Chapter 82

  The Discarded

  (Luna Paraisthisi)

  One thing that they never teach you in history class, is what happens to the displaced people after a city, or region of land falls.

  Everyone knows that there are dead zones, lands that were once habitable, but have now become vacant lots. While everyone knows that those zones exist, no one ever teaches the fact that those zones once contained cities, places where people lived and dreamed of better futures.

  Luna and Lucia both had grown up in such a place, but only before it fell.

  From what she can remember and what she has learned about her past, she was once of a noble house. Not just that, but her family had once been wealthy, envied by others due to their fame and abilities. Yet that all changed one day when Luna was five. She remembers the day, as it was her coming of age ceremony, the one where all her friends came to cheer her on and witness her becoming a fully awakened Paraisthisi. The masters of Illusion.

  The party had gone on, just as the others she had attended. In her mind, she vividly remembered being invited to Lucia’s own awakening ceremony two years earlier, though she was far too young to remember what happened. Her only real memory of the event was that it was Luna’s first time eating cake, and she remembered loving it. After that party, cake signified both work and good times, as her parents used cake as a means to bribe her to perform from then on.

  In fact, it was the lure of cake that had made Luna so accepting of the fact that she would be partaking in her own awakening ceremony.

  “Luna, are you ready?” Her mother asked, even now the memory in her mind has faded. She can only recall the shape and outline of her face, the shadows cast by her nose, the way her lips smiled, but not how vibrantly they smiled. In her mind the memories of that time have blurred and been faded so that they are just shadings and outlines that her mind has identified as being her mother. Even memories of her father have completely faded as she can no longer remember his face at all, just the powerful shadow who always looked over her mother’s shoulders and smiled at her.

  “Yes, mama,” the last words she ever spoke to her mother. The last moment before everything burned away. “All right go with your Yaya and do as she tells you.”

  With that Luna just nodded, fear gripping her as she knew this moment was important as it meant getting cake afterwards, but she didn’t know why harsh Yaya was the one to take her. Yet, this time even Yaya smiled.

  “Don’t worry child, today you will become a full member of the Paraisthisi family,” were the last words spoken by her beloved grandmother, her Yaya. From there the memory fades. She remembers being dunked under the awakening waters.

  Then there was an explosion as fire erupted around her. For a moment Luna tried to rise up, but her Yaya jumped on her back, cradling her and pushing her deep under the water. Water that was only waist deep at most, but felt exceptionally deep given how she had to wrestle with her grandmother to get free.

  Fighting her way, she remembered kicking hard into side of her grandmother, as she forced her way up to the surface of the water. From there, she saw a bright light, at first Luna thought it was the candles being lit on her cake, but the light was too bright and it was an odd purple color that instantly fascinated Luna, causing her to look.

  That’s when her face broke from the water, where she gasped deeply. Her sudden eruption and gasp for breath was enough to alert a monster to her presence.

  She’ll never forget that moment. The moment when she first realized what true fear was, for there in the darkness was a monster coated in swirling shadows that had glowing green eyes. Just seeing the monster, her mind raced back to all the horror stories that her parents had told her over the years. The stories about why you don’t sneak out at night, lest the Death Eaters get you. She had dreamed of them, heard the stories. Even realized that part of why her family was as rich and powerful as they were now thanks to fighting those very same monsters.

  With one chilling black void shrouded finger it raised up a digit and pointed at Luna. Her body and mind instantly knew whatever was coming was bad, that she had to get away, which she tried to do. But somehow getting back under the water, particularly with her grandmother’s lifeless body floating next to her was tougher than she imagined. Flames erupted over her face and hand, granting her the strength to dive deeper. Using her own grandmother’s lifeless body to shield her from a second and third eruption that sparkled and burned on the surface of the water.

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  Luna watched, as her grandmother’s body burned away at the surface of the water. Fortunately, either the creature was afraid of the family’s sacred pond, or had found another target, for when Luna next surfaced for air, the fighting was over. Only distant cries and sounds of fires burning could be heard.

  Luna spent what felt like an eternity in that pond. Her grandmother’s embrace the only thing protecting her. Shivering every time she raised her head to breathe, she dared not leave. Her family had been adamant that if anything happened, hide and stay safe, then when the danger is over they will come to find her. But no one came. At least not at first, it wasn’t until the rescue forces came much later that she was found.

  Lucia was also saved, as she had been shielded by her own father who had sacrificed himself for her, diving on top of her and preventing necrotic burns from happening to the rest of her family. Even still, Lucia had not gotten out entire unscathed, as her own hands and arms had been burned due to their not being fully covered by her father’s body. Still, she to this day will say it was a trade she would be willing to make again and again as it was the last time she got to hug her father while he was still alive.

  Only after hearing that, did Luna realize her own mistake, kicking free of her grandmother to emerge from the water, only to be burned by the very flames her grandmother had tried to protect her.

  After that, Lucia and Luna found themselves both under the protection of Uncle Sal, a junior butler who had hidden in a closet once fighting started. He watched as the family got burned and butchered alive, thanks to the machinations of people trying to destabilize the local power structure. At first it seemed that it was a targeted attack against house Paraisthisi, but really it was just a convenient gathering of the region’s powerful noble families. Those who conducted the attack would have targeted any other event, it just so happened that they chose her awakening ceremony as the starting point.

  Within two years, Uncle Sal had managed to get the households for Luna and Lucia in order and prepared to move. A good thing as the entire island nation that had served as her ancestral home perished within seven years, as the vacuum of influential families at the top made it hard to repel future attacks.

  However, the Paraisthisi family line was alive and well in Luna, while others had to settle for getting strong enough to eventually learn the Necrotic Obfuscation Skill, a skill that Lucia barely learned last year. Luna had been able to hide her necromantically generated scars almost immediately. Even learning to project her illusions on Lucia so she didn’t have to wear long elbow length gloves all the time.

  While the events from her past happened long ago, she could still feel the scars. That was why she was at first concerned about Sal getting himself and her and her now adopted sister involved in the arena. It wasn’t until she saw the fact that many of the people were just like her, scarred and discarded by society, all needing a place to stay and earn a living that she realized how great of a place this was. Further, she realized how great of a thing Uncle Sal was doing. Protecting not just Luna and her sister, but others like them who also needed a place to regroup and survive.

  It wasn’t a perfect world, as a perfect world would be one without Death Eaters, or Necromantic casters, but this was a step in the right direction.

  Then, she felt the piercing gaze of the Healer on her. A healer that they dressed up as a Death Eater in some form of ritual to apparently confuse future Death Eaters. The idea being that the Death Eaters don’t have the best eyesight, and will be confused by seeing another dark form moving amongst them. Meaning they can get away and come back to heal everyone once the threat is gone. At least that is what the old tales of the Knight’s Brigade speak of, which is why they have every healer dress up the same way.

  Most of the healers that came before were disappointing to say the least, requiring everyone to shut down shop early due to the level of damage everyone suffered. Their insurance forced them to shut down for not just the night, but the entire month if anyone had to be taken to the hospital or receive further treatment outside the arena grounds. That was why everyone was so excited by this healer, one who could keep them going day in and out. One who seemed to almost never be tired. One who seemed as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside.

  Yet, all of that changed, after she felt her deep penetrating gaze on her skin, one that her mind instinctively interpreted as her bloodline awakened Illusionary Skill being stripped away. Then looking up, she saw the golden glowing eyes of the healer under the dark robes designed to make her look like a Death Eater, that’s when she panicked. For in that instant, she remembered the moment she got these scars, the moment she emerged from her grandmother’s protective grasp and saw the monster that destroyed her whole family.

  Worse, her survival Skills kicked in, as she felt her Lesser Danger Sight Skill kick in, letting her know that danger was imminent. Not just any danger, but a directed danger at her. While it had activated a few times since she joined the arena, it was never as fierce as it was at that moment. Feeling so many senses all at once, Luna ran. Only after leaving did she realize how it all might have looked.

  But she had something else to do, something important, for she had been told that regardless of where she was, or what she was doing, that she was to get to Sal the moment her Lesser Danger Sense Skill activated and inform him immediately, and that is what she did.

  For his part, Sal’s eyes went wide, but he nodded.

  “So it was after she scanned you that you felt this sense of dread?” Sal asked to confirm.

  “Yes, but I had already felt her gaze upon me and while I did look at her, it didn’t activate immediately. It wasn’t until later that it went off, that’s when I left and came right here,” Luna replied.

  “Very good, all right, go back and see if you can replicate the sensation again, when you do, just give me the signal,” Sal responded. Then Luna watched as Sal made a series of hand gestures towards the crew manning the lights. The light operators at top flashed their lights once in acknowledgement. Seeing that they were taking her concern seriously, Luna felt relieved.

  “All right, you should probably take your place,” Sal said after seeing that Luna had actually begun to calm down.

  “Wait, I need to apologize for running off so quickly,” Luna stated realizing now how she might have appeared to the healer.

  “It’s too late for now, but do check her out and give me the all clear after you talk to her, so I know it isn’t her,” Sal explained.

  Luna felt hesitant at first, but then she remembered the number one rule that they all had to adhere to. The show must go on. With that thought as her main catalyst, she exited the booth and went down to her second stage entrance, as she mentally prepared herself to bring in the challenger.

  Taking a steadying breath, she focused her mind and put on her fake smile and prepared herself for another night of work.

  Hopefully it is just a false alarm, she thought to herself as she could already feel her stomach gurgling with a warning hint of tension. Or maybe not.