Luna sighed as she took off her choker and held it up to the light. 'It's been so long... So many years since those days... and yet if Naraku succeeds...' A tear slid down her cheek. 'Those days will return, but the heroes won't... My mother won't...' More tears joined the first, and Luna was forced to wipe her eyes. She felt an odd shift in the air, as if there was a new aura in the room. It felt familiar, though its presence made her want to cry more. "Mother, I know you're over there..."
"No, I'm not."
"You're behind the curtain. I see it moving and the windows are closed."
"Good observation." The figure slid out from behind the curtain calmly. "A little more and you could catch anything."
Luna glanced at the figure, a near replica of herself. "Mom, do you think I'm doing the right thing?"
"...not right now... You're sitting there. There are dragoons in need of their dragoon spirits, and you're being lazy."
"Well, we can't look all over the Earth for them..."
"No. I don't expect you to... That would take too long."
"So, why are you here anyway? I thought you and dad were happy over there in the afterlife..."
"We are... kinda. But it's difficult... being the bearers of bad news and watching the world end... So I decided to visit you."
"If you're about to tell me to stick my head in a bee hive, I'll have you know it took us a week to get all of the bees out of my ears."
"That was the medicine, sweetie. I most certainly didn't tell you to do that."
"Well, bearer of bad news, spill it. What's going wrong and how can I screw this up?"
"Melbu will be returning... There's no way to stop that... and he will be using the Moon Child to destroy the world..."
Luna's eyes grew wide with shock. "B-but I wouldn't destroy the world! How could he use me to do that?"
"I see Charle explained your name... Fortunately, this is one thing we can control. The two halves are in this apartment. Opposites of one another, yet exactly the same. Both tortured by fate to the point of breaking, yet too resilient to fall. I believe you know who I speak of."
"Kagome?"
"No."
Luna paused. "Sesshomaru?"
"No... Getting closer..."
"I..."
"Yes?"
"Izuru?"
Luna's mother facepalmed. "You idiot! Inuyasha is the other half!"
"Well I'm sorry! I suck at puzzles! ...So, why do I need to know this?"
"The two halves must be kept separate. No making out with him."
"Ew... Is his older brother safe?"
"Yes."
"Whoohoo!" Luna grinned as she cheered.
Luna's mother sighed. "And when you get to Mayfil, since you will be going there before too long, sing that song I used to sing to you as a lullaby. It will help the former dragoons find you. I need to be going back. Sorry I couldn't stay longer..."
"It's alright, mom, I understand." Tears filled Luna's eyes again, despite her attempts to force them back.
Luna's mother hugged her, careful not to fall through her tangible daughter. Looking up, she smiled. "You're just like a younger me, you know that?"
Luna giggled. "Maybe that will make a difference."
Luna's mother paused before whispering, "It just might..."
As Luna blinked, her mother's ghost faded from view and her aura disappeared. She almost could hear the lullaby in the air, and had to sing along with it. As she started to, however, Sesshomaru, Miroku, Sango, Inuyasha, Kagome, Rin, and Zakura walked in. The lullaby faded. "Why are you guys in here?"
"We thought you just told us to come in here..."
"Well, it looked like you, anyway."
'Mom...' As the thought appeared in her head, Luna's mother faded into view.
After reappearing, she spoke. "I did. Your fates are intertwined with my daugher's, so I felt that maybe dragging you all in here might help." Turning to Luna, she added. "I told you the new dragoons were here... And most of them still need their dragoon spirits."
Luna wanted to facepalm. "Then why did you drag them in here?"
"I wanted you to tell them the truth about how old you are, who you really are. They deserve to know, since they're being pulled down the river of fate with you."
"This again?"
"Yes. This again. And I want us to both sing that lullaby. And you need to use your illusion spells on the walls. I want them to see what our home was like back then. They'll need this later."
"If you insist..."
"I do."
"...fine... Shut the door."
The door clicked shut right after she said the command. Everyone was staring at her with interest. Luna could feel herself getting nervous as she began. "I had a dream that I could fly
I can feel each moment as time goes by
We'd never be too far away,
You would always be here,
I heard you say "
The walls turned black at first, then lit up with scenes of the places she had seen. People moved in the images as if they were real. Birds flew overhead. They could almost feel the breeze that moved the branches and flower petals. Silver-haired people went about their business, not seeing the viewers of this scene.
"I never thought...
Thought that it would be our last goodbye"
Luna's mother echoed her. "our last goodbye."
"I still can dream
That one day love will fall out from the sky"
The scene changed, and they were in the middle of a village with far fewer flowers. The villagers were partially tanned and had darker hair. One person that stood out was a man in bright red armor. He was sharpening his sword outside of a small shack. He glanced up and waved, and everyone was convinced that he was waving at them, so they waved back.
"Do you still remember all the time that has gone by?"
Do you still believe that love can fall out from the sky?"
The scene changed again, showing a palace. A man in a green cape and a girl in bright blue were walking in front of the audience. As they noticed the walls moving past them, they realized that these were Luna's memories of visiting these places. The girl turned around to face the audience and spoke, though the words were too quiet to be heard due to Luna's singing. Whatever she had said, she seemed happy about it, because she smiled and pranced ahead of the man in the cape, who just shook his head at the girl's antics.
"If from where you're standing, you can see the sky above
I'll be waiting for you, if you still believe in love"
The scene changed for a third time, and the audience saw the remains of what appeared to be an ancient kingdom. Everyone except for Sesshomaru and Rin noticed the similarities between the writing on the walls and the writing they had seen in the tomb. They could almost feel the remains of the great magic that had been used. Luna heard a few of them gasp at the odd sensation. It had been the only thing she took notice of, because she felt herself going into a trance, and she couldn't stop herself.
"Find a way to bring back yesterday
Find a way to love
I hope we stay
When tomorrow becomes today
Love will find a way."
The scene changed yet again, and they were inside a cavern. Lights glimmered from what appeared to be rosebuds. Close examination revealed that they were crystal flowers. Luna's mother gasped. 'She isn't supposed to remember that... unless...' She shifted forward a bit and had to bite her lip at what she saw. Luna's eyes were red and lime green, and she was slumped over like a doll that had been propped up on a wall. Yet she continued to sing, despite her voice now having an ethereal echo to it.
"I'll be waiting for you, in my heart you are the one
If I cannot find you, I will look up to the sun.
If from where you're standing, you can see the sky above
I'll be waiting for you, if you still believe in love."
The scene changed for the final time, showing a gigantic palace made of crystal. The entire group, excluding Luna and her mother, gasped at the sight.
"Do you still remember all the time that has gone by?
Do you still believe that love can fall out from the sky?
If from where you're standing, you can see the sky above
I'll be waiting for you, if you still believe in love"
The walls returned to normal and so did Luna's eyes. She sat up as if nothing unusual had happened.
"That was... amazing." Rin smiled at Luna.
"I didn't even know they had things like that in the past... The technology to build that has only existed in the last century or so..." Kagome trailed off as she met Luna's gaze. "Did I say something wrong?"
Luna sighed. "No... I figured that this wouldn't work... They didn't teach you this... That was Serdio, Mille Seseau, and Tiberoa not long after my birth."
"But you're not... You can't be that old!" Sesshomaru stared at Luna as if she had sprouted a second head.
"I'm sixteen..."
"Then how-"
"...times your age." Luna paused to let this sink in. "My choker was once my mother's. It's called an 'immortality choker' and it lets me stay nearly the same age for a very long time. It slows down my time, but not the world's. In the time since I put it on, I've only honestly aged two years, though thousands more have passed. My mother is Rose. I believe you already know her story."
More gasps followed this news. Almost everyone was shocked to know that Luna's mother was one of the legendary dragoons. Rin, however, was not shocked. She had been suspecting that Rose was Luna's mother since she had stepped into the room. They were too similar to not be related.
"So... about this... dragoon... thing... We're all supposed to be them?" Miroku looked slightly fearful of the answer to his question.
"Just those in this room." Rose replied.
"Which one will I be?" Sango spoke up.
"Depends on if you live long enough to find the dragoon spirit... the one that picks you, of course. I only had a glimpse of fate's pattern, so I couldn't get specifics... Luna, I believe you can handle the rest. I need to get back to your father... He's probably rallied the entire afterlife to come and kill the moon spirit-" Rose stopped herself too late. "Anyway..." She laughed nervously. "I've got to go. I love you, Luna." Rose disappeared quickly, leaving Luna wide-eyed.
'He wants to kill me too?'
Authoress: *comes back inside with the dog, sits down at the computer*
Petal: *jumps onto Luna's lap*
Authoress: Now, how am I supposed to upload this? *tries working around the dog*
Petal: *barks*
Authoress: I promised them four chapters, and I'm not going back on that.
Petal: *tries to get the authoress to pet her*
Authoress: *puts the dog on the bed, hurries back to the computer and uploads the chapter* There. Not even a canine will stop me from updating.
Petal: *growls*
Authoress: Sayonara, everyone. Gotta tend to my dog.