"NOW!" The urgent scream reverberated through the trees.
Lucas flusteredly came close to the fallen Lila but didn' know what to do, two hands grabbed his shoulder roughly, and Lazaro's stern calm eyes. was right on his face. Do you remember what I did to you when I saved you?
Confused Lucas tried to remember. "When you were suffocating!"
Lucas nodded repeatedly remembering the searing pain.
Silver stood by the sidelines, he never seemed to care but strangely enough, he was sternly silent.
Lazaro looked at him.
"Pay attention once, and do it yourself."
He tore off Lila's tank top and with his finger marked her skin like drawing a picture sometimes a circle others a spiral.
(What are you doing?)
"Her heart and lungs are destroyed, I need to create an imitation to keep her blood flowing and maintain her alive with minimum flow."
He mistakenly answered Hiera aloud, making the pressure on Lucas and silver rise.
He finished and looked at both men, "Harmonize your inner essence and move it in her, on the same places I did, Silver on the right Lucas on the left."
Sophie stared anxiously. Gerald looked at the drones with hidden cunning light. ' Popov old monster... is he making a move on Ricon?' HE thought and after listening to Lazaro, he grew even more greedy, as he seemed to have some medicinal knowledge too.
Lazaro's eyes seemed to pierce through her skin and watch the inside, as he felt the essence moving inside of her. Lucas, although nervous, felt the gravity of Lila's situation, without her they wouldn't be able to reach where they were. He thought about the mammoth. 'An irresistible and immovable force..' his eyes turned calm and composed, his heart calmed down and his movements became smooth, Silver didn't have a problem, to begin with, and saw clearly Lucas changes, the pressure on him was cleared by it somehow.
(It won't have and effect, you cannot bring her to the city in time for her to be cured.) Hyera said in a low tone.
Gritting his teeth Lazaro did everything so his aura wouldn't affect the two novices on their jobs, if it was shim, he could make an artificial pump in a second and it could last a weak on with normal blood flow. Not even the injured person would thing he or she didn't have a heart.
After five minutes, they completed the cycle of the skill and kept the blood on the right places with minimal flow.
'She'll last around twenty minutes like that.'
He looked at her chest.
A total of five shots, one in the heart two in each lung. He took a deep breath.
"Hyera, go."
(...fine.) She traversed out of his crippled Dantian, and through his palm entered her forehead.
"Do not possess her, just preserve her mind and soul. In case her body dies, can you do it?"
(What?) She was surprised. She thought he wanted her to take over the girl's body. but he didn't seem to have given up yet.
'Can you do it?'
(F-For a few minutes Y-Yes.)
Lazaro stopped Lucas and Silver, grabbed Lila in his arms, and sniffed the air.
"Y-You're not thinking in leaving us alone right?" Gerald asked with a gentle smile.
To which Lazaro laughed and looked at Lucas " The way ahead is at your level, don't be afraid to deal with it." leaving those words behind he stormed away like a bullet.
Sophia was silent throughout everything.
He remembered the bits she listened of his talk with Lazaro from earlier, and for the first time questioned, if he was more worried for his life or the group when he asked Lazaro to stay.
She shook her head 'Impossible, grandpa has always chosen the best for the people.'
*****
"I wonder what Leandro darling will do after learning of your attempt into making a cuckold out of him, hehe maybe he won't hold back with his research project anymore?"
The brown-skinned and black-haired woman spoke with amusement.
"No no, Liza. That, he'll do regardless. Using this catastrophe as an excuse, saying they need to be faster and shove needles at his dear wife for the sake of humanity." The red-headed laughed.
The ropes circled Larissa's waist and tied her hands together. and pulled her upwards from a branch. Enough to lift her off the ground but not enough for her to be relaxed, it was torturous at the very least.
Hearing nothing from Larissa both of them snorted.
"Serves you right, social climbers like you are disgusting." Said Liza.
"She was raised amongst people who did everything to not work on their life, what did you expect. It wou-"
"I raised myself," Larissa interjected Lorra.
"..."
"Pffft! Oh! look! the thing has pride! hahahahah!"
"So what if you raised yourself! even worse! You must've sold even your soul for others to use!"
The redheaded Lorra looked at her with slightly envious eyes "I just can't understand how did you manage to keep that body."
Larissa's eyes under the blindfold were emotionless, the women in front of her were merely hyenas, she understood that, and did not care, but if an annoying clown won't stop his act, you'll inevitably be irritated.
Twuck!
"Ouch!"
A vine slapped down from the top of a tree and knocked the head of the brown-skinned Liza.
"The bitch fucked up my hair!"
Smilingly Larissa thanked Lazaro's pettiness inwardly, without him, she'd never know the emotional and deep seething grudge messing with a women's hair causes.
"SLUT"
A palm struck down her cheek, but it did not take the smile off her face.
She felt it swole right away. But she still grinned "Sorry, I just felt the need to cut out some grass."
"This b-bitch!" She screeched feeling the shaved spot on her head.
THud!
The heavy kick came. Her inwards churned the liquid in her stomach came up her throat but she forced it down. Her smile became bloody but she never ceased showing her teeth. The most frustrating enemies are unfazed.
"T-This bitch,"
"Stop. She might be a slut, but she's his slut." The redheaded Lorra said, barely holding her laughter after looking at the shaved patch.
The woman snapped a glare back at her, "You say that but who's the one he's laying with!? It's me, bitch! Me! He'll think twice before punishing me for giving her a scolding!
"Pfft, hahahah." Larissa couldn't hold it in. "Congratulations, you're officially the whore who's in love with the client."
"You..!" This time a fire covered palm struck down. The scorching pain on her cheek felt like a red hot iron was being held against her, and although it was just an instant it felt eternal.
At that moment, everything froze for her, everything that happened to her until now, and how she dealt with it. How she tortuously fought to survive. She found out that most of the time, she was caught between two choices that she considered the 'only choices'
Be the non-threatening force and survive or die.
She always picked the first. Using her talents to calm and soothe, she became the sheep then slowly build strength to break free, yet, at her age of 28, Larissa never saw herself break free.
She was tired of it.
'I'm Lazaro of superbia, I always fought the strong, my enemies always knew where to hit me, what affected me, where I wasn't good a. Yet, my knife always sunk in their hearts...'
She suddenly remembered the arrogant man's words and smiled.
Her eyes turned red from the wound, but the pain went to the back of her head, as a vine struck down and tore off her blindfold.
Both women were surprised.
Her face still aching, Larissa laughed, "I'll go, but you won't accompany me!"
Vines undid the bindings on her, and there she stood, hurt and tired, against two completely healthy and stronger enemies.
She still couldn't believe the choice she made, every instinct inside of her barked for her to sit down and bow. But she laughed out loud instead. She would die without a doubt, her mind concluded.
But she smiled, feeling more free and alive than ever.