The hallowed halls of the house that were usually filled with music and joy echoed out with curses and sounds of destruction.
Luna's hands shook as she knelt on her bedroom floor, trying to unlock the antique box under her bed. Below her she could hear the sounds of violence; another thud sounding out as another body was brought down to the floor. A clang of a weapon rang out, no doubt scouring the boards of the ancient family home that had been in Luna's family since the beginning of time.
But now it was all coming to an end. The 21st century had come and brought with it the end of this family.
"Come on you stupid butterfingers..." she muttered to herself followed by yet another curse as her sweat slicked fingers fell off the lock again and again.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Luna stiffened as if someone had jammed a rod down her back at the sound of the thumping up the staircase. She was so used to her sisters and their guardians running up and down the stairs all the time. It used to be a sound of joy, but now it was a sound of warning. It was as if the house were trying to tell her to run; that her life was on the line. More curses left Luna's mouth as she started to work on the lock even harder than before.
"Stop! I won't let you go any further."
Jungkook. He must have run ahead of Volaria. However valiant the move was, Jungkook stood no match against her. She had already claimed the others. Luna had seen Namjoon go. Then Jin. Yoongi. Jimin. Hobi. Jungkook was the only one standing between Volaria and her. He was her last hope. Luna tried not to think about how Jungkook being stationed where he was more than likely meant her sister was dead. Jungkook wouldn't be with her if she was alive. That was how it worked.
Luna could hear the sound of a tussle outside the door; a vase breaking against the wall. Family pictures falling off the wall as thuds against the outside of the door were heard. The fight grew in volume before ultimately ending with a scream of agony from Jungkook followed by silence.
Now there was nothing between Volaria and her.
Luna nearly cried with relief when the lock clicked open and revealed the plush interior and what was hidden inside. She had barely managed to lay her fingers on the pan flute when the bedroom door behind her flew open and hit the wall with a splintering fury.
"There's the last one I need for my collection..." hissed Volaria.
Luna had never heard such a melodic yet menacing voice in all her life. Slowly Luna turned to face her standing in the doorway. The woman's inky black hair was dancing through the air as if it were alive. Volaria's emerald green eyes shone with touches of red as they settled on Luna as she stayed kneeling on the floor. About Volaria's neck was a white gem necklace that glowed a ghostly shade of white; small wisps of gray floating about the inside of the gem. The souls of the other six guardians; Jungkook the last to join them. Luna held the last one's safety in her hands. One blow on the pan flute and she could summon protection from her guardian; someone that she had never yet met. She had only been gifted it a week ago and hadn't been given a chance to use it. She found herself fighting the urge to use it now; to try in vain to save herself. Luna's eyes couldn't stray away from the gray wisps floating about the white gem. She couldn't let whoever her guardian was suffer a similar fate. If she did, Volaria would win. The world would end.
No. Luna knew she had to protect her guardian. Summoning him here would solve nothing. Keeping him out of Volaria's reach was the only solution right now. Volaria would be unstoppable after she had all seven guardian souls. Luna couldn't let that happen.
"You're not getting him," Luna said as she sprung to her feet.
Walking to her bedroom window, Luna quickly opened it. Looking out into the night, she couldn't see the ground beneath the fringe of trees bending back and forth in the breeze in the yard below.
"What are you going to do? You're seven stories up," Volaria said with a short laugh. "You'll kill yourself jumping from this high."
Luna tuned Volaria out. She didn't have time to fully think about the plan. It was her only option. She climbed up onto her writing desk, sending papers scattering every which way. Luna felt her stomach lurch at the thought of what would happen with the plunge into the darkness, but she had to. She had to protect the pan flute no matter what. Tucking it into her waistband, she took a deep breath before jumping down into the darkness below.
The trees reached up to catch her; creating gashes on her porcelain skin as she fell among the branches. Luna grabbed a hold of one of the thicker branches to break her fall into the garden. Luna only had a moment to steady herself before she dropped herself to the ground. She crushed the flowers underfoot as she tore off running. The sky above her lit up orange as the woman summoned her dragon.
Luna couldn't remember the last time that she had run this fast. The uneven terrain certainly didn't make it easy as she ran further and further away from the smolder of her family home. Within a few minutes, she had made it off of her family's estate; her bare feet hitting the paved road. If she could just make it to the dock, she would be able to possibly get away. The further she ran down the road, the more houses began to fill out around her. Houses with curtains shut to the madness that lay right outside; closing eyes in ignorance to another world they didn't even realize existed so closely to their own.
The yawning wings of the dragon caused a funnel of air in the midnight blue sky above Luna, forcing her to run even faster. Soon the dock was within her sights. She could see it as her feet pounded along the pavement; throbbing painfully. Her feet were soon flying over the planks on the dock. Ships with cargo set to sail out in the morning laid moored on either side of her.
"You will not get away," crowed Volaria from atop her dragon. "I will have all seven. It's my destiny!"
Luna managed to dive into hiding on a ship mere seconds before a blast of fire came her way. It scorched the side of one of the cargo ships; the thrum of the dragon's wings echoing about the massive metal mammoth Luna now found herself hiding in. Getting back on her feet, Luna wove her way through all the crates around her. The best way to keep her guardian safe was to dispose of the pan flute in one of the many cargo boxes. She didn't have time to examine labels or anything. She had to act quickly. As it was, she could already hear Volaria's heels clicking against the metal floor as she entered the ship.
"You can't hide from me," called out Volaria in a sing-song like voice.
Luna tried to stay hidden, biting her lip as she listened to sound of heels fade out. Everything about her went silent until it echoed in her ears. Daring to peek out from where she was hiding, Luna saw that Volaria was gone. Instead she had assumed the form of one of the souls she had captured. She now looked like Yoongi, but not like him at the same time. Everything about him looked the same except for his eyes which were just two big glowing balls of white. A wicked grin spread across his face as he reached out a hand to unsheath his weapon.
"Come out..." came his voice; tinged with a deeper underlying growl that caused his white eyes to shine even brighter. "Or prepare to die."
Yoongi. She felt tears welling up in her as Luna momentarily pressed her back against the crate she was hiding behind. All the times that he had protected her sister were now gone. All those times he acted like her kind older brother while she waited for the day to come for her own guardian had all faded away. Luna instinctively reached a hand towards her pan flute in her waist band. Luna had been waiting for the opportunity to meet her guardian all her life, and now she probably never would. She had to be the guardian for her own guardian. It was the only way.
Forcing all other emotions aside, Luna got up again, wandering through the crates for a moment more before stopping at one. Yoongi was silent as he walked through the crates looking for her. Luna tried to assess her surroundings the best she could before standing up. She strained a bit against the crate lid as she pushed it sideways so that it would open. Luna could see pre-packaged knick knacks of some sort within, but it was too dark to study them closely. She slipped the pan flute out of her waistband, looking at it with her tear filled eyes before depositing it gently inside. She then put the lid back in place before wandering among the confusing labyrinth of crates until she stopped behind another. Maybe she would be able to get in the clear. Maybe...
"Found you..."
Luna turned; her eyes wide with fear as the grin on Yoongi's face turned even more grotesque. The blade he held was now pressed against her neck as she stayed frozen in her crouched position.
"Where is it?" he asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"What wicked lies from a wicked woman..." She felt the blade dance along her throat as he talked. "I should just silence that lying tongue right now, but I need that final soul if I'm to achieve the power I've always desired."
"I will never let you touch him."
"That's what all your sisters said too," said Yoongi's distorted voice. "And look how they ended up. Like beautiful sacrificial lambs. Every last one of them."
Luna felt icy tears betray her; sliding down her cheeks as she stayed where she was.
"I'd rather die than give him away," she said.
"They are supposed to guard you though. Protect you. Look at you - such a weakling - trying to protect someone so much more powerful than you."
"And look at you - a weakling that only feels validation by stealing souls and destroying others," she quipped back.
Volaria shed Yoongi's form then, returning to her original form. The weapon disappeared with the transformation back. Luna's eyes stayed focused on the white gem with the swirling wisps of gray about Volaria's neck as her claw like hand went about her neck, choking the life out of her.
"I will find him," Volaria growled. "You won't be able to protect him."
With the way Volaria was choking her, Luna was unable to respond. All she could do was be brave and stare Volaria down. While keeping Volaria kept her firm grip about Luna's neck, the whole cargo ship disappeared from around them. They were soon back outside Luna's family home now. Luna turned her eyes towards the house she had known all her life, watching as grand flames rose higher into the sky as they devoured all she had ever known. Her life. Her sisters. Everything.
Volaria threw Luna into the dirt in front of the burning carnage of her family home. Luna coughed as the air violently returned to her lungs; looking up as tears stung her eyes.
"I will give you one last chance to hand it over willingly, or I will search for it on your corpse," warned Volaria.
Volaria still thought Luna had the pan flute on her person. Luna couldn't help but let a small smile worm across her face, which only caused Volaria to get angrier. Luna watched as Volaria took on yet another new form. Luna stayed on her knees in the dirt, watching as the bright white gaze of Jin soon stared her down. He unsheathed his weapon, bringing it closer to her.
"Give it to me."
"Never," Luna aid, keeping the quiver away as one solitary tear fell from her cheek.
Luna closed her eyes as she saw Jin raise his weapon, picturing happy memories of Jin and her sister. Luna didn't want her memories of him to be corrupted even when they all faded into a void of black.
Volaria transformed back to her form after the deed was done; the bloody weapon disappearing with the transformation. She glared at Luna's splayed remains in front of her before crouching to examine her. No pan flute. Angrily Volaria stood to her feet, summoning the dragon circling about in the air above her like a vulture.
"Find the pan flute and bring it to me. I need to claim that last soul."
Little did Volaria know that the ship Luna had hidden the pan flute on was leaving earlier than scheduled; carrying her precious last soul to a place she would never expect to find it.
The Pleasant Shores Hotel Gift Shop.