• rises the moon by Liana Flores •

Jade quietly led the Princess and her Maester through the dark and eerily silent corridors of the Eiran palace. In front of the master quarters, they parted ways. Jade took Larimar towards the courtyard, to her Aunt Sillia, and Carnel promised to get the Empress and explain everything to her.

Soon, Larimar would regret not waiting to see her mother.

"Can I ask you something, Queen Jade?" Lari spoke as they halted at a corner. Although it was only the Queen's second time walking through the castle, she had already memorized the routes and was only being wary of getting ambushed.

"Jade," she replied, breathy. "Just Jade's fine."

Lari nodded. "Jade, umm... are you sure you trust Aunt Sillia?"

"She's the Chief of my army. I trust her with my life. Why?"

"She is a werewolf in pup's clothing. I don't know about you, but I'd find someone who betrayed their family, hard to trust."

Jade stopped again, at another corner before she spoke.

"I'm sure betraying that asshole did not feel like anything at all. Pardon my harsh words, but the fact that you agreed to come with me tells that you and I hold similar opinions about the Emperor. And that you'd rather side with a stranger than your father any day."

Larimar spoke no more. They were close to the gate now, and she felt her lungs almost collapse in on themselves. Not from running. From the anticipation of what she might see in the courtyard.

She had no love for her father; she knew she'd feel no remorse if he was gone. But for it to be so sudden, for it to be Queen Jade leading her to the scene.

The calico tore Larimar out of her thoughts. Purring and thrashing in her arms, trying to escape. Or warn.

"Something's wrong," Lari translated for her. "Missy is not one to cause a ruckus. Come this way, please."

She let her cat down and pulled away from the direction of the main entrance and towards a balcony that faced the courtyard. Jade followed.

There were dozens of people in the courtyard, not one dead. The Queen could tell them apart by face, by voice. She had picked them out before they set out for Eira, and had watched most of them die at the hands of foreign troopers in that very courtyard.

But their cheers were very much alive now. And they weren't cheering for her.

The environment seemed rather gleeful. Not even the nostalgia of war remained.

Jade heard two people talking, giving a coordinated speech. Larimar was quick to find an opening and pulled her towards it to be able to better observe the ongoings.

"What the fuck?" That was all that came out of the Queen's mouth when she realized the trap she had set her feet in.

Sillia and Laz were shoulder to shoulder, one arm around each other as if neither had ever betrayed or held a blade at the other's throat. The onlookers were roaring with cheers, their blades back in their sheaths, spears set aside, fists in the air. When the holler died, Laz resumed his speech.

"My sister has avenged my pride," he bellowed and Jade gasped.

"And Jahima is yours again, brother." Sillia echoed.

"And I'll make you the warden now."

"You humble me, brother," Sillia replied, pulling away from his embrace, and bending her knee. "I vow my sword to you."

Light from a nearby torch caught on the leonian hilt and Jade's breath caught at the base of her throat. "That's my sword," she whispered to Lari.

"No, Sill, not that arcanaforsaken sword." The Emperor took the Laz-killer from his sister and held it up to his eyes. He looked toward his subjects and a peal of horrendous laughter emerged from the depths of his belly.

"This puny needle was supposed to kill me." His mockery was evident as he laughed, and the surrounding soldiers returned his mirth. He held the sword in the air as if examining it with a forger's eye. Swung it left and right, with a look of preoccupation.

Then, he took it in two hands and slammed it onto the armor of his thigh, the impact breaking it in two. The sight and the sound were enough to make Queen Jade gasp aloud. "You filthy son of a-" she screamed out and immediately, all eyes were on her.

"Your Majesty, it's her!" Someone pointed.

"And the High Princess!" Someone else shouted.

When the soldiers' pointing fingers guided his sight to the balcony, Laz roared, stripping his soldiers from their celebration. "Get her away from my daughter."

"Stand behind me, Princess, will you?" Jade shoved Lari between herself and the wall, brandishing Sillia's longsword to the oncoming soldiers. To avenge her pride and protect the Princess.

Larimar looked at Jade in awe. She didn't need to be protected; her father's soldiers would never lay a finger on her if they didn't want to lose it. Yet, the first thought of this woman, this strong, brave warrior woman, who had just had her ego bruised, was to protect her.

But the Princess knew better. She wanted to run, her flight mode active. She knew that would be the smartest thing to do. But how far would they run?

Lari grabbed Jade's elbow. "Queen Jade, we should-" She started but her words stuck to the roof of her larynx as something glittered in her peripheral vision.

Soldiers were closing in from both directions, their armor and weapons catching and reflecting light in chiaroscuro, but that wasn't it. Something else had caught her eye. The Moon.

Not on the sky, but the concrete floor of the balcony, right under the paws of the alert and hissing cat.

For a second, Larimar thought she lost her balance, maybe she panicked because of the impending danger, but it was something else. The ground below her feet wobbled, no more solid. It gurgled like boiling metal, and like quicksand, they were slowly sinking into it, all of them - her, Jade, and Mewton Pie.

Initially, Jade assumed it was the impact from the running feet of a dozen soldiers until Larimar's beckoning nudges wrenched her gaze from them. "What the fuck, Princess? Are you doing this?" She asked, aghast at the notion of sinking into the ground.

Larimar only shook her head.

Missy was soon invisible, sucked into the concrete, Lari only felt the claws on her shin. Bile rose in Jade's throat for she wanted to fight the soldiers who had betrayed her, punish them, and show them who the royalty was. But something mystic threatened to take it away.

The troops had all stopped, just a few feet short of the scene, afraid of stepping near the quicksand. How close was too close to be pulled in too?

"Make way." They heard someone scream and moved to let the Emperor pass.

"Lari!" Her father gasped, in agony at the sight of his daughter's plight. But she was beyond saving at this point. Only their heads were above ground now, trying to stick their noses out to keep breathing as long as they could.

"You bitch!" They heard Laz's angry enunciation. "You bitch! Taking my daughter away like this, I'll get you. And I'll put a spear through your soiled, disgusting heart. Lari, love, don't worry, we'll find you. Father will find you."

He was on the floor by the time he finished, more than kneeling. The soldiers had never seen their Emperor like that.

Only the tips of Jade and Lari's noses were visible now, the concrete had swallowed them whole. And slowly but surely, the light from the torches and the anxious faces dwindled from their vision.

What Jade and Larimar expected to be a burial was freefall.

Mewton clung to Lari's robe, baring her nails into her skin. Jade was falling quicker, the longsword, and her armor adding to her weight.

Midair, the Princess let go of her coat and reached out to grab Jade by her shoulder strap and pulled at her armor. The other woman looked up, surprised, but was quick to understand her intention. Jade let go of the hilt of Sillia's sword and undid the closures of her armor as quickly as she could.

When they touched ground, they fell into water, or something liquid. It was clear and sparkling. The waterbody - if it was water in the first place - stretched for as far as they could see. It was shallow, but Mewton quickly crawled on all four to Lari's shoulder again, perching up and shaking the liquid out of her fur.

The only light around them came from the water. There was a sky but with no celestial body in it.

"What is this place?" Jade asked, still breathing heavily. "What happened back there? Did you do something, Princess?"

Lari was breathing heavily too, her wet hair almost dry now, and messy from the fall. She smoothed the top of her scalp before shaking her head. "I don't know," she said. "We should start walking in some direction and find land. I don't wanna catch a cold."

"Are...are you cold?" The Queen expressed her concern.

"How does it matter? I don't see a coat on you."

Jade sighed and looked away. She dipped a finger in the surrounding liquid and felt nothing. It was like water in a lake, pristine and unmoving.

"You should...wash that wound a little, I think," Larimar suggested.

Jade heeded her advice and bent towards the surface to splash her face with the liquid. When she came back up, Lari had a weird look on her face.

"What?" Jade questioned, blushing.

"It's gone." Lari produced a hand to touch Jade's cheek, exactly where she had been cut, and she froze. "Your wound, it's...healed."

The Queen touched her face in reflex, and really, it was gone. All that remained was the ghost of Lari's touch.

Lari complained, "What is this place? I saw The Moon on the floor and then we sunk to here. It makes no sense."

Miss Mewton purred softly near her ear, and that calmed her down a little. To an onlooker like Jade, it seemed as if the cat was whispering encouragement in her ear.

"I...I'm sorry, Princess," Jade said, looking away, blushing furiously. "It's me who dragged you into this. You would have probably been sleeping in your bed now, peacefully but instead, you're here, in the middle of-"

"Larimar," the Princess interrupted. "Or Lari is just fine."

A weight lifted from around them and Jade sighed. "That's gonna be a little difficult." She chuckled. "Which way should we go?"

"Every way looks the same to me, you know," Lari replied in a quiet voice. The magically healed wound still made her curious. The feeling of magic she had felt in her bath had returned, only stronger and surer.

They walked what seemed like miles for what seemed like hours but no land was ever in sight. Mewton transferred from Larimar's left shoulder to her right, and sometimes to Jade's, but never left the comfort of being carried.

"Stop, stop, stop!" the noirette finally paused, bringing her companion to a halt too. "This is useless."

She was gasping for breath, her forehead slick with sweat. Jade was in a similar state although she felt less fatigued.

"I'm tired of asking this, but what is this place?" Lari asked again, out of her wits. "Is there a place like this on earthside?"

"I don't think so, Princess. You said that you saw The Moon?" Lari nodded before she continued. "Maybe this is The Moon's realm?"

"You're absolutely right."

They were startled when a third voice spoke from behind them - a kind of a jolly, mischievous voice. They turned to see the same gurgling that led them here on the surface of the water and through it emerged a figure.

A divine-looking figure, with a feline face and donning a white robe-like garment similar to Lari. They giggled as they emerged further to the two women's eye level, mocking the confusion on their faces.

"Let me." They said, moving forward towards the women - not walking but gliding - and produced their hand to scratch Mewton behind her ear. The cat was quick to accept their petting, readily meowing in response.

"Would you mind explaining who you are?" Jade enquired, although Lari already knew. "And...and, what is this place?"

The figure took their hand away from the cat and glided a little away. They giggled again, before answering her question. "You already figured out where this is, so can't you tell who I am?"

"You're The Moon," Lari stated and the Arcana nodded, smiling.

"I'm Luna, nice to meet you."

"I saw you so many times this evening. Were you trying to tell me something?"

"Well, kinda! I wanted to speak to you in your sleep, but then that happened, and you two needed to escape, so I thought I'll just bring you here. So..."

"What did you want to tell me?" Lari asked.

The Moon sighed, looking from one earthling to another. "That's not important anymore. I mean, it is but not right now. Right now, you, my love, are a delinquent daughter who ran away from home with the rebel queen who rose against your father. One of your lives is in imminent danger, if not both of yours."

"Do you want us to stay here?" Jade asked her, shifting her weight from one foot to another.

They were still standing in the glowing water, their feet soaked, clothes heavy, and it was becoming increasingly hard for Queen Jade to keep a straight face while speaking to someone with the face of a cat.

"I wish I could. You seem lovely, and your cat likes me already. But you're not safe here. If you know anything about us Arcanas, you'd have probably heard that our realms are only separated by what is equivalent to transparent curtains to humans. That leaves my realm, like every other realm, naked to the others' eyes. What is concealed from us is the mortal world, but we peer into it through the eyes of our apprentices, or who we hold deals with.

"Thus, even if I want to keep you guys here, I can't. The longer I keep you, the higher the chances are that the Arcanas that hold deals with Larimar's parents or aunt or absolutely anyone will learn about you. And-"

"So why did you let us walk around in the water for so long?" Jade's eyebrows were furrowed; she was clearly irritated.

"Sorry about that, I was preparing the place where I want to send you. So...shall we?"

"Wait... I have so many questions. So, do you want me to make a deal with you?" Lari asked, pausing her from transferring them. "I don't know what to ask though."

"Oh no, no!" The Moon chuckled again. "I mean, you could if you wanted to. For now, I'm fine if you just agree to be my apprentice."

"Why me?"

Her question remained unanswered as a rumble of thunder sounded in the distance. It was a faraway call but it rained terror through the Moon's mien.

"You'll learn everything soon, Princess Larimar. For now, you gotta leave. Do not fret, for where I am sending you, the people are lovely there. They'll help you, I promise. You'll find comfort and everything you need there. All the best to both of you, okay? We'll meet soon, I believe. Now, off you go."

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