Errr... yeah. It's been a while. I express my apologies...hoping you shall forgive me! Anywho, I have to say, last chapter was INTENSE. Sad, intense, and just...WOW...eh? =( Poor, poor Angelica. Now you know why she's not there in the present, along with Boomer. =( In this chapter, we'll be seeing what happens with Pyro, now that Angelica and Him are...gone...and what happens with Bubbles. You might be gingerly surprised at what happens because of all this. I think this chapter will be one of the hardest to write...apart from the last couple of chapters! Um...Thank you, please review, and enjoy! Now, on with the story! =D
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE POWERPUFF GIRLS OR THE ROWDYRUFF BOYS, OR ANYTHING, EXCEPT THE IDEA AND ANY MADE UP CHARACTERS! =D
REMINDER: THE PGG AND RRB ALL HAVE NORMAL LIMPS, EYES, NOSES, FINGERS, TOES…ETC. =)
BTW: ... For all of you who know my cousin on here, FrannyFine29, she expresses her condolences as well. She's sorry for not updating frequently, although she wants to. She's in a play and has a leading role, so she's very busy with that. Please cut her some slack. She's my cousin, and we'd appreciate your kindness. As soon as her play is over, she will have more free time to write, which she eagerly awaits with baited breath. Please check out her story Steal My Heart, and be on the look out for another story she will be writing as well! That will be called Falling For You, another PPG story. Thank you. :) Love you all!
Angelica
Chapter 26: Angelic Requiem
P.O.V.: Bubbles
Relevant quote to chapter: "The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us and we see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone. ~George Eliot
Setting: In the past.
I slowly walked towards my sister's house. Pyro walked beside me. He looked unhappy and uncomfortable, and his feet dragged along the pavement. His arms were folded tightly, and he refused to look at me, out of shame and anger.
I looked up at the sky. Today was a sunny day, the clouds puffing up just enough to make you think you could lie down on them. Everything the sun hit was beautiful. Everything shined it the brightness of the light; their quintessential colors captured in the rays of the light. And yet, with all the beauty around me, I was empty and morbid. Dull and drained.
My steps were short and slow, my head hung limply. I felt old- as if I was 72 or something. My only wish was that my heart would stop beating.
No words were exchanged between us as a whole hour passed. It usually took me no less than five minutes to get to Blossom's house. However, my brain and my body could barely function. I kept walking in the wrong direction, kept going down the wrong streets. I even tripped and stumbled a few times. Pyro always caught me though.
His hands were strong and icy. They always seemed to make my bones chill every time they touched me. It made me shiver, and I always shot him a look, as if he were a killer. Which he was.
He would stare at me, his eyes harsh, his brows furrowed, his lips taking a turn towards the ground. But he'd always look away when he let me go. He could never hold my gaze when he let me go, when I was stable and back on my feet again.
When we finally made it to Blossom's house, I just stared at the house. The stairs looked like they went on forever, like they stretched onward for miles in the summer heat. I didn't feel like climbing them, and didn't feel powerful enough to fly up them.
"...Can't go up." I mumble, my voice hoarse and cracking. I could feel the sweat on my skin, the dryness in my mouth. The redness in my eyes from all the crying.
"Can't go up..." I repeat, this time ,with tears glistening in my eyes. I wasn't just talking about me going up the stairs either. I was talking about Boomer and Angelica.
How dare they...how dare they leave me here?
All alone without anyone to comfort me, to love, or to hug ever again. How...dare they go up? Up to heaven?
Without me..
"...You have to go up." Pyro asserted, his voice stony and to the point. Like he didn't want to be here. Like he was talking to a demented old lady. he tried grabbing my arm while stepping onto the first step of the stairs, but I pulled away from him. Like a baby.
"Can't go! I won't go up." I insisted, shaking my head no, my hair messy and greasy. I didn't take a shower this morning. I barely had any good sleep until Pyro barged into my house and told me even more bad news.
Like I needed anything else...like I needed to cry over losing a husband and a child on the same day.
Oh god, the heart ache of it all! I can't even begin to explain how I felt! The sadness, the torture, the grueling pain stuffed inside my heart! Tears could barely capture the hurt I felt over the loss of them both.
And worse yet? I felt guilty.
Guilty I was alive and my family wasn't. Guilty...about how I treated Angelica the last time I saw her.
Worst yet, I couldn't correct it. I couldn't go home after this and wait for everything to be okay- to see them both walk in the door from a busy day outside. I couldn't make it up to Angelica by buying her an ice cream sundae at Edgar's or popping in her favorite movie anymore, Ponyo.
It was all gone. All of it...
How does someone even begin to 'cope' with something like that!
"Come on. We have to get up there. I'm sorry, but I seriously can't spend my whole day with you, just cause you were my girlfriend's mother. I've got a lot of shit that needs to be taken care of. Straightened out. Get it? Your family is here- you need to talk to them. You need to tell them what the fuck happened. You want them finding out about it 5 weeks later? Or now? Which'll look better, huh?" Pyro asserted in a very aggressive way, grabbing my arm and hauling me up the stairs, step by step. I kicked and thrashed but it was no good. He wasn't giving up now. He was angry and depressed...
Just like me.
"No! No, NO!" I screeched, and I knew that my sister and the rest of her family could hear me. They were all super powered, after all.
Pyro quickly rang the door bell once we reached the top, and he continued to hold onto my arm too. He wouldn't dare let go, or else I would zoom off and away.
I couldn't face them... I couldn't face losing my own daughter and husband for crying out loud! How was I going to face Blossom, the one who has it all? The one who's a success, and has a family? And how the hell was I going to keep a straight face and tell Brick his brother was dead? GONE?
I...I COULDN'T! NO...GET ME AWAY FROM HERE!
But t was too late The door has already swung open quickly than I could blink.
There stood Jeff, Blossom's son. He was dressed in shorts and a white t-shirt, book in hand. He eyed the both of us, suspicious of Pyro. He pushed up his glasses at Pyro and then looked at me, his eyes changing into worry and concern.
'Aunt Bubbles? Come on in...um...what's going on, and who's he?" He asked, pointing to Pyro with a scrunched up face. He looked so much like Brick, it was uncanny...
I gulped and looked down, my whole face dull and lifeless.
"I need to speak to your mother." I mumble and Pyro steps into the house, pulling me along with him. I was still a bit resistant, and I closed my eyes and let out a pained whimper.
I wanted to be anywhere but here...
"Um...okay. Sure...come on in. Is he a friend, or something..?" Jeff asked about Pyro, and if I wasn't feeling so low right now, I would've laughed my ass off at that one. Instead, I smiled bitterly down at the ground, knowing I must've looked insane right now. I had on a loose fitting white t-shirt and paint stained shorts on along with scrappy looking hair and no makeup.
Beautiful.
"...An asset, rather." I mumble, not really sure what to say about Pyro anyway. Was he an enemy? Was he a friend? He was...nothing. Nothing at all but an annoyance to me.
Jeff stared at us both for a second or two, then nodded hesitantly and showed us the way to the dining room. Right now it wasn't decked out, like Blossom usually loved to do.
It was simple and quaint. The tablecloth Blossom had put on it was a clean white and there was centerpiece of fresh pink roses in a crystal vase. Chairs were set up around the table, like usual, but only as many as the family needed, which was four chairs.
"Um...ok?" Jeff mumbled in confusion, glancing at Pyro until he felt uncomfortable, "I'll let my mom know you're here. She's working on a article for the newspaper, and dad's in the backyard. Just sit tight, okay?" Jeff reassured me, and I don't remember if I nodded at him or said 'yes'. I just remember being shoved into a seat at the dining table when he was gone by Pyro.
"Stop acting like this. Pull yourself together dammit. They'll think I did something to you." Pyro spat at me, sitting next to me, his eyes narrowed, his voice fuming. I just stared at my arm and was shocked I was freed from Pyro's menacing grip.
"...You ave done something to me. You've taken away everyone I love out from under me." I murmured, my voice broken as my fingers trail along my freed arm nimbly. He growls at that and looks away, his hands in fists on the dining table. After a moment or two of silently fuming, he looks back at me, his eyes serious with hatred.
"I wouldn't be so damn bold if I were you! You acted like you didn't even care about Angelica the last time you saw her! You blamed her for her father's death...when in fact it was no one's fault. Angelica never meant for this to happen, and neither did I. Why should I? I was in love with her! Why would I want her father killed? It was Him! That...that filthy bastard! But...But you didn't even get a chance to see what she did to Him. You wouldn't have believed it even if you tried. I saw Him go down. I saw what she did to Him. I saw her final moments...while you? You laid in your own filth and self pity." Pyro smothered me hatefully in a whisper, his eyes intense on me...his words stabbing me repeatedly. It felt like someone had beaten me up by the time he was through talking, and like I couldn't get back up. I couldn't even cry... my eyes were dry and out of tears to spill.
I stared him in the eye and knew he was right. Him was to blame, and it wasn't right to put all the blame on Pyro. Pyro had loved Angelica against Him's wishes. For a demon cannot love an Angel...
And yet it was my only scapegoat to blame Pyro. I had so much...hurt and anger inside me and nowhere to release it. So I released it on him...
On Pyro.
Before I could open up my dry and bitter mouth to speak, I could hear Blossom's high heeled footsteps come into the room. Turning my attention towards her, my ego was crushed.
Here came a woman more strong, powerful, beautiful, and successful than me. A woman I called a sister. She had a family to raise and nurture, a husband who loved her beyond words.
I...I did not anymore. And I envied her for it.
She was dressed in a ruffled white top that looked a tad British and made her chest pop. She had on a black suede pencil skirt to match along with black heels that had to be at least 3 inches. Her hair fell loosely down her back in a majestic waterfall of red, orange, and perhaps even some hints of gold. Her lips were a coral pink and her eyes were lined with black and pumped up with mascara. She was gorgeous...and I was a walking wreck.
"Bubbles, my son said you wanted to see me..." She began cautiously, eyeing Pyro with some suspicion, "Is there anything on your mind?"
I gulp and look down at her dining table, running my hands through my frisky medium length hair.
"...I need to talk to you." I can hear the crack in my voice. I point towards the seat across from me,"Sit down."
She furrows her eyebrows and frowns at this, taking a seat and leaning in towards me, placing her hands graciously on the table on top of each other.
"Bubbles? What's this all about? Why do you look so pale, is everything okay with Angelica? You left in such a hurry last night..."
"I know." I interrupt her pointedly, "But no. Nothing's alright..." I can feel the tears in my eyes well up again, even when I thought I had no more to spare, "...Everything's gone to shit." I can really hear the crack in my voice now as I break down and cry, the sobs exploding from my throat.
Blossom's eyes widen at this, the pink in them exaggerating. She immediately gets up and works her way around the table to my side. She soothes me with a hug, and I cling to her for dear life. As if I was dying myself.
I don't know if I'll ever be hugged again the way Angelica used to hug me. The way her quintessence would shift into me, making me feel the love and happiness she was feeling. Making me feel the goodness that overflowed from her heart...
That can never be felt again. My daughter... my dear, beautiful Angelica...
Was dead... Oh good God, I...I CAN'T EVEN BARE TO THINK ABOUT IT!
"Tell me everything." Blossom firmly stated while hugging me, while I sobbed, and while Pyro watched. His eyes slowly went from anger and hatred, to compassion, sympathy, and understanding. He sighed and looked away, clearing his throat.
"Since Bubbles is in no state to talk..." He began, his voice causing Blossom to look over at him, "I guess I'll introduce myself. I'm Pyro..." He nodded once at Blossom, and she nodded back, a frown still on her face as she held me in her arms.
"Pyro." She repeated kindly but firmly. Pyro took a breath in and licked his lips in preparation.
"...And I'm a demon." Pyro suddenly blurted out. The shock of this statement made Blossom let go of me and jump back, her beautiful liquid coral pink eyes burning into his.
"WHAT?" She spat out while I sniffled, rubbing my rose and eyes.
Pyro smirked a bit at that response, although it was obvious he wasn't happy in the least.
"Hey, relax sweetheart, I'm not going to bite, I promise." He reassures her...barely though. Her eyes narrow at him remorselessly.
"What are you doing with my sister?" She hisses out protectively, putting a hand on my shoulder. A strong hand. I sigh wearily at that. I was so weak right now...
"It's a long story that I promise to explain. I'm not going to claim I'm a 'good demon', cause that's not entirely accurate. I was a worse demon, however, before I met Bubbles' daughter..." He admits, looking at me. I look back at him with red, blood shot eyes.
"...Wait...you know Angelica?" Blossom's eyebrows perk up, stepping forward a bit, "And you said she made you behave?"
"...Essentially." He smirks up at her again, his eyes rimmed with sadness and nostalgia.
I looked down now and played with my fingers.
"He was her boyfriend, Blossom." I spoke up now, my tears basically gone. Blossom's eyes popped at that one. She looked at me for clarification and in utter shock.
"Beg your pardon?" She squeaks, obviously not believing Angelica would ever date someone like Pyro. I didn't blame her...
"..It's true. I was." Pyro admits, "But not at first. At first...I had a mission to destroy her."
"Mission?" Blossom speaks out, puzzled, but processing it. Pyro nods, his eyes glazed with regret.
"...All demons are supposed to kill Ancient Ones. And Angelica was one of them."
"...An 'Ancient One'? What the heck is that?" Blossom queries, obviously at a loss for words. Now it's my turn to speak.
I close my eyes and gather my strength silently. Pyro watches me. He says nothing. Seconds and minutes go by before I speak. Blossom nudges me to get me to speak up.
I clear my throat as best as I can and look up at her, my eyes serious.
"Blossom, I don't know how to phrase it any other way...but Angelica wasn't human. She was an Angel. In human form."
That took a lot to say alright. For whatever reason, it felt like it took a lot off my shoulders though. However, she's turned stiff at this, her face frozen solid.
"That's...that's impossible." Blossom finally mumbles out, scrunching her eyebrows up in confusion. I can't blame her.
"...If it's possible for you to have powers, and for me, a demon, to be sitting here talking to you right now...then yeah, I think it's possible." Pyro contorts, making Blossom look at him with wide eyes.
"Don't get wise with me young man." She snaps, but then looks back at me.
"...He does have a point though. I just...I just didn't think of it. Angels? I've never encountered them before..."
"Neither have I." I admit, a sad smile spreading on my face, "But then again, Angelica was always different, wasn't she?"
"..Yes. Yes she is. A beautiful child indeed..." Blossom's voice sounds remote and dreamy, yet there's something cold about it. Something that indicates she wishes Angelica was hers.
And it ticks me off...cause now, I can't even say she's mine anymore.
I gulp and sniffle.
"Wait a second, why is this bad news? We should be celebrating! I'll go get the kids and tell them all about their cousin's new found abilities-" I grab Blossom's arm before she can walk away and shake my head no.
"No Blossom. Wait. There's...more." I bite my lip nervously at that. Blossom cocks up an eyebrow.
"More?" She blinks, clearly puzzled again.
"Yes." I nod, "Much more."
"...Okay, spill it. I'm all ears."
"...Blossom, Angelica had a mission on Earth too. Her mission was to create peace in Townsville. To make the villains who dwell here good. This mission was already planned out before she came down here, and was in Heaven." I begin.
Pyro looks down and stares at his knees.
" But the only thing that could interrupt that mission and set her off course was a demon. Demons and Angels can never psychically see each other or sense each other until they're near one another, thus making it hard to track either or of them down. However, if a demon finds an Ancient One, his mission is to kill it. Since this was never planned and demons can interrupt an Ancient One's schedule, the Ancient One's mission can become obsolete or be thrown off track." Pyro explains elaborately. Blossom slowly seems to diminish and sinks into a chair to listen attentively.
Pyro pauses for a breath and looks away, his eyes thinking about the past.
"When I met Angelica, I didn't kill her. Instead, I just screwed up her path. Essentially, in the beginning, everything stood the same. There weren't too many lapses in her mission, because I only toyed with her. Slowly, I even started to fall in love with her, which is unheard of in the demon world. Anyway, this bitch Lilith winds up getting jealous. She's a demon like me, and she hated Angelica...so she gave her this poison that made her sick."
"I saw her. Yesterday. In your arms Bubbles. Was that why she was like that?" Blossom interrupts urgently, her eyes digging into mine. I nod slowly, trying not to choke up.
"Lilith made it seem like I had been the one conducting all this, and that I was to blame. That I wanted Angelica to die, and that I had only fooled her into loving me and trusting me. However, that wasn't true...and I didn't have time to tell her that before her father rushed off to find me last night. He was angry, and apparently Angelica mumbled out what happened, or what she thought happened. But in reality, I wasn't to blame. I swear it."
"..Good lord..." Blossom murmured, her eyes wide with astonishment, "How did this all get cleared up? Where did Boomer go?"
Pyro and I exchanged long and heavy glances at each other that caused Blossom to scoot closer to us. She was all too eager to know what happened.
"Come on, tell me!" she demanded, and I looked away, a dry, bitter smile forming on my lips.
"...He went to search for Pyro, thinking he was to blame for Angelica's condition. That Pyro poisoned her, when really it wasn't so...he went to the Trench..."
"The Trench is where the demon's lair is on Earth. It has a portal leading to Hell...and he went in there."
"Boomer went to HELL?" Blossom shouts in confusion, shock, and worry. Pyro just sighs as Jeff and Justine, Blossom's children, zoom into the room.
"What's going on here?" Jeff growls out, "Why's my mom screeching like that?"
Pyro rolls his eyes and leans back in his chair.
"Ignorant people.." He mumbles, forgetting this was a super powered family that could hear every word he just said.
"Hey!" Jeff growls out, "You're getting way too comfortable in that chair mister!"
"Do yourself a favor and scram...before I get hungry." That made Jeff confused, and he tilted his head to one side out of curiosity.
"..Wha-" he began, but was cut off by Blossom,
"Kids. Go outside. We're kind of in the middle of a serious conversation right now." Blossom asserted and commanded them like the leader she was. They both frowned at that.
I could see Justine eyeing my looks, seeing how scruffy I looked. She sneered in distaste and then looked on over at Pyro. Her eyebrows raised in moderate consideration.
"...Who are you anyway?" Justine snobbily asks Pyro, with just a hint of flirtation in her voice, a hand placed on her hip, a smirk on her know-it-all face.
Pyro just glared at her. Blossom saw this and smiled awkwardly at me, getting up and flying over the table. She landed n front of her kids then shooed them out of there.
"Go on, get outta here I said!" Blossom encouraged them, but they barely bugged. She had to actually push them towards the door.
"But mom, that guy creeps me out..." Jeff murmurs, while Justine giggles flirtatiously.
"I dunno, he's kinda hot. Too bad guys like him don't go to my school!" Justine cooed, making Blossom want to scream her head off in panic.
"Get out of here dammit!" She screeched, finally shoving them outside. She sighed when it was over and marched on back to us, her face in a grimace.
"I swear, I wonder what the hell goes through that girl's head sometimes..." She grumbles, then plops back down into a seat. I just blink.
"...So..erm...you were saying?" Blossom tilts her head to the side, looking at Pyro. His eyes are dull and tired. As if he was done explaining things out anymore.
"...Boomer's dead." Pyro suddenly states, his words sharp and cruel, "Him killed him when he went into hell."
...I didn't think Pyro would do that. I didn't think he'd spill it out so suddenly. I thought, maybe, just maybe, he would've slowly eased into it. Instead, it was like a car collision- fast and unexpected.
I could see the look on Blossom's face go from curious, to devastated all in a matter of mere seconds. Her eyes bulged, her mouth dropped, and I could almost hear her breathing cut short. She was in shock.
I gulped and hung my head low, my own feelings over coming me now.
My beautiful Boomer was gone...he was not longer with me anymore. He was ... he was with Angelica.
"..H-how am I going to tell Brick...?" Blossom finally speaks after what seemed like hours. Her eyes were slowly looking more and more upset. She looked ready to cry, but I knew her too well.
She wouldn't. Not for this. At least not in front of us.
"...I don't..know." I admit, my voice soft and unstable. "It happened last night..."
Pyro was silently observing us all as I slowly took a shaky breath in and Blossom covered her face with her hands.
"...There's more." He speaks again, his voice icy as ever, his eyes in narrow little slits of black, "...Angelica's dead too."
That's where his voice changed the most. He didn't sound so cold and unbreakable there. He sounded more like broken ice.
"Wha, wha...what?" Blossom barely sputters out, her hands falling from her face and onto the dining table. Her eyes look absolutely broken that it sends a shock through my heart.
It kills her almost as bad as it kills me...
"...You heard me. She's dead. Him killed her too...but..." he smirked bitterly, yet proudly, "Not before she killed Him. That ass wipe..." he was really feeling it. You could tell. Pyro's voice wasn't strong anymore, but weaker than a whisper. It hurt for him to speak, to say this. It killed him on the inside and there was nothing he could do about it. Nothing he could say to make it right...
He was just like me...
A gentle, probing tear twinkled and laid in the corner of his eye, but it wouldn't fall. He wouldn't let it fall. It killed me just to look at him.
"..No. No..." Poor Blossom whimpered covering her mouth in pure shock. She couldn't tolerate this news. No matter how many sad and upsetting articles she must've wrote for her newspaper so many times.
"This..This can't be true! How can she...she can't be...Boomer can't be! They both can't be...gone? I mean, I saw them..I saw them both! Last night! Angelica didn't even look like she could move, let alone fight! How could she fight off Him? How could she...die?" Blossom sobs out, her face turning red in anguish and quickly becoming covered in tears.
Silently, my own bitter tears feel from my eyes, but no sobs roared from my throat anymore.
I said nothing as we all suffered endlessly. I said nothing as I got up and walked limply around the table. I said nothing as I stood next to Blossom and watched her cry, her heart of gold breaking right in front of me. I said nothing as I put a sad hand on her shoulder. I said nothing as she looked up at me and embraced me for comfort as I stood up and she sat. Now, it was her turn to lose a child. Now, it was her turn to become weak.
And Pyro just watched, that endless tear still probing his eye...
...
It rained the day of the funeral. Storms brewed and thunder bellowed from the clouds above. It couldn't be more fitting of how I was feeling.
I could barely speak while I watched the two graves being lowered into their eternal resting places in the Earth. The mud on my black worn out sneakers and the rain hitting my umbrella were only melancholy reminders I wouldn't be joining them anytime soon. Not with the watchful care I'll be under.
After this, I'm going to be staying with Blossom and Brick for at least 2 months. Or however long I need to adjust, if that was at all possible.
Pyro promised he'd stop by every so often just to check how I was doing, but I knew he was going to be busy a lot. He was no longer the demon prince after all, but now the demon KING. He had a lot of new rules to lay down, apparently.
Together, Pyro and I stood. I numbly gripped onto his cold hand and he gave it a slight squeeze as we stared at the coffins being lowered into the ground, piles of beautiful wet blooms and flowers on them. No one could stay dry eyed at this funeral, and practically everyone in Townsville came to the wake, since everyone knew Boomer and Angelica so well. They felt a very strong sense of loss, as we all did. I had to extend the wake to 5 days just to make it easier for everyone to come and say their goodbyes.
But I never asked to say goodbye. I never wanted to. I only wanted to love Angelica and Boomer until the day I died.
I wanted to see Angelica grow up, get married, and have lots of babies. I wanted to see her be happy and live a long fulfilling life. Not a short, barely fulfilling life.
But it wasn't my choice to make. I couldn't control the way the world works...
Even if I wanted to...
The coffins I picked out were both pure white and were stunning to the eye. Just like Angelica and Boomer were to the whole world. As they settled down into the graves dug up for them, the sky continued to weep tears of goodbye, just before they were buried.
Blossom was standing right next to me as well, and all the while, she stared directly at Angelica's coffin. Her eyes never left it.
It hurt Blossom the most, besides me and Buttercup, to see Angelica's coffin go down into the ground, although there was nothing really in it, but a feather. This feather, Pyro claims, was the only thing remaining of Angelica's body. After Him killed her, she almost seemed to 'explode' in a brilliant display of light...and down fell this single plume.
At first, I wanted to keep it. Just touching it made me feel like Angelica was still here, still with me. It brought back a rush of memories, smiles, and laughs we all shared with one simple look...
But once I looked away, it was heart breaking to let reality sink in. The reality that Angelica wasn't here, and neither was her father. I decided to live in a fantasy world for a while and kept the feather on me at all times. It boosted my mood without me even having to touch or see it. It simply had to be in my purse or my pocket...
However, no one thought it healthy for a newly widowed woman to act as happy as I did with that feather around me. They thought it unnatural. Deep down, I knew the feather was meant to ease my wounds...and was a gift from Angelica to me. A final gift. I also knew it was obviously magical.
However...I had to get rid of it. She was gone, and I had to cope on my own and stop living in a fantasy world. I was bitter, so bitter, that I didn't even want her angelic help. One day, I told Blossom to get rid of the feather and put it into her coffin. Not a second thought went into it either.
In Boomer's coffin... it wasn't even describable. We couldn't even leave it open for the wake. If all were to see how horrible he looked ... they'd scream and be scarred for life. I know I was when Pyro brought back his remains. Nothing will ever break my mind the way that did.
I'll never be the same again. The Bubbles I knew all my life is gone. A new Bubbles has arisen...
And I don't like her.
When the funeral was over, the people I had invited to it, which were only the people closest to my heart, came over to me and gave me a big hug. The Professor, Buttercup, Tiffany, Butch, some of Boomer's friends, my friends, and some of Angelica's friends, as well as Blossom, Brick, Jeff, and Justine, all came up to me and hugged me tightly. Heck, even Mojo Jojo was there. He was crying like a baby himself! Apparently, he had bonded closely with Angelica over the last week she was...alive. He even hugged me briefly. All whispered through their tears and sniffles comforting words.
They all promised they'd pray for me, visit me, and talk to me whenever they could.
But I didn't want their help. All I wanted was...
Death. To die. Just like my family. So I could be with them. Finally, at peace.
"Bubbles...we'll be waiting in the car for you. Okay?" Blossom told me with a gentle voice. The funeral was now over, and I couldn't stop staring at my family's graves. Even though it was still summer, the world had grown cold, and the rain icy.
I nodded slowly, completely at a loss for words. Their tombstone's baffled my senses.
R.I.P. Boomer Jojo. Thank you for your services to Townsville.
R.I.P. Angelica Jojo. May The Lord watch over such a blessed soul.
Rest in peace my loves...
Blossom patted my shoulder sadly and glanced at Angelica's grave one last time, a tear rolling down her freckled cheek. I could hear her shuffle away, as well as Brick and their kids. But I knew I wasn't all alone. Not quite.
Pyro stood in back of me, some feet away. His feet seemed to be cemented there. His eyes were also glued to Angelica's grave. Mine was somewhere in between them both.
"...I don't think I can tolerate..not hearing their voices again. Not holding them close again. I don't think I can bare it... I keep thinking I'm going to wake up from this nightmare. Like they'll step through the door or something and smile at me. Like everything will be okay and we'll all have a good hug and a laugh about it. I wish ... but it can't be. It just can't be Pyro." I hoarsely acknowledged him, turning around to face him. He was staring directly at me now, his eyes direct and connecting to mine.
He had no umbrella either, and was dripping wet. I had one, but could barely hold it up. I wanted to throw it to the ground and stomp on it. I had so much anger...inside me.
"...I know." He admits, his voice as hard as a rock. I sniffle and look back towards their graves.
"...But, you know what?" I blink, dreading the months to come, dreading anything in the near future, "...There's a better way out. I don't have to pretend anymore. I don't have to do this to myself. I can't, and I won't. I can't go on...not like this. I can't..." I moan out bitterly, reaching into my black jacket's pocket and pulling out a little switch blade.
"...What are you saying...?" Pyro asks suspiciously, slowly raising an eyebrow. I gulp and raise the blade towards my neck; my hand is shaking.
"...Goodbye Pyro." I close my eyes and take in a breath. I didn't want to live anymore. I just wanted it all to...end.
But instead of me cutting my throat open...I suddenly feel a hand grip mine- and it's the hand with the switchblade in it too. Pyro was holding my hand! He wouldn't let me kill myself!
I struggled to pull away from him, but he held onto me tightly, and I was in a choke hold thanks to him.
"...Let..me...GO!" I screamed, but he only growled at that as I kicked and thrashed, the umbrella dropping to the ground beside me. I think I stepped on it twice in all the hustle and bustle, but I didn't care.
"...NO!" Pyro yells into my ear as I shut my eyes tight and grind my teeth together.
"Let me do this!...I have to do this!" I cry, begging him to just let me kill myself...
But it never happens. Finally, he grabs the knife out of my hand and throws me to the soggy ground...right in front of my family's tombstone's. Tears are dripping from my eyes, clogging my vision.
In those few moments, I remembered Boomer, and how we used to fight when we were younger. How we used to never tell each other we really liked one another and only fought because that's what our siblings did. I remember giggling and hoping that he's see me in a damsel in distress if I got hurt badly enough. He would never really hurt me too harshly though...
Ever.
For some reason, this moment reminded me of that, and it sent a jolt of life through my heart, causing my heart to flutter like a butterflies wings.
I knew no man would look at me like he did. Not now. I was too old and worn out. I was damaged goods. So I guess it was pure risk and the last final attempt to prove myself as a woman that motivated me to get up off that grassy, soggy floor.
"...I swear! What the hell has gotten into y-" Pyro began, but before he could even finish speaking, I was up on my feet and grabbing onto his face. His eyes widened at that, a strange, unexpected blush filling his cheeks in the misty rain.
"...Help me see I'm not worthless."I whispered through bitter tears and uneven breath, "Help me feel I can still be strong...still be a woman. A Powerpuff girl..."
He didn't know what to say at that...
And I couldn't believe what I was about to do, myself. I may hate Pyro, but I don't dislike him. He loved my daughter...and he reminded me of a RowdyRuff boy...
I gently pulled him closer to me, pulled him in tighter to my body. My hands were still on his face, his black eyes staring into mine with questioning and puzzlement.
My lips parted ever so slightly, and in a matter of seconds...I was kissing Pyro. I was kissing someone who dated my teenage daughter.
Okay, okay. I know how this sounds...I know. It sounds...wrong.
And you're totally right. It is wrong. But since I hated myself enough for being cruel to Angelica before she died, and letting Boomer go off to his death, I figured I had nothing to lose. Also...I didn't LOVE Pyro, if that's what you're thinking. I didn't hate him either.
I...I was simply proving to myself that I was worth something as a woman...that I could make a man blush still. That I wasn't down and out just yet. Call it whatever you like...but I needed it.
For heaven knows I'd never kiss any man ever again. Not after this. My last kiss...until I die.
And it wasn't a bad one either.
At first, Pyro stiffened up like a board, and he even dropped the switchblade, letting it hit the grass. But after a while, perhaps because he's a demon and they don't mind horny situations, he started to kiss me back, even daring to wrap his arms around my whole body, crushing me into him. I didn't mind one bit.
I pictured it to be Boomer. In my mind, I was kissing him. I'm sure it was kind of like that for Pyro...in his mind, he was kissing Angelica. Living it for the very last time...
And although it felt more like a flustered make out session, it still came to it's abrupt end. The end where I was flung away from Pyro, by Pyro. I was back on the grass again...
"Ugh..." I groaned out, wincing. I slowly looked up at him, and his eyes were cold and slightly tortured.
"...You are not Angelica, I am not Boomer. Lets face facts here. I swear...I'll never let you do that again. REMEMBER that." He affirms and I frown gently, nodding slowly.
However, he knows, deep down, that kiss saved my life. If I hadn't kissed him, I probably would've lunged after the switchblade again and killed myself. Or at least tried to.
The eternal kiss...of goodbye.
With that said, Pyro turned his back on me and started to walk away, when he stopped. He turned back around to me briefly and picked up the switchblade from the grass.
"...You know...I'm going to make a rule for us demons...a rule that prohibits demons from ever laying one single hair on any other Ancient One's head. That I can promise you...so this? Yeah...this'll never happen again. I mean that..." He grunts, then looks away while extending his hand to help me up.
I take it and am hauled up by him. Tears aren't leaking from my eyes anymore, but my nose's all stuffy now.
"...Thank you. I mean that." I mumble, and he nods once before looking at me, turning into a panther, and running off into the woods surrounding the cemetery.
P.O.V.: Angelica
Setting: ?
I guess this was meant to be. It may not have been planned out, but perhaps it was meant to be the day I met Pyro. The day we first encountered each other. And nothing could change that. Nothing at all could take away that meeting, that glance, that greeting. And even if I could, I wouldn't, no matter what the outcome to this. I would never take back meeting Pyro. From his black, soulless eyes, to his pale as death skin, I loved him not for who I thought he could be, but who he was. I never really understood it until now. Sure, I could've purified him. Sure, I could've changed him for the better. In fact I already had been. But that wasn't the point. That wasn't the point of anything.
My whole mission wasn't even the point. Peace...peace is what I had been aiming for in Townsville. Yet...do I not see my real goal? My real accomplishment now, from afar? I, Angelica Jojo, an Angel, has fallen in love with a Demon. A Demon who loved her back. I had showed that was the ultimate statement of peace, one that was never accomplished before. I had not left this world unworthy of heaven, but rather... accepted into it with welcoming arms.
Yes, people I loved dearly paid the price for this accomplishment. Yes, they will now suffer on Earth, where all is still uneven in Townsville. But,... will it be?
I have left my mark. I may be gone from this world, as humans know it, but I have made an impact. I have changed the heart of a Demon, and I have introduced myself to Mojo Jojo. It's up to him now to take control of his own destiny, but I have a good feeling about him. Once he gets over mourning my death, things will change in Townsville. For the better. I'm sure of it.
Pyro will not sit around for long. He will not mope around and do nothing. He will change the course of history because of me. He will become the Demon King...but he will not rule like Him did, who is gone, thanks to me.
Pyro will change Demons for the better. He will make sure they stop hunting Ancient Ones. I know him...and I can foresee all of this from where I am, up in the clouds, as you humans put it.
But there are so many more beautiful things coming to Townsville's wake in just a matter of a few short years. And years in heaven are merely seconds.
My mother may morn me now, along with my Earth Father, whom is safe here with me, but she shall have her fill of Earthly Happiness too. For I love her, and will not let such a beautiful person be ripped apart and hardened when the exact opposite was supposed to be true.
I will let her wildest dreams come true..when she least expects it.
Don't you fret Pyro, Mojo, Mother. I love you...all of you. I'll always be by your side, Boomer and I both. Forever and always.
WHAO. That...was a LOT to take in. Er...Poor Angelica and Boomer! They will DEFINITELY be missed. And that kiss between Pyro and Bubbles? WOWZA...didn't see THAT one coming, did ya? What are your opinions on that? Why do you feel Bubbles did that? Do you think it was right, or wrong? Just remember this much...Pyro can look any age he wants to- when in fact he's over 1,000 years old! Just reminding you lOl. Right now he looks 16, but eh...if he wanted to, he could look 37 too! But anyway...what about that last bit? With Angelica? That was interesting too, eh? So...can you see why this took me forever to write? I was busy, AND had to get it JUST right! No pun intended lol. ALSO, it was an added bonus that it was long... ;) Please review! I MUST hear your opinions on this! I swear my next chapter will not take 2 months to write! Haha...sorry for any spelling mistakes by the way!...Thank you. :)
Did you know?: My story Angelica has received a total of 280 reviews so far! That would mean that I have ten loyal reviewers per chapter...and an extra dose of reviewers adding to the mix as well! The average story gets around anywhere from 2- 10 reviews for anywhere to 3-10 chapters! That's not a lot compared to mine! Thanks to all of YOU! :D