|| Chapter 6 ||

A loud noise woke me. It sounded like someone fell, but when I got up, Skylar wasn't there. The door was open. I put on my shoes and crept outside. Touma sat at a bar with Skylar at his side. "Uh, hello?" I piped up. Skylar turned to me and I saw what he was wearing. He had a black shirt on that said, 'Come Give Me a Hug.' I stared at the shirt for a second, then my gaze flickered towards Skylar's face. He blushed. He must have been thinking about what I was thinking about. Last night.

"Good morning," Touma grunted from his stool. He was typing on his phone when I came in and still was. "Uh, breakfast?" Skylar asked, beckoning towards an orange on the table. "Sure," I shrugged. I tried to find a seat other than the one beside Skylar. No such luck. I sat down and unpeeled the orange. I quickly ate it, not taking my eyes off the totally interesting table. This was very awkward. "¿Estás bien?" Skylar said in Spanish. I glanced at him. Didn't he know I couldn't understand? I slowly and carefully decoded what he said, 'Are you okay.' Oh. "Yeah, I'm fine. And you?" I could tell he was trying to lighten the mood, but I could still feel tension in the air. "I'm alright. Just a little sad," He answered, flashing a quick mesmerizing smile. "Do you miss them?" I whispered, putting my hand on his in a comforting gesture. He let out a shaky laugh. "With every breath I take, cariño." I smiled kindly and I pried more. "How old were they?" His smile quickly vanished and he flipped his hand upside down so that our hands were palm-to-palm. We were now holding hands. "7 and 40." He murmured. I raised my eyebrows in surprise. I squeezed his hand and said, "That is so young…" He nodded, swallowing. I sympathized for him. "Alright if you are done eating and having a pity-party, we have business to do." I immediately stood up. He quickly got up as well, embarrassment radiating from him. Touma chuckled and shook his head. And then I remembered. I was in a strangers house-or whatever this was-and I slept here, not even thinking about what could've happened. And then Moon. Moon hurt me. I glanced at the back of Skylar's head. Did he already talk to Touma about it? I decided to speak up. "Hey, what's so important about today?" Touma stared at me, while Skylar averted my gaze. "O-oh yeah..." Touma said. "We have to- well… ah, let your friend explain."

Skylar scowled intensely. And I just glared defiantly, "We are not friends. And never will be." Touma's eyes glimmered with amusement, "Sure, I'll hold that against you."

I snorted and whirled around, stalking into the room I had slept in. I quickly grabbed my shoes, not noticing Touma walk up behind me.

"Nisshoku," He said. I jumped and turned around. "What?" I demanded, trying to hide how startled I was.

"You know we mean no harm, right?" He genuinely looked concerned. My gaze wavered and I was hesitant to answer.

"It's…it's hard to trust people, you know?" I finally answered. "After everything that happened…"

Touma gazed at me, sympathy lighting his gaze. "I understand, but we're here to help you."

I stared at him, just beginning to believe him when a sour memory came up…

Nisshoku was standing next to a door, anger lighting her eyes.

"Nisshoku, come on." A tall male took a step towards the door. Nisshoku snapped a warning but the man took no notice of it. "A boarding school is not a bad place-" He began but broke off when Nisshoku tried to shut the door. He held the door open and lowered himself till he was level with Nisshoku. "Listen, punk, I don't know why you think you can act like Moon, but we're here to help you,"

Nisshoku screamed as the man grabbed her, dragging her on the ground.

"I'M NOT MOON'S DAUGHTER!!!"

"What?" Touma asked. Uh-oh. I said that last part out loud. "I never said you were."

I stared at the ground. "Sorry, didn't mean to say that." Touma looked concerned, he reached forwards but stopped when Skylar ran in. "What's going on?"

I refused to say anything and Touma looked at me, exasperated. Skylar glared at Touma, "What did you say to her?"

Touma looked as surprised as me. "Nothing! I- honest!"

"Then why is she so upset?" Skylar snapped, reaching for me.

I winced and stared at my hands as I felt his arms wrap around me. I gasped and my hands began to shake uncontrollably.

"Nisshoku?"

I couldn't do it.

I couldn't do it anymore.

A small smile played on my lips. Touma's eyes widened as he realized what was wrong.

"Nisshoku! Your hands!"

Yes. I knew.

I raised my hands, a single teardrop falling down my cheek. My eyes grazed over my now black-veined hands.

"I-I lost." I choked out.

"What?" Skylar whispered, holding me tighter.

"I let her take me…" I continued.

"Nisshoku, stop, please!" He begged, turning me to face him.

I barely noticed though. The black stuff was infecting my arms now, too.

"Nisshoku!!" He cried, holding my face. "Please…"

I smiled and planted a small kiss on his lips. Suddenly, I couldn't see anything except…faces. Lot's of them. I could hear Touma and Skylar screaming at me to open my eyes. But I was already gone. I was falling. Falling… falling… falling…

Slowly, I was able to identify the faces. Mindlessly, I named them.

Queen Ocean,

Moon,

Mystery,

Father,

Glitch,

Alex,

Felix,

…me…

I laughed dryly at the irony of it all. I laughed at how I would always be stuck in a shadow. We all were once happy. But our history has ruined us. Killed us. Insanity has made us see things. See love instead of hate. See good in bad. Sure, it might sound good, but when we are beaten, when we are being killed…we smile. Thinking, 'Oh, this is good. This is supposed to happen this way.' But that's not how it should go. A new face popped up. I squinted my eyes at the little smiling boy. Sudden realization dawned on me. That was…my child… I reached my weak and tainted hands for him, wanting to cradle my future child. To whisper to him, 'It's okay, we're okay…you're okay…' But that's a lie. It always will be. As long as the 7 Isles remain floating atop the ocean, it shall always be a lie. I blinked and when I opened my eyes, I was staring at the start of it all. Two girls… laughing and playing… The shorter one said, "Let's play a game!" The taller girl nodded.

"I'll be…Ocean!" The short one decided. "You be my little sister,"

"Okay," The taller girl agreed. "I'll be Moon."

That name… that girl started this. I continued to watch as they grew older and continued to play the game. The shorter one became more aggressive, constantly hitting the taller one. Who always just sat and let her. I watched as the taller ones' eyes began to change from obedient to sad and depressed. She had bruises on her arms. Her heart was shattered and dead. When the shorter girl was gone, the taller one said, "Moon. You have been through so much. But I understand that you are tired,"

Sadness and sympathy tugged at my chest when I realized she was pretending when the shorter one and the taller one were smaller.

"But," She continued, "You know what you need to do." I cocked my head and frowned.

The taller girl pointed at something only she could see. And she said, with determination and tears in her eyes, "Kill her."

I was suddenly sucked into the girl's head. She was sitting in a room, crying as someone yelled at her. Now she was watching blood drip off her arm with satisfaction as she grabbed more thorns. Now she was crying for help as a man tried to take her. She was standing in a hallway with a backpack when the shorter girl slapped her in the face. And she just stood there with her head bowed. She sat next to the smaller girl and listened as she spat insults at her face. The entire time, though, Moon was behind her. And in the taller girl's mind, Moon stood up for her. Now she stared lifelessly at the smaller girl, who was crying in pain. I frowned as the memories disappeared, and replaced the rotting thoughts in the taller girl's mind with stories. Stories of Moon. Stories of Mystery. Stories of Alex. Stories of Felix. Stories of…me?

Fast as lightning, I was sucked out of her thoughts. I watched as the two girls quarreled.

"I hate you!" The taller one screamed. And behind her…Moon screeched the same thing at the figure behind the shorter girl. Ocean.

"You don't understand!" The shorter girl retorted, as did Ocean. "You are always mean to me!" She continued. The taller girl/Moon's eyes widened at the accusation.

"Don't start." Moon and the tall girl snarled. They began to shake at the lies that the other girls were saying. Suddenly, the smaller girl began to cry crocodile tears. The taller girl pushed the shorter one. As did Moon. Moon/the taller girl screamed, "You are such a liar! You never loved me!"

The shorter girl/Ocean stayed quiet. Then they whispered menacing words, "You're right. And no one ever will."

Horror lit Moon's and the taller girl's eyes. My vision went dark, but not before I saw Moon begin to cry, blood was dripping off her legs. Cut's scoured her legs. I no longer could see, but that was okay. Because I was tired. So…so…tired. I smiled hoping the taller girl was happy. Hoping she got away from the lies and pain. And I surprised myself when I thought, 'I hope Moon got revenge and showed the world who the real bad guy was…' But then I realized, I did want that. I wanted to show Moon-my mother- that it was okay. That I believed her. I felt at peace, even though I felt my heart slowing down. Even though I was dying. I closed my eyes and smiled. This world wasn't even real. But it felt real enough. It felt pain and hope and sadness and happiness. I felt tears stream down my face. And I saw the future, I saw the past, I saw the present. I saw the end, I saw baby Moon, and I saw Skylar crying over my body. …My…body… That was okay because I think I proved I liked him. I think I proved I trusted them. And I hope it was too late for the Moon to take my body. But alas, I would never know. Not until…well, ever. Sadly, this was the end. For now, at least. For until the Light and Dark kingdoms come together for peace. For the peace we've all waited for. For the peace we all need. For…happiness. For the end. For the end that I was stepping towards. I heard a voice though, a voice that said, "If we had had a life…then I would have been there for you…for our children…" I recognized the voice as Skylar. I thought I whispered, "If we had each other we'd both be fine. You know I'm always by your side. You should know I'll be there for you."

My vision went dark and that was all I knew.