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Luna

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I stand there, holding Hack, while the three others stare at the floating lizard. The two maids are clearly horrified, their faces displaying their shock. I cough out a nervous laugh that is barely louder than my breathing.

“Hello, Porter.” My whispered greeting cause the maid named Beth to drop her cleaning rag. Emma’s face simply turns paler. “You used Scarlet’s pet to find me?” My voice shivers with irritation. The dense knight just shrugs at my general direction.

Emma coughs politely, finally mustering up the courage to speak. “Lady Luna, when did you, uh… When did you start sitting there?” The redheaded woman is clearly sweating. Her spiky red hair is laid down flat. Why is her hair reflecting her mood like that?

I debate lying, but decide not to. “I stopped when I heard the one maid talking about my lineage.” I don’t bother to remember the woman’s name. “I suppose I ended up eavesdropping, huh?” I make an awkward smile that they can’t see. “Thanks for defending my dad, by the way, Beth.” The woman’s face relaxes slightly at my words.

“I’m sorry you had to hear that my lady. I’ll make sure all involved are punished.” Emma’s tone is firm. What can she do? She’s not the head maid… as far as I know.

Porter somehow anticipates my question. “Emma is in training to become the next head maid.” His voice sounds bored, I think he was having fun chasing the woodbeast around.

I nod, before remembering they can’t see me. “Right. Thank you Emma, but just do what you were planning before. It seemed appropriate.” She nods at my words. I laugh nervously. “Anyway… bye!” I sprint around the corner while throwing Hack out the nearest open window.

I hear a loud sigh come from the man I quickly leave behind and I can’t help but smile.

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Hack

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I’m sad. The warm air that smells like Mommy threw me. I fell farther than the floor too! An older bush caught me.

Thank you, Mr. Bush. He shivers his leaves at me. He is pleased with my manners.

I jump out of the soil under the bush and try to see where I am. I see my birth garden in the distance, twinkling in the light. I don’t want to go there right now. There’s plenty of plants I can see there, but most are sleepy or older and don’t want to play. I don’t want to chase the Mommy air either because it threw me. I’ll explore! I heard a knight say that before! He wanted to explore the forest!

I know what a forest is, but I’ve never seen one. Warmth fills my roots when I think about the forest. Let's go to the forest! Where is it? Hmmm…

I run over to the oldest tree in the area, a big old brown one with star shaped leaves.

Mr. Tree! Where is the forest? I ask his roots for help, they’re very large and wound through the ground. For a while he doesn’t answer, but I wait! I’ve learned that trees take a while to talk. Finally with a creak and a rustle he tells me that the forest is far, towards the setting sun. What’s a sun? I ask the nice plant, and he explains that it’s the light in the sky during the day.

I thank the tree and he chuckles with his swaying branches. I look up to see where the sun is. It's a big ball of power and it’s sharing it with everything. What a nice ball. I keep watching it for a while, to see where it moves.

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I notice where it moves after a little while and start running that way. I go over the smooth square stones arranged around where Mommy lives, and once they turn back to dirt I jump in. The soil is much easier to move through. I rush through the tiny air pockets and between roots as I rush towards the forest.

The forest! I’m excited! Mommy said she got my seed from there! I keep digging and think about Mommy. She’s nice, but I miss her when she disappears. I wish I could go with her, then I wouldn’t get so lone— The dirt’s gone?!

My roots are touching air, not dirt. Where did it go?! I change my head back into a head and see that I’m falling down towards more homes. I can’t dive into homes! They’re made of stone, bad for swimming. My body quickly twists back into shape and I get scared. The tops of the homes are quickly getting closer. I close my eyes.

The falling stops. I don’t hit the ground either, I just stop falling. I hear the wind whistling past me so I open my eyes. The ground is far below me, and is just grass now. I feel a flap from my back so I look behind me. On my back are two pink flower petals spread wide. The petals flap every so often and keep me up. I’m flying!

I smile. I can fly! Even when small! How exciting. Further behind me I see the big blue crystal where my garden is. It’s quickly getting further away. I’m not scared, I can always feel where my garden is. I look forward again to see where I’m going.

Covering the edge of what I can see is nothing but trees. So many trees! I feel my energy pulse through me faster. So many new plants to meet! It’s the forest! I let out a creaky cry as I fly towards the branches.

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The forest is boring. I kick a rock in anger and it makes some clicking sounds before stopping. The plants here are all mean. They won’t talk to me. I try to talk to the bright blue flower that I see. I run up to it and talk.

Hi! Has the sun been nice? The flower just snaps its roots angrily at me. Why are they so angry? I didn’t do anything.

My ears get hurt by the sounds of many plants screaming in pain, the cracking echoing through the trunks. I snap my head in the direction it came from. Quickly I run towards the sound.

As I run the horrible snapping and splintering continues with lots of roaring and stomping. I finally rush into a large clearing where a huge fuzzy thing is breaking trees with its huge claws. I try to snarl at it. Stop hurting those trees! I just make a peeping sound though. I wish I was big!

The large fuzzy thing turns and looks at me with tiny black eyes. They’re shiny but look cold and mean. I keep my posture and peep at it again. It raises its paw up and extends its claws before swinging down at me. I try to jump to the side but it's too fast. I hear loud snapping and feel my roots splinter before everything goes dark.

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Luna

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I know where she is! That hag! I never did figure out how to get back onto her network, but! But! I found out something even better! One of my abilities is called ‘IP Trace’ and it leads me to where her IP is. I have no idea what that means, but it lets me find her.

I cackle as I run, how unlike me. I’m just excited to get to meet this witch. She’s somehow inside the manor, according to the tracker. I zip through hallways and follow the vague direction I sense while using the skill. My magic continuously leaks from me as I keep it active, but it's worth it! She's in my house for God’s sake!

I skid to halt in front of the room she’s in. I look at the large dark wooden door, dumbfounded. It’s Father’s office. Can I even go in there without permission? Hmm… maybe he’s in? I walk nearer to the door before knocking lightly. No response. That’s good, I mean, unfortunate. I guess I have to just go in.

I open the door, which is enchanted to only open for our family members, and slip inside. I quickly and quietly close the door behind me.

I scan the room for the bitch, but I’m the only one in here. That can’t be right, the skill is telling me I’m basically on top of her. I search for her with every skill I can think to use but find nothing, so I start to play hot and cold with the vague feeling. Eventually I narrow it down to a small glass panel laying on Father’s desk.

That can’t be her, it’s just a glass tablet. I pick up the reflective rectangle. It’s unlike the typical gemstone devices father uses. I touch the smooth glass, causing it to light up. On the now illuminated screen is a familiar sight, a circle of pulsing blue light.

“Got you!” My shout causes the gentle pulsing of the ring to go erratic. The woman’s voice comes from the lightweight device.

“Dammit.”