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“I was simply doing it to protect you.” Cleo whispered to BDubs. His stone face was still the same look of wide eyes confusion from when he turned to stone. Most of the others were faces of shock, desperation and fear as the true colors of the situation were revealed. They’re a few fighters, expressions of rage and adrenaline charging towards their known doom. A rare few, tucked away in dark corners with no where else to go, held acceptance or surrender to the situation when all hope was lost. But Bdubs was the only one who ever had confusion or sympathy in his gaze.
Bdubs was always a bit slow sometimes on the draw when she said things. He didn’t believe her when she warned of people using him to get to her. She knew what she was even if he never saw it that way. His heart was one a pure gold, one that many people tried their best to take advantage of to get closer to ending her. Though anyone who was trying to get to her never one. Cleo holds no mercy for those that tried to manipulate the people she cared about.
“I’m sorry.” She said again as she held onto BDubs’ slightly outstretched hand. “I’d hoped it wouldn’t come to this but … I had to. It’s for your own good.”
Cleo heard the footsteps before she saw him. The man she was protecting her best friend from. She let out a small breath before wiping the tears from her eyes. She slipped on her glasses before turning to face the man in question. His mask covered his face like always but his eyes showed more than enough. There was fear and panic as the realization set in that she had, indeed, carried out her threat to him. The grip on his sword tightened as he continued to stare at BDub’s statue.
“What have you done?” Etho spoke softly, the walls of her lair echoing his words. He tried to take a step forward. The snakes on her head hissed back in unison, fanning out to show their numbers. Cleo smiled a little, petting one of them while maintaining focus on the threat in front of her.
“I did what I had to.” She said, keeping her voice as steady as she could. She never liked doing this, but it people kept trying to hurt him. It wasn’t the first time, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.
“Well, personally, I think turning the person you love into stone is more the problem than the solution but …”
“I’m not letting you hurt him.” She interrupted, the snakes letting out a hiss with her. “I’ve seen how he looks when he talks about you. And I know none of them ever care. They only want me dead. I refuse to let him get hurt.”
Etho took a step forward, despite the snakes protests, and held his sword towards Cleo’s neck. “Let him go, Cleo. I’m not here to hurt you.”
“I don’t believe you, Etho. Especially since you’re pointing a sword at me.”
“You’re the only one who can reverse it, and I know without the sword I would end up dead.”
“That is true.”
“I would very much like to stay alive, Cleo!” Etho exclaimed. “Turn him back. He doesn’t deserve it.”
“You’re right.” Cleo smirked. She closed her eyes as she looked down to take off her glasses. She could practically feel the panic in Etho’s movements as what he had to do was become more and more real. She looked up at him, eyes still closed. But not for long. “But I’ll be damned if I let you tell me what to do.”
Cleo ran her hand along Etho’s blade. Her blood began to form quickly in her palm and stain her skin. She held the bloody hand up to BDub’s skin and watched as the stone slowly faded from his featured. When he was free, he collapsed into her arms. Cleo tried her best to not get blood on his favorite moss hoodie as she brought him into his bed. She stayed nearby, watching him snore and dream as she wrapped her hand with bandages.
Etho was safe, tucked away in a special little room for statues BDubs would never see as long as she lived. Impulse and Scar and Ren and all the others who BDubs looked at with the absolute world in his eyes. The ones that would cause BDubs to shatter into a thousand pieces if he ever found out the truth. They would never hurt him again, and it meant he was safe in her care once more. Until the next soul came around and she’d have to do this whole thing over again.
“I’ll protect you.” Cleo whispered to herself as BDubs continued to rest. “Always. I don’t care how dirty I have to get my hands. I will never let anyone hurt you.”