What Did You Do!

She went inside a large room with dim lighting, heavy curtains almost draping the entire windows. There was a heavy atmosphere in it, and even in the darkness, one could spot some strange markings on the walls and floor. However, Sera's attention was focused on what's in front of her. A young girl was sprawled on a bed, howling in pain. She was in a fetal position as it seemed to help her ease the pain. Her hands held her head that is now nearly bald. She was so thin she obviously can't walk. Sera looked at her with pity. So she ran to the side of the bed where the girl was lying.

The girl sensed someone is in her room so she tried her best to lift her head. She saw a beautiful girl the same age as her. She had a short hair just like when she was still healthy. The girl she saw was someone who nearly looked like her from the clothes she was wearing to the way she moves. People would think they were siblings if they saw the both of them together.

The girl pursed her lips as she tried to hold in the pain.

"Are you okay?" Sera asked in worry.

"...."

"I already called Mom and Dad."

'Mom and Dad' the pained girl thought. 'Did Mom and Dad finally grant my wish to have a sister?' she continued. She looked at Sera and gave a little smile. It was the last wish she gave her parents.

"S-Sis..." she tried hard to say, as the words barely came out as whispers. Sera was taken aback with the girl calling her sister but soon figured out that this was her foster parents' real daughter. She wondered why they never mention it to her. However, it was not important at the moment.

"It's okay, we can talk more later. Are you feeling okay?" Sera knelt on the bed side and gently massaged the temple of the girl's head thinking it's what's making her suffer.

Just then two sets of footsteps were heard rushing towards the room. Rhael and Agaven were panting when they reached the door as they saw Sera touching their daughter's head. Their eyes opened wide in horror. "Lerica!"

Lerica is the Stedores' daughter in blood and she had been very weak ever since the Arcane Surge. It is the reason why Rhael and Agaven had been working diligently in improving their power. It was only through their unceasing efforts of researching and improvements that they made their only daughter live this long.

As soon as they saw Sera sitting near Lerica without any form of protection they quickly entered, muttering spells for magical barriers and casting it on themselves and onto Sera. These precautions weren't for them but for Lerica. It was to avoid infecting Lerica from the pathogens and bacteria they had taken outside. Even though the room was built to disinfect anyone who enters it they still have to be very cautious.

Agaven and Rhael couldn't think about anything at the moment but to save their precious daughter. Agaven pulled Sera up harshly and pushed her near the door, then looked back at Lerica as he started to murmur a spell. A white mist started to come out of his mouth and entered Lerica's mouth. This continued for a while and Rhael continued checking her vitals to see if she's fine. She was now in panic as their only daughter's vitals started to fail one at a time.

"M-mom... D-dad," Lerica spoke with half-opened eyes. "T-thank you." she whispered. It was a whisper but it was loud enough for Rhael and Agaven to hear. After using all her remaining strength in thanking her parents, Lerica looked at Sera and smiled, breathing her last. The smile contained sweetness and thankfulness. She's dead yet she's smiling.

"No...no... no... my princess. NOOOOOOO! Don't leave mom. Don't leave mom, please." Rhael said as she rushed to the bed and pulled her daughter in her arms in a tight hug. Her eyes were now clouded with her tears and it didn't intend to stop in any moment. Agaven on the other hand slumped to the floor like his own life was also taken. He couldn't say anything as his eyes looked at his grieving wife as she continuously shake their lifeless daughter, trying to wake her up. One....two.... three... teardrops fell from his eyes and it continued to do so.

Sera, who was sent flying to the door by Agaven's push, was taken a back by the happening. It was her first time seeing her foster parents like that. It's as if they aren't the foster parents who had been so good to her since she came. All she did was try her best to ease the pain Lerica was feeling. She didn't know that it would completely anger her foster parents. She was crying as hard as them. She grieved for them but she was also scared.

Rhael stopped crying and was silent for a while. Her eyes showed she had lost all her hopes as her own life was already gone. She held Lerica and laid her down in the bed properly. "Don't worry my poor baby, mom will wake you soon." she whispered.

Rhael stood up and went in front of Sera.

"What did you do?" she asked in a calm voice.

"m-Mom, I-i didn't do any----" pak! before she could finish her words she was slapped hard by Rhael.

"WHAT DID YOU DO!!!???" Rhael asked one more time, she sounded like she had lost all her sanity. This time she didn't even let Sera talk and she repeatedly slapped her until the poor girl fell to the floor with her face numb and red. Her lips and nose started to bleed. She was lying motionless on the ground as she felt dizzy from all the slaps she had taken. Eyes growing blurry, she saw Agaven carry his daughter in his arms and walked over her like she wasn't even there.

Before she lost all her consciousness she hear a ticking sound. The sound of the door behind her being locked. Soon it was all darkness.