Ethereal Fall [Undergoing Major Editing] | #Wattys2016

Chapter Eleven

I was standing in a pit of fire. Fire...? I felt my heartbeat increase sharply as the flames curled around me. Ghoulish voices were screaming my name, echoing off the stone walls.

"Asteria! Asteria!"

"No..." I clasped my hands to my ears. "Stop it..."

"Why did you abandon us, Asteria?"

I gasped, looking up. That was Cassi's voice. Her face suddenly appeared in front of me, etched with pain and anger.

"Asteria... Why did you leave us to die? Why did you survive? Why are you siding with those who killed us?"

"Why... Why... Why..." That one wretched word bounced off the walls.

"No!" I screamed, tears pouring down my face. "I had no other choice! No! Shut up!"

Suddenly, the voices stopped. All I could hear was the pounding in my ears. I looked around in confusion. Then out came a hushed, "She hates us."

My skin crawled, and I burst into flames. Menacing laughter surrounded me, and no hands helped me.

I awoke, panting. Snapping my eyes open, I found myself in the Recharge Chair, though I don't recall ever being in it. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, feeling like I just saw something horrific, but when I reached into the depths of my mind, nothing seemed to appear. Weird.

When my eyes focused, I immediately stood up from the Chair. There was Elder Xapham, in a grappling hold with Lance, both shouting nonsense.

"--finally found you, you bastard," Xapham said through gritted teeth.

"Who're you calling a bastard, you bastard?!"

"What are you two doing?!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

Both of them turned.

"Run!" Lance yelled.

"Asteria!" Xapham said at the same time. Then, to Lance, "What in the name of all that is holy did you do to her?"

"Nothing! For the hundredth fucking time, I didn't do anything to her!" Lance landed on the floor with a grunt. "Go ask her!"

"It's true!" I cried, running over. "He didn't hurt me in any way, shape, or form! Please stop hurting him!" I tried prying Xapham's hands away from Lance, and I fell back in surprise when he loosened them on his own.

Xapham stared at me with wide eyes. "Asteria... What happened to you, my dear? I-I don't ever recall you being like this."

"This is what I truly am, Xapham." I put every ounce of malice I could into his name. "This man here has shown me how messed up this so-called 'perfect afterlife' is."

Xapham turned back to Lance. "So you did do something to her, you liar. First, you torch my realm. Then, you turn an innocent girl over to the dark side."

Xapham raised his hand to smack him. I didn't know what came over me at that point, but I slid in between them and embraced Lance. Xapham's hand came down hard on my back with no mercy.

"Asteria!" Lance cried. Getting up, he glared at Xapham. Hatred danced in his eyes. "You fucking bastard..." His hand reached into his jacket pocket, but I grabbed it before he could do anything.

"L-Lance. Please calm down. I did that out of my free will." That smack stung more than I thought, though.

"I'll be leaving now," Xapham suddenly muttered. Guilt was written all over his face, and he disappeared in a flash of light.

I finally relaxed. With a loud sigh, I collapsed onto my back, not thinking. "Ow..."

Lance knelt beside me, seemingly at a loss of words.