Ashes

Thirteen: C.A.N.A.A.N.

A/N: Aesthetic for Eva Stryker

"So it's your turn now," I tell Echo, who merely lets out a hum of agreement before finally meeting my eyes.

"I don't remember much about Mom. I remember playing with Titus in the living room and I remember Athena and Ezekiel talking in hushed voices, but then not much after that. I remember being really confused and even more scared when we had to run, and I remember a harsh and painful grip on my arms as the Burned dragged me into Astheneia. I remember flashes of pain and suddenly Burned Echo was born. She called herself something which I don't even remember at first, but as I got older I started to be able to speak through her. Not control anything, but speak. She killed... so many people. I never got too attached to anyone. Everything else is a mess of jumbled memories that I can't really see clearly. I guess that's what happens when you've been one of the Burned for most of your life," she says, and then sucks in a sharp breath.

"There was one guy. A Domer trying to find New Canada. His name was Thomas, and he swore he would come back for me and rescue me as soon as he found a cure. But he never came back,"

"So I told myself that I'd never let anyone in again. But you guys saved me," she says, and I reach out and place my hand over hers.

"Hey. We're family. It's what we do, apparently," I say, and we both laugh a little at that.

Days tick by slowly. I don't spend too much time wandering about the ship, since I'm still in a weakened kind of recovery mode. I sleep a lot, and when I'm not sleeping, I'm either with Titus, Kyros, or Echo. Mostly Echo and Titus, since there's so much catching up to do between the three of us. Johann spends a ton of time with Callista, while Felix and Andi stay in their separate rooms for most of the day.

At some point, Titus and Echo dragged their mattresses into my room and we all stayed there together, with Kyros coming in to join the conversations every so often.

I think that the water is the most impressive thing on the boat. I've never even imagined that so much water existed, but it's there, so infinitely deep and dark blue that I could stare at for hours. It's enchanting. I start to think I'll be addicted to the smell of salt water, or maybe just the mystery of the reflection of sunlight on the water.

It's nearly a week later, while Kyros and I are sitting in the lounge area, when the ship's massive horns go off at an immense volume, scaring my ghost so much that he topples off his seat and onto the floor with a loud grunt.

I'm tempted to burst into laughter, but his miffed expression reduces it to a stifled sort of snicker.

"Yeah, laugh all you want, Ari. You're next," he says, and I grin a little as he helps me to my feet.

We meet up with Titus and Echo on the way out to the top deck, and run into Johann, Andi, Callie, and Felix on the way up.

"Did we make it?" Callista asks, searching deck wildly like she's searching for a gold mine. The others are soon following suit, but seconds later, we actually turn in the right direction.

And I think that I forget how to breath.

I've never seen that much green in my life. Ever. There's trees-trees-that I've only ever seen in books and movies. They stretch for miles and miles and miles, rolling like the waves themselves in the wind. There's a smell that I can't quite place that drifts from it, something reminiscent of life; of renewal.

I realize now that this is where we're going to start rebuilding our lives. No more domes, no more deserts. This is my clean slate.

There's a ton of people I've never seen before wandering off the ship, but I remain cemented to the floor.