All Chapters of Beneath the Ashes, He Rose: Chapter 191
- Chapter 200
400 chapters
Chapter 191: Glowing Slide
Not long did the lone blade of grass stay by itself. Once allowed, life multiplied. After a week, the odd white sand was pushed back by the growing circle of brown ground beneath the slide. Common weeds like clover, dandelions, and a tenacious crabgrass patch took root. The city parks department arrived with a truckload of new, dark mulch and a group of disinterested youths to distribute it after being perplexed by the abrupt sandy depression in the middle of the wood chips. The playground resumed its unremarkable routine, the desert was paved over, and the slide reappeared from its sandy grave. Tatiana, however, was aware. Tatiana's eyes would go to the area beneath the metal curve of the slide every morning as they walked to the school bus stop for Mira, who is now solidly, blessedly seven years old and completely enamoured with football and a talking truck cartoon. There, the grass became slightly more lush. The dandelions had a little brighter bloom. She also occasionally sp
Chapter 192: Lunchbox Twins
Neither of the little twins cried. In the split-open shell of fruit 191, they slept together, their chests rising and falling in time with each other. It was a sight that was equal parts obscene and miraculous. Born from a numbered chapter, life is contained within the reality of a plastic unicorn lunchbox. Mira was spellbound. "How tiny they are! Are they ours to keep? She extended a finger in their direction. "Avoid touching!" With piercing voices, Tatiana and Alexander spoke simultaneously. The order was given too late. Mira touched the fluid in the pod with her fingertip. It was sticky, like sap, and heated. A small drop stuck to her flesh. The twins shifted. They opened their eyes. Tatiana's green is a vivid, conscious green, unlike the hazy blue of infants. They glanced first at Mira and then at the enormous faces that towered over them. And they started crying. It wasn't the wail of a newborn. The sound was thin and high, tinkling like a distress signal f
Chapter 193: Seesaw Sky
The air became acrid and thin. With a desperate, piston-like rhythm, Tatiana's wings beat as she ascended. The twins, whose pink and white onesies stood out against the limitless blue, were tiny dots overhead, steadily climbing. They weren't going down. As though the idea of gravity has been graciously rejected, they were climbing. A fierce, focused focus—catch them—overcame the fear that felt like a cold fist in her chest.The why and the how didn't matter. She had kids in the skies. She got closer. They were sitting calmly in mid-air, about fifty feet above her now, as though on an invisible platform. Phoenix gestured toward a cloud. Ash's fist was being chewed. She yelled, "I've got you!" but the wind cut her off. As she flew up between them, she extended her arms. Pulling them close to her, she put one arm around Ash and one around Phoenix. They were chuckling, firm, and warm. Their climb halted the instant she had them safely in place. As though their mission ha
Chapter 194: Black Debt
A hoover was the zero. It drained the room's air, the house's warmth, and their ambitions' future. The foundation of their meticulously constructed, everyday existence came tumbling down with a single bite. Since the contract was new, Alexander's severance was small. In two weeks, they had to pay the rent on the ranch house. With two growing boys and a seven-year-old, the cupboards wouldn't last a month, even though they weren't empty. It was a sombre, quiet weekend, and they sold what they could. Alexander is a good watchman. Their war-torn love is symbolised by Tatiana's gold coffee-stirrer ring. Although it was like trying to sell a medal, formula was more significant than symbolism. They were able to buy three weeks. In a building that advertised 'character' as a selling feature, they discovered a small, one-bedroom flat that came with 'peeling linoleum and irregular plumbing'. The bedroom was just big enough for a double bed, and the main room served as a living-kitchen space.
Chapter 195: Kitchen Ghost
There was no room for fear in the tiny kitchen. It couldn't breathe, couldn't become great. The fear was personal, domestic, and hence all the more heinous. A cheap cooker is haunted by a cartoon ghost. Mira rushed under Tatiana's legs and screamed, a quick, sharp cry of genuine childlike horror. It sounded like dry leaves skittering on pavement as the Benjamin-cutout laughed. It pointed to the pitiful carrot pot with its free, papery hand. However, this won't work. Not for my family. It threw the wriggling, attracted infant into the saucepan. With a slight sizzle and a puff of steam scented with crayon, the infant vanished into the simmering orange purée. Here, Tatiana lacked wings. She had no firearm. She was frozen in place with a fear and a wooden spoon. The cutout unlocked their small cupboard after floating to it. There was a blue box of macaroni and cheese inside, where there had been a can of beans and half a bag of rice. The kind that comes in the packet of powdered chees
Chapter196: Mira CEO
It didn't feel like home at the mansion. A museum of a life they hadn't earned was what it felt like. It was a thick, costly, accusatory stillness. Phoenix and Ash, the twins, squealed as they walked across the large, reverberating living room, their voices booming off the tall ceilings. Since children are suddenly pampered, they appeared unaffected. Mira was silent, her face impassive as she traced her fingertips across a side table's icy marble. Like a sleeping dragon, the bank statement rested on the dining table. a trust fund worth trillions of dollars. from their daughter, who is seven years old. Or, more accurately, from their daughter's seventy-year-old ghost who had risen above time. The money remained unaltered. They were scared to. It was similar to bait on a light hook. Feeling like imposters, they occupied only a few rooms of the estate, heated canned soup on the professional-grade gas range and lived like squatters. The deep, melodic ring of the doorbell reverberated t
Chapter 197: Hybrid Empire
Compared to lead, the titanium card was heavier. Tatiana held it over the gas hob in the kitchen sink. Phoenix fire wasn't necessary for this. This cleansing was distinct from the others. She turned on the hob. Hissing to life was a brilliant blue flame. She held the card in its corner. Unlike plastic, the metal did not melt. It twisted. The two names blended into an unintelligible, shimmering smear as the sleek, contemporary typeface of WHITAKER-HARRINGTON bubbled and blurred. The card changed from chilly grey to a brilliant orange as the heat moved up it. She let it fall into the washbasin made of stainless steel. Curled, charred, ruined, it lay there. The mansion surrounding them started to shrink as it cooled with a series of faint ticks. The pop wasn't abrupt. The expansion that gave rise to it was slowly and nauseatingly reversed. They were pressed down by the lowering vaulted ceiling. The panoramic windows shrank, revealing a sliver of Georgetown before the alley's typical
Chapter 198: Baby Doorkeeper
The endless corridor's hush was a tangible presence, dense with the buzz of unlived lives. Ozone, old paper, and the subtle, pleasant smell of baby powder from the baby obstructing their threshold filled the air. Sensing the profound wrongness, Tatiana stood motionless, one arm wrapped around her sobbing seven-year-old, the other extending back automatically to where the twins had become silent. Alexander was the first to move, his body as rigid as a coiling spring, moving to the doorway to protect them. On the doorstep, the baby Mira dropped her rattle. The plastic clatter it made when it struck the aged floor reverberated ridiculously down the long hallway. The scene appeared to be disrupted by the noises. In unison, the thousands of faces—their own faces—turned to face the noise's origin. Then they looked back at Tatiana as one. Nobody said anything. Nobody went inside. They did nothing but wait. Ghosts, might-have-beens, and never-weres make up the audience. The only natural
Chapter 199: Infinite Hall
It was a violent transition. A whip of chilly, fuel-scented wind and the mechanical, shattering scream of turbines tore away the stifling calm of the corridor. The ghostly blue runway lights of a private airport illuminated the white light, which resolved into the hazy grey of a pre-dawn fog. With a quiet click, the grey metal door disappeared behind them as they staggered out. They were on the tarmac itself, not on firm ground. Biting through her thin trousers, Tatiana fell to her knees on the uneven tarmac. She was gasping, the deep, bone-deep exhaustion of advanced age tearing through her body. Splayed on the ground, her hands were spotted, veined, and gnarled. She was feeling very elderly. Young and confused, Alexander gazed about while still clutching the twins. With a horrified expression on her face, Mira-7 stood between them, holding onto her mother's shoulder. Tatiana's elderly neck protested as she pushed her head upward. In front of them sat a matte-black Gulfstream G7
Chapter 200: Jet Redux
It was a lovely daybreak. It glinted off the dark skin of the silent jet, painting the fleeing fog in peach and gold hues. For all but her, the morning was full of promise. Tatiana watched as Alexander's vehicle drove off down the access road, taking the now-unknown man to a future devoid of Tatiana Everly, the Phantom, and war. Maybe he would spill coffee on another woman. His children would be different. The epic he had barely escaped and the woman who had loved him through the destruction of innumerable timelines to give him that chance would remain unknown to him while he lived and died. The story had saved the world because of her. She had written herself out of it in the process. It was an abyss of loneliness. It was more than just losing the twins, Mira, or Alexander. It was the battle's defeat. the common goal. The wonderful, desperate struggle. After the war, she served as a soldier with no home nation to return to. With chilly tears on her cheeks, she turned her back on