The egg-shaped contraption opened up as Luna put her hand on the scanner. It recognized her unique print and opened the entrance to the small chamber inside the egg. There was only one chair on the inside, with buttons and levers glowing either red, yellow, or green at the armchair. Around the chair were graphs that little Grammo didn't understand. It was only later that he found out they were oxygen levels, atmospheric pressure inside and outside the cabin, and fuel lines that indicated a one-way trip out of the moon and into Earth.
"Why don't you hide in here with me? Look, I can crouch and we can fit together!"
Grammo tried his hardest to constrict his body so that his sister would have enough space inside. She smiled at his innocence. Only she knew that this pod was made for only one person in case of an emergency. Having two people on the pod would quickly deplete its resources: the oxygen would not be enough to reach Earth, and the pod would have more mass, which meant that the fuel would be burned much more quickly and not have enough for a safe landing on Earth. If she joined, she would jeopardize the safety of her little brother.
"No can do, little Grammy. I will have to hide somewhere else."
"But.."
"No buts." Luna showed her big sister frown at him. Usually, Grammo would quickly be quiet and follow his sister's instruction, but this time, he didn't. For some reason, even in his immature mind, he felt like there was something wrong. It felt like he was saying goodbye to her for the last time.
"But I want to be with you. Don't leave me." Grammo teared up as he pleaded for his sister to come with him.
Luna turned away from him and wiped the tears from her eyes. She can't let him see her cry. If he sees her vulnerable like this, he would want to comfort her and leave the pod. He would know something was wrong. He would be a good little brother and comfort her. She can't have that. She needed to be strong. She needed him to remember her as a strong person.
"Don't be brat. Listen to your older sister, okay?"
Grammo weeped and cried, but he nodded his head.
"Promise me that you'll do good, okay? You do whatever you want to do. If you want to paint over our father's documents, then do that okay? If you want to break our mother's flower vase because you want to play catch ball, then don't stop. Do whatever you want. The world is yours to experience. Do that for your big sister, okay?"
The ground rumbled and quaked. Cracks and fissures started weaving its way towards the giant craters and broke them in half, buildings and domes built on cities started to collapse, chaos ensued. Its intensity was nothing like Lunarians ever experienced. Even when atomic bombs and missiles were launched at them, the ground never trembled like this before.
As the rumbling started, Luna knew that her time was up. She needed to say goodbye now before Grammo's escape pod got caught in the destruction that was about to happen. Even if she wanted to take one good look at Grammo and memorize his face, she had to say goodbye to him. Even if she wanted to give him one lasting hug and remind him that everything was going to be okay, she had to say goodbye to him.
A single tear drop flowed out of her eye as she faced him for the last time and said…
—
"Why do you persist in trying to sing, Grammo? Is it your twisted way to replace your sister? Do you feel guilty for her death, that now you feel as if you deprived the world of its heavenly gift?"
Griff berated Grammo as tears continued to flow from his eyes. He had been burying these memories for as long as he could remember them. But now, Griff was forcefully prying these memories from his very heart, one vein at a time. It was as painful as the day he lost her. She was the best sister he could have ever asked for. She was as talented as she was beautiful. And if it wasn't for him, she would still be alive right now.
"But no matter how hard you try to become a singer, you will never be as good of a singer as your sister!"
Grammo shook his head. That's not why he wanted to sing. He never wanted to replace his sister.
"Tell me the truth, that's your sick way of wanting your sister to come back, right?"
Grammo felt like a thousand nails were poking his throat. He could feel the toxic poisons filling up in his throat, just wanting to be released. Whenever he tried to speak, the toxic cloud of vapor wanted to accompany his every breath.
He could have just spat the poison towards Griff, but he didn't want to. He could see his taunting face, just waiting for it to be spat on, but Grammo didn't want to play his game. Griff taunted him, wanted him to use his new powers and become a monster like all the others he bullied. Grammo had every right to do this. Griff forever ruined his chances to become a singer, but he didn't want to do it. He didn't want to swoop that low.
"...N…No…I…want..to…reach…my..sister..from…the..after…life.."
The reason why Grammo wanted to sing to the world was not because he wanted to replace his sister. No, he wanted to sing because he wanted to reach his sister in the afterlife. He wanted her to hear him sing and recognize him, no matter where she was right now.
He wanted his voice to reach her, just one last time. Even when he sang horribly, she would always listen to him and commend his skill. Even if the whole world blocked their ears from hearing him, he at least wanted his sister to hear him.
He wanted his voice to transcend reality and reach her in the otherworld. That's why he wanted to sing to the world–not because he wanted to be a singer, but because he wanted his dead sister to hear him and know that he was doing okay just like what she wanted.
"Haha! Look at this guy! He wants his dead sister to hear him!"
"She can't! You know why? Because she's dead!"
"You hurt our ears because of that silly little dream?! Stop being stubborn and just stop!"
Griff's lackeys couldn't help but laugh when they finally knew why Grammo wanted to become a singer. It was such an absurd dream that they knew that it would never happen. They thought that it was pathetic that he was still not over the fact that his sister died because of him. It made Grammo look even more pathetic.
"Let it go, Grammo. Stop being mulish." Griff said. Then, he took out Grammo's guitar from the side of his throne and raised it up above his head. "I will destroy this last remnant of your dreams and wake you up to reality."
Griff used all of his strength to smash the guitar to the ground…
—------
Luna took out a steel cube from her waist and gave it to Grammo with both hands. She used this excuse to touch Grammo's hands for one last time before it was all over. She would remember that warmth for as long as she could live.
"Happy Birthday, my little brother. I love you," she said as she pushed the cube on his chest and forced him to lean on the chair. Seatbelts automatically wrapped around his chest and prevented him from lunging at her and giving her a hug, no matter how much he wanted.
"Wait! Big sis!" he cried out as she waved his goodbye with tears flowing from her eyes. The egg-shaped pod closed on him as he tried to reach out to her. Even inside, he banged his hands on the window, trying to break it and go back to his sister's side. But it was useless.
As the moonquakes intensified, Grammo's pod suddenly shot up to the stars without any warning. As the escape pod left the moon's orbit, Grammo forced himself out of the seatbelts and looked over at the window. He couldn't see her anymore, all he could see was the immensity of the moon itself.
As he sat up, the silver cube fell out of his hands and landed on the floor of the pod. As it hit the steel, it suddenly activated as a vortex of black and violet opened up and spat out a wooden guitar.
Grammo watched as the fissures as big as craters appeared on the surface. It didn't take long until everything exploded into a cloud of moondust.
—--------
BRRRAKKKKKK
Grammo's guitar, Luna's last gift for her little brother, lay broken and in pieces on the floor. Griff destroyed it beyond repair.
"Because of you, the greatest and most talented singer that would have reached heights no one had ever reached before, died as the moon exploded into bits. She used her own escape pod to let you live."
Grammo's heart felt like it was being stabbed as Griff. The destruction of his guitar reminded him of the moon's destruction happening right in front of his eyes. He felt the despair, desperation, and dread he felt when he saw his sister disappear just like that in front of his eyes.
He couldn't take it anymore.
"...help…" he muttered. He felt powerless when he lost his sister. He felt powerless even now.
Griff walked back to his throne. He did it. He broke Grammo and his psyche. But instead of feeling happy, he felt nothing.
"No one will help you with your dream, no matter how much you want it," Griff muttered to himself.
But then, he felt sharp electricity on the base of his spine. His back perspired cold sweat as the feeling of fear and dread came back to haunt him. It felt like he was back in a nightmare. There was only one person who could make him feel this kind of fear.
He looked back to the hole in the wall and saw a silhouette of a man. There was no mistaking it.
"Impossible…how did you survive?!"