“You’ll stop bugging me if I answer right?”

Klaus nodded hurriedly.

“Good.” With a hint of authority in her voice, Luna took another sip of tea and continued.

“Do you really not know how I healed Grandnew? Is it that much of a shock to you?”

Klaus nodded violently.

“O-ok, ok. Let me see how I can say this simply…” Luna pondered for a few seconds.

“Hmm. It’s called The Lattice. It’s a giant network of ‘energy’ that connects everything. It flows everywhere in the world.”

“Everywhere?” Klaus asked, turning his head.

“Yes, everywhere. Think of it as something that makes us all alike.”

Silence ensued as the two paused, Luna drinking more tea and Klaus understanding the information he had just been given.

“The lattice? A giant network? Alike? What's this mean?” Klaus's mind raced with questions.

“Does it give you power?” Klaus asked, leaning forward.

“Yes,” Luna replied, pulling out the tea bag.

“Superhuman strength, healing, control over elements—water, fire, that sort of thing.”

“Like a tiny fire?” Klaus teased.

“If you’re lucky.”

Luna threw the tea bag into a trash can near her and took a sip of her tea before adding:

“People who can use it are called Resonants. Of course, there are rankings for Resonants too.”

Klaus paused momentarily, remembering what she had done with Grandnew, and asked, “What ranking would you be…um?”

“Luna. I’m a Core Resonant, the 3rd rank.”

Klaus muttered and furrowed his brows as if trying to reject his thoughts.

“Ok, so grants you power,” Klaus counted with his fingers and continued:

“Connects everything, is everywhere…”

“Don’t think too much into it,” Luna said, leaning down and placing her empty cup on the floor.

“It’s not a very complex syste-”

“That’s not what I’m worried about.” One of Klaus's mutters rose above the rest, catching Luna's attention. She quietly pulled a pillow onto her lap.

“Why weren’t the ones with the marks using it? Couldn’t they have escaped…?”

“Marks? Is he talking about…” Luna thought.

“Are you talking about Binding Orders?”

Klaus stopped muttering and looked at Luna, surprised.

“Y-yeah. Can they not use it?”

“No, The Lattice condemns those with Binding Orders. Doesn’t like them.”

Klaus slightly flinched and looked to the side in thought.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Does it have a mind of its own?” Klaus said, looking back at her.

Luna pondered momentarily and said, “It’s complicated. Technically, it does, but it was us who caused it.”

Klaus’s eyes brightened as he opened his mouth and–

“Sigh, it’s a long story, and I’m not here for a history lesson,” Luna said, abruptly cutting off Klaus's hopes and leaving him glum.

“Mmm, you sur-”

“Positive.”

Luna crossed her legs and then asked, “What else?”

“What! No, we aren’t done talking about this 'Lettuce'!” Klaus exclaimed, throwing up his hands.

“It’s Lattice, not whatever nonsense you’re thinking,” Luna said with a sigh.

"Whatever, answer my question!"

“What question? Enlighten me.” Luna closed her eyes and turned her head to the side.

“...”

Klaus sat in silence, thinking of what to reply: either prove her right and ask a question or move on like nothing happened. He chose the latter and slowly slipped onto the carpet like a worm.

Plop…

Klaus rested his head on the carpet and asked, “Mm. How did I get in that room…?” His voice was quiet and somber, his gaze fixed on the carpet’s fuzz.

“Oh that? Both you and Mae fell asleep on the carpet, so I brought you two up. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“How did I…how did I end up in that basic, plain ass room?” Klaus’s head sunk deeper into the carpet as Luna answered him:

“That’s the guest room. It’s meant to be plain.”

“Didn’t you take plain…a bit too seriously?”

Luna shrugged and said, “I mean, at least it has a cabinet. That’s something right?”

“Right…but I don’t even remember falling asleep.” Klaus’s hair stood on end as he realized he had no recollection of how he fell asleep. He stood up and looked around rapidly, searching for Mae.

“Where is...?”

“Mae? I brought her upstairs too.”

Klaus replied, looking at the ground, “When did you come dow-”

“Do you have to know every little detail?!” Luna screeched and stood up.

Klaus opened his mouth but was interrupted by her sharp glare.

Her hair flapped wildly as she yelled, “God! ‘When this’ ‘when that’!! When I came downstairs, both of you were fast asleep!! Got it?!"

“...got it.”

Luna stomped away upstairs, cursing under her breath. She paused midway through the stairs, pulling a sharp object from her pocket. Klaus remained standing on the carpet, looking around and thinking.

“This is a nice room–wait no! I need to think about ‘the lattice'.”

Klaus’s gaze drifted to the TV, but the black screen only deepened his thoughts.

"It was strong enough to heal Grandnew of that creeping darkness. The same disease Mom and Grandold had…"

He groaned.

"If I had known how to use it, could I have saved him? Prevented that black rot from taking him too? I need to know..."

A smile crept up Klaus’s face as he looked at the stairs, concocting a devious plan. He twiddled his fingers and laughed. He ran up the stairs, chuckling. When he reached the top, though, an ominous aura enveloped him. He furrowed his brows and sniffed; nothing. As he walked, the air became heavier, thrusting down on him.

The air grew heavier as Klaus approached a slightly open door. Faint muttering drifted out, punctuated by sharp curses. A chill crept up his spine as he stepped closer. The wooden floor beneath him creaking, causing him to curse it under his breath.

Shatter!

"Ahhh! Dammnit!"

Klaus approached the door and peered inside. When he did, a tall woman stared at him from the corner, leaving him frozen.

She had long, dirty blonde hair and a long face, her forehead showing the most, with dull, almost fish-eye eyes that didn't fit well with her tiny lips. Her clothes were torn and grey, and her skinny legs and arms only seemed to stretch. Her skin was cracked and thorny, rough to the touch.

Crackle...

Dead skin ran from her hand as her fingers crackled, curling back and forth in dreadful anticipation.

"What are you looking at?" A female voice asked the tall woman.

The tall woman pointed in Klaus's direction.

"Hmm? I don't see anything there. Stop standing there and focus!"

Crackle...

Klaus's heart thundered. He had barely managed to hide behind the door when the tall woman pointed at him. He gulped.

"Hmm? Who's there?!"

Clomp, clomp, clomp!

The female voice ran to the door and looked behind it.

"Mm, here! Oh, nothing."

She stared at the door in disappointment before looking around to see if anyone had stayed. She opened the window, the guest room, and Mae's bedroom, but there was nothing.

"There's no one, Mae; I don't get what you're staring at."

Slam!

The female voice, now evidently Luna, shut the door. Klaus stood still in the living room, pretending to be lost in his thoughts; truthfully, he was.

"That's Mae?! Oh cr-"

His stomach churned as he remembered Mae's distorted form. He staggered back, hand covering his mouth, as vomit traveled up his throat.

"Luna is taking care of that thing?!! Oh my-"

Ulp!

Klaus jerked forward as the vomit relentlessly slammed the back of his throat. He ran to the kitchen sink in preparation.

"I'm just gonna learn how to use The Lattice from her and get out to find Emma and Joshua--yep, that's it. All I gotta--"

"Ack!"

Klaus vomited into the sink, balancing himself by grabbing the counter. He wiped his mouth off with his hand and sighed.

"Yep, all I gotta do."