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Leon wasn’t sure what he had expected when he rounded the corner into the main area of the storeroom, but the massive boulder of glowing amber certainly wasn’t it.
Everything they had found had been small, imperfect chunks, but the behemoth in front of them would have been taller than Ashley, standing side by side. It took him a moment to realize that the glow was from a few artificial lights strategically placed to either side, and not some innate aspect of the stone.
And as he drew closer, the most relevant detail came into focus; dozens of tiny, curled insects, perfectly preserved.
“Las plagas,” Luis said beside him, hand coming up as if to touch the amber, before dropping it to his side with a grimace. “Their original form, anyhow.”
“Original form?” Ashley asked, having also joined them. Luis sighed heavily.
“We’ve altered them enough to constitute their own scientific classification,” he explained. “Plagas Prīmum. The first plagas. Everything that has come after, all the monsters you have faced? They are… different.”
“Different how?” Leon asked. Luis looked down, guilt seeming to weigh on him.
“First, they had to be genetically altered to properly infect and inhabit humans.” He crossed his arms as he spoke, looking anywhere but at Leon. “Without that, the infected would either reject them entirely, or go completely mad. Then, Saddler wanted us to—”
“Prostrate yourselves—”
Leon jumped, spinning around and drawing his gun in the span of a blink, with Luis following not a breath later. It only took a nudge for Ashley to fall back, tucked securely behind the two of them as several people walked into the room, led by a familiar figure.
The ornate robes and piercing pale eyes weren’t as ominous in the physical world, but there was no mistaking that voice. It was the man who had been invading their minds all day.
“—for this is our holy body,” he declared softly, gesturing towards the amber with an ornate golden staff. As he did, writhing tentacles crawled out of the shadows of his sleeves, twining around the staff and climbing up to its head like some fucked up ivy.
“Mierda,” Luis breathed at his side. “This is not good.”
“Our divine providence,” the man continued, unbothered by the guns pointed at his face. “And soon… such a profound blessing for all… las plagas.”
Leon kept his weapon trained on the man, but looked sideways at Luis right in time to meet his wide eyed glance. He had a feeling he knew who the man in front of them was, and seeing the look of panic on his partner’s face only confirmed it.
“Welcome, my children.” The soft voice drew Leon’s eyes back to the man who could only be the mysterious ‘Saddler’ everyone kept talking about. The one responsible for this fucking nightmare of a place.
And because things clearly weren’t bad enough, one of the faceless attendants stepped up behind him and gently pulled the ornate hood down, revealing an absolutely repulsive head. Scale-like growths jutted out from the back of a hairless scalp, layered over exposed red flesh crawling with sickly black veins.
The sight sent a visceral wave of revulsion through Leon’s nervous system, making him tighten his grip on his gun just to keep his aim steady. From the way Ashley shuffled further back behind him, he probably wasn’t the only one.
“I am Osmund Saddler. The speaker for our Lord,” the cult leader continued with an imperious nod, clearly enjoying the opportunity to monologue. Too bad for him that Leon was getting fucking tired of it.
“Tell someone who gives a shit,” he growled before taking a single well aimed shot. Saddler doubled over immediately, clutching at the eye Leon had just put a bullet through.
No one moved for several long seconds. Leon knew a single bullet wouldn’t be enough. It never was. But it was the same as when he took a few pot shots at Ramón earlier.
He really just wanted them to shut the hell up and get on with it.
“Leon—” Luis shifted on his feet, voice quiet and uncertain in a way that Leon really didn’t want to think about. But any warning he might have made fell away as Saddler began to speak.
“Foolish lambs,” he murmured as blood ran down his cheek. “Why do you deny grace?”
He turned sharply, and then suddenly every nerve in Leon’s body lit up in agony. It felt like the parasite had bitten down onto his spine, making his muscles seize up as if he’d been shocked. Despite the agonizing tension locking his body in place, as well as the years of training beaten into him to prevent this exact thing, his grip on his weapon loosened. The gun clattered onto the floor at his feet. He followed it down, landing hard on one knee as Ashley and Luis both jumped to his side, trying to help.
Saddler stood tall and reached out for them. “Now, abandon your body!”
At his command, Ashley was jerked away, pulled up straight like a puppet. Leon could hear her struggling against his hold, mirroring his own fight to just get back up to his feet. Luis was muttering a litany of curses under his breath as he tried to help Leon stand, the only one not at Saddler’s mercy.
“Obey,” Saddler demanded. “Obey the voice of our Lord.”
Leon gripped Luis’s shoulder tightly as he finally got to his feet, his other hand fighting to reach Ashley as she took several jolting steps away from them before slowly turning.
“No… No!” she pleaded through gritted teeth, tears streaming down her face as she reached towards the floor.
Luis seemed to realize what she was reaching for a split second before Leon did, cursing as he moved to grab his own gun from the holster on his leg. He must have put it away when trying to help Leon. Not a smart move, all things considered. Saddler noted the motion before looking past Ashley and straight into Leon’s eyes.
He was fighting against the order to ‘freeze’ so hard that he didn’t have time to react when the order changed to ‘strike’.
Leon threw Luis to the floor, shoving his shoulder down and pulling the arm that had been reaching for his gun up and behind him. And like any good takedown, he followed the man down, pinning his lower back to the ground with a knee.
Luis cried out in pain, and all Leon could see was the shredded hole in his jacket, mere inches away from where Leon was using half of his weight to hold him down. His heart stopped as he finally registered what he had done, just in time to keep himself from yanking the arm in his grip further up. Saddler’s order had shifted to ‘punish’ with twisted glee, demanding he dislocate Luis’s shoulder and show the traitor what happens when you betray the cause.
But Leon refused, fighting with all of his might as Luis looked up at him through a face pinched with pain. He had only just started to recover from Krauser’s attack, and Leon was ruining all of that with the precision of a killer.
Ashley whimpered above them, splitting Leon’s attention. He glanced up to see her standing straight once more, arm locked in place to aim Leon’s gun right at him. Her hand was shaking as she continued to plead with her own body, to no avail.
She fired, the bullet whizzing past Leon to hit someone behind him. He felt Luis flinch under his hand, the movement likely hurting him even more. Saddler sighed.
“Sweet child, do not resi—”
“—Fight him Ashley!” Luis called, turning his head so he could look up at her. “You can do this!”
Saddler glared down at him, the order in Leon’s mind louder than ever. When he still didn’t move, the cultist looked back to Ashley instead.
“Silence him,” he ordered, hatred clear in his voice. “Excise the traitor to our cause like the cancer he is.” Ashley whimpered as her shaking arm began to lower.
“You’re strong, Ashley,” Luis insisted, determination fighting past the pain in his voice. “You can—”
Another shot. Another flinch. The bullet ricocheted off the ground a mere foot away, nearly hitting Leon as it passed. A sob slipped past Ashley’s lips, despair twisting her face as Saddler snarled. “Do not resist me, child!”
“Ashley, listen to me.” Luis’s tone had changed, no longer fiery and encouraging.
“—Silence him!”
“Whatever happens next—” His voice was soft. Comforting.
“—Do it now!”
“It’s not your fault.”
Ashley pulled the trigger and was met with a quiet click. Leon immediately zeroed in on the misfired bullet as Ashley pulled the trigger again, eyes wide with surprise. The tension in her shoulders loosened as she slowly released the gun, letting it fall to the floor.
Her arm dropped at the same time as Saddler’s, his face twisted with annoyed disappointment. “Pray, forgive these wicked sinners.”
Leon could feel it as Luis let out a heavy breath, as much as he could with Leon’s hand still pressing his shoulder into the floor. He looked up at Leon, expression unreadable beyond the pain he couldn’t hide.
Saddler spoke again, drawing their attention. “My faithful disciple shall deliver to you your… penance,” he promised, pale gaze focused on Ashley. Her body began to turn towards him, despite her eyes being firmly locked on Leon and Luis.
“Now child, you need not be afraid.” Saddler’s voice shifted between fierce and gentle as his hand raised once more, palm up in offering. Ashley’s head was jerked away, forcing her to face him as he spoke. “Submit your body and release yourself from fear!”
Ashley’s steps grew smoother as her will to fight diminished. She walked past him, joining the silk covered cultists as they all turned towards the door. Saddler shot one final glare at Leon, the order in his mind shifting towards ‘hold’. It was almost a relief, since he was no longer fighting the demand to hurt Luis even more.
He wasn’t released until the doors shut behind them, his bruising grip on Luis’s wrist finally dropping as he slumped over to the side, breathing hard. He closed his eyes and rolled onto his back. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Luis.
The room was quiet save for their heavy breathing. Luis didn’t move from where he had landed, likely in too much pain to do so. The memory of him crying out when he’d been slammed into the ground was loud in Leon’s mind. A sound he hoped to never hear again. His eyes screwed shut even tighter as he grimaced up at the ceiling, heart clenching painfully in his chest.
A warm hand, shaky but certain, draped across his forearm, squeezing lightly. “Hey, it’s okay. You’re okay.” Luis was using that same comforting voice he had used on Ashley. As if Leon deserved it.
“No, it’s not.” Leon’s voice might have been quiet as he opened his eyes, still staring at the ceiling, but it left no room for argument.
“Sure it is,” Luis insisted, because of course he’d argue anyway. “It was Saddler, not you.”
“Saddler’s order was to hold you down,” Leon argued, guilt ratcheting up as he recalled the intentions that had invaded his mind. “He didn’t demand that I hurt you until I already had. Until he realized what I was capable of.”
“And yet, you didn’t.” Luis sounded proud of his point, but Leon only scoffed.
“We both know I hurt you,” he countered. “You can’t seriously—”
“—You hurt me at the start,” Luis interrupted, “but you didn’t hurt me any more than that. If Saddler didn’t order you to hurt me until after that, then you successfully resisted. That’s more than enough in my book.”
“Yeah well, it’s not in mine.” Leon finally turned to look at Luis. At some point, he had gotten his far arm under him enough to push him up slightly, just enough to be able to get a good look at Leon. His face was still tense, but his silver eyes were soft. Far too soft after what had just happened.
“Don’t worry,” he said with a small smile as his hand came up to squeeze Leon’s shoulder instead, his grip more steady now. “I’ll convince you in time.”
His words were full of affection, affection that Leon craved yet didn’t deserve, so he shied away from it. He looked back at the ceiling for a moment before forcing himself to sit up, leaving Luis’s hand to slide back down to the floor. “Think you can move?”
He really shouldn’t move, given everything that had just happened, but Saddler had Ashley, and they couldn’t wait around. Leon hated it, but there wasn’t anything else they could do. He knew Luis wouldn’t stay behind, no matter how badly he needed it. Though, perhaps he could convince him to keep some distance, like they had done earlier.
“Help me up and I can tell you,” Luis answered, moving very delicately as he started to push himself up.
Leon immediately turned to help, assessing their positions as he got his legs under him. He was careful as he took Luis and practically carried him as they stood, continuing to hold the majority of his weight until his feet were solidly on the ground.
Even then, he held on just a moment longer. He told himself that it was to make sure Luis wouldn’t get dizzy and fall over, but he knew that was mostly an excuse. He avoided Luis’s gaze, afraid of what he might find.
“I might be a bit slow at first, but I can certainly manage,” Luis said, after a second. Leon let go, quickly at first but then hovering a moment longer, fighting the urge to hold him once more.
He swallowed thickly as he stepped back, trying not to imagine holding the man even closer. He really didn’t have time for this. For these feelings.
“Then let’s go.” He saw the briefest flash of a smile on Luis’s face as he turned away, their steps echoing in tandem as they continued their mission.