15

Facalor & Her Relucant Puppet

As a silver mist swirled above the bed’s canopies, the room tried to redirect its sight out of utter fear. 

The desolate and emotionless queen, Luna, rested while sitting on the mattress’s rim.

Close by her sat someone of eerily identical features, the only differences being her crimson eyes and longer hair.

“What’s this I see, you have guests over?! Resting her limp hand over Luna’s neck, Facalor giggled, waving her fan.

Moving away from the cold presence, she levitated towards the center of her bed, lying down on the crimson bedsheet.

“Speak your mind, you filthy rat,” Luna demanded quietly with a hint of frustration, her left eye twitching.

As Facalor kicked her feet in joy, she rested her head on her arms, smiling mildly.

Her eyes filled with satisfaction. “Now, is that any way to ask for a favor?” 

Beneath her long silver hair, Luna continued to exhale in sorrow, staring at the glossy floor below. 

“Oh, how I can’t wait to silence you.” She whispered, her tone still unable to move far from the moon’s illumination. 

Facalor got on her knees and reached for her back, resting her head on her shoulder. 

Wrapping her hands around Luna, she grinned. “Is that all you know how to say?” 

Feeling her tightening grasp and cold breath by her ear, Luna clenched her fist.

“I could tear your spine out and use it as a jump rope if you’d prefer.” With her unblinking and darkened eyes, she slowly turned to Facalor's wide smile.

“Let me think about it.” She paused for a moment, pursing her lips. “Yeah, no thanks.”

Luna ground her teeth. 

“Stop wasting my time.” 

Facalor raised her hands in sarcasm, giggling as she levitated to the other side.

“I’m simply saying that you should go greet your guests.” She whined, quickly getting in Luna’s face with puckered lips and laughing eyes.

“I won’t fall for your tricks.” Gathering her breath and returning to stare at the floor, she murmured. 

“No tricks at all.” Turning her transparent body, she sat down beside Luna. “I was only wondering if you’re interested in the kid.” 

As silence slithered its way across the room, accelerating as if in a rush, Luna’s eyes began to open wide.

“Kaito, was it?” Facalor put her finger below her chin, chuckling loudly. 

The silence snapped—a powerful burst. 

Luna lunged towards the ghost, reaching for her neck. “Don’t you dare touch him–”

Shatter!

As glass shards fell onto a black void, the pressure around Luna’s neck suddenly began to tighten. Suffocating amongst the vanishing oxygen, she looked at what she was holding.

“Oh, dear Luna, you must stop letting emotions get the better of you.” Facalor smiled from the small, broken mirror, half-merged with her own reflection like melted gold. 

Gasp! 

Luna returned to looking away, desperately gasping for air, her hands still stretching the mirror as far as possible. 

Struggling in balance, she lunged her foot backward and lowered the hand mirror. “Haunt me all you want, but I won’t allow you to make anyone else your puppet.” 

“I find it ironic that the random help Neoma brought just so happened to be the key to both our liberations.” Facalor used her other hand to grab onto the mirror’s rim, popping her head outside. “Maybe, just maybe, Neoma and her friends know more than you think.”

From the thick ripples below to the large red spider lilies, the surroundings began to glitch, spiking up and down. 

Luna looked into her eyes reluctantly, bleeding from the corners of her lip. 

“Are you suggesting betrayal?” 

“Perhaps for you, but it’s salvation for me.” Facalor laughed drastically.

She lunged towards her, pushing both the mirror and the blood below towards her, and brought the space to a red end. 

Breaking out of the illusion, Luna stumbled backward and crashed against her bed’s thick pillar and fell onto her knees; now having a bruise all around her neck. 

And when the mirror’s glass shattered against the floor, an attendant opened the door in a rush. “What happened, your majesty?!”

As her pale hands grasped against the cold floor, smearing blood trails, Luna gave in to the misery and began crying uncontrollably. 

Then, after a second of broken breathing, she let out an anguished screech. 

One that reached the lingering moon.

Four floors below, Kaito’s body twitched for a moment, drenching him in concern.

Is someone up there, he wondered as he looked up at the ceiling, his eyes lost in thought. 

Upon his steady breaths, his shoulders shivered again.

No, there’s definitely someone hiding, he continued, crossing his arms to stop the cold shiver over his spine.