He's a Mess of a Man

Book One ~ Chapter Four

The two followed Asra's trail of familiar magic through the unfamiliar world. The ground grew oddly mushy under their feet and the sky darkened at an alarming speed. Leviathan saw a livid red liquid slowly oozing from the ground. His first stomach-churning thought was blood. But the red that pooled at their feet and dripped off the blades of grass wasn't sticky. "It's... water?"

"Are you sure we have to go this way..?" Lucio asked.

Leviathan nodded, "This is where I'm sensing Asra's magic." Soon, the two were pulling their feet out of ankle-deep water with every step. Small red beetles scuttled over the glistening foliage. They began shadowing the two, pooling in the damp footprints that were left behind by Lucio. A sense of foreboding settled over Leviathan and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

"Uh... is there anything you can do about this, Levi? You know, magic it all away?"

He could only stare at Lucio. Incredulous. "No, I can't 'magic it away'. That's not how it works." He sighed, "Even if I could... I can tell I'm too tired for something like that right now."

"Oh. I thought..." Lucio mumbled something under his breath, avoiding Leviathan's gaze.

"What did you say?"

A nervous grin appeared on Lucio's face, "Nothing, just uh... thought it would've been easy to get rid of the bugs."

Leviathan raised a brow, "That was it?" - "I wanted to ask if something was the matter, but now I have no doubts. He's deliberately evading. I just... don't know why," Leviathan thought as Lucio kept glancing at the seething puddles of beetles.

"I hate how they move. But I'll be happier as soon as we get out of here." However, the further the two went, the amount of beetles continued to grow, gathering in trickles. Then streams. They painted the tundra blood-red, flowing all around. "UGH! Get off! Get away!" despite Lucio's furious stomping, the beetles continued to surge toward him. They were indifferent to Leviathan, but Lucio was constantly kicking them off his boots. "Leave me alone already! What did I do to deserve–!" The huge bird from earlier reappeared, shrieking loud enough to wake the dead as it dove through the swarm of beetles. That seemed to be the final straw for Lucio, whose face twisted with rage, "Oh, go to hell, Jӕger! I'll send you there myself!" He picked up a rock and hurled it at the bird, who effortlessly wheeled away.

"Jӕger..? Do you know that bird?" Leviathan asked.

"Well... I wouldn't say we're friends, that's for sure." Lucio's voice kept rising, shrill with an edge of fear. The sky quickly filled with beetles, blotting out all the stars. The swarm descended on the two, dropping lower and lower with every passing second. "This isn't happening! It's just a dumb magic trick! It isn't real!" Lucio cried. But the more hysterically he shouted, the denser the swarm became.

With a sudden jolt in the pit of Leviathan's stomach, he realized what was happening. He clutched Lucio's shoulder, trying to get his attention. "You're affecting the beetle swarm! It's responding to your emotions!"

"What?! That's impossible!" he yelped, "Oh, it's Asra's fault that we're here!"

Leviathan grit his teeth, trying to stay calm as the swarm grew denser. "This place is magical! And magic reacts to emotions! You're doing this!" Lucio stared at Leviathan blankly. "Think! Do you know anything at all about these beetles?!"

"I– But, I–" Lucio stammered, "It wasn't my fault, okay?! If Vlastomil had held up his end of the deal-" As he talked, the swarm thinned. Bit by bit. A few stars could be seen through the pall of red.

Leviathan blinked at Lucio. That was the last thing he expected him to say. "Vlastomil..? Praetor Vlastomil? The courtier?"

"Yeah, that slimy loser. We've known each other for a long time. He was on the rocks a while ago, and I'm a generous sort, so I decided to help him out. We struck a deal. I offered to bring him some hearts, and he offered me power in exchange," Lucio casually explained.