Troubled And Weary
Lucy walked across the long hallway until she turned back, seeing Ricardo by the door saddened. She turned back, feeling a slight sense of remorse, despite his comments. "I'm so sorry Lucy. I didn't mean anything I said at all. You aren't really just that girl who just smiles at everything… Aren't you?"
Lucy nodded her head, but felt no responsibility on giving him any sympathy and retaliated. "No, I'm that girl who smiles for everything cause she knows that she isn't appreciated. I laugh because I can't bear to see anyone or myself crying! I can't cry, because I know that it will only let others down." Lucy then slammed the wall with her fist, angry. "I can't even show any other sign of emotion apart from this because I know they'll leave me… Everyone does in the end. I hate the fact that even this image I put on, is a liability for myself."
Ricardo gestured his hands, approaching Lucy but she made a defiant stance to reject his request for getting closer. "But, how can you stand it? For you to degrade yourself just for the sake of others?" Ricardo questioned.
"It's because I care for them. It's the only way for me to be close to another living soul. Not anything would love me if it was me to appear out of this façade, out of this happy-go-lucky persona I've created for myself." Lucy quietened. "And that woman you've left, maybe she feels the same way."
"Maybe she does…" Ricardo mumbled to himself, looking down on the floor. Lucy then felt a surge of need, she felt as if Ricardo needed to hear what she had to say next. "Then you have to go to her." She said coldly walking towards the elevator.
"Where are you going?" Ricardo asked with worry. "I'm going where I need to be." She said, continuing towards the elevator. She went to the highest floor and took herself to the roof; her eyes glimmered as she watched the stars that were above. She didn't know what to think, never was she honest then what she had just displayed in front of a stranger. But as she gazed above, she knew that she was truly lonely at heart. She immensely valued solitude at this point, and reserved the entire hotel roof to herself for the night.
Morning broke and Lucy only realizing that Lisa and Mark were nowhere to be found. Concerned for them, she rushed to the elevator in hope to reach Adrian and Claire and be informed about their whereabouts. Claire in the morning however found that Victor's mother had already left the house, while Victor was up making his on breakfast and was on his way to school. She saw Adrian lying on the couch, flicking channels with the old TV that they had. "I'm off to school!" Victor said putting on his backpack and waved his hands goodbye.
As soon as Victor left, Claire walked towards the couch and saw Adrian lying on the couch and frustrated with the channels. "I think we should be wondering about where Lucy, Lisa and Mark are at the moment. Where could they be?"
"Well Lucy said she'll meet us at the stadium and I'm sure Mark and Lisa will be fine. They are strong fighters and they can take care of themselves."
"I suppose you're right… I mean I was impressed with Mark's skilled swordplay and Lisa's precision and powerful ammo aren't anything to smile about if you were the enemy."
"That's true…" Adrian said with a sense of grief upon him.
While waiting for the elevator, Ricardo took notice of Lucy and approached her, he too also waiting for the elevator. "I know you're angry with what I said last night… And when you told me about confronting the woman I abandoned years ago, I decided that I should do it."
"It's not going to be easy you know… But that's only because you made it harder for yourself!" Lucy said with a petulant tone. "I find it surprising that men like you even reconsider and think about your actions. Is it the first time you thought instead of doing rationally?"
"I admit, I do deserve the harshness of your words. Yet, it's human nature to feel guilt from loss from oneself or for creating it that affects someone else." Ricardo said, almost in gloom and misery. Lucy kept herself quiet and then gently nodded her head when the elevator opened up. The woman took her first few steps, taking notice of a reflective frame on the sides and looked at herself. Her eyes watered a few brief seconds later from looking at the reflective frame and she closed her eyes. "Neglecting something… is torment inflicted upon yourself. It only feels right because you feel like you've got control, responsibility over things that you really can't control. That control ruins your life as its only blindness from the truth. It's hard… Because truth itself is such a hard thing to confront for many and that's why we lose, loss only takes part from our ignorance… Our inability to face the truth, I tried so hard to feel like I've kept everything all together. But when I look at it in the end, I've only kept my arrogance and all the rest went away. It's gone…" Lucy wiped her eyes. "What an idiot I've been. There's nothing to learn from stupid mistakes, only to know that you were too far from the right answer. Don't mind me." She sniffed, trying to make a small laugh out of the situation. Ricardo tried to comfort her, but she backed away. "Don't worry about me. The only thing that anyone needs is some stumbling rampant idiot who's making everything worse, an unwanted cesspit of life, draining away everyone's own pleasure and enjoyment. The one who'll remain hopeful for nothing and for only despair to come their way."
"Lucy…" Ricardo murmured. "Let's just meet up with the others, I'm sure they'll want to see her back, rather than me." Lucy said, trying to give a smile towards Ricardo's direction. Ricardo didn't face her and fell silent from her sentiments. He watched the elevator numbers decreasing as the seconds flew by and kept to himself, not breathing another word. Lucy then looked towards the other direction, averting her gaze away from the reflective frame that served as a reminder from painful memories. She too looked up at the elevator numbers and soon realizing from the corner of her eye, Ricardo watching her with nothing but a face painted with misery. She felt a resurgence of guilt and looked towards the doors the silver painted doors both cold and closed. If only they were to open and bring in the morning light that both Ricardo and anyone she could think of that she had interfered with in her life.
"We better get going, we promised that we'd leave before the mother from hell comes back home." Adrian announced. He got out of the couch and gestured Claire to follow him out the door. Claire dismissed him and looked around the house, the same state that it was before. She then put both of her hands together and rubbed them with her right hand thumb, her magic amulet that she wore around her neck resting on the back of her hand. "I really want to help them," she muttered. Adrian facing her back watched the little girl saddened by the outcome of the lives of both Victor and Maria Fernandez. "I know," he said with empathy. "I know… Come on lets go. We have to leave here."
The girl turned her head towards the direction of her guardian and lifted her head and separated her two connecting hands. "Okay…" she said with slight hesitation and ran towards her guardian. She walked behind him and as she was going to leave through the door, she looked back at the miserable state of the house and their lives. Shattered bottles and the desecrated state of their home. She then proceeded, taking small steps away from the house, holding her guardians hands and walked along the rocky road.
The beast was struck down and defeated. It lied dead on the floor above a rug depicting a magic circle. The light from the circle faded and the monster disappearing only mysteriously appearing: a black velvet tome with the symbol of the sun, a crescent moon and stars depicted on it. A blue spectre, with its hand covering its eyes appeared floating above the book. "Diane…? It can't be…" Lisa muttered. Her eyes widening over her amazement from the spectre, "What's going on?"
The spectre took its hands away from its eyes and responded. "There's something shining in your pocket."
Lisa examined her pocket only to find out Diane's spectre was telling the truth. A blue crystal on a necklace with a crescent moon patterned as an attachment. "Why do you have that? Why did you keep it?" Diane's spectre asked.
Lisa struggled. "It's the thing that I thought will help eradicate Mystic… You died with this stone… and I'm keeping it to make sure it doesn't go in the wrong hands…"
Diane nodded her head; her spectre scattered into small particles of light and directed to the blue crystal. Lisa couldn't believe what she saw. The crystal took in all the light, but her the spectre spoke once more. "Don't use the necklace for the wrong reasons…." The blue crystal then grew dim and the light faded. Lisa held onto the necklace, grasping it tight on her hands… She spent a few minutes examining and trying to get her sister's spirit to talk again, but there was no response.
"The Lunar Crystal…" she said to herself. She then looked to Mark, still unconscious tended to his wounds in hope that she wasn't too late to mend him. "You wont be lost… Diane… We have to head to Mexico… To capture Taurus."