"Man, that was fun!" Alex said as he jumped off the head and helped Malachi up.
"Thanks for the help, Alex !" Malachi said as he pulled Alex to his feet, his breath was for air a little as a drop of sweat ran down his face.
"So what are you doing here?" Malachi asked as he stared at Alex, waiting for an answer.
"Well, I saw my best friend fight a monster on the news, and I thought it would be fun! But enough about me, what about you?" Alex said as he returned the question to Malachi.
"Same reason, but I came to help my friend instead of having fun," Malachi said as he emphasised the word fun.
"Come on, don't be like that. I was joking around. I also came here to help Tristan!"Alex said as he placed his arm around Malachi's shoulder.
"Right now we need to find him, you saw what happened to him before the News cameras went off!" Malachi said as the air turned tense, his worry for Tristan grew as he remembered him being stabbed before the cameras went off.
"Wait, but can't he regenerate?" Alex asked as he was confused.
"Normal attacks, dismemberment, dislocation, or anything else as long as his core, which is intact," Malachi explains with a serious expression.
"And by core, you mean heart, right?" Alex says.
"I don't know, I've never seen anyone with that kind of skill before." Malachi, as the thought of his friend being hurt weighed heavily on him.
Rimera, Galaxy, Riot, and the other council members arrived at the scene as they had already sent the civilians somewhere safe.
"Huh, why are two of you here? Where's Tristan!" Galaxy asked as her tone was mixed with confusion and anxiety.
"Calm down, galaxy. He's probably resting." Rimera said as she eased Galaxy's worry, indicating that he was alright, but the expression on Alex and Malachi's faces said otherwise.
"What happened while we were helping the others!" Rimera asked as she began to have doubts about Tristan's safety.
"When Tristan was fighting the beast on the news, a family was about to be hit by one of the griffins' attacks, but luckily they didn't get hurt because Tristan was there…."Malachi said in a melancholic tone.
"And Tristan?" Riot asked with a stern expression, as everyone waited for an answer, but Malachi didn't want to say it; he was too weak to say such sad news.
"The attack that was supposed to hit the family struck Tristan instead," Alex said as he helped Malachi convey the news.
"So he should be fine… right!, right!, why won't you answer!" Lenora nervously yelled as she pushed the others in her way. She stepped in front of Malachi, demanding an answer.
Malachi and Alex, who were also demons from royalty, recognised Lenora instantly and bowed in respect.
"Lady Lenora, what brings you to such a place?" Malachi asked as he tried to divert the topic, not wanting to touch the matter anymore.
"I was here for the gala that all royalties and nobles were invited to, an event both of you were supposed to attend tonight!" Lenora said as she glared at them with a serious tone, emphasising her statement.
"Please pardon my incompetence for not fulfilling our duty as a royal I will make sure to attend any gathering issued in the future," Malachi said as he bowed in respect not wanting to anger her more, it wasn't like he and Alex had respect or fear for her but as a member of royalty they would not want to begin or start political conflict between the two family, after all they were currently schooling her families nation.
"Right now, I don't care about your half-baked promises. What I want to know now is what became of Tristan." Lenora said as she shoved what Malachi said and demanded the truth, her eyes shook with worry as she hoped for the best.
"Tristan was pierced in the heart, and the last thing we saw before we got here was his body falling lifelessly to the ground." Malchi forced the words out of his mouth as he couldn't bear to look anyone in the eyes. He began to wish he had attended the Gala; he told himself that if he were here, none of this would have happened.
The news was like a bombshell; everyone stared in disbelief, but none of them had it worse than Galaxy. A wave of guilt washed over her. She began to regret bringing Tristan.
"It's all my fault if I hadn't brought Tristan here, he would still be alive." She spoke as she stared at the ground in disbelief, taking a few steps back.
*SLAP!* Lenora slapped Galaxy across the face as her cheeks turned red. She didn't even fight back at her; she deserved more
"Are you happy now!" Lenora asked as tears streamed down her cheek. She raised her hands again and prepared to strike Galaxy hard, but Rimera stepped in between the two of them.
"Stop, it was my fault for not being a better butler, so don't blame Galaxy; she did nothing wrong, your highness," Rimera said, pleading with Lenora. Galaxy fell to the floor as the thought of Tristan's dead body invaded her mind. She was about to fall into utter despair.
"HA!, HA!, HA!, HA!, HA! You guys are so funny, you know that, right? If you really think my best friends are gonna die that easily, then you sure don't know him!" Alex said, laughing out loud. Everyone remained silent; they couldn't believe someone would be laughing in such a tense situation.
"That's right, Tristan wouldn't go out so easily! I claim to be his friend, yet I can't put my faith in him."Malachi thought to himself as he lifted his head in a newfound hope.
"He's right! Tristan's not the kind of person to go down so easily, and even if he did, I wouldn't let him— no, we wouldn't let him, I don't care if you guys stand there and despair about it, crying won't solve anything right now, we should go look for him." Malachi said as he turned his back towards all of them and began to use his black ice to move large chunks of rubble.
"You've finally come to your senses, Mal," Alex said as he smiled. He then brought out his demon wing and flew up in the air.
"I'm gonna search from above. Your search should help Malachi search from below! " Alex ordered before flying off. The people who had once lost hope now fully put their trust in Tristan being alive; they helped him search as they began to move.
Rimera was stunned at what she was seeing to her non of these made sense. She ran desperately searching for Tristan.
"I'm the kind of person to be logical and think things through…so why? Why am I still searching for a boy who I'm not even sure is alive?" Rimera asked herself as she looked around aher surrounding as she ran. The other SC members frantically searched for his remains even as Riot and Lenora searched for Tristan. Rimera looked at everyone as she couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation as to why they had much faith. She then spotted Riot trying to move a heavy chunk of rubble out of the way.
"Too heavy for— Huh?" The chunk suddenly felt lighter for Riot. He turned to his side and noticed Rimera's shadows were helping him.
"Why! Why are you still searching?! He might be dead!" Rimera said as she also joined the riot, and her shadow lifted the rumble.
"Because, because those two filled me with Hope!" Riot said as the rumble was completely pushed aside and as if faith had been on their side, Tristan was lying underneath the rumble they had just moved, but he wasn't dead; in fact, not even a single bruise could be seen on his body, and he was sleeping like a tired child.
"I was inspired and filled with hope that way," Riot said as his eyes glimmered. To Rimera, something entirely new was introduced to her as she watched Tristan sleep, and her once stern, cold face had a warm smile that showed how happy and worried she was.