No Blood To Shed

My mother was a fragile woman, both in body and in mind. She was once a pianist, but her fame didn't last much long. Everything I know about her, I know through my father. So I can't tell if she really felt as he said she did. But he told me that she absolutely hated music.

Her father was a strict man, who prohibited her from participating in any games that other children of her time played. After all, as a pianist, she had to protect her hands at all cost. I always imagined her as a princess locked up in a tower. As a result of her upbringing, she grew up to be very weak. Even though she was a great pianist, a world that was so rife with war didn't seem to have much need for her. And though she came from a family of healers, since she didn't learn much of it in her youth, she wasn't able to carry on with her family's profession either.

I always wondered why my grandfather, her father, had forced her to play music instead. My father had no better answer for it than I did. It still remains a mystery to me after all this time. As for my mother, most of her I remember, is her lying in bed, gazing out her window into our flower garden. How she managed to birth the five of us is beyond me, but she seemed to care little for us. She was, in short, a contemptible woman. Her life had left her bitter and her death was all the more pitiful because she never really got to live.

When I was about to leave Doctor alone, the noise outside hastened my return. As Doctor herself wasn't one to leave, she asked me to go check things out in her stead. I hurried outside, crossing the dark corridor without waiting. As soon as I opened the door leading outside, I found the two brothers, Lubbock and Serena standing. They were having an argument with some men, the ones from the hostile party.

The argument seemed to be far too heated and one of the men had a shotgun on him. It was an old thing, probably military made. It seemed too out of place in a place like Shamballa but there it was. The man seemed to be trembling with excitement as he spouted off things that I couldn't make out in the heat of the moment.

As soon as I appeared outside, the man lifted his shotgun and pointed it toward me. The other men tried to calm him down too but he was just far too gone. Things happened faster than I'd expected.

Before I knew it, the sound of his shotgun echoed in the skies of Shamballa. I stood wide-eyed, frozen to my place as beads of sweat rolled down the side of my face.

"...top this...plea..."

The broken words of the figure in front of me escaped even after the bullet had pierced into the skull. The men pinned down the shooter.

"The hell are you doing?! You can't hurt her! You insolent fool", only after the bullet had escaped his gun, were there attempts to stop him made.

Meanwhile, I stood in the shadow of a frail figure.

"Serena", her name barely escaped my lips before she came crashing down. We hurried towards her and I cradled her in my arms to shield her fall. As I turned her face towards me to look at the damage that's been done, I felt my spirit leave me for a minute. The top half of her face was blown off, shredded to pieces and if she wasn't what she was, it'd have been grueling to look at it.

There wasn't a single drop of blood that left her body. I looked at Serena's half blown face in utter surprise, unable to really believe what I was seeing. Some electrical sparks escaped her skull here and there and some wires mingled to cause a little smoke. One of her eyes was dangling lose on a side, held only by a thin wire that ran back into her skull. She was silent but her lips were moving, albeit a lot slower than usual.

At first, I was dumbfounded but then I looked up to find Mills and Neil collecting pieces of her face that were blown away. They seemed to find it absolutely normal that such a thing should be done. Then I looked at Lubbock who was standing aside, indifferent to most of the happenings around us, but constantly staring at Serena, as if holding back a laughter.

I held her body tightly, it was still warm so I was thinking I may be imagining things but that wasn't the case. Just then I heard Doctor wheel up behind me. I slowly turned my head to look over my shoulder. She seemed to wear a stoic expression but I could tell she was only putting that face on. I bet this isn't what she wanted to see after getting out after a whole eternity. She then looked at Lubbock who returned her a cold look and then looked over at the men.

One of them noticed her and shrieked, falling back on the ground and crawling back as if he'd seen a monster.

"Doctor!", he was losing his wits.

The others noticed her too and were horror struck.

"I'm sorry! Please forgive me! It wasn't me, I swear! It wasn't me!"

The man went on begging and pleading with her but she was as tightlipped as a statue.

"Seraph, could you bring her 'round?"

She barely looked at me before turning her wheel chair around and disappearing back into her underground abode. My legs were shaky but I pulled myself up and carried her. Mills and Neil handed me the pieces they'd gathered. I wondered if they were any use at all. I held Serena tightly, as if still hoping to find a shred of life in her. It wasn't there yet, like it was supposed to. I then turned around and followed Doctor.