At the base of the massive trees that had guarded Lorenthel's capital since its founding, two hooded figures stood with a cart behind them.
Around them, birds chirped relentlessly, their loud calls echoing left and right through the figures' ears as if warning that intruders were near.
The hooded figure on the left pulled down his hood, revealing Marki with his brown hair. "I know how to get through it! Just cut it in half!"
The other figure pulled back his hood as well, revealing Eyril with his porcelain mask and another hood beneath it. "It's the first useful thought you've had."
"Thank you!" Marki said and spread his arms wide.
"Go sit in the cart. Guard the cage," Eyril said as he looked up, staring at the impossibly tall trees. "It might actually work," he muttered in disbelief.
"Yes sir!" Marki saluted, then rigidly walked toward the cart and jumped in. He sat down by the cage. The beast inside rattled at Marki, who pouted. "Not you too! Everyone is so mean to me!"
Eyril slowly walked back while unsheathing his thin long sword. He tightly gripped the hilt as a bluish glow crawled up to its tip.
With a swift swing, the air screamed and the ground shook. The massive bluish afterimage of the slash sliced through the trees. The slash cut clean through; Where it touched, ancient wood crumbled instantly to ash.
The ash rained down to the ground, covering the surrounding area like a thick morning mist. Within the massive trees, a crack remained, wide enough for the cart to pass through.
Eyril sighed as he sheathed the sword and walked to the cart. "Good for us. Unfortunately for the residents, monsters are nearby, so we need to hurry, Marki."
"Yes! Yes!" Marki exclaimed while scratching his stomach.
Eyril untied the belt that held the brown cloth taut across the wagon roof. He gripped it tightly, drew back his arm, and swung. A sharp crack split the air, the sound sharp as breaking ice. The horses lunged forward with a startled whinny, their hooves pounding as they plunged through the gap in the trees.
***
Far away from the capital walls, inside Luna's room, Theia knelt on the ground, asleep while holding Luna's hand. While Luna herself was sweating previously in the midst of sleep. She furrowed her eyebrows as she groaned.
Inside her dream, Luna opened her eyes wide, gasping for air. She looked around and immediately noticed something was wrong.
She stands in a calm place. It is a big garden. Surrounded by tall walls of a building, this place seems very similar to somewhere she knew, but Luna couldn't pinpoint exactly where.
"Home? No… home looks different than this…"
She glanced down and froze. She jolted backward at the sight of the grass. The grass looks like a green pencil shading. Luna immediately looks up and sees the sky has faint cross-hatching lines across the vast blue.
When she moves her shoes around, she feels like the ground smudges her like graphite would.
Countless knocks, thud, thud, against glass echoed through the garden. Luna looked toward the building as sweat ran down her face, her eyes open widely.
She sees the sight of countless people standing near every window on the second floor of the building, holding their right palm to the glass. Their faces were scratched, hidden away as if a pencil wrote over them.
"You remember this place? This home you grew up in? You don't, but it looks familiar to you, doesn't it?" A girl's voice reached Luna's ears as she slowly looked at her.
She had long, white, silky hair to her knees, and she wore a white nightgown. Her face was scratched away, like pencil marks on paper.
When she spoke, the scratches slowly moved, showing that she talked.
"You… I know you… don't I? Get out of my head!" Luna shouted.
"How could I leave you? You're part of me, and so I'm part of you. It's impossible for me to leave. Not that I want to." The girl said,
"Then what do you even want? You… It's you who made me this sick! Didn't you?"
"It honestly matters not if I did… not that I ever could. Your death is inescapable, even if he brings it. It will only prolong your life by a mere year. Why would one ever choose to suffer longer? It baffles me." The girl said,
"No! It's not true! There is a way for me to live! I won't give up until I find it!" Luna shouted,
"I tried to understand every iteration of us. I really did, but I don't understand why every one of us is so delusional, knowing their fate, but lying to themselves, searching for that 'cure' you speak of"
Luna frowned. Something changed beneath her feet. She turned back and saw the whole palace in ruins, overtaken by crackling flames. "What… is… this?"
"History. I first gave you a sword. That was your first gift. Now I give you this memory, are you happy now? I thought that giving you something would brighten my mood, since I am what I am. But well… it just made you ever more delusional. I regret that."
"So this memory would work as a wake-up call, but seeing you just unsettled… Well, it didn't work." The girl sighed.
"What do you mean? You gave me the sword? What sword…?" Luna said as she remembered her dream: a white-haired girl, with her face scratched out, walked up to her and gave her a sword. "It was you! But what does that have to do with this?"
"To be precise, I didn't give it to you; it was already in you. I just showed it to you, but… oh well, Last time I tried to show you how it will be if you continue to walk down this path. But seeing it with my own eyes, it's not worth trying. Nothing I do will ever change your mind, since it's our last try."
"What are you talking about… I can't understand you…" Luna stopped as the colorful world immediately, within the blink of an eye, turned into black and white.
"This is a dream… this is a dream" Luna muttered under her breath.
I know it's a dream but this is so scary! I never saw such a child-like dream Luna thought.
Luna's hand went to the back of her neck as she scanned the palace around her. Flames crawled along shattered beams, and the once-grand halls had collapsed into a maze of smoke, ash, and blackened stone.
"No, I won't explain it now. It will just motivate you more. No." The girl said and she pointed right behind Luna, " Oh, look, right there,"
Luna turned and saw herself standing there, a sword gripped tightly in her right hand. Her pink hair only reached her shoulders then—not the long strands that now fell to her hips.
That version of Luna stood motionless over someone. Only when she looked closer did she realize who lay beneath her, Aria.
Her strawberry-blonde hair was partially burned, singed in uneven strands. A deep slash cut across her forehead, blood running down the side of her face.
They were the only things in the world still touched by color.
Aria's hazel eyes were wide open, her pupils trembling violently, darting in panic. Terror filled them completely, spilling through her gaze.
The corner of her mouth twitched. "L-luna…" The word barely escaped her lips.
And in that instant, the entire world stopped. Everything drained into gray, as if time itself had frozen around that single moment.
"That was the scene, the moment that sent Aria sliding down a spiraling slope, from pure terror into love. Strange, how people come to love one another. Twisted, even." The girl said.
"Well that's what you will become, in not so far future"
Luna's brow furrowed, and she asked in a small, unsure voice, "What… Do you mean?"