Hemera sat in her little corner of Bunker Nine, flipping through books and jotting down notes at an insane rate. She hissed in irritation and slammed her head against the table, her wings tenting around her.
"Why can't I find it! It HAS to be here!" She moaned, hitting her head against the table a few more times. Finally she collapsed, letting her wings flop down and spread out around her.
"As sure as I am that the table deserved a few hits, what happened to prompt them?" A voice called. The speaker walked over to stand next to Hemera, tilting his head at the stressed daughter of Eros.
"I was searching the books for anything about the Arpaktiká-" Hemera whined. "I just want some kind of information on them. Even a small mention would work-" She muttered.
"But there's nothing?" John guessed. The groan from Hemera confirmed his guess.
"Nothing. Not. A. Single. Sentence." She looked up at John, her multicolored eyes troubled and scared. "John, they're coming for me and I can't even find a way to fight them! He said they wouldn't stop until they found me and brought me back and then I'll be stuck again and maybe this time I'll break and-" Hemera's breathing quickened and her words came faster and faster as she became more panicked.
"No. They won't find you and you won't go back there. We'll find a way to stop them. We always have and always will." John said firmly as he pulled his shaking girlfriend into a tight embrace. She collapsed against him, leaning into the hug. They stayed like that for a moment, then two, then three. When Hemera finally spoke again her voice was small.
"What if we can't? I can't lose you-"
"You won't."
Hemera wept as John's funeral pyre was lit. It was her fault he was dead- the Arpaktiká wouldn't have come for him if he hadn't helped her, loved her. She turned and ran. Away from camp, away from her friends. She wouldn't be responsible for their deaths too. She wouldn't let anyone else die because of her. She ran until she couldn't anymore and just fell to the ground, her body shaking as she sobbed.
"What if we can't? I can't lose you-"
"You won't."
She turned her head towards the sky, tears streaming down her face.
"You said they wouldn't find us- you said we'd find a way to stop them- you said I wouldn't lose you-" The words grew in volume as she cried out. Then in almost a whisper she repeated, "You said I wouldn't lose you-"