Angel of the Red Moon
Selene liked to think of herself as an ordinary angel trainee. She had trouble fitting however, yet she did not understand why. Her appearance was more unique than the other trainees. Her long hair was red and her eyes were light brown. She wore a short skirted dark blue gown with long sleeves trimmed in gold and over it a short sleeved white jacket with gold embroidery and with a gold belt around it. She also wore white boots that go up about mid-calf.
In addition to her appearance, she had other characteristics that set her apart from the other angel trainees. She did not have very many friends. Most of her time was spent with the prinnies, her only friends. The only angels she was close to were Seraph Lamington and Archangel Mercy.
Selene was feeling bad after a recent scolding by Archangel Mercy. She had been having a problem controlling her kleptomania and had accidentally stolen something from a fellow trainee. A group of angel cadets had closed in and admonished her. Selene had not intended to steal anything and she was never consciously aware of stealing something. However, she was very good at it and was never caught in the actual act. She was only caught after discovering that she had something she should not have had.
Periodically her fellow angels conducted strip searches on her to check to see if she had stolen anything. It made her feel rather uncomfortable, especially since the pilfered items were generally only stored in her jacket or carried in her hands. There had been a few occasions where she had managed to steal something significant in size or difficult to obtain that seemed unlikely and even impossible for her to easily conceal.
Mercy had been working with her to help her become aware of whenever she was in the process of stealing. She had hoped to uncover a pattern and perhaps a reason as to why the young angel trainee had a horrible habit of stealing. Thus far, she had not been able to determine any pattern or reason at all.
"My apologies, Master Lamington," the archangel reported, "I have as of yet been unable to effectively resolve the problem with angel trainee Selene. I still have not been able to establish a motive nor a pattern."
"Thank you for your efforts Mercy. You mentioned before that you had noticed that twenty-five years ago she started to periodically experience nightmares. Her kleptomania started around that same time, did it not?"
"Yes, but other than that I have not found any connection between the two. Master Lamington, has she ever told you about her dreams?"
"No," the seraph informed, "she has not confided to me in regards to that matter. I suspect that she either thinks that it is a trivial matter or she does not desire to bother burdening others with her problems."
"It is strange though," Mercy commented, "last night she appeared to have had another nightmare, but when she woke up she looked somewhat happy."
"That does sound rather unusual. Again, thank you for your efforts. I think I'll go and check up on her now."
"Master Lamington, I think you are too soft on her," Archangel Mercy spoke.
"Perhaps," he admitted with a slight chuckle, "but you do tend to come across as a little harsh though."
After their discussion was over, the Seraph vanished.
Selene was still feeling bad after her talk with the archangel. She felt lower than low. She never intended to steal anything, yet every so often she always managed to pick and pocket something she wasn't suppose to. There was no currency in Celestia, and everyone had all of the basic necessities and a little more. One would think that there was no reason to steal at all. Selene knew that stealing was wrong, and she didn't enjoy finding out that she accidentally stole a younger trainee's plush toy, but for some unknown reason she had sticky fingers.
"Selene," she heard a familiar voice.
She looked up and saw the one person in all of Celestia who had her total trust -- the Seraph.
"Yes Master Lamington?"
"How are you feeling today," he inquired.
"Good," she answered although honestly she did not feel very good at the moment.
"Are you sure?"
Selene averted her gaze from the Seraph. It was impossible to lie to him since he knew almost everything. She sighed.
"Well, I got in trouble again, and I feel bad about it and Archangel Mercy yelled at me," she spoke in a sorrowful tone then picked up with a more perky tone as she added, "but other than that it's been a wonderful day so far."
"You do understand that Mercy is trying to help you? She is not trying to be mean or cruel to you."
"I understand," Selene replied.
She knew that the Archangel was only trying to help, but at the same time, it made her sad. Even the Seraph hadn't been able to help her with her problem.
"It still hurts, doesn't it," the Seraph asked.
"Yes, but the pain will go away eventually. I'll be fine, you don't have to worry about me Master Lamington."
"Very well. I have some other matters to attend to, but if you ever need to talk about anything, even if it is something small like a bad dream, you know how to find me."
"Yes, thank you."
With that, the Seraph disappeared. Selene was a little worried. The Seraph mentioned 'a bad dream.' She wondered if he knew about the dreams she had been having. That got her to thinking about the mysterious hero who always appeared to try and save her. She wondered if such a person could really exist. If he did exist, she knew that he wasn't the Seraph.
Selene sighed and started to head back to her room. She was still causing problems for everyone and instead of focusing on more important issues, the Seraph always had her to worry about. All because of her sticky fingers, disharmony was spreading throughout Celestia. To Selene, it was her problem that she had to fix.
Once in her room, she knew there was only one thing for her to do -- leave Celestia. She'd do it tonight, the night of the Red Moon. She'd miss the ceremony in Celestia, but she was sure that her prinny friends would understand. Besides, she could always watch the prinnies' souls go up to the Red Moon from where she was headed -- the Netherworld.
By nightfall, Selene had left Celestia. As she descended into the Netherworld, the Red Moon lit up the sky. The song of the prinnies filled the air.
Red moon, red moon
Cleanses the sinful
And makes them anew
Shining brightly
In the night sky
Waiting for the souls
Who will be born again tonight
Who will be born again tonight
Be born again tonight
For some reason her heart began to ache, and her eyes took on a vacant appearance. Her body became limp and numb and she fell across the sky down towards the ground below.
Meanwhile, Vyers sat at a desk in his private estate sipping on some burgandy while looking sadly at a picture in a frame. He sighed, reminiscing about his late wife. His nightmare had brought back painful memories of the woman he loved and lost. He had played his role so well that even he had nearly forgotten who he was. He was deep in his thoughts and did not notice that outside the window behind him, a star was falling across the Red Moon sky.