Luna Cathris - Sometimes Dreams do Come True
Luna ran her hand over the basalt wall as she walked. The almost black, intimidating structure rose so high into the sky, and so far in either direction one could easily mistake it for the edge of the world. Though, for all the celestial mage knew at that moment, it was the edge of the world. The edge of the world that had burned to nothing, with the sand that had once made up the souls of those she knew turning to glass under what remained of her solar armor. Now, the plates of the fiery metal, that once wrapped themselves around Luna to protect her, glowed dimly. It had all but forgotten the memories of its element in the icy black that suffocated the world now.
Swirls of ash lifted themselves from the cold boots Luna shackled herself with. Each stream made its way ahead of the once-celestial mage, joining in with the others far ahead and out of sight.
Each particle that flew out of sight cut Luna to her core.
Breathing in one more breath, her hand slipped from the wall, and she walked from its side into a forest. Painfully garish trees rose violently all around Luna, glowering down at her like disappointed fathers. She ignored them, and instead focused on the four men in front of her. Three were facing away from her towards the fourth, who sat on a throne suspended between two trees. The first man to her left stood only a little bit taller than her, and his hair was an unnatural red. His jacket and shirt left his arms and a good deal of his midriff revealed, which showed an impressively toned set of muscles. Next to him was a man who stood as the tallest, of those standing. His hair was nightmare black, and he wore an impressively well tailored black suit. The third man stood at Luna's height, with his hands on his hips in what could be described as a sassy manner. His stark white hair stood out against the vibrant forest, and he was wearing something that stood smoothly in between the two levels of dress the other two had.
The three men were all in relatively defiant looking poses as the stood in front of the seated man, who cloaked himself in a long black robes that kept all but his dark-skinned mouth invisible. It was twisted in a crooked smile, and as Luna watched them, his inky robes seem to begin to reach out, consuming the light and color in everything around him. Unthinkingly, Luna charged forwards to try and stop him from whatever his malicious plot seemed to be. The three men who had their backs to her all turned to face her, but only just enough that their inhuman eyes could see her before they suddenly seemed to dissolve into nothing, along with the rest of the world.
Luna was suddenly back among the gray scale sand that belied the gargantuan wall. She was alone. Absolutely alone. The last vestiges of the armor she had come into existence wearing had faded to ashes, leaving her to fend for herself in the coldness of death.
The only light there was for her to find her way with was a moon. She knew it wasn't the
moon, as it was too black, too sinister. It laughed at her as her feet began to carry her over waves and waves of desolation. At some point, she stopped and looked up to find two silhouettes outlined in the sinister light that guided her way. On the left was the cloaked man from the throne, and on the right was a form that only could have been Solux. The two reached out and shook his hands, their laughter reaching out across the plains of devastation that could've only been wrought by those two hateful people. A blue shimmer floated down from above towards Luna as she stood there, watching. She slowly held out in her hand, and the baby dragon she had seen in her dreams just after they left Crocus landed there. She couldn't tell, but it had grown just a little larger since that day, but here that was not the main concern. It looked broken, with crimson staining its scales. Luna gently closed her hand around it, in a strange attempt to comfort it, only to have the dragon morph into a flaming blue blade in her hand. It shone brightly, repelling the darkness that was trying to suffocate her. Luna looked back up at Solux.
"Together," a dying voice whispered as Luna charged the demon and his pet-Luna almost leaped to her feet as she awoke, and she heard her sleeping back rip violently from the sudden stress of her tense body. Her breathing was fast, and she was coated from tip of head to the end of her toe in a sweat. She quickly removed herself from what remained of the sleeping bag, and moved to the nearest tree, resting her hand on it. They were in the mountains overlooking the Boscan border, and for a moment Luna wished that she had no magic, so that the cold night air might help to cool her off and slow her thumping heart. Each breath was another painful gasp, and she couldn't get herself under control. Something was holding her like a vice, compressing her chest so tightly it was impossible to breathe.
Tears came to the young mages eyes, and she sunk down against the tree to the ground, trying to get a grip on herself. Why couldn't she calm down? She glanced up at the full moon with anger, and spoke with restrained anger towards it.
"You're not helping!" The moon hid behind some clouds. The only thing that kept her quiet was the sleeping people around her, though Melina was beginning to stir. Luna hoped she hadn't woken her. She still spent some time to glower at the moon, continuing to pant and hold her chest. She was beginning to get herself under control now, but she was still panicking for reasons unknown to her.
Once she had recovered enough to gain control of her limbs again, Luna stood up. She began heading into the woods a little ways so that she wouldn't disturb the others, but after a few steps she felt arms wrap around her. They were warm, and caring.
"It may have been eight years since we last hung out together, but I still have that sixth sense for when you're feeling down," Melina's voice said softly into her ear. Luna blushed. While she consider-
"So, what's wrong?" Melina continued, interrupting Luna's thoughts.
"Ah, it was just... A disturbing dream," Luna tried to play it off like it was nothing. Melina wasn't fooled.
"A disturbing dream my ass. You're soaked head to toe in what smells like sweat, so it's got to have been something more than that," her former babysitter observed.
"I... Well..." Luna stuttered, and looked down at herself. She was shuddering slightly.
"It's hard to explain," she tried.
"You're a sixteen-year-old S-Class mage, you can do anything you set your mind to," Melina said, smiling and tickling Luna ever so slightly. Luna giggled, and batted away Melina's hands.
"D-don't do that!" Melina held her hands up, trying to secure peace so that Luna could explain the dream. The young girl crossed her arms.
"I-it really isn't all that important. I-I don't know why I'm all freaked out about it.""Well maybe explain it to me and it might make some more sense," Luna just shook her head.
"S-sorry, but no. It felt..." Luna pulled away, looking away from Melina.
"H-hey, just... Go ahead back to sleep okay? I'll be fine. It's honestly not the first time I've had a dream like this anyway, and I always wake up like this," Melina cocked an eyebrow, not believing her. Luna closed her eyes.
"Please?" Melina sighed.
"Fine, but you owe me an explanation later," she hugged Luna again. Luna tentatively hugged back, and they parted with kind good-nights and very small smiles. Melina returned to her sleeping bag, where instead of going to sleep she sat up to wait for Luna to return.
Luna on the other hand, moved deeper into the forest. After what must have been ten minutes of walking, she stopped and held out her hand. A trickle of magic power leaped up into a magic circle that quickly gave way to something else.
Together, the voice had said. The flaming blue sword formed in Luna's hand.
Stargazer.