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Tri held the shadows in close and took one last look around as he teleported all three of them exactly one mile away, onto a grassy knoll covered in trees with only the ocean still in sight. He swayed but push himself to lower her to the ground, silently pulling the sword out of her chest and putting it down by her.

Only then did he rest his hand over his eyes, trying to hide the tears that were starting to fall despite trying not to. Regaining some control her looked back down at her before slamming his wings shut around himself as he remembered one of the times she was in the infirmary ..when he read her the story. Overlaid now with the dry blood on her face and the hole in her chest, he was shaking to tired and pained to care that he was doing so in front of Zaku. She was gone...and the last thing they spoke was when he rejected her help and then her heart attack. They had been over her exactly like this and now.. now she was gone.

Tri tried to shake him away without pulling his wings back but eventually stopped, not caring as he leaned against Zaku crying. He hadn't felt this much pain since Ama died and he saw his body after his trainer snuck him to the morgue against Mara's wishes. That time there had been nothing he could do but this time? He should have let her stay... should have been grateful.... they wouldn't have gotten into that fight and she wouldn't have had the heart attack or left SIU.

He didn't even feel anger, just sorrow as he realized he was at fault for starting her path in this direction, even if ultimately it was Haven who started everything. He kept losing her...and now he lost her completely wh-.... Ree.

Taking a deep breath he tried to pull away from Zaku as his thoughts turn to find out where he was, he didn't want another death and Hexxis knew where Ree was... what if he was dead too.

He kept his face turned downward as he tried to search for his phone frantically.

Tri wiped the tears from his eyes as he pulled up Hexxis number and just typed out a single message before sending, not even sure if it will reach him.

Tears slowly peppered the screen as he stared down waiting for an answer, hoping desperately for one. He started to put it back in his pocket so he could hide under his wings again when it vibrated. Just a single word answer that made him stare. A few more back and for text and he pocketed it, turning to stare at Hexxis as he tried to regain control. "R....Ree is coming " he muttered with some difficulty before he swallowed as he took down the slim pack he was wearing, avoiding Zaku's face as he pulled out the only jacket he packed for Belosh. It wasn't even close to the one he usually wore and that pained him even more as he laid it across her torso, hiding the wound. Next he pulled out a small pack of disinfectant wiped and started cleaning her face with intense focus, breaking down and getting up only to walk away once he was done, his wing just dragging behind him,

Tri stayed in sight, moving down the knoll as he stared toward the ocean. He had seen the burns at her neck ,over the faint discolorment of the collar she had worn for so long, and didn't have to guess from what those were from.

A dull feeling of outrage was forming as he thought over what she must have endured and for what? Him? Ree? Not him...they were willing to trade him for her ..Ree? Why? ...or was it just to torment her for the fun of it?

He made his hand into a fist at the last thought, then loosened it as he moved and rested heavily against a tree. Vengeance? Who would he have vengeance against? The person who did it? Who likely didn't even care one bit other than they were told to do it. Their boss....Haven.... the governments...humans and true races.

He wanted to protect ..but he couldn't even protect her or give her what she needed. He failed her and nothing he could do would change that now.

Tri lifted his hands to his face, he was crying again. He should....he should........he didn't know what he should do. She had to be buried, Kai was the closest to ask.....she never even knew him either.

She died thinking he hated her ...he never did, he just failed to be what she needed and just be there.



Ree blinked rapidly as darkness gave way to light and they reappeared at...at...he was not familiar with this place. Looking around sharply he quickly spotted Zaku staring at someone with brown hair at his feet and then Tri a little harder but further down below facing away from them. Making sure there were no more people around he moved to help Cordelia down if she hadn't sat down already.

"Thank you" he said softly to her as he checked the area once more before turning to go to Zaku and... Hexxis. He purposely did not look in Tri's direction as he approached, watching Zaku's face instead, the blank look on his tear strewn face and the deepening frown with stirred unwanted memories of someone else.

"Rest." He said quietly and moved to rest his hand on his shoulder in an almost friendly way before pulling it back and crouching by Hexxis, whether Zaku followed suit or not. Now wasn't the time to figure out why Tri and Zaku were traveling together and if Hexxis was wrong about Tri not being controlled he will fix that quickly.

"What happened?" He kept his voice soft as he started to look down Hexxis body. There was some irony to this, last time they had all been together like this
It was to rescue her. One side pitted against the other, now months later it was the opposite and she was dead. He should feel something...anything other than the hint of guilt that he did...he just felt dead as well.

Taking a better look it seems someone had tried to clean her face but the burn marks that had not been there in SIU were now very obvious.
---------------

He heard a voice.

Tri snapped his head up and turned sharply but not even the surge of fear that they were about to be attacked really broke through the grief that was settling. Instead of seeing people flying down or coming over the knoll he spotted an archangel kneeling down by Zaku. Ree? That couldn't be...but it did look like him. Compared to last time he looked almost starved or heading quickly to it. The wings were black with not hint of blue tips and there was some odd shimmer when he moved them and his hair...dyed the same color as his own. Two ornaments?

Tri blinked a few times to confirm he wasn't seeing things, before watching Ree with deep concern that broke through the grief momentarily. He obviously wasn't caring for himself but it couldn't be money, the other stashes had not been touched. Owned? He didn't see a collar but the clothing he was wearing didn't let him see.

Wiping his face as best that he could headed up toward them wondering also how he arrived so fast, at least he did before spotting Cordelia. He gave the doll meta a blank look before quickly looking away, he...just didn't care. He finally had the two people he had been looking all over Treterra for in one location and one was dead and the other one looked almost there. It was not supposed to be the way it happened.

Casting a quick glance at Zaku he tried to regain control of himself and almost failed seeing the pain there that echoed his own. If he had any doubts that Zaku cared for her however short then those were put to rest..for what it was worth.

Ree frowned as Zaku talked, reaching out to pull the jacket back and look at the wound. Her heart wasn't ripped out, good, yet impaled near her lungs? It must have taken her a long time to die and why? Did she do it or did someone else do it?

A flicker of light turned his gaze down at he reached automatically for the sword and stopped, fingers hovering over it as he stared for a spirit within the blade.

After a moment he silently checked her hands for anything she was holding but saw that those were clean too and a second jacket with traces of blood was throw nearby.

Silently he stood back up and faced Zaku when the muse started to apologize, biting back an instant reply. Instead he moved forward and lightly drapped his wings over the muse knowing he was reacting more to the memory of someone else than the person who was actually there. "You came to rescue her..something no one else was doing. " he said quietly then looked up at Tri who had stopped and was watching them with a look of dull confusion and grief.

Silently he lowered his wings and held very still. "Both of you did, no matter the path taken here she was being hounded heavily by Haven and Criel. " he sighed. "Eventually she would stumble..." he looked down to her body. "I helped her escape SIU, eventually called her...asked her to join me. Then just found the phone and her footsteps. " he looked up again. "I checked the numbers in the phone and the first one was Tri's ..the other.." he shook his head before focusing on Zaku. "So she was found at an outpost. Where is it located?" He asked quietly but his voice still held a hint of strength

-----

"You're not going" Tri said abruptly as he moved closer to them a hint of fear in his voice as he shook his head. "You lo-

"Do you want her spirit ,in the off chance she left one, to wander around here thinking you abandoned her?Thisis why I came " He interrupted harshly, his feathers slightly bristled as he held still.

"I know I look horrid but I'm still moving...i'm fine" he lowered his voice again, watching the shock expression on Tri's face. "I can see spirits now for some reason " he muttered holding still as he looked down at Hexxis, not mentioning the fact, that with how Hexxis was talking before, he doubted she had any reason to stay.

Tri watched him pained, moving closer even as Ree's body language portrayed his reluctance at being near him. That added to the pain of Hexxis loss as he stopped, looking lost for a moment and finally just lightly touching wing tips with the other archangel before pulling back and moving to Hexxis. Seems he didn't fail only her.

A spirit? Could he do what Ashral did? But in this case her body was very far gone...and most of the blood out of her as well. It ..no he couldn't hope...nor could he even tell Ree to stop because what if Hexxis did leave a spirit...a mane? A malice? He couldn't hope that for her ...

Tri looked at Zaku and said nothing for or against it, only getting up and just moving to Cordelia. " Zaku asks if you can hack into the camera feed of the facility and find a recording of what happened" his voice was dull, turning away before she could answer and heading back to Hexxis body, grabbing the COMMs he was still carrying in the pack and just tossing it at Ree.

Ree caught them silently, looking at Tri with an unreadable expression that faded to dull regret as he opened the COMMs and took two, tossing the second one to Zaku before taking wing, heading in the direction Zaku pointed...toward the ocean?