Water and Wind

Arian

He bites his tongue and looks around, for a boat, a piece of wood, any sort of vessel that would probably be useless against the raging water. But it couldn't hurt trying... right? Or maybe it could, and his dead body would wash out into the ocean to be consumed by sharks and man-eating fishes or things of that sort. As he shudders, he realizes that that is not what he wants to think about right now.

Scooping up a dead tree branch absentmindedly, he starts to think about Nimue, trying to recreate the scene with her and the guards and the old lady here. That's when he hears a branch snap. Alarmed, he whips around, holding the branch as a guard to whatever beast is to come. Unfortunately, what he finds is worse. His former friend and "brother", is standing at the edge of the woods, cloaked in all-black, his raven hair hanging in greasy strings off his head.

"What do you want Lucifer?" He hisses through his clenched teeth, right hand wrapped around the branch and squeezing tighter. If he throws this right now, what would be the probability that he'd kill this oily-haired toad he'd once considered his friend? He waits for him to advance, but Lucifer makes no move except to cross his arms over his chest and lean against a sturdy tree casually, as if they were having a polite chat on a normal day. Ha.

"You didn't know her at all." It's a blunt, direct statement, indifferent without his usual injections of accusation or that smirk he'd adopted. He still stands against the tree, waiting for Arian's answer.

"I knew her better than you," he seethes, surprising even himself by taking the first step closer to the dangerous man in front of him.

"Did you though?" He asks coyly, almost teasingly. "You kissed her. You took her in your arms. You loved her, for God's sake!" His volume has risen drastically, and he takes a sharp breath to calm himself and lower his voice. "But did you know her?" He cocked his head, almost smiling at his wit.

"Of course I knew her," Arian snaps. "She picked me over you."

Lucifer doesn't seem all that furious at this statement, unlike what Arian expected. He laughs it off. "Did she though? Or did you just steal her away?"

"You left." He spits, advancing even closer. "You broke her heart." Lucifer doesn't shy away, eying his foe as if he's no more than a large dog to be wary of.

For an instant, Lucifer looked pained, and Arian knows he's hit a weak point. He recovers quickly. "And you were there to mend it." He quips, in an amused tone.

"Better than you ever could." Arian hisses, feeling his other hand reach for the branch slowly. Lucifer notices it and merely laughs. His hand twitches, and the branch falls to the ground with a thump. Arian's fist closes over the empty air and his fingers clench, hard, fingernails digging into his palm. He scrutinizes his foe, and decides something. He's not worth his time. But Nimue is, and every second he stands here thinking about Lucifer is a second wasted that he could have been by Nimue's side, or at least trying to get there. He still hasn't got a clue what to do, but... maybe Lucifer might.

Ugh. He turns away, thinking hard and frowning. He doesn't want to ask, but if this is for Nimue... fine. "You thought you knew her well. What do you think she did? How'd she get across then, genius?" His words come out in a harsh snarl as his eyes bore into Lucifer, who merely throws his head back and laughs.

"How do you think? You're her boyfriend, aren't you?"

"Save it." He spits, and Lucifer rolls his eyes.

"I'm only doing this for her, you know."

"You've done nothing for her. Don't start now. I'm not dealing with this right now. She's dying, and if you cared an ounce about her, just answer." His eyes roll again, but he uncrosses his arms to gesture at the river in a sweep.

"She's a water girl, for God's sake." His lip curls. "Or did you not know that?"

Arian faces the river again, feeling small enough to - and he wanted to anyway - curl up in a ball and tuck himself away. Stupid. So stupid. How could he not have realized? In his mind, he pictures Nimue at the edge of the riverbank, parting the water with her slender hands and flicks of her wrist. Well, he can't do that. He knows that very well. So how is he expected to cross the raging river with only wind on his side?

He's never been more ashamed of his gift, nor more frustrated about it. Wind, wind, of all the stupid things. Why couldn't he have something more useful, something like water? Why on earth wind?

Lucifer crosses his arms, enjoying watching him grunt. That just makes him snarl harder. He should be doing something, anything, that brings them an inch closer to Nimue. His hands swirl around and around each other, bringing about the elements, and that's when Arian realizes it, something he should have thought of much earlier. In one motion, he's behind Lucifer and propelling him to the river. Why didn't he think of it, why oh why?

Lucifer, much like Arian's dying girlfriend, is not only a nystergeryi, but a simulharmonia at that. With powers that could almost match Nimue's. He pushes Lucifer to the very edge of the river and points at it.

"You said you loved her once. Prove it."