Voices? Out here? This isn’t right. I turn to grab Charlie so that we can get out of here, only to find that she is no longer by my side.

“Charlie!” I hiss as quietly as I can. “Get back here! We need to get an adult like your dad!”

The girl in question is currently slinking into the cave mouth, knife drawn, and looks back at me. “No. I wanna see what’s going on in there.” She then turns around and continues to sneak towards where the voices had come from.

Shit. I follow her reluctantly, getting my own knife out, and hope that I can get her to leave so we don’t have to use these knives. As we quietly make our way deeper into the tunnel that leads further in, I can start to make out some voices more clearly.

“–reinforcements–take over Hemlile–step towards–Demon King–” A quiet cheer follows soon after and low lights begin to creep up along the cave walls.

This isn’t good. I give Charlie a look, telling her that we should head back but she only meets my gaze with a look of determination. Whatever is going on here, she isn’t going to leave until she has learned as much as possible. I hurry over to her and stop her from moving any further.

“We can’t do anything right now. If they notice that we’re here, then who’s going to warn the village?”

Charlie’s face has a conflicted expression, anger, desperation, fear, and finally reluctance. She nods at me, but then her face goes pale as her gaze drifts past me.

“Well well, looks like we gots ourselves a couple of nosy kids!” A loud voice announces from behind me. Somehow this mountain of a man has snuck up behind us and is currently looming over me.

Shit. We really should have headed back sooner. Before I can wallow in my own shortcomings, a pair of large hands grab me by the shoulders and lift me off the ground. I’m pinned to the stone wall and am greeted by a downright ugly face. Seriously it’s like this guy got his face hit with a hammer and then someone put a badly made clay mask over it, but the mask was still wet and just kinda formed over the smashed bits.

Currently there is the gross looking man who is holding me, but stepping out from behind him is a short, spindly man who rushes Charlie and grabs her before she can make a break for it.

“Kids really have no manners nowadays.” The spindly man says, he sounds like he has a slime in his throat and is somehow making it talk for him. “Hey Boss! We gots a couple of brats here!”

I look over towards where the light is coming from and a tall, slim figure steps into view. They wear a dark cloak and some kind of mask that resembles a demon’s face. I don’t know why, but everything in my body is screaming at me to be afraid of this man.

“I see… perhaps… they’d like to… help us with… something…” The figure draws out their words, like they didn’t have enough breath. From their cloak they pull out a long dagger and run it across one of their fingers, making it bleed just a little bit. “I’ve… been meaning to… find a good source… of blood…”

Well that’s not terrifying at all. Nope the idea of having my blood used for something is totally not making me shake like a leaf right now, I am completely composed.

The two men snicker and force Charlie and I to walk into the space where their leader had come from. A small group of men and women are gathered here in this cave. I have no idea where they came from but they’re definitely not locals.

“So Boss, what are we gonna do to ‘em?” The disfigured man who’s holding me tightly. “You said somethin’ ‘bout blood?”

The masked man turns back to face us. The dim lighting casts an ominous shadow across the demonic mask. I swear that the lips stretch out into a wide, unsettling grin. “Yes… we’ve finished… the main… objective…”

I see some of the other members of this, I’m guessing cult, snicker and a few begin to pull out blades of their own. Another shiver creeps down my spine as I watch some of them take a step towards us, like predators stalking their cornered prey.

“Let us go, you freak!” Charlie cries out from beside me, struggling and failing to break free from the spindly man’s grip. “I don’t know what you’re up to, but I swear if you think-”

In a blur of dark cloth and shadows, the masked man appears in front of her and grabs her face. “My my… someone… seems eager…” Charlie’s face pales, but she manages to keep her defiant look. “Let’s… start with you… I like a… struggle…”

Ice fills my veins as the man steps away and brandishes his dagger, signaling the others to do the same. Slowly, as if time is crawling right now, they approach with blades flashing and thirsting for blood. My world becomes a standstill, blades barely moving through the air down towards my dear friend. When suddenly something happens.

“Break free.” A femine voice commands as I gain a surge of strength. I pull myself from the grasp of the man holding me. His mashed face distorts into one of surprise and reaches out towards my rapidly moving body. The world is still slow but me, I am anything but as I leap in between the blades and Charlie.

A cold feeling of metal meets me. Once. Twice. And so on as all the smiling daggers that were aimed at my friend carve across me. Cold dampness rises from my chest as I hit the stone floor of the cave. Little flowers of darkness bloom on the edge of my vision as I turn my gaze towards my friend, knowing that what I’ve done will mean nothing. Her face is one of horror. I can only imagine the look on my face as life leaks from my body.

“INSOLENT BRAT!” The leader of these villains shrieks with rage towards me, no longer drawing out their words. “I WANTED TO SAVOR THE TWO OF YOU!”

“OLIVER!” Charlie cries, tears flowing from her face. Damn. I hate making her cry. I let out what will most likely be my final breath and close my eyes. The world fades to black and everything grows cold and stiff.

…

I take a breath. I’m… alive? I open my eyes, only to find that I am still surrounded in darkness. No. A light appears in the distance. Then another. And another. Soon the darkness that was about to swallow me, looks no different from the night sky albeit missing the moon.

“Is he? Yes? Damn it…” A familiar voice whispers around me.

“Hello?” I try and turn, with surprising ease, towards the voice only to find empty space. “Hello? Is someone there?”

No response as I float here in this void. I try to call out again, only to find myself in a coughing fit. After a moment I regain my breath and weakly look around again. Am I going mad? Is this death? Has the Moonlighter come for me?

Before I can linger on the thought of me being damned for eternity, a star begins to glow brightly. Curiously I turn to face it, which is a mistake as it flashes brightly and lights the darkness around me with a greenish flare. After I blink my eyes a bit and my vision returns to me, I see an odd lady floating a short distance away from me.

“Who are you?” I ask this woman who turns towards me. I never learned much about the Moonlighter, given she is a god of death and the church doesn’t like to talk a lot about Lord Eddallius’ counterpart. But from what I have heard, this woman doesn’t match the description at all.

She looks like she comes from down south, kinda like Dad. Dark skin and long hair. If you want to call the tentacle like limbs floating around her head that. She’s wearing a long dress that transitions between shades of green and has some kind of scarring on her shoulders.

“Are you the Moonlighter?” I ask with a hint of fear. I’m surprised at how calm I am though, if only a little bit afraid. Maybe it’s the shock?

She looks me up and down, and for a moment I swear a look of pain crosses her face but it quickly returns back to neutral. “No. I am not Ms. Tealeaf, I am someone else.”

Ms…Tealeaf? Okay. I’m definitely losing my mind, I’m dead and my mind is making things up. “Oliver. You are most certainly sound of mind. What you are seeing is real.” The woman says in a tone that I can’t quite pin.

“I doubt that. I may not have heard about many gods but you certainly don’t look like someone in the Pantheon.”

“Correct. I’m not a part of that little band of children you call gods. I am much more than a mere god.”

This is unbelievable. I’m going crazy. I have to be. I-

I bend over and begin coughing again, clutching my sides and covering my mouth. Something damp meets my hand. I feel a little lightheaded.

The woman gives me another look, it almost looks like she might have been worried but again it disappears before I can process it. “We haven’t much time left. I am going to make you an offer. And I’d like you to take it.”

“What? Why would I-” Another coughing fit takes me and my vision fills with red. I look down and see blood leaking from my chest. Oh gods. This… This isn’t good for me, is it?

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Shit.” A worried look returns to her face. “There is no time to explain. Do you accept?!” A panic tone taking her voice.

I think to myself. Can I trust her? Why should I take a deal like this? What does she want? A flash of searing pain fills my chest and blood pours quickly from it.

“PLEASE! DON’T YOU WANT YOUR FRIEND TO LIVE?! YOUR VILLAGE?! YOUR MOTHER?!” She looks really panicked now. Why does she even care? “THEY’RE GOING TO KILL HER! PLEASE! I’M… I’M JUST TRYING TO HELP!” The stars start to glow a dull pink color. It’s… kinda relaxing…

Her words are beginning to slur together. Screw it. I’m already dead, Charlie shouldn’t have to meet the same fate. Maybe my mind is clouded by my desperation or shock or pain or something but I’m taking this deal. Why I want to right now, I don’t know but I’m doing it anyway.

“Fine! I accept.” The woman grabs my wrist and pulls me close.

“Thank you.” She whispers and then the world goes black again.

…

I wake up lying on cold stone and immediately notice the smell of blood in the air. My head is pounding. My chest… I reach down to touch my wounds, only to find nothing there. My shirt is ripped, but there’s no blood or scarring. What happened? I… can’t remember anything. I was hit and then…

Wait. Where’s Charlie? I look around and am greeted by a brutal sight. I almost vomit as I look around and see all the people from before… dead. Every one of them is a corpse, holes and blood leaking out. Some are missing arms, others look like their heads were crushed. …This..is wrong… What happened here?

“Ch-charlie?” I ask as I try to tune out the smell of death that is becoming ever more potent. “Where are you?”

I only hear a whimper, I turn to look behind me and curled up into a ball is Charlie… looking at me with fear. There’s no other way to interpret this… I killed these people. I don’t know how but I did. I stand up weakly, legs shaking as I try to regain my strength. Taking a step forwards towards her, she yelps and begins to push away.

I… this hurts… whatever I did wasn’t pretty. She’s scared of me. I hate this. My face contorts into a grimace, which makes her flinch. I take another step forward. She in turn pushes further back, straight into a body. Her face pales as she turns to look at it and promptly faints on the spot.

Shit. I… I don’t know what’s going on but I know that I need to get her out of here. And warn someone about these people. I walk over, with each step regaining a bit of strength, and lift Charlie up. Huh… that’s odd. Was I always this tall? Or strong for that matter? Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I push this away for later. “I need to get us out of here.”

I look back at the cave, just in case I’m missing something important. Against the far wall there’s some kind of large metal bowl filled with something. But something is wrong… where’s that masked man? Did he escape? I scan the room for any signs that he might have died and spot a chunk of his mask broken on the ground. I’m just going to assume he’s at least badly hurt.

I make sure that Charlie is secure and start running through the woods, back to the village. The sun has almost set now, we stayed out later than we should have. It’s strange, I feel more energetic for some reason and I think I’m faster. Something happened back there. And whatever it was, it changed me a lot.

Eventually the outskirts of the village come into view and I push myself to speed up, heading in the direction of the church. The tall stone building greets me soon and I pound on the doors.

“SISTER ABIGAIL! WE NEED HELP!” I cry. The sound of rushing footsteps reach the doors and as they open the Sister is standing there. Her face holds a look of relief for but a moment, only to be replaced by one of distress.

“Sisters! I need assistance, someone bring me my medicine bag!” She turns and calls back into the church. “Bring her inside now.” She tells me.

I hurry after her and lay Charlie out on the floors of the church. Sister Abigail reaches out and her Inkling forms as she touches Charlie’s forehead. Then she turns to me.

“What in the name of Lord Eddallius happened?” She asks me sternly, with a dead serious tone.

“I- I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“No I don’t. There was a group of men and they talked about a ‘Demon King’ and something about taking the village and then I passed out, so please excuse me. I think it’s best if I leave before she wakes up. She was disturbed by me earlier, it caused her to faint.” I stand up and turn to walk out.

“What?! You’re the one covered in blood and torn clothing, among other things, you need to stay as well.” She reaches out to grab my wrist.

“No. He’s leaving.” A voice overlapping with mine says. My eyes flash pink and Sister Abigail lets her hand drop with a vacant look. Then I run, run back home. To escape this? To process? To just sleep? I don’t know anymore. All I know is I’m running home.

The familiar glow of home greets me. I finally feel like collapsing. I’m so tired… I walk up and push open the door.

“Honey? Oh thank the gods you’re bac-” Mom stops as she sees me. “WHAT HAPPENED?! ARE YOU OKAY?!”

She runs up to me and begins to inspect me for damage. “Mom, please. I just want to rest.” I say weakly as I pull my arm from her.

“But but, you’re hurt! And you look… different. You should go to the church and get checked out. Wait. Where’s Charlie?”

“She’s fine. I left her with Sister Abigail.”

“And you came back here! You should know better!”

I’m too tired for this. I start walking up the stairs back towards my room. Mom is calling after me, but I can’t hear her. I open the door to my room and drop onto my bed. It feels… so comforting…

…

When I wake up again, for what feels like the millionth time in a short while, I’m greeted by bright sunlight shining through my open window. Uhg. Everything feels sore right now. Did yesterday happen? I roll out of bed and walk to the washroom. Splashing water on my face to wake up, I look into the mirror, gasp, and jump back. My face isn’t the same as it used to be.

My skin, which was a more tan color that took after my father, has grown slightly pale like I’m sick or something. My black hair has grown down to my neck and there are faint dark purple streaks at the tips. My eyes are still gray like Mom’s, but now there are little shining dots in them. On the left there are three, one red, one green, and one pink. On the right there is one dark purple one. That’s not all, I’ve also grown taller now. I’m like, I dunno six feet tall now? I can’t quite tell but I’m definitely taller than before, I’ll measure myself later so I can know for sure.

This is crazy. Whatever happened to me back there… I need someone to explain what’s happening to me. I should probably go ask Sister Abigail, but what if… What if Charlie’s still there? What would she do if she saw me? I think whatever emotions I didn’t express last night are coming out all at once right now.

“Oliver? Are you okay?” Mom’s voice comes from the otherside of the door to the washroom. “I noticed you woke up and wanted to check on you to see how you’re feeling.”

“I’m… I don’t think I am Mom.” I say, tears starting to form at the edges of my vision. “Something’s wrong with me, something happened and I don’t know what.”

A moment of silence passes before she starts speaking again. “Dear. I know that you’d rather not right now, but you should go see Sister Abigail.”

“But-” I start before being cut off.

“No buts. You are going there right now.” Mom says in a stern tone, the kind I know I can’t argue with.

“Okay. I’ll go.” I say defeatedly, wiping away my tears. She’s right, I just don’t want to admit it. I open the door and see my mom, whose eyes are a little red. She’s been crying. What have I done to hurt the people closest to me? I don’t want whatever this is. I just want things to be normal again.

She looks at me with a perplexed and pained expression, before I pass her. I don’t want to see that look. It hurts too much. I walk outside and head towards the church. Maybe I’ll be able to sort out some of my emotions on the walk.

By the time I reach the front doors, I’ve failed to process my emotions. Maybe I should just repress them like all the adults. Nah. Too early for that. I open the doors and sit down in one of the pews.

Sunlight filters in through the massive stained glass windows, almost like I’m outside still rather than a stone building with walls and a roof. Some quiet prayers reach my ears from the front altar. The smell of candle wax and incense wafts through the air. It’s kinda comforting that all these things haven’t changed. While I’m sitting in the unchanged atmosphere of the church, another person sits down next to me.

“How are you, Oliver? You must have had a stressful time, both last night and this morning.” Sister Abigail asks from beside me.

“I’m… I’m feeling not great. I know that last night something happened and whatever it was, it was bad. Charlie was scared of me. My mom was worried out of her mind this morning. Pardon my language but, hell’s, I even look different.” I reply, hanging my head. “Just feel like I’m out of my depths. I have no clue what’s happening or how to process it.”

“Mmm. And is that wrong?”

“...What do you mean?”

She puts a hand on my shoulder and gives it a gentle squeeze. “I think I understand what you’re feeling. You just had a near death experience at a young age, not to mention the fact that your closest friend was there and you knew she was in a similar situation. The shock is lingering over you and is making it difficult to find the path again. But if you’d like my opinion on the matter, you shouldn’t try and figure it out right now.”

“What? Why?”

“Because, it’s too soon. You need time to calm down and collect your thoughts. Only then can the light of the sun cut through the clouds in your mind and show you the paths you can take.”

We sat in silence together for a while. I think about what Sister Abigail just said. Isn’t that just repressing it?

“Before you go and think that I’m telling you to try and repress your trauma. I’m not. I’m telling you to slow down. Your mind is moving too fast for you to keep up with and it isn’t going to do you any favors to think about it if it’s fifty paces in front of you.”

I take another moment to consider this. It doesn’t sit right with me. I don’t want to just push it away for later, but she makes a fair point. Can I really keep up at the rate I’m moving? My head grows heavy and it feels like it’s filled with water all of a sudden. A pink haze covers my vision for a brief second before my head clears up again.

“I’m not sure that I agree with your religious guidance.” I stand up and turn to the Sister, whose face is unreadable right now. “I don’t want to just wait. I think I can handle this myself by doing a little of both.” My head feels clearer than ever. I have a goal in mind and that’s to figure out what happened and how I can repair my relationship with Charlie.

She smiles at me with a look of understanding. “Then it seems that you’ve directed yourself towards a path of your own making. And that’s fine. Our sun doesn’t guide us down the path it wants us to follow, it merely illuminates the options we have. I showed you one path and you found another. It doesn’t invalidate either one though, it just shows that people can choose for themselves. I’m glad you understand yourself a little better now, Oliver.”

“Thank you nonetheless Sister Abigail, for your light.” I say as I bow to her.

A bright laughter escapes her. “I see. Oh but I am just a humble window, from which our lord shines his light through to all those who live in his warm embrace.” She giggles a bit more to herself after finishing her sentence.

I smile and leave the church feeling just a little, forgive the pun, lighter than before. I guess it’s time to get my mind working, both on this and other things. It should help me process all of this a little better.