7

Someone Close

 

Katherine waited as the elevator took her up to the top floor of the Eterna company building.  It stood as one of the tallest buildings in the city. Going up to such a high elevation was intimidating, even pushing aside the person waiting up there.. 

It had been a few hours after the private library had been breached. Katherine had been recovered by other members of the Void, receiving medical care shortly after. Her injuries would need several days to heal, but due to the results of her security, she was sent to meet with the head of Eterna shortly. She knew she failed, and whatever awaited her would be punishment. 

The elevator beeped and opened its doors to a pristine office floor. Everything from the desks, shelves, and decorations placed about were void of dust. It was to an unnatural degree. It’s as if everything was frozen in time. 

“Hello there! What a pleasant night this is!”

Sitting in the office chair, playing with an old fashioned stopwatch, awaited a man that looked about in his thirties. His black hair contrasted his pale face. His professional, black suit appeared unfitting for the kind of personality he put forward. 

“Good evening, Mr. Eterna, sir.” Katherine greeted.

“Ah you can drop the formalities! We’ve been over this haven’t we?” he said eccentrically. 

“...I assume you’ve called me here due to tonight’s incident? That was a complete failure on my end as a member of the Void. I’ll accept any punishment you have for me with complete obedience.”

Eterna closed his watch and laid it on his desk. Despite his laid back demeanor, he put it down with careful positioning.

“You want to know something, Katherine?”

“What is it, sir?”

“You can real draaaag, you get me?”

“...”

Eterna stood up from his chair and strolled around his desk. His playful walk was almost child-like. “When I agreed that you would join the Void, I expected someone with a lot more fire in them than you. It’s like I’m talking to a robot everytime I see you. Well, I guess that’s incorrect. A robot would actually do what I asked of it soooo…”

Katherine couldn’t help but gulp. Regardless of how relaxed he appeared while talking to her, the message behind his words was clear.

Eterna continued, “Managing the Void has become rather tiresome. The search for the Starlight Girl has gone one for so long that my men spend more time working for the police than actually doing the job I want them to do! I started to lose hope, but low and behold, our little experiment ended up finding her! But unfortunately, it seems you weren’t quite capable of doing the one thing I wanted most. Killing the one who has the Starlight Gift…!” 

During the conversation, Eterna had picked up a class standing on his desk. He carefully admired it as he spoke, but once the Starlight Girl clearly implanted herself in his head, he clenched the glass so tightly that it shattered. The pieces fell to the ground, and blood trickled down his hand. He didn’t wince even a little at the pain. In this moment, all life was sucked out of his face, leaving only a cold, bleak expression.

Eterna cleared his throat and loosened back up, “Perhaps everything would be easier if we got your sister involved. It’s not like she’s doing much, is she?”

Katherine’s eyes widened, “That’s not part of the deal we made! You promised she could live a normal life as long as I did whatever you asked!”

“See, the thing about promises is that they aren’t always kept. Even by those you consider family. You’ll grow to learn that the older you get.”

“I’m begging you! Don’t bring Chloe into this! You’ve already done enough to her!”

“We could’ve done much worse, I guarantee it. My lab only stopped further experiments on her because you offered to join the Void instead.” 

“Then let me take her place.”

“Hm? What do you mean by that?”

“Continue the experiments you did on me. You aren’t satisfied with improved strength and agility, keep going. I’ll produce the results you’re looking for.”

This was a rather intriguing proposal to Eterna. He covered his mouth as he thought this over.

“How interesting! You were against doing anymore originally, yet here you are asking for seconds.”

“If you insist on having a lab rat no matter what, then this is my only choice. With whatever ability it grants me, I’m sure it will become vital in eliminating the girl as well as the rest of those thieves.”

“You sure you’re not gonna end with nothing to show like your sister? No whining about how ‘painful’ and ‘tortuous’ it is?”

“I’ll do whatever it takes to get results. No matter how grueling it may be!”

Eterna gave a big hearty laugh after hearing this, “Now THAT’S the kind of fire I’m looking for!” He then placed his hand on her shoulder, completely disregarding Luna’s personal space. “Alright, I’ll get the lab ready for you. Assuming we get something out of it, I’ll send you back out there. Based on the files stolen, I think I know where the Starlight Girl plans on going next.”

Katherine’s head began to cool. It seemed things were going in a favorable direction despite her failures.

“I want you to remember one thing, however.”

Eterna held the previously shattered glass in front of Katherine’s face, except it was now back to its original unbroken state. She looked back to see all the shattered pieces on the floor were gone. At face value, this would be a bizarre occurrence, but Katherine knew what exactly happened.

“In my family, we don't run away from challenges. We uphold the orders we’ve been given. My faith in you is like this glass. It was destroyed, but now it’s repaired. Try not to shatter it again, will you?”

“I…I won’t”

“Good! Good! Now get out of here! Even runts like yourself need a little rest every now and then.”

Katherine quickly exited his office. The whole encounter with her boss created a massive pit in her stomach that only seemed to grow after she left.Compared to previous interactions with him, at least this one went a lot better.

It’s okay, Katherine, she thought to herself. You’ll fight even better next time. Remember who you’re doing this for!

***

Luna was a bit hazy as she woke up. She thought she was in her own bedroom, but the feel of the couch she slept on made her realize that this was, in fact, Aurora’s apartment. I haven't even showered yet…

She remembered how everyone agreed to go to sleep as soon as they all made it back in one piece, but Luna guessed she didn’t have the energy to make it back home. She hoped Serene wasn't worried about her. Luna had never stayed overnight at someone’s home while under Serene’s care.

“Man you sure are a deep sleeper.” Beside the couch was a familiar face.

“Huh, Chloe? You’re up already?” Luna asked.

“Woke up a bit before you. Just left my bedroom a minute ago.”

“Those guest rooms seem more like your bedrooms than anything. What time is it?”

“Looking at the oven clock…five minutes until noon.”

“Is that so? Well, excuse me as I go back to sleep.”

“Hey! I know you’ve already got enough hours!”

“Ugghhhhh.”

Before Chloe could force Luna off the couch, Melody soon entered the living room.

“Good morning, everybody! Or should I say good afternoon since it’s about to be noon? Good whatever it is!”

“You’ve sure got energy no matter the time,” said Chloe.

“Of course! Last night was absolutely thrilling! Aren’t you all still pumped?”

“I want to sleep for another hour so if you two don’t mind,” Luna said.

“I didn’t come here just to bug you, Luna.” Chloe said.

Wait, she used my actual name? 

“I figured this would be a good time for me to explain everything last night. Y’know the whole thing about knowing who that sniper was.”

Luna’s drowsiness drifted away as she sat up to give Chloe her attention.

“Wouldn’t it be better if Aurora was awake to hear this?” 

“Nah. She’s already known for a while. Melody too.”

Luna gave a look towards Melody who nodded in agreement.

“The truth is… she’s my sister, Katherine. Our mother married the head of Eterna, Dominic Eterna, when we were both pretty young.”

Luna was familiar with this name. It was pretty easy to look up online that he’s the CEO of the Eterna corporation, but there were also no records of him having any daughters, so Chloe’s information came as a surprise.

“While things seemed fine at first, after a little while, it’s like none of us even existed. Nothing bad happened to us, at the time, anyway, but we it’s like we were nothing but accessories to his life. Mom continued putting up a smile for us, but we both understood the truth pretty fast.”

Chloe rubbed her hands together discontentedly. She even tried to chuckle through saying this, but she wasn’t selling it at all. 

“Does my desire to push Aurora away at all remind you of this? ”

“What? No. I mean that’s probably different since you’re not at all like…” Chloe sighed. “Sorry, there could’ve been some projection for all I know-”

“Don’t apologize. Like I said before, there was a lot of truth to what you told me.”

“If you say so.”

“So this all makes you a daughter of the Eterna family?” Luna asked.

“By technicalities, I guess so. I prefer using my mother’s last name. I don’t see myself as an Eterna in the slightest.”

“I see…” Luna pondered this.

“Long story short, when mom passed away over a year ago, Katherine and I thought about running away, but Dominic seemed keen on keeping us around. This is when my experiments with the stone began. My memories of it are blurry, but I just remember what looked like massive labs and a stinging feeling in my arms. Maybe I repressed them and am not really aware of it.”

“That must be where your enhanced strength comes from.”

“At first, nothing came of the experiments, and they were ready to put me through another series of them, until Katherine intervened. She offered to do whatever Dominic asked if it meant I could be free. It was only some time later than I noticed how weirdly strong I was.”

“Does Mr. Eterna know about this?”

“If he did, I’d probably be back in those labs for another round of hell. Only everyone on this team knows about my abilities. I guess invisibility has been added to my list of powers thanks to you though.”

“Invisibility?” Melody innocently asked.

“We’ll explain that in a group meeting,” replied Luna. She would have explained it there, but she didn’t want to lose track of this conversation with Chloe. This had no ill-will towards Melody. Luna was just bad at managing conversations.

“Anyways,” Chloe said. “That’s basically the gist of it. Katherine’s been put to work as a soldier for Dominic’s stupid army while little ol’ me gets to live a life disconnected from her. That sure sounds fine and not completely messed up, right?” 

“And that’s why you’re in this group, isn’t it?” asked Luna.

“Bingo. If we can actually steal that ruby, Katherine and I will have enough money to run away from everything Eterna-related while also giving that pathetic man a big middle finger in the process. Sounds like a win-win.”

“That is, if our operation continues to go well.” 

“Always have to point out the uncertainty, huh?”

The three girls sat amongst each other in a moment of silence. They all knew the weight of Chloe’s story and why she’s here. It’s really not that different from why Aurora formed this team, or why Luna agreed to join. There was more than one person here who had someone close to their heart; a reason to put their lives at risk.

Luna became curious as to why Melody was here, but she wasn’t quite sure how open she’d be about sharing her own story. Besides, Luna knew asking would only be a distraction on something she became settled on doing.

“Alright then, it’s only fair that I share my own past with you two,” said Luna.

Melody gasped, “Does that mean…”

“You’re gonna…” Chloe followed.

“Finally tell us about you and Aurora!?” they said in unison.

“Did you two practice that!?” Luna perplexingly asked.

“Doesn’t matter!”.

“Give us the goods!”  

“Alright, alright. I didn’t realize you two wanted to know so badly.”

“Okay but enthusiasm aside,” said Chloe. “We should probably make sure you’re actually cool with doing this. I mean, you were against it only a night ago.”

“I recall you being the one to say we should have a better talk, and I agreed to it, didn’t I?”

This was partially the reason. Luna also just wanted to finally be able to tell this story to someone. These are memories that have been attached to her for so long that maybe releasing them in some form would make them the slightest bit easier to exist with. After all, this was a story she’s kept close to her chest for seven years. A story she kept hidden from even Serene. A story that only she and her beloved friend knew about.

The story of Luna and Aurora’s relationship.