Chapter 2. Celtic Requiem


I knew my cousin can at times take things a bit too far, some not as insane as most but still enough to make me wonder about her and if I should knock her out so I could take her to therapy. But then I remember of myself and I come back to thinking…being different is special, even if others don't understand it.

Maybe that's why I didn't question why there was this offending object within my cousin's grasp. Shoved into my face barely two inches away as Naoma beamed at me, while I was eating my daily dose of cereal, "Happy Birthday!"

I gazed down at the thing in her hold, it was a small metal shard almost shaped like a thunder bolt, and carved with lines that wrapped around the surface of the object like runic symbols.

But it was jagged in many places, the carvings seeming to only appear on the smoother surface of it, as if it had been smashed apart by another to gain the small size for any possible thought of a necklace.

And I only knew it was supposed to be a necklace because of the tiny silver chain swaying and spinning over Naoma's open palms.

"…What the hell Naoma, it isn't my birthday."

She paused as she retracted the necklace from my personal space, slowly asking, "…Merry…Christmas?"

"…That was a month ago."

"….I'm sorry, I just wanted it!" She whined suddenly, "I saw it on EBay, and I thought, 'oh hey that's awesome'! But then I realized I had no money and I knew you wouldn't get for me so I stole your phone and began calling people, and finally I found Ernest who didn't know your birthday and told him he missed it!"

"…NAOMA!"

"I'm sorry, but it was a win- win situation being that it was something Transformers related and the fact it came in a pair, like those best-friend charms, so it would be sentimental for you!"

I glared at my cousin, taking pride in the fact that she had taken a nervous step back as she clutched the small shard to her chest, as if afraid I would chuck it out the window any second.

And at this point, I didn't doubt I would not try to throw the object as far away as possible. But then I flicked my gaze onto the shard already hanging around her neck.

Seeing it made me pause, and realize that I had no true anger to begin with anyway- I mean, yes I was surprised Naoma would steal my phone just to see if there was any chance someone didn't know my birthdate. But it wasn't like she had used my money.

It was just one of those things were, despite having used it for her own gain, had no true negative effect on me so I held no real emotion to what she had done. I simply took it with stride as it went, I supposed.

With a defeated sigh I said, "You're so lucky I'm lazy in the mornings."


After the allspark-replica incident we had descended from the apartment to make our way towards Hot Topic, where we were listed as employees for the usual routine of work.

The building itself wasn't that far so we never had any use of utilizing the busses for transportation. It just seemed like a waste if we could simply walk without using our money for such a small way to and fro from both destinations.

That was our simple thinking, and then…I found my eyes were caught by a flash of bright yellow.

Turning my head to the familiar blinding color I found my eyes set and locked upon the yellow Ferrari Naoma had put similarly to the autobot, Sunstreaker.

But watching as how the reflection of the sun shimmered its way over the hood, I truly wondered how no one had come to an accident already.

Seriously, if a driver was coming up this road the only thing they'd spot were bright yellow and then this blinding reflection of the sun before swerving around on the road yelling, "The light! IT BURNS!"

"Oh hey, the car is there again." I pointed out.

Naoma instantly spun her head in the direction, and perked up at the image of the vehicle, "Oh my Primus, you're right." She then scrutinized the car, a wide grin spreading across her features that made her appear ecstatic as she chirped, "And the owner isn't there! I'm going to go check it out!"

"Wait, you don't know that, the windows are tinted," I tried rationalizing with her, but Naoma was already making her way out onto the open road without a second thought, "Naoma!"

Sighing in exasperation, I staid where I stood should the possibility of the owner truly being within the car be a conclusion. After all the windows were tinted black, so neither she nor I could predict if the young blonde owner was truly there or not.

I then suddenly heard a honking sound ring into the air even as I noticed the driver door of the yellow vehicle click soundlessly open. Naoma slowing her pacing jog in disappointment of seeing the owner.

But unlike her, I had turned my attention upon the sound of the blaring honk. Suddenly shocked to catch sight of a blue and white colored bus racing its way down the same road where Naoma was standing upon the middle of without a single clue.

It didn't appear to be stopping; it seemed more like it was out of control as the larger vehicle bellowed its horn for Naoma to get out of its way.

All other thought just seemed to disappear at that moment as my body then jolted forward, every other noise seeming to slip away. Only the echoing of my boots smacking against the pavement, and the bell-like sound of the shard bouncing upon my collar bone, was the only noise I heard while I moved forward.

My blood simply ran cold within my body, my heart racing and blood rushing like ice through my veins. I reached out for my frozen cousin, arms outstretched even as time seemed to slow about in my reality.

I snaked my arms around the small body of my cousin, the momentum jostling us down to the inky pavement below our feet. I just couldn't seem to stop myself from running out in the open with her like I did.

Then…all I felt was pain.