Chapter 20
The question remained on the table.
It had no shape.
No glow.
No pressure.
Yet the house treated it like a guest giving it space, allowing it to exist without demand.
Luna stared at it for a long time.
Dino washed the cups.
Eternum rested quietly at his waist, bamboo leaning against the wall like a forgotten walking stick.
Outside, the sea did not change its rhythm.
But the moons did.
One by one, they revealed themselves.
Not descending.
Not appearing.
They simply stopped hiding.
The Red Moon emerged first low, close, its surface veined like a living heart.
Then the White Moon silent, flawless, distant.
Silver followed, then Black, then Blue.
Golden light bled softly into the horizon.
Corrupted and Cursed lingered at the edge of perception, unwilling to intrude.
Celestial.
Ancient.
Divine.
Demonic.
Holy.
Mirror.
Inverted.
Gray.
They did not orbit.
They listened.
Luna stood.
Her scythe formed in her hand without summoning, its blade reflecting not the moons but choices.
"So," she said calmly, "you've been waiting."
The moons responded.
Not in words.
In alignment.
The Red Moon pulsed once.
Life.
The White Moon dimmed.
Death.
The Silver Moon fractured its reflection.
Memory.
The Black Moon swallowed starlight.
Silence.
The Golden Moon warmed the air.
Hope.
The Corrupted Moon twisted.
Regret.
The Divine Moon shone steadily.
Purpose.
The Demonic Moon burned low.
Desire.
The Mirror Moon turned toward Luna fully.
And showed her
A future.
She saw children running along the shore.
Laughter unafraid of endings.
A house filled with quiet arguments and shared meals.
A man who never raised his blade.
A woman who never lowered her guard.
A world that aged.
Naturally.
Luna swallowed.
"You're asking me to choose," she said softly.
The moons did not deny it.
Dino stepped beside her.
"You don't have to," he said.
She smiled at him.
"That's why I will."
She raised her scythe not in threat, but in declaration.
"I will not end the world," Luna said.
"I will not save it either."
The moons paused.
"I will live in it," she continued.
"Love in it.
Protect what stands beside me.
And let everything else face its own ending."
The Black Moon trembled.
The Golden Moon brightened.
The Mirror Moon shattered its vision
And accepted her answer.
The question on the table dissolved.
Not erased.
Answered.
Somewhere beyond causality
A system recorded a failure.
Then quietly stopped trying.
Luna exhaled.
"That was exhausting."
Dino smiled.
"You did well."
She leaned into him.
"Does this mean peace?"
"For now," he said. "And that's enough."
That night
The moons returned to invisibility.
Not banished.
Content.
The sea continued its patient breath.
And the house on the Black Shores stood
Not as a fortress.
Not as a sanctuary.
But as a home.
> "The world does not need a savior or an executioner.
It needs someone willing to stay until the end."
End of Chapter 20