It was like holding the cold, lifeless body of your beloved. To Solar, it was that burgeoning feeling of dread, the fear that Diana would never wake up. No matter how much she called, she cried, the woman with hair the colour of aged corkwood lay motionless in her arms, chest barely moving as she failed to arise from a deep slumber.

Next to her, Moonbyul stood transfixed as she watched Solar attempt to wake what looked to be her doppelgänger. The features were exactly the same, eerily so, from the barely noticeable mole next to her left eyebrow to the sharp chin to the defined bone structure that her body consisted of. 

She also tried very, very hard not to think about the fact that Diana was not wearing any type of clothing, and that even those more private features were… similar.

What was with goddesses and their constant need to be ? A question for the ages, she supposed. 

And this woman was Diana? The very one that Solar was looking for? No wonder Solar had been so agitated the very first time they conversed on Moonbyul’s shuttle, if she was a stark reminder of the woman she had lost.

She was brought back to her senses when Solar grabbed her arm in a vice grip. “We must find Wheein,” Solar urged. “She’s a doctor, she would know how to wake Diana.” Her eyes, flecks of gold shining against dark brown, were pleading, and Moonbyul could not bring herself to suggest leaving Diana behind. Who knew when the researchers that worked in this lab would come back and find an empty pod as opposed to one that had a fully grown woman inside it?

But Moonbyul could not say no. Not to Solar, not after everything.

“Okay.”

She reached down to help Solar prop Diana up. As she did so, a random question flitted through Moonbyul’s mind: what would happen if Diana was her doppelgänger (or the other way round), and they came into physical contact? Would a spatial paradox occur? Would they explode into a billion particles and cease to exist?

Moonbyul’s fingers brushed against Diana's. The effect was immediate. She felt shock punch her in the face and course through her body. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t see. 

“-Byul?” Solar’s voice broke through the haze in her brain. Moonbyul staggered back, her breathing uneven. She clapped a hand over , fighting to steady herself as she leaned back on the pod behind her. 

“Hey.” Solar rose into a half-crouch, one arm still cradling Diana as she reached for Moonbyul. 

Her vision still swimming, Moonbyul flinched away from Solar’s outstretched hand. “Wait. Just- I need to breathe.” Closing her eyes to stop the world from spinning, she forced herself to take a few shuddering breaths. Exhaling sharply, she opened her eyes and took a wobbly step forward towards Diana. “Okay. Let’s go.”

“Are you sure?” Solar leaned forward, watching carefully as Moonbyul swayed in place.

“Yeah, I just… Tired, y’know? I’m just tired.” Moonbyul gave her a wry grin. “Running around does that to you.”

On any other occasion, Solar would have pressed her further. It was blatantly obvious that Moonbyul was not just tired. Perhaps she was more affected by meeting her doppelgänger than Solar would have initially guessed. Shock, yes, but maybe there was something more behind Moonbyul’s reaction towards Diana. But right now, they had to get going. They were in enemy territory, and she had to get Diana to safety. Right. Now.

“I recall Wheein saying to go to the main healing bay. Do you think you know how to get there?” Solar asked. Moonbyul pondered for a moment, then nodded warily.

“Then let’s go.” Solar wrapped one arm around Diana’s waist and hoisted her up, supporting her weight on her side. Moonbyul slid under Diana’s other arm and lent them her shoulder without a word. Solar gave her a quick smile in gratitude, and both of them dragged Diana out of the room.

Both women poked their heads out, squinting to ensure there was no one else around. After ascertaining that no one was walking about, they shuffled out. “Which way?” Solar whispered.

Moonbyul glanced around and pointed to their left. “This way. Let’s go.”

After a while, it became quite apparent that carrying a limp woman between two people proved to be more taxing than Solar originally thought. She questioned the architects of this building, cursing their ability to create the most frustrating mazes and never-ending corridors. “Who built this accursed place?” 

“Workers,” Moonbyul answered half-heartedly. “Menial labour paid under the minimum wage to ensure they couldn’t afford anything and would have to depend on the Juris’s goodwill -- of which would usually consist of some unpurified water or food scraps, maybe a few pieces of second-hand clothing ripped half to shreds. Unless you’re talking about the people who designed this place, in which case they’d be smart- architects, engineers, and creative artists.”

She turned her head and shrugged at Solar’s surprised expression. “What? I’m from the system, I should know.”

“Though that is true, I am still surprised that this is how some humans would treat each other. That this is how you were treated before I met you.”

“Yeah, but from what I’ve learnt about you gods so far, some of y’all do the same. The strong take advantage of the weak, force them to do things they don’t want to do, that sorta thing,” Moonbyul pointed out.

“You’re absolutely right.” Solar admitted. She smiled at Moonbyul over Diana’s lolling head. “Guess we aren’t as different as I once believed, huh?”

“Not different…” A quiet murmur from Diana caused the other two women to jerk back in surprise, and they nearly dropped her in the process. 

“Diana!” Solar leaned down while Moonbyul struggled to hold Diana up. The goddess was barely conscious, her eyelids fluttering and eyes roving underneath as if having a terrible nightmare. Her lips were parted as she mumbled incoherently. “Diana, can you hear me?”

“Not safe…” Diana mumbled. “Run away…”

“What do you mean?” Solar asked just as a distant bell chimed. It echoed throughout the building, and the words that followed the gentle sound made the women freeze.

“To all members of the Juris, a grade-one test subject has escaped with the aid of a rogue comrade. Both are currently located on the fourth floor of the main building. We have dispatched our droids to secure them. As your safety is of utmost importance to us, please do not engage unnecessarily,” a polite voice announced overhead.

Solar met Moonbyul’s panicked eyes. “How did they find out so quickly?” Solar exclaimed quietly.

“I dunno, but we need to move!” Hoisting Diana back up, they attempted to jog as fast as they could down the corridor. As they made their way to their destination, Moonbyul’s mind continued to fixate on one small detail from the announcement: why did the announcer, whoever they were, say that there were there was one person helping the escapee when there were clearly two of them? Surely, if there were cameras hidden around the building -- and Moonbyul surreptitiously scanned the walls and ceiling for any sign of surveillance -- they would have realised the presence of three people in total.

Think, Moonbyul, think. As she desperately searched for an answer, her hand drifted upwards to rub at her left eye. The scar beneath her hair itched like mad, so irritating it was that she wanted to scratch and scratch at it until whatever was causing the itch was gone. 

"Byul? Is your scar bothering you?” Solar asked, stopping mid-step.

“Yeah, kind of.” Massaging her forehead soothed the itch immensely. Moonbyul squinted through one eye as she rubbed at her temple, feeling for the source of the itch within the scar. Pressing down into soft, marred flesh, her sensitive fingers felt a hard bump, so small it was almost negligible. And because she knew she should probably not do it, she jabbed at it, hard.

The electrifying pain that radiated through her eye and throughout the rest of her body was excruciating. “!” she exclaimed before proceeding to poke it again, albeit more gingerly. Solar and Diana swum before her eyes, and she quickly shook her head to clear her vision.

“You discovered something.” Solar stared at her. “What is it?”

“I think,” Moonbyul ventured, pulling Diana a little closer to her, a little farther from Solar, “I think there’s some sort of chip embedded in here.” She tapped at her forehead.

“And…?”

“And since the only people who could have put it in there are the Juris, it means they - Hwasa - can track me. They’ve probably micro-chipped Diana too, which is why the announcement person thought there was just one person helping Diana escape.”

“I don’t like where this is going,” Solar muttered.

“It means they don’t know about you, which means you can bypass at least some of their security measures.” Moonbyul’s eyes were shining; the beginning of an idea was formulating. “Solar, you need to go find Wheein. She’ll know what to do. I’ll stay here with Diana -- maybe buy us some time, hide somewhere. They’ll track us down anyway, whether it’ll be the droids or Hwasa herself. I’ll try my best to find us a way out of here - all three of us - from the inside.”

“How would you do that?”

“I dunno, I’ll figure something out. Oh!” Moonbyul brightened and grinned, an odd choice of expression for their current situation. “Maybe I’ll be, like, a spy. Gain their trust, then sneak out when the time is right.”

“That does not sound safe in the least, Moonbyul,” Solar worried. “We should stick together. I’m sure we would be able to find a way out of here.”

Pouting, Moonbyul scooted off to the side and leaned Diana against a wall, prompting Solar to do the same. “Look, Solar, you and I both know that’s not possible. We’ve both met Hwasa; we both know how freaking powerful she is. If she tracks us down - no, when she tracks us down - we’re basically done for. Someone has to survive.” She gripped Solar’s shoulders tightly and stared into her eyes. 

“You’re the only one who can.”

It was true, but Solar desperately refused to acknowledge it in any sort of way. She was frustrated and distressed. To have Diana taken away from her for the second time -- not only that, but to be separated from Moonbyul again -- it was as if the universe was telling her that she could never have Diana or Moonbyul.

To hell with that. To hell with it all!

And yet… How could she deny the request of this beautiful, brilliant woman before her? Intensely alert and perceptive eyes, damp hair sticking to her face and neck, mouth slightly open as she breathed heavily from their endless running.

To think that she, Solar, once looked down on humans, thought them inferior. And now here she was, without a doubt, falling in love with one, in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“, I think I hear them coming.” Moonbyul broke their eye contact and glanced around nervously. “You gotta go.”

Straining her ears, Solar could pick up the faint sound of footsteps marching with a steady beat and the distinct clanking of metal. Droids, Moonbyul had said, robots designed to act as peacekeepers under the Juris’s orders. Her whole body tensed up, preparing for action.

“Solar, I said go!” Moonbyul hissed, nudging her away.

Solar inhaled deeply, then exhaled in a huff. She took Moonbyul by the forearm and squeezed. “I need you to promise. Promise that we will meet again, and that you will be unharmed when we do.”

Moonbyul nodded. “I promise. And when we do, all of us -- you, me, Diana -- we’ll get out of here, and get far, far away from this damn place.” She wrapped Solar in a warm hug, and after a brief moment of hesitation, pressed a quick kiss to Solar’s forehead. Neither of them wanted to separate, but reluctantly did so, only held together by the link of their little fingers.

“Now go!”

Moonbyul watched Solar run off with a sinking feeling in her heart. She couldn’t bring herself to say what was really on her mind, that the chances of them ever meeting up again under the circumstances were almost non-existent. To flee whilst under constant surveillance of not only Hwasa -- who was, quite honestly, terrifying enough -- but the rest of the Juris was a damn near impossible task. Solar must have known, too, somewhere deep inside her heart.

But she trusted Moonbyul to do so anyway, and that was enough. 

Steeling her nerves, Moonbyul braced herself to fight the droids marching her way. She raised her fists in front of her face, shifting into a boxing stance.

“Down, Byul-yi, down,” a breathy voice purred. This was not the voice Moonbyul expected, not by a long shot. She was expecting the dry voices of the droids, emotionless and mechanical. She was expecting the husky, sultry voice of Hwasa, with her mass of dark hair and harsh eyes.

What -- or rather, who -- she met instead brought her to her knees. The woman looking down at her was like no other. Even if Moonbyul did not believe in gods and the like, the aura and appearance of this woman would completely change her beliefs. She was, without a doubt, a goddess who descended to bless mortals with her presence.

Locks of fiery red and autumn orange illuminated her sharp features. She wore a simple suit of black and white, fitted to her body and accentuating her lines. It would have made no difference if she was wearing an extravagant gown or a diamond tiara, for there was nothing that could have truly contained the beauty that was her. And when her fox-like eyes of gold and red landed on Moonbyul’s awestruck figure, her lips curving into a welcoming smile, Moonbyul figured she could have just melted then and there. 

In that very moment, nothing else in the world mattered to Moonbyul. She could feel her heart racing, her mind turning to fog, only to focus on the woman before her.

Before her mind completely blanked out, she managed to eke out the woman's name. "Chrystal?"

The redhead watched, half-amused, as Moonbyul’s eyes glazed over and her body went limp. “Oh dear, oh dear,” she murmured.

“You came on too strong,” Hwasa remarked dryly, walking up from behind Chrystal and flanked by a couple of droids.

Chrystal just tossed her hair and laughed. “I can’t help that that’s the effect I have on her.” She leaned into Hwasa and gazed into her dark eyes, searching for any kind of reaction. “How about you?”

Hwasa merely stared her down, raising an eyebrow when Chrystal huffed and pulled away. “Your” -- Hwasa gestured vaguely at her -- “whatever doesn’t work on me and you know it.”

Hwasa did not actually know what Chrystal’s powers were or how they worked, nor did she care for the reasons why people would so easily throw themselves at her without a second thought, but she was damn glad that Chrystal posed no threat to her. The first time they had met, Chrystal had sashayed into her life, and all her soldiers had fallen to their knees, utterly helpless in her presence. Hwasa immediately understood then and there that this woman would either make a problematic foe or a very powerful ally; and at that time, she could have used all the allies she could get.

“Shame, always a shame,” Chrystal murmured. She waved a hand at the sleeping form of Diana. “Well, are you going to take her away now?”

Hwasa nodded, and the droids jumped to attention when she ordered them to carry the unconscious woman back to the laboratory. She nodded towards Moonbyul whose comatose form was still kneeling on the floor. “Do what you need to do with that one. She’s useless to us otherwise,” she said, walking away.

Chrystal waited until Hwasa and the droids were out of her sight before approaching Moonbyul. The smirk dropped from her face, and her forehead creased with concern as she crouched down. “Oh, Moonbyul,” she whispered, staring into her unfocused eyes, “why did you come back?”

A/N:
hehe i'm back. my uni changed from semesters to trimesters, so my schedule changed like crazy T-T
but this trimester, i'm determined to write everyday!
this a shorter chapter as compared to the others, but this is the end...of the first half.
thank you for all your support! ^-^