"Put me down! Now!" Acacia thrashed in Maximus's hold, her voice raw with panic. He held her firm, his expression unyielding.
Zephyra swayed as she rose, her movements slow and deliberate with her hand holding her abdomen that pulsed with dark blood.
She met their eyes, her own filled with a weary resolve. "I was afraid you were with Elric. I'm glad... I'm glad I was wrong." She paused, wincing slightly. "But I can't go with you. I'd only slow you down."
"That's not true!" Acacia's struggle intensified, her voice rising. "Jahir can stitch you! Jahir, say something!" She strained to see him, but Jahir's focus remained fixed on Bella, his grip tight and his jaw clenched.
"You should find Kel and hide somewhere safe. Protect yourselves and always live to see tomorrow." Zephyra slowly walked towards them, a group of purple wolves with green horns were walking towards them in a slow manner.
"Stop talking like that..." Bella croaked out and sobbed against Jahir's shoulder.
"We can fight them off! We can fight." Acacia suggested and thrashed against his hold.
"No," Zephyra said, her voice firm despite its tremor. "You've all done enough. You're injured, exhausted. Let me protect my family...one last time." She moved to Bella, her touch feather-light as she kissed her forehead. Then, she turned to Jahir, pressing a tender kiss to his brow. She approached Edwin, limp in Maximus's arms, and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. Maximus grunted, a low, mournful sound, and bowed his head. Zephyra smiled, a bittersweet curve of her lips, and kissed his forehead as well. Finally, she reached Acacia, who shook her head vehemently. Zephyra kissed her forehead regardless, but as she pulled away, Acacia's fingers tightened on her arm, a desperate plea.
"Please....if you leave me....I can't handle it... please...please..." Acacia sobbed with a pleading gaze. Zephyra smiled and forcefully removed Acacia's grip from her arm.
"Take care, little lady." Zephyra backed away from them and sent a nod towards Maximus and Jahir. Maximus and Jahir hesitated before they both turned around and ran away.
"Zephyra! No, Zephyra!" Acacia's screams were raw, desperate. "Maximus, put me down!" She raked her claws across his back, but he remained a granite wall. Acacia's gaze snapped to the advancing wolf horde, their eyes glinting with predatory hunger as they closed in on Zephyra. Zephyra began her transformation, her form shifting into the powerful silhouette of a lioness. But something was terribly wrong. Her face contorted in a mask of agonizing madness, her hands clutching at her head as if to contain a raging storm within. The wolves surged forward, and Zephyra unleashed a primal fury. Her attacks were savage, brutal, tearing and rending flesh with animalistic ferocity. A guttural roar ripped from her throat, a sound of pure, untamed rage. Despite the crimson stain spreading across her abdomen, she fought on, a creature driven by a desperate, broken instinct. She had a small smile on her face as the wolves attacked her and buried her in a swarm of fangs and claws.
"Zephyra...." Acacia saw her figure grow smaller and smaller. Her body felt weak and numb as Maximus and Jahir ran to find shelter. The once bustling traders market was a shadow of its former self.
Maximus and Jahir burst into the dilapidated building, slamming the door shut and bracing it against the pursuing howls. Maximus gently lowered Acacia and Edwin to the dusty floor, while Jahir carefully positioned Bella against the crumbling wall. Bella's gaze remained fixed on the empty space where her left leg had been, her expression a mask of stunned grief.
Jahir's extra spider limbs moved with frantic precision. He spat a thick, glistening strand of webbing, weaving it into a makeshift bandage around the stump of Bella's leg, desperately trying to staunch the bleeding. He then turned to Edwin, his movements gentler, meticulously wrapping Edwin's injured eye with a delicate web dressing. Finally, he approached Maximus, whose arms bore the angry, blackened marks of burns. Jahir's webs swathed the injured limbs, a silent testament to the brutal fight they had just endured.
"You okay?" Jahir turned to Acacia but she had a blank expression on her face devoid of any emotion while staring at the ceiling.
"Don't act like you're the only one who cares!" Bella spat, her eyes blazing. "You knew her for a few months. I've known Zephyra for years. You can't even begin to comprehend my pain! You hid things from us! What are you, Acacia? A monster disguised as a human?" Bella's words were a challenge, a dare. Acacia's response was cold and immediate. She crossed the distance between them and struck Bella, the sound of impact sharp in the silence.
"Girls!" Jahir yelled at them but Maximus placed a hand on Jahir to stop him.
"Monster, you say? Maybe I am," Acacia snarled. "But thank the gods I kept my mouth shut, because you'd have spilled every secret to your boyfriend before the day was out! I owe you nothing, Bella. My life, my secrets. If I want to keep them, I will." She seized Bella's collar, her grip tight. Bella's hands shot up, locking onto Acacia's wrists, a desperate struggle beginning.
"That was not my fault! No one would've known that Elric was working with Flow!!" Bella spoke through tears, a bruise forming on her cheek. Acacia glared down at her for a moment, her mix of emotions swirled inside her before she released her hold on Bella. She retreated down the shadowed corridor of the abandoned house, the heavy door thudding shut behind her, sealing her within the silence.
"What a mess..." Jahir sighed and ran his fingers through his white hair.
Acacia looked around the room, it was incredibly dusty with mold on the walls, moss by the windows and a very dusty, worn out bed. The room seemed incredibly familiar, she stepped further into the room and went to the closet. She opened it and several little cockroaches escaped from the disturbance. She saw a bunch of dirty shirts and tops that looked strangely familiar. A black suit, its elegant lines now obscured by a layer of fine dust, hung forlornly on a hanger. The pristine white shirt within, now a canvas of greenish-yellow stains and age spots, whispered of a forgotten time.
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She saw a paper peeking out from the breast pocket and gently removed it. She stepped away from the closet and unfolded the paper, a small golden pendant fell out to the ground. She bent down to pick it up and saw the initial 'C & M' on it.
'This is the pendant Mirkil bought for Christine for our graduation...he saved a lot of money for this....' Acacia thought to herself as the forgotten memories rose up again. Her eyes grew blurry as she realized she was in Mirkil's room. She leaned against the wall and slumped to the ground.
"I hate this world..." Acacia choked out, her voice thick with unshed tears. She stared at the frost-etched window, blurring the already indistinct cityscape. "Why can't everything just perish?" The weight of it all, the sheer, crushing weight, pressed down on her. "Why do I have to go through this?"
She could remember the first time she met Christine at middle school. Acacia didn't have any friends because she didn't want people to use her because of her family. Christine was the first honest person she met in a long while, she never had to worry about being hurt or used. Mirkil entered her life a year later, he was quite the delinquent and caused trouble unnecessarily. He changed because of Christine and protected Acacia from those who tried to bully her because she didn't have any magical abilities. Her mother never approved of them but Acacia didn't care about her mother's opinion at that point in her life.
Lost in the labyrinth of her memories, Acacia's lips curved into a soft smile and new tears fell on her cheeks. Unconsciously, the very walls around her began to respond, dark vines unfurling and climbing, a tangible manifestation of her inner world. White flowers, their tips stained a haunting red, bloomed amidst the darkness, a strange and unsettling beauty. Her grip on the pendant tightened, a silent plea for connection.
Bella POV
"Acacia, we've got food," Bella called, her voice laced with a forced cheerfulness. "We found some wild foxes. Kel already started to eat, so come on before he eats it all." She held the plate out, her eyes fixed on the door, the same door that had stubbornly refused to open for fourteen days. The weight of the untouched plate grew heavier in her hands, her concern deepening with each passing moment.
"Zephyra won't be happy if she knows you aren't eating anything." Bella looked down at her missing left leg while using the makeshift crutches that Jahir made for her. Her gaze turned to the rotten food on an old plate, a food that was once fresh three days ago but grew stale.
Bella turned around and sighed as she left the corridor. It was hard getting used to a missing leg. It didn't feel real, sometimes she dreamed that her leg was back to normal but unfortunately that was just a dream.
"How long are those two going to be depressed for?" Kel asked while cleaning the kitchen. Bella stared at Kel, his face was more scarred than before, a consequence for overusing his abilities. Maximus found him a week ago hidden in an abandoned car.
"I don't know, she won't even respond." Bella sighed and placed the plate of food on the counter. She glanced at Edwin's hunched form by the corner of the living room. Soft green and lavender feathers, whispers of his former composure, lay scattered around him. His hands, trembling slightly, continued their nervous plucking, the faint rustle the only sound. His lavender-blue hair, usually vibrant, now lay dull and disheveled, obscuring his hidden face.
'He couldn't handle it when he found out Zephyra died saving him. At first, he didn't act like it affected him that much but as the days passed so did the growth of his feathers and then he became that...' Bella shook her head and looked up at the ceiling. 'What would Zephyra do? She would probably cheer them up by carrying them or hugging them until they smile.'
"Gods, I'm scared," Kel breathed, his movements halting. He couldn't bring himself to finish cleaning. "They're... they're not the same. Edwin's... I don't know, shattered? And Acacia," he trailed off, his gaze drifting. "That silence... it's like she's vanished." He finally met Bella's eyes. "Did you know about Elric? Is that why you asked me about him?"
"I....well, yes I knew but I wasn't completely sure." Bella stuttered as she replied.
"....I could blame you but that would be a temporary satisfaction for my anger." Kel shrugged and sat down on the counter. Maximus was by the front door, guarding it while Jahir was asleep on the floor.
'It feels like the light in everyone has disappeared....' Bella stared at everyone and then looked down at her missing left leg. 'Why, Elric? Why this deception?' A bitter laugh escaped her lips. 'Even when I saw him him in that Flow armor, my mind refused to accept it. My heart, foolishly, clung to the hope that somewhere, deep down, he was still one of us. Then… then I lost my leg. And the truth, cold and sharp, finally pierced through. I wasn't just fooled. I was a fool. And I was never loved. Never.'
"We can't just sit around like this..." Bella moved her crutches towards Edwin's hunched form and knelt down on the ground. She placed her hand on his stopping him from plucking his feathers any further. "Edwin....it's not your fault. You can't keep hurting yourself like this!"
Edwin slowly lifted his head and stared at her with his good eye. "My hands... they're clean. Too clean." He stared at them, as if expecting to see the stain of his cowardice. "I don't deserve this. I can still hear them... and I did nothing. I failed. They shouldn't have... they shouldn't have given me this. I'm not strong enough to carry it." Edwin said in a low voice, more feathers grew out of his skin and shielded his body.
'Who is they? Have someone done this before... for him?' Bella thought as she looked at him and shook her head. "Zephyra didn't sacrifice herself for us to be like this! I want the idiot that I always knew!" Bella snapped at him but Edwin showed no signs of responsiveness.
"You are all unfair!! So unfair! Do you think I'm not hurt as well....but we have to move on whether we like it or not...we have to live to see tomorrow..." Bella's voice cracked as she remembered Zephyra's words. Her hand slowly dropped from his. Jahir roused from his sleep at the sound and stared at Bella's back with a tired expression on his face.
"Edwin... you were given a chance. Let's make the best use of that chance, we all make mistakes in life but no one said we can't correct them." Kel walked towards Edwin and stretched out his hand. Edwin looked at his hand, like he was afraid to touch it, afraid to face his past.
Bella watched both of them with a hopeful gaze. Edwin slowly took his hand and stood up to his feet, numerous feathers fell to the ground. He turned towards Bella and helped her up to her feet, giving her the crutches to assist herself.
"I would've preferred it if you guys left me alone and ignored my existence." Edwin sighed and sat back down on the ground, resting against the wall.
'No! Don't go back—' Bella's eyes widened at the sight of him sitting back down on the ground.
"I'm fine...I just need to rest and think." Edwin replied as if he could sense her inner turmoil. Maximus let out a grunt of approval and smiled brightly at the sight while guarding the door.
"Now, we have to get the most difficult one." Kel looked at the door at the far end of the corridor and everyone turned their gaze towards it.
'Is she alright? Look at me behaving like a hypocrite after calling her a monster.' Bella also turned her gaze towards the door with a concerned expression on her face.