05. Unfinished Questions

Shandra and Sam look at each other, surprised by Eluna's question. Silence hangs in the air for a few moments as they both search for a suitable answer. Finally, Sam speaks up.

 

Nervous, the girl mentally communicates with Sam.

 

"What now?"

 

"... We have no choice."

 

"What do you mean we have no choice? Of course we have a choice. Lie! Make up a minimally convincing story!"

 

"We need to tell the truth, Shandra. Sooner or later."

 

"Then later! Definitely later. We're in danger still, aren't we?"

 

Eluna raises one of her eyebrows, still waiting for an answer. Her skin is now turning to shades of crimson and bronze, her hair blowing as a cold wind blows through it.

 

"Please, let's talk somewhere safe," Sam pleads.

 

"No."

 

"Eluna-"

 

"I want to know what's going on right now. I need to know if-if that's what I'm thinking."

 

Shandra bites her lip. What would they do now?

 

For in the past, Sam and Eluna, when they were still in Hell, had also done a Blood Fusion.

 

With a worried look on her face, the girl takes a deep breath and decides it is time to face the truth. She approaches Eluna, maintaining a calm and compassionate tone.

 

"Eluna, there is something we were going to tell you when the time was right, but... But you want to know now."

 

"Yes!" she says in a shrill tone. "Yes, I want to know now! Say it!"

 

She looks from one to the other, her eyes injected and totally panicked.

 

Sam looks truly guilty as he clears his throat and explains briefly:

 

"Shandra and I did a Blood Fusion a few months ago."

 

Eluna says nothing. She blinks once, twice, and then opens and closes her hands, as if testing her own reflexes,

 

Still totally flustered, Sam's former fiancée dilates her nostrils and asks:

 

"What did you say?"

 

Shandra interlaces her fingers and answers, even though she knows the question was not for her:

 

"He did it because he had to protect me. It's a long story, that's why we wanted to explain it later, more calmly and-"

 

"You did a Blood Fusion?! With her?", Eluna points at Shandra with full indignation in the lines of her face, real fury seized her.

 

"Yes." Sam replies. He is being firm, but his eyes are haunted, probably due to the danger they are in standing there. "And that's what she said, I needed to protect her and Fusion would be our best way out."

 

The woman doesn't seem to believe what she is hearing.

 

"What about us, Sam? What about the Fusion that we did? Didn't that mean anything to you?"

 

Shandra and Sam exchange glances, aware of the devastating impact the revelation had on Eluna. Once again they communicate mentally.

 

"Are you sure you don't want to wrap all this up, cut it off, and let us run to safety?" asks Shandra.

 

"She won't accompany us until we answer all her questions."

 

"Even if it means being at the mercy of your enemy? They could spring up at any second!"

 

"She is powerful."

 

"I am too, and yet I'd rather spare myself than fight harder."

 

Eluna's voice interrupts both of their communication:

 

"So, that's it? I ask you questions and you two keep looking at me with those dumb faces?"

 

Shandra doesn't like the insult one bit.

 

"The dumbs who saved you?"

 

"The dumbs who did a Blood Fusion, the idiots who obviously don't know what they're doing!", Eluna replies, almost tearfully.

 

Sam takes a deep breath and approaches Eluna, trying to remain calm in the face of her fury.

 

"Eluna, I am so sorry. I know it's hard to understand and accept, but the Blood Fusion we had literally had that purpose. Shandra was going through an extremely troubled time, and I thought this might be the best thing not only for her, but for me as well."

 

Eluna is visibly shaken, with tears beginning to form in her eyes. She shakes her head, unable to fully process what she is hearing.

 

"I... I don't know if I can handle this," Eluna murmurs, her voice shaky. "You promised me that our Fusion was unique, special. How can I believe that now?"

 

Shandra steps closer, trying to control her own emotions:

 

"I thought our Fusion was unique too, Eluna. In fact, I was quite upset when I found out that Sam had already done it with someone else."

 

That seems to make Eluna angrier:

 

"And who do you think you are, to equate yourself with me? When you were born I was already almost a century old! You're just a girl who was in the wrong place at the wrong time!"

 

The atmosphere becomes even more tense with Eluna's sharp words. Shandra feels attacked and her patience begins to run out.

 

"I may not be the same age as you, Eluna, but that doesn't mean my feelings are any less valid," Shandra replies, her voice showing determination. "I love Sam and I am willing to fight for him, just as you are. I am not here to compete with you, but to seek a solution..."

 

Eluna frowns and crosses her arms.

 

"You what?"

 

"I want to seek a solution-"

 

"About Sam! What did you say? What did you say you feel for him?!"

 

Shandra speaks in the same loud, arrogant tone as Eluna:

 

"That I love him! Why?!"

 

The translucent-skinned woman looks at Sam with eyes brimming with tears.

 

"What is this? Is this some kind of joke? Is this some kind of trick to destabilize me?"

 

"Eluna...," Sam murmurs.

 

Shandra once again explodes:

 

"Why does this bother you? You're with Julian, aren't you? What do you care if we're together or not?"

 

"Stop talking to me like that," she warns, growling in frustration.

 

"I'll talk to you any way I want! And you're just a spoiled, selfish ingrate!"

 

Too far. She had gone too far.

 

Before Shandra can even think of apologizing for losing control, Eluna's eyes turn white.

 

And she strikes her with a lightning bolt .