The knife that was now imbued with an aura was on par to the strength of Artemis' nails. As the two parties continue to attack and counterattack, Sol who was still on the ground gape in astonishment.
Both Artemis and Maia were now displaying strength and speed that is impossible for a normal human being to even see.
Surprisingly, Maia could feel that no matter how much she moved, her stamina would always remain the same. On the other hand, she could see that Artemis had a limit too.
Her heavy breathing was already an indication that even with mutation, she could still feel the fatigue that had been built up within her. And Artemis knew this herself, she needed to finish this off now, or else she wouldn't have another chance.
"Why are you rushing mother"
Maia caught Artemis off guard and was able to land a blow to her right arm causing it to tear up.
"You're leaving an opening here and there now, and I… could totally see your weakness"
Maia took her chances and pierced Artemis right through her heart. She thought she already had her but the slight sting of pain rushing through her neck said otherwise.
Right when Maia dove in to pierce Artemis' heart, the older woman saw this as an opportunity as well, as she slashed at Maia's neck.
Maia instantly focused on healing her neck, the wound slowly closing off before more of her blood could gush out.
On the other hand, Artemis, who didn't know that Maia can consciously heal herself now, coughed up blood.
She looked at Maia who was also staring at her now. What she felt was a mixture of pride, sorrow, happiness, betrayal and sadness and she knew exactly why.
Maia's eyes widened when Artemis let go of her neck and held the wrist that was holding the knife to her heart. Slowly she pulled Maia closer, the knife piercing through her heart much deeper.
"Hey… wha–"
Maia had put up her guard when Artemis pulled her into an almost hug-like position. She was ready to heal herself in case Artemis suddenly stabs her in the back but it never came.
"If I knew that the aura was the answer, then I should've used you and your siblings from the moment I saw it"
Maia couldn't understand what Artemis was saying, but she knew that she was dying now. Did dying change her mind and attitude? Maia wanted to ask but then she was too stunned now to even speak.
The reality hit her when she felt Artemis' slowly lose the strength in her hands. She struck her own mother in the heart and she was slowly dying in her arms now.
Maia's whole body trembled when she felt Artemis caress her in the back. She could feel her soft palm and fingers, gone were the sharp and long talons.
Maia starred as Artemis' skin returned to its normal color, slowly the greenish skin color was returning to white.
"This was my miscalculation"
Maia couldn't see Artemis' face as she buried her face in her shoulders but she could feel her slow ragged breathing on her shoulders.
"The Zareal project was successful. The only miscalculation we had was that we ignored you and thought of you as nothing more than a vessel. That was my only fault"
Maia stood still holding her breath even when Artemis fell to the ground, lifeless.
She took one look at her mother and there she saw that she turned back to her normal appearance. The knife was still on her chest, but a smile was on her face.
Maia felt herself tear up.
"Until the end, you couldn't apologize to your own daughter. Until your last breath, you…"
You still chose to think about your stupid project, she thought. Maia bit her lower lip as she suppressed the anger and sadness that was welling up inside of her.
She couldn't help but think that this was a needless death. That this didn't need to happen if only she had given up but she knew that thinking about it now was useless.
Maia sat on the ground next to Artemis' body, as she pulled her knife out, her tears bursted. She doesn't know if her mother felt the pain of killing her own children, but she would delude herself into thinking that she didn't. This will be her way to lessen the pain and guilt of taking the life of her own mother.
"MAIA!!"
"ATE!!"
Maia looked up and saw that everyone was running towards her. Her tears betrayed her as they flowed down her eyes. Damian quickly scooped her up and hugged her tightly, giving her a light pat on the back.
"Shhh, I'm here Maia"
Instead of answering, Maia gripped Damian's shirt and let all the anger and sorrow go.
Maki sat beside Artemis' body. He stared at his mother's corpse before holding her hand and kissing the back of it.
"For what it's worth, I still do love you ma"
And everyone else felt his sincerity.
Helios who was supporting Sol and Eos who sat next to Maki hugging the younger male all felt his sorrow and pain.
Sol muttered her silent sorry as she stared at the lifeless form of her youngest daughter. She vowed that she would forever repent and resent herself for letting Artemis go down the wrong path.
"We should move quickly, Maia"
As soon as Helios said this, Maia, with eyes full of tears, glanced at him.
"We'll bury her here but we need to go to the SDC right now"
"Why?"
Damian cupped Maia's face and wiped away her tears before staring at her eyes.
"We got an S.O.S earlier. The SDC is underattack"
"Attack? by the government?"
Damian nodded before he looked around. He immediately spotted Leticia's corpse and the soldiers that Artemis had killed earlier.
"It looked like they followed us here and they spotted Artemis who went out of the SDC's base"
Maia felt something sting inside of her and it was clear how uncomfortable the feeling was.
Here she was, standing and crying because she had killed her mother but everyone else was already thinking of a much more serious problem.
She couldn't understand what she was feeling right now but one thing was for sure, she was mad. She just doesn't know if it was directed to Artemis, or to her family or to herself.
"Ate, we can wallow in sorrow for losing someone for all of our lives, but we can't save the people we left behind if we don't act now"
Maia was too stunned to speak. Her brother who was still holding their lifeless mother's hand spoke of a truth that she could never have realized on her own. Maia stared at Maki's eyes and saw that there was pain in it, but there was also determination.
She moved her gaze to her mother, she was smiling, like it was a blessing given to her in a form of death.
There she realized that Maki was right. She could sort her feelings out later, but right now she didn't want to lose anyone else. She needs to move to save everybody else that they had left behind.
Her father, her bestfriends, and the people who all believed in her when the mutiny and when her mission had started.
She still has them.
Maia stared at Helios and gave him a light nod.
"What's the plan?"