June 23rd, 2004
Somewhere in the Masquerade Actors' Grand Theater..
The office door creaked open as Iris walked inside — the space was tidy and files were stored neatly.
"You called, Chen?" Iris asked, closing the door behind her.
Chen nodded, she stood behind the wooden desk at the center of the room — gazing out at the night sky.
"Iris, do you still dream?" She asked.
Iris stepped closer to her until she was standing at the center of the room.
"Dream?" She asked back.
Slowly, Chen turns to face Iris. Her face was pale, and dark circles were forming under her eyes.
She leaned against the wooden desk.
"Do you still dream... of her last will?" Chen asked again.
Iris's eyes widened slightly but she quickly composed herself.
"You mean the—"
"Yes, I mean the envelope." Chen cuts her off before she has a chance to answer.
For a long while, the room felt suffocating and the deafening silence stretched on.
Iris could feel her heartbeat racing with wild abandon — as if a facade was luring in this room.
"I'm going back to the snowfield, I wanted to search for it." The silence was broken by Chen's sudden announcement.
Iris stepped back from the center of the room.
"Go.. back..? S-surely you don't mean that. Right?" She denied.
Iris snapped and shook her head.
"You can't leave! If you leave the Masquerade Actors will have no one to lead them! We need you here. I need you here!" She retorted, stepping closer to the desk.
Anger burned her throat and mind — she paced around the room frantically.
"Look.. please, just stay, you don't need to leave. W-we can figure this out. You and me. Like always." She pointed between them as she slowed her pace.
"Please, let me make this right.." Iris said, outstretching her arms to cup Chen's face.
Before Iris' fingers could even touch her skin, Chen slid on top of the desk, knocking the files over, and grabbed Iris by her coat.
"You are the reason for all of this, Chrysalis. You lost the envelope. You... You made me lose the only person I trusted!" She accused, a single drop of tears escaped her eye.
"How are you going to make this right? How will you bring her back?!" Chen shook Iris's body — yet she didn't respond, she just stood there. Waiting patiently.
When Iris looked around the room again, she saw that the room was messy, papers were discarded everywhere and portraits were left shattered on the ground.
She slightly shoved Iris away — her shoulders heaved as she panted.
"I don't want to live in your mistake, Chrysalis. And I can't live in her shadow." She muttered under her breath.
"But are you also innocent, Chen?" Iris asked quietly.
Chen turned away from her, looking up at the broken glass window.
"I don't want to wake up in hell every day, looking up at heaven. Just to hate. I'm tired of hating." She looked over her shoulder.
"This is my farewell, Chrysalis. From now on, let's go our separate ways. Maybe we'll dream again." She said with a harsh tone before walking towards the door, slamming it behind her as she exited.
Iris let out a long sigh, she ran a hand through her hair, and closed her eyes.
"Tonight we could see the aurora.. she said.." she muttered, her bottom lip quivering slightly.
"But we never saw it."
[—Their Diary…]