115: The sacrifice

"You shouldn't have come. This is not a sight for your eyes" Nao's voice cut through the numbness Maria was feeling. It was like hearing underwater but somehow duller than all that. Maria felt her heart give out a painful lunge as her eyes tried to make sense of what she was seeing.

Nao looked bad but not in a general sense. Her skin looked like it was melting away from the bone or maybe it was the heat and the sweat that was making her look like that. Her torso was half-lying in the pool while the other half did its best to keep Suna out of the pool.

Suna was in a marginally better physical condition but Maria was not sure if her mental condition would be any better than Nao's. There was also a head wound there that was bleeding rather badly for Maria to feel comfortable with.