Mᴜᴛᴀɴᴛ Aᴘᴏᴄᴀʟʏᴘsᴇ 6: Tʜᴇ Vᴀʟʟᴇʏ

34 || 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐁𝐁𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐘 𝐀𝐋𝐏𝐇𝐀

Raphael held Criss in his lap, feeling both souls leave her body. Her dull blue eyes turned grey and her face whitened to death. Blood soaked her clothes and dripped on Raph's pant legs. He couldn't believe that she was gone! After everything she and everyone else had gone through, she's gone! "Oh, no...no..." He cried, holding back most of her tears.

Azi came behind Raph. "I radioed Cormac. Raph, we can't stay here."

"We can't leave Criss behind." Raph is refusing to ditch Criss' body.

Azi gulped and looked to the trees where the shot was fired. They needed to be very cautious now. "Okay. But you and I need to work together if you want to get her body out of here. Got it?" She wanted to confirm.

Raph nodded. "What do I do?"

"Pick her up and we run!"

He nodded once again, "Got it." 

Together, Raph, Azi, and Kitty sprinted from their spot, dodging bullets from the Wicked hiding in the trees. Every bullet that was coming their way was starting to rebound off tree limbs and large rocks. They kept running, hardly returning fire or fighting back. The main goal was to retreat from this fight and return home where Criss could rest.

"I'm about to f*ck sh*t up..." Kitty hissed, ducking behind a tree for about two seconds before proceeding. "They killed her!"

"We'll get revenge later!" Raph called out to her, running along the trail and using his shell as a shield.

Now that they were clear from the open fire, the gunshots had stopped and distant yells aroused the river. The Wicked must be leaving the area. Azi, Raph, and Kitty took a massive breather, catching their breath and looking down at Criss' body. "Damn..." Raph wiped his eyes. "She protected us this whole time...since we met her."

Kitty lowered her head, disappointed to see her friend had died. "Leo is gonna--"

"I know." Raph knew already. His older brother would be angry. While they mounted for about a minute, Azi heard wings flaps descending to the ground. He lands on the same trail as the girls and fRaph, finding one of the friends is no longer there. "Raph," Cormac says. "Girls, I-- what happened here?" He sees Criss in Raph's hold.

"Ambush. They got Criss." He gestured to her dead friend. "Cormac, this is getting worse!"

Azi nodded. "We need an escort back to Anzen."

Cormac sighed sadly at Criss' body. She was a great friend to him and his family at North Side. What hurt him was that he knew Leo wasn't going to take it very well. "I'll have my shifters scout the area to ensure your guys' safety. I'll take you all home myself," Cormac says.

"That's great. Thanks." Azi says, appreciating him deeply.

Cormac nodded with a smile. When he looked at Raph, he could see she was hurting on the inside and the outside. He set a hand on his shoulder. "Raphael," Cormac says. "I'm deeply sorry for the loss of your friend, Criss. She was my friend, too. I feel your pain."

Raphael bit down on his bottom lip and released his tears. He felt Cormac hug his shoulder tightly, attempting to comfort him. "Leo doesn't know yet, my god..."

Cormac continues to comfort Raph, hugging him lightly with his wings. "Raph, we knew something like this was coming..." He says softly. "All of us will die at some point in this world and there's... Nothing we can do about that." He pulled away and looked into his light eyes. "Come on. Let's take Criss home and go from there."

Raphael nodded, wiping and dabbing away his hot fresh tears.

****

Shortly after arriving at Anzen, crowds of people mumbled as soon as they heard of the mysterious death. They were eager to know who it was and how it happened. Raphael carried Criss' lifeless body through the gates as others identified the victim.