The Zodiac Cycle

2.19 Those Deserving

The six of them were out of breath, scattered and frazzled. Ash tried to catch his breath, the concern radiating off of him, the regret. He shouldn't have ran away, he should have faced Zach instead of acting like a coward. They were all bleeding, they were all hurt, because of him. Amber was unconscious against a rock, Carson stroking her head carefully.

"Where..." Elizabeth stood there, a look of terror on her face matching the others. "Where is Iris?"

Amber stirred in pain and opened her eyes. She leaned forward, making Carson nearly panic. "You shouldn't move, you're burning up."

She didn't respond, looking around at the scene, at the dust-covered faces and tear streaked cheeks. She attempted to get up, her wounded leg nearly giving out on her. Carson helped her up and she determinedly walked over to where Brianna was standing. Brianna stood still, looking at the rubble from the castle half-dazed. 

Amber pushed Carson back, balancing on one leg, facing her entire body toward the human.

Brianna turned to look at her slowly, her body moving only slightly.

Still without a word, Amber's fist collided with Briannas face.

The whole group flinched, startled by Amber's actions. Carson stepped back to Amber, trying to catch her, but she fell on her knees, shouting "You-!"

Brianna had fallen back as well, her head turned to the side. She didn't reach up to hold her face, and she didn't react in any other way.

"Amber, dont." Carson hugged her from behind, speaking softly to her, burying his face into her shoulder. "We've all had enough. We're done." Amber was breathing heavily and glaring at Brianna with a look Ash had never seen. "We're done." Then she broke down, tears streaming down her face, and her body going limp in Carsons embrace. "We've had enough." Rebecca started crying softly as well, Alex pulling her close. They looked solemn and detached. "We-" Carson stopped, taking a deep breath, "we're done." Keith was sitting on a rock with his face in his hands.

Ash tried putting the pieces together, but before he could, Brianna stood up silently. She looked at the group with a guilty, apologetic face, before turning away. She wrapped her arms around herself and walked away slowly without a word. The pain behind her eyes made it seem that she had just lost a limb or another part of herself.

Ash and the rest of the group stood there, unsure of what to say or do. Elizabeth's question still hung in the air, and Ash started asking himself the same thing.

Keith stood up, looking at Ash and the rest of his group, before finally speaking.

"Iris is gone."

The silence became deafening, and Nolan, who was standing right beside Ash, put his hand over his mouth, gasping, and then let out a sob. Elizabeth slowly covered her mouth as well, looking mortified. Avery let out a breath of disbelief, George made a strange distressed sound, and Clementine stumbled over her words for a moment, "wh-what-"

Ash looked at Keith, "what happened?"

Keith sighed, running his hand through his hair. "You were right, we were keeping something from you." Ash knew there was something, but what did it have to do with this? "We suspected that Iris had been working with Zach. We couldn't really tell anyone in case we were wrong, in case we alarmed the person who was working for him." Keith looked sadly at Carson and Amber, who hadn't moved from where they were. "We were wrong. It was Brianna who had been working for Zach."

Ash then realized that no matter how hard he had tried to get their secrets out of them before, they had no choice but to keep silent and let him walk away. 

"And Iris?" Ash hesitated before asking, not sure he wanted to hear the answer.

Amber finally stood up, with Carson helping her stand again. She looked directly into Ash's eyes. She was trembling, but her face was fierce. 

"Zach killed her."

Iris was dead?

Iris had been kind, though blunt. She was pessimistic at times, but tried to make the most out of situations. The group had thought she was gone one other time too, back in the woods, when their adventure had just begun. 

Ash remembered when Amber, Carson, Keith, Alex, and Brianna had run out of the brush, startling him and Nolan, telling him that a wendigo had taken Iris. he remembered how panicked Brianna had been, and how determined Alex and Amber were to save her.

Ash clenched his fists, unable to hold Amber's gaze. He looked to the side solemnly, the shame and guilt he felt over leaving them washed over him like the northern tides. He felt like he was about to vomit from the impact of all of that information at once.

"And what of Zach?" Ash swallowed the lump in his throat at Elizabeth's question

Carson looked at Amber for a moment before turning to look at the rest of the group. "Amber killed him."

Amber shook her head, looking at the ground numbly. "No, I didn't." she looked up at Carson "Narashima did."

"Narashima?" Keith raised his eyebrows in recognition. 

"You know him?" Amber asked.

"Yes. he was one of the first human Leos," Keith nodded, "and he was the most powerful weapon wielder. He was known to be aggressive and easily enraged."

"What did you do back there?" Carson asked Amber.

"She connected to her past lives," Keith answered for her. "It's an uncommon skill among the Zodiacs. An emotion strong enough can call your past life's spirits to assist you. In your moment of rage, you connected to Narashimas anger." Keith looked out at the rubble of the castle. "With his assistance, you've won your first battle."

"No," Amber said again, wrapping her arms around herself and looking in the direction Brianna had gone. "We didn't win this battle."

The whole group, for the first time, felt the most connected through their broken mourning. The worst thing, Ash thought, was the realization that they hadn't brought Iris' body back with them. What had been her last words? What else had they denied her? What had he done? Ash looked at Nolan and thought of Brianna. He didn't think that Brianna had planned for her best friend to die, he could tell that much from just her face. 

Nolan was still crying and it made Ash hurt too. Ash wrapped his arms around the smaller boy's shoulders, and Nolan, in reply, buried his face into Ash's shirt, clinging to the fabric. Ash didn't cry. He didn't feel he deserved to cry. He didn't feel he deserved to mourn. He felt like all of this was his fault.

Maybe if he had backed down.

Maybe if he had tried to be more understanding.

Maybe if he hadn't left, Iris would still be here.

(Depression+saddness+angst. One more chapter before this arc ends, then there's only one more arc for yall. And let me tell you, the third Arc is INTENSE. Now you may be asking "author, how can you make a third arc when they already defeated Zach?" That, my dear readers, will be revealed soon. It has all been leading up to this... mwahahahahaha)