Third POV:
Gem was turning around to retrieve her laptop when the explosion happened. She was blown off her feet and sent crashing into the adjacent wall. There was a moment where everything went black. Eventually vision came back to her but it was blurry and hazy. Perhaps that was from hitting her head or perhaps it was the smoke.
Vague shapes took place. Gem could see where the corridor ceiling had con-caved and collapsed. In the distance there was an orange blaze. Fire. Three figures stumbled out of the living room which was consumed with smoke. Gem coughed into the wooden floor boards. Her face stung from the fragments of glass that were still stuck in her flesh.
Libra, Cancer and Scorpio had been right in front of her before. . .
The smoke was too thick. Mini.
Her head was swimming. Where were her teammates? Where was her sister?
Gem's ears were ringing as she pushed herself onto her feet and then fell against the wall to hold herself upright. She squinted and maybe she was imagining it but the fire seemed to be getting bigger.
One of the shadowy figures approached and helped her to take a few steps. Their face was caked in ash.
"Gem." Pegasus looked to be yelling but it only registered with Gem as a whisper. Together they fumbled through the smoke in search of an exit. The front door—it was not far from there.
A head of dark purple hair and one of electric blue. Mini and Pisces appeared amidst the smoke alongside Ara and Draco. They looked disoriented but alive. Gem's chest sank in relief, as if they were safe yet.
The pack collectively found the exit and tumbled out onto the grass, finally filling their lungs with fresh air. The ringing in Gem's ears impeded her from hearing Mini's cracked sobs. She was going to ask her twin what was wrong but then she noticed the severe burns that traveled down Mini's neck and across her collar.
Water swished inside the kitchen sink as Aries and Capricorn got back up to their feet. The blow caught them off guard. It made the whole treehouse shake. Aries staggered back and tripped onto the floor whereas Capricorn held onto the counter for dear life. Shortly after the initial bang there was a series of loud cracks.
The boys had no idea what it was, but they sure knew it wasn't good.
"What the fuck?" Aries exclaimed. Some of the overhead water pipes had ruptured and it was now raining down on them.
"What the hell was that?" Capricorn rubbed his eyes in an attempt to see clearer. The kitchen had become a little hazy, as if someone had burned something on the stovetop.
"We gotta finds everyone else. Maybe someone's hurt," Aries said, pushing his now wet hair out of his face.
"Shit, Mini." Capricorn dashed towards the archway and then out into the corridor. Aries was hot on his heels.
It took less than 10 seconds for the boys to be forced back into the kitchen, spluttering due to the volume of smoke in the corridor. It was starting to infiltrate the kitchen too. They were trapped.
"That's a fire," Aries stated.
"No shit."
"The Golden Rebellion must have—"
"Again, no shit. We need to get out of here before we suffocate to death." Capricorn sprinted to the kitchen window and fiddled with the lock.
There was a scuffle from the corridor. Some throaty coughs. Both Aries and Cap straightened, eyes pinned on the archway.
"Do think that could be a terrorist?" Aries whispered.
". . .I dunno."
Aries slowly approached the archway, which was clouded with smoke, his fists held up and glowing red with heat. The scuffling continued and Cap fumbled more hastily with the lock.
Aries had to swallow down his scream when Scorpio, Cancer and Libra appeared instead. The trio were looking worse for wear. Their faces were smudged with ash and their clothes partly torn. Libra gripped the counter edge while she coughed up the smoke in her lungs. Scorpio's hair was singed. A streak of blood dribbled down the side of Cancer's face.
"Holy shit, you guys look awful," Aries said, lowering his fists.
"Thank you, captain obvious. I was quite uncertain wether exploding snakes would complement my skin tone," Cancer said sharply.
"Hold on, what?" Aries exclaimed.
"Wait, the snake was the bomb?" Libra stifled her coughing.
"How do you get a bomb in a snake?"
"I don't know I just assumed—"
"You know what, never mind that. We have to get out of here," Capricorn interrupted, finally undoing the lock. He threw the window open and the other four huddled around him. Collectively, they peered down the three story drop to the ground below.
"So what? We're just gonna jump?" Libra asked.
"Don't be stupid." Capricorn waved his hand and a section of the grass levitated up to meet them. The silver haired boy went first and climbed out the window, onto the makeshift platform.
Scorpio followed, and then Cancer, who wobbled a little and had to stabilize herself with Scorpio's shoulders. Once Aries joined them he lent Libra a hand to help her on. With everyone steady, Capricorn floated them all to the ground safely.
Leo was starting to say something when the world tipped sideways, knocking them both to the ground. The loud bang and subsequent shaking cut him off. Not that he was having much luck getting the words out anyways. Every time he looked at Virgo it made the sentences slither back down his throat.
The pair were heading back downstairs to join their teammates and had only made it to the landing when it happened. A boom. A rattle. Cracks in the ceiling above their head and then a shift in the ground below their feet.
"The fuck was that?" Leo asked, rubbing his wrist which was sore from falling on it. Virgo looked at him with wide eyes. He noticed a drop of blood in the corner of her mouth from where she accidentally bit the inside of her lip.
"That's not good," she uttered, hoisting herself onto her feet using the stairwell banister. "That's not good at all. Oh Goddess, oh Goddess, do you smell that? Do you smell smoke?"
Leo took a second the sniff the air and then he caught it: the distinct smell of smoke. "Fire. That was a bomb. We have to get out of here. The treehouse is going to burn to the ground."
Leo started to run down the stairs.
"Wait!" Virgo stopped him. Hurriedly she scraped off her shoes and placed her bare feet on the wooden floor boards. "They're warm. The fire is beneath us. We can't take the stairs. We have to find another way out before the floor burns up."
"Window. You can fly us down," he said. Luckily, the landing had a window. If you climbed out you could sit on a thick sturdy tree branch and look out at The Grounds. Leo had sat there to clear his thoughts a few times. He unlocked the window and threw it open. The two of them climbed out onto the tree branch and sat side by side.
"So, um, what were you going to tell me before, you know. . ." Virgo asked as she nervously rubbed her arm. Leo couldn't tell if it was because of the sheer height they were at or something else.
He scratched the back of his neck. "Oh, nothing." The moment was gone.
Just as Virgo was going to let out her wings, there was a high pitched scream from upstairs. Their heads snapped up.
"Was that. . .Aquarius?" Virgo voiced.
"I think so. Come on, let's go."
They scrambled back through the window and up the stairs. Just as they passed the landing one of the floor boards fell away. Neither exactly knew where they were going, only that their classmate—teammate, was in trouble.
Aquarius warily removed her arm from covering her head. She had screamed when there was a loud crack. It was hard to tell where it came from, but there was a second when Aqua thought the roof would collapse on her.
"What are we going to do?" Taurus held her against him in the corner of his room. They were stuck in a bleak situation.
There was a large gaping hole in the middle of the room. If you looked down you could see the fire that was eating up the lower floors. It blocked their exit and threatened to swallow them. There was no where to go. Both of them knew it was only a matter of minutes before the lower floors collapsed and the upper ones went crashing down into the fire.
"We're going to burn alive."
As the air grew hotter, the pair grew more helpless. Well, at least I get to die with him Aquarius thought. She sunk back into Taurus' chest and he embraced her.
"Taur, had I said yes, where would you take me on that date?"
He smiled as he rested his chin on her shoulder. "To a strip club, obviously."
She laughed. "I'm serious."
"Okay, okay. I think I'd take you to the 7th Kingdom. We could eat dinner in one of those romantic little restaurants and then go for a late night walk in Zoidion Woods," he whispered, tilting his head to catch her reaction.
"Oh, and there's a theme park with a human catapult there," Aqua said excitedly.
"Yeah, and we'd do that too."
For a moment, they forgot their dire situation and being burnt alive. Until Taurus's bedroom door swung open and Leo and Virgo appeared.
"What are you guys doing here?" Taurus asked, but he was quite relieved.
"Saving you of course," Leo answered, eyeing the massive hole in the floor.
"What happened? Is everyone okay?" Aqua got to her feet and Taurus followed.
"We have absolutely no idea. All we know is we need to get out of here," Leo tried to get a look down the hole but Virgo put a hand on his chest and pushed him back.
"I'll fly you two out of here and then we can leave out of a different bedroom window," Virgo said. Leo backed out of the way to allow room for her to spread her wings.
Sagittarius swayed in and out of consciousness. She couldn't tell if what she was experiencing was real. All she knew was that her leg hurt and she was hot. Like she was trapped in a furnace. Also someone was smothering her with a rag rolled in dirt.
Everything was red and fuzzy. Everything was lonely.
Sag clawed at her face to stop the smothering only to find no one was there and she was actually choking on smoke. Desperate, she tried to crawl herself to safety. But it was impossible. She couldn't move. Scratch that, her legs couldn't move. Blinking through the haziness, Sagittarius realized her bottom half was stuck under the collapsed roof.
Where was everybody? Anybody?
She let out a sob and her mouth tasted of ash. This was how she was going to die. Alone at eighteen. Burned until her body was unrecognizable. Tear streamed down her cheeks as she thrashed to get out. She was so tiered. The heat was making her dizzy.
She heard coughing but assumed it was her own, until someone gripped her hand and started tugging her out of the wreckage. It could have been a Golden Rebellion member for all she knew. However, she looked up to find a familiar head of pin-straight black hair, bullet proof vest and tight scowl.
Once she was free, Sagittarius tried to get to her feet but a pain like nothing she'd felt before seared up her leg.
"I got you," Miss Lupus reassured her as she dragged Sag towards the door.
I'm not dying today, motherfuckers, Sagittarius thought as they made it out of the treehouse alive.