The air felt hot, unnaturally hot that had his sweat dripping out from every single pores on his skin, soaked his expensive suit and pants. The urge to move allowed him to feel his fingers touching the cold surface of smooth, cold stones, and as his hands regained the ability to action, he felt fine sands under his palms. With eyes still closed Xanthus expended his senses trying to tell himself where he is, it was eerily silent wherever he was lying, saved by the wailing of passing by wind and bird calls in the air.
With a groan Xanthus attempted to open his eyes, brightness of the room had him shut them right back. It smells like burning rubber in here, it must be a miracle how he is still living in this smoke filled room. Now what happened again? Certainly something has blown up, seeing how burning involved flames and the fire must be triggered by some sort of explosion... The fire... the screams... the chaos... Pandora! Yuyi!
His eyes fluttered open with a start this time round, spinning into his view was a charred mess of what's left of his once beautiful home. It doesn't matter, those can easily be repaired, one with money can get almost anything fixed up. But where the hell are his wife and daughter now? He remembered packing what little he could bring along, asking his wife to bring Yuyi out and follow instructions from the helpful Peacemakers, the guards will bring them to a safe house where the rebellions can't reach. But why the fuck were they still standing there waiting for him?
Xanthus could understand that Yuyi won't leave without him. She is definitely daddy's girl, there isn't a place she would like to go if he isn't tagging along, but Pandora should know how crucial the situation is. Yet, there she held Yuyi in her arms and stood in their living room, softly mumbling soothing words to calm their hysterical daughter's cry. No, not leaving. He had no time to waste, just yelled out once again asking them to get out and go somewhere safe, he hurried up the staircase to savage what's important before they leave.
In his and Pandora's bedroom room Xanthus picked up some clothes, randomly stuffing garments into a bag he found in their closet. He retrieved his wife's favorite necklace from the jewellery box where he knows she keeps it. It was the one that he gotten for her on their 3rd wedding anniversary, specially designed, 18k white gold. The logo hanging on the thin chain was his and hers initials, circles interlaced two alphabets with one another. In the middle of the complicated design there was a single sapphire, shinning color bluer than the sea. Xanthus could remember Dora's face when he gave it to her, her genuine smile is one thing Xanthus will never get tired of, the very source of his own happiness, and the reason that he lives for.
Shaking his head slightly then, Xanthus pushed thoughts out of his head; he has no time to waste as the rebellions could come in anytime soon. Forcing himself to move along, he headed to Yuyi's room and repeat the same search throughout her little royal chamber, which would be just the right word to use considering the princess style designs, the pink, purple and white. Yuyi's exactly the princess in this couples' heart, 5 years old bright, adorable and polite. The man scooped Yuyi's favorite stuff toy off the bed at last, its name Choco, a square little brown dog with its tongue sticking out. Xanthus guessed the color must've resemblance chocolate in his baby girl's eyes that she named it that. Yuyi can imagine a whole new world with her creativity. Who would expect that from a girl who can't even close her eyes without the toy by her side? That thought alone brought up another tiny smile onto his worried face.
It is a lie if Xanthus says he doesn't love his little family. All his heart belongs here to his wife and daughter, even though he has cheated on his wife a few times after their those are unimportant, one night stands. She will understand even if she gets to learn about it, thought Xanthus. He sees those as an entertainment, a way he got out of stress. Like when you get out of the house and take a quick drag of smoke (Xanthus doesn't smoke, he hates tobacco), something brief and meaningless, those sex, no feeling attached. The most important he knows is that he still come back home to his love ones.
But this is not the time for self-evaluation.
Last stop on the trip to second floor of his home was the study, he guessed he could never leave his businesses to burn in the war after all. Xanthus went to the mahogany table and pulled open the top right drawer, grabbing up all those documents along with some cash and stashed them into the leather backpack on his hand. Only when he was done packing up that Xanthus left the room, backpack on his shoulder, readied to go down and get out before the rebellions could reach them.
It was his animal instincts had him took cover before the boom exploded midair 3 blocks from his home. One moment he was closing the door behind him, the next he knew he was crouching on the ground, hands covering his head, sensing danger that's coming along with the irritating high pitch sounds in his ears. The floor rumbled beneath his feet as the first wave hit, he felt the explosion vibrating in every piece of his bones.
The second wave came following without giving anyone a breather. What came next were all motions and feelings that came trailing half a second behind. The dark-haired man remembered free falling to the ground below, it came in such a rush that he couldn't even react soon enough to scream out loud. There wasn't time for him to look for his wife and kid as he fell through the thin air. He saw stones falling with him and around him, praying that Pandora would know to get out of harm's way. The moment his body hit the ground, Xanthus felt the pain shooting up from every ends of his nerves. Too soon and the collision of his head and some random stones falling off the ceiling above knocked him out, there he remembered his eyes closing him deep inside the darkness...
But it must have been several hours since then. Now, regaining conscious only to find the ruins he was being in, Xanthus tried to get up and look for the one he loves, the two females are top priority in his heart. As soon as he pulled himself up into a sitting position, the man knew he was lucky to be at a floor up, none of these heavy stones crush on his fragile body. Sharp pain shot up from his heels the moment he moves suggested that he broken something in his legs, not to mention that he felt dried blood at one side of his face and the whole of his body aches like hell came alive. But seriously, nothing fatal, he could thank God for the good luck.
"Yu-" his voice came out croaked, forced the man to shallow before trying again, "Yuyi! Pandora!" he called out names of the one he loves, coughed when he pulled in the smoke-filled air too fast. The house remained silence, only the cracking fire and chaotic screams out on the streets answered him, "Yuyi! Dora! Come on, we got to get out of here."
He was breathing heavily, trying to catch as much oxygen in the air but not to hyperventilate himself. By the speed he was going, Xanthus could tell that the oxygen in the air must be dangerously low. He needed to get out of the place before -
There came another round of explosions made him cringed, this time it sounded further away, but near enough to make the poor man panic. "Pandora!" with difficulty Xanthus made himself stand, his dark eyes searching, "Yuyi! Baby, where are you?" The dark-haired limped forward, each steps on his injured leg brought him new shot of agony. The house was empty as far as his eyesight could see. Maybe they went with the peacekeepers after all, they were never here when the house fall...
The glimpse of a hand among the rubble brought out his lips a cry of shock, the impulsive movements forward without feeling much of the pressing pain now, Xanthus was no longer in his own control but shock and adrenaline. The agony of that realization got him action without much of a thought. At that moment he was just a man wanting to know he had not just lose everything.
It would hurt him to know what buried beneath those stones and concrete, but there the man was lifting those stones up and away like they are nothing, desperately hoping that this is just a bad dream. The sight of that similar soft golden curls had his motions frozen, It won't be, no it won't be. They got away safely...This is a prank of some sort right? Denial, how much better it made him felt Xanthus clung onto it like his dear life. His outstretched hand was trembling as he tucking that soft golden hair away from her face.
Pandora. Pandora laid there with eyes closed, unmoving, too still to be alive, a single trail of blood dried at the corner of her mouth down her chin. To confirmed Xanthus held out a shaky finger under her nose to feel her breath, none, nada, zilch. The bloody mess of her body under the stones were everything but recognizable. She said she want to die pretty, she said so... hands gently curled around that broken body among the stones, trying to get her out. But if he was strong as Hercules a moment ago, all the strength left him right now at the face of his worst fear.
"Sorry, I'm so sorry..." tears passed the brim of his eyes and rolled down his cheek, landing on the stones and dirt. With gentle finger, he wiped away the trail of blood from her face, tried to make her pretty, she would appreciate that. "Baby, sorry I never save you... I am sorry..." he blamed himself for lingering in the house for so long, he blamed himself for never get her and Yuyi out and away. Leaning down he touched his lips to her cold cheeks, to her lips, each kiss was filled with love so much ripping out from his heart, "You're still beautiful baby, still beautiful... My angel, forever my angel..." she is, at least there were not a cut in her face, and with her eyes closed, his Pandora could almost be passed as sleeping. Peacefully. Just drifted into slumber.
It seems to be a long moment the man sat there, hand gently stroking his wife's hair, the war raging outside was no more of his business. They can get him now too. Indeed they better kill him right now before he recover enough to search for revenge, or they will seriously be sorry, more sorry than they could ever feel, more sorry than dying.
In the daze of his sorrow, Xanthus did his best to unearth his wife. Dora does not deserve to be bury in the ruins. She, of everyone should get to rest her soul at a serene place facing the beauty of the world. She is his angel, and angel has every right to rest in peace.
It was when his hand touch that soft skin before realization hit him. His daughter, who were in Pandora's arm when he last saw her, she should be with her when the floor above came down. It meant, she should be right here, with Pandora. Eyes quickly swept across the mess of stones before him, If Yuyi is buried under any of these weight...
"No!" it sounded like an animal's growl. The idea of his 5 years old daughter, dead, buried deeply in the stones and dust, is unacceptable. Xanthus will never allow it! "No! Nonono!" with each grunted sound of denial, he pushed away the heavy weight around him randomly, searching to find that little body he doesn't want to find; He really don't want to see Yuyi lying on a bloody mess like her mother does. She is just 5! No one could tell how Xanthus is a handsome man with the frantic expression he wore on his face right then.
It took all that he has left, but he successfully pushed that heavy weight off his wife's dead body finally. Being as gentle as he could be with his shivering hands and cold, clumsy fingers, Xanthus moved the corpse, and found as he suspected, buried under his wife's protective embrace the beautiful face of Yuyi Peterson, his daughter, the one who meant the world to him.
She was protected alright, not even a spill of blood, not even a crush of bones, lying on the ground with her mom's body took away the worst of the weight landed down on them. Yuyi... Carefully, the man gathered her up into his strong arms, cradling her like how she liked it to be, holding both her and her mother close to himself. The tiny body felt cold as ice, just like everything else lying around, the lack of body warm confirmed the deepest fear, he doesn't even need to test her breathing to find out if she's still alive.
At that moment, Xanthus doesn't care for anything else anymore. Those money, those expensive items he own, those million-dollars contracts... Anyone can have them, if they could make his wife and daughter back alive. If they can somehow revive them and bring them back into his life, he can give anything, anything in the world...
Including his own life. Yes, his own, for the two person he loves most in the world. Yuyi is just 5, she is supposed to have a bright future, marry a good husband, and form a happy family of her own. His life worth almost nothing compared to hers.
Crushed under the weight of the realization that he will never see that scene of his daughter growing up, never get to see her being in white gown walked down the aisle... Indeed, he has no family at all from now on, the man threw back his head and let out a scream that sounded bloodthirsty like the devil's growl.