The Meaning of Life :P

The Lunar Eclipse

Chapter 13: PR

Ivan grew worried. Even as the news hadn’t covered it yet he knew the police were swarming the building and its perimeter. Athena wasn’t slow. Hell, he was expecting her here by now, and going through the data with her. But she wasn’t present. With a grumble, he checked his phone he left in his bedroom while getting everything ready.

Ivan, we’ve made it out safely, and Athena has the data. Unfortunately, she has been wounded, and it would be difficult for her to make it to your place alone in the state she is in. If you see this, you should pick her up. Jordan.

“Crap,” Ivan muttered under his breath, and rushed to the door, grabbing his keys on the bench.

He pushed the door open, taken aback that his eyes laid on Athena Cykes, who could barely look up at him.

“Hey...”

She immediately collapsed in Ivan’s arms. Ivan quickly dragged her body inside, and kicked the door shut. Safe from the sight of his neighbours, he rested Athena on the closest flat surface he could find.

While moving her carefully, he removed her bag and casted it aside. As much as he wanted to look at the information she retrieved, saving her life was more important. He grabbed his medical equipment from her bedroom and knelt beside Athena.

“All right, let’s find out how bad this is.”

The atmosphere in the main boardroom was palpable. Mr. Denovo could tell by the expression of most of the people that they were shocked and dreading the worst. He could only hope by putting on a positive attitude as he addressed everybody that perhaps this fear would be lifted.

“Good morning everyone,” Denovo declared, briefly looking at each person in the room, “As you are no doubt aware, an intruder managed to break into this building last night. From what the detective in charge has told me, so far there was no evidence left behind. The only thing we know for certain was the intruder had an accomplice, who appeared as a homeless man.”

“I haven’t heard anything from the police about him,” Xavier Drax, a board director, spoke up.

“I got the report from our marksman, and I doubt the police have that information unless he’s telling them right now.”

“So, how are we going to increase security so it doesn’t happen again?”

“I haven’t figured a plan for that yet. But this type of intruder we’re dealing with is not your simple bank robber. He’s much more than that.”

“What do you mean?”

“The marksman gave me more information that revealed the intruder’s identity,” Denovo announced.

The room was suddenly filled with murmurs and confused looks. Alyssa however knew exactly who Denovo was talking about, and scribbled down the event in the minutes.

“I expect none of you would believe me at first, but with the information I’ve received, I can’t imagine it to be any other person. Our culprit is the Lunar Eclipse.”

The man opposite Denovo erupted into laughter, while the other members of the board either glared at Denovo, or the laughing man.

“You expect us to believe the thief is from a fairytale? Might as well suggest the thief was wisked away by the vapour of nuance too!”

“I can attest the Lunar Eclipse is real, and he’s not the hero we’ve heard from fairytales. Let me show you, members of the board.”

Denovo stood up from his seat, removing his suit jacket. He slowly undid his tie, appearing he just had problems undoing its loop. Finally, he unbuttoned his shirt and removed his right arm from his sleeve, revealing the entirety of that arm was metallic and part of his shoulder. Some of the board members were visibly horrified at the sight; one could barely glance at their CEO.

Denovo, unfazed by their reactions, then said, “Almost two decades ago, a man in a purple suit did this to me. After I recovered, I researched and discovered the man in the purple suit was the Lunar Eclipse. As you can see, I’ve suffered since that day. The Lunar Eclipse is very much real, and doesn’t live up to his own legend.”

As he buttoned his shirt back up, he heard a member of the board demand, “Mr. Denovo, if this Lunar Eclipse is really a threat to us, how will you get the public on our side?”

“That’s what we’re here to discuss, isn’t it?”

Ivan pressed his fingers on the neck of Athena Cykes, who was resting soundly from what he could see. He retreated his fingers after thirty seconds, and dotted down on his notepad, Steady pulse eight hours after operation. Patient in stable condition.

He was relieved the teenager was recovering after making it out of Sceptre Bank alive. He felt immensely guilty he didn’t check his phone earlier to pick up Athena from a building nearby, believing she might have died while making it back to his apartment.

He was thankful for her training, making her strong enough to stagger with a hole in her back. However, this was her second major injury in two years, he could only wonder how much punishment Athena’s body could take before she couldn’t assume the Lunar Eclipse, or in the worst case, die.

Upon thinking about it, he decided to check the wound and see how his handiwork was coming along. His stitches appeared secure and tight, and she wasn’t bleeding out.

Comfortable with his examination, Ivan stood up and left the room, putting his effort to shift through gigabytes of information on Sceptre Bank. As he returned to the living room, Ivan heard a knock on the door. He peered through the eyeglass before opening the door.

“Hello Jordan. How are you holding up?” Ivan enquired.

“I’m all right, but we need to talk,” Jordan charged.

“Sure, come in.”

Ivan opened the door wider, watching Jordan rush past him, saying, “I need to check up on Athena first.”

“She’s in my bedroom. Try not to wake her, she needs her rest,” Ivan said, shutting the door behind him.

The Sri Lankan man understood Jordan’s concern, hell he probably noticed Athena was shot, and told her to go to the hospital. In that sense, Ivan was glad Athena managed to reach him instead of foolishly rushing to the hospital.

He retrieved glasses for both him and Jordan, and filled them each with water. After setting the glasses on the table, he grabbed an envelope from his desk, checking its contents before placing it amongst the beverages.

Ivan waited five minutes when Jordan emerged from the bedroom. The homeless man’s features had softened slightly, although now that his eyes rested on Ivan, his expression turned serious. He sat opposite Ivan, appearing noticeably uneasy.

“Thank you for operating on Athena,” Jordan said, barely keeping eye contact with Ivan.

“No problem. It’s my responsibility to patch her up, and keep her out of trouble,” Ivan responded, crossing his arms.

“If you really wanted to keep her out of trouble, maybe she shouldn’t be doing all this dangerous stuff,” Jordan stated coolly.

“You know she’s very capable of doing everything she can to protect the innocent.”

“Yes, I’ve seen her fight. But she is a child, still making sense of the world around her,” Jordan argued.

“We’re all trying to make sense of this crazy world around us, and some of the stupid decisions we, as a society, make. She’s just like all of us, in a sense.”

“Yes, and in trying to figure out this world we live in, she doesn’t have time to figure out who she is.”

“Jordan, she’s a bubbly girl full of enthusiasm and she’s achieved her dream of becoming a lawyer. She knows who she is, and it helps her cope with the pressures of being the Lunar Eclipse,” Ivan charged.

Jordan sat back in his chair, and sipped his water, his eyes never leaving Ivan. Then he suddenly leaned forward and responded, “It sounds like you’re pulling this out of your ass. I don’t think you know how she feels. She’s the heir to a hero who died in the line of duty, sacrificing his life so that his family could live their lives. Yet this little girl has nobody she can talk to about this because the only things she has are her Law Degree and Masters, and the Lunar Eclipse.”

Ivan lowered his head, contemplating Jordan’s observations and what Athena had told him. Then he said, in a matter of fact tone, “If you are only blaming me, I suggest you direct your anger to the cause of her grief. Her enemies.”

Jordan closed his eyes, and all of a sudden felt his fists form into white hot balls. He inhaled, then as he exhaled, opened his eyes. Ivan was still sitting opposite, his expression stoic as ever.

“I suppose you have a point. But if I hear Athena is still unhappy, I won’t hesitate to convince her to confront you about it,” Jordan threatened.

“All right. If you don’t mind, there’s something on my mind I wish to discuss with you,” Ivan stated.

“What is it?”

“I do wish to reward you for your efforts last night, and for watching out for Athena,” Ivan said, scooting the envelope towards Jordan.

The homeless man picked up the envelope, and peeked into its contents. His eyes widened seeing the amount inside and shut the envelope quickly.

“It should help you get back on your feet. At least I hope for long enough for you to get a job.”

Jordan smiled and responded, “Thank you, but my service to Athena won’t end here. Not until she’s happy with her life.”

“Whatever makes you happy Jordan. On behalf of the Lunar Eclipse, we look forward to your continued support. But may I remind you that you don’t owe us anything,” Ivan stated.

“Don’t worry, I’m aware. Anyway, I hope it’s not too much to ask but... I need my beard shaved off,” Jordan requested.

“To hide from the police and look presentable for a job, I assume? Sure, I’ll lend you my bathroom. Just put everything back in its proper place,” Ivan said.

Jordan acknowledged him and headed into the bathroom, with a heavy sensation lingering on his heart.

Denovo ended the emergency meeting after an hour, realising the majority of the board had difficulty finding a solution to the pressing problem, and how to frame it to the media.

Although, two members decided to remain in the boardroom. They were Alyssa Wundaland, head of public relations, and Xavier Drax, head of security. He was not surprised that these two would stay here, knowing they had to address the media soon about the break in.

“You two still have issues you want to discuss?”

“Yes,” Xavier hissed before Alyssa could speak, “There is one thing that has been pressing me about the Lunar Eclipse.”

“And what is that?”

“You said the Lunar Eclipse was the cause of you losing your arm. Would that mean you’ve done something evil? You do remember the Lunar Eclipse chases after people who would harm innocents if you claim he’s the real Lunar Eclipse.”

Alyssa stood from her seat, retorting, “Excuse me, but he hasn’t done anything wrong.”

“Lady, that’s because every time you’ve been with him alone you’ve been getting your brains fucked out by him instead of asking the important questions,” Xavier charged, then turned to Denovo and asked, “So are you going to answer me?”

“You have no right to ask him!” Alyssa shouted.

“All right, then maybe a little bit of pressure would conjure an answer.”

Xavier clasped his hands around her neck and squeezed tightly. His eyes were set on Denovo, wanting to see him react. But his expression remained lifeless, only calming returning his gaze.

“You won’t harm her!”

Before Xavier could open his mouth, he suddenly felt pain from the left side of his chest. He collapsed on the table, his vacant stare directed towards the blonde haired man standing in the doorway.

The shooter swallowed hard. Never had he seen a man fall so quickly. But the smile Alyssa gave him relieved his tension. After all, protecting her was his job, at least for now.

“Well done, Elathan,” Denovo praised, as he approached the shooter, “You did the right thing.”

“Thanks, I just did what I was trained to do.”

“You are too humble, lad.”

The door suddenly swang open, revealing a tall man in a clean white suit. His mouth agape witnessing the sight of a dying man slumped on the table, bleeding out from his chest.

“Ah, the ghost who walks has graced us with his presence. Please do us a favour here and dispose of the body. Alyssa is meeting with the press very soon and it would do us nicely if only you could investigate the body.”

“Absolutely sir.”

Elathan watched as the man in the white suit lift up the body that was once Xavier Drax by the back and looped his arm underneath his legs. He then stared at Elathan as he walked past, but the gaze was broken once he was out of sight.

Once the door shut behind them, Denovo turned to Alyssa’s direction and said, “It’s almost showtime, Alyssa. I hope you are not too shaken.”

“Not at all. This actually turned out quite favourably. Wish me luck out there,” Alyssa responded, standing up and leaving the room.

Elathan couldn’t get another word in time. He was still confused, trying to find another reason why Drax’s untimely demise was a good thing. He suddenly felt Denovo’s heavy arm on his shoulder, and was gently forced to look outside.

Looking down at ground level, he could see a large media presence outside the building. He hoped Alyssa was going to be fine coping with all the microphones and cameras pointing at her. There was a lot of attention, and like the arm on his shoulder, it was beginning to get too much to bear.

There was foliage as far as the eye could see. Whenever Athena looked up to see the sky, she couldn’t see through the canopy of branches and leaves. But the darkness was her ally, everything was as clear as day.

And there was a familiar man running through the jungle.

She pursued, and being shorter than the man, she easily jumped through the gaps in the thick bushes. For a moment, she thought she was catching up to him. But he maintained his lead, not even looking back for her.

“Dad! Wait for me!”

He turned his head slightly, but didn’t slow down. Instead, he sped up. Athena sprinted after him, refusing to let him get away from her. She should be capable enough to catch up to him.

She witnessed her father run through a thicket wall. Gritting her teeth, she braced herself as she ran at top speed through it. She had to stay on his heels. He was taller and he could cover more distance in one step. She couldn’t slow down.

Athena abruptly stopped. It took her a second to realise her father’s hands had grabbed her shoulders, and were pushing back. She grasped his left wrist, attempting to force it off. It was like trying to move a concrete statue built up from the ground. Her father didn’t even flinch.

“Take a look at your surroundings,” Theodore ordered calmly.

Athena breathed harshly before reluctantly obeying her father. Over his shoulder, she witnessed lavender, bubbling liquid as far as the horizon. She then looked down, seeing her father’s ankles were submerged. Uncertain of the danger that was presented, her hands ended back on his left wrist.

“Achelois, you fail to understand. If you tried to cross this river, your skin will burn off before you could even swim a hundred metres.”

“Then why the hell can you stand in it?”

“I’ve been dead for sixteen years.”

“So this is the river of the dead... It’s much more peaceful than I imagined it.”

“And I don’t know why you would want to follow me across when you are still alive.”

“I thought... I thought I died.”

“You are not dead. And I will not allow you to throw your life away!”

Athena opened her mouth, but all that came out of it was the air being punched out of her. It felt like she was being struck by a truck, and not a human being before her. She recoiled, releasing her father. Seizing the opportunity, he pushed her by the shoulders. Athena attempted to grab onto his sleeve, but his reflexes were too fast.

And suddenly, Athena found herself tumbling backwards through the foliage. The branches and vines snapped under her weight as she fell into darkness. Even reaching out towards the light, which grew smaller and smaller at each passing second. She felt like she was falling forever...

A sudden surge of pain forced Athena up. Her hand lightly brushed her wound, discovering stitches had replaced the gaping hole that was once there. Athena brought her hand up to her head, as last night, at least parts of it, felt like a blur. She clearly remembered infiltrating Sceptre Bank and taking out a few guards that stood in her way. And of course the leap of faith she made from Sceptre Bank to Jordan. She had no idea how she managed to ever make such a giant jump, but Jordan’s presence significantly helped with recovering from the impact it had on her body.

Everything after Jordan told her she had been shot was hazy. Scanning her surroundings, she had no idea how she made it back to this room, wherever it was. She could hear the TV from the other room though.

Curious, she slowly sat up, a shooting pain erupting from the right side of her back. But she persisted, and stood on her own two feet. She gradually stumbled towards the door, and opened it, the light cascading into the bedroom.

“Athena! You shouldn’t be up!” Ivan’s voice carried from somewhere in the room.

Before Athena could gauge where he was coming from, Ivan stepped in front of her, with his left hand on the doorknob.

“Wait, what time is it?” Athena asked.

“Almost half past ten.”

“Shit, I’m late for work.”

“I’ve taken care of it for you. I made a call to your boss and told him you were unwell,” Ivan stated, pushing Athena back gently.

“Thanks, but I can’t rest now. The morning news is about to start. Has Sceptre Bank been on?”

“Yes, but they haven’t made a public statement yet. I’m expecting them to make it soon.”

“I guess we can watch and see if our operation was a complete success.”

“I still have a lot of data to shift through, so I’ll just be listening.”

“All right.”

Athena sluggishly moved towards the couch, the pain rushing through her body with each step she took. It didn’t help the TV was also pretty loud, but she assumed if anything happened Ivan would pay immediate attention to it. She only felt slight relief relaxing on the couch, and settled down on her left side.

“And now we go live to a statement from Sceptre Bank’s Public Relations Manager, Alyssa Wundaland.”

The scene switched instantly to footage of a professional, youthful woman with long brunette hair. She barely reacted being surrounded by reporters with cameras and microphones. Just from the amount of devices around Alyssa, Athena could already tell that her infiltration made big headlines for the news today. After all it wasn’t often an intruder escaped without a trace when stealing something from a bank.

“First, I’d like to alleviate the fears concerned shareholders and customers have about their accounts. In our investigation so far, there has been no illegal access to the bank accounts of our customers. While this is good news, it appears the intruder was after something else, which the police are currently investigating.”

“Miss Wundaland, has the investigation made any discoveries of the thief’s identity?”

“None. There was no evidence left behind either. However, Mr. Denovo has a theory on it, although it does lack concrete evidence.”

Athena heard a squeak from behind, as she watched with baited breath.

“Since the intruder seemed to navigate the building and knocked out the guards easily, Mr. Denovo came to the conclusion that the only person capable of performing such a feat is the Lunar Eclipse, or more specifically, a copycat.”

Athena forced herself to sit up straight. Her body began to tense in a familiar fashion when she was on the verge of discovering her relatives were murdered. She barely caught onto the lively reactions of the reporters surrounding Wundaland.

Wundaland herself waited patiently until the reporters settled down, and continued, “The reason why he believes that is the discovery of a body we heard from the police just before I was going to make this statement.”

Athena stared intensely at the TV, silently keeping her growing chaotic feelings at bay. She heard another squeak, then footsteps approaching from behind.

“This is going to be difficult, but we’ll find a way through this,” Ivan announced, placing a reassuring hand on Athena’s shoulder.

Athena barely felt anything related to Ivan, her focus squarely on the press conference. Something began to click in her mind, and thanks to Apollo’s breathing exercise, she was able to cast everything else aside.

“In the story of the Lunar Eclipse Mr. Denovo heard, the Lunar Eclipse in it doesn’t kill anybody. That’s why he labelled this intruder a copycat. Anyway, that’s all for today. We will update our customers and shareholders regularly on the situation, and the police will continue their investigation.”

As soon as the news broadcaster’s face was on screen, Ivan switched off the TV, and walked around the couch. He sat on the sofa chair to Athena’s right, reflecting on the broadcast.

“That woman,” Athena spoke with a hiss, surprising Ivan as he was deep in thought, “She’s the one who killed Sigmund.”

“Are you certain? You only heard her once,” Ivan questioned.

“I could never forget the malice I’ve heard behind her voice. It’s exactly the same.”

Ivan immediately stood up, rushing to his desk, stating, “Let’s look up her name through the database and see what we find.”

Athena listened to Ivan’s furious typing and anticipated breath while she slowly stood up herself, the pain reminding her not to exert herself each time she moved. She willed herself to ignore it, and step by step, she moved closer to Ivan.

“Wundaland’s information is encrypted,” Ivan declared.

“So, they’re obviously hiding something from everybody, even the employees,” Athena quipped.

“Exactly. And she’s not the first name in this database I’ve encountered with encryption. And if everything that’s important is protected by encryption, this should reduce my search significantly.”

“What about trying to break through the encryption?”

“That’s not my job. I’m going to send the encrypted data back to HQ because somebody can deal with it, and only focus on that while I shift through the crap.”

“So that means we can lay low for a bit until the encryption is down?” Athena enquired.

“I would normally recommend that, but with Wundaland pinning you as a criminal you need to get back to work as soon as you recover. You need to clear the Lunar Eclipse’s name.”

“Wouldn’t it make more sense to lay low? The Lunar Eclipse is supposed to be deemed a myth; would people believe such a thing?”

“They were smart enough to say you were a copycat, to make the Lunar Eclipse sound like a villain. But with your injury, we really have no choice but to stay under the radar. I guess you can use the recovery period to discover what people think of you.”

“How long would it take me to recover?”

“To fully recover I would anticipate a week. I already told your boss you’d be taking the week off work, so that arrangement has been taken care of. And right now you’re not in condition to be moving around much, so I’m afraid you’ll have to stay here for another day so I can monitor you. So I suggest you return to my bedroom to rest up.”

Athena acknowledged Ivan, and slowly returned to his bedroom. Once she was under the blankets, she found she couldn’t force herself to sleep. She checked the bedside table if anything was left for her to do. Fortunately, Ivan was smart enough to leave Widget and her cybernetic half-glove on the table.

The teenager reached over, ignoring the pain, and grabbed the items. She put on Widget first, letting the electronic necklace rest in the centre of her neck. Then she put the half-glove on, fitting her right hand perfectly. She then kept herself busy by looking at the profiles of people she’s been in contact with, knowing there was really no other way to keep her entertained for the rest of the day.

Suddenly Athena heard the door open, bringing her attention in that direction. There she spotted Ivan holding three leather-bound books, and he appeared he was going to give them to her no matter what she said about it.

“I’ve brought reading material in case you were bored,” Ivan declared, chucking them on Athena’s lap, “You forgot these back in England.”

Athena set her eyes on the leather bound books, and flipped the first one over. She immediately recognised what these books were. To confirm it, she checked the binding of the book, which had inscribed XXVI.

“These are your father’s. Don’t you want his journals?”

Athena bit her lip before responding angrily, “If he really cared about me, he wouldn’t have cursed me for this life since the day I was born. I can’t read his journals because all my parents cared about was that I succeed my father where he failed.”

“Athena,” Ivan uttered, his body slumping slightly, “It’s likely that Denovo and his henchmen have been out to kill you since your birth. You can’t let whatever pent up feelings about your father deter you from finding answers within his journals.”

“Why don’t you read them yourself? You knew my father better than me; you were a part of his goddamn life!”

“Your mother would never let me read his journals, as curious as I was. And I thought you read them soon after you read through Thomas Selenic’s journal. But obviously I’m wrong. But considering we’re getting closer to our enemy, maybe your grandfather, or your father’s journals may contain some observations they made. The sooner we discover who killed your father, we can make plans to confront him,” Ivan explained.

Athena looked down at the journal before her, feeling its leather bindings underneath her fingers. For such a light thing, these chronicles carried the weight of the world with them. She was supposed to feel something for her father, but she remembered why he named her Achelois, and resentment replaced the nothingness she felt.

“Leave me alone,” Athena snapped.

“As you wish,” Ivan said, shutting the door and disappearing from Athena’s sight.

She could still hear his footsteps through the door, wishing she didn’t have to remain here for the rest of the day. She looked down at the journal, staring at its blank cover. Reluctantly, she opened her father’s journal to a random page, and began to read it.

12th February 2009

Today should be one of the happiest days of my life. I should be overjoyed. But all I feel is emptiness. Metis gave birth to our daughter, Achelois, just a few hours ago. She’s sleeping soundly; unaware of the burden she will carry in the future. Her name, Achelois, binds her to inherit the Lunar Eclipse title from me. Metis and I chose the name from a minor Greek moon Goddess of the same name. I don’t want a dispute between her and her younger siblings about becoming the Lunar Eclipse like what happened between my father and sister.

Achelois, when you read my journal as you get older, I hope you can understand my actions. It’s my duty as the current Lunar Eclipse, to pass the torch down to you, the next Lunar Eclipse. Running away from this duty has dire consequences. It’s difficult to accept this, but it’s the only way we can protect ourselves from our enemies. You were born as a Lunar Eclipse, just as I am, and you’ll breathe your last as one. No matter what you do, you can’t escape your blood, and the twenty six Lunar Eclipses that have come before you.

Athena shook her head, and muttered, “Why did I have to turn to that page?”

She shut the journal irritably. She should’ve known reading her father’s journal would’ve made her feel this way. And now it was just her resting in bed, unable to sleep and dream.

But suddenly she remembered something, and reached over to the bed table, finding her phone. She quickly went through her contacts list and began typing out the message. Before she sent it, she skimmed through it to make sure it made sense, and hoping she didn’t reveal too much.

Hey Apollo. If Boss hasn’t told you already I won’t be at work for a week. I hurt my back pretty badly doing something stupid last night. I feel embarrassed even thinking about it. So plans for tonight are cancelled because I seriously need to recover. Sorry about that.

Happy with the message, she tapped to send it off. She activated Widget again and played around with the settings. Soon she felt her phone vibrate on her lap, and was pleased to see Apollo had responded back quickly.

I kinda guessed. Hopefully you weren’t trying to emulate what that fake Lunar Eclipse did at that bank.

Athena didn’t know whether to laugh or freak out. She could tell even through text Apollo was kidding, but she couldn’t discount that somebody as intelligent as Apollo believed the statement given by her cousin’s murderer.

Although, it didn’t stop her from quickly responding to Apollo’s message.

I don’t think the Lunar Eclipse is as klutzy as me. Anyway, the PR lady that gave the statement seemed really shady when she revealed that info. Like she’s hiding something that would ruin this story.

You can tell even from that? But if that turns out to be true then they could’ve lied about the murder that occurred in the building.

Yeah it’s possible. We should investigate this together. Something’s up with the heads of that bank.

Athena felt a tinge of regret sending that last message. Perhaps it was a bit too bold of her to return to Sceptre Bank after robbing it once. Her phone vibrated with Apollo’s response a minute later and checked his latest message.

I doubt that we could investigate this. We’re not involved with the police, and we have nobody to defend. Even if we somehow spoke to the people in charge, I doubt they would simply let us out with the knowledge they potentially killed one of their own.

I guess I got really eager on that idea. Should we meet up the day before I go back to work?

Yeah, perhaps at your place for once?

Thanks for the concern but no. I can still walk, and take public transport if I need to.

All right. I got to get back to work; Mr. Wright needs help with something. I’ll see you soon.

Athena placed her phone back on the bed table and reclined back. She acknowledged the pain suddenly shooting through her back, but at this point she barely cared.

The Lunar Eclipse

Chapter 12: Diospolis

“So why are we out here at 5am? This doesn’t look like a place we can jog,” a thirteen year old Athena demanded.

The sky barely had a hint of blue peaking over the horizon, but otherwise London was a bit more peaceful at this time of day. Sigmund brought Athena to a section of London with divots surrounded by three metre tall walls, some in close proximity of each other. It overlooked where usually a lot of traffic emerged from, but in the early hours of the morning the traffic lessened.

“That’s because we’re not jogging this morning, and I think this might come in handy since I doubt simply running would help catch bad guys, especially if you’re going to be living in LA. This is going to be your first Parkour lesson out of many,” Sigmund declared.

“Isn’t it technically freerunning since you’re trying to reach one place as fast as you can? Parkour is just doing somersaults along the way,” Athena deflected.

“Shut up. You need to learn the tricks too, they’re just as important. Plus it’ll make this more than jumping from one place to another.”

Sigmund suddenly climbed up the wall to his left, to higher ground, and walked away at least ten metres from the edge.

“Watch me carefully, Archie!”

Athena grumbled as she focused on her older cousin. Sigmund’s expression though was the most unwavering Athena had ever seen of him. His brow furrowed, and his eyes piercing the wall he was facing.

Then he bolted, moving at lightning speed. Athena had never witnessed her cousin running at top speed before. She just knew in the future, she would have to sprint as fast, if not faster than him.

He then jumped, but even with all that speed he wouldn’t land on the other side. With his arms out in front, raised above his head, his body impacted the wall.

Athena spotted his hands had grabbed the lip of the wall, and his feet were slanted. Suddenly, he pulled himself up, and stood on top of the wall. He stood triumphantly, with his hands on his hips.

“So, tell me what you saw,” Sigmund stated.

“You were running really fast... and when you jumped on the wall it’s like your arms and body absorbed the shock,” Athena answered with a bit of uncertainty.

“That’s pretty good. Although there are a few things you haven’t noticed. The position of your feet when grabbing onto the wall is very important. Your feet help you not exert too much pressure on your arms as they are recovering from the impact and so you don’t fall off. Basically don’t treat this like you’re jumping into a sandpit,” Sigmund explained.

“Okay. But isn’t it scary if you’re a lot higher?” Athena asked.

“Well, yeah it is. But I know if I don’t think about it while jumping, I’ll make it. I know it’s easier said than done, but we’ll stay close to the ground until you’re ready, Archie.”

Athena opened her eyes and shook her head. She wasn’t exactly sure why this particular memory surfaced, but it was relevant to the operation tonight. Her heightened anxieties only grew the closer it was to begin the operation. Even though she was at Apollo’s place to relax, its change of surroundings didn’t help as much as she hoped.

His apartment wasn’t too bad for an area bordering the bad side of Los Angeles, being of decent size and in good condition. Although she could tell he wouldn’t be able to afford paying the rent by himself. She had never met Apollo’s roommate, but Clay worked long hours. And from what Apollo mentioned about him, he sounded like a wonderful man.

“Hey Athena, do you want me to stop for the time being?” Apollo asked.

“Yes.”

“All right. I’m guessing whatever this thing is, is really bothering you. Can you tell me what it is?” Apollo asked gently.

“It’s... difficult to talk about,” Athena answered, glancing briefly at Apollo’s bracelet.

“What makes it hard to talk about?”

“I doubt anybody would sympathise with me.”

“Well, what’s the problem? I bet if we bring it to light, maybe you’ll feel better,” Apollo suggested.

Athena grew anxious with Apollo’s cautious probing; knowing if he asked the right questions, there was no escape from telling him about the Lunar Eclipse and putting his life at risk. She didn’t want to brush off his questions either, as Apollo gave up some of his free time to help her with her rising stress levels. He had been of great help over the past month reducing her anxieties through this breathing exercise, allowing her to be fully aware of every thought regarding the upcoming mission. This newfound clarity in her thinking made it easier to wade through the clutter in her mind to discover a way out of this mess.

“I’m sorry Apollo, but telling you is going to make me feel worse.”

Apollo stared down at his bracelet, but squinted when he felt no tightness. He looked back up at Athena with his mouth ajar, and an expression of confusion painted his face.

“Can you at least tell me why you can’t tell me?”

“No I really can’t. I’m sorry I gave you the wrong impression about this whole thing you’ve been helping me with. Once this whole thing is over, I’ll tell you everything,” Athena responded sincerely.

Apollo sighed, and suddenly demanded, “Promise me Athena.”

Athena hesitated, staring into his brown eyes. She noticed her hand trembling at the thought of committing on an oath she could easily break. She then presented an open hand to Apollo, who responded with a tight handshake as she said, “I promise.”

Apollo loosened his grip first, and Athena felt relief not just for her hand, but her heart too. As long as she didn’t lie to him, she could uphold her oath to him.

“So... since the relaxation exercise didn’t work, how about we watch a movie?”

“That sounds great.”

Ivan parked the car in the in a tiny little building. He stepped out of the vehicle first, scanning his surroundings. Then he signalled to his passenger that the cost was clear.

Athena Cykes revealed herself from the car, dressed in her super suit. She felt exposed having the hood rest on her shoulders, and no casual clothing over the top of her suit. But she kept on telling herself that this anxiety was nothing compared to being in the main office of Sceptre Bank.

“How are you feeling?” Ivan asked.

“I’m freaking out!”

“I’m not surprised, considering what’s at stake. But let’s focus on what we have to do. This will be our last opportunity to go over the plan,” Ivan said, “That being said, if you have any concerns, raise them here.”

“Noted. But we are infiltrating the main office building of Sceptre Bank, to borrow information from them. We have to know if they know anything about the Lunar Eclipse, and if they do, how much do they know,” Athena explained.

“Good. Did you bring everything I asked?”

“Yeah, I’ve got a blank USB key and my bag. I’ve been wondering though, how am I going to enter the building? Their security system will immediately detect me the moment I break in,” Athena enquired.

“I’ll deal with that. I’ll let you know the moment it’s down, and how much time you have,” Ivan answered.

“Will it be long enough?”

“As long as you’re quick. Remember what Rath taught you?”

“Hesitation kills.”

“Good. That will serve you well here,” Ivan replied and patted her on the shoulder. Once his hand rested, he continued, “Although this operation will only take half an hour at most, but it will feel like an eternity for you.”

Athena was taken aback. Was that empathy she detected from Ivan? Perhaps that trip to England did wonders for him, or he was too jet lagged to breathe down her neck. She welcomed this unusual behaviour, but she suspected this was only temporally.

“All right. Let’s go over the plan one last time, quickly. And bring up Widget too. I want to see if you’ve memorised the map.”

Athena acknowledged Ivan’s orders, and said the magic words, activating Widget’s Lunar Eclipse mode. With a few taps on the holographic screen she brought up a three dimensional map of the building.

“So, I’m going to be dropped off on top of the building, and I’ll enter through the vent. The database is on the forty sixth floor, so I’ll download the info to the blank USB, or if that doesn’t work, upload it to our database. And depending if they know I’m here or not I’ll get out at a lower level using the vent or use the backup plan.”

“You know where to go for the backup plan?” Ivan asked.

“Yeah, right there on the forty ninth floor,” Athena answered, pointing to the location on the map, “I really hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“Just be prepared for anything Athena. But you seem ready for this. And our backup is ready too. He needs your satchel though,” Ivan stated.

While Athena took off her satchel, she asked, “So who is the third guy involved?”

“You’ll know when you see him,” Ivan responded, retrieving Athena’s bag and Widget.

“Can you just tell me straight up?”

“You won’t like it. Just know he’s in a long coat and on the backup escape route,” Ivan kept looking to the right as he spoke, and suddenly stepped forwards, standing to Athena’s left, “Put your hood up. Our helicopter pilot is coming.”

Without hesitation, Athena pulled her hood up. She remembered reading from her ancestors’ journals that most people the Lunar Eclipse saved would not have seen the Lunar Eclipse’s face, even those that possessed a pendant.

The pilot that approached looked like he was in his fifties, his hairline had receded, but he still had thick black hair with a few grey hairs.

His attention turned to the Lunar Eclipse, stating, “You’re a lot shorter than I remember.”

“Perhaps I was towering over you when I gave you your necklace,” the Lunar Eclipse said brazenly.

“Ah, that’s true. I was a child when you gave it to me. I can’t thank you enough for saving me and my parents all those years ago,” the pilot said.

“Anyway,” Ivan started, shooting a glare at the Lunar Eclipse, “I trust you know where you are flying?”

“Of course. We better get going though, I figure whatever the Lunar Eclipse is doing in Sceptre Bank is dangerous,” the pilot replied.

“Exactly. Let’s do this swiftly,” the Lunar Eclipse stated.

The helicopter pilot led the Lunar Eclipse and Ivan to the helicopter further down the runway, on its own landing pad. The Lunar Eclipse could barely still the trembling throughout his body. But he kept on telling himself if he didn’t calm down soon, his true identity might show.

Once inside the helicopter, the Lunar Eclipse felt his phone buzz in one of his belt pockets. He quickly checked the screen, and stifled a grumble as he read the message.

You got lucky, but next time don’t half-ass your answer. You don’t want him to figure out you are not the Lunar Eclipse who saved him.

The Lunar Eclipse stared at the screen, knowing it was true. It was pretty reckless to assume this man was a child when the Lunar Eclipse rescued him. But how else was he supposed to react? He looked up at Ivan who sat beside the pilot, talking to him about where to fly.

He turned back to the Lunar Eclipse and asked, “Are you ready to take off?”

“Yeah.”

“All right, let’s go!”

It began like every other training session. Athena followed Ivan into the large hall, and he or the assigned instructor would explain either something new, or work on improving her technique. But once Athena entered, the atmosphere became ominous. She noticed there was several of the medical staff present, which was more than usual. Most of the time if he wasn’t teaching her, Ivan would be supervising and gauging her progress during her training.

Then there was a man she had never seen before in the centre of the room. Even from a distance, Athena could tell this man would easily tower over her. He was very muscular, as Athena could see that his arms were clearly too big for the sleeves of his shirt. She assumed he was a new instructor, and was going to teach her something that no one else at the facility could. However he had his arms in front of him, making Athena anxious that he might be holding something dangerous.

“Go on. He’s waiting for you.” Ivan sounded urgent, almost as if he purposely concealed information from the girl. Not that it was hard to figure out what he was hiding from her anyway.

Athena moved quickly, but gingerly, towards the man. She didn’t want to keep her teacher waiting for too long, yet she grew worried about the location of his hands. A year’s worth of training taught her that anybody that hid a certain part of their body from her view meant that they were hiding a weapon. Even though the man was facing away from her, she anticipated that he knew she was approaching and was ready to strike.

As she was just out of arms’ reach, he suddenly spun around. Athena froze. Her breath was caught in her throat. Her eyes intensely gazed at the object he revealed. She was staring down a barrel of a gun.

She could feel her heart hammering. Was he going to fire? Was he going to force her to do something while she had the barrel pressed against her head? How was the medical staff reacting? How was Ivan reacting?

“How do you feel?”

Athena’s eyes widened. That was the last question she expected him to ask. And his gentle tone completely caught Athena off guard.

“Scared.”

Once she answered, he lowered the gun. Athena sighed. She was relieved he wasn’t going to shoot. Before he spoke, she feared her life was over. At the back of her mind, she always reminded herself that assassins were after her, even if they didn’t know her name was changed to protect her. Each lesson helped further with preserving her life in case those assassins found her.

“Good. A normal reaction. And honest too.”

Confused, Athena responded, “Does this-”

“Do not speak unless I give you permission! Is that clear?”

“Yes.” Athena bit her lip. She wasn’t even aware the lesson had begun the moment he pulled out the gun.

“Good. Now that I’ve established that you’re not a psychopath and that you’ve haven’t received this type of training already, I can introduce myself and what you’ll be learning from me.” Her teacher’s tone was light again, which slightly unsettled Athena given his rather bulky appearance. It was a voice she wouldn’t dare associate with this man.

“My name is Rath Sayers; I’m an ex-military marksman, and gun expert. And it’s my job to teach you about guns, especially how to disarm somebody wielding a gun. I hate pointing my guns at a fourteen year old girl. But your mentor informed me you required special training and needed my skills.”

Athena wasn’t surprised that this instructor had a military background. His build revealed his previous career, although she wondered how he much he knew his material and if he was capable of teaching her what she needed to learn.

“How you felt when I pointed the gun at you is completely normal for somebody being held at gunpoint. However for your line of work, hesitating when somebody pulls a gun on you can mean the end of your life. The most important thing I will teach you is to not be afraid of guns, even when the shooter intends to fire at you instantly.”

“If I could get your permission to speak.” Athena paused, watching his lips and his face for any sign that she was speaking out of line. He had no visible objections, so she continued, “How do you plan taking away my fear of guns?”

“When you look at a gun, your psychological reaction is ‘That thing can kill me once that guy pulls the trigger.’ Considering your background in psychology, I’m sure you understand how the thought comes up. I want that thought replaced with ‘You won’t have a chance to pull the trigger.’ But... there are risks involved in this training.”

Athena grabbed the sleeve of her shirt. Was the gun pointed at her loaded and ready to go off if he pulled the trigger? This was more dangerous than any of the other lessons she was being taught. Yet Ivan hired this man specifically to train her with dealing with guns. She didn’t want to waste Ivan’s, and especially this man’s time, teaching her.

“The gun wasn’t loaded, but as you familiarise yourself with firearms, this gun will eventually be loaded. And when it is loaded, you must understand you’re risking your life every session you are forced to disarm me. Even though I will never pull the trigger, there is a chance the gun may go off when you make forceful contact with it.”

“Ivan is very... overprotective of me. Moreso than my family. I don’t understand why he would allow this training to happen.”

“Your mentor believes that the rewards outweigh the risks if you learn this. Just imagine while you are fighting armed men, one of them pulls a gun out of nowhere and you freeze up. As a defender of the people, your hesitation may cost you your life, or the lives of the people you are protecting. Hesitation kills, and that’s why you need to learn this before you have a gun pointed at you, or somebody you want to protect.”

The Lunar Eclipse rubbed his head upon that memory. He then stared at the horizon, knowing it would not do him well to have a headache during the mission. His mind needed to be clear, and his body ready to move fast.

He already had a thick rope-like wire attached to his harness and an earpiece to listen to Ivan’s directions and advice. His fingers, confined in purple, wrapped on the handle of the door trembled in anticipation.

“We’re above Sceptre Bank’s main office, Dr. Skinner. Is the Lunar Eclipse ready to go?”

The Lunar Eclipse nodded visibly enough for Ivan, and he relayed his answer to the pilot.

“All right, open the door when you’re ready to go. It’s been nice working with you.”

Without waiting, the Lunar Eclipse pulled open the door and jumped out. The adrenaline rushed throughout his body as he fell through the cold air. Even though this was temporary, the initial thrill was going to stay with him during the rest of the operation. He knew it was vital for him to remain alert at all times, especially once he entered the building.

He stopped a few metres above the building and signalled Ivan to lower him. Once his feet touched the ground, he stood up straight and removed the harness. He then gave Ivan a thumbs up, and as Ivan pulled up the cord and harness, the helicopter flew away from the building.

The Lunar Eclipse approached the roof entrance cautiously, careful not to trigger any alarms. He could barely wait until Ivan spoke to him.

“Lunar Eclipse, I’m almost ready to deactivate the security system. Are you in position?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Remember you have a few minutes to get down to the forty sixth floor once I deactivate their systems. Once the security team realises this, they’ll be searching all over for you.”

“Got it.”

“All right. Deactivating security system in three... two... one... now!”

“Do you think it’s a good idea we’re separated like this?”

“Of course not, but we were told the security system is down. So I’m assuming we don’t have a choice, especially if the intruder is somewhere inside.”

The two guards were confused about the intentions of their superiors, but otherwise happy to do their jobs. They were paid well, and they were used to the night shift. There was a bit of pressure guarding the database room, but how likely was it that somebody knew where it was? And even if they knew, how would they even beat up trained guards?

Still, they were uneasy about the security system going down suddenly. It didn’t happen often, and when it did it was just a scheduled drill. When they heard this was not a drill over their radios, they were understandably nervous.

“Hey, do you think after this shift we should go out for drinks?”

“We should remain focused, anything can- Hrrrnk!”

The second guard immediately collapsed, as the first one reached for his gun. He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his right hand and before he could attend to it he was smacked across the head by cold steel. A person stood over both the guards, retracting his weapon.

The intruder searched both their bodies, finding the key to the room on the second guard. He hid both the bodies separately on the floor before returning to the entrance of the database room, key in hand.

“Done dealing with the guards. I’m entering the database room now. Are you aware of any movements towards me?”

“It doesn’t look like anybody knows. I’ll let you know as soon as I know, okay?”

“All right.”

The intruder let himself in, scanning the room after shutting the door behind him. The room felt cool, lower than room temperature, likely because the computers had to remain on. As he checked the room, he noticed that one of the computers had been plugged in directly into what seemed like the database.

“Ivan, are you sure the database can fit into a USB stick?”

“We’re only borrowing employee details and financial reports. It should fit. If in the case it doesn’t, you have the external harddrive, right?”

“Yeah, I have it. Like you say, always have a backup plan.”

The Lunar Eclipse switched on the monitor, seeing the login screen. Remembering the emailed instructions and assuming nothing had been changed, he attempted the login and password. He was instantly successful, and suddenly, could access the database of Sceptre Bank.

It didn’t take long for the Lunar Eclipse to find the data he was looking for, and he inserted the USB stick in. He copied the data, and was met with a disappointing sight.

“You gotta be kidding me.”

“What’s wrong?” Ivan asked.

“I have to wait ten minutes for the copy to the USB to finish.”

“You’ll have to be on your guard too. By logging into their network you might have caught the attention of security.”

“Fine. I’ll deal with that problem when it comes.”

The Lunar Eclipse stepped away from the computer, his eyes fixed on the door, and his ears perked for unnatural sounds. It was the only thing he could do waiting for the ten minutes to tick down.

A guard entered the database room, scanning with the aid of his flashlight. He pointed his light towards the shadows under the desks, even approaching some of them. Hearing an intruder likely broke in here, because of tampering onto the network, left him agitated.

But no matter how many times he assessed the room, he found nobody. He checked the computer’s screen, noticing the loading bar left on screen. He reached for his radio strapped on his shoulder when suddenly his arm was forced behind his back and an arm pressed against his neck.

Struggling against the intruder, security attempted to bend over to use his centre of gravity against him. But he quickly discovered the intruder anticipated the move. The intruder managed to rest half his foot on the guard’s heel, effectively sliding the guard’s foot. Security quickly found his posture straightened and back to where he began, trying to maintain his balance.

“Are you going to kill me?”

The Lunar Eclipse didn’t answer. His focus remained on the screen, seeing the green bar slowly fill up.

“Floor forty seven is clear, over,” A voice said over the radio.

The Lunar Eclipse relaxed his arm around the guard’s neck and threatened, “If you don’t say this floor is clear I’ll make you regret it.”

The Lunar Eclipse felt him swallow as he leaned to his radio. He pressed the button and watched with baited breath.

“Floor forty six is clear, over.”

The Lunar Eclipse released the button, relieved he had a little more time. He peeked over the guard’s shoulder, spotting the files had finished copying to his USB stick.

“So... Are you going to keep your word? I did what you told me to do,” the guard charged, but his voice was shaky.

“Yes, but killing people isn’t my style.”

“What?”

In one swift motion, the Lunar Eclipse released his hold on the guard’s neck and yanked his left arm hard. The guard rapidly spun around, promptly meeting a right hook to his face, knocking him out.

The purple suited hero stared at the guard’s unconscious form before stepping over him and removing the USB stick from its slot.

As he logged out of the system, he spoke up, “Ivan, I’ve got the files. Where should I head out from?”

“The backup route, once you’ve logged out. I fear they already know an intruder is here, so the primary escape route is out of the question. I’ll let our friend know you’re heading in his direction.”

“All right, guess I’ll head upstairs to the forty ninth floor. Hopefully I don’t encounter anybody.”

“Just to let you know, I will be ceasing contact with you as soon as I receive word that our friend is ready. Be careful,” Ivan warned.

The Lunar Eclipse acknowledged him, quickly moving to the closest stairwell while silencing his footsteps. He wasn’t nervous, but the woman concealed in the supersuit was.

As he reached the door to the stairwell, he carefully left it slightly ajar, inspecting the floor above. He quickly determined the coast was clear. After slowly shutting the door, every step he took was deliberately quiet, aware these stairwells echo any sound made. And as much as he hated moving slowly, he didn’t want to alert the guards above or below him on the stairwell. At least he only had to travel three floors up.

During the slow ascent up, he took in his surroundings on every floor. Every two flights of stairs he would reach a higher floor, with sleek waist height metal partitions that served as the railing. And looking up, it seemed that the stairwell reached to the top of the building.

“Teams, it seems we have an intruder.”

The Lunar Eclipse heard a radio crack to life, and although it was difficult to pinpoint exactly where it came from, it was echoing from above.

“Are you sure?” Is he in your line of sight?”

The Lunar Eclipse immediately checked the stairs behind, confirming he was not in anybody’s direct sight.

“No, but I found Daniel unconscious in the database room. I’m not sure how long he’s been out for, since all the database computers are logged out.”

“Did the intruder get out?”

The Lunar Eclipse perked up, noticing the final voice wasn’t over the radio. With that confirmation, he moved up the final flight of stairs as silently as possible, the echo dulling any little noise he made. But now he was faced with a dilemma. A door stood between him and the rest of the floor, and opening it could alert the guard above.

The Lunar Eclipse quickly decided to open the door slowly, knowing the loud squeaky noise would be heard no matter how fast he opened it.

“Fre-”

Without hesitation the Lunar Eclipse kicked the guard’s hands, causing him to fire to his right. Giving him no time to recover, the Lunar Eclipse grasped the guard’s right wrist and punched his hand until he dropped the gun. After one final kick that sent the guard tumbling back, the Lunar Eclipse bolted to the right.

He kept on repeating the backup plan in his mind, remember the boardroom’s location on floor forty nine, and keep my eyes on the right.

The culmination of his night vision and memorisation of the floor’s layout had him finding the room quickly. Although he found an immediate problem once he grabbed the handle.

“Of course it’s locked.”

The Lunar Eclipse stood back, quickly scanning his surroundings for any guards. Once confirming he wasn’t in immediate danger, he aimed a kick directly under the door’s handle. The door gave way unlocking and opening for the Lunar Eclipse. He darted in and shut the door behind him. For extra time, he found the closest chair in the room, jammed it underneath the handle and angled the chair to push against the door.

Knowing he had a little bit of time alleviated the Lunar Eclipse’s mind to prepare for the upcoming part of the backup plan. He approached the window, staring at the smaller building opposite him. He managed to spot a man standing on top of the building although he was unsure whether he knew he was there or not. And the Lunar Eclipse could only assume that this was the backup Ivan spoke about, as there was nobody else around.

The Lunar Eclipse grabbed the chair at the head of the table, and with one great push, sent it right through the window. The shattered glass caught the attention of the man on the opposite building, and he waved.

Well, that got his attention.

Then it suddenly hit the Lunar Eclipse that the scary part of the backup plan was now. He had to make the leap from the Sceptre Bank main office to the smaller building. And looking down from the Sceptre Bank building both the height and the gap between the buildings were lengthy.

The Lunar Eclipse felt a lump in his throat seeing this in person. As he took several steps back, he breathed in and out, trying to remove all thoughts and feelings of the feat before him. Once he stopped moving back, he drew out his retractable bo staff, extending it to its full length with a press of a single button. Taking a few more deep breaths, he was able to clear his mind, even ignoring the banging on the door by the guards.

“We know you’re in there! If you don’t come out in ten seconds we’ll shoot!”

The Lunar Eclipse started sprinting towards the edge, with only one thought.

Hesitation kills.

He leaped once his felt his toes on the edge, and quickly used his staff to jab the building behind, hoping he would get an extra boost in distance.

In the air, he reached his arms out, flying towards the man ready to receive him. He tried to discern his features, but with all the adrenaline going to his head his energy was focused towards reaching the other building.

With a sudden thud and the shock erupting through his body he knew he was alive with his feet dangling off the edge. Through his stupor, he felt a hand grab his arm, aggressively tugging him.

“C’mon we gotta go now before they start shooting at us!” the man warned, grabbing the Lunar Eclipse’s arm to heave him up.

The Lunar Eclipse recognised the voice, but focused on pulling himself up from the ledge with the man’s assistance. As soon as he stood up, he heard multiple voices from Sceptre Bank building.

“Did he seriously jump from there?”

“I have no doubt he did. He kicked me when I had my gun out.”

“Is there somebody on the other building?”

The superhero and his friend began sprinting away from Sceptre Bank, just before gunshots rang through the air. The Lunar Eclipse was hesitant to run ahead of Jordan, afraid of putting Jordan in more danger from the opening fire. Although as they widened the distance between them and the building, he noticed Jordan was slowing up every time he did. The only relief was leaping from one building from the next was easier, as the distance between most of them were much shorter than the Sceptre Bank one.

He was surprised Jordan was easily making these jumps, making him more athletic than he appeared to be. Witnessing Jordan’s athleticism, the Lunar Eclipse began to focus on himself, reminding himself he was carrying the copied data from the database.

The Lunar Eclipse sprung to the next building, but looking for any ones they can reach that had access to the rest of the building from the roof. It was only a matter of time before the police were dispatched, and likely a police helicopter was going to be amongst them. Fortunately he spotted one two buildings away, and he was certain Jordan noticed too.

With that thought the Lunar Eclipse sprinted faster. He launched himself to the next building with all the momentum he suddenly possessed.

“Athena, move to the right!”

Athena reacted, and a bullet zipped past her head. Before she could be grateful, she landed on her left side, skidding slightly on the concrete roof before stopping. Jordan rushed to her side, his view on Sceptre Bank before grabbing her right hand.

Jordan brusquely pulled her up and barked, “C’mon kid. We don’t have far to go!”

Athena shrugged off the rippling pain, and ran ahead of Jordan. She easily made the next jump and quickly ran behind the brick partition that served for residents and workers to access the roof. Jordan followed soon after and threw a bag next to Athena’s feet.

“Get changed quickly, just in case they send a helicopter after us.”

Athena wasted no time opening the bag and grabbing the first items of clothing. She figured while retrieving her clothing that Ivan dropped off her bag with Jordan while she was infiltrating the building.

As Athena was halfway through putting a red t-shirt over her supersuit, Jordan suddenly spoke, “Athena, you’ve been shot.”

“Where?” Athena managed to ask, still in shock.

“Around the right of your lower back. I gotta bring you to the hospital,” Jordan said urgently.

“No, I can’t go there. Once it’s surgically removed the doctors will send the bullet to the police. Not only it’s covered all over with my blood, forensics will check for ballistic markings and link it to the gun fired from the guard that shot me. So I’m royally screwed unless I can make it to Ivan’s,” Athena explained, restraining the distress in her voice.

She threw on a dark green jacket immediately after the sentence. She found she could move fine now, but she dreaded when the adrenaline in her system died down.

“Well, I can call or text Ivan with the cell he gave me, but that’s the best I can do. I would love to escort you to his place but... I would put you in more danger. Security may have seen my face while I pulled you up.”

Athena frowned as she pulled her jeans up, feeling a little spike of pain shooting through her body.

“All right if that’s the best option then let’s go with it.”

The teenager picked up her satchel, resting the strap on her right shoulder and her bag on her left hip.

“And kid, just be careful out there.”

Athena acknowledged Jordan, peering over the edge of the building, noticing a metal grated platform and stairs heading down. She jumped down to the platform below, clenching her teeth as she landed. She was well aware her parasympathetic system was starting to kick in, meaning her adrenaline dissipated while the pain grew at every pressing moment.

She moved quickly down the metallic stairs, while being cautious about how much noise she was producing. Each step she took started to get more painful, and she was afraid she wouldn’t maintain her silent footsteps.

The teenager reached the second floor, realising there was only a ladder that only reached the first floor, and a short drop to the ground. Athena shook her head, and climbed over the metal railings. She inhaled and exhaled once and stepped back, falling briefly, but managed to land on her feet. Though she stumbled immediately, pain exploding from the shock of her landing. She bit her lip stifling a yelp.

Then she began breathing heavily, with only one thought in mind, You never got shot Athena. The Lunar Eclipse did. You can pretend it didn’t happen until you get to Ivan’s place.

The Lunar Eclipse

Chapter 11: Perception

Athena felt her heart thud painfully. She could hardly believe him. She quickly patted her head, finding out her hood and the beanie she wore underneath were removed. Now her stomach was doing somersaults.

“What else do you know about me?”

The young woman closed her fists, attempting to still her trembling. She might as well be dead right now, knowing somebody has unmasked her and saw her face in daylight.

There was a very good reason why the Lunar Eclipse only appeared at night. Human eyes normally couldn’t detect somebody who blended into the darkness, hence the night created a cloak of invisibility for her and all previous Lunar Eclipses. It was an easy concept for Athena to understand. It was even the reason why the supersuit was a colour that could easily camouflage into the night. But despite this, she made a silly mistake trying to climb up that fragile pipe all the way to the top of the building. And the consequences of that mistake could be fatal.

“All I know is, you may or may not be the Lunar Eclipse,” the man answered.

“Well, I’ve gotta go-”

Before Athena could stand, the man grabbed her shoulders from behind and pinned her down.

“Oh no you don’t! There’s something I want to hear from you!”

Athena didn’t resist, but kept her steely eyes on his dull blue eyes. She couldn’t help but notice he was stronger than he appeared to be. Even if she attempted to struggle, she wouldn’t easily get out of his grasp.

“Are you really the Lunar Eclipse? Or an imposter?” His voice was rattled with confusion, with traces of fear.

His confusion was understandable, as Athena knew she was nothing the average person would think the Lunar Eclipse appeared as. However the man’s fear made Athena wonder if he did anything in the past that would warrant punishment from the Lunar Eclipse.

Athena breathed deeply. She had to admit she was scared herself, but at this point she was left with no choice.

“I am the Lunar Eclipse, and I am the real deal.”

The older man relaxed his grip on her shoulders, and his features relaxed.

“You certainly are different from what I expected.”

Athena chuckled, “I understand. I’m not a man.”

“You’re a child.”

“I’m eighteen. Legally, I’m an adult.”

“With your childish behaviour I’m finding that hard to believe. For somebody who fights injustice, you seem inexperienced.”

“You’re right, I’m inexperienced. But as much as I would like to explain myself more, I have a life outside of this. If you really want to know, come to my place at seven tonight, and I’ll be happy to explain things over a meal.”

“All right kid,” the older man stated, retrieving a crustily notepad from a large pocket on his ragged trench coat. He handed them to Athena, and while she was writing down her address, he asked, “Are you afraid that I could mess up your life?”

“Of course, and I can imagine many ways you can screw me over. So I just have to trust in good faith that my life is not in danger,” Athena jovially answered, barely letting on she was scared.

She returned his notepad once she finished writing her details, and in exchange she received her beanie back.

“Anyway I really have to go. I’m going to be late for work.”

“All right. Have a good day kid.”

Athena smiled slightly, then bolted off to her right, climbing up the vertical pipe until she reached the roof. Then she dashed, disappearing from the older man’s sight.

The older man shook his head, mumbling, “I’m surprised she climbed up the same place she fell.”

Athena never thought in a million years that going back to Themis Academy was intimidating. Her first day in court leading the case was a disaster. Prosecutor Blackquill had an ace up his sleeve, and Athena couldn’t find any evidence or a counterargument against it. She ended up being saved by the confessions of her Juniper, Robin and Hugh, thanks to a school rule where committing a crime automatically invalidates the hard work they’ve put into their respective course. Not to mention she made a lot of mistakes that almost cost her Juniper’s defence as well.

Immediately after the trial, she discovered that there was a very real possibility she was going to be replaced by Professor Means, who was growing more suspicious every time he spoke about defending Juniper. It was part of what motivated her to plead to Juniper that she was the right person to defend her and that she would find the truth before sundown today.

She felt lucky Juniper accepted her offer, but it meant she and Apollo had a lot of work to do. Athena rushed ahead of Apollo with very little direction. She didn’t really know where she could begin, but she needed to find answers fast. Her cumulative stress from her Lunar Eclipse identity being discovered, the morbid vision and defending Juniper didn’t go unnoticed though.

“Hey Athena slow up!” Apollo shouted.

“We can’t slow down Apollo! We only have the afternoon and if I don’t find anything Junie is screwed!”

“Where are we going then?” Apollo demanded.

Athena stopped and spun around.  She had to answer Apollo quickly or else he was going to waste what little time she had.

“I’m... I’m going to find either Robin or Hugh and ask them about Junie, and what happened on the day of the murder.”

Apollo frowned, approached Athena and responded, “Athena, you should seriously slow down and take a step back. Investigating while you’re highly strung doesn’t help, especially when there’s a lot at stake.”

“You don’t need to remind me. And I don’t think yelling ‘I’m fine!’ is going to fix it for me. I can’t be shouting until I’ve lost my voice.”

The older lawyer backed away from Athena, swallowing hard. “There is a way, but it’s going to take some time and we do need a spare room we can use. We need as much silence as possible for this to work, especially with your sensitive ears.”

“What are you thinking of?”

“Growing up I did a bunch of breathing exercises. I was thinking maybe it could help you relax, provided that the conditions are right.”

“You don’t seem the type of guy to be into quiet methods,” Athena said, grinning, but her expression quickly changed, “I’ve tried some breathing exercises in the past, but they haven’t worked on me.”

“Well, I can’t guarantee it’ll work on you, but it doesn’t hurt to try. Although, this technique does take a lot out of anybody, especially if you haven’t experienced it before.”

“I’ll give it a shot, but I hope it doesn’t take too long,” Athena answered dubiously. It didn’t help that her older co-worker mentioned the last part, which sounded counterproductive to relaxing. But between yelling and this breathing exercise, she would choose the latter over that any day. “Besides, I’m a fit and healthy girl, a breathing exercise doesn’t take a lot of energy.”

“All right suit yourself,” Apollo chuckled, “Anyway; it won’t take long, provided we get the space for it soon.”

Athena quickly recalled a room they could use, and spoke, “I still remember the way to the waiting room Junie guided me and Mr. Wright to. Let’s just go there. We won’t even need to ask anybody.”

“That sounds perfect. Let’s go then.”

It was fortunate the waiting room was empty once the lawyers arrived there. Athena immediately noticed the authorities hadn’t touched this room, at least not recently. She shut the door behind her, cancelling out most of the background noise outside of the room. This was almost the perfect conditions to perform the breathing exercise.

Apollo had already made himself comfortable, placing his phone on the arm of the couch, sliding his finger along the screen repeatedly. Athena walked past him, taking her seat on the sofa chair.

Apollo paused after a minute; he looked up at Athena, stating, “You can lie on the floor if you want.”

“I’m cool, thanks,” Athena responded, gripping the arms of the chair.

“Are you ready?”

“Yeah.”

Apollo looked down to his mobile phone and tapped something on screen, producing soft and ambient music.

“Is that too loud?” Apollo enquired, his gaze focused on Athena.

“I’m fine,” Athena answered immediately.

“All right. Close your eyes and breathe in and out at a rhythm you’re comfortable with.”

It started like a normal breathing exercise Leslie taught her, but Apollo did warn her that this was intense, causing stress to build.

After a minute, Apollo spoke, “Now I want you to feel the tension in your toes.”

Athena felt her brow furrow. Why go down to her toes to her chest, and how was it going to help? She was curious to find out.

“As you breathe in, squeeze your toes as much as you can. And each time you breathe out, relax your toes, releasing your tension in your toes.”

Athena did exactly what Apollo ordered, but it barely had an impact on her. It was nice to feel some relief in her feet, but it didn’t lift the stress on her body.

But as he went up her body, calming telling her to contract and release every muscle to the rhythm of her breathing, the relaxation exercise began to drastically affect Athena. Her body felt as light as a feather, completely unaware of how much heavier she was under constant stress. It was as if somebody lifted the world off her shoulders. She was only kept grounded by Apollo’s voice and the chaos in her mind.

With every other stress in her body temporally subsided, the pain of her anxiety over defending Juniper coursed through her body. It was as if the tension in her body held back the extent of her fears. Focusing on the rhythm on her breathing became increasingly difficult.

“Athena, I want you to focus your mind and imagine it’s a calm river.”

Suddenly, Athena found herself in a wooden boat. She sat up, discovering the boat didn’t have oars. Carefully, she leaned slightly over and dipped her hand in the water. The river was deep, and despite how calm the current appeared it was very strong.

“Now, focus on a thought. It may be deep in your mind, or the forefront of it.”

Athena then saw Juniper on a small island, in an open courtroom, with no attorney by her side. Athena stood up and hopped to the end of the boat. The island was far. She would have to swim against the current to reach the island.

She readied herself. It would take awhile to reach Juniper, but eventually she would make it.

“And let that thought float away.”

“No,” Athena muttered, shaking her head, “I have to do something! I have to protect her!”

As Athena put more weight on her left foot, she paused. How would she get back to the boat? If she even saved Juniper, would she be able to carry her back? Or would it be impossible to board back on the boat?

Athena stepped back, watching Juniper and the island grow smaller. Part of her still wanted to jump off and swim through the currents to save her, but she resisted the temptation as much as she hated it.

“Every time a thought enters your mind, acknowledge its presence, then let it drift off.”

Athena turned around to the front of the boat, witnessing islands with scenes from her memories. Most of them didn’t stand out, and they easily went by her. Significant thoughts although were persistent, and they came repeatedly or on larger islands.

Seeing her younger selves experiencing what just happened before them was both terrifying and eye-opening. There was a part of her that wanted to shout to her seventeen year old self ‘Don’t open the door!’ But she knew she wouldn’t listen.

And she rather wouldn’t think of what happened if she didn’t open the door, or returned home that night. The outcome would still be the same.

It began to get irritating seeing the past repeated again and again. The teenager sat back down in the boat and leaned back, staring at the grey sky. Her left hand lazily drooped over the side and her hand dipped in the river. Looking up at the blank state, all that filled her senses was the coolness of the river and the sound of water being treaded by the boat and her hand.

Abruptly, Athena felt a small jolt and sat up. She saw nothing on the horizon, as if all the islands she passed never existed. It was jarring not seeing the past, knowing those memories led up to the person she was today.

“Get up, mouth-breather. You look pathetic.”

Athena recognised his voice, and turned around as she stood up. She met his steely gaze as she picked herself up. Immediately, she noticed he held two oars, wondering where grabbed them.

“Let me save Juniper. You just focus on finding the murderer.”

Hugh gently shoved Athena, forcing her to step awkwardly out of the boat. After dropping the oars, he then began pushing the boat back onto the river.

“Wait Hugh!”

Athena gripped onto the wooden frame as tight as she could, keeping the boat still, while staring daggers at him. Hugh began to put more of his body weight behind his push. Athena quickly noticed, shifting her weight in order to counter his.

“We can’t-”

A dull clattering noise grabbed their attention from the boat. Athena’s breath hitched, immediately recognising the sleek relic that fell from Hugh. She then glared at Hugh, and before she knew it, opened her mouth-

“Whenever you are ready, slowly open your eyes.”

Apollo’s voice pulled her right out of the moment, as other thoughts entered her mind when he spoke. Athena was forced to give up on it, gradually opening her eyes back to reality. It felt strange to be back in a private room, sitting in a chair and feeling like she was floating.

Although when Athena attempted to stand up, she suddenly discovered she could barely push herself out of her seat. Her muscles appeared to have lost their strength to keep her body on her two legs. Bewildered, she tried again and immediately suffered the same result. She threw her head back as that sense of helplessness crept in.

Apollo rushed to her side, quickly saying, “I’m sorry Athena. Like I said earlier, the breathing exercise takes a lot out of somebody who hasn’t done it before, even someone as strong as you are.”

In her daze, Athena barely caught onto what Apollo just said. But at least the relaxation exercise worked well. Too well in fact, as her stress pretty much melted away for the time being. She was grateful Apollo took the time to do this with her and she got to experience all of it.

Still she was unsure how when all her thoughts were eliminated, she experienced some sort of vision? Or perhaps a thought that presented itself differently from the others? Although she believed she knew the meaning of what she saw, at least she hoped.

The moment Athena looked up, her eyes met Apollo’s, who was relieved she didn’t move from her seat. He smiled, as the tension in his arms quickly dissipated.

“Feeling better?” The older lawyer asked.

“Yeah, thanks. I didn’t realise how much I needed this,” Athena responded.

“Well, don’t thank me yet. Once we get Juniper acquitted we can celebrate.”

“Right. By the way where did you learn that?”

“I did this breathing exercise with a friend of mine when I was a kid. I can’t believe I remembered everything too, it’s been a long time since I’ve did it.”

“There’s a psychological reason why, if you want me to explain it.”

“I’m good thanks. But speaking of psychological, your breathing became very uneven at one point.”

Athena didn’t realise she was showing anything outside the depths of her mind. She was aware her breathing changed when she ‘witnessed’ some unsettling thoughts. The memory of her family’s murder and the ongoing fear of being unable to defend the people she cared about.

She gazed at Apollo for some time. She would love to divulge to him her past, but there were too many secrets he shouldn’t know, and once she told him one, she would have to spill everything. And the last thing she wanted to do was to give him a necklace and swear an oath of protection.

“I didn’t think I was doing that in front of you. Sorry I caused you to worry.”

“Can you tell me what you think may cause it?”

“I don’t think I’m ready to talk about it.”

“It won’t do you good to keep it bottled up.”

“What part of ‘I’m not ready to talk about it’ don’t you understand?” Athena snapped back, frustrated with Apollo’s persistence.

“All right then. I’m not an expert on emotions or how to deal with terrible thoughts but I don’t think any psychologist, or anybody with a psychological background can help themselves,” Apollo stated irritably, “If there’s something you really can’t do by yourself, don’t be afraid to ask me. I’m your partner, and I’m here to help you.”

“Well, I’m not opposed to doing this exercise once a week with you. If you don’t mind,” Athena boldly requested without skipping a beat.

Apollo squinted at the suggestion. He wondered what good it would do if Athena was closed up about what was causing her the most pain. Then again, with how much the meditation affected her there was really no reason for her to tell him anything.

“That’s something I can get behind.”

Apollo’s voice rang hollow, his curiosity to hear about her past overwhelmed whatever false enthusiasm he possessed. It put Athena a little on edge about Apollo, a warning to not give him an opportunity to ask about her past.

Because Apollo wore his special lie detecting bracelet she couldn’t be a little more open to him. Instead it created some dishonesty between the lawyers. But that wasn’t too different compared to everyone else. She was just more worried about Apollo figuring out she was the Lunar Eclipse.

“Great! It just cleared up my thoughts and I feel like I can think straight again!”

“That’s the idea,” Apollo said with a grin, his emotions more genuine than the previous sentence.

“Actually before my head gets cluttered again, there was a thought that stood out just before the very end.”

“Yeah?” Apollo quickly took out a notepad from his pocket, ready to write everything down.

Athena was a little overwhelmed with Apollo’s sudden keenness. But she couldn’t blame him. Whatever that strange thought was, she hoped she deciphered its meaning correctly, as any lead could be extremely helpful to prove Juniper’s innocence.

“A part of me has wondered why Professor Means gave Hugh the ‘I’m a goner!’ recording.”

“What do you mean by that? It sounded like he wanted to give evidence to the police, like anybody would.”

“That’s the thing; the professor isn’t a normal person. He’s a lawyer like us. And he offered to defend Junie with the knowledge he passed on incriminating evidence against her. Why would an attorney put his own client at risk of a guilty verdict on purpose?”

Apollo bit his lip before he answered, “That’s a very good point. But do you have any evidence to back it up?”

“Of course, he’s the one who-” Athena paused mid-sentence, suddenly remembering an important piece of information. Upon that realisation, she slammed her right fist on the arm of the chair, exclaiming, “Damn it he knew! He had Hugh give the evidence to the police in his stead so he wasn’t directly involved in this.”

“Yeah, that’s the problem with accusing Professor Means. It’s going to be really difficult to prove he was involved, especially since he has a solid alibi. The only ways we can get him to testify about the case is there’s one witness who didn’t see him where he was supposed to be, or there’s evidence pinpointing him to a different place at the time of the mock trial,” Apollo explained, “But that’s if you’re hell bent on accusing Prof. Means.”

“Finding evidence solely to accuse him wouldn’t be smart, especially that he’s careful about covering his tracks,” Athena reasoned, “So... Let’s start where me and Mr. Wright found Courte’s body, provided the police aren’t there.”

Apollo stood up from his seat, and stated, “All right. Can you stand now?”

Pulling the arms of the chair, she pushed herself to her feet. Athena’s legs didn’t collapse underneath her weight, contrary to what happened minutes ago. She still found the whole experience bizarre, but at the end of it, she came out without the weight of the world on her shoulders.

“Glad you’re back on your feet tiger. Now let’s go.”

Apollo’s relaxation exercise tremendously helped Athena through the day. She and Apollo gathered more evidence, and were able to question everybody involved in the case. They also discovered some truth behind the case, and it was enough for Athena to remain as Juniper’s attorney, much to Athena’s relief.

However this truth they found through inquiring Robin Newman made several things more complicated. Robin apparently heard rumours that a snitch was among the student body, and they were relaying information back to the teachers. As soon as the lawyers found out this information, Athena immediately wanted answers from Juniper, as well as hearing more of her side of the story during the time of the murder. Turned out Juniper was the snitch, and she reported to Constance Courte that Hugh was bribing his way through school.

Everything began to point to Hugh O’Conner, and made perfect sense. The story that had been set out before Athena was O’Conner murdered Courte the day before the mock trial after finding out Juniper reported him to the professor. But that was really all it was, although Athena noticed the order of events lacked some essential elements to complete the picture.

Athena looked over at the stove, checking the pot to distract her from the case. She noted it was almost ready, barely able to see the broth through the arborio rice, onion and salmon. After everything that happened over the day, cooking a meal for her the man she saved was extremely relaxing even though the aroma from the onions were overwhelming.

The teenager wished she could do more to distance herself from the events of today, but they were too prominent on her mind. Nothing made perfect sense. Even though Hugh was the prime suspect something deep inside Athena told her otherwise. Then again Juniper had the same feeling too, but the reason she felt that was because of her friendship with Hugh, no matter how messy it was right now. The lingering feeling left Athena drifting into her memories, despite the strong aroma of the cooking food.

“Ivan, I’ve been wondering...” an almost fourteen year old Athena shyly said, barely making eye contact with Ivan, “Why couldn’t Carter or Siggy be the Lunar Eclipse instead of me?”

“You’re the direct heir to your father’s legacy, which means you have twenty six generations of genetic expertise,” Ivan answered almost immediately with barely any emotion through his voice.

“But Carter and Siggy only have missed out on one generation from the direct bloodline. I doubt they missed much in eight hundred years of my family’s history.”

“Missing out on one generation can make a huge difference. Your ancestors believed that even with the best education and training, there are some things you just can’t learn. They’re passed down, from father to son, to his son, and to twenty three more sons, and now a daughter.”

“What can’t I learn?”

“To use your instincts. We don’t quite sense things the same way, and the Lunar Eclipse’s instincts... They’re the best in the world. If your father was still alive perhaps he could’ve taught you some things.”

“What if I didn’t inherit it? Would I be unable to become the Lunar Eclipse?”

“Athena I doubt that gene wasn’t passed down to you. It’s very strong within your family, and I believe your sensitive hearing is part of it.”

Abruptly she heard knocking coming from her door. She quickly checked her cooking before rushing to the door. Athena opened it in a hurry, knowing she left the gas on and the meal was essentially ready. Her eyes rested on the countenance of the man she rescued from the young gunman, glad he managed to find his way to her apartment.

“Hey, make yourself comfortable. Dinner’s just finished cooking so I gotta turn the gas off before I burn the whole place down,” Athena spoke quickly, and spun around to briskly return to the kitchen.

The older man chuckled as he entered Athena’s apartment, watching Athena rush to the stove. It was a nicely sized space despite the kitchen and the lounge room only being separated by the kitchen bench curving to the right. There was also a white dining table pushed next to the kitchen bench with two seats, he gathered Athena rather ate dinner in front of the TV, or monitor considering her laptop was connected to it showing a news website.

As soon as the older man sat down at the small dining table, Athena switched the gas off. She sprinkled in some parmesan cheese that she had in a small bowl close by, then stirred it with the rice and salmon. She soon stopped, grabbing a bowl she had nearby and scooping in a generous amount from the pot.

She then placed the bowl on the table before the older man, and quickly returned to the kitchen. She poured her serving in the second bowl, and hastily rushed back to the table with the steaming hot bowl. She let go of the bowl, echoing a loud hollow sound, causing her to flinch slightly as she took her seat.

“You should slow down kid; you’ll end up making less mistakes.”

“Sorry, I just don’t like to keep people waiting,” Athena answered, smiling awkwardly, “Oh! I just realised I never asked for your name. So... What’s your name?”

The man paused as he scooped up a forkful of rice and salmon, gazing at Athena for a moment. As he was deep in thought, he took a bite out of his meal. For how bland the meal appeared it was surprisingly full of flavour, tasting the chicken stock and onion as well as the rice and salmon.

After chewing for awhile, he swallowed and answered, “My name is Jordan.”

This time it was Athena’s turn to hesitate, hearing discord as Jordan introduced himself formally. But she didn’t remain silent for long, feeling she might hear the reason the more she got to know this man.

“I’m Athena, by the way. Well, I wanted to get this out of the way but I shouldn’t have acted so overconfident about the whole situation. I’m sorry,” Athena apologised sincerely.

Jordan looked up from his bowl with a smile, and responded, “Thank you.”

“No problem. So I’m guessing you have a lot of questions about the Lunar Eclipse.”

“That’s why I accepted your invitation. I’m curious though, how did someone like you become the Lunar Eclipse?”

“Well... It’s a long story, but we do have plenty of time,” Athena hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should really reveal everything to this man. Athena’s lips trembled slightly as she continued, “All right, it all began over eight hundred years ago...”

Jordan listened attentively as Athena spoke about the history of the Lunar Eclipse. He was not only surprised with the amount of knowledge Athena had over this mythical hero, but with how the illusion of immortality was created over twenty seven generations from a single family.

He began to believe that he was a part of concealing the Lunar Eclipse’s existence, thinking such a hero didn’t exist. But here she was before him, finishing her explanation, believing in a sense the Lunar Eclipse was very much a part of society through the ages.

“And so... that’s how I’m here today, talking about this... identity I inherited.”

Many thoughts swirled in Jordan’s mind about this girl, but the one that stood out was how on Earth could she balance her Lunar Eclipse life with her own? Jordan intensely stared at this girl, searching her blue eyes to find any sign of tiredness or weakness.

“Are you all right Jordan?” Athena suddenly asked.

Jordan shook his head, snapping him back to the table with a knee-jerk response, “I’m fine thank you.”

“You don’t sound like it,” Athena said, pausing before she spoke again, “It’s like something, or perhaps a lot of things are bothering you.”

“Yeah, you got that right, kid.”

“So, if you really don’t mind, what’s bothering you the most?” Athena asked.

While Jordan was deliberating talking or not, Athena quickly ate another mouthful, noticing she barely touched her food. The rice almost felt lukewarm, a bad sign the fresh flavour was fading.

“How do you manage your life along with being the Lunar Eclipse?”

“It’s not that hard. My day job isn’t too stressful most days, so when it’s night I have a lot of energy to burn as the Lunar Eclipse. And fighting crime helps me sleep at night.”

“Is there any reason why you have trouble sleeping?”

Athena stirred the rice for a few seconds before responding, “I’d rather not talk about it.”

“All right then,” Jordan stated, staring at Athena, noticing her darkened expression and her strange necklace glowing a darker shade of blue, “But I think I have some bad news for you.”

Athena froze. Her glare was fixed on him as her right hand firmly pressed the table. She really hoped her trust wasn’t wrongly placed in this man.

“My former boss wants you dead,” Jordan declared.

Athena relaxed slightly; relieved her adversary wasn’t in front of her. Although she realised this man could potentially have information on a threat.

“I can’t say I’m surprised, I’m aware of at least one person that wants to kill me. What do you know about him?” Athena enquired.

“I don’t know much about him at all. His name was even omitted in documents and was signed by the person in charge of my department. But he’s the reason why I’ve been living like this for the past twenty years.”

Athena’s eyes shifted, trying to comprehend how this man coped living for the past two decades. Her own eighteen years felt insignificant compared to his life.

“Geez, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay; I’ve learned how to live with it. After all, I’m certain he really doesn’t want me to have my old life back.”

“What did you do to make your former boss destroy your life?”

“I used to work in administration of Diospolis Bank.”

Athena perked up as soon as the magic word was said. She grew excited, positive that this information could finally shed some light on what that corrupted bailiff uttered to her six months ago.

“The day my life changed, I was assisting a man called Theodore Selenic,” Jordan paused, noticing Athena had leaned forward, but he continued nonetheless, “He asked me to transfer his money to another bank account, outside Diospolis Bank, and close the one at Diospolis. I did what he requested. The security around his account though, was higher than normal. I couldn’t get in with just the details he told me, so I had to override the security on his account through the database. When I told Mr. Selenic of my success he grew concerned and hoped for the best for me. So before my boss returned, I looked through Mr. Selenic’s files in the database and any physical copies. I eventually found on a physical file that Mr. Selenic was the Lunar Eclipse, and his account, and any future sons cannot be severed from the bank. Now I understand why future sons were added to that file.”

Athena grumbled, finding it difficult to come up with a defence for her father’s actions. Knowing full well herself she wouldn’t like to involve innocent people in her line of duty. However it appeared Jordan knew back then something terrible was about to beset both him and her father.

“How did you feel towards this... Mr. Selenic?” Athena could barely ignore her nerves asking that question, even with her focus completely on Jordan’s concerned expression.

“Athena, I understand you’re afraid, but I think you’re his daughter. And as someone who has talked with customers on a daily basis, I don’t question their reasons, but I can only assume. And since you’re almost the age since all of this happened, your father was probably thinking of you and your mother.”

Athena grew conflicted, remembering what her aunt said about her father’s intentions with who inherited the Lunar Eclipse title. She was meant to assume her father’s legacy, her birth name, Achelois Selenic, tying her to the title. Yet, to anybody who didn’t know the traditions of the Selenic family, her father would appear to be protecting his family.

The teenager looked at Jordan, noticing he was almost finished his meal, while she was barely halfway done. This conversation killed her appetite. Athena frowned, out of the meals she could cook; this was her favourite to eat.

“About the bank itself, there’s a branch and the main office in LA, however I haven’t seen the name Diospolis around in the past fifteen years. So they must’ve changed their name after I got fired mainly so you don’t find them so easily.”

“Great. I guess I’ll have to do some more research,” Athena stated, irritated.

“That might be risky if you’re using the internet. If my former boss changed the name of the bank to hide from you, he probably wants details of those who are trying to find him, and ruin their lives...” Jordan trailed off.

“You have a point. I’ll think of another way,” Athena reassured, although there was one thing still pestering her, “By the way, what happened on the day you were fired?”

The older man sighed before he answered, “My former boss was furious. He found out I closed your father’s account and accessed his file. I lost my job and I thought I could start anew. The next day, I discovered I was cut off from my savings and confronted the bank about it. And as much as I tried to persuade them to give me access to my money again, they wouldn’t see me or open my account again. Then I ended up in debt and that’s how I’ve been for the past two decades.”

“I’m really sorry you got caught in the middle of that. You’re welcome to come here at any time Jordan. Actually... Let me grab a spare key for you.”

Athena quickly jumped out of her seat before Jordan could even protest, making a beeline to her bedroom. She didn’t bother turning on the light, knowing the location of furniture in her room. She opened the wardrobe door, pushing her hanging clothes aside to find a small horizontal safe that was the size of two shoe boxes. She punched in the code and heard the safe click, leaving the door slightly ajar. Pulling the safe door she immediately spotted the spare keys on the left side.

As her hand hovered over the key, she hesitated. The box deep in the right corner seemed to be calling out for her. Ever since Ivan handed her the box, she had refused to carry those necklaces, even before Nikita’s incident happened. However, Athena was alone right now. If she were in immediate danger, Ivan could not come to her aid quickly. And with her father’s killers lurking, she and anybody wearing the piece of jewellery could be murdered at any moment.

Reluctant involving anyone else, she realised she might need this man’s help. After all, she had already protected him once. She grabbed a necklace out of the box and the spare key and rushed back into the living area, seeing that Jordan had stood up from his seat.

“I thought you may need some help. You were taking a bit,” Jordan spoke up.

“I was having second thoughts about it,” Athena quickly answered.

“You didn’t think I’ll like the present?”

“It’s not that. I’m afraid you might... get killed. Because of my enemies.”

“Well, they made me their enemy and ruined my life. So don’t worry your pretty little head about me. There’s not much I can lose, as you can see,” Jordan said jovially.

Athena smiled slightly as she approached him, holding the items in a closed fist. She briefly searched for the script in her mind that her forefathers said towards new friends and allies, as the nerves began to be felt. She wasn’t entirely sure how she should say it to Jordan, or to anybody in fact. Then again, the only people who would judge were her ancestors and Ivan.

Athena turned over her fist and stretched out her fingers, revealing a dark crescent moon pendant hanging from a thin chain.

“This is my present, I guess. Wearing this means you’ll be under my protection. I may ask for a favour down the road, but you are not obliged to help.”

Athena bit her lip, losing eye contact with Jordan as she looked down at her hand. She felt closer to her ancestors, knowing they said something similar to people they’ve given the necklaces to. It was that sensation that helped Athena accept her alter ego.

“Thank you. I’ll be happy to help you when you need it,” Jordan responded, retrieving the necklace and key from Athena.

“Don’t hesitate to come here to grab whatever you need. And maybe I could arrange a place for you to live once-”

“No. That would be unwise. If my former boss notices things happening to me he may suspect I’m with the Lunar Eclipse. Which wouldn’t be good for you either,” Jordan warned.

“All right, as long as you’re fine with this.”

“Good. You look relieved now.”

“For the time being, yeah. Did you want to stay here for the night?”

“No, I’ll be all right. Just don’t push yourself too hard. Okay kid?”

“Yeah. I hope to see you soon,” Athena said, but a lingering thought had her spurt out, “It’s hard to talk to anybody about this, and... I feel like I need someone here... That I can speak to about this.”

Jordan’s expression softened, but he paused, unsure how to respond to the girl.

“Sorry I said that. Your life is much harder than mine and-”

“Stop blathering, Athena. I’m used to this life. And this life you lead... You’re not used to it yet. And it’ll probably take years to accept it.”

Athena pressed her fingers against her forehead, feeling her brow crease underneath them. She greatly appreciated this man’s ability to relate to her, despite their different lives. There was something peculiar about him though, but she couldn’t hear any underlying foul intentions against her.

“Although, if you ask me, I don’t think you’re meant for this life at all.”

Deep inside, she agreed with Jordan. Moments after she accepted to go on the path her twenty six predecessors have gone down, a tiny voice inside her mind wanted her to turn back. But even as it grew louder over the years, she ignored it. She told herself as long as she had Aunt Candice, Carter and Sigmund supporting her and helping her with training and preparing for this dangerous job, she could handle it. But they were gone now, and so was her chance to reject the Lunar Eclipse.

Jordan’s anger resonated. He didn’t show it, but she knew it was there. She wondered if she told anybody else she knew about her Lunar Eclipse life, would they feel the same way as Jordan? Most definitely. Yet, she felt like she should not be questioning such an obvious psychological reaction. She knew being a superhero wasn’t ordinary, let alone inheriting a superhero identity. But everyone she was close to growing up in England accepted this part of Athena’s life.

It was jarring being a part of something quite outlandish, and treating it as if it were normal. Then again, this was the first night since saving that girl, Nikita, that she was not out in Los Angeles saving civilians. Donning on the familiar tight purple suit and heading outside the safe confines of her humble abode became routine over the past six months. She especially pushed herself after discovering Nikita’s parents were murdered, sleep was an afterthought as she scanned the city to save lives almost until dawn.

Athena remembered the first two weeks of this intense routine was difficult, but the thought of saving even a single person drove her to fight exhaustion. And then after two weeks she got used to it, and was able to keep it up for four months. It was worth it. Although she didn’t want to put herself in a compromising position ever again. She felt lucky a man like Jordan didn’t take advantage of her and put her life in jeopardy. She had no idea if anybody else found her, and what else they would do to her if they knew the identity behind the Lunar Eclipse.

The twist of the doorknob broke Athena’s train of thought, seeing Jordan had opened it slightly before he said, “I’m glad I could help Athena. And that was a pretty mean risotto. Looking forward to having a nice hot meal here again. Goodbye.”

Emptiness filled Athena, terrible leaving him back out to sleep in the cold or in a shelter. But he wanted this, and she couldn’t convince him otherwise. Then again, the reason he was like this was because of his former boss.

Athena plonked on a beanbag and texted Ivan on her Lunar Eclipse phone about the conversation she had with Jordan. She was pretty certain he was awake at this time in London but she really didn’t want to hear his voice.

Her mind and focus was more on the case at hand. She knew tomorrow was crunch time. And if she couldn’t prove Juniper Woods innocent, she would’ve let down her friend. Athena wanted to keep that thought as far away as possible, knowing she had the power to prevent that reality.

She finished writing the lengthy text to Ivan, and attempted to relax. That was, until her phone rang. She slowly picked it up, and answered the call.

“Hey.”

“Hey Athena,” Apollo was unusually soft spoken, generally greeting her with a booming voice, “Are you all right to head to the office tonight so we can go over the case for tomorrow?”

“I’m guessing you’re already there?”

“Yeah. But I won’t go ahead. Not without your word.”

Athena got lost in her thoughts again, remembering her responsibilities as lead defence in this case. She grew confused why she was still feeling that this whole thing was surreal. But the reality was her childhood friend was accused of murder, and until she could prove her innocence she was still in trouble.

“Apollo, can I really pull this off? Can I really prove Junie’s innocence?”

“Yes. Why are you doubting yourself now?”

“I...I just don’t want a repeat of what happened today.”

She closed her eyes, remembering how helpless she felt during the final moments of court. Athena couldn’t imagine her childhood friend getting convicted on a photo that displayed the incorrect time. It almost happened though, and the fact was conveniently revealed after her bout in the courtroom.

“That’s understandable,” Apollo spoke, interrupting her negative thoughts, “But I don’t think that’ll happen again.”

“How come?”

“Because I know you learn from your mistakes, and you come back better than ever. Even though you haven’t led a case before, I’ve seen you improve, and point out contradictions and observations me and Mr. Wright might’ve not picked up on. It might be a little different while leading the case but I believe you can do it.”

Athena smiled, although she believed Apollo was giving her too much credit. Being the lead attorney in the case had its perks, but it was her responsibility to figure out the major contradictions, deduce the evidence and defend her client.

“You’ve gotten really far Athena. You’ll be fine tomorrow.”

She agreed with Apollo. Despite the Themis case being her first time as the lead attorney, she was glad she made it this far. But Athena wasn’t going to let Juniper fall victim to a false conviction. The evidence was all there, she just had to find the truth.

“All right, I’ll head to the office right now. I’ll be there before you can say ‘I’m fine!’ again!”

“I’ll see you there, tiger.”

This is it, Junie’s depending on me.

Athena breathed in and out, blocking out the noise from the gallery as she returned to the bench. She on the verge of proving her childhood friend’s innocence, yet she hadn’t quite put the nail through the coffin in Professor Means’ guilt. Athena knew something was missing, and she was determined to find it.

“What Ms. Cykes has presented to the court is just a coincidence-”

“Objection! Not so fast, buster! I can prove this is more than a coincidence!” Athena bellowed, as a small smirk snuck in the corner of her lips, “We assumed the victim’s jagged wound came from the arrow shoved in. But if the wound came from the spear instead we should be able to detect traces of the victim’s blood.”

Professor Means, for the first time during this case, was sweating bullets. He grasped the stand, shouting, “A brief recess, if you will-”

“So, about the things you said about me earlier,” Athena responded, barely holding back the extent of her emotions, “That Junie regrets me defending her, Hugh suffering from false accusations and failing to defend my client. Everything we’ve done comes to a conclusion. The truth. When my co-worker, Mr. Justice, told me last night that I see things he and my boss don’t, I came to a stunning realisation about you professor. You would distance yourself from this case, while pulling the strings behind the scenes.”

Apollo sensed Athena wanted to rip and tear into Means unrestrained from the professional surroundings of the courtroom and the public. He sympathised with her, wishing he could do the same with the witnesses he unearthed as criminals. He wasn’t going to stop his junior partner either. She knew how far she was allowed to go, with people from the public, and her words likely recorded in a transcript.

“Professor Means, you murdered your co-worker, pinned the murder on one of her students, and used one of her best friends to give incriminating evidence to the police. And you expected to get away with everything that you’ve done and continue with your life as if nothing had happened!”

“That’s because only the resu-”

“Shut up. I’m not finished yet,” Athena hissed, feeling her knuckles burning white, “What you’ve done to cover up the evidence of Professor Courte’s murder and pinning it on Ms. Woods sounds more despicable than the murder itself! And you have the audacity to tell me that only the results matter. You, of all people, knew that the result you get is what you do to achieve it, and how to stop people who would prevent you from achieving it. The only reason why you almost got away with your crime was the methods you used to cover the results of your actions!”

Silence fell in the courtroom, with the eyes of the gallery on the professor, who was noticeably trembling on the stand. Athena steely glared into this broken man’s eyes, confident she utterly defeated him.

The judge called for the staff to be brought in and examined for blood traces, and the professor surrendered it. Athena watched Means adjusting his glasses, staring down at the floor. The young lawyer knew it wasn’t difficult to figure what was going through his mind.

“I... I did it. I killed Constance Courte. I only wish to speak to prosecution about my crime. I can’t stand to be in the same room as the defence!”

Athena stared blankly at the bench; words couldn’t describe how she felt. But she realised it was over. There was only deciphering the motive and the Judge’s verdict left.

The younger lawyer felt Apollo tug on her yellow blazer before he whispered, “There’s nothing else we need to do. You did it Athena. You’ve proved Juniper’s innocence.”

Athena only acknowledged Apollo, still in a daze that this monster was willing to confess his crimes. She didn’t even notice that Blackquill and Fulbright had already left the courtroom with Professor Means.

Several minutes later, Blackquill returned to his spot behind the prosecutor’s bench and explained how Professor Means planned out the crime and attempted to pin the murder on Juniper. Courte had figured out Professor Means was accepting bribes from Hugh’s parents to give him perfect grades, and during her confrontation with him, he decided to kill her on the spot. The murder was then elaborately covered up, and because the professor knew of Juniper’s script for the mock courtroom play, he could easily have her take the fall for her teacher’s death. Athena was already sick before everything was revealed, and that only made her feel grateful she was able to stop Professor Means.

Simon’s final comments towards Juniper though caught her attention, faintly hearing his empathy within his voice. It was no surprise to Athena he felt that way, and it only grew her resolve to save him from the gallows.

“I’ll now declare the defendant, Juniper Woods, not guilty of murder of Constance Courte.”

As much as the Wright Anything Agency wanted to celebrate Athena’s first successful case, Athena decided it would be best to celebrate during the school festival tomorrow night. She wanted to be prepared for the night to resume her Lunar Eclipse duties, and well rested for tomorrow when celebrations could kick off.

She dressed in her supersuit, but she wasn’t ready to head out yet. Even though she just missed a single night, she felt she needed to warm up a little.

The teenage lawyer pushed back her couch, creating more space between it and the TV. Once confirming how much room she had, she drew out her bo staff and pressed the buttons in the middle. The staff sprung out its concealed length, which was around Athena’s height. She rarely had to use this weapon so far, which was a relief since it packed a lot more punch than her fists. But she had a feeling she would have to use this weapon a lot soon.

Every single day was a day closer to confronting the enemy, and if Athena wasn’t ready for them she was going to be murdered. That night left a tattoo on her mind if she was caught unprepared. She couldn’t afford to be rusty on her martial arts abilities she learned over the years.

She created an image of a man in shadows before her, and she immediately jabbed at him twice. Then she swung the furthest end of her staff at him. Of course he avoided every attempt of an attack, but she expected no less of her enemy.

She jabbed at him again and suddenly attacked with the front end of her staff sharply. He jumped back, and his hand went to his holster.

Then abruptly, she heard her Lunar Eclipse phone vibrate on the kitchen bench. Athena grumbled, pressing two buttons to retract her bo staff to an easy to carry size. She walked towards the phone, quickly checked the caller ID and answered the call.

“I didn’t expect a call from you at this time Ivan. Isn’t it past midnight for you?” Athena asked jovially.

“You should expect a call from me at anytime Athena. Congratulations by the way on your first courtroom victory. The news here is calling you the Courtroom Revolutionaire,” Ivan declared, trying his hardest to put on his French accent on the last thing that came out of his mouth.

“Are you sure you’re watching the British news Ivan? Sounds like you’re in France.”

“Well, I was in France, but I am in England currently. It appears everyone caught onto that moniker. But let’s speak of your real title Athena.”

“Yeah. I’m guessing you called about what I texted you last night?”

“Yes, and I accessed their website and gathered a lot of interesting information from it.”

“Oh?”

Athena’s heart leapt in excitement. It had been six months since first hearing Diospolis from that crooked bailiff’s mouth. Since then, there were no concrete leads Ivan potentially could have the answer

“Is your laptop on right now?”

“I was about to turn it off,” Athena began, and started walking to her room, “You sent me something?”

“Yes. But you better access your email under a proxy IP or a private browser. I just sent the email, and after you’ve read it and downloaded the map, delete the message. And make sure you remove it from the deleted messages too. What we’re going to pull off next month is probably the most dangerous thing you will do as the Lunar Eclipse so far. And even though the actual operation won’t begin until then, it’s important that we protect ourselves until this is over,” Ivan ordered, his tone became tense during his last two sentences.

Athena sat down at her desk, staring at the laptop screen before asking apprehensively, “What are we going to do?”

“We’re going to rob Sceptre Bank’s database.”

The Lunar Eclipse was left speechless. Her thoughts were barely coherent as they ran rampant throughout her mind. But there was one that stood out above the chaos.

“This is insane.”

“Athena you’ve risked your life many times since you’ve first worn the supersuit. This operation won’t be any different.”

“Preparing for it a month in advance, likely charging right into enemy base, the place is likely crawling with surveillance and guards. Yeah, it’s different because if I screw up I’m so dead.”

“You won’t be doing this alone. You will be the only one who will enter the building, but I will be there and there will be an ally of ours for backup.”

“Which one? Leslie? Rath? Or someone I don’t know?” Athena rapidly asked, her tone growing more frantic on every word.

“I’m still deciding on that person. All you need to worry about at the moment is downloading the info in the email in a private window or under a proxy and reading and memorising the plan. I’ll see you in three weeks, so we can iron out anything before the operation starts.”

“All right. I’ll see you then.”

“Goodbye.”

After Ivan hung up, an exasperated sigh escaped Athena. She wished she could scream. But it would not change the situation. With heavy steps, she entered her bedroom and shut the door, leaving her in darkness.

She turned around, and stared at the mirror opposing her. She frowned, knowing she looked pathetic. Her eyes were red and the bags under her eyes were visible. What was she without this purple suit? Athena sighed, and pulled the hood over her head. The new reflection filled her vision, and all those anxieties and inadequacies disappeared. But she couldn’t force a smile.

Don’t fool yourself; you know it’s too late to go back to life without the Lunar Eclipse.

She then exited the room, removing the hood over her head. Suddenly, she plonked on the couch, staring at the blank ceiling. It felt like nails hammered into her head just to think of anything.

Athena attempted to sit up, but her body refused. She laughed weakly, knowing she shouldn’t push herself any further. She told herself she had a huge day today, and tomorrow too.

As her eyes were fluttering shut, she mumbled, “It’s all right Athena; LA can survive one more night without the Lunar Eclipse.”

She heard from her co-workers that Professor Aristotle Means was locked up in here. The new prisoner confessed to a horrendous murder, and was certainly going to spend some time in jail. But for now, he was locked in a room that was more comfortable than a prison cell until his sentence was determined.

The brunette unlocked the door, causing the professor to sit up from his bed. He scanned her, wondering if she was even allowed to enter this room. She just appeared as an ordinary police officer.

“Hello officer. Why are you here at this hour? Do you have more questions about how I killed Ms. Courte?” Means asked, his tone irritable, yet also pleasant.

“Actually Professor, my questions don’t relate to the woman you killed. I want to ask you about the lawyers who proved you were the murderer,” the officer stated.

“Oh. Well, what did you want to hear about them?”

“Did they happen to use anything on you that appeared... superhuman?”

The professor’s face crinkled momentarily, but he quickly responded, “It wasn’t on me ma’am, but I did witness Mr. Justice seeing Juniper’s slight movements. I certainly couldn’t see them, and neither did anybody else except him.”

“What about the girl in charge?”

“Miss Cykes? Well she has sensitive hearing, but her special hearing alone didn’t prove me guilty. She managed to figure out my staff was a weapon.”

“Hm... She’s impressive. You must hold something against her, since she was the one who put you behind bars.”

“To be frank I do, but... who are you? A police officer wouldn’t come here and sympathise with a murderer.”

The brunette slid out a photo from her pocket and placed it on the desk. The smiling man in the picture appeared in his early twenties, or even late teens. He had short, messy red hair, bright blue eyes and his build was lean, yet muscular. Means also noticed he had his arm over someone’s shoulder, but that person wasn’t in the photo.

Even though he had never met this man before, he felt rage that was building up within him rise. He seemed familiar; maybe it was the hair or the eyes?

“Theodore Selenic, the man who used to be the Lunar Eclipse.”

“The Lunar Eclipse? I believe he’s a work of fiction, not a part of reality,” Means stated.

“There’s evidence to suggest otherwise professor. The police have noticed the crime rate in Los Angeles has lowered since July this year, three months after the first instance the Lunar Eclipse likely appeared,” the brunette explained, “That man in the photo is dead, but we know his daughter is still alive and well, and has assumed her father’s identity as the Lunar Eclipse. Comparing this photo and Athena Cykes, and with other information we gathered on Cykes, we believe it’s likely that Athena is Theodore’s daughter.”

“So why are you telling me this? I’m fascinated that you are chasing a myth, but I’ve been told the Lunar Eclipse’s interests are for the sake of humanity.” Means questioned.

The brunette crossed her arms, and stated, “My superior lost some things that were dear to him thanks to the Lunar Eclipse. The world has no need for heroes that fail to serve humanity. And we think you might give us enough information about her so we can determine whether she’s the Lunar Eclipse or not.”

“Then why did you ask me about Mr. Justice?”

“That’s another thing we wanted to confirm. And I think you may have proven our theories true, Professor.”

“I’m glad I could help with whatever your plans are. But do pray tell, what happens if you’re wrong about Miss Cykes?”

“We won’t do anything to her. But she bears a strong resemblance to her father, and her age is similar to Theodore’s daughter, Achelois Selenic. It’s very likely that Athena Cykes is the Lunar Eclipse lurking on the streets.”

“Well, I can only wish you luck that she happens to be the person you’re looking for. If she is... Make sure she suffers.”

“We’ll make sure of it. That girl deserves the worst.”

The Themis school festival bustled with a lively and positive atmosphere, almost as if a veil of darkness had lifted. Athena arrived in the afternoon, just missing out on the mock trial rematch between Hugh and Robin, leaving the victor a mystery until after Juniper’s performance. In the meantime, she was approached by plenty of students, congratulating her success in the courtroom.

Juniper’s singing wowed Athena, who couldn’t believe her meek childhood friend had such a beautiful voice. She captivated the audience, the air only filled with her voice, accompanied by an acoustic guitar by Klavier Gavin.

When the festival began to quiet down, Athena, Apollo, Juniper, Hugh and Robin hung out in the auditorium, which surprisingly had nobody inside. As soon as everybody got comfortable, they began talking about the mock trial, where she discovered Hugh won and learned some tips under her boss as his reward.

But as the rest of the group relaxed more and spoke freely, Athena drifted away from the conversation. Her mind filled with anxiety for her own future. It was difficult to settle down when the looming mission was sprung on her last night. She couldn’t shake the thought her life could end in a month’s time from now. She closed her eyes, and breathed in and out. But she was still highly strung. Opening her eyes, the first person she saw was Juniper, who happened to look in her direction.

“Hey Junie, can we talk for a bit?” Athena suddenly blurted out.

Athena received curious stares from Hugh and Apollo, causing her to consider perhaps another time for a conversation with her childhood friend. Now that she thought of it, Juniper had been held in the detention centre for two days and she hadn’t spoke to her friends for several days.

“Sure Thena,” Juniper answered and stood from her auditorium seat.

Surprised Juniper immediately accepted this private conversation, Athena led the way down the stairs to the centre of the auditorium, sitting down on the defence’s bench. She waved awkwardly to Apollo and Juniper’s friends, who only briefly stared before going back to their conversation, probably wondering why Athena wanted to talk to Juniper alone.

Juniper sat next to Athena, and took in the view from their lower position. It was quite surreal looking up from this particular spot in the auditorium, seeing all those empty seats. She wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about this whole thing. She was glad she couldn’t see the audience for most of the mock trial, or the creeping grim experience as defendant in a real case for the murder.

“Are you okay Junie? Sorry I wanted to talk to you like this at such a short notice,” Athena stated.

“I’m okay. I was just thinking about the case. You were amazing.”

“Thanks. But I wouldn’t be able to prove your innocence without Apollo and you guys helping me out. Seriously if it weren’t for you guys we probably wouldn’t be here.”

“The same can be said for you,” Juniper responded, but then she bit her lip before saying, “I can’t believe I thought about replacing you with Professor Means, but you ending up proving me, and everybody wrong.”

“That... That really puts things in perspective,” Athena responded, grasping the bench tightly, “When you said that, something inside me snapped. I thought... I thought I was the worst friend in the world. I knew I barely contacted you while I lived with my relatives in England, but whenever I was able to go to the woods I thought of you a lot. And all that went through my mind was... I had to prove that I can do this. This was harder than any exam I had to go through to become a lawyer, and all I wanted was to prove your innocence.”

As Athena spoke, Juniper was watching her expressions curiously. Her face crinkled during most of it, and only softened when she stated her intentions. Juniper was aware Athena was driven, especially to represent her during her case.

“You must’ve been through hell to make it where you are today.”

“Yeah, I barely had a social life outside of university. I studied so damn hard, but... this case really dampened my confidence. I don’t know if I can do the same for future clients.”

“You’re thinking about Simon, right? He was convicted for your mother’s murder.”

Athena pouted. Was she too transparent? Even though Juniper was a good friend, they hadn’t seen each other for seven years. Maybe Juniper remembered the look on her face whenever something was bothering her.

“I know he didn’t do it. And I thought with everything I’ve studied, I could easily prove his innocence. But now... I have no idea if I can even pull it off, and time is running out for Simon. I’m lucky he’s still alive now but I feel his execution date is nearing, and... damn it. I have to save him. Somehow.”

“Why don’t you ask Mr. Wright and Apollo?”

“I would but... I don’t know how much they could help me. Maybe Mr. Wright might be able to pull some strings, but that’s pretty unlikely because he’s just came back from being disbarred,” Athena let out a sigh, looking up at Apollo and Juniper’s friends.

“Shouldn’t you at least try? For Simon’s sake,” Juniper urged.

“I know... I just have a lot to think about,” Athena suddenly felt a headache coming on as the last word escaped her lips. She restrained herself from reaching towards her head, knowing Juniper would be concerned about her health. “Can I please be left alone? I’m sorry that you really wanted to talk to me after all you’ve been through but I need the space.”

“All right. Come up when you’re ready.”

Juniper slid off the bench and walked slowly back to her friends, but her frown didn’t disappear. Athena spotted Robin jogging down the stairs, giving Juniper a hug. Boy she could really use one right now.

Between the conversation with Juniper and the planned infiltration of Sceptre Bank, Athena felt the weight of the world on her shoulders. Athena desired to save Simon, but she was unsure how much time she had between work and her Lunar Eclipse duties to even research Simon’s case by herself.

It didn’t help the stakes of infiltrating Sceptre Bank were high. She was still recuperating from the shock of embarking on such a dangerous mission. Ivan’s inflexibility was frustrating too, adamant he wanted this to happen when he returned from England.