Chapter 3: Dead for Years
November 2, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Purple Hyacinth
The last bell signals the end of the school day and I pack up my supplies into the leather bag that hung from the side of my student desk, getting up from my seat as soon as the congestion at the door starts to clear up, exiting the class, then outside the building, and the school gates. The sky outside is just beginning to dim as evening is about to approach, I turn the corner and enter a small empty flower shop. "Usual," I say plainly as I push in the glass door, noticing the new staff and frown to myself. "Flowers for mother figure." The lady nods. I watch her as she hustles around, picking up one flower after the other, each one I don't know what they are, and less about their meanings. I'm not about to look into them or ask her anyway. These temporary beauty don't interest me. They'll rot in a week or less, leaving me something to clean up after. After a while of silence, she gently puts the flower bouquet onto the counter. "Do you know where the lady before you went?" The lady shakes her head. To be honest, I don't really know why I am asking or why I even care. I don't even know her name, and that's to begin with. I give her the usual amount that I previously paid and she nods. As I leave the shop with the bouquet in my arms, my mind wanders to the woman that worked there for longer than I've been getting my flowers, she was still working last week when I came to get the flowers... Why do I care? The train ride to outside the city is peaceful and quiet, the occasional rattling soothing as I take out my homework to look over, then sigh, and then stop myself from tearing it apart and to actually work on it. The moment I step off the train and onto the platform, cold and fresh wind rushes past my face. I frown at the harsh wind. The sky is already the shade of pink as I continue walking for at least 10 minutes in the empty street. It's a peaceful and safe feeling... I think... "Hey, mom," I say as I kneel down onto the grass in front of a lifeless representation of what is supposed to be 'my mother figure'. "Remember last week when I told you that I am attending school because Andrew forced me to? Well, today was my first day. It was horrible," I roll my eyes, smiling plainly. "How are you? Are you lonely? Are you bored?" I wait. As if she would reply... As if she would revive and answer my questions. "I'm sorry, I don't think you'll have anyone else visiting you... everyone in Twilight hates you after all... So you need to bear with me being here every single week..." I continue to ramble on and on. It had been quite a long time since she'd died and I don't feel much about it. I can even barely remember, now that I think about it. All that I know is that she was killed in front of my eyes. As for who killed her... Andrew. I stare at the caller's ID, sighing as I press the 'receive' button. "Julia speaking." "Where are you? We're about to start the Star test in an hour," he asks. "Heading there. I'm 5 minutes away," I reply as I hang up. I sigh once again when I put down my phone. "I need to go now... I'll see you next week, mom." I sit there quietly for another minute before paying her respect one last time and standing up to leave the cemetery with the old bouquet of flowers in my hand, throwing it away at the nearest trashcan and heading to where I am supposed to be during the mission when it plays out. "Is every Lunar ready?" I ask through the comms link, scanning my monitors to see if anything is off. "Yep," Kristy replies in a casual tone. "All good from this side." "Why do I even need to do this, back in my days--" I start to complain and I hear laughters. "What?" "You're saying it like you're old, Julia," Jennison says. "Well, I can't say anything... So the mission is a go-ahead?" "Affirmative." The main purpose of this mission is to observe and see how each and different current Lunar does while on a field mission, and if one does amazing and stand out, then they will move higher up the rank: to be Star, which is Andrew's, Jennison's, Kristy's, and my level. There isn't anyone that seems to be making it to that level at this point, but I guess as they say, you'll never know. Except, I already know. None of them exceeded our expectations. "Ethan did the best, but his strengths are still not enough to be Star..." I comment. Now we're back in the shared room, having our small debrief and decisions making. "But since he has the most potential, I'd say we reserve the spot for him and have him trained to that level." "Agreed," Kristy nods. "Does anyone want to take the job?" "I can," Andrew offers. "And... that's the end of the mission debrief, head to sleep, everyone," Kristy claps and we all head to our rooms. "Julia, were you visiting her today?" Andrew asks, crossing his arms as he looks at me for an answer from the outside of my door. "No, let me reword the question... Why?" "Why not?" I reply coldly as I continue scanning the personal information on my screen. This list of names will take at least a month to go over. "Why? Does it trouble you?" His frown deepens as I hear something similar to an exasperated groan. "She was a traitor." "So?" "And she's dead." "So...? Your point is...?" "I don't want to know that you visit her again. This is going to be the last time, or you can anticipate your name to be on the suspected traitor for execution list," he finishes with the same unimpressed expression. It's not like this is unexpected. I knew that this would be what would happen one day, if not today then later. But some part in me hoped. Hoped that there is a word called 'forgive' in this society, in this organization. But it's not like I myself can forgive. After all, I still hold onto grudge even from a decade ago, refusing to let go no matter what happens. No matter if they are all already dead. No matter if I have already gotten revenge. No matter if I already killed them all by my own two hands.
