Santos ran over to Fenton, and Invictus shrunk back down, leaving Ace in his steed. Fenton sat up and turned three shades of red as Santos hugged him.
"Old man, you need to be more careful," Santos sighed.
"S-sorry," Fenton mumbled.
"When… did you two get so close," Ace asked.
"Don't be jealous," Santos sneered.
Ace wasn't sure if they had become like that during the time he had left, and Fenton could sense, without reading his mind, what Ace was thinking. Out of habit, Ace started to think of citrus, even when Fenton couldn't read his mind.
They all walked through the blood, dirt, and skin, still on alert, wondering what would happen next. The fight was over but no one truly believed it was. It had been exactly 72 hours since it all began, and night had arrived.
Everyone that had been there for the past three days believed that they would rise again, this time stronger as they did the past three nights. Apprehensively, no one left. Unlike a regular war, one side would declare defeat, or even if they didn't, no one expected the bodies of slain enemies to rise from the grave.
Santos stood there, covered in blood and tar, next to Fenton. It was dark and he noticed his glow in the dark fangs. "You're so fucking dumb," he sniggered. Fenton's cheeks burned.
"I, I kept them as a mouth guard," Fenton whispered. "This, this is a serious fight ."
Santos started to laugh louder, and then everyone else joined in, their stress evaporating in the air. "You're the kind of guy that brings a spoon to a gunfight," Santos giggled. Fenton shook in indignation.
"You're an ass," Fenton whispered.
"I know," Santos grinned. He put his hands on Fenton's shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "You're too serious," Santos mumbled. He yawned loudly and suddenly felt very tired. "You're too young for that shit."
"You might be right," Fenton mumbled.
"I feel really tired," Santos declared. "I'm going to take a nap."
He slumped over and Fenton caught him. He stumbled and gently laid him on the ground. Others came to see what the problem was. Fenton shook his body, crying and hysterical.
"His aura is gone," Fenton cried. "He's gone."
People tried to give CPR, but it didn't work.
He was dead.
Ace never believed that Santos was immortal, but after seeing him get split into two, and then stick himself together, he couldn't understand why he decided to die, right then and there, while taking a nap.
Everyone couldn't understand how the winged man had died from nothing but could stitch himself together, no problem. A crowd had gathered, and now people wanted to help, as they had seen Santos help kill Deceit.
Father Alvarez himself had arrived, feeling that something was wrong. He could no longer feel his father's presence, and when he came, everyone was even more confused than before. "Father can't be dead," Father Alvarez whispered. "He's an original . He's, he can't just leave us."
People were confused why Father Alvarez was calling Santos his father, a man who at oldest might look twenty, while he appeared to be in his late 30's. Father Alvarez cried, blood coming out of his eyes and he felt like his life had been torn apart.
The deep bond that all of Santos' creations had in that singular moment, all over the globe felt his connection die out.
Kalei screamed in her hospital bed as if she were dying, shaking, and turning red. Nurses had to hold her down as she felt she needed to leave, that the room was now a cage and until she got to his body then she could not rest. She flew as fast as she could, still in her hospital gown, and cried at the sight of her grandfather.
George arrived as well and he simply fainted from the shock.
One by one all of Santos' children in a thirty-mile radius arrived. Everyone was now terrified as what looked like random people with sharp teeth, some of them with a resemblance to Santos somehow knew he had died.
"What happened," Momo screamed. She bared her fangs at Fenton and he jerked away.
"I don't know," he cried. "No one does!"
All the bystanders watched as all 47 people that had arrived at Santos' body tried to awaken him. The paramedics started to push people away that tried to pour blood into his mouth, and fights broke out. Father Alvarez had to calm them all down, as he was more afraid for the regular people's lives than his family's.
"Let us take the body," a paramedic pleaded.
"Never," Momo hissed.
She was dressed up in all black, with bright pink hair and glow in the dark neon nails. Her guitar was still slung over her back, as she immediately, like all the others came to his aid. Some were in bathrobes, work uniforms, or were half-dressed. Others brought children, a few were in the middle of a meal and arrived with blood over their mouths.
The last three days had been so erratic nobody noticed the ones with blood on them and assumed it had been from the fighting.
"I will make sure they take good care of him Momo," George whispered. He had finally awoken from his fainting spell and was still distraught to see that his father was still dead. Momo and the others knew George spoke the truth.
They all silently spoke amongst each other, staring at each other's eyes.
"Fenton, what the fuck are they doing," Ace laughed nervously. "They're all staring at each other and their lips are twitching."
"Ace, I've learned not to question whatever goes on in Santos' life," Fenton said. "Just go with it."
Ace didn't want to just go with it. He wanted to leave. None of the dead were rising back, and almost all of his clothes had burnt off. If not for the short war they just survived, Ace was sure he would have been arrested for his boxers barely hanging on, nothing else on.
Gabriel watched the commotion from an alley.
He was ashamed for anyone to see him. He was covered head to toe in black blood, the exploding horrors slime all over him. Gabriel blinked rapidly, communicating with the others, and they all decided to let George and Father Alvarez give them updates.
Fenton stood close to Ace, nervous, as in unison all of Santos' children turned and left in the same direction. Father Alvarez and George were the only ones that stayed, making sure that everything would be fine.
Fenton watched as the medics carried Santos off with the other dead bodies and he felt numb inside. He and Santos had become close after Ace disappeared, and again he started to develop feelings for him.
Fenton turned to talk to Ace, but he was gone. He didn't want to spend another moment longer than he needed, surrounded by reminders of the death of his family. Fenton panicked, thinking that he had died, and searched all over for him.
After several hours, Fenton realized what he had done.
He left alone, wondering what he had done to push his friend away.