Both Unseens took deep breaths as they realized the battle was over.
Zenon cleaned his eyes from the little pebbles before looking at Aurea, who was coughing violently. She really held that pain in her throat for a while.
"Sammie… Sammie, wake up… Please, wake up already!"
Surprised by the sudden weeping, both Zenon and Aurea looked at the girl who so desperately tried to wake the boy. He had his eyes open and dilated pupils, his mouth letting blood out.
And the massive hole in his armor and body didn't make it easier to digest the situation.
Vera clutched his friend's body tightly as she tried to contain the pain coming from her pierced shoulder. Her nails dug deep into Sammie's back as she cried.
'This… is way more unsettling than I thought.'
Zenon peeked again toward Aurea, who looked at the girl while cleaning her mouth. She then looked at Zenon and made a quick head movement, suggesting their departure.
Zenon nodded. However, just as they wanted to turn around, Leviathan's instincts screamed danger.
Noticing this, Zenon looked behind quickly and found Vera pulling her bow's string with an arrow attached to it. The next moment she let go.
*Whoosh!*
Zenon pushed Aurea to the wall while he took a quick step backward, making the arrow fly past him. Realizing what happened, Aurea wasted no time running toward the girl and throwing her bow away.
However, before she could even touch it, the bow transformed into a little mouse and then into a bow again. This time, Aurea pulled her neck warmer down and said, "Don't shoot."
Vera's hand froze on the spot, with her bow extremely tensed as it aimed right in between Aurea's eyes. Her jaw slightly dropped as she tried to let go of the string but to no avail.
Her mouth twitched as tears continued to fall from her eyes.
"I thought we were friends…" Vera mumbled with a shaky voice.
Aurea however just looked at her while coughing as silently as she could. After some seconds of silence, she put the neck warmer back on and said,
"Thoughts and reality tend to be far apart. We were just partners who worked to ensure our survival, all four of us…"
She looked at Sammie and said, "Well, all three of us."
Vera clutched her bow firmly as tears dropped on Sammie's cold chest, trying to understand the reason behind Aurea's betrayal. Could it be considered a betrayal, however?
Was their relationship that superficial?
After a while, she sighed in midst of the crying and let her bow down. The pain coming from her shoulder returned as she made the bow disappear. Her weeping slowly ceased until the only sound was the river flowing.
Aurea continued, "I told you. You had to follow my rules if you wanted to come with us, yet the first thing you did were steal Sacrifices. Anything to say in your defense?"
Zenon looked from afar while massaging his aching hands. His eyes were somewhat open and his mouth tightly closed, trying to endure the pain.
Vera, however, remained quiet before bursting into small laughs. Aurea remained indifferent, watching how Vera's behavior changed in less than a minute.
And after some moments, Aurea muttered,
"Knew it…"
"Excuse me… hahaha, my bad."
Vera continued laughing before looking at Aurea with crazy eyes and saying.
"I guess I'm not a good actress, am I?"
Zenon's mouth dropped and his eyes snapped to the girl. Forgetting about the pain for a second, his thoughts were left free the moment he heard the word "actress".
Without missing a beat, Zenon walked toward her before saying,
"What do you mean actress…?"
"I mean exactly that. If only you had your mouth shut and stopped wailing like a baby this would have worked out. But no… no, no. You had to complain about everything for almost a week straight."
Aurea looked at Zenon, confusion written all over her eyes. Well, it was mutual, they had no idea what Vera was saying. Perhaps the delusion of a dying girl.
Looking back at her, Aurea said, "You mean that your intentions were to kill Zenon?"
"You are so naive… I can't believe you are the descendant of Fists of Hell. Seems like the Hellish Faction didn't suit you well."
As if the last puzzle piece appeared right in her hands, Aurea eyes widened the longer she looked at Vera. Now she truly knew what was going on but her shock wasn't because of that revelation.
No, it was different.
Aurea clutched her neck warmer tightly as she began chuckling. This time, Zenon switched his eyes between Vera and Aurea as if he couldn't believe either his eyes or ears.
'What the… what is going on?! Did these two lose their mind?! Who the fuck is Fists of Hell?! Hellish Faction?!'
Vera looked at Aurea with a smile before mumbling, "What's so funny…"
"Oh it's nothing… haha, it's nothing." She replied while trying to calm her laughter. After some moments, Aurea looked at Vera directly and said,
"I just found it amusing that you are the one they sent to kill me. I was so confused wondering if they truly brought such a weak assassin to off me."
Zenon frowned his forehead and looked at Aurea, who seemed to be having a lot of fun. But what was so funny about realizing that the person you spent seven days with wanted to kill you?!
However, there was something that felt off to Zenon. They spent seven days sleeping practically side to side, wouldn't have Vera used that opportunity to kill her?
Just as if his thoughts were heard, Vera said,
"If only I and Sammie had woken up earlier those days… maybe we wouldn't be having this conversation."
"And that's exactly why I sprayed a little bit of the Tarantula's venom in your food. Serves as a good sleeping serum. Being too cautious is never something wrong after all."
Both Vera and Zenon widened their eyes at Aurea's statement. Did she truly think of everything beforehand? But she just confirmed that she had no idea they were here to kill her.
Aurea then got up and peeked at Zenon with easy-going eyes. Those eyes always screamed danger at anyone who dares to look at them, but this time, they felt strangely comforting.
"To be honest, I thought you were the one sent here to kill me. After everything you did and said at the shelter, I was entirely sure of it. Why would a poor kid from the outskirts reject the massive price my head has?
Void Carrier or not, everyone wouldn't refuse a huge sum of money."
Zenon's jaw slightly dropped while Aurea continued,
"Yet when you almost broke down in front of me - threatening to leave - I wondered… I wondered if someone meant to kill me would truly feel so saddened."
"Didn't you think I was acting?"
"I did think about that possibility… but something about you seemed both familiar and genuine that my mind shut down for a moment. That's when everything started to click together."
Aurea's voice trailed off as she finished talking.
All three Unseens looked at each other with mixed feelings.
Vera couldn't believe that the person he wanted to get out of the way the most… was the one that made Aurea realize everything. Her thoughts filled with regret. Regretting not having killed that pathetic boy earlier.
Zenon felt as if a mountain was lifted off his shoulders. There was something about Aurea that comforted her even if their relationship was far away from being considered friends.
Aurea however, looked at Vera with cold eyes. Her mind was completely empty as she steadily breathed. After some seconds of silence, she brought her neck warmer down and said,
"Grab the boy and jump into the river."