Subject Zero: CONFIDENTIAL (Short Stories)

The Eclipse (1)

Part One: Isle Amidst White Waves

Monday, August 12, 1985
12:05p.m.
Treehouse, Melancholy Woods

Third Person's POV
It was the first day back in school. Alio was starting his junior year of high school. The school day had ended, since it was a half-day. He went to the treehouse Tui and La often stayed in, instead of meeting up with his friends — Anne, Jesper, Klaus, Naomi, Norman, Rei, and Zero were all at a small little diner called Minnie's Diner. He didn't go with them because he isn't very fond of one of the employees who works there.

He climbed up the ladder and stepped into the treehouse. "Hey, guys. Mind if I-" He paused when he noticed Tui was about to walk through the mirror, and La wasn't even there.

Tui blinked. "Hi-"

"Are you leaving?" he asked her, already feeling disappointed but not surprised.

"Uh, yeah, I was going to," the white haired girl said. "La is getting some food, and I was about to go to some shops."

Since Alio had never been to the Mirror World, he wasn't aware of what was there. For all he knew, it was a world of death and decay. So when he heard Tui said that she was going to 'shops', he felt intrigued.

He asks, "You guys have shops there-?"

"Yeah, surprisingly. Joplin came up with the idea after first meeting a woman named Aisling, since she told him all about the human world." Tui faced in his direction. "You and the others wanna come?"

Alio shook his head, and his curious expression had faded. "No, just me. They're all at the diner."

Tui nodded. "Oh... Well, that's fine. It'll probably just be better if you come with me anyway, since going as a group would draw more attention. Plus, this could be, like, our thing... Y'know, how friends have stuff they do together. This could be ours?"

When she said that, Alio's mood had brightened a bit. "Yeah, that'd be cool. But, rule number one of friendship: true friends don't judge each other. They judge other people... together."

Tui chuckled at his statement and said, "Noted. We should go now though."

The thought of being in the Mirror World thrilled Alio, but he's mainly glad to be going there with someone he now considers a friend who would protect him if something bad were to happen. So he softly smiled and followed Tui as she walked through the mirror in front of her.

[ 20 Minutes Later ]
Whispering Village, Mirror World

Tui had brung Alio to a market in a small village, and she was making sure he didn't wander off. She was just at the counter buying the tools she came here for (tools to fix the treehouse in case there was ever something wrong with it). Alio was trying to stay close to her, but he was eyeing a snowglobe that was on a shelf behind the counter. Tui was rummaging through the pouch of gemstones she brought, and when she glanced at Alio for a second, she saw him looking at the snowglobe.

Softly smiling, Tui asks, "...You want the snowglobe?"

Because he didn't want her to waste any money on him, he says, "...No-" even though he did want the snowglobe.