The Faults in Us (completed)

33~ Death

We were at the scene in seconds. Vamp set me down and we carefully made our way over to the slumped kneeling figure in the middle of a sea of bodies and blood. It reminded me of my vision with Vamp... but this didn't have a cause. This was a slaughter for nothing. People scattered, we were the only ones left in the middle battlefield. 

'Athena,' I said, my voice shaky, 'your fight is with me. Leave innocent souls out of this.' The figure slowly lifted its head. The sun was starting to set, and the shadows made her look even scarier. I could not believe this was a person I had once known, someone I had once bonded with.

 'You...' she lowly growled, 'you're right.' I don't know what happened then. I was staring at crazed eyes right in front of me and I was being choked. Even Vamp was too surprised to react, but he threw her off me with force after a second. She crashed into the ground a few meters away. 

'Is this how you repay a friend trying to help you?' she whispered. It was extremely soft, but I heard it. 'You kill her lover... the one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Who knew the battle of the Prophecy would be between us?' she got to her feet. 

'What now, Vamp?' I asked him through a mindlink. I was internally panicking, this was bad. I had no idea what she would do next or what I should do to stop her. 

'She's not done yet,' he replied, 'she might go on a rampage. I know you're in no condition to stop her, but we both have to find a way to... put her out of commission. Or it will end in blood.' I pursed my lips. I knew it would all end in blood.

'Oh, trying to defeat me, I see,' Athena mused. 'It won't be so easy. This is my final act.' 

'Athena,' I said, my tone reasonable, 'stop this. We used to be best friends. Let's sit down and talk this out. We're both exhausted.' Right now, I just wanted to stop whatever she was about to do without hurting her or anyone else. But of course, that wasn't going to happen. 

She laughed. It started out as a low chuckle, but became louder and more maniacal as the seconds passed. It was the only thing you could hear on the deathly silent battlefield except dripping blood. 

'You think we can talk about this? ' she said, 'no. No, no, no. How about, I show you exactly what I can do to someone who takes away my purpose to live.'

 I swallowed. She was past the stage of reasoning. For the first time, I had no idea how to deal with her, or what she would do next. My best friend was long gone. In front of me stood a monster with no feelings, a person who didn't care about the consequences anymore. 

And that terrified me. 

She started to glow with blue flames again. 'Prepare yourself,' Vamp said, 'for everything.' I knew what he meant, but didn't want to accept it. 

Instead of charging at us, she threw her hands forward and muttered a spell. To my surprise, Vamp flew towards her and was blasted back. They were in contact for barely a second, but Athena was grinning like crazy. I was confused, what just happened. But Vamp looked back at me, shock on his face. 

I ran towards him, not knowing what was going on. But barely a second later, I realized. 

The dagger. 

The weapon lethal to Vamp. 

She had taken it. 

I don't know how she knew, but she had it now. 

I shielded him just as she thew it. 

I felt it go right through me, but it didn't even graze Vamp. 

Smiling, I fell face first into the ground. My eyes fluttered close. 

The last thing I heard before I died for the second time was the pained yell of a man who had seen countless deaths, but still considered me his daughter. 

^^^^