Chapter 15
The Past and Future
"Actually in the past, my family actually have really good finances, my father are rich,
"He was able to inherit a couple percent of shares from my grandfather's companies,
"He is always busy with work, but sometimes he will give me a ride to school with his vintage motorcycle,
"On holiday my parents will bring us to a vacation, beaches, log cabins in the mountains, overseas, and other great places around the country.
"Our lives are full of happiness, food is always on the table, we have a really nice two story house, and our own separate bedrooms.
"Most importantly my parents are really kinds, they always fulfilled my wishes, but they never forget to say no when I'm naughty and even punish me for that.
"I remembered the first time i was able to pull all nighters to celebrate new year together and seeing the first sunrise in the cabins.
"Me, my dad, mom, and sister Sophia are watching the first sunrise together, Eve was sleeping because she still 6 years old that time,
"It was warm.. We huddled together in the morning cold, when the first light comes from the horizon the scenery are breathtaking
"So beautiful… but what make me remember this the most is because, it was the last new year celebration we're able to do as a family.
"Because around the time when my sister turned 17 years old…"
Lucia stopped, her voice in the last sentence was painted with a pain, she held back her tears from flowing.
Edward after looking at her became concerned, he told Lucia with a soft voice,
"It's fine, if remembering it brings pain to your heart you can stop, because without telling your story I'll still be your friend"
His gaze are focused on the sky, he didn't have courage to see her in the face, as just hearing her voice already made his heart sink.
Tears are flowing from Lucia eyes, she closed her eyes and take a deep breath, calming herself down.
After wiping the tears she said with a weak voice.
"Thanks Edward, but I decided to tell you this because I feel that you deserve to know more, after all of the kindness you gave to me, this is the least things that I have to do before paying you back"
She took a glance at Edward smiled and continue telling her story.
"Alright I'll continue, so it was happened when my parents are going to the Europe together with my grandpa for a business trip,
"Because it was urgent and me and my sister Sophia had an important exam to do, we planned to follow after we finished the exam.
"As for Eve she was sick at that time, she was in the care of our aunt.
"Mom, Dad and grandpa took the same plane..
"First we got a call from authority that the plane were missing,
"We don't believe it at first and keep our hopes that the plane was landing somewhere safe in remote places,
"Because I'm only ten years old I didn't know anything and only watched the adults panic.
"Then the devastating information comes, the plane was found crashed into the sea, rescue team immediately made and sent to search the area.
"I only remember when they were only able to find wings of the plane after several weeks of intense search.
"I don't believe it happened, my head empty, I don't want to believe it, I.. don't know… I don't remember the exact thing that happened after that..
"I only remember after several weeks we held a funeral, sister Sophia was crying, Eve also crying but she didn't know why,
"I… didn't cry at the funeral, my thoughts are empty, huft.. I must have looked like a broken child at that time..
"So after that time goes by fast for me, my world is like a black and white, i don't feel strong emotions, I eat less than normal, always sleeping..
"It was the hardest time in my life, life is like a blurry image flashing in my head…
"Fortunately I'm able to get back on track, after realizing I'm not alone, I still have my sisters with me..
"We're able to get back to society with the help of our aunt, but the hardship just started at that point..
"Huft… after that… i don't really want to talk about the details… but in summary my paternal sides are cutting ties with us, and.. They left us without care and even took most of our money…
"Sigh… anyway we left with little inheritance after that, to cover our daily lives we have to even mortgage the house..
"We lost the house to the bank, and we lives with our aunt for 6 years. After sister Sophia is able to get a stable job, we choose to move out.
"So then we had lived in my current house for years since then.. So yeah.. That's all I guess..
"Huft.. Thanks for hearing all of this Edward"
Lucia look at the sky, noticing that the sky is becoming even brighter, it's almost sunrise.
Edward smiled and patted Lucia on her back, he said.
"Thanks for telling me your story, It must be hard, I'm so sorry for what happened with your parents and grandpa, i offer my condolences for you,
"This might sound cheesy haha, but don't afraid to ask for help or even anything, I'll try to fulfill it as a friend, because you're the only one friend that i really able to connect to in terms of hobby and activities, so cheer up dude!"
Lucia smiles, a light fall to her face, revealing a beautiful sincere smile, even though she just cried before, she was able to show a strong and bright expression.
She was able to find peace with her strong resolve, her feeling of loves toward her sisters, her feeling of gratitude and respect to Edward, and her determination and goals of having a good quality life after getting back her body and identity.
She then said to Edward.
"Really.. You're too kind bro.. I might feel something because of it haha..
"Anyway let's do the final shoot now, you must be tired after all of this, so let's finish it and get some rest"
Both stand up at the same time, Edward give her a nod, and set the camera for the video.
She then dismissed her wings before the shoot, Edward ready with the camera mounted to a selfie stick that can be extended,
The shooting starts with Lucia standing on top of the wall facing the sunrise, winds blowing her dress and hair,
Because of the angle of the camera we can only see her side profile, her face is full of determination, she closes her eyes then wings comes out from her back.
A gust of winds scattering the leaves around the area, the camera zooms in and moves slightly to the side.
Lucia takes a step moving closer to the edges of the wall toward the ravines, then she fall with a graceful motion.
The camera follows her movement but failed to capture her figure falling down, silent…Edward gulped, tension comes.
Even though he already knows the scenario it is still hard for him to stay still not making any reaction, then a split second later.
A black silhouette passed through the camera lenses from the bottom of the ravines, the camera immediately followed.
After the camera is able to get a focus of the subject, it reveals, Lucia figure painted with a light of dawn flying to the sky.
After gaining several dozen meters in the air, She then stopped suddenly, her gaze focused on the sunrise, several seconds later..
She makes sudden snapping moves, her gaze now focused on the camera, then she dives down from the sky with astonishing speed.
Her figure becomes more and more clear and bigger from the camera lenses, in the safe distance she stopped in the air.
Wings stretch to the sides, with the sunrise on the background she lowered the height closest to the camera.
Hand reached the camera, after that Edward released his grip on the stick, allowing Lucia to carry the camera.
After that she flew again with more speed, higher to the sky trying to penetrate the clouds.
A minute passed and she was finally able to reach the clouds, with her hand holding the stick she stopped above the clouds.
The clouds are thinner in the morning so up there is actually brighter than below, the camera pans to the scenery of the whole region.
Revealing the breathtaking sight of forests, mountains and human populated areas, bathing in the light of dawns, it stayed still, undisturbed.
Then the camera flipped, now facing Lucia.
With a smile she brings the camera closer, after that she ends the recording.
With a sigh of relief, Lucia finally finished taking the last video, then she flew toward Edward to look at the recording together for a review.
She hopes that she doesn't need to do another take, as the time isn't really enough for another shoot, because in about half an hour activities will soon come around the area.
It is almost time for the farmers to harvest their tea leaves.
On Edward's side he was finally able to see Lucia flying closer from far high, with a graceful stop Lucia landed on the grass several meters from Edward.
She then waves her hand and calls Edward name, she runs closer.
"Edward! Let's see the recording!"
Edward smiled and answered.
"Yeah! That was amazing!! I hope the video is even better than what I see from here!"
Both almost do their old signature movement for a joke, but stopped after awkward silence both of them laughed.
Because of the excitement Lucia doesn't want to waste any time so she move closer with the camera to Edward' side, she then say,
"Alright let's see the video"
Edward takes the camera and both begin reviewing the footage, smiles glistening from both faces, it was success.
The video was even better than what they expected it to be, like cinematic scenes from a fantasy movie or anime, it was fantastically done.
After the last second of the recording appeared on the small screen of the camera Lucia burst with joy and relief, she released her joyful feeling with a loud scream.
"Yes!!!"
Because of the sudden loud scream Edward flinched, he could only smile weakly from the side and shaking his head.
"Lucia i believe this could go just as is, well maybe with a couple edit for adjusting brightness and cutting it will be better, alright let's make a backup for this footage and do the edit later,
"After finally finished this all i suddenly feeling tired haha, I'll crash on the bed for several hours first then shower, lunch, editing, and we can go back home after that,
"Alright let's go back to the villa now"
Still with a bright mood Lucia answered with a nod and said,
"Eh what should i do when you're sleeping? Should I take a tour around the villa and then eat breakfast?"
Edward leading Lucia toward the door, while walking over her side he said,
"Actually you can do anything you want, I'll assigned someone to assist you for that, just tell her anything you need"
The head security can be seen standing on top of the stairway to the front door, after seeing Edward and Lucia he bowed.
Edward nodded politely and gestured to him to continue his job, after thanking the head security, Edward entered the villa.
In the hall the manager of the villa was busy with a call from someone, but after seeing Edward he ended the call and waited for Edward's command.
"Manager please assign someone preferably woman to assist my friend here, I'll need to take a rest for several hours, please wake me up before 11 AM,
"Ah I'll escort her to her bedroom, you can then bring the assistant to her room later"
The manager nodded and with a smile he answered,
"As you wish sir, I'll assign Luna to assist your partner sir, we will do anything to help her around the mansion, please rest well sir"
Because of the fatigue finally kicked in, Edward didn't think of correcting the manager's assumptions toward his relationship with Lucia.
Lucia too isn't really bothered, so both of them continue walking towards the stairs to their own room.
After dropping Lucia on the previous room, Edward says,
"Alright, see you later before lunchtime, the assistant will come in a minute or so, byee Lucia..
"Ah! I'll backup the video before sleeping so don't worry, alright byee"
Lucia giggle because of Edward low energy expression, she waved back and said
"See you later.. Sleep well!.. Ah! Dream about me! Hahaha"
She then closed the door leaving Edward alone in the hallway, he shook his head and walked toward his own room.
The morning activities can finally be seen around the villa, Lucia use her time to have a tour around the villa,
Then ate some breakfast around 8 AM, after that she went back to her room and get in touch on messaging apps with her sisters.
Before lunchtime she doesn't forget to take a shower and get a change for her clothes, she ask for simple clothing from the assistant that was assigned to her.
She was wearing a black long loose chinos, a big button down shirt with a white color, and a pastel color cardigan.
The clothes looked great on her even though usually only men wear something like this, but who said women can't do the same?
Anyway, done with the clothing she then tied her hair in low horsetail, because she not used for doing that the results is a mess,
Not letting it happen she ask for the help from the assistant, after her hair tied it with a silk ribbon she thanked the assistant and walk toward the door,
Looking at the time, it almost 11 AM, she tried to wake Edward herself and use the time before lunch together,
She wants to look at the footage once again and have a conversation with him about the video editing.
'Let's wake him up, and once again see the footage, now i can finally see from a bigger screen,
'While waiting him take some shower i can review the footage and then after he done with shower we can have a discussion about the editing,
'So after we done eating lunch we can immediately do the editing, come back home before 4 PM and arrived at home around 8 PM'
Lucia immediately goes to Edward' room, it located besides her current room, also it was originally guest rooms,
But because Edward prefers to rest in a different room he chose this one.
Knocking the door, Lucia waited for answer to come from the other side,
After dozens of seconds there's no answer, she knocked again, now with more power and louder call,
Still no answer, frustrated she press the door handle and it actually opened,
"Huh? He actually didn't lock the door… well I'll welcome myself in then,
"EXCUSE ME"
Inviting herself in, she tried to make her presence noticeable with making a loud voice, though she did it just for fun and joke,
Edward still hasn't responded, actually when Lucia coming closer to the bed she was able to see Edward sleeping peacefully there.
It seems the fatigue from yesterday plus from the night drive continued with taking a video immediately after, making Edward really tired.
Seeing that Lucia feel bad to wake him up, she actually want to let him sleep more, but it's almost lunchtime,
Tomorrow's Monday, Edward has a class to take, plus Lucia didn't want to go for another night here, knowing it will be quite awkward sleeping inside an unfamiliar place.
After contemplating for a bit she decided to wake him up, but still thinking what she should do to wake him up.
She wanted to make a funny joke on how to wake Edward up, but decided against it after a second thought.
Coming closer to the bedside she leaned forward and gently shook Edward' body by touching his shoulder.
"Edward wakey wakey, it's almost time"
For a couple seconds she did it because Edward was still sleeping, eventually he responded with a deep hum, like answering the call.
Because his thoughts aren't really set into reality yet he unconsciously did what he always does when his mother wakes him up when he's late.
Lucia once again calls him by his name.
"Edward… dude, wake up or I'll.."
Suddenly Edward body jolted after hearing familiar words, 'dude' was a phrase or name that often used by Lucius,
So after hearing that he immediately realized he was sleeping in the villa, and it was Lucia who woke him up!
His body sprung up with sudden motion and sat down staring at the source of the voice.
With a panicked expressions he said
"Huh! Do what!?"
After seeing Lucia almost burst into laughter, Edward let a deep sigh, he say
"Come on.. Don't make my heart race to wake me up, sigh..
"Alright as I already wake up now can you wait outside or in your room? I need to take a shower and get dressed"
Lucia stood back after Edward woke up as he tried to get off the bed, after giving him a distance she said.
"Hahaha.. Okay okay, but why can't I wait here? Don't you usually just take a shower and get dressed when I'm inside your room before?
"I also want to watch the video once again, now with a bigger screen, we also can talk about editing after you done shower"
After a sigh Edward make a complicated expression, he said with a low energy voice,
"Haa.. You should realize that your current appearance makes me unable to do that in from of you,
"Ermm it's about my conscience, thinking about the scene of my half naked self inside the same room with a beautiful girl makes me…
"You know.. Don't make me say it"
Thinking, Lucia of course know about that, so she agreed and tried to leave, but before leaving she asked something first,
"Alright, but let's watch the video once again after you finish your shower, oh we can watch it on that big television over there"
She walked to the door and open it, after almost leaving she stopped, with half of her body already outside she said
"Call me when you're done, okay?"
Then she closed the door, walked back to the her room, but just after done closing the door, her heart almost stopped,
Right there the manager was standing alone looking at her with a smile in his face,
Realizing that he surprised her, he apologize
"I'm sorry for startling you miss, Is Mr. Edward already awake?"
Sighed, she answered,
"Yeah, he just woke up, uhh.. Did you need something? Or is it already time for lunch?"
The manager smiled and gestured with his hand
"No no no, actually I'm here to wake Mr. Edward, as Miss Lucia already wake him up I'll go back to work,
"Oh the lunch preparation will be done in about an hour, please wait for a bit,
"If there's no further question or command I'll go now, see you later miss Lucia"
After a polite bow the manager walked away, leaving Lucia in front of the room.
"I hope they don't get another misunderstanding.."
After another sigh she then walked towards her room and got inside.
About 15 minutes passed and her phones rang, she immediately pick it up, Edward actually called
{I'm done, you can come here}
{Okay}
She immediately gets up from the couch to visit Edward's room.
Inside Edward' room, she sit in front of the smart TV that installed with an Android software, Edward tried to connect his phone to the TV,
After setting the connection, he sat beside Lucia in a big long couch, making a respectable distance between both of them.
Playing the footage, both watched with immersion, both exchanged feedback for editing the video.
Without realizing it, almost an hour passed, and both stopped after hearing a knock on the door, followed by the manager's voice.
It was time for lunch.
Edward disconnected the phone from the TV Casting, he then get up and answered, then he gestured with his head to Lucia
"Let's go for lunch, we can continue watching the footage, and then do the editing after i fetch a laptop, the manager should've it, so I'll borrow it from him"
Lucia get up from the couch, and make an exaggerated gesture by slapping her own stomach
"Let's eat. I'm actually really hungry right now, I can eat a whole chicken by myself.. Maybe two even haha"
Edward didn't know how to respond to that lame ass line, so he just walked away and opened the door.
Understandably she decided just to follow, feeling embarrassed by her own words.
Both of them followed the manager to the dining room, a feast of a lot of different food appears in front of their eyes,
They seated to the long table in front of each other, began enjoying the scrumptious meals,
With only two of them eating on the table, a lot of leftover food was left untouched.
After eating their fill, both left the dining room, Edward before leaving told the manager to let everyone working here eat the food that was left untouched.
As he always hated wasting food, he never wasted any food unless it's inedible or spoiled.
Back to the bedroom that Edward use, both continue reviewing the video, still waiting for the manager to bring the laptop.
Edward already asked to borrow it before lunch, and the manager was in his way fetching the laptop.
As both already made the sketch for editing, they paused the video, now Lucia left wondering about her near future.
As this video might determine her future, if she successfully passed the test she will go abroad to get a new identity.
If it's failed she might need to go for plan B, well the video may still be valuable even if the original plan failed,
She still prefers the original plan to succeed.
'I hope the video will be able to convince the higher up on the organization,
'As my flying ability might be useful for research about artificial limbs of human body,
'I don't know if there's other people who has similar ability and wings as me, but even if there's another, i believe more specimen will bring more accurate data'
After almost half an hour the manager is back, it seems the laptop isn't actually available in the villa, so he went back home to bring it here.
After giving thanks, Edward immediately begin copying the file and did the editing.
The whole process took a while to finish, after about two hours he was finally done.
Immediately played the finished video, Edward and Lucia intensely watching from start to finish.
Let's just say it was successful, the scenes, atmosphere, script, and acting was all highlighted in the final edition.
Both hyped after seeing the video, without realizing Lucia actually did their usual buddy body language.
She get closer from the side, placed her left arm around Edward' shoulder, and leaned heavily towards him while smiling crazily.
Edward.. He almost freaked out, but decided to let it happen, as he thinks it's appropriate at the moment.
So now what Lucia needs to do next is upload the video to the email forms, and wait for the response.
Will she pass the screening?