He gripped the pole tighter between his palms. It dug into him, pain shooting through his arm. That's going to leave a scar for sure, he thought.

But that's what he deserved, he told himself.

Have any of you ever tried eating paper and syrup together? Or fallen off a cliff while singing a Christmas song? You know what you'll love talking to your boss about when you next see them? Onions! That's what!

The first words he'd ever heard from her.

He used his body to push against the metal pole to click into the slot a level higher. He wanted to punish himself for what she'd done. But what he'd done was worse.

You're Sebastian Lowell, she had gasped with her lips parting slightly.

He had abandoned her there. With his brother's traitorous ass.

They soared above the river on a dragon. "See you in the water!" She tangled her fingers with his. Just as he wished they could stay like that forever, she leaped into the air, pulling him with her.

She hadn't given him a chance to talk. To tell her that he couldn't swim.

That's what Burn did. She never listened, he thought.

He swung his body back and clipped the pole at a level higher. He groaned in the echoing gym as he envisioned Burn's eyes and how they would form a straight line every time that she smiled.

He used to hate her and that smile. Then why the hell did he miss it so damn much?

He swung off of the pull-up bar, grabbing a shirt from the bench and tossed it onto his bare torso. The training gym was the one place where the hammering in his brain finally stopped. But not today. Never today.

The doors slid open. He glanced up at the entrance of the gym, expecting someone to walk him. Let it be Burn, he begged but he knew better. Instead, a ginger girl walked, her shiny hair bouncing against her back.

He pulled his head out of his hands and stood up, attempting a smile at her. Except, this girl knew him better than that. They'd fought demons together, almost gotten killed by a dragon together and ran into burning houses together.

But he'd also done all those things with Burn. Oh how much he missed her.

"Ash, you need to stop punishing yourself. It's been over a year," Eleanor sighed, wrapping her hands around his waist.

He wanted to argue but he simply groaned in response, "You don't understand. I left her there-"

She pressed her lips onto his and then pulled back. "You didn't leave. We didn't have a choice, remember?"

"We always have a choice-" he started.

But Eleanor being the stubborn ginger, cut him off, "I don't want to hear any of it. I miss her too, Ash."

Not like him, she didn't, he thought. Eleanor didn't picture Burn's face when they left her on that building- every single night. She certainly didn't want to dismantle Tyson's face at any instant.

"Come on now," was all she said.

He found himself standing in the middle of the throne room staring at a very stylish bunny. One which was to be the future heir to the planet Zeig.

"Ash!" she exclaimed, as she flung herself onto him.

This bunny was almost the size of him. "Ivory, is it your last day being grounded today?"

She frowned and crossed her small hands across her chest. "Father extended it and now I'm being punished for another month."

"Well, that is what happens when you, the princess, runs off to save a planet. And one as boring as Earth."

Ash turned around to see where the voice had arrived from, but it was, sure enough, the king, Ivory's father.

"Father, I was doing a good deed-"

But the king waved her off and faced Ash as he took his seat on the throne. "Well, if it isn't my most trusted soldier."

Ash swallowed a chuckle. "Yes, that's right, sir."

The king was not happy after their return last year but now the tension between them seemed to finally be settling.

"I have other matters to attend to, Ash. So, I'm going to make this quick."

He smiled. "I would appreciate that, sir."

"Information that is about to be given to you is strictly confidential," he announced. "We have a team stuck in North America, captured by a group of people that we haven't been able to identify yet."

"Right but-wait- did you just say, people?" I asked, growing amused.

"That's right. A group of rebels that have been able to gain 3 continents up until now," the king continued. "The rest of the information is in the file by the door. Your group's mission is to travel to Earth and rescue the team."

Ash frowned, taking it in. "And why was this team sent there in the first place?"

"That information cannot be disclosed to you, Ash."

Eleanor was already waiting at the weapons room for Ash. "What's the destination for tonight?"

Ash played with her hair as he replied, "Earth."

"I already knew that silly," she whined, turning to face him. "I meant why did you really agree to this mission?"

Ash leaned away from Eleanor and resumed selecting weapons. "You read the file."

But Eleanor knew better. "Well, I guess I'll just have to wait and see- like always."

Then, as Ash thought things couldn't get worse, a big hairy dog burst in. Okay, he admitted, it's a normal boy but he was technically a half dog.

"What did I miss?" he asked, a nervous smile creeping onto his lips.

"What's he doing here!?" Ash growled, lunging towards the grown boy.

Eleanor was too quick and she had snatched Ash backward before he could do any real damage. "Ash, let me explain. Tyson is here because I invited him."

He didn't stop glaring at Tyson. "Ella called me in because she thought we should do this all together."

Ash smashed his teeth together. "Well, she thought wrong."

It was Eleanor's turn to get angry. "We all know why you want to go there, Ash! You want closure," she screamed. "Shocker, but the two of us miss her too! Tyson needs this just as much as us."

He didn't deserve it. Not after what he'd done. But Ash didn't say anything because he knew it would risk getting Eleanor mad at him. That would be bad on the night of their mission.

"Can I pilot?" Tyson asked.

Ash turned to look at him. A werewolf driving a mission spacecraft. Not a good idea. Also because he didn't want to put their lives in his hand ever again.

"Go take a shit," I said bluntly.

"Why should I do that?"

"That's what you're best at."

The ride to earth consisted of making plans on how to get into the facility where the team was held quietly, with the least number of kills.

"We make our move tonight," he said.

Those were the last words to hang in the air until their touchdown on earth. He'd never been there before. It looked even worse than Burn Archer had described it.

He read the description of the spaceship's screen.

Washington D.C, North America. Weather: 74MAL. Threats: Not immediate.

The trio geared up and headed for the rover. Eleanor drove back out of the garage and they began riding towards the facility 100 yeards away.

Tyson was the lookout, the one to recognize any noticeable issues. He used electromagnetic lenses to view the planet transparently.

He thought he would feel a connection to the earth. Somehow connect to Burn. But all he felt was dry air and any other planet.

Eleanor parked the rover 10 meters away but Tyson stayed in. He was their getaway. They walked the rest of the way cautiously. Ash revised the plan in his head. Enter through where the team is held captive, get them and run.

Tyson better not mess up, he added.

The facility didn't look well enough developed to have security cameras, at least that's what it stated in the file. No guards on the fences. It seemed like they didn't have many threats, whoever this group of rebels was.

Eleanor's hand was in Ash's as they counted a hundred and three paces to the left of the back entrance. It was supposedly where the team was held captive, according to the tracking device.

He slipped his hand out of Ella's hand and gripped onto the grenade in his left hand. "Are you ready?"

Ella shook her head. "Not one bit."

Ash smiled at her and faced the building, Block D, while swinging his arm. He leaned back and pounced forward, the bomb leaping out of his hand and heading straight for Block D.

"Now!" Eleanor shouted.

They took cover but knew they were well out of the bomb's range. Ash grabbed onto Eleanor's hand as he powered up his hovering boots. They flew 5 inches off the ground and headed straight to the building.

The grenade only made a hole in the building but generated a ton of smoke, enough to cover their activity from the rebels. It was a storage facility, he realized. Eleanor powered on her transparency goggles.

Her voice quivered as she spoke, "Ash- there's nobody here."

Eleanor never got nervous on a mission. "Ella, what is it?"

There was silence but then she finally said, "Look."

Through the lenses, there was a faint glow closing towards them. Ash reached for his gun but before he could, his chest contracted and he was being lifted off the ground. His body was violently tossed to a wall and Eleanor's landed on the far right.

"That's enough."

That voice sounded familiar. It almost sounded like... No, it couldn't be.

The facial structure seemed similar to the girl from his distant memory. Her body, just as he'd remembered it. Since the smoke had cleared by then, Ash was able to finally see her. But this girl wasn't who he'd remembered. A badass, bubbly and brave.

This one had vermillion streaks taking birth from the root of her hair and eyes that glistened the deepest shade of silver. This girl was different... broken yet the bravest he'd ever seen her.

"Burn?"

"She's dead," the girl replied- too quickly.

Pain shot through his body as he's shirt was pulled close to her face. Then she raised her fist. He knew that she had no use of it but her eyes told a different story.

She wanted to feel it through her bones.

Burn wanted to kill Ash.