Kevin is on his hands and knees by this time, his head pressed to the ground in a attiude that may appear like genuflexion but is actually just from the sheer effort involved in lifting his head.
He has so much of everything he has in the ritual that when he registers the footsteps - the heavy, human footsteps coming down the corridor it feels like there's literally nothing he can do. He couldn't stop if he tried, not without severely hurting himself and possibly the cat in the process, so he carries on, shoving the growing fear right down into himself, and forcing it into power itself. Whoever it is - he can't fight them like this, he can't even wield his own power, so he has to hope that he can take Zhao's source of power down with him.
In the corner of his vision he sees the feet enter, recognises Xie's house socks somehow, and in a split second, Kevin knows he's dead, knows that this man in particular has just been waiting for a reason to stab Kevin in the chest. And for a second he's resigned to it.
Then Xie falls to his knees, the blade Kevin was expected in his flesh is clattering to the ground, and for another moment Kevin panics because he has no idea what's going on.
Struggling, he pushes himself up to his knees, feeling weak and tired and like he'd throw up if his stomach hadn't been well and truly emptied in the past hour, and he finally looks at Xie properly, sees the confusion in his face, and realises that the sensation in his chest is a pull that means the ritual actually worked.
Which means...
The realisation hits him, and he sighs at his own idiocy.
"Scorpion," he says finally. "Xie."
Ross even said it in the first few weeks of the investigation.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2023-10-15 10:55 am (UTC)He has so much of everything he has in the ritual that when he registers the footsteps - the heavy, human footsteps coming down the corridor it feels like there's literally nothing he can do. He couldn't stop if he tried, not without severely hurting himself and possibly the cat in the process, so he carries on, shoving the growing fear right down into himself, and forcing it into power itself. Whoever it is - he can't fight them like this, he can't even wield his own power, so he has to hope that he can take Zhao's source of power down with him.
In the corner of his vision he sees the feet enter, recognises Xie's house socks somehow, and in a split second, Kevin knows he's dead, knows that this man in particular has just been waiting for a reason to stab Kevin in the chest. And for a second he's resigned to it.
Then Xie falls to his knees, the blade Kevin was expected in his flesh is clattering to the ground, and for another moment Kevin panics because he has no idea what's going on.
Struggling, he pushes himself up to his knees, feeling weak and tired and like he'd throw up if his stomach hadn't been well and truly emptied in the past hour, and he finally looks at Xie properly, sees the confusion in his face, and realises that the sensation in his chest is a pull that means the ritual actually worked.
Which means...
The realisation hits him, and he sighs at his own idiocy.
"Scorpion," he says finally. "Xie."
Ross even said it in the first few weeks of the investigation.