Alex Severo
I barely even saw the fatal flash of lightning before Lana absorbed it all, but I still felt the shaking in my heart as she tumbled to the ground. Ditching Elwood, I sprinted to her, running the fastest I've ever run but still feeling too slow. The muddy ground seemed to try and swallow my footsteps, the slick grass trying to make me fall. The rain suddenly became torrential, like waves violently crashing into me as if to prevent any effort I put into getting to Lana.
An eternity later, I'm finally with her, gently laying her head in my lap as I check her pulse. In the distance, Elwood and Elektra watch with emotionless pupils, totally unfazed by the chain of events. Elektra, who has been back and forth with Lana for years. Elwood, his own daughter. How can both of them be so placid? They've known her far longer than I have, yet, I'm the only one who is in tears and not knowing what to do with myself.
There's the slightest hint of a heartbeat, which gives me hope. "Can you hear me?" I whisper, brushing back the loose strands of black hair from her damp face. Her lip, slightly parted, move as if to say something. "We're going to get you somewhere safe, okay? Nobody is dying today."
Voice drier than the desert and quieter than a mouse, she says, "It's too late."
"No," I negate, furious that she would give up so easily. "No, it's not. Don't say something so ridiculous like that." Craning my head, I shout for the only person who can fix this. "Kya!" I scream. Sarah and Leo watch with ghastly expressions, unsure of what to do with themselves. "Kya, you did this! You fixed Elektra and she did this! Now you have to fix it."
But Kya lays unresponsive to my demands, body limp and propped against Ren, who uses his jacket to shield her from the rain. "She's out cold, Cerberus," Ren tells me. "There's nothing she can do."
"Then wake her up!" I screech, voice ragged and desperate.
"No offense," Ren growls, voice obviously about to offend me. "But even if she wasn't unconscious, why would we save the Reaper? She's been trying to kill us for weeks."
"She's not the Reaper," I explain. "She's still a girl; a human, no different from us. So wake her up. Give her some of your power. Kya would have wanted to save her."
Contemplatively, Ren looks down at Kya, undoubtedly wondering if she really would revive the Reaper. "Kya always surprises us," he says. "I can never be totally sure about what goes on in her mind. But, this once, I think I can confidently say that Kya wouldn't be changing Reaper's fate tonight."
Grimacing, I snarl, "Then you have as much a hand in Lana's death if she dies as Elektra does."
"Then so be it," Ren dismisses.
"It's okay," Lana croaks, shakily reaching over and clasping one of my hands in both of hers. "I always liked the curve of your fingers." Delicately, her finger runs along their sides, outlining every disfigure and unnatural crook. A content smile warms her face, which is becoming dangerously pale. "I'm happy."
For her sake, I manage a smile, as weak as it may be. "How can you be happy?"
"I always feared my death when there was nothing else to think about. I didn't know if my killer would be a relative of one of my victims, or my own father. At one point, I wondered if I'd be the one ending myself." Chortled and strained, she laughs, but ends up in a wheeze. "But I'm glad it ends like this."
My smile falters and I shake my head, leaning down and touching my forehead to hers. Unnervingly, she is extremely cold. "I wish it didn't have to end at all."
"Do me a favor, Alex: don't hold Kya or Elektra accountable for this. It was my choice to save you so you could continue to brighten everyone else's lives. Don't make me regret it."
"Lana, I'm sorry I couldn't help," I apologize, feeling inexplicably guilty.
"You've helped me plenty," she assures, extending her hand and cupping the side of my face. "You helped me gain redemption. For years I've done nothing but bring darkness upon people; darkness and death. All I've done is inflict pain, but sacrificing myself for you is the bright light I leave with. I was born out of an ugly wound of fragmented humanity, but your survival will be the beautiful scar I leave on the world."
I can't hide the brokenness I feel inside, anymore. Unleashing unrestrained sobs, I cry, "You were always beautiful, Lana."
Snorting, her dark brown eyes close and her lips raise into a full smile. "Then you were always blind, Alex."
Like it weighs a ton, her hand drops to her side as a sigh escapes her mouth. Lana's body is nearly white with the lack of blood flow, and as I raise my head from hers, I take her pulse. Devastatingly, there's nothing beating, and I feel my own heart shudder inside my chest. Her eyelids don't flutter open and her lips don't twitch with words she might say. There's no need to shy away from what's just happened. Lana Elwood has died, and the only comfort I take in that, is that she was happy when it occurred.
Gingerly, I lay her head onto the ground. Once this night ends, I'll return and give her the proper sendoff that Lana deserves. Standing up with newfound rage and vengeance, I copy Elektra's power. As my veins become outlined in lightning, glowing in this dreadful night, I call on a lightning streak, greedily accepting it as it plunges into my index and middle fingers.
Snapping out of her lifeless reverie, Elektra jumps into action, repeating my movements. The intensity is so thick that nobody notices a mechanical whirring in the distance, though once we finally acknowledged it, it would be too late.
With both Elektra and I charged up, we shout battle cries, using all of our strength to decimate the other. Because I gained my lightning bolt first, mine flies from my fingertips first. Half a second later, Elektra launches her attack, and the past repeats itself.
Like the first time we dueled in Asylum, our bolts collide, causing an extremely volatile explosion. Only this time, more than Elektra and I are effected by the proximity. Elwood, close to the mix up, also reaps the wrath of Elektra and I. She's thrown in the direction of the city, I'm blasted towards the dojo, and Elwood is launched out west.
Tumbling on the ground as I finally land, I somersault three...four...five times until finally skittering to a halt, back sliding into the ground. Dazed but oriented, I stumble to my feet, hardly able to trot back towards Kya and Co. Things close to me appear in double vision, but far away, I can see perfectly fine.
First, I look to find Elektra, who also clambers her way back. Then, I look for Elwood, whose dark figure limps in the distance, away from us. Speeding up, I brush by Sarah and Leo, but it's Ren who reaches up and snatches the hem of my shirt, making me stop. "Let it end," he insists. "It's over."
"He'll just come back," I assure. "I'm going for him."
"You'll just get yourself killed."
"What do you care?" I snap, ripping my shirt out from his grasp.
Before Ren can respond, there's a fierce gust of wind that tosses loose dirt, broken blades of grass, and pebbles around us. It's as if we're caught in the middle of an impromptu tornado. Covering my eyes with my hands, but parting my fingers just enough to see what's happening, I make out a dark helicopter dropping a ladder, its propeller churning up this ruckus. And latching onto one of the bottom rungs is Elwood, who waves at us as he's lifted into the vehicle.
"No..." I huff under my breath. Then, shouting, "No!"
"Give it a rest!" Ren shouts, stern like an adult lecturing his kids. "He's gone. There's nothing we can do about it."
"Of course we can!" I differ. "Shoot your fire, have Ace gun him down, make Elektra electrocute its motor. Anything!"
As Elwood completely disappears into the cockpit, the helicopter ascends higher into the sky. "It's too far away for us to reach it," Elektra growls behind me, looking as hazy as I'm sure she is. "Besides, Ace went inside the dojo to help monitor those two SD agents a while ago."
"Now what?" I breathlessly inquire.
"It's over," Ren utters, just as the sun begins to peek over the flat horizon of the east. "It's finally over, and just in time for tomorrow."
We all stand or sit in silence, watching as the orange orb marks the dawn of a new day. I look at Lana's body, expecting the brightness to contour the angular bones on her body, but that's when I discover that her body isn't even there. Instead, there's a wide circle of black grass where she once lay. Hope fills my chest as I imagine she somehow managed to save herself and walk away.
Though as soon as it ignites, I extinguish it. She's dead. I took her pulse, discovered nothing, and let her head rest on the earth while her soul left it. Yet, why isn't she there? Nobody moved her body, but...somehow, it isn't there.
Elektra eyes the spot, too, sun showing various wounds and bruising on her lightly tanned skin. Calloused hands pin themselves against her waist as Elektra looks to me. Discretely, she nods, conveying various messages at once. I don't know where it is; I didn't move it; let it be until the impact of last night has worn off.
Exhausted in every way imaginable, I slightly nod. I'll handle this later.
"Let's go inside," Ren softly orders, tenderly lifting Kya up with ease and gazing up at the dojo. "Let's shower, eat, and rest. Once we've all done that and collected our heads, we'll talk."
Sweetly, Leo and Sarah smile at each other, though something seems to have changed between them. Leo seems despairing as he reaches his hand out to Sarah. Sarah, who suddenly seems hesitant to take it. Ren seems to have changed, too; vouching for peace and making sure everyone is calm and safe before he worries about himself. Even Elektra, who is always a bit somber, seems sullen and confused, as if she has questions that need answering but she's no clue where to find them. Not to mention Kya, who grew a backbone or two, unleashing hell on us and being the one to step up to a fight.
Everyone's endured their own kind of transformation except for me. What have I become? What did I keep the same? Or, was I never meant to change, but help others do as such? Lana wanted me to brighten the lives of others, after all. But did she think it would be so easy to radiate such counselling when I don't even know how to council myself after her death? Not to mention, I outwardly attacked the sacred gang of the Asylum convicts. What will they do with me? Will they penalize me for such ruthless acts against them? Will they understand my reasons for behaving in such a way?
Falling far behind the group as they silently walk to the dojo, I look out at the sunrise. Today is a new day, and though I may bathe in the waters of safety at Ren's home, I doubt I'll be able to wash away the events of yesterday. No matter how hard I scrub.