The room was in mess with debris littering all over the place. From the hole, Latina came out. Shouting to the people in front of her with all her might.
"Give me back Orion!"
Without thinking, she shoots magic from her hand. A ringing sound reverberated throughout the whole area, blasting the bedroom, and opening a big hole to the other side of her entrance. The two of them bounce by the after-effect, but before the person completely stands. Her eyes got blinded by Latina. Both of her eyes got slashed by magic.
"AAAAAAAAHH!"
The girl screamed, writhing in pain. Red liquids gushed from both of her eyes, tainting her adorable face with crimson red. Both of her hands push her eyes, hoping that the action can relieve the pain a little. After that, with hand tainted with red. She reaches out her hand, searching for someone in her blindness.
"Orion,"
"Orion, where... are you....?"
Orion was stunned, watching the girl that happily playing and crying before desperately searching for himself in that poor state. He frowned his face, trying to take her hand. But before that happened, her hand that reached out before dropped to the floor. For the second time, a shriek comes out from her tiny lips. She's crouched and holding her wrist in agony.
Latina slowly approaches, pointing her fingertip at the girl.
"How dare you...."
"HOW DARE YOU!!!"
Her fingertip glowed, and before she unleashed her magic. Orion, from behind hugs Latina's body. Locking both of her arms to the side. Knowing that, she's struggling. Trying to break free from Orion's arm.
"STOP!!"
From Latina's back, Orion shouted.
With his trembling voice, he said, "Please, stop, Latina,"
"Please....."
Latina calmed down.
"What... have I.... done....."
Tears slowly wet her cheek. She raised her trembling hands and muttered those words again.
"What... have I... done...."
Slowly, Latina's down on her knees, sitting while Orion changes how he hugs her. She's crying, her tiny hands holding Orion's arms that circling her neck.
With a low voice, Orion says, "It's ok,"
The two of them stay in that position for a while, but he can't stay like that forever. He needs to tend to the girl's injuries first. But when he comes closer, something pierced the girl's chest, leaving a small hole behind. The girls slumped to the floor. She's lying down, trying hard to gasp for air while calling Orion's name.
"O-rion, a-re...you....there....?"
Orion gasped, his eyes widened looking at the girl in front of him. Blood gushed out, creating a pool of crimson red beneath her. In hurry, Orion stands up and runs towards her. He reached for her hand, holding it firmly like he hold some fragile object.
"No....no..."
Feeling that someone hold her hand, she says, "Orion....?"
"Yes, it's me,"
"Aah, I'm glad you are okay,...."
"What are you saying? First, we need to-"
Before he finishes his words, a man slowly approaches them. As if he emerged from the dark parts of the blown-up room. The sounds of his footstep can be heard, while pointing a gun at them, he says, "Such a touchy moment we have here,"
Startled, Orion stands up, leaving the girl at his back. He stands up in front of the muzzle, trying to block the guns and focusing solely on himself. Doing something to a dying person that will eventually die from blood loss, he's only doing so for himself. A self-atone that no one wants, only for satisfying his own ego.
"What do you want?" Orion said.
The man only gives him silent treatment. His eyes locked, focused on the point where the muzzle pointed. Slowly his eyes wandered around as if calculating something in his head. Before long, the guy opens his mouth.
"What I want is,"
"To kill that horrifying thing and the girl over there," he said.
"What are you trying to say?"
Orion was confused, he don't know what the person in front of him meant. In Orion's eyes, there are only two oh-so-ordinary girls. But in the eyes of the person in front of him, it was a witch with a big creature with a head looks like a deer slumped on the floor with injuries.
Because there's no answer to his question, he asks another question, "Why'd you do this?"
Orion knows It's pointless, it's just a rhetorical question.
"Because it's my job,...."
".....Your job?"
The man didn't say any further than that.
'Quite tight-lipped person, or it is a loyalty,...? " thought Orion.
The silence comes back, chill can be felt behind Orion's back. He's sweating, he knows the situation is not in his favor. With the injured person and a break-down girl slumped on the floor. He tried to buy some time for Latina to sober. Waiting for her to snap back to reality and deal with this situation. But it's just failed attempt at this point.
Before Orion makes any decision and still thinking about what should he do next. The person in front of him shifts the muzzle, he pointing it at Latina and pulls the trigger. A ringing sound can be heard, a bullet already out from its case. Sped up to the girl that was sitting, the one that showed her back to the man all this time.
Without much thought, Orion makes his move. He ran, approaching the girl and trying to shield her from the bullet.
"Ugh...!"
Realizing Orion has been shooted, Latina for a moment snaps back to reality. She shouted his name. But he can't stay still and began to stand up and make his move.
At the same time he took the bullet with his body, he took out a piece of paper from his trouser. He activates the engraving on it, the room turns darker than before. The moonlight and the castles lamp that should be enough to light up the surrounding is gone as if it was swallowed by darkness. It was an illusion, a witchcraft that Latina forced him to draw many times.
'Can't believe this piece of paper can be useful at times like this,' he thought.
The man was startled, he lower his guard because the opponent was a witch that don't have the will to fight, an injured creature, and some ordinary civilian. He didn't expect the civilian that he thought powerless can use witchcraft.
"Shit!"
The man becomes more warry than before, he looks around him. Checking the situation only with his remaining senses while still gripping hard to the pistol in his hand. Suddenly, something heavy slammed into his body. It was Orion, he tackle him to the ground. Orion's trying to take the gun from his hand.
Both of them struggle on the floor for a while, rolling over until the man gains his composure faster than Orion. With a pistol in his hand, he shoots Orion at point-blank range. Three sounds of gun shoot reverberate in the air causing high tension for the girls. But when the light comes back, the one that stood up was a man. His muzzle still let out a cloud of smoke. On the floor, Orion lying down with a pool of blood beneath him.
Looking at that, Latina that sitting still all this time began to make her move. She's running to the man straightly, knowing that, the man pull the trigger again. The bullet hit Latina's forehead and she slumped to the floor.
"Haaah,...."
He's sighing and feels a bit of relief. But when he looks at the floor, the supposed-to-be corpse blurring and slowly disappears like a mist. Before he knows it, a metal object penetrated his body. He tried to retaliate but soon after his body is burning. A flame set a blaze from his wound and spreads to other body parts slowly.
"Ugh!"
Refusing to surrender, he's letting out a knife and turns around. At the same time, he slashed her throat but his knife pass through. She turned into a mist for the second time, and from behind, a faint glow can be seen.
Latina stood there, pointing her hand toward the man. The man turned around again, this time pointing his gun at Latina. When he pulls the trigger, only a click sound can be heard. The magazine was empty. He realizes that it's the end and closes his eyes.
With a low voice, Latina says, "Die,...."
A ball of light blasted the man. He lost half of his upper body, leaving his right hand. Slowly he slumped to the floor. He knows that this is the end, and with his last remaining breath, he said, "Sorry....."
Latina heard it, but she knows that those words weren't aimed at her. After that, she's running, ignoring the dying man and approaching Orion.
"Orion, Orion!"
"Orion!"
Tears build up, slowly wetting her cheeks for the second time. She's looking at Orion on the floor, trying his hardest to breathe.
"Stay with me Orion!"
She pressed the wound. His body steadily lost its heat.
Latina sobbed, her tears pouring down wetting Orion's cheek. She was trying her best to save him.
"Stay with me Orion!"
"I don't want to be alone anymore,...."
From behind, a groaning sound came. The girl that left behind, all this time trying hard to gasp some air letting out words.
"Kill....me...."
"La....tina...."
Latina closed her eyes, and then without hesitation shoot magic toward the girl's head. A ray penetrated her head and left a hole behind. Before long, a light shone from the body and in an instant, the wounds that the girl have is gone. She opens her eyes when she looks at the state of Orion in front of her. She began running. With tears on the edge of her eyes, she's doing what she can to keep Orion alive.
She generated heat on her hand and burns the wound slightly while Latina tends to the wounds with her magic. They're shouting something but, they can't hear it as if something blocking his ears with something. When the blood stopped gushing out, Orion blacked out leaving the two girls behind. The last thing that he sees was the crying face of those two.
Orion doesn't know how much time passed since that day. He tries to open his eyes, and a bright light welcomed him. In the middle of vast grassland, he's alone. Lying down under the shade of a big tree. Slowly, he stood up, walked circling the tree, and then sit down. He seems to be waiting for someone but, he doesn't know the reason. Not long after, a little girl comes and slowly approached.
They're happily talking with each other and frolicking around as if they're siblings. Even if Orion can't hear most of its conversation, the scene that he sees is enough to feel the warm atmosphere between them. He just follows the flow without any protest. When the sun was slowly hiding beneath the horizon, the two of them stopped talking. Drowned themself in the sea of silence, enjoying the beautiful view in front of them.
Slowly, the little girl turns her head, looking straight into Orion's eyes. On her face, a smile was carved, making a melancholy face. The small figure that closes by looks so distant.
With a small voice, she muttered, ".....goodbye,"
"....My last and the only remaining family,"
Slowly, Orion's view moves away. In the progress, tears flow from her eyes, wetting both of her cheeks, and with her small hand, she tries to wipe them away. But it's a futile attempt, the more she wipes it the more it flows. In the end, she gave up, resigning to the state she was in. She covered her face with both of her palms, and drops her knees to the grass, sobbing away until it was so far away that Orion can't see it again.