Merva opened her eyes and saw the floor of her chambers bathed in blood, the bodies of the ladies littered on the floor.
"Are they dead?" She questioned, stretching her hands to reach them, but she could not.
Her vision was blurry, her surroundings swimming in and out.
She did not have the strength to wonder, nor the energy to worry about the consequences of what was before her.
She saw the blurry figure of her twin walking around the bodies.
"Minerva, what is going on?" She struggled and asked before she was knocked out cold on the floor.
Rain fell on her face in chilling drops.
It was drizzling.
Merva noted, blinking away the drops from her eyes, as her consciousness returned briefly.
'The grey sky was a beautiful picture.' She thought, her eyes closing again.
She struggled to remain awake, and heard loud thumping footsteps of several people that sounded like thunder, and dogs barking.
'Was she safe.' She wondered, her hand grasping the new blades of grass before her consciousness faded away.
She returned again, the sound of sirens filling the air, and then the sounds of tiny wheels rolling on floors, but she couldn't move or open her eyes. She tried to reach where the voices came from, but that was all.
Merva finally woke up, her vision returning first, and then her other senses.
She was surrounded by healers who were checking if she was truly awake and alright. She looked up at the white ceiling as the healers exited the suite and Lena walked in.
"Are you okay?" Lena asked as soon as she got to her side.
Merva nodded slowly.
Lena wiped at her tears, and smiled. "That so good then."
Merva raised her fingers and placed them on Lena's own.
"What happened?" She forced out of her throat, her expression one of pain.
Her whole body ached as if she had been torn apart.
"No one is sure." Lena answered. "They said that the scene had traces of power from the dark continent, but it is still inconclusive."
Merva was shocked. She tried to sit up, but Lena held her back. "You're not strong enough yet."
"What of the others?" Merva asked, wondering how the fight had ended.
"You should rest first, they would need you later to help solve the case." Lena told her and she agreed. She had no strength left in her to stay up.
*** ***
Minerva was wounded, running through the backyard of the ladies quarters.
It was all strange, the orange grey sky, the grounds, even the structure. Only the main statues and building painting remained.
So many others were running behind her, all hoping to find safety.
She saw a girl beckon her towards a a dog sized hole, and she squeezed through it.
They both hid, their knees folded as they looked at their hands, and each others faces.
"Erin." The girl whispered.
"What?" Merva whispered back.
"My name, its Erin." She said smiling at Merva. Minerva nodded, wondering if this was a moment to smile.
"Merva." She said finally, forcing herself to smile back.
They heard the sound of places being blown off, and Minerva watched the panic in Erin's eyes.
She held Erin back from leaving, deciding to be the fearless one despite her own fear.
"Stay. This place is safer than out there." She whispered.
Erin nodded, grabbing hold of Minerva's hand at the sound of another explosion.
They waited in silence, Minerva's eyes closed, while Erin kept twisting her fingers in fear.
Everywhere went quiet, the sound of running and explosion now distant.
Minerva saw others come out from deep inside and snorted, she had not noticed them in all this time.
The blond haired one gestured at the opening, and Minerva understood.
Minerva scanned the surroundings from the mouth of the hole, and gestured for them to leave.
They crawled out of the hole, and went over the walls into the forest behind, all of them running off in different directions.
Minerva ran as fast as she could, her hand holding Erin's tightly.
"I am tired." She heard Erin say after running for long.
They slowed down, and went deeper into the trees to avoid being seen.
"Do you know what they are?" Erin asked Minerva as she tried to catch her breath.
Minerva kept checking back, making sure that no one was after them before she looked at Erin.
"I don't know." She answered.
'They had to be from that place.' Minerva reasoned, but it was impossible. They were so powerful that she could do nothing about it.
'Was Madeline one of them?' Minerva asked herself, she was sure she had seen Madeline's divine form among them.
Minerva heard a swish and squatted quickly, pulling Erin down with her.
"Can you fight?" Minerva asked Erin.
"A little. Does that count?" Erin replied her, and Minerva nodded.
They crouched and ran deeper into the trees that way, dodging all the spikes and bullets that flew their way.
They were closer, Minerva could sense them.
A bullet grazed Minerva's leg, but she swallowed her pain knowing they had seen her. She ran in a different direction, and found a place that one person could hide. She got in first, and looked at Erin's pitiful face.
Minerva sighed and got out. "You get in and hide."
Erin looked at it skeptically and then looked at Minerva. "What about you?"
"Just get in already." Minerva said impatiently, watching behind her constantly.
"Can't we share?" Erin asked again.
Minerva groaned, wondering if Erin was plain stupid. She wanted to leave, but what was the use of giving up the spot she found if the person ended up dead.
"No. I will find somewhere else to hide. Now get in." She gritted out.
Minerva ran on as soon as she was certain that Erin was safe, looking for where to hide away safely.
She hid in the midst of overgrown wild grass, hoping that they would not find her. She had already found out from the previous fight that she could not use her own power while in Merva's body now.
Merva's power would not even be enough to fight them. She swallowed, her eyes wide looking into the sky from an opening in the trees that was not covered by leaves.
She felt someone bump into her and nearly jumped away in fear, her ass falling into the grass.
"Erin." Minerva exclaimed quietly in agitation, wondering why she had followed her again.
"I didn't think it was fair that I hid there while you were out in the open." Erin told her with a wide playful smile on her face.
Minerva scoffed, laughing helplessly.
"Don't you see the situation? Do you want to die?" Minerva quietly scolded her, but it seemed to her that Erin did not understand what she was saying.
"It's alright." Erin replied.
They sat quietly, Minerva suddenly praying to the supremes that rescue had already arrived.
She continued watching through the tiny patch and noticed awakened officers flying in the sky with their weapons fighting against the attackers.
Minerva sighed, wondering if it was time to get out of hiding.
"Are we safe now?" Erin asked her as soon as she sighed.
"Kind of." Minerva replied her, her eyes still glued to the sky.
They waited a while an got up, parting the grass so that they could leave.
They walked cautiously out of the place, Minerva scanning the place as they walked.
She heard the sound of bullets being fired, and they ducked, waiting again before they continued leaving.
Erin suddenly pushed Minerva down to the floor.
Minerva turned around quickly, and looked at her suspiciously. "What was that for?" She asked, inching back slowly.
Erin tried to hide it, but Minerva noticed that she was in pain.
"What happened?" Minerva asked her, reaching for her.
Erin pushed her hands away. "Leave now. Madeline would get you if you don't." She said painfully.
Minerva grabbed her forcefully and checked for injuries. "Stop trying to be a hero, it doesn't sound good." Minerva told her.
Erin had been shot at the back, and they were soul crushing bullets.
"How..." 'How had she not noticed anything.' Minerva finished in her head unable to say anything else.
Someone else was running towards them.
Minerva pulled Erin back into the grass, and watched as the other lady ahead fell down dead.
She closed her eyes, telling herself that she could not have saved her.
She rested Merva's body against the grass and exited it, wondering how she would help Erin out.
She tried to get Erin into her bubble and remove the bullet, but it was almost impossible.
She enlarged it, and pulled Erin inside. "Don't move." Minerva warned, turning Erin to her back. "This will hurt."
She brought out her talons and pulled out the bullet that had gone deep into Erin's body.
Erin groaned in pain, her soul core already weakening.
"I always knew I was not mad when I saw two of you in one body." Erin said weakly, smiling even as blood poured from her lips.
"Stay quiet." Minerva warned her, focusing on getting the last bullets out so that she could heal her.
"I am sorry for not saving you both before when you were being bullied." Erin gasped. "I was too scared to."
Her skin was getting paler, her lips becoming blue.
"Don't you dare die on me." She warned Erin again.
Minerva did not know who she was, but she wanted to save her.
She pushed in much abyssal power as she could draw into Erin's body, hoping to keep her alive until help came.