Kai's POV:

"Yep, maybe I'll shoot him," I said, pretending to hold a smoking gun. "Right in the heart where his power comes from."

The room fell into a heavy silence, tension thick in the air as Bea sat on the couch, her eyes flickering between me and Sai. A voice, cold and familiar, pierced the stillness. "Fine. Let's entertain the idea of eliminating that flower. But what if he reconnects with the goddess, snatching her from his grasp, and that resurrects our people? What then?" Sai's words hung in the air, a potential twist in the plot, a new direction for our story, leaving everyone in suspense, eager to know what fate awaits.

His words stung, but I scoffed him off and retaliated. "No, because Selene loves me. Nothing can break her love for me," I declared with unwavering conviction, my love for her burning bright in my heart.

"Lying and deceiving isn't love nor buying expensive stuff amounts to anything." My eyes darted to look at Sai's midnight calm eyes.

"What."

"You're only doing this to have Selene all yourself," He walks past me to drawings of different flowers. "What if she stops loving you one day? What will you do? What if the organization chooses me as the next leader?" I slapped his hand away from the drawings. As they fell to the floor, I picked up one of them. The painting was black, with a backdrop of stars in the background. Red eyes pierced between the figure and at the bottom read. Kai Narakumi surrender to the dark arts.

Magnolia must've made this. Snapping my finger, embers started to spread across the piece as it burned away. My heart ached as he stood there, his face a mask of unyielding stoicism. "Even if I were to reduce my heart to ashes, being with Selene in this life is worth it. Can't you see, even my self-destruction in the dark was for this organization? That all this is to revive our people?"

Once the paper burned out of my hand, disappearing to ashes, Bea stepped in. "We get that you have this deep-seated grudge against this flower, a being that took Selene away from you in your past life, but we must be reasonable."

I took a long exhaling breath and nodded. "Do you think he got his full memories back?"

"Highly unlikely." Sai stepped before Bea, putting his hand out, making a barrier between her and me. "So then, 'boss,' What is our next move?"

A small laugh escaped my lips as I brushed past Sai to sit back on the couch. "It's time to do something I should have done centuries ago. Steal back Selene's heart. Find the holder of Aiden's memory and fulfill the promise of this organization. Revive the moon kingdom and all the flowers scattered across this world."

Bea stood up and laughed, making a peace sign as she prepared to leave. Grabbing her coat, she pushed open the door, revealing the rising sun's rays. "You're finally starting to sound like a boss," she said before exiting the room. Silence filled the room as I shut the door behind Bea, and Sai's cold eyes continued to fall on me.

"You may love Selene, but your hatred is burning your heart. Soon, you won't have a heart to love with."

"Meeting over." I left the room and headed back to the bustling city, running up the stairs to the walkway. It was a few minutes from my apartment, so I decided to relax, walk around, and enjoy warming up on winter days. Every time I heard his voice, his words stung, but there was truth to them. On my way home, I took the more scenic route through a park, looking down and letting my mind wander. In the days before, I had always admired Selene from afar. During our knight training, I always tried to impress her and get her attention.

She was so beautiful and caring to everyone, so I hid my emotions from her and stood admiring her from afar. It was simpler times on the moon when we all got along. When it was time to be assigned a caregiver, no one from the organization was picked, so we spent days under the goddess's care. That was until someone offered to be stronger so the goddess would recognize me and I could win over her heart.

Those days filled me with nostalgia but a desire for more. That's when a mysterious woman offered me the position of one of the strongest. I could impress my goddess. I took her offer and learned the dark arts.

If you keep going, you won't have a heart to love with.

I wouldn't let such a warm Thursday slip me by. It was time to find out who the holder of Aiden's memories was. My earrings sparkle a ruby hint of red before my clothes burn off into the black armor I dashed before. To the world, I was essentially invisible. Only those from the descendants of the moon kingdom can see my true power. Dashing through the city with my cape blowing through the wind, my mind was locked onto one thing. Snowy white hair, glistening red eyes. These two defining features will help me see who he truly is.

My phone buzzes. I was too busy to answer and pay any mind to it—down more streets and alleyways—no sign of him.

The spring equinox was slowly approaching. The time I had in the day was still limited. There were only a few more hours of sunlight before the moon appeared. Yet my search came to no avail as I slipped back into the fire escape of my apartment and climbed back into my room. The armor I wore blew away into ash. Tossing myself onto my bed, the remains of what energy I had left drained away into the bed. Expect the buzzing of my phone—six missed calls from Selene. I've spent so much time with the organization and trying to shift plans into motion that I didn't realize she wanted to see me again.

At the same time, it would've made it easier for her to fall for me. Ringgggg. "Kai! You finally answered, "Where have you been?!" Her sweet voice carried through the phone. She lit up my whole word with just a few words.

I had to maintain my cool personality. I took a deep breath and tried to speak in the same voice that Selene always liked to listen to. "I told you I was on a trip to Florida. I just landed; how have you been, though?"

"Fine, I just missed you a little bit."

"Aww, don't miss me. In just a few days, we'll see each other again!" The next time I see her, the plan has to be set into motion, and I have to find who has Aiden's memories. Who he is in this life.

"Okay, fine. I just wanted to check up on you. Love youuuu." She made sure to drag out the sentence, which she always did when saying something cheesy or getting lovey dovey. Sitting up in my bed, I rubbed my eyes and yawned. Flipping on the lights, my room became lively—big glass windows overlooking the city. A desk with a basic computer setup and some of Magnolia's drawings are drying up on clips. They were all drawings of the moon and our life before this one.

My hand graced over one of them. It was a water painting of the same garden from which we had emerged in my past life. A strange light started to glow from my paintings, and then it moved to the rest of them. For instance, I saw his snow hair and blue cape from one of the windows. So he is awake, huh?

Reaffirming what I saw, I stuck my head out the window to see if I could see him again, but to no avail. All that was left was the white afterglow he left and the assurance that his downfall would be inevitable. By my hands for the moon kingdom. Letting out a low sigh of frustration before exiting outside to get some fresh air.

The traffic cleared away, and the night was veiled with stars. Cool mixed winter and spring air blew through, and I took my short stroll, still on the edge of finding that person. I took a breath and sighed, letting the air fill my body. Then, a low hum came from my pocket. The caller's picture was all black, meaning it was one person. "So, how's the hunt for Selene's power going?"

That question left a bad taste in my mouth, and I licked my gums rolling my eyes. "We're making preparations now."

"I'm the same one that let you be the leader of this organization and the one that let you be so powerful in the past on the moon. Don't forget." With that, the line suddenly goes quiet, and the familiar beep sound of the phone being hung up plays over the phone.

To make things even worse, my whole gig of pretending to be on a family vacation to plan with the organization was ripped away from me as one of Selene's good friends walked down my street on the phone. Her eyes lit up as she walked past. She was just as bubbly as Selene was and waved to me aggressively. "Hey, Kai!"

Shit.