Awakening

The wind blew gently against Celia's tear-stained face. Her eyes were wide open as she stared at Shade's back. She was filled with joy to see that he had finally returned. If he had arrived even a second later, she would surely be dead.

"Shade..!" She exclaimed happily.

"What happened here?" He asked calmly.

Celia then lowered her head as her smile melted. She was ashamed to look at Shade while telling him the truth.

"I failed to keep the team together in your absence... This all happened because I couldn't get Maria to listen to me..! I'm a failure as a team captain. I'm sorry..."

Before responding, Shade walked over to the unconscious body of Arora. She was filled with cuts and bruises but her knives were still tightly held between her fists. It was evident that she had fought with everything that she had.

Slowly, Shade then picked her up before tossing her over to Celia like baggage.