Fireheart | Raven Reyes [O.H.]

15 | the party at the end of the world

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chapter fifteen!
THE PARTY AT THE
END OF THE WORLD
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ARES HAS ALWAYS loved Unity Day. Classes were always canceled on the first of October, allowing students, teachers, their parents, and everyone in-between to participate in the Ark's festivities. Every year, the Unity Day pageant was held in Alpha Station, and every year, a handful of children were forced to hold up different flags representing the twelve nations that came together to form the Ark. One year, Ares had been chosen to hold up the Venezuelan flag. He'd cursed under his breath in Spanish the entire time, which had earned him a harsh scolding from his mother later, but it had been worth it.

The annual dance was the best part of the night. Every year, there was a different theme. At the last one Ares had attended before he'd been arrested, the theme had unironically been Under the Stars. He recalls the corridors being draped in silver that reflected from the countless windows overlooking outer space. It had taken him approximately five minutes to catch the eye of a girl he doesn't remember the name of. She'd stared at him for nearly the entire night, which ended with them both entwined in a utility closet.

Yeah. Ares thinks of his last Unity Day as a free man with fondness.

But now, this one might beat that one for the sheer fact they're on the ground. As the day shifts to the afternoon, the air is still crisp with the autumnal weather that October brings. He breathes deeply, admiring the cold breeze entering his lungs and the sound of leaves crunching underfoot as the delinquents mill around camp. A few of them are watching the pageant on the monitor they'd previously used for conferences with their parents. Nate had dragged him and Kiernan along to make fun of the pageant, but Ares is only half-listening to Jaha drone on while Kiernan listens with rapt attention.

"This is a historic Unity Day," the Chancellor states from the Ark, the poor connection from space to the ground making his dark complexion seem washed-out and grainy as the feed glitches every few seconds. "Every year, we mark the moment our ancestors of the twelve stations joined to form the Ark, but this is the last time we do so aboard her. Next year... on the ground."

His words are met with thunderous applause from the Ark that makes Ares wince as they almost blow out the speakers. The knife he'd been using to clean underneath his fingernails slides when he jumps, slicing open the calloused skin of his right hand's ring fingertip. He hisses, instantly bringing the digit to his mouth to run his tongue over the blood forming there. Kiernan momentarily tears his gaze from the monitor to give him a concerned look.

"Right," Nate scoffs in response to Jaha's words, ignoring Ares' newly-gained injury. "After we did all the work. Someone shut him up."

"You shut up, Miller," Raven retorts without missing a beat. "No one's forcing you to watch."