Luna had a pained expression on her face as she couldn't finish the question,.
"Yes it was all planned."
She didn't react; instead, she moved on to the question she really wanted to ask all along.
"Were you planning on saving me?"
There was no point in lying.
"You weren't a priority. Even if I could, it wasn't worth the effort."
She went quiet, and I could see her holding back tears. Her lips were quivering until she bit them.
"You knew that already, so why did you come here?"
"I—I… Conner was hurt, badly."
So that's his name? Conner.
"When the men in black came for him, his skin was melting off," her voice was completely lifeless.
"They'll heal him." I wasn't trying to comfort her or justify my actions; I was just stating what I thought was true.
A flash of anger sparked in her eyes, and she balled her fists.
"Burn marks don't heal that easily! He'll be disfigured for the rest of his life, just like…" She paused and lowered her head, seemingly unable to hold back her tears any longer. "Just like me. I did this, and it is up to you to fix it."
Fix it?
She took hold of the Blade of Calamity—the blade I was too weak to wield—and fixed it firmly in my grasp. She looked me dead in the eyes.
"Fix it," her voice was unwavering.
It was then that I understood exactly what she meant. She wanted me to punish her, just like I had with the others. I was honestly surprised; she was more twisted than I thought. I had used her to get to Conner, and if it hadn't been for her, what happened to him wouldn't have happened. She felt guilty and wanted me to punish her for it. I had to find out why.
"Why would you be willing to put yourself in danger for a stranger, no less?"
"He didn't deserve to have that happen to him! No one does, and it's all because of me. If I hadn't found out who the person with the Culinary system was and directed you to him, he wouldn't have gotten hurt!"
There was no reasoning with her; she had lost it. I could never understand other people.
"Please! I knew you were lying when you said I was your friend." Her voice dripped with emotion; it was the first time I had ever heard her speak this loudly. "But even if I wasn't your friend, you were mine. Even though it was scary being on this island and you were scary at times, I still enjoyed the time we spent together."
I glanced down at the blade I held in my hand.
"Do you expect me to cut off a limb or something? Or maybe—"
She lifted her hand to wipe the tears from her face, and at that moment, I saw something—blood. It was trickling down her wrist.
A look of panic crossed her face when she realized I had seen it. She moved to cover it up, but I grabbed her hand. She began struggling, but I pinned her down. Even in my weakened state, I was still stronger than her.
I lifted her sleeves to see a freshly made wound and a collection of old scars.
"Did you do all this?"
Her lips trembled, and she averted her gaze. She couldn't bear to look at me. As I glanced at the scars on her hand, I was at a loss for words.
"Why would you hurt yourself like this?"
I instantly remembered how she had told me she had been teased.
"What could they possibly do to you that made you do something like this?"
I couldn't understand it; it didn't make sense to me, even though I wanted to.
"What didn't they do?" she finally spoke. "They ripped my clothes, hid my books, and pulled out my hair so I was forced to shave it off. They made me confess to boys just so they could call me a slut! I was tormented every day of my life and had no one to help me. But I never wanted to hurt anyone, not even once! I only wanted them to stop! Even when they put dead, bloodied animals inside my bag. I was hit and grabbed so much that it became the norm for me."
"You were a coward. You shouldn't have allowed that to happen to you in the first place."
She shook her head.
"I deserved it; I was a mistake."
A mistake? Before I could ask, she began to explain.
"Both my parents are heroes. We weren't the best hero family, but we were well off. It granted us a level of prestige. My system didn't come from my mother or father; they didn't tell me to my face, but I knew they were disappointed in me when I got it. If my system wasn't good enough, it meant our family legacy couldn't continue.
That's why, the moment I awakened, they shipped me off to a private school for kids with awakened systems. They probably though the least they could do was help me harness the power I did have. Schools like these run on politics; I was ostracized from the very beginning because of my system, and that's when the bullying started. That's when I started…" she paused.
"I deserved all of it for betraying my parents and letting everyone down."
Her pain was deeply rooted; no words could solve it—at least none that I could say. The only choice was to give in.
"Fine, I'll give you your punishment."
She looked tired—tired of it all.
I brought my hand close to her forehead causing her to flinch and close her eyes. For a girl who was just begging for punishment, she looked terrified.
FLICK!
I flicked her on the forehead.
"AHH!" she screamed holding her forehead which was getting redder by the second.
"That is your punishment"
"But it can't!!"
She looked at me with teary eyes.
"Ok then, I'll give you an even worse punishment. From now on, you'll be my accomplice"
She looked at me with a confused expression.
"Your accomplice?"
"Yes, from now on you'll commit even worse atrocities to make up for the ones you've already committed"
"But that doesn't—"
I covered her mouth.
"No objections, you can't refute your punishment"