Post by WARendfeld on Aug 22, 2012 12:56:45 GMT -6
It Gets Easier the Second Time
The harbor at Lilycove City served many purposes; aside from being the berth for many private yachts and assorted state-run ferries, it was a major shipping hub for goods into and out of the Hoenn region. It was a wide, open area, and it was easy enough for a person to traverse it without a great deal of difficulty, especially the public areas.
Alex wasn’t too worried about drawing attention to herself as she strode through the harbor, keeping herself firmly on land and among the various central buildings. There weren’t too many people around, which struck her as odd, but it wasn’t something she was about to complain about. If anything, it suggested that Alexander and his gang would be closing in on her, and in a close-up fight, the odds were significantly more in her favor.
Her cell phone rang, and she quickly answered. “Yeah?”
“You clearly know how to follow instructions. Good for you. Wait there.”
The call ended, and Alex tucked away her phone, already regretting not having called in whatever help she could. Odds were that they had a plan, one of them perched in a nest somewhere in the distance with a rifle pointed right at her head. It was anything but a pleasant thought, but right now, she didn’t have many options. Still, she tried her best to keep calm and reach out with her mind, trying to get an idea of where the rest of them were and…
Her eyes went wide as she realized that she’d been followed, and not by the people she was chasing after either. And it was only a matter of time before…
“Masters!” She scowled as she heard Isabelle approach from behind, another set of footsteps following her. “I don’t know how…”
“Isabelle, now’s not a good…”
“Hey!” The blonde snapped her fingers. “First, you’re going to face me when I talk to you, Masters! Second, you don’t get to decide what’s a good time and what isn’t!”
Her patience exhausted, Alex turned to face her rival and shouted, “Isabelle, leave or…!” She stopped as the blonde started to choke, her hands reaching for her throat as she dropped to her knees, gasping for air. Melanie approached close behind, and Alex called to her, “Keep back!”
“Yeah, or you’ll die along with her.” As his target turned to face him, Dion stepped into view and smiled. “Your friend’s a bigger bitch than you are.”
Alex glared dangerously at the man before her, barely older than she was and far shorter. “She’s not my friend. But I don’t want her dead either, Dion. Let her go; I’m who you came for.”
“I don’t need to rush. Besides, people are dying today anyway; how will another dead bitch hurt? It’s not like she matters!”
Alex’s glare intensified, and as her old rival struggled to breath and her classmate’s worried expression shot between her and Isabelle, she slipped on a pair of sunglasses. “Everyone matters.” She then pulled a shuriken from a case on her belt and threw it, sending it flying towards the assassin before her.
The shuriken slowed and halted in mid-air, inches shy of Dion’s face. His smile turned to a smug smirk as he asked, “What was that supposed to do?”
Alex’s response was short and to the point. “Wait for it.” Suddenly, a bright flash of light burst forth from the shuriken’s base, forcing the telekinetic to turn away as Alex, protected by her sunglasses, charged and drew her swords, plunging them through his shoulders and affixing him to the wall of a warehouse. He cried out in pain, distracted from focusing his telekinetics, and released Isabelle. She then glared at him from beneath her sunglasses and ordered, “Now, are you going to…”
A stray thought from Dion, and Alex pulled her swords from him and dove backwards, bullets firing in her direction as she rolled for cover. A short distance away, Melanie had the same thought, pulling Isabelle to safety behind a crate as the blonde gasped, “What the hell is going on here?!”
“Your guess is as good as mine, but I’d say Alex is in trouble and you’ve dragged us into it!”
-
Frederick scowled as he ejected a shell from his rifle, bolting another into place. He’d lost sight of the target, Masters having vanished from view. “I’ve lost her.”
:“Well find her again!”: Dion’s pained voice came through loud and clear through his earpiece. :“That little bitch ran me through with her swords! Why the hell can’t we break those things anyway?!”:
“Alexander wants them for his collection. You know that.”
:“Yeah well, if he wants more swords so bad, he can find whoever made them and pay them to make more for him! I won’t bleed out just so he can have some fancy swords!”:
Frederick decided not to argue. He didn’t see the sense in having them anyway; to him, a knife or something shorter was far more practical, as it allowed you to get up close and personal when dispatching opponents. Besides, he enjoyed seeing the look in people’s faces when they faded away and realized there wasn’t anything waiting for them on the other side.
“You sure about that?” A thump from behind him, and he turned to find the target waiting, her pike extending to its full length. “I like to think there’s a nice warm place waiting for you.”
Frederick tossed aside the rifle as he got to his feet and drew his knife. He wasn’t sure how Masters had gotten to the rooftop so quickly, but it didn’t surprise him; she was the slippery sort. He then charged and went on the attack; he’d taken on dozens of people in hand-to-hand combat and escaped every time, and this time would be no different.
He charged and swiped with his knife. Masters dodged and struck with her pike, the blow hitting his kneecap as she pivoted about, a second blow striking the ankle. He growled and yelled as he turned to face her, his leg collapsing beneath him. She struck again, a blow to his wrist knocking the knife from his hand, another blow crashing into his chest.
“That’s the thing about not feeling pain; you have a hard time picking up on your limits.” Another blow and cracks sounded from his ribs. He got back to his feet and drew another knife, only to have it knocked away once more. “Me? I know mine. And I’ve reached it.” Another blow reached his chest, and he stumbled back, his battered leg causing him to stumble and whip off the edge of the roof.
Frederick fell, anger coursing through him in his last moments as he raged, the ground getting closer until…
-
“Frederick! Frederick!” Dion growled as he realized what happened. “That bitch!” He pushed aside every crate he could find, and quickly located Isabelle and Melanie, lifting them up and pushing them against the wall of the warehouse, his own injuries forgotten. “Hey Masters! I’ve got your bitch friends! Come out now or…!”
“You kill them, you won’t live long enough to regret it.” He watched as Alex emerged from among the buildings, carrying Frederick’s body over her shoulders. She approached and then dropped him at her feet, his one eye looking up at him lazily and his head turned at an unnatural angle. She readied her pike and prompted, “Need I elaborate?”
Dion’s gaze turned from Alex, to the body of his comrade, and back to Alex as his expression turned to rage. “You BITCH!” He turned his attention way from his two hostages to the various crates around him, breaking them apart with his mind and flinging the debris at her.
Every bit of splinter and shrapnel was knocked away by Alex’s pike as she approached, her staff twirling around ahead of her as she strode forwards, the larger chunks flying away from her as she closed in on the assassin. With every step she took, Dion’s expression remained fixed in anger, even as he got a clear view of her face, her sunglasses having drooped enough to show that her eyes were eerily calm. He kept up his barrage despite the lack of success until she closed the distance and grabbed hold of his neck, the wood clattering to the ground around them.
“You have two options. Tell me where my sister is, or…” Dion spat in her face, and Alex wiped the spittle off with her free hand before continuing, “Alright, let’s see what’s behind door number two.”
“You won’t learn anything from me you little…!” The assassin went silent as images flashed through his mind, the girl digging into his thoughts without hesitation to find what she was after. The final images, the location that they’d hidden away her sister, was quickly plucked from his mind, and the rage faded instantly into fear. “How…? All psychics have natural barriers! You can’t…!”
“I did.” She then released her hold upon him, stepped back slightly, then quietly asked, “By the way, does the name ‘Jackson Canmore’ ring any bells?”
Dion blinked and muttered, “No.”
Alex struck like a cobra, her first two fingers extended as her arm shot forward, going directly into the boy’s neck, crushing his windpipe. “You’re about to meet him in Hell.” As he collapsed to the ground, gasping for air and slowly dying, her fury ebbed, her rage was tucked away, and she slipped off her sunglasses before turning to look into the terrified faces of her schoolmates. “You two okay?”
“What the hell is going on here?!” Isabelle’s manic, terrified gaze went from the two dead and dying assassins to Alex as she screamed out, “Who the hell are these people?! Did you just kill them?! How the hell can you just kill them?!”
“They’ve tried to kill me in the past and they’ve got my sister. Frankly, I think I’m justified.” The sound of a cell phone buzzing caught her attention, and she raised a finger. “One second.” She then rummaged through Dion’s pockets and collected his phone, answering it and bringing it up to her ear. “I’m sorry, the person you’re trying to reach is dead. May I take a message?”
“…Masters.”
“Yeah. Beating me up is one thing Larry, but threatening my sister? You and your pals have crossed a line. Be with you in a second.” She then cut the line and tossed the phone aside, then checked her belt for one of her Poké Balls. “You two should be safe, but…” She looked up at Isabelle, whose face had turned to one of complete shock, and she quietly noted, “Yes, this is happening. Yes, I did kill two people in front of you. Yes, I have killed people before; they bring the body count to three. Am I proud of this? No. Do I want to do it again? No. Am I going to, when I have no other options, when the people I love are in danger? Yes.” She turned and pulled a Poké Ball from her belt, making some distance. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have an older sister to save.” The ball opened and a Blissey appeared before her. “Eir, I’m going to show you somewhere. Can you Teleport me there?” A nod. “Good.” She turned back to Isabelle and Melanie and asked, “Can you guys call the cops for me please?”
Alex and her Blissey disappeared, and Isabelle regained her ability to speak. “She actually killed those two.”
“Yeah, and one of them was willing to kill you.” Melanie turned to her friend and offered, “You might want to consider all of this.”
-
Alexander put away his cell phone, turned to the last of his associates, and quietly ordered, “Kill her.”
“Really?” Cord turned to their prisoner, bound and laid out on the ground before them, and gleefully considered her with a knife. “Can’t I wait a little more? Savor the taste of her fear a little?”
At his feet, Cass was scared, but she was doing her best to keep her fear under control. After all, she had a far more dangerous sister out there, and panicking would do her little good, and would only entertain this psychopath.
“Her sibling is on her way. Dion and Frederick are dead. I want one less distraction before…”
A crack resounded through the air, and Alex appeared before them, recalling her Blissey shortly afterwards. She then turned to the two assassins and drew the sword she carried at her back, the anger and rage that she’d shown to their comrades now returned to the fore.
“Well, aren’t we a sight.” Cord maintained a manic grin as he rose to his feet and stepped towards her, Alex approaching him as he spoke. “Oh, we’re going to have so much…”
Alex promptly decapitated him without a second thought. By some miracle, she avoided the blood spatter as she turned to the last of the quartet. “And then there was one.”
Now Cass was getting scared. She hadn’t been there when her sister had killed Canmore, and while she’d never once thought that her sibling hadn’t done the right thing given the circumstances, she’d always hoped that she’d never take another life. Obviously that hope could now be scuttled.
If Alexander was in any way intimidated by the display he’d seen, he showed no sign, simply drawing his own sword and approaching. “You’ve killed my friends, Masters. How do you feel about that?”
“Lousy. Unlike you and your friends, I don’t like killing people. And if you’re so pissed about me killing your friends, then why the hell did you come after me again?”
“Principle.” With that exchange done, he went on the offensive.
Their blades clashed, sparks flying as the two kept up their respective offensives. Both were evenly matched as far as their physical capabilities were concerned, and while Lawrence was able to pick up on what his opponent was going to do next, Alex was more than able to match his movements. In effect, the two were stalemated.
Then Alex decided to stop fighting him with just her sword. She switched hands, moving her blade from her right to her left, and then balled her now free right hand into a fist.
Lawrence moved to dodge, predicting her choice to mix in fisticuffs. That would be all the opening he needed to…
Alex drew her second sword and swept with both at once, breaking his katana. The sound of metal shattering shocked him. He was expecting a…
BAM
Alex’s fist slammed right into his face, breaking his glasses in two and sending shards of glass flying all around, her own swords barely out of her hands. They clattered on the floor as she continued with fisticuffs, landing blow after blow after blow to his chest and with every attack causing an obvious and hideous sound of bones cracking. For the first time in a long time, Lawrence Alexander was shocked, so shocked that he dropped the remnants of his sword. He could see exactly what this girl was doing to him, before she did it, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. A question went through his mind as he wondered, what was this girl?
“I told you before, you evil bastard.” She grabbed him by the neck and squeezed. “I don’t just do the impossible. I am the impossible.” She then retrieved her oldest sword, the one she’d remembered him taking an interest in previously, and finished things exactly as she’d done with Canmore, and rammed her sword through his chest. “By the way, your principles suck.” She then pulled it out and dropped the man.
Lawrence Alexander could feel the life fading out of him, the flitting visions of the future that he’d seen for most of his life fading away as the world went dark. He’d never seen this happening, never wondered what was on the other side. A small part of him wondered if Frederick was wrong, and figured that soon enough, he’d find out.
As her enemy lay dying, Alex sheathed her swords and pulled out a pocketknife, quickly working to cut her sister’s bonds. “You alright? Did they hurt you?”
“No, thankfully.” Cass sighed in relief, then drew her sister close. “Did you really…?”
“Yeah.”
She hugged her sister tight. “I’m sorry.”
Alex closed her eyes. “Me too.”
The harbor at Lilycove City served many purposes; aside from being the berth for many private yachts and assorted state-run ferries, it was a major shipping hub for goods into and out of the Hoenn region. It was a wide, open area, and it was easy enough for a person to traverse it without a great deal of difficulty, especially the public areas.
Alex wasn’t too worried about drawing attention to herself as she strode through the harbor, keeping herself firmly on land and among the various central buildings. There weren’t too many people around, which struck her as odd, but it wasn’t something she was about to complain about. If anything, it suggested that Alexander and his gang would be closing in on her, and in a close-up fight, the odds were significantly more in her favor.
Her cell phone rang, and she quickly answered. “Yeah?”
“You clearly know how to follow instructions. Good for you. Wait there.”
The call ended, and Alex tucked away her phone, already regretting not having called in whatever help she could. Odds were that they had a plan, one of them perched in a nest somewhere in the distance with a rifle pointed right at her head. It was anything but a pleasant thought, but right now, she didn’t have many options. Still, she tried her best to keep calm and reach out with her mind, trying to get an idea of where the rest of them were and…
Her eyes went wide as she realized that she’d been followed, and not by the people she was chasing after either. And it was only a matter of time before…
“Masters!” She scowled as she heard Isabelle approach from behind, another set of footsteps following her. “I don’t know how…”
“Isabelle, now’s not a good…”
“Hey!” The blonde snapped her fingers. “First, you’re going to face me when I talk to you, Masters! Second, you don’t get to decide what’s a good time and what isn’t!”
Her patience exhausted, Alex turned to face her rival and shouted, “Isabelle, leave or…!” She stopped as the blonde started to choke, her hands reaching for her throat as she dropped to her knees, gasping for air. Melanie approached close behind, and Alex called to her, “Keep back!”
“Yeah, or you’ll die along with her.” As his target turned to face him, Dion stepped into view and smiled. “Your friend’s a bigger bitch than you are.”
Alex glared dangerously at the man before her, barely older than she was and far shorter. “She’s not my friend. But I don’t want her dead either, Dion. Let her go; I’m who you came for.”
“I don’t need to rush. Besides, people are dying today anyway; how will another dead bitch hurt? It’s not like she matters!”
Alex’s glare intensified, and as her old rival struggled to breath and her classmate’s worried expression shot between her and Isabelle, she slipped on a pair of sunglasses. “Everyone matters.” She then pulled a shuriken from a case on her belt and threw it, sending it flying towards the assassin before her.
The shuriken slowed and halted in mid-air, inches shy of Dion’s face. His smile turned to a smug smirk as he asked, “What was that supposed to do?”
Alex’s response was short and to the point. “Wait for it.” Suddenly, a bright flash of light burst forth from the shuriken’s base, forcing the telekinetic to turn away as Alex, protected by her sunglasses, charged and drew her swords, plunging them through his shoulders and affixing him to the wall of a warehouse. He cried out in pain, distracted from focusing his telekinetics, and released Isabelle. She then glared at him from beneath her sunglasses and ordered, “Now, are you going to…”
A stray thought from Dion, and Alex pulled her swords from him and dove backwards, bullets firing in her direction as she rolled for cover. A short distance away, Melanie had the same thought, pulling Isabelle to safety behind a crate as the blonde gasped, “What the hell is going on here?!”
“Your guess is as good as mine, but I’d say Alex is in trouble and you’ve dragged us into it!”
-
Frederick scowled as he ejected a shell from his rifle, bolting another into place. He’d lost sight of the target, Masters having vanished from view. “I’ve lost her.”
:“Well find her again!”: Dion’s pained voice came through loud and clear through his earpiece. :“That little bitch ran me through with her swords! Why the hell can’t we break those things anyway?!”:
“Alexander wants them for his collection. You know that.”
:“Yeah well, if he wants more swords so bad, he can find whoever made them and pay them to make more for him! I won’t bleed out just so he can have some fancy swords!”:
Frederick decided not to argue. He didn’t see the sense in having them anyway; to him, a knife or something shorter was far more practical, as it allowed you to get up close and personal when dispatching opponents. Besides, he enjoyed seeing the look in people’s faces when they faded away and realized there wasn’t anything waiting for them on the other side.
“You sure about that?” A thump from behind him, and he turned to find the target waiting, her pike extending to its full length. “I like to think there’s a nice warm place waiting for you.”
Frederick tossed aside the rifle as he got to his feet and drew his knife. He wasn’t sure how Masters had gotten to the rooftop so quickly, but it didn’t surprise him; she was the slippery sort. He then charged and went on the attack; he’d taken on dozens of people in hand-to-hand combat and escaped every time, and this time would be no different.
He charged and swiped with his knife. Masters dodged and struck with her pike, the blow hitting his kneecap as she pivoted about, a second blow striking the ankle. He growled and yelled as he turned to face her, his leg collapsing beneath him. She struck again, a blow to his wrist knocking the knife from his hand, another blow crashing into his chest.
“That’s the thing about not feeling pain; you have a hard time picking up on your limits.” Another blow and cracks sounded from his ribs. He got back to his feet and drew another knife, only to have it knocked away once more. “Me? I know mine. And I’ve reached it.” Another blow reached his chest, and he stumbled back, his battered leg causing him to stumble and whip off the edge of the roof.
Frederick fell, anger coursing through him in his last moments as he raged, the ground getting closer until…
-
“Frederick! Frederick!” Dion growled as he realized what happened. “That bitch!” He pushed aside every crate he could find, and quickly located Isabelle and Melanie, lifting them up and pushing them against the wall of the warehouse, his own injuries forgotten. “Hey Masters! I’ve got your bitch friends! Come out now or…!”
“You kill them, you won’t live long enough to regret it.” He watched as Alex emerged from among the buildings, carrying Frederick’s body over her shoulders. She approached and then dropped him at her feet, his one eye looking up at him lazily and his head turned at an unnatural angle. She readied her pike and prompted, “Need I elaborate?”
Dion’s gaze turned from Alex, to the body of his comrade, and back to Alex as his expression turned to rage. “You BITCH!” He turned his attention way from his two hostages to the various crates around him, breaking them apart with his mind and flinging the debris at her.
Every bit of splinter and shrapnel was knocked away by Alex’s pike as she approached, her staff twirling around ahead of her as she strode forwards, the larger chunks flying away from her as she closed in on the assassin. With every step she took, Dion’s expression remained fixed in anger, even as he got a clear view of her face, her sunglasses having drooped enough to show that her eyes were eerily calm. He kept up his barrage despite the lack of success until she closed the distance and grabbed hold of his neck, the wood clattering to the ground around them.
“You have two options. Tell me where my sister is, or…” Dion spat in her face, and Alex wiped the spittle off with her free hand before continuing, “Alright, let’s see what’s behind door number two.”
“You won’t learn anything from me you little…!” The assassin went silent as images flashed through his mind, the girl digging into his thoughts without hesitation to find what she was after. The final images, the location that they’d hidden away her sister, was quickly plucked from his mind, and the rage faded instantly into fear. “How…? All psychics have natural barriers! You can’t…!”
“I did.” She then released her hold upon him, stepped back slightly, then quietly asked, “By the way, does the name ‘Jackson Canmore’ ring any bells?”
Dion blinked and muttered, “No.”
Alex struck like a cobra, her first two fingers extended as her arm shot forward, going directly into the boy’s neck, crushing his windpipe. “You’re about to meet him in Hell.” As he collapsed to the ground, gasping for air and slowly dying, her fury ebbed, her rage was tucked away, and she slipped off her sunglasses before turning to look into the terrified faces of her schoolmates. “You two okay?”
“What the hell is going on here?!” Isabelle’s manic, terrified gaze went from the two dead and dying assassins to Alex as she screamed out, “Who the hell are these people?! Did you just kill them?! How the hell can you just kill them?!”
“They’ve tried to kill me in the past and they’ve got my sister. Frankly, I think I’m justified.” The sound of a cell phone buzzing caught her attention, and she raised a finger. “One second.” She then rummaged through Dion’s pockets and collected his phone, answering it and bringing it up to her ear. “I’m sorry, the person you’re trying to reach is dead. May I take a message?”
“…Masters.”
“Yeah. Beating me up is one thing Larry, but threatening my sister? You and your pals have crossed a line. Be with you in a second.” She then cut the line and tossed the phone aside, then checked her belt for one of her Poké Balls. “You two should be safe, but…” She looked up at Isabelle, whose face had turned to one of complete shock, and she quietly noted, “Yes, this is happening. Yes, I did kill two people in front of you. Yes, I have killed people before; they bring the body count to three. Am I proud of this? No. Do I want to do it again? No. Am I going to, when I have no other options, when the people I love are in danger? Yes.” She turned and pulled a Poké Ball from her belt, making some distance. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have an older sister to save.” The ball opened and a Blissey appeared before her. “Eir, I’m going to show you somewhere. Can you Teleport me there?” A nod. “Good.” She turned back to Isabelle and Melanie and asked, “Can you guys call the cops for me please?”
Alex and her Blissey disappeared, and Isabelle regained her ability to speak. “She actually killed those two.”
“Yeah, and one of them was willing to kill you.” Melanie turned to her friend and offered, “You might want to consider all of this.”
-
Alexander put away his cell phone, turned to the last of his associates, and quietly ordered, “Kill her.”
“Really?” Cord turned to their prisoner, bound and laid out on the ground before them, and gleefully considered her with a knife. “Can’t I wait a little more? Savor the taste of her fear a little?”
At his feet, Cass was scared, but she was doing her best to keep her fear under control. After all, she had a far more dangerous sister out there, and panicking would do her little good, and would only entertain this psychopath.
“Her sibling is on her way. Dion and Frederick are dead. I want one less distraction before…”
A crack resounded through the air, and Alex appeared before them, recalling her Blissey shortly afterwards. She then turned to the two assassins and drew the sword she carried at her back, the anger and rage that she’d shown to their comrades now returned to the fore.
“Well, aren’t we a sight.” Cord maintained a manic grin as he rose to his feet and stepped towards her, Alex approaching him as he spoke. “Oh, we’re going to have so much…”
Alex promptly decapitated him without a second thought. By some miracle, she avoided the blood spatter as she turned to the last of the quartet. “And then there was one.”
Now Cass was getting scared. She hadn’t been there when her sister had killed Canmore, and while she’d never once thought that her sibling hadn’t done the right thing given the circumstances, she’d always hoped that she’d never take another life. Obviously that hope could now be scuttled.
If Alexander was in any way intimidated by the display he’d seen, he showed no sign, simply drawing his own sword and approaching. “You’ve killed my friends, Masters. How do you feel about that?”
“Lousy. Unlike you and your friends, I don’t like killing people. And if you’re so pissed about me killing your friends, then why the hell did you come after me again?”
“Principle.” With that exchange done, he went on the offensive.
Their blades clashed, sparks flying as the two kept up their respective offensives. Both were evenly matched as far as their physical capabilities were concerned, and while Lawrence was able to pick up on what his opponent was going to do next, Alex was more than able to match his movements. In effect, the two were stalemated.
Then Alex decided to stop fighting him with just her sword. She switched hands, moving her blade from her right to her left, and then balled her now free right hand into a fist.
Lawrence moved to dodge, predicting her choice to mix in fisticuffs. That would be all the opening he needed to…
Alex drew her second sword and swept with both at once, breaking his katana. The sound of metal shattering shocked him. He was expecting a…
BAM
Alex’s fist slammed right into his face, breaking his glasses in two and sending shards of glass flying all around, her own swords barely out of her hands. They clattered on the floor as she continued with fisticuffs, landing blow after blow after blow to his chest and with every attack causing an obvious and hideous sound of bones cracking. For the first time in a long time, Lawrence Alexander was shocked, so shocked that he dropped the remnants of his sword. He could see exactly what this girl was doing to him, before she did it, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. A question went through his mind as he wondered, what was this girl?
“I told you before, you evil bastard.” She grabbed him by the neck and squeezed. “I don’t just do the impossible. I am the impossible.” She then retrieved her oldest sword, the one she’d remembered him taking an interest in previously, and finished things exactly as she’d done with Canmore, and rammed her sword through his chest. “By the way, your principles suck.” She then pulled it out and dropped the man.
Lawrence Alexander could feel the life fading out of him, the flitting visions of the future that he’d seen for most of his life fading away as the world went dark. He’d never seen this happening, never wondered what was on the other side. A small part of him wondered if Frederick was wrong, and figured that soon enough, he’d find out.
As her enemy lay dying, Alex sheathed her swords and pulled out a pocketknife, quickly working to cut her sister’s bonds. “You alright? Did they hurt you?”
“No, thankfully.” Cass sighed in relief, then drew her sister close. “Did you really…?”
“Yeah.”
She hugged her sister tight. “I’m sorry.”
Alex closed her eyes. “Me too.”