The World I Knew Isn't The Same Anymore

Epilogue

"The strong will always surpass the weak. And the weak will always die," Sebastian's not afraid of the rampaging blue flames that dance closely around Bree. She's fallen on her back and is stuck staring up at the caving in roof as blood bubbles in the back of her throat. She can barely keep her eyes open. Sebastian still steps on her chest and applies force down on her. "And you are nothing but weak. You have immense power but have absolutely no idea how to control it. And because of that you have failed to protect yourself and in the process brought your little friends down with you."

Bree stares up at the man who resembles nothing but destruction, evil and chaos. Chase and Izabel, she's unconscious while Chase can't seem to move, both of them are the two people who Bree considers to be the closest to.

Chase is the first man who ever touched her naked skin and made her feel like someone special. The first person who ever told her that he loves her. And Izabel grew to be her new best friend, showed her nothing but kindness and strength and helped her overcome a lot of her limitations. Both of them accepted her into their lives, into their world, knowing all the things she could do without expecting anything in return or thinking anything bad of her. They both trusted her and she failed them.

Even Ethan, Ryder and all the others back in Valencia - she's failed them too. All they did was accept and trust her and now she's proven them all wrong. She shouldn't have entered a world she didn't know, she shouldn't have allowed them to even offer in the first place.

Bree begins to sob and her tears blur her vision even more. Her heart is aching and the force from Sebastian's foot on her chest is making her feel like these are her last moments alive. "You... y-you can't.. do this," she's crying harder now and she can physically feel her heart crushing in on itself. "Please, I'm begging you," her sobs grow louder. Her arms are glued to her side and she can't even muster enough strength to push at Sebastian's foot.

"Begging? That's pathetic, something only a weak insect would do," his laugh courses throughout what's left of the cave and he presses his foot down harder causing her to spit up more blood. "When I see you in the after life, I hope to kill you again and again and remind you of your poor failure as a mage."

The pressure of her body and Sebastian's force causes the ground beneath her to shake and crack. Her clothes, back and hair slowly meet water as it begins to soak her. "I hate you," Bree hisses up at him and the fire inches closer to her now. "I hate you and wish you," she coughs up more blood, "I wish you an ugly death."

Her words cause him to chuckle and his white hair falls over his eyebrows brushing against the tops of his eyes. "You won't be alive to witness said 'ugly death,'" and then he kicks down harder causing more water to wash against her.

Sebastian then removes his foot and begins to walk backwards towards Chase and Izabel when he realizes the flames circling her body again. By now all the individuals in their cages have fled, and she watches as Sebastian sprouts a pair of black tattered wings on his back. He manipulated shadows to form him wings, and he keeps his enlarged shadowed hands around Chase and Izabel and then flies out with both of them from the collapsing cave.

Bree's stuck and can't do anything besides watch the two people she cares about most leave with the only person she's ever said she hated. It's not just her heart crushing down on her, but now her ribs and lungs are too. This is it, she thinks, this is how I die. When her head tilts to the side she watches as her red blood trickles in with the sea water.

The entire cave is collapsing and shaking and the roof has fallen that she can see the clear blue sky above. She wishes that the sun wasn't shining on her death day, she'd much rather enjoy clouds and rain. Blue flames encircle her body, like a protective armor, as the water from the Sea of Terror push past the collapsing cave and rise upward devouring what once was Tartarus.

Bree squeezes her eyes shut and closes her mouth when the water goes above her head. All her blood floats out into the open water and she can feel herself falling. Even through the water, the blue flames of Hell's Fire still surround her keeping her safe from all the demons and creatures that inhabit the sea. She doesn't know how to swim and doesn't have the courage or strength to open her eyes so she just allows herself to float downward.

If it weren't for Hell's Fire she'd be killed by a monster or swallowed into a random portal fragment into another dimension. But instead Hell's Fire burns through those portals and allows her to keep falling downward. Her entire hearing is muffled and her vision is completely black. But a movie replays in her head and she thinks this is what 'my life is flashing before my eyes' means.

Bree Ritcher was born in catacombs beneath the Eiffel Tower from Chepi Ritcher's body. At two months she was dropped off to a foster care building in D.C Washington. There is where she grew up, and she struggled to make friends because she was too busy talking to the voices in her head. The adults there thought she was crazy and nearly had to trick her adoptive parents into taking her home to New York.

She lived in a small apartment in the big city of New York. She had an average life of going to school and going to a few dance practices. Even then it was hard to make friends because she believed in things the others wouldn't. It wasn't until 13 where Miss Madame, Jocelyn, tricked her into attending Hope for the Youth back in Paris.

Fast forward to 18 years old she found herself at Shoreline Academy and for the first time in her life she's found a group of friends. She realized who she was and what she's capable of. Realized that the voices in her head weren't imaginary and the things she believed in as a child actually exist. She found people she truly loves, and found a boy she'd give her own life for. He watched her like she's something torn out of a fantasy.

Bree's still falling and she's unsure whether she's alive or dead. But she feels a small smile play on her lips when images of Chase flash in her mind.

Life is a gift. Something that can be taken from you at any moment.

Cherish what you have now because you never know whether you'll have it tomorrow or not.

Lean on people you trust and care for when you find yourself lost and unsure what to do next.

Learn to trust yourself and forgive yourself and free yourself from the prison you create in your own mind.