"Hurt."
That was the first thing Asuka thought when she woke up. Her face was still stained with dried blood, the taste of iron still fresh in her mouth. She tried to move her arm but a sharp and intense pain shot up it making her let out a yelp.
"Damn. I've really over did now. Wait! The demon!"
She immediately let anima flow through her body, relieving her pain only a little. Despite the pain, she forced herself to slowly stand. She looked towards the outside of the cave trying to see if she could feel any malice.
"Nothing. It's gone. And the people are still alive too. What happened?"
And then, she remembered the reason she was even in the cave.
She quickly turned towards the smaller cave. Trying to run, she fell to the ground. The muscles in her legs were still screaming in pain. Pumping even more anima into them. She stood and made her way to the platform as fast as she could. Reaching it, she squatted a little and jumped as high as she could only making it a two thirds the way up. With agony still racking her body, she climbed up the rest of the platform.
When she reached the top she quickly spread out her anima to find the girl. Deep in the cave, a weak anima signal was coming from a body inside the cave. Asuka quickly realized that anima was leaving the body. It was slow, but it still sent Asuka into a panic.
She dashed inside and was met with the smell of blood. And soon, the body of a person could be seen. A young blond girl was lying on the ground wearing a blue and white checkered dress. Her hair in the same pigtails it was when they first met. But this time instead of a bright smile covering her face, she looked more like a corpse. All color drained from her face, dried lips. Asuka looked at her shoulder wear there was no arm attached to it. She looked down and a cold chill ran up her spine as she saw a chunk of her leg was broken off, a jagged edge of the bone sticking out. The only indication that she was even alive, was the hoarse breaths that escaped her lips.
Asuka almost collapsed to her knees seeing her friend. Tears welled in her eyes and she began to shiver.
"A-Amelia...no.."
She ran forward ignoring the cries her body let out she then tried access her contra to try and heal her wounds. With that came another wave of pain, making her vision whiten for a moment. She gasped for breath and began breathing heavily. Steeling herself, she gritted her teeth and tried again. Unfortunately, contra is unable to able to heal a being of anima. In fact, the anima coming off of the girl seemed to darken as the contra touched it.
"Damn it! Please...she can't ...she can't die.."
Realizing it was pointless, she tore off her sleeves and tied them around where Amelia's limbs were ripped off and then used all her strength to pick up the girl and began to carry her out of the small cave. She reached the edge of the platform and without hesitation jumped down. She crashed into the ground, the bones in her leg creaking, begging her to take rest and heal. But she ignored it all.
She made her way out of the cave carrying the severely injured girl in a bridal position. She made her way through the forest. She even passed the corpse of the demon without even taking a glance at it. Each step she took, Amelia's life was slipping further and further.
~
Reaching the edge of the forest, Aboa finally came into view.
"Just a little longer Amelia. Don't worry. I swear that I'll find a healer and you'll get your limbs back in no time."
Asuka stumbled her way into the town. It didn't take long for the residents to take notice of the girls. The people of the town all flinched and some even past out seeing the condition of them. As Asuka stepped forward, the people took two steps back.
"P-please...my friend. She's needs a doctor immediately. Please. We can still save her."
She begged. And begged. And begged. Made promises. Prostrated herself. She even tried smiling to look approachable. But nobody came forward. No one offered a helping hand. Looks of pity and disgust were all they could offer.
"They look horrible. We shouldn't get involved with them."
"She was the cause of that creepy feeling earlier right. Probably a trick."
"Wasn't she the one who hurt that lady."
"Isn't she affiliated with that demon?"
Hearing those remarks and more, Asuka realized that no one is going to help. Her face immediately went from pleading to desperate. Asuka soon ran further into the town to find a small hospital, but all the doctors turned her down.
"Please! I'll do anything! Anything at all!"
"Leave girl. Your existence is nothing but trouble."
She was then met with a door being slammed in her face.
"No. No no no no no. You can't do this. YOU CAN'T JUST LET HER DIE!"
Her words were met with only silence. Panic had now settled in Asuka's heart.
"Damn it. There's no other doctors office in this town. At this rate..."
"It is pointless child," a voice called out from behind.
Recognizing it, Asuka quickly turned around and saw the woman she had met before. Anger was about to erupt from her stomach. She began to grind her teeth together and was about to speak, but before she could say anything the woman spoke.
"Cursing me out changes nothing. You shouldn't waste your breath."
"SHUT THE HELL UP! IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU THAT AMELIA'S LIKE THIS!"
Margaret flinched back feeling the powerful anima coming off the girl. She still managed to stay her ground though and quip back a vicious reply.
"You say that, yet I could equally say that if you hadn't met her, the demon never would've set its eyes on her."
Asuka's eyes widened in shock at the the woman's words.
"What? So you're saying it's my fault? Don't be ridiculous. You made the choice to trick her. No one else but you. You easily could've chosen another way. But...BUT YOU INSTEAD CHOSE TO SACRIFICE AN INNOCENT GIRL!"
Looking down, Asuka blinked away tears that had welled up. At first the people had been avoiding whatever had been going on, but now a small crowd had formed around the women. And this crowd was growing larger by the second.
"So...don't...don't you dare try to pin the blame on me," Asuka let out in a hitched voice.
With that, Asuka thought she had won the argument with the woman. Unfortunately, the woman had other plans.
"Tch. Just like any other child. Always trying to push responsibility to the adults. Always looking at us to fix the mistakes they made. All you had to do was listen to Jeffery and leave. If you had done that then non of this would've happened. Your friend would've been blissfully ignorant to it all and most importantly, alive. Face the facts and take responsibility."
Asuka wanted to reply. She wanted to say something back. She needed to. But she couldn't. From the very beginning she knew it was her own fault. Since before she came to Aboa. She suddenly remembered the dream she had when so long ago. It might not have been exact, but there was one thing that remained the same. Asuka was the cause of the situation.
Unable to reply, her body trembled.
"As for healing her, far as we know you're both trouble. Just as your friend got hurt for getting involved with you, it just as likely that anyone of us could end up the same way."
At that moment, Asuka looked around to see the people of Aboa. She looked through the crowd of people, hoping, praying that just one person would reach out. That just one person will save her friend. But there were none. Asuka fell to her knees and lowered her head down.
"Please. S-she's done nothing wrong. She's..she's kind, funny, reliable. S-she had far less than I did, and been through far more. Yet she never faltered. She never abandoned her morals. She's far stronger than I could ever be. So please...please..." Asuka begged. Her voice faltering at the end.
"Stop it girl. You're doing nothing but embarrassing yourself."
With that, Margaret turned and left without saying another word. And just like that, Amelia's last hope was cruelly ripped from her. It was then the thoughts she was trying so hard to reject had finally settled.
Amelia was going to die.
Asuka's thoughts and emotions were a jumbled mess. Anger and sadness. Wanting to blame others while simultaneously blaming herself. All these feelings were too much for the twelve year old leaving her in a catatonic like state. That was until she felt someone touch her hand. She looked down and saw Amelia had gathered enough strength to weakly grab her.
"Amelia..."
The girl lying on Asuka's lap was moving her now blue lips, but the voice coming out of it was almost inaudible. Asuka leaned in to hear what the blond was saying.
"It's...okay."
Asuka instinctively wanted to protest. But she knew it was hopeless.
"Home...please...," she said in a hoarse.
Asuka did not reply with words. She simply nodded and stood up carefully and walked. As she walked the streets, people looked at the girls with the same expressions of pity as before. Just like before they whispered and murmured among themselves. This time however, Asuka did not pay them any attention. Her expression did not change. It was like she didn't even know there were people around in the first place.
She simply walked quietly all the way until she reached the edge of the town where Amelia's house was. She didn't even walk the steps to the front door and walked around to where the graves of Amelia's parents. There, she sat down laying the girls head on her lap.
"t-th-thank...you...asuka.."
Her lips trembled hearing the weak reply, but she blinked back her tears and nodded slowly. The pause in between Amelia's breathes had increased. She was practically forcing herself to breathe. Knowing the end was near, Amelia took a deep and shaky breathe then began to speak.
"p-please....asuka," she slowly lifted her hand and cupped Asuka's cheek,
"no...matter...what anyone...says...you'll...always," tears began to fall from her eyes as finished her final words.
"...you'll always be my hero..."
Amelia's hand fell from Asuka's face. Her face relaxed but a small smile remained. And soon, the bright lights shining in her eyes dimmed until they completely disappeared.
Soon, drops of rain began falling from the sky. Soon, a constant downpour occurred soaking everything. Asuka remained seated quietly holding the body of the girl. She then raised her hands closed the girls eyes.
"You've been through a lot Amelia. Rest easy. And...thank you...for calling me your hero."
Silenced out by the rain,Asuka remained where she was grieving for her first ever friend.