El stood just outside the doors as the sun sank beneath the horizon, its fading light casting a soft glow behind her. She lifted a hand in farewell, smiling gently.
"Thanks… I had fun, Luna."
Her gaze shifted to Theia, a quiet chuckle escaping her lips. "Don't worry, I won't come tomorrow. She's all yours. But I'll be back the day after."
She paused, her composure faltering. Slowly, she reached up, brushing away the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. Then she looked back at Luna, her voice softer, more sincere.
"And… Luna. Thank you."
Luna smiled, her arm anchored over Theia's shoulder and tightly holding her dress, "There's nothing to thank me… That's what friends are for, right?"
Theia looked at Luna with question marks behind her eyes; she tilted her head with a faint blush dusting her nose. "W-what for?"
A silence grew between them, and it was shattered by Luna's laughter. "No… nothing, nothing at all."
"Right—" El waved again. "See you the day after tomorrow. And get healthy!" El closed the door and disappeared into the darkness.
Theia's knuckles turned white as she clenched her hand into a fist; she frowned while looking at the door, wishing El would never come back. "Luna… go to bed. Now."
Luna, still laughing to herself, looked closely at Theia's face. "What now? Why so serious all of a sudden?"
Theia's blush disappeared, as if it had never been there to begin with. She stared at Luna in silence.
"I get it…" Luna sighed, "I'll go. Lead me, please, and I need to drink it."
They walked back into their room as complete darkness had settled in Loranthel.
***
Theia jumps right under the white duvet, by the wall, where normally Luna sleeps; she grabs the edges of it and pulls it over her head. Her whole face flushed bright red, she closed her eyes tightly shut as she took a deep breath in.
"It smells like Luna…" She remarks.
Theia pulls the duvet off her head and glances at Luna, who is drinking the alcohol that Theia brought. A spark of curiosity hit her, like a comet hitting the earth. "L-Luna… why are you really drinking it?"
Theia truly thought that by asking it she might get a chance to make Luna trust her.
"I—" Luna looked at Theia, who gazed back at her as though Luna had hung the very moon just for her.
She sighed, furrowing her brows as she scratched her temple with her thumb. "Theia—I… I didn't know how to tell you but…"
Luna looked at the empty wooden cup in her hand and at Theia, she sighed, "Nevermind…"
A heavy silence filled the room. Tears welled up in Theia's eyes, and her jaw trembled as she said, "Why… don't you trust me?"
Luna's eyes snapped to Theia's face, when she saw her tears, she muttered, "No… I didn't mean it like that—"
Her tears trickled down her face, and Luna tensed up. "I—" She tightly gripped the side of her arm and hesitated. "I… you'll think I'm a freak…"
Theia furrowed her eyebrows and said sharply, "Luna, you're my sister,"
A soft chuckle echoed through the room, unlike the one Luna usually offered the world. This one was quiet, hollow, edged with something heavier. Her hands curled into tight fists, knuckles blanching as she squeezed, as if trying to hold herself together. "I see…"
Her tears wanted to flow, but she resisted. Luna wanted to appear perfect in Theia's eyes, but… even when she gave her all, she was nothing. She could never succeed at anything. Nothing around her ever felt good enough, and it never was. Luna realized how pathetic she looked, and to her, she truly was.
She walked up to Theia and sat by her, at that moment she thought, Really, am I really worth this much?
Luna had been burying everything in herself since she woke up in this life, from hiding her illness from her father, sisters, brothers, Aisha, and even Theia. Luna thought how pathetic she was to tell El everything, a girl that she had known only for a month or so. But Theia… who was far more than El… knew nothing of it.
Luna hid her face in her palms, she tightly dug her nails into her face as red blood with particles of black spores trickled down her face. Theia immediately grabbed her wrists and pulled them away, allowing Luna to see her worried face.
Allowing Luna to see Theia's worried face, her eyebrows twitched erratically. "Luna, what are you doing?"
"I—I'm dying, Theia. I'm sorry. I won't be with you forever, like I promised."
Luna's breath hitched as Theia pulled her into a tight embrace. Theia opened her mouth to speak, but no words came, so she said nothing at all, only held Luna closer. In the quiet, Luna broke, her sobs raw and aching as they echoed through the silence.
Theia wanted to say something about Luna's lies, but she could not allow herself; she wasn't a fool like that; she understood that much. "That doesn't matter to me! You are here, and that's enough for me."
"If it weren't for you, I would have never escaped that wretched palace. They—they saw me and did nothing. Only you… you were the one who cared.
Even if you die, I'll follow you. Without your mana, I won't last anyway. So I'll stay with you, even if it means lying beside you in the tomb."
Theia tightened her arms after hearing her words; she remembered, at that time, the alchemy books. No… I won't allow you to die like me! I will study … I will. I will save you!
They sat holding each other until they fell asleep. And like that they slept until the morning came.
***
Morning light spilled softly into the room, a pale light crept across the bed, where Luna and Theia silently held themselves in a hug. They were awake for some time already, but they didn't care to get out of bed.
Theia groaned, as she looked up at Luna's face, who clearly was awake, but pretended to sleep, "L-luna, why were you drinking alcohol?"
Luna ignored the question and pretended to appear as if she was asleep, but the sweat on her face gave her away. "I know you're not asleep, tell me,"
"Eh? How…" Luna sighed while caressing Theia's white hair,
"It's… those voices… Do you have voices in your head? Like them telling you to do terrible things?"
Theia thought for a while, groaning every now and then, but she couldn't find an answer, "I don't… think so?"
"Ah, you see— I have them, and they make me do horrible things. They whisper bad things and I really hate it, so the alcohol makes them disappear, that's why," Luna forced a smile on her face, wishing for Theia to understand.
"I see…" Theia muttered and burrowed her face into Luna's chest, which made her chuckle hard, "You're so cute, Theia," Luna hugged her gently, but tightly.
"Thank you for not thinking badly of me… Thank you" Luna said, awaiting a response but Theia was already asleep, which made Luna smile uncontrollably. A simple warm smile stretched from ear to ear.
"Thank you, Theia. Thank you,"