Hello everyone and welcome back to HellFall!

Well, this is an awfully late chapter. Why, you may ask? Well, on Monday I got pretty sick, and one of my symptoms included a monster of a headache, so staring at a screen and reading/editing really didn't feel particularly good. I still have a headache, but it's not as bad anymore. Hopefully I'll be completely fine by the end of the week. Sorry about all that, my immune system just hates me.

Anyways, you lovely people have waited long enough, so here you go.

"Azure Blaze!" Xeyrus yelled, "Get up, let's go!" I heard him sigh heavily.

I stood, but didn't turn around.

"You've cost me more than you yourself have ever owned." I said, "A lifetime of finances, a partner, a home, and a family"

"Well that's an unfair assumption." He said, "I mean, I do have a home, as well as two brothers and a sister"

I gripped Cratorus 2.0, squeezing its shaft. No more talking. He wouldn't listen.

I spun around, stabbing my spear forward. The weapon made its mark in his chest. His eyes widened, and blood spewed from his mouth, splattering over my face.

"What is wrong with you, Azure?" He asked.

"What's wrong with me?" I asked, "What's wrong with you?!" I ripped the spear from his body and took up a battle stance.

He stumbled backwards, hand over his wound. "What's wrong with me?" He asked, "Lots of things, but I wouldn't stab my own partner for no reason!"

"You're not my partner!" I screamed, charging again.

I swung my spear, slamming it against his forearm as he blocked the attack.

I drew it back, transforming it into a gun, taking aim, and pulling the trigger. A bullet flew out, blowing a hole through his forearm. Blood oozed out as he fell to his knees, struggling to hold all his wounds closed. I could tell that his entire aura was focused on healing himself.

Completely consumed with hate, I pulled the trigger again, firing a bullet into the ceiling thanks to the recoil. Quickly adjusting my gun, I fired again. And again. And again. I kept shooting until the magazine was empty. Where I hit him or if I even did was unknown to me.

I kept pulling the trigger, but all that I heard was a small clicking sound. And yet I kept pulling. I felt my anger seep away, suddenly being taken over by sadness. Cratorus 2.0 fell from my hands, crashing to the floor. I fell to my knees, beginning to cry. What have I done? I thought, covering my face with my hands.

Soon the realization came to me. I scrambled to Xeyrus, now lying on his back. I saw now that I'd shot his arm, left shoulder, left thigh, and neck.

"No, Xeyrus!" I called, pressing my hands against his neck wound, pouring out my aura in the hopes of stopping the bleeding.

To no avail.

The blood surged out, coating my hands and clothes.

"Xeyrus!" I cried, "Don't go! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" I apologized over and over, hoping somehow that would bring him back.

To no avail.

I pushed all my strength into his neck wound, and finally I felt the bleeding slow. Still, I kept pressing. Minutes dragged by before I dared to relieve any pressure. When I finally did I found that the wound had stopped bleeding, but a huge pool of blood had formed all around him. His neck and cheeks were soaked crimson, and his clothes were darkened and heavy with blood.

I reached out to pick him up, but was worried that he'd start bleeding again, so I decided against it. What do I do? I finally wondered, staring at his lifeless body before me. I did this, what do I do now?

I hunched over his body, closing my eyes and covering my face with my hands. They were covered in blood, but I didn't care. I began to sob again, eventually falling over next to him and losing consciousness. By what means, I didn't know. But I didn't really care either.

I awoke some time later. Sitting up, I looked around, forgetting where I was. I saw Xeyrus's corpse next to me and gasped, but didn't cry. The reality of the situation had sunk in, and now I needed to figure out what to do next.

Standing, I brushed the dirt off my clothes. My hands were covered in dried blood. I checked the time on my scroll, noting that it was past midday, which meant that Octavia and Nello had already left.

I sighed, pocketing the device and looking down at Xeyrus.

Now what? I thought, looking around the room. I noticed that all the corpses from before were gone, which was a little shocking. Even the floors had been cleaned. I paused, wondering if Rocco's goons had been here recently.

As I pushed the thought from my mind, my eyes found the elevator. I guess that I could leave him with the other corpses, I thought. While it made me feel terrible to just leave him, I didn't know what else to do. If I told Octavia or Nello it wouldn't go down well at all.

Turning, I grabbed Xeyrus's arms and dragged him across the ground to the elevator, only to remember that it had fallen when I'd first met Gazini.

Sighing, I looked around, finally settling on hiding him under the control counter. I tucked him under and started towards the exit. Glancing at my hands, I wondered how to clean the blood off. Ultimately I spat on my palms and rubbed them together. The blood faded, but they weren't well-cleaned at all.

It'll have to do I guess, I thought, leaving the building. The streets weren't horribly busy, thankfully. Everyone was working.

Nevertheless, I ran home. I didn't want to risk anyone seeing me covered in blood. I got a few glances, but nothing that made me worry too much.

Octavia and Nello had already left when I returned home.

I immediately went upstairs and took a hot shower. The blood fell off my body and sank into the drain, turning the water red. I leaned against the wall, letting the water run over my body.

My head was full of thoughts of Xeyrus, and how stupid I had been. "I have no self-control." I said out loud. A moment after saying that I felt myself begin to cry weakly. I tried to stop, but I was so ashamed of myself. "No wonder my mother left" I said.

Finally straightening, I stared at the tiled wall, sucking in a breath through my nose, then letting it out through my mouth. Drops of water flew from my lips. I repeated the process I few times, breathing in and out, eventually calming down.

"Okay," I said, "What will I say? The truth?" I shook my head, "No, that won't go down well. I'll say that we were ambushed by Gale"

I thought about it for a moment, then realized that that was a dumb idea. Octavia would probably ask me what she looked like. She'd seen her herself, but couldn't remember it too well. She'd be curious, plus she's bound to remember at least something about her. "What about Cinder?" I said, "We know that the Falls are involved, and everyone knows what she looks like" I nodded to myself, satisfied with my excuse. The thought of telling the truth popped back into my head, but I shoved it aside.

So there you have it. Azure's not a happy lady, clearly.

Good news, The Candidates is out! Actually, I've almost finished posting it. I've been able to post it while I was sick because all the chapters are already edited, so I just have to select each one and click 'post', so it's way easier to do. But give The Candidates a look before you get the whole story spoiled to you in HellFall, because it's playing a much bigger role than I expected it to.

Anyways, my brain is starting to hurt so I'll wrap it up there. As usual, favorite, follow, review, tell your friends, tell your enemies, or don't if you don't want to, and I'll see you all in the next chapter!