New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

During the last couple hours of her day, Phoenix interviewed more of the Aces High members. She wanted to get rid of most of them, as they were stuck in a mindset that didn't fit in with Paragon.

But the stupid contracts tied her hands behind her back…

As she left her office, heading toward her room, she stopped by the throne room on the first floor. It was quite a detour, given she had to pass the second floor to get to the first, but she needed to.

Entering the throne room, she found a little girl rolled up in a ball next to Astaroth's throne.

Luna had been like this for a month since they lost contact with Alexander. She would stay near the throne and sometimes even curl into a ball on it, crying herself asleep.

Astaroth's soul companions had been ejected from him the day he went AWOL and were now stuck as physical manifestations, roaming freely. But they were far from enamoured by this.

They felt empty. Like a part of them was missing.

"Luna… Come and sleep in the bed. You can't stay here; you'll catch a cold again. The stone floor is not suited for sleeping. Please, be reasonable."

Phoenix heard the little girl sniffle, and it broke her heart.

"I miss him *Sniff* so much…" Luna said between sobs.

Phoenix walked up the dais, dropping to her knees next to Luna, and grabbed her in her arms.

"I know… I miss him, too. But I know he's okay. He'll come back. We just have to trust him. Do you trust him, Luna?"

The little girl shook her head, wiping away some tears with her robe.

"Then come with me. We'll sleep in the bed upstairs, and you can even cuddle some of his clothes to have his scent. I won't judge. I've been doing the same."

Luna nodded her head meekly, grabbing onto Phoenix's shoulders.

It was the first time Phoenix convinced her to leave the throne room, and she was proud of herself. But she understood her.

She also felt like a piece of her was missing.

Phoenix knew she had fallen in love with Astaroth but hadn't known how strong the love was until he disappeared. And it was painful.

Lifting the girl in her arms, Phoenix carried her to the room, laying her on the bed and giving her one of Astaroth's tunics.

Luna rolled up around the clothing like her life depended on it and closed her eyes tight.

Phoenix lay down behind her, embraced her, and hummed a song to help her fall asleep. It was the same song her mother would hum to her as a child, and it had never failed to send her to dreamland.

When Luna's breathing finally settled down, and she fell asleep, Phoenix kissed the top of her little horned head and logged out.

Exiting the pod, Kary looked at the bed, which was still as empty as the night before and the other nights in the last month, and sighed.

"I hope I wake up one day, and you are there, resting. Come back, Alex…"

She walked to the shower, starting the hot water and undressing. In the last month, her routine had gone stale as she stayed alone in the penthouse, hoping Alex would come back here.

She always hoped he would crash into the patio door again one morning, and she would have to help him inside to get cleaned up and rested. But the day hadn't come.

After spending ten minutes in it just thinking under the hot water, Kary finished her shower and went downstairs to eat breakfast.

Looking at the calendar as she walked by it, she saw today was a rest day, so Clark wouldn't be coming by.

He had helped keep her sane in the last few weeks, driving her hard when they spared together. He was the only one who saw her outside New Eden and knew she was close to breaking.

Kary looked at the balcony while eating a bowl of cereal, taking so long her cereal went mushy. She then sat down in front of the television, zapping for an hour without finding anything that caught her attention.

These days, not much caught her attention at all.

She acted strong in New Eden, where her role as queen forced her to. But outside, in the real world, on Earth, she was all but.

The colours seemed to have dulled. The shows she used to enjoy were now boring to her half to death.

The only time she didn't feel like everything was grey was when she spoke to her mother. Even though she had never met this young man, the woman knew that her daughter liked him very much.

So she did as any good mother would and supported her. She even offered many times to go to the hospital where he was being treated and wait by his side with her.

This only caused Kary more pain, as she knew the truth but couldn't tell her mother. Alex wasn't in a hospital.

They had no idea where he was.

She couldn't go to his side and wait for him to get better. She couldn't look at his face and wish he would wake up.

He wasn't in a coma like they had told the news. He was missing.

She thought about calling her mother today, as well, to have someone to talk to. But she dropped the idea.

'If I call her too often, she'll know something is up…' she thought.

Her mother wasn't dumb, after all.

She was about to head up to take a nap, as it was the only time she stopped thinking about Alex when her phone rang in her ear.

She saw the caller ID and frowned.

Picking up the call, she lay her head back on the sofa, feeling annoyed and thinking she would have to go out today.

"Yes, Mr. Gu. What can I do for you today?" she said flatly.

"Ms. Deveille! Come to the compound, quick! It's Alexander! He's here!"