burn

who: eris
where: babylon
when: late night

After getting better hold of herself, after leaving her new home, abandoning Brett there for the time being, Eris went out. First, she hit the Round, and had a few drinks on the house, there. She told the owner that she might not be giving up the loft upstairs, even if she knew full well she in all likelihood still was. It helped her feel less out of control when she could secure that, and the guy was more than happy to hold onto it for her. Just like he was happy to keep filling the shot glass she had, when she slapped it back down on the bartop. She did that for about an hour, before she abruptly left, and after quite a bit of searching, she found herself across the street from her old castle, her old estate, her old tower. Babylon.

The police tape was still up around the entrance, boards nailed in place to keep people out. But she'd bypassed that before easily enough, and she did so again, even if she did spend a good half hour just standing there, staring at it. But then, when she'd had enough, when her thoughts, those roaring, twisting thoughts finally came to a quiet conclusion, she went inside.

It was as easy getting in this time as it was before, especially since the back door had been used by others to get in. She found a few homeless people in the main lobby area, drunk, asleep, doing whatever. She took one look around, and commanded: "Leave." in a voice that demanded they listen, and they did. They scrambled, rushing out, and she did what she had before. She lit a candle, and took it with her upstairs. She walked every floor, checked every room, spent time going through each one, gazing at it all. Marking it in her mind, even if she knew she wouldn't remember. She knew the name of each girl who'd been in each room, and the few that had a sort of rotating cast. She remembered because she knew it then. Before. And she proved to herself that she remembered now, that she hadn't lost that.

Heading up the final flight of stairs, she looked first at Clayton's room. She went through it, the few things that were left in there, and then left it, going to her own. Her quarters, that held her bed, a few of the things they'd left, all that. Then, finally, her office. She sat behind her desk, staring into the darkness the candle light couldn't penetrate. She did that for a long, long time, reliving what had gone on in here. The little shards of memory she did have of the event, breaking glass, laughter. It was still broken for her, the bits she remembered, they were jumbled. Like stopped in some places, and jumped somewhere else. What he'd done to her while he held her down, belt around her neck. Maybe it was best she didn't remember all of it.

Glancing down at the candle flame, she pushed her chair back, then held it beneath her desk top, watching the smoke curl black as it started to char. Then, from there, taking longer than she would have thought, it started to actively burn. Sitting back, she watched that, watched the flames start small, then start spreading, til the entire top of the desk was burning, and the drawers were. Til her eyes were stinging from the smoke, and she started to cough. Only then did she get back up, and head for the door.

She wasn't finished, though. She went to her quarters next, and set the bed's canopy on fire. Then she went to Clayton's room, and set his dresser ablaze. Downstairs, she chose random things, setting it burning as much as she could, eventually taking with her a torch made from a chair leg to help her in her cause. She took old lanterns filled with scented kerosene and smashed them down to the floor in rooms, starting that up as well. Floor by floor, she worked her way down, wanting it to burn to the ground. Wanting there to be nothing left. Nothing salvageable. They'd have to tear it down entirely, it'd be a safety hazard to the city. She wanted it to be a hazard to the city. Like she wanted the place to burn, and have everyone know it. Like she wanted it to light up the night, just as it destroyed itself. She wanted people to remember it burning. She wanted it to be ashes. Her old life, her old home, her tower, her fortress, she wanted it to be ashes, blowing through the streets of Eidolon.

And so she made sure it was. The lower to the ground she got, the faster she set the fires, leaving each staircase burning as she left it. and by the time she was at the front doors, she knew there'd be no saving this place. Not even if the fire engines were waiting for her just outside the door--and she'd heard no sirens. She took up a fire axe, one she'd kept on the ground floor in case of emergencies, and she opened up the front doors, enough so she could walk out. She threw the axe back into the burning building, and left. Windows burst outwards a few floors up, glass raining down as she walked away, and she didn't look back.