5

I Will Protect

 

It was three months before the heist at the library would take place. The bell rang, ending the last period of the day. Chloe wasn’t in any clubs, but she also didn’t want to go straight home after school. She spent her time hanging around campus on her own. She became comfortable enough with her classmates, but never became close friends with any of them. 

She sat on a bench outside the cafeteria, sipping a juice box. By this point in the day, the area was completely empty. The towering buildings only a couple blocks away made her feel even smaller than usual, and the only noise that could be heard belonged to the motors of nearby cars. Despite this, Chloe found quietness during this time of the day. It was a moment where she didn’t have to think about any of her problems which she knew would irritate her to no end whenever she thought of them. 

However, this quietness came to a halt when a girl came into view from the corner of her eye and stood right in front of Chloe. Her hair was long and wavy, eyes round but dazzling, and she had a smile that screamed confidence.

“Excuse me! Are you Chloe Brooks?”

“Uhh, yeah that’s me. Is there something you want?”

“Ah, this is perfect! If you don’t mind, may I ask some questions regarding your relation to the Eterna family?”

“Why the heck would I know anything about them?”

“You don’t have to play dumb with me. I’ve already looked into their family connections and discovered your mother married into the family quite some time ago.”

“You did what!? How did you…!”

“Oh! That may sound a bit weird now that I say it out loud… but anyway! I’m conducting an investigation into the Eterna family, and was hoping there was any information you wouldn’t mind sharing with me!”

“Why the heck would I share that kinda stuff with someone like you!? This is all kinds of creepy!”

Chloe stood up with the intent to walk away from this strange girl. She threw her juice box into a nearby garbage bin as she passed by, only to see it floating in the air. Its motion was completely halted; as if it were frozen in time.

“What the…?”

“You’ve been wronged by the Eterna family in the past, haven’t you? We’re similar in that way.”

Chloe turned around to see a red aura around the girl’s arm as she had it raised towards the juice box.

“Are you doing… what is… huh!?”

“That got your attention, didn’t it? Now that I’ve shown you a secret of my own, I hope you’re willing to hear me out for a bit.” The girl lowered her arm, and with that, the juice box fell down into the bin. “I’d like to talk somewhere more private, if you don’t mind. I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Aurora Avery.”

Despite the initial hesitation, Aurora managed to convince Chloe to come to her apartment where they began discussing what Chloe knew about the Eterna family. Chloe knew about the existence of the Void and explained how her body had some experiments done on it, and all the scientists kept making mentions of a ruby. She demonstrated the supernatural strength she’d received by lifting the dinner table with only one arm.

“Incredible! You’re like a super soldier!” exclaimed Aurora.

“The soldier part is the thing I don’t like.”

“It seems those rumors about a magic stone were real…”

“Yep. If just a small sample of it made me stronger, who knows what else it can do.”

“I see, well, thank you for the talk. It was incredibly helpful.”

“What the heck are you gonna do with all of this?”

“Originally, I wasn’t quite sure what my goal was, but I think I’ve found one.” Aurora’s eyes lit up with newfound conviction. “I’m gonna steal this Eterna Ruby.”

“You’re gonna what!? Do you have any idea how insane that sounds!?”

“I believe I heard myself right!” Aurora said, completely nonchalant.

“What would you even do with it? Are you trying to become even more powerful or something?”

“Oh, I don’t care about anything like that. More power sounds kind of boring, but stealing it would be a rather serious blow to the Eterna family, and that is more than enough to satisfy me. For all I know, I could even make a fortune selling it!”

The thought of selling it for money didn’t cross Chloe’s mind at all, but she began to realize how much the ruby would really be worth if you sold it to the right buyer. An idea lit up in her mind as a result.

“...So from selling it, you could make millions, right?”

“Maybe more if I’m smart about it!”

“Exact amount aside, it would be enough to, let's say, run away and live on your own, wouldn’t it?”

“I guess I could do that if I really wanted to, but it's not like I’m trying to run away or anything.”

“I’ll join.”

Aurora took a moment to realize what Chloe said. “Oh?”

“This plan to steal the stone. I want in.”

“Didn’t you just say it sounded insane?” Aurora playfully pointed out.

“I know what I said! But…if you can- I mean, if we can pull this off, then there’s someone I’d really want to help with that money.”

“Is it a loved one, perhaps?”

 Chloe’s aggressive face softened. “Y-Yeah it is…”

Aurora pondered this. “Hmmm, this is going to be quite the dangerous mission. Are you sure you’d want to risk your life working for a stranger like me?”

“Yeah, you still seem kinda weird but I can put that aside.”

“Ouch! You wound my heart!” Aurora said in an overly dramatic manner.

“Besides, the person I want to help would probably do the same for me.”

“Is that so? Must be quite the important person.”

“They’re the one that taught me an important lesson.”

Aurora curiously asked, “And what would that be?”

Chloe’s eyes lit with a similar conviction as Aurora’s previously, “Always protect the people closest to you. No matter what.”

***

“You got a plan for this, Eclipse?”

The stakes were ramping up. Luna and Chloe needed to deal with their attacker, apparently named Katherine, if they wanted to reach the mainframe. In less than a minute, Luna thought up how to do this.

“In order to get a clean shot of us, she’ll have to be across from where we are in the library. We’re gonna use this to our advantage. She’s gonna be targeting me, so I’ll act as a distraction that heads toward the mainframe, while you make it to the third floor and take her by surprise.”

“Alright. Doesn’t sound too bad. Just try not to get sniped for me”

“I can’t guarantee the visual of it won’t happen.”

Chloe was ready to move. “On the count of three, we move. One, two… three!”

The girls dashed in opposite directions towards different bookshelves to take cover. While running, Luna created a single clone of herself. As expected, Katherine targeted Luna, but barely missed her shot as the two Lunas slid towards cover with the copy vanishing right after.

A sweat rolled down Luna’s face after doing that. She didn’t drop a smoke bomb while running because she wanted to be the one targeted, but being left open like that was very risky. 

Katherine suspected that Luna could create more than one clone, but making her believe that she couldn't would give Luna the advantage. 

“You still alive?” Chloe asked.

“Do you really think I’d already be dead?!” 

“Pffft, I’m about to head up the stairs. I need you to distract her for a good few seconds.”

“Noted. Don’t ask me an asinine question next time.”

“Woah, you pulled out the vocab for that one.”

Luna groaned as she prepared to expose herself again. She jumped out from behind the bookshelf with another clone appearing out of her, then she dropped a smoke bomb. 

Katherine would have to take time to search for any sign of her target. As the smoke disappeared, a version of Luna could be seen running out in the open towards the mainframe. Katherine fired and got a direct hit on Luna… before it vanished into nothing. It was a clone, and the bait was taken. The enemy now had no idea where the real Luna was. 

Luna figured it was a safe bet that Chloe was now on the third floor. She remembered from their first encounter that Chloe wasn’t the most proficient at stealth, so she’d have to make this final distraction one that’d completely grab a hold on Katherine's attention while Chloe went in for the ambush.

Splitting off into two, Luna shot her grappling hook towards the ceiling, flying straight up. She was now in the air as she could see Katherine getting ready to aim at a clone. Luna could finally make out her appearance. She wore a dart combat uniform, and had short hair with yellow tips. 

Chloe was nowhere to be seen for a moment, until Luna saw her appear right behind Katherine. It was as if she suddenly appeared out of thin air. 

Before Katherine could fire off a shot, the copy of Luna pulled out her combat knife and threw it straight at her.  

Katherine dodged and fired off a round. The bullet pierced the Luna that threw the knife, who then disappeared. Katherine prepared to fire at the real Luna in the air, but it was too late. 

“Over here!”

Katherine turned around to see Chloe as she swung her bat straight at her. Katherine’s raised sniper rifle blocked the attack, but caused the weapon to get knocked out of her hands and fall to the very first floor.

One more time! One more hit and we’ve done it! Luna thought to herself as Chloe prepared to swing her bat one more time at the now unarmed Katherine. This last hit would surely knock her out, but it didn’t.

Before Chloe’s bat could reach Katherine, it clashed with a newly appeared sword that Katherine pulled from her back. It had a simple black handle, and a thin, sharp shape.

“She has a sword too!?” Both Luna and Chloe yelled aloud.

“You just made my job much messier. Don’t blame me for what comes next,” Katherine said to Chloe whom she didn’t recognize behind her mask.

The sword wielding girl lunged straight at Chloe and swung fiercely. Chloe could barely keep up with her aggression. She was only just fast enough to block each swing with her bat. 

“Cat! Hang in there!” Luna yelled as she landed onto the third floor and sprinted towards them.

“Don’t worry- Agh! I’ve got this!”

Every attack from Katherine was fast and relentless. Her movements were calculated and minute. She didn’t waste a single motion and moved in an almost rhythmic fashion. Chloe was getting overwhelmed by the second. After delivering a hit that left her wide open, Chloe delivered a punch that knocked Chloe back as she clung to her bat.

“Get away from her!” 

Luna yelled in order to draw Katherine’s attention towards her.

“So it’s you that he asked me to prioritize…” Katherine said.

Remember, Luna, our opponent is someone Chloe cares about. See if you can deescalate this situation.

“Just by looking at you, you seem to be a similar age to me. Why is someone like you working for the Void?”

Katherine’s expression remained cold, “That’s none of your concern. We’re better off not talking in the first place.”

“Does talking to humanize me too much? Will it increase your guilt to know that you want to kill a person?”

A sweat rolled down Katherine’s face. She tried to hide it, but Luna could tell this emotionless front was just that, a front. “I’m doing this because I have things worth fighting for. Nothing you say will sway me! Now shut up and fight.”

“Thought as much.”

Luna threw down three smoke bombs, surrounding Katherine. She stood there and waited to counter whatever Luna would do next. She heard the sound of footsteps from behind which led to her swinging and slicing a clone of Luna that approached her. Another version of Luna came at her right after, which Katherine quickly grabbed the arm of before Luna could react.

“You must be the real one,” said Katherine, stabbing her sword straight through Luna’s stomach. 

Katherine looked at where she stabbed Luna, noticing her wound wasn’t bleeding at all. This version of Luna also proceeded to vanish.

“What…?”

Before she knew it, another Luna dropped down from above and kicked straight down at her. She barely managed to react in time, and blocked her foot with her sword, causing Luna to jump back after her attack.

“So you can make more!” said Katherine in anger.

“You were gullible for thinking otherwise.” Behind Katherine, Luna’s voice emerged. She instantly realized that this was the real Luna, but it was too late to react.

Luna threw out a punch which was followed up on by a kick from her clone. The two proceeded to connect hits together similar to what she did to Chloe. Punches and kicks came from two sides of Katherine. It appeared that Katherine would be too overwhelmed to fight back, but Luna’s eyes widened from seeing Katherine find an opportunity to strike her clone with a swift kick. In truth, though Luna’s Curse gave her enhanced strength, she hadn’t been going all out as a result of Chloe’s connection to her opponent, but even with having this advantage, Katherine deflected Luna’s punch and countered by grabbing her arm and throwing her to the ground.

“You’ve got some neat tricks, but to be frank, you’re a crappy fighter.” Katherine may have been speaking hyperbolically, but there was a kernel of truth to it. While Luna trained on her own and became familiar enough with how to fight, this did not compare with Katherine’s presumably rigorous training as a soldier, allowing her to fight on par with Luna even without a Curse.

Katherine swung her sword down, but Luna quickly blocked the blade with her knife. She had but a moment to pull the blade out of her belt before getting sliced. The sword continued to press down on Luna, but she resisted with her much smaller weapon. She didn’t know how much longer she could hold out until the sword would reach her body. 

Damn it…I can’t make any clones in a position like this!

“Give it up already…!” growled Katherine.

She seemed all but determined to take Luna out right here and now. The blade moved ever so closer to Luna’s neck. The pressure Katherine exerted down on Luna was unrelenting. It was like she was putting all the energy her body had into killing Luna. This strength was unnatural, but Luna didn’t have the chance to question it with her life on the line.  

Don’t… go down like this, Luna!

Before Katherine’s blade could get any closer, the left side of her body took a full swing from Chloe’s bat, causing her to be knocked away from Luna. Chloe had rejoined the fight, though she looked worse for wear.  

Katherine forced herself to quickly recover and retaliated by launching herself straight at Chloe. It was clear from her arm’s limp movements that it got injured from that hit, but she was still incredibly proficient; relying only on her dominant arm to attack Chloe. She aimed for Chloe’s hand and managed to graze it with her sword. This caused Chloe to drop her bat as an instinctive reaction, then she was kicked to the floor by Katherine.

“You’re becoming too much of a nuisance. I’m gonna need you out of the way.”

With the full intent to kill Chloe, Katherine readied her sword once again. Before she could lower it down, she felt a rope wrap around her arm and pulled backwards. She looked back to see Luna with her grappling hook in hand.

“I too… have things I’m fighting for.”

“Gah! Let go of my arm!”

“As long as I am standing… I’ll protect everyone I care about. That includes that annoying girl right there…!”

A fire was lit within Luna. It’d been so long since she remembered what it was like to look after a friend. Even if they had just met, that didn’t change Luna’s resolve to make sure those that she valued were safe. No matter what.

“I’ve had enough of this!” Katherine yelled as she twisted her sword around to sever Luna’s grappling hook from her. She went for another swing at Chloe without hesitation.

“Cat!” Luna yelled out her name more desperation than she knew she was capable of. 

As her voice echoed through the library, a green aura radiated around Chloe’s body.

The next moment, Chloe vanished into nothing.

Katherine paused her swing in shock of what occurred. 

“Where did she go!?” She looked at Luna. “Is this your doing!? Was that another one of your clones the whole time or… something else weird!?”

Before Katherine could continue, she reacted as if something struck her body. She collapsed onto the ground, gripping her side before her consciousness faded. Their enemy had finally been taken out in a way that left Luna utterly confused.

“What the heck…?”

A few seconds later, Chloe reappeared with bat in hand next to Katherine. She looked down at the enemy she was familiar with and mumbled to herself, “I’m sorry, Kate. I’ll get us out of this mess eventually.”

“Cat! Are you alright?”

“I’m… fine?”

“What happened to you? You disappeared without a trace!”

As Luna put her hands on Chloe’s shoulders in relief, the green aura from before appeared again, looking like an aura no different from the ones Luna and Aurora could create around them. It finally clicked for Luna what was happening.

“This was my doing… I-I Cursed you! Just like I did with Aur- I mean Sunlight…!”

“Wait, Curse? Is this that power you were talking about earlier?”

Panic rose within Luna. She never wanted this to happen. Aurora was supposed to be the first and last person to ever be Cursed. Her mind flashed back to what happened to Aurora as a result of this power. It’s a story that remained hard for her to retell.

“I gave it to someone else… what is wrong with me!?”

“Woah, woah, chill out! Whatever you did just saved us! I mean, look! I’m fine!”

Hearing Chloe say that was surprisingly comforting. It was true. Because Luna gave Chloe a Curse, she survived, and Katherine’s out of the way. Luna just needed to push aside any further implications of what she’s done for the time being.

“I suppose you're right… it seems you received invisibility as a power.”

“It lasted for ten seconds so I guess that’s the limit. I don’t get it though. Why invisibility?”

This was a serious question worth pondering, but for the time being, maybe it’d be better to approach this from a different route. 

“If I had to guess… the less I see you, the better,” Luna said, subtly smirking.

“Ha, since when did you develop a sense of humor?”

Since I tried laughing away the stress this is giving me.