The fire had died down. Nothing but orange embers and the rise of warm air lingered where the large fire had been just an hour ago. Grey ash and black wood lay beneath, and spread out among the grassy field around it were the villagers of Sigil Lake.

  Hank snored loud enough for a village by himself, yet Bella seemed to rest peacefully with his arm wrapped around her. Moody’s gentle snores were more like whistles from his nose and Oakley had separated from the crowd earlier, laying near the treeline for some calm before everyone else had gone to rest.

  Willam and Julie had talked well into the night after the campfire meal and meeting had ended. They now lay facing each other on the grass some distance away, likely sleeping as none of them had said anything in a while.

  Phoebe had gone into the forest somewhere to sleep, finding more comfort beneath the dark canopy than underneath the open sky. Fischer and Hunter both agreed to make sure she was safe out there alone, so they had also found a place to sleep there.

  Theo and Wen had found the very top of the gentlest sloping hill he’d ever seen and lay there talking as they gazed up at the stars above. Theo had found that the girl beside him had started paying him attention that might not be entirely platonic, though she hadn’t made that fact clear as of yet.

  There had been quite a lot going through Theo’s mind this past week, from his death and his goodbyes to his friends and family, to familiarising himself with a town and people that was just as quickly taken from him. Wen had been there every step of the way, though, and he couldn’t deny that there was something there. An affection that might be more than friendly.

  Wen was teaching him the names of the stars, at least the names she’d been taught herself. It wasn’t all too uncommon for different cultures or regions to have different names for them. People saw what they wanted to see, and what they wanted to see was something they could relate to. If one belonged to a culture where smithing was life, then Theo was sure they’d see more than a few hammers and swords among the stars than a farming society would.

  She pointed her hand up towards the deeply dark blue sky. Her finger stretched towards a row of stars, each one brighter than the next in the line.

  “The night scar,” she said. “I’ve heard it called ‘the blade’, ‘the spear’ and most anything else that might be long and shafty. Even-”

  “I get it,” Theo chuckled. Wen giggled along with him as she moved her hand again, leading Theo’s eyes another direction.

  “The flame of hope. My Ma said it was named after a fairytale, but people seem to disagree about which was really first.”

  Her hand moved again, gesturing toward a cluster of stars with varying luminosity. To Theo, it just seemed an haphazard circle.

  “The band of Ho’suo,” Wen said. “My Da claimed that it is the stars that all marriage bands are shaped to resemble. Supposedly it is the wedding band of Arcana herself.”

  “Really?” Theo asked. “Arcana’s married?”

  “Supposedly,” Wen repeated. “To the moon, if you can believe it.”

  “I suppose I can. Gods aren’t really a thing most people think are real in my world, so I don’t really know when I should be surprised or not. What’s the story there?”

  “The story goes that they met when they were both normal people like us, a long, long time ago. There was no magic yet at that time. They were both of different peoples, meetin’ when they never should’ve been able to. They were both of different worlds, yet the moment they met, they fell in love with each other. They were happy together, for a time, but their worlds both called them back, forcing them apart from each other.

  “Arcana’s world was wreathed in war when she returned, but her heart couldn’t truly defend it as it had ripped her from her great love. When Arcana found she then possessed great magic, possibly grown from her deep wish to see her lover again across the barriers of worlds, she finally vanquished the enemies who had ravaged her world. She then set out on a journey to find a way to reach her love.

  “It took some time, but Arcana finally stumbled upon the right kind of magic that could send her away from her own world. By then, staying wasn’t even an option for her. She broke through the borders of worlds and ended up right where her lover could be found. She found her, and they were happy again. They swore they’d never separate from each other again and performed a magical ritual that bonded their very lives together; if Arcana would die, so would her lover. The other way ‘round, too. Neither could stand to live without the other, so the choice was obvious to them.

  “Years went by. I don’t know how long, but both had found their own magic and it made them more powerful than all the rest of their peoples. With power came longevity, but with each other at their sides, they were fine with livin’ forever. They married, exchanging a band of Ho’suo with each other and became wives that shared bliss with each other for some time.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Then came the darkness. Her lover’s world was in ruins, as was her own. The ancient darkness approached them, wanted them to join it in creating a new world. Arcana was firmly against it, they say, but the darkness conquered her lover! It swallowed her whole, eating the very magic that tied their lives together! Arcana’s love was gone, yet she still remained. It was the cruelest trick the universe had played on her through all of her life, for she did not want another second without her.

  “Arcana fought the darkness by her lonesome, knowing there was no way her wife could be saved. She fought because she was angry, because the darkness had taken everythin’ from her! Alas… She was defeated as well. She was consumed.

  “She woke in darkness, but the darkness was not blind to her love for her wife. It allowed her to keep her power and to share in the new world it had created. It made her into a goddess, just as her wife was made one. Though they could never meet again, their magic, as much a part of them as anything else, would always be able to touch. In that way, Aera and all other worlds within Arcana’s domain, fly ever around her lover’s domain, where more worlds lie. The goddesses’ domains are forever embraced with each other and will never separate. Such is the promise, signified with the band of Ho’suo, between Arcana and Luni.”

  “That’s a beautiful story. A bit surprising the darkness won, though.”

  “Aye,” Wen said with a relaxed sigh, shifting her head to lay against Theo’s shoulder. “Probably none of it is true, though,” she added.

  “She didn’t mention anything,” Theo said, trying to remember his meeting with the goddess. “Wait, you said she was married to the moon?”

  “Only when the darkness lay over us can Arcana and Luni’s bond be seen, embracing each other to create gentle moonlight to keep the darkness from breaking them up again, should it wish to do so.”

  “So, Luni is the moon?” Theo then asked for clarification. He remembered the note Arcana had sent to him the moment he found himself in this world. The message had crumbled the moment he had read it, but what did it say again? Something like ‘Hi, brat. Say hello to Luni for me. Don’t forget to entertain me.’

  Was he supposed to pass along her greeting to the moon?

  “Luni is the moon,” Wen confirmed sleepily. Her voice was softer than he’d ever heard it. She could barely keep awake.

  “Thanks for the story,” Theo then said, shifting his own head so it rested on the top of hers. “And thanks for tonight,” he said more softly, like a tender whisper.

  Wen only made a slight whimpering sound, and the next inhale she did was deeper than her previous ones. As she’d fallen asleep, Theo tried lying as still as he ever could. It was probably nearing morning.

  The woman beside him soon breathed heavier, then deeper. She then started lightly snoring and turned her head away from him to shift into a more comfortable position. Still, he didn’t move, trying to avoid making any sudden noises. Even inches away from her, he could feel the warmth radiating from her. It was deeply comforting.

  Theo eyed the clear sky, trying to remember all the stars and clusters she’d named. He then eyed the moon, a rather large disc that shone a benevolent feeling blue light. ‘Is it still a globe here,’ he thought as his eyes grew heavy.

  “Hello, Luni,” he said sleepily, his voice fading into the whisper. “Arcana misses you.”

  The moon, no, the entirety of the dark night sky erupted into a chorus of pale blue light, its source clearly the large moon near the very centre. Ripples of light like stormy ocean waves bent and twisted the very sky. The stars moved along with the ripples, then were pulled back in the wake before new waves shot them away again. It was a surreal experience and Theo was moments away from feeling like he was drowning underneath the sea. He felt like he had to swim up against the light as it reflected from the surface of the sky itself.

  While certainly uncomfortable, the light itself was actually pretty calming, and almost excessively beautiful to boot. He had the sensation that he was slowly floating up into it despite still laying still on the ground, and it was like it started to embrace his very body and soul. It was much warmer than he thought it’d be based solely on its colour, but then even flames could be tinged blue, he realised. It wasn’t burning him, though, just… holding him.

  He swore he could see a face up in the sky. A gentle one, smiling down at him. Then he could see more, a body formed of pale, wavy light. Wings, larger than the sky that acted as a backdrop behind her. Then, her voice, soft as velvet and yet still tremendous and reverberant. Her words were unintelligible, as if she was speaking the language of gods, not mortals. Still, Theo was pretty sure a modest whisper of intent and meaning snuck through.

  Thank you.

  The light started pulling away, the moon absorbing anything and everything that had exploded out from it, be it light or waves or whatever it was. The woman’s presence disappeared from the night sky, as did her wings and her warmth and the comfort it all provided. Soon only the coldness of the night remained with the exception of Wen’s pleasant presence.

  Then Theo noticed the arrow made of pure, solid moonlight about an arm’s length away from him on the opposite side of where Wen lay. His System triggered.

  Item: Luni’s Grateful Arrow

  That wasn’t the only thing that showed up, however.

  Luni has granted you a blessing: Lunar Embrace.

  Lunar Embrace (Instant): The Lunar Embrace has affected your very body and soul. Luni’s strongest wish was once to catch up to Arcana’s strength so they could truly be equal in all things. She has passed the essence of this soulful wish onto you. Trait gained: Essence of the Lunar Empress.

  Essence of the Lunar Empress (Trait): Your presence is like a light to the world as it always yearns to be closer to the moon. The world now watches you always and may treat you more favourably than the next.

  Theo couldn’t help but stare wide-eyed at the System message, then the arrow made of pure light next to him. Having read the message through three separate times, not finding any particular mention of anything specific, he dismissed it into his log and reached out to gently grab hold of the arrow.

  It flashed as his fingers brushed its divine light.

  too slow in his uptake of skills. Luni seems to have had a similar issue as Theo sometime in the distant past, where she, too, wanted nothing more than to catch up! May her Essence allow him to prosper (more quickly!)