Arc 1 - Chapter 13: An Angry Girl

(Prominis 20, 56 / 8:25PM)

Everyone was about to go to sleep, except for Luke.

Barricading the door with just a simple chair, he wielded nothing but a wooden bat with both his hands. Keeping his eyes peeled on the door, he waited for the slightest trickle of knob to turn.

Eventually, the wait did pay off.

“W-Who’s there!?”

“It’s me you hermit! Open up!”

It was not the voice of a woman, but a man. Remembering the teenish voice, his face wrinkled up as if he smelled the inside of a garbage bag. Letting his baseball bat drop to the floor, he walked over to the chair, and moved it for the knob to turn completely.

Which allowed a ginger-haired elf to stare at Luke. Having a bandage stripe across his nose, Sean clearly had a glare within his eyes, his cheeks bulging a vein or two.

“What happened to you?”

“What do you think? Did you send that bitch out to get me?”

Luke furrowed his brow.

He didn’t recall sending anyone out to get him, let alone he didn’t even step one foot out of the room ever since. Can it be Stan? Who decided to take the extra mile and paid the debt given to Luke?

Luke swayed his head left and right.

“I didn’t send anyone. Also, I don’t know who punched you…”

“You know exactly who punched me! I knew you looked sensitive but not this sensitive! Can’t you learn how to take a joke once you brat!?”

He balled his fists, keeping them firm as he looked up at the elf teen. Letting his red eyes glare into Sean’s green eyes, Luke and Sean were at a standstill, as Sean’s hands were also balled.

Both didn’t want to fight, but both clearly were frustrated, angry even. Shivering his teeth, Luke unwrinkled his face, but kept his hands firm.

“You made me bite my own tongue. Not only that, you made Hope uncomfortable …”

“That prank was nothing personal. And besides, what’s wrong with flirting? How can humans multiply if we’re not allowed to look at the opposite sex without making them uncomfortable?”

That question dawned on Luke like a drum. Letting go of his balled hands, Luke let the tips of his nails scrape and cleave the fabric of his pants. Slow and steady, he let his hands travel back and forth.

Until he stopped. Gazing his eyes down at the wooden floor, he let Sean’s smirking face bestow down upon him, feeling his smug grin smolder onto him.

“I understand your reasons, but…”

He remembered his mom being a half elf. With a play with genetics, then that means Luke had 1/4th of elf blood within him. Despite having vastly more human genetics, his nose and chin looked slimmer and nicer compared to the average human.

And upon remembering her calm demeanor in the garden, her mood and attitude to him compared to Sean, she was safe with him. That reason alone, even if he looked to be the scrawniest boy alive, she won’t let her be treated like that…

“She deserves a quarter elf! Not a full elf!”

“Oh you racist shit! Now you crossed a line—”

He closed the door.

Slamming the door right onto his face, Sean began banging on the door with his opened palms. Trying to turn the knob, Luke rapidly placed the chair underneath the knob, leaving Sean to just hit the door while he talked.

“You think you're tough?! Some knight in shining armor!? Well, think twice!”

Red strained his lower eyes, his anger growing and expanding outward the more he hit the door. Luke, who took a couple of steps back, wielded his wooden baseball bat with his palms and fingers.

As he heard Sean’s rustful words from the other side.

“You got your ass handed by a girl! Hell, you got your ass handed by a mini boxing glove! And you got treated like a baby by your own crush!”

Every word darkened his eyebags, he didn’t nod nor sway his head in denial. Lowering his eyes on the ground, all of his anger directed into his heart, allowing the hate to grow and grow evermore like a bank. Unknownst to Luke, just when was this bank might burst? When the dam breaks free?

“Good luck trying to be some hero! You can’t even stand up for yourself!”

One last time, Sean banged the door with his right palm before leaving. Placing both of his hands into his pant’s pockets, he walked toward his own room, his frustration steaming out of him like evaporating water.

Opening and closing the door shut, he wallowed in his own room like a hermit, similar to Luke. Unknowing to Sean…

Luke sniffed once, before walking toward his bed, and blanketed himself with a burden of heavy sheets.

________________________________________________________________________

(Prominis 20, 56 / 9:35PM)

Another knock bristled the dark oak wood door.

The strength was different from an hour prior, making it clear who it was behind the door. As the knock clearly held a certain strength to it, it gave Luke another reason to blanket himself from everyone.

—Just got to hold it out until tomorrow… just tomorrow…

The knocking became louder, making it seem as if she was trying to flicker off batches of the wood with her bare hands. Knocking turned to pounding, the door shook and trembled, leaving the person no choice…

But to kick the door.

The lock breaking from the excess strength, it scattered down to a random area of the floor. With the edge slamming onto the wall, it allowed in a tanned beauty.

“Get out from under there.”

She pulled her hands out of her pockets, before placing them onto her waist. Hovering over him, she stood right on the edge of Luke’s bed, churning her voice to have a more dominant tone.

Luke didn’t bulge. Keeping himself blanketed under the heaviness of his bedsheets, his body was trapped within them like a fly in a spider’s web.

“Are you going to sulk and cry? Is that what you’re going to do here for the next four years?”

—Leave me alone…

“I thought you would’ve had a better will, but I was mistaken. Guess I should’ve known you’re just a pipsqueak.”

He pressured himself even more, leading Luna to take another step. Her hands crossed underneath her chest, she had her eyes gazing down at Luke.

“You’re a pushover, a toy, someone who can be taken advantage of.”

—No more … please leave …

“And mommy ain’t going to save you.”

He poked his head out from the blanket, his stare directed toward Luna. Unwilling to stand down, his eyes glared, leading her to narrow her eyes more.

“I guess the word mommy got you out. Let me guess, your mom died during the attack?

“Where are you going with this…”

“Do you think you’re the only one having issues?”

Moving his head out, he showcased his neck and upper chest, all the while his face began to contort with rage. Keeping himself under control, he strained the words which grilled his vocals like a motor.

“Then what about you… you treat everyone like crap, and expect all of us to give you an easier time…? That makes you … full of … full …”

Luke couldn’t swear, not even a simple word which even the nicest of children use.

Leaving Luna silent, her cold demeanor began to form a more neutral one. Seeing she had trailed her eyes to the floor, Luke sighed, his eyes remaining focused on the tanned teenage girl who kept to herself.

“You’re just a maniac … I was wrong about you … David was wrong about you…”

He placed both of his bare feet on the wooden floor, as he got out of bed. Ignoring Luna, he made his way out of his own room, as the soles of his feet squeaked under the polished wood. Continuing to have her eyes averted away, she stopped him without showing, but telling.

—“My father was killed right in front of me”—

He turned to face Luna, his frustrated face fading away into the night. Setting herself on the bed, she looked down on the floor while she talked, her hands resting on the edge of the mattress.

“And all of my brothers were slaughtered when I got there.”

Keeping his ears open, he walked slowly toward the vulnerable Luna. With every step he took, his body loosened, leading his demeanor to lighten and gentle.

“And I still remember that day… those bastards who wore nothing but white … those scum … those …”

Her fists started to shake uncontrollably, her rage building up the more she remembered that hellish day. Blood, fire, ash; she remembered every second of it like a film.

As she was lost in pent up rage, Luke sat himself right next to her on the bed.

“… those … those … those—”

Luke put his left hand on top of Luna’s right hand. Just as she was about to explode, all of her rage suddenly vanquished, her vision returning to normal once she turned to look at him. His face full of concern, his voice meek yet compassionate, he was like a bandage for her heart.

“… You should’ve told me …”

She was caught off guard by Luke’s action, leading her to burn her cheeks bright red. Pulling her hand close to her chest, her mouth gawked like a chicken.

“Don’t hold my hand, you idiot!”

“Wait I wasn't trying to—”

“Dumbass…”

Getting herself off from the bed, she began walking away from Luke, her eyes set on the door. Looking down with a mean glare, she stopped in the middle of the doorframe, as she glanced at Luke once.

His eyes averted to a blank wall, his cheeks flustered a pinkish red, leading her to groan within herself.

—Should I say I’m sorry? I’m not that evil … ah to hell with it.

Keeping her head and eyes down, she placed her hands within her gray hoodie, and exited out of the room. Right as she entered the hallway, she turned to her right to see…

Every teen and kid staring at her with cheeky grins.

—God damn it…

Contorting her face back to her usual self, she had on her cold frown and eyes, as well as her glare. Trying to get them to back off, or deep down, just to leave her alone, she noticed one person who didn’t back off.

No, the girl looked pissed.

—Why’s the dumb blonde chick looking at me like that? Don’t tell me …

Luna began walking toward Hope. Her shadow casting down on her, trying to get her to fall in line, she didn’t.

“What? You mad or something? Got anything to say to my face?”

Hope had already locked eyes with Luna, her stare full of a hidden anger she never felt before. Her shy demeanor faltered just this once, as she didn’t put on a smirk or a frown.

“Whore.”

“You’re dead!”

In the span of a second, everyone huddled around Luna like vultures around a carcass. Holding her back, the commotion from outside was loud enough for the walls to liven and shine. Luke, still in his room, stood up from his bed with slowly sparkling eyes.

—If I can’t stand up for myself, I could at least stand up for others…

In the abyss of the room, he calmly walked toward the window that caught a glimpse of the city of Lagefor. The skyline wasn’t anywhere as tall as Clastine’s, with most of the building being 20 to 30 stories high. Despite this, the skyline was bustled with lights.

Placing his palm on the side of the window, the more he stared into the city, the more he saw his own reflection.

—I won’t let this city be the same as Clastine…

Turning his head, he saw the commotion at hand from his bedroom door, seeing the candidates do their best in handling Luna. Their yells and joyous laughter was enough to bring in the adults upstairs.

—And I won’t let them die too…

Walking out of his own room, he looked down toward the ground with pushed down eyes, while the lights from above shone down on him. All the candidates, including Luna, turned their attention to the young boy with red eyes.

“Sorry if Luna was being a bit angry…”

The candidates and adults looked at Luke with neutral faces. Some of them looked at him with worry, some neutral, and some, or one, glared at him. Clutching his hands together, he fiddled with his fingers and rubbed his thumbs across his knuckles.

“As an apology, how about another party? We all have some tensions between us, so maybe a little campfire?”

Moving his hands up to the back of his head, he let his fingers scrunge his hair repeatedly. Awaiting any answer, either a yes or no, he let his nervous eyes gaze at each and every candidate present.

“We’re all tired, but if you want, sure I guess.” Said Stan.

“Yeah, I could use a soda or two.” Said Miles.

“I could stay up for a while longer.” Said Jack.

“… fine … but only for the girls and drinks … n-not for you…” Said Sean.

The rest of the candidates nodded in a domino effect, agreeing with Luke’s decision. Surprisingly, Luna also voiced her opinion, her voice slightly warmer than her cold demeanor.

“As long as there's donuts…”

Hope didn’t say anything, as she walked toward him with a warm smile dawning on her face. Taking Luke’s hand, his cheeks reddened, quivering his lips to seal as she stood next to him.

Sean grumbled and looked away, his hands inside his pockets with cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk. As for Luna though…

“Stop holding hands!”

Perfectly, the rest of the candidates went downstairs, putting aside their issues and worries for the next day and after…