Chapter Text
The dead leaves fell from the trees were they once belonged. Another year went by. Most people would be happy that fall was here. But not me. It meant that I had yet another year to live and suffer every minute of it. I sighed and looked at the grandfather clock in front of me. Then once again to the window. There were some kids playing outside. They looked genuinely happy to be here. I guess I stared too long outside, watching happiness spread through the field. The sound of the clock took me out of my thoughts when it began to ring rather loudly, so I looked back at it for a while, at least until it stopped. "Hotaru. Is everything alright?" One of the workers at the orphanage asked. I looked at her and nodded. Even though I really wasn't. "Just thinking," I answered and stared back at the kids playing outside, imagining how nice it would be to be there myself. "You should go out and play with them." The woman said. I thought for a while before I shook my head, those kids would not want to play with someone like me, and I do not want to ruin their joy either way.
After a while, I felt the woman leave. I really don't know what was she doing here. None one ever comes to this room. It was completely empty except for a big old clock. I don't really know how, but this thing always manages to sound trough the whole orphanage. It had always relaxed me to hear its sound. The little tic and tocs that it produced as time flew by, too fast to even try and grasp it back. It was one of the only things that I liked, I am not sure why. I closed my eyes and relaxed, not letting anything to cloud my mind.
It was a while and I opened my eyes, I finally took notice of the outside again. It was dark and no children were playing. I looked at the time in the big clock in front of me.9:56 PM. I had missed dinner. None one came to tell me. Again. They never do. I could feel hot tears build in my eyes. It seemed insignificant. I could just ask for something to eat and they could just give it to me. But the fact that none one noticed I was missing was what made me broke. If none one cared if I wasn't there for dinner, would someone care if one day I would disappear from this world? Would someone even care if I died? I haven't cried for so long. I didn't even know that I still had the capability of doing such a thing any longer. I cleaned my tears before going outside of the empty room. I began walking through the lonely halls of the place I had been living since I was born... yet this place wasn't my home. It never was. It never will. Looking outside of the windows I saw the moon. It was huge, and it shone like I never have seen it shone before, it looked so beautiful, dragging me in to stop my action only to look at it. I don't know why but I felt the urge to go outside and see it better, not letting the dirty, dark glass of the window interrupt my viewing. I walked my way out of the empty halls and walked to the front door of the orphanage. I was about to open it, but suddenly I felt a cold hand on my shoulder. I quickly turned to see a woman dressed in the same uniform as the other workers here, more than an orphanage uniform it looked like a funeral code of dressing, only dark colors, meaningless smiles and cold, almost unnatural, skin. "What are you doing up? You should be asleep. Its an hour past the curfew." She said in a funny accent. I was very scared, when I saw that woman I saw no compassion or much the less love, the workers here have always scared me. She looked deeply annoyed at me when she saw I wasn't moving. "And? What are you waiting for? To your room now." She said. "I-i... If-forgot something o-outside..." I lied.
It felt wrong of me to lie. Yet I couldn't think of anything else to make her let me go outside. "What? Go and get it tomorrow. You damn kids and you stupid toys." She said before grabbing the collar of my dress and drag me away from the door. "It's my mother's necklace! I left it outside! Please!" I said hopefully. I felt even worse now. I really shouldn't be doing this. But just the thought of what will await me outside was enough of a reward. Truth to be told I did not even know if I had a mother, I have nothing left from her but sour memories, and thoughts of why I was not welcomed in her heart. She quickly let go of my collar and stood still. She then looked at me. "You have five minutes. Did you hear that? Now go and get the thing." She said annoyed, yet I could see through her eyes that she really felt bad, something I have almost never seen before, at least not directed at me. I ran through the doors and left to a little hill with a big tree on the top, which was almost completely dead by now.
It was absolutely gorgeous. I had no other words to describe it. I always thought that my only friend was the moon. The fact that I had no friends convinced me to think that way. It's just pathetic, I always thought of myself and my actions like that, but I had nothing left but that. Then something suddenly hit me in the head. Very hard actually. I fell back on the grass and rubbed the part of my head where whatever it was had landed. After a minute I stopped and looked at whatever had fallen over my head. It was a book. A very thick book. It looked very old, brown and full of dust. Like those books that seemed to be written when old queens and kings rule over countries. I took it with care in my hands. I passed my hand and took away some of it from the books cover. The only thing there was the word 'Silver Millennium'. Whatever that was. The word sounded quite familiar, yet I couldn't remember when I have seen or heard it before.
This book felt weird. I am not sure why. But it just felt like that. Like this belonged to me and me only. As if it was only supposed to be opened by me, nobody else had the permission to do so. I opened the book to no specific page, but it was just in the middle. There was a portal drawn. It actually looked very realistic. It took me less than a minute to realize... it wasn't a drawing.