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A pang of pain hit Hornet the moment she regained consciousness, orange filled her visions and everything around her was just so loud.
She has no idea what's happening or even what has happened. Her senses were completely numb and all that she knew was that she was in a lot of pain.
At first she thought the old light had come back and was out to get everyone who bested her. But as her vision slowly cleared, she realized that it wasn't that sickly sweet infection. And her surroundings weren't familiar at first sight.
Hornet tried moving her hand and she felt really numb to really know whether her hand actually moved or not, but then she felt something touch her head. It was her hand. She felt slightly relieved she could at least still move it. But comes another problem,
Her chest hurt. Simply breathing caused her chest to feel like a knife just stabbed her and she's unable to remove it. Hornet tried taking slow and steady breaths just to lessen the pain.
She pulled her hand back and aside from the small scratches visible on her hand, a seemingly new red substance painted her fingers. She can't remember anything.. Why can't she remember what happened here?
Hornet slowly and carefully pushed herself up on her elbows and bit back a scream that was threatening to escape her mouth. Then her hand subconsciously traveled up to her horns. As expected, it had shattered. Or— both of them shattered if the sharp tip wasn't proof enough to her.
She looked around out of instinct and that's when she remembered she was in the citadel in Pharloom. She had managed to ascend up to the citadel, but somewhere along the way, she was bested due to the amount of combat she had to deal with before this guard.
She was gonna die. It was supposed to be her demise. But she never felt the killing blow because..
..because Lace saved her. Lace was there.. Lace.
A moment of realization hit her and Hornet frantically looked around for the girl, but she was nowhere in sight, instead, she saw her needle laying close by. Hornet carefully got up and slowly threaded towards her needle while stumbling a little to then use it as a crutch.
This place is now somehow on fire and she needed to be quick before this fire engulfed her completely.
She was aware of the pain she's about to inflict on herself, yet; “Lace!” Hornet shouted, unsurprisingly, her call went unanswered amidst the raging fire. Hornet immediately coughed after shouting, her throat was as dry as it could be and the smoke that was surrounding the room was not helping in the slightest.
Yet she kept on shouting “Lace!” and searched for her rather aimlessly. Hornet had feared the worst had happened to her, but her thoughts were quickly distracted when the ground suddenly shook due to the lower floor most definitely breaking apart and Hornet couldn't keep her balance with the injuries she carried and only her needle as a crutch.
Hornet screamed in agony as pain quickly shot throughout and most of her pain gathered at her chest. She was certain for sure that her ribcage was broken now. Tears started to form in her eyes and she quickly wiped them off then tried to forcefully relax her body and simply knelt there for a while to regain her senses.
Though she would be lying if she said she wasn't scared. In fact, she was terrified.
She was gonna die here. Her time in this building is massively timed so she needed to be quick on her feet. There was even a small opening enough for one person to pass by on the wall to the outside, she needed to save herself and ran away from here.
But she couldn't. She's lost too much and she's not gonna lose Lace too.
Hornet's grip tightened on her needle and she stood up to start searching again when a small glint of something golden caught her eyes. Upon closer inspection, she realized it was Lace’s sword. It was completely snapped in half and Hornet wasn't sure where the other half might be.
But that was the least of her concerns. Lace has got to be nearby if her weapon’s here.
She called out Lace’s name once again and hoped desperately for an answer this time, yet it remained unanswered. She instead heard a small noise that sounded like someone struggling against something.
Hornet didn't waste even a second before rushing over to the source.
And found the girl in white, though her situation looked a lot worse than hers.
Lace's lower body was stuck under the rubbles and only one of her hands was free. She was trying to free herself, but she was inflicting more injuries to herself than trying to break free.
Hornet rushed over and quickly abandoned her needle once she was beside Lace, “Lace, Lace calm yourself down, you're hurting yourself more than helping.” Hornet could tell Lace didn't hear a single word she had said when her eyes met Lace’s. She could tell she was begging her to help her and her grip on Hornet's arm confirmed it.
Hornet carefully sighed then cupped her face and gently whispered: “I need you to calm down first. You'll be okay, I'm here–”
“..I’m gonna die aren't I?” Came Lace’s shaky voice.
“No, we'll get out of here, I’ll find a way.” Hornet knew her words were lies. There was no way either of them would leave this place, and even if they do by some miracles, she doubts they'll have enough time to get help before they succumb to their injuries.
Lace didn't seem to like her answer and her breathing quickly picked up and she was trembling badly. Lace frantically released her grip on Hornet then went back on trying to free herself and inflicting even more injuries to herself.
“No! Lace stop! You're hurting yourself.” Hornet shifted and grabbed her wrist to pin it to the floor while her other hand cupped Lace’s cheek, “Hey, look at me.”
Lace tried to shake off of Hornet’s grasp, yet Hornet persisted.
“Lace.” Hornet repeated more firmly this time and locked eyes with Lace. The one in red softened her gaze and had started to gently caress Lace’s cheek. “Breathe, slowly.”
Lace followed Hornet’s instructions and her breathing slowly even out, though her hand was still shaking on Hornet's own and she was still barely taking any air, but then again, there probably isn't much left in the room.
Hornet lightly sighed as she resorted to laying down beside Lace while still keeping a hand locked onto Lace’s. She was tired and in so damn much pain yet she forced herself awake to keep the girl in front of her calm to a minimum.
“..We’ll be okay.” Hornet reassured and wryly smiled at Lace.
Lace slowly shook her head and let out a dry laugh, “I’m trapped under a rubble and you're in no better situation, there's no way I'll ever get out.” her hand instinctively tightened around Hornet’s.
Hornet carefully dragged herself closer to Lace and wiped away the tears that were starting to form in the corner of her eyes, “Like I said, I’ll find a way.” she softly said and gently squeezed Lace’s hand.
Lace was silent for a second, then she asked: “..This is the end for the both of us isn't it?”
Hornet didn't answer her, instead, she let out a very sorrowful smile. Lace seemed to get what she meant by it.
They both knew neither of them were getting out of here, at least not alive.
More and more of the citadel were burning down quicker than either could move and soon, both of them would be engulfed in the fire for good.
Ignoring their fear of dying was hard, but being in each other's presence calmed it even if for a little bit.
Lace eventually squeezed Hornet's hand back and returned a weak smile and carefully leaned onto her touch, basking herself in as much comfort as she could get to get rid of her fear.
Things became quiet for a while aside from the fire still raging in the background, then Lace broke the silence, “..I’m scared.” she admitted.
Hornet hummed, “I know.” she softly answered while still caressing her cheek. “Just hold my hand, I’ll be here with you.”
Lace brought Hornet’s hand up to her mouth and placed a soft kiss on the back of her hand, “Is that a promise darling?” the girl in white asked as she peeked from one half-lidded eye.
Hornet nodded, “Yes.”
“Okay.” Lace placed another kiss and caused Hornet to silently chuckle, then pulled their intertwined hands back a little, “..I’m tired.”
Hornet hummed, “Then rest. You did well.” Lace's answer was barely audible that the second Hornet felt her hand quickly limp in hers, she was slightly alarmed.
“Lace..?” She called out.
No response. Not even a move.
Hornet wryly smiled, then she nestled closer to Lace’s unmoving body and quietly whispered: “I’ll catch up to you again.”
Then let her heavy eyelids slowly close on their own.