Chapter 52 :)

Chapter fifty-two— Malistaire’s Warning

Without a moment to lose, I packed up my things and cast a quick, but useful, protection spell. It wouldn’t last forever, but I felt uneasy and lightheaded. I was to get out of here as soon as possible.

Grandmother had come to me in a random time to tell me that you don’t have to kill the hosts of the Falsarium-Noctis, and that it really wasn’t the S.A.’s responsibility to kill Malistaire. What am I to do, convince him to be good? I’ve already done that. He’s a stubborn, pissed off man of darkness that won’t turn good so easily.

 Closing my eyes, I thought of Fiona’s cottage. I ported in a whirl of wind and color, but lost my breath when somebody tackled me.

Sophia’s eyes were gleaming with anger and her cheeks were flushed. “You left! You promised we would come, and then you fricken’ endangered your life! “

“Yeah, I did it because I didn’t want to endanger yours.” I snarled, pushing her off. I stood up, brushing dirt off my clothes, to see Nikki, Abby, Sierra, and Sophia fuming over what I had done. “It wasn’t that bad, anyways.”

“Wasn’t that bad!? Are you kidding me, Mary? Have you turned completely idiotic?” Abby stepped down from the porch, gazing at me with more hurt than anger. “It sounds like you think that only you can handle this kind of stuff, not your little sidekicks.”

“You’re not my sidekicks!” I protested. “I just didn’t want anybody to get sick.”

Nikki spoke up, and I was startled that she was angry at me, as well. She’s never been angry at me in all the time that I’ve known her. “Look at you, Mary. You’re not sick. We are Angels, for crying out loud! Our immune systems are almost perfect.”

I paused. “It’s not like I knew that.”

“Well, you should do more freaking research on it before abandoning us like we are morons. The fact that Sierra knows what we are, and that Malistaire could pull of a sneak attack any day now, and that we don’t even know if we can kill him yet-“Nikki cried out, desperately grasping all the problems we’re facing. “It’s almost too much!”

“It is too much.” I corrected. “Which is why we don’t have to kill him.”

“We don’t have to what?” Abby screeched, now in my face. “What the hell, Mary? Did you hit your head?”

“No,” I pondered, wondering what to say. Of course, I said the thing that made the less sense. “I talked to my dead grandmother.”

“Alright, she’s gone bonkers.” Sophia immediately decided, crossing her arms. “She’s seeing people who are telling her to not kill the guy who is trying to murder us all.” 

“All is well in the world of Angels.” Abby replied sarcastically. “What now?”

“Guys, wait.” Nikki frowned, staring at me. At least she didn’t think I was absolutely insane. “The Tree of Life is for connecting to the Fates-“

“And the Spirit Realm.” I added quickly, glancing at their faces, studying their reactions.

“B-but even if you got into the Spirit Realm, that still doesn’t make sense that you would think that we don’t need to kill Malistaire.” Abby stuttered. “And aren’t spirits my type of thing?”

“Yes, Abby, they are.” I stared at her, wondering if I could see any Jane characteristics in her. They seem to look alike, but their personalities were opposites. “And my grandmother showed me a lot of things that happened in the past that will help us.”

“How is anything in the past going to help us?” Sophia exclaimed, her black hair swaying to the wind calmly, the opposite of what she felt. “We’re living in the present, and we’re always improvising.”

“The past is going to help us because history is going to relive itself.”

“How far back in time?” Nikki whispered, her face paling. I noticed Abby fidgeting with her clothes, and Sophia stood brick still.

I took a deep breath, looking up into the starry sky. “All the way back to Earth, in the days of Merlin and the very first immortals.”

“Our grandparents?”

I nodded. “Along with our parents. Come inside, we have a lot to talk about.”

“Alright,” Sophia muttered anxiously. “But that doesn’t change anything about us being pissed at you.”

“I know, I know…” I murmured, rolling my eyes. It was almost dawn, and yet, I felt alive and awake, despite being deprived of sleep for twenty-four hours.

“Shh… Fiona should be waking up by now…” Abby hushed us, pointing to Fiona’s bedroom door.

“Come into my bedroom.” I told them slowly and quietly. “We can talk there.”

Gesturing for them to enter, they gathered quickly around my bed as I closed the door silently, and locked it with my key. Turning, I crossed my arms and grimaced, wondering how they were going to take the information on how old their family actually is. “I really wish I could just show you instead of tell you, but that would be just as complex and confusing as it would be on telling you this.”

“Would you tell us already?”

I sighed. I began at the part where I had felt myself fall asleep into the roots of the Tree of Life, and moved on into myself first seeing grandmother Raven, and how she showed me both places in time, including all the details and even the words of the spell that grandmother Raven had translated for me.

The most complicated thing to explain was the ancestors of them. They didn’t believe it at first, so I had to convince them and even tell which person who their ancestor was, and what they looked like. Abby had a portrait of Jane and the wizard she had married after Firenze’s death in her parent’s gothic manor, proving that I was telling the truth about what they looked like and that I actually saw them in action.

Talking about the beautiful black woman, Cecilia, however, was quite irritating. All I could say is what I saw, and none of it consisted with any clues on the whereabouts of the Love Angel.

“So, my grandmother showed me all of this to tell me that we can get rid of the Falsarium-Noctis, along with the possibility of fixing Malistaire without actually killing him.” I finished, out of breath. I worried that I was talking too fast when they exchanged glances.

“Mary, why would you not want to kill Malistaire? He murdered your mother and sister, destroyed your future and any possibility of a love life, took away your home, has made you go through all of this questing and fighting, and yet, you don’t want to make him feel pain.” Sophia laughed, not out of humor, but out of unbelieving. “I don’t know how you do it, to just walk around every day, fighting the pain, and still not wanting revenge. Doesn’t it exhaust you?”

“Only when I’m around you people.” I shrugged, picking at a thread in my jeans. “Along with the point that I never, ever, would want to follow the path of revenge. Forgiveness is a humiliating way of healing, and I want to hear him be sorry for everything he has done. I want him to beg on his knees and sob and cry out in pain that he regrets everything he has done to me, so I could forgive him and heal.”

“And he is your father.” Nikki spoke cautiously, avoiding my eyes.

“I don’t love him as my father, Nikki.” I corrected with slight grief. “Really, I don’t have one. I’m an orphan, Nikki, and I’d rather be an orphan than to be known as his daughter.”

“There is always the slightest hint of fatherly and daughterly love, despite anything.” Abby put her hand on my shoulder sympathetically. “I would know.”

“If I was to love my father as if he had any humanity left, it would be for his empathy and fatherly love for me.” I replied, rather irritated. “Of course, he hasn’t showed it in any way possible, so I seriously doubt that will ever happen. It’s never going to be a happy ending, but I say ‘Oh well,’ because I don’t care anymore.”

“Oh, Mary, you do care.” Nikki searched my eyes, trying to find the part of me that’s hidden. “We all know you do.”

“You know,” I gritted my teeth. “I don’t even know why we are on this conversation. We need to get back to what really matters, so we can be prepared if Malistaire strikes with his little sidekick demons.”

I knew they didn’t want to talk about that, but they changed the subject, for me. They may be irritating, excruciatingly honest, and judgmental, but they were also sisterly, loving, and caring. It’s the only thing that seems to tie me to this world, without feeling like I want to die most of the time.

Who wouldn’t, if they were in my shoes?

“I think its time for us to go outside and start looking for plausible areas the next S.A. may be.” I decided. They, however, exchanged looks. I frowned, already slightly knowing what they were thinking. “What is it?”

“What if we want to go without you?” Sophia challenged, glaring straight into my eyes with a fierce pay-back look.

I gaped. “You can’t be serious. Can’t you do this to me on a less important time? This is the S.A. we are talking about.”

“I don’t know, Mary.” Nikki smirked. “Yoshihito Village turned out to be pretty important.”

I groaned. “You got to be kidding me.”    

“Don’t worry, Mary.” Abby patted me on the back hard enough to make me lurch slightly. “I’ll be staying behind, too, to work with potions with Natalia.”

“What! Abby, don’t you think this is more important than potions?” Nikki crossed her arms like a lecturing school teacher, and I almost expected her to say ‘tsk, tsk.’

“Yes, however, unfortunate as it is.” Abby replied, smirking. “I’ll have to call a rain check on this. Natalia and I are making extremely protective potions today, and I’m thinking that will help us with our fights.” She winked, and left the room, her long black hair bouncing at her pace.

I heard voices outside, so I decided to follow Abby outside, and perhaps get something to eat. My sister’s followed me, but we stopped in our tracks to see the awkward scene.

We saw Ronan and Fiona laughing, hugging, and I gaped as Fiona leaned her head on his shoulder. When they saw us, they separated, embarrassed.

I tipped my head towards Sophia, grinning. “Are they the same age?”

Sophia replied in a slight whisper, still staring at the couple. “I think so. Ronan has to be around thirty-five.”

“My goodness,” Nikki giggled. Fiona and Ronan exchanged glances, and we escaped from the world of newfound crushes and into the kitchen. “They look adorable together.”

“It seemed rather unexpected,” I laughed, wondering what the right thing was to say. “They’re about the same age, I suppose, but I can’t believe I couldn’t see it before.”

“Well…” Abby shrugged, looking at me like it was rather evident. “They have been looking at each other a lot.”

“But-“

“And I’ve seen them by the fireplace some nights, reading together.” Nikki added, smirking.

          “Also, don’t forget their little secret smiles.” Sophia chuckled, waving her hand with agreement.

          “Alright, I understand. They like each other.” I decided, rolling my eyes with the tiniest hint of annoyance. “I just don’t know how I didn’t know.”

          “It’s the season to be searching,” Sophia sang quietly, as Nikki and her continued to hook weapons in their robes, along with stuffing tiny vials of dangerous potions and herbs.

          “Are you sure this is what you guys want?” I asked, biting my lip. I leaned on my right foot, watching them prepare. “What if something happens?”

          “Mary, everything is going to be fine.” Nikki replied with a reassuring nod, as she grabbed her large staff. It was a strange staff, with a golden or maroon beam and a glimmering, beautiful and silver orb on the very top. Nobody seemed to be prepared when she shot her beams of magical light out of that staff. “Sophia and I are very good at fighting.”

          “At what?” Alia popped out of nowhere, her black hair bouncing, and then followed by Sierra, who looked fidgety and nervous. She’s probably been like that ever since she had to tell my sisters about what she did. I felt a ping of regret for making her do what she had to do, but it was worth doing.

          “Nikki,” I fake sighed in irritation, putting my hand on my hip. “How many times do I have to tell you? Frighting is not a word, it’s frightening. Plus, you suck at scaring people.”

“Yeah, well…” Nikki shrugged, playing along. I noticed Sophia, whom was hiding her arrows behind her back, while her bow was hooked onto her like a satchel, which was impossible to hide. However, Sophia managed to stuff her arrows into my bag, and act normal enough for Alia to believe everything was okay.

“What are you guys up to?” Alia poured Fiona’s tea into a dainty cup, which she sipped daintily, like her bubbly self.

“Err,” Nikki laughed nervously, putting her sunshine red hair behind her ear. “Sophia and I are going out for a bit.”

“Ooh!” Alia clapped, evidently excited. “Can I come? I haven’t seen anything yet, but the stores… Those are awfully boring!”

“Can’t you go with Sierra, or something?” I asked, nodding at Sierra to help us. “You know her better.”

“But that’s the reason,” Alia frowned, as if we were being absolutely stupid. “I want to know you guys better.”

“Alright.” Sophia sighed, rolling her eyes at Abby, who shrugged, also not being able to say anything that would help. “You can come only for viewing… Actually, how about we take you out, and we can separate later? Nikki and I really want to do some girl stuff… You know, um… Alone.”

I stifled a laugh, considering that I’ve rarely seen Sophia as the emotional type- well, the one to speak about her feelings, as a ‘girl talk’. Her act was for once, not very good.

Alia glanced at Abby and I. “Why aren’t they coming?”

I raised my eyebrow at them, as if saying ‘here is your last chance,’ however, Nikki and Sophia rolled their eyes at the same time, and Nikki answered with an ‘everybody knows this’ voice. “Mary and Abby aren’t coming because they are quite busy, and they don’t feel like it.”

“Yep.” Abby spoke cheerfully, nudging me with her elbow.

I grimaced, trying as hard as I could to not sound sarcastic. “Sure.”

Sierra studied Sophia and Nikki calmly, but said nothing. She knew why they had weapons slightly concealed, just enough for a clueless person to never notice.

I rubbed my arms, as if cold, but the room was very warm. I felt my bones were chilled, and the thought of anything happening to Nikki and Sophia while they were gone struck my heart like a hammer. I cleared my throat to use time, and turned my head, hating the feeling of not being listened to.

They’re going to be okay, I thought. They were amazingly trained fighters, and knew what to do if something… Dangerous happened. 

Sophia took a bit of toast and ripped a chunk out of it with her teeth. While she was chewing, she spoke. “We should get going, before its noon.”

Nikki nodded. “We should. Err… Are you ready, Alia?”

“Sure am!” Alia exclaimed, grinning. “Just let me get some gold from my room. I know I have about twenty pieces of money.”

“I thought you didn’t want to go to the stores?” I asked her, grinning at my both my sister’s apparent annoyance.

“Oh please,” Alia waved her hand, as if that explained everything. She disappeared into the hallway, but was soon back from Sierra and her room with a dark green satchel and a hand knitted hat. “Let’s go.”

Sophia and Nikki picked up their stuff, carefully hiding the weapons, and followed the prancing Alia Lotuspetal out the door. I made an angry face at the door when it was closed, and ignored Abby’s snickering laugh.

I heard Natalia walk in from the back door, and she walked into the living room with a basket of eucalyptus and angelica herbs. They brought in a sweet, minty smell that seemed to clear my senses. She exchanged glances with both of us, and her gentle face showed little curiosity. “Did somebody leave?”

I was still looking at the door longingly. “Yes, Sophia, Nikki, and Alia.”

There was silence, until Abby awkwardly spoke up. “Okay then… Natalia, how about we start working on those potions?”

“Ooh, that would be nice.” Fiona walked in, with Ronan trailing behind her in a happy trot. I smiled a little when I saw he was carrying a stack of books for her. “I always love new potion masters.”

Abby nodded in agreement to Fiona, and walked off with Natalia into the potion making room; which, strangely, is a mix between the kitchen and the tiny little study in the corner.

“Mary, I happen to remember about you asking me about learning Latin.” Fiona waved her finger at me, smirking. “I believe this is a good enough time, am I correct?”

“Oh?” My eyes widened, considering that I didn’t expect for Fiona to remember, since when I had asked, it was when we had fought for the first time. “Of course, I’d love that.”

“Okay, so if you would just come near the reading space, I can show you a few books.” She beckoned me forward, and we left Ronan and Sierra behind in the living room.

“Alright,” I decided, shrugging at the musty books. “How much do you think the books will teach me about Earth language?”

“How do you think I learned?” Fiona winked, and I smiled. Of course, I thought, it’s not like many people here speak Latin.

“Which book should we read, first?” I asked, gazing at the books that Fiona was picking out clumsily from one of the bookshelves.

“How about…” Fiona trailed off, her eyes wavering from a blue to a maroon book. “This one.” She plucked the maroon text book out from the shelves, dust spiraling out of the pages.

“Mmm.” I sniffed, and scrunched up my nose when the dust tickled it.

“It’s like a dictionary, I think of it.” Fiona spoke proudly, carefully opening the fragile pages. They were yellowed and aged, and parts were in cursive. There were a few words I could understand that weren’t Latin, but the rest looked like scribbly gibberish.

Fiona flipped a few pages, and I stopped her at a certain page by putting my hand down, and she looked at me in surprise. “I recognize some of these words on this page. I mean, the other pages I don’t understand, but this one…”

“I thought you never knew Latin?” Fiona asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. I felt her stiffen, and I wondered if she thought I was hiding things. Really, I was, but it was for the best for her not to know that I had snuck out.

“I… I don’t.” I lied, running my hand through my hair, wondering how to cover it up. “I recognize the words from a spell.”

“What kind of spell?”

“A healing spell,” I answered knowingly, pointing out the words. “This word, Purgare, means purify. Also, this word- Lif- means life. I must have picked up on the words somewhere in a healing spell.”

I knew very well that I knew the words from my grandmother, but I said nothing.

“Well, it’s a good start, I suppose.” Fiona shrugged, continuing to flip pages. “Many spells contain Latin within the words.”

“Tell me what this is,” I showed her a paragraph, near a drawing of a dragon.

“This,” Fiona answered, putting on her red spectacles. “Is explaining what a Draconion is. Let’s see… I will show you how to read it, and you may try to pronounce it. Then, you can find what it means. Together, we will translate this. However, before this lesson, I think we should go over the basics of Latin.”

“Okay.” I straightened up, prepared to listen to her teaching.

“Latin is an Italic language, of which is a founding race of Earth, along with the fact that it was was earlier spoken in Rome, an ancient area on the planes of Earth. It is now considered as a dead language, since it has no fluent speakers left. However, many schools continue to teach Latin to produce a new family of modern language other than English. Latin is considered as the daughter of the Romance language and is the only one living family of Italic languages.”

“Wait a second.” I blinked, trying to remember all this. “I need to write this down.”

“Hurry, then.”

I rushed into my bedroom, and dug into my bag. I gasped, surprised to see Sophia’s arrows still in my bag. I groaned, now knowing that Sophia’s most dangerous weapon is now useless at the moment. I bit my cheek in annoyance, but reassured myself that they were going to be alright. I pushed Adam’s textbook out of the way to grab my journal, and a pen.

I jogged back to Fiona, and planted myself on an armchair in a rush. “Sorry about that.”

“Be ready to take notes, because I will not wait.” She nodded to me, and continued to explain Latin.

“Okay, I’m ready.” I put my pen to the paper, as if in a race.

“The Latin language is the most inflected language, with three distinct genders, four verb conjugations, six persons, seven noun cases, six tenses, three moods, two aspects, two voices and a distinction between the plural and singular numbers. Latin uses the demonstrative pronouns but lacks the use of articles. There are six different types of nouns in the Latin case. It plays the most important role in the sentence, so word order in Latin is not that important as it is in English.”

I managed to get this all down without one hand cramp, but I seriously hoped I didn’t have to write more. Unfortunately, Fiona was hardly finished. “Latin is a rewarding language but difficult also. However, in Latin you have to read it first and then learn to speak and write. For subjects such as vocabulary, as it is with all the languages, it is very important to know the vocabulary of the language even before you know to read, write or speak the language. It is not possible to identify the patterns without knowing what the words are actually representing. Learning to read Latin starts with learning to identify the vocabulary. For grammar and verbs, all the Latin verbs are very similar to the Romance language that is French- you know French, don’t you? Yes, of course. Along with the language of Portuguese, another Earthly language. The only best way to learn to verbs is by repeating and memorizing them. Get yourself familiarized with the verb chart and then keep on practicing.” Fiona flipped to a certain page in the book, and pointed out a chart.
     I took a deep breath, and continued to scribble as Fiona rambled on. “Always remember that in Latin it is not important to have a written subject like in English, ‘I, you, she, it, and he.’ Instead, in Latin, a subject is decided by the ending of the verb or the conjugation, and the verbs are divided in four different parts.”

I felt my hand pounding, and I nodded, wincing. “I think I need a break on taking notes.”

“It’s alright; it’s a lot to put down.” Fiona agreed, sitting back in her chair.

I rested my hand on my lap, loving the easing pain. Suddenly, we heard screeching outside. I heard a woman’s piercing scream, and I jumped up in fear. “What’s going on?”

A huge rumble, like an earthquake, shook the ground. A few plates fell off from the cupboards, crashing to the ground. Dust and wood splinters fell to the ground from the ceiling, and my heart raced.

“I-I don’t know.” Fiona’s voice wavered, and she jumped up to look out the window. “Dear Fates.”

“Fiona, what is it?” I demanded, gripping my amulet. I dreaded the thought of having to transfer it into a weapon.

“T-the village is under attack!” She cried out, and pushed past me, the fireplace roaring and our books toppling over onto the floor. “Everybody! We’re under attack! Find your weapons!”

My heart stopped, and I touched the curtains on the window, my lip trembling. I didn’t need to look outside when the window exploded, and I shielded myself with my arm. “Abby! Get your weapons! We need to find the others!”

I grabbed my amulet and tore it off my neck, transforming it into the large, fiery sword that was my special weapon. I kicked open the door, gasping at the scene.

The sky was a horrible onyx black, as if the day had been turned into a deadly twilight. Abby came up from behind me in a rush of wind, like a slender cat. She held her two knives in her hands, glimmering in the torches on the cottage.

“What’s happening?!” Natalia cried out, and Abby and I stepped forward into the fight.

“Prepare!” I heard Ronan cry out. “Juan, get Fiona and Sierra to safety. I’m going in.”

What we were fighting strongly befuddled me. There seemed to be skeletons, or dead people, coming out of the ground, shaking everything near it. Monks and people were running about, screaming, and I gasped when I saw a crowd of warriors on their horses gallop into the village, cutting the heads off of the undead uselessly.

I vaguely remember fighting the undead with Richard when I was much younger, and he had told me: They’re dead, but then they are awakened, so we have to kill them again.

Something told me, deep in my gut, that these undead beings were not normal. I felt something, like a strong wind, go past me. I turned, and saw a shadow black as death disappear. Abby screamed, and I saw a shadow rush around her, and disappear.

“By the Fates.” I gasped, gripping my sword. “The Demons are here!”

I felt something grip my arm, and I turned to see a ghoul facing me, its disgusting hand gripping my arm like an iron clutch. Its eyes were black and soulless, and I coughed when it breathed into my face, smelling like gasoline. I lifted my arm, and blasted it into a wall with a burst of light. It seemed to melt, and I felt sick when another beast tried to attack me. Using my sword, I cut and slashed through every piece of decomposing body parts, trying to ignore the darkened shadows of which taunted us.

“Mary!” Abby shouted, cutting herself from three monsters with her deadly fast daggers, and black blood glistened on her arms. She took my hand, her eyes frightened. “Mary, we have to find them.”

“I know!” I cried out in frustration. “It’s hard because of all the chaos. The whole village must be out here, fighting. The undead is coming out of the ground, and I don’t think it’s going to stop.”

“What do we do?”

“We fight.” I decided, breathing hard, scrutinizing the scene. “It’s Malistaire’s warning; he wants the war to start.”

Abby had tears running down her dirtied face. “Good luck, Mary.”

I hugged her tightly, in the middle of the battle. “We will survive. We always survive.”

We separated, quickly, running different ways. I hoped it wouldn’t be the last time I saw her.

A few houses had caught on fire, and I heard a terrible screaming, past the screeching and hissing of the undead. A woman ran past me, sobbing. “My house, my house!”

I coughed at the ash, my eyes burning. I pointed my sword at the houses, shooting gallons of water. The fire burned out quickly, but something grabbed my throat from behind. I kicked it with my foot, whipped around, and stabbed the ghoulish thing.

Stepping back, I ran farther into the mess. People were slashing their swords, shooting arrows and beams of magical spells, and it was difficult not to get hit, even by your own kind. The shadows seemed to be following me, and fear jolted through me. How could I fight a being as powerful as me?

I stopped near a house that seemed to have crumbled down, and was now burning rubble. It was near a wall, where a stack of hay was kept. I felt as though everything was set up. There was too much hay, and too much forest, and too much wood. Perhaps I just hadn’t noticed it before, considering that I didn’t expect there to be a large fire.

One shadow darted past me, and I heard it hiss. Turning, trying my best not to become dizzy, I tried to find this shadow. Why were they so fast?

Suddenly, something pushed me into a wall. My whole body slammed into the brick, some of the brick actually falling out of its place as somebody held me by my throat, suffocating me.

This person was not undead, but it was still slightly smoky, and I knew it was a Demon. One of them. His eyes were pure black, and his skin was the color of dark, bitter chocolate. His hair, however, was pure white, like snow. He hissed at me, like he had rabies. We were off the ground, as he stared into my eyes, wanting to watch me die.

I felt my head turn, and I saw Juan standing there, through the chaos around us, watching us. He had no emotion on his face. It was as though he was a statue. He didn’t even look frightened.

I felt my head pounding, needing air. I stared at him, wanting him to distract the Demon, to release me from its choking claws and let me breath.

Juan didn’t move.

I clenched my teeth, and closed my eyes. I put my hands on the Demon’s face, and it tingled on my skin. “Purgare!”

He screamed, letting me go, trying to regain my breath while he clutched his face, smoke pouring out of his skin. I barely had enough time to get up onto my feet when he pounced at me again. However, I was ready this time. I lifted my sword, and blasted him into the burning hay with a large gust of light and wind. It was like a lightning bolt struck him from my sword, and I wasn’t sure how I did it. The only thing that mattered was that I could fight him.

He screeched, and turned into his shadow self, and flew up into the sky, escaping from the fire and ashes. I turned to Juan, who still stood there, watching me with interest. I meant to scream at him, but I was out of breath. My scream turned out to be a course whisper. “Why didn’t you help me?”

“I was frightened.” He replied simply.

“What-“I gasped for breath, standing up straight, gazing at him in disbelief. “You didn’t look scared.”

“Your right.” He replied simply, once again. Whats wrong with this guy? “I didn’t expect the Falsarium-Noctis to be here.”

“The what?” I shot him a deadly glare, wondering if I heard him correctly. I pushed him against the wall that I had been suffocating on, and I held him up by his shirt with my fists. “How do you know about them?”

He pushed me off him, sneering. “Family secrets.”

Shocking, I thought. I didn’t know Juan had a proper family.

I don’t know why, but I punched him in the face. It wasn’t the first time slapping/punching a guy in the face, but it sure felt good. I stared at the welt growing on his cheek from the hard punch I threw at him as he grinded his teeth. I crossed my arms. “Don’t act so surprised. You deserved that.”

“I can help you.” He growled, his hands shaking.

“You? Help me? Seems a bit unnatural.”

“Those monsters… The Falsarium- Noctis… They are after your sisters.” Juan’s eyes held something dark and strange inside them, and the way he was breathing was heavy and frustrated. Almost like he wanted to explode.

“Do you know why?” I asked suspiciously, narrowly dodging a warrior’s arrow that whizzed past me. I glanced to the left and right, making sure there were no enemies near. 

Juan took a heavy, deep breath, and cleared his throat from the soot falling from the rooftops. “No, but I can help.”

“And how would you be able to help us?”

“Malistaire wants you dead, so he is obviously the guy who summoned those beasts. If he dies, so do the demons.” Juan’s hands tightened together, and he looked so much like a dirty street rat.

“We know that, you idiot.”

 “You are related to him; therefore his blood runs in your veins.”

I felt my blood run cold, and my bones chilled. I stiffened, frozen in place, not sure if I was looking at Juan, or staring into space. I didn’t feel myself speak, but I heard my voice. “You think if I give myself up as a sacrifice, my sister’s will be safe from the demons, because I have the blood of which summoned them?”

“I don’t think, I know.”

My breathing felt shallow and thin. I turned my head to the right. I saw three warriors on their horses, slashing at the undead unsuccessfully, along with the fact that they were bloody and damaged. I noticed Fiona and Ronan fighting together, shooting spells and waving their wands tirelessly, but I knew, eventually, they would have to stop and surrender. The undead could fight forever; the living had to give up sometime.

I turned to the left. Sierra was sending ice spells at the undead, freezing them in their tracks, but she had many cuts and bruises on her face and arms. I bit my lip as I saw that she narrowly missed an arrow near her head, and I lost my breath. I looked farther downwards, and saw Abby checking if a few monks were still alive.

Sophia, Nikki, and Alia were still nowhere in sight. The Falsarium-Noctis were still out there, looking for prey, hearing our hearts beating like we were whispering in their ears.

I didn’t realize that Juan was still talking about how it would work. Everything seemed out of place. I didn’t trust Juan, but I had a feeling in my gut that he was telling the truth.

My heart was a clock, ticking at the time I had left. Every poisoned, knowing breath was a countdown. I felt every touch, every wisp of wind, and heard every scream, yell, or cry. I heard feet running, horses galloping, swords slashing and clanging, fire crackling and feasting itself over every little thing it could find.

Surely, it was a good way to die, in the possibility of saving all my sisters of which I loved. Frightening, but wise. That ought to count for something, as if I needed evidence.

I heard Juan in between my thoughts of pain and possible regret, and the decision that would change my life forever, guaranteed. “Mary?”

I turned to him, opening my eyes. “I have made my decision. What must I do?”