Dimitri hastily puts his energy field back up and focuses on keeping it there while Ciana and Coralyinn fight. Ciana manages to perfectly match Coralyinn, unlike any of the others who previously went against her. Tsukumi goes around the area summoning daggers and sheathing them into the ground, forming a circle of daggers around us almost like a clock. Once she has all the daggers placed, she runs into Reine's protective shield and holds a hand up to the sky, simultaneously making all of the daggers she place glow silver. Rays of silver light connect to a point above Tsukumi and form a crescent moon in the air, waves of silver, white, and royal blue energy coming off of the crescent moon and spreading throughout the air.

"This should help to keep the area polarized from Coralyinn's winter," Tsukumi explains as she focuses on keeping the energy up.

I briefly wonder if I can absorb Coralyinn's power and use it against her like I did with Adrienne, but she seems much more skilled than Adrienne. She would probably kill me before I even got the chance to get close to her.

Ciana's fist collides with Coralyinn's hits on multiple occasions, fizzling them out and visibly angering Coralyinn. Meanwhile, Melantha stares down at her hands as she's still on the ground and now on her knees, her hands pressed flat against the stone street. She glances between her hands and the ground seems to shake in the entire street, sending multiple people off balance as she stands up and I'm able to see water swirling around her hands and coming up from underneath the now cracking street.

"Don't!" Ciana's eyes widen and she shouts as Melantha moves her arms back to the right and forcefully pushes forwards, aiming at Coralyinn.

Ciana leaps out of the way as Coralyinn smirks and holds out her gloved hand, her daggers danging from her left. Coralyinn makes a wide sweeping motion with her arm and the water freezes as it flies back at Melantha. Melantha's eyes widen and Nathan shouts for her to move as the frost reaches her and freezes her solid where she stands.

"Shit," Ciana breathes out as she climbs to her feet and looks at Melantha with wide eyes.

"Melantha!" Nathan shouts and goes to run forwards, but Ayette grabs on to his arm and attempts to stop him.

"Don't!" Ayette shouts, "that's asking to be murdered!"

Ciana runs up to Coralyinn and shouts, prompting to gain her attention. Coralyinn sharply glances over her shoulder before she holds out her right hand and summons another swarm of icicles that fly at Ciana. Ciana instantly reacts, jumping up in the air and holding her arms in front of her face, a sunset colored energy shield made of flames forming in front of her and protecting her as the icicles storm her, sending her flying backwards. I notice Coralyinn walking up to Melantha and I throw my katana as she raises her interlocking daggers. My katana slices perfectly between the daggers and breaks the chain connecting them before it lodges itself into a wooden post across the street.

Coralyinn appears unphased as she takes one of the daggers in her right hand and keeps one in the left, throwing the one in the right hand towards me as she lunges forward and sinks the dagger into Melantha's torso, cracking through the ice that froze her solid and making small chucks of ice fall to the ground around her feet. I swiftly move to the side, dodging the dagger for the most part as it slices a cut across my right bicep.

"Shit!" Reine shouts.

"Melantha!" Nathan shouts and struggles in Ayette's hold, and the breath leaves my lungs as I watch the scene before me.

Coralyinn's dagger glows bright blue as energy and water swirl around it and her left hand. The ice that froze Melantha solid slowls begins to melt and I can see blood spreading throughout the center where she was stabbed. Eventually, all the ice melts and Melantha gasps for air as she looks down at the dagger lodged in her. Energy stops swirling around the dagger and Coralyinn pulls it out as Ciana runs up behind her, yelling with her fist raised.

"Coward!" Ciana shouts and Coralyinn glances over her shoulder at her.

Just as Ciana's fist is about to connect with Coralyinn's face, Coralyinn disappears in a flurry of snowflakes and Ciana's fist goes through air, particles of snow drifting around. Reine drops her energy shield as Tsukumi stops her energy flow, but Dimitri keeps his field up as Nathan runs to Melantha, who falls to her knees.

"Hey!" Nathan drops to his knees and pulls her into his lap as her wide blue eyes stare into his deep brown ones, "hey! Melantha, you're gonna be just fine!"

"Over here!" I hear Aislinn shout as Dimitri finally lowers his field and my attention becomes drawn to the end of the street.

Aislinn, Shitau, Renee, and the others run up to us, their eyes focused on the scene before them with a multitude of emotions crossing their faces.

"Ciana ran off to find you and she was too far ahead of us that we could not find you before Dimitri raised his field again," Aislinn explains.

"You're a healer!" Nathan shouts to Shitau, his eyes wide, "do something!"

"I-- I can't," Shitau stammers and Kaltrina looks between him and Nathan sympathetically, placing a hand on her brother's shoulder.

"Well, try something, dammit!" Nathan shouts and Shitau stumbles over, dropping to his knees and he places a hand on Melantha's wound.

"Hey," Melantha smiles up at Nathan and his eyes frantically dart back to her face, "it's okay..."

"How-- how can you say that?" Nathan's eyes search hers as his lips are parted in disbelief.

Renee takes her dagger out of her purse and it begins to glow as she points at everything that's broken or out of place and she fixes it to its original state as she walks around and Renji's angel wings appear as he goes up to Melantha with me and Ayette.

"I-- I can't. She won't..." Shitau struggles with his words as grief is written all over his face.

"Step aside," Renji says softly and Shitau crawls out of the way, Renji taking his place.

Renji places a hand on Melantha's wound and looks Nathan in the eyes.

"I can't stop her from dying," Renji explains, "but I can make sure that it's peaceful."

Tears form in Nathan's and Ayette's eyes as they stare down at Melantha and Ayette smiles sadly.

"You're gonna be okay, girl," Ayette says softly.

"Yeah..." Melantha breathes out, smiling tiredly before her eyes focus on me, "hey, Gabriel...I'm sorry about earlier..."

"It's okay," I force a smile, "I'm not mad at you. I couldn't be mad at you, Mel."

"Good," Melantha smiles and her eyes seem to sparkle, "that would surely kill me..."

"Hey, Melly, look at me," Nathan shakes her shoulder gently and draws her attention back to him, "you're going to be okay. We're gonna...we'll go kick this realm's ass and go home and watch movies and eat mint chocolate chip ice cream, the kind with the bigger chunks in it that you love. And we can go swimming together in the neighbor's pool at midnight, even though we're not supposed to. And you can come cheer me on at baseball practice like you always did. We'll do all that junk, okay? So just...just hang in there."

"You heard Renji," Melantha continues smiling and raises a hand to touch the side of Nathan's face, "I'm not gonna make it. So just...let's enjoy the time I have left. Somebody take care of my Yorkie Peppermint for me..."

"Melantha..." Nathan's voice cracks and he lowers his head, a few tears dropping down his face as he blinks.

"Look," Melantha gasps and points up into the sky, "the fireworks are starting."

Sure enough, the fireworks for the summer festival have begun and are bursting in the background in shakes of reds, oranges, blues, yellows, and greens.

"How pretty..." Melantha trails off, smiling and dropping her hand as her head lulls to the side.

Reine lowers her head as Nathan stifles a cry and closes Melantha's eyes, cradling her in his lap. Renji bows his head as well and slowly stands up.

"I am sorry..." Renji says softly and walks over to Renee, who watches the scene sadly.

Nathan gently places her down on the ground and a sob bursts passed his lips as he stands up, rubbing the back of his hand against his eyes. He turns to me and anger seeps on to his expression as he points a finger at me and marches over to me.

"This is all your fucking fault," Nathan seethes.

"What?" I exclaim, raising my eyebrows and taking a step backwards, holding up my hands, "what are you talking about? You think I wanted her to die? She was our best friend, Nathan."

"And that's why it's our fault," Nathan snaps, brushing passed me and knocking against my shoulder as he does so.

I watch as Nathan angrily walks down the street with his fists clenched and Dimitri comes over to me, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't take it too personally, kid," Dimitri says, "everyone handles their pain in different ways."

"Yeah..." I trail off, wondering what the hell just happened.

"What do we do now?" Ayette breathes out, her eyes locking with mine.

"She deserves a good burial," Dimitri says as he walks over to Melantha and bends down, picking her up in his arms, "it's the right thing to do before we move on."

"I will...I will go book a hotel..." Reine says quietly, walking off in Nathan's direction.

"I know this probably isn't the best time to say this," Tsukumi clears her throat and lowers her hood, revealing her long black hair and grey eyes, "but I will join you in whatever it is you're trying to do. I can see now that you are against Coralyinn."

"Thank you," Ciana says in a more resigned manner than her usually upbeat tone, smiling sadly.

Tsukumi nods and turns around without another word, heading off in Reine's direction, leaving the rest of us still gathered in the street and awaiting Reine's return as a grim atmosphere overtakes us.