Fia thought she knew fear. Being surrounded by guards, being seconds away from getting caught, waking up knowing that that day would be the physical test and if she failed she would have to go through torturous training once again- all of those things scared her. But now, she was scared. Terrified, the kind of fear that left your mind blank, your body cold, and renders you unable to move. The fire danced before her eyes, large and bright and mocking. She had to move, to help, to save, to do something, anything. But her body wouldn’t listen to her, frozen to the ground even as her mind screamed at her. A hundred thoughts simultaneously raced through her head, a hundred dark possibilities of what could have happened.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH”

She snapped. Before her mind could even process the fact that she knew that voice, that she knew the person screaming, she was sprinting, past the plain, past the gate, past the door. She didn’t know what she was expecting, didn’t realize she still had a shred of hope until it was crushed by the fact that everything she ever knew was now nothing but vague shapes shrouded in the sea of flames. The fire was crackling, louder, louder, louder and her heartbeat was loud, too loud-

She clapped her hands over her ears, listening to her own breaths until the sound was bearable. And then she was running. She didn’t know where to go, but her feet were already carrying through the familiar hallways and rooms in a desperate search for a missing treasure.

“...Fia?”

She stopped, staring at the indescript figure. It walked towards her, and slowly she was able to make out the details. Brown hair, blue eyes, light skin….her eyes widened and her breath hitched as a burst of hope blossomed in her chest.

“Hayden?’

He nodded, smiling weakly.

“Hayden!”

She rushed him, arms wrapping around his torso, and she pressed her ear against his chest to hear his heart beat and reassure herself that, yes, he was really alive.

“Are you okay?! What happened? Where is everyone…,” Fia faltered, only now taking in his pained expression and the growing sensation of something wet against her arms, “...else….”

He collapsed.

“Hayden?!” She knelt down, opting to rest him against her chest rather than the floor. “Wha-what-” her eyes caught on his side. Red. Spreading through the white shirt and staining her forearm. “You’re hurt,” she whispered, horrification clear in her voice. With a smooth motion, she tore off part of her shirt and pressed it against her wound, putting as much pressure as she could. She was babbling, she realized, whispering “It’s okay” over and over and over until she wasn’t even sure who she was saying it for anymore.

“Fia.” Hayden cut her off, grabbing her shoulders, looking at her with a determined yet utterly defeated look in his eyes. “You need to run.”

“Wha-”

“NOW!” She flinched, wide-eyed.”You need to get out of here, okay? Run as far as you can and don’t look back.”

“I can’t just leave you-!”

“You have to! I won’t survive. None of us will- we’re too far gone. But you can still survive, Fia. No matter what happens, run, okay? You have to-”

A flash of silver caught her eye, glinting in the firelight.

“-li..ve.”

Suddenly, he fell, weighing on her shoulder and almost slipping. She held her breath, looking in front of her but not seeing anything.

“....Hayden?”

There was no response, no noise from the prone body and suddenly she realized that he wasn’t breathing.

For a second, she felt like her heart stopped. “Hayden?”

Tears gathered in her eyes. She was numb, her mind unable to understand what just happened. Distinctly, she heard footsteps and her eyes cleared to see a black figure. She focused on his eyes, almost black with the reflection of the flames. He bent, reaching for something and it was only when he pulled back that she saw the dagger, blood crimson and glistening as it dripped from the dagger’s tip.and splattered on the ground.

He smirked, flicking his wrist and her eyes followed the droplets of blood until silver once again caught her and the dagger was rushing at her and she couldn’t move and-

With a loud gasp, she sat up, her panting filling the otherwise silent room. Cold sweat had soaked through her clothes and her skin felt clammy. She tried to breathe, to calm her heart and clear her mind but her breaths soon became hiccups, loud and desperate and uncontrollable. A teardrop fell onto the white sheet and she gasped, the splatter reminding her of the red, red blood.

Her arms hugged herself as she curled into a ball, trying to make herself as small as possible. Idly, she wondered why she wasn’t used to this yet; it’s been years since the incident and yet every night she woke up with soaked sheets and an echo of a scream resounding in her room Every night, she woke up feeling empty, cold and weak and fragile. Every night, she woke up with regret and a wish to amend the fact that she abandoned theme- even at the cost of her own life.

And every night she remembers that Fia is already dead and that Celest has too many hopes weighing on her to end her life, no matter how much she wished she could.