There was an unnatural atmosphere looming over the house, almost like a cloud. It was the first thing I noticed after training in the arena. Second was that everyone in Lunaris Haven seemed a little…off. Not that that’s something unusual but normally they were loud and energetic. Always filled with so much positivity that it was practically impossible feeling miserable around here, but now…now everyone talked in a hushed tone, whispering amongst themselves in tight groups as they eyed me passing by. Eyes that were once filled with light now dulled with pity and sombre expressions. And the odd thing was…it was all aimed at me.
It felt uncomfortable to say the least, walking down the hallway with my bow slung over my shoulder, keeping my silver eyes straight ahead of me. But I tried my best to not let it all to get to me. It was clear that something had happened.
Immediately thinking about my partner, I tried to search for Astor through our connection, only to be met with powerful waves of sorrow and pain. I groaned instantly, feeling the world around me beginning to spin. I managed to grab some people's attention towards me while I leaned unsteadily against the walls. Not wanting any unnecessary attention to myself, I quickly smiled at them in reassurance as they tried to approach me. They gave me concerned looks, but returned to whatever they were doing before.
Gradually the sensation subsided. Now that, was weird. What happened to Astor? Well actually, a lot. He left the arena much earlier than I did, maybe an hour or so ago. Within that time frame something must've happened. I don’t know what, but apparently something that caused him to feel such strong negative emotions that it could fully seep through our link. To be honestly, that was a first. The emotions that we could feel from each other were always toned down a little, more so with how far away he probably was from me. And I felt really worried. Maybe he got injured badly? But that didn’t make any sense. He wasn't one to be prone to accidents, if anything I think I'm mostly the one that attracts all the bad luck. Maybe someone hurt him? But who would hurt him? No one in the Haven had any sort of grudge against him. Still it was a possibility. However if someone did dare to strike a blow on him…well let’s just say that they won't be walking properly for a while.
Running down the hallway, I made a beeline to my bedroom, using all the thoughts and concerns about my partner to block out the searing gazes of everyone around me. That was…until my ears caught something that grabbed my attention.
“Shouldn’t we tell Rhami?”
At the mention of my name, I Immediately stopped before quickly hiding behind one of the pillars nearby, pressing my body against the marble column as I inched closer to the edge to see when it came from. My silver eyes caught the speaker right away; a man with icy white hair. He was the only one standing, his back towards me as he talked to a group of people lounging around on the sofas. I could feel the desperation in his aura as he pleaded to them.
“No, it isn’t our place Azuros,” a gruff voice replied, coming from a man with black hair and a single blonde streak.
Azuros huffed in irritation as he turned his gaze to him. “But she has a right to know what happened to her.”
Wait, her? So it wasn’t Astor? And just like that, I felt the heavy feeling in my chest fade away, relief quickly taking its place. I sighed. Still the person they referred to still remained a mystery. If it wasn’t Astor then who were they talking about?
“Aurum’s right,” a firm female voice piped in, belonging to a young woman. Her long speckled tail swished back and forth behind her, “it isn’t our place.”
“But Lynxis, Rhami will—”
“Find out on her own,” Aurum cut him off. His golden eyes intensely staring up at Azuros from his leather seat.
“Besides do you know what she might do to us if we told her?” Lynxis heaved out, wrapping her tail around her waist.
“Still…we can’t just keep quiet like this…her passing will hit her hard,” Azuros sighed, his shoulders drooping in defeat.
“I agree but really, all we can do right now is let them handle it,” Aurum told him. “Where is Rhami anyway?”
“Probably still in the arena. You know how dedicated she is to her training.”
“And Astor?”
“Still in the Viewing Room; poor guy hasn’t moved since he watched the whole thing.”
I heard enough. As discreetly as I could manage, I made my way to the Viewing Room. The group’s whole conversation repeated over and over in my head like a broken record. The only thing that stood out to me was “her passing”. It echoed in my head, reverberating in my consciousness as I felt my shoulders beginning to quiver and fear’s crooked claws sunk deeply in my mind.
Someone had died.
Someone I knew.
My mind began to work out possibilities...but I already had an idea who it might’ve been. It was the only one that made sense; the only one whose connection to me that felt empty, as if it was never there in the first place. I hoped, no, I prayed that it was just a mistake. Oh God, I hope I’m wrong.
I pivoted around the corner, walking down towards the end of the corridor where the door to my destination stood. Oddly enough there was no one around. Usually it was packed with people, all watching the stories that Acute had read. Adding another peculiar aspect on the list, the red door was wide open. The light of the corridor illuminating a small area in the darkened room.
“Astor?” I called, gingerly stepping into the softly carpeted room. The space was empty, except for the dark silhouette of my partner standing in his usual form in the middle of the room, his back facing me. His aura was overflowing with despair. It was powerful enough that it was almost choking me, but I managed to block it out. Somewhat. There was a story playing on the large screen at the far wall, but I didn’t pay any attention to it. My only concern was him.
“Astor what are you doing? Are you okay?” I asked quietly, walking towards him before I kneeled down beside his figure. My eyes immediately grew wide when I caught the tears that ran down his wide, amber eyes. {Astor! What happened?} He didn’t reply. He probably didn’t even register my presence until I placed a hand on his back gently.
[R-Rhami?] Astor asked brokenly, blinking swiftly as if waking from a dream. Or rather a nightmare.
{Astor, what happened?} I asked him, weaving the uneasiness that I felt inside with the thought.
Again he didn’t respond, instead he closed his eyes and turned his head away from me. I waited patiently for an answer, my brow furrowing up in concern as I stared down at him expectantly. After a few minutes of silence between us, he opened his amber orbs once more and stared back at me distantly, as if looking at something past me. I gradually I caught his drift and followed his gaze as I glanced at the screen behind me. Just then I felt my whole body froze. My heart began to race faster than it had ever done in my life.
There...on the screen...holding a gun in her hand was my clan leader, Kyra. She was crying. Her hand quivered as she pressed the pistol against her temple.
“No…Kyra?” I muttered. Fear clenched my heart tighter as I stood up to fully face the screen. “Don’t do it Kyra…don’t you dare do it…” I begged her quietly, even though I knew full well that she wouldn’t hear me. That she couldn't hear me. I could only imagine what was going through her mind. She wouldn’t do it…would she?
Azuro’s words echoed in the confines of my mind once more.
Her Passing will hit her hard.
Her passing.
Passing.
My hands curled into a fist. It can’t be true. It just can’t…
“No…Kyra don’t…”
Suddenly her index finger twitched. My eyes went wide in horror.
“Kyra don’t do it!”
She closed her eyes.
“KYRA!”
A loud bang resounded in the room, while the all too familiar sound of a body colliding on the wooden floor boards of the clan house echoed after it. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t believe it. Kyra was…she was…
Tears stung my eyes as my vision began to blur. The strength in my legs disappeared causing me to fall to my knees. My entire focus was still glued on the screen. I just couldn’t tear my gaze away. I was still trying to wrap my head around the whole scene in front of me. It couldn’t be true. Kyra can’t just…she didn’t…
Maybe…maybe it was one of Acute’s twisted ideas? No, it couldn’t be. This was the Viewing Room. It was supposed to show visual representation of stories and events that had passed, not Acute’s ideas. But that meant…that meant that Kyra actually did—
Suddenly I felt a gentle hand touch my shoulder, derailing my thoughts while my whole stature stiffened instantly by the simple contact. All my senses heightened as I felt the new arrival’s aura beginning to fill the room with a sense of tranquillity. I knew that aura. It was her aura. Acute’s aura.
“Rhami…” Acute cooed quietly, her hand curling over my shoulder. Spontaneously, something inside of me broke loose. Something that felt familiar yet so alien to me. My hand quickly shot up towards her neck and grabbed the collar of her shirt, gripping it tightly as I slowly rose to my feet.
[Rhami!] Astor’s voice yelled in shock, but I ignored it and pushed him out of my mind. I waited for a few seconds, expecting him to grab my arm or something, but he stayed where he was. Why he didn’t do it, I didn’t really care at the moment. All I knew was that it was all Acute’s fault. She was a writer. More than that she was Kyra’s writer’s friend. She should’ve known. She could’ve stopped it. She could’ve stopped Kyra from…
I kept my head bowed, swallowing back the urge to cry as my whole frame shook with rage and shock. My fist clenched on Acute’s shirt more firmly. Oddly enough, she didn’t squirm or tried to pry my hands off her clothes. She didn’t even utter a sound of surprise. Instead Acute kept quiet, staying limp in my grasp.
Thoughts raced through my mind. I opened my mouth to say something but I couldn’t find the right words to voice out, though eventually I did. Right after a few fleeting seconds, of course. Three words, but they seemed enough to start.
“Is it true?” I asked quietly, my voice attaining a sort of gritty edge. Slowly I raised my head, locking gazes with her. Brown meeting silver. “Is Kyra…is she really?...”
Acute kept her composure as she looked back at me. Her dark chocolate orbs betraying nothing she felt or thought inside.
“Yes,” she simply replied. “Kyra is dead.”
Hearing those words coming out of her mouth, the confirmation that my friend, my sister was actually dead…it hurt. Like heck. It felt like someone ripped out my heart, threw it on the ground and ordered a herd of elephants to run over it…a thousand times. My throat tightened painfully, as I gulped slowly. I started to feel lightheaded, but still I kept my grip and my eyes at her.
“Why? Why did she have to die?” I asked her, confusion overriding my initial feeling of anger. She regarded me slowly, thinking how to reply.
“It was just her tim—”she tried to say before I quickly cut her off.
“DON’T GIVE ME THAT CRAP! YOU AND I KNOW THAT SHE DIDN’T DESERVE THIS SORT OF END!” I yelled before my voice gradually decrescendoed into a shaky whisper. The sudden burst of adrenaline from sudden outburst faded while my grip on her collar began to loosen up. “She didn’t deserve this sort of burden! She didn’t deserve this…sh-she didn’t deserve any of this…”
Without any sort of warning I felt Acute’s arms wrap around me firmly, holding me close. I froze in her embrace. My eyes grew wide in surprise.
“I know,” she muttered her voice quivering faintly at the end. I tried to catch a fleeting look at her face, seeing the small glistening tear escaping from the corner of her eyes. Slowly it made its way down to her chin. “Trust me…I know how you feel…and if I knew that this was how Kyra’s writer would choose how to end it all, I would’ve gladly tried to persuade her.” She paused, stepping back as she looked into me intently. She was trying to remain strong, struggling to stop more tears from seeping out from her tear ducts. I could see it by how much she clenched her jaw. “But I didn’t, and for that I am sorry Rhami…I’m so sorry…I know how much she meant to you…I know how much they all meant to you.”
“A-Acute,” I choked out. I didn’t know what to say. Then again what was there to say? She was honest. I knew that her apology to me was genuine. Then again she was always honest. Always.
I could also feel the pain that she hid behind her barriers. I grazed it briefly before she covered it once more, though it was more than enough. I felt that she was grieving as well; grieving for Kyra, for the clan, for everything that happened. She really did care about everyone on Freeborn, both the writers and gladiators. But now that the clan was officially disbanded, it broke her. I knew how much she loved them all. I knew how much it was tearing her apart.
