There was a bitter smile on Lantis's lips. He didn't want to keep hearing June call him weak or irrelevant, but the human was only telling the truth. As for regaining his power, he believed that June knew how. He had mentioned it before, but he had no idea if June was willing to do it.
Even if he said he would do anything to make sure his mother would be safe…
…
When the morning came, June had to wake up to the fact that the police had broken the news to his mother. He didn't even know if he could attend to his phone and see how many times his mother had tried to reach him. What would June say? What could he say?
Pete died right in front of him. He remembered how devastated his mother was when Pete got into an accident; he could only imagine what she would look like today. It's just that… how could he leave his mother alone now that something really bad had happened? June curled on his bed to cry a little. Even he was surprised that he still had tears to give.
After a few seconds, he fished his phone from his pants from last night. He turned the thing on… and didn't see anything. His mother didn't message him? How come?
"Lucirien…" June called out in panic. With his eyes glued to the screen, he rose from the bed without looking around. He ended up hitting his head against Lantis's hand as the demon showed up before him. "M-Mom didn't—!"
"Hush, sweet child. She is yet to get off the phone with the police officers." Lantis ended up hugging June against him, the actor not knowing how to deal with that. The demon could even feel the kind of dread that had been eating June since this morning.
Ring! The phone rang, flashing Freya's caller ID on the screen. June stared at it and clawed on Lantis's shirt as if getting courage from the squeeze Lantis gave on his elbows. The actor took a deep breath and answered the phone: "Mom?"
Freya didn't speak readily. There was no crying or hysterical thrashing in the background. She was not even sniffing from her tears. Before June could talk again, she murmured: ["You must have felt it, didn't you? Last night… June…"]
"…I couldn't call you, Mom…" June whispered as he pressed his forehead on Lantis's shoulder. "It's so shocking… I… I don't know how to say things…"
["Do you know…? Someone was messaging me last night. They kept on saying sorry to me about a very unfortunate event. Actually, when I tried calling both of your phones, I didn't know what to think. I thought both of you will be taken away from me."] Freya pursed her lips as she leaned on the wall next to her seat. ["Did he call you? When he was so scared… when he was hearing gunshots, June?"]
"…I went there, Mom… I couldn't save him…" June gritted his teeth. "He called for me, so I went. I couldn't save him at all. I'm sorry… it's all my fault… Mom, I brought trouble…"
The mother didn't say anything. She seemed to be keeping to herself for a few seconds as June waited for her voice to resound again. June could only imagine her sitting at her dining table, looking at the framed photo of the two of them that she had on display. Her sister's house was a small one, but it didn't mean that she didn't have her own space there.
Freya then spoke again: ["The police want me to come and identify the body. I already told Sir Reese that I might not be able to come in today. Will you go with me? It must be so hard for you to see him again. June… tell me what happened."]
His mouth opened, but June didn't know what he should say. He didn't even know if his mother would believe him. How could he tell her that he teleported to the hospital? How could he say that he had a demon stop time in an attempt for him to rescue Pete?
"Mom, I'd rather tell you face to face. I'll see you. I have to see you." June only wore a small smile as he felt a little lighter with Lantis carrying most of his weight. He just needed to gather the strength to face his mother. When Freya agreed and ended the call, June took a deep breath.
Inhaling the expensive perfume and the faint scent of blood coming from Lantis, the actor got to his feet. He then looked up. "Can you come with me?"
…
June walked the hallways of the crime laboratory, seeing the multitude of people going about their work during the day shift. He walked with Lantis, the demon visible to everyone else again. The actor found his way to the benches outside the room where they would be meeting the medical examiner. June saw his mother sitting there, spacing out while looking into the room before her.
The actor walked to her and sat down next to her. She only leaned her head on his shoulder, their fingers interlocking with each other's. They sat there for a moment before getting up and entering the room. The medical examiner soon came to find them, placing an A6-sized photo front facing down.
He took a deep breath. "The hospital has positively identified him as one of their patients, bearing the same name and face as your son, Mrs. Verrier. The bruises on his face were still from the accident he got into days ago. The cause of death was a deep cut across the neck, severing the head. If it helps… I had never seen such a clean cut. It must have been painless."
"Did they have names on the people who did this to my boy?" Freya only held the photo, flipping it slowly. She had long readied her heart, and the view didn't seem to be any different from a sleeping photo. Aside from the paleness of his lips and the wrong complexion. She touched the photo as if she could still remember the rowdy conversations between him and his brother.
"The gunmen had been identified, but we're still trying to find out how they pulled off the beheading." The medical examiner could only answer a few questions. Soon enough, they were left at the table. It was now up to Freya when she would see the body to give goodbyes.
It only took ten minutes for Freya to stare at the photo. Her eyes didn't even shed a tear, and it was worrying June. He wanted to comfort his mother, but he hadn't told her how everything went down. When she got to her feet, they were escorted by an attendant to see Jupiter Verrier on his table. She wanted to touch him, but she knew that the cold would only sting her finger.
Her baby had gone before her, and she didn't even know if he would ever get justice.
June couldn't even bring himself to take a look at the face of his brother. His last memory of this guy was his scared face, hoping to be saved. The actor knew well that if he was a second faster, maybe…
["Hey, June!"]
June's entire body trembled as he heard Pete's voice in his head. His eyes widened at the sound that he might as well have hallucinated. After all, Pete's toes wouldn't even move, nor did his chest. June must have felt really guilty to hear—
["For God's sake, June…! Look at me!"]
At this, June clutched his mother's shirt with his hand. When his gaze strayed to Pete's face, he saw his brother staring wide-eyed at him, panic written all over Pete's face. ["June, fucking get me out of here!"]
Crash. The actor could only black out.