Saxifrage Fire

0027

Alethea stirred awake in the back seat as the truck came to a stop.

She yawned and stumbled out to stare up at her steaming breath and the moon which hung in the east, signaling that it was approaching three in the morning.

"We'll unload in the morning," Oshi muttered, slamming the driver's door shut.

Thea looked out across the granite scape and groaned over the fact that she had to hike just to reach her bed where she planned to crash and not rise until noon. Wait no... she'd promised Kaleo she'd do test runs on a new toxin-proof mask he'd been designing first thing in the morning. Somehow, breathing toxin seemed like a viable option to knock out.

She heard footsteps against the gravel and turned to see Kaleo running towards them. She checked her watch- it wasn't eight a.m. yet.

"You're back! There was an emergency signal from the Goldhill base about an hour ago! Seras planted toxin in the cave's ventilation systems." Kaleo stopped running and stared at them with wide eyes. "Pa can't get a response from anyone at the base. Complete radio silence."

Thea's blood ran cold in her veins as her subconscious mind calculated the odds. She closed her eyes and wished she'd given her Grandmother a kinder goodbye that morning.

"Alethea," Kaleo's voice broke. He approached and clasped her shoulders with massive, warm hands. "Your Grandmother said that... you are to take her place if...."

She stared down at her boots, which seemed so small and dainty compared to Kaleo's. For a moment, she allowed herself to feel small, like the child her Grandmother used to rock in the quiet of the night. She let her lip quiver. Then, she turned to Hitoshi and Esmeralda whose faces had gone ashen.

"They're already dead," she said.

"Alethea, we don't know...." Kaleo started.

She cut him a look and he bowed his head.

"My Father must be responsible- that's why he wasn't home. Our first priority needs to be apprehending him. There needs to be a demolition and combat team on every roadway; if they plant road-bombs, hopefully, they can disorient the Garda long enough to nab my Father. We'll go to the base to see if he's still there." She kicked at the gravel road as she tried to map her Father's behavior. Did he know that his Mother was the Pyro General? She'd watched him sit on the end of his bed staring at the floor for hours after Agatha had allegedly died. Despite her Father's knack for lying, she couldn't help but think he believed she was dead. She drew up deep memories of the way he spoke to Agatha like she was a goddess, and he was blessed to be in her presence. Father spoke to no one with such reverence, not even the Empress.

She looked to see that the others were watching someone running over the granite terrain towards them.

Thea's heart sank as she realized it was Alex.

Thea started to put words together to tell her that Grandma was... gone. But just as she'd gathered the courage and managed the lump in her throat, Alex came close enough to reveal that her cheeks were wet with tears.

"I'm coming!" Alex said, heading straight for the truck.

Thea tried to grab her arm, but she felt someone do exactly that to her. She met Hitoshi's gaze.

"Let her go," he whispered. "She has a right to see."

She yanked away from his grasp.

"She's fifteen, Hitoshi!"

Hitoshi shrugged.

"I was leading raids on Sera companies at fifteen."

"Yeah, but you're a..."