The Children of Death:Book four, Revived Hero.

Jade

Erik was trembling, his entire body was limp. The dog wouldn't leave. Beatriz suddenly snapped her fingers, "Arael, imprison Sphandor!"She called out, the dog whimpered. It was dragged out of the bus's broken window by an invisible force, it scratched Erik's face before that exit, though.

Erik fell face first into the ground. Valentina tried to get up but let out a deafening wince. I sighed, lifting the owl-boy up, he was surprisingly not heavy, despite his slightly muscular arms.

"Are... you okay?"Atticus asked him. "Real good question, Atticus. Might as well ask a blind person if they can see."I said. "Just a question..."He muttered.

Erik groaned, Edith tried to help Valentina up, but failed, so Atticus did it instead. "How many fingers am I holding up?"I asked, holding up 1 finger to Erik. He concentrated. He was confused from the blood loss, possibly. He became heavier every second, like he was giving into paralysis. "Erik, Jade asked you a question..."Valentina winced with every word.

Edith suddenly suggested,"Maybe I can heal Valentina..? And then she can help Erik!" Everyone looked at me like I was her registered guardian. "Fine."I muttered. Edith happily skipped over to Valentina,pressed a hand on her ribs, and then backed away, seeming slightly sleepy.
"Awesome."Valentina said, walking up to Erik. "Erik, I need you to focus. Don't fall asleep, can you do that for me?"Valentina asked, I could hear the tones of charmspeak layered in her voice, I bit back the urge to say, "Of course I can do it for you! Anything!"

Erik nodded. Valentina took out a Swiss Medic Bag, bringing out bandages and disinfectint. I was pleased with Valentina's abilities at charmspeaking. She healed his wounds, though he still seemed to not be able to move a limb in his body. Beatriz took out a book, reading off of it and then explaining,"It says that Sphander was most likely... Demons... How do I make this sound well..? Erm- Sphandor was sucking the bone marrow out of Erik's neck."

Uneasy glances were exhanged throughout the crowd. "What's a bone marrow?"Erik asked.

"Erik, Honey, let's not interrupt."Valentina shushed him. Beatriz cleared her throat, "He may not be able to move for an hour or two. Sphandor has the effect of paralysis, it's harmless. The bone marrow should grow back by itself...hopefully. I'd advise Erik resting."She closed the book.

Valentina gripped onto Erik's shoulders, taking his weight off of me. "Sleep."She ordered, his eyelids drooped. Watching this first-hand was nearly terrifiying. All the things she could do with that... all the thing she had done. I let go of Erik, assuming he was asleep. He fell onto Valentina, in which she placed a travel pillow under his head and let him sleep on the floor.

"I should get the driver to keep going,"Valentina said, and then she was gone.

I glanced over at Atticus, and then Beatriz. I wondered why my heart still skipped a beat when Atticus met eyes with me. Was that... normal? Oh demons, it wasn't, was it? Oh no. No way I was crushing on Atticus, right? NO. My mind was all jumbled because of the upcoming attack, right? Yeah. Right.

"Jade??? Helllo? Jade?"Atticus waved his hand in front of my face, I grabbed it, squeezing it (Not with full force, because I would probably break it)

"What?"I asked. "Ow- Ow Owww- I was just trying to say that Edie wanted to- OW- show you something!"Atticus explained, I let go, he ruffled my hair, "Still fiesty as always."

"Shut up, loser."I rolled my eyes, he sat down next to me, grinning like he was 12 again. He nudged me, "You're the idiot." Beatriz spotted us, scooting in between. "Hello, Jade."She smiled, eyeing Atticus at the same time.

"Oh, hello, my Honey Bee."I kissed her cheek, she did not seem pleased. "Yeah."She bit into her granola bar. I coughed, eyeing Atticus, he got up, leaving.

"You were flirting with him. You guys were flirting."She said.

"We were not!"I got up. "Your father's Leviathan, anyways, it's just the Envy taking over. "I told her. "Jade!"Beatriz stood up, offended, "That's like me calling Valentina lustful, or Atticus greedy! It's not right!"

"Whatever, you don't know what you're talking about!"I said, suddenly feeling another sharp pain in my head. "Yes I do! You made that rule! Are you too blinded by leadership that you don't remember your own unwritten code?!"Beatriz yelled.

Was it true... did I make that code..? "I- I was young and stupid!"I argued, trying to hide my wincing. Valentina, Atticus, and Edith were now staring at us.

"Jade! That's the thing. You're still young! You think you've grown so much- but you haven't! What happened to the fun-loving, wannabe emo-styled, pretty gir-person, pretty person I met years ago!" Beatriz had corrected herself on my gender, which I was pleased with, if we weren't arguing I would thank her.

"I changed, Beatriz!"I retorted. "Changed. Changed into a big jerk! You used to care about me, we used to go on dates and sneak out every night! What happened to us?!"Beatriz shouted. What... did happen to us? I wasn't sure. I wasn't sure why the world was spinning, either. My thoughts began to swirl like a hurricane, I nearly toppled over.

"Jade? It's happening again?"Beatriz sounded slightly annoyed, maybe a bit worried about me.

I breathed heavily, my nails turned to claws, horns sprouted from my forehead. Everyone's speech sounded distant, muffled, even. The small voice in my head yelled, SHE HATES YOU NOW. SHE WILL NOT HELP YOU. And so, I fell unconcious.

I dreamed again, like usual.

I dreamed about a moment I had with Beatriz years ago. She woke me up from a power nap, "Good morning, sleepy-head."She smiled, I loved her smile.

"Morning."I groggily said, sitting up. "How's it feel to be Mx.General?"Beatriz smirked, I chuckled. "I-It's tiring, that's for sure."I mumbled. I had to admit, I was still shaken over Atticus's... death. I was shook over the battle, I was shook over the pressure.

"You're doing really well. We should go out! C'mon!" She grabbed my hand, running outside. I was 15 at the time, she was 16. Now I'm 21, Beatriz is 22. Were... old. Beatriz took me to the gates that were being rebuilt, she snuck us through a small hole, and we ran into New York.

She took me to a gas station, we got slushies, we just... relaxed and talked about life. Like normal teenagers. This was one of my favorite memories.

I woke up. We were on foot now. Well... not me, I was being fire-man carried.

"Put. Me. Down."I ordered Erik, who seemed to be holding in a laugh. I was put down almost instantly. "What happened to the bus?"I asked.

"The cops pulled the dude over for reckless driving with a buncha kids."Atticus explained. I noticed Beatriz looking away from me. "And... where are we now?"I asked, my head still pounded. "Missouri, almost into Kansas."Valentina answered. "Ah, right on schedule."I muttered.

"One moment, please."I walked up to Beatriz, slightly pulling her aside as everyone kept walking. "I'm..." I mumbled 'sorry', "okay? I just- snapped, I didn't know it would happen."

"What was the second word you said?"She asked me. "S- Sorry. I'm sorry."I had to admit, I was horrible at apologizing. My father was the embodiment of Pride. "Jade. I accept your... apology. But..."Beatriz's voice trailed on as Erik called over to us. They were far ahead, so we ran back to them.

I was desperate to know what Beatriz meant, it could've stormed my mind for days, but then Erik spoke to me. "I- Uh,"He coughed, "I heard you could do that demon thing, but I've never seen it in person... you- erm- have it under control?"He asked.

"Yes. I was just-"I didn't know how to explain my stressful migraines and panic/anger attacks. "Annoyed."I dumbed it down, I'll admit. "A bit more than annoyed..."Valentina muttered. "Yeah, it was sorta... scary."Edith mumbled the last part.

"Scary,"I muttered, "The headaches will be under control soon, don't worry."I assured them, though... I wasn't very sure. "If you say so..."Valentina mumbled.

We continued to walk for a bit, and then... she appeared. She was tall, fierce, and sent chills down my spine.