Luna groans as she opens her eyes, a headache hitting the back of her head hard. She grips her skull as she rises slowly as the sound of rain hitting the glass echoes through the room . Whispers flood into her mind as she looks down at Theia, who is hugging her defensively, drooling as she nuzzles her head into Luna's stomach.
A warm smile grows on Luna's face, and the whispers become more distinct.
"It's your chance, you can do it. Just wrap your hands around her."
"Tightly and precisely."
"Yes, yes… dig your fingers in."
Luna, still half asleep, can't seem to wrap her head around on what the voices are saying. The pain at the back of her head throbs intensely as she rubs her eyes.
"What are you… talking about?" Luna mutters.
"You want it. That's the only way to make sure she is only close to you," the voices whisper all around her.
"You know that's the only way. The more you leave her be, the more she drifts away."
Luna caresses Theia's hair and as she reaches the neck area with her hand, sliding near Theia's neck, it feels strangely heavy. The voices seemed to pool in her fingertips, but she let go of her hair as Theia turned in bed, breathing defenselessly and Luna shook her head.
"That's not true…" Luna mutters, as she stands up and walks from the bed.
But the voices persist. "It is. Just wrap your fingers around her neck and press tightly with your body. Stay like that for a while."
"Look how she trusts you. She would never suspect you. She's so perfectly yours... you could make it permanent. Wouldn't that be a mercy? To keep this moment forever?"
"Five minutes, that's all you will need. And then she will be forever with you, and only you."
Luna frowns as she looks toward the window, adding, "Wouldn't that just kill her?"
"The rain persists. This moment doesn't have to pass. You can make it stay. You can make her stay, " the voices add.
"What am I even doing… having a conversation with voices in my head…" Luna says, scratching her temple.
"You will see," the voice replies as Luna walks out of the room.
***
Walking out of the room, Luna looked towards Mytri, who was still sleeping under the blanket Theia had placed. The sun was just falling behind the horizon as Luna smiled.
Not much time had passed, heh. I wonder why Master is frowning?
At the moment, Mytri was frowning hard, as if he was having an unpleasant dream. Seeing it, Luna frowned as well. She walked up to him and carefully crawled under the blanket and into his lap, comfortably resting on his stomach. As she did, his expression calmed down.
Seeing it, Luna felt proud of herself. She grinned calmly from ear to ear as she placed her head on his chest and slowly closed her eyes. I wonder, why does he frown so much in his sleep? To think… why do my voices only appear sometimes, but other times they don't? I wonder… Is it my illness? Heh, stupid.
Luna finally closed her eyes and immediately drifted to sleep.
***
At the same time as Luna was sleeping, Mytri kept turning his head as he slept, and so, he dreamed.
A dream of a distant past, years ago.
He was walking alongside a cliff in a snowy mountainous area. A roar from beneath the cliff was heard. Clad in shiny silver armor, he stepped forward—his thick armor as sturdy as a dragon's hide—with a tattered white cloth wrapped around his waist to his knees.
His thick silver gauntlets pressed tightly on a massive great sword, the size of Mytri himself.
On top of his helmet, a red fabric was tightly wrapped, its length half of his body, thrashing in the harsh wind. As he looked down, he saw someone fighting a giant red beast.
Its thick red scales were impenetrable by normal means. Its sharp, long fangs exposed themselves as it roared fire, setting everything ablaze, while laughter was heard from beneath the cliff.
Its claws, as sharp as the finest swords, tore through the air, slashing onto the knight's armor as he reflected the attack. Unpredictably, its long and durable tail hit him from the back and sent him flying into the forest.
He's fighting a dragon.
Mytri laughed out loud as he shouted, "You got hit, didn't you! Fine, I'll save you if you need it!"
As he shouted, he lunged forward, falling down toward the dragon's head. He shifted midair, pointing the great sword downward, accelerating immediately. With a hard shove forward, he tore through the dragon's head, piercing it into the ground.
No sound escaped its mouth as it immediately died.
He looked toward the forest where the other knight had flown and saw him walking out, a red cape thrashing in the wind.
He wore the same armor that Mytri wore, albeit a smaller one.
"You need more training. Being caught off guard by such a cheap trick is unacceptable," Mytri said.
"Indeed, unacceptable…" the knight replied.
And so, they both burst out laughing as they high-fived, leading into a hug, patting each other on the back.
"Haha! But seriously, you need more training today," Mytri said.
"Ah, cut me some slack, Master. Let me rest—it's been a struggle. I was fighting a dragon, though a young one, but a dragon still it was!"
Mytri looked at him, sighed, and smiled, saying, "Alright. But this is the only time I'll let you go without training. Go—I want to be home by the end of the day, Lue."
"You say that all the time!" Lue laughed as he darted toward the direction of their home.
Mytri kept looking with a proud atmosphere surrounding him.
"You'll grow into a great knight, Lue."
***
Mytri lying on his sofa, Luna sleeping peacefully on his lap. In his sleep, he muttered, "No… Lue… you… stop… why… What have I done… No!" He jolted awake, barely stopping himself from falling off the sofa.
He immediately realized that someone was on his lap. He looked down and saw Luna, peacefully sleeping. His face was full of sweat; he wiped it as a gentle smile grew on his face.
He leaned back into the red sofa and caressed the back of Luna's hair, saying, "I won't let it happen again… Thankfully, Luna, you are a diligent child in your training…" He smiled warmly as he closed his eyes, going back to sleep.