The Child of the Moon

Chapter Six

6.

When I wake, I am in a blank, black room, but soon, tiny specks come into vision one by one. Some glow bright, and some glow dim, some are blue and some are white. They're like people. They're all different.
All of a sudden, I feel a wave of heat, but it's far off. It's distant, but close enough to warm me up. When I stare towards the object heating me up, it's so bright, I have to shield my eyes from the blazing light. I turn my back towards the object, so my eyes don't have to suffer.
When I stare down below me, a sphere lies right under my feet. The sphere has deep blue tinge to it with some green and white swirls and- OH MY GOSH I'M IN SPACE.
I look down to my body, and I still have the same clothes on and everything. How am I even breathing? There's no oxygen in space. My body shouldn't be able to produce energy.
When I glance up to the moon, there is a figure there, replacing it. The figure gracefully floats down to me. She's wearing one of those togas and pair of sandals that the ancient Romans wore. She has the same black hair I have, along with the same ruffled eyebrows and pale skin, and even my light gray eyes, that are rare. It's like she's a replica of me, but in her twenties.
"Who are you?" I ask, surprising myself, because space shouldn't have the ability to let me speak.
She smiles at me, folding her hands. She moves closer, and places her hand on my shoulder. She whispers, "I think you know I am, if you were filled in on the story about the current war."
She can't be..
"No," I shake my head, pushing back from her embrace, "you can't possibly be the moon." I stare at her, and she stares back, making me twiddle my thumbs. I speak up once more, "Does that mean you're my.." I don't finish the sentence. She should know what I mean.
"Yes, I am." She nods, still staring into my eyes. "You have no idea how much I've longed to tell you over the years. I wish i could of been there for you all these years. Unfortunately, I can't come down to Earth unless it's Leap-Year, so.."
"This is the only chance you'll get to see me.." I finish the sentence for her.
"Yes. You need to get back to the real world now and out of your dreams. You need to get the scepter. I left it for you, afterall."
I nod, and even though I was with her for only a short amount of time, I'm happy I got to see her, and know who she is.
---
I jump up from my slumber, panicking and grabbing a hold of anything I can get, which happens to be Phoebus' sweatshirt. I'm laid out on a couch, and my arm is wrapped in a bandage. Everyone is surrounding me, looking concerned. I stare at Halley dead in the eyes, so she can't look away.
"I'm the Daughter of the Moon." I gasp.
Everyone stops what they're doing and are in too much shock to say anything. Everyone except Jove who groans, "Well that sucks, since we just lost the scepter."
My eyes widen, and I grow as startled as everyone else.
Phoebus stares down at me and does the famous smirk, "I guess we're just going to have to get it back.
---
I'm forced to go home, while Halley and Phoebus discuss what to do. Since they say Phoebus is the Son of the Sun, he's the leader of our group. They also want me to go home, because they feel it's not safe for me to be there if I'm the Daughter of the Moon. They say if Orion figures out who I am, I'm in danger, and he'll torture me until I use the scepter for what he wants.
I wish I could stay with Phoebus. He says he feels the same and it sucks that Halley is making him do work. He also said he would like to walk home with me.
Halley is impelling Astra to grab her bags and stay over my house for protection. She's also making her bring her bow and arrows just in case a child of the dwarf planets figures out who I am and the location.
While we're leaving, she shoves her bow and arrows into one of those pink travel bags you swing over your shoulder. She shoves her clothes, a phone, and a toothbrush in there, too.
I don't understand why I'm so important all of a sudden. Yeah, I get that the Child of the Moon is suppose to defeat Pluto and the Dwarf Planets, but I don't understand why I have to go home. If I'm that important, why can't I stay here with them and make additions to plans.
She leaves the house without even saying goodbye to her mother. When I wave goodbye to everyone, Phoebus hugs me, which makes butterflies in my stomach flutter around. Jove nudges Nestor again when we walk out the door. When the door slams shut behind us, I can peek through and see that Nestor and Jove are teasing Phoebus for some odd reason I'm not aware of.
I still use Google Maps to get the way home, since Main Street is heaving with people. It will help me get through the crowd. Astra peeks over my shoulder at different points to see how long it will take to get there, but most of the time, she walks with me silently and patiently.
In twenty minutes, we arrive home. When I walk through the front door, my father's eyes go directly to Astra the moment she enters the door. His posture improves immediately, and he rises from his chair.
"Cynthia," he puts on a fake smile, and talks through his teeth. It's obvious he's angry at me for not texting him about Astra. "Who is this?"
"Calm down, darling," John sits up from his chair to pat my father on the shoulder and comfort him, "It's probably one of her friends." He inches towards Astra. "I'm John Imprie, Cynthia's stepfather." He smiles at Dad. "And this is Cynthia's father, Harris Imprie."
"Nice to meet you," Astra holds out her hand, and John shakes it. "I'm Astranialy Lillian Starlight, but you can call me Astra." They pull away and Dad analyzes Astra's bag.
"What's in your bag?" Dad raises his eyebrow, and attempts to peek inside the opening.
"Just my bag, sir," Astra pushes it towards my father, "You can look in it if you want. I don't mind."
My father glares at Astra, and pushes the bag closer to her. "No," Dad says, still anxious and having his posture up straight. "It's okay. Are you sleeping over?"
"Yes, sir," Astra smiles, warmly, "My mother said it's okay. I can give you her contacts, if you'd like. I'll send them to Cynthia and she can send them to you." Astra reaches deep into her bag and pulls out her phone. She pulls out her texts and shows them to my father.
"I'm sure he'd like that." John says with the same warmth that Halley gave me when I first met her. He extends his arm in the direction of my room. "Now, you can go make yourself comfortable, Astra. We're having a late lunch today."
Astra says her "thank yous" one last time before leaving and we scatter off into my room. But before I enter my room, I hear my father whispering to John.
"I don't trust her friends. Did you see the bandage on Cynthia's arm? What if they're some emo kids with rituals and they needed my daughter's blood, and that's why she's dressed in that horrific outfit. Plus, it's like she was almost too polite and knew exactly what I wanted."
When we enter my room, Aiden is still there, finishing up his Summer homework. When he looks up, he was going to make a comment on my outfit again, I could feel it, but instead, he glared up at Astra, curious of who she is. Astra sits onto my bed and puts her bag down next to it.
"Who's this?" Aiden questions, putting his book down.
"A friend. Why should you care? You've had many friends over before and I've never cared." I spit at him, crossing my arms, as I sit down next to Astra. My tone of voice clearly states that I'm annoyed with him.
"Fine, fine," he rolls his eyes, "I just don't want you two to be gossiping and squealing all night."
"Not all girls do that," I defend, "And she's only staying with us for one night."
"Maybe two because my mother has an important business trip." Astra intercepts, and then apologizes her her intrusion.
Astra really thought this out. Then the thought appears in my head: what if Halley taught Astra to act this way? What if that's the reason Astra doesn't like her own mother and stays silent most of the time?
"Good, because I want to read," Aiden declared, "and if you," he points to me, "or anyone else," he points his finger, obviously talking about Astra, "bothers me, I'll tell Papa and Dad."
"Aiden!" I hear John call from outside of the room. "Why don't you come play a board game with us, and leave Cynthia and her new friend with some alone time?" John is trying to be sweet about it. His voice is higher than normal.
"Fine, Papa," Aiden groans, putting the bookmark in between the pages, and being careful enough not to crack the spine, "but I'm not playing stupid Chutes and Ladders again." Aiden stomps out of the room, almost making the ground shake. He shuts the door behind him.
Once I'm sure we're alone, I speak to Astra, "Why two days? Is it really going to take them that long to figure out what we're going to do?" I stand up, and march over to my art corner.
"No," Astra replies, also standing up, "I just wanted to make it sound realistic." She makes her way over to me. She's picking at her bottom lip with her teeth. She's picking off the dry skin.
I've never seen her do that before, so I ask her, "You okay? You look a bit anxious over there."
"Yes, I'm fine." She responds, picking up one of my Sharpie's and starts to doodle on herself. Then she glances up to me with her Blueish-purpley eyes. The same as her mother's, "Is it okay if I ask you a question?"
"Yeah, of course. Ask away. I don't mind." I pull out another canvas and place it on the easel. I take out a pencil and sandpaper, and I start the painting Phoebus wanted me to make.
"I'm sorry if I'm coming off rude," She doodles a flower on her wrist. "I truly am, and uh.. Well.. How can your father fall in love with the moon and have a child, and then have another, and then date a man?"
"He's Pansexual." I yell, because the sandpaper I'm rubbing on the canvas overpowers my normal voice. "He has the ability to love anyone. From male, to female, to non-binary, you name it. He loved the Moon, and you know that story. Aiden had a genderfluid parent, but they broke up with my father, and now my dad is with John, who's gay. They're a happy couple and as long as my father's happy, I support them."
"That's really nice," Astra replies, doodling a symbol on the back of her hand, "it must be cool to be Pansexual, because you have so many options and choices. So much more choices than a straight would ever have."
I nod, finishing up sanding the painting. Little particles fly onto the canvas from the sanding, so I brush them off. I pick up a pencil, and start to outline the picture I have in my mind. When I make a mistake and turn around the pencil for the eraser, I notice the symbol drawn onto the back of Astra's hand.
"What's that?" I say, pointing it out. The symbol has two curved lines on the side, and one straight line through.
"Pisces," Astra says, still doodling on herself, "it's my Zodiac Sign. When your parent planet's human personification is female, they can decide when their child is born. I was born February 22nd, otherwise, I would be a Scorpio or Libra, like Jove, Nestor, and Phoebus, because of the Leap year, and nine months."
"Oh, that's cool," I reply, making a curved line, "I'm a Cancer. June 25th."
"That means you can be gullible, but also caring, nurturing, and very protective over your significant other, if you ever have one, which is obvious you will." She says, all of this so casually, I almost don't notice what comes out of her mouth.
"What?" I feel the blood rush up into my cheeks again. I drop the pencil and it falls on the carpeted floor, bouncing when it hits. "What do you mean I'll have a significant other? I'm not prepared for marriage."
"You know who I'm talking about." She caps the Sharpie, and leaves a whole bunch of drawings around her wrist and lower arm. She waves the item around when she speaks. "It's obvious you have a thing for him. I know how artists are, and they don't draw for someone at all, unless they like them. I've watched enough art storytime videos on YouTube to know that."
"I.." The butterflies appear in my stomach again when I think about him. I have nothing to say. She's right.
"Jove and Nestor ship you two so hard. Did you not see them smirking at each other when you walked into the house today and the first person you asked about was Phoebus? I saw the way you blushed after hugging him."
Maybe Aiden is right. Maybe we are going to gossip all night.
"But it's okay," Astra continues, "because it looks like he kinda has a thing for you, too, but I'm not that sure, yet."
My face turns a tomato. He can't like me back, can he? Not me. Plus, he towers over me. He's, like, 5' 6" and I'm 5' 1". And I'm younger than him only by seven months. That's not even a year.
"And here's the best part," Astra keeps talking while I'm fangirling over Phoebus, "He's a Scorpio, and you're a Cancer, and they're probably the most compatible two out of the whole Zodiac."
"The whole.. Zodiac?" I stutter, at a loss for words. My jaw drops and hide my face in my hands.
"Don't worry," Astra smiles, "Your secret is safe with me, even though it's technically not a secret since Jove and Nestor know about it, but oh well." Astra reaches down for my pencil, grabs it and hands it back to me. "Also, sorry about my mom being a big jerk and forcing you to go home, and making me watch over you. Do you even know why the Child of the Moon is so powerful?"
I recall what Phoebus said to me earlier, when the children of Pluto threatened to attack, "Because the Child of the Moon has the power of illusion, and can become as powerful as the actual Moon, right?" I start on the drawing again, still having butterflies in my stomach from my thoughts of Phoebus.
"That, and they can use a bit of their power without the Scepter of the Moon Child. They can enter people's dreams without even realizing it, and they could think it's their own." Astra stares straight up at me with her galaxy eyes. "Have you ever had a dream like that?"
I think back to last night. Phoebus nor I mentioned the dream. We sat there, like it was our little secret.
"Yes," I reply, keeping my pencil on the canvas and outlining steadily, "I had a dream with Phoebus last night. He thought I was at the house and using the machine the moon gave Halley to be alerted or to dive into dreams. He was dreaming of a sunrise on a cool, crisp day. That's where he made a deal with me that has to do with the painting I gave him today."
"There's also another thing." Astra picks up the sander, and rubs it on her skin. "The Child of the Moon can enter dreams, and manipulate the dreams into nightmares without the scepter. Just think of the things the Child of the Moon could do with the scepter." She places the Sharpie down on the easel and puts her head down. She shakes it, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be telling you this. Mo- Halley," she stutters, "should be telling you this. I'm sorry."
I draw another light streak on the blank canvas, and turn to Halley. She keeps her posture upright, and smiles, but her eyes reveal her true intentions about her mother.
"May I ask you a question?" I inquire, and push the easel away from me.
Astra nods, and stretches out the symbol of Pisces on her skin by using her pointer and thumb on the other hand, and pulling outward on the skin.
"Why are you so distant from your mother? It's like you never want to talk to her, and you pull away every time she gives you affection." I ask, twirling the pencil between my fingers.
Astra stays silent, like before. She picks at her dry skin on her fingernails, ripping off a tiny bit of skin each time she puts her other hand down there. Her smile turns to a frown and she says one sentence, "I don't like to talk about that."
I nod, understanding. I never liked to talk about my mother. All I knew about her was that she left me, until I met everyone at the house. Days like Mother's Day made my heart shatter even more, as kids in Elementary expressed and shared things they loved about the woman who gave them life, while I just sat there wishing for a mother, even if she was abusive, I wouldn't care. She would have still been a mother I could embrace.
I attempt to change the subject quick, so things don't get awkward. "Do you want to paint with me? I have an extra easel and I'm sure I'll find another canvas. I just went shopping for some." I ask, already ready to search for the supplies.
"Yes," Astra sighs with relief, and pushes her thick hair out of her face, "that would be nice."
I lie myself down on the floor and reach under my bed until I can feel something. Eventually, I pull an item out, and it happens to be another canvas. I leave it next to my hip, as I dig down even further to find an easel. After loads of digging, I finally find one. It has paint splattered all over it. I shove it next to the canvas, and I sit up.
I set up the easel and place the blank canvas on top of it. I hand Astra the sander and another pencil I found on the cabinet next to my bed that contained the water on top of itself.
By the time Astra finishes tracing, I'm laying the acrylics out. I don't put it on those trays though. I think they're overrated. I get a clipboard and piece of paper and just mix the paint on my the paper. It costs less and has more room.
We continue to paint for thirty minutes. Astra is going much faster than I am. She gets bored easily, while I'm more on patience and making it look nice. She finishes in less than forty minutes, and in that amount of time, I haven't even finished blending the background on my art yet. When she's done, she extends her arm into her bag and tugs out her bow and a couple of arrows from her quiver.
I place my brush down, and take a peek at her painting. There's absolutely no blending at all, or shading or anything like that. She painted a mountain with a small cap of snow, and a sun lying out from the corner with clouds all over the sky.
I place the clipboard down on the floor, and start to put the acrylics away. I toss the paper in a trash bin laying right on the side of Aiden's bed. I leave the clipboard next to the painting.
I go up to Astra. She's playing with the string on her bow. "So," I intercept, awkwardly, "what's your power you get from your weapon. I saw that Jove could fly, Nestor becomes smart, and Phoebus gets fire, but what about you?"
She places the bow on her lap, and begins to play with the tip of one of her arrows. It turns out she does have a symbol on there, too.
She picks at the point that can pierce through a body with ease, "I can sense how powerful someone is." She puts the arrow next to her bow. "For example, if I saw a child of Pluto, I would get a pit in my stomach. The more of the pit I get in my stomach, the more powerful."
It makes me curious on what her stomach feels when I'm around her. Am I very little or a large amount? Does anyone else have the same amount as me? Does she feel regular people for the power?
We talk for the rest of the evening, until supper is ready. Who knew the quiet girl could be so talkative and funny once you get to know them. After that, we set up her bed on the floor, and exchange contacts.
She also gave me Phoebus's number.