Luna caressed the back of Theia's head as she said, "Thank you. But I want to talk about one more thing."
Theia nodded, slowly moving away to wipe her tears. She pulled the white duvet over her legs and listened.
"Theia, I don't want to make this long, but please don't take out your anger on other people. It's not right." Luna's voice was firm. "If you have to be angry at someone, just... be angry at me. I can handle it. I really can."
"Just talk to me. Yell at me if you need to. I'd rather you let it out on me than on anyone else. I'm with it. I'd rather see you direct it at me than watch you hurt someone who doesn't understand. It would be easier for you and everyone if you didn't beat up on other people. Just me. I'd be okay with it."
Theia shook her head. "I can't."
"Theia, no. It's either at me or at no one. You can't do it to people that did nothing." Luna's gaze was unwavering. "Aisha is lying in bed, recovering from injuries because of you, so please don't do it again."
Theia looked up and saw that Luna was looking straight at her with a serious look. Seeing that no matter what she said, Luna would not give up, she muttered under her breath, "O-okay."
Luna sighed in relief. She crawled up to Theia, leaned on her, and hugged her, and both of them fell back onto the bed.
Theia blushed as she hugged Luna back. "I'm sorry, okay?"
Luna buried her face into Theia's dress. "Don't worry anymore. But don't do it to other people. Just do it to me."
Theia frowned. "O-okay."
***
Eyril and a hidden, cloaked figure walked through the enormous hall. Countless stone pillars extended high into the darkness above, and the ground was polished clean stone.
Eyril, cloaked in a sharp, pointy, stiff cloak with a stiff cover around his head and a hood over it, said in a hoarse voice, "This thing is supposed to make the mission easier, Father?"
"Yes. Frankly, it will do most of the distracting. The only thing you will be left with is retrieving the artefact."
"I see. It's tamed, isn't it? It'd be hard to manage it and the mission altogether," Eyril said.
The cloaked man, his face fully covered in darkness, walked on. The sound of bones striking stone echoed as he spoke up in a cold, dead voice, "Yes."
"I won't ask how you acquired it, since its species has been extinct since the Demon Lord's age… It's interesting."
The man in the cloak turned his head slowly, his gaze fixing on Eyril as if pinning him to the spot. His voice was a low rasp, like stone grinding on stone. "Some graves are best left sealed. Pry them open, and what crawls out... will wear your face as it rampages."
Eyril's left arm jolted as he gripped it, saying, "I-I … think so too…"
"I see," the man said, stopping in front of the cage that stood on a pedestal made of obsidian.
As both of them stopped, inside the unnaturally dark cage, a dark mist slowly spewed out to their feet. A growl sounded from the inside as six hands slowly reached from the innermost darkness, gripping the handlebars one by one.
The white-colored hands were human-like, but their fingers were unnaturally long and the skin was clinging to the bone tightly, as if there was barely any flesh. A dim red eye-shaped glow broke through the darkness, staring into the 'people' standing beside the cage.
"Get to know him, rotten child. It be best for you both to learn to cooperate. And do not fail this mission." The cloaked man's voice dropped to a dead whisper. "You know what awaits you if you do. Pray you don't learn the details."
The man turned back and walked away silently without hearing or saying anything more.
Eyril sighed as he turned to look at the man. Seeing nothing new, he turned back to the beast in the cage. As the beast saw that Eyril was alone, it retreated into the darkness, ceasing to make any sound.
Eyril sighed as he muttered under his breath, "I hate this."