Puppet Strings

Chapter One

White walls, fluorescent lights, and the sharp scent of medicine was what greeted Alluna upon her awakening. Where am I? were her first thoughts.

Suddenly, the pain hit her, shooting up her limbs like fire, exploding into her head like the blast of a firecracker. Her whole body ached, in places she didn't know they could, and Alluna had grown up knowing pain. But the agony passed, and soon her body fell into a rhythm of faint throbbing.

But with the betterment of her physical pain, came an onslaught of emotional distraught that arrived as a flood of memories, every little detail, up to the point where she hit the ground and everything went black. I'm not dead. Why am I not dead? What's going on?

She tried to lift her head, but all it did was make her neck hurt and give her a pounding headache. A barrage of emotions was rising from her chest, higher and higher; she couldn't breathe, couldn't think, she was drowning.

"Sweetie?"

Alluna sucked in a breath, eyes widening. Then she sighed. Just a nurse, probably. She stuffed her emotions back down.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Sweetie, I didn't mean to startle you."

A head came into view in the corner of Alluna's vision. The petite lady looked to be in her late thirties or early forties, with light brown hair twisted in a braid over one shoulder, and brownish-green eyes. She was wearing a sterile white nurse outfit, and wire-rimmed glasses sat on her nose. Alluna was correct; she was clearly a nurse.

Her arm twinged, and Alluna noticed the needles, poking into her left arm, pinching at her skin. Medicine? She'd rarely been taken to hospitals before, not after his death, so all her knowledge of hospitals came from books and TV shows.

She snapped out of her thoughts as the nurse spoke, her voice sweet and soothing. "My name is Yukimura Yui, I'll be your nurse during your time here. What's your name, Sweetie?"

"Um, I'm Alluna."

"Alluna!" Yukimura echoed. "What a unique and pretty name! May I ask what your family name is?"

"Uh..." Alluna trailed off. She didn't like remembering that name, not anymore. It reminded her of him and She didn't deserve his name. But she responded anyway. "Himari, my family name is Himari."

The nurse seemed to pay no mind to the pause between answers. "Lovely, Dear. And how old are you?"

"Nine years old. And, um, can you help me sit up?" Alluna felt uncomfortable lying down on the hospital bed, having a conversation while looking straight up at the nurse leaning over her.

"Of course, Sweetie."

Yukimura bent down, and gently helped the young girl sit up, propping her up against her pillows.

"And your parents?"

"My parents?"

"Their names, please?"

"Oh. Um, they're dead." Alluna noted how awkward she sounded. But at least this answer wasn't a lie.

Yukimura gasped, covering her mouth with both hands in a way that seemed more over-dramatic than the situation called for. "Oh I'm so sorry!"

Alluna didn't meet her eyes. "That's okay, it doesn't really matter."

Yukimura cleared her throat. "Well, um, do you perhaps have another guardian? A relative or friend?"

Alluna wondered how she got into this situation. "No..."

"Then who do you live with, dear?" Yukimura's face had grown increasingly more concerned as their conversation continued.