Chapter Text
——— Cyril———
"You think you can stop me?" Audrian laughed, swiping his hand through the air and sending a beam of light hurtling toward Cyril. Cyril dodged quickly, but the blast still singed the tips of his hair. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yasha hurling a blast of fire at Barclay, who responded with a fierce gust of wind.
"Leopold couldn’t even stop me! But you think you can?" Audrian sneered, flicking his wrist dismissively to block Runa’s attack. "And you say I’m the one who’s crazy."
He then made a show of dramatically wiping a fake tear from his eye, the wave of his hand serving as the only warning before stalactites began raining down from above.
"Watch where you’re dropping those things, Audrian," Yasha called out as he jumped out of the way just in time, narrowly avoiding a stalactite that crashed where he’d been standing. Seizing the moment, Tadg tackled Yasha, while Barclay threw up his hand, summoning a shockwave of wind to redirect the falling stalactites toward the sides of the cavern.
———Tadg ———
Yasha and Tadg hit the ground hard, the impact jarring Tadg’s senses as Yasha’s flames seared the air around them. The intense heat was a sharp reminder that there was no room for error. Quickly, Tadg pulled water from the nearby waterfall and doused the two of them, steam rising as the flames hissed and sputtered.
Yasha shook his head with a low hiss, recovering just enough to kick Tadg in the stomach. The force knocked the wind out of him, and he grunted in pain as Yasha pushed him off and rolled to the side, coughing up water. His glare locked on Tadg, but before he could react, the shin of Shazi’s prosthetic leg struck his temple with a resounding crack, knocking him unconscious.
“Are you okay?” Shazi asked, helping Tadg to his feet. Cecily moved swiftly, turning Yasha into a shadow marble and slipping into the shadows.
“I’ll survive,” Tadg replied, his voice strained but determined. Shazi gave a quick nod before grabbing Hasu’s hand, and in a flash of light, they vanished.
——— Barclay ———
The wind howled in Barclay’s ears, a familiar and comforting sound as he summoned another gust. Root joined in with a howl of his own, and a storm swirled angrily above. Barclay circled Audrian, using the gusts to keep him off balance while Viola shot bursts of light at his feet.
“Is that all you can do?” Audrian taunted, stamping his foot on the stone, shattering it like glass.
“Shit,” Barclay muttered as the ground beneath him cracked apart, lava seeping through the gaps. But it quickly cooled as a thin layer of ice formed, solidifying the molten rock into stone.
A shadow loomed over Barclay, and he glanced back to see Mica towering above him. Before Mica could strike, Root lunged at the Tarmacedon, claws raking against the stone armor on Mica’s shoulders. Root bit down on a gap in the armor, but Mica kicked out with his hind legs, sending Root flying. Mica thrashed as Oudie chained his shadow to the floor.
“Root!” Barclay shouted, rushing to his Beast’s side. He checked to make sure Root was okay, then returned him to his mark. A kick like that would likely cause internal bleeding, but keeping Root in his mark would help slow the damage.
——— Audrian ———
Lira began to fly toward her keeper, but lightning struck the stone between them, sending the Caladrius into a panic. Her wings beat frantically as she veered away. Audrian’s head snapped toward Tadg, and with a quick motion, he raised his hand to shower the boy with stones.
Then, a sudden, searing pain exploded in his abdomen as an icy blade sliced through his skin. His hand instinctively flew to the wound, trying to hold his insides together as his intestines threatened to spill out. Cursing under his breath, he focused on healing the injury, a thin layer of muscle forming to seal the wound. It wasn’t perfect, but it would do—as long as he didn’t move too much.
However, as the stone beneath his feet began to crack, he knew that staying still wasn’t an option. With a grimace, he returned his beasts to their marks.
——— Cyril ———
Every muscle in Cyril’s body tensed as the ground beneath him shifted, a sense of dread creeping into his chest. He looked up and Runa let out a startled shout as she fell through a crack in the ground. Then he was falling.
He landed on his arm with a yelp, then tumbled down the funnel-like sides of the almost smooth stone, catching a glimpse of Runa before he hit the flat bottom with a loud crack as his ribs broke on impact.
Cyril let out a groan of pain as he pushed himself up, sitting with his back to the stone. He looked around, assessing his surroundings. Runa sat across from him, rubbing her wrist with a grimace. The area they were in was just big enough to lie down in, and Audrian…
Audrian was lying on his back, a large gash in his side bleeding profusely, a small portion of his small intestine uncoiled in his lap.
Cyril glanced at Runa before scooting over to sit next to Audrian, pulling the smaller figure into his lap. Audrian let out a whine of pain, tears rolling down his face, but he didn’t move as Cyril cradled him in his arms.
“So this is how I die, my intestines being evicted from my body?” Audrian chuckled, “Sounds kinda like something out of a comic book,”
“You’ll die from bleeding out in five-” Cyril started, his voice shaking slightly.
“Shh~ Just let me have this, y’know since I’m dying,” Audrian asked, clearly trying to hide the desperation in his voice. The three sat in silence for a moment before Audrian broke it.
Audrian looked nervously between the two, “Can- Can we have one last ‘Grand Three cuddle pile?’ Preferably before the ‘Grand Three’ becomes the Grand Two.”
Cyril’s breath hitched, his heart breaking at the words. Without hesitation, he gently pulled Audrian closer, his arms wrapping around him protectively. “Of course we can, Audie. The Grand Three stays the Grand Three, no matter what.”
Runa, tears already streaming down her face, scooted closer and wrapped her arms around both of them.
“We wouldn’t let you leave without one,” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. “We’re still the Grand Three. Always.”
Cyril and Runa pressed their heads together with Audrian, creating that familiar, comforting closeness they had shared once oh so long ago. At that moment, they were just three friends, apprentices, siblings, family. Together as they had always been during their apprenticeship, holding on to the love and bond that never truly faded, even if they had hated each other.
The three sat together, an invisible clock ticking down until Audrian’s stopped beating, as a comfortable but tense silence surrounded them. They waited, unease settling in their stomachs as they waited for one of the others to break the silence, inevitably, Audrian was the one to break it.
"You know, I always imagined my final moments would involve a grand speech or some epic showdown. But honestly, this—being here with both of you—is a lot better than any grand finale I could’ve planned." Audrian joked his lips twisting into a wry grin as he chuckled mirthlessly, a ragged sigh escaping his lips as he closed his eyes.
“T- Tell Yasha that I’m sorry we never got around to playing that rematch of Kingmaker,” Audrian begged, his voice barely a whisper as he let himself be vulnerable, “I love you three,”
Then, as if nothing had happened, Audrian’s face brightened as he cheerfully spoke, “All that sappy stuff has made me tired. Please, halt your sobbing as I rest. Thank you!” Cyril and Runa both rolled their eyes fondly at the comment, holding Audrian tighter as he buried his head in Cyril’s shoulder, sighing contently as Cyril carded his fingers through Audrian’s hair.
“I guess we should take a nap as well,” Runa smiled weakly, fresh tears falling from her eyes as Cyril nodded.
When Cyril woke up again he smiled down at Audrian, who was still sound asleep in his arms.
It took him a moment to realize that Audrian wasn’t sleeping, but he could pretend a little longer.