I blinked my eyes. There was a sickly smell wafting to my nose. A blinding light shone on me, and what felt like millions of eyes were stuck on my rising frame. That was till a wave of pain washed over me and brought me to my knee's. Forcing my eyes to focus I saw the stage. All the blood laying over the ruined snow. Mag's Blood. I begged my body to give me the strength to make it over to her and a few agony filled moments later I found myself with her body nestled in my arms. I ran a finger over her pale blue-hued lips and my eyes closed unable to look upon her anymore. My whole quivering frame was in shock. Nothing Mag had done in her life could have awarded her this horrible death. And in a dark corner of my mind I felt I had a small part to play in her death. Turning my head I opened my eyes again and there was Rotti laying a few feet from me. Then it all came back to me. The Opera. Getting revenge on Rotti for taking Shilo...Oh yes my daughter.
"Shilo." I called to my little girl with barely a voice. I was cut short by the sharp intakes of breaths from the audience surrounding me. I felt a hand on my shoulder and though the pain I turned to see if it was indeed my Shilo. Of course it wasn't. The man who was smiling down at me couldn't be futher from her. In fact I'm sure he was the man I saw with Shilo in the graveyard before she passed out.
"Graverobber. What are you-"I started, he just shook his head and took out, with his other hand, a Zydrate gun and waved it about.
"And a little help comes in a little glass veil in a gun pressed against your anatomy." He held the gun against my neck, finger on the trigger, and I realized what he was about to do.
"No!" I tried to yell. But it reached deaf ears.
"And when the gun goes off our little Repo man is ready for some surgery, surgery." The trigger clicked, and after that I couldn't feel or remember a thing.
When I awoke I was on Shilo's bed, bandaged up and carefully tucked in as well. I didn't know what to think. I wanted to call out to whoever was doing this taking care of me but my throat was so dry it didn't want to act right. I tried to sit up but a hand gently pushed me back. It was Graverobber again. My eyebrows knitted together in anger my fury taking over. He laughed when he saw I was trying to question him yet my voice wasn't letting me.
"Maybe if you drop your bad-boy crap I'll get you a glass of water, you have a special guest anyway so you'll need your voice. Oh before you start thinking I did any of this for you I'm just helping out a friend. So to speak." He handed me a glass full of water and walked out of the room closing the door behind him. Taking a sip of the cool water I looked up lost in thought. Like how I ever got back to my house, and alive. I was sure that the last moments I saw my daughter before I blacked out were my last ones. Yet, I had survived the Opera. But what hadn't survived? My thoughts turned to Mag and her demise. Seeing her lovely face, hearing her voice sing out her sorrows, all the memories of her that I had rushed back to me at once till I was swimming in them. She had probably known my other self, and yet she had the nerve to come into my house demanding to see her godchild. I'd just thrown Mag out to face her final song alone.
"Dad?" I was shook out of my stupor by a gentle voice.
"Shi?" Replying back carefully. And into the room she slowly walked gracefully to my side all cleaned up and wearing her mothers' trademark warm smile. I reached out a hand to stroke her cheek.
"I thought I had lost you Dad." I smiled now.
"For a moment there you did. But you saved me. How can I ever make it up to you." Shilo sat beside me, looking down at the carpet. For what seemed like ages we bore the silence upon us quite heavily. When I could stand it no more I addressed the elephant in the room.
"Why is that man roaming about my home?" She seemed taken aback by the question and visibly squirmed.
"Well he…" Exhaling heavily she continued, shifting a piece of hair behind her ear," w-well you know there's n-no way I could have dragged you here all by myself. Not with all the celebration and extra security swarming the streets. He helped me." Shilo looked off into a corner and smiled as if she were remember something particularly nice.
"Shilo? Sweetheart?" She shook herself straitening out her posture and laid a hand upon mine.
"I'm here dad. What's more important is you are and maybe we could start over. No more locked doors. No more secrets."
"I-I would like that very much. I love you Shilo." My throat closed up with emotion causing me to choke on my words. "You sh-should know I o-only did-"
"Dad." Shilo cut me off. "Let's wait till you well again to start that conversation." I just smiled sadly again wishing that everything was different. Oh if Marni could see her now. How proud she'd be of the young woman Shilo had become.