The man walked up to me with the axe in hand. My mind went blank and the only thing I could do was struggle against the bindings holding my arms together behind my back. It didn't help much since my arm was only half regenerated and I was still weak.
Estrella also struggled and yelled but the man paid her no attention. Terra next to me also struggled but I'm the end, we were helpless.
The axe shined against the sunlight as he raised it directly in front of my face to the top of my head.
I squeezed my eyes and moved away from everyone. I didn't want them getting in the way and getting hurt.
The man whispered "I'm sorry" and the sound of the axe slashing down on me rang in my ears along with Estrella's screams of agony.
A loud thump vibrated next to me. I opened my eyes and saw the man kneeling before me. The axe was jammed into the wooden floor next to me.
Dear God. I just saw a few years leave my body.
The man whispered "To the townspeople of Retch, I'm sorry"
He stood and looked at the crowd. "I will take on the burden of looking out for these weapons!" He yelled "Anything and all consequences that come because of the weapons will full heartedly be blamed on me!"
The crowd was silent for a solid second before cheers erupted.
"Thank you!" "Thank you Haus!"
They chanted "Haus!" Over and over until the guards next to us took us back to the jail underground once again.
We sat in silence until I spoke up.
"Is everyone alright?"
Estrella whipped her head in my direction and stared with wide eyes. She slowly laid her head back against the wall and softly laughed.
"Right. I forgot." She whispered
Terra looked between the both of us and asked "Forgot what?"
She took a deep breath and said "Nothing. I'm fine." She turned around and laid on the ground.
"Ah! Remember what you told me? You shouldn't lay in the ground" I said
She didn't reply.
"She's worried about you" Terra said "You don't have to be so harsh"
"She should worry about herself" she muttered
I closed my eyes but all I could see was the axe falling above Luna's head. She was curled up and I couldn't get near her. I tried moving and pulling against the rope but it was no use. The axe had fallen.
I opened my eyes and saw the cement wall of the jail cell. There was nothing to distract myself from remembering the past I wanted to forget about.
Truth is, I don't exactly hate Luna, just how she acts. She puts everyone else before herself and carries the burden, no matter how heavy. Just like in school.
"Did you hear?" One of my friends asked me
I turned towards the girl with ashy blonde hair and light blue eyes. "What?"
"There's a new transfer student." She said excitedly
I raised an eyebrow. "Alright. So what?"
She sighed and looked over at Jaden who was talking to someone else. "Jade. Tell her why this exchange student is so important"
Jade didn't even glance at us and continued talking with someone else.
Esmeralda pulled on her hair.
"Oww! Oww! Oww! What the hell, Es?!" Jade yelled
"I'm talking to you!"
"So what?"
"Listen and answer"
Jade rolled her eyes "The exchange student is going to be a guy. Apparently-"
Jade cut her off, "He's hot! Someone said they saw him and that he was hot!"
"Okay? And?" I asked
"You don't care? But what if he's my next boyfriend?" She asked
I shrugged "Good for you then? I'm rooting for you?"
"You'd better not steal him from-"
The teacher came into the class. "Everyone to your seats. Class will begin soon"
Es jumped off my desk and went back to her seat, along with Jade. I sat in the back but unfortunately they sat in the very front. We all once sat together but since the teacher caught them whispering and cheating during a test, he moved them to the front.
"Before we start, I should introduce your new classmate" the teacher said
A girl with black hair up to her shoulders walked into the classroom. She stood in front of the class with her head hanging low.
Jeez. This isn't some kind of execution or something. Although, I understand how hard it is to have so many eyes on you at once.
"This is Luna. She's from a school across the kingdom and is unfamiliar with everyone. Please help her out if she has any questions." The teacher looked around the class and stopped in my direction.
He pointed at the vacant seat next to me which was once Esmeralda's.
"You can sit next to Estrella. Estrella raise your hand so she knows who you are" he said
I raised my hand and she started walking my way.
She stared at my hair and stopped in her tracks.
I lowered my hand and said "Yeah. I'm the princess of Kalkan. You don't need to be nervous though. I'm still just human."
I tried looking into her eyes to show my sincerity but they were covered by her bangs.
She nodded and sat next to me.
After she settled into her seat, the teacher started class.
Lunch time had rolled around and we headed towards lunch.
I walked with Es and Jade who bickered with each other.
"I can't believe that my dream boy turned out to be a girl!" Es cried
Jade rolled her eyes "Get over it. Someone made a mistake and thought she was a boy. It's fine"
"It's not fine! That was supposed to be my dream boy!" She pushed Jade in which Jade pushed back.
I laughed "You can still date the girl though"
They stopped pulling on each other's hair and looked over at me.
Es grimaced and said "That's disgusting. What's wrong with you?"
Jade looked down at Es "What's wrong with that?"
"Everything! Life is supposed to be about a girl and a boy who fall in love, get married, and have children. The end! Nothing else!" She said
Jade laughed but when she saw that Ez was dead serious she stopped.
"Are you serious? That's such an awful way of thinking" Jade said
Es crossed her arms "It's my opinion. What's wrong with that? Estrella, you agree with me right?"
They both looked at me and I nervously laughed and looked away. "Right…It's your opinion"
Jade sighed and walked away.
We walked towards the cafeteria, ordered our food, and sat in our regular seats in the middle of the cafeteria. As we ate lunch I noticed Luna sitting on her own in the corner of the room.
I snuck away from the group of people who surrounded our table. It wasn't hard since no one paid me much attention.
I made my way over to Luna.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" I asked
She looked up at me in surprise.
"You…you're not going to sit with your friends?" She whispered
I shook my head "It's too crowded over there. I like it much better here"
She gave me a big smile and moved her things closer to her to make space for me. I sat down and we ate in silence. It was a comforting silence. Until…
"There you are!" Es yelled from the table I was at.
She ran over to me and pulled me away from the table.
"Why are you over here? Come back!"
I pulled my hand away from her "I'm fine here. You can go back by yourself"
She caught my hand again and pulled me with more force this time. "Why would you-?"
Luna had tugged on her shirt and Es looked down at Luna in suprise, as if she had just realized she was there.
"Oh. It's you. The hell do you want?" She glared
"Please stop yanking on her arm. You might hurt her" she said as she stared at her hand still holding Es's shirt.
Es smacked her hand away "Don't tell me what to do. What's it to you anyways, creep."
"I-I just…" she pulled her hand back.
"Hmm?"
"I…uh…" Her eyes were starting to get watery.
I pushed Es away and ran in front of Luna.
"Leave her out of this." I said
"She's the one who started it!"
"We aren't children, dumbass. So don't act like one"
Es's mouth gaped open and her face turned red from anger. She stepped forward until someone yanked on her collar.
"Leave them alone" Jade said as she pulled her back to the table.
I looked back at Luna who was staring down at her trembling hands. It hurt to see her like this for some reason.
I grabbed her hands, pulled her out of the cafeteria, and into the library which was completely empty. I turned back at her and she stared at me with giant light green eyes.
"I'm sorry that Esmeralda treated you like that." I said "I didn't know she'd go that far."
She hung her head low and said "No. I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you from her"
I tilted my head. "Protect me? From what"
"She grabbed your hand. It must have hurt" she said
I held my hand up. There was a bruise where Esmeralda's hand was. "I still have my hand"
"But there's a bruise!" She cried
"That will heal. As long as I have my hand, I will continue fighting" I said proudly
"Promise?" She asked
I pulled her in for a hug. "Promise"
After that day, we were inseparable. As if we had found a missing piece of ourselves we didn't know we'd lost and didn't want to lose again.
I guess that's where it all went down hill.