The Bringing of The Blood Wars

Truths and Burdens

The first night had passed. Thea was asleep in the cave her and Atticus had claimed. Thea tried to avoid the dark thoughts that entered her mind.

She constantly fought the idea that her and Atticus went around and killed innocent girls last night. She knew it had to be done but that didn't mean it didn't sting. In total Atticus now had 4 kills. Thea had none. She let Atticus do the killing. She just kept her hand over their mouth. None of the boys woke up. Thea didn't know if Atticus killed Nova. She hoped they didn't. Adonis needed all the help he could get.

Thea woke as a ray of sunlight shone through her eyelids.
Her face frowned and her eyes fluttered open. The sun blinded her. She put her hand up to block the sun.
"Otten and Wessa are both dead." Atticus said as he walked towards her.
Thea shifted so she could see his face, "How do you know?" she asked.
"Their bodies are laying the the middle of the valley. They've been there all morning. Someone drug them out there last night."
"So 2 plus the 4 from last night that's atleast 6. Only-" "only 16 people left." Atticus interrupted her.
The moment of silence began. Neither of them knew what to say. The way they were talking about these children dying was not natural. To Thea it felt almost a sin to talk about it. To Atticus, his feelings for them were still there yet he could spit it out over the lump in his throat.
"Do you want to sleep for a while?" Thea asked him.
"No." Atticus said and turned back around.
Thea wasn't going to argue with him this time. She knew his reason and she didn't was to push him.
"So what do we do now?" Thea asked him.
"We stay alive." He while staring at the mouth of the cave with his cold eyes. Like he was waiting for someone to come running in at him.
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Thea's stomach grumbled. Atticus laying against the cave wall heard her stomach.
"I'm going to find some type of food." Thea said as she began to stand up.
"There's nothing out there to eat." Atticus said.
"How do you-" "I've looked and listened. No living thing chooses to come down here." He said.
Thea could tell Atticus was hungry. The placement of his hand on his stomach told her.
"We'll i'm going to look." She told him.
Thea walked outside of the cave. She looked around and all she saw was trees. The sunlight leaked through the treetops.

Thea walked around the edge of the valley. She stayed quiet, listening for chirping or rustling. But like Atticus had told her, there was nothing to hear. Thea sank to the ground. She brought her knees to her chest.
Her brown boots were dusty. Her new dress that her mother had made looked 5 years old. The baby blue fabrics had dirt smashed into them. The white hem of her dress was covered in blood and dirt. Blood stained her fingernails. Thea's long brown hair began to curl at the ends. The braid her mother did in her hair, to pull back the pieces by her face, was falling out.
Thea's hands supported her face as her head hung.
"Oh mother!" She cried out. "What has happened to me?" Tears began to form in her eyes.
Thea felt Atticus's presence near here. He slowly sat down beside her. He didn't speak. He sat and listened to her cries.
He felt her pain. Even though he knew what she was thinking he still had no words to say to her. He didn't know how to make her pain go again. His own pain was still lingering. Every time he took a life he felt another brick added to his stack of burden. He didn't want Thea to start her stack.
"A wise person once said that whatever happens in the valley doesn't matter. It's not real." Atticus said trying to lift her spirits. Slowly trying to take small bricks off of her back.
Thea's tear stained face looked up at his chiseled one. His cold eyes pierced her soul. "But I killed them before the war. I killed them like they werent humans. I slit her throat!" Thea began to raise her voice as more tears formed. To Thea, saying it out loud made it all real.
"That's apart of the war. It's doesn't matter. You cant blame yourself for that." Atticus got quiet real quick.
"You can blame me." He said.
Thea looked at him with a scared look on her face. She realized he was the reason he was sitting here. He was the reason she had to kill those girls.

But then it hit her, It wasn't his fault that he had to pick 5 girls just to watch them die. He didn't have the choice not to. He was forced to compete just like her and Adonis.

"It's not your fault. Your forced to compete just like Adonis. If i'm being honest, I should thank you." Thea said.
Atticus snapped his neck towards her.
The confusion on his face forced Thea to explain.
"If you hadn't picked me, I wouldn't be able to help Adonis. So thank you." She said.

Atticus didn't say 'your welcome' it felt wrong just thinking about saying it.

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The pair sat for awhile until Atticus had a dying question he had to ask his partner.
"Why did you say if Adonis is alive then your dead?"
"what?" Thea asked caught off guard by his question.
"You said that earlier on the way here." he explained.
"Oh." Thea thought about the question and then about her answer. "I knew that if one of us made it out it should be a Adonis. I knew that even if i won I probably- " she cut herself off.
"Finish." He said sternly.
"I probably wouldn't be alive much longer." She glanced at him quickly and then back towards the ground.
"I'm not going to kill you Theadosia." He grumbled.
"I just figured you would. Like you did Lilith." She said shyly.
"I didn't kill Lilith for fun. She attacked me. She wanted to rule the Kingdom by herself. We'll her mother wanted her to. I simply defended myself."
Thea was relieved. "Why didn't you tell people that?" She asked.
"They never would've believed me over Lilith's mother. So why try?" He said was watching the trees move.
Atticus took the blame of Lilith's death. He carried the burden of all of the 11 deaths in the war. But under all the death was just a boy who wanted to keep his life.
Sympathy for her partner returned. Thea tried to shoo it away yet it stayed.

Thea's stare softened as she looked at Atticus.
The two burdened teenagers sat on the edge of the Valley with their hearts full of sympathy. Not for themselves but for each other.