Apollo & Luna

Damage

Yann ran towards the side of the house and grabbed whatever he could use as a weapon, and found the rake. With adrenaline rushing in his veins, he ran towards the man, and hit the stranger’s head, the only part with no armor with all his might.

The rake snapped in two upon impact, and the man staggered a few steps forward, making him let go of the old woman who immediately ran towards her frozen daughter.

“Alicia, come,” she urged, as she grabbed her child’s arm and ushered her away from the hunter, readying to run.

“Run! Run!” she said as she pulled at her arm but Alicia stopped.

“What about Yann?” she asked as they both turned back to where the businessman was.

“Meddling fool!” the huge warrior drew his sword and struck the young businessman with it.

Yann had a fast reflex, but not fast enough. Even if he stepped back to avoid the brutal swing of the weapon, the sword still managed to s***h his front making him fall on the ground in pain.  

“AHHH! AHHH!” he writhed on the ground as blood gushed out from his huge wound.  

“Do you think that after so many years, you could stop me?” the stranger snorted as he raised his weapon once more and was ready to swing the final blow, the one that would end Yann’s life. But, suddenly, the wind blew in their direction, and three men covered in black suddenly appeared out of nowhere covering Yann by blocking the man’s sword with their own weapons.

Clang!

A loud noise echoed in the place, and sparks flew in different directions as steel clashed with steel. The three short swords absorbed the full force of the huge one, and they went with the flow, countering the attack with inertia.

“Back off!” the leader of the three yelled as the three of them finally pushed the man away from the fallen businessman, and directly attacked him back.

“My fight’s not with you,” the huge warrior bellowed, as he answered each and every one of their strikes, but the three did not stop attacking him.

“It is now,” they answered as they clashed sword against sword.

Seeing the commotion, Alicia and her mother ran towards Yann and helped him up. They dragged him towards the shed, and quickly hitched the horse to escape and rode fast away from the place with Alicia on the reins.

The heavily armored man saw them however, and grabbed a dagger from its sheath attached to his waist, and threw it in their direction, not caring about who he would hit as he continued to fight with the three.

As soon as he turned his attention back to his new foes, a fireball slammed against him, making him catapult backwards with a force that smashed the whole barn behind him.

Element users!

The huge warrior was surprised, and then his eyes turned to slits at the three.

“You fools. You clearly belong to Apollo, why are you attacking me?” he rasped, wiping blood from the corner of mouth as he glared at the others.

“You don’t have to know,” one of the three replied, and the huge warrior laughed as he stood up.

“Then don’t blame me for going all out then,” he muttered as he released all his killer intent, his energy filling the area, making the atmosphere thick and the ground shook, suppressing the three, making them stumble. It more than told them the power of his ability.

The warrior roared as he stomped on the ground, causing it to break, then exploding to where the three were huddled.  “Die!”

~

Alicia didn’t know how long she rode nor how far. She just didn’t stop driving until the horse gave up, but when she did, it was already dark, and the place was nothing but a vast field.

“Alice, come here,” she heard her mother call and she quickly stood up and hopped inside the cart.

“Oh…” Inside the cart, Yann lay on the wooden floor. Her weary looking mother had her shawl pressed hard on his chest where a bloody gash was. The young businessman was still conscious, but he was breathing hard. He was sitting and he tried to look at his wound but only saw his bloody clothing.

“How bad is it?” Yann asked Alicia after the latter opened his clothes to reveal his injury. Her lips trembled and the young businessman laughed.

“That bad huh?” he asked as he peered at his injury once more, and saw a gaping wound across his chest.

“Stop talking,” Alicia said as she sat next to him. Yann held out his hand and Alicia took it and held it tight.

“I guess…I guess I didn’t die that night yet…because I still had to meet you,” he whispered as he placed her hand against his cheek.

Maybe it was indeed his time to die a week ago. Heavens just gave him another chance to live so he’d meet Alicia and her mother. In his real world, he’d been too busy with his company to really interact with other people. He didn’t love anyone else too other than his younger sister and family.  This time with Alicia must have been heaven’s way to show him love even just for a while.

Realizing this, Yann pulled Alicia’s hand to his lips and kissed it. In his mind, he recalled the first day he saw her, and then waking up with her, and every moment he spent with her – most especially at night when he held her in his arms.

Alicia was so beautiful, gentle and warm, so incredibly warm. He didn’t mind dying now. He just regretted that he had to leave the world without seeing his sister, and without finding out who wanted to do him harm.

“Stop thinking that!” Alicia cried. “You are not going to die!”

“But there’s no helping it,” Yann answered with a smile as he reached out to touch Alicia’s face with one bloodied hand. He could feel himself slipping away. His wound had long since gone numb and it was getting harder to breathe.

“I love you…” he whispered as he closed his eyes.

“Yann no!” Alicia’s mother cried as she shook him, and Yann opened his eyes once more.

“You asked us how you got well from that gunshot wound. You will know now,” she continued as she eyed her daughter and she nodded, allowing her to do what she had to do.

“What?” Yann asked weakly as Alicia pulled her hand from his grasp and placed them on top of his wound.

Like a whirlpool out of thin air, light appeared in her palms, and he felt warmth enveloping him. Soft breeze blew Alicia’s hair and clothes upwards and his eyes widened as he saw his wound closing up slowly like a puzzle being pieced back together. In a few minutes, the wound was gone and he could breathe properly again.

“How…” he wanted to ask as the light vanished, but he was not able to because Alicia suddenly swayed and he had to catch her.

“Are you okay?” he asked worriedly and she nodded weakly.

“She’ll be alright in a while,” her mother said as she coughed, and Yann’s eyes widened as blood came out of her mouth and nose.

Alicia who had been looking at her sat up straight in alarm too.

“Mom, what’s wrong?” she asked in panic as Yann held the elderly by the shoulder so she could lean on him.

Lying her down, Yann spotted the cause of such damage.

“Oh God…” he whispered as he saw the dagger protruding on her side. She had been as injured as he had been, and she hadn’t said a word.

“Mom!” Alicia cried as she placed her hands over the dagger but her mother swatted her hands away.

 “Don’t…”