Luna Star, Part 9

I remember the day that my sister Terra died

It is a clear in my memory as it was when it happened

I was still living in the Star household at that time

Terra had been out of the house

She had been living alone for a few years at that time

Father and Mother were quite disappointed in her and told us not to speak of her

The event started when some of the servants began to scream

Those in the household began to arrive to find out what the fuss was about

It was Terra

She was deathly pail and bleeding immensely from numerous cuts

It looked like she had been attacked by people with knives or swords

Father and Mother arrived however they one took one look at Terra

Then they turned around and left

However Terra never noticed that

She was watching me intensely

I came close to her speaking pointless despairs

She reached up to me with what little strength she still had and caressed my hair

“Luna, I’m so sorry.”

“Please forgive me for leaving you here.”

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t be a better sister for you.”

Terra then took several broken rasping breaths

“There will be pain in your future”

“Pain that is my fault”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t have done more.”

“Please do what I was never able to accomplish.”

Her hand began to slip from my hair

Yet before she died she was able to say one last thing

“It was the woman on golden horror”

When her hand hit the ground my memory stops

I knew I cried and cried but that was nothing but a blur

I didn’t know what any of it meant or why my sister had died

Mother, father, and my brothers passed it off as inconsequential

But I had loved my sister and it was impossible for me to forget what happened to her

And her words stuck with me

I tried to figure out what they meant, what my sister had died

But it was in vain

Yet, the time when I found out why was soon approaching

Only a few weeks were left before a desperate awakening

And the first steps toward the horrors that awaited us

Chapter 8 - The Cold

The passed over the horizon. Joy and Luna watched Blackberry. As the last rays of sunshine passed out of sight Blackberry said, “I can sense it. It is beginning to wake up. Quickly, across the street and down the block.”

Luna picked up Blackberry and they jumped across the street to the building on the other side. Then they raced across the roof and toward the next street corner. “Right” Said Blackberry and they took a right and moved down the street. The building cut off leaving a large open space in front of them.

“I can feel it too.” Said Joy and she looked down. “That is definitely where it is.”

Luna looked at the park. It was the largest in the city. It was the size of multiple city blocks and was normally busy during the day. “Would it really show up in a place that is as public as this?” Asked Luna.

Blackberry nodded, “There is no mistaking this presence. It is the same one that broke into our world recently. It is a bit public but some of them don’t care about things like that. It we are lucky then it will mean that it just isn’t very smart.”

Luna looked over the park and wondered aloud, “All of the streetlights in the park still seem to be active. Also I can still see people in the park. If it is active then it must not be doing anything yet, or if it is then it would be weak enough not to leave a noticeable trait.”

“It should be awake. A strength signature like this implies that it is awake. I could be waiting for something, although I’m not exactly certain what it could be.”

“What, what if it is waiting for us?” Stammered Joy

“Not likely. An Elder Darkness usually doesn’t expect things like that. There thought process is a bit convoluted. It is more likely it is waiting for some helpless mortal to come to it.”

“Like a spider?” Said Luna.

“Yeah, like that.”

Joy shivered. “That’s scary. Does that mean it might eat the human?”

“Some of them do eat humans. Another reason why we should find it before it can do anything.”

They jumped down into an alleyway. It was night but they could still be seen by people if they weren’t careful. Blackberry had told them that while he was with them that most people would ignore their strange costumes but if they did something strictly impossible then his power wouldn’t be able to prevent people from noticing it.

They crossed the street in the normal manner and entered the part. It was gloomy in the park at this time of night. There were still people around here and there but the place seemed to be emptying out.

“Can you tell where we need to go from here?” Asked Luna.

“Hmm, it is strange. I can sense that it is around here somewhere but it seems to be concealing its presence which is stopping me from pinpointing it exactly.”

“Then I guess we have to search the old fashioned way.” Said Luna. Together they began looking through the park. Neither Joy nor Luna had any good idea of what they were looking for but an Elder Darkness was unlikely to look like something normal so it would likely be easy to notice.

After more then an hour of searching Joy stopped and looked up into the sky, “Um, Luna. Is this supposed to be happening.”

Luna glanced over at Joy and then followed her gaze upward. She blinked a couple of times before looking toward Blackberry. “Blackberry, is this caused by the Elder Darkness?” There were small flacks of white falling from the sky. It was beginning to snow in the park. It was definitely not the season for snow.

“I see. This is what it is waiting for.” Said Blackberry. “Something like causing snow is slow. Soon it will be coming down harder then this and that is when the Elder Darkness is likely to reveal itself.”

“Then we should hurry. I would be best to find it before the snow gets worse. That would put it in an advantageous position against us.” Said Luna. The part was fairly large and there were still places that they hadn’t looked yet. “We should split up. It would be easier to find it quickly if we could explore the park faster.”

“But..” Said Joy. Then Joy appeared to grit her teeth and said, “Alright. Split up. We can do this.” She clutched at Ourorobus while she spoke trying to conform herself.

Luna watched her carefully before amending her statement, “How about Blackberry and Joy goes together. Together you two might be able to sense the Elder Darkness before it shows itself. If you find anything then call me. It seems that the transformation has left my cell phone mostly intact. Hopefully the weird white runes won’t effect reception.”

Joy looked relieved but Blackberry began to protest, “Wouldn’t it be better if I went with you Luna because you can’t sense…” Blackberry trailed off after Luna fixed him with a dangerous stare then he continued, “But your idea is good too. I will go with Joy.”

“Good.” Said Luna. Then she gan to walk off way from Joy and Blackberry before they raise any other complaints. She was alone soon enough walking alone through the park with the snow falling all around her. She actually had her own reason for wanted to split up. While it was true that she was incapable of sensing the Elder Darkness there was something else that she did notice. They were being watched. Since they had entered the part she could feel eyes on them. It wasn’t a supernatural sense just the odd intuition that something was out there.

After they had split up Luna could continue to feel the eyes on her. She wasn’t certain if that was good or bad but it did mean that whatever was out there was following her. She was glad that it wasn’t going after Joy. She was still deciding what to do when she saw something through the tree, a strange shimmering silvery glow.

Luna didn’t waste time running toward it. She ran off the path and through the grass and the trees toward the light. It was hard to make out because the snow was coming down even harder now which made visibility very difficult. It wasn’t too long however before she reached the edge of the lake. There was ice beginning to form across the lake and out in the middle of it was the strange silvery glow.

A girl stood there in shimmering silver colors. She flickered in and out like static like she wasn’t quite there. She was staring down into the lake. Then the girl started and looked over toward the edge of the lake. She meet eye contact with Luna. Luna could make out the girl’s lips moving, like she was saying something. But either there was no noise or the distance was too great and Luna didn’t hear anything. Then the girl flickered one more time and was gone.

Luna looked down into lake and stared there for a few moments. Then she smiled and pulled her phone out of her pocket. Something about the transformation changed the phone. Its style now matched with the rest of her costume. There were also a couple of other unusual differences, like it seemed to be running a different operating system then it used to, but otherwise it seemed functional. She pressed Joy’s contact and the phone began to ring.

Not too long later Joy answered with a, “Yes? Luna, is that you?”

“Yes. I found the Elder Darkness. I need the two of you to meet me at the lake in the park. Do you know where that is?”

“Yes, I think I remember. Blackberry and me should be there in just a little bit.”

“Good. I’ll see you there.” Luna hung up and put the phone in her pocket. She tested the weight of her baseball bat which she had brought with her. It was beginning to get colder at an alarming rate. She was certain that her transformation was the only thing that was keeping her from freezing to death. She only felt mildly cold while the blades of grass at her feet were being covered in ice.

The snow kept getting thicker and thicker and she could still feel the eyes of whoever was watching her. She knew that they could be getting into a lot more trouble then they had initially expected. She was relieved when she saw the faint outlines of Joy and Blackberry walking through the snow toward her. She raised her hand and began waving at them when something darted out of the lake and wrapped itself around her leg. There was one long moment before she was pulled backward into the dark waters of the lake.

She barely had enough sense to hold on desperately to her baseball bat as she got pulled into the icy waters of the lake. It was cold, colder then anything that she had experienced before. She could see some of the water crystalizing around her as she got dragged deeper and deeper into the lake. Even with the resistance qualities of her transformation she felt the cold biting into her.

Still she waited. The waters grew colder and the light from the lights in the park began to vanish leaving her only in the illumination of her own clothing. The she could see the bottom of the lake and the form of the Elder Darkness that had pulled her all the way to the bottom. It had been the moment she had been waiting for.