“Run Admin Controls.”

I call out, feeling my way around the darkness. My hands are stretched out before me as I press them against the walls and hope for the best. My tail also slithers around the room, poking here and there until it finally comes across an opening. A slight seam in the wall,showing sliding doors.

It’s all coming back to me, in micro-doses but coming back, nonetheless.

“Hello? Run Admin Controls. Beacon Member Senior, Sapphyra.”

Nothing. No lights, no A.I assistant voices. And worst of all? No Wyatt.

“Wyatt, this isn’t funny. Open the damn door!” I pound my fists against the door. They refused to budge, and I refused to give up.

“Fuck it. I don’t have time for this.” My tail jiggled and slid itself into the seam of the door. Between it and me pulling like my life depended on it, we forced the doors open and stepped out into what was once my home.

Beacon Headquarters.

Cyran City, the home I’ve always known, had superheroes long before me and my friends. They called themselves Beacon. It wasn’t until Wyatt and I started our own home for superheroes who needed a second chance that we uncovered the history behind Beacon. 

“As I recall, we were amid a name change before he put me in there. Come on, Wyatt, Liam, Vega? Anybody?” I called out, walking amongst the cobwebs and blinking red lights of my home. 

Red lights? Those were emergency power lights. Why would we need emergency power?

“Alright, who didn’t pay the light bill?!”

I glance at my tail, eyes having finally adjusted to the dark. “You’re awfully silent. What's up?”

But it refused to look at me, opting instead to wrap around my waist–a gorgeous pink and white accessory.

“Why do I get the feeling something bad’s gonna happen if I go outside?” I gulped, whispering to myself.

One of the functions that stays around with emergency power would be the calendar and time system. It sits on the wall of the white and gold squared seating area. 

The strength left my body when I read the date and time.

Tuesday, March 1st, 2126. 9 p.m.

“That…there's no way that’s right. When did I last see everyone–”

Blood and screams echoed around the compound, but they weren't coming from the walls; they were coming from me. My head felt like it was splitting in two. More memories, more heartache.

“Sapph.”

“Wyatt, I can do this. I’m going back out there.”

“The hell you are! It's a suicide mission!”

Behind us, a massive figure reached down, swiping one hand across Cyran City. An entire block was destroyed in less than 30 seconds. My tail and wings flared; the fire within me roared to life and demanded vengeance.

“Boss lady, that's not a good idea. We need to take who we can and leave the planet.” Vega tried to reason with me.

“The ships still busted from the last time a Monolith attacked us! We have to go underground.” Liam argued.

I wheeled on them, forehead vein throbbing. My mouth curled up in disgust.

“This is our city! We’ve protected it time and time again! We’re Beacons, Pillars of Cyran. Without us it falls, and you all want to run? Those are your families down there, your friends!”

“Sapphyra, baby. I love you, but even you can’t take on a Monolith. They’re forces of nature. There is no fighting that.” Wyatt stood in front of me, taking my hands in his.

I ripped them away, refusing to give in.

“Stop. I don’t want to see anymore. Please…” I begged my brain to stop, felt my tail give my shoulders a rub, but ultimately there was no fighting what came next.

In the end, they were right. We couldn’t touch a Monolith. Not only was it too big to reasonably harm, it was a waste of time and resources to try and hold it at bay. 

Wyatt was right. Monoliths were forces of nature, man in their purest form. They were so tall you couldn’t see their heads on a clear day. One stomp might shake a continent loose if you weren’t careful.

I said I wouldn’t cry anymore today…but there’s no fighting this.

“Did you all get your loved ones? Good. Get out.” My dumbass wanted to stay and buy them some time.

“This is insanity! You think I’m just going to roll over and let my wife become a martyr? Live to fight another day, I’m begging you, Sapph,” Wyatt tugged on my arms, but I moved past him.

“I’m not human, Wyatt. I’ll be able to do something. I swear. Sometimes it takes a monster to beat a monster, right!” My goofy grin did little to temper his justified anger.

“It’s not a monster. It’s human!” He shouted. I turned to him, confused as I watched our teammates and their loved ones evacuate through portals and tunnels.

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s human, Sapph.”

“Wyatt, you’ve never been able to get a sample from a Monolith. How would you know?”

His silence spoke volumes. I didn’t like a damn thing they were saying.

“Wyatt!”

“You’re right. I never could get their DNA, but I had yours, love.” My tail split into three and wrapped around his neck.

“You promised me you would never try to–”

“I know.” He wheezed out. “But after the baby…you needed a distraction. You needed hope.”

A scream ripped from me. The words wouldn’t come, but my fire sure did.

“WHAT DID YOU DO?!”

“I leaked your DNA into the water system. Changed it so it would tap into the weaker genetics of humans and add Dragon DNA to them.”

My nostrils flared as my emotions rushed to keep up with the betrayal.

“How long?”

“I had your DNA before Barnaby…but I didn’t release it until after.”

“Wyatt, that was three fucking years ago! The tappers–all the people who got superpowers because of drinking tap water–all their lives ruined, that was your fault?!”

I released his neck just enough so he could swallow his bullshit and give me the truth.

“Yes. I did it for you.”

“No you didn’t—not for me, you didn’t! 2 million people died, Wyatt. Didn’t you feel anything at all? Did their deaths mean nothing to you?”

He adjusted his glasses.

I closed my eyes, knowing whatever he said next could never make up for this.

“I always told you I would let the world burn for you.” Was his only response.

I wanted to kill him. Smack some sense into him, make him face justice for all the people he had a hand in murdering. All the families he destabilized, the lives ruined.

“No one is that special.”

“Sapph–”

“I don’t wanna hear it. Also, the fact that you would use our son’s death as an excuse for your war crimes…I can’t deal with you right now. Don’t be here when I get back .” I flew off without thinking. My mind was still intent on facing the monster in front of me–the Monolith–that I ignored the monster right behind me.

Screaming in agony, I felt something cold and metallic grab me by the wings and yank me back. It was Wyatt, wielding some sort of contraption bathed in green light.

“I’m sorry. I know I hurt you—”

“FUCK YOU! Let me go!” No matter what I did, nothing was freeing me. My back arched as something sharp pierced me. 

Nothing pierces my scaled skin. He really has betrayed me, hasn’t he?

“I’m working on something, Sapph. A new way to deal with the Monoliths and tappers. It all stems from your DNA, but I’ve devised a way we can help people and give them powers safely.”

“Go to hell, Wyatt.” I remarked bitterly, watching the Monolith tear apart the other half of the city.

“It’s called the Class System. It won’t make sense now, but it will.” He paused, watching my eyelids droop.

“Maybe by the time you wake up, you’ll forgive me.” 

The world went dark for me after that.