Alagretto
"No Aly. You musn't do this. I can't watch you get hurt." Riza walked right up to Nature, "how could you even dare to fight my friends when they have never done anything against you? You’re sick, filthy, psycho bitch!"
"You took away my home, my family, you hurt my friends, and now you've hurt me. That is it! That was the last straw. When you hurt my boyfriend's sister and my best friend, you've gone way too far!" I've never seen those two so mad. All the sudden the room bursts into complete chaos and fighting remises. It was too hard telling who was friend and who was foe. I once almost took off Katelyn's head.
That is, until time froze. Everyone was frozen in the room. Nobody could move.
Riza's eyes flashed around with fear. It looked like she was having a panic attack while being frozen there. I wanted to comfort her, however I couldn't even move. Everyone's eyes did the talking. Riza was just thrilled to be against Nature again. Aly looked ready to claw someone's head off—and then some.
A voice soon boomed through the room, echoing off the walls and shaking the room, "Who dares offset destiny and fate and using powers I bestowed upon the Guardians?" A figure steps out of the shadows of the room. We couldn't make out who it was, however they had glowing eyes. We were all released to bow down to whoever it was. We all were forced to bow—all except Riza that is. She was still frozen. After we bowed, I quickly ran to get Riza. She was released into my arms.
"I assumed my message was clear enough the first time through, however it seems you all are much more naïve and stupider than I thought. Nature and Time, your duty is coming to an end. You have very little time left before you both will be replaced. You best prepare your realms before they are destroyed from this new reaction. Miss Riza as they call you; your duty is to take on Nature and Time alone. No one else must touch them but you and your brother. With that, Charza is mine." They reached out their hand and Charza was ripped from Alicia's hands and flew through the air right into this crazy person's hand. He then glared at Riza. I could feel myself starting to sweat. Riza tightened her grip on me. "And Miss Riza, those scars were burnt in your skin for a reason. Pity you shall disobey. Thus forth" they extended his other hand and shot Riza back, out of my grasp and into the wall. She fell to the floor coughing, and in utter pain for there were tears strolling down her face.
"Geeze, can't y'all stop destroying my apartment?" Dimitri rubbed his head. "I didn't wanna come back here, and I thought Nada took care of my psycho-ex."
"I took care of neither of your psycho-ex's, if you still count Riza at that." Nada wasn't wearing a shirt and looked like he just crawled out of a coffin. His eyes looked like he was about ready to lose it. Alicia was wearing his hoodie. Wonder how she managed that.
"Melodramatic, now aren't we?" The dark figure sounded as if they were cocky. March reloaded and unlocked. "You all talk too much—"
"I don't know who you are..." Riza somehow managed to stand on her own and wipe the blood from her nose, "but I know one thing, and that is I HATE YOU!" She managed to sprint up to the shaded figure, catching them off guard. Riza took a good swing at them, wounding their left side, before they threw her off. She flew backwards landing on her feet, smirking, "amateur." Then she ran right back again.
Whoever it was, they were prepared more for her this time. While Riza managed to dodge the first of their attacks, and counter-act their attack, they were able to attack her and slam her back through the wall into the wall of the bedroom. She slammed into the wall; then fell into the flat-screen TV, knocking both it and herself of the table it was on onto the floor. She didn't get up that time. Blood started to fill the floor beneath her though.
The dark figure spoke once more, "disobey me again and you'll all end up like her." It then disappeared leaving nothing behind. However, somehow it reminded me of Rilla.
"Hai-YA!" Aly slammed down on Time, finishing him off. She had previously finished Nature off with the help of Cleo and Damien. We won against Nature and Time—or well, Aly won. Aly stood still with Time's head in a headlock, "I told you it was my fight."
Dimitri walked over and hugged and kissed her. All the typical after battle-stuff. They finally made up. It was so nice to see them together again. Oh, how I missed them being together. It’s just not the same when they fight.
The other two guardians were taken care of by Cleo and Damien, with the help of Nada taking out Dimitri's Psycho-ex for the second time.
Now that they were all taken care of, I ran over to Riza, lifting her from the heap on the floor.
I don’t know why but I ended up shouting at her, "Riza...Riza! Are you okay?!"
She managed to open her eyes and cough up blood in my face. She noticed quickly but couldn't do anything. She started coughing again, faced my pants. Better than my face I guess. Her hair was matted and her clothes stained. She went through a wall, but I didn’t think it would do this much damage…she must have been thrown hard. I held her up in my grasp before she fell limp. She somehow managed to half pick herself up with my help and guidance.
"'Feel… like crap..." She managed to somehow make out. She was becoming cold real fast; however, she did whatever she could to smile.
"Cleo!" I shouted.
Cleo ran through the hole in the wall, rather than the doorway, and slid to her knees by us. "Cleo’s here to help!" Cleo tried using her powers, but almost nothing happened. Was Riza too hurt?
Dimitri and Aly walked over. Dimitri didn't look thrilled, "that's because that was Destiny. Riza fought Destiny. We can't heal Destiny's wounds."
“But it felt like Rilla. You can’t tell me that wasn’t Rilla!”
Aly dropped right down next to me, "Riza..."
"...Tired..." Riza choked out.
I shake my head, "no no no you can't be tired! You just were calling people Amateurs about a minute ago!"
Riza managed to smile and say a few final words before she fell completely limp and unconscious, “’Gretto…I…love…you.”
“Riza I’m going to get you help right now!”
The door to the apartment broke down and was flooded with men. Dimitri was shouting at them, but they didn't seem to get the clue with so many people in the place injured and afraid.
"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" Aly shouted finally. Everyone got silent. You could only hear breathing. Everyone was too afraid of what Aly may do next. She did slay Nature and Time single-handed. They were distracted, but that was all part of the battle.
I looked up to Aly, "do something! Riza!"
Aly glared at Dimitri, "tell 'em Riza needs help!"
Dimitri translated and soon I found us all running across the streets to the base hospital. Escorted even. They wanted to take Riza from me. I just couldn't let them. She was everything to me—to us.
When we arrived they took Riza from me and laid her out on a stretcher. I tried to run after them but was stopped.
"Riza!"
Cleo
"Cleo couldn't do anything...Cleo failed..." I cried. We all were crowding the waiting room. We looked like a crazy band of misfits. None of us really looked like we belonged together. We had different clothes—different styles—all looked different. Half of us spoke several different languages.
I curled myself up into a ball, hugging my knees in close. I tucked my chin in and used my knees to rest my forehead on as I bawled out on the chair. Why did I fail?
Damien rubbed my shoulders, "it's alright; none of us could've done anything. We can't do anything. It's all up to Riza now."
Two doctors approach us, "alright, may I acquire your names?" The one on the right said as he eyes us from left to right. He looked rather young. Perhaps happy he got to treat a girl as good-looking as Riza for once instead of men.
The one on the left stops him, "it cannot be: the red-head right there! Is she the missing princess Cleopatra from—?”
"Huh?" I looked up, doing whatever it took for my face not to turn the color of my hair, "what are you talking about?"
"I'm her brother, is she okay?!" Dimitri let go of Aly and bolted up. They knew who he was. Obviously. However I bet they didn’t know he had a sister.
They both looked back and forth with long looks, "and who are all these people?"
I scanned the room for Alagretto. He was curled up in a ball on a seat in a corner. I don't know what was going through his head, but his face told a different story.
Dimitri looked at the doctor and said something only Aly and Riza could say, “they’re our family. We may not look it but we’re one big family.”
“And how is that?”
“Cousins!” Aly stated the first thing that came out of her mouth.
Alagretto soon noticed the doctors and ran up to them, "please tell me she's alright. Please tell me she's alright!" He demanded, almost screaming. I never had seen him like this. He never broke before. Not like this anyway. When we lost March he was upset, not about to strangle the first person in sight who was going to tell him anything about Riza.
March ran away from her convo with a sniper and put her hand on Al's shoulder, "you need to Relax. Getting stressed out only makes things worse; we can’t have that right now."
“She promised me she wouldn’t die on us. She can’t be gone.”
The two doctors didn't know what to say, until Nada came up to them. He whispers something in their ears before saying, "well isn't it getting a little darker in here?"
He learned that one from Riza.
The doctors soon come to a statement. We all rush up to listen. We sit around them on the floor like a class of kindergarteners listening to story time. "She's lost a significant amount of blood and her temperature is slowly declining. She is responding to treatments but she needs something else. Dimitri, if we could speak to your parents—"
"There isn't time!" Dimitri snapped, "We'll do anything you need. We're here and we need her." He didn’t want to admit the fact that nobody knew if they still existed or if what happened in the dream world that seems like it went on years ago was true.
They both nodded before the one on the right spoke, "alright. Four of you can come. Choose wisely."
March stepped back, "I'll stay. Al you and Aly go. You're closest to her. Al she loves you more than anything.
"I'll watch over these guys." I say.
Damien nods, "we've got this." He gives them a thumbs-up and smiles. We all get off the floor and trudge slowly and depressingly back to our seats.
Alicia stands up and takes off Nada's purple hoodie, handing it to him, "you better go. You'll watch over her, right?"
Nada throws his hoodie back on Alicia before looking her dead in the eyes, "if anything happens while I'm gone—"
"Use the necklace and you'll be right there beside me. I know. But right now Riza needs you more than me." Alicia kisses him before backing away. “You’re not much of a Cleo but you seem to know how to do most of this better than us. After all you’re—“
“Don’t say it here. I don’t want people sticking me with sticks instead of the injured.” Nada’s eyes turned bright green as he glared out a window, and a guy on top of a building fell tumbling down to the ground.
He’s just so full of himself that he’s doing ‘the right thing’
"You'll all need to put on these clothes, sanitary purposes." The doctors lead them to an area where they change. We could still see them. Al was very eager and quick. Aly was rather quick too.
They then disappeared beyond the double doors. I leaned against Damien and cried. We all were crying. Even Ullison.
"Cleo's scared." I use my jacket sleeve to dry my eyes and sniffle. Katelyn passes the box of tissues down.
"I'm scared too, we all are." Damien held my hands, "we just have to hope something happens."
“Nada’s probably kicking her outta hell right now. You know him. Always doing the shady work.” Alicia smiles, faking a laugh. She was just trying to keep herself together. Why were we all crying? We all sometimes wished Riza, the drill sergeant, would disappear for a while.
You’re all family.
“We’re all family. Just like Aly said. We’re one big, crazy, family of misfits. Damien, you didn’t have a home before this. None of us did. We became family.”
Damien smiled, “well you are still my wife. We’re kinda family forever.”
"Wait…isn't Riza mother nature now?" I sniffle.
I shake my head, "she's not much of a mother--and she wasn't the one to defeat Nature. If anything, it'd be Aly."
“So then what is Riza?”
“Just like any of us: Just a lonely outcast with powers who’s trying to find a family.” Damien smiled, “I think that’s exactly what she wanted this whole time.”
“To not be mother nature?
Damien shook his head, “to finally be one of us and not stronger or special or different.”
March leaned over and smiled, “that may be one of the craziest things I ever heard, yet I totally believe it.”
“She took us around the world and we had the best time of our lives. I don’t think we can say we’ve ever felt better. Even through those hard battles, we can’t say we didn’t have fun doing them.” Ullison shrugged, “I wish I could’ve been in some of those again. It was fun.”
“Did you see them last night?” Zion snapped, “They were discussing something for a long time. Finally they fell asleep. They talk too much in their sleep.”
I question his logic, “what were they talking about?”
“Who knows, I wasn’t paying attention. I just know when they did finally fall asleep she was finally letting him treat her like a princess. He held her in his arms and they fell asleep like that. She looked happy, so did he. I didn’t pay much attention because I could finally fall asleep without any distractions.”
We all just looked at each other, then went back to our own selves and most of us cried.
However, there was nothing left to do but cry.