Wish Upon a Sin

Arc 2 - Interlude: Luna

The day had started out like any other. The sun was shining brightly, the sky a pure blue, unmarred by clouds. The weather all week had been good, raising the spirits of most in the capital.

Most, but not all. One spirit in particular was feeling rather put out.

For the little yin spirit, hiding in an empty warehouse on the eastern side of the city, it was torture. She hadn't been able to go out properly during the day all week, as the harsh sunlight drained away her energy.

On the days when she tried to brave the light, she never lasted long, quickly being forced to give up and fall asleep. Sometimes she mightn't wake up until after nightfall, and she'd have to spend some time sluggishly recovering her mana, often not ready to explore the next day.

So, she hid. She still couldn't stay awake through the midday hours, even a spirit had to sleep sometimes, but she could at least remain active for longer by avoiding the sun.

She idly examined a crate of clothing, trying to stave off her boredom. She wished the day was cloudy. While the mortals didn't seem as lively as they did on sunny days, she would actually be able to see them go about their business, rather than be cooped up inside the darkness of their buildings.

People, she was pretty sure they called each other, but she had to admit, she didn't really understand the strange way they communicated. Rather than exchange feelings and images, they would use 'words'.

She found words very interesting. With them, they could give each other incredibly accurate knowledge, far more detailed than spirits usually conveyed. She had once seen one of their 'carts' break, closing off the road it was on. The mortals began avoiding that road, and only that road, until the cart was removed, no doubt informed about the obstacle through the power of words.

Also, she was pretty sure they could put them onto things. She drifted closer to a crate, with a number of symbols carved into the wood. Somehow, if a person saw those, they would know what was in the crate. It frustrated her that she couldn't seem to make sense of them. Some of the symbols were repeated on other crates, but not others.

The little spirit was fascinated by everything the mortals did. They didn't behave the same way as spirits, instead they moved things around, built structures, took things with them and gave them away, receiving smaller, shiny things in turn.

They were a mystery, and she loved watching them.

Sometimes she'd find one that was clearer than the others, ones that were almost comprehensible to her. Those ones had a higher than average spirit affinity, making them good for her learning. She would follow them around, trying to work out what the words they were speaking meant, until she eventually had to go and recover mana, which usually caused her to lose track of them.

She could have simply ignored the mortals, and instead, spend her time sleeping the days away and playing during the night, like the other yin spirits, but...

It felt so boring to her. She'd never get to learn anything new.

The other minor spirits didn't understand her interests. They didn't see the point in wondering about things they couldn't change, preferring to play together in the skies above the city.

She paused, and whirled across the warehouse, ducking into the back, where mortals would occasionally gather to play games.

There were a few spirits who felt similarly though usually about other hobbies.

In particular, there was a fire spirit who would sometimes help her stay up by providing mana for her day trips. Though admittedly, he mostly did that after she pestered him into doing so. He respected her passion for people-watching, and sometimes followed along half-heartedly, though he'd leave if something else caught his interest.