Sand was devouring me.

I was drowning in a sea of dirt.

And I had never been a strong swimmer.

I felt hands clawing at my shoulders as if trying to grab me but when I moved in the hands direction I was bodied by another wave of sand. My lungs burned and my mouth was filled with sand as I had tried to open my mouth to breathe only to swallow a mouth full of dust.

I tried kicking my legs to see if I could stand on something solid, but I only sunk deeper into the dirt that surrounded me. And when I finally felt myself about to black out, the sand parted.

"Sol!"

Astra reached for me, her face dusted a pale brown and her eyes red. I couldn't reach out to hold her even if I tried, the sand had stuck me in the eye of a whirlpool. I was being slammed from all corners and now that I could see what was happening it only confused me more. All the building in the dome were sinking as if being buried by the planet.

Humans were trying to escape their homes only to be sunk by their falling building and the unforgiving sand. It was like a cleanse of the planet.

Once a building was a swallowed the sand began to rebuild itself, rising instead of sinking as if it were now forming buildings of its own. That was what was now happening to the sand that was around Astra and I, it was reforming and slowly the sand began to let me go. The rushing dirt beneath me became more solid until my feet were standing on solid ground once more.

We were stood on a tall spiral like building that kept extending upwards but had begun to slow down. The sand was peeling off to form patterns in the walls and the stairs we were stood on had sand rising to form its railways. And as I looked on other similar structures had begun being built as if a city arising from memory alone.

As soon as Astra was on solid ground she rushed into my arms, pulling me close. I put my arm around her, panting slightly, "What is going on?" I breathed.

"Mars is healing."

Tempest replied coming out of the open doorways of the building we were standing on. She pushed past us to continue to walk up the stairs that were still forming, taking turns subconsciously as if she'd known this building by heart. And I suppose she had.

The building we were on continued to rise but looking up I could see that was not for long, above us gleamed the shiny covering of the dome. Still projecting the visual of the sunrise whilst the real thing hid behind it. As soon as the tip of the building touched the projected yellow sun in the sky natural light began to stream through the cracks.

And then something had become apparent to me.

Tempest had not though this through.

The dome went black as its screen had been destroyed but it soon lit up with the cracks of light behind it. And then, it begun to cave into itself.

"Fuck Astra! Get in the bu-

I spoke too soon as a large piece of dome fell from the ceiling and into the staircase we were stand on, I felt myself slipping down the sand building whilst Astra tried to catch me. All that kept me upright was the chain that connected Astra and I whilst she leaned back trying to get me back onto solid ground. My shoes did not have the grip required to latch onto sand and I felt it as I slid down more.

And just when I thought I was about to find solid footing, another piece fell from the sky to the place right next to me.

The sharp shard of the dome cut open my entire upper arm and I hissed as I completely lost my footing and went from trying to climb up the side of the building to dangling on it with Astra as my only hope. "Your other hand!" Her shackled hand was spread out, "Give me your other hand!"

I ignored the rushing blood down my arm and swung my body around, my eyes dilated as I zoned in on our handcuff. Turns out the laser had gotten further than I'd expected and the heavy movement and weight I was putting on it seemed to be the strain it needed for it to snap.

My fingertips brushed Astras and then for the second time in the same day I was falling.

Astra's anguish filled face had the blood rushing through my ears as her lips parted in a scream I couldn't hear. But all I could see was my empty upper wrists as I fell into the carnage that was the bustling sea of sand beneath me that was still clearing up the mess the humans had made.

Power that I thought my body had forgotten pumped through my veins and it was like for the first time in ten years I felt like me again. And for the first time since I'd arrived, I'd never been gladder to have landed on Mars.

T E M P E S T

I held my fingers to the sky, reaching for the sun that bathed me in its warmth. I hadn't even realized I'd been crying until I felt the wetness on my cheeks, sliding down my face.

I had lived to see a free Mars.

My planet free from its oppressors.

Letting go of the tip of the building, I slid down the roof and onto the small balcony where the key to all of this lay. In the middle of the room lay the Heart of Mars, where the information that held all the history of my people lay. It glowed slightly as It continued to work on rebuilding the cities that the humans had destroyed and I grinned as I left it to go meet the two aliens that made this possible.

I was confused however when I was met with one.

"Where's the rest of you?"

Astra was startled, her head snapped to look at me before looking back at what she was doing. She was peering over the railway of the staircase, a look of distraught of her face as she seemed to be trying to spot something. "She fell into that!"

I peered over the edge to see nothing but bubbling sand, "I thought you were connected by an unbreakable metal," I asked skeptically, looking down at the remnants of their handcuffs on her wrist.

"She told me it was unbreakable!"

I shrugged, "Good for you her kind are very resilient," I began to walk down the staircase, "We'll wait for her after we secure the spacesh-" The words died in my throat as a firm hand around my wrist prevented me from walking further. Astra's left hand. Astra's very broken hand. The remained bandages that were once wrapped around the arm slid off her forearm before being carried by the wind. I eyed the silvery long scar that was once the exit wound for an injury that was meant to take much longer to heal.

Her powers were working.

Even when I traced up her arms to look her in the eye I could see the spark of something otherworldly burn behind her gaze. "You're a fast healer," I commented.

"I'm not going anywhere without Sol," She told me, leaving no room for argument.

It was hard to take her seriously, her face caked with the dirt left by the sand she was once in but I suspected I looked quite similar. I nodded, "Then let's go get her."

I reached into my shirt, pulling out the whistle I'd found amongst the chaos before bringing it to my lips. "You afraid of heights?" I asked her once I'd put the whistle back.

"Why?" she frowned.

"We're getting a ride, but you're gonna have to jump," I explained already seeing the curl of a large tail in the distance burrowing into the sand.

"I'm not jumping into that," She shuddered, stepping away from the edge.

"Don't worry we both are." My other hand darted out to grab her left hand before she could let go of me and run off.

"Where's the ride?"

"You like Deimos, right?" I grinned stepping towards the ledge.

Astra didn't look convinced, she leaned over a bit more trying to check if what I was saying was true, "Really? I don't see him?"

"He's right," I crept up behind her before shoving her off the balcony, "There."

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