I gently closed my father's eyes and held his face, pressing my forehead against his. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." I murmured, my voice turning brittle as my tears stained my cheeks. "It should've been me, It should've been me..." I rocked his body to and fro in small waves. I could've sworn I felt him here with me, but the moment vanished into a thin whisper.

And Nicolás Del Luna's soul left this world quietly.

The trees rustled nearby. I snapped my gaze and lifted my hand. The water shortly rippled.

Dilara and Rose rushed out in disheveled states, covered in soot and blood from head to toe. Breathless and mildly wounded. No burns but several cuts were marked on their faces. At least they survived. I dropped my hand into the water. It didn't take long for them to register what they saw. Rose pressed her hand over her mouth as she saw my father. Dilara's gaze shifted between Lucas' floating corpse and my father.

She cautiously asked. "Is he?"

I looked down at my father, his eyes closed. People also close their eyes when they're sleeping. I tried to swallow that lie and it rose. "He's dead." I choked as another heavy tear raced down my chin.

There is a venom in my throat licking at my cords, demanding to spit out what pains inside of me. I restrained myself andit burned. I didn't want to scream. I didn't want his death to come true officially. I just found him. How could I ever let him go? I bit my tongue.

Dilara took a couple of steps forward. "Nora, I'm so sorry for your loss." she then, swallowed. "But we need to leave. You heard Lucas, he has two hundred and fifty marvos and this was only half of them. The rest are headed their way and we are not enough to stop them." I closed my eyes.

I didn't want to think about the marvos or face them. Could the world not spin for a moment? I opened my eyes, lifting my gaze at the Moon. Her brilliance milked down at the river's ebb and flow. She shines despite her loss. She looked alone up there. The clouds slowly gathered around her again, her presence concealed. No more coddling, she said.

Off into the distance, a stampede of marvos could be heard. They truly came to kill my father—all two hundred and fifty of them.

"Nora," Dilara firmly pressed.

I couldn't leave, at least not yet. "My father," I rasped, looking at her. "He needs to be properly buried." She knew I would not leave him. They have to pry him from my dead cold hands. She opened her mouth, but she then turned her gaze to the chorus of marching warlocks and witches gaining closer to us. Besides, Dilara, there was only one person I could trust and count on.

I uttered his name hoping he didn't hear me at all. Phantom winds rustled the trees and grazed over the river into silence. Before he arrived, he beckoned the shadows and came out of the darkest corners and holes. They slithered impatiently, ready to welcome their master. The air was then layered with the smoke of Hell's fire, thickly.

My nose wrinkled. "Your Majesty," Rose announced, startled.

I could not look at him yet.

Hans landed with a loud thud, close enough to Dilara that she stumbled a few paces back. He tucked his black wings. She was surprised to see him, but I was not. Wherever Grimm went, Hans would not be far behind. The demon gave Dilara a quick look, and his jaw tightened. He turned and stared ahead where Grimm stood on the other side, opposite of him.

"Raven..." Grimm muttered as his eyes assessed the disaster. When his gaze met mine, a horrid of emotions flickered through him. Pain, guilt, fear, until he settled for anger. He took one step forward with a determination I'd never seen on him before.

I pulled my father's body closer to me, "Don't." The water rippled in response.

He halted his steps. "Get out of the water, Nora. Or I'll drag you out." I shook my head.

His eyes became livid and his pulsing blackened veins awoke. "Haven't you hurt yourself enough!" he cried in frustration.

It would never be enough. Not until the day I died. But I needed to know if my father's soul would ever reach home. In his last moments, he spoke of my mother and his family. I needed to know if he would ever make it to them. Nicolás Del Luna was not a perfect person, and there are things he has done that would make Hell want him. And I couldn't let Grimm guide him there. I won't let a single flame touch his soul.

Nicolás Del Luna must go home.

I finally said. "Did you meet him?" I croaked. "Did you meet my father's soul?"

Grimm's expression then became unreadable—his comfort mask. "Yes, I did," he admitted. "He walks alone." My heart twists.

A sudden strain of pain and bitterness courses through me, ancient and new grudges grasp my throat. The river heaved as it drank my fury, the ripples were rising with a newfound temper. Everyone moved forward. "No!" I gasped. "Don't come any closer." They stopped their movements.

Grimm inhaled sharply, then exhaled. "You must come out." He slowly started walking towards me again, and I turned away hiding my father's body. "No," I begged, as my voice broke like glass. "He is mine. He is mine. He is my father." With a shaky hand, I brush my father's hair back.

Dilara spoke quietly. "He is gone, Nora." I looked at her teary gaze. Rose then uttered. "But you're no less than what you are now. You're his daughter. His breath still lives through you."

It had been only a few days since I said those words to her. And now I must swallow them.

I looked back at Grimm. "You can have his soul, but please don't take his body away from me." His gaze softened and hurt. "He's mine to take care of." My tears fell uncontrollably. "I'm his daughter and I must bury him." I belonged in the water, and my father belonged in the grave.

He swore. "I would never take that away from you, raven. He is yours." His starless eyes never left mine, even as his feet dipped into the river. "Come and bury him," he said.

Hans' wing flared as his eyes shifted from cobalt blue to blood red, looking beyond the forest. "They're getting closer," he warned. Dilara rolled her wrists as she prepared herself for another fight. I knew she was exhausted, and Rose was too. I preferred they saved whatever energy they had left to run. It was time to end this night.

"Walk him home." I implored. "Take him to my mother, his family." I swallowed. "Please, don't leave him alone in the dark. Please don't make him walk forever. I'll walk it for him. But please, take him home." The Capturer of Souls remains quiet as he glances at my father.

Rapid and thundering footsteps with flickers of a vibrant orange marched through the darkness.

I moved closer to Grimm and lowered my head pressing it against my father's brow. Charred and asleep he lay. The pain has left him. "Tell him, I'm going to be okay. I will survive." I've lived without him before, I can do it again.

I lifted my head, slipping my hands from underneath him. As if my body and this water were tethered, the stream maneuvered itself carrying the dead body of my father with the gentlest care. The Moon shone her light once more on her child, a farewell kiss. Dilara kneeled on the edge of the river and pulled his body out with the help of Hans.

"Protect him," I said, hoarsely. "Protect yourselves." Hans gave me a curt nod. Rose took a painful gulp.

Dilara protested. "What about you? Who will protect you? You're still injured. You can't face them all alone. Let me stay with you." she insisted. She couldn't stay for this part. She would not survive it if she did. And I made a promise I would take her home. She still has a chance to be with them.

"Go," I ordered, raising my voice. "Protect yourselves. Protect my father's body." They slightly flinched. Dilara tried to mask her hurt. Rose pulled her hand roughly until she managed to completely turn her body and sprint into the heavily dark woods.

The demon unfurled his vast black wings. "Watch them, please," I said before he left.

Hans tilted his head back at the sky. "You're not so bad," he muttered, then glanced at me. "May your tears be avenged, Crier of Souls." He soared into the sky with my father's body and disappeared into the night.

Grimm and I were left alone, standing waist-deep in the river. Yet, his gaze was on my hands. He never missed anything about me, did he? He blinked as shouts of commands were coming my way, and smoke was filling up the air again. The unsatisfied rage in my throat, clawed and scratched to be released. It couldn't be caged for much longer.

"Come with me," he grabbed my arm. "Tell him yourself."

The river viciously moved around him, splashing against him as they tried to push him away. He would not leave unless I told him. I knew this was his way of pleading with me not to fight. But he knew I had to hurt. It's how I breathe in this world. "The Moon cannot cry and I must do it for her." I rasped.

And this river will be my companion for the rest of the night.

Grimm brushed his knuckles against my cheek. I closed my eyes.

"I will be back," he promised.

I opened them. "Of course, you will," I said as my head turned towards the direction of the red flames. "There will be more souls for you to collect. We can't have them wandering in the dark." I began to move away. My fingertips grazed the water as a surge of ripples rose.

The wind then blew softly. I glanced back at my shadow, thin and dark. The Capturer of Souls was gone and the Moon took this opportunity to blaze herself upon me, her reflection glimmered across the river as thousands of tiny crystals emerged. White and bright. Something then cold and violent was revived in my chest. The first witches and warlocks appeared and stopped in the gravel. All of their palms were brimming with fire or some unknown power.

Confused expressions settled on their faces. They had no idea who I was, yet.

I announced. "The man you're looking for is dead." Murmurs passed amongst them.

"Nicolás Del Luna is dead." I repeated.

Their eyes went wide, but suspicious looks were thrown at each other until a copper-haired witch stepped forward. "Did you kill him?" She eyed me up and down with uncertainty and disdain. My nose started twitching. "If you did, show us his body." she insisted.

"Why?" My voice sounds strained.

She tilts her head sideways. "We need confirmation, marvo." Then another behind her shouted. "And to hang his fucking corpse!" A chorus of cheers followed after. Flames rose higher in excitement. The air thickened. It was all so suffocating.

Hang his corpse, the ill spirit mocked.

The same warlock that wanted my father's body pushed his way forward. "You're not laughing, marvo, nor confirming the kill." his eyes squinted. "Hold on. I don't recognize you. Who do you belong to? What is your family name, witch?"

A collective uneasiness settled in them as they tried to figure out who I was.

The ill spirit gripped my neck with her phantom fingers, digging into them. "Look at them, Nora. What do you see? What do you hear?" Their deaths, I answered.

"What did you say?" The coppered-haired witch questioned.

I lifted my left hand from the water and dragged it down my face as ash and blood washed. Droplets come down my chin. I turned my head, showing my cheekbone—tres lunares, tres besos—a child of the Moon. The power in their palms slightly dimmed.

A different warlock said. "The rumors are true then, the child of Nicolás Del Luna is alive." I rolled my head back as the Moon illuminated herself upon me. I inhaled sharply, feeling an intensity surging in my palms. My head snapped back down.

"But you're—you're supposed to be dead! The High Priestess killed you." The previous warlock stuttered.

My voice split into a double-edge knife, half dead half alive. "And now I'm the revenant monster you must face." I summoned a raging whirlpool as it shadowed over my body.

"Retreat!" Someone shouted.

Not everyone listened, and not everyone was fast.

Some drew an invisibility shield and others aimed their fire. But what good could a tiresome flame do against the tempered mouth of the sea? Drown. 

A forceful hold took over my hands, stiffening them—and the water became whatever my body felt. The whirlpool transformed into a storm of icicles.

 Mayhem erupted.

 They struck everyone and everywhere they could, ruthlessly. It pierced through a warlock's eye, then another witch was killed by an icicle lodging itself deep into their throat, and there was a warlock that was running away only to be impaled through his back and directly stabbed his heart. His body would remain there until sunrise. There was nothing left unscathed. Frost touched their eyes, spines, hearts, throats, heads, and precious organs.

Scream after scream, I marched forward until I stepped on the ground and continued a trail of ice and terror. They resembled rats, scrambling away into the dark as I got closer. I rose the river's water more as it reshaped itself. Cold and unbent my heart turned. I bent and twisted my fingers, directing each icicle at every witch and warlock near me. But I wasn't going to let them get away. "You can hide in the dark but forget the Moon has risen tonight! She'll show me where you are and when she does, I'm going to kill you all! You fucking cowards!" I swore.

My eyes then fixated on a warlock, limping away as he tried to hide in the forest. The same warlock that wanted to hang my father's corpse like a prize. My ears drummed. He looked over his shoulder, his amber eyes glistening. "Please, I have a son. He is waiting for me to come home," he begged as he dropped to his knees.

I halted my steps. "Do you know how long I waited for my father to come home?" he shook his head rapidly. "Years until I believed he was dead. Then one day he appeared, and I finally met him. I found out why he never came home."

I swallowed hard. "But you all chased him to his death and my father is never coming home. I'm never going home. You took that away from me. And now, you are begging me to let you go home when you had wanted my father's corpse to be hung and be seen as a hero." An icy glaze overcame me, the dripping near my fingers slid underneath my palm becoming frozen and sharp.

"I shouldn't have said that. Please, please, let me go home to my little boy." He made another attempt to seek my compassion, but that was my mistake for making him believe I had any.

"But you said it anyway." I then demanded. "How old is your son?"

"Eleven." he gulped. "Why?"

My fingers curled at the icicle with conviction. "He'll live with the memory of what you looked like before you left him." His brows knitted. "What?" his eyes widened. "No, please—"

The icicle swiftly pierced into the warlock's forehead before he could release his breath. But that did not satisfy my wrath. I conjured another icicle and marched to his corpse, I gripped his chin and struck his left eye. I pulled it out as blood splattered across my face. I struck again. This time a bone cracked. I lifted my icicle and did it again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Even as his face became unrecognizable I could not stop. It was not enough. It was not enough. It was not—

A vicious rapid wind pulled my legs from behind. My fingers tried to claw into anything but only grabbed a piece of the warlock's flesh.

I turned to summon the water, "Oigheardheascadh! Oigheardheascadh!" I called.

A sharp numbing feeling honed into my palm once more. I slammed it into the dirt as hard as I could. Still, theysucceeded in dragging me into the dark forest. The river was no longer in my sight. My stomach and knees scraped against the ground, collecting bruises all over my body. Branches tore through my clothes, exposing my skin. My head then knocked into something solid and I felt the icicle slip out of my grasp.

My vision blurred.

The phantom winds finally ceased. I had been sprawled in the dark.

"I got her!" A witch called out.

I rolled myself over as fresh blood trickled over my eyes. I tried raising my fingers to the night sky, she had to be up there somewhere.

Another warlock replied. "What the hell are you waiting for? Finish her!" My lungs punctured. I kicked my legs out.

The Moon then violently descended with a radiance of silver instead of blue, blinding the entirety of the forest. It felt as if I had been submerged in ice. Strangely, memories of my mother, Matias, Refugio, and my father arose in tidal waves. Their laughs smiles, and voices that were once vivid in my mind were becoming mute as they drifted further into the deep end. I tried to go to them. Mo stór...Mati...Ojos de mi corazón...Pequeña...Survive...

I pressed my fingers tightly around my neck trying to force the air out. Come back to me. Come back to me. Come back. Choked sobs arose. My eyes feverishly burned.

Awake Banshee!

Awake Banshee!

I grinded my teeth as ragged breaths came, and for less than a second blood hazed my vision like a fog then my heart stopped—an unearthly scream tore from my lips and the winds beckoned, carrying it off like a song. The stars trembled, fading into the dark. The soiled ground answered the same echoing a destructive quiver. Every existence of life in this forest was held by my breath, unspared and convulsing. A scatter of cries and pleas came from everywhere.

But my tears would be paid with blood.

When I stopped screaming it resounded throughout the forest like a never-ending nightmare. Trees were now torches and were spreading themselves rapidly. The witches and warlocks that hid here lay on the ground in their last moments, spasming and groaning. Still, it was insufficient. I stood up and clutched my right shoulder, walking under the night's gaze.

Wail Banshee!

And so I did.

I wailed and wailed every unmourned loss in my heart, as deep as the cut went.

The world would not go unpunished so long I breathed. For every tear that left my eyes, someone would die for it. "Are you listening!" I wept as I stumbled through the forest until I walked into an empty street. "I'm going to kill you all!" I tormented the night till he arrived.

I paused.

He stood on the other end of the street like a shadow. Tall and quiet. The wind whipped, and my torn veil was pushed back as the nip of my ears was revealed. Something shifted in the air. And the night sky released a sigh. The first snowflake brushed my nose. He started moving forward. The snow came down harder like a sea of white feathers. My feet wobbled towards him.

I stretched a raw hand—my knees buckled, and before I hit the pavement, his arm came around my waist and pressed a hand at the back of my neck.

His eyes widened as his breath hitched. "Did he make it?" I croaked.

Snowflakes quietly melted in his inked hair. "He is home, Nora." his throat worked. "Your father is home, and he is with your family." My chin trembled. I owed him, and he would need something other than his wings.

With the very little strength I had, I pulled my arms around his neck and buried myself there. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." My voice became small. "How I do—how do I repay—"

He tugged me closer. "Cry, and I'll hold you. Everything else can wait. Nobody is coming. Nothing will harm you." he repeated. "Nobody is coming." And I collapsed against his body as painful sobs escaped my throat.

Grimm softly pressed a kiss on my eyelid. He believed he was a pillar. But he wasn't stone. He was someone stronger than stone. Grimm holds the sky for me, day and night. After tonight, I never wanted to leave his arms.

But the dead came crawling and needed to be tended.