Crimson

Not Today.

JUNO

Every second that I stood to watch Vita leave , I wanted to call out to him , tell him what I really wanted to say but , like the coward that I was , I watched him leave .

That was the best solution considering our circumstances , this was what I had told myself .

I turned to go back in .

The doctor was looking at me , his thin lips stretched into a wane smile , I did not smile back , I could not bring my face to make the appropriate expression .

I looked on , pretending not to have seen him , even though it was pretty obvious that I had seen him .

Ali still stood at the kitchen , he was looking at some papers I had never seen , something he must have brought along with him from The Haze .

The Haze , it was gone .

I moved closer to Ali , the papers were of grants .

Several grants that Larona had helped with by securing signatures of prominent Agrippans .

It meant that The shelter was safe .

Attacking the shelter when we had documents that proved that they had been the ones sponsoring the shelter would not be possible , they would be too greedy .

Even if they knew that it was a lie and we were playing them , they would not want to miss a chance of announcing to the Conclave that they had been the backbones of such a project .

It was like a bad dream , everything that Ali and I had worked for going down .

I sighed and Ali turned , he regarded me for a while , his bleached eyes wide and unflinching .

" Are you worried about the shelter ?"

I nodded and held unto his arm , my feet suddenly hurt .

He grabbed me , lifting me up and unto the kitchens table .

He reached for my boots , but i stopped him .

" I can't take it off now , the day is not over and I might not be able to put my feet back into the boot if I take another look at it ".

He still held unto the boots , staring at me .

" We just have to get through today ".

He let go of my leg and stood to his full height .

" How did it look ?"

He had bent his head , pretending to be focused on the papers he held .

" The Haze ?"

He nodded .

It had been a dream of ours when we had first met .

As we braved the cold , hungry and without a roof over our heads , we had wanted to own a warm building where everyone could be happy even if it was for a few hours .

We had wanted a shelter too , for everyone like us , that was cold and had nowhere to lay their head .

It had seemed like an impossible dream at that time as we were also cold , hungry and homeless but that hazy dream had kept us alive and going a good many times .

And then , we had come to Agrippa and done it , The Haze had been the perfect name .

And as we were down on vocabulary and literature of any sort , we had named our shelter , The shelter .

Now , our little dreams had grown beyond us , far beyond us .

I smiled up at him , then , our situation had been much worse and we had somehow done it .

" We will rebuild ".

He nodded as though he could not care less , but , I had watched Ali cultivate The Haze like it was his child .

Fawning over it and smiling at their achievements , he had loved The Haze .

He had loved the pleasure The Haze had brought it's guest .

" At least , we were able to save the shelter ".

He looked up then and I smiled wider , despite my aching facial muscles .

He was frowning though .

" Why are you trying so hard to pretend you are not bothered ? I know how you feel about someone else taking over the shelter after you worked so hard for it ".

I stopped smiling , the aching disappeared .

" Does it show that I am bothered ?"

He nodded without hesitation .

He watched me for a moment while I put on my best nonchalant look .

" It's still showing " , he commented .

I gave up then and held out my hands for him to hold .

" I can't believe we have to leave our babies behind ".

He didn't say anything , only stroking my fingers .

" Are we done for now ?"

He still did not say anything , I turned my fingers around and pinched him .

He looked up , his eyes seeming strangely unfocused , I could never really tell since they were colourless .

" We will start again . It will be just like then except we will be bigger , stronger and wiser ".

I nodded , I was thinking of how we had lived traveling around the small settlements that bothered the Utopia , it was not such a bad idea to go back for a while .

Ali smiled , " Would you be able to adjust ?"

I snorted ," Why not ?"

He nodded at my closet ," No fancy clothes on the run ".

I laughed ," No fancy wine on the run ".

He blinked , " No fancy glass bathrooms ".

I gasped , my prized champion , I would have to leave my prized baby behind .

He smiled and went back to stroking my fingers .

" The shelter is in good hands , Adah will protect it just as greatly as you would , The Haze is not a building , it's me and you , The Haze is wherever we are ".

I stroked his fingers too trying to soothe him as he had done for me .

" Next time when we set up shop , how about naming it ANO ".

He gave me a look , " Why would we want to name it that ? "

I removed my hand from around his and pointed at him , then me and made a joining gesture .

" A and NO , makes ANO . From both our names ".

Ali had on his all are stupid except me look .

" No ".

" Why not ? It makes sense and it's cool , The ANO or do you prefer JULI ? "

He began to back away from me , I laughed at his face .

I stopped laughing when I saw the doctors stern face glaring at me , Ali turned around to see what I was staring at .

The doctor turned to Ali and I could swear that his glare reduced greatly .

" The lady is awake ".

I jumped off the table and hissed quietly , the pain blinded me briefly .

I had forgotten that my feet were in really bad shape .

When my vision cleared considerably , Ali was standing very close to me .

I nodded towards Larona , she was our priority .

Ali reluctantly moved away , I ran towards my bed .

She really was awake , her eyes lay open but it seemed like that was only a formality .

" Larona ?"

" Larona ?"

She did not budge , it was as if she could not hear me .

I turned back to the doctor but he was paying no attention to us , his attention was on his bag that he was packing meticulously .

" It's probably the effect of the Truth Prompt ", Ali whispered .

I held her hand , it was damp and clammy , I held it tighter , hoping she would react to pain .

She did not act like she felt it , she somehow looked years older since the last time I had seen her .

I put my head on her chest , she was alive , that was a positive step .

Thunder struck , I raised my head .

Ali was on his feet , the doctor was also looking around .

" What was that ?" , he whispered .

It sounded again , louder than before .

Ali and I looked at each other at the same time , the soldiers had found us .

I ran to my closet and got out two coats while Ali ran to my blade display .

I ran back and wrapped Larona in one of the coats and threw the other one at the doctor .

I grabbed a scarf and used it over her hair .

I turned around , Ali was still fitting himself with weapons .

" What are you doing ?"

He looked like I had asked a dumb question .

" Preparing to fight ".

I shook my head as I stood off the bed , that was not going to work .

The thunder like sound came again , I flinched slightly .

" You have to take them to the shelter , that's the only place that would be safe for Larona ".

Ali stopped and gently returned the blade he had been holding , he walked to where I stood .

" We are leaving together , right ? "

He placed his hands on my shoulder , his eyes rooting me to the spot .

I shook slightly , intimidated .

" No , we are not ".

His hands went to my hair pulling the needle that held it up . He threw it to the opposite end of the room .

The thunder sound came again .

" I am not leaving you the way I did at The Haze ".

I blew the hair out of my face .

" And I am not letting you risk the lives of Larona and the doctor to stay with me , I'll buy time and come to you unharmed like earlier ".

He shook , his eyes had clouded over , I held unto his arms .

" This is the best thing to do , the sun is out , asking you to fight with me would be reassuring but stupid and how far can I run with Larona before my feet give out ?"

He knew too this was the best course of action , his eyes would not last long enough to fight under the sun , I had watched him almost go blind from exposure to the sun once .

The sound of my gate being tortured came again .

" Don't fight too hard and run if it gets too tough ".

I nodded .

" We will meet at the first place we touched in Agrippa ".

I nodded again , the doctor cleared his throat .

I threw my hands over Ali , hugging him tightly , he held me even tighter .

I let go and ran to my weapon stand , I began to stock up every available part of my body .

When I was done , Ali had bundled Larona around him , we smiled faintly and went to our different posts .

I went ahead and they came after , they would leave through an opening in my fence , I said a brief prayer to the goddesses that they did not encounter any soldiers .

I walked into the open of my courtyard , my gate had a huge dent in it , my beautiful gate . Something huge slammed into it again and my gate burst open , I threw the blade that I had been holding into the first human opening I saw .

Their ranks broke and I continued to throw , I would keep them far away from me as long as possible .

I threw at an alarming speed , but they just kept coming like their lives were not important to them .

An arrow whizzed ahead , I moved but I was not fast enough , it slashed my arm slightly .

They had arrows , so , fighting long distance was no longer an advantage for me .

I ran to the middle of the courtyard , they kept coming .

The arrows suddenly stopped , a horses neigh sounded .

A horse came into view , Vita's horse .

Vita sat on it , his sword raised , his real sword .

He jumped off his horse when he reached me .

Why ?

" Why are you here ?" , I asked .

He adjusted his sword , " I am not saying goodbye to you ".

I smiled brightly , I was relieved to have someone , the number of soldiers had been eating at me .

Vita suddenly turned me into his chest as he took out a blade from inside my shirt .

He threw the blade and I turned to watch blood spray , I had noticed how he had not killed anyone at The Haze , it seemed that had changed .

I ran forward , it seemed it would not be today .

I would not die today .