Chapter -67: The Thief Who Steals the Moon's Light
"My father is my favorite person in the whole world."
It is late at night, and before the sandman can bring their slumbering grains upon her eyes, Lunis has preemptively shut them off to the world while riding upon her father's shoulder.
With her arms loosely wrapped around his head she is being carried to the same spot of Sancturia where they go every week, at the bridge hovering over the stream on the south end of town.
"We're here." He says, a kind voice cutting through like steel, but with the gentleness of a blanket.
Lunis, smiles and all, was eager to open her eyes and spoiled her attempt with a giggle.
"Ah ah," Her father said tenderly, "Not yet."
Lunis' smile grew bigger and she wiggled her long little legs around before his body.
"Uuuugh." Groaned Solaris close by.
"Why do we keep doing this? It's the same crummy stars every night!" He voiced with an adolescent rebelliousness.
Lunis felt her mood souring and from the way her father was sighing he wasn't happy all the same.
"My brother is my second favorite person in the world...But ever since that creepy red lady snatched him up, he's been like a whole other person."
Lunis felt him fiddle about with impatience, constantly pulling himself away and back before finally shouting, "We should run around, get some exercise!"
"You used to like looking at the stars..." Lunis whispered, no louder than a baby sheep.
"Stargazing's for babies! Grow up!"
Lunis flinched, and in the wake of his bitterness began to think unkind thoughts, "You're so mean. Why? What did that lady do to you?"
For a brief moment a face with hollow, scratchy black holes for the eyes and mouth forced its way into her mind and made her cuddle against her father's face with a shiver.
Solaris flopped his arms together against his chest and groaned, "You're such a wimp, sister..."
Their father huffed out a sigh and there was a little melancholy forcing its way through as he wagged his finger at Solaris and told him with kindness, "Go on. Run until you tire out. But you're going to stick to your bedtime, young man."
"R-Right..." Solaris softened up and then ran off without another word.
Lunis basked in her father's ensuing warm glow and felt there was nothing to be scared about.
She went from cuddling to assaulting his head with a hug.
"Mmmm..." She cooed with , there was an element to this hug that didn't escape her notice.
"...Father's face is getting wrinkly...and cold. It used to feel very smooth and warm."
"Does this happen when you get old...?"
"...Will I get wrinkly?"
She was a consumer of curiosity and her knowledge only grew in leaps and bounds, somehow, despite the restraints of her upbringing.
And that was what her father brought her out here for today.
With her eyes still shut, they both looked out towards the horizon, their visions obscured by black.
"There are so many bright white lights in the sky, and I feel them all. When I do...it feels like...home."
She became lost in a world of familiarity, with sensations and sights that were foreign by appearance yet all too close by instinct...
Her smile waned and waxed and she began to gently paddle her feet out on empty air, the cold breeze slipping through the barrier and tickling her tiny toes to arouse a giggle.
She then tucked her heels against her father's chest and leaned her head back, sensing the subtle movement of his finger pointing out towards the starry sky.
"What constellation am I pointing to?" He said, referring to the arrangement of stars that formed the outline of a shield in the northwest.
"That's Aegisan, the Courageous!" Lunis shouted with certainty.
"Correct!" Her father's declaration made Lunis feel good about herself and she wiggled her fists pressed close to her chest.
Her father then glided his hand towards the far east, to the star's arranged to form a pair of sewing needles crossed together, "And that?"
"That's Ficklewick, the Crafter!" She declared.
"Wonderful." He said, before immediately turning his finger towards stars arranged into a pair of moth wings flutt-
"Lepido, the Wise!" Lunis shouted, in her enthusiasm throwing herself forward and losing balance.
"W-Whoa!" She sprung her eyes open and flailed around.
Unflinching against her slappy hands, her father helped push her upright with a gentle push to her gut, laughing all the while, "Ha ha, settle down Lunis."
He then nodded and remarked, "Yes...that is correct."
Lunis tucked her little hands between her legs and blushed, hardly able to keep her eyes focused anywhere.
She did eventually settle on her father's face, where she found he was smiling.
"When father laughs, he puts his all into it. It sounds dusty, a little hoarse, but...knowing he tries makes me feel really...happy."
He then took her off her shoulder and both of them sat down at the edge of the bridge, dipping their toes into the sparkling water.
"Brrr...!"
"It's so cold, but so relaxing." Lunis took an opportunity to sneak a peek at her father's feet.
They were sturdy looking like stone, had a bit of a stench, and were a little hairy.
"He used to walk a lot. Probably with Mr. Sarajin."
When she looked up a bit she found her father looking at the same spot she was, then turning a bit to look at her with a smile.
Before she uttered a syllable he whispered, "You're very observant, dear..."
Lunis blushed and tucked her chin against her chest, kicking her feet against the water's surface at a slower pace...
She then slid her eyes to the side of her face and noticed that the top of her head was almost level with his shoulder.
It made her heart flutter, but also left it yearning.
"I'm still growing, but it feels like my father will always be bigger than me." Her eyes darted to his legs and her blush made her cheeks bright pink.
She let out a nervous murmur and then she jiggled her hips to nudge closer to him. When he didn't seem to notice she nudged closer, pressing her hips against his.
He then paused and glanced down, but by then she felt no fear or humiliation holding her back. She pulled herself up onto his leg and sat there like she was that bouncy child half her age again.
Her heart beat skipped when he pressed his hand against the side of her face and leaned her in against his chest.
He stroked her hair and cheek, playing a soft melody of love and care that helped her timidness melt off...
As the first yawn came out of her, he patted her on the cheek and whispered, "Time for bed."
She kept laying against his chest just a little longer, and he let her at it.
She then slid off and, seeing he was feeling a little stiff in the leg, felt guilty and swiftly helped him up.
Her eyes then glistened with the reflection of the brightest light in the night sky...
She looked out towards it, conjoined to her father's hip. The large, rotund pearl...beckoning to her heart and soul.
"Father, is that the moon?" She murmured.
With a smile that was pushed up with the greatest of efforts, he answered, "Yes, it is."
"It's the prettiest object in the sky." She said back.
Lunis felt herself being swept off her feet as her father lifted her up, her body and pristine skin glistening against the moonlight.
"No...you are, my dear, sweet daughter." He whispered this with a push on his end.
His face remained perfectly still, but Lunis observed it with a silent gasp, watching as he cried.
"F-Father?"
He tended to have these random outbursts of tears.
"You cry whenever you look at me. Is it something I said? Are you...disappointed in me, father? You always see better than me, despite being blind...I-Is this what it means to be an adult?"
She felt scared to see him like this.
And he shook his head, whispering to her with a gentle, cracking voice, "You two are my shining stars...My salvation. I want you to grow big and strong...and be happy. So that one day, I will gaze down at your smiles, and see a light brighter than any star, any moon...any sun."
There was a subtle, lingering sense of a man yearning for death in his voice.
But being smart didn't necessarily include being mature.
So while Lunis could feel something was wrong, very, very wrong, she failed to grasp why.
All it made her want to do was reach out and hug him until the tears dry.
But no matter how big she grew, he always felt out of reach...
It would be a difficult night for her to fall asleep, but it was better than it usually was.
Solaris made it the way it was. He was too full of energy, and he was letting it show outwardly.
Lunis didn't really like to sleep anyways. Morning was very draining on her.
The prospect of getting to enjoy breakfast with her family was the only thing pushing her out of the sheets.
But that next morning she woke up and...Solaris was gone. It looked like he had been pulled from his sheets without much of a struggle.
Her father stood at the doorway, shoulders slumped and his eyelids barely remaining open.
There were no words exchanged between them from then until after breakfast, where after eating only half a plate of food, he handed the rest off to her and whispered, "I'm full, dear. Please, have some more."
Lunis looked at him, his hands specifically, and saw parts of his bones were poking up from the skin.
He snuck his other hand over to cover himself up with his sleeve, then nudged the plate closer, propping his weak cheeks up with a smile.
Lunis took his food with a guilt-ridden heart and every bite she ate made her feel a little more queasy...
Later on in the day her father retreated to their room for a nap. He leaned up against the wall, staff cuddled under his armpit, and his eyes closed tight and dry.
Lunis wrapped his shoulders in a blanket when he wasn't looking, and fiddled around by herself, unsure of what to do. But he kept shivering, and his lips were bent into an uncomfortable looking frown.
She wasn't very used to independence, so without him she felt naked and confused...
There was one thing she felt confident around, and that was books.
"Of course!" Her smile shined through, "I'll bring father some books, and read them to him! That'll make him feel better!"
She dashed out the door with her feet as quick as the wind and made straight for the library.
But she was so quick to be useful that she didn't look out for herself and ended up tripping over her own two feet.
Her face never saw the floor though as a gentle hand swooped in and picked her back upright, the only proof she was about to fail was the fluttering of her heart.
She craned her head back and caught a glimpse of a tall man with a poncho and the sunlight putting a golden halo around his head.
She let out a pale gasp as the man smiled and then bent down, checking her feet for bruising. Lunis tucked her hands against her waist and looked away. He was so kind it was too much for her young heart to take.
Once he stood up the sound of his voice made her heart jump, "You ok, Lunis?"
She felt compelled to look him in the eyes out of politeness.
"Father's friend Sarajin has such soft eyes...And his face is so warm, and cuddly, like a little stuffed animal. I can see why father talks so highly about him."
And in his presence, her mouth remained glued shut, straining with groans and words unspoken.
She looked the other way and bobbed her head slowly.
In no way offended, her father's friend instead sounded aghast as he complimented her, "Wow...I must have blinked and looked away for too long, heh. You're growing like a weed, Lunis."
Sarajin rubbed the back of his head and chuckled, no sign of barbs in his tone, "I'm afraid to look away again, next time you'll be even taller than me!"
If Lunis got past her awkwardness a little she'd see that she was eye level with Sarajin's neck, which was quite a surprise for someone her age.
But just the stray compliment by itself made her feel a little more...adult-like, which made her smile and blush.
Sarajin then moved straight onto another topic with that very kind-hearted voice her father admired a lot, "Where are you going today?"
"The...library." She replied in a haste.
"Heh, a chip off the ol' block eh?" Sarajin then waved his hand out to say, "Well, I was going to say hi to your father but I guess I'll just follow you to him then!"
But as he took one step around Lunis blurted up unexpectedly, "H-He's taking a nap right now."
Sarajin froze in place and then turned around with a poignantly shocked look on his face. From there Lunis picked up a few subtle signs of distress in his eyes.
"A nap...?" Sarajin muttered, briefly rubbing his chin, before resuming his usual smile, "Eh, I'll go say hi anyways. Maybe that's just what he needs."
He then walked past Lunis and patted her on the shoulder, "I'll see you later! Be good, alright?"
"Wait Mr. Sarajin!" She spun around, nearly tripping over her feet again.
Spurred on by her curiosity she forced herself to look in his eyes, where that sense of breathlessness took her away and made her voice take longer to emerge.
"What's it like...outside of the city?" Her voice was barely audible, may as well have been a thought, but somehow, Sarajin gave her his best smile with a ready response.
"You really want to go out, huh?"
Lunis tucked her head between her shoulders and nodded sheepishly.
"Heh," Sarajin uttered with a hint of fondness, and softened his voice with an air of maturity, "You're welcome to come to our house anytime. I'll answer any questions you have."
"R-Really?" Her voice sprung up with a shrill sound.
"Yeah, of course! You're old enough to learn about the world. But make sure to ask your father first, ok?"
Lunis bobbed her head quicker and with her heart in a state of admiration towards him, she watched him head off to go say hi to her father.
This left her weak in the knees for a few moments out of young, innocent love, "Haaa, Mr. Sarajin is cool and nice. I wish I could be more like him..."
She then jolted upright and corrected herself, "O-Oh, but father is so smart and wise. I want to be like him too..."
She then widened her eyes and gasped, "Oh right, father!"
And then continued running, safely, to the library.
Here was the bastion of the young curious girl's dreams, a wonderland with walls full of books unread and knowledge still unabsorbed.
She could crane her head back as far as it'd go and still not feel like she'd see all this place had to offer.
There was once a time where her father had to pick out books for her to read because she couldn't climb up to the higher floors.
But without giving it a second thought she could jump from floor to floor with the weightlessness of a feather and seek out whatever it is she wanted.
Her mood leaned towards a good story, something with a happy ending that would make her father feel better.
She paced around the shelves with a plucky demeanor and spry step in her legs. In her aimless hunt for good reading material she bumped her forehead against a solid object and stumbled back.
She then looked up to see that she had run into Stonestein, but the impact didn't break his concentration away from the books he was plucking out of the shelves.
Her smile lit up in the presence of a fellow seeker of knowledge and with a quick bow she said, "S-Sorry for running into you, Mr. Stonestein!"
The man's chiseled face turned like a statue's head and with a kind gaze beaming out of his eyes he ignored the comment and addressed her as a person of respect, "Looking for something to read?"
Lunis wiggled her head around and blushed.
Stonestein then ran his finger along the spines of a few books and slanted them out, "Which genre?"
"Gen...rah?" She said, tilting her head and pointing at her chin.
He smiled as he told her, "Fiction? Science? Magic?"
"Oh!" Lunis shouted, "He means the type of book! I didn't know there was a word for that!"
She then clasped her hands together and bowed again, "A good, lighthearted story please! I want to cheer my dad up!"
Stonestein then pushed the last book in and pulled away from the shelves, "Follow me then."
He walked like a monolithic structure, shaking the ground at his feet, but was careful to not disturb any of the books at his side.
"Your father, is he well?" He inquired.
"I-I don't know," Lunis murmured, hanging her head like it was heavy with shame, "Adults are...hard to understand."
"...We shouldn't be, for the youth." He replied.
"You're not!" She shouted, surprising even herself as praise after praise was heaped upon the man's back, "You're kind, smart, and helpful!"
"You're not like...L-L-..." Putting even a bit of that name at the tip of her tongue felt like she was ingesting poison.
Stonestein paused and turned around, looking down at her with eyes as solid as the foundation of these lands. Lunis pressed her lips together and trembled, her eyes hollowing out as a clasp was forming around her heart.
It stopped when the man bent at the knee and put his hand upon her shoulder, solidifying his kindness in her eyes by murmuring, "Aspire to be kind, and never afraid."
Lunis nodded, and with another smile the man ruffled her hair and then rose and continued to guide her across the third floor.
Upon reaching their destination he plucked a single book from the shelves before his eyes had even settled upon it, and handed it over to.
It was called "Maiden of the Dawn". Only a hundred pages judging by the thickness, and the picture at the front showed a fair-skinned lady with dotted eyes and no mouth resting under a tree whose branches grew to hug around the sun in the sky.
"Lord Borealis wrote this." He said, a mark of his utmost praise.
"H-He did?" She gasped with awe, already flipping the cover open to take a peek.
"It is one of my favorite stories." He then remarked.
She clasped the closed book between arms and chest and smiled, "Thank you, Mr. Stonestein!"
"You're very welcome, Lunis." He said.
Before taking her leave she took one last look at the shelves and noticed something curious. There were gaps between books.
She blinked a few times and muttered, "Ummm, why are some books missing?"
Stonestein connected with where she was looking and remarked, "Missing. Burned. Pages torn."
She gasped and let out a brief shiver, "Who would harm books?"
"Hrrrmm..." Stonestein's eyes narrowed, like he had his suspicions but restrained them for her sake.
The conversation didn't go any further and Lunis decided it was best to leave while he was left to his own devices.
"Adults have it rough. I don't know if I want to be one..." She said, happily cuddling her new book for comfort on a slow walk back to the palace.
When she arrived back she was prepared to go straight to her room and that would be that.
But her sharp hearing picked up on a conversation between two of the Sages and, drawn to it, she tip-toed behind the nearest pillar and poked her head into the hall.
It was the Sage of Water Torren, and...Lilith.
Lunis could only see Torren from behind and her shapely body was obscuring Lilith's face. The poor woman seemed to be dripping dry and there was a faint blue glow nestled before her chest. She was hurt, and bleeding out of her lower leg.
"I-I got a part of the Wellspring finally!" She said, handing off the light to Lilith, who began to hum.
"Lord Borealis should be...happy, right?" Torren said, practically begging for positive reinforcement.
"How is this supposed to satisfy anyone?" Lilith whispered coldly.
"Huh?" Torren gasped out her joy.
"I. Asked. For. A. Wellspring. Are you stupid? Deaf?" Lilith hounded her with a calm, precision verbal beatdown until she was curling up against herself and trying to back away.
"N-No." Was all Torren could retort with.
"Then fix it." Lilith said dryly.
"W-What...?" Torren swung back, her arms as limp as a wet leaf, "This was enough for Lord Borealis last time! I remember-"
"I-!" Lilith stamped her foot down and as Torren pulled away, Lunis received the frightful visage of the Light Sage's tense, twisting smile, her voice dialing back but still deprived of any joy or patience, "He...expects better from you this time. Are you objecting to that?"
"N-No...!"
"Should I tell him...what you're hiding?"
"N-NO!" Torren screamed, a meek little shrew.
"Then...fix it." Lilith punctuated her point again.
"..." Torren was subdued into utter silence and turned around, limply sliding into her nearby room, her eyes dehydrated and her cheeks damp.
Lunis frowned in a mournful fashion, "Poor Lady Torren..."
Suddenly, Lilith's gaze darted in her direction and Lunis' heart dropped cold.
She peeled behind the pillar and after swinging her head around made a mad dash for her room.
Gasping, panting, pushing her legs as hard and fast as she could take them.
"Run...! Run...!" Was all her mind focused on, until the doorknob was just within reach.
She threw her hand towards it and the distance to it just seemed to grow longer and her vision around it collapsed into black.
Her fingertips grazed the cold surface but her wrist was crunched by a tight grip. Her body stiffened in place and her book slid out of her grasp.
Pale-skinned and sweating, Lunis was forced to look Lilith in the eyes as she stood there, stone-cold in both gaze and touch.
Her smile was intense, fraught with danger, "It's time for your lesson..."
Lunis' mind for the span of time after became a complete blur of sounds and sights.
Lots of slashing, screaming, her own...
Blood, splattering on light reflecting prisms...
And Lilith, seated in the corner, glaring at her with contempt.
Somehow in the transition between comfort and discomfort, Lilith had put a golden adornment over her right eye with sharp ridges.
Lunis would have normally asked...if her life wasn't in constant danger.
Crescent shaped knives were stuck in her hands and she slashed them around, desperately flailing at whatever beast tried to hunger for her flesh.
She could cut it, but not by design.
She pitied the poor beast, she loathed herself.
The ability to grant this beast a quick death was beyond her, instead she had to watch as her amateurish cuts slowly bled the beast out.
A moment, stuck on replay, eternally rewinding until it could no longer be discerned whether this was the past or present...
Lunis gasped in pain and was drenched in sweat, forced to bind her body in a silver, leather suit with straps under her shoulders and chest with the minimalistic amount of armor protecting her shoulders and feet.
Eventually the beast would die before her eyes and those same words would be bored into her brain: "Not good enough."
Lilith rose from her seat and dragged her black blade along the ground, grinding down Lunis' ear drums until she was on her knees, vulnerable to the sight of Lilith slicing forward to cut the beast's head clean off.
Lilith then swept the blade atop her shoulder and brandished her hand out to smack Lunis across the face, "THAT is how you take a life! Not with this...pitiful, childish dancing!"
"Stupid child, pathetic 'god'..." As Lilith burned these words into Lunis' fragile mind, the young girl raised her head, her eyes tender with tears.
Lilith snarled her teeth and uttered, "Stop sniveling at me. If you JUST learned how to KILL properly, I wouldn't have to hurt you!"
"W-Why do I have to kill?" Lunis whimpered.
"Why? WHY?" Lilith raised her voice twice over and lunged out, screaming the tears off of Lunis' eyes.
Then Lilith reeled back, and smiled...
"Heh..." She dropped her sword to impale the beast's corpse and then slithered her way behind Lunis, falling upon her knees.
Her every breath, like frost upon Lunis' neck, making her stiffen upright, her whole slender posture vulnerable to Lilith's control.
Lilith arrested control of her face, taking hold of her cheeks and then digging her thumbs into her mouth, pulling as tight as she could to force a smile up.
Then she leaned her head atop hers, the way her chin shifted suggesting the growth of a smile upon her face, while the hot breath of air led to prolonged lucidity in her voice.
"When you've learned how to kill, you'll smile like this all the time. You like to smile...yes?"
Lunis nodding was done at her puppeteer's command, as tears flowed down upon their fingers.
"Of course...because you're a young, beautiful thing, aren't you?"
Lilith took her hands and slowly began to glide them down her face and neck until she was caressing down her midsection.
Lilith took her fingertips to parts that Lunis didn't realize she didn't want touched, causing her to pant and cry some more.
"You have such...supple curves for your age. And your skin is so...peerless, I can't even bruise it." This was the voice of a woman...pitying this poor child.
Lilith leaned into Lunis' ear and began to dig her fingertips into Lunis' sides before making her way down to her rear and murmuring, "You're so blessed...and yet you squeal, like a spoiled, rotten, pig."
"How...ugly."
She then pulled back, her whispers bordering on demonic, "Do you want to be beautiful? Do you want to be loved?"
Lunis bobbed her head, her shrunken pupils staring obediently at the ground.
"Then kill." Lilith spoke firmly, rising back to her feet to depart from this room, and force another scenario upon her "protege".
But as she was nearing whatever exit could be found, another of the Sages appeared from thin air.
This was Glade, a poisonous man who was Lilith's perfect match in unnerving atmospheres.
Lunis could only kneel down and take in whatever was being spoken, unable to enforce change upon her twisted reality...
"Glade..." Lilith said with a mild hint of scorn, "This better be important."
Glade's poison-dripped eyes glanced at her out from the side of his hood and then over towards Lunis, who he walked towards.
"You're still struggling with this godling?"
"She's resisting her destiny." Lilith remarked.
"Perhaps..." Glade turned to her and murmured, "It's time we forced her to embrace it."
Lilith perked up with a twisted, gleeful grin, "Oh? I take it your experiments are bearing fruit then?"
"It's incomplete, but this one will make the perfect test subject."
"We'll do it then," Lilith curled her fingers in one by one until her fist was popping veins, and her grin stamped down into a scowl, "I'll bleed those rats out one after another, starting with..."
"Heh heh heh..." She paused, lucid with self-absorbed scheming, "Yes. I think I know the perfect target."
Glade then stepped up to her and made a bold remark of, "We should prioritize dealing with the obstacle on my end first."
At first Lilith was mad, but her scheming expression took precedence, "You're right. And I think I know of a perfect way to make both of our plans succeed."
The two then twisted their attention towards Lunis, whose heart was beginning to peeter out...
"Come, my Silver Shroud. It is soon time for you to slay the evil of this world..."
Lunis retreated into her thoughts as Lilith drew closer.
"My father...is my favorite person in the whole world."
"He's caring, loving, wise...He makes me feel comfortable, and snuggles up to me when I'm sad or scared."
"I know he's strong too..."
"So...why won't he save me?"
Her vision was consumed by the shadow of Lilith's ever-growing hand...
Next Time: Wish Upon a Cursed Star