The Demons of Shadow Moon

Part 8.5 - Empty

The atmosphere was heavy and filled with emptiness as the characters gathered their belongings in the now desolate house. Yurio, however, sat outside, his eyes fixed upon the grave they had created for his beloved mother, Yurika.

"..." he couldn't say a word.

Silence hung in the air, stifling any words that Yurio wished to express. Echo approached gently, opening the front door to find Yurio lost in his thoughts.

"... Yurio," she gently addressed.

"... I'll be in in a minute," Yurio's voice was weak. He didn't turn from his mom's grave.

He gazed at the flowers covering his mom's grave. He gently picked one, examining it with a shaking mind. He stared at the flower's beauty yet held such a resentful expression. Tears continued to spill as they gathered their things together.

"Echo, it won't all fit..." Luna mumbled quietly, looking over the clothes she'd pilled into a travelling bag.

"Here, fold them like this instead," Echo knelt to her, picking up one of her shirts and folding it, then rolling it up, making it much more compact.

She rose back to her feet as Luna began to refold her clothes.

"Galaxy, did you find any other bags?" Echo asked, walking off to the kitchen as Yurio walked into Luna.

He paused, gaze softly drawn to the flowers in Luna's hair.

"Your flowers..." he mumbled, standing still in the doorway.

"Hm?" Luna turned to him.

"They're still... so pretty..." Yurio returned, walking towards her to gently touch a petal of one of the flowers.

"Oh... yeah, I guess they are... they're... made from magic, so..." Luna told him, lacking any enthusiasm.

"Magic can't be destroyed..." Yurio finished, turning back to stare in front of him.

"Thank you for covering Mom with flowers... they're beautiful. She would have loved them," Yurio added with a weak smile.

"Yurio..." Luna addressed.

He turned back to her.

"Is... is magic good... or bad?" Luna sniffed.

Yurio hesitated, his heart heavy with conflicting thoughts.

"It holds just as much risk as it does potential," he repeated his mom's words.

Luna's voice quivered as she continued, her voice filled with pain and uncertainty.

"... when we were putting out the fire... there was... a woman. She said.. that magic isn't safe. It caused the fire and... and she lost her son because of it," she mentioned.

Yurio's eyes widened, the weight of her words sinking in.

"... she said... she'd rather die... than live without him. Magic caused her so much pain and sadness...! A-and an incident... ten years ago... Yurio, a boy was killed back then too! Magic... took someone's son away from them! A-and now- it-it's taken...!" Luna's voice cracked, tears streaming down her face, her words barely coherent through her sobs.

She buried her face in her hands, trying to wipe away the tears that continued to flow relentlessly.

"I don't wanna use magic anymore if this is what it's capable of!! Akira was right! Magic can be so dangerous...!" she cried out.

Yurio's vision blurred with tears as he rushed down to Luna, hugging her.

"Shh..." Yurio stroked her head as tears rolled down his cheeks.