Chapter Eight
Luna gets up and grabs the satchel beside her on the flat stone, "I need to change clothes real quick before we go. We have to make a stop on the way to Alcazar." Luna hands Apollo the bag and starts taking things out of it. She holds some black garments in her hands and glares at him, "Turn around!" Apollo immediately turns, clearing his throat and mumbling some sort of an apology. Immediately, he hears the sound of fabric being shuffled around and the jingle of the girl's belt buckle fills his head with images of what's going on behind him.
"Hand me the black make-up case, please." Luna says and Apollo fumbles around in the bag until he finds a small box and reaches back to hand it to her. He takes a quick glance just in time to catch a brief glimpse of her bare midriff. Luna reaches over his shoulder, taking a hairbrush out of the bag, "I saw that." Her laughter tickles his ear as she leans back and starts roughly running the brush through her straight black hair.
Apollo stammers something again and tries to look innocent but Luna just smirks as she turns him around and hands him a small mirror. She bends down and stares into it, pulling off the lid of an eyeliner pencil. She applies the make-up to her eyes and starts talking again, "I hate wearing this stuff, but we got to look the part. We're going to this creepy dive bar that's always full of grunts." Luna runs some lipstick around her lips, rolling them together in the mirror. Apollo watches her pucker at her reflection and he can't help but laugh, "Grunts?" Luna looks up at him and snickers, "Yeah grunts, soldiers."
The word makes Apollo's apprehension spike and it's almost like Luna can sense it, "It will be okay. We'll just keep a low profile, it'll be fine." She grabs the mirror out of his hand and stashes it in the satchel along with the rest, and for the first time, Apollo sees the finished results of her efforts. Tight leather pants and the black tank top cling to her perfectly and he can't but stare at her curves. His eyes follow up Luna's body until they make contact with her cold pale eyes glaring at him through dark eyeliner, "What do you think you're you looking at?" The accusatory expression on Luna's face leaves Apollo lost for words but then she bursts into laughter, slipping on a shiny black leather jacket and punching him hard in the shoulder, "You need to lighten up."
He follows her in awkward silence, rubbing his arm, as they wind back through the trees and reach the motorcycle. Apollo's still carrying the satchel so Luna takes it from him, fastening it to the seat. "You okay?" She asks as she climbs on. Apollo joins her, putting his hands around her waist, "Yeah, I'm okay." His fingers find the bare skin just below her shirt and suddenly, he struggles to catch his breath.
Apollo does well to hang on as they meander through the gradually diminishing forest. He's thinking about how he is so intimidated by this girl. It's far different than with Grace. He's known that girl his entire life and it seemed almost natural, way easier than this. Then his thoughts are suddenly distracted as he feels Luna's hand on his thigh, "Hang on!" She squeals and the motorcycle roars, rapidly gaining speed as they zoom down the hill.
They're now cruising up the coast and Luna begins instructing Apollo, "When we get there, keep your head down and let me do the talking." Apollo is still nervous about the prospect of even going to a Corsair bar, so he questions her, "Where are we going anyway?" Luna looks back at him, "It's a place called Utrem De Occultis, people call it The Oculus. There's someone there that will help us."
"Who?"
"A man named Seth."
"Who's that?"
Luna brings the bike to a halt, spinning the back tire and sending a wave of sand out in front of them, almost throwing Apollo, "He's just a guy." Apollo looks at her in disbelief and it sends twinges of guilt though the girl's stomach. "So now you're keeping secrets from me too?"
She jumps off the bike and Apollo's not used to it's full weight so it slams into the sand, "It's not like that," Luna retorts as she walks away. Apollo runs after her. He puts his hand on her shoulder, "Tell me then, what it's like?" Luna turns around, slapping at him, "Look, I'm not keeping anything from you. I know you want to know more, and believe me, you'll get your chance." She continues to scowl, her pink pale lips pressed tightly together as she waits for Apollo's response.
"Look, I'm sorry." Apollo says as he tries to embrace her but she pulls away, crossing her arms and glowers at him before responding, "Look, before we go any further, you have to swear to trust me. We're in this thing together, whether you like it or not." Apollo continues trying to apologize to her, "I know, I swear I have..." But Luna doesn't let him finish, "At least wait until we get to ARIES, and then you can decide if you want to hate me or not."
She walks off and picks up the motorcycle, climbing on. Apollo continues to plead with her, "Luna, I don't hate you, I..." But she interrupts him again, "Look, we need to get going." She barely gives enough time for Apollo to climb on before she kicks the bike and they tear off back up the beach.
The girl doesn't say anything to him now, even after they reach the streets of Corsair Territory, almost a half hour later. Apollo tugs his black cap over his eyes as they ride down the streets, noticing the people all watching them. They take a couple of turns and roll up a narrow alley. They turn again and Luna accelerates this time, between two tall buildings and along a space that's barely wide enough for them to fit. Concrete rubs Apollo's legs as he tries to pull them in has close as he can. When the path eventually opens, it seems as if they are back on the main street. They make one more turn before Apollo finally sees it.
The Oculus.