She felt so ill. She didn’t want to move or do anything, just stay in that bed. But she also knew that she had to do the application for the protectors before Justin came back on Friday, six days from now.

  She groaned and gripped the covers tightly like it was her lifeline. Her tears streamed down her cheeks more, staining the covers, making it more heavy than before as if her emotions were coming out in reality.

  ***

  Justin was in his car, driving along the motorway. He thought about Skyler and how much she has lost. He was saddened by what happened. While he continued to think about it, he got angrier about how long he took to get there. “Calm down, Justin,” he muttered to himself.

  The landscape was filled with plants. Justin thought it was boring. Nothing changed, just the same plants. He sighed and tapped on the steering wheel. Trying to entertain himself on his journey back to the Lux sector from the Vita sector.

  When he got to the security barrier to a different sector. He saw a see-through brown shield which was dividing the two sectors from each other. A security guard stepped out of a booth. “Papers please, sir” he said and Justin rolled down his window, whipping out his badge with the six animals engraved on it. “A detective in the Vita sector? How peculiar…” he muttered, confused.

  “Why are you here? Did you get injured during a fragment encounter, or something?” He asked with curiosity. Justin stared at him. The security guard nodded, knowing that he shouldn’t push anymore. “Right it’s not my business” he said, shaken by Justin’s stare.

  Justin shook his head and smiled. “No, I wasn't injured.” He felt a pain in chest knowing that he should tell the security guard the truth. But also he knew that he ranked higher than him “it’s classified.”

  The security guard scoffed and rolled his eyes, annoyed “I knew you were going to say that” he grumbled and went towards a lever. He pulled on it. The shield rumbled as it was pulled apart. It slowly rose to the sky. “Have fun, mister protector…” he said with disgust. Justin sighed “you know if you wanted to be promoted to a detective then you shouldn’t be like this” he said as he drove through the barrier.

  As it shut, skyscrapers dripped water onto the floor. The water created fountains and artwork on the floor. “God I hate water,” Justin muttered.

  ***

  A day passed after Justin left. Skyler finally got out of bed and into her own clothes. The surroundings were not to die for. The room wallpaper was a pale white, which made her feel even more lonely. It was like she was locked up in prison for failing to save her own father.

  The beeping of the heart machine gave Skyler a headache. It was like little needles sticking in her head. She groaned, took the pillow, and pushed it over her ears to try to block the sound.

  There was a mirror leaning against the wall. She got out of bed, walked over to it, and saw how much she looked like a zombie. Her sleep deprived face was a far cry from her usual gleeful and longing for adventure self. Skyler hated how she looked with the hospital gown on her, and her hair was such a mess she couldn’t see through it properly.

  While she was distracted by her image, someone knocked on the door.. “Can we come in, miss amberlight?” a voice called out from the other side of the locked door.

  Skyler turned and yelled “yes, you can!” The door slid open to reveal the same nurse that treated her before. A woman with violet hair, purple eyes, and cat ears was behind her. Skyler blushed at how beautiful the woman was. She felt so inferior to her, like how the woman had things figured out but Skyler didn’t have anything.

  No family, no friends, just her. That broke her heart even more. Skyler gulped and shuffled back, trying to make more space between her and that woman. “Who are you?” Skyler asked.The woman took out a scroll from her pocket, rolled it out and showed its contents to Skyler.

  “My name is Hannah Nightingale” she came closer and reached out her hand to Skyler “I’m from the Aqua lawyers.” Skyler took Hannah’s smooth hand and shook it. When she did, Skyler looked down at the floor: hiding her face from Hannah. “A-ah nice t-to meet you,” Skyler said.

  Hannah chuckled at the stammering “what’s wrong? I don’t bite” she said gently. Skyler took a breath and looked at her, letting go of her hand “why are the Aqua lawyers here” Skyler thought, then widened her eyes.

  “You know why I’m here, right?” Skyler nodded and softly asked “are you here for the will of my foster father?” Hannah nodded and opened her bag, getting out a scroll. She handed it to Skyler, who read it out loud.

  “Dear Miss Amberlight, we are writing to you about your two wills. Your adoptive father’s and your biological mother’s” her voice trembled. Skyler gripped the scroll tighter, making it more wrinkled “please come to the Aqua sector to collect them.” She took a deep breath and her legs trembled, losing strength. “From the aqua lawyers”

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  As Skyler finished reading, she collapsed onto her knees and screamed her heart out “why?!” her heart shattered when she read that, she felt that everything was over for her. She clenched the letter onto her chest to grab something tangible to keep herself from breaking in front of Hannah. Tears stream down her face slowly blurring her vision.

  They hit the ground with a soft thud, Hannah noticed but didn’t say. She had experienced this many times with other clients she had. Hannah felt sorry for skyer, knowing it wasn’t easy to lose a loved one. Hannah looked at her watch seeing the time was 7:30pm she softly coughed.

  “I’m sorry” Skyler said shakily, Hannah just shook her head. “No need to apologise, everyone cries for their loved ones” Hannah stuck her hand out to help Skyler stand. Skyler took it and stood up again, smiling at Hannah.

  Skyler looked at Hannah’s hand and saw an engagement ring on her finger. “Congratulations” Hannah smiled and put her hand close to her chest “thanks, this was a shock when my fiancé proposed,” Hannah said with a gentle blush.

  Hannah coughed and looked at Skyler “anyway I will be seeing you there, Skyler.” Hannah flicked her fluffy purple hair back and went back to the door. The nurse opened it for her to exit. “See you soon”

  Skyler nodded “yeah…” and the door shut, leaving Skyler alone with her thoughts.

  ***

  When she was younger, before Mr Richardson took her in, Skyler used to live with her mother in a small apartment in the Terra sector, near Francis university.

  Skyler felt happy whilst remembering the smell of coal from the fireplace in the lounge. She put out her small hands towards the fire. She felt the warmth of the fire, which made her feel warm and comfortable.

  She thought “where’s mother?” The door opened and Skyler looked towards the lounge door. There, she saw a woman standing with a soft smile “Skyler, why are you up so late? Naughty girl” the woman said with a stern voice

  Skyler chuckled but felt guilty for staying up late “sorry, mum…” she stood up and held her arm. “I just…” she took a sharp breath “felt scared because you weren’t here” her mother smiled, walked over to her and hugged her warmly.

  “Skyler, I know” she whispered and picked her up. “But I have important things,” Skyler nodded and gripped her mother’s collar. “B-but” Skyler said and her mother just shook her head. Skyler felt happy but sad at the same time. “Why does mum need to go out really late?”

  “Mum, why are you always late? Skyler with a curious expression that took her mother’s breath away “you’re only an archivist” She said while being carried down the hallway, and up the old rickety stairs. “Well, sometimes it takes time to put relics in boxes” her mother said while chuckling lightly.

  “Okay mum! Just be careful, "Skyler smiled happily. But in her mother’s mind it was a whirlwind of emotions “Skyler, you don’t know who you are yet” she looked at Skyler. She saw the little girl’s eyes droop and she smiled. Skyler smiled back “but when you do you mustn’t go anywhere” she felt like shit for not telling Skyler who she was but knew that she couldn’t interfere. “where you have to get blood drawn out of you”

  She placed Skyler onto her bed and kissed her forehead gently. “Goodnight sweetie, have pleasant dreams” she said gently. Skyler squirmed In her bed, trying to get a comfortable position. “Goodnight mum” Skyler said sleepily while her mother went out of the room.

  The next morning, when Skyler started to wake up, the light of the sun breached through the crack of the curtains. “Too bright… need more sleep” she moaned. Hiding her face, she felt so comfortable like nothing was important. She softly sighed but then her watch began to make loud noises.

  “Shut up” she said and started to flop her arms around trying to reach for the watch. Until she accidentally fell off her bed. The impact made her feel embarrassed and annoyed. “Great… I’m awake,” she said with slightly opened eyes. She pushed herself off the carpet floor, and looked at the mirror on the dressing table. Skyler groaned when she saw her hair in knots and messed up. She hated how her hair got messy easily.

  She grinned mischievously, and looked at her own shadow while her eyes changed colour. Tendrils of misty blackness rose behind her and started to brush her hair. “Love umbra magic!” She giggled softly while bowing to her shadow. “Thanks” she whispered. Skyler felt like she could do anything with her magic. When she blinked, her eyes returned to their natural oceanic beauty.

  She grabbed a coin on the table and, while putting it on top of her thumb and hand, Skyler grinned. “Yeah, railguns will never exist.” she pinged it up into the air and flicked it with her thumb towards the wall. “But I wish that i could meet her to see who would be the winner” she felt that she could beat anyone who stood in her way like she was a god.

  “Because I will beat her,” she said with certainty. She got out of her room, down the dusk, damp hallway, towards the stairwell. Skyler lightly pressed her feet on the floorboards of the stairs to make it not creak when walking down it. Skyler hated the sound of creaking. It made her feel uncomfortable and nervous.

  Then her worst nightmare came true. The stairs started to creak loudly, which made her feel so much more uncomfortable than she already was. Suddenly the patter of rain hit the windows near her, which made Skyler’s skin crawl with goosebumps and a cold sweat came over her.

  “There wasn’t any forecast for rain today” she mumbled while the air began to cool. Skyler shivered and got to the bottom of the staircase. She made her way to the kitchen. “I need food” Skyler thought. Her stomach was growling.

  When she got to the kitchen she saw her mother slicing sausages and frying eggs. The aroma made Skyler drool and sat down at the table. “What's the occasion for this, mum?” She asked impatiently. Her mother giggled and smiled “why can’t I just spoil my daughter?”

  Skyler shook her head and smiled joyfully “no, you can spoil me!” She giggled. The smell was incredible, the sizzling of the sausage and the egg as they were being put on a plate. They were too much for Skyler’s senses to handle.

  “I’m going to die” Skyler’s mother put the plate on the table in front of Skyler “here you go sweetie, be careful it’s still hot” Skyler nodded and began to eat carefully, using her knife and fork, while blowing on the food with every bite of the juicy sausage.