2

An Old Friend

 

“I’m sorry for putting you through all this trouble. But still, you seem as strong as ever,” said Aurora. 

Instead of facing Aurora, Luna looked at the rope that had previously tied her legs.

“You must’ve been the one to tie me up. What you just did, don’t tell me-”

“Yep,” Aurora replied with a smile as she raised her hand. “I still have your ‘Curse.’”

Luna couldn’t help but be a little shaken from that. Even with this concern, she felt a certain joy from seeing her friend again after so long. There was a brief silence between the two as Luna didn’t know what to say next. Before long, all the questions began flooding her brain.

“H-Hang on. This doesn’t make any sense. What are you doing here? How did you find me? And who are these people?”

 Luna gestured back toward the masked girl who’d been impatiently waiting alongside the floating eyeball.

Aurora walked towards a hatch located on the roof. 

“Perhaps we should take this indoors.” 

 

***

 

The girls entered an apartment located on the highest floor of the building. The walls were somewhat decrepit, and all the walls had a brown hue to it. The living room had a small kitchen along with a round dinner table. The other side of the room had a two-person couch and two armchairs beside it. The masked girl walked across the room, and knocked on the door to a bedroom.

“Yo, Melody! Come out and properly meet the new girl!” the masked girl yelled out.

The door slammed open as a girl jumped out of the bedroom. 

“You’re all back!”

She wore overalls, large circular glasses, as well as pink hair that had two buns tied on the back of her head. An exuberant energy shined through this girl now matter how you looked at her.

“Oh my Gosh! It’s the new girl! The one that can clone herself! You looked so awesome earlier!” 

“Oh, uh…thanks?” Luna said. She wasn’t quite used to receiving compliments from strangers. “Do you all live in this place?”

“You can consider this our hideout, so to speak. I’m the only one that lives here, but there’s two extra bedrooms we use!” Aurora answered.

The masked girl took a seat on one of the arm chairs, and took off her mask to reveal her face. 

“Isn’t it about time you introduced us properly, Aurora?”

“Oh right! Well to start, you of course know me, Aurora Avery, but the girl sitting in the chair is Chloe Brooks, a skilled fighter, not to mention our muscle, and the girl with glasses is Melody Martin! She’s incredible with tech and acts as our support. She’s like a little genius.”

“Aww I don’t do that much! I’m only on my computer while the others do all the hard work,” Melody said.

So Aurora is her name now…it’s pretty.

Luna looked around at everyone in the room. While still confused, she at the very least knew the names of these people now.

“A few nights ago, I made a deal with an anonymous messenger to steal data from a house on the outskirts of the city. I can assume you three were the ones behind that?” 

Melody raised her hand, “That was me! You’re welcome for the blueprints of that house.”

Luna reached into her belt and pulled out the USB device she had, and handed it to Melody.

“I was also told I’d receive ten thousand dollars after meeting with my dealer.”

Chloe stood up in shock at this.

 “Ten thousand dollars!? I thought the deal was just three thousand!”

“That was…also me. I changed the deal.” Melody said nervously.

“What the…? Why? We don’t have ten thousand dollars to give out!” replied Chloe.

Luna couldn’t help but feel a little deflated to know this.

“I’m sorry! She said she wouldn’t be satisfied with three thousand. Aurora! Come in with your proposal!”

All eyes were on Aurora. 

 “Oh right! Luna, the reason we’ve set all this up is because we want you to join our group!”

“And this group is…?”

“We’re thieves. Just like you,” Chloe answered. “You're not the only one trying to make a name for yourself here in Everfall.” 

“Although the most we’ve done is rob some dude’s yacht on the nearby coast,” Melody added.

“Yeah that was pretty fun.” Chloe said with a nostalgic look on her face.

Aurora pulled papers out of a drawer in the kitchen, “But we’re after something much greater now! An object more valuable than anything you can imagine!”

Aurora laid some files out so that Luna could real them all. They contained notes and documents from various sources, but there was one name that each paper brought up. A name that Luna found had a hard time comprehending.

“The… Eterna Ruby?” said Luna. “Isn’t this the rumored treasure the Eterna corporation has that people think is magic? Do you have any proof that something like this actually exists?”

“Yeah. I’m the proof,” Chloe replied. “You want to know how I recovered so quickly after our fight? I’ve…undergone some experiments by the Eterna Corporation. They injected a substance into me that’s increased my strength and durability. I never saw the source itself, but the people in the labs always talked about how it came from a special stone. There was also hearsay that the CEO is a man that has lived for over a hundred years”

Luna read in the files that the Eterna Corporation was the one in possession of the ruby. This corporation was a conglomerate led by the Eterna family. They had control of many different businesses throughout the region, but especially in the city of Everfall. The central business district practically belonged to them. Luna wanted to ask why someone like Chloe would be tested on by the ruby, but Aurora continued her explanation.

“The computer you stole data from belongs to the head of security for our big lead on the ruby’s whereabouts. That being the private library belonging to the Eterna family.”

“You think the ruby is being kept in a library?”

“Not quite. This building has been here for several decades and has contained records of all things related to the family. We’ve looked up all the blueprints we can, and when comparing the structure of the building to the plans, there was always a discrepancy.”

Melody placed her computer on the table to show a 3D map of the library.

“All online maps of the building list it as having ten floors, but with this blueprint you’ve stolen, we can see that there’s actually eleven. A hidden floor is located between the ninth and tenth level. Security is active for this floor, so this must be a place that the Eterna family still has use for, but wants it to be kept as a secret from even those connected with them and their business. Whatever they’re hiding here could be a major lead!”

Luna took in everything that she was told. She was surprised at how much thought they had put into this. Stealing an item like this would certainly be worth millions, possibly billions. This would be the ideal job for her, but stealing from the very top of the Eterna corporation would be beyond risky. Serene already warned her of this.

“I know this is dangerous,” Aurora added. “But for old time’s sake, why don’t you join us?”

Luna stood there in silence as she thought carefully of what to say. Before making this decision, she wanted to do something.

“Before I give you a yes or no, I have one request.”

 “Oh? What is it?”

“I want to talk with you in private. Can the others leave this room?”

Chloe intervened, “Hey hang on! What do you have to say that we can't hear?”

“I just wish to have a talk with an old friend. I don’t think that’s unreasonable now, is it?”

The way Luna talked very clearly irritated Chloe. She wanted to talk back, but Aurora calmed down the situation.

“Chloe, Melody, could you two please go to the bedrooms for a bit?”

With how polite Aurora was, Chloe settled down, and agreed with the request.

Melody walked towards her room, “I guess I am getting sleepy. I’ll be heading off to bed then.”

Chloe sighed, “It’s not like I plan on going home tonight.”

The two closed the doors of their respective bedrooms. Luna and Aurora were now the only two in the living room. A certain tension was present as the two friends could now talk freely together.

“You really do look different from back then,” Luna said.

“Don’t I?! It’s pretty wonderful. It wasn’t easy, but I’m proud of the voice and appearance I developed!”

“That’s nice to hear.”

“Of course, you look great too. I mean you don’t look drastically different, but it’s clear you’ve been-”

“Why are you doing all this?”

Aurora gave an innocent smile, “Whatever could you mean by that, Luna?”

“This group, the ruby, all the research you’ve done, the inherent risk of this goal, you can’t expect me to believe money would drive someone like you to go this far. There’s something else, isn’t there?”

“Hmm. indeed you’d be right. Truth be told, there’s another reason I want to steal something so valuable from Eterna.”

Aurora walked back to the drawer she kept her files in, and pulled out a photo.

“Originally, I began investigating anything I could about… what happened all that time ago. It eventually led to me learning of the existence of a secret military group. We’ve… encountered them in the past.”

Luna prayed this wasn’t going where she thought it would.

“Eventually, I made the connection that this military is owned by the Eterna family, and is the one that’s protecting the Eterna Ruby. They’re known as Void. Have a look.”

Aurora showed the picture to Luna, causing Luna to step back in fear. It was a logo that contained a silhouette of a black hole. An image that had been burned into Luna’s mind.

“The head of the Eterna family is supposedly an immortal man, yes? Seeing as how he’s the one in control of this military, he’s likely using this ruby for himself. After what he did to us, and the clear fear this group still instills in you, I think it’s only fair that we steal their precious treasure and bring them down while we’re at it. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Memories of their lives from seven years ago began rushing through Luna’s head. Including how they parted ways.

“This is… I don’t think you should do this! The reason I left was to protect you from this group! The fact that you still have those powers I cursed you with is already dangerous enough!”

“My telekinesis? I thought it’d disappear over time… but that never happened. The ability to give the person you develop a strong bond with a supernatural power, I guess you’re still afraid of that, huh?”

What Aurora described is the main trait of Luna’s Curse. What made her different from Aurora was the fact that she could give others their own abilities through simply having a strong connection with them. Aurora was the only person she’d ever given one too.

“Of course I am! There’s still so much about it that neither of us understand, and you’ve already been hurt enough! I’m okay with Void targeting me, but I can’t stand the thought of you being in danger again! Please, do whatever you can to remove this ability. Maybe if you stop thinking about me entirely, it’ll finally vanish and-”

“I'm not doing that. Perhaps my connection to you really is too strong, and that’s why I still have my Curse, but regardless of what you say, I have no plans of backing down from this goal. The way I see it, you have two options. Either accept the ten thousand dollars and be on your way, or work together with us and end up as rich as you can imagine! You can protect me all you want in that scenario!”

“Didn’t the others say you don’t have that much money?”

“For you, I can make it happen.”

That gesture of kindness was too much for Luna. This was truly an unfair decision in her eyes. She knew that someday, she might encounter Void again, but her greatest fear was seeing Aurora get entangled into all of this again. She could tell Aurora was determined to see this through no matter what she thought. In Luna’s eyes, the only choice she had was the one that allowed her to protect Aurora.

“Okay. I’ve made up my mind. I’ll help you all on this obviously insane mission.”

Aurora perked up, “That’s great!”

“I have my conditions, however.”

“And they are?”

“After this is all over, we go our separate ways. I want you to forget about me and lose the Curse I’ve given you once and for all. It’ll be for the better if we finally parted ways.”

The room became silent for a few seconds. Luna was sure that Aurora would have some opposition to this, but she was rigid about this decision. A life of isolation, after all.

Aurora turned her head down. Luna couldn’t quite see how she was taking this, but in only ten seconds later, her face showed a pleasant smile.

“If that’s what you want, then I’ll agree!”

“Wh-what?” Luna was nothing but shocked at this reply.

Aurora offered her hand, “I believe that clears everything up. Do we have a deal now?”

Luna’s confidence wavered from how calm Aurora was. It felt like Aurora was the one in control of the entire conversation. This level of confidence was nothing like when they were younger.

“Y-yes…we have a deal.”

The girls shook hands with both promising to fulfill each other’s wishes.

“With that out of the way, I have a request of my own, Luna.”

“What is it?”

“To do this.”

Before Luna could react, Aurora pulled her close and hugged tightly. It was the embrace of someone who deeply missed a loved one. There was tenderness in her grip, but also a hint of desperation. As if she yearned to feel Luna’s touch once more.

“I meant what I said. It’s good to see you again.”

Luna stood there, wrapped in Aurora arms. Luna didn’t hug her back, but for this one moment, she felt peace that had become unfamiliar to her.

“Yeah… likewise.”

Silence lasted for over a minute. Luna didn’t know what she should think about. The dangerous goal her old friend had, the strangers she became associated with, her own capabilities, how soft Aurora’s body pressed against her own…

“Uh… I should get going now.” Luna said. Any awkwardness from this moment began to settle in.

Aurora realized she might’ve gotten carried away. 

“R-right! We’ll continue discussing our plans tomorrow.”

“Noted.”

Luna went straight for the door. This whole night exhausted her social energy, which didn’t have a high capacity to begin with. 

“Until next time, Luna!”

Luna paused on her way out of the apartment, “I’ll see you soon.”