Apollo & Luna

Nostalgia

“Don’t use your powers anymore. You’re exhausted,” the old woman said weakly. “It’s dangerous if you suddenly fall ill while on the run. You need to recover your strength fast. Don’t get hurt or everything would be for nothing.”

 “I don’t need to rest. I have to fix you first. You’re still injured. I can’t rest…” Alicia’s voice croaked as she tried to place her hands on her mother’s injury again, but this time, she couldn’t use her powers at all, and she panicked. “No… This can’t be… I will focus more. Mom, hang on please… Please hang on…”

But no matter what she did and no matter how much she willed it, she just couldn’t use her powers. It was as if it was depleted, and she collapsed with fear in her heart as she looked at her mother.

“Mom…”

“It’s alright Alice,” the old woman answered with a smile, assuring her.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were hurt?” Alicia cried as she tried to heal her again, but her energy was really depleted, and she couldn’t do anything no matter how much she wanted to do something.

How could she be this useless when her mother needed her the most. How? Why?

“Please, please,“ she prayed. Tears rolled down her face as she tried to heal her mother over and over again to no avail.

“Oh God, please…”she bawled, but her mother shook her head, still smiling like she was fine although weakened.

“I knew you would be very tired after you do it once,” she informed them, much to her daughter’s chagrin.

“Then why didn’t you say something earlier? Why?” Alicia howled in her sorrow. “Why?”

 “Because I had wanted you to heal Yann,” the old lady answered as she lifted her face towards the young man she would entrust her precious child to.

“Yann, your promise to me. You said you love my child. Protect her,” she whispered and the young man who felt a hollowness in his chest despite his injuries being fixed nodded. His eyes red, his lips trembled and his nose flared as well as he tried to rein in his cries. 

“I will…”

“Alicia…” she called out weakly as she coughed more blood and Alicia cried more. She couldn’t be losing her mother. She had no one else. She had always been there.

“Mom, don’t leave me,” she begged as she clung onto her like a lost little child. “Don’t leave me…”

“You’ll be fine. You’ll be fine my daughter…my wonderful child…” she whispered, and Alicia found herself in sync with her thoughts. Flashes of memories came to her mind, memories her mother’s heart held dear.

In her mind’s eyes Alicia saw a woman wearing a red tube dress picking up a baby from the trash in an alley and lifting her up and holding her tight in her embrace.

“You got thrown away? Me too…it seems nobody wants you kid. But I think I do…”

Lifting the blanket temporarily to see the gender of the baby, a smile plastered on her face.

“Ah, so you’re a girl!” she told the baby.

“I was hoping to have a son someday, but I think a daughter is just fine,” she continued as she wiped the tears from the infant’s eyes.

All her life she had been shunned by people around her because of her chosen profession. She had never felt any connection with anyone in her entire life…until now. “You’ll be mine. You’ll be my daughter...Alicia.”

“Mom…” Alicia shed more tears as she saw more memories.

A small girl lay on the bed flushed with fever, her body trembling with chills.

“Alice, come on, open your mouth. Drink this medicine love,” she coerced her child and when she drank, her face lit up like a dozen suns as she pulled her child close and held her tight.

“Mr. Fever, go away. Mommy’s Alice wants to play…”

The scene changed to that night of the fire, when her father died and her mother carried her as a girl screaming for help as she ran.

“Oh God, please don’t let him find us. Don’t let him find us. My child, not my baby…”

The world shifted again and she saw herself as a girl being bullied by the children when they first arrived in this place.

“Waegukin! Ugly waegukin!”The kids called her an ugly foreigner because of her fair coloring and unusual eyes, making her cry a lot, and her mother chased the kids away as she picked her up and held her.

“Don’t listen to them Alicia. You are beautiful – the most beautiful girl in the world, and you have your momma’s heart.”

Then, the scene changed again, this time she saw herself arriving at the house with an unconscious Yann, her mother looking at them from the window.

“Dear Lord, please spare her. Spare my daughter. Keep her safe from the hunter…”

“Alice…” Alicia opened her eyes and saw her mother smiling at her, her face pale, her lips turning blue.

“Mom, don’t leave me. Please, don’t leave me,” she pleaded but her mother shook her head.

“Yann,” the old lady called and the young businessman quickly gave her his hand. She joined his and her daughter’s hands and placed them on her chest near her heart.

“Find out who you are. Find out why they want you,” she told Alicia who nodded.

“Yann…take care…of her… She’s my precious…precious…pres…cious…” she whispered as she slowly closed her eyes.

“Mom? Mom? Mom!” Alicia called out. She tried desperately to connect with her mother, but all she saw was darkness.

"No, no..." she whispered as she shook her awake.

"Mom? Mom?" she called but she remained unmoving. 

Her mother was gone, far beyond even her powers could ever reach.

“Noooooooooooooooo! Mom! Mom! MOOOOOOOOOM!”