Moon Child (on hold)

Prologue

Sometime in the near future~

The fate of the world rested on my tuna fish sandwich.

Or at least that's how it felt for a Taurus moon like me.

I stared desperately around the small room we were now trapped inside of, knowing it was my own petulance that led us here. I should have left well enough alone. I should have allowed my sister to fake my death and bury whatever remains of Nesalyssa Floyd that existed. I was foolish. Obviously, she did it for a reason–I knew that much, but I had to know why...I had to dig. I had to follow the breadcrumbs of information that she left–breadcrumbs that led me to this sandwich and this room in which we were all about to die within.

Well, my friends were about to die. I was about to be harvested for my unique magic.

I couldn't decide which was worse.

Rubius grabbed my shoulder. "You can do this, Nesalyssa. You've done it before."

Sure, by accident, I thought bitterly.

It was easy to open a portal into another universe by accident.

Nonetheless, The Puppetmaster was near - his unholy disciples were tearing through the protective barrier around the room. We didn't have much time, and if I was going to do an impossible spell, then I had to get my blood sugar up. Honestly, anything would have been better than this half-soggy, three-day-old tuna fish sandwich, but this was all we had.

"You've got this," my guardian encouraged. Of course, unlike the professor, he was referring to eating this near-mouldy sandwich.

My friends' expressions were a mixture of hope and concern as I forced the sandwich down my hatch, chewing and swallowing like our lives depended on it–which, I guess right now, they did. I felt like I was going to barf, but as they cheered me forth, I stared between their faces and knew there were no other living people that I would choose to spend my lifetime entrapment with. Rubius was a great professor with vast knowledge and wisdom that could only be obtained by many years of hands-on experience. His daughter, Rivera, who was quite literally one of the smartest people in the universe, and Ducky–my guardian, who lied to me about being gay and had an irrational fear of cheese.

I didn't know if it was the adrenaline rush or sandwich coming back up, but as Rivera touched the bare skin on my arm - a great power shot through me, and I reached toward the open space before us. A green light shot through the room. The energy alone was near enough to knock me back, but Ducky was quick to grab hold of my other arm. I could feel the beads of sweat forming on my forehead as the portal appeared. Much like before, it was surrounded by a strange numeric-type pattern that was unique to her world–a solar system of symbols and numbers that only I could see. It was both magical and terrifying.

"I can't hold it," I forewarned.

We all knew what this meant - that the moment we jumped into foreign lands, we'd be the invaders of their realm. That once we did this, we'd likely never be able to return to our home universe ever again. Rubius was first to jump, quickly followed by Rivera–who was likely excited to return to her home dimension, and then Ducky hesitated as he turned to look at me.

No words were said, but somehow, I knew what he wanted to say. He and I, we were the only two people who were losing something right now–really losing something. Rivera was merely returning to the world she came from, Rubius was eager to go there, too, because it was a universe where his wife and daughter were still alive and well, but Ducky and I.... The people we cared about the most were here–our family and friends were here. We belonged in this world, and there was no telling what some foreign universe would hold for us.

"You don't have to do this," I told him. "I can use my magic to send you away to the South Pole or something.... Maybe they'll never find you or stop looking after–"

"Nyssa," Ducky interrupted, "even if it was by some cosmic mistake, I am your guardian. I swore an oath to serve you, and I stand by that, whether it's in this universe or the next."

His palm was sweaty as it grabbed hold of mine, but I didn't release it.

"Together on three?" I asked.

"Together on three," he replied, giving my hand a small but much-needed squeeze.

We counted down and took that leap of faith. It felt like our fibres were being ripped in half, but not in a painful way, and then the green energy circle swallowed us whole. I didn't know what to expect from our neighbouring universe, really, but one thing I knew for sure.

We were the portal jumpers now.

A/N:

Would you jump in if a portal opened up next to you right now?

Let me know in the comments! ◡̈