(Kalemonath 13, 45 / 9:23PM)

  Several minutes after David’s words of encouragement, Kenichi y on top of his old cotton bed.

  Having his hands underneath his head, he stared up at the stone ceiling, as the old mundane window overlooked the adobe garden. Unable to sleep, he kept his quivering eyes staring deeper into the little creaks and cracks of the old stone.

  Turning his body over, as he settled the right side of his face on the pillow, he heard a small knock.

  Pulling back his arms and hands, he sat himself up, his bottom on the edge of the hard mattress. The butt of his palms gripping the cotton, he turned his head to the door which creaked open, his eyes widening at the small hand gripping the handle. With the door half wide, a little girl stood in between the hallway and Kenichi’s room, a girl with monolid eyes and bck hair.

  (Kenichi) Jenny? S-Shouldn’t you be in bed?

  (Jenny) Iris is being mean!

  (Kenichi) Well … she’s your older sister, so she’s supposed to lecture you.

  Walking into the room, the five-year-old girl let her ft wedges flop along the old wood, causing the floor to softly creak. Reaching in front of Kenichi, she crossed her arms under her chest, wearing a white nightgown dress she wore for sleeping.

  Furrowing his brow shyly, Kenichi clutched his hands together over his knees, hunching his back to make himself smaller. Even though Jenny was tiny, he felt her confidence overshadowed him by a longshot.

  (Jenny) I don’t like my sister! She’s big and mean! And she’s fat!

  (Kenichi) Hey, don’t call her fat, she’ll kill you.

  Jenny puffed her cheeks like a chipmunk, closing her eyes and turning her head away out of pure frustration. Loosening his hands, he scratched the right side of his face and cheek, his nails clubbing out loose dust and dirt from training prior.

  Averting his eyes away from the little girl, Kenichi let his stare turn to the tip of his brown boots.

  (Kenichi) Both you and her don’t get along well huh …

  (Jenny) She hits me! I don’t like it when people hit me!

  (Kenichi) You have a point, but there’s always a reason…

  Kenichi got up from his mattress, pushing his body up with just the strength of his upper body. Letting the soles of his feet harden under the old wooden floor, he moved his hands to his knees, as he patted his pants to scurry out patches of dust and dirt.

  Pushing up a warm smile, he extended his hand out toward Jenny, who let go of her crossed arms.

  (Kenichi) Come on, I got to take you back to Iris.

  (Jenny) I hate sleeping with her! She snores!

  (Kenichi) I know she—wait … she snores?

  (Jenny) Even father and mother tell her to be quiet!

  (Kenichi’s thoughts) No wonder her voice gets raspy in the mornings…

  Kenichi chuckled to himself, as he let his left hand scrunch and ruffle his hair with his pale fingers. His right hand was still extended, Jenny’s hands were still down low to her waist, her bratty nature continuing to make him feel smaller.

  But he couldn’t bow down to a five-year-old girl, his pride wouldn’t allow it.

  Taking a step forward, he let his eyes trail down onto the reluctant Jenny, who let her mouth slightly open. Not having a gre or frown marked on his face, he continued to warmly smile at her, with not a trace of hostility and frustration in his voice.

  (Kenichi) Please, Jenny, you have to go to bed. I have sparring tomorrow…

  Huffing out a patch of air from her lungs, Jenny csped her hand with Kenichi’s, her eyes sludging down in defeat. As he escorted himself and her out of his room, they began walking toward the first floor, with the lights of the hallway shining and radiating the way.

  Seeing she remained quiet, Kenichi cleared his throat and loosened his fingers with her hand, allowing her skin and knuckles to fully breathe.

  (Kenichi) I know Iris is mean and snores, but people tend to—

  (Jenny) When will I sleep with you?

  Kenichi stopped, his boots on the edge of the staircase which led to the first floor.

  Her reason, for entering the inside of his room, was to sleep peacefully and soundly in the same bed as him. As this conclusion jinxed up in his mind, he slightly tightened the grip along her hand, but not enough for her to wrinkle her face.

  As he cleared his throat.

  (Kenichi) … Just continue sleeping with Iris for now. She will say the same thing too.

  Jenny pushed down her eyes, as she stared at the wooden staircase with darkened eyes. Being a brat in her prime, her body shriveled from a fast frustration but dwelled it down to her body like a vault.

  As both of them began their descent down the stairs, Kenichi took one st gnce at the frustrated Jenny.

  (Kenichi’s thoughts) I’m a teen and she’s a kid. There’s no way she’ll get that wish.

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  (Reverence 6, 59 / 8:04PM)

  (Luna and Jenny)

  Both women gazed upon the ginger-haired man in front of them. His swords tched with rotating chainsaw bdes, released ember upon ember of sparks from the cshing of metal.

  The early night dawning upon them, the sun was already settled underneath the horizon, leaving the Western sky to tint a pinkish-orange glow. Like watching the st glint of hope, it left the two of them feeling empty, feeling like their stomachs sunk into a dark endless pit.

  (Luna’s thoughts) I’m not strong enough … I can’t …

  (Jenny’s thoughts) Oh, Kenny…

  Their fingers, twitching, and curling … could they defeat the monster before them?

  Taking another step back, Luna balled her fists and closed her eyes, wrinkling her face like she ate something sour. Her breath stuck in her throat, her head tilted away, and she parched her lips from the air she breathed out once. Wanting to escape, wanting to run, wanting to ball herself from the dire situation she was now in…

  (Luna’s thoughts) Luke … please—

  Luna’s world went silent.

  And she saw the world in an everflowing paste of white. Amidst the pitch-white background, she turned—

  Jenny wasn’t with her.

  Seeing she was all alone, furthered her desire to look around, her mind in a dazed panic. Balling her fists, Luna screamed into the bnk white void, which sprawled and crawled throughout the endless horizon.

  (Luna) Hello!

  Despite nothing sustaining the floor, she heard the cmp of her boots thudding the ground. Echoing across every direction possible, her voice trailed further and further as if it enacted the speed of light.

  (Luna) Anyone!

  With nothing to see, but seeing everything in this pne of nothing, she couldn’t walk. Too panicked to move, too scared to cry, she huffed out air from her chest like a failed motor. Like a child lost in a shopping mall, her nose began to lightly sniffle, but…

  Her body goosed, her hands uncurling from her palms once she felt another pair of boots trickling the white nothing floor. Spinning her body, she looked at…

  A boy, looking to be scrawny and somewhat pale.

  (Luna’s thoughts) Ha…

  Her vision blurring, she raised her hands to her eyes, twisting and rubbing them with her silence worsening. Quivering her lips, her feet numbing from the ck of blood flowing through her legs, her knees buckled once her vision began to clear up.

  She remembered that same boy, a boy who loved to read, a boy she babied and nurtured like a second mother.

  (Luna’s thoughts) Armin…

  The boy raised his right hand, while his left wielded a rge bck and brown book, filled with hundreds of pages of infinite imagination. Waving his hand, he had on a neutral smile, a smile she had longed to see ever since that painful day.

  No anger dwelled within her heart, she had nothing but worry and longing, which only lit up a brightening fme.

  And with her soul ignited, she pushed all the muscles within her legs and feet, her calves and thighs bulging with every step she pounded on the white-nothing floor.

  (Luna) Armin!

  Both her eyelids held the dam of tears from pouring out, straining her scleras into a pinched red. Abandoning all will to fight, forgetting all of her present memories, only one thought of her came to mind.

  Seeing her youngest brother’s smile, and his calm demeanor, her lungs stabbed and hardened as her chest couldn’t sustain her fastened wheezing.

  (Luna) Armin!!

  At long st, she hugged him.

  Her arms wrapping around his entire body, she pced her head below his shoulder, her fingers gripping the cotton of his pin white shirt and blue pants. Taken aback by her demeanor, Armin let his right hand settle on his older sister’s head, his pale palm smoothing out her bck hair.

  As the dam failed.

  Chuckling, the tears holding up within her eyes poured out like a rapid river, flooding her chest and neck as well as drenching her jacket and shirt. Grabbing him like a lifeline, he moved his hand back and forth along her head, his body feeling warm from her warm tears.

  (Armin) I don’t have many regrets, but…

  Dropping the book he carried, the bottom of it smmed on the floor, as it tilted itself onto his ankle. His left hand free, he wrapped it around her upper back, feeling her body heat up the more her tears flowed down to the white nothing floor.

  Spshing onto her boots and his shoes, along with the rge book.

  (Armin) I wish I told you more of my stories…

  She never wanted this feeling to go away. His gentle patting, his warm body being drenched against the flow of her tears, made her lose the avatar she cultivated for the past six years. Controlling her wheezing, she sniffled once more, before she loosened her head from his shoulder.

  (Luna) I should’ve gone with you…

  Her fingers wanted to trench into his shirt, into the cotton, she couldn’t pry herself off of him. Why should she? After so long, she felt her brother’s body and spirit, as she turned her head so her right cheek pressed onto his chest.

  Her face was red, her nostrils running hot mucus entrenched from her throat, she felt her mind go numb from the ck of oxygen she wasted.

  (Luna) I should’ve gone with all of you … I never … should’ve gone with—

  (Armin) Don’t bme yourself, it’s ok.

  Moving both of his hands away from her head and her back, he pced them along her muscur yet slim shoulders. Feeling her shoulder bdes, which hardened without the need for flexing or carrying, his smile allowed his cheeks to push up.

  Along with his eyes, leading them to sparkle as he contained his tears.

  (Armin) If you had gone with us, you would’ve died too, and you wouldn’t be as strong as you are now.

  (Luna) But…

  (Armin) Hey…

  Pushing her head to tilt up, her reddened eyes and loose nostrils gazed upon the boy with dark brown hair. His skin was paler than hers, yet his eyes had the same eye color, he had them staring deep into his.

  Catching the fme with his pupils, all he wanted to do was to harvest it for the greater good. Twirl it, train it, he narrowed his eyes slightly, but not enough so that his warm demeanor faded away.

  (Armin) Me, Dad, and everyone else have been watching over you. We all know you can do this.

  (Luna) He’s too…

  (Armin) Strong? We all saw your fight with him, but Luna…

  Grazing his palms along her shoulders and upper back, he felt the harsh training she cultivated within her slim body. Having his arms wrapped around her, as her knees bruised deep into the white-nothing floor, she could feel her nails loosen her grip along his shirt. The tips of her fingertips trembling, she wanted to trench them deep into him again, but her arms loosened with strength.

  (Armin) Your muscles, shoulders, biceps, calves, thighs? They can grow but there’s a limit, but down there…

  Her head and body tilted back, as he pulled away from the hug he initiated.

  Moving his feet back a little, he let his hands-free from her upper back, having them point toward himself. His pointer finger, pinned where his heart was, tapped the left side of his chest two times.

  Which caused Luna to seal her lips shut, along with her throat gulping down the remains of her dry saliva.

  (Armin) Will and love, it’s infinite.

  Pcing his hands onto hers, he had his fingers nuzzle themselves onto her hardened and calloused palms and knuckles. Feeling the history of blood she drained of others and herself, he let out a light chuckle.

  A chuckle that caused Luna to sniffle once.

  Letting him speak, allowing his voice to calm and soothe the angry giant within her, he saw his reflection amongst her irises. In return, Luna saw herself in him as well.

  (Armin) You’re strong, but instead of being strong for yourself…

  Controlling the beast, controlling the fme like the world’s most complicated firebender, Armin made Luna rise to her feet. Setting her left foot on the ground, she bulged her calf, while her right knee pressured itself more into the floor.

  Until she lifted it as well. The soles of her boots gripped the floor of nothingness, her hands and arms were dropped low to her waist.

  (Armin) Be strong for others, in your way.

  The world of white began to crack, leading to bck scars penetrating the white background she resided in. The floor, the unseen yet seen walls, the never-ending roof; the world she found her soul in…

  Began to glitch and dissipate like the finalizing of a computer’s life cycle.

  Seeing her younger brother begin to dissipate and glitch as well, the motion and warmth of his body fade in her arms.

  (Luna) Wait … not just yet …

  (Armin) You still have a lot to train… a lot to learn…

  (Luna) Wait!

  The more he faded into nothingness, the more the world of white cracked and scarred. Chunks, pieces, debris, any set of white infrastructure made by nothingness rain down all around her, except on her.

  Cwing and trying to grab whatever remains of his spirit and soul, she desperately grabbed the air like she owned it. Wanting to return, wanting to—

  She stopped.

  Why would she want to go back to the way things were? Armin, her brothers, her father, why is it now she feels the loss of nostalgia of her teen years?

  (Luna’s thoughts) Oh …

  With 90% of the world of white scarring bck, she let her knees sm on the floor, her hands and arms letting the flow of gravity take control. Unable to hear the thump, unable to feel the bruise she inflicted upon her knees, her eyes witnessed the st of Armin fading into the world.

  Being alone, she didn’t feel alone, her mind tracing and drawing memories. Memories she gathered after that hellish day.

  (Luna’s thoughts) They all need me…

  Tilting her head toward the roof, her knuckles grazed the floor. Letting her breath freeze inside her throat, silence continued to boom and deafen her eardrums, leaving her to only witness the world…

  Finally clutching a pitch bck.

  (Luna’s thoughts) Luke needs me …

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  Her eyes widened.

  Her soul, her spirit, the nerves of her body; all jumped and shriveled under the sudden change of scenery. Taking a single step back, she let her eyes roam the metallic floor and wooden crates, seeing herself still standing on the first train cart.

  The man in front of her, a ginger-haired man with dual-wielding chainsawed swords, sluggishly stared at Luna. Kept his rotating bdes an inch from the ground, his right eyebrow furrowed up his face shadowed by his fedora.

  (Kenichi) You looked dazed, so I’ll ask you again.

  Slowly, he extended his right hand toward both women. The chains of his right sword continued to spark and ember, with some of the fshes of light engraved into both women’s eyes, including himself. As he had his arm and elbow angled to point directly at them, his eyes narrowed evermore.

  (Kenichi) Surrender or fight, that’s the only option I’m giving you, but be warned…

  The early night wind howled violently, leaving the two women and one man to have their clothes ripple and flutter. Some of the sand scraped and parched onto their skins, leaving the moisture within their bodies to squeeze out more sweat.

  (Kenichi) I must take you in, either dead or alive.

  Both of Luna’s knuckles creaked.

  Pushing her nails deep into her palms, she pressured enough strength to draw out blood, leaving it to whimper and stall on the bottom of her hands. Trickling the metallic floor, trickling the edges of the metallic batons touching her boots, the soles of her feet…

  Bulged and hardened.

  With her right foot, she smmed the tip of her toes, onto the edge of one of the batons. Sending the piece of metal to twirl and fly up, the world around her slowed, much more than any fight she had prior. Thrusting her right hand, she grabbed the center of her baton, with eyes diting like a cat-human.

  And with a click of a button, twin bdes from both sides of the baton burst free.

  (Luna) Like hell you're taking me.

  Using her left foot this time, she stomped on the edge of the baton, flying and twirling until she grabbed it with her left hand. Steading her feet, straightening her body, her thumb pressed onto the side of the baton, which sprouted out another set of twin bdes.

  Her swords, which didn’t see the light of a few days, gleamed and shone under the forming night.

  Hearing her response, and especially her actions, Kenichi exhaled a rge breath of air from his parched lungs. Taking a step back, the thud of his boots quaked the metallic floor beneath his feet, causing some of the crates to shake off patches of sawdust.

  (Kenichi) Once I’m through, the only thing I’m taking is your corpse.

  Luna smirked.

  Letting both of her swords down to her waist, she loosened the grip on both centers of the batons. Using just her fingers, she felt the weight of her bdes feel like feathers, as she began to twirl them. Twirl and twirl, she spun them, increasing the velocity and speed, doubling the acceleration tenfold.

  Reaching the climax of her showcase of swordsmanship, she hunched her back and allowed her swords to spin like helicopter bdes.

  Fluttering the air around her, she ignored the frightened Jenny, who let her body crumble down to the floor. Her eyes were pushed up as she saw Luna twirling her bdes, making her clutch her hand over her chest. As she turned to Kenichi, who didn’t need to hunch or slide his foot back.

  (Jenny’s thoughts) Don’t fight …

  Unable to mutter out a scream, a yell, or even a voice, she watched as both Luna and Kenichi gred at one another. Their bdes, unique in stature, gleamed under the forming stars which shone down on them.

  (Jenny’s thoughts) Don’t…

  The heavy winds, which rippled their clothes, ceased.

  Leaving only but booming silence, only the screaming csh of bdes of his swords remained. His eyes, clouded with eyebags, sulked upon the tanned woman…

  (Jenny’s thoughts) Fight…

  Who lunged herself forward.