I stood before a much taller man in a well-tailored black suit. Although I could not see his face through the embroidered silk veil, I did not need to. For I already knew who this man was.

Someone nearby kept talking, but I didn't understand what he said, so I instead turned to my left, towards the pews. Only to find a massive but almost empty, luxuriously decorated venue.

I stared at the seats where my family should’ve been. Instead there were grown men whom I didn't even recognize and finally, an old couple I’d only met once. Then, everything blurred out of focus, like water on ink as a chill spread through my cheeks.

When my veil was finally lifted and my chin was held between his index and thumb, all I could see were glowing orange-red eyes staring back, as my lips were taken by him.

"... ngh!"

It was some time before Guila regained consciousness. But as soon as she did, she was greeted by red streaks of emergency light piercing through pine tree leaves. She could feel that her dress had been ripped and torn, though she thought it was still usable. Her high heels and purse were also gone, along with most of her jewelry. The many cuts and bruises all over her body stung terribly and breathing was even a struggle. Her neck had also gotten stiff, while the entire left side of her body felt sore and difficult to move. Most likely, she landed on it.

But she didn't even get to rub the white flashes away from her eyes, before she noticed something heavy shifting above her, and then the large weight on her lower back pressed down on her. Fear immediately ran up Guila’s spine. She tried to crawl, but then she realized that her left hand was limp. She was down to one hand and one leg.

"Aaa-Argh!" Cold sweat washed over her as she desperately squirmed, all the while feeling something wet and warm against her thighs. Disgustingly vivid scenes of her spine and hips getting crushed were all that ran through Guila’s head, while the freezing metal floor sapped any heat she had left. 'I have to get back to his side!' Inch by inch, with her heart pounding like a drum and her gasps drowning out everything else, Guila moved towards the red light. 'I’m so… close!'

“Aagh!" With the last of her strength, Guila screamed and shoved the remaining pine branches away, until she was finally outside the canopy from the waist up. But, before she could scan her surroundings properly, tears ran down her cheeks. She barely even heard the sound of creaking wood and rolling pebbles behind her due to her own sobs and gasping.

“... I’m alive… I’m alive…” Guila kept repeating, her knees curled against her chest. Every part of her was still there. She was whole and still warm to the touch. Her left hand was dislocated and her right thigh was gashed and bleeding, but right now, that was fine. 'All that matters is that I'm not a cripple.’

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." She kept repeating, hugging herself tighter. ‘I didn't lose my chance. I'm still worthy to return to him. I can still make him love me. I still have one more chance to be his wife.’ That chance was enough.

She noticed that her wedding ring was missing, but that didn't even matter. It was a ring made during a time when she didn't love him. So it didn't count, anyway. Commissioning - no - making a new set of rings would be much better, she thought. With a defiant grin, she rolled back onto her stomach and pushed herself up by the elbows. 'I will force that accursed toy of our lives, and properly wield the name of Countess that they so foolishly gave me. I may have wasted one year due to my passiveness, but I have my whole life ahead of me, and they will all suffer for it! But more than anything… out of everything…!’

"... nothing! Is going to… stop me! Do you hear me?! I will find you! And you will love me! Do you understand?!" Guila roared, hoarse and strained though she was. She was going to make this second chance mean something, even if it was to be the death of her. High with such passion, she pushed herself to sit up, finding the strength to tear off the hem of her dress and used it as a bandage around her thigh.

Luckily, it wasn't the thin kind of cloth, since her dress was tailored to be worn without underwear and there were plenty of new tears. But, once she came down from that high, she understood that the first course of action was to figure out her current location. So she once again glanced at her periphery and picked one of the apps. It took a couple seconds and some static for her eyes to get used to the pitch-black and dim red light. But Guila wasn’t prepared for the carnage that awaited her.

She stood upon what was essentially a mountain range of debris that traced a five hundred meter line across a great expanse, filled with stacks of gigantic metal containers. There were probably thousands of these containers, each one around 50 meters long, 10 meters tall and 10 meters wide. Which meant she was in one of the Cargo areas, but everything was hued further in red due to how the night vision worked.

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Scattered everywhere were large chunks of hard soil and dirt, as well as more trees. But of particular mention among the debris were vehicles, metal columns, concrete rubble, furniture, and… more. When she checked behind her, she saw part of a wide hallway that was crushed under a large pile of trees. When she stared up above, there was nothing but pitch black darkness. Which meant the ceiling was too high for the emergency lights to reach.

"I’d rather not use the infrared just because of curiosity…" She let out a tired sigh, before slowly making her way down a rubble slope. It was difficult while barefoot and wounded, but she managed to get halfway down by sticking her toes into the cracked concrete slabs and coiling some exposed wiring around her still good right hand, like a rope.

‘The fact that the ship is still stable despite this much damage is honestly… wait. What was-’ Something wet brushed against her ankle and she lost her footing! "AaAhH!" She nearly fell onto a large pile of broken glass and if not for the wires now cutting the circulation to her wrist, she would've fa- Guila screamed again.

It was a hand. A man's twisted hand. He was reaching for Guila’s shoulders with his mangled fingers. Then she saw his one good eye staring straight into her’s. His face had been partially crushed, his jaw was split into three and his other eye had popped out with the optic nerve snapped. Blood and gray matter seeped out from his head and covered his face completely. But he was still alive. He was still…

"... he…l…"

Then she heard them. She had no idea why she couldn’t until now. But they were always there, listening while she was celebrating. Lips quivering and body trembling, Guila slowly craned her neck downwards, and there they were. Dozens of people, with agonized expressions. Some were crushed under concrete or shattered furniture. While others were cut in half, with their lower bodies still caught in jagged steel. There was even a mangled safari tram, now on its side with smashed windows and filled with pulped passengers.

So many dead people. But they were the lucky ones. Help me. Please, help. Help me. The living all called out to her. The only one who could move. The only one who was spared. When she finally resolved herself and made her way down, those with moveable limbs clawed at the air, like they were trying to grab her from afar. Were they able to hear her landing? Their voices were certainly getting louder.

Little about this situation made any sense. But deep in the back of her head, Guila believed that they knew what she was about to do. So she tried to give them all a smile. Instead, she gagged and threw up bile. Because she understood their agony. She knew just how close she was to becoming like them. And so, she understood their desperation to live. Just a few more inches and her right leg would be gone too. Just a few more minutes of sleep, and her hips…

Guila threw up again. Still just bile. Was it supposed to be a blessing in disguise that she didn't get to eat? Maybe. "Damn it! Shut up! I can't help any of you! You should be wishing me good luck instead!" Without another word, Guila turned away, limping towards the nearest end of the rubble. There were still people scattered along her way. Dead and alive. Yet not a single one managed to catch her. She knew that they all wanted a second chance in some way too, beyond just wanting to be saved. But that just meant this was her redemption. Not theirs.

‘So selfish! Selfish! Selfish! Selfish! Shut up all of you!’ That was when she came across a certain noblewoman's face that had been slammed against a concrete block. The top half of her head was four feet above the rest of her body, which was on the floor. This time, Guila truly was able to smile.

"Such a shame, is it not, Madame?" It's only too bad that it wasn't the Baroness, she thought, hoping that the rest of the group and the doll fell to their deaths, too.

Eventually, the voices faded into the distance and she was left in complete silence, save for the occasional creaking. Only then, did Guila finally feel safe. In fact, for some strange reason, she began to see the gigantic skyscraper-like pillars which melded into the pitch-black darkness as guardian monoliths. Perhaps they really were. Since, the cargo hold, meant to contain many times the weight that the other sections did, along with the upper decks, was built to be far sturdier and more flexible.

She eventually reached one of the pillars and even found a massive cargo elevator that was built into it but unfortunately, it didn’t work. Either emergency power wasn't enough, or it had been damaged by the disaster. By this point she was too tired to even curse out, but luckily, staircases in this area were also shown on her map. Although the closest one was still quite a distance away.

"Just a hundred meters... more... uhrk!" Of course, walking on her toes was far from comfortable. But until she somehow found and broke into a shipment of high heels, that wasn't going to change, since she couldn’t walk properly with her augmented feet. Before she could really complain about it though, her injured leg gave way and she was forced to lean against a storage container. Only to then slide down to the floor.

The exhaustion must've finally taken its toll, because she soon found herself somewhere else. The images sent from her eyes into her brain, replaced. She now sat alone, bare on an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room with walls of glass that revealed a wide garden and then a forested area farther away. No lights were on and it was night time. But the light of three moons; purple, green and white, seeped in through the window and that was all she needed.

Ever since he accepted her, the Count had kept his every word and after little more than a year by his side, he dedicated his victory to her. All she asked for and more, he gave. Now all of her belonged to him. Just as she promised.

The searing warmth and ache he left her with was proof of their contract's fulfillment. But not even that was enough to spare her from the chill of an empty room. It was only to be expected. But still… even though she knew that her only worth to him was her mind...

'Couldn't he at least have stayed beside me after our first night?’

"... who else am I supposed to turn to, in this place...?"