Everyone has a moment of turbulence in their life. A point where things won’t be able to return to how they once were. A point where changes come back to back before they can settle into any form of ‘normal’.
For Luna, that moment came 2 years ago when she came out as Transgender to her mother. Nothing seemed to change at first. They spoke as they did before, neither parent nor child forcing the issue. Something that big couldn’t be hidden or brushed aside, not forever. For 8 long months, their relationship was stretched and pulled with each and every minute reminder of Luna’s identity. Every time her brothers called her ‘Luna’, every time she bought pride pins, every time she called herself ‘she’. Each nudge built up tension until they couldn’t ignore it any longer.
Luna was trying to tell her mother about how to refer to her. She wasn’t ‘Lucus’ anymore, she was ‘Luna’. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Luna’s mother wasn’t an entirely bigoted person, but most of Luna’s aunts and uncles were. It made Luna’s mom unable to understand any of the signs. She was blindsided, and confused as to how ‘Lucas’ would get to this conclusion. In her mind, ‘Lucas’ was being ruled by their hormones and needed to man up. Luna’s mom couldn’t understand how she would think this was the case, and wanted to make sure that her ‘Lucas’ didn’t go through with this dumb decision. However, she didn’t want to entirely ruin their relationship. So, Luna’s mother didn’t destroy any of her child’s things, or even throw them out. Instead, she gave ‘Lucas’ an ultimatum.
If Luna wanted to truly do this, she needed to do it on her own. 1 month. Luna had 1 month to get a job and get enough money to pay for rent at any apartment building she wanted to live in. This room was for Lucas. Lucas could stay there, but not ‘Luna’.
Luna left not even 4 days later. She had very good friends who helped her couch surf, though they were all in a state on the far side of the country. However, it was all too short notice. She ran out of money. She was homeless for nearly 2 months. The only silver lining is that she was able to sleep in her friend’s place every few days depending on availability. Still, it was a hard time for her.
No matter how hard it got though, she ignored all of the help she got from her mother, sending all of the money back whenever it was sent to her. She wouldn’t take ‘handouts’ from a bigot.
It wasn’t until titi Morrogan flew all the way across the country to meet with Luna. They spoke. They cried. Luna left with her Titi, heading to her place rather than her mother’s place. She still ignored her mother, trying her best to keep up the strong facade.
The job search wasn’t good, and Titi Morrogan couldn’t afford another mouth who couldn’t contribute. Luna decided… to try and go for the military. Her Titi told her not to, but it was the only ‘easy’ option Luna thought there was. So… Luna joined the US military as Lucas Alicea Gonzalez. They decided that The Navy would be the best way to go about it all. Or rather, Luna was suckered by her recruiter and went for the first branch she approached.
It was this act that made Luna’s mother realize that this wasn’t just a phase. Luna was sticking to her guns. Luna would rather endure going into The Navy as Lucas, where there was just bureaucracy in the way of becoming Luna than go back home as Lucas where nothing would ever allow them to become Luna.
Luna was the one who reached out. She had surgeries she had to undergo to join the Military, and high on meds, she called her mother. It was short, but it was the beginning of the rebuilding of old bridges.
By the time Luna was joining the Military, she and her mother spoke nearly every 2 or 3 days on a phone call. Oftentimes it was just a short 1 to 3 minute call, but it was much more than just a few months before.
Luna joined. She progressed through Basic for the first few weeks.
Then during one particularly brutal IT session, she tried to tell her Petty Officers that her leg was hurting. They mostly ignored her plea. Told her to go to medical the next day. A stress fracture in Luna’s ankle couldn't take the strain of her getting off her bunk that morning. Her ankle damn near in half.
That was how Luna spent nearly 4 months in ‘Broken Division’. That was how Luna lost all will to stay in the military. She stayed until her healing was enough for her to move normally again, with almost no fear of breaking herself again unless she did something stupid. Then she went to get her contract annulled. Used her status of being Transgender to do it. If she stayed in 180 days beyond Boot Camp she could have gotten her whole transition converted. Back when that just meant 8 months including boot camp that was acceptable. When it turned into 1 ½ years, well, she decided it was best to just suck up her pride.
So, nearly 6 months after joining the Military Luna went back to her mom’s home. All of her friends and her aunt couldn’t take her anymore, their situations having changed in the 6 months she was at boot. They were still good friends, but they just simply didn’t have the space on their couch anymore.
Luna and her mother’s strained relationship showed. However, they both understood each other’s lines. Slowly Luna’s mother became more and more accepting. Not to the point of stopping with the deadnaming, but to the point where they could simply put all of the issues aside. Could just live in the moment without the time they were apart breaking them.
Luna’s mother suggested that Luna try and go for college. Surprising no one, she managed to get a state grant to cover her degree. Surprising only herself, Luna managed to get straight As for her first semester of college. She did horrid in middle and highschool. She got Ds and Cs, and only got her average to a 2.5 due to credit recovery. She thought that it would be a similar story in college.
What Luna had forgotten was that she still got a 99 on the ASVAB after being out of highschool for nearly 3 years, and not actively using anything from school or studying for the test. She wasn’t dumb, and the more free nature of college was much better for her grades.
As Christmas came around life had finally seemed as though things were no longer in flux. In fact, Luna’s mother had started to stand up to the rest of the family when it came to Luna, even if only to keep them from talking shit. With other young people in the family coming out, the family was breaking along lines. They saw what happened with Luna and her mother, and didn’t want a similar scare. One where their kids were in a worse situation than Luna had been.
So, things were actually turning up for the better! It would be a slow path from decent to good, but it didn’t seem that far in the future. With all of the family drama, Luna’s mother decided to hold a small family Christmas party. Just the people who lived in their home and no one else. So, Luna’s mother, her mother’s husband, Luna’s older brothers, and Luna herself. It had turned out to be the correct decision.
—----------
“You didn’t realize this had jalapenos?” asked Luna’s mother.
“When I last bought them, there were no jalapenos I swear,” swore Jackson, Luna’s eldest brother, “it should have been perfectly fine, Normal pico de gallo, I don’t know why this has so many jalapenos.”
“That does got a bit of a kick,” admitted Luna, “though I think that if you put it on a chip it should balance out… maybe… probably… okay probably not for you Ma, but I think me and Michael would like it.”
If a glare could shove Luna backward, there would be a comically human sized hole in the wall behind Luna.
“Of course you would like it, Lucas,” said Luna’s mother, deadnaming her child, “You and Michael can handle this kinda el diablo spice, I can’t, I don’t care for hurting yourself like this by eating such spicy food.”
Luna rolled her eyes at the comment. She always notices when her mother deadnames her, but she has gotten over it. Mostly. KInda. She is always tempted to write some more ‘evil moms’ in her stories whenever she does it too much too fast, but she knew that just made her stew in anger. That wasn’t good for either of them.
“Lemme get some chips,” said Luna, “You mind getting Michael, Jackson?”
Jackson lets out a small ‘Hee hee’, which had everyone rolling their eyes, though not before Luna and her mother’s Husband, Gorge, both let out small snorts. That joke is as old as they were, and never got any funnier. Though, puns weren’t ever meant to be ‘funny’.
Luna got the chips while her eldest brother went and got the middle child. She had a few of the chips plain before dipping it into the pico de gallo. Luna liked it, as her mother claimed.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“This shit is lightwork,” said Michael, “Why do you always complain about the barest level of spiciness Ma?”
“Perhaps because I have never liked spicy food like that,” replied Luna’s mother.
“Yeah, like how you like Carrots- ow!” cried Jackson after receiving a sharp though mostly painless smack from his mother for bringing up the ‘carrots incident’.
“You ate 7 lbs of carrots in less than 2 days,” said Luna, “You would have looked like Donald Trump if you were like 30 lbs fatter, a man, and spoke like a fisher always trying to one up the other fisher’s big fish stories.”
That got a small laugh from Michael, but it was mostly just snorts.
“It’s good to have you back Luna,” said Jackson, using her chosen name on purpose.
“Good to be back,” said Luna, only partially lying.
—----------
Luna watched Michael with one eye as their mother spoke prayer over their plates. Luna didn’t care much for it herself, but her brother certainly cared even less given how much he was eating in the middle of it.
“-thank you god and jesus, Amen,” said Luna’s mother while reaching over the table for a spoon of pulled pork.
“Don’t think I didn’t see you chewing,” said Jackson to Luna.
“I hab o iea-” Luna swallows the food she had in her mouth, “ what you are talking about.”
“Yeah, of course you don’t,” said George, “It’s all of 20 seconds of waiting.”
“20 seconds where my tuna salad is getting warm, and my rice is getting cold,” said Luna, entirely unrepentant, “at least I wasn’t as blatant as Mi- ow!”
Michael turned away, as if he didn’t just kick Luna under the table. At least he did so against her good leg. Luna still felt pain in her right leg every now and then.
“Just eat your food!” said Luna’s ma, exacerbated, “Save the bickering for when this pork is almost out, or will you just leave it all for me to have?”
“You are not going to eat that whole thing yourself, Even you will feel too fat after all of that,” said Jackson.
The death glare Jackson got was actually enough to get him to back track.
“Sorry Mom,” he said, looking down at his plate.
“Yeah you better be sorry,” said Luna’s mom, “You can’t be saying anything either, when was the last time you went to the gym eh? Lucas is the thinnest one at this table now.”
Luna’s mom pinches Jackson’s love handles to exemplify her point. Jackson’s scandalized look got everyone laughing for a second.
Despite what her mom said, the bickering never stopped while they were all sitting at the table. It was all good natured, and everyone had a smile on their face whenever food wasn’t shoved in their face.
Nearly two hours later, after all of them ate their fill, the whole family was all in the living room. Their first choice of movie didn’t work out cuz it wasn’t on Netflix for some reason.
“What about The Grinch?” asked Luna while she took the remote from her mother.
“Jim Carrey or Animated?” shot Michael as if it was the most important thing in the world.
“Jim Carrey, obviously.”
“I’m for it,” said Jackson, which led to nods from everyone else.
With a movie chosen, they settled in to watch it. Luna’s mom was talking about the movie more so than watching it. Jackson was asking questions of their mother, exacerbating the issue for Michael and George who were trying to focus on the movie. Luna herself was constantly getting distracted by her phone. She wasn’t an ass though, so she did put the brightness down to the lowest it could be to not mess with the others.
Before the movie was even halfway over, George and Luna’s mom had fallen asleep silently on the couch. Jackson and Michael both focused on the movie, but the sound of snores had them go and wake up Luna before she fell asleep too deeply to be moved.
“Go to sleep in your room if you are gonna sleep,” said Jackson.
“Yeah yeah I’m goin’, I love yall, Goodnight.”
“Love you too b-” Michael catches himself, “Sis, see you in the morning.”
Luna quickly hugged Michael and Jackson before heading to her room. She took a look at her bed. It was a loft bed, which was probably not the best option overall given her bad ankle. She didn’t fully think about that when she got it, instead trying to not take up too much space with her bed and desk. Thankfully, with the steps rather than a ladder, she was at minimal risk.
Luna crawled up to her bed. With a groan she realized she forgot her fan. She forced herself to crawl down, turn it on, and get back in bed. She was beat, and already half tired. When she finally closed her eyes, she had a smile on her face. She didn't get long before a bright light woke her back up. She covers her eyes with a blanket, which doesn’t help. She then turns and shoves her face into her pillow, hoping that whoever was grabbing something gets it and leaves.
The light doesn’t dim. Even with her face directly into a pillow. Luna’s sleep deprived mind knows that isn’t right. Slowly, she turns and opens her eyes. It was then that she saw that it wasn’t ‘light’ she was seeing. Her room was actually pitch black.
No, what she saw was a floating blue panel with blurry text. Her heart jumped in her chest as she recognized it. Such an iconic aspect of so many of the stories on her shelf. She spent way too much money on these books. She has read them over and over again. She knows what this is.
She waits for her eyes to focus, the words slowly becoming more distinct.
You must become He Who Fights With Monsters, the core of Defiance of The Fall. In all 10 Realms of The Land, from the Underworld to a Reborn: Apocalypse, you must walk The Path of Ascension. Even in this Life in Exile, you must gain All The Skills. Everyone Loves Large Chests was not easy to work into this message, but as it was formulated by your unconscious mind this is on you.
Uhh… what?
Luna looks at the pop up window with utter confusion. She then sees another similar ‘lightless glow’ in the corner of her eye. Her bookshelf was glowing. More specifically, all of the books mentioned in the message are glowing. They took only a small fraction of her shelf, but that was still well over 40 books.
System Books Have Been Highlighted. Knowledge of these series has been hidden to others.
Systems Integration Time Calculating…
Systems Integration Processing…
Estimated System Integration Time: 38h 3m 28s
Please sleep to accelerate integration time by up to 30h
Luna looks at the flurry of notification boxes that have popped up. This wasn’t in any of those books. Not in any way shape or form. She was tempted to stand up, tempted to go and read the glowing books on her shelf. She is also still 90% sure that she is still sleeping.
The 10% that knows that this is real in some way is telling her to just give in to sleep. If this is real in some way… then she should sleep.
What convinced her to finally lie back down to sleep was the first thing that got ‘Integrated’, and the pop up that followed.
Apocalypse Countdown
364d, 14h, 23m 51s
Luna checked her phone. That countdown would make the Apocalypse strike… at 3pm on Christmas next year. Luna could feel that time within herself. It was like nothing else. The closest thing she could link to this feeling was when you first get on a bike after years of not riding one. She just… knew that it was right.
He Who Fights With Monsters had waves of monsters flood the world, killing millions. Events that could have sent the world into nothingness.
Reborn: Apocalypse starts with the last hope of humanity getting wiped out by godlike beings.
Luna looks at her bookshelf. Defiance of The Fall had only 1 in every 10 humans survive a year. There were multiple planet wide threats one after the other.
If the Apocalypse was anything like any of those Luna needs as much time as she could have.
Luna instinctively closes the message boxes. It was as simple as wanting it to be done.
Luna reached towards the step of her bed. Her steps also worked as drawers, and she pulled it open to grab some of the contents. First, some sleeping pills and a bottle of water. She takes three, one more than normal, and lies down, doing her best to to ignore the timer ticking down in her mind.
364d, 14h, 23m 26s
364d, 14h, 22m 46s
364d, 14h, 21m 37s
364d, 14h, 19m 40s
364d, 14h, 18m 4s
She failed, an anxiety attack hitting her hard as she finally fell asleep.