Alina Nivar: The Moonstone

X: The First Night

Alina was in a dark hallway. The walls and floor were made of cold stone, and it was very narrow. There were no windows, no doors, just a straight path. She couldn't see much. The girl started walking forward, looking for a glimpse of light, but the further she went, the darker it got. She started hearing whispers. Voices whose owners she couldn't see, but she knew they were talking about her. She's an orphan. She's different. She's rude.

Alina started to walk faster, scared, trying to run away from the whispers, but it kept getting darker, and the voices kept getting louder.

She doesn't care. She's weird. She's arrogant.

Now she started running. She wanted to deny what they were saying, but she didn't know who were talking. She felt small between the dark, tall walls of the corridor, trying to outrun the darkness and the voices.

She's strange. She doesn't belong. She'll do something wrong.

Alina could barely see now, but she kept running. She felt the floor disappear under her feet and fell into the abyss.

Out of nowhere, she was back in the forest. This time, Rina was under the shape of an old lady. Alina could see in her wrinkles that she carried the knowledge of thousands of years on that skin, but she still had those bright grey eyes shining with life.

"Hello again, child. You're going through the right path, and you have chosen well, because you wouldn't be able to overcome what you're going to afront without help."

Alina could talk. She could ask whatever she wanted. However, she hesitated. What should she ask? What if she could only ask one question? What if she wasn't supposed to speak? As if she could read her mind, the goddess let out a gentle laugh.

"You worry too much, Alina Nivar. Just ask what comes first to your mind; in a night of sleep, we got plenty of time."

"Why do you look different every time?" Alina inquired. She didn't have time to think; the words just flew out of her mouth like a flock of birds out of a tree. Rina smiled.

"The moon is constantly changing," she said. "And so am I. I have several different forms I can take at will. I can turn into a baby, an owl, a star... But I don't think that's truly important to you. Ask me one more thing."

Alina took a deep breath. There were plenty of things she wanted to ask -about Arien, Kita, Seaturn Village, the forest, the other lady and the Moonstone, among others- but the one thing that worried her the most, the actual purpose of her journey, was a simple as this:

"What happened to my father?"

"Oh, Alina Nivar, I understand your concern, but I'm afraid I can't tell you much. However, you must know he was took away by one of the men in the shadow, and with the sole purpose of either getting information from him, or trading him for it. They serve the darkness, and worship spirits of sin and corruption. But if you accept their terms to get your father back, the world will collapse. He won't harm him if he thinks he is still useful."

Alina looked down. If he thinks he's still useful...

"So, if I give them what they want, they will harm my father anyway?"

"We don't know that for certain. What we do know, however, is that if they reach and corrupt the Moonstone, they will do great harm to the world. Terrible things are going to happen, Alina, if they aren't stopped on time."

Alina gulped.

"But why me? Why did I have the book, why am I supposed to do this, why do I have to go through all of this? I just wanted to live my life! You are gods, why do you have to get me involved? Why don't you just fix it yourselves?"

Rina was still smiling warmly, but her eyes showed a deep and old sadness.

"We can't, my dear, and I am really sorry. But you're the only one that can help us. You possess a gift that was passed between generations for centuries. We, and the nine kingdoms, need your help desperately."

Alina realized she had lost her composure.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine, young girl. But you need to continue on your journey. The runes will help you find your way to my legacy. Wake up now."

Alina opened her eyes to see Arien at the corner of the tent, still asleep with a blanket covering half of his body. She sat up, rubbing her eyes. There wasn't that much light yet, but it was enough to see. She was wondering whether or not she should wake up Arien when she heard the tent opening.

Kita stuck her head in the hole.

"Oh, good morning! I didn't know you were awake already," she beamed.

"I just woke up," Alina said slowly due to the sleepiness. "But Arien's still asleep."

"Well, wake him up, daylight is here and you can't afford to waste it. I'll wait for you two outside." And she took her head out of the tent.

Alina sighed. She was right. She went up to Arien and shook him by his shoulder.

"Wake up, Arien. We need to go."

Arien babbled something she couldn't quite understand, still with his eyes closed. She shook him again, harder.

"I said wake up!"

"Fine, fine," he grumbled. Alina turned around to look for her boots and cape, which she had taken off to sleep. She found them and put them on. While she was buckling the cape's brooch, she noticed a scratch on it. Upon closer inspection, she recognized it. "A symbol?" She frowned. "It's... Rina's symbol. The same one that's on the Moonstone." That wasn't there before, she was sure of it.

She got out of the tent right away. She stretched, feeling good to be outside after sitting in such a small space for so long. She looked around. Everything looked normal. Were the noises real? Maybe they had just imagined them, that was all. It didn't look like anything had "changed" like Kita had told them.

But when she looked back at the tent, there were no oak and maple trees. They were just bushes.