Midnight Air

17

"What do you mean John didn't kill me? It happened to me! I saw him with my own eyes. Who else would it have been if it wasn't him?! Who else has the same build with the same hair and eyes?"

Soja watched as the color started to drain from her face. He hated seeing her upset. He knew how much she had gone through, how  much she had suffered. He had seen with his own eyes as her life started to slip away. He had seen countless deaths on the battlefield while he was alive, but nothing could compare to the death of the woman he had seen.

He had watched her as her face lost color and her heart stopped beating. He had been the one to inject her with his poison to bring her back to life and had instructed Jake  to keep an eye out for her. And he watched as over the years, each new human companion died and she outlived them. The pain she displayed as each one passed.

He hadn't just been looking at the reports that were sent to him. He started this group from the ground up.

He hadn't just witnessed her passing on the day of her and her mothers murder. No. He saw as the man who did it sat up as he heard the sound of her heart disappear. He had watched while he grinned right at him with milky eyes, almost as if he were a zombie reanimating. 

But he could sense that he hadn't been human when he came. He could smell the vampire on him. 

He heard as the man spoke, "I've done my part. Now my little lady can be happy. This isn't over, Soja. No. This is just the beginning."

He watched as the man had turned to leave before turning back to speak once more, "I have a feeling we're going to be meeting again someday. When that time comes, I'll need you to remember my name. Justice. Justice Greensworthe. Don't you forget it, now."

He had watched as Justice jumped out of the window and disappeared into the night.

"He's not the exact. He's two inches taller, born two minutes before. He's not John, and he doesn't just look like him. He's his twin brother. He's the reason you are the way you are now. Why I am able to be with you now."

Soja could tell that if Purity's heart was still beating, it would have skipped one right now.

"T-twin brother? H-how is that possible? He- couldn't have. John doesn't have a brother. At least none that I know of. What do you mean he has a twin?"

"He died a couple years before you and John met. You two met when you were 16 and he was 23, Justice drowned at the age of 21. He was Abigeal's fiance."

The look of shock on Purity's face broke him. She had hated John for so many years, now just to find out that he hadn't actually killed her. Soja could only imagine what she was going through.

He had seen many good men hear news that shoock them to there cores back when he was a general. Back when hearing such news meant no second chance because they were sure to be dead in an instant. That kind of news would embarrass a man to death. And they would die in shame and without honor.

But seeing Purity broke what was left of his heart. He would give the lives of 10,000 of his soldiers just to make sure she would never be sad.

"Ai shiteru, Purity-san." He wrapped her in a tight hug. He knew that she knew Japanese, but in this moment, he hoped she hadn't heard. But if she did, that would hold it dear.