Chapter
6:June 23rd, AC 206, 9:28am
Relena
coughed as she inhaled the dust and dirt that clouded the air. It
was so thick, it was difficult to breathe. A broken piece of sheet
rock laid over her in an upside down "V". She peered up
through the crack and got a face full of dirty rain. She coughed
again and wiggled her fingers, then her toes. Cautiously, she shifted
each limb. Everything seemed to move okay and nothing seemed to
hurt, so that was good. She stuck an arm up through the opening
between the sheet rock and grasped a jagged edge with shaky fingers.
Using it as leverage, she managed to get her legs under her and
shimmy herself up through the crack. She sat on one edge of the
wall and pulled her legs free. The continuous rain pelted her, washing
the dirt and plaster off her skin in little rivulets. The villa
was gone.
She'd
felt the rumble and without thinking, flown to the adjoining bathroom,
dove into the tub, and screamed for Jillian to take cover. She'd
curled into a ball and crossed her arms over her head. The upheaval
shook the villa so hard, it rattled Relena's bones and clacked her
teeth together painfully. The sounds of the house coming apart around
her was deafening. The roar of crumbling walls and roof, the shattering
of windows, and the cracking and splitting of wooden beams was so
loud, it drowned out her terrified screams. Her stomach plummeted
as the tub beneath her dropped to the first floor, her body following
suit a split second later.
The
tub crashed onto the carpeted floor of her living room. Luckily,
it was aluminum so it had not shattered. It bounced slightly, then
rolled to the side. Relena turned her head and placed one arm in
front of her face to protect it from the floor, the other still
desperately tried to protect the back of her head from anything
that might fall on top of her. She'd hit the floor with bone-jarring
force, knocking the wind out of her. She curled up again and waited
for certain death as the entire second and third stories fell down
around her.
It
was either by luck, or divine intervention, that one particular
wall fell in such a way that it had provided a shelter of sorts.
The violent rocking and the screeching clamor of destruction seemed
to last an entire lifetime, but in reality was less than a minute.
For several precious seconds, she'd seen everything in slow motion,
including her fall from the second floor.
Once
the earth-shattering tremors had stopped, she'd simply laid in her
dark little sanctuary wondering if she was still alive and if so,
did she want to come out. After a few seconds, the other-worldly
sensations of a near-death experience began to wear off and her
consciousness regained control. After a quick assessment, she was
able to determine that yes, she was alive. The realization that
she had apparently just survived a major earthquake because she
was blanketed under a solid layer of sheet rock was too much to
wrap her head around just yet.
She'd
peered up towards the top and determined there was just enough space
for her to squeeze through. She only knew it was the top because
she saw daylight. Her internal compass was off kilter and she'd
had no idea which way was up, or down.
She
finally wedged her feet out of the tiny crevice and shakily got
up. Very carefully, she stepped around the fallen remains of her
villa. The dirt, dust, and plaster which had begun to mix with the
rain, formed a sticky paste that clung to her skin. She wiped the
clay-like substance out of her eyes and peered around. A sob erupted
from her chest and clogged her throat.
There
was nothing left.
After
fifteen minutes of frantic searching, she located the remains of
her longtime servant and friend. Jillian had apparently been crushed
by falling debris. Relena closed her sightless eyes and wiped away
the blood that had bubbled up between the girl's lips with her sleeve.
She knelt next to Jillian, held her limp hand and wept. She cried
for the loss of another dear friend, feeling as though she was the
only person left in the world. Her chest felt like an empty cavity,
hollow and aching. The freezing rain drenched her, plastering her
muddy hair to her scalp and she shivered from the cold. It mixed
with the salty warmth of her tears and left scalding tracks down
her cheeks. Relena hunched over the body of her friend, overcome
with grief. She wanted nothing more than for the ground to open
up and swallow her whole.
Movement
in her peripheral vision made her turn her head sharply, just in
time to catch a glimpse of messy, dark brown hair and stunning blue
eyes. She froze as the eyes pierced through her and then the figure
darted behind a large oak tree.
Not
stopping to think about the impossibilities, Relena scrambled up
on her feet and staggered towards the tree, the name of a dead friend
written across her numb lips. She reached the tree and circled around
it, looking for any sign of the man she'd just seen.
There
was no one there.
"Heero?"
Relena whispered. "Heero!"
She
peered around the bend and spotted the figures of Duo and Quatre,
standing on the precipice of the large hill that overlooked the
entire kingdom of Sanq. They stood with their backs to her, looking
down. She walked towards them, calling their names, asking why they
were there. Their heads turned and they looked at her over their
shoulders. As she approached them, they both disappeared over the
threshold. A harsh cry forced its way out of her throat and she
ran to the edge to peer down.
There
was no sign of her two friends, but what she did see made her rear
backwards on her heels. Her knees buckled and she dropped like a
stone. It seemed as though all the air had been pulled from her
lungs. Her hand clamped over her mouth. Her mind screamed, begged
her to negate what she was seeing. Her head shook back and forth
in denial, but she knew it would do no good. It was real. It was
all real.
Sanq,
her beloved home was in complete ruins. Not one building stood among
the kingdom-wide devastation. Everything had been destroyed. Homes
and businesses, even historical landmarks and monuments looked like
nothing more than piles of concrete powder and tinder wood. The
beautiful architecture of the Sanq Museum, the tallest and most
magnificent building in all of northern Europe, was gone. Random
explosions rocked the city and fires burned from broken gas lines.
Survivors, tiny from her standpoint, scrambled around, lost and
terrified, looking desperately for their loved ones.
Again,
her brother's voice whispered in her ear, clear as the sunniest
day. The two words he had spoken earlier that morning during her
vision came back to her, oh
God that was a lifetime ago.
They buzzed through her head like a million angry bees.
A
breeze brushed against her face and she raised her eyes out past
the sandy beaches of Sanq's picturesque shoreline, out towards the
horizon. A giant tidal wave loomed about three miles out and was
closing in quickly.
Panicking,
Relena shouted over the edge of the cliff. She screamed at the villagers
to take cover, seek higher ground. She screamed until her voice
gave out and blood coated her throat from broken capillaries. Her
hands scrabbled for rocks and she absently threw them in a desperate,
but useless attempt to get them to look.
She screamed and screamed until the wave had reached the shore.
The villagers, unable to hear her, never noticed the danger until
it was too late.
In
a roar of salt water, Sanq was washed away. The top of the wave
struck a couple hundred feet below the cliff Relena was kneeling
on. The force pushed a strong gush of air against her face and blew
saltwater into her eyes. She squinted against it, still trying to
scream, though there was nothing and no one left to warn.
And
still she screamed. She screamed for the horror she had just witnessed.
She screamed for the millions of lives that had just vanished in
the blink of an eye. She screamed for the hopeless frailty of human
life. She screamed for her friends. She screamed for everyone and
everything that had ever felt the agony of powerlessness and the
paralyzing grief of loss.
Relena
collapsed onto the wet grass. Her mind, too overcome with shock
and desolation, began to shut down. She rolled onto her side and
gazed off into the distance. The bellowing waves faded into the
background. Her eyes once again caught the five figures standing
together, not twenty feet away, watching her with a placidity she
couldn't comprehend. Her brother's voice, a final time, whispered
into her ear. This time, her mind translated it before succumbing
to darkness.
Sensus
Divinitatus. Sensing God...
