Chapter 51

The gunshot was eerily loud, somehow sounding out over the myriad of automatic weapons going off at the exact moment, and the two boys turned as if on instinct towards the source. Time seemed to slow as they did so, and they were met with the violent splatters of blood as Indigo fell to the ground. Her arms wrapped around the faunus girl, Artemis's eyes widened as if she couldn't believe what was happening, and the auburn-haired girl pushed herself slowly off the metal floor. Her aura fizzed and crackled, vanishing in a flash, and she coughed harshly onto the metal floor.

'Now that was unexpected.' Damian mused uncaringly, sliding the gun back behind his waist as he approached. Indigo pushed herself to her feet, clutching at her chest where the bullet had passed through her body. She nearly collapsed as she turned to face the man, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. Damian raised an eyebrow.

'Now that is even more unexpected. I thought you'd be dead already; I put a lot of aura into that bullet.' He spun the sword in his hand, watching the girl quietly. 'Today really is full of surprises.'

'You're not laying a hand on these two. Not for as long as I live.' Indigo coughed, her breathing ragged, and Artemis stared incredulously at the woman as she stood protectively over the two. 'Jaye would never forgive himself if they died.'

'Is that so? Then what about you?'

Damian raised the sword in his hand, driving it through the girl's chest. Indigo hardly flinched as he did so, a grin slowly creeping across her face, and she seized the man by the collar. He flinched away from her, driving his wakizashi into her stomach as well, and she coughed a deep red stain onto his jacket. Still her hands remained, dragging the man towards her as the blades sank deeper. Pulling herself along the swords, she wrapped her arms around the man, smiling up at the crazed assassin.

'You lose Damian.' She breathed, and too late Damian noticed the glow beside his face. He made a sound of surprise as Indigo clenched her fist, and his scream of pain was cut short as a blade of pure aura passed into his throat. He gurgled in response as blood filled his mouth, and he ripped his blades out of her body as the dying woman fell to the ground. Damian dropped to his knees, his swords clattering away, and Artemis practically threw herself at the bleeding woman. She dived under her as she fell, Indigo collapsing across the faunus girl, and she lowered her slowly to the ground as Damian clutched at his bleeding throat. Apollo draped his bound hands across her wounds, and she laughed at the boy as the tears fell down from his face. Artemis placed her hands over the gushing holes, her sobs barely audible amidst the fighting, and the purple blade vanished in a puff from Indigo's hand.

'Why?' She choked, pressing harder as the blood didn't stop, and Indigo coughed harshly. She stared blankly at the ceiling, finally turning her eyes to the crying girl.

'I don't know.' She breathed, smiling serenely. 'But I couldn't let you die.'

A howl erupted from across the room, and the cage in the middle simultaneously erupted in a burst of ice. Jaye screamed his sorrow as shards of ice exploded in every direction, impaling henchmen as they scrambled for cover. He made a mad dash for the dying woman, forming crude weapons as he cleaved those in his way to pieces, and an orange flash appeared before the twins. Damian crawled to his feet as Kamina howled, snatching the katana off the floor. Damian dived for the shorter sword, raising it in defence, and Kamina screamed his fury as he went on the attack. He smashed the sword into Damian's, the gravely injured assassin barely able to defend himself as the faunus boy rampaged. The henchmen approached the two, intent on saving their master, but Kamina killed them as quickly as they came. Damian's aura fizzled out as he panicked, still bleeding profusely from the hole in his throat, and the assassin fell to his knees as Kamina slashed his legs out from under him. Kamina screamed his fury, raising the blade above his head.

Drenched in blood, save for his own, he slammed the katana down onto Damian's wakizashi. With a resounding crack, both blades snapped into pieces, and without a shred of hesitation Kamina drove the shattered sword into Damian's chest. Blood poured from the now painted red assassin's mouth, and Kamina retrieved the broken wakizashi from where it lay. With a howl of rage, he swung the sword into the man's neck, embedding it deep within the soft tissue and kicking the dying man to the ground. Blood poured from the open wound, and Damian's eyes finally lost their crazed spark. Staggering away, Kamina dropped to his knees in exhaustion, his chest heaving as he stared at the lifeless body of his former teammate before him. He let the stump of a sword clutched in his hand fall to the ground, the clattering deafening in the sudden silence, broken only by the desperate pleas from behind him. As if roused from a slumber, he dragged his leaden body around to face the sobbing boy as he clutched the woman he loved in his arms.

'No no no!' Jaye's voice was coming out in tatters now, his panic growing with every word, and he choked on himself as his throat finally closed up. 'Indigo!'

The girl smiled weakly at him, raising a trembling hand to his cheek to brush away a tear streaking down his face. She laughed softly, her laugh turning into a retching cough as she fought to keep her eyes open. Jaye seized her hand in his, pressing it to his cheek.

'Don't cry you dumbass, you sound like a dying cat when you do. And not the quiet kind.' She wheezed, screwing her eyes shut in pain. 'Though I guess I'm the one that's dying. Oh god it hurts to breathe.'

'Indigo!'

'Yes yes, I'm Indigo.' She laughed again, blood trickling down the corners of her mouth this time as she coughed. He wiped the blood from her teeth, and she thanked him softly. 'I guess this means it's over huh?'

'No, I'm going to save you. You're going to be fine.' Jaye swore, and she shook her head weakly, grasping at his cheeks. She turned him to face her, staring into his eyes as her breathing slowed.

'Don't do that Jaye, we've seen enough death to know when it's coming. And it's coming for me now; no two ways about it.' She grinned wistfully. 'This is exactly how I pictured my death; bleeding out in some abandoned warehouse somewhere as someone finally got the better of me one way or another. And I knew you'd be there, holding me as I went.'

'I can't lose you. I can't.' Jaye choked out, cradling the broken woman in his arms, and she shook her head.

'It was time I went anyway. I told you; death is coming for me. And I plan to greet him like the old friend he is.' She smiled grimly at the filthy ceiling above her. 'It's like my whole life I've been living in a state where I'm only half-awake. As if one of my eyes was tied to the past and the other was just barely looking out at the world before me. The only times I felt like I was really awake and seeing things for what they were was when I was with you. You made everything seem clear to me; like we had it all fleshed out. I treasured that more than anything; I loved you more than anything. And I'm glad that it's you with me in these last moments I'm living.'

'I'm honored you feel that way. I loved every moment I spent with you too.'

'I'm so happy to hear that!' She wheezed into a barely audible laugh, grinning her beautiful smile up at the boy as she attempted to wipe the tears from his cheeks. 'My parents went away when I was just a little girl. They left me on the steps of an orphanage and took any love I had in me with them. I lived so much of my life not caring about anything, not loving anything, not feeling anything. But you were different. You made me feel love again, maybe for the first time in my life. I don't think I'd ever have felt love like I do for you for the rest of my life.'

'I feel the same. There's no one else like you in the world, and no one can ever replace you.'

'I know.' She turned her head towards him, her eyes still shining like they always did. 'But she doesn't have to replace me. She just has to make you happy.'

'Who are you talking about?'

'The blondie, obviously!' She laughed raggedly, clutching at her chest. 'I hope you two can be happy. No sense haunting you from the grave anyway, that would be a real waste of my afterlife.'

Indigo grinned even wider this time, grasping a fistful of his shirt in her hands. Still she stared up at the grimy ceiling, her breaths coming out in little puffs now, eyelids fluttering as she tried to keep them open. She finally found the strength to turn her head and felt her vision blur as she caught sight of his face once more.

'Hey Jaye?'

'Yeah Indigo?'

'Are you there?'

'I'm here.'

'I don't want to go.' Her voice caught in her throat, and she heaved in a deep and desperate breath. She reached up for him once more, and he touched her hand to his cheek. 'I don't want to leave you-!'

'I know you don't. I don't want you to go either.' His hands were shaking now. 'Be brave Indigo, be brave.'

'I can see the stars Jaye. They're beautiful.'

'They are. They're shining just for you.'

'I think so too.' Her hand went slack in his grip, and he tightened his hold on the woman as she sank into his arms. 'I wonder if you'll look up there one day, and see me smiling down at you?'

'I know I will. Every day for the rest of my life.'

'Hah. Not a chance. You'd have a better chance finding me in hell.'

'I'd fight the devil to bring you back.'

'I know.' She sighed as deeply as she could. 'I know.'

The girl went slack in his grip, her eyes fluttering as she struggled to stay awake. The boy grit his teeth hard, leaning over the girl as she tried in vain to keep her hand on his cheek.

'Jaye, I feel so cold…' She was hardly breathing now, her chest slowing nearly to a halt. 'It's so cold.'

'I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you. I'm so sorry.'

'It's not your fault. You know, the cold reminds me of you.' She breathed, her eyelids finally falling shut. 'I hope that blondie can melt your frozen heart a little. It'd be better for everyone.'

'You already have. It melted for you.' He gripped her tighter as her head lulled back. 'You already did it.'

'I love you Jaye.'

'I love you too Indigo.'

'I wonder what would be the most cliché song to sing right now. I can't think of one off the top of my head.'

'Maybe the sound of silence. You always hear it during sad scenes.'

'That's the one.' The corners of her lips just barely tugged upwards. 'How did it go again?'

'Hello darkness my old friend.' Jaye sang softly, pressing his lips to her forehead. 'I've come to talk with you again.'

'You always had the most beautiful voice.' She breathed. Her chest quivered as she tried to draw breath, and the boy squeezed her hand reassuringly. Her lips were barely moving, but he heard the words as she began to sing under her breath.

'Because a vision softly creeping, left its seeds when I was sleeping. And the vision, that was planted in my brain. Still remains. Within the sound…of silence.'

Indigo fell still, her mouth still curling around the last word. A dead silence fell through the room, interrupted by nothing but the sound of sobbing as Jaye clutched the still-warm woman to his chest. His tears fell unabashed onto her face, and he pressed his lips to her forehead once more. Kamina turned away from the two, his face a mask of pain and anguish, and he stared once more across the carnage that had been wrought across the room. He turned his eyes up to the ceiling, but the sky was nowhere in sight. Not an ounce of light broke through the cold, unforgiving steel, and he closed his eyes as the sobbing behind him continued. He felt the tears fall down his own face, and he brushed them away as they continued to fall.

Still the sobbing continued. And still he stood there, not daring to turn around, lest it become real to him. So he let the tears fall down his face, staring up at the ceiling above him and thinking about the starry night sky above, that he hoped beyond hope was winking down at them. But deep in his heart he knew, they were all alone. The stars would offer him no solace tonight.

Nor for any night ever again for the rest of his life.

And we have reached the end of this chapter. This was a big step for me to write this story arc, since I needed to expand my writing ability so much more. I hope this scene will impact you as much as it did for me to write it, and I hope you feel as heartbroken as I do since that means it worked. These characters mean a lot to me, they're my baby I've been raising for these past two years, and I'm really thankful for you guys who've supported me through this time. To Zackstone13, thank you for giving me Kamina. He's a wonderful character that I hope has been written how you envisioned him. We're going to see a lot more of them in the future as we progress into volume 5 and 6, and I hope it'll be a fulfilling journey.