The child bit her knuckles to keep from whimpering in fear.  Everyone was struggling, and the slimes just kept coming.  Nymira accounted for herself well, but the princess was tiring -- she managed a last fireball, and then she fell to her knees, too tired to fight any further.  A choked sob escaped Amuné as Ethan went to cover the downed Dimuran.  With him going into the thick of things, the girl fell back to the shelter the cart provided, slight though it was.  Ethan sent a gale at the noxious creatures, and Cecil kept smashing through them but there were always more.  An awful feeling settled in her stomach, but Amuné refused to believe they were doomed.  Someone would think of something.  Wouldn't they?  She was too frightened to formulate a proper prayer, and the one she sent up to the Saints now was a wordless plea.

She watched Ethan grab a spike from the cart and fling it at the awful Varuna, but the waving vines batted it away, and now Ethan was out of the fight too.  Their attacker summoned something new, a ball of toxic green, and Amuné knew to touch that would mean death.  "Cecil!" she screamed, "do something!  Don't let him use that!"  But it was too late to stop it, and all the Machina could do was intercept the attack to protect Nymira.

The child watched in horror as her brave friend fell to pieces, and she felt her knees hit the ground hard as shock stole her feet from under her.  A keening sound filled her ears, shrill and piercing.  It took her a moment to realize she was the source, when she ran out of breath and it stopped in a strangled sob.  She wanted to go to Cecil, to try to help him, but she couldn't move, and though she didn't want to believe it, Amuné knew it was too late.  No one could survive that blast.  He'd fallen apart, he had to be--

She was shaking, too shocked even to cry.  No, no, this was just a bad dream, none of it was real.  The Varuna was attacking again, going after Nymira, and Amuné wished she could fight.  In that moment she would have destroyed the awful man without a second thought.  Why?  Why wouldn't he leave them alone?  Why did he want them dead?  Why was he such a bad person?

Staring blankly at the fight, it took several moments for the child to realize what she was seeing.  By then the new woman was calling insults at the Varuna as she countered every one of his attacks.  A second newcomer shot down from the sky with a wave of fire.  Amuné didn't understand, was he flying?  How?  Where had they come from?  And why hadn't they come in time to save Cecil?

The girl struggled to her feet, once the fighting was over.  She'd used very little magic, and yet she felt heavy and sluggish, having to drag herself through thick mud.  Her chest felt hollow, and it hurt.  Now the tears came, as she made her way over to where her friend lay.  "C-Cecil?" she whispered, the name barely audible.  "Cecil, please...don't...."  She couldn't finish the thought, and her fingers shook as she tried to gently straighten him out, as she'd seen her mommy do when someone died.