Under the Shadow of the Moon

Chapter 8

Luna stepped up to the old stone building, a hesitance in her movements she wished she could suppress. The others stood behind her, various expressions on their faces. Some stared at the grey walls in awe, while others looked as nervous as Luna felt.

"This is as close as we'll ever get to visiting the capitol," Trae muttered as he put a hand on her shoulder. "How nervous are you?"

"Terrified," Luna bit her lip, pushing open the door. A chill from the air conditioning inside washed over them, making Luna shiver.

The carpet was worn and red, the once white walls turning yellow and covered in posters promoting positivity. Razaia scoffed as her eyes glanced over a few of them, the grey growing dull and cold. She started to mutter, wrapping her arms around herself and staring at her feet. 'Every life is valued' read the banner above the front desk. "Every life, my ass. Even though it's been over a hundred years since the last protest and things still aren't much better. Even though hard working families are still trapped in the Slums, even though—"

Colin cut her off by placing a hand on her shoulder. "I know, Raz. Things still aren't as fair as they should be, that's why we're here right now. That's why we're doing all this." He tried to smile, but he couldn't force his lips to turn up.

Razaia let out a shuddering breath to calm herself, tucking a loose braid behind her ear. "You're right. Hopefully this does something to help."

They had reached the front desk a few beats after the others, falling into drift with the conversation a flicker late.

"...I don't understand what the issue is," the man at the desk was saying, a bored look on his face. "Things are just fine, I don't understand what there is to be angry about." His voice was monotone and dancing along the razor edge of annoying.

Luna's expression had turned to a bitter one. "There are so many unjust things to be angry about. Just because certain people live in a perfect bubble doesn't mean that everyone does. It's been a hundred years since any sort of real change. The government wouldn't help, and the people fought back. The people fought back and the world burned. Then again, only six years ago, the White Sand tried to take over—"

"We do not say their name! They may be watching," the man interrupted, his eyes wide for a moment as they surveyed the room.

An unamused laugh slipped from Luna's lips. "That fear," she continued, "is why things need to change. You fear speaking the name of the terrorists that threaten us. If the government doesn't take action and try to fix things, people will fight back. Everyone wronged will fight back."

"Child, no one is wronged in this time. Life is perfect for everyone. That is the way our beloved government has been set up. Our way of life was designed to benefit everyone in whatever situation. Now, if you are done wasting my time, you may go."

Razaia scoffed, stepping up to the edge of the desk. "Everyone in any situation? You mean the people dying in the Rostle Slums because the government has made it nearly impossible for anyone there to get their families out? You mean when my people are walking down streets and fearing for their lives when a cop car passes by? The very issue that sparked rebellion one hundred years ago? Or do you maybe mean the way women are still being treated by society? As objects? Not to mention the fact that half the population had been split up and many people have been torn from the people they care about. Oh! Or maybe the way education is being handled is what you're talking about! Where school no longer teaches us what we need to know. History lessons have become so biased we don't even learn the entire story of what happened. Or the fact that everything else we're being taught we just have to memorize, recite back exactly as was taught, then forget to make room for what comes next. What are we really learning at school? None of the important issues. Not how to be valuable parts of this society. Not how to fix things. We are the future of the world, but we don't even know how the world got to this position, or how to fix what's wrong. So we're going to help the change, starting now. Lots of things need to change, so we're starting with the population. With this petition."

The man blinked. "Uh... education is very important, schools do in fact teach how to be valuable members of society, you just haven't been paying attention."

Luna raised an eyebrow at that. "Is that a joke?" She paused. "Do you know how to solve for x, sir?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Do you know how to solve for x?"

"Does that not have something to do with the Pythagorean theorem? Or perhaps linear equations... it's been a while, besides, I haven't had to use that since high school."

"Exactly," Lloyd cut in before he could continue. "That's what we're learning at school. How to solve for x. But we aren't taught how to fill out a resume, or how to buy a house, how to—"

"I get the point," the man cut him off, snatching the papers of signatures from Luna's hand and stuffing them into a folder. "Have a nice day, kids. You may go now. I'll see what I can do about this petition. Just a warning, if anyone in this building sees rioting in the streets, you kids are going to have a problem."

"Yes sir."

He waved them away, watching them from the desk as they stepped back through the front doors.

"That guy was nice," Colin said in a sarcastic tone.

"Yes, so nice he basically told us that we're just dumb kids that don't have voices worthy to be heard and that if we try protesting he'll make sure we all get thrown in prison. And we all know there's no coming back after that," Razaia responded, slipping into the car.

"We got something done, didn't we?" Luna asked in a light and hopefully tone as she sat down beside her.

"Yeah, something. The question is will any good come from it."

"You guys still want to go to the park?" Trae asked with a grimace.

Luna looked around the car. With a sigh she answered, "Let's do it.