Moon Spirit -- Chapter 2

Moon Spirit



MAX HAD NEVER BEEN so aware of his heartbeat before. It loomed up to fill the space between him and the approaching girl, drowning out all other city noises. She moved as if supported by a silver chord tethered to the moon. Behind her, long silvery robes billowed gently, leaving a wake of tiny sparkles. Beauty floating. Max couldn't take his eyes off her, but kept wondering if he should be running. Her glowing sword was still drawn.

She came to a stop three feet away and lowered herself into a standing position atop the dumpster, although not really touching it. He had to look up to meet her eyes. They regarded each other silently for a moment, Max lost in her blue eyes and glowing white form. She spoke first.

"Thanks, I think. Well, actually -- did you mean to do that?" Her voice was melodic, but pulsing with distress, and her crisp features danced playfully when she spoke, just like in Max's dreams.

Max relaxed a little, although he felt prickly all over talking to a supernatural girl made of what? Light? Magic? "You mean, was I trying to help you?"

"Yes, that's what I mean. It's just that I saw you there while I was fighting, staring and looking horrified, and then instead of running, which would have been a perfectly understandable thing to do, you threw something and struck the Veptor, only I wondered maybe if you were throwing at me instead and missed? If so, I'll be on my way --"

"--No," Max found her bashfulness adorable, "Why would I throw something at you?"

"Well..." she slid her hair behind her left ear with long slender fingers. "you are a human."

"So?"

"No offense, but generally humans are awful."

"Now how could I take offense to that?" Max paused, reading in her eyes that she really hadn't meant to be mean. He jumped off the dumpster, landing gracefully, and spun back to her. "Listen -- the truth is, you are right -- a lot of humans are awful, especially around here, but not me, so no offense."

"No," she floated down to meet him, almost smiling. "Not you, I guess. Other humans I've met have run screaming. I scare them so much, but I don't know why."

"Well, the sword probably doesn't help."

She flashed a charming grimace. "Right, there is that..." With a flick of her wrist, the sword just sort of slurped back up into an invisible hilt. "I don't usually have that out, though, honest." Her eyebrows rose in clean arcs. "Oh, I promise you that I am much nicer than what you are seeing tonight, really I am."

"So, it's not every night you do black-flips to drive a sword into the skull of an enemy? Actually, I was impressed -- you are quite the hellion with that thing."

The girl's face sank and tears started flowing. "No, please! That's not really me, honest. I'm just in trouble, big trouble, and I fear I'll be fighting and hiding for the rest of my life now," she was so upset at this point, words were only coming out in the gaps between sobs," ...and...I...don't...want...to!"

"Hey, hey," Max moved a little closer, feeling awful and wishing he could put his arm around her, but thinking that unwise. What could he say to help her? He was no good at this sort of stuff! Unsure of what else to do, he just started rambling in a supportive tone. "It'll be okay. Really. I didn't mean to upset you. Maybe if you talk to me about what's going on, you'll feel better. I'm a good listener. You can start by telling me your a little about yourself, okay? Nice and easy. Here, I'll start. My name is Max."

Surprisingly, it worked.

Girls.

Her last few whimpers trailed off. She wiped away her tears, which were like drops of liquid light, and then looked up at Max, her face adorably puffy from crying. "Sorry for sobbing like that. I usually don't do that either. Thank-you for being so kind. My name is Sarina."

"Sarina? I like that name. It suits you."

Sarina looked like she was going to cry again, but composed herself, "Thanks, but It's not my real name. I don't know my real name. None of us do. We don't even know what we are -- we call ourselves Moon Spirits because the light of the moon gives us energy and direct sunlight is deadly."

Max wanted to ask a thousand questions about Moon Spirits. He'd never heard of such a thing. Was she a ghost of some sort? Where did she come from? How long had she been around? And the biggest question of all: how had she managed to show up in his dreams?

His thoughts were cut off by a police helicopter buzzing past not too far off, chopping the air into little chunks and flashing red and blue lights on the steel and glass towers. Sarina's eyes popped wide and she followed it until it was gone before turning back, looking shaken. "I best be going. It's not safe for me here."

"Hold on," Max pushed his curiosity about Moon Spirits away. He couldn't let her just fly away so quickly. "Perhaps if you told me what's going on, I could help?"

"Well," her arms crossed her body and rubbed her shoulders, "I doubt that. You see, I took something, something very important to a horrible Moon Spirit, Garook, who will stop at nothing to get it back -- nothing! That Veptor I killed was one of his, and there are more, plus he's out there too, and he'll find me, eventually he'll find me and then, he'll do to me what I did to his Veptor."

"Can't you just give back what you took?"

"No!" Passion flared in her eyes and she spun away. "You don't understand, I HAD to take it! Garook planned to use it to do terrible things! He's a monster. I had no choice, I really didn't."

"So, what is it you took? Do you still have it on you?"

"I suppose I owe you at least that, for saving me." Sarina turned back and reached into her pocket. She brought out her hand gently clasped around something, as if she were holding a moth and didn't want to crush it. Her fingers opened slowly. "We call it the Moon Crystal"

In her palm was a small, unremarkable looking little white ball. Max wasn't impressed. How could that think be so important? Perhaps she was being a bit melodramatic? Girls did that sometimes. "That? It...it...looks like a gumball."

"A gumball? What's a gumball?"

"Never mind, but sorry, it just doesn't look like anything all that important."

Sarina shook her head, slowly. "Oh, you have no idea. It may not look like much at the moment, but it's probably the most dangerous and wonderful object in existence on the planet. And for that reason, Garook must NEVER get it back!"

"Then chuck it," Max said, not seeing the problem here. "Drop it down a gutter. Throw it into the ocean. Smash it with a rock. Once it's gone for good, this Garook will have no reason to hunt you, will he?"

Sarina gave Max a dirty look,  as if he were an enemy. She pulled back her hand, and put the Moon Crystal back into the folds of her gown. Turning, she put her face up to the moon, the way humans take in some sun.  "There is no way I could ever do that! It's the only hope I have of finding out the truth of my origins, the answer to the Moon Spirit mystery. Without it, there is no reason for me to keep dragging myself along through night after miserable night, lonely and lost. If it were gone, I would just fly into the sun and let myself be burnt to a crisp. Besides, if I were to discard it as you have suggested, there are others who might find it, creatures capable of retrieving it from the remotest of places -- Shadow Spirits. What they would do with it I loath to imagine."

Max didn't like the sound of Shadow Spirits. He imagined inky black forms twisting and slithering through the dark, small gray eyes shifting as they went. He pushed the image out of his mind. "There has to be some way! What if you flew across the ocean? Could this Garook find you over there, that far away?"

"Not for some time, but I can't travel that far while I have the Moon Crystal in my possession. I have to remain partially solid to carry it, and that makes traveling slow and exhausting. I'd never make it across such a large, open stretch before the sun came out and burned me up. I fear I'm doomed. If only I could hide it somewhere for a little bit, just long enough to figure out what to do!"

She bit her lip. A silver tear formed on the edge of her eyes, but she held it back with inner strength that had Max feeling so desperate to help her. The poor girl was so lost. Suddenly, he had an idea that had his heart racing. "What if I kept it for a while?"

Sarina blinked at him three times. "You? A human? I could never entrust something so important with a human, although -- that is what Garook would think too...I wonder..."

"Yes!" Max was pleased with his accidental cleverness. "Exactly! I'll keep it here where Garook would never think of looking and then you can come back for it after things have cooled down, when you have a plan for where to hide it for good!"

"He'd find it eventually, you know -- but it would take him a while in your care. I'll be it would never glow for a human, and that would make it hard to track."

"He can track it?'

"Well, not easily -- but he does have some magic up his sleeves. I'll bet you'd be safe for a moon or two."

Max was surprised this wasn't spooking him at all. Somehow it just felt like helping her was the right thing to do, regardless of any risk. "Then that would give you a few moons to go and come up with a better plan, right?"

Sarina smiled, looking like a huge weight had just lifted. "Yes, that might work! Oh, Max -- would you really do that? Can I really trust you?"

"Trust me? I would defend your gumball to the death! What else do I have to do with my life? It would give me a mission -- you aren't the only one dragging themselves through a life that has no meaning. Besides, on a smaller scale, it would mean I'd get to see you again, which would be, well, really, really nice. I think you are the most beautiful girl I've ever met."

Sarina blushed, just the slightest pink washing over her white cheeks. "Yes, I'd like that too, I really would. It'll give me something to look forward to on my explorations. How about this -- I'll come back on the first night of the next full moon. I don't want to risk being away any longer. What if Garook were to find some better way of hunting it? We'll meet here, okay?"

"Absolutely. Just to make it official, how about we shake," Max reached out, looking forward to finding out if her hand felt as it did in his dreams. Was she even solid enough to feel?

Sarina looked at his hand and ignored it as she leaned in a little closer.  "I think I prefer a different human custom..."

She gave him a kiss on the cheek. Her lips where like warm smoke on skin, intoxicating. She lingered deliciously but then a shock ran up Max's spine, as if he'd touched a live wire. He pulled away and so did she. For a few seconds they just stood and stared at one another, wide eyed and confused.

Sarina spoke first. "Sorry! I don't know what came over me -- is that what usually happens? I've never actually done that before, just seen it."

Max touched his cheek. "I don't know. I've never been kissed by a Moon Spirit girl before. It was nice, though, at first, very nice."

"Yes," Sarina touched her lips softly. "Very nice, at first."

A few seconds of silence passed, eyes averted.

Sarina turned a lock of her hair over and over and then looked up softly. "You know, I can't shake the feeling that I know you, more than just tonight, I mean. It's strange."

Max resisted the urge to tell her about the dreams where they ran together through the fields by the sea. Too much, too soon, and he didn't even know what they really meant. "Yeah, I've felt that too. Strange."

Silence again, heavy with a million desires and thoughts. Sarina looked up at the moon. It had fallen toward the skyline a few inches since Max first came out. Three distorted copies if glowed in reflection off three sky scrapers. "As much as I'd like to stay longer, and really I would, I think I'd best be going now. I've probably stayed in one place too long as it is."

"I guess so," Max said, wishing he could think of something better to say, some reason to keep her a little longer.

Reaching into her pocket, Sarina brought the Moon Crystal out. "It's warm, so I think it likes our plan. Oh, one thing I almost forgot -- if it ever glows green, then you know danger is near. You probably should run or something when that happens."

"Run?"

"Well, you can't fly."

"Right. Run."

Max held out his hand, palm up. Sarina held the Moon Crystal above it, and then lowered her hand so that the Moon Crsytal and her fingers touched. Max gasped. Another bolt of energy shot up his spine. Sarina's eyes went wide, apparently feeling it too, but she didn't pull away. Max felt plugged into a socket, but he didn't' pull away either. It wasn't unpleasant, just powerful, incredibly powerful. A second later, they parted hands, her's now empty.

Her hand drew back hesitantly from the Moon Crystal resting on Max's palm. "You do understand how important that is, don't you? It's not just me that will suffer if it is lost or falls into the wrong hands. We all will. Garook's plans would harm a lot of humans."

"Yes, I do. I'll take care of it, don't worry."

She lifted a little into the air. "Then I must go, but one more thing before I do. Promise me that you won't try to use the Moon Crystal in any way? Don't talk to it, or ask it questions, or for favors, okay? It's powerful and devious, which can lead to problems. Just keep it safe and hidden until I take it back, okay? Promise?"

Max glanced at the Moon Crystal. It was glowing a little, so he quickly closed his hand around it. He didn't want Sarina to see. "Yes, I promise. Will you be okay?"

"Oh, don't worry about me. I can travel fast now, thanks to you." With a glance around, she lifted into the air a few feet and at the same time grew thin, becoming just a wisp of smoke in the shape of a girl. "First night of the next full moon, right here. You won't forget?"

"I won't."

"Then goodbye, Max."

With a little wave, she was gone, having shot up into the air like the beam of a flashlight lifted upwards. Max watched as she moved off over the city, a bright spot silhouetted against the black, starless city sky.

When she was no longer visible, he turned to look at the Moon Crystal in his hand. It glowed warmly warm now, and there was something about its glow. It wasn't like ordinary light, but magical, welcoming, intelligent. What a strange little object! "I guess you are mine for a while, eh? Oh, wait. Crap! I'm not supposed to talk to you, am I..." The Moon Crystal pulsed once, almost as if in response. Max's eyes went wide.

A little spooked and anxious to get back into bed -- if only he could sleep for a whole month! -- Max headed inside. He pulled open the large steel door at the back slowly, hating every squeak of the large, rusty hinges. Lost in a trance of thoughts and exhaustion he headed inside, into the back hallway that led by the cafeteria. The Moon Crystal was resting in his upturned palm, its glow lighting his way. He rounded a corner, and stopped short when the it started glowing sickly green.

"Crap!"

Hoping to make it to his room, Max ran forward, toward the stairwell and found out quickly he'd gone the wrong way. He bumped right into a large figure in his path, a two hundred and fifty pound figure. Ronald Spazinsky, with an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips, on the way out for a late night smoke. Before Max could get back, Spaz dropped his hand on Max's skull and palmed it like a basketball.

"What'cha got, dork?"

Max's heart dropped to the floor.