Two Moons

Chapter 2 ~ The Red Day (part 4)

Arae was Hugo’s half sister. His father’s child with a mortal woman who became Hugo’s mother, not that she was any better than his divine mother. She was killed during the purge and his father joined some vigilante group who went around Nylo, killing any cannibal that came in their path. Hugo looked at his little sister and saw that she had been swallowed into the bloody path.

They sat in his room. He stared at the food, not seeing it, not seeing that it was barely food at all. He stared out the window; you could still see a thin cloud of smoke billowing into the dawn sky.

“They were going to kill you, Hugo,” She muttered. Arae was picking at her nails with a knife. Like Papa did.

“You didn’t see them, they were different...” He replied emptily, he wanted sleep.

“I saw you walking into a fire,” She snapped. Her eyes boring into the back of his head.

He smiled to himself, “That was Aurora.” Silence followed.

“I can’t believe you’re still swallowing this bulshit,” She spat. She stood and walked across the room then leant against the wall. “If the Goddesses exist, why are we starving?”

“Because they are selfish and cruel,” He answered coldly, the smile faded.

“You know what, I think this is bullshit! I think you’ve all gone moonstruck, you’ve all become obsessed with being chosen. You’re as bad as Papa! The way he treated Mama like she was shit, like she was shit on his fucking boot! You’re just like him! Obsessed with that Blue skinned whore!” She was shaking, tense, looking for a fight.

“I never thought she was blue... and racial slurs were never your think Arae,” Hugo smiled again. Arae had changed so much; he hadn’t seen her six months ago and now she was a fully fledged Wild Isle bumpkin.

“Fuck you!” She spat. “What’s wrong with you?! Don’t you see this; don’t you see any of this? Or are you blind to everything around you?” Her voice shook, bordering on hysteria.

He stood sharply, gripped her by the collar against the wall. “Don’t act like you fucking know anything that’s going on. You’ve been on Nylo your whole life and you think yourself a killer, hanging around with a bunch of backward bumpkins and passing judgements on me like you’re my elder. I could snap your neck in a blink if I didn’t love you.”

“But that’s it,” She sniffled, “I’ve been here, I’ve seen Grandpa get old and seen him mutter to himself, I’ve seen Grandma change into a stranger, someone who hasn’t left the bed in months, seen their eyes hollow from hunger... seen you leave.”

He dropped her from the wall, “I’m just passing by.”

She brushed herself down. “You only love her, you don’t love anyone else, you can’t. You’re as bad as the moons; cruel and selfish.”