The high-pitched sound blew the rose bushes apart! Chunks fell on all sides, littering the floor.
Marcelo dodged as a thick piece of the bush nearly fell on him. "Your protection is gone, fall to me." Marcelo bent down to pick up his sword.
Once the scream ended, Alessandra retrieved her blade. Again she placed the sword in front of herself. "I cannot fall yet."
"Suit yourself," Marcelo spoke, as he lunged at her.
Alessandra parried Marcelo's blow.
In lightning-like strikes, they clashed, touching their blades together in mid-air, on the floor, and on the ceiling. The sounds of metal slapping together filled both of their ears. Sparks flew as the battle became heated.
Both Alessandra and Marcelo bore wounds. Blood coated the area, splatting on everything.
They touched the floor, facing each other. Both Alessandra's and Marcelo's clothes were wrecked. Her flowing white dress laid in tatters. His black shirt lay in ruins, barely clinging to him.
Alessandra breathed in and out.
Marcelo mimicked her state for a few seconds. He spoke while chuckling, "You are a better fighter than your brothers were."
"They wanted you to recognize their efforts to protect your favorite. They wanted your affection, if even for a moment. You may not see it now, but they loved you more than you loved them." Alessandra's eyebrows went upward. Her forehead had three creases.
"A noble sentiment I am sure." Marcelo advanced toward Alessandra. "Perhaps it is a sentiment you share, as well. If it is, you should die and give your brother up."
Alessandra took a step back every time Marcelo stepped toward her. Her weak hands clenched the sword tighter. She shook her head. "My sentiments remain with my younger brother. He would not survive you. I am his protector."
Marcelo suddenly dropped his sword as he lunged at her, his fangs bared.
Alessandra dropped her weapon and turned, running away.
Marcelo grabbed her arm with an inescapable grip.
Alessandra squeezed her eyes shut as her lips twitched. She then glanced at his hand.
Marcelo increased his strength.
Alessandra's bone broke, shattering. Her eyes widened. "AHHHH! My arm, my arm!" she screamed.
Marcelo took that moment and bit her neck, ripping the skin as he pulled away.
Alessandra fell to the floor, blood squirting out. She raised her unbroken arm and rested it against her wounded neck. "I have a gift to give you." Alessandra's voice was rasped. She shook, knowing her end was near.
Marcelo chuckled, "Fine, I will accept this gift."
"I have one request, pick me up and spin me around like you did when I was a child." Alessandra's vision slowly faded. As she started to fall forward, her hand slipped from its position on her neck.
Marcelo grabbed Alessandra by her unbroken arm. He then roughly swung her up into the air. Marcelo held out both of his arms, catching her. Once Alessandra rested against his arms, he spun.
A memory floated through his mind with Alessandra at the age of seven. Her long blonde wavy hair trailed behind her; her eyes big, broad and blue as she ran up to him. Alessandra held her arms wide open.
Marcelo remembered bending down and swooping her into his arms.
"Papa, you will never believe it."
He remembered her speaking, then the memory suddenly cut off, becoming fuzzy.
The memory shifted into a white background. A grey figure, sitting in a chair and holding a sword, appeared.
"Kill her!" the figure commanded.
Marcelo could feel himself being dragged into the white area. His hazy mind felt a deep fog settle in. Marcelo's physical form fell to his knees, still holding Alessandra.
A mental form of him developed. He appeared in his mind constricted in chains. The air became hard to breathe. The chains tightened their hold on him.
The grey figure shook his head. "Kill her and have no meaningful attachments in this world." The grey figure's voice sounded diluted and full of static.
Marcelo mentally fell over as the chains tightened. "She is already dying," he rasped.
"End this now and then slay him!" The grey figure walked toward Marcelo with his sword in hand. "Obey me!"
"Papa," Alessandra spoke as she curled close to his chest. After a few seconds, she uncurled herself and raised her top half until her eyes met his. She noticed that his eyes appeared glazed over. Alessandra gritted her teeth, closing her eyes. "Roses!" After she spoke, a rose appeared, growing down her unbroken arm. A bud bloomed at her palm again. Alessandra touched the bloom to Marcelo's chin. "I will drag whatever is in you to its death with me."
The bloom glowed brightly. The shining bud drifted up the side of Marcelo's face, cradling his head. The bud of the rose dropped a tear of water onto his hair. Alessandra closed her eyes, allowing her body to fall lax. She mentally left her body entering her father's mind.
Alessandra appeared in the white area in Marcelo's mind. She glanced over to the chained Marcelo. "Hello, Papa," Alessandra greeted him.
The grey figure stopped advancing toward Marcelo.
Marcelo noticed the appearance of his daughter. He noticed the skin that hung off the side of her neck, and the wounds that decorated her body. His eyes shattered! Did I do that, he thought. Marcelo tried to lift his body up, but the chains forced him back down. He tried again and again, but each time the chains grew heavier.
"Who are you?" Alessandra questioned the grey figure.
"It matters not who I am, but you may call me Grey, the owner of your parent," he responded as he gazed at her.
Alessandra sneered at the figure. "You are going with me to my grave." Her unbroken arm with the rose illuminated. The glow changed to an unearthly blue hue.
"I shall end you myself!" Grey charged toward Alessandra.
Marcelo scratched at the white floor creating gouges in the tiles. He growled, snarled and begged. The chains finally loosened. He rushed to put himself in between Alessandra and Grey.
Grey, unable to see the quick interference, used his sword and stabbed Marcelo.
Alessandra's eyes widened.
"No, no!" Grey chanted. With a flick of his wrist, he sent Marcelo out of his mind.
Marcelo clenched his right side. The puncture stung as blood seeped down his side. He gasped as he looked down. Alessandra never left his arms. Marcelo buried his face in her hair as he slowly lowered her to the floor.
"You foul creature, look at what you made me do." Grey snarled, raising up his blade.
Alessandra's rose leaped from her arm and wrapped around Grey. Thorns punctured the prominent figure. The bud of the rose snaked up Grey's face.
"This hurts," Grey choked out. The rose constricted tighter and tighter. The grey figure dropped black blood all over the white floor. Finally, the snapping of body parts, one at a time, echoed within the area. "This isn't over," he choked out.
Alessandra walked over to Grey. She attached herself to the thorny bush.
"What are you doing," Grey asked her, shaking.
"I will be a seal. My body will become ash, but my spirit will coil around you, ending your influence." The branches of the rose bush coiled around Alessandra, pushing its thorns into her. "Ahh!" she screamed as the branches enveloped her. The branches constricted faster on her mental self.
The branches pulled tighter and tighter imploding her. Alessandra's body exploded, showering the floor with golden-blond hair.
"No, no! Grey tried reaching and tearing at the branches. They soon swallowed him whole. The branches themselves then fell apart, leaving only traces of the mental Alessandra behind.
Alessandra's body shuddered as she briefly returned to her physical form. She reached her unbroken arm up. Her hand clenched the back of Marcelo's hair.
Marcelo lifted his head. "Alessandra," he spoke mournfully.
"You are now free." Alessandra's eyes opened and her hand fell.
Marcelo stood up, careful not to drop her. He spun her around.
"Before I depart, your youngest I have turned into a child. He will age again. He is fleeing to Norfolk. He wanted to fight. I would not allow it. Find him." Alessandra suddenly burst into ash. The grey specs floated in the air and slowly drifted down.
Marcelo ran his hands through the air catching as much ash as he could. "Always the wise one." He walked toward the double-doors leaving behind her memory, clenching a handful of ash.