Ashes

Four: To Look Upon Ruin

A/N: Aesthetic for Titus.

I dream that night.

What does it mean to look upon ruin? A voice asks, sounding sad and lonely. Everything is dark, and then suddenly, with a flash of light...

Clothed in a flowing white dress and barefoot, I find myself kneeling on the crest of a mountain of sand in the middle of the desert. I can feel the grainy sand between my toes as I push the tops of my feet against it. I can see both our domes, my home to my left and the Refuge to the right. Between the two are the ruins of cities; crumbling, falling, as if I'm watching the day where they fell apart.

The sun burns against my back, but it doesn't hurt. It's warm, and somewhat calming, and it's peaceful.

There's suddenly a cry from the base of the huge sandy hill, and I see a hand reaching out from the dusty depths. A chill runs up my spine, and I find, to my horror, that I can't move towards the hand to save it. There are shackles on my ankles and wrists now, and no matter how much I tug against them, the only thing I can do is scream for help. I pull and yank against the chains until my skin bruises and stings, but to no avail.

There's suddenly a sticky warmth that trickles down my arms, spilling from my shoulder blades, and I realize too late that it's blood that spills down my arms and over my hands.

My heart nearly stops in terror and fear.

It tastes like oak and the songs of lost children. It tastes like pain and the blood of the weary. It tastes like the ash of destruction and ruin. The stars know what it means to suddenly become. You do not.

I can't tell if the voice is my own or someone else's, but its tone is somber and foreboding. Like the prediction of some hidden evil.

As if on cue, the owner of the arm far below tears free of the dust for a few seconds, and I can see his face.

Felix.

He lets out a bloodcurdling scream right before his entire being bursts into flames.

And I can feel my heart in my throat.

Others rise from the dust; Thea, the Riddicks, many faceless Burning people.

They all burn. They all burn and I am powerless.

I scream at the sun until I taste the coppery bitter of blood in my mouth, but they burn nonetheless.

Close your eyes and make a wish, the voice instructs, and I do just that. I close my eyes and wish for peace, for life, for the destruction to stop, for water, for green fields of grass, for no more dust and no more ashes.

When I open my eyes, there's no more blood running along my arms, no more burning, dying people, no more shackles, no more sand.

I'm kneeling in a forest, and my unconscious brain can't imagine what the grass beneath me actually feels like.

My heart is full.

Callista is with me, a smile on her face like I haven't seen in months. Titus holds one of my hands in his, his hands strong and his eyes void of all pain and anger.

Kyros is kneeling right in front of me, his face a vision of peace so different from the boy I know that it takes me a few seconds to realize it's really him. The boy I know is a stormy ocean, heart torn asunder by every passing wave. Here, he is the sunrise over a calm sea, raindrops sticking to his eyelashes and the smell of saltwater drifting off of him.

Felix wanders behind him, tumbling joyfully around the grass like a bunny, a stupid grin smeared over his face.

There are faces I don't know, either, but they look at me like I'm some kind of savior. A girl with chestnut hair and eyes the color of the earth after the spring rains. A boy with dark blond locks of hair and green eyes like the grass beneath us. Another girl with blonde curls and chocolate eyes with a smile that could grow flowers.