The Spirited Stories

I. Hung Up on You

The clouds were dark and heavy that afternoon. Just ask the sky held the rain in, Jack silenced all the curses he wanted to shout out. It was not the time and place to do so; he was walking up the plaza stage.

As he made his way, everyone was looking at him. They all awaited his ascent to confirm the rumors that had been circulating over the past week. Allegedly, the lanky farmhand was going to finally complete the Arcana.

Once onstage, his eyes immediately scanned the crowd for the only person that he wanted to face that day – Isabella. Their last conversation had turned sour and he wanted to have a chance to take back what he had said, to promise that he was coming back.

She was his best friend. Of course, he was coming back.

However, in the mass of people gathered that day, Isabella was not part of those who showed up. There was no trace of her freckled-cheeks and red hood anywhere.

As he was put on display for the whole town to see, he thought back to his last memory of her – black hair swaying in the wind as she walked away with a tear-stained handkerchief in her clenched fists.

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Jack awoke to the annoying tapping on his shoulders. "Go away before I put effort into stopping you," he mumbled.

The tapping continued.

Barely wiping sleep off his eyes, he lifted his head and faced the nuisance in front of him. "Go away, Luna. I don't want to hurt you."

"Oh, you would never!" The little girl with silver hair giggled. Jack rolled his eyes and fell back to his bed.

In response to his stubbornness, Luna grabbed his arm and began jumping up and down.

"Come on! Wake up!" she insisted. "Family meeting!"

Jack groaned. "Stop. Stop! You know I hate hearing those two words."

"Family meeting. Family meeting. Family meeting," Luna repeated, doing a little sing-song dance as she did so. "Aura's waiting for us in the hallway. Get up!"

Jack sat up. "If you two weren't kids, I swear I would've... pinched your cheeks or something. I would've been very mean to both of you."

Luna stuck her tongue out. "Well, technically, we're no longer kids. But still, you wouldn't do anything anyway. You're too good at letting things go."

Scratching his head in frustration, Jack got out of bed. "Okay, I'll go. Just shut up as we walk to the consortium."

"Shouldn't you change first?" Luna asked, gesturing at his faded blue tunic and red linen pants.

"Ha-ha, very funny," he pulled Luna towards the door and out the room. "Make fun of the three-century old outfit that I couldn't replace even if I wanted to."

The two met up with Aura at the hallway. Aura looked just like Luna except with bright orange hair and a considerably gentler spirit than her twin. Instead of pestering Jack to hurry, she only held on to a portion of his sleeve and tugged at it.

With her quiet but commanding presence, the three of them walked to the consortium in peace. This peace, however, was broken as soon as Jack entered the room.

"What is this about? Imminent danger? Saving the world? Again?" Jack asked.

Aura elbowed him while Luna chucked him to sit in one of the vacant chairs nearby.

"Thank you, the Star and the Sun for your help. We're going to have a very important discussion today and The Emperor expects everyone to be present," The woman, clad in an elegant maroon Victorian gown spoke up. The titleholder placed in front of her read "The Empress".