The sound of a hastening heartbeat was loud enough to even block out the crunching of leaves and dead branches underneath running feet. "Shoot her legs! We need to stop her!" ordered a sharp and demanding voice. Luna glanced back for a second at the perfect time to see an arrow fly towards her. She swung her arm and sent lightning through the spool on her wrist. A black metal cord flung out and shattered the arrow on impact. The wire quickly reeled back to her sleeve and she pressed further ahead at a faster pace. "Get her! Hurry!" ordered another man. Luna leapt over a fallen tree and her foot snagged an upturned branch that snapped upon catching her pants. She rolled out of her tumble and stumbled back into a sprint. Another arrow flew past her head and struck a tree ahead of her.
As she ran past it, she pulled the arrow free and jumped into the air. While airborne Luna twisted around and launched the arrow back in her pursuer's direction. A trail of blue followed it as the shaft flew like a bolt of lightning in the air. She heard a tree explode behind her but by the time it hit she was already running again. We should just kill them. You know it would be better. "Shut up! Get out of my head!" Luna yelled as she struggled against the internal voice. She flung her wrist again and wrapped the wire around a tree ahead on the side of the road. She drifted to the left and retracted the wire as she slid on the forest floor. Once her footing had caught, she was off again.
Next, Luna swung both of her wrists and two separate lines wrapped around two trees before reeling in. She launched herself in between them and surrounded herself with blue arcs of light. She jumped from one tree to the next until she was a fair distance from her attackers. Luna twisted in midair and dug her nails into the dirt as she slid to a stop, facing the direction she was running from. We need to make a stand. Admit that you want to do it and it will all be so much easier. "Stop it. Please." Luna gazed up and saw another girl crouched in front of her. She was wearing the same clothing she was currently equipped with and they were just as tattered. Holes decorated the jacket, shirt, and pants. The hem of the leather jacket was shredded from being caught on trees and sliding across the ground.
The girl moved down lower so that her face was visible in Luna's lowered gaze. It was covered in dirt but recognizable nonetheless. The girl had a wide unsettling grin on her face and she gazed with a venomous fury in her bright yellow eyes. The girl swept a loose strand of brown hair from her face and it soon fell back in front of her left eye. "Go away." Luna muttered. "You're not real. You're just in my head." Am I? Are you so sure? "Then why is it that you see me?" the girl asked. Luna shook her head and gazed back to the ground. "Kill them. Don't you remember how sweet it felt, the power, the unyielding dominance, the control that you had over him. It was almost climaxing, it was such an unexplainable pleasure." Luna shook her head again.
"I… I won't kill anyone else. I can't." she whimpered. "Can't? Why not? I think it would be rather easy. We're plenty fast enough and you have the advantage over them. You're quiet and can take them one by one. It will only take a little cut of your knife and then they won't be a problem anymore." The girl grabbed Luna's chin and forced her gaze up to meet her eyes. Luna tried to pull away as she looked into them but the girl's grip was strong and she couldn't look from her. "Come on, they're trying to kill you, it's only fair. Do what you need to do to get back to Yumi, you haven't forgotten about her have you? She is our closest friend, well, Shu fits that title as well but they are different I suppose. Either way, we need to get back home. We have to do whatever it takes to get back. We need to do whatever it takes to get to Fox."
Luna's mouth closed and turned into a grin to match the girl's in front of her. "There we go, now you're getting it. Kill them, them and whoever stands in our way." Luna shook her head again and her grin vanished. "Enough! Why are you doing this to me?" "There she is! Shoot her, now!" ordered one of the attackers. "This is our last chance, we need to strike now." Luna gazed up from her wolf-like stance and her eyes glowed from under her loose hanging bangs of hair. Her hair frizzed up as her body erupted in lightning. "Strike now. Kill them all." Luna grinned and stared into one of the assaulter's eyes. "Kill them." she repeated as if in a trance. "Hahaha, of course, it's so simple." Luna kicked from the ground and ran towards the two people in front of her.
An arrow came from her right which she easily avoided and continued towards the two swordsmen. Another projectile came once more so she slid on the dirt as she turned to the archer's direction. "Fine then." she said with giddy excitement. Luna charged forward and avoided two more shots. She jumped and swung from one branch to another before swinging herself up onto a final one. "Hello." she said, smiling at the archer. "Ahhhhh!" a scream echoed out from the trees and then there was a flash of blue light from a bundle of branches. A body flew across to another tree and struck the trunk before falling down onto his back. On his chest were two charred holes in his clothing. His body convulsed with each passing current that flowed through his veins.
Luna dropped from the branches and landed on all fours in the forest path. The lightning arcing around her was trailing to the ground and scorched the earth every time it struck. "Uhhhh." grunted the injured man as he rolled onto a side. "Still alive." Luna stated with disappointment in her tone. The girl from before appeared and stood over the injured man. "Hmm, well, you injured him well enough but it would be better to finish the job." Luna glared at the girl and smiled. "It has to be done or else he would just follow me again." she said. "Now you're learning. I always knew we were smart." Luna smiled and met eyes with the reflection of her that was putting a foot on the man's side.
The man looked up to where Luna's eyes were looking and then back to her. "You've lost your mind." he grunted after a gasping breath. "He just doesn't understand." said the girl. "No, he doesn't." Luna agreed before taking to her feet. Luna drew her gun from the holster and moved to stand over the man. "Don't!" yelled one of the swordsmen. Luna gazed over at the approaching swordsman while keeping her gun aimed at the archer's head. The man threw his sword to the ground and raised his hands into the air. "Please, he's my best friend. We grew up together, please don't kill him. I'll leave and we won't come after you again, I swear it on my life."
Luna looked with her seemingly empty eyes and squinted angrily at him. "He's lying. We shouldn't listen to him." "I know he is." Luna agreed. "What?" he gasped. "Why should I believe you?" Luna asked, pressing her finger against the pistol's trigger. "No!" he yelled as he dropped to his knees. "Please, just let him live. Kill me if you must but let him go." Luna saw tears streaming down the man's face, leaving clean trials in the dirt that covered it. "I love him, please, don't do this." He lowered his face into the dirt and pleaded. The color returned to Luna's eyes as she gazed at him and a familiar longing caused her heart to ache. She looked back down at the injured man below her and saw him staring at the begging man. His dark brown eyes were also glistening from the trailing tears.
"Do it. Kill them or we will never be free of them." "I can't do it. I shouldn't do it." Luna said as she felt a burning in her eyes. She gazed back towards the remaining swordsman that was still further down the path. Her breathing was heavy and she kept her gaze on him. He remained motionless for a second before sheathing his sword. He dropped to his knees and she saw his chest rise and fall from taking a deep breath and sighing. "Fine." she said reluctantly. "We will pay for this." said the girl. "Then I will do so later. I can't do this." Luna holstered her gun and turned to walk away. She ran off into the forest, leaving the attackers behind her.
"You're gonna regret that, I promise you." Luna glared at the girl running next to her and then turned her gaze back forward. "When will you go away?" "I am a part of you, I'm afraid that I am not going anywhere. Besides, you already accepted me so you might as well get used to it." "I never d…" "No? "I am a killer, I am a monster, blah blah blah and so on. Does none of that ring a bell to you or are we really that stupid?" Luna scowled at the mocking tone. "It was getting better when I stopped running from it." "Yeah it was, and do you know why? It's because you acknowledged who you really are. You stopped lying to yourself and then you spent one day here and everything came unraveled again. Seriously, what is wrong with you? They've been hunting us for three days and you just let them go?"
"They're trying to get back home too." "So are we and yet, they don't hesitate to kill us if it means their freedom. I know you know all of this because I do, start acting on your feelings or we will die here." Luna skidded to a stop and glared at the girl. It was an odd sensation for her. It appeared as if she was staring into a mirror and the voice was so clearly hers that it still shook her. "I will not kill for the pleasure of it." Luna growled. "So you admit it feels good?" Luna shook her head and looked away. "Yes, alright! I like the rush, I like how strong it makes me feel, are you happy that I admitted it?! But I refuse to give into that, it's wrong and it makes me sick just thinking about it. I will not give into you or your words." The girl smiled and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Not yet maybe, but soon enough you will understand that this is necessary. If I have to then I will do it for you." "You are just in my head! You can't do anything!" Luna screamed as her fury was boiling over. "Then what was that back there? You were smiling and you sounded pretty upset when that man was still alive. Give it time, you'll accept me eventually and I can't wait." Luna charged forward in an attempt to punch the girl's face but fell through her and tumbled forward. "Hahahaha! Did you forget that I am not really here? Well, not physically at least. I suppose that's for the better." said the girl, grinning. Luna rested her back against a tree and tucked her knees to her chest.
"I'm just tired, after some sleep you'll be gone. I haven't slept in a few days, I just need a little and…" "Listen to yourself, it's pathetic. No amount of sleep will get rid of who you are but if you want to try it then go ahead, I have no way to stop you." The girl sat cross legged in front of Luna and closed her eyes. Luna too, closed her eyes and rested her head against her arms which she crossed over her knees. "Well, it's nice to see you here." said the girl. Luna turned her gaze and noticed she was in a black tiled room. "The boss chamber." she muttered. "Bingo! Aren't you just the smartest." cheered the girl as she approached from the dark, clapping her hands as she walked.
"Well, you fell asleep so uh, congratulations I guess? It really did you wonders. I suppose I must welcome you to my lovely home, the place where you like to keep me." She stretched out her arms to show Luna the whole of the room. Sconces along the walls ignited with blue flames and the room was empty besides them two. "It's perfect isn't it? The place where Clair died, the place where we almost killed the prissy girl, really, I couldn't imagine a more fitting home for the monster you fear yourself to be." Luna moved towards the girl but she put up a hand to stop her. "I'm sorry for being so rude, let me grab you a seat." The girl snapped her fingers and gestured for Luna to turn around. When Luna obliged, there was a table with two chairs there in plain view.
"Come, have a seat. You look terrible and need to rest." The girl moved and grabbed Luna's arm to guide her to a chair. The two sat and then two cups of tea appeared in front of them. "This is just a dream." Luna muttered. "A dream, maybe. Or maybe you're just having a get together with your truest self." The girl turned to stare into Luna's eyes. "You're not me and I'm not you." "Then what are you? Look around, what makes you who you are if it's not me?" "You're a monster that just happens to look like me." "Then how was I made? The actions that you put on me were done by your hand. They were your decisions, our decisions. We did them. It's not my fault that you see me as something separate from yourself. We are the same person but you just keep denying it."
"And I will continue to do so. I will not kill anymore." The girl slapped Luna in the face and her right cheek began reddening. "You're lying to yourself, quite literally." the girl said with a wicked smile. Luna glared and dove over the table, tackling the girl to the ground. Luna was atop her and had her hands wrapped tightly around her throat. Luna snarled and bared her teeth as she tightened her grip. In a second she felt her mouth form a smile and the girl held in her grip began to cry and struggled to free herself. Luna began laughing before releasing her grip. She fell back and observed her trembling hands. "What?" she gasped as her smile vanished from her face. "Hahaha! You should have seen yourself, or I guess you did. I don't know, this whole thing is rather confusing." said the girl as she stood from the ground.
"What was that?" Luna murmured. "That was you. Are you finally getting the picture now?" As the girl approached, Luna scampered backwards before waking up under the tree she was resting against. She rose with a start and reached for her dagger out of instinct. Her hands were shaking so bad that she doubted the weapon would do any good even if she was to grab it. "That was rather entertaining, don't you think?" asked the girl as her eyes opened to meet Luna's. Luna was panting and was struggling to catch her breath. After a long and slow exhale of air, she rested the back of her head against the tree as her nerves began calming down. She held her left wrist up so she could see it and tapped the diamond. "Only an hour of sleep." she complained, letting her hand drop to the ground. "I can't take this anymore. I'm trapped in this game with people hunting me left and right and my only company is my own crazy reflection.
God, I'm losing my mind." Luna covered her eyes with her arm and hit her head against the tree lightly. "Damn it." "I don't remember us giving up so easily before." the girl said before pausing for a moment. "Nevermind, I suppose we've always been a bit of a quitter. There were plenty of times that we gave up and resigned ourselves to our fate. Hpmh, I tried at least." stated the girl as she shrugged her shoulders. Luna threw a rock at her but it flew through her and struck a tree. "Should I pretend that it hit me? Would that make you feel better?" The girl grabbed her face and threw herself onto the ground, feigning grunts of pain. The cries quickly turned to howls of laughter and she rose back into a sitting position, wiping a tear from her eye.
"Must you really mock me?" Luna asked glumly. "Are you gonna keep trying to hit me?" questioned the girl. Luna sighed and hit her head against the tree again. "Is there a point to that?" "I'm hoping to knock you out of my head. If that doesn't work then maybe I can keep it up until I'm dead. That will free me of you." Luna almost smiled at the thought of it. "You promised me." the girl spoke in Clair's voice in place of Luna's. Luna shot a quick glance as if to see her past lover standing there. "Still me." said the girl, smiling as usual. "Kill me now." Luna grunted as she hit her head again. "I can oblige you on that." said a man as he crept from behind a nearby tree.
Luna lowered her gaze and examined the intruder. He was wearing all black clothing, somewhat similar to her own and his blonde hair was slicked back and tied in a knot behind his head. He gazed at her with his glossy brown eyes and scowled. "Believe it or not, I don't actually want to die so if you would please go somewhere else, that would be amazing." Luna stated as she rested her head against the tree again. "It doesn't matter what you want, Lightning Dancer, I want to go back home and so, I will kill you." "He's not lying. I believe he will if you let him." said the girl. Luna glared over at her. "You don't say." she said sarcastically. She met the swordsman's eyes again and sighed.
"Does me sparing the other two not mean anything to you?" "I didn't want to let you go and I couldn't care less about them. That was just a beneficial partnership. Unfortunately, it went south when you almost killed the man's boyfriend." "Then why didn't you attack me then? You dropped your sword?" "Because I needed to split from their group. I'm not gonna let someone else get the reward from my hard work alone. If I am going to kill you, then your bounty is mine alone to claim." Luna's eyes widened and she swung her arm, sending a black wire towards the man. It wrapped around his throat and Luna reeled in enough so that it pulled him to the ground. "Bounty? Is that why I keep getting targeted by you people?" Luna rose to her feet and the man got up to one knee, grasping at the cord.
She sent a small bit of lightning through it to warn him to stop. "Answer my question." "He's gonna need some persuading, I think. I say we stab him a little, it's been a while since we've felt that. It would be nice to revel in it again." Luna grimaced and then sent some more power through the line. It was just enough to scorch a ring into his flesh. "Gahhh, alright! Stop! On the first day, the man with the fox mask called me and said that any person to kill Lightning Dancer earns their freedom, right then and there. If we team up with a party then the whole group goes free." "So you would kill an innocent stranger in cold blood just for that? What is wrong with you people?" Luna growled. "I don't think we're that innocent anymore." noted the girl as she crossed her legs again.
"We did kill that guy on the second day and that wasn't exactly in self defense." "Will you shut it!" Luna yelled at the girl to her right. "Are you okay?" asked the man. Luna stared into his eyes and drew her dagger with her free hand before pressing it to his throat. "Now you care about my well being? Weren't you here to kill me?" Luna questioned with a grin showing suddenly. "This is certainly getting better, now if only you would commit to something for a change and then my night would be made." the girl said. "Damn it, shut up! I've had enough of you, I can't take it anymore!" Luna threw her dagger at the girl and it found dirt on the other side of her.
"Ahhhhh! That's it! I'm done with all of this." Luna pushed the man down and reeled her line back into her sleeve. She drew her gun from her waist and aimed at the man. "No, wait, don't do it." he pleaded. Luna pulled the trigger and a loud bang echoed through the dense forest. It was then followed by a howling scream of agony as the man clutched his calf and rocked on the ground. Luna holstered her gun and moved to retrieve her dagger. "Stop following me! And if anyone else comes across you before you die, tell them the same thing. I'm done playing around and I'm tired of my good graces being thrown back in my face. I will kill anyone who attacks me, without mercy. Make sure everyone you meet understands that.
I don't want to kill you people but I will not be a sacrifice for others who would kill so shamelessly for such a petty reason. My life is too valuable to throw it away like that. And you, get away from me and leave me alone!" she screamed at the girl. "You're fucking insane!" yelled the wounded swordsman. She drew her gun and fired another round into the dirt next to his other leg. "At least I didn't try to kill you! If I'm crazy then so be it but I will not lower myself down to hunting others just to leave this place. It isn't needed and I refuse to do it." "I saw you kill that guy two days ago, you looked happy then." the man said through gritted teeth.
"He earned it, and maybe I was a little happy about it. Do you know how sweet it is to get revenge on someone who has made your life a miserable existence? The three of them ambushed me, much like you and your group. They tried to kill me and in doing so, ruined my day. I say that it earned a little punishment, wouldn't you? What do you know of that man anyways? Did you know that he attempted the same thing the day before that? He killed his own brother in the process and threw him away as he was just an obstacle. Wouldn't you find satisfaction in removing a man like that from this world? It was enjoyable, I'll admit it. I have an older brother you see and I could never imagine hurting him so watching him do that, it struck a nerve in me.
I wanted him dead from the moment he did that but I let him live and what does he do? He hunted me down again and brought others into it as well. Either way, what's done is done and I have made enough noise to draw in the whole player base. I wish you the best of luck and I pray that we don't see each other again. If you find me after this and attempt to end me, I will slice that pretty throat of yours from ear to ear and revel in watching your blood stain the grass, do you understand?" He weakly nodded. "Fantastic, bye bye then." Luna put away her weapons and pressed further into the forest with the girl on her heels. "Wow, I didn't expect that. I mean, I did because I knew you were thinking about it but still, I'm amazed." "I told you to leave me alone." Luna said. "And I told you I can't. It seems we're at an impasse huh?" "Ahh!" Luna yelled before moving faster to gain distance from her trailing reflection.
"Walking faster won't help you." she pointed out. Luna sighed and tried her best to ignore her. Pretending not to hear me won't help either. I am in your head. "Damn you." Luna muttered. "Damn us." the girl said happily. "It is good to see you taking charge, honestly. I'm happy that you're finally coming to terms with yourself. It's a slow progression but the faster you embrace the truth, the faster you will be happy again." "I don't understand." Luna said quietly. "It's rather simple, if you stop denying who you are, you will stop having this internal struggle that's plagued us for all of these years." "I mean, I don't understand how I ended up this way. I never even liked killing bugs when I was younger. It felt wrong to end a life so suddenly just because I was able to. I would always picture myself as the bug and imagined what it would be like to have something so large just instantly crush me.
It scared me and made me sad so I tried to avoid killing them when I could. Sparring with people when I first started learning under Siraji unnerved me too. I was scared of hurting the others when we fought so I held back at first. I don't like hurting people, so why did I end up like this?" "We are what life has made of us. We had to fight to survive, all the way through SAO and even when we got back home we had to fight. Fox made sure of that. We are fighters and we must do what it takes to live. So what if it's a little enjoyable. If we have to do it then we might as well make the most of it. Besides, it's not like you're killing just for the pleasure, the people we've killed or wanted to kill have all deserved it in one way or another.
The first man from SAO ambushed us and would have killed us had Clair and the rest of them not shown up. Trail was murdering other players and he had to be stopped. We almost became one of his victims as well due to our hesitation to do what was needed. The red eyed man, well, we should have killed him there in that forest. Clair stopped us but she was wrong to do so. He got what was coming to him anyway so no matter. The dojo instructor was abusing Yumi and almost forced us to be his little plaything. Honestly, he deserved to die as well. That one would have been sweet after how bad a condition he left us in. I wish we could go back and do it again, just to see his face as the life drains out of him.
Now onto the other guy, that boy from a few days ago, you said it yourself that he earned it. He killed his own family so…" "I get it! I get it. It still doesn't make it sit any better with me." "It will, give it some time." "I don't know if I ever want it to." Luna whispered as she pressed ever onward into the darkness. She stopped again nearly an hour later and rested under another tree. This time however, she did not sleep. She sat there with her eyes closed but her ears and mind were working throughout the night so as to stay on alert for any further pursuers. The dark of night seemed to last an eternity as every time she dozed off into slumber, she was jolted awake again. "I can't sleep." she muttered as her eyes were growing heavy again.
"Why not? Just get some rest." said her other self. "I might be attacked again." "We both know that's not the real reason you refuse to sleep. Be honest with yourself for a change." Luna glanced up at her with exhausted eyes that was a struggle in itself to keep them open. "That is me being honest." she said quietly, her voice resembling a growl. The girl shook her head and clicked her tongue. "Tsk tsk, I don't think so. It's because I am there, in your head. I got news for you, I'm here as well. You might as well get some sleep or you won't be any good in a fight."
Luna was struggling even to breathe due to her over-exhausted state. It had been days since she found the river and it had been just as long that that group had been hunting her. An hour or two after awakening on the river bank, she was attacked by the archer of the party and so the chase began. Luna had refused to fight them and had spent the better part of the days running or hiding. She was at her limit whether she wanted to admit it or not. That was Luna's current pressing issue with this reflection of hers. It was the fact that she couldn't lie to it. Whenever Luna would say anything, the false her would tell her that it was no good lying to herself. It was beginning to drive Luna even more crazy than she was already becoming, knowing that she couldn't even fool herself anymore.
"Time to get up I suppose." said the girl, standing and brushing dirt from her pants. Luna struggled to her feet and nearly fell over as her legs almost gave out. She leaned against the tree for support and her head began spinning. An agonizing headache began to creep in and she held a hand to her face to shield her eyes. The girl walked over and laughed before bending down to look Luna in the eyes. "You look horrible. Sure you don't want to sleep?" Luna swung her fist again and fell onto the ground. The girl shook her head and leaned her back against the tree with her arms crossed over her chest. "It's never gonna connect, you should save your strength for when you need it." "Fuck you." Luna growled as she looked up with pure hatred in her eyes.
"Such dirty words from such an innocent mouth." said the girl before laughing. "We should get moving soon. That guy might have given up but I doubt that your shots went unheard last night. There's probably a ton of players running to our position as we speak." Luna bit her tongue and forced herself back up to her wobbly feet. While she had been able to move last night, resting until daybreak had allowed all of her weariness to catch up to her. It was hitting her all at once now and she couldn't believe how miserable it was making her. All the while she was fighting this battle with herself as she stumbled from tree to tree in her attempts to move forward.
"Come on, girl. You can do it. One foot after the other and soon we'll be wherever it is that we're going." Luna sighed as she fell against another tree. Instead of taking another step, she slid down it until she was on her knees. "I can't. I can't move anymore." she said, panting and closing her eyes. She felt like crying and breaking down right on the spot but somehow managed to keep herself somewhat together. Her mind began to drift off until she heard a rustling to the right. Luna could only turn her head and open an eye to observe whatever had made the sound. Through the disastrous mess that was her hair, she saw a black cat run from the brush. "Cat?" she mumbled, surprised at seeing such a thing in the middle of a forest.
It moved closer and she noticed a spotted pattern in a similar black coloring that covered the small creature's fur. "It's a panther." said the girl as she knelt down to the cat. She wagged a finger to it but she was invisible to the tiny feline. It moved to Luna's side and licked her fingers as her hand dangled limply at her side. She couldn't even give a smile. Seemingly every muscle in her body was defying her will to move them. I'm too tired. Luna let her open eye close again before taking in a shallow breath. This time her mind succeeded in escaping the reality she was in. Luna was now in a dimly lit room that brought such nostalgia to her that she almost broke into tears.
It was the room she shared with Clair back in SAO on the twenty fourth floor. "I really liked this place." said the girl as she walked in the room. She moved past Luna and seated herself on the bed's edge. Luna ignored her and moved to an old book that resided on the desk near the sole window. She ran a finger along the cover before finding the edge of the book. Using her finger, she flipped the book open and on the first page she saw a small box with writing in it. "Art Gallery for Two." Luna read softly. "This was for her and my eyes only. She didn't share any of these with anyone else. It even has some of my own drawings in them from when she was teaching me." "Are you telling me this?" asked the girl.
"No, just reminding myself." "So, talking to me then? Got it." Luna paid her no mind and flipped to the first page. It had a line drawn down the middle and two different drawings were on the page. In truth they were supposed to be the same but Luna had not been able to replicate what Clair had done. On the left was a perfect image of a robin perched on a single branch, high in a tree, and overlooking a running river. On the right was a laughable mockery of what it should have been. The bird looked more like a rodent of some kind and the tree was only a few lines. The river, Luna thought to be okay, but far from Clair's professional ability. "Heh, this was supposed to be an easy one. "It's just a bird, nothing too complicated. Just copy what I do." She says that and then draws this." Luna chuckled as she ran a finger over Clair's side of the page.
"We got better after leaving this place. I'm sure she would be proud of what we can do now." said the girl. "Proud?" Luna asked with a scoff. "I'm pathetic. So much so that it's sickening. She would be disgusted with me. I've gone against anything she ever wanted for me and then some. I never got my anger under control, I still break down too easily, and I am always too quick to throw my life away. She would have left me if she knew what I turned into after all of this time."
"Eh, what does it matter anyways, she's been dead for a while." "Luna looked over at her. "What? What did you just say?" "I said that she's dead. There's no reason to worry about what she would or wouldn't do. I was just trying to cheer you up but whatever, I suppose it didn't work." Luna clenched her fists and lightning sparked around her as she glanced over at the girl. "Take that back." Luna demanded as her sparks were growing more wild and out of control. The girl crossed one leg over the other and crossed her arms. "I don't want to. It makes no sense to worry about her. And how is it that she can criticize us for throwing our life away when she did the exact same thing? I've never seen such a hypocrite before." A burst of light exploded from Luna's left fist and her eyes glowed a bright yellow as she moved forward to the bed.
"Simmer down, bug zapper. There's no need to be so feisty." A bolt of light shot from her hand and struck the floor, leaving a large black scar in the wooden floor. Luna then heard a whimpering and her eyes darted open. The kitten that was at her side bolted away from her with smoke rising from its tail. It looked back and then a loud roar bellowed from the brush. A large black panther leapt over the flora and sprinted towards Luna. Her body was still weary and uncooperative as it neared. She barely had time to raise her arm as it's powerful jaws clamped down and it's fangs punctured into her left arm. She activated her power and bolts of lightning flooded the beast's maw before coursing through its body.
It leapt back a step and Luna found an opening to draw her dagger. As it pounced once more, Luna threw herself to the right so the beast hit the tree instead if it's intended target. Luna was now on her back and the large cat moved to be atop her. The claws on the front right paw dug into Luna's shoulder as it moved it's mouth to her neck. "Gahhh!" she screamed before gritting her teeth in an attempt to fight against the pain. Luna plunged the blade into the side of it's throat. It growled and raked it's claws down her shoulder and she stabbed it two more times in the neck before it fell lifeless on her. Luna felt the blood leaking from her shoulder and arm and the rest of her strength fled with the coursing adrenaline.
"Man, you don't look too well." Luna looked to the right and saw the girl crouched beside her with cuts in the upper left shoulder and holes in the left forearm of the jacket. Luna took a shallow breath and placed her right hand against the side of the beast. She pushed while creating a small blast of lightning in her palm and the corpse was pushed off of her. She forced herself to her knees and crawled to the body to retrieve her blade. It was even more of a struggle to move back to the tree she was previously resting against. Luna shrugged the jacket off of her shoulders and let it fall to the floor so she could assess the full extent of the damage.
"They're not that deep. It's a good thing this jacket is durable." Still it left trails of red down her entire arm as it mixed with the sweat on her skin. "I need some kind of wrapping." Luna had lost the bag she had found at the radio tower on the second day of her being pursued. Luna only had a military ration in there so she knew it wouldn't have been any help right now anyways. "I don't have anything to use for this." She hit her head against the tree and closed her eyes. "You have a shirt." said the girl. "And?" "You can cut that up and use it for bandages. You could also buy some from the shop if you don't want to ruin your clothes." Luna nodded and tried to raise her left arm but whether it be due to her injuries, her exhaustion, or both, she couldn't barely lift it from the ground.
"Of course." She struggled to undo the watch with her right hand and placed it in her lap before opening the shop menu. The first thing in the menu was a first aid kit and under that were bandages but both of them cost more points than what she had. "I suppose it is a survival game." said the girl, grinning. Luna tapped the diamond to close the menus and sighed. "I need something to clean it with also. I can't do that with anything I have. What kind of stupid suggestion do you have for that?" Luna asked. "I don't know, I can only know what you do. If you can't figure it out then neither can I." "For now I suppose fresh water will have to do, we need to go back to the river." Luna said quietly. "We? So we are a "we" now?" the girl teased.
Luna was surprised about how naturally that came out of her mouth. We? Why did I say that? The girl laughed and began moving onward. Luna picked up her jacket and clutched it tightly in her right hand. With much effort and the tree's assistance as a support, she forced herself to her feet. After draping the jacket over her left side, she followed her mirrored image into the forest. She clutched her arm tightly with her right hand as she moved and stumbled over most any obstacle as lifting her feet had become too taxing to do consistently. Her walking had become something like a limp and a shuffle as she moved from one tree to the next. "Hurry it up, you're too damn slow." Luna scowled and pushed herself forward to another tree and leaned against it.
"Unfortunately I have a real body, I'm tired and my arm is starting to hurt pretty bad. It's wearing me out." She gripped her arm tighter and leaned off of the tree to move again. What should have taken only an hour or so took nearly double that due to Luna's worsening condition. The pain, the loss of blood, and the lack of sleep was causing her head to spin and her vision grew more hindered with every passing minute. The world in front of her was almost a blur at times and that was when she could even keep her eyes open. Sometimes they would shut for a second and she stumbled over a branch or bumped into a tree. "Hey, stay awake." said the girl, standing in front of Luna. When she opened her eyes again, the girl had her arms crossed and an unusual frown painted on her face.
"You don't look happy." she said, struggling to speak as that in itself was becoming too difficult for her. Luna gave a weary grin and then slid down the tree a little. She stayed on her feet this time but it was hard to not give in to the weariness. When she had woken abruptly from her previous slumber, she surmised it had only been an hour, if that. It had done nothing at all to ease her weary state. Her eyes blinked and remained closed for nearly a minute before opening them again. Her breathing was shallow and it was as if the act of taking in air was draining any reserve of strength her body was hiding. "I'm done." she said in a barely audible voice. "Stand up and move! We will die if you don't move so do it! We did not come all of this way just to die under some tree in Fox's prison. Get up!"
"I can't." Luna whimpered as she clutched to her left arm. It throbbed with pain and she didn't want to deal with it anymore. Everything around her, she was finished with it all. Her arm, the game she was now trapped in, Fox, her other self, everything. "I just want to die, can you let me do that peacefully?" she whispered and fell again. Luna was lying on her stomach in the dirt with her head turned to the left. As her eyes were closing again, they instantly widened. She heard footsteps through the earth below her and they were close. She couldn't say how many but knew that they were coming in her direction. "Move! If you don't move then…" Then I die, I know, you've told me enough times. She scowled and dug her right hand into the ground to pull herself forward. She crawled slowly until she was behind the tree and re-draped the jacket over her left side.
"Where are we going?" asked a girl. Her voice was soft and Luna could tell she was young, no older than herself at least. "I told you, we're heading for the river. We need some water and maybe we can get some fish while we're there." replied a boy. "I don't know, Citra, you always get us lost in these kinds of places." the girl stated. "You really need to have faith in me, sister. I have the map and I know how to read it." "I have a map too, you idiot, and it's not that hard to read. You're taking us in the…" "In the right direction." the boy interrupted as he moved closer to the girl. He showed her his map and pointed out the winding river not far from them. "I told you, Chika, have some faith in me." Luna heard their steps start up again but then they stopped.
"Hold on." the boy named Citra said. Luna peeked around the tree and saw what it was he found. Blood. Damn it! Of course I left a trail to follow. "I hope they won't kill us. That would be a shame if you can't fight back." Luna glared at the girl and then rested her head against the tree once more, praying for them to continue. "Is that blood?" asked Chika. "Uh-huh. Fresh too." She heard them growing closer and she drew her knife. She took a breath and came to the realization that her state would not allow her to put up any fight. She lowered the blade and waited to be found. Soon enough, they were upon her. She felt their eyes on her as she sat there with her own eyes closed.
"Is she dead?" asked Chika. "Now's the time to strike." said her other self. I don't have the strength left. I doubt I could even scratch them right now and my gun is in the direction for my left hand. It would be a struggle to reach it with my right. "So you're just giving up?" I'm hoping that they won't kill me. Shut up and go away. She felt a warm finger press against her throat and tried to hold still as he stayed there. "No, she has a pulse and she's kind of breathing. He lifted the jacket from her shoulder and gasped at the wound that was hidden under it. "What did that to her?" "I'm not sure but it doesn't look good. It's not that too deep but it needs to be cleaned and bandaged. She's lost quite a bit of blood as well." "But you said it's not deep." Chika said.
"A cut doesn't need to be deep to bleed and it doesn't need to be either to be a danger. Do you still have that alcohol on you?" "You're going to use our own healing supplies on her. That was expensive, you know?" "I know but I can't leave her like this. Hand it over and we'll get more later. Do we have any more bandages?" "No, you gave the last of what we had to the other guy with the burns. I swear, you need to stop giving our stuff away. It's goin…" "Going to get us killed. You've said it a million times, sister. Stop bringing it up and hand over the bottle." Luna heard the bottle shift hands and he moved closer to her ear.
"Hey, wake up, girl." she heard him whisper. Luna opened her eyes slowly and turned her head to stare into his brown eyes. "Hello." he said, smiling. "Who are you?" she asked, quietly. "You can call me Citra and the girl behind me is my twin sister, Chika." Luna glanced past him and instantly saw the resemblance. They both had straight black hair and their eyes were light brown. They had lighter skin than she did and their faces were rather attractive, at least in Luna's standards. "I'm going to clean your wounds, it's going to hurt quite a bit but I need you to bear with it." the boy said gently.
Luna weakly nodded and closed her eyes. She heard him take a breath and knew he hesitated before pouring it into the multiple slashes in her shoulder. "Hmmmm!" Luna groaned with her mouth clenched shut. "Hahaha. Isn't that just enjoyable." said her other self. Luna peeked at her through one open eye and then gritted her teeth again as the boy poured again. It didn't take him long to clean the rest of her arm and he threw the empty bottle back to his sister. "I need bandages." he said to Chika. "What am I supposed to do about it? I can't just make some show up from thin air." she said, crossing her arms and looking away from him.
"Use my shirt." Luna said. "I can't take your clothes." he said. "It's fine. I'll find another one." His face turned red and he turned his head. "I can't leave you half dressed." "I have the jacket, these need to be covered." Her voice was still lacking strength and he only heard her due to him being so close. Luna ignored his hesitance and with her right hand, pulled the dirtied white tank top over her head and handed it to him. She then gave him her dagger. "Cut it in two with them being different sizes. A smaller one for the forearm and a larger one for my shoulder." she instructed. He did as she said and Luna fought through the pain as he tied the make-shift bandages around her injuries.
She threw the jacket over her left arm again and closed her eyes. "Thanks." she whispered. "Uh, yeah, sure." "Good, are you done, hero? We need to keep moving, it's getting late." Chika said, grabbing her brother's shoulder. "We can't just leave her here." he stated. Luna glanced over at them. "You can, you have to. You don't want to be around me." "See, now let's go." "Yuri! Stop acting so cold." "You said not to use our real names." she hissed back. "Sorry, it's just, you need to care a bit more. I know you're not that cold a person. Look at her, she's tired and can hardly move. We need to help her and I can't do that without you." Chika clicked her tongue and hesitantly nodded. "Good, now help me get her up." Luna wanted to argue but couldn't find the energy and she felt as if it would be ungrateful to refuse any further help.
Chika grabbed her body while Citra threw her right arm around his neck. They moved slowly together and the three eventually made it to the river's edge. Luna found some kind of solace in the sound of the gentle current in the water. She watched the flow of it as she rested against a rock. She had removed her boots and bracers so she was left in her black pants, a black sports bra, and her jacket, still draped over her left side. The other two were filling canteens with water before washing their faces and hands. "We can't stay with them." said the girl, sitting next to Luna. "I'm surprised you would say that. I thought watching them die for me would please you." Luna muttered. "It would but we have a goal and Fox's life would be much more sweet a prize. We need to leave soon and continue to our destination." "Finally something we agree on." "We should agree on everything, we share a mind." "You're just my darker and more sick imagination. I don't need to agree with everything I think about.
I've been mad enough when I was a child to dream of Jin dying but never once did I actually want it." "And that's what you see me as? A child's dream as a result of a fit?" "I don't know what to make of you. It kind of scares me how easily I talk to you though. That, and how much I admitted to sharing with you." Luna looked at her right hand and noticed that it hadn't shaken in a while. She clenched it into a fist and hit the ground next to her. "When I'm done here, this is it. This is the last of my past, there's nothing left to come back and haunt me. Well, you're the last thing tying me there. Before this is done, I will kill you."
"Kill yourself you mean?" "No." Luna said abruptly with a shake of her head. "I will kill you and be done with all of my pain and hatred and sickness. At first I thought it was Clair binding me to the past but then Red Eyes showed up. After him I struggled to move past Clair and eventually succeeded to some extent. Now Fox is here and while that is a surprise to me, I know he's isn't my last obstacle. You're the last chain keeping me attached to that place. All of my negative and sick feelings that are all bundled into one ghost that's possessing my mind. You will be the final thing I have to kill, I swear it." "Girl?" asked Citra, pulling Luna from the conversation with herself. She looked up and smiled wearily. "Thanks again for saving me. I doubt I would have made it another night had you not come along." Luna said.
"Maybe, maybe not. Either way, I'm happy to help. You never told me your name." Luna looked away from him. "I don't know if it would be smart to share it. It's better for both of us if you don't know who I am." "Look, if we're gonna be traveling together then I need something to call you. That seems kind of shady if you refuse to tell us your name, especially since you have ours." Luna sighed and nodded her head. "Luna. My name is Luna." He squinted as if examining her in a new light and nodded. "Luna then, it's nice to meet you." he said, holding out his right hand. Luna looked from his hand to his eyes and grinned. "Ah, right." he said, scratching his head. He held out his left hand and Luna took it in her right. "Nice to meet you." she said.
"That's an interesting scar, I noticed some on your back and arm too. Care to share what happened?" Luna smiled and nudged the jacket out of the way so her bare stomach was showing. The scar wasn't too large but definitely noticeable. "I was stabbed here and the rest were from a glass table. These ones too." Luna pointed to the one on her right cheek and the small scratch that remained on her neck just under it. "What the hell were you doing to get stabbed and thrown through a table? You're not some crazy criminal are you?" he asked with a joking tone.
"Criminal, no. Crazy, maybe. More than I would like to admit at least." She sighed and swept her dirty hair from her eyes but it fell right back over the left one. "No, my house was broken into and I tried to fight the intruder. As you can see, it didn't go too well." she said. "That's pretty brave if you ask me. I'm not sure I could have done that in your position." "You couldn't have. It would have been my job to protect everyone." Chika interjected as she approached. Citra laughed and nodded in agreement. "True enough." He then turned to gaze at Luna again. "You should get cleaned up a bit. I don't mean to seem rude but you're getting pretty dirty and you need to wash that blood off of you." "You should just tell her straight, she stinks and needs a bath. You're absolutely filthy and something needs to be done about that."
Luna couldn't help but smile at the brutal honesty while her other self grinned for a different reason. "I wouldn't mind cutting her up a bit." Luna did her best to ignore her and kept her focus on the siblings. "We'll keep watch so you don't get spied on." Citra said generously. Luna glared at him suspiciously. "I mean, Chika will watch over you and I will be somewhere else, out of sight." he said before laughing nervously. "Obviously." Chika said, grabbing Luna's right hand and helping her up. "We don't have to worry about him, do we?" Luna asked. "I don't know. If he peeks then I will personally poke out his eyes." Now it was Luna who chuckled nervously. Something about her tone made it seem plausible that she would seriously do it.
"It's really not that big of a deal. I don't think many people would be interested in my body anyways. I don't have much of a figure and then there's these things." Luna looked at the scars along her right arm. "Please, plenty of boys would go crazy just to see any woman's body. Yours is fine and those scars might actually be attractive to some men. You shouldn't be so down on yourself, that kind of stuff really messes with my mood." Luna smiled meekly. "Sorry about that, it's a hard habit to break." Chika took Luna's jacket and began helping her with the makeshift wrappings.
"I can do that." Luna stated but Chika swatted her hand away. "I'll do it or Citra will say that I'm being cold again." After the wrappings were off she looked to Luna and crossed her arms. "I'm not helping with the rest." Luna smiled. "I didn't expect you to." Her left arm still hurt to move so she resorted to her right hand to remove her pants and underwear. She untied her hair and set the black ribbon on her pile of clothing before wading into the water. It rose to waist level and she sat down to soak the rest of her body. Trails of diluted blood flowed from her body and she began scrubbing the dirt from herself. "You're trusting them too easily. We should kill them or leave." Luna looked over to see herself sitting next to her.
"They're nice people. They didn't have to help me and yet they did. They could have killed me but they didn't. I'm sure we're fine for now." Luna ran her fingers through her hair to untangle as much of it as she could. "Everything is so difficult to do with one hand." she complained. "Your arm isn't that bad." said the girl. "No, it's not, but the injury is right on my shoulder. Any time I move it, it hurts. The wound won't close quickly if I keep moving it either. I need to keep it as still as possible to let it heal right." "Whatever you say." Luna grimaced and watched as her other self went quiet and pouted. "What's wrong with you?" Luna questioned. "You." she replied before turning her head away.
Luna shrugged her right arm and finished washing the grime from her body. She soaked for a few minutes afterwards before rising to her feet. Getting dressed was even more of a struggle than stripping down so she had to use her left arm more than once. By the time she was clothed again, her wound had started to bleed. "You need to be more careful." Chika said in a stern, motherly, kind of way. "Sorry." Luna muttered. "You don't need to apologize, it's your body. I couldn't care less if you gave so little for your own care." "I really dislike her." she heard the girl say. Shut up. She reminds me of Piper in a way. "Yeah, and as far as I remember, we hated Piper as well. She acted so self important, like everything in the world revolved around her.
This girl is just the same." She's not. I think she's a lot nicer than she lets on, like Piper. She hides it under her stubborn and uncaring attitude but she isn't that good with it. I've seen it too much and I notice it too easily now. "Either way. I don't like her." "Luna?" Luna shook her head at the sound of her name. "Yeah?" she asked Chika. "Good, you're still there. I thought you went stupid on me." Luna grinned and accepted her jacket from Chika now that her wounds were once again wrapped. Luna draped it over her left side again and moved to sit against her rock. "I'm going to find Citra, he's been gone for a while." "You're the one who threatened him." said Luna's other self. "I doubt he heard her say that, he was already gone at that point. He probably went to hunt some game or something."
"Maybe." she heard Chika say. Luna jumped as she didn't expect to be heard by her. If she had heard Luna talking to herself, she showed no signs of it. Luna assumed it was because of her mind's occupation with her concern over Citra. "Afraid to let her know that you talk to me? It is a little odd to have conversations with yourself, you have to admit that. I mean, what kind of sane person does that sort of thing?" Go away. I need some quiet now. "Well, all you need to do is ask and I will be certain to oblige." Luna looked at her with doubt in her glare. "Sorry, I lied." the girl said with her normal teasing smile. Luna shook her head and glanced back up at Chika who was pacing back and forth, mumbling to herself.
After a sigh, Luna struggled back to her feet. "I'll help you look for him. I can't do much right now but…" "No. You should get some rest." Chika said, her voice almost seeming kind. "If you're going to travel with us then I would prefer that you don't slow us down. Get some rest and I will keep watch. That was what he told me to do and so I will do it. He'll be fine, he is always fine." Luna saw concern flickering in her dark eyes and an odd familiar sensation rose in her chest. "I have an older brother too." she said. Chika glanced at her but then looked away as if disgusted by Luna's talking. "I always have faith in everything he does or says. He is always there for me when I need him, even if he doesn't know it sometimes. He's strong and I always know I can turn to him when something's wrong."
"Why are you telling me this?" Chika inquired. "I don't know. Seeing you so determined to do what he asked, watching you worry about him but having faith he is okay, it all just reminds me of Jin. I haven't been a good sister to him lately. I've lied to him, I've kept secrets, and I hid my feelings from him. The person that I can share anything in the world with, and I hit him. After that, I hurt him in other ways." Luna smiled and looked towards the ground. "Yet he will always be there when I need him. No matter how badly I hurt him, now matter how hard I push him away, he will always come back. Try to calm down, Citra will return soon." "How can you be so sure?" "Because, it's an older brother's job to always be there for his little sister." Luna said with tears forming in her eyes.
Luna's other self scoffed and walked back towards the river's edge. "He's not coming this time. You might as well forget about him, we're on our own here." Luna grabbed a rock with her right hand and threw it at her ghost but it hit the water on the other side of her instead. "Maybe you're right." Chika murmured. "I am. He will fight until his last breath to get back to you, that's what I think at least." Chika nodded. "He has before, and he will again. I don't want him to make that sacrifice again for my sake." "He wouldn't do it just for your sake. It would be for him as much as it is for you. How could he live with himself if you got hurt while he was gone?" "Don't act like you know him so well." Chika said.
"She's not wrong though." Citra stated as he crept from some bushes. He brushed some fallen leaves from his clothes and opened his arms for a hug from his sister. Instead, she punched his shoulder and crossed her arms as she turned away to pout. "What took you so long?" she questioned. He held up a rabbit and winked. "I was getting dinner. Of course, if you were too upset to eat, I would understand. I'm sure Luna wouldn't mind sharing the meal with me." Chika grabbed his arm and turned him to face her before he could walk past. "Yes, sweet sister?" "Gahh! You make me so angry sometimes. Do whatever you want." She stormed off and kicked a rock into the river as she approached it's edge.
"What's her problem?" Luna asked as he sat next to her. He put down the rabbit and removed Luna's jacket to examine her shoulder. He didn't ask nor did Luna argue as he unwrapped the cut up shirt. "She's just jealous, she gets like that anytime I talk to another girl. She doesn't like the idea of someone else taking my attention away from her." He smiled. "Just give her time, she'll warm up to you. Think of her like a small dog and it will all make better sense." Luna laughed and then winced as she felt something dab against her shoulder. "I got some more alcohol and some bandages so we can treat you better." "How did you get enough for that?" "They're not that expensive and after killing a few rabbits, I have plenty enough for this." Luna tensed again as he pressed the wet cloth to her wound.
"I swear it was almost a thousand points just earlier today." "A thousand? I got these with only a few hundred." Suddenly an image of Fox appeared in her mind and she scowled. "I see, my shop must be broken or something." He dabbed her wound again and she shifted. "Hold still, it's not that bad, right?" "Try it out for yourself and tell me it doesn't hurt." Luna said, probably more harshly than she had intended the words to sound. "I think I'll pass. Whatever did this to you seems like something I would prefer to avoid." "It was a black panther. It was a surprise to see one and even more of a surprise to wake up to it. I accidentally hurt it's kitten in my sleep so it charged at me." "Definitely not a good morning then." Next he moved to her forearm and held it gently in his right hand. He dabbed a clean side of the cloth to it and felt Luna shudder from the pain.
There were multiple puncture wounds on her forearm as more than a few teeth had pierced her skin when the cat bit down. "Did you manage to kill it or did you run away?" he asked, soaking another clean strip of cloth. "I killed it." Luna said faintly. "Another thing that I killed. It seems like that's all I'm good for, killing things." She scoffed. "I can't even do that right most of the time." "I don't think that's such a bad thing to be bad at. I'm sure there are plenty of people that would rather be good at something else. Killing things isn't all that great a talent." "You sound like you've done it before." Luna stated, feeling a growing curiosity towards him.
"Me and my sister both have before. It was a long time ago though and it doesn't matter much anymore. What's done is done and it's better to look at the now and towards tomorrow than dwell on what's already happened. Everything besides the past is changeable, that makes it much easier to be optimistic about it." "Hm, I've never thought about it like that." "Then I have bestowed some new outlook on time to you, use it well." He bowed his head and Luna laughed again. "Jin would like you, I think. My brother." she said to his questioning glance. "He always says things like that when I need advice from him. You remind me of him." "I'm glad." he said before picking up a roll of white bandages.
"Glad?" "Yeah, it means that you think of me as well as you do him. It makes me happy that you like me." "Are you flirting with me?" she asked. "No." he answered, chuckling as he did. "It's just nice to have another friend, especially in a place like this." "Friend huh? Listen, I really don't think it's good for us to be traveling together. I don't want you to get roped into my messes." "What kind of mess is that?" "One that I can't tell you about, for the safety of both of us. You just have to trust me and forget you ever saw me today. I'll leave at dawn and…" "You're not leaving without us. You need help, at least until you can fight again. I'm not leaving you injured and alone in this wilderness. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I did."
"You're a good person for feeling that way. You won't listen then, even if it's my desire?" "No, I can't say that I will. And in time, maybe you will grow to enjoy our company and stay with us until the end of this game." That struck another question in Luna's mind. "How did you two get here in the first place?" "Believe It or not, we were at home and asleep in our beds and when we awoke, we were in this hotel of some kind. It was odd really, and kind of creepy. We stayed there for a few days and then one morning, we woke up in a strange forest. You?" "I was taken from a hospital bed and woke up in a hotel, same as you." "Hospital? For what, if you don't mind me asking?"
"I don't mind you asking but I don't really want to answer it. It's a… darker memory I don't want to relive right now." "You tried to kill yourself then?" Luna didn't look surprised as she knew it wasn't hard to puzzle it together. She gave a slight nod in response. "Kind of, yeah, I tried to kill myself. It wasn't really intentional, more like, I just didn't feel anything anymore. I was scared and I felt like a broken statue, with everything that made me who I was shattered around me. But uhh, I really don't want to talk about it. Sorry." she said softly. He finished wrapping her shoulder and moved to her forearm again. "It's fine, we all have our ghosts that we don't want to see again. One of mine is a dog if you can believe that. A small dog, no taller than my knees.
"Really?" Luna asked, giggling. "Yeah." he replied, smiling and nodding his head. "It was pretty big at the time so stop your laughing. We were little kids and were walking home from a local park we would go to all the time. Before I knew it, this little thing ran out and bit onto my leg. It was growling and shaking its head back and forth and Chika was yelling and panicking. She began to hit it with a stick she picked up but it was thin and frail so it snapped after a second." "And you, how did you react?" "I didn't cry if you were wondering that. I was more in some sort of shock. I couldn't believe it was happening so I was mostly silent before some adult ran up and pulled the thing off of me. I still have a few scars where it had bit me but they have mostly faded by now.
The guy knew us and took me and my sister home after wrapping my leg with his jacket. Really, it was quite funny afterwards but I still get a little nervous around dogs of any size." "I wonder if my dog would scare you." "You have one?" Luna nodded. "He's my best friend and my biggest supporter. I know he's just an animal but he's always there for me, just like my brother. He's a sweet boy and I don't think he would hurt a fly. I've never even seen him growl before, he mostly barks in response to my talking and then he curls up and sleeps." "I wish I had something like that. It makes me a little envious." "It makes me homesick." Luna murmured. "That is why we should kill anyone we find and hurry it up to Fox so we can leave." interjected her other self. "Something wrong?" asked Citra, noticing her unusual scowl. Luna turned her head and smiled again. "No, it's nothing. Just remembering something. Are you done?" she asked, changing the subject.
"Yep, all taken care of. You need to be careful with moving it but it should heal up soon. Luckily the cuts weren't deep or it would have been a serious problem." She agreed and rested her head against the rock so that she was staring up at the sky. She pulled the jacket over her body so it acted as a blanket. She had spent most of the day there with the siblings and it was now growing darker. She began noticing stars appearing one after another as they slowly turned the darkness into a sea of glistening orbs of light. Slowly with that image imprinting into her mind, her eyes closed and she drifted off into slumber. For the first time in days she had unhindered rest and awoke at daybreak.
Luna glanced around and saw her two new companions asleep around her. She went to stretch her arms as was her usual morning routine when she woke up. As she raised her left arm, a sharp pain caused a shiver in her body and she jumped, moving her right arm to her shoulder. "Damn, I forgot about it." She looked and didn't see any red coming through the bandages, bringing a sigh of relief. She gripped the jacket in her right hand and pushed herself to her feet before yawning. After draping the jacket over her left side, she looked around and moved to the river's edge.
She bent down and scooped some water up in her hands but couldn't raise her left arm because the pain pulsed through her as she attempted it. The cupped liquid dropped back in the river and she cursed silently to herself. "I would help if I could." said the girl. "I doubt it." "Luna, who are you talking to?" She jumped at the sound of the voice. "Citra? Uhh, it's nothing, just thinking out loud." He kneeled down and scooped up a handful of water. "Here, drink." He held his hands up to Luna's mouth and she looked from them to his face. "Really?" "You can't do it yourself right? Just drink." Luna used her right hand to hold her hair out of the way and she sipped from the makeshift bowl. "One more thing if you wouldn't mind." Luna handed him her black ribbon and then held out her right hand.
"You don't want your hair tied?" She shook her head. "I'll do that later when I can move my arm. Just tie it around my wrist for now, I feel naked when it's not there." He nodded and obliged her request. "Thanks." she said, examining the lace. "Is it special, the ribbon?" he asked. "Not really the ribbon itself. It's kind of like a habit I don't want to break. A long time ago a close friend said that she liked my hair tied back so I started wearing a ribbon on my wrist so I could tie it whenever I needed to. I haven't gone a day without having a ribbon on my arm or in my hair since then. It's almost like a constant reminder of her whenever I look at it. She gave me this necklace too." Luna put her hand over the ring hanging from her neck. "These two things are the closest things I have to being with her."
"Is she…" "Dead? Yeah. She died on the first of November in 2024. Close to two years since then. Huh, it's kind of hard to believe thinking back on it now." "Is it alright to ask how or is that too sensitive of a topic?" Luna shook her head. "We were in a fight and she sacrificed herself for a friend." "Man, you got stabbed at one point and you were in fights for your lives, what kind of life do you live?" He paused for a moment as if re-evaluating her face. "Luna, yellow eyes…" he muttered as he put his hand to his chin and closed his eyes. "He's gonna know us." said the girl. How? I've never seen him before in my life, how would he know us? "Fox said that some SAO players were here. There's a good chance that more than one of the people you already ran into came from there. This guy could be the same."
Luna looked away from him nervously and began to stand up. He quickly grabbed her right arm and stared again into her yellow eyes. "You're the Li…" Luna put her finger to his mouth and bid him to be quiet. As she had used her left hand, her arm stung from the movement and she winced. "Nobody can know who I am, got it? How do you know?" "I saw you fight in that frontliner tournament back in Aincrad. I have to say, I was definitely impressed. What's wrong with me knowing you?" "The bounty on my head. Do you not know about it?" "Yeah, I do. Killing you means our freedom but I wouldn't dream of doing that. No person's life should be sacrificed for that when we can get out on our own. Killing should only be reserved for when it is entirely unavoidable. Blood doesn't wash off of hands easily enough to do it otherwise."
"I know that too well." she agreed, grinning. He released her arm and she grabbed hold of her left one. "So you were there then?" "My sister and I both, yeah. It was one hell of a ride but I'm sure you already know that too. I don't think many people got away from that place as a whole. Everyone is missing something now, I assume." Luna could only nod, and stood up. "I'll take my leave now, thanks for everything." "You're not staying with us? You really should, in your condition." "I would only slow you down and honestly, I don't want to risk that bounty coming into play later. Even if you don't act on it, others will, and you two will be roped in with me." "That's our decision to make." Chika stated as she neared.
Luna looked to her and then back to Citra. He smiled and rose to his feet next to her. He held out his left hand. "Welcome to the team?" he asked. She glanced at Chika who had crossed her arms and looked away. Upon returning her gaze back to Citra, she nodded and took his hand in hers. "For now. Once I'm better, I'm leaving on my own again. I have my own destination that I have to reach soon." "Where's that?" he asked. "The center of the island. I don't know if he'll be there but if he is, then I must see him. The man in the fox mask." she said to his curious eyes. "Ah, the gamemaster. Well then, we will go there with you. I have no other idea what to do besides live until it's all over so might as well make the most of it.
If you would have us, we can work together to get home." Luna didn't reply and released her grip on his hand. "Until I'm better. Then I'm leaving." she repeated and looked at Chika once more before sighing. "When are we continuing on?" she asked. "Now if you're good to go." Luna nodded, pulled on her boots and bracers, and the three of them readied themselves before following the river forward.