Chapter 8: Unending Loop
November 16, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Purple Hyacinth
Julia, can you take over Ethan's training today? Thanks. The message blinks over the screen and I sigh. I was planning to go visit Mom today... Twilight has 2 separate pieces of land, one larger and one smaller, located 15 minutes away from each other. The smaller piece of land is for the Star unit, having only a building for trainings and another building for staying, with a thick forest in the other area for field training. The other piece of land is for everyone else. It has 15 resident buildings for 40 people and 5 training buildings. The buildings are all surrounded by forest and none of the Twilight members know about where each building is, how many buildings there are, or who lives in them, for safety reasons. The only people who are allowed to have the information about it is only the Star, which Ethan is not yet one. But Andrew still gave him the map. It is not much of a concern if we all are sure that he is trustable, but Andrew giving hm the map so early just doesn't sit right with me. "What are you supposed to be focusing today?" I ask Ethan when he arrives at one of the normal training buildings. "Andrew can't be here today." He nods. "We finished close combat last time..." "Do you want to move on to something else or just do the same thing?" "I guess I can spend one more day on close combat..." "Aren't you going a bit too harsh on him?" a voice says as I look down at Ethan on the ground. "Andrew," I mutter as I turn to see him at the door. "You take over from here. He still needs to focus on many things. I'm out." I walk past Andrew, taking note of time and deciding whether I should go visit Mom, still. "Where are you going?" "Research," I lie. Except Solis has other plans. Execution order: 201 202 205 301 302 Find out as many information about Dawn's strategist as possible. I sigh quietly. "Order from Solis," I correct myself and I swear I can see a small smirk on Andrew's face as he walks into the room. "We have a meeting today at 11," he reminds. Today, years ago, is the day that Mom died. So it's a shame I wil not be able to make it. A shame, really. "Anna?" I can't help but be surprised that she is inside the cell, meant for traitors. I never expected her to be here. "Julia," she says, her voice coarse and dry. There is a solemn smile on her face. "You've grown." Anna used to be my first trainer, before I got to train under Mom and then Andrew. She was a Lunar, one of the best, but she got sick and her rank dropped, once a year. But she is the last person I expect to see as a traitor. She hates betrayal. She hates traitors. She hates rats. So why is she one? "Why did you betray us?" I ask coldly, putting on a composure. "No... that's not what I'm here for. Who are you working for? Is it Dawn?" She smiles, shaking her head. "None. I work for myself." "What?" "I tried killing Solis," she says. "Solis?" I crouch down, sitting in a squat position against the door. "You have met him?" She smiles, catching on that I have no idea who Solis is. Not that I shouldn't have admitted that, since no one should know him. "That reminds me... Today..." My lips are pressed into a thin line before turning down into a frown. "I know." "Did you visit Cathy?" "No." "Why not?" "Enough with the questions," I cut her off. "So you don't work with Dawn, do you?" "Nope." "I see," I take out my knife. "Then goodbye." I no longer feel compassion. Not for traitors. After all, they are just some disgusting devil. There is a deep slit in her throat, deep enough to kill her, but shallow enough to have her breathing painfully even as I leave the cell. How dare she mentions Mom? "Do you work for Dawn?" I ask, not wasting another minute as I push in the metal door. "I-" he says and I smile. "Tell me, how long have you been working for them?" "Half a year..." "Do you know about... the new strategist?" "Strategist?" "That sounds like a no," I tilt my head. "How did you get in to work for them?" "I..." "If you don't tell me, I'll kill you," I say after he hesitates for a while. "Aren't you going to kill me anyway? What's the difference?" he asks in a panicked voice, shaking and all. "I'll make it painless," I shrug. "It's not in my position to decide whether you get to die or not, but I get to decide how you die." "I just searched for it online," he answers. "It's the first result that shows up." Dawn... You really are not scared of marketing your evil organization, huh? And it's absolutely true. I search it up on my phone as the guy regrets having told me a way to infiltrate their organization. "Thanks. Now, how do you want to die?" Now that I've walked up close enough to see his face, I kind of recognize it. It's the Planet that has been staring at me while I facilitate his training along side other Planets. The one with the weird stare... I think. "Can I tell you the reason why I wanted to betray Twilight first?" he asks. It is a stretch, but since I won't have anything else to do after I kill this guy other than kill the other guys, I allow it. "It won't save you, I hope you are aware of that." He nods. "I- I admire you. I have been for a while now... so I thought... if I could bring Twilight down... you'll be free... and..." "Hold up," I interrupt. "How old are you?" "23." "Ew. No," I look at him in disgust. This shithead is old. Does he not know that? "So how do you want to die?" "How do you want to die, Julia?" "The most painful deaths ever, possibly by poison," I answer without a second thought. "Or explosion." "Should I be concerned at how you answered so quickly?" Concerned? "None of which I have, so choose your death." "You don't carry poison?" "Not the painful kind. You want it?" "If you were to kill yourself right now, what would you choose?" "What?" I ask, the disgusted expression still on my face. "Why?" "Just pick one please, Julia. And kill me already..." My mouth twitches even more. How the hell does a person have such a strong will to die so quickly...? And without fear...? This guy is a monster... I sigh an exasperated sigh before walking over, taking a small vial out of my pocket. I wanted to save this for later... "Don't struggle," I order before injecting the liquid into the back of his throat. He still does, though. "I said, don't move." The second I step back to observe the effects, his head falls onto the ground, his mouth foaming. It's pretty much expected... "Huh, interesting," Kristy's voice echoes in the hall as I step out, peaking into the guy's cell that I just came out of. "Say, is that a new...?" "Uh huh," I nod, frowning. "Why do you have that with you?" she asks and I freeze. "You're not trying to do something stupid, are you?" "Something stupid? Like what?" "I dunno, like killing yourself?" I don't dare to turn and look at her. I don't know what kind of face I'm making. I don't know how to answer her. I don't think I am. But it's not like I've never thought of it. "I still got more people to take care of." "You took too long, Andrew already disposed of the ones in warehouse 3." "I did?" "You took an hour to dispose of only 2. Andrew told me to come check on you." So there's only one left. "S-Sorry..." I mutter as I walk away. "Tell him I'm sorry." "For what?" "For having him to cover for me." "Really? I think it's fair..." Kristy says, following me. "I mean, he did have you cover him on training Ethan."***
"I won't be joining the meeting today... I think I'm sick..." I lie as I walk into my room, locking the door when I close it. There's nothing new to life. Nothing that is special... Nothing that is amazing. Nothing worth memorizing. Nothing worth living for. Nothing... Nothing. Man, why don't you just go die?
