Pov signals:
Lucy- 💫
Yukino-✨
Hisui-🌟

Chapter 4

💫

"Agh-oww." Lucy softly cried as she fell off the bed. As always, Lucy is the first to wake up in the morning. Not because she's an early riser. That's just who she was. Lucy only woke up because Yukino shoved her off the bed. She does this when her nervousness affects her sleep. She shoves Lucy off first, then waits about 10 minutes before doing the same to Hisui.

Standing up, dusting off the dust on her outfit, Lucy went to go shower. It was very weird, not having anyone else in the shower with her. Lucy knows that sounds absolutely insane, but they had no privacy anywhere other than the cell. Which now that she thought about it, feels..., somewhat suspicious.

Whenever the mages did take a shower, which was once a week and random day, there were 3 ladies who escorted them to and from. They were the only ladies at the place, now that Lucy's thinking it over.

The blond Mage had wanted to avoid looking in the mirror, because she didn't want to see herself, yet she looked anyway. Lucy studied herself.

Hair down to the shoulders, fuzzy and tangled. Dirt and dust and everything else, leaving no shine in the hair, or glow to the face. "Dirty and wasteful," I thought.

A white ragged shirt, but from years of wearing it, it turned into a dirty gray. It was hard to get off first, since it was very tight. Lucy struggled until she found scissors, and carefully cut it off. Next was the dark purple tights. Lucy was able to take it off, because it actually fit her

Next, she messed with the faucet, since she had zero idea how to use it. Ms. Gepetto always has done it for her, as well as the shower guards.

"Left? No, maybe right..? Aah! Got' cha!" Lucy cried. She settled for an in-between, but soon turned the knob to make it a bit hotter.

Lucy must have stayed in the shower for a while, because she heard a knock on the door.

"Lucy? Are you done?" It was Hisui.

"Yeah! Hold on." She said as she turned off the shower and put on the towel. Lucy left her hair down, and opened the door. "All yours. If you need help, just call."

Hisui nodded as she stepped inside and closed the door. Lucy cast a glance at Yukino, who was still asleep. She puffed and let out a smile. She'll be up in moments, might as well get everything ready.

Lucy dressed in a white shirt with blue stripes, a black skirt, black boots, and her hair tied in a side ponytail.

She packed her bag first, and split the remaining money. Lucy had also put the com. lacrima in a secret pocket.

"Just clothes, nothing else, visible wise, at least. But what about the keys? We'll have to hide them somewhere. There was only one pocket. Maybe I could switch the items around..." Lucy thought.

"Morning!" Yukino yawned, rubbing her eyes. "So who gets which spirit?" That's the first thing on her mind. She cares for the spirits, as they care for her. "I chose mine already! I just wanted to wait on you guys." She excitedly said, stars in her eyes.

"Which ones did you have in mind?" Hisui asked as she walked out of the restroom.

"Aries, Libra, Pisces, the bear, and the swan, and..." Yukino trailed off, and assuming she was done, Lucy asked Hisui what keys she'd want.

"You take your pick, I'll take the rest." She smiled warmly. Lucy then handed Yukino the four keys she chose.

"Uh, let's see. Taurus, Leo, Virgo, Sagittarius, Aquarius, the Cross, Clock, and the Canister Minor." Lucy said, grabbing each key.

"Okay, so I get Gemini, Cancer, Scorpio, Capricorn, Lyre, and the Compass." Lucy handed the keys to Hisui as she listed them off.

"What about Ophiuchus?" Yukino asked quietly. "Can I- can I..., have her?"

Lucy was in shock. Yukino wanted the-in her opinion-most dangerous Zodiac? But, if she wants it, Lucy will let her. She won't doubt.

"O-okay," Lucy said, still processing it as Yukino was handed the key. "She is strong, I shouldn't doubt that." Lucy thought.

"Okay, what about the boxes?" Yukino asked, head tilting to the side.

"I got it," Hisui answered, pushing the boxes into a bag. "Now go take a shower, shout if you need help." Yukino nodded, as Hisui handed her a towel, and stepped inside the restroom.

Lucy helped Hisui pack her bag, and put the keys in a secret pocket. "So, we are the last of our magic kind. No other spirit holders, just us." Hisui suddenly said.

"Well, when you say it like that, you make it sound like we're endangered," Lucy replied, trying to lighten the suddenly dark mood.

"Well, we are, relatively speaking. The 3 of us are the last. What do we do if we are found out? Wither'll come knocking, and if not, we will be experimented on again." They both shuddered at that.

"And my only question is, how do we have the courage to talk to strangers? How come we don't have more traumatizing moments affecting our every thought, every move? How come we don't have any triggers? How come-" Lucy cut Hisui off by pulling her into a hug.

"I don't know the answers you are asking for, but I will tell you this," Lucy released the hug, and put Hisui's forehead on hers, saying, "Whoever is watching us, they are giving us this strength, so we can keep on moving. Or it's the adrenaline," She glared at Lucy.

"If we have any bad moments, we can always contact secretly through the lacrimas I bought. We'll always be there for each other, and if we aren't, we'll smack each other silly." Lucy smiled. Hisui had tears down her face, and she was sniffling silently. "The lacrimas change color too. Mine's pink, yours is green, and Yukino's is a white-ish blue."

"We'll always meet up, right? And talk through the night?" Hisui choked out, not able to contain the strain in her voice. Lucy nodded, and Hisui hugged her, crying into the blond's shirt.

Lucy patted her head, and they stayed like that, until Yukino opened the door. Lucy tossed her a pair of clothes, similar in color to Lucy's, but vastly different style wise.

She changed into it and the girls finished packing minutes later. "Okay, that's everything. Let's go."

"Wait, when we find somewhere to stay, can we visit your father Lucy? I'm sure he'd love to finally see you again." Yukino said.

"Yes, please." Lucy said, on the verge of tears.

-~-~-~

✨

The girls went onto the train, and sat down. These are their last moments together.

"Lucy,  what will our names be? How will we change our looks?" Yukino asked.

"My name is Luna. Yours will be Star, and Hisui will be Gala, short for Galaxy. Is that alright? The author can't find anything else." Lucy said.

"Who?" Hisui and Yukino asked in unison.

"I couldn't think of anything else. What do you think I said?" Lucy looked at us with a 'what are you talking about' face.

"Okay," Yukino said, "I like Star." She really did like it. "I could have many names with star. That'd be awesome!" She thought.

"Fine, now our looks." Hisui said. "We could stop by a-" She was cut off by Lucy.

"Cancer! Summon Cancer when we stop! He fixed my mom and I's hair when I was younger! He could change our looks!" We could see Lucy trying to contain her excitement, but she was already bouncing in her seat.

Yukino smiled warmly, since the only other time she's done this was to try out her new escape route for the "month" as she called it.

Sadly, Yukino and Hisui became lost to dates. Lucy was the only one who didn't forget that months, days, and years are things that exist.

"When we get off yes, and keep your voice down. People can hear you." Hisui huffed, but Yukino saw the happy look in her eyes.

"We're finally miles away from that dreadful place. I'm glad." Yukino said. "You're not the only one who picked up fancy words." She said quickly after.

"Hmhpmm," Lucy stifled a laugh, her hand over her face.

"D'ooh, laugh all you want!" The small mage grumbled. She crossed her arms and pouted with her head down.

"We can visit Father when we all get a place and call each other to confirm it. I can't wait to see him again." Lucy's eyes misted over, a dream look settled over her face. It then fell when she mouthed "Mother".

"Well," Yukino said quickly, not wanting Lucy to get sad, "What fears do we have? Even the tiny ones count."

"Water, the cold, extreme heat, and shouting. Being alone and forgotten puts the others to shame being compared." Lucy said. "What? Don't you re- never mind. I'd want to forget too," She continued.

"Well, I don't like being noticed. As much as I would hate to admit, the shadows and extreme light scare me. I rarely act on a moving impulse, and that's another thing that terrifies me," Yukino followed.

"Because you never know when I'll shut down again..," Lucy and Hisui looked at her sadly. Yukino then rested her head on Lucy, and held Hisui's hand, wanting to reassure them both.

"Well, for so long we had no power over ourselves," Hisui spoke, breaking the silence, "And the thought of me, leading- or rather, being in a position of power, haunts me." She looked down at her hands that were in front of her, slowly opening and closing them. She continued.

"Because... Because- because, what if I become like Wither? I don't want people to suffer from my mistakes, or our fate. I don't want them to fall into people like his hands." Yukino hugged Hisui as she started crying, her hands were balled into fists. She whispered to her about taking deep breaths. Lucy got up from her seat and joined the hug. She wrapped her armed around them, squeezing her sisters into her bear hug. It was always warm, full of determination and hope. They let Lucy embrace them.

The girls stayed in the long, defining silence until Lucy spoke, having so much determination and power in her voice. Yukino was shocked that she even had one of those. She never heard her talk like that before. It was usually just sorrow, or doubt. Never this.

"I promise you, both of you. I will never let us be taken by him again. I will protect you guys even after the extinction of magic. I won't lose anymore of my family." Yukino started crying, and she then noticed that all of them were crying.

Hot tears went down the  Celestial mages faces, and for today, they were because of sadness, not pain.

They all fell asleep not long after, in a pile on the seat by the window. Yukino woke up last, again.

But the train had stopped, and Yukino was strangely the only one in the car. Deciding that it was weird, she got up to look around the train car. No one, she thought sadly. Them, feeling her stomach rumble, she went to go eat.

Yukino looked at what was being served, and saw signs for different things. "Puh-an-cakes." Yukino read out loud. It looked really fluffy and good, she felt her mouth watering. Yukino grabbed 2, and something to drink.

Seeing another sign again, she began reading out loud, "Milk-shak..," I don't think that was right. "Milk-shake," That sounded a bit better. Yukino liked the look of the blue and white one, so she chose that one, and headed back to her seat. She saw way more items, again, sounding the signs out loud.

"Ice cram, Bud-no, butter, sirup..." Yukino continued to sound out every sign she saw, except for bread. She shuddered at that.

Before and during Wither, that's all they ate. She is never eating bread again, and you can count on that. I mean, just by itself and cold bread, yeah, since that's all the girls ever ate.

Yukino decided to head back to their train cart to eat there. Open spaces felt too uncomfortable for her still.

-~-~-~

🌟

Hisui woke up a bit early. So she went to go eat, and when she saw it was still dark out, she went back to the room to fall asleep. Hisui had the cloak covering her, but still couldn't sleep.

Yukino was the only one asleep. Lucy probably couldn't sleep, so she went somewhere. After looking out the window, at the endless, starry sky, Hisui decided to roam around the train for a while. After making sure Yukino was covered, and taking the cloak and putting it on, hood and all, Hisui walked around the train. She started at the cart, and slowly headed to the front of the train.

-~-~-~

Hisui walked around the train alone. Lost, and wandering in her thoughts. Looking at the light colored walls, red velvet coating the rims of the seats. It was all so beautiful.

It also was reminding her of something, from a long time ago. Hisui couldn't remember from what it could be from though. Gold, red, green... It all seemed so familiar, like... Like she lived in the colors from before being taken to Wither.

Shaking her head, trying to lose those thoughts, Hisui spotted a small frame next to her, hanging on the wall. Curious, the mage stepped closer to take a look at it.

It was a picture, with words under it. Hisui looked at the picture first. The photo had six people in it, all fancy looking. There was two people holding a little girl between them, all having smiles of joy on their faces.

The little girl's hair was a vibrant green, with a little crown on her head. Her hair made Hisui aware of her own. By touching the ends of her hair, she accidentally took off the hood. The little girl had her hands in each of her parents hands, trying to sit in both of their laps, and actually doing it. She had a white dress on, with little jewels around the neck of the dress. She also had a green necklace on.

The presumed mother and father were in the same attire. White clothes with jewels and crowns on them, all a perfect shade of beige skin, sitting straight and proper. The only difference was that the mother had mint hair, and that she looked taller. The father had white hair, and looked shorter. The guards, one man, one woman, and one child, each wore fitted metal armor, one green feather in each helmet, stood proudly next to the sitting-presumed couple- gender wise. The little boy was in front left of the girl.

The girls on the right, guys on the left. All the guards bore brown skin, eyes, and hair. Taking a step closer, Hisui looked at the girl, and felt her breath hitch.

"Green eyes." Hisui started to read what was written under the photo, but stopped when someone shouted out. Turning around quickly, and gasping in fear and in shock, she froze. She didn't hear the door open. It was a young woman, a bit older than Hisui. She wore a blue suit, with her hair tied up.

"Hey! What are you doing in here? This place is off limits! Hey-" The woman stopped, her face in shock. "You're..." She pointed a shaky finger at the mage. "Oh my... I-I can't believe. After all this time..., but what if you're not?" Hisui became confused. Who did she think Hisui was?

"I believe you have me mistaken. I'm not who you think I am. You're just imagining things. Now, can I go back to my room? I'd like to rest now." Hisui looked around quickly, looking for something to use if the woman tried anything. Though Hisui did doubt it, one had to be sure.

Hisui spotted a stack of books near her feet, and slowly inched toward them. She had one shot. Just one. She couldn't fail being this close to being free.

"No-no miss, you need to come with me. I have to bring you to the royal guard. He'll determine if you're the real deal or not." She kept rambling, and reached out to grab Hisui's arm. Memories flashed through her mind. The bad ones.

Hisui's  legs suddenly started pounding. Fear seized the girl in its long, dark, misty grasp. Hisui wasn't gonna go down without a fight.

"I'm not going. I'm not gonna be locked up again!" Hisui ducked under the attendant's arm. Startled, she fell forward. Hisui grabbed one of the books, and tried to throw it at her. Note tried. Hisui's aim was horrible, but at least it worked. Throwing the book seemed to startle her more.

Hisui made haste to the door, being absolutely quiet, and to not let the woman see what she was wearing. Pulling the hood back over her head, Hisui closed the door behind her, pretending to lock it so woman won't chase after.

Hisui then made her way to the back of the train, and sat down on one of the many chairs in there.

To put it in simple words, Hisui was terrified. The woman seemed to recognize her from somewhere. She felt sick, her head spinning and everything seemed to sway. Hisui started to curl into a little ball, trying to calm herself down. Hisui's arms gripping the other tightly, she let loose many shaky breaths.

"You're okay, calm down. Everything's alright now. Please calm-"

"Hisui?" The voice startled her, and made her  jump from the seat.

"Hisui, what are you doing here? Why are you shaking?" It was Lucy. She had entered through the other door, the one that led to to railing platform of the train. Said girl looked up at her, and she gasped softly.

"Oh, oh no. Did you have a nightmare?" Hisui shook her head. "Then what happened?"

Hisui then proceeded to tell her what happened: from when she ate, to the encounter with the strange woman.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. Hisui saw the confusion on her face as clear as she could in this train car. The lights were pretty dim.

"Well, we'll deal with that later. For now, you have to summon Cancer to change your appearance, like snap your fingers quick." She mimicked the snap, and Hisui stood up to summon Cancer. The mage quickly realized that she didn't have any of my keys on her.

"Looks like I'll have to do that later, I don't have his key." Lucy smacked her forehead.

"Of course you wouldn't, you just woke up! Let's just go back to our-" Lucy stifled a yawn.

Hisui looked at her, eyebrow slightly raised now. Wait, why was she even here in the back of the train?

"Why are you here in the back of the train? Did you even sleep at all?" Hisui asked, questioning Lucy's motives of being awake.

"Well, I guess I have to explain it then." Lucy yawned this time. "But can we do it when we wake up? I'm tired right now." Lucy followed as quickly as she could. She stood and started walking to the door.

Hisui got the feeling that the blond doesn't want to tell her. Hisui took a quick glance at Lucy's right hand, seeing if she was holding it.

She was. "Oh, Lucy," was all Hisui could say. Lucy has had nightmares. Hisui hugged her, and she slowly hugged back. Once again, they stood like that for a while, before slowly, and quietly heading back to their train car, and into their room, to see Yukino eating her breakfast.