Down she fell; down, down, ever down. There was nothing but black all around her, nothing but awful, darkening black. She opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out. Her arms were bleeding profusely, but the blood hovered as blobs in the air as if there were no gravity. She was aware mostly of the blinding pain in her right hand, which was hanging limply at the end of her flailing arm. She hit solid black with a sickening thud and her head fell to the ground. A large crack echoed around her ears as her head slammed onto the floor (though there was no telling the difference between the floor and the rest of the place). Time passed; but the type of time it was, she had no idea. When she opened her eyes again, her mind was clouded and she could only think of one word. Her mouth formed the word again and again, but it were as if someone had pressed the 'mute' button. Again and again she called the word, until finally, a small, lost, strangle of a voice came out of her throat, '' Ramirez.'' she called, she called it again, her voice getting stronger and stronger until she was screaming it at the top of her lungs. She screamed her throat raw, and, giving up, she shook her head. She was lost and alone. Fear swam over her heart. She was dead. She closed her eyes, and tears trickled down her cheeks. The thing she feared most; death. She was going to spend her afterlife in nothing, just like she had always feared. Just like Ramirez did. She looked below her neck but nothing was there. The crystal was gone. She screamed and cried, her torso falling back with pitiful hatred of everything. She lay there, and more time passed. Her eyes were closed, but she thought nothing. Her mind was blank, and slowly, she forgot everything. What was a Ramirez? Who was she? Even the pain was gone. She felt nothing but loss and fear.
But then, she felt a hand close over her bleeding shoulder, she opened her eyes to see a face of whose pale hair bobbed at the sides. His green-blue eyes looked almost sympathetic, but still had a look of bitter sadness. Everything came back to her. She pulled herself into a sitting position, and turned to face Ramirez, her eyes reflected horror and the deepest fears, and so did a small glint of Ramirez's. She opened her mouth to speak but Ramirez shook his head, embracing her in a hug. Sique's heart swelled with joy, and the loss and fear died quickly. She felt happier than she ever had in her whole life...life...it came back to her, as did the awful stifling heat and the blinding pain in her arms and right hand. She felt sick and weak. No, she thought, Let me die. I want to be with Ramirez.
She opened her bicolor eyes and looked around the room, slowly; it came into focus. She sat up, though her head swam in confusion, pain and dizziness. Her fingers were in a cast and her arms were heavily bandaged. Her throat screamed for water. It was unbearably hot. Where was she? She looked below her neck and screamed horrifically. A dark-skinned, young-looking nurse ran in worridly, her brown eyes darting over Sique, '' You're awake! We thought we'd lost you! You were out of it for about three days! Now, it may hurt, but you're going to be ok. Your fingers are healing nicely. Your arms will be scarred, I'm afraid, but the cuts are getting better.'' She shoved a cup of water into Sique's left hand. Sique drank it thirstily, but the first thing she did after it was speak in a hurried, angry voice, '' WHERE IS MY NECKLACE!?''
She dreaded that the nurse would say that it was destroyed, or that it was lost, but instead, she opened a draw by Sique's bed and handed it to her, '' It's a very nice necklace, I can understand why you got so worried when it wasn't on your neck, but we had to take it off, in case it got caught and you choked or something.''
Sique nodded as the nurse fastened the necklace around Sique's neck. The necklace glowed brightly. The nurse looked amazed.
'' Where am I?'' Sique's voice was weak.
'' You're at a hospital in Nasrad. You were found in the desert near Maramba. But Maramba doesn't have any hospitals, so you were brought here. We don't know what happened, but we expect that you were attacked by some passing creatures. Terrible mess, you were. They must have taken your clothes, too. You were found in under-short-things and a bra. You're a young girl, you shouldn't be wandering around the desert on your own.''
A couple of thoughts swam to Sique's mind. 'attacked by passing creatures' If I was to be attacked by passing creatures, I'd most likely eat them. 'under-short-things and a bra' No, those are my clothes. 'You're a young girl' Yes, and..? 'wandering around the desert on your own.' I wasn't on my own...Ramirez was with me. Sique remembered what she'd seen in the black place, and wondered if she'd really died. If that had really been Ramirez, or had it been an illusion? Had Ramirez really hugged her? Her thoughts were interupted by the nurse.
'' Do you remember any creatures, dear? Small ones, maybe?''
Sique felt ready to kill the woman, NO, I WAS FIGHTING A GODAMN AIR PIRATE AND CRASH LANDED AN AIRSHIP! But she swallowed her words for Ramirez's sake, she didn't think that people would take too kindly to the fact that she'd attacked one of the world's hero's, '' Uh...yeah...''