Life and Death Decision

Chapter 9

"Mom and Dad? What are you talking about? The funeral was yesterday, did you forget already?" Baz looked at her curiously, leaning forward and warily reaching for his sword.

"Funeral? They're..." She trembled, her fury bubbling and close to boiling over. "They're dead!" She ran at us while throwing a punch towards our scaly brawler. He brought his arm up to guard, widening his stance so that he could withstand her blow; it was just how she wanted. She followed the momentum of her punch, getting low on the floor and slipping past Baz's feet. "Help! Stranger danger! Kidnappers!" She yelled into the empty town, running down the street toward the Church's cemetery.

"Quick, after her!" Tyme yelled, sprinting down the road after her. Baz and I were close behind her, unable to catch up. "Get back here!" Our archer yelled, reaching out her hand as the kid vaulted up a tree and over the wall to get into the graveyard. "What...she just did that!" Stunned a bit by the kid's display, she stood there until we caught up with her. The three of us entered the building and found her on the grass while looking at us with fisticuffs poised for battle.

"Stay away from me!" She screamed at us, taking steps backward cautiously. "There's no way they're dead! I don't believe you-ooaahh!" She stumbled a bit, tripping over a gravestone.

"Would you calm down and tell us what's going on? Why are you acting like this?" Baz tried to calm her down, but I stopped him. She turned around to see what she tripped over, reading the names on the grave and lowering her arms.

"No..." She gripped onto the rock, trying to shake it to see if it was fake. "Mom, dad..." I walked over, placing my hand on the top of the stone, using some magic to fix it.

"I'm sorry," I said, trying to ease her stress. I extended my hand out to her, but she slapped it away.

"Get away from me! Murderer!" With tears in her eyes, she clenched her fist and threw a punch at my face. One after another, she unleashed her rage on me by pummelling me with her knuckles. "You killed them! You killed my family! You even killed Rose!"

"Mary, please stop. These people tried to save us." A familiar light lit up the area, a gentle cyan tint now shone off of my armor. Hovering beside the grave, a spectral copy of the girl that was beating me to a pulp smiled at us. "Hi, guys." She waved her hand toward the others, who just watched in stunned silence.

"Rose! Rose!" Mary turned around, attempting to hug the ghost but passing through her form. "What happened to you?"

"I died, Mary. We all did. I'm sorry I..." The ghost knelt down, wiping the tears away with some magic. "But believe me. These people, they're good people." Mary continued to weep, her tears soaking the ground where her sister's body rests. "Sage, everyone, please take care of her. So, Mary, you're on your own from now on..."

"No..."

"What?" Rose recoiled at her sister's stubbornness.

"No...I...I'll go around the world until I can find a way to give you a new body!" She tried to grasp her sister's hands, but she couldn't touch the incorporeal. "I promise to get you back! So please watch over me!"

"She sure has a one-track mind..." Tyme muttered, having recovered from the shock.

"That's my sister for you, she's stubborn to a fault." I saw Rose sigh disappointedly at Mary, though the smirk on her face meant that she was at least partially happy. "Well, I know I can't convince you to change your mind. Tyme, Sage, Baz; take care of my her..."

"No! I'm doing this alone!" Mary crossed her arms, stomping off into the church before a tangle of vines snagged her ankle.

"No, you're not! It's dangerous!"