Chapter 4-7's Funeral
3 and 4 had been huddled in an empty space on one of the book shelves when the storm was going on. They gripped each other's hands tightly as they waited for the storm to end and for 9 and 7 to return. They would return, right?
When the storm ended, the twins carefully made their way out of their hiding place. They saw a figure approaching. It was 9.
Relived, the twins rushed towards him, throwing their arms around his waist. But wait, they realized, where was 7?
The twins looked up desperately into 9's eyes. 9 received them with a sorrowful look and 3 and 4 cringed.
It was still pretty dark out although the storm clouds had cleared away. The twins' eyes flickered to shed light but their eyes dimmed when they saw 7's body. 9's lips trembled as he watched the twins frantically looking over 7's body. 4 tried to awaken 7 by shaking her shoulder but it was no use. Both twins tried to position 7 upright as if she was sitting up but her body just flopped over again. The twins flinched when one of 7's eyes became even looser from her socket and 4's face buried into 3's shoulder. 3's face buried into 4's hood and they wept silently.
9 felt choked up as well. He knelt over to comfort the twins when he saw a dim light flicker inside of 7. It was incredibly small and green.
"I think her soul's still trapped inside her," 9 thought aloud.
The twins looked up at 9 in confusion.
The talisman had been stored back in the Scientist's lab by 9 after the souls of his friends had been released. The twins seemed reluctant at first but eventually agreed that 7's soul needed to be freed.
9 tapped in the sequence on the talisman and the twins turned their heads so they wouldn't have to see. 9 cringed as the device ripped 7's soul from her body. Like with the others, 9 had constructed a flag with 7's number on it. He placed the talisman in front of this and entered the sequence again. 9 backed up and pushed the twins out of the way as the talisman sprung open.
7 slowly rose out of the talisman. She seemed a little perplexed but not because she didn't know what was happening. Ne had expected she would die. If anything, the others thought if they were to die she would have lived the longest. She had endured so much she seemed indestructible but now…
The twins rushed to her. 7 held out her hands to embrace them. The twins to rest their heads on 7's shoulders but she wasn't technically there so the deeper their heads when in the less tangible she became. If 7 could cry she would have. She had promised them she'd be back, that she'd be alright, but she wasn't.
She looked up at 9. He was standing still just watching 7 and the twins. 7 stood and approached him. 9 attempted to take her hand. He barely held it for he saw what happened when the twins tried to touch her. They looked into each other eyes for a long time before 9 unconsciously mouthed the words: "I love you."
7's optics widened. 9's eyebrows pitched downwards. What did he do? Although she couldn't really hold it, 7's grip tightened around 9's hand. She had intended to speak, but she no longer had a voice so she could only mouth: "I love you too."
She leaned forward and placed her lips on 9's. 9 flinched but quickly closed his eyes. Intangible as she was, 9 could still feel she was there.
When their lips parted, 7 made her way back to her grave. 3 and 4 trembled and 7 leaned over to give them small kisses on their foreheads. She took one look at her friends, her family, before became weightless and lifted into the sky.
The three she had left behind could barely watch her go. 9 dropped his gaze before 7's soul completely disappeared into the sky but the twins watched her go the whole way. No rain fell the way it had when the others left but that didn't bother 9. In fact, he hoped rain never fell. He never wanted another storm to come.