Prolouge

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PORT OF TOKYO, YEAR 2024

Talia could stare at the moon all night if she wanted to. She dreamed of laying in a luscious field of moon flowers, barefoot and wearing a white dress. She would fixate her gaze at the beautiful diamond in the sky, bathing in its moonlight. Butterflies in different colors would flutter in her space, perhaps perching on her shoulder or knee. All the stars would align and form different constellations; maybe if she was lucky, a comet would shoot across the sky. Tranquility, euphoria, and carefreeness was in the atmosphere. No amount of evil would be able to cross.

Unfortunately, one could not always have everything. Talia wrinkled her nose once remembering that she would probably never have that sense of peace again. The world did not care if you were happy and content with your life; it would find a stone and throw it in your path. She learned that the hard way.

How could she possibly imagine being in fantasy land when she was outside, dressed to kill and ready to follow orders at her superior's beck and call. When Talia learned that her and her group's target destination was in Tokyo, she felt like someone poked her in the spine with a needle. She had always appreciated Japan's culture: the cherry blossoms blooming during the spring, entertainment districts, the food that was served during festivals, and origami— the Japanese art of paper folding. It was only one time that she was able to revel in what Japan had to offer her. While she did have some wonderful memories, there was also a memory so awful, she would never be able to erase it from her head no matter how hard she tried.

Talia saw her boss give a hand signal: it was time.

In all honesty, she was dreading for what was about to happen, but what kept her from changing her mind was what she was going to get out of this. Like a leopard stalking its prey in the dark of the night, Talia and her team silently maneuver their way to the warehouse. There were guards guarding the entrance, armed with guns. A few of Talia's teammates swiftly took them out and gently set their bodies aside to avoid making noise. With the guards out of the way, Talia and everyone else easily made it inside.

Along the way, Talia watched the armed soldiers fall one by one like dominoes. Blood splatters decorated the walls, and Talia even almost slipped on the blood oozing from their necks. No matter how many killings she had witnessed prior to this moment, she would never be able to stomach the sight of such gruesomeness.

When they made it to the main room, a few scientists tried to shoot at them, but a couple of throwing knives aimed for their throats were enough to stop them. They dropped to the ground, choking and coughing up blood until they let out their last breath. Talia wondered if those scientists had families waiting for them back home.

Her boss walked over to the vault, having to crack two separate passcodes to get to the real treasure: a canister that had a biohazard label on the front.

Talia stared at the liquid-full canister with such seriousness. Her grey eyes darkened like a storm cloud. "What exactly are we going to use it for?" She asked in a tight voice.

"No questions asked," her boss narrowed his eyes. "We only follow orders."

Ignorance was bliss. Sometimes, it was better not to know everything. Talia knew better than anyone what it was like to live in an environment where the only things you had to worry about was being healthy and doing well in school. Everything else was taken care of. But it was that same blissful ignorance that blinded her from what was actually going on. Lies mask and taint everything. She knew what she had to do.

Inconspicuously slipping her hand in her pocket, she pulled out her blow dart gun and pointed it at her boss. Once the dart penetrated his skin, he stumbled and was knocked out cold. The others noticed this, but Talia was quicker. In a matter of seconds, each of her people had dart sticking out of their necks and were sound asleep. The darts did not have poison, but a sedative that would have them dreaming sheep for thirty minutes. No matter how much hate she held for them, she would never stoop to their level.

Knowing what she came here to do, Talia took the canister and was debating on the many ways to get rid of it. She wouldn't— couldn't let the buyer get his dirty hands on this weapon.

Before she could get out of there, a masculine voice said, "Don't take another step."

Talia's body froze up. Her heart pounded wildly. The voice rang in her ears, to the point that swirls of confusion flushed around in her brain.

"Drop it," the voice commanded again. Although it wasn't piercing her skin, she knew the person behind her was pointing their sword at her back, threatening to inch it closer if she did not obey.

"It's not what it looks like," Talia tried to explain in a low voice.

"Yeah, you just happen to be a stranger wearing the Ketsu Yurei uniform who just oh-so happens to have a dangerous chemical in your hand. It's definitely not what it looks like," a different voice with a slight accent scoffs sarcastically from the darkness.

"You killed those soldiers and then killed your own comrades to keep the weapon for yourself? Whatever happened to your sense of honor?" This time, the words came from a sneering feminine voice.

"If you think you're going to get out of here, you're mistaken. You're going to have to get through us first," a much youthful voice declared.

"Set the canister down, and I promise I'll spare you," the person behind Talia said calmly.

That voice. . . A lump formed in Talia's throat. She was overwhelmed with so much emotion that she complied and set the canister down, her hands up in the air.

"We should go now. You-know-who will be arriving," the source of the sarcastic voice advised.

"First, I want to see who this person is. They look a little too young to be working for the Ketsu Yurei," the leader said. "Turn around. Slowly."

It felt like an eternity, but Talia took her sweet time turning her head to look at the person behind her. Her heart felt heavy like a sack of bricks. As soon as she made the final turn, her eyes locked with the person's cobalt blue eyes, mysterious and deep like the ocean. For a moment, Talia forgot to breathe. Not a day had gone by that she wouldn't think about those eyes— the same eyes that would hypnotize her and made her feel like she was walking along the shore, seeing the waves crash against each other.

The same eyes that belonged to the guy she fell in love with eight years ago.

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