Before Rix's death…
In the aftermath of the catastrophe<<
Seraphine slowly opened her eyes. Her head was spinning, and everything felt heavy.
She was covered in dust and broken pieces of the ceiling. Her whole body was shaking so hard she couldn't stop it.
Her mind was heavy, but the memory of what happened came back little by little.
She had been standing behind a thick wall when it hit. She never actually saw the meteorites falling from the sky.
The only thing she remembered was the blinding reddish‑orange light that filled the sky. It was so bright it burned into her vision, and then everything went dark as she lost consciousness.
She pushed a piece of wood off her chest and coughed. The air was thick with gray smoke and ash.
Seraphine slowly pushed herself up a little and looked down at her body.
Her eyes widened in horror when she saw a shard of sharp glass thrust deep into her left shoulder.
The glass was the size of a small dagger, buried in her flesh. She groaned in pain, biting her lip so hard it nearly bled to keep from screaming.
Thick, dark blood was pouring out of her shoulder and down her arm. Her beautiful bluish-white hair was a mess, covered in gray dust and grit.
She trembled as she raised her right hand. She gripped the glass shard, her knuckles turning white, and forced herself to pull it out.
"AAAHHHH!" she screamed, the sound echoing through the ruins.
The pain was white-hot, but she managed to take the glass off her shoulder.
The wound bled even more, crimson spilling down her arm.
Seraphine's breathing became heavier, but she didn't panic.
She quickly tore a piece from her clothes and pressed it against her shoulder, tying it tightly to stop the bleeding.
It was still soaking through, but it was bearable for now.
Her eyes darted around.
Everything was a mess. Half the building was partially covered in fire..
She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Dozens of dead bodies were scattered around her, crushed and broken under the debris.
Her mind was struggling to process what she was seeing.
A strange feeling started rising inside her chest:
Fear.
Helplessness.
Anger.
Seraphine slowly lifted her head and looked up at the sky.
Above her, the sky was painted in a deep orange glow.
The meteorite shower seemed to be over. Only one or two stray rocks were still falling in the distance.
But that was it. The damage was already done.
It was catastrophic.
She couldn't even imagine the scale of ruin across the world if her college alone looked like this.
She slowly forced herself to stand up. She pushed aside piles of trash and broken bricks, her legs was shaking with every move.
She clutched her left shoulder tightly, trying to keep the blood from soaking through her blue sweater even more.
"R... Ri... Rina...cough...cough" she called out.
A sudden cough interrupted her as the dust-filled air hit her throat.
Except for that one other person, Rina was the only name she had left to call out in this nightmare.
Seraphine's voice cracked as she called out, "R… Rina… are you there?" She remembered Rina being close to her when the disaster struck, so she could only hope she had fallen somewhere nearby.
Seraphine began to claw at the piles of broken cement, her hands shaking. She ignored the sting in her shoulder as she tossed aside chunks of the wall.
After a few seconds of searching, her eyes caught a glimpse of golden strands peeking out from beneath the rubble.
"Rina!" Seraphine gasped. She scrambled over and began lifting the heavy blocks with her bare, bloodied hands.
Buried under the debris was Rina Velmont. Seraphine stared at her, her heart sinking.
Rina's entire body was soaked in blood, her skin covered in dust and dirt that clung to her like a second layer.
Once hailed as the college belle, admired by everyone, she now lay broken and fragile in this sorry state.
Seraphine looked at her friend's face and knelt in the dirt before her.
For a moment, her heart sank..
her only true friend, the one she had met just hours ago, looked lifeless.
"No… no, no…" Seraphine whispered, panic rising. She thought Rina was gone.
But then, her eyes widened.
Rina's face twitched. A faint breath escaped her lips. She was alive.
Barely,
Seraphine quickly shook her, tapping her cheeks gently, desperate to wake her.
"R… Rina… Rina… hey… wake up… please…" she pleaded, her voice was trembling.
It started with a small twitch of the eyelids.
Then, slowly, Rina opened her eyes.
"Mm... hmmm... huh... AHHHHHH!"
As she fully regained consciousness, the wall of pain hit her all at once.
Rina clutched her head tightly, her fingers digging into her scalp as she groaned on the floor.
"AAHHHHHHHH! My head..." she cried. Blood trickled down her forehead, her golden hair was matted with dust.
Her vision cleared little by little, and then she noticed someone sitting beside her.
"Huh… S… Sera…" she whispered, her voice was shaking.
Seraphine smiled bitterly, tears in her eyes. "I'm glad you're alive," she said softly.
Rina managed a faint polite smile, her pale was face showing both pain and relief.
Rina tried to sit up straight, but she suddenly coughed. A lot of blood came out of her mouth, even more than Seraphine.
"Wha... what actually happened here?" Rina asked, her voice was weak.
Just like Seraphine, Rina hadn't seen the meteorites. She only remembered that terrifying orange light before everything went black. She could see the destruction around her now, but she couldn't believe her own eyes.
"We can talk about that later," Seraphine interrupted softly
"Can you walk?" Seraphine asked.
Rina gave a bitter smile. "I… I don't think so. My leg… my ankle is broken."
"It's okay. Try to stand up. You can do it... come on. I will help you. Let's move somewhere safe," Seraphine said, reaching out her hand.
Following her words, Rina slowly tried to stand, leaning heavily on Seraphine's support. But she managed to rise. Rina asked, her voice faint. "Safe? Huh? Where?"
Seraphine lowered her head, "I... I don't know. But let's just get away from here first."
"Okay," Rina nodded, leaning her weight on Seraphine.