Under the Shining Lights

Sweet Mornings (Optional)

Mona wasn't familiar with the morning sun. Due to how young she was when she entered the Nexus, she never got to experience much outside of it. For a long time, she was a just fighter, risking her life daily for the entertainment of thousands. It was easy for her to forget that she had a life other than the Nexus, that she wasn't a machine, but a flesh and blood being. Her hands were cracked and calloused, scars were scattered across her body like decorative jewels. When she first left the Nexus, she slept on the floor for weeks because she wasn't used to sleeping in such a comfortable bed. She didn't get an adjustment period.

The sun was blinding, spreading orange and red across the sky like an oil painting, bleeding into the water. It was warm, Mona noticed, where the light graced her skin, heat sunk into her, melting her ice-cold core. The wind blew by, gently pushing the water, making it look like it was rocking back and forth. It was gentle on her face, feeling like a soft caress more than a force of nature. The view made her chest ache. 

This is what she was missing. All that time locked up, fighting to see the next day, kept her from seeing the beauty around her, concealed behind cold brick walls. Yet, even as she lamented how much of her life she had given up, she couldn't find herself regretting it. She did it for her father and her sister. So long as she was a fighter, they didn't have to worry about going hungry or losing their home. Her father could finally rest.

Everything from her past felt like a blur. Days melted into each other, becoming a samey mess in her mind. She was either fighting or not. Life seemed to fly by like that, while at the same time feeling like a dragged-out torture scene. The constant pain was something she wasn't going to miss. Rest wasn't exactly what she called her downtime. She slept, ate, and sat there in pain hoping she'd be healed enough to fight again. She slept for a whole thirty-two hours when she got home and still felt exhausted after.

She later learned that was a common response. After living for so long in constant stress, when it finally released, her body broke down. She caught the flu almost immediately after returning, and it wasn't mind either. Long periods of sleep, sore throats, vomiting and more accompanied her for almost a month, not to mention the painful way her muscles cramped and seized while recovering.

Luckily, her sister was there for her. It was a strange adjustment, going from warrior to bedridden, having to be taken care of. She may have cried a few times. Of course, after she recovered, she was able to spend time with her family the way she wanted, dinners, games, drinks, all the things people do to catch up. Not that Mona had much to tell them besides 'fought, shit and pissed'.

Elana had grown up in her time away. She was a responsible hard-working woman now, very different than the tween Mona had left behind. Elana told her all about the things she got up to when Mona was away, finishing school, going to parties, the jobs she took on for some extra cash, etc., and Mona found herself becoming anxious over her sister. It seemed that being free from the Nexus left Mona with a lack of purpose, so she had made her new purpose protecting Elana.

She first started by teaching her self-defense, which was easy enough. Elana, like Mona, had her size as an advantage. Then Mona started going everywhere with her. Everywhere. The store, the park, on a walk, everywhere. Elana got sick of it pretty quick. Eventually, Elana found ways to sneak out without Mona, distracting her or leaving when she was asleep. Mona couldn't blame her.

Meeting Raphael was a surprise. When she couldn't relax at home, trying desperately to give Elana her space, Mona decided to tail her instead. She didn't even try to justify it in her head. Mona knew the place here Elana usually told her friends to wait, so she made her way there and waited in a tree. She spotted a Kappa waiting by Elana's tree, wearing a blue mask for some reason. Eventually, Elana appeared with another friend, and the three talked until they started moving. That's when the branch snapped and she landed in front of another Kappa. They didn't look anything alike, but due to their similar dress, she connected the dots.