Cinder

36 - I'm Sorry

He'd almost been there ... he'd almost crossed that final threshold between day and night, that moment where he'd fade away and join the stars among the sky ...

And then everything started blowing up.

"... T-Tobias? "

"Yeah," he wheezed, feeling like there was a knife in his lungs each time he took a breath. "I'm h-here." Maybe not for long, though. He was lightheaded and exhausted from the blood-loss; it was taking every ounce of energy he had left just to stay awake.

"I d-didn't think you'd w-wake up ..."

"I didn't think so ... e-either," he murmured, "but that was ... one h-hell of a racket. What happened?"

"Captain T-Taube crashed the frigate i-into the p-portal. The explosion s-successfully d-destabilized it, and destroyed Spyglass's n-network."

"And ... the others?"

"I o-ordered them to e-evacuate beforehand ... they're s-safe."

He gave a small sigh of relief which he regretted immediately due to the stabbing pain that followed. "T-thanks, Kay. It ... it was the right call."

Groaning from just the small movement of lifting his arm, he rebooted the ocular systems and let it fall back to his side. The monitors in front of him gave him a rather clear picture- the flaming wreckage of the Inferno had mixed with the debris of the demolished fold-weapon and its rings. He and KT appeared to be trapped on their under a large beam that had fallen across their legs- and in a few inches of rising seawater.

"Where ... are we?"

"The c-cavern beneath the ocean w-where Spyglass c-constructed the w-weapon in secret. The b-border walls have c-cracked- it's filling up with w-water."

He looked around the massive chamber to see that she was right- the walls which had kept water out for so long had broken from the Inferno's impact, and they wouldn't stop the flow of water forever. Already, those few inches were now half a foot deep; but that wasn't what concerned him the most.

"And that?" he asked quietly, focusing on the enormous blue ball of energy that seemed to be growing above them. Lighting arced over its surface and it pulsated erratically with each passing second.

"The p-portal is becoming un-unsustainable. When it r-reaches the breaking p-point, it will envelop e-everything around i-it- as well as ob-obliterate the p-planet before d-disappearing."

"Well ... we'll have a g-great view ... of the fireworks."

The two of them were silent for a few moments, content to entertain themselves by watching as the crackling orb of Codex-energy continued to expand. Its aura bathed them both and the rest of the cavern in a luminous blue glow, one which caught Tobias' attention and made him realize what he needed to do. At last, he broke the silence.

"... I'm sorry."

"It's a-alright," KT hushed him. "Just r-relax-"

"No, this ... this needs to be said."

He adjusted himself in his seat, feeling the dried blood caked onto his skin and armor crack as he did so. "I'm sorry for b-breaking my promises. I'm sorry for ... for not being brave enough to tell you I love you. I'm sorry we n-never found the time to just ... live. It was always about survival ... about running from fight to fight and ... and hoping we were lucky enough to m-make it through the next one- but we never had the chance to slow down ... to just be us."