The Last Day [CLOSED]

She was covered in sweat, her skin as white as a sheet, her hands shaking with the next four people she repaired to optimal condition. All of these innocents, that had come in, battered and beaten, losing limbs, blood pouring from them like water flowing through a river without end. She still didn’t understand what had gotten into her then, and she didn’t understand it now. Maybe this was one of fate’s games, playing her for a fool for thinking that she could end everything that easily. Nothing could be as simple as a book in the end, could it? Fairy tales weaved together stories that linked one event from another, reaching a climax, and then finally a happy ending through some stupid deus ex machina or cliche works like the power of friendship or whatever crap authors thought would be a convenient way to create more plotholes.

That wasn’t real life. It wasn’t as simple as that. It never would be. And to spite the world, she had decided to make up for everyone else’s mistakes. She had decided to take on whatever burdens that were thrown at her. The dreams of a child wishing to play hero. It was absolutely pathetic.

But it was the only thing she could do.

Lamia knew that there wasn’t any special talents that she had or anything that she could do that would be useful for others. Her gift was meant to kill, yet she managed to loophole her way through; the power to heal was never meant for her in the end - it was her brother’s. He had helped her learn it slowly, to learn to reverse the flow of time, to mend wounds. She wasn’t sure how long it had taken her to figure out, but it was proven impossible. She didn’t learn it. No, Kearn had given her this part of his gift, somehow. And she wasn’t letting it go to waste. He would understand if she used it to save someone else in light of her own life. He knew… or at least that’s what she wanted to convince herself of.

By the time Vincent reached her, she had barely processed his voice, exhaustion taking its toll on her. Her hand rested on a wall, the bitter cold sting not reaching her flesh, and weakly, she smiled. It was almost like the alcohol hadn’t worn off yet… but that wasn’t the case. He probably knew what she was doing. Lamia fell to her knees, clenching a hand to her heart. Slow, steady breaths… Her steps were a heavy, unfocused shamble as she staggered back onto her feet, her back pressed against the metal wall for support.

Hyperventilating. She couldn’t control her breaths. It felt like something was coiling around her chest, squeezing her to make her force every pump of the heart to make its way through, and at any moment, it would just burst. Black spots began to appear in her vision, a tingling vibration shooting through her body, and every part of her felt like jelly, completely limp. Her shoulders hunched over with every sharp intake of air. I can’t faint… I can’t. If she was lucky enough, she would stop feeling everything in a few moments, and she’d be able to walk over there.

And perhaps fate was on her side for once because that was exactly what happened.

Standing up straight, the room swimming around her with every person working busily to get everyone else to recover. She managed to walk over to Vincent, muttering something incomprehensible under her breath, trying to reassure herself that she wouldn’t just black out again. There were a few times she had paused to help another person who the doctors couldn’t seem to get a good grasp on, and soon enough, people left and right were asking for her assistance. A soft smile cracked across her features, and with a small wave to Vincent, she went back to work.

This was what she had wanted in the end. To take on everyone’s burdens and problems. All of the pain they felt because of her mistakes… they didn’t wish for that. The grim expressions that everyone wore because of this accident, the rain pattering down and clouding the skies. It seemed hopeless. But when she simply held out her hand, awaiting her own fate, and smiling as she repeated the same words over and over again, like a broken record: ”I-I-It’s a-alright… I-I’ll h-heal y-you…”

I’ll take away your grief and problems so that you can keep living.

People kept flocking to her, pleading her for whatever help she can give. And she didn’t fight back, allowing them to drag her away with only a smile. Magic would be alright by now, she didn’t have to focus on him at the moment. He wouldn’t be able to find her with all of the noise, the crowd that took her away. Even if she felt uncomfortable with so many people around, they needed her power to heal. The one that Kearn had given her. Many more wanted her to save them from their inevitable fates somehow, and she reached out, helping them all without a doubt.

Twelve years left… she couldn’t keep going like this. She had used up all the strength that she held, and as she went off to the side to get a drink of water, her breaths shallow and heavy, her eyes began to close, everything blurred out to a single line. Shaking her head, trying to drive the exhaustion out of her, her body cold as everything went unfeeling again. These sporadic bursts were keeping her up for the most part, but whenever it faded, she felt like passing out again.

The area was completely desolate, the carnage of the damage she had caused. It had hurt her, seeing everyone broken apart, like a dream splintered into a nightmare. A nightmare… She had forced someone to murder countless people. She had pushed it too fair. Retribution - was that the word?

If almost on cue with her thoughts, the ground cracked below her, a deafening roar blazing through her ears, and she felt herself slipping for only a brief moment. She wasn’t sure if she had screamed or squeaked or if the words were simply lodged in her throat. Gravity did the rest and she went into freefall, crashing into the lower floor with a sickening thud! onto the concrete, stones flying and rolling to the floor as she was blown back by the force of an invisible shock. Her head throbbed for a few moments, and blue eyes could make out a figure in the distance, smeared out.

Lamia had fallen to the floor, unable to roll onto her back or get into a position comfortable, unable to move save for the small twitch as she tried to get back up. She powerlessly tried to open her eyes, her consciousness slipping away, footsteps sounding around her and the sirens… The ambulances were finally around, weren’t they?

Have to get up…

She wasn’t sure if it was the pressure of using her gift too much or being drugged from before or if it was just because she was weak, but it was too much in the end, wasn’t it? Slowly, her mind blanked completely and she passed out, the surrounding room still shaking as debris continued to fall, this part of the building threatening to collapse with her inside.

And she was completely oblivious to it. The whirring of concrete and poles falling, trying to impale her, the rumbling of the floor that continued to shake, this entire mess… was all her fault.

Mason sat in silence just sitting there listening to other things collapse around him from sitting unstable for too long or people moving around, and testing things. He was glad he couldn't hear his brother's voice anymore. He just wanted to be left alone. He had killed the one thing he didn't want to do. He didn't deserve the tattoo on his back anymore.. It held a promise that was worthless now. The flame meant nothing now but destruction.. He had become the destructive side of fire..

The more the boy sat there and thought about everything the more upset he became instead of becoming angry, he became depressed... A few tears ran down his face, causing his cuts on his face to sting badly. He didn't care though he deserved it. He deserved any pain he got for the next will.. "I really need to control myself more.. I shouldn't get so damn angry..." Magic looked down at the ground and picked up a small chunk of concrete and chunked it across the hole he sat in. He didn't bother to look at where it landed til he heard slight rumbling.

The boy looked up and saw part of the cavern give away and a girl come tumbling down into the hole. He shifted out of his position and moved a bit closer to see who it was. Then he realized more debris was falling down. She would be crushed if he didn't help. The boy stood up after stumbling a little bit. He moved quickly over to her yelling and braking a piece of concrete with sound before it crushed the girl. His power was so weak. Once he reached the girl he grabbed her arm and dragged her away from the dangerous area, and out the hole he fell down.

Once the light reached the girls face he realized who it was.. Lamia? How did she end up down there? She looked so pale.. and cold.. like she was dead, but he could hear her faint heart beat..  She was safe for now.. He had managed to climb out of the hole carefully before it collapsed. With some rush the boy made his way over to the doctors, and handed her off to one of them. Not saying a word but begging in his mind for them to help her. Magic didn't even glance over to his brother who was relived to see his brother again.

Above the surface, the sudden rumbling had caused the patients to go into panic again, many of the doctors rushing to get everyone into the ambulances in the case that everything fell apart again. But it had stopped, and there wasn't any signs that it was coming back. Many let out sighs of relief while others still continued to shove and push their way in, unwilling to be crushed to smithereens once again. Everyone was loading in, those who were still too injured being moved into cots. Nurses around helped people to their feet, guiding them to safety and to the haven that would completely recover them. There were those who she had healed that had gone to assist others as well, using their new-found strength. No one seemed to notice that the girl who had healed them had completely disappeared without a trace until a boy had come in, carrying her and handing her off to a nurse.

"Goodness gracious, where'd you find her?" It was one of the nurses who Lamia had been talking to before she had completely blanked out. With an innocent, almost angelic appearance, the pink uniform tight around her body, brown eyes glanced from him to the unconscious girl, and she called the chief doctor over. All he wound up doing was a quick examination and inspection, his hand touching her forehead to check her temperature and that was all. There wasn't a scratch on her, and the most it seemed like was that she fell. There wasn't any damage from him to fix.

"Kiddo, I can't do anything," the doctor replied. He was an elderly man, hair gray from aging and wrinkles covered every inch of his body, stretching his skin to be more flabby. Stroking his beard and readjusting his glasses, a small frown crossed his features as a thoughtful expression slipped onto his face. The beads of sweat on her face was evident, and the way she struggled to flutter her eyes open. Only moments ago did she seem perfectly healthy, but now? Did it have something to do with what she had been doing for everyone else? His gruff voice sounded, and clearing his throat, the doctor scratched the top of his head, his frown only deepening. "Perhaps I should've limited the number of people she healed. It is possible that she had went beyond her body's limit."

"Doctor, by any chance, she shouldn't be able to do anything like that, right?"

"Of course not. No normal human can mend wounds and make them disappear into thin air." Thin, gaunt eyes glanced over towards Magic, the boy who had brought her in. "Would you happen to know anything about her? The patients have been proclaiming her as someone sent from the heavens to save them."

"Though that doesn't seem possible... Does it?"

Shit.. They were asking so many questions.. There wasn't really any lie he could come up with.. They saw her healing people, and he can't says she is a heavenly being because heavenly beings don't pass out.. fuckin shit.. what was he supposed to do? Well maybe he could start with answering the nurses first question first... "U-uh.. well.. I was kind of in a hole, and she fell down, and I saved her from getting crushed.. Slightly nervous hands dug themselves into jacket pockets.

Now it was time for the difficult part.. Should he lie and say he didn't know her? If he did that then he probably wouldn't be able to take her home later.. Shit what was he supposed to do.. gray-green eyes glanced over to Vincent, who, in turn, shrugged. Vince would have less knowledge on how to deal with this than he did. The boy let out a sigh. "I do know her.. She is a good friend of mine, but I-I.. can't really say much about her healing others.." There was no way in hell he was going to mention anything of his gift and how he caused this mess. But there was one answer he needed.. "U-uh.. H-how many dead have you found.. I'm trying to help find people.. b-but all I seem to be finding is bodies.. except for four people I found trapped in a hole.." He had counted at least eight maybe nine.. he wasn't too sure.

The boy looked away from the two of them. No they didn't need to know the truth, and he hoped they didn't think he was crazy for asking his question. If they knew the truth they would probably be taken and researched on or something like that.. He was honestly thankful that these people didn't question the existence of super human people... but they weren't really super human.. they were normal people.. Well most of them anyway.. The lived lives like everyone else, some were just more capable of things than 'normal' humans..

The elderly doctor stroked his beard again, adjusting his glasses to get a good glance at the clipboard he was holding. All the contents had were a few medical records that they managed to spare and find on some people while the front page kept a tally of the number of people they found injured, those who had recovered, and then those who had been found dead - whether crushed by large slabs of stone or from breaking their spine on a fall or being impaled by giant poles dropping from the sky like rain. Shaking his head, he glanced up again towards the two brothers, muttering something incomprehensible under his breath before responding to his question, "So far, we've found forty three people who were killed." Eyes narrowing, the doctor added on, curiosity lacing its way into his voice as the wrinkles only seemed to minimize his gaze into a glare. "Is there a reason you're asking about the bodies specifically?"

"The count is slightly inaccurate, however. Your friend restored quite a few back to full health when they were supposed to be goners," the gruff tone explained, the doctor clearing his throat a few times throughout the sentence. Casting a glance back over his shoulder, the aged man turned back for just a moment to state, "I need to do a check as people are filing into the ambulance. I'm no expert at what she is able to do, but I recommend letting her rest for awhile. Go to a hospital if she doesn't seem to be waking up." Without another word, his spine cracked slightly as he straightened up and walked back towards the flood of people trying to push and shove their way into the emergency vehicles.

The nurse looked up for a moment, slowly getting onto her feet. "Please thank your friend for helping us today. There would've been many more people who would've died or would require an amputation today if she hadn't done anything." Shortly after she finished speaking, she followed after her chief, leaving the three completely alone in the middle of the wreckage.

Forty... three... forty.. three.. people.. plus... eight.. around fifty one people were dead because of him... because he couldn't control himself.. Because he couldn't control his temper... Warren was probably laughing at him right now.. Because he was weak and couldn't control himself.. Magic didn't bother answering the doctors question.. there was bound to be more.. There was always more then they first realized.. the number would probably increase more and more everyday as they started cleaning up the area.. God he was so dumb..

Magic was so busy with his thoughts he didn't even notice the news choppers over head, all of them wanting to get a good scoop on the story.. All of the people probably wondering why this had happened.. the would probably blame it on a terrorist attack or find some scientific reasoning for this occurring.. Yeah they wouldn't know that it was Magic that caused this...

Laine was on his way home when he heard the news. With a slight fear caught in his throat, the boy turned around and sped back towards the airport. Silently hoping that the trio would be alright. Laine speed through traffic, and sometimes lights trying to get back to the airport. Once he had arrived he saw what he had feared. Everything was in ruins... Only small segments of walls still stood, but looked like they threatened to crumble over any second.. There was so much carnage... It was easy to see blood even though it was raining.

Laine looked around for a bit checking with different things and people asking them if they had seen Magic or Vincent.. or Lamia. Some of them mentioned Lamia, being an angel but they didn't exactly know who it was.. Finally the older gang member came across Magic and Vincent standing together with Lamia hanging in Magic's arms.. At first he feared the worse.. He feared the Lamia was dead, then he was her chest rise and fall soon after, and let go of a breathe he was holding in. He approached the two brothers. "Well.. It seems you guys won't be leaving for a while.. you can come stay at my house in the mean time.. Also I'm so glad you are safe.."

Magic nodded in response to Laine. Thankful the older man had shown up and helped them. Laine took Laima from Magic, and guided the trio back to his car. The three would stay at Laine's house until they were able to leaving. "Come on.. let's get out of this hellhole." Magic said to his brother before moving to the car after Laine had left. After everyone was in the car.. Laine took off towards his house..

Her consciousness kept slipping in and out, fading like a dimmed light that was unable to shine in the darkness properly. There were moments where her eyes would suddenly open and she'd mutter something under her breath before they snapped shut, glossed over like a dim coat of frost, and each time, it was always blue instead of the soft, gentle gold. Black filled her vision each time like paint plastered over old, unable to find traces of the original. The constant rise and fall of her chest was erratic - sometimes it would be steady and controlled while other times it was completely shallow and her heart would pound against, trying to break free or threaten to burst itself. By the time they reached Laine's house, her condition didn't seem to be improving, only getting worse as pained, strangled screams entered the mix and she had started gasping for breath, almost as though she had been suffocating.

An hour passed and everything had gone quiet, only briefly.
Two hours went by and she would twitch or shiver, heavy breaths of air trying to fill her with some kind of relief, her skin becoming even paler than before.
Three hours passed and her temperature completely dropped, cold and numb.
By the fourth hour, it seemed like everything had gone back to normal for the most part, and to any normal eye, she was simply just sleeping.

At the fifth hour, her eyes flitted open, but everything was completely dark, unseeing. A hand came up - if it was dark outside then she should still be able to see her hand. Lamia felt it lifting itself off where it was. Nothing. Complete, utter darkness. Unable to focus, she tried to sit up in a painstaking effort, turning her head to get a grasp on where she was. The place felt foreign... It wasn't anywhere she had been to before. Slowly, vision repaired itself in a miracle and her sense of touch faded at once. With a shaky breath, she only then realized how light-headed she was, and the ticking inside her head was louder than before.

That's what happened...

Right. The accident at the airport. That she had caused. Because she had decided to be the stupid idiot and say what was on her mind. All of her senses rushed back into her like a surging wave, and the sound was completely ripped out of her as she screamed. What the hell...? I wasn't supposed to wake up from this, was I? Lamia drew her arms closer to herself, her head glancing at the floor in front of her. She didn't try and take in the surroundings, her eyes locked onto the floor in front of her as she swung her feet to the bedside. One foot reached down to touch the ground, and she tried to stand up, only to fall to her knees and begin coughing again, everything in her vision blurring.

Warren told me not to use my gift carelessly... But I don't mind.

It didn't sound like anyone was around her right then and there, but she could hear noise through the floor. Was it the upper floor then? And then footsteps sounded, barging into her quiet little world. Clenching her eyes closed, Lamia held her hand out in front of her again and blinked back open. Nothing. It was still black right now. Pulling her knees in closer as she shifted into a sitting position, she couldn't help but notice she couldn't feel anything again. Senses fading... just like that, huh? She wasn't sure who had come in first, but she had a guess.

Her voice was muffled, distorted from hiding behind her knees. "I-I'm s-s-sorry f-for m-m-m-making everyone w-worry... I-I've c-caused s-so much tr-trouble..."

She was betting on the fact that Magic wouldn't approach her or try and get a good look at her eyes or try and touch her, only for her not to respond because she couldn't see that he had or couldn't feel it. He didn't need to find out about what consequences she had to face on her own... They were her problems. Not his. What a stupid gamble she was playing her. Fate would toy her like every other time and make things go differently.

11 years down the drain. Just like that, huh?

Laine's house was a small house. It only had three bedrooms and two bathrooms, a kitchen area, and then a living area, plus a laundry room, but you couldn't really hang out there. The three boys were currently sitting in the living room, while Lamia was put into one of the spare bedrooms. Laine's house was in the ghetto but it was kind of nice looking on the inside. Everything kind of matched, and seemed in a good condition. The floor though out the house was wooden. While the walls changed color from room to room. The living room was next to the front door area. Opposite side of living room was an area that either lead to the hall to go to the bedrooms or a doorway into the kitchen.

In the living room sat a couch, and two chairs. One chair sat next to the tv which sat against the wall with the window. Oppisite of the tv was the couch, and next to the couch sat the chair which sat against the corner of the room. Vince and Laine sat on the couch while Magic was resting slightly in the chair that sat in the corner.

In the bedroom Lamia was in, the room itself was kind of small. The door sat near a corner, while a dresser sat near the door. Opposite of the dresser was the bed which was tucked into the corner to allow for more space. A good bit of space sat at the end before you reached the wall with the closet.

The three boys sat in the living room waiting for the fourth of their group to wake up. All of them held some level on concern for the girl, but they could do nothing about it so they decided to watch tv instead.. Laine was the one in control of the tv remote while Vince sat on his phone. Magic wasn't really paying attention to any of it. His cuts, and bruises hurt but he was going to deal with it.. He deserved it...

Magic perked up a little bit when he heard the news turn on, and start talking about the incident that he had caused.. it had been a couple hours... since then.. Laine noticed that Magic had started paying attention and went to change it but was fast enough to change it before it announced the dead count. This is what they had heard. "Still no news on what had caused the airport collapse today at 1:00 pm. Some experts say it was faulty structure but they are trying to figure it out. Once the clean up goes into full swing they should be able to figure out the cause. So far there are around 323 injured, and 97 dead.. the numbers continue to ri-" That was when Laine had changed the channel.

It was too late though. Magic had heard it, and it didn't take to long for him to be up, and out the door, slamming the front door closed. The number had double since they had left the area earlier.. and it was going to keep increasing.. How could he have been such an idiot... He should have realized that was what Warren wanted.. He should have known, because it seemed like the whole time Warren was trying to piss him off some how.

"Magic wai-" Laine couldn't stop him the door had slammed closed before he could finish his sentence. Silence fell between the two boys who were left. Laine looked to Vincent, and Vincent just shrugged. They didn't really know what to do.. They couldn't go after Magic right now.. He just needed to blow off some steam or something.. Or have some alone time... Laine didn't really know what to do..

Both of the boys got startled when they heard a scream come from the room Lamia was in. Laine stood up and rushed over to her room, and opened the door to see the girl sitting on the floor. He opened his mouth to say something but she managed to speak first. Why was she apologizing? "Lamia, it's fine. Are you alright?" He asked walked up to her and crouching in front of her, but not making any move to touch her, or help her up at the moment.

Surprise resounded through her mind when it wasn't the voice she had been expecting. Nestling herself into a tighter position, Lamia tried to find some sort of respite for her mistake, but in the end, there was nothing. She was glad that Laine didn't try and correct her mistake... Fuck. Would he try and do anything that would let this whole thing run into a mess? How close was he to her? Should she try to move? Taking a shaky breath, one hand fell limply to the floor, a finger tracing obscure shapes and objects. A distraction. She needed to distract herself. "I-I-I'm f-fine... S-s-sorry." Maybe she should take Warren's advice and stop apologizing. But it was the only thing she could really think about saying.

Saying 'sorry' was the one thing that she could say without any effort. It was almost like an anchor that she held onto, to reassure herself that everything would be alright in the end. Of course, that was child's play. Nothing came out the way she wanted it to go. Life would be way too easy if that happened - it'd be another fairy tale where everything was a happy ending and everyone was satisfied with their lives except for the bad guy. She'd be the bad guy now, wouldn't she? The thought brought a tiny smile to her face, and Lamia buried her head further into her knees.

"Wh-wh-where's M-Magic...?"

She wasn't sure if she wanted to know the answer, but at the same time, there was this curiosity that drove her to ask. If he had gone to do something stupid because of her, then... What should she... It wasn't... It wasn't fair. Her fingers curled themselves, a tight grip as she realized her complete foolishness. She shouldn't have agreed to come on this trip in the first place. Stupidstupidstupid... None of her senses seemed to be coming back, save for the haze that her eyes seemed to be seeing. A complete daze.

---

Icy blue-green eyes seemed to shine in the darkness outside of the ghetto, the only working light in the grim alleyways. A figure was leaning back onto the wall for support, one leg raised with his arms crossed. His attention focused on one house. How long had he been waiting in the same place? An hour or two? All he was doing was playing messenger in the end. Earbuds were plugged in, his phone in his hand as he listened to the news channel covering the airport accident that he was responsible for. It was rather satisfying to hear the death count rising, to only prove that he was doing his job well enough. Magic must've been rather agitated and irritated, beating himself up for letting his nightmares come true. What an amusing thought.

"As of now, witnesses of the collapse state that an earthquake had shook the airport before the structures fell. However, scientists report that the magnitude was a measly 3.1, and have decided that the cause could not be that of a natural disaster." A weak shake? God, this world was filled with fools, believing supernatural characteristics couldn't appear throughout their very own citizens. "According to doctors at the site, the number of injured had been deduced to a lower number as a result of a young girl healing them. Many noted that she came out of nowhere and disappeared as soon as the ambulances came. Some have gone as far as to say that she was an angel, able to heal injuries with her bare hands. Here, we have the chief doctor who had been working with her."

"The kiddo came up to me while I was working with a patient, asking if she could help. At first I wanted to say no, but she had worked miracles before I could respond and I allowed her to come in." The doctor cleared his throat, stroking the bottom of his beard. "I don't regret it. Very hard worker."

"Here, someone managed to get a photo of her, researchers working tirelessly to find out who she would be." As the picture came onto the screen, Warren looked over at the house. No one was coming out yet. This may take longer than he thought. The photo depicted the very girl he had drugged today - soft, golden doe-like eyes and hair that seemed to be a dark blue in the right light. An innocent face, yet worn out by exhaustion and she seemed paler than the last time he had seen her. She didn't heed his warnings. How foolish of her. "As of now, the identity is linked to a young French citizen by the name Adeline Tempo. However, some may argue that it is US citizen Lamia Tempo - whether the two are related or not is debatable. Doctors are hoping to take her into custody for experiments in hopes of finding cures for various diseases and illn--"

As the door opened, his finger slid over, pausing the video and he quickly turned his phone off, stuffing it back into his pockets. Magic was finally outside. Did he listen into the cast still? Or had they changed the channel inside? The fact that researchers were unable to figure out that the two girls were the same person made him scoff at their stupidity. Their society was pathetic. Warren's eyes closed themselves, and he leaned back further onto the wall.

"Are you that weak?" He took a deep breath, allowing the chilly air to fill his lungs and relieve himself from standing still in one place. "Before you decide to attack me, I only wish to bring you a message." Knowing the younger boy well enough, his entire presence would set Magic off, and personally, Warren was not looking for a fight. It would be a waste of energy and time. However, if case came to case, he would defend himself.

Laine frowned when Lamia wouldn't look at him.. He wasn't sure if her position was from her feeling bad or if it was from her taking the blame for this.. The boy got out of his crouching position, and sat against the bed. Blue eyes looked over to Lamia. He wasn't too sure on what to do with her.. He wasn't as close to her as Magic was, but Magic was very upset.. and Vince didn't know too much about Lamia either.. Blue eyes returned to the ceiling. What to do? What to do?

The boy looked over to Lamia when she asked about Magic.. Shit.. How should he answer this? Huh.. He wanted to smoke at the moment.. "Uh.. Well.. He kind of left before you woke up.. He isn't really himself at the moment so it would be best if we just left him alone for a while.." Laine stood up from his spot on the floor. "He should be back about this time tomorrow, or in the next few days.." Thats how things normally went, right? Laine wasn't too sure.. He was usually on the other end of Magic's disappearing acts.. If Magic needed to go somewhere, he would come to Laine, but this time.. It was different.. Where would the winter boy go?



"Are you that fuckin stupid?" Magic retorted immediately, to Warren calling him weak. Formally open hands turned into tight fists, ready to punch anything at a moments notice. He didn't really care about the message Warren was talking about.. He didn't give a single fuck right now he wanted to get away from everyone and everything, but that was going to be hard to do being in the city.

Gray-green eyes looked at Warren from the side. A creepy smile appeared on Magic's face. "How do your guts feel? Are they still in pain? I don't know if you know, but I held back on that. If I had made it super loud, then you would have been dead on the spot." Mason said. His words set him off from how he was acting earlier. Earlier he didn't say anything, he looked down at everything.. didn't want to be bothered, but now he was acting creepy. Everything seemed off. His eyes weren't dulled over anymore.

"You know if I were you, I wouldn't be standing in the middle of enemy territory with the gang leader standing right near you. Who knows what would happen? Especially if that gang leader can attack without having to lift a single finger." The creepy smile stayed, but the eyes wondered over to the palm of an open hand. It sat there for a moment before it closed tightly into a fist. Grey-green eyes wondered back up to Warren. The man should choose his words carefully, because Magic was very unpredictable at the moment.

"O-oh..."

Tomorrow? A few days? What time was it? Was the accident that bad? The lonely room fell into an awkward silence, and Lamia couldn't help but feel more uncomfortable than she already was. Talking had always been difficult enough, but here? She was stuck with someone she scarcely knew a thing about, and not a single word or phrase came to her mind, all of them twisting into knots and making even the simplest of phrases complicated tongue-twisters. She had always been the listener, and would nod or agree with whatever anyone else wanted. It wasn't that she didn't want to start a conversation; it was because she couldn't. Or at least, it'd take her a much longer time to think of something to talk about. Should she try and say anything else?

Lamia mulled on the thought of allowing the silence to stretch on, and as quickly as it came, her sight revived itself, gold eyes transitioning back to blue. Damn, she still couldn't feel anything. Slowly, she lifted her head and glanced over at the older boy. Her lips thinned.

Fuck life. The words slipped out subconsciously, "Th-th-that... u-uhm... I-I'm s-s-sorry. I-I h-s-s-said s-something I-I sh-shouldn't h-have... a-and..." Another shaky breath escaped her. "I-It m-made him a-angry..."

---

Did he hit a nerve? As Magic continued to ramble on and on, Warren's expression completely hardened to cold stone, and he let out a sigh, his breath billowing out in front of him. By the time the younger boy had finished speaking, he spoke with a bored tone, one finger tapping his own arm in a steady tempo as though he had become impatient. "I'm not looking for a fight, you fool." Perhaps this was a bad time to approach him with this, but orders were orders and this might as well be the most optimal setting to get it over with. As long as he proved his loyalty then nothing would go wrong. Or so she promised.

"You are acting far more confident for a person who does not know their enemy's capabilities," he responded, the monotone lacing his voice and giving nothing away. Stoicism, reticent, placid. There was nothing he was hiding and yet nothing he was giving away. A difficult person to read in all cases, regardless of enhanced senses. "That is what puts both of you in harm's way and makes you weak."

"Physically powerful, yet mentally unstable. I am only here to warn you before you place yourself into an unnecessary situation that endangers either of your lives."

Laine let out a sigh and leaned against the wall. "Lamia, there is no way you can take all of the blame for this.. Little things here and there can set Magic off. He is one to be easily angered just by anything.. He was already so tensed and stressed by the event with Warren earlier... He just wants you to be safe.. He understands that you can most likely take care of yourself.. but.. uh.." Laine rubbed the back of his head. He didn't exactly know what to say.

"Well he cares for you a lot.. And I know you most likely don't want to believe that but it's true, and it will probably stay that way.. Anyway, Magic isn't exactly mad at you for any of this.. He is mad at himself.." Laine paused for a moment, one hand kind of resting on his neck. "On the rid home, I kept hearing 'I need to control myself better' from him or something along those lines.. He is also mad because he broke the one moral he kept for himself.. Which was to not kill anyone.." With the number of dead being around one hundred, and continuously on the rise with each passing hour, Laine couldn't help but be sympathetic for the boy, though he wouldn't be able to understand on the same level. "He made his worse fear come true..." Laine said..

He got off the wall, and walked back over to Lamia. "Anyway, you need to get back in bed. And I will get you something to drink or something to eat, if you want something that is." Laine said to her kind of crossing his arms. "You need the rest."




Fool? He was the fool for coming here.. There were gang members everywhere all of them listening for something just in case they were needed. Granted they wouldn't have been able to do much against a gifted unless one of them was a gifted themselves, but Magic didn't know that. "And your acting like a total fuck face." Magic once again retorted, though it probably didn't make much sense. How knows? He was kind of suffering from madness at the moment.

"Jesus, don't you ever shut up! Two warnings huh? Aren't you supposed to be some evil guy.. Whatever I don't care.. In case you haven't realized it was because of you that our lives were endangered. If you hadn't shown up everything would have been fine. So I think you need to reconsider." Magic let out a sigh, and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Anyway, I don't care about your fuckin message. I don't care about anything you have to say, because you clearly can't warn people well enough. I'm leaving now, if you follow me I will not hesitate to kill you.." Magic said giving the man a glare. He knew he could do it, easily. Just some sound below human hearing level at a loud volume then the head goes bye-bye.. Not to mention just using sound alone can control someone's breathing. Magic knew a lot about his power. Things he hadn't quite revealed just yet, so in some way Warren was still underestimating him.

Magic spun on one foot, turning away from the man that stood at a distance from him, and started walking away. He wasn't dealing with anyone else's bullshit for now. Not even some damn warning. He didn't need it anyway.. He knew what he was capable of, and what damage he could cause if he wasn't careful, he didn't need some fucker telling him that. He already endanger his life numerous times, and he endangered Lamia's just by being around her.. The boy couldn't help but let out a small madness filled laugh.

Why were they always telling her that she should sleep or that they would help her? She didn't need that, or rather, she didn't deserve it. Why was Laine explaining everything to her? She knew it already; from the school and what she saw on their trip. It wasn't like she was deaf or blind. As he got closer to her, Lamia flinched away, backing closer into the corner, trying to seclude herself in her own world. Hastily, she pretended to occupy herself with something - anything -, mumbling something under her breath. Maybe she was trying to hide in a shell that blocked her from the rest of society. But it wasn't like anyone bothered to have her lead a conversation before. So why start now? It was a painstaking effort and a complete waste of time. Nothing worthwhile came out of her mouth.

Lamia contemplated on staying quiet, to let everything stretch endlessly until Laine was forced to spit something out or leave her alone, but that wouldn't be fair to him. She had made people's lives worst as is. "I-I-I'm f-fine... I-I'll w-wait f-for him t-t-to g-get back." No fucking way she was going to sleep. Not after this morning. Not after the events that she had caused. Not after this stupid world decided to mess with the lives of everyone around her.

What the hell was sleep anyway?

---

He needed to shut up? Good gods, Magic should listen to himself. He kept ranting and saying five sentences for every one sentence of his. As the younger boy continued to speak, Warren eventually tuned him out, his eyes glancing towards the seemingly endless alleyway. Enemy territory, huh? He wasn't worried about the gang members attacking him. They couldn't do anything against a man who could turn them against their own allies. Magic's insults and words didn't leave a dent, and by the time he stopped talking and started leaving, Warren only shook his head. There were a wave of crude remarks that flew into his mind, but he didn't fling any of them.

Instead, only one phrase stuck out from everything that Magic gave a poorly written speech about: Aren't you supposed to be some evil guy? That was such an amusing idea. The glare he gave didn't make Warren flinch. Perhaps the boy was too unstable to try and bother with anything right now. "Do you truly believe the world is black and white?" He knew that Magic could hear it, even if he was further off now. And that was why he was taking his chances in finishing his task anyway. "What you do here on out decides whether she lives or not. I recommend you mentally steel yourself if you do anything you regret."

As soon as he heard noises around him, Warren knew that he may have offhandedly offended the gang leader and his followers were looking to hand him retribution on a silver platter. A small 'hmph' welled up in his throat, and a whirring sound came about, a punch flying straight for his face. Once it was only an inch away, he quickly ducked down before sweeping the first opponent onto the floor with a swift kick to the stomach, a painful groan escaping his victim. Then there was a crack of gunfire, grazing past his sleeve like cotton, the fabric gently ripping itself apart.

His hands flew into his pockets, pulling out two guns that distinctly appeared to be halves of one another. Pulling the trigger on his left and right, the bullets zipped right through into their heads, his foot stopping the first person from getting up. Blood splattered the walls with red, bodies bruised as they buckled onto the floor like lifeless dolls. A cry above him brought a hand up, and the gun shot another person down, landing with a sickening crack on the spine.

"Foolish tactics. Predictable." Warren's eyes stayed cold, and as soon as he shot the final victim down, he began a mad dash down the alleyway, bringing the guns together to form a double-edged sword. People seemed to hop from left and right. His hands swung the sword around like a baton, slashing and slicing people's chests opens, severing heads, and staining the weapon with crimson liquid oozing at the very tips. The switch between sword and gun was flawless, signaling a barrage of power and explosions, dust fuming out with each and every blow. No mercy as the ghetto was littered with corpses in his pathway, bringing the deadly still silence of the night with fire and snaps.

Attacked from the sides, above, in front, behind, and below. His expression never changed, holding the same apathetic glint as before. There were few where he simply threw out of commission with powerful locks, rendering their arms and legs useless. Some others he had swung them into a position where he broke their backs in half. And there were more where he simply used pressure points to knock them out. Very few didn't have their throats or tongues slit out of them. As soon as he realized that he had reached a dead-end, his movements halted, and his eyes closed, adjusting his stance into a defensive one as seven people appeared to approach him.

Slowly, he took steps back until he was against the wall. The members varied in size, some bulkier than others, some more lean. But to say they didn't have anger fueled by vengeance and loyalty was a lie. They all had something against him at this point. His hands readied the guns in front of him, and as soon as two people stormed forward with swords in their hands, he began shooting at their feet to disable their movements, the bullets throwing themselves into rapid fire, and scarcely missing. The first person came, swinging at his head, and Warren jumped up, creating a back flip as his fingers continued to pull the triggers.

The moment his feet touched the ground, the second person threw himself at him, the blade reaching for his neck, but one lean back allowed him to reposition himself and shoot that enemy down. As he fell victim, blood pooling from the body, the first intruder came back, swinging at him recklessly and leaving a wide open space for himself to be shot down. Two down, five to go.

As he checked the barrel, Warren cursed at himself.

Not enough bullets.

The weapon snapped itself back together into a sword, and he readied himself as the next three came at once, brimming with energy as they tried to shove their fists anywhere on him. The sword span itself, and as he twisted in the air, heads fell off, feet twirling as he knocked the bodies away. With only two more left, a shaky breath left him. Small beads of sweat began to trickle down from his forehead, whether it was because of his clothes or out of exhaustion, he wasn't sure. The final two were backed into a corner as he managed to bring himself to the other side.

He was on the right playing field. One leg shifted back, and quickly, he dashed in, the sword flying throw a body and cutting it in half as the rest cycled itself into a flurry of strikes with the grace of a ballerina and a well-rehearsed dance. Blood sputtered and filled the ground in a bath of endless red. By the time he was done, Warren finally heard it above him. The helicopter whizzing in with its roar, and the ladder was let down.

Glancing back at the damage, he didn't show any remorse. Of course he couldn't. They were part of his orders. Don't allow anyone to live if they try to interfere. And that was exactly what he did.

Once he managed to reach the topic and take a seat, the sword withdrew itself into a more compact form and he slipped it back into his pocket. Icy blue eyes traveled to the pilot, who was none other than the berserk gunner and master thief. "You have it, right?"

"Of course. Everything came just as planned."

"She'd be disappointed if you failed."

"Her orders are absolute. I would never do such a thing." Clearing his throat, he couldn't help but point one thing out: "You are able to fly this, correct?"

"Yeah, yeah. I stole this one."

. . .

"I would expect nothing more from you."

"It's not that bad. Don't be hasty in filling out that report. You have a few hours before we reach base again."

Laine looked at her. "I never said you have to go back to sleep. Just saying you need to rest, which could also be relax. Just don't push yourself to hard. Though I do have to ask, would you like to go out there and watch tv with Vince and I? Or would you like to stay in here?" He asked the girl. Either way he was going to keep an eye on her. If something happened to her then Magic would be in even worse condition than he already was. Things would end up really bad if that happened. "Whatever you choose, I'm fine with whatever. Call if you need something." He said before leaving the room.

---

Magic walked along the streets, it was all silent out in the ghetto except for Sirens in the distance. He was too far away from Warren at this point and didn't know what was happening. He ignored the gunshots he heard in the distance. It was kind of a common thing around here. Mason pulled out a carton of cigarettes he stole from Laine's house from his pocket. He hit the bottom of the container popping a single cigarette out of the carton. He picked it up out of the carton, and placed it into his mouth. He placed the carton back into his back pocket, and pulled out a lighter, and light the deadly thing. After what he had been through today he deserved it.

He kept the cigarette in his mouth, and kept walking. Not stopping in the slightest. Occasionally he would pull the cigarette out of his mouth, but soon after he would place it back in. If he saw anyone he knew on his journey through his territory he ignored them, and they didn't press because they knew he was pissed off, and they probably knew he was unstable as well.

After a while of walking he finally reached his destination. Well into enemy gang territory, and right into a group of seven enemy gang members. He looked up at them a creepy smile returning, and could clearly be seen even though he had a cigarette in his mouth. "Let's get this started boys." He flicked the cigarette out of his mouth and stomped it out, before smirking at the group of seven. The one in the middle threw a punch soon after initiating the fight.