[ when everyone had first dissolved into ash, marta had all too soon found him. she'd reached out carefully with her fingers, eyes as wide as they often are, bright and hazel, a mirrored match to his own (no, not his own, they're not your eyes, he always hears), honest with concern. he hadn't quite shaken her off, not wanting to rudely discard her good intentions, but he'd insisted he was fine, even if he'd known why she was worried. at the time, he didn't think it would matter.
but with the passing days, he threads the similarities more and more, in ways that hadn't initially been so obvious, the ash upon the ground never quite floating away with the wind, lingering as though it's designated itself to haunt the town for the foreseeable future.
when he dreams, it's never a surprise to find the ash there too. but now it's intertwined with the recent memories of scorpion's bend, a twist to the way he stands in the middle of its central street, its false citizens carrying about their usual routine as he'd grown accustomed to seeing day by day. all at once, they start to scream, fingers beginning to claw at each other's skin like animals, howling with feral cries.
Monsters — we're the monsters! they scream, destroying one another before they collapse on the ground, bodies piling on bodies.
the ash rains from above, always gentle like snow, like it shields away the horror of the bloody scene. but tonight it isn't over. amongst the corpses, there she stands — quell.
in his head, he hears a voice. xichen utters quietly, He told me that pulsefire is used to clean out towns by bandits who are looking for treasure. It leaves nothing living behind.
quell raises up her arm, fingers reaching out to him. Tak— suddenly she burns, too fast to even suffer, flames engulfing her into ash. kovacs screams, but he can't move forward. his feet remain trapped beneath the corpses.
Tak— he hears again. a different voice. he turns to see reileen, his sister reaching out with her fingers the same way quell had done. once more, the pulsefire burns her to nothing.
yet again, Tak— and he turns to see clara standing there. he shakes his head frantically, thinking no, no, no, but all at once, she's lost in the fire.
his body shakes, thinking there can't be more, but then, Tak—
with a slow turn, marta stands with her eyes on him. once again, wide and almost pleading with her worry, the soft stare that mirrors into his own eyes. this time, it's him that's reaching, arm outstretched trying to get to her before it's too late.
the pulsefire burns. ]
No — ! [ he screams out, body trembling, skin damp with sweat, as he sits up from his jarring startle, peering around to find himself in that cramp little office, still on the small mattress he'd found and shoved into the corner for them to camp in. and when he turns, breaths panting heavily, marta's there beside him, untouched by pulsefire, not burned into ash, but alive and breathing. ]
she woke me from a comatose sleep, took my hand for i was in too deep;
but with the passing days, he threads the similarities more and more, in ways that hadn't initially been so obvious, the ash upon the ground never quite floating away with the wind, lingering as though it's designated itself to haunt the town for the foreseeable future.
when he dreams, it's never a surprise to find the ash there too. but now it's intertwined with the recent memories of scorpion's bend, a twist to the way he stands in the middle of its central street, its false citizens carrying about their usual routine as he'd grown accustomed to seeing day by day. all at once, they start to scream, fingers beginning to claw at each other's skin like animals, howling with feral cries.
Monsters — we're the monsters! they scream, destroying one another before they collapse on the ground, bodies piling on bodies.
the ash rains from above, always gentle like snow, like it shields away the horror of the bloody scene. but tonight it isn't over. amongst the corpses, there she stands — quell.
in his head, he hears a voice. xichen utters quietly, He told me that pulsefire is used to clean out towns by bandits who are looking for treasure. It leaves nothing living behind.
quell raises up her arm, fingers reaching out to him. Tak— suddenly she burns, too fast to even suffer, flames engulfing her into ash. kovacs screams, but he can't move forward. his feet remain trapped beneath the corpses.
Tak— he hears again. a different voice. he turns to see reileen, his sister reaching out with her fingers the same way quell had done. once more, the pulsefire burns her to nothing.
yet again, Tak— and he turns to see clara standing there. he shakes his head frantically, thinking no, no, no, but all at once, she's lost in the fire.
his body shakes, thinking there can't be more, but then, Tak—
with a slow turn, marta stands with her eyes on him. once again, wide and almost pleading with her worry, the soft stare that mirrors into his own eyes. this time, it's him that's reaching, arm outstretched trying to get to her before it's too late.
the pulsefire burns. ]
No — ! [ he screams out, body trembling, skin damp with sweat, as he sits up from his jarring startle, peering around to find himself in that cramp little office, still on the small mattress he'd found and shoved into the corner for them to camp in. and when he turns, breaths panting heavily, marta's there beside him, untouched by pulsefire, not burned into ash, but alive and breathing. ]