Luke's POV
The explosion rocked the train. Windows shattered, people were screaming as the fire caught and spread. With a loud groan, the world tilted as the car was derailed. We began spinning over and over again as it rolled and tumbled down the hill that we had stopped on. I cried out in pain as I crashed into tables, benches, and tore my clothes and skin on broken glass. The heat from the fire burned my skin in several places, and eventually, I cracked my head off the floor, blacking out.
When I came to, Natsu was knelt over me, straddling my chest and slapping my cheeks gently. "Luke! Luke wake up! We've got work to do! Get up!" She sounded kind of worried, but her words didn't really make sense to me. Get up? Why? We were on a grassy hilltop with a gentle breeze. There was smoke curling up from something I couldn't see... Probably a fire that we'd started. Maybe I dozed off...
Don't hit him Natsu! He may have a concussion!" Gray exclaimed, shoving the rosette off me. Concussion? Why would I have a concussion? We were just on the train weren't we?
"Luke-san. Can you hear me?" My head was pulled into someone's lap. I looked up to see Will looking back down at me worriedly. "Luke can you talk? Blink twice for no."
"What's... Where are..." I couldn't seem to form full sentences, my words coming out slurred and thick. My tongue felt swollen and fuzzy. They all seemed to sigh with relief that I could speak. "Wha happen?" I mumbled, trying to sit up. There was a bandage wrapped around my head, along with several cuts and bruises. I felt like I'd been thrown around in a bag of sledgehammers.
"The train exploded. You hit your head pretty bad." Will said gently. I managed to pull myself into a sitting position and looked at them. Gray was in her underwear, a long white bandage wrapped around her waist and stomach. Her eye was also patched up. Natsu's injuries were minor, couple of scratches on her arms and face. When I turned to get a good look at Will, he was a mess. sliced up with blood dripping down his cheeks. His hair was a rats nest, singed at the edges. I noticed that he refrained from using his left wrist for anything, the joint was puffy and looked to be either sprained or broken.
"Oh my gods... What..." My speech was coming back little by little. "Where... Emmett? Where's Emmett?" They all shook their heads, looking solemn.
"We don't know. Happy and Carla are looking for him now. We can only hope that he used his flame emperor armor since from what we can tell of the wreckage, he was in the center of the blast." Gray said, sitting and crossing her legs. She laced her fingers worriedly. Natsu paced, gnashing her teeth.
"I don't see why we don't go looking ourselves! If Emmet's hurt then we have to look for him!" She exclaimed. "And who knows? Maybe there are some of those Leviathan Eye punks to pulverize!" She said, punching her flat hand with her fist in a burst of flame. Gray scowled at her.
"Because, dumbass! Look at us! If we ran into the one that we were fighting earlier then we're screwed! Luke's funny in the head-"
"Hey!" I demanded. She continued without listening.
"Will's in no fighting condition, using up all his magic making an air shield to protect us, Emmett's missing in action, I'm half blind with a broken rib or two, you hurt your ankle even though you're in denial."
"It only hurts when I move!" She protested. Gray looked down, stony faced.
"Look. I want revenge as badly as you do but if we rush in now then we'll only get more hurt or worse. The cats will find Emmett. I'm sure of it. For now we wait." I stared for a moment. Given how much she and Natsu fought over useless things, I would sometimes forget just how smart and serious Gray was. I could see the gears turning in Natsu's head before finally she sat back down.
"Fine. But if Happy isn't back in the next hour I'm going in with or without you guys. Emmett could be hurt."
"Agreed." I said quietly, touching my temple tenderly. "Will, can you heal us when your magic recharges?"
"I should be able to. But it'll take a couple of hours before I can do all of us. Especially depending on the severity of Emmett-san's injuries." He said, calculating on his fingers. I looked down at the ruined train, something catching my attention. The silence. No sound came where there should have been the panicked murmur of human voices. I looked around. There was no one in sight.
"… Gray... Exactly how many people made it off that train?" I asked quietly, my voice hardly a whisper. Gray's jaw tightened as though she were trying not to cry.
"Well... Including you, me, Natsu, and Will... Four."
…...
Emmett's POV
I coughed once, barely able to see. smoke curled around me as I pushed myself up onto my elbows. My armor clinking quietly as I did. My purgatory armor had been ruined by that weird string that my opponent had used, but in the split second that the blast took vapourizing the magic thread, I had just enough time to requip into my casual armor. The metal hadn't blocked the magical attack, but it had protected my skin from the more major injuries that I would have sustained without it. I could hear a high voice calling me. Then joined by another. The voices came from above me.
"Emmett! Emmeeeeeeett!" I could see small shapes high above. One blue and one white.
"Down here!" I called, then began choking on ash as the exceeds dove towards me. They hovered a few feet in front of e with relief evident on their faces.
"Oh thank goodness! We weren't sure if you'd gotten off!" Charla exclaimed.
"What happened?!" Happy asked, hooking his paws under my arm. Charla did the same on the other side as they lifted me from the rubble and above the wreck. My eyes widened and my breath caught. There were half melted bodies strewn across the ripped seats and tables. Blank empty eyes were already being pecked at by crows. A child's toy was blackened and burned in the aisle, Some had been impaled by debris, and some... only red splatter marks extending from where the train had fallen. The smell of smoke and burned decaying flesh assaulted my nose. I could hear the caws of carrying birds and other scavengers drawn by the massacre before me. Horror. I felt true and utter horror the likes of which I'd never felt before in that moment. In that moment... Everything... Stopped.
I began to hyperventilate as the cats set me on the hillside next to my comrades. I bent over immediately, hands on my knees and vomited. It was too much. I had seen the dead before. I had been to funerals. But this... This was just... Inhuman. How could someone knowingly do this to all those people?! I continued to empty my stomach until I could only wretch painfully, falling to my hands and knees shaking. It was obvious by the looks of the others that they had not seem the accident as I had. They hadn't gotten the full and crushing impact of exactly what had been done.
"Oh gods Emmett... What happened to you?!" Luke exclaimed, looking at me with wide panicked eyes. Looking into those eyes was what brought me back from the edge of what could only have been a full on mental breakdown. All the fear, all the distress, the desperation in those wide brown eyes made me think. I was the leader. My comrades looked to me as a sign of strength when things looked hopeless. If I went off the deep end now then who knows what could happen? They needed me to me strong. I closed my eyes and thought.
In ten seconds, you will be okay. You have ten seconds to grieve. Ten seconds to cry.
Okay.
Ten.
I can't do this can I? Can I honestly turn my back on all these people and look okay?
Nine.
I have to do it for my friends but what if-
Eight.
No. Don't think about the what if's. They'll only make it worse.
Seven.
Get your revenge for all these people. That's how you can help them. Defeat Leviathan Eye.
Six.
Look at their faces. They need you now.
Five.
You're right. You can do this. You're Emmett Scarlet.
Four.
You can do this.
Three.
Yes.
Two.
You'll destroy them?
One.
Yes.
And I stood.
So sorry for the wait, I was camping for a while and I didn't know how to start this chapter. I hope you liked it, please leave reviews! Dragon out!