Chris's Chronicles Book 3: Part 9:
War Takes its Toll...
2021- Arizona
"Well, this is it. The final fight between the last two Immortals. I always told you that you were good enough to make it here." Chris said as she stood looking out over the pier.
"Chris, I don't want to fight you. I can't."
"You have to. This is what Duncan and I have trained you for. This is what we have all been trained for. You knew this day would come eventually."
"But Chris..."
"No buts, now fight." She said as she slashed her opponent across the chest. Her next attack was blocked and she took a cut across her leg.
"I don't understand why though? What's the whole purpose of this?"
"The purpose is to have the power of all Immortals and to be the one. Do you not remember There Can Be Only One? It has always been a part of you, it is always been who you are. Now stop talking and let us get this over with. I do not like it anymore than you. I wish we did not have to do this as well, but there is nothing that can be done about it."
The fight continued for awhile and finally Chris was down on the ground with a sword at her neck. "I'm so sorry Chris. I don't want to do this." She hesitated for a moment, and with one final swing of her sword, the Game was over.
"I'm sorry Chris.... I don't want to do this... I'm sorry!... I don't..."
"Cat?" Chris said as she sat on the bed next to Cat and placed her hand on her back. Chris had been awaken to Cat screaming and came to find out what was wrong.
Cat shot straight up into bed and saw Chris. "Oh God, Chris, I am so sorry." She said as she hugged her and held onto her tightly.
Chris wiped the tears from her face and hugged back. "Another bad dream?" Cat nodded. Chris had spent many nights since the war had broken out in Cat's room, reassuring her after a bad dream. "The usual?"
Cat shook her head as she tried to regain her composure. "I don't remember what this one was. Chris I'm scared."
"It is ok to be scared. I am too."
"We're not suppose to be afraid. For God's sake Chris I'm forty years old, I shouldn't be scared."
"I'm 375 and you do not think I get scared? Want me to make you something to drink to help you get back to sleep?" Cat nodded. "I will be right back ok. If you need me, just holler." She said as she went downstairs to the kitchen. After she took Cat her drink, she stayed by her side until she fell back asleep. Luckily Cat had only one bad dream a night.
The next morning, Chris woke up to grunts above her. She rolled over and saw the clock read 6am on a Saturday. No doubt it was Cat working out her frustrations of her dream in the dojo Will had converted in the attic. Chris rolled out of bed and headed upstairs. Cat was indeed working out, going through the Kata. "Good morning Cat."
Cat turned and smiled. "I feel better now. I'm sorry about last night." She said as she went to Chris and hugged her.
"It is ok, but did you have to get up so early? The sun is barely up and today is Saturday. You know how I like to sleep in."
"I'm sorry, I just wanted to blow off some steam. Oh, and Mary's coming over later this afternoon."
"Well if she does before I wake up again, try to keep it quiet. And could you feed the horses later. I would do it now, but I am too tired." Cat nodded and crossed over to the punching bag. "Try to keep it down yourself. You forget I am right below you."
Chris went back to her room and crawled back into bed. She looked on her nightstand and there was a picture of her and Joe that Cat had taken a few summers before she and Joe broke up. She was sitting on the railing of the porch and Joe was standing behind her with her arms wrapped around her waist and his head on her shoulder. That was when they were happy together. When Joe still looked young enough to pass as her boyfriend even though he his hair and beard aged him prematurely. He was still sexy. She sighed and turned over wondering why she had not heard or tried to contact him since the day at his place. She tried there a few months after she left, but was told he no longer worked there and he had moved somewhere without leaving a forwarding number or address. "I miss you Joe." She said as she closed her eyes and fell back asleep.
"Cat, are you ever going to feed the horses, or do I have to do it myself?" Chris asked Cat a few hours later. She had dreamed of her nights she had spent with Joe and when she woke up, she showered and put a tank top and cutoff shorts and fixed lunch for her and Cat. When she went to find Cat, she found her still working out in the dojo.
"I'll do it when I'm done."
"You said that this morning."
"I have a lot of stress to get out of me and you know this is the only way I can relieve stress."
"Fine. I will go and feed the horses." Chris said as she walked out of her farm house and went to the stables. She went into the feed closet and brought out the wheelbarrow of food and fed the horses in the stalls. When she was done there, she headed out to the pasture to feed the horses there. She was about to scatter some food around the fence when she hit something buried in the food with the shovel.
A few minutes after Chris went to feed the horses, Cat was brought out of her trance by an explosion and the scream of her teacher. Cat ran outside just in time to see the power of her teacher's Quickening escape her. "Chris!" Cat started to run, but the power hit her with such force she couldn't move. She tried to scream, but nothing came out.
When Cat was able to regain her composure after the Quickening, she wondered what had happened and who had done it. There had been no buzz, so it couldn't have been another Immortal, so that left a mortal. Her suspicion was confirmed when she reached Chris and saw bomb fragment lodged in her teacher's body. An Immortal would never stoop so low now, they would at least have given Chris a fair fight.
Cat kneeled by her teacher and cried. Not only were there tears of anger and hurt, but tears of guilt. She should have been the one lying on the ground headless, not Chris. "Oh God Chris, I'm so sorry. Oh God!" she cried as she rocked back and forth on the ground with the headless body in her lap.
An hour later, Mary arrived to find Cat in the field holding something and rocking back and forth. She could hear her crying and saw her holding something, but she had no idea what. When she approached, she saw Chris's head next to Cat.
Mary shook her head in disbelief. "No, it can't be. It can't be Chris. Cat would never have..."
Cat looked up at the woman who she use to baby-sit so long ago. "I didn't... I don't know..." she tried to say but it was so low she couldn't be heard. Mary crossed over and hugged Cat.
"How?"
Cat shook her head. "I don't know. She came out to feed the horses and I heard an explosion. There was no buzz or anything. It's all my fault. I should've been..."
"No Cat, it's not your fault." she said as she sat next to her. "You didn't take her head."
"No, but I was suppose to feed the horses. I should be the one lying here not Chris."
Mary helped her up. "Come on, let's go inside. You're not safe out here." Cat shook her head. "Cat please. We can figure this out inside. We need to get you to safety."
Cat reluctantly gave in and walked into the ranch. Nothing seemed the same. "I don't know what to do? It's all because of this damn war. That's what killed her. That's what should've killed me not her." She said as she laid down on the couch.
Mary pulled a blanket over her as she laid down and sat on the couch next to her. "Should we take her to Mexico? Bury her next to Will?" Cat nodded too exhausted from both the after effects of the Quickening and from being so upset to do anything else. "I'll call mom and let her know, you just get some rest. It's not your fault Cat, there was nothing you could do."
Cat shook her head and closed her eyes. Mary noticed a lone tear roll down her Cat's face, and she too started to cry. She had lost her first subject, and one she and the rest of those that knew her would deeply miss.