Black Blooded

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     The rubble filled the ballroom, and so did six men in black clothing. Azalea was shielded from harm by Lucifer's body, but she quickly pushed him away like he was burning her, and pulled her father's gun from her thigh.

     Despite her father being a gentleman, he was a fire controller and everything he touched burned. However, a blacksmith in the West made him a gun that could contain lava and shoot the substance efficiently, and some how it is the only thing that Azeala has left of him. That's why as Azalea's powers are so sporadic, it runs in her blood.

     Azalea shot the first two, eyeing her sister's red dress from across the destroyed room. Her heart pounded, and time seemed to slug by. In the short pause the Queen delivered, her leg was the impact zone of a zinc bullet. The woman screamed in agony as she stumbled onto the floor. Lucifer sprung into action and grabbed the gun from her before she could be wounded again. Guards swamped the room, eliminating the threat like a warm knife sliding through butter.

     The queen used the wall to hoist herself up, trying to fight her way through the guards to get to her sister. The closer she got, the louder the cries of her people sounded. She wasn't the only one who lost someone. "Taina!" She called, being held back. The guard, Nicklaus, picked her up, trying to get her to the royal nurse. The queen fought him and kicked her legs, screaming louder as her sister's red dress didn't move.

"Taina!"

"Taina!"

"Taina!"

      Tears rushed down her face for the third time as she bellowed for her sister. Taina was all that she ever had. Their mother, Meera, died giving birth to them, and their father, Benji, was poisoned. Those girls relied on each other, and Azalea couldn't imagine living without her best friend.

     For a quiet second, Nicklaus let her stare at her sister, loosening his grip slightly. The queen never took her blinking eyes away from the red fabric sticking out of the rubble. Nicklaus picked the queen up and let her sob into his armor. Lucifer followed after with her father's gun in hand until one of the guards held him back with a hard glare. "She's grieving; Queen Azalea does not need you tagging along too."

     The devil was taken aback, but he simply handed the older guard Azalea's gun and silently turned away to help people out of the damage. Few survived the blast.

     Nicklaus laid Azalea down on the bed after helping her out of her ball gown. The dress was now just a heap on the white floor. The queen's calf contained a bullet wound and murky blood pooled from it. Her veins were like an irritated river of dark surrounding the wound. Zinc was like her people's Kryptonite. It burned and killed quietly. The nurse quickly went to work as the black, burning lines rolled up her body. "Thank you, Nick. Any longer and the burn lines would be at her naval by now." The nurse rambled, dislodging the foreign object with gentle care. Nicklaus smiled softly at Azeala, as she laid in her silk slip. "Do you want me to hold your hand?" Nicklaus snickers, taking off his metal glove. "Nick." Azeala growled, but instantly gripped his hand as the nurse fed stitches and cleanser through her wound.

     After the nurse helped her up, the queen leaned into Nicklaus, feeling queasy and drowsy. As she slowly closed her eyes, sighing out, two figures entered the room, and one gasped softly, rushing you the queen in a tussle of skirts. "Is she okay?" A male voice asked, looking up at Nicklaus. The voice was familiar to her, but she didn't look up from her place in the guard's arms. The sounds within the room were so jumbled; she couldn't concentrate. "She will be. I'm about to carry her to her room. Taina, grab her dress please."

     The second Nick said Taina's name, Azeala's flicked open. "Taina!" She gasped, desperately trying to get out of Nicklaus' arms to embrace her sister.