Chapter 19: Contemplating The Light of The Moon

Luke was burnt out by the time he left the the tower. His head was pounding and hot and his legs dragged him listlessly to wherever he was headed. Honestly? He was barely aware of where he was going and his eyesight was blurry.

"-Luke! Where ya goin'?!" he heard a voice cut through the murky void and he suddenly snapped to reality.

"...hmm?" he massaged his head, trying to ease his pain and have some to focus on so he could listen to what was being said.

His eyes lazily glided over to the concerned face of Nova, Brodie and Cass and the disturbed faces of Tytus and Deborah.

"Are you feeling ok, Luke?" Nova asked. She gently grabbed his shoulder and guided him to their side. "You're going the wrong way."

"Yeah, I'm fine." He was lying of course; his brain was muddled and his body was feeling heavy now. "Just tired is all."

Deborah, instead of seeing exasperated, looked him over. "Hmm. I need my beauty sleep. Tytus can accompany you to his apartment this time."

Nova flashed a look of incredulity, but only nodded. Luke could only guess she didn't want to make waves right now and found him being dragged towards home. He thought at least.

Truth be told, he couldn't actually tell where they were going. An overwhelming sense of fatigue and disorientation began to cloud his senses again.

Before he knew it, he was home.

After a while, he couldn't remember what came before then but he soon was in bed before long, his sister's hand on his head.

"H-hey…" he could barely hear himself squeak out.

"Hey," she echoed. She was feeling his head, which at this point was beading with blue sweat. "You alright there?"

He flopped his head wearily to indicate that his was fine, if a bit tired.

"Your friends said you had quite the day out there."

He blinked slowly at her, an attempt to really process why she was bringing this up to him. They stood in the awkwardest of silences for a bit before she continued, a sigh passing through her lips.

"Luke, if you're not feeling well, I can take you home so you can get some proper rest."

Though it was kinda of hard to tell as his face and body hid his expressions rather well on account of the weight felt in his muscles, he managed to frown and shake his head lopsidedly.

"I-i don't wanna disappointing em if I don't perform well…"

"Luke, if you're unwell then its time to go home."

"B-but...I don't want to disappoint them…"

"you're not gonna disappoint anyone but taking a break, we just gotta make sure your fine."

He grasped onto her arm gently, eyes pleading for her to listen.

"If I do this, it has to be after the Splatfest," taking a breath he continued "This week was my first time I got to hang out with my own friends and do anything by myself. I know I should rest and I know I should probably stop but...I don't want to let this stop me, because I'm having fun. A-at least I think I am. It's hard to place the feeling sometimes but I just know I should at least not miss this or the Splatfest."

Felicia blinks slowly "Luke-"

"Please." He pleaded again, more affirmed.

She sighed as if Irritated but the slow look she through at him made his chest flutter with hope that he'd won her over.

"After the Splatfest…" Luke almost began to beam in joy before he took note that Felicia was side-eyeing him.

She wasn't done.

"But after the Splatfest, you go immediately home, you understand?" He nodded. "And the deal's also off if you pass out like you just did at any moment from the next morning on. Are we clear?" Another confirmation and she stood up and walked out of the door.

"Ok, get some sleep, your gonna need your strength for tomorrow. "

As Felicia closed the door, Luke laid in bed but could not quite sleep. He tossed and turned as he tried to get to comfortable. He couldn't remember much past his fatigue but that didn't matter.

What did matter was what was in his mind right now.

His plans for the future, his worries about what awaited him in his sleep. He was especially worried about his dreams. Despite them being dreams, the feeling of being ripped apart felt all to real. Even though Luke never met anybody's pets or interacted with any wild animals. But the documentaries he watched on television didn't do any justice towards encountering a very life like replica. The beast in question wasn't anything that was living either. It was more akin to a living fossil if he had to guess by the fact it was furry. It reminded him of that one movie that had mammals brought back to life into a park and was very akin to the pack mammal he had seen. What was it called again? A Woulf? It was something like that.

The dreams had been plaguing him every night for four whole days. And it felt like each time he went to bed, it as harder to wake up.

Despite how bedraggled he felt, he refused to go to bed and he spent his time fidgeting around in the dark to pass the time.

A bang at the window immediately jolted him. A shadow slid past his door and Luke was hobbling to the sill before rationality took hold and he bumbled to the wall, clumsily sneaking to peer what he saw on the other side.
Looking out the window and along the wall, he could see the bricks of the building lining the outside, the lights of the full moon and shimmering city lights clashing against each other in lunar silver and incandescent yellows and the fire escape below him dully reflecting the light of both.

And that's when he saw a figure shifting on the fire escape.

Luke froze.

What is that thing?

Before Luke could even contemplate what to even do or even was that thing, two twinkles shimmering in the ambient light and the shadowed figure hurtled itself at an alarming speed!

Luke stumbled back as glowing amber eyes peered instinctively through the window before the fat mass became more clear; the undulating mass of Judd scrambling up to the next floor from this sill onward, indifferent to the sprawled youth clutching his chest in fear.

Once Luke was sure his hearts weren't going to rip out of his chest he crawled up to the sill to look at the climbing cat then back at his surroundings.

Honestly, he was surprised such a fat, chubby creature could even climb like that. Never judge a book by its cover, he supposed.

It didn't take long before he fully relaxed, maybe the sound and shadow was Judd moving around the city. He was still a fat cat and he wouldn't be surprised if he was scurrying up and around for whatever reason. The tower not being too far off definitely wouldn't be a stretch though he had honestly rarely saw Judd leave the plaza in the first place.

And when he saw another shadow glowering up at him with amber eyes, he might have thought Judd was circling up and down the apartments if he didn't realize immediately the shape was way, WAY larger then even the fat cat.

And then it lunged.

Luke backed up until he hit the other wall. His hearts nearly stopped as he frantically tried to get away from the much larger figure. Still, its curious, shining pupils glowered menacingly back at him. He saw the figure tilt their head, and before he could let out a mangled scream of terror as it broke through the window-

They actually had pulled out a smartphone and shone the flashlight on their face.

While Aeolia certainly did not look any less intimidating with the light shining onto her face, it did give Luke a reason to, thankfully, not ink himself.

It didn't stop his skin from prickling when he noticed that her left eye, still obscured in shadow, was still shining eerily. He wasn't an expert in anatomy, but Inkling eyes were NOT supposed to do that.

She pointed up. The roof? Did she want him to come up onto the roof? He matched her gesture and she nodded before climbing off the architecture with a grace that seemingly outmatched Judd.

After making sure he was still alive and not on the brink of death, he left his room.

His exhaustion had worn him down again by the time he got into the apartment's living room. He had to sit down to catch his breath. As he did so think about it for a moment. Why was he doing this again? Couldn't he just call Aeolia? Was there a reason she wanted to talk to him about something on the rooftop? Something was beginning to feel off about the whole thing and he was wondering if the rumors were true after all.

But, she hd been nice and seemingly earnest so far. So maybe she was anxious about something? But why be so secretive about it? The more he thought about it the more of a headache he got. He reached for his phone...only to realize he left it in his room.

Whoops.

He got up to grab it once he was feeling a bit better. One of these days, he'd stop leaving it behind.

He looked through his phone, only to realize he didn't see Aeolia's number at all.

Did-did he really not have her number? Why did he even have this thing if he wasn't going to use it!?

Groaning in we, he went up to the roof, keeping his malaise in check.

Feeling blessed that the roof was a flight away he carefully climbed up until he was bathed in the moonlight.

There, he felt his breath get stolen away and instantly went rigid.

There she was, gazing at the full moon as the wind dragged her tentacles eastward. She faced him slowly, the light of the moon framing her tentacles, her eyes once more lighting with that eerie, ethereal glow. It was as if he was staring into the eyes of an ancient, mythical being.

And then it clicked.

The rest of it may be different, this may be reality but he suddenly remembered the dream.

The dream of the endless moon-lit beach they stood on together in the world of dreams.

Even as he obliged Aeolia's summons. The uncanny feeling of familiarity had him questioning whether he was in a dream or if he was in reality. Every step towards the edge was blurring that line for him ever more. He shook and jolted as if a current of electricity overwhelmed his body and mind. It had to be a dream, right? Why else would the scenery change suddenly in front of his vision like this?

Had Aeolia not grabbed him from the brink, he might have unconsciously tumbled over the edge as he had come to realize that contact managed to snap him back to reality. He had no time to think about that as she was quicker to whirl him around and look him down.

Though that iridescence in her eyes was still there it had died down a considerable amount at this distance and he could even see her brow furrow and nose wrinkle as she looked his face over.

"If I realized you were this unwell. I would have just let you rest."

"W-what?"

"You look ill." she said sighing, she set him down and sat on the edge, inviting him onto the roof floor as well. "When I heard you passed out from your friends, I became worried."

"O-oh…" that was the first time she had vocalized her concerns like that. She never really showed emotion near him and he was wondering if she just never showed strong emotion.

"You also were not momentarily responsive when I asked you to come here," she continued. "You kept walking forward, despite me calling for you. It was as if you were in a trance."

"I-I was?" He knitted his brows and rubbed his forehead as if trying to recollect what had happened. That had to been when he stepped started to move towards her. Right. "So...what did you want to talk about?"

"Are you sure you want to do this? In your current condition, I doubt you'd be capable of standing straight, let alone participate for 3 whole minutes."

"I've made up my mind." He countered. "I want to do this. Besides, if we win, won't the stigma against you lose its footing?"

The lids of Aeolia's eyes flitted as if in disbelief. "You really think, huh?"

"Its worth a try."

"Well then." She gave off the slightest of smiles "I'm glad a pupil of mine has my best interest in mind. Thank you."

Luke could feel a heat rising to his face and his body fluttering. What was this feeling? Whatever it was, it made him feel giddy and delighted. "Y-you welcome."

They only sat in content silence for a second before the corners of Aeolia's mouth fell and her eyes changed to a more urgent version of her usual stoic countenance. Luke suddenly became aware that she wasn't done expressing her worries.

"When this is all said and done, may truth blossom forth and give the fruit of wisdom."

He frowned, "What's that mean?"

He honestly was surprised how fragile his own voice came out, as if she were shattering his reality with her statement.

"You'll know when the time comes." she sighed, her posture and expression down-turned in tandem. "I think it's best to let you figure it out yourself."

With that said, Luke could see something behind her eyes. Something that knew way more then a kid his age should probably know, something ancient.

"Y-you know...you seemed very sad lately. Is-is there something bothering you, Aeolia?"

Luke felt a chill as her sullen gaze peered into his soul.

"Even if there was, nothing you can do right now would ease my burdens. So, don't bother, please."

Even if she added the "please" at the end of her statement, there was such a force behind it that he wasn't sure if she was demanding him or pleading him not to look into it.

Honestly, it could have been a little bit of both.

"Find your answers inward Luke. I have to go."

Luke found himself watching in fear and then in awe as Aeolia leapt down to the fire escape below and made her way down the fire escape she had just came up like she was being filmed for some kind of action scene. Honestly the maneuver was really impressive with how smoothly she slunk down the steps. Her figure was like oil as it zigzagged further and further away and while he did so, he pondered.

"What exactly does she mean to be given 'The fruit of wisdom'?" It was a weird way to phrase that was on her mind and still felt like she was stringing him along for something. Either way he'd ponder it in the morning or at least sometime tonight when he was off the roof.

As Luke climbed back down to his apartment, he could feel himself getting drowsier by the second. He was still careful to open the door quietly, albeit messily. He practically spilled onto the carpet in order to get into his room and it was a wonder his stumbling about didn't wake up his older sister.

The fall into unconsciousness onto his bed was swift and borderline euphoric as his body seemed to thank him for finally giving in to the sweet surrender of rest.

This relief turned into fear.

Instead of finding himself in the forest river. He had a dream he hadn't seen in a while, a tank filled to the brim with water. He knew he was dreaming this time so the fact he floated there in something normally lethal was not his concern. What was his concern was the figure staring at him from outside of this tank. It was so like an Inkling but not. Its head was coated in a carpet of fibers instead of the smooth, slick texture associated with Inkling tentacles and it's smaller, narrowed eyes looked at him inquisitively, jotting something on a notebook it spoke to others like it, gathering around him like an exhibit at the zoo. He felt his tentacles propel himself closer, inquisitively cycling through a motion of colors based on his emotions. Even though this behavior was something he read about when learning about Pre-mollusc anatomy, this action came as second nature and it seemed as if it was something of note as the creatures were jotting more on their notebooks as they studied his movements.

It didn't last for long however, a hand had reached for him and despite the ease in which he was about to swim before, the hand was quicker.

The firm, sure grasp of his captor wrapping around him as he struggled to get away renewed a terror in him.

In his struggles, his eyes met similar eyes that felt familiar yet eldritch as the took each other's form in. He almost forgot his struggles of survival as the firm yet gentle grip around his body kept hims still enough to allow a needle to poke him just under the gills and promptly lifted him into another tank, this one deep and narrow versus the pool that he was in the first place.

As he looked his captors in their odd faces, he felt his head spinning, his consciousness began to slip again. When he woke up again he was back in his usual dream, flowing down the moss blanketed stream towards the huge tree. He would have closed his eyes and resigned to how this dream always played out if he didn't hear a beautiful voice chirped out to him.

"Luke,

Luke,

Come to me

Find me.

Please…"

He gasped, truly awake, bathed in golden rays.