Crimson

Power!! The musical.

VITA

They had been separated as they fought .

He had tried to watch Juno but the soldiers kept blocking him off .

He had watched Juno for a little while , he was absolutely talented with blades but they needed to discuss why he did not use swords , that is if they made it out of here .

He had seen the number of soldiers that had stood out , they should have been done by now but it seemed that they were not reducing .

Had the whole of the Agrippan Calvary gathered here ?

He kept getting farther from Juno but because Juno was a flamboyant fighter , he could still see the soldiers around him fall down in awkward angles .

The soldiers were not talented individually but it seemed they had a goal in mind , to slowly push them out of the way of Juno's door .

But unlike Vita who had been pushed far away , Juno would not budge .

Vita heard an arrows whizz .

He turned , it had been directed towards Juno .

The bulk of the soldiers strayed there , Juno had not let them get close enough to use swords , so , they had started to use arrows .

He had to reach Juno .

Juno groaned loudly , the world went quiet .

Vita picked up a sword that a soldier had dropped , he had never used two swords for a real fight , but , there was no time , he needed to get to Juno .

He swung his swords around in a short arc , cutting the soldiers that blocked off the side that led to Juno .

The way was open , he watched Juno In the distance , he was staggering , he had exhausted blades and was fighting desperately , dead men lay surrounding his feet .

Vita took a running start , an arrow whizzed past him and struck a soldier behind him .

He looked towards the direction the arrow came from .

A group of mismatched men stood at the gate , they were led by Nero and his redheaded lover .

The arrow had come from a mechanical bow that the redheaded man was holding .

Vita watched as Juno staggered backwards and slashed a soldier behind him .

It was out of him before he realized .

" Juno !"

It was a plea , a plea that went unheard .

Juno fell , he slashed a soldiers legs as he fell .

Their distance was suddenly impossibly far , Vita called out again .

" Juno!! "

He pushed his legs to go faster , ahead , Nero and the other men had formed a protective front and where slowly approaching Juno too .

Juno lay on his back facing the sun , his eyes wide open .

Tears had pooled at the corner of his eyes .

Vita bent to raise him gently , his arms were bleeding , his skin pale and hot .

A soldier was walking towards them , his sword raised , something must have clicked when he saw the expression on Vita's face because he suddenly threw his sword far away and lay down .

Vita reached a part of the courtyard that the soldiers blood had not reached , he lay Juno gently down .

He used his sword to cut Juno's sleeves to check on the cuts , it was just as he had suspected , the arrows had been poisoned .

Juno's eyes were still open but he did not seem to be seeing anything .

" Poison ?"

Vita turned to the voice , Nero's redheaded friend , he could not remember his name .

Vita nodded .

The man crouched close , he dropped a satch that had been slung over his shoulder and picked Juno's limp arm .

He opened his satch and brought out a wrapped bundle of clothes , he began to unwrap it .

It had herbs that had been grinded , he set the herbs aside and lifted Juno's left arm to examine the cut .

He looked at the cuts for a second and went back to his satch , he produced a small knife .

Vita grabbed the hand that held the knife , the redhead looked up at him .

" What are you doing ?"

Vita asked , nodding at the gleaming end of the knife .

The redhead frowned , he tried to push Vita's hand off but Vita's grip only hardened .

" I know what I am doing " ,he professed .

Vita did not budge ," Do you really ?"

" Yes , he really does ".

Vita turned to Nero , he was panting softly .

He nodded at Vita and also crouched by them , his hand on the redheads shoulder .

" He's a licensed physician " .

Vita looked from the redhead to Nero before he took his hands off the redheads hand .

The redhead was expressionless .

He dug his hands into his satch again and produced a small bottle .

He opened it and poured a good amount on the knife , the vile smell of alcohol surrounded them .

He passed the knife to Vita and proceeded to pour the alcohol on Juno's arms .

Juno flinched slightly , his eyes finally closing , it had been strange watching his open , unmoving eyes .

The redhead grabbed the knife and made cuts a little above the older cuts on Juno's arms .

Juno began to tremble , Vita held unto him and turned sharply to the redhead .

" What did you do ? "

The redhead shook his head .

" This has nothing to do with me ".

Juno's trembling intensified , his eyes flew open .

He said something and Vita moved his head forward to hear what he was saying .

Juno grabbed unto Vita and screamed , his skin was burning .

He screamed again and began to convulse .

Vita's ears hurt , it hurt more when he tried to hear what Juno was saying .

Vita realized he could not see anything beyond Juno , he could not hear anything too besides the ringing and Juno's screams .

He held unto Juno even as his body's temperature increased impossibly .

He had lost feeling in his ears , his eyes stung and the acrid smell of something burning numbed his nose .

He could not feel , see or hear .

The air had gotten thicker and somehow , he could not breathe .

Yet , he held unto Juno .

Juno's grip on him tightened too and kept getting tighter .

Vita's whole body hurt .

The pain must have made him lose his mind because he had lost feeling of his body and was suddenly surrounded by silence .

He was no longer on Juno's courtyard , he was somewhere else .

Wait ...that gate , the dent in the gate .

He was still in Juno's courtyard except it was void of any form of life .

Ahead , a small light flickered .

Vita ran to the light , just as he reached it , the light flared , Vita fell back .

Beyond the light , Juno stood .

His shirt was gone and his hair lay straight on his back , he held a large book .

He was reading aloud from the book , but Vita could not hear anything .

Juno looked up then , his eyes shaking and unfocused .

Vita did not hear the word , he felt it all around him .

It was in the air , electrifying , rooting him down .

The word sang all around him , it was wild and powerful and shook him to his core , it made him want to cry .

Beyond the fire , Juno had fallen to his knees .

Vita forced his legs to move , he took a step , then two , three and got to running .

He ran over the fire and reached forward to grab Juno , his hand went through Juno's form .

He fell into his own body and regained consciousness .

Something cold was on his face , he opened his eyes , equestrian eyes stared at him .

He lay on the ground , he could see his sword up ahead , Fabia must have pushed it away when he wanted to sit , Vita stretched his hands to pat the horse .

He sat up .

Nero , the redhead and the other men that Vita remembered from Queen's stood a little back watching him .

He shook his head to clear his vision , yeah , they were still staring .

He ignored them and looked towards Juno .

" Vita ? "

Nero took a step forward .

Vita got on his feet and walked to Juno , somehow , he knew that Juno would be okay .

" Vita ?"

He ignored Nero , he had nothing to say .

He bent to Juno , his eyes were closed , his body no longer feverish .

Vita sighed .

He turned to Nero , his face was a work of art .

So , Vita had not been imagining it , whatever had happened , it had really happened and they had seen it all happen .

Vita did not have any answers for them , he was confused himself .

He bent to pick his sword .

" How does the city look ?"

Nero blinked , surprised at the topic change .

" Well , everyone knows about Juno and The Haze now , no one is talking about our involvement though , strangely , that worries me ".

Vita nodded , he had expected that to be the governor's attack .

He looked around , most of the bodies had been cleared off .

" We need to leave ".

" Where are we headed to ?" , Nero asked .

Vita watched Juno's chest rise and fall slowly .

If Ali had left him behind , it was probably because Juno had insisted on Larona being the priority .

Which meant that Ali had gone to the shelter , they had probably agreed to meet up somewhere in the forest .

" We will head to the forest for now ".

He nodded at Juno's house ," Get a coat and whatever we might need ".

Nero ran into the house .

One of the other men that they had met at Queen's Came closer .

Vita remembered him , Marcel .

" I gathered enough horses for all of us , that would be faster ".

Vita blinked , they were going with them ?

Marcel nodded as though he had heard Vita's thoughts .

" Just till the forest ".

Vita was about to answer when Juno twitched , he looked at him .

Juno's eyes were open , a faint smile on his lips .

" You are okay Vitalis ".

Vita had a lot of things he had sworn to say when Juno woke but they had escaped him .

He stared at Juno's mismatched eyes .

Juno began to tug at Vita's shirt , Vita looked from the shirt to Juno .

Juno tugged harder , pulling him down , he wrapped his arms around Vita .

Vita sighed and enclosed Juno within his arms .

Ahead , Nero stood with a coat draped around his head .

He was wiping imaginary tears as he watched them hug , the redhead appeared behind him and slapped his head , Nero's mouth fell open.

" We have to find Ali ".

Vita removed his hands to look at Juno .

His eyes were bright with unshed tears .

He was exhausted , but , he still considered others .

He had learnt something new about Juno , others came first .

He nodded ," We will ".