Decisions

~•*°*•*°*•~

This chapter is the continuation of Out of Time, so make sure you’ve read it before reading this one!

~•*°*•*°*•~

Luna’s P.O.V.

I slowly make my way up the stairs, feeling as though I’m floating more than walking.

This can't be happening, I think.

No way could my wedding be less than a week away.

But I’d seen the answer in Raine’s expression. I’m to be wed to Orion next week.

I drift along the balconies overlooking the dancefloor as the voices below me pick up in excitement. I stop and peer over the edge to see what caught everyone’s attention.

I spy Orion’s figure immediately as he speaks to my family. It appears my grandparents have finally arrived, and my squidbrain of a fiancé has wasted no time in greeting them.

Grandmother stands beside Raine in a lacy, knee-length purple dress. Her short teal hair curls around the edges of her ears as she tilts her head and offers Orion a polite greeting. Grandfather stands between her and Father, looking ever clean cut in his formal suit. His dark blue hair is slicked back as usual, but a few strands still fall loosely against the side of his face.

Orion seems to be telling them some kind of story, and they all listen intently, laughing occasionally at some joke I can’t hear.

I grimace. How they find him entertaining, I haven’t the faintest idea. He always opens his mouth without thinking. He’s done nothing but irritate me for as long as I can remember.

“You’ll get wrinkles early if you make those kinds of faces. Would be a shame to develop wrinkles at only seventeen, right?”

I glance to my right to find that Nayeli and Regan have found me.

Both wear floor length gowns, Nayeli’s in blue, Regan’s in red. Neither have bothered to pin their hair up, Regan’s locks in particular spill in long waves past her waist.

Nayeli is the one who spoke earlier. She leans on the railing of the balcony and looks up at me.

“That’s a seriously angry look you’ve got going on,” she says. “What did my dear brother do this time?”

I hesitate. Nayeli is one of my best friends and she knows how much her brother irritates me, but I still don’t like badmouthing him to her.

“Come on.” She flashes me an encouraging smile. “I can handle it. If you keep your feelings all bottled up, you’ll eventually explode. I’ve heard it happened to some guy on Earth--”

“Elly, that was just a rumor,” Regan says, rolling her eyes. “Your body won’t physically explode if you keep your feelings to yourself.”

Nayeli sticks her tongue out. “How would you know, Ray? Have you ever been to Earth? No? So hush!” She turns her attention back to me. “Now tell me, Lulu. What did my idiot brother do?”

Her eyes are earnest as she waits intently for me to answer. Even Regan watches me curiously from the corner of her eye.

I sigh. “Just now, on the dancefloor, he kissed me.”

Nayeli’s eyes go wide and her hand goes to her mouth to muffle her little scream of surprise.

Regan arches her eyebrow. “In the middle of the party? How bold.”

“Th-That too, but hold up here!” Nayeli stutters. “Wasn’t that your first kiss? Not just with Orion, but with anyone?!”

I nod quietly.

“Oh. My. GOSH! I can’t believe him!” Nayeli lets out a stream of colorful curses that don’t sound quite right coming from her. “He doesn’t even know the meaning of the word ‘romance’!”

“It’s an arranged engagement to begin with,” Regan says. “Was there ever meant to be any romance?”

“That’s beside the point here!” Nayeli turns back to me. “What about that other boy? The one you told us about?”

I feel a blush creeping across my cheeks. “...Demetrius?”

“Yeah, him!”

“I only really got to talk to him once. And I haven’t seen him since.”

“But didn’t you say that even after that one conversation, you felt like you’d known him practically your whole life?” Nayeli’s eyes twinkle. “That sounds to me like he’s your soulmate!”

Regan stares at Nayeli. “Geez, Elly. I knew you were a romantic, but her soulmate? Really? Soulmates haven't been a thing here in almost a century.”

“Well, I’d say it’s about time that soulmates start making a comeback then.” Nayeli places her hands on her hips.

“While that’s a nice thought,” I say, giving her a sad smile. “It’s very much impossible that he could be my soulmate.”

“Oh come on, Lulu! Not you, too!” Nayeli groans.

“What did you expect?” Regan says, shaking her head. “She’s engaged, so things wouldn’t work anyways.”

“While that is true, that isn’t what I was referring to.”

Nayeli and Regan both stare at me, confusion written across their faces.

“What do you mean?” Nayeli asks.

I glance around to make sure nobody is close enough to hear, but everyone except the three of us are currently enjoying the party on the dance floor below us. I turn back to my friends as they lean in.

“Demetrius is not from Sixam,” I whisper. “He’s from Earth.”

Regan’s eyes widen in shock and she quickly covers Nayeli’s mouth before she can squeal in surprise.

“You’re joking,” Regan says.

“I’m not.”

Nayeli pushes Regan's hand away from her mouth. "Wait, so you're telling us that Demetrius is human?"

I nod. Nayeli starts jumping up and down in excitement.

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!” She spins in a circle, throwing her hands in the air. “This is just like that Earth play about the two lovers from two households that hated each other! Ahhhh, it’s so romantic!” Nayeli sighs dreamily.

“You mean Romeo & Juliet?” Regan asks. She arches her eyebrow again. “You do realize that Romeo and Juliet killed themselves at the end, right?”

Nayeli shoots her a glare. “Besides that part! Don’t ruin this happiness, Ray!”

“Don’t blame me.” Regan shrugs. “Did you forget the law?”

Nayeli’s face falls. I pat her on the back as she goes back to looking over the railing.

“It’s just not fair,” she says after a moment. “That stupid law and Lulu’s arranged marriage.”

I've been thinking the same thing for a while now.

While we’re quiet, Regan peeks over the railing. “Hey Luna. It looks like your grandfather is about to say something.”

Nayeli and I both look down as well. Grandfather clears his throat, and the many conversations taking place below us begin to die into quiet murmurs.

I can feel a small pit beginning to form in my stomach again as he waits for silence. Soon, all that can be heard is the soft tinkling of the water wall at the back of the first floor.

“First off,” Grandfather says. “I’d like to thank you all for attending my granddaughter’s engagement party. As both the Grand Elder and her grandfather, I couldn’t be happier to see that so many of you care for her and have come to attend this party.”

The attendees below us clap. I roll my eyes. I don’t know a single person down there aside from my family and Orion. Nayeli and Regan are the only ones at this party aside from them that I actually know.

“Now I will keep this brief so that we may continue to enjoy these festivities, but I have a huge announcement!” That pit in my stomach begins to grow and I can feel nervousness clawing it’s way through me.

“Many of you have likely been wondering why we are throwing this engagement party now, instead of in a few months’ time, closer to the wedding.”

“I was wondering that, yes,” Nayeli mutters, more to herself than to me. I can feel Regan’s eyes drift slowly to me. The nervousness is now turning into nausea as my grandfather continues.

“Well, suffice it to say,” Grandfather pauses briefly to smile and sweep his gaze over the guests. “The date of the wedding has changed.”

“Changed…?” Regan wonders as the crowd below us alights with hushed voices once more.

Nayeli glances at me. “Then… When is it?”

I don’t answer her. My eyes remain fixed on my grandfather as he continues.

“I am happy to announce that the wedding of Orion Arcturus Crux of the Aries Zone and Lunastella Carina Chiron of Aquarius will be held at the beginning of next week!”

Regan and Nayeli both whip around to look at me.

A small part of me had been hoping that Orion lied. That I misinterpreted the look on Raine’s face. That small part of me dies as my fingers curl into fists at my sides.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Nayeli asks, a look of surprise mixed with a little bit of hurt coloring her expression.

Regan studies my face for a moment before she answers Nayeli’s question for me. “Because you didn’t know either until just a few moments ago, when Orion told you, huh?”

I dip my head in a small nod, not trusting my own voice.

Grandfather raises his voice to be heard over the voices of the audience around him as they all react with varying exclamations of surprise. “Now, I know the announcement of this is short notice, but we thought it in the best interests of everyone if the date were to be moved up.”

Orion speaks up. “Plus, it makes a nice surprise, right? A happy little surprise.” He flashes a dazzling smile that makes a few of the girls in the audience swoon and me want to slug him in the nose.

“A surprise that even the bride didn’t know about,” Nayeli growls, glaring daggers at her brother, which he unfortunately does not see. She turns to me and her expression turns to one of sympathy.

She steps towards me, her arms coming up to try and hug me. “Lulu--”

I step back, interrupting her. “I-I need some air.”

A small flash of hurt passes through her eyes, but she stops, her outstretched arms falling at her sides. She and Regan exchange looks before Regan nods at me. “Alright. If you need us, we’ll be downstairs.”

Regan slowly walks past me, followed by a downcast Nayeli. I watch them go, waiting until they disappear down the stairs before I step out onto the exterior balcony behind me.

I walk up to the glass railing, staring out over the stark silhouette of the Eridanus skyline against the ever starry sky.

Less than a week...

I sigh, my mind still refusing to fully come to grips with my situation. I feel that if I were to accept this reality, I would be swallowed up by it.

Like many times before, I find my gaze wandering to the stars, always searching for that bright speck of light that is Earth. And like every one of those times, I think of Demetrius.

His voice as he told me his story.

His eyes as he stared at me and only me, despite being surrounded by the wonders of Sixam.

His hand as he absentmindedly ran his fingers through my hair.

His laugh...

Not for the first time, I wonder what he’s been up to since the last time we saw each other.

What are his friends like?

Does he think about me as much as I try not to think of him?

Are there any girls in his life?

My stomach does a flip when I think of this. I can’t believe I’m even having these feelings for him. I quickly shake my head, trying desperately to dispel everything. I focus my thoughts in a different direction, but my mind ends up wandering back to the events from earlier tonight.

The dance.

The kiss.

My impending marriage to Orion.

The kiss.

I slam my fist on the glass railing and jump when I hear it crack. I back up and look at it. A long crack stretches from the top where my hand hit down to a little more than halfway through the thick glass pane.

I close my eyes. Feeling a headache coming on, I place my hand against my forehead, trying to ignore the pain.

Before I can feel relieved that nobody was around to see my loss of control, I hear a low whistle from in front of me.

“Whoa, sis. What’d this railing ever do to you?”

My head snaps up and I find myself face to face with my younger brother.

He crouches on the glass railing next to me, perfectly balanced. Surprisingly, he’s wearing a full tuxedo. I’d been under the assumption that he wouldn’t be coming to this party, especially since he’s even better at dodging parties than I am.

He tilts his head slightly as he stares at me, his indigo hair swaying in front of his light blue eyes. I can see his lips spread in a small smile behind his hand.

“Kai, how’d you get here?” I ask.

He quirks his brow at me. “Walked.”

“I meant up here, you smartass.” I roll my eyes. “We’re on the second floor.”

Kai grins, his eyes glittering with excitement. “Parkour.”

I glance at his feet. “I can see your Anti-Grav boots, you know.”

He pouts. “If you knew, then why’d you ask?”

“Just thought I’d humor you.”

“Whatever.” He waves his hand dismissively. “So? Are you gonna tell me why you’re trying to break things?”

“I’m not trying to break anything,” I mutter.

His eyes stare into mine, waiting for me to continue. I sigh.

“Well, for starters, Father dragged me to this party against my will.”

Kai nods. “Understandable.”

“I was forced to dance with Orion.”

“Uh-huh…”

“And he kissed me, in the middle of the dancefloor.”

Kai is quiet for a moment. “...Wait what? Seriously?”

“Yes seriously.”

He taps his chin thoughtfully. “And I’m assuming that was your first kiss, right?”

“Yes…” I say, glancing away.

“How unromantic,” Kai says, shaking his head as he twists around to sit on the railing.

“You sound like Nayeli,” I laugh. “And since when do you care about romance? I specifically remember you saying on various occasions that your only love in life is that rocketship you’re building.”

“How rude! I am totally romantic! I treat the rocket to a candlelit dinner at least once a week!”

“I can’t tell if you’re serious or not, and that terrifies me.”

“I honestly do care about romance,” Kai says. “Love is a nice thing.”

“Says the boy who’s never dated anyone,” I respond.

“To the sister who’s also never dated anyone,” he shoots back.

“I'm supposed to be engaged. What's your excuse?”

His gaze wanders to the stars overhead, a hint of melancholy coloring his expression. “...I believe in soulmates. And I feel that my soulmate is not of Sixam.”

“Kai, the law--”

“Don’t even start with me, sis.” His eyes lock onto mine. “Just don’t. If you’re allowed to think of that guy from Earth, then I’m allowed to dream as well.”

My jaw drops. “How do you--?”

“Know about Demetrius? I’m a genius, I know everything.” I stare at him for a moment before he shifts nervously and confesses. “Okay fine Raine told me gosh now stop staring at me damn it why are you so good at making me crack aRGH--”

“Raine knows?” I ask, honestly not too surprised.

“What did you expect? He’s always kept a close eye on the both of us since the time we were little. He probably knows more about us than we know about ourselves.” Kai shakes his head, smiling sheepishly. “I shudder to think what secrets of mine he knows.”

I recall Raine’s sudden appearance shortly after Demetrius and I parted ways. It doesn’t sound too far-fetched to think Raine had likely been listening to at least part of our conversation.

“That would also explain how he knew about the change of the wedding’s date when I didn’t,” I say quietly, staring at my feet.

“Change?” Kai’s attention is immediately back on me. “What do you mean?”

“Apparently, the date of my wedding to Orion has been moved up to next week,” I say, feeling as though a lead weight has settled in my stomach.

“...Huh. So this is what he meant.” Kai’s voice is so quiet, I almost think he didn’t speak at all.

We sit in silence for awhile before Kai speaks up.

“Well, why don’t you go see him, then?”

I glance at him. “Who? Raine? What good would going to see him do?”

“Not Raine, you goof,” Kai says. “You should go see Demetrius.”

“Wha--?!” My face heats up. “W-Why?!”

Kai lifts his legs under him so that he’s crouching on the railing once more and stares me down. “Obviously because you can’t stop thinking about him, and if you don’t go now, you’ll more than likely never get the chance to see him again.”

“Th-That’s not true--”

He cuts me off. “We both know it is. From tomorrow forward, everyone will likely be keeping a much closer eye on you, all the way up to the wedding. And once the wedding has come and gone, Orion will take you back with him to Aries, and once there, you’ll likely never again get time to yourself. Now is your only chance.”

“But… How am I supposed to get to Earth?”

“The same way Demetrius came here: through the Gateway outside the city limits. It’s never guarded and pretty much everyone who could try to stop you is at this party.”

“Kai, I don’t think this is such a good idea…”

“Dammit sis!” Kai throws his hands in the air, exasperated. “Just grow a backbone and become the Runaway Bride already!”

I stare at him in shock for a few moments before I smother a small giggle with my hand. “You’ve been watching 1990s romantic comedy movies from Earth again, haven’t you?”

“I told you I was romantic.”

“In a cheesy way.”

He grins and hops off the railing onto the balcony beside me. He reaches into his suit pocket and pulls something out. He holds his hand out to me and drops a small device into my hand.

“Cheesy or not, I still think you should go. I don’t want you to regret not seeing him again. Besides--” He sticks his tongue out. “I really don’t want Orion as my brother-in-law.”

He strides past me toward the door. “I’ll be going down to make sure Father knows that I did actually show up this time. I really don’t wanna get another earful from him later.” He tilts his head back to look at me over his shoulder and points at the device he gave me. “Use that to get down. Better than using the stairs and having to walk through the crowd below us, where chances are good you’d be spotted and stopped.”

I glance at the device in my hand. It’s a grav-unit, and if I push the button, I’ll be able to float over the balcony and down to the ground without being detected by the party guests.

I look back at my little brother and he smirks. “I’ll say a little prayer for you.”

“Don’t you dare start singing,” I say.

His only response as he turns and walks to the stairs is to whistle.

As his footsteps fade, I turn back to the railing. I look at the grav-unit resting in my palm.

I think about what would happen if I go to Earth. Father would likely be furious, Grandfather and probably Orion too.

But I’d get to see Demetrius.

I think of what would happen if I stay here. Become the wife of an obnoxious man whom I don’t love and lose practically all of my freedom.

And I probably wouldn’t be able to see Demetrius ever again.

I push the button on the grav-unit.

~•*°*•*°*•~

~To be continued~

~•*°*•*°*•~

Kai’s got me wanting to rewatch 1990s romcoms now.

Please let me hear your thoughts on this part!

~•*°*•*°*•~