Rumia had just gotten off work, which sucked, as usual. But it didn’t suck as much as it usually did because Yuzu wasn’t following her home this time. Rumia traded off her guard at the entrance of the castle, for the much more palatable Grimace.

  “Well, you’re just going home. It is annoying that I have to walk you, though,” Grimace complained, as Rumia walked by him at the castle gates. Rumia was just relieved that he was here. So much better than Yuzu was.

  She then hit herself a bit. She couldn’t afford to think that way, she was still being held under surveillance. Going from bad to slightly less bad was nice, but she couldn’t relax just yet. There was one thing she needed to put her mind into, and that was escaping. That was why she was heading back to Amethyst today, so she could get that hiding device she ordered.

  The two of them headed back to the Lunar Academy, and to their room. A quiet walk, but once again, something that Rumia has missed for a long time. Into the nice hallways, and in front of the door. Grimace stood, crossing his arms, waiting for Rumia to head inside.

  “So, you’re gonna go home, right?” Rumia asked.

  “Yes?” Grimace responded. “I like having a life outside of you, Rumia.”

  “Okay. Have a good night, then,” Rumia said, heading back into the door. The sounds of Anise’s work on her machines greeted her kindly. It was really hard to overstate how much better everything felt. But, obviously, things weren’t perfect.

  “Anise, I’m heading out tonight,” Rumia said, grabbing what she needed. Her cloak, her tools, and some money.

  “On one of your mysterious missions, again. I dunno what’s so important that you always have to go out during curfew,” Anise said, not looking from her invention. “You should really tell me, ‘cause it's a lot easier to cover for you.”

  “What. Did someone ask?” Rumia asked, a little bit concerned as she began to step out the window.

  “Yuzu opened the door even though I told her to stay out, yes. I managed to stop her from going more than two steps into the room but you are not making this easy for me,” Anise huffs.

  “Th…Thanks,” Rumia muttered. “Just keep that up, please.”

  “Sure. Whatever you say,” Anise said. With that, Rumia hoisted herself down the windowsill and headed down to the grass. She landed on her feet, and was looking forward to talking with Amethyst. With one look around, she had to make sure the coast was clear and—

  With one look at the path, in the glow of the moon. She saw a certain boy with a suit and an oversized scythe staring back at her.

  Grimace.

  “Huh—wha…?!”

  The glowing girl immediately panicked as the Judge stared into her soul. He did not say a word, and just looked standing from the path.

  “W-wait. Grimace, Grimace, I can explain.” Rumia began to quickly walk towards the judge, reaching out to him. “This looks really bad but there’s a perfectly sound explanation, and uh, the curfew is kind of a silly idea anyways… I feel like I’m… able to be independent, and-”

  Rumia took a few steps closer to Grimace, about to get on the path to try and plead her case. Before she took one step forward, the boy reached out and shoved Rumia back. The girl stumbled over and fell back onto the grass, before stepping onto it himself.

  “What do you think you are doing?” He said with a scowl.

  “I…I wanted to enjoy the garden! By myself! You know how much I value my alone time so I wanted to…”

  “...”

  Rumia was on the ground, scooting away from the judge that stood over her. She didn’t have a plan for this, and she didn’t expect this. She let her guard down from the change from Yuzu to Grimace, and a crack in her shield formed. This was bad, really bad.

  “Can’t… can’t I enjoy some time to myself? Please? It’s… it’s the only thing…” Rumia began to sputter out. “It’s… the… only thing I… I have…”

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Grimace continued to look at the girl. A completely unreadable face, with his only expression being that frown. Rumia’s heart pumped out of her chest, she looked at her hands… the glow from them began to intensify. She’s never felt this before. This feeling of stress, and anxiety. Everything she had been working for up to this moment might have gone to waste, all because of one stupid mistake.

  Her glow became brighter and brighter, as the Judge of Oscur approached her, watching her every movement in silence. Rumia was about to crawl back into a wall, but before she touched it, Grimace grabbed her hand and forcefully dragged her up to her feet.

  Rumia struggled to maintain her balance, breathing heavily as she was brought up.

  “You better not be seen doing this again,” Grimace said. With that statement, the boy turned his back and began to walk back onto the pathway. He shot one more glance at Rumia, before looking away completely, and then leaving the garden altogether. Rumia was in stunned silence, as the Judge left her sight.

  Her glow faded, and she took a deep breath. What just happened? Why was she still standing out here, and not being dragged to jail or something? Or even worse? The Judge just left her here.

  She could not let this opportunity go to waste. Grimace gave her this opening. He let her have this. He let her.

  Rumia stood up and got back onto her feet, before running towards the sewer. She needed to talk to Amethyst, now.

  “Woah woah woah. Are ya telling me the Judge got ya? And ya still are here? Are you sure he’s not following ya?” Amethyst was patting Rumia down as they walked through the dark sewers. “No trackin’ devices or anythin’?”

  “No. I told you I’m fine. He left with only a warning, and didn’t even ask what I was up to. There shouldn’t be any reason for me to be followed—”

  “Are ya kiddin’ me?! That makes it even more suspicious! They’re definitely usin’ ya to track me!” Amethyst complained. “And how am I gonna explain this to the rat people, aaaah.”

  “Relax. I’m… I’m sure it’s fine,” Rumia said. “You’re fine.”

  “Really? And how do ya know?”

  Rumia took a deep breath. She tried to organize her thoughts, to attempt to corroborate and understand what Grimace did. “I think I should trust in him, for now—”

  The glowing girl felt a slap across her cheek. Amethyst looked at her like she just said the most ridiculous thing ever, with her hand raised from said slap. “That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard ya say. Are ya really thinkin’ you can jus’ trust a government dog like that? Ya think he ain’t reportin’ every single one of ya moves to the capital?”

  “...he… isn’t,” Rumia muttered. “It might sound ridiculous but I don’t think he is. Or else… I would’ve already been in a lot of trouble…”

  Amethyst frowned, but then sighed. “Whatever ya say. But if the cops come knockin’ at ya door then don’t go lookin’ to me for anythin’.”

  Rumia had at least managed to calm Amethyst down, but now she needed the reason why she was here. A tool that hides her glow, and would allow her to sneak around more. They entered the tunnels, and Rumia echoed her voice down.

  “I’m here for my delivery!” Rumia shouted. Shortly after, a large amount of rats came running down the sewer tunnels, carrying a small little crystal. They dropped it off at her feet, and Rumia leaned down to pick it up.

  “Ohh,” Amethyst said, looking at it. “Well, ya got the closest thing that ya could ask for, with the request ya gave.”

  “Um. How exactly is it supposed to work?” Rumia asked.

  “Well…” Amethyst grabbed it and her hand glowed for a moment. “It ain’t a metal but it’s close enough. Try holdin’ ya breath.”

  Rumia took the crystal back from Amethyst, before clutching and holding her breath. Suddenly, the glowing girl felt her glow dissipate for the first time, and instead her skin became a full pitch black. Her entire body simply turned into a silhouette. In the darkness of the sewers, she was practically invisible.

  Amethyst took out some rannium and lit up the entire tunnel, that way Rumia could get a full look at herself. She was still present, just pitch black, and couldn’t breathe. The girl could be seen under the light, but was more hidden in the darkness.

  “Is this kinda like, the opposite of ya glow?” Amethyst poked her. That caused Rumia to finally release her breath.

  “Bah— gah! That’s way harder than it looks! Couldn’t I just get invisibility or something?” Rumia complained.

  “So demandin’. Ya gotta accept that some people ain’t omniscient, and this basically the best yer gonna get. I mean like, it’s basically invis anyway. Jus’ gotta use it smarter.”

  “F…Fine, I guess…” Rumia said. “I suppose it makes sense in a world that doesn’t have a sun…”

  “Once again, Iunno what that is, but sure,” Amethyst shrugged. “Maybe ya gotta use it the next time ya come here, lest that Judge follows you again.”

  Amethyst began to walk back into the darkness of the tunnel, leaving Rumia with her newfound device. There were a lot of things that her trip today made her think about. Grimace, escaping, and her secrets.

  She hoped that tomorrow, when Grimace followed her around, he wouldn’t bring this up. Regardless, he knew something about her now. And no matter how lenient he seemed, Rumia was still trapped, and what happened now still didn’t change anything.

  She would escape, no matter what.