｡･:*:･ﾟ★,"How. did. She. die."｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
｡･:*:･ﾟ★,"You killed her."｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
Riven
"No." The word is foreign and distant to my ears, as though it has come from everywhere and nowhere at once. "No- no. Dolos."
Kat. That's Kat's voice.
I turn, slowly spinning in a circle as my eyes track the carnage left behind. The bodies left where they fell. Kat is kneeling over one.
"Dolos, c'mon. Stay awake." I- no, fuck. Not today. Please don't do this today. I lurch forward, stumbling through the blood and gore towards my friends. "Don't close your eyes, just hold on."
I slump to my knees on Dolos' other side and nearly gag at the long deep gashes across his chest. The way his legs are twisted and broken at unnatural angles. Shaking breaths rattle through my chest as I desperately try to put pressure on the wound.
"Dolos. It's me, Riven. We're going to get you some help." I keep my voice level and smooth, doing my best to project calm security as I take in his foggy eyes and barely there consciousness. "Kat and I are going to bind your wound-"
"No. no." He murmurs, frowning and my heart breaks at the fear in his eyes.
"I know, I know buddy. But you have to fight through the pain-"
"I can't leave him." he desperately whispers. "I can't leave him there alone."
"Dolos?" Kat questions, glancing at me in question to his hysteria.
"I can't leave Sam." He babbles, tears streaking down his face as he reaches a hand out to weakly grab at me. "I won't leave him, not again."
"Then we'll fix you up, get you back to-"
"Riven." Kat interrupts, looking at me through bleary eyes. She waits a moment, glancing back down at Dolos before shaking her head at me as she bites her lips to keep in the tear. Oh Helios. Sam- Sam didn't make it. He- we can't- can't tell Dolos. It'll break him and I need him to keep hanging on.
"We're going to fix you up and get you back to your mate, Okay?" Dolos looks at me, clarity clearing his eyes for a moment and tears drip down my face at the overwhelming grief in his eyes.
"I can't feel my legs Riven." He whispers and by gaze darts down the way he is twisted. "The wound on my chest has been bleeding without clotting for a long time."
He knows.
"Don't waste your resources." Dolos whispers, eyes threatening to roll back as Los fights to stay coherent. "My Sam needs me."
I- I can't just. He can't die. I can't let him die without a fight.
"Wouldn't you want to be with Sky." Los whispers and I start to shake. "Wouldn't Octavia want to join you."
He can't- I can't. What do I-
"Riven." He whispers and I freeze. "It's okay. It's going to be okay. Just let me go."
"No." I whisper. "No-"
"Yes. you can. You can do it."
"Olivia!" I scream as I race through the forest. "Olivia!"
"Riven!" Her feeble voice calls back and I slump to the ground beside her. Burn marks cover her side and I gag at the feeling of her skin peeling off in my hand. "Riv I'm scared."
"It's going to be okay. Just hold on for me."
"We were going to move in together." He whispers and I shake my head. "It was his last year here and he was worried that we wouldn't work out long distance."
Los breaks off into pained chuckles, wincing as the movement jostles his chest.
"It was going to be a surprise. I asked Silva if I could complete my fourth year qualifications early and- and then." He breaks into a cough, blood spilling down his lip that Kat quickly wipes away with her sleeve. "Then- I, we- were house hunting. He has terrible taste but there was this- this one beautiful townhouse with a bright red door that I- I just fell in love with it."
He pauses as though he could see it, a gentle smile on his face.
"Sam loved it too but it was above our price range. I- I got a loan, Tavi helped me, from the royal bank. We- I put down a deposit the other d- day." Black blood spills down his lips. It won't be long now. "I was going to surprise him... in a- a few days' time. I-it's his bir-birthday."
"You're going to have that life, Los." I whisper fervently. Leaning closer to him as his voice wanes and eyes begin to close. "You and Sam are going to go away for a while, to a nice place. You both fought so bravely that you deserved a holiday, a respite from the war. It's that beach house on the coast, the one from the stories. The wind is so gentle and calm but the salty smell of the sea is always there. You loved it at first but after two weeks you were missing the inland."
"That and the sand kept getting in all your clothes." I whisper humorously. "You and Sam spent hours and hours at the beach, some days just lazing around and others spent surfing or exploring rock pools. The water was crystal clear and warm, you could see straight to the bottom at the golden sand. It's so pure and clean, nothing like anything else you've ever seen but- "
His breath comes in short pants but I can see the small smile on his face as Los' eyes close.
"But what?" He rasps and I wouldn't have heard him had I been human.
"But your favourite part was going back home." My voice breaks and I swallow back tears, desperate to finish the story in time. "Sam is confused because you've not taken the normal route back to your house but you just smile and ask him to trust you. He does. He always has. The sun is setting by the time you reach the small lane of town house, the dusk light illuminating each carefully painted door. Sam looks at you with tears in his eyes, he knows, he knows what you did and the laugh that bubbles out of him-" Los's smile widens one last time and I know he can hear it. " 'We're home, aren't we Los.' He whispers. 'We're finally home.' "
Kat breaks into smothered sobs as she turns away, and I shakily put down Dolos' hand as his chest stops rising. Tears drip down my cheeks and for once I don't feel rage, just grief.
｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
Beatrix
"Octavia, Andreas should have arrived with the specialists. I recommend heading back to the school and helping your sister maintain control." Rosalind commands, there's no situation where she would ever make a request, recommendation or advice that wasn't an order.
"A deal first." Octavia states and I look at her in surprise. Now? She wants to argue this now. "Irene is pregnant, we all know you want the child and I have an alternative."
"Oh." Rosalind mocks, power burning in her eyes. "I felt that child's power from within the stasis, do you really think I would let go of it so easily? Especially when we all know that the baby isn't strong enough to survive. It would be a waste."
"Or," Tavi states as she puts on a brave face to hide the fear I can see. "You turn the babe into one of us, like you did with Bea and I. We were destined to die at birth, you saved us, do the same for Irene's baby."
"And why should I waste resources on that?"
"Because I shifted into a full fairy, Beatrix can most likely do the same. We will give you a kernel of power-"
"The wings." Rosalind states, hunger alight in her eyes. "I want a pair of fairy wings for my experiments. I don't care if they're yours or Beatrix's or even someone else's if the thought terrifies you too much."
"Deal." I state, without hesitation.
Octavia glares at me. The old legends state that when a fairy loses their wings they also lose their minds but if that is what it takes to save that sweet innocent babe, especially after Ellie- I can't, I can't let that happen again. Even if it means forcing that child to endure what we had to.
Rosalind stares at Tavi, waiting for her to leave but my sister doesn't move. Her glare fixated on Rosalind's throat.
"I need to speak with Beatrix." A dismissal.
Tavi looks to me for permission to leave. I glance at Rosalind, seeing how she watches me with raised brows as she awaits my judgement. I nod and Tavi races off back into the school. Rosalind is still charging up at the circle but jerks her head to the side in a gesture for me to come closer.
"I will tell you what happened the night Ricki died." Rosalind hums and my whole world stops. "But I want something in return. I think you know what I want."
I swallow heavily. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea but if it works, then he could be an infallible soldier.
"I tested all of your experimental data. " I begin, refusing to look at Rosalind as I stare into the darkness of the forest. "There's a specific blood strain that works best for your Dumaris experiments. It's why some are more successful than others."
"And?"
A tear slips down my face."I found you the perfect specimen. Full blooded Dumaris, rare. Not a single impurity in the DNA. It's not available for you to experiment on in person, too high profile and in the media. Not to mention hard to bring down but I can get you their blood."
"How many of them did you find?"
I hesitate. "Two and a potential."
"Then I will accept my new toy." I can hear her smirk and my eyes flutter closed. "You girls were going to sneak out, you told Lykos it was just for a girls night out but I had my suspicions that you were going to run. Try and build a better life for you and the babe. Octavia made the mistake of telling Lykos and not Andreas the plan, Andreas would do anything to help you but Lykos- he was Tavi's friend at that point, her brother, but he was still loyal to the crown and Luna was not pleased with her daughters plot to ruin one of my experiments."
We were betrayed. He turned us in. That fucker got my mate killed-
"The Blood witches I worked with had been attempting to control the Burned Ones. You see, the Burned Ones were once soldiers, fairies and dumaris who fought against the witches thousands of years ago. The Blood witches were more powerful then and they had access to a certain fairy, one that possessed the dragon flame. Needless to say, when they tried to combine the dragon flame and blood witch magic they fucked up and now we have Burned Ones."
They were once people, they were like us and now- she doesn't- she's not trying to recreate is-
"The Blood Witches wanted to test their control over the creatures, I wanted my girls back. Seemed like a win win. Three Burned Ones, you could have defeated them but you allowed yourself to be ruled by fear and as a result the stress and panic put you into early labour. Ricki of course protected you to the very end,taking blow after blow as she fended off those Burned Ones."
"Did you know that was when Stella first discovered her healing powers. She stayed by your side and helped you through the labour, kept you and the babe safe. Tavi as you would expect was on a killing spree to keep you all safe - that part wasn't a lie."
"How. did. She. die." I grind out.
"That bit is more complicated." She tuts, pointing a finger at me. "Your babe was one of the most powerful creatures in existence. A Blood Witch helped me body jump so my consciousness could be in the fight while my body remained in stasis."
"It was no hard task to absorb your baby's power."
I crumble to my knees.
"You killed her."
"I did."
"Baby's are made entirely of power and magic and she hadn't been born yet so it was like... taking candy from a babe."
"You killed her." I whisper, looking down at my trembling hands. "You killed her."
"Stella tried to stop me of course, so did Ricki. One little shield from me had Stella's bolt of power reflecting into Ricki's chest."
"You took everything from me." I mutter as I hear the lighting stop crackling as Rosalind takes enough power. "I am going to take everything from you."
"Love made you weak-"
"It made me stronger." I roar. Glaring up at her as I slowly rise to my feet. "If you think there is any scenario where I let you hurt those that I love, you are insane. I will kill you before that happens."
"No." Rosalind states and I look up to where she stands before me. "You won't get the chance."
White hot pain explodes through my neck.
I can-can't think around the pain. Desperately clawing at my power to save me but a gurgled choke escapes me as my power drains from my body. I'm going to die- I'm going to die. Oh Helios- no.no. no.
Relax, sweet one. You will be with Ellie and Ricki again.
My power explodes out, flying far and wide into the atmosphere as I swing for Rosalind's throat but-
A/N: Sorry?