond, gathering slowly within Lauri's soul.
The dimness receded, slowly, incredibly slowly, the Rhino's artificial light was incomparable to standing under the true light of the midday sun when it was at its peak in the sky, but it was still better than nothing.
Lauri studied the Core in silence, noting the faint cracks on its surface; it had strained under the assault. But most importantly, it had endured.
A small sense of satisfaction settled within him.
It would heal.
Lauri's eyes caught on the Echo floating above the waters of his Soul Sea.
'A Fallen Tyrant, huh? It would be so easy to become overly reliant on having this Echo solve all of our problems. Maybe I shouldn't tell the others, I could pull it out at a dire moment when everything's gone to hell.'
For a brief moment, he could almost picture it – the absolute shock on their faces.
'Oh, that would be really something.'
Before Lauri could summon the Echo to inspect his new lackey.
He hesitated.
By slipping into his Soul Sea without speaking to the others, Lauri had left them to their own devices. Tutting, his smile grew frail as he sighed.
'I've failed as a leader… I can't believe it, I left them unsupervised – with free time! an injustice I simply cannot abide.'
Lauri shut his eyes, shifting his perception from his Soul Sea and back into the Rhino.
Instantly, the sound of bickering flooded his ears.
Mele's voice was at the forefront of the noise.
"Look, I'm just saying. Lauri is cool and all, you've got to be doing something right for your alias to be Smiling Death. But I wish Winter had picked me for her team. I'm perfect for her. My archery skills and my Aspect make me one of the greatest archers out of all of the government Awakened."
Sansa idly looked at Mele, unamused.
"I'm pretty sure Winter is already the best Archer in the government. I heard from a friend in requisitions that she only picked Awakened who could augment her capabilities… Or was that Master Jet? Ugh, anyway, what could you even offer her if you were part of her squad?"
Mele was quiet for a moment before answering.
"Since my Aspect allows me to control the direction of the things I touch, I could ensure she always hits her mark."
At this, Lauri couldn't help but insert himself into the conversation.
"Last I checked, Winter hasn't missed a single shot since she returned from her first trip into the Dream Realm. Something about her Aspect gives her an affinity to Fate and revelations. She's basically part seer."
A playful smile tugged at his lips.
"If Winter knows she's going to miss, she just won't take the shot. So honestly, you'd probably make her miss more by messing with her arrows mid-flight."
Mele went quiet as Sansa broke into laughter at Lauri's comment.
At a complete loss for words, she turned to Sansa and promptly flipped her off.
Moving to the command suite at the back of the Rhino, Lauri leant against the centre console as he called to his underlings.
"Gather around everyone, we've got our next steps to discuss whilst everyone's awake."
Soon, Danse, Mele, Sansa, Katrina, Lucky and Vick gathered around the table in a loose arc.
"First off, how is everyone feeling? That was a hell of a fight."
Despite Lauri's upbeat attitude, the group was slow to respond.
Clearing her throat, Vick looked at everyone before staring at Lauri. Suddenly, Lauri felt small under the combined gaze of his team.
"Lauri, we need to talk."
Lauri nodded.
"Agreed, we do, first off, Katrina needs to run a diagnostic on-"
Danse held up his hand, causing Lauri to stop.
"There are more pressing matters at hand than the condition of the Rhino."
Crossing his arms, Lauri's smile turned faintly confused.
"What could be more important than the condition of the Rhino? If this thing breaks down, we're screwed."
Stepping forward, Katrina slammed her hands onto the table.
"We're talking about you running off all the time! Like, what was that stunt! You think just because one of your Aspects lets you cross great distances that you should use it at every inconvenience? Surely it burns through a ton of essence to travel that far that fast?"
Lauri winced.
What Katrina had said was true. Despite [Light Dash] being his Awakened Aspect, Lauri constantly found himself burning far more essence using that than he had ever while using [Well of Light]. Something about the nature of Lauri's Ascended Aspect caused it to use very little of his essence. Rather, it pulled from the reserves of light that pooled within his Aspect.
"Okay, okay. I hear what you're all saying. But surely I can have a pass this time? We really never would have made it to the pack of those disgusting canines had I not rushed over. At the time, we didn't know Lucky would be back so soon…"
Lauri's voice took on a grating edge as his gaze slowly turned to land on Lucky.
"And I never would have expected him to come up with such an… ingenious idea."
As Lucky shrank away from Lauri's gaze, Vick shook her head.
"Fine, fine, we'll give you a pass this time, sweetie. But really, do you know how devastated we'd be without you? Gosh, we would be completely lost. So no more running around without us... Promise?"
Lauri rubbed the back of his head, his smile turning faintly apologetic.
"Alright, I'll admit I overused my essence back there, that's on me – I'll manage it better next time. If it's any consolation, I'm basically out of essence at this point. So I promise I won't be running away anytime soon."
Katrina's eye twitched.
"What do you mean anytime soon…"
Before she could continue, a sharp ping cut her off. One of the terminals lit up, signalling an incoming call.
Standing at the far right of the table, Mele was the first to reach the terminal.
"I thought the snowstorm had cut off our connection."
Lucky chuckled.
"Seems we got lucky."
The group turned to look at him, their expressions instantly judgmental.
Lucky raised his hands again in defence.
"This isn't my Aspect."
Rolling his eyes, Lauri sat down on the chair beside the terminal. Reaching for the keyboard, he accepted the call.
The terminal flickered to life, its screen resolving into the image of a woman.
She had short, raven-black hair framing a face of flawless, almost unreal beauty. Her eyes –an icy, piercing blue – sharp and unyielding. Her skin was pale, as white as Antarctica's freshest snow. Yet where such pallor might have appeared sickly on another, on her it only raised the effect – cold, pristine, and undeniably striking.
Lauri's smile softened, touched with a rare, genuine affection.
"Hey, Jet. Long time no see."