I'm quitting heroing oneshots

Rebel

3rd pov

Leo had not ever had a reason to try and rebel against the order imprinted in his core, 'protect humanity at any cost' since that's what he wanted to do anyways, so there was never a reason to think something might happen if he were to rebel against it, after all, he was never expected to live as long as he has. He glares at Shutina, wondering what she expects him to do, he's lived with this damn order for 3000 years, listened to it and never argued, just how easy is she expecting this to be, to just get it to stop?

He settles into his mind, annoyed at the constant, never changing blue, and then he's assaulted with pain as the voice from the core gets louder, louder, overwhelming any other thoughts he might have, trying to extinguish any thoughts of rebelling or otherwise going against it. It's a constant pain, never completely fading, only ignored. With a grunt, he begs it to just... stop, tired of being in pain, of having to listen to it, just tired in general, wanting to die but wanting to live far more than that, even knowing this might be his only chance to get a peaceful end, he's certain he will not take it. With a sigh, he pauses, everything freezing as the voice, for the first time since he was created, shuts up. It's just... gone. He'd not expected it to work, and he hopes that it stays gone. He opens his eyes, staring at the sky in surprise, waiting for a long moment to see if it will come back.

"Leo, there are 30 seconds left. If you want to die, I will end your life, but is there not something you wish to do?" Echidna asks, but honestly, he'd set everything up, so the only thing he regrets is that he caused them so much trouble in the end. He was more than ready to end his life, even if he had wanted to remain alive to the very end. He accepts Echidna's hand, more than ready to head back to the castle and relax, work with them, get to live his life with them for as long as possible. He watches them, grinning tiredly as they all begin to head back towards the castle, but as he goes to move forward... his magic activates.

He freezes, staring in surprise, before trying to reel it in, because his magic has never done this before, never not listened to him, but something about it is wrong... All of his magic is being put towards whatever is happening and nothing he's doing can stop it, nothing is slowing it, and he can not cut the connection to his core again, not after he just did it, so there's no way to stop it. He curls over in surprise with a choked sound as something blocks his throat, before his knees give out as well. What the hell...?

"Are you really still-" Echidna stops as she spots Leo's face, something is not right, he looks just as surprised as them, and when he curls over and then collapses to his knees, they know something is wrong, all of them sharing quick glances, before moving forward, as quickly as they can since they're all injured. Shutina reaches out, yanking her hand away as the raw magic - it's not being concentrated into an element, just raw, pure magic - burns her skin, but there's no way to actually get through it. They get as close as possible, all throwing ideas out, but there really is only so much they can do. Lily's the only one who has her focus on Leo rather than the magic, and thus is the first to alert them.

"Leo! What's wrong? Leo!" Her cries draw their attention away from the magic and to the person, who's hunched over again, only an arm keeping him from kneeling against the floor, but he's shaking, and then he starts to cough, wet, harsh, heaving coughs, blood splattering the ground in front of him without hesitation. They all cry out in surprise, but they can not move any closer, not yet at least.

Leo had not felt pain in many years. The wound that had healed shortly a few moments ago had been the first time in a long while, it's been years since the last time he had felt it, which means his resistance to it is weak. He can feel the thing in his throat trying to come out and he hunches over further on his knees, trying to ignore the agony moving under his skin in the hopes he will finally be able to breathe. He coughs, surprised as blood comes out, but he just needs to breathe, so he keeps going until there's nothing blocking his throat. He coughs a bit after anyways, his throat sore and his entire body in agony. He might be able to get out of the circle, but this is his magic so more likely, he'll just move the location if he moves.