The next day, on the day of the departure, the maids finished packing the clothes that Luna would need for the trip. Two maids zipped up the luggage and placed it near the door. They bowed, their black hair swinging forward, and said, "We've prepared your luggage, My Lady. Please call us if you need anything else."
"Thank you, you can leave," Luna said from the red leather sofa. Her fingers trailed absently through Theia's hair,
The maids walked out, closing the door behind them as Luna caressed her hair.
As silence set in, a comforting rhythm was broken only when a knock came at the door. It was Reed. He entered, a single sheet of paper in his hand. "Can I have a moment with you both?"
Luna looked towards him, saying, "Dad? Of course."
"Then, I will only take a second of your time before we go to the carriage," Reed said as he walked towards them and sat opposite them by a wooden table. "so, Theia, please sit up and look at this."
Reed placed the sheet of paper in front of Theia. Luna curiously glanced over, seeing a paper filled with complicated sentences, with one standing out on top. "Adoption papers," Luna murmured to herself. "Adoption papers? Adoption papers!" she said, turning towards her father with her eyes wide open. "Are you really going to do it, Dad?"
"Of course, I promised, didn't I? So I came to fulfill it. But it's only in Theia's hands now. So, do you want to be adopted or…?"
Theia looked at Luna and then towards Reed. She inhaled and said, "If Luna wants it, I'm happy with it."
"Then here, have this pen," Reed said, placing the pen right in front of Theia. He continued while tapping over the bottom left of the page, "Sign right here with your name, and with it, you will be registered into our family tree."
Theia glanced one last time at Luna and saw that she had a kind smile on her face, encouraging her without any words. So, she signed the document, picked it up, and gave it to Reed.
"Then everything is done, and the time is right," he said as he glanced towards the clock on his right. "Let's go. I'll take the luggage, and we'll head to the carriage."
Luna nodded as she stood up, and Theia followed right behind her, her face slightly red with a small, barely noticeable smile.
"I'll lead the way. And from now on, Theia, if you need to do anything or get anything done, just use our surname. Things will be easier for you; don't hesitate to overuse it," Reed smiled gently as he picked up the luggage, opened the door, and walked through.
Luna and Theia silently followed beside him.
***
Inside the corridor, Aria strolled by, watching the garden where two black haired maids were lying on the grass, bathing in the sun. She chuckled at the sight and glanced forward, seeing two more maids turning the corner.
An echo-like whisper reached her ears. "Didn't you hear? This is the day she will depart for her 'adventure,'" the maid to the left said.
The black-haired maid to the right chuckled. "The master is really generous to our Young Lady. I thought he would be stricter with her after the events of late, but I was totally wrong. I wonder who he trusts with her life so much as to send her in this dire time."
"Right. Since they stormed this palace years ago, they have been watching us consistently," the maid on the left said.
"Right. Sigh," the maid on the right added.
Aria stopped in her tracks as she watched the maids chatter. She observed them for a moment before asking, "May I know who you are talking about?"
The maids stopped and turned with a smile. "It's Young Lady Luna!"
The maid on the left gripped her own hands. "Master is sending Young Lady Luna into Lorenthel today! Everything has been prepared, and they are about to depart very soon."
Aria's mouth fell agape. She gritted her teeth, saying, "Why am I unaware of it?"
She clenched her hand into a fist. "Thank you. Go now… Are they near the main gate of the palace?"
"Yes!" the maid on the right cheerfully said.
"Thank you," Aria said. Frowning, she turned back and walked hurriedly towards the front door to the main gate.
"Why am I hearing this only now?" Aria gritted her teeth, her eyebrows twitching.
***
Outside the Lockheart Palace, on the gravel path near the main gate, a white carriage with a red roof stood silently. The horses were being strapped by two knights nearby. Reed, Luna, and Theia stood near the carriage as more and more knights gathered in a two-rank formation, a shoulder's length between each man.
Slowly, everyone gathered for the departure. Reed opened the carriage doors, saying, "Then please get in, and please be careful. I don't want to die early of worry. Write letters to me, and everyone. Although I forgot to inform others of this, I am sure they won't mind."
Luna glanced at Reed and thought, I wonder, really.
"I hope so, but knowing Aria, if she heard about it, she would've stormed through the doors and screamed at you. But what can I know?"
"Luna, I don't think that she will be this mad. I hope so…" Reed said.
Theia jumped into the carriage and sat on the right side, onto the red, leathery cushion.
A loud female voice sounded from inside the palace. "My lady, please calm down! You shouldn't go out this mad! Please calm down!"
Then a voice resembling Aria's shouted, "Get out of my way! Or you'll pay for this!"
Just as Luna turned towards the door, she said, "I think that's it."
The doors swung open as Aria stormed out of the palace, shouting towards Reed, "Father, how could you do this!? Have you gone insane?"
Reed sighed, muttering under his breath, "Here we go again…"
"You have completely gone insane! Why haven't I heard anything about this? Father!"
Reed stayed silent as sweat poured down his cheek. Aria walked towards him with a stomping force. "Please calm down. You shouldn't act this way," he said, gesturing with his hands for her to calm down.
"Calm down? Calm down! Are you insane, Father? Do you really want to send Luna to death? And watch her die? And cry later that she died without you being able to do anything?" Aria scoffed before adding, "Just like with mother."
"Aria!" Reed said with a formidable voice. "Calm down. I am sending her to someone I trust, so you should not worry. So please, calm down."
"Do you really want me to just watch as you send my sister to death?" Aria's eyebrows twitched as she contorted her mouth, saying, "I won't allow her to die like mother did."
Reed sighed as he looked at her with a saddened expression. He exhaled and gently grabbed her shoulders, saying with a calm voice, "I know how this looks, but please trust me. I know what I am doing, and the one I'm sending her to is trustworthy, so nothing will happen. On the journey, I will send a hundred men with her for protection, so it is safe for her. I know I failed your mother, but I will not fail Luna. So please, trust me."
Aria scoffed as she said, "I can't trust you anymore after how you failed Mom. Ha! If you won't listen to me, I'll take her and hide her from you. Clearly, you can't rationally think!"
Aria walked past Reed. He turned to watch her back as she neared Luna. Just as she was about to hug her and pick her up, Vii, the black-haired, blue-eyed headmaid, walked from behind the carriage and picked Aria up over her shoulder, saying, "Now, Miss Aria, you can't be making a scene here. I'll have to take you with me."
"Vii! What are you doing? Let me down! You know that we can't trust Dad with it! You can't possibly watch Luna die on Dad's order? Or can you?" Aria teared up as she was held over Vii's shoulder; her eyebrows twitched as she tried to convince her.
Vii sighed, saying, "Miss, please learn to trust your father." Vii continued walking towards the palace and climbed up the stairs as Aria kept violently hitting her on the back and thrashing around, shouting, "LET ME GO! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU BOTH!" As she shouted, the doors closed to the palace, leaving an eerie silence.
Reed looked down at his hands gripping them into a fist and sighed, saying, "I'm sorry, Luna, Theia, for what happened. Aria still doesn't trust me… I can't blame her for that…"
What… have happened? Why would she be so angry? I'm just going on an adventure… Mom… no, no matter how hard I try I can't remember her. Oh well, probably nothing important…
"No one can blame her," Luna said.
"I see. Then please rest well throughout your travel. I really need to rest now… I'm sorry that I raised my voice unnecessarily. It really raised unpleasant memories…"
"I get it, Dad," Luna smiled. "I understand why… Don't blame yourself, right Theia?"
Theia nodded, affirming what Luna said.
Reed chuckled. "Haha! I see." He extended both of his hands and caressed their hair, then turned, saying, "Be safe from troubles, and please write letters weekly!"
"Yes! I'll write as much as you want, and I'll send letters to everyone!" Luna peeked out of the carriage, smiling.
She gripped the doors and closed them, saying to the knights, "So, let's go."
"Yes, my lady!" The hundred knights unanimously said.
Closing the doors, Luna sat beside Theia and placed her head onto her lap, saying, "It will take a long while till we arrive at our new house, to the unknown master that will teach me."
Theia reached her hand and caressed Luna's hair, saying, "Yes."
But why would Aria act this way? Ugh, I hate my amnesia…
Luna smiled as Theia caressed her hair. It brought a warmth to her that everyone around her brought that affection. This affection was deeper than what her family gave her, but… on the same depth as Aisha did.
Aisha… She really looked horrible yesterday… I hope that she will get better… I can't blame Theia for this; it's entirely my fault.
Luna frowned as she gripped her hands into a fist, filling her eyes with tears but holding them in.
I can never forgive myself for this…
And so the journey to a land far past the empire began here, where Luna and Theia would find themselves in the great deep of wonders, but the same abyss of grief.