Weeks had passed and Luna had grown quite a bit. She was allowed to go to school with the other children now. As she put the books that Charle had gotten for her in her bag, she giggled. She had decided that this was an exciting adventure for her, and was cheerfully gathering her supplies.
Little did she know that Charle was peeping in on her. The sight of the cheerful little girl was making her feel better about having lost her closest friend. 'Rosey used to act like that... being so cheerful... I wish she hadn't had to suffer so much...' "I wish Luna wouldn't have to either..."
"I wouldn't have to what?" The girl was right next to the door, smiling at Charle. Her silver-blue eyes were shining with happiness and excitement.
"Nothing, dear. Please continue packing... I'm certain you'll be needing those color pencils..."
"You mean we can color there too?" Luna's eyes were wide with wonder. "I'm gonna draw you the prettiest picture ever, Nana Charle!" Luna bounced over to where she left the color pencils and put them into her bag.
Charle couldn't help but giggle at the little girl's antics.
The next morning, holding Charle's hand, Luna bounced into the school, bag in tow. The parents gaped at Charle, and especially Luna, as they went into the office to finish the paperwork.
"Now, remember to not be upset that everyone stares at your ears and your hair, ok, sweetie? It's a little unusual for them to see anything unique, and that hair and those ears make you the most unique person here, ok?"
"Yes, Nana Charle!"
"And don't let anyone tell you it's wrong to be different, ok?"
"Yes, Nana Charle, may I go now?"
"Certainly, dear..." Charle hugged the tiny half-demon girl. "I'll be here to pick you up at the end of the school day. Make sure to make a lot of friends!"
"I will, Nana!" Luna waved to Charle as she hurried out of the office. 'I can't believe it... So many people to meet! So much stuff to learn! How exciting! But...' Luna paused and looked around at the clusters of people everywhere. 'Where to begin?'
A loud bell could be heard and the parents left, leaving only kids and a few adults. The adults were gathering the kids by putting them in rooms. The kids, however, didn't want to go. They were all running in every direction, believing that the adults were playing. Luna, nearly being knocked over, climbed onto a nearby trophy case. She watched as every last kid was gathered before jumping off of the case, landing neatly in front of the tired adults.
"Hey, I haven't seen this one before..."
"She has black hair..."
"What are those things on her head?"
"Is she diseased?"
"No way I'm taking her."
"Aw, come on!" The first one that spoke glared at the one who said that last comment. "Give her a chance! Don't you know a partial demon when you see one, Phyl?"
"Now you see why I won't have her in my class." Phyl replied. Luna noticed that out of all of them, Phyl was the fattest... and the scariest. He looked like he could tie knots in solid stone.
"Well, that just makes you a fat jacka-"
"Language, Cordia!" The first woman spoke again. She was skinnier, and wore a beautiful purple and black dress that Luna liked.
"Well, you know what I was going to say." The woman named Cordia glared at Phyl. Cordia seemed normal, by wingly standards. Luna didn't like how she seemed to command everyone as if she owned the place, and the orange color in her dress made Luna feel like she had gone blind.
"I'll take her." The woman in the purple and black dress picked her up, bag and all.
"You just like gothic things, Octavia. Give her to me." Cordia reached towards Luna. Instinctively, Luna turned away from the scary woman, putting her head on Octavia's shoulder and squeaking a little.
"She's scared of you, Cordia. Here..." Octavia pulled the tiny girl from her shoulder and took a napkin out from a hidden pocket in her dress. Wiping the tears away, she smiled, which made Luna smile, too. "There you go, little one. I'm Miss Octavia. Welcome to my class!" Octavia carried her in carefully and quickly, shutting the door in Cordia's face. "Your desk is over there. I'll ask you what your name is in a minute, as soon as I get set up."
Luna smiled and nearly skipped over to her desk.
Somewhere in the desert, not more than a two day's journey from Ulara, a man with platinum hair dusted himself off. 'Ok, intangibility... Good for escaping spells being used by the God of Destruction... Not good for being sure you'll get back in time to help fight... Or holding onto your dragoon spirit... Or even the Dragon Buster...' His thoughts trailed off as he felt an odd aura trail leading away from where he was. 'Looks like they couldn't finish the job... Guess I'll do it for them... Or use its power to my advantage.' The man let out an evil laugh as he began to follow the trail.
Luna, meanwhile, had told the teacher her name, already finished the assignment, and was sketching the man-eating roses she could see from the window. She had just finished her sketch when a large kid, probably the son of Phyl himself, was standing over her, blocking the light. "Um... can I help you, sir?" Luna tried not to show how afraid she was, but it was obvious that she was a little scared.
"Gimme that drawing."
"But, this is for Nana Charle..."
"I said... Gimme. That. Drawing. Freak."
"My name is not 'Freak', it's Luna. This drawing is for Nana Charle. I can draw you one if you'd like."
The boy picked her up by the front of her dress. "You better learn who's in charge here-"
"Miss Octavia is." Luna smiled. "I know that already. Thanks for your concern though! Now can you please put me down? You're messing up my dress..."
The boy flung her onto the ground and took the drawing off of her desk.
"Nooooooo!" Luna struggled to rescue her drawing, but the boy just grinned as he crumpled it.
"There, give that to your stupid Nana!"
Luna felt the tears falling before she could stop them. Her body quivered with heartbreak.
"Look at the stupid crybaby!" The boy laughed and the class joined him, though the class's laughter was forced from fear that that could be them.
Miss Octavia was just returning from getting everyone's registration papers when she heard the laughter. She saw the bigger student pointing and laughing at Luna, who had fallen to her knees crying. "Chrysanthemum Johnston! How dare you make fun of Luna! Apologize right now!"
The class cracked up again, though no longer at Luna's expense.
"S-stop it! It's not funny." The boy stuttered, glancing around wildly.
"You're named after a flower," one of the boys in the back shouted in a nasally tone.
Octavia, out of concern for the girl, had rushed over to her. "It's ok... I won't let him treat you like that..."
Somehow, Luna wasn't convinced. She wasn't happy to be at school either. She wanted to go back to Charle and maybe take a walk in the garden. She knew Charle wouldn't be back to pick her up for the rest of the day, so she decided to try to survive the day.
Up until lunch, the day was uneventful. Mostly people wondering about her ears and why her hair was black. She had made a new sketch for Charle. 'Better than the first,' Luna decided. Lunch was chaos though. Chrysanthemum had decided to make her his enemy. He stuck a live frog in her food, hoping to make her vomit. Grinning evilly, he watched from across the table as Luna turned to her food, and saw the toad in her soup.
Her reaction, though, was not what he expected. "Poor froggy!" Luna quickly scooped up the frog with one hand while reaching for a napkin with the other. Quickly, she set the frog on the napkin and dried up the hot soup. The entire class gaped at her, not only for having stuck her hand in the boiling hot soup, but for having touched the frog with her bare hands.
The teacher, having heard the outburst, rushed over to the table. "Luna! Where did you get that frog?"
"I found it in my soup... I had to rescue it... Do you think I can keep it?" The frog croaked as the teacher began to speak.
"Frogs need moisture... Maybe it would be better if you put it outside. Let it go... It probably has a family around here somewhere..."
"Ok, Miss Octavia." Luna smiled at the frog. "We're gonna get you back home, little friend!" The frog croaked again in response, causing Luna to giggle.
At recess, Luna put the tiny frog in a mud puddle that was on the grassy end of the field. "There you go. Tell your family I said hi, little froggy!" As Luna turned around, she nearly jumped back in surprise. She was staring at Chrysanthemum, and he didn't look happy.
"I see you enjoyed my little gift a little too much."
"Well, I like animals. Frogs are so fun, don't you think?"
Chrysanthemum didn't reply. Instead, he glared at Luna as if he wished her head would explode.
"You know your face might stay like that if you do that too much, right? Charle used to say that to me a lot..."
"Shut up, you freak!"
"I thought we went over this before? My name is Lun-
"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOUR NAME IS! YOU MADE THEM LAUGH AT ME AND NOW YOU'RE GONNA PAY!" The boy's fist hit her before she realized what happened. As Luna stayed on the ground, unsure of how to react, the boy chuckled cruelly. Luna noticed some kind of fog between that boy and herself and felt something odd in the air. The sensation made her feel oddly comforted, yet almost uneasy, as her conscious mind didn't recognize it.
The mist turned into a woman. The boy choked mid-laugh as he saw the woman, an older version of the girl he had just punched. The woman was holding a sword and getting ready to strike. In fear, a liquid soaked his pants and he turned around screaming, "You ugly freeeeeeeeeak!"
Luna caught a glimpse of the woman as she turned back into mist and disappeared right before the teacher arrived. "What happened? Are you alright?"
Luna couldn't reply. She really had no idea of what happened. All she knew was that her eye was hurting and she had mud on her dress.
The teacher moved Luna's hand off of her eye. "Looks like you're going to have a black eye... It's ok, dear. I'll send someone to get your nana. Let's put some ice on that, for now..."