It had been a few days since Conan had learned about Luna. He wanted to give her, and his mind, some space. He decided to take a walk late one night. Conan glanced up at the night sky. He loved looking at the stars as they twinkled against the inky, clear sky. He looked around and saw no one in the distance, as most students were already at bars and frat parties at that point. He thought about shifting to his alter ego and dashing into the atmosphere. He loved flying in the open heavens more than anything. He withered at the thought of the cold air smacking his face as he zipped through the clouds. It was when he felt most free. Most alive. He laughed at himself at the last thought. He did not know what he was, but being part of the living beings was not one he considered.

As he brought his eyes back down to earth, he was pulled from his thoughts with a shattering scream. Out of instinct, he felt his eyes burn bright blue. He shook his head and felt his power shift down. He listened more intently and began walking in the direction of the outburst. A few seconds later, another yell erupted and Conan felt his legs erupt into a sprint.

Conan skidded across the wet lawn to find a giant demon staring down at him. On the floor cowering beneath it, was Luna. His luck, Conan thought. She seemed to have been knocked out. He crouched down abruptly to her and rested her head in his hands. Conan felt a drop touch his shoulder as the demon was drooling over the both of them. Conan hesitated, he had not fought anything in so long, that he did not even know if his ghost half would arise. He decided to grab Luna instead. He moved his arms under her legs and upper back and brought her close against his chest. Conan was met with her sweet and intoxicating scent again and was taken back. How does she do that? He silenced his thoughts and ran towards the woods creeping to the edge of the lawn.

Luna was so warm against Conan and he felt his arms and legs beginning to burn, but he did not dare turn around. Finally, he made it to the thick vegetation and he set her down at the base of a tree just out of sight. Conan turned on his knee to see the demon charging full speed at him. Conan looked down again at Luna, who was still peacefully asleep. He rubbed the heel of his hand to his forehead. He was not in the mood for this shit, but the demon already proved to be vengeful and dangerous to humans. So it was a threat. Conan focused, he breathed in and felt the familiarity of the electricity build in his veins. As he breathed out, he expelled the power outwards. Light emitted from his chest and rings enveloped his body as he transformed. The light dimmed and revealed black tactical pants with a dark gray long-sleeve shirt, he had black boots and a bluish hue surrounded him. Conan’s eyes shone bright cerulean and he felt the energy rise to his fingertips. Just like riding a bike.

Conan missed that feeling. He felt powerful. He tested his weight and lightly pushed off the ground to levitate. Conan shifted his body forward and emerged from the brush.

The demon was still hurtling towards him at a full sprint and was abruptly met with Conan’s fist at full force to its chest. The demon's air was knocked out of it and it fell on its back.

While it was down, Conan could make it out more clearly. This demon was ugly, as they always are. Conan was irked at its maroon, snake-like structure, as if a snake stood on its back tail and had two tree-trunk-sized arms and chiseled abs. It had no eyes, but a wide, smiling mouth full of teeth. The demon rolled back to its front and slithered back towards him.

The demon threw a punch to where Conan’s head was seconds ago before he flipped upwards and behind the demon. Conan planted his feet and emitted lightning from his palms into the demon's back. The animal roared and screeched. The air stung of burned flesh, but Conan kept pushing. The demon began to disintegrate and turned into black dust. Conan let out a sigh of relief when the wind picked up the dust and blew it upwards like smoke. It was a pretty low-level demon, but was still a struggle as his powers were rusty. Conan remembered Luna and began to run back toward the woods but felt lightheaded. He stopped, and put his hands on his knees, panting. He felt the world inverted and everything went black.

“Hello”…. “Hello?….” Conan felt shaking. He was shaking. No, someone was shaking him. He woke with a start and sat up quickly, knocking his skull into the head that was shaking him awake.

“Shit!” the voice said and they sat back, holding their heads. Conan held his head and felt a headache coming on. He looked back up to see Luna, cradling her forehead.

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“What the hell happened?” she grunted.

Conan was also confused. He looked around to see they were in the middle of the lawn on North Campus. Luna's hair was down and the soft wind blew her waves around her face. Her eyes still shone under the moonlight and she looked even more alluring, Conan thought.

“I am not sure,” he started. “I was coming out of the library and heard a scream. I ran over here and found you on the ground. I tried to wake you but I must have passed out by myself. I guess the elevation got to me.” That is such a lame excuse, she will never buy that, he thought.

“Huh,” Luna said. “I guess that makes sense.”

Conan could not believe she bought that crap.

“I am sorry if I scared you,” Luna said. “This is going to sound crazy, but I thought I saw… actually I don’t know what I saw. It was almost like a shadow. But it was almost like the embodiment of terror. That doesn't make sense, I'm sorry, I'm sounding crazy, I must be pretty out of it. Thank you for coming over here, I am sorry again for whatever this was.”

Luna went to stand up but sidestepped. Conan shot up and caught her before she fell. He was holding her arm and she looked up into his eyes. Luna tried to brush him off, but his hand stayed steady.

“I will walk you home,” Conan said, very matter-of-factly.

Before Luna could start into niceties and push him off, she knew some help would be welcomed. Conan put his arm around the small of her back and trapped her waist. She breathed in suddenly. He was only bracing her, but it felt very intimate. Conan could tell she was uncomfortable, so he loosened his grip and moved his hand to the middle of her back as more of a guide.

Luna pointed to the southeast and explained her apartment complex. It was where most of the students lived and Conan, of course, knew where it was and began to walk in that direction.

They walked in silence for a while, Conan had to take much shorter steps than his normal stride so he would not pass Luna. Her face was almost scrunched in concentration trying to unravel the tangle of events she was facing in her mind. Conan knew she would not be able to figure out what happened, no one ever did, but she had “sight.”

Luna saw something she may have never noticed before, to her looking like a dark shadow, but she still understood how terrifying it was. Most humans only feel a change of vibe or gust of wind. Those who have been blessed with a sight into the beyond; such as witches, seers, mediums, and even some religious leaders, can see a version of these other forces. However, even their views are vastly different from what Conan believes to be a world full of color and knowledge that he sees every day. However, to gain this third eye, one has to stare into the face of death. Conan had developed this theory for years and proved it soon after his transformation. He began to wonder who Luna had watched pass on.

Luna looked at Conan as if she wanted to ask him more, but seemed like she could not bring herself to commit to the task. She kept opening her mouth to ask something and would snap her jaw shut and go back to thinking. She almost looked like a fish blowing bubbles. Conan turned right down a hidden path when Luna called out to him.

“I thought you were walking me home?” she said forcefully.

“I am,” Conan replied. “This is a shortcut. This way you don't have to cross the street and you arrive much faster,” especially at the rate they were walking, he added to himself.

Luna sighed but followed. She caught up quickly and they were left with silence once again. A few minutes later, the backside of her apartment building was in view. She stopped for a second and looked at Conan.

“How did you know that was there?” she asked. “I have lived here for years and have never seen that path before.”

“Maybe you just weren't looking in the right places,” Conan added coolly. “Sorry,” he said catching himself, “I have been around for a while is all,” Conan lightly chuckled at himself.

Luna looked at him with such curiosity. “I realize I never properly introduced myself. My name is Luna. Luna Solacer,” she said as she walked up to him and held out her hand.

“And thank you for everything you did tonight, I misjudged you,” Luna spoke.

Conan reluctantly took her delicate hand and Luna felt the zap of the ice coolness of his skin. She inhaled sharply but kept her hand firm. Conan looked deep into her questioning eyes and wanted to do so much more than hold her hand. Conan knew better of himself and let go first. He gave her a slight bow and turned to walk away.

“So, aren’t you gonna tell me your name?” Luna asked, with a little bit of hope slipping into her voice.

“Perhaps tomorrow,” Conan replied with a smile and headed back down the hidden path.