Grief [Jamie]

I watched from the bleachers as Bill and Akumura spared. Scorpio watched intensely, but Brit and I were just out of it. Between Lucifer's inevitable arrival, Cthulhu starting to have some minor effect in my dreams, and Naomi, I wasn't feeling up to anything. Scorpio and Pisces though, seemed to be fine. "Jamie!" I fell backwards, then looked next to me. "What?"

"Are you doing alright?" Scorpio studied me.

"I- yeah, I'm fine. Just tired, that's all." Pisces and Scorpio looked at each other, then shrugged. If living on the streets had taught me anything, it was how to lie. I felt like I was about to explode with everything going on. The dance at this point wasn't going to be postponed, so chances are most people will be caught off guard, and won't have time to react. "Are you sure you're okay?" Scorpio sounded concerned. Was it really that obvious? "Yeah. We've got midterms soon, so I've just been a little stressed about that."

"Jamie, I can read minds, I know it's more than that. Come with me, we've gotta talk."

Scorpio dragged me under the bleachers. "So," she grabbed my hands, "What's wrong?"

"You already know, so what's the point of asking?"

"I'll tell ya something," She let go, and grabbed her phone. She pulled up a picture of a man with black hair. Next to him, a woman who looked like Scorpio, but older, and with both eyes. On their laps were two children, one with black hair, and one with pink hair. "This was the last picture we took as a family. My mom died the day after." She swiped the screen, and another picture showed up. This time, the man was sitting, his hair graying and his skin more shriveled. The two children stood behind him, one wearing an eye patch, and the other missing an arm. "We took this picture before Pisces and I left for school. At the time, I didn't really want the picture taken. I thought I was a mess, and Pisces was generally in a bad mood. But now, this is what has been keeping me stable for the past few months. Now," she swiped the screen again, "this has been keeping me going." There were six people crammed onto the screen. An Angel, a Demon, two Humans, and two Vampires. "We all miss her. Some of us, more than others. But still, don't let it get to you. It's okay to grieve and remember, but we have to move on."

I looked at Scorpio. Tears rolled down her face. "We both know there's more than just that."

"I do, and that's up to you to figure out. But, it's what she wanted. She was prepared to give up her life, you just so happened to be the one who had to-" She swallowed, "who had to do it." I tried to keep my hand from shaking, but when I grabbed it, nothing changed. "Come on," Scorpio grabbed my arm, "I think we should spar. Keeps your mind off things, ya know?" I nodded.

"I guess that sounds fine."

I took off my jacket, and let my wings out. Bill tossed my a sword, and I stood in a somewhat ready stance. "Go!" Brit fired a flare from her wand, and we both went for each other. I knew that trying to out-smart Scorpio wasn't an option, she knew what I was thinking before I knew. Brute force was the only way to take her out. She swung her scythe over my head, but it hit the sword right in time. I struggled to push her back, but eventually, I did. I swung at her, and sure enough, she blocked. I tried to trip her, but she kicked my shin, and I fell to the ground. "Oh God! Are you oka-" She held her scythe in a defensive position, and guarded her legs with the staff. "Gotcha." I propelled myself backward with my wings, and shot forward with my feet. "Oh come on!" She moved her scythe back in a defensive position, this time guarding her chest. I struck the staff of her scythe with my blade, the kicked at her ankle, and she fell. "Stand down." I held my sword to her. "Alright! That's good!" Bill walked over to us, and helped Scorpio up.

"I'm gonna be honest," Aleister fell on the couch, "We haven't killed anyone, well, anyone we saw as close to us. The closest we killed was Dracula, and still, that was only his original body. I don't really have anything for you, hell, I don't have anything for myself." He slumped over, "We couldn't really do anything. It was what she wanted, apparently. All we can do is accept that it happened, and try to go forward." I moved closer to him, and comforted him. "I guess so. Especially since we only have 3 months left."