to eternity | n. riki

36. there is no tomorrow

Racing through the forest on the steep edges of the mountain, Hayoung's head turned up as she heard the sounds of engines. A shadow darkened the sky as it was the Odessian airships that were arriving from the south. Havoc and chaos was to unravel as the once dignified rulers of Odessia were now gone. The airships were urgently deployed to ambush Eloria for the assassination of the Odessian royal family. The royal marriage had come to an awful ending, the Queen of Eloria distraught and mortified that her own daughter had sacrificed herself for the prince, the prince losing everyone he had ever loved.

While Hayoung was desperate to get the prince to safety and on a ship back to Odessia, the prince was not merely in a daze, but his world was falling apart. His hands were covered in the princess' blood as held onto Hayoung's waist tightly, his head on her back as they rode on Pippa to the Elorian ports. His mind was a mess, he didn't know what to think at this point because his whole family whom he loved was dead.

Hayoung could feel the prince's grasp on her waist grow tighter and tighter. Ni-ki held onto her as she was the last person left. Though his love for her was immense, he could barely think of her, his mind clouded by the horrors he witnessed and heard.

"Had I just died, the result would've been better," Ni-ki cried, his warm tears wetting the back of Hayoung's shirt, "Everyone I loved, my mother, Isla and Lilabeth, my foolish father, they're all gone. The princess, who I treated horribly, sacrificed herself for me. What am I going to do? What's going to happen?"

"Had you died, Ni-ki, the results still would've been the same," Hayoung exclaimed, "I don't know what's going to happen, honestly speaking. I'm terrified as well, but we must get you to safety. We need to go home. Back to Oceanus."

The sounds of booms and cracks were illuminated in the midst of panic. Glowing embers and smoke filling the air. The sounds of the explosions were more frequent and louder as they crossed into a canyon. It was an air raid. Pippa was growing more exhausted with every step, the sounds of the explosions frightening her, Hayoung having to help her refocus on the road in front of her.

"Come on girl, just a little longer," Hayoung said, trying to encourage her.

The sounds of rocks falling and loud rustling caught Hayoung's attention as they passed through the canyon. Elorian soldiers were tracking and hunting them down from the left and right sides of the canyon. The cliffs were steep but all of the soldiers were well equipped and knew the land better than Hayoung did.

"Shit," she gritted through her teeth.

There was no escape. The prince and Hayoung were stuck in plain sight, the only thing that could potentially protect them were the giant rocks surrounding them, but if one went down with force, they would be doomed. A blazing whoosh flew by them soon to be more bullets fired at them, both alarmed and tense as they raced to save humanity.

"Ni-ki, keep your head down!" Hayoung screamed as she began a distraction, trying to make it harder for the soldiers to aim.

Hayoung directed Pippa to run in a zig-zag pattern, making the probability of getting shot lower. They were incredibly lucky, as Hayoung could see the end of the canyon, close to the open land, but her pupils constricted in shock as the rocks in front of her fell down, a thunderous boom erupting in front of her. The sound of Pippa whinnying in pain caught Hayoung's attention as she and Ni-ki both felt themselves falling onto the hard earth.

"Ni-ki, are you okay?" Hayoung gasped for her breath, getting up. She landed roughly on her arm in excruciating pain, not able to move it.

"I'm fine, just scratched up," he said with discomfort, sitting up, "How are you-"

They both stopped talking as they looked at Pippa. Her eyes were lifeless as she was motionlessly laying on the ground.

"P-Pippa," Hayoung's voice quivered as she desperately crawled to her, "Come on girl, you're going to be okay. Come on Pips, let's get up and make it out of here. I promise I'm going to give you all the apples, carrots, and sugar cubes you want when we go back home. I know you can do it, you gotta get up. Please, one more time. You can't leave me yet, Pippa. Please get up."

"Hayoung, she's gone. We have to go. We're next if we don't start moving," Ni-ki exclaimed, his voice shaking, seeing Hayoung in so much panic.

"Pippa, come on, girl, please," Hayoung begged, feeling a lump in her throat and her eyes burning.

"Hayoung, Pippa is dead!" He shouted, "Please, Hayoung, we need to go now. The Elorians are gaining on us."

Hayoung was on her knees, unable to hear Ni-ki's voice. She hadn't noticed Pippa had been shot in the back of her leg. Once she stopped running her heart gave out from the exhaustion. Pippa wasn't coming back. She was dead. Hayoung had made Pippa run until she died and she knew it was all her fault. Mortified, she didn't know what to do. Logistically, it would almost be impossible for Ni-ki and her to outrun the soldiers and by foot it would be so much riskier to escape.

Ni-ki got up and grabbed Hayoung's arm. He dragged her up as she was silent, but they were running. Ni-ki didn't know where to go, he just needed to go far away from this place, this nightmare that never seemed to end.

Another boom and another crack. Hayoung was knocked back into her senses. The prince was in front of her, dragging her away from their death. On their feet, they kept running knowing their tomorrow was unlikely, but if they could live just a little bit longer, hold onto their lives a little longer, it would be worth it.

An ominous darkness loomed over their heads as they felt rocky debris fall onto them. The Elorian soldiers fired multiple shots at the edge of a rocky cliff, the rocks slipping and crumbling down the canyon wall. Hayoung's feet were stuck on the ground as smoke and rocks were headed in their direction, Ni-ki staring mindlessly in fear.

"This is it," she thought in defeat, her head facing the landslide that would consume them, "Finally we have reached the end. The Elorians had us wrapped around their fingers, making us Odessians look like fools. How has the world come to this? If Ni-ki and I had talked sooner maybe things would've looked better for us. Maybe we would've had a life together. Perhaps I would talk to Serci, Lilabeth, and Isla about girly things, and-"

Her thoughts were cut off. Ni-ki grabbed her and pulled her close to his chest. For it would be the last time they would be together in this world. He held her face and looked at her beautiful face once more before planting a soft kiss on her lips. Hayoung closed her eyes as tears endlessly streamed down her cheeks.

"To eternity, we shall be together despite our circumstances," he whispered in her ear, "I love you, Hayoung."

Before she could even open her mouth, she felt a forceful push back, her eyes losing sight of the prince, the rock's rubble and dust filling her view. Hayoung abruptly stopped feeling immense pain in her back and head as she barely had enough strength to push herself up. She had roughly collided with rocks on the canyon floor, her blood intervening with her sight. Her hearing was skewed and vision was blurry. Nothing but the sound of high pitch ringing tormented her pained head as she crawled on the ground. Moving slowly, gripping her aching body, Hayoung saw a silhouette on the ground. The closer she got the more familiar it was. The white sleeve of the prince's Air Force uniform.

"Ni-ki," she called his name out in desperation, "Ni-ki, I'm here. I love you too, Ni-ki. I love you so much."

She grabbed his hand. Finally she had reached him, but an awful sight rushed through her head as she screamed and sobbed on the top of her lungs. The only remaining part of the prince left was his right arm, the rest was crushed by rock. Hayoung laid on the ground next to Ni-ki as she curled up, the tears inevitably flowing. Her world had truly fallen apart, everyone was gone. Her voice was hoarse and she felt numb. It would only take the exhaustion, the broken bones, and the loss of her blood for her nightmare to come to a halt as it appeared every time she said "I love you," it was always too late.