Selene

12 | Ruins

Selene gasped, jerking awake from pitch black sleep. It took her a moment to remember that she was not in her chambers on Luna, and all the relief of waking up, finally, from her dreamless sleep of a black abyss, drained out of her and left her pale with dread. Selene surveyed the scene around her and cried out.

The entire ship was in ruins, metal tiles falling from the ceiling, wires popping out from their consoles and snapping, the life support system on the fritz, steam hissing into the ship. The walls were so banged up and shambled that it was impossible to tell where they had once been and once looked like. Debris cluttered the ship, chunks of consoles and seats and things that Selene didn't even recognize.

And fire. Fire everywhere. Selene's pupils dilated and she looked on in horror. Lost suppressed memories of watching her playhouse go up in flames, only seconds after Selene herself had left it, taking her maid down with it. Watching as they pulled her crumbling corpse from the blackened, charred pile of ashes that had once been her playhouse. Something like that would have left its mark on anyone. Selene was scarred. Every time she saw fire after that fateful day, even if it was just holographic, she couldn't move.

Selene's lip trembled, even more so when she saw the flames licking her left hand. Selene choked on a sob, and then she remembered. Winter! Selene's head started around the ship. Everyone else was slumped back in their seats or collapsed onto the floor, not breathing. Thaumaturge Mira was engulfed in flames, and half of the pilots face was burnt off. Selene inhaled slowly, looking around to the back where Winter's seat had been. A huge chunk of the wall had collapsed onto Winter's seat, but Winters head was still visible, flopped down onto her shoulder. Selene lifted her hand and wiped away all the sweat that was gathering on her forehead away. It was unbearably hot, but she was filled with a new sense of desperation.

She fumbled with her harness buckle. It was taking all her willpower not to shut her eyes against the fire. But Winter took priority.

Selene could feel her heart pumping rapidly in her chest. She finally managed to slip out of the harness and stepped onto the floor. Immediately she felt a sharp, shooting pain in her leg. She glanced down, almost afraid to see what it was.

A long, deep cut, most likely given to her by a piece of falling debris, stretched all the way from her ankle to just above her knee, on the side of her leg. It oozed blood and Selene had to look away. She felt like she was going to be sick.

Nevertheless, Selene limped as fast as she could towards Winter.

"Wi-Winter!" She gasped, breaking into as best a run as she could. Flames leaped at her as she moved towards Winter.

"Winter!" Selene screamed, finally approaching Winter. "Winter, wake up!"

Selene brushed Winters hair away from her neck, desperately feeling at her pulse. Nothing. Just...stillness.

But wait. Was Selene imagining it? A small beat. Small and slow. But it was there. Winter was alive.

Selene sighed in relief, but her nerves were still bunched up. She lifted up Winter with the arm that wasn't covered with excruciating burns and hissed when she saw a large cut not much different from her own, gushing blood like Selene couldn't believe. Leaning down, she ripped her gray satin dress up to the knee, wrapping the fabric around Winter's arm and doing her best to tie it with her burnt hand. Selene then hoisted Winter up, wrapping her arm around her shoulder for support. Selene heard the roaring of her own heartbeat in her ears, and she whimpered slightly, looking around for an exit.

"I'll get us out of here," she whispered to the unconscious Winter. Selene spotted a small hole in the wall, not far from where they were. It might have been their only way to get out, seeing how debris and collapsed pieces of the ceiling had blocked the entrance. Besides, the opening mechanism wouldn't have worked anyway.

Selene started limping towards the hole, kicking away debris and frantically pulling and pushing away everything blocking the hole in the wall. The smoke in the ship was starting to make her dizzy, and her vision tunneled, just as she fell through the hole with her arms around Winter. She collapsed against something that felt suspiciously like a human, and looked up in surprise. A boy's shocked face was visible against the background of a beautifully blue sky.

"Help... Winter..." Selene managed to croak out before, for the second time that day, she fell unconscious.