The Collapse -Reworked-

by ~Phifty

The blast was coming.

Arial wiped the rain from her tapered eyes. She looked down the blocks at the bright white, blue detailed, foot of the League capital building. She put a hand above her eyes to wipe the tips of her hair free of her face. They had been tinting the scene, as if through a layer of port wine, now she brushed them away. She looked up, and up. The lookout girl’s eyes slowly tracked their way along the soft curves of the building. In this weather its color was almost the same brown as her eyes. She looked past windows, decorations, symbols of the various powers, turrets, and even the surveillance cameras.  The peak of the building seemed to rise like some vast organic lance, stabbing into the sky. Past it were more of the same white lances, even darker in the night, a round table with knights of stone and swords larger than even a giant could hold. Lightning flashed and threw everything into dark relief against an angry sky that seemed ready to switch from rain to snow. A roar of inhuman anger followed after.

Wrapping thin arms around her narrow frame; Arial could create little warmth, however, the comfort that she derived from doing so helped. Somewhere up there, Markus was playing revolutionary, and that caused her just as much of a chill as the biting wind.   With her hair unraveling down her shoulders and the rain beginning to soak through the long overcoat she was wearing, Arial tried to remember when she thought this was a good idea. When, with a drink in hand and Markus near, with that Sam girl on his arm, they had toasted again and again to all their ideals: liberty, friendship, revolution. The soft sound of the barely conscious young men singing ‘Choices of Tomorrow’ as empty glasses were picked up and clinked down behind the bar. Though she was close to Markus she didn’t seem to be able to get as close as she wanted to him. It seemed a bit like that now. He was close, so close to her, but just out of her reach. Though it had been tantalizing then, now it was torture.  They had their supplies and they would head out. A toast to their home. A toast to Tauria.

Walking down the expansive zigs and zags of Unity Street, Arial passed many stores, all filled with the familiar commodities of the wealthy. The facades loomed out of the rain, the light and thunder making them lean in, bending over her, plotting what to do.  Though she knew each and every item, she hadn’t been among them, wielding her name and family fame, for a long time. Another shiver ran down the young student’s back. She could remember a time when she wouldn’t have left her room in weather like this for fear of it ruining her clothes or her hair. She adjusted the overly large coat better on her shoulders, the lightning playing across its canvas. Romantic girl, your clothes, hair, and plenty else is ruined now, she thought. Markus had changed her. He had shown her that she could, and should do something. She could make the Edrasil name count for something again, as it hadn’t in centuries. When she said his name, it worked like a spell, conjuring up tastes, sun reflected in a spray of water, wind blowing out her hair, and long dialogues at the University, sometimes arguments, that stretched far into the night. He had impressed the young girl who soon began to hope for more than conversation.

His voice whispered in her ear. “It’s done, we’re on our way out now.” She continued to move down the road, a small figure that was a mere dot among the width and length of the main street.  She glanced over her shoulder at the white spike. Darkness. Then there was light. For a moment Arial thought it was lightning. But no, it was tinged with yellow and red and billowed from a midpoint in the tower, cascading down in long billowing lines. The Taurian tower of the ULP capital building collapsed inward in a rush of fire and debris.

“No.” The uncertain girl whispered to herself. “It’s too early.” She keyed her earpiece. “Markus. Markus.” She wanted to yell his name but she couldn’t talk above a whisper. “Are you there?”

Nothing but static.

“Oh gods…” Arial collapsed on the hard concrete, not noticing the seeping wetness of the ground, nor the buildings all around her glowing with suddenly activated lamp light, not even the people rushing out and into the street. The tears came quickly, so quickly that soon they outnumbered the rain drops that slid down the girl’s face. She leaned over, legs splayed out across the sidewalk in front of her. Arial crumpled into herself, much the same way the building had.