The Search For Peace

Chapter 10

The night was cold, the fields of overgrown weeds like a sea of pitch black because of the absence of the moon. As the indigo clouds covered the stars, Harmony stepped onto the empty road, the familiar scent of damp grass taking her back in time. A time when she was helpless...and afraid. A time when she hated herself more than anything else. 

Taking a deep breath, she turned to see if her two companions were still behind her, only to find them arguing. Again. 

"If you knew we were coming here, you should've brought a flashlight!" Juliet looked cold, her sweater not serving as much of assistance against the wind. 

"Honestly, I had no idea a petty princess was coming along, so it slipped my mind." Ultima drawled, her phone's light dull as it lead them to where Harmony stood.

All throughout the train ride, the station, and the walk to where they were now, the two of them had bickered over Harmony's head like a pair of mad housewives, her patience meter all but full now.

"Petty princess? Who, me?" A sarcastic laugh escaped Juliet's thin lips. "For your kind information, no princess would be walking around in a deserted place like this with a bunch of losers."

"God, would the two of you just stop already?!" Harmony finally snapped, pulling on her hair to emphasize how frustrated she was. "I get it dammit, you hate each other, end of story! Now, can we please focus on saving Alyssa?" She clasped her hands together and begged. "Please?"

The two huffed and turn their heads away from each other haughtily. "Fine."

"Anyway..." Ultima reached into her cat's pocket and took out some peculiar items. "If we're going to sneak in there, we need a reasonable disguise." She held up a little flat box for them to see, and Harmony gasped. 

"Contact lenses?!" 

"Well, yeah, since the Capricorn's all have blue eyes." Ultima tried to ignore the fact that her friend was trembling at the thought of putting them on, glancing at Juliet. "I only have two pairs, though."

"That's okay." She positioned her face in the dim light of the phone, pointing at one of her pupils. "One of my eyes are actually blue, so I can just cover the other one with something."

"You're heterochomic?" The black haired girl was surprised. It wasn't everyday you met a person like that. And as long as shed known Juliet as another annoying classmate, she'd never noticed that about her before, probably because she wore different coloured contacts everyday. But sure enough, it was true. The girl's left eye was green, just like any other Virgo, while her right eye was blue. 

"Ugh, I don't know how to do this..." Their attention shifted to the brunette struggling to slip the lenses into her eyes, shrieking every time they all but touched them

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After what seemed like eternity, the three girls were finally ready to face the horrors that awaited them. Harmony and Ultima wore their contacts with pride, while Juliet had brushed her bangs in front of the eye that was green, and together, they walked further into the dirt road. An old pickup van came into view, a very shady looking man leaning against it. 

"That must be the guard." Ultima whispered to them. 

"That guy?" Juliet made a face. "He looks like a hobo."

Said hobo acknowledged their arrival, spitting out his cigarette and scratching his fuzzy chin. "Who goes there?" He murmured, barely able to stand on his own, like the grumpy old troll in one of the cartoons they used to watch when they were kids. What was it called? Dora, maybe?

"We're from The Capricorn Clan." Ultima stated with confidence, her chin up. "Could you let us through?"

Squinting, he picked up a flashlight from behind him and shone it on each of them, one by one. They held their breath, his tired expression telling them nothing about what he was actually thinking.

But, to their relief, he sighed and snapped his fingers, a bolt of thunder stretching out in the horizon behind him. "Go ahead."

As if the air had a crack running through it, the bolt parted like a pair of curtains, sheer white light peeking through. While Harmony and Juliet gawked at the scene unraveling before them, Ultima beamed at the sleep deprived man and proceeded into the opening. "Thank you~!" She said before disappearing into the void, leaving them no choice but to follow.

A blinding white light engulfed them, and Harmony was forced to close her eyes. And when the brightness cleared, she slowly opened them, taking in the world in front of her.

Like something out of a steampunk novel, smoky chimneys and old stone buildings crowded the area, a big clock tower in the midst of it all. The city bustled with people and caravans and old cars from the 90's even at this late hour of night, the streets littered with spilled garbage cans at every corner. 

"Ew, this place stinks." Juliet commented as she held her poor nose, earning a glare from Ultima.

"I suggest you hold that sharp tongue of yours around here. Unless you wanna get killed." Unable to retort, she grudgingly followed behind the girl as they descended the steps they were on.

"Now, where would they keep someone like Alyssa?" Ultima thought out loud as she headed deeper into the crowd.

"I dunno, a cage, maybe?" Juliet fought the urge to grab onto the tall girl's arm to keep up with her, constantly being pushed around by the impolite civilians she kept bumping into. "What do you think, Harmony?" As she turned her head to address the girl, she realized her idiotic face was nowhere to be seen. "Harmony?!"

Upon her panic, Ultima craned her neck as well. "What happened?" She asked, a furrow in her brow.

"Your friend..." Juliet darted her eyes around the many heads around her, none of them matching Harmony's. "She's gone."