Cadere

The black smoke of gunfire bellow managed to climb its way up the cliffside, almost obscuring the beautiful nighttime view of the city.

Of course, that 'beautiful nighttime view' was completely absent today.

Even if that black smoke was not obscuring the view from atop the cliffs, then the only sight one would be greeted with was the sight of a city on fire.

Not literally on fire, soldiers of both sides tried their best to avoid collateral damage, but instead 'fire' in a metaphorical sense.

And yet, none of the above succeeded to have any sort of effect on one of the few people atop said cliffside.

Rose Phlorear Finaflor.

And all she did was just wander around side cliffside aimlessly.

With her pistol back in her possession, she wandered aimlessly around the top of the cliffside, looking for her older sister.

The chaotic sounds of death that once rocked her ears as she rode to Finaflor mansion failed to register into her mind as she forced herself to walk.

Why was Rose looking for her sister?

It was because Rose needed to kill her.

It was not an exaggeration to say that Rose had been eagerly anticipating for this moment for a long, long time.

And yet, for some inexplicable reason, it was also the moment that she was fearfully dreading.

Why?

That single word kept repeating itself inside Rose's mind as she trudged along.

Why did she feel like this?

Why was she like this?

Just why?

However, Rose never got the opportunity to have that question answered.

For she had finally found Orchid, standing near the cliffside. Orchid's eyes were glassy as they gazed off into the far distance, into the seas beyond the docks of the city. It almost appeared as if she was oblivious to the urban battle taking place within the city right under her.

However, it was soon proven that Orchid was not completely detached from this world.

"The sky is beautiful tonight isn't it?"

Rose ignored Orchid's ambiguous line as she drew her pistol form her coat and aimed it at Orchid.

"Do you know why I'm here Orchid?"

Orchid continued to stare out into the distance when she replied to Rose.

"Yes. Yes I do."

"And do you have any last words?"

When Orchid heard Rose, she chuckled and scoffed before she gave a sarcastic remark.

"Really now? Are you really going to give me that chance? Since when were you that type of person?"

Within moments, Rose felt her heart seethe with anger as she was reminded of one of the many reasons that she hated Orchid.

"I don't care about what you have to say! It's just... it's just that..."

However, Rose's voice involuntarily trailed off before she could finish what she wanted to say. And in a similar manner to how she felt numerous times before, she did not know why.

"..."

"..."

A short moment of silence occurred as both of the Finaflor sisters stood in silence.

Soon, said silence would be broken not by Rose, but by Orchid instead.

"Then I guess I'll take you up on that offer. Perhaps my final words will give you solace or something... who knows anymore?"

Finally, Orchid turned her body around and faced Rose as she spoke.

"Although I hate to admit, I... I don't hate you."

"What do you mean that?"

Without even knowing it, Rose started shouting when she responded to Orchid's words.

"Of course you hate me! You hated me ever since I was born!"

When Orchid witnessed Rose's sudden outburst, she sighed solemnly as she replied. The look in her eyes displayed mixed emotions of contempt, disappointment and weirdly enough... sadness.

"Please don't let your emotions override objective and critical thinking again Rose... If I really did hate you then you would already be rotting in some ditch already."

Orchid paused to chuckle to herself in what appeared to be a self-deprecating manner before she continued speaking.

"You know, if you were perhaps more like me in everything excluding our fundamental ideologies then perhaps you would have even won Lily over to your side... whatever... theoretical scenarios that did not happen don't matter anyway."

Rose couldn't help but feel compelled to remain silent as she let Orchid break out into a monologue.

"I'm going to say it again Rose. I don't hate you. I hate your ideology. I hate your beliefs. I even hate parts of your personality. I hate everything about you except you as a person... because... well because it's not those things by themselves that define you... it's your actions..."

It was that last sentence in particular that struck Rose. In specific the words 'your actions.' Was Orchid aware of what Rose did? Or was it just some odd coincidence?

Either way, Orchid still continued speaking regardless.

"And I admit that I once hoped that you could perhaps turn things around... Maybe even become a person I could 'love.' I know that I may have sometimes been... 'somewhat rude' to you at some points in the past and I apologise for those moments but... I'm only human. I can only take so much before I snap you know?"

As Orchid spoke, her eyes started to become more and more teary, yet her voice continued to remain steady and calm.

"I can only tolerate our differences so much before you push me over the edge. All I've ever wanted is for our family, the Finaflor family to live on, to prosper. I just wanted to do my part as a member of the Finaflor family. I never concerned myself with glory or finding meaning in something bigger than myself."

Orchid paused for a brief moment to close her eyes and sigh before she continued.

"I just wanted the Finaflor family to continue holding it's rightful place as the rulers of this port city. Nothing more... Nothing less... But now look at it. Even after willingly becoming a beast of burden in order to survive, our city still falls prey to other monsters anyway... How ironic... But none of that matters now does it?"

When Orchid said her rhetorical question, she once again sighed before casting her gaze downwards as she concluded her monologue.

"The fate of this city. The outcome of our feud. The result of this little 'standoff.' It does not matter. None of it matters. Not anymore. Well at least not to me."

Orchid paused for a brief moment to glance back up and stare at Rose right in the eyes before she finished.

"Cause I'll be dead."

Like before, there was another short moment of silence as the two sisters simply stared at each other before Rose spoke up for the first time in a long time since the beginning of this 'reunion.'

"I see."

Seeing no more reason for any delay, Rose drew her pistol before aiming it at Orchid's head and pulling the trigger.

"..."

She pulled the trigger.

"..."

She tried to pull the trigger

"..."

Try as she might, Rose just could not force herself to pull the trigger.

It just did not happen.

As much as she wanted and needed to do it, her finger just could not pull the trigger.

It was as if there was some 'invisible force' that was stopping her from doing so.

[Damn it! What am I doing!] Rose couldn't help mentally cursing herself as she repeatedly failed to carry out the deed.

However, Rose wasn't the only one the was confused by the recent turn of events.

"Well what are you waiting for?"

Soon, Orchid's confused voice entered Rose's ears as well.

"Kill me."

But much to Orchid's dismay, that bullet to the head just did not arrive, causing her to speak in an even more irritated tone.

"End it.

Kill me."

Soon, Orchid appeared as if she could no longer tolerate Rose's actions as she-

'KILL ME!"

Exploded into a shout, nearly causing Rose to drop her gun.

When Orchid saw this, she quickly quietened back down.

Like before, she sighed again before she spoke in an exasperated voice.

"You know... this... this is fine... this is fine... Because like I said... Nothing matters anymore..."

As Orchid said her final words, Rose was able to spot a single tear that was forming at the corner of her eye.

"Goodbye Rose. Until we meet again."

Before Orchid spread her arms out.

Closed her eyes.

And fell backwards, throwing herself off the cliff.

"..."

Rose was left in a daze in response to Orchid's 'final actions.'

Her jaw was left hanging open before-

"What the fuck!"

She bursted into a loud shout.

What happened next was all a blur to Rose.

All she knew was that she was now at the bottom of the cliffside where she confronted Orchid.

At the bottom of the cliffside where she found Orchid's dead body.

Somehow, the sounds of battle continued to fail to enter Rose's ears as she gazed at her now deceased sister's body.

Although her blood and viscera stained the floor to give a ghastly image, Orchid's face was strangely... serene.

Her eyes were closed softly together while her hair spread out neatly onto the floor, as if she was merely sleeping.

On Orchid's face, Rose was able to spot a faint, nearly indiscernible smile, as if Orchid was content with her fate, as twisted as that may sound.

On the other hand, Rose would only stare silently at the 'sleeping' Orchid. Without thought, without reasons, she simply stared.

"I take it that is your sister?"

However, Rose was not given much time before her moment of solitude was interrupted by Sicilia.

With no reason to lie, Rose told Sicilia the truth.

"Yes it is... what's left of her anyway... she..."

Halfway through speaking, Rose's voice broke and yet she was still able to recover.

"She... she threw herself off the cliff after I confronted her."

In response to Rose, Sicilia only nodded her head repeatedly before she replied.

"Alright then... then there is only one thing left for me to do."

"One thing left to do? What do you mean by tha-"

Bang!

Before Rose could even finish her sentence, Sicilia abruptly shot Orchid's dead body in the head, blood and guts painting the floor as a gaping hole revealed itself from Orchid's head, ruining her 'graceful' sleeping image.

"W-what the hell!?"

Rose couldn't help shouting in shock when she witnessed what just happened.

"W-w-why d-did you d-"

"Do that?"

Sicilia shrugged casually when she interrupted Rose.

As she returned her drawn pistol back into the inner pocket of her blazer, she spoke with a voice that was both cold and unapologetic, as if she couldn't care less about Rose's thoughts.

"It will look better in the report this way."

Sicilia didn't even bother to cast Rose as second glance as she left, leaving Rose to fall onto her knees.

Once she collapsed onto her knees, a single tear fell from Rose's eyes.

A single tear, that was the first of many.