Under the Shadow of the Moon

Chapter 57

Sylvia was absentmindedly running her hand through Harper's large curls. The coral pink stood out like a pink rose in a bed of white ones against Sylvia's cool-toned pale hands. She had chewed her nails down to bleeding skin, the nails bit down as far as they would go and the skin around them peeling. She never used to bite her nails, and fought the urge to do it now, instead turning her attention to Harper's hair.

"You can braid it if you like." Harper said with a light tone, replacing her typical snarky sarcasm. "It's not as long and pretty as yours, but it seems to calm you down."

Sylvia was startled by her voice, but a sheepish smile broke across her icy gaze. She had expected Harper to pull away from her or tell her off for touching her hair, but her response made her heart flutter. She said nothing as she picked up a few winding ringlets and started to braid, letting her reply hang unspoken between them. She was only interrupted by shouting that had erupted around them.

"I didn't ask for this, Lloyd!" Lily shouted.

"I didn't ask for it either!" He shouted back, a hurt look on his face.

"Well we both ended up here, didn't we?" She snapped back.

"Guys, stop fighting, it's not anyone's fault," Colin piped up, stepping between them.

"It doesn't change the fact that we're still in this situation," Razaia raised her voice, standing up from the floor.

Luna was leaning across the moldy crate they had been using as a table. She was staring at one spot, her vision blurred from over concentration as she tried to keep her mind blank, the others arguing around her.

"The DoSD doesn't care about us, they never did!" Lloyd shouted. "I mean, just look at where we are!"

"It's not like they gave us a decked-out place to stay, oh wait, they did." Colin bit back, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"They dumped us out without a second thought! We were never meant to stay there. We were never meant to stay here!" Lloyd raked a hand through his hair.

"We never had a choice in any of this," Harper's tone was harsher than usual. Her sudden movement startled Sylvia, causing her to drop Harper's hair. The unfinished braid fell against her neck, the curls slipping from it as she stood up abruptly.

"They just want to use us, they don't care about what happens to us. Fight The Eye and the White Sand, fix their little governmental dispute, and then disappear. They don't need all seven of us, they just need one to finish the job. I'm certain they don't care which one of us it is." Sylvia spat out the words as if they disgusted her, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Guys, if you don't stop yelling, someone will find us." Luna snapped at them, shutting them all up. "Right then, now that you're not all trying to murder one another, let's go back to the mission."

"Which is what exactly?" Lloyd snapped back. "We've already done everything we can. Everything we've been told to do. There is nothing else for us to do, except wait. Wait for them to tell us they need us to fight, and to die. Until then, there's nothing for us to do."

Luna sighed, running a frustrated hand through her hair and tugging on the greasy locks. "I know Lloyd, trust me, I know. We should take this time to come up with some strategies and another raid."

"What good will another raid do?" Lily asked. "We already destroyed everything we could. What else do we need to do?"

"I don't know," Luna responded, looking away from her friends. "But we can't just sit around and argue. We need to do something."

"Whatever," Lloyd responded bitterly.

"We're not going to kill him though, are we?" Lily asked quietly.

Luna stared at her hands.

"He's still a person, my father... killing him is wrong!"

"It's not my call to make," Luna said. "What happens to him is entirely up to the DoSD."

"It's almost dawn, we'll talk about this tomorrow. For now, let's just get some sleep," Lloyd said. "We don't have to worry about this."

"Okay," Luna responded, heading for her sleeping bag.

☆★☆

Luna looked around, but she couldn't move. In front of her was The Eye's Throne, occupied by said maniac. Elijah stood to one side of him, still beside the slow rise and fall of his chest. His eyes were dark and empty as usual. Luna looked around again, blinking as she adjusted to the change in lighting. Skye walked into the room, taking her position on the other side of Marcus Contreras. They stood the same way, she and Elijah, their hands resting on their swords, expressions blank but menacing. Luna was in the same angle she was the last time she had dreamt of the room, the day Skye had shown up.

Luna couldn't hear anything, but she could tell the entire floor was shaking. A group of White Sand soldiers marched into the room, hauling a girl in by her arms. She didn't appear to struggle. She was small compared to everyone around her, her hair as dark as pitch.

It was Talya. Elijah barely blinked when he saw her, but Skye moved to run to her, but one small motion from Elijah stopped her. All it took was him lifting one hand off his sword to keep her from moving.

Luna recoiled as she saw the similarities between Talya and Skye. She was even more sure as she watched Skye tear up when Talya knelt before The Eye, signifying her agreeing to work for him.

He gave a single nod acknowledging her sacrifice. She smirked as he gestured for her to stand. She was handed a small sword and a standard issue gun by one of the soldiers that had dragged her in and was led upstairs to the room she would stay in by another.

Luna shook her head, trying to figure out why Skye and Talya had seemed so similar. She felt her heart drop to her feet as Elijah turned to her with a smirk.

☆★☆

Talya's eyes seemed to flash under the glow of The Eye's throne room. When the three of them were dismissed, they headed to their rooms, eager for some time alone. Elijah scurried off to his room, his face grim.

Skye sighed as she watched him go, then turned to the small girl. She grabbed Talya's arm, stopping her.

"I can't believe you volunteered for this..." Skye said in a hushed voice, releasing her arm.

"You know I had no other choice," Talya responded coldly. "You were born with genes, I wasn't. I just want to be useful, like you are. I want to help the cause. I want to be like you."

"You should have talked to me first... we could have worked something out. You didn't have to do this to yourself. You didn't have to get involved."

"No, we couldn't have. You would have tried to stop me, don't even deny it," Talya snapped.

Skye recoiled. "Of course I would have, just because I chose this path doesn't mean I want it for you. I want what's best for you. I want you to stay safe."

"You don't get to decide that. Just because you're my sister doesn't mean you get to make that decision for me." Talya snapped.

Skye was silent for a moment, her usual collected expression slipping. She turned away heading down the hall.

Talya stood, shaking in anger. "I'm doing this for mom and dad, that's more than you can say! You're only doing this for Elijah anyway." She shouted after her, turning and running towards her own room. It was an empty space with just a bed and a change of clothes. She jumped onto the rickety bed, screaming into her pillow. This was all Luna's fault.