Gentle Eyes of Evil

Chapter 21: Everyone Saw Today Differently

 As Jace ran from the morgue, the image of his fathers mutilated corpse still fresh in his mind, he realised that he couldn't possibly go home in this state. So, he went to the one area of complete calm that he had discovered a few years back, a sanctuary of sorts.

The prince wandered into a gated off area just a short walk from the palace. The area had a large metal gate at its front, similar to that seen at the entrance to a park, with the remainder being wrapped up with a nice brick wall. Over the top of said brick wall, was the beautiful pink blossoms of many cherry blossom trees that were in constant bloom. At the centre of the place was a small pond, this pond was full of happily swimming koi fish. The water was perfectly blue and clear, and the place itself was empty, deathly silent too. This place had been named The Sakura Forest.

Jace pushed the gate open, he kept a hand on the handle and gently closed it behind him once inside. The sound of the gravel path beneath his feet brought him a sense of peace and a much needed quiet. His ears and tail both lowered themselves as he followed the path around the pond slowly, just letting himself get comfortable in the quiet. He walked to one of the benches in the forest and sat down with a shaky exhale, Jace looked down to the floor and that's when he felt it, a wetness on his face.

The blood ran down his face calmly, almost like they didn't want to disturb the peace of the forest. He would have wiped them away by now, soldiers weren't meant to cry! But what good was it to play by such standards when the one man he became a soldier for couldn't even see him? For the first time since Leo cast his spell all that time ago, for the first time in almost three years, Jace let himself cry. He raised a hand and covered his mouth, then just let the blood fall onto the gravel, watching the deep red get slowly absorbed by the grey through his slowly blurring vision as the blood filled his eyes. He only blinked when the blood became painful, or his eyes were in pain from having them open for too long.

"What was I thinking...I was so pathetic to think becoming a guard would get me anywhere in his eyes."
Jace whispered, his voice broken from the tears.
"I wasn't anything special from the day we were aged...He cared more about mother than he did us, the others care more about each other, or themselves."
He continued, his voice grew bitter as he gritted his teeth weakly.
"I've never been anything of value to anyone."
He muttered softly, the anger he felt quickly having subsided. The prince continued to just sit in the silence of The Sakura Forest, letting his thoughts consume him and finally allowing himself to process things now that he didn't have anyone to try and impress anymore.

Meanwhile, back inside the palace, a much different situation was taking place regarding the two sisters. Eclipse had gone to a club for the night to try and forget about things, which meant that Harriet and Josephine were left alone. Luna was taking a nap in his own room, trying to just sleep away the rest of the day.

Harriet and Josephine were cuddled up together and were watching a film together on the TV that Josephine had in her room. The pair were sat with their backs against the backboard, Josephine had curled herself up a little and rested her head on Harriet's shoulder while watching the screen. Harriet sat with her back straight and even a little arched as she rested an arm around Josephine.

Josephine glanced up to Harriet before writing down on her notepad and raising it up, just in front of Harriet's face and the screen.

"With dad being gone, what does that mean for us?"
The paper read. Harriet moved her head off Josephine's and looked down to the girl properly as she parted her lips to speak.

"Well..."
Harriet began.
"As we didn't see him all that much anyway, our lives won't really be different. Without him around we might see a bit more of mother since she won't have him to be around, and of course a new ruler will come into place."
She explained calmly, her voice gave off its usual deepness and formality.
"Seeing as both of the boys are busy with their own lives, I've put myself forward to take the crown. As he didn't have any form of a will written, or even drafted, there's nothing stopping me from becoming Lust's next queen...how would you feel about that?"
Harriet asked Josephine as her eyes met the girls again. Josephine listened to her words carefully and looked back down to the notepad, her hand moved as she wrote a response.

"Would that mean I get less time with you?"
Josephine asked, her eyes saddened a little as her neutral face fell into an almost childish pout. Harriet giggled softly and put her forehead against Josephine's, both of them closed their eyes.

"Nothing can take me away from you, and nothing can take you from me."
Harriet whispered to her as she slowly moved a hand up and ran her finger over Josephine's stitches in her neck.
"When you were in the hospital, after that battle, I had a realisation. I made a promise to you, and to myself...that I'd never let anything hurt you again. That I'd keep you safe, I realised that I can't keep you safe if I'm not around you."
Josephine smiled gently as she listened to what Harriet told her, feeling a sense of comfort in her touch as Harriet's hand traced her neck. The pair looked at each other with calm smiles for a brief moment before Josephine had to look down in order to fathom her response.

"Good. I like it when you're around me"
She showed Harriet the paper before she smiled back at her again. Harriet softened her eyes and kissed Josephine on the forehead.

"I like being around you"
Harriet whispered to her gently, Josephine wrapped her arms around Harriet's torso and pulled her in for an awkwardly angled hug. Harriet giggled and wrapped her arms around Josephine, keeping her close.

Meanwhile, Eclipse was smoking a cigarette on the balcony of her room, seeming rather nonchalaunt about the whole situation. Luna decided to go and check on Eclipse, seeing as he couldn't find any reason not to and figured that the girl could use some help, even if she never admitted it. He slid the door to her balcony open and stepped out. Eclipse didn't turn to face him, she didn't even seem surprised he was there, she just kept looking out at the slums of a barely thriving city.

"Eclipse? You...you doing okay? I know we've all been through a lot recently and-"
Luna began, however he got cut off.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm good, why wouldn't I be?"
Eclipse asked him, still not moving her head from facing ahead. Luna cautiously walked up beside her and put his hand on the balcony ledge. He glanced to his side and looked at her.

"I mean...there's the war, Josephine losing her voice, losing your horn, everything with Sophie and Leo...even losing Leo. So...quite a few reasons?"
Luna listed to her, Eclipse shrugged.

"Ain't much point in bein' upset bout shit ya can't change. Whatever happens, happens. If ya can't change it, why be upset? Not like there's anythin' we coulda done."
She replied as she took a drag of her cigarette and calmly blew the smoke into the air.
"Besides, it ain't like I pay much attention round here"
She giggled and finally looked at Luna out of the corner of her eye.

"I've...never really thought about things like that. But what if something you can't control is really bad?"
Luna asked her, tilting his head as he continued to look at her.

"That's when the drinkin' and these babies come in"
Eclipse smiled and nodded her head downwards to indicate she was talking about her cigarette. Luna glanced down to the burning cigarette in her hand and sighed gently as he looked back out to the city.

"You can't just smoke and drink your way through this though. It'll destroy you."
He told her, his voice sounded concerned.

"Ain't like it'll kill me, at least if I get destroyed it'll be a distraction"
Eclipse giggled, a faint hiccup interrupted her not-so joyous laughter. Luna heard this hiccup and looked back to her, now giving a look of sympathy and concern.

"Eclipse, I'm gonna try and help you through this, okay? No one else has been there for you, and I'm sorry...we've all just had other-"
Luna tried to explain, before Eclipse put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him.

"Ya don't gotta do that...I'll be alright."
She told him as she shook her head.

"No you won't. Eclipse, I'm sorry we haven't been here for you, it's clear you need help as much as the rest of us. I'm not going to stand by and let you burn yourself into an early grave."
Luna told her, his voice sounded serious. Eclipse flicked her cigarette off the edge of the balcony, not even bothering to put it out, before she giggled again and looked at Luna.

"Lunaaaa...we're immortal babes! Ya gotta lighten up, live a little! It ain't everyone down here who gets infinite life, use it!"
She exclaimed happily, a wide smile on her face. Luna sighed with a weak smile and pulled Eclipse into a hug, putting his hand on the back of her head as she giggled now into his chest. However, her giggles now became sadder and sounded like they were mixed with tears. Whether they were happy tears or sad, Luna couldn't figure it out.
"I'll try, sis...I'll try living a little for you"
Luna whispered to her as he kept his arms around her.