Sammy struggles to sit up, her locks falling over her left shoulder as she looks around the room after being disposed of by Freya's earlier attack.
She immediately senses her first loss when she can't feel the vibrations of the metals surrounding her, reaching out like she usually would but being greeted with definitive silence.
At first she considers which pain is worse, the numbing absence of her powers or the constant burning under her skin that has replaced it.
When something is taken, something else is given back.
Those are the words that Justin shared with her.
She always thought it meant something good was given, like a reward or something but the constant prickling of her skin instead makes her want to strip nude and dunk herself in a body of water, the ocean preferably, as she thinks anything smaller would be ineffective.
She crawls onto her feet, her mouth left wide open as she looks at the destruction done to the building.
She heard bits and pieces over the ten minutes she spent sprawled across the soothing ground, rocking from side to side, fearing that at any moment the fire now inside of her blood would consume her.
She had time to think about her sisters and her mom, how she had so many things to say to them, surprising herself by how terrified the idea of leaving them too soon really is.
Without her she feels they'll fall apart. Susan will try her best but she's always so busy with work. Summer is...Summer. She'll be fine. Sarah on the other hand, she'll take it the hardest, just like she did with their dad.
Sammy considers herself a failure for not preparing them adequately to function without her even though she has been trying.
Looking around the room she searches for the others, spotting Sky and Neith on opposite sides of the room, sprawled across the ground just like she was a few seconds ago.
Naturally, her eyes are drawn towards the light which happens to be a small patch of sunlight cascading down from a hole in the ceiling that wasn't there before.
The candles that had been sourcing the room with light have long been snuffed out and the lamps they were originally mounted to have mostly fallen over.
The ceiling of the cathedral continues to crumble away, creating a spotlight that lands perfectly over Justin as he lays motionless on his back.
He squints his eyes, the light intense and blinding, gradually bleeding out from all the damage he earned from using his ability.
He struggles to find comfort when his situation is the opposite, his shoulders ache, his vision pulses in and out and he can feel the internal bleeding whenever he moves too much.
His eyes start to flutter closed until he feels hands feverishly trying to lift his shirt and pack the bleeding.
When he opens his eyes he finds Cloud and Sammy above him, suddenly feeling the urge to tell her the truth before his time is up.
However, before he can even utter his first syllable, he begins to cough up metallic tasting blood.
"Sammy...Sammy I'm cold." he utters softly, the diamond tear smearing down his face burning hot against his pale skin. "I'm not...I'm not ready to go."
"Justin, hang in there okay?" she pleads, cutting her words shirt as she fights to maintain her emotions. "We just need to get some help...and..."
"Here." Cloud can see that she's struggling so he places his hands over Justin, sharing with him a fraction of his warmth by conjuring up Holy fire, ignoring the knock back effect it has on him in order to help in the only way he knows how.
This power, granted to him by either Justin or his encounter with the Phoenix, is so opposite to the dead feeling he gets inside when channelling Hell fire that he's sure it'll have the same benefits for his friend.
Casey and Helel carry Sky and Neith towards the centre of the room so that they can focus their efforts in one place.
Neith is alive but unresponsive which is definitely her mind activating it's protective mechanism to save her from living through the trauma done to her leg.
Sky eventually wakes after some light tussling from Casey but she can barely lift a finger.
Sammy lets Justin rest his head in her lap , her trembling fingers stained with his blood as she caresses his face. "Is he going to be ok?"
She's forced to ask a second time when the others are unresponsive, looking into each of their faces, noticing how they advertise their eyes one after another.
"Please, don't leave." she whispers, combing his hair out of his face. "I can't do this without you."
Justin rolls his eyes towards Sammy, whispering through parted lips. "Yes, yes you can."
"No, no I can't. Don't say that." she declares, shaking her head defiantly, wishing there was a solution to fix this.
Justin laughs but each breath sounds more painful than the last. "See...you're...still stubborn."
Whilst the others remain misty eyed, Casey is the one who cries the loudest, trying desperately not to make any noise which only makes it worse as he lets out little outbursts of hiccuping sniffles until it eventually pours out of him.
Sky tries to lift a hand, attempting to access her Sirenia blood trait once more.
However, when Cloud catches sight of this he takes her hand instead. "Yoi can't. You've already pushed yourself too far."
"But i-"
"No. He's right."
Cloud and Sky look up at Helel who has a permanent frown etched on his face, staring at Justin, looking furious for reasons that neither of them truly understand.
"His eyes. What's happening to his eyes?" Sammy asks, forcing everyone to turn and look.
Justin has lost the details of his eyes, filled in completely white as he starts muttering gibberish in-between moments of clarity.
"If you have anything to say I suggest you share it now." Helel voices, turning his back on them to go and share a few private words with Freya who hasn't moved from the corner of the room.
"I've never told you this before, but you are an amazing friend, especially for that one time I crashed your car, and you told your foster parents that you did it..." Casey draws a sharp breath in, when he lets go, he starts crying even harder. "Even though I didn't deserve it. I should have been the one grounded for two months, not you."
"I see more now."
Cloud shields his head from falling debris, his chest rising and falling irregularly; struggling to regulate his breathing. "I'm...this is all my fault."
"Where am I?"
"You're with us. Stay with us Justin."
Justin's eyes momentarily dim, tilting his head slightly to confess his true feelings. "Sammy I was in love with you, and I know it's stupid to say it now, and I know you'll never feel the same way for me but...I love you...for real."
His dying words feel like a brittle kiss, more bitter than sweet, like pain stored in a bottle with her name label on top..
Of course he's right, she never felt the same. Never loved him in that way. But does that discredit the platonic feelings she feels for him?
'No.' she thinks. 'No it doesn't.'
Sammy carefully wraps her arms around Justin, blinking away her tears that are making it harder to see. "I love you Justin."
"You do?"
Sammy hums, the sound fluctuating out of her control, sounding squeakier than she intended. "Very much."
"Me too." Casey sniffs, struggling to clear his sinuses. "I love you bro."
Sky joins the huddling embrace, linking with Cloud and Casey as she whispers her final goodbyes. "We love you Justin."
"I love you Justin." Cloud whispers, removing his hands to peer up at the growing sky light casting down on them as if sent from the heavens.
Helel notices it too, following Cloud's line of sight with an expression that he doesn't quite recognise.
Meliora arrives sometime later with a swarm of soldiers and, after some explaining done on Helel's part, Cillian is detained and sent to the Pantheon for the meantime whilst Meliora and her forces work on safely capturing all of the escaped Initials who were possessed by Geoffrey.
They move to detain Freya too because of her involvement with the Church of Babylon and without her wings there seems to be no clear way.
Fortunately for her however, the Adamantine Blade didn't strip her of all her powers and she is able to sink into the nearest shadow on the floor, disappearing before being caught.
Having a rouge Fury running free is of high concern but not high enough for Meliora to insist on chasing her down.
At least not for now.
"Snow?" Justin gasps looking into the light, the white orbs appearing only for his eyes to see. "I see so much...more...now..."
The world feels stagnant to Sammy after the lasts wisps of breath rattle out of his lungs, forgetting to breathe herself whilst her heartbeat pounds in her ears.
In the end he was neither alone, nor lonely, but content, feeling loved beyond compare.