That mountain of peach Aegis crystals spewed out its contents, sending huge shards all over the crater. Four deformed hands emerged from the mountain. A moment later, those massive things clawed at the graphite underneath it, faster and faster as time passed.
"It's destroying everything," I mumbled.
"Beatrice, this should do it," said Gray Ludwig.
I looked behind me, and certainly, Beatrice and Jeremy had their injuries treated by Gray. It took him only a few minutes to bandage their wounds. On the other hand, Caesar, Lily, and Sofeea were discussing something.
"Hope . . ." I said softly.
He didn't hear me as he had his eyes on the rampaging peach Aegis crystals. Perhaps it was just me, but it looked like he was in his own world, reminiscing something. His eyes were sad. Just seeing him in that state made my chest felt tight.
I then looked at Jennifer's lifeless body in his arms.
To be honest, I wasn't really attached to her. Aside from Hope, she didn't spend time with anyone else back in Neo Africa. It made sense that Hope was the only one who truly felt the impact of her death right then.
"Ava," called Jessie.
She and Evgeny approached my seat and I lowered my head slightly.
"We need to take that thing down," she said.
I gritted my teeth. "I know. You don't have to tell me."
Jessie wanted to say something but Evgeny shook his head at her. After that, Lily popped up next to me and said something about destroying the peach Aegis crystals down there.
"I can open a path for you using my Aegis's specialty," Lily said. "Then, you will destroy that colossal body with your flames."
I nodded slowly. "Let's get it done with."
'And give Hope the space he needs to recover,' I thought.
After a few minutes, it was decided that both Lily and I would be the only ones involved in destroying the peach Aegis crystals. Lily poked her head out of the helicopter before she leaped from it. Her figure grew smaller and smaller until she landed right on the top of the monstrosity. After a few seconds, the peach Aegis crystals were slowly turning pink in color.
"That's the signal," I said.
My eyes trailed off in Hope's direction and I nodded at him, even though he was not paying his attention to what was happening.
I jumped from the helicopter and amassed as many white flames as I could. A few moments later, it roared towards Lily. She jumped out of the way in time and the flames slammed against the mountain.
As I poured more flames onto its surface, the top of it disintegrated in no time. Lily slid down the mountain while turning it into her own crystals. It took about ten minutes for us to completely destroy that monster Ivar had left behind. After that, I found myself gasping for air.
"I'm . . . Exhausted," I said.
Lily approached me quickly, though when I shifted my stare to her, it didn't seem like she was tired. After everything that had happened, I was surprised Lily didn't take her time to refresh herself.
"It's about Kian," she said with a stern expression. "Back then, he had sneakily produced his Aegis crystals underground when I subdued him."
I nodded after I caught my breath. "Yeah . . . If not for that . . ."
"No one will die," Lily said as if she was reading my mind. "Then, there's Ivar."
I sighed. "And Mara as well. All things considered, we didn't have to fight those two. But, something must have happened for Ivar's Aegis to go berserk like that. It took control of him, and it seemed like he and Mara were unconscious. Perhaps that was why Kian took them away."
"That's a good thing for now. We don't need to deal with him anytime soon," I said.
"Yeah."
Jessie's helicopter landed on the ground about twenty feet away.
I didn't bother with boarding it at that time. My focus was entirely on the blue sky as I recalled every event during the invasion until that point.
"We have won," said Jessie through my earpiece.
I didn't reply. Indeed, we had won against the C.U's forces in Moscow. I doubt that the three Pillars that appeared a while ago were in that city anymore. The generals who were supposedly in charge had been taken out as well, so it was only a matter of time before we wiped out the leftover soldiers.
Even so, it didn't feel like a victory. My heart kept insisting that it was something else. If anything, I considered it a bittersweet ending. More questions about the Pillars and their background popped up to me after the whole fight. I wanted to know more about them, and yet, I couldn't.
What is the connection between Kian and Felicia? Are they really a couple?
What happened to Ivar before the invasion?
Why was Mara up there with him?
Where was Gheele?
Those questions clawed at my mind, insisting that I answered it on the spot.
"Eh?"
Tears streaked down my cheeks as I gazed at the sky. I didn't know why, but I felt sad. I didn't want to admit it, but Jennifer's death hit me hard at that moment. After all, who was the one who cared for Hope more than I did? Jennifer was the only one.
Her genuine kindness and affection towards Hope were admirable. It was a first for me to see someone that persistent in pursuing someone else's affection. No one would call Hope with 'Dear' anymore.
I then remembered that she was Derrick's younger sister. She was older than Jacqueline, who was his youngest sister.
"How am I supposed to tell this to Derrick?" I mumbled.
It happened again.
Once more, I wasn't able to protect someone.
"Who am I kidding? I'm just . . . A hypocrite."
Rough hands touched my cheek from behind and I turned around. It was Hope, smiling at me. I looked behind him, and sure enough, Jennifer's dead body was being buried by Caesar.
"Hope . . ." I said weakly. "I'm sorry. It's . . . It's my fault that Jennifer--"
"Ava," interjected Hope. "She would be mad if she sees you like this. She died protecting me, and that's the truth. You know it."
I didn't know what to say. Hope was strong, and I wasn't.
I slapped myself hard two times on both cheeks and I shook my head. "Hope, you can rely on me. You are strong, yes, but we need each other. We have established that a long time ago. If I feel sad, I would brighten up my mood by talking to you. If you feel sad, you come and talk to me. It's a mutual thing, Hope."
"Yeah . . . I'm sorry, Ava, but can I have a hug? Haha . . . I think I need one."
"Sure."
I hugged him, and he returned it.
We both knew that, in order to overcome any obstacles, we needed each other. I would be there for him, and he would be there for me. Nonetheless, we had friends that we could rely on. I felt grateful for that, and it would never change.